Principal Nezu watched as the reports came in, as images of the battle and its aftermath were broadcast. It mattered little that the heroes had managed to arrest over sixteen thousand villains. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of civilians were missing, injured, or dead. It was bad enough that Shigaraki evaded capture once again. But then, the nightmare to end all nightmares came true and All for One escaped from Tartarus.

Nezu took in all the raw information and processed it. He traced out possibilities, analyzed probabilities, hypothesized, simulated, and projected out likely outcomes. He was left with a simple, unavoidable conclusion.

Without monumental effort, Japan was heading towards a total systemic collapse.

He sighed quietly, his tea sitting ignored as he thought. It would still be possible to stem the tide. It may even be possible to avoid the worst of it, the anarchy and complete collapse of public order. It would be difficult, requiring both outside help and sweeping changes. Changes that would fundamentally and irrevocably alter hero society.

It was that, or society as people knew it would end.

Already, panic was setting in. The heroes, those not injured or retiring, were in no position to reassure the civilian populace. Their recent mission reeked of failure. The list of dead, crippled, and wounded heroes was far too long. The sudden wave of retirements announced by old guard heroes did nothing to help, merely making them look like rats fleeing a sinking ship. The number one hero now stood accused of terrible abuse of his own family while the number two hero stood accused of murder. Both accusations came from a villain, but they would need to address it lest their credibility suffer.

The government was in no better position. In fact, it may even be worse in some ways. Leadership was dithering or lying through their teeth in a desperate attempt to assuage the public. Neither option was helping. And while they were busying themselves with that, they were rapidly losing control over the prison population. He'd attempted to help, making a number of increasingly desperate calls to suggest they scramble a number of powerful prisoners to different housing, but his efforts hadn't borne any fruit. Either ignored or simply not implemented in time, it mattered little now. All for One obviously knew exactly where the most dangerous prisoners were incarcerated and was now actively freeing them.

There was a trickle of reports about civilians arming themselves. It was isolated now, but it would explode soon enough. Who was going to stop them? The heroes were nowhere to be seen and the police were overwhelmed by the influx of arrests from the raid and securing the remaining prisons. The two groups who could enforce protocol were totally preoccupied, preparing to face the larger threat staring them in the face. Stopping a few desperate and scared civilians from grabbing what defensive weapons they could would be a waste of time and resources.

Unfortunately, it was unlikely to help and would only destabilize the situation. Panicky civilians, untrained to identify threats or how to use their new defensive equipment, were more likely to harm themselves or others than to stop a rampaging villain. The result would be more injured or dead civilians and villains armed with looted support gear. It would only make it harder for the heroes to deal with them in turn, leaving more out on the streets to scare more civilians and make them desperate enough to grab what weapons they could... It would form a vicious cycle, at least until enough civilians-turned-vigilantes gained enough experience to handle the threats in front of them, or until they died or gave up.

"What was required was a keen mind and an overriding vision, something he could easily provide if given the opportunity. However, that would require the government to pull their collective heads out of their asses. He had been granted rights as a citizen, hard-fought-for with the help of many who he would go out of his way to help if given the opportunity. Unfortunately, there would be many who would balk at following the orders of a mouse or a bear but most importantly to them, not a human.

With his hands tied, he could only offer advice. Unfortunately, his most reliable channel had been severed. Not for the first time he was tempted to curse the hubris of the Hero Commission leadership. He had wasted precious mental energy creating a list of creative invectives to use while excoriating them, but the point had been rendered permanently moot. And, as if getting themselves killed in a time of crisis wasn't bad enough, some of their last orders put his students on the firing line. Which left him in his current predicament.

"I really, truly apologize Sir. I understand your concerns and frustrations." He had spent a few hours studying French to ensure it was passable, in case he needed to speak with Aoyama's father.

"You promised this wouldn't happen, monsieur!" Aoyama's father raised his voice, the words spilling out in a rush. The man on the other end of the phone was likely incandescent with anger, and he truly couldn't blame the man. His son had once again been in a life-threatening situation, and this time intentionally. "Promised my wife and me! And yet Yuuga was put on the front line! We saw him!"

"I understand sir, it was never my intention for your son, or any of the students from 1-A to be brought into such a situation, but please understand-"

""Non monsieur! This is the third time my son's life has been endangered since coming to your school. The third. What madness is going on in your country that children are facing such threats?"

"Nezu let the man run over him. He needed a chance to vent, even deserved the opportunity. His own ego could easily handle such a blow if it even counted as such. "Sir, please. The situation here is delicate."

"So I've heard." The man huffed, "Do you think it's even possible for Yuuga to be safe in your country? Is anyone safe in Japan right now?"

"No. No, they're not. Nezu let his snout fall into his hands. Triage. So many things to do. Too many things to do. "UA is likely one of the safest places in Japan right now, sir."

"But he will not stay in UA, will he?" His father spat bitterly, "Yuuga will be sent back out, back into danger, will he not?"

"Your son has received a provisional license. If he chooses to intern with a hero there is a likelihood that he will spend a significant amount of time outside of campus."

"I cannot find that acceptable, monsieur. Yuuga has not even finished his first year at your academy." There was a pause from the other side of the phone and Nezu sighed internally. He knew what was coming. "I believe it would be best to sever my son's relationship with your institution. I have been working to arrange transportation home. Neither UA nor Japan itself is safe for him right now."

Triage. He could try to convince the man to give him and Japan another chance with his son's safety. Or he could assist the Aoyama's to leave the country. One less body in the fight. One less potential dead student. It wasn't really a choice. Aoyama would likely never forgive him, but he could live with that, understanding that the young man would at least be far away from the coming storm.

"Yes sir, I understand. Would you like me to assist you in arranging safe transport?"/span/p

Author's Notes: Things are getting bad and are going to get worse before they can get better.