"We don't meet new people by accident.

They are meant to cross our paths for a reason."

-Unknown

It had been a couple of days now since that had happened. True to his word, Kurogiri didn't speak a word of the little intervention to Shigaraki, instead leaving him to suffer the moody, sulky glares of Shigaraki. He heavily disliked anything directly from All for One not being done by him, even if they were chores. On top of all of that, he got an infiltration mission from All for One that the person in question stated that only he could do... Well, Shigaraki was not a happy camper, that's for sure.

Regardless, life carried on, and Deku found it easy to lose himself in the routine of the criminal organization once more. He found himself missing the carefree, light atmosphere that the U.A. campus seemed to have gotten down to an art form, but it was simply a minor distraction, at the end of the day. He was not troubled by it any more than the petulant death glares Shigaraki constantly shoved down his back.

Usually, this would be the part where the villain would realize the allure of the light side or something like that. Then, destiny would be an a-hole and turn that distant longing into a mission to kill so-and-so. The villain would go through many psychological struggles, before eventually abandoning the darkness and stepping into the light. Happily ever after, right? Well, it wasn't exactly the case here.

It was a bit more complicated than that.

Somehow in these stories, the villain had a fairly strong set of morals hidden deep within the crevasses of their soul. Not to say that Deku didn't have any, but his standard of evil wasn't well developed. That was the key. It had progressed from dissolving into a broken and psychologically damaged mess from a murder... To less of a psychologically, broken mess. And while murder was definitely not something to be made light of... There were worse things you could do to a person. Deku was aware of that, although it didn't stop him from blaming himself.

He hadn't truly fallen into the darkest pits of the abyss. He could still grasp hold of a few gray waves of light. That was why he was not blinded by pure, white light that was the embodiment of all things good. That, and he had an objective that was easest to achieve with his current position. He could achieve revenge on Bakugo and All Might without backlash (backlash from his side, that is), and he knew exactly where All for One was, and what he was planning. He couldn't give this position up, at least for now.

Although a moment later, the 'he knew what he was planning' was up for debate. A swirl of purple fog, practically Kurogiri's signature at this point, appeared in the center of the bar. The fog man had been missing this morning, completely abandoning the usual bar-keeping activities that he completed with almost religious fervor. The only person who could convince Kurogiri to do so was none other than All for One, and Deku stared in distaste at the new variable that chose to pop out of the wall, alongside Kurogiri.

The first thing he noticed was that the muscular man didn't seem to have a nose. From the pointed ovals of his eyes wrapped lightly in bandages, just a mere slit allowing him his sight, to the pale, flaky lips that were roughly in the middle of his head, he had no nose. Which was weird considering he didn't seem to be a mutant or heteromorphic type, with all of his body features's being entirely humanoid.

Except for the distinct lack of a nose. It could have just been a part of his quirk, but a lingering feeling in his gut caused him to consider other options. The artificial, luminescent lighting in the interior of the bar shone down on something, and as it caught the light, Deku saw the very familiar shape of a knife. Many knives, to be precise. Alongside the katana he toted around, he was a walking armory.

If this was the middle ages. Perhaps his clothing was hiding a firearm or two, but it didn't seem like the case.

'...I can only hope that this has something to do with his quirk, and not because he's anti-guns. It's already tiring enough to deal with muscleheads like Shigaraki that believe their quirk can solve everything they encounter. Since he's gotten this far into the hideout maze/chain of command, he must have All for One's approval. His combat ability must be superb, or something else... Whatever it is, it's enough to get him here. I'll have to be careful.'

"I have brought you here because we wish to recruit you into the League of Villains."

'...He was brought here without even joining? I might have underestimated him a little.'

Suddenly, the man exploded forward with motion, flinging out the knives at his side with wild abandon. Deku's eyes widened at the blatant display of hostility, not expecting the 'new recruit' to try and kill them, but he was on-guard because of the irregularities that followed the black-haired man like a faithful dog trailing after its owner. Thanks to his lightning-enhanced brain, he could see the knife flying forward in slow-motion. Usually, that wouldn't mean much because his body was unable to react as quickly, but this time, he was prepared. (As prepared as you could be for such a thing, anyway.)

He didn't have enough time to fully dodge it, but he could turn his wrist. The meteor-like knife made a grating metallic sound as it connected with the knife hidden in Deku's suit sleeve, before ricocheting off into the wall on his left. He established eye contact with the bloody red-eyed man in the middle of his running stride, taking note of the surprise held within them. As fast as he possibly could, his other hand flew up to the nose-less man's general position, cackling loudly with lightning. But Deku didn't have enough time.

The moment he gathered just enough volts to be a threat, he swung down the razor-sharp knife into Shigaraki's shoulder blade. It made a sickening sound as it tore through the rest of his flesh, blood pooling on the counter Shigaraki was pinned on. Judging by the general position of the blade, it must have punctured through several bones easily. Deku found himself taken aback by the situation in general, but also the strength and agility this new fighter had displayed.

He was also somewhat exasperated, as he had only just dealt with (did) a hostage situation not even a week ago. Now, he was on the side being threatened. And he had no choice but to act in the victim's best interest. He didn't really care for Shigaraki's well-being, but All for One was watching at all times. So... He purposefully made the lightning crackle loudly to turn up the intimation factor.

"Please do not make any further moves. For your own sake. I promise you that lightning travels far faster than the mere speed you can stab with your blade. We'll pretend nothing ever happened if you remove your knife away from his shoulder."

The new recruit had far too calm of a reaction (or mad, depending on how you viewed it). His mouth opened wide in a smile that was a tad bit too sharp to hold sanity within it. No, rather than sanity... It was more like the smile of a man who had seen too much and lived through what he saw, to the point where even this hardly constituted as a threat. His threat level skyrocketed in Deku's mind instantaneously.

"Oh? Human bodies are conductors, though. If you fire a lightning bolt at me, right here and now, he'll be electrocuted too. No, you know that. That's why you haven't fired that dangerous thing in your palm at me yet. Am I right?"

His head made a yes motion as he absentmindedly filled away 'smart' next to all the other qualities he observed.

"Then-"

"Please don't celebrate too early. Shigaraki gaining a few minor burns is fine if it secures his life. I can't say that you'll be walking away with just burns yourself, though. That said, I would like to avoid that outcome if I could. What demands do you have? There must be a reason why you didn't just kill him immediately; don't play dumb."

His grin grew wider.

"I knew there was a reason why I liked smart people. I just wanted to ask this guy a few questions. I'll leave after that. Is that fine with you?"

'Just questions? It should be fine... This amount of effort should be enough to satisfy All for One too.'

"...That is fine. Shigaraki, just answer his questions. Lightning is more painful than you think."

How Shigaraki still managed to send a death glare his way while being physically bound to the counter, he didn't know, but he did answer the questions he had. Probably because he had a knife right next to his head and his only ticket to survival was in the hands of a person who wasn't exactly fond of him. There was a nerve-racking moment when he got rid of the knife with his corrosion powers, but the conversation (if it could even be called that) continued on.

The conversation the two exchanged was definitely eye-opening: the black-haired man was the infamous Hero Killer, that Shigaraki kinda had a motivation now that made sense, and most importantly, the ideology that the Hero Killer operated by.

'...He grew up a little bit when I wasn't looking. But if that's what he's going forward with, Mr. Hero Killer isn't likely to accept it-.'

The Hero Killer withdrew peacefully a few minutes later, disappearing into the portal that led directly to Hosu City. Kurogiri turned toward Shigaraki as he began to wrap his wound up, asking a question that seemed somewhat redundant, considering everything that had happened.

"Are you sure you do not what to get him to join the League? He would be a valuable asset."

"...I don't want someone that crazy as a party member."

He coughed lightly to get their attention.

"I agree. If we forced him to join despite our differences, it would eventually come back to bite us. Besides, he's a bit too unpredictable for my tastes. Well... That's not to say we can't benefit from this little adventure. Our little friend has quite a reputation, after all."

Shigaraki responded with the creepiest smile yet.

"Oh? Let's see what you've cooked up this time, strategist."