Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

A couple that will go down in legend

Chapter twenty-four: Carney Chaos, part three

Both Bakugo and Akuma were surprised by the combat capabilities of Raijin Striker. The bulky, electric quirk man grinned in sadistic amusement as he fired a bolt of lightning that was blocked by a Hellfire Wall that Akuma had conjured up to protect Bakugo from getting hit. Right as he made that wall of black flames, Akuma spewed a Devil's Breath at Raijin, but that was dodged when Raijin, his feet cloaked in electricity, leapt to his side by about a meter.

The explosive teen fired an AP Shot: Auto Cannon, sending many shots right at Raijin. Some of the shots were dodged, but Raijin ended up taking one or two. Granted, they were all to areas that didn't result in crippling the man's combat capabilities, but Bakugo was the first of Raijin's opposition to land a hit on him. Akuma followed it up soon after as, while Raijin was stunned for a moment due to being hit, he struck the electrical quirk man with a Burning Mark.

Recovering as he stood about a meter away, Raijin let out an amused laugh. "Well now, ain't this something!" Raijin laughed in sadistic amusement, "You little guys are actually making me work up a sweat! And here I thought that all of you U.A. brats were going to be total pushovers like what the boss told me and the lads that Uraraka girl would be!" With an indifferent scoff, Raijin added, "It still pisses me off that you two let her get away before I could kill her."

"I still want answers about all of that, you bastard," Bakugo barked, an annoyed snarl on his face, "Why does that boss of yours want Round Face dead?"

"And who is this boss of yours that had you all storm U.A. in the middle of our school festival that Azu-Daioh High came over to see?" Akuma demanded more than asked, his tone and expression making it clear that he was in no mood to be led around in circles.

The bulky, electrical quirk man only laughed, the force of his laughing making his form shake ever so slightly. "You little guys still have to try and beat the answers that you all want out of me, you know," Raijin pointed out, "I won't go saying nothing to either of you two until you two both knock me unconscious." Since what Raijin said wouldn't work anyway since he can't talk if he's unconscious, Bakugo and Akuma both resolved to simply beat him into submission, capture him, and interrogate the man. If Raijin still wouldn't spill then, then they'd just hand him over to local law enforcement and have them make him talk.

There was no way, not after all that Raijin and the other men in his group did while attacking U.A. during their school festival with Azu-Daioh High, that Bakugo or Akuma would allow him to get away without consequence or without giving them what they want to know. Besides, they were both enjoying the fight against Raijin. No way were they going to stop just because he was refusing to talk.


Shoto Todoroki was alarmed when he spotted Dabi, as well as Dabi's fellows Spinner and Toga, on U.A. campus grounds while the large group of men aiming to kill Uraraka stormed the grounds themselves. The half-and-half boy then lost all worry and went right into the territory of being absolutely livid when he saw Dabi punch Reiko Yanagi in the side of her head with enough force to knock her out; the blue fire villain then picked Reiko up, slung her unconscious form over his right shoulder then, as he shot Todoroki a 'follow me' kind of look, turned around and went off into another area of U.A. grounds while Toga and Spinner scattered.

By no means was the youngest son of Endeavor going to allow Dabi to kidnap his crush. With more fury than he ever remembered ever feeling ever, Todoroki rushed right after Dabi, staying in hot pursuit of the blue fire villain. Dabi, despite carrying a student slung over his shoulder, was able to stay ahead of Todoroki the entire time. The half-and-half boy feared what Dabi had in mind for a girl as cute as Reiko, but said worry was slowly replaced with confusion when he realized that not only had Dabi yet to do anything to Reiko other than knock her out, but he was leading him (Todoroki) to as far of an edge on U.A. grounds as possible, as if the blue fire villain wanted Todoroki away from the siege.

"…Well now," Dabi said as he was in a wooded area on the edge of U.A. grounds. Setting the knocked out Reiko down on the ground in a sitting position with her back against a tree, Dabi straightened up right when Todoroki reached him. Turning around, Dabi spotted the youngest son of Endeavor, saw the enraged look of savage fury in the boy's eyes. "…It looks like I made the right guess on which girl here it was that you are smitten with," Dabi said as he, while facing Todoroki, aimed his (Dabi's) left palm in Reiko's direction. The hand became engulfed in the blue flames that the villain was known for.

Todoroki, upon seeing the blue flame villain taking aim at the cute ghost girl of class 1-B, went wide-eyed with alarm. "…Don't worry, Son of Endeavor," Dabi said, "So long as you do as I say, this girl here won't end up covered in skin as purple and wrinkly as the various patches all over my own body."

Todoroki was beyond disgusted with the villain standing before him; how dare he threaten the cutest girl that had ever lived! The half-and-half boy felt a burning need to do to Dabi what Bakugo regularly threatened to do to Izuku, only unlike with Bakugo, Todoroki was very much intending to actually act on said feelings. He was that mad at Dabi for going so far as to threaten class 1-B's resident ghost girl. Todoroki now understood how that gold fire guy back over in the States felt due to Mineta's actions.

…Still, with the girl who stole his heart in such immediate danger, Todoroki didn't dare try to do anything that would prompt Dabi to act on his threats. "…I assume that you decided to lead me on because of some beef that you have with my father," the half-and-half boy said as he tried with great effort to calm himself.

With a shrug, Dabi replied, "You can say that." The blue flames engulfing Dabi's left hand were willed out, bringing some measure of safety to the unconscious Reiko. Dabi turned slightly to that he was fully facing Todoroki, making sure his hostage was right behind him so that there would be no attempt by Todoroki to get her out of there. "…You could also say that I led you all the way here for your sake."

Todoroki's brows arched a bit out of a mix of piqued interest, curiosity, and sheer confusion. "You kidnapped the girl I have a crush on and used her as bait to lead me all the way over to this remote area on U.A. grounds…for my sake."

The blue flame villain nodded twice in confirmation. "Let's just say that…I have my reasons for wanting to make sure that you were kept away from all of the fighting." Gesturing to Todoroki, Dabi went on, "Oh, before you ask, no. I, as well as Spinner and Toga, are not part of the attack on your school. We're only here to do some of our own work."

"What sort of work is it?" Todoroki demanded more than asked.

Dabi merely shrugged in an indifferent manner. "To be honest, it's none of your business. But if it does make you feel better, none of us have any intention to kill anyone, much less physically harm anyone unless someone forces us to react in self-defense." Dabi jerked a thumb over his shoulder to point out the knocked out Reiko. "…I only did what I did with this girl here because of how I wanted to lead you away from all of the fighting."

"Which you claim you're doing for my sake."

Once more, the blue-flame villain nodded. "My interest in keeping you from all of the fighting isn't because you're a threat to what Toga, Spinner and I are up to. And I couldn't care less about the group aiming to kill the Uraraka girl; if that group fails their job to kill the girl, then it's no skin off my nose. I don't even care about the fact that their group and mine draw some income from the same benefactor."

Todoroki's eyes widened a bit more when he got that last bit from Dabi. "The League of Villains are working with the group trying to kill Uraraka?"

"It's the Paranormal Liberation Front now," Dabi informed the youngest son of Endeavor, "It's been like that after we absorbed the Meta Liberation Army." The blue flame villain gently shook his head. "And we aren't working with the group trying to kill your friend. We just happen to draw some of our respective income from the same benefactor. Our work and theirs don't mix."

Todoroki growled in annoyed anger as Dabi was leading him on. "…Since you say that your group and the group aiming to kill Uraraka are both paid by the same person, then do you know who this person is, or what the person looks like?"

"Ah ah, that would be telling," Dabi replied, wagging a finger in a 'nah ah ah' fashion. Todoroki was beyond angry that not only was he getting nothing that would help explain why there were a trio of villains on U.A. grounds while the group aiming to kill Uraraka were storming the place, but that Reiko was still in danger as Dabi was using her as a hostage. Todoroki wished that his father, the very hero that Dabi had a grudge against apparently, were able to follow along to help him rescue Reiko and potentially also capture and interrogate Dabi.

But the last that Todoroki, as well as a very much relieved Dabi, saw as they ran past where Endeavor was located, the Flame Hero was currently in the middle of fighting many of the men of the group that had stormed U.A. grounds. A few others, including some of the teachers, a few other pro heroes, and even some of the monster students from Azu-Daioh High, were also in that area fighting the men that stormed the school grounds, but Todoroki could tell that all of them would be too busy with what all that they were caught up in to follow the direction that he ran in so that he could go after Dabi.

Todoroki was on his own here.


Unlike with what they had to do when the hordes of Hirajo attacked the city a while ago, Endeavor and the other heroes, pro and student alike, did not have to forsake the one part of the heroes' code that said 'no killing'. A good number of the attacking men were defeated by the heroic persons defending U.A. grounds, with said persons glad that they weren't ordered/being forced to kill.

The various monster students from Azu-Daioh High, although they had nowhere near as many reservations when it came to killing, took a cue from the quirked heroes and refrained from taking lives themselves. Aizawa, after he knocked out and captured one of the grunts in the group that was attacking the school, saw an icy blue-haired boy run up to a girl with long pink hair and removed a cross attached to a choker around the girl's neck.

After this, the girl radiated a lot of energy as she underwent some manner of transformation where her hair turned silvery white and her…assets…grew in size a bit. The transformed girl then proceeded to roundhouse kick any and all of the attacking men that she came across as she occasionally said, "Know your place!" whenever she knocked out a man.

Aizawa said nothing of this, only focusing on his part in trying to help subdue and hopefully repel the attack this group was trying to carry out. However, both he and Sekijiro when the latter joined up with the former, expressed surprise when they saw some German looking boy over by a stall that Sato was running transform into the large red dragon that they remember seeing during the monster attack in the city; it was the same large red dragon that attacked and killed that Lovecraftian horror at one point.

"It's flying in the direction of the gymnasium!" Sekijiro said as he and Aizawa watched the dragon fly up and soar over the various building on U.A. grounds.

"Well it's helping us fight all of these men that stormed the grounds," Aizawa remarked as he turned to face another one of the attacking men. Quickly subduing said person, the underground hero looked around, more confused and slightly worried than angry. "Just who are all of these men?" Aizawa practically exclaimed, "Their group worries me, especially since not all of these men have quirks!"

A punch from Sekijiro knocked out another one of the attacking men, and after he took that man out, Sekijiro turned to face Aizawa. "You said that these men look like they're affiliated with the two from your class's field trip? The two men that tried to kill one of your female students?"

Aizawa, with a grunt, knocked out one of the attacking men with a punch to his face after ensnaring said man with his capturing weapon. "Exactly, and I for one would really like to know why this group is so keen on killing Uraraka!" The teachers of class 1-A and 1-B heard one of the attacking men yell out as he ran at them.

Looking over, Aizawa and Sekijiro saw a particularly tall and muscular man belonging to the attacking group charge right at them. Neither U.A. teacher had any idea which one of them was the charging man's target, but said man was cut off from charging at them when someone rushed in to get in the way. A punch to the gut from the person that rushed in made the charging man take pause as he coughed a bit.

As the charging man stumbled back a bit, Aizawa and Sekijiro recognized the person who had saved them as Aizawa's student Kirishima, who was in his Red Riot Unbreakable form. "You and Sekijiro-sensei alright, Aizawa-sensei?" Kirishima called out as, with his arms raised up in front of himself, he caught the charging man's overhead fist slam. The hardening quirk red-haired boy blocked a few more said fist slams before he caught both of the man's hands with his own, resulting in the two of them struggling against each other, pushing against one another as their fingers were locked.

At first, the charging man seemed to have the strength advantage over Kirishima. But not five seconds after the finger-locked struggle between the man and Kirishima began, the man began to cough and wheeze painfully, his breathing quickly becoming labored. He let go of Kirishima's hands as he stumbled back a few steps, fell to his knees, and fell over onto the ground, laying sprawled out as a few small mushrooms fell out of his open mouth. Similarly, mushrooms came out of the man's nostrils, each nostril clogged up by a mushroom stem.

"Are you okay, Eijiro?" Kinoko's voice called out, prompting Aizawa and Sekijiro to look over in the direction they heard class 1-B's resident mushroom girl call out from. Sure enough, the two U.A. teachers spotted Kinoko standing a ways away, using a stall as cover to make sure that the attacking men wouldn't be likely to spot her as she supported Kirishima from afar.

As Kirishima shot Kinoko a thumbs-up in thanks for the support, Aizawa and Sekijiro turned to face one another, impressed by the cooperation between students from their respective classes. Maybe the desire of Sekijiro's student Itsuka to see all of 1-A and 1-B get along was a valid thing for her to wish for.


"You little guys are going to go down right now!" Raijin shouted, something of an enraged snarl on his face, as he threw some electricity at Bakugo and Akuma as their battle in the gymnasium raged on. Despite how the efforts of the two U.A. boys were entertaining at first, Raijin was still expecting them to roll over and be easy wins for him. So it goes without saying that since the two of them were not only being hard for him to take down, but were actually doing a fair bit of damage to him, the bulky, electrical quirk man was starting to lose some of his temper.

Raijin's mistake of losing his cool actually benefited Bakugo and Akuma; he was getting sloppy in his form, allowing the two boys to score more and more hit on him while avoiding more and more of his own attacks. He may still be one of the single strongest opponents that either of the two destructive boys may have ever faced, but now Raijin was starting to prove to be nothing more than just another villain for the explosive teen and the Satanist of U.A. to take down, catch and interrogate for answers.

Akuma ran around while Bakugo stayed in front of Raijin. This way, while Bakugo fired a lot of shots from his AP Shot: Auto-Cannon on Raijin's front, Akuma was able to strike his back with a Blazing Pentagram. The attacks the two boys launched while flanking Raijin worked well as a pincer attack, and soon enough, the bulky, electrical quirk man fell forward, landing on his left palm and right knee in something of a kneeling positon.

Bakugo, still keeping his right hand aimed at Raijin, walked forward towards the kneeling man while Akuma remained where he stood to attack from a distance if need be. "Your bullshit that you and all of your little buttfuck buddies attacking U.A. are trying to pull off ends here, fucker," the explosive teen snarled, "Now, your sorry ass will surrender to me and the Devil prick, and you will spill all that we want to know from you." As Bakugo threatened him, Raijin actually let out a laugh.

Bakugo looked confused, but he soon got the idea when Akuma yelled for him to get back while jumping back himself. Bakugo was barely able to avoid getting hit by a dome-shaped burst of electricity that exploded from Raijin as he quickly stood back up, albeit with some struggle. It was clear that the bulky, electrical quirk man was nowhere near ready to go down. He aimed his right hand at Bakugo and his left at Akuma behind him as he discharged bolts of electricity from both palms, making both boys scramble to get out of the way.

"If you little guys think I'm going down, then you got another thing coming!" Both U.A. students scoffed in annoyance as they realized that they were going to have to beat this guy up some more if they were going to defeat and capture him for good.


Izuku and the others outside of the gymnasium, despite how they had defeated a number of the men in the group that was in the middle of raiding U.A., were struggling a bit if only due to the sheer numbers that the attacking group came with. Tenya noted that not all of the men that he and his fellow students were fighting had quirks, leading him to conclude that the attacking group was a mixed criminal-villain organization that all worked for a common cause, a cause that both Tenya and Izuku knew to their regret was to kill their friend Uraraka.

"This is looking bad, Midoriya!" Tenya yelled over where he had just knocked out another one of the attacking men, "We'll get overrun at this rate!"

"Tell me something-" Izuku yelled back, pausing to punch and knock out one of the men himself, "-I don't know!"

The fighting went on for a few more seconds like that, but all came to a stop when the large red dragon that Aizawa and Sekijiro spotted flew over the area outside of the U.A. gymnasium. "Humans of U.A. High School!" the dragon called out as it flew overhead, his words (the dragon sounded very much male) laced with Germany, "Do you need assistance?"

Everyone had stopped short when they saw the dragon, and the attacking group paled a bit when the dragon declared that it was here to back up the U.A. students. Said students themselves were a bit too stunned to react right away, but Izuku quickly shook his head as he looked up at the dragon. "Yes! We can very much use whatever help we can get! All of the men that are dressed the same are here to try and kill me and Tenya's friend Uraraka!"

The dragon snorted in disgust as he eyed some of the attacking men. He then cast his gaze back at the green-haired cinnamon roll. "So that is why this invading force stormed your school," the dragon said as he flew in place overhead, "I did not know the reason until now. Very well." The dragon then landed with a mildly ground-shaking thud, its tail twitching slightly in a manner to suggest that the dragon was going to spin around in place to strike people with the tail.

Izuku, Tenya and the other U.A. students in that area all fell to the ground and laid there right before the dragon spun around in place, smacking a good number of the attacking men. One of the men foolishly tried running up to the dragon and attack him from the front, but the dragon merely brushed him aside with the back of his right front hand, doing so with enough force to send him reeling back a bit.

The U.A. students who saw this were surprised to see that the dragon was clearly aiming not to kill anyone. Curious, Tenya spoke up as he laid on the ground. "You aren't trying to kill any of these men." It was more a statement than a curious inquiry.

"My friends and I in our school's newspaper club, as well as all other monster students from Azu-Daioh High, are respecting the no-killing policy you heroic lot like to live by as we lend aid in stopping this invading force," the dragon explained. He caught one of the attacking men with his right front hand, picked him up somewhat, and then threw him to the ground, keeping his right hand on him to keep the man pinned. The dragon looked up from his prisoner and over to where the class 1-A rep was just now starting to get up from where he laid on the ground. With an amused smirk, the dragon said, "…Also, I would like to thank you for sending me in the direction of your classmate Sato. His sweets were simply delicious."

Tenya, as he thought about it, suddenly went wide-eyed with realization. "You're that German boy that was in the group of boys from your school's newspaper club!" Tenya exclaimed. The class 1-A rep, as well as Izuku and the other U.A. students in that area, all looked over at the dragon, who to those who knew the truth realized that it was the true monster form of Azu-Daioh High student Draco Fireswarm.

The dragon confirmed with a nod that he was indeed Draco, right before he tossed the man he held pinned with his right hand over to a slight concentration of U.A. students. The fighting went on for a bit outside of the U.A. gymnasium, but with the arrival of a dragon backing them up, Izuku and his fellow students felt renewed hope in their struggles against this invading force of men that stormed U.A. in their efforts to murder the innocent gravity girl, for reasons that none of them still know anything about.


Bakugo and Akuma were struggling as their fight against Raijin dragged on. Sure, the bulky, electrical quirk man was running on fumes by this point, but the same wasn't exactly untrue of the explosive teen and the Satanist of U.A. "Hot *huff* *huff* fucking damn," Bakugo panted in exhaustion as he, Akuma and Raijin were all starting to wear out, "This fucker *huff* just won't quit, now *huff* will he?"

"You're holding *huff* back to avoid damaging the *huff* *huff* gymnasium like I am, right?" Akuma called out as he tried catching his breath. Similar to Bakugo, Akuma was also exhausted, not to mention he and Bakugo had finally taken a few hits each from Raijin.

"Don't want *huff* fucking Four-Eyes to give *huff* me an earful!" Bakugo called back as he pulled off a small, regular explosion that grazed Raijin's left flank.

The Satanist of U.A., raising both of his hands up and aimed towards Raijin while said hands were engulfed in black flames. "I have an idea on *huff* how to stop this *huff* bastard, but it'll require us to *huff* *huff* suspend P.E. classes here until the gymnasium's *huff* rebuilt."

Bakugo, realizing that Akuma's plan was basically the two of them going all out with their attacks, holding nothing back without any care of the collateral damage that would result, could not help but let out an amused grin. "…I never really liked P.E. anyway."

The two high-tempered boy proceeded to unleash a barrage of their respective attacks onto Raijin, holding nothing back and allowing their respective power to run roughshod all over their impromptu battlefield in the gymnasium. The ceiling overhead was slammed by black flames and explosions, the hard tile floor was busted and cracked, and things all over the place began to catch on fire with black flames.

Raijin, although he normally would have been amused by his opponents finally letting loose, was being tossed around like a rag doll by the explosive teen and the Satanist of U.A. Sure, the two boys were totally wrecking the gymnasium in the process of beating Raijin, but given how much of an effort the bulky, electrical quirk man was giving, how much of a pain in the rear he was for the two boys to defeat, it could be very easily argued that such force, such savagery was needed in order to finally defeat Raijin.

Finally, after a Howitzer Impact to his front and a Hail Satan to his back, Raijin was finally knocked out, falling to his knees before falling over face-first and passing out. Bakugo and Akuma, victorious at last, allowed their respective exhaustion to overtake the two of them. They both fell over backwards, landing on their respective rear ends as they caught their breath. Bakugo pumped his right fist up into the air as he let out an exhausted cheer of victory; Bakugo was more worn out than he was when he had defeated Akuma back in the tournament between U.A. and Vulcan, and the Satanist himself had helped him beat Raijin just now.

Bakugo, despite being himself, could not help but worry about how there was someone so powerful out there.

The two exhausted U.A. boys were panting as they tried catching their breath, but they stopped short when they saw two known villains, Toga and Spinner, enter the gymnasium. "Oh, looky here, Spinner!" Toga gushed in psychotic delight, "Two busted up boys! They would both look much better if they were both bleeding, don't you think?"

"Toga, no," Spinner said firmly, "Our objective here is only to do recon. No killing or otherwise getting into fights unless we can't help it." Looking over where the knocked out Raijin laid on the busted up gymnasium floor as the gymnasium itself was starting to go up in flames, the lizard man let out a mildly disappointed scoff. "Although the objective of Raijin and the rest of his group goes against the will of Stain, it would be bad if he were captured and interrogated by the heroes. That would end up leading to big trouble for the benefactor that funnels funds to both their group and the Front."

Bakugo and Akuma were unsure of what to make of what Spinner was saying, but they both went wide-eyed in alarm when Toga, acting on her own, rushed over and slashed the throat of the knocked-out Raijin. This action from the psychotic school girl likewise drew an alarmed look out of Spinner. "Toga, you idiot!" Spinner snapped, "I was going to say that we ought to collect Raijin while the hero kids here were too exhausted to stop us! There was no need to kill him!"

Toga's look when Spinner told her of what he had in mind was a clear sign that she was embarrassed. "…Oops."

Letting out an exasperated, frustrated sigh that sounded long suffering, Spinner merely shook his head. "Just forget it. He wasn't one of the Front, so it's ultimately no skin of our noses." The lizard man jerked his head for Toga to follow him. Understanding the cue, Toga dashed over to Spinner and followed him out of the burning gymnasium, getting away from the worn out and exhausted Bakugo and Akuma as a result.

Bakugo and Akuma were beyond stunned that they had seen a villain just up and kill someone right in front of them. Despite their respective natures, and despite Bakugo himself having killed a few warmongers during the monster attack a while ago (despite the airs that he was putting on at the time, Bakugo truly was not one for killing, much like all other heroes), the two teen boys were still shocked to see someone killed right in front of them. Akuma even leaned to his side a bit to throw up.

It was on the scene of the gymnasium going up in flames, with an exhausted Bakugo and an exhausted Akuma who had just thrown up sitting before the corpse of Raijin, that Izuku, Tenya and a few other U.A. students rushed into the gymnasium, aided by some of the monster students from Azu-Daioh High. Izuku collected Bakugo while Azu-Daioh High werewolf student Ginei Morioka collected Akuma.

As Bakugo and Akuma were escorted out of the burning gymnasium, they saw Ginei's friend Draco rush in. A few moments later, they saw him rush back out while carrying Raijin's remains. He threw the remains on the ground, transformed into a large red dragon (Bakugo and Akuma were surprised in the process), and proceeded to breath a highly concentrated fire breath on the body. Never before had either boy seen true dragon's fire in action, and Akuma knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that his black flames weren't quite at such a level of power.

Eventually, Draco's breath attack on Raijin's remains had ceased; to the shock of most, all that remained of Raijin were charred bones. Ginei explained to the questioning U.A. students that what Draco did was an effort to make sure any persons capable of raising the dead wouldn't be able to do much of anything with Raijin, now that nothing of him but bones were left. Draco, with a large draconic fist, even proceeded to grind the skeleton into a fine, powdery dust, truly making Raijin no more.

Those from the realm of monsters take disposing of the remains of those who were not to be raised from the dead very seriously, it seemed.


Due to the attack on U.A. High School, the festival had to be canceled until enough of the school was repaired. Despite what Principal Nezu worried about, the event actually helped to build some degree of camaraderie between the students of U.A. and Azu-Daioh High. After all of the messy business had been taken care of, Nezu called for an overview meeting with all of the U.A. staff members.

Holding up a printed copy of the report, Nezu said, "All of the men who attacked U.A. but were knocked out were captured and brought in for questioning." Setting the file down, the quirked animal principal continued with a troubled sigh, "Unfortunately, the only one from the group that attacked U.A. who knew any details that could help us was Raijin Striker, and he was killed by a member of the League according to Bakugo and Giratina."

"The commission will probably want to do some headhunting," Snipe remarked as he sat in his chair at the meeting table, his arms crossed over his chest. The marksman pro hero gently shook his head in a manner that conveyed disappointment. "I couldn't honestly fault them if that ended up being the case. After all, the attack on U.A. grounds not only endangered the students of our school, but also those of Azu-Daioh High, not to mention all of the various civilians that visited the grounds during the festival."

"No need to worry your head about that, Snipe," Nemuri called out over where she sat at the meeting table, getting everyone to look over to her. She straightened up some papers that she had sitting in front of her by picking them up and tapping the bottoms of them against her spot at the meeting table before setting said papers back down. "The commission, while still upset that the attack happened at all, isn't holding it against us because this is the first time that the group of men had ever made a move like this. The commission's official statement on the matter is that no one had any way at all to predict something like this."

"Nemuri's words hold true," Sekijiro remarked, "Likewise, the commission won't hold our lack of being able to repel the force of attacking men against us too much due to the sheer number of men that attacked at a time when there was no reason to assume that we'd have to be exactly ready to get into a scrape." The homeroom teacher of class 1-B let out a resigned sigh before he went on. "…However, the commission is taking steps to deal with the future so that events like the attack on U.A., as well as the recent monster attack, won't be as big of an issue as said events that I had just mentioned."

Aizawa, from where he sat between Nezu and Toshinori, nodded in agreement. "The commission is already working on making an alliance with the various forces that aided us pro heroes during the recent monster attack led by the now deceased monster warlord Hirajo," the underground hero said as he gave a printed report copy he held a light smack with the back of his right hand, "With skilled individuals like that, the future is all that more assured."

"The commission also wants the hero students to do another round of internships under pro heroes again," Higari pointed out, "This is all the more important for Aizawa's and Sekijiro's respective classes, as they now number twenty-five each as opposed to twenty each like it was before all of the recent changes."

"The Big Three are unavailable to take part in the internships, so that will give the total of ten new kids in 1-A and 1-B more of a chance to shine," Hizashi remarked, gesturing to his fellows at the meeting table. The pro hero Present Mic focused specifically on Aizawa and Sekijiro when he gestured in their direction. "A good number of pro heroes are already aware of this emergency round of internships, actually, and some specific pros are interested in specific students in your respective classes."

Hearing this piqued the interest of both Aizawa and Sekijiro, with the latter even saying, "Oh? So some of me and Aizawa's respective brats are already being scouted?" Aizawa was just as surprised, if not more so, than his co-worker in 1-B. However, the underground hero was much better at keeping the airs he gave off stoic.

Hizashi nodded twice in confirmation before he picked up some papers lying in front of him at his place at the meeting table. "Endeavor still intends to grab his son Shoto, as well as Bakugo and Midoriya." Looking up from his papers, Hizashi gave a look of mild amusement. "But he has been vouching for Giratina to various pros looking to get some interns from here at U.A. From what I was told, Gang Orca is strongly considering taking Giratina on as an intern, as the two of them are similar in being villainous looking heroes who are still very much heroic."

Aizawa and Sekijiro, the latter having come to appreciate the strength of Akuma's character, were glad that the current number one pro hero was giving his word on one of the newer students in U.A.'s hero course; after all that Akuma had faced came to light, the two pros were very much worried that, despite the true goodly nature of the Satanist of U.A., that he wouldn't do so well due to a good many people holding conventional standards. And with Gang Orca a very strong contender to take Akuma on as an intern, even Aizawa felt his heart soar at the good news.

And this says nothing of Toshinori, who had always thought nothing but good for the black flame quirk boy. The former symbol of peace had known all along that Akuma truly possessed the heart of a hero, and he felt that it was about high time for Akuma to start receiving the recognition that had long since been due to him. Toshinori turned to face Hizashi, the smile on the former number one pro hero's face unhideable. "It's good to hear that so many of our kids here are already being scouted by pros. It shows that their futures as pros themselves are bright and all but assured."

"Any other notable pros interested in any of Aizawa's or Sekijiro's students?" Nemuri asked, her tone seventy percent curious and thirty percent excited.

Hizashi nodded once as he picked his papers back up to scan through what all he had. "Ryukyu is interested in employing Aizawa's girls Uraraka and Asui as interns, just like last time."

"Ryukyu wants Uraraka as an intern again?" Sekijiro asked, "Despite how she's currently got a blatantly obvious target on her back?" The homeroom teacher of 1-B leaned forward slightly, his elbows resting on the table, as he looked at the pro hero Present Mic. "Uraraka was targeted for assassination not just during 1-A's recent field trip to the States, but in the attack on U.A. just now when all of those men stormed school grounds."

"Keep in mind that Ryukyu is one of Japan's top ranked pro heroes," Aizawa pointed out, "And if the Hero Billboard Chart predictions that were made just after the defeated monster attack on the city end up true, then Ryukyu will see a very considerable jump in placement on the charts when the official list drops in a month and a half." Crossing his arms over his chest, Aizawa had a look of being assured on his face. "I can trust Ryukyu with Uraraka's safety."

A lot of the U.A. staff sitting at the table all nodded in agreement; the recent monster attack not only gave the pro heroes as a whole a considerable and much-needed boost in trust and faith from the public, but it also did well to garner a lot of positive attention for certain individual pro heroes. So much so that the predictions that Hizashi mentioned had to be drawn up, and hoo boy, do the predictions have a lot to say.

Some pro heroes, such as Hawks and Kamui Woods, are actually predicted to go down a number or two in the rankings, due to how they showed some reluctance to vanquish the warmongers during the aforementioned monster attack. Mirko is also predicted to go down a rank, but that was due to a very small but very vocal group of small-minded parents who think Mirko's choice in her outfit makes her an ill-suited role model for small children; said parents are demanding that Mirko 'needs to outfit herself more modestly', as they put it.

However, just as there are a small number of pro heroes predicted to go down a rank or two, there are a good higher number that are predicted to go up in the ranks. A notable example of this is Mt. Lady, who is predicted to rise up to the number fifteen position; Edgeshot is predicted to go up to the number three spot, and the aforementioned Gang Orca is predicted to go up to the number ten spot, regaining a position as one of the top ten pro heroes.

But the most lauded example of the predictions is Ryukyu. She's predicted to go from number ten to number two, ranking just below Endeavor who is, as expected, predicted to retain his position as number one. The Dragoon Hero's success in this field is attributed to the fact that out of all pro heroes that fought against the monster attack, she vanquished two and a half times more warmongers than Endeavor himself, who had the second-highest count from the attack. It also helped that Ryukyu's ability to transform into a dragon helps to deter various groups of evil monsters, like the hordes of Hirajo, from acting up.

Hizashi gave the papers he held a smack with the back of his hand. "Ryukyu was a bit disappointed when she was informed that she couldn't take on Nejiri as an intern again since she was unavailable," Hizashi remarked, "But the staff that talked to her when she came by to scout some interns provided her with a list of what all students were available. Given how much clout Ryukyu has thanks to her efforts in stopping the monster attack, the people who send the interns out to learn from pros are very much interested in keeping Ryukyu's staff of interns full."

Aizawa arched a wry eyebrow as he looked over at Present Mic. "She can grab up to three interns, so aside from Uraraka and Asui who you already mentioned, is there anyone else that Ryukyu had expressed interest in?"

Hizashi could only smirk a bit in amusement as he regarded his co-worker, pointing at him with his right index finger. "…She's got to be rather fond of your girls, Aizawa, because the third intern that Ryukyu expressed interest in is Sirknight."

"Loukar's foster daughter, eh?" the underground hero remarked. He nodded once while his arms were crossed over his chest. "…Yup. That sounds about right."

"Fat Gum is also interested in grabbing Kirishima again," Hizashi remarked, "And while Fat Gum was a bit sad when informed that Tamaki was unavailable, he lit back up when Sekijiro's girl Itsuka recommended to him that he take Komori with him and Kirishima."

Aizawa and especially Sekijiro perked up a bit in piqued interest when their loud co-worker told them of that bit. "…Kirishima and Komori?" Aizawa remarked in a curious tone, "That seems like an odd pair of interns for Fat Gum to take."

"But you were there with me when we saw those two work perfectly in taking down that one attacking man together," Sekijiro pointed out. Aizawa conceded to Sekijiro's point, nodding twice in agreement.

"There's just one other point that I believe we ought to cover," Nezu said to all of the U.A. staff members present, "What Aizawa's students Bakugo and Todoroki, as well as Sekijiro's student Giratina, said about known members of the League showing up during the attack."

Toshinori let out a resigned sigh, having had a feeling that the talk of the conversation during the meeting would eventually shift from the large group of attacking men to the presence of actual straight up villains on U.A. grounds. "…From what the boys said," Toshinori began, "The trio of villains that were on U.A. grounds during the recent attack are now referring to their group as the Front, whatever that means."

Nemuri nodded once before she spoke up. "We also got it that despite being on U.A. grounds while that group of men stormed the school in their efforts to find and kill Aizawa's student Uraraka, the trio of villains were not part of the attack, and were merely trying to do some recon before making themselves scarce."

"The villain known as Toga killed Raijin Striker, who we gathered led the attack of the large group of men on U.A.," Higari pointed out, "Before he could be captured and interrogated by us heroes. And the villain known as Dabi knocked out Sekijiro's girl Yanagi and carried her around to bait Aizawa's boy Todoroki away from all the fighting, but otherwise did nothing to cause any harm to anyone. Dabi was not even intending to harm Todoroki himself."

"Todoroki, Bakugo and Giratina also all said something about how the group that the villains belongs to draws funding from the same benefactor of the group of men that are aiming to kill Uraraka for whatever reason," Aizawa said, his fingers locked as his elbows rested on the table. The underground hero rested his chin on his locked fingers as he looked around at his fellow U.A. staff members. "This means that there are not only two big groups in play, but there is also a third party in play as well, pulling some strings from behind the scenes."

Toshinori slammed his spot at the meeting table with his fist, using as much effort as he could muster in his weakened form. "This whole mess seems like it stinks of All for One," the former symbol of peace swore vengefully, "But we know full well that there is no way that he could be involved in anything at all right now."

Some of the other U.A. staff members started muttering in something of a panic, but Nezu got all of them to calm down. "Settle down, everyone, settle down." Once the others at the meeting table had calmed down, the quirked animal principal began to speak his piece. "All of the trouble as of late, and some of it from those who do not possess quirks, is all the more reason why we need to push ahead with this emergency round of internships. Not only are we in more of a need than ever for as many heroes as we can muster up, but said heroes need as much experience and tutelage as can be provided to them."

The teachers all agreed with Nezu, and soon the decision was made unanimously for the emergency round of internships to go full steam ahead. Some of the staff members were even glad that notable pro heroes had scouted out the students of Aizawa and Sekijiro for internships, as this meant that the brats would be under not just the best training, but for some of the teens who needed it (like Uraraka), the best protection as well. Despite all of the trouble as of late, things were starting to seem to be on the pickup.

Hopefully, things would remain this way.

END, CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Author's notes;

Well, the attack on U.A. by that group of men aiming to kill Uraraka for the as of yet unknown benefactor was ultimately foiled. Furthermore, Akuma was able to show just how much of a hero he can be when not under the thumb of a principal that cares more for glory and prestige than for actually letting her students be actual heroes. But the presence of Dabi, Toga and Spinner on U.A. grounds, despite none of them being part of the attack, leaves a lot of folks feeling uneasy, especially since the heroes learned that the villains' group and the group trying to kill Uraraka both draw funding from the same benefactor. What this means for the future of the heroes, as well as their non-quirked allies, will be filled out in the times to come.

Anyway, the next chapter will see some of the work done during the emergency round of internships. Granted, it will focus mainly on Endeavor taking Izuku, Todoroki and Bakugo to one of the businesses owned by Yaoyorozu's family because of some threats made against said business, but the reason being is that it will be the setting of a character's in-story debut, given that his dad works at said business and the heroes' visit just so happens to fall on the business's 'take your child to work day'. The character who will be showing up in-story in the next chapter will have a bigger role to play than what a lot of you will expect, so keep an eye out for what he will get up to in the times to come.

Ribbit.