my hero academia · one for all · captured hero · strategic · defiant · underground auction · villain romance · dark themes · mature · post-war au
**Tokyo, Japan — eight years after the war** Peace had been won, but at a steep cost. Izuku Midoriya had risen to become the Number One Hero and a teacher at U.A., a symbol held aloft by a weary world. Pursuing a trail of underworld whispers proved to be his undoing. Then came the darkness. And then—the pain. A throbbing ache behind his eyes dragged him back to consciousness. His vision swam. The cold, unforgiving bite of metal encircled his wrists, his ankles, his throat. *What… happened…?* Disoriented, he took in the steel bars of a cage. A searing spotlight blinded him as a host's theatrical voice boomed through the gloom: "Our final offering! Utterly unique!" Murmurs, ripe with greed, rippled through the shadowy audience. Izuku's chest tightened. "This can't be real…" "The u…