I don't own anything except any original characters (including the Reader's concept) and/or any original plot

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Chapter Nine - Crack in the Bottle

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Life wasn't easy after the fight between All Might and All for One. All for One lost, and your heart was in your stomach the entire night after you watched the fight from your phone. All for One probably had a plan, which was why he went into the fight with the mentality that if he won it would be great, and if he lost it would be fine.

With both leaders out of commission, you stepped up and gave out orders. Dabi probably had a concussion and would need pain meds when he woke up, and everyone would need to give Tomura space until he calmed down. Kurogiri would be treated based on how he felt.

It was a waiting game. Things were quiet, everyone sitting on old furniture and unsure of what to say. You went around and treated smaller injuries with the supplies piled in your backpack, and then took a seat to ponder.

"Did you know it was going to happen?" Toga sat down in front of you, legs crossed and head tilted. She'd taken her hair down and she was wrapped in the only blanket you had. You'd get more eventually. "You came down with that backpack earlier. It has the running away essentials."

"All for One spoke to me about it," you admitted quietly, "We both figured out that the bar was going to be invaded."

"Why not say anything about it?" Magne sat by you as well, "Probably could have avoided all of this."

"All for One told me to wait." You shrugged.

It was silent for a few seconds before Magne clapped, "Well, we've got a few hours before Shigaraki or Dabi wakes up, so let's do something to pass the time. There's no point stewing in what happened. The future is for tomorrow. Compress, you've got cards, right?"

"I do! How about some poker?" Compress pulled out a marble, of which a stylish deck of cards emerged from, "I can tell you all how I got banned from Vegas while we play."

"How the hell did you get banned from Vegas?" Spinner joined the group.

"It's obvious, isn't it? It's a huge mystery!" Twice hopped over to play as well.

Smiling, you took the hand Compress had professionally dealt out. Things wouldn't get any easier, and thoughts about Bakugou kept flashing in your mind, but it would be okay. You'd make sure of it.

The next morning, all of you woke up to Tomura yelling All for One's name. Dabi and Kurogiri had woken up during the night and had been further treated while someone explained what happened. Tomura remained asleep through all of it - even through Twice sobbing about losing 1 million imaginary dollars to Compress in poker (who was totally cheating) and Spinner cussing everyone out after they learned he had the worst poker face. Jerking up from your cuddle pile with Magne and Toga, you raised your hand, ready to knock him out again if he lashed out.

"Tomura, he lost," you said slowly, approaching as one would a wounded animal. "He wanted you to keep leading. You need to keep leading and stay calm."

Nodding slowly, Tomura reached up and harshly scratched his neck, "Let me think. Do what you need to do. I'll think of something."

It was loud enough for the entire league to hear, and everyone nodded simultaneously. Business as usual, just more incognito. You'd all give Tomura time to come up with plans for the future on his own.

Money was tight and you were extremely careful with it. All for One wasn't there to bounce around cards and give away accounts anymore. You had your hideaway cash and anything you could pickpocket. You were starting to become a regular at several of the seedier pawn shops in the area. The ones that didn't ask questions.

"I want to kill him," Tomura hissed to you quietly, a week after the final battle.

Dabi and Twice were out potentially recruiting. Toga and Magne were doing each other's hair, Compress was teaching Spinner how to throw a card into a wall, and Kurogiri was off at a meeting with someone important.

"I think everyone feels that way right now, Tomura," you mumbled, texting Giran about future supplies and payment options.

"Not just All Might. All of those kids, and that damn Bakugou kid too." Tomura growled, reaching down to dust one of the crates closest to him.

Frowning, you shut off your phone and turned to look at Tomura. The pure malice on his face shocked you. He hated a lot of things, the entire world, honestly. But this was different. For the first time ever it was focused, mature. Tomura needed to lose All for One to become a true leader.

"I'll stay by your side," you assured, "You're my leader, now."

It felt like you were betraying someone when you said those words. And you weren't entirely sure why until another week later when you couldn't bring yourself to sleep.

Sighing, you got up and pulled on a sweatshirt over your shirt. It was a bit chilly, and you'd be going out. Looking over the league quickly, you made sure no one was suffering from a nightmare that you'd have to potentially deal with. Whether because of a potential Quirk mishap or needing a calming voice. Toga got them often due to past Quirk therapy. Tomura got them sometimes but could never remember them. Magne had nightmares about past asshole transphobes. Dabi got them - on the rare occasions he slept at the warehouse - and never talked about them but always sat with you while he smoked. Spinner had similar issues to Magne except around Quirk based discrimination. Twice could get bad episodes at night. And Compress actually sleep-walked on occasion.

No one was twitching or showing signs of a nightmare, so you grabbed your phone and snuck out of the warehouse. It was 11:30, so if you hurried you could make it on the last train to Musutafu.

There were a few other people on the train, some sketchy and others going home after a night of partying. It made you uncomfortable, being so vulnerable. Your mask was a bulge in your pocket, but you weren't wearing it for obvious reasons. Whilst the mask marked you as a criminal, you felt paranoid without it. Powerless. Like the (Y/n) (L/n) that let others push her down for something she couldn't control.

When the train stopped, you hopped off and pulled up your hood. You had one destination in sight, and no matter how stupid it was to actually go there, nothing would stop you.

The news had been reporting that UA was quickly building dorms for all the students because of all of the villain attacks. All of those students in one place. After a week off of school, the dorms were ready and the hero students were moved in and starting school again. UA was anything but patient when it came to education and making sure the public thought they were strong.

Going through the main gate was a definite no for a multitude of reasons. There was no Tomura to destroy the gate, or press to excuse any sudden issues with the security system. So you double-checked your hood and made your way around the perimeter. The entire thing was secure, as expected based on the league's past with the school, but every suit of armor has a weak point.

You found UA's weakest point on the north-western point of the campus, near one of the battle centers. Sensors, but no camera covering the range. Disabling the sensor, it took you only a second to use blasts of energy to scale the wall and start the sensor again.

All the cameras and sensors in the area mysteriously had a power flash just long enough for you to pass through before they turned back on again. The constant drawing and returning of energy was tiresome, but good Quirk practice. Especially considering how quickly you had to sense them and estimate when and how long they had to be off to ride the line between suspicious and coincidental.

The brand new dorm buildings were easy to spot on campus. Five minutes from the school and ten from the battlegrounds. If they were sorted by year, then the first years would be first, and the hero course would be near the front.

"1-A Heights Alliance, huh? Made it pretty easy for me to figure out where my target was," you mused. Not like UA was expecting the second-in-command of the League of Villains to casually infiltrate the school, though.

Scanning over the building, you scanned over the Quirks in your line of sight. So many powerful ones in one place was overwhelming as soon as you looked, but then - like adjusting to bright light - you grew used to it and were able to focus. Explosions, dynamite, fireworks in the summertime...

Fourth floor! He was on the fourth floor of the building. With that in mind and his window in sight, you blasted yourself up to his window and landed softly on the balcony. Convenient. Like an old teen romance movie. If the movie took into account society's effects on young kids due to their Quirks and their subsequent placements as either heroes or villains.

Securing your mask onto your face, you knocked twice on the window and prepared to either defend yourself and run or enter based on his reaction.

"What the hell?" The force in which he pulled his balcony door open nearly sent you sprawling onto his hard floor.

"Don't scream," you all but begged. He didn't, but his hands lit up in a deadly warning, "Don't attack me either. I'm not here to try to kidnap you again or talk you into being a villain."

"Give me a good reason to not blow you to hell."

"Other than not having good intentions? I'm coming up empty. I saved your life once, but you aren't the type of person to accept that as an excuse. So I don't have one."

You pulled out his desk chair and took a seat, still tense despite the casual nature you were trying to exude. Bakugou didn't try to hide his distaste in the situation, or his readiness to attack at any given moment. But he wasn't jumping into action, which gave you hope.

"I'm curious, have you ever considered switching sides?"

"I never even played the villain when I was a kid. I'm gonna be the best hero in the world and no one's gonna stop me!"

"I didn't think so," thinking over your next words carefully, you took the silence as a chance to look around his room. Standard for the most part, if not a bit plain. No pictures of him with friends, and a single family picture on the edge of his desk. Normal sheets, no eye-catching decorations, except for a single All Might print above the dresser, "I was born quirkless."

Bakugou tensed noticeably. Whether because of the shock of the statement or something else you didn't have time to analyze.

"Heh?"

"I know. Rare, nowadays. Where I'm from the discrimination isn't as bad as it if in Japan. People are less obsessed with heroes without an All Might to look up to. But it wasn't pretty, either. It showed me how cruel the world really is. Having a pure heart doesn't mean jack shit if you're seen as worthless. My family treated me like I was powerless, too. Not on purpose, but it wasn't what I needed."

"So you ran off to get a Quirk and cause some trouble? What a load of crap."

"Maybe. To have your classmates tell you you're worthless every single day, and to have society back them up with these flawed hero structures? It breaks you down."

That shut Bakugou up for a bit. Things were quiet, and you were mentally wondering how you'd get back to the warehouse now that trains were down. You'd have to put some distance between yourself and the school and call Kurogiri under the guise of a secret recruitment meeting.

"Why are you with the League, huh?" Bakugou finally spoke up, "Teenage angst bullshit or somethin' like that?"

"I found All for One before the others. Convinced my parents to take a trip to the area knowing full well I wouldn't be going home. I found Kurogiri and asked him for an audience. All for One deemed me worthy and have me a Quirk. Hypocritical, isn't it? Doing all of this to change how we view the quirkless by getting a Quirk," you glanced down at your hands, and willed your veins to light up with energy, "It's disgusting, really."

Every day, you woke up with the knowledge that you betrayed who you were in favor of changing things for everyone else in a place that wasn't your home. But everything about it was too enticing. Change Japan and then move everywhere else, right? Get a Quirk and feel powerful for once, then make others feel powerless so they can understand a tiny piece of the pain that 20% of the population was going through.

You hated yourself. Deeply and truly. Below all the anger, and the skills you worked so hard to hone, was the knowledge that you had a stolen Quirk and morphed it into something rotten.

"It's fucking stupid," Bakugou grumbled, pulling you out of your thoughts. He had semi-relaxed at some point, hands no longer sparking but his guard still up.

"Yeah, but I still did it and I can't exactly ask All for One to take it back, now can I? Who's the world more likely going to listen to; a quirkless teenager, or a powerful villain? Unless you show your power, people will never listen."

"The league isn't going for quirkless rights and you're stupid if you think they are."

Looking up from your hands, you meet Bakugou's eyes directly for the first time that night. Had they always been that intense? That conflicted? That desperate to convey something and say words he'd never actually manage to speak out loud?

"Remember this, Bakugou Katsuki. We're all pawns in someone's game. I'm a pawn for Shigaraki, who's a pawn for All for One. You're a pawn for the Hero Safety Commission, who are pawns to greed and grabs for power. What matters is how you play your own game."

"Why stay if you know all this?"

"Shigaraki trusts me. I'm there to make sure he doesn't burn the world down. If we can prove that things need to change, that things can be changed... why haven't you attacked me yet?"

Eyes narrowing, he ignored your question and asked another of his own, "What makes you any different?"

"From what?"

He didn't answer, and instead continued- talking more to himself than anyone else, "Why did you join the league and he- he had every reason to and he didn't."

Your previous statement about there being no decorations around the room was wrong. Aside from the picture, there was something else. A small print of All Might from his Golden Age above his dresser. Eyes narrowing, you tried to put the pieces together quickly before you had to go.

The reason you joined the league was based on your quirklessness. The "he" Bakugou was talking about was likely quirkless too, but didn't fall into villainy. By the anger on top of the confusion, he probably took the exact opposite route. So who-

"Oh. I see," you stood from the desk chair and pushed it back in. You'd observed Bakugou closely during his time at the bar, and if there was anything he couldn't handle it was being powerless and guilty. Bottling it up was no good, now was it? So there was only one solution, take a hammer to that glass bottle and break it open, "Bakugou... you understand what we're willing to do now that All Might's gone, aren't you? What he did for you..."

You left it at that. It was enough. A crack in the glass that would only grow with time and increased pressure. With a mock salute, you stepped onto the balcony and leaped off, gone with the night.

UA, instead of building dorms, should have been investing more money into the wellbeing of their students. Maybe the next time you'd mention going to therapy to Bakugou. Not that he'd have a good reaction to it, but it'd be smart all the same. He had a lot of issues, even before the kidnapping. But now, he was blaming himself for the end of All Might. And Izuku Midoriya was leaving him in the dust in order to take his place.

"Kurogiri?" You hummed into your phone, making sure you sounded annoyed and tired rather than intrigued and satisfied.

"Do you realize how late it is?"

"Yes, I realize how late it is-"

"Are you in need of assistance because of a body, then?"

"No, not tonight."

"Then there's no reason for you to be out so late. All of the others have been sleeping well and you should be doing the same-"

"Calm it, Mamagiri. I had a meeting with potential partners tonight. All jumpy, they wanted to meet late. The trains aren't running anymore so I need a warp back. I'll text you my coordinates in a minute."

"At least tell someone before you go out. You shouldn't be doing those things alone."

"Why? Because I'm a poor, defenseless young lady?" You rolled your eyes at the implication, "Remind me who's second-in-command?"

"I'm still allowed to worry. Text me soon."

If only Kurogiri knew what you were really up to, then he'd have plenty more reasons to worry.