I gesture to the figure standing beside me, tall in a sweeping black coat with a high collar and a wide-brimmed hat tilted just enough to hide the eyes. His mask ripples like disturbed ink in a bowl.
"This is Hound," I say.
The mask shifts. Ink swirls, darkens, then takes the snarling form of a dog's face, teeth, growl lines, ears pinned back, before dissolving into its natural, chaotic pattern.
Rin tilts her head. No smile. No fear. Just watching.
"Hound is part of my personal unit. Think ninja, but better dressed."
She raises a brow.
"He's my loyalty enforcer and tracker," I continue. "He'll assess your skills, train you, and assign missions. If you pass his tests, you'll get a partner and full entry."
Rin stands straighter, that spark of challenge lighting her expression. She nods once. Not eager. Just… ready.
Then she turns to me.
"What's your quirk?"
I grin. "Pretty sure you figured it out by now."
I let my shadow stretch and rise beside me. A perfect copy of myself emerges from it, brushing dust off its sleeve and leaning casually on my shoulder.
"Shadow Clone," I say.
The clone gives Rin a lazy two-finger salute, winks, and fades into smoke.
She squints. "Is he a clone?" Giving Hound a glance.
"That's for you to figure out," I reply, already turning to leave.
She follows up with a mutter. "I've seen you do stuff that looks like other quirks."
I don't stop. Just toss her a grin over my shoulder. "I'm just that good. Might be young, but I've trained longer than most careers last."
She shrugs like it doesn't matter, but I see the flicker of respect behind her eyes.
Behind me, Hound's voice cuts through the air. It's deeper than mine. Rougher. More growl than man.
"Drop and run. You have three seconds."
She moves.
I make my way through the Sanctum, nodding to a pair of clones warding a hallway with rune sigils. I stop at the security door, tap my bracelet, and walk through the checkpoint without breaking stride.
The control room glows as I enter, a black-and-gold command center lined with floating projections. One large map takes up most of the wall. Dots shift. Names appear. The coils of influence slowly unfurl across Saitama.
"Status?" I ask.
"Data's being decrypted. Display will be up in thirty seconds," a clone says from the console.
I nod and tap the bracelet again. Chart pings softly. One by one, the others phase in or walk through portals, each in their own custom suit, stitched sharp to match their energy.
KD's collar is scorched again. Cage is wearing one white glove and one polka-dot. Slip adjusts his cufflinks while blinking around the room just to be annoying. Shadow, as always, doesn't even bother pretending to walk in; he just is there.
They all wear the ouroboros pin.
It's subtle. Small. Green and black. But anyone who sees it knows where they belong.
We turn to the screen as it lights up.
Potential Recruits — Year -1
A list unfolds across the display, each file cleanly labeled. Pictures, locations, quirks, psychological summaries.
Shinso. Toga. Dabi. Twice. Spinner. Mustard. Stain. Gentle. La Brava.
And of course…
Midoriya.
"Some I know from the anime," Bait mutters, "but others don't ring any bells."
KD snorts. "That's what happens when you get dropped into your second life without a briefing. Things get… blurry."
I nod. "Doesn't matter. What we do know is that we're early. We have time."
Cage suddenly claps. "Oh! Boss! We forgot the little horn girl."
I blink. "Eri?"
"That's the one!"
I glance at the list. She's not on it.
"Check her location. If Overhaul has her, we take him down first."
"Do we give him eternal rest?" Shadow asks.
"Still deciding," I say. "If we can do it clean, no hero attention, we bury them quietly."
"Messy's fun too," Cage mumbles.
Slip nods like he agrees.
I scroll the map with a flick of my fingers. Each dot pulses with potential. Each person a story waiting to bend the right way.
"You'll each pick a target," I tell them. "Approach slow. Plant the seeds. We're not offering membership. We're offering purpose."
They nod.
"I'll deal with Midoriya myself."
Bait grins. "You just like doing the dramatic ones."
"Also," I add, "Hound is training Rin."
"Oh yeah. The new girl," Slip says. "She's got a spine."
"She has potential," I say. "Once she proves herself, I'll assign her a power she can call her quirk."
Cage whistles. "Spoil her."
"Only if she earns it."
KD crosses his arms. "What's her loadout?"
"Starting with Common and Uncommon Gacha items," I say. "Supportive, non-lethal. Let's see what she does with limitations."
"And if she fails?" Shadow asks.
"She doesn't fail."
That settles it.
Cage twirls a pen between his fingers, then suddenly jabs it into the center of the table.
"…but boss. What other goals do we have? Y'know, other than," he makes a strangling gesture and sticks out his tongue, "killing the big bad guy?"
Everyone pauses.
I lean back in my chair and tap my fingers on the table.
"Fair," I admit.
I hold up a hand and start ticking them off.
"Create a base."
"Done," KD says immediately. "We've got three now. Saitama, Shinjuku, and the downtown bar we bought last week."
"Right. Start an organization."
"In progress," KD adds. "We're converting properties across Tokyo. Clubs, ramen shops, bookstores. All fronts."
"Bringing vengeance to our enemies…"
"In progress," Shadow says quietly. "Personal targets logged."
Bait blows a bubble, lets it pop, then lazily offers, "Recruitment. Begin stages."
Slip lights up. "Oh oh oh. Topple hero society?"
I pause.
They all look at me.
I actually think about it.
"Not all heroes are bad," I say. "Some just follow a broken system. So we take down the rotten ones. The ones tied to the Hero Public Safety Commission. Maybe the whole Commission too."
I point at Slip.
"Solid idea."
He beams. "Thank you, I will now disappear dramatically." He blinks behind KD and messes with his collar.
I ignore him.
"I've also got something stupid in the back of my mind," I say. "I kind of want to make music."
They blink.
"A band?" Cage asks.
"More like writing and producing. I used to do it back home," I say. "I'd let it go, but if we recruit Pop☆Step, we could make her an idol. She's got the image. With proper backing, we can give her a real voice. Something bigger than just rooftop concerts."
They don't laugh. That's why I like them.
"Doable," Shadow says.
"Also, she'd be our mouthpiece," KD adds. "Media cover, public face. Gives us a human layer."
"She sings, we kill," Cage says cheerfully.
"Balance," Bait nods.
I snap and call up the main screen. The profiles reappear. Each name floats with colored tags.
RECRUITMENT TARGETS – STAGE ONE
Izuku Midoriya
Hitoshi Shinso
Himiko Toga
Jin Bubaigawara (Twice)
Danjuro Tobita (Gentle Criminal)
Manami Aiba (La Brava)
Kenji Hikiishi (Magne)
Kazuho Haneyama (Pop☆Step)
I point to the names and assign them one by one.
Assigned Clone RecruitersMidoriya – Me
"No one else can handle this one," I say. "He's the symbol in the making. The idealist. The loyalist. If I pull him, it's going to take time, nuance, and patience. I can't risk sending anyone else."
The others nod. No one argues.
Shinso – Shadow
"Stoic. Misunderstood. Feels like he doesn't belong. That's your wheelhouse," I tell Shadow.
Shadow doesn't even blink. "He'll listen. Eventually."
"Don't approach directly. Let him watch us work. Show him what real support looks like."
Toga – Bait
Bait raises a brow.
"She's unpredictable. Obsessed with love. Likes knives. Also might try to stab you during recruitment."
He grins. "So, my type?"
"She's all instinct and feeling. You'll bait her with sincerity. If anyone can walk that line, it's you."
He taps his gum. "I'll make her laugh first. That'll help."
Twice – Cage
Cage throws his arms up. "Finally! Someone as weird as me."
"You'll need to be patient," I warn. "He's fractured. Needs loyalty and attention."
Cage nods. "He'll love the suits."
Gentle Criminal and La Brava – Slip
"You'll need to approach them as a duo," I say. "Gentle responds to validation. La Brava's the shield."
Slip salutes. "I'll show them what purpose really looks like. And I'll do it with pizzazz."
"Get footage of one of our operations. Make it look like a performance."
Magne – KD
"She hates injustice. She respects strength."
KD cracks his knuckles. "You want me to show her what strength looks like?"
"Not power. Control. Be real with her. She doesn't want another puppet master. She wants a crew."
KD's expression shifts slightly. Serious.
"Got it."
Pop☆Step – To Be Assigned
"I'll handle her personally when the time comes. Or maybe someone from Inkveil if we need subtlety."
Cage nudges me. "You just want to write lyrics."
"Don't tempt me."
We sit for a beat, just letting the weight of it all settle.
This is the real beginning.
Every one of these people is a piece. Not just power. Not just potential.
They're foundation.
"We'll pace it," I say.
"We build slow. Strong. Controlled."
Slip stretches and leans back.
"I like how this is going, boss."
I smile.
"So do I."
<><><><><><><>
The training room is colder than the halls upstairs. Stone floors. No windows. Just three lights overhead and the quiet hum of whatever's running behind the walls.
I stand in the middle of the mat. Alone.
Until I'm not.
Hound steps in through the door like he was part of the shadows. His coat brushes the ground, boots silent. His mask is alive, ink swirling, twitching, never still. It looks at me like it already knows what I'll do next.
He doesn't speak. Not at first. Just circles me slowly, watching how I stand.
"You're not combat-trained," he says finally. His voice is deep. Not cold, just exact.
"Not like you."
He stops. The mask forms a blunt, sharp-eared dog's head. Teeth bared.
"You will be," he says.
I roll my neck and flex my fingers. "Show me."
He doesn't hesitate. Lunges straight for me. I try to block, but he's already around my defense, one hand pushing my shoulder down, the other sweeping my legs.
I hit the mat before I register it.
"Again."
I don't argue. I get up and come at him with a jab, then a low feint. He barely moves. His coat flares when he twists, catching my foot mid-step and knocking me off-balance again.
"Your body moves faster than your thoughts," he says.
"Thanks?"
"Not a compliment."
I grit my teeth and go again.
Fifteen minutes later, I finally graze his side. Elbow to the ribs. Not much. But it gets a pause. His mask resets to a neutral swirl.
"Better," he says.
He steps back and gestures toward a black metal case on the bench.
"You're going on a supervised mission. Urban infiltration. Light contact, limited engagement. Observation only."
He opens the case and reveals six strange tools. Some look like prototype tech. Others like props from a spy movie. None of it standard.
"This is Tinkertech," he explains. "Support tools developed in-house. Quiet, flexible, and made for people who don't punch through walls."
He lets that sit.
"You get three. Choose."
I walk over and look at each.
Cap of Minor Concealment – matte black with a small circuit node stitched near the seam. Looks normal. Almost too normal. The tag reads: Facial obscurity. Good in crowds.
Collapsible Map – like a scroll in a cartridge case. I click it once. The thing expands into a glowing grid of streets, gang markers, and building layouts. My current location flashes in red.
Health Flask – a dull gray bottle with a single rune-looking button. No idea how it works. Probably wouldn't until I need it.
Bandolier – lightweight, five slots. Empty. But it fits across the chest easily.
Chain Dagger – compact, black grip. I flick the latch and a thin retractable blade flicks out, then rewinds into the hilt with a snap.
Mag-Boots – heavy-looking boots with steel plating and something humming in the soles. The tag reads: Wall-walk on metal surfaces.
I don't overthink it.
I take the Cap, the Map, and the Flask. I'm not ready to play soldier. Not yet. But I can move quietly, think fast, and stay alive.
"Those your picks?" Hound asks.
I nod.
"Good. These aren't for show. You'll use them. And if you lose them, you explain it to him."
I assume him means Timothy.
Not something I want to do.
Hound locks the case, then looks at me again. This time, his mask forms a neutral face, no eyes, no mouth, just still ink.
"You start tonight. I'll give the parameters. You complete it without being seen, without bleeding, and without excuses."
I slide the cap on and tie the flask to my belt.
"Understood."
Hound turns, coat flaring behind him.
"Gear up. You'll need all three."
Then he's gone.
Just like that.
I look down at the map cartridge. It pulses once, then dims.
Guess I'm really in now.
And apparently, they don't do warmups.