It was a dark and rainy day. The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife. On the highest roof, a vigilante was looking at the situation.
No, he was not a vigilante. He was an anti-hero.
Satoru, known as the villain named Mato, and now operating by the name Dark Matter, was acting as a hero to achieve his redemption.
"I'm not buying it," he said, his voice muffled by his new mask that covered his entire head. "Everything's too quiet, I must check around."
Satoru jumped from one roof to another. Just like my time at U.A., no one knows that Dark Matter and Mato are the same person. I mean, who would want to be saved by someone they know is a villain?
He stopped on a roof when he heard a girly voice. "Stop that, please! I'm just scared!"
As I thought, somebody needs help.
Mato jumped off the roof and landed between the girl and the ones who were annoying her. "Stop right here, guys."
This voice... the girl thought. I've heard this voice before... who is he?
"I know you may fear a Villain to attack you at any moment, especially on a dark and rainy night like this," Satoru continued. "But I mean, look at her. She's clearly scared."
The group of guys nodded. "Tch, fine... but don't wander around at this hour of the night!"
Once they left, Satoru materialized an umbrella made of darkness and gave it to the girl. "Are you okay?"
"Y-yes, I'm okay..." the girl said. She had dolphin-like features and two rabbit-like ears. "What... what is your name?"
"My name?" Satoru repeated. "I... I am no one. You don't need to know my name."
Satoru turned and started to walk away. "Don't wander around at this hour of the night, or it'll happen again. And the next time, I may not be there to help you. Just go to a shelter and hide there."
"Wait!" the girl tried to stop him, but Satoru had already jumped and left. "I... wanted to know his name..."
From afar, another vigilante with a green costume and a yellow cape had seen the situation. "That guy... he saved her before I could do it..."
A car arrived beside the vigilante, and All Might got out of it. "Young Midoriya, are you okay?"
"Yes, All Might," the vigilante--or rather, Izuku--said. "But... that guy looked strange."
"Another vigilante is in town?" All Might wondered. "Who could it be?"
"He had a dark jacket, black boots, and a mask similar to mine..." said Izuku. "So there's someone who's in the same situation as me..."
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It's my fault if people have turned out to be so diffident with each other, Satoru thought while jumping from one roof to another. It's my fault... I've made a mess, and now I'm going to fix this mess on my own.
Tomura-nii, All For One, Toya-nii, the Nomus, the League of Villains... I still care about them, but my instinct says that a final confrontation between us is inevitable at this point. The only one I know something about is Toya-nii; the rest of them haven't shown any sign since we divided.
__________
Inside a mall, a Villain was shooting nails. Endeavor and Oro were hidden behind a column, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Let me handle it, Endeavor," said Oro, coming out of the column. "Light Arrow!"
The light arrow hit the villain in the stomach and knocked him off.
"Good job, Oro," Endeavor said, patting him on the shoulder. "You're worthy of being Number One."
"I know you're just trying to console me," Oro said. "Stop acting as if you care; it doesn't suit you. Still, thanks for your support. It's important for me."
"Endeavor... Oro..." the villain muttered. "It's your fault if we're in this situation now..."
"You're right," said Endeavor.
"I know," said Oro. "That's why we're here."
(After the happenings of the Paranormal Liberation War, Oro, Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist had teamed up. Furthermore, they were also helping Izuku alongside All Might, with Oro still in search of me.)
Later on, the villain and his group were brought to the police, who arrested them.
"Another band of escapees..." Oro muttered.
"And no one of them was related to him," Best Jeanist added.
"We can't get any useful information," Hawks said.
"We must keep going anyway," Endeavor said as he turned to face Hawks.
Suddenly, a metal tube almost hit Oro's foot. As he turned, he saw a group of civilians.
"Go away, birds of ill omen! Go away!"
"If you had caught Shigaraki instead of running away, this wouldn't have happened!"
"Let's leave, guys," Hawks said.
"Yeah," Oro said silently and turned.
"I've heard what the mass media are saying! Shigaraki's after someone else, not you!"
"They showed the people burnt by Dabi! Not to mention the destruction Mato caused!"
"They're related to you, Endeavor and Oro!"
"Your son is responsible for this, Endeavor!"
"Your brother is responsible for this, Oro!"
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Inside Best Jeanist's car
"Okay. Keep investigating the Paranormal Liberation Front, Edgeshot-san." Hawks closed the call with Edgeshot.
"Still nothing, huh?" Oro asked, sit in the back seat next to Endeavor.
"Maybe we should get a few more kilometers away from All Might and Midoriya-kun. If the mass media finds out that we're cooperating with Midoriya-kun, everyone would start to blame him."
"Yeah, the farther we are from Young Midoriya, the better for him..." Oro muttered. Satoru, little brother... where are you? Where are you hiding? Please, come out... Aniki is searching for you!
If my suppositions are true... then All For One will make Shigaraki as strong as possible and then take over his body. I suppose he won't do it with Satoru since he doesn't have the real All For One Quirk, but just a copy. Or so I hope.
"Hey, Oro," Hawks noticed Oro's detached behavior. "What's on your mind? Still thinking about your brother?"
"Yes..." Oro muttered. "I have to find him... I must make him redeem..."
"You really love your brother more than anything, huh?" Best Jeanist said. Oro nodded.
"I'm sure he's not truly a Villain," said Endeavor. "I'm sure you'll find him, and that he'll switch sides with us."
__________
Satoru was standing on another roof, his body ducked. His gaze was down; he was probably staring at the roof.
Suddenly, his Ultra Reflex Quirk activated. He rolled on his left and avoided an attack, though it was still unclear to me what it was or who had thrown it.
As he turned, Satoru saw a woman with purple and pink hair, a semi-muscular body, and a gun in her elbow.
"You're the famous Satoru Akiyama," she said. "The one he asked me to kill."
"Oh, so he's starting to send big shots to me, huh?" Satoru muttered. He did not panic, he did not wonder what to do; he just stood here, staring at the woman right in her eyes. "Anyway, you're pretty famous, too. You're Lady Nagant, right?"
"Bingo, Akiyama," Lady Nagant said. "Do you know the location of a guy called Izuku Midoriya? I must go after him when I'm done with you."
"You're saying that as if I'll let you beat me."
Satoru got into position, ready for the fight.
"Show me how much of a threat you are for All For One, Akiyama Satoru!" Lady Nagant exclaimed.
She is a hitman sent by All For One to kill me, Satoru thought. And what the hell could she want from Izuku? Does she want to kill him, too? Nah, don't think so. AFO'd never kill someone with the power he wants to steal so badly.
Satoru jumped off the roof. Before clashing with her, I must understand what Quirk she has and how she fights.
"If you'll do as I say," Lady Nagant went after him. "I won't tear apart your limbs before killing you."
"Even if you tear my limbs apart, I have a Regeneration Quirk," Satoru said, dodging some bullets Lady Nagant was already throwing at him. "I might die before they regenerate, though. I still can't control it well."
Satoru propelled himself into the air thanks to the wall of the building and started to float in the air. Air Walk Quirk: activated.
Lady Nagant leapt on another roof and kept throwing bullets made with her hair at Satoru.
All I can do right now is run, Satoru thought as he ran in the air thanks to Air Walk. If I manage to reach Izuku, maybe he could help me fight her, since I don't like fighting women and Lady Nagant's after him, too!
Search Quirk: activated.
There he is.
__________
Izuku was standing on a roof when he suddenly heard something.
"There's no time to explain, just know someone's after us!"
Satoru pushed Izuku off the roof and made him dodge one of Lady Nagant's bullets.
Bingo, she thought. Two birds with one stone.
"You're the vigilante who saved that girl earlier..." Izuku said as he started to float in the air.
"And you're Izuku Midoriya, right?" Satoru asked.
"Yeah, it's me..." Izuku said.
"I don't think it's the right time to talk!" Satoru miraculously dodged another one of Lady Nagant's bullets. "That woman is called Lady Nagant, and she probably wants to kidnap you, and she surely wants to kill me!"
I don't know who this guy is, Izuku thought. But he seems like an ally, at least for now, so I'll fight alongside him!
Chapter 71 - End