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It starts like this: an English assignment that Present Mic is adamant will be more enjoyable in teams of seven. “You’ll see! Working together, jumping off each other’s plots and reacting to the words already on the page will make writing your own words that much easier. You’ll set up a rotation and ensure that each turn is 200 words exactly even if that means you cut off mid-sentence or mid plot point.”
He winks at the class as he hangs up the list of teams. “That part is going to be the most fun! You can’t tell each other what you were planning so the story might take turns you never imagined by the end… Have fun!”
Their team decides to meet at the library and take turns typing at a single computer until they get the story done. “This way whoever is not currently working on our story can study for our exams in the meantime!” Iida proclaims.
“Great fine cool,” Sero nods. “Who’s going first and what's our story about?”
“We can draw lots!” Hagakure cheers, already tearing a sheet of paper into strips and scribbling numbers onto them.
“Yeah!” Kaminari agrees, fist pumping the air in excitement. “And I vote for some kind of spy thriller!”
Midoriya opens his mouth to chime in but is cut off by Iida’s scandalized gasp.
“The exercise is to roll with the punches Kaminari! We cannot plot out the story beforehand, that would be cheating!”
Kaminari rubs the back of his head sheepishly. “Right, sorry I didn’t think of that. Just didn’t want whoever is starting to have to come up with everything on their own…”
“Ooooh good point!” Hagakure taps a finger on her chin– something the others can only tell she is doing because she’s wearing her new fingerless gloves and has painted her nails pink to match. “What if we don’t discuss plot but we come up with character names first? That way it doesn’t all fall on one person?”
“Or we could come up with a set naming gimmick,” Todoroki says. “That way any surprise characters showing up as we go will still fit in in that universe.”
“Agreed!” Aoyama trills. “Much less pressure without having to pause the creative processes in the middle to name things.”
“What if we did numbers?” Midoriya pipes up. “And any variations thereof! So like different languages count but we can only use each number once.”
“Different languages count,” Todoroki huffs in amusement, clearly appreciating the accidental pun.
“Great!” Hagakure cheers again, holding up the folded slips of paper. “Let’s get this thing started!”
The passing order they end up with is Kaminari to Sero to Midoriya to Hagakure to Todoroki to Aoyama, with Iida bringing up the rear. As per the assignment they’ll each get one turn of 200 words exactly.
Kaminari sits at the computer, takes a minute to think, and then starts typing rapidly.
As with most beginnings, it was a dark and stormy night. Zero was cold and wet from the harsh rain soaking into his jacket but he made sure to keep a steady pace as he hurried away from the alley. It would not do to be found here.
Not now.
Not ever.
He was being framed, he knew that without question.
But how could he possibly prove it with Ichi being found dead in the very same alley where Zero was known to take his smoke breaks. The ground was practically littered with the stubs he was always crushing beneath his heel, tying him to the location without a doubt in anyone’s mind.
His mother was always saying the smoking habit would kill him one day.
He just hadn’t thought she ever meant it in quite this way.
Zero finally makes it to his safehouse, punching in the code and sliding the rusty door open on a track that squeaks with protest.
He heads straight for his cabinets, and starts grabbing things in a rush. He needs to get out of here. Grab a couple passports and weapons and catch a train out of town before he is–
“Going somewhere?”
“Done!” Kaminari crows, leaning back to stretch and getting out of the chair. “Sensei was right, this is fun! Your turn Sero!”
Sero grins as he takes his seat and skims the words already there. Oh this is awesome! And he knows exactly what to do next.
Zero spins on one heel to face the intruder, gun in hand and at the ready.
He’s too late to avoid the knife that Deux has just sent flying his way and it embeds itself in his shoulder.
“Fuck,” he hisses, weapon slipping from numb fingers to hit the ground with a bang.
The gun had discharged at the impact– because of course it did– the bullet taking out the sprinkler system overhead to further drench Zero and his surroundings.
He doesn’t have long to mourn the loss of his false sets of documents because with a cry of outrage Deux is on him, another knife already at the ready.
“Dammit!” Zero yells, grabbing his soaked scarf to tie off his bleeding wound as he leaps over his desk for cover. There’s a harsh thud of the knife impacting the wood but Zero knows better than to relax.
If he knows Deux, he’d guess the assassin has way more than just two knives on him right now.
His guess is proven right almost immediately as Deux leaps the table, more blades in his hands and it’s all Zero can do to kick out, sending his chair crashing into Deux’s chest.
“You’re up Midoriya!” Sero calls, finding himself almost lamenting that he’d only had 200 words. The fight was just getting good after all.
Still… he trusts that Midoriya can keep up the momentum he’d built.
“I’m innocent!” Zero screams, holding up his palms in surrender. “I didn’t do it, please, believe me!”
“Why should I?” Deux snarls, arm wrapped around his bruised chest defensively. “You always hated Ichi, don’t deny it!”
“Hated him?” Zero echoes, faltering in bewilderment. “I never hated him we were–” he cuts off before he can finish the statement.
‘We were in love.’
“Oh please! Maybe you two got along at first but everyone knows you stopped talking to each other three months ago!”
Deux’s voice breaks and he dashes the sleeve of his free hand across his eyes. “Don't lie to me! He was my brother and you –”
“–Were going to get out.” Zero finishes for him softly. “We were going to get out.”
Deux’s eyes widen, first in shock and then disbelief but Zero finds that he can’t keep the secret anymore.
Not since he’d first stumbled across the body in that alley– desperately hoping he wasn’t too late– enough to try and save Ichi even though he’d known he was leaving his fingerprints and dna on the body by doing so.
“Three months ago I was injured on a job, remember? And Ichi… he just couldn’t take it.”
“Your turn Hagakure,” Midoriya mumbles, wiping his own tears away as he gets up. Poor Zero. Poor Deux. If only he’d had a turn at the document sooner, maybe he could have prevented Ichi’s death.
Hagakure watches Midoriya sniffle and turns to read the story so far. ‘Well if he really wants to cry,’ she thinks to herself with a mental shrug. ‘I can do that.’
“What do you–”
Deux is cut off by the sound of a gunshot ringing overly loud in the empty warehouse.
And then he’s falling, eyes and mouth open wide as he bleeds and bleeds and bleeds.
“Deux!” Zero screams, anguish tearing from his throat as he falls to his knees beside the boy who would have been his brother in law.
“Z-Zero…” Deux manages, throat working soundlessly as he suddenly finds it difficult to breathe. “Z-Zero I c-can’t…”
“Shh it’s alright,” Zero sobs, hands fluttering over the wound like he can somehow stop the bleeding. His own shoulder wound pulses with agony but he can’t even register it right now. “I’m sorry Deux I’m so so sorry.”
“You should be.”
Zero’s head snaps up as the familiar form of Tre San saunters in, gun still ready in her hand.
“This is all your fault Zero,” she intones, watching Deux struggle to breathe with a cold expression on her face. “All you had to do was stay in your lane. Barring that, all you had to do was take the fall. And now look what you’ve done. Two brothers are dead, all because you dared to dream of becoming something more.”
“Dang it,” Hagakure sighs. “Two hundred words is less than I thought. Oh well, your turn Todoroki.”
Todoroki stares at the words on the screen for a few silent minutes.
Then with a sudden burst of determination, his fingers start flying across the keyboard.
“No.”
“No?”
“You heard me! You don’t get to blame me for your own decisions! Ichi and I– we’d been through so much shit, so much pain, and for what? To dance along to your sick twisted tune forever? Well we had enough! It was too much for anyone to handle, let alone the hundreds of kids you force into this life every single day! You’re sick and despicable and you should have just let us leave while you had the chance!”
“Is that so? You’re remarkably confident for someone in your position! Don’t tell me you still think you have a chance! Ichi is long dead and Deux will be following him any moment now. As for you… well you’re not looking too good yourself.”
“Right back at you!”
“... are you taking this opportunity for a cheap shot at my appearance? You do realize who it is that’s holding the gun here don’t you?”
“Perhaps… but a single knife wound has never been enough to take me down, has it? And you… well you have never been able to bring yourself to hurt me, have you… Mother?”
“How did you–”
“How did I know? Ha. I have always known.”
“Aoyama,” Todoroki calls, utterly spent but also kind of pleased with his addition. He’d have preferred Tre San be Zero’s father instead of mother but Hagakure had already stated that she was a woman and it would have been too confusing to change it somehow.
“Have fun,” he states as Aoyama passes him by.
“Oiu!” Aoyama trills, sitting on the vacated seat like it’s a throne and holding his graceful fingers at the ready. “Here I go!”
Tre San’s expertly made up face drops, her ruby red lips falling open in shock.
Her well manicured hands grip at her perfectly pressed green power suit– the glittery polish contrasting beautifully with the gleaming white buttons.
Her long red hair falls forward to frame her face just so as she ducks her head in shame.
Her blue eyes glitter like diamonds, the hard edge of the precious metal softening with the sudden coating of tears swimming within.
She stares at her son imploringly, taking in his rumpled appearance, his wet limp hair in a shade of red so like her own as it continually drips rain water into the pool of blood still spreading beneath Deux.
His own eyes are a shade of blue made dull by grief and pain as his gaze remains pinned on the downed form of his love’s brother.
The rapidly spreading circle of red taking over Deux’s yellow sweatshirt looks like a field of flowers in summer sunshine.
She cannot bring herself to regret creating something so beautiful.
Her eyes return to her child and his damp and dirty shirt and jeans– the only pop of color the scarf tied round his shoulder.
Disgusting.
Iida stares at the screen aghast.
This cannot be!
How?
How could a group of hero students betray him like this?
How can he possibly hope to fix so much wrongs with only 200 words???
In the end he is an Iida though and Iidas never give up!
And so after a brief moment of panic followed by an overly loud slapping of his hands against his cheeks to snap himself out of it, Iida slowly gets to work.
Suddenly Tre San feels a stirring of regret deep in her bosom.
“What have I done?!” she cries, fist thumping against her chest in horror. “Oh I am the absolute worst! Violence is never the answer, I should have spoken to you about how I was feeling about the thought of you leaving me instead of arranging this elaborate ruse to lead you on a path of vengeance that would keep you in my assassins world! Woe! Woe woe woe!”
Zero looks up, heart stirring with sympathy and understanding. “Do you mean, Mother Dearest, that this was all a massive trick? Deux is not dying? Ichi is not dead?”
“Oh Deux is very much dying my dear one. He dared take matters into his own hands and try to kill you when he heard the news– which as every hero worth their salt knows is the very wrong thing to do! Avenging your brother should always be left to the professionals!”
“So true!” Zero agrees, clapping his hands in appreciation even though the one injured arm has gone numb. “But what of my beloved Ichi? What of our dreams and goals of freedom?”
Just then Ichi bursts through the door.
“What?!?” Present Mic yelps, scanning the pages again and even flipping them over in a search for more words than just this. “That can’t be it! What happens next???”
Before him Iida bows his head low in apology. “I am so very sorry Sensei. I tried my best but in the end I simply ran out of words.”