Birthday Hunt
It’s been a couple of months since Himi and I have joined up with the ‘League of Villains’. Really though, so far they don’t seem all that villainous. Other than manning the bar, Kurogiri mainly handles the transportation whenever someone goes out since Shiggy is paranoid about someone following us back. Doesn’t make much sense to me given how people randomly show up to eat and drink here like we did, but whatever.
It might be because he kills most of the people who show up for getting drunk and bothering him, or if they bother Kurogiri they’ll get portaled somewhere else. I’m not sure where they’re portaled, but they never come back so it’s safe to say it’s probably somewhere inhospitable. I wonder if he can portal someone into space if he has the coordinates? Really, the only person that I know for a fact comes back is that information broker that told Himi about this place, who’s name is apparently Giran.
Anyways, other than killing the people who annoy them above a certain level - which I can understand since I kill any of the older men who try to hit on Himi - they haven’t really done anything overtly villainous. No robbing banks, killing sprees, etc. Honestly, outside of training Shiggy really only plays games. And he totally cheats at Mario Kart!
The training I get here is nice though! Ever since I told everyone what I want my villain name to be, I started getting more specialized training. I spent sooo~ much time learning parkour and various leg techniques. Just last month, I managed to kick through an entire wall of cement! Yes, I shattered all the bones in my leg to do it, but I still did it!
I haven’t only been doing leg days though! I still did all the other training AFO had planned for me before that too! Which mainly consisted of hand-to-hand combat with various instructors as well as something that surprised me. He had people show me how to use a gun!
I don’t know why, but something about shooting a gun just feels right, like thousands of people are shouting out about how it doesn’t fit me. Imagining their screams of outrage just brings me so much joy~.
Of course, Himi has kept up her usual knife handling lessons. AFO tried to get someone to teach me instead of her, but when she complained they suggested proving how good they are.
They were not as good as they thought they were.
Anyways, Himi stayed on as my knife teacher, though her lessons mainly amount to her stabbing/trying to stab me and having me study her movements. There’s no denying her skill like that dead guy tried to do, but everything she knows comes to her like an instinct. To her, knives are a natural extension of her hands. It actually gave me an idea on what to do for her birthday present, and I’m really excited to give it to her today.
But back to ‘Sensei-Himi’. Since knives come to her so naturally, it’s hard for her to describe exactly how to do what she does with them. Which is why she’s so big on practical learning! Sure, I’m basically training with her in my underwear because Shiggy complained about how inconvenient it is to keep replacing the clothes she cuts up. And sometimes she gets overly excited by all the blood and drains me dry.
But now my knife skills are awesome!! I’m obviously nowhere close to Himi’s level, but I can hit the bullseye on the target every time!
Of course, then Himi will show off her own skills and make a detailed copy of my face from thrown knives… One day, I hope to reach that level for her.
However, that’s for the future. Right now, I have the box with her present in front of me at the bar while I wait for her to come down from bed. At his usual corner of the bar, Shiggy has his own present, as does Kurogiri. These two are really big on making sure that birthdays are celebrated. They even have a calendar where the only days are a person’s birthday! Though AFO insisted that he be excluded for some reason, and apparently he worked hard to convince Shiggy of it before it was accepted.
Himi comes skipping down the stairs with a smile on her face and wearing her usual school uniform. She won’t tell me what school it’s from, and even though I could find out if it ever became a problem, I’ll respect her privacy. Just like how she respects my privacy in regards to not prying into my middle school or family locations.
Seeing her stop and her face light up seeing the gifts we’ve prepared spreads a smile across my own. She’s going to be sooo surprised~.
“Happy birthday, Crazy.” Shiggy grumbles in his usual grumpy tone. She ignores his own nickname for her, instead just giggling as she gives her usual reply to it.
“Don’t y’know, Shiggy? We’re all crazy here!” She jumps at him and gives him a hug, letting go to avoid the hand that tries to grab her arm. WIth a spin she picks up his gift, which makes me a bit sad since she didn’t choose to open mine first. But I take solace in the fact that she’ll love mine!
Opening up Shiggy’s, she squeals in delight as she pulls out a long thin knife, the almost nonexistent edge more than made up for by the clearly deadly tip. It’s so sharp that you can see light coming off of its tip!
“It’s called a stiletto. Made especially for stabbing and reinforced with a quirk to make sure the tip can puncture through anything.”
“Anything?” She asks before stabbing it down into the bar, much to Kurogiri’s dismay.
“Hey! I’ll have you know that this is not easily repaired!”
“Sorry ‘Giri.” Himi absently apologizes as she inspects both the tip and the hole in the bar. It went in super easily, so she shouldn’t have any problem when it comes to people. Maybe it can even get through hardening quirks!
“Thanks’s Crusty, I love it!” He growls at the use of that nickname, but it’s not one of the worst we’ve given him so he just grumbles under his breath.
Next she opens Kurogiri's gift, and pulls out a pretty knife sharpener colored blood red. “I know how much you enjoy doing maintenance on your blades, so I avoided the electric sharpeners. This is one of the best available.”
After a few moments spent examining it she nods in satisfaction before giving him a smile. “You’re absolutely right! Those electric or automatic things just can’t get them right. My babies need a personal touch.”
Kurogiri nods, I think, as the corners of his eyes turn up. “It brings me joy to know that you are pleased.”
Another smile and she finally turns to me, making my heart beat a bit faster. Accepting the box, she opens it with a smile. One that remains even as she tilts her head in confusion. What she pulls out resembles a glove. Just, without the glove part.
Instead, it’s more of a frame of metal that goes over her hand. And where the fingers are, there are instead claws that extend a bit past her fingers into a deadly point with a slight gleam. There was no way I was going to let Shiggy be the only one who has their present be reinforced with a quirk!
Hesitantly, she puts it on. Despite the appearance, it’s actually pretty simple. Just slide your hand into the wrist part and follow where the fingers go. It fits her hand perfectly, and a quick flex of her fingers causes the claws to retract so she doesn’t have to worry about cutting herself on them when she isn’t using them.
Excited, I begin to explain. “Since you’re so natural at using knives, and your eyes are cat-like, I thought that you would enjoy having the equivalent of knives being strapped to your fingers. As you saw, just flex your hand to have the claws either retract or extend. It also has the same enhancement as the stiletto Shiggy gave you. The best part is that you can just pass it off as a hand brace when the claws aren’t out!”
She twists her hand, looking at it from all angles with a tilted head. She flexes her hand a few times and watches as the claws come out then go back in. After tapping her chin with one of the claws, showing how natural they feel to her, she nods.
“I like them. But they’re going to take some getting used to, especially with how I use my knives.” I nod enthusiastically. Obviously I knew that there was no way she would just abandon the rest of her knives, which is why I had it made so the claws can retract. They’re not a replacement, but a guarantee that even if she were to (somehow) throw all her knives she would still have a weapon.
And then a rare occurrence happens, AFO speaks from the tv. “Then I suppose it is a good thing that it’s time for Usagi to make his debut. Join him, and you may get to practice with your new weapons.”
Himi and I smile at each other, excited for this bit of news. Why, when we still kill on a semi-regular basis? Well, my debut will be killing my first hero.
`~`
My target is the pro hero Slugger. His quirk is some kind of homing effect on the things that he throws, making sure that they always hit his target. It’s similar to Snipe’s quirk, except he has to throw them, so guns don’t work for him. But his support item, which resembles a large green mechanical glove that stretches up his left arm, lets him throw things farther than he normally could.
He’s a pretty low-ranking hero, but he excels in minimizing damage to the area since he doesn’t miss and has a ton of restraining items designed to look like baseballs. Of course, as I look down on him from the rooftop as he walks through a nearly empty street with his only side-kick, I know that his capturing skills won’t mean anything when it comes to a surprise attack.
Exchanging a quick glance with Himi, we both nod. She uses her new claws to climb down silently, the claws sliding through the stone with barely a sound. That’s a really good reinforcement. Maybe I should get some of my weapons the same.
But that’s for later. While Himi climbs down to follow them from below, I continue to follow them from above. Once they’re finally alone on the street, it’s time to strike.
Living up to my name, I jump down from the rooftop on top of the hero. He cries out in shock, and then pain when his shoulders crack under my feet. Landing on people from a rooftop jump does not end well for them~. Luckily for him, the pain in his shoulders won’t last very long!
I bring my knife down, driving it through the back of his head in one smooth motion. As his body finishes collapsing under me, I roll off and spring to my feet, turning to Himi’s fun. And judging by the bloody smile on her face as she holds the side-kick’s heart in her hand, I know that she had a lot of fun. Even if it didn't last very long.
It’s a bit hard to tell under the blood on her face, but when she looks at me she blushes. “Ok, I like this a lot more than I thought I would. So much blood~...”
I chuckle as I pull up Slugger’s shirt, revealing his back and get to work on what I want to use as my calling card. Not every villain has one, for obvious reasons, but since I want to get my name out there, I do. “I knew you would like it. They just fit you perfectly.”
On his back I carve out a few words, ignoring the blood that splatters onto my mask and jacket. Himi reads it over my shoulder, her warm breath making my ear warm. “Mido~ Midor~III~! A hop away, Midosagi”
She giggles, wrapping her arms around me as I stand up after one last addition to it. But it’s a bit different from her usual hugs. She’s rubbing her hands along my chest, and now that I’m not distracted I can tell that her breathing is a bit labored. We took these two down quick, so she shouldn’t be tired. Did she jump around while following them? Laughing at how they didn’t notice her while she was doing that does sound like something she would enjoy.
But it’s not. Instead, steam erupts from my face as she whispers into my ear. “I think I want another present tonight. You~.”
That drives away the last coherent thought I have as she calls Kurogiri and drags me through the portal into her room. What thoughts were those?
The first was wondering if I was supposed to actually fight the hero to test the skills I’ve learned. The second was internal laughter at what my sister will think when she realizes that I’ve become a villain.
After all, it’s not like they think I’m dead.