Beta-read by Greed720 and HardwinPotter


An avian-faced man stared down at his feathered hands as he rubbed them together. "I know he's a problem, but this seems a little… extreme."

"I agree, Kiyotaka-san, but with Nezu in the picture, anything less will be a temporary setback at best." The Commissioner's skin shimmered in the light when she moved. "As long as we provide for all his needs afterwards, I approve of the plan."

Kiyotaka snorted. "So we can make sure he never fully recovers, right?"

"And to help us spin this in the best light possible," another Commissioner added. He had a forgettable face, and his fingers made no noise as he drummed them on the table. His eyes narrowed as he studied the feathered Commissioner. "Kiyotaka-san, I hope that your relationship with Nezu isn't as… amicable as you pretend it is."

Clenching his hands, Kiyotaka said, "You asked me to rein him in. Don't start suspecting me for doing my job, Akari-san."

"You're being awfully squeamish about this," a fourth Commissioner pointed out. He grinned, baring fanged teeth, and Kiyotaka had to fight the instinctive urge to flee.

"Of course I am, Nobu-san. You're suggesting that we permanently disable a child."

"He ceased to be a child when Nezu made him capable of that," Akari said. He pointed to the projector screen, where paused footage showed Deku pummeling Stain with his fists. "Nezu has tried before to limit our control of heroes. With this, he could destroy the ranking system entirely. Dealing with Deku quickly and permanently is the only viable answer to this threat."

The woman smiled at Kiyotaka from across the table. "It's not like we're planning to kill the kid. If need be, I will personally see to it that he has the best medical care in Japan and all expenses provided for his family."

"Forgive me for not being reassured, Utahime-san."

"In any event," Akari cut in, "We have enough votes to pass the motion. Hawks will cripple Deku in the probation license exam, and we will frame the incident as a tragic accident. Nezu will undoubtedly try to paint us in the worst light possible, so we need to quietly prepare our media contacts."

"No need to ask for something so obvious, Akari-san," Utahime said. "I'll have everything ready in a week."

"Then that's when we'll let Nezu know. Until then, this footage has to stay under wraps. If Nezu suspects we took longer to learn about Deku's actions, he'll be less likely to suspect that we have extensive plans. We'll play it off as a panic move to get Izuku his hero license before everything goes public and leave Nezu without the time he needs to investigate. Does anyone have any objections?"

Kiyotaka wanted to object, but he knew he was outnumbered. He kept his eyes down when Akari swept his gaze over him.

"Then it's settled. You're all dismissed."


"I can't believe I'm the one saying this, but you need to get some sleep."

Aizawa set a mug of tea on Nezu's desk. Without taking his eyes away from the screen in front of him, Nezu drank the mug in one go. "I already lost one member of my staff to my carelessness. The more I learn, the more I count myself lucky we haven't lost more."

Long, sleepless nights had left their toll on their principal. His prized fur had lost its luster, and bags formed under his eyes. His suit had been abandoned in favor of a t-shirt covered in shed fur.

"The meeting's tomorrow. Do you really want the Commissioners seeing you like this?"

For a moment, Nezu continued typing, as though he had not heard Aizawa. The Erasure Hero waited, eyes fixed on the principal, waiting for a response.

With a heavy sigh, Nezu turned off the monitor. "A well-organized, highly-funded conspiracy is taking place right under their noses, and they want to quibble about a Quirkless hero. I swear, if they keep this up, I will start a coup and replace them all with squirrels."

"I take it you're finding useful evidence?"

"I wish. Evidence, there's plenty of, but nothing I can use. They're pulling funds from numerous sources to keep Detnerat afloat, more than I had imagined. Some of Japan's largest corporations are colluding with them. I've infiltrated as many of their accounts as I can, but they're smart enough not to leave anything incriminating on their computers." Nezu stretched. Joints popped as he straightened his back. "On the bright side, I haven't had this much fun in ages."

The next morning, Nezu was feeling particularly irritable over the time lost from making the life of Detnerat's upper management a living hell, but he couldn't deny that a solid eight hours of sleep and a fresh touch of keratin for his hair left him feeling whole again. He savored his tea as he waited for the commission's meeting to begin. Endeavor's attendance was no surprise to him, and Native's inclusion only confirmed what they would be discussing. However, the sight of Hawks leaning back in his chair, idly twirling a crimson feather in his fingers, left Nezu wary.

"Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules for this meeting," Akari said. "We intend to keep this brief."

A projector snapped on, and grainy security footage started playing. It skimmed past Stain's ambush on Native and Iida's arrival and focused in on the moment Midoriya lunged at Stain's blade from out of frame.

"After reviewing the events that took place in Hosu, it came to our attention that Endeavor's intern had deliberately disobeyed orders from his superior and unlawfully engaged a Rank A villain. The following is security footage recovered from that event."

Nezu had already seen it. Once Iida had confessed to his part in the incident, it had been a simple matter of pulling strings to get his hands on the footage. For appearance's sake, he pretended to pay avid attention while he watched the expressions of everyone else. Hawks watched with mild interest, smiling to himself when Midoriya made an impressive move. Endeavor's teeth ground noisily, and the flames on his head darted about, but through that anger, Nezu could see flashes of amazement in the pro hero's eyes. Native looked away, likely remembering his own position during that encounter.

"In addition to disobeying orders to remain with Endeavor, Deku had also engaged in an act of vigilantism, by entering the scene and engaging the villain. He should have retreated and requested back-up."

Nezu had a whole script ready for this moment. "If I recall the exact wording of the laws against vigilantism, it specifies that civilians not in possession of a professional hero license are prohibited from using their Quirks in any situation except as a last resort and as a means of self defense."

A Commissioner with shimmering skin frowned, but said, "That still leaves violation of orders."

"Which would be typically left to the discretion of the pro hero in charge of their internship," Nezu countered. He turned to Endeavor and asked, "Have you disciplined Midoriya for his behavior?"

Endeavor glanced at Nezu. "I had him taken off of patrols for the rest of the month. I see no further need to punish him."

"There!" Nezu said brightly. "Unless I'm mistaken, that resolves the issue here. Is there anything else you would like to add?"

Nezu knew it wasn't the end of it. That had been too easy to wriggle out of, and Hawks' presence had yet to be explained.

"His actions may have legal justification," Akari said, "But the fact remains that his actions set a bad example for the public. Already, there are people calling into question whether they should wait for heroes when apparently someone without a Quirk or a hero license can fight villains. Hearing that he had taken on the Hero Killer would make them far more vocal."

"Are you planning to punish Deku for the opinions of those idiots?" Endeavor asked.

"Of course not, but they still need to be addressed. That is why we think it best to have Deku apply for a hero license immediately."

Nezu felt his stomach drop. Of all the outcomes he had considered, expediting Izuku's hero career had hardly been one of them. He knew there was a catch somewhere, but without time to consider all the possibilities, he'd have to wait and see what they said.

Endeavor rose an eyebrow. "Are you going to subvert my authority to gauge his readiness for a hero license?"

"We would prefer it if you decided to put forward your recommendation."

Endeavor glanced at Nezu. Nezu didn't dare give him any signals, not with the Commissioners watching.

"He's as good as any of my sidekicks. I'd rather wait until he had more field experience, but I'll do it."

"Excellent!" Akari beamed at Nezu. "Of course, for such a delicate situation, we decided that only the best of heroes would be suitable to fully assess Deku's merit as a potential hero. Hawks, you will be overseeing his license exam."

Hawks smiled and said, "Whatever you say, boss."

And there was the trap. No doubt, the commission hadn't planned to let Midoriya pass the exam. Even with his precognitive Quirk, Midoriya would never measure up to Hawks' speed and power. While Nezu would like to think Midoriya could think of a way around it, Nezu still couldn't trust his intentions.

"Midoriya-kun is quite talented, but against a top ten hero, it would hardly be a fair fight."

"Hawks will be holding back, of course." The way Nobu grinned when he said that suggested that definitely wasn't going to happen.

Nezu pretended to think about it. "I suppose you have a point. After all, it would be embarrassing if, after Midoriya failed the exam, a video showing him fighting Stain on equal footing were to be accidentally posted on the internet."

That off-handed comment was met with hidden smug grins from a couple commissioners.

"We have every confidence that Deku will pass," Akari said. "The exam is merely to gauge how strong of a hero he is."

They clearly had no intention of letting Deku pass the exam, but they weren't going to fail him either. What might seem like a paradox to some was instead a short list of possibilities to Nezu. A short, and very sinister list. Killing him would cause a lot of backlash, but a crippling injury, in the heat of battle? That could be passed off as someone without a Quirk getting in over their head.

"When exactly will this exam take place?"

"Next Thursday."

Four days after the start of school. Lovely. They gave him no time to prepare, under the pretense of responding quickly to the incident they had just uncovered.

"I will inform Deku immediately."

Nezu spent the car-ride back to U.A. turning over every possibility in his mind and weighing his options. Having one of his own teachers oversee the exam would be called favoritism, or outright cheating, and the Hero Commission had every right to bar them from the exam area. He needed a deniable asset, one strong enough to face Hawks and amenable to keeping Midoriya alive, or failing that, a valid excuse for a teacher to get involved.

Had he not personally uncovered and scrubbed all traces of their second meeting with Midoriya from the traffic cameras, Nezu would have never considered him. Whatever the villain's interest in Midoriya, Nezu felt reasonably certain that he would at least be willing to go after Hawks.

Decision made, Nezu made a phone call. "Ah, Snipe-san, I hope you're not too busy. You still keep in touch with the vigilante network, right? I need you to ask a favor from Stendhal."


Rikiya ground his teeth, black marks spreading on his face, as he stared at yet another receipt for a shipment he didn't order. Twenty tons of printing plastic languished in his warehouse, taking up storage space he needed for the kevlar weave that was supposed to arrive a week ago.

That was just the most recent of the incidents plaguing his corporation for the past couple months. Customer orders had gotten mixed up, an accounting error gave all their hourly-wage employees a hundred-thousand yen bonus, a single kanji difference had turned their latest marketing slogan into an embarrassing slur, and a mix-up at their service provider had all their phones and internet down for two days. Employees worn down by the constant disasters were trickling out, and the new hires in their place were compounding his issues.

Funds from other MLA businesses were stemming his losses for now, but Rikiya could feel the skepticism and impatience from his peers. They were blaming him for provoking Nezu, as if he had given the order for that debacle of a murder, and questioning his ability to lead. If this kept up, he might even lose his position as chairman of the MLA. Him, Destro's chosen heir, relegated to watching from the sidelines? He'd sooner smash his company building to rubble.

"I don't care if you have to replace every computer in the building," he growled at Skeptic, who was busily typing on his laptop. "I want these cyber-attacks to end."

"I updated our security four times and used every professional firewall on the market. Until I know how it's happening, getting new equipment would be a waste of money."

"Damn that rat. At least he'll be out of the picture once the League's done with him." Rikiya grinned and added, "Even if their assassination attempt fails, we can point out that their school has been attacked twice in a year and call for them to be shut down."

Checking back on his laptop, Skeptic said, "Hawks just checked in."

"Perfect! Patch me through, would you?"

After a nod, Rikiya spoke into the microphone on his desk. "A pleasure to meet you, Hawks. I've heard what you have done for us from other colleagues of mine."

Hawks' nonchalant voice came over Skeptic's laptop. "I get you're not the trusting type, but I'm starting to wonder if you'll ever let me in on the game plan."

"Patience. We have one task left for you. Do it, and you will have our trust."

"Name it."

Rikiya grinned. Converting heroes to the cause had been frustratingly difficult, given how much of a grip the Commission liked to keep on them, but that same leash left some chafing for freedom. He knew enough of Hawks' history to trust his turn away from the same people that forced him into being their personal lapdog. Nobu telling him about the impending probation license exam was the icing on the cake.

"The Commission has asked you to incapacitate Midoriya Izuku during his probation license exam. A broken spine, a damaged lung, something to keep him out of the hero business." On the screen, he saw Hawks involuntarily twitch. "I want you to kill him."

Hawks scowled. "That's going to be messy. The Commission won't be happy about that."

"We can clean it up. Just make sure it happens. We've already lost one of our best agents trying to take him out. Succeed, and you will be well rewarded."

Skeptic closed his laptop and asked, "You're not going to ask him to take care of Nezu as well?"

"His position is useful. As much as the commission hates Nezu, they couldn't overlook an agent going rogue to take him out." His eyes trailed over to the burner phone he had used to call the League of Villains, its battery and sim card removed as an extra precaution. "Besides, letting the League have its fun will only serve us in the end."


Shigaraki irritably scratched at his neck as his new party members lined up at the bar, each taking drinks from Kurogiri. This game he played against the heroes was feeling less like an RPG and more a management simulator, not to his taste, but he could entertain himself with the prospect of leveling up his party members.

Master had congratulated him for the attack in Hosu. Five heroes dead, lots of civilian casualties and property damage, and most importantly, people knew him. They knew he was going to tear down this stupid hero society. The wolves were joining him, while the sheep were bleating and butting their heads against the fence posts Already, Kurogiri had their new members robbing stores, selling drugs, and all the other 4X strategy gimmicks that kept a villainous operation going.

When the newest recruits filed into the back room, Kurogiri called for him. The nebulous villain said, "We got a lucrative offer, but one that won't be easy."

"A unique quest? Sounds like it might have good loot."

"You could say that. An anonymous individual asked us to kill U.A.'s principal. A billion yen in total, half paid up front. The client asked if this could be done as soon as next Thursday."

The memory of his failure there made Shigaraki's neck itch. "Perfect. I'll warp in, grab his neck, and warp out."

"They have added precautions since our last visit. My warping would not go undetected. If I may make a suggestion, we do have a new recruit that I think would be perfect for the job."

On cue, a girl with messy blonde hair, a manic grin, and a taste for blood waltzed into the room. She leaned up against Shigaraki, and he nearly turned her to dust out of reflex.

"You asked for me, Shigi-kun?"

"Off." Shigaraki shoved her, only letting four fingers touch her arm. He was sorely tempted to add the fifth. Himiko plopped into the adjacent stool and spun it around.

"How is she supposed to get past security?" Shigaraki asked irritably.

Kurogiri held out a vial of blood, and Himiko eagerly snatched it up. "Garaki-san gave us a useful souvenir from a hospital. Don't waste it."


Tsuyu felt disoriented as she stepped onto the dock. They had spent so long out at sea that her legs had grown accustomed to the gentle rocking of the boat. As unsteady as she was, Shoto was worse, nearly stumbling off the edge of the pier before Selkie caught him.

"Easy does it," Selkie said as he helped them both back to shore. "Sit down until it wears off."

There were multiple benches, but until the wooden dock stopped rolling underneath her, Tsuyu wasn't going any farther than the one right in front of the boat. Shoto, not even able to walk in a straight line, plopped down next to her with Selkie's help. He sat as far away as possible, leaving plenty of space between them. Even so, she could feel the heat wafting from his left side.

For the past couple weeks, it had been hard to ignore how close they had been that first night. On occasion, Tsuyu found herself idly imagining the warmth of his shoulder, or mentally tracing the scar around his eye. She had deliberately kept herself on Shoto's right, so she wouldn't find herself unconsciously leaning against him.

Talking felt awkward at first, mainly because Shoto couldn't carry a conversation to save his life. Over the course of the internship, he had opened up more, talked about his siblings and what he wanted to be as a hero, someone who protected people instead of hurting them. Tsuyu talked about her family in return, sharing stories like how her younger brother almost choked after shoving ninety-eight M&M's in his mouth. Being honest with herself, Tsuyu found him easy to talk with, as he was never put off by her blunt observations.

Tsuyu's phone rang. She let it ring a couple times to wonder why Mina was calling her before picking up.

"Hey!" Mina's cheery voice said over the phone. "What's up, how's the internship?"

"Just got back on land," Tsuyu said. "Weather was really nice most of the time."

"Ooh, I bet. Did you get to swim around in the ocean much?"

"A bit. Staying in too long dries out my skin."

"That's a shame, I bet the water's nice. I've been stuck walking around in the heat for so long that a swim sounds heavenly."

Tsuyu glanced at Shoto. He wasn't hiding the fact he was listening in, but it struck her as inquisitive rather than nosy, as though he were more interested to hear how people talked to each other than what they were saying.

"So, is there a reason you called?" Tsuyu asked.

Mina's voice stalled out. "Well, I was hoping you'd be able to give me some advice. I've been thinking about this for a while, and I don't know who else to ask."

Her tone suggested a private matter. Tsuyu stood, testing her legs. The wobble was still there, but she felt steady enough on her feet. She walked over next to the bathroom and leaned against the wall.

"I don't know how much I can help, but I'll listen."

"Well, it's about Izuku. I'm not sure if it'll work out between us."

Tsuyu grimaced. "I haven't dated anyone, so I'm not sure I can help."

"Momo's sheltered, Tooru would try everything to keep us together, Ocha-chan's too nice to suggest a break-up, Jirou's a total introvert, and there's no way I'm asking a guy."

"You put a lot of thought into this."

Mina gave an exasperated sigh. "All freaking summer."

"Alright then. If you don't mind telling me, why are you thinking about breaking up with him?"

For the next ten minutes, Mina explained how hesitant and twitchy he acted when they were alone, and how he had yet to try kissing her again after she made the first move. Everything seemed so at odds with Midoriya's usual behavior in class that Tsuyu had a hard time imagining Mina's account.

"Well, did you try explaining all this to him?"

Mina gave yet another sigh and said in a sullen voice, "No, but I feel like I shouldn't have to. I made it obvious enough what I'd like him to do, right? Explaining everything feels so awkward."

"If you aren't going to tell him what the problem is, how would he be able to fix it?"

There was a long silence on the other end. "I guess you're right," Mina said, "But that makes it sound like I'm trying to get him to be something he's not, so I don't know how I feel about it."

"I think the fairest thing to do is tell him everything and give him the chance to decide how to handle it."

"Ugh, but I'd still have to explain everything. I don't want this to be complicated."

"Relationships tend to be complicated. At least, that's what my parents say."

"Mmm… I guess that helps. Thanks Tsu-chan."

"Anytime." Having spoken for so long about dating left her with questions of her own. As the silence stretched out, with Mina about to hang up at any second, Tsuyu debated whether she wanted to broach her own thoughts.

"Was it difficult dating, with all the schoolwork?"

"A bit, yeah, but sharing classes helped." Mina laughed and said, "My grades were probably better than they should be because of him. Best study partner ever. We made time on weekends, but Izu-kun was really busy." She could hear her classmate smirking on the other end. "Why, thinking about asking someone out?"

"If I was, I wouldn't tell you."

"That wasn't a no, Tsu-chan! Come on, who is it?"

Regretting her decision already, Tsuyu said, "Good night, Mina-chan."

"You can't hide forever, I'll find out who-"

Tsuyu hung up. When she rounded the corner, she found Selkie leaning against a tree and drinking coffee. A summer aboard the ship taught her that Selkie had an ear for everything happening around him and couldn't resist gossip.

"That friend of yours sounds fun," Selkie said with a smile.

Tsuyu nodded. "A bit nosy, like you are."

"Can't argue against that. Hard not to be with ears as sensitive as mine."

As she went back to the bench, Selkie said, "If you want my advice, go for it. You're only young once, and as you get older, especially in this business, you'll find it harder to make time."

Shoto was still at the bench when Tsuyu got back. She sat a little closer this time, basking in the heat he gave off.

"You want to get something to eat some time?"

"Sure." After a moment of thought, Shoto said, "There's this soba place I went to with Midoriya. Does that sound good?"

It was tactless of him to suggest his favorite food, but Tsuyu didn't mind. "Alright then. Let me know when's a good time."

She held her hand out on the bench next to him. Shoto stared at it for a moment. As Tsuyu wondered if she needed to ask if he wanted to hold hands, Shoto hesitantly curled his fingers around hers.

"I'm not really good at this kind of stuff, so I'll just ask. Does this mean we're dating?"

"Yes we are."

Shoto looked nervously down at Tsuyu's hands, then he took a deep breath and held her fingers more firmly. "I haven't dated before."

"Me either."

They stayed like that for a few minutes. Tsuyu half-expected a sidekick to interrupt them, but either they had noticed what they were doing, or Selkie had drawn them away.

"So, what now?" Shoto asked.

"I don't know. We'll just see how it goes."


A/N: here it is, the moment I've been eagerly awaiting for the past couple months. Two-thousand followers. Never thought I'd get this far, much less with a story I started on a whim. I'll keep doing my best, and hey, maybe this story will reach 3K before it's done.

Not much to say about this week. I'll be watching the Superbowl with my parents and brining lemon custard bars to the party. So, before that, I'll get the chapter posted.

Betas are both as helpful as ever. In particular, they advised that I portray the Commission a little more in depth, which led to the first part happening. Thanks again, to both of you!

To Sarah9730, no, I'm not letting people vote for character deaths. It was a joke, as a reviewer had voted for Shinso with no context, and I figured that threatening to axe him would be the funniest response. Still, killing him for his hair… how cold could you be?

To Battlesny, *sad Power Loader noises*

To Mattroxursoul, in response to the numerous reviews you left, one, I believe I pointed out that Izuku only had months to train versus the years that everyone else had, so even against Mineta and Hagakure, Izuku's at a disadvantage. Two, opposition was chiefly to make the classroom more interesting than the near-universal friendship in canon. I could have done more with it, but the story had steered away from classroom politics, so I let it drop. Three, you're definitely right about Izuku's personality being a setback for the story. As it's a byproduct of his Quirk, there's not much that can be done about it at the moment. Character development is planned for him, it's just going to take some time.

To Kmbrun, I was really proud of the Shoto scene. That one was fun to write. Time scales have bitten me in the butt so far, so I'm glad to hear that someone approves.

Oh, speaking of – summer internships are a month long instead of the week-long spring ones. Will go back and add that to an earlier chapter. I had planned for longer internships from the start, but it slipped my mind to explicitly state that. Whoops.

Lastly, to helrio uzugazu, thanks for the comprehensive review you've left. You made a lot of excellent points, and I'm hoping the score you gave is out of five stars instead of ten. I thought about giving the finer details about Izuku's Quirk earlier, but A: I lacked a character who accurately knew what the Quirk did and definitely didn't want to narrate it, and B: I prefer the mystery. It wasn't too far into the story that I had Nezu give details, so if you're reading this, you should have most (not all) of the Quirk's finer details. I'm the sort of writer that believes in giving information when the reader needs it, and not front-loading everything. As for coping with everything? Cope's a strong word for Izuku's situation. More like precognitively numbed to his existence.

Alright, that's it for today. Thanks again for the reviews, follows and favorites. Onward to 3K!