Rising Smoke || A Radioactive Biohazard

Chapter 5: Play Pretend

A mission was handed to him. It was simple really. A child could do it! So why did he feel like he'd mess up big time? All he had to do was continue what he did and recruit others. Not hard right? Well, it does sound hard, but on top of that he never interacted with others besides adults. It was the next day and the sun came through the windows as he made breakfast for his father. Now, he had sort of lied to him- claiming that there was a villain attack in the area and he accidently got caught up in it. Now since there were hundreds of villain attacks each day it was hard to keep track of them; this made it perfect to come up with the best excuses. 

Now he only had to play it cool until Shigaraki called for him. Hōshasei could only sigh as he puts the plate on the table and goes outside to go shopping for food. Though this time he makes an effort to go down the streets that are known to have criminal activity. Some areas are left forgotten by heroes due to the fact that the area is poor; why would someone save someone that can't pay for their career? The word 'hero' and definition for it has changed over the years, no one cares unless there is fame or money with it. Heroes used to be noble people that would save anyone. Now that only applies to only a handful of heroes, that doesn't include All Might. On any other day, Hōsha would be upset as he would usually would when thinking about this. On another day, he would just put in his music and try to ignore what heroes have become. However today he was happy for this- it made his mission easier. He could find lots of low thugs and criminals to recruit. 

After arriving at the supermarket and buying more food for the house, he leaves and starts to lurk into the bad neighborhoods again on the way back. He had managed to get about 7 people to join him and maybe 4 others to consider it. Hōsha did struggle with the first two since he never really interacted with others before;  but after appealing to the fact that society mistreated them and possible higher crimes, they joined in. It was difficult still even after talking with eleven villains, trying to convince them took a bit. He only hoped that Shigaraki was also looking for people to join as well. If not he was screwed. He gets home after a few more conversations with felons and puts away the food. So now he has gotten 14 people to join. That's not so bad. Shigaraki will appreciate his efforts hopefully, he was new and maybe that meant something to the older male. 

Just keep pretending. Act casual. 

Make no mistakes. 

Hōshasei stared at the carton of eggs he had gotten with uncertainty in his eyes. This still felt wrong. His thoughts became a cloud of shouts and questions. Doubt knocked at every door he had in his mind. His younger self continued to scream at his present self. He kept asking how he got here. Why did he fall to what was stamped on his forehead? The stamp of a Villain. The stamp of evil. Hōsha didn't have an answer. His mind became muddled and jumbled into mush. What was he to do? What was he even doing?? Why did he agree to continue to go with this? This isn't what he wanted, was it? 

His hand curled into a fist as he began to shake, he let out a frustrated growl-like scream into the empty house. He breathes heavily as his brain went to war on himself. His father had left, he could tell since the plate wasn't still on the table. What on earth was he doing? He had decided that humanity wouldn't win against him a long time ago. Yet here he was, helping in a plot to defeat the Number One hero. Oh how cruel has this world cursed him? Hōsha dug his nails into his palms, his thoughts no longer able to have a single coherent sentence for a good few minutes before staring at the open air once his swirling mind came to a halt. 

Shigaraki was right. Mankind is shit and they need to burn this world. Why did Hōshasei hold out hope for so long? Like an arrow to his heart, he felt a small pain in his chest. He ignores it and chooses to put away to groceries instead. He's had this discussion and is tired of reasoning to hold on. Looking at the clock he notices he has about 3 hours until his father is home. It's better to spend an hour and a half to look for more thieves to add to the group. It doesn't matter how wrong it feels, he will pretend he is okay. Shouldn't be too hard. 

"I've been practicing for years. This'll be no different." His gaze hardens as he looked at the door. "I can pretend to like it....and hopefully I eventually will."

I can do make-believe.  A fairytale. No one will know, especially since they already think of me as a villain. I'll make fantasy a reality in secret. 

The sad thing is that Hōsha began to become delusional to his own lies to himself in the following months. The doubt will still creep into his mind, it always will. Can he really pretend to be a villain until he actually does? A tiny hand reaches out still waiting to be grabbed as the candle grew dimmer. The flame within, dulling. The shadows creeping closer. 

Emaku, his father, came home that day to the house spotless and clean. However, dinner and breakfast was made in advanced and the house was quieter than usual that day.