absolution.

renaissance.

There is no hero better than All Might. Truthfully, Chizome would say that there is no hero at all besides him.

All Might is goodwill personified. All Might reduced crime rates to lows no one had seen ever since the time before Quirks. All Might donates millions of his revenue and gifts to charities. All Might has never killed any villain. All Might always tries to smile for everyone, giving them hope. He is the definition of a hero, nothing like whatever mimicry every generation in society tries to pull when they graduate from hero schools. And a long time ago, Chizome had decided that if has to become the stain of society in order to clean it, he will.

...Well, excusing one vigilante—if they're still active.

Chizome had heard of Dusk from the hushed whispers of disgusting villains who ran a human trafficking ring. He killed them, of course, but not before carefully inquiring them about the "trash-rat bastard" they so despised. Another target, Chizome had thought, listening to them fearfully say what they knew. Blond hair, a blue eye, a black-and-rouge get-up—Chizome's hands burned to get rid of this All Might fraud.

But he is patient, a learned thing from years of staying with his ideals. Society cannot be purged within a day, after all. So Chizome strayed near Musutafu, just enough to where he could observe the news articles about Dusk, and waited.

Yet Dusk was not like the others Chizome had targeted. Seemingly, they got up mostly every night, taking down drug cartels, trafficking rings, robberies, muggings, anything that society would condemn as villainous, and never saying a word. They gave the occasional pat on the back, according to victims, or their eye would squint like they were smiling. Dusk even left the occasional note for witnesses or the victims they'd save, mostly as a means of communication, yet they never stayed long enough for anyone to unmask them. That is, until they presumably got arrested, taken to the authorities and never heard from again.

Dusk had not boasted. Dusk had not lingered for any thankful word people had. Dusk was not flamboyant, arrogant like those who play this vigilante game Chizome is familiar with. Dusk had never killed, never caused life-long harm. Saving the people, even from minor encounters, was what all that mattered to them. (Dusk, he had thought, could have truly been like All Might, if given a little more time, a little more power, a little more... anything. He resists scowling; of course the government had ruined it.)

Dusk was innocent and righteous, just like all the others Chizome has spared. And equally, the lives of those at U.A. had not committed true wrongdoings—at least, not yet. With All Might teaching there, Chizome's sure that there will be less wannabe heroes this generation. So the fact that these bastards dare try to recruit him, when they attacked U.A.'s students—when they attacked All Might, is—

"Well?" The man-child with a hand on his face drawls. The photos pinched between two of his fingers crinkle the determined face of a green-haired boy. "Your choice?"

Chizome gets into a stance and sneers. Like hell is he letting them judge the lives of the innocent under his watch, taking away those with potential like the government did with Dusk.

===

Tenya cannot stop thinking about Stain and what he did to his brother. Every flash of red or off-white has him glancing around, and every gleam of metal makes him tense, and he has always respected those above him yet Tenya cannot find himself paying attention to Manual for a single second lest Manual gets killed, too. (Excuses, excuses. Tenya is so very selfish, and it will kill him soon, he knows.)

(Legacy, legacy, legacy, those voices whisper like they always have. A strike of dangerous intent stabs into Tenya for not the first time yet far more intense than needed, and he wants nothing more than to shut them up.