9 USJ ; Brutality (1/2)

A/N: As will be made clear in this chapter and the one following it: Do not expect anything remotely close to canon in this fanfic. 

-----

As the day drew to a close, the lunchtime incident had already slipped from the students' minds. Most assumed that the alarm was a result of the intruding reporters, wholly oblivious to what transpired in the teachers' office.

As the sound of the bell echoed throughout the campus, clusters of students dispersed from their respective classes and made their way toward the exit, signalling the end of the school day. Among them was one group of students that stood out as a far cry above the rest.

Said group consisted of Sora and a number of his classmates. In total, there were eight of them walking together. On one side, there was Izuku, Tenya, and Ochaco. On the other were Momo, Kyoka, Mina, and Tooru. It was quite odd how things turned out that way.

For some reason, the group of four girls had become semi-permanent and liked to hang out with Sora. While, yes, there was quite an 'obvious' reason for them doing so, Sora knew that his… 'excellence' wasn't all that there was to it.

Humans were creatures that sought benefits no matter the circumstances. At most, the consequences of the actions taken for said benefits would be the limiting factor. So, the question was what benefit were they seeking from him? Either way, it would be something he would figure out soon enough.

"Uh… Sora," Izuku said as they walked through campus, "Your quirk… w-what exactly is it?"

"What do you mean?" Sora smiled.

"W-well… It's weird. You told us the name, b-but I can't figure it out…"

"Ah, I see what you mean," Sora responded nonchalantly. "Well, let's just say that I have a bit of control over space."

"What!?" Izuku nearly cried. It was understandable, considering how absurd Sora's claim was. Control over space. Space control… That was one hell of a quirk. The first time Izuku asked Sora about his quirk, his responses were all vague and he avoided giving any significant information. This time, however, he gave him a concise response. Izuku wondered why that was the case. Perhaps, they didn't know each other too well back then?

Still, despite Sora's claim, Izuku felt like that wasn't all there was to it. He had a gut feeling telling him that Sora most likely left some incredibly vital things unsaid.

"That is an incredible power, Hado," remarked Tenya.

"Yeah… I wish I could control gravity instead of just…" Ochaco sighed. Ochaco found herself envious of those who had the word 'control' in their quirk's name.

"Hey, hey," Mina interjected swiftly, "don't undermine your quirk like that. Your quirk is awesome. Removing weight is mad useful, you know?"

"I… know that, but it's just-" Ochaco cut herself off, as she seemed unsure of what she wanted to say.

"I can help with that." Sora suddenly proclaimed, earning a curious look from everyone. Tooru, in particular, began to breathe a little faster as she realized what he was getting at.

"What do you mean?" Ochaco asked with a tilt of her head.

"Exactly that. There is a high chance that your quirk has a dormant control factor which I can activate."

As soon as the rest of the group realized what Sora meant, their eyes widened. Izuku, in particular, looked like he was going through enlightenment as his mind rapidly went through the idea of 'dormant factors'.

Seeming to realize something, Tenya's brows furrowed as she voiced his doubts, "And, how are you going to do that?"

"The same way I did it with Tooru's quirk."

Hearing that, everyone's attention shifted over to Tooru. All the attention made her a bit fidgety, but Tooru didn't shy away from proving his words true.

"Yeah. He helped me out with my quirk. His daughter is really smart."

"Oh, right! I just remembered. What was that about you having a daughter?" Mina quickly spoke her mind.

"It's nothing complicated. I have a daughter who I adopted due to her having some problems with her biological family. She happens to be extremely smart and quite educated when it comes to quirks."

"Wow…" Kyoka spoke up, "So, she's a scientist?"

"Basically."

"How old is she, if I may ask?" Momo curiously asked.

"She's six."

At that, most of the group came to a halt. All right, Sora having a daughter was already surprising enough. Then, it was revealed that she was a scientist who apparently studied quirks. But, for Sora to say that she wasn't even ten years old?

"Is this… some kind of joke?" Tenya asked in a solemn tone. If it was, he didn't know what was supposed to be funny about it. Tenya knew that he was bad at humour; both making jokes and understanding them. But he felt like he wasn't alone in this.

"Hm? No, it isn't." Sora responded as he stopped and spun to face them. "I know this sounds unbelievable, but it's the truth. Tooru, if you may?"

Tooru easily understood what Sora was asking of her and she didn't disappoint him as she directly moved to his side and turned to face the rest. She then took a deep breath before willing for her invisibility to deactivate.

Seeing that, the group was stunned. Especially Mina, whom Tooru had spoken with previously about her invisibility and the challenges she faced while growing up.

"No way…" Kyoka muttered. What did this mean? It meant that not only did Sora have some kind of genius child scientist at home, but quirks had "dormant factors". She immediately wondered what that could entail for her quirk.

Mina had a completely different reaction as she jubilantly approached Tooru and cupped her face. "Girl, you're so pretty!"

Finding the reaction beyond any of her expectations, Tooru is a little stunned as her cheeks flush red. "Thanks…"

While the girls were having it easy, the guys were suffering on the inside. The problem was that Tooru was drop-dead gorgeous. So, now their class had not just one, but two stunning beauties. On one hand, there was the graceful Momo, and on the other, the cheerful Tooru.

Truth be told, Izuku was finding it hard to remain focused when surrounded by so many beauties. It was something he found awe-inspiring in Sora. Unlike him, Sora seemed completely unbothered by their presence. Not only that, but he appeared to attract their attention so easily too. After all, right now, the only girl who wasn't a part of the group was Tsuyu Asui.

That aside, the group was feeling somewhat conflicted about whether they should ask Sora for insights regarding their quirk or not. After all, they barely knew him, so it would be somewhat shameless to do so… However, Izuku was an exception to that. He suspected that Sora was the most capable person to help him with his quirk. The advice he gave during the quirk apprehension test was indisputable proof of his capabilities.

"By the way…" Mina muttered thoughtfully, "what's up with that butler of yours?"

"Sebastian? Anything wrong with him?"

"I mean, he's totally a foreigner. How do you have him working for you? Are you, like, super rich or something?"

Sora considered his response somewhat carefully before ultimately nodding in confirmation. "Wealth is something I would never be worried about."

"I knew it!" Mina exclaimed, jovial that her guess hit the mark. (Even if it was obvious that he was rich by having a butler in the first place.)

"Sebastian is a good butler," Sora began, "he is loyal and capable. Today wasn't his first rodeo with an intruder."

"I get that and all," Kyoka voiced, "but why was your butler here in the first place?"

"Oh, yeah! What's up with that?" Mina added on. The rest keenly waited for his response out of curiosity.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but my status is somewhat special," Sora explained along with a sigh, "for that reason, I am being monitored constantly. Not only that, but my school too."

Hearing that, a sense of wonder rose within most of Sora's classmates. The only ones who had an inkling empathy were Tenya and Momo. The former belonged to a family of generational heroes, while the latter was the heir to one of Japan's richest families.

"That's… amazing," Ochaco commented. She couldn't even begin to fathom the idea of being followed around as a means of protection.

"It's not, really," Sora said with a shake of his head, "I would much prefer dealing with everything myself. Alas, everyone in my close circle appears to think otherwise."

"So, is that butler the only one?" Tooru asked, "Something tells me he isn't."

"You'd be right. He isn't. Right at this moment, the worlds most advanced Kill-Sat is observing the school premises."

His classmates appeared to have taken his words as a joke as they chuckled lightly. Little did they know, not only was there actually such a satellite, but it wasn't limited to one.

Sometimes, Sora thought that the things he did might be a tiny bit overkill. But then again, he had experienced tens of timelines, and if there was one thing that he learned was that one can never be "over-prepared".

"Your sense of humour is unusual," Kyoka remarked. Sora could only shrug, not bothering to explain anything.

----- Two Days Later; Early Morning; Hado Household -----

"Today is the day…" A sombre Nejire said to her brother as she ate her breakfast.

"Yes. That child will most likely attack the class as usual."

"I still don't get it," Nejire complained, "In none of the dives do they succeed. At most…"

She didn't finish the rest of the sentence, but Sora knew exactly what she meant. Tenko claimed that he attacked Class 1A hoping to kill All Might and having the means to do so. Yet, things never went the way he wanted them to, as every single time, All Might came out alive.

Sora knew THEY won't let him die so easily, so it was understandable. But for the rest of the Divers, it was very odd.

Anyway, the reason Nejire trailed off toward the end was because even if All Might didn't die, the others did. Be it Eraser Head, Thirteen, or the students. At least, most times the one that died was one Sora thought the school was much better off without. (Which was why Sora has prevented him from reaching the hero course by taking his place specifically.)

  "Don't worry," Sora said reassuringly, "I will make sure nothing goes wrong."

To that, Nejire smiled widely. "I know you will."

Nejire believed in her brother deeply. He always accomplished whatever he set out to do, regardless of impossible it seemed. She was convinced that the only reason the Dives were a thing was because her brother had yet to create the perfect world – something she knew he eventually would.

Back in her first year of UA, she was lectured along with her classmates about the truth of their world. About how the world was unfair and would continue to remain so. That a 'perfect' world was just a utopian delusion that would never become reality.

But Nejire knew better than that now. She had seen first-hand what her brother was capable of. Even if the means he used to achieve his objectives were questionable at best, she believed the end results more than made up for it all.

Such was the state of any hero that hung around Sora. Not even All Might was immune to it. This 'phenomena' was noticed by none other than Eri who named it as such. Unlike the rest, Eri had never once doubted Sora or his actions.

-----

Shota stood in front of the class with an unreadable expression on his face. He was aware of what was most likely going to happen that day. Upon casting a glance at Satan himself, Shota pondered about how it could go.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't rule out the possibility of the worst-case scenario: Satan deciding to be himself.

He hated to admit it, but Satan's act of being an aspiring hero was something he appreciated a lot. Should Satan drop the act, there will be drastic consequences in the form of the other students.

So, he pleaded with his eyes to the monster in human skin to not pull anything insane. Truth be told, Shota had little hope Satan would go along with it. After all, chaos was his thing, not serenity.

"Attention everyone," Shota announced, "today, there won't be your usual classes, but a special trip."

Hearing that, the students rose a commotion as they voiced their thoughts about where they could possibly go.

"You can either put on your hero costumes or not before making your way over to the back of the school. Understood?"

There was a chorus of affirmative responses before the students began to scurry to the changing rooms.

After a short while, only Shota and Sora were the ones left in class. Both looking each other in the eye with different expressions. While Shota was eyeing him suspiciously, Sora simply had one side of lips turned upward.

"Don't." Shota requested after a while.

"Why?" Sora responded half-mockingly, "In sixty-two timelines, you ended up dead on this day. All because I wasn't there."

Shota gulped as his mind blanked at the information. With each Dive, a lot of things changed – That was something Shota was very familiar with. He knew that before the Dives, he must've at least died a few times. However, he didn't expect the number to be so high.

"From the look on your face, I can tell what you're thinking." Satan said, but Shota knew not to trust a word that comes out of his mouth at times like these. The damn fucker was probably reading his mind or something. No one knows what nonsense he could be pulling at any given moment.

"Did you really think that the number of times you ended up dying an early death would be low? You do realize that it's extremely fortunate that you somehow come out of the confrontation with the creature alive."

"If my death-"

"Oh, please shut it." Sora interrupts his response, "You were probably going to say something along the lines of your death is worth it if it means that none of your students died."

Sora suddenly stood up from his seat before disappearing. Shota felt a sudden chill as he sense Satan reappear beside him.

"News flash: Your death only made shit worse. Naturally, that wasn't the only variable. Thirteen's death, Tenya being unable to leave for help, and such other changes all contributed to much higher death counts. Each Cycle varied in those things."

Sora then sighed before moving away from Shota. "What I'm trying to say is that your death will only makes things worse. After all, that child gets excited too easily."

"So?" Shota speaks up, his voice gruff, "What do you plan to do?"

"Oh, nothing much~" Sora sang with a creepy smile.

"The previous Dive," Shota said, "Shigaraki didn't make an appearance."

"Hm? Ah, you're asking whether I had something to do with it?"

Shota doesn't say anything, but it's obvious from the look in his eyes that that's the case.

"Well, you can say that. I didn't do it directly, but it was as a result of him getting caught up in my… plans."

Upon hearing that accursed word, Shota shudders. So far, none of Sora's so-called 'plans' have been conventional in nature. Whenever Sora had a 'plan', the lives of thousands if not millions were concerned.

Speaking of plans… Shota recalled the Top Massacre incident. That incident was as a result of Nighteye's quirk seeing things he shouldn't have, leading to the formation of an elite team of top heroes, the best of the best, meant to take down Sora.

As the name of the incident suggests, that didn't turn out well for the heroes. It was only much later that Shota found out that the entire thing was orchestrated by Satan himself. On the day of the incident, Japan lost twenty-seven of its top 50 heroes, an entire one-thirds of a city was reduced to dust, and Satan's organization took over Japan shortly after.

That was one thing to look out for in this Dive. He must prevent a repeat of that incident no matter what.

----- On the Bus to USJ -----

"Sir, you still haven't explained where we will be going."

Hearing Denki's words, Shota turned his head to face him. "You will be trained in disaster rescue protocols in the Unforeseen Simulation Joint or USJ for short. I will leave the details to the teacher assigned there."

'USJ…?' Was a collective thought that rang through most students' minds as they couldn't help but think of another place that had such an acronym.

Anyway, having found out about their destination, the students got even more excited as they began discussing means of rescues and how their quirks helped.

Once they were halfway to their destination, an interesting discussion began to take place. It began with Tsuyu explaining how she usually speaks her mind.

"Hado," Tsuyu voiced, earning most students' attention, "I believe I am not the only that thinks you don't belong here."

"Oh?" Sora voiced with intrigue, "I have a feeling that you wrongly phrased whatever it was that you wanted to say."

Tsuyu took a few seconds to deliberate over what he meant before she realized. "Ah. Sorry, that wasn't what I meant."

"Don't worry about it."

"What I meant was that you don't have the vibes of a first-year student like us. It's as if you are much more experienced in everything."

"Right!?" Mina speaks up loudly, "It's like he's a teacher pretending to be a student rather than an actual student."

"I take that as a compliment." Sora smiled.

"It is!" Mina said with a hearty laugh, "I will be honest; I have been struggling with my image of you. On one hand you are cool and reliable…"

Mina's words trail off for a short while before she lets out a sigh and says, "On the other, you're kind of scary."

"No kidding," Kyoka added, "No offence, but you're damn terrifying when you want to be."

"None taken," Sora responded with a shrug, "I am aware of the sort of effect I have on others."

With that said, the students shifted to other topics, one of which was their quirks and how heroic they were. Izuku's quirk gained the limelight for a brief while thanks to Tsuyu comparing it to All Might's quirk.

And so, the students continued to engage in hearty debates, oblivious to the imminent adversities…

All but two students – Izuku and Katsuki. Each for their own reason, yet related in a way…

-----The Day Before; After School-----

After separating from the rest and taking the train, Izuku contemplated his experience in UA so far.

For starters, unlike back in Aldera, he was no longer a prime target to mock and bully. It was both refreshing and strange. In a way, Izuku was used to being picked on due to how often it occurred back then. So, with how everything seems to have changed, he was finding it a little hard to get to.

Not that he was ungrateful for it or anything! Izuku absolutely loved the way things were going. Even Kacchan seemed to be much calmer when compared to the way he used to be back in Aldera…

Such thoughts continued to swirl inside Izuku's mind on his way home. By the time he was home, Izuku was completely unaware of the fact that he had mumbled up a storm at least thrice.

Regardless of that, he quickly his way to his room. There, what awaited him was his ridiculous collection of hero merch that he has been collecting for years. Most of it was All Might merchandise, but he obviously had those of other heroes too.

Due to the fact that he literally lived there, Izuku was unfazed by it all as he set his bag down and began preparing to take a bath.

Just as he undressed his blazer, he heard the door ring. Weird; his mom had the keys, so she wouldn't ring the bell unless she forgot it. That would mean they had a visitor. They very rarely had visitors. It was always the Bakugou's, but they would usually call a day before to inform them prior to visiting.

And so, Izuku curiously adjusted his clothes without putting the blazer back on before heading downstairs to open the door.

"Finally, you damn nerd!"

A fiery voice is what immediately greeted him along with Katsuki's usual irritated expression.

"Kacchan?"

"Don't call me that!" The boy shouted before sighing. "You're gonna invite me in or not?"

"O-oh. Y-yeah! Please, come in…?"

Izuku was confused and perplexed, but he decided that doing as he said would be for the best at the moment.

The two walked to the living room and sat on the sofas, neither uttering a word while dong so. Silence ensued as Izuku began fidgeting in place, wondering why Katsuki had come to their house.

"Deku… I will say it straight: Stop hanging around that fucker."

"H-Huh?" Izuku was now even more confused. Who was he talking about?

"You know who I'm talking about!"

It took Izuku a moment to think of who among their classmates would Katsuki not be fond of… Oh.

"You mean Hado?"

"Who else but that fucking prince!?" Katsuki shouted, now appearing much more irritated. "That fucker's dangerous. He's no hero in training."

For some reason, Izuku found himself frowning at his words. The past few days, despite Sora having shown some very questionable sides of him, Izuku genuinely believed that he was one of greatest heroes he will ever get to meet.

"D-Don't say that!" Izuku didn't know where he found it in him to confront Kacchan like this, but he didn't stop, "You don't know anything about him!"

For a moment, Katsuki was stunned at the sight of meek little Deku doing something he would never do. After it registered in his mind, he felt a rage blossom unlike anything before.

"YOU'RE the one that doesn't know shit!" Katsuki exclaimed as he rose to his feet, his hands crackling with tiny explosions, "That guy, he-"

Suddenly, Katsuki stopped talking. He seemed like he knew what to say, but not feel like uttering it. A good ten seconds pass before Katsuki huffs in frustration and presses his palm against his face.

"Forget it. You're too useless to get it."

'Useless' – that accursed word again. Izuku felt a wave of emotions pass through him, but he ignored it as he focused on Katsuki's next words.

"I will be the best hero there is," Katsuki proclaimed, "And, I will be the one to reveal that guy's true colours and send him to Tartarus."

When was the last time Izuku felt as disappointed and betrayed as he did at this moment? Back when he was told he was quirkless? Or was it when Katsuki began to pick on him for the first time because he stood up to him for bullying another kid?

Despite that, Izuku had looked up to Katsuki. While he was brash and foul-mouthed, he had an amazing quirk and could be a great hero. Yet… Even though he had met Sora, seen what he can do the same way he did, Katsuki was dead-set on calling him a… villain.

"Get out." Where did he ever get the courage for this from? Izuku would never know. All he knew was that he felt very uncomfortable at that moment and would like Katsuki to be as far as possible.

"What?" Katsuki responded in a tone far from his usual one. It was one of absolute bafflement.

"Please, just go!" Izuku shouted as he stood up from the couch. "Ka-Katsuki, please, go!"

It was at this exact moment that Katsuki realized something. Never had Izuku shown such emotions to him in this manner. Not only that, but for the first time in a while, Izuku, off of his own accord, chose to call him by his name rather than "Kacchan".

Unexpectedly, unlike his expectations of a sense of relief, he only felt one of loss. Why?

Those thoughts ate away at Katsuki's mind as he began walking out of the house with a blank look on his face.

Meanwhile, Izuku watched it happen with tears glistening in the corners of his eyes. He knew that there is no coming back from this. Still, he felt like it was the right thing to do. He had real friends now. Katsuki can go do whatever he wanted.

-----USJ-----

"All right, kids, we've arrived. Get down from the bus in an orderly fashion."

The students affirmed his words as they began getting up one at a time and getting down the bus. Upon doing so, they caught their first glance of a giant dome which they assumed was the 'USJ' (not that there was much guessing to do with the way the name was on the entrance).

"Man, I am so hyped," Eijiro said cheerily.

"Same here," Denki joined in.

  "Don't get too excited," Sora spoke up in a tone that sent chills down their spines, "who knows if something unexpected may happen and ruin the day?"

"Can you not?" Kyoka said, "The way you say it is like you're sure of it."

"Because I am," Sora responded with a smile. None of his classmates could figure out what he meant by it, only that it didn't bode well for them. Perhaps, he was referring to another "special test" like that of a few days ago? Well, that definitely wouldn't be fun.

"I swear, if they make us rescue civilians while Hado acts as a villain meant to be fended off…" Hanta muttered loud enough for almost everyone to hear.

That certainly wasn't a pleasant thought, most mused in their mind.

"Should I be offended that your idea of a 'something expected that ruins your day' is me being your opponent?" Sora questioned exasperatedly.

"What makes you think that won't be the case?" Hanta quickly responds with his eyes averted.

"Whatever…" Sora shook his head before he started walking in the direction of the entrance.

The rest of the students were lost between the choice of following after him or wait until everyone got down from the bus and walk together.

After a few seconds, Izuku, Ochaco, and Mina were the ones to follow after him. As for the others, well, they just remained where they were.

"Uhm, we won't get in trouble for following after you, right?" Ochaco said once she was by Sora's side. "You're the overseer or something, so it should be fine, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sora smiled at her question as he gently patted her head, "don't worry about it much."

The action was both unexpected and extremely embarrassing for Ochaco, especially since it was done by Sora. Her permanent blush somehow reddened even further as she everted her gaze. Seeing her movements become stiff, Sora let out a mild chuckle.

Izuku and Mina, seeing this, result in both experiencing an internal sense of discomfort. The latter was… admittedly somewhat jealous.

As for Izuku… Well, unlike what one would expect the source of his discomfort to be, he was actually looking at Sora's hand. What if… he did something amazing and was praised by Sora like that? 

"By the way," Mina asked, "have you been here before?"

"Yes," Sora responded, "quite a few times already."

"So, if we do a civilian rescue competition or something like that, you'll have a huge advantage?"

"There won't be anything like that today."

"You wouldn't know that."

"Except, I do."

After all, Sora was well aware that there will be unexpected visitors. He can never forget the events of The First Cycle. While he did get to 'fix' the incident in the following cycles, Sora always felt like he wasn't doing what he truly wanted to do.

This time will be different. Since this cycle was the last one, Sora planned to have no regrets. Everything will be perfect. Everything.

The four of them soon made their way through the entrance, happening upon an extremely long elevated platform that gave them a good view of what was below.

Standing near the end of the platform was a pro-hero that Izuku and Ochaco immediately recognized.

"It's Thirteen!" Ochaco excitedly exclaimed, "She is my favorite!!!"

"Yeah," Izuku added, "she's an amazing rescue hero!"

  A short while later, the four of them were right in front of Thirteen.

"Welcome!" The pro-hero said in a voice that was hard to make out. No one apparently knew Thirteen's gender, and those who did remained silent about it. That wouldn't have been possible should Thirteen have been a UA High alumnus since the UA Sports Festival was a thing.

Well, this only applied to Sora's classmates.

"Hey," Sora said in a tone that made his classmates shiver. It was contrasting to everything he has done so far. Even when he was nice, his tone wasn't like that. That nice.

"Sora!" Thirteen voiced, "You're being uncooperative again?"

"Oh please." Sora shrugged. "There isn't much cooperation to be had with those two."

Hearing that, Izuku could guess that one of the two was their teacher, Mr. Aizawa. But then who was the other one?

"Sora…" Thirteen says in a soft(?) tone, "don't you think it's about time you gave them a second chance?"

"You know that I've already given them way too many chances," Sora gruffly muttered.

"Even though you say that, you plan to help them when needed."

"For a different reason than whatever it is you're thinking of." Sora then uses one of the quirks he obtained recently.

<Message: Anan Kurose> - I don't know why you continue to think I have some sort of good in me. By now, you should've figured out that it's impossible.

Thirteen says nothing in response to that. She thinks for a brief moment before deciding that the matter isn't one worth pursuing at the moment.

"We should wait for the rest before I can explain things," Thirteen states, which Izuku and Ochaco take as a chance to ask her questions. After all, they were meeting an amazing pro-hero. It was a far too precious opportunity to waste.

So, while that was happening, Sora and Mina walked closer to one side edge of the platform. The view of down below was an amazing one.

"This is so cool," Mina said as she observed the scenes in the distance. She could see a ruined city, burning. A frosty place, and a body of water with boats and ships.

"So, this is how they want us to practice."

"Yes," Sora said, "it's meant to simulate different environments and the effects there would be when combined with certain quirks."

"What do you mean?"

"Think of Tsuyu's quirk."

"It's related to frogs. Was there more?" Mina tried to recall, but her memory was failing her.

"Yes. It gives her a huge advantage when underwater."

"Ohhh."

"There are a lot more of such cases. For instance, a student that may have resistance to heat or flames would be quite suited for the burning city over there."

"I get it now. Thanks for explaining," Mina smiled brightly as she shuffled closer to him. Naturally, Sora noticed this but he didn't point it out.

Instead, Sora placed his hand atop her head and began to rub it in a way that Mina's mind could only register it as 'affectionately'.

"I'm starting to believe you're a dad now," Mina said after a moment, "you really act like a strict dad even though you're our age."

"How are you so sure I am your age?" Sora questioned with a grin, "For all you know I might be a few thousand years old in the body of a teenager."

"Yeah, sure," Mina chuckled at the obvious joke. (If only she knew…) "In that case, should I call you grandaddy?"

Surprised by the bold response, Sora quirks one brow at her before he chuckles and says, "Sure does, my dear granddaughter."

Seeing that he went along with it, Mina felt a little giddy inside. Now, they had an inside joke to themselves. She has gained an edge on the rest. Except Tooru. Mina knew that something was up between Sora and Tooru. After all, the latter wasn't exactly doing a great job at hiding the affection in her tone when speaking about/to him.

About five minutes later, the rest of their classmates arrived along with Shota, who had an annoyed look on his face as he eyed Sora.

"Couldn't you have just waited?"

"No. Besides, who cares?"

Shota wanted nothing more than to berate him right at that instant, but he knew that would be extremely counterproductive considering how sensitive the next few minutes could get.

Here are how things went: Thirteen began a debriefing of what the USJ was and what they would be doing here, planting a sense of anticipation in the students. Following that, she began to explain how quirks can be dangerous when used wrongly, such as her quirk – Blackhole.

At the end, Thirteen explained how no matter how unsuited a quirk seemed for "support", the notion could easily be proven wrong. That awed the students to the point that they applauded and cheered enthusiastically.

It was right then that the unexpected happened. Near the center of the USJ down below, right in front of a fountain, a dark mist began appeared.

The atmosphere immediately seemed to become chilly as the students with sharper instincts felt a sense of dread.

It didn't take long for some students to notice the mist down below. 

"What is that!?" Denki shouted anxiously, "Teacher, is that supposed to happen?"

"I don't think so," Shoto said in a somber tone before Shota could respond, "this feels weird."

"Do not panic," Shota calmly said in a raised voice, "that mist is the work of villains. Ones that won't be able to harm you as long as you remain calm and don't do anything rash."

"Everyone, please group together and move back." Thirteen instructed.

Seeing their teachers not panicking, the students managed to calm down just enough to follow instructions. So, they all did as Thirteen told them to, except Sora, that is.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Eijiro shouted as he watched Sora move closer to the edge.

"He's not planning to fight the villain, right?" Denki asked disbelievingly.

"I mean," Hanta said after a brief moment, "if there is anyone here that can easily deal with the villain, it would be him."

"That doesn't matter!" Ochaco, to everyone's surprise exclaimed, "Teacher, stop him!"

"Save your worries for the villains."

"Villains?!" Eijiro voiced just realizing that both times their teacher used the plural form, "You mean that there are more than one!?"

'Shit,' Shota cursed in his mind. He had hoped to get them out of the building before Sora pulled whatever shit he was planning. Now, however, such hopes have been washed away.

By now, the students had realized that their teacher was planning to leave multiple villains to Sora to fend off by himself. It felt wrong, and was probably wrong, but they couldn't do anything about it except stand back and observe. At least, on the bright side, they genuinely couldn't fathom the notion of Sora losing in combat.

-----???-----

"Is the plan clear!?" Tomura Shigaraki stood in front of numerous NPC's that will be their cannon fodder for the mission.

"Yes," half of them responded weakly, hoping to just get started already.

Tomura felt a sudden urge to itch his neck as he gritted his teeth in anger. These incompetent fools were tempting to kill. But, not yet. He needed them for the mission.

The mission – Fall of the Symbol of Peace. Sensei had given him what he required to get the job done. A Nomu that would kill even All Might.

Strangely enough, he was finding himself looking forward to seeing another person. That damned Player 2 that sabotaged his sneak mission.

He was going to make him pay. The past two days, he had been looking for as much information about him as possible. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to infer from the data he obtained. All he knew was that he was the son of a rich and powerful family.

As for his quirk… It was listed as 'Perfection (S-Class)' in the database with a vague description: The user is perfect. He was glad that Sensei made use of the doctor to obtain the information, but still…

The index was obviously a fake one. As expected of this disgusting society that can be controlled by the whim of the rich and powerful. He was going to fix it all. Killing All Might and that gold-spoon fed child was the start of it all.

"Kurogiri, do it."

Obeying the orders of his young master, Kurogiri opened a gateway connecting to the center of the USJ. Then, he spread the mist around to cover all the villains, transporting them over all at once.

The moment Tomura stepped out into USJ, he caught sight of a floating figure. A figure he recognized very well.

"You came to me on your own, huh?" Tomura muttered loathingly. This was it – time for round 2 with player 2.

-------

Sora looked down upon the villains. Their numbers were pathetically low compared to what it was like back in the First, Second, and Third Cycles. He assumed that it was because of Hydra's movements in the town, but it could be anything, really. Maybe just his encounter with Tenko in the teacher's office was enough for that.

However, he wasn't going to let his guard down. He had provoked All for One – something he knew the latter wasn't going to just take sitting down.

For that reason, he has ordered Ikaros to initiate her Pandora protocol and fly above the USJ. She would be his second eyes, keeping him informed. How?

<Network S*: Ikaros, alert me about anything unusual.> (A/N: S refers to the send function.)

<Network R*: Understood, Master.> (A/N: R refers to the receive function.)

That wasn't the end of it. He also had to prepare for worst case scenarios such as…

<Network S: Sebastian, alert me as soon as anything raises suspicions.>

<Network R: Understood, My Lord.>

<Network S: Also, inform Angelina that she has clearance to use Tactical Class Magic if need be.>

<Network R: I shall do your bidding as requested.>

With that done with, Sora focused back on the matter at hand. Now… Regarding All for One…

It was unfortunate that for whatever reason, All for One's base of operations changed with each Cycle. At first, he suspected that he was also a regressor if not having the ability related to acasuality which lets him remember rewound time.

However, that turned out to not be the case, surprisingly. So, what was it then? No matter what Sora did to figure out, he came across no true response.

Unlike All for One's whereabouts, however, Tenko's base of operations was always the same bar in the beginning. One would've thought that if the master changed bases, so would the young master, but nope.

The sole reason that Sora hadn't raided Tenko earlier was because he had multiple uses for him. For starters, Tenko would serve an important role in his minor objective of taking over Japan.

Second, Tenko would be his bait for All for One. In the early Cycles, that man was quite the adversity. Nowadays, not so much. Still, he could grow into a very annoying bug, so Sora saw to it to have him executed as soon as possible.

Anyway, Sora shifted his focus back to the villains on the ground as he contemplated what to do with them.

"All right," Sora muttered as he began floating down toward Tenko, Kurogiri and the Nomu – a disgusting black creature with its brain visible. A test subject that hosted several quirks and only listened to orders from those who programmed it.

"First, he goes." Having said that, Sora waved his arm as if swatting away a fly in front of his face. Right at that instance, Kurogiri disappears from where he stood. Not because he opened a gate and got away, but because an invisible force had struck him and hurled him to one end of the USJ.

On the ground, Tomura felt an abrupt gust of wind behind him along with a loud noise. His eyes widen and he turns to face where Kurogiri was, only to realize that he isn't there.

The villains nearby are unaware of what exactly happened as they observe the floating Sora with wary look on their faces.

"Welcome, oh dear villains!" Sora exclaimed with arms extended to the side, posing like a savior. "Tough, I am not sure whether you qualify for the title, considering how weak you all appear to be."

Oh, now it was on. The villains on the ground felt utter rage bloom in their chest as they glared at the student mocking them.

In the sky, Sora was grinning; glad that the quirk Empathy was working as intended. Earlier, he had used a bit of Synthesia on his classmates to calm them down. Now, he was doing the exact opposite using Empathy.

The way Empathy worked was that the user could amplify and project emotions as he pleased; however, the catch was that the user must be familiar with the emotion itself and have a certain level of understanding of it.

Naturally, that wasn't much of an issue to Sora, who had thousands of years' worth of experience inside his head.

For now, he only amplified two specific emotions: Fear and anger. After all, they were rather necessary for what's coming next.

"My dear classmates," Sora flew up so that he was higher than the platform they were standing on, "I have decided to override today's plans of rescue training."

Down there, Shota could feel a shiver as he immediately understood what Sora was planning to do. And, as much as he hated to admit it; this might be one of the most valuable experiences for his students at the moment. If only he could say with certainty that Sora won't let any of them be killed…

"You hero-to-be students will be facing off against villains today!" Sora exclaimed in a jovial manner, "Now, I will be the one to choose who gets to fight who. Look forward to it~"

'We are screwed.' That was what almost everyone realized. Of course, Sora would pull something like this because why wouldn't he? Hey, at least they won't die with him supervising… right?

"Let's see…" Sora muttered as he examined his classmates. He needed to set a precedent that planted confidence in the rest. Who else would be better than the cockiest fucker to do it?

"The first student will be… Katsuki Bakugou!"

---Seven Minutes Ago---

Katsuki was one of the last people to get off the bus. He looked around, but couldn't see De- Izuku nearby. The entire day, the two of them had been avoiding each other. Even now, he just couldn't understand why he was so fond of that princely fucker. Did he use some mind manipulation ability while he was out in the quirk apprehension test? Seemed like something he would do if he could. Fucking villain in disguise…

Either way, upon further examination, he noticed that only sixteen of the students were present. So, Izuku along with three others must've went in ahead. One of them was the fucking prince, considering he couldn't see him around. The other two didn't matter. What mattered was that D- Izuku was sticking to Sora like glue.

Not even glue. But like a puppy seeking attention from its master. It was disgusting. He hated it.

Katsuki's thoughts don't wander for long as the teacher guides them inside. He follows along with the extras, listening to their jolly talks about heroism. This was all so stupid. What's the point of rescuing civilians when you could be beating up the fucking villains? They won't need to be rescued if there are no villains anyway.

The next few minutes flashed by fast. Then, the villains appeared. He was immediately tempted to head down to fight. But the hobo prevented him. As if that wasn't bad enough, he was letting the damned prince go instead.

"Let me go fight!" Katsuki exclaimed once he moved closer to the teacher.

"No."

"The fuck you by no!? Why did you let him go!?"

Then, it was revealed that were a lot villains thanks to Eijiro realizing a slip-up by their teacher. That only made Katsuki's urge to fight even stronger. So much that he was considering to just go for it, consequences be damned. (Not that he had experienced any prior to UA.)

It didn't take long for Sora to put on a show before the villains then say something about letting the students fight.

'I fucking knew it!' Katsuki mused in his mind. Sora was truly a villain in disguise. Those villains down there might be his colleagues he brought here to attack the students while pretending it has nothing to do with him.

Whatever his plan was, Katsuki was sure he could deal with it. He would reveal his true colors much earlier than he thought…

"The first student will be… Katsuki Bakugou!"

Upon hearing that, Katsuki's mind blanked. That fucker… Was he being underestimated!? Did that fucking prince think he was going to lose those losers down there!? Fuck. He was going to murder those villains, then murder him. He was going to show everyone just how good of a hero he was.

"Are you ready, Katsuki?" The fucker had gotten close to him without Katsuki realizing it. "I sure hope to see a good beating."

This fucker! He was not being underestimated, but mocked as well!? The prince thinks that he will get beaten up 'good'!? Just wait; you'll see the best future pro-hero.

------

Sora made use of Empathy how Katsuki felt about being picked as the first one. What he noticed were anger, frustration, disbelief, indignation, and hatred. What the fuck? He was expecting a bout of excitement to beat up villains, not all this.

Well… So be it. He chose Katsuki specifically because he wanted to see a villain get a good thrashing right in front of the other villains and his classmates.

Apparently, Katsuki wanted to do the rescue stuff really badly. Why else would he be this angry for, Sora wondered. (A/N: Even thousands of years isn't enough experience to make one understand Katsuki's mind.)

"With our hero chosen," Sora stated as he flew back up to look down on the villains who haven't moved at all, "time to pick a villain…"

Sora knew to choose one that would most definitely piss Katsuki off. His gaze focused on a mutant that had the body of a bodybuilder (probably as a result of a quirk factor).

"That ugly thing!" Sora declared as he pointed at the thing.

Down below, the mutant felt rage like never before as he started cursing at the cowardly bitch flying up there.

Meanwhile, Sora wasn't even focusing on him as he was observing Tenko. To his surprise, Tenko was hiding behind the Nomu with a very wary look on his face under the severed hand covering it. It wasn't just that. Sora noticed pure hatred oozing from Tenko as he stared at him. Isn't that something?

All right, time to ingrain a proper lesson into the kids' minds…

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