Stumbling backwards, the girl standing in front of me looked at the head of her parents' killer in horror. I chuckled slightly as I watched blood pool out of the decapitated head and onto my floor. The smell of a rotting human head and metal was invading the room we had been in, and the crimson colour of the man's blood coated the floor thickly.

"T-That's..." She started before I cut her off.

"Harada Doi's head, I know."

"And you..."

"Yeah, I did."

She stood, staring at me in fear as I waved the head around, gripping it by the hair, and spreading blood to the walls and furniture of the room. Her horrified look only intensified as I tossed the head to the ground—close to the girl's feet—and watched her scream in terror.

As the head rolled closer and closer to her, cornering her, she ran forwards and towards me. Turning to face the head, rather than my icy glare, she gagged in disgust—both from my actions and the resulting outcome: the bloody, dismembered head.

I grabbed her arm—hanging loosely by her side—and turned her to face me. Gazing down at her, I grabbed her chin—forcing her to look up at me. Her eyes, coated in terror and repugnance, bored into my psychotic and harsh ones for what seemed like an eternity before I began to speak.

"So, want to join the League, or should I leave you here to think things through?" I asked her with boredom evident in my voice.

She didn't dare break eye-contact; however, she made sure to remain silent. I took her silence as her needing time to process and left without even so much as another word. This event should begin to get the ball rolling. Either—because of this new development—she will try to escape, or she will break and submit to my schemes. I believe she will go for the latter since people who have had perfect childhoods—who had lived perfect lives—seem to break when even the slightest things don't go their way.

This past week, that girl had seen and been through a lot. From her parents being murdered gruesomely by her neighbour to learning the horrendous truth of the heroes in such a disturbing way, this girl had been through a lot. From living in her perfect world, with her perfect family, and her perfect friends, to suddenly being dropped into a whirlwind of chaos and horror, she must be starting to lose it. This change of pace would have dire consequences—in either outcome, I had mentioned previously.

I walked out of the room and decided to go visit Eri, Kota, and the other two children I had saved—to commence the next phase of my ascension. The next phase of the enlightenment. I walked through the common area to see Dabi watching T.V. He looked at me with both guilt and fear as I sneered at him. Walking through the door of the base, I activated Ghost and began to fly towards U.A high.

Toga had told me that Eri was being held in a hospital, which was, in fact, correct; however, Todoroki and Kaminari had informed me, that due to her dangerous and unpredictable quirk, both the hospital and U.A had decided that it would be in everyone's best interest that she be left in the care of the one man who had the ability to deactivate her quirk if necessary: Aizawa Shota, the homeroom teacher to Class 1-A of U.A high.

Reaching the little girl would definitely be a difficult feat—considering she is being surveilled by one of the most cautious and serious heroes currently active.

I had known quite a bit about Eraser Head—even before I had met the League. He wasn't flashy, nor was he funny or easy-going—honestly he was really intense and frightening—but he was incredible at his job. The way he fought and used his interesting quirk with such a high level of efficiency was astounding.

His quirk wasn't fit for a lot of things—such as battling large groups, taking on people with heteromorphic quirks, and fighting people with weapons—yet he still tried his hardest to overcome those weaknesses, and he did. His origin story in a way reminded me of my own past.

He became a hero, against the odds, and despite what his teacher had told him during his schooling days. His quirk mainly worked in one-on-one fights, yet he could still fight with his fists if he had to; meanwhile, I didn't have a quirk, but if I could at least fight as he could, then I might have been able to at least been an underground hero of sorts.

If only things were different...

I had arrived at the gates of U.A, still using Ghost to mask my presence from the gate's scanners and special detection capabilities, and phased through the walls of the gate.

I wandered the campus of the school I had admired for most of my life with annoyance. Seeing all the carefree and gleeful faces of the U.A students sickened me. They looked so happy. They looked so childish. They looked so twisted. I could see their smiles, but I couldn't see the innocence behind them. Instead, I saw the hate and twisted nature behind the faces of the student as I passed them. The fakeness of their laughter, the insincerity of their expressions, the manipulative manor behind their joy.

None of them were genuine.

They were all fakers.

None of them cared.

They were all liars.

I felt my vision warping and my gaze darkening as I heard laughter. At first, the joyous, and childish laughter sounded eerie, but then it started warping. What seemed innocent, turned dark and horrific. I felt my body warbling and my brain hurting.

I need to get out.

I need to get out.

I need to get out.

I needed to escape this feeling. I needed to escape this situation. I began to run to where I had hoped the dorms had been located—swerving past and through students as they roamed the campus, aimlessly, with their friends. I felt trapped. I felt encased in a world full of monsters, even though I could very well just phase through my problems if needed. My breathing grew heavy and my heart rate increased—getting louder and louder in my ears as I ran.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The quickly paced sound filled my ears like a bomb-timer, counting down until it exploded. The way my vision swirled made me feel disoriented and claustrophobic and the constant rising and falling of my chest made it that much harder to calm myself.

As I ran through the world—darkened and warped by hatred and malice—I felt weak. I felt like I was being suffocated. Like I was being held down by my neck and choked out of society. I felt unwanted by society. Like I was some sort of eyesore that people paid no mind to—regardless of the fact that I was invisible. I felt as if I were back in that classroom, being told off by Bakugou, Todoroki, and my sister. I felt as if I were back where I had started—alone and a social-outcast.

I hadn't been to a proper school in ages, so I guess I hadn't relived those memories in a while...

Although I had participated in the USJ attack, it technically wasn't a school building. This was completely different. This was a school with more than nineteen students in it. This was a crowded and loud environment, filled to the brim with cruel, ignorant, and prestigious students. This was a complete nightmare for me.

My mind raced back to a memory I had experienced before I had met the League, and then another, and then another until I had reached my destination.

I felt my breathing return to its normal speed as I noticed I had evaded all of the students, and made it to where I had been headed. Then, I entered.

The teacher's dormitories were interesting. They seemed strangely similar to the student dormitories and didn't scream the classic 'I'm better than you' message that most teachers seemed to relay.

Well, maybe that was just me.

Teachers had always looked at me as if I were an eye-sore. As if I were someone that needed to be fixed. Something that needed to be fixed. Whether it was turning a blind eye to the harassment I had endured, or calling me out in class to embarrass me for no reason whatsoever, they made it clear that I didn't deserve their sympathy, nor did I deserve their help. They made me feel as if I were less than human. As if I were not deserving to breathe the same air as they did.

As I walked through the halls of the teacher's dorms with anger, I tried to clear my mind.

I was here to see Eri, not to relive every bad memory I had ever made.

I felt my fingers trace the nameplates on each room until my eyes landed on a room towards the far end of the hallway on the top floor. This was the room that Eri had been staying in.

I phased through the door and saw a washed-out yellow room with toys littering the floor. Dolls were left out in a playful manner, and a pile of stuffed animals were towered at the foot of the girl's bed, but there, in the middle of it all, sat Eri.

She had dolls in hand, accompanied by a big grin. I crouched down behind her—still completely invisible—and decided to have some fun with her. Leaning in—close to her ear—I spoke a simple 'boo' and made myself visible.

She screamed and looked back in terror to find me laughing on my ass. Her face seemed to light up with joy as her eyes landed on mine.

"Izu-chan!" She cried out in happiness as she jumped onto me.

I caught her as she landed, and she sat on my lap smiling up at me—as a child would their parent.

"I didn't know if I'd ever see you again!" She exclaimed as I felt her small, fragile arms attempt to wrap around my torso.

"Didn't I tell you that I'd see you around?" I asked her as I hugged her back. "I never break my promises."

I never break my promises.

I vow to you, Tomura...

I never break my promises.

I will never let another's arms hold me the way you did.

I never break my promises.

You will always be in my heart...

I never break my promises.

Brother.

I never break my promises.

Those words echoed throughout my mind as I remembered the promise I had made to Tomura after he had died. I needed Eri to trust me, and what would make her more scared than prying her arms off of me for no reason whatsoever? I delicately picked the child up and twirled her around, which in turn caused her to release me. Mentally sighing a breath of relief, I put her down and began to speak again.

"So, how's life at U.A?"