Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue

Kakashi wasn’t a fan of D-rank missions. He had picked 'catch the cat' because he was naïve and thought that surely, if his students used their single shared braincell to work together, they would be done within the hour.

“I got it! I got— waahh!” Naruto yelled, angry red scratches now accompanying the whisker marks on his cheeks.

“Goddamnit Naruto, it escaped again!”

“You’re useless.”

“Hey, I did more than you two!” 

But no, Kakashi had been chaperoning this mess of a team for the last two hours, and by the looks of it he would continue to do so for another three. Not even Icha Icha could remove this level of second-hand embarrassment and boredom.

“Do you want to go out on a C-rank mission, hmm?” Kakashi asked, hands in his pockets. The three genin finally stopped screaming each other’s ears off and looked at him with hope.

“Yeah! Kakashi-sensei, I knew you were the best—”

“Because we won’t. Ever. Not when you can’t even complete a D-rank.”

“—sensei, what!? You’re the worst, dattebayo!” Easy come, easy go. Rest in peace, Kakashi who was considered the best sensei for all of two seconds. You will be missed.

“Ugh, let’s just get this over with,” Sasuke sighed, already body-flickering away.

“Hey, don’t leave me behind!” Naruto ran right after him.

“Naruto, stop yelling, you’ll scare the cat again!” Sakura, your high-pitched shouting is worse.

Besides, the cat had run East, not West. 

“Wrong way,” Kakashi called with a defeated sigh.

His genin team halted, yelled and pointed fingers at each other again for a good while before disappearing from sight, this time running in the right direction, at least. 

This was going to be a long, long day. When he first accepted to teach the three brats he hadn’t known it was going to be this hopeless. Was it too late to return them to the Academy? It had only been a week, maybe Iruka would still take them back.

An hour after the thought first crossed his mind, his team was still running in circles, no cat in sight. Kakashi pointedly didn’t slump against the nearest tree, no, he merely rested his weight on it with casual, not-disillusioned aloofness. 

...

He stayed like that for another hour.  

How much time from this point until the end of his existence? The new Icha Icha volume better be worth it—

There was a familiar rush of wind, the sound of a small object approaching at impossible speeds, and Kakashi ducked, avoiding the attack and getting a hair trim in the process. Who—

CRACK. Something round and small got impaled in the trunk, at the right height to have gone through his head if he hadn’t moved. Ah, the tortoise that hated his guts.

Kakashi had told Gai a hundred times that the little thing wanted him dead. Gai had laughed like it was a joke and not a very offended complaint, saying something along the lines of “my precious Fusku would never!”

Yeah, tell that to his hair. The little reptile was the reason it looked like it did. 

“Kukuku,” the creature was stuck, but obviously gleeful for the silver strands he had gotten in the exchange. 

“Why, fuck you too,” he greeted.

Small legs flailed for a minute, wiggling in an energetic, ridiculous, entertaining way that was only natural for the creatures that had accepted a contract with Gai, because the only tortoise sane was Ningame. No one ever believed Kakashi when he said it, but he was certain of it.

After a minute of struggling the shell was finally released, and the tortoise fell to the roots with a soft thud, yellow stomach facing up and rocking as its little legs twitched uselessly.

Kakashi snickered in the most patronizing way possible.

Compared to his ninken, the tortoises didn't really have the means to express emotion very well; their leathery face just wasn't designed for it, but strong emotions still managed to come across in their gaze. 

“Go die,” and across their words and assassination attempts, he supposed. 

“Believe me, I’m trying my best,” Kakashi reassured, crouching down so he could receive the message and get this over with. 

“Why did it have to be you?” the squeaky voice complained, little beetle eyes squinting hatefully at him for a long moment. “I like Genma and Asuma better.”

Kakashi shrugged and gave his fakest eye smile. “Lucky us, eh?”

The little tortoise huffed and hid inside, rolling over its own shell like one of those toys civilians liked, spinning tops, for a few seconds before it finally righted itself, head getting out the shell with a scroll in its jaws that was easily three times bigger than the tortoise was.

Kakashi didn’t want to know how that worked, so he just took the scroll, hand moving fast enough to save his fingers from a bite attempt.

“Received,” and then, when the little thing didn’t immediately leave. “Shoo, shoo.”

“How Gai stands you is beyond me,” the tortoise grunted. “I hope he never comes back to this blood-stinky terrain.”

…that phrase was odd. Gai loved Konoha, and he was very, very loud about everything he loved, which meant all his summons were well aware of it.

“Why do you mean by—”

A rush of air, and the tortoise was no more.

“—that, little, shit.” Not even his dogs gave him this much bite.

He looked down at the scroll, considering. The messenger hadn’t stated the urgency of this delivery.

“Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei, we caught it! We finally AHHH!”

“NARUTO NO!”

“Idiot, don’t release it!”

But it couldn’t be worse than this D-rank. Nothing could be worse than this D-rank.

“I’ll leave neko-chan in your very capable hands.”

“Eh? So you’re abandoning us!?” Naruto whined with empty arms and new scratch marks. Of course the cat had escaped again.

“I won’t always be there to support you in the battlefield, if you want to be good shinobi you need to learn to improvise and get the mission completed, even without your jounin sensei around,” he explained seriously.

Sasuke scoffed disbelievingly.

“Yeah right, you’re just saying that because you want to leave,” Sakura accused, crossing her arms. 

“Yeah!” Naruto screamed.

“Yeah,” Kakashi admitted with an eye smile. “See you tomorrow at seven sharp. I expect this mission to be complete by then.”

“Do you mean seven in the morning, or NOON!?” Naruto screeched just as Kakashi body-flickered away. They were good kids. 

They were all going to die if they kept this up. Were all genin this difficult to train, or had he just gotten the short end of the stick? A whole week training under him and they still couldn’t manage to catch a cat; he couldn’t be that useless of a sensei, right?

He looked down at the scroll again. Hmm, maybe Team Seven would benefit from a training exercise against Gai’s students. And if not, eh, at least it wouldn’t be worse than today’s D-rank, that was downright pitiful.

Entering his apartment via the window — doors were overrated either way — he gave a small flare of chakra until the seal pried open to reveal a paper filled with nothing but numbers, and a book.

Kakashi tensed, all thoughts of training genin flying off the window as he studied the contents. Gai never wrote in code; he was terrible at it. What anyone else could write in minutes took him several hours, and the book…

“Japan’s History: Quirks throughout the ages,” he read out loud, a single eye narrowing. For an object so innocent-looking there was something obviously wrong with it.

He pulled at his mask uneasily. Even the paper smelt weird. All paper — scrolls, books, magazines, napkins, newspapers, explosive tags, all of it — had the same scent at the core, because all trees had chakra flowing in them, but this…

He brought it closer to his face, sniffing again.

This thing didn’t smell right. It was too plain, too delicate, and in any case: “Why is there a tome about quirky people?”

What the hell are you doing, Gai?

Chapter Text

Where is this?

Gai took in a deep breath, as silent and discreetly as he could, eyes still closed.

His body was heavy, the smallest twitch of his fingers sent the pain receptors aflame for the whole arm, like his blood cells were replaced with small needles stabbing his veins from the inside out, all over his bloodstream. Hands, arms, shoulders, back, legs… all of him was aching.

The Seventh Gate really had no mercy.

The price the Gate of Wonder demanded as compensation was heavy and very, very painful. It was not one he could use lightly, but he truly had had no option. 

Gai had taken his precious genin team on a C-rank mission outside Konoha. They had done their very best, he had been so proud he had cried, and on the way back home he had let them know what they did well and what could be improved, inwardly already planning to celebrate with dinner.

Except they never made it back to the village, since a man wearing an orange mask had appeared in the middle of the road. Someone with a mocking, childish voice that could fade in and out of existence, becoming intangible at will.

It was a terrible match for a team of taijutsu and weaponry specialists. Even worse so considering the genins had only been training under his wing for little under a year.

Fight or flee wasn’t hard to decide.

Gai had ordered a retreat, staying at the back to cover any upcoming attacks, but instead of facing him the opponent phased through the ground — even his chakra signature disappeared, they would have been at loss if not for the byakugan —suddenly popping up like a giggling, malicious sprout targeting his students, which made him dash and pull them out of harm’s way, attacking whenever the enemy got too close and forcing him to become intangible to remain unharmed. 

For as long as the masked man was intangible, he wasn’t going to injure anyone. His students were quick to realize this and joined him on the counters, because attacking was the best defense in this instance.

Not like that was discouraging enough to make him desist.

Faster, they needed to get away faster.

“Lee, open up and carry Tenten!” Gai instructed, watching from the corner of his eye as a green aura enveloped his protégé. He opened the fifth Gate of Limit and took Neji, leaving their enemy biting the dust. 

Or at least that’s what should have happened, but the opponent had pursued at an incredibly fast pace —untraceable, Neji said he was essentially teleporting. Was there really a jutsu out there, so similar to the Yondaime’s yet dismissive of the need for space-altering seals? — and at their current speed they were not going to be able to escape.

The enemy didn’t seem capable of getting too close to them, at least. They were at a temporary impasse, but Gai’s team was at a disadvantage. They could not last with the inner gates open indefinitely.

If this was anything like Minato’s then that jutsu should have some type of conditioning. A limit, either based on time, or distance, perhaps he needed to touch the target, or have it on his field of vision, or sense the chakra of— NEJI!

He hurriedly twisted, right on time to block a sharp weapon with his own body. The man had appeared right from underneath, and apparently, he could choose which part of his body turned incorporeal. The man had been using an all-or-nothing stance before, they had been tricked to draw the wrong conclusion.

Whatever limitation the jutsu had, Gai couldn’t risk his team’s life to discover it.

The fifth Gate of Limit wasn’t enough for the battle, as his bloody shoulder could testify, but with the seventh— with the Seventh Gate open he was fast enough for his counter to land the next time the man tried to reach them, accurately aiming at the parts that had become tangible to fight in close range.

After a single, successful kick his opponent seemed to consider him troublesome enough, because the masked man took some distance, a red eye — Sharingan, look at the feet! —glared and the world around had twisted, blurred out, the small spinning whirlpool swallowing their surrounding vegetation along with its light.

Taking him and his genin team with it. 

Gai had kept them close, flaring up a wave of chakra to dispel the genjutsu, but it did nothing to change the new surroundings. Was this not an illusion? They ran and kept running, trying to find an entrance, an exit, but the surroundings remained the same no matter how far they moved.

In the end, Gai had run out of time and passed out in a dark world with nothing but giant, unnatural squares floating around in the otherwise empty space, a chorus of young voices calling after him with panic. His genin team, Gai hadn’t been able to keep them away from the enemy—

His students!

He tried with all his might, and managed to blink his eyes open.

“GAI-SENSEI!” Lee cried as soon as he did. He sounded tired, but not in pain.

“Shut up Lee, you’ll give away our location!” Tenten sounded as exasperated as usual, which meant she was uninjured too. That was a relief.

He waited for a heartbeat, but there was no third voice.

“Ne—” Gai rasped, so he cleared his throat and tried again. “Neji?”

“He’s securing the perimeter. I placed some traps around our area but it’s hard to— uh, I’m not sure that’ll be enough, everything is too… weird, here,” Tenten answered hesitatingly. Gai’s vision was regaining enough clarity to see her grimace, and soon after he was finally able to identify their new surroundings. Gone was the darkness and the square-like floating structures, replaced instead with some sort of forest. 

Sunlight was falling like droplets of gold over the clearing, muffled by the tree’s long branches over his head. Not too hot, not too cold, his students had probably dragged him here to make his forced rest a bit more comfortable. And the lack of blood trailing down his back, along with the material firmly wrapped around his shoulder meant they had bandaged his injury. His Jounin-vest was missing, but he surmised Tenten had put it away in a scroll for whatever reason.

Gai appreciated it with all his heart.

But Tenten was right, this mockery of a forest truly was weird. 

“Why are the trees so small?” 

If Konoha’s trees were sentient, they would probably poke fun at the thin twigs that tried to pass for trees in this place. The trunks were so slim Gai could probably circle the width with his arms alone, and the branches were too thin, too fragile to withstand the teen’s weight, let alone his own. There was no way any shinobi could step over them when traveling.

“Right?! I’ve never seen ones so… so tiny!” Tenten agreed heartily, even when she had been complaining to Lee about the noise just a minute prior.

Gai couldn’t discern anyone in their proximity, but he was not a sensor. 

“Have you encountered anyone?” Gai asked as he forced himself to sit up. His every fiber protested the movement, but he couldn’t remain lying down, defenseless in the midst of uncertainty. If there were any threats out there, it was his responsibility to protect Konoha’s green leaves.

“We’ve found no one in the vicinity, not even with Neji’s byakugan,” Lee shook his head, hovering worriedly at his side. That wasn’t right, Gai was the protector, not the other way around.

Thus he grinned, raising a hand to ruffle Lee’s hair enthusiastically, all the while ignoring how his bandaged shoulder flared up in pain. “You’ve done a great job as a team then!” He stood up with an energetic jump, carefully controlling the tremors that traveled down his legs, and turned to the kunoichi. “I can hardly distinguish the traps now; you’ve really improved at them, Tenten!”

Lee gave a little jump at his side and nodded heartily in agreement, reassured of Gai’s wellbeing by the show of energy and movement. The kunoichi straightened and grinned proudly, seemingly reaching the same conclusion as Lee.

They were so cute, Gai truly had been blessed with this team!

They also needed more training on seeing through deception, but they would have time for that once Gai’s muscles stopped feeling like a needle cushion. Having them fretting around him wasn’t going to help anyone. 

“How long have we been here?” Gai asked to the familiar presence rapidly approaching their location.

“Two hours at most, based on the position of the sun,” Neji’s voice finally resounded in the clearing, landing from his left. 

“About time!” Tenten greeted with apparent relief. “Did you find anything?”

“There’s no one in our immediate surroundings. The closest sign of life is a structure at the foot of that mountain,” Neji jerked his head in the direction of it.

It was at a considerable distance if they walked at a civilian’s pace, but not so much if they were to travel at shinobi speed, which meant that whoever resided there could also reach them relatively fast. They should move.

But first! Gai gave his three students a once over, but saw no injuries aside from the small bruises and scratches they had gotten during the ordeal, and he could note they had already disinfected and treated them appropriately. 

“Great job team. Any injuries pending to be treated?”

A round of shaking heads, but Lee and Tenten were glancing tellingly at Neji, so Gai focused on him.

“Hmm?”

Silence.

"Hmmm?"

An eye twitch, and more stubborn silence.

“Hmmmmmm— ?”

“I’m fine,” the tone was perfectly neutral, but the response had been a bit too fast to be the truth. It was odd, usually Neji was better at lying than this.

There was a meaningful pause of silence, followed by another pressing hum.

“It’s not an injury,” Neji denied, frowning at his teammates. “It’s… for some reason my byakugan is not working as usual.”

That was incredibly alarming. Gai bent down, ignoring the ache at his lower back to carefully examine the area around white eyes. He couldn’t see anything amiss, not at first glance. “Any attacks that got too close? Have you let them rest?”

“It’s not due to overuse, and no attack got me, you covered—” Neji interrupted himself, glancing meaningfully at Gai’s injured shoulder. “Nothing reached us.”

That was good to hear, but it didn’t solve the problem. “What’s odd with your dojutsu?”

Neji’s mouth thinned, visibly upset. “When active, I’m supposed to be able to see far ahead, up to the smallest of details, but now everything— the world becomes a blank canvas. The trees, the ground, everything that is not human just disappears. Now I can only see my surroundings in detail if I deliberately expel my own chakra around me, which limits the range significantly.”

That... that didn’t make any sense.

The chakra that naturally flowed from the land should be enough to grant full vision to the Hyuga clan— then again, it should also help the vegetation and wildlife grow majestically, but the trees here were very, very small and thin.

“There’s no natural chakra in this forest?” It was an unbelievable conclusion, but it would explain why it felt so odd. A crucial part of it was noticeably missing, even if Gai hadn’t been able to immediately place what, exactly.

“Apparently…” Neji’s answer was both a statement and a question. He looked unsure.

“Gai-sensei, is there really a place that can exist without chakra?” Lee asked uncharacteristically softly, raising a hand as if he were still an Academy student.

The answer to that was no. Anywhere from the Land of Wind to that of Lightning, the natural energy should always remain the same.

“How did we get here, to begin with?” Gai asked instead of answering.

“Neji shoved us through the purple twisty thing,” Tenten answered with a hand gesture. Lee nodded, as if that explained anything. Gai really hoped they would learn to give better reports as more missions were accomplished, no one at the reception desk would be impressed with that.

“Twisty things?” His shoulder was starting to throb in a very unhealthy manner. He needed to bring them to safety, and then get off to see a medic-nin for a quick fix.

“Some time after you lost consciousness a purple portal manifested, floating at our side. It became see-through for a moment when I expelled a wave of chakra at it, and I saw a forest and thought it was our way back to the road,” Neji admitted through gritted teeth, not one to easily admit to mistakes.

“You did the right thing,” Gai reassured, patting the air above his head so his student didn’t slap his hand away. Neji wasn’t fond of physical contact. “Had we stayed, we would have been at the enemy’s mercy.”

Gai had been out of commission for hours. The masked man would have come to kill them all if he were able to follow, so probably he couldn’t. Then again, perhaps assassination wasn’t the objective? But Gai’s team wasn’t transporting any kind of goods nor intel, so why start a confrontation if not to kill one or all parties?

Killing off genin before these reached their full potential wasn’t uncommon. Killing off the jounin sensei by exploiting the students’ inexperience was a predictable tactic as well.

And yet here they were, all alive.

“Where are we then?” Tenten looked up at him, fully expecting him to know. 

“Good question Tenten!” he gave her a nod and hummed, thinking for a long moment before deciding that, since he didn’t have the answer, he might as well call for someone that did.

Biting his thumb, he formed the seals and crouched to place his palm on the ground. His tortoises were old and wise, knowing pretty much every corner there was to know across the Elemental Nations. Ningame would recognize this land, surely.

Black writing sneaked out from the spot where he touched the earth, spreading like bloodstain. There was a small puff of smoke— too small to be Ningame — and Gai felt a harsh thug at his chakra reserves, a big chunk of it disappearing as he paid a price that was unexpectedly high. Summoning wasn’t supposed to require this much energy!

“Gai-sensei!”

He fell on his knees with a harsh exhale, blinking away the dark spots dancing in his vision, and barely registered Lee placing an arm across his chest, grabbing at his good shoulder to help him keep straight so he wouldn’t fall face-first to the ground. He had almost been knocked out?!

“That was incredibly foolish, young one,” an elderly tortoise Gai had never met before admonished with a shake of the head. “The natural energy here is too thin, your chakra is doing all the work.” 

“It’s so thin it might as well not exist…?” Neji sounded horrified by the mere concept. Gai didn’t have enough strength to lift his head, but he inwardly agreed with the sentiment. Everything was supposed to have a life force… natural energy… chakra…

“Where the hell are we?” Tenten asked again, dread making her voice more high-pitched.

“Gai-sensei, you must undo the summon!” Lee exclaimed too close to his ear. Gai was going to grow deaf if his protégé kept doing that, but he still patted Lee’s wrist reassuringly.

“Where are we?” Gai whispered at the elder reptile.

The tortoise, small enough to fit inside a fist, slowly turned his head from one side to the other, carefully evaluating their surroundings. Gai felt his chakra reserves taking a dive for the worst in those precious seconds.

“First time seeing this, and that’s certainly something… I was already born when the white rabbit was exiled to the moon, you know? I’m familiar with all terrains.” No clue what that meant, but Gai couldn’t dwell on it. Time was quickly running out. 

“Can you reverse-summon us to your revered land?” Gai would rather have his team rest with his tortoises, knowing their territory was a safe place, than stay unprotected in this unknown forest.

Little black eyes squinted at him adorably, if albeit reproachfully. “Only the signer is allowed in our realm, you know the rules. I can only bring you, not the hatchlings.”

He was not leaving his genin team behind.

“Please ask for an exception from the elders… uh…”

“Ikken, the Guardian of Eggs.” 

That was a powerful name, and a very important title. “Ikken-sama. I beg you and the elders for this favor. I’ll repay… in kind…”

Gai lowered his eyes and panted silently. Anymore and he was going to die. Was this how Kakashi felt when he reached chakra exhaustion? How did he even manage to exist under this horrible weight— although maybe the heaviness was due to the Seventh Gate’s opening and lack of proper rest… everything was mixed up; these were certainly not the best conditions.

“I can ask, but I make no promises.”

“Thank you…” Gai panted and dispelled the summon, focusing what little energy remained in stopping himself from fully collapsing in front of his students. 

“Sensei?” Tenten was squatting worriedly in front of him. 

“What do we do, Gai-sensei?” Lee sounded concerned as well.

“Gai,” Neji called uncharacteristically softly. Gai silently renewed his self-challenge: that he would do everything in his power to earn the ‘sensei’ title, one day. “We can stay here for a bit longer. I’ve secured the perimeter, Tenten placed traps around the area, and Lee can take the first watch.”

He wasn’t going to stay awake for much longer, and carrying an unconscious, larger adult would only make them vulnerable to attacks. Staying was the best option for now.

“I… suppose,” Gai admitted slowly. “Just promise me you’ll follow the third rule.”

Lee tensed, the fingers gripping his good shoulder digging strongly in retaliation to his request. Tenten’s gaze grew softer and harder at the same time, determination — and rejection — glinting in her eyes.

He couldn’t see Neji, but the firm and simple “No,” was straightforward enough.

Gai was worried, upset, and also very, very proud.

His rules for missions outside of Konoha were simple.

1) Don’t get too far away from the team. They had more strength when working as a single unit, at least for now until they gained more experience and were less likely to die if left to their own devices.

2) The mission is important, but lives have priority. Don’t risk yourselves unnecessarily, call me for help.

And the last…

“You can trust us, Gai-sensei!” he could hear Lee’s will of fire in that statement; the silent promise.

“Yeah, we’ll defend this place until you wake up again, don’t worry,” Tenten reassured with a confident nod.

“Just rest,” a steely order, a reminder of why Gai had chosen Neji as the team’s leader whenever he wasn’t available to instruct the genin.

3) If you must leave me behind to save yourselves, do it without hesitation. I’m a jounin, I can handle it. Look after yourselves first.

Gai huffed a short laugh and closed his eyes. He truly had a wonderful team. He would train with them every day from sunrise to sunset in reprisal, once they all were back home.

If they could even get back home.

(x)

Pixie-Bob stretched like a cat, not stopping until her back popped satisfactorily. This was going to be a wonderful day; she could feel it.

This day is going to suck. Mandalay groaned in her mind.

Pixie-Bob turned around, saw a disheveled Mandalay dragging her feet down the stairs, and replied with a loud: “Go grab your coffee!”

No need to tell me twice. Mandalay snorted, too lazy to actually use her voice. 

“She’s very tired this morning, eh?” Ragdoll snickered, her own cup of coffee in hand.

“Yesterday was quite the day.”

It was high season for tourism, and the increased volume in visitors meant this was the busiest time for the Wild Wild Pussycats. The amount of camping families, hikers, and group scouts getting lost every year was truly astonishing. Add that to the people that thought the large, natural space was 'safe' enough for them to practice their quirk without supervision and the number of accidents high rocketed right into the stratosphere.

“Poor kids, they were very scared. I’m glad we could find them on time.” On time was a bit of an exaggeration. Ragdoll’s Search quirk ensured no one was lost for too long, it was just a matter of receiving a request for support, or for any of them to notice something amiss.

The latter was exactly what happened in the afternoon.

“Appeared out of nowhere; are you sure?” Tiger asked Ragdoll with a worried frown.

“Yes, four people suddenly popped into existence in the middle of the restricted area. There was no one there before.”

The restricted area was a natural reserve, far away from the most-transited parts of the land. Only the most experienced campers could get close to it, since it was a long distance away from the parking lots or the heliport, and even then, very few chose to ignore the 'Trespassing will be punished with jail time' sign to walk in.

“What are their quirk weaknesses?” Pixie-Bob asked. They could usually get a good read of people by looking into that. A quirk weak to water that spent too long near the river probably would end up needing a rescue, after all.

“Could there be a teleporter among them?” Mandalay wondered pensively. “Maybe they’re practicing with the quirk and it went sideways.”

“The weird thing is,” Ragdoll said slowly, “that there’s no… weaknesses.”

Eh?

“What do you mean?”

“I know how many people, and where they are. Just not— not any of their weaknesses. My quirk doesn’t show me a thing.”

That was unheard of. Even All Might’s quirk, which usually just read 'body resistance' and 'time' as weakness — something the Symbol of Peace obviously didn’t struggle with, at all — still had something attached to it. All quirks had side effects, and some of those were inevitably undesirable. 

“What does it mean for it to be blank?”

Ragdoll shook her head. “No idea, this is the first time it’s happened.”

There was a round of silence following that ominous statement.

“We better go then,” Tiger settled with a decisive nod. “Hopefully Mandalay is right and it’s just a quirk accident, but if not…”

“If not, we better handle it before they leave the area and stumble upon any tourists,” Pixie-Bob ended. 

They did a quick check-up to ensure they had everything they may need, before Pixie-bob placed both paws on the ground, using her earth quirk to facilitate their travel.

It was a long distance away so it would take some time, but Ragdoll would immediately notice if they moved, so they would be able to give chase if needed.

Chapter Text

Find and Rescue

“A tsunami of earth!” Lee reported from his position at the top of the largest tree he could find, hugging the trunk like a koala since the branches were too thin to support his weight, and using chakra to stay up without splintering the wood was surprisingly difficult. “They’re moving in our direction!”

“ETA*?” (*Estimated Time of Arrival)

“Around fifteen? I think there are people traveling on top of it, but I can’t see them very clearly!”

Neji turned to look in the direction Lee had pointed at, and made the hand seal to activate his byakugan.

The world around him vanished, becoming a white landscape. The vegetation, the earth, the sky, the animals, all of it disappeared from his vision, leaving only people. For someone used to filtering excess details, the sudden nothingness was jarring.

“Neji, what do you see?” Tenten asked at his side.

If it was about people, at least he could still see them from long distances. The approaching group had energy in them, even if it concentrated in odd places instead of flowing evenly through the body… could that even be considered a chakra system?

“Four people.” White eyes narrowed. “Definitely coming our way. Tenten…”

She shook her head, already moving to dismantle her traps. “These won’t halt an earth tsunami jutsu, I’m sealing them away. Our resources are limited until we can go back to Konoha, so we can’t waste them here.”

They also should avoid a confrontation if possible, so they had to leave the area.

“Lee, go wake up Gai.” Hopefully the jounin was recovered enough to run now. “I’ll keep them in eyesight.”

Lee frowned from his place above them, having heard despite the distance. “But Gai-sensei hasn’t rested for long!”

“And we would need two people to carry him. If he can’t move, then we won’t have any other option but to stay and fight.” 

Lee growled with frustration but still jumped down. “He seemed really tired though…”

“What’s their village? If it’s one of Konoha’s allies maybe they’ll help us,” Tenten said while sealing off the traps.

“I can’t distinguish any headbands,” and terms like ‘peace’ and ‘allies’ were relative for ninja either way. They would do well to consider the worst case scenario regardless of their affiliation.

“So they’re undercover? An earth-tsunami jutsu is too high level for mere bandits, and hired ninja would still show their village’s headband.”

“A jutsu of that level is strong, but also easy to spot from a distance. They’re showing off their strength, showing their cards— are they underestimating us?” Neji pondered out loud.

“Do they want us to see them?” Tenten pocketed the storage scrolls.

“GAI-SENSEI, WAKE UP!” Lee was loud enough to make the air woosh, the words gaining life on their own to march between them, physically interrupting their conversation. “YOU NEED TO WAKE UP!”

“Discretion Lee, we need discretion!” Tenten said with a shushing gesture, physically pushing one of the marching letters away.

Lee stopped shaking their still-dead-to-the-world sensei, whose soul was already trying to escape the rough manhandling. “But he’s not responding!”

“Yeah, and rattling him like that isn’t going to help,” Tenten placed her hands on her hips with exasperated concern.

Ensuring the enemy was still in his now-more-limited range of vision, Neji turned around to make a basic diagnosis. He was the closest thing they had to a medic-nin, since Tenten didn’t have the chakra control for it, and Lee’s control was basically non-existent.

“Move,” he ordered Lee, getting down to a knee with the byakugan still active.

The current of chakra traveling on Gai’s system was… ridiculously weak. It was a river reduced to a rivulet.

“What do you see?”

“Chakra exhaustion,” among a multitude of damage on muscle tissue, the telltale of blood loss even hours after the injury was bandaged, and the nerve receptors lighting up like they were on fire, even with the jounin still unconscious. “He’s not going to wake up—”

“Guhh,” leave it to the man to defy expectations. A single black iris was now squinting at the sky, unfocused. “Lee…what…?”

No use in telling him when he was too tired to even open both eyes.

“Nothing,” Neji said at the same time as Lee exclaimed: “Four ninja are coming our way, traveling over an earth tsunami jutsu!”

He didn’t outwardly react, but Tenten sighed for the both of them. “Really, Lee…”

Gai choked on thin air, chest convulsing in a way the others probably thought as a silent cough, but Neji could see chakra flare up at a specific point on the head, the thin rivulet of chakra increasing as— 

As the first gate was opened. Again.

“You didn’t,” Neji muttered to himself, in awe. In horror.

Gai was now panting harshly, his face gaining a reddish tint as blood circulated faster. The jounin stood up with difficulty, even with the temporary boost of the gate, and got up the nearest tree to see the earth jutsu for himself.

He jumped back down immediately after. His condition was worsening with every movement. Neji opened his mouth, even if he was still inwardly reeling, because he couldn’t believe the jounin was still standing—  

“Don’t,” Gai warned knowingly, giving him a pointed look before turning to face the soon-to-arrive opposition. “That’s one of the loudest ‘we are coming’ I’ve ever seen. Neji, can you see any head protectors?”

He gulped down the words unsaid. “None.”

“And they’re definitely headed to our location. Hmm…”

“What do we do Gai-sensei?” Lee was a fellow gate-user, but he didn’t seem to notice the extent of the damage. He seemed more concerned about the situation at hand than unbelieving of the fact that Gai could still move.

Lee honestly couldn’t believe this was normal, could he?

“A confrontation is unlikely… either that or they’re incredibly arrogant. Whatever the case, it doesn’t change our position. Tenten, you stay behind us, prepare non-lethal coats for your senbons. Let’s have them swiftly knocked out if we’re pushed to a confrontation, avoid killing if possible unless there’s no other choice. Neji, who’s doing the earth jutsu?”

He was almost grateful for the excuse to turn his focus away from the silent, self-inflicted agony. “Female, blond, blue clothes.”

“That’s your target Tenten.”

“Got it,” she nodded, already taking out the thin weapons.

“What do the others look like?”

“Two female, red and yellow clothes. The other is more masculine, tall and muscular with brown clothes. I can’t guess their clan based on appearance.”

“In that case… Neji, Lee, you two cover Tenten from their view so she can have a clear shot. Once the senbon is thrown, pick the opponent closest to you and aim for a quick knockout.”

“You can count on us, Gai-sensei!”

“Hmn.”

Gai straightened. “How long do we have?”

“Five minutes.”

“Good,” the jounin nodded seriously, before giving them a weak, playful half-grin. “Then, let’s start playing Guess what.”

Against his will, Neji’s eye twitched.

“…seriously?” Tenten asked with a sigh, even already knowing the answer. 

(x)

“Guess what I’m seeing!” the boy with the weird green jumpsuit — around twelve or thirteen years old —  exclaimed with literal stars in his eyes. 

“A tree. You know how I guessed? Because there are nothing but trees here,” the girl with cute twin buns answered exasperatedly, probably not for the first time.

“You’re right!” green-kid shouted passionately. “Now is your turn to guess—”

“No,” the teen with white eyes and long, straight hair interrupted icily, not even looking at the other kid. 

“Are you getting along?” the man that was clearly green-kid’s father shouted obliviously. “Say YAY if you are!”

“YAY!” green-kid was the only one to chorus back. The other two seemed to be silently wishing for an aneurysm.

The group of four were all wearing the same symbol in metallic plating — fancy — and father and son were using the same horrid-green uniform. And haircut. And the eyebrows were… there. They really were there. Welp, they sure wanted people to know they were family.

The intruders in the restricted area were just three teen scouts that picked their friend’s dad as a guide instead of an actual professional, and got lost for it. It was kind of anticlimactic.

“Hey!” Mandalay greeted, one cat paw waving at them. “Are you lost? We’ll help you get back!”

The teens stepped back, obviously startled by Pixie-Bob’s showy entrance. The moment the heroes noticed there was no threat she decided to show off and transform the previously shapeless earth into one giant bear, so the Wild Wild Pussycats were now standing gloriously at its back.

The expected chorus of wonder never came though, if anything, the three brats seemed oddly tense. Pfft, teens, always harder to impress than younger children.

“We’re a bit lost, yeah!” the dad admitted with an embarrassed smile, stepping in front of the group. “Can you tell us where we are?”

“You managed to get into a restricted area,” Tiger gave them a reprimanding tone, crossing their arms. “The natural reserve is off limits for tourists!”

The man was now as tense as the teens, even if he was still chuckling sheepishly. Yap, you should be. The no-trespassing signs are there for a reason—

The dad scratched the back of his neck ruefully, and the white cloth covering the shoulder, dirty with dried blood, gained a patch of new, vivid red that kept steadily growing. 

He was reopening the wound with his careless movements. He also looked a bit feverish, limbs spasming every now and then. Shit, infection?

“You’re injured. Let’s get you some first aid, you can tell us how you got here on the way back, alright?” Ragdoll decided with a clap, and since they were not impressed with the bear anyway it dissolved into shapeless earth once more. “Pixie-Bob will get you up.”

“That’s me!” the blond raised an arm since the scouts seemed at loss of who she was referring to. “You’ll feel the ground move under your feet. It’s ok, don’t be scared, you’re in good paws! Ready at three, two—”

The father stepped back, made a signal that was too fast to distinguish — was that even JSL**? — and extended his arms around the three teens close to him, as if to ensure they had support in case they lost their balance. Aww, overprotective much?

“—one, and up!”

The dirt under their feet slowly moved, carefully bringing them towards the Hero team. Once they were all standing in the same mound of earth it started to move back towards their base.

“You don’t know about us, eh?” Mandalay guessed since they were still standing close together, a ball of palpable tension. “We’re the Wild Wild Pussycats! We specialize in Find and Rescue so no worries, you’re safe now.”

“Oh!” the father relaxed and let his arms fall, but the brats still encircled him almost protectively. She couldn’t fault them for worrying over him, he looked even more feverish up close, body visibly trembling. “I haven’t heard of you before. Who do you work for, if I can ask?”

“We’re not associated with a Hero Agency right now, we’re on our own,” Tiger answered, stepping closer to the rescued group. “Sit down, let me take a look at your shoulder.”

“Sure thing,” the man kindly parted the barricade of teens and walked through.

“Name? What happened?”

“I’m Gai, we were attacked on our way back.” Wait, what?! “The young ones managed to remain out of the way, but the man got me at the shoulder. Felt kinda like a stab—”

“Wait a second, halt!” Ragdoll ordered, even as Pixie-Bob increased their travel speed. “Who attacked you? Where?”

So there was a threat to the tourists here, a villain?!

“I don’t know where it happened, the vegetation all looks the same to me. I’m sorry I can’t help with that… but he was wearing a large dark tunic, face completely covered by an orange mask with only one visible eye. He could… make portals, or something? We fell through one of those and ended up here.”

So that’s why they had appeared out of nowhere in the restricted area. And a villain with a space-travel quirk… crap.

“How long ago?”

“Not too long, I think…” the man stumbled, he seemed dizzy.

“A stab wound will need stitches,” Tiger shook their head and left the bandaged shoulder untouched. “We’ll take you to the infirmary we have at the base. The doc will look at it and give you something for the fever, you’re burning.”

“What? No, I’m fine, it’s fine,” Gai waved dismissively. Tiger shook their head in disbelief and looked up at Ragdoll.

“I can’t sense anyone that could be related to a teleportation quirk,” Ragdoll answered the unasked question, resting her chin on one paw. “But Mandalay, we should send a message to the tourists and close off the area just in case—”

"No, we could warn off the villain if I communicate on a large scale. It’s better if we search by sections, so we can intercept anyone that reacts suspiciously to the announcement."

“Excuse me," the only girl in the group of teens waved. "What do you mean by sense a quirk?”

“Hmm? Ah, my quirk is Search, I can locate people; that’s how we found you. Don’t worry, if the man that attacked you is still here we’ll catch him!”

The teen nodded slowly in response, not looking really reassured.

“Alright, names and quirks everyone!” Pixie-bob asked. “We’ll register you to build up the case with the police.”

“Quirks are skills, right?” the serious teen with white eyes said calmly, almost coldly.

That was an odd way to put it, but: “Yeah?”

He gave a single nod. “Hyuga Neji, sharp eyesight.”

“Excellent!” the injured father grinned weakly, unfocused eyes looking in the teen’s general direction. “Maito Gai, high endurance.” No wonder he was treating a stab wound so carelessly then; the doctors probably hated him.

“Oh, uh, Rock Lee! I’m very fast!” he was actually raising his hand like he was at school, how cute. Different last names though, so Gai was divorced?

“Tenten, storage scrolls,” she said while walking towards the dizzy dad, standing closer to him.

“Last name?”

“None. I’m an orphan, so I don’t have one.” Ah…

“You can write down Maito if you can’t leave it blank.” The certainty behind the statement was one Mandalay could appreciate. The process to adopt Kota hadn’t been easy even when she was the kid’s aunt, she had heard adopting a minor with no blood-relation was a much longer, often unreliable process.

Tenten looked mortified and touched at the same time. Mandalay decided to not call attention to it.

“Were you too far from the entrance when the villain attacked you?”

“I’m not sure, we’ve been lost for quite a while,” Gai shrugged — stop moving the injured shoulder! — sheepishly. Not unusual considering the extensive land.

“Where are you from, maybe the villain followed you?” Ragdoll asked absentmindedly, still more focused on trying to find someone with the villain's quirk.

“We’re not from the area, we’re staying closeby.”

Vacation time at its finest. "Alright then, what’s the name of the hotel?”

“Err, I’m very bad with names…” Gai trailed off self-consciously. “Let’s see... I remember we stopped by the store to grab some food, rested for a bit, double-checked we had everything for the trip, then we started to walk. Lee was engaged in a youthful contest with Tenten on who could carry more things, which Tenten won—”

“No, stop, we literally just need the hotel’s name. Or the street, or something close to it—”

“—and then they both tried to engage in conversation with Neji, but this was an eventful day—”

“Gai-san, please focus on the question.”

“—and even as youthful as they are, sometimes some quiet is just what the soul demands—”

The fever was obviously making him delirious, getting anything useful from the dad was hopeless.

“What about you, do you remember?” Pixie-bob sighed at the middle schoolers, drowning the clueless rant of the man that had a little something wrong in the head.

“I was too busy winning to note our surroundings,” Tenten smirked at the other teen, who huffed.

“Well, I was thinking about a youthful challenge to follow the previous!” Lee exclaimed with exaggerated movements, staring fiercely at Tenten. The kid sure was competitive.

“Give me a map and I’ll tell you,” Neji seemed to take pity on her and nodded his assent. She was grateful for at least one semi-useful response.

At last, they finally arrived back to the base, where they stayed only long enough to drop the three teens and a surprisingly stubborn dad at the infirmary — No, no, don’t touch me. I can walk on my own, thank you! — before going out again to try to find the villain that had attacked them. They would question the scouts once that was done, they still needed to know where they were staying at, and why Ragdoll’s quirk couldn’t detect any weaknesses. 

…or they would have, if the group had still been there by the time they returned to the base, no villains apprehended.

(x)(x)(x)

It was an eventful afternoon. His team had managed to improvise a story that would take some time to disprove, and by then they would already be on their way back to Konoha, hopefully.

“We need a place to rest,” Gai was quite literally on his last leg. He could only remain standing with Lee’s help; a single touch would be enough to knock him out at this point. One of the run-down buildings nearby had a faded 'Motel' sign at the entrance. It would have to do. “How much did we get?”

Neji and Tenten had gone on separate ways, pickpocketing what Gai hoped were small amounts of currency from the civilians they crossed paths with, because instead of ryo these people used 'yen'.

Neji extended a palm with his lot, and Tenten placed the money she collected there. Most were coins, but one was a remarkably fat, rolled up set of bills, which meant it had come from a single person.

“Tenten,” Gai reprimanded, disappointed.

“The douchebag deserved it,” she was not apologetic at all. Ah well, at least this ensured they had enough for a room night.

They divided the lot in equal amounts, so they all had at least a bit of money for emergencies, and got in. All the available rooms had only one bed, and the receptionist didn’t want to allow the four of them to share a single room, but a generous tip later Gai was opening the door and collapsing over the tinny and dirty thing that had the gall to call itself a bed.

“Guuu,” was what came out when he tried to ask for guard turns.

“I’ll be setting up the traps, so I’m taking the first,” Tenten offered, unrolling her storage scroll to take out the bedding they used during missions out of the village. They looked cleaner and more comfortable than the 'bed' he had collapsed at, but Gai was too exhausted to move.

“Eeeesssttt.”

“I’ll be next, Gai-sensei!” Lee answered his attempt at a question. “We’ll be relying a lot on the byakugan tomorrow, so Neji needs to be well-rested, right?”

Smart, good kid. Gai nodded, his cheek heavily pressed against the rough fabric of the pillowcase.

“I don’t need your coddling,” the Hyuga prodigy looked as offended as Gai expected.

“Pleeee.” Please, he tried to convey, eyes closing on their own accord.

Whatever the response was, Gai was no longer awake to hear it.

(x)

“—need to leave.”

“But Gai-sensei needs to rest!”

“He’s been asleep for at least twenty hours already, and I’ve healed what I could. He can manage.”

“He has to eat too; I don’t think he got anything yesterday,” Tenten pointed out.

Gai made a mental check of his body’s condition: still tired, but his limbs were no longer heavy to the point of unusable. No broken bones, the torn muscles were bearable, and his shoulder was twinkly but doing great all things considered, since the masked man had materialized the kunai somewhere inside his shoulder, it wasn’t a common stabbing wound, exactly.

He was also hungry and needed to use the restroom.

Thus, he inwardly welcomed the day ahead and swiftly sat up.

“SENSEI DON’T DO THAT!” Tenten shrieked, having jumped off the bed’s corner at the sudden movement, instinctively throwing shuriken in his direction.

“Sorry, I’ll be back in a jiffy!” Gai evaded them by reflex and dashed towards the restroom.

Once that was out of the way, he sat down and listened to his genin’s reports while biting on a sandwich, trying not to fall asleep again.

“This place has a thing called ‘quirks’ and they’re like blood limits, except they mutate even among close relatives so they’re all unique. Most of the population have at least one,” Neji started off from the corner of the room, arms crossed.

“Civilians can’t use their unique jutsu though, not unless they are in the Ninja Register— ah, for them that’s a Hero License! And they group together and form hero agencies instead of operative squads,” Lee added, having obviously used familiar terminology to understand new concepts faster. 

“This district is not a good area, but it’s cheap and less… imposing than other places. The amount of people this city has is huge, sensei, it’s like— like the capital of the Daimyo, but a hundred times the number of civilians, it’s insane! Why are there so many people?!”

Gai learned a lot as his team continued their tale, but in the end, they all came back to the main query. If this was not their world, then: 

“How are we going to get back?”

His team looked at him with various degrees of expectation and hopelessness. 

Gai inwardly swore to do his best to bring them back home, and mused out loud. “If Ikken-sama is successful and can give us refuge in the land of tortoises, then we would be a step closer to home, back at the Elemental Nations, at least. Only the current holder is allowed to know their exact location though, most summons like to remain off human’s maps…

“But I’m currently the only contract holder, and we all need to be allowed entrance, thus the request to the elders. Once they agree we could go to their land, and then… hm. Since I’m with you they would be missing the link back to Konoha, so reverse summoning us directly in the village probably isn’t an option. 

“Although they could still arrive using the long way— ah, but as much as I love my summons, only a select few have any remarkable speed. My companion for emergencies is fast and could deliver a message, but she’s too young and small to do any reverse summoning on her own… I’d probably have to go solo, and summon you three once I’m closer to the village.”

In the end, it all depended on the tortoises’ acceptance. His team looked incredibly worried.

“WELL!” Gai clapped to take the genin out of their gloomy heads, and try to force his body back to normal. Moving was still incredibly difficult. “In the meantime, we should settle just like we would for an out-of-town mission. This motel obviously is not acceptable. Suggestions?”

“There’s a better hotel a few blocks away from here, we should have enough money for a week’s stay,” Tenten suggested, looking away when Gai squinted at her and asked how she got the additional cash. Suspicious.

“There’s an abandoned lot by the fighting club near the coast, we could camp there. And maybe even work at the club! Fighters make a hefty sum as they get more and more popular, or at least that’s what the man told me before I broke his arm,” Lee muttered innocently, bandaged fingers holding his chin. “After that he just cried. Would it be weird for us to sleep under the stars?”

Lee had fought someone?

“Have you seen the number of structures these people have?” Neji scoffed at Lee. “Of course it would be odd. How stupid can you be?”

“Don’t be rude, I’m just trying to help!”

“Then do a better job,” Neji was noticeably in a bad mood, “unless you want us to have a hospital room as a place to stay, like the tattooed imbeciles that—”

“Enough.” Something had definitely happened while he was asleep. “You— just how much have you three been fighting?”

There was a pause of tense silence that was as telling as a proper answer.

“Sensei, the people around here are jerks. Like, bandits are polite and compassionate people in comparison,” Tenten huffed, visibly irritated. And like any good ninja, an irritated Tenten was a slightly murderous Tenten.

Good for survival, but not so much for not standing out, so he needed to ask. “How many people have you sent to the medics?”

Tenten scrunched her nose in distaste, but remained silent.

“Listen, I’m not mad,” Gai said, because that phrase worked with Kakashi’s ninken to make them bark their mischief, so it was worth a shot against teens, right? “Nor am I saying they didn’t deserve it, or that we don’t need the money… but we’re supposed to keep a low profile. What’s the headcount?”

Tenten pouted, but stayed stubbornly silent.

“Lee, the headcount,” Gai ordered with his serious voice, arms crossed.

Lee vibrated on the spot for all of three seconds before screaming an apology to Tenten and admitting: “Around twenty! We’re so sorry!”

Twenty people were hospitalized in a single day, so almost one per hour. It was worrying, but also quite impressive if one considered that—

“Which is why we need to leave,” Neji hissed with a heavy frown, “as soon as possible.”

Oh right, right, agreed on that. The last thing they needed was pointless confrontations with the heroes of this place.

“You say it like you didn’t hospitalize eight of them!” Tenten accused. Neji didn’t answer, so he was probably guilty as charged. 

His team really could be quite distinctive.

“Ok, alright, it’s only been a day so let’s just move out of town!” Gai reassured them with a grin and a thumbs up. “Neji, take out the map. Let’s see our options.”

One more hour passed to settle on their next destination, but in the end they managed to pack everything up — Tenten’s traps, storage scrolls, and silencing seals included — without any weapons flying off, chakra-points forcefully sealed, or roundhouse kicks destroying the already-pitiful furniture of the room. 

Gai counted his blessings, gave himself a pat on the back for a hard earned victory, and led the way out with his team in tow, moving at a sedated pace since he was still too tired for extraneous exercise.

They would be on their way back home soon enough.

Chapter Text

Twice a Matter of Time

In the end, they had gone back to what was comfortable — and didn’t involve spending money they would have to keep stealing to obtain — and had decided to sleep in the wilderness. Not the one where the Wild Cat Heroes had found them, but nearby still.

“How are you feeling, Gai-sensei?” 

His students asked that every other hour. They all were impatient to speak with the tortoise again, to hear the answer that would define their next course of action, and currently their only ticket back home. Oh, and they were probably a bit worried about his wellbeing too.

“Fresh as the morning breeze!” he exclaimed with a nice guy pose. “Come on team, let’s do this!” 

The genin perked up marginally, circling him with visible interest and hope. Gai sat down — mindful of the upcoming chakra exhaustion — and bit his thumb. There was a puff of smoke, ridiculously small considering the huge chunk of chakra the jutsu demanded, and the old tortoise narrowed his eyes cutely. 

“You again,” Ikken scolded irritably, stepping forward to bite one of Gai’s fingers. He flinched, but controlled the instinct to retreat his hand and toss the tortoise away. He was asking for a favor after all.

“Sorry for the interruption, Ikken-sama.”

“Hrr,” the old tortoise bit hard enough for Gai to worry about losing that chunk of finger, but was mercifully let go after a second. “It’s been only six hours since I last saw you. You don’t expect me to have talked to the elders already, do you? The impatience of the youth…”

“Six hours? ” Tenten whispered in horror, accompanied by Lee’s sharp gasp.

“It’s been three days for us, Ikken-sama,” Gai said to the summon, stomach sinking at the revelation. Was time really— 

“Ah. Apologies for the bite then.”

“Don’t— it’s ok, don’t worry about it!” Gai reassured hastily, because in lieu of this new development they really needed all the help they could get. “Ikken-sama, I beg you, please share my plea with the elders as soon as possible. How quickly do you think that may be?”

The old tortoise hummed. “The Guardian of the Land is hibernating still, and you know the others don’t like to do anything without him present..."

“Hibernating. But we can’t—”

“Wait for months considering your time runs by faster, I know. I’ll find a way to convince them. Ningame should be more than willing to help and drag the other’s support, so… give us a week.”

That was a much better prognostic!

“I’m thankful for the effort everyone will put into this. I shall lavish you all with berries and the juiciest tomatoes I can find once I’m back home!” Gai promised heartily. He would have raised his arms for emphasis if he had the energy to spare, but the amount of chakra such a little summon demanded was unbelievably high.

The tortoise considered him for a short moment, and at last nodded at his sincerity. “I’ll hold you to your word then. Anything else?”

“Large summons are going to be impossible here without opening the inner gates, and I can’t afford to be out of commission when my team needs me… so please, send my regards to Ningame and team. I will miss them dearly during my forced stay in this place.”

“…you’re a good holder, for one so young.” Gai could be a hundred years old and this tortoise would still consider him a young adult, probably. “I’ll do what I can to have the elders approve your request.”

He bowed in sincere gratitude. “Thank you very much!”

“Sanitize the bite wound by the way, I’ve taken down opponents with less.” 

Err. “Venom…?”

“Not exactly. I just happen to have developed immunity to toxins other living creatures may consider lethally infectious. I also find them tasty, so I munch on them all the time.”

Purposely toxic then, but not so much as if the venom were self-secreted. He could survive that!

“Thanks for the warning, my new friend!” Gai raised the finger to his mouth to suck and spit out what he could, and dispelled the summon when Ikken nodded among amused chuckles.

Thankfully Tenten already had the medical supplies on hand, since she and Neji had helped him with his injured shoulder just a moment ago. One more healing session and his shoulder would be back to normal, with a new scar to show his body’s strength and unbreakable will for recovery!

“Geez, what a jerk,” Tenten muttered, treating the small wound the old-fashioned way, since her chakra control was not deemed sufficient for the medical arts. “We really need a medic-nin in this team, sensei.”

Neji had the chakra control for it, but not any interest in learning beyond the basics of medical jutsu. Probably because the Hyuga clan saw it as a lesser profession than the shinobi belonging to the operative combat and ANBU units. 

“Gai, do you truly believe this will be done within a week?” the Hyuga prodigy asked somewhat impatiently. Lee frowned at the tone, but Gai didn’t take offense. Very few things could make him take offense, if he was honest.

“I trust his judgment, and with Ningame’s support it will be done. Considering how old-fashioned the council is, I think five days at best, and if we’re unlucky then it may be extended to ten days.”

“If three days for us are six hours for them,” Neji mused without looking at anyone in particular. “Five days on their land is two months of waiting. A week would mean three months.”

“And ten days are four months…” Lee was rapidly paling. “For us to stay stuck here for that long, how are we—”

“Very well team!” Gai exclaimed as soon as the finger was treated, standing up with an energetic shout that was more bark than bite. He had renewed respect for Kakashi’s resistance when faced with chakra-depletion because this felt awful. “Welcome to your very first long-term B-rank mission! We’re expected to not only settle and meddle in this place for the next foreseeable months, but also use the time to its fullest!”

Lee was sitting up straighter, hopeful smile slowly growing back in place.

Tenten raised an eyebrow. “Use the time, how?”

“Excellent question!” Gai gave her a thumbs up. “May this be a valuable life lesson, my dear genins. Adapting to the unpredictable is part of being a ninja, and thus, while being here we will find a way to continue training, as if we were back home! We will use the time difference in our favor! Let’s show the whole village how much we can grow in what they experience as mere days, but for us are full months! LET’S GROW STRONGER!”

“YOSH!” Lee was standing up now, fully rejuvenated. “We’ll do our best to use this additional time!”

“A long-term mission? Heh, I guess this turned into one,” Tenten sighed, relaxing a bit with the familiar terminology. “I should have brought more weapons.”

“B-rank, so we’re expecting spy-work, infiltration…” Neji mumbled to himself, the spark of drive settling in. Splendid!

“Exactly so! For now, the first point in the agenda is to get a residence and a source of income, so fire your ideas at me, come on!”

“Kill for hire,” Tenten was really eager to participate in A-rank missions. Ah, the naivety of genins; Gai admired the drive, but.

“My bad. More specifically, ideas that don’t get us in trouble with the local authority!” Gai corrected.

“Then the quirk fighting club! Citizens gamble on them just like in the Chunin Exams, so it’s not illegal, right?”

“Good reasoning Lee, let’s get that on the list of options. What else?”

“Hmm… martial arts instructors,” Tenten suggested.

“A great idea if we can find an established local looking for hires!”

“Construction!”

“Physical labor is redeemable and serves as training, yes!”

With the morale high and the list of options steadily growing, their stay here would certainly be a great one!

(x)

One week down the road, they had discovered that teens couldn’t legally work, except for part-time jobs serving food, cashiers, cookers… all of which asked for basic personal documentation they didn’t possess. There were also laws against child-labor, and asking for them to be hired in construction sites was apparently no good. Who would have guessed? This was such a weird world! Gai had helped his father with construction labor since he was four and had been just fine!

But a mission for infiltration demanded for them to follow local guidelines, to not draw attention to themselves, so in the end, Gai was the only adult and thus the only option to get a steady source of income without immediately raising alarm.

He had, naturally, picked the one job from the list that demanded less time for greater pay, paid cash-only after the work was done, and where the lack of documentation didn’t seem to be an issue. 

“So I just go in there and knock them out?”

“Put on a show first, the audience wants to see an entertaining fight. Make it last a few minutes. Struggle. Keep them on their toes.”

It was evident that the fight club was of dubious legality, but the other option that covered all conditions was kill for hire. This was the lesser evil, right?

The man with two gold teeth that had hired him said he was 'the stellar' at the moment since everyone betted against him, which made for a good amount of money since he had yet to lose a match. Gai used the experience to admire the jutsu this world called quirks — such variety! Such creativity to their use! — but otherwise didn’t particularly care. He was just grateful the job was held only after the sunset since that meant he had the rest of the day to instruct his genins.

“—and All Might swept in with the giant steely robot he had defeated and placed it under the bridge,” Lee grunted as the roundhouse kick collided with Gai’s arm, “to keep it from collapsing!”

“Sounds good!” Lee really liked watching the news to analyze heroes' fights, which was great since it also served to gauge this world’s views. Who would have guessed the label of ‘villain’ could be earned with something as small as public 'quirk' misusage? This society sure liked to stick with black and white colors.

“—and then— ouch!”

“No more talking, focus!”

At the moment training was limited to one-on-one sessions, exclusively indoors, but they were looking for bigger areas that would allow for better training without raising a red flag for the heroes. Neji had a good lead on someone that managed 'quirk-training spaces' and was very illicit discreet looking. They would find something soon enough.

“Great momentum, keep it up!”

“HAH!”

“No, no, it needs to be in this position. Like this. HAH!”

“HAH!”

“Better, repeat it again. One, two— yes, that’s great! Good job!”

The alarm clock they had gotten from a thrift shop signaled the end of their session, so he left Lee to continue practicing the new set of moves, and went to check on Tenten.

“How are you—”

A hiss that sounded more like a wounded animal than a person.

“—doing… wow.”

Paper with drawn seals were tossed all over the floor, surrounding a frustrated kunoichi. She was glaring at the paper like it had personally offended her, holding the brush like it was a kunai, with killing intent slowly leaking outward.

“The food keeps rotting in the storage seals,” Tenten groaned, her free hand massaging her temple. “But I’m doing it right, I know I’m doing it right, so what’s the problem? Why is the temperature and light regulation not working? ”

Gai didn’t know fuinjutsu to help her, and the book on seals she carried everywhere — her main source of knowledge aside from her experience working in Konoha’s weaponry stores and storage vaults — was starting to tear due to the excessive use.

“You’ve made a hundred of these in the last few hours,” Gai noted, impressed.

“And none of them work as they should!”

“Tenten, you’ve drawn a hundred seals in the last few hours,” Gai repeated. Being able to identify when one reached their limit, either physically, mentally, or emotionally, was as important to survival as practice and hard work were. “A youthful mind can benefit from a break. Come on, spar with me to get off some steam! Let’s practice close-quarter encounters!”

Tenten gave a frustrated sigh, but nodded in agreement.

They moved to the Messy Room — the one with suspicious marks left by what Gai was pretty sure had been a violent mass murder — and started the close-range fight.

An hour later the walls had new scratch marks, looking like some wild beast had broken free from its cage and obliterated everything in its path. Tenten’s specialty laid on wide-area attacks, but her skill to fight in close quarters was steadily improving with these training sessions. 

By the end of it she was also much more relaxed, and going back to drawing seals seemed to finally result in development.

“The food is still warm, so the temperature regulation is working! If I can get it to keep it cold and dark now, then…” 

“Excellent job Tenten!” Gai grinned, patting her back with measured force. The last time he had done it too hard and she had instinctively tried to impale his arm with a senbon. A surprised Tenten was a slightly-poisonous Tenten, but she was doing great; she would be a remarkable kunoichi at this pace!

Now, if only Neji dedicated some time to train with them instead of focusing solely on infiltrating this curious world.

In the week they had spent in this place, the Hyuga prodigy was often out of the building, exploring. Gai had tasked him with searching for a new training place since he was the only one in the team that could henge his appearance for long periods of time, but Neji hardly needed to be out the whole day. 

Gai hadn’t spoken with him yet though; he suspected his behavior may be due to—

“Gai-sensei, the landlord is at the door!” Lee’s shout interrupted his musings.

“Coming!” Gai closed the door behind him, leaving a happier Tenten drawing inside. One of the main advantages of the new place — a large apartment — was that it was big enough for his team to be comfortable sharing space. This way his two practicing students could do their own thing without interfering with each other.

So long they paid rent they would be able to stay, even without proper documentation. The owner was not mentally well, but if one overlooked the strange speech pattern he was quite the kind person, all things considered. Gai had been lucky to find him.

“Hello Gai! Goodbye!” the man with a sheer mesh covering his head greeted welcomingly and angrily in the same breath.

“Jin, so glad to see you! Come in, come in, do you want some water?” Gai patted his back amiably a couple of times, encouraging him inside.

“I can drink through the mesh, right? Don’t want it!”

“Of course! Don’t mind us, the kids are doing their own thing.” Introducing his genin team as his students had people pause to stare at Lee, then slowly go back to Gai, muttering an unbelieving suuuuuure that spoke their mind clear enough. Using kids was a better term to avoid long-winded discussions. “Have you eaten anything yet? I can liquefy some food for you.”

Jin’s precarious mental stability depended solely on covering his head — to be complete, only like this I am me — and taking it off even for eating caused severe anxiety. Thus, a severe limitation on the frequency of solid foods. The man could gulp down everything in a single go if he didn’t have to chew, to minimize the time where he had to remove it.

“Just a bit would be nice. Don’t touch my food,” Jin nodded right before shaking his head negatively. “Thank you for, uh, understanding. You don’t get it! Sorry about this, I don’t mean to be rude. Fuck off!”

“I know, it’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

After his third day working in the fight club Gai had found Jin crying in the dark, dirty alleyway that led to the club’s back entrance. When Gai got close and offered to listen, Jin had said he had gambled the last of his money in the final fight — betting against him, unsurprisingly — and lost, so now he had no option but to sell the apartment he had inherited from his parents, to afford food, to survive . 

Conveniently enough, Gai was looking for a place to stay! So he had offered to pay rent instead, and thus, their current arrangement. Jin left the apartment for his genin team to use and damage — I can’t go past the living room anyways, too many memories — and in exchange the man got some income in the form of rent, and a most youthful model to measure!

“I’m not strong enough for these things, I can do it, ” Jin admitted dejectedly and animatedly when Gai suggested working with him in the fighting club.

“You can copy people though, so you can measure me!" He had offered, pointing at himself. "Just hand the replica a weapon and the fighting style won’t be recognizable as my own.”

“Nah, they disappear easily. Like, breaking an arm would be enough to make it dissolve into mud. WEAK!”

“Based on what little I’ve seen; I doubt most opponents have the skill needed to hurt me to that level.”

In the end, the fighting club was Jin’s last option if he didn’t want to fall even deeper into 'villainy' — I’ve had the label for a while, so no employers ever look at me, but it was an accident you know? It wasn’t! And then I cloned myself and robbed several places because I needed the money and... I’m an idiot, fucked up — so the last couple of days Jin had dropped by the apartment an hour before Gai had to leave for his shift, to measure him and try out his cloning quirk.

“Hello! You’re the most youthful person I’ve ever met!” the replica greeted with a bright grin.

Gai laughed and waved back. “Likewise, my mirror!”

They got along well enough, the appearance and personality were on point. But when it was time to test the fighting skills…

“Do your best,” Gai instructed, taking a basic stance. 

He didn’t even need to move from his starting point.

The copy was absurdly weak and so, very, slow. The technique was awful too, Lee could tie both hands behind his back and still destroy the mud clone with a single kick.

“I didn’t feel a thing,” Gai admitted with a grimace.

“Another failure. Success!” Jin lamented with an anxious sigh, before exclaiming happily.

“Practice makes perfect, don’t lose hope!” the clone reassured Jin with a thumbs up.

Jin was always reluctant to dismiss the practice-clones, so Gai nodded solemnly at it and dislocated the extended arm, watching as it dissolved into mud. He grabbed the broom to clean it up.

“I’m not getting your quirk right. Describe it again? I understand perfectly!”

“Youthful strength, speed, and endurance,” Gai repeated, placing the broom aside and heading to the door. It was time to go for his work shift.

“I need to see it in action. No, I don’t.” This was the reason why Jin visited just before Gai had to leave, so they could walk to the fight club together. Hopefully more exposure would help him get a grip on it, even though it wasn’t a quirk—

It wasn’t a quirk. Huh, was that messing up things?

“I’m sure you’ll get it right soon enough,” Gai gave him an encouraging grin while turning off the lights, deciding not to mention the lack of quirk and the very present reality of the chakra system.

Tenten would activate the traps soon after their departure. For their first week in unfamiliar land, it hadn’t been too terrible an adaptation!

(x)

The last week had been particularly awful.

Shouta hadn’t even been on patrol that night, he just had the misfortune of running out of milk at the wrong time. If he had known he was going to stumble on a mess of this magnitude, he would have forgo the trip but honestly, what were the chances of going to the store, only to find a large group of people injured to the point of requiring hospitalization?

If it was him then 200%, apparently.

From the twenty-five victims, only five had visible bruises and maladies like dislocated shoulders, broken arms, head concussions. Another ten people had sustained internal damage, mostly at the stomach, and the other ten were poisoned, undergoing a very slow recovery since the doctors couldn’t identify the exact poison used. 

The victims in this instance had been hospitalized on time to survive, but others may not be as lucky, and if the poison was quirk-induced it may be unique, which meant the assailants needed to be found for a cure to be developed.  

And as the first hero in the scene the case was his to take care of. Cheers.

“What do we have?” he rasped a week after the initial finding. He was running on two hours of sleep and had enough caffeine in his system to keep an elephant awake, which meant he was right at the point of imminent collapse. 

“Sorry to say it, but the description of the assailants match among all victims, even the ones that just woke up yesterday,” Tanuma huffed. “This seems to be the work of three people.”

Three teenagers, based on the victims’ reports. More than twenty people hospitalized in a single night, with a handful needing surgery to repair the damaged organs, and another half poisoned into a coma that lasted almost the full week, and it was the work of freaking middle schoolers.

Male, long straight hair, white eyes without discernible pupils, wearing a beige shirt.

Male, dark bowl cut, prominent eyebrows, green jumpsuit with orange leg warmers. Possibly on drugs.

Female, brown hair pulled up in twin buns, looked normal until she didn’t, (how did this description match for all twenty-five testimonies?).

All estimated to be around twelve or thirteen years old.

“Any cameras in the area?”

“Only one survived so we have a single recording, but the quality and distance don’t really let us discern anything. We’re better off running with witness description at this point.” 

Just his luck. “So we need to run them by the register.” That always took ages.

“Usually yes, but we caught this one guy yesterday…” Tanuma rummaged around the multiple folders on his desk and passed one to him. “A minor infraction, but during the interrogation he mentioned he frequents a fight club by the coast. He also complained about this newcomer that made him lose a ton of money.”

One with dark hair in a bowl cut and prominent eyebrows, who wore a green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers. An adult in his late twenties or early thirties.

“Wasn’t the assailant a teen?”

“We suspect his quirk may let him alter his appearance to an extent. I mean, what are the chances of there being two people that fit with that description?” Fair point. However…

“This is that fight club, isn’t it?” 

“The one that always manages to slip through, yeah,” Tanuma huffed into his cup. “But you’re not going there to close the place, no matter how much we may want to. Just ask for this one fighter, let’s see where we go from there.”

Shouta massaged the bridge of his nose. “I’m banned. I can enter the club under guise, but going backstage is not going to be easy.”

“Yeah, you’re banned,” the officer looked around before leaning closer with a complicit half-grin, “but Knuckleduster is not.”

Shouta inwardly groaned. Of course the law suggested him to team up with the vigilante that was famous for his rudeness and absurd willingness of getting into quirkless brawls at the slightest provocation.

One that would not look out of place in a fight club. One that could file a request for a one-time fight and get Shouta backdoors, where the fighters warmed up and prepared for the ring. Where the suspect was going to be.

It was exactly what this undercover required, dang it.

“I’ll give him a ring.”

“Bring him a beer and he’ll be nice.”

Shouta tsked, already turning to leave. “He’s never nice.”

“No, but he’ll be nicer.”

He snorted. Right, just like Shouta himself was nicer with caffeine in his system, which meant cordial enough to not glare at everything that breathed in his general direction. 

Hopefully this would be a short, open-and-close case. Teaching at U.A. didn’t exactly increase his free time, and the class he had been assigned to instruct this year was going to be full of problem children, if the U.A. entrance exam was anything to go by. He would be surprised if the Midoriya kid managed to stay out of the infirmary on the first goddamn day of class.

It was probably better to expel him and spare the kid the suffering.

Chapter Text

Fight Club

The fighters had their own codes. One to say, “Go easy on me,” another for “I want a serious brawl.” 

Anything else meant they had no preference, but the owner of the fight club did mention that there should never be any need for hospitalization. The injuries should be treatable by the local medics they had backdoors.

Tonight Gai’s first round was against an older man that spat, “you look like a weakling,” as the very first thing. A request to go easy, so Gai had laughed it off, kept up amiable remarks during the whole encounter, and won with a clean knock-out that was feigned.

He had even winked at Jin's general direction at some point, who was standing at the very back talking with himself, probably trying to take note of his fighting skills. Gai tried to be slow enough for the eyes to follow whenever he got a request to go easy, hopefully that would help his new friend.

His second match though.

“I challenge you to a fight to the death!” Rappa 'The Rapper' exclaimed with a ferocious grin, and the crowd surrounding the cage cheered at the prospect of violent entertainment.

That was a request for a serious brawl.

Gai’s expression sobered as he took a stance, dark eyes carefully evaluating his opponent. The iron braces covered the man’s hands with special support for the fingers, knuckles, and wrists, reinforced with bandages that went all the way up to the elbows. A fist fighter, what was his quirk?

The ring was a metallic cage — Neji would hate the concept on mere principle, Gai inwardly swore to never bring him to this place — so the space and range of movement was quite limited. Gai took a step back and crouched down, body tense like a cat about to pounce.

“You heard that, ladies and gentlemen?! This is a fight to the death! This will be an encounter that leaves rivers of blood!” the announcer said. “Starting in three—”

Rappa raised his fists. The first movement would be an offensive.

“Two—”

Gai allowed for chakra to flow more freely through his body, curling lower to the ground. He would be defensive, evasive. He wanted to gauge his opponent’s skills.

“One!”

Let’s see his quirk in action.

Rappa dashed forward, fists falling in his direction like water drops during a storm. He was fast, the arms almost seemed to leave afterimages due to the raw speed. Gai dodged, blocked, and redirected the flurry of attacks, noting a decent strength behind the blows. Skill alone, or was the quirk already in play? 

His opponent grinned fiercely. “You’re doing great, Beast!”

Gai couldn’t return the compliment.

Rappa was strong and fast, but also full of openings, using excessive, useless movements that didn’t amount to anything but a loss of energy and momentum. The attacks were still precise though, delivered with no hesitation, and it would probably suffice against most opponents since Rappa’s large and broad physique could easily cage them against the metallic fence, quite literally.

When facing a Taijutsu Master though? Not enough, not by a wide margin.

Gai ducked low and used the next opening to deliver an uppercut, fist colliding under the chin, forcing his adversary to face upward.  A second punch to the liver while he extended a leg, dragging behind his opponent’s ankle and sending him backwards. The fall was accompanied by an enhanced kick to the chest, heel facing to the floor.

Rappa forcibly coughed up spit as his back bounced against the ring of concrete. Was that enough— no, the arms were still twitching. 

A hard punch to the face and a broken nose later, the masked head rolled to the side, unresponsive. He didn’t move again.

“And this round goes to the Green Beast!”

The crowd gave a subsided cacophony of cheers and wails. Rappa was one of the veterans in this place, he probably had most bets in his favor. That and most people coming for the first time usually gambled against Gai by default, the owner of the fight club was quite pleased about it.

With the match over, Gai relaxed minutely and exited the cage, letting the medics enter to transfer Rappa to the medical bay. He had some time to rest and warm up, then a third match, and he would be done for the day.

“Oi, Sensei!”

Gai snorted. He had chosen Green Beast as his title, but in the very first round the technique of his adversary had been so outrageously wrong, he couldn’t help but instruct him on the stance and the positions and scold him because no, that’s terrible, you’ll break your fingers, even as they continued to exchange blows. Hence, the teasing title that had sort of stuck among other regular fighters, at least behind the scenes.

“What is it?”

“A couple of thugs are looking for you,” the taller, slender man that had a density quirk intoned. “They don't look very friendly.”

That was odd. Had he caused some sort of bad impression? He actually got along with most of the fighters when away from the eyes of the public.

“Newcomers?”

“I think they're one of those one-time-trial guys.” Ah, the ones that contested only for a single night— but for them to ask for him specifically? That was odd...

He hummed pensively. The other nodded in agreement. “Yeah, a bit weird. Want me to get them off yar back?” 

Gai considered it, but shook his head negatively. It was better to get to know any potential opposition, better to have some intel to avoid being caught off guard later on, or worse still, if they got lucky and found him while he was with his team, and it delved into a fight...

The more intel he gathered the most prepared he would be for any upcoming confrontations.

"I'll meet them."

“Your call,” the man shrugged, jerking his head in the direction of the askers.

Gai walked at a leisurely pace, chakra still discreetly enhancing his movements. 

Better not to underestimate any opponents, after all.

(x)

“After you,” Knuckleduster teased with a smirk, keeping the door open for him in a mocking show of politeness.

Shouta grunted for the third time as he walked into the fight club, clutching the leather jacket Hizashi had lent him closer to himself. “How did you register so fast for this?”

“I submitted the application a few days ago. Call it a hunch,” the vigilante let go of the door to walk deeper into the establishment that stunk of tobacco and cheap alcohol. Shouta didn’t have much of an option but to follow.

“Shouldn’t we be going to the back?” Shouta eyed the guarded door that was in the opposite direction.

“My round is scheduled to the very end,” the vigilante said as he feigned to take a sip of cheap beer. “Besides, don’t you wanna see the guy in action? He may not be the cooperative kind.”

Shouta acknowledged that with a nod, fidgeting with the spiky metal adorning his wrists. He was undercover so he was dressed like a punk, and he was far from happy. The leather jacket also made the already warm, crowded establishment unbearably hot; he could already feel sweat rolling uncomfortably down his back. How could Hizashi stand to use leather on the daily?

He couldn’t even open the damn thing without revealing his capture weapon, so he downed iced water in a flimsy attempt to cool off and sat down by the bar.

Four matches came and went without anything remarkable to note. The first three had been obviously staged. The fourth ended with a real knockout from the woman whose elbows had sharp bone growing out into a pointy spear.

“Lots of self-injuries with that kind of quirk,” Knuckleduster commented on what Shouta had been thinking. He hummed in agreement.

“Are you ready for more?!” the announcer called, riling up the crowd. “Now for the popular newbies, a round of applause for Crypto!” A man in his mid-forties entered the stage. 

“And his adversary for this round, the Green Beast!” the commenter implied that Crypto would be the one moving forward to a second match, just as the green-clad fighter walked in with a welcoming air, waving at the public. 

Shouta mildly wondered how such a clothing design came to be (cocaine?) and who went ahead and actually made the thing (colorblind?) because… ugh. He could now understand why the witnesses thought the suspect might be on drugs, it was hard to think anyone in their right mind would look like that .

The crowd cheered. The fighters had five minutes to stretch and warm up while the public had a last chance to place a gamble for the upcoming match, which was extended to eight minutes since a good amount of people seemed to consider the winner an obvious choice.

“Ready in three, two, and… FIGHT!”

The ‘match’ was laughable. 

“Another one staged, eh?” Knuckleduster sipped at his beer.

“A bad one,” Shouta grunted. The suspect had been commenting on his adversary’s posture and technique during the whole match, a mix of praises and corrections. It was like seeing a fellow teacher during Hero Class, even the counters the suspect landed were short and precise, with clear intent but not dealing any significant damage.

Not like the crowd seemed to notice, the fancy flourish of moves and loud sounds as the fighters hit the floor or collided against the metallic fence were enough for the majority to deem it a real match, even when it ended with a feigned knockout.

“A surprising development! It seems the Green Beast will be coming up against the audience favorite: THE RAPPER!”

A loud chorus resonated at that, with many people flocking for the gambling lines. 

“Stay tuned for one of the best matches of the night!” the screen displaying the upcoming fights updated to show the winner moving forward.

After the farse ended Shouta stood up to go backdoors, but Knuckleduster refused with a rough shake of the head.

“The Rapper is not one to fool around, believe me,” the vigilante had said self-assuredly. “It’s going to be a real match.”

Shouta doubted it. 

And he was right. On the suspect’s second fight the green-clad fighter entered with the same light, approachable air as he had the first. He didn’t seem like he would be taking this very seriously—

“I challenge you to a fight to the death!”

—but that single phrase was enough to change his whole demeanor.

Like a flipped switch, the man’s posture tensed and lowered, welcoming grin disappearing without trace as his face sharpened to focus on his opponent. 

The air grew heavy with the promise of a real encounter, the tension palpable enough for the audience to grow quiet, and the ones closest to the stage even took a cautious step back, as if afraid to be caught in the crossfire even with the metallic cage in place to prevent that very scenario.

“You heard that, ladies and gentlemen?! This is a fight to the death! This will be an encounter that leaves rivers of blood!”

The audience didn’t make a peep. Those closest to the cage placed an even wider distance between themselves and the fighters. 

“Starting in three, two,” the announcer noticed the mood and didn’t provide additional time for last-minute gamblers. “One!”

Both men became a blur of indistinct moves as they clashed. Shouta raised on his seat, trying to follow the fight just like when he was assigned to referee the individual matches at the sports festival, one hand raising to his neck as instinct made him reach for his weapon, only to be stopped by the zipped leather jacket.

“That motherfucker is fighting quirkless,” Knuckleduster huffed at his side.

“That’s impossible.” No human could move at that speed without a quirk involved. 

“Then he’s not the teen you’re looking for, because if he has a speed quirk then he can’t change his appearance. Either that or he has two quirks?”

Not likely. Could the man be related to the teen, perhaps? 

Shouta considered it for a short moment, but in the end didn’t have enough time to think too deeply about it. 

The suspect chose that moment to counterattack, finishing the fight with a swift combo that ended with a spinning heel kick colliding hard against The Rapper’s chest. Shouta winced in sympathy as the man landed hard on his back, coughing up all the air in his lungs. Without reprieve, the masked man received a swift punch to the face, head bouncing back on the ring’s concrete floor harshly. 

Unsurprisingly, the match ended at that.

“And this round goes to the Green Beast!”

The tension of battle dissipated just as fast as it had arrived, with the victor grinning enthusiastically. The crowd tentatively applauded and lamented at the result, still quiet in comparison to how they had acted in other matches. The Green Beast didn’t seem to care about the audience’s mood, going offstage just as two men in white entered with a stretcher.

“Ain’t you glad we stayed to watch?” the vigilante grumbled without a trace of humor, putting on the brass knuckles he used to fight crime as he led the way to the backdoor. Shouta followed, opening the jacket’s zipper as soon as security let them inside.

They picked a convenient space blocking the only exit, and asked a random fighter to call for the suspect that was already in their field of vision.

“Green Beast, eh?” Knuckleduster greeted as the man approached with the same friendly air around him, as it seemed to be the norm. Shouta now knew better than to fall for it. 

The fighter grinned and gave an energetic thumbs up. “That's me! I’m afraid I don’t know you though, how are you called?”

“Knuckleduster. I’m sure you can guess why,” the vigilante raised an iron-clad fist, as if in greeting. “The hobo beside me goes by Fumbler.”

Shouta didn’t allow himself to react to the stupid alias, shrugging off the jacket to have more freedom of movement.

“Nice to meet you both,” the suspect even seemed sincere when he said it, not commenting on Shouta's ridiculous nickname. “You were asking for me…?”

Shouta nodded seriously. “I’m working with the police for a case. I must ask you to accompany me for questioning.”

The semi-relaxed atmosphere shifted, like a thread that was pinched and pulled straight. 

“…huh,” the man tilted his head, considering. “Why?”

Shouta gave a careful shake of the head. “I can’t give the details here, but you’re not arrested,” yet, “we just need you to answer some questions.”

“And if I don’t go?” the question was deceivingly light, but Shouta and the vigilante tensed even more at the change in the air, the discrete shifting of feet, the slight strain on green spandex. A fight was imminent.

“Then—"

“Then nothing happens, because they don’t have enough grounds for an arrest,” a familiar man snarled as he approached, two golden teeth glinting with the artificial indoor lights. “We reserve our right for admission. You can’t enter my establishment without a law warrant, Eraserhead.”

Shouta let out a sharp exhale. “I will leave as soon as you answer as the employer , otherwise you’ll be charged for obstructing an investigation.” He pointed at the green-clad fighter with his thumb. “Name and Quirk.”

“Personal Data is protected by law; I’m not obligated to provide anything without—”

“A formal request from the police. Like the one I have.” 

The plan had been to speak with the suspect first though. If the Green Beast had tried anything —a confrontation, running away, — then they would have had enough grounds to issue an arrest and bring him to the station. Most potential suspects fell for it, and based on how the interaction had been going the fighter would have confronted them if they hadn’t been interrupted. 

The employer scoffed and snatched the form, giving it a cursory read.

“Alright, seems like I need to give it to them anyways. Gai, just answer the basic questions and I’ll kick them out right after,” the owner reassured the taller man.

“Name and quirk? Ok,” the newly named Gai gave a resolute nod. “I’m Maito Gai, I have passive physical enhancement.”

A strength quirk that was always active; just what they needed.

In the end they were reduced to asking for the information already in the employer’s file, such as age — 28, he was younger than Shouta — marital status, and the like. Anything else was met with a “you don’t have to answer that,” from the club’s owner, who was chaperoning the questioning. It was infuriating.

“—your ID, please,” Shouta finished neutrally.

“I don’t have it on me at the moment...”

“I’ll get you a copy once I send over his file,” the employer interceded with a careless wave. “I have 72 hrs to compile and send over all relevant documentation pertaining case witnesses and suspects.”

Of course the shady man knew that.

“No need to mail it, someone will come to pick it up,” Shouta said with narrowing eyes. “Just to ensure it doesn’t get unfortunately lost or delayed on its way to the police station.”

“Yeah, sure,” the owner dismissed nonchalantly, lighting a cigarette. “Now, if that’s everything… unless you want to be escorted out of the premises. Need any help locating the exit?”

The man made a gesture, and the security guards immediately approached. Absolutely infuriating.  

“I’m staying for my round,” Knuckleduster said with crossed arms, unmoving.

“No, you’re not. Welcome to the ban list, old rooster,” the employer grunted, blowing smoke in their direction. “A one-timer that sneaks in banned people is not welcome in my establishment.”

“Curious how most bans are placed on heroes,” Shouta scoffed, already turning to leave—

“You’re a hero?” Gai seemed a lot more interested now. “Heroes only get involved in cases with quirk misusage, right?”

“That is not done on private property,” the owner added somewhat smugly, since that was the loophole that allowed the fight club to exist in the first place. The law gap families like the Yaoyorozu could use to accumulate wealth: not by selling, but by avoiding buying anything that wasn’t food and knowledge. “Or is illicit in nature, of course.”

Shouta tsked, already tired of this charade. “I’ll see you again soon, Gai .” 

Name and quirk were enough to speed up the research on the quirk register. If the man had lied they would find out, and lying was considered an obstruction to the investigation. It was enough to warrant an arrest. 

And even if it ended up being the truth, then he was probably related to the potential suspect — because any teen that chose to emulate that disastrous fashion sense had to be related — so they would still advance with the case. It was just a matter of time now.

“I sure hope not, hero!” Gai exclaimed with a loud laugh. 

Shouta and the vigilante were escorted out. Security knew better than to touch them, at least.

“I’ll be around,” Knuckleduster stated, cracking up his fingers. Shouta surmised that the vigilante was going to stalk Gai back to his residence.

Shouta would be legally obligated to stop him if the vigilante stated it out loud though, so he didn’t ask and just nodded before leaving. Having a real address —instead of the standard fake one all fighters had in their profile — would come in handy.

(x)

Gai nodded. “Thanks for—”

“No pay for you,” the owner interrupted with a harsh exhale full of smoke, stomping on the cigarette butt. “Rappa is going to need a hospital room.”

“—helping— wait, what? But I didn’t break any bones, nor cause any internal damage! He only has a concussion—”

“He only has a concussion?” his employer repeated incredulously. “Of course that warrants a hospital visit, you fool. I don’t know what kind of doctor you frequent, but mine can’t treat those injuries!”

Woops. Gai had fallen into old habits. Any medic-nin would have been able to heal Rappa with their eyes closed, so he had thought…

“I’m sorry. I accept the cut on the pay for today.”

“And you will for the following days. A fake ID is going to be expensive, getting you into the quirk register is gonna be even worse,” the owner said knowingly with a sideways glance. “Unless you don’t need me to?”

Gai let out a guilty heh. “Make the same for three more people and I'll accept a pay deduction.”

His employer let out a tired exhale. “You’re lucky you’re worth the effort.”

“Thank you very much!” Gai grinned widely, bowing in appreciation. The owner rolled his eyes and left without another word.

His face sobered as he was left alone. He needed to understand why there were heroes looking for him. 

If it were related to the fighting club they would talk with all fighters, not him specifically. But in his time in this world he had not done anything to warrant this kind of attention. Were the Wild Cat Heroes looking around? Had they placed a search warrant for Gai when the 'orange-masked man' wasn’t found? His team's disappearance was probably deemed suspicious, but it shouldn’t be enough to warrant an arrest, surely.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think of anything. He and his genin team had been well-behaved! Well, aside from that first night, but with how mad the teens had been it was probably justified—

…it had been around twenty people, according to Lee.

“Ugk,” Gai suddenly had a very clear picture of what could be the issue. He would need to get the genin’s side of the story as soon as his work shift was done.

“Sensei!” his next opponent called, only half-teasingly. “It's our turn, get on!”

“Coming!”

As soon as the third match was done, he would get back to talk with his students, and determine next steps from there.

Chapter Text

Team Gai

“You basically disappeared and bam! The Rapper was down! You monster,” Jin muttered excitedly and warily at the same time.

“That fight was probably too fast to discern, sorry about that.”

“It’s ok, knowing the limits of your speed and strength also helps. It doesn’t help for shit!” 

That wasn’t anywhere close to his limit, but Jin didn’t need his quirk-copies to have access to the inner gates, the mud clone would end up killing most adversaries if it did.

“If you say so, then I’m glad!” Gai said sincerely as the shadow over their heads crawled closer. He feigned ignorance. “Sorry Jin, but I must run an errand today. Are you good on your way back?”

“Oh yeah, no problem. How troublesome!” 

Gai laughed and patted his back amiably, before crossing the street and entering a convenience store with one last goodbye-wave.

Truthfully, he wasn’t a sensor. He wasn’t particularly sensitive to other’s chakra signature like the Yamanaka, didn’t have the Inuzuka’s sense of smell, nor the Hyuga’s all-encompassing vision.

Still, he was a shinobi, and whoever was tailing him was not expecting that level of awareness, otherwise they wouldn’t be so sloppy— either that or this was their best attempt at tracking, in which case, what a poor execution. 

Now, to subdue or to escape?

Gai hummed as he eyed a random magazine. If he was already in the heroes’ radar then avoiding as many confrontations as possible may be best, but… information was power. If he was going to let them go, then the least he should do was get their identity.

He put the magazine back in place and exited the establishment, walking in a random direction for a handful of minutes before ducking into an alley and flickering away. 

“Where the fuck?” the stalker muttered under his breath just as Gai silently landed behind him, hidden by the closest structure. Peeking from behind his cover, he could see it was the man that had accompanied the hero, Fumbling Eraser, into the fight club. This was… Knuckle Brasser?

There was a shift in the air, and Gai silently flickered away just a second before the man turned around in a sudden movement, wildly moving towards the place he had been perched at.

The man had decent awareness. Noted.

Gai got away, speeding up as he took the long way back to the apartment. He was sure he had lost the persecutor, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. 

Besides, he had promised Tenten he would keep an eye out for large natural terrains, and what better view than the tall building’s rooftops? He would find at least one before going back to the base— no, two! It was a self-challenge! If he couldn't do it he would do five-hundred pushups first thing tomorrow morning!

He deviated to search, but didn't have much luck. The cities in this world really were… big. The closest thing were the towering mountains, but those were already in Tenten's radar, for obvious reasons.

A bit disheartened, he admitted defeat for the night and inwardly calculated the time he would have to wake up at to do his extra pushups, even as he finally arrived back at the apartment.

“Neji,” Gai greeted softly as he crawled in through the kitchen’s window, good humor resurfacing for his most difficult student. “It’s good to see you back at the base.”

Neji didn’t reply, simply nodding at him with a carefully emotionless mask, rewrapping recently-bruised palms. 

He had gotten into a fight, again.

“How are you?” Gai insisted, closing the window and silently repositioning Tenten’s traps back into place.

“I was successful,” Neji answered as if Gai had asked about the mission and not after his well-being. “I found someone that deals primarily with information, Giran. I had to henge myself three times before I got anything useful, but I’ve got the contact for the quirk-training fields now.”

“That’s… good to hear,” Gai walked closer to the prodigy, feeling a bit hurt when the teen tensed up. He decided to stop a couple of steps farther away than he would have liked. “Someone is helping me get the IDs we were missing; so we should be set with basic documentation before next weekend.”

Neji nodded, the silence stretching in a painfully long manner.

“So! You had a scuffle?” better get directly to the point.

“One of the guys in the area thought I’d be easy to kidnap,” Neji seemed disinterested.

That was… an odd mental image. Most people back home saw the Hyuga eyes and second guessed approaching with bad intentions. 

“But you’re alright? What was your henge?”

“A red haired woman,” Neji shrugged minutely, “and the assailant had metal spikes all over the skin, but that was it. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Gai gave him a proud grin. “Of that, I’m sure! You’re incredibly talented, I’m glad you are here with us for this unexpected long-term mission!” he took a step closer and patted the air above Neji’s shoulder, immediately retreating since his student flinched at the touchless motion.

Gai feigned not to notice. “I must ask though, was the person you confronted injured enough to be hospitalized?”

The question was nonchalant but Neji still narrowed his gaze, pausing for a long moment as the puzzle pieces fell into place, even when Gai hadn’t offered much information to begin with. Such was the burden of a genius mind.

“It doesn’t matter if I use different henges, they’ll connect internal damage to me, as my quirk,” Neji guessed accurately. “I’m leaving a pattern for the heroes to find.”

The teen's expression twisted into an ugly frown. He was angry at himself, frustrated. He always was whenever he made a mistake, no matter how big or minor it may be.

“I need help,” Gai admitted, aware that any words of reassurance would be fiercely batted away. It was better to make Neji focus on seeking solutions. “A hero came looking specifically for me at the fight club. I had help and managed to avoid getting brought in for questioning, but it doesn’t make sense for the law enforcers to be looking for me, I haven’t done anything too attention-drawing.”

Neji gave a silent sigh, lowering his head. “So it’s my fault.”

Gai shook his head. “I was thinking about our first night in this land. I believe the number of people injured in the same area, in such a short span of time, may have warranted some attention.”

Neji frowned, looking puzzled by the mere concept. “But those were the lowest of the low. Scum. Nobody would have cared—”

“If we were in the Land of Fire, I figured. I know none of you would have been so,” careless, “straightforward when confronting them otherwise. In this place that doesn’t seem to be the case though… would you care to tell me what happened?”

Neji’s mouth thinned but he still straightened and nodded, always the best at giving concise but detailed reports. 

Gai, contrary to popular belief, liked to avoid conflict whenever possible.

“— obviously intending to try to do the same to us—”

But by the middle of the tale he wanted to tear off their limbs.

By the end of it he felt a sense of proud satisfaction, knowing each and every single one of the enemies had been hospitalized, if they were lucky, or were no longer part of the corruption of society, if the world was lucky. His team had done good.

“You did the right thing,” Gai said firmly. “There must be a way to prove that it was the right action. There must be a special treatment for those that use quirks illegally but for the betterment of society.”

“Vigilante is the term,” Neji said, looking away when Gai gave an attentive hum. Had he imagined the second-long alarmed expression? “Whether they receive better treatment or not depends on the hero making the arrest. I’ve heard Endeavor is known to leave them with severe burns, just like he does villains.”

Whoever that person was, Gai was disappointed in them. Would the Eraserman— no, Fumbling man? Hmm… Fumbler . Would the Fumbler hero be like that too? 

Gai would rather not find out. “Are anonymous informers a possibility in this world?”

Neji gave a sharp nod. “I suppose we could submit a report to the police and hope they’re not too incompetent.”

That was a harsh opinion for someone that wasn’t familiar with this world’s version of the police.

Unless Neji was familiar with them.

Gai’s mind went back to his theory about why Neji spent so much time outside the apartment. “That reminds me. Neji, I’ve been meaning to speak with you. Could we—”

Someone was approaching.

“Gai-sensei,” a sleepy Lee called. He was improving his stealth; Gai hadn’t noticed the genin until he was already about to step into the room. “Neji. Have you seen Tenten?”

Neji frowned and shook his head. Gai sighed away what he had wanted to say, and stepped closer to ruffle his student’s dark hair. “She’s out tonight, gone to harvest poisonous vegetation. The coating she regularly keeps handy for her senbons needs replenishing.”

Tenten was still learning how to regulate temperature and lighting within the storage seals. The ones she had brought had been messed up a bit.

Lee leaned into his side with a wide yawn, closing his eyes and humming contentedly. He was the only one apart from Gai who demonstrated and received affection via physical gestures. “She knows where those are, that’s impressive…”

Tenten didn’t, but she wouldn’t stop until she found some. Neji had gotten a 'cellphone' in one of his first rounds of exploration, and Tenten had called dibs on the weird device. She had mastered the use of the 'internet' incredibly fast to gather the right information — the plants of this world were all so similarly different to theirs! — and was now trying to apply it. The kunoichi was just as tenacious as her teammates, Gai was really proud of her drive.

“…impresssssss…” Lee was falling asleep while still standing, he must have over-trained again. Trying to make the kid understand that resting was just as important as training was as useless as—

...as trying to convince Gai of the same, actually.

So this was how Chouza-sensei had felt… Gai should invite the man over to eat at his place, perhaps Genma and Ebisu would come over too? It had been a while since his old genin team last reunited for something as simple as dining together.

Lee stumbled to one side, so Gai caught him by the shoulders and gently encouraged him back into the Resting Room — which was a clean space where all four sleeping bags could fit in comfortably — with Neji in tow. The whole team was sharing the room for safety reasons, so they could take turns guarding each other’s sleep.

“You two must be tired, I’ll take up the first guard,” Gai stated without room for questioning and bid goodnight to them with a smile. Lee swayed in place for a second before collapsing face-first over the pillow. Neji nodded in return, and silently stepped over his own sleeping bag.

Around two or three hours later Tenten came back. She was dirty, empty-handed, and had a disappointed glare harshly judging the world.

“We’re too far away from nature in this place,” she complained softly, trying not to wake up the others. Neji had discreetly tensed the moment the window in the adjacent room opened though. “I waste a lot of time traveling back and forth, sensei.”

“We can go camping on my next rest day. Once we find where they grow it will be easier to continuously harvest them,” Gai reassured. The kunoichi let out a tired uh-huh and left to take a shower, tossing the 'cellphone' — their only access to the useful internet — over her sleeping bag.

Sleep was important for the body, even more so for the green leaves that still were growing and developing. Under normal circumstances Gai would take the full night guard in stride, but…

“Care to take the second turn, Neji?”

A relieved, positive hum. The genin had been quite restless in his light sleep, perhaps taking up the guard would allow him to doze off more peacefully at some point. 

Neji had been oddly at edge lately, particularly when Gai was around, almost as if… as if he didn’t feel safe with his own sensei around. 

They really needed to have that conversation soon.

The door slid open for Tenten to step in, just as Gai finished wriggling into his sleeping bag.

“Night sensei. Night Neji.”

"Hmn."

“Sweet dreams!”

“Sweeeeet squirrelssss,” Lee muttered into his pillow before starting to snore. 

Shinobi should be silent even when asleep, the risk of assassination was too high otherwise. His papa had drilled that lesson in many years ago, and Gai would have to do the same with his pupil.

He yawned.

Tomorrow, he would drill it starting tomorrow. Hmm, they also should get the photos and things needed for the IDs, and groceries… perhaps more supplies for Tenten? She ran out of ink a bit too fast sometimes...

(x)

Nada, zero, nothing.

“Is Maito Gai his real name?” Tanuma asked dubiously.

“That’s what he said, but we won’t get the copy of the ID until after the 72hr limit has passed. That thrash still has a whole day to prepare the documentation,” Shouta sighed. “Is he not in the quirk register?”

“He’s not in any register, that’s the thing,” Tanuma admitted, rubbing the back of his head tiredly. “Do you think he may be foreign? How did his accent sound?”

A bit weird, but definitely a native speaker. “Probably not foreign.”

“Well, he might as well be a ghost then. The national records don’t have shit about— huh.”

“…did his file just pop up.”

“In a very legal way, I’m sure,” Tanuma snorted sarcastically. “That means the guy has contacts in high places.”

“Or someone working for a big fish is helping him out,” like the owner of that stupid fight club. That man would probably protect Gai for as long as he was profitable, and for as long as the police didn’t have hard evidence against him. Fuck.

“Sorry Eraser, this is not gonna be a quick case.” Tell me about it. “Did Knuckleduster get anything?”

“He hasn’t been able to follow Gai back to his residence, but mentioned there’s someone frequently loitering around him. A man wearing a sheer mesh over the head, first name Jin. He’s looking into the man’s identity using his own… channels.” Some that were dubiously legal in nature, not like Shouta wasn’t familiar with them. “I’m also looking into my own.”

“Sounds fun,” Tanuma said with a clearly sympathetic gaze, clicking at the newly-available profile. “This thing doesn’t show much, it’s basically a repeat of what he told you in person. I guess we don’t have much of an option but to—”

A knock at the door interrupted the officer, as Tsukauchi peeked in. “Sorry to interrupt Tanuma, but you’re the one working on the case for massive hospitalization, right?”

“Yap, I’m the lucky bastard,” Tanuma confirmed with a dry chuckle. “What’cha got?”

“An anonymous report was filed in. It’s been passing hands, Reoka filed it with me because some of the details match with—” the detective gritted his teeth. “The victims of your case may not be exactly innocent,” Tsukauchi finished at last, looking grim.

Shouta was the one closer to the door so he took the offered folder and tossed it over the desk, leaning in to read along with Tanuma.

Not two paragraphs in he closed his eyes and released a long exhale, trying to control the sudden burst of rage and disgust that twirled in the pit of his stomach.

“Fuck,” Tanuma abruptly leaned back, as if that would keep the vile reality away from him. “Do you think…?”

“The track went cold a couple of months ago, but if this is true— this description matches with the modus operandi that we had identified in the case for missing people. Particularly the middle schoolers…” 

There was a long pause of tense silence, the unsaid hanging heavy in the air.

“How many of them are still hospitalized?” Shouta asked once he had cooled down enough to formulate words.  The case was growing to be more complicated than he had first imagined.

“The ones with pierced organs recovering from surgery, as well as the poisoned ones. I got them a police guard so we can bring them in for questioning after they’re stable,” Tsukauchi stated. “I just wanted to let you know, since it involves your case too.”

“Mm-hmm, thanks,” Tanuma fished for a cigarette and placed it in his mouth. “We may need to switch 'assailants' for 'self-defense civs'. Perhaps even vigilantes, if what they say it’s true.”

“Do you think they were the ones to submit this report to the station?” 

“Too much of a coincidence to be anyone else,” Tanuma theorized with an exhale of smoke. “Probably not the teens themselves, but whoever is taking care of ‘em. I’d bet on your ring fighter, Eraser.”

Shouta turned his head away from the smoke, he hated the smell. “Whatever the case, the only way to confirm it is with a formal questioning.”

“Or a not so formal one,” Tanuma shrugged. “The teen suspects are supposedly as young as your students, if not younger. They gotta go to a school somewhere, and Nedzu has a good eye for undeveloped talents, so it wouldn’t be too odd for a teacher of U.A. to reach out with a honeyed offer, right?”

Most hero-prospects knew better than to tarnish their profile with the vigilante label. If the teens were committing acts of vigilantism, then they may be interested in the prospect of a place in the Hero course, even if they hadn’t considered the career a real option for whatever reason. 

It was worth a shot.

“I’ll see what I can get,” Shouta nodded in agreement.

…

…

…

Not like he was able to continue working on the case, considering his class was attacked by villains during the USJ trip, and he was useless heavily incapacitated for the foreseeable weeks. 

“You focus on resting Eraserhead, I’m sure Ingenium can handle it,” Tanuma’s voice stated matter-of-factly from the phone’s speaker. 

“That’s what I told him, but you know how he gets,” Hizashi answered, holding the phone closer to his bandaged face. “Anything to add, Eraser?”

He didn’t have much of an option here, so he grunted an affirmative and closed his eyes again, exhausted. 

If anything, at least it would force Ingenium to take a break from the Hero Killer case. He understood Tensei’s reasons — two Idaten heroes had been permanently disabled, one was dead — but Shouta was worried he would get caught in the crossfire if he continued poking at it so hastily. 

The Hero Killer had let him go once. 

It may not happen again.

Chapter Text

Open Cage

Neji had managed to escape from his attempts at engaging in one-on-one conversation for the past few days, but not today. Gai couldn’t postpone this conversation any longer. 

Every person was different, he understood that. He had to if he wanted to be a good sensei.

Lee had what a genin needed to become a great shinobi, the lack of genjutsu and ninjutsu were not deal breakers. But although he had the drive to put in the effort at the beginning, he lacked the motivation and self-confidence to keep it up for long periods of time without collapsing with frustration.

Thus, Gai had encouraged him every day, at every chance, until it was drilled into his skull and now the teen struggled less to pipe himself up and keep going. If anything, he now exceeded what could be considered the healthy limit.

With Tenten it was different. She had taken a single look at him and inwardly labeled him incompetent, and thus was more determined to learn by herself than ask anything from him or her teammates. So, Gai had decided to train one-on-one with her until she got rid of the misconception of weird = weak, and if weapons were what she wanted to specialize at, he would prove he had enough connections to call in for help whenever his own experience wasn’t enough. 

Why, Genma had taught her the basics for poisoned senbons just the month prior to this mess! She had relaxed a lot after he proved he could be a good teacher.

And then there was Neji, of course.

Gai couldn’t help but wonder if the Sandaime had assigned the unsociable, arrogant, best-of-his-class prodigy to him because he had a lifetime of experience handling Kakashi, or because the Hyuga fell into his category of Taijutsu specialists, or because…

Because he had once found a friend in Iroha, the only Hyuga that had found him funny instead of irritating upon first meeting him, and as they continued to collaborate together in extended missions his friend had mentioned, albeit superficially, the issue with the main and secondary branches inside the clan. Thus, Gai could understand a piece of what Neji had experienced— a piece of what he was still experiencing.

Whatever the reason, out of his three students Neji was the only one that had yet to accept him as sensei. Not due to a misperception on his strength and skill like Tenten first had, or lack of self-confidence like Lee. No, Neji just… was trying his hardest not to care about his assigned team at all.

They all could die within the hour and he would probably refuse to care, muttering to himself about the certainty of destiny and fate as he always did, in one of the most negative ways Gai had ever heard. His student didn’t want to form close bonds with anyone, and Gai was included in that list, jounin sensei or not. 

It was a challenge, but one he thought he was starting to win.

Gai had gently but firmly corrected him when due, delivered praise when he was doing ok, interfered when the cutting words gained a bit too much of an edge — Lee’s confidence wasn’t yet sturdy enough to resist the verbal blows. Sometimes Neji undid in a day what Gai had built up for weeks — and overall respected his boundaries of no touch, no hugs, no team meals, nor any other kind of bonding activity that wasn’t strictly related to assignments. No conversations or interactions that were not related to training or missions.

Gai usually tried to give him his space, give him time to reflect and reach his own conclusions, but that was something he couldn’t allow in this instance.

“Neji, would you give me a few minutes of your time?”

His student had halted his solo training-dance when he had heard Gai approach, so Neji was already facing him by the time he knocked at the door’s frame. White eyes narrowed warily at the breach of routine; the testing of a silent pre-agreement.

“…why,” at least he was considering it. He seemed more willing to truly listen to Gai lately, after their encounter with the masked man and subsequent arrival to this world. 

Then again, he was also a lot more wary around him, like he was expecting his own sensei to attack him. Gai wondered if witnessing the Seventh Gate’s opening had inadvertently changed something in their bond.

“There’s something I’d like to share with you,” Gai said sincerely, hovering at the entrance of the room.

Neji seemed to ponder on it, all-seeing eyes scrutinizing. Gai didn’t back off, but didn’t interrupt his thought process either. If he needed time to think, he could have it.

In the end his student reluctantly nodded. The silence remained unperturbed as Gai stepped into the room, half-turning to slide the door close and place a single noise-canceling seal Tenten had provided. The paper stuck to the wood, but it was not activated yet.

“Why is that necessary?” Neji eyed the seal with distrust, stance shifting to a defensive one.

“It’s optional, and completely up to you. Just consider that we’ll be talking about this ,” Gai explained, poking at his own forehead meaningfully, “and we have company in the apartment.”

Neji’s expression went from shock, to dread, to cold, defensive fury .

“There’s nothing to talk about,” the sentence might as well be ice with how cold it sounded, but the reaction wasn’t surprising.

Under different circumstances Gai would have let him go, tried another day, but that was not an option this time. Thus, he body-flickered towards the teen, blocking the exit, and grabbed the defensive, bandaged palm that tried to strike at his chest—

And carefully redirected it towards his throat, fingers stopping the attack from landing just an inch away.

Neji froze, stunned into silence.

Gai gave him a trusting smile. “If at any point you deem my words without value, just steal my voice and I’ll fall silent.”

His student could also strike with a bit too much force and crush his windpipe, or even break his neck. There were quite a few ways to kill him if Neji so chose to, Gai was quite vulnerable like this.

He needed to be. He trusted Neji, who had already been forced into many things through pain and fear. The last thing Gai wanted was to be another source of distress.

“But until then, please hear me out? Just this once. After this, I won’t mention the topic ever again, if you don’t wish me to.”

Gai paused for a long moment, letting the words sink in before releasing the thin wrist. Neji brought his hand back to his chest as if burned, and took a step back.

The silence was heavy over their heads, but Gai withstood it along with the gaze that suddenly seemed afraid and helpless.

“Why?” Neji repeated, except this time the emotion accompanying it was utterly miserable.

“Because I couldn’t do anything for Iroha,” Gai shared honestly. “He was my friend, and when he died… when he died, I made a self-rule. I know helping everyone is not realistic, but I promised that I would do everything in my power to help the next Hyuga I bonded with. And I care about you, a lot, so I want to help you.”

Please let me help you.

Neji stood still as a statue for a handful of minutes. Gai held his gaze, trying to get his sincerity across.

And was ultimately successful, because Neji tore his gaze away and softly padded towards the door, a flare of chakra activating the privacy seal on it.

Gai smiled gratefully and sat down cross-legged in the middle of the room, waiting for his student to settle on what to do. Neji surprised him by sitting right across, within range for Gai to lean forward and be able to reach him.

“I’m listening,” the sentence was soft, barely above a whisper, as if afraid of someone spying on them even with the seal active. Gai hummed in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

“Thank you, Neji,” because that needed to be said. Gai had pushed the poor teen a lot in this instance. “What I’m about to say can be surprising, so I just ask for you to wait in silence until I’m done. After that it will be your turn to speak, alright?”

The teen gave a slow nod, so Gai smiled at him and went straight to the heart of the matter. “I love Konoha. I’d die any day for my home, for my village, for my friends, for my students. No matter how long it takes or how hard the path back home becomes, I will do everything in my power to go back.”

Neji frowned, visibly confused. Gai was probably just stating the obvious to him, so he faced away from the teen and added:

“But that doesn’t mean you have to accompany us.”

There was a sharp intake of air, the teen tensing up like a spring about to bolt. Gai continued as if he hadn’t noticed.

“I’m no fuinjutsu expert. I don’t know if there’s a key to the cage, nor would I be able to draw it for you if it existed… but in this world— in this world the cage exists with its door wide open. There are no guards here to keep you from flying away, or drag you back to it, or even use it against you.”

Neji was all about fate and destiny and unchangeable circumstances, often minimizing the weight of his decisions, his actions, his words, and how they affected those around him, as well as himself. 

But even he couldn’t lie to himself about this. Not this time, Gai would not allow it.

Neji remained silent and tense in front of him, frozen still like a frightened deer. Gai slowly stood up, keeping his posture open and vulnerable.

“You don’t have to decide right now. Just consider the option—”

“What would you tell them?” Neji hastily interrupted, standing up in a sharp, sudden motion. “If you go back, missing one student… what would you say?”

“Genin die on missions frequently enough. They won’t think it odd,” Gai reassured with a half-truth. 

Neji was a special case because he was a Hyuga. The byakugan was a dojutsu other villages would kill for, and Gai would be returning without a body. No proof of death, no corpse to confirm that the clan’s secrets were still safe and sound.

The Hyuga clan would demand for Yamanaka to get into his head, and the interrogator would see this moment, this conversation. After that, there was a seventy-thirty chance Gai would be executed as a traitor. It depended on whether the Eight Inner Gates could be considered an asset too valuable for the village to lose. 

Having witnessed Sakumo’s treatment though — a remarkable shinobi that was supposed to be stronger or in the same skill level than the Sanin — Gai didn’t have high hopes. With some luck he would get a reduction in rank and remain bound to in-village missions, or perhaps he would be able to die in a kamikaze S-rank to be of use to Konoha instead of outright execution, but that was the best he could hope for, probably—

“You’re an idiot,” Neji spat with a snarl Kakashi’s ninken would have approved as ferocious enough.

“...huh?”

“You. Are. An. Idiot.” Neji repeated in an angered hiss, closing the distance with long strides. “You, suicidal imbecile.”

…well, the kid was a prodigy. Ignorance was a bliss, but it was not one a genius could have.

“If you love Konoha so fucking much—” this was the first time he had seen Neji so angry, his hands were glowing with chakra in preparation to fight, “—then why would you ever consider to betray it! ”

A flurry of chakra-enhanced palms soared forward. Gai evaded each strike while meditating the answer, before settling for the truth.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” he ducked under the palm headed towards his shoulder, “because it would help you,” twisted around the hit aiming for his chest, “and because… 

“Because my papa betrayed Konoha for me too, and there’s no one I respect and admire more than him.” 

The attack halted as abruptly as it began. 

“...what?”

“My papa betrayed Konoha too,” Gai admitted again with a fond chuckle. “The village was at war, and he knew he could help in the frontlines… he could open the Eight Gates and fight to the death for Konoha. And yet, he decided to hide his trump card and purposely failed every chunin exam, because he knew a genin would remain bound to missions inside the village most of the time. The mortality rate was lower, and thus, he had a better chance of taking care of me, his only son.”

Once Gai reached that conclusion, it had made so much sense for his papa to accept the scorn and mocking from other ninja, from the villagers, with nothing but a cheerful thumbs up and smile. He probably considered it a low price to pay for the chance to stay with Gai, to be able to watch him grow, to train with him, to be his guardian and teacher and his most important person. 

"True victory isn't about winning against someone strong. It's about defending what's important to you!" 

His father had decided to stay with him for as long as he possibly could, and Gai loved him for it.

He kneeled down in front of Neji, and added: “My dad considered his duty to his son more important than his duty to the village. Similarly, I consider my personal bonds more important than my responsibility as a shinobi. If I can do this to help you, I will. And whatever comes from it will be worth it.”

Because you are worth it. Of that, he had no doubt.

Neji was struck speechless for a long moment, wide eyes staring unblinkingly at him to the point of tearfulness— wait no, he was— he was crying .

The genin let out a broken sob that was unnaturally soft, as if he had practice silently crying — and considering how the Hyuga clan was, Gai could understand it — and lowered his head, focusing on their feet.

“My father—” Neji started with a hiccup. “My father would have done the same for me. If the main branch hadn’t used him as a scapegoat, if Hiashi— if his own brother hadn’t deemed his life without value. If he hadn’t been born into the second branch, if he had had a choice!”

Back in his genin years, Papa had told him once that shinobi or not, Gai was still a kid and he shouldn’t be in a rush to throw that away, no matter what kind of missions he was tasked with.

He recalled the words when angry tears rolled down pale cheeks, still round with baby fat, because genius or not, genin or not, Neji was still a sprout that had a long way to go before it could become a fully grown tree. 

Neji was a genin, a legal tax-paying adult, but he was still a child.

And Hiashi was a very harsh individual. Gai had gone to visit him when Neji was first assigned to his team, he remembered having delivered a short but inspired speech, swearing on his life to protect his new student.

“Who would care about something as worthless as your life? If you’re going to make an oath, do it on something with actual value.”

The cold phrase had sent chills down his spine, but in the end Gai had managed to laugh it off and proceeded to visit as often as possible, doing everything in his power to be as loud and infuriating as he could be, until he finally reached his self-appointed goal of having Neji delivered to him every time he asked for his presence, all just to keep him from entering the Hyuga precinct and bothering the clan head with his obnoxious existence.

“If my uncle— if he hadn’t—” Neji stuttered brokenly.

Gai approached him slowly, arms raising to carefully circle his student into a loose embrace. As distraught as he was, the Neji he knew wasn’t very comfortable with physical shows of affection. It was best if the teen had a way out in case it became too much.

“You have a choice now,” he muttered after a long pause. “You have the power to choose, the first Hyuga on the secondary branch to have it, in fact. It’s ok to use it.”

Gai lifted a hand from his shoulder and tentatively placed it over brown locks. “It’s ok to be selfish. Remember the third rule and have faith in me; I can handle it.”

He probably couldn’t, but that was not something his student should consider a decisive factor. A chance like this was not going to be repeated, and Neji was already growing fond of this world, Gai could see it. That was probably the reason he spent as much time as he could outside: to get a semblance of justice, as he defended the innocent with his own means, trying to compensate for the unfairness of his own circumstances.

To get a semblance of freedom, away from the Konoha team that reminded him of the imminent return to his cage. Had he thought Gai would force him to go back to Konoha? Was that truly why the teen had been so tense around him?

Neji took in a shaky breath, exhaling slowly. The breathing exercise was repeated a few times until he was calm enough to speak without stuttering.

“Thank you. I will… think about it,” Neji said without looking at him, forehead still pressed against his chest.

“That’s alright, you still have some time left to ponder on it,” Gai nodded, not daring to move a muscle. “Just let me know once you make a decision, I’ll support you no matter what.”

A slow nod. “Yes, sensei.”

Gai halted mid-nod. He blinked a couple of times, mind coming to a shocked halt before he felt a warm flame lit up in his heart, because he had finally earned the title! His student recognized him as someone worthy of it!

“YOU CALLED ME SENSEI!” Gai tried to contain the happy outburst but ultimately failed, giving the teen a crushing hug that lasted only for two seconds as he recalled who exactly he was suffocating. “I’m so happy I could cry!”

“…you are crying,” Neji pointed out with what looked like a small smile. He was showing that he cared?! So much growth in a single night! 

“I AM CRYING!” Gai laughed with sincere glee, barely containing the need to bounce, he had so much energy he could run five hundred laps around the village! “And I couldn’t feel better! You’re as precious to me as the air in my lungs, I’m so happy we could talk today—”

Gai continued to speak with raw, unfiltered honesty about how much he loved him and his teammates, to the point where Neji started to twitch, but since the teen didn’t do anything to interrupt he let his appreciative rant continue.

“—watching you grow and learn is the brightest honor of—”

“ Sensei,” Neji seemed to reach his limit after three minutes of praise. It wasn’t too bad, Asuma usually couldn’t last more than thirty seconds, and Genma normally interrupted after a minute and half. “I don’t mean to be rude—” that was also a great development! “—but we haven’t had… dinner yet. Yes, my teammates are probably getting grumpy as we speak. We should go out.”

“We should go out to celebrate, what a magnificent idea!”

Neji’s eye twitched. “I meant—”

“There’s a restaurant nearby that always smells absolutely mouth-watering when I pass by,” Gai continued undeterred, enthusiastically ushering Neji forward and out of the room, the silencing seal dissolving when the door opened. “I’m sure you all will love the food.”

“Food?” Tenten perked up from her place at the sofa, halting her weapon-sharpening ritual.

“I’m starving!” Lee jumped up excitedly, finally turning away from the News channel. “Where are we going? Can I have spicy curry?”

Neji sighed but allowed himself to be manhandled out of the apartment, not a trace of the previous tension in his posture. 

It was a wonderful day.

Chapter Text

Stain

Just a few days later, Gai’s peaceful routine was interrupted by a fight in a dark alley.

The one he and Jin sometimes used to exit the fight club, to be precise. The clank of metal against metal resonated in the air, in the familiar way a clash between kunai would sound.

“Wha—” his friend unhelpfully started.

That single word was enough for the combatants to notice their presence. Gai intercepted the throwing knife that tried to impale his friend at the chest and shoved Jin back into the establishment — sorry! —  closing the door in his face.

“Get away!” a man dressed in blue, with a metallic staff of the same color, warned, glancing at Gai.

Some sort of hero? Whoever he was, looking away from the opponent in the middle of a brawl wasn’t a smart idea.

The other party — a man with a somewhat triangular head — didn’t miss the second-wide window of opportunity and delivered a clean slash through the hero’s (?) shoulder.

“Stand aside,” the order came from the slayer that wore a blood-red scarf and matching headband, with a white, tattered cloth wrapped around his face. “This one is mine to purge.”

He said that matter-of-factly, before— err. Did he just lick the blood off his katana? The slayer had an extraordinarily long tongue that reminded him of the snake sanin. It was not a virtuous comparison. 

“Like hell— ugh! ” the hero fell even though he had placed a safe distance from his opponent, having jumped closer to Gai right after receiving the injury. “Body… can’t move…?!”

“Gai, open up! Close it, you bastard!” Jin called, banging at the closed door. Gai grabbed the hero’s blue rod to jam it. The slayer had tried to impale Jin at the chest by pure reflex; his friend may be endangered if he stepped out from the building.

“I said leave,” the slayer repeated warningly. “Even an innate act of goodness becomes wicked in the aid of evil. Do not stand in my way, or you will shoulder judgement.”

If Gai had had any doubts about what to do, that cleared it. This person sounded like one of those cultists he had been hearing about — Jashinism? — with the obsession for blood and sacrifices. Konoha had a kill-on-sight order for any who dared thread too close to the village.

And in this place… well, this fight club was his current source of income. That was enough for him to defend it.

He wordlessly lowered his stance, eyeing the opponent’s weapon holder — small, but enough to hold knives, daggers, poisoned senbon, kunai, shuriken — and toe-spiked boots. This one specialized in slashing weaponry. The worn and partially damaged katana meant he didn’t have many resources though.

The blue-clad individual was down and immobile, a sitting duck in the middle of the battlefield. Either the blade was poisoned or it was the enemy's quirk at play, but the hero was incapacitated after a single strike. Gai hoped he wasn’t forced to let the man die here.

“Then you refuse to understand,” the slayer dashed forward with a boost of incredible speed, no longer willing to talk.

Gai rushed to meet his opponent, ducking under the weapon and aiming a punch to the abdomen— 

“Halt!” someone yelled from the ally’s entrance, police or civilian, so Gai ended up pulling back on his attack, in case the rush of fair pushed them backwards and towards the street. The last thing he needed was to have a car run over a civilian.

Thus, instead of his usual move, he ended up expelling a small wave of chakra that would have easily crushed a large mountain boulder.

“Now that you know the gist of walking up trees tell me, what would happen if you channel excessive chakra to your extremities when fighting in close encounters?”

Tenten looked at the chunks of missing wood in her practice-tree and made a happily surprised expression. “So I can burst organs like Neji?!”

“Haha! Not exactly. Neji’s gentle fist channels chakra for an internal attack, like a needle that bypasses any external defenses. This is more like setting off an explosive tag. Someone with great defense will resist it.”

It was useful to increase the range of an attack in any case. This slayer didn’t seem to have too great a defense, but his reflexes and flexibility were certainly good. He had twisted out of the way, Gai’s fist grazing his side instead of fully striking.

The wave of chakra still made his opponent cough up spit, a small patch of blood tainting the cloth under the now broken-and-peeling-off armor of his torso.

The man that had yelled at them to “halt” sped up deeper into the alley, the weird, metallic tubes coming from his elbows releasing a trail of white smoke as he moved towards the slayer. The latter jumped up, bouncing from one wall to the next until he reached the rooftop, obviously trying to escape.

“You won’t get away, Hero Killer!” the new addition called, but hesitated to pursue upon eyeing the blue-clad hero that was still bleeding profusely from the injured shoulder.

Gai didn’t need more than a second to make a decision. He had already interfered this much, so it was better to complete the task lest he let an enemy free. Gai would rather not be caught off guard another day.

Contrary to what newbie shinobi believed, the best way to achieve victory in battle was to use whatever intel one had on the enemy, to prepare a tactic beforehand and catch them unawares. 

The best way to defeat someone was to avoid the fight altogether. Stealthy assassination; that was what made ANBU and Hunter-nin so frightening. There was no one more dangerous than those furtive and intelligent enough to devise strategies that could eliminate enemies as paranoid, skilled, and alert as other shinobi.

Thus, Gai ran over the wall and pursued. For an injured man the 'hero killer' sure moved fast! If Gai were to lose sight of him the enemy would disappear among the shadows of the night, so he increased his own speed.

Chakra flowed continuously all over the body, circulating in a way quite similar to bloodstream. One could increase this flow by training, and then push beyond the body’s limit to open the inner gates.

One could also steadily increase the flow until it reached the point of barely below a Gate level. It was Gai’s preferred method of fighting when he didn’t have the luxury of guaranteed rest after a fight, or backup to protect his exhausted body. He kept the chakra flow right under First Gate, ready to open it if the fight called for it, even if that was very unlikely.

Catching up with the slayer, he delivered a spinning heel kick that pushed downward the katana that answered to his proximity. The blade broke off with an irregular cut, so the man abandoned the handle. Gai ducked under a wildly slashing knife, grabbed the wrist and twisted until the joint snapped.

The hand jerked and released the long, hunter knife. Gai had to let go of the wrist in order to dodge a dagger that tried to slash across his clavicle — he couldn’t afford to receive injury, not even a superficial cut. If he was poisoned it was over — so he lowered his posture, grabbed the still-falling hunter knife, and used it to tear right through the protective boot, cutting the enemy’s achilles tendon.

This man would never walk again, or at least, not normally. A flat foot walking pattern, perhaps.

The 'hero killer' hissed, using the remaining working foot to propel himself forward. Gai moved up to meet him midway, using the stolen knife to redirect the upcoming dagger to the side, and delivered a roundhouse kick aiming right at the previously-injured torso.

His opponent crashed against the wall, barely managing to protect his head from hitting the wall directly. The blood stain on his side grew marginally wider, now accompanied by the drops of blood and vile dripping from his mouth. 

The sound of shoes scraping against concrete could be heard from a nearby rooftop. They would have company soon.

The enemy spat a heavy amount of blood. Oh, the slayer was still conscious? If anything, Gai could respect the warrior’s tenacity.

“Arrogant…” the man rasped with a voice strong as steel, killing intent oozing from him in large waves. “The word ‘hero’ must be restored! Come on, try me, pretender!"

Down a hand and a leg, the man still managed to drag himself upward, the remaining arm strongly holding a large dagger.

"THE ONLY ONE WHO’S ALLOWED TO KILL ME IS—!"

Gai kicked him in the chest. Hard. Enough to hear the telltale sound of broken ribs, the sharp intake of breath as a lung was perforated by broken shards of bone.

His opponent released the weapon and collapsed, a small pool of blood growing on the floor, flowing from the injury in his torso. 

“I’m surprised you could still move when facing that,” the rough man that had accompanied Erasing-Fumbler that one time, Knuckle-something, praised from somewhere above him, breathing hard. He had probably run all the way here.

“Are you a hero?” Gai ignored the praise, not understanding why something as basic as ignoring killing intent would be awe-inspiring. It hadn't even been particularly strong, even a friendly spar with Kakashi or Asuma would have had the threat of violence leaking out more loudly. “Someone identified this person as Hero Killer, so I’m guessing he needs to be arrested.”

“Pfft, you’re a real genius, aren’t ya’?” A mocking tone; now that was something Gai was more familiar with. “Someone ringed the cops, don’t fret.”

“I’ll leave him with you then,” Gai settled, deeming the probability of the slayer regaining consciousness and escaping unlikely. “I need to leave.”

“Now, wait a goddamn second—” the man started to say, jumping down from the rooftop, skillfully sliding down the wall until he propelled himself forward, rolling on the ground to cushion the fall. Gai allowed him to get close enough to take a better look at his appearance, but body-flickered before the man could utter another word.

Knuckleduster, his mind recalled now that he had seen him up-close again. He inwardly self-challenged to try to remember him.

For now, Gai was better off getting away to meet up with Jin, his friend was probably worried sick.

(x)

“Gai, open up! Close it, you bastard!” 

The metallic door was heavy and stuck and shit, shit, shit!

Jin’s fists slammed at it uselessly. He had been startled, and he had been loud, and the hero killer had noticed, and no please, no please, don’t let Gai die like this. 

His new and only friend was the only person that cared about him, enough to accommodate for his weird habits, and he honestly believed in Jin’s non-existent skills, enthusiastically animating him to try and try and keep trying, because 'it doesn’t matter how many times you failed if you make it in the end', and 'labels don’t matter, show them they’re wrong!' and he seemed genuinely happy to see Jin every time, giving a joyful greeting as if they had spent decades without seeing each other even though it had only been a day, kind of like a puppy happy to see its owner.

Then again, Jin always flocked back to him every day, trailing behind wherever he went, so who was the lost puppy?

“I need to help. I can’t do shit.” Even his other voice was desperate. “A distraction! Too weak!”

The clones his quirk made weren’t nearly as strong or skilled as the original, but they should be enough to distract the Hero Killer, and then Gai would escape and be safe and not die and be safe. Yes!

I’m me, dammit. I’m me, I’m in control!

He focused, trying to recall the speed and strength and reflexes he had been taking note of during the matches, trying to imagine the weird “energy flows just like blood” explanation his friend had mentioned on their way here. Physical conducts for the quirk-energy to travel. Like having a second set of veins, all over the body...

Mud dripped from his hands, and a clone quickly stood in place. “Hello Jin! My dear frien—”

“Gai is in trouble, go help! You can’t do anything!” 

“—d, oh. Alright, what do I do?”

(x)

Tensei was at loss of what to do.

Tanuma had gotten wind of a new report — submitted by the Wild Wild Pussycats almost three weeks ago.  It was low priority so the local police had taken some time to upload the physical record on their system — and they had gained some intel about the people responsible for the massive poisoning case. Names and quirks, at least, even if there was nothing but the basic information on the database, with no residence, education, or family ties anywhere in it.

But with the new information, Tensei had been sure he would be able to convince Gai to accompany him back to the station.

He had come in civilian clothes, to better hide among the public so he could see first-hand what exactly he was going to deal with in the worst case scenario. The matches didn’t disappoint — the suspect sure was fast, maybe this man would be skilled enough to keep up with him — and he had fully intended to intercept the fighter as soon as he left the establishment, at the end of the ordeal. 

The fight club had several entrances though. Tensei had gone to the right one, had sent Metal Rod to the one at the left, and had a couple of support heroes with detection quirks monitoring the main entrance and rooftop, respectively.

The Idaten heroes were only here for intelligence work, to keep an eye where Tensei couldn’t. Any confrontations should be dealt with as a team, with Ingenium right at the center as the main force.

Most importantly, the Hero Killer wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near his lone teammates.

“Shit, this is bad,” someone cursed in the communicator.

“Hero Killer just ambushed Metal Rod!” the second person recovered faster from the shock.

Tensei had immediately dashed away, uncaring of the fact that he was still in civilian clothes, because he had lost three teammates already. He had sworn to protect Idaten heroes no matter what, and Metal Rod was one of the oldest in the agency, having worked with his parents previously. There was no way he could lose—

“Halt!” he ordered as his mind processed the fallen hero, body locked in an odd position, blood flowing freely from the deep gash he had received at the shoulder.

The Hero Killer bounced from one wall to the other, reaching the rooftop in a second. Gai, his green-clad suspect, chased right after him. Were they allies? Enemies?

“Tensei…”

Whatever the case, the answer could wait.

“Don’t move, let me stop the blood loss,” he instructed, taking off his jacket to use it as a makeshift bandage.

“I literally can’t move, ” the older man scoffed under his breath, hissing as Tensei wrapped the injury with a firm tug. “The Hero Killer— he can paralyze others after ingesting their blood.”

That was an incredibly dangerous quirk, particularly since he had witnessed firsthand just how agile the villain was.

“Eaglesharp, Scent Tracker, what happened here?”

“From what I could see, the suspect tried to protect Metal Rod from the Hero Killer. They clashed, and then—”

BAM! 

The metallic door that had been stuck close with Metal Rod’s weapon was launched off its hinges, crashing hard against the opposing wall, the blue support item cracking in two uneven pieces.

“You’re strong!? So weak!” a man with a sheer mesh covering the head exclaimed, wonder and annoyance somehow mixed in the same sentence.

“Of course I’m strong, I’m The Green Beast!” the suspect said with a laugh that sounded incredibly similar to All Might’s, and stepped out into the alleyway— wait, hadn’t he gone with the Hero Killer? “Where’s the enemy?”

“Where’s Gai, I don’t know, the Hero Killer, did he take him, murder, kill,” the man muttered agitatedly, full body shaking as he turned wildly from one side to the other, desperately looking for the suspect even though the man was right in front of him. “It’s my fault, useless filth—”

“Don’t speak about yourself in that manner!” Gai admonished with a hard smack at the man’s shoulders. “I’m sure the real me is fine!”

Well, that answered that question.

“Who are you?” Tensei asked at the same time as the real suspect landed from above, green jumpsuit somehow managing to look even greener. Like the cloth was just… discreetly oozing the color outward.

“I’m back! I’m—”

“GAI! You BASTARD!” the sentence was dipped with relief and recrimination at the same time. The suspect accepted the tackle with open arms regardless.

“Sorry about that, but the slayer tried to kill you first thing, so I couldn’t— oh,” the real Gai looked at the metallic door that was bent, a fist imprint clearly visible. “Was that your doing?”

“Indeed, my most youthful version!” the identical but for some reason not-real Gai — this was really confusing — confirmed with a thumbs up and a wink.

The real Gai looked at his friend (?) with a grin Tensei could only describe as proud. “Jin, you made it! I knew you could do it, I’m so happy for you!”

The man with two voices was giggling with obvious relief, nodding. The real Gai allowed it for a short moment before unilaterally deciding to: “let’s go celebrate!” throwing the man over a shoulder and disappearing, leaving the not-real twin behind, along with a few, twirling leaves.

“Wow, that was fast!” the identical copy admitted with clear awe, looking at the sky. “A most youthful display, don’t you think?”

And was now talking with Tensei.  This night was so weird.

“I guess…?”

“I can move now,” Metal Rod said, so Tensei turned away from the fake (?) suspect to help the injured hero rest against a wall.

“Ambulance is on the way,” Scent Tracker answered before Tensei could even ask.

“Police too,” Eaglesharp added. “It seems Knuckleduster got to the Hero Killer, he’s a few blocks away from your position.”

The vigilante what. “He’s got Stain? Really?”

“That’s what he said.” Tensei could almost see the shrug accompanying that answer. “He’s saving the details for you and the police though.”

Thankfully they didn’t take long to arrive. Tensei watched Metal Rod go into an ambulance, another tending to the heavily injured Hero Killer.

“I can’t believe you were stupid enough to stick around,” Knuckleduster said to the twin-Gai that was now in handcuffs.

“Why would I not?” the man looked confused by the whole ordeal. “I don’t understand any of this. Who are you?”

“…seriously? You’re a nut case.”

“I don’t think I’m supposed to be,” the arrested man sounded uncertain. “Was I poorly done?”

Knuckleduster snorted a rough sound before turning to face Tensei, and reported about what he had witnessed: the Hero Killer injured, leaning heavily against a wall. The way the atmosphere thickened with a murderous aura, so heavy it had even made the vigilante pause right at the edge of the rooftop. Strong enough to make the experienced ex-hero hesitate.

And how Gai had basically cut right through it with a harsh kick that broke the man’s ribs, apparently uncaring for the heavy, immobilizing atmosphere.

So. “Our suspect defeated Stain on his own.” The theory of him and his children being Vigilantes was starting to seem highly probable.

“As far as I could see, yes,” Knucleduster nodded. “What happened on your end?”

Tensei explained about Metal Rod’s injury, what the hero mentioned about Stain’s quirk, how Gai’s twin had punched the door open, coming out with a masked 'Jin' friend in tow—

“Bubaigawara Jin,” the vigilante interrupted, looking at the handcuffed fighter under a new light. “So you’re the result of his quirk, a copy.”

“I am,” clone-Gai confirmed, apparently relieved at hearing something he could make sense of. “Are you Jin’s friend too?”

Knucleduster turned away from the clone, unable to repress the smirk, like a cat that got the canary. Tensei looked at their new source of information, not believing how the night had made a complete turn from being an absolute disaster to turning advantageous. He chose not to look a gift horse in the mouth and smiled.

“Yeah, we are,” Tensei answered amiably. “It’s been a while since we last could sit down to chat though. Is he doing ok?”

The clone perked up, grinning wide. 

A trip to the station revealed that Gai was living with his 'kids' in Jin’s apartment, so Tensei now knew where to go. He also discovered that the green-clad suspect was a surprisingly gentle and hilarious, eccentric person.

“You’re not really his friends, are you?”

Also quite perceptive. And perhaps a bit uncaring of his own well-being, considering the clone found a way to damage itself enough to turn into a small pile of mud right after reaching that conclusion.

“We should organize a raid on the apartment,” Knuckleduster suggested.

“I think it’s better if I reach out first,” Tensei denied, watching the pile of mud with a troubled gaze. “I can stumble on them by ‘chance’, if I patrol that area… just to check on some things.”

Gai honestly hadn’t seemed like a bad person.

…

…

…

“What do you mean you can’t dispel them?!” Gai asked incredulously to his friend. He had always thought Jin just didn’t like to dismiss the clones due to trauma. 

Gai had left a mud clone of him there, thinking he would disappear if Jin so willed it— 

“Nope, only by damage. Do you want to come back for him? Leave it.”

Gai sighed and shook his head ruefully. Too much time had passed, they would no longer be there… and he wasn’t a tracker.

At this point he just hoped nothing bad would come from it. The clone knew only what Jin knew Gai knew, so it couldn’t say a thing about Konoha, at least.

Chapter Text

Idaten’s Offer

The first time Lee had fallen in one of his — back then frequent — self-deprecating spirals, Gai had stood next to him and patted his back while he cried.

Lee had sniffed and shoved his full weight at his side, pressing his face against Gai's chest, quickly gravitating towards the first gesture of amiability. It brought back some memories of how utterly touch-starved Gai had been after his papa’s passing, since there was no one close to him that expressed affection in the same way he did. 

Back then Chouza-sensei had been understanding and helped a lot with encouraging pats on the shoulders and hair ruffles. Gai had also been the youngest of his team, so Genma and Ebisu were very tolerant of his grand gestures of friendship and accepted to be bone-crushed squeezed in a youthful embrace every now and then.

Did Lee not have anyone like that?

Gai had resolved to imitate Chouza-sensei, and ended up hitting Lee’s shoulder playfully, pulling him into one-armed embraces, that resembled more a headlock, to nuggie the top of his head, and eventually evolved into youthful hugs of—

“Gai-sensei!”

“Lee!”

“GAI-SENSEI!” Lee cried, which in turn made him cry too!

“LEE!”

Tenten looked at them from the sidelines, a deadpan expression in place.

“…did Lee master a new move?” Neji asked her as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

“More like he existed in sensei’s vicinity,” she answered with a sigh, one hand at her hip. 

Neji nodded as if that made perfect sense, and Tenten rolled her eyes before looking at them once more. 

“Why are you like this?” she was squinting at them like they were too bright to look at.

Gai laughed and extended an inviting arm. She shook her head with a “no thanks, I’m actually sane,” justification. Ah, the naivety of genins, there was no ninja in existence that was fully sane!

He laughed a boisterous sound, releasing Lee to give Tenten a warm pat on the shoulder. “That’s alright too. Very well team, are we ready for our camping trip!?”

One day after his encounter with the villain — a popular one, apparently. His three genins had immediately recognized the Hero Killer moniker, which meant his interference was going to inevitably call for attention — Gai used their only 'cellphone' to 'text' his employer, asking to take some days off.

His boss, apparently used to reading between lines, had promised to send a warning if the police asked for him again at the club. Gai was grateful beyond words.

For now, since there was little option but to leave for a bit, he would make the most of it and take his team out to the quirk-training fields Neji had found. 

His absence would also allow for Jin’s mud-clone to settle in as a separate fighter. The clone was going for a full-body-covered mute, nunchaku fight style, which hopefully would be enough to stop people from putting two and two together.

“READY FOR THE TRIP!” Lee exclaimed, the will of fire dancing in his gaze.

“No,” Tenten shook her head. “I tried the cooling-storage seal yesterday and messed up our food, so we need to buy more provisions before leaving... sorry.” 

“We also need to replenish the first aid supplies,” Neji added. “Lee uses up the whole kit every three days.”

Lee does?

“It reflects my hard work and dedication!” That was a yes. Gai nodded and inwardly resolved to buy so many supplies it would be enough to replenish the first floor of Konoha’s hospital.

“Very well, then we can stop by the store before continuing—”

“Actually,” Neji interrupted with a politely raised palm. “I think you and Lee should go. I’d like to have a word with Tenten before we leave.”

Tenten quirked an eyebrow, eyes narrowing distrustfully at her teammate.

“I want to apologize for how I’ve treated them,” Neji had confessed to him one night. “I want to speak with them alone… please, sensei.”

“Then we shall depart!” Gai winked, passing an arm around Lee’s shoulders to drag his protegé outside the apartment. “We’ll be back in an hour or so, I’d suggest making the most of this time!”

“Gai-sensei?” Lee asked without asking, looking up at him.

“Sensei…” Tenten seemed confused, defensive stance already in place, one hand hovering over her scrolls. Neji was in for a challenging time.

“Thank you, sensei,” Neji gave a small nod, warily stepping back and away from the kunoichi. Smart move.

“It’s ok to trust your teammates!” Gai encouraged before closing the door. The message was directed at Tenten, but in the end it was Lee who nodded.

“You’re right, Gai-sensei!” his student exclaimed, closing his fists and nodding with utmost determination. Well, it’s not like he was wrong.

“Come on, Lee. Let’s race to the convenience store!” Gai grinned and pointed towards the path they would take.

“And pharmacy!”

“And pharmacy!” he added, already jumping off with Lee hot at his heels.

It wasn’t long before they were carrying plastic bags full of the needed items, and they were leisurely walking back home, much to Lee’s displeasure. But truly, another race would damage their purchases, and Gai needed to stall for time so Neji could properly apologize without hurry.

“An exercise in patience is also—”

“Excuse me!” a male’s voice called from somewhere behind them.

Gai instinctively stepped to the side, pushing Lee behind him as he turned to face the rapidly approaching figure.

“Good reflexes!” the armored man exclaimed, halting a short distance in front of them. He looked like a hero, Gai was glad he had squashed his first instinct — deliver a kick to the head to use his speed against him, instantly breaking his neck — and had just moved out of the way instead.

The helmet looked kind of familiar, wasn’t this the hero Lee had been gushing about in the morning… something about his brother being in the Sports Festival he had seen aired on TV?

“Ingenium!” his protegé exclaimed with a grin. “I saw you in the news this morning, the fight against that big rhino-man was awesome!”

“Oh, you’re a fan? I’m—“

“Although the last kick was off. It’s not too bad for a trainee, but you honestly could have just—” 

“HEY!” Gai exclaimed and hurriedly pushed the teen’s head down, giving an apologetic nod of his own. “Sorry, we’re a bit— a bit enthusiastic about the many forms of martial arts.”

Taijutsu Masters could imitate a move after watching it a few times. They trained to become acquainted not only with their own body’s response, but to read every tense muscle and twitch on others, to try to predict, to fight proactively instead of reacting to the opponent, which of course, made picking apart their opponent’s technique a common practice.

Gai had the bad habit of instructing others whenever he was immersed in friendly combat, and it seemed to be yet another thing Lee had picked on and started to do on his own.

“I don’t mind,” Ingenium easily waved away the issue. “If anything I’d like to listen. What do you think, child?”

“…child?” Lee frowned for a moment before remembering the metal headband didn’t make him a legal adult in this world. “Ah, right. Um.”

He looked up at Gai for permission. He nodded. “Be short and precise.”

Lee straightened and turned towards the hero in the same manner he did for reporting at the end of a mission. “Ok. For someone with your speed there was no need to jump up to attack, you could have just slid under the extended arm and propel yourself up to a kick under the jaw, which was unprotected even with the rhino-quirk active. Clean knockout, faster, less energy waste.”

Lee relaxed and looked up at him at the end of his analysis. Gai was so proud he could cry!

“Excellent summary!” He passed an arm around his student in an affectionate chokehold that made Lee snicker delightedly. “I knew you could it!”

“Yes!”

“You’ve great observational skills!”

“I do!”

“And are improving magnificently!”

“I AM!”

“THAT’S THE PATH OF YOUTH!”

“YOUTH!”

They both were crying in a strong embrace with inspirational ocean waves crashing somewhere behind them— because what else could nature do, not bend to the will of youth? Preposterous! —  when Gai remembered they had company.

“Oh, right!” Gai let go of Lee, turning to face the hero so he could give him an encouraging thumbs up. “I didn’t see your combat against this rhino-villain Lee mentions, but I’m sure you will also improve magnificently if you continue to live your springtime of youth!” 

“Uh, yes…?” his expression was hidden by the helmet, but the voice seemed confused and amused, for some reason. “Good advice and, uh, sorry for interrupting your grocery trip. I just wanted to ask something.”

“That’s fine, seeking guidance is the decision of the wise,” Lee said knowingly with crossed arms and a prideful nod. 

“Exactly right,” Gai nodded along. “What do you need, Ingenium?”

“Well, after that good feedback I can’t help but wonder about your middle school,” the hero’s helmet lowered slightly to look at Lee. “Where are you going?”

Middle school?

Lee furrowed his brows with palpable confusion and turned to look at him for guidance. Gai didn’t know about that either. Even worse, it sounded like something that should be common knowledge, and since a hero was the one asking… then it could be a trick question? What was the right answer? 

“That’s an odd inquiry,” Gai settled on saying. “Why do you need to know?”

“To be honest, when I stopped by I was just going to ask for directions, but now I want to know if the kid is thinking of joining a hero course,” Ingenium said it as if it was praise. “Idaten is a big agency, and you have a keen eye for combat. I’d not mind sending you a request for an internship!”

“Internship means to learn under your wing?” Lee asked, surprised.

“Exactly so! Is quite the—”

“Then no, I already have an assigned sensei,” Lee declined firmly before bowing. “Thank you for your consideration but I’m already learning from the best!”

Gai puffed up at the praise and decided to return it. “See Lee? The talent of hard work doesn’t go by unnoticed. Everyone that gets to know you wants a chance at becoming your instructor!”

Lee grinned wide and wobbly, starting to cry again. “But I already have the best sensei!”

“And you’re the best hard-working student!”

“GAI-SENSEI!”

“LEE!”

They cried and hugged again. An inspirational rainbow shone brightly above them,  forming an archway, with falling glitter raining down like golden tears of youth.

“What the heck,” the hero whispered with amused disbelief, snickering a soft sound before clearing his throat and trying again. “Um, isn’t he your son?”

Gai had the perfect response for that often-heard claim!

“He is my kid, my responsibility, my student! He’s as precious to me as life itself! He’s the reason I face every day with the best attitude and I love him with all my heart! I believe in him and will always support him no matter what—”

He dived into a sincere rant that made Lee cry even more strongly, which in turn made him cry too, and he wanted to scream praise to anyone that had ears to listen because his student honestly deserved it! He deserved to know he was great, and hardworking, and strong, and—

“Ok, ok, that’s a yes, I get it,” Ingenium interrupted with both palms up as if pleading for him to stop, which was probably exactly what he was doing. “You two really are like two drops of water.”

“I’ll be just like Gai-sensei when I grow up!”

“I don’t doubt it,” the hero chuckled. “But this was not the point of my question, I just wanted to know if you were going to apply for a hero course.”

Oh, so that was all? He could have said so sooner.

“It’s truly too soon to know!” Gai laughed, tapping Lee’s shoulder in a retreat command. “But if he does, I’m sure he’ll be requesting an internship position at Idaten. Either way—”

“Wait, wait—”

“—as lovely as this chat is—”

“— please listen to—”

“— we’re already running late, so we must part ways! Come on, Lee!”

“—me, ah,” the hero turned around and trotted behind them when they started to leave. “I’m sorry, but I need you to stop.”

“Can’t do, hero! I wish you the best in your quest of getting directions though!”

“Believe in yourself, that’s the most important thing!” Lee waved with a bright smile that pinged with the rays of the sun, and Gai was so incredibly moved he patted his student’s back heartily.

“A most youthful lesson to share with others! I’m proud of you Lee—”

The hero exhaled as if asking a higher being for patience and activated his quirk to dash ahead until he was in front of them. “Alright, that was that.” The mutter was soft, probably only meant to himself. 

“I’m sorry, but I need the two of you to stop,” Ingenium said with a placating gesture. “You’re not in trouble, but you’re involved in a case and I really need to talk with you both about vigilantism.”

“Vigilantism?” Lee pondered the new term.

Not in trouble, sounded good. Neji had said different heroes dealt with vigilantes in different ways. Was this one of the heroes that was reasonable? Ah, but even if he was, being brought in for questioning when they didn’t know a thing about middle schools and other basic terminology wasn’t a good idea.

“…or well, considering the case file I read and how much you helped us out, I guess I can just take your statement and keep it off records. It’s not like we need more witnesses to imprison the villains,” Ingenium offered, surprising Gai by taking off his helmet. The man underneath was surprisingly familiar, with short spiky hair and an amiable, if a bit guarded, smile as he looked down at Lee. “You’re just… what, twelve?”

This was the person helping the blue hero that night, the one the slayer had injured. Ingenium’s costume also had the weird tubes coming from the arms, now that he noticed.

Gai had helped one of his allies, so perhaps the hero was willing to return the favor?

“I turned thirteen this year,” Lee answered after Gai nodded his permission.

“You’re just a kid. Listen, even if it’s to help someone you can’t be careless with the use of your quirk. There’s a good reason you need to have a hero license, you know? You can hurt yourself or others if you act without the proper training for it.”

“But I have training. I don’t—”

“Wait Lee,” Gai interrupted firmly. “Let’s hear him out.”

If this all could be solved with just a figurative slap on the wrist it would be a great relief.

“Thanks. Believe it or not, this is not the first time Idaten is supported by vigilantes,” the hero admitted with a smile. “So if we can just go somewhere to talk about the group you and… your friends fought some weeks back, that would be enough.”

That sounded too good to be true, but the matter wasn’t going to resolve itself if they just kept ignoring it, and the heroes knew where to find Gai’s job, which in turn may lead them to the apartment or his students at some point. 

“Alright.” If the intel Neji had gathered was true, if the law was truly more forgiving with those younger than fifteen, then the odds weren’t too bad. “Come on Lee, you can pick the restaurant!”

“Eh, really? Then I want spicy curry!” 

As the conversation went on, it seemed this hero really was a more laid-back type than Eraser or Knuckleduster were. Either that or his acting skills were superb.

“—most victims panic and think: someone help me quick! And that’s exactly what you guys did. In my agency we certainly value speed!” the hero winked and pointed at himself. “So thanks for the help, with the additional report we managed to act and get the whole group behind bars. No one else will fall victim to them.”

The hero had yet to ask for information, oddly enough.

“That said, you’re too young to be fighting on the streets kid,” Ingenium clapped his hands together and pointed them at Lee. “So don’t do that again. Join a Hero Course and then you can help people, alright?”

Lee seemed mildly offended, like he wanted to show off all the missions he had completed as genin to prove his competence, but at Gai’s signal he just pouted and nodded.

“Yes Sir.”

The hero nodded, satisfied. “And Gai, why are you in that shaddy fight club? Someone with your skill would have made for a great hero.”

It’s a source of income that doesn’t leave a trackable record.

I’m not supposed to exist in this world.

How am I supposed to know who is a hero and who is a villain? There are no uniforms to differentiate.

“I got lost in the road of life.” Because if Kakashi could use that phrase and actually get away with it, then he could try too. “It’s not like I have many options, and I still need to bring food to the table.”

He ruffled Lee’s hair to get his point across. In the end, his genin’s wellbeing would always be his top priority.

Ingenium looked a bit saddened. “I can help you with that. It’s the least I can do after you helped capture Stain—” who was Stain? “— and you shared what you could on the missing people case. What’s your last level of studies?”

Uh. “I… didn’t study?” Not after graduating from the academy. Once his genin life started he had just helped his dad, learned about medical herbs, and practiced taijutsu to the point of exhaustion every day.

“Oh,” Ingenium seemed caught off guard by the answer. “I’m sorry, I didn’t— um, do you know how to read and write…?”

“Yes?” Why was one thing related to another? All toddlers were taught that at home, they needed to have the basics down before entering the academy.

“Ok, I can work with that,” the hero nodded to himself and smiled. “If you’re ok with it, why not use your quirk on my team?”

Gai exchanged a bewildered look with Lee.

“Gai-sensei doesn’t have a hero license,” his student mentioned what Gai had thought was obvious.

“There’s more to running an agency than the frontliners!” the hero made a hand motion as if to wave the concern away. “We have patrollers, navigators, and support staff, and all of them are valuable members of the team. Collaboration is what makes Idaten a great hero agency!”

Gai squinted at the hero in disbelief.

He had agreed to this reunion to see if the incident his genins were involved in could be waived. Being offered a legal job was unexpected and… good. A bit too good, actually… it was not common to find people willing to genuinely extend a hand without expecting something in exchange.

Or wanting to pull you into position for an ambush. This was a trap, wasn’t it?

He hummed, trying to think of a response that would shift the focus back to the missing people case.

“Look, I know that some people face difficult circumstances, and most never get an opportunity to use their abilities for good,” Ingenium muttered with a soft, understanding gaze. “But I really think a quirk like yours can do some good in the world.

“People like All Might with all-powerful quirks are best suited for the fancy institutions, but for Idaten is all about finding just the right use for more focused quirks, and winning the day through teamwork!”

The man seemed sincerely excited as he said that, sliding a presentation card towards him, with a phone number and big, gold-shining letters stating: 'IDATEN. Team Lead Turbo Hero: Ingenium'.

“Thank you,” Gai settled on giving the hero a sincere nod. “Let me think about it. Right now I’m more concerned about the case you mentioned on missing people. Can you tell us about that?”

“Ah, right. So, I’m guessing Lee here was the one responsible for the people with concussions and dislocated limbs, but we have records of internal damage and poisoning on others. Who else was involved?”

Gai hummed. Neji used a henge every time he left the apartment, so the police probably just had an accurate record of Tenten and Lee, which was great, because Neji frequently delved in more illicit dealings and vigilantism, probably.

“How dire is this involvement?” Gai asked instead of answering.

“We just need to record the cure for the quirk-segregated poison, and… I guess I should also give a warning to the one dealing damage to the organs. Some of them almost didn’t survive surgery,” Ingenium admitted with a grimace. “The teen probably didn’t measure his quirk’s effect correctly.”

Neji had been perfectly aware of the level of damage he was inflicting.

“Jail time?” 

“They would need to attend a course on lawful quirk-usage in a correctional facility, pass the psychological evaluation, and pay the fee. Hospitalization to that level means the latter is quite expensive, sorry, and the Vigilante label is going to… be there.” If anything, at least the hero seemed honest.

“But it was self-defense!” Lee spoke for the first time in a while, brows furrowed in rightful indignation. “There was no other choice and no external party was injured, only the assailants!”

“Self-defense,” Ingenium wondered before he seemed to realize something. “Middle schoolers. So they were going to—”

“They tried,” Lee interrupted steely. No one liked to mention the group’s intention out loud if they didn’t have to, it was too vile.

The hero brought a hand to his mouth. “Minors fighting in self-defense with no deaths, not from villains nor witnesses,” he muttered under his breath before nodding. “Then I can just take the statements and file you three under self-defense victims.”

“You would take the statement, just like today?”

“No, sorry, but given the severity I need the questioning recorded, so it needs to be at a police station.”

Gai nodded and stood up, giving a meaningful look to his student. “I’ll reach out next week to settle on the details then. Thank you, Ingenium.”

“No, wait, I can’t let—”

Both teacher and student disappeared from the establishment in a blink, with nothing but spinning leaves left in their stead.

“— a week pass by without— crap,” the hero passed a hand through short hair. “I really hope they don’t get too spooked when the police knocks at their door.”

Chapter Text

Complot

This was either going to unite his team more than ever, or break it from the inside out. Neji was aware of the risk, but still—

“— if I can do this to help you, I will. And whatever comes from it will be worth it.” Gai was on a knee, looking up at him in the same way his father once had.

Like Neji was worth the whole world.

The risk was worth it.

Neji’s father had been sacrificed by the main branch to protect the clan head, to protect Konoha’s byakugan dojutsu from falling on their 'allies' hands. Neji’s first and last familial bond was gone at the tender age of four, because he refused to consider anyone from the main branch his family. Not the spoiled princess Hinata, and certainly not Hiashi.

No, he was left alone after his father’s passing. He had considered the solitude inevitable, the lack of freedom a bound from fate, the suffering a mark of destiny. He couldn’t turn a blind eye to any of it, not when the proof was forever burned across his forehead.

He had thought the rest of his life would be like this. He had his fate, his path decided for him since he was born. Disobedience wasn’t a part of it, choices weren’t part of it, and the word 'freedom' was just a pretty fantasy best left for the lower peasants that were not born among the Hyuga. 

But then, they had been intercepted by an unknown enemy while returning from a C-rank. 

One that was incredibly powerful. The combat had been a mess, the sheer speed of it making things hard to discern as the world turned into a blur of shapes and colors, where they had been running and jumping out of the way, and other times Gai was yanking them in this direction or that, at one point even carrying him out of harm’s way.

It was hard to discern what exactly had happened. Or at least, that’s how his two teammates thought of the event.

Neji had activated his byakugan at the first sign of trouble, and had kept it active for the whole confrontation. His memory was not eidetic as the Uchiha's was, his eyes did not have the preserving quality the sharingan granted, but the level of detail was ingrained deeply enough, at least for someone of his intellect.

Neji remembered being guiltily thankful for Gai’s order to retreat, because the enemy’s mere presence screamed death.

Neji remembered the red, singular sharingan focused on himself. The orange material must have had protective seals like those of ANBU, because he could not see through it to discover the identity of the wearer.

He remembered gloved fingers getting awfully close to his face, to his eyes. As if the man had fully intended to use the digits to pluck an eye out, only for the sight to be interrupted by a green-clad shoulder, as his sensei was stabbed by a suddenly-materialized-kunai in his stead.

Neji had known that Gai was strong, had been forced to recognize it since day one, when the jounin defeated the three genin with effortless, infuriating ease. But the moment the jounin changed from fifth to seventh gate, the reality of just what kind of power and skill laid dormant under green spandex was revealed.

Neji had always thought that he was just a few steps away from reaching the same level his jounin sensei seemed to have. That it was just a matter of experience, of increasing his speed, his reactions, his predictions.

But seeing the blue aura in action made him think “I can’t defeat him,” with frightening clarity. A thought that was at first a relief — Gai can keep up with this enemy — and then became a source of anxious dread.

I can’t defeat him. Neji thought every time he left the apartment to learn more and 'infiltrate' this beautiful, peaceful world. That sentence popped up to the front of his mind every time he started to consider escaping away from his team, getting forever lost in this incredible society.

Neji didn’t want to return to the village, but he could visualize how the confrontation against his own team would go. How humiliatingly fast he would be defeated. How his unconscious form would be thrown over Gai’s shoulder, as if he was just a kid that had made a fuss over bedtime, unable to do anything as he was unwillingly carried back to Konoha, back to his clan, back to his cage.

He was furious about the mere image, the mere concept. 

He was furious and helpless against it. Because it was his destiny to return, and even though he should be accustomed to the unfairness of it at this point, every time he escaped from the apartment, when he escaped from his team, the taste of freedom was addictive and hurting in its beauty. 

He longed for it in a way that ached, almost strongly enough to pass as a physical malady.

He couldn’t help but actively interfere everytime he stumbled on certain immoral acts. Life was unfair, it was Neji’s destiny to forever suffer it, but if he could give that freedom to someone else… the ache dulled, a bit.

Only to increase tenfold with every unwanted interaction he had with the jounin.

He was beyond tense by the end of the month when Gai had cornered him and forced him to listen. He had thought the jounin was going to crush his foolish dream. Neji had been steeling himself for the cutting words, and yet.

“That doesn’t mean you have to accompany me.”

The truth had been the complete opposite.

And now he was infuriated about something else entirely, because Gai-sensei wanted to go back, even though there was a high chance he would be executed, and that was so incredibly stupid. He was essentially throwing his life away for the slim chance of continuing serving Konoha, as if a life of war and blood and death was worth such risk. 

As if freeing Neji was worth his life, even though he would leave Tenten and Lee alone in a world that would soon get them killed without his guidance. Lee would surely be crushed by the emotional turmoil alone.

It was idiotic, suicidal, his father would never have done anything of the sort. He would have fought tooth and nail for the opportunity to stay with him, to stay with his only son, and would have been successful if not for the cursed seal. He would have stayed if he had had any choice.

Neji didn’t want to acknowledge the reason he was comparing Gai with his father, and why his conclusions increased the silent rage that flowed through his veins just like chakra.

Gai sensei was inherently a self-appointed martyr. Neji really shouldn’t expect any different from a user of the Inner Gates, from someone who essentially self-destructed every time they fought seriously, but for better or worse his jounin sensei had barreled his way into Neji’s life, had earned his respect, and he was an important bond now.

So no, Neji wasn't going to allow it. If Gai was going to move heaven and earth to go back home, then all Neji had to do was stop him at every turn, until he was forced to see reason, or enough time had passed. 

Because his sensei had admitted to it himself, that he valued his bonds more than he did the village. Once he had formed enough bonds here, he would not want to go back any longer. Once he realized what his return would entail for Lee and Tenten, he would change his mind and stay in this clearly morally superior world.

And for that, he needed his teammates’ help. Lee was going to be hard to recruit — he was just as self-destructive as Gai — but Tenten should be more reasonable and thus a good start.

“I’m sorry for how arrogant I’ve been,” Neji started while sitting on his heels, slowly bending until his forehead touched the floor. “I’ve been nothing but disdainful of this team since the first day I was assigned here, thinking of you as less talented, destined to either fail or die a premature death, and I could not have been more wrong.”

“…this is starting to creep me out,” Tenten admitted, looking at him as if she was wondering if he was an enemy disguised under henge, one doing a very poor imitation at that. “Neji I’m sorry, but truthfully, you’re a stuck-up asshole. 

“You don’t say anything that is not a monosyllabic response. You ignore us on the good days and hiss shit about our efforts on the bad ones. You make Lee cry like you’re keeping a fucking tab on it, actively trying to break your previous record every other week. You mock my chosen specialty every time I have to face you for training. You have a stick shoved all the way up your—"

“Don’t be vulgar,” Neji cringed with a grimace.

“Huh,” Tenten crouched down in front of him, a small smirk in place. “So you are Neji. Do forgive me if I’m skeptical of this sudden change of heart, oh dear teammate of mine,” the last statement was obviously sarcasm. Why had Neji thought Tenten would be the easy one to convince?

“I’m sorry—”

“You’ve said that already,” Tenten interrupted. Not maliciously, just stating a fact. “And I don’t believe it. What’s the catch? Tell me what brought up this or don’t say another word, I’d rather not get false ideas on potential camaraderie.”

She didn’t want to be hurt by an offer of friendship that might not be real. 

Neji nodded and straightened, giving her a smile that aimed to be playful but probably looked more like a grimace. Every expression he made always ended up looking like a grimace.

“We’re the sane ones of the team, of course we have to stick together.”

Tenten snorted despite herself. “Yeah, good point… but not enough.”

“I know,” Neji sighed, sitting in the seiza position, which was a bright contrast to Tenten’s casual posture. “Let me show you.”

He raised his hands, carefully undoing the knot tying his headband, then forcing his shaking fingers to unwrap the bandages. 

He always felt unbearably exposed like this. Ashamed. The cursed seal was an insult to all second brand members, a reminder that their life was worthless, that they were born just to serve and protect the main branch.

And he was going to expose it and, even worse, explain it.

He needed to. He needed her to understand, he needed her cooperation. He needed—

“This pattern,” Tenten gasped the second she saw the mark. “I’m no expert, but the seal in this is— who… who would do something so cruel?”

Neji huffed a sharp sound, deciding to latch upon that derisive feeling to reduce the weight on his throat, to make the words roll easier on his tongue as he explained the destiny of all second branch members.

As he explained what coming to this peaceful, alternate dimension meant to him.

As he explained Gai’s offer, and what that would entail if the suicidal maniac managed to go back to Konoha.

“And even though sensei knows that, he still wants to go back?!” The words were laced with incredulity.

“Shinobi exist for their village, and only for their village. We’re weapons to be used and discarded as Konoha sees fit. Gai-sensei received the same lessons we did at the academy, Tenten,” Neji had become disillusioned with Konoha at the tender age of four, but most didn’t see anything wrong with the system, not enough to resent it to the level Neji did.

“But even then…” she started before falling silent, realization and reluctant acceptance coloring her expression. “This is— you remember what he said during our first week. He said that— he essentially said that he strived to die an honorable death in battle. He wants to die in combat.”

“He can open all the inner gates,” Neji confirmed. “Of course he wants to die with the Eight Gate of Death.”

Tenten grimaced, hugging her legs closer to herself.

“Tenten,” Neji called softly. “Why did you decide to become a ninja?”

Tenten was an orphan, with no clan to indoctrinate her into the profession. She was free to do whatever she wanted. She could have done literally anything else.

“I… the reason I decided to become a kunoichi was because— because I want to be strong enough to survive,” Tenten admitted with a vulnerable whisper, fists twisting at the material on her lap, gaze locked at her feet. “I wanted to survive, unlike my parents. They were presumed dead in the Kyuubi attack, probably merchants from outside the village, and I— I didn’t want to go down the same way. I didn’t want to die just because I was a civilian stuck in the crossfire of a fight that had nothing to do with me.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I like my tools. I’ve been volunteering in the weapon’s shop since I was five. I like to learn about the best way to use them and give them maintenance. I want to know how to forge them and store them. I want to be a Weapons Master, but—” she raised her head then, steely gaze meeting Neji’s. “But that doesn’t mean I want to fight for Konoha, or die for Konoha.

“I don’t want sensei to die for Konoha either. Most villagers mock him wherever he goes, and they just— they don’t deserve such sacrifice. Sensei has been supportive of my dream from day one, even when everyone else said it was a fantasy, even though I believed him an incapable fool and said that to his face. So.” 

She stretched a hand, an invitation, a promise. 

“Let’s stay in this world. We can convince Lee.”

Neji took her hand in a firm grip. “And then the three of us will save Gai-sensei from himself no matter what,” he ended.

“We can drag his martyr butt back here, as many times as he needs for the lesson to stick,” Tenten smiled sweetly. “The easy way or the hard way. He always says practice makes perfect, so we’ll make him practice.”

How could someone so cute be so lawfully evil?

The thought came and went in the same breath, so Neji didn’t ponder on it. He simply nodded and started to think of the best strategies to bring Lee to their side, and how they could keep Gai-sensei away and unaware until that happened.

But before they could brainstorm on it the door slammed open, ripping with it the silencing seal Neji had placed at the beginning of this conversation.

“We are back with the missing supplies!” Lee greeted, lifting the plastic bags as if they were some sort of trophy.

“I hope you’ve made the best of this past couple of hours!” Gai added with a wink in his direction, patting his back encouragingly even as the other hand rested on Tenten’s head, careful of not upsetting the twin buns. “We’re running late now, so grab a snack and prepare to run all the way until we reach our final destination!”

“I’m sure we can make it in half the time if we run at top speed!” Lee added, punching the air excitedly.

“HAH! Excellent idea Lee!”

The kunoichi sighed, exhausted by the mere notion. Neji closed his eyes and exhaled silently. This was just how these two were, no need to get worked up over it.

“Oh, and Weapon Master Trainee, please keep these in the storage seals. How is the ink and paper supply? Do I need to get more packages?”

Tenten nodded, already grabbing the plastic bags full of groceries and health items.

“Noted. Alright then, you have ten minutes to prepare and then we’re out!”

(x)

“So, this is it?” It wasn’t too different from the area they had landed at; the one secured by the Cat Paw Heroes.

“By law, people can practice their quirks in their own homes since it’s their own private property. And if the police ask, there’s forged documentation to show that this is our private property. Rental counts so long it's not obviously illicit in nature,” Neji explained calmly, activating his byakugan to look around. “Not another soul for miles, so we also comply with the condition of no harm done to third parties, nor damage to any of the neighboring private or government-owned constructions.”

Sounded sketchy, but it should be enough. Besides this was just temporary, since this was their fifth week in this world, which meant that three days should have passed already for Ningame. Just a bit more and they would be on their way back home.

“Very well team! This is the perfect place to practice attacks that impact a wide area, as well as long-range, and adapting to use the terrain in your favor, so let’s seize it to the fullest! One goes against me, the other two face each other, then we switch it up. Who’s coming first?”

He had expected Tenten to jump at the chance — she hadn’t been able to practice her specialty in the limited space of the rented apartment — but she just patted Lee at the back encouragingly, pushing him forward.

“Eh, me?”

“Yap, throwing pointy things at Neji sounds appealing at the moment,” the kunoichi said with a smirk. “What’s a little stabbing between friends, right Neji?”

…had the apology attempt gone poorly?

“I’m having second thoughts about your place on the sane side of this team,” Neji huffed, the small twitch at the corner of his mouth denoting amusement. Good, then the issue must have been resolved splendidly!

Gai laughed, genuinely happy for them. If Tenten had accepted the apology, then Neji should be good to speak with Lee. His protegé had been trying to befriend him — and prove him wrong — for quite some time now.

“Excellent, then you two can take the opposite side. Good luck, and remember to take note of the things you’d like me to focus on once your turn arrives!” Gai instructed, gesturing at Lee to follow to the other side. “Alright, show me what your creative mind can do with this irregular terrain. Lead the fight on your terms! Don’t let me gain on you for the next five minutes!”

“YOSH!”

Lee went ahead and did an exceptional job, all things considered. He had managed to lead him in circles for a minute and half before Gai caught up with him, which meant he had improved by twenty seconds, and when it was time for combat his student had used the new combo almost flawlessly, even though Gai had only taught it a few days ago. He must have practiced it every hour of every day, to the point of collapse, for it to be this good!

“Wonderful! Now let’s repeat the exercise with the second gate open. Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

And then repeated it with the third and fourth, because one could only open the following gate after having fully mastered the ones preceding it, which meant his protégé had to not only open them but be able to endure the heat, effort, and pain they all demanded. To move, dodge, attack while the muscles spasmed under the strain, while bone quivered as it tried to not break under the pressure. 

He was doing a magnificent job at it, at this rate Lee would be able to fully use them even sooner than Gai himself had! The student surpassing the teacher, it was a thrilling thought!

Papa would be so proud! He thought happily, both for Lee’s achievement and Gai’s progress as sensei. And to think the Sandaime hadn’t wanted to assign him a team until last year, even though he had been asking for one since he first became jounin.

"You’re not fit to teach yet," the Hokage had said. "You will put your students over you."

He had said it like it was a bad thing, but it sure wasn’t! Gai would do everything in his power to instruct and protect his genins, to the very last breath, and he was sure he wasn’t alone in this aspect. It couldn’t be wrong.

“Powerful ninja are what decides life or death of a village. One jounin is often worth hundreds of genin. Quantity has its benefits, but the quality can outpace it drastically, so don’t die until Konoha orders you to,” Danzo had muttered after Gai passed by his side, dejected after another refusal. “The Eighth has some merit, don’t waste it protecting low-ranked ninja.”

That day Gai discovered some people thought that a jounin’s value wasn’t comparable to those of genins, but thankfully the Sandaime wasn’t one of them. The Third was incredibly considerate, he had finally gotten Kakashi out of ANBU last year, right around the time of the assignment of his own team, so he did care for his people. This was proof of it!

“Excellent job Lee, your progress is noticeable!”

His student had collapsed over the grass, breathing harshly, skin still tinted red and slowly coming back to the normal tone. He would have a good amount of new bruises once the body had enough time to process the damage it had received.

“That’s… what I’m aiming for…”

“And I couldn’t be prouder!” Gai exclaimed sincerely, kneeling to link one limp arm with his own, and helped his student stand up. “Come on, let’s go with your teammates. You can rest for a bit, I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“That’s not necessary,” Lee’s voice was winded but steely with determination. “I may not have that luxury in battle. I will move. I will spar with them, until my limbs can’t even twitch anymore!”

Gai teared up at the dedication and hard work his student always placed in his training, and dived into an energetic, encouraging speech. Lee stumbled a couple of times during it, once on thin air, another with a small rock. 

Perhaps he really was too tired to continue… but Gai shouldn’t dictate mandatory rest like that.

Lee needed to understand his own limitations, and come to terms with them, learn how to deal with them. For Gai, that had meant the summoning contract with his tortoises, since he had needed someone to protect his immobile body after the Gates closed.

Ningame liked Lee, they would probably sign the contract with his protégé if— ah, but Lee couldn’t… summoning was ninjutsu. 

Lee would never be able to go on solo missions then, he would always need a support team.

Ah well, at least his student was easy-going! He would have no trouble with teamwork no matter who was assigned to his team. Neji was a good practice for dealing with uncooperative people, and gaining that much-needed layer of resistance to harsh words. It was a bit saddening that experience was the only thing that could help in this, but at least it was supervised experience. Gai had stepped in whenever it went too far. He hadn’t had that luxury back when he was—

“Gai-sensei?”

“Hm?” he really had gotten lost in thought. “How are you feeling Lee?”

“I’m fine!” The phrase was defensive, as if Gai had doubted his capabilities just by asking after his well-being. “I can do this; I know I can!”

Gai hummed, signaling at Tenten and Neji to stop their spar. Huh, neither of them looked particularly tired or injured, had they held back a bit too much during training? No one ever grew stronger by being treated with silk gloves—

“Sensei,” Tenten called with a frown and an accusatory finger. “You promised to help me with my poison’s harvest, so help me out while there’s still sunlight!”

“Oh right,” Gai had promised that, he should have gone off with Tenten instead of practicing with Lee, his pupil was now too tired to keep up with them. “Neji, can you stay with Lee?”

“Let’s spar!” Lee screeched, stepping forward with determination. The movement also made him sway dangerously, he would have fallen facefirst if Gai weren’t supporting him.

“Lee, you’re to rest until we come back,” Gai didn’t like to mandate rest, it was his students' duty to recognize their own body limits, but in this case there was no choice.

“But Gai-sensei!” Lee squinted with a hurt tint in his gaze. “I still can fight! Please let me show you—”

“Lee, you must remember,” Gai interrupted, kneeling to help Lee sit down, having him lean against a nearby tree. “This is not Konoha. This is a dangerous, unfamiliar world, and having you knocked out during training would be a great disadvantage if someone ambushed us here.”

Lee’s eyes opened wide with realization — and relief? — body sagging as he finally stopped forcing his limbs to move.

“I understand, Gai-sensei.”

“I knew you would,” Gai gave him a hair ruffle that made him snicker, and stood up again. “Neji, judging by the sunlight we should be back in a couple of hours at most.”

“No problem, take your time,” Neji nodded sophisticatedly. There was something about the old clan’s gracefulness that always made Gai inwardly hum. “I’d like to take this opportunity to speak with Lee about something.”

So he was going to apologize in their absence? Neji sure was motivated today! What an exceptional drive to right things up with his teammates! Such youthfulness! Such—

“Sensei, why are you crying?” Tenten asked while stepping back, as if fearing Gai would rush at her with open arms, which meant she was observant enough to notice he was crying proud tears. The kunoichi sure had outstanding observational skills!

“I’ve been blessed with a wonderful team!” Gai exclaimed, punching the air above since both standing genin had jumped out of reach, and Lee was too tired to move. “I wish you the best of luck in your chosen endeavor, Neji!”

Neji gave him a half-smile that seemed both amused and warmed. It lasted only for half a second though, expression going back to neutral politeness as he nodded.

“Very well Tenten, let’s go!”

“Yap!” Tenten grinned with almost childish energy before flickering away, with Gai dashing to follow. Today sure was a fruitful day!

(x)

Lee’s whole body was aflame, as if his blood had been replaced with lava. His fingers were twitching and trembling involuntarily, to the point where he couldn’t grab the flask of water Neji was offering him without spilling the liquid.

“No thank you, I’m fine!” Lee exclaimed, dry mouth gulping hot air. He cleared his throat to ensure his voice didn’t come out as raspy. “What did you want to discuss, Neji?”

His teammate looked at him inquisitively, opening the flask and bringing it closer to his face. “Drink.”

Lee turned his head away. Neji already considered him a failure, already considered him nothing but a half-baked shinobi that would never be strong enough, skilled enough, to be anyone worth noting. The last thing Lee wanted was to show him the weakness aftermath of the inner gates.

“I’m fine,” Lee shook his head resolutely when Neji tried again. “I don’t need it.”

Neji frowned, but finally stepped back. “You two really are too similar.”

Lee grinned at the unexpected praise, sitting up a bit straighter. “I’ll be as awesome as Gai-sensei is one day! I’ll work hard with the power of youth, and live up to expectations—”

“Expectations?” Neji interrupted.

Lee tried not to flinch, but failed. Was Neji going to say no one cared for his existence and thus there were no expectations to meet? Because… because he was wrong!

Lee’s nindo to become a great ninja, even without the use of genjutsu or ninjutsu, had been set aflame since he wanted to prove wrong his Academy classmates. He wanted to shut up the voices that he could still hear in his head on the bad days. He wanted to demonstrate to them, to the chunin teachers, to everyone that took one look at his incapability of molding chakra and deemed him unworthy of the shinobi path. 

He wanted to show them that taijutsu was all that was needed.

At least, that had been his goal right after graduating the Academy. Right now his main motivation to become a great ninja had changed a bit, because he refused to let down the first person that had genuinely believed in him and his dream. He would make Gai-sensei proud!

“That’s what I said!” Lee exclaimed; brows furrowed in defiance. “Why, you think no one expects anything from a nobody like me?”

Now it was Neji who cringed. Weird. “That’s not what I—”

“Because you’re wrong! I believe in myself!”

“Lee, wait—”

“And Tenten believes in me too!”

“This is not—”

“And Gai-sensei believes in my nindo as well! SO I CAN—”

“Shut up!” Neji snapped, and Lee fell silent because he had never seen Neji lose his cool like that. He seemed hurt and remorseful, but then his eyes widened a little, as if understanding something. “Lee, you do realize all the people you mentioned are here with you right now, in this world?”

Lee frowned in confusion. “Yes?”

“And that means you can follow your nindo no matter where we are,” Neji concluded, the words unnaturally expectant. “There’s no need to go back to Konoha.”

No need to go back…?

No need to go back?!

Lee couldn’t understand how Neji could say such a thing so lightly!

“What do you mean by that, of course we have to go back! We are just waiting for Ningame, and then we will—”

“Get Gai-sensei killed for treason,” Neji stated, words heavy with the steely certainty he usually displayed in the battlefield. “If he goes back, he dies.”

Lee choked, the rest of his explanation dying as all thoughts grounded to an abrupt halt.

Gai-sensei dying? 

Gai-sensei considered a traitor to the village, to Konoha?

“What,” his voice was high-pitched, mind racing as he struggled to comprehend, because: “What do you mean by that!?”

Neji’s mouth thinned, hands raising to undo the tie of his head protector. 

“There’s something I need to show you.”

Chapter Text

Decision

Speaking about it wasn’t as hard as it had been the first time, at least. The fact that Lee had stayed unnaturally still — the main reason Neji had waited to have this conversation after Lee had trained out the excessive energy — and was silent for the whole story also made it easier. 

Lee’s emotions were as transparent as ever, eyes growing tearful, wide brows furrowing in anger, then twisting with impotence. The disbelief. The hard negative at the mere concept of Gai’s willing sacrifice. 

Upon seeing those honest reactions, Neji felt a weight dissipate from his shoulders. It seemed Lee, more than anyone, could understand—

“You’re wrong.” Neji was not expecting that kind of statement when Lee finally broke the silence. “Gai-sensei won’t die, you’re wrong.”

Neji frowned, gut twisting as if he had received a direct hit from a fellow Hyuga. “After everything I’ve told you, you can’t still believe in Konoha. You can’t be that blind."

Lee frowned with even more determination than before. “It’s not that I doubt the veracity of your words, or that I don’t understand, because I do! I understand why you don’t want to— why you can’t go back. I understand, but we don’t— we can’t stay here,” he shook his head once before grimacing in pain, becoming unnaturally still once more.

“Gai can’t go back. What part of the traitor label you don’t understand?” 

Lee flinched as if the word ‘traitor’ had physically slapped him, but still held his ground. “But you don’t know that. From what you said, this cursed seal is… is to enslave, yes, but they excuse it with the ‘protect the Byakugan’ goal, to keep it from being stolen, right? So even if you stay in this world the dojutsu won’t fall on enemies’ hands, because it’s not even the same world, and—” Lee hesitated, then huffed through his nose. “And the clan head is clearly in the wrong! Gai-sensei can’t be punished for doing the right thing!”

Naïve, foolish, childish. Neji could think of harsher ways to describe the sheer stubbornness of his teammate, but if he pursued that train of thought he would lose the remaining time of solitude they had left. 

This conversation needed to be done before those two returned.  This discussion — that shouldn’t even be one — needed to be settled on asap. If Lee tattled on this to Gai right now, when there was nothing anchoring him to this peaceful world, then there would be no force in the universe that could keep the man away from Konoha. The plan would collapse before it even started.

Neji grabbed Lee firmly by the shoulders and glared. “You don’t know that,” he threw the words back at the idiot. “Are you really going to wager his life on Konoha’s non-existent morality?”

“It’s not a wager, it’s a decision!” Lee countered and leaned closer to him, trying to headbutt with enough force to break his nose. It was a flimsy attack attempt. His body was trembling under Neji’s grip, too weak after training with the gates, so halting the approach was easy.

Lee frowned, still refusing to concede. “And it’s Gai-sensei’s decision, not yours, not Tenten’s, and not mine. Not anyone’s! If he knows the risks like you said he does, and he still wants to go back—”

“You don’t get it,” Neji slammed him against the tree, as if that motion could physically knock some sense into him. “Why do you insist on this? Who benefits from his return? Who benefits from his death? You realize what will happen if you go back with him to Konoha, and he gets executed immediately after—”

“He won’t die, not like that!” Lee scrunched his face and, even in his weakened state, managed to gather up enough strength to try to kick him away.

Neji made the mistake of blocking instead of dodging.

The kick was stronger than he expected, and he grunted as he was forced to step back. 

“Gai-sensei is the best, strongest shinobi there is!” Lee exclaimed, dashing forward to try to punch him. Neji redirected the blow away from his face, pressing a chakra point at the forearm. “Gai-sensei can help the village, and they surely know it! They wouldn’t kill— they wouldn’t sacrifice—”

That last word was a trigger to his already feeble patience.

“My father. Was. Sacrificed! ” Each pause was accompanied by a jab of glowing chakra, as Neji forcefully closed the chakra points of Lee’s arms. “He was killed by his own brother, by Konoha, to stop another war from starting! What makes you think—” another jab to the shoulder, “—that Konoha won’t kill him—” several pokes at the leg, “—to avoid the wrath of the Hyuga clan!”

Lee was unsteadily standing on one foot. Out of usable limbs to attack, Lee still tried to headbutt and bite him, like an animal, like a beast.

“To avoid the unrest of one of the oldest and most powerful clans of the village,” Neji gritted through clenched teeth, swiping a leg under Lee’s unstable footing, then striking with a not-glowing palm right at the chest when his teammate still tried to rise. “To avoid inward fighting within the village. That sort of unrest could lead to a civilian war. The other villages would dive in to crush Konoha. The life of a single jounin is not worth it.”

“You’re wrong, you—”

“Gai-sensei’s life is not worth a thing,” Neji hissed almost desperately. “Not to the Hokage, nor the counsel. Not in the great scheme of things. If his death keeps the peace, they won’t defend him.”

The memory of his father rose in his mind. The one who had been wise, gentle, calm, brilliant beyond his years, and whose fate was to die for the sake of his brother, who had never spared him a second look, who had treated him like dirt.

“But he’s not doing anything wrong!” Lee was crying now, whole body quivering in uncontrollable twitches that seemed both, a result of his body protesting the harsh treatment and a silent sob.

“It’s not about right or wrong,” Neji refuted firmly. Lee panted, obviously winded and aching and exhausted, but he still shook his head.

“It—” he hiccuped, “It’s… still his decision to make.”

The sky was darkening. Neji was running out of time. He had known that Lee was stubborn, but he hadn’t expected such strong disagreement to what was, clearly, the best course of action for everyone involved.

He wasn’t going to convince him before they returned, and if Lee opened his mouth tonight, it was over.

“Then let him take it, but at the end of the third month,” Neji partially conceded. “Until then, don’t say anything. Don’t sway his decision in one way or the other.”

Lee pondered on it for a painfully long moment, before giving a slow nod.

“Promise,” Neji pressed, figuratively and literally.

“I promise,” Lee nodded, as determined as he did with any other self-rule. He would not break it, not even if his very life depended on it.

Neji let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Frustration, resentment, and despair finally succumbed down, and only then could he truly appreciate Lee’s sorry state. 

“…let me open them up again.”

Lee breathed in short, irregular patterns, gasping for air every so often, but he still nodded once, twice. 

And then fell unconscious on the third nod, chin falling all the way down to his clavicle, shoulders sagging. 

Neji sighed the remnants of tension away, crouching down to undo some of the damage he had done. He would have to apologize properly  once Lee was awake to hear it.

(x)

They had managed to find enough to make a poisonous concoction, enough to last for the remaining weeks they had left in this world, at least.

Tenten was in a noticeably good mood, humming a rhythm under her breath, striding leisurely back to the camping site instead of rushing over, with her halting every so often to point at this and that, pulling at his sleeve to make him pause and pay attention to whatever part of the vegetation had managed to snare her attention. 

Gai’s knowledge on the use of plants was a bit limited. He was familiar with the ones his papa had planted just outside the house, their medical uses for relaxing strained muscles, disinfecting injuries, reducing swelling, and helping with scarring. Some B-rank missions also made him learn about the plants used for food pills and chakra-replenishing pills, and some C-ranks had him learn about which were edible, but that was it.

Genma was a lot more familiar with the poisonous branch, and the respective antidotes. Tenten had learned a bit from him, and a bit from the few medic nin that agreed to teach her something even after her chakra control proved to be not enough for holding medical jutsu.

“And this one?” Gai asked honestly, squatting in front of a purple flower.

“Which?” Tenten crouched at his side to look at the one Gai was pointing at. “Pfft, no sensei, that’s just a pretty flower!”

“Not poisonous then?”

“Harmless,” she shook her head, a bit amused when Gai picked it up and offered it. “No thanks.”

“Ah well,” Gai put it behind his own ear. It was a cute flower, he was sure his papa would have liked it as well. If he could visit the gravestone to clean and adorn it, he would…

Hmm, perhaps Lee or Neji would want it. “Do you think your teammates may like it?”

Tenten started to shake her head but stopped mid-motion, mouth twitching with barely-contained mischievousness. “Neji would love it. Actually, now that you mention it, we should bring him a whole bouquet!”

Gai chuckled and nodded heartily. If anything, his young prodigy deserved a well-done present for apologizing to both teammates on a single day, and there was a language to flowers. Gai didn’t know it, but Tenten probably did since all kunoichi were taught that in the academy. “Very well then, help me pick some up! Something that says Great job, I’m proud of you, your efforts surely will make a noticeable— ”

“Sensei,” Tenten interrupted, giggling much too innocently. “We can’t say all that with flowers, but I get the gist of it. I’ll help you get the message across.”

It took them longer than expected, but Gai was grateful for the time Tenten took to explain the meaning of each addition, and why the combination meant what it meant. Learning something new was always appreciated.

By the time they made it back, the sky was already dark and adorned with stars. They weren’t as beautiful as the jewels adorning Konoha’s clear firmaments, but they were doing their best so Gai silently cheered them on. 

“What?” Tenten halted just as they stepped out of the dense vegetation, almost dropping the bouquet. Gai detected the surprised concern in her voice and dashed in the direction of his two male students. Lee was resting on the grass, clearly unconscious, with Neji perched closeby and evidently worried.

Something was wrong, something had happened.

He reached them in a blink, a quick glance telling him Neji was alright, but Lee was breathing loudly, grunting in his sleep, obviously in pain.

“Why is he…”

“We sparred,” Neji admitted, lowering his head in shame. “I’m sorry.”

Sparred? Even after Lee said he wouldn’t overdo it, even when Neji knew his teammate was in no condition for it? 

He’s lying, his mind concluded, but the issue was not the lie itself, but the history it guarded.

He crouched over his pupil, carefully tapping at the torso. No broken ribs, no noticeable internal damage. He lifted a sleeve, taking note of the small, circular wounds that resembled tobacco-burns all over his arm.

“I’m truly sorry,” Neji added as Tenten gasped, having finally caught up with them.

“Neji, what the heck?!” Tenten sounded confused, even somewhat betrayed.

“I thought you,” were going to apologize , Gai didn’t say. “You were just going to speak. What happened for it to end in this?” 

Had the apology truly gone that badly?

“We had a disagreement. He kicked, and I reacted. Then he said something and I snapped. I’m sorry.” Neji only spoke in short sentences when he was trying to reel in a difficult emotion, and he was looking at Lee instead of facing him, so the guilt was genuine, at least.

Gai sighed through his nose, deciding to let the matter go for now. “You opened them back, right?”

His student nodded. Tenten huffed, striding closer to smack him upside the head. The fact that Neji didn’t dodge was a clear telltale of how guilty he felt. “You were supposed to make up!”

“I know. I’m… going to try again tomorrow.”

“Honestly,” Tenten seemed worried now, glancing between Lee and Neji as if trying to understand why they had fought. Gai supposed it was natural if they needed a bit more time to see eye to eye on things. Neji was changing for the better, but growth took time, and old habits died hard. 

Yes, this was probably just part of that process. 

“Don’t give up Neji!” Gai encouraged, patting the air above his shoulder out of habit. He was surprised when Neji leant to meet with his palm, but pointedly didn’t react to it. “The path to reconciliation is not easy sometimes, but the task is worth the effort, believe me! And it’s normal to have disagreements, it happens even with the closest bonds!”

“You don’t normally beat the shit out of the other party though,” Tenten huffed under her breath.

“You’d be surprised,” Gai snorted. “The first time I had a truly serious disagreement with my teammates we all ended up hospitalized. Chouza-sensei wasn’t impressed,” he laughed and sat down beside an unrestful Lee.

“You hospitalized Genma-san?” Tenten asked as she sat, scroll already in hand. A flare of chakra later, the medical kit was handed over to him.

And the bouquet of flowers disappeared. They wouldn’t wither too much if stored in a scroll, he supposed.

“Yes, and Ebisu too! We all were in very rough shape!” Gai admitted fondly, carefully rolling up the sleeves to place soothing balm over the bruises. Lee, at last, stopped his endless fidgeting.

“Why?” Neji asked, sitting down in front of him.

“Hm?”

“Why did you fight?”

Oh, well, that wasn’t such a fond memory.

“They seemed to believe a shinobi’s worth was defined by their rank,” Gai explained neutrally without looking up from his task, pointedly not mentioning his 'Forever Genin' papa. “I disagreed quite vocally. Ebisu wouldn’t let up though… and Genma agreed with him indirectly when I turned my back on him. So.”

A short pause of silence followed that admission.

“They’ve grown since then though!” Gai added enthusiastically to break up the tension. “We all have! People make mistakes, but the important thing is to properly reflect on past actions and get past them. Practice makes perfect, don’t forget. It doesn’t matter if you stumble on the same rock a thousand times, so long as you remember to pass it in the next attempt!”

He paused his work to look up at Neji, giving him an encouraging thumbs up. “So keep trying, and you’ll be successful one day, I’m sure!”

Neji nodded with his poker face of seriousness. “I will do my best.”

“That’s the spirit!” 

These two would get past this soon enough, he was sure of it. 

(x)

The days they had available for training passed by unnaturally fast, but it was a good use of their time. Neji and Lee weren’t getting along, exactly, but the prodigy wasn’t using the harsh, cutting words he had in the past, and Lee still continued to challenge both of his teammates at every opportunity, as usual.

Today they were going back, so they were using the morning to rest and catch up. Neji explained to them what a 'middle school' was when Lee talked about their encounter with Ingenium, which delved into a somewhat-structured plan to provide statements as 'self-defense victims' without contradicting each other.

Gai had told them the full story about his encounter with the Killer Hero, relying on his genins’ experience to gauge the morality under which this world would view his actions, and they seemed to think that Ingenium’s offer was genuine. Gai had “made them a favor,” in Tenten’s terms, and since a “hero is willing to support, it’ll be covered up for the public so they won’t punish you,” according to Neji. 

Gai still thought it was likely to be a trap, but.

“So long I can accompany you to break us out if needed, it should be fine,” Gai conceded at last.

“Someone can arrive late to the questioning, to support from the outside if things go wrong.”

“An excellent suggestion Neji!”

Once that was settled they could delve on other topics. Lee gushed about the Sports Festival for the fifth time, enamored with the fights and drive the first and third years had displayed. Tenten lamented the short-lived encounter of the “Yaoyorozu” student — so many weapons to pick from, and she makes a shield!?—  Neji shared his contacts on the underground in case he was unavailable and the team needed something from Giran or similar, and Gai shared Jin’s success in creating a clone.

Neji frowned at the latter though. “A perfect copy?”

“One passing enough to fight without dissolving,” Gai nodded proudly.

“One identical to you in appearance,” Neji continued slowly, as if willing him to understand something. When Gai didn’t respond he sighed and added: “What if the copy makes something illicit? What if it calls for unnecessary attention?”

“Oh no, Jin’s my friend, he would never!” Gai waved the concern away. “Besides, even if he were to accidentally do something too attention-drawing it shouldn’t matter. This is our fifth week in this world. Another seven and we’ll go back!”

Tenten paused mid-bite for a second, before bringing the chopsticks back to her mouth. Lee frowned at the empty space in front of him, deep in thought. Neji didn’t react at all, staring straight ahead impassively.

“Are you still worried about our return?” Gai guessed out loud. “Don’t worry, Ningame and Ikken-sama can do it, I have full faith in them!”

“Seven weeks,” Neji stated simply.

“Time sure flies by,” Tenten added, a layer of concern coating the words. “Ne, Gai-sensei.”

“Hmmph?” Gai looked up from his food bowl, cheeks full. 

Tenten snorted, muttering “squirrel” under her breath before sobering up again. “Jin is your friend, right?”

“Of course! He’s been handed a difficult set of cards but is doing his best despite everything. He works hard and puts his heart in everything he does, which is admirable!”

“Is he the only one?” Neji asked next, disinterestedly playing with his food. 

“The only… you mean friend?” Gai hummed as his student nodded. “I suppose he is? I have colleagues at the fight club, we get along, and I have a money-based alliance with the owner, a source of income for both sides.”

“But the only one you care about is Jin.”

“That sounds too harsh,” Gai denied a bit defensively. “It’s not like I’d let someone die if I’m there. I just want to help Jin as much as able before we leave.” 

He also wanted to see him happy and make him note his own accomplishments. Jin seemed to think nothing of the fact that he could now uncover his mouth to eat without crying and choking, but it was a huge achievement, of course it deserved a heartfelt congratulation! As well as a hug, and a trip to the market so he could buy a proper, celebratory present—

“Noted,” Neji said in a way that would not be out of place in a mission. “I think you should work less days then.”

“…um?” What did one thing have to do with the other?

“Yeah, Neji is right,” Tenten agreed, pointing at him with her chopsticks. “You should try to help Jin as much as you can in the time we have left. We have IDs now, so we can get some part-time jobs, like, instructors for taijutsu or something.”

Lee perked up at that. “We could spar with the locals in a legal and unsuspicious way! I want to see their quirks in action! The hero fights in the TV are good for analysis, but nothing beats the experience of—”

“Lee, I don’t think normal citizens can use their quirks for—”

His kids discussed back and forth on the subject. Gai was listening with only half an ear, pondering the idea. Seven more weeks… with Jin’s success in creating a mud clone, he probably wouldn’t depend on rent anymore, so Gai would only need to purchase basic necessities like food, cleaning items, toiletries, and health kits. And if it came down to it they could steal a bit. If that allowed him for more free time to help his new friend… 

It wasn’t a bad idea.

“That may work,” Gai allowed, raising the bowl to drag downward the last of his meal. “Let’s see what options we have once we go back.”

Neji had an aura of self-satisfaction as he nodded.

(x)

The 'cellphone' had run out of energy — battery sensei, it’s called battery — so they had to drop by the apartment to charge it before Gai would know whether he received any new texts, and confirm with his employer if it was safe to go back or not.

Except, apparently, the apartment itself was already compromised. Someone had knocked at the door not long after their arrival —  an hour, at most — and instead of greeting Jin, it was someone in a brown coat, accompanied by a police officer.

“Maito Gai?” the police officer looked at him, then past him, brows furrowing in something akin to disbelief. “Is that a— did someone use dentrific on the wall?”

“We’re currently engaged in a contest for who can better use common objects,” as weapons, “for something different from their intended use,” Gai shrugged, instinctively moving his head to dodge a flying chakra-enhanced fork, and then dropping down to avoid the much larger— 

“USING A TEAMMATE GOES AGAINST THE RULES!” Lee complained while flying in an arch above him, twisting to land feet-first over the wall, which was covered with dentrific and was slippery, so he slid down and landed on his hands instead.

“You were looking very throw-able!” Tenten justified somewhere in another room.

“Cheater!”

“Uh,” the man in brown-coat seemed utterly baffled, staring unblinkingly at the scene for a long moment before shaking himself out of his stupor. “I’m— I can’t believe I’m saying this. Shit, Ingenium really owes us for this.”

The cop nodded along with a pained expression. Brown-coat man took a deep breath and sighed away the remaining doubt. “I’m Detective Tsukauichi, this is Officer Tamemori. May we…” a defeated exhale. “May we come in?”

“I suppose,” Gai nodded slowly. If Ingenium was sending them, then hopefully things wouldn’t go south. “Kids, halt the challenge! We have law-enforcers visiting!”

Neji — who had been sitting on the ceiling, since that’s where he had taken refuge from their 'nonsense' — silently crawled towards the open window, leaving the apartment without the officers being any wiser.

“Visits?” Tenten asked with a wary frown, stepping into the living room. Ah, she had been in the kitchen, so the fork was also her doing. Good.

“Welcome to our humble abode!” Lee greeted, ushering them in before closing the door, because Gai had told him that was the polite thing to do when Jin dropped by for a visit.

Both officials were looking as if they had been dragged to their own doom though.

“Abode,” Tamemori mouthed silently, processing.

“Ingenium will pay the first round for all of next month,” Tsukauichi muttered, looking in vain for a part of the living room that didn’t have signs of their interrupted challenge, pausing to stare at the corner that had the vestiges of a particularly creative attempt of using one of the couch’s pillows as weapon. The corner was still embedded into the wall.

“Actually, make that three months.”

“I’ll send the bills,” the officer agreed.

The detective nodded and cleared his throat, trying to get back to focus. “Alright. Ok. This happened.”

“...do you want some tea?”

“Please.”

Chapter Text

Shigaraki Tomura

( 2.5k words)

The conversation with the police had gone... well. Kind of. Sort of. Probably.

There were some questions he couldn't answer, which was undoubtedly suspicious, but no one had been arrested in the end. They said further questioning would be needed, especially since they had missed Neji’s statements, but overall the charges were going to be dropped as they were filed out as self-defense victims, like Ingenium had said.

The kids had been questioned extensively, about what happened, about their quirks, about how and why they had used them. In the end, Tenten’s victims had been attributed to an unfortunate accident since her ‘quirk’ didn’t segregate poison as they had first assumed, and it would only have been lethal if the people hadn’t been found for more than two days. Lee’s fighting style had incapacitated the assailants, but not put them at risk of death, so he was also let go with a figurative wrist-slap.

Out of all kids, only Neji would have to attend the course on lawful quirk-usage in a correctional facility, since his ‘quirk’ was the one that could cause serious damage most easily if used wrong, but that was it

Neji had been given six months to approach the correctional facility and complete the course, which was beyond perfect, as that would give his student enough time to act based on whether he decided to stay in this world or not. Neji could do so at a later date if he decided to stay, and if not… well, shouldn’t matter since they would already be back home by then. 

They had dodged the metaphorical kunai, and that was all that mattered.

Thus, Gai had agreed with a large smile and thanked the officials sincerely for giving his kids a second chance. They said the heroes would keep an eye on them, almost warningly, but left without fuss.

That was the good news. On a less bright side though, the apartment’s location had been compromised so staying there wasn’t safe anymore, not for them and not for Jin, now that heroes and police were going to be vigilant of the place. 

His team was used to life in the wilderness and Tenten had finally gotten a decent grasp at the food-preservation technique with scroll storage, so he wasn’t worried about the idea of being homeless again. 

No, Gai honestly had been more worried about getting Jin into trouble — the man had a bounty on his head after all the crimes he had committed — so he had rushed to find his friend, to tell him the news before he tried to pay them another visit at the apartment. 

Thus, Gai had reunited with Jin.

Said reunion had started one hour ago, and now Gai had an even more pressing concern. 

After Gai had apologized for the troubles, Jin had waved the concerns away, saying he had found people that could help him get money and secure other accommodations. And truth be told, he seemed to be in a better spot financially-speaking, considering he was now wearing a full suit, with a proper mask instead of the sheer mash he had been using ever since Gai first met him.

Gai had been relieved and happy for him, at least until Jin had asked him to go to the ‘club’ to meet these friends that he had recently made — my friend Giran recommended me to them! They’re really nice! — and that cheerful response… worried him. 

What Neji had reported on Giran was that the man was an informant, a link between the people asking for a job and people that seeked said job for whatever reason, be that money, building a reputation, fighting for ideologies that went against the current ruling system, or thirst for violence.

The nature of said jobs usually was… something that would fit well with Missing-Nin. Either not-that-bad, like the Nin that deserted because they couldn’t stand government corruption — like the one the Mist Village was subjected to — or something so disgusting it would make hardened shinobi inwardly snarl, like the most unsavory details of S-class missions.

For obvious reasons, Gai didn’t trust Giran for such things.

Even worse, when this group asked if Jin knew anyone else that may be interested in ‘joining the club’, Jin had volunteered Gai. 

It made Gai’s usual energy fade into cold numbness. The fact that Jin had shared confidential information about him to a group that could be dangerous, and without asking beforehand— the possibility had never once occurred to him.

It was an unsaid rule among shinobi, not to share anything about yourself, much less about your allies. Not when it wasn’t absolutely necessary, or as part of a bigger strategy to lull the enemy into a false sense of security.

It was common knowledge, so Gai hadn’t worried about it. 

It had been stupid on his part, because Jin was no shinobi, and that was becoming more and more apparent the more he tried to make Jin realize his mistakes.

“Jin, I appreciate you thinking of me—“

“You’re gonna like them so much! Escape while you still can, imbecile!”

“If they're your friends I'd like to meet them one day, of course, but—”

“They were so excited when they saw your clone! Fucking pathetic really.”

“My clone?” Shit, things just kept getting worse the more Jin talked about what he had done in Gai’s absence. This—  this was what Neji had been worried about, Gai felt stupid for not seeing it sooner. 

He had thought that befriending a civilian would be fine in this peaceful world, since their stay was only temporary.

Foolish. Kakashi would have scolded, and Gai had to admit he would have bowed his head in regretful acceptance for once.

“Jin…” Talking was usually easy, but right now he couldn’t find the words. “Jin, why—“

“And I told ‘em! If the clone can last for so long against Magne, imagine the real one’s skill—“

Crushing his own heart with the ease born from familiarity — why did it take him so long this time around? He had been doing that ever since becoming a chunin, it should have been his first response — he pushed all doubts and feelings away and steeled himself to do whatever he needed to do for his mission to succeed.

“Jin.” Gai grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him to stop, levering a serious, disappointed look. “Listen to me.”

The happy excitement immediately dulled, shoulders tense under Gai’s palms as Jin finally centered.

“W-why are you mad? They’re really cool, they— they didn’t call me names, they said I was funny and that it was a good thing that I joined—”

“Why did you make a clone of me?” Gai asked directly, ignoring with expertise his own feelings. If this compromised his mission, if this obstructed his path back home, if this compromised the safety of his kids , then he would have to incapacitate… he would have to…

No. He shouldn't jump to conclusions. Jin was his friend. He wanted them to be friends still.

Please. Please let us be friends still.

“Uh. To show them how strong you are?”

“Why?”

A bewildered blink. “Because they wanted to know?”

Gai gave a stronger squeeze at the trapped shoulders, face impassive. “Why?”

“Because they thought your quirk wasn’t good enough when I told ‘em—”

“Good enough for what?”

“To join the club!” Jin answered hurriedly, something pleading leaking in his voice as he raised his own hands, not to push Gai away, but to squeeze green-clad forearms. As if trying to make him understand. “We— we’re going on a mission, to— to change society for the better! We just gotta be strong enough for that to happen, and then we can do what we wanna, what makes us happy, the freedom to be…”

Jin had obviously been pulled into some sort of rebel group that wanted to change the status quo. Damn it.

It wasn’t that Gai didn’t see the flaws of this hero-villain society… and if Jin wanted to make that his cause then that was his own decision. Gai wouldn’t interfere if this had been another of his friends, like when Azuma decided to leave the village for a handful of months back in their youth. But…

But Jin could be a bit easy to lie to. He was the kind of person that liked to see the best in people, and sure, Gai tried to do that as well, but he could also admit when he had been mistaken about someone.

Back in his younger years, back when he was a naive genin — he really should have known better, he had already been ten years old! — Gai had made a mistake and confided in someone he shouldn’t have to. Someone that could potentially harm his village, that could kill his friends, that could kill Chouza-sensei, that could kill his papa, his most precious person; and he had no option left but to deal with them. Permanently. 

He had cried his heart out back at home, once that was taken care of, and his papa had helped him navigate through all the emotions, helped him learn from his mistakes, but Jin…

Jin wouldn’t be able to do something like that, he didn’t have the mental fortitude to crush his own heart, he wasn’t— 

He wasn’t shinobi.

Jin wasn’t shinobi.

The weight of everything that single sentence implied, and just how naive Gai had been, was crushing in its own right. 

Gai didn’t want to stand out more than he had already, his genin team was under the police’s vigilance already, and Neji could decide to stay in this world, so they all needed to keep a low profile and not tarnish the kid’s records any further just in case….

But Jin was his friend. Gai wanted to believe that Jin was still his friend, even if one that had made a mistake… Gai still wanted to believe that it had been an accident, that it could be fixed, that he could still keep his kids safe without having to resort to drastic measures.

And if Jin had already presented his clone to this group of faceless people, it was better for Gai to meet them, so he could determine their intentions and grade their danger level. Information was Anbu’s preferred tool for a reason, and vital to survival. 

Having reached that conclusion, Gai relaxed the muscles of his face and shoulders, groaning an overly loud “Ohhh!” of realization, bringing back his usual playfulness as he let his forehead collapse over Jin’s shoulder.

“So they’re nice guys,” Gai muttered with feigned relief, forehead still pressed against a shoulder as he steeled himself for what was to come.

“Yeah!” Jin hugged him by mere reflex, nodding excitedly, as if relieved Gai finally understood. “You’re gonna like them a lot! Like hell you would!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Gai reassured with a smile, keeping to himself just which of Jin’s voices he was betting on being correct. “I’m feeling kinda nervous though, can you tell me a bit about them while we walk? I want to give a good impression!”

(x)

The few voices that could be heard talking behind the closed door immediately died down upon their arrival. Gai counted five people in front of him along with the hushed sounds of small talk and steps from other people somewhere in the adjacent room.

“I’m back with my friend!” Jin greeted the group excitedly, although Gai got the impression that the man was just happy to be able to present him as a friend. His obliviousness made this mess all the more complicated. 

“Hello everybody,” Gai grinned anyway, keeping his posture deceivingly relaxed.

“This is your friend from the fight club, right?” a woman with a muscular build — Magne, her quirk was something about attracting and repelling people if Jin was to be believed, conditions for quirk usage unknown —  was the first to reply, throwing a quick grin. “Your clone was fun to play with, but didn’t last long enough. I hope the real you is better than that?”

Gai laughed a bit awkwardly, giving the comment a silent, acknowledging nod.

“Interesting outfit,” the man with a top hat and a mask commented lightly, sitting cross-legged somewhere at the back of the room. Jin didn’t know what his quirk was, just that the man liked theatrics. “Fitting for someone that puts out a performance.”

“It's comfy,” Gai said simply, giving another nod.

The man with reptilian features — whose name Gai had already forgotten — did nothing but stare at him, while the ones at the counter — Shigaraki and Kuro… Kurogiri, the leader and his right-hand man, quirks unknown  — remained by the bar. 

The one oozing dark smoke was staring at him, while the leader with a dissected hand covering his face — no hope for sanity with this one — remained focused on his drink.

“Jin said you were offering a well-paying job?” Gai asked them directly when no one else spoke up. Best not to throw around pleasantries with this kind of audience.

“Yeah, about that,” Shigaraki muttered under his breath, index finger scratching the dried skin under his jaw. “Sensei said something interesting about your friend, Twice…”

That really didn’t sound well. 

Gai hummed inquisitively, shifting his feet.

“He’s an interesting guy? Kinda boring really,” Jin nodded tentatively, a lot less enthusiastic than before. At least a part of him seemed able to recognize something was off.

“Quite interesting,” Shigaraki stood up from the bar’s stool and faced them fully. The red stare going through the dissected hand grabbing his face was incredibly creepy, even by Gai’s standards. “The kind of interesting that got the Hero Killer arrested, in fact.”

“That was your doing!?” The reptilian man snarled immediately, striding towards them with violent intent. 

“Ora, ora, ora!” Jin interceded immediately, stepping in front of Gai and doing wild hand mannerisms as if that would dispel the tension. “Gai was just a good friend—”

Gai stepped to the side to interfere in case confrontation arose, but the leader with hands all over his body simply lifted a hand, and the man with lizard mutation stopped begrudgingly, even if the glare was still incensed.

“I kinda wanted to talk with the Hero Killer… but never got to it,” Shigaraki mused out loud disinterestedly. He didn’t sound particularly bothered by it. 

“You wanted to work together?” Gai guessed out loud.

“He was very popular,” Shigaraki tsked, like that did bother him. “I don’t get it. We are doing the same thing, destroying what we don’t like… but the news only cared about him. Why?”

The leader was not what Gai had been expecting at all. He sounded like a kid throwing a tantrum more than the ‘villain’ leading this group for… whatever the mission was. Jin hadn’t asked about the mission details, he had just been happy to meet people that were somewhat kind to him, which complicated everything.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. Can’t exactly go to prison to ask him,” Shigaraki shrugged simply, now scratching down his neck until pink lines appeared over white skin, red eyes narrowing as he stared at Gai unblinkingly. “What’s interesting though, is the fact that you got him imprisoned. Why did you do that? Are you a vigilante—”

“Dude tried to kill me!” Jin pointed with both hands to his own face for emphasis. “Threw a damn knife at my chest! If Gai hadn’t caught it I would be dead—”

Lizard-man scoffed. “If Stain wanted to kill you then you must have done something—”

“I was just there! Nah, I wasn’t!” Both voices sounded offended so there was that.

“The Hero Killer was fighting a hero when we passed by, I just fought back when he reacted to our presence,” Gai summarized with a shrug of his own, as he tried to keep the illusion of casualness. “I’m not a vigilante.”

Shigaraki hummed and turned towards the misty-looking man, who simply stated an emotionless: “It’s your decision, Shigaraki Tomura.”

“What? You can’t seriously be considering it!” Lizard man hissed angrily. “Not only did they get in Stain’s way, they’re directly responsible for his arrest—”

“Twice is more useful for this operation than you,” Shigaraki interrupted icily. “If you don’t wanna work with them then sit this one out.”

“Then I’m going!” Lizard man huffed, stomping his way out. He tried to bump shoulders with Gai as he did so, outwardly nothing but a childish, immature gesture.

But Gai knew contact was to be avoided and purposely moved out of the way. Seasoned ninja would be able to place trackers or do damage with such ‘harmless’ gestures, and he didn’t want to underestimate these people.

“Come on then,” Shigaraki ordered lightly, turning around, giving his back to them as if he believed himself untouchable. “Give me a demo, I need to know your character’s special moves if I am to put you to use. No Level Boss will mess it up this time…”

Gai didn’t understand any of those references, but followed regardless, the sensation on his chest growing tighter by the second. He hoped they wouldn’t try to get him involved in anything hideous, fervently wished this mission was not A-rank or S-rank.

But above all, he just wished Jin would see reason, once they exited this place and Gai had a chance to sit him down and talk things through. He hoped Jin would understand just what kind of situation he was dragging Gai — and more importantly, dragging his kids — into. How dire this involvement could be for them. 

He wished this situation could be fixed, he wished for confirmation that all of this was nothing but accidental on Jin’s part. An unfortunate mix of naivete and obliviousness, as the desire to be seen, liked, understood, took a dive for the worst and resulted in horrible decision making.

And above all, he really, really wished Jin wouldn’t give him any reason to kill anyone in this world.

Chapter Text

Training Camp Arc - Pt. 1

( 7k words)

Gai slipped back into the apartment and, with a mental grump of utter sadness and loss, started to remove the green rags of what remained of his beloved green uniform.

He had sparred against Shigaraki, so the childish leader could gauge his proficiency and give him a role for the upcoming mission. Of course, since he had gone there to collect information and not to win, Gai had allowed for attacks to land on him. He had been ready to accept bruises, burns, cuts, or any kind of physical damage, but the sacrifice of his beloved jumpsuit when he couldn’t replace it —  his kids had left his Jounin-vest behind in that world filled with floating squares, having removed it to wrap up the bleeding shoulder  —  deserved mourning.

The fact that the jumpsuit had lasted for so long was something he should be thankful for. Sadly, the upper part was now useless, so Gai had no option but to turn it into simple green pants. A fair trade at least, considering he got to know about both Shigaraki and Kurogiri’s quirks in exchange.

The latter would have to be permanently dealt with. Teleportation was too troublesome, an enemy that could ignore the bounds of space like the fourth hokage, someone that could appear out of nowhere to attack them, ambush them, separate and kidnap them, at any time— 

Like the man with the orange mask.  

Gai paused his careful movements, the remnants of a sleeve hanging down uselessly by his hip. 

Teleportation. The masked enemy hadn’t moved at high speeds, Gai was certain of that. He had developed sharp senses to be able to move while the seventh gate was active, so anything of equal or lesser speed could be tracked by his gaze even without the use of jutsu, and there was no one, no one, faster than Gai in that state.

No, his opponent hadn’t been running after them. He had been teleporting.

Facts, coming back to the facts. Teleportation. A sharingan. His team kidnapped with nothing but a stare in their general direction. The illusion that was not one, the floating squares, endless dark space… Gai could cover large distances in a blink while the seventh was active, he should have been able to find the exit even with the limited time.

But there had been no end to that space. He had run out of time, eyes closing against his will as he inwardly cried along with his tearful students. Then, Neji pushing chakra through a purple portal, bringing them here—  

A purple portal. Like Kurogiri’s—?

“Is that a metal mesh armor?” Tenten’s voice cut through his thoughts like a thrown kunai. He almost didn’t perceive his pupil’s return to the apartment.

“Hmm?” Gai turned around to face the kunoichi that was making an ‘eew’ face at him. Yeah, he needed a shower. “Of course! I’m a close-range fighter, so the extra protection against slicing weaponry is helpful!”

He gave the usual grin and nice-guy pose; a part of him was relieved to be facing one of the students that had more tact and empathy than others. Neji would have asked what happened from the very start, since nothing in the club’s fights had ever grazed Gai, let alone landed a hit.

“Logic applies to you?”  Tenten asked, incredulity dripping from her voice.

“Sometimes!” he joked, waving her off with a loud laugh. “Pack up the essentials, we’re not sleeping here.”

“Already did,” Tenten replied easily, not breaking the light atmosphere. “The police paying a visit wasn’t good. Where are we going though? Back to the training fields?”

“Compromised,” Gai shook his head negatively which, at last, made Tenten visibly worried.

“Even that’s unsafe? But I thought only Neji and Giran knew about us going there…”

Indeed. She seemed to catch what that implied as she trailed off, pensive expression shifting with a mix of worry and indecision for a moment… 

But in the end, she just blew a raspberry at him and covered her nose with disgust. 

“Uh-huh. You stink sensei. I’ll tell them we’re moving out, so shoo.” 

“Many thanks for that!”

Shinobi usually didn’t have the luxury of showering while on a mission, it was something Gai would miss once they left the apartment. He was thankful for the chance to use it one last time before his team gathered fully and he reported the news to them.

He needed a new shirt... he had seen a black one with long sleeves in one of Jin's closets. A bit small so it would be a tight fit, but it would have to do.

(x)

Their mission was to be executed in the Beast’s Forest. Gai had tried not to laugh at the name, an omen of good luck for him, if anything.

His squad for this mission consisted of nine people, of which four had already gathered. Dabi, a man whose skin had seen better days, a teen named Toga, who looked a bit trigger happy, Gai and Jin. They were waiting for Magne and Compress, whom Gai met the other night, along with three new people: Muscular, Moonfish, and Mustard. 

The strike was meant to happen tomorrow night, today the objective was just to get familiar with the terrain. Gai surmised that the role assigned to the missing villains would be one that didn’t need them to move around too much.

“I didn’t know,” Jin muttered, visibly depressed as he dragged his feet behind him. “I didn’t— I didn’t…”

They’re the same age as my kids , Gai wanted to say, but it wasn’t necessary. He already had covered what he needed to with Jin, who seemed to get more and more dubious of his new group of ‘friends’ as the details of the mission were finally shared.

Their objective was to kidnap a hero student.

Gai was painfully reminded of the war among ninja villages and their most common tactics. Talented younglings that would surely grow into talented shinobi called for attention, both from allies and the opposition. Kakashi had been targeted many times back when they were younger.

He mildly wondered if Konoha had ever participated in such things. Gai wouldn’t know, his psych evaluation said he didn’t have the ‘right profile’ for certain missions, and Kakashi — who had higher clearance  — had never said anything on the subject. 

No. No, Konoha wouldn’t, surely. They prided themselves in being selective with the missions they accepted, upkeeping a certain morality to it. The Hokage wouldn’t allow it without good reason, perhaps only if it put the village at serious risk. The Third Hokage surely would be strict in evaluating those cases.

"My father would have done the same for me. If the main branch hadn't used him as a scapegoat—"

Gai gritted his teeth silently, something in his chest twisting uneasily as he pushed down the memory of Neji crying, right now wasn't... the time to think about that. He didn't want to think about what Gai himself would have done, if Konoha had decided to sacrifice his papa for the greater good... did that justify things? Was there anything that could really justify making a toddler an orphan?

Wasn't that true for the shinobi they dealt with from other villages as well? How many orphans had they created in the last shinobi war?

But such was the life of shinobi, wasn't it? They risked everything, put everything on the line, specially their own lives, if that meant securing another day for their village's survival. A succesful mission, a life lost that ensured others could live another day.

The memory of his papa giving him one last smile and thumbs up.

Yes, Gai would die anyday, at anytime, if that meant protecting the people close to his heart. His kids, his friends, his village.

The Third Hokage... would have to have a very good reason to do the things he did. Right?

What could be Shigaraki’s real reason? Or was he seriously convinced that kidnapping a teen would be persuasive enough to make them switch sides? Join his kidnappers... just because? Gai seriously hoped they weren’t thinking of doing something hideous like torturing the kid to break their psyche, a green leaf turned into an uncaring puppet… 

No, no, he was getting ahead of himself. If everything went to plan, then the Bakugou kid would be just fine. The only information that Shigaraki had provided that mattered for this mission was the superficial summary of the quirks of the hero students and teachers…

…as well as the ones of the Cat Paw heroes Gai had first encountered some months ago, in charge of this forest where his team had first landed. He hoped that played in his favor and not against him. 

Gai paused his recognizance to listen to the leaves rustled by the wind. His team of genins could move silently through the forest, already used to the environment, and even if they slipped due to the weak trees, the wind would still cover for their presence.

The thought was reassuring. His genins were getting acquainted with the terrain after all, same as Gai’s temporary squad, so they could execute their own mission properly.

Their plan, suggested by Neji, was for Gai and Jin to give the impression of working with the villains, but in reality he would ensure they were imprisoned from the inside. Gai had agreed to it since this was the only option that would take care of the threat that had become aware of Gai’s existence, and thus, also placed his kids in danger, without having to deal with them himself. The less resentment and thirst for revenge he accumulated here, the better, considering that was how most ninja wars started.

It was better to let the heroes deal with it instead of making himself a target of their wrath. This would also allow Jin to live on without falling even deeper into ‘villainy’, so long he made the right choice when the time came.

The only downside to letting the heroes handle it was that they would not deal any fatal damage. Kurogiri was the most troublesome, Gai would have liked to kill him instead of letting the heroes imprison him, since his genin team didn’t need Kurogiri’s quirk to go back home, regardless of whether his portal quirk was involved with jutsu the orange-masked man had used to kidnap them.

But Neji had insisted it was better to not ‘tarnish their records’. 

In the end, his student had already decided on staying in this peaceful society, and that impacted every action they could take in the time they had left in this world.

If Neji stayed, even if Gai were to be the only responsible for Kurogiri’s death, his student could be persecuted even after Gai and the others left due to their previous association. It was better not to risk it, better to avoid doing anything that would be ‘too much’ by this world's standards, to facilitate Neji’s chances of adaptation.

“Gai? Are you still mad at me? Please don’t be mad at me, I didn’t—”

“Don’t be silly,” Gai interrupted cheerfully, giving a firm pat between Jin’s shoulder blades. “It’s a good penny, right?”

They were in the open with the villain squad exploring the terrain somewhere around them.They couldn’t afford any slip ups.

“Yeah,” Jin nodded, then shook his head negatively. “Sucks bricks.”

“I was thinking about retiring from the fight club anyway,” Gai shrugged lightly, implying that was the main concern for any potential eavesdroppers. He couldn’t perceive any presence, but better safe than sorry.  “Come on, we gotta hurry up.”

“Ok,” Jin deflated in defeat, not entirely convinced but smart enough to drop it. 

They walked in silence for the most part. Unusual but necessary, given the circumstances.

“I follow you,” Jin whispered after a while, giving a small nod at the dirt beneath their feet. “I'm— I’m right beside you.”

A nice reassurance. Gai hadn’t shared the plan with Jin, for obvious reasons. He had simply instructed his friend to follow Gai’s lead, no matter what. Even now, Jin seemed torn on what to do and say, whether he wanted to ask for details or not, whether he wanted to know or not.

Gai wasn’t sure what Jin would choose to do, what side he would take in the conflict. Whatever his decision, in the end all Gai could do was respect it. His friend deserved that much.

“Don’t fall behind, keep up,” Gai scolded lightly, advice and warning wrapped up in a single sentence. “You don’t want to get lost in this huge forest.”

Jin stared at him unblinkingly for a long moment before nodding, letting go of some of his apprehension. His friend's steps turned lighter, some semblance of normality returning to him as he spoke.

“Can you imagine that? Getting around here without a source of light? I see just fine! Can’t see shit not even with the moonlight. Do you think the others are lost? Maybe they’re lost, maybe—”

The rustle of crushed leaves, the sound of wet dirt meeting the sole of a shoe. Discrete, awaiting. Ambush. A hero?

No, they were too close to the villain's meeting point and there was no telltale sound of a fight ongoing. Someone from Shigaraki’s squad then?

“You think they’re lost? Should we help?” Gai followed the thread of conversation, turning to face Jin, giving his back to the source of the approaching steps. Loud, light, too light, fast, too energetic. Not Dabi or Magne, not enough weight, too fast. Toga?

Gai barely had to sidestep to avoid the playful knife, a sincere laugh bubbling from his chest as he avoided a second attempt, then a third and fourth. Jin squeaking in surprise at the sidelines just added to the light atmosphere.

He was used to this. It was no different than the children playing ninja back in Konoha, five-year-olds playing pranks, fighting with wood kunai, laying traps across the street and awaiting their prey. Toddlers attempting to hide by covering their scent, their sounds, their very presence. Kids climbing on roofs or diving in the bushes, the boldest jumping from the tree’s branches with a war cry towards their opponent.

Childish playfulness. There was no ill intent behind the girls’ giddy smile, she seemed to be having fun. Just a kid, truly. Hopefully the so-called heroes would treat her kindly upon her arrest.

He let her try another two times before neutralizing the attack without inflicting grave injury, tripping her next step and pushing at her shoulders so she would step towards a thin tree.

"You have a good grasp of the handle,” Gai praised sincerely, even as she turned around and tried again. “Just watch your footwork. Good speed, but it’s better to take some distance if you can't land the first strike and the opponent can overpower you."

He kicked her away this time, careful, firm enough to succeed, not strong enough to hurt badly. She rolled in the ground with familiar ease, standing up in a swift movement.

“Better luck next time!” Green leaves needed encouragement, and Gai would always provide that happily.

“That was fun!” she pulled down her black face mask, showing a grin from ear to ear, sharp canines in full show. They looked just like the Inuzuka’s! Gai wondered what her quirk was. “A fun dance!”

“A fun dance,” Gai agreed amiably, passing an arm behind Jin’s shoulders to rattle him out of his baffled state. 

“Ne, ne, you don’t mind right?” she tilted her head inquisitively, some of the genuineness of her smile fading. “I can't connect with people if I don't taste their blood, it's just a little stabbing.”

“What’s a little stabbing between friends,” Gai repeated what Tenten had said, chuckling sincerely at the memory. 

The teen in front of him giggled with an excited nod. “Exactly!”

“Can I ask for minimal stabbing?” Jin asked, and the fact that he would honestly let himself be stabbed if that meant belonging to a group, if that meant making friends , was… 

Gai pulled his friend closer, in what he hated to admit was a protective gesture, and bumped the side of his head amiably. 

“Just keep up with me and you'll be fine,” Gai reminded him, because in the end, no matter how much it would hurt, whether this friendship survived or not depended entirely on Jin's decision.

“Okay,” Jin whispered with something akin to relief.

“Awww, sappy,” Toga smiled and gave a mocking, smooching sound in the air, eyebrows raising when Gai just laughed it off and approached her to pat her shoulder with the same amiability.

“You're young and already so strong,” he praised sincerely. “Don't let the world diminish your youthfulness.”

Gai knew his own home wasn't perfect, but the overall black and white mentality of this world would never cease to confuse him. He wondered what had happened to this teen, that made her be part of this squad to begin with.

Toga seemed sincerely baffled for a short second, before giving him a nod and a more genuine grin. Still a bit sadistically sharp, but sincere.

“That’s why I wanted to join the League,” she admitted dreamily. “So we can destroy this world. So we can create a world I can enjoy living in.”

An impossible dream then. Changing the whole society to fit her whims was a bit too greedy, perhaps just a little corner that accepted her genuinely would have sufficed. 

“Find your people,” Gai nodded in understanding, hoping she might, one day, recognize his answer as advice instead of agreement with her ideology. 

Toga grinned even wider. “Mm-hmm, you get it!”

“I’m glad I met you,” Gai said sincerely, because even without knowing her quirk, the tank she had equipped to store opponent’s blood was a big clue on its own. “I’d have liked to meet the others too, working together is easier if we know each other’s quirks.”

“Ohh~ I know them!” Toga raised her arm like an excited Lee would have done, and Gai didn’t have to feign his expression softening. “Come here, I’ll tell you, just keep it shush-shush, ok?”

Another stab attempt seemed like a low price to pay for information, so Gai stepped close enough for her to whisper in his ear, chuckling as the piercing metal tried to graze his thigh almost at the end of the conversation.

“So that’s that,” Gai nodded in thanks.

“Simple enough, nah~?”

“Why the hell are you guys still here?” Dabi’s soft, couldn’t-care-less voice reached them before the conversation could continue, as the fire-user stepped into their field of vision, one hand pushing away low-hanging leaves. “Move along already.”

For now, this was the extent of what Gai could do. 

The true mission would start tomorrow night.

(x)

(x) 

(x)

He needs to get to Kota on time, he needs to.

That was all Izuku could think, truly, as he activated his quirk and ran in a straight line towards the mountain. He was the only one that knew of Kota’s hiding spot, he needed to go, pick him up, and leave. Hopefully there would be no villains in that area, far away from the bravery test as it was…

But no, he wasn’t that lucky, he never was.

He could see a massive figure towering over the trembling kid, lifting an arm with exposed threads of muscles instead of skin, about to crush Kota, and something in Izuku snapped as his speed increased farther than he could control, just to make sure he could get there on time.

Eyes tearful due to the mix of wind, fear, and adrenaline, Izuku hugged the child close to him, both of them rolling on the ground in a mess of a landing that was far from graceful, but served the purpose of putting much-needed distance between them and the assailant.

“Hoh?” The villain smirked, sadistic mockery apparent in his expression as the cloud of dust cleared, leaving a crater in the place where the man had punched the ground. “You were on the list… yeah, surely the boss won’t mind me having some fun.”

His cellphone broke during the fall, and Izuku hadn’t told anyone that he was coming here. No reinforcements would come, no teachers, no classmates, no one would come . He would have to deal with this villain himself. 

He needed to take Kota out of here. Was he faster than this villain? Could he really afford to try to make a run for it? No, if he received a hit at the back mid-jump, both Izuku and Kota would fall. From this height, that was certain death for the kid.

He would have to fight then. He would have to fight and win. He could do this, he had to do this , he had to save Kota, he had to— 

Who was that?

Izuku’s gaze followed the new arrival, who had landed silently behind the villain. Long hair, not too tall — around Izuku’s own height? — very pale skin and pupiless white eyes. 

The teen — were they a teen? They seemed around Izuku’s age at least — moved fast, delivering several flat-palmed strikes at the villain’s back. No, no, no, that wouldn’t cause enough damage! 

“Watch out!” Izuku screamed as the villain predictably turned around to face the other teen, one massive arm already raised to attack— 

Only to stop mid-motion to cough up a dangerous amount of blood. A lot more than Izuku was used to seeing from All Might’s coughing outbursts.

Kota shrieked, and Izuku instinctively pushed the kid behind him, protecting him not only from any potential attacks but also from the gory sight in front of them, as the villain bent over in pain, collapsing on his knees as he continued… continued to hack up like he was desperately trying to breathe while also trying to throw up his own lungs at the same time, like he was drowning in thin air. 

The other teen didn’t miss a beat, and continued a relentless attack, this time poking — agk, that sounded ridiculous even in his head — with his index and middle finger all over the villain’s body.

Pokes at the arm made said arm collapse, as if suddenly out of energy, muscle threads retracting as the skin came back to the surface once more. The process was repeated for the other arm, which had tried to take a wild, blind swing at the teen, then the legs, and the torso at last.

Fingers pressing at oddly specific places, followed by the muscle retreating. Was this attack nullifying the villain’s quirk, somehow? Did this teen have something like Aizawa’s erasure as his quirk?

In the end, in a matter of seconds, the villain was trembling on the floor and struggling to breathe, fully incapacitated.

“Who—” 

“Get away from here,” the teen interrupted icily before disappearing, a circle of leaves spinning in the place he had once stood at.

But… no, he didn't disappear. Izuku had perceived movement — insanely fast movement, but movement all the same — so not teleportation. Just speed. Insane speed.

And not a single rush of air, not a single sound coming from it. Nothing but spinning leaves.

A soft sob took him out of his reverie, a small hand grasping Izuku’s shirt tightly as he felt something wet — tears, snob — spreading at his lower back, where Kota hid from the world around him.

“It’s okay, everything will be fine, I’m—” Izuku gulped, fully aware of his purpose as a shield, carefully turning around to face the kid while trying to keep the fallen villain out of sight. “I’m here.” 

For now he had to take Kota out of here, everything else could wait.

(x)

(x)

(x)

Neji had gotten somewhat accustomed to the weak trees of this world. It had taken some practice, but he could now use enough chakra to stick to the wood without crushing it into pieces, as he used the trunks to push himself forward.

Silent as a shadow, he moved towards his next objective.

A tenth member had joined the villain squad unexpectedly. Gai-sensei mentioned the others called it ‘Nomu’, something not quite human, something unnatural . Neji wondered if killing it would be morally acceptable in this world, before shaking his head internally, deciding not to risk it.

Fighting while taking care of not killing his opponents was bothersome, but feasible. He would stick to it.

With that set on his mind, he stood still and made the motions to activate his Byakugan. Having the world disappear into a blank canvas meant he could no longer move while using it, otherwise he would crash into every single tree. At least he could still distinguish people… and other creatures, so long they had quirks.

Quirks were similar to the chakra system, in the sense that Neji could see the odd fluctuations of energy flow to specific parts of the body. Someone that could grow spines across their body already had thin pathways leading to the specific places where they would grow from their skin. 

Hetermorphs’ had it spread evenly across their entire body, active all the time, and Neji had the feeling that he could potentially cause permanent harm if he tried to interrupt those. The quirk was too embedded with the body’s vital functions for that.

The rest were fair game though. If Neji used his chakra to block either the pathways or the main source of energy of the quirk — usually coming down from the head as the brain gave instruction to activate it — then the quirk either would be turned off, or wouldn’t activate at all from the get go.

From Neji’s experiments on his ‘vigilante’ fights, the effect lasted for several hours — perhaps even days? — quite similar to how chakra blockage worked in their world. Without a Hyuga to open the flow again, it took the body a long time to force it open once more.

It was the closest thing to non-lethal he could get, so it would have to suffice. He also tried to stick to non-immediately-lethal organs, targeting a single lung, the stomach, a single kidney. It took an insane amount of precision to damage it enough to be felt without having it immediately collapse or affect other organs, but so far he had managed.

Would the Nomu have the same organs, in the same places? Would it affect it the same as it did regular people? Neji had to be careful. Human or not, the Nomu was his next target, and he needed to ensure it would survive just like any other.

Taking a quick glance at the multitude of energy flowing — of people — that was in his extended field of vision, he quickly found the one that was not-quite humanoid in shape, the energy clashing inside its own body as different quirks… all tried to activate at the same time? The way the flow traveled unevenly in all directions, like a river trying to go up into a waterfall, everywhere and nowhere at once, looked painful .

The closest thing he could compare it with would be an autoimmune disease, the body fighting against itself for its own survival, as ironic as that sounded.

Neji had never seen something like it before, so yes, that should be the Nomu. It was close to other three figures, one already unmoving on the floor, another quickly growing in size as excess energy basically exploded outward— that couldn’t be good.

Turning off his Byakugan once more, he set his course and moved forward.

(x)

(x)

(x)

They were supposed to be safe here.

Shouta thought in quiet anger, as he dislocated the shoulder of the trapped villain, only for the guy to turn into mud shortly after. If fire wasn’t his quirk— but what kind of quirk was this, for it to not have disappeared under his Erasure? 

“Sensei!” 

“Go inside, now!” He yelled at his students, pointing at the building behind him. A group of four had arrived, he had another five inside. Too many kids were still spread around the property.

“Iida, you come with me.”

“Yes? Yes!” the class president hesitated in surprise for barely a second before nodding with determination.

Shouta had to hurry. The mud-villain had made it sound like the target were the students, which meant that he needed to give them permission to use their quirks, to defend themselves. He would shoulder the consequences if that meant increasing their chances of getting out of this mess without casualties, without grave injury.

“Go with Mandalay, tell her to use her quirk so everyone knows they have my permission to fight back, in self-defense,” Shouta instructed firmly. Iida would get there faster than him. “Still, don’t fight if you can help it, everyone should be trying to come back to the base, preferably in groups.”

“Yes sir!” Iida exclaimed, already running away at top speed.

Shouta sighed and ran across the forest as fast as his legs could carry him. Mandalay had sounded winded during the telepathic message, she was probably fighting. Chances were the villains had gathered around the courage test area, so the spreading fire was just a distraction.

A distraction that forced him to take a longer route to reach the students. This had been carefully planned.

Mandalay mentioned two villains, but this was too well planned for it to rely on such a small group. There had to be more out there. Why attack them here, what was their objective? They had thought All Might had been the main target of the USJ attack, but for this to happen when the Number One wasn’t even meant to be here— 

“Sensei!” 

“Midoriya,” Shouta halted for a moment, glad to see his student unbruised for a change, with a small child in his arms. “Take the kid to the center, then come back here.”

He hated having to rely on a student for this, but Midoriya’s quirk was one of the most versatile of the class, and the kid had a good head for strategy. He would rather have an injured student than a dead one, so it was better for the overall chances of the trapped students if this problem child was still there to help.

“Yes sir!”

“Hurry.”

“Yes!”

Shouta continued to run, trusting Midoriya to catch up with him soon.

He had to hurry, the fire was spreading much too fast across the forest, and there were at least thirty students still out there. The sooner he reached them the more he would be able to help—  

“Bakugou Katsuki is their target!”

Shouta halted once more, barely two hundred meters after stumbling on Midoriya, instinctively activating his erasure as he looked around the tree branches. Nothing, no one, but the young male voice had come from above him, of that he was sure.

It didn’t belong to any of the U.A. students. Of that, he was also sure.

“What do they want with him?” Shouta asked at thin air. The owner of that voice had sounded close, he had to be closeby.

“Kidnapping, but I don’t know why.” 

Shouta turned around to face it — close to him, right behind him — the capture weapon trapping a single green-clad arm instead of the full body of— 

Of a teen that looked like a smaller copy of Shouta’s last unresolved case, the vigilante Maito Gai, the one Tensei had ridiculously, illogically , extended a hand to. 

“Rock Lee,” Shouta greeted with a confused frown. Tensei had praised this kid so much in their last conversation. Hearing about the teen’s advice to the Turbo pro-hero, the tendency to analyze fights that Maito had admitted, the whole scene had made Shouta link this kid to his own experience with Midoriya.

But how did Tensei’s case relate to this villain attack? What was he doing here?

“We don’t have time for this, if you don’t hurry they’ll die!” the green-clad kid scolded, unmoving as if rooted to the spot when Shouta tried to pull him towards himself. “The cat paw heroes are struggling!”

Shouta had seen many things in his career. He considered his own judgement to be particularly severe and difficult to deceive, given the amount of underground cases he had managed, the amount of unruly students he was now managing.

This teen was… painfully honest. He looked worried beyond life, but with the eyebrows set in a firm frown of determination.

“Come on, I’ll help you get there faster!” 

Before he could decide his next move, the teen grabbed the capture weapon and pulled , running in the direction Shouta would have taken regardless of the interruption. He mildly wondered who had trapped who as his feet dragged across the ground, the reinforced midsole of his combat boots the only thing keeping him from getting burnt with the friction. 

In the end he had no option but to lean backwards and bend his knees, to keep his balance as he practically surfed over dirt, to avoid falling in his face. He felt like the owner of a dog that was too big, too strong, and entirely too energetic for a cat person like himself.

One that was apparently unaffected by his erasure, as the red gaze did nothing to lessen the speed, nor the strength of the pull.

“Rock Lee! Stop!”

“Just Lee is fine!” the kid had the nerve to talk back to him, turning his head slightly so Shouta could see his stupidly honest, relieved expression. “We’re almost there!”

“Sensei!” Midoriya screamed from somewhere behind them, but not close enough to be in grabbing distance yet.

Lee’s feet stopped running, but the pull didn’t stop. No, Shouta could feel his own capture weapon growing tighter across his shoulders as Lee spinned in his heel, drawing a wide circle right before launching Shouta above the trees.

Midoriya, logically, jumped right towards him, ignoring the teen that had dragged him here and had, in the blink of an eye, already disappeared from the spot he had been standing at.

“Flesh...no good. Flesh. Need flesh...Pretty. So pretty.”

The red boots of his student kicked right through the multitude of sharp-edged teeth raining down on them, shattering them instantly. This gave Shouta enough time to locate the source of said teeth and activate his erasure.

The villain— fuck, he recognized this one. Moonfish, a lunatic obsessed with human blood and flesh, responsible for at least ten proven murders, and the main suspect for the disappearance of another twenty people.

Shouta shifted his weight mid-air, capture weapon thrown to grab the temporarily-quirkless villain by the torso and smash him head-first into the ground.

The bloodied ground. Shit.

He kept staring down at the villain with his quirk active, using his weapon to pull him up, then slam him down again harshly so he could see Moonfish’s face, be sure that he was out.

“Flesh— g-gimme…” Not yet then.

Midoriya fell down, delivering a kick that broke the villain’s teeth and, finally, knocked him out fully. Shouta sighed and let his quirk fade, for now willing to let the attack slide as his concern for the others grew.

Someone like Moonfish was impossible to defeat for close-ranged fighters like Iida, Mandalay and Tiger, but he would have thought that Pixie-bob would be able to deal with him. Or that Iida would be able to outrun him.

Finally certain that the villain wouldn’t rise again, Shouta turned around to assess the damage of his allies.

Pixie-bob was lying on Iida’s arms with a bleeding head-injury, clearly unconscious. If the villains had investigated the heroes beforehand, it made sense for them to knock out their biggest powerhouse in this entire forest. She was probably the first to fall, ambushed in a surprise attack as the villains made themselves known.

Tensei’s little brother looked out of breath, with multiple lacerations on his body — some more superficial than others — as he stood protectively nearby of an injured Mandalay, who had one hand pressing down an injury somewhere in her torso, and looked like she was still standing due to pure adrenaline and stubbornness. Midoriya was already at her side, offering to carry her back to the base, to get first-aid.

Shouta looked around until he could finally spot Tiger, who was almost at the opposite side of the field. Their arm was limp, a deep gash running right across their shoulder, one leg limping due to the sustained injuries, even as they stood panting but triumphant over the knocked-out body of a buff villain with shoulder-length red hair.

They should have retreated.

They would never leave Pixie-bob behind.

They had barely managed to survive. If Shouta had arrived even a couple of minutes later, it would have been too late for at least one of them.

“We don’t have time for this, if you don’t hurry they’ll die!”

Shouta could begrudgingly see why Tensei wanted that kid to intern with him, even when Lee was not even a hero student yet.

This also explained why he hadn’t heard Mandalay resonate Shouta’s instruction across campus. Running to her, who had accepted Midoriya’s offer for a ride, he asked for that favor.

“Also… someone said their target was Bakugou. I’m not sure how reliable that is—”

“Kacchan!?” 

“— but just in case, let them know.” Shouta continued seriously. “There could be other targets too, we don't have enough information. All students should go towards the center, preferably in groups.”

“Ok,” Mandalay nodded, exhausted, hurt, but still determined, and fell silent as she used her quirk to do so.

“Who said that?” Iida asked at the same time as Midoriya said: “Why Kacchan?” 

“The kid that was dragging me here, did you see him?” Shouta asked his problem student first.

Midoriya nodded tentatively. “I couldn’t see his face, but I remember the hair and costume.”

“He’s probably not alone. Not sure what their intent is or why they’re here, but don’t fully trust any of them.” Shouta glanced at Iida then, thinking of Tensei, wondering if he might have mentioned anything in passing to his little brother. “That kid was in one of the vigilante cases I was working on at the beginning of the term. It was a group of three teens and one man.”

Shouta gave a brief physical description of them, the main characteristics so they could recognize them if needed. 

Surprisingly, Mandalay’s face lightened up in recognition.

“The lost scouts and the dad,” Mandalay said like that made any sense.

“The what.”

And so, it was her turn to provide a brief summary of the ‘lost group’ Ragdoll had found weeks ago, how Maito had been feverish and barely able to stand, with a stabbed shoulder — interesting, considering the speed he had displayed in the fight club — how the vigilante teens had stuck close together, almost apprehensive at the moment of being rescued — understandable, vigilantes tried to keep under the radar —  and the story they had given, the lack of any relevant details.

The fact that apparently none of that group had any identifiable weaknesses come up in Ragdoll’s quirk.

The fact that Maito had alluded to a villain with a space-quirk getting them lost to begin with.

“Tsk, I was already out of the case by the time that report uploaded,” Shouta muttered through gritted teeth, mind immediately drifting to Kurogiri’s quirk and the attack at the USJ. Judging by the faces of his two students, they had reached the same conclusion.

“We didn't include everything anyway. We thought it was related to Ragdoll’s quirk acting up more than them," Mandalay answered, head nodding off involuntarily as exhaustion started to eat at her. “By the time she realized otherwise, the case was already closed in the system so— ”

“That’s not what worries me.” Although the lack of weaknesses was also too rare to be dismissed. “I’m thinking of the villain with the space-wrapping quirk.”

“We couldn’t find anyone like that,” Tiger replied instead of Mandalay, having reached their group at long last with their remaining good leg. “Nobody else reported anything, and the lost scouts had already disappeared by the time we went back to base. There wasn’t enough evidence to issue a search case for a hypothetical villain.”

“Not a search case, but you should have included that in the report about the lost group,” Shouta muttered tiredly.

The vigilantes being here in the camp at the same time as a villain attack; and Maito’s group claiming to be lost due to the attack of a villain with a space-wrap quirk.

Had they been with the League of Villains all along? What was the link between the two; allies, enemies?

“One of them helped me and Kota,” Midoriya mentioned uneasily. “Uhm, probably Hyuga?”

Confirmation that there was more than one vigilante teen here. Shouta wanted to ask for the details of that altercation, but the middle of a villain attack was not the right moment for it.

“Tell everyone not to trust them, but avoid attacking them either. The main objective is still for all students to reunite at the center.”

Three injured pro-heroes, two students with high speed, and himself. All other students were still unaccounted for.

Between apprehending the unconscious villains, and going into the forest to ensure the safety of the students, the most important thing was obvious.

“I’ll keep an eye on the fallen villains,” Tiger said firmly, even knowing they weren’t in condition to keep fighting if anything else were to happen. “Midoriya, Iida, please take them to the infirmary.”

Shouta hated their limited options, but trusted Tiger to hide and stay hidden in case anyone else appeared in this field.

“Everyone… thank the heavens…” A girl of medium height with green, thorn-covered vines for hair, came out from the forest, her elongated hair rustling the leaves on the floor, carrying multiple students over it as if it were a green carpet dragging behind her feet.

“Shiozaki,” Shouta recalled her name, quickly surveying the sheer amount of students unconscious in the scene. Most of them Vlad’s. “What happened?”

“The gas knocked them out. I couldn’t— between the poisonous gas and the fire, there was no clear way to go back to the base, and I couldn't move fast while carrying them all. My vines… all have thorns…”

That made sense, it was better to have them lay down on the thorns than wrapping the vines around her classmates and stabbing them.

Shouta cursed inwardly — he hadn’t even known there was poisonous gas also in the mix — and considered his options. He had three injured pro-heroes, several unconscious students, the only ones still well-enough to fight at full capacity were himself and Midoriya, perhaps Iiida and Shiozaki as well, if pressed enough.

Shit, shit, shit, what to do?

“I’ll go get Kacchan and the others, bring them here,” Midoriya volunteered. “If the fire has already spread around so much that they can’t go to base… I’ll lead them here instead.”

“I can go too!” Iida volunteered next. “I can carry them in my back and rush off quickly!”

Mandalay had already lost consciousness, there was no other way to communicate with them effectively, and these two students were the fastest of their class.

Shouta hated having to rely on students for this. He hated his own words even as they came out: “Hurry up. Don’t fight if not absolutely necessary, escape in groups. Don’t trust anybody.”

Villains and assumed-vigilantes awaited in that forest. Shouta didn’t want any student to remain there if they could avoid it.

“Yes sir!”

In the end, all Shouta could do was remain behind to protect the people that had already gathered here, who were incapable of defending themselves. The first-aid kit he carried in the utility belt would have to do to treat the worst injuries.*

“Forgive me, Eraserhead,” Tiger lowered their head, full body trembling in furious impotence. “If I were in better shape—”

“It was a bad match,” Shouta said simply, admitting to himself that the villains had truly prepared well this time around.  

He really hoped the so-called vigilantes were as trustworthy as Tensei assured. If Maito was here, if Tensei was right about him; having another adult helping the students would be of great help.

Chapter Text

Training camp Pt2.

( 4k words)

Tenten had always known that capturing the enemy alive was a lot more complicated than just killing them, especially if she wanted to do so at long distances. That was the main reason she had taken interest in Genma’s senbon technique, since the different coats, depending on the substance, could be used to paralyze the enemy instead of stopping their heart.

It was still tricky business, as its speed and efficiency varied depending on the substances’ blood solubility, the opponent’s metabolism, and cardiovascular function. Honestly, Tenten was very, very grateful for the few medic-nin that had taught her the basics even when her chakra control wasn't good enough for medical arts, otherwise improvising with the raw material of this world would have been a lot harder.

For this mission, her adaptability meant that she could shoot a slow-induced analgesic at Magne, and let the hero Tiger — who had one arm incapacitated as a result of Moonfish’s area-wide ranged attack — think they had been the natural winner of their spar. Ensure a winner without betraying her interference.

It let her help the obviously outmatched heroes and try to keep them from getting killed on the job, because damn, sending Moonfish at them had been way too effective. They really stood no chance once Magne used her magnetic quirk to knock-out the user of the earth-based jutsu… uh. The earth-controlling quirk.

Tenten sighed inwardly at her own mental slip, keeping a sharp eye on the battlefield even as she moved to ensure she remained out of sight at all times.

Mandalay was probably going to die first. Then Pixie Bob, because an unmoving opponent was less exhilarating than the hunt of a moving one, at least for someone with Moonfish’s brand of psychopathic, sadistic delight. Once those two died Tiger would be next, because the only reason that hero was still alive was due to Mandalay trying to keep Moonfish focused on herself, in the same way Tiger was trying to keep Magne focused on… him? Her? Them.

Tenten looked up at the opponent that was hovering over the trees, standing with nothing but his overgrown teeth for support —  gross — and, frankly, sweeping the floor with all heroes in the area rather indiscriminately. With his whole body completely covered by a dark, resistant material, throwing a senbon wouldn’t work, and all of Tenten’s other weapons were much too obvious. 

Part of their mission’s success relied on the villains not spotting them, they would link them to Gai-sensei much too fast, it would show their hand too soon. The villains needed to believe that sensei was on their side until the last moment.

But their plan also relied on the heroes surviving without a single casualty, and the chances of this group surviving were getting dimmer and dimmer by the second.

She would have to change places with Lee for this.

Body-flickering out of her current position, she rushed towards the place Lee had been assigned at: the heroes’ base, where Vlad King and a bunch of students were currently hiding at.

“Tenten?” Lee greeted with a confused head tilt.

“The cat heroes are gonna die,” Tenten summarized. “They need a pro that’s a better match against Moonfish.”

They watched silently as Eraserhead fought with one of the copies of Dabi, right outside the center. They both reached a silent conclusion just by witnessing the exchange.

“Tell him about the Bakugou thing too,” Tenten reminded her friend.

“I’ll get him there on time,” Lee decided with a determined frown, body-flickering the moment Eraserhead went into the woods. 

Alright, then Tenten would stay here and deal with the mud-copies sent this way. Unlike a shadow-clone jutsu, the mud-clones didn’t transfer the memories to the original body, so whether she was seen or not didn’t matter.

She quickly set a few traps with ninja wire around the perimeter, cutting the mud-clones into pieces before they could come too close, ears strained to catch any noise coming from inside the center — if another pro-hero decided to step out, she would have to stop helping so visibly — and waited for Lee to come back.

Someone was approaching in her direction —  fast and silent, it had been difficult to detect until it was within fifty meters, and she got the impression that the presence let itself known on purpose —  so she turned her head to glance at her friend from the corner of her eye. 

“What?”

“Something unexpected happened,” Neji said with a serious frown. “You need to go fill Fumikage up with exploding tags.”

“I need to what ,” she spluttered incredulously.

“Apparently his quirk gets out of control in the dark. He’ll kill his own classmates if we don’t get a source of light to him.”

With a deadpan expression, she pointed to the blue flames engulfing the area. “The forest is on fire.”

“Not close enough to where he is, and the wind doesn’t help. The students are already getting symptoms of smoke intoxication.”

Tenten sighed tiredly, that meant she would have to reveal herself to the students, to be able to offer something that could protect them somewhat from the dark smoke.

Well, a few students spotting them was fine. They also wanted to give off the impression of working on the heroes’ side, it would make the conversations with the police a bit easier if the student’s testimony corroborated that. The chances of a student babbling too much about their genin team while fighting a villain was slim after all.

“Ok, but this place will be left without guard until Lee comes back,” she tied the ninja wire to the tree’s branch, ensuring the sharp, invisible metal remained on the ground to avoid any accidents. She would come back to retrieve it once Gai-sensei completed his role and left the forest. “You’ll be moving to your next target, no?”

Neji had a long distance to cover and not enough time, considering he needed to make it to Ingenium’s agency as fast as he could manage. At top speed, it would probably still take him at least an hour. If he had already taken down the Nomu thing and Muscular, then he needed to get going.

“Vlad King is inside, they’ll survive,” Neji said simply, one hand digging in his pocket to take out the small screen that showed the location of a single ‘GPS’ tracker. “You’ll have to take this.”

With a silent nod, Tenten took the offered device and rushed in the direction Neji pointed at.

(x)

(x)

(x)

Shoji had never seen Tokoyami lose control like this.

He used his arms to form a protective cocoon over Ragdoll’s bloodied and unconscious body — dearly hoping the movement wouldn’t hurt her even more than she already was — jumping away from Tokoyami as Dark Shadow grew larger, completely engulfing his classmate with a furious screech.

The Nomu screeched back, and Dark shadow seemed to take that very personally.

Students! With the permission of the pro-hero Eraserhead, you can fight in self-defense! Make escaping the priority! Go back to the base in groups! Bakugou, you might be the target, so be careful, stay with others! Keep each other safe!

Mandalay’s message resonated in his head even as shadows continued to increase in size and strength, engulfing the Nomu and crushing it mercilessly. The creature opened its mouth, spitting blood even as it continued to screech and attack with everything it could still move.

Between those two, there was no doubt about who the winner would be, but… the issue was that with Toyokami’s quirk out of control, there was no certainty that the attack would stop at that.

Shoji never thought he would be grateful for the Nomu’s terribly high body resistance, but he found himself doing exactly that as the creature grew extremities from its back and fought back, buying Shoji enough time to put some distance and hide.

The Nomu only held out for a couple of minutes, if the sudden silence was anything to go by. One look at his friend confirmed Dark Shadow was still very much in control, however.

He couldn’t leave his classmate like that, but his movement was also limited since he didn’t want to risk hurting Ragdoll. Extending one of his arms, he turned the end into a mouth and tried to calm Dark Shadow by speaking soothingly, from a place that was as far away from his current position as possible.

Dark shadow reacted to the sound by attacking the area indiscriminately, and Shoji flinched as he felt his arm branch be severed from the main body.

“Forget… about me!” Tokoyami exclaimed through gritted teeth, trying and failing to reel in his own quirk. “Find the others— help! Help the others!”

He sounded in pain, he looked in pain, eyes gone white as he stared far up his own head in concentration, tears running down feathered cheeks.

“Calm down! Dark Shadow!”

Shoji could sense someone standing somewhere above him —  someone incredibly silent, incredibly agile —  but by the time he glanced upward he found nothing. 

A classmate would have come down to aid him, so had that been… a villain? Why miss the chance to attack though?

Dark Shadow let out another screech as he trashed, trees falling down like dominos all around him. Right, perhaps the mysterious figure thought Shoji was already doomed.

He hesitated for a long moment, debating what to do, how to help, before deciding that this was an impossible task when he was on his own. He needed someone else to take care of Ragdoll at least, or someone like Todoroki or Bakugo that could exploit Dark Shadow’s weakness and help Tokoyami regain control.

He would have to search for his classmates. Extending his ears and eyes here was too risky though, he needed to place more distance between them.

Carefully, as silently as he could, he walked, one of his arm-eyes looking behind him to keep Dark Shadow in sight, the others looking around him. 

The cloud of smoke was blowing in his direction. Shoji felt the horrible heat, his multiple eyes tearing involuntarily. If he had water he would have wet his facemask; he wasn’t sure what to do with Ragdoll’s bloodied face, if placing a cloth to her nose and mouth would help or if it would hurt her more.

He desperately needed help. 

“Shoji, is that…?”

Ah. “Kendo. Tetsutetsu,” he greeted quietly, bringing an index finger to his covered mouth. Dark Shadow was, at most, only 300 meters away. He would catch up with them in the blink of an eye if he heard them.

“SHOW YOURSEEEELVES!” Dark Shadow didn’t seem to like being left behind, screeching as he crashed the area around him in a wide circle.

Tetsutetsu looked in Tokoyami’s direction and gulped. Kendo nodded silently without breaking eye contact with Shoji, taking off her oxygen mask — Yaoyorozu’s doing, probably — to carefully place it over Ragdoll’s face.

“Mine broke off during the fight with the gas-villain,” Tetsutetsu commented with visible regret, kneeling down to their level in an attempt to escape from the fire’s dark smoke.

“Can you take her to the infirmary?” Shoji pleaded in a whisper.

“The path to the base is blocked by fire, and it's only getting worse," Kendo shook her head lightly. “We need to leave before the fire comes any closer to us."

Dark Shadow would retreat if that happened, but would Tokoyami have any energy left to escape the flames, if they reached him?

“Take Ragdoll, I’ll make sure Tokoyami can escape too.”

He sensed movement before he could hand over the injured hero, sensing someone was jumping right above him. Shoji glanced up, expecting to find Midoriya, Tsuyu, or Sero.

Instead, he found a teen with twin buns and no U.A. uniform, feet stuck to the trunk of the tree, expression serious as she looked in Tokoyami’s direction. 

Shoji frowned and brought Ragdoll closer to his chest. Following his line of vision, Tetsutetsu crouched protectively at the front of the group, metal quirk active, while Kendo stood at his side, considering.

The unknown teen didn’t spare them more than a glance, before yelling: “Hey, Fumikage! Over here!”

Shit.

Dark Shadow screeched, shadow arms tumbling down the nearby trees as he made a beeline towards them— 

Only to get caught in some sort of clothes rack that was filled with paper instead of fabric.

The sound of multiple explosives was enough to hurt the sensitive ears of his arm-extensions, so Shoji had no option but to temporarily make them retreat. What had happened? Had Bakugo suddenly arrived…?

“That should do,” the girl said simply, taking out a paper scroll from her pocket and… taking multiple wet rags out of it? It seemed similar to Yaoyorozu’s quirk. “Here. You’ll have to pass through the heavier smoke if you want to leave the forest. Hurry up.”

She hopped down from the tree, throwing the rags at them. Shoji extended his arms to catch them without having to get close to her, the ends turning into a nose to see if he could smell anything off.

The unnamed girl tied one of the rags around her own face. “Can you escape the forest on your own, or do you need more help?”

They really did seem to be just rags wet in water. 

Shoji gave a tentative nod at the others, pressing one of the rags to his own face. The other two did the same, reluctantly.

“Who are you?” Kendo asked, visibly torn between suspiciousness and wanting to accept the apparent help.

“I’m sorry,” Tokoyami panted in his palm, having walked closer to them in the meantime. “When I saw Ragdoll’s state I lost control, I’m…”

He trailed off upon seeing the girl that lacked a uniform, shoulders tensing up. She threw a wet rag to his face as the only response, which made Tokoyami’s feathers puff up, startled.

“You need to move in that direction,” she said, ignoring the group’s various reactions. “Yaoyorozu and other students are over there. Iida will find them soon too.”

“Where’s Bakugou?” Kendo asked next with a small frown, still untrusting. “Do you know that too?”

“Sorry,” she shook her head, brows furrowed in frustrated concern. “The smoke is getting darker, it’s becoming more difficult to spot people. I’m doing what I can, but… you really should hurry.”

“What about you?” Tetsutetsu asked, quirk still active even if his body language had relaxed some.

“I’m trying to find Bakugou and Todoroki,” she nodded with badly disguised concern. “I’ll do what I can to help, but… here. Take this.”

Hand digging in her opposite pocket, she took out a small device, leaving it in the ground between them.

“It shows my location, I have a tracker on me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to find them on time… so I’ll try to put the tracker on a villain; so the pro-heroes can find them and act fast.”

She didn’t seem like an enemy.

“Be careful,” she ordered in farewell with a serious frown, sounding more like an experienced pro than a student like them, before disappearing on the spot, right in front of them.

“What— teleportation?” Tokoyami whispered.

“No, I could see a mirage effect… she’s very fast,” Shoji got closer to the device with an arm-ear, but couldn’t distinguish any of the mechanisms that bombs usually had in them. Turning the ear into an eye, he peeked at the screen without touching it. “She’s already on the other side of the forest.”

“Even with this smoke?” Tetsutetsu huffed, picking up the device. With metal covering his whole body, Shoji agreed that was the best place for a hidden-bomb to detonate. “That’s crazy.” 

“Or she lied and the tracker was never on herself to begin with,” Kendo stated.

Converting the extended arms into eyes, Shoji made them grow above the trees, above the worst of the dark smoke.

The girl had pointed at the part of the forest that was farest away from the fire, indeed.

“Let’s go,” Konda hurried them in a whisper as soon as Shoji confirmed it, tears in the corner of her eyes as the cloud of smoke became even heavier.

There wasn’t anything else they could do, so they ran as fast as they could, hoping everyone else could get away on time too.

(x)

(x)

(x)

Gai watched as Dabi —  the real one — taunted his opponent, the hero student that could use fire and ice at the same time. The Todoroki kid… probably? Hopefully. Gai had been trying to memorize the names of all the key players for this operation, as best he could.

This squad of villains had showy powers, but didn’t know how to work as a team. Dabi seemed to be having too much fun trying to incinerate the kid in front of him, uncaring of how the blue flames were growing out of proportion, out of control, all around them.

The plan had been to use the fire strategically, to burn the path between the students and the base center, limiting their available paths of escape. The mud-clones of Dabi were supposed to surround the heroes’ base too, firing up the forest, isolating it further.

In reality, the fire right now had extended so much it was difficult to find a patch not affected by it. The smoke was heavy and unbearable, Gai had to kick the cloud away from the area much too frequently to keep the people here from becoming too intoxicated.

“Stay away from Kacchan!”

Gai ducked under the attempted kick, grabbing the teen by the ankle and throwing him away, trying not to hurt him. Apparently he shouldn't have worried, the teen landed gracefully on his feet with a frustrated exhalation and prompted himself forward without missing a beat.

“I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!”

Gai jumped, the flat of his palm landing on Bakugou’s shoulder as Gai pushed the teen downward — sticking the tracker Neji had provided on the kid’s backshirt in the process. This way, even if the tracker was discovered, Gai wouldn’t be a prime suspect.

They weren’t too far away from the ground, so the kid should be fine so long he landed properly.

Gai hadn’t landed yet by the time Midoriya reached him, this time aiming at his face with a fist. The teen had fast reflexes, even if it was a very amateur technique that telegraphed his every movement. With some proper training this kid that sparkled green would go far.

Gai evaded the attack and landed without problem, jumping backwards as the glowing kid trailed right after him, alternating between kicks and punches. The flurry of attacks had Gai dancing on his tiptoes, somewhat enjoying the game of evasion.

He had played this way with his genin team for training, especially during their first week after graduating from the academy. Sometimes the genin were tasked to try to make Gai step out of a small circle, other times they just had to ensure Gai couldn't land a hit on them, or vice versa, they tried to have at least one attack land on him.

It helped Gai see their strengths and weaknesses, so he could adapt his teaching sessions accordingly. Improve accuracy, reflexes, speed, flexibility, adaptability, evasion skills, ambushing skills, hiding skills, overall technique, strength—

Speaking of, was the kid just fast, or did he pack actual weight behind his attacks?

Gai received the next punch with his palm, curious to see the strength behind it, giving an assessing hum when the kid froze in shock.

“That’s not bad. Improve your feet position though, or you'll get easily knocked off balance.”

“...eh?” 

“DIE!”

Gai pushed the sparkling teen behind him by mere reflex, giving his back to the hero student, so he could deflect the explosive arm sideways with a careful palm.

“Avoiding cross-fire among allies is a basic concept,” Gai chided, kicking the blond's side in retaliation. Strong enough to push him away, not hard enough to hurt badly. 

The explosive teen rolled on the ground easily enough, not even winded. Well, at least these kids seemed to have some training and endurance, maybe Gai could stop treating them with academy-gloves and put on his genin-gloves instead?

The smoke was starting to condense in this area again.

“You’re a teacher,” Midoriya whispered incredulously, which Gai ignored in favor of jumping up to kick the air in a circle around him, pushing the cloud of condensed smoke away from the area once more. 

The air current caused by his attack also put out some of the fire, which only served to create even more smoke. Fantastic .

He really disliked Dabi’s work ethic on this mission.

“KACCHAN!” a desperate war cry from below him…?

Oh.

“This talent isn’t someone who should be on the hero's side,” Compress said lightly, a small blue crystal rolling between his fingers. “We’ll take him to a stage where he can shine more.”

At that moment, several things happened at once.

Todoroki tried to attack Compress by making ice grow from the ground. Dabi mocked that effort by extending blue flames to block the ice’s path.

That side of the battlefield exploded as the ice quirk met the infernal heat of blue flames, the shockwave knocking all contestants off balance as shreds of ice blew in all directions. One impaled Compress’ thigh. Another hit Todoroki’s arm and Dabi’s shoulder.

Midoriya recovered from the shockwave first, tackling an injured Compress to the ground, and would have hit him hard enough to break the mask if Gai hadn’t taken a hold of the green-sparkling wrist.

“Calm down, even if you recover it, only Compress can undo the quirk. Do you want to keep your friend forever trapped in a blue marble?”

“It’s Mr. Compress,” the villain corrected in a choked voice, for some reason fixated on the formal title. 

“Undo it,” Midoriya snarled, glare unwavering, fist tightening, even as he did nothing to escape from Gai’s grip. “Undo it or I’ll— I will… I’m— ”

The ending of that phrase was lost as Gai hit the teen with a practiced karate-chop, and the student fell forward to the ground, forcefully out. 

Gai whistled, a signal for Jin to come out of his hiding spot.

“Hey Dabi! Mission accomplished, so shouldn’t you be calling the Nomu back? Don’t bother calling it!” Jin yelled, approaching Dabi after seeing Gai point at him with his head. “It reacts only to your voice, right?” 

“Midoriya!” Todoroki yelled, another ice-attack coming their way. 

Gai throwed Compress over his shoulder and jumped out of the way, letting the ice encircle Midoriya protectively. Supervising several teens would be harder for him, it was better to limit the kidnapping to just Bakugou, the original target.

“Mission accomplished!” Compress said into their ear communicator, all traces of cockiness gone as Gai continued to carry him out of the ice’s path. “Kurogiri, take us out of here!”

Something in the air shifted, giving Gai goosebumps as the ghost pain of his once-stabbed shoulder flared up. Memories of a single sharingan staring at his genin team, of an endless dark place with floating squares.

The dark mist that characterized Kurogiri appeared on the battlefield.

“Who is left standing…?” Kurogiri’s voice resonated as he emerged from thin air, yellow eyes studying the field impassively, probably to know where and how many gates to open.

Uncaring of Compress’ complaints, Gai didn’t let him down — he needed to ensure Kurogiri’s gate would take him back to Shigaraki, and they would have to do so if they wanted to get Bakugou — and crossed the gate with the magician still thrown over his shoulder, with Jin right at his heels. He trusted Tenten and Lee to make sure no other teen got kidnapped or died after his departure.

Part one of their plan, successful.

Chapter Text

Rescue

( 5k words)

With the dark of dawn still masking his movements, Neji looked at the building in front of him, the Hero Agency of Idaten, and hoped his knowledge of how the law of this world worked would be enough to survive this mess in a socially-acceptable manner. 

He wanted his team to have a chance of a good life in this world. He wanted Tenten to be able to walk around under the sun without having to look over her shoulder, expecting a silent attack for ambush-training. He wanted Lee to be able to analyze fights to his heart’s content without his life being put at risk, either by the enemy or by himself as his progress with the gates continued to expand. 

He wanted Gai to be able to go around helping normal citizens while walking on his hands, just because he wanted to, because he lost a ridiculous bet with himself, because it made him happy to help others, and perhaps his sensei could get a ‘thanks’ in return instead of the whispers of ridicule he was used to facing from other shinobi for ‘completing unassigned D-ranks while being a Jounin’. 

Neji wanted to know what freedom was like. He wanted to make his own path and walk through it just because he wanted, just because he could. 

Becoming a villain, becoming the equivalent of missing-nin, was not the way to get that freedom and good quality of life.

He was confident his genin team could avoid being labeled villains, even if the vigilante term was unavoidable now, but Gai was in a very precarious situation. 

Right now, the most important thing was to get the heroes and police involved as soon as possible. The sooner the league of villains could be arrested, the less time Gai would have to pretend to be one of them, and the less ammunition the law enforcement would have to label him as a villain.

Having to choose between the police force and a hero agency, Neji decided the safest bet would be to go to the hero that had already extended a hand to them previously. 

“I need to speak with Ingenium,” Neji requested at the reception desk after providing his full name and age. “You can tell him one of… Gai’s kids needs help. The life of a teenager is on the line.”

Gai’s kids. Neji understood the need for the term, given how Lee looked, dressed, and acted, but it made him feel weird to say it outloud. Like he was suddenly four years old again instead of an adult genin.

“Please follow me,” the man at the desk stood up and guided Neji to another room on the same floor, a small space that only had a metallic table with four chairs in the middle, and a coffee maker on the corner of the room. No windows, no exit door except for the one Neji was using to walk in.

In his experience, the people from this world rarely looked up when searching for a presence. If his plan failed, he would have to rely on that surprise factor to escape from the room if he wanted to keep violence and property damage to a minimum.

“He’ll be here in a moment. We have cookies and—”

“Someone could die at any moment,” Neji snapped coldly. “I don’t care for pleasantries.”

He knew better than to willingly consume anything that was offered so lightly. How many Anbu had killed their prey through food or water poisoning?

“Uhm, yeah, of course,” the man muttered sheepishly, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

He needn’t have bothered, as Ingenium opened it again within the next ten seconds with a rush of air and the screech of feet sliding over the floor.

“Got here as fast as I could,” Ingenium surprised him by immediately removing his head protection, even when this was the first time they met face to face. Neji would have never. “This is related to what happened at the camp, right?”

…the pro-hero looked like he was still processing things, like he had just received the news mere minutes prior to Neji’s visit.

“How do you know?” That was fast, for something Neji thought the U.A. would try to keep as underwraps as possible. He had expected it to leak into the news sometime within the next four hours at best.

“My brother sent me a text,” Ingenium smiled a little, closing the door behind him. “Apparently Lee dragged Eraserhead around for quite a bit. Saved at least three pros by doing so.”

Ingenium looked almost proud as he said it, and Neji mildly wondered what it was about Lee that had older people so enchanted so fast. He had heard the Naruto-kid failed the academy graduation test for many years for being unable to henge and clone, but Lee had been granted an exceptional pass, earning the genin title even when his chakra control was non-existent, and thus all of ninjutsu and genjustsu would forever be lost to him.

Lee wasn't perfect, and yet, people still loved him. Lee didn't need to be perfect to survive, Lee could get love and admiration and a helping hand from their superiors, be loud, expressive, emotional; and instead of facing harsh punishment and a disapproving look, he was loved and accepted.

Choosing to ignore the pang of envy, Neji waited a moment for Ingenium to continue, but got nothing else. No mentions of Gai’s fight or his involvement in kidnapping Bakugou. Todoroki should have spotted his sensei fighting, considering he had been Bakugou’s pair for the courage game… had that been left out of the report? Or perhaps they were still gathering people and tending to injuries— yes, probably they had yet to take all of the student testimonies of the event.

“Lee did, yes. The three of us were there tonight,” Neji nodded seriously. “We tried to help the hero students and pro-heroes as much as we could, given what we knew to expect of the villain attack.”

Neji paused there, staring unblinkingly at Ingenium to gauge his reaction to his words. He watched impassively as the hero’s face morphed into surprise, then something between confusion and hurt, then suspicion, then the ghost of an incredulous smile that no longer reached his eyes, all in a single second.

“What you knew to expect? You knew… that the training camp would be attacked?”

You knew my little brother would be in danger? Neji could almost hear it, hanging between the said and the unsaid.

“Gai accidentally infiltrated the League of Villains two days ago,” Neji exhaled, still bothered that he had been right about everything that had worried him regarding Jin and his cloning quirk. The mess Gai’s so-called friend had dragged them into. If Neji didn’t need the man to give Gai a reason to stay in this world, he would have considered retaliating. “He settled on this path as the best course of action to bring the villains to justice.”

Neji tried to summarize as much as he could, treating this as a mission report, and stated all the facts bluntly, without any emotion bleeding into it.

Gai had befriended Jin at the fight club. Jin’s quirk could clone anyone so long he had their measurements. Gai offered his own measurements, with the idea of Jin making a clone that could join the same fight club, the less-illicit way for someone like Jin to earn enough money to live instead of just surviving. 

Jin being offered a place in the league of villains’ next mission. Jin volunteering Gai without his knowledge, without even asking what the mission was about, the absolute moron.

“Gai was on their radar. Declining to participate would have painted a target on his back, and thus, on us too,” Neji wrapped up simply. “He could also be blamed for things even if he chose to stay out of it, since Jin can make clones of him. Thus, he decided to play spy and ensure their arrest from the inside out.”

He gave a superficial description of the villain’s plan, and how their genin team had adapted to it, ensuring they could help from the shadows.

“We helped keep everyone alive during the attack. We know where the League is… where Bakugou is being held. Gai will protect Bakugou with his very life until the heroes can arrive to arrest everyone, hopefully within the next twenty-four hours.”

‘Everyone’ would undoubtedly include Gai too. Guilty until proven innocent, he would have to endure whatever method of questioning this world chose as their standard. It was unlikely that they had a Torture and Interrogation department like Konoha did, but they were prepared for that too, if it came to it.

“Why not ask for help? Why not tell me?” Ingenium asked, the expression denoting emotional hurt for a moment before it was masked again.

“This is not something you could have solved on your own. You’re trustworthy, but the others in this agency are unknown to us. A single leak reaching the league of villains a day too soon… with someone like Kurogiri’s quirk? It would have meant our death.”

Ingenium narrowed his eyes. “And acting now is any different?”

“Now Gai has proven his loyalty to them, it should buy us time.” 

And with Bakugou in the mix the heroes would have no option left but to send the best of the best. Less of a chance of them underestimating the threat, now that their side had more information about the league’s members, numbers and quirks. Now that they needed to ensure the rescue of a hostage.

They wouldn’t have believed Gai, a man that hadn’t existed in this world until mere weeks ago, had he tried to warn them. Underestimating the raid to the league’s base of operations would have been unacceptable for their genin team, because if the heroes failed to apprehend all of them then they would have to stay alert against a potential villain attack. With a space-wrap quirk in the mix, that wasn’t an option.

No, it was better if the heroes could see the threat for themselves, so they could handle it by themselves too.

 “The sooner the heroes can act the better.” Gai had said that this was not his first mission infiltrating the enemy, alluding to a S-rank of his past, but Neji wasn’t sure he would last for long if the league tried to kill or torture Bakugou. 

“You don’t say,” Ingenium scoffed, the mask of amiability long gone as exhaustion, concern and betrayal took its place. “You guys are really… set on the vigilante way, aren’t you? You distrust the police and heroes alike.”

You don’t trust me, even when you say you do, Neji could read between the lines what Ingenium was truly implying. You’ll never change your ways.

“I’d like to apply to a hero school,” Neji said sincerely, lowering his gaze as he acted sheepish, even as he ensured Ingenium’s hands and feet stayed in his field of vision at all times. “I’d like to graduate and get a hero license. Lee and Tenten are the same. Gai thinks it’s too late for him, but I… I want to believe that’s not true. That we can still have hope for a better future.”

He wasn’t lying, and that made the show of raw vulnerability all the more real, as he dared to voice something that he had only dared dreaming. The mental image of his team smiling at ease under the sun, with birds flying free far above their heads. At peace in this morally-superior world. 

Getting a hero license would ensure they could use their abilities without reprisal. Being stuck three years in a school was a small price to pay for that.

“I don’t know how to put it in words, but I’m truly grateful for you,” Neji looked up again, face softening as he met Ingenium’s carefully blank stare. “For offering help. For showing us that not all heroes are heartless, for giving us a chance, even when we bent the rules… we’re trying to be better. And having someone believe we can do better makes all the difference.”

You make all the difference.

Neji was certain that things would be different, for the worse, if Eraserhead had stayed on their case. The fact that it had been delegated to Ingenium was nothing short of a miracle, a respite from the darker side of fate’s whims.

“I can’t ask you to keep your offer open for us, or to vouch for us again. But if you can relay information to the heroes and police, and have Bakugou rescued, that's enough. We’ll go through the police’s procedures and do what they ask of us, once that’s done.”

Ingenium stayed silent for a long moment, looking searchingly at Neji’s face, who in turn tried to keep it as open and sincere as he could come across. Expressing emotions wasn’t… his forte.

But it seemed to be enough. In the end, the pro-hero sighed and gave a tired nod. 

“I’ll do what I can, under one condition,” Ingenium stated, grabbing the helmet from the table to put it on again. “You and your… friends? Siblings? You all stay where I tell you to stay, at all times.”

House arrest.

“You’ll come with me and talk, about everything you know, to the police and whatever heroes are assigned to this case,” Ingenium said firmly, index finger tapping the table for emphasis. “You’ll trust them to take care of things and wait for it all to be solved, no more acting on your own, no more vigilantism. You either turn your leaf now, change your ways now, or say goodbye to your dream of ever becoming a hero.”

This much was within expectations.

Neji still took his time to ponder though, trying to give the illusion of concern. After a long pause of silence, he finally whispered a vulnerable: “You won’t kill Gai, right?”

Tense shoulders lowered minutely. The voice got softer too, as the pro-hero said: “We don’t kill anyone if we can help it, kid.”

“He can come back home, after…?”

“The police will talk to him. If what you said is true, then… he might have more options, yeah.”

Neji sighed, trying to transmit worry, helplessness, sadness, trying to imagine himself as that four-year-old that had just gotten the news of his father’s passing, the one that hadn’t known yet the details behind the orchestrated murder.

“Please don’t take him away from us, he’s the only thing we have left,” his voice was shaky and barely audible, eyes narrowed to contain the tears as he lowered his head and bowed, as close to begging as he would act.

Ingenium stood up, chair dragging noisily behind him, and Neji’s shoulders tensed up in preparation for an attack. He had to force himself to stay still as the pro-hero placed a hand on his shoulder. Probably meant to be comforting, even if it felt nothing but confining for Neji. 

“I’ll do everything I can,” Ingenium assured softly, and by the sound of it he had removed the helmet again after standing up. “I just need you to collaborate with me and the police, okay?”

The hero knelt down beside him, face compassionate and reassuring. “Help me help you, you need to trust us so we can trust you.”

Neji would never be blind to the system’s corruption, no matter how much he wished he could be. Neither in this world nor the one he was born in.

“I’ll do everything I can,” Neji mirrored Ingenium’s response, giving a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace. Most of his facial expressions tended to look like a grimace.

“That’s all you gotta do kid,” Ingenium smiled, soft and sincere. “That’s all you need to do.”

This hero was genuinely a good person. Pulling at his strings to get the desired result almost made Neji feel guilty.

Almost.

“I’ll send Tenten and Lee a text and follow you to the station. They can catch up with us there,” Neji nodded, closing his eyes and relaxing visibly as a sign of trust.

Tenten and Lee would escape the forest once Gai’s mission ‘succeeded’. They had needed the team’s full intervention to ensure none of the students or pros died in the altercation, so their actions could be pardoned more easily, but after that stage, anything that happened indoors could be handled by their sensei. Protecting a single student was feasible, no matter the amount of enemies Gai found himself surrounded with.

Neji had left a certain item on the rooftop of the building right across Idaten. He was meant to retrieve it if things went wrong, so the fact that it would remain there would be the signal to his team that everything had gone according to plan and they could track down his chakra signature and meet at the police station. It wasn’t like they owned more than one cellphone anyways.

Opening his eyes again, Neji bowed his head with gratitude. “Thank you, Ingenium.”

Mission success.

(x)

(x)

(x)

Gai was guarding the chained, sleeping kid. The villains hadn’t wanted to deal with him so soon after coming down from the adrenaline of finishing a successful mission, even more so when they needed to tend to the injuries caused by the ice sherds, so they had sedated a raging Bakugou, immobilized both arms in a heavy block of metallic cement, torso strapped to the chair’s back and with the ankles secured and apart.

Neji expected the heroes to arrive at this place sometime in the next forty hours at the latest, so Gai resolved to not move from the kids’ side no matter what in this period of time, which meant he would have to go with reduced portions of food, water, sleep, and restroom breaks.

“Aren’t you tired, Gai? Energetic as ever, I see!” Jin asked and exclaimed at the same time, keeping true to his promise and hovering close to him. So far he had adapted well to what Gai had asked him to do.

Jin could create two clones at once, but if he cloned himself, the number was infinite. Sending too many Dabi clones at once would have overpowered the heroes even more. The middle ground to avoid raising suspicions was to send a fewer quantity, limit it to just two at once, with a larger interval of time in-between cloning. Give his quirk self-imposed limitations.

Jin had done so quite spectacularly, attributing it to trauma when Shigaraki asked about it.* 

He had also hovered around Gai’s space at the forest, hiding instead of fighting when the hero students came into the picture, stepping out only at Gai’s signal, following instructions to a T.

“Can I ask a favor?” Gai asked, aware of the presence of others in the room. “Keep an eye on the kid while I go to the restroom.”

Better get that out of the way now that the kid was sleeping and the league was as relaxed as he had ever seen them.

“Sure thing!” A thumbs up, accompanied with a wink. Jin might be grinning under the mask too, perhaps trying to make hidden teeth ping radiantly. Gai chuckled lightly at the mental picture.

He went and came in less than a minute, patting Jin’s shoulder in thanks.

Jin nodded, determined. “I’m right behind you.”

“At my side might be better,” Gai grinned, sitting on the floor — on the part of the room that allowed him to keep all entrances and exits in sight, while also close enough to reach the kid in an instant to defend him as needed — and patted the empty spot beside him invitingly.

They talked about nothing of relevance, filling in the silence with past hobbies, favorite foods, their least-liked colors, their favorite cloud shapes and moon phases. Toga joined them at some point, crouching in front of them to talk about her favorite flowers and blood types, small birds and other animals, the cuteness of things and people.

Toga was also surprisingly sincere, as she mumbled softly: “Do you think we can make it? A world where everyone can be accepted, no matter their quirk,” Where I can be accepted and have people care for me, went implied. “Where the people that make mistakes and break the rules still are treated like human beings.”

“We’ll destroy this world to build a new one,” Shigaraki nodded simply, nursing the glass Kurogiri had given him before disappearing to do whatever the true leader behind this villain group requested.

“Sensei said something interesting about your friend, Twice…”

Shigaraki had a teacher. Gai surmised his genin team wasn't going to be the villain’s priority since the heroes would be the ones making the arrest, and Gai’s hand would hopefully remain unrevealed… but even if Shigaraki’s sensei decided to target them, they should be able to deal with it so long Kurogiri was out of the picture.

“I don’t care about who or what gets destroyed, so long the false heroes are dealt with,” Dabi shrugged with feigned nonchalance, acting nothing like how he did during his fight with Todoroki. Had that teen triggered him on an emotional level, somehow?  “Those are the real blunders on society, maybe if they’re purged humanity might actually get their shit together.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it, the whole system is corrupted,” Compress scoffed with a hand wave, as if trying to dispel nasty air. “You’ve heard about the Nagant rumors too.”

Gai was alert of any proximity, of any upcoming attack, so he had to force himself to not tense up when Compress approached to join them on the floor, and Toga decided to move and wiggle into the space between him and Jin.

“Ne Jin, you’ve been living in the streets for quite a while, right? Do you know where I can shower? I want to feel human again.”

“The gym doesn’t question it even when you have a mask,” Jin replied immediately. “Just tell them it’s quirk-related and you’ll get through. Don’t act weird in that area though, otherwise they get jumpy and ask more questions…”

“I see.”

“The big franchises have warm water but also are like, harder to trick when you’re already known as a villain. Smaller owners are easier. Harder than anything! But like, really, don’t attack anyone in the area, Toga-chan.”

“What image do you have of me?” Toga sounded playfully bothered, pouting. “But alright, I’ll ask Kurogiri to send me to that area.”

“Better not to be seen by the passerby outside, indeed,” Compress agreed. “After our last stunt, I’d assume people would be looking for us more closely.”

“Tomorrow night then? I can go to one that’s open 24/7.”

“Might be best, yes. Do you have a spare uniform? I know a cheap laundry that’s also open late into the night,” Compress suggested lightly. “Feels nice to wear clean clothes after a shower, right?”

The conversation was light and very… humane, as they talked about the basic necessities of every human being, advising each other on the places they knew, from their own experience, that supported those without home. 

They knew how to survive in the city with limited resources, so Gai listened intently, taking mental notes so he could speak with Neji later on. Shinobi’s expertise was more about surviving in the wilderness than in civilian cities, this was something that could be useful for his student in the future.

“Oh, oh! There’s also this refuge that gives out toiletries and canned food on Fridays!” Jin shared excitedly. “You can ask for soap and shampoo before going to shower!”

Gai could imagine what would have happened to Jin, if his genin team hadn’t landed in this world. His friend would have found a sense of community here, among people with similar struggles and history, and would have supported them with everything he had, with everything he could. Jin would have fought to the death for them.

He could still choose that path, Gai supposed. So far Jin seemed to be on his side, but there was still some time left before the heroes arrived and they all were arrested. Sometime within the next two days…

“If you don’t have a way to get medicine, you can use herbal remedies,” Gai added to the conversation, even knowing it wouldn’t be of use for them in the long run. “You can find some in the wilderness, of course, but there’s also this store that—”

For now, the night made for a relaxing atmosphere as this group of rebels talked about survival tactics and strategies until, eventually, snoozing off against the wall, or on the floor… and in Toga’s case, nestled warmly between him and Jin, head tilted towards his friend’s shoulder as she snored lightly.

Jin seemed both content and relaxed in his sleep.

Gai pushed down the feeling of unease and remained alert for the whole night.

(x)

Ten hours had passed since they exited the Beast Forest.

In that lapse of time, nobody had tried to torture or kill the kid, which was something Gai was grateful for. He could only do so many things to buy time before having to fully blow away his cover to protect the teen.

No, they hadn’t even bothered to interact much with the hostage, instead most of the focus had been on the news channel, the infamy that the ‘league of villains’ had gathered. The programs of citizens openly criticizing the trustworthiness of heroes, questioning the administration of the U.A. institution, pointing fingers at the authorities for failing to protect the students.

And then, an official message coming from the U.A. on live for the country to see.

“Curious isn’t it?” Shigaraki muttered almost giddily upon seeing the kind of questions the interviewers were bringing to the stage. “Why are the heroes being criticized?

“Is it because it’s their job to protect? Everyone makes a mistake or two, even the doctors cannot save every patient, but the heroes are expected to do so without fail, they’re not allowed that luxury.” Shigaraki smirked at the hostage. “The police can fail but the heroes can’t, and they’re both law enforcers. Do you know why, Bakugou?”

The kid narrowed his glare and stayed silent. He hadn’t uttered a single sound ever since waking up.

“It’s a strange system, transforming people’s lives into money or glory… the citizens who blame the losers rather than encourage them…” Shigaraki stood up, walking towards the kid, and Gai tensed up in preparation to jump forward if needed. “Our fight is to question: what is a hero? What is justice? Is this society truly just? We’ll have everyone thinking about it!”

Shigaraki grinned. Bakugou glared, still silent. 

“We’re planning on winning. You like winning too, right?” Wow. Gai doubted something like that would work on any child older than two, nevermind a teen studying to become a hero.

That said, Gai still preferred this ineffective method over any other kind of T&I reconditioning process. A lot more bearable to witness, since this was just embarrassing instead of sickening.

When Shigaraki still received no response, he hummed and turned around, placing distance once more.

“I see, I see. We should be standing on equal terms if we want to talk, is that it?” Shigaraki mumbled, going back to the bar to pick up his drink. “Dabi, release his restraints.”

Gai had to blink at that. The only semblance of surprise he could allow himself in this room, trying to understand why would he…?

“... you know this guy is gonna fight, right?” Dabi challenged with a dubious look.

“It’s fine. We should do that much since we’re scouting him. Besides, you can tell whether you would win or not if you fight in this situation, right Bakugou?” Shigaraki raised his glass mockingly, index and small fingers pointing at the hostage. 

“Beast, you do it,” Dabi ordered with a head movement, probably picking him because he specialized in close-combat.

“Sure thing,” Gai was glad he had an excuse to be the one to approach the kid, because considering what little he had seen of his temper… the chances of him not fighting a lost battle were slim.

Being the one closest to the hostage, Gai could knock out the kid harmlessly if needed, instead of letting the others do it and risk long-lasting damage. How fast was the treatment for third-degree burns in this world? He would rather not know.

“Even though our situations differ, everyone here has been restricted and suffered because of people… rules… and heroes,” Shigaraki drawled as Gai knelt to get to the ankles first. “Hasn’t society let you down too?”

Ankles were free. Now to the stripes of the chair.

“I watched the tapes. In the sludge-villain incident earlier this year, the heroes did nothing to help you. They surrounded you, like spectators, cheering you to keep on fighting while doing NOTHING!” Shigaraki slammed the glass at the counter. “Are they not obligated to save a middle schooler, only because said kid has a quirk that’s strong? What hopes would any other kid have, to survive long enough to be rescued if that’s the case!?”

Perhaps Gai was reading too much into it, but that sounded personal to Shigaraki, like he had experienced something similar. Had people turned into nothing but spectators of his own suffering?

Stripes off, now to the hands.

“You’re not allowed to make mistakes, you’re not allowed to be weak, Bakugou Katsuki,” Shigaraki continued in a deadly hiss. “If you hadn’t fought back, if you had paused, if you’d made a mistake, you’d be dead. For how long were you stuck fighting for your life? Fifteen minutes? Twenty? All the while with people around you, assuming you were strong enough to survive on your own, not lifting a single finger to help you.”

Hands free now.

“Did they even offer comfort after you were finally rescued?”

The second all restraints were off, Bakugou rushed forward and blasted an explosion that missed Gai by several inches as he moved out of the way. 

“Shut up already,” Bakugou snarled, although… not as hard-headed as Gai had been expecting. 

He didn’t know anything about a sludge-villain, but perhaps what Shigaraki said was true? Enough that it resonated with the teen?

“You know it's true—”

“I said shut up. I’ve listened to your endless yapping for long enough!” the teen snarled, lowering his stance, surveilling the room in a way that made obvious he was searching for an exit. “Talking and talking for a long time, like that’s gonna change anything. Don’t bother.”

A murderous glare. A forced, slightly trembling, ferocious grin.

“I want to win like All might. No matter what anyone says, that will never change!” 

The T.V. was still on, talking about one thing or another. Gai wasn’t paying much attention to it, focused on the teen and the people surrounding them, but Bakugou obviously was, and something seemed to light up the fighting spark in his eyes, making his grin less shaky.

“Exactly as you said it, Aizawa-sensei! That’s how it is, you damn scum of a league!” The grin grew wider, palms open and facing forward. “Just so you know, I’m still allowed to fight!”

Against this many opponents, what good was to deplete energy? Particularly when the teen had stopped to talk back instead of covering the place with smoke and making a beeline towards one of the exits. Lee — the most stubborn of his genins — would have used the surprise factor to rush away, had he been in a situation like this.

“…you’re an idiot”, Dabi muttered.

The sound of cars passing outside had stopped. In its place, Gai could hear the faint sounds of footsteps, of people running on the street.

“Even if you weren’t intending to join us, you should have pretended,” Compress sighed, sounding somewhat disappointed.

“I won’t do something I don’t want to, even if I’m only faking it. And I don’t wanna be in an annoying place like this for very long!” All that show of strength, and still, the teen remained frozen, still trying to decide on his next action.

Gai couldn’t perceive any shift in the air, any intention of entering into combat, and thankfully Shigaraki raised a calming hand, with a calculating look in his face.

“Don’t touch him, any of you. This guy… is valuable. Even if you refuse to say it outloud, you agreed with what I said just now, didn't you? We could… come to an understanding…”

“Come to an understanding? No way,” Bakugou scoffed, not answering whether he had agreed with Shigaraki’s speech or not. Interesting. 

Gai didn’t think this kid could be led away from the hero path, but perhaps there was something buried in there that hadn’t had a chance to be explored on the surface. 

“Hmmm. No, you’ll listen, I’m sure. One way or another,” Shigaraki said matter-of-factly, turning around to face the TV screen.

To face the camera above said screen. “Sensei. Lend me your power.”

“That was a good decision, Shigaraki Tomura,” said teacher spoke for the first time since Gai’s arrival.

A raspy voice, the person behind it… definitely couldn't breathe properly, for whatever reason. A sick person? Was this ‘master’ more like a financial sponsor than anything else? Perhaps someone that offered connections like Giran? Or a strategist, someone that wouldn’t have to move much to be of use.

Gai shifted his feet slightly as the sound of several people running stopped, replaced with anticipatory silence. The calm right before the strike of a hunter. 

The sound of a knock on the door wasn’t surprising. 

“Anyone ordered pizza?”

One of the walls collapsing as it was punched to pieces wasn’t surprising either.

Chapter Text

Kamino

(6 k words)

The heroes had acted decisively, not giving the league any time to process the ambush. Both Dabi and Kurogiri had been knocked out within seconds of them arriving, the wall hadn’t even finished collapsing when the tree branches expanded, keeping Shigaraki’s arms pressed to his own sides, so he wouldn’t be able to use his quirk. 

Toga’s speed and quick reflexes were nullified while being suspended on air, trapped from her shoulders to her ankles by the flexible wood. Both Jin and Gai were lifted up as well, multiple tree branches curling at the floor under them in silent warning. Tenzou’s voice ‘don’t bother trying to escape,’ came to mind.

“You can’t run anymore, League of Villains! Why?”

The number one hero raised from his kneeling position with a triumphant grin.

“Because we are here!” 

All Might. They had sent their strongest hero, their ‘symbol of peace’, as Neji had expected. The man stayed close to the hostage to ensure no harm came to the teen.

“I’m sure you were scared… I’m sorry. It’s fine now, young man!”

“I wasn’t scared! Not even close, damn it!” 

All Might gave the teen a grin and a thumbs up, and something about his mannerisms and presence made Gai chuckle inwardly, utterly at ease. For half a second he wondered if they could be friends, before remembering that he was going to leave this world in just a few more weeks.

This hero, transparent enough in his intentions, reminded him somewhat… well, of himself, but also of his papa. To an extent.

The kind of person that genuinely didn’t mind helping the villagers with small, everyday problems. As genuine as a shinobi could be, as transparent and cheerful as a ninja could be. Keeping the important things outside of public view, putting a facade to the vast majority of people, keeping the bystanders at an emotional distance while at the same time trying to keep all of them safe.

Neji had been so surprised to find that nothing was known about Japan’s most precious hero, other than the school he had studied at, and that he was good at his job. His favorite food, the measurement of his hair bangs and other inconsequential things. Records of past interviews showed the number one hero covering personal questions with loud laughs, silly gestures, and social charm, talking in circles and providing non-answers before changing the topic. 

Gai had felt something akin to pride upon discovering that.

Yes, this hero seemed one that wouldn’t mind losing a battle a thousand times if that meant he could ensure his loved ones’ safety. It was clear that All Might’s first priority was rescuing the teen. The second was ensuring none of the league escaped, but if he had to pick only one… he would pick the right one.

True victory isn’t about winning against someone strong. It’s about defending what’s important to you!

Gai had to contain a genuine smile from showing as he remembered his papa’s most important lesson. 

The branches around him pressed harder against his body, and only then did he notice he had relaxed, thinking about memories of his childhood and everything his papa had stood for, the teachings of what was most important in the great scheme of things. 

“You final boss,” Shigaraki spat with a glare. 

“You’re still green Shigaraki!” All Might grabbed a startled Bakugou by the shoulder, ensuring the teen remained close to him at all times. “League of Villains, you underestimated everything too much. The soul of our young students, the diligent investigations of the police, and our anger!”

All Might raised a fist, grin turning into something more ferocious, more threatening. “Do you understand now? There’s nowhere left for you to run.”

“It can’t be… it can’t be!” Shigaraki thrashed in place, angry and spiteful. “Twice! Beast! Can’t you do anything!?”

The focus of the heroes in the room shifted instantly.

“Gai?” Jin asked without asking, looking at him for directions, a single drop of mud falling from gloved fingers as his friend looked at him, then at Toga, then back at him. Almost pleadingly.

“I don’t think we can win this one, even if we fight back,” Gai lied simply, trying not to think about how All Might clearly favored one side over the other, how the hero subconsciously angled his body as if prepared to protect his torso in the blink of an eye. 

Gai would have shook his head apologetically at Jin, but he was too busy enduring the kick of the short, yellow-suited hero that could apparently shoot air from his feet.

The sole of the boot met his forehead, and he remembered to let his head lean back with the motion as the kick was reinforced with an air current that would have knocked out anyone else in this room. 

“You’re hard-headed,” the old hero tsked as Gai recovered with a small grunt.

“So I’ve been told,” Gai smiled humorlessly, trying to keep the focus on him and not on Jin, who was kicking the air and shaking his head, as if trying to let out the excessive energy, as if trying to let out his need to fight back, to defend Toga.

But in the end, after mere seconds of indecision, no mud fell from his hands, no clones were formed as he hung his head down and whimpered quietly. Gai couldn’t help but glance at him.

“It’ll be fine, my friend,” he reassured, using the title to thank him for picking Gai over Toga, at least for now.

The short hero tsked in something akin to confused disdain, but thankfully turned around to focus on Shigaraki.

“No one here can free you, so speak up. Where is your boss?” the old hero questioned with crossed arms and a glare.

…no. No, why were they focusing on that right now? Shouldn’t they be taking Bakugou away, ensure the hostage was safe, fully apprehend all the villains in the room before— 

“Shigaraki!” All Might pressed, but why were they doing this interrogation right here, right now?

What did the heroes know that Gai didn’t? 

The weight of dread fell right at the base of his stomach, a sudden wave of nausea overcoming him as Gai coughed up spit. Not normal, this feeling wasn’t normal— 

“I HATE YOU!” Shigaraki screamed with genuine hatred.

Everything had been going well so far, according to plan.

Of course, that meant this was the point where things changed for the worse.

Creatures with their brains exposed — like the one they had lost in their mission. Nomu? — appeared out of nowhere in a splash of grey mud, crawling from the walls, from the ceiling, and Gai could hear people screaming and the sound of fire burning right outside the building as well.

“Another gate-opening quirk!?” the hero made of wood exclaimed.

A miscalculation, a horrible miscalculation. There was someone out there, someone unseen, that they still had to deal with. Who? How common were these kind of space-altering quirks? They had severely underestimated how many of these were at the villain’s disposal. Kurogiri was unconscious, and yet— 

Gai felt another cough force his way out of his body, this time with something unnatural, a dense liquid, traveling up his throat. 

In the end, Gai didn’t have much time to ponder on what was happening, as he watched in surprised dread as Bakugou coughed up the same substance.

And the teen had only been the first. One after the other, at the same time, all of the league was suddenly throwing up the substance, regardless of whether they were conscious or not, and Gai felt both disgust and horror as he had no option left but to open his mouth, to let the fluid go out so he wouldn’t choke on it. 

It felt like an assassination attempt that had good chances of success, at least for the couple of seconds it lasted until all of it was expelled, and Gai coughed actual air a couple of times, body tense and prepared to body-flicker as he took in the new surroundings. 

A dark room illuminated only by tanks with glowing green liquid, some ‘Nomus’ floating around inside them. It was disgusting to witness, even from afar.

But the Nomu weren’t the reason Gai was so on edge upon landing.

“You failed again, Tomura?”

The raspy voice of the person that couldn’t breathe properly. The one Gai had assumed was lying in bed and connected to an oxygen tank, the one he had imagined as impaired but intelligent, connected, resourceful.

Every single hair in his body stood on end as his skin erupted in goosebumps, muscles tensing in preparation for fight or flight, as Gai stared unblinking at the man that stood strong and proud in front of them.

Dressed in civilian formal attire, the head was hidden by a skull-like gas mask with angular tubes at the top, a wide collar around his neck with additional pipes connecting in the front and back, probably to help him breathe. 

But judging by the weight of his presence and the reaction it evoked in Gai’s survival instincts, that definitely didn’t make him weak, not in the slightest.

“Sensei…” Shigaraki whispered from his kneeling position. In awe, in gratitude, raising his head to look up at the man he called teacher, who was approaching slowly in a way Gai assumed was meant to be reassuring.

“Don’t be discouraged Tomura, you just need to try again. You have everything you need to do so.” The man gestured at the league, in the way a father would gesture at a room of toys. “I have brought your associates along with you.”

But not just the league— 

“Even this child. Because you judged that he was an important piece.” The man approached calmly, offering an open palm at Shigaraki, a symbolic, helping gesture. 

“Do it over as many times as you need to, I’m here to help you. Everything in my power it's yours, it’s all for you.”

It was supposed to be a kind, reassuring gesture. It was supposed to be a show of unconditional support, exactly the kind of encouragement a teacher should provide. Shigaraki seemed to truly believe that, at least.

And yet, Gai couldn’t feel a single ounce of genuine care coating the words. This man was more like a snake trying to soothe their prey into remaining still. Hypnotizing, trying to appear harmless as it laid in wait and curled up, hiding its venomous fangs until the very last second.

Not malicious like the Snake Sannin might be, however. No, this man was completely devoid of emotion, like he just… didn’t particularly care, whatever happened or didn’t happen here. Whatever happened or didn’t happen to Shigaraki, the league, the hostage, or the Nomus.

Everyone remained silent. Even Bakugou didn’t dare utter a word, instinctively knowing better than to draw attention to himself.

The hostage… the tracker. The mission Neji had designed could still succeed. If Gai could keep them in one single place, then the heroes could still catch up. How far away were they from their original position? 

Even the Fourth Hokage’s space-altering seals had had limitations. The teleportation technique used to bring them here should have some type of conditioning. A limit, either based on time, or distance. The man definitely didn’t need to touch the target, but perhaps the cameras… perhaps he needed to have the target in his field of vision? Or sense the chakra of— no, they had quirks here…

His line of thought was interrupted by the faraway sound of something big moving at incredible speeds in their direction, like a falling meteorite.

“You’re here after all, aren’t you…” the masked man lifted a hand, red sparks illuminating his body for half a second as he turned around to face the source of the sound.

Gai body-flickered, grabbing the hostage’s arm and throwing him behind him, standing protectively close to both the teen and Jin, right in the instant when an incredible rush of pure, raw power exploded forward.

He would have missed it if he blinked, but he was too used to the rush of air on his face to be impaired by it, and thus witnessed it first hand.

The whole area flattened as the long-ranged attack made the sky scream. The sudden pressure, the sound of windows shattering and large structures crumbling, the ground in front of the masked man caving in as another shockwave tore through. 

In a single movement, a single attack, the man had completely obliterated at least an entire city block.

There was beauty in it, in a way. Terrible, perfect control. This man wasn’t lashing out, he was demonstrating his capabilities, preparing the field for battle while also firing the first attack against his opponent.

This man has to die.

Gai hadn’t expected someone like this, on the level of a Sannin… or a Hokage, to be involved. The league of villains was manageable so long Kurogiri was out of the picture, but this man, who had made Gai choke on unknown liquid and forcefully transported him here, who destroyed everything in front of him without even moving, who didn’t seem to care about anything or anyone…

Too dangerous to be left alive. Too dangerous to have him coexisting in the same world Neji had chosen to live in. There was no way Gai could leave his student behind knowing someone like this might find him, because if this man knew about Gai, it was only a matter of time before he knew about his kids, if that hadn't happened already.

A new self-rule formed in his head. If he couldn’t kill this man right here, right now, he would postpone his return to Konoha until he could permanently deal with him.

“You monster!” At last, All Might arrived, a piece of his  hero costume torn around the ankle, as if he had barely managed to evade the wide-area attack.

Their clash made the ground tremble, sending shockwaves and pieces of broken concrete flying off as the masked man stopped the full-fledged attack with his bare hands.

The displaced air was enough to send the league flying off to the sides, forcefully ripped from the floor as they slammed against the walls of what remained of the building. One of the larger pieces of concrete had hit Compress at the head, he was definitely out. Toga seemed to be nursing a dislocated shoulder. Shigaraki had been kneeling in place, so he had slid off, remaining close to the floor instead of outright flying like the others.

Jin and Bakugou were still with Gai, who had hugged them close to him to carry them away from the collision, trying to keep them out of the cross-fire, the rage of explosions of the kid destroying the largest chunks of debris that had flown their way.

“I’ll have you return everything!” All Might roared somewhere within the cloud of dust hiding both figures. “All For One!”

All For One. Gai would remember that name.

“Will you kill me again, All Might?” the man’s voice sounded mocking. “In your current state? You’ve gotten weaker.”

“What about you and the industrial mask you’ve got on?” The cloud of dust was starting to clear up, Gai could see the colors of the hero’s costume now.

“Tsk!” Bakugou pushed at his chest to get away from Gai, not a single scratch on him. Good, the kid still knew better than to speak when a confrontation of that magnitude was right in front of them. Better not to draw attention to themselves.

“I won’t make the same mistake I did six years ago, All For One. I will take young Bakugou back, and this time, I’ll throw you in prison for sure!”

No, not prison. All For One had to die. Every single cell in Gai’s body was warning him of the consequences of letting someone like him alive. His genin team wouldn’t be able to deal with someone like this, not even if they knew the attack was coming, even less so if it took them by surprise.

He would kill All For One. Even if it made Gai a villain, if that ensured the safety of his kid— of his student, his genin, then so be it. He would apologize to Neji later.

Opening the inner gates would put Gai on a time limit though. He would have to make each second count, wait for the right moment to step in. He would be completely indisposed afterwards, for a few hours, depending on the level of the Gate he decided to open.

“There’s so many things left to do,” All For One sounded amused. “It'll be tough for us both.”

His arm expanded, as if the skin could barely manage to contain the thing growing inside, and a rush of air came out from the extended hand, neutralizing All Might’s strike before it could even land.

The hero was pushed backwards, making at least two buildings collapse as he went through its walls before stopping at a third. 

“This combination is fun,” the masked man chuckled to himself as he stared at his own hand. “Maybe I’ll try to add a few more enhancer-types.”

What did that even mean? What was this man’s quirk?

“All Might…” Bakugou whispered in shocked horror.

“He won’t die from something like that,” All For One stated with polite reassurance for the student’s concern, before turning to face Shigaraki. “Tomura, run away from here. Take that child and your people with you.”

His fingers extended, turning an unnatural red color as they stabbed mercilessly at Kurogiri’s chest, who started to convulse weakly.

“...won’t you use your quirk for that?” Shigaraki asked softly, looking with something akin to concern at Kurogiri’s body.

“It works only for short distances, and I can only bring people to me or away from me. If it’s to be sent away, it needs to be to someone I know very well.”

So it had limitations. The enemy could be lying though, it was best to act as if they weren't the whole picture.

Kurogiri gave a pained, muffled sound, and the familiar purple gate opened.

“Go.”

“Sensei, what about you?” Shigaraki sounded genuinely concerned, and Gai tried not to imagine the voice of his genins ever asking him something like that on the battlefield.

He would die for them, to ensure their well being, for their safety, any day, any time. But he still wished fervently they wouldn’t have to witness as his body turned to ashes after the eight gate’s opening, he didn’t want to see them suffering like he had suffered, crying and choking on sobs as the red aura died down and his papa’s body crumbled into ashes— 

The sound of a crash, as All Might jumped out of the rubble and towards the sky.

“Think constantly, Tomura. You must keep fighting,” All For One’s version of farewell. A good teacher, if anything.

“I won’t let you get away!” All Might screamed, one fist pulled back. 

Which was blocked once more with a single palm.

“Wait, don’t do this! Sensei!” The concern, the genuine concern, the genuine care. For a short moment, Gai truly felt sorry for Shigaraki. “In that condition, you won't…!”

“Let’s go Shigaraki!” Toga yelled from the sidelines, already moving to grab Compress and drag him towards the opened gate with her remaining good arm.

The league was not faring well. Kurogiri, Dabi, and Compress were out. Toga had her dominant arm injured. The only ones left standing were Shigaraki, Gai, and Jin, along with the hostage.

Who seemed to realize this was his chance to escape, now that All For One’s focus was no longer on them.

“You all can die!” Bakugou screamed, explosions immediately detonating in their direction. Gai grabbed Jin and stepped back, recognizing the attack’s purpose was not to defeat any of them, but to create a smoke screen that would buy the teen precious seconds as Bakugou used his quirk to leave the area as fast as he could.

Smart kid. He seemed to understand that his very presence was a limitation for All Might to fight at full force.

Shigaraki barked an order for Gai to get the kid back, as he was already occupied trying to drag Dabi closer to the gate.

“Young Bakugou!” The sound of explosions and Shigaraki's order was enough to distract All Might from his fight as the urge to get the kid to safety overpowered his other priorities.

“I won’t let you!” All For One used his elongated fingers to stab the hero’s side and physically drag him backwards, throwing him back towards one of the collapsed buildings once more. “That’s why I’m here!”

No good, the hero would die if this continued. He should have more faith in Bakugou’s ability to escape on his own. Wasn’t All Might also a U.A. teacher? Shouldn’t he know his student’s capabilities like the back of his hand?

Still, if there was a moment to act, it was this one. A risky bet, an all or nothing, but with the hostage out of the way and the league incapacitated, then the hero would concentrate on the fight in front of him, and Gai would, hopefully, just need to play support and not be the main combatant.

In that case he would just have to deliver the final blow. That would ensure he still had enough time to escape before he was arrested for murder.

“You need to leave this place,” he instructed Jin firmly right before body-flickering towards Shigaraki.

It was an easy knock-out, the leader of the rebel group didn’t even have enough time to be surprised. Toga, his second target, did have half a second to widen her eyes in surprise, perhaps even beginning to feel betrayed, before going down as well.

“But if I leave—  what’ll happen to them?” Jin sounded concerned, guilty, and indecisive, focusing completely on Gai and the fallen girl. In such a short span of time, he really did seem to have grown fond of Toga.

“Create clones of me, they’ll help you carry them out of harm's way. Just don’t go through the gate, no matter what!”

This was it. The moment Jin would have to fully decide on which side he truly wanted to be.

“That was too soon, Beast,” All For One sounded mildly inconvenienced as he turned in his direction, one hand raised. “I’ve been detecting hostility from you from the moment I destroyed Kamino’s Ward… but I didn't expect you to actually act on it right now.”

The enemy couldn’t use wide-area attacks without risking collateral damage to the league, nor could he move fast in his failing body. Which meant the attack would be both, long-ranged and precise.

“Can you really afford to look away!?” the Peace Symbol exclaimed as he returned. 

In the same instant the attack was launched and Gai body-flickered to evade it, the hero finally landed a hit that sent the enemy flying towards the surrounding debris.

“Of course I’ll help, my friend!” Gai could hear his own voice saying, and he risked a small glance in Jin’s direction. It seemed his friend had created two clones, so there was one mud-Gai carefully picking up both Shigaraki and Toga, bridal style.

Whether to get them through the gate or to carry them away from the area, remained to be seen.

“You have neatly turned the tables on us, haven’t you?” The elongated fingers flexed once more, in a way Gai had seen enough times by now to predict the next movement.

All Might evaded them instead of blocking them, thinking the attack was meant for him, then realizing too late as it went past him and towards the league. The enemy probably intended to throw the league members — or at least Shigaraki — towards the opened gate.

Gai cursed and rushed forward, intent on delivering a leaf hurricane that would deviate them, even if not break them— 

“Warping.”

— only to cough the horrid liquid mid-movement, as he was forcefully brought towards All For One’s side.

“Your quirk is an enhancement type, isn’t it?” All For One muttered with interest as Gai recovered his breath, regretting not having opened the gates when he was still at a safer distance. “I only came to save Tomura, but since things have already happened like this…”

“Don’t!” All Might rushed forward— 

“Shock inversion.” 

— only to have his own attack strike back at him with the exact same force he had used.

Gai gritted his teeth and ducked under the hand that tried to grab him by the neck. Gai had better reflexes, flexibility and speed. He could attack right now, but without the gates, it wouldn't kill the enemy.

He couldn't show off his signature moves unless he was sure the enemy would take that knowledge to the grave. Against someone like him, a single, lethal hit would be the safest bet. 

He jumped off to get out of reach, to place some distance— 

“Warping.”

Only to find himself again in exactly the same predicament. 

Gai coughed forcefully. Trying to get away was useless, he would have to focus on pure evasion and blocking while simultaneously opening the gates— 

All For One extended an arm once more. “I’ve always liked enhancement types.”

“Detroit Smash!” All Might… also made a gesture as if to grab Gai with one hand, even as the other pulled back in preparation for a punch. To get him out of the cross-fire before the hero’s attack landed?

Both hands reached towards him at the same time. He would rather never be this popular ever again.

Gai kicked the ground strongly as he spinned towards the sky, out of reach for both of them. He trusted the enemy would be too preoccupied with the hero’s attack to attempt to pull the same trick again.

The hero’s punch was blocked once more, the resulting shockwave helping Gai maneuver in the air so he could land even farther away from them both.

Finally, a second to breathe.

He couldn’t afford to hesitate anymore.

Against someone like this, and considering the objective was to dispose of the enemy permanently, the safest bet was to go all out. Without his tortoise summons, he would have to hope for the best when the time came to make an escape.

Taking a stance, he took a second to concentrate on his inner flow of chakra, waiting for the moment when All Might would be pushed back again. Same dance, same results, why did the hero insist on punching as his first and main attack?

And indeed, the hero was pushed back, remaining standing this time around, feet dragging on the ground so he wouldn’t crash into another building again.

It wasn’t enough distance for the hero to not get caught in Gai’s attack however. 

And there was definitely blood coming out of his mouth, stance shifting in a way that clearly showed the side he was favoring. That wasn’t good.

“Now I can fight without reserve!” All Might challenged after a cough of pure blood, clearly more bark than bite.

“Can you truly?” the enemy sounded entertained, focusing completely on All Might and ignoring Gai’s presence at the sidelines. Perfect. “Heroes have a lot of things they need to protect, don’t they?”

…Gai had been ignoring them. The fire, the people, the cries for help he could hear if he concentrated on the area that was right behind All Might. Right in the line of fire if All For One used another wide-ranged attack.

“Shut up! You always toy with people, breaking them, taking advantage of them, controlling them!”

Injured or not, the hero still rushed forward, this time not to strike — finally! — but to grab the opponent’s forearm, ensure he wouldn’t move, wouldn’t evade.

At long last, a clean punch hit its mark, right towards the mask, which made the metal break into pieces. The rising cloud of dust wasn’t enough to hide the combatant’s positions, as All Might clearly crouched over the fallen enemy.

A good hit, but not strong enough to deal fatal damage. Even worse, All Might was trembling from overexertion, one of his hair bangs was down, thin trails of smoke coming out of his body and curling towards the sky.

What was All Might’s quirk?

“I’ve heard that before,” the enemy was clearly struggling, and yet, still laughed with mocking calmness. “From your predecessor, Shimura Nana. The worst One For All holder I've ever had the displeasure of facing. She died in a very pathetic way, you know? Where shall I start…?”

“Enough!” Emotion clearly got the best of him, as the hero raised an arm to attack again, which freed All For One for long enough for him to do so first, red sparks being the only sign of what was to come.

All Might received a direct hit right at the injured torso, as he was thrown upwards the sky. In the direction of some sort of loud, metallic contraption that carried people inside it.

The short, old man that had kicked Gai in the face intercepted the hero before All Might could crash against it.

This much distance between battle contestants would have to suffice.

“Seventh Gate of Wonder: Open.”

He immediately became much too aware of every single bone and muscle fiber, of every single nerve that existed in his body and that started to send continuous, electrical shocks of raw pain to his brain. Gai had always thought he would be excellent at withstanding physical torture, for what pain could compare to the utter agony of the seventh gate?

The unbearable heat, the air hissing quietly around him as his sweat immediately evaporated into a bluish aura, the way he was forced to breathe in that heat, burning his lungs from the inside out, enough that even his exhales carried visible smoke. Every breath was agony, even doing nothing but stand in place was painful. 

His bones creaked in protest as they were forced to withstand the sudden rush of power, the excessive energy forcing his hair upwards, exposing his forehead. The beat of his own heart was simultaneously too fast as it tried to keep up with his body’s new enhanced state, and too slow for the senses that were suddenly perceiving the world as if it were in slow motion.

He would use his special, single-blow attack to finish this. 

Both parties seemed to have frozen in place, clearly surprised by his forgotten presence. The distance between them wasn’t as wide as Gai would have liked, but he would have to trust the hero to be fine since the attack wouldn’t get him directly anymore.

Gai jumped high into the air, the ground beneath his feet collapsing into a crater from the recoil. He needed to be over the enemy, so he could direct the attack to the ground with All For One at its center. The shockwaves would be expansive, the collateral damage—  he hoped no one would get caught in it. The enemy had already destroyed this portion of the city, so he would try to contain the strength of the attack to keep the aftereffects within this area.

No one and nothing was faster than Gai in this state. His opponent wouldn’t be able to evade it, and blocking it was futile. 

“Daytime Tiger: Hirudora!” Aiming at the throat, Gai thrust his arm forward with sheer speed that teared through reason. 

What followed wasn’t chakra. No jutsu. No elemental manipulation. 

This was raw taijutsu at its pinnacle.

A thunderous crack shattered the clouds above as The Daytime Tiger erupted, forged from nothing but raw speed and pressure, roaring like a beast born of the earth’s own wrath, a monstrous pressure of pure white force that clawed toward All For One with the fury of a dying sun.

The shockwave struck first, faster than sight, with enough force to send rocks the size of houses tumbling like pebbles.

Air was no longer breathable, it had been blown away. Dust and debris swirled in a vortex of violent wind, pulled along in the wake of the charging beast. Every cell in Gai’s body felt like it was unraveling, but he kept his stance firm.

Once Hirudora made contact, everything in the area was obliterated.

The white tiger collided and collapsed inwards, detonating with a concussive burst that made the earth itself groan. The enemy’s defenses, no matter how absolute, were swallowed by the impact. 

It resulted in the complete annihilation of his enemy and all the surrounding area as the ground shook heavily, an earthquake Gai hoped wouldn’t make the buildings still standing in the area collapse. He had tried to contain it instead of lashing out at full force, he had tried to keep collaterals to a minimum.

And yet, windows burst miles away. Cars were hurled like toys. The shockwave slammed into walls and rooftops, flattening them under the pressure. The battlefield became a white-out of wind and dust. 

Gai stood still in the midst of it, and for a heartbeat, time seemed to halt. Like the world itself was holding its breath.

When the wind died and the dust settled, the battlefield was hollowed, carved by the jaws of a tiger no one could have seen coming.

Farewell, All For One.

Gai thought emotionlessly as he panted over the remnants of the enemy, horribly aware of how his very own life leaked away with every breath. The price of becoming the Blue Beast was always terribly high.

But it was his papa’s legacy. It was Gai’s power, his path of youth, and one that he walked without hesitation.

Mission… complete, even if not successful.

Chapter Text

Hawks

( 6 k words)

In a matter of hours, the League of Villains had taken a student hostage, and the rescue mission to recover said student had been planned and executed.

The Hero Commission had insisted there was nothing to worry about, since both All Might and Endeavor had been appointed to the rescue, along with other three support heroes: Kamui Woods, Gran Torino, and Edgeshot — this last one would remain out of sight to adapt in case things got out of hand — to neutralize and arrest all villains. As a preventive measure, they had also removed the citizens in a radius of five-hundred meters from the villain's base in case the altercation grew out of hand.

So, the commission had assured Hawks that his presence wasn’t needed. 

As a ‘rookie’ hero, the police didn’t rely on him for big missions yet, calling on him mainly for large rescue operations or very superficial intelligence gathering. It was boring, so Keigo had started to ignore the instructions of his superiors from time to time, whenever he could get away with it with just a little wrist slap, interfering more visibly on the cases with media presence so he could get up higher in the rankings.

The more popular he got, the less of a grasp the Hero Commission would have on his daily actions, as his mentor Lady Nagant had skillfully demonstrated. There was a way to collaborate with the Commission while also calling bullshit on their worst ideas, and they were trying to find that careful balance through trial and error.

Thus, for this hostage situation Hawks had decided to fly around the Kamino area. There were plenty of people for him to help with trivial things, and it wasn’t too close to be obvious about him knowing about the league of villains’ base existing, but not too far away that he wouldn’t be able to join them fast if need be.

A good decision, because in a second, in the blink of an eye, in the breath that followed after watching All Might’s figure crossing the sky like a rocket and Hawks signed yet another notebook— 

A portion of Kamino’s ward was completely obliterated .

His feathers were leaving his wings in big bouquets as every person around the affected area was filled with an acute sense of alarm, his quick reaction turning fatalities into near-misses by barely a second. 

It wasn’t enough. 

And it wasn’t the worst it would get, not when the portion of his mind that relied on bird-instinct was still on high alert.

Hawks himself could feel as sweat broke out on his back and palms, skin erupting in goosebumps as if the air had been suddenly electrified, as he watched the people freeze in surprised terror, some fleeing aimlessly through the street, others ducking in alleyways and nearby stores, seeking refuge. 

His instincts kept screaming ‘danger’ at him uselessly, even as he was forced to stop at a nearby rooftop as he ran out of feathers to keep flying, keeping an aerial view so he could jank and push around as many people as possible, to keep them safe.

The sound of two impossible forces colliding, sending continuous rushes of wind that traveled far away from its origin and rustled Hawks’ open coat meant that, whoever All Might was facing, they were as strong as the Symbol of Peace.

Or perhaps surpassing the hero’s current level, Hawks thought with gritted teeth, as something that looked horribly similar to All Might’s figure was sent crashing through two empty buildings before stopping at the third, making all three collapse onto the street like gigantic domino pieces of deadly metal and concrete.  Fuck.

Shouts of panic rose into the air, becoming a great wave that engulfed that portion of the city, as the people tried to get away from the oncoming apocalypse of huge pieces of concrete raining on their heads as the structures fell down.

It was afterhours, citizens had already left their corporate jobs, and thus the casualties were less than they could have been, but still entirely too many.

With an ease born from practice, Hawks recalled his feathers so he could reach the affected portion and start containing the damages.

All Might gave him a grateful nod and jumped towards the sky to continue fighting… whatever monster of a villain only the Symbol of Peace could fight against.

Hawks shouldered the full weight of the rescue operations for the precious first minutes of the catastrophe — which usually decided just how large the final bodycount would be — until the nearby heroes finally arrived and lent a helping hand with the things he couldn’t help with, like the spreading fire.

With the situation getting under control, Hawks gathered his feathers once more and cautiously flew closer to the area where the altercation was happening. The Hero Commission had always highlighted in his training just how important gathering intel was, a vital step so they would be able to, eventually, devise a plan that could deal with the perpetrators either temporarily or permanently, in whatever manner the Commission saw fit.

So Hawks moved, not with the intention to fight, but to gather intel. Perhaps providing support from the sidelines, at best.

He stayed behind the line of gathered heroes, as out of sight as he could be, as Endeavor and Edgeshot landed closer to the altercation right on time to witness as All Might — who had been pining the villain down into unforgiving concrete via a fist to the face — received a hit at his injured torso — fuck —  that sent him flying upwards and right into the path of the helicopter reporting the fight — double fuck!

He could see Gran Torino moving to intercept it.

Which was good, because Keigo was suddenly rooted to the spot, with every single feather of his wings going knife-sharp and puffing up on instinct, in a pathetic attempt at appearing larger and scarier than the predator the part of his brain that relied on bird instincts had detected. 

He hadn’t reacted like this since turning nine, it had been one of the first things he had learned to control, and yet.

A man glowing blue suddenly existed on the sidelines of the battlefield.

One emitting a killing intent so strong, a large part of him wanted to stab his own heart with his strongest quill, to die a merciful death before the man could come to kill him, die before he was murdered, escape before that thing came any closer to him— 

He didn’t have time to react nor process any of it, since the figure blinked out of existence, destroying the earth he had stood upon, sending a rush of hot air in every direction. Moving much faster than human beings, faster than what his brain could comprehend even existed, Keigo didn’t even notice the man was up in the air and hovering over the villain until he attacked.

The man glowing blue charged forward, and Keigo felt his heart stuck  in his throat as he witnessed as that thing— 

That thing was in a category of its own. It was like watching a falling meteorite of pure wind, like a natural disaster, both unstoppable and unavoidable.

Too fast to fully process what was in front of him, the resulting earthquake and cutting wind forced him to protect his face with his arms, as he used his wings to at least control somewhat the direction in which he was sent flying, so he wouldn’t crash against a wall or get hit by the boulders of concrete that were sent off in every direction.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. If that man attacked Japan’s capital, the place that was meant to have the highest congregation of heroes, the highest defense— 

A huge portion of Tokyo would be destroyed instantly. 

There was no way to fight against such a thing.

This man needs to die, the part of Hawks that had been trained to assess and react against too-dangerous individuals whispered urgently.

They couldn’t fight such a person. No one could. No number of prison bars or heroes would ever be able to stop him, not even All Might. 

It was a reality which was far, far too horrible to accept. It was terrifying.

He needs to die.

Hawks wished Lady Nagant was here to kill him without having to get close to him.

Keigo was deeply ashamed of thinking that way about Kaina, his friend and mentor. Not with everything she already carried, not when he was fully aware of her stance regarding the Commission's extra-judicial executions.

The attack was over almost as fast as it had begun, killing intent gone as if it  had never existed. Hawks ignored the way the beating of his own heart grew erratic with a mix of fear and adrenaline, pushed down the fact that existing here and now meant he was walking the thin line between life and death, ignored the fact that surviving to learn from the experience would mean relying on nothing but dumb luck and good reflexes, and forced his wings to fly, to move closer to the thing that paraded as human.

Closer to the shocked group of heroes, who could do nothing but gawk in disbelief, as their brains started to process a piece of what they had witnessed. The impossibility of it.

The impossibility of having the blue aura change into a green one, and the fact that Keigo’s body bent forward to cough spit out and silently hyperventilate, his stupid animal brain affected by the abrupt release of tension. 

The change was jarring. The way the hot, oppressive air that surrounded him vanished like it had never been, leaving behind just an ordinary human being, with the presence of an ordinary human being— 

Hawks raised his head to stare at him. If anything the man seemed too ordinary, which only deepened his trepidation. It felt like a large predator was still in front of him, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

It was frightening. Judging by the sound of Edgeshot gulping, Keigo wasn’t the only one that thought so, as the air filled with a growing disquiet.

“How…?” Edgeshot muttered uneasily, staring ahead unblinkingly, even as the unknown green entity moved again  to… to help trapped citizens?

Ally? Enemy?

“Who’s that?” Hawks took a hold of Edgeshot’s arm, to shake him out of the stupor, to get much needed information.

Edgeshot had been part of the rescue operation. He would know more than him, he would know why that completely unknown person had appeared from nowhere, and what they could expect now.

Ally? Enemy? He needed an answer to that ASAP .

Because it was obvious that person had received professional training, it was noticeable from miles away, with every movement, every step. Someone with this kind of quirk, capable of such a feat— the Commission should have heard something, Hawks should have known .

“That— villain, vigilante, wasn’t clear,” Edgeshot shook his head, breathing deeply, trying to calm down a racing heart, coming down from the fear-induced shock that immobilized him even now. “Didn’t resist arrest, couldn’t with All Might there.”

That notion was horribly a clear lie.

“Why a villain? Or vigilante?” What was Hawks supposed to do, gain Intel to be able to plan and kill him, or find a way to ensure he would stay in the heroes’ side of the balance?

“Accidental… infiltration…?” Edgeshot trailed off. It didn’t sound like the whole picture, but his peer was obviously still trying to recover his ability to form complete sentences.

“Who the hell?” Endeavor seemed both shocked and enraged as he hissed the words through gritted teeth, and… yeah, Keigo could imagine him being quite furious once the shock dimmed enough, considering he had been trying to surpass All Might as the Number One Hero for a long, long time. 

It was obvious that this person was stronger than their Symbol of Peace, who was injured and close to retiring, but… that man glowing green wasn’t a hero. Was he? What was his name?

Ally? Enemy? 

All Might landed nearby, raising a hand to his mouth as he coughed, a few droplets of blood escaping from between his fingers.

“Your time is almost up. Leave the rest to us,” Gran Torino whispered warningly as he landed close to the hero’s side, but not soft enough to not be understood.

All Might shook his head and made a ‘wait’ motion, before loudly exclaiming: “People need help!” 

It helped to bring the other heroes out of their stupor, as Edgeshot took in a sharp breath and turned to him, while Endeavor punched the ground in which he was kneeling, a release for the pent-up frustration, and stood up.

“Focus on the rescue operations! I’ll take care of him!”

And with that instruction, All Might jumped off to lift a car like it weighted the same as an office chair, initiating his own rescue operations and clearly expecting them to do the same.

Endeavor clunched his jaw, the fire around his face and shoulders growing with whatever predominant emotion went through him, before visibly forcing himself to move away from the green-glowing hazard.

Edgeshot folded on himself, diving into the small spaces between the rubble to look for survivors.

Hawks sent his feathers across the battlefield, trying to do both at the same time, keep an eye on the still-unnamed threat and help with the rescue. 

Except…except that was easier said than done when facing someone that moved so absurdly fast he might as well be teleporting all around the area, an issue All Might didn’t seem to be struggling with, as the Symbol of Peace also moved all over the place as if to ensure the threat would remain on his sight, while also helping people at the same time.

Begrudgingly accepting defeat, Hawks resolved to focus on the rescue operations and sent a text to his superiors, to be informed about everything they could find about him. 

Hawks may not even know his name, but after what had happened today, he had no doubt the Commission was already lifting stones and opening restricted folders to compile everything. Hawks would just need access to those results.

If that person was one that needed to be… dealt with, Hawks would need as much information as he could get.

(x)

(x)

(x)

Gai could have escaped. 

He had finished his self-appointed goal in a single strike, which left him with enough time to leave. All Might was injured, and the other heroes that arrived at the scene were obviously wary and unwilling to approach him.

Jin and the league of villains were not in the area anymore. Whether because Jin took them away, or because Jin went through the gate, he didn’t know, but would surely find out soon by the reporting news.

He should have escaped, truly. Being arrested while he was facing the aftermath of opening the gates wasn’t the plan at all, he wouldn’t be able to react and escape from the police’s interrogation if it came to it.

Gai could have escaped— 

“Help! Please—”

— but the shockwaves of his attack had collapsed nearby structures, leaving people trapped under debris. He saw normal citizens bleeding, crying, hurt and scared, and it was his fault , so the least he could do was help rescue as many as he could before escaping. 

Otherwise he would be no better than a tailed beast.

He helped one, then another, and another, and another, and Gai didn’t know how many of them were victims of Hirudora’s collateral damage, how many resulted from All For One’s attack, how many resulted from All Might crushing through the walls of the buildings and making them collapse, all he knew was that people were scared and bleeding and in dire need of a helping hand, and it made him recall the Kyuubi attack all too sharply. 

Gai had been fifteen and forced to stand by. He had been forced to ignore the destruction, the chaos, the people pleading for a helping hand, only being able to support the latter once the Kyuubi had been sealed. 

Would Tenten’s parents have lived, had he been able to help the villagers back then? Would she have known the tenderness of a parent’s love, like the one Gai had received from his papa?

Someone that would have comforted her when sad, and celebrated her victories, and pushed her to learn more and get better, someone that would show interest in her chosen specialty instead of ridicule it, someone to provide hot tea and a soft voice after a nightmare, a solid warm to lean against in the difficult times, someone to carry her on their shoulders whenever she felt too tired to walk after training— 

How many people were losing all of that, in this very instant? 

The memory of his papa's last smile, his last thumbs up, one last shout of encouragement, right before his papa’s body turned deep-red, before it started to crumble and turned into ashes. It had left Gai with a bleeding heart that would never fully heal, left him behind with an empty space in his home that was never the same after losing the one person that had made it safe and warm.

He couldn’t leave.

His blue aura changed into a green one, unwilling to fully close the gates since that would make him face the inevitable repercussions of the Gate of Wonder, so he forced his spasming muscles to continue to move under the Gate of Healing instead.

Ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred people. Gai didn’t bother counting them, too focused on counting the minutes in his own head, even as he ripped off his sleeves to use them as improvised bandages, to buy more time for the injured civilians before they bled to death. Rinse and repeat for his leg warmers, he wished he knew healing techniques, he wished he could do more for them.

A minute turned into five which turned into ten, and Gai jumped towards the rooftops and dashed away once he recognized his body reaching its limit, trying to place as much distance as he could between himself and the heroes, which were helping the citizens by providing first aid, clearing the streets so their healing medics could come and go, and continued the search operations for anyone trapped that they might have missed.

Leaving the scene was a good call, because right after landing at a hidden alley, when he tried to force his trembling legs to stand up again, he ended up collapsing on his rear. 

At long last, the green color finally dissipated into nothingness. 

He missed his turtles dearly. He was used to relying on them, since their shells worked like a sort of Fuinjutsu and could host larger objects and living creatures inside them for short periods of time. Ningame usually could protect Gai inside his shell until he recovered enough to move on his own again.

Hair damp with sweat plastered on his forehead as Gai panted, whole body shivering as he let his back rest against the wall of the dark alley he had chosen as a hiding spot. It was the farest he could get from the heroes before collapsing, and although he was still close to the damaged areas, at least the alley itself was devoid of people. He could see some citizens out in the street, but none seemed injured enough to die, even if they couldn't move on their own.

He had no more energy left to help them, so he simply used the garbage container to remain undetected and waited for his body to recover somewhat.

Arresting Gai wouldn’t be a priority for the heroes, not when they still needed to take care of all the collateral damage. Perhaps he could hide for long enough, until he could at least move again. 

The seventh gate had been open for less than a minute, it wasn’t as dire as when he faced the orange-masked sharingan user. His shoulder hadn’t been stabbed this time, he had received no injuries, Gai could recover faster than he did back then.

He just… needed some minutes…

“Hey…?”

Gai exhaled through his nose but remained with both eyes closed, trusting the Symbol of Peace wouldn’t murder him in his weakened state.

The world was never fully silent. Konoha’s nights were accompanied by the wind rattling at the windows, the gentle patter of rain, the rustle of leaves, the soft sound of shoes scraping on the surface as Anbu patrolled around the village, and both merchants and citizens stumbled through the main street in different degrees of sobriety. Gai had learned to sleep lightly through it all, waking up immediately the moment he felt someone ‘focusing’ in his direction for a second too long.

Thus, even through the distance and the chaos, Gai had been aware that All Might was keeping an eye on his movements, ever since Hirudora’s dust dissipated, and even when the number one hero had started his own rescue operations. 

Gai had hoped he would have lost him in the last moments before the second gate closed, in the same way he was sure he had crushed all the unnatural red feathers that tried to get close to him at random intervals, but apparently that was wishful thinking.

“...hey,” Gai answered weakly, a single eye opening tiredly. 

The Symbol of Peace was a blurry man, but Gai still could somewhat distinguish blond hair framing his face instead of facing upwards. The hero stood tall and strong, but the steam coming out of his body was still curling towards the sky at odd intervals, and his large body seemed less… wide? As if it was slowly growing thinner. Probably a trick of Gai’s affected vision.

“I couldn’t see very clearly, that last attack…” All Might trailed off, voice cautious but soft, still standing a safe distance away. “Did All For One manage to injure you back then?”

Gai had refused to give any openings for the enemy to try to attack him at full force. Which, admittedly, wouldn’t have been possible if the Peace Symbol hadn’t been there to play the main role and keep their attention fully focused on himself.

“No,” Gai answered sincerely, his honesty a payback for the hero’s help, even if the man hadn’t done so to help Gai in his self-appointed A-rank mission. “This is the side-effect of my… quirk.”

The blurry figure of All Might shifted in place, indecisive for a moment, before muttering a simple “I see,” and approaching slowly. 

The steps were loud, but not as loud as they should have been given the man’s build and estimated weight. Ugk, a henge? Could people henge in this world? 

Whatever the reasons, this was definitely not the same hero he had seen punching through a wall to rescue the hostage.

Which meant Gai’s safety wasn’t assured.

“Don’t come any closer,” Gai warned in a loud, firm voice, forcing his upper body to lean forward and away from the wall he had been using to support his weight, dragging one leg up so he could take a stance that would allow him to react quickly. 

Every fiber of muscle protested the small movements, and Gai gritted his teeth to avoid grunting in pain, even as he let a hand hover over the leg-holder that held his nunchaku.

“I can still fight,” Gai said in warning, trying to sound stronger than he currently felt, mentally preparing to force another gate open if needed. “I won’t go down easily, so even if you try to kill me—” 

The fake hero paused and coughed a sound that was entirely too wet to be healthy, and perhaps if Gai hadn’t been so utterly exhausted he would have linked that sound to the one of All Might coughing blood during the altercation.

But in the end he was spared from having to keep himself hyperaware and thinking, as a man in a green jumpsuit jumped forward, standing protectively between Gai and the fake hero.

Papa? Gai’s delirious mind conjured, eyes squinting as he tried to force sharpness into his vision.

“If you wanna talk, you can talk with me!” Not his papa, that was… Gai’s own voice. 

Gai had been twelve when his papa died. It had been many years since then, so why did he feel disappointed?

Focus, focus. Had Neji made a clone of himself and henged it to look like Gai— 

“Or me!”

“OR ME!”

A small army of Gai-clones arrived to swarm the place — dividing among them even mid-air? — traces of a brown mud-like substance the only constant in their reproduction. 

Not Neji’s doing then, but Jin’s. Why the heck Gai’s clones had Jin’s quirk, he had no clue.

“Hey there, youthful fellow!” One of them greeted Gai. Probably one of the first clones to be made, given the decent strength it used to pick him up bridal style. 

The hold hurt everywhere imaginable, as if the hands pressing into him were made of sharp needles instead of flesh, and Gai couldn’t help but let out the whisper of a pained whimper.

“Wait, it hurts him!” the fake All Might screamed from somewhere amidst the swarm of clones, sounding different than the hero’s characteristic booming voice. 

Gai was relieved he wouldn’t have to face yet another unknown, unexpected enemy tonight. Whoever this fake hero was, it could wait.

“Help,” Gai rasped weakly at his clone, and perhaps, if he had known his single word would be misunderstood, and that the fake hero wasn't fake, he wouldn't have said it.

But at that moment his clone simply grinned, nodded, and jumped off, and Gai relaxed his shoulders a little.

The alley was narrow. If the fake hero possessed even a fraction of the real one’s strength, then Not-All-Might could deal with the swarm of weak mud-clones easily. The more they multiplied the weaker they became, so a strong punch would displace the air and destroy a large chunk of them.

But the hero didn’t, and it was easy to see why.

“You need help. Don't worry, we'll take you to the nearest hospital!”

The clones not focusing on trying to distract not-All Might with endless chatter were going around in groups, lifting rubble as a team, forcing doors and windows open, rescuing nearby civilians unprompted. And with this level of collateral damage, the heroes needed all the hands they could get.

That person couldn’t risk interrupting the rescue operations, it would single them out as a fake hero for everyone to see.

Still, Gai didn’t let his guard fully down, instructing the clone on the path to take that would let them avoid the heroes, while also making small corrections that would let them reach whatever final destination the clone had in mind. Somewhere East, apparently.

After a long time, the clone led them to a small TV store whose door had been obviously forced open.

“Gai!” Jin whispered in concern, kneeling at his side when the clone let Gai lay down on the floor.

“Jin,” Gai saluted weakly, trying not to flinch as gloved hands grabbed his wrists and lifted his arms, obviously searching for injury either on the limbs or the torso. His friend probably thought the reason the shirt was torn was due to an attack and not as a result of Gai ripping it off himself to get improvised bandages.

“I’m not hurt, just tired.”

“You can’t even move. Not hurt yeah! I don’t think this qualifies as ‘just tired’ dude,” Jin admonished with palpable concern, still hovering over him, wanting to help but not knowing how.

Gai had many questions, but starting from the simplest one…

“How did you know… I needed a ride out of there?” Gai asked softly, exhaustion starting to eat at his ability to speak. Even moving his jaw involved a ridiculous amount of effort.

“I saw you leaving,” Jin gestured at the small TV showing scenes of the crater that had resulted from Gai’s last attack, the fire, the debris, the rescuing operations, everything from an aerial point of view. Huh, at which point did the news start reporting the fight? 

Had his kids seen it? They should have been interrogated by the police by now… had they been let go? Or were they still there?

“You seemed feverish, so I sent the clones over to the area, to look out for you and help you. I thought you were gonna die, I thought—” Jin choked and sobbed, grabbing his head as if trying to grab his own hair through the mask. “I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t help, so useless, plenty of options! Your clones dissolved when the fingers stabbed them, when that guy tried to push them towards the gate, so I had to make new ones, and by then you were already choking and in front of him and with All Might rushing to you, and I—” 

Gai exhaled heavily at the effort it took to drag his arm towards his crying friend, until the back of his hand could rest against Jin’s knee, the back of his fingers tapping it twice.

“The league?” Gai asked, partially out of concern, but mainly to understand what Jin had decided to do in the end.

“Toga and Shigaraki fell down when the clones dissipated, so I made new ones to pick them up again, and I— I wanted to do both. I wanted— I wanted to take the league away from there, but I also wanted to help you, but I can only make two clones at a time, but I needed more, I needed more so nobody would die!”

Another sob made Jin’s whole body tremble from head to toe as he curled forward.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t help you Gai, I’m so sorry, I don’t— I don’t control their actions—”

“Calm down… it’s ok, so long you were safe,” Gai said sincerely, which only served to make Jin cry even harder. “What happened exactly…?”

“I don’t know how, I know it very well, I mixed the quirks, I wanted— I wanted your clones to be able to clone like me, but I also wanted them to be strong enough to help me carry the league out of there, and strong enough for them to help you, and I— they— they started to multiply? Like my quirk? But only the first ones were somewhat strong and— and I told them to help you, but they said— they said I shouldn’t be there ‘cause it was risky and took me away too, carried me away like the others.”

Jin hiccuped and somewhat straightened up his back, grabbing Gai’s hand strongly in sincere apology, which made him jolt in pain. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry Gai—”

“Jin.” Shit, Jin must have had his eyes closed underneath the mask, because he seemed unaware of Gai’s pained intake of breath and squeezed his hand even harder.

“ — some clones stayed but they— they were so weak they were dissolving just by standing in the fight’s shockwaves and I couldn’t make the strong ones go help you because they wanted to help me—” 

“Jin please.” This was touching but quite literally painful to listen to. 

“Because you’re a good friend Gai, you’re a good friend and even your clones cared more about me than your own wellbeing, and you need to stop doing that, you need to help yourself too, I hated it so much, I felt safe, I couldn’t do anything and your clones didn’t consider yourself more important than the others! Do you know how useless I feel!? It was the same back with Stain!”

“Jin, it hurts—”

“It hurts me too! You need to start caring for yourself too! I don’t want you to die Gai, please don’t die, please just live on forever. Can’t we just live on and not die and be safe and not die!?”

“I think he means the hand hurts,” the clone of himself, who had been hovering in silence with a curious gaze, interrupted by tapping Jin’s shoulder.

“Eh? Ah!” Jin released it as if scalded. “Shit, shit, sorry, is it broken, do you need a hospital— no, no, we can’t do hospitals, but I can— uhm, I can take you to the medics of the fight club? That helps right? No way that helps for shit. They can fix this, right…?”

“Not broken,” Gai exhaled, utterly exhausted but unwilling to let unconsciousness claim him quite yet. “No medics… I just need sleep. My quirk’s downside.”

“Are you sure? Because your clone can carry you no problem—”

“I’m sure,” Gai cut the offer short, needing to clarify something before sleep overtook him. “Jin… where is the league?”

“Your clones brought them to the heroes,” Jin sighed with resignation, but the fact that he had let it happen instead of trying to rescue them among the chaos was a good sign.

Jin wasn't stupid. After their first conversation, after that night when Gai fought against Shigaraki and before the league’s mission started, when he had pulled Jin apart and finally drilled into his head that his actions weren't acceptable….

He knew his friend was aware of it to an extent, that Gai wanted nothing to do with the league, that even though he was part of their mission squad he actually didn't want them to succeed.

Jin might not have known the details of Neji’s plan, but he had been aware that something would differ from what the league expected, at some point.

“Everyone?” Gai still asked, just to be sure.

“Everyone but me,” Jin lowered his head, apparently aware of the real reason Gai asked, the hint of doubt that still coated their bond, so he ranted without pause: 

“I know… I know they're not reliable. They left Magne and the others behind, just ‘cause they lost their fights. And then they lost to you, so by their own rules they can be left behind too, right? They wouldn't help me like you would, they're not good friends like we are. I just… do you think we can help Toga-chan? Maybe?”

Gai gave him a sad grimace. “She’s a minor… hopefully she’ll receive help instead of punishment.”

Jin sniffed but slowly nodded to himself. “Yeah. She’s still young, maybe she can still… be free after everything is said and done.”

‘Unlike me’ was left unsaid. Jin had been twenty-two when he lost his legal job and spiraled down into unlawful activities. Toga was… perhaps sixteen.  She could still recover.  Gai hoped she would.

“I need to sleep,” Gai admitted, eyes closing on their own volition despite his efforts on the contrary. “Please… don’t let the police take me away until I wake up again. But don’t hurt them or the heroes, just escape.”

He needed to recover before he let himself be taken away for interrogation. Otherwise the risk was too high, for both himself and his genin team.

“Uhm… ok…” Jin nodded slowly, obviously unsure of his own capability to do so. Gai’s clone was nodding strongly behind him however, so that was reassuring.

Gai took one last breath, then let his heavy eyelids finally close as sleep became physically impossible to overcome.

Unbeknown to any of them, All Might had sent a message requesting support to the other nearby heroes, and Edgeshot had been lucky to find them. Gai's clone didn't have the speed necessary to avoid the attack that would dissolve it, nor did Jin could avoid a swift knockout before more clones were issued.

And thus, when Gai’s eyes snapped open again, it was with his heart pounding like a war drum, muscles straining against the leather straps keeping his body pressed to the hospital bed as instinct screamed danger , and his mind scrambled to understand why Tenten was crouching protectively on his bed’s side.

Chapter Text

Tenten

(  7k words)

Their existence in this world had always been sustained by spiderwebs.

At the end of the day, it was hard to justify why they were missing basic documentation, such as formal education in a school, a birth certificate, medical records, dental records, and overall paperwork that should have shown thirteen years worth of life experiences in this world. Much too tricky to claim to be from another country as well, since they lacked basic knowledge of how the world operated at large, having focused all their efforts on understanding the basics of Japan’s moral and lawful expectations so they could somewhat adapt to it.

They were missing basic experiences as well. Such as a childhood that didn’t involve training from the moment they could walk, or working since turning five years old, and living in a place where the risk of assassination wasn’t an everyday thing, where lowering your guard wouldn’t necessarily mean your imminent demise.

It wasn’t a good combination if they wanted to live here long-term. 

And thus, although dimensional travel most likely wasn’t normal, not even in a world of quirks, at the end of the day they had no option left but to start hinting at it.

That was why Neji had reached an agreement with Tenten, before their mission even started.

“You want me to… claim injury?” Tenten had looked offended at the mere suggestion. “Why? To give the impression that I’m weak and vulnerable? Do you want me to play bait—”

“None of the sort,” Neji had interrupted before they could deviate more. Gai had already left, but they would barely have some minutes to themselves before Lee joined them.

Lee was a neutral party, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Neji’s plan of the full team staying in this world, which meant that Lee wouldn’t sabotage him, but couldn’t be trusted to help him either.

“My intention is for them to notice our chakra system.” The only one he could rely on was Tenten. “ A medical scan would show it.”

Her expression changed from offended to confused, at least. “Why?”

“It will serve to back up our truth, or at least, the beginning of it. We’re not blood related, yet we all have this ‘additional organ’ in our bodies—”

Tenten raised her palm, face twisting into a frown. “You want us to become lab rats? What if they have someone like the Snake Sannin here?”

Neji flinched. They had overheard a very drunk Anko once. It had been a single phrase. 

“...called it a success when only half of them stopped breathing this time. It could have been me...”

It had been enough to understand all that went unsaid.

Neji’s silence rang heavily between them for a short moment as he internally cursed at himself for not having thought of that scenario.

“If things go wrong, we’ll live it out as villains,” Neji admitted with a resigned exhale. “I think that would still be a better quality of life than going back to Konoha. But if we have a chance to avoid becoming the missing-nin equivalent of this world…”

“We’ll have to risk it,” she sighed deeply, frustration with a hint of fear coating the words.

He gave her a slow nod. “Tenten, you received some basic training from Konoha’s medic-nin at the hospital.”

“I could probably name some of the bones I’m breaking,” Tenten smirked slightly, expression still unsure. “But overall they mostly focused on teaching me the making of medicine, analgesics, poisons, and chakra pills. How to administer the stuff and in which doses. I guess they were hoping I’d break my backbone on a mission, so I’d get stuck making this stuff at their labs for the rest of my life, or something.”

Charming. Konoha truly was hopeless.

“If things go well, we might receive help with our adaptation as a result of this. If it goes wrong…” Neji sighed silently before steeling himself. “Then we deal with all witnesses, burn all records, and leave to never be found again. Tenten, if you think their tests are going towards something the Snake Sannin would have done, if they try to knock you out… then escape no matter who you need to kill, or how many walls and streets you must destroy.”

Tenten stared at him searchingly. He met her gaze with silent determination, his way of offering reassurance. A leader couldn’t flinch, nor waver when facing difficult decisions. Whatever came from this, he would shoulder full responsibility.

“...assuming things go well and I'm discharged. What then?” Tenten lowered her chin, a subconscious acceptance of her mission.

“We’ll go to you if the police have let us go by then, but that’s unlikely. I believe you’ll be escorted back to the police station to join us,” Neji answered swiftly, before frowning pensively. “Unless something goes seriously wrong, in which case… reunite with Gai-sensei to help break us out if we haven’t given any signs of life in twenty-four hours.”

“Hmn. Ok, I’ll track you down if it comes to that,” Tenten nodded. She wasn’t a sensor, but in a world where no one has chakra but their team, tracking it became incredibly easy, so long the trail wasn’t too old or the distance too great.

At that moment Lee had opened the door that dissolved the silencing seal, and all conversations had shifted as they focused on preparing for their ‘official’ mission instead of Neji’s self-appointed one.

Now that their objective in the forest had been completed successfully though, it was time to prepare the ground to facilitate their adaptation while they waited for Gai to be arrested.  

Thus, once Tenten and Lee finally caught up to him at the police station, it was with a dramatic scene.

“Sorry, I’m not feeling…” she had coughed upon arrival, voice raspy over Lee’s shoulders, who was carrying her like a backpack on his back. Her other hand was holding her torso as if nursing bruised ribs. “I think… maybe the smoke? Or the fall at the end…”

An ambulance had arrived to provide an oxygen tank. Tenten had ‘passed out’ shortly after Neji expressed concern for a possibly broken rib, and Ingenium had insisted for her to be taken to a hospital to get evaluated and ensure she hadn’t damaged a lung, using his hero license to give permission to the doctors to perform both tests and treatment, since their ‘guardian’ was absent.

Lee had let her go only after Neji tapped ‘planned’ at his arm at least three times, and even after that, he seemed torn, like he was barely keeping himself from running after the ambulance.

Tenten knew better than to show vulnerability in front of so many unknowns, particularly for such a little thing as a broken rib. Lee knew that she was acting, even if he couldn’t understand why, so he wasn’t concerned about her health. 

No, he was obviously more worried about leaving a teammate alone in an unknown place where support wouldn’t reach quickly if she needed it. The fact that he hadn’t worried about Neji leaving first to speak with Ingenium said many things.

In the end, the only reason Lee didn’t protest vocally was due to Gai assigning Neji as squad leader for this mission. It wasn’t the first time it happened, so Lee was already used to following Neji’s lead, to an extent.

Lee made a single sign to request ‘clarification’, eyebrows set in a deep frown.

Neji raised a hand to rub the back of his neck and discreetly responded with ‘mission plan’, stance firm.

This was necessary. If the X-rays of this world were similar to theirs, then they would get a hint of the chakra system’s existence. A way to prove they weren’t compliant with the norm of this world, where every single quirk differed from each other.

Now, all they needed to do was bring attention to it during the interrogation—

“But Tenten—”

“Will be fine, Lee,” Neji cut off immediately.

A standoff with his teammate wasn’t part of his plan, but Lee looked like he was seriously considering grabbing him by the collar to demand answers.

“I think smoke intoxication and exhaustion is affecting her more than a bruised rib, but she’s in good hands, don’t worry.” Tensei approached them with a reassuring air. “She probably just needs rest.”

Lee set his mouth on a thin line, but couldn’t question it further. He had been unusually silent during the interrogation as a result, letting Neji do most of the talking after Lee finished giving his recounting of his side of the mission. 

Having their roles reversed was bizarre, but useful all the same. This way Neji could nudge the conversation to where it needed to go.

They had already shared what they needed regarding the League of Villain’s base and the circumstances that led to Gai’s involvement, which was enough for the heroes to start planning their own mission. Thus, they could take their time with this part of the interrogation without impacting the heroes’ ability to prepare for the hostage rescue.

“ — I discovered that I can neutralize quirks if I block said flow of energy in the same way I do chakra points,” Neji said like it was natural as he explained his fight against Muscular. 

Lee gave him a surprised side glance, like his impression with Neji’s leading skills had taken another dive for the worst.

“...chakra points?” Sansa, the officer with the head of a cat, repeated slowly, turning to look at his companion, who simply tapped the table once.

The pattern had been easy to discover. One tap for ‘truth’, two for ‘lie’. Silence was ‘not clear’.

“Part of the chakra system, yes.” Neji nodded like he didn’t notice their reactions. “We all have one, obviously. We’ve trained to develop it since we were toddlers, so we can grow steadily stronger.”

Neji tapped the floor with his shoe, a short code for ‘your turn’. Lee frowned, indecisive for a second, before settling on stubborn silence. Well then.

“Even civilians have a chakra system, it’s just underdeveloped for them,” Neji added since his teammate didn’t want to cooperate.

“...sorry, I don’t think I follow,” the detective Tsukauchi admitted with a careful gaze. “What is a chakra system, exactly?”

“Simply put, it serves the same function for chakra as blood vessels do for blood. This energy is… our version of a quirk,” Neji nodded slowly, gracefully.

At that, Lee couldn’t help but gasp audibly. “Neji?”

Are you a henge? was written all over his face. Lee looked like he was two seconds away from punching him to find out.

“We need to trust them with this, to adapt fully,” Neji raised a hand preventively in case Lee decided to try to punch an answer out of him, before pointing with his eyes at Ingenium. “I think we can trust them. Don’t you?”

Lee whispered a small “ah,” of understanding, probably thinking this was for Neji’s own adaptation instead of the whole team’s, but the result was still what he needed.

Lee turned to look at Ingenium with that bright stare of his, then back at him, still frowning but giving a small nod. “Ingenium has been helping us with youthful care and kindness. Many heroes are only that in title, but his heart is genuinely in the right place. If there’s anyone to trust, it would be him.”

The fact that Lee was always painfully honest served them well, Neji could see as the hero straightened slightly at the praise, giving them a proud smile and a nod to continue. 

The hero had asked for trust, and thus, he would receive it in a well-measured portion. Lee was a terrible liar, but working with limited information, Neji could manipulate the right answers out of him as needed. It was the easiest way forward, so out of all his team, Lee was the only one left in the dark. Even Gai knew the intent of this collaboration with the police was meant to slowly reveal they were from another dimension.

“Your ‘version of a quirk’,” Haki, the youngest officer in the room, repeated with an inquisitive frown. “What do you mean by that?”

“No, wait,” Tsukauchi interrupted with a hand gesture. “This is… I appreciate the fact that you’re trying to open up, and I promise we will come back to this topic later, but we need to concentrate on your testimony for what each of you did during the villain attack first. We need to pass all relevant information to U.A. since it could help their students and involved pros.”

“Right,” Sansa nodded and cleared his throat. “So you incapacitated Muscular before he could get to Midoriya-kun and Kota-kun. What happened afterward?”

Playing by their rules was important, so Neji accepted the change of topic and focused on providing a mission report.

(x)

(x)

(x)

These had been, by far, the most bizarre hours of Tensei’s life. 

The middle schoolers in front of him had described the way they had planned and coordinated to counter the villain’s attack as discreetly as possible, in a way that would make most newbie hero agencies green with envy, because they acted more like an experienced team working together for the hundredth time than just… three kids that had barely just entered the teenage phase.

Tensei had thought that would be the weirdest piece, but then, once the details regarding the attack to the training camp had been shared and the conversation shifted again— 

“Have you been living under a rock?” Haki  — the young rookie that had been brought there so he could learn the ropes and to hopefully put the teens at ease — muttered incredulously.

“Of course not, that’s impossible!” Lee scolded like he had taken the question much too literally. “I’ve been living in the woods.”

That also sounded like a lie, because there was no way someone could be a hermit to the point of not knowing the most basic things — like Korea being a country —  but Lee had started a rant unprompted to describe how to hunt food, test whether plants were poisonous or not, wash clothes and take baths in running bodies of water, how to keep warm in winter, how to best build shelter when it rained, and what to do when sick. 

And judging by Tsukauchi’s fed up ‘you’re going to pay the first round for the whole damn year if this keeps up’ sideways glance, none of it was a lie. Wow.

Well, there had always been something… not quite normal about them. Their case had stopped being a priority since Tensei had vouched for them, and the quirk-misusage that led to villain’s hospitalization was filed as self-defense and closed. Their group had committed no other crimes that they were aware of before their vigilante stunt at the training camp, so…

The paperwork irregularity had been just that, an irregularity. It was worth a fee and an instruction from court to fix it in the next twelve months to avoid larger repercussions, but that was it.

Before the investigation was suspended, they had been looking into the family name ‘Hyuga’, since Lee looked like Gai’s direct blood descendant, and Tenten had admitted she was an orphan, but there had been no Hyuga in the national records, even when the IDs mentioned they were Japanese citizens.

That was the reason why Sansa had sneakily tried to see if they reacted to the mention of Korea. Many Japanese had migrated over there during the last decade as that country grew in technology and social healthcare, so it was worth a shot.

But in the end they had gotten that…. answer. Whatever that was.

“We’ve already shared everything we knew concerning the attack,” Neji interrupted whatever else Haki wanted to argue, giving them a tired stare. “Why are we still being questioned?”

“We can’t let you go—” 

“I understand the detainment,” Neji interrupted non-too-gently. “I said questioning. We’ve been up since the villain attack without any rest in the middle. Give us a break and go focus on getting Bakugou and Gai out of there as fast as possible.”

Neji was a teen, but he sounded commanding, like a superior reprimanding a junior for not prioritizing things correctly. It was jarring.

“We have people already working on that,” Sansa made a pacifying gesture, throwing a glance at Tsukauchi. The detective had indeed left them momentarily to debrief the heroes reuniting for the rescue mission. The only reason he had returned was to serve as a lie detector to get all relevant testimonies and close the report for the villain’s attack at U.A.'s camp.

Tensei could admit they had deviated a little once that was done though, because none of these teens had any school records or anything of the sort, just birth certificates and IDs, and he wasn’t sure those weren’t fake.

Which led them to crash face-first against Lee’s honest ignorance of Korea’s existence.

“In which middle school did you study, again?” Tensei repeated the question he was just now realizing had been sidestepped the last time he asked. “You can rest after this, pinky promise.”

“None,” Neji said naturally, like that wasn’t alarming at all.

“That… that can’t be,” Tensei frowned disbelievingly, ignoring Tsukauchi’s tap indicating it was true. 

Gai had acted like he wanted nothing but the best for his kids. Even if the man himself had to forgo formal education for whatever reason, he wasn’t the kind of person that would knowingly steal that right from the kids he was in charge of.

“It’s not Gai’s fault,” Neji added, accurately guessing Tensei’s train of thought. “There were no middle schools for us to enroll in.”

Now it was Tsukauchi’s turn to frown, giving another ‘True’ tap at the table.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Our village doesn’t have any of those,” Neji shrugged. “We just went to the academy.”

“...academy?”

“To learn the basics!” Lee muttered excitedly with a closed fist, like any of this made any sense.

The explanation of what they considered normal continued, courtesy of Lee’s one-sided rant, and Tensei wondered if perhaps he had stumbled on victims escaping from a ‘Leaf Village’ cult that were exploring the real world for the first time ever, because apparently they had all started to ‘train’ to become ‘adults’ since they were toddlers.

Tsukauchi was getting paler and paler, still tapping ‘True’ every time Lee paused for breath, as the kid described what it was like to kick the wood of a trunk everyday for hours on end under the brazing sun, until the wood eroded as the months passed by and it finally broke in two.

As he talked about hitting a wooden dummy for months until it finally stopped hitting Lee back, which meant he was ready to take on both, fights against his classmates and against adults, the ‘academy instructors’.

As he talked about graduating the academy and finally ‘becoming an adult’ for the village. 

“An adult at twelve?” Sansa asked like he really didn’t want that to be true.

“Yes! We were late compared to Gai-sensei, he graduated at eight!” Lee cried with closed fists as if disappointed in himself. Tensei wanted to cry for another reason entirely.

“The symbol carved in your metal plates.” He had thought it was a cutesy little thing, like a family emblem or something. Like a scout thing.

Turns out it was darker than that. Very, very much darker than that.

“The symbol of the Leaf Village,” Neji nodded and leant forward involuntarily, as if falling asleep in place, the teen looked utterly exhausted.

These teens had been doing so many things in such a short span of time without any rest. They had already covered what they needed to regarding the league and the happenings in the camp, and although what they were sharing was… alarming to say the least, it wasn’t urgent enough that it needed to be solved right now.

They were safe here. They could rest here.

“That’s enough for now, you guys need to sleep,” Tensei stepped towards them, placing a hand on Neji’s back to support him.

The kid immediately straightened up, shoulders tense.

“Hmn,” he gave an apologetic sound.

“No, no, it’s ok to need rest,” Tensei reassured. “Come on, it’s not the most comfortable but you can stay in the Wellness Room, it’s got sofas.”

“Ingenium—” Sansa warned.

“I’ll stay by the door to supervise them, it’s ok.” Technically the kids were still detained, they couldn’t let them go until one of the higher ups ruled whether they would be considered Vigilantes or not, and if there were going to be any consequences to their actions. If the blame would fall on the teens or solely on Gai as their guardian.

A verdict couldn’t be issued considering they had to interrupt this conversation, and that Gai’s and Tenten’s statements were still missing. It was better if they could rest while the heroes assigned to Bakugou’s rescue prepared and Gai was brought into custody.

Probably another hour or so, if things went well.

(x)

(x)

(x)

Tenten was starting to get somewhat bored.

The people attending to her injuries had been firm but patient, giving instructions to remain immobile as the machine scanned her torso, explaining what they were doing and why, and it was a good thing she had packed all her weapons into a single unassuming scroll, which she henged into a brown hair pin, because they had ‘confiscated’ the cellphone as all pockets were checked and emptied.

Apparently she wasn’t injured enough to need a room, so she was sent to wait for the results at the hospital’s cafeteria. She sat in a corner and made sipping motions at her cup of chocolate —  covering the lid with her hands, so the fact that her mouth never touched the cheap plastic couldn’t be spotted — shoulders almost grazing with the hip of the officer on duty standing up and alert at her side, named Shizouka.

“And it wasn’t like, the worst I’ve ever seen, but why did it have to be oily mud? Getting that stuff out of my clothes is going to be a pain,” Tenten huffed and rolled her eyes, complaining about shallow things like she had seen civilians do.

“Villains should pay for our laundry,” Shizuoka humored her with an amused glint in brown eyes, still observant of any suspicious movements, but not on guard enough to remain silent.

The officer hadn’t been particularly hard to crack. Shizuoka had started to talk back from time to time after Tenten presented a ‘proud-but-scared civilian teen’ front, loudly stuttering that she wasn’t scared while cooperating with the doctors and nurses, moving at a snail’s pace as if her ribs really hurt, while also being much too focused on shallow stuff like appearance and the like.

“And for a hair salon! Can this even be rinsed out with normal shampoo? Ugh,” she scrunched her nose cutely, which made the officer chuckle and shake her head with something like fond humor. 

Tenten made another sipping motion, the metal of the wrist cuffs clicking noisily with the movement. She ignored it and listened attentively to the news channel of the TV, the reason she had chosen to sit here. 

The TV was out of view in the kitchen, so the officer probably thought it was too far away to matter, but all shinobi were used to straining their ears, to be able to catch even the smallest sound around them, and she was no exception. 

Weather, traffic, a minor villain altercation at a train station, the excitement for the hero rankings this year, people wondering if the U.A. administration had bricks for brains, a live message from U.A.’s principal and teachers directed to appease the citizens on their latest failure.

So far nothing odd. 

“The results are out,” Shizouka commented as she read something on her phone, making a head motion for Tenten to rise. “Your ribs have thin fissures but all organs are ok, so we can go to the station. Just don’t strain yourself, move slowly.”

“I can walk just fine,” Tenten frowned childishly, even as she brought her trapped wrists to her torso before slowly pushing herself out of the chair. “I’ll be fine, really.”

The taller lady gave her the ghost of a sad smile. “No doubt.”

Tenten let the officer guide her shoulders with a kind hand as they walked slowly out of the hospital, passing by reception, where a few people with non-urgent maladies waited to receive medical attention. One was a woman watching the news on her phone, volume low but clear.

“— of Kamino’s ward, the area has been completely destroyed as All Might continues to fight!”

Dang it, Gai-sensei!

Even without listening to the full sentence, it was obvious All Might was fighting her senseless sensei. Who else would end up trashing the whole damn place when facing Japan's ‘strongest hero’ in battle?

Had he opened the gates? No, dumb question, of course he did, he wouldn’t underestimate the Symbol of Peace no matter how injured the blond was. Whatever made Gai-sensei decide he had to fight, he would do so while ensuring victory.

Which meant two things. One, something had gone horribly, horribly wrong, for him to be resisting arrest instead of letting the heroes just take him in for questioning as they had originally planned. Two, Gai was going to be exhausted right after defeating Japan's Symbol of Peace, which was bound to earn him enemies that would be very willing to kill him in his vulnerable, forced sleep.

Did Neji and Lee know? Probably not, not even the law enforcement of this place would be so lenient as to let them watch the news while under arrest. 

So she would have to be the one to go and ensure nobody killed their exhausted sensei. Great.

Tenten wasn’t a specialist in genjutsu, even someone that hadn't graduated from the Academy yet would be able to stop her and counter. 

Because she still needed to bring her hands together in the right position and concentrate absurdly hard for at least twenty seconds. In a fight that would get her killed at least ten times over, and even if by some miracle she didn’t end up dead, it wasn’t like the enemy wouldn’t recognize the basic position and interrupt it before it even took place, or break it once it activated, resulting in nothing but a waste of time and chakra.

But these people didn’t know anything about genjutsu, nor could they dispel a wave of chakra to break out of it, so Tenten discreetly brought her hands together the moment she was seated inside the police’s car, and concentrated.

Shizuoka’s chin fell on her clavicle as she fell asleep, the safety belt the only thing keeping her upward in the seat. She was dreaming about being stuck in traffic on their way to the station, so it would take some time before she noticed any oddity. Tenten wasn’t sure if the officer would be able to get out of the illusion on her own, so leaving her in a dull, common-day dream until exhaustion manifested and made her sleep for real was the best option.

The seals on her scrolls didn’t work on containing living creatures, so she grabbed the hair pin, used a flare of chakra  to get back her scroll, and pressed the wrist-chains against the paper so it could be absorbed inside it. 

Could she have broken them? Yeah. Would that send metal pieces flying all over the place? Yep, and accidentally hurting the sleeping officer was the last thing she needed.

She took out her weapon pouch and strapped it to her leg, leaving a few counted kunai and senbon in it. The rest of the space she filled with common every-day objects, like clicking pens and forks. 

Using a chakra coat to enhance the chosen weapon was Asuma-san’s preferred fighting method, and although it wasn't something Gai had ever done, her sensei knew the theory behind it.

Their last challenge before this mess, of who could use common everyday objects as weapons, was meant to help Tenten train on coating things with chakra without making said object explode. It would be useful for instances where she ever ran out of available weapons, and in this world, it also allowed her to carry weapons that wouldn't be immediately flagged as such by common people. It was good for plausible deniability, ‘threw a fork at the enemy’ didn't sound like a planned battle strategy.

Instead of Asuma-san's strong and durable technique though, Tenten’s could barely coat them for a second or two, barely long enough to throw them and be effective, the object going back to normal — and thus breaking to pieces more often than not —  right after. It wasn’t much but it would have to suffice for now.

Preparations ready, Tenten finally took out the worn map they had gotten on their first day in this world, located Kamino, and forced the car door open from the inside out to start running and, hopefully, reach her careless sensei on time.

Except that…on her way to Kamino, she stumbled upon a large screen facing the street and reporting the on-live news.

And that made her rush for another reason entirely, because she had been mistaken about the identity of the person fighting All Might — small mercies — but the blue aura that appeared on screen was unmistakable, and it limited even more the time Tenten had left to arrive if she wanted to protect her soon-to-fall-asleep sensei.

She wasn't going to make it on time.

But once she got close enough she would be able to sense the chakra and track it down, so her sensei wouldn't be unguarded for long. So long he managed to hide… he would be fine.

He would be fine. 

“What makes Anbu so fearsome is their ability to catch fellow shinobi off guard. No matter how strong one becomes, anyone can die if unable to react on time to fight back.” Gai sensei had mentioned while explaining the importance of light sleep in long-term missions. “The best way to win a fight is by avoiding it completely!”

Tenten clenched her jaw and forced her legs to move faster.

(x)

(x)

(x)

Unregistered names, unregistered quirks. Usually only villains covered both checkmarks, and even then, it was rare for the Hero Commission to find nothing beyond that.

Even Shigaraki Tomura had had his real identity uncovered after the blood collected at the USJ was analyzed. The Commission had covered the truth of that discovery since having a hero's descendant become a villain was no good, but it was still something.

But for the vigilante group, the three teens and one adult? Nothing, not a single trace, even less than nothing considering that the few documents that were in the system were forged.

The way all records had been completely erased was done too expertly. It was like they really hadn't existed at all before the incident with the Wild Wild Pussycats, which was impossible, of course, and it made things all the more intriguing.

“The teens were brought in for questioning after the villain's attack on U.A.’s training camp. The two boys are at the police station, the girl is at the hospital. There's nothing in the database but the recountings of the attack and what little they knew about the League of Villains, but we've sent someone to both locations to investigate further.” 

Vigilantes, was that truly all there was to it?

The teenagers had sent several villains to the hospital, supposedly in self-defense. Had kept intel to themselves regarding the upcoming attack to U.A. and acted to help the heroes from the shadows.

Their guardian had been working at a barely-legal quirk fight club, had helped Ingenium arrest the Hero Killer, joined the League of Villains ‘accidentally’, kidnapped a hero student, killed All For One, a villain even All Might had trouble fighting against, and then stayed to support the rescue operations.

Neither black nor white, but a shade of gray that resembled Hawks' own color much too closely to be comfortable.

“Where’s Maito Gai now?” No way that was a real name, more like a very self-assured alias.

“At the hospital closest to Kamino. He was brought to the sublevels designed for treating villain's injuries.”

Escaping from there shouldn't be easy, but for someone with such raw strength and speed, all their security measures wouldn't be an impediment. Edgeshot was smart enough to know that, the hero must have asked for Maito to be kept sedated at all times.

And if that was the case, Hawks still had an opportunity to act. 

Against someone so fast and strong, there would be no second chances; Hawks either dealt with him in the hospital, or didn't at all. The Commission was probably aware of this.

“And what's the verdict?” Hawks asked as he flew faster over the buildings, already knowing the answer.

(x)

Of course his luck sucked, and by the time Hawks opened the hidden door that led to the most restricted area of the top-secret floor, there was someone already sitting at the bed with the unconscious Maito Gai.

One of the vigilante teens, the only girl of the group, was facing in his direction as if having heard him coming from miles away. Why was she here and not in the hospital close to Idaten, as the report had assured?

Hawks put up his most charming smile, keeping his tone playful and jovial as he gave a small hand wave in greeting. “Hey there! Tenten, right? Is teleportation your secret quirk or something?”

Tenten did nothing but stare at him, body tense. She was squatting at the edge of the bed, positioned in such a way that Hawks had no clear sight of Maito's head or chest. Striking a vital point would be harder, was she doing that on purpose or just a happy accident?

“I’m a hero, you can calm down,” Hawks raised both palms placatingly and flapped his wings lazily, a couple of feathers dancing harmlessly down to the floor—

Something flew by his legs at incredible speeds and impaled the feathers to the wall behind him. He didn't want to turn around to find what it was.

That was fast. As fast as his own feathers were.

“I saw you on the news. You can control every single feather,” Tenten said seriously, one hand click, click, clicking a pen, unblinking stare still hyperfocused on him.

Good luck controlling them with a pen stuck in your throat. Seemed to be the hidden meaning of that small and harmless observation, like she just knew that his feathers were faster than his body, that he would be forced to use them to block an attack if his body couldn't evade it.

Hawks didn't fight in close quarters very often, it wasn't his forte. He was a lot stronger when he leveraged the speed of his flight, crashing into a villain with all his weight like a small train wreck that could break bones and have articulations facing the wrong way, if the fight called for it. 

Would he win against her in hand-to-hand combat? She looked ready to pounce, ready to attack and defend, to react, like she was just waiting for Hawks to twitch, be that a finger or a feather.

But also, her position was off. The hand not holding the pen was leaning back behind her, and at first he had assumed she was hiding a weapon, but the posture of her back didn't match.

No, she was leaning backwards slightly. Like she had her palm resting over Maito’s torso. Why? Was the threat and attack position a farce to hide her true intentions?

She clicked the pen again, and Hawks concluded a second too late that yes, he had fallen for the distraction.

His feathers detected a pulse of energy going through the bed, like a very strong defibrillator, and Maito’s body jolted up, heart rate kicking up at a wild pace, eyes snapping open with a sharp intake of breath as he forced all straps open with nothing but raw strength and rose to a seating position, legs shifting under the covers as he used an arm to propel up his whole body.

In a second or less, Maito was squatting over the bed in almost the same position as Tenten, the medical and security alarm was flaring off, and Hawks inwardly cursed the missed opportunity even as he froze in place, arms still up placatingly.

Maito's black, detached stare let him know he was assessing whether Hawks was a threat to be eliminated or not, in exactly the same manner Hawks had done to him in the battlefield mere hours ago.

They really were much too similar.

“I come in peace, calm down, calm down~” he sing-songed, face and voice relaxed even if he couldn't let himself blink, the bird instincts screaming he would get hunted down as soon as he did. 

Tenten looked smug. Maito seemed barely conscious enough to process words, which made him all the more dangerous. This man would attack at full force from the get go, precisely because he was in no condition to fight a long battle.

Thankfully he remained immobile, so Hawks added: “As I was saying, I'm a hero. I was simply assigned to come here and keep watch, nothing more.”

Maito panted through his nose, chest heaving as he grabbed all the IVs and pulled them off his wrist without breaking eye contact with him. Well fuck.

The steps of both doctors and police halted in the hallway as they saw Hawk's position, and something about other people approaching seemed to put Maito even more on edge, while Tenten's shoulders relaxed slightly as she tapped something at her guardian’s back. It wasn't morse code, but it carried meaning, no doubt.

At long last, Maito's dark eyes blinked, and a smile that was both a challenge and a silent warning lifted up his features. Much too similar to the ones All Might had used when facing a particularly vile villain, ‘are you going to cooperate, or give me an excuse to beat you to a pulp?’

“Assigned here, of course,” Maito repeated like that was the only part of the sentence he believed was true. “Thanks for coming to cheer me up.”

Maito slid down into a normal sitting position at the edge of the bed, still facing him, and Tenten plopped down into a standing position at his side, much too silent, much too precise. Like a skilled assassin currently working as a bodyguard. It was obvious she had undergone training from a very young age, just like Hawks himself.

He remained frozen in place, the air still tense enough to be physically heavy.

“Relax,” Maito imitated Hawk's own placating gesture as he waved at the air. “We're not enemies, right?”

You won't give me a reason to fight you, right?

Maito was obviously exhausted, barely conscious, muscles spasming involuntarily with every movement, accompanied by a thirteen-year-old as the only ally in the room, and yet. 

Hawks knew he would not come out victorious from an altercation against them. Not like he could do anything anyway, what with the doctors and police already acting as witnesses.

“Indeed,” Hawks confirmed, tucking his wings neatly behind him, forcing himself to look away to give the ‘ok’ gesture for the doctors to come closer, standing aside as a couple of them approached tentatively.

Maito refused to undergo any more tests or take additional medications, no matter how many times the medical staff explained that he presented severe torn on muscle fibers, Grade II and III to be precise, multiple bone fissures, and was dangerously dehydrated— that he shouldn’t even be conscious, let alone up and moving.

Maito thanked them for their concern and laughed it off, claiming he needed nothing but a good night of sleep. One that was, most certainly, not happening right here and now.

“I'm well enough to be questioned,” Maito insisted to the police.

“He's not,” the doctor continued to protest. “Surgery is needed to reattach muscle to its tendons. How are you not screaming from pain right now!? Every breath, every movement— it must hurt enough to make anyone lose consciousness!”

But in the end Maito warned them that if the police didn't take him to their station then he would walk there himself, and at long last one of the police officers — they weren't ones Hawks was familiar with — stepped forward to start putting in place the special restraints the police had available for those with quirks that enhanced strength.

Against someone at least as strong as All Might was in his prime? It wouldn't stop him from doing whatever he wanted to, but the illusion of collaboration was upheld. Tenten was placed in special handcuffs as well, not as restrictive as her guardian's but still stronger than common handcuffs, considering she had apparently slipped away from the police that had been guarding her with no one being any the wiser.

“I'm sorry, I saw the news and worried,” Tenten explained softly, giving a fondly exasperated headbutt at Maito's bound arms, which made him smile down at her with genuine warmth, leaning down so he could bump his sweaty forehead against her shoulder.

“Sorry I made you worry.”

It was sickeningly sweet, painfully honest, and Hawks finally relaxed as something clicked in his head, and he was reassured that yes, there was a way to control Maito's actions.

The reports from the Wild Wild Pussycats and from Ingenium mentioned one thing clearly: his children were his number one priority.

He cared for his kids and, for as long as that was true, he would be compliant. Maito might be walking a dangerously thin thread between vigilantism and villainy, but his children leaned towards the vigilante side of the equation.

If Hawks could ensure the kids remained on the good side of the law, then Maito would have no choice but to follow them and stay there. To not affect them negatively, at the very least.

“Come on, let's go to the station,” Keigo smiled somewhat sincerely for the first time tonight.

That result was something Hawks and the Hero Commission could ensure.

Chapter Text

Ch19 Interrogation

(  8.8k words)

Considering he wasn’t even a pro-hero yet, and he didn’t even have a whole year of training under his wing, the amount of times Katsuki had been involved in a villain incident and was filed by the police as a freaking victim was too many. Three was a big number when the ideal was supposed to be zero.

The incident with the sludge villain sometimes had him waking up covered in cold sweat — a hazard in itself — in the dark hours of dawn, panting unblinkingly at the ceiling like a freaking dog, because his stupid mind chose to recall what it felt like to go without oxygen for a minute too long, what it felt like to have a dense liquid forcing its way down his throat, invading no matter how hard he struggled.

 He had doubled his physical training after the night terrors started, figuring that if he was too tired to dream, he would at least have a full night of rest.

You’re not allowed to make mistakes, you’re not allowed to be weak. If you hadn’t fought back, if you had paused, if you had made a mistake, you would be dead— 

The incident at the USJ had been a relief, even if that was something he would never admit out loud. He had been able to fight back in that. He had been able to win against most assailants by himself, he had been in control, safe among the chaos. It was a reassurance that he was strong, his combat skills were the best, he could still fight and win and that fucking sludge villain was just the oddity in a world of defeatable extras.

Did they even offer comfort after you were finally rescued?

He was strong dammit. He was strong and not to be messed with! He didn’t need anyone to save him or comfort him! Even now, he had escaped from the League by himself! He had basically rescued himself!

“So they didn’t hurt—”

“I already said no!” Katsuki snapped, flinching at his own tone before lowering his head to stare at the table between him and Tanuma, the detective taking his statement. “They were just talking like I cared about anything they had to say.”

Tanuma looked longingly at the ashes tray on the table’s corner, before making a hand motion as if to dismiss that thought. “To recruit you into their league and such, yeah?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And you didn’t reply, not until they let you out of the restraints. Not long after, the heroes arrived at the scene, so you didn’t fight anyone. That right?”

“Yeah.”

“Ok. So…” Tanuma exhaled like he had taken a drag of smoke. “I know there were too many villains in there, and keeping an eye on everyone would have been hard. You were probably focused on Shigaraki as the leader and the one speaking to you. So it’s ok if you can’t answer this one, alright?”

Tanuma leaned forward, until his elbows were resting on the table, fingers interlacing as he looked at Katsuki with visible interest. “What can you tell me about the guy with the bowlcut?”

Confusing as fuck, is what his mind immediately came up with.

“Does his quirk make you trust him?” was what his stupid mouth said, so he quickly added: “Not like I did! Not for a freaking second! He was just— there! Saying nothing! Doing nothing! A fly on the wall would have been more menacing!”

Which was the issue. Bowlcut wasn’t threatening, his existence didn’t even register in Katsuki’s mind unless he was moving, like the bastard could just blend into the wall if he wanted. As relevant to his overall safety as the freaking wall.

Which didn’t make sense, because the guy had skill, Katsuki knew that. He hadn’t been able to land a single hit back at the training camp, and he had seen Bowlcut meet one of Dekiru’s punches with an open palm. Not a single flinch of pain, no wavering in his stance, and his feet didn’t drag backward. Unstoppable force meeting an unmovable object.

Bowlcut was strong, fast, and had some sort of martial training Katsuki couldn’t name. By all intent and purposes, he should have recognized him as a threat.

But every single time the man had ‘countered’ his attacks, it felt more like a teacher pushing him away during training than a fight for his life against a villain.

“Oh yeah, I read something similar from Midoriya and Todoroki’s statements. Back at the training camp, he didn’t really engage in a real fight with any of you,” Tanuma glanced at the notepad, as if eager to re-read everything and arrange the puzzle pieces. “Well, just to confirm what happened at the league’s base, other than letting you out of the restraints once Shigaraki gave the order… what else did he do?”

The man had just evaded his explosion like he had seen it coming, with infuriating ease. 

“Nothing.”

“And on Kamino?”

“Tsk!” Katsuki scoffed at the table, trying to think on how to put it in words in a way that wasn’t so pathetic, because he had been scared, frozen, stupidly immobile, stupidly silent, feeling like a tiny mouse fervently wishing the lion it was trapped with wouldn’t care for a light snack.

All For One barely seemed to register Katsuki’s existence, and he had tried to keep it that way for as long as he could, to remain unnoticed so he could survive. 

Then the villain had turned around, red sparks all over the suit, and Bowlcut had grabbed his arm and pushed him behind him, in what was clearly a protective gesture, right before All For One completely demolished Kamino. 

Bowlcut had practically carried him away from the fight when All Might came into the picture, and Katsuki hadn’t even considered blasting away the man’s spine in response, he had directed his explosions at the pieces of concrete that had been flying in their direction instead. Protecting himself. Protecting Bowlcut as collateral.

Katsuki hadn’t even gotten away from his human shield when they stopped moving, at least not immediately, not until his mind finally caught up with him and he escaped from what was technically a protective embrace. 

Bowlcut had given him a once over, the same gesture all teachers did when searching for injury, then ignored him to keep an eye on the altercation. Obviously not an enemy, even when they obviously didn’t stand on the same side either.

Confusing as fuck.

“When All For One destroyed Kamino, Bowlcut moved so he was in front of me and the masked guy, Twice. Then dragged us both away from the fight when All Might arrived. I used my quirk to destroy the debris that was coming at us while we moved.” Because he hadn’t been useless, he wasn’t a useless quirkless thing, he was strong, strong enough to survive and escape on his own, like he had obviously demonstrated dammit. “Then I got away from him and escaped, using the smoke of my explosions to cover the retreat.”

Katsuki clenched his fists under the table, hating the way his wrists shook from over-exertion. He had used his quirk for longer than he could sustain without repercussions, to escape from that place as fast as he could.

He had looked over his shoulder just once, to make sure no one was following him. And because All Might had called his name desperately. 

Bowlcut had been punching the lights out of Hand Freak at that moment.

“I think Bowlcut punched Shigaraki in the face while I escaped,” he decided to add, because he didn’t want to think about All Might and the utter destruction that stole who knew how many lives. Didn’t want to think about how everything was his own damn fault, for getting captured, for being too weak to avoid getting kidnapped— 

“I can see that happening,” Tanuma smirked for a second, before his brow furrowed in apparent confusion. “Wait, so you didn’t see the fight on TV?”

“What TV?” Katsuki scoffed incredulously. “I was wandering on the destroyed section trying to get the fuck out of there.” 

At some point he had to stop moving in the air with his explosions, because the air currents of the altercation were too strong and kept deviating his course. He had advanced on foot at that point, hiding behind the largest remnants of a building to escape from the huge bursts of wind the fight was causing.

Then he had dropped on the floor when the earth shook, fear engulfing all senses as he tried to hide from whatever demon was out there with a strong desire to kill, and he had been horribly glad to have chosen a building as cover instead of a boulder or such, because from one second to the next what had looked like heavy, unmovable boulders, were flying and rolling like pebbles, destroying everything in their path.

He had stayed there, laying down on his stomach and hands covering his own mouth, completely terrified, for who knows how long until the feeling of death looming over him abruptly disappeared, and he threw up from the unexpected release of tension.

He had crouched and panted for a small eternity before the impotence turned into fury, which helped him regain his senses, and he had forced trembling legs to run, choosing not to use his explosions — too noisy, if he was spotted he was dead — since he didn’t know whether he was safe or not, the rushes of wind would come back or not.

Kamui Woods had found him by chance. Katsuki had had his heart on his throat and had exploded the branches that crawled closer to him by mere reflex. Luckily the hero didn’t seem to mind, simply growing his legs taller to hover over the debris to make a signal to All Might.

All Might gave a thumbs up in the distance before rushing to the opposite side of the area, obviously following around the man glowing green, whoever the fuck that was, for whatever reason.

“Ah. Well, it’s all over the internet so you can see it later.” Considering Katsuki lost his phone during the ordeal, that meant tomorrow. “For now, just rest. Your parents are coming to pick you up—”

He frowned. “I can go back home alone.”

“ — so you can wait for them here in the station." Tanuma didn’t seem to give a fuck about how Katsuki was completely unscathed, and thus didn’t need any chaperoning, giving him an amused, but warning look. “We’re still on clean-up efforts on Kamino, don’t give us more work. S’that clear?”

More work. Because all of this was his fault, for getting kidnapped in the first place, for being too slow, too weak, too useless. 

Katsuki clenched his jaw so hard his teeth hurt for a moment.

“Uh-huh,” he tried not to snarl through gritted teeth. Somewhat successfully.

“Good,” Tanuma stood up and made a motion for him to follow, dropping him at the administrative area of the station — with chairs nailed to the floor in an orderly fashion — before going back.

Kamino was far away from his home, his parents would take a long time to arrive, even worse if the subway wasn’t running due to the damages. And he didn’t even have his phone with him, so he was doomed to utter boredom.

He leant back on his seat, arms crossed, looking around since he didn’t have anything else to do. He read all the Wanted posters, the rules of the precinct regarding cleanliness and order, the administrative procedures citizens could be cited for and the kind of paperwork each required. He counted the amount of pins the board had, counted the amount of tiles on the floor, and passed his finger over the little marks of tear on the edge of his seat.

During emergencies like these the members of the police that were not busy apprehending villains and such would lend their cars to transport the injured to the hospitals. At least, the ones that could still move and weren’t at risk of death, but still needed medical attention. 

Which meant this area of the station had no one but a single person, who was busy taking calls and noting things down on their computer. 

Boring.

He stayed there, bored out of his mind, until… Four Eyes passed by?

“What are you doing here?” Katsuki yelled before his classmate could fully leave.

“Eh?” That wasn’t Four Eyes' voice. 

Actually, the hero costume was similar but not exactly the same— fuck, this was Ingenium. Katsuki was more tired than he realized.

“Bakugou, right? Glad to see you’re doing alright kid!” Ingenium took off his helmet and approached, giving him a genuine smile, even if he seemed tired. Wow he really looked like Four Eyes. “I’ll send a text to Tenya to tell him the good news, so he can tell the others. I’m sure your friends are worried.”

He didn’t want to think about facing his classmates yet. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be helping over at Kamino?”

Idaten specialized in Urban Find and Rescue. That included disasters with collapsed buildings and destroyed streets, this was right in their element, so why wasn’t he there already?

“My team is already on the way, I’m going to catch up!” Ingenium pocketed his phone, putting on his helmet with a rightful nod. “Just needed to move Gai’s kids to the holding cells before leaving—”

He stopped abruptly. Katsuki looked up at him with annoyed confusion.

“What —”

“Anyways glad you’re ok, see you!” His retreat was entirely too much an escape. 

Katsuki glanced at the hallway Ingenium had come from. Then at the person on the phone, who was obviously overwhelmed and not paying any attention to him. 

He could probably claim he had gotten lost trying to find the restroom.

He entertained the thought for a minute, but in the end decided not to. Honestly he was bone-tired now that the adrenaline and stress was going down, which was probably why Tanuma didn’t let him leave on his own. Fuck him for being right. Fuck.

He closed his eyes, too tired to keep them open, his mind too busy with the day’s events to really sleep. The white lights were too bright. The stupid phone didn’t stop ringing every other minute, with the guy muttering platitudes about the police doing everything they could to help and dispatching more inexistent units, trying to calm down panicked citizens.

He opened his eyes again right as an officer with the head of a cat passed by. Wow, the guy was deadly silent, a side-effect of the quirk, probably. There was an innate gracefulness to his movements, like every step was purposeful.

The officer walked towards the middle of the room, stopping a good distance away from him before talking. “Bakugou Katsuki?”

“What,” he snapped tiredly.

A slow blink. “When did you get here? Has your statement been taken yet?”

Shouldn’t he already know that? “I don’t know, two or three hours ago? And yes.” 

“Good,” Cat Head nodded carefully, looking somewhere in the distance, like he could see through walls or something. Like he was searching for something. “Who questioned you?”

Again, shouldn’t he know that? “Tanuma.”

“Mrrrph,” Cat Head made a short, gruffy noise that was kinda feline, kinda human. Katsuki didn’t know what it meant. “Got it.”

Cat Head gestured with a hand in dismissive thanks, turned around and left. Very silently. Not a single step could be heard as he moved, it made him almost question whether Cat Head was really there or not, like he could blend with the wall at any moment he so wished.

A presence so silent and invisible… one only took notice of it once it moved. 

Like Bowlcut.

“Is there a TV around here? To watch the news,” Katsuki found himself standing up, yelling at Cat Head before the man could turn around the corner and disappear.

“You can ask over there,” Cat Head pointed with a hand gesture at the guy that was taking calls, not stopping his stride.

“You know this place.” Don’t you? “So just tell me!”

Cat Head disappeared around the corner, so Katsuki marched towards it to catch up with him—  

And found nothing but an empty hallway.

Damn it, there was something off, something quite not right.

“Hey you,” Katsuki tried to approach the man at the desk, who gave him a pleading look and a hurried ‘wait’ motion. This guy was really young, either late teens or early twenties.

“ — be there as soon as possible.” He finally hung up. “Yeah?”

“Who’s Cat Head?”

“Don’t be rude,” the guy that was barely any older than him chastised tiredly. “Mr. Tamagawa is very nice. He likes his first name more though, so you can call him Sansa. Why?”

“He’s been in this station for how long?”

“Around two years, moreless.” A careless, tired shrug, and an even more tired sigh as the phone rang again and the guy made a dismissive gesture.

Cat Head had moved like he was exploring the place, with a careful, analytical gaze. Like he was memorizing it as he saw it for the first time, forming a mental map in his head. 

How to say this out loud without sounding like he was being paranoid? He wasn’t a recovering victim jumping at shadows, he was a hero in training and something was off with Cat Head, dammit.

Deciding that staying with Phone Guy was useless — who settled for a job like that anyway? Was he quirkless or something? — Katsuki went down the hallway where both Tanuma and Cat Head had disappeared into. Even if he was scolded or told off, the least he could do was tell someone.

And thus he walked around the hallways, in the same path he and Tanuma had used when exiting the room for testimony-recording, hoping he would stumble over someone he could actually talk with, until he finally— 

“Heya kid, you’re in the wrong section of this place,” Hawks, one of the youngest heroes, was suddenly in front of him, startling enough that Katsuki jumped back and raised both palms by reflex.

The red wings were extended as if to cover from sight the people behind him, but it still wasn’t enough. 

There were two police officers gesturing at the arrested villains to walk down the aisle.

One was a teenager like himself, with her hair pulled up in twin buns, her arms trapped in the specialized cuffs the League had used on Katsuki too. Whoever got police equipment into the black market was lower than trash.

The other prisoner was Bowlcut, who was barefoot, wearing hospital pants and nothing else. He had some bandages wrapped over scarred shoulder and arms, which were bent and trapped by his waist with a metal vest. There were long black trails protruding from the vest’s backside, leading to the officer’s hands. If they let go of it at any moment, Bowlcut would be electrocuted. 

Was leaving his legs free really a good idea though? He had been kicking the smoke away from the fight back at the training camp with enough force to easily blow it away—

No, whatever, they weren’t the reason he was wandering around like a moron.

“I need to speak with you,” Katsuki told Hawks seriously. The hero tilted his head at an angle like a freaking bird. “An officer was acting off—” 

The sound of his voice made Bowlcut halt and turn his head to face him.

“Oh hey! I knew you’d be fine.” The smile was so wide and radiant it might as well ping under the artificial lights of the ceiling. “You’re a youthful example of resilience! Such drive amidst adversity!”

“Maito, keep moving!” the officers ordered uselessly as they pulled at the strings. Bare feet remained rooted to the spot.

His name couldn’t be fucking ‘Might’ though, right!?

“Is the Peace Symbol here with you?” Bowlcut asked Katsuki expectantly, like he was Might Tower’s PR manager and not a freaking student. “I met an impersonator back at the battlefield, they imitated the hero almost flawlessly except for the weight in his steps. He would do well to be careful—”

“Impersonator?” Someone with a quirk that allowed them to look like others… to impersonate heroes. Impersonate officers. Like Cat Head?

“You should leave that kind of statement to the questioning,” Hawks stepped between them with his back against Katsuki, feathers spread at odd angles. “I’ll let All Might know, so get going, come on.”

“Well, isn’t Bakugou his student? Who else would need to know if not—” 

“Gai-sensei,” Hair Buns called warningly, and the man immediately fell silent. 

‘Gai’s kids’ Ingenium had said. So Hair Buns was one of them, but not the only one. Did she move silently too?

“I’m… misunderstanding something, aren't I?” Bowlcut muttered sheepishly.

“Let the police take care of that, let’s go.” Hair Buns started to walk — silent as a ghost, what the fuck — and Bowlcut followed immediately like a well-trained dog on a willing leash. The sound of steps moving farther away on the hallway belonged to the officers only. 

Fuck, would Katsuki sound like an impressionable child if he said anything about Cat Head now?

“I’ll send an officer to talk with you,” Hawks muttered discreetly without looking back at him, sharp eyes completely focused on Bowlcut. “Sorry I can’t do that myself, I can’t let them out of my sight.”

The police wouldn’t stand a chance against Bowlcut if he decided to escape, so yeah. 

Seriously though, what kind of fake ass name was ‘Might Guy’. It was the kind of hero name Katsuki would expect from All Might’s sidekick, if the blond had ever bothered taking any after Sir Nighteye.

And the silence in their every move was… haunting. Too much alike to Cat Head’s suspicious movements. Could one of ‘Gai’s kids’ change their appearance? Was that why they moved so alike? But wouldn’t Ingenium have noticed one of the arrested teens missing— 

Gugh, he was starting to get a headache.

“Fine,” Katsuki sighed, because what else could he do anyway? “I’ll wait here then.”

So long they didn’t send Cat Head to listen to him it should be fine. 

Unbeknown to Katsuki, the shadow clone of Neji had found the cat features too difficult to replicate for the long term, and had switched appearances already to imitate someone more human-looking. 

(x)

(x)

(x)

Extreme isolation from society as a whole. 

None of them knew anything about global current events. Common history questions couldn't be answered either, not about Japan's or any other country, not even the basics on when quirks first appeared or what led society to adopt the hero-villain system as legal terms.

‘Us vs Them’ mentality. Anyone that wasn’t an ally was to be treated as an enemy, a common control tactic so the isolation and overall ignorance of the outside world would be self-kept, discouraging access to non-cult sources of information; which probably included ex-members and critics of said doctrine.

Speaking of, they were soundly indoctrinated. A sense of purpose in acquiring military training and knowledge, to ‘serve’ their village to the death, with most starting to train between two and five years of age, toys replaced with wood kunai, a set of not-sharp wire, and wood shuriken so children could ‘play ninja’ with, so they could devise traps, trying to get other kids to set it off…

Children were considered adults as soon as they graduated from the academy, regardless of their biological age. The teens had graduated at twelve. Maito had done so at eight. 

None of them had any living relatives. Two of their parents had passed away for the ‘protection’ of the village or their inhabitants. On this last point, at least, the sentiment varied.

Hyuga Neji had admitted to it with a hateful scowl. Maito Gai, on the other hand, had expressed it with a puffed chest and bright grin, clearly proud.

Tenten had said her parents had been simple merchants that died in an accident, shrugging neutrally —  odd, cults usually didn't allow for commerce, any source of external information could jeopardize the strength of their doctrine — and Rock Lee had never met his parents, he had been left at the orphanage since the moment of his conception. The fact that the cult had an orphanage was a horrible concept by itself.

From the group, it was clear Hyuga was the closest on freeing himself from the cult’s indoctrination, with Tenten and Rock Lee being more neutral on the ordeal, and Maito…  was better left undiscussed. He was another can of worms entirely.

Their whole world revolved around Konoha. An incredibly well-established cult, considering Maito’s father seemed to also have been born in it.

“They don’t have a foreign accent… but there’s no way they’re Japanese, there’s no way we’ve missed something like ‘Konoha’ existing in our territory,” Kamiko, the official the HPSC had sent over to supervise the ordeal, muttered under her breath, frowning from her side of the mirror right outside Maito’s interrogation room.

Her quirk allowed for emotional manipulation, touchless but limited to a small radius. Emotions were a result of reacting chemicals and hormonal balancing, so the effects of her quirk lingered even after she left the area, for however long it took the body to self-regulate. She had been assigned here since, usually, it was hard for people to fight when they were too busy feeling an odd sense of heavy tiredness, camaraderie, and peace. Without adrenaline and cortisol powering through, the reaction time of most people simply wasn’t the best. 

Hawks hummed with interest. This was the first time he heard about Konoha too.

“A chakra system. It serves the same function for chakra as blood vessels do for blood. This energy is our version of a quirk,” Kamiko read out loud the transcription of what Hyuga had mentioned in their first interrogation earlier. “So they all have a similar quirk?”

“Technically, they all have the same quirk,” Tanuma corrected, turning the pages of the folder to show them the scan of both Tenten and Maito’s body. “The hospitals sent the tests over once we got a judge to sign off the request, and both of them have… exactly the same ‘chakra system’ interlaced with their circulatory system.” 

Hawks went from utter stillness to sudden movement as he hopped to the side to take a peak at the folder. It made Tanuma tense up and give him a sideways glance, obviously startled. Damn bird instincts.

He shuffled his wings to let the tension out, because regardless of what his large-bird instinct wanted, he wasn’t hunting right now. “Same quirk, eh? Quite impossible unless they know someone that can copy quirks and transfer them, right?”

Which was a horrible combination for the villains to have, to be honest. All For One, who could steal and transfer quirks, had been a monster on a league of its own. To think of a faceless multitude with a quirk just like Maito’s being out there, unsupervised and loyal to ‘Konoha’ could mean massive urban destruction from one instant to another. If Konoha so ordered it…couldn't they gauge war upon society as a whole?

Then again, if Konoha's goal was to train enough people to be able to fight against Hero society, why would they not be taught the basics? Geographical locations, the names of the top heroes, their future enemies… why keep such things from them? 

In any case, the last thing Japan needed was multiple villain versions of All Might.

“Why did you stay to support the rescue operations?” Tsukauchi asked from the other side of the mirror.

“I was part of the reason why there were so many people trapped and injured. I am a noble beast, not a mindless one. I couldn’t leave without bearing the responsibility of my actions and helping out as much as I could!”

Maito, at least, was more a vigilante than a villain in his way of thinking, even if the flexibility of his morals was still too wide for their hero society to approve of. 

Heh, even thinking about it made Hawks feel like a hypocrite. It was a rare, uncomfortable feeling.

“Speaking about your actions,” Tsukauchi frowned heavily and tiredly. His quirk was useful in situations like this, where having certainty about which information was a lie or a truth could change everything, but the man had been dealing with this particular vigilante group for a long time and was fed up at this point. “Why didn't you reach out to the authorities the moment you got pulled into the League of Villains? 

“You put the Wild Wild Pussycats at risk of death, just like the U.A. teachers, the students, and your own kids— anyone could have died,” Tsukauchi’s disapproving scowl deepened. “Anything could have happened. What part of that sounds acceptable to you?”

Maito seemed mildly surprised by the detective’s summary, like they were interpreting the same event in entirely different ways. Huh.

“Why not go to the police?” he repeated, still looking more baffled than anything. “Uh, to be honest… I didn't think you would believe me. I don't exist here— or well, didn't exist until… some weeks ago?” He shrugged, moving his head from side to side in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “We've been stranded here for a bit.”

Tsukauchi’s expression sharpened at the opening. “You were in Konoha before then, right?”

“Not quite, we were returning from an escorting mission on the Land of Tea,” Maito said like that made any sense, describing that it was a long way South to Konoha, that matching the merchant's pace meant a week and half of travel, but going back home at an unrestricted pace would have them arriving back in four days.

They had been on their second day when they were ambushed by an enemy that could manipulate space, even if the details on how and why they arrived here were still lost to him.

“So we've been kinda stuck in this world ever since. Adapting to your social laws wasn't easy, everything here is much too different— “

Tsukauchi suddenly stood up, chair dragging noisily behind him, and Maito paused and looked up at him expectantly.

‘I'm too tired for this,’ was written all over the detective’s face even as he marched towards the door and left the room without another word, leaving a confused Maito behind.

“You ok?” Tanuma asked with light concern.

“Not a single lie,” the detective groaned, already making a beeline to the coffee maker. “But how can any of that be real? What does that make them, aliens from another world?”

It would explain why the HPSC hadn’t found anything about their backgrounds, but.

“Ones that speak Japanese? And all of their organs match with non-heteromorphic human’s,” Hawks commented lightly, tilting his head to the side in a bird-like manner. “Well, except for the chakra thingy.”

If not aliens, then what? 

…a different version of Earth?

“What ability it grants, it's not clear.” Kamiko narrowed her eyes at the unassuming folder. “Maito has enhanced strength and speed, apparently similar to Rock Lee’s. But Tenten used it to put an officer to sleep somehow, and threw forks at Hawks with enough force and speed to have them impale the wall and stay there. Her quirk description mentioned ‘storage scrolls’ but we’ve not seen if that’s true yet. And Hyuga— the internal damage and quirk interruption ability.”

Too dangerous, too wild to imagine all of that being possible with the use of the same quirk, their ‘chakra system’.

“Take a rest, Tsukauchi-san. I'll take it from here,” Kamiko said with authority, stepping into the room without waiting for a response. 

Now that would be interesting. Kamiko specialized in intel-gathering for good reason.

“Ehm, is the detective alright—” 

“Quite fine, not to worry. I will continue the questioning for now,” Kamiko gave a polite, professional smile. “You may address me as Agent K.”

Omitting a name was a bad move. Maito immediately straightened, the casual openness of before disappearing under a careful mask of consideration.

“My register is 010252,” Maito answered with a tight smile, and Hawks tried not to imagine ten thousand of others like him existing. “But I’m more than a number, and you’re more than a letter. So! What do I call you, madam?”

Quite straightforward without being threatening, that was… an interesting approach. Like a cult member trying to connect with another cult member. 

Not like the HPSC was a cult. Of course.

“...indeed we are,” Kamiko made a defeated noise with a small smile, and Keigo wondered if that had been planned or if she was just very good at adapting. “You can call me Kami.”

“Kami-san, nice to meet you! Please call me Gai.” A bright grin and a wink. Not flirtatious, but simply an honest, animated expression. 

Maito was… incredibly bold and true to himself most of the time. It was no wonder he got along with Bubaigawara Jin, who had also been painfully honest in his own questioning so far.

Kamiko gave a light chuckle. “Likewise. Well then, you were saying just now that you’re not from this world. If that’s true then I understand the hesitation of approaching authority figures… and well, thank you for your collaboration right now.”

Kamiko gave an acknowledging nod. Maito stayed expectantly silent.

“But I want to understand, why now? What has made you step forward in this act of trust?”

The man looked at her searchingly, large brows twisted in a mix of interest, curiosity, confusion… and very light annoyance. 

“You don’t need to do that, Kami-san.” Emotionless but firm.

Kamiko made an inquiring noise.

“I’m feeling… calm, almost drowsy. Very at peace, like there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong in the world, like I’m sitting in my home with a trusted friend,” Maito closed his eyes, as if looking at himself internally to briefly enjoy the feeling before eyes snapped open in a warning, no-nonsense glare. “I know these feelings are not mine. Please stop, I will collaborate out of my own free will.”

A straightforward but polite request. Fascinating approach.

“I am quirkless,” Kamiko lied with a good show of being confused. “Perhaps you’re just tired?”

“What’s her quirk?” Tanuma inquired almost too sharply. Odd, why wasn’t he already aware of it?

“She’s got passive emotional influence,” Hawks stated the official version of her quirk, since that was the only excuse she had to use it as freely as she did in her job. “It’s difficult to reel it in, but she’ll be more careful after this, no worries.”

Tanuma passed a hand through his hair in a tired gesture, giving a nod and a grunt of understanding.

And she must have tuned down her quirk indeed, because even though Maito didn’t seem fooled by her answer, he dropped the topic. 

“The reason I’m here, talking with you and the law enforcement authority of this world…” Wow, what a mouthful. Did he always talk this way? It sounded similar to All Might’s way of expressing things in interviews, the overly flourished speech. “It's because I’m starting to doubt if there’s a way for us to go back home.”

“That’s a lie,” Tsukauichi pointed a finger, blinking as if he himself was surprised by it. “The first lie he’s told all evening.”

“So he knows how to go back?” Hawks asked at the same time as Kamiko continued with “What does that mean?”

“We could never understand how we arrived here to begin with—”

“That’s a truth.”

“ — but we were hopeful we would find a way back home. We still are, to an extent! If we can find a way to return, that is best!”

“Neither here nor there, probably half a lie.”

“But in case we don’t— wouldn’t it be better to establish diplomatic conversations with you before things devolve further?”

“True.” Tsukaichi frowned. “So he wants to collaborate to stay here… even though he knows how to get back to Konoha, he won’t do it. Why?”

“I wasn’t expecting to be pulled into the League of Villains and my options on how to react were limited, considering we were still hiding many things and didn’t have enough time to clear that up with you and the authorities. I’d rather avoid something like this happening again in the future.”

“Also true.”

“Perhaps the risk of traveling back to Konoha is high?” Tanuma wondered out loud. 

“If there’s a chance of one of his children not surviving the trip back home, then he wouldn’t risk it even if he knew how,” Hawks mused out loud, as the spread-out puzzle pieces started to finally form a picture in his mind. “That would mean they have no option but to stay… to live here in Japan.”

Would match with Ingenium’s report, that the Neji kid had mentioned wanting to study in a hero school. Truly no better way to adapt to Japan, considering they all had been trained to fight already.

Training ever since becoming toddlers… that wasn’t the kind of thing one could forget. They would fight, whether they had a legal permit to do so or not. It was better to push them to the right path, get dangerous but useful heroes, instead of vigilantes or villains running havoc unsupervised.

 “So your intention here is to come clean on your origins.”

“Yes.”

“And ask for… what, exactly?”

“Ah, uhm, support with… adapting? We’ve done the best we could, but things like your technology and social norms are not…”

“The same as they were in your home, I can imagine.”

“Quite right!” Maito looked entirely too animated to be in pain and exhausted, Hawks could appreciate how well-constructed the mask was.

“If that’s true, then tell me about what you’ve envisioned, your version of ‘living here’,” Kamiko interlaced her hands together, leaning back in an outwardly relaxed posture. “What do you intend to do? Become a hero? Do you intend to work your way up to the top ten—” 

“Different people have different strengths, what's the point in puffing your chest and trying to claim you're better than the others?” Maito interrupted with a strong shake of the head, much to their surprise. “What good would that fire man be for a mission that needs discretion or infiltration?”

“You mean Endeavor?” 

“Pro heroes have all graduated from an academy. That makes them all equal in rank,” Maito pressed firmly. “Number one or the hundredth or the thousandth doesn’t matter, all are heroes by profession, and that’s all there is to it.”

He was strongly opposed to the ranking system then? Sounded similar to the rationale of most underground heroes, that was… a very useful mindset, actually.

If Maito was trying to sell himself to the HPSC then he was doing an incredible job.

“You’re more interested in the underground side of it then,” Kamiko concluded as well, sharp as always.

Maito looked like he didn’t understand what that term meant. Kamiko didn’t bother explaining.

“Coming back to the main question though. What do you envision when living here?”

“Oh. Well…” Maito trailed off, obviously trying to find the right words. Was his previous answer an attempt at redirecting the conversation? It would never work against someone as well-trained as Kamiko. “I see my kids being happy. They can study and train and… do whatever it is they want to do, so the youthful sprouts turn into healthy, happy and accomplished trees!”

Overall excitement and a sense of proud satisfaction coated the last sentence, as if to make up for the general non-answer that was. It seemed Maito hadn’t envisioned anything? Or was reluctant to answer, but that was unlikely.

“And yourself?”

“I’m— uh, I don’t know… I haven’t really thought about it.”

“True,” Tsukaichi sipped his coffee with tired interest.

“Where would you work? The fight club you frequented?” Kamiko pressed relentlessly.

“I’m— I guess that depends on how this goes… kinda difficult to get a formal job when I don’t exist here, and have no idea how basic concepts work in your society.”

Fair enough.

“If you could receive education and a legal permit. Would you perform as a hero?”

“I suppose.” He didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic about it.

“Stay a villain?”

“Absolutely not.” Well, at least that was a passionate response.

“And yet, you attacked All For One with the intention to kill from the get go.” Surprisingly enough, Tanuma tensed up slightly at that. As if it was his first time hearing it, which was impossible. “Why do that? Heroes are never supposed to—”

“I saw him destroy Kamino with a single attack, without having to move from the spot, without breaking a sweat,” Maito interrupted with a heavy frown. “He had a teleportation quirk that could bring people to his side immediately. He was fighting toe to toe with your Peace Symbol. He was too dangerous an enemy, I didn’t have the luxury to fight with anything that wasn’t my strongest.”

Kamiko’s eyes seemed to get a new shine. Indeed, that was the kind of answer the Commission would like the most. At this rate perhaps Hawks would get a new colleague, and the HPSC would finally let Nagant formally retire. A win-win for everyone involved, if anything.

“I see. And that power… comes from the chakra system you have. Is that right?”

Kamiko took a turn to dig deeper into what the Chakra system was supposed to be, and why its powers differed so much between individuals. 

‘Blood limits’ was the generic answer Maito gave, but refused to go into detail of what, exactly, were the limitations of it. 

“You need to stop comparing chakra to a quirk. Your quirk grants you one ability… a talent decided by genetics and luck. No matter how hard you try, there are things you won’t be able to do simply because you weren’t born with the right quirk for it.” Gai looked up to the ceiling, as if searching for the right words there. “For us, chakra is more like… a brain. In the same way you won’t find two brains that work exactly in the same way, even though you’re all human…. it’s the same here.”

Gai turned to face Kamiko again. “Our chakra system might be the same at first glance, but what an individual can do with it will always vary depending on their training, their genetics, skills, talent, control, and their overall environment.”

Kamiko hummed, unimpressed at the non-answer. “And your own limitations are?”

“I focus on hand-to-hand combat,” Maito shrugged simply. “In my case, it grants great endurance, which allows me to train to get stronger and faster than most of my opponents. The rest is just martial arts training.”

“What you used against All For One was—”

“Taijutsu at its finest,” Maito nodded solemnly. “Physical combat, and no more. No fancy tricks behind it.”

“Fucking true,” Tsukaichi dropped his disposable cup at the thrash almost angrily. “Which means he’s on All Might’s level of strength.”

So they had someone like All Might but willing to dive into the darkest areas of hero society and do underground work. They had really hit the jackpot, if they could play this right.

“You were glowing blue for a moment. Then it switched over to green.”

“A side-effect of me unleashing my full physical capacity, that’s all. I have no control over it.”

There was something hidden there, but digging further at this stage would be counterproductive.

Hawks tapped the window, a sign for Kamiko to wrap up the questioning. She seemed to think similarly to Hawks — of course she did, they had received similar training on intel-gathering at least — and smiled with a perfect customer-service pose.

“Understood. That should be all for now,” Kamiko nodded in thanks, standing up in a swift movement. “I’d suggest you rest until your cooperation is needed again.”

Hawks trusted her mindset, he had trusted her to walk out professionally.

But she had seemed to think that Maito was entirely too awake to be safely contained. From one moment to the next, the prisoner looked on the verge of falling asleep, half-lidded eyes taking a moment too long to open again every time he blinked, the head falling forward in a small motion before it went back to its position in a startled jerk.

Kamiko placed her hand on the doorknob to exit the room, at the same time as large brows furrowed deeply, as if he was genuinely angry at his own drowsiness. Maito took a deep breath, threw his head back, and then moved forward with his full weight until he hit his own forehead against the edge of the metallic table. 

Hard enough to break said table.

It turned on the alarm as the system registered it as an attack attempt, which in turn made the restraints flare up with a strong, electrical current that forced the limbs to tremble, but the restraints on the torso acted as an insulator to stop the current from reaching organs and neck. This was meant to immobilize villains, not hospitalize them.

It made Kamiko gasp in surprise as she hurried to exit the room, as Hawks pushed her behind him and inwardly cursed at the sudden turn of events. Tanuma was right behind him — he moved quite fast for a detective —  helping Kamiko remain standing when facing the sudden pressure of the room, as if gravity had become stronger.

Not strong enough to be killing intent, but the threat of violence was certainly present.

Maito was bleeding from his forehead, the drops falling over an eyebrow and running down his nose, mouth, chin. He exhaled with something that almost looked like a snarl, legs and arms trembling from the electricity but otherwise outwardly unaffected, unblinking stare looking in their direction almost reprimandingly. 

"I don't need a break, I need to be with my children, and that won't happen for as long as I’m detained here. So ask! Ask me everything you need for this to be done with!” Maito ordered and begged at the same time, chest heaving with effort. “Tell me what to do, what do you want from me? If you break my leg then ask me to jump on it, I will do it. Whatever it takes for this to be settled, I'll collaborate, I'll do anything you tell me to do, so please. Please."

He sounded impatient, exhausted, and honest. He also looked like he was ready to fight his way out of this room, if this ‘collaboration’ attempt didn’t immediately reassure him of the safety of his kids. 

He would destroy the restraints and do everything he could to ensure he could see them one second sooner, to make sure they were alright. That wasn’t good.

Hawks threw his hero ID forward, using one feather to pass it by the side of the restraints and turn off the electrical shocks. Maito gave him a surprised blink at that, shoulders relaxing minutely.

“It’s gonna take some time. You know, the wonders of bureaucracy,” Hawks gave him an honest, apologetic grimace, trapping his ID between index and middle finger in a mock salute. “We’re working on reuniting all testimonies, so it will take a bit to sort out. But I’ll see what I can do about the cell arrangements, so you can stay as close together as we can allow, yeah?”

Maito gave him a tired but hopeful nod, and Hawks could almost see in real time how his perception of him changed from ‘nuisance’ to ‘useful non-inmediate threat’. A great change!

“Please,” Maito exhaled heavily.

“Count on me for that.” It would be good to start getting on their good graces now. “For now, stay here just a teeeeeensy bit more, we’re almost done. Also, don’t do that again, that’s automated and the shocks— eh. Can’t be pleasant.”

“Hmm,” Maito squared his shoulders and leant back on his seat, dark gaze tired but sharp. “You can do whatever you want with me.”

But don’t touch my children. The phrase was incomplete but clear, as Hawks barely resisted the urge to puff up like a scared chicken as a lighter version of the battlefield’s killing intent slowly but surely leaked out. A silent threat.

Hawks took a breath, heart drumming in his throat, and locked all of his fear and screaming survival instincts up in a tiny little box that he could excavate never, and pocketed his ID back in his vest.

“Crystal clear,” Hawks assured, giving him a grin before stepping back and towards the fake safety of the other side of the heavy, metallic door.

“That was unexpected,” Kamiko whispered with clear apprehension, still grabbing on Tanuma’s arm for dear life, recovering from the shocking surprise.

You shouldn’t have done that, Hawks didn’t say. Instead, he gave his charming fake grin, noting with interest that Tanuma didn’t seem outwardly affected by the killing intent. Since when was this detective so well-controlled?

“Welp, nothing outside of keeping him forever sedated will contain him, and the chances of us succeeding on that now are very slim.” For many, many reasons. The more tired Maito was the more exposed he felt, which inevitably made him fight back more strongly and violently. That along with the fact that nobody here could best him in battle, and that his students were also being contained in the same building… 

It would be easier to move Mount Fuji to another city than to make him stay here for too long. Certainly not against his will.

“So I’d suggest we collaborate with him on what he asks before he tears down the building,” Hawks suggested with fake cheer, giving finger guns at his very unamused audience.

The unimpressed pause of silence didn’t last for long.

“I understand what you mean, believe me I do,” Tsukauchi exhaled and moved from the corner he had shoved himself at, recovering from the small dose of raw killing intent as he passed his hand over his face. “But he's obviously exhausted. No matter how hard he fights off sleep, he'll succumb to it soon enough.”

“Tenten escaped arrest the moment she thought he was in danger. She tracked him down and infiltrated the high-security level of the hospital to sneak into his hospital room without raising a single alarm,” Hawks reminded. “And that was just one of his teens. Right now the three of them are in this same building.”

“What are you trying to get at?” Kamiko frowned worriedly, because she understood. Of course she did.

But surprisingly enough, Tanuma was the one to speak in agreement. “You’re saying they’re staying here just because they want to stay here. Because they’re collaborating with us, trying to make things right by our laws.” 

Something in the way he expressed himself was odd. There was something not quite right with Tanuma today.

“I need to speak with you.” The Bakugou kid had said with a deep scowl. “An officer was acting off—” 

Well… it would be better to not leave ‘Tanuma’ out of his sight.

“Bingo! But also, that man is a cornered animal,” Hawks pointed at the mirror with a thumb. “A very tired, overprotective, and not above killing, mama bear. Touching the hair of any of the cubs will go south fast, and keeping them separated is gonna make this Strong-as-All-Might prisoner unnecessarily jumpy and trigger happy.” 

Kamiko still seemed hesitant, so Hawks clapped loudly, keeping his palms together while pointing the tip of his fingers at Kamiko’s face to highlight the importance of his words. 

“We don’t want that, we really don’t want that. So! We do our best to keep all of them on the heroes' side. He'll behave if that ensures a good quality of life for the cubs, no?”

Kamiko frowned at him. Hawks grinned even wider in response. 

They were on the same side, both had the society’s best interest in mind. She knew this was the better option, but didn’t want to bend her arm too fast. 

Her adherence to politics and power plays was absolutely useless here. 

“What would that imply?” she inquired softly after a short pause. Smart lady, even if she was still much too power-hungry at times, she did have a good head on her shoulders.

“We move them, we keep them here, we do whatever we need to do so long they’re staying in neighbor cells,” Hawks looked at Tsukauchi as he said so, asking without asking.

“We should have some space available here,” the detective confirmed with a long exhale. “Come on Tanuma. I’m deadbeat, so you’ll do the honors of explaining this shit to the Security Bureau and the Commissioner."

Well fuck. Should Hawks stay here to keep an eye on Maito, or leave to keep an eye on Tanuma?

“We should collect blood samples from the teens before moving them,” Kamiko instructed firmly. “Send their DNA for genetic analysis, see if they have any known ancestors.”

Bullshit for ‘I want to have their DNA registered in the HPSC’s database in case we need it’.

Even worse, Maito had sharply turned his head to look at the mirror, like he had heard “blood” and “teens” in the same sentence and was now trying to gauge whether he should break out from the restraints to kick down the door and demand answers.

Fuck it, he was staying here to keep an eye on Maito and ensure Kamiko didn’t get herself killed. 

“I’ll keep our guest company then.” Reassure him that he would see his very healthy and unscathed kids soon enough, and that violence was not needed for that to happen. Very much not needed, not sir.

Hopefully Hawks would get to talk with ‘Tanuma’ later on.

Chapter Text

Favors

( 6 k words)

Something went wrong.

“Ingenium here,” the hero outside the door picked up a call, the whispers of ‘an incident in Kamino’ being reported to him from the other side of the line before the hero stepped away, farther than their ears could reach.

“Isn’t Kamino near the villain’s base?” Lee whispered as he did lunges around Neji like a bored, energetic, and enthusiastic lunatic. He had done push–ups and stood up on his hands for a while and seemed entertained trying to find warm-up exercises he could do while handcuffed. It had been quite the sight.

Neji nodded. Too much time had passed already, but he still couldn’t feel the chakra signature of Tenten nor Gai in the building. The possibility existed of them having been transported to another police facility, but if they all belonged to the same ‘open case’ with the police, wasn’t it better to have them interrogated by the same detectives and officers?

Unless Tsukauchi and Sansa had been called out of the facility?

He would have to search for them. The use of his Byakugan was noticeable due to the strain it had on the veins around his temples, and the way his forehead was forced to frown to activate it. Using their 'quirks' would be unacceptable while detained, but luckily for them, they were staying together in a common room instead of a cell, with Tensei outside and nothing but cameras to worry about.

“Lee,” Neji sighed deeply, inwardly steeling himself for what he needed to do for this work. “Can you… give me a hug?”

Neji sounded miserable to his own ears, but hopefully that would be considered as a teenager’s reluctance to show vulnerability more than anything else—

Lee’s eyes looked at him, brimming with the shining waters of youth.

Scratch that, he was crying a river of tears that glowed with golden lights. The Sparkling Tears Of Youth. Said river of tears that at some point used to be a person was nodding and sobbing horribly loud and approaching and maybe this wasn’t the best idea actually—

“I’m worried for them too!” Lee sobbed and — due to the fact that Neji was still sitting while Lee was not — strongly hugged Neji’s head to his chest as he ranted about how he wished things would get sorted out soon and their team would be reunited and everyone would be fine; and his teammate was dirty and sweaty and the smell was impossible to ignore and the childish part of Neji wanted to gag while he endured this suffocating gesture but—

Focus.

He was covered from the cameras’ view now, so Neji made the hand signs to henge his own face, ensuring he could use his byakugan without it being immediately noticeable from this point onward, and searched for the detective and the cat hybrid.

He found them on a cafeteria-like section of the precinct, facial expressions a mix of surprise and horror as they watched intently… something on the wall. A TV, probably.

Neji hated the fact that his Byakugan could only perceive people now. He couldn’t watch what they were watching, and although he could still read lips, the cat hybrid was impossible for him to read, the mouth moved entirely too differently to that of a human face.

So he was stuck with a one-sided conversation, words missed here and there as Tsukauichi moved around and made the entire process more difficult. Something about encouraging All Might, who was obviously fighting and struggling, which meant he was fighting someone that was… either on his same level of skill or stronger than him.

A selection of curses, concern coating their every movement.

Eerie silence as shock and fear took over the previous concern. The whisper of a disbelieving “who…?”

Closely followed by “Maito…Gai?”

Shit, why would their sensei fight against Japan’s Symbol of Peace out of all people? What went so wrong? And even worse, could it still be fixed? Was this something Neji could still work with, to ensure his team was accepted by this hero society?

Being the sole strategist of the team took its toll. Everything depended on him. Everyone depended on him. He couldn’t fail at this, he didn’t have that luxury, who would solve this if not Neji? Gai didn’t know the plan was for all of them to stay. Lee was straightforward and entirely too honest most of the time, a double-edged sword that needed careful handling. Tenten could adapt better to situations that needed one to lie and gather intel, but not to the extent of making a plan as complex as this one would have to be for all of them to come out of this unscathed—

If his byakugan couldn’t get intel, he would have to send a shadow clone to investigate further. Chakra exhaustion would be entirely too close for comfort, but there was no other option.

“ — and they’re strong, I know they are, but I can’t help but worry—”

“Me too,” Neji admitted with reluctant sincerity, because if he failed here he failed his entire team, and he could say goodbye to the childish hopes and dreams of them ever being happy and accepted in this peaceful society. His dream of shinobi living a carefree life, or at least, as much as people with their background and training could hope to.

He pushed Lee gently while leaning back, turning his head up to meet the tearfully surprised gaze of his teammate.

“I worry too,” Neji said as the door opened further, and Ingenium gave them a soft, compassionate gaze. Perfect.

“Hey,” the hero called softly, and Lee passed a sleeve over his face to clean the tear marks, while Neji stood up slowly as a non-threat, trying to put an expectant expression.

“Sorry, I need to leave for hero work, so you’ll have to wait in a…” Ingenium sighed and passed a hand through the back of his head, shoulders sagging. “In one of the interrogation rooms, separated. Probably a cell after that. Don’t worry though, I’m sure it won’t be for too long…”

He didn’t sound too sure about that.

“That’s ok,” Lee gave the hero a wobbly smile and a thumbs up, still sniffing with a red nose. “You did everything you could to help us, Ingenium.”

“We could take a break from it all thanks to your efforts,” Neji agreed, nodding gracefully. “Before you depart though, can we go to the restroom? I’d rather go to the normal ones instead of having to… use the ones of the cells if they move us there.”

Neji made an honest grimace. He was very good at grimacing.

Ingenium chuckled and nodded, placing a gentle hand on their shoulders as he escorted them to the restrooms, entirely too unconcerned of a potential escape attempt. The hero allowed for privacy within the stalls of the restrooms even, treating them like harmless citizens more than anything else.

Ingenium was so, so useful, Neji couldn’t thank fate enough.

Making a clone and said clone blending into the stall’s ceiling with a basic, academy-level genjutsu was entirely too easy.

Neji fully deactivated his byakugan then, since he didn’t have the luxury to waste chakra now. He would let the clone do all the intel gathering, trusting it would know when and how to dispel itself once it was time to share the findings with him. He would get the set of memories, which would allow him to devise a plan and adapt to fix this mess.

His chakra reserves were now halved though, and considering he hadn’t had a good rest or meal since this mission started, he was beginning to notice the common symptoms of chakra-exhaustion. His reserves were never too large to begin with, having to resort to this was not ideal.

But there was no other option but to do this, so it would have to work.

(x)
(x)
(x)

Losing valuable time on useless things — like resting and having his injuries somewhat treated — had never been part of the plan, Gai had been separated from his team for entirely too long to be acceptable.

So even though this world was incredibly laid-back and the chances of them using something like T&I to get information out of his genins had always been low… this was still the first time he was separated from them during an infiltration mission, and not having their safety completely assured had been granting on Gai's nerves—

“Gai-sensei!” Lee saluted energetically, getting as close as he could to the bars of his cell. Only his wrists were secured, but the chain was so thin Lee might as well have free range of movement. He didn’t seem surprised at Gai’s attire, so Tenten must have told them about the hospital visit. “Wait, what happened to your forehead?”

“Sensei’s here?” Tenten approached the door of her own containment room as well, hands still trapped by the heavy cement-like square, but with her legs unrestrained. Having potential enemies underestimating her taijutsu was always good news.

“Can you lower your voice? I’m trying to sleep,” Neji sighed, sitting in a corner of his cell as far away from the door as he could be and looking… paler than usual.

None of them were injured or inhumanly restrained, which made the apprehension of his chest uncoil, but Neji was… why was he acting like that?

“Right as promised,” the bird hero said amiably, wings preening slightly as if he was awaiting acknowledgement for a good job. He had done the same small movement after helping clean off the blood on Gai’s face.

He was still sweaty though, so when the hero pulled back his hair bangs to clean off the injury, the hair stayed back in what was probably a horribly messy tangle.

“That you did,” Gai gave him an honest nod of acknowledgment, and his first true smile. “Thank you, Bird Hero.”

“Hawks,” the hero repeated probably for the third time.

“Gai-sensei, what happened?” Lee asked loudly, clearly annoyed at having his observations ignored. “Your forehead is—”

“Doing just fine, it was a little bump,” Gai reassured, facing Lee’s cell and leaning forward slightly so his son could see it for himself. Head injuries bled a lot, they were dramatic like that, but he was none the worse for it regardless of how it looked. “What about you, any injuries to report?”

“None at all!” Lee grinned brightly after he was satisfied with his inspection, giving a thumbs up, energetic as always. Splendid.

Lee could lead the fight and clear up the escape route if it came to it, with Tenten supporting with middle ranged attacks. Gai and Neji seemed to be the most affected by this mission so far, so Neji could advance between them, while Gai covered the group’s rear and ensured no one was left behind.

“Tenten?” Gai still asked, just to be sure.

“No injuries sensei, they just asked me stuff,” the kunoichi reassured with a soft expression.

Tenten and Neji always said that they didn’t need Gai’s coddling, but truth be told, his three kids liked to be reminded that they had people caring for them too.

They might be orphans, but they were Gai’s family in every sense but blood and paper. His kids, his students, his sons and daughter — even if he could never say so out loud, even if he still had trouble admitting that in his own thoughts at times, even when his heart had never once hesitated — they were his family. He would do anything for them, without regrets.

And even though he knew the sentiment might not be reciprocated, he was fine with that. To be a father, one only needed to be related by blood. To be a sensei though, one needed to be able to show them the way. The best path to achieve their dreams, the best way to survive, the best way to grow strong in body and soul, teach them to tend to their own injuries, and provide comfort for any and all physical, emotional, and psychological pain.

Gai was proud to be a sensei, happy and honored to be their sensei. Gai would die any day for his students, his kids, his family.

He gave Tenten a relieved nod, then turned towards the one he was most concerned for.

“Neji?”

“Just tired,” Neji waved a hand dismissively without even looking in his direction, the metal around his wrists clinking with the motion. The chain was as thin as Lee’s were.

Gai studied him, but Neji was curled up and thus hiding the vast majority of his body from his gaze. His kid could be doing so on purpose, hiding a tool or weapon from view… but Neji would never do that in such an obvious manner, which meant he was trying to hide either pain or utter exhaustion, knowing Gai would otherwise spot it clearly.

“I can either kick down the door or you can open it for me,” Gai requested to his hero guard. “I need to see he’s alright.”

Hawks seemed both wary and amused, grinning like Gai was the most fascinating enemy he had met. “Wow, talk about the illusion of choice.”

“...no need,” Neji sighed with gentle exasperation, slowly shifting in place so he could face Gai fully without needing to step up, moving with practiced ease in the way that would allow for Gai to evaluate his physical condition.

No blood. No scratches on his face or hands, the movement of his waist as he rotated didn’t denote damage to ribs or organs, arms and legs moved normally, ankles and wrists too, as well as the neck.

“Stand up?” To check equilibrium and bone integrity, if he had received damage to the ears or had broken bone that compromised—

Neji rolled forward and stood up in a single, swift movement, now standing as close to the bars as physics allowed.

“No injury,” Neji reported again, pupiless eyes narrowing as he evaluated Gai’s own condition silently.

He didn’t seem to like what he found. The combination of hospital pants, bare torso and shoulders covered only with specific bandages as the doctors insisted on at least ‘keeping pressure’ on the most damaged areas to minimize the pain, and the contraption that still kept the upper half of his body trapped, which had electrocuted his still-spasming limbs not too long ago.

And at last, the unblinking stare focusing on his exposed forehead, which was still red and bleeding a little, then glancing at Hawks in silent inquiry.

“He didn’t provoke it,” Gai chuckled, truly touched at the level of concern his kid exuded. Neji had always been impressive when it came to communicating without words. Everything Gai needed to shout, his kid could express with just a look.

“Hmn.” A small nod before Neji turned around and left without another word.

Reassured that Neji was just bone-tired, Gai turned to Hawks and let the hero lead him to his assigned cell. A neighbor to Neji’s, so he was in front of both Lee and Tenten, and could keep an eye on all of them easily. He couldn’t have asked for a better cell assignment.

Gai trusted this hero as far as he could throw him — which was a very considerable distance — but he had to recognize this was exactly what he had needed to calm down his overflowing worry.

“Thank you Hawks,” Gai smiled sincerely, deeming this hero good enough to at least try to remember him. “What can we expect now?”

“Some boring hours of nothingness,” Hawks answered with a laidback shrug as he closed the door and locked it, eyes curled with the inner amusement that denoted he was aware that it would be as effective as wet paper when it came to being an escape obstacle. “Then round two of questions and such, nothing to be worried about.”

Waiting downtime then, that was good. It would let Neji and Gai recover somewhat.

“We’ll see you soon then!” Gai grinned and winked, and Hawks gave him a fingergun with a wink of his own.

Hawks had a good poker face, charm, and disposition to take different roles and adapt to the situation in the split of a second. His wings betrayed the act more often than not with small nervous movements… that and the hero still couldn’t control the beating of his own heart as it jumped in alarm at the slightest indication of killing intent.

Other than that though, this hero had adapted fast to everything Gai had thrown at him, composure outwardly unfazed… a decent enemy, at least by this world’s standards. If he could be exposed to killing intent more often, he would get used to it in the same way Academy students and the civilians and merchants living in Hidden Villages did.

“Odd,” Lee commented lightly, looking at the door Hawks had used to exit the room. “He left a feather stuck there.”

Gai couldn’t see the door from his position, but he assumed it must have a purpose. Perhaps it would alert the hero if anyone tried to open the door, a simple alarm system.

“We’re not escaping anyway, so it shouldn’t matter,” Tenten met his gaze and stretched to her left, indirectly pointing at one of the ceiling’s cameras. She was ensuring Gai was aware of it too… genins were so cute.

He had searched for traps from the moment Hawks had first opened the door; if anything Gai was surprised the cameras were so exposed. He had expected to see the hero opening the door of his cell while pulling the weight of it up or down, expecting the door to be a trap if one tried to open it normally. Expected to see little circular holes where fire or poisoned darts might come out if triggered…

His cell had nothing of the sort though, it was almost disappointing. This was closer to the Uchiha’s Police containment — that had relied more on the shinobi guarding the cells than the infrastructure itself — than the T&I quarters where every single element was designed to slowly and surely break down your psyche. Gai had passed through its halls to deliver prisoners sometimes and…

Well, this was better for his team.

“Did you eat anything?” Gai asked them simply, sitting down on the floor and resting his head against the bars.

In the end, the enemy could see them and listen to their words. Thus, this test consisted on communicating in a way that denoted nothing of importance to the enemy, but could drive the point across among them.

“Not hungry,” Tenten answered at the same time as Lee’s: “They offered, but Neji and I told them we were fine.”

No chance of food poisoning then, good.

The game continued like that, as Gai inquired about their health, and his kids admitted they had undergone simple X-ray tests and firmly refused any and all blood tests.

Blood could be used to open certain scrolls that were locked to a specific user, such as the summoning scrolls, but without chakra they would not work regardless. The quirks of this place though… what if one of those relied on blood to work? It was better not to risk it.

Leaving blood behind on a battlefield was a common occurrence though, almost unavoidable at certain stages. That was a risk they would simply have to live with, trusting in their own capacity to manage it if it ever came to that.

They talked about Konoha then, as if they missed the village, but truthfully were giving a recount of what they had shared with the interrogators. Lee talked about the academy’s taijutsu teachings, graduation ages, that genins were legally recognized as adults, that he had lived in the village’s orphanage for most of his life, playing ninja with the kids of his age-group during his toddler years.

Tenten talked about her presumed-merchants parents’ demise, the basics of genjutsu and how it was a very limited technique that could only be used once per week, to make a person ‘dream’ about something they have experienced first-hand in their life — what an interesting twist of the technique’s description, Gai wondered how and where Tenten had used it — and how her scrolls could absorb, contain, and release a single object per paper, so it was best left to transport heavy and large things without hassle. That she had volunteered to learn since she was a toddler, working in Konoha’s storage vaults.

Neji talked about chakra and how his eyes worked when it came to the quirks of this world, interrupting the energy pathways in similar manners. About his father and his sacrifice for the good of the village. About the evolution of standard katas and training regimens, from when he was a toddler and up to his pre-academy student days. About how and why he could bypass the external defenses of the body to deal damage to specific — hah! — organs and muscle tissue.

Gai talked about the unexpected development of Kamino, thanked Tenten for going to check on him, that Hawks was the first hero he saw when waking up in the hospital, and that he had mentioned their original C-rank mission on the Land of Tea. That they had been trying to adapt to Japan’s laws to the best of their ability, and would like to get some help to ensure a smooth transition. That he had suddenly been on the verge of falling asleep, so he had hit his own forehead to dispel the drowsiness.

Oh, and also, his attempt at explaining some key differences between quirks and chakra.

“The concept of chakra must be difficult to understand for them,” Neji sighed, tapping against the bars of his cell with his knuckles.

Clone. Intel. Gather.

So that was the reason Neji was so tired. A shadow clone had stolen half of his chakra reserves, in exchange for a chance to gather more information.

“I tried to explain it up there.” Is your clone still up there? Gai said, lamenting the fact that he couldn’t see Neji very well. He would have to rely on words to understand.

“Not enough.” Not anymore.

So intel had already been gathered, versus it being in process of it. Was the clone discovered before it was dispelled, or had he managed to stay under their radar— no, Neji would have immediately reported if it had been discovered. At worst someone may have noticed the oddity but couldn’t link it back to Neji’s doing.

“What do you think then?” Tenten asked, crouching to be at Neji’s eye level, expression sharp with interest.

Lee stayed silent, unsure of the turn this conversation had taken. Lee still needed some practice when it came to decoding this kind of communication, but at least he was smart enough to understand that silence had its merits. If he wasn’t sure of something, it was better to stay still and wait.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Neji said softly. “A demonstration might be required, at least for the three of us. When it comes to you, sensei, I think they’re very aware of what you’re capable of.”

The sentence was a simple statement of fact, but also… laced with a touch of relief. Was Gai’s last fight helping them? Shinobi’s reputation sometimes was enough to deter confrontations on its own, like the way The Fourth Hokage had earned a ‘flee on sight’ order from his enemies. It had saved countless Konoha lives with the mere mention of his name, no doubt.

Good. Job. Neji’s knuckles tapped, and Gai inwardly grinned. If these people recognized he was better as an ally than an enemy, then that worked splendidly for Neji’s adaptation in this world!

“A skill demonstration, what for?” Tenten frowned confusedly. “Weren’t they judging us based on how we helped U.A?”

“I don’t think our intentions are in doubt, but our methods are,” Neji acknowledged. “It’s not about our past, but about our future.”

So the judgment of their last mission had already been determined in their favor, but the expectations on what would become of them if they were set free was in question.

“Could we be heroes?” Gai had never considered that as an option, but the lady that questioned him seemed oddly fixated on him becoming one. In the end, he didn’t mind playing Hero for the remainder of his short stay in this world, if that meant Neji would be able to live the way he wanted.

Neji was the important one in all of this, the reason they had gone to such lengths to begin with. Lee and Tenten would be coming back with him to Konoha, but if they all could play nice with the authorities of this world… then Neji would be fine once they left.

Gai felt a painful weight rest on his chest at the idea of saying his last goodbyes. To Neji, who he would never be able to see again. To Lee and Tenten, if his actions here were deemed as betrayal to the village.

He pushed it aside with the ease born from familiarity. His own feelings didn't matter, Neji's decision did.

“Perhaps we can be,” Neji answered softly, hopeful, almost… dreamily? “In any case, we should continue to collaborate with what they ask from us. They should reach an answer based on that.”

That was a very good prognosis. In that case, there was nothing to do now but wait.

“I wonder how Jin is doing,” Gai asked to the ceiling, shifting in place until he was lying down on the floor to rest. His arms were still bound to his torso, so this was as comfortable as he could get.

“I’d be surprised if they brought him here too,” Neji replied, which meant his friend was being held elsewhere. Gai would have to look for him before leaving this world then, to ensure he wasn’t stuck somewhere hideous…

“Sensei,” Lee called, so Gai turned his head to face him.

“Yes, Lee?”

“I have too much energy to sleep,” he assured him firmly. “So I’ll do sit ups!”

I can take the first guard, so you can rest at ease, was the meaning behind that. Gai really was blessed to have such a considerate family.

“Count them and tell me how many you managed to do,” Gai grinned tiredly, closing his eyes for a light rest.

“Yes!” Lee closed his fists and immediately started up his exercise.

Yeah, things would go well.

(X)
(x)
(x)

Why was nothing going well?

The president of the Hero Commission looked impassively at her worst opponent, who had crashed her latest meeting with an invitation that was impossible to refuse. The news showing the fight on Kamino made this visit one that was impossible to avoid, but Sayaka had thought she would have more time before he made his move.

“Magnificent tea,” Nedzu praised his own recipe as he sipped at his cup, knowing perfectly well how losing time infuriated her, yet still playing around.

As if this was a common Tuesday instead of a fight of wills to call dibs on who would influence the underground version of All Might.

The U.A. academy was a masterful deceit, a farm of connections disguised as an educational center. Its entrance exam was designed so only those with the strongest, flashiest quirks would get in, which meant they had high chances of reaching high places in the hero ranking after graduation.

And of course, the teens had no reliable criteria on which adults were worth trusting versus not. Teens weren’t smart enough to question why Nedzu would offer additional support in certain areas of their simple, teenage life, so by making them grow up with him in the U.A. Nedzu put himself in a position where he could extend a helping paw, ensuring they would remember him much too fondly.

Even heroes like Eraserhead, who were left behind on the exam’s hero-selection criteria, still managed to feel grateful for ‘having the opportunity to transfer’ later in the year, as if that weren’t also part of Nedzu’s plan to cover all possible bases.

Ensuring he could ask for ‘favors’ after they graduated and became successful heroes. It had happened with All Might, Endeavor, and many other influential people that had, inevitably, also given the rat influence with the police as well.

The courses of Gen Ed, Support, and Media Management were also incredibly beneficial in extending his reach, so he had access to privileged information on confidential cases that didn't reach the news, technological findings, the key players on specific areas of the hero agencies, marketing, technological inventions… that increased Nedzu’s arsenal of already widely-available chess pieces.

Everything to ensure no human would ever be able to touch him again.

Everything to have an overly-complex source of entertainment.

“They don’t exist here legally,” she refused to keep playing into his little mind games and went straight to the point. “It’s the government’s responsibility to fix that. Ensure they’re good members of society and have everything they need before they can be safely integrated.”

“The government is not an educational center,” Nedzu smiled, delicately placing the cup back on its little plate. “The U.A. already has the installations, instructors, and capability to adapt to individual needs. Surely you understand, that people from outside of the bounds of this world will need an extra hand understanding the complexity of our society?”

How the hell did he manage to get his paws on classified information, one they had gathered mere hours ago?

He must have infiltrated the HPSC as well. Someone with high clearance. How, when she was careful to avoid confiding in anyone that had even remote ties to U.A.? When nothing was placed in electronic records so it couldn’t be hacked from afar?

She hated this rat so much.

“They’re not Japanese citizens, nor any countries’ for that matter. It’s the government’s responsibility to adjust that. Your school cannot provide identification paperwork, access to the healthcare system, nor civil rights—”

“And you can do that, of course!” Nedzu interrupted with a clap of small paws. “I’m not stopping you from doing your job and providing the legal paperwork only the government has authority to issue, the one that ensures they have basic human rights.”

The last words were hissed through gritted teeth that somehow still showed a kind smile. Nedzu was familiar with that process, having gone through it himself after he demonstrated to have the intelligence of a sentient being instead of that of a common lab rat, escaping after being experimented on by humans for who knows how long. The scar on his face probably didn’t hold a candle to the mental ones.

“I’m simply extending my support for their education, since their teaching will need a higher investment of time and resources,” Nedzu sipped at his cup again. “The U.A. has all of it readily available.”

“We have the capability of covering all of those bases within our institution,” she reminded sharply. “U.A.’s help is not required.”

“Why yes, I’ve seen how successful Hawks has been since his debut,” Nedzu crossed one leg over the other, the thin tail waving lightly behind him, still too unconcerned by this conversation. “But the same can’t be said about your first test subject.”

Nagant wouldn’t….

Nagant would.

She narrowed her eyes into a hateful glare and stayed silent, inwardly cursing the mistakes of the previous HPSC President.

Nedzu remained calm with his smiling poker face in place.

“You’ve been very clever and careful, Madam President. I must admit, tracing the events she mentioned back to the Commission was an interesting challenge,” Nedzu admitted with a glint in black button eyes. “Specific heroes suddenly Missing in Action… unfortunate accidents destroying key critics of the current system… mysterious fires consuming evidence of plans for civilian-led, non-pacific manifestation… but in the end, I have gathered evidence that can’t be refuted. Wouldn’t that make for an interesting court case?”

With Nedzu’s connections, it wouldn’t be a court she could bribe to get out of a life sentence. She wouldn’t be able to pay the media to stay silent either. Nedzu’s influence was larger than hers, he would ensure there were no cracks in her process for her to slip through.

“I might know someone,” she bluffed. “You can’t be completely clean either.”

“I always know someone that knows someone,” Nedzu made a dismissive hand gesture. “I’ve studied the way humans play this game, I know how to make the rules.”

The rules between politicians. The rules that dictated how living in society worked. The same system he applied to the rules for U.A.’s inner way of working. Never too easy for the key players to not need Nedzu’s help at some point, forcing people to approach him to ask for help...

She stayed silent, meditating an answer.

“But as it happens, I misplaced the only existing copy of gathered evidence.” Nedzu tilted his head with his everpresent smile. “In this judicial system, without evidence there is no crime to condemn.”

…so that was his game.

“Misplaced in this office?” she lifted an eyebrow.

Nedzu shrugged lightly. “It wouldn’t be misplaced if I could recall its location. Going back to the matter at hand though, have we reached an agreement on the dimensional traveler’s handlement?”

Why would I trust your words? Is what she would have said if this was her first time seeing Nedzu in action.

Sadly, it was not. She had seen it first-hand when All Might was first injured, six years ago.

Nedzu had ensured not a single peep made it to the media. The large media companies, the small independent ones, the newspapers, the radio, the TV News coverage, the magazines, social media advertisement, politicians, fellow heroes, no one said nothing. No speculations, there was nothing on the internet except for fan-based conspiracy rumors that had nothing sustainable to grasp on.

Nedzu had also imprisoned the last head of the HPSC for fraud and corruption closely after Nagant’s retirement, had gone head-on against prefecture-governors that tried to close deals that affected underground hero work, and put behind bars people in high places within the support industry for selling hero equipment to the black market.

Nedzu had the horrible mix of intelligence and connections that allowed him to point his little paw at someone and have that person immediately destroyed, while also being virtually untouchable from any attempts of repercussions or revenge.

“I’m being reasonable here,” Nedzu delicately left his plate on the table. “I could simply go through with it, it’s not like you can take toys to a containment cell. It would be simple for me to scout them after you’re out of the picture.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Then why don’t you?”

“I already have evidence against you,” Nedzu said calmly. “Why replace the hydra’s head with a different one? I would have to start all over again. No, no, it’s faster and easier to just… ask for a favor here.”

A game of chess. All the human-run institutions, laws, procedures, social structures, culture and history, the human psychology and all of its components were nothing but a game of chess for him, and she was in Check.

“If it works once, it will work again. If I accept here, you will threaten me with this over and over again—”

“You don’t have anything I want.” Don’t think too highly of yourself, was implied. “After this, you simply go on as usual.”

His smile turned sharper then, closer to a smirk, if he had had any human features to smirk with. “After all, what's wrong with asking for a favor? A favor for another favor… aren't we all just friends that owe each other favors?”

No contract, no traces, and yet, none of the participants ever leave unscathed. Such was the way of politics.

“...shared stakes,” she proposed in the end.

“Oh?” Nedzu leaned forward with interest.

“The teenagers study at U.A. but live in the quarters assigned to them by the HPSC.”

“So they would remain in close contact with us both? You drive a hard bargain,” Nedzu said. She wasn’t sure if it was meant to be mocking or not, but it felt like it. “Very well, if they’re agreeable to that, then fine by me.”

Nedzu conceded much too fast… but it wasn’t like the U.A. had any on-site dormitories for the students to stay at, so this much involvement from the HPSC should be feasible.

And Maito was an adult already. It would be up to him where he wanted to work at, so offering employment wouldn't go against this verbal agreement.

“Alright then,” she conceded.

“Glad to have had this conversation,” Nedzu immediately stood up, paw on his old flip-phone as he texted someone while walking towards the door. “As a note, I’ll be taking Lady Nagant under my protection too, so please tell your people to keep their distance.”

Of course he did. She hated that rat so much.

Unbeknown to her, the feeling was mutual.

Humans were despicable creatures, willing to trample over the less-favored of their own race over and over again if that meant gaining more power. Manipulating things behind the scenes to get a desired result… the work of politicians would never show any fire nor smoke to the eyes of the public, but they always were responsible for cooking behind the curtains, indeed.

But with this, now Lady Nagant was truly free.

Truth be told, Nedzu had never intended to fully go through with his threat. Accusing the president of the executions she had approved of… would mean accusing Nagant as well, which was against what he wanted to achieve.

Nedzu had gathered all evidence concerning her involvement, no one but him had any valid evidence anymore, which meant that the Commission couldn’t extort her with her past actions now.

‘You’re free now. If they ever bother you, just mention my name.’ He sent her a text as he traveled back to U.A. grounds.

He received an immediate thanks in response, which made him smile wider. He had been trying to get this piece to his side of the board for some years now, it was mildly exciting to have finally succeeded at it.

‘Don’t worry about it.’ He texted back. ‘What’s a favor for a friend?’