A Hero and a Villain

Scene 1: A Gorgeous Stranger

[Shinso]

Hitoshi walked along the paved sidewalks of Musutafu, Japan, gazing at the structural damage from the recent bank robbery. Without All Might around the last couple of decades, villain activity had spiked tremendously.

He tossed a water bottle from hand to hand, his black grip gym gloves plastered to his hands. He was just headed to the local gym for a weekly training session with Izuku, but he had gotten a little side-tracked (by a cute little furry, of course) and ended up being later than he expected. When he got there, Midoryia was already gone, so he just decided to work out on his own.

After about half an hour with a punching bag, he sat down on a bench to rest.

He soon heard a series of loud thuds and glanced around, curious. Against the back wall, there was a young man sparring with a training dummy, a wooden kendo stick in his hands.

Weird, he thought, suddenly curious, I know that the gym has multipurpose areas, but I've never seen anyone training without their quirk or something. Especially with a weapon like that.

The guy looked rather young, maybe around his twenties. He had pale white skin and long black hair—at least just below his waist—tied up in a ponytail, two long strips hanging in front of his ears and ending at his chin. It was hard to tell from that far away, but his eyes looked a deep shade of green, possibly grass or pine. He was shirtless, wearing black and green boxers, and his hands were wrapped with white bandages. He had a slim build and there was a hint of muscle lines on his torso and abs, as if he was athletic but not an avid fighter. Weirdest of all, his chest was completely smooth, devoid of all hair.

Hitoshi watched in amazement as the young man twirled around with the speed of lightning and slammed the stick into the dummy at several vital points, as if he was slicing through paper. After several passes in the next few minutes, he was evidently sweating, but even then, the dummy was beaten to shreds like a scarecrow after a tornado hit.

[Andeddo]

After a few minutes, he noticed the guy staring at him from across the room. He lowered his kendo stick and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Then he glanced back at the guy and winked as a grin spread across his face. The guy's face immediately turned red as he looked away, then he stood up and walked towards the punching bags.

Andeddo carefully observed him with curiosity, and then an image popped into his head. It had been many years since it happened, but he remembered watching the UA Sports Festival from the tall stadium seating, and there had been a particular participant that had caught his eye.

That Cheshire Cat smile. That dusty purple hair that defied gravity. Those cold iris eyes set with ivory white pupils that bored into your soul. That fiery determination in his punches as he battled the green-haired boy in the final rounds. There was no doubt, it was definitely him. Just the aura he gave off was enough for Andeddo to confirm it.

Hitoshi Shinso, a former student of UA General Studies class 1-C. Quirk: Brainwashing. He has the ability to control anyone that verbally answers his questions. Control can only be broken by either physical contact by an outside force or an act of self-inflicted harm. (Although only one person had ever really succeeded in that part.)

He had transferred over to the Hero Course in his second year and graduated with an official Hero License. His Hero Name was Speakeasy, and he currently worked as a sort of support hero, not really getting into fights unless he was needed. He was also friends with a lot of the new Top Heroes and even had a close bond with the retired Pro Heroes Eraserhead and Present Mic.

Or at least, that's what he knew so far.

Andeddo froze as it dawned on him. Surely, Hitoshi looked strong enough to take on a regular villain without any help. He self-consciously became wary. What if Hitoshi realized that he was a villain? No, none of the Heroes here even knew of his existence yet, much less his appearance. But still, could he tell anyway?

Hitoshi glanced over at him for a second, and this time their eyes met. Andeddo felt his heart skip a beat as they stared into each other's eyes. No, Hitoshi had absolutely no clue who he was. All he saw was another man at the gym.

With that thought anchoring his mind, he took a deep breath and re-positioned his messy ponytail. He set the kendo stick down and went over to his locker to get a drink. As he guzzled his water bottle, he noticed that Hitoshi's eyes kept flitting over to him every few seconds, and he was missing the punching bags every once in a while.

What could possibly be that fascinating about him? This thought gave him a temporary spark.

He reached into his locker and took out his training katana, sliding open the gleaming black sheath and taking it by the handle. Hitoshi couldn't hide his surprise, staring at it in amazement.

Andeddo wiped off the blade with his towel and walked back to the dummy again. Dragging it aside, he chose a new one from a cluster sitting by the lockers.

With a smile, he raised the katana above his left shoulder and brought it down in a diagonal line, slicing open the dummy's chest. White stuffing and sand spilled out of the cut in the fabric. Then, with increased speed, he whipped the katana back and forth between his hands, creating a buffer of air. His movements were a blur, so fast that it would've been hard for any normal person to keep track of his movements.

When the blade finally stopped moving, he stepped back to admire his work. Stuffing covered the floor in all directions, and the dummy was so ripped up that you couldn't even tell it used to be a human silhouette.

He looked back to see Hitoshi frozen on the spot, hands positioned as if to hit the punching bag, but hovering mid-air. Satisfied with his display, Andeddo sheathed his katana and dragged the dummy to the side of the wall, leaving it for the gym maintenance. He put the katana back in his locker and picked up his towel, hanging it around his neck. He cracked his stiff neck, flashing a smile at Hitoshi as he strolled out the side door of the gym.