7 Chapter 7: Rebranding

(Rere chap)

1 year later

Throughout the year Shin has been constantly refining himself physically and mentally, physically he has been pushing himself to the very brink in terms of his fitness, his use of quirks trying to hone them to perfection.

Mentally he has been driving himself by studying all types of education, physics, engineering, computer science, agriculture, finance, economics, and many more.

Currently on top of a roof Shin stood there along with Dabi looking over the city at the dead of midnight.

"Okay so you brought me up here Shin what now?" Dabi said, confused at Shin's actions.

Usually they train every night. Basically Shin teaches him how to improve and use his quirk in all sorts of new ways but today he just told him to follow him.

"Today I want to see how far you can go in terms of your resolve." Shin said not looking at Dabi but still looking down at the city as if he was looking for something.

"My resolve? What do you mean, I'll do whatever you ask me to do, what more is there?" Dabi spoke confused at Shin's action.

Over this year Dabi had grown to deeply respect Shin and thought of him as a figure his dad never could be to him which sometimes weirded him out since Shin was only six.

"Would you do anything?".

"Yes." Dabi spoke resolutely.

"We'll see." Shin said and after that just continued looking at the city.

They sat there for an unknown amount of time as Shin just stared out into the city, Dabi still didn't know the purpose of Shin's actions however he had decided to put his trust in him so he waited patiently until a sudden scream disrupted it.

"STOP!" A woman screamed out desperately.

"PLEASE I'LL GIVE YOU WHATEVER YOU WANT SO PLEASE!." She crieed in another desperate attempt but her plea's continued to go unanswered.

"Shut up and just give me a taste BITCH!" A man shouts back, overwhelming her voice.

"Let's go." Shin jumped off the building immediately in that direction.

Dabi, still confused at his actions, nevertheless followed him down, they ran through the alley before seeing a rugged and dirty man choke the helpless woman while pulling down her pants.

"Kill the man." Shin ordered pointing his finger and Dabi just nodded his head.

Dabi walked down the alley, he'd never killed a man but he was not scared of the thought of killing since he knew if he wanted to be strong he had to do whatever it took even if it meant killing.

Flames ignited in his palms as a blue hue started to illuminate the once dark alley, the man noticed a light even from the corner of his eyes immediately cocking his head to the right.

He might be in a crazed lust but he was still aware of his surroundings, looking towards the direction he saw a man dressed in black walking alongside blue flames.

"What th-" But before he could finish his sentence a compacted blast of flames hit his chest.

"ARRRG!" He shouted in pain while being thrown back causing the defenseless woman to drop onto the ground.

The man saw the flames start to devour his chest and in a panic he started hitting himself with his hands trying to put out the fire though his efforts became useless and instead the fire seemed delighted by this interaction as they became more violent.

Seeing his efforts were for not he desperately scrambled to take off his shirt before throwing it to the side.

His shirt didn't even get a chance to fully descend to the ground as the flames completely swallowed them leaving only ash in its place, he laid on the ground in a sweat driven panic with only his pants and shoes left.

"WHAT THE HELL! YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!" The man shouted angrily toward Dabi.

"That's the point." Dabi simply spoke as more flames trickled out of his palms.

He held his hands forward and another pillar of flames launched out flying through the alley at high-speeds.

The man tried to scramble backwards as a blue light started to reflect in his fear riddled eyes, unable to move by the sudden fear he just watched like a deer in headlights as the flames approached closer wanting to devour his whole being.

"AHHH!" The man screamed as the flames connected, feeling his flesh boil his nervous system started to send urgent warning to his brain.

His instincts kicked in trying to roll on the ground to put them out but Dabi just kept adding more fire to the man, the fire started to slowly consume him with the only thing heard being him wailing in pure agony.

The woman watched in horror watching her rapist being melted alive before the only thing remaining in his place was not a body but just black ash.

Dabi just looked at the ash silently, a gust of wind blew the ash into the air leaving no evidence behind except a single scorch mark.

The woman watched this interaction holding her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks seeing a man die right in front of her unable to move at the fear of angering this murderer.

"What should we do with her?" Dabi pointed at the girl wondering if Shin had any plans to let her go or erase her memory.

"Oh that's simple." Shins added like to was obvious walking closer to Dabi.

"Kill her too." Contrary to his words a warm smile formed on his face.

"W-what?" Dabi flinched at Shin's words.

The woman hearing the small child command the murder to kill her started to panic, more tears fell from her face before bowing in front of them.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" She begged wholeheartedly as more tears ran down her face.

"I won't say anything! I swear! So please spare me!" She wailed in a snot filled plea looking up towards Dabi in an attempt to save her life.

"B-but she did nothing wrong?" Dabi said, trying to change Shin's mind.

Dabi was comfortable in killing scumbags like his father, but he has never once thought about killing an innocent person much less a defenseless one.

"You said you would do whatever it takes right? Well prove it by killing this woman." Shin wanted to see how far Dabi would go on his own as he was quite curious at his willingness to do what he told him.

Dabi saw his cold red eye's however he just looked down, a swirl of emotions and thoughts circulated his mind at this situation.

"I'm innocent, I've never stolen, I've never committed a crime, and I pay my taxes SO PLEASE!" The woman said, trying to bargain for her life crawling closer to Dabi.

Dabi frowned at her pathetic state, seeing her crying and crawling closer to him reminded her of him when he always tried to appease his father.

"Dabi, to be better than your father, you must do whatever it takes, and besides no one is completely innocent, people silently judge and mock people all the time, just some people are better at hiding than others." Shin's words echoed in Dabi's heart as the resolution in Dabi's eyes started to change.

"Following me on this new path requires you to get your hands dirty, you'll do 'good' things and you'll do 'bad' things but most importantly you'll do what I tell you." Shin continued before ending up behind him.

"You want strength? You want revenge? Well there's always a price NOW KILL HER!" Shin yelled and Dabi just clenched his fist.

Looking down at the woman all he saw was her continuing to beg him to spare her life, to let her go.

Through all of this he knew one thing, if he gives up Shin will give up on him, and deep down he couldn't let that happen.

Dabi had finally found someone who believed in him; he couldn't just throw it away for some girl.

Closing his eyes he threw away all the weak thoughts within him before opening them revealing his firm resolve.

The woman saw his eyes and started to shiver at how cold they have become, a feeling of fear started to form in her heart as she started to crawl backwards.

She tried to scramble away completely turning her back however Dabi put his foot on her back stopping her escape.

"PLEASE PLEASE SOMEONE ANYONE!" She cried out in a desperate attempt for anyone to save her.

She scratches at the ground trying to pull away from his hold breaking her nails in the process however the pain didn't stop her from continuing as her natural instinct to survive had kicked in with her only goal being to escape to preserve her life.

"I will do whatever it takes." Dabi said to himself but in reality it was directed towards Shin who was calmly watching the interaction before looking at his watch.

He didn't feel pity nor did he feel a single ounce of sadness for this girl. Shin had ambitions and he needed people that would do the dirty work for him and Dabi was one of those people.

Dabi put his hand on her back as the blue fire formed onto the woman's body causing it to spread like wildfire across her whole being.

"AHHHHHH PLEASE PLEASE STOP! STOP!" She cried out feeling the pain of burning alive.

Tears continuously rolled down her face as her life flashed before her eye's realizing that death was approaching, she continued to scream out but no one heard her calls for help.

The fire consumed her whole body leaving nothing behind even the rings around her fingers were not spared as they burned up as well.

Dabi stood there hearing the cries of the woman repeated in his head in a loop while silently looking at the place where she was moments before.

They stood there in the alley before Dabi looked back, seeing Shin nod his head in approval at his actions; he felt gratified for his actions as the sadness lessened in his heart.

"So should we get out of here? She made a lot of....noise." Dabi said and Shin just shook his head.

"I made a barrier of still air that made noise unable to escape though we should probably leave since someone could have heard her early screams." Shin turned around slowly walking out of the alley, Dabi looked down before walking away to follow Shin.

They walked for a while arriving at the abandoned building they met at a year ago.

It now has a bed, furniture, toilet, and along with food there's protein powder and other supplements.

Dabi didn't utter a single word through the walk back as the sight of the woman's face was still clear in his mind as the whole interaction kept playing on repeat.

Shin knew it would take some time for him to adjust and didn't rush him but decided to break the awkward silence between them once they reached the building.

"Dabi I think you should take some time, you obviously don't have the mental fortitude so I'll come back in a week to check on you." Shin ruthlessly stated walking away and Dabi snapped out of his daze processing his words.

"WAIT!" Dabi called out and Shin stopped slowly turning his head.

"I...I don't know why you had me killed her but I trust you so please don't give up on me." Dabi said anxiously, not wanting Shin to think less of him.

"Dabi, I'm not giving up on you." Shin said walking closer to Dabi.

"I just think you're not ready t-." Shin said but this time Dabi interrupted him.

"I am, I know the road to my goal will be difficult and I know you will guide me, and knowing that I have chosen to follow you so please." Dabi said as a fire of determination lit in his eyes looking sternly at Shin.

Shin looked at him for a long time observing his mannerisms and actions closely before nodding.

"Ha okay, but take tomorrow off, that's non negotiable." Shin ordered reaching up on his tippy toes to pat him on the shoulder.

Then once he finished he turned around and walked away as Dabi watched him leave before he completely disappeared into the night.

'I will do whatever it takes.' Dabi resolutely thought, turning around walking into the building.

Shin arrived at the orphanage and was hit with deja vu but instead of Mrs. Whiteworth on the orphanage's doorsteps Inasa was crossing his arms clearly angered.

"Inasa?" Shin said, raising an eyebrow and once Inasa saw him he angrily stomped his legs over to him in an exaggerated manner standing directly in front of him.

"Where have you been, do you know how late it is!" Inasa stomped his feet impatiently on the ground.

"What are you my mother." Shin rolled his eyes and a tick mark formed on Inasa's forehead.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!" Inasa yelled, stomping his foot on the ground more aggressively.

"Okay geez I was out training." Shin just rubbed his forehead in annoyance.

"WITHOUT ME!" Inasa said and his stomping became furious as the ground became muddled in his footprints.

"So that's where you have been sneaking off to every night, why didn't you take me?" Inasa calmed down before staring directly at Shin, making him sigh.

"Because you're not ready." Shin relented,he would eventually have to show Inasa the 'truth' of this world, well a truth that would make Inasa listen only to him.

"Not ready ME!" Inasa said once again resuming his stomping.

"What could I possibly not be ready for!" Inasa said, jumping up and down before Shin stopped him looking seriously at him.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Shin said and Inasa calmed down looking at his serious friend.

"What do you think of the world Inasa?" Shin said, walking past him into the orphanage.

"The world uhhh......mean? I guess?" Inasa rubbed his chin in contemplation before coming to a simple answer.

"It's unfair especially for us right." Shin's words coaxed Inasa's thoughts, making him nod following him before they arrived at the caregiver's office.

"Yeah." Inasa agreed sadly.

"Well I want to change that, I want to change the world." Shin spoke and Inasa looked at him in shock.

"Originally I was going to show you this when you got older but now's as good as any." Shin said, opening Mrs. Whiteworth's empty office walking towards the filing cabinets before pulling out a file with the name 'Inasa Yoarashi'.

Shin turned around, handing the folder to Inasa before going back to the filing cabinet while taking out a folder with his name on it and pulling up a chair sitting on it.

"What's this?" Inasa said opening up the folder.

"It's your threat assessment, everything about you like your likes and dislikes, tabs of Mrs. Whiteworth keeping track of you over the years, the overall aspects of your quirk, and this one in my hand is mine." Shin said and Inasa's eyes widened.

'Threat?' Inasa thought looking down at the folder before opening it.

Inasa might come off as a loud, energetic, idiotic, and overall unserious person but when he puts his mind to something he's actually quite smart and can even read at a 8th grade level.

Inasa read through the document while carefully reading each word, his eyes scanning each and every word while turning the pages fast.

Inasa sat there silently and Shin didn't disturb him before he stopped, the only thing he felt was immense confusion and sadness.

"Why?" Inasa mumbled out, unable to utter anything else looking towards Shin.

"Why do they treat us like future villains, why do they look down on us, or why did I show you this." Shin said and Inasa just nodded.

"First since you are related to a villain they think you'll follow in their footsteps and become just like your parents."

"But I'm nothing like my father!" Inasa shouted and Shin just put up his hands.

"I know Inasa, I know you very well were friends after all but its different for them." Shin said, holding his hands up innocently.

"Different?" Inasa questioned and Shin walked up to him and picked up a piece of paper labeled 'Threat assessment' with a 'High' right next to it.

"You read the part about your Threat level right." Shin said, waving the paper in front of him causing Inasa to nod.

"Your quirk has a lot of potential but some people look at it as not just potential but as a threat so the government wants to make sure you don't develop any bad tendencies and if you do they'll snuff out the problem before you can really develop your quirk." Inasa gritted his teeth at Shin's words.

"What's more they even treat you like you're a future villain making your life as difficult as possible." Shin said like a devil's whisper.

"They do?" Inasa felt confused at his words leaning in closer in an act of seeking more answers to his countless questions.

"Well think about it, they put you in a crappy place, refuse to change the outlook society has on you, and most of all since your birth you have been branded as a lost cause."

"And that leads to the second reason being why do they look down on us." Shin just threw his file at Inasa.

Inasa eyes widen once more before he realizes Shin is in the same boat as him seeing similar things written in his file also.

"They look down on us because of our origins as you can see I have also been branded by being related to a villain even though it doesn't even list what villain I am related to and I'm also surveyed by Mrs. Whitworth well it's more like I tell her what to write ."

"They see us as the lowest of the low and just want to watch us struggle while they sit at the top mocking us and making our lives as difficult as possible.".

"Now why did I show you this Inasa, because I believe you can follow me and help me change the world." Shin said, getting out of his chair once more, kneeling in front of the sitting Inasa.

"Do....do you really think I can help you and can we really change the world?" Inasa said and Shin just patted his shoulder.

"Inasa I believe if you follow me we can make a difference, and we can make such an impact on this world so people like us never have to suffer again." Inasa's eyes sparkled at his words as he truly believed in Shin.

"It will be hard but I believe this world can be changed for the better." Shin words hit Inasa like a freight train seeing him extend his hand towards him.

Inasa clenched his hands squeezing the papers below him, after reading these documents Inasa was angry but also very confused, he didn't understand a lot of it but he understood what they meant.

'I want to help Shin be that change.' Inasa thought crumbling the papers below him, he stood up looking directly at Shin.

"I will do whatever it takes." Inasa spoke firmly, grabbing Shin's hand firmly.

"Great!" Shin said, using his other hand to pat him on the shoulder.

"Well let's go to sleep, we still have to wake up early to go to school." Shin said before both of them let out a sigh at the realization of school.

"Yeah you're right I'm pretty beat." Inasa said, handing the documents to Shin who put them back in their respective places.

They both walked out but before the office was completely out of sight Inasa looked back for a while before going back to his bed next to Shin. Inasa lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling before closing his eyes as a determination started to formulate.

'Shin I'll follow you, I know it will be tough but I will do my best to keep up with you.' Inasa thought resolutely before dozing off to sleep.

The next day Shin and Inasa were on the bus, Shin was staring out the window while Inasa was snoozing next to him.

The bus stopped and all the kids huddled off the bus as one particular girl was standing at the entrance.

Shin got off and was immediately hugged but he didn't budge an inch looking down seeing Toga happily hugging him.

"Good morning Shin!" Toga said, sniffing his scent, rubbing her face on his chest.

"Hey Toga." Shin said, patting her head.

"Geez Toga, it's so early and you're so energetic." Inasa said, rubbing his eye's walking beside the two.

"Hi Inasa." Toga said however she didn't look up at him, still rubbing her face in Shin's chest.

Shin was used to this because everyday Toga waited by the bus stop for him, they would always walk to class as she gripped onto him and every time Inasa had to pry her off of him.

"SHIN!" A crazed voice screamed out.

Shin looked towards the voice and let out a sigh seeing Bakugo stomp his way over to him, throughout last year Bakugo sat next to Shin and Inasa however the latter didn't even mutter a single word to them through the entire class but everyday after class Bakugo would challenge Shin and would lose every single time.

"Bakugo, can we do this later? We have to go to class." Shin said already knew he's going to beat him into the dirt and Inasa nodded his head because he too knew the outcome as well.

"What are you scared?" Bakugo coaxed, raising his chin in the air.

"For your well being yes." Shin said, walking away from Bakugo.

"Yeah that's what I thought...…wait." Bakugo's voice was filled with confidence before realizing the meaning in Shin's words.

"YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT YOUR WELL BEING BECAUSE YOUR DEAD!" Bakugo yelled crazily while Shin kept walking with Inasa and Toga.

"Nope, still alive."

"WELL YOU WON'T BE FOR LONG!" Bakugo screamed, running after him.

*Sigh*

Shin halted his movements and turned around looking at the fiery Bakugo.

"Fine but after school I wouldn't want you limping in-between class" Shin said rubbing his forehead with his spare hand.

"You're so thoughtful Shin!" Toga smiled merely rubbing against him.

"So thoughtful." Inasa sarcastically spoke while rolling his eyes.

"Tsk well prepare for a funeral." Bakugo gritted his teeth giving Shin the death glare.

"Then I better bring some flowers for your funeral." Resuming his walk inside.

"FOR YOUR FUNERAL! ARGH!" Bakugo yelled, stomping his foot on the ground.

They walked inside as Shin walked Toga to class and as usual Inasa had to forcefully take her off of him.

"Toga come on you're still doing this LET HIM GO!" Inasa said in disbelief, trying to get her claws off from Shin.

"But he smells so gooooooooood just 5 more minutes." Toga whined holding onto Shin as if she let go it would mean her demise.

Shin just sat there smiling because he knew if he asked her she would pout at him the whole day so he just let Inasa do the dirty work.

Inasa finally managed to pry her off of Shin before stepping in between them making sure she doesn't once again get her claws into him.

"See you after class Toga." Shin waved behind Inasa.

"Promise." Toga pouted up a storm giving Shin puppy dog eyes.

"Promise." Shin reassured her.

"YEAH!" Toga jumped in the air, completely changing her attitude while smiling warmly.

Shin and Inasa walked into class taking their seats next to each other at the very back as Shin took the cliche protagonist's seat by the window.

Bakugo arrived later, flinching at their sight before glaring at both of them. He sat as far away as possible from the two before another familiar face walked through the door.

A green haired kid shyly walked in and upon looking around noticed Shin and Inasa and unlike Bakugo he walked up to the both of them.

"H-h-hey Shin, hey Inasa, It's me Izuku Midoriya we w-w-we're in the same class last year, a-a-and I hope we can get along and have a good year." Izuku stuttered out looking down at the ground, not even making eye contact with Shin and Inasa.

"Ok." Inasa said before dozing back to sleep.

"Thank you Izuku, I hope you have a good year as well." Shin said, smiling at Izuku.

'If I murdered him how much would the world change?'

Shin often wondered this and sometimes contemplated killing Midorya though he decided to wait and make his decision before high school.

Izuku smiled nodding his head, but had yet to even look up from the ground taking a seat in the front of the class.

Class went by slowly while the teacher kept throwing stuff at the sleeping Inasa, and Shin just looked out the window.

*Class Bell*

The class bell rang and with it all the kids hurried out of the classroom. Inasa rubbed his eye's and Shin packed his books before leaving the classroom. Toga was waiting patiently and upon seeing Shin smiled, running up to him.

"Shin!" Toga said latching onto Shin's arm smelling his scent not even caring about the eyes looking at them.

"Shin!" Another shout resounded but this time it was behind him.

Shin looked behind him, seeing Bakugo clutching his fist in a rage looking directly at him.

Shin nodded and all four of them walked to a small clearing but another person tagged along when no one was looking sneakily following them.

Shin knew Izuku followed them secretly to every one of their fights and did not care even though he knew Izuku had a habit of studying people.

Shin wasn't worried because he always has hidden cards and rarely shows all he could do, especially against Bakugo.

They arrived and Toga let go of Shin and stood off to the side with a bored looking Inasa.

"Does Bakugo enjoy getting beat up by Shin?" Inasa wondered as even an idiot would know the outcome of this fight.

"GO SHIN GOt!" Toga said not even listening to Inasa as her eyes were totally glued on Shin and Inasa just face palmed.

"You ready to die SHIN!" Bakugo yelled out as sparks flew out of his palm.

"No dying isn't really my style just like winning isn't your style." Shin fired back at Bakugo and hearing this a vein appeared on Bakugo's forehead.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Bakugo shouted, sprinting towards Shin.

"Your death threats are getting really old"