Art creds: @Briianna on Pinterest

.

.

.

I stared at Kurogiri for a good while, the cold wind rustling between us. "Huh?"

"Think of it as a..." he hesitated, "a temporary stay, if you will."

Backing away from him, I stutter, "The League of ... Villains..?"

"Yes, well, the name wasn't my idea."

I merely fumbled with my bloody fingers, unsure of how to get out of this situation without ruining things for myself. 'The League of Villains'... does this mean that he's one himself?

I eyed him warily. His overall posture presents him as a mannered, polite man, who wouldn't hurt anyone unless the need calls for it.

He's astute-- I gathered that much from just the way he talked. No malevolent intent was in those glowing eyes of his, at least none that I could detect.

My eyes were drawn to his body form again. How cool... it's all just a dark purple mist. Is the metal brace he's wearing for containment? Stability, maybe? And I was able to shake his hand before... is all that mist tangible like that? Can it return to its gaseous form whenever he commands? So much power... with a cool appearance like that, his quirk must be amazing. I wonder what it is...

Kurogiri must've seen my uncertainty because he further explained. "We think of ourselves as an association of misfits, of people who don't belong in this world built for the powerful."

Breathing in, he continued. "Some of us have quirks that have defined us since birth, others were done wrong by the hero system, and others just wanted to live their life without interference.

Though we may have all come from different beginnings, there is one thing we all have in common, a mutual goal we all share: to destroy All Might, the so-called Symbol of Peace, and the Hero Association along with it."

Although everything Kurogiri just said was ringing and humming in my mind, waking me from the drowsiness that had fallen upon me, there was one thing that stood out to me in particular:

'destroy All Might and the Hero Association along with it'

My entire body was buzzing from head to toe-- eager, excited, set on fire from just that one sentence.

Once Kurogiri uttered the words, it was imprinted in my brain. My mind is hazy, and now all I want to do is to realize those dreams and make them come true.

I want to destroy All Might and everything that he's created. I want to decimate the Hero Association and all they stand for. I want to enlighten people of the heroes' true intent.

The revelation hit me like a sack of bricks.

I want to get revenge.

And for the second time that night, a huge weight was lifted off my back. But this time, I really feel there is nothing weighing me down. Like the pain of the past fourteen years has disappeared. It's so... freeing.

I look Kurogiri straight in his oval eyes, determination coursing through my veins more than it ever has before.

"If this 'League of Villains' can help me do what must be done, then I'll join you."

The man's eyes widened again in surprise and I kicked myself for embarrassing myself so openly like that.

Quickly bending into a bow, I apologize. "Sorry for getting all serious like that!" I nervously scratch the nape of my neck, "I'm not usually that sour."

"That's quite alright," Kurogiri chuckled lightheartedly. "It was inspiring, in fact."

Inspiring, huh?

"The others won't know you're coming, so they may be... watchful of you at first, but I think you'll make a great addition to our team, Midoriya," he commented, now backing up.

The fog that formed his body contorted into a kind of spiral, swirling roughly and subtly disturbing the air around it. The mist went on to form a black, floating mass that left my mind burning with unanswered questions.

So his quirk is the ability to form portals? How long can he keep them up for? Is there a limit to where he can transport people to? If it can be anywhere, then that's extremely powerful and convenient, but it could be coordinate-based instead...

Wait--

"They won't know I'm coming?? I don't wanna intrude without everyone's permission or anything like that!" I protested, though I knew it'd fall on deaf ears.

"You'd be doing nothing of the sort! They'll understand; just walk on through." said his firm, assuring voice.

So he can talk while in portal form as well? That's so cool...

I slowly inch towards the huge gateway, really hoping this isn't some elaborate plan to kill me. I slowly stick an arm through the substance, then my leg. It doesn't feel particularly different though; it's just like sticking an arm through a cold mist on a drowsy day or something.

Hopefully this won't drown me...

I bring my head through the portal, making sure to keep my eyes shut and hold my breath. Walking all the way through until the warm smell of alcohol and the low buzzing of a TV welcomes me, I hesitantly open my eyes.

"Oh, look-- Kurogiri's back!" a sugar sweet voice exclaims, giggling profusely.

"Good. Now tell him to get his ass back here so I can finally beat him in this stupid card game," a cold voice groans.

"He left for a reason; he should tell us about the data he collected at that high school," someone annoyingly interrupts.

Everyone's eyes in what seemed to be a small bar turned to me, drinking me in. But before I had the chance to react, they'd all surrounded me.

One girl, around my age maybe, had a knife to my throat, smiling widely; another, whose entire body was covered with pale hands, held four fingers tightly around my neck, carefully keeping his pinkie up; a man covered in burns and stitches guarded any possible exits with his blue fire with four other guys surrounding me with weapons, destroying any chance of my escaping. 

"What the--"

"How did he--"

"Did Kurogiri bring us a toy? Can I drink his blood? He smells so good!" the blonde girl shrieked, pressing the sharp knife deeper into my throat. I winced.

"First he's gonna tell us how the hell he got here through Kurogiri's portal," the man with the hands drawled. His shaggy, light blue hair was unkempt, covering his face. "Then we can take him apart, piece by piece... "

He lifted his head, allowing me to see the bloodlust glowing in his red eyes. The sight alone froze me to the spot.

Kurogiri warped to the bar not a second later and, upon seeing the predicament I was in, used his quirk to teleport the girl's knife and the guy's fingers off my throat.

Whoa... their hands are all in the air, little pockets of Kurogiri's mist in between us.

I must've been so scared that I didn't realize they were borderline choking me because I bent over to have a coughing fit.

The two looked really annoyed, as if this happens regularly. The fire guy in the back looked less than impressed and the four guys: one who looked like a snake, another some kind of witch doctor, another a guy in a black and grey bodysuit and a really muscular guy, respectively, just seemed really confused.

"What's the meaning of this?" grunted the hands guy as he pulled his own hand out of Kurogiri's small portal and rubbed it with just his thumb and forefinger.

"This is Izuku Midoriya," Kurogiri introduced. "Though he's only a Junior High boy, he's proven himself to detest this Hero Society as much as the rest of us."

I made sure to stand up straight, assured and assertive. "I'd like to join your cause. I want to defeat All Might with you." And I meant it with all I've got.

No one said anything; they only stared at me with undecided eyes.

The guy who'd just distinguished his blue flames was the first to break the silence. "Well, I don't really care either way," he huffed, sitting back on the bar stool. "As long as he doesn't annoy me too much."

The reptilian guy spoke up as well, "If he truly wants to aid us in our goal, who are we to deny him?" He sheathed his rather large sword, much to my relief.

"Ooh, I wanna keep him too! I can teach him all my cool moves--," an excited voice insists, but then-- "I don't want that little shit!" It was the body suit guy in the back.

"Hmmm," mused the masked man, "I say we let him stay. Finally something interesting would happen around here."

"What--??" the blue-haired guy objected, "I never--"

"Yeah, let's keep him!" the blonde girl with lovesick eyes piped. "He's so so cute!"

I tried to hide my oncoming blush.

"We can't just--!"

"I suppose, if everyone's fine with it..." the buff guy in the corner murmured.

"You all wanna keep this stray puppy that got dragged in??"

The girl who'd joined the bodysuit guy on the bar counter swang her feet back and forth. "Well, why not?"

The reptilian let out a long sigh, "He's just a kid. There isn't much damage he could do anyhow."

The blonde girl jumped off the counter and strolled to me, linking her arms around my neck. "Midoriya, right? Can I call you Izuku instead? I'm Toga!" she grinned.

My face might as well have been a tomato. I nervously fumbled about like the idiot I am, trying to find the right words. "Oh, yeah, I'm Izuku Midoriya-- oh wait, you already know that. Um, I'm excited to meet together-- I mean work together! Sorry, I--uh--"

I could feel my brain frying.

The bodysuit guy walked over too, "I'm Twice! We're gonna be best buds, you and I! I'll take you under my wing-- I don't have a wing, you idiot!"

Toga helped introduce everyone else. She pointed to the reptilian, "That's Spinner; he's really obsessed with Stain so that's why he's dressed like him--" his tattered red scarf and grey mask only confirmed her statement-- "He's a real sourpuss at first, but he's a lot nicer once you get to know him."

"Me next, Toga!" Twice interjected, rushing to my side and pointing to the scarred man, "That's Dabi, he's really mean but he's okay most of the time. I forced him and Kurogiri to play a game of Blackjack, and, even though they've been playing for four hours, he hasn't won once." He giggled.

"I can hear you," Dabi fumed. "Kurogiri, sit your ass down. You're not winning this time," he vowed, carefully studying his set of cards.

"We'll see about that; you are aware that there's a reason I won the last 28 games, right?" Kurogiri said, sitting on the stool opposite Dabi.

"Keep your non-existent mouth shut."

Toga pushes me over to the other side of the bar, now pointing at the masked man who was speaking with Spinner and the buff guy. "That's Mr. Compress. There really isn't much to say about him..."

Twice finishes her thought, "Except for that he's really showy and over the top which can be really annoying, but he's okay too-- he's a piece of shit!"

We're interrupted by the intimidating, towering figure of the buff guy who'd just walked up in front of us. He looked at me expectantly.

I quickly bowed, "Nice to meet you, sir!"

He scowled. "That's Miss Magne."

I stood straight, hands covering my mouth. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Magne! I won't make that mistake ever again, I swear!"

She annoyingly tsked, but I could see a small smirk as she turned away to resume her conversation with the other two.

My face is red from the rush of fear and embarrassment in the time span of just two seconds. Both Toga and Twice patted my back in understanding. "Don't worry about Big Sis Mag too much, Izuku! She's such a sweetheart!" Toga assured me.

"Yeah, she'll open up-- no, she won't!"

The pair then turned me to the bar to take a seat while they took one on either side of me. Kurogiri and Dabi were still in a heated battle of Blackjack, with, if his confused expression is any indication, Dabi losing.

"You already know Kurogiri; he's really cool and always takes our Dabi down a notch," Toga giggled on my left.

"Shut up," he grumbled.

"And last but certainly not least," Twice turned my head around to the far end of the bar, where the blue-haired guy sat. "There's Tomura Shigaraki."

"We know, he looks really creepy with those hands and everything, but he always lets us have our fun and live our lives when the outside world doesn't."

"He's kinda like the leader here, but he has a higher-up that's the official boss of the place," Twice explained to me.

Kurogiri managed to get to us in between the Blackjack rounds. "What'd you like to drink, Midoriya? An Old Fashioned? Margarita perhaps?"

I'm only fourteen... technically, I'm not supposed to even be in a bar.

"Do you have any apple juice?" I awkwardly ask.

"Oh, I want one too!" Toga said.

"Ooh, me too-- I fucking hate apple juice!"

Kurogiri lightly chuckled to himself as he got some for the four of us. After talking a while, he went back to continue his Blackjack game with Dabi, so Toga and Twice and I chatted. And I've never felt so included.

As I looked around the small wooden bar, the warm aroma of familiarity embracing me... I think I like it here.

.

.

.

Sorry for the long chapter!

Please don't forget to vote, thank you!!