MHA: Undying

I sigh, making a declaration to myself that none of my future plans will put me in a position where I can’t act as I want. At least I don’t have to put too much effort into making myself throw up when Shiggy dusts the overconfident opportunist. The thought that I’m implying All Might is competent is enough to make bile rise at the right time to make the thugs think I’m not used to death.

Which is such a ridiculous thought that Himi -disguised as me in my villain outfit- has to push me to stop my laughter from coming out. Well, the push itself doesn’t, but I slip in the vomit and crash to the floor.

I frown as I glare at her, and I just know by the look in her eyes that she’s sticking her tongue out at me. I’ll get you back for this! I mentally yell, while simultaneously taking a large amount of amusement from how obviously unsettled Shigaraki is about the situation. It’s a very good thing that he has one of his dismembered hands covering his face, or else everyone would see how his mouth is hanging open.

He shakes it off soon enough though, and he makes sure One remembers that it’s his job to guard the entrance to the USJ. It would be disastrous if all of the heroes who work at UA managed to interfere. We don’t have enough ‘players’ for that, as Shiggy would say.

Especially with what I did to the Nomu.

But really, why the heck is the brain exposed if it’s a literal insta-kill!? Sure, there’s something to be said for hiding in plain sight -if it’s so obviously unguarded then it can’t possibly be a weak point- but come on! That only works if it doesn’t get hit! As it is we needed the Doctor to bring it back to life, but it’s not the exact same anymore. Not only is it weaker than it was before, but it also can’t move on its own. All For One has to use a quirk to essentially pilot it remotely. It should still be able to match All Might, but it definitely won’t be able to beat him.

Which is why we’ll be relying on my plan for this, as per our little wager. We aren’t going to be trying to kill him here, though we won’t say no if the opportunity presents itself. Instead, we’re going to be targeting his weak point. One that I knew about even when I ‘glorified them’, as Himi said. He’s physically strong while in his muscle form, sure. But there’s two things that transfer across his shifts.

His mind, and his spirit.

I’m hoping that seeing his “dead son” having become a villain will hurt, though I doubt it. He didn’t care when I was alive to him, so why would he care now that I’m dead to him? But on the off chance that it ends up being a ‘I’ll stop you to pay for my mistakes’ thing, or a ‘I will save you from the path you tread’ thing, we have a back up. A reveal that the first plan was a trick, and they’d kidnapped his son to try and turn him to villainy, only for his heroic spirit to thwart their every attempt!

Only for him to die in front of him, after saying how happy he is to see his father again.

All Might can push past the mistakes he’s made -or push them aside, as he’d done to me- but can he take the mental load of failing to save the person who needs him, of them dying right in front of him?

All For One says that he doesn’t think it will have as much impact as I think since All Might ran away when he killed his mentor, and reveals things like I’m planning ‘are all about the timing’. Though the way he spoke about it was odd, calling All Might successor instead of student. When I asked about the strange phrasing, he looked like he was going to tell me something, but ultimately just said the way he talks comes with old age.

I’m shaken from my thoughts by Himi grabbing my arm, both of us chuckling as she drags me to Kurogiri’s mist at Shigaraki’s complaint at our roles. “Aww, don’t worry Shiggy~. Even if Toshinori doesn’t care, his image is at least going to take some damage.”

I nod my head in satisfaction at her dedication to maintaining her act, even when we’re seemingly alone. It probably helps that I’ve given her a bunch of stuff to say for certain situations.

As I’m engulfed in the darkness of the warp quirk, I can’t help but wonder just how much Toshinori will react as opposed to All Might. Or maybe his will is weak enough that the surprise will cause him to revert to his skinny form! But even if he doesn’t care at all and follows Inko’s example, it doesn’t matter.

I can always target Izumi instead.

`~`

“Where the hell is All Might?”

I frown behind my mask as I look up at the crowd of students standing behind three heroes. But one of them has been replaced, All Might nowhere to be seen. But the person standing in for him is much more problematic for us.

“And why is your booty call here!?”

“She’s not a booty call,” I whisper back, thankful that the thugs are loud enough to cover our whispered conversation. “The three of us just had a fun time together that one time.”

“She did leave us a message that she’s down for more though,” Himi interjects, and I blink at her in surprise. She scratches her cheek awkwardly. “Uh, did I forget to mention that? I swung by the warehouse to grab the pillows, and she left a note saying that, along with her phone number.”

“...Huh.” I was not expecting that. I wonder if she’ll still feel the same way after today? Or if the HPSC will try to encourage or cajole her to take advantage of our tenuous connection to try taking us down?

“Putting that aside, it is weird that she’s here and All Might isn’t. Did someone warn them?”

“Um…” I stare at Himi with a raised eyebrow, silent as I watch her squirm. “Well… I might have told her that we’d be attacking UA at some point.” She rapidly waves her hands in front of us in defense. “But I didn’t tell her when! And it was before Shiggy broke in! So it’s not my fault!”

We keep staring at her for another moment before I slowly shake my head, Shigaraki speaking in my stead. “You didn’t think they’d find it suspicious that they get a warning of an attack, followed by a break-in? Even if I used the press as a diversion, Nezu is called Rat Satan for a reason!”

Oh dear, he’s scratching his neck again. And since we’re out in public and he’s trying to be intimidating Mamagiri can’t stop him and give him his medicinal ointment. Which means that he’ll just get more agitated about how agitated his skin is. A self perpetuating cycle that really doesn’t matter right now because wow Mirko is strong! She’s basically slaughtering all of our cannon fodder!

Which doesn’t help Shigaraki’s mood if how deep his nails are digging is any indication. “Kurogiri,” he growls, “portals. Now.”

With only the bobbing of his mist as acknowledgement he starts to portal away, Himi’s surprising words trailing after him. “Send her with Shoko!”

I raise an eyebrow as I give her an inquisitive look, getting a look of wide-eyed innocence in return. “What? I think they’ll get along. They have a lot in common!”

I roll my eyes, settling myself back for the show as Eraserhead is dropped in the crowd of confused villains to replace Mirko. As I watch, I can’t help but compare what I’m seeing with the notes I wrote down from what little video I was able to find of him fighting. Underground heroes tend to be the type who avoid the spotlight, but he’s taken it to the extreme and actively gets rid of anything that manages to get out. But there’s always something.

It’s a shame there’s only so much gratuitous violence and incompetent fighting I can watch before I feel the need to get involved. “So, plan B is a bust. Can we switch to plan FU?”

Not waiting for them to confirm, I draw my knife and charge at Eraserhead just as he knocks out the last of the thugs. I raise my knife to stab him, see him raise his hands to counter-

And I trip.

I feel the cartilage in my nose break as I land flat on my face, and I curl up and hold it since that’s what normal people would do. But what did I trip on?

I use the opportunity Himi provides by attacking Eraserhead to take a peek down, only to see my shoelaces tied together. Himi! You are so getting put in the stockade tonight! I can’t believe that she sabotaged my shoes while we were waiting! I mean, if I thought I could get away with it I would have pranked her too, but still!

Luckily it fits with my ‘reluctant assistant’ trick, and I take the perfect opportunity to ham it up by trying to sneak attack him while Himi’s speaking. But a hero like him doesn’t last as long as he does by being oblivious to his surroundings. He dodges, rolling to the side while Himi shouts encouragement at me. I charge again, but he manages to wrap my arm in his scarf and force me to the ground.

I break that arm in an effort to take him by surprise, and it works! I manage to get behind him, putting my knife against his throat. But as easy as it would be to slit his throat right now, it would mean throwing away any semblance of me being forced to be here. Which I’ll need for when Kurogiri warps Izumi here. So instead, I give him a hint.

“They came to kill All Might. That bird guy, Nomu, is a corpse they stuffed multiple quirks into to get the job done. My hand is going to twitch, and when it does you need to throw me at Midosagi. The rod in Nomu’s head is the weakness. Take it out, and it’ll die again.”

Of course, while all of that is true, the rod protruding from Nomu’s brain is only technically a weakness. I did shove it there to cover up the hole from my knife. And a tracker will let All For One know to make them stop moving if the rod is removed. At least until Shiggy sends him a counter-signal. So it is a weak point in that targeting it will cause Nomu to stop until then, at least.

So when Himi calls out to me, I twitch my hand so he’s free to move, an opportunity that he seizes with skill. Before I’m entirely sure what happens, I’m lying on top of Himi, our faces only inches apart.

I smirk, knowing that she’s doing the same under her own mask. Our words overlap, intermingling despite being the same. ““Is that a knife, or are you just happy to see me?””

I really, really love this girl.