My League Of Villains

"What are you doing?"

"Wh-" His words were cut off by a kick to the c.h.e.s.t.

"Is this what are you doing here, all alone? Drinking and smoking? I won't let you ruin your health! What if someone from the Academy finds this out? You'll be expelled, idiot!"

Jinnai kept punching and kicking him. But, he didn't defend himself. As always, he was helping him. As always, he was right. The beating stopped.

"I was late for the train. I'm staying here tonight. Never do this again," he said, short of breath "Never."

Jinnai woke him up in the morning. His body was sore, but he insisted on doing their early training routine. He even prepared breakfast after it. His master always took great care of him. A week passed from the Sports Festival and one news was all over the media. Ingenium was almost killed by a villain. What's more, Stain, the Hero Killer, as everyone called him, didn't stop there but went on a killing spree, targeting heroes. When Jinnai heard, he decided to stay with him and put him through intensive training. He said that dark times were coming. At school, it was time to hand in Internsh.i.p.s applications. It was possible, for students scouted by the various organizations, to apply for a stage at one of those proposed to them. Since he was the winner of the Sports Festival he received an invitation from almost all of them, except the JSDF. It was probably because he was quirkless, or because his qualities weren't those needed at the moment in the army. Teachers and classmates alike were sure he was going to apply for the Police Force. In the beginning, he was sure too, but, after refusing All Might's offer and seeing Bakugou on TV, he started to doubt. He had the feeling he stopped seeing people the same way he used to before. It started to change a long time ago. He was becoming more cold and cynical. The way he hesitated to save Bakugou... This wasn't him, the kid who wanted to be a hero. He was criticizing others, but he failed to notice his own sins. He felt he wasn't worthy of the golden badge. He didn't deserve the fame and love which accompanied it. In the end, it was Stain's killings which helped him decide. His victims were apparently chosen randomly, but he knew there was a pattern. He knew because he knew what he was thinking. Those heroes... were the opposite of what they represented. He thought of himself as a strict and hypocrite judge, but Stain was on a whole other level. He admired him, from a certain point of view. He was someone with his own code and the conviction to uphold it. Something he lacked. He couldn't really bring himself to call him a mad man. But Stain was wrong on one thing: it wasn't right to kill the false heroes. Society would remain the same. It was necessary to change it from the inside. That's why he chose the Secret Services. He would save people from themselves.

"Are you sure?"

Yuuji-sensei was walking beside him in the corridor. He wasn't the type to get emotional and interfere with his student's choices, but this time was different. His instincts told him that Izuku Midoriya was behaving like a totally different person. Also, their discussion on justice in the Interview was still fresh in his mind. After all, it was rare for him to lose an argument. His image of the boy was now totally overturned by his d.e.s.i.r.e to enter the Secret Services.

"Yes. I realized I was wrong. I have to go somewhere where I can make the most of my talents. Only if I can grow, I will be able to achieve my goals."

Yuuji-sensei sighed. He couldn't deny his words, but he still thought a pure soul like him wasn't a good match with that place full of snakes.

The Secret Service HQ was located in Chiyoda. As he was used to the Academy's practical and simple structure surrounded by green, it was difficult to adjust to the elegant and sophisticated building standing in the middle of the city. Silver and red marble danced in an intricate work of art which jumped from wall to wall, distracting him from his duties. It was understandable since his duties were those of a secretary/clerk. He had to prepare the coffee, to run from office to office delivering doc.u.ments, to retire doc.u.ments from the various Ministries and Courts, and to keep track of the agenda. All of this for his supervisor. The middle-aged man was sleeping in his chair behind the desk.

"Hey there, Midoriya! Slaving today too?"

The mocking voice was of another trainee, Shinichi Uematsu. He was two years older, and he was scouted from a prison. He wasn't dangerous, but he was a skilled hacker who put his nose where he shouldn't have, so, instead of rotting in jail, he was offered a new identity and a job. He had to serve ten years, but he always said he liked it so much he might stay even after that.

"The old man is taking a nap. I wonder when the real training starts."

Uematsu giggled, "Maybe, it already has."

Midoriya scoffed at him. "By the way, did you find anything on ARP and SPP?"

The wolf loses the fur but not the vice. Uematsu was still a hacker in his heart and it wasn't hard convincing him to work with him. Technically speaking, parts of the ARP were forbidden by the Geneva Convention, and the SPP were Top Secret, so investigating on them was treason. The theory was public, but the actual practical procedures were highly confidential to avoid any abuse or villain counter attacks.

"I almost cacked MJ's password. With that, I can copy his ID and access the data. A piece of cake."

Those were good news. For someone like him, it was his only hope of gaining an advantage in this world. He could've waited a few years and learn them, but he preferred to start from now, and to get them at the source. Midoriya looked at the clock. He could call it a day.

The streets near his home were dyed red by the sunset, but the shadows were already stretching, and soon it would be night. It was a habit of his to take a shortcut through the back alleys on his way from the station since there were a lot of stray cats. As he was about to pet one, a loud noise scared them all away. Izuku took cover behind a pair of trash bins.

"I remember you, Stendhal. You didn't change much." [Master Jinnai...?]

"I remember you too, Brick Punch. Long ago, I let you go. I won't make the same mistake twice."

The unsheathing of a katana ringed in the cold evening air. Midoriya couldn't take it anymore. He took the metal lids of the trash bins and threw one in the direction of the threatening voice. The man confronting his master was wearing tattered clothes and bandages. His body armour and shoes were showing the hilts of many blades and in his hand, the sword flashed and easily deflected the incoming attack. In his other hand, there was a dripping red knife. His master slumped against the wall.

"Hm? Little hero, your courage is commendable, but this human waste is not worth your sacrifice. I don't want to kill you, so back down." His eyes shined. An aura of killing intent washed over him and paralyzed him on the spot. Jinnai protected him with his body.

"Midoriya, run! He's the Hero Killer, you stand no chance. Call someone!"

But it was too late. Stain's long tongue licked his knife. Under his eyes, Jinnai kneeled like a puppet whose threads were cut and before he fell on the asphalt, the blade of the killer penetrated his heart. A crimson fountain gushed from his c.h.e.s.t, painting little flowers on the dirty grey concrete.

"Don't cry for him, he was a worse monster than you think"

But Izuku wasn't crying. He was looking at the blood expanding like a sea. His clothes were red. His hands were red. The world around him was dimming, becoming darker and darker, but all he could see was red. Stain's scarf disappearing behind a corner was also red. He impressed his figure in his mind. He wanted to believe it was for revenge. But, what he was thinking was: [The Hero Killer... He had no 'class'.]

His eyes wandered on his mentor's corpse. He couldn't find the emotions he should be feeling. Sorrow. Mourning. Fury. Only a terrible sense of emptiness.