Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia

At an unknown location

"So that brat Tomura is planning on kidnapping a student from UA during this training camp of theirs," Atrocity said.

"That's correct. There is someone he feels would be a valuable and worthy recruit for the League," All for One informed them. "He will be sending his team to retrieve the student while he stays behind and gives orders."

"The brat's become a leader, finally grown up has he?" Atrocity joked.

"Quite a bit actually," All for One responded seriously.

He wasn't joking either. In the past few weeks Tomura had matured and acted less childish than usual. He was even starting to think more for himself.

"And it's all thanks to Deku," he thought. "Quirk analysis, scientific gifts and helping to develop Tomura. He is one of the best things that I brought into the League."

He meant it. Deku had done so much for the League, even though he didn't know it. His notes had improved their tactics, his experiments had empowered their members. He had been the downfall of several heroes and he didn't even know it. He was a treasured asset, one All for One couldn't afford to lose, especially not because there were certain individuals who despised him for being quirkless. Case point, Atrocity. All for One didn't know how he had managed to tamper with a Nomu but he knew it was him, there were very few individuals that knew where they were being kept. Even then it was hard for anyone to get in without him or Viper knowing about it. Yet he had still achieved it somehow. He knew Viper couldn't have been involved. She served herself and no one else, furthermore she despised Atrocity (she also feared him slightly). All for One made no direct accusation, he merely mentioned that Deku survived an assault from Nomu, something Atrocity said was a pity.

"Will they require any of the Nomu?" Viper asked. "Or any of the drugs that have been developed?"

Deku's safety aside a meeting between the leaders of the League of Villains was occurring. The main topics: The status of the Nomu, Tomura's mission, the League's experiments (Vipers department), and their current allies and technology.

"No that won't be necessary," All for One answered. "He would like to this on his own. He wants to show what his team is capable of before even resorting to those options."

There was no reaction from Atrocity but Viper nodded in understanding. With that the meeting concluded.

With Atrocity and Viper

"Have you completed it Viper?" Atrocity asked impatiently.

"Yes it's complete. It should also do exactly what you want since I tested it briefly on another individual. It was successful," she informed him.

Atrocity grinned evilly which scared her. Viper had worked hard to complete the device just so she wouldn't suffer this man's wrath. It's not as though she had a choice anyway. That device he put inside her made sure she did whatever she was told.

"Good. Everything's going according to plan then," Atrocity stated.

"What exactly are you planning?" Viper asked curiously.

"Something bad," Atrocity responded while still grinning. "Don't worry about it. You'll find out soon enough. For now just keep on working like you normally do and leave everything to me."

This was enough for Viper who quickly left to continue her work.

What he was planning involved Tomura's attempted kidnapping and several devices he had placed around the bar All for One owned.

"This time I won't fail," he declared. "I'll eliminate both All for One and that quirkless bastard he employed."

When Deku survived his assassination attempt he was seriously pissed. He started breaking anything he saw, even his own henchmen. Kuin had fled before she suffered the same fate but he didn't care. He was so angry he didn't even give a shit. It was bad enough that All for One had a lot more power and influence over the League than he did, but when he wanted someone dead and they didn't die, well there was hell to pay. He did acknowledge that it was because of the hero-killer, the vigilante (that Kuin referred to as the Hauler) and that pesky student were the reason he had failed. Their quirks had been powerful enough to defeat the Nomu. He seriously doubted that Deku could have done it, he was just a useless quirkless piece of shit and nothing more. Well, maybe not entirely useless. Atrocity would never admit it but the bastard did take somewhat decent notes on quirks.

While all of this pissed him off he decided not to let it bother him. He had a plan. One that would get him everything he desired and more. All for One would never know what hit him.

To relieve him of his stress Atrocity decided he needed to do his favourite hobby, torture. He liked to choose his victims and then either stab them with various sharp objects, cut off or crush certain body parts, burn them, and psychologically torture them in various ways. His main victims were the quirkless since the only thing they were good for was being punching bags for others to test their quirks on. His other victims included one's with animal quirks (half-breeds like Viper), one's with freakish appearance like Kurogiri's and some human looking one's with weak quirks (if they were weak then there was no point in them being alive, not in his world).

Atrocity took out a hammer from his collection of torture weapons, with this he would be able to feel every blow, every impact. The image of his victim's face in agony, the magnificent screaming that would follow. It all made him smile with sadism and glee.

"Time for some fun," he declared as he headed for the torture chamber.

On top of a building a week later

"I don't do this often little shit so you'd better enjoy it," Razor informed the boy sitting next to her.

"I am," Izuku replied. "This really delicious."

Izuku and Razor were currently sitting on top of a building having doughnuts and hot chocolate with marshmallows. Both of which were quite delicious.

The reason they were doing this: Razor decided to take Izuku out as a special treat for this current event. They both raised their cups.

"A toast, to you actually managing to survive your first year with the League," Razor announced. "Just barely."

Izuku ignored the insult at the end. He was surprised himself.

"Has it really been a year?" he asked. "Time sure does fly."

"I know right," she agreed. "It seems like only yesterday that I had you in a choke hold ready to kill you. Until Kurogiri interfered of course."

It had been a full year since Izuku had joined the League. Razor had surprisingly taken him out for this occasion. It seemed that she was into normal things like sweets which was somewhat reassuring. So much had happened. He had changed a lot as well.

"Izuku," Razor addressed him. "Is there anything about your previous life you miss at all?"

Izuku stared at her surprised.

"Where is this coming from?" he asked.

Razor stared out at the city below them.

"Just curious I guess. It's been a year now so I was just wondering that's all," she explained. "Is there anything you miss?"

Izuku was about to answer when he saw her stopping by a lamppost across the street. She was exhausted and had lost weight. Was she eating properly? It didn't look that way. Izuku felt a pain in his heart that hurt worse than any pain dealt to him by Razor and Bakugo. Without realizing it, a tear fell from his right eye. Razor noticed his reaction and looked at the woman across the street. As soon as she saw her face her question was answered.

"So that's her huh," Razor said softly to which Izuku nodded. "Wow. When you said you had your mother's looks you weren't kidding."

Inko Midoriya did indeed look like her son. Same face, same eyes, and her hair was the same as his used to be before he dyed it black. Though it seemed she had lost weight in the past year. At least that's what Razor gathered from Izuku's description of her.

When she and Izuku had breaks from training he would sometimes talk about his mother. Razor remembered that Izuku was always smiling when he talked about her. He described Inko as kind and caring woman who always stood by him when times were tough. He talked about things they had done together, some of which were the happiest moments of his life. Razor could tell from all this that he loved her deeply.

Inko started moving again until she was out of their sight. Izuku dried his tears.

"She's still looking for me. I can't ever go back though," he said sadly. "I left to keep her safe, I also couldn't bear lying to her. Despite that I still hurt her in the worst possible way."

Razor was silent. She would not admit it, nor would she show it, but she felt sympathy for Izuku. She knew he saved a girl from rape, and helped a student get back on the right track (she heard from Stain). He didn't belong in the League. He was a fifteen year old who should have been in school and making friends. He should have been living his life. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. The moment All for One wanted him Izuku's fate was sealed. It wouldn't have mattered he had refused to join, he would've joined the League anyway under Sensei's influence. To put it simply, he was doomed to the life of a villain, of a criminal, the moment he was discovered. Any shot he had at a normal life was taken from him.

As they finished up their dessert Razor started talking.

"I'll be away for the next couple of days. Sensei has some jobs for me to do," she informed him. "I'm not allowed to say what though."

"You never are," Izuku responded. "While you're gone Tomura's big operation will be taking place. It's actually supposed to start in about an hour or so. He however doesn't want me to know the details about it."

"Typical," she replied. "I guess he wants to be able to brag about it when it 'succeeds'. Whatever the case be on your guard while I'm gone. You never know what could happen."

Razor didn't know why, but she got the feeling something was about to happen. Whether it was good or bad she did not know, but she knew something would happen. She was never wrong about this sort of thing either. She had always gotten this feeling before a major fight or some sort of tragedy that was about to occur. Years of fighting had carved this into her very being. Call it paranoia or precognition she did not know or care, something bad always happened. This time she felt it was about Izuku and she didn't like it.

"I will," Izuku replied. "I'll keep up the training while I'm at it also."

"You had better. If you slack off you'll get weaker," Razor informed him. "And then I'll have to whip you back into shape."

Izuku knew she meant it literally. As they finished cleaning up they headed to the alleyway where they began to part ways. Izuku wished her luck with her missions and Razor asked him to tell her the details of Tomura's mission when it failed, most notably his reaction. It was then that they parted ways.

Outside the bar

Izuku had no intention of checking in for Tomura's mission. He had done all his work so he was finished for the day. While walking he saw Dabi leaning against the wall outside.

Of all the new recruits Tomura had gathered Dabi was the one Izuku got along with the most. He was also the one Izuku interacted with the most. He didn't seem like a bad person though he didn't have the best manners.

He interacted with the other members of the League as well. Twice and Compress seemed nice but ones such as Moonfish and Muscular were complete psychopaths. Toga who was also a psychopath was also somewhat nice. Her primary reason for being in the League was that her life was too hard and she wanted to make it easier to live in this world. The other members also had their reasons for being in the League, some tragic, some noble and some pure evil. Izuku had a little bit of information on each of them. These interactions happened rarely though since he was always busy with work.

"Good evening," Dabi greeted him in a dull tone.

"Hello Dabi," Izuku replied. "How's things? Are you getting ready for the mission?"

Dabi grinned. He too found Izuku easier to get along with than most of the League. Once when they were talking he asked about Izuku's encounter with Stain which the latter explained in great detail. It seemed that the hero-killer was nobler than he thought which was why he was going to work even harder to carry out his will. Dabi actually liked the boy more than he cared to admit. When he heard about his past he felt sympathy for him. Like Izuku, his life hand been ruined by a hero's when he was young. The only difference was he loathed 'that man' with all his existence.

"I suppose I'm okay. I'm already prepared for the mission along with the others," he informed the teenager. "What about you? You here to just check in?"

Izuku shook his head in denial.

"No I'm just heading home since all my work for the day is now done," he replied. "I don't know anything about the mission anyway so there's no point. Tomura doesn't want me to know about it for some reason."

Dabi frowned.

"Is it someone Deku knows?" Dabi wondered. "Our mission is to kidnap a student after all."

"Don't tell Shigaraki I told you this but our mission involves kidnapping a potential recruit for the League," he explained. "He's a slightly well-known figure. I can't tell you any more than that though."

Izuku blinked in surprize. Tomura was kidnapping someone. Why was that such a big deal? Maybe he didn't want him to know in case he got captured and interrogated. For some reason though, Izuku got the sense that it was for a completely different reason.

"Also Shigaraki is staying behind for this one. He's trying to lead from here and ensure no one realizes it's the League," Dabi added.

"His first big assignment and he's not even going," Izuku said. "Well whatever, when you've completed it call me over. Until then good night Dabi."

"See ya," the villain in black responded.

Izuku returned to his apartment then.

At this apartment

Izuku finished brushing and stared in the mirror. His fingers traced over is body where there was once a number injuries. Places where there had been bruises and scars, not all inflicted by Bakugo. Some his scars were . . . . . . self-inflicted. Back then he went through so much that he sometimes did things that relieved him of stress. They had all disappeared due to the regenerative drug, but, sometimes he still felt like they were there.

Thinking about it all now Izuku shuddered. A year had now passed. He was different, he was stronger. However, memories of the days when he was severely bullied still haunted him.

"That doesn't matter now. You're here, you're free from all that," he told himself. "You're safe, you never have to back to that."

He still felt unsure of himself for some reason.

Not wanting to dwell on it any longer he drifted into a deep sleep.