[THE NIGHT BEFORE THE SPORTS FESTIVAL]

A soft thud at the windowsill is the only indication of a person arriving, long overdue.

"Red?" The Blue Spirit looks up, pushing down the swell of relief at the sight of the katana-wielding man. "You're late. The hell happened?"

He doesn't look injured or even fatigued, so Touya is immediately suspicious. Of the two Spirits, Red is always first to arrive. It makes no difference whether it's first to the fight or first to the goddamn shower—even though it's Blue's apartment and Red doesn't even have the courtesy to pay rent when he passes out on the couch and gets blood everywhere—Red is never late.

Red has never acted like this before.

"I should've listened to you from the start, Blue." Red snarls, pacing the room like a large jungle cat.

He stares at him, alert despite the late hour. The candles dotting the corners of the room, clumsily stuck into the floor with wax and half-heartedly used for meditation, flare to life. "LG found something?"

Red growls, ripping one of his sheaths off and letting his sword clatter to the ground. "LG. Looking Glass… yeah, I found something Endeavor wanted to bury."

"What?" His mind whirls with alarm. "Tell me, Red. Now."

The vigilante ignores him, grappling with a burner phone. "I shouldn't," he says, almost too quiet to make out.

Suddenly it's the Blue Spirit's temper boiling over. "And why the hell not?!" He snaps, finally getting to his feet. "I've always known Endeavor was a hack, but I could never pin him down! I needed you for this, you joined me because of this—!"

"And now I know why," Red interrupts, eyes blazing. He doesn't look away from his partner's face, but scans over the details with unerring knowledge.

He falters. The candles dim and relight themselves erratically, making shadows dance over the room. He can hear the blood rushing in his veins, the hammering of his own heart as the sinister mantra drums in his head. He knows, he knows, he knows.

"If you know," the Blue Spirit swallows the lump in his throat, but his voice still comes out in a rasp. "Then you should tell me what you found out about Endeavor."

Red turns on his heel, planting his feet as he faces him. "No. I don't think I will, Touya Todoroki."

The candles burst like balloons.

"I was going to wait until the festival was over before telling you this," Enji admits, hunched over in a too-small plastic chair next to the cot. Natsuo sits on the other side of the bed, mooching off of the bag of gummy candies on Toph's lap. They only have a few minutes to talk at this point, before the final event starts. "But I think you should know everything, before you do something rash."

Toph scowls into the middle-distance, her fingers picking at the hem of her shirt. "Just spit it out. The festival's over for me, anyway."

Enji rolls his eyes. That's exactly what I thought you would say.

Natsuo makes a startled noise. "Wait. You wanna drop out?"

Her eyes narrow. "My best friends are unconscious in hospital beds, Shouto was drugged, and Shinsou—I don't even know what's up with him, he won't say a word to me! And you want me to go prance around for a crowd?" Toph spits the words like they're bitter on her tongue. "I'm not a circus monkey. That was an attack, wasn't it?"

Enji takes the briefest moment to consider giving her platitudes, to downplay it and say they can only speculate at this time.

"What happened to the tempura? There were like thirty left."

"...I don't know what you're talking about—"

"Oh, you liar. I can hear it in your tone. Fuyumi! Your father's a glutton, we're outta food now!"

Enji sighs. The damn Beifong girl can always tell when he's lying. "Yes, it was an attack. We have a suspect in custody."

"From Tarrlok?" She presses.

"Most likely." He sighs. "Stop asking. You don't have the clearance—"

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Toph sneers. "As for UA—this is the second attack in as many months. I'm not gonna pretend nothing's wrong with that just so the school can still look good for their most public event."

Enji's brow furrows. She's annoyingly perceptive about these kinds of things...

"Oh, well, I'm all for criticizing the commercialization of hero culture," Natsuo hums, speaking through a mouthful of disgusting green candy. "We've discussed this already. But I'm still surprised you wanna quit on principal. I figured you were set on being a mainstream hero."

"What does it have to do with being mainstream?" Toph sniffs wetly. "I told you already, about the news coverage after Wa—Natsuooo, stop eating the melon-flavored ones," she complains suddenly, pulling the candies away from the white-haired young man.

Enji narrows his eyes at his son. "You know I'm one of those mainstream heroes. Since when do you two talk about hero culture together? You're majoring in health and wellness, Natsuo."

"And minoring in hero studies," Natsuo taunts in a lilting, almost musical tone that he certainly didn't inherit from Enji. "Boosts my GPA. It's an easy A as soon as I mention you." His son raises his eyebrows, amused at where this is going.

Enji suspects he's being baited. "You hate using my name," he says anyway.

Natsuo sticks out his tongue. "That's why I use you as an example of how twisted society has become—"

"Oh please, save your criticism for the echo chamber." Enji scoffs. If he had a dime for every time he had to listen to whiny reporters tell heroes how to do their jobs—or worse, those damn Spirits. The Red Spirit is especially vocal about the statistics for property damage in the Kantō region since Endeavor's rise to the Top Ten… or he was, until he decided to break their deal and attack Endeavor and Looking Glass. "What's next, you're gonna complain about the marketing team and how they're cheapening our hero work?"

"Yes," he agrees swiftly. "What does releasing a flame-themed cereal box have to do with being a hero?!" Natsuo exclaims dramatically, throwing his hands up. "And you let them call it Flame-O's! That's so dumb! They don't even taste good."

Before Enji can think to remind Natsuo he's paying a college tuition with that money, Toph breaks her silence with a soft laugh. "We're getting off-topic," she huffs, wiping the wetness off her face. Enji thinks that may have been the point of Natsuo's rant to begin with. "What did you need to tell me, Todoroki-san?"

Natsuo steals another gummy. Toph gives a sharp smack to the back of his hand. Enji huffs, already wishing they could go back to the cereal conundrum.

"You're not going to like it, Beifong…" Enji scratches his head, trying to delay the inevitable eruption from Beifong. "Someone very dangerous recognized you on TV."

Natsuo stops chewing, and the silence in their corner of the nurse's office seems deafening. Toph seems to know he's referring to the Quirk Rumble, because her face is scrunched up in annoyance and guilt. She had the same look the night he confronted her about participating in Loban's ring, except there are no tears now.

"Are you sure?" She asks nebulously. Natsuo begins to furiously chew through the candies in his mouth to free up real estate to talk. "If someone snitched, they're in more danger than I am."

Natsuo asks something that might have been "Snitched on what?" but he still has a lot of candy in his mouth.

Enji frowns. "The ring itself was dissolved years ago." Also, the man in question was part of the mafia, so no one was really worried for his safety. Natsuo makes a mournful sound of anger. "Toph, we're concerned about what this means for you, not him."

Toph shrugs, like she doesn't quite believe him but is too polite to argue. "A narc is a narc."

At this point, Natsuo looks deeply alarmed by their conversation. "What in the world are you guys talking about?"

"I'll explain later," Enji promises, rubbing his temples. "Toph, we don't know the details, but it's a certainty that you're going to be attacked by this man. It's just a matter of... when."

"That's confusing," Toph mutters, crossing her arms. "You don't know when, but you know for certain?" Natsuo nods vigorously. "Who is it, anyway?"

"His name is Rappa." Enji watches Beifong carefully for a reaction; for any hint of recognition.

Toph's expression is blank. "I've never heard that name before in my life."

"What?" Enji barks.

She shrugs carelessly. "You're overreacting. It's an honor thing, those guys don't snitch."

"This one did," Enji says flatly. "Either way, your principal needs this festival to run smoothly. Before this, Nedzu was thinking of pulling you out of UA because of your, ah, history. But we agreed you're too high-profile to forfeit now."

Natsuo begins to make quiet, doleful noises of confusion. He looks tempted to sit back and eat more of the gummy candies; to pretend he's watching a movie scene instead of witnessing a real-life conversation as alarming as this one. Enji can sympathize.

"What?" Toph's eyes widen. "Principal Nedzu wants to blackmail me?"

Enji shakes his head. How is that what she took away from what he's told her? "That's not what blackmail is. He's looking out for his school. You should be grateful he hasn't brought up expelling you entirely—"

"Grateful," she hisses. This is not going the way he planned. "I should be grateful. If Nedzu thinks he can make me shut up and smile for the cameras like this—!"

"He isn't threatening you," Enji exclaims. "But Nedzu has a point about not raising any alarms for the schoo—"

"That's bullshit, Endeavor!" Toph snaps. "If I want to drop out, I have every right to do it! You can't force me to compete."

"Yes, of course you can drop out," Enji says impatiently, trying to get to his point, "But you still have to compete—"

"That doesn't make sense!"

"Would you shut up and listen to me?!"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Natsuo wonders, though they're both talking over him at this point. "Like, either of you?"

"—You don't understand how important this festival is," Enji persists, though he's beginning to think it's futile. He's never been able to convince Toph or any of the kids to do anything, not even if it was in their best interests. "Not only for your career, but for all your classmates and—"

"My friends are unconscious," Toph snarls. "The only ones I care about, at least!"

"Beifong!" Enji says sharply, silencing her.

But before he can get another word out, Natsuo loudly clears his throat and cuts him off. "Toph, don't be a brat. I know you like all your new school friends," the college student argues with a cheerfulness that mystifies his father.

But the expression on Natsuo's face, on the other hand, is all too familiar to Enji.

With nothing more than a pointed glare, Natsuo says, Shut the fuck up and let me handle this, old man.

Toph scowls, tilting her head away from Natsuo stubbornly. "It's got nothing to do with the rest of the class."

"Mm, I wouldn't be so sure of that," Natsuo muses, his voice lowering into a smooth, lazy drawl. "You were showing off a lot in the first two events. If you drop out now it'll leave a mark on the rest of the students. It brings up questions for the school, which I'm sure you want, but to all those students that heard you talking big in the opening speech—it's just a kick in the teeth to them."

Natsuo shakes his head chidingly. "You made a promise in that speech, and you're mocking them all by breaking it."

Moments like these, Enji wondered where Natsuo's personality sprung from. He didn't learn it from either of his parents. Natsuo was just so easy to listen to; he spoke with a natural charisma that made conversation easy with anyone. It was goddamn useful, and Enji didn't have the slightest idea how he managed it.

"And Toph… I know you called Kouta this morning," Natsuo continues gently. "He's definitely watching."

"I can't believe she'd do something so stupid, running away! How could she be this cruel?" It hasn't been long since Toph went missing, but Natsuo had been the last to see her and he looked distraught now that he realized that.

Enji was annoyed too, but he understood that the girl must be grieving the sudden loss of the Water Hose team."I think she just needed space. Toph didn't lie to you to be cruel—"

"I'm not talking about me, Dad! I'm talking about her brother. Kouta, how could she just run off without thinking of how Kouta would feel? Doesn't she care about what happens to him?" His eyes were sharp and vicious with shared pain. "When you track her down, make sure you tell her that, Endeavor!"

Enji's second son has always been an insightful young man.

"You want to look cool for him, I know you do," Natsuo says knowingly to Toph. "Part of being a hero is… putting people at ease. It's giving them hope. That ability can easily be abused, and plenty of heroes just want attention, but that's what the showmanship is really for. It's for people like Kouta. And you're the only one that can give him that hope, aren't you?"

Toph looks defeated now. "I guess so," she agrees, thoroughly put out by Natsuo's reasoning.

"Great!" Natsuo claps his hands together loud enough to make her jump. "Because you're out of time. Get your lazy ass out of bed. The show must go on!"

To Enji's disbelief, Toph does exactly that.

She even lets Natsuo hold her hand as she gets to her feet. "Yeah, yeah," Toph mutters, rubbing her face. "Shut up already, you stupid sorbet. I'm going…"

"Haha! Joke's on you, I love sorbet! Speaking of which, did you eat all the melon ice pops? I could've sworn we had two left, you know I like those too!"

"They're MY melon pops, Fuyumi bought them for ME."

"That's just cruel. They're staring me in the face every time I open the freezer, I can't look away..."

"That sounds like a YOU problem. Have some self-control, snowcone…" His older son guides Toph out of the room, arguing melodramatically.

Enji stays put in the flimsy plastic chair, feeling the tight ropes of tension finally loosen around him.

Toph was physically fine, and Shouto, though still unconscious from a weak strain of Trigger, would receive a final kiss from Recovery Girl to heal the rest of his injuries. Inasa had been healed, and simply needed to sleep off his quirk fatigue. It had taken Hound Dog a while to calm down Hitoshi, but by now he was probably giving his official report to the staff—he'd refused any medical assistance, claiming that most of Inasa's quirk usage had been to protect him… that was a comforting revelation, but it confirmed suspicions about Shouto's apparent loss of control. Shouto's blackened tongue, a well-known side effect of Trigger, was just icing on the cake.

With a quiet groan, Enji lowers his head into his hands, letting himself think of nothing for a moment.

Familiar footsteps approach, and Enji opens his eyes to the floor. He can see the tips of Natsuo's navy blue and yellow basketball sneakers in front of him.

"Natsuo," he sighs, lifting his head slowly. When he meets his son's gaze, there's no trace of the easy smile or bright laughter from before. It's been replaced with the stern, frigid look he saves specifically for Enji. "Thank you for—"

"Did you know something like this would happen?" Natsuo cuts him off.

Enji freezes at the unexpected question. "Excuse me?" He asks in a dangerous, furious voice. "Why would you ask me that?"

His son's slate-colored eyes meet his own, virulent and unhappy. "You're building a case against that Tarrlok guy. Ever since Cato. So if you didn't have any idea about this, that makes it even worse," Natsuo tells him, brimming with barely-contained anger of his own.

"Stop it," Enji warns. "I get that you're upset, but this isn't the place for it. You don't know what you're talking about, anyway."

"Maybe not," his son mutters. "You should go. I'm—I'm gonna to check on Hitoshi-kun."

Enji bristles a little. "Go? Inasa and Shouto are still sleeping—"

"Come on, Endeavor," he cuts him off quietly. He only holds Enji's gaze for a few more seconds before those gray eyes duck away. "There's more important things for you to deal with right now. And we both know you're better at being a hero than you are at being a father."

The look on Natsuo's face is brutal to see. Enji can't conjure up the strength to protest, and in his silence, Natsuo gains momentum.

"What the hell were you thinking, telling Toph there's another villain after her right now?" His son demands, eyes blazing. "I know she hates being lied to, but she's in a—she's in a delicate state right now." They both wince, half-expecting the devil girl herself to pop out of the earth to throttle anyone calling her delicate. Natsuo drags a hand through his snow white hair. "You have a tough job, yeah, but the point is...the point is, Endeavor, that Fuyumi and I aren't enough. We've got our own lives!"

Enji doesn't know what's happening, but he can tell this has been building in Natsuo for a while. "Enough for what?" he asks quietly.

"To make up for what you lack," Natsuo snaps. His pale face is rapidly growing red. "You've said it a billion times, Fuyumi basically raised Shouto. And me. She's only twenty-two, and she raised me. She deserves her own life. She wants to move closer to her workplace, but she's too worried about you fucking up with Shouto and Toph to consider it, and I don't know how to—!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" A loudy and raspy voice interrupts Natsuo mid-rant, the door swinging open. The white-haired boy turns away as Looking Glass slides into the room leisurely. "Now then, gentlemen, air out your laundry at home, eh?"

"Glass," Enji says evenly, straightening up. "They discharged you early."

The underground hero tips his hat with a flourish, but it doesn't hide how stiffly he's moving. He seems smaller somehow, standing in daylight. The molten silver sheen of his mask is dulled by the hat and high collar of his jacket, and the whole effect of his outfit seems out of place under fluorescent lights. "They did not discharge me. I'm not even here," he says, voice hoarse and a little higher than usual.

He did take a nasty hit to the throat while trying to subdue the Red Spirit. "Nedzu wants to talk to you, Endeavor." He points down the hallway. "And I wanna poke at Todoroki-kun a bit, so you should scram too, ah, Other Todoroki-kun."

Natsuo rolls his shoulders, not looking the least bit relaxed. "Uh huh. Who the hell are you?"

"I work with heroes sometimes," Looking Glass says vaguely. "Oh, and also your old man."

"Watch it, Glass," Enji says reflexively. The underground hero just holds up his gloved hands in a show of no harm.

It's almost enough to make Natsuo crack a smile. He just huffs instead. "Yeah, well. Shouto and Inasa are in room three. Poke all you need to." Enji's eyes pull away from Glass, back to Natsuo. His son just raises an eyebrow expectantly. "I've said my piece, Endeavor."

"I'll see you at home," Enji replies frigidly.

Natsuo's reply is equally cold. "Sure."

"As much as I want to be a hero, I can't be in this event," Sato announces as he forfeits his match. The microphones are close enough to broadcast his message to the entire stadium. He looks like he's struggling for the right words. "Not like this. Not right now."

Bakugou's classmates are wondering what's going on, wondering what could have ticked off the 1-B kid. They assume the Sato kid felt guilty for making it to the third event without passing the second.

Katsuki knows better, though.

'Not like this, not right now,' that 1-B kid said, but what he meant was 'Not after everything that's just happened.' Him and some other students had argued with the teachers about letting the event continue with Todoroki and Yoarashi in the nurse's office. Only after Midnight used her sleeping gas on Earth Girl did they shut up.

Katsuki didn't know the 1-B students at all—but he did know Beifong. And he'd met the purple kid before. They weren't so easily rattled. Hound Dog had shooed them all away with some bullshit excuse about Yoarashi losing control of his quirk in the hallway.

The staff is acting like nothing is wrong. Even though Yoarashi had just fought through the Cavalry Battle without losing control of his quirk. Even though Earth Girl just wrecked her fists over whatever just happened, like some self-righteous Deku.

Maybe that 1-B kid was right to disagree with continuing the tournament. Maybe… no. Katsuki trusts UA. He trusts All Might. And this festival is his first big stepping stone for his future.

Ponytail is announced as the winner, and the students clear out of the arena for the next fight.

Earth Girl is up against Dunce Face now. Present Mic screeches their names as usual.

Beifong's face is magnified by the jumbo monitors around the stadium. Unlike Sato, she looks… neutral. Katsuki finds himself grinding his teeth to the point where his jaw aches. If this chick forfeits too, he'll jump down from the stands and throttle her himself.

Midnight signals the match to begin.

Beifong slides her foot, settling into a sturdy squat. It's a good stance for balance, to stay rooted, but does she really want to do that with Kaminari charging up so quickly? And Kaminari isn't going to wait to reach her—there, Kaminari is about to discharge a huge burst of elec—

In a blink of an eye Beifong dips low, hands twisting in elegant, short bursts—she makes a fist, and—

And the stadium explodes.

Everyone's screaming in delight, and Katsuki jumps to his feet to get a closer look even though there's dust everywhere—but just as quickly, the dust whisks away like it did in the second event. Beifong's arms are straight down, palms parallel to the ground. She cleared the dust with her quirk, leaving a massive spire of earth.

Man, fuck this girl. Where did she learn all this shit?

"WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE LOOKING AT? WHAT A DISPLAY OF POWER! NO WONDER THIS DARLING DEMON TOOK FIRST PLACE IN THE ENTRANCE EXAM!"

"Well, she's certainly made a spectacle of herself," Aizawa replies calmly.

The dust settles, revealing a huge spike of earth has risen out of the stadium floor, greatly resembling the enormous iceberg that airhead used during the obstacle course. It's taller than the earth maze, its highest point rising up and out of the stadium itself. Katsuki has to tilt his head all the way back to look at the peak of the spire, where the shadow of the stadium gives way to blazing sunlight.

"That's a whole-ass mountain," Sero deadpans.

Midnight blows the whistle. "Kaminari is unable to fight! Beifong wins!"

Katsuki searches the destruction, wondering if there's anything left of Dunce Face. His eyes focused on a yellow figure, his shirt hooked on a spear of earth halfway up the hill like a kitten held by its scruff. Of course, he's totally fried. The sheer volume of earth between him and the earthbender had made it impossible to reach her.

"I suppose we'll take another intermission while the stage is cleared…again," Aizawa says, sounding distinctly more pissy than usual. "Please stand by."

Toph Beifong raises her right fist in victory, her expression cold and resolute.

The crowd collectively loses their mind.

"BEIFONG'S A FLIPPIN' MANIAC!" One of the girls screams, reaching over to shake the class rep harshly. Hagakure and Sero are close behind.

"I have never seen Beifong display such raw strength!" Iida exclaims. He sounds both terrified and immensely proud, and also totally oblivious.

Ignoring them all, Katsuki drops back into his seat, gritting his teeth. Earth Girl is still grinning as she leaves the arena, and yet all he can think is that she looks fake as fuck.

In a dimly lit bar, two young men silently watch the UA Sports Festival, the conversation growing tense and stilted between them.

(Privately, Kurogiri wonders why that is. They're both cynical and stubborn young men, making identical scathing remarks whenever the cameras pan over the pro heroes, and yet the two of them seem incapable of acknowledging any common ground. Due to prior experience, and Kurogiri's fondness for the current maplewood countertop of the bar, the black-smoke villain does not intervene.)

"Hm, what's this?" Shigaraki slouches forward in anticipation as the new bracket is revealed for the final event. Inasa Yoarashi and Shouto Todoroki are now absent from the match-ups. His eyes dart away to his phone, browsing further news outlets to see what the masses are speculating. All Might was trending again, a surge of civilian photos emerging online—he's been spotted outside UA's stadium with a handful of police officers, apprehending a trespasser.

"What're those little heroes hiding?" Shigaraki murmurs, not recognizing the man in custody. He had a minor mutation quirk, judging by the short, floppy antennae sprouting from his head. But it was no joke, getting onto UA's campus during their most important public event. Unless you were working for someone very skilled in rooting themselves in, like an insidious little fungus, like that unkillable idiot, Tarrlok—

The other man sitting at the bar straightens up, fingers tightening around his glass. The blue mask is only pushed up enough to reveal his sneering mouth. "They're hiding proof," he says simply, "Proof that Amon's Vision is an actual threat, and that these heroes are useless."

"Amon's Vision..." Shigaraki drones on, reciting the familiar tagline of the spiritual group, pushing down the swell of displeasure he feels at the name. "Right, right… some guy had a vision of bringing absolute harmony to the world…something something chosen one, crossroads of destiny and the singularity, blah, blah, blah." Shigaraki waves a dismissive hand. "Tarrlok… I don't see the big deal about him!"

Kurogiri carefully keeps his very thoughts to himself. He was there for all of Shigaraki's training, and the cult that started off as an off-shoot of Destro's cult certainly was a big deal for them.

"Shigaraki…" the Blue Spirit says flatly, "He's trying to take away quirks. Not just some quirks, all quirks. That's the end goal."

"He's chasing a myth. Avatar powers? Come on," Shigaraki gripes. "He was more annoying the first time around, back when his cult sacrificed twenty waterbenders in that freaky sex ritual. You know, half of them had some kind of healing ability? Medical quirks are rare as hell these days." Sensei had been furious when he found out about those wasteful deaths…

The Blue Spirit drops his head into one palm, letting the carved edges of his wooden mask press marks into his forehead. He wonders how many times he'll have to explain this conspiracy before people stop assuming it's only a theory. "So you see no problem with Tarrlok unless he actually creates an Avatar. I'm telling you he already has one." He gestures rather violently at the TV.

"Hah?" Shigaraki stares, annoyance clear in his tone. "Some kids dropping out because of a quirk malfunction doesn't mean anything."

The vigilante lays a plain manila folder on the bartop. There's a grayscale photo paper-clipped to the folder of a student, beaming like the sun.

"It means something when the kid in question is Inasa Yoarashi," the Blue Spirit says firmly. "It means something, because he was born with an air quirk and he was kidnapped by the Elementals ten years ago. It means something, because Endeavor buried the records, but Yoarashi is Subject A-21 from Cato Hospital, and he can bend four elements now."

The suspect that All Might caught isn't talking. He's a middle-aged man with sunken-in eyes and black hair peppered with gray. The only thing of note about him is the flexible, skin-colored antennae poking out of his hair.

Kamui Woods has the man restrained for now, escorting him to a couple of officers. Endeavor and the tiny rat principal are gathered once more, on the far side of the stadium, a good distance away from the food stalls and market that's been set up for visitors and students. All Might was somewhere back in the stadium, probably giving his little successor a pep talk or something. He wishes that blond idiot had bothered to stick around to give an actual eyewitness account, but apparently Endeavor and Nedzu weren't important enough for that.

"He's the one that manipulated your security measures," Endeavor surmises. "How did he get in?"

Nedzu's prepared with a touchscreen tablet almost larger than he is, and swiftly turns the screen around to show him footage from various security cameras. "He used a doctored custodial ID."

"And Shouto?" He asks. "His tongue is black."

Those who overdosed from the quirk-enhancement drug, Trigger, were identified by their black tongues. There were variants of Trigger available on the black market, from the mild dosage that Umeko Shinsou had in her possession, to the delayed-release serum Shouto was exposed to—all of them contained some chemical reagent that blackened the tongue.

"I've been reviewing as much footage as possible, but I cannot find any evidence of him interacting with your son personally." Nedzu sounds at least somewhat rueful about this.

"So there's at least one other involved that All Might didn't capture." Enji frowns at the tiny principal. Is it really safe to—?

"Should we cancel the rest of the festival because of this?" Nedzu voices his question patiently. "I'm sure you have your concerns. Trust me, Endeavor. If your concerns were the only thing in the way, then the solution would be simple."

The principal is perched on a ledge next to Enji, and he steeples his fingers thoughtfully as he speaks.

Enji knows, intellectually, that Principal Nedzu is one of the most intelligent beings in the country. He's tactical, trustworthy, and his work extends far beyond the usual responsibilities of a high school administrator. But Spirits above, Enji wants to stick him on a skewer and let him broil over a campfire.

"You would jeopardize the safety of everyone on this campus to continue this event?" He presses.

"There's nothing I care about more than these students," Nedzu responds.

"That's not an answer."

"And yet, it's all I can give you," the principal smiles magnanimously. "You understand, of course. Just like I understand that there's more to the two students laying in the nurse's office."

Enji does understand. All Might had full access to the AV case, but Nedzu didn't. "Where did he get a UA keycard from? How do we know there aren't more false keys out there?" He asks, moving on.

"One of today's many mysteries!" Nedzu exclaims. "Our suspect is seen entering with a key, but upon trying to exit the stadium, it no longer worked! Would you like to know why?"

Endeavor stares down the rat, impatient.

Nedzu sighs, searching through the footage. He scrubs through the feed from the entrance gate, and pauses at a later time. Endeavor stares at the figure on the screen, clearly visible in the bright daylight. UA's security, though clearly fallible, is nothing if not sophisticated. It's not the suspect, but it's certainly someone Enji knows.

He doesn't like where this is going.

"Two hours after our first suspect entered, my security systems logged a second entrance from a duplicate ID. While the card itself is a flawless copy of UA's official ones, using it for double entry caused it to be flagged for suspicious activity. Thus, when the first individual tried to exit the building, All Might was able to track him down because the gate registered his card."

Enji takes the tablet from the principal, zooming in on the image from the entrance gate.

"Did your security system record when the second the keycard was used to exit the grounds?" Endeavor prompts the principal, already knowing the answer in the back of his mind.

"No exit was logged," Nedzu admits. "And the unknown man that All Might caught purged all the footage from the beginning of the hallway incident until now. Even as we speak, we're reconnecting the camera. To keep things moving along, I've assigned several members of my staff to act as extra security."

"Hound Dog," Endeavor remembers suddenly. "Does he—?"

"He should have her scent, yes," the principal confirms. "You two lingered in the hallway long enough for him to pick up a trace."

"Is that enough for a positive ID?" He stares down at the security footage for a while longer. "No, it doesn't matter. I'm calling it in anyway."

Better safe than sorry.

"Endeavor," the principal says, but he doesn't quite sound like he's protesting. "I ask for discretion. We don't know the full situation, and you know how the Commission can be…"

"Don't worry, Nedzu," Enji interrupts, already pulling his phone out. "It won't be a public chase. You need a trap to catch a rabbit."

Deku wins against Raccoon Eyes. Barely. He dodges her acid, tosses dirt at her eyes—dirt that's totally left over from the Earth Girl's match, fucking Deku was such a hack—and just manages to throw her out of bounds. It's only the pink girl's foot that crosses the line, but it's enough to secure the nerd's win.

"Next up! From the hero course, it's Eijirou Kirishima! VERSUS! From the hero course, Ochako Uraraka!"

Katsuki freezes when the jumbo monitors show a close-up of Shitty Hair's face. He's pale, unsmiling, but standing tall. It's like that stupid look on Sato's face. Katsuki just knows what he's about to do.

Shitty Hair immediately waves a hand at Midnight. "Sensei! I give up!"

"WHAT?!" Round Face shrieks, looking enraged. "Kirishima, why—?"

Midnight whips her weapon through the air. "Kirishima has forfeited! Uraraka wins!"

This is her fault. Katsuki knows it.

"Toph!" Natsuo calls her as she stomps down the hallway. "That mountain was freaking cool!" He's trying to sound cheerful, but it's not really working.

He catches up to her in a flash, and envelops her in a quick, crushing hug. Toph's face gets squished against his chest and her cheek is pinched against the zipper of that warm up jacket he's always wearing. She likes Shouto's brother a lot, and he's always been kind to her without mother-henning her like Fuyumi does. So it's only because it's Natsuo that Toph doesn't immediately shove him away for touching her right now.

"Can I talk to the boys now?" She asks immediately, lifting her head away.

Natsuo rocks backwards on his heels with a drawn-out sigh. "Not even a 'thank you'? You're too grim, Toph..." He trails off, but Toph stays stubbornly quiet. "They're gonna move Inasa to a hospital for the night. Shouto's awake, but…"

Toph stills. "But what?"

Natsuo raises his hands hastily, "No, no, it's nothing bad! He's just a little out of it," he gives a short, dry huff. "He got spooked when Glass woke him up."

She's puzzled. "Who's Glass?"

"He works with Dad." He shrugs. "I think he's an underground hero. Gave off this whole hard-boiled detective vibe. Ooh, I should ask Hitoshi about him, he likes spooky heroes doesn't he?"

"Mm," Toph agrees distractedly. "Can I see Shouto now?"

Natsuo wavers for a moment, chewing on his lip. "I don't think that's a good idea. He needs rest." Toph's expression twists in dismay. "Hey. Um. Did you talk to Sato before his match?"

She doesn't answer at first, brow furrowed. "There were some 1-B kids looking for Shinsou," Toph admits warily.

"Including Sato?"

"I don't know," Toph huffs, "I don't know all his classmates, sheesh."

"True, but…Toph, what did you say to them?" Natsuo presses.

"Do you think I told that guy to forfeit?" Toph's hands curl into tight fists at her sides. There's just an echo of pain now, running over her knuckles, where she split her skin against the barrier wall. "Just come out and say it, then."

Natsuo gives a long-suffering sigh. "You realize the whole point of you participating was to not arouse suspicion, right?"

Maybe they shouldn't have glossed over their security breach then, Toph thinks vindictively. "I did participate," Toph replies, folding her arms. "What the rest of the competition does ain't up to me, but I'll do my freaking best if that's what UA wants. Plus Ultra." She sneers.

"I don't want to fight with you." Natsuo says softly.

"Yeah, 'cause if I cause any more trouble they'll have to kick me out, and then what'll you do with me?"

The older boy sighs. Again. The sound of it is beginning to get on her nerves. "Toph… You need to chill out. "

Oh, if she stays here any longer she's going to punch him. She loves Natsuo, she really does, but taking out Kaminari with that mountain hadn't settled her nerves—it'd made her feel ten times worse.

"Fine," Toph mutters. Then louder, "Fine! Don't tell me anything, don't let me talk to Shouto—I don't care, it's not a problem—!" She turns on her heel sharply.

"C'mon, don't be a baby," Natsuo calls after her. "You're being ridiculous!"

"You're ridiculous!" Toph shouts back, stomping away.

Natsuo stares after the teenage girl as her figure gets smaller and smaller. When she's finally disappeared down the hallway, he lets out a long breath and heads back to the hospital room. He pokes his head back into Shouto's room. "Glass, you done yet?"

Looking Glass jolts, smacking his head on the windowsill. "Eh—what? I'm not smoking." He frantically waves away a cloud of smoke.

"What the hell, man..." Natsuo mutters, annoyed.

"Natsuo," Shouto says softly from his cot, eyes bleary. "I love you very much, brother."

Shouto says it with such sincerity, Natsuo forgets what he was going to yell at Looking Glass about. He can only stare at his little brother in total bewilderment, feeling his ears go bright red. The Todorokis don't do 'I love you's. Shouto has never said something like that to Natsuo, and Natsuo hasn't ever said it back.

"I, uh… yeah, Shouto, you know… Same?" Natsuo scratches his head sheepishly. He glances at the mirror-headed hero, wondering for the first time what exactly Glass's quirk does. "Glass, what'd you do to him?"

The detective adjusts one of his leather gloves and jabs a finger at Shouto. "That has nothin' to do with me, he's just on a lotta morphine."

"You don't even wear glasses," Shouto retorts nonsensically, eyes narrowed at Glass. "Don't even have your own face… like… the millipeder man…"

Glass makes an offended noise. "Millipede—? Y'mean Centipeder, or like, the Face-Stealer? Either way I find that insulting."

"What were you even doing with him?" Natsuo folds his arms, stalwartly ignoring Shouto's thousand-mile stare. He's glad he kept Toph out of the way. Poor Shouto looked high as a kite, who knew what he'd say to her right now. "He can't give testimony right now."

"That's—" Glass coughs into his elbow, and then groans with pain. "That's classified, punk," he wheezes, laying an arm over his ribs. "Make sure he drinks lotsa water, it'll flush out Trigger faster."

"I broke the drinking fountain," Shouto admits randomly. "I'm the criminal now…"

"No, Endeavor will pay for it, Shouto…" He promises his little brother. "But you, Glass, the nurse is gonna kick you out for smoking," Natsuo points out to the detective. He knew cigarettes were addictive, but could this guy really not control himself for five minutes? "Those cancer sticks kill more people annually than villains, you know."

The hero gives a small huff of laughter. "Aw. You're a sweet guy, huh?"

Glass props himself up like he meant to be caught halfway out the window, his reflective mask shining like a beacon in the afternoon light. Natsuo's too bewildered by the compliment to answer.

He groans, scratching at his neck. "Good thing I was just leaving, then." He heaves himself forward, muttering a curse as his ribcage presses against the sill.

"Of course," Natsuo comments dryly, shaking off Glass's odd words. "It's not like there's a door or anything."

"If I leave through the door I'll have to talk to your pops again," he rasps. "See ya, kid."

Natsuo barks out an unwilling laugh as Glass shimmies out the window and vannishes.

"...Natsuo," Shouto says gravely, his eyes wide with urgency. HIs hair is so tangled it looks pink in the middle, though, and Natsuo can barely keep a straight face. "That man looked just like me." He presses his hands against his cheeks, squashing his face adorably.

"That would be your reflection," he chokes out, refusing to laugh at his drugged up brother.

"Are you sure?"

"Go back to sleep, buddy."

Enji doesn't return to the stadium, instead choosing to meet at the police station to question the man All Might caught trespassing. In the car ride, the radio station is tuned in to the festival and Present Mic is announcing a third forfeiture: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu cedes his match to Fumikage Tokoyami, and Enji wants to march back onto campus and slap someone. He's not sure who, but probably Nedzu.

So much for your reputation, Nedzu, Enji thinks to himself. He shouldn't find any of this funny, and he doesn't, not with the possibility of a traitorous Top Five Hero hanging over him—but at least he isn't Principal Nedzu.

She hadn't lied to Endeavor. Toph doesn't know anyone that went by the name Rappa in the Quirk Rumble. Endeavor seemed convinced she was at risk, but it would take more than some high-handed words from an authority figure before Toph considered herself in danger… She knew a lot of idiots, but no one dumb enough to snitch on another fighter, right?

"Damn it, you muscle-headed idiot, you busted a whole section of the stands again!" Loban shook an angry fist at one of his fighters. "And for what, a sparring match I wasn't making bets on?!"

"He challenged me, on home turf! How could I refuse such a hot-blooded opponent, eh?"

"He's a spectator, we can't afford that kind of attention!"

Maybe she was overestimating the average IQ of those Quirk Rumble fighters. Loban had a hell of a time trying to wrangle them all to turn a profit...

Toph comes to halt by the vending machines, and digs through her pocket for her school ID.

"How the fuck are you supposed to use a vending machine if you can't see?" A voice cuts through the quiet hall, abrupt and loud like a car backfiring.

Of course she just had to run into Bakugou.

Maybe I'll get myself disqualified after all.

Shigaraki leans back, his head tilted towards the masked vigilante. "So, what about the other one? The Todoroki boy, why is he out of the picture?"

He says nothing about the supposed Avatar weapon, instead focusing on the facet of conversation the Blue Spirit failed to mention.

Blue shrugs. "A message for Endeavor. He's doing a shit job at it, but even gnats need to be swatted if they get too bothersome. And it's a problem for Tarrlok if Endeavor gets his hands on the weapon he took so long to build."

The leader of the League of Villains turns away to watch the festival, but rather than clawing at his neck he only succeeds in pawing at his skin with blunted fingertips. (Kurogiri pats himself on the back for the foresight of leaving nail clippers out in plain sight in the young man's quarters. He was no mastermind like Sensei, but never let it be said that Kurogiri lacked the ability to manipulate people, however trivial the matter might seem.)

"I've been told stories about Tarrlok," Shigaraki says blandly. "But he never seemed to live up to the tales. Failed ritual this, busted drug ring that—Cato was his last stand, and he lost there too."

"Except for Subject A-21," Blue replies, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. "Who's being trained by heroes to master four elements, doing all of Tarrlok's work for him. Endeavor always liked the idea of creating the perfect hero. Why else would he coerce a woman with an ice quirk into marriage?"

Shigaraki levels two red eyes on him, bright with interest. "You seem to know a lot about the Number Two Hero," he comments.

"Yeah, no shit, I hate him. I'm sure you have your own conspiracy board for the Number One Hero," the Blue Spirit grunts. "Endeavor's got his own beef with AV, though, so Red wanted to stick it out and see what his agency would share with us." He pauses, sucking in a short, frustrated breath. "That didn't work out so well."

"That's what you get for trusting heroes," the pale-haired man says, leaning more heavily on the bar to peer at the mysterious, grim-looking vigilante. "And I have to wonder, now… why would I trust you, Blue Spirit?"

He clicks his tongue. "Is it the vigilante name? Sorry we can't all have quirk-centric code names like Death Hands. You can call me Dabi instead, that's what Giran calls me," the dark-haired man raises his fingers and wiggles them, letting blue flames dance along his knuckles. "I just wear the theater mask for the aesthetic."

"You're not even a real villain, Dabi," Shigaraki sneers. "I do my research, too. The Spirits don't kill."

Lifting up his glass, the vigilante takes a bracing sip of whiskey, unbothered by the burning sensation down his throat. "Wow, now you're gatekeeping villainy?" Dabi exclaims, cavalier to a fault, wagging a finger at Shigaraki. It's something about wearing a mask, Touya's discovered, that makes it easier to shoulder a new character. "This is why your league isn't popular. Too caught up in the numbers. Do you divide up your cronies by how long their rap sheet is, too?"

"You don't even have a record," Shigaraki sneers.

"Of course I don't," Dabi deadpans, like it's obvious. "I don't get caught. Unlike the hundred little minions you sent to slap around some wannabe heroes."

"Are you sure you're not the wannabe hero?" he asks Dabi, a dangerous edge finally creeping into his voice. He's been suspicious of Dabi from the start, and his patience is worn thin. "Cutting down a trafficking ring, going after a cult, working with the Flame Hero Agency. Heroes are nothing more than degenerates, infecting society, and you? You're a pale imitation of them," he snarls behind Father's hand.

Dabi regards him with cool, unaffected eyes, refusing to rise to the obvious bait. Shigaraki finds this even more annoying. "I don't like you," he mutters darkly. "Why did Giran vouch for you? Why did you let your partner get arrested? I'm looking for allies, not goody-two-shoes."

A cheer from the TV distracts the two of them for a moment. It's the start of the second match, and two first-years from class 1-A step up to the arena. Denki Kaminari and Toph Beifong.

"You don't need to like someone to be their ally," Dabi says plainly, resting his head on one fist. Shigaraki's gaze is drawn back to the television as the two students are introduced. "You just need your goals to align. I've worked with Giran, with Red, and even with worthless trash like Endeavor. I'm adaptable like that."

Shigaraki sneers. "So you're an expert in jumping ship when things don't go your way. You did it when they went after Loban, too."

"And you abandon your allies when things don't go to plan," Dabi sneers right back, showing no acknowledgement over the fate of the tiger-mutation ringleader from the Quirk Rumble. "They arrested almost a hundred villains after your little UA stunt."

"They weren't useful except as cannon fodder."

The camera footage goes shaky as UA's arena explodes into action. Shouts of shock and fear from the crowd fill the air, almost drowning out the commentators. As dust settles around the enormous pillar of rock now decorating the very center of the stadium, the camera angle switches to aerial footage outside the arena.

"I suppose we'll take another intermission while the stage is cleared…again," one of the commentators says unenthusiastically. "Please stand by."

Shigaraki hums in a low tone, nails digging into his neck, but he says nothing of the student he met during the USJ attack.

"And when you're not useful to me, I'll you leave too," Dabi says bluntly, turning away from the TV. "You're no friend to AV, and I need a little more job security since Red's gone. Like I said, your villain start-up doesn't look so popular. If you need a demonstration of how I can help, then—well, what do you want me to do?"

And there, finally, he makes Shigaraki smile.

Shouta Aizawa is having a very bad day. Not as bad as his class field trip, and not nearly as bad as some of the underground cases he's worked with Takayama, but it's definitely up there in the top five worst days of this particular calendar year. And he couldn't leave the commentator's box to check on his damn students. Not even to speak to the kids who were dramatically dropping out of the final event on live television.

"After this idiotic festival is over," Shouta mumbles to Hizashi, his eyes scanning over the security footage available from sector 07. The footage showed Beifong beating up her classmates and crying a bit. There was also Rikido Sato, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Tokage Setsuna and Shoda Nirengeki present in sector 07, in various stages of shock as two of their classmates were carried out on stretchers. "We're doing wellness checks on all of them."

"You're the one that needs a wellness check," Hizashi sighs, rubbing his temple in an uncharacteristic show of exhaustion. He usually made a point of being Eraserhead's energetic complement, but today was beginning to get to the Voice Hero as well. "But you're right, we'll start tomorrow with Vlad and Hound Dog."

"Someone should check Nedzu's head while we're at it," Shouta growls.

Green-lighting Midnight to knock out Beifong, and then insisting that Beifong and Shinsou participate since they weren't that injured, were just some of the principal's many poor moves so far. It seemed like the 1-B students were churning up the rumor mill quite diligently on their own, and if the Hero Commission didn't stick their nose in UA business after today, Shouta would eat his sleeping bag.

"Hey there," Hizashi huffs reproachfully. "We can't start turning on each other now, can we? You know UA can't show any weakness. You agreed we needed the Sports Festival to take place as usual."

"That was before our security was breached for a second time." Shouta shuts his eyes. "And by the looks of it, that punk All Might tracked down has no ties to the League. This might be a totally separate threat. What the hell's going on?"

Hizashi slumps in his chair. He almost fidgets with his hair, but remembers at the last second that it's currently gelled up into that monstrous hairstyle. "I don't know yet, Shouta, but it's not like anything's changed for us. Our job is to look out for those little hatchling heroes." He stretches against the back of his office chair, reaching for the ceiling like an extremely large cat preparing for a nap.

Shouta is deeply jealous. He still can't extend his arms above his head, and his bandages are itchy.

"In your case," Hizashi continues pointedly, "That means healing up quickly so you're fit to take care of your clutch of hero-hopeful chickadees."

Shouta groans, not from physical pain but from the spiritual damage he takes every time Hizashi makes a weird bird analogy. Knowing this, Hizashi cackles to himself, petting his cockatoo hairstyle.

"Speaking of my class," Shouta drawls, his eyes fluttering over to the individual files he had compiled to assess the one-on-one fights, "There seems to be an opening in 1-A. It's hard to assign work with an uneven number of students."

It just so happens that Shouta brings this up as match six begins—Tenya Iida versus Hitoshi Shinsou.

"Oh, come on," Hizashi mutters, clearing his throat so he can begin to narrate the impending fight. "He's already a hero student."

"But he's not my hero student."

"Now you're being greedy, Shouta."

A bright orange note is stuck to the back of Shinsou's file. Shouta flips it over, finding the familiar scrawl of Vlad King's hand. He's my student! You got Tsuyu, stop trying to pilfer my class!

Damn it. Shouta can't justify trade Tsuyu for Hitoshi. Maybe if he found a Gen Ed student with potential for Vlad to snatch up? Hiryu Rin, or maybe the glue boy, Bondo?

"Ahem. Next up, listeners! It's match six! From the hero course, we have Tenya Iida! VERSUS! From the hero course as well, Hitoshi Shinsou!"

The purple-haired student steps up to the arena calmly, his expression placid as a still lake. Iida looks focused but a bit anxious. Perhaps he's wondering if this 1-B student will forfeit mysteriously too. Aizawa can't say for sure he won't.

When he spots Beifong, he almost blows her up on site. He doesn't need to know the details—this shit show is her fault, Katsuki's certain of it.

"I did participate. What the rest of the competition does ain't up to me, but I'll do my freaking best if that's what UA wants. Plus Ultra."

"I don't want to fight with you."

"Yeah, 'cause if I cause any more trouble they'll have to kick me out, and then what'll you do with me?"

She's rummaging through her pocket for her ID, looking to buy something from the vending machine, when Bakugou blurts out, "How the fuck are you supposed to use a vending machine if you can't see?"

Beifong jumps like a startled cat. "Huh?" She turns, looking mystified. "The fuck, man?"

To be fair, Katsuki doesn't know why he asked either. He doesn't care about UA's accessibility for the disabled. He elects to pretend he never asked in the first place. If he weren't so angry, it'd be funny that Earth Girl was so focused on snacks that she didn't notice him coming.

"Look, Bakugou—"

"Did you say some shit to Kirishima and the others so they'd forfeit?" Katsuki asks point-blank.

"No." Beifong answers flatly, turning to face him fully. Her expression isn't guilty, but it isn't innocent either. And her answer isn't good enough.

"You," Bakugou growls slowly, furiously, jabbing a finger in her face, "...you think it's heroic, everyone dropping out like this," he declares coldly. "Just—just 'cause your little buddies forfeited doesn't mean they're doing something noble! You're just dragging the rest of us down!"

Toph pauses. What started as a prickling of annoyance catches a gust of momentum, blooming into anger. "Were you eavesdropping on me and Natsuo?" she asks. Wildly, she wishes he'd been dumb enough to keep pushing her around. Getting into a fistfight with Bakugou was surely enough for the teachers to disqualify them both from the tournament.

"Who cares if I was?" Bakugou howls, his rage building with every word. "This is my chance. The whole country is watching! And you're ruining the festival!"

"I'm not dropping out!" Toph shouts. "Even if I did, that'd be my own damn choice!"

"You talked big in the opening speech," Katsuki says coldly. "Don't you dare go back on your word, Beifong. I'll kill you!"

Her mouth falls open, slack with surprise. "Kendo," she murmurs suddenly.

"Hah?!"

She looks shocked now, and the expression throws him for a loop. "I—" her face shutters away her emotions. "You're in the match after this one," Toph says sharply, thinking fast. "You'll be late for your own fight if you keep yapping at me, Shinsou and Iida probably won't take long."

She can practically feel the rage radiating off him. "What the hell does that mean," he growls, but begins to back off. His match is coming up, that was no bluff.

Though she didn't know much about Bakugou, she did know some vital details. He hated people who didn't try their best. He took full offense during that hike, when Shinsou promised to beat Class 1-A, but also liked Shinsou for challenging him. He's never late for class, and he was stupidly macho about making everything a competition and beating everyone.

It was all so horribly familiar, Toph feels dumb for not seeing it sooner. He's just like him.

"That purple fuck isn't quitting too, is he?" Bakugou demands. "He can't."

"I don't know," Toph says honestly. She doesn't add that she hasn't spoken to Hitoshi at all today. That she really wishes she knew, and that she also doesn't want to know anything at all about him and Shouto and Inasa—

Her jaw clenches. "But I'll make you a promise, Bakugou," Toph proposes quietly. "I said a lot of shit in that speech but this one's just for you."

Bakugou is silent. Expectant.

"When I beat you—" He scoffs. She ignores it. "When I beat you in the finals, Bakugou, I promise to make sure I thoroughly embarrass you on national television while I'm at it."

"W-What?" He barks out an exhale that's almost laughter. In a weird way, Toph thinks she's said the right thing to him. "You stupid cocky bitch," he sneers, "No way are you—"

The announcement from Present Mic echoes through the concrete halls. "WINNER! HITOSHI SHINSOU!"

"Fuck me, I'm late," Bakugou howls, sprinting off. "This ain't over, asshole!"

Toph rolls her eyes, and returns to musing over the vending machine. If there's a faint, bitter smile playing on her lips, well, there's no one around to see it.

A/N: this chapter was so long but literally... i didn't even make it to the finals of the festival T-T I didn't even write the Bakugou vs Sero or Honenuki vs Aoyama fight! Or the Iida vs Shinsou fight... sorry...

also, i'm worried that there's too much going on in this chapter. if you feel like you missed something, and are confused by the end of the chapter, let me know! i'll answer any clarifying questions that i can.