Chapter 61

"Kaminari, was it? Pretty ugly place you're living in."

Kaminaris head shot up and he immediately churned around in his desk chair. "Midoriya?!" "Mhm." Midoriya jumped off the window seat of Kaminaris bedroom and came a little closer. Kaminari started emitting lightnings out of his hands in return. "What do you want?!" "Just to talk." Midoriya demonstratively took his hands out of his pockets.

Kaminari dropped back. "Well?" Midoriya examined his black painted fingernails. "You're way smarter and way more powerful than you let people know, huh?" The charged teenager in front of him was visibly irritated. "What makes you think so?"

"The fact that Kirishima would've never lifted the veil off my identity. He may not be stupid, but he's too gullible." Midoriyas voice was calm and businesslike, as if he was actually talking to Kaminari on one level. And the blond was slowly becoming suspicious. "Why are you telling me that?"

Midoriyas eyes narrowed. "Remember when talk about a 'U.A. traitor' was all over the news?" Kaminari nodded slowly. He didn't like where this was going. "Noone ever found anything, but the villains continued attacking over and over, slowly thrashing U.A.s prestige. Only the excellent graduates are what rebuilds U.A.s reputation every time."

The ravenet was suddenly right in front of Kaminari. "Well, how's the bond with the League of Losers going, traitor?" Kaminari shifted backwards. "W-what are you talking about?! Are you on something?!" "Oh please. You won't deceive me with that face. I've watched the U.A. and their students for months, and everywhere you went were these glorified ruins and the hideout."

"I-I'm not-" Kaminaris frightened face changed to more disgusted when Midoriya pulled his knife out and held it against his throat. "Do you know what you get when you lie to me?" The pale boy came even closer to Kaminari and the taller teenager shifted backwards. "That's right, Kaminari. You get hurt."

Kaminaris face dropped in an instant. "You know I could always just fry you, right?" "Yeah, but randomly attacking an officially innocent citizen wouldn't be much like a Hero. And you need to keep a facade up, am I not right?" Kaminari shoved Midoriyas arm away. "Fine, so I am the traitor. What's it to you? I don't think the Heroes did you any better than me."

Midoriya put his knife away again. "Probably not. But just what would the League say if they knew how attached you became to the little wannabes? Or your friends, if they heard of your bond to the most searched villains?" Kaminari stood up slowly, careful not to make any sudden moves. "What do you want, Deku?"

"The same as you, Panther. My little secrets to be kept. So keep your mouth shut and noone gets hurt." Midoriya dropped his head to the side, shooting Kaminari an almost understanding glare. "And destroy the U.A. for me, yeah?"

Before Kaminari could answer anything, Midoriya was already gone.

-/-

"Good afternoon, Kirishima."

Kirishima churned around at the dry, uninterpretable voice behind him. Once he recognized Midoriya, he activated his quirk. "You!" The ravenet gave him a wide, teeth-baring smirk and put his hands up in defense. "I'm not armed, no reason to use your quirk against me." Kirishima examined him for a few moments, decided his opponent wasn't dangerous right now and let his arms sink.

"What do you want?" "To talk." Midoriya gestured towards a nearby bench. "Let's sit down for a moment." Kirishima reluctantly went along with it, curious what this was all about. Midoriya immediately started talking once they had sat down. "Kacchan told you my sob story, right?"

Kirishima nodded. "Then you sure know I used to dream of being a Hero?" "Not really, but I guessed it." "Hmm." Midoriyas expression was colder than Kirishima's voice, contrasting his more or less cheerful tune. "Well, not anymore. Mostly because of Kacchan. I mean, what can being a Hero be worth if someone like him is allowed to? But now, I have even more of a reason."

He sat up and gave Kirishima a malicious smile. "After your pathetic attempt of saving Kacchan from anything… In the end, it only made things worse for him, didn't it? And if that's the best a Hero can do… No, I don't need to be one. I'm already better than you."

Kirishima furrowed his eyebrows. "That's your opinion. That you can even talk about being a Hero so shamelessly is almost impressive. You're a villain by the devil's law!" Midoriyas expression became blankly surprised. "A villain?" He leaned back. "Do you even understand what that is?"

His voice was low, and Kirishima felt like it covered him in a pitch-black veil. "A villain is one who opposes the Hero. I suppose you are talking about the situation between Kacchan and me… I'm not a villain. Because Kacchan isn't a Hero. He's the villain in his own story. Who the Hero is? I don't know."

Midoriyas voice returned to its usual sarcastic tone. "And if I'm a villain to you… That implies that you're the Hero. That makes it very selfish to call me a villain. Especially after you couldn't even save Kacchan." His words hit Kirishima's weak spot. The redhead tried to talk back, but he wouldn't find a valid refutation.

Midoriya stood up. "We're all a villain in someone's story. I wonder in whose you are… Maybe mine? It's trivial anyways." He emitted coldness to everything around him. "I thought you would make a good pawn. I thought you were someone interesting and maybe useful to the game, but no…"

The pale boy threw another glance dripping with callousness back at Kirishima. "I am unimpressed." Then he left Kirishima with the heavy weight of his failure.