I don't own anything except any original characters (including the Reader's concept) and/or any original plot

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Chapter Thirteen - Two Hypocrites

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You weren't very happy about being led around Overhaul's compound for thirty minutes. It was obviously meant to confuse you and Tomura and make it harder for a potential invasion. The only purpose it really served was pissing you off.

"I was made to walk around in circles underground for thirty minutes. I feel like I've become an ant!" Tomura hissed, purposefully leaving you out of his statement.

See, you were being "exchanged" early as a sort of down payment. Tomura and you both agreed to downplay your close relationship as much as possible to make up for the mistakes you'd already made. Not like you could feel any less dehumanized, being used as a down payment like a mortgage on a house. You just had to last two days before Twice and Toga were brought in as well.

"What's up with a Yakuza house, anyway?"

"We don't know who's watching or from where, nor do we know what our guests are thinking. A number of underground routes lead here. This reception room is also one of our hidden underground rooms."

"We've been able to survive until now because of small details like this," the man who came up to your knee at most said from beside Overhaul. You were surprised he was allowed to talk. Overhaul seemed like the type to crave complete control, "Anyway! What you said the other day on the phone was true? That's you'd join us as long as certain conditions were met?"

"Don't interpret it in your favor," Tomura slumped onto the couch, placing one foot on the glass coffee table in front of him and the other on the cushion he was sitting on. You remained standing behind him, and didn't bother hiding your smirk since you were wearing your mask, "You guys want the name of our League of Villains. We want to increase our strength. Our needs coincide."

"Put your foot down. It will get dirty."

"'Will you put your foot down, please.' Is what you should be saying, young head. You should really be bowing to me. First, we won't be putting ourselves under you. We'll move however we want. A joint partnership. If that's what this is, then we'll help."

Tomura paused, and you took a chance to jump in. If Overhaul's underlings could do it, then you should be able to as well, "No harm shall come to the members we are sending over either. If we are harmed in a battle not caused by you, then so be it. One of you harming any one of us again breaks the agreement and it's free reign."

"Those are your conditions then?"

"One more thing. The plan you said you had earlier, I want to know what it is. I want to know whether or not there's merit in lending you our name. For that matter-" Overhaul's two henchmen were on Tomura in a second when he reached into his jacket. The taller in a white robe (You had theories about the favoritism there) pulling out a gun and the smaller's arm growing exponentially in size.

"Harm him and you'll die slowly," you held your hands out, palms glowing threateningly. It was all for show. It was your veins that glowed when you sucked out energy, but they didn't know that.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. You're doing too much of what you want."

"Who do you think you are, punk?"

"Who do you think you are? One of your disposable small fry versus our Hikiishi. Those lives are not worth the same. Plus, the worth of one of Compress' arms. If we don't get some concessions from you, then it won't be worth it."

"Stay back, Kurono, Mimic. He came all this way with his offer. Let's hear him out to the end. You weren't finished."

The two easily backed off, and you lowered your arms whilst eyeing them warily. Tomura continued, unfazed, "I want to know the details of your plan. I have some idea of what it is already. It has something to do with this, right?" Tomura held up a small red bullet, "Right after Compress was shot with this, he couldn't use his Quirk for a while. What is this? What are you planning to do with this? Tell me."

"I'm going to break the status quo. I heard All for One ruled by stealing Quirks. I fine-tuned his methods a little. I have roots spread throughout the entire country. Little by little, preparations are going according to plan."

You were the one to find the bullet, and after remembering Compress saying his Quirk wouldn't work you felt conflicted. Overhaul was trying to eradicate Quirks. Part of you wanted to throw up at the idea. Forcing quirklessness upon so many? Another part of you, a much darker part, laughed with glee at the idea. How could there be Quirk discrimination without Quirks?

But it wasn't what you wanted, what you were working toward. People with Quirks and the quirkless had to learn to work in harmony before it was too late for change. You needed people to see the flawed hero structure and fix it, burn it down and start anew if they had to. You needed the world to understand that the Quirk wasn't the person. Trying to go back to the past was barbaric, the future was what could be changed.

The panic that Overhaul's efforts would cause could easily lead to another Quirk War or government collapse at best, and the world's destruction at worst. So, no. No matter how tempting it was to make some people see how awful being powerless felt, it wasn't smart. He talked about Quirks like an illness, so his motive was more emotional than logical too.

Of course, his hypocrisy wasn't lost on you. Overhaul wanted to get rid of Quirks whilst using his own for personal gain. But to call him a hypocrite made you think of how much of a hypocrite you were. Becoming a villain to help the quirkless, only to gain a Quirk along the way. You hated yourself. You wished you could have taken Magne's place.

"You've decided on the league members you'll be sending here?" Overhaul questioned.

Shaking your head slightly, you brought yourself out of your thoughts. The depths of your mind had always been a dangerous place to go, but ever since you started hanging around Bakugou it'd gotten even worse. However, if Bakugou's absolute breakdown in front of Izuku was anything to go by, it wasn't like he was much better. The two of you were constantly challenging the other's beliefs, "Toga and Twice will be coming here two days from now. I'll be starting my stay now as a show of good faith."

"A show of good faith?" Overhaul rose a brow and looked to the underling who was lurking behind you, "Chrono, get what we had prepared," with a single nod, the man left the room, "We assumed you'd come in with the others, but this is a nice surprise."

When Chrono reappeared, you could practically see Tomura's aura darken. All you could do was tense up. Chrono was holding a stylized plague mask in his hands, much like the ones Overhaul and his followers wore. This one was black, with a glowing green outline. It made you sick just looking at it. Overhaul obviously had it made for you. He was practically branding you as his and not Tomura's. The idea of belonging to either man nearly blinded you with rage. You may be following Tomura, but you belonged to no one.

"An equal partnership-" you placed a hand on Tomura's shoulder to stop him from snapping. It wasn't worth it. Both of you knew all you'd be doing at Overhaul's compound was biding your time.

Sure, when Chrono handed you the mask and all eyes were on you expectantly you felt violated and like a bargaining chip, but you turned away from the others and pulled off your mask anyway. If Overhaul was going to indoctrinate you like this, then the least he could do was let you keep some semblance of privacy. Your identity was your life. And god, you were going to enjoy tearing his world apart.

The plague mask fit and you felt nauseous again. How the hell did it fit?

"As someone with skill, I decided that Energy would be too valuable to be flaunted around as a League of Villains member. Having her take on a new persona will allow her more safety when working."

It made some sense. People would be looking for your old mask more than you new one, but Overhaul was pulling those lies out of his ass. It was all about power and control for him. He just put Shigaraki's second-in-command under his control (even though there was no way in hell you'd follow him).

"Chrono, take Energy to where she'll be staying. Shigaraki Tomura, do you know how to play shogi?"

Handing your old mask to Tomura, that was the last of the conversation you heard as Chrono led you away from the room. He remained silent as he led you down the halls, offering no greetings to the other followers you passed and not saying a word to you either.

"This mask already feels hot, how do you wear one of these all day?" You asked, tugging on the long mask you'd quickly learned to despise. It balanced the weight of your head weirdly, and the leather made air circulation weird.

Chrono didn't answer, and you didn't expect him to. Your goal at the moment was to annoy him into snapping. Either he'd reveal information, or he'd get it through his thick skull that you weren't a willing follower. After that he could pass it on to Overhaul. Presumably, they'd withhold information if you acted disloyal, but immediately falling into line would look even worse from someone who was obviously so close to Tomura.

"So, I guess you're like the second-in-command," you mused as the two of you took another left, "How'd you get that position?" No answer. Oh, you were going to love the next part, "See, sometimes, people sleep their way-"

"Here!" Chrono slammed open a door within a long hallway full of them. The dorms, you assumed, "We'll return later to discuss your duties."

With that, he turned and hurried back down the hallway. Leaning against your new doorway, you called out after him, "You didn't deny it!"

Bakugou was rubbing off on you. Giggling, you turned to look at where you'd be staying. It smelled like cleaning chemicals. Actually, the entire place did. It made you miss the musty smell of the warehouse. Or even better, Bakugou's caramel infused everything.

There was a twin sized bed in the corner, and a wardrobe on the opposite wall next to a door that led to what you assumed was a bathroom. In the extra space of the room were two loveseats. Curiously walking to the wardrobe, you found it to be empty. That wasn't surprising. At some point, you'd have to be taken out for new clothes. If Overhaul really had some form of germaphobia like you thought, then wearing the same pair of clothes every day would be unacceptable.

Fishing your phone out of your pocket, you mentally noted that you'd have to be careful about who you used it in front of. If Overhaul or one of his closest followers caught sight of it then they'd probably take it away to prevent easy communication with the rest of the league.

Losers Club but Evil

MarblesMagician: (Y/n), are you alright?

ResponsibleOne: I'm fine. They're making me wear one of their masks though.

HarleyQuinnClone: But all of their masks are super ugly (⋋▂⋌)

TwoFace: you planning on giving them hell?

ResponsibleOne: Without a doubt. Taking an organization down from the inside always seemed like fun

StainSimp: You say that like you have experience

ResposibleOne: Nah. I've just seen a lot of movies

KnockoffDeadpool: dont worry! toga and i will be there soon to help

KnockoffDeadpool: NO WAY! YOUR ON YOUR OWN

ResponsibleOne: *you're

MarblesMagician: Well, damn

Sighing quietly, you settled in one of the - strangely comfortable - loveseats and switched chats, hoping the league wouldn't spam you. If they needed to talk to each other, then they could do it face to face since all of them were probably still in the warehouse.

I really want to kill Overhaul

SparkySparkyBoomBoomMan: That's your damn problem

He practically branded me by making me wear one of his masks

SparkySparkyBoomBoomMan: What, like he owns you?

I'm sure that's part of it. He wanted to piss Tomura off too

SparkySparkyBoomBoomMan: Crusy bitch deserves it. Still shouldn't kill him though. Torture lasts longer

Mental or emotional?

SparkySparkyBoomBoomMan: Torturers choice. Both can fuck someone up

Giggling, you couldn't help but roll your eyes. When Bakugou wasn't yelling, insulting you, or threatening to turn you in you had fun with him. A shudder passed through you when you said that, remembering that your original goal was just to pick apart his brain like a science experiment. Now you were experiencing certain... feelings that were extremely dangerous for both of you.

Both of us would know about that, wouldn't we? We've given and received

It took a solid minute for Bakugou to respond, and you got nervous for a second thinking you took things too far. It wasn't like you'd lied. Just from Bakugou's disposition you knew he was aggressive around everyone, and he'd said things in the past that made you think he'd been a bully before being whipped into shape in the hero course.

SparkySparkyBoomBoomMan: Yeah. We have. SO DON'T BE A FUCKING IDIOT AND KILL THAT BASTARD WITHOUT MAKING HIM SUFFER

Sighing in relief, you knew that you hadn't made a relationship breaking mistake. For a moment, you felt true panic at the prospect of losing what you had with Bakugou. You'd come back to that later. A group of three was approaching.

Overhaul, Chrono, and another man stepped inside just as you were tucking your phone into your back pocket. Standing, you waited for one of them to speak.

"Questions, first," Overhaul stated, looking to the one whose name you didn't know.

"What's your name?"

"(Y/n)," the word tumbled from your lips before you could stop it. Luckily, you bit back your last name, which threatened to burst out immediately after. The third one must have had a truth Quirk of sorts. Good thing you were an expert at finding loopholes, "My last name isn't necessary. You'll find no notable history that poses a threat to your operation."

The group accepted your answer easily, likely because you were still being influenced by the truth Quirk, "Your Quirk?"

"I'm quirkless," you slapped a hand over your mouth. You weren't expecting that. Afterall, all you had to do was let your hands glow to prove that you had a Quirk. But that was the problem, wasn't it? It wasn't yours, and you knew that. The constant ache plaguing your existence showed your body knew too.

The Quirk you had was always growing or waning in strength (depending on how you used it) and that deprived your body of the chance to adapt to the increased amounts of energy that were supposed to enhance your physical state. A fact you tended to ignore.

Overhaul perked up at that, and he took over the blatant interrogation, "Quirkless? Then what is the Quirk you possess now?"

"Energy Manipulation. It was given to me by All for One, as a condition of my loyalty. It's someone else's Quirk, not mine."

"How long have you had it?"

"Four years and two-hundred-seventy-seven days."

"And yet you don't consider it yours?"

"No." You bit your tongue hard before you could say anything else. They didn't need to know one of your biggest weaknesses. You easily powered through the pain because you were so used to it, but an enemy knowing you were never at 100% wasn't an option.

"So you chose a disease over remaining pure?" Overhaul spat out the word disease, and obvious replacement for the word 'Quirk'.

"The powerless can't enact change. Quirkless are treated like dirt, pushed around for something they can't control. No one would listen to me, and I didn't have the time to learn how to be dangerous on my own. Purity has nothing to do with the changes I want to make in the world."

Humming quietly, Overhaul looked you over with fresh eyes. You didn't like it, and you didn't like the truth Quirk user either. They made you feel exposed and weak. Not to mention Overhaul based his entire operation about making quirklessness the norm.

"What is your relationship with Shigaraki Tomura?"

Bubbling up in your throat, a laugh escaped before any confession. The three Yakuza in front of you seemed confused at your reaction. Perhaps they were expecting you to become defensive, "Tomura isn't the type of villain to be into teenagers. None of the league are. We'd kill a pedophile before we'd let them in. Tomura and I have been close a long time, being closer in age than the other people we were around. We're more siblings than anything."

You'd avoided admitting your weakness, but you couldn't avoid telling the truth about your relationship with Tomura. At least they wouldn't think the two of you were lovers. You grimaced at the thought. Never in hell would you look at Tomura in that way.

Nodding once, Overhaul then motioned for you to follow him. Sending looks to the follower with the truth Quirk and Chrono, you followed just behind Overhaul as he led you through the halls.

"At first, you would be working with the Eight Bullets doing simple jobs. Now, I have other ideas," Overhaul opened the door to an expansive room full of medical equipment. There were already two people with lab coats waiting there, "If the Quirk you were given hasn't been fully accepted into your body, then there is a chance to observe the properties behind your quirklessness."

Motioning to a seat more similar to a dentist's chair than anything, Overhaul waited until you hesitantly sat down to step away and briefly speak to the medical staff.

"Are you gonna kill me? Tear me apart just like you did to Magne," you questioned, struggling to keep the fear from your voice, "One of the conditions-"

"A blood draw should be enough initially," one of the doctor's assured, pulling out a needle and a blood bag, "It'd be unsmart to do much more than that until we are sure of how your given Quirk works in your body."

The blood draw was fast, and you kept your eyes on Overhaul the entire time to make sure he wouldn't do anything. A single blood draw was better than being killed "in the name of science".

When it was complete, the medical staff scurried off to a different section of the room and Overhaul started walking out, giving a single look to signify that you were meant to follow.

"You said that you bonded with Shigaraki easily, but even when it comes to the league he holds them at an arm's length. How did you do it?"

"I don't underst-" you weren't entirely sure what Overhaul was asking. How did you break Tomura down until he was willing to open up? How did you get so close to someone so closed off? How did you convince Tomura you were worth conversation?

"Let me rephrase, then," Overhaul said, his tone implying he thought you were an idiot, "How did you form a bond with someone who is so unwilling to form attachments?"

"Oh. I just tried to understand him and adapted as I went. It's easy to build trust when you can figure out what people want and need from you. Being genuine helps." Taking online courses for pre-university Psychology helped too.

The two of you stopped in front of another door. Thinking over your words, Overhaul then nodded as if making a decision, "Yes, I suppose you have shown your ability to adapt to different people. For that reason, I trust you'll be able to handle this job. If not, the consequences will be severe for the League of Villains."

Great, more pressure on you to get this task right. But, Overhaul was trusting you with something important right off that bat. He was either desperate or cocky. Maybe a bit of both.

The door swung open, and you peeked into the dimly lit room in search of your mission. The first thing you saw was the small bed. Then the few toys that seemed untouched. Then-

"A kid?"