A/N: I'll be honest, guys, I forgot exists. I've mostly been updating on AO3 -.-' Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Rei, in her infinite compassion and meddlesomeness, had left a college prep workbook on his writing desk a few days ago. Shouto had pointedly ignored it, given it a wide berth like it was a poisonous viper. However, he could feel it taunting him any time he was in the room. Eventually, his mother was going to ask if he had used it, and he knew that if he said no she would be disappointed. She'd hide it like a champion, but he'd still be able to tell.

So with some trepidation, he cracked open the book. It was mostly math, which was the subject he was afraid he was most behind on. UA hadn't had normal math classes, at least not for the Heroics department, so Shouto wasn't sure how high his education went. Was being able to calculate the trajectory of a falling building an Algebra 1 or Algebra 2 thing?

Starting at the beginning, he flipped through the book, watching the formulas get slowly more ridiculous and complex.

Shouto wasn't bad at math. He'd always done well, been quick to calculate on his feet and recall formulas. But there was so much information here, and he didn't know if he could teach himself.

His mother still had a list of tutors waiting for him. However, so far he had refused to even look over the numbers. His current plan was to struggle by his own for a few months until he could get to a point where he wasn't embarrassingly bad.

So he worked through the first few pages, trying to distantly recall the math he had learned in middle school. Every time he checked his answers against the back of the book, they were wrong.

That's it, I don't think this is going anywhere.

Reluctantly, he pulled out his phone and shot off a text to Izuku.

(S_T 2:13 pm) Are you any good at math?

(I_M 2:19pm) I guess that's all relative. Like it's not my major, but I have to do calculations and stuff.

(I_M 2:19pm) Why?

(S_T 2:19pm) So you probably understand, like, high school level algebra and stuff, right?

(I_M 2:21pm) Yeah?

(I_M 2:21pm) Do you need help with something?

Shouto grit his teeth. He didn't understand why it was so hard for him to come out and ask for help. Especially considering the person he was asking was Izuku, who was the most helpful, least judgemental person he knew. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that since childhood, it had literally been beat into him that asking for help meant admitting weakness. Fortunately, Izuku had enough mathematics expertise to put two and two together.

(I_M 2:22pm) Are you studying for college entrance exams?

(S_T 2:25pm) Yeah.

(I_M 2:25pm) Do you need any help?

(S_T 2:27pm)...maybe

(S_T 2:28pm) If that's not too much trouble.

Izuku's response was enthusiastically supportive. He told Shouto to bring his book with him next time they were together, and proceeded to walk him through the part he was currently struggling with. Shouto still didn't really get it, but with his friend's help he was able to get one answer correct when he compared it against the back of the book.

(S_T 2:37pm) Thanks. Nothing makes me feel stupider than not being able to follow an illustrated diagram.

(S_T 2:37pm) How am I this bad?

(I_M 2:37pm) You're being too hard on yourself!

(I_M 2:38pm) Remember, it's been years since you've done this. It will take some time to get back into the swing of things.

(I_M 2:38pm) But you aren't stupid. You're brilliant with combat strategies and keeping your head cool under pressure.

(S_T 2:40pm) Some help that is right now.

(I_M 2:40pm) -_- It's a help to me.

(I_M 2:41pm) Don't let this get you down, Shouto. I believe in you!

(S_T 2:43pm)...thanks.

(S_T 2:43pm) Sorry for being a whiny bitch.

(I_M 2:43pm) I said no being hard on yourself!

(S_T 2:45pm) Okay. I'll stop.

(I_M 2:46pm) Not to change the subject, but what do you think about the whole Shinsou infiltrating this organization thing?

I think it's better him than you, Shouto thought to himself. He knew this was Izuku's natural self-sacrificing instinct kicking in. It must kill the man to know that someone who wasn't him was risking their well-being. However, not only was Shinsou more experienced, Shouto knew he'd personally have an easier time acting objectively when the man was in danger. If Izuku was in the line of fire...he had lost all pretense of remaining an impassive onlooker.

(S_T 2:47pm) Shinsou can take care of himself. And I'll be by his side the whole time. If he gets into trouble, I'll call in backup.

(I_M 2:48pm) Yeah, I know. I just…

(I_M 2:48pm) There are so many things that could go wrong.

(S_T 2:48pm) I know. But they won't. Don't lose sleep over this.

In many ways, Shouto felt like his attempts to comfort Izuku were about as effective as Izuku's attempts to assuage his fears about being bad at math. Both were white lies that hid the unpleasant truth. Things could go very wrong for Shinsou out in the field. He and Shouto were already brainstorming backup plans and contingencies, and even that was making Shouto lose sleep. It was a dangerous situation all around, and he was not excited to be in the backseat during this. That meant that if things went wrong, he'd have no choice but to watch. Izuku didn't need to waste energy worrying, though. One way or another, he wouldn't be able to change any outcomes.

In that way, it was a lot like Shouto's struggling with math. Things were probably going to end badly, but worrying about them wasn't going to do a whole lot of good.

However, he took some solace in having one area of his life where things were improving. Today was the first day his physical therapist had cleared him to switch from crutches to a cane. He was looking forward to having a free hand. He wasn't looking forward to everyone mistaking him for an old man, limping around with the aid of a stick. Life was full of compromises.

His mother had ordered the cane for him, since if left to himself Shouto probably would have avoided it for months. It was an offset cane, the handle crooked sharply like one half of a triangle, metallic blue in color. He'd practiced using it in physical therapy, having his walking corrected so he didn't accidentally injure himself.

It wasn't an enormous improvement. He had to walk slow and stairs were still going to be an enormous bitch to navigate. But it was something. A small, tangible piece of self-sufficiency he had wrestled back under his control.

Eager to test his newfound mobility, he took his cane with him to meet up with Shinsou. It was more prep work for his infiltration.

"They may have erased their files in the database, but they couldn't get every newspaper archive in Japan," Shinsou said, spreading printouts across the table. "Unfortunately, the police did a pretty good job of keeping a gag order on all information relating to this League of Villains back in the day, which means there are no clear pictures."

"Hey, you can sort of see the outline of a hairstyle in this one," Shouto said, holding up a blurry picture that had gotten published in a tabloid. "So long as they haven't changed styles in the last decade, maybe we can ID them using this."

"Yeah, we don't have much to go on," Shinsou agreed. "I won't be able to pour over these in middle of conversation, though, so your job is to do that for me and point out any possible matches."

Probably should have chosen someone who was less shitty with faces, Shouto thought to himself.

"And exactly how long are we going to do this before we give up?" he asked. "There's a very real possibility that no one approaches you because they know who you are, and we do nothing but spin our wheels."

Groaning, Shinsou scrubbed one hand over his face. He tried to hide his exhaustion from his underlings, but in front of Shouto he was much more open with his frustration.

"Yeah, this could be a dead end. But honestly, until something better rears its head, we have no alternatives."

On one hand, that meant for the time being Izuku and the others were out of the line of fire. On the other hand, Shouto doubted they would stay there for long, even if ordered. Eventually they would get impatient and do something stupid. Likely Shinsou feared this too, since he had lost teammates to the same sort of short-sightedness. With that in mind, Shouto was eager to jump in and get started.

"So we're starting tomorrow, yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," Shinsou replied. "It should be easy. I'm just going to go to the bar and test the waters, makes sure no one attacks me outright."

If they do, you'll be out of luck.

"All right," Shouto agreed. "I'll be there. Or, you know, I'll be here, on the computer. Same difference."

In many ways, supervising for Shinsou was even more boring that doing it for the rest of the team. Shinsou knew what he was doing, and he didn't have questions for Shouto beyond the occasional asking for directions navigating to the bar.

They had no idea what was waiting for them inside. Shouto had managed to find some pictures of the interior on the internet, along with a couple of very negative google reviews calling the place a dump. From that and what they had gathered from the exterior, there was only one other egress from the building besides the main entrance, and it was located through the staff area. Other than that, what the bar actually looked like, the layout of tables and the places hostiles might take cover or ambush, was anyone's guess.

"Remember, if I die in here, my cat goes to Aizawa-sensei," Shinsou joked. Or rather, Shouto assumed he was joking.

With that, he crossed the street and entered the bar.

For this mission, they had to make the observation camera as discreet as possible. That meant Shouto was down to one small lense disguised as support gear around Shinsou's neck. It was meant to look like a vocal altering collar, which anyone who knew him wouldn't think twice about, and those who didn't would assume he had Quirk-related voice deterioration. This camera didn't have all the bells and whistles of the others, which meant Shouto's view was grainy. The low light of the bar wasn't helping.

I doubt I'll be able to ID anyone like this, he thought bitterly.

Still, if nothing else he was here to call backup if things went south.

There were a handful of people, maybe eight all told, scattered across various tables. Only a couple of people were drinking together, and for the most part there was a strong vibe of people wanting to be left alone. Shinsou slid into a barstool and ordered a drink. The bartender was a lean looking man with a well-groomed and ridiculous patch of facial hair, a goatee spiked so sharply Shouto might have believed it was a mutation Quirk.

"Don't recognize your face," the man said in such a way Shouto couldn't tell if it was an attempt to be friendly or an accusation.

"I needed a cheaper place to drink," Shinsou responded gruffly. "I've got bills to pay and more reason to drink than ever."

The other man grunted in something that might have been agreement. Choosing not to press his luck, Shinsou nursed his drink for a while. As inconspicuous as he could manage, he fidgeted with the collar around his neck, turning it so that Shouto could get a better view of the other patrons.

Furiously, Shouto flipped through the database they had built. Everyone here matched as a regular. One was flagged as suspicious, a woman who came infrequently and usually carried a briefcase. She was sitting in the corner.

Rather than risk the earpiece making noise and giving them away, he and Shinsou had set up to communicate via text unless absolutely necessary. Shouto sent him one now, alerting him to the presence of a possible target. No one would think twice over a man flipping through his phone at the bar. Like a professional, Shinsou gave no indication that he was watching the woman, focusing intently on his drink.

The plan was to stay an hour. Long enough to make it believable that he'd become a regular without causing suspicion. It wasn't worth going after a target this soon, not when they were new and standing out. At least, that was what they had agreed on. But at the forty-five minute mark, another patron came in and headed directly to the back corner to sit with the woman. Shinsou angled the camera back, and Shouto did his best to ID the man. The bar's list of regulars was capped at around 40, so there weren't that many to look through. Mid-thirties, tall, dark hair, tattoos covering most of his body- this man didn't fit any of the profiles. Searching through, Shouto couldn't find him matched up against any of the one-off customers they had tracked, either.

(S_T 9:17pm) He's a newbie. I'll see if I can get any hits against the League of Villain profiles we have, but those are much less organized so it will take a while.

(H_S 9:21pm) A semi-regular customer comes in with a briefcase, and a newbie comes in a while later and sits with them. Possibly to hand off information?

While they so far hadn't been able to track who was sitting with who inside the bar, Shinsou was right about the briefcase-newbie combo. There were three semi-regular patrons that showed up seemingly at random, always carrying briefcases. On those nights, a new patron had always shown up, stayed a short while, then left never to come back again. They had never been able to prove anything concrete from the pattern until now.

(H_S 9:24pm) I'm gonna go to the bathroom and see if I can use it as an opportunity to eavesdrop.

(S_T 9:24pm) No.

(S_T 9:24pm) Not a good idea.

(S_T 9:24pm) We talked about this. We don't want to do anything to arouse suspicion right off the bat.

Aaaand he's already going.

Shouto could do nothing but facepalm from the other side of the screen. This was the downside of working with an actual hero. They thought they knew what they were doing and were more likely to ignore your advice.

Shouto silently hoped that everything would go smoothly. Hoping was the only thing he could do, trapped on this side of the screen. So he watched Shinsou head towards the bathroom, fingers crossed that nothing would go amiss, sinking feeling in his stomach saying it probably would.