The morning sun filtered through the kitchen curtains, casting a warm, deceiving glow over the Midoriya household. It was the kind of light that promised a normal Tuesday—a day of school, chores, and mundane routines.
Izuku sat at the small dining table, systematically dismantling a mountain of food.
Six bowls of rice. A platter of grilled fish intended for dinner later that week. An entire carton of eggs scrambled.
"Izuku, honey?" Inko asked, her voice laced with a mix of worry and bewilderment. She stood by the stove, holding a spatula. "Are... are you feeling okay? You've never eaten this much."
Izuku swallowed a mouthful of rice without chewing enough. His metabolism was running like a fusion reactor. The Negative Speed Force demanded calories; it burned through energy just to keep his molecules from vibrating apart.
"I'm fine, Mom," Izuku said, reaching for the soy sauce. His hand moved normally, though to his perception, he was deliberately slowing it down to a crawl so she wouldn't see the blur. "Just... growing pains, I guess. I've been working out."
"Working out?" Inko blinked. "Oh. Well, that's good! I was worried you were spending all your time in your room..."
She trailed off, her eyes drifting to the television set on the counter. The morning news was on. A reporter stood outside the USJ facility.
"Police are still searching for the mysterious individual known as 'Zoom' or 'The Reverse,'" the reporter said, looking grave. "Eyewitness accounts describe a speed quirk of unprecedented power. Authorities are debating whether to classify him as a vigilante or a villain."
Inko shuddered, wrapping her cardigan tighter around herself. "It's terrifying. A man who can move that fast... and they say he hurt those criminals so badly. He sounds like a monster."
Izuku paused, his chopsticks hovering over the fish.
"A monster?" he repeated softly.
"Yes," Inko said, turning off the stove. "All Might saves people with a smile. This man... he sounds like he enjoys the violence. I just hope the heroes catch him before he hurts anyone else."
Izuku looked at his mother. He saw the fear in her eyes—fear of the very thing he had become. It should have hurt him. It should have made him feel guilty.
Instead, he felt a strange, cold detachment. She didn't understand. She was like the rest of them—addicted to the comfort of a lie. She preferred the smiling hero who arrived late to the monster who arrived on time.
"Don't worry, Mom," Izuku said, smiling. It was his old smile, practiced and perfect. "I'm sure reality will catch up to him eventually."
He stood up, grabbing his school bag.
"I have to go. Don't want to be late."
"Be safe, Izuku!"
"Always."
Izuku walked out the front door, walked down the stairs, and turned the corner.
The moment he was out of sight of the apartment complex, the mask dropped. The shy, stuttering boy vanished. The predator emerged.
He didn't go to Aldera Junior High. He didn't have time for algebra or history. He had an empire to consolidate.
CRACK.
The air split. Izuku vanished from the street, leaving a swirl of dust and confused pedestrians.
The League of Villains Hideout. 8:05 AM.
The mood in the bar was funeral.
Shigaraki Tomura sat on the floor, his back against the bar, hugging his knees. He wasn't wearing his hands. He was shaking, staring at nothing.
Kurogiri stood behind the counter, polishing a glass, though his misty form was agitated, flickering like a dying flame.
On the bar counter sat a laptop. On the screen was the frantic, terrified face of Doctor Garaki.
"He's dead," Garaki was whispering, as if afraid Zoom could hear him through the internet. "Master is dead. The sensors... flatlined instantly. His chest cavity was crushed from the inside. There was no fight. No alarm. Just... instant termination."
"He killed Sensei..." Shigaraki mumbled, rocking back and forth. "He killed him. He killed the final boss. It's not fair. It's not fair."
"Shigaraki, we must regroup," Kurogiri urged. "If All For One is gone, we are vulnerable. We need to flee. We need to—"
The door to the bar opened.
It didn't burst open. It didn't slam. It just opened, the bell jingling cheerfully.
Izuku Midoriya walked in. He wasn't wearing the yellow suit. He was wearing his black middle school uniform, his yellow backpack slung over one shoulder. He looked like a student who had taken a wrong turn.
But the red sparks dancing across his knuckles told a different story.
The room froze.
"Good morning," Izuku said, his voice calm, undisguised. He walked over to a stool and sat down, placing his backpack on the counter next to the laptop.
"You..." Shigaraki looked up, hate burning in his eyes. "YOU KILLED HIM!"
Shigaraki scrambled up, lunging for Izuku's throat.
Izuku didn't move. He didn't vibrate. He simply waited until Shigaraki was an inch away, then—
WHAM.
Izuku's foot moved so fast it was invisible. He kicked Shigaraki in the stomach, sending the lanky villain flying back into the wall with a sickening crunch.
"Sit," Izuku commanded.
He turned his attention to the laptop. He looked at Doctor Garaki.
"Doctor," Izuku said pleasantly. "I assume the cleanup is complete?"
"Y-Yes," Garaki stammered. "The body has been disposed of. The records are wiped. The Nomu are... awaiting your command."
"Good." Izuku turned to Kurogiri. "A glass of water, please. All that running makes me thirsty."
Kurogiri hesitated. He looked at Shigaraki, who was wheezing on the floor, clutching his stomach. Then he looked at the boy in the school uniform who had murdered the most powerful villain in history without breaking a sweat.
Kurogiri poured the water.
"Thank you," Izuku said, taking a sip.
He spun the stool around to face Shigaraki.
"I know you're upset, Tomura," Izuku said, using the villain's given name. "You lost your father figure. You feel lost. You feel like the game is over."
Izuku leaned forward, his eyes flashing red for a split second.
"But the game has just been upgraded."
"I'll kill you," Shigaraki rasped, blood on his teeth. "I'll rot you to dust."
"You can try," Izuku shrugged. "But you're too slow. Your Sensei was too slow. He sat in a chair and plotted for decades while the world stayed the same. He was a hoarder. He hoarded quirks, he hoarded secrets, and he did nothing with them."
Izuku stood up and walked over to Shigaraki. He crouched down.
"I am not a hoarder. I am an accelerator."
He poked Shigaraki's chest.
"You want to destroy hero society? Good. So do I. But we aren't going to do it by lurking in the shadows and kidnapping students. We're going to do it in the light."
Izuku stood up and addressed the room.
"The UA Sports Festival is in two weeks. The entire country will be watching. They want to see the next generation of heroes. They want to feel safe."
Izuku smiled. It was a terrifying expression on such a young face.
"We are going to give them a show. Not an attack. Not a massacre. A demonstration."
He looked at the laptop.
"Doctor, I need you to prepare the High-End Nomu. Not the mindless ones. The ones that can think. The ones that can feel fear."
"But... they aren't ready!" Garaki protested.
"Speed up the process," Izuku snapped. "You have resources now. You aren't hiding from All Might anymore. You're working for me."
He turned back to Shigaraki and held out a hand.
"Get up, Tomura. Stop crying over the old boss. He was the tutorial level."
Shigaraki stared at the hand. He hated him. He wanted to kill him. But he also felt something he hadn't felt since All For One took him in: awe. This boy was pure, concentrated malice.
Shigaraki slapped the hand away and stood up on his own.
"I'm not your sidekick," Shigaraki spat.
"No," Izuku agreed. "You're the face of the League. I'm just the lightning that strikes when they aren't looking."
Izuku checked his watch.
"I have to go. If I miss homeroom, my mom will get a call."
He grabbed his backpack.
"Plan the infiltration, Shigaraki. Be creative. But remember: no one dies unless I say so. Death is too quick. I want them broken."
With a rush of wind, the boy in the school uniform vanished.
Shigaraki stood in the silence, wiping blood from his mouth. He looked at the empty stool.
"Kurogiri," Shigaraki whispered.
"Yes, Shigaraki?"
"Give me a whiskey." Shigaraki stared at the door. "And make it a double. We have a lot of work to do."