A/N: Just a friendly warning, but if you're reading this, I highly recommend waiting until the next chapter is outš.
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(Kata POV ā I-Island, I-Expo)
We make our way toward the reception hall, where we've agreed to meet the others, with Uraraka having gone ahead of us to meet up with Deku.
The silence between Momo and me is deafening. Neither of us seems to know what to say afterā¦ whatever happened back at the hotel. She keeps her eyes forward, a small, private smile resting on her face, shy and unmistakably happy. I keep mine forward too, mostly so I don't get distracted by her appearance and do something stupid again.
Thankfully, we aren't completely alone.
Eri walks between us, humming to herself, holding both Momo's hand, and mine, swinging both our arms slightly with every step. She's just happy to be with both of us, unconcerned with anything else.
The image strikes me as funny, and before I've fully thought it through, I say it out loud. "ā¦It's almost like we're a family. Two parents, one kid."
I mean it as a teasing joke, something light to break the awkwardnessā¦ and it does not have the intended effect.
"Indeed." Momo says softly. Then in an even smaller voiceā¦ "Althoughā¦ I wouldn't mind if that became true. Someday."
My steps don't falter, and I keep my expression unchangedā¦ but I can't help the flutter in my chest, and find that I have absolutely nothing prepared to say in response.
She glances up, and our eyes meet for half a second, her cheeks pink. We walk in silence for a few moments, eyes locked, untilā¦ fortunately, or unfortunately, our chaperone speaks up first.
"Hmm?" Eri looks up between us, following the thread with the ruthless directness only a child can manage. "Is Momo gonna become my big sister for real?"
Momo goes scarlet instantly.
"I-it'sā¦ it's too soon for that, Eri!" She stammers, looking anywhere but at me. Then, gentler, almost hopeful: "ā¦But would that make you happy? If I really did become your sister?"
Eri considers this with tremendous seriousness, tugging on both our hands.
"You're already my big sister." She says, as though correcting an obvious error. "Like everyone else. But if it was real, then we'd all live together, and I'd get to see you every day!"
She nods happily, satisfied with her own logic, and I can't help chuckling.
'That really simplifies it.' I muse internally. 'If you asked, I'd have no issue with them moving in.' I think lightly.
Momo laughs too, the previous tension completely gone, replaced by a warm longing.
"Yes." She says softly. "I'd love to see you every day too." She gently squeezes Eri's hand. "I'll come visit more often. I promise."
"Yay!" Eri beams, extremely pleased with how things turned out.
And for a moment, walking through the warm evening light with the two of them, I let myself simplyā¦ enjoy it. I can't help but think this is what a fulfilling life is untilā
'ā¦Hm?' A faint throb pulses behind my eyes. My brow furrows on instinct, a frown forming across my face. 'ā¦A headache?'
I immediately grow suspicious that something's wrong, since I don'tā¦ can't get headaches. My body doesn't work that way anymore.
The single, solitary exception, is severe overexertion of my quirk. But I haven't overused it. Nowhere close.
'Which means something is causing this that shouldn't be able to.' The comfort I'd been sitting in a moment ago evaporates. I keep my face relaxed, my pace even, and I extend my quirk outward, scanning absolutely everything as I search for whatever my body has apparently noticed before my conscious mind has.
And I find nothing, which only makes things worse. The fact that I can't identify the cause is far more concerning than the headache itself.
"Kata?" Momo asks uncertainly. She and Eri are both watching me now, matching expressions of concern.
"Are you okay?" Momo asks in concern, and Eri mirrors her expression.
I offer them a smile.
"I'm fine. Just a sudden headache." I explain simply. "I don't usually get them, so it's catching me off guard."
The worry doesn't entirely leave Momo's face, but she nods, and then, with a small, focused motion, presses two fingers to her exposed forearm. A moment later a pair of small white tablets forms against her skin, which she plucks free and holds out to me.
"Here. It should help." She smiles gently. "Painkillers. I keep the formula memorized."
'I doubt medicine will help with this.' I think, but seeing such earnest care, refusing feels impossible.
"Thanks." I take the tablets and swallow them, and the reassurance on her face is worth the pointless gesture.
Then, we continue walking.
Unfortunately, the headache doesn't fade, and instead gets worse. Slowly but steadily, the pressure builds toward what I assume will become a full migraine. I can at least pretend not to be affected by it, and right as the pressure reaches its peakā¦ something changes.
Like a gate bursting open, I suddenly realise something, and my gaze locks onto a single direction.
"Momo." I say calmly. "Could you look after Eri for a bit? Something's come up."
"Huh?" She blinks in surprise. "Of course. Is everything alright?"
"It's fine." I crouch smoothly, bringing myself to Eri's level, and rest a hand on top of her head. Giving her a warm smile. "I just need to check on something. It won't take long." I meet her gaze, and she looks at me curiously. "Listen to Momo and behave, alright? I'll be back before you know it."
"Okay." She smiles, reassured. "Come back safe, Kata."
"Definitely." I chuckle, give Momo a small nod, and begin stepping away.
The instant I'm certain neither of them can see my face, the warmth drains from it. My expression becomes much colder and devoid of emotion, as I teleport away.
(AFO? POV ā ???)
"Kyudaiā¦ how do you think this ends?" I ask casually, settling into my chair to overlook the city below. The evening light spills across the skyline, doing nothing to quiet the ceaseless buzz of the people beneath me.
Gone is the tangle of medical equipment that once kept me here, my body no longer requiring it. Yet for all its emptiness, the room feels no less menacing.
"Masterā¦" Kyudai's voice carries its familiar reverence, warm with certainty. "Everything you set your mind to is bound to succeed. You've planned this for so very long that failure is practically impossible."
"Indeed." I echo softly. "I've planned this for quite some time. Until now, we've lost battle after battleā¦ but victory in the war is finally at hand." The corner of my mouth curls upward.
"All those years ago, had I known Foresight would prove so useful, I'd have taken it far sooner." My smile thins. "Every pitfall. Every failure. Every death waiting for me down every wrong roadā¦ I've seen them all now. The path is laid bare before me, and I need only walk it."
What I do not say is that almost every path I've seen has led me to a tragic end, sooner or later. And running is the only reason I've survived this long.
'But not for much longer.' I conclude thoughtfully.
"Everything else is prepared, Master." Kyudai says, crossing to the terminal. A map of Japan blooms across the wall, dense with markers. Prisons, population centers, and more. "You need only give the word, and we can begin." He gestures across the display. "All the clones are in position, awaiting your order."
I nod slowly, letting my gaze drift over the whole of it.
'To an outside eye, this might look entirely unnecessary.' I muse. 'A grotesque waste of time and resources.' The thought almost amuses me. 'But this is the bare minimum.'
Thousands of my own clones, seeded through every marked city. Hundreds of Kurogiri clones stationed across the nationā¦ but not for anything functional. Simplyā¦ to buy time. And beneath it all, the Nomu, waiting in the dark to deliver a fatal blow to any hero that dares stand in my wayā¦
'And then, all at once, every prison in the country will be liberated. Every villain and criminal will be unleashed, burning with a vengeance against this society.' My smile returns, unhurried. 'However will their precious heroes cope?'
My eyes settle on one marker set apart from the others. A target without any troops assigned for now.
"Treasure is always well-guarded." I murmur, rising from the chair. "And when the guardian cannot be defeatedā¦ his gaze simply needs to be turned elsewhere."
I pause for a moment, staring out of the window. "And what in all the world could draw his eye more surelyā¦ than I?"
Behind me, without a word passing between us, Kurogiri unfurls a portal, violet mist parting the air.
"Begin the operation, Kyudai." I command, and step through the portal.
My vision opens onto the mouth of a narrow alley, and the noise rushes in all at once ā the roar of the busiest street in all of Japanā¦ Shibuya Crossing. Thousands upon thousands, flowing through the intersection in every direction, none of them sparing a glance at me as I step out of the shadows.
I move into the crowd like a stone settling into a river. Measured and patient. Kurogiri remains in the alley. After all, he's far too recognisable.
I measure the distance as I walk.
'ā¦Eighteen. Nineteen. Twenty meters.' Deciding that I'm far enough, I stop. I turn to regard the space between myself and Kurogiri. 'And nowā¦ it's time to play.'
As soon as I finish the thought, Kurogiri seizes, his whole form snapping rigid, the yellow lights of his eyes blowing wide with deep fear and pain.
Then, every scrap of light within ten meters of him dies, swallowed at once into a sphere of perfect black, like a gaping hole ripped out of the world.
Wind screams inward across the crossing, shoving the crowd staggering back, and then the dark inverts, light rushing back in, and everything the sphere had touched shatters like struck glass, disintegrating into nothing.
And from the ruin of that space, a figure appearsā¦ its face lost entirely behind a smooth, featureless mask.
The world seems to fall silent, its gaze locked on meā¦ and then I hear itā¦
"Found you."
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A/N: Hello Everyone! How are you all? If you've enjoyed the chapter and book thus far, please consider leaving me some comments, reviews, or power stones. It really helps the book out.
So... I did warn you. How to put this, it's unfortunate because of the release schedule, when this chapter was made, the next was coming out a few hours later, so... Yeah. Cliffhanger strikes againš. Really wasn't intentional š
You can also read 10 chapters ahead and support me at [email protected]/AMV_WEAKLY
Regardless, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful rest of your day/night š