Darkest Before Dawn - 136

Chapter 136

[Hina Maeda]

“I’m not here for you,” the villain in front of her said and she almost paused. But she knew that’d be a mistake, considering the man and his… work. “You were on my list, once, but… I was convinced to take a second look at things,” he explained. The way his eyes were fixed on her, barely – if ever – blinking, unnerved her more than she’d like to admit. “Kazuki Endo said you were his hero.”

Just like that, Hina felt her heart being torn right out of her chest.

“Kazuki Endo said you were his hero,” her mind repeated, for good measure. The man used past tense for that and she can only fixate on that, wondering about the terrible implications there. Was she reading too much into it? Was she misunderstanding? She probably was. She had to be.

Kazuki was fine.

Kazuki had to be fine.

Hina also hated that a part of her was happy that Kazuki had called her his hero to Stains face. She could imagine it, the blunt honesty that earned him so many points so often when an answer was simple. She hadn’t even taught him that, but it came across so marvelously, the way people could tell when he had to avoid annoying bait questions and when he was being honest, open and earnest.

And Hina didn’t want to not hear that again.

Hina didn’t want to believe she wouldn’t.

Kazuki had to be fine.

“I’ve been looking at him, at you,” Stain told her, as if he hadn’t destroyed her already shaky composure. “You’re vain. You seek popularity or money or both and I despise that,” the man growled and when he took a step forward, Hina took another backwards. “But,” he continued, seemingly pausing and visibly calming himself down. “It doesn’t seem to affect your hero work. I’ve looked, thoroughly, and you seem… professional, even if you could do more,” he said, sounding like it was taking him great effort to praise her.

Hina was a little too on edge to be insulted, but a part of her definitely was. Most of her was assessing the situation and considering options, however. Her snakes glanced around, taking in the surroundings and what she could do. Her brain tried to process the entire situation, what Stain was saying and what she had to work with and-

“Most of all though,” Stain said, taking another step forward. Absently, Hina noticed that none of his many blades were drawn, but that was hardly reassuring. She took another step backwards all the same and she could have sworn she saw his lips twitch. “You’ve helped Kazuki Endo, and that boy… he might just be worthy.”

‘Might be, not might have been, not in the past,’ her mind supplied almost instantly. Kazuki could still be alright. Maybe Stain did know something and it might not even be something bad. Maybe he knew her boy was alive, maybe even alright.

Kazuki had to be fine.

The second thing she processed was the rest of what was said and she couldn’t help the slight burst of pride. Because this was a man that considered All Might as the only hero that was worthy and he was saying that Kazuki might be worthy too. That was high praise, even if it came from a nutjob like Stain. And Hina? Hina would take it, because her boy didn’t get nearly as much appreciation as he deserved.

“His light is only just beginning to shine,” Stain told her, taking another step forward and this time Hina didn’t move. “The League of Villains shouldn’t have taken him. They’ll try to ruin him, make him not worthy and I will not let that happen. I want to see it, the kind of hero that boy will become,” the Hero Killer told her and Hina felt her eyes widen and her snakes snapped towards the man in front of her.

“... What are you trying to say?” she found herself asking and somehow Stain became even more frightening as he smiled and tilted his head.

“I’m going to make a better world, where heroes are worthy,” he told her, an edge of madness in his voice that sent a shiver down her spine. “And for that, I need those worthy heroes to exist. I can’t let their flames be snuffed,” he explained, and Hina… Hina thought she was getting where he was going, but surely… “Kazuki Endo. I’ll help you save him.”

Stain, the Hero Killer. He’d killed countless heroes, some admittedly less stellar than others, but she’d never condone killing, especially not like that. He’d killed friends of hers, people that were out there making a living and doing their best, just because they weren’t All Might, who sold his soul to heroics like it was the only thing he could do with his life, the only thing he could be. That was a kind of commitment that few, if anybody, could replicate, and Stain wanted that to be the standard?

He was delusional, she’d realized quickly after he appeared and started spreading his ideology.

Yet, here the man was, saying that her student, Kazuki, had changed his mind. He was telling her that Kazuki might be worthy, that he’d opened his eyes to more reasonable possibilities. He was offering her help to get him back, to get Kazuki back and make sure he was fine.

She remembered them all then, every nail that had sealed her fate.

“I love it,” Kazuki had said, the words thick with emotion that almost didn’t let them get through his throat. “I love it,” he’d repeated before moving up to her and wrapping her in a hug that was thankful, hopeful and desperate all at once. She’d been done for the moment she held that boy in her arms, feeling him shake, overwhelmed by the fact that someone cared.

She remembered that moment when he’d come back from his interview, all confident and positive. She remembered how proud she’d felt of him at that moment, of how far he’d come.

She remembered the first time he’d told her ‘Fine, Mom’. It was over text, probably meant as a bit of a joke, but she’d stared at the words for so long. She’d gone over them, over the feelings they produced in her and she’d realized that maybe she was too far into that hole already.

Hina had never been able to get that out of her head, despite her best efforts.

And now that boy, that child…

Her boy, her child…

Her hands balled into fists and she regarded Stain, the Hero Killer.

“So, tell me, Stain,” she said, taking a step forward for the first time and staring at the villain across from her. “What can you do to help Kazuki?” she asked and the man in front of her grinned.

[}-o-{]

[Mina Ashido]

She felt out of place, admittedly, and it wasn’t even a new feeling. It was, however, much worse than she was used to. Sitting there, watching Minoru, Momo and Toru whispering between themselves, occasionally sending a comment or two Shoto’s and Kyoka’s way… it filled her with regret, with guilt.

And she knew she shouldn’t really feel bad. Things had happened and she didn’t think she’d been wrong to do what she did. It definitely wasn’t the best thing she could have done, but it had been understandable, right? Kazuki didn’t blame her and that was huge, but Mina knew that the rest of the group was a lot less understanding and she didn’t blame them for that. She felt like that might be a little hypocritical, but…

But she was allowed to be sad about the tiny, barely noticeable yet very much there, line that had been drawn between her and the rest of the group, a line that she’d more or less dragged Eijiro across too. No matter what she did, how much time she spent with them or anything, Mina would always be the girl that abandoned Kazuki.

Not this time though.

No way.

So, determined, Mina sat where she was, keeping as close an ear on the conversations going on as she could. She knew, after all, that they had discussed maybe following the tracker Momo had placed on the Nomu villain. They’d been a little loud in that conversation with Monoma and Togeike, but Mina was glad to have found out about that.

If they were going to go and face villains to recover their friend, she was going to follow them, even if they didn’t want her to. Because Kazuki was her friend, no matter what they thought of her. Of course, there was a selfish corner of her brain that thought they might finally like her – really like her – again if she did something like that, but it was not even a thought that occurred to her until way after she’d decided she’d go.

Kazuki deserved that much from her, after everything.

“Are you worried?” Eijiro asked her, reminding her of how he used to be, before he grew more confident, more determined. He reminded her of the boy she’d once known, unsure, and almost shy. “Because I’m worried,” he said, as if that were a self-deprecating admission instead of just-

“I think everyone’s worried,” Mina replied and she gave her closest friend a helpless smile when he turned to look at her. “It sucks,” she added, and she wasn’t even sure what she was referring to, because there were a lot of things to complain about.

She could complain about how unfair it was that they were dealing with all that bullshit when they were first year students. She could complain about how villains had attacked their training camp. She could complain about how nobody was telling them anything about what was going on and they had to learn things from the news, like they were in any way reliable. She could complain about how it might all come to her friends and her to do something about the matter.

Mina could complain about how Kazuki had been kidnapped.

“Do you think they are really trying to recruit him?” Eijiro asked her and she was almost surprised. Really, she was, with her eyes going wide and rearing back as if she’d been shocked. “I… I was checking for news and… a lot of people are talking about it.”

And maybe that was the most surprising thing to hear.

Because Mina didn’t think anyone, not the class and not the UA staff they’d talked to, had ever spoken about what might be happening to Kazuki. Nobody seemed to want to talk about what he might be going through. It was why she was so surprised, because it was almost like an unspoken rule. They refused to talk about it, so hard that it was almost like nobody wanted to think it.

Except, Eijiro had been forced to think about it and then he’d spoken about it…

And now Mina was thinking about it.

Were they trying to recruit him? How would they go about it? What else could they want with Kazuki? There wasn’t much that came to mind in regards to that last question, and it only made her more worried that the first assumption was right. After all, it wasn’t like they could ask for money or something like that, right? Kazuki’s mother was… on her way to prison, probably, or some other punishment that’d leave her with not great prospects for her future, hopefully. Maybe they could try to ask things of UA? If they had, nobody knew about it.

Logical ideas aside though, her brain seemed to have decided to torture Mina though, because every other thought, she’d find herself imagining the villains torturing Kazuki. It wasn’t for any reason in particular, she just… her fears took shape in her mind, giving her worst case scenarios, she supposed.

She hated that.

“Mina?” She’d almost forgotten that the one to set off her mind had been Eijiro and that her friend was waiting for an answer of some kind. She considered, briefly, not answering at all, maybe making a run to the bathroom and washing her face before she could start crying… again. However, that’d have been mean. Eijiro was likely on the same boat as her, Mina was sure.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled with a helpless shrug. “But we’re going to help him,” she added.

“Of course,” Eijiro said, just as firmly as she had spoken, just as sure. Because that was their friend, and he needed them. So, they were going to help.

It was that simple, despite how complicated the whole situation was.

[}-o-{]

[Toshinori Yagi]

They had been careless.

He had been careless and he had been useless.

Oh, the irony, All Might had nothing to do with all his strength. He hadn’t even been able to reach his students, to help them, when they needed him. He hadn’t been there, at the one place he should have been. While everything was happening, he’d just been… wasting time. Wasn’t he supposed to be shaping the next generation of heroes, passing the torch?

The fact that he was relieved, so very relieved, that Midoriya hadn’t been the one to be taken, and hadn’t even been one of those worse off, made Toshinori all the more sick. It twisted what little insides he still had left, made him want to puke blood again. He was supposed to be a hero, he was supposed to be sad, frustrated, angry at what had happened. He wasn’t supposed to be relieved.

And yet, a part of him was, all the same.

Now, he watched his fellow teachers and members of UA’s staff discuss the situation. He saw the tension in their bodies, he saw how upset they were at what had happened, and it was like being Quirkless all over again, all that time ago. He felt like he wasn’t enough, not strong enough, not good enough, not when compared to these people. They were teachers, they cared for their students, and he was just… playing pretend.

“I think that’s all there was to be discussed as of this moment,” Nezu said, taking a sip from his cup of coffee and looking to the world like it was another boring school staff meeting and not one that happened after a villain attack that resulted in a student being kidnapped. Toshinori knew better, even being the new one in their circle. Nezu had a reputation even outside of UA, after all. “If anyone has anything new to discuss, feel free to message me. As it is… I have to coordinate with Uwabami again. She sent me something about a new lead and some external help that she wants to discuss in private.”

There was a lot of that going around, Toshinori noticed. Everyone had their own contacts, just like he had Naomasa and David and more. Being left out of the loop made him feel more useless, admittedly, but he could hardly complain and he wouldn’t.

Still, frustrated, he flexed his fingers, wishing he could just… punch something. He hated whenever he couldn’t fix things with a punch, but alas, it was hardly ever that simple. It was a waiting game for him, until information was confirmed, things were checked and prepared and so many other things that needed to get done.

He still hated that wait.

“We’ll find him,” Toshinori heard someone say and he turned to see Yamada comforting Kayama and it made him feel all the worse for his previous thoughts. Because while he was glad that Midoriya was fine, Kayama was on the opposite side of things, living what was probably a nightmare of hers.

Because Kazuki Endo might have been under the care of UA, but it was mostly Kayama and Inui that provided proper guardianship for the boy. Everyone else did what they needed to, keeping an eye on things and asking for reports whenever necessary. They checked on the boy if they had to, and so on. Kayama though, had grown closer to him than the rest of them. She’d become a proper guardian, cooking for him, keeping him company, caring for him. She’d become his mother in all but name, or so Aizawa and Yamada would say, teasing the woman from time to time.

Except now that was no longer a laughing matter, because Kayama had looked so crushed by the news they’d been delivered.

Toshinori could see her eyes still red from crying and how she hunched over where she sat, like she wanted to disappear or be anywhere but there. Sometimes, she would twitch, reach for her phone or actually check on it and Toshinori would see her expression fall, her shoulders drop. He’d also seen her talking, more than she would with anyone else, with Uwabami when she came around and it wasn’t difficult to see why.

Kazuki Endo was no longer without support, it seemed.

“Thank you,” he could almost hear, almost see. Because Toshinori hadn’t had a lot of direct interactions with Endo, but he had had some. He’d had one when he’d had to reveal his condition to him, on account of the information his Quirk provided the boy. He’d had to help him, when the press wouldn’t stop hounding the school’s entrance. And both times, Endo had been so incredibly thankful. It was like he couldn’t believe someone like All Might was trusting him, helping him.

The world had failed that boy so much already, and it was failing him even more.

Toshinori had and was failing him.

“Nemuri-” Yamada called. Their conversation had continued while he felt sorry for himself, but apparently something had happened. Kayama was now standing up, pulling away from her friend and looking even more upset than before.

“Sorry, I have to… I have to go,” the woman said, visibly trying to keep herself together. “I know things will be fine,” she added and anyone with eyes could see that she was lying, maybe to them, maybe to herself. “In the meantime… I have to take care of his fish tank. He’ll never forgive me if I let things get bad again,” she finished with. She donned a smile then, one that looked so forced, so hurt, that Toshinori was pretty sure it’d have been better if she hadn’t tried.

And then she left.

And the room was silent afterwards, Aizawa and Yamada staring at the door that Kayama had just left through.

And Toshinori wondered if they felt as bad as he did, if they felt like they failed as badly as he did.

[}-o-{]

[Kazuki Endo]

The villains were yapping at him, but mostly Shigaraki.

Something about how the world was turning on the heroes because they weren’t worthy and what not. The speech followed some of those that Stain had given from time to time, when someone got a hold of him long enough for the words to spread. Shigaraki sounded off though, and his emotions gave him away even more.

He was lying.

The others though, those that spoke up on the matter too, those weren’t lying. So, was he lying to keep them on his side? That was interesting. Maybe he could use that. He added it to his mental list of things he could do, next to just going for it and making a Grimm.

That last one was a terrible idea though, because he was surrounded. Half the villains around could incapacitate him or worse in a matter of seconds, before he could even fully release one of his creatures. No, even a half-formed Grimm would have him scorched or disintegrated or stabbed or any number of things before he could manage to do anything significant.

He couldn’t just sit there and wait though, right? UA’s statement hadn’t even talked about him. Maybe they were keeping his kidnapping under wraps for the moment? It was a sound decision when it came to the reputation of the school, but it didn’t tell him much. How likely was it that someone would come for him?

He imagined they were looking for him, but there was a stretch between that and actually being found. It could take days, even weeks. They might never find him. ‘Don’t think about that,’ he told himself, reaching inside and channeling emotions that’d let him focus and not panic.

He needed his head in the game.

“You try so hard to fit in the nice little mold you were given,” Shigaraki said and oh, he was actually addressing Kazuki instead of monologuing. Was about time, although he couldn’t say he was eager to talk to the guy. “For what? They don’t care, don’t you see?” he added, waving his hand at the screen behind him, the one where they’d watched the statement being given.

Kazuki wondered what the right play was at that moment. He couldn’t agree or do anything in that vein. If he did… Well, he had already seen the cameras around the bar and he knew how that would turn out. That kind of thing could ruin him if it got out, no matter the context.

He couldn’t be antagonistic either, however. If he were to act like that, he could reduce his chances of survival… and of going without more injuries than those he already had. He thought he had taken enough damage for one villain encounter, thank you very much. He’d rather not be on the receiving end of more abuse.

A middle ground was what he imagined he had to go for, but that was easier said than done when his audience was so… particular.

He never thought he’d think that, but he kind of missed the reporters.

“And your suggestion is that I should make them care even less?” he asked the villain. His voice and expression was weary and weak though, rather than confrontational. The delivery was likely to help him. It wasn’t agreeing and it wasn’t provoking them. That was the best he could think of and he really hoped it’d do.

“My suggestion is to tear the system down, build a new one, a better one, with worthy heroes and a society that will care,” Shigaraki said and Kazuki would give it to the guy, he sounded like he believed that. Unfortunately for him, Kazuki could see right through the act, the lies. There was a deeply wrong feeling hidden under all the hatred and bitterness.

“You believe you can do that?” he asked, being careful to sound curious, but not doubtful. He didn’t want to insult the very dangerous villains. ‘Maybe I can try to get information,’ he thought to himself, taking a deep breath in and trying to gather his thoughts through the pain of his wounds. His mind was still sluggish though, even with his injuries having been treated and his emotion channeling helping.

Then again, he didn’t know how much to trust whoever had patched him up. And the blood loss wasn’t likely to just go away, he supposed. Overall, he thought he was justified for struggling a little.

“I know we can do that,” Shigaraki declared proudly. Too proudly. It rubbed Kazuki the wrong way, annoyed him. Why was he so smug about having achieved… what exactly?

He blamed the blood loss for what he said next.

“How?” he asked, straightening the smallest bit where he sat. “What’ve you achieved other than bullying my class of first year students and terrorizing civilians?” he said and the act that he’d been trying to keep up crumbled the smallest bit, his mask cracking. Maybe he’d slipped a bit in his emotion channeling, maybe it was really the blood loss, maybe he had just snapped a little bit…

“We pushed All Might, I’ll have you know. We’ve spat on the face of the prestigious UA. The heroes are scrambling already and we’ve only just begun,” Shigaraki told him, an edge to his voice. He was angry, and Kazuki wasn’t really surprised.

“All Might and the school he endorses,” he pointed out, latching onto that point. If he’d already poked the dragon, he might as well try and make the most of it, right? “The same All Might that’s worthy, is that it?” he added, and he felt the doubt creeping inside a bunch of the villains around.

He’d been right and he had to hold back a grin at the realization. Shigaraki was spitting Stain’s ideology because his people believed that, not because he did. His plans showed the truth though, if he kept picking at that loose strand, maybe it’d all unravel around the villain.

That might have been too optimistic though, but it was something he could do.

“All Might might be worthy,” Shigaraki said and Kazuki took some pleasure in how much the man hated saying that. ‘Well, well, well, what a weak spot to have for the act you’re trying to keep up,’ he thought, wondering if that was similar to how reporters felt, poking at him and trying to find a chink in his armor. “But that doesn’t make UA worthy. Hero society has become complacent, reliant on their precious Symbol. They hide behind it. They are weak, cowardly.”

It was a bit rich of him to call anyone weak and cowardly, when all Shigaraki had done, as far as he was aware, was attacking children. Well, them and All Might, but even then, that had been with someone that completely countered the hero – or supposedly did – and while holding the aforementioned children hostage indirectly. He was not painting the picture of a strong and imposing guy, as far as Kazuki was concerned.

“You speak like Stain,” Kazuki commented, seeing from the corner of his eye how several villains around perked up. “Is he part of your group?”

“... He likes working alone.”

‘Is that so?’ he almost said. There was so much to pick up from that. Shigaraki not only didn’t actually believe in Stain’s ideology or goal or whatever, but he didn’t even like the guy. He hated him, actually. Well, that was another bit of info that he stored away for later use… or maybe not so later use, admittedly. ‘I can use that too…’

“So, that’s a no?” he asked and he could feel how Shigaraki started gritting his teeth, even though he looked the same outwardly. It was dangerous to poke at him so much, but he had to do something. He couldn’t agree and he wasn’t actively antagonistic… he was doing what he could, even if it was still landing him in a shit situation.

“He prefers to stay on his own. But we’re working towards the same goal, the same world,” Shigaraki said.

“I wonder what Stain would say about that,” he replied and that was a more effective comment than any he’d made so far, even if it was also the riskiest. Shigaraki felt like he wanted to jump forward and disappear him, admittedly, which was worrying. He had a lot of the villains around though, villains that were doubtful, confused. They were thinking now, wondering and questioning.

Kazuki was throwing around seeds, and they might just take hold.

[} Chapter End {]

Hey guys! How’s it going?

This arc continues to be very interesting to write.

I do realize that it might come across as a little repetitive with the people outside, but I feel like everyone is just different enough on their takes. There’s just enough different between person and person and how they react to what’s going on for me to want to show it, even if half of their PoV is stuff that has been shown in others. The point is important enough, I feel.

I have a feeling many people won’t agree with me, but maybe I’m wrong.

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

Discord Link: discord.gg/UTDransjJZ

Random Question: I’m currently at a cafe, so I feel obligated to make a cafe related question. How do you take your coffee? Personally, I like lattes the most, but I can drink just about every kind of coffee, really. If you don’t like coffee in any way, what’d you order at a cafe instead?

See you.