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Chapter Text

Groggy eyelids opened to reveal an old lady and a homeless-looking man, both sat at either side of the bed.

"He's awake," the woman said, scooting further towards his side. Her head lowered so they met eye-to-eye as she asked him, "How do you feel?"

"Fine," he replied.

That seemed to let her relax a little. She motioned to the homeless man that it was his turn to say something, but the sour look on his face gave the impression this whole situation wasn't worth his time.

After a sigh, he glared at the young boy who was moving to sit up against the wall. "What are you doing here?"

The boy froze. That was a question he couldn't answer, even for himself. What was he doing here, and, even more troubling, where was he in the first place? It seemed like an infirmary, but that gave him more questions than answers.

"We're not going anywhere until you answer me," the man said.

"I don't know," he finally answered, breaking eye contact as his eyes fell to his lap, clasped hands resting on top of it.

Surely, there must be some sort of clue as to what brought him here. What was he doing before? Did he get injured, and was brought into this room? He didn't know, and that was an extremely unsettling thought.

"Alright," the man said. "Who are you, then? Tell us your name."

My... name? the boy thought.

Something was very, very wrong.

He shot out of the bed, shoes pushing off the ground as he jetted towards the window to find any sense of familiarity. But, before he could reach it, something wrapped completely around his body and yanked him back, forcing a gust of breath out his mouth.

"Aizawa! He was just in a hospital bed!" the old lady hissed.

"And he just ran off like he wasn't hurt in the first place," the man, whose name was apparently Aizawa, retorted. "We can't take any chances. Especially with everything that's already happened."

Aizawa turned his attention back to the boy who was currently struggling to break free from the tight grip of his scarf. "I'm going to ask this one more time," he said, forcing the boy to meet his cold stare. "What is your name?"

It felt suffocating; the scarf and the questions. He was being backed into a corner with virtually no idea of how to escape when it should be easy. After all, who doesn't even know their name?

The boy scoffed. "I don't know. And if you ask me any more questions, I'm probably not going to know, either. So, can you let go of me now?"

A moment of hesitation, and Aizawa lifted his scarf from the boy. A frustrated grunt escaped his mouth, one hand pinching the bridge of his nose and the other on his hip as if he'd just gotten a headache. "Kid," he said, "you have amnesia?"

The boy slowly nodded. That would make sense—why he couldn't remember where he was, his name, and everything else. It unnerved him that he potentially lost his entire life's memories for some unknown reason, but that wasn't what was important right now.

"I'll try to jog your memory, then. Ever heard of the League of Villains?"

He shook his head, almost laughing. If a stupid sounding name like that would have brought his memories back, he'd be better off staying an amnesiac.

"Maybe we should take this to the police station. They'd be able to find his legal guardians," the old lady recommended.

"And we're gonna ignore the way he appeared out of thin air in 1-A today? Something tells me this has to do with more than helping some lost kid."

"Then what? You're gonna take him to Nezu?"

"If that's the fastest way to get him off my hands, then sure." Aizawa gestured for the boy to follow him outside the infirmary, before the woman said her goodbyes.

She looked to the boy, sympathy filling her eyes as she softly smiled. "If you don't feel well, you can always come back here."

He waved her off. "I don't need to be coddled, old lady."

Stepping out the door, he could almost hear a small "brat" from inside the room.

That was the first time he smiled after waking up.

"You are Yuu from now on!"

"...Like the school's name?"

"Correct!" the rat-bear-dog whose name was Nezu said, who voluntarily assumed responsibility in assigning the amnesiac's new and (hopefully) temporary name.

Entering the office with Aizawa, who he'd learned was actually a teacher (no wonder he looked so sleep-deprived,) he didn't know what to expect. He hadn't even known he was in a school until Nezu introduced himself as the principal of U.A. High School, which was apparently a school meant for teaching children how to become heroes. And to become heroes, they had to work on their quirks... quirks?

"It is quite unusual that you remember simple basic concepts and social constructs, except for the existence of quirks," Nezu said from his clearly oversized leather chair, "but there is no point in discussing the intricacies of memory loss. For now, we must make arrangements for your stay with Aizawa."

Yuu glanced at Aizawa, catching him jolt upon hearing those words. Oddly enough, the sleep-deprived teacher looked more awake than ever.

"I'm sorry, what?"

Nezu's signature smile never faltered, but there was something dark swirling in his beady eyes. "You heard me. Until we clear his status as a threat, he has to stay with you. He does not know what his quirk is, so if it is something dangerous, you are the only one who can stop it." He raised his hands (paws?) and produced one solid clap. "You are the best man for the job!"

Aizawa was about to argue, but Yuu quickly interrupted, slipping his hands out of his pockets. "Hey, you think I'm a threat?"

"Absolutely!" Nezu said a little too brightly. "With all the villain activity jeopardizing U.A.'s staff and students' safety, we must take every precaution."

"Nezu, I'm a teacher," Aizawa said, "I already spend more time with these kids than I want to, and now you want me to babysit this damn brat in what's supposed to be my time off?"

"I don't wanna stay with this homeless guy, either," Yuu teased. "He's just gonna keep throwing his scarves at me if I try to do anything."

Aizawa grimaced. "I wouldn't have done that if it didn't look like you were going to escape out the window. And don't call me homeless," he said, the second sentence substantially quieter than the former.

"Stupid," he drawled, "I was just gonna look—"

"Okay!" Nezu loudly interjected, ending the argument early. "I see we all have our disagreements on the matter. If anyone has any better ideas, please come forward, as I would love to hear them!"

"I have one," Yuu immediately said. "Let me go out on my own. Homeless guy doesn't have to watch me, and you don't have to worry about me anymore because I don't plan on staying around here."

"Nope!" he rebounded. "I already said we must take every precaution with any threat appearing in our school."

"Why am I a threat? I haven't done anything wrong."

"Correct. It is not every day a child with no memories comes upon our campus, and if things were different, we would send you to the police station for your guardians to pick you up. However!" The exclamation almost made him jump. "Aizawa here says you appeared out of thin air, right in the middle of his classroom."

"Appeared?"

"Oh, I think Aizawa himself should describe the sight!"

Yuu turned his head towards the teacher, who was already looking at him with hesitance. A grand sigh came from him, then said, "In the middle of class, there was a... whirring noise. All of a sudden, a dark purple haze came from the middle of the room. I ordered my students to stand back, and what we saw was what looked like your body slowly appearing on the ground, starting from your feet and ending with your head.

"It wasn't a portal. It was more like you were being printed. But the haze was similar to what the villains we're currently trying to catch use, so you have to understand why we assume you're a threat."

"Whatever," Yuu said, hands moving to hold the back of his head. "Homeless dude, you don't wanna watch over me, too, right?"

"Brat," he said. "Of course not. I hate the idea for obvious reasons, but Nezu won't have it any other way."

"I am open to other options, Aizawa," Nezu corrected, "I just believe this is the best one." He turned his attention to Yuu. "You will go along with this, won't you?"

Part of him wanted to whine even more, but that rat was getting on his nerves. Agreeing would get him out of the room faster, so he gave him a small nod. That seemed to satisfy the creature.

The rest of the conversation discussed the general rules he'd be under while Aizawa was watching him; basically, other than inside his home, Yuu was to be supervised 24/7.

What was he, a child?

He couldn't hold himself back from loudly exclaiming his distaste for the rules, but nothing changed, to his misfortune.

Once everything was settled with the principal, Yuu and Aizawa walked into the hallway.

"What happens now, Homeless-sensei?"

"Lunch," he answered, then shot him a dirty look upon hearing his jest. "You still haven't properly addressed me ever since you learned what my name is."

Yuu chuckled. "So?"

He made no reply. He did not want to exert effort in arguing with children.

"AIZAWA-SENSEI!"

A student came running down the hallway, charging right for the pair. He suddenly stopped in his tracks as he took in the sight of Yuu, arms oddly resting at robotic right angles. As he spoke, those right angles frantically moved vertically.

"Ah, you are the boy I helped carry to the infirmary!" He deeply bowed, which coincidentally was also at a right angle. "My name is Iida Tenya, 1-A's class representative. I hope you are feeling well, now that you've visited Recovery Girl!"

So that was the hag's name.

"Nah," Yuu said, a hand behind his head as he looked off to the side, "I didn't need her help."

"What?!" he blurted, continuing to utter unrecognizable interjections. "You appeared unconscious in our classroom! What if it was more serious than that?"

Yuu shrugged. "I've been through worse."

That was a complete lie since he couldn't even remember anything before he woke up in the infirmary. But what was strange about it was that it didn't feel like a lie. The phrase came to him naturally, and it rolled off his tongue before he had time to even think about it. Had he actually gone through something more dreadful?

Iida wasn't having any of it, though, as his arms somehow stiffly flailed about, brows knitting together in incredulity. "Well, you seem awfully confident! What, you don't need help? You don't care about any potential danger because of what you've gone through before? Well! I..."

He heard Iida continue to chastise him, but he didn't register his words as something in the distance caught his eye. It was a student with his back turned to him, but there was something... familiar...

Yuu ignored Iida and started towards the boy in the hallway. He could feel there was something in his mind that was begging to reach the surface, as if it was submerged in the ocean of his subconscious, waiting to grab a lifebuoy.

He was just a foot away from his dark green haired lifebuoy.

Dark green hair...

A high-pitched childish voice presented itself in his mind, playfully shouting a word he couldn't recognize.

"K...ua..."

He firmly planted a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Killua!"

The student shuddered as he turned around, nervously facing him with big green eyes scanning his every move.

No, he was wrong. He's not what he was looking for.

"H-hello?"

But he did help him remember one thing.

"O-oh, you're the boy from this morning... Are you okay...?"

Iida and Aizawa had been following him from behind while he was approaching the student, paying close attention to his sudden change from a cool demeanor to one of quiet pursuit. Slowly removing his hand from the boy's shoulder, he spoke.

"My name is Killua Zoldyck." He turned to face Aizawa. "Not Yuu."

Aizawa had an unreadable expression on his face, but before Killua could attempt to decipher it, the stuttering boy started to speak.

"Nice to meet you... er... Zoldyck!" the student said, bowing, "I'm Midoriya Izuku!"

Killua almost scoffed. Did everyone here go by their last names? Actually, everyone here had names he found to be distinct enough from what he was used to. Maybe that meant he came from somewhere with different naming conventions.

"Call me Killua," he said. "I don't like my last name."

There wasn't a reason he could think of for not liking it. All he knew was that it gave him the same feeling as when he let it slip to Iida that he'd been through worse things than amnesia and being unconscious after getting "printed" into a random classroom.

Midoriya heavily blushed, spurting nonsense, in turn puzzling Killua.

"Are first names uncommon, or something?"

"No," Iida said, "but they are mostly used by those closest to them. I would ask if you're a foreigner, but your Japanese is perfect!"

"Japanese?" he questioned. That couldn't be right... everyone here spoke the same language, but it definitely wasn't Japanese.

"Alright," Aizawa said, albeit a little irritatingly, "Zoldyck and I are getting food before we leave, so if you could move out of the way, I'd appre—"

"We're getting lunch right now!" A newcomer butted into the conversation, already teeming with bubbly energy. "I'd love for Zoldyck to join us. I'm Uraraka Ochako, by the way!"

"Nice meeting you, Uraraka!"

Killua glanced at Aizawa's face, and he almost straight up laughed at the sight of how annoyed he was. If hanging out with these students would get more of that reaction out of him, then, by all means, he'd go for it.

This is what you get for not letting me go, he impishly thought. All of this could've been avoided if that rat principal didn't call him a threat; now, Aizawa had to pay for it, too.

"Are you feeling okay, Zoldyck? After Iida helped carry you to Recovery Girl, we were all so worried," Uraraka said, pouting while recalling the scene.

"I'm all good," he smiled, "I could go for some lunch with you guys, though!"

"R-really?" Midoriya said, looking like he just got told he won ten million jenny.

"Yup! As long as Homeless-sensei's okay with it?"

"Homeless-sensei?!" Iida hollered in disbelief.

Aizawa looked to be on the edge of breaking, eye twitches abundant.

"That's enough," he scolded, effectively silencing the group of teenagers. "I'm supposed to be watching Zoldyck. I am not going to let him drag me into eating along with you students, the same way Nezu dragged me into watching him in the first place."

Killua sulked as he was forcefully led away from his group of potential means for annoying the hell out of Aizawa. But if he was their teacher, it wouldn't be unrealistic in expecting to see them again.

His focus instead shifted on the students as a whole while he was led to the lunch line. It was an odd sight. There were people who looked "normal," but there were others who looked like...

Ants?

Wait, no, that didn't make sense.

He first saw it with Nezu, and he also was the one to explain to him what quirks were, including so-called "mutant" quirks. And, apparently, they can manifest in very, very unique ways; one student had horns, one had a bird head, and another had a... manga speech bubble head.

On the walk back to the staff room where Aizawa would be free from "noisy students" (seriously, why is he a highschool teacher if he acts like he hates teenagers?) after getting food from Lunch Rush, Killua wondered what his own quirk was. Though earlier, he caught a glimpse at himself through a mirror, so he ruled out having a mutant quirk.

"Here," Aizawa said as he pointed to a nearby couch, "sit."

"I'm not a dog."

"Then eat standing up, I don't care." The teacher walked over to his desk, pulling out its chair and taking a seat while Killua grumbled in place.

Stupid homeless guy, he thought. Instead of following Aizawa's order, he chose to invade his personal space by hovering right over his shoulder, looking at the documents laid out on his desk. Eyes quickly scanning the pages, he learned two things: a student named Kaminari Denki had a D in one of his classes, and something about a USJ attack...

"Do you mind?" Aizawa covered the papers with other, less important ones.

Killua gave him a lazy look and said, "I'm bored. Also, I'm not hungry yet."

"What do you want?"

Scratching his chin, he recalled the now covered up information on the desk. "What's USJ? Something to do with that scary League of Villains you talked about?"

"None of your business."

What a killjoy.

Before Killua turned around to mope back over to the couch, Aizawa said, "How'd you remember your name?"

Surprised by the sudden curiosity, Killua shrugged and answered, "Some guy reminded me of it."

"Midoriya?"

"Yeah, dark green hair," he chuckled. "He's way too plain, though! He's nothing like what I was looking for."

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "And what were you looking for?"

"Stupid, I'm an amnesiac. I wouldn't know."

"You don't remember manners, either."

"Huh? Why should I care?"

Frustration once again seemed to build up in the tired teacher's attitude. Shutting his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "We're supposed to be around each other for who knows how long. Can't you make this a little easier for the both of us?"

Killua threw up his hands in mock defeat, muttering a simple, "Whatever," and turned to the couch to eat his food. And, since Aizawa took it upon himself to do his job, he was left to his own thoughts, slowly but surely finishing an actually quite delicious bento.

He was an amnesiac. He was sure of that. But since he was able to remember his name, that meant not everything was lost... how would he go about trying to bring back the rest of his memories? Maybe he could talk to that Midoriya boy some more; see if there's anything worth digging up from that split second of recognition that gave him just one piece to the puzzle. It was a long shot, but it was still a shot. Taking it would be the next best move, if Aizawa wasn't so strung up on being such a weird antisocial loner (who also looks homeless.)

But no matter how much he wanted to mess with him, he couldn't ignore the fact it was Aizawa who faced him with a question he ended up asking himself, as well.

What was he looking for?

Gon Freecss woke up on a tattered couch in what looked like a bar. There stood some smoke... no, a smoky purple man wearing a suit somehow, cleaning wine bottles behind the bar. A man with light blue hair sat at it.

"Who are you?" Gon aimlessly spoke out loud, shooting up from the couch and skipping over to the two.

Both men instantly whipped their heads to Gon, him realizing the man who was sitting down had his entire upper body covered in hands, including part of his face. Whether they were real or not wasn't a concern, he just wanted answers.

"I'm Shigaraki Tomura," the hand-ful man deadpanned. "Who are you?"

Gon smiled and held out a hand. "I'm Gon Freecss!"

A dry laugh escaped his lips. "You sure you want to do that?"

"Huh?" Gon tilted his head to the side, hand still outstretched.

"Shigaraki," the smoky man said, almost as if he were scolding.

It was just one word, but something in Shigaraki's demeanor changed from interest to annoyance upon hearing it.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he waved off, reaching to shake Gon's hand. The odd thing about it was that his pinky was lifted, but he assumed it was just some funny little quirk he had. And although his appearance was quite menacing, he hadn't done anything to actually be granted that title.

"I'm Kurogiri," the smoke-man behind the counter said. "Do you know why you're here?"

"Hm, not really. I can't remember anything," Gon answered. A beat passed, and he made a small sound of realization, raising a finger in the air. "Ah, I was with Aunt Mito!"

"Aunt Mito?"

"Yeah, she's awesome! But... if I'm here, that means I probably ran off again." He rubbed the back of his head, giving them a sheepish smile. "It's okay though, it's been years since I've been on an adventure!"

The two men passed glances at each other, silently communicating something he couldn't decipher.

Kurogiri again took the lead in questioning him. "What was your last adventure?"

"Oh, I finally met Ging Freecss! I climbed a World Tree to get to him, and... and..."

A moment passed, and his face looked almost as if he was straining something, cheeks puffed as smoke threatened to blow out his ears. He finally relaxed, but the effort spent was, in the end, worthless.

"I don't remember. All I can think of is Aunt Mito and Ging, but there's things I feel like I'm missing..."

"It doesn't matter," Shigaraki said. "Aren't you supposed to be strong? You're just a kid. What's your quirk?"

"I'm 15!" he corrected, then an instant look of confusion followed. "Quirk?"

"Your power, abilities, whatever you call it, I don't care."

"Oh! I can use Nen," Gon said, then realization settled. "...I could use Nen."

"Eh? So you're useless?"

"No! I'm still strong."

Annoyance glazed over his face. "Then prove it. I'm not going to keep someone who can't do anything on our side." He stood up from his spot on the couch and stood a few feet away from Gon, as if challenging him. Kurogiri, even if he did only have two yellow slits for eyes as his sole facial features, sent him a cautious look.

Gon could have questioned what he meant by him being on their side, especially after waking up in such an odd situation. But once he realized his opportunity to fight, he couldn't help but have it be the only thing on his mind.

"I'm going to kill you. You win if you survive."

"Shigaraki, don't underestimate him."

"Shut up."

Gon beamed, fire lighting in his eyes. "Okay!"

He shot forward, straight for Shigaraki, and made his move.

This was the first time he'd be fighting someone since he went back home, and he really really hoped hands-guy was strong enough for him to put all his training to use.

His hopes were unfortunately crushed when his challenger immediately slammed against the brick wall, leaving behind a deep crater from the sheer force of impact.

All from a single push.

Coughing as he was slumped on the wall, he all of a sudden began laughing.

"Freecss..."

"No, call me Gon."

Another dry laugh from his defeated opponent. His head rose to make eye contact with him, grinning behind the hand covering his face as he slightly jolted from every shock of pain. Blood trickled down his forehead, but he still managed to rise from his spot on the ground.

"You'll be a fun toy to play with, Gon," he cackled.

Chapter Text

Killua knew Aizawa was both a Pro Hero—a generously paid profession—and a teacher at apparently one of the most prestigious schools in the world. So why did his current "guardian" live in such a boring apartment?

The building as a whole wasn't so bad. It mainly looked to house studio apartments for those with extra money deciding to live on their own, but as he stepped into Aizawa's apartment, the first thing he noticed was how horridly bland everything was. Because no effort was put into decorating the interiors, it left his home down to its bare essentials; a couch and television in the living room, a kitchen with absolutely no color variety, and just one tidy bathroom. It was like his entire home had experienced an extreme minimalist movement. Before he had the chance to peek in Aizawa's room, he was blocked by the man in question's arm.

"Don't go in there," he said. "I'll grab a futon for you so you don't have to sleep on the couch."

Killua made a noise of acknowledgement and plopped down in front of the TV. Reaching for the remote, he said, "Can I get a phone with that, too?"

"For?"

"I wanna learn about where I am."

He hesitated, looking at him with scrupulous eyes. "I only have one phone, and I don't know if I trust you enough to mess with it."

"And yet you trust me enough to sleep in the same apartment..." he groaned in annoyance.

No reply was made, and Aizawa disappeared into his room. Killua found himself sluggishly channel surfing, giving each station about three to five seconds to successfully capture his attention. It wasn't until he switched onto a news station his interest was piqued; U.A. High School's hero course students were attacked by the League of Villains at USJ in a plot to kill the symbol of peace, All Might. Recalling the way Aizawa quickly hid information about a "USJ attack" as he was snooping over his desk's documents, he safely assumed he was involved in it.

About a week ago, seventy-two criminals were captured, their leader's current whereabouts unknown. So this was the dreaded League of Villains both Nezu and Aizawa were so cautious about him being entangled with? Thinking about it gave Killua an itch, one he didn't remember how to scratch. His senses felt heightened, entire body tingling with anticipation as he tried to imagine what it was like for the hero students as they fought against completely unfamiliar enemies. Part of him almost felt like he wanted to experience that.

"Here," Aizawa said as he watched him step back into the living room. He held a futon, and he motioned for Killua to get his feet off the ground so he could place it.

Suddenly, he had an idea.

Devilishly grinning, he said, "Hey, Homeless-sensei. Neither of us know what my quirk is."

He raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Getting up off the couch, he started stretching, cracking his knuckles as the impatient teacher waited for him to continue. Exhaling as he finished, he said, "Why don't we find out?"

"...I don't like where you're going with this."

"You fight villains for a living, don't you? If I'm such a threat, this is a good opportunity to neutralize me. Scope out my abilities, if you want."

"You say that like you actually are." Disinterestedly moving to set the futon against the wall, he said, "I'm not going to make an effort fighting someone for no reason."

"Fine, then I'll give you a reason," he said, pausing for a moment. Maybe he'd budge if there was something in it for him... "If I win, I get to use your phone. But if you win, I'll stop calling you homeless."

Aizawa almost scoffed. "There's no way you think I care that much about what you call me."

"Ah, come on, old man!" he whined. "It hasn't even been an hour since I've been in your apartment, and I'm already bored when all I want is your stupid phone."

"So when you're bored, you start a fight?" For the first time, he watched as his constant appearance of apathy morphed into a taunting smirk. "No wonder Nezu thought you were a threat."

From all of this, Aizawa was supposed to be the one who felt fed up, not Killua. And yet, that's exactly how it was at the moment. He almost wanted to furiously run out the door and leave on his own, but boring-old-stupid-homeless man would come chasing after him with that scarf of his as soon as he dashed towards the door (that was one way of starting a fight, but it felt way too much like some cheap tactic.) The scarf actually did make him curious about what it was made of and why he chose it as his weapon, but the only two ways of getting his questions answered were either talking to him or fighting him; and he knew both of them preferred different options. Still, he found himself carrying out the former as he finally sat back down on the couch, feet up off the ground this time. All that stretching for nothing, he thought.

"What's your quirk supposed to be?"

Crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall, he said, "Erasure. I can temporarily erase people's quirks by looking at them."

"Use it on me."

Aizawa let out an actual laugh. Grabbing the futon, he finally was able to set it down on the ground since Killua's feet weren't in the way. He began walking back to his bedroom, but stopped right outside of the door. Turning his head to face Killua, he said, "Go to bed. School starts at 8:25."

"Huh? It's still so early..." It was only 7 PM, and judging Aizawa by looks alone, he wouldn't be surprised if he were a frequent all-nighter. Also, there was no way he'd be able to sleep after getting himself fired up for an unfortunately rejected fight, and he didn't know how Aizawa expected him to do just that.

"Instead of fighting villains, I have to keep you here. I'm using this time to catch up on my sleep."

"Hey, you haven't even answered me about your quirk, yet."

"I'll use it when I need it. By the way, don't even think of leaving while I'm in there. I'll know if you do." And on that note, Aizawa disappeared behind the door as he shut it.

Stupid, how's he supposed to know? Killua thought, but he knew better than to give into the temptation of running away. He knew there was no real place for him to run to, but that just made him more frustrated with his current situation because he was ultimately trapped.

Turning his attention back to the TV to soothe his thoughts, he noticed they were still talking about U.A. High School. Only, the topic changed from the USJ attack to an upcoming sports festival they held apparently every year.

This whole hero school thing kept Killua's mind working harder than it should. Even with amnesia, it was such a foreign concept to him; heroes and villains in general. Nezu had briefly touched upon the topic during their little meeting, but there was so much more he wanted to know, like, what exactly makes a hero in society's eyes? What makes a villain? He couldn't form an answer to either of those questions, and he didn't think he ever could while his mind was without its memories. So, for now, he decided he'd try and figure out what his quirk was.

He held his hands out, palms facing up as he stared at them and waited for something to happen. Quirks could be absolutely anything, and he was determined to catch at least a hint of what it was. It wasn't even guaranteed it'd be something to do with his hands, but he assumed instinct would become one of the major factors in the whole process.

"Come on," he mumbled to himself, squinting his eyes as he tried hard to focus.

If everyone at U.A. could use their quirks well enough to come out of a villain fight alive, he should at least be able to feel something, no matter how small. But as he found himself silently counting the lines across his palms, he realized nothing had changed in the ten minutes he'd been staring at his empty hands. His back fell straight on the couch as he loudly groaned in exasperation. Weren't quirks supposed to be as simple as breathing? Nezu had described it as an extension of one's body, but there was absolutely nothing he could detect past his four limbs.

Maybe his quirk was like Aizawa's, where it'd only be noticeable when other people are present. But trying to view it through that perspective instinctively felt so wrong. Either way, trying to bring out his quirk right now was proving to be useless.

He chose to watch TV until he felt tired enough to sleep. If he were being honest with himself, he hadn't felt the least bit tired ever since he woke up in the infirmary. Although, by the time he noticed still sunlight shining through the windows, he decided a short nap would suffice. Just in case.

A shower, small breakfast, and an awkwardly quiet trip later, it was now 8:24 AM; exactly one minute before Aizawa's class started.

"You're pretty late for a teacher," Killua teased, but sadly got no visible reaction.

"Just follow me," he said, and hopped inside.

Hopped, because for some reason, he decided to show up to school wearing a bright yellow sleeping bag that was zipped up right under his face.

As the yellow potato sack entered the room, he could hear the loud conversations of the students quickly die down.

One foot in the door, and a familiar voice resonated throughout the room.

"EVERYONE! Please take your seats, Aizawa-sensei is here!"

A silent beat passed, and as fast as the conversation died, everyone's attention immediately turned to the mysterious white-haired boy who entered their classroom for the second time (albeit more conventionally than the first.)

"Hey, it's Zoldyck!" the bubbly girl from yesterday gushed, cheerily waving at him from her seat.

"He's back here?" an unrecognizable voice said.

"Woah, the guy who lost his memories?"

"Aw, he looks like a cute little doll!"

"No way! He's like Todoroki if he only had ice..."

"What kind of a name is Zoldyck?"

And slowly but surely, the roar of conversation was just as loud as it had been before. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Iida sucking in a big breath. Probably another loud reprimand against his fellow students.

"EVERYBODY! PLEASE CALM DOWN!"

That got their attention.

Clearing his throat, he continued, "I know there are many things you have to say about Zoldyck, but please refrain from further derailing our class schedule!"

He turned around to face Aizawa, and the teacher gave him an affirmative nod before he sat down at his desk.

"It took you a full minute to shut up. Don't make me go through that again."

The class professed their apologies in unison, one hand over Killua's mouth as he attempted to hold back his laughter.

"Anyway," he continued, "the sports festival is in a week. I expect you've been hard at work, training to do your best."

Some determined nods came from the students as they listened to their homeroom teacher. Killua recalled what information he gathered from the news while it reported on the sports festival. From what it seemed, it was just a big contest to see who was the strongest out of a big group of young teenagers. It was odd to him, but then again, most things were.

"Put on your gym clothes, we're heading out."

Murmurs and groans came from the students, but they still managed to efficiently follow directions as they walked out the door to get changed. Killua found Aizawa staring at him once everyone had left.

"What?"

Before wobbling out the door, he answered, "Don't make a fool of yourself."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Killua asked, mostly just saying it to himself since he'd already left the room. Clicking his tongue, he followed the teacher out the door.

Killua lagged behind Aizawa as they made their way towards the P.E. Grounds. As he got closer to the group of students waiting for their teacher, their interests were again on him. Though, they hesitated to strike another loud conversation since Aizawa was closely approaching.

"We're going to be doing hand-to-hand combat training," he said once he reached his desired post. "No using quirks."

Students were shocked over the additional direction, scratching their heads and expressing quiet distaste.

"But, Aizawa-sensei," one student piped up, "isn't this the complete opposite of what you told us the first time you brought us out here?"

"No, Sero," another with a high ponytail answered. "That was to gauge our quirks' capabilities in regular school activities. Since hand-to-hand combat isn't generally taught, Aizawa-sensei wants all of us to learn the basics without the interference of our quirks."

"Quirks make us stronger anyway, though. Wouldn't it drag us down if we didn't learn to use them like this...?"

"Yeah! I wanna make my fighting style stronger through my quirk!"

"Quiet down," Aizawa scolded, and the class shamefully complied. "Ashido," he specified, looking at a pink-skinned girl with black sclera, "you can't have a fighting style if you still don't know how to fight." Ashido pouted, but she continued to pay attention as the teacher carried on his lesson to the rest of the class.

"Those who solely depend on their quirk will be put at a disadvantage once they're in a situation where they cannot use it. If things ever come down to that, you'll be forced to depend on your own combat skills, which, I've noticed a few of you are already well-versed in. Still, this is something everyone in class should experience at least once. Specific things like punching, blocking, dodging, should come naturally if you have good combat sense, and that's something I can't teach.

"Today, we will be sparring against each other in pairs. Change your partners every eight minutes. Good luck," he said, as he started a timer.

With that, the students picked their partners and immediately started fighting. Killua noticed a few students who Aizawa was likely referring to when calling them well-versed; some guy with a tail and one with a bunch of arms standing out the most. They weren't fighting each other, but in their separate battles he could tell they had the most experience in close-range combat out of their whole class. It was probably due to their quirks simply adding on extra limbs instead of some other magical-esque aspect, so they pretty much had to learn this way of fighting.

The rest of the class?

Their skills were laughable. Some students, such as one with odd two-toned hair and another with ashy, somehow spiky hair, had decent experience, but they were still considerably sloppy or predictable. There was an enormous gap between the first two students who stood out to him and the rest of the class, and a probably even wider one between the class as a whole and their homeroom teacher.

"She's going in for a kick, stupid," he mumbled out loud as he spectated one match. "Don't fall for it agai—and... you fell for it."

This was the supposed number one hero school in the world? If these were the students they were pushing to be top heroes, it was embarrassing.

"You look happy," Aizawa sarcastically observed, still speaking from inside his sleeping bag.

Killua noticed his brows had furrowed as he was scrutinizing the students. Looking in Aizawa's direction, he simply said, "They're bad at this."

"And you're one to judge?"

Shaking his head, he said, "I saw how the news talked about that USJ attack. Either those villains were actual shit at fighting, or those quirks you told them not to use are really, really powerful."

He made no reply, only a small grimace upon hearing him swear. Instead, a small student with weird looking balls on his head walked up to Aizawa. Actually, he more or less crawled over there, since he somehow already had bruises starting to form all over the visible parts of his body, as well as having a beat up bloody nose.

"C-can I go to Recovery Girl...?"

A grunt came from Aizawa. "Go ahead."

The eight minute timer went off, and students scrambled to find their next match. Except for one...

"OI! NO ONE WANTS TO FIGHT ME?!"

It was the ashy haired boy Killua observed earlier. It seemed everyone had chosen their partners, and one student leaving to get taken care of by that hag caused an odd turnout.

"Fine, then. FINE! AIZAWA-SENSEI!"

Something about the murderous tone in his voice being mixed in with the formal declaration of Aizawa's name made him crack up. That attracted the angry teen's attention, as he now glared daggers at Killua.

An even deeper scowl formed across his features. "What's so funny?!"

"Nothing," he said as he raised his hands in fabricated innocence, holding back a smirk.

"What is it, Bakugou?" Aizawa deadpanned.

"They're too damn scared of fighting me!"

"That's not my fault."

"IT'S NOT! BUT YOU'RE THE TEACHER!"

A long exhale escaped his mouth. "Then wait until the next time we switch."

Bakugou let out a small string of curses before grudgingly taking his suggestion, standing with his arms crossed and a sour expression on his face. Killua thought that'd be the end of it until he caught his angry gaze.

"What are you still doing here, anyway? You're not a fuckin' student."

"Bakugou," Aizawa scolded.

"Yeah, you're right," Killua grinned. "If Homeless-sensei let me, I'd be here as a teacher!"

"A...teacher...?" Bakugou seethed. "ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON ME, FREAK?"

Man, it was almost too easy.

"Duh. Teachers are supposed to be better than their students, right?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bakugou's fists clench tighter, his fingernails daring to break through the skin of his own palms. "You're a fucking amnesiac. You're not supposed to know shit about combat, pretentious asshole."

Killua admitted to himself that the angry porcupine had a point. He hadn't been in a single fight (thanks to Aizawa for turning him down!) and he had nothing to go off of other than his instincts. But, just like how he relied on his instincts when trying to figure out his quirk last night, he felt like letting them help him out once again.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's like swimming or riding a bike. Combat is second nature to me."

"Second nature?! You're just a damn extra who doesn't even belong here. I don't need to waste my time on you!"

He strided over to rejoin his class, but quickly realized...

"While you two brats were arguing, the timer already went off. You have to wait another eight minutes, Bakugou," Aizawa said.

"SHUT UP! I KNOW!" he screamed, hot fire blazing behind his red irises. He swiftly pointed his finger towards Killua. "Oi, cat face! This is your fault!"

Cat face?

Relaxing his hands behind his head, he said, "I don't need to watch the timer. I'm not even participating, stupid."

Bakugou, even if he was completely livid, took the time to assess Killua, eyes slowly (but furiously) scanning him over. "You really think you're some strong ass, motherfucking combat expert? Fucking prove it."

Was...

"Zoldyck is still considered a threat," Aizawa interrupted. "We don't kno—"

"I DON'T CARE! He shows up unconscious out of nowhere, and now he has the balls to think he can teach us? Bullshit!"

Was he finally going to fight someone?

A diabolical smirk grew on his face, perfectly matching the nickname he was given by the hothead. "Okay, I will."

The pair trudged through the midst of the sparring students. Everyone slowly took notice of what was going on between the two, and few of them even paused mid-battle to watch.

Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his arm. Turning around, he found Midoriya and his giant, worried green eyes.

"Zoldyck! Are you fighting K-Kacchan?!"

This stuttering mess of a guy called that angry bastard Kacchan?

"Yeah," he answered, trying to hide his laughter.

"I-I... Just... Please be careful."

"Don't worry, it'll be over quick," he grinned.

Finally, Killua and Bakugou stopped and stood about 15 feet apart. Most of the students were watching, starting to surround them. Looking around some more, he couldn't spot Aizawa. Oh well, he thought, at least he won't interfere.

He kept thinking about Midoriya's genuine worry. From what he saw as he was observing the matches before, Bakugou was an aggressive fighter. He held great intellect and the raw power to go along with it, but the angrier he got, the more details he'd overlook, leading to sloppy and predictable moves.

"He looks so fragile!" a voice from the crowd said.

"Too bad Bakugou can't use his quirk."

"Too bad?! He'd kill the little guy!"

"Hey, how old even is he?"

"Fais gaffe!"

Bakugou cracked his knuckles. "You got eight minutes, cat face."

"I only need a second."

He didn't need to exploit Bakugou's weakness. He just thought it was funny to make him mad.

"You bastard..." His fists clenched as he took an offensive fighting stance. In contrast, Killua stood still, one hand in his pocket, further angering his opponent. "Are you trying to go easy on me?" he snarled.

"If I went all out..."

Killua smirked.

"I'd kill you."

At that point, he looked like a wild animal; clenched teeth, darkened eyes, and a deafening roar as his feet blasted off the ground, leaving behind a trail of dust.

"DIEEE...!"

A quarter of a second.

Bakugou was charging at him in what seemed like slow motion. His arms were straight behind him, leaving him open basically everywhere. Not like he could move to block quick enough, anyway.

Half a second.

Killua dashed forward, raising his arm up about head level.

Three quarters of a second.

They were now side by side, catching each others' gaze. Killua saw something change in Bakugou's eyes.

One second.

Killua's arm crashed down, hand connecting to Bakugou's neck in a swift chop.

Bakugou collapsed on the ground, and Killua, for the first time, rendered every student speechless.

Shoving his hand back in his pocket, he clicked his tongue and quietly said, "I told you."

He raised his head to look around at the surrounding students, who were silently staring at either him or the student unconscious on the ground. Had he made a bad impression...?

No, it didn't matter what these kids thought about him. Bakugou was right, he wasn't even a student, so he—

"Dude..." someone said, breaking the heavy silence.

Killua looked to the source of the voice, as did everyone else.

"That... was so... MANLY!"

"You beat BAKUGOU?!"

"He actually took one second..."

"Hold on," the student with the high ponytail said as she walked right up to him. "This was supposed to be a quirkless battle. No one can move that fast without a quirk."

"You're right, Yaoyorozu," Aizawa said from behind the crowd, students making way for the teacher's sudden appearance. He looked different from before... The yellow sleeping bag was nowhere to be seen, and now his hair was standing straight up. "These are quirkless battles. And because Zoldyck still hasn't remembered what his quirk is, I used mine on him. It was so, if he holds a dangerous quirk, no one would get seriously hurt if it suddenly appeared during the fight.

"But because I used it and he still managed to... knock Bakugou out, we know he wasn't using a quirk."

A chorus of sounds of amazement took over the crowd, some questioning how he could possibly be that fast, others questioning the possibilities of what his quirk could be, and the rest still wondering how someone who looked like a "cute little doll" was able to so easily defeat someone as strong and scary as Bakugou.

"Zoldyck," Aizawa continued, holding Killua under his scrutinizing glare, "do you know what this means?"

"Uh..." he trailed. "I can use your phone now?"

"No," he said, sighing. "You're much more of a threat than we thought."

Killua frowned. "I beat a guy in a battle he started."

"Class is over," Aizawa called out to the rest of the students, ignoring Killua. "Go get changed for your next class."

The class dispersed, heading into the locker rooms.

He turned his attention back to the sulking Killua, a look of uncertainty plastered on his face as he said, "We need to see Nezu again."

"So where's the other one?" Shigaraki asked Kurogiri once Gon was out of hearing range.

"I don't know," he answered. "It would make things easier for us if we knew who they even are, but we don't. We just have to make sure Freecss doesn't run into them."

"Ah, that sucks." A smile grew on his face. "I'm excited, though."

"Hm?"

He snapped his head towards the bartender, cracked grin still present on his face. "To use Gon. That little brat... he won against me by pushing me. And he doesn't even have a quirk."

"All For One did say he was supposed to be incredibly strong." Kurogiri sighed. "And with that stunt you pulled yesterday, our need for a healer increases even more."

The younger man laughed and stood up from the bar stool, back facing the bartender as he walked to the middle of the room. Twirling around to face him once again, he said, "You know, I just got a fun idea."

"And? What is it?"

A fiendish look glazed over his eyes. "How do you think he'll fare against a Nomu?"

Chapter Text

Gon had been told not to leave the bar, and the only other places he'd been allowed to go to were the bathroom and the little balcony outside. It was cramped, but not the absolute worst place he'd been in. Thinking over the situation some more, he still had no idea how any of this happened. It seemed as if one second he was on Whale Island being homeschooled by Aunt Mito, then the next, he was waking up in a bar with two strange men immediately questioning his strength and abilities; not to mention the fact that it seemed there were obvious black holes in his memory...

He whipped his head around to the deep Shigaraki-shaped crater in the brick wall. Geez.

"Hey, Kurogiri," he called out.

The smoky man turned his attention to the boy swinging his legs back and forth on the couch. "Yes, Freecss?"

"Where's Shigaraki?"

"Ah..." he murmured as he wiped down a wine bottle. "Out on a walk, I presume."

"Aw man," he whined.

A quiet moment passed.

Gon's stare still lingered on Kurogiri.

"Uh... yes?"

"Are you a Chimera Ant?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, I guess not, then."

Kurogiri exhaled. Recalling the way All For One described the quirk, he definitely wasn't expecting an "immensely powerful" person to take the form of a kid about as young as the students they had just fought more than a week ago. Shigaraki hadn't even fully healed from all the bullet wounds yet, and now the head injury from Freecss's push was simply the cherry on top of a melted sundae.

"Kurogiri!" Gon called, standing up from the couch.

"Yes?"

He walked over to the bar, taking a seat and meeting eyes with him. "Can you tell me why I'm here?"

There was the million dollar question. He hadn't properly discussed with Shigaraki on what they'd tell him if he ever asked, so whatever he'd say now might be the one thing that'd either keep this kid here or have him walking out the door. Or, worst case scenario, he was going to beat him up for being a villain and then report their hideout to the police.

In times like these, Kurogiri wanted so badly to question All For One's judgement. After all, why bring in such an unknown, completely random variable? If he's as powerful as he said he was, that may mean he'd be completely uncontrollable. Besides, this kid reminded him a bit too much of another green-haired student with a strength quirk...

He sighed. "Yes, I can."

"Really?!" Gon beamed, jumping out his seat and gripping the table like he was an excited puppy.

"We brought you here. Our organization needs your strength, so I apologize for the rough introduction yesterday." It was the truth, but it was ambiguous enough to not set off any red flags.

"Oh, wow! Does this mean there's other strong people like me?"

"Definitely. But considering how things went with Shigaraki, they're no match for you."

"Hm..." he pouted, sitting back down. As he crossed his arms, he said, "So... what organization is this?"

There was only one way to answer that question. He just hoped that whatever universe he came from, that buzz word didn't have so much of a negative connotation as it did here.

"The League of Villains."

Kurogiri hesitantly glanced over at the boy's face to see if he made any adverse reaction, but... he didn't. At all. He still had the same curious look on his face. Ever since he got here—other than looking a bit bored at times—not once had he seen him grow suspicious of either him or Shigaraki or make any moves to escape. He had diligently followed their orders even while he seemed to be perfectly capable of defying them, then defeating both of them at the same time.

"League of Villains, huh..." he trailed, rubbing his chin. "I've never heard of it. Hey, what did you need my help for?"

This kid just kept asking questions with no ulterior motive. It was pure curiosity.

"We... haven't figured that out, yet."

"Oh, okay." Gon swiveled around in his bar stool. Then, he abruptly stopped and looked straight back at Kurogiri. "Are you sure I can't go out on my own?"

"Not until we trust you enough to stay with us."

"Eh? But I trust you."

He couldn't help but mentally stumble over that sentence. Already, he was willing to help out an obviously dangerous organization for no real reason? What kind of universe did this kid come from, exactly?

"I... guess you can ask Shigaraki about it when he comes back." He found it unlikely he'd agree to Freecss's request considering the reason he wasn't currently present in the first place.

His answer brought yet another bright grin upon Gon's face as he said a quick thanks.

As if on cue, the door to the outside opened to reveal a bandaged Shigaraki.

"Shigaraki!" Gon darted towards the man, bright green boots skidding to a halt as he stopped right in front of him. "Where'd you go?"

"I was getting you a... gift," he spat.

"Wow, really? Even after I cracked your skull?"

"That's exactly why I got you one, brat."

And there was the bitterness that came after a lost battle. He remembered, even as Shigaraki was laughing and bleeding on the floor of the bar, he could practically feel the sore attitude dripping from his words. It was even worse considering the fact he had just lost the battle at U.A. and was still recovering from it (both physically and mentally.) At least, maybe calling Freecss a "toy" meant he didn't necessarily see him as an opponent—he was just a tool to further his success.

He gestured for Gon to follow him outside, and he did, bouncing on the soles of his shoes as his wish to finally go outside by himself was partly granted.

Shigaraki, Kurogiri anxiously thought as he watched the door close, leaving him alone. What in the world are you up to?

A few minutes passed and the pair had walked into the warehouse filled with the destructive nomus. Shigaraki had just led Gon into a separate, enclosed room, with one waiting inside.

"This is Nomu," he said, referring to the giant monster mindlessly standing next to him.

It wasn't as strong as he liked it to be, but he couldn't wait any longer. He wanted to see Gon's true strength... and see him get hurt.

Sensei said that whoever was going to work with them, they were going to be strong. But this kid, this cheerful little brat, was way too strong for his liking. He hadn't even gotten the chance to lay a single finger on him when he challenged him to that death match, and the kid wasn't even using a quirk! Or... what did he call it?

Nen?

"Hello, Nomu! I'm Gon!"

The brat held his hand out for the nomu to shake.

"You idiot," he said, "it's mindless. It only follows my orders."

Of course he'd think it was a normal person. He'd been all smiles since he arrived, and it annoyed him to no end because, despite how much it got on his nerves, he had personally felt the power hiding behind that joyful disposition.

"Mindless..." he murmured. "Is he alive?"

"Yeah."

For the first time, he hadn't responded. Shigaraki glanced over at the boy, and noticed the kid was actually thinking about something rather than blabbing his mouth off.

"Oi," he said, causing Gon to snap back to reality. "I want you to fight the nomu."

"...Why?"

"Eh?" he exclaimed. "Why? Because if you don't, it's going to kill you."

Before he could move to make any response, Shigaraki immediately commanded the nomu to attack Gon.

The nomu wasn't as reliable as the one deployed at USJ, but it still packed quite a punch since it focused more on the offense side of things. It held two quirks: Shock Absorption and Five-Ton Punch. Shock Absorption was what the USJ nomu worked with, too, but the latter was one Sensei had been recently experimenting with. This nomu was able to hit someone with the weight of two elephants; clearly more than how much power behind Gon's push was.

A single hand reached to irritatingly scratch the side of his neck as he dreaded the bandages wrapped around his forehead.

It was just a push.

He watched as the nomu started approaching Gon, eyeballs focused on one thing—killing. But despite Shigaraki's actions, he preferred that the boy didn't die. If he couldn't get out of this fight with his life, it meant he'd wasted all this time on dealing with things weaker than the powerful nomus he already had complete control of. It was just another toy Sensei gifted him, and it never hurt to try and break them a little.

"It was just a chop," Killua muttered to the rat behind the desk.

"A paralyzing chop that you traveled ten miles per hour with absolutely zero air resistance for!" Nezu said, that permanent smile still plastered on his face.

"That's not that fast..."

"You know that's not how that works, Zoldyck," Aizawa grunted. "Do you know what people look like when they run that fast? They move their arms and legs. Whatever you did out there looked like teleportation, and somehow, it wasn't a quirk 'cause I couldn't erase it."

This is stupid, Killua thought. He was somehow on a new level of being a threat all because he was fast. What's next, he was going to be locked up for being able to twist open a stubborn bottle of water? It wasn't his fault that hothead wasn't quick enough to block or jump out of the way. Besides, he was the one who wanted the fight. He was the one who underestimated his abilities, and he rightfully got what he deserved.

Loudly groaning, Killua said, "Okay, I'm fast. So what?"

"It seems Aizawa here is troubled by the idea of his quirk being unable to stop someone with the raw strength and capabilities that normally dive into quirk-territory," he said. "But you have grabbed my attention as well. I cannot ask you questions about how you became this way because you simply have no memories to answer with. So then, I only have one question for you, Zoldyck."

"Shoot."

The small principal hopped down from his giant leather chair. Killua watched as he strolled up to him, paws clasped behind his back as his small smile most likely contradicted what he imagined went on in his mind.

"Will you become a student in class 1-A?"

...Did I hear him right?

A loud "WHAT?!" resonated throughout the office, comprised of both Killua's and Aizawa's synchronized voices.

"Nezu, I brought this kid back here because he's a danger to the students, and possibly even the staff. You—"

"I'm more of a danger than that angry asshole?!"

"—can't possibly consider keeping him here on equal footing as them while we still have no idea where he came from?"

Nezu turned his gaze to Aizawa. "Plus Ultra!" he cheered, raising a little furry fist in the air.

That left the teacher in an even more confused state.

"Go Beyond, Plus Ultra!" he continued, putting his paw back down. "Heroes must take risks to save people. Isn't that right, Eraserhead?"

"What kind of a stupid name is Eraserhead?"

Ignoring his insolence, Aizawa replied, "What does that have to do with any of this?"

"Zoldyck may be rightfully perceived as a threat," the principal grinned, "but, of all things, he is still a child. A lost child who has nothing to his name; not even his own memories. For now, he at least deserves a normal life experience."

Aizawa's lips pressed into a tight line.

Nezu was about to continue, but Killua once again interrupted, his own arms crossed, paired with a sour expression. He said, "I don't need your help."

And he really didn't. He may not remember his own life, but considering he had beat the "scariest" student in the whole school—concerning his safety, at least—there was nothing to worry about. Hell, he probably could even beat Aizawa; the person who was deemed to be the only one able to keep him "under control". His quirk was useless against him, meaning he'd either try to engage into close quarters combat (a bad move since Killua'd simply go for another quick chop to the neck) or keep him away with his scarf. However, he'd been caught in it once already. There wasn't enough time for him to discern what material it was, but it was definitely strong... but most likely not strong enough to keep Killua from easily tearing it apar—

"What exactly do you plan on accomplishing, then, Zoldyck?" Nezu said, interrupting his train of thought.

"I..." he trailed off, trying to piece the right words together. "I need to remember what I was doing before getting here."

"Of course," he said. "I hope you know that we are not trying to hold you back, though. After all, you remembered your own name after running into one of the students here! I believe the process to recovery would go by much smoother if you were put in a familiar environment."

Familiar environment...?

Then, he remembered.

Killua stared into the principal's beady eyes and said, "I never went to school."

Something shifted behind his eyes, but he quickly averted his attention on them by immediately speaking. "All the more reason to attend U.A.!"

He scratched his head. What exactly would he gain out of actually going to school here? Midoriya did help him regain one memory, but he doubted he'd help any more than that, considering he felt so much more alien once he finally turned around to face him. Plus, the rest of the students were much, much weaker than him, so he'd be bored out of his mind if he were asked to spar against them. School... just didn't feel like the right place for him.

Even then, what other options were there? He was sure he could outmatch Aizawa and run away, but since the whole school was even warier of him than before, he'd probably be considered on the same level as a villain, therefore making it hard for him to show his face anywhere. Another was for him to continue in his current situation, simply tagging along with Aizawa to his classes... but that was also boring. At least, if he were a student, having a varied schedule meant he didn't have to stay with him 24/7.

No matter how unsure he was of his final decision, the small white rat kept on staring at him with his soulless button eyes, telepathically prodding him to hurry up and answer.

"Okay, I'll enroll. Only 'cause it gives me more time away from Homeless-sensei," he said as he crossed his arms, a tiny smirk appearing soon after mentioning the rugged teacher. However, it quickly disappeared as continued his speech. "And... it's not like there's anything else I can do, anyway..."

"Finally, there's that intelligence I had sensed in you!" Nezu happily replied, albeit a little condescendingly.

The last person in the room let out a long sigh, further heating up the insides of his scarf. "You're still gonna have to stay with me, though."

"Well, Aizawa, he doesn't need to stay with you anymore," the principal said, earning two surprised reactions. "He only went with you under the impression that you could stop his quirk. Even if his quirk is stronger than his—presumably—raw strength, stopping it would prove useless."

"Useless?"

"Yes! If Zoldyck wanted to cause trouble, I'm confident that, even without a quirk, he would do perfectly fine. That is just an example, of course. I very much prefer that he does not misbehave!"

Aizawa clicked his tongue. "Okay. What about if it's strong, and he can't control it?"

"Hm, quirks are similar to muscles, aren't they? If his body remembers how to fight, I am positively sure he can remember how to use his quirk."

The teacher—no, his teacher, now—slowly nodded to that. Then he caught the rat staring at him again.

"But, of course, if you wish to know what I truly think about this whole forgotten quirk ordeal, I recommend taking an x-ray."

An x-ray?

"You think this kid's quirkless?"

"It is a hunch."

"You and your hunches..."

A small grunt from Aizawa sounded through the office as Killua pondered the information given to him. Quirkless? Maybe that was the reason nothing happened when he tried to force his quirk out yesterday.

"Anyway," Nezu continued, "If you wanted Zoldyck off your hands, I'd be glad to phone in some of class 1-A's families to see if any of them are able to care for him! I strongly believe this arrangement would work out for the both of you."

"Hold on," Killua said, "I'm gonna live with my own classmates?"

"If one is willing to take you in, yes! I understand that having only one caregiver can be stressful for both sides, so I am confident that both your needs will be satisfied. Aizawa can go back to his solitary way of living, and you get to live with the privileges only a family can provide!"

...So he didn't even have to stay with a Pro Hero anymore?

"If you need time to think about it, I can—"

"Nope, you can call 'em right now!" he grinned, planting his feet apart and his hands on his hips. "Hey, accept the first family that says they can take me in. I wanna get this over with quick."

"Feelings' mutual," his teacher mumbled.

And then, once everything was settled, Nezu began searching through class 1-A students' files for phone numbers as the pair exited the office.

So it really was a good move enrolling in U.A. High School, huh? As long as he didn't have a Pro Hero watching his every move, that meant he had a lot more freedom to do what he wanted.

Lunch came, and Killua once again ate in the teacher's lounge while Aizawa worked at his cubicle. He unfortunately didn't get the chance to meet up with any students he recognized, but he'd get the chance to every day once he'd formally enrolled. After a couple mind-numbing hours, the school day finally came to an end as the bell rang.

Right as he was getting up from the couch, he found himself looking at Aizawa as he was walking towards him.

"Hey, don't you wanna know if you're quirkless or not?" he said, tired voice as monotone as ever.

Killua looked him in the eye. "Don't I have to get x-rayed for that?"

"Yeah. As you already know, we have a nurse."

A scowl formed on his face. "That old hag?"

Even with the distaste he held for Recovery Girl, he ended up on his way to the infirmary as he was led by his teacher. And, surprisingly, that hag wasn't even the worst thing he had to deal with upon opening the door.

"FUCKING CAT FACE?!"

Yep. He was here, too.

"Huh?" he laughed, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not here for you, stupid."

The explosive teen leapt from his spot on the bed and clenched his fists tight, yelling, "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't even need to be here!"

"And if you weren't so weak, you—"

"Shut up, both of you," Aizawa hissed. "Bakugou, if you're strong enough to jump up and scream like that, you can go home. And Zoldyck, don't give me a reason to expel you when you haven't even started your first day yet."

"Expel...?" Bakugou mumbled. It only took him a second to realize what his teacher exactly meant by that. Their teacher. "This... you're letting this fucking bastard kid be a student?!"

"We'll all talk about this tomorrow, Bakugou," Aizawa grumbled.

"Yeah," Killua smiled, placing his hands on his hips, "I can't wait to see you tomorrow, classmate!"

"No," he seethed, sturdily planting himself right in front of Killua as he glared him in the eye (he had to look a way down, though. Their height difference was a little much.) "We're talking about this now."

Killua let his arms fall from his hips, instead choosing to cross them at his chest. "Didn't you hear Homeless-sensei? Come on, don't make me repeat him, or else I'd really be acting like a teacher!"

"Shut up! Whose idea was it for you to be a student, anyway? You don't belong here, no matter what anyone tries to tell you!"

"Everyone, STOP!"

All three of them turned to the source of the voice, realizing they had all forgotten the reason they visited the infirmary in the first place.

Recovery Girl pointed a finger at Aizawa. "They've been screaming at each other for the past five minutes. It's your job to control your own students!" she chided.

"That's what I've been doing," he said, hands roughly massaging his face. "Bakugou, Zoldyck's only here for Recovery Girl. Just go home already."

Bakugou clicked his tongue. Miraculously, he stormed towards the exit, but opened his mouth to make sure he got in the last word. "I'm not done with you, cat face," he snarled, slamming the door shut.

"Thought he'd never leave," Killua lazily said, bringing his arms up and relaxing his head in his hands.

What is that kid's problem? he thought. Was he really that bitter over a lost fight he instigated? Sure, people get mad when they lose... but he brings it to a whole new level.

"Come here," Aizawa said, motioning for Killua to the x-ray machine. "Take off your shoe."

"What?"

After a quick explanation from Recovery Girl, they began x-raying his foot. He truly didn't know what to expect out of it, and, even more, he didn't know what he wanted. Having a quirk meant he could somehow do more than just paralyze someone with a single chop while going at law-breaking speeds. But, Nezu said quirks were just like muscle memory. If so, then why couldn't he just make it... happen? Was it because he really was quirkless? Well, that wouldn't be so bad, either. After all, the rat did also say he was capable of doing essentially whatever he wanted because of his raw strength.

"Okay," Recovery Girl said, snapping him out of his thoughts, "let's see the results."

She gestured towards a TV on the wall that was currently loading up a picture of the x-ray. Three pairs of eyes watched as the defining moment began pixelating on the screen... and...

There was a toe joint.

"So I really am quirkless, huh?" he said. "Looks like the rat's High Specs quirk checks out, then."

"You were doubting it?" Aizawa questioned.

"Oh, definitely. I mean, he did enroll me as a student here."

"You're the one who accepted..."

"It was the least boring option."

Suddenly, Aizawa's phone rang. He took to answering it privately outside the infirmary, leaving Killua alone with the nurse. None of them made any moves for conversation, and while they were fine with not speaking with each other, the silence in the room felt way too heavy. So, he remembered his first visit here. It was just yesterday, but it genuinely felt like it had been months since he'd stayed here. Most likely because he had no other memories to think about.

He put his shoe back on and walked towards the window; the one Aizawa first assumed he was going to escape out of. It had been a while since school ended, but he noticed a few students he didn't recognize were still hanging around the front. Some alone, some standing around and laughing in groups, and others heading outside the gates. So this was what a school was like, huh? Maybe Nezu did have a point when he said he deserved a normal life experience...

Because he never actually got one, didn't he?

He never went to school. He could defeat an opponent in just a second. Even his own last name gave him a bad taste in his mouth. But, the worst part about all that was that he didn't know why or how any of this was possible. He was just a 15 year old boy who suddenly got dropped into the classroom of a superhero high school, and while he understands the way society works, there were too many inconsistencies with the mindset he held and everyone else around him. And he still had no idea what the hell Iida meant by saying they were speaking Japanese!

His teacher entered the room. The look on his face almost looked surprised, but it quickly sank back into his deadpan expression when he laid eyes on Killua. "Nezu found a family who's willing to take you in."

"Already?" he said, turning his body away from the window.

That was quick. Not even a whole day had passed and a family was willing to watch over him without even meeting him yet.

"Yes. They're on their way here to pick you up..."

Wow, and they were determined, too?

"Who is it?"

Aizawa held a blank stare.

"The Mineta household."

Gon pushed off the ground to avoid Nomu's attack, diving to the left to keep his distance. Nomu simply skidded across the concrete, already readying himself for his next attack as he raised his gigantic grey arms to throw another punch at his opponent. Already, Gon could tell how heavy his punches were, as the first one caused a dust cloud within the whole room without actually hitting anything.

He knew enough that Shigaraki wouldn't stop Nomu from majorly injuring him (maybe even killing him.) His only option was to defeat him... but what Shigaraki said about him being mindless really didn't sit right with him.

Before Gon could continue his train of thought, Nomu again pounced after him, fist reeled back as he aimed for his face. This time, he jumped right above him and landed behind his opponent. Soon before he could turn around to try and punch him again, Gon noticed a little ledge at one of the windows near the top of the room. The metal rattled as he leapt on it, but he was far enough from Nomu to make sense of what he was exactly seeing.

"What are you doing?" Shigaraki jeered. "Stop running away. Make this at least a little fun."

"What did you do to him?" he yelled out.

Shigaraki laughed out in disbelief. "What are you talking about, you little brat? Stop treating it like a person, it's getting on my nerves."

"Why does he only follow your orders?"

He noticed he was getting visibly frustrated. His hands were furiously scratching at his neck as he said, "If you kill it, I'll tell you. Why do you even care?"

The entire room shook. Gon looked down and found that Nomu had punched the wall where the ledge he stood on was attached to. He's gonna take down the whole building if he keeps punching, he thought. Returning to the ground with a loud thump, Gon turned to face Nomu.

Why did he care so much? He didn't know who he was. It was just the fact he reminded him of...

His moves were predictable. All he was trying to do was get one good punch at Gon, and all Gon had to do was dodge them and get in close to land one of his own hits. Once Nomu ran towards him, he took off at the same time. Closing in on each other, Gon watched as he reeled his left fist back for yet another blow. Swerving left, he narrowly avoided the attack. But, it gave him enough time to make a move and slam his fist directly in the middle of Nomu's chest, sending him flying across to the opposite side of the room.

Pitou. He reminded him of what Pitou did to Kite. But... Pitou is dead, and Kite is still alive (even if it's in the form of a little girl.) Well, Nomu isn't Kite, so there's no reason he should compare them.

Nomu easily got up right after he had slid down the wall, as if he had taken no damage at all. Perhaps he had a weak spot...? If he did, it might be his exposed brain, no matter how painfully obvious it seemed. Gon ran after Nomu, aiming for his head, rather than his chest this time. Nomu raised his left fist again; it seemed he liked using that to attack. Gon easily avoided it as he approached, focusing all his strength into his own hand, clenching it tight.

He... it was just another nomu, like a bunch of other ones just outside this room. An obstacle he had to overcome if he wanted real answers to what he was doing here.

Gon jumped far above the nomu, instantly diving down to land a finishing blow to its weak spot. It barely had time to react before his fist made contact with its brain, finally crashing down on the ground as it was swiftly defeated.

"There, I did it," Gon said, turning around to face Shigaraki.

"Took you long enough," he groaned. "You still wanna know about the nomus?"

He shook his head. "I wanna know why you wanted it to fight me."

"You wouldn't be any use to us if you couldn't defeat a nomu."

"Okay... So why do you wanna 'use' me? And do I get anything from it? Also, do you know why I can't remember—"

"I'll tell you at the bar," he interrupted. He began walking out of the room while Gon followed from behind. "Just stop asking so many questions, you damn brat. It's annoying."

Gon pouted as he walked behind him. Though, he still somehow managed to find some fun out of the odd situation. Exiting the building, he looked up at the night sky. The stars weren't very bright from all the light pollution, but it was nice to catch a breath of fresh air, no matter how short the trip from building to building was. He almost missed being back on Whale Island with how open and scenic it was, but after years of living like a normal kid, it was about time he once again dipped his toes into a brand new adventure.

Grinning as he watched Shigaraki open the door to the bar, he thought to himself.

I can't wait to write to Aunt Mito about all this!

Chapter Text

"You know..." Mineta cooed, "I've never had a girl at my house, before..."

"HUH?!"

Killua almost knocked the little grape freak unconscious. Almost, but he really, really wanted to.

"I know! I don't know why it took this long, but now that you're here—"

"I'm not a fucking girl!"

"YOU'RE NOT?!"

It had barely been three hours since Killua had met him and it somehow got to the point where he'd rather stay with Aizawa again. Even worse, he wondered if living with Recovery Girl would be better than hanging around this... this...

THE FIRST HOUR.

Killua had to ride on the back of Mineta's bike. He was the only one to pick him up, which was odd enough considering he was expecting a whole family to show up. He actually recognized him as the beat up weird head-balls kid who had asked Aizawa to see Recovery Girl during combat training, but that was barely enough information to know what exactly he was getting into before he climbed onto the back seat.

The first time he noticed that something was definitely off was when Mineta, in some of his first ever words directed to him, said something as they rode down the block.

He turned around to face Killua, putting on the oddest expression. "It's okay, you can put your arms around me so you don't fall off."

"Yeah, I'm not doing that," Killua scoffed.

"Oh, so you're tough, hm? I don't mind that. Actually, I might just enjoy it, heh."

...

...What the hell?

To that, Killua made no reply because he didn't want to risk getting another creepy sentence out of him. Still, that didn't stop the way his face scrunched up in disgust, scooting at the opposite edge of the seat. The random thought of simply just standing on top of the bike to get even further away popped in his mind, but he pushed it aside.

When they finally reached the house, Mineta stopped Killua from going through the front door, instead pointing to the fence.

"We have to jump over it," he said.

That was another red flag.

"...Huh? Why can't we just go through the front door?"

"W-Well... um... I—uh," he mumbled, twiddling his fingers. Then, it seemed he had gained a random boost of confidence as he twirled around to look Killua in the eye, a bold grin on his face. "The front door is a trap!"

A single eyebrow raised on his face. "You just made that up."

Furiously waving his arms in denial, he said, "No, no! I'm being completely honest. Strangers who try to come through the front door will be attacked by our secret security measure that... only... activates if a Mineta doesn't come through... yeah. So, if we go through the back, it won't be activated, and you'll be safe!"

He slapped a palm to his face, frowning in annoyance. "Where's your parents?"

"Oh, so forward already, are we? Well, I... I don't... know."

He wondered how much trouble he'd get in if he straight up just beat the kid to a pulp.

Trying to control the blood pressure building in his head, he followed Mineta as he clumsily climbed over his own fence into the backyard.

THE SECOND HOUR.

Mineta led him to his room and told him to stay there until he came back, which really reminded him an awful lot of what he's already had to go through ever since he woke up in that infirmary. Only, it was worse because he was stuck inside a tiny room with a bunch of... posters of... women. Actual butt-naked women. Not even just posters, but also figurines and magazines and probably a bunch of other things he didn't want to learn about made up about 90% of the room.

Not only did he want to find the kid's parents, but he had a lot of questions for them, too.

The door cracked open, revealing the tiny Mineta holding a plate of food. He neared Killua, setting it down on top of a pile of magazines.

"You should eat," he said.

"Thanks," Killua said through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the fact that it was a clear glass plate and he'd be able to see what gross magazine cover was directly under it. What a great way to ruin his appetite even more, and that wasn't even mentioning the fact that all that was on his plate was a scoop of rice and a single gyoza. Picking at his food, he said, "Hey, I got a question."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Is your whole house this disgusting, or is it just your room?"

"It's not disgusting," he exclaimed, "it's a culture."

"Yeah, of bacteria."

Honestly, how did this kid get into a hero school, anyway? Out of everything he'd seen from him, he was clearly a pervert who needed a restraining order against the entire human race. What was so "heroic" about that? The only good thing he'd done so far was give him something to eat, but he wasn't going to set the bar so low as to say that automatically made him a good person.

"Well, we all have different interests," he said, and proceeded to sit down on his bed. Right next to where Killua was eating.

A cold chill went up his spine, making him shiver on the spot. "Hey! Are you trying to be this creepy, or is that how you naturally are?"

"No, I'm just making sure you're eating well."

"You don't need to—"

"Yes, I do," he interrupted. "How else am I supposed to know if you're being filled in all the right places?!"

Killua paused. He tried to process what the grape boy just said, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was a baffled, "...What?"

Then he had the nerve to give him a concerned look, as if he was the one being weird. "It's just that you're so... skinny," he said.

Killua stood up and pounced away at the speed of light. Trying to keep his eye from twitching (he failed,) he scowled, "What do you care, you creep?"

"Geez, I'm just trying to help you out! Don't blame me if you keep getting jealous of other girls."

And with that, he exited the room without another word, leaving Killua alone with the more than inappropriate room decor and plate of "food".

Other girls?

THE THIRD HOUR.

"YOU'RE NOT?!"

...Was his brain as smooth as the balls on his head?

"Are you that stupid?! Of course I'm not!"

The both of them stood in the backyard after Killua told him he wanted to get some "fresh air" (partly true, because he was also planning on slipping out of sight and finding where his parents were so he could make sense of everything.) Unfortunately, Mineta tagged along and decided that this was the moment he'd make his move... which ultimately led to the big reveal before him.

"So I brought you here myself for nothing?!"

"You actual degenerate," he shot, then registered in his mind the words Mineta just spoke. "Wait, what do you mean by, 'brought you here myself?'"

He fumbled over his speech, looked in every direction except Killua's face, and finally sputtered a quick, "Um."

Then it all clicked. The reason he hadn't seen his parents, AKA the people who were supposed to be his caregivers? They probably didn't even know Killua was here, which was why Mineta restricted him from open areas in his house. He most likely answered Nezu's call before his parents could, accepted it, and then biked over to the school because this pathetic three-foot tall idiot wanted the chance for a girl to get in his bedroom that badly.

Upon telling grape boy his theory, he hesitantly confirmed his suspicions.

So, he gave him a good roundhouse kick to the jaw, cleanly knocking him out from the impact.

Taking a good look at the unconscious boy lying on the grass, he silently celebrated his work. "I've been wanting to do that for ages," he said out loud, grudgingly leaving the Mineta residence to find a better place to stay (but really, any place would be better than having to live with someone like that.)

A few hours passed, and instead of finding shelter for the night, he was basically parkouring all across town, exploring all the different areas he had never been able to before. He didn't know exactly what compelled him so much to start jumping across the roofs of buildings instead of walking normally, but he did know to trust his instincts because it was all he really had.

And his instincts had made it worth it. The feeling of the cool wind brushing past his skin as he hopped from building to building was exhilarating. Earlier, he had come across a little pond where both birds and people gathered to rest on benches. Then, as night fell, both the neon signs from shops and stars in the sky complemented each other in the darkness. And every once in a while, he'd hear soothing classical music through the speakers of a store, signaling to shoppers that it was closing time. Even as he earned some annoyed glances from onlookers, he ignored them. He didn't want to let anything take away his feeling of finally being free—no teachers, no students, and absolutely no Pro Heroes.

But as he read closer, he was once again was reminded of the fact that things were just a little off: namely, the writing system here was completely different from what he was expecting. He first saw it in the school when he snooped over Aizawa's files, and now he's seeing it in street signs and shops. Because even if he was able to read and recognize it, it felt... wrong. Maybe that meant he wasn't from Japan. That made sense, considering he was also completely unfamiliar with the currency system they had in place. While he knew that asking himself how he ended up here in the first place was a clear dead end, he could at least take the time to appreciate his surroundings.

Killua stopped on the roof of one building and sat against an HVAC unit. Unfortunately, even as he tried to rest his body, his mind just wouldn't do the same as it annoyingly replayed the angry teen's voice from earlier.

'You don't belong here.'

He grunted. So what? It's not like he wanted to be here. It's not like he wanted to wake up to two unfamiliar faces in an infirmary, wondering why he couldn't remember anything leading up to that moment at all. Hell, he couldn't even recognize his own face.

No one here knew who he was. No one knew what his life was like, where he lived, what kind of childhood he had, anything. Even Killua himself was part of that group, and without anything to remember himself by, without an actual identity, he really was just no one.

Suddenly, the small hairs on his skin stood upright. There was something coming this way...

"What're you doing here?"

Looking up to the source of the voice, he noticed a silhouette on the other side of the building. He stood up, keeping his eyes glued onto the mysterious figure. Letting out a dry laugh, he replied, "Sitting. Duh."

"You know it's illegal to trespass."

"Trespass?" he questioned. "What am I trespassing? The sky?"

The figure sighed, stepping forward. Light slowly cascaded down on him, and Killua's eyes widened as he recognized who it was.

"Zoldyck," Aizawa said, "don't act smart with me."

Killua took a couple steps forward so he could clearly see his teacher in his full hero getup. It was basically the same thing he'd worn every time he met up with him, except he had a pair of yellow goggles on.

"Okay, I broke the law. Wow, I'm such a threat. Are you gonna arrest me now?" he snorted.

He paused, glaring at his student. "Not if you give me a real answer. What are you doing here?"

Killua really didn't want to recall the events leading up to this. He had just been on his own little joyride, and now one of the biggest things he'd wanted to run away from was standing right in front of him.

Sucking in a short breath, he answered, "I just needed to get away."

"From?"

"You know," he mumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Can you be a little more specific?"

He kicked a pebble and watched as it fell off the roof. He hoped that didn't hit anyone on the way down. "From him."

"...Who?"

His brows furrowed in frustration. "From that... that damn pervert, Hisoka!"

Hisoka?

"I mean... Mineta," he corrected.

...Who the hell was Hisoka?

None of them said anything for a moment. In a second, all Killua could hear was his own breathing, the quiet murmurs from people walking the streets, and the sound of an orchestra playing from one of the shops below them.

"It's been a long day, kid," Aizawa sighed, pushing away his goggles. "You still need a place to stay?"

He nodded. Then, Aizawa started pulling something out from his utility belt.

"Here," he said, handing something over.

"This is..." Killua trailed off, eyes widening, "your phone?"

"If you drop it, I'm not letting you touch it ever again."

He couldn't believe it. Staring at the entrusted object in his hand, he... realized he actually didn't know how to properly work it. Its software design looked totally futuristic.

"You coming?"

Killua looked up and noticed he had gone ahead and jumped to the next building, waiting for him to follow suit.

"I'll race you there," he grinned, tightly clutching the smooth, rectangular black phone in his hand.

A small laugh escaped his lips. "You don't even know where the apartment is from here."

"No, but I'll figure it out."

"Yeah, alright, kid."

And from then on, Killua thought that maybe living with Homeless-sensei wouldn't be so bad, after all.

He'd been standing in front of the entire class for what should have been five minutes, but it felt like hours. Everyone's eyes were glued onto him as if they were trying to solve the ever-perplexing puzzle that was the amnesiac, Killua Zoldyck, and, needless to say, he was a little bit annoyed by it.

"Does everyone understand?" Aizawa said.

The whole class gave a simultaneous, "Yes, Aizawa-sensei."

Their teacher chose to dedicate class time to explain Killua's situation. It was probably so no further questions would pop up and interrupt the "learning process," but it was still a nice gesture. Although, all that Killua was really happy about was the fact that the grape freak was officially gone.

...Okay, not actually gone. He'd only been put on an indefinite suspension since his actions (that he may or may not have reported) were being reviewed by the school. He could only hope that the reviewing process was indefinite, too.

That good news was even greater because it meant that, instead of having to awkwardly jam another desk into one of the rows or rearrange the entire classroom, an empty seat was already waiting for him, welcoming him. It also was right behind Midoriya, which was nice since he was one of the first people he'd met at the school... but it meant he had to walk past Bakugou every day, too. Oh well, what was he gonna do? Get mad? Big deal.

Killua stepped down from the front and began walking to his new seat, making sure he definitely did not make eye contact with Bakugou... and it seemed he was doing the same. Huh.

"Hi, Zoldyck!" Midoriya half-whispered to him once he sat down, a smile on his face. "I... hope you'll enjoy what U.A. has to offer!"

"Me too," he easily replied.

This whole learning aspect was definitely going to be new for him, but he supposed it was for the best. Learning about his surroundings was going to be useful information, so he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.

Last night, with Aizawa's phone, he looked up everything he could about quirks, heroes, and villains. Unfortunately, he couldn't dig too deep into it since he was forced to hand it back over at 2 AM so his teacher could set an alarm for school. But from the short time he accessed the internet, he did learn a little more about what being quirkless meant. Only 20% of the entire world population didn't have a quirk in this superpowered society of "good" versus "evil." It was actually some sort of... taboo, which he couldn't wrap his head around. He was quirkless himself, but he could confidently say his strength and skills went far above average. Still, people held this sort of superiority complex over them, labeling them as weak and helpless (to which, if he were described that way, he'd have a good laugh about it.)

"Alright," Aizawa continued, "onto more important things,"—that was humbling—"I'll remind everyone that the sports festival is in a week, but—"

"Aizawa-sensei..." a student with blonde hair interrupted.

Their teacher glared at him before saying, "What?"

"You've been saying the sports festival is in a week for the past three days, I'm just a little confused..."

"Kaminari, it's on May 5th. Sunday," a student with black sclera said. Ashido, he remembered.

"Sunday?!"

Wait, Killua recognized that name from somewhere...

"Kaminari..." he mumbled to himself.

It apparently wasn't quiet enough because he heard the student in question say, "Huh?"

Oh. He remembered now.

"Kaminari Denki," he recalled. "Don't you have a D in some class?"

It was like all the energy instantly drained from him as he hunched over in his seat, staring at his lap. "You don't have to rub it in," he weakly muttered.

"Anyway," Aizawa said, bringing all attention back to himself. "I'm not making you do anything today. However, I won't speak for your other classes."

On that note, he zipped up his yellow sleeping bag and proceeded to take a nap on the ground, leaving the class to their own devices.

And that meant everyone was going to be asking Killua all kinds of questions.

Strangely, they hadn't all bombarded him at once. That probably indicated they learned from all those times Iida scolded them for it... he was going to thank him for that, eventually.

"So," the bubbly girl he recognized as Uraraka said, "you'll finally get to eat lunch with us, today, huh?"

"Yup. Beats eating in the teacher's lounge by a long shot."

"Zoldyck!" a new voice exclaimed, coming from a spiky redhead. "You think you could teach me that move you pulled off yesterday? Ah, I couldn't stop thinking about it—you just flew, and then... chop!" He made the motion with his hand, pairing it with a sharp-toothed grin.

This guy, Killua thought, looks like a mellow Bakugou.

The whole period went on just like that; he'd talk to one student, then another, then another. It was actually quite pleasant, talking and laughing with kids around his age.

Lunch came sooner than he thought. He found himself sitting with Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida, eating out of an again delicious bento (thank you, Lunch Rush!) The cafeteria was as loud as ever, students from all grades blended together in one room. He could spend all day looking around the school to learn more about where he was going to be for six days a week, but, for now, he chose to focus on getting to know the three people next to him.

"So," he said mid-chew, "Iida."

"Yes?" he said, looking up to meet Killua's gaze.

Swallowing his food, he continued, "You're class rep?"

A proud smile lit up his face. "Yes, I am!" he beamed. "And Yaoyorozu Momo is vice president, as well. The voting process, however—"

"Oh! Deku got voted as class rep at first, but Iida was so heroic when he assured us everything was fine after the alarms went off! So he gave up his position to Iida, and it's been that way ever since!" Uraraka chimed in, face puffed up with excitement.

Killua raised an eyebrow. "Deku?" he said.

"Oh, that's me..." Midoriya blushed, scatching at his cheek. "Just a nickname..."

Uraraka pumped her fist in the air and said, "Yeah, meaning he can do anything!"

That was an interesting way to interpret it. It was like calling someone "stupid" as a nickname, but having it actually mean "stupendous."

"Going back to what Uraraka said earlier," Iida reminded, "I truly have Midoriya to thank for my position!"

"N-no, Iida," he stuttered, "you were the one who moved me! And you helped all of the students who were rushing out, that... that's inspiring!"

"I wasn't alone, though. Uraraka helped me get up above the crowd in the first place."

"Eh? It was all your idea, though!"

And at that point, Killua tuned out, looking down and picking at his food instead. It wasn't that he didn't like them, because of course he did. Something about them just felt so foreign to him...

Was it their boundless positivity? Maybe.

It almost shocked him that he'd be so put off by something as simple as that, but considering what conclusions he'd made about himself yesterday, it was barely even surprising anymore. At this point, he was probably going to stumble upon someone being literally murdered, and his first thought wasn't going to be how messed up it was. Maybe because the murderer was going to be him...

...

"Zoldyck?" Uraraka said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "You looked zoned out. Are you alright?"

As he turned his head to face her, he noticed the worry on all three tablemates' faces as their attention was now on him.

"...Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he said.

"Ah, then have you remembered something?" Iida asked.

Remember? He was thinking about murdering people, and if he was remembering that, he really wasn't sure if he actually wanted his memories back.

No, he told himself, of course he wanted them back. Regaining them was what he'd been trying to do for the last three days, and most likely for the rest of his life until he did. No matter what, he was going to find himself again.

Killua sighed. He opened his mouth, but it took a few seconds before he finally said, "Hey, you three all want to be heroes, right?"

They all nodded in determination.

"What's a hero's purpose?"

Looking up, he watched as the three of them exchanged looks among each other.

"Well," Uraraka began, "I want to give my family better lives. So, for me, it's money."

"That's altruistic of you."

"No," she shook her head, "They deserve better. It's what I have to do!"

Being so selfless towards family, huh? Killua bit the inside of his cheek, looking towards Iida for what the next interpretation would be.

He pushed up his glasses and said, "Hm... a hero's purpose is to rescue civilians, defeat the villain, and save the day!"

"Okay, kinda generic answer, there."

"What?" he exclaimed, 90 degree arms synchronizingly flying. "It is the truth! Well, if you wanted a personal answer, I will give you one. Simply, I will uphold the Iida family's honor!"

So... this guy just wanted make his family proud. Fair enough. Killua nodded to his answer, then expectantly turned his attention to Midoriya.

"O-oh, me?" he stammered.

"Duh, who else am I looking at?"

Midoriya hesitated a bit, looking off into the distance and... mumbling. Well, at least that meant he really wanted to be sure of his answer... but that didn't make it any less annoying.

Both Uraraka and Iida's reasons for being a hero were directly related to their family. And, it didn't seem like they were forced to become heroes, they just genuinely cared about them. It wouldn't surprise Killua if Midoriya's reason was similar; after all, the three soon-to-be-heroes bonded through constant appraisal of each other (at least, from what he's seen, so far,) so who's to say they didn't all get that from their parents?

Still, the boy kept mumbling and mumbling and mumbling...

"Hey," Killua half-whispered, half-yelled. It got his attention though, as his eyes widened before saying a quick apology.

Straightening his back, he looked right into his eyes and diligently answered with, "A hero should give their all."

He raised an eyebrow. "Their all?"

"Yeah. Being dependable... giving help that's not asked for... being a beacon of hope. That's what makes a true hero."

If he had never known Midoriya before he'd asked that question, he never would've guessed he'd normally be a mumbling, stuttering, shy kid. Because, just from watching the fire burn behind his eyes and the way he spoke those words from the bottom of his heart, he looked like he was ready to take on absolutely anything at that moment.

Maybe Killua was wrong about him. There was something hidden behind his steadfast determination, but he couldn't tell what it exactly was, or whether it was even a bad thing or not. What he did know was that this guy... he was special.

"What do you think, Zoldyck?" Uraraka asked.

"Huh?" he said, surprised by the sudden reversal.

"You have asked all of us what we think. But now, we are just as curious as to what your thoughts are!"

"I don't know."

"Eh? You gotta have at least an idea."

"Seriously?" he said, throwing his arms up. "I asked you because I don't know. What, did you think I was just secretly testing your heroic-ness, or something?"

After a few more pleads and instant rejections, the topic of conversation moved on from Killua's question. Still, Midoriya's answer hadn't left his mind.

Be dependable. Give help when not asked for. Give someone hope.

That was something he actually agreed with. Something he felt like he'd done for someone else before he lost his memories...

He suppressed a shiver that threatened to crawl up his spine.

If someone had depended on him then, what were they doing now that he's gone?

"Shigaraki," Gon said.

"What?"

"Guess what?"

"I'm not doing this with you, you damn brat..."

"What? Why not?" he whined from his spot on the couch. Sadly realizing he wasn't going to budge, he turned the conversation to the friendlier man behind the bar.

"Kurogiri."

"Yes, Freecss?"

"It's my birthday in four days. I turn 16!"

"Ah, we'll be sure to celebrate it, then," he said, earning a smile from the soon-to-be birthday boy.

"Too bad we can only do it here," a dry voice interjected.

Gon shook his head. "I'm okay spending time here, with you both!"

Though it really was too bad he couldn't get to see the city outside. From what Shigaraki told him, All Might and the rest of the law enforcement were still out to arrest him for killing someone who was going to harm innocent shoppers at a grocery store. The worst part? No matter how strong he was, he couldn't escape the fact that it was All Might himself who caused his memory loss! So, if he really was dangerous enough to harm him that much, Gon concluded he needed to train more so he could finally defeat him. Then, he wouldn't have to constantly hide from the public eye.

After all, wasn't it a good thing that he stopped someone who was going to hurt others?

"Oh, and Shigaraki?"

He made no reply, just choosing to look at him with clear disdain.

A big grin graced his face. "Are you getting me another gift?"

"You little..."

"Shigaraki," Kurogiri stressed. "We have to talk about something. Freecss, could you wait on the balcony? We will knock when we're done."

"Huh? Okay..." Gon said, following his directions.

As the door closed, Shigaraki grunted. "He better be useful."

"And he will be," he assured. "This is about the sports festival."

He slowly turned himself on the bar stool so he was directly facing him. "What about it? You wanna take Gon there for his birthday?"

"...No. We cannot let Freecss watch it with us."

"Eh?" he exclaimed. "Why not?"

"There's been no news from anywhere that matches the person we've been looking for. You'd think that someone as powerful as Freecss would make headlines, but that is simply not the case."

"So what?"

"So, I have reason to believe that this second person who was supposed to drop into our universe is either too far away for us to even be concerned about, completely off the radar, or has been in the hands of U.A. High School since the beginning."

Scratching at the wooden grooves of the bar counter top, he said, "Okay, so we leave him on the balcony while it airs. Problem solved."

"No," Kurogiri said. "We cannot keep avoiding the problem, Shigaraki. If Freecss regains his memories, what do you think will happen?"

"He won't. And I'll make damn sure of it."

"I'm just doing the same. Only, if our culprit really is at U.A., I have a plan."

"Then spit it out, already."

Kurogiri lowered his voice, even if they were the only two people in the room. "We will use Freecss to kill the second interdimensional."

Chapter Text

The small television flickered to life. On the screen was the broadcasting of the U.A. sports festival; first years, Pro Heroes, and the far faces of the audience appeared on it. Though, there was only one thing the wispy man was searching for.

From the break in prior to the USJ incident, the League of Villains had acquired a list of all students' information, including Class 1-A's. Truly, the plan he outlined to Shigaraki was partly based on a hunch, but it was the best bet they had to getting rid of the problem before it became something bigger. Plus, if the second interdimensional was anything like Freecss, there was no doubt in his mind that U.A. wouldn't pass up the chance to take a young, memory-less powerhouse into their ranks. Brainwashing generations of people into their flawed ideology was what these heroes liked to do, after all... However, that wasn't for him to worry about. His number one priority was to protect Shigaraki, and, through this, he was going to do just that.

Kurogiri sighed to himself, the quiet sound filling the empty room. He had told Shigaraki to distract Freecss in order to prevent him from watching the sports festival in case his counterpart showed up on the screen. He didn't fully know how All For One's quirk worked, but he safely assumed that simply seeing the interdimensional would trigger at least something in the boy. Fortunately, it was quite easy for Shigaraki to distract him, as it was his birthday.

'Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugou from Class 1-A!' the TV buzzed, Midnight's voice loud and clear.

Examining the screen further, he tried to find the first years' faces in the crowd. On the bar, a list of students in 1-A was placed on top of it for reference. Since All For One used his quirk after the USJ attack, there must have been some sort of change between who was at the festival and who was on the paper. Yellow eyes scanning the television, he could just barely make out all 20 students in 1-A.

And, he noticed only 19 of them were familiar. The Mineta boy seemed to be missing, as well.

Instead, there stood a short, pale boy with white hair with his hands in his pockets. As soon as the gigantic board filled with students' names and scores filled the screen, he took note of an unfamiliar Killua Zoldyck who happened to be in 1-A. Kurogiri squinted his eyes, scrutinizing the screen. Was this truly the boy they must defeat?

Freecss and Zoldyck were brought here for a reason—strength. Shigaraki's "fight" with the child as well as the nomu trial proved that fact. So, if they were to ever get rid of the danger posing against Freecss's chances of staying with the League, the only way possible was to have him do the dirty work for them.

Kurogiri sighed, Shigaraki's and his conversation from the other day still lingering in the back of his mind...

"Eh? How are we supposed to do that? He'll take one look at them and instantly remember everything," he scoffed.

"You're right. But, you see, I've been talking things over with Sensei..."

The mention of his master grabbed his attention, red eyes widening through the hand-mask.

"However, for this to work," he continued, "you need to gather as much intel from him as you can."

He cocked his head. "Gather intel...?"

The only thing holding him back from clutching the noisy brat's face in his hand and slowly disintegrating it was the mere fact that he didn't want to waste Sensei's efforts in getting a powerhouse like this for him to use. Still, that didn't help with how badly he was getting on his nerves.

Because they told Gon he wasn't allowed to go outside to prevent Pro Heroes recognizing and going after him, the kid actually jumped up and happily screamed when he gifted him a mask that would hide his face.

"Ah, Shigaraki! This is even better than the gift you got me last time! Thank you!"

"Don't get your hopes up," he dryly countered, "you can only go outside if one of us is with you."

And... that was where the two of them were now. Out in the public, walking along the streets of Kamino Ward. The two of them together admittedly looked suspicious, what with Shigaraki's black hoodie pulled all the way over his head and Gon's hat and mask combination leaving nothing to see but his eyes. Fortunately, the odd vibe emanating from the pair caused people to steal a few glances at least and hastily step out of the way at most; nothing too bad.

Gon turned his head to the older boy and asked, "Do you know any fun spots here?"

Fun spots? Shigaraki internally groaned. He was here to gather information, not go on a play date with a newly turned 16 year old. But to do that, he had to play along, somewhat. Might as well go somewhere he'd actually quite enjoy...

Sucking in a breath, he answered, "Sure. You like arcades?"

A cheerful nod from the boy and they were both on their way.

The sun rose directly above their heads, shining down on the dark-clothed duo. Every so often, Shigaraki would check to see if any TV he walked by had the U.A. sports festival playing. He hadn't come across any, but made sure he stayed on his guard in case he needed to steer Gon away from it.

"You know," Gon started, "I kind of wish I was celebrating my birthday back home. Since I began going on adventures, I think I've only had, hm... one, with Aunt Mito."

"...Who even is that? Why do you mention her all the time?"

"Oh, she's kind of like my mom. She just takes care of me really well, and always took the time to read the letters I sent her."

Shigaraki squinted. "Letters about what? Your adventures?"

"Yeah." Gon's expression, though barely seen through his getup, lowered. "But... I really wish I remembered what I wrote in them. Is All Might really that powerful?"

"He's the number one hero," he mocked. "The Symbol of Peace. He's just a cheater."

"Hero..." Gon trailed off, raising a hand to his chin. "Hey, what exactly are heroes? Since we're the League of Villains, are we fighting against them?"

"Our goal is to kill All Might."

Shigaraki caught himself. Right now, it seemed more like Gon was the one gathering intel, not him. But before he could put the conversation back on track, Gon let out a loud whine, making him want to throw out all plans of keeping the brat around as a trump card.

"I don't get it."

"Eh?" he exclaimed. "Get what?"

"Why would the 'number one' hero injure me to the point where I lose my memories, and then try to arrest me after I stopped a bad guy? And why would villains take me in right after?"

Steam threatened to spew out of the boy's ears as he blankly stared ahead, scrunching his face. Shigaraki thought for a moment, then said, "Being a hero doesn't make you good."

The redness behind his mask slowly subsided. Gon whipped his head around to face the older boy, asking, "Then what makes someone good?"

Shigaraki gave a mumble of an answer, not actually meaning anything by it but to fill the space. They both walked in silence for about a minute until they reached the arcade. While Gon was bouncing around, amused by the squeaky revolving door, Shigaraki took in the familiar sound of 8-bit beeps resonating through the building and the flashy neon colors blasted on nearly every surface. It was quite nostalgic for him. Still, no matter how much he wanted to have some mindless fun and absolutely crush the brat in Street Fighter (winning fair and square, by the way,) he was technically on a mission.

"Hey," he said, pulling a wallet of one of his jacket's pockets. "It's your birthday. Pick what we're gonna play."

Scanning the area, Gon noticed a game where one guy was desperately trying to keep up with the music, his legs moving at a surprising speed.

Pointing to that one, he beamed at Shigaraki.

Dance Dance Revolution? he thought, nearly cracking a grin. The plan can wait a little longer. This brat's going down.

"I pledge that I'll be number one."

Disconcerted yells from both the student and spectator crowd erupted, forcing Killua to plug his ears. Huh, the guy's determined, he'll give him that. Considering the amount of strong competitors in the class, though, he found it hard to believe that the bold statement came from sheer cockiness... unless he was stupid.

The time came for the referee, AKA Pro Hero Midnight, to announce the first game.

"Obstacle race!" she said into the microphone, voice booming throughout the stadium.

As she continued to explain the rules, Killua didn't bother holding back a scoff. A race? He wouldn't be surprised if he was the fastest out of the entire student body. Four kilometres would be a piece of cake... But, how much did he actually care about the sports festival? Despite attending a hero school, he wasn't so interested in the prospect of actually becoming one; internships would be wasted on him.

Shuffling along the crowd, the students were led to a large corridor, Killua choosing to hang in the back end. The chattering voices died down once the countdown started, and the amicable atmosphere quickly turned into one of competitiveness.

Trying to ignore Present Mic's grating voice, he focused on the students around him. A handful were stretching out their muscles, others ready to take off at any moment. From what Kirishima told him in their training together, it seemed this was one of the most important events for the students, especially first years.

Tip-toeing and turning his head above the crowd, he tried to find the spiky redhead. His eyes caught him standing between Kaminari and Ashido, along with a sharp-toothed grin plastered on his face that meant business. He wondered how helpful their sparring sessions were going to be for the festival. Granted, he already was miles ahead of him concerning their skills, so only Kirishima was left to improve in combat.

But, no matter how easily Killua could knock him out from another simple chop, he kept on telling him that he "can't go easy on me!" and "this is for the both of us!" when, clearly, it wasn't. Still, their session did help him with at least one thing...

"START!"

The first thing he saw was the bunch of students all rushing through the corridor, squishing past each other in attempts to get ahead. The next was the giant wall of ice that appeared out of nowhere, freezing people in place and, unluckily, some beneath it. Present Mic announced this as Todoroki's doing, who he barely recognized as the kid with two-toned hair seated in the back of the class. Finally, at the current moment, people were either trying to pull their feet (or shoes) out of the ice trap, or were dashing ahead, attempting to catch up.

At the current moment, Killua stood still with a hand in his pocket, watching it all unfold before his eyes.

Present Mic's yells roared over the speakers, somehow gaining even more volume the longer his commentary went on. "Todoroki Shouto takes first place, easily gliding on his ice! But wait, Bakugou Katsuki is quickly gaining on him, his own explosions propelling him forward at incredible speeds! What a sight! The two are now neck and neck, fighting for the top spot! Who will win? Who will—huh?" he paused, adjusting his orange sunglasses. "Killua Zoldyck, the late addition to 1-A, is... just standing at the start, while everyone has already run past!"

In just a second, he'd been burdened with the audience's attention.

"C'mon, that wasn't manly at all!You totally could've dodged that!"

"Am I supposed to feel hurt from that?"

Kirishima picked up and drank from his water bottle, giving Killua a half-hearted stink eye. Screwing the cap back on, he said, "I just want to spar against your real skills, you know? It doesn't feel fair."

"This match-up isn't fair in the first place," he disputed. "If I did my 'very best,' you'd end up in the infirmary."

"That just means I need to get stronger!" he said, jumping up.

A groan escaped Killua's mouth. There had to be a connection between this guy's quirk and his brain, because there can't be any other explanation for him being this hard-headed.

It was about 4 PM on a Friday, and the pair had decided to train in the forest near U.A. to avoid disturbing the public. Unfortunately, because of the fact they were in a forest, the trees didn't leave much room for them to practice in a big enough space fitting of the arena. It was mostly alright, though. Kirishima's quirk naturally had them spar in a more close-quarters fashion.

"Kirishima," Killua sighed, "you can't get stronger if I just crush you at the start."

It was then the other boy's turn to let a low sigh escape his lips, responding with, "Yeah, I get it, I get it." His hand lifted to touch his own chin. "I guess that means sparring is out of the question, then..."

Cocking his head, Killua said, "Then what else are we supposed to do?"

"You could just teach me a move, maybe. Remember the time you fought Bakugou?"

"Yeah, but I can only do that 'cause I'm fast. You need to learn your own special 'moves.'" Taking a closer look at the tired redhead currently wiping the sweat off his forehead with his arm, he followed up with, "Let's take a break."

"I can keep going."

Killua raised an eyebrow. Shaking his head, he plopped down on the ground and responded, "Well, I can't."

"Dude," was all Kirishima had to say, but then chose to just take another drink of water and sit down next to him. "So," he said.

"So?"

He chuckled, saying, "I still can't believe you actually said yes to us training together."

Killua hummed. "It sounded fun."

"I guess it would be more fun if we were evenly matched, huh?"

He shrugged.

Kirishima briefly glanced at him, apprehensively going over the words in his head. "Can I ask you about your amnesia?"

"Shoot."

"Ah..." he said, slightly crinkling the water bottle in his hands. "Aizawa-sensei said that you didn't use a quirk fighting against Bakugou. I know you obviously can't remember, but do you have any idea why you're so freakishly good at fighting?"

He pondered the question with a tongue in his cheek. From his experiences during the past few days, he could easily assume that he'd had a rough life overall. Distaste towards his own last name (he noticed he unfortunately had the same problem as Asui when trying to get people to use his first name, as most people still didn't call her Tsu,) never having gone to a school, and being quirkless in a world that looked down upon exactly that? The framework for the big picture was there in his head, it was just the little details he was missing to fully complete it. Maybe fighting was the only way he got by, somehow; that was why he was so much better than the upcoming generation of heroes in his own classroom.

Was he about to tell Kirishima all of that, though?

...Nah.

"I think... I might've just been training hard since I was really little," he fibbed.

The boy sitting next to him nodded, sharp teeth showing as his jaw slightly dropped. "You trained a lot, then. It must've been really hard!"

"Well, I'm content with where I am now, at least. So that's good."

"Yeah, no kidding," he whistled. "I bet Bakugou's still pissed about it."

"When is he not?"

Chuckling, he answered, "Yeah, first impressions with him aren't super good. But... he's really cool once you get to know him. Super manly."

"I just don't get why he has it out for me," Killua sighed, resting his chin on his knees.

"Huh, you know, I've kind of noticed it, too. He's never really been this mad at another classmate, though. Usually saves it for Midoriya..."

Killua remembered the way Midoriya hurriedly warned him against Bakugou. Were they sworn enemies, or something? Although, that would be weird considering the way he called him Kacchan.

"Midoriya?" he questioned.

"Yeah. I don't know what it is, but he really hates it when he loses against him. Probably some unresolved beef between them, I guess. I try not to pry."

"Huh," he said. "So I can safely assume he'll be clawing for first place in the sports festival?"

"Yeah, but we all will be," Kirishima grinned, patting Killua on the back. "I'll do my best to beat you!"

"You don't need to," he said, waving him off. "I don't need the sponsorships as much as you guys. I'll be happy taking last place."

That brought a frown to Kirishima's face. "Then what was the point of training together? You wanted to have fun, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Well," Kirishima started, dusting his clothes off as he pushed up off the ground, "you can do the festival for fun, too. You should at least try!"

Compete for fun? Killua scratched the back of his head, watching as Kirishima put a hand out for him to grab.

"C'mon," he said. "Let's finish our training."

Nearly everyone in the audience's eyes were glued on him, waiting for him to make any sort of move. It wasn't going to last, Killua thought. They were going to easily switch back to the two front-runners at any moment, so he had to make his decision fast.

And his decision...

He took his hands out of his pockets, taking a second to stretch his limbs.

Kirishima was right. If he was participating in a competition, he might as well have fun with it.

Adrenaline rushing through his veins, he immediately launched off the ground, leaving behind a large puff of dust as he dashed towards the field of robot remains. There were barely any more stragglers at this section of the race; most were probably finishing up the stone pillars, already.

"...and as soon as he started, he finished traversing the Robo-Inferno! Wow! That's an incredible quirk!"

"It's not a quirk," Aizawa drawled, dry tone contrasting with Present Mic's upbeat commentary.

"Woah! Are you for real, Eraserhead?! What a show of strength!"

The seemingly spiritless of the pair simply sighed, turning his own attention to Killua in a totally non-biased way. A grimace formed across his features as he studied the white-haired boy basically leaping across the field, easily catching up to those near the front end. Recalling their time spent together so far, he wouldn't admit it to his face, but he worried about him. Even as they still managed to get on each others' nerves, it never lasted. So, he couldn't help but wonder how the hell this kid is this impossibly strong, even more so without a quirk. What kind of circumstances was he put under? This strength and facade of maturity paired with his absolutely unexpected entrance (and way of entrance) into U.A. High School raised a considerable amount of red flags, but, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what they were signaling.

Present Mic's commentary mainly highlighted whatever was happening at the front, occasionally talking about the "mysterious new kid in 1-A" who had just finished up the second portion of the race. It seemed he was having some trouble deciphering what his quirk was. All he was doing was regular actions, such as running and jumping, only at an irregularly powerful level. Turning off his mic, he turned to the aloof man sitting next to him.

"Hey," he started, "if leaping like a monkey on steroids isn't his quirk, then what is it?"

He shook his head. "His file was just updated. He's quirkless."

"Huh?!"

"He's your student, too. You didn't bother to check?"

"No! I like to see these kinds of things for myself," he said, crossing his arms. Lowering his voice (which usually called for celebration,) he continued, "I don't wanna bring down the mood, but what's the deal with this kid?"

"Gossiping about our students, are we?"

"Oh, really? You know what I mean, Shouta. We both know Nezu didn't enroll him solely because he's strong for his age."

"Yeah," he raised an eyebrow, "and Zoldyck knows that, too. We explicitly told him we needed to watch over him, and enrollment was the best option."

"I'm talking about the reason we need to watch over a 15 year old kid in the first place; not because he needs protection, but because we need it." Leaning back in his chair, he relaxed his hands behind his head. "I'm just saying. You've spent the most time around him, haven't you? Are you sure he's someone we can trust, even when, or if, he regains his memories?"

Aizawa blankly stared at him. "Don't worry about it. I trust the kid," he said, leaving out the "for now" his mind wanted to add on. Picking up the mic on the table, he shoved it in his face, earning a wide-eyed look from behind his orange sunglasses. "Just get back to your job, already."

Hizashi's enthusiastic personality didn't mean he wasn't ever suspicious of others, which, to Aizawa's annoyance, he was... a lot. For crying out loud, he was the first person to point out the possibility of a traitor in U.A.; no wonder he was always on his guard around the kid. Still, he couldn't say his suspicions were ever baseless. Especially with someone like Zoldyck.

But, to Aizawa, he couldn't ignore what stared him in the face whenever he caught a glance at the boy, or watched as his eyes occasionally darkened whenever they talked about simple, everyday things. He was a kid who went through too much, too soon, and that was apparent even with the amnesia. How could he be a hero if he didn't recognize that?

Finally, the minefield. As soon as Killua arrived, he noticed Midoriya flying through the sky on a piece of junk from one of the robots, Todoroki and Bakugou directly beneath him. Huh. He could take fourth.

While students sidestepped across the field, he zoomed past. Whatever explosions he left behind didn't affect him; he was already a good distance ahead of each mine he stepped on.

Slowing down behind the trio, he watched as his green-haired classmate ran past everyone else like his life depended on it.

He disappeared through the tunnel, and the crowd roared.

"MIDORIYA IZUKU'S MADE A HUGE SPLASH!"

"Gon," Shigaraki called, drumming his fingers on the arcade table.

"Hm?" the boy in question answered in a muffle, crepe still halfway in his mouth.

They'd spent the entire time at the arcade playing games and eating snacks, which was exactly what he was trying to avoid. The worst part? He was actually having fun with the brat. If he didn't start following the plan now, this was going absolutely nowhere.

"How did you get so strong?"

"Ah." Swallowing the last bite, he answered, "Whale Island is a good place for training your body. Its landscape is really diverse, and I just really like exploring."

"Is that where you learned Nen, too?"

Gon paused right before he took another bite. "Well... no," he said, putting the crepe back down in its little box. "I don't remember how I learned it. And I can't use it anymore, so it's pretty useless if I tell you anything about it now."

"I see," he murmured.

There was still one little thing itching at the back of his mind; something not so related to their plan, but of what confused him about Gon ever since he revealed their goal of killing a hero. Hell, it could be dragged all the way back to when they first met and fought against each other.

"Hey," he started. "Why do you trust us so much?"

His charismatic smile spread across his face. "You're the first people I woke up to in a place I didn't recognize. Why wouldn't I, especially after the reason you gave me for it?"

"Eh? That doesn't sound believable."

"Well, it is, to me." Gon once again reached for the crepe. "Why, are you lying to me?"

"No."

"Good, then."

Good. Shigaraki didn't understand the brat. "We're villains. You don't look like the type to bunch up with us."

"You've been nice to me so far, so why not?"

"Why not? Don't you care about morals, or whatever?"

"Of course I do, which is why I'm always honest," he said, which was at least somewhat valid. However, as he spoke again, something in his eyes changed, despite his smile never wavering. "So, if you haven't been honest with me... I don't have to show mercy."

Gon happily took another bite out of his strawberry-filled crepe.

I don't have to show mercy.

Shigaraki could barely hold himself back from laughing.

After his fit, he immediately went back to sticking with the plan. The itch in his mind had finally been scratched; this kid is just selfish to the bone.

"Ah, Gon, I actually have an offer for you. Think of it as another birthday gift."

"Another? Wow! What is it?"

This was definitely going to work on the brat.

Cracking a grin, Shigaraki asked, "How do you feel about getting a quirk?"

Chapter Text

It looked like Todoroki was about to take 2nd place, with Bakugou right behind him.

Killua knew he could easily pass both of them.

He also knew he probably shouldn't try to be an asshole.

However, the temptation of simply squishing between Todoroki and Bakugou, running backwards, and giving the explosive teen a cheeky wink as he steals 3rd place just a few inches away from him was way too strong. So, he did exactly that.

He wanted to have fun, right?

"CAT FACE, YOU BASTARD!"

After an eruption of expletives passed between each other, a timid congratulations from Midoriya, and a hard pat on the back from Kirishima (as well as him shaking his head in disapproval for what he did to Bakugou, which honestly hurts more than Aizawa's agitated stares ever will,) it was finally time for the second part of the sports festival to commence: the Cavalry Battle. Killua scanned the area as students formed teams with each other, trying to find an empty spot. Unfortunately, Kirishima had teamed up with Bakugou, which automatically meant that asking to join him was going to be met with straight up rejection; not like he wanted to join a team with him on it, anyway. He couldn't join Midoriya and Uraraka, either, since some girl with pink hair and goggles beat him to it. Iida's team was also full...

"Hey."

Turning around to the voice, he found... a purple-haired mini Aizawa. Just what he needed.

Raising an eyebrow, he said, "Hey?"

"You're Zoldyck, right? Join my team." His tired eyes peered into his, as if he was carefully studying his reactions.

"Why should I?"

"Well," he said, slightly turning his head to search the arena, "it doesn't seem like you have much choice in the matter."

...He walked right into that one, didn't he?

Shoving his hands in his pockets, he grumbled, "Fine... what's your name, anyway?"

"Shinsou Hitoshi."

Walking back to the rest of the team, he noticed the other two members were from his own class: Aoyama Yuga and Ojiro Mashirao. He remembered Ojiro from his second day upon waking up in the infirmary, when he watched him spar against his classmates. Skilled guy. Aoyama, on the other hand... he'd rather forget about watching his matches that day.

"So," Ojiro started, "what's the plan?"

"There's no plan," Shinsou immediately answered, confusing his other teammates. "Just follow your instincts."

Killua scratched his head. There was something off about that statement, but he couldn't tell what.

After getting into their positions—Aoyama on his left, Ojiro on his right, and Shinsou sitting on top of him because of how surprisingly strong he was despite his light frame—he heard the General Studies student speak to him.

"By the way, what's your quirk?"

"Ah," he started, "I'm actually quirkless—"

And then, the world turned into a blur.

It went on like this for a while.

Killua felt like he was floating. It was a surreal experience; he watched the world go by him, but it felt as if he was watching it through someone else's eyes. His mind was difficult to traverse, every thought dissolving into static.

Was he losing his memories again? No, that wasn't it. He was in the sports festival, working with two of his classmates and someone from General Studies. Their goal... steal other headbands for their points before the 15 minutes were up. That was what he was currently doing, and it seemed his other teammates were doing it, too, even if they were all working in silence.

Working in silence... that was odd. But, as long as they won, there wasn't any problem—

No. I'm being brainwashed.

The abrupt thought left as easily as it came. The only thing that stayed, however, was the minuscule area of immense pressure that suddenly developed on his forehead. It wasn't like it was painful, no, it didn't even feel real. It was... like a ghost. His hand itched to pull out whatever it was from the inside of his head, but he held back because his only focus was to win.

He had to win, for the team. Fighting through the growing pressure on his forehead, he tried to let himself go, once more. Recapture the feeling of floating.

Let him take control.

Run away.

Killua thrust his hand to his forehead and clawed, nails digging into his own flesh.

"What the hell...?"

The world instantly cleared as he finally snapped back to reality. First, he glanced at his palm, checking to see if anything was there; there wasn't. Then, he looked at Shinsou, whose face was scrunched up in both confusion and disgust.

"You're a brainwasher?" he asked, though, it was more of a statement.

"...Yes."

Before he could speak again, Present Mic had already started announcing the placements. The Cavalry Battle was over, already...?

"In first place, Team Todoroki! In second, Team Bakugou! In third, Team Tetsu... Huh?!" After a double take, he corrected with, "Team... Shinsou!"

...And he got third place, only because he was brainwashed.

Something about that made him clench his jaw, muscles tensing up in fury.

While mini celebrations went off one by one around him, he couldn't help but stare at his hand again. Double checking it, the only thing on it really was just his own blood. Why had he expected something to be there, anyway...?

Their one hour lunch break started, and the first thing he absolutely wanted to do was confront Shinsou, because what the hell. Spotting the purple tuft of hair in the crowd, he immediately stomped over, grabbed him by the shoulder, and left him no room to look anywhere else but into his eyes.

"Shinsou."

"Look," he started right away, tone way too nonchalant for Killua's liking, "I'm sorry you didn't like the whole brainwashing thing, really. I just did what I had to."

"You did what you had to?" he mocked, letting go of him. "Stupid. I don't even care about the fact I can't remember what happened; I've been dealing with that for a whole week. I just... you had the nerve to brainwash me?"

Sighing, he said, "Okay, I won't ever brainwash you again. Happy?"

To that, Killua couldn't say anything. As the anger slowly began to fade, he realized that brainwashing literally was the only thing he could do; it was the guy's damn quirk, and quirks were meant to be used. Still, he should've at least said something about it, rather than leaving his teammates in the dark. Although, he did get the feeling that, even if he asked, there'd be no way in hell he'd let him do that to him (which made this all the more worse.) Not having control over his own actions... the thought of it made his skin crawl.

"Fine," Killua murmured, turning away.

He didn't want to waste any more time around this guy. But, before he could walk off, Shinsou called out to him. "You broke out of it, though. Even though you're quirkless."

Stopping for a moment, he considered whether he should reply. Instead, he gave a shrug, and made his way towards the dining hall.

Or, he tried, because Uraraka caught the sight of him and immediately shrieked at the blood still dripping down his forehead.

"Zoldyck! We need to take you to Recovery Girl!"

"That old hag?!"

Any protests he tried to make were instantly rebuffed, even more so once Iida joined the conversation. Thankfully, Recovery Girl wasn't too far off from the arena, so all he needed was a quick kiss (which still seriously disgusted him, but he'd rather be healed than expelled for attacking U.A.'s staff) and was promptly sent on his way to the dining hall along with Uraraka and Iida.

"What even happened out there for you to get a nasty wound like that?" Uraraka asked, eyebrows knitting in concern.

"Well..." he started, mulling over how he should explain it in a way that won't make him sound crazy. "You know Shinsou?"

"The General Studies student?" Iida answered. "Your teammate, correct?"

"Yeah. He has a brainwashing quirk. He used it on me without asking, so I broke out of it by doing this," he said, pointing to his forehead.

Conveniently, he left out the part where he felt like there was something stuck inside, which was the whole reason he did it anyway. He also left out the part where a voice completely different from his own told him to run away; he got the strong feeling that it was something he needed to figure out on his own, rather than troubling his classmates about it.

"That's really... painful."

Iida nodded in agreement.

The rest of the conversation consisted of the trio congratulating each other on making it this far, even if Killua had to learn what happened during the Cavalry Battle through their perspectives. However, at the mention of Iida's reason for choosing Todoroki's team rather than Midoriya's, Uraraka's eyes widened.

"Have you seen Deku anywhere, Zoldyck?" she questioned. "I swear, he was just here."

"No," he answered, eliciting a slight frown on her face. "Maybe he'll turn up later?"

"We hope so," Iida added, adjusting his glasses.

From then on, they spent the rest of their time eating and chattering in the dining hall. Kirishima actually came over to congratulate him on 3rd place, Killua doing the same for him getting 2nd (and then he ignored the way he walked back to his table where Bakugou sat.) He wondered what the next part of the sports festival was going to be; some students speculated it was going to be some sort of a 1v1, just like how it was every year. If so, it was going to get really boring. He could basically win the entire thing just by knocking every single person out with a chop; that wouldn't be fun at all, then. Taking a bite out of his sandwich, he internally grumbled.

This festival was way too easy. He really wished something interesting would happen sooner or later...

The lunch break ended seemingly as soon as it started, and the students spread back out to the field to listen for Midnight's announcement for the next section of the festival: A tournament. How fun.

Before they could draw lots, surprisingly, Ojiro dropped out of the tournament. It was unfortunate for Killua since he wanted to watch some more of his fighting style, but, considering they were both brainwashed on the same team, he definitely understood where he came from. That didn't stop himself from going on, though; Aoyama, too.

"And here are the match-ups!"

Midnight revealed the bracket on the gigantic board. All competitors' eyes were glued to it, searching for their names. Killua, of course, joined them.

It looked like his first match was against Kaminari. In his mind, he was the electricity guy who gets bad grades, so... immediately, he didn't feel too threatened. After winning that, he was either going against Iida or Hatsume Mei, whose name he honestly didn't recognize at all. Glancing at the other competitors' matches, he noticed Midoriya was going up against Shinsou. There was no doubt in his mind that, as long as they were just fighting, his classmate would win. However, he was going up against a brainwasher. It didn't seem that was common knowledge, so he made a mental note to warn Midoriya before his battle started.

Turning his head to find the freckled boy, he found Ojiro standing next to him.

Wrapping his tail around his mouth as soon as Shinsou walked by.

Well, he thought, looks like he's doing my work for me.

Knowing Midoriya was in good hands (or a tail?) he strolled over to the stands as the festivities began, relaxing and leaning back in the seats. Most of the students were either taking part in them or simply warming themselves up for the upcoming battles, so he sat alone, waiting for it to end.

His mind traveled back to his experience being mind controlled. It was still so odd to him; not the brainwashing, but the effect it had on him. Even if Aoyama and Ojiro snapped out of it, they didn't have as violent of a reaction as he did. For what reason, though? Holding his head in his hands, he let out a low sigh. He knew thinking about these sorts of things would lead him nowhere, but he couldn't help it. It's been seven days since he woke up without a shred of recognition of anything, and it was a miracle his own name came to him on the first day. It just... felt like he had made no progress at all. Sure, he may see hints of a questionable upbringing in himself, but it didn't matter if he couldn't specify exactly what happened.

Every night he spent at Aizawa's was a night spent away from his real home. But where even was his home? What was he doing before he got transported to some hero high school?

More than anything... he wanted to have a purpose again.

But, in the current state he was in, it was impossible. He'd had this conversation with himself countless, countless times over the entire week, and he was absolutely sick of it. Sure, he can keep distracting himself through participating in school activities and getting along with his classmates, but that could never change the fact that he wasn't Killua. He was merely a shadow of his true self, floating from one place to another, just like how he felt when he was brainwashed. Who's to say he'll stay the same person when he regains his memories? If he regains his memories?

Picking his head up, he ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to massage his skull. Well, if it really was pointless thinking about all of that, he needed to stop. At least, for now. The only thing on his mind should be the damn sports festival; he shouldn't be moping in the stands like this.

As the festivities ended, his classmates slowly started joining him, waiting for the first match between Midoriya and Shinsou to begin. Uraraka sat to his right, Iida on her right. Funnily enough, Kaminari was on his left, but only at first. He barely glanced at him, but it was apparently enough to make him choke on his words and accordingly switch seats with Kirishima, who happily accepted.

Looking forward to our match, too, he snickered to himself.

"Ready...!" Present Mic blared over the speakers.

Looking down on the pair, he noticed Shinsou speaking. He couldn't make out what he was saying, though. The audience was way too loud for his ears to pick up on it.

"START!"

He'd said the same thing as Shigaraki to All For One when he revealed his plans, too. How could Freecss kill the other without remembering everything on the spot? But, once he dived further into it, he realized his Sensei was more calculated with this situation than he'd originally thought. As he still mentally reprimanded himself, he watched as the white-haired boy named Killua Zoldyck sped through the race, despite actually starting extremely late. He watched him win 3rd place in the Cavalry Battle, as well. As underwhelming the second event was, he couldn't keep the image of him running backwards and still getting 3rd place in the obstacle race out of his mind. Such power...

What a shame that they couldn't take both Freecss and Zoldyck in. However, it was futile to dwell on impossible fantasies. He just hoped the child would take Shigaraki's bait.

Suddenly, the television flickered, and, in a second, All For One's masked face filled the screen. Kurogiri instantly bowed as he called his name.

"Sensei," he greeted.

"I see we've found our target."

"Yes. Shigaraki is currently convincing Freecss to get a quirk, as well as gathering any information that would assist us in dealing with him."

"Good work," he praised. "Remember, we must gain the child's trust. I'm counting on you and Tomura to handle this well."

"Yes, Sensei."

A pause filled the room. Then, the speakers once again crackled to life as All For One spoke. "When you are ready, bring him to my quarters. I'll be waiting."

With that, the television immediately switched back to the channel he was watching the Sports Festival on. Kurogiri sighed. Once Freecss gained his quirk, Shigaraki and he were the ones supposed to help him train. Still, despite the description he was given of the quirk, he had quite a difficult time wrapping his head around it. Not because it was confusing, but... he was curious how someone who couldn't use their initial powers would handle another one that held this much overwhelming potential. Because, no matter how sure of a plan they may have, they still cannot predict the future. And, of all the uncertainty in the world, he felt that the most of it was held in the form of a 16 year old boy stripped from his memories, as well as his own dimension.

Before he knew it, he was in the arena with Kaminari. There actually wasn't much he knew about his quirk, just that he uses electricity, but, it didn't faze him. He got the feeling he'd easily hold his own against a quirk like that, plus, it's a given that his combat skills excel past his opponent's.

"And here we have the sparking, killing boy, Kaminari Denki! Versus..."

Killing boy? Present Mic's descriptions sure were weird...

"1-A's brand new, mysterious speedster, Killua Zoldyck!"

A couple feet away from him, he could easily tell how nervous his opponent was in going against him, fiddling his hands and chattering his teeth. He probably assumed it'd be a test of speed, as everyone in his class watched the way he knocked out Bakugou and zoomed past nearly everyone in the Obstacle Race, but doing the same thing over and over again was boring. Even then, he didn't want to hold back just for the sake of enjoying his time a little bit more.

So, what was the play, here?

"START!"

Instantly, Kaminari let off a gigantic surge of electricity, volts wrapping around the stage and enveloping Killua in it in a blur of white and yellow. He could feel it everywhere; it crackled over his skin, in his ears, even within his teeth. It was painful.

"And Kaminari continues to electrify the entire arena! But folks, Zoldyck is still standing in the midst of all of it?! Is he just taking it all in? Has he already passed out?"

It was painful, but he could still move. Taking a couple effortless steps, he aimed to simply push him out of the arena. Not every match had to end in a knockout, he supposed.

"What's this?" Present Mic started. "Zoldyck is walking through Kaminari's electricity?! What endurance! There must be thousands of volts there, but he treats it as if it's nothing! Wow! Perhaps he's blocking it, somehow?"

Oddly enough, something about the sparks dancing over his fingertips felt extremely familiar. Almost as if he could reach out and take control of it...

Immediately, before he could even reach his opponent, the electricity ceased, leaving behind a defunct Kaminari lazily holding two thumbs up.

"ZOLDYCK ADVANCES TO THE SECOND ROUND!"

Well, that went by quick. The roar of the crowd filled his ears, unable to tell any actual words from it. As he was led off of the arena, his stare lingered on Kaminari. He couldn't ask him anything about his quirk right now, of course, but... eventually, he would. Breaking his gaze, he looked down at his hand, remembering exactly how the electricity crackled over it. He almost longed for it. It didn't make any sense. He was quirkless, right?

Making his way back to the seats, he found his spot between Midoriya and Uraraka. Right, he thought. Iida's match was up next.

"Wow, you were so cool, out there!" Uraraka beamed, clapping her hands together.

Killua said a quick thanks, peering over at Midoriya. The guy was mumbling away, writing in some kind of notebook. It didn't seem like he noticed him sit down next to him, so he waved a hand in front of his face while he drawled a low "hello."

"Huh?" he said, startled. "Oh, Z-Zoldyck! Sorry, I was just writing..."

"Yeah, I can tell." Head tilting in interest, he glanced over the pages. "Woah, you've been writing about our classmates?"

"Um... yeah," he laughed, forcing a smile as his cheeks heated up.

Before he could explain further, Killua prodded, "Can I see Kaminari's page?"

Incomprehensibly stuttering over his words, he handed the book over to Killua, page already flipped to the requested student.

KAMINARI DENKI

QUIRK: electrification

generates electricity & covers entire body w it. can go a far distance, but barely has control over it. exceeding wattage limit causes brain to short circuit for an hour, leaving him vulnerable.

can possibly control outside sources of electricity? possibly cause a lightning strike...? holds great amount of power, but ultimate downfall is control. equipment that can ma...

Alright, that was enough. He was basically just a human battery, since, at least for now, there was no real way for him to properly channel his quirk. Closing the cover, he'd just noticed Uraraka reading along with him from over his shoulder.

"Huh, he really goes all out in his analyses," she said. "It makes sense, though. He's pretty observant of others' quirks, so much that he mumbles about it non-stop..."

"Uraraka! You're reading it too?" he yelped from a seat away.

"Duh. Don't worry, Deku. It's cool!"

Handing the notebook back, Killua snickered at the embarrassed kid. Although all his journal did was confirm his theories about "sparking, killing" boy's quirk, it further motivated him to want to talk to him, even if he didn't exactly know what he wanted from him, yet.

"Oh, by the way," Midoriya said, turning to Killua, "how did you manage to get through Kaminari's quirk like that?"

"Huh?"

"Were you just... running really fast, or something? To avoid getting shocked? I don't know how that would exactly work, but—"

"I didn't avoid it," he interrupted. "I just walked through it."

"Oh," Midoriya sighed.

A silent beat passed.

Eyes widening, as if in slow motion, his jaw dropped as both Uraraka and he let out a loud, "WHAT?!"

"A quirk?" Gon questioned, tilting his head. "I thought people had to be born with quirks?"

"They are," Shigaraki clarified, "but quirks can do anything."

Anything, huh? So, it was pretty similar to Nen. Except, according to Kurogiri, it was more of a muscle that you had to train, and less of a sort of life energy. The thought of regaining some sort of power excited him, but he knew he had to stay cautious. He trusted the League of Villains—to an extent—but this sounded like something that could permanently alter him in a way he couldn't be too sure of, unless he went all in.

"How will it work?"

"Ah..." he trailed off, pausing. "You do know Sensei, right?"

Picking his brain for any sense of recognition, he recalled Kurogiri mention him in passing. It seemed like he was the leader of the whole organization. "Kinda," he answered.

"His quirk is called All For One. He can take any person's quirk and pass it down to whoever he chooses."

"And he chooses me?"

"Yeah."

The arcade bleeps in the background filled his ears as he considered the idea. "What quirk does he wanna give me?"

Sucking in a quick breath, he explained, "Summon. You basically order yourself to do something, and then you get whatever power you need to do it. Kurogiri can explain it better, but that's the gist."

...He wasn't gonna lie, that sounded really cool. Not only the quirk, but the idea that he's essentially getting some sort of power back for free. He hadn't been doing much on Whale Island to really need something like that, but ever since he lost the ability to control his Nen, he felt like some part of him was missing, even after all these years. Willingly giving it up didn't mean he didn't miss it.

So, teeth showing as a big grin stretched on his face, he cheerfully nodded at Shigaraki.

"Alright! When can I get it?"

He leaned back, Gon realizing he was staring at a clock behind him. "In a few hours, I'm guessing."

Jumping up from the table, he grabbed the now empty cardboard box that used to hold his crepe and tossed it into the trash. Rushing back to his companion, he cheered, "Let's play more games while we wait!"

He'd never actually been to an arcade before. There weren't any on Whale Island, so he assumed he bought his own game system back home for that reason. The memory of it was clear in his mind, but, for some reason, he hadn't actually used it in years. Maybe the games coming out recently just weren't that good. However, in a space where any kind of game—either dropping a claw on a stuffed animal, sitting down and racing in a "car," or working your legs out through a rhythm game—were all barely a foot away from each other, he understood why some people got addicted to these kinds of things. Especially when he was up against someone. Competition made everything better!

To his delight, Shigaraki stood up and walked along with him to find another game for them to play.

"Hey, when I get Summon, does that mean I can beat you in every single video game?"

"Eh?"

"Like, if I tell myself to win a game of Tekken against you, will I just get the power to do that?"

Shigaraki scoffed. "Even if you did do that, I'd still win. You're shit at Tekken."

"Huh?!" Gon pouted. Slowly, a mischievous smirk grew on his face. "But, at least I can still win in a real life fight against you."

That got the older boy's head turning, eyes brimming with animosity.

"You damn brat."

Summon: Upon activation, the user gives their body a command. Once given, they black out until it is fulfilled, no matter what. In place of them blacking out, they "summon" whatever power will most greatly help them in achieving it.

Its only drawback is the longer they stay blacked out, the more the summoned power will eat away at their life energy. The longer it goes on, the stronger and more uncontrollable the power becomes. Worst case, it can lead to the user's death.

Chapter Text

The first round was finally over with, ending with an arm wrestling match between Kirishima and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu. Saying their quirks were similar was an understatement; Killua was pretty sure the only difference between them was what color they turned when they used it. Still, he rooted for the redhead, yelling out encouraging words from the crowd along with his other classmates. Immediately, the crack of an iron arm shortly ended the match, signaling Kirishima's victory and establishing his spot in the next round.

Over Present Mic's and the audience's cheers, Killua decided he'd try and find Kaminari before the second round started, since he probably should have gotten out of his... confused state, by now. Earlier, he'd asked some of his classmates where he could possibly be, and, to his slight disappointment, he'd been taken to the infirmary. Well, as long as he paid no attention to the hag, he assumed he'd be fine.

Saying a quick goodbye to his classmates in the stands, he squeezed through to the aisles, making his way to speak to Kaminari. This was something he absolutely did not want to let go. Just like when he reached to grab Midoriya's shoulder the first day, he was now reaching at the slightest sense of familiarity in that electrification quirk. Still... what would he even do once he got there, though? Ask him to electrocute him? Electrocute himself? There was a reason Midoriya listed him as having barely any control over it, and he didn't want to freak the kid out any further.

Finding himself at the door of the infirmary, he turned the handle and immediately entered. His eyes searched the room for his target, pointedly ignoring Recovery Girl's presence from a hard left. Unfortunately, she hadn't made the same decision and promptly spoke to him.

"Zoldyck," she addressed.

Killua barely made a noise of acknowledgement. "Is Kaminari here?"

"He just left a minute ago."

A quick nod, and he hastily spun on his heel to head back out the door and look for him.

"Wait," she called out, stopping him in his tracks.

What did she want, now?

Shoving his hands in pockets, he impatiently huffed. Recovery Girl, however, didn't seem to have her usual look of annoyance plastered on her face. Inhaling deeply, she said, "Do you know what my quirk is, Zoldyck?"

Raising an eyebrow, he answered, "Yeah, you kiss people and they heal. Really weird..."

Ignoring that last mumble of a comment, she said, "Yes, but there's more to it. It works by speeding up your own body's process of healing."

"And?"

"And, the more someone needs healing, the more of your own life energy gets used up."

Life energy? He scratched his cheek, silently repeating the words back to himself. "So?"

She narrowed her eyes. "So. Considering how deep that wound on your forehead was—I wanted to mention it at the time, but I had to attend to other students—you should have at least felt a little bit tired, after. But, were you?"

Recalling the way he, after getting healed, immediately ran off without breaking a sweat, he answered with a short, "Nope."

"That's what I figured," she sighed. "If you haven't noticed, your skull was cracked. Mending bones only takes a few seconds for me, but it takes a lot out of the patient. You... have an incredibly abnormal amount of life energy."

Before Killua could respond, the door busted open, revealing a flustered Kaminari scratching at the back of his head. "Recovery Girl! Sorry! I left my pho—"

He immediately made eye contact with Killua. Then, Recovery Girl.

Awkwardly laughing, he shuffled over to one of the beds. "...Left my phone. Sorry." Picking up the flat object from under the pillowcase, he hurriedly made his way out of the room, slamming the door as hard as he opened it.

For just a second, the last two in the room stared at each other, processing what had just happened.

"Gotta go!" Killua blurted, wasting no time at all to race after Kaminari.

Ignoring her indignant calls back, he shut the door and found the electric quirk user down the hall.

Although he was certainly interested in the fact that he apparently had a large amount of life energy, the entire reason he went to the infirmary in the first place was to meet up with his classmate. Besides, if he really wanted, he can just go back and ask her about it again; there wasn't anything telling him he couldn't.

Mentally filing it for later, he called out to Kaminari, the soles of his shoes skidding to a halt from just a few feet behind him.

"Huh?" he exclaimed, slightly arching his back to look over at him. Gazes meeting once again, his eyes widened as he realized who was chasing after him. "Oh! Zoldyck! Uh... hey? What's up?"

"I..."

Silence.

He... actually still hadn't planned on what he'd say to him. As they uncomfortably stood across each other, waiting, internally begging for the other to say something to break the awkward tension, a light bulb in his brain finally went off.

"Let's... train together."

His head somehow tilting at nearly a 90 degree angle, his eyebrows furrowed as he loudly exclaimed, "Huh?"

"I was just about to ask you about your quirk, but... we're kind of in the middle of a festival. Mind showing me some other time? Maybe tomorrow?"

The confusion left his face and was instantly replaced with a look of dread behind his eyes. "But... you're super strong, man," he sniffed. "I don't know if I can handle that again, I mean, you completely crushed me in our match! I was scared you were gonna knock me out with that freaky chop!"

It doesn't even hurt that much, he internally grumbled. "If you're concerned I'm gonna beat you senseless, you don't need to worry. Just ask Kirishima."

"Oh," he said, gaze floating towards the ceiling. As it landed back on Killua, he pouted. "I remember him telling me about that. But, he said you went easy on him, so you're probably gonna go even easier on me!"

"Eh? What do you want? For me to hurt you or not to hurt you?"

Defeatedly throwing his arms up in the air, he said, "I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I... don't know!"

Killua impatiently tapped his foot. This guy...

Clicking his tongue, he said, "Whatever. Do you want to, or not?"

Kaminari's arms crossed. "I... gotta think about it. I'll let you know after the festival."

"Fine. Come find me when you're ready."

With that, Killua strolled past him on his way back to the stands, as if they weren't going the same exact direction (to which Kaminari decided to stand still for a few seconds, and then slowly follow from behind.) He might have been a little annoyed by the conversation, but there was no way he was going to let something that petty impact his decision on whether he wanted to revisit his strange experience in the arena or not. Besides, it was either asking him to show off his quirk or having himself just pour water on an electrical box he'd find somewhere. Maybe throwing a toaster in a bathtub would work, too. It almost did feel like he was going to get the same effect whichever method he tried, anyway...

Shaking his head, his eyes fixated on the growing light at the end of the hallway. Among the brainwashing, abundant life energy, and maybe training session between him and Kaminari, he already had a lot to take away from the sports festival, and the last third of it wasn't even over with, yet. Right now, he just hoped he'd get back in time to watch Midoriya's and Todoroki's match all the way through.

As Shigaraki waved him off after Gon told him he needed to use the restroom, he became curious how the sports festival was going. Kurogiri had sent him a text earlier that confirmed their plan was going along perfectly; he had found the second interdimensional. A kid in 1-A named Killua Zoldyck, who was apparently really fast. Sitting down at a nearby table, he pulled his phone out, making sure he was facing the bathroom door so the brat wouldn't be able to sneak up on him.

Typing in 'U.A. Sports Festival' on some free streaming service website, he easily found it at the top result. Unfortunately, because he didn't think he'd need to bring earphones to an obnoxiously loud arcade, he had to turn on the automated subtitles, which were, of course, complete shit. Either way, he needed to satiate his desires somehow.

'...engines on his legs, we have Iida Tenya! Versus... Killua Zoldyck, the quick, late-bloomer! Wow! Check out that oxymoron!'

...was how Shigaraki interpreted the subtitles that read, 'engines on his legs we have eat a ten yeah versus kill who a ball sick the quick late bloomer wow check out that oxymoron.'

Huh, he thought. Just his luck he'd turn it on as soon their target stepped in the spotlight. And then, he shortly remembered who this 'Iida Tenya' was. That damn brat who alerted all the Pro Heroes to USJ...

Letting out a scoff, he wondered how this matchup would go if both of them were supposed to be extremely fast. Was it simply a battle of speed? Whoever got to either one first, he supposed would be the winner. Part of him rooted for glasses kid because then that meant defeating this interdimensional would be easier than initially thought, and another part of him rooted for Zoldyck because it would confirm his strength, which ultimately equates to Gon's. Either way, this seemed like an interesting battle.

'START!'

The two opponents stood still—Iida ready to rush in at any moment, Killua with his hands in his pockets—waiting for either one to make a single move. Killua remembered Iida's last match with Hatsume, and, well... there wasn't too much he could actually say, combat-wise. However, he did know that Iida's quirk definitely allowed him to move extremely fast. Curiosity took over; thoughts such as whether the engines only affected his running speed or his overall speed rushed through his mind (as well as how close they'd be if they were to go against each other in an actual race.) Though, it was more likely that his kicks were faster than his punches, if it really was only his bottom half that was affected by his quirk. His opponent might primarily fight with his legs, then.

Alright, Killua thought. So far, he'd mostly used speed as an upper-hand "tactic" against the competitors. Perhaps he'd try to go on the offense, this time...

"Recipro Burst!"

It happened in what seemed like a millisecond; Iida had just stood a good distance away from him, and right now...

Killua stood face to face with an incoming kick.

Bringing his hands up out of his pockets to block it, he grunted upon the force of impact. Whatever move Iida just pulled, miraculously, brought his speed up to nearly—no, maybe even exactly—Killua's own level. If his arms weren't so busy taking a hit, he would've let out an actual laugh.

Looks like this match's gonna be pretty fun, after all!

Soles skidding across the cement, Killua watched as Iida went for another high kick. This time, he was prepared. Instead of blocking again, he cleanly ducked under it, sweeping Iida's single standing leg from under him. His opponent fell over, and, as he flew mid-air, Killua turned around and reeled his arm back for a punch...

There was nothing in front of him. Instead, Iida had already dashed forward, far away from where he stood.

Three seconds. It had only been three seconds.

"You're fast," Killua called out.

No response other than a single nod came from his opponent who was currently panting, irises shaking from behind his glasses. Upon closer inspection, Killua noticed that his engines were actually emitting blue flames, rather than the regular orange-yellow. Even more striking was the fact that the flames seemed to be sputtering as time crawled on. Did this mean his 'Recipro Burst' had a time limit? If so, Killua wanted to spin back into action as soon as possible; for once, he felt that this was an even battle (at least, the most even battle he's had, so far.)

Time to go on the offensive.

Killua immediately bolted forward. Iida wanted to get the most out of his ability before it ran out, didn't he? With that in mind, as soon as he came close to him, he jumped. Below him, Iida had attempted a kick at the exact same time, completely missing him. Quick reaction time, Killua noted. However, that didn't make up for the fact that he was able to simply think one step ahead of him.

And, this time, Killua finally landed his punch.

It was almost like an explosion. A giant dust cloud materialized in the middle of the arena, a trail of it following Iida as he hurtled out of bounds, towards the inner walls, loudly crashing against it.

The dust dissipated, leaving the scene of a short, white-haired boy standing alone, a scratch found nowhere on his body.

For a while, a hush fell over the whole audience.

"Zo...Z-Zoldyck moves on to the next round!"

So much for an even match.

Killua didn't know much about Todoroki, save for the words exchanged between him and Midoriya during their battle. Something about him not wanting to use his left side...

As soon as the match started, Todoroki immediately cast out his gigantic wall of ice spikes. In the time it took to cover the entire arena, however, Killua easily climbed it before it grew out of bounds, reaching the top and looking down at his opponent. Assessing him, he presumed he could easily run up and knock him out with a single chop. But, at the same time, he wanted to see him use his fire, just like how Midoriya did. It didn't feel fair if he didn't.

Jumping back down to the ground, he watched as Todoroki lifted his hand up in his direction, releasing yet another gigantic ice wall. It crackled as it grew, but Killua was able to dodge it. He dodged another, and another, and another, until his opponent's skin looked near frostbitten. Brute force couldn't beat his agility.

"Stupid," he started, staring Todoroki in the eye as he stood only a couple feet away from him. "You're gonna lose if you keep being this stubborn."

"Stupid..." he softly echoed, the insult seemingly entering one ear and exiting the other.

Killua clicked his tongue. "Don't you wanna win?"

"...Don't you?"

"I'm doing this for fun," he shrugged. "I can't do that when you're obviously not giving your all."

"That's hypocritical," he said, "since you're not giving your all, either."

"No, I'm giving all I can for the sake of fun. Duh."

"It doesn't matter," he said, narrowing his eyes. Slowly beginning to lift his right hand back up, he continued, "You don't know me at all. You have no right telling me what to do."

At that, his opponent began rushing towards him. However, due to the sheer amount of ice he'd produced without a heat source to balance it, his movements were even slower than before—easily traceable for Killua.

'You don't know me at all.' Of course he didn't. He was just able to recognize when someone was in pain. That, he thought, is definitely not fun.

Todoroki threw a punch, which Killua easily dodged. Then, he landed a kick on Todoroki's torso, sending him propelling across the arena. Sharp eyes honing in on the way his opponent's right hand moved behind himself, Killua pounced towards him. Shortly after, a wall of ice appeared at the edge, most likely to keep him from flying out of bounds. However, Killua had already caught up to Todoroki, and, as soon as his ice wall was built, he punched him through it, shattering the ice and securing his victory in the finals.

Present Mic's and the audience's cheers indeterminately buzzing around in his ears, he stared at the unconscious boy, watching him as he got carried outside the arena.

Killua sighed, shoving his hands back in his pockets as his eyes traveled to the ground. The shards of ice had finally begun to melt, and the next match was already being announced. It was time to move on.

Somewhere in Hosu, Kurogiri and the Hero Killer meet on top of a rooftop.

Somewhere in Hosu, Pro Hero Ingenium had been attacked. Calls were made to his family.

In Kamino Ward, the biggest threat to society was currently losing in a game of Smash Ultimate to All For One's sole successor.

Killua sat alone in the contestant prep room, considering his upcoming battle with Bakugou. There wasn't a doubt in his mind he'd be able to beat him again, quirkless battle or not. So, why exactly did he feel so... apprehensive?

The slam of the door suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?"

Killua cocked his head. "Huh? Bakugou?"

Red eyes widening in shock, he said, "What're you doing here?!" Doing a double take at the sign, he gawked, "Oh, shit, this is room two!"

A silence fell over the room. In a slight motion, Killua brought his hand to his mouth and giggled.

"Stupid."

"Oi, what'd you say?" he seethed, stepping closer to Killua's spot at the table. Instead of instantly lashing out at him like he did normally, he shot him a silent, murderous glare. "I don't know what the hell your deal is, but I'm sick of your cocky ass attitude."

"My cocky attitude?" Killua laughed. "I wasn't the one who pledged he'll be 'number one.'"

"That's because I will be. I didn't come to this school just to get beat up by some fuckin' amnesiac brat who thinks he's better than everyone else!" Hitting his palm on the table, he knocked it over with an explosion. "You came out of nowhere, and people are acting like you're just another normal student. I don't fuckin' get it!"

A frown formed on his face. "I didn't ask to just appear at this school. I didn't even want to be a student, but there's nothing better they'd let me do. Why don't you just deal with it?"

"You're telling me to just ignore the brat who walks by my desk every single day? The brat who always gets brought up in some shitty conversation I'm in? Hell no." Scowling, he made his way back to the door. "We'll settle this at the arena. You better not go easy on me, or you'll fuckin' regret it, cat face."

The door loudly shut, leaving Killua behind, sitting with a singed, toppled over table.

Soon enough, it was time for the match to start.

"The best of the best among U.A.'s first years will be decided!"

Killua, hand in pocket, coldly stared into his opponent's eyes from across the arena. Bakugou did the same, only, there was a burning fire behind his.

What's wrong with you...

"It's the final match! Zoldyck versus Bakugou!"

You can't keep your damn anger in check?

"START!"

Bakugou charged forward, mini explosions propelling him towards the white-haired boy. Immediately, he reeled back his right arm...

Landing back on the ground, he looked behind him and found Killua on the complete opposite end of the arena. Gritting his teeth, he blasted off, dust swirling around in the air. This time, his focus was entirely on where his opponent would end up. As soon as he closed the distance, Killua disappeared, which was his cue to look around the arena. There, on the other side of the arena, was where he stood yet again.

Clicking his tongue, he yelled out, "Stop running, you shitty brat! Fight me! Don't give me that 'If I went all out, I'll kill you' bullshit!"

...He still remembered that exact sentence?

Killua's eyes shifted as he scrutinized his opponent. Exactly how badly did he wound his pride...?

And then, in that exact moment, it all clicked. It wasn't just pure anger that caused his fists to shake; he was afraid.

Every time he told him he didn't belong at U.A., it wasn't to simply just get a rise out of him. Killua was basically just a giant walking reminder of his defeat—of his vulnerability. If he could, he'd bet money on Midoriya being an even bigger one from what he'd already seen and heard from his classmates. Needless to say... Bakugou's got some major issues, more than what Killua initially thought.

Shaking his head, he let out a short laugh. Some inferiority complex didn't excuse the guy from being an asshole, though. Still, he admitted to himself that there was one thing he admired about the angry porcupine, because, despite already knowing how much stronger he was, he still egged him on in the prep room. Someone who only wanted to win wouldn't do that.

"What's so funny?!"

"Nothing," he said, freeing up both of his hands. "I'm ready now."

Bakugou wanted victory, fair and square, even—in this situation, at least—when it wasn't certain.

That was something... Killua greatly appreciated.

A devilish smile stretching his face, Bakugou ran forward, quirk crackling in his palms. He jumped up in the air, circling Killua to form a dust tornado around the both of them. Blasting towards him, he let off a final explosion.

"HOWITZER IMPACT!"

Unfortunately for him, Killua wanted fun.

An explosion rivaling that of a missle burned through the arena, sending currents of hot wind against the audience's faces.

Once the dust cleared, Bakugou stood alone in the arena.

"Now, where the hell are you, cat face...?"

Red eyes locked onto blue ones. Killua stood, smiling and waving at him from just outside of the arena lines.

"Congrats on the win, classmate!"

After all, he did still think it was fun to tease him.

"YOU DAMN BASTARD..."

Bakugou then ungracefully collapsed on the ground, Midnight using her quirk from right behind him.

"Bakugou is the winner!"

"It's time to go, Gon."

"Already?! We haven't even played all the games, yet!"

"You idiot, you'd rather stay here than get your quirk?"

"Well, no..."

Groaning, Shigaraki gestured towards the revolving door. "We're leaving. Sensei is waiting."

Ignoring the way the brat spun the door around two... three... four times—did this kid really just turn 16?—he walked on his way back to their hideout, occasionally checking that Gon stayed behind him.

Shigaraki smirked. Everything in their plan was going along perfectly; all they needed to do next was train Gon's quirk, then wait for the perfect time to strike. Then, he thought, chuckling, maybe we'll turn him into a nomu, next, so he'd stop talking about that damn Aunt Mito. Once the Zoldyck brat was dead, he'd have Gon all to himself without needing to watch out for his memories coming back; he could even get him to finally kill All Might.

"Hey, Shigaraki."

Not even bothering to turn his head around, he dryly said, "What?"

"What's your quirk? I've never actually seen you use it."

Humming, he looked around the streets. Finding an empty glass bottle in an alleyway, he picked it up and held it over his shoulder where Gon could see. Placing all five fingers on it, he easily disintegrated it.

"Decay."

A sound of amazement came from behind him. "That's so cool! But... how? You've touched things without them doing that before..."

"It takes all five fingers."

As Shigaraki answered Gon's questions in no more than five words at a time, they finally reached the hideout. Knocking on the door, he called for Kurogiri.

Shortly after the door opened and the pair stepped inside, he was met with the smoky, yellow-eyed man's gaze.

"Take us to Sensei," Shigaraki ordered.

"Ah, actually..." he hesitated, glancing at Gon. "Sensei requested that only Freecss will meet him."

"Huh?" Shigaraki said, eyes widening. Ending with a scoff, he said, "Fine. Take him. Just make it quick."

As soon as Shigaraki finished speaking, Kurogiri opened up a portal.

"Step inside, Freecss."

Gon stared at the swirling black mass, jaw dropping. "What is this?" he asked.

"Sensei's exact location is kept a secret. My quirk only opens a portal into his room, however, so don't worry. Once you're done, I'll teleport you back, easy as that."

Shuffling his feet, he reflected on the situation. As soon as he stepped through, he was going to regain some semblance of his past power, quirk, Nen, whatever it was—it all blurred together. It wasn't going to be for free, however; he knew at least that much. The League of Villains had wanted him to help them with their goal of killing some hero, and, he assumed, he was going to be a big part of it.

A short-term goal for long-term power.

Gon stepped through.

"Welcome, Gon Freecss."

Whatever he expected, it definitely wasn't this.

In a small, dark room, sat a heavily scarred man in a suit with tubes attached to himself. It seemed the only light was coming from all the computer screens behind who he assumed was Sensei.

"I see you've made your decision on getting a quirk," he said. His voice was dry, but it didn't take away from its commanding nature at all. "Are you ready?"

Even while he was hooked up to machines that helped with keeping him alive, Gon could just tell how powerful this man was. The scars weren't there for show, and, as much as he wanted to ask where he got them from, he held back, instead choosing to deeply bow to offer his respects.

"Yes, Sensei!" Slowly lifting himself back up, he questioned, "...How will you give it?"

Sensei gestured for Gon to step closer. "Hold out your hand, child. This won't take too long."

Gon followed his order, waiting for whatever his quirk was to activate. There wasn't much to see when looking up at the scarred man's face, as the only thing present was his mouth (Gon wondered if there was anyone out there who only had a nose; then, Sensei, Kurogiri, and nose person could complete a whole face.) Forcing himself to keep his distracting thoughts at bay, he quickly realized he'd missed something Sensei said.

"Oh, what'd you say? Sorry."

The giant man let out a laugh. Placing his own calloused hand into the child's, he softly spoke the last words a quirkless Gon would ever hear.

"Use it well."

Chapter Text

Some time ago...

"Y-you... you want my quirk?"

All For One glanced at the file Kurogiri had prepared for him.

MUSUBU TENCHI

DOB: 26 JULY 20XX

SEX: M

HEIGHT: 5'9

QUIRK: INSEPARABLE INTERDIMENSIONALS; TELEPORTS TWO IMMENSELY POWERFUL PEOPLE FROM ANY DIMENSION INTO ONE'S OWN. BOTH ARRIVE WITH VARYING DEGREES OF AMNESIA FROM DIMENSIONAL TRAVEL, BUT REGAIN ALL MEMORIES UPON MEETING EACH OTHER.

Not much else worth commenting on, it seemed. Other than, of course, his quirk.

"Yes," All For One answered from behind his mask. "I believe it would give our end a great advantage."

The young man stood, trembling only a few feet away from the Symbol of Evil. Forcing himself to swallow the lump in his throat, he said, "I don't know what you're up to, but... you don't want my quirk."

"Hm?" he rested his head in his hand, leaning against the armchair. "Why is that, Musubu?"

"T-to be honest," he stammered, staring at the ground, "I've only ever used it twice in my life. The last time was... two years ago."

"Perhaps you haven't found the proper situation for it, yet."

He shook his head. "There's no proper situation for it." Letting out a short laugh, he continued, "Every time I've done it, it's brought nothing good."

"I see," All For One acknowledged. In a slight motion, he motioned for the man to sit on the floor, which immediately prompted a wide-eyed look of confusion. "Tell me about the times you've used it."

Even as disbelief traced the lines of his face, Musubu obeyed the villain's order.

The computers lowly buzzed in the background, pale, blue light illuminating the entire room. All For One needed to know more about the man's quirk before using it himself. After all, he had to be completely sure that this was the right decision. Such a powerful quirk can only bring destruction; hopefully, that destruction would fall on the heroes' side.

Taking a deep breath, Musubu started, "I-I was four years old. When it happened, a man appeared right in front of me, through a sort of... purple portal? He wore a helmet with a mountain logo on it, a mask, and a sword on his back. It was really weird.

"He stayed at our house, even while my parents were wary of him because he didn't seem to remember anything about himself." A chuckle escaped his lips. "We called him Aoi-Two... because the first Aoi was our dog. I hope he didn't mind.

"Then, a week later, it was reported that some thief who was able to rob dozens of Pro Heroes died to an unknown illness. They showed a picture of his face, and Aoi-Two freaked out. I thought it was just because they had the same exact helmet and mask, but it was more than that. He remembered who he was, and who that man who died was. He went on about this rant for needing money so he could heal his sick village... or something like that.

"That eventually led him to leave our house. I never saw him again, until another week later, it was reported that he died, too. It was, like, the exact same headline. Thief. Pro Heroes. Unknown illness."

All For One nodded as he spoke, taking it all in. A purple portal, huh... it made sense the quirk had been classified as Warping. Both the extent and effects of it, however, both amazed and puzzled him.

"What, exactly," he spoke from his armchair, "prompted the 'dimension' aspect of your quirk?"

"It was the doctors who named it," Musubu mumbled. "Aoi-Two told us about how things worked in his society, and how different it was, here. Really, what gave it away was the sickness that both him and the other interdimensional died to. It was labelled an anomaly, since, according to Aoi-Two, it affected his whole village. Yet, somehow, it didn't get contracted by any one of us."

Leaning forward, All For One rested his head in his hands. "How peculiar."

"Yeah..."

Reaching his hand out, he gestured for him to continue. "Now, the second pair?"

Killua fiddled with Aizawa's phone as he swung his legs across the couch, wasting time on newly downloaded app games (every time Aizawa handed his phone back to Killua, he'd find that they'd all been deleted. It was a never ending cycle.) It was getting easier and easier to use every single day, and, the more he used it, the more research he did on heroes and villains.

Of course, he briefly learned about the concepts in his Japanese and World History classes (as well as several other things he found himself scratching his head to, such as a damn globe on the teacher's desk,) but there still was the immense need for him to scratch that itch of learning about it at a deeper level. No matter how long he'd stayed without his memories, it still felt so foreign to him. Pro Heroes, Underground Heroes, Villains, Vigilantes... the list went on. What was even stranger to him was how hard-set society was on the same exact ideals: Pro Heroes are good, Villains are bad, no matter what. Pro Heroes don't kill people. Only Pro Heroes can use their quirk in public.

Thinking back to his conversation with Midoriya, Uraraka, and Iida during last week's lunch, he pouted.

What's a hero's purpose?

Uraraka had turned the question towards him in the end, but he genuinely hadn't been able to answer. If anything, he'd probably go with something similar to what Midoriya said.

Be dependable. Give help when not asked for. Give someone hope.

Killua loudly exhaled, exiting the cheaply made app game and setting the phone down on the coffee table. Another dead end in his head. He'd been reaching those quite frequently, recently. It seemed as if the longer he stayed here, the harder it was for his memories to resurface; and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Kid," Aizawa called from his bedroom door.

It was the day after the sports festival, and the school had let them take a day off. His guardian, instead of his usual hero getup, had worn a bland t-shirt and jeans, along with a loosely tied ponytail. Now he looks super duper homeless...

In an hour or so, Killua would meet up with Kaminari, as, thankfully, he accepted his offer to train together. It had been quite an odd request, actually, looking back on the first time he met up with him outside of the infirmary. His classmate may find it even stranger that Killua didn't actually want to train—admittedly, he just wanted to see his quirk in action, again.

Killua made a slight sound of acknowledgement, turning his head to the speaker.

For just a moment, Aizawa's mouth opened to say something. Then, he immediately closed it, instead going for a mumbled, "Don't get yourself into trouble."

"Huh? What else?" he blurted, tilting his head.

"What?"

"You were gonna say something else."

"No, I wasn't."

"Stupid, I saw it myself."

"And all I'm seeing right now is a brat who doesn't know when to stop."

Huffing and jumping off the couch, Killua shuffled over to the front door. "Whatever. I'm gonna go."

Realistically, if he left now, he'd probably have about half an hour of free time before meeting with Kaminari. Plenty of time for him to do... nothing. He'd prefer staying here and messing a little more with the Pro Hero's phone, but his presence was slowly starting to grate on him. With a monotonous goodbye from Aizawa, he exited the apartment and pushed his way through the main door of the building complex.

Killua, of course, didn't have his own phone to satisfy his boredom, but that also meant he had no way of contacting his classmates by himself. Yesterday, Kaminari had specified he wanted to meet up at 'that cafe near the school, you know?' And, annoyingly, Killua did not know. Cursing at not being able to contact him, he decided he'd head over to the school and try to scope out the area for himself. Maybe it was a good thing he decided to leave early, then; it wasn't like he had a map, either.

Soon enough, he found himself at the bottom of the hill where U.A. sat atop. Now, he just needed to find some sort of cafe around here that looked like a place Kaminari would go to. Strolling by the various shops and pedestrians, his eyes peered at a sign that had 'Pro Tea-ro! Cafe' written in an extremely obnoxious font. What a bad pun, too... Killua bit his cheek. They better have good food to make up for the sour taste that sign gave him.

This was the closest cafe to U.A., so he chose to sit and wait for Kaminari at one of the umbrella tables set up just outside of the shop, hoping he made the right guess. Murmuring to himself, he looked through the window of the shop, lazily focusing his eyes on the chalkboard menu. He wouldn't have to guess if Kaminari had just...

"Hey, Zoldyck!"

Speak of the devil.

Turning his gaze to the blond battery, he found him jogging up to his spot, waving a friendly hand at him.

"Hey," Killua greeted back in a nonchalant manner.

Standing at the table, Kaminari stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked inside the cafe. "Wanna go get something?"

A nod later, the pair walked inside and lined up to get their order taken. It was considerably big for a cafe, Killua noticed. Perhaps, since it was so close to U.A., they chose to accommodate for, uh, bigger-sized mutant quirks. It was just like the gigantic double doors that lead into every classroom back at their school. As his eyes scanned the menu, he found one particular item piquing his interest, as well as his own taste buds'. Prepared with an order, he made eye contact with the cashier.

"What can I get for you today?" the girl behind the counter asked, a sweet smile pointed towards the both of them.

"Hey," Kaminari said in a voice that made Killua want to immediately rush outside and abandon him here. "Can I get a sundae... with a side of your number?"

Was he... trying to flirt?

This was too embarrassing to watch. Killua regretted agreeing to meet up in a cafe.

As the girl took his order—completely ignoring Kaminari's 'side' order, much to Killua's delight—she turned her attention to him.

"And you?" she smiled.

"The chocolate cake pops, please."

Before Killua could reach a hand in his pocket, Kaminari's arm immediately stopped right in front of him. Confused, Killua turned to look at him.

A dark expression on his face, he muttered, "Let me pay." Lowering his voice so the cashier couldn't hear, he continued, "I can't let myself be outshined by a little kid..."

"Huh?"

Little kid... how old did he think he was?

Kaminari handed his card over the register, trying to force a smile through the fog masking his features. She swiped it, and—

BEEP.

"Sorry," the girl said, "your card was declined."

Kaminari's already dark expression somehow turned even darker: sunken eyes, deep wrinkles... as if he had aged fifty years in two seconds.

Weakly reaching back for his card, Killua took that as his cue to use 'his own.'

Once the exchange had completed, they walked to one of the tables inside so it'd be easier for them to know when their orders had finished.

"Have a good day, Aizawa!"

The sudden name call shook off Kaminari's face of despair, replacing it with one of bafflement. "Aizawa?" he repeated, sitting down at one of the booths.

Killua shrugged. "Guess she saw the name on the card I used." Bringing a single finger to his lips, he hushed. "Don't tell."

"Man..."

"Don't think I'm letting go of what you tried to do back there, though. What the hell was that?"

Kaminari scratched the back of his head, saying, "I just thought she was cute, I don't know... I wanted to impress her..."

"And how old do you actually think I am?"

"Huh?" he exclaimed, eyes widening. "Aren't you 12, or something?"

"Huh?! I'm 15, just like you!"

"Ah, come on! What am I supposed to think? You're really short, dude!"

"That doesn't mean I'm 12, stupid!"

Killua groaned, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat. What was it with this class? First, it was Mineta thinking he was a damn girl. Now, it's Kaminari thinking he's a 12 year old. He couldn't even think of anything else he'd get mistaken for, because those two things were already, most definitely, a reach. Even if he was right about him being short... Well, some part of him wanted to tell himself he was just a 'late bloomer,' that his genetics just hadn't kicked in yet. And, again, he internally sighed, when trying to think more deeply about it, it led to yet another dead end in his head.

"You're sure you're not actually 12 and your memory's just messing with you?"

To that, Killua simply tilted his head, furrowed his brows, and glared at him.

"A-Ah... well, sorry about that," Kaminari stammered, gaze flitting around the cafe. "Sensitive topic, huh?"

Shutting his eyes and exhaling to try and get himself to calm down, Killua said, "It doesn't matter. Let's just leave the cafe as soon as we're done with our orders."

Eyes fluttering open, he noticed his table mate nodding at the suggestion, pulling out his own phone.

Shortly, they'd been called to their orders. Killua, holding up one of his chocolate cake pops, inspected it. Looks tasty, he thought. Smells good, too. Taking a bite, he... realized he should have ordered way more.

And then, he did. Aizawa was probably going to scold him once he found out how much he spent at the cafe, but he didn't care. Pro Heroes were rich, anyway, right? (Indirectly) buying the most delicious food Killua had ever had—since waking up, at least—for a memory-less equivalent of an orphan could be considered as an act of kindness, or community service, or whatever it was heroes were supposed to do. His actions were justified. In his mind, at least.

"I didn't think you had that much of a sweet tooth," Kaminari commented, scooping his sundae with a small, pink plastic spoon.

"I didn't think you'd be that bad at flirting," Killua laughed. "Sundae 'with a side of your number?' Man, you're hopeless!"

"Dude. I'm usually way smoother than this, I swear."

Deciding to drop the subject, Killua waved his hand, simultaneously gripping a cake pop. "Whatever. We should decide on a good location before we leave."

"I still don' know why you wanna train wi' me out of all peop'e," he said, mouth full of ice cream muffling his voice. Gulping it down, he resumed, "You knocked me out without even needing to knock me out."

"Yeah," Killua agreed. "Honestly, I just wanna see you use your quirk again."

"My quirk? Do you think it's cool, or something?"

"You could say that."

Kaminari tapped the plastic spoon to his chin. "We can just go to U.A., then. Wherever you trained with Kirishima."

With that, Killua nodded. A bit of banter followed, persisting until the both of them had finished their desserts (Killua had to restrain himself from buying any more—it was bad to train on a full stomach, anyway.) Then, the pair went on their way to the forest surrounding their school.

Just like the last time he trained here, the trees left them with a cramped space. It wasn't like they had anywhere else to go, though, so Killua sucked it up and dealt with it.

"So," Kaminari called out, standing a good distance away from him, "what do you want me to do?"

"Well... what can you do, other than whatever happened at the sports festival?"

"Ah. You see... I don't have much control over it, yet..."

Killua sighed. Of course. He remembered that note in Midoriya's nerd notebook, but silently hoped Kaminari would miraculously learn something by the time they trained together. Unfortunately, his hopes were a little too unrealistic.

"No worries," Killua said, walking up to him. "Can you discharge a small amount, at least? So you don't turn into a complete idiot?"

"Hey, you're calling me an incomplete idiot?"

"Take it whatever way you want."

"Well," Kaminari spoke, golden eyes travelling to his hand. "Can an idiot do this?"

Suddenly, yellow sparks of electricity danced across his palm. Killua's eyes glazed over it, jaw dropping as he observed it. Individual sparks aimlessly zapped in every direction, disappearing into thin air as their charges ran out.

Proud smile plastered on his face, Kaminari boasted, "Cool, huh?"

"Can I touch it?"

"Huh?!"

Killua tilted his head. "Don't you remember our match, at all? I walked through your electricity. I'll be fine."

"You what?!"

Kaminari instantly ceased his quirk, ungraciously plopping down on the dirt. Groaning, he moped, "And I was here thinking my quirk was strong..."

"It is strong," Killua affirmed. "I just... have a high pain tolerance."

"High pain tolerance..." he echoed. Still staring at the dirt in front of him, he said, "You know anything about the USJ attack?"

The USJ attack? Killua thought. He remembered seeing it in Aizawa's files, and later on the news. What did that have to do with this?

He hummed, and Kaminari took that as his cue to continue. "The villains all separated us into groups. I guess they wanted to overpower us by pitting a couple students against hordes of villains, so I was with Yaoyorozu and Jirou.

"I couldn't go all out until the end—not until Yaoyorozu made an insulation sheet to protect her and Jirou from getting electrocuted. That way, once I used my quirk, every single villain in the area got knocked unconscious.

"So..." he paused, holding eye contact with Killua. "I used that exact same move on you at the sports festival. You're telling me you just, I don't know, strolled through something that got all those villains? I don't know what to think of that, man."

Killua crossed his arms. "I could still feel how painful it was, you know," he said.

"That makes this worse!" Kaminari sighed, hugging his knees. "Maybe it's your quirk, or something. I never did ask you, so what is it?"

Hesitating for a second, he bit his cheek. "That's what I'm trying to find out."

"What?" Kaminari questioned from his spot on the ground.

Not only did he just get a miniscule retelling of one of the battles at USJ—which he'd always been curious about—but he was now getting interrogated about his quirk. Honestly, he didn't mind being quirkless. There was just something in his gut, tugging at the possibility that he did have a quirk, despite all the pinky toe bone science stuff. Or, maybe, he thought, it's something other than a quirk...

But what else could it be? Were there any other powerful qualities than quirks? He hadn't learned about any in class, and the internet didn't help either. He might as well be chasing a pipe dream, but he couldn't help himself from grabbing at the familiar feeling he got through his electricity.

Instincts were all he had. He reminded himself of that fact a lot, but now, it was less of a comforting thought than a bitter one.

Shaking his head, he grabbed his classmate's arm and slightly pulled. "Just get up and do that thing again. If what I'm feeling is right, then I can give you a real answer for your question. Got it?"

"Geez, man, alright," he said, standing and dusting himself off. "I don't know what you're up to, but..."

As soon as the yellow sparks once again appeared, buzzing around the blond's hand, Killua immediately reached out.

Then, yellow turned into blue.

Killua, after what seemed like forever, finally broke through at least one of his dead ends.

Nen.

"So... I just have to get myself to do it, somehow?"

Kurogiri nodded. Earlier, the smoky man had given him a description of the full extent of his quirk; or, at least, what was already known about it. Right now, their little training session was meant to test the limits, work his quirk muscle, and... bartend.

"You've never made alcoholic drinks before, correct?"

"I mean, I wouldn't know..." Gon trailed off, "but nothing here looks familiar."

"Good, then. That's why we're choosing this as your first training session."

Gon's green eyes brightened. "I think it's cool! I've always seen you making drinks behind the bar, but it always confused me."

"Ask your questions when you finish making a whiskey highball," Kurogiri chuckled. "If your quirk succeeds without any prior knowledge on your end, then we'll have one thing confirmed."

"What thing?"

Kurogiri set down one of the bottles he'd just cleaned, watching as the child's interest grew further. "That your quirk truly 'summons' some sort of power. Perhaps from an outside source. I admit, the description is a little vague, but that is precisely why we are testing it."

"Huh," Gon said, jumping off the barstool and onto the floor. "Too bad I won't get to see it, though."

"Yes, it is quite unfortunate," Shigaraki said, albeit a little hesitantly.

Green shoes stepping behind the counter, he tried to find a way to activate his quirk. Rubbing his hands together? Nope. Jumping up and down? No. Yelling? Not at all, but it did cause Kurogiri to scold him for it, which was the complete opposite of the outcome he wanted.

Gon pouted. What did Sensei say...?

"When you want to use it, you simply ask."

"Ask?" Gon said, tilting his head.  "Shigaraki told me to command myself."

The man shook his head. "While both methods work, it's better to be nice."

"What? Nice?" Gon scratched his cheek. "Do quirks have feelings?"

"No, child," the man laughed. "Although, this one is quite the peculiar quirk. Do you know the saying, 'treat others how you want to be treated?'"

Gon nodded.

"The same thing applies here."

Treat others how you want to be treated...

Should he consider his quirk as an "other?"

Was his quirk sentient or something?

No, that'd be weird. Quirks are muscles.

Then why did Sensei say that?

Gon was verging on a self-induced headache, and he hadn't even started his training yet.

Sucking in a breath, he started to speak, taking Sensei's words to heart. It was better than standing here, trying to figure it out on his own, anyway.

"Sonohoka, can you make a whiskey highball?"

A silent beat passed.

In just a moment, Kurogiri watched as Gon's muscled arms went limp, lowly hanging at his sides. Then, the orifices on his face turned into... empty holes?

When All For One said the child was going to "black out," he definitely was not expecting something like this.

Gon almost looked like a doll; one that someone scooped the eyeballs and teeth out of, at least. It was quite... a sight, but what caught his attention even further was the single word muttered by the now unconscious Gon.

"'Kay."

Instantly, Gon began grabbing at the bottles behind the bar; ginger ale, lemon, and, of course, whiskey. It was almost as if he was a professional. He mixed the drinks, using all the techniques Kurogiri applied in his own mixing.

Not only was Gon's sudden mixology skills quite the sight, but this quirk was... phenomenal. It's a wonder how no one had ever heard of it before if it can essentially give its user the skills to do anything. And All For One said he found it all on his own?

Kurogiri crossed his arms. He didn't like scrutinizing Sensei's actions, but he just knew he wasn't telling him or Shigaraki everything, whether it's about this Summon quirk, or anything about the boy. But, if that was the case, then what reason could he possibly have for being so secretive? Was it to protect Shigaraki? Protect Gon? Still, going down the endless rabbit hole of possibilites would prove to be useless, as it is all just that; speculation. He assumed he'd find out when All For One was ready to tell them, but it didn't mean he wasn't ever curious.

Soon enough, Gon had finished making the drink, leaving it on top of a coaster, a lemon slice stuck on the rim of the glass. If only Kurogiri had a mouth to express how overjoyed the presentation made him feel...

But, then, that mouth would instantly begin frowning, seeing that Gon had fallen and passed out on the floor, normal facial features returning.

"Freecss?" he called, leaning down to check if the boy was just unconscious or not.

Thankfully, he was. Picking him up, Kurogiri hoisted the sleeping child up on the couch, covering him with a thin blanket.

Quite the phenomenal quirk, indeed, he thought to himself. He couldn't tell if he passed out because of the fact he summoned a skill that he had absolutely no prior experience with, or whether that simply just happened every time he used it. More training, he supposed. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Kurogiri glanced at the boy. The quirk was based around life energy, was it not? How much life energy did Freecss exactly have?

The front door suddenly busted open, revealing a ragged Shigaraki.

"Welcome," Kurogiri greeted, bowing.

"Yeah, yeah," Shigaraki muttered.

The hand-ful man stopped in his tracks when he saw the sleeping child.

"Hey, how was training? Is it good?"

"He can summon powers that he has never had experience with before, so, yes," Kurogiri briefed, gesturing towards the drink. "He made this."

Shigaraki clicked his tongue. "As long as he doesn't try to beat me at the arcade with that damn quirk, he's good."

Kurogiri simply nodded, pondering whether he should tell him about All For One's potential secrecy in this situation...

"Did we win, then?" Shigaraki grinned, interrupting Kurogiri from his thoughts.

"Hm?"

"Those damn heroes back at USJ... they cheated. They cheated, and look what we have now." He scratched his neck. "We can beat the game in one move by telling this brat to kill every single Pro Hero, and he'd do it. He'd do it!"

"It is possible he can," Kurogiri reminded, "but we cannot jump to conclusions. More training must be done."

Shigaraki's outburst was quickly put out. Instead, he sat at one of the barstools, lazily picking up the drink Gon prepared. "What's this? Beer?"

"It's a whiskey highball."

"I don't care. They're all the same thing, anyway."

The man behind the counter sighed. Even as Shigaraki insulted his drink, he still took a sip of it.

Taking one more look at the boy on the couch, Kurogiri recalled the way his eyes turned to black holes, gaping mouth along with it. It was truly something that one would think only appears in horror movies, but here it was, stuck with the League of Villains.

What if Freecss asks this "Sonohoka" to retrieve his memories for him? Would that even work? If so... it would be far more than counter-intuitive. Also, what exactly was he summoning? Actual skills? Other quirks? Or was it souls?

Kurogiri caught himself falling down that rabbit hole again. Too many questions, too little information to actually answer with. Stopping himself, he just hoped this odd quirk wouldn't do any more harm than good for them.

Chapter Text

The air in the room was cool and dry. All For One continued to watch the man as he twiddled his fingers together, most likely thinking of how to properly tell his next story.

Assessing the first story in his head, it was unfortunate that the first pair died; he hoped that wouldn't become a trend. Otherwise, having Kurogiri do all that quirk scouting was going to be for nothing.

"The second pair..." Musubu started, gaze travelling to the ground. "It was my 19th birthday, and I spent it alone. So... even though I knew how dangerous my quirk could be, I used it."

"You were lonely?" All For One questioned.

"...Yeah. Yeah, I was lonely. Sounds stupid, but..." he glanced back up at the villain, then instantly redirected himself. "Ah, anyway. A girl, maybe my age, at the time, appeared in front of me. That time, it wasn't really through a portal. She just slowly appeared, starting from her feet. It still had that purple haze, though.

"She looked fairly normal, even if her fashion sense was pretty questionable. The only really odd thing about it was that she remembered a lot more about herself than I expected.

"Because I wanted a friend, I told her what happened to her—about my quirk, and all. Then I asked her if she had anything like a quirk, too, but it was some weird thing." Musubu paused, scratching his chin.

"Go on," All For One gestured.

"She called it... Exorcism? Nen Exorcism?"

Nen Exorcism, All For One repeated in his head. He'd never heard of the term before, but it greatly interested him. What was Nen? Was it the equivalent of quirks back wherever the interdimensionals came from? Why did it need exorcism?

"Eventually, her counterpart showed up after a while. Some old guy who looked like a wolf. Or a wolf who looked like an old guy? I don't know.

"But, things went a lot better than the first time I used my quirk... until both of them realized I had just, uh... kind of ripped them away from this big goal they were pursuing back home. That was when they told me they ate people."

He'd said it so casually that All For One almost missed it. "Ate people?"

"Used to, at least, since they're actually just really big, mutated ants. Chimera Ants, to be specific. I'm pretty sure wolf man only said it to scare me, though, 'cause he didn't really seem the type," he laughed. "In the end, though, they just left, going wherever." Musubu rested his head in his hands, and said, "They're both probably still here, somewhere on Earth."

"I see..." he trailed off, scrutinizing the man. "Why do you think your quirk is a detriment, then, if the last pair hadn't caused any harm?"

Shaking his head, he answered, "No. It was me who caused them harm. They'd been trying to find this guy for months; and then, just 'cause I got a little lonely, I messed that up for them..."

How self-pitiful, All For One thought. Usually, when presented with such a person, he'd take the opportunity to attempt to turn them to his side. Unfortunately, Musubu had no other commendable aspects about him, other than the quirk he could easily take away. Other than... his unique experiences with the interdimensionals.

"Musubu," All For One bellowed from his chair. "What did you learn from them? Did they tell you anything more about Nen?"

"Actually, not so much..." he murmured. Eyes widening in realization, he looked up at the Symbol of Evil. "The girl did tell me a lot about their world, though..."

"What the heck is this?" Hina blurted, holding the spherical globe in her hands.

"That's Earth."

"Earth?"

Musubu sat in his plastic desk chair, crossing his arms. "You don't live on Earth?"

"No way," she said, "we live in the Known World. It's flat."

"Flat Earth..." he snorted.

As the Chimera Ant closely studied the globe, her eyebrows knitted even further together. "The continents are all wrong, too. This is weird."

"It's as if we're from different dimensions, or something."

Groaning and rolling her eyes, she thumped it back down on the wooden desk. Musubu was actually quite curious how a world like that would work; the Flat Earth Society would have a field day, with that one.

Tapping a pencil against his chin, he asked, "What does your world look like?"

"Hm."

Hina grabbed a random sheet of paper, picked up a pencil, and began working. Every time Musubu leaned over to peek, she'd aggressively shoo him away by waving her hand in front of his face. He just wanted to see...

"Done!" she happily exclaimed, leaning back to let him finally take a look.

And... it was blobs.

Blobs enclosed in a dotted circle.

"What... is this?"

"I can't draw. This is the best you'll get."

Heavily sighing, Musubu picked up and held the paper in his hands. "Are these blobs supposed to be continents?"

The pink ears on her hat flopped as she quickly nodded.

Raising his pointer finger to the dotted line, he asked, "Then what's this? I thought your world was flat?"

"That's only 'cause of how small it is compared to the rest of the planet. See, that dotted line marks where the Dark Continent starts."

"The what?"

"Dark Con-ti-nent," Hina repeated, only painfully slowly. "Come on, you just turned 19. Did you already lose your hearing?"

"Funny," he replied, tone devoid of any hint of actual laughter.

Ignoring his awful sarcasm, Hina continued to explain what exactly the Dark Continent was, answering almost all his questions. Apparently, it was an extremely dangerous place that pretty much led to instant death, no matter how strong or prepared one may be. No human can inhabit it, and the mere journey there was already pretty grueling.

What interested him most about it, however, was that no one knew how big the Dark Continent really was. Of course, it had to be huge. But... to what extent? Was it as big as Jupiter? Stars lightyears away? The entire Milky Way Galaxy? However, voicing those speculations only led Hina to call him out for asking stupid questions (along with her reminding him she had no idea what those planets even were,) so he bitterly dropped it.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder.

"And I still keep wondering about it," Musubu said in almost a whisper, still fiddling with his hands. "Even two years after it all happened."

All For One tapped his fingers on the armrest. Thieves. Nen. Chimera Ants. Dark Continent. There was something about it that forced the gears in his head to turn, but he didn't know what. While attempting to connect the dots, he simultaneously considered the fact that it may as well be futile. The Ants and the sick villagers seemed to have nothing in common, so why was he treating them like they were? That it was not actually infinite dimensions, but that the pairs came from a place closer than first imagined?

Perhaps it was only wishful thinking since he'd been interested in the idea of Nen. But, as he assessed the perplexed young man in front of him...

Clearing his throat, he asked, "Do you truly believe your quirk has to do with dimensions? Despite what the doctors told you?"

Musubu froze. Wide eyes staring up at All For One, he gave his answer.

"No." Fists tightening, he continued, "There's definitely more to our world than just this."

"What is it, then?"

A pause. Then, he said, "Our world—i-it... I think we're in the Dark Continent."

As always, Killua walked into class trailing behind Aizawa. Oddly enough, he hadn't worn his signature yellow sleeping bag, today. Did his homeless comments finally get to him?

Strolling over to his seat, he turned the corner where Bakugou sat. For the first time since he'd been admitted as a student, he didn't try to avoid eye contact. Lazily glancing in his direction, he noticed his classmate had actually done the same thing, narrowed red eyes peering into his own. It didn't have the usual fury behind them, though. It was something he couldn't place...

But, he had already walked past him, behind Midoriya, and then into his own seat. If there was something to figure out, he'd do it later. Right now, he just wanted to have a regular, relaxing day at school (especially after that earful he received from Aizawa; he still didn't regret using his credit card, though.)

However, once the day ended... he really needed to figure out this Nen situation, since all he'd done yesterday was try to pass it off as a quirk in front of Kaminari (which, thankfully, he believed.) Telling the truth about his Nen didn't sit right with him at all, and, even if he didn't know why, he again followed his instincts.

Also, he thought, Recovery Girl telling me I have a lot of life energy makes sense, now. The thought of willingly paying her a visit nearly gave him a headache, but perhaps it was worth it if he was going to learn something useful.

Clearing his throat, Aizawa announced, "You'll be coming up with your hero aliases."

With that, the entire class roared with excitement, choruses of "yeah!"s and "awesome!"s attacking his eardrums. Hero names, huh?

He then went on to explain the Pro draft picks first, something about Pro Heroes picking strong people, impressive skills, plans for the future, blah blah blah...

Pointing at the board, he said, "Here's the complete draft pick numbers. There's typically more of a spread, but these three stole most of the spotlight."

CLASS A DRAFT PICK TOTALS

ZOLDYCK: 4,123

TODOROKI: 3,456

BAKUGOU: 2,321 ...

Killua had to do a double take. He got the most internships? When he didn't even win the entire thing?

"Gah! They're in a whole other league!"

"These Pros have no eyes for talent..."

"How did Bakugou place first, but only get the third most?"

"They're probably scared of someone who was tied up to the winner's stand."

"WHAT ARE THE PROS DOING, GETTING INTIMIDATED?!"

"Zoldyck!" Midoriya said, turning towards him with a toothy grin. "Wow, congrats!"

"Nah, you deserve it more than me. I didn't even really try," he deflected.

After saying it, he realized Midoriya's face had slowly lost its light. Did he say something wrong...?

"Sorry," he started, "I didn't mean—"

"No," Midoriya interrupted, waving his hands. "I-it's okay... I, um, heard from Kirishima that you only did this for fun. I mean, you didn't even want to attend this school at first! So, that's... that's valid."

Killua raised an eyebrow. It sounded like a straight up lie, but he didn't want to start interrogating him. Before he could open his mouth to speak, Aizawa had already started talking.

"With that settled, whether you were picked or not, you'll all have a chance to work with the Pros."

And then he went on and on and on, blah blah blah...

Killua really didn't care all too much. Midoriya was right; he didn't even want to attend this school and be a hero. But, while that was true, it didn't mean he didn't enjoy what opportunities it gave him. He actually really liked spending time with his classmates, even while they were in the most mundane of classes.

"The name you pick now may be what the world ends up calling you!" a new voice called.

When did Midnight get here?

"Midnight here will be assessing the sensibility of the names you pick. I'm no good at that," Aizawa said, mumbling the last sentence.

Suddenly, he pulled his yellow sleeping bag out of seemingly nowhere, making Killua chuckle. Turns out he really hadn't let it go.

"What future do you see for yourself?," he said, unrolling the bag, "The name you choose will bring you closer to cementing a certain image. Names are capable of reflecting one's character."

With that, he dropped to the floor and took a nap, leaving Midnight to run the rest of a class.

"I'll give you 15 minutes to come up with something," Midnight said, winking. "Don't disappoint me!"

The class was then sent into a quiet flurry of dry erase markers hitting the whiteboards, heads banging against the desks, and the occasional pained groan. Killua, twirling the marker with his fingers, contemplated his temporary hero name. Half of him wanted to turn it into a joke and put something dumb (to which he'd turn to Aizawa for inspiration,) and the other half was genuinely interested in the idea.

But, however stupid 'Eraserhead' was, he couldn't ignore his last comment.

'Names are capable of reflecting one's character.'

Well, what was his character? Who was he? It was a bit hard to answer those questions with only over a week's worth of life experience. Running through his memories, he attempted to piece his own identity together.

I am Killua Zoldyck.

I don't think I'm from Japan.

I never went to school.

My rough upbringing forced me to be strong.

I'm quirkless, but I can use Nen.

And that was it, really. Nothing about either of those tidbits stood out to him as hero name worthy; most likely because none of those signified a real identity...

Not again, he thought to himself, hitting his palm against his forehead. He knew that the more he tried to dig past his amnesia, the more frustrated he'd get.

Finding something to distract himself with, he stared at the green nest of hair in front of him. Maybe he can ask him for some advice. In one quick motion, Killua tapped his shoulder.

Once his classmate turned around, he whispered, "Psst. You got any ideas, yet?"

"No," Midoriya whispered back.

Killua glanced at his whiteboard and found a dark smudge in the center of it. Poor guy's probably written on and erased it a hundred times or so by now...

"Me neither," he said, sighing and putting the weight of his head in his hands.

Big green eyes staring into his, Midoriya frowned. "Zoldyck..."

"Yeah?"

"Are you really that opposed to being a hero?"

The unexpected question surprised him. Of course, his immediate answer would have been yes, but as he took a second to think about it, he felt more torn than he thought he'd be. The concept of a hero didn't appeal to him. But the ideals behind it?

He studied Midoriya's expectant face.

Give someone hope.

That was it, wasn't it? Not knowing his own past still immensely bothered him, but he felt that this one aspect about him still managed to carry over.

Killua wanted to have fun, and, at the same time, protect those he cared about. He... wanted to be someone his friends could depend on. Someone to lead them out of the dark.

"No, actually," he answered, a smirk on his face. "By the way, Izuku, this'll be the first and last time I'm gonna say this."

"Huh? I-Izuku?"

"Thanks."

Immediately turning his attention back to his whiteboard, he wrote his hero name with a faint smile.

"Let's finish up," Midnight announced. "We can start with whoever's ready!"

At that moment, Killua immediately stood up. Better to get this over with before I forget, he told himself.

Strolling up to the podium, he tightly clutched his whiteboard. He watched as his classmates' eyes were all glued on him: Kirishima's sharp-toothed grin, Iida's stare from behind his glasses, Kaminari's proud thumbs-up, Uraraka's excited smile, Bakugou's narrowed eyes, and Izuku's flushed cheeks. When he reached the front, he even glanced behind him to see if Aizawa had any sort of emotion on his face (that was when he caught a single closed eyelid twitching, as if he'd shut it right as Killua turned around.)

He'd just noticed how many people... cared, one way or another.

Inhaling, he prepared himself to speak. In actuality, he knew he didn't need to make such a fuss about giving the whole backstory behind his hero name. One, because he could barely call it a backstory, and two, because he didn't like wasting people's time.

But this name deserves it.

Holding the board backwards between his palm and the podium, he started, "I only came up with this a few minutes ago, but I like it a lot.

"Everyone here knows I'm still an amnesiac. It really sucks not remembering what I've gone through, or what I've been doing, but I at least know what my values are. 'Cause even if I don't wanna be a hero, I wanna help those I care about."

Swiftly spinning the board around, he revealed his hero name to the class. "Light. This is a name I want to live up to, since I'm not quite there yet. I... wanna help those suffering through the darkness, because someone had inspired me to do so—"

Killua paused. That last sentence unintentionally slipped out. Who had he been referring to...?

"So touching!" Midnight cheered from behind him, interrupting his thoughts. "You sound like such a selfless hero!"

He glanced at her.

"Whatever, old lady," Killua murmured, heading back to his seat.

A silence filled the air.

"Old...?"

Sounds like she heard him. Killua didn't care, of course; he was too busy sifting through the endless thoughts and questions in his brain (and even if he wasn't, he still wouldn't care.)

It was Gon's fourth day of training. And, surprisingly, he'd been exhausted by it.

Summon was a really taxing quirk, but Gon was glad his amount of life energy could handle it. Some tasks had him sleeping for five minutes after completing them, some nearly thirty. He recovered his energy fairly quickly, though, which was always a delight—that meant he could train more, and get even stronger!

Kurogiri even found out what his quirk was summoning the other day, and he told him all about it...

"Isn't it odd that Freecss was using my exact techniques when mixing drinks?"

"Sure," a bored Shigaraki answered.

"Perhaps he summons skills from the people around him, on top of his own."

"Go figure it out."

Kurogiri set down a cleaned glass on the bar. "Actually, I require your assistance for this experiment."

"Huh?"

Later on, Gon asked Sonohoka to disintegrate a piece of paper—something only Shigaraki's quirk could do. It actually succeeded, exactly copying his quirk once he stuck all five fingers on it. Then, Shigaraki left the room, moving far away from their hideout. Again, once he woke up a couple minutes later, Gon asked Sonohoka to do the same exact thing.

"'Kay."

Gon picked up the paper. This time, when all his fingers landed, it didn't dissolve as it did before. Instead, he created a portal from above, a large object clunking on the ground.

He had teleported a paper shredder using Kurogiri's quirk.

The smoky man almost laughed as he watched the child carefully go through the steps of plugging it in, setting it up, and then finally shredding it after several button presses. What a way to interpret disintegration.

Gon admitted he may have gotten it from one of the shops he saw when he was out with Shigaraki for his birthday. He embarrassingly laughed when he realized what had happened, making himself a mental note to return it one day so the guilt wouldn't eat him up.

Other than that, the rest of their training was meant to test the limits of how far they could go with Summon—which was exactly why he currently felt so groggy.

For today, Shigaraki and he had teleported themselves to Hosu. Gon hadn't yet used his quirk anywhere other than their hideout, so it was a nice change of pace. The reason Shigaraki wanted to go to Hosu, though...

"There's this guy calling himself the Hero Killer," he said. "Kurogiri talked to him a few days ago."

The pair walked through the busy streets, stars in the sky and bright lights illuminating the city walls. They had their usual getup on: Shigaraki with his jacket and Gon with his mask.

It really is a big city, Gon noticed. It felt like almost all the places he'd been to were cities; he quite missed the feeling of open, grassy plains, flora and fauna blooming all around him. Maybe he could ask Shigaraki if they could go somewhere like that. He hadn't gotten the chance to really explore Japan, anyway.

If only Pro Heroes weren't trying to go after me...

Snapping out of his thoughts, he realized he hadn't yet replied to Shigaraki.

"Oh, is he gonna help us?" he asked.

"I don't know yet."

"But he's the Hero Killer. Isn't that what you guys wanna do?"

"Yeah, no shit." Stopping in his tracks, he turned to Gon. "Hey, I got an idea."

"Huh?" he cocked his head.

A grin cracked through his chapped lips. "Why don't you try doing his work for him?"

Gon's eyes widened. "You mean kill Pro Heroes?"

The older boy nodded.

Furrowing his brows in concentration, he shook his head. While it could be an interesting way to train his quirk, trying to murder some random hero who did absolutely nothing to deserve it was way outside his comfort zone.

"I don't wanna kill them," Gon affirmed. "They're just doing their job."

"And you're just training your quirk," he bit back, glaring straight into his brown eyes. However, it didn't seem likely that Gon was going to change his mind any time soon.

Shigaraki clicked his tongue.

"Damn stubborn brat," he sneered, scratching his neck.

The pair then continued to walk down the streets, occasionally bumping shoulders with its city folk. There weren't too many people, but that'd change tomorrow once the weekend hit—it always did.

Peering over at Gon, Shigaraki tightened a fist in his hoodie's pocket. Leaving all this training to Kurogiri wasn't an option; he wanted to, not only see, but take control of the kid's quirk. However, he'd have to find another way to try and test his theory, since the brat wanted to keep holding onto those capricious morals of his. It was damn annoying...

Then, a light bulb in his brain lit up.

"Gon," Shigaraki called, tugging at the young boy's sleeve, "I have a different idea."

"Really?"

"No killing this time," he said, attempting to soften the blow. "You're just gonna take something from them."

Cocking his head, Gon blurted, "Eh? Take what?"

Pulling his hands out of his hoodie, he held them up, gesturing as he spoke.

"For the next three Pro Heroes you see, I want you to steal the tips of their left pinky fingers."

"The tips of their pinkies?"

"Is there a problem?" Shigaraki said, glaring at him.

Gon incredulously raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, I'm cutting off their fingers!"

"Then," he said, "once you do it, we can eventually give it back to them. Pro Heroes get all kinds of healers, so it really shouldn't be hard for them to just, you know, stitch it back on."

To that, Gon was relatively silent. "Why do you want me to do that, though? It's a little weird..."

"To test how long your quirk can influence you," Shigaraki murmured. "How specific it can be, too."

"But... why do we have to involve Pro Heroes?"

Twisting his neck around, he let out a short laugh.

"'Cause I hate them, duh. And I wanna see how you'd manage against them."

Gon tightened his lips. It was still strange to him, but Shigaraki did make some points. At least, he wasn't asking him to kill any heroes anymore. Whatever Shigaraki wanted to test would at least be helpful in the long run.

Right, Gon told himself, once he finished this task, it'd provide information that'd aid him and his quirk forever. As long as Shigaraki hadn't lied about the Pro Heroes' "healers," it was okay.

Looks like he needed to add more to his mental checklist: return the paper shredder, and then return three pinky tips.

Gon groaned.

"Fine," he said, "but do you promise we'll give them back?"

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled. "Also, make sure you say the next three. If you don't, your quirk'll probably actively look for them in one go."

The pair stopped walking. Tightening the straps on his black mask, he breathed in, eyes shutting.

"Sonohoka, ah, can you take the left pinky tips of the next three Pro Heroes I see?"

Silence. Gon's brow furrowed.

"Sonohoka?"

"Why the hell did you give it a name?" Shigaraki lowly grumbled, but Gon paid it no mind.

Why wasn't it worki—

'Kay.

Leaping backwards, Gon looked all around him, senses on high alert. Until he realized...

Turning to face the older boy, he put on a matter-of-fact tone. "Shigaraki, Sonohoka's in my head."

Narrowed red eyes stared back at the now far away child. "Eh? Are you insane?"

"I think," Gon started, walking back next to Shigaraki, "the command activated. But, since I don't see a hero right now, Sonohoka couldn't come out."

Clicking his tongue, Shigaraki said, "Well, what did it say?"

"'Kay."

"...That's the same thing it says whenever you black out." Crossing his arms, he continued, "I guess this means my theory was right, huh, Gon?"

Making a sound of acknowledgement, his eyes scanned the area. As soon as he spotted a Pro Hero...

There. Someone wearing a skin-tight, blue and white long sleeved shirt along with a fin attached to the top of his helmet was currently putting out a dumpster fire using some kind of a water quirk, yellow gloves directing its motion. He definitely looked like a hero—

Next, all Gon saw was darkness, consciousness drowning in the waves of his quirk.

Chapter Text

Our world... inside of a continent?

It couldn't be; it simply didn't make sense. What about the entire galaxy, as well as the ones trillions of lightyears away? Could all that just fit inside of a simple "continent?"

All For One stared down at the man before him. He'd said it as if he completely believed in it, though...

"Inside of the Dark Continent, you say," he slowly repeated. "How?"

Musubu settled down, resting his hands in his lap. "...I don't know."

He scoffed. "Then there's no reason to believe in that nonsense."

"No! I swear it's true," he piped.

Sighing, the large man contemplated whether he should let the boy continue or not. He was starting to doubt his word, but, at the same time... it was quite intriguing.

Perhaps it was true. The unimaginably vast, expanding universe may be contained in a single gigantic continent. Or, perhaps, the entire population had been somehow convinced that the universe around them had been "fake," meaning everything scientists had worked for had been wrong. Or, Musubu had just been too engrossed in conspiracy theories.

Still, All For One was curious. If the boy was right, then that meant there was a whole different world out there; that there existed powers known to absolutely no one on Earth. Taking his word for it would lead either to time wasted, or an exciting discovery. After all, Musubu currently was the only thing connecting the two worlds together, so it wouldn't hurt too much to take a once in a lifetime chance such as this.

Hm. Maybe it was time to give Garaki a call.

Staring at the boy, he said, "If you truly do believe in this, I may have a way to confirm your suspicions."

Eyes widening, Musubu's jaw dropped. "Really? You can do that?"

"Yes," he nodded.

Then, All For One turned himself to his computer, searching for Garaki's contact. Once he found it, he called the scientist, dial tone buzzing throughout the room.

'Hello?' Garaki said, tinny voice filtered through the speakers.

"Garaki, it is good to see you. I have a new project for you."

'Project? I've been a bit busy with the nomus, but perhaps I can squeeze this in. What is it?'

"This man, Musubu Tenchi, has a quirk called Inseperable Interdimensionals..."

He went on to explain the odd quirk, occasionally glancing over at the man in question. His features twitched, a hint of nervousness on his face.

'Really? Different dimensions?'

"Actually, that is something he is not so sure of. I want you to experiment with his quirk—try and find out whether his suspicions are valid or not."

Garaki hummed.

"And," All For One continued, "if they are true, I want you to make it two-way."

'Two-way...' he trailed off. 'Alright. I'll clone it for you first, though, so you can still use it while I work on the original.'

"Thank you, Garaki. Kurogiri will take him to you soon," he said, then promptly disconnected the call.

"M-my quirk's gonna get experimented on?" Musubu stuttered.

"Not just your quirk, young Musubu," All For One smiled. "You did want to prove yourself, correct?"

"You figure out where you wanna intern, kid?"

"No."

"What about your hero costume? Submitted anything, yet?"

"No..."

"Do you even—"

"Quit pestering me, old man."

Aizawa sighed, turning on the coffee maker. "I'm trying to help you. Internships are due tomorrow, and you're not prepared at all."

Swinging his feet on the sofa, Killua again clicked the TV remote, changing the channel for the hundredth time. "I'll figure it out," he drawled.

"You have less than a day."

Suddenly, the phone rang on the coffee table. Both pairs of eyes slowly turned to the noise, then, at the exact same time, whipped back around to stare at each other.

"Hey," Aizawa began. "Don't answer that."

His order had been outright ignored, as the teen had already picked it up, gleaming at the contact. Uraraka Ochako, it read.

"Kid."

"It's just Uraraka!" Killua pressed the green button, answering the call.

'Aizawa-sensei?'

"Hey, Uraraka."

'Zoldyck?' she gasped. 'Wow! You're the reason I called, actually.'

"Oh, so you don't need to talk to Homeless-sensei?"

Cheekily glancing at his teacher, he'd been given a dirty look.

'Ah, no... Actually, I was wondering whether you were free today?'

Free? Was she inviting him out somewhere?

"Yeah, I am. Why?"

'Oh, perfect! Do you want to come with me and some other friends to Hosu?'

"Hosu? Why there?"

Before he could hear Uraraka's answer, the phone had been snatched away from his hand. Scanning the area for the culprit, he found Aizawa's scarf dangling it from the end.

"Seriously?" he whined. "You're using that?"

His guardian simply didn't answer, instead releasing the phone from his scarf, dropping it into his own hand, and telling Uraraka that he was now speaking.

Stupid old man...

Wait, Killua thought, narrowing his eyes. He'd always been curious about those scarves, and now that he'd unlocked his Nen...

Channeling his Nen, he used Gyo, observing his teacher. He hadn't yet used this technique, so he was quite curious how people with quirks were utilizing it.

But, it didn't seem like he was using any kind of it on his scarves. Huh. He guessed he just really honed his skills, or something like that. There was still the normal amount of aura surrounding his body, though, so maybe he'd have to see him in action, first. Maybe he can try...

"Hey, Homeless-sensei," he dryly laughed. "Wanna fight over who gets the phone?"

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "That's the second time you've asked me something like that. Give it a rest."

That was fair. He'd been half-joking, anyway; half, because he was still annoyed by the fact he so rudely interrupted his conversation with Uraraka. She was calling for him, after all!

Then, the flat phone flew through the air, making a landing on the beige couch cushion.

"You're meeting with Uraraka at U.A. in fifteen minutes. Go get ready."

"What?" Killua exclaimed."Didn't she wanna go to Hosu?"

"Yeah, until I told her how behind you are with everything." The coffee machine beeped, and Aizawa picked up his mug, slowly sipping from it as the hot steam rose and hit his face. "You're welcome."

Killua pouted. "Fine."

There was nothing Killua thought he'd need to bring, so he immediately exited the apartment complex, making his way to U.A.. He chewed on the inside of his cheek. Uraraka said she'd be there, along with "some other friends," whatever that meant. Did that mean Aizawa forced all of them to help Killua with his schoolwork?

He clicked his tongue. Trying to help, yeah right. The old man just wanted his students to do his work for him.

Making his way to the entrance, he found Uraraka and the apparent friends she mentioned: Izuku and... Todoroki?

Huh. He wasn't expecting anyone other than Izuku or the class rep to show up. He also hadn't talked to the guy since the sports festival, so he hoped things wouldn't get awkward...

"Zoldyck!" Uraraka called, waving her hand.

Hand in his pocket, Killua strolled up to the group, lazily waving back. "What's up?" he asked, surveying the unexpected trio.

"You need to work on your hero costume, don't you?" she said. "We can totally help with that!"

"Huh," he drawled. "What about Hosu? I thought you wanted to meet there."

"Ah... we're going there once we're done here, Zo—Ki—um..." Izuku chimed in, hastily avoiding his gaze.

Killua raised an eyebrow, then leaned back on the metal railing. Holding back a laugh, he realized the boy probably didn't know how to properly address him ever since he unexpectedly called him by his first name.

"Alright, Izuku!" he toothily grinned.

Uraraka's eyes widened. "You're already on a first name basis?"

"Yup," Killua confirmed. "But, you know, I still think it's better if everyone just called me Killua."

As he stared down the group, he silently pleaded with his eyes. What did he have to do to get people to stop using his last name? By now, some people have already started calling Asui "Tsu," so when was his turn—

"Huh, okay!" Uraraka beamed, surprising him. "You can call me Ochako, then. Come on Killua, let's go meet Power Loader! He should still be here today..."

Well, that went better than he'd thought.

Grinning, he followed the bubbly girl as she walked inside the school, Izuku and Todoroki both trailing behind them.

He turned his head, and as his gaze travelled towards Todoroki, he lifted an eyebrow. "Oh, by the way," he blurted, "did you replace Iida?"

The ice boy's expression stilled.

"No, no!" Ochako fretted, waving her hands in the air. "It's just that... since we're going to Hosu... you know."

Ah. Killua nodded to that, remembering how some villain nearly killed Iida's brother in that same city. It probably was a good idea to not subject their friend to a constant reminder of that tragedy.

"But then," he began, "why're we going there in the first place?"

Izuku scratched the back of his head, a flustered grin on his face. "Ah, well... there's this sandwich shop I go to that gives you this stamp card, and I need four more stamps to fill it before it expires tomorrow, so..."

"You can't just buy yourself four sandwiches in a row?" Todoroki asked.

"No... they only count one person for one stamp each day."

"Good thing you have us, then," Ochako smiled. "I'm sure that rare All Might t-shirt prize is worth it!"

His cheeks instantly tinged red, followed by a string of indecipherable stutters.

Killua tilted his head. "You're a fan of our teacher?"

"N-no, he's a Pro Hero, too! The number one Pro Hero!"

Memories of his heroics class with All Might flashed through his mind, and all he really remembered about the guy was that he definitely was a better hero than a teacher, even without knowing that much about his activities outside of school. It was still a fun class, though, since watching him struggle with shuffled notecards and useless guides on how to teach was pretty hilarious. Most of it being preparation for their internships probably helped, too, as he only needed to put them through general training while providing some helpful tips (however, all he really told Killua was "do your best, young Zoldyck!" as he hid behind another teaching guidebook, proceeding to watch him brutally pummel a training dummy through the roof.)

Just like with Aizawa, Killua wanted to have a little sparring session with the number one hero; only just to see how things would turn out, of course.

As the banter died down, the quartet finally reached the Development Studio, stepping inside to find Power Loader working with a blowtorch at one of the stations. The room was actually quite smaller than Killua expected, but seeing how focused the hero was on his task, it looked like it wasn't a bother.

"Hey," Killua said, attempting to gain his attention.

Looking up from the vaguely shaped hunk of metal on his table, Power Loader scanned the new visitors. "Ah, I remember you from the sports festival. You're Zoldyck," he said. "Need anything?"

"Yeah, you think you can make me a hero costume before internships start?"

He couldn't see the top half of his face, but he could just tell there was a hint of exasperation in his eyes.

"That's in three days."

"It doesn't need to be fancy," he said, gesturing with his hand. "It just needs to be... something."

"Killua," Izuku half-whispered, "you don't have a design?"

"Am I supposed to?" he answered, voice three times louder than the freckled boy's was.

Power Loader sighed, standing up to grab some sort of other welding tool from the wall. Sitting back down to continue his work, he passively said, "You gotta give me something to work with. Kids here usually just send in their own designs."

"What, do I just have to sit here and draw, then?"

A silent beat passed.

"Yeah, I think so," Ochako confirmed.

Killua groaned. While he did put good effort into styling his own casual outfits, he really wasn't an artist. Designing an entire costume was well out of his comfort zone, too.

...This was going to be a pain.

A minute later, Killua was sat at a desk with a pencil in hand, staring at a blank sheet of paper with the feeling of three pairs of eyes burning on his neck. So, how did he want to do this?

"Ah... If you need any help, I have some suggestions," Izuku said.

Killua cocked his head. "Suggestions?"

"Yeah! Even though you don't have a quirk, I've come up with lots of theories on your strength capabilities, as well as other things like stealth. Like, how you can run really, really fast. Maybe your costume can be more skin-tight to prevent drag so you can go even faster. Or, since most of your attacks are limited to hand-to-hand combat, you can have some sort of long-range weapons with you so you can cover all bases. Oh, and about stealth, I've noticed that your footsteps... don't make any sound? I'm not sure if that's on purpose or not, but maybe your costume's color scheme can be black or a mix of darker colors so it can act as camouflage. That would mean you need a costume that can further improve on your already extremely strong abilities, but all of that being done in two to three days can be tough... maybe priority should be placed only on one aspect, rather than trying to build on everything, so that, in the future, there—"

"Deku, you're mumbling again."

Todoroki nodded.

A flustered apology followed Ochako's reminder, and Killua laughed. To be fair, though, he did have some really good suggestions. He'd probably put Izuku up to drawing his costume, actually. But...

'Even though you don't have a quirk...'

If he were being honest with himself, it wasn't going to be long before Kaminari started blabbing about his twinning electricity "quirk." Better to tell people about it now than to have it come out of the blonde boy's mouth later.

"Actually," he started, "I do have a quirk, now. I got it again a few days ago."

Izuku's and Ochako's eyes widened, while Todoroki and even Power Loader looked at him in anticipation.

"You do?" she asked.

"Yeah. Electricity."

"Wow, just like Kaminari?" Izuku exclaimed.

Tapping his chin, he said, "Almost, I just need an outside source for it. Like, maybe a taser? Something like that."

Izuku's eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I guess that explains how you walked through Kaminari's electricity during your match in the sports festival..."

"Yeah, no kidding," Ochako added. "Who would've thought you had nearly the same exact quirk?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Killua purposefully left out the part that he could still actually feel the pain. Even if that was something Kaminari knew and would possibly blurt about later, in the current moment, he didn't want to freak them out even further.

"Your costume should have its own electricity source, too, then," Izuku said.

Turning his attention to Power Loader, Killua noticed the diligent man had stopped his work.

"If you're taking up all of Midoriya's suggestions," he said, "I can get it to you the morning right before you leave for internships."

"Really?" Killua marveled.

"Yeah, but I have to get to work immediately. It won't be easy for me, so you better put it to good use, alright?"

"Sure thing, old man!"

Instead of firing back, the Pro Hero simply sighed, getting up from his seat to start his new project. "I have a good idea of what your costume should look like, but if you want any specific design choices, you have until tomorrow to tell me anything."

Nodding to that, Killua turned around to the trio standing behind him. "So," he grinned, "are we getting those sandwiches now?"

'Three Pro Heroes in Hosu reported a Villian yesterday: one whose goal is to seemingly cut off the tips of their pinkies and run away with them. Not much is known about this Villian, however, all three of them describe them as wearing a black mask and hat, along with two black holes for eyes. The Villian is extremely quick, so if you see anyone matching this description, please report them immediately. Speculators theorize that they may be connected to the Hero Killer, but no evidence can support this claim. Stay tuned for more...'

Gon turned his attention away from the TV, instead focusing his eyes on his own reflection from the shop window.

Black mask. Check.

Black hat. Check.

Black holes for eyes. Not right now, no.

But, to anyone who was listening in on the news, it would most likely be pretty easy to connect the dots between him and the villain description.

Shaking the small cardboard box he held in his hands, he cringed at the small thump of one of the heroes' pinky tips.

After a small argument with Shigaraki, he was finally allowed to go back to Hosu and return them to the heroes—by himself, even! Since, well, Shigaraki found his attempts at apologies to be a "waste of time." Hopefully this would take some of the heat off of his back; he didn't need his own disguise getting a bad reputation, too. The reactions from the Pro Heroes were quite... baffled, though...

Gon dropped down from the roof as he just barely recognized one of the Pro Heroes he stole from. It was tough trying to remember what they all looked like since he always blacked out before he could get a proper assessment of them, but it was quite easy if he just looked at their left hand and noticed something missing.

"Hello!" he called out, forcing the hero to whip her head around to the sound of his voice.

A confused look came from behind her mask, then immediately turned to one of animosity upon recognition. "You're the villain who cut off my pinky! What the hell?!"

"No, no, you can take it back. Sorry about that," Gon said, proceeding to open the cardboard box and chuck one of the tips at her. "This should be yours! Bye!"

...And that's pretty much how the past two encounters went before he dashed away, fast enough for none of them to catch him. Hopefully the last one would go by just as quickly; he still needed to return the paper shredder to that shop in Kamino Ward, after all.

Hiding in the shadows of the city, he scanned every new area he stepped foot in, hoping to find a hero with a fin attached to his helmet.

As if by some strange fate, Bakugou ended up being in the same exact sandwich shop.

He also was in line to get his own stamp card redeemed for the rare All Might t-shirt.

Killua almost laughed. Both Izuku and Bakugou were All Might fanboys? Now he was even more curious about their history...

Before any words could be passed between them, however, Bakugou immediately walked out with the t-shirt rolled under his arm, making absolutely no eye contact with any of them. Still, there was a sneer on his face, so he must've been aware they were there in the first place.

Facing them with tightened lips, Izuku mumbled, "Um... l-let's just go in line..."

And that they did. Every time they ordered, Izuku offered to pay, but both Ochako and Todoroki declined. Unfortunately, Killua didn't think he'd be needing Aizawa's credit card today, so he made a promise to pay his friend back when he could. As they sat down to eat their food, Killua stared out the window.

Hosu. All he's heard about this city was that the Hero Killer seemed to be currently working here... Hopefully they wouldn't run into him, but he doubted that'd happen at all since he reportedly only goes after Pro Heroes.

The TV in the corner of the shop suddenly caught his attention.

'Three Pro Heroes in Hosu reported a Villian yesterday: one whose goal is to seemingly cut off the tips of their pinkies and run away with them. Not much is known about this Villian...'

Killua bit his cheek. Another villain in Hosu? At least they weren't killing people, but, wow, what a weird goal.

"This sandwich is cold."

All eyes turned to the speaker, finding Todoroki holding the sandwich with one hand, staring at it.

"...Huh?" Izuku said.

"It's cold."

"O-oh, if you regret paying for it, I can still make it up—"

"No, it's fine. I can heat it up when I get home."

Killua snorted. "Why not just use your quirk on it now?"

"We can't use quirks in public."

"Then go in the bathroom."

"Ew, Killua," Ochako recoiled.

"What? I'm just trying to help."

Izuku's face squished. "There's so many germs in there..."

Staring at the green haired boy, Killua teased, "You had no problem going in there to change into your new All Might shirt."

"Th-that's completely different!"

More conversation followed, laughs abound. They all finished eating their food (excluding Todoroki,) and headed outside the shop to the city streets.

At some point during their walk, Killua looked all around him. The sun was starting to set, signaling night's beginning. Lights shone all around the city, signs glowing against the orange backdrop of the sky.

Something from his first few days after waking up popped into his mind.

"Zoldyck may be rightfully perceived as a threat," the principal grinned, "but, of all things, he is still a child. A lost child who has nothing to his name; not even his own memories. For now, he at least deserves a normal life experience."

Was this what that felt like?

Glancing back at the group around him, laughing with each other, his smile grew to his eyes. For just a moment, he didn't care where he came from. Because, right now, he felt like this was where he belonged.

How hard was it to find one Pro Hero in a whole city?

Gon groaned as he searched, unable to have found the hero for the past hour. Was he in the hospital? That could be possible, but the other two Pro Heroes were still working when he found them, so he doubted it. Maybe he could cause a scene so he can bring him to him, but he didn't want to endanger anyone who had nothing to do with him.

Sliding down, he sat with his legs crossed in an alleyway. There had to be something he could do to make this easier, but all he knew about the hero was his appearance; no name, no nothing. Meaning he couldn't even look him up online to try and find the agency he worked at, so this might as well be a waiting game.

Staring at the pedestrians on the sidewalk, an idea popped into his head...

Maybe he could just ask someone. Besides, if they recognized him as the villain on the news, it would be easy to run away, anyway, since they weren't Pro Heroes.

Getting up off the ground, he dusted himself off, peering into the crowd to find someone who looked knowledgeable.

There—a boy who looked to be his age was wearing a shirt with a Pro Hero on it... perfect! Someone like that has to know something.

Stepping into the light, he smiled and waved at the boy. Only, he realized the boy couldn't see his smile in the first place because of the mask he wore. Closing his wave into a fist, he cupped his hands around his mask and yelled out, "Hey!"

The boy stopped in his tracks, looked around him, then narrowed his eyes at Gon. He pointed to himself, as if he were asking if Gon was calling out to him, and he nodded.

Slowly stepping towards each other, Gon said, "I have a question!"

"Why the hell are you asking me?"

"Um... you look smart?"

The boy scrunched his nose, tilting his head up. "What d'you want, you runt?"

Ignoring the insult, Gon asked, "Do you know any Pro Heroes who have a fin on top of his helmet? Oh, and he wears a lot of blue, too."

"Manual," he said. "Now get out of my way."

"Thanks!" Gon grinned. Even if the boy couldn't see his mouth, he assumed he could at least see his gratefulness in his eyes.

But, before he could run off, the boy abruptly grabbed hold of his arm.

"Wait."

Something changed in his tone... instead of annoyance, hostility emanated from the boy.

"...Yeah?"

"Manual was one of the Pro Heroes who reported that villain yesterday. And, you almost exactly match the description given by all of them." Tightening his grip on Gon's arm, he asked, "What's in that box?"

Gon pouted. Of course someone who knew about heroes knew about villains, too (even if Gon didn't consider himself one.) He really wanted to return Manual's... belongings... immediately, so half of him wanted to break free from the teenager's hold and run off. Yet, the other half wanted to at least explain himself to the stranger.

Breathing in, he answered, "I'm just giving back what's theirs... so don't worry, I'm not up to anything bad!"

The boy sneered. "So it is you."

He didn't know why, but he almost wanted to see how things played out if he stayed here a little longer. This guy didn't seem like an average citizen.

Gon fought Shigaraki. He fought the nomu. He can't count the three Pro Heroes he stole pinky tips from, since that was what Sonohoka did. He'd been itching for a real fight, and his next one could be standing right in front of him. And, although the boy's shirt had All Might on it, he imagined he couldn't be nearly as strong as him. But, even if he was... he'd like the challenge.

"Maybe."

He waited. Waited for the boy to make his first move—to finally start a fight where Gon could actually have fun with.

Then...

The boy let go.

The boy walked away, making a call on his phone.

...Huh?

Not only was Gon disappointed, he was confused. He swore he could feel some sort of ferocity from the boy, so what gives?

"Hey," he called out again, "what're you doing?"

"Getting you arrested."

With a final tap on his phone, the stranger stepped away.

He was just playing it safe, I guess...

In the distance, he could see just the hero he was looking for in the middle of a whole group of heroes—Manual! What're the chances the guy would call and have him show up?

Since he's the last hero he needed to find, all he needed to do was leave the whole box and leave to get out of this mess. Setting it down on the ground, he took a closer look at the Pro Hero.

More importantly, his left hand. It seemed he... still had his pinky tip… what?

Glancing at his right hand, he noticed he'd made a mistake.

He cut off his right pinky tip, not the left.

Immediately, Gon blacked out.

Police sirens. Firetrucks. Various Pro Heroes bolted towards the same direction, and civilians were being told to leave the area.

Killua, Izuku, Ochako, and Todoroki stood still, looking towards the unknown battle taking place.

Todoroki said, "We should go..."

Before anyone could agree, they all overheard a conversation a distance away.

"Yeah, that kid from the sports festival's in there," an officer spoke into his transceiver. "Forgot his name. The one with the explosions?"

At that, Izuku's face paled.

"Kacchan?"

"We just saw him..." Ochako mumbled.

Killua and Todoroki simply stared at each other, then at the other two.

They all knew they weren't allowed to go back there. Hell, Killua was even reminded of the fact that they weren't supposed to use their quirks in public just earlier.

"The Pros have it handled," Todoroki said, although more lifeless than usual.

Killua clicked his tongue. "Even if they do, that doesn't mean we don't wanna go back there."

"You want to help Bakugou?" he asked, surprised. "I thought you disliked each other."

"...I don't know. It's complicated."

It's not just Bakugou I wanna go back for, he told himself in his head. Something about that fight was drawing him towards it, but he couldn't exactly place why...

"I don't want to just leave him there," Izuku said, staring into the city.

At that moment, a hero whizzed through the air just above the ground, smashing into the side of a building.

What the hell... she ended up all the way over here?

Killua gritted his teeth.

Turning to face the destruction, he mocked, "'The Pros have it handled.' Yeah right."

At that, his feet pushed off the ground as he ran towards the fight, a faint call of his name in the distance.

Beside him, he noticed Izuku started running with him. A small laugh escaping his lips, he slowed down to allow him to catch up.

"Couldn't resist, huh?"

No reply was made, but he was only half expecting one, anyway.

The pair ended up right in front of the police tape, watching as the battle went down. At the center of it seemed to be... someone who exactly matched the description of the villain he heard about on the TV. Around them were loads of Pro Heroes, surrounded by fires burning on city buildings. Was their goal really just to cut off pinky tips?

"What are you kids doing here?!"

Killua and Izuku turned to the voice, finding a large, muscular man.

"Death Arms!" Izuku yelped.

"It's dangerous here! Go back now!"

"Where's Bakugou?" Killua asked.

"I don't know," he admitted, "but you can't stay. That villian's going after Manual, and we're currently trying to keep him hidden."

Izuku tugged at Killua's sleeve, motioning towards the villain. "Look," he said, "they're using Kacchan's quirk..."

Using Bakugou's quirk?

Izuku was right; the villain was sending explosions towards the Pro Heroes, blasting a couple outside of the area.

Death Arms seemed to overhear the observation, adding, "They have the ability to either take or copy quirks. We don't exactly know how it works, but it seems that your friend's quirk proves to be more than troublesome..."

"I'm going to find Kacchan," Izuku said, immediately leaving.

Didn't even say bye...

Now, Killua was all alone, staring at the scene in front of him.

Pro Heroes were being thrown left and right, trying to keep the villain from escaping. It was getting worse as time went on; they were both running out of heroes to keep them here, and running out of energy. If he stepped in—

"Don't even think about it," Death Arms said, catching Killua's attempt at ducking under the caution tape.

"I can help."

"No," the hero scolded. "You're just a kid."

Before Killua could reply, a rumble was heard from above. One of the parts of the buildings surrounding the area broke off, nearing the ground where both of them stood.

"Run!" the Pro Hero yelled, readying his arms so it wouldn't crush them.

Killua refused to listen. Instead, he stood still, tightening his fists.

The broken building piece fell within arm's length, and once it was only a few inches away from hitting them both, Killua jumped up, reeling his arm back.

He punched.

Bits of concrete fell all around them, dust settling around the area. Death Arms' mouth gaped open, staring at the small boy.

"I don't care what you think of me," he seethed, "I'm going out there."

With that, Killua jumped several feet in the air. Before the masked villain could react, he sent a direct kick to the villain's cranium. With a giant puff of dust, they loudly crashed on the ground, cracking several feet of pavement in the form of a deep crater, a streetlamp falling right on top of them.

Touching back down on the ground, he furrowed his brow as he noticed the villain's hat and mask fell off—

Killua's heart nearly stopped.

...Alluka?

His eyes strained as he glared at the familiar body pushing off the streetlamp, getting up again.

No... there's no way that's...

Spikes of green hair stood up as he broke open the streetlamp, deep holes reminiscent of his sister's still on his face.

…

He reached his hand inside, blue sparks travelling on his skin as the wires electrocuted him.

Gon?

Killua watched as he managed to copy his Nen ability, then ran towards him faster than he could process.

He heard a crack in his jaw as he got punched by the Nanika-Gon hybrid, flying through the air. Cursing, he reoriented himself so he could land safely on top of a building.

But, once he reached his spot...

His heart pounded in his chest, threatening to burst out of it.

I have my memories back.

Staring at the scene, he noticed Gon was now using his own Nen ability to get through all the Pro Heroes, not wasting any time trying to fight them. He was only trying to get to Manual, right?

Killua groaned as he dug his nails into his scalp, as if trying to get rid of a bad migraine. It almost felt like waking up from a vivid dream. He didn't have to deal with any more amnesia, but getting them back almost made things even worse.

He was confused. He was frustrated. His face felt heavy as all his emotions pooled in his head, spilling out his eyes as he kept trying and trying to wipe them away with his dusty sleeves.

Why is Gon here? Is that even Gon?

So, so many questions popped into his head, even more than when he was an amnesiac. But, the one he so badly wished for an answer to:

Where is Alluka?

Chapter Text

Killua Zoldyck stayed on the flat rooftop, sitting on his knees. As he wiped away the last of his tears, the sounds of sirens whined quieter, fires were being put out, and Pro Heroes stood still as they suddenly found no trace of the villain they had just been fighting.

Pro Heroes...

Where was he?

Pulling his head up, he looked all around him.

Hosu. The orange sky had darkened, allowing him to spot what little stars could be seen up above. In the streets were civilians fleeing the scene; some with mutant quirks, and others without. News reporters were being told to leave by the heroes. Japponese was written on shop signs, sale percentages ending in yen, rather than jenny. Pro Heroes fought against Villains. There were no Hunters.

And, the last thing he remembered before waking up was him walking back to the hotel he and Alluka stayed in, holding bags of food from the market he just shopped from. Before he reached the door, however... he blacked out.

Before continuing to rack his brain for answers on how all of this possibly makes sense, he clutched his palms and shut his eyes.

Breathe in...

Breathe out.

There's no point in trying to work without a clear mind.

Breathe in...

Breathe out.

I'm going back to Alluka. I'm sure of it.

Breathe in...

Thump.

Killua instantly jumped up, turning to the source of the sound with his fists in the air and his vision still blurred.

"Kid, wait, it's just me," the gruff voice said.

Breathe out.

Lowering his fists, he rubbed his eyes and looked closer at the approaching man. His yellow goggles settled on top of his forehead, sunken eyes beneath them.

"I got calls about the situation here, but when I saw you on the news..."

Killua stayed silent.

Sighing, Aizawa said, "The villain's gone. If they're still going after Manual, it's up to him and the heroes hiding him to fight them off. But, for me... I have a brat to take care of."

Killua didn't feel like joking around. Instead, he forced out a dry laugh, getting up off the ground and staring at the aftermath of the fight.

If I leave now, I might be able to catch up with Gon...

"You feeling okay?"

Whipping his head back to Aizawa, he nodded.

"Doesn't seem like it."

He didn't reply. Instead, he rotated his feet, toes pointing in the direction his best friend took off.

But, if we're both using Godspeed at the same time, is it still possible...?

Again, the raspy voice broke through his thoughts as it said, "You know, we should both stay here for questioning." A pause. "But... that can wait until tomorrow. Let's go home, kid."

...Home.

Against his own wishes, he turned right back around and started heading towards Aizawa's apartment along with him, clenching his fists. He wanted so badly to run after Gon. But, before he made any hasty moves, he knew he needed to get his head straight. He needed a plan; he couldn't just immediately rush into things when, for the past two years, he'd been so protective over Alluka, needing to ensure her safety wherever they wanted to go.

That meant, in the current situation, he had to face Aizawa. However, he wasn't entirely sure whether he wanted to tell him he got his memories back or not. Questions about his background would be inevitable, and Killua got the feeling that Pro Heroes—and most of this society in general—wouldn't take so kindly to an assassin; especially one who'd done worse things than the average villain.

The journey back to the apartment was filled with silence, but Killua somewhat appreciated it. It at least gave him more time to attempt to sort things in his head out; one of those things being his mere location. Where exactly was he? Every world map he'd seen had countries drawn upside-down, backwards, and reversed, and Lake Mobius wasn't something that existed, at all. Plus, he was right about globes looking stupid. Maybe he was somewhere like Greed Island? No one here seemed like NPCs, though, so maybe it's soley the location that's different from the rest of the world.

But, then, that brings up another obvious question; what the hell are quirks? People here had Nen. Killua knew that as a fact from occasionally using Gyo out of curiosity. But, every time someone referred to it (like Recovery Girl when she told him he had an abundance of it,) they called it life energy. Were quirks just something that replaced Nen in a practical sense, then? Did Nen users even exist?

Soon, the both of them arrived at the apartment. Killua noticed Aizawa'd been wary of him since they met in Hosu, but he didn't blame him. When he got his memories back, he already forgot who the memory-less version of him was, meaning he wouldn't act like his old "self" anymore. It wasn't surprising he'd start giving him the side eye.

Deeply exhaling, he walked over to the living room and let himself flop on top of his futon. "Tired" couldn't even begin to describe what he was feeling right now. He was more than physically exhausted; he was emotionally drained. His heavy eyelids started to droop, up until he heard Aizawa knock on the coffee table.

Peeking over at his guardian, he found the ragged man holding a cup of water and a pill bottle.

"Take two of these," he said. "It'll help you sleep better."

Shutting his eyes and resting his hands under his head, he countered with, "Drugs don't work on me."

Besides, Killua had already spent several sleepless nights in the apartment. It was a little funny looking back on himself, wondering why he could never sleep easy. He used to think it was because of his troubled, memory-less brain, asking himself questions all night long, but, while that fact did hold some truth, he was still way far off. Ending up a light sleeper had been due to his early assassin training, after all.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. Glaring at him a bit, he proceeded to grudgingly set the cup and bottle down on the table, still leaving the option for Killua to take it or not open (which he won't be.) Before walking back to his own bedroom, however, he spoke with his back turned.

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and that villain, but, kid, if something's bothering you, tell me. Please."

A pause.

Then, he sighed, turned the knob, and disappeared behind the door.

Killua scratched his cheek. Tell him about his problems, huh?

Yeah, right. That was a whole can of worms he didn't want to open, especially with a Pro Hero. Even if he was his guardian. Even if Killua could easily tell that the man genuinely worried about him.

If he were still an amnesiac now, he'd probably consider Aizawa a friend, no matter the fact he'd never called him by his real name.

But he wasn't that Killua anymore. Now, he's back to his real self, and all he wants to do is figure out what the hell Gon's doing here and then get back to Alluka. The kinds of measures he'd take to fulfill those goals, however... he knew he couldn't form deep connections with these people. Not only would they condemn his being a past assassin, he couldn't let his emotions hold him back in a situation such as this. Not when his best friend he hasn't seen in two years is out there attacking random people, and not when he has no idea if his little sister is safe. As much as he'd like to make new friends, they would only be a hindrance, and he'd only cause them more harm.

Killua squeezed his eyes shut.

He had a goal, and he was going to stick to it.

No matter what it'll take.

"If you need someone to talk to, you can always talk to us."

Uraraka nodded.

"We're friends, after all..." Midoriya continued.

With a grin Killua easily recognized as forced, Iida quickly said, "Sure."

Damn deja vu...

Then, Iida stepped into the train, and Killua followed suit, dragging his suitcase with his brand new hero costume inside. He'd only recieved it from Power Loader just about an hour ago, so he hadn't yet bothered to look inside. However, something about the proud grin on the skinny man's face while he handed it over told him that it was going to be more than satisfactory.

Not that I really need it, though.

"Zoldyck?"

Killua looked up, noticing Iida's confused glare.

"Oh," he exclaimed, "did I not tell you I'm going to Manual's agency, too?"

Dark blue eyes widened from behind his glasses. "No. However, I assumed you had better choices to choose from."

"So did you."

No reply was made, and that was the end of the conversation. The last few passengers finished settling either in their seats or standing by a pole, and the train finally started moving on its way to Hosu once the usual updates heard through the speakers finished.

Everyone knew about Iida's brother, Ingenium, by now. They could easily figure out that he's the reason why he's choosing to intern in Hosu, but the same couldn't be said for Killua himself. Thankfully, no one questioned it, so he didn't need to come up with some lame lie about it.

Sighing, he rested his hands behind his head, staring outside the window. There wasn't a one-hundred percent chance that Gon was even going to be in Hosu, but it was a starting point. If only he had his freakish sense of smell, he could sniff his trail like a dog... probably. Maybe?

If Gon did happen to end up here, though, Killua needed a plan—which he had none. In fact, he didn't know if Gon would even be Gon the next time he'd see him. He could very well be the odd Nanika-faced... thing he was when he fought off all those Pro Heroes last week.

It couldn't be Nanika, right? It was impossible. But, then, that meant it had to be... No, that's impossible, too. But, admittedly, it's a little more plausible than his former thought. His Dark Continent knowledge obviously wasn't as vast as his dad's (who has actually been there in person,) but he did know that Nanika was suspected to be one of the Five Threats:

'Codependence of Desire... A Gaseuous Life-Form: Ai.'

He clicked his tongue.

And, now, here was Gon running around with the same exact holey-face Alluka got whenever Nanika took over. But, how would he even get involved with an Ai in the first place? And why did it act so differently from Nanika?

Maybe Ai all have unique qualities, which is why Nanika acts comparatively humane to the rest of them... But, speculating was useless. He needed to work with what he'd already seen the stranger Ai do, and that was copying other people's abilities. He wished he could only say quirks, but he obviously couldn't ignore how it instantly recreated the transmuter Nen skills he'd been perfecting for years, now. Especially how it manifested them through someone like Gon: an enhancer who gave up usage of his Nen.

If he tried to sneak up on Gon while he was in that Ai-state, he really wasn't sure he was going to win that battle if one were to start...

'When you face an opponent you perceive is stronger... you immediately get ready to bail! One day you'll let Gon down and leave him to die...!'

Killua shivered.

Years later, and that old hag's words still haven't left him... but, he was grateful for it. Even without Illumi's needle in his head anymore, he found himself gravitating towards Bisky's words to give himself a small boost of motivation every now and then. After all, he did make a promise to both himself and his dad.

"Never betray your friends," he softly whispered to himself.

The words rang clear as day in his head, and he let himself smile.

Regaining his memories may have caused him some emotional turmoil, but it was still the best thing that could've happened to him ever since he woke up next to Aizawa and Revovery Girl in the infirmary, confused and without a clue where or who he was. Now, it was what he did with those memories that mattered the most.

Still staring outside the window, he tightened his lips. He thought to himself, silently hoping the message would somehow get across.

I'll be back, Gon, Alluka. Just wait for me a little bit longer.

"You're awake."

"Ah... what... huh?"

Gon rubbed the crust out of his eyes, then tried to sit up. Tried, because he instantly flopped back down onto the soft surface, brain rattling as he bounced. A sharp pain pierced his stomach, later travelling to the rest of his body, forcing out a quiet groan from his mouth.

"Eat this. You must regain your strength."

Lifting his heavy eyelids, he found the face of the smoky yellow-eyed man in front of him. Glancing down, he noticed he held a bar of...

"Chocolate?"

"You used up a large amount of life energy, so you've been asleep for a while..."

"How long?" he croaked, reaching for the candy bar.

"Four days."

"Eh...?!"

It came out more as a loud whisper than an exclamation. Taking a weak bite out of the pre-unwrapped bar, he listened as Kurogiri tried explaining the situation.

"It surprised us, too. You've never even slept past thirty minutes after using your quirk, but, upon watching you on the news the other day... I can imagine why it took so long for you to wake up."

News? What else did I do?

"It appears Sonohoka went after another pinky on its own, targeting Manual using several other people's quirks."

Wait, I remember that happening...

Gon swallowed his bite, then dryly spoke, "It's 'cause Sonohoka cut off the wrong pinky tip the first time..."

A coughing fit then followed, which signaled Kurogiri to grab a cup of water for him, setting it on the end table.

The bartender paused for a moment, then spoke, "You're saying it can come out on its own once it realizes its command had not actually been fulfilled?"

Gon nodded, grabbing and slowly sipping his water.

Why do I feel so weak? He hadn't felt like this since... since...

Ugh. He really wished he had his memories. This new quirk was the best thing to come out of this situation, but, at the same time, he felt unsure if it was the right decision or not...

No. Of course it was. Sonohoka was super strong, and he's sure that he can eventually remember everything if he tried really hard.

Ah, if it weren't for that All Might guy...

A thought just occurred to him. He now needed to return two pinky tips back to Manual. How awkward...

BANG!

Both heads whipped around to the noise, finding Shigaraki barging in through the door with his nails scratching at his neck.

"When's he getting here...?" he rasped. However, once his gaze reached Gon's, his hand stopped itching, instead falling to his side.

"Should be a few minutes from now," Kurogiri answered. "Freecss just woke—"

"Yeah, I can tell," he interrupted, glaring at the boy. "Oi, can you move?"

Gon attempted getting up again, this time gritting through the pain. With a small nod, he answered, "Sure!"

The bartender huffed. "Shigaraki, he needs to heal before you do anything with him. What are you planning?"

"Nothing, nothing," he drawled. "What, I can't just check up on him? Geez."

With another sigh, he gestured towards the younger boy. "You can lie back down, Freecss. I cannot imagine how pained you are from all those injuries."

A toothy grin on his face, he chirped, "It's fine! I can heal fast, anyway." Slowly, the smile faded. "Actually, how did I even get these injuries? You saw me on the news, right?"

It was quite frustrating having to ask others about his own experiences (more like Sonohoka's experiences, but it was still through his body, so it counted.) He assumed that being unconscious was the simple price he had to pay for an essentially unrivaled quirk, so it wasn't all too bad.

"Well, yes..." Kurogiri stared, sharing glances with Shigaraki. "A lot of other Pro Heroes got involved in the situation, and Sonohoka was fighting past them."

"Was All Might there?"

Shigaraki noticeably cringed from the mention of the hated hero, but Kurogiri easily replied with a solid, "No."

Gon hummed, swinging his legs on the couch out of habit, only stopping when he realized it still ached. "I wanna meet him soon," he announced.

"Eh?" Shigaraki exclaimed.

"I just wanna ask why and how he took my memories... and why he tried to make me the bad guy for trying to stop a real bad guy."

"All Might wouldn't waste his time on brats like you," he spat. "Pro Heroes are hypocrites... all claiming they'll 'save the day' when they don't do shit."

Gon opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it in favor of mentally dissecting Shigaraki's words a little more. If he heard him right, it almost sounded like he was speaking from personal experience...

He was curious.

Then, a knock at the door sounded.

"That must be him," Kurogiri said. Turning his head to the still-healing boy, he continued, "Rest up. This will be a quick meeting."

Gon grudgingly complied, stubborn as he is about being totally fine. At least he could listen in on the conversation; he still had yet to find out who this mystery visitor is.

Back once again lying on the couch, he watched Shigaraki open the door, revealing a ragged, noseless, hunched-over man with a sword on his back.

More importantly, he looked strong. If he wasn't bedridden (couchridden?) at the moment, he'd almost ask to take a crack at sparring with him.

"League of Villains, huh?" the stranger said after closing the door behind him. His voice was almost playful, in the way that it felt as if he were visiting the zoo.

"Yeah," Shigaraki said, taking a seat at the bar.

"Good to see you again, Hero Killer," Kurogiri spoke from the bar.

Hero Killer...?

Gon recognized the name from the news; people were speculating that he himself and the Hero Killer were involved somehow since they both were taking action in Hosu. He also remembered when Shigaraki told him that Kurogiri was meeting with him about a week ago... Other than that, he really didn't know too much about the guest. Though, he assumed he could easily guess from his moniker.

"You too," he said. With a grin, he continued, "So, it was you bastards who broke into U.A.."

Shigaraki made a noise of acknowledgement.

"Now, you wanna add me to your little gang!" Looking around the room, his intense red eyes settled on Gon. "And what's he doing here? This isn't any place for a child."

The hand-ful man leaned against the counter. "If you wanna know why, it's 'cause we saved him when Pro Heroes couldn't."

"Ah..." he mumbled. "The situation demands for it, then. So. What is your goal?"

"First," he immediately began, "we wanna kill All Might. Then, we destroy everything we hate. Like..."

Out of nowhere, Shigaraki pulled out a picture of someone he didn't recognize. He looked to be about his age, though. Who was he? Was he related to All Might, somehow?

"This little brat. We'll get rid of all of them."

Gon never really understood Shigaraki's intentions. It seemed, however, the Hero Killer perfectly knew what he was dealing with.

And he didn't have the positive reaction they were looking for.

"I was ill-advised to be interested," he seethed, teeth clenched. "You... you're the type I hate the most!"

Uh oh. Gon moved to sit up again, noting how distracted Kurogiri was to miss him. Another pang of pain shocked his stomach, forcing him to hunch over.

But, between him clutching his stomach in pain and sitting back up again, things have already moved... fast. Very fast.

A loud thump, and the Hero Killer was on top of Shigaraki, wielding two daggers. It dug into his shoulder, and a pool of blood had began to form around it.

"...Weaklings—lacking both—are culled... is only natural. That is why you're gonna die."

...Die? He was trying to kill Shigaraki?

From the corner of his eye, Kurogiri yelled out, "My body won't move! This must be his quirk..."

Wow, what kind of quirk was that? He didn't appear to use it on Gon, though... was it because he thought he was too injured to do anything, too?

"Hey..." he started, planting his feet on the wooden floor. He pushed himself off the couch with his sore arms, still wincing as it ached.

"Freecss, stay out of this!" Kurogiri stressed. Huh, he'd never used that tone of voice with him, before.

But, of course, Gon still ignored him.

As he took a few steps further, he suddenly stopped right as he heard Shigaraki speak.

"All Might... This society where trash like that is put on a pedestal... I wanna burn it to the damn ground!"

Shigaraki crumbled one of the Hero Killer's daggers, and...

If Gon hadn't already stopped in his tracks, he definitely would have by now.

A wave of killing intent washed over the entire bar, coming from the man who had his back to the floor. At that, the Hero Killer immediately dashed away to the other side of the room—just before Shigaraki had been able to place all five fingers on his face.

It's never been that strong before, Gon thought. He'd only noticed just a little bit of it every now and then, but... their guest must have made Shigaraki really mad.

An actual conversation then began between them, but Gon was more focused on figuring out the right words for his question for the Hero Killer...

"Our business here is finished," he said, freakishly long (and bumpy) tongue hanging out. "Return me to Hosu! I've still got things to do!"

"Wait, Mr. Hero Killer," Gon called out.

The noseless man turned around to face him, then uttered, "Hm?"

"Gon..." Shigaraki scowled.

"...Why do you think killing people is the right thing to do? Isn't there any other way?"

For a while, he'd wanted to ask Shigaraki the same question about All Might. But, it never hurt to hear from two perspectives.

"Are you sure you wanna hang around this bunch, child?" he replied, eyes narrowed. "I've said it before—it is only natural. Violence breeds violence. What goes around, comes around. Do you get it?"

Gon scratched his ear. "Eh? Not really..." he trailed off. "Don't you think life is valuable?"

"You cannot attribute value to the lives of counterfeits."

At that, Kurogiri opened up a portal, while Gon's mouth gaped open.

"Huh..."

The Hero Killer stepped through and disappeared, leaving the League of Villains alone, once again.

Gon didn't necessarily agree with him. Still, he couldn't deny how interesting his mindset was. Now, he wondered what the vigilante possibly could have gone through to come to such a conclusion...

"Gon," Shigaraki called out.

But, more importantly, he wanted to know more about the man he woke up next to three weeks ago.

Turning around to the older boy, he noticed he was still badly bleeding...

"I'll get you some band-aids—"

"Shut up," he rasped, scratching at his neck. "Get back to the couch, you brat. You're no good if you can barely walk."

That... was something he reluctantly agreed with. His legs felt like they were burning, and all he was doing was standing up. It was still so odd. A bunch of Pro Heroes couldn't have possibly caused this much damage to himself... Did he use an extra powerful quirk during the fight? Kurogiri did say that his quirk was fueled on life energy, and, the stronger it was, the more it literally sucked the life out of him.

Lying back down, he once again spoke. "Shigaraki?"

"What?"

"Can you answer my question, too?" A silent beat passed, but Gon still pressed on. "Why do you wanna kill All Might?"

"Damn brat..." he started, but his words lost their ferocity towards the end. He stuck his hand in his pocket, grabbing at one of the severed hands inside. "He's hurt more than I have."

Something in Gon's brain clicked.

The hands being real or not was something he was never quite sure of, but, right now, he was leaning towards the former being the truth (even if it was weird to think he'd been wearing around a bunch of dead peoples' hands.) Shigaraki didn't look like he wanted to divulge into his past... but if heroes really were the reason for his tragedies...

He'd never been bothered by his name-calling. All they've really done together was play arcade games and train—two things Gon had been having lots of fun with, lately. And, in his own, twisted, villain-y way, it seemed Shigaraki cared for him. So... was it too much of a stretch to call him his friend for having spent the past whole month with him?

"I still don't know too much about heroes," Gon started, "but I'm with you."

"Eh?"

"That's what friends do, right?" he cocked his head. "Be there for each other?"

The bar went dead silent. Then, Shigaraki rapped his fingers on the bar counter.

"Yeah. Friends."

Then, Gon watched as Kurogiri tapped him on the shoulder and handed over a picture of sorts.

Shigaraki grinned.

"You're with me, huh?" he gibed.

The older boy walked over to Gon's spot on the couch, picture in his palm. Handing it over, Gon's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

It was a hero with a mask covering up his face.

"Then, can you do me a favor and kill the hero Light for me?"

"It is rare you'd want to meet here in your own lab, Garaki."

The old scientist softly smiled, flipping through his clipboard notes. "Of course. I've successfully cloned the quirk so you can use it, but I have... much to say about the original."

Walking over to a secluded door in the corner, All For One watched as Garaki unlocked it. Door swinging open, he found a short nomu aloofly standing in the center of the white tiled floor. A small couch was to the side, and he was gestured by the scientist currently clearing his throat to sit down with him.

"First," he started, "the quirk Inseparable Interdimensionals is nearly the exact same as Kurogiri's quirk. If it was meant for separate dimensions, I imagine the makeup would be completely different."

All For One rubbed his chin. So everyone Musubu teleported truly was from our own dimension...

"All I see is a teleportation quirk with strange conditions; the duo-teleport and memory loss, respectively. You don't happen to know where they possibly could have come from, do you?" he asked, staring at All For One from behind his glasses, anticipating an answer.

"Perhaps..." he trailed off, taking his time to come up with a proper reply. It was difficult to come up with any solid answers from what little evidence they've gathered. Breathing in, he continued, "Perhaps it's to do with Nen, or the Dark Continent Musubu rambled about. I may be wrong, but considering I highly doubt the first two teleports had dropped in beings from our... world, if you will, it seems the most plausible."

Nodding, Garaki said, "It's a start. Then, from there, I've managed to separate the conditions from the actual teleportation quirk. But, I found something quite... interesting."

"What is it?" he asked.

"Unlike Kurogiri's quirk, it doesn't require coordinates for teleportation; it's more random, than anything. But, since it was only possible to teleport others, it couldn't be used to its full extent. Until now."

All For One hummed. "So, now that the conditions are gone..."

Garaki failed to finish the sentence, instead glancing at the three foot tall nomu in the room. "If you were looking to properly speak with Musubu again, that is not possible anymore."

Standing up from the couch, All For One approached the nomu, watching as it stared blankly into space.

"To keep it balanced," Garaki spoke from behind, "I turned him into a nomu. It acts as a different sort of condition, but not one that will limit the quirk. However, I haven't tested the actual teleportation, yet. You should be able to order it to teleport somewhere, but I am unsure whether it understands exactly where you want to go or not," he finished.

A grin on his face, All For One patted its shoulder. A nomu that can hypothetically teleport anywhere in the world... Or, not even in the world. Anywhere in their dimension.

"I'll test it right now, then. Incredible work, Garaki," he praised.

"The pleasure is mine."

Attention settling back on the nomu, he called out its name and said, "Open a portal to the Dark Continent."

A purple haze filled the room. Then, in just a few seconds, Garaki stood alone.

Chapter Text

It was their third day of internships with Manual, and Killua had yet to find any sort of clue hinting towards Gon's whereabouts.

Currently, he and Iida were tasked with filing documents in the Pro Hero's agency—his counterpart dutifully fulfilling his role with a 90 degree bow and a secret agenda poorly masked behind his eyes. Killua did the same, only difference being the occasional groans of boredom.

Due to recent events concerning a... certain hole-faced villain, Manual needed time to recover from his hand injuries (leading to him complaining to the both of them about how much he wanted to get back to action because it 'didn't even hurt that much.') It surprised Killua quite a bit, actually; his pinkies were stated to be the only injuries he'd sustained from the battle, but every other hero involved—including Killua—had suffered much worse, despite not even being the target.

He'd already gone over the mandatory witness accounts with the police, and, to his relief, Aizawa was the one answering all the questions. That was all merely four days ago—just the day after he sighted Gon. All he'd wanted to do once he realized his best friend somehow ended up in Hosu was search every inch of the place from top to bottom, desperate for any clue. Then, once he realized he could intern under an agency in that exact city, he didn't think twice before writing it down on his required internship paper the day it was due (though, he wished he knew that earlier so Aizawa could have stopped pestering him about it so much.)

However, since internships started, all Manual had had him and Iida do were menial tasks; organizing files, gathering information online, etc.... Killua scoffed. He was even asked by one of the workers there—giving their toothiest, most patronizing smile as he walked by their cubicle—if he could make them a cup of coffee. He wasn't some damn errand boy!

Ah... then again, he shouldn't really expect much. After all, he did sign himself up to be an intern for Manual: The Normal Hero; it wasn't the flashiest agency in the first place. Still, it didn't take away from the fact that what work he'd been doing for the past three days was completely counteractive to what his real goals were, and he assumed Iida felt the same way.

Glancing over at the other hero student, he found him hunched over a cabinet file, scrutinizing every single detail with deep forehead creases and careful fingers, as if the work he was doing was going to cure cancer. Killua snorted to himself.

And despite all the meaningless work he'd been assigned, he was careful enough to not be detected by anyone when sneaking out during the night—a skill he'd thankfully acquired from his past as an assassin. But, even with that, he felt that he hadn't gotten closer at all to finding Gon. At this point, he needed luck if he was going to get anywhere with his search.

Groaning as he shut a filing cabinet after alphabetizing every single folder inside, the door to the room suddenly slammed open. The pair's heads immediately whipped around to the noise.

"Iida! Light!" Manual called out, walking towards them with a smile on his face. "How's the filing going?"

With a robotic bow, Iida said, "It is going along well!"

Killua tilted his head. At this point, he really couldn't tell whether Iida truly was this diligent or just liked to suck up to people.

Nah, he thought. No matter how much he wanted to get revenge for his brother, he'd probably still be a stickler for authority.

"That's great," Manual praised. "Actually, I've got something good to tell you."

"What is it?" Killua asked.

Putting his hands on his hips, the Pro Hero beamed, "I can finally go on patrol, now. So, you two are coming with me. Beats staying here, right?"

A deep nod dragged down Iida's head. "Yes, I believe patrolling is a far better use of our time here as student interns."

Patrol? Killua scratched his cheek. It was something different—for once—since the day they arrived at the agency, but for it to be productive towards his own goals, he'd need to take a couple detours. Still, sneaking off while outside probably was easier than sneaking out from the inside during the day, so he mentally thanked Manual for the convenience.

The three of them then made their way out of the building, exiting the glass double doors into the streets of Hosu. The setting sun itself was blocked by buildings on the horizon, but it still was easy to see from the orange sky that night was just beginning. There weren't particularly too many people on the streets, either. Manual took the first step forwards with Iida and Killua falling right behind him, the trio putting on their respective headgear.

The only thing left to do is to sneak off, Killua thought to himself. While he did feel slightly sorry for planning to abandon the Pro Hero, it was for the best—it's not like he came to Hosu to do hero duties, anyway.

But before anything, Manual broke the silence, and said, "I really am glad I'm able to go on patrol again. Things in this city have been pretty hectic lately, so every bit of effort helps."

"Yes, it is better this way," Iida replied monotonously.

Hm? Killua turned his head to his classmate. Something about him seemed off. Of course Killua knew about his brother, but...

"Ah... this is awkward to ask, but, Iida... you're chasing after the Hero Killer, right?"

Iida stopped in his tracks, rigid. "That is—"

"I couldn't think of any other reason you'd want to come to my agency," he interrupted, standing aside him.

Killua stayed put as well, watching the two talk about how heroes shouldn't be vigilantes, or something like that. While he could see where Manual was coming from, he definitely didn't care for his advice; hero laws were beneath him.

Then, a thought popped into his head. Right now, he could easily sneak off—

"And you, Light," Manual said, crashing his train of thought.

Killua sighed. Of course.

"Yeah?" he answered, tilting his head.

"You're the student who blew everyone away at the sports festival. It's even more surprising to me that you chose my agency, and I can't think of any reason at all why..."

A reason? Killua put a hand to his chin, staring at the fin on top of his head.

Something about Hosu...

"Ah," he exclaimed, pointing a finger in the air. "I really like the sandwiches here!"

A pause.

Manual opened his mouth to speak, but words only got out on the third try. "You... out of all agencies, probably thousands of them, for you... you interned here 'cause you like the sandwiches?"

"Yeah!" he chirped. "Hey, you think we can go to a shop when we're done? That, ah, what's it called? Detroit-Smashwich? It was real tasty."

"Uh—um, maybe? Let's just focus on the job, for now," he stuttered, once again walking forward (was he faster than before?)

Killua and Iida followed suit. It was a good thing he fell for that, because Killua didn't want to expend too much energy on useless conversations. Anyway, he thought to himself, he should be sneaking off, by now. Night was falling. If he waited any longer, he'd have less time to search around the area.

And then, something caught his eye: Iida stopped walking. Killua did the same just a few steps ahead of him, but his gaze rose to his face.

His classmate's pointer finger was held to his mouth as he backed away. Iida was sneaking off, too.

And then, the feeling Killua got from him earlier finally made sense; of course, he should've known it earlier, but he never expected it from him.

Bloodlust.

When Iida disappeared, Killua went the opposite way, taking his own route. As he looked back, he saw Manual still patrolling, unaware of the fact that two of his interns had disappeared from right under his nose—one seeking revenge, and one seeking a friend.

Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and Gon watched as Stain jumped from the top of the water tower, shouting something about society as he descended. As the two remaining adults bickered between each other, Gon hoisted himself up to watch the city lights flicker, knowing the havoc Shigaraki was going to bring upon the population.

A "competition of who can rampage the most," he said.

Gon didn't like it. Innocent people didn't need to be brought into this.

"Oi," the older boy said, elbowing Gon's side. "You ready? Don't worry about the nomus. They know you."

...

I don't like it, but I made a promise to my friends.

Gon tightened his fists.

"Yeah. I am." He breathed in, and closed his eyes. "Sonohoka... can you kill the hero Light?"

Well, Killua thought, mid-chew, Gon's not in the sandwich shop.

Getting up from the booth to throw away the wrapper that once contained the Carolina-Smashwich (who was even naming these?) he exited the building and went straight back into the alleyways in hopes of avoiding Manual.

He forcefully exhaled. It was still frustrating. It was as if Gon wasn't ever here at all—like Killua just imagined fighting him in Hosu last week. Does he need to branch out more? Explore the surrounding cities? Run away and work for a family owned business that'll take him in? Get access to the underworld by entering fight-to-the-death matches with the alias Hunter? Because whatever he was doing now wasn't working at all.

Killua sat on the ground. He pulled off his mask, icy blue eyes glazing over it as he cradled it in his hands. Power Loader really did put a lot of effort into this suit—so much that he almost felt bad for being so pushy. The hero seemed to have taken up nearly all of Midoriya's suggestions: skin-tight to prevent drag (but thankfully not as bad as Uraraka's costume,) its dark color palette to act as camouflage, and—Killua's favorite—a small solar panel backpack that releases electricity throughout his suit, activated by a switch that, the further you push it, the more it releases. The only things missing were long-range weapons, but if he added anything that weren't yoyos, he genuinely wouldn't know how to feel.

A suit like this, he thought with a laugh, will definitely make me way overpowered in this world... whatever this world is.

Pulling his mask back over his head, he pushed himself off the ground to continue his search.

CRASH.

His head immediately perked up, ears searching for the source of the loud noise. What was that...?

Scaling the building, he reached the rooftops and found a nightmare. Buildings on nearly every block were set on fire, people in the streets were running around, screaming their heads off, and Pro Heroes were struggling with controlling the area. Everywhere around him were gigantic, muscular monsters with their brains hanging out, destroying nearly everything in their paths.

Even more—compared to Gon's fight last week, the damage was ten times worse.

He blinked.

What the hell's going on?

"HELP!"

Killua looked down and saw that a young boy was stuck under a pile of rubble, globby tears falling from his eyes.

"Please, I don't wanna die! HELP ME!"

Killua clicked his tongue.

Yeah, he doesn't wanna be a hero—but he's not heartless.

Dammit.

Jumping from the building to the ground, he started running towards the boy—

SLAM!

A strong gust of air huffed out of his mouth as his side got pummeled by one of the monsters. Heaving as he regained his breath, he dove out of the way as it again tried to attack him.

He grimaced. What were these things?

Either way, he needed a way to get rid of it, quick. Balancing himself, he summoned Ten to try and soften the blow if any more were to land. Even if it basically only worked against Nen attacks, it still felt better to have an extra layer of protection. Instantly, the monster made the same exact move again, but Killua knew it was coming. He started thinking to himself as soon as he avoided the punch.

What can I do to get rid of it easily? Is there a weak spot I can take advantage of?

Killua narrowed his eyes. If he was aiming to kill, he might as well use it.

Scanning the area to make sure no heroes were watching him, he skidded to a halt in front of the monster as it continued to rush towards him. Staring at his opponent, he scowled.

It's been years since I'd flipped my switch.

The monster was within arm's length of Killua. And then, in less than a second, there was nothing more than remains—only a blur of his arms cutting through its thick skin.

He watched as the bottom half of the monster fell to the ground, as it was the only thing left of it. A hand massaging the back of his neck, he strolled over to the trapped kid, crouching down to remove the rubble on top of him.

"Hey," he said. "Don't tell anyone about what you saw."

Reaching his hand out, the young boy nodded and grabbed it, tears still streaming down his face.

"Thank you," he whispered, voice shaking.

"Sure," he replied, walking away as soon as the boy was able to get by on his own.

He crossed his arms together. He didn't know how well using that technique again was going to work, but it seemed he hadn't gotten rusty at all. Back home, he'd never been in a situation with Alluka that really required him to use any of his assassin skills... and that kind of peacefulness was something he wanted back.

Killua sighed. Now, to find Gon.

Pain erupted in his side as he walked forward into the night. He internally winced—compared to what he's been through, this was nothing, but it still didn't hurt any less; that monster packed quite a punch. Hopefully through his efforts he'd been able to help deescalate the situation, even if he really only took one down.

And then, Killua just barely glanced at a nearby alleyway. A gigantic puff of smoke fumed from it, a faint, flickering red glow accompanying it. More fires?

He continued staring into the darkness, eyes slowly adjusting. Upon focusing further, his jaw dropped as soon as he noticed the rapidly melting icicles on the ground.

Fire... and ice?

He pressed his lips into a thin line. Two of those things together only reminded him of one person, but... why would he be here, using his fire side, of all things?

Killua climbed to the top of the building, quietly making his way towards the source of the smoke to figure out what was happening. Maybe an ice machine just exploded, he jokingly thought to himself. While he was hoping it would be something stupid and harmless like that, he couldn't help but think it was going to be the opposite.

And, as he crawled closer, he heard voices that sounded all too familiar.

"Todoroki... so much blood..."

"The two of... protect them..."

Killua was now directly above the scene, and he could see everything that was happening below.

"So it's two against one," a scratchy voice said, much clearer than the last two.

A Pro Hero was lying on the ground, along with Iida. Midoriya and Todoroki were holding their ground together against the Hero Killer.

How did all of them manage to get into a situation together like this?

"Not so naive, I see," he continued.

The air was stale. No one made any moves, but as milliseconds passed, the silence became heavier and heavier.

Killua furrowed his brows.

I'm strong. I can step in and help them out, no problem.

But, for some reason, he couldn't help but get a bad feeling about all this...

He clicked his tongue.

Dammit!

His feet pushed off of the top of the building, landing directly between his classmates and the villain, clouds of dust puffing from his soles. Raising his head, he looked at Stain.

The villain barely even moved upon his entrance. Instead, he just said, "And what are you? Another friend of this child?"

'This child...' Could he mean Iida?

Was this what transpired from Iida's bloodlust?

Killua laughed, the sound echoing throughout the alley. "You could say that."

"You should have never involved yourself in this."

"Stupid," he drawled. "Three against one makes this way easier. Besides, if you can't kill three high schoolers, what makes you think you can kill all those Pro Heroes?"

"Zoldyck..." Todoroki trailed off.

Turning his head, he acknowledged, "Oh, Todoroki. It's thanks to your quirk that I found you guys here."

No reply. He was used to it from the kid, though.

"Anyway," he sighed, getting into a battle stance, "let's just get this over with."

Killua reached for the switch on his backpack to turn it on. As soon as he did, he felt the shock waves travel all throughout his body, hot electricity pooling at his extremities.

Stain heaved through a short, dry laugh. "You're right. If I can't kill three measly kids, what does that make me?" Slowly, he reached for something behind his back. "But it's a different story if I'm up against Endeavor's son and two targets of the League of Villains."

"Huh?" Killua blurted. "What're you even talking about, old man?"

"Killua and I are targets?" Midoriya questioned, eyes burning.

"It doesn't matter," he waved off. "It's just what the white haired boy said—let's get this over with."

In less than a second, Stain unsheathed one of his daggers, throwing it straight to Killua's face. He easily dodged it, then dashed forward to get in close quarters with the villain.

All it takes is a little chop, he thought. Raising his hand, he aimed for Stain's neck.

A blur.

For just a second, Killua felt immense dread coming from behind him; as if all motor functions in his body were forced to a stop. The second thing he felt was the wind brushing against his face as he flickered behind Todoroki and Midoriya using Godspeed.

In that single second, everyone in the alleyway stood still, gawking at the sight before them.

From where Killua was just about to hit Stain, there stood Gon. He still had the Nanika-esque holes in his face, and he held a bloody knife in the air.

Where the blood came from suddenly became clear as soon as Killua felt just the slightest trickle go down the right side of his neck.

His vision shook.

If he'd cut any deeper...

"What..." Stain murmured. "Give me that," he said, grabbing at the knife Gon held. He actually gave it to him, and once he got a hold of it—

"No!" Midoriya shouted.

Stain licked Killua's blood off of the knife. At that moment, Killua felt his muscles go slack, and he immediately hit the ground, landing on his back.

...What?

"Never thought I'd be seeing you here," Stain said to Gon. "The holes are new."

They knew each other?

"What's going on?" Todoroki demanded.

"I have no idea," Stain casually admitted. "But I can infer. I said you two were targets, didn't I?"

Killua scowled with what little energy he had. He and Midoriya being targets of the League of Villains was weird enough, but that fact that Gon was here...

Wait.

Gon's in the League of Villains?

"What... what the hell are you doing, Gon," Killua struggled, fighting through the stillness. What was this feeling? He was immune to poisons, so it couldn't possibly be that. Was it Stain's quirk, then?

"You know him, too?" Stain said. "Small world. But, I don't think you can get to him in this state."

"Gon!" he cried out, ignoring the Hero Killer. "Listen to me, you... you big idiot! You have to beat Stain, now!"

Silence. Killua's nails scratched against the cement, gritting his teeth as he watched his best friend slowly walk towards him with his hand reaching out.

Taking a closer look, Killua realized Gon had...

Thick veins pulsed through his hand, and his fingernails had morphed into razor sharp claws. It was just like... his own.

Gon—no, whatever was controlling Gon—was going to kill him. That's the only reason they'd ever copy that ability.

"I want all of you to run as far away from here as you can," he seethed. "Carry Iida and the hero with you."

"W-what?" Midoriya stuttered. "All of us? What about you?!"

Gon kept sauntering forward, as if teasing him with the taste of death. Killua still couldn't move.

"If you know any better, Stain," he started, "you'd run away, too."

Before he or anyone else could even argue, Killua did the one thing he could do while incapacitated. As he lay on the ground, he let off a ginormous flood of killing intent.

"Go."

He didn't know when exactly they all left, but, soon enough, it was only him and Gon left in the alleyway.

He was just a few steps from killing him, and Killua was sweating bullets just to lift his arm.

Come on, he mentally yelled at himself. Come on! It's almost there!

Killua could hear the individual scratches of pebbles underneath Gon's footsteps.

With a huff, he managed to get his finger on his backpack's switch.

Gon's claws were inches away from Killua's chest.

Bracing himself, he turned the switch to the highest level.

This is gonna fucking hurt.

SIZZ.

POP.

BANG.

A flash of blue and white light engulfed the entire area. Killua got blasted all the way off into the streets, groaning as his back slammed hard against the concrete wall of a building.

"Damn," he winced, "that's the last time I'm ever using Ren like that..."

He couldn't tell if it was the impact of the surge or the quirk simply wearing off on him, but he could move a lot better, now. He still felt sluggish, but it was at least way better than before.

Once he got up on his feet, he stretched his limbs out, still waiting for a sign that it wasn't over. If he survived that, Gon definitely would have, too. Not only was Killua weakened, but Gon was in a completely pristine state. If they fought using the same abilities, the only advantage Killua had was to use other objects; hence why he used the solar panel backpack.

And he was right—just off into the distance, Gon was simply standing still, staring his way.

Killua took a couple steps forward, and Gon did the same. The world around him stopped turning; fires quit burning, people's cries were muffled, and the dark clouds above stopped swirling as he honed in his focus on the boy across him.

I'm going to end this, Gon, he thought with a frown. Whatever's happened to you, I'll help you get out of it. No matter what.

He clenched his fists, stopping just less than ten feet away from Gon.

After all...

The two of them lit up with electricity at the exact same time, dashing towards each other at unfathomable speeds.

That's what friends are for.

With raised fists, they both aimed for each other's heads.

A quarter of a second.

Killua and Gon were within inches of each other—zapping around, letting reflexes take control of their actions. Killua's surprised he could keep up, considering Stain's quirk was still having an effect on him.

Half a second.

Killua found an opening. However, so did Gon.

Three fourths of a second.

Only one punch was thrown. The other suddenly collapsed out of nowhere, but it was too late to hold back.

One second.

Electrified knuckles made contact with the exposed skin of his cheek. A punch with the force of an explosion sent the boy pummeling down into the hard ground, sounds of cement smashing and bones breaking combining with the scent of freshly spilled blood.

Inside of the man-made crater was a boy who looked drained of all life; his skin was pale and wrinkled, his hair was thin, and his chest stuttered as it struggled to breathe.

The winner of the fight looked down. For a moment, he remembered what it was like staring into the foggy window of a hospital.

He gulped.

He dropped to the center of the crater. Every step he took felt like a minute passing, the world collapsing with him as he sunk to his knees beside the boy.

Now, he can see his face. There were no more holes; just closed eyelids and parched lips. His hand wasn't a claw anymore—instead, it was skinny and frail, indicative of the state of the rest of his body.

...

It shouldn't be like this.

"Why," he mumbled. "I looked for you all over the city... and when I f-finally meet you again..."

He kept blinking, the boy's face getting blurrier and blurrier each time he did.

"Why does it... always end up like this?" he said in a harsh whisper.

He almost hoped he would respond to his ramblings. But, he didn't.

Then, at that moment, Killua shakily stood up, carrying Gon on his back while he trudged his way to the hospital.

"It's a miracle we're all still alive," Midoriya said.

Killua ignored the three other boys' conversation, choosing to lay on his side and stare at the white wall.

Stupid hospital. I don't even need to be here, my injuries'll heal on their own.

The only reason he agreed to share a room overnight with his wounded classmates was so he could stay close within Gon's reach. His condition was unstable, and he couldn't bear the thought of leaving him like that...

Do I need Alluka, again?

He exhaled, squinting his eyes shut. No, Gon's injuries definitely weren't as severe as before. He was going to recover; he had to. But what concerned him so much was the fact that he looked as if he barely had any life left in him, somehow. Ever since the fight, he'd been thinking about the fact that Gon collapsed right before Killua threw his punch... meaning, he might have been unconscious for the final blow. That explained why he took so much damage, but what Killua couldn't understand was the reason behind him passing out.

"Killua?"

Refusing to turn around, he answered, "Yeah, Izuku?"

"What happened to you and, uh, that boy? With the holes on his face? You haven't talked about it at all, and we were worried something happened while you were alone with him..."

A pause.

"Maybe there's a reason he hasn't said anything," Todoroki said.

Yup, he mentally agreed. I don't need to explain myself to anyo—

"You lied, Zoldyck."

...Huh?

At that, Killua sat up. Swinging his feet over the bed to face Iida, he said, "Yeah? About what?"

Iida's eyes were like pointed daggers. "About your reason for coming to Hosu. I cannot believe, after what has transpired, you only came here for the sandwiches."

"Sandiwches..." Todoroki echoed, recalling the day they spent in Hosu together.

Killua raised his eyebrows. "So? Does it matter if I came for a different reason? I mean, you wanted to get revenge on the Hero Killer, you can't—"

"I know," he sighed, eyes downcast. "I understand now how foolish I was. However..." Iida stared into Killua's eyes. "How did both you and Stain know who that boy was?"

Everyone's gaze settled on Killua, waiting for an answer.

"I..."

The door then slid open, revealing two new faces.

"Gran Torino!"

"Manual..."

Killua sighed in relief. He definitely wasn't going to escape that question any other way.

But it's not gonna stop them from asking in the future, he thought as he caught the boys' occasional side eyes.

Later on, Hosu's chief of police, Tsuragamae (he tried not to make a face at the fact he literally had the head of a dog,) entered the room, explaining everything they needed to know about the current situation.

Hero laws, bad dog pun, more hero laws, blah blah blah...

But, something about the way everything was said surprised Killua. When talking about the fight with Stain, his name was mostly left out of it. That was to be expected, since he really only stayed with them for a small portion of the fight. However, his classmates seemed to have left out one of the most important details:

Gon's appearance.

But why?

Soon enough, all adults have left the room, leaving the quartet alone in the hospital room. While Killua was expecting a full barrage of questions about his actions last night, nothing came. The boys merely sat around, twiddling their thumbs.

Ugh. He didn't want to tell them everything, but... if he's trying to keep Gon close to him from now on, he'd rather explain things himself than have them find out on their own.

Killua raised his voice, and said, "He's in this hospital. I brought him here, last night."

Iida was the first to speak up. "'He?' You mean..."

"Gon," Todoroki finished. "I think that's what Zoldyck called him."

Killua nodded.

Midoriya stood up, his slippers touching onto the cold, tiled floor. "Killua... we're friends, aren't we?"

Friends?

A week ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to say yes. But, for Midoriya's and everyone else's sakes...

Killua made no reply. Instead, he got up and walked to the door.

"I'm going to his room. You can come, if you want. But I'm not telling you guys anything I don't want to."

Sliding it shut once he left the room, he exhaled.

In this world, my only friend is stuck in a hospital bed.

I have to save him.

Again.

Unexpectedly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Spinning his head around, he found a tuft of dark green hair.

Midoriya's big green eyes locked onto his with an emotion he couldn't quite place. "I-I... I'll go with you," he said. "But... let's go at night. We'll get caught if we're in broad daylight like this."

He had a point, but, then again, if Killua went alone he'd be perfectly fine.

He mentally berated himself. Why did I tell them they can come?

"Whatever," he said, moving to enter the room again.

Midoriya immediately blocked the door with his arm.

"Wait."

Killua rolled his eyes. "What?"

He hesitated for a second. Lowering his arm, he asked, "You have your memories back, don't you?"

"I... what?"

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone else. But... the truth is, I kind of knew something was up before we left for internships, but I was so focused on Iida," he said, scratching the back of his neck. "It really only clicked when I saw how different you were acting last night... and if Gon really does have any connection with the League of Villains, I assumed you didn't want people knowing about your past—"

"Stop," Killua interrupted. "Before you ask, I have nothing to do with the League. I just want my friend to be safe.

"And don't say I was 'acting different,'" he snapped. "You have no idea what kind of person I am. Stop acting like you do."

Killua thought the conversation would end there, but Midoriya still had his arm up against the door.

"That's so unfair..." he mumbled, looking at the ground.

He narrowed his eyes. "What're you even talking about?"

"If you don't wanna call me your friend, that's fine. But I can't just ignore it when I know someone I care about is in trouble..." Tilting his head back up, he looked into Killua's eyes once again. "Whether I know who you really are or not doesn't change the fact that I want to help you."

A sigh exited his mouth. Why did he have to be so damn persistent?

But... that's just what Midoriya was all about. Meddling in people's lives.

"If you wanna know so badly... come with me to Gon's room, tonight. But don't act so surprised when you do. I'm warning you."

His arm finally moved out of the way, and Killua entered the room with the rest of his classmates.

Chapter Text

It was 8 PM. Hospital staff still occasionally walked down their room's corridor, but there were considerably less people than if the quartet were to sneak around during the day.

With the fluorescent white lights buzzing above their heads, Iida, Midoriya, Todoroki, and Killua not-so-quietly made their way to the stairwell (Killua almost groaned at their louder than necessary footsteps, but he obviously knew not everyone went through the same training as he did.) Using the elevator was too risky since they could have potentially run into doctors or nurses, and they wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible.

Soon enough, they were just two floors below their own room, and, fortunately, Gon's room was also conveniently right next to the stairwell. Killua gestured the other three to follow him. He turned the knob, and—

Click.

"It's locked," Killua whispered.

"What!?" Iida "whispered."

"Quiet," Todoroki hushed, "you'll draw attention to us."

"Um, you guys, I think we're already drawing attention to ourselves..."

Killua scanned the area to confirm what Midoriya was talking about for himself, and... yeah, they were definitely getting odd looks from the visitors sitting in their chairs. It wasn't too surprising, though—even if it was night and less people were around, they were still four kids in hospital gowns all whispering in front of a door as if no one could see them.

Letting out a groan, Killua turned back to his classmates, speaking normally. "Okay, let's find our way in. It's not like we have a key, so does anyone know how to lockpick? If not, I'm breaking the door."

"And stoop to property damage?" Iida said.

Killua snorted. "You're the ones who wanna be Pro Heroes. They damage buildings on the daily."

"Not on purpose!" Midoriya said.

"Whatever, I'm following in their footsteps, accident or not." With that, Killua stepped back and reeled his leg back.

BANG.

The door slammed open, miraculously still hanging from its hinges.

Killua grinned. "Look at that. I'd be such a good hero."

"That was so loud!" Midoriya said. "I thought you wanted to be quiet?"

"Too late for that now," Killua shrugged, and casually walked inside, the other three closing the beat-up door behind them.

Squinting his eyes in the dim room, Killua stepped towards the curtain shielding the boy from his sight. He let his fingers rest on the fabric, hoping Gon didn't look as bad as he remembered.

With a deep inhale, he slid it aside.

What he uncovered was a frail boy, IVs stuck in his veins and tubes coming from his nose. The beeps of the heart rate monitor came slow but steady. He was dressed in a gown similar to his and his classmates', but Killua knew he'd be the last one to actually get to take it off.

His ears perked up at the sound of a mumble behind him. "That's Gon..." Todoroki said, voice low.

Killua barely turned his head. "Yeah."

No one said anything for a while. All eyes were on the strange boy, watching his chest slowly rise and fall.

"You can probably already guess, but I have my memories back," Killua said. "All you need to know is... Gon is my best friend. And he and I don't belong here. Once he wakes up, we're gonna find our way back home, together."

CREAK.

All heads whipped around to the opening door. It was too late to hide from whoever was behind it, so Killua only hoped it wasn't someone who'd get them in any major trouble—

"All Might!?"

"Principal... Nezu...?"

The number one hero and the tiny dog-rat-mouse walked side by side, approaching the quartet whose jaws were hanging wide open.

While Midoriya was completely spazzing over his favorite hero being in the room (Killua still didn't understand the whole All Might worship thing he had going on,) the rest of them simply stood, staring at each other, waiting on the other to explain what exactly they were doing in Gon's hospital room.

"Well, hello! Uh, students," All Might started, an awkward hand scratching the back of his neck. Quickly regaining his confidence, he questioned, "What are you doing here? I don't believe you're supposed to be out of your hospital rooms right now!"

"They are not," Nezu answered with a smile. "But, considering Zoldyck is here, I can assume he has something to do with it!"

"You always assume I'm doing something wrong," Killua grumbled.

"Ah! However, in this current situation, am I really wrong?"

An annoyed exhale followed, but Killua couldn't deny the annoying rat's speculation. Crossing his arms with his head held up high, he said, "I just wanted to check on him. I haven't seen him since I brought him in last night, so... I wanted to make sure he was okay. What are you two doing here?"

"Exactly for the same reason as you!" Nezu exclaimed.

Killua tilted his head. "Huh? Why would you care about him?"

The rat bared his stone-cold smile at him, and said, "We're moving him to U.A.'s infirmary."

His jaw hung open.

...What?

"...He isn't a student, though," Todoroki said.

"Yes," Iida agreed. "Not only that, but for what reason are you letting a... stranger onto school grounds? No matter his age, he may still be dangerous!"

Killua bit his cheek at Iida's odd wording, but quickly realized he only said it like that because, to everyone else, Gon was just a random boy Killua brought into the hospital. Without the holes in his face, he couldn't be recognized as the villain who stole those Pro Heroes' pinkies.

...At least, that's what he thought.

Nezu cleared his throat. "Witness reports state that two young boys fought each other using electricity quirks. Those two young boys also happened to have green and white hair, and those boys caused enough property damage to rival All Might's usual work day!"

The blonde man in question let out a weak chuckle, and, through a tight smile, said, "No need to bring that up..."

"Also," Nezu said, ignoring All Might, "it seemed the green-haired one looked an awful lot like that hole faced Villain who popped up on the news a week ago. And, I believe you've recently rediscovered your electricity quirk, hm? What a coincidence that both this boy and the villain can copy it!"

"So what if he did? He... doesn't even match the description of the villain," Killua said, clenching his fists and internally smacking his forehead for not coming up with a better excuse.

Nezu was up to something. That's the only reason he'd take a "villain" in instead of immediately dropping him off at the police station once he healed up.

"Young Zoldyck, there's no need to hide the truth," All Might said. "You still may not want to talk about it, but we have our own reasons for wanting to watch over him."

"What are they, then? What about Gon makes you want to keep him under your watch so badly?" Killua said.

The rat's ears twitched. "You don't trust us with the boy?"

"His name is Gon," Killua corrected. "And, no, I don't."

"Would you rather him stay here in Hosu? You're so concerned about this bo—excuse me, Gon, but you aren't thinking ahead! You'd need to take a train every time you want to check up on him, while it is much easier heading into the infirmary whenever you want! Strive for proactivity, Zoldyck!"

Strive... for proactivity?

Killua had to mentally hold himself back from knocking the pretentious buzzword-happy rat upside the head. While his actual argument did make more sense and was more convenient for Killua, he still could not shake the uneasy tingling from his fingertips. The rat seemed to have an agenda; he just couldn't figure out what it exactly was... but even if that does ring true, what could he possibly do about it?

"Fine," he exhaled. "Take him to U.A.. But anything more than that, and—"

The principal grinned and clasped his palms together, interrupting him. "Perfect! I will be seeing all of you back in school next week, then?"

After Killua's frustrated sigh, all four students gave their nods and quiet "yes"-es, and watched as the school faculty made their way out of the room, gazes travelling everywhere except towards each other.

The heart rate monitor's beeps sounded throughout the cold room.

"Do you... think that's good?"

Killua turned to the freckled boy. "What's good?"

"Gon being closer to you?"

"I mean, yeah," he answered. "But everything else..."

Midoriya and the others understood, despite him not finishing the sentence.

Looking back down at his best friend, Killua decided he'd said enough. It didn't matter to him much whether they knew he had his memories back or not. What mattered was getting Gon and himself back home—he just had to wait for him to finally wake up.

Scratch scratch.

"Calm down."

Scratch scratch.

"Sensei will find a way through this, I'm sure."

Scratch scratch.

"Be careful, you're going to hurt yourself again—"

Shigaraki slammed his fist on the bar counter, rattling the wine glasses sitting on top of it. "Shut up," he seethed, long fingernails clawing at his neck. "Gon hasn't come back and it's been four days. Four fucking days!"

Kurogiri stilled. He set the glass he was just cleaning down on the bar top, and said, "Shigaraki. Giran is coming today with new recruits. It would be wise to have them join us so we can come up with a plan to get him back. I understand your frustrations, but, as of right now, I believe complaining about Gon only wastes our time and energy."

"You can't just teleport him back? Doing anything but that actually seems like a waste of time and energy. Why can't you just do that?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"But—"

Three knocks on the door halted Shigaraki's tantrum. As it opened, the broker spoke from behind, cigarette in hand.

"You've been the talk of the town for days on end."

Two newcomers—one being a disheveled high school girl, and another being a boy with scarred flesh—entered the room, accompanied by Giran.

Soon after their introductions, Shigaraki exited the room in yet another tantrum, loudly slamming the door after him.

And then, on a walk to clear his head, he coincidentally ran into Midoriya Izuku.

The noisy chattering of students filled the classroom, little tidbits of information surfacing through the waves of conversations about their internship experiences. Killua had closed his eyes, resting his head on his hand until All Might finally showed up for their Foundational Hero Studies class.

It had been a very slow week since his fight with Gon. Every day since then, he'd visit him in the infirmary, hoping to see any sign of consciousness (and to make sure Nezu isn't doing anything out of the ordinary with him.) Thankfully, it seemed he was gradually getting better; color started coming back into his skin, his hair was less brittle, and his heart rate was stabilizing. The only thing Killua wanted was for him to wake up just a little bit faster.

As soon that happens, he thought, we're getting out of here.

"I AM HERE!"

Everyone turned their attention to the grand presence's entrance, noticing the door swinging wildly behind him.

"Students! Put on your hero costumes, and we will meet at Ground Gamma!"

Then, as soon as he entered, he immediately left.

No matter how many times Killua took this guy's class, he'd always find a way to make some sort of bold impression.

Standing up from his seat, he gathered his things and started towards the locker rooms. He heard Midoriya call his name.

Looking his way, Killua said, "What?"

"Can we talk about something after class?" he said in a hushed voice.

"Ah... sure," he said, trying not to make a face.

Ugh.

If it was going to be something about his memories, he'd definitely be annoyed. For the last few days of internships, Iida at least left him alone about it while they worked together under Manual, so he kind of hoped it'd be that way for both Midoriya and Todoroki once classes started again.

But he wants to be a "hero" and get in my business, Killua mocked.

Whatever. What happens happens. Besides, he'd only tell him the things he wants to.

"Okay, see you, then..." he mumbled, and quickly walked off into the hallway.

Soon, the whole class stood at Ground Gamma. All Might declared they'd be doing a rescue training race to test the skills they all learned during internships (once again, something Killua found to be boring.)

"Since Hagakure is absent today, the last group will only have four people!" All Might announced.

Some murmurs of what could have happened to their classmate arose, but were quickly forgotten once the race started.

"Hey, Killua," Uraraka said, lightly pushing his shoulder. "Who do you think'll win?"

A hand came up to stroke his chin. "Probably Sero."

Her cheeks puffed out. "Really? I thought it'd be Iida."

"Maneuvering through the air is a million times easier than on the ground. He could just swing on his tapes."

"Ah, I guess that does makes sense." She patted his back. "Well, we'll see in the end!"

Killua nodded, and watched as the five students raced through the complex architecture.

"By the way," she started again, "what happened to your mask?"

Ah, right. Killua couldn't find his mask in the locker room. Actually, he hadn't been able to find it since yesterday...

"I'm not really sure..."

"Wow, look at him hop!" she burst.

Uraraka's attention was instantly diverted to Midoriya's propelling technique that unexpectedly boosted him to the front of the race.

Huh, he thought. That's new.

Turning his gaze towards some of the other students, he noticed that they were surprised with Midoriya, as well. Only one seemed to have a more sour expression on his face, and of course it was Bakugou. When did he ever not have one?

After three groups, it was finally Killua's turn to go. He got put in the four-member group, along with Aoyama, Asui, and Bakugou.

Once he got into position, he groaned.

"Okay, here we go..." All Might boomed.

Honestly, he was fed up with everything.

Killua felt that every single thing he did for the time being was useless. All he was doing was waiting for Gon, but the only thing he was told was that he needed "more time to recover," as if he was supposed to take anything at all from that. Gon was a fast healer, yes, but he had no idea what the repercussions of hosting an Ai (that wasn't Nanika) were. He didn't know what exact relation Gon had with the Hero Killer or the League of Villains, either, and he didn't want to make any hasty moves before having all the information he could possibly gather.

He just wished he could get it over with.

"Start!"

It was all so... annoying.

All Might blinked, and, immediately, Killua appeared in front of him with a still expression and a hand in his pocket.

"Zoldyck?!"

"Are you still surprised?"

The teacher's grin nearly turned to a grimace. "Ah, no! You are just incredibly fast, young boy!"

Killua made no reply, instead choosing to sit down against the railing.

A few awkward seconds passed.

"I picked up your mask," the Pro Hero said.

"Huh?"

His hand reached out, and, sure enough, he held Killua's forgotten mask.

He closely inspected the teacher. Taking it, he said, "Thanks."

"Of course."

A few more awkward seconds passed.

"I, uh, found it in the infirmary earlier."

Killua nodded.

"You were checking up on... Gon?"

He froze at the sound of his friend's name. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"...I see."

Killua internally scolded himself for not taking his time on the race. First, he was dreading the conversation topic with Midoriya, and now he's having it with his own teacher?

This couldn't get any wor—

"CAT FACE!"

And then it got worse.

Bakugou closed in on them, explosions blazing as he approached the top of the water tower.

His shoes hit the floor, creating a cloud of dust that nearly assaulted Killua's eyes if he hadn't covered them. Lowering his arms, he watched as the explosive teen shot a glare at him.

"When did you get here?" he snarled.

"Five minutes ago, give or take."

"What?"

Shortly after, Asui and Aoyama arrived, both panting heavily (and the latter looking as if he were about to vomit.)

"So... close..." Aoyama gulped, hunched over and clutching his stomach. His face was all puffed up. "Tsu..."

"Kero?"

All Might stood straight with his hands on his hips, beaming at the final group. "Great work, everyone! I can clearly see the improvement you've all worked hard for during your internships! Now, keep at it, and start preparing for your end of term tests!"

Killua felt his teacher's stare linger on him for a little longer than normal, but he didn't think it meant anything all that important. He then turned towards Bakugou to find out if he wanted to say any more insults or expletives towards him, but there were none at all. He almost chuckled. If the annoying hothead could keep that up for the rest of his life, he'd be oh so happy.

Once everyone finished changing back into their uniforms in the locker rooms, Killua remembered what Midoriya told him before the race, so he tried to find him in the crowd. Spotting a green head of hair leaving the room, he set off, following it as best as he could. Oddly enough, Midoriya headed into a staff room. Killua wondered what he could possibly be doing there after telling him he wanted to meet up with him (mostly because he didn't want his time to be wasted.)

I guess I'll just wait outside, he thought, and comfortably leaned against the wall by the door.

A small vibration tickled his shoulders.

'Do you remember...told you...I granted...power?'

Killua's ears perked up.

...Huh?

Pressing his ear further into the wall, he listened in.

'One For All won't transfer to a new recipient, unless its owner wishes it.

'All For One...robs others of their quirks and renders them the users' own. It's also a quirk that can grant them to others.'

That voice sounded weirdly familiar, but he couldn't quite place the name on it. Whoever it was, it seemed like he was giving Midoriya a private history lesson on some specific quirk. Was it really worth eavesdropping on, though...?

Sure. He was bored.

'And so, the quirk to stockpile power and the quirk to pass itself on merged together!

'I was the successor to finally beat him! Or... so I thought...'

Stockpile power? Pass itself on? That didn't sound like anything Killua had learned in their classes. What about this is worth telling Mido—

'Whatever you task me with, I'll answer to your call, All Might!'

Killua held his breath.

He was talking to All Might?

The thoughts in his mind raced around, piecing themselves together to form the picture of...

...

Did... All Might pass down his quirk to Midoriya?

Killua snorted. No wonder Midoriya was so obsessed with their teacher.

The door swung open, and he hurriedly pulled his head away from the wall.

Midoriya spotted him, rapidly shifting his gaze up and down. "...Killua?"

"You wanted to talk?"

"You didn't..." his finger weakly pointed to the door, his face going pale. "You didn't hear... um, nevermind. Let's just go somewhere else."

Midoriya led him to a more enclosed part of the hallway, and, instead of spitting it out, he began twiddling his fingers.

"...Go ahead," Killua urged.

"Okay, um... you do know the League of Villains, right?"

Killua scoffed. "I already told you, I'm not connected to them." He paused. "If you're talking about me being their target, I have no idea why. You're a target, too, anyway."

"No! I-It's not about that..."

"Oh?" He tilted his head. What else could it possibly be?

He exhaled, gripping his fists tighter. "Do you know their leader? Shigaraki Tomura?"

Running through the names he bothered to remember in this world, he said, "No."

"We ran into each other yesterday, and... he asked about Gon."

His eyes widened. "Gon?"

"He just..." Midoriya took a deep breath, deeply gazing into his eyes as if he were to die if he looked away. "He asked me all this stuff about the Hero Killer, and why everyone likes him but not him, and I answered him, and then he started going on about how All Might was the problem because he dares to smile in the faces of the people he doesn't save, or something like that? And then, he told me that if U.A. has Gon, it's okay? I don't understand it, but he told me that we're doing the League a favor because he's out to kill All Might and you and me and wouldn't let anything get in his way! And he—"

"Hey, slow down!" Killua exclaimed. "You're telling me he's making Gon kill me?"

"Don't forget All Might and me!"

Waving his hand in dismissal, he said, "Yeah, yeah, you guys, too. But, there's no way that'd happen. Gon's a good person."

"It's kind of hard to see that when all I've seen him do is try and kill people..." he mumbled.

"Well, it isn't Gon doing it."

Midoriya's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

Raising his hand to point at his own face, Killua said, "The holes in his face. He's being possessed by something from our world that's making him do these things."

"Your world...?"

Killua stopped himself. Shaking his head, he said, "It doesn't matter. Anything else you wanted to tell me? Or was that it?"

He shuffled his feet. "I don't know. I think I'm just as suspicious as you about Nezu bringing him here. Once he wakes up, none of us knows what he'll do. I really don't know what our principal's thinking..."

"There's no way you're as suspicious as I am."

"What do you mean?"

Shoving a hand in his pocket, he said, "You love this school. You love the teachers, the rest of the staff, the students, whatever. I'm pretty sure those things love you right back. Me? I'm stuck here, waiting for my best friend to wake up so I can finally leave this damn place."

"Do you hate it here?"

"I don't—No, I don't hate it here. I just want to get back home."

Midoriya tightened his lips. "What's your home like?"

"More dangerous."

"That sounds like a bad place to live in."

"I don't care. It's mine."

"I guess, so..." The green-haired boy glanced above Killua's head. "Er... I should be getting home, now."

"Okay! Good talk."

Killua rested the back of his head in his hands, nearly twirling around on his heel until he felt a small shiver travel down his spine. Standing perfectly still, he shifted his gaze, checking every angle in his vision. He looked at the windows. The corners. The vents. The floor tiles. The ceiling. And then, right back at Midoriya.

He narrowed his eyes.

Someone... is watching us.

"Did something happen?" Midoriya asked, oblivious to the mysterious onlooker.

"No. You can go ahead."

"...Okay, then. See you tomorrow."

"See you."

As the sound of his classmate's footsteps disappeared as he neared the entrance, he sensed for signs of the onlooker still being there so he could confirm whether they were following him or Midoriya.

Slowly following the path outside the school, he still felt that itch on the back of his neck.

So... it is me. But where are they?  Are they waiting for an opening to attack?  Are they gathering information?

Frustratingly, there seemed to be no visual cues at all to where this person may be following him.

Am I just going crazy?

No, that's not possible. Even if the amnesia potentially impaired his senses, there's no way he'd forget what someone following him felt like. He'd better be careful, then.

On the way to Aizawa's apartment, he made sure to stay cautious, but not too cautious. After all, he was confident in his ability to, if the situation calls for it, defend himself. He couldn't say the same for Aizawa, however, since he had no idea what kind of person was following him in the first place.

Hm... nah, he's a Pro. He could handle it. Most likely.

Entering the apartment, he quickly remembered the reason for it being empty—Aizawa's hero duties.

Oh well. Guess it's another day of passing time. Just like every other day.

Flopping down on the futon, he massaged his face.

So the League's making Gon kill All Might and some students, huh?

Maybe they want Killua dead because Gon said something stupid about him. Maybe he told them, "Hey, guys, Killua's an assasssin!" and they're just trying to wipe out the competition because they're supposed to be the most epic, mega-amazing League of Villains, with super tough bad guys who are the absolute best in the world!

He laughed. It was stupid. Everything here was just stupid.

The League's stupid. Bakugou's stupid. Nezu's stupid. All Might's stupid. Aizawa's stu—

"Kid. Did you not hear the phone ringing?"

"Huh?"

Killua lifted his head to the door, and, sure enough, it was wide open with Aizawa standing right at it.

"While you were throwing a tantrum, I was calling you to tell you to unlock the door."

Tantrum?

"I didn't even know your apartment had a landline." He tilted his head. "And why do you need me to unlock it? Don't you have a key?"

"I had to use the one under the rug."

"See? You didn't need me."

"I don't know, apparently I'm stupid."

Killua bit his cheek. Was he saying that stuff out loud...?

...

...Judging from the look on Aizawa's face, he probably was.

"I didn't mean for you to hear that."

"Well, I did, anyway." He walked around the apartment, setting his equipment down. "Something bad happen today?"

"No. What are you doing here early?"

"I'm supposed to make a call to Hagakure's parents for her absence, and I need the files in my drawer. Don't know why it couldn't have been anyone else..." he said, mumbling the last sentence.

Killua snorted. "Kind of irresponsible of you, don't you think?"

"You're talking to me about responsibility?"

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Your version of it."

The boy made no reply. Aizawa glanced at him for a second, then walked into a corner to make the phone call, pulling out a couple documents from the drawer under it.

Ah. So that's where the landline was.

Getting up from the futon, Killua realized he nearly forgot about the stalker.

And then, he realized that if they were still following him, they would have seen the key Aizawa placed under the rug.

Walking towards the front door, he opened it and lifted the rug. He sighed in relief. Thankfully, it was still there. Grabbing it, he once again locked the door, hanging the key on a mirror hook.

As he made his way back to the futon, he noticed Aizawa pointing and mouthing at him.

'Water the pudding.'

"What?" Killua said.

He waved in disapproval. 'Want. All. You. Growing.'

Scratching his head, he once again said, "What?"

"Okay, thanks for letting us know. We'll look out for her tomorrow, then. Goodbye." Ending the call, Aizawa was finally able to say out loud, "What are you doing?"

"Oh. I'm not a mouth reader, you know."

"Clearly."

He laughed. "I'm just keeping the key safe."

"From?"

"Stalkers."

"You do know that someone would have to be extremely stupid to break into a Pro Hero's residence, right?"

"Yeah. Just don't forget your key next time."

"Definitely not, since you don't pick up the phone."

"It's motivation!"

"Sure it is." A pause. "I'm going back out."

Killua made a noise of acknowledgement, and soon enough the hero was gone.

He clicked his tongue. Hopefully whoever was following him was gone, too.

Earlier...

Sonohoka woke up, absorbing the life energy Gon managed to recover over the past few days. It found itself in an infirmary, and noticed a tattered mask that belonged to Light on its chest.

It slipped right back into dormancy.

Chapter Text

'Killua Zoldyck to the principal's office.'

The attention of every single person in the classroom turned to the quiet, white-haired boy.

'Killua Zoldyck to the principal's office, please.'

"Go ahead," Aizawa said, gesturing for him to leave.

Ignoring the stares of his classmates, Killua walked out of the room and went on his way to meet Nezu for some unknown reason.

He didn't have the energy to think of a snarky comment against him, or a silly reasoning for why he'd been called.

He was just tired.

Entering the room, he found the rat sitting behind his desk.

"Zoldyck!" Nezu chirped. "Thank you for coming."

"Yeah, you told me to."

The fan above them spun around, audible whips of the wind standing out from the quiet murmur of the computer.

"Yes, I did. And you chose to come!"

Killua groaned. "What do you want?"

He clasped his hands together. "Hm... what I want is for you to succeed."

"Huh?"

Nezu pulled a file out from under his desk, Killua's full name brandished on the top. Clearing his throat, he said, "In my hands, I have your academic record. Care to guess how you've been doing?"

Academic record...?

"You have to be joking," Killua scoffed. "There's no way you called me here just to talk about my grades."

"Why, you're absolutely correct!"

Opening it up, he pointed to a page with F's scattered everywhere.

Wow, Killua thought. I'm doing even worse than Kaminari.

"Congratulations, Zoldyck!" Nezu said.

"On... failing?"

"Yes, and no. You are officially the worst student U.A. has ever had!"

Killua stared. Then, he snorted, pumped a fist in the air, and said in a mocking tone, "Plus Ultra!"

"That's the spirit! However, these grades are completely unacceptable. If you keep this up, you may not be able to pass your end of term exams." He grinned even wider, somehow. "I would recommend a personal tutor, but I don't believe that's the problem, here."

Crossing his arms, he said, "What is it, then?"

He paused. "You don't seem to have any motivation for school, do you?"

"Huh? What makes you say that?"

"Let's see..." he said, swiveling in his chair and tapping his chin. "Your grades have not always been like this. Before the internships, you were a B average student, which is incredible when we account for your amnesia."

Killua tilted his head. "So...?"

"So the problem is not your ability to learn; it is simply your own mindset." He shuffled the papers. "You are simply not trying. The last time you turned something in was three weeks ago, and all you did was pen your name!"

"Did you think calling me here was going to fix that, or something?" he retorted.

Nezu's right; he hadn't been trying. But it really didn't matter at all to Killua. He was only enrolled because of the rat, not 'cause he wanted to go here. The only reason he hasn't run off is because they... have Gon.

He stopped. Were they keeping Gon here just so Killua could stay, too...?

Why the hell do they still want me here?

"Well, I did not call you here to 'fix' you. I wanted to check up on you."

"I'm doing just fine," Killua said, hands behind his head.

And he really was, considering the fact that it's been a month and Gon still hasn't woken up...

It was fine. There was nothing Killua could do about his condition but wait.

"I know that grades are not your top priority," Nezu started, "but your exams are in a week. To continue going to this school, you must turn in actual work."

"What makes you think I want to keep going here?"

Something dark was swirling around in the principal's eyes. "Simply put, we are the best option in helping you achieve your main goal."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you know what my main goal is?"

"That is something only you can answer."

"...Okay." Killua let his hands fall from his head and instead sat them across his torso. "If you're the 'best option,' then what's the other option?"

"Why, the villain underworld, of course!"

...

Killua was... confused.

"I am not saying you should go digging around those places," he continued, "I am simply telling you that the information and guidance we hold is far more accessible to you here than anywhere else."

"You're telling me you're bribing me with information so I can stay at your school?"

"Not a bribe!" he beamed. "It is a benefit."

"...Sure it is." Killua sighed. "Hey, why do you want me to stay so badly?"

Nezu's nose twitched. "Simply put, you need us, and we need you."

"Meaning?"

"No need for elaboration!"

...Huh.

He was sent back to class shortly after, but not before bumping into Hagakure.

For the past month, he'd been bumping into her... a lot, actually.

"Hey Killua!" she (maybe) smiled.

After greeting her back, she chose to walk alongside him as he walked down the hall.

"Let's walk back to class together!"

"Yeah, sure."

"Oh, I was just in the bathroom. You were talking to Nezu, right?"

"Yup."

"Was it bad? I hope it wasn't bad..."

"It's the same as always."

"What's always?"

Killua turned to look at her.

Ever since she started actually talking to him, he felt that all she'd ever do was ask him questions about himself. Of course, he knew that's how people make friends, but the way she was going at it felt...

"Always means he pesters me about stupid things."

Inorganic?

The two students came back to class and went about their day. Soon enough, it was lunch time, and, like always, he sat down wherever Midoriya sat.

Everyone seemed to be talking about the tests coming next week, however they put more energy on trying to figure out what was on the practical.

Probably more fighting robots, Killua thought as he took a bite of his food. Or some kind of race.

"OW!"

"Ah, my bad. Your head's so big, I ended up whacking it."

Killua's attention turned to the commotion. Some kid had just hit Midoriya, and was now mocking the entirety of 1-A.

Before he could say anything, a girl came and shut him down (by whacking him, too,) and promptly left, dragging him by the feet after telling them the test will be similar to the entrance exam.

"I knew it," Killua said.

"You did?" Uraraka exclaimed.

"It's not hard to predict what they'll give us when it's all just been robots and dumb challenges."

Then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he found Jirou.

"You weren't there when it happened, but Momo offered to help tutor us at her place for the written exams," she said, scratching her cheek. "You going?"

"Uh..."

"By the way," she continued, pointing back at her table, "Kaminari wanted to tell you. He just told me to do it 'cause he's too scared to do it himself."

Gaze following the direction of her finger, he found Kirishima's sharp toothed smile, Mina's jabbering, Bakugou's scowl, and, finally, Kaminari hiding under his hands.

Holding back a laugh, Killua answered, "Sure, I'll come."

Besides, according to Nezu, he needed some more "serious study" in his life, anyway.

"Oh, hey, I'm going there, too," Midoriya said.

"Then you can be the one to give him the address," Jirou said. "Bye, now."

As she walked away, Killua watched Kaminari come out of hiding only to exasperatedly gesture and mouth off at her. A sheet of paper suddenly entered his vision, realizing it came from Midoriya.

"Here," he said. "It's not like I can text it to you, so..."

"Thanks," Killua said.

Midoriya made a sound. "What?"

"...What?"

"I didn't think you'd ever tell me that again..."

"Well, I don't thank my frie-"

Killua stopped after he realized what he was about to say. Looking back at Midoriya, he noticed that the light in his eyes got just a little bit dimmer.

As he turned his gaze downwards, he said a quiet, "...Oh. Right."

Killua... felt bad.

While he didn't necessarily want to get too close to people here (for both his and their sakes,) he didn't want to be an actual asshole.

...

'I don't know, apparently I'm stupid.'

'That's so unfair...'

'Kid, if something's bothering you, tell me. Please.'

He'd kind of been acting like one lately, though, hasn't he?

"...Sorry."

Midoriya looked back up at him. "It's okay. I understand."

Killua gripped the sides of his sandwich.

It's not just others he'd been treating badly. Looking back on the day he finally remembered everything, he'd just felt like there was a massive, heavy blanket of dread weighing down on him because of his inability to do anything about the situation he'd been put in; even then, he's made no effort to take it off.

After school, Killua entered the infirmary, said his quick greetings to Recovery Girl (they were mandatory at this point,) and checked up on Gon once again. Pulling a chair to his bedside, he sat and watched his chest slowly rise and fall.

Killua held his breath.

He was right there. But, at the same time, he wasn't.

The entire past week, Killua spent most of his time studying, for once (at least for as long as he stayed at Yaoyorozu's place. There, he was basically forced to study.) Some of it was helpful, but he felt that the only things he had trouble with were things he never paid attention to in the first place. Yaoyorozu was nice about everything, though. It's no wonder she's seen as the "big sister" of 1-A.

School had just started, and students were filing in to take their written exams. The classroom was uncharacteristically quiet, which Killua was thankful for.

Walking to his desk, he-

RING RING RING RING RING...

Killua covered his ears. He watched his classmates go stiff.

What the hell...?

'There has been a level 2 security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly.'

"Level 2?"

"Not a level 3?"

"What the hell is a level 2?!"

"Everyone."

Aizawa's voice pierced the air.

"Calm down. I will escort you all outside. Come with me."

At that, their teacher walked out of the door with everyone following suit, murmuring amongst themselves throughout the hallways.

"Does this mean no exams...?"

"You idiot, they'd just postpone them!"

"Shit, I lost my lucky pencil!"

"Well, it's not so lucky, now, is it?"

Stepping outdoors, Killua found himself staring at the hordes of students exiting the school, teachers leading them in front. They were oddly calm, considering the announcement was that of a security breach.

Wait, he thought, what about Gon?

He was still bedridden, and if everyone was told to leave, who would be watching over him?

"Hey, homeless-sensei!" he shouted.

The teacher mumbled something under his breath before answering, "Yes, Zoldyck?"

"What're you guys gonna do with Gon?"

He hesitated. "I'm sure Recovery Girl's figuring something out."

"...Seriously?"

He thinks that's a good enough answer?

"I'm not some all-knowing being. If you're thinking of heading in there, you..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Killua had already disappeared.

Main entrance, hallway, make a left, then go-

"AH!"

"Oof..."

Finding himself on the floor, he realized he ran into All Might. How'd he manage to do that...?

Maybe if he wasn't so gigantic...

"Young Zoldyck, you should be outside!" he said, dusting himself off.

"I'm looking for Gon."

All Might inhaled as he whipped his head around, scanning the premises. "So are we."

"...What?"

Shaking his head, he said, "There is simply no time to explain what happened, but just know that... wherever he's gone, you don't have to worry for his well-being. You should go back to Aizawa!"

At that, his teacher blasted off into a corner, completely out of sight.

...Gon is missing?

CRASH.

Killua immediately ran to the source of the sound.

He found a hole in the wall the size of two All Mights. It led outside, as if the one who broke it couldn't find the exit of the school...

And then, he saw a blur of green motion, heading towards the forest.

He followed it.

Blue electricity danced on his skin and all around him as he dashed towards the blur, easily closing in on him.

"GON!"

The blur stopped in its tracks, and turned around.

"...Kil-"

Killua crashed directly into him, grabbing him as they tumbled through the trees, brushing against the various plants of the forest. As they came to a stop, both of them heaved as they tried to reorient themselves, picking out splinters and patting off the dirt.

He stared at Gon, breathing heavily.

He's finally awake.

His heart thumped at a cheetah's pace.

Right here, sitting in front of me.

His hands shook as he brushed off the remaining leaves stuck in Gon's hair.

After attempting to stabilize his breathing, he spoke as his vision shook. "Gon?"

Gon looked at him.

Then, he looked back at the school.

Then, back at Killua, scanning him up and down.

He spoke slowly. "Killua, you're a student?"

BONK.

"Hey!" Gon said, rubbing his head. "That hurt!"

"That's the first thing you think of?!"

"I've never seen you in a uniform, before!" He paused, vertically wagging his finger. "Did you get taller?"

Killua froze. It has been a few years since the last time they've seen each other...

His thoughts were then interrupted by Gon's whining about him having a "tall dad," which were easily shut down by him threatening to bonk him yet again.

"Hey, Killua, where are we?" he said. "I don't think we're anywhere near home..."

"Yeah, duh. I have no idea either, but..."

He remembered what happened the first time he saw Gon. Maybe it also applied to him.

"Did you regain your memories, too?" he asked.

Gon puffed out his cheeks. "I... think so? I can definitely remember everything that happened before a few months ago more clearly..."

"Wait, a few months ago? Did we get here at the same time?"

"I don't-

"Kids!" All Might called out. He was still a substantial distance away.

Gon stilled. "Killua, I can't be here..."

"What? Why not?"

"They're gonna take me away."

Killua thought for a moment. He had no idea what he was talking about, but...

"I'll go with you."

His eyes widened. "Eh? But you're a student!"

"I don't care. I'm not letting you run off without me."

He was getting closer. "Hey, kids!"

Gon looked at Killua. He readied into a stance, and said with a smile, "Then come on!"

He immediately ran off, and Killua followed closely behind, leaving the forest surrounding U.A. in a puff of dust.

The pair shot into the streets of Musutafu, zipping past pedestrians and shops.

"Where are we going?" Killua huffed.

"I don't know!" Gon laughed.

"Huh?!"

"I don't know where to go from here!"

"You idiot!"

"Let's just hide somewhere!"

At that, Gon slid into an alleyway, Killua following him inside. As the two hid in the shadows, they watched as some of the teachers caught up to their position, scanning the streets for any sign of them.

"There sure is a lot," Gon whispered.

Killua clicked his tongue. "Where exactly are you trying to go?"

"Back to the League of Villains?"

Killua stared at him. "...Huh?"

"I don't know what Shigaraki'll think about me bringing a U.A. student back, but, since you're my best friend, I think I'll be able to convince him!"

Killua scratched his head. Didn't Midoriya tell him that this Shigaraki guy's trying to get Gon to kill the both of them and All Might?

"I don't think bringing me there would be a good idea..."

Gon pouted, making a noise. "And I don't think going back to U.A. would be a good idea for me, either."

"Why not?" Killua said. "When you blacked out, they kept you in the infirmary for over a month."

"Over a month?!"

Killua shushed him. "Yes, over a month. I visited you every day, and it's not like they were doing anything... bad."

He still had no idea why Nezu decided to take him in, but considering the fact Gon's healthy and safe has to mean something, right?

Gon giggled. "You visited me every day?"

Killua's eyes widened. "Yeah! Of course I did! I was worried about you, stupid!" Killua burst, his face hot.

"Shh," Gon hushed. "Now you're being too loud."

He exhaled. "I think going back to U.A. is the safer option. Besides, if they try anything on us, we can just run away, easy as that."

"Maybe you're right..." Gon said. "Also," he continued, grinning, "I get to meet your new friends, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Killua rolled his eyes. "So are you ready?"

Gon nodded.

The two boys entered the streets where they were instantly spotted by one of the teachers.

"Hey, you kids!" Thirteen called out. "We've been looking all over for you! You both need to come with me."

A long walk up the hill later (with Gon apprehensively stroking his own hands,) Thirteen brought the pair back to the school.

"Ah..." Gon began. " There's the door."

As they walked on the pavement towards the entrance, Killua felt the stares of his classmates burn on the back of his neck. They all still stood outside, waiting for their homeroom teacher's orders.

"Which ones are your friends?" Gon blurted, whipping his head around the area.

"Huh?" Killua exclaimed. "You think that's important right now?"

He simply shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, teacher, where are we going?"

"To the principal's office."

Killua groaned. He's talked to the rat way too many times recently, and at this point he was somehow even more sick of it than he already was.

Soon enough, there they were, standing directly in front of Nezu's desk, along with Thirteen and All Might by his side. The rat rested his chin on his hands, assessing the pair with his beady eyes. Gon kept glancing at All Might, straightening his spine every time he looked back at him. Killua held his hands in his pockets, hoping for this to go by faster.

"All Might," Nezu said. "Recount what happened in the infirmary for us, please."

"Ah..." The Pro Hero cleared his throat, and began to speak. "Well, I had to go talk to Recovery Girl, and she left the room to go get something. I was then left alone with young Gon..."

Earlier...

"Okay! I will see you later, then!" All Might called out as he deflated out of his muscle form.

Sighing, he sat in the closest chair to him: one right next to Gon's bed. Looking down at the child, he thought for a bit.

Nezu's plans are certainly putting everyone here at risk... I'm not sure if even I could save everyone if things go south.

He rubbed the back of his neck.

Buzz buzz.

A fly?

Swat. Swat. Swat.

Damn, he thought as he waved his arms in the air, this fly just doesn't want to get caught...

"Pfft! Gah!" he yelled as it flew directly in his face. "Damn you..."

All Might entered his muscle form, punching the air, watching closely for the fly's movements.

"This fly... Guh! Is mocking me... Hah! But you can't run away... Ack! Because I...!"

Reeling his palm, he yelled.

"MISSOURI SMASH!"

Pew...

The fly fell.

"Hah hah!" All Might celebrated, flexing his muscles and laughing at the now deceased fly. "I am here!"

"...All Might?"

"KGHYUGHK...!"

Blood spilled down his jaw as he stared at the now conscious boy rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"You're awake!"

"You're... All Might!"

"Yes, young Gon," he laughed, "that is me! No need to fear, I-"

Gon rushed out of bed, flinging the door open and running off, as well as taking his old clothes with him. Recovery Girl stood, staring at the muscular blond man with blood dripping down his face through the doorway.

She scowled. "...What did you do?"

"And then, Recovery Girl called the office explaining the situation," the Pro Hero finished, wiping away a bead of sweat. "You are quite the speedster, young boy!"

"It does makes sense why he ran away," Nezu said. "After all, he is the hole-faced villain who harmed all those Pro Heroes!"

"Are you going to turn me in?" Gon questioned.

Killua clenched his fists and shifted his soles, readying himself for a quick exit if they tried to do anything with Gon.

"Legally, we must," he said. "However, it seems from your current disposition that there is more to your situation than we may realize. I advise you speak with Naomasa Tsukauchi, a detective from the police force. What happens to you then will depend on that conversation."

"What happens if we run away?" Killua asked.

"Then the both of you will be considered Villains and be put on a watchlist!" Nezu smiled.

"I haven't done anything wrong."

"No, but you will be a Villain's affiliate." He clasped his hands together. "For now, Zoldyck, you can get back in line with your class, and All Might can watch over you, Gon. Written exams are resuming soon, so I suggest you both go now."

At the mention of All Might watching over Gon, the two strangers shifted uncomfortably. All Might opened his mouth to speak, but Killua quickly cut him off.

"You're not postponing them?"

"No, no, we have quite a busy schedule ahead, and I'd hate to force our teachers to redo their curriculum."

"Ah... Killua, you're gonna take a test?" Gon questioned. It seemed the thought of being left alone with a bunch of strange Pro Heroes (especially one in particular) who consider him the bad guy didn't exactly sit well.

Killua's eyes darted between his best friend and Nezu. Taking a step closer, he gave the latter a cold stare. "You can't be serious, right? You want me to waste my time taking some stupid fucking test when we finally—"

"I know, I know. Unfortunately, these are the rules." Nezu smiles. "If it makes you feel better, we can put Gon in the exam room with the rest of the class. Of course, as long as he doesn't prove himself a distraction."

All Might clears his throat. "He'd seem to be more than a distraction, Nezu... I have to say, I don't know if this is the best course of action we can take, here! Are there no, uh, better options for who will watch over Young Gon?"

With a grin, Nezu answers, "You are the best. You cannot forget that."

A growing resentment against Nezu weighs in the minds of the non-mutants. The principal had been constantly pushing almost nonsensical situations upon them with little to no explanation; even Gon, who had just met him less than an hour ago.

Killua scoffs. He could easily run away with Gon right now. He's right here. There was no Aizawa to catch them with his scarves, and, hell, he's confident he can even beat All Might in a fight.

The world count hunt him down, for all he cares. At least Gon would be by his side.

He looks towards Gon, making eye contact. Their signals are wordless, but, even after all this time without seeing each other, their wavelength remains intact.

Gon glances towards Nezu. Then, All Might. He gives an ever-so-slight nod towards Killua...

Killua moves for about a centimeter before he hears the rat's voice pierce once more through the air.

"After exams, should we discuss means of getting you two back to where you came from?"

Both boys freeze, heads whipping back to Nezu.

Killua mumbles, "How do you—"

"You know how to get us back home?" Gon interrupts, almost bouncing on his heels.

"Hey, if you've known all this time, then why'd you keep it a secret for so damn long!?"

Nezu hums. "It was never a secret. You simply never asked."

Before Killua could spit more expletives at him, the rat-bear-dog continues, "I must admit that I do not currently possess a clear-cut way to fulfill that goal; which is why I never brought it up before. However, I believe you boys deserve to know that, through us, you will find your way back."

Killua narrows his eyes. Nezu had never not been annoyingly cryptic up until now... did this mean he was running out of options to keep him and Gon at arm's length? Was this all a bluff?

"Then tell us everything. Exactly everything about how we can get home," Killua says.

Nezu shakes his head. "I cannot do that. Not now. The solution lies in the hands of extremely dangerous villains, and I cannot put you two in harm's way."

Gon tilts his head. "Dangerous villains... like, a league of them?"

"Hm..." Nezu's snout twitches. "Come back to my office after exam week ends. I will reveal everything to you by then. It's best for you all to head to the classroom, now."

Nezu gets up and ushers them out of the room, sending the unsatisfied group off to an impossible week.

Himiko Toga hopped around the bar, dancing and humming a song with two photographs in her hands.

"Ah, I can't decide my favorite!" she said, spinning in place. "This one looks just like my Saito, but I can practically taste the blood spilled from this one's hands!"

"They're both going to die, in the end," Dabi murmured.

Toga turned to the man and shoved both pictures in his face. "Tell me," she said with a maniacal smile, "which one do you think looks cuter covered in blood?"

"Don't know, don't care. Why don't you ask that creep over there?"

"Shut up," Shigaraki seethed at the insult, returning to sipping the drink Kurogiri had prepared.

"Aw, Shiggy! When will my mission be over? Sometimes I wish I could just slice them up and suck them dry, but I just can't, yet!"

Kurogiri cleared his throat from behind the bar. "Toga, have you gathered any meaningful information today?"

She scoffed. "All my information's meaningful. But, today..." she tapped a finger on her chin. "Gon woke up!"

Shigaraki nearly choked on his drink.

"You only thought to tell us now?" Dabi said.

"Sorry! Got distracted."

"Where is Gon?" Shigaraki demanded.

"Relax, he's still at the school," she said, hopping up on the counter. Kurogiri pushed away the nearby drinks. "Some detective's coming tomorrow after school to talk to him and Killua, though. Dunno, ran out of blood."

"So he's regained his memories..." he mumbled.

Shigaraki stilled.

It's fine.

It won't be long before Gon finds out Killua's hero identity, and once that happens...

"Toga."

"Hm?"

"I want you to carry out the next part of the plan. As soon as possible."

Her cheeks reddened. "Heh, heh, finally!"

Toga, from what she's seen from Killua, knows that she can't best him in a one-on-one battle.

Therefore, she decided to sneak up on him in his sleep.

What a perfect plan!

Finding the complex, she headed up the stairs to where Eraserhead's apartment was. It was currently 3 AM, so he should be out on his hero duties, and Killua should be asleep, like any normal person would be before their exams. Taking out the key she pickpocketed from the Pro Hero a month ago (she couldn't believe how easy it is when she's invisible,) she slowly turned it in the lock, and quietly entered the apartment, clutching her equipment.

Looking around, the first thing she noticed was how horridly bland everything was. The next thing she noticed was a big, empty futon sitting in front of the TV. That's odd...

"Wow, you suck at sneaking in."

Whipping around to the voice, she found her target standing right in front of her. The smile grew on her face as her cheeks flushed. "Maybe I wanted you to catch me."

"Or maybe you're just stupid."

Toga shook from excitement, but, at the same time, she stood in disbelief.

"Hey, I didn't sense you coming at all! How'd you do that?"

He shrugged. "Basic training. You didn't get that?"

"I didn't need it."

"You obviously do."

She giggled. "You're funny."

Having this conversation with him was nice, but now how was she supposed to get his blood by herself...?

She pouted. Guess she's going with Plan B.

"So you're my stalker?"

"Aw, you noticed?"

Killua huffed. "I felt your presence, but I couldn't visibly spot you anywhere."

"Because I'm a master of stealth."

"I heard you open the door."

"Only 'cause you were awake!"

Crossing his arms, Killua said, "Why are you doing all this?"

Toga hummed, balancing on her tippy toes. "'Cause I wanna see you bleed."

He narrowed his eyes. "...Who are you?"

"Toga Himiko!" she said, giggling. "And I know who you are, Killua~!"

"Of course you do, you've been following me around like a creep the past month."

"Did no one ever teach you how to treat a pretty girl?" She held her hands behind her back. "It's a shame. Now you're my second favorite!"

"The hell are you talking about-"

Suddenly, Killua felt a piercing sensation in his arm. He looked down to find a small purple portal next to it, a hand holding a syringe poking out and currently sucking his blood from it. By the time he processed it, it was already gone.

"Sorry, cutie!" Toga said. "I wish I could've done it my way, but you would've never let it happen!"

"What the—what the hell did you just do?"

Then, a large portal opened directly behind her.

"It doesn't matter what I tell you," she grinned. "You'll already be dead."

She stepped backwards through the portal, and Killua nearly grasped at her before it completely closed.

Creepy hag. That needle better should have been clean.

He rubbed at his arm. The last time some creep messed with his blood, it almost completely paralyzed his body...

Killua shivered. Even if he managed to fight his way out of it, the feeling of not having total control over himself was the worst feeling in the world.

The purple portal that appeared in front of him seemed to be a teleportation quirk, or something like that. No residue was left behind, so it's not like he could investigate it further, but... he made sure to keep a note of it. 

Who knows what that crazy hag was up to.

Chapter Text

"Nezu, you're killing me, here," Toshinori rasped into the phone, jaw clenched.

It was already enough that he had to keep up his muscle form around the students, but to keep it up around Gon?

Nearly the entire day?

'I know, I know,' the principal said, 'but, as I've said before, you are the only one who can watch him.'

"But, my time limit-"

'Yes, I know, it's a difficult task to ask of you. But you can find your way around it.'

He sunk into his chair, picking at the dried blood on his sleeve. Letting a quiet sigh escape his teeth, he said, "Of course. Thank you."

The call ended with a small beep, and the frail man set it down on his bedside table. The sun's warm glow peeked through the curtains; that was what normally signaled the Pro Hero to start getting ready for his day. Today-and for who knows how long-it's the sounds of small, bare feet padding against the floors outside of his room.

His head fell back on his seat, closing his eyes.

Everything that had happened since young Zoldyck appeared has been near insanity, and Toshinori's surprised things haven't boiled over sooner, considering that boy's silent, but sure, temper. Now, Gon is yet another piece added to the board of what seemed like an impossible puzzle.

Why was young Gon so afraid of him? Toshinori attempted making conversation with him, but, unlike everyone else Gon spoke to, he preferred watching his every move, instead. As if, at any moment, he would reach out and hurt him. Had he unknowingly done something to invoke that reaction? Had he been told lies about him?

It was almost cruel of Nezu to put Gon under the care of someone he feared, no matter how much it made sense on his side of things. He just wishes he knew more. Or, really, just enough to help in a way that mattered.

Knock knock.

His ears perked up at the sound.

"Ah... I forgot how to use the knob on the shower again," a timid voice said from behind the door.

Puffing up his muscle form (and trying to ignore the urge to cough,) All Might moved towards the exit.

For now, he thought, this is how I can help.

The last day of written exams finally ended, the practical looming in the students' minds; however, to Killua, it was more of an annoyance than something actually important. At the current moment, Aizawa was escorting him to a police station.

He had hoped he could finally get some damn time alone with Gon, but it was like these Pro Heroes were purposefully leading them around to avoid that. He guessed it wasn't too much of a stretch to think that actually was happening, since, the less they talked, the less they could plan on a supposed evil villain-y thing that's expected of them. But, whatever the reason, it still made Killua's footsteps get a little heavier and shut doors a just little bit harder.

As they entered the tall building, Killua watched as Aizawa made a beeline for the front desk. After an unintelligible conversation, the Pro Hero proceeded to sit in one of the cushioned chairs in the lobby, head down and limbs crossed. Killua took a seat next to him.

Clearing his throat, Aizawa said, "They haven't arrived, yet."

Mumbling, Killua rested his cheek on his hand, watching the pedestrians through the window walk by. He honestly still couldn't believe that, in this mess of a situation, he was still participating in his exams. Granted, he still chose to since being anything other than a rule-following U.A. student would get him labelled a villain, as well as needing to follow Nezu's irritating requirements before they could receive information that would get them home. However, if it did turn out he was bluffing...

Man, Killua thought. With every passing day, the itch in his body to leave increases more and more. He'd need a dermatologist by the time he finally gains freedom.

The buzzing of the overhanging lights dug into his ears. Across him, a man paced the floor, back and forth, back and forth, hand cradling his own chin. Then, from the corner of his eye, he noticed a crack of light expanding from the front door.

"Killua!" Gon beamed, waving a tall hand at him.

Killua pushed off his seat and returned the greeting. His gaze turned to the symbol of peace standing firmly behind him, teeth shining as bright as ever.

Soon enough, the students with their Pro Hero guardians were led by the woman at the front desk into a separate room. That room then led into a dimly lit corridor, then another room, then a corridor, then another room...

Killua stopped keeping count.

It seemed they reached their destination, and the woman promptly left them to stand there after telling them to wait for Detective Naomasa.

The walls and floor were both a dull shade of concrete, much different than the pleasing lobby they first entered. A large window gave view to a room with a table and a couple chairs around it. It seemed that was where the interrogation would take place.

A small voice broke the silence. "...Hey, Killua?"

He faced Gon, making a small sound of acknowledgement.

Gon smiled. "It'll be your birthday on Sunday, right?"

"Oh, right."

He nearly forgot about it. It didn't seem that important, considering everything else happening in his life right now.

"Do you wanna go anywhere?"

"Home."

Gon puffed his cheeks. "Hmmm... before that, there's this really cool arcade I went to... I thought we could have some fun there!"

Killua stared.

"You went to an arcade?" he said, almost laughing.

"Yeah, it was fun!" he beamed, tight fists hovering above his chest. "We played Street Fighter, a weird dancing game, and ate snacks and everything..."

"We?"

"Oh, me and Shiga-"

Before he could finish, the scraping of a heavy door interrupted his recount. Behind it was a black-haired man in a long brown coat, pen and paper in hand.

"Sorry for the wait, everyone," he said, bowing. "Gon Freecss?"

Raising a hand, he answered, "I'm here."

A welcoming smile adorned the man's face. "Come with me." His eyes follow All Might. "By yourself."

The Pro Hero nearly frowned. Turning towards Gon, he gestured towards the door, saying, "Go ahead, young Freecss."

Gon nodded and stepped through the door after the detective, closing it behind him. The glass panel that served as a window from the outside was now a mirror; there was also another mirror on the opposite side of the room. Gon wondered who stood behind it.

"Welcome, Freecss," the detective said, softly smiling. "I'm glad we found some time to do this. Let's sit down."

Gon nodded, following his orders. He watched the older man pull out a pen and notepad, scribbling in it a bit. "What're you drawing?" he asked, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Ah, just writing down the date, names, stuff like that," he answered. He looked up at Gon. "How've you been, by the way?"

"Mmm... I'm okay." He bit his cheek. "I still don't really know what's happening. I just wanna hang out with Killua."

"Ah, have you not been able to?"

Gon shrugs. "I kind of talk with him, but the Pro Heroes are really strict... I guess it makes sense, 'cause I was watching him take exams with his classmates the past few days, and it looked really hard, so..."

Naomasa laughs. "Well, it's nice you got some time with him, at least. Don't worry. You'll get more of it when this is all over."

"This? What's 'this'?"

"Hmm..." He twirls his pen. "Interrogations, exams... I believe after this week, Zoldyck will be going on vacation. You plan on doing anything?"

Gon's eyes light up. "What, really!? I didn't know that..." He laughs. "Well, I guess I'm okay doing whatever he wants to do."

"I see. What do you think he'd want?"

The young boy swings his legs from the chair. "Probably a way home. I dunno. I told you, we haven't talked much."

The detective nods, writing some more. "That's alright. You're sure you don't have anything you want to do? You did spend some time in the area by yourself, didn't you?"

Gon hums. "Not  by myself, but, yeah, I talked about, like, an arcade, and stuff... ah, I should probably plan something for his birthday!"

"That's sweet of you," he smiles. "Who else were you traveling with?"

"Ah, my friend Shigaraki!"

Gon notices Naomasa stiffen for a moment, then immediately relaxing after. "Your friend Shigaraki? How'd you meet him?"

"Um... it's a weird story," he taps his chin. "You ask a lot of questions."

He chuckles. "You've got nothing to hide, right?"

Gon thinks for a moment, then shakes his head. At that, the detective smiles.

"Great. Now, I'm curious to learn how you ended up here in Musutafu..."

The sun's orange glow peeked over the horizon, stars slowly fading into view. Interrogations for the day have ended. Killua remained as tight-lipped as he could, only speaking in obvious answers; the detective remained civil, but Killua could tell how annoyed he was making him. Still, a random man's feelings didn't matter. No one needed to know any more about him, his past, his abilities, anything. Hopefully Gon did the same...

Killua snorted to himself. It seemed likely there was no world where he didn't need to cover Gon's tracks. Lucky he was so good at it.

He walked out of the building, Aizawa by his side. Gon and All Might were waiting for him, standing an awkward length away from each other. As soon as Gon's eyes laid his eyes on his best friend, he brightened.

"Killua! How was it?" he said, running up to him.

Killua shrugged. "It was okay. We just talked." He noticed Aizawa and All Might were speaking in hushed tones to each other, occasionally glancing at him and Gon. He raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Looks like they're planning to cut our time together short. Again."

Gon hummed. "You have one more day of exams, right? Then, Nezu will tell us how to get home. Right?"

"That's what I'm hoping."

Suddenly, Aizawa turned to them and began to speak. "All Might's required elsewhere. You two are coming with me, for the time being."

The two teens looked to their teachers, confused. Tilting his head, Killua said, "Really? Where are you putting us?"

"The school grounds, until I return later," All Might said, smiling and nodding. "I trust Aizawa will keep you both safe and out of trouble while I am gone."

Gon and Killua slowly turned their attention to each other. They'll finally have some time together...

Killua smiled. "Okay! Bye bye!"

Then, he grabbed Gon's sleeve and immediately walked off in the direction of the school. Aizawa said some parting words to the bigger teacher, and followed behind the two teens, muttering something under his breath.

"Hey, does this mean you'll get to show me around?" Gon said, bouncing with each step.

"No," Aizawa immediately answered. "This isn't a tour. We'll be staying in the classroom."

"Come on, old man, we've been stuck in some stuffy room for hours!" Killua said, then huffed. "Of course you don't mind. You spend half your time in a sleeping bag."

The teacher let the complaint sit for a moment, leaving only the sounds of their soles scraping the pavement. Then, he responded in a low voice. "Fine. We can stay at the P.E. Grounds, but only if you manage not to annoy me on the way there."

The white-haired boy held a satisfied smirk on his face. Gon glanced between them as they silently walked together, unsure what to think. Well, it was alright. They could talk about it later; along with everything else since their time landing here.

They soon reached the P.E. grounds, Killua remembering his first time there. It was only a few weeks ago, but with everything he'd gone through, it felt like lifetimes had passed since he first knocked Bakugou out. He stifled a laugh upon recalling how easily he silenced that bastard. He recalled how his classmates, the people he grew to know over his time at U.A., immediately after, looked at him with awe, suspicion... fear... 

All along, Bakugou was right to suspect that he didn't belong here. He wasn't supposed to make friends with these kids. Their worlds were so different; back home, people could kill with little to no repercussions. In fact, Killua was an assassin, for crying out loud. He was more than familiar with death, with pain, with hardship and conflict and getting beat over and over again for the sake of strength. It didn't matter how much he enjoyed besting Bakugou, or laughing at Midoriya's awkward inflections, or even sitting with Aizawa, bickering despite knowing that the man actually cared for him. Here, his entire life would be boiled down to one word--Villain.

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the gnawing feeling in his stomach. All the more reason for him to get out with Gon as soon as possible. Alluka was waiting for him.

Aizawa chose to rest on a nearby bench, setting down a cup of coffee and fiddling with a laptop. Perhaps he was catching up on his duties as a teacher. Gon and Killua strolled the dirt field, the sun having already set a while ago. Killua watched as Gon surveyed his surroundings, even if it was just an empty field.

This was his moment to catch up with Gon. He'd better use it well.

"So," Killua started, catching his friend's attention. "Those holes on your face aren't gonna appear any time soon, right?"

Gon laughed. "Heh, only if I ask them to."

"Is it... like Nanika?"

"Now that I think about it..." He pouted. "I think so. But I call them Sonohoka."

Before he responded, he glanced at Aizawa. The teacher was still focused on his work. Then, he whispered to Gon, "Do you think he's listening to us, somehow? They spent all this effort keeping us apart, just to let us waltz around over here."

Gon shrugged. "I dunno. I don't think it matters that much. He wouldn't know more than what I told the detective."

Killua started. "The hell did you tell him?"

"Not too much! Stuff like locations I kept quiet about. It felt like an invasion of privacy."

The teen scratched his head, a single laugh escaping his mouth. They continued walking, leaving footsteps in the dirt as they slowly circled around. Killua didn't even know where to start. There were too many things he wanted to ask Gon; the questions bounced against the walls of his mind, flying too fast for him to pick them out. Why and how was he hosting an Ai? How did he know Stain? Had he really been staying with the League of Villains since arriving in this world? And why was he specifically out to get him and Midoriya? What was he doing before being transported? How were his studies with his Aunt Mito?

"I recognized one of your classmates," Gon said.

Killua's head whipped around after being broken out of his thoughts. "What, really? Who?"

Gon placed a finger to his chin. "I don't know his name... but he looked just as angry as the first time I met him."

"Don't tell me you met Bakugou..." Killua said the name like it left a nasty taste in his mouth.

Still, the green-haired boy laughed. "Why, you don't like him?"

"I can't say that I do."

"Well, he has blond hair and red eyes. I met him when I was trying to return hero's pinkies, and I asked him for help. But he called the cops on me, instead." Gon's eyes looked to the sky as he remembered his encounter.

Killua raised an eyebrow. "What was that all about, anyway? You weren't yourself, but if you said... Sonohoka's like Nanika, why'd you give them that order?"

Gon hummed. "It was supposed to be training. Shigaraki told me that I could easily give it back to them, since Pro Heroes have the best healers."

He scoffed. "Whoever Shigaraki is, he sounds stupid."

Gon just laughed. "That feels nice to hear."

"What?"

"Your favorite word. You know, that was one of the first things you called me when I got my memories back... for a moment, it kinda felt like I was still traveling the world with you."

Killua just flushed and looked away, mumbling. "I probably had good reason to call you that. Stupid." They took another few steps in silence before he spoke again, finally settling on a topic he'd been wanting to ask him about. "My... other classmate told me that Shigaraki's out to kill him and me."

His friend's brown eyes widened. "What? Is that true?"

"He told me he's using you to accomplish that."

Gon just puffed his cheeks, thinking. "I was only told to kill one guy, some Hero he had a grudge against. And if I'm here, it's already over with."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Do you remember that whole situation with Manual?"

He cocked his head. "I think so... you took his pinky tip, right?"

"Yeah. The next day, I tried giving it back, but I realized that we'd cut off the wrong one. So... Sonohoka failed to fulfill their order. They came back out to get it right." Gon nodded. "So, if I didn't already kill Light, Sonohoka would still be trying to. Right now."

Killua froze. 

What did he say?

"Kill... who, again?"

"Light? The Hero? He had a white mask. And white hair."

Light. The Hero. 

Was this why Gon attacked him in Hosu?

But... even if it was, he's still alive. Something had to have "confirmed" Light's death, otherwise Gon's theory would prove false.

...Killua would go over the technicalities later. Midoriya was right to warn him. The League turned Gon into a ticking time bomb, and sent him right to U.A.'s doorstep.

"Did you know him?" Gon said, snapping Killua out of his thoughts once again.

Killua shook his head, trying to mask his shock as well as he could. "No, not... really. Just... you probably shouldn't tell this to anyone else, here. Okay?"

"Ah, okay."

You are so stupidly oblivious, Killua thought. He needed to figure out this situation, and he had to do it without alerting Gon to his hero identity.

Tomorrow was the practical, and if Gon showed up, there was no doubt in Killua's mind Sonohoka'd come out to come and kill him again. Maybe he could run away with him? He didn't need to tell Gon about his identity by then. But they were still waiting on Nezu's information after the exam. Killua scoffed. That rat had annoyed him since the day he met him, maybe it was finally time for him to get what he wanted in ways that were less... civil.

Why was he even hesitating? He could squeeze whatever he wanted out of anyone here with just a little torture. He'd find a way around Aizawa's scarves. He'd find who put them in this world, and make the bastard take them home. He had a sister to get back to, and she needed him. Shouldn't he do everything in his power for her sake?

"I wonder..."

Killua turned to face his friend, shadows moving on his face as they walked under lampposts. He didn't realize how tightly he was squeezing his fists. "Wonder what?"

"I dunno. You said you'd tell me about your friends, right?"

"I... guess so," he said, tongue in his cheek. "Why'd you wanna know so bad?"

He shrugged. "I made friends, I think. I mentioned Shigaraki. He's kinda mean sometimes, but I think it's because he's been hurt, before. I just hope he doesn't actually want to kill you and your classmate. Oh, and there's another--Kurogiri. He's fun to talk to. He's a big shadowy kind of man, with yellow eyes."

Gon looked expectantly towards Killua. The white-haired boy sighed as he gave in. "Okay, fine. I guess... there's Midoriya. I..."

He remembered the first time he met him. His green hair had reminded him of Gon, and that was the only reason he reached out to him. He'd been disappointed with his discovery, but... as he got to know him, there were things he appreciated about him. Such as his annoying but generally admirable persistence in helping others.

And helping me...

"He stutters. A lot. He really likes All Might, for some reason. Like, straight up worships him. Kinda freaky." Gon laughed, and Killua continued. "Then, there's Iida. He is so rigid. When he talks, all I hear is blah blah blah, rules, blah blah, school, blah blah..."

Except for that day in Hosu, Killua thought.

"Well, that's how he is most of the time, anyway. Uraraka's nice. She kind of acts like you, sometimes."

"What?" Gon said. "How?"

Killua shrugged. "Just bubbly and outgoing, I guess. Who else... ah, there's Kirishima. He's really cool, actually..."

Gon stared intently as Killua continued to speak about his classmates, teachers, how he spent some of his days, everything. Eventually, they both came to a halt near where Aizawa was fiddling with his laptop.

Killua glanced at the other boy, only to find him looking back with a smile. The white-haired boy cleared his throat, shoving his hands further into his pockets as the orange footprint of the sun finally washed away, revealing a star-scattered sky. Even the stars here look different, he thought to himself.

"Hey, Killua," Gon said.

Killua turned to his best friend and tilted his head. "Yeah?"

"I'm kind of glad we got to meet here."

He snorted. "Really. I would've preferred something that didn't have us running around looking like idiots."

"Well... I dunno." Gon laughed. "It's just nice you met people who make you happy, too."

Killua felt his face heating up, then quickly turned away from Gon, mumbling. "Whatever..."

He really didn't want to think about it, but Gon was right. He... felt happy. He cared. No matter how much chaos he could cause so they could go home, no matter how many lives he'd take or endanger, there was still that damn voice in the back of his mind telling him no. Was it some weird projection of Gon? Was it his subconscious? Was it... the voice of his memory-less self?

He had wanted so badly to discard his amnesiac memories, but... he couldn't shake the fact that it was still him. It was him having to lean on his own feelings, because that was all he had.

Now, to solve this Sonohoka problem...

"Gon," Killua said, catching the boy's attention. "Could you promise me something?"

He nodded, spikes of his hair rocking back and forth in the air.

"Don't go to the practical tomorrow. Let's just meet in Nezu's office."

"Eh? Okay, I won't. But... why?"

Killua shook his head. "Just trust me. If All Might takes you there and it hasn't ended, don't go until it has."

Gon hummed, nodding. Then, he laughed. "Is it 'cause you're shy about your hero suit?"

"What? No!" Killua said.

Soon, Aizawa had stepped nearby. He scratched his chin, tired eyes glancing over the two boys. "Time to go. All Might's almost here"

The two boys nodded, glancing back at each other. Gon smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

Killua smiled back. "Yeah. See you."

Killua wiped the sleep out of his eyes. For once, he slept considerably well. As he got ready for the following school day, he heard Aizawa groaning as he stretched in a corner of the room.

"Careful, you'll pull something," Killua said, letting out a chuckle.

Aizawa paid no attention to the comment. Instead, he grabbed his things and stood at the door, waiting in silence until Killua joined him.

The trip to the school was mainly silent, save for civilians' chatter and bird calls. Killua felt his teacher was just trying to be careful; last night, Killua told him of the Light situation with Gon. He barely believed it, at first, but he eventually ended up calling All Might about it so they could arrange something. Killua, however, was annoyed with the never-ending phone calls. He felt the easiest and most obvious solution was to leave Gon at home, or somewhere nearby, or literally anywhere, but those damn paranoid heroes still wanted to keep an eye on him.

Killua inhaled deep. Whatever. They'd be talking to the rat soon, anyway. He just needed to get this over with.

Students gathered around the grounds, listening to their teachers as they explained the rules. Killua fiddled with his mask as he surveyed the group, noting All Might's absence. A sigh of relief escaped his lips. They listened to him. Good. The last thing Killua needed was a quirk-copying, nen-stealing Ai that was trying its damn hardest to kill him.

The practical exam was later revealed to be a 2v1 battle — students against teachers. As they revealed the matchups, however, a pang of annoyance hit him again. Why the hell did he have to fight Nezu? Hadn't he seen him enough?

Killua groaned, eyes rolling towards the blue sky. A slap on his shoulder caught his attention, and he found himself eye-to-eye with Ashido, his partner.

"Let's do this!" She pumped her fist in the air, trying her hardest to encourage him. They'd never talked much; he just hoped it would go by quickly.

They were sixth in line, so Killua could either watch the matches in the waiting room, or plan something with Ashido (he refused the latter because he thought he was too good for that.) Thinking about the matchup, he actually smiled to himself as he realized something; finally, he had an excuse to let loose on that stupid dog-bear-rat thing holding him and Gon hostage.

Killua watched the matches with his classmates, hearing both mumbles of the matchups being unfair and compliments on the clever ways they used to pass the exam. But, soon enough, it was Killua's and Ashido's turn.

The two of them set out to Ground Gamma, the metallic shine of tangling pipes nearly blinding him.

"So," Ashido started. "I was thinking we could probably go for an escape route. You're quick enough, and I can surf along my acid, if anything..."

Killua nodded, sighing. That definitely wasn't the plan he had in mind, but Ashido's grade was at risk, here. "You don't wanna try and fight him?"

"Well... you know, we'd probably have to find him, first. And I dunno about you, but I don't think we have enough time to go hunting for a teeny tiny little guy in this giant maze."

As soon as she finished speaking, however, a creaking sound started from one of the pipes. Killua felt himself jump away on instinct, calling for Mina to back up with him. A wall of debris loudly collapsed in front of them, already blocking off one of their paths.

"What the heck!?" Ashido said.

Killua looked all around him, searching for a sign of the principal. He couldn't possibly have caused this with his bare hands, so surely he must be in some sort of machine.

"Ashido," Killua said, making her head whip around. "I'm gonna climb to the high ground. Can you handle searching for an escape down here?"

She hesitated for a moment before nodding. Then, Killua pushed off of the ground, easily jumping from pipe to pipe to get as high as he could. In the distance, he spotted a yellow crane. And inside of it...

Killua smirked. Too easy.

In a flash, Killua landed on a building right in the vicinity of the crane. The wrecking ball swinging from it was too slow for him to worry about, so he simply jumped towards the door and pulled it open so he could finally get his hands on that annoying little —

Boom.

Killua shielded himself with his arms as he was sent flying from an explosion, adjusting his trajectory to land on a roof. The rat had a fucking bomb!? Wasn't he inside the...

Icy blue eyes watched as ripped white stuffing floated down from the fiery sky, as well as clothes that resembled Nezu's. It was a fake...?

"Zoldyck!"

He watched from the roof as Ashido came running, panting heavily. He jumped, joining her at ground level. "What is it?"

"I-I was searching, and it's like everywhere I went, he'd already blocked it off!" She caught her breath, surveying her surroundings. "What blew up?"

"The crane," Killua said, almost seething. He didn't want to mention it, but it felt like that damn rat was toying with him, as if he already knew Killua's next steps.

"Okay, uh, let's just keep looking — "

The buzzer blared through the grounds, voice booming from the speakers:

"Team Ashido and Zoldyck retires due to running out of time."

Ashido wrestled with herself, groaning from the loss. Killua stood still. Quiet. He used Zetsu, trying to find a hint of Nezu around them. He sensed something in a nearby building, and found himself stepping towards it, closer and closer...

"What're you doing? We gotta go," Ashido said, snapping him out of his pursuit.

Killua clicked his tongue. "Sorry," he said, trailing behind her.

If only I had more time.

Killua immediately took off his hero suit, asking around for Gon. He found him sitting with All Might in 1-A, a surprisingly somber look on his face.

"Gon, it's over," he said, letting a small smile form.

"Shigaraki lied to me."

Killua stopped, tilting his head. Before he could speak further, All Might stood from his spot, and spoke. "Shigaraki told young Gon that it was my fault his memories were gone. As well as, ah... many other things..."

The white-haired boy moved to sit with his best friend, hunched over. "What're you gonna do?"

Gon looked at him, an unreadable expression washing over him. "I need to ask him myself. I'll decide then."

Killua glanced between Gon and All Might, unsure of what to say. Then, Gon suddenly broke into a smile, looking at Killua with his big brown eyes as if nothing had happened. "Did you pass?"

He hesitated a moment before shaking his head. "No. Doesn't matter." He turned his attention to All Might, and said, "So, are we good to go to Nezu, now? I've been waiting all damn week."

The burly teacher let out a hum. "Be patient, young Zoldyck. Exams are almost over."

A silence filled the room, the only sound being Killua's shaking leg.

Gon puffed his cheeks. "I know I promised, but... are you really not gonna tell me why I couldn't watch?"

Killua sighed. "I will. Probably. Some time in the future. Just not now."

He nodded, leaning his cheek against his hand. Soon, All Might got a call from Aizawa, saying it was his turn for the exam, as well as it being time to switch who was watching over Gon. Someone other than Aizawa came, however. Killua's eyes followed Midoriya as he walked through the door, smiling and waving at Gon. Gon, of course, did the same.

Midoriya walked up to them, glancing between the two. "You... must be Gon, right? Killua's friend?"

Gon's head bounced from the strength of his nod. "Yeah! Ah... you're Midoriya, right? Killua's told me a loooot about you."

He laughed as Killua landed a punch on his shoulder. "No, I haven't. It was a normal amount."

Midoriya flushed anyway, scratching his cheek as he landed his gaze everywhere except their faces. "Ah, haha, th-that's... um, yeah. I just wanted to say hi before my match started... and, I guess... I was just curious about something."

Killua's eyebrows raised, watching him. "Yeah? What?"

Somehow, a sense of dread washed over Killua. Why was that? Gon had been excited to meet his friends, anyway, so —

"I just... remembered that day, in our classroom," Midoriya started, staring at the desk. "I don't know. I thought you were so cool, then. And when you said someone inspired you to help those suffering in the darkness, I've been wondering... is Gon the one you were talking about?

"You know, about your hero name? Light?"

Killua. All Might. Aizawa. Everyone in the room's eyes widened in horror. Except for Gon's — all that was left were black holes.