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Something he was lacking, the unique spice called quirk DNA.
There were so many people out there who were not worthy of a quirk, who does not use its full potential. He disposed of this waste by stuffing those in himself, making good use, benefit for both society and himself. For his satisfaction and better, cleaner society.
Though he would not call himself a scavenger. He is a gourmet with fine culinary skills who could turn low graded meat into a wonderful dishes, bringing out much deeper flavor of each ingredients.
He was not like this when he was young and innocent. Deku was a hero wannabe, very pure, full of desire to save people and help others. But, you see, quirkless cannot be a hero. It was essential, prerequisite for even trying to be a hero, which Deku totally lacked.
Deku was determined to help people with all his might despite of his quirklessness. But his mom didn’t believe in him at all. Kacchan said he would never accomplish his dream, so don’t even try. Pro-heroes told him he was making things worse. Even All Might told him it was impossible.
Because he was quirkless.
You see, it started there, his taste, desperate yearning for quirks it seems. Yes, he always wanted a quirk, but not like THIS before.
He wanted to devour the source, what makes others so special, so different from him. The spice, the quirk DNA.
*
The first time he hunted his prey, he was trembling to the bones.
With surprisingly tranquil mind.
Deku was not trying to justify his actions. Murder was unarguably a serious crime, legally and morally. And Deku just wanted to ease his selfish hunger by sorting out his prey, it was not for justice.
That was what Deku thought at that time.
This one had magnificent wings, just like the famous winged hero Hawks. He was using his big wings as a sorry excuse to touch and harass women, pretending that his big wings take so much space thus frequently bumping into their body by accident. Saying it’s not his fault they were standing too close to him and not paying attention to their surroundings. Because he does not have eyes on his back. Funny, to Deku’s eyes, it was always that guy who intentionally crawls his way to the ladies.
Hunting was so much easier than Deku expected. It could be his analytic mind and detailed planning. or just his luck. But he was not going to complain.
Deku didn’t have it in him to eat raw meat, so he made a simple steak. He was not a great cook himself at that time, but he cut out big chunk of the wing and clumsily marinated and grilled the meat. The dish looked okay and juicy, even smelled mouthwatering. He was there at a monumental moment. The cutlery smoothly sliced the steak, cutting out bite-sized chunk.
Oh, the wing tasted like chicken.
*
No one outwardly talked about it, but there was something amusing to see people being happy that these people just disappeared from their lives.
Strange. As if Deku did something good for them, helping people.
Cooking became his second nature. He tried lots of exotic cuisines, testing and tasting various ingredients. Some meats were poisonous and some bones were edible. All the trial and error were fascinating experience and Deku felt himself falling deeper and deeper into the world of cooking each day.
It was addictive.
The gourmet, the catharsis, the power he holds over his prey, the ingredients. Cutting and ripping. Mincing and slicing. Boiling, sauté, roasting and grilling. Working the bodies into exquisite dishes.
His original recipes were stacking higher and higher.
His list of potential ingredients even more so.
Heroes and detectives worked hard to figure out what happened to those people. But it was fruitless effort. Deku was too smart, always moving and scheming far away before them, leaving them clueless. As days passed, the kidnapping cases became more and more frightening and mysterious.
His business as quirk analyst was going great, earning him big fortunes. Deku bought a house with big basement. He designed spacious modern styled kitchen by himself, lots of hidden shelves with a big oven. As big as a grown man’s torso could easily fit in.
*
There is this famous pro-hero on his ingredient list; hero Shouto.
He has so much potential and power, but he was refusing to use his left side. Which frustrated and irritated Deku to no end, thus making his name on top of Deku’s list.
Shouto’s quirk is so fascinating. So powerful, half-cold half-hot, two mix of perfect quirk DNA. Would his left and right side taste different? Deku couldn’t wait to take a bite of that juicy meat. He would savor every piece of him, the muscle, fat, intestines. Maybe he could figure out a way to do something with his hair too. Deku appreciated Shouto’s hair. Red and white, occasionally whipped together by passing breezes, very eye-catching. Shouto’s hair was just like peppermint candy cane. Or perhaps strawberry short cake. And perhaps they taste just like those too? Only time will tell.
Hero Shouto’s agency contacted Deku for quirk consulting. Apparently hero Shouto wanted to find a better way to maximize the power of his ice quirk, the right side, while minimizing the side effect. It was no wonder that Shouto is struggling with his limit due to his aversion to use his fire. His body was built just like that.
And there was nothing Deku was willing to help Shouto, if he was not willing to use his fire. Shouto may be a determined man to his core, but Deku also was stubborn as hell himself. No amount of money can buy his advice if he was going to waste his quirk anyway.
“It’s his power. I will never depend on him”
“Sorry for being rude, but that’s ridiculous. According to your logic, I’m self-generated or something as my parents both have quirk and I didn’t get anything from either of them. I’m quirkless myself”
“I didn’t mean like that. This fire, it’s just like Endeavor’s…”
“Well, I’m sorry that quirk genetic roulette didn’t work for your favor, but there are people who would do anything, and I mean anything if they can get a single piece of your power, including myself”
“It’s your power. Isn’t it?”
He didn’t like Endeavor too much before. But wow, that’s some loss of humanity, isn’t it? Animalistic. Barbaric even. No wonder Shouto didn’t want to give a single chance to claim any credit of his hard work to his sperm donor. Could be deemed childish, but you can’t just expect abused victims to move on without any help. Deku himself knows that by heart.
He could make some roasted beef someday.
*
Deku wasn’t expecting this to happen but it was not bad at all. He had to give up eating his dual-quirked body, but he loved Shouto’s renewed conviction. His endeavor to be a better hero, to use his full potential. It was mind capturing. Mouthwatering too, of course. Shouto started to contact him outside of business purpose. They spent more and more time together, became closer and closer.
How attractive. His body and mind.
He was undeniably drawn to Shouto.
“You have master’s degree in Medicine”
“I’m a quirk analyst. Quirk is a part of one’s body, of course I would study anatomy and everything”
“And chemistry”
“Some quirks produce chemical substances”
“Uh-huh”
“What’s with that face?”
“No, I just thought you are amazing”
“You are flattering me! I’m just a nerd turned into a professional”
“Well, I’m only good at fighting. But you’re not. You are a genius”
“Stop that!”
“I guess you are very busy with all that studying. Do you even have free time?”
“Everyone has free time.”
“What do you usually do?”
Deku eyed outline of Shouto’s muscles and bone structure. Such a gorgeous body. Deku wished he could enjoy that fine art. He could think up thousands of new recipes with that biceps and pecs at this moment. Tempting, almost, however it is just wishful thinking.
“I like cooking”
“You do? I can’t say I’m a decent cook myself”
“You will learn fast if you give it a try. You have lots of practice controlling fire temperature. That’s the essential of cooking and you already know how to do that by heart”
“But I don’t use my fire to ‘cook’ villains. That’s so much different to me”
“Well, I can show you how to cook. Help you learn”
And Deku smiled.
“I’d like to invite you to dinner someday”
“I would like that”
Inviting a pro-hero to his cooking session was very dangerous, impulsive idea. For an intuitive hero like Shouto even more so. His sin, deep dark karma engraved on his soul. Deku knew he would pay terrible consequences for those one day.
Deku wondered if it would be Shouto who would eventually put an end to his insanity.