Giving Ryo a proper "MHA Villain Style" backstory here. 😅
You guys have no idea how many times I've rewritten his backstory, since the first draft was written way back around chapter ten!

Uh oh the power went out again via storm. Sigh. Hopefully it isn't out for two full days again. That would be the second time this summer! *villain arc begins because of 0% air conditioning*
It's back!
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][ Previously: Shigeo/??? broke out of Tartarus, releasing countless villains such as AFO and Suzuki, who turn out to be long-time rivals, now enemies due to the formal villain prioritizing his son(Sho's) safety. Meanwhile, Shigeo conjures a storm so terrible that only the strongest can even hope to reach him. Tomura uses Mob as the distraction he needs to steal Eri's quirk. ][

     Dust nipped at his face. Every little thing that he couldn't predict flew right past his barrier, scraping his skin, tormenting his eyes.

     Focus...

     C'mon, focus...

     This "little trouble" he decided to deal with after breaking off from Suzuki was far from that. How could one person's aura be so powerful?! Layers upon layers of wind tackled his trudging body. And it wasn't normal wind either. Every twenty or so feet, the wind would suddenly change directions! And the center was constantly moving, so there was little one could do in preparation but hope they don't fly away!

     Of course, it wasn't the wind Ryo was worried about. Far from it. He could easily teleport, after all!

     The problem was that, the closer he got, the more of his power was lost to the current, sucked into that black hole of a kid himself!! That included his sight.

     By now, the man could barely see. He'd been trapped in this maze of an aura for a while now! Almost like it was designed to destroy him! Thanks to his lowered super senses, he couldn't tell which part of the aura was stronger. He couldn't find the center, essentially! All he could do was walk and teleport around until he eventually found it!... Which wasn't going too well for him. He had an equally difficult time trying to escape. So...he was kinda trapped here then, slowly losing his powers; the one thing he could bring himself to care about!

     His best bet was to find Shigeo and finally put an end to him somehow! It would be tough, but it'd at least be easier than losing everything!!

     ' 'Ryo....' '

     The man spun around, unable to hear anything but the harsh winds. Strange... The voice was so faint, yet it sounded like it was coming from everywhere all at once.

     ' 'Ryo Norazokou.' ' Instantly, the man froze. That name... That wretched name..

     "G...God..? Is that you..?" It was a silly thing for him to assume. But, at the same time...

     He'd never murmured that family name a day in his life. How on earth was it now being repeated to him once more? That name should be long dead and in the ground.

     ' 'You appear to be lost. Turn right and walk twelve paces.' ' The voice spoke calmly. Ryo had no reason not to follow it exactly. He teleported about twelve paces forward, almost tripping over a large crack in the ground. The world was so foggy around him though that he couldn't even gage how big or deep it was. ' 'Now take eighteen paces to the right.' ' Sounded like he was getting closer. Her voice, though audibly ineffective, was much clearer now. Ryo followed her instructions again, landing him in the middle of a four-way street in the middle of the city, which was completely abandoned. ' 'Now turn to the right about ninety degrees.' ' He already sensed her presence.. The man turned as his sixth sense studied this stranger. He could barely make anything out other than that she was short, bottom half of her face covered by a mask, wore almost completely black clothing, and had medium length, black hair. He hated that he couldn't "see" right anymore. A lot moreso than even his inner dialogue was letting on, for his knees buckled at the prospect, his heart thumping, stomach aching, breath shortening. All at the mere thought of never being able to go back to how things were again!

     "Wh- who are you, and how do you know my name!?!" A pretty reasonable question. Ryo's heart ached at the mention of the name. He had hoped the whole world would forget that name with him!

     The wind was calmer out here, but it still tossed about their clothes and their hair, steadily draining away the life force of their necessary powers.

     The woman stepped closer, her eyes so intently staring down the slightly older man. He allowed her to near only out of curiosity and his overwhelming desire for answers. His heart raced as she stood only a foot in front of him, slowly lifting her hand to his forehead.

Tap-tap.. tap.

     Twice on his forehead and once on his nose. Though he was confused at first, in the back of his head, from the withered trash bags of discarded memories, came the translation.

" (Don't go.) "

     Ryo gasped. How did he know what that meant?! Or that it was supposed to mean anything at all even!?

     ' 'We made it up when we were little, remember? Since you were blind and I was deaf. We had to come up with some way to communicate. ... After all...we were siblings... Ones who heavily relied on each other for our survival too..' ' The woman's head dropped a little, a very somber look about her. She slowly drew something from her pocket. A move that was especially hard for the man to notice in this stunned state of his. Ryo's eyes opened, the two dark abysses under them very much shaken.

     "...Mei...?"

     The woman's head sprung up, her eyes widening a little. ' 'So you do remember!' ' She tore down the mask that covered the bottom half of her face. Her mouth did not move as she "spoke."

     Oh yeah... It was coming back to him alright...

     In overwhelming waves of pain.

     "...You're not really here." Ryo blurted, more to himself than the woman. Why else would she suddenly have such a powerful quirk?!

     Mei's eyes softened, stepping closer so that he could see her face clearly. Her dark brown eyes, eyebrows..face shape... All features he had never been able to see of her before. Why was it all so detailed...if it was fake..?

     And how did it...somehow...resemble his own..?

     Slowly, she wrapped her arms around the man's shoulders, a couple genuine tears springing into her eyes. ' 'I finally found you...' ' Why, though..? Why did her long lost brother have to be the villain everyone hated?!

     And why was he so terribly lost?

     ' 'I'm sorry..' ' Her mental voice murmured. Just as Ryo was beginning the slow process of adjusting to whatever the heck was going on, the prick of a needle entered through the side of his neck. Mei's brows were furrowed as she struck her brother with the quirk erasing EpiPen.

     The good of humanity comes before the brother who'd abandoned her...

     Ryo's heart jumped in his chest, realizing too late what just happened. Before he could even push away, his entire world went dark. Completely shriveling out of sight.

     The memories he'd spent his entire life trying to ignore all flooded back to him in an instant.

     He had never really forgotten... Just wished he could.

---------------

     You're taught to fear a lot of things as a helpless blind kid...

     Why, just about everything I learned came with a bit of fear attached.

     "-Careful now." His frail hand clutched mine tightly. I could sense the anxiety running down his fingers and into mine. It made me more nervous than I probably needed to be. But..I didn't know any better! I had no idea where I was nor how I was going to get back. I was solely reliant on my older brother, Jay.

     So many loud noises whirled around me. Too many to keep track of. Back at home, I had memorized what every sound meant. But, here... This was completely new. This was Mei's first time out of the house too. Jay was too weak to carry her, though, so she waddled beside him, keeping pace impressively well, her hand tightly gripping onto her eldest brother's hand. Occasionally, the two of us would bump into each other as our brother maneuvered us around. Poor Jay had to communicate with the two of us very differently, tugging on Mei's toddler hand to get her to pay attention, and griping at me verbally to warn me of an incoming object! He had incredible patience with us, however. Patience that even at only six years old I could recognize and appreciate.

     After a bit of stumbling and bumping into things, it was time for the ultimate test. The whole time out here, I heard very intimidating noises. They sounded similar to the dragons Jay imitated while reading his favorite fantasy stories to me before bed. He could tell I liked dragons, so he often picked out the books he liked that featured such creatures. And like the dragons from those stories, these noises were just as scary.

RRRR-RR-RRR

     Low rumbling. Long, hostile growls. Jay tugged the two of us toward these noises and stopped us there. The rumbles and roars raced by, frightening my ears.

     I imagined huge, scaly beasts, weighing several tons. With claws that can rip through flesh and mouths that breathe fire! Sure, I liked to hear about dragons in stories, but those were just stories! These were real, these were vicious, these sounded like they wanted to eat me alive!

     I hugged Jay's side, whimpering as the dread came that I would have to face these beasts sooner or later!

     "Shh, shhh, it's okay, Ryo..." Jay rubbed my back. "What you're hearing are cars. They won't hurt you as long as you do what I say, when I say it, alright?" He grabbed my hand, suddenly pulling I and Mei forward. "Let's go!" We sprinted. I had no idea why, but I wasn't going to find out the hard way. That's for sure!!

Ding!

     After a long and confusing walk, the three of us pushed through a glass door. Instantly, I was met with a wall of cold air, which made my hairs stand on end, my body shivering. I was hit with a load of smells as well. Reminded me of those bags of chips Jay would bring us sometimes. Mmm, were we going to have some snacks? My mouth watered just thinking about it. .. There was a hint of oil in the air as well. Maybe even some liquor.

     "Oi! What's with the little punks?!" The gruff voice of a middle aged man barked from inside the building.

     I knocked against Jay's side, again clinging to him for comfort. His tone reminded me a lot of the strangers who'd sometimes hit me for no reason..

     "Th-they won't cause any trouble, promise!!" Jay spoke for the both of us. "It's just.. one of Mom's boyfriends is staying over, and I don't want to risk leaving them at the house right now..." Jay really was brave for his age.. Though he sounded timid, I knew how strong he was at heart. He was only twelve, after all, and took much better care of us than Mom. I couldn't even remember a time before he started to care for us so diligently. And, even though both Mei and I had pretty troubling disabilities, he never gave up on the two of us like Mom did. He still believed that we could accomplish great things!

     The man further off groaned. "Jss' make sure they don't make any messes.."

     "Y-yes sir!" Jay pulled on my hand again. I almost tripped over myself, led into a part of the building where the sun no longer warmed my back.

     My curiosity may have gotten the better of me a little. I wanted to know what this place was like, why we were here, and whether not I would be getting any of those snacks! I began to wander off after Jay released both of our hands. Reaching out my hands, I felt through the rows upon rows of capsules. What curious things. They made such funny noises when I shook them. Sounded like there was something inside. Was it a snack? I decided to open one to find out.

     "Hey!" Jay slapped my hand. Instantly, I dropped the capsule, rubbing the burning spot on my little hand. "Don't eat that or it can kill you!" I gasped. Could they really?? Why would such things even exist?? Jay stepped away, carrying with him a similarly sounding capsule. I began to panic. I stumbled forward and caught his hand holding the small plastic container.

     "B-brother? Why do you always eat those if they are making you die??" Tugging the capsule away from him. Jay growled a little and pried my hand off the case.

     "Calm down, alright?? These ones are fine! You just can't see which ones are good or not!" I took my defeat bitterly, falling on my knees and clutching my brother's pants. Tears leaked from my useless eyes. It was clear the message didn't soak in very well. I was still worried my brother was making a terrible mistake by eating things that would hurt him. And-and I couldn't imagine living without my big brother there to guide me! "...Hhh..." Jay knelt down and rubbed my back in slow circles, easing my trembling body. "Remember when you guys would get sick sometimes..?"

     "Yeah..?"

     "And then I would give you some medicine to swallow, which would make you feel all better?"

     "Yeah?"

     "Well, this is the same thing!"

     "Then... Then why do you never get any better..?" I asked the hard question, which silenced my older brother for a little bit. His gentle hand clenched, clutching my shirt within his fist.

     "I... don't know... But! At least I know it is helping! And I bet that one day, I won't even need this medicine anymore!"

     I gasped, a smile growing on my face. "Really?!"

     "Yep!!" What a great source of hope!

     ...Too bad hope is only a thing for fantasy... But this was the real world, where dragons and knights simply don't exist.

     Jay got worse with time. Within two years, he went from frail but able to get around...to hardly able to stand!

     He'd vomit often, after which my mom would always scream at me to clean it up. It was terrible. He pretty much lived on the old, sticky couch.

     ...And he wasn't getting any better. He was so skinny, his body not much bigger than mine even though he was almost twice my age. Most of the stuff he ate ended up on the crusty old hard wood floors, meaning food wasn't helping any.

     Mom didn't care. She never did. Ever since the day we were born, she hoped the lot of us would die of hunger so she wouldn't have to see our miserable little faces anymore.

     Mei and I tried to take care of Jay as best we could, but that was a hard task for a 3-5 and 6-8 year old to accomplish.

     Jay needed his medicine. He needed it.

     But... Now he was too weak to get it on his own.

     So it was up to me to get it for him. My older brother always said I could accomplish great things, right?! So I should be able to handle this too then! I could SAVE my brother!!

----------

     I stood with my bare feet on the rough, sandy flat rock, listening to the roaring dragons ahead of me. After that first time, Jay had taken the two of us to the store on a few other occasions, so I knew the direction to head in. I had memorized all the twists and turns. All the sounds and signals.

     ...So why then couldn't I move?...

     The cars roared on past, completely ignoring the little blind boy loosely clinging to a metal post. I just couldn't. Not without Jay here! I couldn't hope to cross the scary path, where the monstrous creatures could mow me down in an instant!

     Every day, I returned to that spot, hoping for either the cars to magically be gone, or for me to have the courage to cross on my own.

     Every

          single

               day...

     But I never did. Not as the months dragged on and my brother became too weak to crawl back onto the couch.

----------

     They stepped over him. Like he was nothing but a house decoration, my mother and her boyfriends all deliberately ignored him!! He no longer had the strength to even crawl up on the couch, and Mei and I were too weak ourselves to help him up. It was a struggle enough for the two of us to scrounge up enough nutrition for ourselves; a third of our earnings went to a brother whose stomach never accepted the offerings for very long.

     For a month, he lay on the wood floor like that, whimpering and twitching as a last ditch cry for help.

     ...Yet I could never cross that street... There was something debilitating about even trying.

----------

     I tripped over my brother again one fateful morning, falling onto the ground and hissing in pain.

     ..But there was something different this time. I, being the clumsy kid I was, had tripped over him before... But never before had he felt so stiff.

     May as well check on him since I was down here. Jay was no longer whining or breathing irregularly, so that was a good sign. .. Right?

     "Jay, are you still sleeping?" I crawled over the dirty, sticky floor toward him, calling his name quietly to not wake up Mom. I received no response. "Jay!" Usually, the eldest would make some kind of noise to alert me to his specific location, but he wasn't doing that today. Even his raspy breathing had stilled.

     I was so used to his condition by this point that it didn't even cross my mind to consider the worst. My hand touched cold skin. Wasn't even sure if it was human at first. But I double checked and, sure enough, it was skin texture... Didn't feel much like flesh, though. More like thick rubber. "Jay?" I shook his arm a little. His entire, stiff body shifted with it. "Jay, wake up! You're scaring me!" His body was so thin and frail. Not an ounce of muscle between bone and skin. "MOVE!!" Tears flooded from my pointless eyes. My entire body locked up, unable to move my arms and legs. Every inch of me was instead overtaken by mind rattling shivers.

     It was strange...

     Though I'd never felt a corpse before, I knew exactly what this was.

     Whimpering, Mei tackled my back, trying to pull me away from our fallen brother in a hurry. I panicked. In an instant, I sought to escape. Anywhere! Anywhere but here!

Vwip!

     Suddenly, I and the girl felt grass under our hands and feet. The little five year old squeaked and rolled away from me. I was disorientated. Grass?! Grass is supposed to be outside!

     I felt around. Cool earth below. A warm ray of sunshine hitting my back. But-but I was just inside only seconds ago! "Wh-what's happening?!" I gasped. Still the emotions were so strong, swirling around inside. I started lying to myself; that everything was fine and Jay was only sleeping, and I was just exaggerating things! But NO, I knew what I felt! I pulled at the grass, fighting my beliefs, until the dirt was plucked with the roots. I tossed those aside and began slamming my fists into the ground. "NO! This is ALL fake!! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" That was the conclusion which I came to.

     Yes! That must be it! I simply didn't wake up this morning!

     "I'm just dreaming!!" Relief washed over my body. Only seconds later, I was sitting on my knees, wiping away the tears of shock. "That must be it... This is all just a dream..." Focusing hard on one location, I tried the vanishing thing again. Thinking of the wondrous sensation throughout my body. The ripples of tingles that accompanied the displacement in my being. Suddenly, I was able to replicate that feeling.

     I sat atop concrete, the noises of vehicles brushing by, a welcoming sensation. My hair was tossed as each roaring one drove past, swerving a little to avoid me. The road. The cars.

     That debilitating, soul crushing fear which had bound me to the sidewalk was now gone.

     I smiled. What good fun? So, I had powers in this dream? Maybe...this was my mind's way of making up for the nightmare I had just received... Or maybe it's because I realized this was a dream.

     Whatever the reason, I could now do it.

     ...I could finally cross that street...

     Morbidly curious, I pushed myself up and walked into oncoming traffic. Maybe I could make myself wake up..? Or, perhaps, conquering my fears in this dream was what would later help me save Jay in the real world?

SCREEEEEE!

     A car rammed into me. My body went flying. The car went flying. We both crashed and rolled on the road. An explosion from the wreckage tickled my skin. I felt faint cuts and bruises, but that was it. The pain was nowhere near as bad as before...when I was awake. Heh...and here I was my whole life terrified of these metallic monsters... They were no dragons.

     I pushed myself onto my elbows and just half lay there. I giggled. My shoulders shook. Before long, I was full-on laughing my head off!

     People running out to help were disturbed. The blind boy covered in blood and soot was laughing for a reason no one knew.

     "Are you alright, son?!" I heard an older man approach. How strange... Either it was just my memory getting better at visualizing the sounds around me, or I could actually faintly see his feet. Specifically his shoe prints. And the Keyes in his pocket that jingled as he approached. The shuffling of his jacket. For some reason, my mind could put the images together without even having to touch them. Ohh, this must be part of the dream too! I've been given a sense of vision in my dream so that life is no longer such a struggle! I turned to the man with blood running down my face and opened my eyes. "UUAH!" The guy staggered back. I could hear his rampant heartbeat. What an odd detail. "Wh-what's wrong with your EYES?!" I wouldn't know... I had never seen them before.

     An image flashed in front of me clear as the mental image before me now. One of the man lunging my way to pick me up.

     I fell back, thinking it was already too late. But, now he was just standing there, not having done a thing. Then, he jumped forward as I had previously seen. What even was that?! Why was this dream making no sense??

     He grabbed my head and checked that the cut wasn't too bad. "How badly are you hurt?! Where are your parents? I'll call an ambulance!" I grabbed the man's hand and tore it off of me in a hurry. From his wrist came a terrible crunch, and the man screamed. "####!" He dropped to his knees and nurtured his wound tenderly. By now, my brain was creating images of everything making sound. I saw faint outlines of the man before me as he shook agonizingly. He was visible to me as mere scratches of white in a sea of black. The cars behind me. I could see each one thanks to their humming engines. And the cars driving the opposite way on the other side of the road. It was a little overwhelming at first, I'll admit. The man in front of me shifted to anger quickly. "You broke my ####### wrist!!" Yeahh, I wasn't in the mood to deal with this guy. I thought again about that weird feeling from before and repeated the process, teleporting away.

. . .

     I never returned home after that.

     Why should I?! After all, the world I was in now was nothing but a dream, those in it simply figments of my own imagination! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if characters like Mei and Mom didn't even exist anymore. After all, they were no longer relevant to my story.

----------

     ...If this was a dream, then, it certainly was a long one!

     I started to get disheartened after a month of living on the streets, surviving off of nothing but table scraps and trash.

     Wasn't much better than what my siblings and I usually ended up eating back at home, so I wasn't complaining much. But, there were times when I was tempted to return home, even if only for the comfort of familiarity.

     But I couldn't. My very belief system hinged too much on this being a dream. A fake world. With fake things and fake people. Returning home ran the risk of proving all of that wrong! It was better to live in denial than to challenge my beliefs, realize everything was real...

     ..And that I was responsible for my brother's death...for being such a coward in the past.

     No, I couldn't think of that. I could 't live with that.

     So I stayed away. Surviving on just as many delusions as I did trash. Eventually, I got comfortable with this. Every small argument against my lie I twisted into an even stronger argument that inevitably "proved" it to be true.

     Eventually, though, I had to face some form of reality.

     ...I was starving... And I would die soon if I never received any help.

     But I also didn't want to go to some boring old orphanage!.. That would be no fun at all...

     Luckily for me, help found me .. in the form of a man named Zuki Shimazaki. He was a better down on his luck, looking for and failing to find anyone worthy to sell into the illegal underground fighting ring system.

     That all changed, however, when he ran into me. I refused to speak my last name to anyone, so the desperate Zuki gave me his last name instead! For the next month, he provided me with food and shelter, training me in the basics of fighting. In return, I signed a contract, which I later found out meant I had essentially sold my soul to another man. A whole organization, that is.

     At only the age of eight, I was thrown into my first fight. I beat up that kid pretty easily, earning me an easy first victory. People started to take notice of my quirk, which was the only thing I had going for me at the beginning, since I only knew how to throw a few basic punches! However, with more victories came more people willing to teach me better moves. I was passed around from master to master, bought and sold so frequently that it was rare for me to get to memorize my owner's face and name before being sold off to the next!

     I had fallen into a state of numbness in that ring. The rush of adrenaline I first feared became my source of enjoyment! The fights were an amazing way to keep my interest; my investment in life as a whole! This setting also helped build upon my delusional belief. Here, I was treated as nothing but a character in a stage play! Everyone's attention was on me, and yet I was never treated like a real person either. The crowds cheered my name, and yet I never felt like that praise was directed at me.

     My powers were the only thing anyone cared about.

     And that was okay. As long as I could live, pretending for once to be the main character of my own story, all would be fine.

     ...I would never have to touch the real world again...

     My value only grew as I entered into my teens. Many wanted to figure out how I could possess so many different quirks. Some people would essentially "rent" me for a couple weeks at a time to perform experiments. These were jarring moments. Took me out of the action. Made me feel like my life wasn't really all a performance. And I hated that. I felt like I always needed to be in the middle of some cage fight to feel alive. The thrill, the action, the adrenaline pumping through my veins! .. All incredible distractions to keep my mind off of the big questions.

     ...Why was this dream taking so long?
     ...Why hadn't it ended yet?
     ...What if this wasn't all a dream?
     ...What if this was all real?

     Oh, but the people loved my energy! My uncaring nature for life as a whole, disregard for the outside world, a certain detachment from reality; a perfect depiction of this underground society as a whole.

     I never lost a fight, even against full grown men who had been in the business longer than I'd been alive! I broke every record imaginable. I was on top of the underground world.

     How then, could I not be the main character, living within my own dream?

----------

     Right before child fighter turns eighteen, no matter where they might rank, there is a transition phase in which the ring must legally sell custody of the child over to an individual. Or else the child fighter can opt out of the business entirely, being old enough to live on their own. I dunno. Something to do with running through legal hoops around slavery or something.

     Though this became quite the event for any child fighters approaching eighteen. 

     Most commonly, the one who purchases the fighter simply acts as their next master, enrolling them in more fights both above and underground. Many popular fighters today known all around the globe were actually once raised in these underground fighting rings.

     However, sometimes someone will come along and purchase the child fighter for other reasons. Most commonly, these children can grow up to be excellent assassins or devoted bodyguards. Not as common, but sometimes still happens, is when someone purchases one of these fighters for quirk marriage related reasons. It is because of this uncertainty that every child put up for auction when the time eventually does come, no matter how battle hardened they may be, will remember the auction as the most stressful point in their career.

     It was no different for me. Even if I had convinced myself that all of this was fake, that could not shove down every feeling or emotion locked away inside. Staring at that sea of faces, the bright spotlight directly on me as the bidding price rose higher and higher; the determined looks in every man or woman who rose their number in this intense fight for my ownership. A nervous sweat had crawled down every inch of me by the time that at last only one bidder remained.

     I was sold at a price higher than anyone else had ever been before me. Breaking one final record on my way out.

     To Toichiro Suzuki.

     My new master.

     Or "boss," I should say. He didn't like the "master" title very much.

----------

     On the day of my eighteenth birthday, I was shipped out of there to forever follow the man who'd just purchased me.

     "I am grateful for your obedience in moving all the way out here for me... I understand the ring has been your only home for the past ten years.." Judging by his voice, it sounded like he was a little amused by how long I had spent in there. I followed the well dressed man quietly -- my own clothes pretty simple; white t-shirt and black pants -- clutching a single bag against my chest, which was full of the only belongings considered my own. It was sort of funny. Despite being sold for so much, I never once saw a scent of that. Of course, this is only strange in hindsight. At the time, I just assumed this was how life worked. I'd never owned a thing in my life, after all! Not even the clothes on my back!

     The only thing I could truly call mine were the powers which had carried me this far. It was the only thing I was raised to really ever care about.

     Suzuki enjoyed my silence. He too was a very quiet and reserved man. He had feared I'd act around him like I did in the ring, but here I was, polite and quiet -- as I had been taught to act while in the presence of my master, no matter who they might be.

     Presently, Suzuki was leading me to my room. The floor was shiny and spotless, the wall of glass to our left much the same. I could feel the sunlight against my skin, something I hadn't sensed in a while now. Perhaps a few years even. Only the sounds of our feet tapping against the perfectly smooth floor could be heard.

     "I trust that in time you will soon adjust to your new way of living. You will remain at my side for now, but my plans are for you to one day act on your own to carry out tasks I have for you." The boss man relayed his plans before me. My brows creased just a little. I was so used to one opponent at a time, in scheduled fights within a controlled area, that this far broader plan of his was more problematic than anything.

     Blankly, "Just show me the final boss and I'll take him out." hoping there was an easier, much simpler way for his plan to go. In the months leading up to the auction, I had prepared myself mentally for just about anything. I was ready to work as an assassin if that was what my master-- er- boss required. But for that, I needed a specific goal to shoot for.. and specific people to go after.

     Suzuki stopped mid stride, turning around to face me. I too froze, instantly fearful I had angered my new master-boss, and would be punished dearly for it. "I do like your enthusiasm. However, your quarrel is no longer with one person in a controlled environment anymore. No, now it is with the rest of society... The world is the ring and its inhabitants your opponents." Suzuki, thankfully not taking offense, turned to the wall of glass, hands folded behind his back. He stared out at the endless abyss, I turned as well with a blank expression to join him. "Can you see the city?" His head shifted a little to ask me.

     I shook my head. No, I could not. To me, it was but a blank void.

     "I thought that was the case... You have spent years cooped up in a small cage, focusing all of your time and energy on the miniscule circle that was your life. ... One day, however, I would like for you to be able to see the bigger picture.. Stretch your senses beyond their limits, allow yourself to see what you could never even imagine before. At the end of the day, quirks are just as much a muscle as the ones that make up your body. .. You have in these past ten years been training within only one narrow field. Here, I expect you to branch out from what you are comfortable with. For now at least, focus less on fighting and more on testing what your powers can really do. ... Understood?"

     "U-understood, sir."

     "Good. Your room is not far."

     I trained under Suzuki for eight years, working with him in his plan toward world domination. It was a silly goal, but, he was the boss...

     Of course, there was also more to this as well. Though the adrenaline I had grown addicted to over the years had greatly decreased, there was also a sense of belonging here. I was no longer being passed along between owners, I talked to the same small group of people on a regular basis, and I actually had an ultimate goal to press forward to! I had never had such a big, all encompassing goal to look toward in all my life. It was kind of...neat.

     Plus, this grandiose, big bad villain's sidekick act was a fun role to play! It was like I got to live the life of a storybook antagonist from a fantasy novel! My whole life felt fake, which was why I enjoyed it so much! For, now, I was the king's dragon who guarded the castle! The one who struck fear into the hearts of every knight who dared touch my king!

     It was so fun!!

     The king's little prince was cute too. I got to teach him a lot of swear words before his father eventually found out!

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     But reality has a way of hitting you where it really hurts, doesn't it?

.

   .

       .

###100%?###

     ...Wh-what IS this?!

     That's when I felt his presence for the first time. I turned to the monstrosity headed my way... No. Wait- I thought I was at the top of the food chain! But this...kid???

     Tch, no matter. Even with all that power, it was completely worthless if he didn't know how to use it--!

     "SELF DEFENSE RUSH!" A man I didn't even see coming pummeled me with punches I simply couldn't have prepared for!

     My world vanished. Blackness. Suddenly, I returned to the very state I dreaded from my childhood. My body hit the floor, pain driven through me.

     "Jay! Wake up, you're scaring me! ...MOVE!"

     Even after my sight returned, that feeling lingered. The terrible dread haunting every cell in my body. The bitter abandonment, loneliness, and hopelessness wrapped into one. It all felt so REAL, like it actually happened!

     Why did the idea that this WAS reality all along suddenly feel so RIGHT?!

     My heartbeat picked up as my enemies gathered around me. I could hardly pay attention to what even I was saying! But those eyes. From the kid and his master both. With them came a glare into reality. This kid knew his world was real. His master, someone who had taken me completely by surprise, believed this world was real just as strongly. It didn't matter what I believed. The glaring intensity of their stares were something I wasn't ready to face yet. They weren't messing around. They weren't acting like this was all a performance. And most importantly of all, they weren't taking me for the persona I had built up my entire life!

     ...They were treating me like I was...a nobody.

     ...Is this world real?...

     Did I just think I was dreaming all along?

     N-NO! This world was filled to the brim with the stuff of fairy tales! O-of COURSE it was fake! I was never allowed to wander far from home as a kid. I couldn't read the news. And we didn't have a TV to listen to... But Gin used to tell us stories as a kid. He used to read us books about far away places. Reality was far from those stories! Nothing like it! We're talking about secret underground fighting rings and men plotting to rule the world! Those were the things of fantasy!!

     But...at the end of the day.. why did it matter that all this was real or not anyways?

     Maybe it would be better if nothing was real at all...

     But wait.. I-I don't exactly want to risk waking up either. Not as a loser at least. That wouldn't give my kid self the confidence to cross the street one bit!

     "Alright, I give up. I don't really stand a chance..so, I give." I sat up on my knees, trying to appear as casual a failure I can be. Heh..heh... Not like the fate of this fight mattered anyway. ... How though..? How did I lose..?

     ...Wasn't this... mY dReAm..?

     "Well that was easy. What was all that about you taking over the world, then?"

     I chuckled, currently a little short on breath after that big fight. "The only one serious about that is the boss. I couldn't care less about what happens. As long as I'm having fun." Indeed. I could always just start over.

     "As long as you get to have fun?" The boy echoed. His stare was, again...so intense. So serious. "You ruined the lives of so many people just for that?" After spending years with people almost as delusional and removed from reality as myself, this sudden care for the details was like a brick to the head. Nothing my subconscious would come up with for sure! "You can't be serious." The boy growled while glaring down at me.

     That set me off. I teleported away without even thinking about it. When I reappeared, I didn't even know where I was... Just some random field. Again, I found myself on my hands and knees over some grass, a warm ray of sun bracing his back. "S###!" I punched the ground. Emotions I hadn't felt in a long time flooded back inside of me. Emotions I'd been pretending were fake all this time.

     If my foes were unbeatable..

     then..

     was I even the protagonist of my own dream..?

     Was this a dream at all..?

     Before I could cry and feel bad for myself, I punched the ground again, this time with even more force.

BOOM

      Grass and soil flew into the air all around. I sat in the crater I had formed, still catching my breath. I sniffed and wiped away any tears attempting to slide by. "No.." I growled. "This IS fake, and they ARE beatable! I just need to find a way!" I panted and thought for a moment. Then, my head tilted toward the sun. "Not every issue is resolved with fighting, after all..." A tear managed to slip by. "...The most important lesson protagonists learn, after all, is to not rely on their power so much..but their wit as well... Yeah." I chuckled. "It's just another character arc... That's all."

   "No one's going to scare me out of this dream world...
       I'll make sure of it."

.

  . 

    .

     And then it all came crashing down on me at once.

---------------

     Ryo fell into his sister, clutching onto her clothing tightly. Every breath grew more frantic than the last, his heart skipping beats to keep up with his racing mind. Again and again, he tried to activate his quirk, but it just wasn't working!! The world around him felt so cold. The now calmer winds filling his body with unrelenting shivers.

     Under his breath, the desperate man whined the same phrase again and again and again and again. "I wanna wake up! I wanna wake up! I wanna wake up! I wanna wake up! I wanna wake up! I wanna wake up!" But it didn't work. Even as he had given up. Even as he decided it wasn't worth it to live in this fantasy any more...the world never went away. He didn't wake up.

     Mei now stood breathless, the intensity of her brother's unpredicted reaction touching her very core. ' '...You can't... You're already awake...' ' ..She couldn't blame him. As much as she wanted to for leaving her all alone with their sad excuse of a mother, clearly he was suffering same as her. Their life was pretty sad, wasn't it..? ' 'You have been this whole time...' ' Though she knew he wasn't in the mood for a hug, Mei carefully embraced him anyways, holding his fallen body in her arms loosely.

     Maybe, he could change...

     Ryo didn't want to change! He didn't want to exist! The man's breaths were so rapid that he quickly became light headed. Every single emotion he had been shoving aside for over half his life came crashing down at once, avalanching into the forefront of his mind until he could think about nothing but, pure, raw, unfiltered pain.

     He-he didn't have the strength to deal with this anymore! He had to wake up!!

     Ryo grabbed a knife from Mei's belt and aimed it at his throat with one terribly shaking hand. The woman panicked, throwing herself between Ryo's hand and throat. She wrestled the weapon out of his grasp and threw it a great distance away!

     The man didn't know what to do with himself after that. Finally breaking down, Ryo dropped onto his side and curled up in a ball, crying and shaking now that his very life had been shattered.

     The backbone for his reality was crushed. It was simply impossible to deny anymore!

     All that bad stuff he shrugged off as just being another part of his bad dream...was real. He didn't even know how to think about that!

     How could he ever expect to live now, knowing that he spent most of his life fooling himself?

     Mei's own bitter emotions resurfaced at the sight. This was...a lot more than one person could handle. She hung around her brother until he eventually passed out via panic attack, and even then waited some more until she could contact the outside world.

     Ryo was later taken to a mental hospital. Now nothing but a blind, broken man... with a loooooooot of enemies and no way to solve his problems.

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Next chapter won't be so depressing, I promise. Lol.

I don't know where else to put this so here's a tiny Ryo.

Bro's got Phonophobia: the fear of fear TvT