Hizashi was hallucinating. He had to be. How else could he be staring into the eyes of his very much dead best friend?
But the weight in his arms told a different story. Hizashi found himself tugging the man quickly back into a fierce hug. Burying his face in the crook of the other man's neck, Hizashi managed to get his most pressing question out of his short circuiting brain and onto the air waves. "How? I saw一 You were dead一"
Oboro relaxed into the hug before pulling him closer. "I was. The man who brought me back stole my body before I could be cremated."
Hizashi pulled back so he could study his old friend's face. "So, what, you're a zombie?"
Oboro laughed, his form flickering back into the smoky form he had been wearing when Hizashi had found him curled up on the floor. "Try Frankenstein's monster."
Suddenly, a realization clicked into place. "And Hisashi knows about all of this?"
The man made of mist sighed. "He was… less than pleased with the Doctor when he realized what had happened. Originally he hid what had happened to me so I had time to mentally recover, but then he found Tomura and the next thing I knew it had been over a decade since I last saw any of you…"
Hizashi frowned. "Well given I walked into the kitchen to find you having a panic attack, I guess I can't fault him for wanting to give you time to get your head back on straight. Still, he should have at least told us what was going on with you."
Even with a face composed only of mist, the look that Oboro leveled at him was easily recognized as his "you aren't really serious?" face. "If he had told you guys, do you really think you would have had the self control to not try and hunt down where I was?"
Hizashi gave a sheepish smile at that. "Okay, you maybe have a point."
Oboro huffed lightly before shifting to his feet with a grace that he had never possessed before. Hizashi found himself taking an offered hand to pull himself up. "So why did you even come back here anyways?"
"Oh! Inko asked me to see if I could talk you into coming out to enjoy the rest of the party…which seems suspicious in hindsight. I mean yeah, I am probably one of the best here when it comes to people but it would have made more sense for her to ask Tomura right? Does she一?"
"She's known since she and Izuku moved into Sensei's current accommodations. Part of the reason I was so panicked was I knew I was not getting out of talking to you guys before the party was over since she has been trying to talk me into talking with Shouta since we started talking."
Hizashi gave his old friend a soft smile. "Yeah, I don't think Shou would have taken a grand reveal like this so soon after the shock about the whole All for One thing very well. You and Hisashi aren't hiding any other massive secrets like this right? I don't think we could take the stress of discovering another anytime soon."
The man made of mist seemed to have to consider that. "I believe that is everything. Perhaps we should consult Izuku to check? He has been keeping on top of everything over the past few months better than Sensei has."
Hizashi found himself giggling lightly. "Since when did you start talking so formally all the time anyways? That a side effect of all of this?"
The man hummed as he leaned back on the counter. "Possibly. I spent the first few months after Waking Up with my memories largely suppressed to protect my sanity so I more or less was a blank slate during that time. I picked up some new habits and interests as a result, some more out of necessity than others. I have issues eating real food due to my new Quirk mutation affecting my form which eventually led me to an interest in making mixed drinks."
"Is that how you ended up running a bar?"
"Yes. Once I was both back to myself and Tomura was no longer in need of constant supervision, I realized I needed something new to fill my time with."
"And Tomura? How did you get roped into helping with him? If I have the timeline straight, it would have been about a year after you ended up like this when Hisashi found him."
"That's true." He sighed. "It took me a while to even want to start sorting out who I was after Waking Up but still… I guess I was reluctant to deal with the drama of coming back from the dead. While I remember the part of me that dreamed so strongly of being a hero, the drive I felt is largely gone now. The idea of fighting people like those I have met through Sensei rubs me the wrong way. I think the fact that Hisashi gave me a new way of helping people while I recovered is the main reason I stuck around. The fact that I only became more useful as time passed…" He shook his head. "I know he was taking advantage of the situation. I'm not so stupid as to be blind to the fact that the way my Quirk has changed is far too useful for him to want to part with. Unfortunately the bastard is too likable to get really mad at. Honestly, if Izuku wasn't the same way, then I would suspect him of using a Quirk."
"So you are happy at least. Like this?"
The man shrugged. "As happy as I will likely ever be." He reached out to lay a hand on Hizashi's shoulder before seeming to reign in the smoke once more to show him a real smile. "I suppose I have hidden back here long enough. Do you want to help reintroduce me as Kurogiri Oboro to our friends?"
Hizashi just gave him a soft grin in return.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
Shouta was torn between going to check on Hizashi and this Kurogiri guy that Inko had sent him to fetch and watching this before him. He and several others watching had to suppress the urge to flinch as Nedzu started chittering madly to himself as he moved one of his rooks forward on the board to take another of Hisashi's pieces. Shouta was pretty sure the look on Mirai's face beside him was that of one filled with regret.
Naomasa had sighed rather dramatically when the chimera showed up before stating "One game and then the two of you either are moving to play at his place or switching back to a virtual board." Then Hisashi had taken over in much the same way he had on the street a few weeks back, grinning wildly through Naomasa's face as he chatted happily with the Rat. At least Izuku was having fun watching the game.
It was entertaining at least to see the reactions of those in the room that had very clearly not known about Naomasa's and Hisashi's new mental connection. Tensei, who had worked with Naomasa in the past when working in the Musutafu area, nearly choked on his drink when the man suddenly changed so completely. Mitsuki had taken one look at the man, turned to look at Inko, and then shrugged and said "Hey Hisashi!" with a wave before going back to fussing over Izuku. Masaru on the other hand, having recognized the man just as quickly, downed the rest of the drink he had been sipping on and poured himself another glass. Izuku's new friend Himiko had complimented him on his new eye color before continuing to play the card game Izuku and his friend's were teaching her. Dabi was just staring at the man in a mixture of shock and what looked like fear before Tomura had leaned over to mention that "Father can only do that with him."
Before he could really start to worry about the possibilities that came from the fact that Nedzu and All for One were friendly, Hizashi wandered out from the back carrying a large platter of cookies. On his heels was the man that had been helping warp Izuku around as a vigilante, cake in hand. It was painfully obvious that this man was the Kurogiri that Izuku liked so much; his very form reflected the Warp Gates he could summon. Shouta drifted over to the pair as they set their desserts down on the bar. "I was starting to wonder if I should have followed you back."
Kurogiri seemed to nearly jump out of his metaphorical skin as his form suddenly flickered in surprise. Hizashi put his hand on his shoulder as the man grabbed at his chest. "Easy there. It's just Shou."
"I'm not used to people coming up behind me quietly. I wouldn't refer to either of the boys or Sensei as quiet people."
Hizashi flashed him a grin and lightly patted him on the shoulder. "I've been telling Shou that he needs to start wearing a bell or something when he is off shift."
The man snorted as Shouta found himself rolling his eyes. "You just need to work on your situational awareness more 'Zashi."
Hizashi's hand flew to his chest in mock injury with a very fake gasp. "I'll have you know my situational awareness is just fine. You're just crazy sneaky." He shook his head. "See how mean he is to me without you around Oboro."
Shouta felt himself freeze. There was no way… He just shared the name surely?
The man sighed and reached his hand out to touch his shoulder. The mist fell away to reveal an aged and scared familiar face. Blue and gold eyes met dark crimson. The sound of a glass shattering behind him.
Darkness.
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
When Shouta had invited her along to join his family for his nephew Izuku's birthday, Kayama Nemuri had thought the most surprising thing about the party would be the location. She was fairly up to speed on the family drama after all since she was Hizashi's gossip buddy.
She was wrong.
The glass in her hand, dropped to the floor with a crash as she stared in shock at a face that she had last seen as his corpse was pulled from the rubble. He was older. Logically, that made sense. Time had passed after all. His entire left side of his face was a mess of scar tissue, the eye on that side the same golden color as his eyes had both been when he was purely made of mist.
The man flickered back into the figure of smoke as Shouta dropped like a stone in a dead faint from the shock. He caught the man before his head could hit the floor but he himself did not stay upright for long as Nemuri crossed the short distance between herself and the man to throw her arms around him before lightly swatting at his head. "You asshole!" She buried her now tear covered face in his shoulder. "Don't you ever fucking do that to us again!"
---MiM-MiM-MiM---
This was probably the weirdest birthday party that Dabi had ever been to. Not that that meant much really seeing as he hadn't been to one since his own 12th birthday party a little over 10 years ago. Not that he wasn't having fun. Honestly, the drama of everything was entertaining as hell. The fact that not everyone seemed to be 100 percent on the same page as to the fact that there were a bunch of Villains and Heroes in the same room together was hilarious given that it was clear who knew and who didn't as they largely danced around certain topics.
And apparently, even those that seemed to be in the know about the whole Hero Villain thing were not exempted from being surprised given that "Uncle Shouta" had keeled over in shock as to the identity of Kurogiri under all the mist. "Oh good, he finally told them."
Dabi turned to look at the lavender haired boy seated on the booth bench beside him. "You know what all that is about then?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Kurogiri is sort of their dead friend from when they all were in UA together."
"So what, the misty shit he looks like is, what, his ghost or some shit?"
He shrugged and turned back to the puzzle that he had been working on with the birthday boy before he bailed to try and help teach Himiko common children's party card games. "Something like that."
"He's a Nomu." The Dusty Bitch offered from his seat sprawled out on the bench opposite where he sat playing an old handheld game. "All the others have been lobotomized before the Doctor was allowed to wake them up since Father didn't want to risk the man creating a bunch of insane monsters. The fact that Kurogiri didn't go completely nuts is purely due to Father's direct intervention."
"Huh. You know, with some of the shit Izu tells me, I forget sometimes that your Dad is supposed to be the Symbol of Evil or whatever."
Dabi blinked a few times before looking back over at the Detective being used like a human meat puppet. "The Symbol of Evil?"
Dusty looked up from the console. "You've been in the game for a while right? You've heard the name All for One?"
Dabi felt his blood run cold. "That is just a rumor. There is no way there is actually a guy out there that can actually steal Quirks."
Dusty snorted. "Oh he can if he really wants to. He's taken mine away enough times for me to know he isn't lying about that. He's just not a total dick so he generally gives back any Quirk he takes. Most of his Quirks are Dawn of Quirks era shit from when people were more than happy to let him keep their Quirks."
Dabi flicked his eyes back to the detective who had apparently reverted back to himself while he wasn't looking so he could check on the downed man. "So…hypothetically, if the League were to go after the current number two hero… He could steal his Quirk?"
"I mean sure? As far as I am aware, the only Quirk he can't take is All Might's but that is because the blonde grinning idiot is running around with Uncle Yoichi's Quirk."
That was news. "You're saying that All Might's Quirk isn't even his own?"
Dusty snorted before turning back to his game. "He has cheat codes enabled. Don't worry, the League isn't going to go after the Final Boss until we finish building our final party and gain some EXP. If we are lucky we can unlock our own Final Summon at some point along the way if we find the right Quirk for the Quest."
The lavender boy snorted. "You probably shouldn't be openly discuss murdering the Symbol of Peace with so many Heroes and Hero hopefuls around."
Dusty looked back up briefly and gave the boy a challenging look. "Are you going to try and stop us?"
The boy shrugged. "Honestly, I don't really give a shit personally."
"I was under the impression that you were one of the Hero hopefuls."
He flashed Dusty a grin. "Oh I am. You get told you can't do something enough times and it is hard to resist doing it out of spite. Pretty sure Izu's drive to be a Hero is fueled by something similar."
Dabi blinked at the boy next to him in surprise. "You are becoming a Hero purely out of spite?"
"Why not? It isn't like I hate helping people or anything. Honestly I am just pretty apathetic about most things generally."
Dabi felt a slight twisting in his gut as he met the boy's blank gaze as all he could do was think of another pair of eyes from his past he had left behind that looked much the same. "Kid are you okay?"
"Nope." He looked over at the men he arrived with. "But you don't need to worry too much about it. I will be.