_
YAMANOTE LINE OVERPASS,
Kurono stared at the empty tracks, his mind struggling to process what he’d just witnessed.
It was gone.
Eight train cars. Hundreds of passengers. All of it simply... erased.
"It’s done," Kurogiri said quietly, his mist-form flickering slightly from the exertion. "800 kiloters offshore. Deep water. No land for miles in any direction."
"Perfect."
Behind him, Nemoto had gone very still, one hand clutching his mask. Mimic’s puppet body trembled.
"What..." Kurono’s voice ca out hoarse. "What did you just do?"
Kurogiri watched, waiting for Tomura’s reply. Shigaraki was scratching his neck again, but it was satisfied scratching now.
"Isn’t it obvious? I solved our problem," he said simply, turning to face them. The grin beneath Father’s hand was wider than ever.
"See? Gone. Like he never existed."
"That wasn’t what we discussed." Nemoto uttered coldly.
"We wanted to capture him."
"Yeah? For what? To get him trialed in a court of law?" Shigaraki snickered. "I prefer my plan better "
"You just murdered hundreds of people," Kurono said, and he was disturbed to hear how hollow his own voice sounded. "What about the vigilante?"
"White Fang?"
Shigaraki’s grin didn’t fade. "What about him?"
"We—" Mimic struggled to find words. "We ca here to find out if they were the sa person. To get answers. To—"
"To what?" Shigaraki interrupted, his tone almost conversational. "You wanted revenge on whoever killed your boss. I wanted revenge on the brat who humiliated . Now we’ve got it." He shrugged. "If the brat WAS White Fang? Problem solved—he’ll never show up again. If he wasn’t, then the other guy will show up eventually."
He walked past Kurono. The latter frowned.
"You do now the uproar this will cause right?"
Shigaraki didn’t respond.
"And if he survives?"
Shigaraki paused for that. Took a mont of silence, then laughed hard.
"800 kiloters offshore. 1,000-foot drop. Freezing water. No land. No help." He looked back at Kurono. "If he survives that..." His grin widened impossibly further. "...then I’ll actually be impressed. Maybe I’ll even try harder next ti."
"We should go," Kurogiri said quietly, already forming another portal. "Even with the remote location, it will be discovered soon enough."
"Yeah. Let’s get out of here." Kurogiri opened a portal.
The Hassaikai remnants watched Shigaraki step in and disappear.
’Dangerous,’ Nemoto thought. ’This one is far more dangerous than Kai ever was. Because Kai at least had rules. This one...’
This one had none.
Kurono, Nemoto, and Mimic exchanged glances. They had allied themselves with a monster. They knew that now. But it was too late to back out.
One by one, they followed him through.
The portal snapped shut.
Behind them, the afternoon sun continued to shine. Below, traffic flowed normally. A cyclist pedaled past. A couple walked hand-in-hand down the street.
Life continued, completely unaware.
On the empty tracks, a bird landed, pecked at sothing, then flew away.
__
[U.A. HIGH SCHOOL – PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE]
"Mr. Aizawa, a mont please."
Nezu’s voice stopped him just before he could leave with the others.
Aizawa turned back, noting that Yagi, Mic, Midnight, and Snipe had already filtered out, leaving just him and the principal in the office.
"Yes?" Aizawa said, closing the door behind him.
Nezu hopped down from his chair and moved to his desk, pulling out a folder. "I wanted to discuss sothing with you. Sothing that’s been on my mind regarding recent events."
Aizawa approached, his expression guarded. "If this is about Akutami’s dia exposure, I’ve already told him to—"
"It’s not about the dia." Nezu’s tone was gentle but serious. "It’s about the vigilante."
Aizawa blinked. "White Fang?"
"Precisely." Nezu opened the folder, spreading several docunts across his desk. "I’ve been reviewing the reports, and sothing... curious has erged. Tell , Aizawa—what do you think of this vigilante?"
Aizawa frowned, crossing his arms as he considered. "I think... he’s skilled. Very skilled. Combat-capable enough to engage the Hero Killer—twice—and survive both encounters. He has so kind of enhanced mobility, possibly a teleportation quirk given the ’smoke’ descriptions in witness statents."
"And his motivations?"
"That’s where it gets interesting." Aizawa’s eyes narrowed. "Both confird appearances involve the Hero Killer. First in Hosu where he saved Ingenium from paralysis. Then again a week later, where he prevented Stain from killing Endeavor." He paused. "He’s not your typical vigilante. He’s not patrolling neighborhoods or stopping robberies. He’s hunting Stain specifically."
"An astute observation." Nezu’s paw traced one of the docunts. "And why do you think that is?"
"Personal grudge, most likely. Stain’s killed or crippled enough heroes that any number of people might want revenge. Family mbers, forr colleagues, neighbors, childhood friends..." Aizawa trailed off, sothing clicking in his mind. "Why are you asking this?"
Nezu didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, he slid another docunt across the desk.
"There’s sothing I noticed. A connection that others might have missed." His dark eyes glinted. "You’re familiar with young Akutami’s incident before the Sports Festival, yes? The one involving Kai Chisaki?"
"I am. He was severely injured. Required hospitalization."
"Indeed." Nezu tapped the docunt. " The police reports stated that he described the hero to be a white haired vigilante with a half face mask."
Aizawa’s eyes widened.
"That would make White Fang’s appearances not two, but three. And all three are connected by a single thread."
Nezu slid another file across—this one thicker and looked more official.
Aizawa picked it up, his eyes scanning the first page.
CONFIDENTIAL HERO REGISTRY
Na: Aiko Akutami (née Tanaka)
Hero Na: Empath
Status: Retired (Permanent Disability)
Agency: Hinohara Sentinel Hero Agency
Cause of Retirent: Spinal injury inflicted by serial killer "Hero Killer: Stain"
Date of Incident: [Three months prior]
"Akutami’s mother," Aizawa started.
"Was crippled by Stain," Nezu finished. "Paralyzed from the waist down. Her hero career ended in an alley in Hinohara. She’s been in a wheelchair ever since."
The pieces fell into place with clarity.
"You think..."
"I think," Nezu interrupted gently, "that it’s quite the coincidence. Young Akutami’s mother is attacked by Stain. Three months later, a vigilante appears who specifically targets Stain. That sa vigilante also appears to save her son from Overhaul." He paused. "And most tellingly..."
He slid one more docunt across.
This one was a dical report from Hosu City Hospital. Aizawa scanned it, his trained eye imdiately catching the relevant section:
Patient: Akaguro Chizo (Hero Killer: Stain)
Injuries: Severe spinal trauma. Damage concentrated at L4-L5 vertebrae. Permanent paralysis from waist down confird.
’Spine damage.’
Aizawa looked up slowly.
"He paralyzed Stain in the exact sa place Stain paralyzed her."
"Eye for an eye," Nezu said softly. "Poetic, in a terrible sort of way."
"But..." Aizawa’s analytical mind pushed back against the emotional impact. "That doesn’t an Akutami IS the vigilante. The timing doesn’t work. During both Hosu appearances, Akutami was accounted for. He was with during the Nomu attack and at the sports festival during the first."
"That is correct. Logically, it is a paradox," Nezu admitted. "But we live in a world of Quirks. Perhaps they are related. Perhaps it is a shared Quirk. Or perhaps we are wrong entirely, but this remains a substantial coincidence. A connection that could lead to a lot of trouble when discovered."
"We need to investigate this carefully," Aizawa said. "Without tipping our hand. If Akutami is connected to this vigilante, whether it’s family, friend, or sothing else, we need to know. For his protection and ours.
"Agreed. I’ll begin pulling records, cross-referencing—"
Ring ring ring.
Aizawa’s phone buzzed in his pocket, the sharp trill cutting through the conversation.
He pulled it out, glancing at the caller ID. Unknown number, but with an official prefix he recognized.
"Excuse ," he said to Nezu, then answered. "Hello?"
The voice on the other end was clipped, professional, urgent.
"Is this Eraserhead? This is Dispatch Unit Seven. We have a situation—"
"What kind of situation?"
"The Yamanote Line. The 1:05 departure from Mustafu Station your student was on ... It’s..." The dispatcher’s voice cracked slightly. "It’s gone."
Aizawa’s blood went cold.
"What do you an, ’gone’?"
"I an it disappeared. Mid-route. Sowhere between Mustafu and the city limits. All eight cars. Just... vanished."
"When did this happen?" Aizawa demanded, his voice sharp.
"We lost signal at 1:06 PM. Thirteen minutes ago."
Aizawa couldn’t breathe. He’d sent him ho. He’d told him to go ho. To see his family.
The Yamanote Line was the direct route to Hinohara.
What the hell happened?
__
anwhile, ...
[PACIFIC OCEAN - 800KM OFFSHORE]
The ocean stretched endlessly in every direction. A vast, glittering expanse of deep blue that t the sky at a distant horizon.
The world was no longer a train carriage. It was a vast, terrifying roar of dark blue seas, the transition from the railways and city buildings enough to stun anyone.
It was beautiful in the way that only truly hostile places could be. Beautiful and utterly empty.
No land. No ships. No birds. Nothing but water and sky and the terrible silence between them.
Beneath the surface, the water darkened rapidly from crystalline blue to deep azure to midnight black. The ocean floor here was over 2,000 ters down, a crushing depth where sunlight had never reached and never would.
And sowhere in that darkness, still sinking, was a train full of people.
But on the surface—
SPLASH
Two legs landed squarely on the water surface as if on dry ground.
GASP!
Yuta Akutami stood squarely on the surface of the churning water, chakra attached to the soles of his feet. He was bent double, his hands on his knees, huffing and panting as seawater dripped from his hair.
His three-tomoe Sharingan spinning frantically as the weight of three grown human beings over his shoulders, equally as soaked as he was.
He had managed to drag them from the wreckage before the pressure of the sinking car could crush their lungs.
Splash. Splash. Splash.
Three more figures erged from the waves, pulling themselves up onto the surface of the water as if it were solid ground. Each one looked exactly like him, and each carried two to three people on them.
Many more bodies floated on the water, pulled out before diving back for more.
"Is that... all of them?" Yuta rasped.
One of the clones looked at him. "On our cart? ... I don’t know."
He looked downwards. "The rest? ..."
They all followed his gaze. No further words were needed. In sync, all clenched their fists, the original Yuta forcing out three words through gritted teeth.
"Damn You Shigaraki."
__
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased Chapters by joining my Patreon!
💧 WATER TIER (5$) – Read 3 Chapters ahead of public releases
🌍 EARTH TIER ($7) – Read 5 Chapters ahead, with bonus lore, author notes, and behind-the-scenes content
🔥 FIRE TIER ($10) – Read 8 Chapters ahead, get full access to all extras, and vote in exclusive polls for bonus content
📎 Patreon/Future805
Even a small pledge makes a huge difference — thank you for reading
User Comments
0 comments from readers