Hell was a man named Wakan. 

 

The wooden practice sword he had been clutching with all his strength was twisted from his hand. With an open palm, Wakan struck Izuku in the chest, and a new memory played in his head of a moment just like this. The sword being ripped out and tossed to the side like it was butter; and the pain of a hand twisting awkwardly. Izuku hit the ground twice and found his mind hazy from having his failure doubled over again. 

 

Izuku glanced up at him, a mixture of hate and fear swelling inside of him as he stared up at Wakan. The man’s wild grey hair was flared out around his face, making him look like a lion pretending to be a man. Wakan’s hard black eyes were filled to the brim with anger and frustration. 

 

“Pick up your sword.” Wakan gave Izuku a small glare before he turned and walked back to the starting position. “We are not done.”

 

“Why?” Izuku grabbed the sword and felt his entire body numb with pain for a moment like it didn’t want to take another step forward. “Why do you keep sending me those memories?”

 

What good would it do for him to fail twice or more every single time?

 

“They are failures.” Wakan entered the same one-handed stance he had been using the entire time. The wooden sword he used would batter and bruise, but it was only a distraction for his real weapon: that empty, calloused hand that might just be able to take anyone down, if he used a strong enough memory. 

 

“Okay,” Izuku stumbled into his spot and held his practice sword with two shaky hands. “Why do you keep sending me failures? Isn’t it bad enough that I keep—”

 

“Oh, believe me, I have complete confidence in your ability to fail!” Wakan roared, signaling the start of their bout. A massive wild swing from the sword came down, and the forming bruise on Izuku’s shoulder remembered all too well the strike that bore it. The first time he hadn’t been prepared, and the second time he had barely gotten his sword up. “But failures make you stronger!”

 

Blocking alone wasn’t enough. Izuku brought his sword up and caught the strike as he moved to the side, deflecting it just enough to dodge out of the way. And then there was Wakan’s palm! It would come straight on and slam into his stomach!

 

He stepped back and lowered his sword again, whacking Wakan’s hand to the side. Now what? Strike? Step back? 

 

“Hesitation!” Wakan shouted.

 

Pain. The round pommel of Wakan’s sword slammed into his flank and forced Izuku to the side, the bouncy Tatami mats cushioning his fall into a rollback onto his bare feet. 

 

Wakan did not relent, that wooden sword coming down hard and fast once more. “When you fail, make certain you fail forward. You learn from it! You grow from it! There is no better way to learn than to fail! Over, and over again, until you find what works!” 

 

Block and dodge. 

 

Parry. 

 

Attack?

 

Izuku pressed his sword forward and bumped it into Wakan’s shoulder. The strike was awkward, more a tap than anything else, but it was the first time Izuku had landed a hit. 

 

Wakan glanced towards the wooden practice sword like it had somehow deeply offended him, and then removed it with a light push. A smile that on anyone else would have been a snarl graced Wakan’s face as he got back into his fighting stance. “Congratulations. You have learned from your failures.”

 

“Okay,” Izuku nodded and held up his sword again. “But, wouldn’t it be easier to just—”

 

“No, and you are not the first to ask me that.” Wakan struck, and this time Izuku blocked and pushed him back. “Skills and techniques are things that are earned through failures. Even with natural talent, you fail and fail and fail until you learn, then you fail some more and learn some more!” Wakan struck again, the impact once again striking Izuku’s blade with enough force to wrench it from his hands. A hand grabbed Izuku’s head, and he felt a new memory flood into him. 

 

A phantom strike to the hand, followed by a kick to the stomach.

 

“Every failure I have given you has been their last failure. The final failure before they succeeded and learned.” Wakan stomped over to the discarded sword and then tossed it back towards Izuku. “With me, you will fail twice as fast and learn even faster.”

 

“But, why can’t I use my quirk?”

 

“Fool!” Wakan scuffed and glared towards Izuku. “Do you know what the difference is between a criminal and a villain?”

 

Izuku felt his entire body blush, as he had forgotten for a moment that he was being trained by a criminal. “I’m not a villain.”

 

“I never said you were,” Wakan gave a long huff and rested both hands on his sword for a moment while eyeing Izuku. “Nor should you think of us as such. We have honor, and so did your father. But do you know what makes a villain a villain?”

 

“Using a quirk to commit a crime, cause destruction, or just do evil.” He half-muttered. Despite knowing the answer, he couldn’t help but feel like he was wrong. 

 

“That’s correct. Of those three, heroes, and most law enforcement,  only care about the last two. Destroying things is probably the one you’ll get hit with the hardest, though. Being evil is different. Unfortunately for you, you have a large, flashy quirk that can easily be used for destruction. Besides, if your giant monkey is off fighting, your body would be defenseless, wouldn’t it?”

 

Izuku nodded. A lot of what Wakan was saying made sense.

 

“Good. Now then; back to the matter at hand.” Wakan held up his sword once more, and Izuku felt the bruises on his body whine. “Are you ready to fail?”

 

He held up his sword, gripping it in both hands. “Yes.”

 

“Then you are ready to learn!”

 

XXXX

 

Kaga Heights was the name given to a group of buildings that bordered the Amagi district, though they could hardly be considered heights, given how they were among the shortest of all the buildings around. The top floor of the building served as both the home and agency of the pro hero Red Line.

 

While not a direct member of the Amagi, Red Line was more of an associate, or at the very least, they had a mutual understanding that the Amagi couldn’t mess with him, and he wouldn’t mess with them. Or at least that’s how it used to be. A few years ago, Red Line stumbled into the casino, and quickly accrued a large debt, and a hero in debt was a valuable asset for the Amagi. 

 

Ita glanced up towards the top of the slightly pink building that stood out like a sore thumb from its surroundings. It’d been a while since Red Line had done anything of note besides showing up to the casino, losing his money, and stumbling home drunk. The old hero was probably one close call away from retiring. 

 

Honestly, Ita had no idea why Granny wanted to talk to him, but, if Granny said jump, he’d ask how high. He hummed and tapped his sheathed sword on his shoulder before making his way into the building. “I’m sure Granny has a plan for him.”

 

Just like she did with Izuku.

 

“You want me to come with you?” Tanaka asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Like always, he seemed to draw attention with his bright red skin. Sure, most people were polite, but it was hard not to notice the large, well-dressed man that looked like a demon. 

 

“I’m not sure why you even followed me to begin with.” Ita gave a slight chuckle and tilted his head back towards Tanaka. Having Tanaka around all but guaranteed a fight, but it also guaranteed a victory. “But no, stay here.”

 

“Oh! In case he tries to run! Got it!” Tanaka took a wide stance, one that was ready to spring in any direction at a moment’s notice or fall on his ass. 

 

Ita could only smile and nod before he headed into the building. 

 

Red Line’s agency was on the top floor, and the building had just enough floors to require an elevator. 

 

It wasn’t until Ita got to the top floor of the building that he felt something was off. The air was chilled and filled with a kind of static, but that could just be a side effect of the knot that was growing inside of his stomach that was telling him to turn back. Which was all the more reason for him to go forward and look danger right in the face. 

 

With a hand on the hilt of his sword, Ita strode forward, long, straight, and firm steps guiding him towards his destination without disrupting his form. 

 

Iron. 

 

Slightly sweet. 

 

A smell Ita was all too familiar with. 

 

Blood. 

 

And a lot of it. 

 

The door to the office was opened, and a few scattered papers had made their way into the hallway. Silence fell over the world as Ita made the last few steps to peer into the hero agency. Red Line’s longtime partner was laying in a pool of their blood, the office phone in their hands. There were signs of a struggle, but not nearly enough of one. 

 

Near the back of the office, Red Line lay, eyes wide and barely breathing, a hand outstretched towards his partner. 

 

“You and your partner chose your last words poorly.” A large muscular man dressed head to toe in combat gear jabbed a jagged and worn katana into Red Line’s heart, forcing the light from his eyes. “The hero world will be better off without corrupt heroes like you.”

 

The man stood. While Ita still had an advantage in height, the man easily had the more muscular build. A sharp chin, a wide sinister smile, wild black hair, and eyes that showed either too much sanity or not enough stood out as the face of someone that had thrown away their humanity. A red scarf and equally long white headband flowed behind this man as he stood to address Ita. 

 

For a moment, Ita felt fear. He felt far more fear than he ever had felt in his life, and he shook like the last leaf on a tree. All it took was a breath and he was steady again. This frightful aura was nothing compared to what Tanaka could put out. The man walked forward, intent on leaving without even saying hello. 

 

With his sheathed sword, Ita barred the man from leaving, earning him a serious glare. 

 

“That man owed the Amagi a lot of money.”

 

The man laughed. “Amagi? I haven’t heard that name in quite some time. I guess I didn’t kill enough of you.”

 

The hair on Ita’s back stood straight. “Who are you?”

 

“Stain.” 

 

The hero killer. 

 

“Ahh, I see, well then, Stain, since you’ve taken the life of one of our debtors, I assume that you’ll be the one to take over his debt? It only seems fair.” 

 

The conflict may well have been written in the stars. 

 

Metal clashed against metal as Stain brought down his sword with two hands down upon Ita, only to be met by Ita’s blade, the sheath of which had slammed into the window behind him hard enough for it to crack. Even with his quirk helping him keep his sword straight, Ita could feel the raw strength this man possessed. 

 

Stain withdrew to ready for another strike, but Ita lunged forward, striking sideways towards Stain’s side, who met the blade with a smile on his face.

 

“Ahh, I see you’re more than just some street thug carrying a katana to be cool.” 

 

“Oh please,” Ita snorted, “if you start talking about studying the blade I might just cringe to death.”

 

“That’d be a shame! It’s been far too long since I bothered to kill a Yakuza! You all should have been wiped out years ago!” Even with one hand, Stain’s strikes were still nearly impossible to block. One hand? What was? 

 

Biting steel slid across Ita’s abdomen as he felt Stain’s knife barely graze him. 

 

Two could play at that game. 

 

Ita drew his second sword and slashed upward, barely hooking his sword onto one of the many thick teeth of Stain’s dagger. With a quick jerk backward, he wretched the blade from Stain’s hands. 

 

“Not bad!” Stain laughed and struck again. Even with one hand, he could easily strike as hard as Wakan could. He tossed a dagger at Ita’s face. “It’s almost a shame you’re Yakuza scum!” 

 

Ita expected Stain to move back and strike again, but instead, he lunged forward, sliding past Ita and into the hallway behind him, but not without cost. With two perfectly straight cuts, Ita stuck down onto Stain’s back, only to be blocked by that sword again. Just what on earth was with this superhuman strength? 

 

“Hehehe, the way you swing your swords, that’s your quirk isn’t it?” Stain laughed as he grabbed the dagger Ita had tossed behind him. A long, lizard-like tongue slithered out of Stain’s mouth and wrapped around the dagger, licking up the blood. What a creep.

 

“That’s right, my quirk isn’t anything special, it just allows me to make straight lines when I—” Breathing became hard, his arms felt sluggish, and his legs felt like they were made of rocks. “Your… quirk?”

 

“That, or you’re just freezing up.” Stain gave a light laugh as he moved forward that dagger gleaming in the fading light. “Congratulations, you get to die with some wannabe heroes, I guess that would make you some wannabe ya—”

 

“ITAAAAAAAA!” Tanaka came barreling around the corner with all the force of a rampaging bull and slammed into Stain with enough force to send the muscular man tumbling back down the hallway. “Ita!” Tanaka looked towards him, his tiny black eyes were widened to the maximum as his broad chest puffed and huffed. “I saw you break the window! Are you okay? Why aren’t you moving? Who was that guy?”

 

Did he take the stairs? Stupid question. Of course Tanaka would run up several flights of stairs and barely be winded. 

 

“Stain’s quirk.” Ita barely muttered, he found himself smiling. “Paralysis.” 

 

With Tanaka here, he was safe. 

 

Stain, on the other hand, was in for the fight of his life. In addition to being a natural brawler, and most people barely being able to fight Tanaka thanks to his frightening appearance, his quirk was something of an enigma. So far it hasn’t been given an official name, but at the same time, the quirk was as simple as Tanaka. Unless he was beaten in a single hit, Tanaka would not lose a fight. He lived for fights; it was why everywhere he went he ended up getting into some brawl or another.

 

Ori called it ‘too stupid to die’, and that was a pretty apt description.

 

There was no way someone like Stain could ever hope to beat Tanaka.

 

“Oh shit, that guy ran away,” Tanaka muttered as he peered down the hallway. “I wanted to beat him up for stabbing you.”

 

Or Stain could do the only smart thing against Tanaka and run away.