Unrealized Dread

A/N:- Hm... I have been organizing my ideas for this work. This chapter didn't come out the exact way I wanted it to, but it will do. Anyway, there are a lot of hints of future events scattered throughout the chapter.

-----

Okay, maybe lecturing someone right after sleeping with them was awkward, Sora realized. He was in the room designated as 'Quirk Testing'. It was a simple room fore the sole purpose of maximizing the usage of a quirk as it is. As for the reason he was here guiding a girl with her quirk, well, that was the original purpose he had when bringing her over.

"Alright then, how does the suit feel?"

"It fits me perfectly," Tooru responded as she moved her limbs back and forth. She was trying her best to not think about what they were doing half an hour ago.

"Good. We have already established that your quirk is an emitter. As an emitter, it must have a range. I believe that the reason your clothes remain visible is that you subconsciously limit that range to the surface of your skin."

Oh, that makes sense. Tooru was told by the quirk specialist she visited that her quirk made her invisible, but didn't affect objects she held or wore. She had taken that at face value and simply thought of it as an absolute truth. Yet, here she was being told that her clothes can be rendered invisible as well.

"It's simple, really," Sora explained, "all you have to do is feel out your quirk and expand on the range. The reason you're now wearing a skin-tight suit is to make the process easier."

With a nod, Tooru began attempting to control her quirk. As amazing the 'toggle' legacy is, what she needs is a way for her to affect objects other than her body. Since a weapon would be too much, she was left with her clothes.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll succeed by the time you need to go home." Sora smiled.

-----

As Sora said, by the time she needed to leave, she could render the suit invisible. It excited her to no end, as she jumped at Sora, wrapped her arms around his neck and went in for a kiss. Once she realized what she had done, Tooru quickly let go with her face flushed red. That was too bold!

Anyway, Sora offered to teleport her home, which she graciously accepted. She invited him to her home, hoping to introduce him to her parents, but he kindly declined, stating that he had other business to attend to. Despite being slightly disappointed, she didn't hold it against him as she bid him goodbye.

Sora did the same before he teleported back to the mansion. He was immediately greeted by 2B, who was looking at him… curiously(?).

"Is something wrong?"

"No." She responded curtly.

"If you say so," Sora said before he headed to the kitchen in hopes of grabbing a meal. Even though he had eaten with Tooru earlier during a break when providing guidance, it was not enough. He needed much more food than whatever tidbit he ate earlier.

Oddly enough, there was someone else in the kitchen. What was even more odd was the identity of said person. "A2, what are you doing here?"

"Learning how to cook," came a response from the android as she stood in front of the counter with a frown marring her face.

"Why?"

"I was told that I have free reign to do as I pleased, so long as I don't break the rules, correct?"

"Good point. Enjoy cooking, I guess."

"Why are you here?" A2 questioned as she turned to face him properly.

"Wanted to eat something."

"Would you like me to fix a meal up for you? I will make sure it is highly nutritional." A2 offered.

"Sure. Just make sure it is edible."

Instead of getting the joke, A2 seemed to take it seriously as her expression turned into one of determination. Then, she got to work.

Sora had no doubt that she would succeed. As an android with a sub-unit replicant, she had full access to the net. So, if she wanted to cook a specific dish, she could browse thousands of pages regarding said dish in a matter of seconds.

-----

"Why aren't you sleeping?" A woman voiced somewhat groggily.

"Thinking," came a response of a young man.

The two were lying down on a king-sized bed in a luxurious room. The woman was of short stature, dark skin, and had long rabbit ears. As for the guy, he was her lover that might be a bit insane, but she loved him nonetheless.

"About what? Don't you have school or something tomorrow?" The woman inquired in an annoyed tone.

"That's exactly what I was thinking about. Consider this; it has been at least fifty cycles since the last time I was a student at UA. Yet, here I am now, back there once more. This time, I am making huge changes."

"Ugh… seriously? This shit at three? Well, fine. Do you want me to comfort you?"

The young man, Sora, dead panned at the suggestion as he gave the woman, Rumi, a sidelong glance.

"Okay fine, no joking." The woman scoffed. "I heard what you did with that invisible brat."

"From who?"

"Take a wild guess."

Goddamn ARCH. Perhaps, he should limit the intelligence of that impertinent virtual genius after all.

"Why are you telling me this."

"Just discussing your plan. You plan to turn her into one of your puppets, aren't you?"

"It's way less evil than the way you make it sound. Tooru will simply be my go to for information that ARCH can't access by hacking into the students' devices."

Rumi sighed. Apparently, due to a lack of information in one of the cycles he has been through, Sora experienced one of the worst 'endings' possible. It was during the time he was going for 'huge' changes that would would have much bigger ripples than anything he had done before. As fruitful as his actions may have been, it was also highly risky.

So, ever since then, Sora had apparently become overly cautious when it came to information gathering. He wanted to be the one in the shadows that knew everything and had a force that could immediately act upon said information. That's how the Hydra came to be. A special force that was born artificially. Each member was a bio-engineered homunculus with a special set of quirks integrated into them. Hydra was divided into the Heads, groups that were each assigned to a different kind of task. For instance, the Third Head, where Sora had sent Ikaros specialized in recon and counter-intelligence.

"Do you feel anything for her, at all?" Rumi suddenly questioned as she turned to look at him.

"I… Don't know." He responded. After having lived through so many cycles, Sora had already become numb to most emotions. Previously, when the death of a loved one would've instantly had the sin of wrath kick in, now it depended on HOW they died. After all, when you could simply undo a death, it hardly mattered anymore.

In principal, it worked just like how a character in a video game would function. While there are cases of those that mourn for fictional characters, it barely lasts any significant period of time. Sora's experience throughout the cycles has cemented the notion that there is no "end". Yes, he may call the current cycle the final one, but that isn't set in stone in any meaningful way. It was simply something that he repeated to himself every moment as a means of confirming his determination, as well as convincing himself of the certainty of his plans.

"Forget that – found any rats yet?"

Rats. A common term used for a spy or intelligence gatherer. With the timing of the question, Sora concluded that she was referring to UA.

"For now, I have confirmed one and suspect another. The former is in my class and the other in 1B."

"Seriously?" Rumi was a bit surprised. She asked the question, hoping to know if there was a spy or not, but she wasn't expecting there to be more than one. "Wait… Is it that stuck-up woman?"

"Yes, it might be Cathleen." Sora smiled, one that sent a shiver down Rumi's spine. Whenever he smiled like that, things tended to get a bit chaotic. "I see that she is treating me as a serious threat."

"Can't blame her," Rumi remarked as snuggled into him, "you're probably in every nightmare she has."

At that, Sora chuckled wholeheartedly. Cathleen Bate, Yagi's student, and the USA's top hero. Admittedly, she is a remarkable hero, except for one huge flaw. Her idealism far surpasses that of Yagi and Izuku's. No matter what he did, Sora was unable to break her. So, he decided to take on a more direct approach. From the looks of it, things were going exactly as planned.

"Let's get back to sleep," Sora stated with a yawn before pulling Rumi as close to himself as possible.

-----

UA High School. Third Day. Afternoon Classes – Heroics.

-----

Class 1A once again found themselves in the same location they had taken the quirk apprehension test. This time, however, the teacher accompanying them was All Might, and it was obvious they would be doing something different.

All Might took in front of the students with a solemn look on his face. "I am sure that you all recall yesterday's events vividly. That's only to be expected after what you went through. So, today's class will be focused on one of the core fundamentals of heroism: Capabilities."

Murmuring rang out among the students as they glanced at certain classmates. The oddest one being Sora, who was standing alongside Tooru. Now, that wouldn't be weird in and of itself, but it was the fact that she was cheerfully humming as she held on to his arm that stood out. When did they get so close?

All Might coughed once to bring their attention back to him before continuing, "In order to hone your capabilities, we will be leveling the field to have 'fair' matches among you."

"Sir!" Tenya's arm shot up, "How exactly would that be done?"

"All offensive and defensive quirks, either directly or indirectly, will be prohibited. That's right, today, you will all be fighting without your quirks – non-mutation ones, anyway."

This time, the commotion was much louder as the students shared their opinions. Fighting quirkless… To some of them, that was already what they were doing. For instance, a certain invisible girl. Most students stared at her as she unashamedly held on to Sora's arm. At this moment, Tooru looked no different from how she was the day before. A floating school uniform was all that the students could see.

Going by what All Might stated, Tooru would be allowed to use her quirk. Thus, she would have a chance to surprise everyone with her new capabilities. Unfortunately, Sora had other plans for the day…

Sora simply nodded as he focused back on All Might, who appeared to be almost done with listing the rules. The rules were basic ones that simply aimed to prevent students from being severely harmed.

"NOW THEN!" All Might suddenly became a lot more enthusiastic. "WHO WILL BE FACING WHO IS ALREADY DETERMINED."

That piqued the students' curiosity. Did All Might set it up himself? If not, then who? How was it decided? The truth was that the class was divided between those that were excited and the nervous ones.

The matches would determine everyone's skills and talents, and how they fared compared to the rest of their classmates.

"Mr. All Might," Mina spoke up, "can we have a mini tournament?"

That raised a commotion as most students seemed to support the idea. Well, some of them were less enthusiastic than the rest.

"Why have a tournament when we already know who is going to be the winner…" The question was rhetorical one uttered by Denki. Everyone knew who he was referring to.

"But, the winner might not be Hado!" Tenya spoke up. "While Hado may have displayed immense skill in his usage of his quirk, that doesn't mean that he is well-versed in combat without it."

"Dude, do you actually see yourself winning against that guy?" Sero remarked exasperatedly.

To that, Tenya remained silent as he couldn't think of a proper answer. On one hand, it's quite possible to win against Sora, but on the other… well, it was Sora. For some reason, his gut feelings were telling him that he would regret saying 'yes'.

"Hey, now…" Sora spoke up, seeing the tension rise, "You can't just give up before the fight even starts. What kind of hero will you be if you just gave in whenever things get too tough? Where is the determination you all displayed yesterday?"

"That was before you effortlessly destroyed the entire class," Denki spat. Many noticed that he wasn't very fond of Sora, for some reason.

"So?" Sora frowned. "That's all it takes for me to rule over you like a king? You don't intend to improve and beat me?"

Something was wrong. While Sora didn't have much to recall about class 1A prior to them already being licensed heroes, he knew that they were hardheaded idealists. So, why were they so distraught after only one setback? As overwhelming as it was, they shouldn't have been that concerned about it.

"You disgust me," Sora spat. That was truly how he felt.

"Woah, his eyes!" Someone remarked, startling Sora. Did his eyes change color?

"They're pretty…" Mina stated with a dreamy look on her face. "And cool. Very cool."

"Hey, Tooru. What color are my eyes right now?"

"Uh… Purple."

Well, that was bad. For whatever reason, the sin of pride had manifested. It was an odd situation, after all, he hadn't made use of his quirk much. Was he losing control over his quirk even further?

Such worries would have to be set aside, as All Might had the students line up one side into two rows of ten. Then, he called forth the first pair. "Kyoka Jiro versus Rikido Sato!"

"Shit." Kyoka immediately muttered under her breath. Talk about a disadvantageous fight…

"The unfairness in this matchup reeks of the rat's scent," Sora stated as he looked over at Yagi, who was smiling wryly.

"Would you believe me if I told you that the selections were made at random?" Yagi asked.

"Would you?"

"You make a fair point, Young Hado."

"Just call me what you usually do, Buff Oaf. At this point, it would take a literal retard to not realize I am familiar with you all."

"Regardless of that, I am to treat all my students equally."

"Look me right in the eyes and repeat that sentence. Come on."

Rather than look him in the eye, Yagi actually looked away as he stroked the back of his head. Yagi wasn't a convincing liar, something that he had realized long ago. Besides that, he would rather not test Sora's patience, since if there was one thing Sora hated most, it would be hypocrites.

"ARE YOU READY?" All Might bellowed as Kyoka and Rikido stood in front of each other. They both had a serious expression on their faces. Sora's words about not giving in no matter the disadvantages rang through Kyoka's mind. She was going to try her best. "THE WINNER OF THE DUEL IS DECIDED WHEN ONE SIDE IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE FIGHTING."

As for Rikido, he was suffering from a dilemma. Does he take Kyoka seriously, despite the different in their stature and strength? Or, does he hold back, despite that being disrespectful in a lot of ways? The fact that the duel only ended when one side was unable to continue only added to his worries.

Rikido really wanted to bless the one that put him in this situation with a knuckle kiss to the lower jaw.

Quite a few of the students were feeling apprehensive about the soon-to-be massacre. No one in their right mind thought that Kyoka stood a chance, not even Kyoka herself.

'I am screwed.' - Was all Kyoka could think as she stared at Rikido, her earlier bravado slowly wilting.

Sora looked on with disinterest apparent on his face. From what he could tell, the students weren't even aware of why this matchup was done. It somewhat disappointed him, but he did recognize the fact that he was judging first year high schoolers, not adults.

Simply put, most of the students present didn't understand the significance of CQC when it comes to heroism. They had been taught from an early age that it was their quirks and courage that mattered. As for training? Most of them had naturally worked out and such, but those learning self-defense or martial arts was scarce. So, in order to properly cement the importance of CQC techniques and arts, the day's duels have been arranged in a way that will deliver a hard impact into the students' mentality.

Soon, the duel began. The one that made the first move was Kyoka, while Rikido remained in place, still unsure of what to do. Once she was close enough, Kyoka shifted to the side before delivering a sloppy round-kick into Rikido's side. The latter barely even flinched as he took tanked the kick effortlessly. Seeing that, Kyoka frowned as she began throwing punches at his abdomen, which he once again tanked. Thus far, Rikido had yet to take a step back.

"This is ridiculous!" Mina exclaimed with her arms raised. A few students agreed with her, either audibly or with a gesture.

"Why are we even doing this?" Tooru questioned with a sour look (not that anyone could see it).

"That's what you're supposed to figure out," Sora explained, "Why are we doing this?"

Tooru wasn't the only one to hear him, as a few students perked up. Did he know something? From the way he said it, there was a bigger picture that they weren't seeing.

The ones that were the most keen about figuring it out were Momo and Shoto. Each had their own thoughts. Momo belonged to a rich family, so learning martial arts was something that was added to her schedule as early as her eighth birthday. On the other hand, Shoto had intimate familiarity with CQC as a result of his father's "passionate" upbringing. In a way, it was similar. Perhaps, that's why they both came up with the same answer.

"It appears that UA wishes to highlight the importance of unarmed quirkless combat experience." Momo was the one to speak up.

"Correct." Sora smiled. "You figured it out faster than I expected."

"Your words and the way you uttered them gave a lot away."

"I see. Well, you're absolutely right. This entire 'dueling' class is just one big advertisement for martial arts and defense classes in general."

It was at that moment that Rikido finally decided to make his move by throwing a jab at Kyoka's side, easily knocking her to the side as she lost her balance and settled on the ground.

"Just end this already!" Kyoka sat on the ground as she held her left arm with gritted teeth, hissing out the words with significant frustration.

"Buff Oaf, call the match off. The students already have a clear idea of what they're lacking in now."

All Might was more than a little surprised. Sora just told him to stop a match. The very same Sora that manipulated entire organizations into clashing as a hobby. Something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what it was.

"Not to mention, I have a better idea." Sora grinned.

There it was. Yagi KNEW there had to be a hidden reason behind his statement. Whatever it was, someone was about to suffer. He didn't know who, but Sora looked like he was going to set a plan into action.

"Or so I would like to say, but barely anyone here qualifies to demonstrate any abilities when it comes to quirkless combat. A wild guess, but I'd say Momo, Shoto, and Mashirao are the ones to qualify. Perhaps, Eijiro too."

The way he mentioned their names made them stiffen. He was acting way too familiar with them, not even bothering to respectfully call them by their family name. Not that Shoto complained. The less he was reminded of HIM, the better.

"Hey, hey, what's that supposed to fucking mean?!" A certain someone couldn't hold back from shouting.

"You know exactly what I meant." Sora stated nonchalantly, as Katsuki's eyes narrowed.

"I'm guessing you didn't mention yourself because it was obvious?" He spat.

"How smart of you to have figured it out." Sora responded cheerily.

"Okay, that's it. It's about time I showed you where you belong. Fight me. Without your stupid quirk, you will eat the dirt." Katsuki was seething. His brain didn't even register the irony in what he said.

With their height difference, Katsuki's head was slightly tilted up as he glared into Sora's eyes. The latter simply seemed uninterested as he let out a very obviously exaggerated sigh.

"WELL, THAT IS POSSIBLE. COINCIDENTALLY, YOUNG BAKUGO AND YOUNG HADO WERE THE ONE PAIRED UP FOR TODAY'S DUEL ANYWAY."

Coincidence, sure. Sora could only smile wryly as the image of a cackling rat-thing appeared in his head.

"If you want to fight me that badly, then so be it." Sora simply proclaimed. "However, I feel like this will be too unfair. So, you may use your quirk."

What did he just say…? Katsuki couldn't believe his ears. It wasn't that Katsuki hadn't realized that Sora looked down on him. He knew that for a while now. What he didn't realize was just how much he looked down on him. His mind felt conflicted as he couldn't choose between calling his 'bluff' or not.

"YOUNG BAKUGO, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU USE YOUR QUIRK, SEEING THAT YOUR OPPONENT HAS AGREED TO IT."

No… Even All Might was looking down on him! Screw this! They wanted him to use his quirk? Fine! He will make sure to blast off his pretty face.

"You will fucking regret this!" Katsuki exclaimed.

"Sure, sure."

The rest of class 1A were unsure of what to make of the situation. On one hand, they felt like Sora fighting quirkless against a quirked Katsuki was too much. On the other, well, they had a nagging feeling that Sora was not at a disadvantage. It made no logical sense, but that's how they felt.

"NOW, FOR THE RULES." All Might started, hoping to make sure a student didn't end up in an emergency room, barely clinging to his life.

"Let there be only one rule. One that decides the winner once the other opponent is knocked out." Sora interrupted. "Don't worry, I will make sure to hold back."

"Oi! That's fucking enough!" Katsuki couldn't stand it anymore. Just how much more was he going to be disrespected!?

"T-THAT…" All Might nervously uttered. "W-Well fine…"

The students saw All Might's enthusiasm wither. Suddenly, they felt a lot more tense and somewhat excited.

"Everyone, please move away as far as possible. Also, Kyoka, come here for a second."

They didn't waste any time as they did as they were told. He was the overseer, anyway. As for Kyoka, she had trepid expression as she cautiously approached him. Once she was close enough, Sora lifted one arm and settled his palm upon the top of her head, startling her.

Then, Kyoka felt the stinging pain from Rikido's punch earlier fade away. Not only that, but she felt completely refreshed.

"You can heal!?" She exclaimed, shocked. Just when was beginning to think his quirk couldn't get any weirder. All of a sudden, the way they were uninjured in the special test the day before made a lot of sense.

'Oh, right.' All Might figured. He had forgotten about that part of his quirk. Good. Katsuki won't end up in an emergency room, after all

"Why, yes I can." Sora responded with a grin. "It's not limited to physical healing. If you were to ever feel emotionally drained…"

Even though he didn't finish the sentence, Kyoka got the gist of it. With a light blush covering her cheeks, she thanked him before joining the rest of the students in standing to the side.

"Now then, let's fix that ego of yours, shall we?" Sora turned to face Katsuki with a confident gait.

"The only thing that will get fixed is your fucking face." Katsuki responded as mini explosions set off near his palms.

"ARE YOU READY? FIGHT!" The last bit, Yagi shouted in English.

Almost immediately, Katsuki launched toward Sora at an impressive speed, using explosions from his palms to boost himself. Then, he began his onslaught with a right hook, which Sora appeared to dodged easily by leaning to the side. He had his arms behind his back as his blue eyes watched Katsuki's every movement with sharp focus.

Despite missing, Katsuki didn't let down as he continued to throw punch after punch at Sora's sides and head. However, Sora fluidly dodged each attack, his reaction speed surprising Katsuki quite a bit.

This went on for a solid sixty seconds before Sora opened his mouth. "You sure talk big for a child that only knows how to flail his arms."

Before Katsuki could even think of a response to that remark, Sora suddenly made a move. Katsuki felt immense pain in his left cheek as his head snapped to the side. What just happened!? He didn't see Sora attack.

Katsuki tasted iron as a warm liquid began to build up in his mouth. Fuck, he was bleeding. Did the fucking extra use his quirk? He expected nothing more from the loser.

"This is the difference between someone experienced and a random nobody." Sora suddenly said as he made some distance between them. "No matter what your quirk is, if you are untrained, someone determined enough, even if quirkless, can wipe the floor with you."

Sora's voice reverberated loudly, as if his words weren't just intended for Katsuki, but the spectators as well.

"In fact, I bet you didn't see the attack I just made. Perhaps, none of those present did."

What? An attack? The students were confused. When did he attack? All they had seen him do so far was dodge Katsuki's attacks. As for Katsuki, he frowned. The fuck did he mean by that? Of course they wouldn't see him using his quirk!

"You may spit out the blood, you idiot."

Katsuki spat. Out came blood as well as two teeth. His eyes widened. What the fuck did he do to him!?

"Once someone trains their body and techniques to an extreme, their attacks won't even be seen by untrained eyes. In this case, no one saw me punch Katsuki."

The sound of silence was deafening as the students looked down at the blood and teeth Katsuki had spat out. What the hell!?

Sora observed their reactions with a satisfied look on his face. It was true that he had punched Katsuki, as can be seen by the blood, teeth, and the bruise that was forming on his Katsuki's face. However, he had deliberately omitted the fact that his body wasn't ordinary. Due to the nature of his quirk, his body had long surpassed human limits. As far as he aware, an entire truck thrown at a human with no defensive quirk would crush them. Yet, despite the 'emitter' nature of his quirk, his body could take that very same throw and it wouldn't even scratch him.

It wasn't just defense either. He could move and produce forces far beyond the human norm. However, the students didn't need to know that. 'We can become that strong and fast if we train seriously.' is all they needed to think, so he wasn't going to jeopardize it.

"You're lying!" Katsuki shouted, his voice sounding odd, perhaps due to the one side of his mouth swelling and having lost two teeth. "You used your quirk! Stop lying you fucking extra!"

"Too bad, but my motto is 'No legacy is so rich as honesty.'." Hey, omitting the truth wasn't the same as lying, as far as Sora was concerned. Jokes aside, Sora didn't give a shit about being honest. However, it didn't hurt to make others believe every word of his was the truth. He had already lied to Tooru about his quirk just the day before. Turning fiction into reality was something surreal, unlike the true nature of his quirk which would've downright terrified her to her core should he have told her.

"Though, I find it odd how you're calling me the extra, when it's so obvious you're the extra here. You are the stepping stone for me, the true main character. Haven't you realized it yet?" Sora played along with Katsuki's narrative of the world. Though, his thoughts were different when it came to the matter. Katsuki was less than extra to him. Stepping stone? What a bad joke. If this was truly a story and Katsuki was his actual stepping stone, then it would be a very shitty story.

No, Katsuki wasn't his stepping stone. He was tool. Something he could use to properly shape the rest of the students. It would take a long time before Katsuki would realize hid worth and become more than just a tool, but that was far into the future. Sora couldn't bother waiting for that time to arrive. Might as well speed the process up a bit, no?

"All right, it's about time I got a tiny bit serious."

Katsuki's body tensed. He ignored the pain in his mouth as well as the newly pooled up blood as he focused entirely on his opponent.

Then, Sora moved. In the span of a second, he closed the distance between them. Katsuki reacted by throwing a punch at his face, which he dodged before grabbing his wrist. Following that, Sora twisted Katsuki's arm to the side while positioning the palm of his left hand against his elbow. Snap.

"Arghhh!" Katsuki couldn't help but exclaim as he stared at his wrongly bent arm, the collected blood gushing out of his mouth.

Most of the spectators flinched at the sound, as a few refused to observe any further. As for the rest, they felt their hearts beat faster as they watched on.

Sora only gave Katsuki five seconds to realize what happened before he let go of his wrist and threw a series of punches at Katsuki's chest at an extreme speed.

Adrenaline pumped through Katsuki's blood as he felt his sense of pain fading, but a horrible sensation spreading in a part of his mind. His survival instincts were screaming at him to do ANYTHING. He can't just stand there and take the punches. While he didn't feel it, Katsuki could tell that his body was fucked.

Mustering as much strength as possible, Katsuki shot out with his left arm, intending to explode Sora's face. To his horror, before his palm was halfway there, Sora suddenly shifted his arm mid-punch, grabbing his left wrist this time. Shit, was he going to repeat the same move from earlier!? Fortunately, he didn't. Unfortunately, he crushed his wrist.

Despite the adrenaline, Katsuki could still feel a sharp stinging pain as he groaned weakly. That was it. He was done for. The fucker was a monster disguised as a human.

"You know," Sora said in a low voice as he formed an invisible barrier around them. The next few words were for Katsuki's ears alone. "I know about you and your past. It makes me wonder about the color of your heart."

What…? Katsuki could barely register his words. However, his attention spiked when he noticed a wall of earth suddenly extend from the ground, blocking off the others from seeing inside.

"Well, let's find out, shall we?" Sora said with a smile. Then, Katsuki felt a sudden force along with a sharp pain in his chest. Looking down, he was met with the sight of Sora's arm penetrating his body.

Sora chuckled as he slowly extracted his arm, along with it a fist-sized organ that was beating.

"Y-you…." Katsuki weakly uttered. He felt like collapsing to the ground, but a weak force was holding up his body.

"Ah, it's red. How disappointing. It wouldn't been rather poetic if you had a genuine black heart, don't you think?"

Insane. This guy wasn't a monster in a human skin. No… He was an insane human with absurd power. Katsuki suddenly saw numerous images flash in front of his eyes. His parents, the kids from middle school, Deku… All the times he cornered Deku for being useless. What a joke… Here he was dying at the hands of a fucking psycho right in UA. A hero? He couldn't make it past the third day of school…

"Any last words?" Sora questioned with a bright smile.

"F-fuck y-you."

A chuckled followed those words before the heart in Sora's palm flew back into Katsuki. Then, Sora placed the tip of his finger against Katsuki's forehead. The latter felt his vision flash for a moment before every bit of pain and exhaustion suddenly left his body. Even his mouth felt perfectly fine now.

He was healed. Physically, he felt completely fine. However, mentally? He was fucked. He didn't what to think of his current predicament.

"Listen here," Sora said with a cold glint in his glowing eyes, "you have only two options here. In a moment, these walls will fall. You will take that chance to apologize to everyone for your behavior so far. Especially Izuku, who you will be apologizing to much more extensively in private."

After taking a moment to process Sora's demands, "And, why the fuck would I do that!?"

Despite having just grasps of death. Katsuki wasn't just going to let everyone trample over him. So, he resisted the shudder as Sora's eyes seemed to become even colder as he stood straight.

"That would be your second option. You don't do that, and I will show you just how worthless you are. Mitsuki Bakugo and Masaru Bakugo."

Katsuki's eyes widened at Sora's mention of his parents. But, Sora didn't stop there as he began listing points about his parents past, quirk, and where they lived. He didn't say it outright, but Katsuki understood that Sora was threatening their safety.

"You!!!"

"The choice is yours to make. If you're feeling confident in preventing from tearing them apart limb by limb, then by all means choose to go against me."

He was smiling. A kind smile that seemed bereft of any malicious intent. But, Katsuki knew better than to trust that smile now. This fucker was a damn psycho on the loose. He had entertained no doubts about whether he would do what he just said he would. In fact, he felt like Sora was understating what he would actually do to his parents.

"Ugh! Fucking fuck! I get it. I will do the shitty apology!"

"Not only will you apologize, but you will do it perfectly. I want a solid ninety degree bow from you as you loudly apologize."

If looks could kill, Sora would be dead a thousand times over from Katsuki's glare.

Sora simply sighed as he let the earth walls fall. There was one other major reason behind why he had gone through all this trouble. He had to make sure if he still felt something when doing what he did. The result? He didn't. Good thing this was going to be the final cycle…

--

When the students saw a wall rise around the duo, they panicked. Since they couldn't see, a few turned to the ones with good hearing.

"I can't hear anything," Kyoka stated with a deep frown.

Fortunately, it didn't take long before the walls fell, revealing both Katsuki and Sora. The former was a bloody mess, but they couldn't spot any injuries on him, so they assumed Sora healed him with his quirk like he apparently did with Kyoka (as she had told them when asked about why he called her over earlier.)

Then, before the students could feel relief, something shocking happened. Katsuki slowly walked over to the front of the group before bowing deeply. Behind him, Sora stood with his arms crossed.

"I-I am sorry." He simply said. "I realize that I have been asshole to all of you. So, uh, sorry."

Katsuki couldn't even begin to describe the discomfort he felt by just thinking those sentences in his head, let alone uttering them. He felt like he would lose the entire purpose of his existence if this continued.

"EHHH?!" While the rest were shocked speechless, Izuku exclaimed loudly. Kacchan was apologizing!? How!? What did Sora do to him!?

"Besides strength, technique, and speed, there is something else that heavily dictates the outcome of a fight." A calm voice resounded within everyone's ears as Sora walked over to Katsuki's side, who continued bowing. "That would be one's attitude. Overconfidence will only push you so far before you end up getting your heart pulled out by villain or something."

Katsuki flinched, something that Mina, Momo, Shoto, and Izuku noticed. Three of them didn't think much of it. Shoto, however, felt like there was some deeply unsettling reason behind it.

Ever since Sora first appeared, Shoto felt like there was something wrong with him. He didn't realize it until this moment. It felt like every word of his carried multitudes of hidden meanings. What he just said about a heart being pulled out seemed very random, but he had a feeling that it held some meaning. One that perhaps Bakugo recognized.

"THE DUEL IS OVER. THE WINNER IS YOUNG HADO."

Katsuki took that chance to straighten himself, turning his head to the side as he refused to look anyone in the eye.

"This feels so weird…" Denki remarked.

"I wonder why Bakugou apologized." Tsuyu stated curiously.

"Forget that, what's up with those walls from earlier? What happened in there?" Eijiro questioned.

"Maybe, Hado wanted to speak with Bakugo in private? Convince him to have a change of heart?" Ochaco guessed.

Hearing that, Izuku shook his head. Kacchan was too stubborn to be convinced with words. Something else happened in there. Something huge. He was sure of that.

"Well, I for one, am pleased that he undertook whatever action it was that resulted in this. Bakugo's previous disposition was rather vexing." Momo stated as she cast an appreciative glance at Sora, who smiled at her.

"So, what now?" Denki questioned as he turned to face All Might, who had moved closer to group. "Is class, like, over?"

"Ah- well, yes. Though things didn't go as planned, the outcome fits. NOW THEN, CHANGE BACK INTO YOUR UNIFORMS BEFORE HEADING BACK TO YOUR CLASSROOM!"

And so, the most significant part of the third day at UA was over. Now, the students walked to the changing rooms, discussing the earlier events among themselves.

Many felt like Sora was excessively violent toward Katsuki, but seeing how it turned out, perhaps what he did was the right thing? Besides the day's events, Sora was questioned about his private life quite a bit. Especially when Ochaco mentioned the incident regarding Rumi appearing in front of UA's entrance and the two teleporting away. That set off quite the bomb among the class as they wondered what the relationship between the two could be.

During the entire walk, Katsuki was oddly silent as he continued to refuse to look at anyone. To his side was Shoto. Once they were halfway to their destination, Shoto moved closer to Katsuki. "Did he pull out your heart?"

Katsuki's body shook at the question as his head snapped to face Shoto's with widened eyes. Seeing that reaction, Shoto got his answer as a cold sensation spread within his body – a cold that seemed chillier than any instance of him overusing his quirk.

Slowly turning his head to look at Sora, only to find him with his head turned, a wide smile apparent on on the side of the face he could see, as well as a blue light that shone in Sora's eye socket as he looked back at him.

It was at that moment that Shoto realized that he now had more information about Sora. Dangerous information. From the looks of it, he was the only one to realize the danger he posed. Everyone else was talking and laughing with him.

Sora turned his head back to the front as the smile on his face grew. So easy.