Years ago, midway in the Great War, another organization arose. It's a known fact that countless countries had a major role in the war--namely, Japan, France, and Germany--but what very few knew was that the war may have never ended thanks to a single nameless Norwegian organization.
They were nicknamed "Conscience".
That nickname wasn't chosen in vain, however; as far as anyone knew, no one had ever had contact with them except for a few unfortunate victims. The only member they had ever seen was the woman nicknamed 'Lady Constance', whose ability could create jeopardy within the separate parties without her even lifting a finger. What most people didn't know was that Lady Constance's ability almost ended the three-way alliance between Japan, France, and Germany, potentially increasing the casualties and lengthening the war.
That is, if Conscience hadn't mysteriously retreated altogether.
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Denki stared at his phone when he took it out of his pocket. He hesitated before turning his head toward Akutagawa.
"...I'll be back."
The brunette didn't even look back before he rushed towards the school, not even when Ochako caught up; they were at UA, she wouldn't do anything. He only stopped when he reached one of the school's outer walls. He slumped against it and stared at the caller ID for a long moment, watching the continuous calls before finally relenting.
"Hello, Mori-san."
A familiar little laugh was transmitted on the line.
"How rude, you took quite a while to answer," the person on the other side hummed, "But I suppose that your memory of manners compensates for it."
Denki had a feeling he knew what would come next. It would explain a portion of what Ochako's mission was and why Mori had chosen to create a new group chat himself--he never did things for no reason.
"What do you want, Mori-san?" his voice came out quieter than intended, his voice betraying him by being tinted by a hint of resignation and spite.
"You brothers are alike I suppose," Mori chuckled, a sliver of annoyance escaping. Denki could see the strained expression he was probably making at that moment, "As compensation for how... indulgent I've been, I need you to listen to my orders. Should you fail to do so, I take it you know what'll happen?"
This is what he'd tried to leave behind, yet he wasn't stupid. You never leave the Port Mafia for good--most traitors die and the only ones who'd succeeded in leaving were the Tsushima brothers. Even then, they were kept on a tight leash. Denki stayed silent for a moment before he simply bowed his head, knowing full well Mori had already known this was how their interaction would go.
"Of course, Mori-san."
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Confession time: Dazai only lasted a few days before writing an elaborate award-winning 500-page-long small characters 199 million word long story about how Kimiko ended up dying by throwing herself into a volcano; in reality, it took about 5 pages of The Book, a little more than a dozen canvases, and an exhausting search for all of that lost equipment beforehand.
Which explained why he was currently going through highly confidential files. Even though the fact that he was high on countless nameless experimental drugs probably had a major part in the why.
He had high tolerance, he was going to be fine. Mostly.
Dazai heard some people approach and swore internally, mentally cataloguing what he found.
He was a whole lot higher than he thought if he didn't notice those footsteps sooner. Fuck, Mori would've killed and revived him just to torment him.
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What.
Denki watched his classmates file into his class, gaze sometimes drifting towards Izuku and Ochako then back at their teacher. Sometimes, he just got the urge to rub his eyes or simply reload his 'server'; he had a computer mind, so he could do that, right?
There were some moments when his eyes locked with Izuku--whose hair was dyed green again, like his own blonde hair--as if the other felt his eyes on him. Denki's shoulders sagged, for some reason feeling the absence of the Teaching Assistant weight on him heavily. That was bad news.
It felt unnatural, all of it; the way days passed by without problems, how his hero classes went on like usual--excluding the occasional chatter about the stain attack--, how quiet his days had become compared to the past weeks. He could almost believe he had gone back to easily blending in as 'Denki Kaminari'. He could've had his mind not kept going through things he'd heard and noticed in the past few days.
Izuku's stare burned into the side of his head, Bakugo's suspicious one not alleviating the feeling in the least--Denki couldn't help but sigh, involuntarily dropping his head into his folded arms.
[Volume: 0%]
He tuned everything out, already tired of waiting for the end of classes. It didn't help that he no longer--despite, deep down, never having been--could be considered a hero trainee.
____
Never had he been so glad for the end of the day to come. Sure, Denki had never been a great fan of school to begin with, but it was less a reluctance to work and more a heavy weight pressing down on him the longer the day went on--especially during heroics. He'd slipped away from the common room before anyone could notice and sat down at his new desk, a tiny smile tugging at his lips. Himiko must've passed by at some point. Then the smile fell.
Denki let his head fall on his desk, pointedly ignoring the bright screen of his phone.
Yokohaman Heroes
Mori had definitely made the name of the chat that way to mock them, point out how they weren't really heroes and also remind the actual hero trainees that they didn't fit in in Musutafu. Damn him.
Denki reluctantly picked up his phone and clicked on the group, immediately getting greeted by an absence of messages.
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Yokohaman Heroes
Unknown deleted the previous log
Unknown left the group
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He threw his phone away and opted to flop on his bed, hands scratching at his yellow-blonde hair; the dye felt alienating, like it shouldn't be there. Denki felt his eyes burn, his body curling up on itself.
Someone knocked.
He didn't even react, watering eyes staring straight ahead as he prayed for whoever was at the door to leave. He heard the door creak open and he buried his head in his pillow, mentally cussing the person out.
"Denki?"
He froze. Couldn't they stop being so nosy? He loved his friends, he really did, but sometimes, they just made it hard to do what he had to do. Denki bit the inside of his cheek, pushing himself off his bed to meet the concerned faces of his friends. His heart suddenly felt like it had been impaled.
He was about to speak up when he saw a third person standing at the door. Izuku.
"Mina. Kirishima," the blonde found himself saying, eyes still stuck on his accomplice, "I'll talk to you... tomorrow."
Denki didn't look at them as he said that, hearing the way they stood for a moment before leaving with a few mumbled agreements. He swore one of his heartstrings got pulled at that moment but he shrugged it off, moving and patting a spot beside him on the bed, "What bad news do you have for me, Midori-kun?"
Izuku closed the door and gave him an unimpressed look, his facade melting immediately, "Still no news from Atsushi, or Chuuya-san for that matter. Kenji was transferred to the general studies and he hasn't seen Himiko since," he bit his nail, "Nothing from Dazai-san either, Eri was put under Aizawa-sensei's care for the time being."
Denki closed his eyes and sighed, "What do we do?"
"We'll have to act our way through the end-term exams."
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All for One had lived long enough to see many things, but even he had to admit that this was a first.
Using a long-distance watching quirk, he observed as the vampire he had brainwashed mingled with his league, her personality aligning with what she could've been had she not met those Yokohamans. Then he decided to look at the proceedings of Doctor Garaki; he'd already managed to subdue the tiger, but the other one was... tricky.
All for One chuckled. The vessel would be a valuable card indeed.
What he didn't know, however, was that it takes more than him to subdue a god whose sole purpose was calamity. But he was lucky, he still had time.
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Dazai had a bad feeling. the feeling he had whenever he had to get Chuuya--no matter where he was--immediately. The feeling usually hinted at Corruption, but this time it was different. Not only was No Longer Human buzzing in his skull and the book burning against his neck in its necklace form, but he could hear a pounding in his head.
.Y .E...L .E..S .O..
The fractured speaking was unexpected, even for him. Dazai quickly looked around, making sure he was alone and continued on his way. He was going to UA.
MY VE..EL .EE.S YO..
He didn't stop going, gears clicking together. The next time the voice tried...
MY VESSEL NEEDS YOU.
He would get the whole message.
Dazai froze--it was Arahabaki and he was talking about--
"Chuuya," he whispered, his steps turning into strides as he broke into a run. Where would he be kept? Dazai kept going, accelerating so he could reach the Hero school faster and reach his brother. He had another feeling and that one told him his brother and his companions would be the key to finding his partner.
ALL FOR ONE.
Dazai catalogued the name in his head. All for One, One for All. He needed to get Izuku immediately as well, he would know about it. Thankfully, both he and his brother would definitely be together.
AC..V.T..N.
Dazai swore. He was losing Arahabaki again and that wasn't good. It meant something was happening. And this time, he didn't know what.