I was in a black space, no horizon appearing in the distance as my feet seemed to be drowned in a viscous substance. The smell of putrefaction hit me, making me wonder how I ended up here.
It was strange and weird; the whole place was a void where nothing seemed rational. It took me a little to realize I was also sinking into that disgusting black mass. Bubbles appeared on the surface, exploding seconds later. "What am I?" was a question that popped into my head.
My body trembled as my torso got eaten by the ground. For some reason, I didn't try to fight back. It angered me, but it seemed I was only a spectator; I didn't have control of what I did, wherever the hell I was.
A floating object came up. The black substance covered it. I reached for it, grabbing it and cleaning it to see what it was.
It was the head of the man I killed.
"Ngh!"
My vision blurred, but my memories were back. I was sleeping in the classroom after a class break. I was Akuma Matsumoto, and I was in UA.
"Huffff..."
I looked around to see some classmates staring at me. I chose to ignore them as I cleaned my eyes. This was the first time something like this had happened to me, and I didn't like it.
To think I was this sensitive made me mad. I should be more capable, more cold. After all, things can always change. I didn't plan to, but if there was the possibility I would need to kill more people, I wouldn't have time to doubt.
I sensed a hand on my shoulder. It was Iida, who was staring at me with a serious face. I forgot to mention, but he was the class president, like in the original material; it wasn't worth the mention back then.
"Is everything okay, Iida?"
"I should ask you that, Matsumoto. Are you having trouble sleeping? It hasn't been that long since you recovered. Perhaps you need more rest. Don't worry, I will make sure to visit you to help with your homework."
"I'm fine, Iida. Also, you shouldn't ever think about going to my house; it's not the place a rich kid like you should go. No offense, I say it in a good way."
"Are you sure? The attack you received could be affecting your psyche; it's important to..."
"Iida."
Momo interrupted, pulling Iida away from my desk. She seemed to be more aware of the situation than the innocent Iida. She smiled at me as she scolded the president,Damn, sorry man
To be fair, it was better they thought I was traumatized by the Nomu than they suspected anything else. After all, I couldn't just go and tell them, "Oh yeah, I killed and technically ate a man yesterday, so cool, right?"
"Akuma, I'm not going to pressure you, but if you need to talk, I'm here, okay?"
Said Momo, who came back after Iida sat at his desk in an almost comically defeated state. What did this girl tell him? Poor guy.
"Don't worry, Yaoyorozu, I'm fine. It was just a miscalculation on my part."
"You keep saying that, but I know it's not true. You almost died back there."
I laughed softly. She seemed worried about me. I wanted to push the situation a little harder, but since we were in class, this might be too dramatic. As I was thinking about how to end the conversation, Aizawa suddenly entered with his usual stern look. He looked around the class, searching for someone. As we locked eyes, he spoke.
"There you are, Akuma. Come to the principal's office."
"Sure... Sorry, Momo, let's talk about this another moment."
I quickly left the room in silence. Aizawa didn't wait for me, so I quickly followed him.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Inside the 1-A classroom, a group of young ladies gossiped, waiting for the next class to start.
Mina, Toru, Uraraka, and Tsuyu were in the corner of the room. They watched as Akuma Matsumoto left the room in silence and how Momo stared at him, almost annoyed at being ignored.
"What do you think about him?"
Said Mina, turning back to the group with a smile on her face and her eyes narrowed, showing mischief. It was usual for girls to have this type of talk, and she, as the boldest one, instigated for it to happen.
"Isn't him kinda cute?"
Said Toru, making Mina and Uraraka slightly blush to her bold response.
"Akuma? He is strange, ribbit."
Tsuyu put a finger on her large mouth before continuing. The other three got closer to her, deeply interested in the girl's opinion.
"I don't think he's like the other boys from the class; he's his own kind of weird. I think his eyes are weird."
For a moment, all girls leaned back. Every interaction they had with Akuma suddenly appeared in their memories. Mina was the first one to talk.
"Weeeeeeeell, His face is cute, and he has a good body, but his eyes are... how to say it...?"
"Empty?"
"Ack!"
The group freaked out as their thoughts were interrupted by Jiro, who sat at a nearby desk with a little smile. After fixing her skirt, she talked again, playing with her hair.
"I always talk with Momo about that; his eyes are empty. It's so weird, almost like he doesn't like to be here."
"Didn't he save you in the entrance exam? Do you often talk with him?!"
Mina asked, clearly interested in what Jiro had to say. Uraraka also got closer. For some reason, her mind seemed to be concerned about how many girls talked to Akuma.
"We don't talk often, and when we do, it's always about music or bands. He has a pretty good taste, and we recommend groups to each other every now and then. He's so closed about himself, I don't even want to ask."
"Mmmm."
"And... sometimes he is super scary."
The group was surprised to hear Jiro's confession. She seemed uncomfortable, playing with her earphone in silence. She took a deep breath before continuing.
"He doesn't seem to be concerned about him hurting himself. All the time he ends up with a broken body, and he doesn't even care."
"But... Deku does that too."
Said Uraraka, pointing a finger at the air. The others seemed to agree with her, but Jiro negated with her head, hugging herself.
"Deku is a good kid and I'm sure he will learn not to hurt himself later. But Akuma is the best user in our class. No one has such control over their Quirk like him, and he still chooses to go in first and be harmed."
"His smile is so creepy too. When he was fighting that Nomu, I saw it; he was smiling even after his body was destroyed multiple times, ribbit."
"Maybe it doesn't hurt?"
Toru interrupted. She never interacted with Akuma until that point, so the group understood she didn't know how Akuma talked about his quirk.
"It definitely does, he said it."
The girls looked at each other. This reunion was over as Midnight entered the classroom. They all sat in their respective places with one thought on their mind:
Akuma could be handsome, but his attitude didn't help his case.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
We entered the Principal's office, received by a police officer who opened the door to reveal the little white fur sitting on the chair: Nezu.
To his right, Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi was standing. His rectangular eyes stared at me as I walked in, instructing me to sit in the chair in front of the desk the Principal was sitting at.
"Hi! My name is Nezu. I'm the principal of this school, hmm, Matsumoto-kun, we called you on this beautiful day for you to tell us what happened at the U.S.J. the day of the attack."
Nezu was the first one to talk. His little voice alongside his movements might fool others, but unlike them, I knew perfectly well this guy was at least double my intelligence. The detective interrupted.
"I am Detective Naomasa. I'm here to validate your testimony. Please tell us every single detail."
His serious tone contrasted with the principal's, but I had nothing to fear. I leaned back in the chair as I sighed.
"It's a pleasure. My name is Akuma Matsumoto. Well, I don't know where to start, but..."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- .-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
In another place, two police officers entered an abandoned building. There had been reports the night before about multiple sounds coming from this place. Both of them had their weapons drawn as they walked into the apparent darkness.
Their lanterns illuminated nothing out of the common, but suddenly, the lights came back. The flash blinded the officers, who covered their eyes as they adapted to the new surroundings.
"AHG!"
The younger one screamed. The senior officer finally recovered from the blur, just to see three bodies covered in blood lying dead on the ground.
"WHO...?!"
"There, Captain!"
They aimed at the said target. To their shock, standing on the opposite side of the building was the Ghost of Musutafu, covered in blood in front of a wall. On the wall, a graffiti made of blood could be seen even from afar:
"If you have forgotten your sins, I haven't"
Karma
The senior officer got out of shock and quickly yelled.
"DON'T MOVE! YOU ARE ARRESTED FOR VIGILANTISM!"
The masked man didn't follow the order. He ran quickly, almost like he teleported. The rookie shot at him, only to terribly miss as the vigilante jumped away. They didn't even try to follow him as they reported the crime scene to dispatch.
"Man... I really liked that guy."
"Why would he do this? It's horrible! Look at these guys,it's almost like a cannonball passed through them!"
"So his name is Karma? I think the Ghost of Musutafu is way cooler."
"Stop being an idiot and come here!"
"Sorry, sorry."
That day, the news announced the now ongoing chase of the new unknown villain, renamed as Karma, for the murder of three club owners.
For the police, though, this was a different case. The three men murdered were objects of investigation months ago; all of them had charges of shady crimes around the city but never faced consequences.
"To think that innocent vigilante would turn out to be a scary monster."
Said a strange voice, grabbing a cellphone while a man in a suit looked at him, smoking peacefully.
"What do you think? Should I talk to him?"
"Let's wait a little; he might regret his actions."
Tomura Shigaraki laughed. He might have found the perfect man to deal with the kid who defeated that Nomu.