Chapter 5

Dabi made it back to the League of Villains hideout in a grumpy mood. Shigaraki noticed.

"Find anything interesting?" Shigaraki asked with a teasing grin.

Dabi glared at him for a few seconds before sitting down with a sigh. "Your face looks even more disgusting ever since she beat you up."

"She didn't beat me up." Shigaraki cursed. "And by the way, your face isn't exactly the most handsome either."

Dabi scoffed, half annoyed and half amused by the remark. "I found her again. Takahashi. She denies it, but she definitely has a quirk. How else was she able to control us?"

"She did it to you too?" Shigaraki asked.

Dabi's expression remained mostly neutral. "Shut up. That's not the point. If she has a quirk, especially if it's what we think, then we can use that to our advantage. She can easily help us."

Shigaraki thought about that for a moment. "...Fine. You may bring her here. But if she causes trouble, I'll kill her. And you won't be able to stop me."

Dabi stood up again. "Great. We can start planning then."

...

Hawks peered down at Satoko. With everything going on, no wonder she was so tired. Her warm felt nice on his shoulder that it made his feathers twitch.

(Well, well.) He playfully smirked at the sight of her. Her sleeping face looked so relaxed. It's an expression of hers he didn't think he'd see. It was rather pretty.

Her new clothes really suit her too. He forgot to even compliment her with that. Would have been fun to. He sighed.

He almost wanted to move a stray hair out of her face, but she probably would wake up.

Probably punch him in the face.

Yeah. Let's not do that.

He can't even deny his thoughts. He barely knew this woman and keeps stumbling back into her life. The more he meets her, the more he wants to learn about her.

Taking out his phone with his free hand, he looked up her information. Not because of the contract.

Just because he wanted to know her more for himself basically.

Odd.

There wasn't any information about her. It's hard to tell since her last name is extremely common.

Not even public records. Something was amiss. He didn't like this one bit. He figures it has to do why she's so hateful towards heroes and villains.

(Could it be....)

Family abuse?

His past lingered into his mind. His fugitive, abusive father. His mother, shielding him from the cops. Stuff like that is always hidden in the dark.

No one wants someone to notice something, it gets erased from existence. The fact Satoko's name is like she doesn't exist in this world. That was a bit unsettling.

(This is so suspicious.)

It was good intel, but he wants to dig in further. Just for her sake more so.

...

Satoko woke up. Hawks looked at her. "Finally, you're awake. You were drooling on me."

Satoko had to process this warmth she was feeling. She quickly backed away. "What do you think you're doing?!"

He was a little disappointed she didn't get flustered, but went with it. "You conked out on me. Want to come back?" He had a teasing smile.

"Oh my gosh." She got up. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Maybe. Is it working?" He smiled.

"I'm gonna go now." She started heading towards the door without answering him.

He knows he can't keep her here. Since he's a spy for the villains, it would be bad. But he doesn't want her to leave either.

(It's unavoidable.)

"Keigo."

"Huh?" She looked back towards him. She's surprised he didn't even stop her from leaving.

"You can call me that." He smirked.

"Bye." She shook her head and left, taking the sanitary pads with her.

Staring at the door, he was hoping for her sake, that Dabi won't find her. That's just wishful and unrealistic thinking. He touched his own shoulder to feel the lingering warmth still present.

...

There she was. Satoko was spotted by Dabi again. Before she had a chance to fight back, she was snatched up again. Surely, it was starting to get tiring. Within a few minutes, like so many times before, she was in their hideout.

"You're quieter than usual." Dabi mused. "Finally give up?"

"I'm on my period." She bluntly stated, hoping it would just make him stop already. Or even gross him out even. "It makes me tired."

But he is right. She did give up trying to fight back. This pattern was annoying. But she felt a little guilty for some reason for leaving him?

Ugh.

Why?

Probably because he helped her? How stupid...

"I noticed." He hadn't even bothered with any restraints that time. She wasn't moving. It was odd to him. He was glad, but he also felt strange. Why wasn't she trying to escape? Why wasn't she fighting back at all?

"She's back!" The familiar voice of Twice was heard as his head peeked around the doorway. He turned his head to look at something beside him. "Hey, Toga. It's your buddy again."

"No, it's not."

Toga skipped in with delight.

Oh gosh. Here it goes.

"Is that blood I smell?" She started getting flustered over the thought.

"Can you not?" Satoko groaned. Thankfully, her period doesn't last too long.

Sometimes, it only lasts 2 days.

Shigaraki walked in behind them with a smile. "You brought her! Perfect!" He reached to his face and removed the hand that was covering it. He had never done that around her before. "Dabi told me that you have a quirk of some kind. It's fairly obvious that he's right."

"I don't have one." Satoko denied in a harsh tone. These people are so weird. "What do you want from me?"

It appears she isn't accepting the fact that she has a quirk. Her judgment is clouded from her traumatic upbringing. Possibly a part of PTSD.

"We need to take down hero society, and we will start with one class," Shigaraki explained. "Our previous plan was to go after the symbol of peace, but now that he is retired...we have no reason to target him anymore. His students, on the other hand, are still a problem. Dabi over here has a personal vendetta against a certain student anyway, so-"

"You said you were fine with going after him, so shut your mouth. Quit complaining," Dabi interrupted.

Shigaraki waved his hand. "See?"

Dabi was still glaring at Shigaraki. Apparently, the tension wasn't entirely gone. "Don't you have certain students that you hate more than others too? I'm sure we all have at least one that we want to kill in particular."

"Well I wouldn't mind killing that Midoriya. He always gets in the way somehow." Shigaraki tilted his head to one side as he started to scratch his neck.

"Stop that. It's disgusting." Dabi rolled his eyes.

Twice pointed at the two energetically. "They're arguing again! They've been doing this a lot more since she showed up, haven't they?"

Dabi glared at Twice. "You shut up too. This is a league meeting."

"I'm a league member too, Staples! I get a say in these things!" Twice defended.

"Not true."

Listening to Twice talking to himself, Satoko found him very odd. Clearly, this bunch has terrible mental issues. She cringed watching Shigaraki continuously scratch his neck. Out of everyone here, Shigaraki scares her the most. She brushed away that thought with another.

(Arguing more?) Because of her showing up? That's bizarre. She used her hand to lightly shove Toga away from her. She was being creepy talking about how 'cute' menstrual cycles are.

How the heck- Never mind that.

Satoko kept her irritated expression on. "You're attacking minors as a way to take 'heroes down?' And you expect ME to help?" She didn't let anyone answer. "I don't like hurting kids. I don't even care that you have a problem with them."

She definitely has a soft spot for those younger than her. She knows what it's like for adults targeting her.

"Those kids aren't exactly innocent," Shigaraki argued. "One day, they will grow up to be just as corrupt as the rest. Not to mention that some of them have committed violent acts already. One of them tried to murder someone to get revenge. Another is constantly threatening to kill his classmates. They're all messed up too."

Dabi hummed in agreement. "Then there's the one who I'm after. From what I've seen of him, you won't have to feel remorse for going after him. He's almost robotic. Doesn't show feelings. I doubt he has friends to miss him anyway."

It was clear that Shoto did have friends. Dabi could see that when they kidnapped Katsuki. But he forced away any thoughts of Shoto having humanity. Pushing it down made it easier to not feel guilty for wanting to kill him. Shoto wasn't human. That's all Dabi had to convince himself of.

"Kyaaa, I hope to see Izuku again." Toga squealed in excitement. "It would be great to even see him bleed!! I'm so hopelessly in love." Her face turned deeper red.

"Uh..." Satoko found her behavior disturbing. She wasn't going to bother questioning this girl. She looked towards Dabi and Shigaraki. Her eyes had that fierce and bold look again. "Yes, there are faults within heroes. I can agree with that, but bringing on a path of destruction is no different. Are you guys innocent too?"

She shook her head. What is she even doing? Not like they're going to listen. "The one you're after, Dabi, is his personality really all there is?"

She knows that her question won't be answered. The least she could do is try. She supposes this is a step to actually understanding the villains better. She can somewhat sympathize with them, but this isn't the way to go about ending corruption.

Dabi turned his nose up slightly. "Of course not. I'll tell you when the time comes. But you don't really have a chance anyway if you want to help or not. You ARE working with us. You can try to get away, but we would just find you again. You'll get tired eventually if you haven't already."

Satoko is really tired, like he said. There was that resentment towards herself.

Tell her when the time comes?

Like she would live long enough to get there. She assumes after they use her for this, they would probably kill her. She thinks about how Hawks said she is being used.

It's always that way.

People come into her life and go after they're done. It's always the same thing.

There was a brief sadness in her eyes. Perhaps, dying won't be so bad. She isn't really afraid of death after living such a terrible life of mistrust.

In moments like this, she tries to seem intimidating to hide all the fear in her heart. Showing weakness isn't what she's about.

Strong. Stay strong. No matter what.

She tried to hide the sorrow in her eyes with a continued scowl on her face. "You can't tell me what to do."

"We can tell you what to do. We're the League of Villains!" Twice stated in his typical enthusiastic voice. The man seemed to have boundless energy. He wasn't exactly intimidating compared to the others.

Dabi smiled once again. "We're going to work on your quirk first. You can improve that way. Isn't that nice of us?"

"Absolutely lovely for being delusional." Satoko replied sarcastically. "Can't improve something when it's not there."

Dabi didn't look fazed. "We'll just have to see about that, won't we?"

...

All of the students of class 1A were gathered in the common area of the dorms. Most of them were doing their own thing with a few other people. Activities such as card games, truth or dare, homework, studying, etc - were all common for them. Some of them were just talking to one another. Only one student didn't seem to be enjoying himself.

"Ummm..." Ochako's eyes were wide. Her face looked like it was frozen in a smile despite her eyes contradicting it.

Katsuki has been ranting since the incident. "They're hiding something from us! After all this time, those idiots keep trying to exclude us!"

He cursed. He hated how that NERD Deku seemed to always get the spotlight. He felt so inferior and thought this could be something to up his recognition.

The other students were just reacting how they usually do around Katsuki. Unfazed. They're so used to his explosive personality.

(Bakugo is as loud as ever...) Ochako thought to herself. She didn't say anything to interrupt his ranting, but she was the only one really listening at that point. Maybe he just needed to get it out and he would be fine after a while.

Ochako was the only one to really understand Katsuki's feelings and take them seriously. She could read him like a book. She knew that he covered up his fear of failure with anger. He had an inferiority complex, but no one would know unless they paid attention to how he actually felt.

Ochako shook her head and relaxed her face. She finally spoke up. "Hey, I think that the heroes are just trying to protect us. You can handle yourself, of course, but it's still their job to ensure our safety."

"It's stupid!" He growled. "The heroes can't even do it without our help!" He frowned, looking at the ground angrily.

He doesn't know why, but he feels something is going to happen. His fists clenched hard.

"I get the feeling that you really just need to feel needed by someone," Ochako blurted out. She sometimes had a habit of saying whatever was on her mind. "But...that's not where your worth comes from. All of us...your friends...we WANT you to be safe and happy. Which is why you should stop charging into danger head first when there are heroes around to help. I know you don't want to admit it, but you and Deku are pretty similar in that way."

"Tch." Katsuki grumbled. "There's no way I'm similar to that stupid nerd."

To feel needed by someone, huh? He remembered how Ochako went to hold his hand.

Her words sounded more caring than demanding. He doesn't know how to react when it comes to her.

To be safe and happy... What if Ochako got badly hurt?

Why did that come to his mind?

It's weird. When did he start getting protective over someone else?

"What if I want YOU safe and happy, huh?!" He growled. But he stopped. He knows Ochako is very strong too. But he's reminded of the times he had saved her.

What if that's adding to his drive to becoming a hero?

"I'm not the one trying to go after every villain out there." She looked away. She started to feel awkward from hearing him say that.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, and then put on a strained smile towards him. "Plus, I'm strong too! A lot more now than I was last time we fought!" She playfully punched his shoulder. "You better watch out! I'll keep getting better and maybe we can have a rematch one of these days!"

"Pfft." Katsuki kind of smiled. "Yeah, your roundness and guts are acceptable. You're not as strong as me though. But you're getting there." He didn't realize he pat the top of her head as a way of praising her.

He stopped as he moved his hand away with a frustrated.

Ochako's face turned a deep red. (He has been closer to me than usual today. First holding my hand. Now this?)

Without any warning, she put the back of her hand against his forehead. Her other hand was placed gently on his shoulder. "You're acting strange. Are you absolutely sure that you aren't sick? You don't have some sort of disease that's slowly killing you and causing you to act nice in your final days or something?"

"I'm not sick! Sh-shut up!" Katsuki snapped. Her hand on his forehead was making him worse. He grabbed her wrist, but not roughly. Pulling her wrist towards him a bit, it made her kind of close. "What about you? Why are you getting so close to me, pink cheeks?"

She could feel his breath against her face. The way his eyes stared didn't seem annoyed. They were more... different. "You keep getting touchy with me too. YOU'RE the one who is strange." He frowned.

Ochako squeaked and pushed him back. She plopped down back into her seat. There were a few seconds of awkward silence before she jumped up, almost tripping herself in the process. "I'm thirsty!"

She ran away.

Katsuki put his hands in his pockets and slouched down into a seat. He glared at anyone who just had witnessed that.

Meanwhile, Momo was looking at their shenanigans from across the room. Until Ochako ran away. She giggled at that.

Denki and Mina were chattering as background noise while Momo started to sip her tea.

Shoto approached from the direction of the dorms. He had just finished studying for a test. He walked to where Momo was sitting. "May I sit here?"

"Why, certainly!" Momo chimed with a smile. She started to sip her tea once again.

Shoto sat down close to her. His leg lightly touched hers for a second before he scooted over a little. He sat straight up with posture that was even more perfect than he usually had. "...The cafeteria food was especially nice today."

"Eh?" Momo blinked and looked over at him. "Why yes. Yes, it was."

(This is a little unusual of Todoroki...) Sitting next to him, made her heart feel warm a little bit. Despite scooting over, they were still a little close. "...I especially loved today's special."

Mina suddenly stopped talking and smiled. She nudged Denki and nodded towards Momo and Shoto. She began to whisper. "Look at those two."

Denki smirked. He put his thumb and pointer finger against his chin. "I see. This will make for an interesting conversation for sure."

Overhearing them, Momo looked up with a blush. "Eh?" Bumping into Shoto's elbow with hers and apologizing in the process, she spilled a little hot tea onto herself. "Ah!"

Shoto jolted in surprise. There was a spot of tea on Momo's face and a little bit on her arm. Shoto put his hand against her face and used his thumb to wipe the spot. "Does it hurt?"

Mina immediately jumped up from where she was sitting. "I'll go get napkins!"

Momo flinched a little bit from the stinging in her face. But Shoto's thumb helped the pain dissipate. "Only a little-" Her eyes looked up towards him to process what was going on.

He was close to her and the fact he was touching her face made her want to melt. Her face started to get extremely red.

Shoto took note of the way her face changed. His eyebrows raised slightly. He didn't even realize that Mina was beside him. He apologized to her for spacing out before he took the napkins and started to clean up the tea on Momo's arm.

"If you need a new outfit, I will pay for it," Shoto offered when he was done. "I know you come from a wealthy family as well, but I was still the one who caused you to spill it by sitting too close."

"No! There's no need!" Momo reassured. "It's fine and I appreciate it. You've done nothing wrong. I..." She averted her eyes a way a smidge. "I don't mind you sitting close to me either."

"Oh." Shoto looked surprised, but he sat down where he was before once again. Feeling her next to him made him feel happy. He felt more relaxed than he typically was.

Shoto was the type to always be tense. Even when he slept, he kept a certain amount of tension in his body. But sitting next to Momo made him relax his shoulders.

It made him smile, even. He didn't realize that he was smiling though. It was an unconscious action as his eyes went unfocused and he drowned out everything else. He allowed himself to truly relax so he could enjoy being in her company. That was something that he hadn't done with anyone in years.

His smile was rather contagious as she returned one. Momo couldn't help but stare at him. She has known him for a while.

They have so many memories together. She wants to make more memories with him. And to see that smile more often. Just being near him made her happy too.

Her gaze was interrupted by Mina's and Denki's teasing.

"You two sure are close," Mina stated in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, are you dating?" Denki asked with the same tone. "I didn't take you as the dating type, Todoroki!"

"Dating 'type'?" Shoto repeated. "I wasn't aware you had to be a certain type to date someone."

"Weeeellll..." Mina started. "You're kinda like the hot guy that all the girls want, but never actually gets a girlfriend."

"U-um." Momo got flustered a bit. "I don't think Todoroki thinks of me that way! Talking like that could make him uncomfortable!"

But Mina is right about one thing. He really is good looking. That made her heart race a bit more.

"It does," he responded simply. "I do think that Yaoyorozu is amazing though."

"You do?" Momo replied in surprise. "Well, I certainly think you're amazing as well, Todoroki."

Denki chuckled. "Let's leave these two lovebirds alone."

"Eh?!" Momo exclaimed nervously.

Outside of the dorm, Izuku and Melissa had a blanket laid out in the grass. They were talking for a bit after having a little picnic outdoors. It was dark outside now, and the stars were coming into view from the sky.

Izuku didn't take notice of that yet as he was talking about villains with Melissa.

"...And that's basically what has happened so far." He finished. "The villains are persistent to attacking our school. They might just do it again. I'm sure they are planning something. Especially with what Kacchan was talking about with Uraraka when they came back."

Melissa was leaning on one hand as she listened to his story. She was focused on him the entire time. The only time she moved was to shift her weight onto her other arm or to look surprised at what she was hearing. "I hope they don't attack again. It must be terrifying to go through that so many times. Especially with your power limit."

"Yeah." Izuku looked down at his hand and clenched it together. "A hero's job is to risk his life. I'm willing to do that."

She brought up having it be scary too. He doesn't want her to be harmed or afraid if something does happen. Every day is unpredictable. Can't always feel relaxed like this.

"If something does happen," He continued. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I know I'm getting stronger so I won't let anyone worry about me."

Melissa smiled. "I trust you. And who knows? Maybe I'll be able to make a support item again that will help your arms."

"That would work!" He replied happily. "You are so helpful and talented! I'm happy to have someone like you around-" He stopped and started to blush. "Sorry if that sounded weird- I- Uh-" He started rambling and stuttering.

Melissa giggled as she listened to him ramble on and on. It warmed her heart whenever he started mumbling like that. She never could figure out why. "That didn't sound weird at all! Now show me your arms. I need to figure out how big to make this thing. Maybe it wouldn't break so easily if I had a more exact measurement."

"Oh, sure!" He scratched his head with a smile. He lifted his sleeves to expose both of his arms.

His arms had even more scars than the last time she saw him. One area of his arm was even red and missing layers of skin.

(It's like his quirk is slowly destroying his body...) She thought with a pang of sadness. She inspected his arms, gently touching certain areas to help keep her memory fresh. Luckily, her memory was photographic for the most part.

She sat back when she was done. "I think I know what parts to make the strongest now. Your hands definitely seem to take most of the impact, but it seems that your arms have more long-term damage. I'm not a doctor though. That's just what it looks like." She smiled nervously. She then pointed at the red area of his arm. "Does that still hurt at times? It looks painful."

Izuku missed the feeling of her soft fingers, tracing his arms. He shook away the thought before his face gets very active red blood cells in them. He shook his head in response to her question. "No, it doesn't. These are just scars now."

He started to laugh nervously and sadly. "Although, I hope to not get anymore because it gives heartache to my mom."

"Your mom?" She repeated. "What is she like?"

"She's always been super supportive of me." Izuku started to look up at the starry sky. The gentle breeze made his hair flow a little. "She really cares about me and is like my biggest fan. She's an amazing mother."

He then looked over towards Melissa with a smile. "I should introduce you to her sometime!"

"You should!" Melissa's eyes lit up. She felt a type of happiness that was so pure and simple just like the night sky above them. Pure and simple yet so astonishingly beautiful.

Melissa's hair suddenly slapped her in the face. She got some in her mouth and started to cough while she wiped it away. She couldn't help but laugh as the now messy blonde hair flew around her. She allowed herself to lose her balance and laid down on her back to catch her breath.

The corners of her eyes had tears from her laughing. She instinctively patted Izuku's shoulder as she struggled to keep from laughing again. "Sorry! The wind is killing my hair."

"Don't worry about it!" Her laugh was so pretty. And contagious. He started to laugh with her. He lowered himself towards her. "Here. I'll help you fix it."

Without a thought, he lightly brushed her hair away from her face. Her hair was really soft as it was easy to put his fingers through it. Not realizing how forward he was being until her reaction came about.

The gentleness of his touch as he helped her caused her to blush. She was staring up at him in surprise. She was unsure of what to do. Thank him? Sit back up? Her mind felt too fuzzy to make a decision.

His eyes were so kind. They had always seemed to shine with joy. With the stars behind him, he looked like how she would imagine an angel to look.

His heart started to thump loudly. In that moment, he realized, that he liked her.

Like really liked her. His face started to also get really red. He was trying to drown out how nervous he was feeling.

"Mel-" He tried to say, but one of his classmates was calling them inside for dinner. They both quickly backed away from each other from being flustered.

As they made their way inside, dinner was really nice. Izuku sat next to Melissa. Ochako with Katsuki. Momo was next to Shoto.

Mina and Kirishima were chatting with Denki and Jiro.

It was a nice and fun supper. But that happiness won't last long as there were more dangers awaiting them all.

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