They were used to the scent of alcohol, one in a more personal sense than the other. She was used to smelling it on his breath, he didn't really smell it anymore. Tonight, however, it was on both their breaths. Vanessa's apartment was squalid, unkept and neglected when she cared about it. Two days isn't long to ignore anything, barring one's self or another living creature.

Add alcohol to that equation, and a serious bout of depression? The rest falls messily into place. Her skin was faintly yellow, bags under her eyes and wrinkles were forming around her mouth, hair a complete rats nest. "You know... I think this is the first time you've been here."

He was standing in the doorway, having proped himself up against it like an old, ratty piece of luggage on one's shoulder. "It is." Out of the corner of his eye, by her bedside, he saw a photograph. Her and Ingenium, his arms around her, their lips pressed together...

Sighing, he started slowly forward. "What's the occasion?" She was busy pouring herself another glass of whiskey, setting the bottle aside with barely the dexterity required to avoid spilling. "Which horrid thing are you here to offer your condolences for?" Despite her angry tone, despite how she tried to let rage take over, the pain and sorrow had won out on her face.

Aizawa dropped himself onto the floor across from her, taking his hip flask and opening it. "Do I have to choose?"

That was almost enough to make her cry, but she muscled it back, sniffling as she drained her glass in seconds. "You're really here to just... make sure I'm okay?"

He was slow to shake his head, taking a long swig as he did. "I already know you're not." To his surprise, she offered him her bottle.

Eventually, he accepted. "Could be poisoned, you know." She remarked.

"I don't care." He took a rather sizable swig before passing it back to her. When she took it back, she might have looked a little concerned. "...was it?"

She smiled a hollow, mirthless smile. "You think I'd make it that easy for you?"

That earned at least a little bit of laughter. "No."

Refilling her glass again, she stood up and got another, filling it up and handing it to him. "Is your lady awake yet?"

He blinked, taking a long time to puzzle out who she meant. "Ah... Shino hasn't been, well, 'mine' for a very long time." Taking a sip, he shook his head. "Moonfish, High End, whatever his name is... she's lucky he didn't punch her head off, I'm told."

Vanessa winced. "I'm sorry."

His head slumped to one side, bumping audibly into the wall. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes," another glass drained and subsequently refilled, "she seemed like a good person, I'd hoped she'd have recovered by now."

His turn to drink. "Didn't know you two knew each other..."

The shrug she gave was about as lifeless as her voice. "We met a few years ago. She and I talked about how we came to be heroes." A faint smile, this one real, graced her features. "I lied... but she saw through it. Only told me she knew the truth years later, after I'd already told her. She said that... whenever she was near me or you, it was all she could see, thanks to her telepathy."

He drained his glass entirely. "Ah..."

Vanessa sighed, reaching over and refilling it for him. "She still loves you." His eyes trailed away from her, staring into his glass as it hovered by his face. "But I guess you already knew that, didn't you?"

"I did, but... I don't really think a serial killer belongs anywhere near 'love' or things like it." His eyes went back to hers, but she looked away, taking another sip. "Why are you... being kind to me?"

She rolled her eyes, sighing in exasperation, almost sobbing if her cracking voice was any sign. "Who but Izuku is left for me to care about?" sniffling, she shook her head and drained her glass again. "God... when Nameless finds out about Chizome..." her face was shoving into her palm, tears running from her eyes. "Not that it matters..."

A question died in his slowing mind, mere moments before he'd asked it. "Of course... you know about his condition."

More sniveling, drinking straight from the bottle and then nodding. "Yeah. I went looking for him, after Overhaul. Found his apartment and a letter from the hospital. I... I, uh..."

Shaking his head, he emptied his glass and set it aside. The room would start spinning any second now... "I don't think he'll care that you went through his mail..." She started crying, hands over her face as her shoulders shook violently and loud, pitiful sobs filled the room. "Did I ever apologize?"

When she finally calmed herself enough to answer, she shook her head. "No, but for what?"

"Any of it..." She just shook her head again. "Would it matter if I did?"

It wasn't often that she looked at him and meant it. That she would look into his eyes without giving the impression that she saw anything other than a monster, staring back at her. "Are you sorry, Aizawa?"

His face grimaced, tears almost started flowing, but he held himself together. "I'd take it all back in a heartbeat if I could."

Sniffling, wiping at her nose and eyes, she shook her head. "This the part where I forgive you?"

To his credit, Aizawa laughed as he shook his head. "You'd lose all my respect if you did."

Her laughter was loud, Vanessa nearly fell out of her chair as she reached again for the whiskey. "Yeah... me too." What little of it was left, was soon gone. "I'm sorry too..." He blinked at her, giving her a quizzical look. "I don't know why or what for, I just... I'm sorry."

Holding up a hand, shaking his head, he closed his eyes. "Forgiven, forgotten and... you really don't hafta be..." he hiccuped, slamming his already aching head against the wall behind him. "What the'ell're we gonna... what're ya gonna do about...anythin?"

She lay across the chair, upper body dangling over one arm, her legs across the other. "Find Chizome, take him far, far away from this awful place?" She shrugged. "If he lets me..."

Swallowing, nodding as the room spun and wobbled, Aizawa groaned as he cleared his throat. "S'a good plan."

Suppressing a laugh, she turned and looked at him. "Are you drunk?"

"How're you not?" He blurted out incredulously, while she howled with laughter. "Guess y'are."

Letting herself pool onto the floor, stretching about like a cat, she collapsed in a listless heap. As she stared up at the ceiling, hoping the alcohol would make her feel just a little better, she felt like crying more. "What about you?"

At that question, the answer it made him think of, he reached for his flask again. "Well... Nameless's probly gonna... any ess'cusse to kill folks like you..." She winced, keeping her eyes closed as she failed to keep the tears in. "I... ain't lettin that 'appen..."

Turning her face toward him, as his sobriety disappeared in total, she looked over his face. Every wrinkle, every detail, every mark and scratch and bit of stubble like she were trying to memorize it all. "That's not an answer."

With complete clarity, without any sign of the drink on him, he looked her eye with the face of the hunter he'd buried over a decade passed. "I'm going to kill The Nameless One." Rearing his arm back, over his head, he threw his hip flask into her garbage can.

"Tilling my own grave to keep me level...
Jam another dragon down the hole,

Digging to the rhythm and the echo of a solitary siren,
One that pushes me along and leaves me so..."

Barely past 12am, the group of future heroes was sitting in Izuku's abandoned house. Several of them were slurping noodles, take-out ramen, while Izuku sat cross legged with his back to the wall. None of them could sleep despite their obvious need for it, their minds were all far too burdened with what they'd learned. His shaking hand grasped at a glass bottle, bringing it to his lips and draining it barren.

"We need to evaluate our current situation." All eyes in the room turned toward Shoto, standing with his back to the wall beside the entertainment center. "What we know, what we have on philanthropy, cannot be ignored."

Swallowing her mouthful, Kyoka tensed. "If you have any ideas, I'm all ears." She set aside her take-out bowl, setting atop the other two she'd emptied. "Aside from being UA students, it's not like any of us have any clout."

Mina raised her hand. "Outside our families, you mean, right?" Even Izuku looked up at that point. "Both you guys, Todoroki and Jiro, your families have influence. Maybe we could see if they or their resources could be used to start making noise about it?"

Both of them looked a little awkward, Shoto actually squirmed a little. "As much as I'd love to use my father's own resources against him, there's no way he wouldn't take notice of it and shut us down hard." As he turned his gaze to Ashido, the lower lid of his left eye twitched. "He might go easy on me, but I doubt he'd hold anything back against any of you."

Kyoka sighed. "Yeah... my folks might've been popular in the music biz, but that's old news by now. They kinda set that aside, once I was in the picture. They don't have anywhere near the pull we're gonna need for this."

Kaminari opened another soda. "No chance in hell Aizawa can help from that angle either. He's famous for avoiding even having a media presence; imagine what would happen if his first real bit in the spotlight was going on about some conspiracy?" He sighed, bringing the bottle to his lips.

With a frown, looking at her lap, Uraraka hugged herself. "I guess Valentine's out too, with Nameless watching her like a hawk. No way she'd get anywhere."

Izuku's gaze fixed on the wall right in front of him, his breathing was level but hard. One wrong step, one wrong decision, and everything could go wrong. The evidence could be buried, erased, along with their entire lives. Aside from Kyoka and Shoto, who'd notice or care about the rest of them?

Wait a moment... "Something doesn't add up..." The others turned to Izuku as he stood, ponderously rubbing his chin. "All the evidence we've found, starting with the facility where they made Moonfish... it was just left there for us to find." Hand away from his chin, he turned and addressed them all directly. "There's no way Philanthropy would ever be careless enough to just forget about anything like that. Them leaving it behind had to be on purpose."

Jaw dropped, Kaminari blinked. "What, seriously? Who the hell would do something like that?"

"Furthermore..." Kyoka puzzled, "how'd they make that happen without Endeavor finding out? It's gotta be someone close to the top of Philanthropy's food chain if they can pull all that off."

Izuku was already fairly certain he knew who it was. "Whoever they are, I doubt we'll be able to count on them for any sort of support. If they had ability to speak more publicly about what they know, they wouldn't have had all clues we've found lying in plain sight."

Mina growled out a sigh and slumped back against the couch, fingers scratching at her scalp through her hair. "We keep coming up with folks who can't help us!"

"At least it narrows things down a little." Kaminari said with as encouraging a smile as he could. "Alright... what about the heroes we interned with? Do we think any of them are up for it?"

Shoto deflated a little. "I...interned with my father."

Mina's jaw dropped, right along with Kaminari's. "Why the hell did you do that?" She said incredulously.

When he didn't have an answer, just looking away toward the floor, Kaminari shrugged. "Do you have a masochism thing, buddy?"

At Shoto's helpless squirming and blushing and Ashido stifling her laughter by covering her mouth, Izuku cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Can we... stay on topic, please?" Kyoka scratched at the side of her neck, giving both men a knowing, sheepish smile, though she said nothing. "Anyone else, who did you intern with?"

Frowning, Kyoka sighed a little. "Death Arms. No way he's got the influence to help us out."

"Us either," Ashido frowned as Kaminari just self consciously scratched the back of his neck, "much as I loved my internship, she's nobody anyone's heard of..."

Izuku was about to speak up when Kyoka held up her hand, and everything went quiet. "For the love of-" Growling, she stood up, stomped her way to the door and hauled it open. Before anyone could comment on her sudden outburst, her earlobes had lanced out the door and produced a rather gravely scream from someone lurking outside. "God damn it, Bakugo!"

Jaws in the room collectively dropped as she snagged the warhead by the back of his collar, dragging him inside. As he stumbled into the room, nearly falling flat on his face, Kyoka did her best not to slam the door. "WHAT THE HELL, LONG EARS!?"

"SHHHHHHH!" Hissed everyone else.

"Pipe down!"Kaminari harshly whispered.

"We're trying to keep a low profile here!" Ashido added.

Bakugo just growled, straightening up his clothes. "Good fucking job, leaving the lights on and showing up all together like that then! I'm amazed no one called the fucking cops! This place is supposed to be abandoned!"

Uraraka had gone pale as snow. "um... how much did you overhear?"

Kyoka's eyes narrowed. " 'showing up all together'... you overheard everything, didn't you?"

He looked like he was about to snarl something, only to stop himself and take a deep breath. With a tempered sigh, he just nodded. "Yeah..."

Hands in his pockets, Izuku slumped his shoulder against the wall, watching his old friend closely. "Feels like I haven't seen you for a while." Bakugo winced at that comment. "You been okay?"

Sheepishly, the warhead nodded. "It's been busy the last few days. With what's been going on..."

Izuku remembered all too well how responsible Bakugo felt for it all, the bullet All Might had taken for him. "Say no more." His smile was disarming, a gesture his old friend welcomed with a smile of his own. "So... what are you going to do now?"

Bakugo scoffed, quirking an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? I'm in." The others sighed in relief, though Kyoka was by far the most subtle about it. "I was about to knock, say that maybe Jeanist would be up for helping us, but..."

"But what?" Kyoka said, her backside leaning against the lip of the couch. "Think the fourth best hero in the country might not be up for it?"

With a roll of his eyes, Bakugo turned and faced her, arms crossed. "Considering how prim and proper he is? I doubt he'd be up for helping us do a smear job on the now reigning 'Number One'." Ashido and Kaminari both deflated, Shoto just silently sighed, shaking his head. "If that's even what you guys have in mind."

Shaking her head with a shrug, Ashido slumped back against the couch. "Hadn't really decided yet. We're still trying to figure out what our options even are."

"In case it wasn't obvious," Shoto interjected, "we haven't come up with much."

Izuku ran a hand over his face. "Maybe we should sleep, come at this with more functioning brains."

Shoto raised an index finger, stepping hesitantly forward. "Actually... I had a thought: Nighteye."

Kyoka's face flashed an angry glare, flickering for just a moment before her expression fell, eyes closed. "Really?" She spoke quietly, turning slowly round to face him. "Why him?" Izuku wanted to hug her, for that reaction to the idea.

For a moment, Shoto hesitated, and his expression took a similarly depressed turn as her's had. "I think he might appreciate the 'big picture' aspect of it. See our side and want to help us."

"Either that or shoot us down completely." Uraraka said, propping an elbow up on the arm of the couch, palm to her cheekbone. "Doesn't he tend to see things in the worst way possible?"

Her comment earned an involuntary smile from the vampire, touched that she'd remembered too. "He does..." shaking his head, pressing fingers to his eyes, "sorry to say that might be why I didn't even think to call him for help." When his hand cleared from his face, Izuku's expression was dark, brooding. "But he's our best bet, unless anyone else thinks of something."

No other idea was forthcoming, at least not that anyone gave voice to.

With a sigh, Izuku pushed off from the wall, feeling heavier all of a sudden. "Okay... it's beyond late. We need to get some sleep, rest up for tomorrow."

"And all it brings." Shoto said, dropping himself into the easy chair and closing his eyes.

Kaminari just gave him a look, like a dog halfway between curious or worried. "Gloomy much?" he attempted the jest good naturedly, although it was not met with a reply, leaving him to wonder whether or not he'd offended. Ashido didn't say a word, opting to just drag Kaminari down onto the couch with her as she closed her eyes. "Night, guys."

"Night, Den." Kyoka walked to the kitchen, snagging her purse as she went, fishing around inside it for her medicine.

Uraraka walked to the front door, spinning around to face Izuku after a moment passed. "Talk about crazy..."

He couldn't help but agree, nodding before mumbling to her. "Surprised you're sticking around for this, figured you'd be out of dodge with the others."

She smiled, rubbing the back of her neck. "The rest of the class, you mean?" She shook her head. "Last I heard, they were dealing with the rest of their semesters in other cities."

Awkwardly, he nodded. "Yeah... don't get me wrong, I'm not upset that you're here, but I thought you'd have joined them; run off to find new scenery, get more of a reputation."

Her expression went a little sad, though that smile remained. "Here I thought you knew me better than that."

Blinking a few times, before he could ask what she meant by that, Bakugo joined them by the door. "Hey, uh, roundface." Eyes aflutter, she turned to him instead. "You don't have to hike back home, I'll just sleep on my couch if you want an actual bed."

Her jaw dropped, eyes again aflutter. "Oh, um... yeah, I'd appreciate that. Thank you."

He just shrugged, tilting his chin toward the door. "Right next door."

With another smile and a nod to her would-be-host, she turned back to Izuku. "Goodnight... Green."

"Goodnight, Uraraka."

Her smile flickered of sadness again, as she went to the door. "You can just call me Ochako, you know?"

An apologetic smile and another nod came before his reply. "Right... Goodnight, ah, Ochako." Then she left.

Bakugo actually chuckled. "You two are still awkward as hell."

The vampire crossed his arms. "Old habits, I guess."

Suppressing a yawn, the warhead nodded, giving his old friend a once over. "New look suits you."

Izuku managed not to look as awkward as he felt. "Think so?"

Bakugo shrugged. "That's me being selfish... It's just easier to look at your face without feeling guilty."

Izuku laughed, though he managed to do so quietly. "Heh... you're still an ass, Kacchan."

The warhead gave an obnoxious smile, though the glint in his eyes told that it was deliberately so. "You expected anything else?"

"A guy can dream." Somewhat hesitantly, he playfully punched Bakugo's shoulder. "Sleep tight, and thanks for joining this fool's crusade."

With a grim face, Bakugo gave another shrug. "I have a lot to make up for. Not sure if this will really make any headway for that, but if nothing else it might clear my conscience."

After a moment, Izuku stepped forward and hugged him. "I forgive you, Kacchan."

Though he'd never know it, Bakugo struggled to hold the twisted grief and guilt from his voice, tears from his eyes. "Yeah... You're an idiot for that."

Ah... It's not that you don't forgive yourself. It's that you can't.

Izuku squeezed, before he let him go. "I know." He managed another, sweet smile.

Bakugo just flinched, smiling back what little he could. "We're gonna kick his Murderous ass."

When he was gone, Izuku shut then locked the door. His chest felt heavy, lungs slow and stomach churned. With a gulp, he turned around and walked to bathroom to deal with his hygiene. Distracted as he was, it didn't feel like it took him long, although he almost ran his hands under the running water again.

Old habits indeed...

Shutting off the water, wiping his mouth he went to walk to his room only to bite back a scream as his leg protested. Slumping against the wall, biting his lip, he made the rather questionable decision to punch the aching muscle as hard as he could. After some of the sharpest, most intense pain of his life, he let out a long hiss as the limb went gently quiet.

Sighing in relief, he almost managed to walk without waver to his-

...

Right. His room.

His hand hesitated, fingers almost re-curling before he grasped the handle and turned it to. With a heavy, pained heart he stepped inside. The sight of his collection made the twisting knot in his chest harder to ignore. It felt like he hadn't seen any of it in months, almost felt like he wasn't looking at it with the same eyes he'd left it with. A heavy atmosphere slumped his shoulders down, the feeling of nostalgia as his eyes trailed over his room was... infected.

"From the way you're looking at all that, I'd say Bakugo isn't the only one who blames himself for what happened to All Might."

Hard to deny the truth when spoken so plainly, especially from the voice of the one you love. "He wouldn't have been there if I hadn't been captured."

As she entered his room, a familiar scenario, she closed the door behind herself. "He just would have found some other way to take him out of the picture. Maybe if he had, All For One would still be alive and we'd all be even worse off."

The insanity of it all... "All For One. Hard to believe he was trying to do the same thing we are now."

Shrugging out of her jacket, Kyoka almost laughed. "Yeah... remember when things seemed more black and white?"

His turn to laugh. "Everything got more and more muddled as things rolled along. It's... hard to tell what side the villains are actually on anymore."

Slipping out of her shoes, he heard her unclasping her pants, and he felt a little warm. "You mean whether or not the people we've been fighting were actually the 'good guys' all along?"

He started unbuttoning his shirt, kicking off his shoes as he did. "Well, yeah..."

Her arms wound around his middle, her cheek against the back of his shoulder as she gave him a squeeze. "Remember what I said, when Sten lost it on that cop? The difference between good and evil?"

His hands went to hers, body relaxed as he leaned against her. "Whether or not you're willing to hurt anyone who gets in your way to win." She nodded. "Really think it's that simple?"

She spun him around, hands on his shoulders. "We're trying to bring down Philanthropy, bring down Endeavor and put a stop to what the 'hero world' has been for a long time." Her expression, that shrug of her shoulders, told she had no clue else to think. "If that's not what separates good and evil, then what does that make us?"

With a tired expression, he shrugged off his shirt and pants, dragging her into bed with him. "The optimistic idiots trying their best?"

She shuddered, holding him close again. "...You think that's all anyone ever really is? Hero, villain or anything else?"

This time, he returned the embrace. "Not sure what the other option is." His fingers ran through her hair, scratching behind her ears.

With a bitter laugh, she closed her eyes. "Scary..." When the blankets were pulled over them, it only took seconds for them to fall asleep.

Friday, August 17th, 2255...

Trembling fingers, quivering muscles in his face as he hissed in pain. Medical adhesives, made to last and stay strong and, at this moment, Stain just wanted them off. The series of expletives that streamed out of his mouth would have a sailor blush, but he managed to remove the metal and tape. As he panted sharply, eyes watering slightly, he focused on himself in the mirror.

Not exactly presentable...

Feeling more than a little self conscious, he stepped to one side and grabbed his costume. Noticing how torn and shredded it was made him sigh. The old thing was more like a bundle of streamers an excited cat had gotten its claws into than a costume. All the same, he didn't have anything else to wear and it was time to gather the troops. What few of them remained, at least.

Slipping into felt like trying not to get one's foot stuck in a pothole, or snagged in roots while running through the woods. Considering his battered state, that wasn't too much of a stretch; or it wouldn't have been if he were almost anyone else. As he dragged the armored hero-wear over his skin he took one breath too deeply, nearly doubling over into a coughing fit. Catching himself on the lip of the sink, he forced his lungs to calm before taking another dose from his inhaler. From the way it rasped, he thought it might be running close to empty.

Down to the wire in every way... Doubt I'll have almost any time left, once this is all over.

Heh... Guess that's how you know this is all so close to ending.

Once his armored costume was on, he reached over toward his broken sword and slung it over his shoulder. As he stepped out of the bathroom, his eyes were met with the sight of friends. Dabi, as he preferred to be called, and Toga. "The others outside?"

"Just waitin for you." Toga said, adjusting the jumpsuit she wore whenever she went masquerading as Cammie. "...you look awful. You sure yer up for this?"

Stain gave her a knowing look, frowning on one side of his mouth. "I've energy enough to see this through."

She just shook her head, giving that toothy grin of her's. "Not doubtin, just make sure you get through in one piece, yeah?"

Nodding, he decided to leave it at that. "Be careful out there." When she didn't say anything, just turning away to leave, he turned toward the front door too.

The trio wandered outside with Toga locking the door behind them, much to Dabi's amusement. "I don't think anyone's going to find this place. You could probably leave that unlocked." She just shrugged, not really giving an answer as she rang the dinner bell by the door.

"She seem quiet to you?" Stain muttered.

His childhood friend wasn't so sure. "How do you know?"

Stain was about to answer, when he realized that -perhaps- he didn't really know her that well. "I've had difficulty finding silence with her around."

Mercifully, not that Stain would ever know, Dabi did not make the joke he thought of. "I'll just bet..." Opting instead for a subtler gibe, which went right over the other man's head.

Of course, even if he had realized the joke at his expense, Mooney chose that exact moment come barrelling into the area. When he landed in front of Toga, sitting on his haunches, he looked a bit like an excited puppy waiting for dinner. A mutated, enormous, monstrosity of a puppy but a puppy nonetheless. That Toga started petting him like one did little to dissuade them from seeing Mooney like that.

Not a comfortable image, to be sure.

Standing just in front of all of them, Stain cleared his throat. "Any questions before we begin?" They all exchanged a few questioning looks, before unanimously turning back to him in silence. "Then let's begin..."

Lurking just over Shuichi's face, holding their breath and making what they assumed were silly faces, Eri and Yoichi were trying not to laugh. Their efforts were not entirely successful, giggling during those short bursts spent gasping quickly for air. Eventually, the din of their barely constrained laughter was enough to rouse a very displeased Shuichi. He greeted them with a sigh.

"Really?" He said, and their giggling became even more difficult to hold back. "Again?" They lost it, falling over laughing as Shuichi shook his head smiling tiredly. "Thanks for coming by again, guys..."

Yoichi just batted a hand at the air. "Ah, shush. We missed ya anyways."

Climbing up and trotting back toward the foor of the bed, Eri nodded emphatically. "They're gonna send you home today."

At this announcement, Shuichi immediately perked up. "Finally!" He all but shouted, "I thought I was going to go crazy in here!"

Yoichi grinned like a cat in wonderland. "Like I'd let that happen, who do you take me for?"

The lizard boy immediately narrowed his eyes and lost his smile, taking on very serious and displeased countenance. "You're the reason I was gonna lose it."

"Ah!" Yoichi gasped, hand clutching at his heart. "Shu, how could you be so cruel!?" Languishing, though not sincerely in the least, he fell back as though he might faint, back of one hand to his forehead.

Then Shuichi lost his composure and practically shouted, "Because you're ridiculous!"

Eri almost fell over giggling at them, picking up a small backpack and carrying it over to their reptilian friend. "We-" she giggled again, "we brought you some clothes, since the ones you had were all burned."

Now he was smiling, calming down a little. "How'd you guys get a hold of my clothes? I thought they burned up in the apartment."

Shuichi opened the backpack and Yoichi shrugged. "dude, how many times have you slept over and forgotten, like, half your stuff?"

"Hey, that only happened once!" Shuichi remarked, looking a little embarrassed. "I swung by again and brought it all home afterwords too..."

With a wicked grin, Yoichi pointed at the backpack many times. In rapid succession. "Not that stuff ya didn't."

For a few moments, blinking slowly, Shuichi just stared blankly at his friend. "...you had that oversized take-out coffee again, didn't you?"

Simultaneously, he and Eri gave conflicting answers. He said 'no', she said 'yup' and Yoichi, once again, behaved as though the betrayal had shocked him to his very core.

Eri giggled, Shuichi sighed. "I thought you said that was a terrible idea after the fact."

All toothy grin, Yoichi rushed to within about an inch of his friend's face. "Whatchatalkinabout?"

Shuichi sighed. "The caffeinne crash." The other blinked. "You slept for three days and woke up a starving mess?"

The moment that the memory clicked back into this awareness was visible. "Ohhhhhh!" Yoichi said, his grin slowly disappearing. "...oh god what have I done?"

Shoving a palm at his forehead, Shuichi smiled and shook his head ruefully. "Proven that I can't leave you unsupervised for more than a day?"

Yoichi actually considered this, expression contemplative as his eyes gazed up and to one corner. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

Eri stood up straight and saluted, smiling bright. "Don't worry, Cap'n! Next time, I'll make sure he doesn't get another one."

Face stone-cold-serious, Shuichi saluted right back. "Your dedication to the corps is an inspiration to us all, sergeant."

"This is all rather heartwarming." the three of them turned toward the door, seeing a sudden new arrival on scene. An old lady, bent over and walking with a cane resembling a syringe, somehow only slightly taller than Eri. "Which is why I'm so hesitant to pull the little one away, but I'm afraid I must." She smiled, waving a weathered and slow moving hand. "Hello, young Nobunaga."

Undisclosed to the youngsters present, all had gone precisely according to Nighteye's predictions, save for the accelerated timetable. All as he'd seen, sitting in the his office with them all gathered around, sipping tea and considering everything with deceptive calm. "I see..." he said at long last, fingers folded together in front of his face. "When I saw this happening, I didn't grasp the full scope of it." His eyes opened, staring intently into theirs. "This is beyond the scope of anything students like you have a hope of navigating alone."

"Yeah," said Kaminari, speaking up so no one else would have to. "Kinda why we came to you."

Nighteye smirked, despite his tangible desire to crumble into a shivering mess. "Judging from your expressions, those wary postures, I can only assume you're anticipating what I'll say."

Stepping to the center of the room, of the gathered group, Izuku braced himself, facing him with open eyes. "Sir... please?" Nighteye gave no sign that his former protege's vulnerable plea moved him, yet he did hesitate before he next spoke. "The things Philanthropy has done... we can't just ignore this."

Nighteye smirked again. "You learned to better control your emotions, I see." He leaned back in his chair, fingers still folded while he looked his pupil in the eyes. "But still nothing of the big picture, if you expect anything public to come of this."

Bakugo clenched his fists, Kyoka growled, taking a daring step forward. "Seriously?! You're saying you won't help us?!"

All traces of amusement vanished. "I've said nothing of the sort."

"Yeah? Then what the hell are you saying?" Bakugo demanded as his hands popped and cracked, knuckles going white. "Cuz that's sure as hell what it sounds like!"

Flexing his wrists, forced patience kept Nighteye from snapping vehemently as he stood, palms flat on his desk. "Think, boy. If I had any intentions other than to aid you, police and other heroes would already be here to apprehend the lot of you."

As he spoke, Todoroki's eyes shifted suspiciously to the door and lingered there.

Nighteye ignored him. "Your plan was to make all of this information public, yes? Hold some kind of trial, put Endeavor and his co-conspirators away for life?" Slowly, somewhat ashamedly, they all nodded or confirmed this statement in some inauditory way. "Then you know," his eyes locked on Izuku's and the two of them silently regarded each other in silent understanding. "You know why I can't say yes to this plan."

Eyes slowly wincing shut, Izuku let out a heavy breath, face lowered to gaze at the floor. "...The big picture."

Nighteye almost looked like he regretted something, as he reclaimed his seat. "There's a reason why that is such an important lesson." His index finger rubbed along the length of his cheekbone, thumb obscuring his mouth as thoughtful searched some unseen place for clarity. "Consider: what do you think happens if people hear this story and believe it?"

A question no one wanted to answer, but all suspected they knew the answer to. As it would so happen, Todoroki would be the one to voice such a hard truth. "Destabilization. People losing faith in heroes, society further descending into the chaos as it has been since All Might's... displacement."

The professional spread his hands, palms upturned to them. "Uncovering philanthropy's corruption has the potential to bring about chaos forgotten over the last two hundred years of civilization. They own the world majority of Hero Agencies, if civil unrest should arise from exposing them, it could mean global unrest as people rise up to overthrow them."

Muttering with a smaller voice than one might expect, Kaminari remarked. "Yeah, very rebellion versus the empire..."

Izuku's eyes trailed up, meeting Nighteye's sternly. "Philanthropy has been destroying families, destroying lives just to make sure that there are always villains for heroes to fight." To everyone's surprise, his countenance had taken on an angry edge. "You can't be saying that this should be swept under the rug."

"I'm saying this needs to be handled quietly," Nighteye elaborated, "in house and by people who will appreciate the severity of the situation." With that, he reached for his phone. "You did well to bring this to me, if you don't mind waiting outside I have some calls to make."

With clenched teeth, Izuku was about to take a step forward and speak his mind when a hand gripped his shoulder. When he turned to see who it was, he saw Kaminari, with a worried look in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Izuku just let it go and filed out of the room with the others. They gathered again in the lobby, the receptionist watching the news, and collectively sulked.

"He has a point." Everyone looked up when Shoto finally broke the silence. "Just look at the last week, what people have been doing without All Might. Imagine the upheaval if they suddenly lost faith in the entire hero system.

Uraraka gulped. "On top of not feeling safe, everyone would then see that the people responsible for protecting them can't be trusted..."

Shuddering, Mina hugged herself. "It'd be an absolute bloodbath, people just killing each other left and right because they could."

"Assuming everyone had the same reaction." Kyoka chimed in. "It's not like we can say for certain that Nighteye's prediction is spot on."

Raising her hand, Uraraka spoke softly. "Doesn't his quirk work sorta like... I heard that he sees every possible future at once when he activates it, but the one that's most likely to happen is generally the one he sees the clearest?"

Kaminari shrugged. "I mean, it's not like the future is ever completely set in stone. People still make choices and whatnot, free will is very much a thing. There's no way he just sees 'what will happen no matter what' and that's it."

Sighing, Shoto brushed a hand up over his face, tangling his fingers in his hair. "Okay, ignoring the philosophical debate about whether or not 'fate' exists, unless someone knows what's about to happen, they're just going to respond to whatever happens how they fell they should."

Deflating a little, Kyoka crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg, averting her eyes from the others with a sour face. "In other words, people are just gonna do what people do unless warned about what's coming."

"So 'fate' might as well be what he sees in the first place..." Kaminari shoved a palm against his face, eyes closed tight. "Awesome. I love feeling powerless in the face of disaster."

Bakugo growled, clenching his fists. "Fuck! We can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"What else can we do?" Kyoka sighed. "We already did the only thing we could think to do, look where that got us."

"What if..." Izuku pondered aloud, fingers at his chin, "what if we only divulged some of what we know?"

Mina blinked. "You mean... leaving out the bit where Philanthropy has been ruining people's lives to maintain this hero thing? That's not really gonna work..."

With a sympathetic look, Kaminari patted Izuku's shoulder. "Without telling them that, there's not really a lot to tell them."

Izuku frowned. "Well... what if we spoke up about how The Nameless One had the Vampires wiped out?"

Kyoka shook her head. "All that would do, at most, would be getting the figurehead guy sent to jail. Endeavor would still be a free man, he's not the one who ordered Aizawa and whoever else to do that."

Looking at Izuku, Bakugo quirked an eyebrow. "You feeling okay? You don't usually miss details like that."

Feeling somewhat bashful, Izuku scratched the back of his neck, not really looking at anyone. "I... haven't really been recovering since I left the hospital." If anything, I'm worse off than I was then. With all the sleep I haven't been getting, the injuries from hero work and lack of blood to drink, it's a wonder I'm even standing.

"Basically, unless we go all in, we've got nothing." Kaminari sighed. "Then Nighteye's prediction comes true and all hell breaks loose." Leaning back, staring up at the ceiling, his head thumped against the wall. "Hate to say it but, we need something dirty on Endeavor himself if we're gonna even think about taking an alternate approach to this."

With a scoff, Shoto shook his head. "Like what? He drove my mother to brink of lunacy and made this," he jabbed a thumb at his left eye, "happen to me. There was evidence, witnesses and no one listened when I spoke up about it." Bakugo's fists clenched again, hearing that. "That's the worst of what he's done, yet no one did or does anything about it. Unless we had video evidence of his horrid behavior broadcast across the nation, there's no way he'd be punished."

Meeting Shoto's gaze, Kaminari's face darkened, looking a little sad. "You think so?"

Shoto's eyes narrowed, his tone remaining the same as it always did. "I know so."

A snore caught their ears, and the group turned to see the receptionist had fallen asleep. The news was still going, something about the Shroud finally being completed. "How many people do you think will be watching when that happens?" Mina muttered.

Uraraka shrugged. "Well, they've been getting people excited about it for a while, talking about how it will improve the quality of the air we breathe on a global scale. It's basically going to clean the atmosphere."

"That is both really cool, and really scary." Mina frowned, arm's crossed. "I mean, what if someone tampers with it and it poisons the planet?"

"Game over..." Bakugo remarked, dropping himself into a nearby chair, while Kaminari just stared at the screen with a serious expression.

Naturally, at that moment, Izuku's phone started ringing. Pulling it from his pocket, he regarded the name on caller ID wearily. "Hello, sir."

"If you're not already wearing it, put on that costume with that ridiculous flower and spider emblem." Nameless's voice said icily. "I want the next Symbol of Peace to attend the news conference for the Shroud's completion."

Every ounce of that statement's weight came crashing down on him at once and Izuku gulped. "I'll be there."

"Make it quick," he could almost hear the man roll his eyes, "it's in two hours." The line disconnected.

When he looked up, the others were looking at him expectantly. "Was that who we think it was?" Uraraka said with a nervous expression.

Izuku just nodded. "Looks like I'm attending the Shroud's big day..."

Recovery girl lead Eri away to another wing of the hospital, Yoichi and Shuichi trailing curiously behind. "Where are we going?" She asked, only for her inquiry to be met with a smile.

"We're going to visit another patient, a student at UA."

Eri beamed. "Like Izuku?"

The healing hero chuckled as the crowd of nurses and CNAs wove around them, trying to avoid trampling the elder and children. "Yes, just like him."

With a bounce in her step Eri trotted up beside Recovery Girl. "Who are they?" Then she remembered they were in a hospital, where people came to heal. "Um... they're gonna be okay, right?"

"Hey," Yoichi said, adjusting the old gas mask under his arm, "if they're anything like that Guren guy, I bet they're ready to tear the ears off a Nomu."

Shuichi blinked, giving his friend an odd look. "What's a Nomu?"

He shrugged. "You know, that big purple thing with the beak and teeth? Isn't 'High End' a Nomu?"

While Shuichi puzzled that out, Eri turned around. "I thought Nomu was that monster's name."

Then she saw her.

Walking through the crowd, clad in a black jumpsuit, was a shapely woman with voluminous, long, blond hair. As she sauntered on by, their eyes met. Something about her eyes, something about that smile, looked familiar as she waved to Eri. Nervously, the little one waved back, then they vanished from each other's sights.

"Who the heck was that?" Yoichi said, noting that Eri's smile had vanished.

Shuichi scratched the top of his head. "I think that's Cammie? She's been around for a while, since the UA sport's festival, I think."

"Indeed she was," said Recovery Girl, "shame she didn't make it into the finals back then. She showed a lot of promise."

Walking up beside Eri, Yoichi nudged her. "You okay?"

She just nodded, not saying anything and taking his hand, holding tight. Frowning at her sudden skittishness, he turned to their reptilian friend and gestured something. While it took a moment or two for him to catch on, Shuichi did eventually walk up beside her and take her other hand.

It didn't take long for Eri to return to her happier self after that. "Hey..." she said, looking up at each of them. "Can we be friends?"

Both boys exchanged a look, then they burst out laughing. "Eri," Shichi said, once he'd calmed down, "we're already friends, you goof."

She practially bounced as she walked along, smiling up at him. "We are?"

"Sure we are." Said Yoichi, giving her a playful shove, though not enough to actually move her. "If we weren't, do you think we'd like hanging out with ya so much?"

Eri gave a self conscious laugh. "Maybe not..."

They rounded another corner together, then through an open door. "Once she's on her feet, it's back to UA." Recover Girl walked up beside the girl's bed, then put and hand to her forehead and pushed her hair aside.

"Momo!" Eri gasped, running around to the other side of the bed and squeezing her arm with both hands.

Recovery girl put a finger to her lips. "Shhh, she'll be up soon." Then she reached forward and removed the oxygen mask.

Yoichi scratched at the side of his head, onlooking with obvious skepticism. "I dunno... she looks like she's been out for a while."

The elder turned and gave him a daring smile. "Watch and learn, young one."

As the two boys exchanged a look, she leaned forward and kissed the girl's forehead. Then Momo started glowing, her upper body lifting slightly off the bed. Her head lilted back, mouth open and a cloud of dust spiraled forth. The boy's jaws dropped, and Eri's wide eyes seemed to catch some the light around Momo, glowing on their own.

"How did you do that?" Eri breathed in awe, watching as Momo gently collapsed back onto the bed, the dust vanishing into the ventilation.

Recovery Girl smiled. "I just used my quirk, same as I always do." As Momo's eyes fluttered open, she added, "welcome back, Yaoyorozu."

Eri felt the words sink in, echoing in her head a few times more. Quirks can be used to heal people?

Gingerly sitting up, propped up on her Elbows, she smiled nervously. "Thanks for bringing me back..." Then she saw Eri, still holding onto her arm. "Eri," she smiled, "were you worried about me?"

She nodded. "I didn't know anything happened..." She sniffled, wiping at one of her eyes as she smiled. "Glad you're okay though."

Momo just leaned over and hugged her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get hurt by a little dust. It just made me sleepy for a while, okay?"

Recovery Girl shook her head. "Adorable, the pair of you. If I'd known you two were so close I might have tried harder to stop you from worrying, Eri."

Eri just squeezed Momo. "She and Izuku saved me..."

Patting the child's head, Momo looked a little shy. "It wasn't just me and him... we had a lot of help from our friends."

Nodding, Eri released her, peering out the door. "Where are they anyways? I haven't seen any of them since things got scary at that hotel."

Momo reached for her phone, finding an ocean of messages waiting for her. Kyoka and Izuku had sent her rather emphatic messages telling her to 'get well soon', saying they missed her and would be by as soon as she woke. Kaminari had made a promise to bring her favorite food by, along with some of her clothes if she didn't already have any.

Mina's message was the longest, promising to fill her in on everything that had happened after or durring the attack on the hotel. The rest was her expressing worry, hoping to hear from her, messages sent several times a day to see if she had woken. Todoroki had sent a brief but meaningful message saying, 'I miss you, be okay' which made her smile. Uraraka had sent well wishes, asking Momo to please get better soon as she valued their friendship. Even Stendhal had chimed in to say 'get better quickly. You are a better hero than some professionals, so try not to stay down too long'.

She had to admit that last one moved her a little. Who knew Sten thought so highly of her?

However, the message she'd received from her mother almost dashed all those other feelings away. "Call me when you wake up." Momo's heart skipped a beat, stomach in knots as her grip tightened on her phone. What did she want? Was she disappointed? Angry that she'd been taken down yet again?

"Momo?" Her eyes fluttered, snapping to a worried looking Eri. "Is everything okay?"

Forcing herself to smile, she buried those worries as deeply as she could. "Yeah, of course." Then she patted Eri's head. "Everything's going to be just fine, alright?" Eri smiled, then the power went out and Momo looked out the door, "What's going on?"

"The hell?" Yoichi said. "This again? I thought they fixed the power lines."

Shuichi peered out the door, "they did, look." Outside the room, staff moved about in a hurry, some far too quickly for comfort. "I think they're scared."

"As well they should be," Recovery Girl said seriously, "some patients wont last very long without life support. This is an emergency if they can't get the backup power on."

Something shook the entire building, rattling the windows and knocking down anything even remotely unsteady. Outside the room, several people nearly fell over. Shuichi had to leap to the aid of an older woman, catching her before her bones could crash against the linoleum floor. "what the hell was that?" he shrieked, helping the lady find stable footing again.

"You're asking me?" Yoichi's voice cracked, fingers gripping at the old gas mask he'd been carrying. "I dunno! Maybe something blew up!?"

"Everybody stay calm." Recovery girl and Momo said together.

Naturally, that was the exact moment part of the ceiling gave out and the room above them came down to say hello.

Looking out at the chaos, Stain growled, snatching up his radio and barking into it. "Damn it, Muscular! I said no collateral!" No reply was given, he just snarled and switched frequencies. "Toga, have you secured the target?" By his side, Mooney seemed scared, jittering with fear as they awaited her reply.

The purple monstrosity soon relaxed."Already outside!" She chirped. "Give em a good show, Imma need one helluva distraction till I find shelter for the lunk.'

Dabi sighed, frowning at the now badly damaged hospital. "I think the hero killer has that covered." He turned to Stain. "Shall we?" Gesturing toward the hospital.

Shoving the radio back into his- into Overhaul's belt, he leapt out of the alley they'd been hiding in. "Way ahead of you. Mooney!" The beast looked up at him, head tilted to one side. "Go to the rendezvous!" The beast leapt skyward as the two of them ran inside, through the sea of scurrying people. Staff trying to help their patients, civilians fleeing for their lives, the odd and clueless hero. "Remember, unless they're more thug than hero, no killing."

With a laugh, Dabi gave a cold smirk. "I'm already going to jail for killing those cops in Tartarus. What's another life sentence for killing a hero?"

Grimly, Stain looked at him with worry in his bloodshot eyes. "...When this is over, we're going to have to answer for what we've done." Even as he pushed his way through the crowd, toward the scene Muscular was creating, he felt his skin crawling. Willingly working with scum like Muscular... why hadn't he just killed him when he'd rescued Mooney?

"And for what we're about to do, no doubt." Sighing, Dabi tried not to get hauled along in the sea of people. At times, he envied Stain for his enhanced strength and agility.

They rounded the bend, finding none other than Kamui woods standing in their way. "Stendhal!" He shouted, oaken tendrils lashing toward Dabi. "There's a villain behind you!"

Dabi laughed as Stain threw himself aside, his friend setting the tendrils ablaze. "Better run, little hero." His old friend gave Stain a knowing grin. "Save who you can from the other attacker, neither of you will last long against me."

Reluctantly, Stain did as his friend suggested and ran toward the sounds Muscular's rampage. To their surprise, Kamui did not object. As he fled the scene, he looked his old friend in the eyes. Thank you, Toya. Make me proud.

The look he gave back seemed to reply to what he'd been thinking. I will.

Scrambling through the wreckage, he didn't have to go much further before he found several dead heroes. Fists clenched, Stain could taste his burning need to put down the mad dog he'd sent into this mess. Mooney was too valuable, too vulnerable to risk sending in, but he would have been far more reliable than this.

His hand had almost reached his sword when he saw a woman, lying in her own blood, hand clutching a wound in her neck. "Shit!" Searching about, he lurched toward a nearby first aid kit and tore it open. "Here," he set to binding the woman's injury, "it's gonna be okay." He smiled at her, hoping he looked reassuring. "Do you have a name?"

She nodded, partially gargling as she spoke. "Kokoro..."

Tightening the bandages as much as he dared risk, he held her hand. "It's going to be okay, Kokoro."

"Stendhal?"

Over his shoulder, he saw a face he hadn't expected to see. "Iida?" He said, putting a great deal of pressure on the woman's wound. "Good, this woman needs your help."

Ignoring him, the armored boy stepped forward. "Where's Muscular?"

Stain blinked. "Did you hear a word of what I just said?"

Iida growled. "I'm not here for that! I'm here to avenge my brother!"

Blood boiling, teeth grinding, Stain felt a contemptuous sneer about to spread. "So much for all that talk, all those years, about competing to be the best hero."

"There are more important things than-!"

In less than a second, Stain was on his feet, blade of his sword at Iida's throat, staring him dead in the eye. "A hero's mission, their only mission, is to protect and aid those who cannot help themselves." Ire stirred in him, memories of screaming for help in that old burning building only for no one to save him or his family. "Forsake this, and you will become the very thing we have been striving to stand against." Memories of fighting dogs in alleyways, fighting just to eat garbage while everyone seemed content to ignore him.

Iida's reply did not help. "That monster killed my brother!" His fingers clenched harder around his sword. "If I don't kill him, no one will!"

For a moment, Stain's hands shoved the blade harder against Iida's throat, just where his jawbones met the muscle of his neck. He could feel that urge, that need to spill his blood building to an inferno. "Is that your choice?" His eyes narrowed. "If it is, you spit on his memory, on your own words back when we first met." Iida raised an eyebrow, his anger sifting slightly. "You said you wanted to be just like him, a hero that was his equal. Do you think he'd forget himself, or the people he protected, to avenge you?"

Wincing, tears barely held back, Iida threw his head back and screamed, fingers raking through his hair, clawing at his scalp as he fell to his knees.

Sighing, breathing to ease the urge away, Stain's trembling hand sheathed his blade. "Help her... Ingenium." The expression Iida looked up at him with was that of a crying puppy, completely unused to compassion. "Be a hero."

As Stain started walking away, Iida- ...Ingenium, knelt by Kokoro's side and tended to her. "S-sorry ma'am... I'm so sorry..."

Here I thought you'd become everything I despised about this corrupt world, Stain smiled, not quite free of his murderous urges. There's hope for you yet... Ingenium.

He didn't have to go much farther. Just around another bend, over a few more bodies, and there he was. "You're despicable."

Muscular rolled his eyes, chewing on some donuts from a dining cart that had survived the chaos. "I did what you asked."

Stain clenched his fists. "I said no collateral."

Muscuar laughed. "I'm the hero killer! What the hell did you expect me to do when I found these weaklings so ready to die?" Gritting teeth from the half-human's mouth was almost audible. "I did the world a favor. No one this weak should be protecting anyone."

The last fibers of his self control were fraying fast. "I will not allow this or anything like it." his furious tone seemed to impress the serial killer. "You said once that knowing who you are is everything," Stain bared his teeth, "I am not the kind of man who can permit this!"

Grinning, Muscual laughed. "That I did, but I'm afraid that I am the kind of man who lives for killing heroes to weak to live. If they can't beat me, they deserve to die."

"We have no idea if they deserved it!" He yelled. "None of these heroes had been vetted! Even if that wasn't an issue, I cannot let you discredit us before we've even had the chance to spea-"

"Yeah, yeah. One sec." Muscular threw another donut into his mouth, and Stain gave up restraining himself.

His hands flew, thumbs spearing into the man's eyes, iliciting a delicious scream from the brute. Overwhelmed with rage, Stain began bashing his head against a nearby wall. Impact after impact, one crack of his skull after another and his blood began to spill. Only when the cries faded, when Muscular did little more than sputter and gurgle on his own blood, did Stain relent. He heard the ceiling above him groaning, grinned, then threw Muscular beneath the falling rubble.

"It's more of a burial than you deserve." With that, he stomped away, back the way he came.

Around the next bend, he saw Iida, who was surprised to see him coming back so soon. "Did you stop him?"

Stain just held up his bloodied hands. "I think so." He didn't stop to read the astonishment on Iida's face, he just kept on walking.

"Sten..." Iida breathed, "was it necessary?"

Stopping his tracks, Stain gave his former classmate a sidelong look over his shoulder and grinned. "Of course it was." Then he walked away, leaving the boy with jaw agape.

Further on, finding the hospital abandoned, he saw Dabi standing over an unconscious Kamui as he doused the flames on the hero's body. Dabi stood, dusting off his hands. "Where's Muscular?"

"Dead." Stain said, walking toward the exit. "You coming?"

Grinning, his old friend ran to catch up with him. "I knew following you was a good choice."

They decided to leave it at that, making their way toward where Toga and Mooney would be waiting. It was an abandoned home, burned out with its interior covered with ash and soot. Stepping inside, they saw Toga wearing a garish and baggy costume, tending to an unconscious, skeletal man.

His shock of wild blonde hair looked as though it might have been a lion's mane, and Stain knew it well. "How is he?

Toga patted the man's chest. "Sleepin like an angel. Don't worry, I didn't take more than we'd need." She bandaged up the man's arm, taking care not to disturb the IV still hooked into his vein.

All the same, his eyes fluttered open, revealing blackened sclera and irises of vibrant blue. "Wha..." he breathed, voice raspy, "where am I?"

Stepping forward, Stain looked down at the sleeping figure and place a hand on his shoulder. "This is only a dream, All Might." The broken hero's drowsy eyes drifted to his, finding his former ward smiling. "Go back to sleep, you'll wake in the hospital and find that everything is as it should be."

All Might smiled in turn, his eyes drooping heavily. "ah... young Akaguro." His head sunk into the pillow, shutting off his view of the world. "Alright... I leave it in you hands."

Stain's other hand clenched, and a stinging in his eyes surprised him. He had to sniffle back what had almost started running from his nose. "I- I won't disappoint you, sir." Of all people, of all times to cry, why did...?

Oh. Yeah, that's right... back then it was him. He who'd come to pluck him from the rubble, only all too late.

Her body was so heavy... why didn't he have the strength to move her?

Why didn't he have the strength to do anything but run?

Why did she have to die?

Why... why was it getting hard to breathe?

Something crashed through the wall, walking through it like it hadn't even existed to begin with.

"Never fear, for I am... here..."

Heavy footsteps stopped short of him and his mother, his weak little hand reached toward him.

"H-... help..." he barely managed to breathe. How long had he been in the smoke? How long had he been struggling to breathe? "Mom needs..."

The footsteps were replaced by gentle hands, scooping him up and shielding his face.

"Little one... I'm so sorry..."

Roused from his recollections, he felt All Might's hand over his own, as it rested on the hero's shoulder. "No... little one. The only one you need to worry about failing... is you." That smile, as he looked Stain in the eyes, it nearly made him weep.

Stain faltered, not knowing quite what to say. His jaw was slack, voice on the edge of speaking, when All Might surrendered his consciousness. He caught his falling hand, placing it gently back by his side.

"Ash," Stain said, wiping at his face, "if he wakes up... or if anything looks like it's going wrong with him, make sure he gets help."

The last of the 'Volcano crew' frowned, hand on one hip. "I'm not going with you?"

Toga shook her head. "Someone's gotta stay here and keep an eye on 'im, and sadly yer the only one we can spare."

Stain moved to stand in front of a mirror, eyeing his tattered costume over as Ash replied. "Fine by me, I wasn't looking to add another heist to my record before fleeing the country anyway."

The half-human tore at the upper layer of his costume, removing all but the lowest layer and the vest that held his knives. "Shame," Dabi remarked, "I was hoping you'd stick around."

Ash chuckled. "Well, you could always come with."

"If I survive this, my number wont change." He said, if his voice was anything to go by, he would probably be blushing if his face wasn't so scarred. "Gimme a call, and I might just follow."

Rolling his eyes, Stain, grabbed some bandages from Overhaul's belt and set to wrapping them around his arms, careful not to overlap his gloves. Finding something missing from his reflection, he reached for a long, strand of tattered, red cloth and slung it around his neck like a scarf. Then he reached for the mask, the mask of Stendhal, hanging from his belt but stayed his hand.

No. No, he'd had his fill of fools running around in masks. So he turned back to his reflection and nodded approvingly. Exactly the sort of thing a man named 'Stain' should be wearing. "Toga, Dabi," they turned to him, meeting his gaze expectantly, "are you ready for the grand finale?"

Toga grinned, assuming the shape and face of All Might. "Yes... I am here! Ready to reshape society!"

When Dabi merely nodded, Stain took another, rattling puff of his inhaler. "Then it looks like we've got an opening day to crash." Turning to the door, striding outside, he drew his sword.

See you in the final battle, Guren... little brother.

"Little angel go away,
the devil has my ear today..."