After watching Bakugo leave, All Might turns to the group inside. "I won't pretend I didn't just hear all of that." He walks inside, leaving Inko Midoriya to watch from the door. "Young miss… It sounds like the real reason you haven't stood up to him is a lack of confidence."
She stares at him. All Might was the number one hero, someone whose experience stands absolute over hers. And regardless of whether he's in his muscular or shriveled form, just looking at him, listening to him, she feels compelled to draw him.
"You registered as quirkless when you applied to UA. Even your parents seem to think you are… This goes back farther than Taka Nobita… While I don't agree with how he said it, Bakugo kid had a point. It's a shame you've never seen the value of your own quirk, and I can't imagine the pain it's caused you… But now you have a choice to make. You can keep doing what you've always done, or you can change."
Her eyes widen. "…But… what if… I can't?"
Midoriya understands where she's coming from, having been truly quirkless all her life. Being afraid that nothing would change, that no matter how much you wanted to change things, the impossible would always be impossible. And desperately holding on to hope, even when things were hopeless.
"Whether you can or can't," he continues, "Is something you'll have to find out for yourself. But you won't know until you take the leap."
Rose wants to take his words to heart, but she's still scared. What if she really can't? What if she messes everything up for everyone? What if Katsuki Bakugo is right? That she'll ruin everything?
"Omoda-senpai," Midoriya snaps her out of it. Midoriya thinks about the horror and the fear she herself endured about a week ago, what she finally remembers now. She thinks about that moment being multiplied over years. She thinks about the crushing guilt that would come with knowing she helped cause innocent people to suffer the same fear she did. And she thinks about how despite all that, Rose is still standing, like an unbreakable wall, or a lightning rod, doing her best to protect whoever she can reach by drawing all the pain to herself.
Someone like that is nothing but strong in Midoriya's eyes.
"You can do it."
It wasn't a question. Midoriya didn't hesitate. Her eyes stare dead into Rose's, and they don't falter. Rose stares back… and slowly feels her fear melt away. "…Okay… Please rely on me."
Midoriya smiles confidently. "We will. We'll need your strength."
Strength. Midoriya-kun thinks she's strong. No one had ever told her that. Not Taka, not even her parents, not anyone… But to hear it just once from the one person she believes in, the person who's truly strong in her eyes…
All Might can see it. He can see the hope returning to her as her eyes well with tears. The hope he had given to Midoriya kid that day, "You can be a hero," being passed on from his successor to a desperate soul crying out for help. He smiles. There you go, kid. That's how to be a hero.
After that, the dam that Rose used to constantly restrain herself seems to totally burst.
"Samantha Gardener is without a doubt Taka's weakness. Whatever plan we make should stem from that. I don't have any good ideas with my quirk, and I'd rather not use it, but if anyone has any ideas, I'll tell you if I think it would work. I know Taka better than anyone." Everyone in the room suddenly brightens around her, and the conversation starts to flow with that bright energy.
Ideas like guilting him with the memories she'd stored or returning those memories to their owners as testimony against him won't work. It won't be enough to get a confession. Even if the whole world turns against him, he'll lie through his teeth and insist he's innocent. Just the thought makes Midoriya's blood boil all over again.
"So Taka Nobita can't be tricked. We can't guilt-trip him. Or catch him off guard. Or attack him directly. What other option is there?" she ponders.
Even Aizawa can't come up with anything at this rate. A picture of the real Taka Nobita becomes clear. He's a ruthless snake who lures people into trusting him, takes advantage of that trust, and then pretends to be a victim if he's ever called out on it.
"…Did you say he had some kind of philosophy?"
"Ah. Yes," Rose answers, "He… believes there's no such thing as real heroes. That people who claim to be heroes are only saying that because they're afraid they'll become villains if they don't."
Midoriya adds, "He said he attacked Samantha Gardener after he confessed to her, and she didn't feel the same way. Before that, he said he wanted to be a hero. Samantha Gardener was a turning point for him."
"I believe… she's probably the only person he ever really loved. That's why she's his weakness."
"I… I wish she could be here right now… If it were her, maybe she could get him to stop…"
"…Probably… But it's because she died that he started doing these things."
"…Wait," Aizawa mulls over it, "Did he start after he raped her or after she died?"
Rose had never asked herself that. "I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, it was probably after she died. Before that, he might've still had hope things could change between them."
"…So he doesn't believe in heroes because we couldn't stop her from dying?"
"That's one way to look at it. I think maybe he blames heroes for what happened and for giving him false hope."
"So he…" Midoriya, thinking out loud, "Wants to make heroes look like the bad guys for being unable to save everyone?" Rose doesn't answer, and they know that means "yes". "That kind of thing… That won't work! Heroes won't stop trying! We wouldn't be heroes if we just gave up! I do… feel awful about the people we couldn't save from him, but that doesn't mean we can't do something now! That doesn't mean he's invincible! He's just a villain, and just like any other villain, it's a hero's job to take him down!"
As Rose watches Midoriya's protest, a thought, like a light bulb appearing, flashes through her mind. "Th-That… That's right!" They all turn to her. "Taka believes he can crush anyone with his philosophy. He believes he's right because he only ever explains it to people who are weaker than him." She draws on her own experience and the memories she's collected from his victims. "They can't fight back, so they assume he must be right. But… if someone he thought he crushed, someone weaker than him stands up to him, he won't be able to resist trying to prove himself again! And if he does-"
"We'll catch him in the act!" Midoriya finishes.
"Wait a minute," Aizawa interjects. "So attacking him head on or getting him to casually admit to it when his guard is down won't work, but you think directly challenging his beliefs will? Won't he think you're baiting him?"
"He will," Rose answers. "But knowing him, he'll take the risk. He's not afraid of getting caught or even dying… but I think he is afraid of losing… And to him, 'losing' means letting a woman think she's stronger than him."
"…In that case," Midoriya continues, "I'll be the bait." She looks determined, even as she trembles at the thought of it.
"Eh? No! That's too dangerous, Midoriya-kun. I'll do it. He thinks I'm still afraid of him. I… always have been, so there's no way he'd expect it fro-"
"It can't be you, Omoda-senpai." Rose blinks at her. "…Kacchan was right about one thing. Your quirk is stronger than his, and he knows it. If you stand up to him, it'll just look like a fight between two powerful students with quirks… The bait has to be someone with absolutely no chance of winning in a fight." Midoriya continues to tremble in fear, like she regrets every word coming out of her own mouth. "I'm the only victim besides you who knows the truth about him… It has to be me." The decision is final. Any other word in protest would disrespect her resolve.
Aizawa understands that, but he's still dissatisfied. Midoriya has always been too self-sacrificing. "And? So you bait him, he attacks you, and we all sit back and do nothing?"
She can tell from her teacher's glare that that's an unacceptable plan.
"No!" Uraraka interjects. She'd only just barely been following the discussion, everyone else being a lot better at making plans than she is. "Then… Omoda-senpai! Then you swoop in and attack him and save Deku-kun!"
"…Eh?" Midoriya gawps at her.
"You know! Take his memories or something!"
Rose blinks at her.
"I-Is that not a good plan? I just thought… after all he's done to you… If Deku-kun has to be the bait and can't really fight back… You deserve to get the last hit in! Show him you're not weak! That you're not afraid of him anymore!" Uraraka punches the air energetically.
"O-Oh…" Midoriya breathes, still a little unsure. She turns to look at Rose's reaction. And pauses.
A slight blush on Rose's cheeks, her eyes wide and glowing with anticipation, like she'd never thought of that before, like she'd been waiting her whole life for this chance, the chance to finally face her fears. And slowly, Midoriya's fear melts away too.
"Then it's decided."