A/N: Guess who's back (ner ner ner), back again?

I'm loving the reactions to the various members of Class 1A so far. Obviously one of my favourite things about this story has been writing different perspectives, so that we have a wider world beyond Izuku and his crew, but the members of my Class 1A have been genuinely refreshing. It's been nice to see that most people think I've got them feeling authentic so far, and I've enjoyed writing them a lot more than I thought.

Two shout-outs a chapter, well, where do we go from here? The first is going to go to Full-Paragon, who produces consistently great stories across a variety of fandoms and recently finished Rejected Stones- beyond making the MLA a genuinely credible threat with some history behind them (and inspiring me to try to do the same here), it's a brilliant IzuMei story. FP also got me interested in Konosuba fanfics, so thank you for that madness.

The second goes to Project Iceman, who counts as one of my regulars and is a wonderful theory crafter when it comes to this story. It's one of my favourite things to talk about in PMs with people, because I love what different people pick up on and what they interpret it as. Iceman has been around since the beginning, reminding me of missed opportunities for puns and hitting the nail on the head with some theories he messaged me about. Thanks for giving me more than enough laughs since I started this.

Anyway, I said about different perspectives, didn't I? Time for someone else besides Izuku to have a chapter, and this one has some conflict...

(***)

The door clicked shut behind him and he left the two other vigilantes to sift through the most shocking of what they had discovered, the highlights of what had been contained on paper and in data. He strode a few steps along the corridor, hands stuffed deep into his coat pockets, and then when nobody was around he allowed himself to sag slightly, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding onto.

What they had found was good, but... it could have gone so much further.

Dabi had been determined to make sure that the work began as soon as his group, hastily assembled to strike a blow at Endeavor's Number One status by bringing him low in the eyes of the public, was released from the effects of Mr Compress' Quirk. While others (Gentle being chief among them) had been eager to try to lie low and wait, to make sure that their raid on Uraraka Construction hadn't been exposed to the media or picked up by the police in the Kansai region, he hadn't wanted to waste any time. They had been successful, after all. The sooner they got to the heart of the matter and rooted out Endeavor's secrets, ready to drag them into the limelight, the more they could hurt him.

The heist had yielded a surprising amount of information and, despite all the chaos towards its conclusion, had somehow gone off without a significant hitch. Dabi had been fully prepared for it to have been a write-off the second that Shoto exposed his face to the company heiress, compromising his own identity and involvement. Between that, and Shoto just refusing to get out of his way to let him deal with the Uraraka girl, leaving a witness behind? Anyone could have been forgiven for thinking something would go wrong.

And yet somehow... his kid brother's stubborn refusal to dirty his hands and take the necessary course of action hadn't sabotaged them, and somehow they had managed to make it out with a treasure trove. Dabi's instincts had drawn him to Uraraka Construction because of how family-orientated it appeared to be. It was a little fish swimming in a big pond, buoyed up by the work created by contracting out to the Number One Hero. It was exactly the sort of company that had to run to keep up with demand, and so by focusing on the demand it had neglected the things which kept bigger companies safe from the likes of him and Compress, Gentle and La Brava; poorly trained security, vulnerable offices and easily-accessed databases. They had wandered through the front door, and into their lap fell the history of those who had to clean up Enji Todoroki's sordid career as the new Number One Hero.

It just... wasn't incendiary. It could have been so much more.

Dabi had, in all honesty, been hoping to discover something completely groundbreaking, something that would rock the nation to its core upon its reveal. That wasn't to say that the things La Brava had dredged up from their files weren't interesting; he had marvelled at just how much the tiny woman had been able to grab for them as her fingers danced across a keyboard and drew out the incidents one by one. Some of it was music to his ears, because he knew that making public what people suspected would make Endeavor squirm, having to face the scrutiny of just how much destruction he had caused and how lives and livelihoods had been treated as collateral in the pursuit of becoming the strongest.

The issue was that people suspected this anyway. There were enough rumours in the underworld and in the general public about things equally as bad, murmurs of settlements and non-disclosure choking out protest, anger at Endeavor crossing the line with force far beyond that which had been directed towards him. Dumping a whole backlog of wanton damage and contempt for what belonged to people below him would hurt Endeavor but it wouldn't destroy him, not on its own. For that, Dabi hated to admit that Compress was right. They needed to enact a Plan B. A plan that involved Shoto... and a plan that involved him.

It had been a long time coming, anyway. He reasoned that he might as well announce it with a bang. Maybe even a dance.

The old man really wouldn't see that coming.

Dabi idly reached into his pockets to find the key and open up the door to the apartment he had commandeered for himself, his mind on complete autopilot. It was mostly because of the talks he had been having with Gentle and La Brava; Gentle's reputation and abilities spoke for themselves, but La Brava had been driving things forward and had really helped with the plan to put something out live to really hurt Endeavor with shock factor. There was a small part of him that was distracted, though; one of the staples on his hand which he had replaced before the heist had come loose, and was starting to itch. It was all too regular for him, but a necessary evil to deal with.

As he pushed the door shut behind him, he hissed and picked at the staple on his wrist, wandering in the direction of the sink in the corner, before stopping and tutting to himself. "Funny. I don't remember giving you a key to get in here."

"Dabi, my boy. Do you really think so little of me that I wouldn't be able to get in here without you?" Compress' orange coat was draped over the back of the tattered sofa, and rather unusually he wasn't wearing his trademark top hat at all; Dabi could see clean and long (if a little unkempt) dark-brown hair poking out around the sides of one of his trademark masks. "You wound me."

"Tch." Dabi could hear the sarcasm dripping from the tone of the gentleman thief, and didn't rise to it, walking over to the sink as he discarded his own worn coat on the floor. Compress was a damn good thief; there was no point questioning how he got in because he would go wherever he pleased, no matter what obstacle lay in his way. "Why are you here?"

"Straight to the point as ever." If Compress was at all bothered by the attitude, he didn't show it, and his voice didn't lose the amused lilt from behind its mask. "Can't a man enjoy some quiet time in the company of friends?"

"It would help his friends a lot more if he actually helped with the work we were doing." Dabi ran the bleeding staple under a cold tap and cursed the fact that he couldn't see any spares on the side; he was going to have to put up with the itching feeling of it being past its best until he could get a replacement. "Moron. You couldn't help Gentle and La Brava look through the files?"

"Technology is not something the old man in me ever has much luck with." Compress waved a hand dismissively. "And besides, they're much better at it than I am, it's their sort of craft after all. Old fashioned trickery and sleight of hand is more my game."

"It goes a lot quicker if everyone at least tries, Compress." Dabi dabbed at his scarred hand with a clean towel, watching the red stain sink into the cloth, before dropping it to the floor and shooting the older thief a look in the mirror. "How would you describe it? Everyone has a role to play, right?"

"Bravo! Who knew there was actually a sense of humour buried deep under all that vengeance and fury?" If Dabi could see his damn eyes, he knew Compress would have had a twinkle in his eyes, as he pushed his patience. "You're right of course, but I'm under no illusions. I'm but a mere supporting character in this tale of yours, wise counsel and mild comic relief to flank you and Shoto as you take centre stage. Let's be clear, I provided the skills to make your whole raid possible to get past security unseen, after all. After I carried the scene there, I'm content to let Gentle and La Brava prove their use to you and do my work behind the scenes."

"Seriously?" Dabi applied a dressing and, grunting in dissatisfaction at the temporary fixed, glared at Compress. "And what work are you doing behind the scenes?"

"Why, wise counsel of course! Educating young Shoto and providing advice in this trying times." Compress lounged back and chuckled. "He's quite a sheltered boy, isn't he? Endeavor's teaching would do that to anyone, I suppose, but because he's been so sheltered he really is rather lost right now."

"Lost?" Dabi couldn't help but feel a little hurt at the implications of the statement, deep down on a fraternal level. "He... came to you for advice?"

"Don't take it so personally, but yes. Sometimes it's helpful to find another's perspective on certain questions. When there's questions about family, it never hurts to hear an outsider give their view."

Dabi paused on hearing that, before narrowing his eyes. Compress working out that Shoto was his brother had come surprisingly quickly, and the Uraraka Construction raid had confirmed this to Shoto too. With what they had planned, it didn't hurt if a couple of people knew, but Compress seemed to be using it to toy with him. "... Careful. You don't want to get burned, Compress, so don't go sharing secrets too loudly."

"I wouldn't dream of it, my boy. Still, I heard that you were pressing ahead with the reveal after you leak those stolen files. And not just the reveal that Shoto was involved, your own news." Compress kicked his feet up onto a coffee table. "I assume you haven't found as much as you wanted within the records, if you're willing to press ahead with your own news as well?"

For a moment Dabi couldn't help but smirk; Compress was razor sharp even if he wasn't actively helping them with the files. "Heh. Not bad. The stuff we've found is good, but-"

"It's not quite the coup de grace, is it?" Compress tapped his booted heel twice on the table to emphasise the point. "All of the times the Number One showed no regard to anyone but himself are good acts to tease, but not showstoppers. Juhyo and Dabi, on the other hand, very much are. It's a prudent call to combine the two."

"So is that why Shoto wants to speak to you about family?" Dabi asked, and he didn't like not having the answer immediately to hand. His best guess wasn't something he was hoping to hear. "He's getting cold feet about going after dear old dad."

"Cold feet! We'll make a comic of you yet, Todoroki."

"... That wasn't a joke, Compress. Cut it out."

"Gah! So near and yet so far! But to answer your question, not quite." Compress shrugged, and even that was overly emphasised, theatrical. "Tell me, have I ever told you anything of my own family?"

"Nothing." Dabi frowned. The thief was easier to get on with than some of the scum he had reluctantly associated with in the past, but they had never pried into personal lives or strayed beyond bantering at each other. "Why would you?"

"A fair question. Perhaps in the spirit of helping your relationship with Shoto, it might help to give you a bit of background." Compress chuckled. "And no, I'm not about to claim that my real surname Todoroki, or that I'm Endeavor's lost brother. But in terms of lineage... have you ever heard of Oji Harima?"

"The Peerless Thief?" Who hadn't? The history books growing up told tales of Harima like he was some mystical phantom of the night, a trickster who took from the rich and gave to the poor. So many of the vigilantes who had come out after Incident Zero had started to claim his Robin Hood ideology for their own, and even Dabi himself saw merit in some of what the thief had said. So that meant... "You're actually related to him?"

"You're looking at his only grandson." Compress gave a little bow, which was impressive from a seated position. "I suppose that's why Gentle and I get along so well. I know if he were still alive, grandpa would consider Gentle to be a good heir to his legacy, even if he wouldn't approve that Gentle pulls his punches."

"Huh." This hadn't been expected, and as much as the magician could tell a few tall tales, the way in which Compress described Oji Harima somehow left Dabi in no doubt that he was telling the truth. "Some legacy."

"Indeed. So I suppose it means that I know what it's like, to live a life with the expectations of another on your shoulders. Yours may have come from the Number One Hero, and mine from the Peerless Thief, but there's a grain of similarity in that." Compress' booted toe nudged a leather wallet on the coffee table which Dabi hadn't noticed until now. "Although that solidarity isn't exactly what I spoke to Shoto about. Take a look in there for me, dear boy."

"... Sure." Dabi didn't know what the thief was playing at, but he picked it up in a scarred hand and opened it up, confused. "What am I looking for?"

"The photo I carry in it, of course."

"Right..." Dabi paused as he saw the photo, saw the girl in it. She couldn't have been far at all from Shoto's age in that picture, in a school uniform he didn't recognise, with very little expression on her face and hair just so in a bob. He didn't recognise her but based on the fact she was in his teammate's wallet, he had a good idea what this meant. And that... surprised him. "You... who is she? Your daughter?"

"Mmm." Compress nodded, and leaned back. "The result of a brief and turbulent relationship with her idol mother back in the spring days of my youth. She looks very little like me, I must say- if you squint, there's some similarities in the face, but she has her mother's hair and eyes. Her Quirk takes more after mine, though."

"Do you..." Dabi was struggling to find the questions, given how casually Compress had revealed something so personal and so surprising. "Do you see her often?"

"Not really. I hadn't been prepared to start a family at the time, and I wasn't prepared to give up doing what I loved to settle. I send money, where I can, and in turn I get updates once a month from her mother about how she's doing, but I've never had any strong relationship with her."

"So she doesn't take after you?"

Compress chuckled. "Dabi, nobody could compare to me. But to answer your question, no. She is apparently popular among her peers but she's rather quiet, and would much rather shun the spotlight than take centre stage like her old man. And besides, the last I heard, she was applying for a spot at UA." The laugh was louder for a second. "Her great-grandfather is probably spinning in his grave that a descendant on his would try to become a Hero. But don't you think it's ironic?"

"What is?"

"Me, here, a known villain and descendant of the Peerless Thief, with a daughter trying to become a Hero. You and Shoto, here, sons of the Number One Hero in the world, straying further into darkness with each day." Dabi could feel his gaze from behind the mask. "Families are complicated, but this is almost poetic."

Dabi's mind flashed back to the numerous days of being kept separate from his siblings. To the constant disappointment when his best efforts weren't enough, to the curled-up lip of his father in response to the blowback of his Quirk. To the way Shoto broke when he first ran away from home and found his brother, years of torment pouring out like a confession that made Dabi's jealousy towards his baby brother's preferred status evaporate in the face of even stronger rage towards their father. Complicated? "You have no idea."

"Oh but I do. And I must say, there's one thing about family that always struck me." Compress rose to take the leather wallet from Dabi and closed it up to conceal the photo of his daughter, squirrelling it away in a coat pocket as he talked. "They're complicated and messy and so easy to suffer in, but they can be so forgiving. We're stuck with them, of course, and even despite the they're usually always the ones who are first to forgive us. But it is possible still to expend all forgiveness from your family, even despite the ties that should bind you. If you don't try with them, even they can cut you out and move on with better memories of what should have been."

"... And you're telling me this because-"

"Because I expended pretty much all forgiveness with my daughter by barely ever coming back a long time ago. I have no relationship with her to speak of, and I will have to live with that choice no matter where life takes me." The intensity of the gaze turned on him, even behind a mask, stunned Dabi for a second. "You're about to expend all forgiveness with your brother soon enough, if you're not careful."

"Bastard!" Instinct and anger at that comment made Cremation ignite up, blue flames running along his scarred arms like a gauntlet. "You really think you can say that to me-"

"It's exactly because of this sort of reaction I have to say it to you!" Compress' voice hadn't completely lost its humour, but there was an element of warning in his tone which Dabi couldn't miss even in his anger. "If you actually listen to what I have to say, rather than try to pick a fight, maybe I might be able to help you."

"Help..." Dabi willed himself to make the flames die down, although he still glared at the older man. "You think we need help?"

"I know you need it. And if you're being honest, so do you." Compress folded his arms. "What is it that you both share, as brothers? What drove him to run away from home and try to team up with you?"

"Endeavor..." The answer was simple. "The way he treated Shoto, it's not hard to understand."

"Perhaps not. Both of you want to get back at him for everything he's done to you in the past. A united front against the main antagonist. But consider this." Compress paused, and Dabi internally swore, knowing the only reason he was doing it was for dramatic effect. "You both want the same thing, and yet you nearly lost it with your own brother because of how things didn't go according to plan? Because Shoto wouldn't let you kill the girl-"

"The Uraraka girl was a witness, Compress. You of all people shouldn't lecture me when I know you've killed before. Her continuing to live is a risk to all of us-"

"I know this. But I'm not your little brother." Compress' heel tapped against the table. "You want to bring Endeavor down. He wants to bring Endeavor down. You even told me before the heist that you want to keep his hands as clean as possible so that he can become a Hero after all this is done. And yet you blew up at him because he wouldn't get his hands dirty, and wouldn't let you get yours dirty in the pursuit of the same goal."

"Are you calling me a hypocrite, when I have to clean up my brother's mess?" Dabi's glare intensified. "You're the one who told me sooner or later he would have to make the hard choice-"

"He made the choice. He just chose the way that isn't our way." The magician ran a hand through his hair. "He isn't going to fit with the way you want to take on Endeavor, not if you want to leave a trail of blood at every turn. If you want to do it together, you're going to have to accept that."

"So what? I have to hold back for the sake of Shoto?" Dabi sneered. "He'll realise. He knows we need to do whatever it takes to bring down the old man-"

"No. There are lines, Touya."

Whatever surprise Dabi had felt at Compress being in his room, at the revelation that his old acquaintance had a daughter, at the fact Shoto had been talking to Compress and not him, paled to the sound of that voice. For the first time since walking into his room, Dabi realised that Shoto had been lurking, as his younger brother emerged from the door to the bedroom and fixed him with a look. "Wait... what did you-"

"I said no." Shoto's look was sullen, but for someone who hated the fire side of his Quirk and never used it, his eyes were absolutely ablaze. "Have you forgotten who we are dealing with? Our old man's a scumbag, who treats innocent people as dirt under his boots, who hurt too many people on his way to the top. It's like I told you when you threatened Uraraka. We can't sink to his level to try to bring him down, we have to be better-"

"Oh sure, easy for you to say." Dabi shook himself, and pointed a scarred finger at his brother. "You're the one who froze a Pro Hero and looked the other way while I killed him. You helped me. And yet the girl is different?"

"Snatch was... different." Even as he tried to justify it, Shoto was uncomfortable, fidgeting on the spot. "You and I both heard him. A corrupt Pro Hero taking money from a criminal friend, paying the police to look the other way? There was no justice for any of his victims besides us. It still didn't feel right, but I could go with it because I thought there was at least some sense in us stopping him and saving people. An innocent bystander who saw too much... that's another thing entirely."

"I was prepared to do it for you, little brother." Dabi took a step forward, a fist balled. "Can't you see? What I'm trying to do for you? I do the dirty work so you've got a clean slate, so that when we get to the other side of dealing with dad, you can go on and be the Hero he never could-"

"Do you honestly think I could become a Hero with that on my conscience? Do you think I could lie like he does and pretend that her death would have been unfortunate and unavoidable?" Shoto's voice trembled with fury as he cut across Dabi, and Dabi could have sworn that just for a second, fire danced across his little brother's shoulder. "We can't be him. People can't be beneath us, things to get out of the way so we can go back to trying to destroy Endeavor."

"So what then, little Shoto Todoroki?" The anger in his brother's response had pissed Dabi off. "What did you expect, running from home into the arms of the Blueflame? I've made enough bodies since I ran away from home, because that's the way the world works now, thanks to Endeavor and all his cronies, and that was before I saw the way of the Hero Killer. Or did you forget all of that?"

"Some things are unavoidable." Shoto's fist clenched. "Killing civilians is not. I don't know what you see in the ideas of the Hero Killer, but even he wouldn't cross the line. Does none of that matter to you?"

"I'm not a Hero, little brother. If you expected one, then you came to the wrong place." Dabi grinned, manically, despite the emotions he was feeling. "Or do you not want to see it through to the end?"

"I want him dealt with as much as you, but I'm not prepared to hurt people to-"

"To get justice? If your convictions waver, then our plan fails. Endeavor survives, and you might as well give up and go back to that pipe dream of training at UA to become a Hero. You're starting to sound like Gentle if you hold back at every turn-"

"I'm glad you said that. Gentle spoke to me, after the raid. He..." Shoto paused for a long and uncomfortable second, and then sagged. "He... offered to me that I could come with him. After the whole leak is done."

Dabi should have been ablaze with fury at the suggestion that Gentle, the vigilante who he had allowed onto their mission to try to expose the Flame Hero, had dared to make such an outrageous offer to his brother of all people. After all, after the vow he had made his brother to stick together no matter what came their way, someone was now making an offer to separate them. But instead of anger, something in the way Shoto said it shook Dabi in a way he hadn't felt since the night Shoto had run away from home and found him. It felt like he had been punched in the chest. "Shoto... you're considering it."

It was a statement, rather than a question, because Dabi had realised from the way he had said it that the offer hadn't been completely rejected. Shoto still nodded regardless, and sent a sinking feeling into the depths of Dabi's stomach as he did so. "Yes, Touya. Because I still want to be something after we do this. If we carry on down the path you want to carry on... then I'll have nothing. Whereas with Gentle-"

"You... can walk the path of a Hero afterwards." Dabi's shoulders slumped. "You could with me-"

"Not with what you're trying to put on my conscience, I couldn't." Shoto trembled, and collapsed onto the sofa beside Compress, who hadn't moved during the confrontation. "It's all that kept me going, throughout everything he put me through. I thought if I could keep my head up and focus on the dream, even after Incident Zero, then I would prove myself and get out of his shadow. That's why I came to you when it all got too much, so I didn't lose that dream. And now..."

"Now you're worried you'll lose it again." Dabi slumped against the wall and closed his eyes, realising just how much his brother's hopes were pinned on that future on the other side. He had long ago resolved that he didn't care what happened to himself, as long as he was able to see Enji Todoroki ground into dust at the end, but Shoto's resolve to make things right went beyond that. "Dammit."

"Your family has already dealt with enough." Compress spoke up now, finally, for the first time in ages. "Your father has done more than enough to hurt you and so many others. Working together on your big reveal will do immeasurable damage to him, and you can do so much more together. This situation... is not beyond hope of recovery."

"And that's why I spoke with Sako before you, Touya," Shoto said- for a second, Dabi was surprised that Compress hadn't twitched at the use of his real name. "I... no, we have both been through too much. I... don't want to lose you as well. I don't want to feel I have no choice but to go with Gentle."

"Shoto..."

"Please, Touya. We can do this without unnecessary bloodshed. We can do it without becoming the same sort of monsters like he is." A single tear ran down across the scar on Shoto's eye. "Hold back, please. Don't hurt innocent people just because they're in the way. Don't kill when we don't need to. And whatever happens with him, you don't kill him. Not at the end of all this."

"You're sure? He-"

"We're not him, Touya. The world needs to see who he is, and he needs to feel the consequences, but... nobody deserves to die at our hands. Not even him."

Dabi kept his eyes closed, biting the inside of his cheek; it was a bad habit when he was younger that he did when something hadn't gone his way, and he was annoyed that he was doing it now. He stayed silent, thinking about what Shoto had to say, thinking how best to respond to the fact that his brother was clearly hurting and just wanted to make sure they could succeed in their grand plan together. What he said next mattered more than anything the last couple of years.

What Shoto was asking was unrealistic, in a world after Incident Zero, with everything Dabi had seen and done. The world didn't give people the luxury of a choice, sometimes, and some people were beyond redemption. That included Endeavor, who was not only public enemy number one but also the Hero Killer's most hated target, but it also included Dabi. With the plans he made in his head on how best to break Endeavor and bring him to his knees, Dabi had accepted there was no road back for him a long time ago, if he was able to pull off even half of it.

That said, he couldn't do it without Shoto. That much had been made clear to him a long time ago, when any thoughts of striking back at Endeavor had been relegated to the back of his mind in favour of simply trying to survive in the underworld. Alone, he stood absolutely no chance, but with his baby brother at his side the pipe dream had resurfaced within touching distance. They could do so much more together, starting with the leak and the reveal, and they really did stand a chance of actually giving their family some true justice. Making sure that Shoto didn't leave and they stuck together until the end was the biggest priority...

"Okay."

... even if he had to lie to achieve this.

"Shoto... I'll do it."

"Sorry?"

Dabi opened his eyes, and met his brother's stare. "I'll hold back. If that helps you keep your dreams, then fine. You and I both need to see this through to the end... together."

"And you won't kill him? Whatever happens?" Shoto's normally stoic voice had just a tint of pleading in it, and it was clear how much it meant to him. "Touya, can you promise me-"

"I promise." It should have pained him how easily it came to him to make a promise to Shoto which he had no intention to keep, but the lie came all too easily. "I won't kill him."

Shoto paused, looking him over, and then nodded to himself; the kid was far too trusting and far too easily convinced by his big brother to see through it. "... Thank you."

"Well, that wasn't so hard, was it?" Compress leaped up to his feet, and Dabi had to avoid showing any surprise at the fact that, somehow, the older man had bought it too. "Well done, both of you. It was probably about time to clear the air, don't you think?"

"Yeah..." Dabi looked over to his brother, and clapped a hand down on his shoulder, forcing the smirk. "Something like that."

"Right." Shoto reached up with a skinny hand, squeezed Dabi's hand, and gently slid it off of his shoulder. "Thank you, Sako."

"My pleasure, boys. Now I must say, it doesn't do to spend all day having deep heart-to-heart conversations when we have a job to do, does it? I've got an idea for a script for your video, and you've got plenty more files to sort through after all."

Dabi barked a laugh, and this time he meant it. "Weren't you the one shirking work earlier and not doing anything? It's a bit rich to tell us to get back to work-"

Shoto made a little noise, and it took Dabi a second to realise that Shoto had found that funny; it wasn't a laugh (Shoto was far too serious for that), but it was the closest thing to one. "I thought he said he was only here for comic relief-"

"Gah! You Todoroki boys are brutal to work with! At least the fans love me." Compress donned his coat in one flourish and gestured to the door. "Come now, before you assassinate my character any more. We have work to do, and young Shoto?"

"Mmm?"

"I think, if that's settled your spirits, you might have an answer to give Gentle to his offer?"

"I do." Shoto gave Dabi a long look, and a small smile. "I think I'll have to say no."

"Thanks, kid." Dabi smiled back, and as Shoto headed out behind Compress and ahead of him, the smile faded from his face. He would need to have words with Gentle in due course, obviously, because nobody should have thought themselves to be good enough to take his brother away from him and risk their fight against Endeavor. That was a problem for later, though, and as was Shoto's reaction when he couldn't keep his promise...

Endeavor would pay in blood. There was no way Dabi was going to accept anything else, after everything. But first, they had a video to film and a reveal to make, before everything Endeavor held dear was taken from him. Dabi would make sure of it.

The fire inside him, the zealous flame of hatred and revenge, burned stronger than ever, and Touya Todoroki vowed that not even Shoto would save Endeavor from the fate of ash that awaited him.

(***)

"Doctor."

Kyudai Garaki felt the whoosh of air behind him and the disturbance that preceded the use of Warp Gate even before he heard the voice of his associate. "Kurogiri. Am I to take it that you've finished showing our friend around?"

"I believe we've covered everything." Kurogiri's voice was silky smooth, and full of pride, and Garaki couldn't blame him for feeling that way. With everything they had built up in Jakku General Hospital in the time since Incident Zero, he could talk for hours about what he had created and stored in the tanks. It wasn't quite an army at this stage, but it was a force to be reckoned with. "Although we are both happy to assist if you have further questions."

The short figure besides Kurogiri didn't, to his credit, seem at all affected by the often-nauseating effects of Warp Gate; Garaki had long ago developed a resistance, but it was rare to find a newcomer who didn't struggle at all. "It's... hard to come up with questions when what you're seeing is almost unbelievable. If that makes sense. Nothing Giran could have said to me before today would have prepared me for what you're doing."

Garaki spun on his chair to face the shorter boy. "The broker knows a lot of people and a lot of things he shouldn't, but even he doesn't know what we do here. I approached him because I trusted that he would find us a good recruit, but I would appreciate your discretion in keeping it that he doesn't know everything we do here."

"Discretion?" The boy laughed, humourlessly, and wandered over to Tsubasa's tank to tap the glass- Garaki found it encouraging that he didn't appear at all alarmed by the sight of the Nomu anymore. "Please. You and I both know if I wasn't discreet, you could turn me into one of these, and wouldn't even bat an eyelid as you did it."

Garaki shot Kurogiri an amused look- it was clear that the brief explanation that had been offered by Kurogiri had unsettled him just enough. "Rest assured, I don't have any intentions to turn you into one of my Nomu. With the greatest of respect to you, I just don't think your Quirk could be of any use to a Nomu."

"Not compatible? Are you kidding? You stick multiple Quirks in some of these, and you couldn't make use of mine in one of them?"

"It's a question of compatibility," Kurogiri spoke up, voice rich and full of certainty. "Quirks are complicated to isolate, and even more complicated to pair effectively."

"Kurogiri speaks the truth. Experimentation over a number of years has shown this to both of us." Garaki tapped his cane on the floor, as if emphasising his own point. "Quirks are very easily implanted into Quirkless people, because they are effectively a blank slate of genetics. Anyone who already possesses a Quirk has their genetic code wired in a certain way. That means that sometimes the individual's body cannot handle the strain if another Quirk is added to their code, and it breaks the individual mentally and physically; it's even more common if the second Quirk is entirely different in nature to the one already existing in the user."

"There are several Nomu here who would not have functioned without the addition of extra Quirks to tie together two incompatible Quirks," Kurogiri added, solemnly. "We have been through several iterations of certain combinations to perfect them and make the Nomu effective."

"Of course, there are some rare cases where the secondary Quirk is entirely compatible with the original Quirk." Garaki nodded to himself, humming. "It's occasional at best, but there are individuals out there who retain perfect mental capacity and experience no physical side effects because their original Quirk meshes so well with the new Quirk, or Quirks. The Nomu you see here aren't so lucky to retain a sense of self... for the most part, anyway."

"And so, mine doesn't fit?" Their guest asked, stepping back from Tsubasa's tank. "I'm guessing that blood sample you asked me to provide was a test."

"Astute guess. Sequencing your Quirk was incredibly difficult, and it doesn't seem to be compatible to any of our existing Nomu. With your permission, I would like to retain a copy and work on it for future use-"

"Sure."

"Thank you. But I won't be using you as a base for a Nomu, if that's what you're worried about." Garaki gestured to the computer screen behind him. "Your Quirk requires a fine degree of control, among other things. It requires a certain amount of sentience to know when to hold back, when to activate, how strongly to activate and so on. I could only give this to a High-End creature, to avoid it turning your Quirk onto our allies, and based on what I've got available, none of my Nomu could really put it to good use." Garaki shot Kurogiri a look, and then shrugged. "Not really, anyway."

"And besides, we don't normally invite people in to turn them into Nomu, or approach recruiters for volunteers." Kurogiri's voice carried a touch of dark amusement. "We don't have difficulty in finding test subjects."

"I'm flattered I'm not gonna become a zombie, at least." The young man tipped himself into a battered swivel chair, and turned to look at the pair of them with a squeak of the chair. "So what gives? Giran told me you two approached him and asked for a number of recruits in a couple of days for something you're planning, but that you'd asked for me specifically now. I get preferential treatment over the foot soldiers, then?"

"We heard of your specific talents and needed them for our plan. You counter a potentially thorny problem that could have affected us and the Nomu." Kurogiri was laying on the flattery in his tone a little too thick for Garaki. "Perhaps it might be best to consider yourself a lieutenant for the purposes of our plan."

"In reality," Garaki interrupted, with a meaningful glance at the suited man beside him, "there was something else about you that drew me to wanting your involvement. You've developed a little reputation, for sure, among the numerous villains that broker seems to favour, but I've also heard rumours of what drives you. And given the target of our new mission, I guarantee you'll accept our offer."

"You guarantee it? Oh, that is bold. This I've gotta hear." The young man leaned forward. "Where are we going?"

"Tell me, when it comes to the Hero Schools..." Garaki's moustache twitched as his lip curled upwards in a grin. "How much do you hate them?"

"..." The glare on the young man's face was all the confirmation that was needed. "You're going after the schools?"

"Perhaps. Would you be willing to assist us?" Kurogiri asked, purple gas billowing around his head.

The young man's response was to reach into the pocket of his long green coat, pulling out a hefty (and very much loaded) revolver, before tutting and placing it on the computer desk behind him. On diving back into his pocket, the visitor nodded as he retrieved what looked like a school diary and a pen, opened it at an empty notes page, and made eye contact with Garaki. "I'd love nothing more. Reporting for duty, sir."

"Good to hear, young man." Garaki grinned at Kurogiri, and leaned forward to talk to the visitor more, the light from Tsubasa's tank throwing abnormal shadows across his face. "We have some important business with one Hero school in particular..."

(***)

A/N: Some of you will know exactly who Garaki and Kurogiri's mystery guest is- I've tried to drop a few clues in. Some of you won't have a bloody clue. Hopefully there's a few of you who stay that way until all is revealed later, but in the time-honoured tradition of AFO and the League of Villains, it never hurts to get a few allies.

Dabi has been a character I've loved to see develop during the manga, and his POV here for me is so much fun to write. He's not supposed to be entirely sympathetic here, as his last appearance here showed when he wanted to straight-up murder Ochaco to eliminate a potential witness, and I like writing his anti-Endeavor sentiment because he's so adamant that his view is right and that there is nothing redeeming in his father. He's not a healthy influence on Shoto, who isn't comfortable at all with how far his brother is willing to go. Watch this space for more.

And for those of you who were curious about Compress, family matters in this story. That was teased before, and hopefully that confirms a couple of theories!

Now, just a PSA. I am likely to not be updating in two week's time. I have an exam on 14 May to prepare for, and it's obviously my big priority for my career. Next chapter isn't one I've fully drafted yet, so if I'm lucky I'll be able to prepare it all in advance and just post it on 15 May; if I'm unlucky, you'll be getting it in the week beginning 17 May at some point, and I'll just use the time to catch up with replies to reviews (sorry, I've left it a couple of weeks, life has been chaos). Sorry in advance if I'm slightly late, but real life calls and I hope you can understand.

To the 1300+ of you following and the 1100+ favourites, thank you so much for your support so far (these numbers are madness). To the 666+ reviewers (heh) you are all amazing and I couldn't be more grateful. And to all of you reading, please feel free to follow and favourite if you haven't already, and I'd love to hear from you in a review. Just please don't flame me, that's all I ask.

Izuku chapter next time, but until then, have a lovely weekend.

Ya boy, out.