Chapter 20 Support Group Part 3

"Welcome back everyone!" Kuro chirped excitedly, Eri riding his shoulders as he opened the door, letting everyone in. Dabi, Twice, Spinner, Mr. Compress, Magne, Toga, Mustard, and Inko walked in. "Take a seat."

The nine walked in and took their seats. "Now, I'm sure you noticed that there are two empty seats," Kuro said, gesturing two the empty couch. "I'm happy to announce that we have two new members!"

"You seem… overly excited about this," Dabi said, an annoyed expression on his face as Inko put a tray of cookies on the couch. "That can't be good."

"You'd be right, my dear friend," Kuro said as he placed Eri on his lap, grabbing a cookie. "First off, we have Shimura Nana."

Nana walked into the room and waved at everyone before taking a seat. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Kuro has said a lot of good things."

Before anyone can speak up, Kuro cut them off. "Our second member is someone you should all know by now," Kuro said as the door open. The group's jaw dropped as Stain walked into the room, minus the weapons. "I believe he needs no introduction."

"This was not my idea," Stain grumbled as he took his seat next to Nana.

"What-" Spinner turned his head to his idol, then back at Kuro. "How the hell did you do this?"

"Trade secret/blackmail," Kuro and stain said at the same time, causing all heads to turn to Kuro.

"He's joking," Kuro said, giving Stain a stink eye. "I think."

"Anyways," Nana said, desperately wanting to change the subject. "Can we please get started?"

"Sure," Kuro said. "Who wants to talk about their time since our last meeting."

"Ooh! Me!" Eri chirped, raising her hand excitedly. "I made a new friend!"

"Oh?" Kuro said, intrigued. "What's he like?"

"His name is Izumi-kun!" Eri said happily. "He saved me from the mean bullies by hitting them in the balls!"

"That's nice, Eri," Kuro said, causing a couple snickers from the group. "Who wants to go next? How about you, Stain?"

"Fine," Stain grumbled. "Kuro had gotten me out last week and I haven't killed a hero since. I don't know about you, but that's progress."

"Progress indeed," Kuro nodded.

"Can I go next?" Toga asked, looking giddy. "Please?"

"If no one else has an objection," Kuro said.

"The internships were awesome!" Toga said, causing the rest to shift uncomfortably, especially Stain and Nana. "I had so much fun with Occhan!"

"Are you two dating yet?" Dabi asked, half mockingly half jokingly. "It sure looks like it."

"Nope!" Toga replied, her cheeks not tinting more than they already were. "I'm working on it, though!"

"So Hime-san has a crush~" Kuro teased. "Dabi and I better make some preparations."

"It's not like that!" Toga finally started blushing. "I just wanted to have a playdate with Occhan. Not a real date. Yeah! That's it."

The group shared a chuckle. "It's okay to like someone," Inko said. "It's a natural part of life."

"Yeah. We'll help you out!" Twice said excitedly.

"I don't think Twice-san would give the best romantic advice," Magne noted.

"Shut up, woman!" Twice yelled back.

"Anyways," Kuro said, looking at Mustard. "How have you been?"

"I've been well," Mustard said. "UA informed me that depending on how my final exam goes, they might move Shinso and I up to the hero course."

"That's excellent news," Kuro said. "You and Hime-san could study together."

"N-no, that's quite alright," Mustard said nervously.

"Awhhh," Toga whined, giving a pouty expression. "Why not, Mustard-kun? It'll be fun!"

"But-!" Mustard started before sighing, admitting defeat. "Fine."

"Yay!" Toga squealed, resisting the urge to give the shy boy a hug.

"Twice?" Kuro asked. "How are you doing?"

"Really well!" Twice piped up. "My clones don't try to steal my identity anymore. I had a game of poker with a couple of them yesterday. They're really good company!"

"And you didn't invite us," Spinner scoffed. "Too afraid to lose all your money?"

"No!" Twice shouted at the lizard before looking down. "Yes."

"Speaking of losing, how are you, Spinner?" Kuro asked him. "I heard you lost a bet with Magne."

"Ugh," Spinner said. "Don't remind me."

"I hope you have fun on patrol, hero," Magne quipped.

"Yeah, yeah," Spinner waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever you say."

"I guess I'll go next," Mr. Compress said. "The carnival is going great. I recently reached out to a friend, and I'll be doing an act with Gentle Criminal on Saturday."

"That's wonderful," Kuro said. "Maybe we should all come as a group outing."

"Count me out," Stain scoffed.

"Don't be like that, Stain," Kuro teased. "It'll be fun!"

Stain just huffed and looked away. "Nana?" Kuro caught the woman's attention. "How have you been doing?"

"Oh, I'm doing really well!" Nana said. "I made two new friends while on patrol the other day! Their hero names are Ryukyu and Miruko!"

"Oh, you met the rabbit lady?" Dabi scoffed. "She's pleasant."

"She really is!" Nana said, smiling as if she didn't notice the sarcasm in Dabi's voice. Maybe she didn't. "We're going on a girl's night out on Sunday!"

"Yeah that's fun," Kuro said. "Just… try not to destroy the bar, okay?"

"We'll try," Nana promised, giving Kuro a smile that totally meant 'we're so going to destroy the bar Sunday night.'

"Magne, I've heard you're a freelance contractor now," Kuro said.

"Yeah," Magne sighed. "Most jobs have too many rules. I only work when I want to work."

"Fair enough," Kuro said.

"The bar's been fine," Dabi said. "I was promoted to manager not long ago."

"How has that worked out for you?" Kuro asked.

"Now I know why no one wants to be the manager," Dabi replied, shuddering.

"Don't worry," Inko said, smiling. "It gets better."

"Ah, Inko," Kuro said, getting the woman's attention. "How have you been? You're our last member."

"I'm alright," Inko said. "I was a little worried about Izuku when Stain attacked, but he assured me that he was fine."

"I'm not going to apologize, by the way," Stain grumbled. "He is a true hero, though. I respect him."

Before Inko could open her mouth, Spinner hastily cut in between the cookie goddess and the hero killer. "What about you, Kuro? Anything interesting happen to you?"

"Oh, nothing too interesting," Kuro looked at his fingernails. "I just flipped off a lieutenant of the MLA fully knowing who she was and killed Gigantomachia."

"You WHAT?!" Everyone except Nana, Inko, and Eri shouted.

"Do have any idea how stupid that was?" Dabi asked. "And how did you know they were a lieutenant? There are no publicly known lieutenants or any other high ranking members of the MLA."

"I have my ways," Kuro said, clapping his hands together. "Now, who's ready for the outing?"

Kuro and the Vanguard Action Squad, now including Nana and Stain, dashed through the rooftops. Eri had insisted on coming to see all of her "really cool uncles", much to Kuro's dismay. Kuro tried to protest, but Eri's ultra-powerful puppy eyes quirk was too much for Kuro, so he had Nana babysit her, which she had no problem with.

"Again! Again!" Eri chirped as they stopped to examine the city.

"Soon enough, little one," Nana said, stroking the young girl's hair. She then turned to Kuro. "Anything interesting?"

He looked at his phone and sifted through the news. "Ryukyu and Miruko aren't too far from here."

"Oh, sounds like fun!" Nana said. "I've been wanting to introduce Eri to Ryukyu-san."

"Of course you have," Kuro grumbled as he jumped off, the rest of the squad following him.

"Ryuko-chan~" Miruko said seductively, poking the dragon lady. "What's wrong?~"

"S-stop that!" Ryukyu backed away before looking down at the streets. "I just have a bad feeling."

As if on cue, a large explosion went off about half a kilometer away from the two heroes. "Of course you just had to say that," Miruko grumbled. "Let's go. We can save the flirting for later."

Miruko leapt from building to building as Ryukyu assumed her dragon form and flew towards the explosion. The two heroes were suddenly bombarded by grenades. Miruko gracefully dodged them, kicking them out of the air as to avoid collateral damage while Ryukyu used her wings to cause the grenades to be repelled into the air. The two heroes dropped to the ground to find a small group of villains trying to make an escape with a bunch of money.

"Hey, villains!" Miruko shouted, catching their attention. "It'd be easier if you'd all just-"

Miruko was cut off by a red blur dashing and cutting the legs of all the villains. Miruko and Ryukyu paled as the hero killer Stain smiled maniacally at the two heroes, licking his blade. All of the villains then fell to the ground, immobilized and buried in money.

"Uncle Stain is so cool!" A small girl's voice prevented the two from attacking. They looked over to see a small girl with white hair, red eyes, and a little horn looking at the scene in awe.

"Little one," Ryukyu said softly, returning to her human form. She always liked children and prioritized getting the child out of a dangerous situation rather than the hero killer in front of her. "Are you lost? Do you need help finding your parents?"

"Nope!" The girl shook her hear happily. "Mama would get mad at me when she finds out I went with Uncle Stain. I told her Papa asked for her and she went zoom!"

"Uncle… Stain?" Ryukyu echoed confused. She was snapped out of her stupor when she saw a villain rapidly approaching, his hand outstretched towards the young girl. Miruko was occupied with the hero-killer, and Ryukyu didn't have enough time to turn into her dragon form. She stepped in front of the little girl, arms outstretched and fully willing to be subject to whatever quirk the villain would subject her to.

Suddenly, a yellow blur rocketed down from the sky, crashing down on the villain. When the dust cleared, Ryukyu was surprised to see her new friend Shimura Nana with her boot on the villain's face and an angry expression that Ryukyu had not seen on the woman's face until now. "Keep your filthy hands off Eri."

"Nana!" Miruko said, turning around. "Thank god you're here! The hero killer has broken out of prison!"

Nana turned over to see her two new friends and her smile brightened. "Thank you for protecting Eri, Ryukyu-san. Kuro would have my head if anything happened to her," she said, picking up the girl. "Don't worry about Stain. He won't kill anyone. I think."

"How can you be so certain?" Miruko demanded, but was unable to get the woman's attention because she was too busy scolding the small girl to notice Miruko. "We're dead, aren't we?"

"Nah, you're fine," Another voice caused the two pro heroes to turn, facing directly at Kuro. "Stain's the newest member of my Vanguard Action Squad? Pretty badass, you think?"

"What I think," Miruko said, hopping up to the man's height and hitting him on the head. "Is that you're fucking crazy. First Dabi, then Twice, then fucking Stain. Just what kind of shit are you on to think that that's a good idea?"

"Probably Inko's cookies," Nana replied. She looked at the little girl. "Eri, would you say hi to my friends?"

"Hi!" Eri chirped. "I've seen you on TV! You guys are so cool!"

"She's adorable," Ryukyu said, smiling sweetly at the girl. "Is she yours?"

"Yes/No," Kuro and Nana said at the same time.

"What do you mean, yes?" Nana demanded, looking at the number two hero. "She's your kid."

"She does call you Mama," Kuro teased. "Isn't that right, Eri?"

"That's right!" Eri chirped, looking up at Nana. "Mama! Can we do the floaty thing again?"

"Right now, I want to do the floaty thing too," Nana grumbled, shooting Kuro a dirty look before looking at the two pro heroes. "So, I'll see you Sunday?"

"Sure/You bet!" Ryukyu and Miruko said at the same time. Nana nodded appreciatively and flew off with the little girl in her hands.

"I'm never doing this again," Stain grumbled as he walked up to Kuro. "Can I go now?"

"Before that," Miruko shot a look at Kuro while cracking her knuckles. "I believe we need to have a talk."