Darkest Before Dawn - 140

Chapter 140

[Nemuri Kayama]

“Only you, Kazuki,” Hina said and she could only agree, a fond smile on her face as they regarded the Nevermore and what Kazuki had written with it on the computer. Apparently, he’d found a friend inside the League of Villains, somehow. The one they’d lost track of, his ex-neighbor.

What a small world…

It would have been worrying if they didn’t have proof that he was, indeed, good. From the warning he seemed to have sent Kazuki – which came all too late, through no fault of his – and the warning he’d sent to the police, more importantly. Both had been too late for them to act on it, but they were the reason the first attack hadn’t been worse. The warning had been too short notice for the police to react, but it was the reason they could get the 1-B bus to turn around and provide support, even if that was a less than ideal measure.

They hadn’t known the guy was part of the League of Villains, however.

“I’ll go with the Sabyr, as you well know,” Nemuri said, reading the new line the Nevermore had written – Sabyr or taijitu? – and wondering if there was nothing else they could be doing. Alas, the plans to rescue Kazuki were already underway. Hina and her weren’t important enough to be involved in all the steps.

They could have been more involved in the entire thing, of course. They might not be Top 10 heroes, but they were heroes all the same and good ones at that. They had chosen to not be there and to be where they were. Rumi and Ryuko would catch them up on the plan when it was time.

As it was, their time was better spent accompanying their boy.

Nezu had called them all so that they could help him analyze what Kazuki said and, more importantly, what he didn’t say. Like how he was still injured and in pain, more than he let on even. Like how the villains were pressuring him, pushing him to say things he didn’t want to say. Like how afraid he was that they could ruin him with the recordings they were likely taking of the whole thing. Like how he was hungry and thirsty because he didn’t dare take too much of what he was given, even with his Grimm testing it all for him.

There were a million things Kazuki wasn’t saying and that’s why Nezu wanted them there, because he was smart enough and knew the boy enough to realize there’d be things going unsaid. Because they knew Kazuki and they could understand him better. Nemuri was fairly sure all of them had hated every second of that long – and not just because Kazuki couldn’t type very fast with a Nevermore… or at all, as Hina suggested – conversation, because all the things they picked up on were all terrible.

“Taijitu for me, you know it,” Hina said, taking advantage of the Nevermore looking distracted to let a sad smile appear on her face. “So, things are fine? You can wait?” she asked afterwards and Nemuri almost thought about making fun of her, since she’d asked that like three times already…

But she’d asked the same thing three times herself, so she didn’t really have a leg to stand on.

Am fine

Bored

Only Kazuki would get bored when in a bar surrounded by villains that had kidnapped him. Then again, Nemuri would take that, if it meant that her boy wasn’t suffering. The problem was that they knew he was. He was just not telling them about it, because he seemed to have developed a disturbing ability to shrug off anything bad that happened to him. Being aware of how people felt bad in the surrounding area and pulling all that negativity to him meant that he’d learned to just… ignore bad things. Or he had started to underestimate what his own feelings meant for him. Maybe even both.

He could be overwhelmed, yes, but those were more indicative of the kind of shitty day that would ruin people’s weeks or months. Kazuki bounced off of that kind of day by talking to people and sleeping on it. It was both impressive and sad.

How plants, tank?

“They are fine,” Nemuri answered, doing a worse job at keeping it together than Hina was. In her defense, she was no actress. Hell, she didn’t even do a lot of modeling those days anymore, what with her job at UA and all. “I took care of everything before coming here. They’ll be fine when you get back, Kazuki. Promise.”

Good

Thanks

“Have you ever used a computer, Kazuki?” Hina asked after that, and Nemuri wondered if she was gearing up to do some small talk to try and keep Kazuki distracted. That was a good idea, she supposed. Although… Yes, they had some time still. Aizawa had promised to send her a message when she had to go join everyone else. She was going to be part of the whole raid mission, after all.

Hina, for the other part, was on stand by as a Rescue hero. She and others would join if things went sideways and they needed help clearing the area and keeping things safe. In a way, Nemuri felt bad for her, because sure, she’d be away from the danger that the rest of them would be in… but she’d also be away from the action, from what she wanted to do. Heroes had to deal with that eventually, at some point in their careers. Everyone had to stand aside and leave the work to someone else at some point and it never got any less frustrating.

Not really?

“Hm, I thought so,” Hina said, snapping Nemuri back to the present.

“Maybe we can help you at UA. There’s gotta be a computer or three you can borrow to do stuff. You can’t go about life without knowing how to type, Kazuki,” Nemuri suggested, already making plans. She knew Nezu would help her out and maybe she could rope the children in Kazuki’s club to help too. She’d heard once or twice about them bringing a laptop to use. His Management Team would surely see the need for him to know how to type.

Look forward to it

Oh, why did that sound so… heavy all of a sudden?

All the same, Nemuri swore that she’d teach that boy to use a computer, if it was the last thing she did.

First, they had to get him back, however.

[}-o-{]

[Shoto Todoroki]

Maybe his father had been right all those times he said he should take his training more seriously.

Maybe if he had, then Shoto would have been allowed to do something. Maybe if he were better, he’d be out there, going to help Kazuki instead of just… sitting, waiting with everyone else. Maybe if he were better, Kazuki wouldn’t have needed to be saved at all, and he’d have beaten the fire villain with the blue flames.

Was it unlikely? Shoto knew it was, but he still wondered all the same. Because he didn’t want to believe that there was no way for him to help his friend, even if he’d done everything differently. Yet, that seemed to be the case, and it left him thinking about how unfair life was.

It was not a new thought, but it was one he never liked to have, because it was always brought by terrible situations.

“God, I feel so useless,” Minoru said from beside him and Shoto nodded.

“I feel the same way,” he replied, drawing an incredulous look from the short boy. Understandable, maybe, but… “I’m not any more useful than you are right now,” he pointed out, because it was the truth. For all that his Quirk was stronger, that his body was better trained and that his grades were better, Shoto could do about the same that Minoru could then and there.

Nothing.

“... It sucks,” Minuro grumbled, turning away. Shoto nodded his agreement all the same.

“You guys saw all the heroes that were around, right? I told you about those mentioned too,” Kyoka told them, but it was very obviously done in an effort to reassure herself too. She was not incorrect, however. There were some great names in the list of heroes that were going to stage a raid to rescue Kazuki. It was actually rather impressive… if not for the circumstances.

“I just wish I could…”

“That you could do something, anything,” Ashido said, finishing Minoru’s new bout of grumbling with a low voice. “Same,” she added with a weak smile. Shoto knew there was some divide between most of the friend group and Ashido and Kirishima. He’d even heard about most of it too and he could sort of see it, but Kazuki didn’t seem to have much of an issue with them so… He’d decided to just play things as they came, which usually meant just sticking with the main group.

It wasn’t that he agreed with them per se, but… Well, he had to do something, right? And he couldn’t just stick to the middle point. Kazuki seemed to be the only one that could safely do that. Maybe because he was better at dealing with people than Shoto was.

“We all want to do something, but we can’t. We can only wait,” Kyoka said, and she was speaking the truth. None of them liked it though, not even Kyoka herself. It needed to be said, however, and Shoto appreciated that someone was there to do so.

“Maybe it’d help to think about it like it’s definitely going to go well?” Momo suggested hesitantly. “Like, talk like it’s a certainty that Kazuki will be fine. That he’ll be rescued and come back to us,” she explained further, gaining a little traction as she went… Before losing it all when she was met with silence. Not that anyone seemed to take badly to what she said, but nobody seemed to know what to make of that. At least until…

“I’m gonna invite him to eat at my place more often,” Minoru said, looking off down the corridor instead of at them, but Shoto caught a wry smile on his face. “My mom loves him anyway. She’ll have no problem having him over. I know he loves it. I should do it more from now on.”

“Hm, I think I’d like to introduce him to my siblings,” Shoto commented absently, but he found that he rather liked the idea. He’d told them that he had friends. He had to, since he often went out with them, but he had a feeling his siblings didn’t know how much to believe him. He didn’t blame them much for that, even if it was a little frustrating.

“I’ll teach him how to dance if he lets me,” Ashido joined in, somewhat eager, somewhat nervous, from what Shoto could see. “I felt bad after all the teasing that time at the arcade. I think he was actually self-conscious about it, even if he acted like he wasn’t,” she explained, rubbing her arm and not looking at any of them.

“I’ll play more duets with him when he gets back,” Momo said, seemingly happy to see that her idea had been well received and was, apparently, working even. “I rather liked doing so at the… At the camp,” she explained, stumbling on that last part, which was understandable. Nobody could quite think fondly of the training camp, not even Shoto.

“It’ll-”

“Sorry,” a new voice said, interrupting Kirishima before he could even get properly started with what he was saying. When they turned, they saw Togeike, from Kazuki’s club/other friend group. They had talked a little between groups, sharing news and dissuading each other from doing stupid things. The girl seemed to straighten as they all turned to look at her, as if preparing herself to face them for some reason. “We have a plan to try and help Kazuki, but we need your help.”

There was silence after that, several sets of eyes widened and there was even a gasp although Shoto didn’t know where it came from. No, all his attention was on this girl in front of them. He went over those few, simple words, turning them in his head as if trying to make sure he’d heard right, that he’d understood correctly.

For all that they’d talked each other out of doing things before, there was only one answer they could give then and there. Reason had lost its grip on them in that regard, Shoto supposed. Although, he didn’t think it was a great loss, really. If anything, it was like a weight had been taken off his shoulders.

“What do we have to do?” Shoto asked eventually and the girl smiled tightly at him.

[}-o-{]

[Hina Maeda]

Im good

‘God, I hope so,’ Hina thought, even as she smiled through the dread.

“We know you’re. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, alright?”

Toga would take too well to flirting

“Brat,” Nemuri replied, her smile – just as brittle as Hina’s felt – turning into a more genuine grin. Alas, it was difficult to keep that up considering the circumstances. “Take care of yourself, alright? Don’t get into more trouble before we get there.”

Can I do it when you get here?

“We should have stayed home,” Hina said, meaning exactly zero of those words. It was nice to see him joking around. It meant that he was fine for the moment… Even though Kazuki could very well be lying to them. Hina knew that, if things were really bad, he’d have shown it, at least. They all had agreed with it when they’d been analyzing his messages. He was a mindful kid, but he was also fairly open about his struggles when he could properly appraise them… and the situation allowed for it. “Good luck out there,” she told Nemuri.

“Hope we don’t need you,” her friend said and yes, that’d be the ideal. Because if they needed Rescue heroes, then things would have gone really badly. No, if she wasn’t needed, much as it’d frustrate her, then it’d mean that things went well. She wished, desperately, that she wouldn’t receive a call. That she’d sit there with the Nevermore until Kazuki typed that it was all fine and that he was coming back home, that he was coming back to her.

“What all is going on there?” she asked, determined to do something, even if that something was just keeping Kazuki entertained until help arrived, keeping him distracted, calm. Although, there was a part of her that wondered if she might be doing more harm than good. He was right there, precisely in the middle of villains. Distractions could be deadly there.

Yet, the Nevermore didn’t seem bothered at all, so she took heart in that, at least.

Shig came back

There went whatever ease she might have felt, miniscule as it likely was considering the circumstances.

Its ok

He saw her stiffening and wanted to reassure her, didn’t he? What a boy she’d found herself caring for. He was there, talking to the leader – or maybe second in command? They weren’t sure after what Kazuki said –, and he found enough time to worry about her. How frustratingly endearing.

“Should I leave you to it?” Hina asked and there was a long pause as the Nevermore seemed to return to a more normal behavior instead of how it acted when it was being puppeteered. She tried not to let it get to her, tried not to be too scared for Kazuki. He was probably just making sure the villains didn’t kill him or something like that. It was fine. He’d have let the Nevermore disappear if he really were in trouble.

She was fooling nobody, least of all herself.

I might just

He stopped there, the Nevermore twitching a little but not quite straying away from the keyboard. It stayed where it was for a long moment before going back to it. Hina so wished she had more information about what was going on, but she didn’t, so she’d have to make do. It wasn’t her in the ridiculously bad situation, so she had to keep it together.

be slower than usual

“That’s saying something, isn’t it?” she asked lightly, getting an angry squawk from the Nevermore that only made her want to laugh. If only she had it in her to be properly amused though. Nothing good seemed to make it through the dread, the fear, the nerves. Idly, a part of her wondered if that was how Kazuki usually felt.

Shutup

“Ok, ok. So… is Shigaraki saying anything important?” she asked, hating to bring it up, but she felt like it might be better to help him focus on what was going over on his side. He needed to pay attention, or things could go South really quickly.

Hes trying to

Another pause, and Hina tried not to make it too obvious how anxious she was for the answer. She needed to keep it together. She really needed to. It was just so hard when he was in danger and she’d never… She’d never had a proper talk with him, which was laughable considering knowing how to talk was her whole thing, for the most part.

find weaknesses

Feels like interview

That was… certainly a way to look at it, but if it helped him, then Hina would pray for her teachings to be enough. It wasn’t that she couldn’t see how it might work, but dealing with reporters and dealing with villains were two completely different things. Maybe she’d cover that at some point, if- when she got the chance. As it was… maybe he could extrapolate enough from what he knew and help himself with his Quirk.

I got this

“I know,” she replied with a smile and she found it surprisingly easy to muster confidence in him. He was a great student, after all. If anyone could learn how to deal with that kind of situation on the fly, that was Kazuki. “I’ll help you with any fallout you face because of those cameras, you know that,” she told him then, not for the first time. “So, do whatever you feel you need to, alright?”

I got this

Hina wondered, concerned, if he was telling himself that rather than her.

[}-o-{]

[Kazuki Endo]

“You keep talking,” he commented, not even having to feign the bored tone and look. He was getting tired of Shigaraki’s yapping, if he were honest. In light of the fact that he couldn’t call Stain, the villain had taken to poking at Kazuki’s logic as best he could. He asked about his motivations, his ideals, his plans. All of them were questioned, scrutinized and stubbornly denied by the grey-haired man.

Kazuki silently thanked Hina all over again in his head, because damn if her training hadn’t come in handy.

“And talking,” he continued, leaning back and almost faking a yawn. He thought that might be a little extra though. “But you say nothing about Stain coming. So… is senpai not noticing you, Shigaraki?” he asked and that might have been a touch too far, if the spike of anger and hate was any indication.

He might not be able to keep chatting with Hina for a bit, shame.

Too bad for him, his people were watching, like every single time he tried to talk to Kazuki. The man needed his crew to be there, after all. Kazuki was undermining him and Shigaraki had obviously noticed. So, he’d set up that battlefield for them, trying to recover from the hits he’d been delivered… and failing.

Because of course he was. There was not a worse person he could have tried to pull that shit with. That was, after all, a battlefield that he’d been trained in, one that he took seriously. One that he knew a trick or two in, and Shigaraki obviously didn’t.

Sucked to be him.

“You keep asking for Stain, but you’re a damn mob character,” Shigaraki hissed at him, looking like he’d disintegrate him with his eyes alone if he could. Unfortunately for him, that’s now how his Quirk worked. “Why would I bother Stain for you? Why would I make him stop his mission for you? Why would you make me do that, huh, believer?”

Damn, that was almost good.

Almost.

“So you attacked UA, injuring half a class of first years and kidnapping me right in front of their faces… You did all that for a damn mob, Shigaraki?” Kazuki asked, leaning forward and smiling. “Is that what you’re saying? Am I unimportant all of a sudden? Because I’m not seeing it. All I’m seeing are excuses, because you’re a liar.”

“You-” Shigaraki all but growled, his hand inching closer to Kazuki in a very worrying way. He had half a mind to start summoning Grimm to defend himself. However, he was saved by a new voice joining the conversation.

“Is he right?” Dabi’s voice asked, cutting through the atmosphere at the bar like a knife. “Because you seem very intent in not calling Stain. It was fine before. We were nobodies… But he isn’t,” the scarred man pointed out and Kazuki almost wanted to thank him for falling for his trap. Although, could it be considered falling for it when he was actually just pointing out truths, for the most part?

Sure, he wasn’t on their side, but neither was Shigaraki.

“Don’t you think it’s about time we met him?” Dabi asked, tilting his head and staring into Shigaraki’s frustrated, furious eyes. “Unless, of course…” he added, leaving the sentence unfinished, but everyone could tell where he was going with that.

“He’s been trying really hard not to have to bring Stain, hasn’t he?” Spinner said, for good measure, and Kazuki had to hold back a reaction to that. He wasn’t sure how good an idea it was for him to get involved. Anything could blow his cover, if he wasn’t careful. With any luck, the fact that he wasn’t the first to bring that up would be enough?

There were three people there because of Stain, as far as Kazuki was aware. Dabi, Spinner and Toga, although the latter one was… more of a wildcard in the matter. There could be more though. There could be more members that weren’t there, that weren’t important enough. If there were, then Kazuki was sure the whispers had spread. And even if there weren’t more, he was sure there were whispers outside of the League all the same.

‘What are you going to do, Shigaraki?’ Kazuki wondered, trying to think what his next move could be and what his opponent’s next move could be. Idly, a part of him wondered if that was how playing Shogi was supposed to feel like.

“You don’t understand, Stain and I have an agreement,” Shigaraki insisted, and Kazuki could feel the guy barely keeping it together. Born to be an actor, Tomura Shigaraki was decidedly not. “I’m not going to break me word just because you-” He included Kazuki in that with a glance. Cute. “-believe you’re important enough to be acknowledged, especially when you’ve refused to join us.”

“So, that’s still a no, huh?” Kazuki poked, bringing the man’s attention to him. The Stain believers weren’t on his side yet, he could tell. At most, he’d managed to put them on the fence. Now it was just a matter of who could get the upper hand decisively, but neither of them could do that. Because the only way that happened was if Shigaraki actually called Stain there… which wasn’t going to happen.

So, they were effectively at a stalemate.

Kazuki was perfectly fine with that arrangement.

It meant that he could just happily wait without having to deal with Shigaraki’s recruit attempts and Shigaraki himself could do nothing but continue to bash his head against the wall. Because if he did anything drastic, then that would tip the scales in Kazuki’s favor. Besides, the heroes were right outside the door, mostly metaphorically, but also kind of literally. As Nezu said it, there were always at least one or two people around, keeping watch just in case he needed the help.

He could wait for whatever the other side was planning.

As it turned out, he didn’t have to wait long.

“Shigaraki,” someone said, coming through the door and drawing everyone’s attention. He looked… like a normal guy. There wasn’t even an attempt at a secret identity there, but then again, half the League didn’t bother either. “I got a call just now, you might want to hear this,” the silver-haired man in a purple suit said, glancing around, nervous, unsure.

“Spit it out,” Shigaraki said, impatient and eager to be done with everything.

“It might be better to do this in pri-”

“Spit. It. Out,” Shigaraki hissed and Kazuki raised an eyebrow. ‘Wow, I do great work. Hina would be proud,’ he thought to himself, barely keeping down a smile.

“Stain called,” the new arrival said and suddenly the atmosphere in the entire place shifted. Even Kazuki had to pause at that. Because what the-? “He said he wanted to meet you… and the League.”

…

‘What the fuck?’

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

Dun dun DUUUUUUUN!

Boom! Cliffhanger!

God, I love those. So much. And I’ve gotten to use them so much as of late. I’m a happy Adrian, indeed. Most of you probably want to wring my neck by now, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Also, it seems the wait is over. Things are happening. I know there was at least one comment about this arc taking forever and what not, which I think it’s wild considering I’ve had arcs more drawn out, but I guess I can see where they are going. It’s a high stakes scenario, so it’s a little more off putting if I drag this out rather than slice of life? I wanted to set things properly though, with Kazuki’s side and the outside world’s side. I get called out sometimes because I don’t give enough outside views on things, but I might have overcompensated here… sorry about that?

Around 6 years in and I’m still learning how to do this writing thing, I guess.

Skill Issue on my part, honestly.

All the same, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

Also, I hope 2026 treats you better than 2025 did!

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: Do you prefer hot weather or cold weather? I’ve probably asked that before, but meh. I prefer cold weather though and it’s not even remotely close, let me tell you.

See you.