Chapter Text
Tomura slams the door shut to his room, carefully making sure he keeps his pinky lifted as he locks the door. The near bare room feels suffocating but it was better than staying out there with those /idiots/. How hard was it really to listen to simple instructions? They didn’t even need to think yet they still fucked up, and All For One hadn’t been happy about it. It was Tomnura’s group, he had to make sure they did the right thing, and he got the punishment when things went wrong.
The boy sits down on the bean bag that rested in the middle of the room, wincing when his leg hits the floor too hard when he lays them down. Sensei had used the metal pipes that laid next to the machine, slamming it against his upper leg as a warning to not mess up next time. Tomura had gritted his teeth, body dropping to the floor but crying would make it worse. So, he swallowed the pain for as long as he could until he was allowed back to his room.
He knew why Sensei had done it. He understood. If he fucked up in the real world then he’d be hurt much more than a metal pipe to the legs.
His room was in good condition compared to a lot of the rooms he’d seen. It had bare walls, a mix of grey paint and decay, cracks visible and the window half fixed with one side of the glass replaced with a wood board. His bed laid in the corner, floor level with just the mattress, a duvet and pillow being the only decoration. The only thing that was his that he was allowed was an XBox. After all, he was 15 years old, and when he’d succeeded on the last mission he had, his Sensei had given him one with the promise that he would use it correctly.
After a few months of owning the system, Sensei had let Tomura start to play online games and even chat online, however, all of it was monitored to make sure he didn't… accidentally expose anything. But the threat of All For One kidnapping them for Tomura to kill himself had him keeping his mic mute ever since he got it.
After all, he had Kurogiri to talk to.
Grabbing the controller off of the floor, Tomura quickly set up the game. Destiny was one of the only multiplayer games that he could call a party on. It wasn’t long before the 15 year old was sitting comfortably enough in the bean bag and setting up his headphones to send a request to join the party call that was already on.
“Okay look it's not like it was- oh hey Dust!” A familiar voice came down the headset. “We’ve got a new member, Spar-”
“ElectroFLYing_7, but Sparky is fine”.
The newcomer's voice was way too excited for the boy's liking. He liked this group. A lot of them, he found, were older, and didn’t seem to care that Tomura, or rather, DustMight, was a very quiet player who didn’t speak. But this one could be a problem. He sounded young, around the age Tomura was, but he could also be some childish 20 year old.
“He doesn’t talk kid” one of them speaks up, talking to Sparky.
A groan comes from Sparky’s end, “that sucks, talking’s like the best part of playing”.
It didn’t take long for Tomura to decide that the newcomer wasn’t as bad as he initially thought. He was witty when talking to the others, telling one of them that talking about his ‘bitches’ 24/7 does not make him cool, which Tomura had been thinking for the past 2 month of this dude joining the group. Sparky was also one of the better ones at the game, keeping up a constant talk and the game at the same time which others could hardly do. At the end of the mission Sparky and Tomura were the only ones left alive.
“Damn Dusty!” He shouts down the phone. “You’re so good, how?”
“He’s not the highest level of the group for nothing”, Jack says.
JackFrost118. As far as Tomura knew he was a college student wanting to treat kids with quirks that their body couldn’t accommodate for. It was something he spoke about every now and again, and as much as Tomura hated the majority of the population due to their ignorance and complete compliance to the Hero Society, the fact someone was addressing how much it sucked to get a bad quirk at a young age showed… some of them weren’t idiots.
A few more missions and 2 hours later, the majority of them had logged off besides Sparky and Jack who were now holding a conversation about Pro Heroes, and Tomura was on the edge of leaving the call.
Why the fuck did Heroes always need to be brought up? Why did people not learn about how.. entitled, how… privileged they are for the greed that they have been worshipped? Heroes ignore people who need it, heroes leave their family for strangers who they don’t even know, heroes are the reason why he is here, and not-
“Yo Dusty, who's your favourite hero?” Sparky asks, his tone as playful as it had been throughout the whole call.
He grits his teeth, refusing to turn his mic on. Tomura holds his controller in one hand as he reaches up and scratches his neck with the other - a habit he’d picked up. He didn’t completely know why he did it, but it had helped him avoid disintegrating people on a few occasions. Why did people have to be so stupid?
A few seconds pass until Sparky speaks again, “oh yeah forgot you didn’t talk dude, just feel rude not including you in conversation”.
“Why the fuck would I wanna talk to you anyways?” He mutters before dropping his hand, aiming to play again until a knock sounds on the door.
“Tomura.” The only person to call him that here would be Kurogiri. “The meeting is starting soon”.
Right, the meeting. The meeting where some underground dealer is bringing in a few more idiots. As much as Tomura knew that they needed more people fighting rather than just himself and Sensei’s Nomu’s, he’d rather have less people crowding the place. Just cause they were, unfortunately, involved, did not mean that they lived here 24/7. Too many lounged around and refused to leave due to them being ‘owed’ for their service.
His hand flexes on the controller before he quickly logs out and turns off the console, standing with a stretch. “Coming, Kurogiri”.
~~~
It has been a month since the boy called Sparky joined their team. A few people had dropped from the party due to random spats that Tomura couldn’t care less about, but the lack of people active when he needed them to be was causing him to slow down on how many missions he could do. Sure he had all his solo ones, but those that needed 2 or 3 people were piling up and he needed the loot.
He’d already had an argument that resorted to him nearly dusting one of the new recruits. The man, some 40 year old asshole, had grabbed Tomura by the collar, lifting him up and claiming that the 15 year old was too weak, too inexperienced in the world, too stupid to take charge of such a large cause to take down the hero society. To that, he’d grinned, allowing the moron to think he was onto something, before placing four fingers on the man's neck, gripping tight.
He’d frozen, face dropping as he seemed to remember Tomura’s quirk.
The boy had tilted his head, pale blue hair falling with it, “you fucking idiot” he’d laughed. “I could kill you now, your whole body gone in seconds. You’re such a waste of space that no one would even notice that you were gone. Remember that I am giving your life meaning, without this cause you would be another lost and forgotten piece of society that no one cared about”.
Before Tomura could do anything else Kurogiri had stepped in and the fight had been disbanded. Apparently he’d scared the idiot enough that he’d shrank away into the corner and ignored the boy as he discussed further details with Kurogiri and another man before leaving for his bedroom.
The familiar noise of the console starting and the light of the loading screen made him relax into the bean bag.
Glancing at the list Tomura noticed that only Sparky was active, his username followed by an obnoxious number of emojis in the corner of the screen.
“Fuck it” he whispers before he calls the other, hoping that he’d pick up or at least agree to play so he could start the next mission.
Soon enough he heard a familiar voice down his head set. “Yo dude! Missed you since you haven't been on his early in a while, how you doing bro?”
Silence.
“Oh yeah” he laughs. “Forgot you don’t talk… so… what.. Do you wanna do? Oh wait”
Tomura sighs, teeth gritting slightly as he adjusts his hold on the controller. How the fuck was he suppposed too tell? This idiot wouldn’t know what he wanted to do by mind reading , at least he hoped not, and typing shit out with the controller took way too long.
Reaching up and clicking a button on the headset he pulls the mic down by his mouth. “Rise of
Resistance, I’ve started that story line”.
“Woah” the voice shouts back making him wince. “Not the voice I expected. You sound young dude”.
Tomura rolls his eyes and scoffs, adjusting his grip as the screen changes, “so?” he didn’t know how to talk to- anyone. Let alone some stranger on the internet who he was only speaking too out of necessity.
A laugh, “nothing. Don’t worry, sorta glad you’re not some 50 year old loser” he jokes. “So you ready?”
“Keep up” he mutters before they start to go in the direction of the way point.
~~~
Surprising to Tomura, Sparky did hold his own, hardly getting in the way as they both defeated the Crux of Darkness with ease. After how good they played together, he didn’t see an issue with staying on for longer. After all, he needed to get missions done and Sparky was eager to keep playing.
The other could hold a constant conversation even with the one word answers that Tomura gave him, or just a hum down the headset. He spoke about school and friends, saying how he was in highschool but not what year, not that Tomura cared. Sparky didn’t give names, if anything, giving them nicknames such as ‘The Rock’ and ‘Boom Boy’.
He spoke about them going to the skatepark late at night and someone called ‘Spider-man’ showing him how to skate properly to where he could do simple tricks.
Someone called ‘Princess’ who was the only girl in their group doing his make-up and letting him borrow one of her wigs and clothes to use as he fooled another student he was a female transfer.
‘Boom Boy’ was apparently the smartest of the group and forced them into multiple study sessions a week, but Sparky complained how he could never focus.
‘The Rock’ doing the same but with running, dragging Sparky up during the weekends to go and exercise for his health.
It… sounded weird yet… Tomura couldn’t help but wonder what it was like. Mainly to have people his own age, since only Kurogiri was a constant in his life besides Sensei, but even then the latter was hardly around unless he had a mission for Tomura to do or for his training sessions.
What was it like having people your own age? What even were those tricks that Sparky said he could do? Tomura was never one to worry about how different his life was compared to others. He had this life because he was chosen, he was special, what happened to him proved he was destined for greatness.
He didn’t need all that shit with friends. That was a waste of time. But… would it be so bad to pretend he did?
Tomura used to do that when he was younger. He’d make small drawings on his walls with some crayons that Kurogiri gifted him when he’d done good during training and talk to them like they were his friends.
His eyes shift to one od then still visible if you looked close enough on the gray wall to his left. By the door. Hand raised for a high five every time he left the room
“Sorry” Sparky cuts through his train of thought. “I’m rambling too much agent-“
“Keep talking dumbass”.
The words leave his mouth before he can hold them back. No noise coming from the other end only increased his anxiousness. Why the fuck did he say that? He doesn’t even /like/ this person so why did he care about listening to his life?
A shift happens down the end of the headset before a small chuckles happens. “Sure! I hardly ever get told to keep talking” Sparks hums before he starts on another story.
Tomura was slightly thankful for the other being able to hold one sided conversations.
~~~
2 months.
That’s how long it had been since Tomura had been playing with Sparks, a little less speaking to him.
A month into it Sparks had invited Jack, and it had become routine for them all to play in a party to where they planned their calls best they could, mainly Jack and Sparks with Tomura joining when he could, depending on his schedule.
He spoke… more. Not that he gave anything away any time any of them pried. If they asked him something he didn’t care to respond too he’d stay silent or tell them to ‘fuck off and focus on the mission which seemed to work.
Sparks kept talking about his friends, not disclosing things, and something about his parents. Tomura remembered that one of them was a Hero, making the boy turn off his mic when he accidentally dusted his controller, but Sparks hadn’t said which Hero.
Jack had a Hero parent too, but the hatred that he held when he spoke about the man made Tomura laugh - which they’d immediately teased him for for a solid hour.
“So you have a trip?” Jack asked.
They’d had a cool down from doing story missions and instead focused on side quests. Even though Tomura was doing a quest he could do solo, he’d stayed on the call with Sparks and Jack anyways.
He refused to acknowledge he’d started liking their company. Liking their vague stories of life so different from his own.
Not that he could tell his Sensei, as much as it felt wrong, he knew this part of his life would be gone in an instant. Sensei would probably take his whole gaming system away, leaving him to listen and deal with the idiots and morons that came in and out of the bar looking for jobs or wanting to join the cause due to underground rumours.
Tomura would have a greater wish of his quirk being able to work on himself if that were to happen.
“Oh yeah!” Sparks replies, “this week. I can’t tell you anything about it, ya know the whole ‘no real personal talk things’ but it’s gunna be so good!” he gushes.
“Man I wish I was going on a trip, I’ve got college all week” Jack complains.
“I’m so glad I’m not old yet” Sparks laughs before he hears chatter on his end. “Oh- come on I- wait okay one second” a groan leaves his lips. “Sorry guys I gotta go”.
Tomura hums a little, glancing at the time. “Me too” he had a meeting with Sensei. “Bye” and with that he hangs up, impromptu as usual before he logs out and turns off his console and headset, standing from the bean bag before he leaves the room.
He didn’t know what the meeting was about, but it was important enough for him to cancel with Grian who was bringing a few more recruits to the League.
Getting to the room was easy with Kurogiri, teleporting inside with ease to stand before Sensei.
All for One was laid in the darkness, the bed frame and the side visible, however what laid on it was covered in the blanket of dark.
Tomura remembered seeing Sensei a few months ago when he’d slammed the metal against his leg, skin scared and he had a machine to help him breathe due to how weak he was. However he’d heard since that he was slowly getting better again.
A cough sounded from the bed. “Shigaraki Tomura”, his voice hoarse. “How are you doing my son?”
“Good, Sensei” he bows his head down.
“How is leading the new era of Society?”
He often called the band of villains that. A new society to take over what was now, one that didn’t love Heroes so blindly.
Tomura swallows, “they’re bearable… They have potential”.
“And yet you’re hardly around them”, the tone in his voice was enough for the boy to shrink back, only stopping due to the hand of Kurogiri on his shoulder. “What leader are you if you do not spend time with your minions?”
He falls silent, unsure of how to explain why he wasn’t spending the time to learn about the new members without exposing how much time he’d spent with other people, people his Sensei wouldn’t approve of, and yet people he spent time with anyways and enjoyed the time with.
All for One sighed, “due to your lack of leadership skills, you are to go and do a mission. This week, we have found that the class 1A of UA are to go to a training ground under the Hero 13. All Might will be there”.
All Might. A Hero that Tomura had grown to hate through Sensei. The Pro had, yes, saved many lives, however he was the reason Tomura had lost his family before. Even without his memory, Sensei had explained what happened in detail on his 10th birthday, of how the Pro had taken one look at him after his quirk had manifested, 6 years old, and chosen to leave him alone and sobbing due to the villainous potential.
Tomura swore to kill the so-called Hero and anyone who believed in him from then on.
“You will take members and a Nomu with the help of Kurogiri” he hears AFO explain. “Now rest, you have three days”.