A Villain's Journey

Chap. 2

The hideout was an old bar, with a set of steps leading up to what he assumed was their actual hideout. The bar was put together but, like as stated before, old. The counter was a deep brown color with an assortment of liquor bottles in the back. The floor was also a deep brown wood.

They made their way upstairs into the actual hideout. It was mainly empty with a few pieces of furniture scattered here and there. The furniture was just old, plain, dark couches and chairs. From what they passed in the hallway, there were four doors, most likely a bathroom and three rooms. The kitchen and living room seemed to blend together. There was also a set of stairs leading up somewhere. Izuku gazed up and around him, noting how the walls seemed to be peeling and the floor below creaked. He wondered if this was an abandoned building or if they were actually paying rent. Probably the former.

Their short walk came to an abrupt stop when All For One stopped in front of a worn-down off-white door. Izuku nearly bumped into the man from the sudden stop but thankfully managed to avoid a collision. Izuku became confused when All For One didn't do anything for a moment, just stood there. Then, All For One raised his fist and lightly knocked on the door.

Within seconds, the door opened and a man bowed before All For One, which Izuku didn't understand since All For One literally didn't have eyes. All For One moved out of Izuku's way for Izuku to see the man more clearly.

"Hello, Master," came a raspy voice from the frail-looking man. "I wasn't expecting to see you tonight."

"Midoriya, meet Shigaraki Tomura. Shi, meet Midoriya Izuku," All For One said.

Shigaraki straightened from his bow and eyed Izuku suspiciously. Izuku gulped from the man's appearance. Like All For One, he looked horribly frightening. A hand covered most of his face and he had shaggy, pale blue, almost white hair. His clothes were worn down, much like the state of the hideout as stated previously, and his eyes were a menacing crimson. He looked almost ghost-like. Like he shouldn't be alive and walking around, yet here he was, flesh, blood, bones, and a beating heart. Izuku held out his shaking hand for a handshake.

"It's uh, it's nice to meet you Sh-Shigaraki," Izuku trembled. Shigaraki's eyes traveled to Izuku's hand then back up to make eye contact with All For One. Shigaraki gave a small scoff.

"Who have you brought, Master? A boy who can't even stand still because of the sight of me? Why not just take his quirk? I can already tell he's useless," Shigaraki hissed. Izuku retreated his hand and his mouth hung open in shock.

"Take my quirk...?" Izuku asked under his breath.

"You have no clue just how useful he can be to us in the future, Shi. I hope that one day you two can work alongside each other to make this world better," All For One said. Shigaraki brought his eyes to Izuku and looked him over.

Izuku fought the urge to squirm under Shigaraki's sharp gaze. It was apparent Shigaraki didn't like him but what was he to do except wait for the haunting man to approve of him? Nothing, so simply, he would wait. Maybe try and be nice, but Izuku had a feeling Shigaraki would be more interested in how powerful his quirk was.

"I hope you're right. How are you going to train him?" Shigaraki said.

"For now, we'll work on physical exercise. Later, we'll work on testing the limits of his quirk," All For One said. "But it is getting quite late so we should rest. We will start training tomorrow."

All For One turned away from Shigaraki and Izuku, which left Shigaraki and Izuku looking at one another. Shigaraki sneered and went into his room, slamming the door. Izuku heard All For One sigh.

"He'll come around eventually," All For One said. "Follow me, please."

"Sir, when you said testing the limits of my quirk, are you planning on letting me die die," Izuku said, not knowing whether that would be a good or a bad thing for him.