Chapter 13

On the Eve of Armageddon

The little girl was sleepy – of course, they had gotten her up at the crack of dawn. She rubbed her little eyes and yawned, which made her seem even younger than seven, which did nothing for the guilt that was giving Tenko indigestion.

"You said I can never use my powers on anyone, then you said I had to use it on the shadow lord. I don't want to use it on anyone else," she protested to her uncle. "Mr. Shimura is nice!" At least he'd made a good impression on her.

"You're not going to do it long enough to hurt him," her uncle said.

Tenko ached to reassure her that she wouldn't, that her teacher was watching, but Aizawa had said it was crucial she be able to do this in similar circumstances to the real thing. So, he was hidden, and her uncle would be in the other room with Tenko. "See where I cut myself shaving?" he said, kneeling down and lifting his chin.

"Yes, did it hurt?"

"Not really, you get used to it when you're a man that cuts easily. I volunteered myself since we can tell if it's working on me, because we'll see if the cut goes away. Hopefully that's the only way we can tell, then we'll know if you can help us later."

"Are we practicing for when I'm grown?"

"I wish it was, it'll probably be in the next few days." She turned to her uncle.

"You said we'd fight the shadow lord when I'm grown, Uncle Kai." For just a second, Tenko saw red, and he was sure Aizawa did wherever he was hiding. But he held his tongue.

"Well, things change," her uncle said coolly. "The shadow lord wants the white lady we saw last night, and if he gets her, very bad things will happen to everyone. So we have to fight him now, to protect her and everyone else."

"Okay," the little girl said firmly, all traces of sleepiness gone now. "I'll be careful."

Tenko thought about teasing her to keep going until he hit nine-years-old if she did go too far, but he realized she was probably too young for the joke to land. "I'm not worried, your teacher says you're great at controlling your quirk," he said instead.

"Thank you," she said and looked at her feet bashfully.

"Let's get this going," Chisaki said impatiently. "Namura?"

The gangly redhead stepped forward. "Uh, so … this is kind of awkward, Boss, but … for it to work we have to look in each other's eyes for a couple of minutes."

"That's fine." Namura started to put his hand to his boss's face, but clearly thought better of it. The two locked eyes, without any physical contact to keep them in place.

"What are you doing, Mr. Namura and Uncle Kai?" Eri asked.

"We're activating Mr. Namura's ability."

"I'll be able to see what your uncle sees, and he'll see what I see, whenever I want to trade, for about an hour. We're going to use it so I can show you where Mr. Shimura is when they're in the upstairs room."

"Okay," the little girl said uncertainly.

"How'd you find out you had it?" Shimura asked, hoping to make it less awkward.

"My mom has it, and she told us about it, so my sister and I both tried it. The dumb thing is we couldn't tell which one had it, we just knew we'd switched, and I couldn't control it enough to switch back at will yet. As soon as Dad got home, we both subjected him to it, that's how we figured out it was just me."

"Does your sister have a quirk?"

"Yeah … sort of. Her and Dad both have cat features. Or had … in her case."

Tenko said nothing. He understood why, but he also didn't.

"That's it, I've got it," Namura said, and the two immediately broke eye contact. "Sorry, I know it's super disorienting to suddenly be looking in your own eyes …"

"It's fine, let's do this," his boss snapped.

They headed up the stairs to get into position. Chisaki called Namura so they could communicate verbally, and then they just had to wait, with Tenko awkwardly lifting his chin so the cut was visible. "What Eri said down there was … interesting. Kind of made it sound like you swore your seven-year-old niece to vengeance?"

Disconcertingly, Chisaki's eyes were unfocused, not looking him quite in the eye. Not out of any sense of shame, clearly, but because he was looking at something else entirely. Namura was using his quirk. Which meant Eri was too, or would be soon. Tenko felt nothing yet. "Against the man who murdered her grandfather and made her live in fear all her life? What makes you think I had to give her the idea?"

Really? This piece of work. "So, you came in, gave her the terrible news, and she said, 'I'm going to kill that son of a bitch, Uncle Kai, just you watch!' Why do I have a hard time believing that?"

Chisaki shrugged. "I don't really care what you believe. Like you said, we need her." There was no use arguing with him, and what Aizawa had said earlier about their enemies still rang true, so Tenko bit his tongue again.

His phone rang, and he reached for it. He saw Sosaki's number on the ID and answered. "Shimura, what the hell? You called in the middle of the night and just left a dire message to call back?" She was clearly still half-asleep, but she was too good a friend not to call as soon as she could.

"How soon can you get to Tokyo, Sosaki?"

"That depends entirely on the other information you're about to give me. And you better give me information, Shimura."

"We're moving on All For One."

"You're doing what?!"

"Exactly what I said, we're …"

"Eri, stop," Namura's voice said over the phone. "The cut's gone. About three minutes for two days." Tenko felt his chin, and sure enough, the little raised red line was gone. He'd never felt anything, and it had been less than five minutes. Not that a little more than a day per minute was a great rate for taking time off a villain at least two hundred years old, but it would have to do.

"I don't want to relay much on the phone. Just get here, I'll meet you when you get to the city," he said, going on.

"There are quicker ways to commit suicide, Tenko," she said, slipping into his given name.

"It's not a suicide mission. It's a last stand. We need you, Shino."

Over the phone, he could make out Eri's delighted exclamations as her teacher hopped out of his hiding place to start asking her a few questions.

Sosaki was quiet for just a second. "Fine. I can be there by this afternoon if I can get on the next train."

"Thank you. I promise I'll explain. Bring any of your friends that'll come that you can trust to keep their mouths shut for forty-eight hours. Talk to you later."

He hung up, in time to hear Eri admit she could probably go faster, but she'd been worried because Mr. Shimura was young and nice, so she used her power very slowly. So, they didn't have a solid idea how fast she could go, but they knew it was painless, and that she had the range, and that she could do it if Namura told her where they were. They'd just have to give her as much time as possible, which almost certainly meant he was going to have to give names. "Well, that's Sosaki, she's with us. I expect the others I called to get back to me in the next hour or so. Your eyes were a giveaway, you're going to have to wear sunglasses like Aizawa, so will anyone else Namura uses for eyes in the room." Two more pieces in place.

Chisaki nodded. "Good catch."

"When are you going to make the call to your contact?"

"I don't call him, he calls me. If the pattern holds, he'll call at ten."

"If he doesn't call?"

"We have Hawks' girl tell us where to go to try to catch him." Not ideal, not ideal at all.

Todoroki was the next caller. "Shimura," he said as he picked up, with some trepidation.

"What's with the cryptic message at three am? And what the hell's going on with that Greek girl, her disappearance didn't have anything to do with you, did it?"

"How soon can you meet up?"

"Depends on the location, my case got a continuation so I'm yours all morning. But that had better not be a yes."

"I'll explain everything when we meet."

"That's a yes, isn't it? Fine. Can you get to my office?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

Deku knew he needed to rest, and to prepare as best he could, but …

He found himself lurking in the group chat he had with Togata, Asui, and the others. Tokoyami, the night owl, had sent a picture of a litter of black kittens laying on a black cat bed so only their eyes and tails sticking out over the edge of the bed were readily visible and they looked like some kind of tentacled monster. It was both adorable and creepy.

Shimura had told him not to tell them what was happening, that he knew at the very least Tokoyami and Togata, and probably Asui, would want to come, and he wasn't going to involve any more children in this than they already had. But Deku wanted to start a group call. Wanted to hear their voices again. But he knew he'd cry, he knew they'd ask what was going on. So he just read over their messages, over and over again. The messages which flowed seamlessly from jokes and cute animal pictures to talk about protests and vigils and the casual discrimination all of them had faced and about little siblings having nightmares about snatchers. This was for them, this was their world, that had fallen into darkness for way too long.

Deku was going to do this. He had to.

Oh … that was someone he did need to call, no one had thought about her yet, but … with everything going on, it might be good if Emi and her family had some warning, especially if … especially if everything went south. He called, even though it was early. "Izuku? It's early," Emi protested, her voice full of sleep.

"Emi, you and your family need to be careful, someone came from my world to …"

"Ms. Namura already called my parents, Dad wigged out. We're flying to Europe today."

Deku breathed a little easier. "That's good, Emi, I'll see you soon," he said, that statement being more of a hope than a promise.

"Is it true what she said? Are you going to fight him? Like All Might did?" He'd given her that part of the story, just a few days before, she hadn't sent him the panels yet.

"Yes."

She was quiet for a long time, and then he heard snuffling. She'd seen his fear, probably felt it, when he'd witnessed All For One step from the shadows in the Kamino district. "Good luck, Izuku. Thank you for the story, thank you for letting me bring it to life and thank you for … everything." She was trying to keep her voice steady, but it sounded so final.

"Be careful today, I'll see you soon," he said again, trying to inject any certainty at all into his voice.

When he hung up, there was a new message in the group chat. It was Asui, the earliest riser, responding to the kittens.

He had to. This was their world, they had to know.

He knew he had to keep it short, so he summarized as much as he could. But he told them everything.

The phone rang. Kai took a breath, let it ring three times. "Chisaki," he answered.

"Kai, my friend, I've been waiting to talk to you all month. So the drop off this month is …"

"That has to wait."

"Excuse me?"

"That's on hold, until we sort some things out."

"That's not how this works, Chisaki, you don't make the demands. You should know that by now," Hiraoka said harshly, and some of the smarm had fallen out of his voice. He was dangerously mad. Good.

"I have an offer your boss is going to want to hear."

"Really? What's that, big guy?"

"Tenko Shimura wants to talk to your boss about the missing kids."

"The SDMR guy? Not sure why he thinks he can demand that, or why you had the balls to think you could pass it along …"

"He's desperate," Kai cut him off. "He knows no matter what he tries, he can't stop you. He's willing to offer people to your boss. Metahumans who've slipped his grasp so far. Powerful adults in place of innocent children."

"Like who?"

"He'll only give up names if he can deal directly with the man in charge. But you know he can deliver – no one knows more than him about who has what."

Hiraoka was silent for a long, deadly moment. "I'll call you back."

"Hey, Shinso. This is Hawks. Elixir. Call me when you can," the text read. That was the previous password – Hitoshi hesitated for a second, then he dialed. He had only recently changed it.

"Hawks? I've got to leave for school soon …"

"Can you cut school today, if you need to? It's important."

Mom and Dad would kill him. "How important?"

"We're fighting the devil, soon."

"… The literal devil or …"

"You know which one." He did. The shadow lord. All For One. The Boogeyman. He had a couple of different names. Whatever he was called, he'd been his personal and national nightmare all his life. And he had Himiko. His heart raced, but his fists clenched and his jaw tightened.

"Yes, I'll keep my phone on. Tell me when and where to go."

"As soon as I know, I'll text you. Be cool, go to school until you find out otherwise – it might not be today. But it's going to be soon." Hitoshi nodded.

Tensei called, afraid there would be no answer. But he had to talk to them, one more time, in case the worst happened …

"Tensei? Thank God!" his mother answered, and she sounded so exhausted and worried. "What the hell is going on?! Your captain's been calling …"

"Mom, is Tenya there? Has he left for school already?" he cut her off.

"No, not yet, Tensei, what's going on?"

"I can't tell you, Mom, not yet, it'll put you in danger if it falls through. Please just … please just let me talk to Tenya, just for a little bit. I love you."

"I love you, Tensei," she said, and the worry in her voice devastated him. "Tenya! Come here for a second! It's your brother!" he could hear Mom shouting, though it was muffled because she had her hand over the receiver.

A few minutes later, Tenya's voice said, "Tensei? What's happening? Why did you go AWOL?"

He wanted to tell his little brother, he wanted to tell him so badly. I'm fighting for you, and all the kids like you, to make a better world. "Tenya, I need you to be brave, no matter what happens, no matter what you hear after tonight."

"Oh … of course, Tensei, but …"

"It'll be okay, I'll be by to see you and Mom when I can," he lied. "I love you."

"… I love you too. Can't you tell us anything?"

"No, not yet. You'll know, if it works."

"If it doesn't?"
"You should go to school," he said, even though he wanted to keep him on the line just a while longer.

"All right. Good luck, Tensei."

Tensei hung up before he started to cry – he couldn't afford to cry.

Tenko took a long drag on his pen. It was the first time he'd smoked since Iida had called him, despite needing the nicotine more than he ever had in his life today. He exhaled the vapor, trying to clear his mind of everything that was happening, of the world in the balance. Two worlds, actually, maybe more than that.

And just as quickly, the respite was over. Chisaki stepped into the room. He put the pen away, hoping the Yakuza didn't mind. It was just flavored water vapor, but still. "Shimura. It's for you," he said, handing him a phone.

"Tenko Shimura, who is this," he said, seriously but as though it were any other deal.

"I'm not important, Mr. Shimura, I've just been asked to vet the seriousness of your offer by my employer." The voice on the line was a silky contralto – not what Chisaki had described. Hopefully that meant they were climbing up the chain.

"Vet away."

"How and why did you send this communication through a man like Chisaki?" the woman on the phone asked.

"Recent events have destroyed what little faith I ever had that the police had even a modicum of interest in protecting the metahuman community. As others have done in such a position, I've turned to less than official means to protect my own. I sought out chivalrous organizations to offer everyday protection, and learned of this connection while setting up said protection. I seized the opportunity."

"Mr. Chisaki made bold assertions about what you'd be willing to trade for information on the children. Can you confirm?"

"I can confirm there's nothing off the table in terms of what I'm willing to offer in exchange for the safety of metahuman children. I'll discuss details if I can speak to the person or persons in charge."

"Why now? After all this time?"

Tenko almost hesitated, but they couldn't afford that. "I've never had the option before. I've only recently attained a position to make the choice, and until the last few days, I was hemmed in by the expectation to rely on the police and my hope that I could protect everyone." The next thing was painful to say, even as a lie. "I know now that I can't. I've set that childish hope aside. If I can minimize the harm, that's what I'll have to do."

There was a pause so long, Tenko worried they'd been disconnected. "How many people will you bring?"

Yes! They were in business after all. He nodded to Chisaki, whose eyes lit a little with a smile hidden by the mask. "Chisaki, my personal bodyguard, my secretary, and a young lady that can confirm the identity of the young woman I'm trying to retrieve. Otherwise, I throw myself on your mercy." He hesitated, he shouldn't press his luck, but this was the best chance. "In the interest of all parties, we should meet in a public place."

"Obviously. Do you have a location in mind? We'll vet it, but we can tentatively agree."

He fumbled in his pocket for the address Iida had written down, and offered it.

"Was that suggested by one of your 'chivalrous' associates?"

No, by a police officer that watches them. And probably saw your people without realizing it. "Yes," he lied. "Do you object?"

"Not at all. All though, as a bit of friendly advice, I'd be careful how cozy you get with Chisaki and his ilk. You know what they say about laying down with dogs and waking up with fleas."

Normally, he would agree, but if this were real? He'd be selling his soul to the devil, who gave a damn about the Yakuza in comparison? He'd lay down with a whole pack of them before he dealt with All For One in earnestness.

"As for the tearoom, we'll have to have our security sweep the building. It's nothing personal, but you understand, we can't take any risks," she went on.
"I wouldn't expect anything less."

"We'll meet tonight at eight PM. Are you prepared?" Less than ten hours, and there would be more people out and about than was ideal. That did not give them much time, especially Sosaki. But it was also less time for the shadows to investigate Gianakos' appearance on their end.

"Yes. I'll be there."

"Very well. We look forward to meeting with you, Mr. Shimura."

Tenko hung up, and didn't breathe for another few seconds. He handed the phone back to Chisaki with a shaking hand. "Do we have a go time?" Chisaki asked. His tone was different than it had been just a few hours ago.

"Eight tonight."

The Yakuza captain didn't say anything about how close the time was. "Okay. You should sleep, once you communicate the time to your parties. I can have one of my guys show you a room."

Sleep. He desperately needed sleep, he was about to have the most important meeting of his life. He had never regretted anything in his life as much as he did staying up until 3 am the day before yesterday playing a zoo simulator. A zoo simulator, of all things. But he couldn't sleep, just yet. "I have one more thing to do besides that, then I'll sleep," Tenko said.

"Can it wait?"

"No. The police won't be a help in this situation, they've made that clear. I'm going to set up a protest that's far enough away to be safe, but close enough it'll slow down the police response when the fighting starts."

"Okay. That's great thinking. Thank you for getting us in. It'll be safer to do it there." Was … was that respect?

"Thank you for the contact."

Chisaki nodded. "Least I could do. Let's get this bastard."

"The hell are you doing up so early?" Nemuri asked, clearly teasing since it was almost noon now. She hadn't answered Shota's messages, so he went straight to her door.

"I haven't been to bed. I need your help."

"Getting to bed? I've been saying that for years, but you won't take me up on it."

"I need your help with All For One, Nemuri," he said curtly, starting over.

"You … what?"

"It's a long story, we don't have much time. I'll recap as much as I can as we go – get dressed."

"Shota you might as well have just said you need my help storming into Hell, what am I supposed to …"

"He's real. I know because a kid dropped out of another world to tell me his sensei defeated him where he comes from."

"Are you high? What did you take?" she asked, her face full of concern.

Shota took a deep breath. Of course that was her reaction, what would he have thought if she showed up on his door talking like that? "I'm sorry. It's a long story, I'm going to condense it as much as I can. I promise I'm not high. Please just get ready."

She dressed while he explained through the bedroom door. "Your student's a Yakuza heir? Shota what did you get yourself into?" Really, that was what caught her ear?

"She's just a little girl, she needed help like anyone else."

"But still … Shota …"

She emerged from the bedroom, dressed in normal clothes. Or as close to normal clothes as she had – the skirt was rather short and the blouse rather low-cut. "He's kept his word to me so far. I'll extricate myself as soon as Eri's in a good place with her training." Or, more accurately, when he could bear to leave her, alone in that cruel lifestyle.

"Okay. But this … this boy from another world … he's got a power that can defeat All For One? Are you sure?"

"It has before, and that was in its dying state after it had already been passed on to him by his sensei."

She sighed. "Okay. Okay. I'll do whatever you need me to."

Something occurred to him, remembering Midoriya's story that all their lives depended on. "Do you have scissors?" he asked.

"What?" she asked, understandably baffled.

"My hair's a tell, I'm going to cut it and make it harder on the enemy," Shota said flatly. Tomura Shigaraki had caught it, in another world, surely his master could in this one. "I'm not attached to it being long, I just …"

"Can't bother to get it cut? Fine. But at least let me do it, so you don't look like you lost a fight with a pair of sheep shears," she said, and started to dig through some drawers. Eventually she found a pair, and directed him to sit on one of her kitchen chairs. She went to work, clipping away the long black locks. A lot of men would kill to be in this position, he thought wryly as she stood so close to him to work. But she'd always be the girl next door to him.

A few minutes later, his head felt lighter and he barely recognized his reflection when he caught it in the mirror hanging on the living room wall. "There. I'm not a hairdresser, but you look decent. Is that short enough or do you want me to buzz it?"

She was teasing, but he answered seriously. "I don't think we need to go that far. Thank you. It looks better than it would have if I'd done it."

She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's starting to feel real, what you said. This is a nightmare, Shota," she said, barely audible. He put a hand over hers.

"I wish it was."

"I'm afraid."

"So am I. We'd be fools if we weren't."

"Promise me, if you make it out of there and I don't, that you'll protect the street girls. They're so vulnerable …" She had such a good heart. It figured the one who saw it was someone who didn't care about the rest.

"I will. We should go, we need to get what we can in order."

"Don't you need to sleep? You've been up all night."

He'd gone without a night of sleep for less. "I'll catch a few hours if I can, when I'm sure everything's in place that I have any say in."

"More than anything else, we'll need your eyes. Please get some rest, Shota."

She was right, of course. His own words came back to him – they had assets, they just had to use them to best advantage. He still had things he had to do, but there was more in hand than he wanted to acknowledge.

In a few hours, it would all be done, one way or another. "I'll rest here, just a couple of hours," he said, and letting go was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life. But she was right – the main thing they needed now was his eyes. Best to make sure he could keep them open.

2 months ago …

It was raining way, way too hard to be waiting in alleyways.

And it was probably an ambush, anyway. Keigo kept ears and eyes peeled, a few feathers scattered at the perimeter to aid in that.

But so far, it was just one blond woman in a black raincoat. One that had almost caught one of his kids, but deliberately let her go with a message and a name that matched a missing child from a decade ago, dropping her with a cry as though Reiko had managed to hurt her. "I almost gave up," Tsuchikawa said softly. "I almost left."

"Sorry, traffic," he lied glibly.

"I'm just glad you did come," she said. "I didn't think you would. But I had to try."

"Can't you leave?" She shook her head adamantly.

"I don't know what they'll do to my family. I try not to think what they'll do to me if they know I went to you. Besides I …" she hesitated. "He doesn't trust me much. He's only started letting me have any unmonitored time a few months ago. Not that it's unwarranted, look what I did with it. But maybe I can help."

The hair on the back of Keigo's neck stood up. "He?"

"You know who he is, we all do."

It was like having it confirmed the boogeyman was real, by someone that had escaped from under a bed a decade after being pulled under. And that might be dragged back under the bed at any moment. "He's real, he's everything we were scared of as kids," she said with a shiver. "He took my ability for years, to make me easier to keep. He only just gave it back, because I agreed to work for him." She said it with so much distaste – and it seemed like it was targeted at herself.

"Hey, you're here now," he said, a hand on her shoulder. "Tell me what you can, before you have to go back. We'll figure out how you can help us." And yourself. God only knows what you've been through. She nodded. "I only see him once in a blue moon. But I can figure out approximately where he is."

"That's good, that's useful." Or would be, one day, if they could get enough people together to do anything about it.

Present Day …

It was just a few hours until they moved on All For One. They were approaching the building at staggered times, with different excuses to be there to avoid tripping All For One's security sweep. Hawks was supposed to check into the hotel a few floors down in an hour. Time was running out to warn Tsuchikawa. She could try to flee, she could make some kind of stand internally. But that might get her killed. And contacting her was always risky, and if he blew it now, when they were so close and so much was at stake …

He just had to hope she caught on quickly enough, and took care of herself, and got out in time, or that if she got swept up in any arrests that happened on the off chance the police decided to be useful, they could get her out swiftly.

That didn't sit right, even though he had no choice. She'd already been through hell, and she'd risked everything to give them the info they had. Stay safe, Tsuchikawa, he thought, still hurting over the decision.

Aiko was on the floor … writing on a piece of poster board? "What are you doing?"

"Mr. Shimura said there'd be a protest to distract the police, I'm going to go," she said flatly.

"Stay here, I don't want you to …" She gave Kai a look so cold, so haunted, it stopped him midsentence.

"I could lose everything tonight. My lover, my father, my brother, my charge, my colleague, boys I've known since I was a child, my freedom if you fail … and you won't even let me be part of the distraction?" He didn't say anything. How could he say anything? "They cut off any chance I'd have ever had to help you two days after I was born, and I was happy about it until today." The thought of Aiko, gentle, proper Aiko, as some kind of feline assassin or whatever she was imagining, twisting through the air and wielding daggers or shooting a gun, almost brought a smile to his face but he didn't dare. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"I won't stop you. Fight for us in whatever way seems best to you." She looked away from him, and went back to her sign. There was so much pain apparent in the way she held herself, in her silence.

He didn't have much time, but he had enough to pay a debt. He sat down beside her and wrapped an arm over her shoulders. She turned her face from him but he could tell she had started to cry. He held her without a word, the way she'd held him the night Pops died.

Deku sat cross-legged on a couch deep in the compound, pouring over his notes. He wished he had more of his notebooks here in this universe, but he did his best to make do, trying to pool his memories of what had been in the other books.

"Midoriya. You're not going to learn anything new in a few hours, and you need to rest," Mr. Aizawa said from the doorway. He'd cut his hair – he was almost unrecognizable with it short.

"They brought you back?" he asked.

"Yeah, I needed to make sure Eri was ready, and that Namura and Shinso know what to look out for with quirk exhaustion."

"Is Shinso here?"

"Yes." Deku wanted to meet him, see if he was different from his Shinso, but now was not the time. "Midoriya. Have you slept at all?"

"I slept for several hours, now I'm just …"

"Good, the sleep will do you more good at this point."

Without saying another word, Mr. Aizawa came to sit by him. "I like your haircut," Deku said awkwardly, not sure what to do with the silence.

"Thanks. I did it because of your notes."

"So the enemy won't know when you're using your quirk? That's great, really good thinking sir."

"It wouldn't have occurred to me, without you."

Deku didn't know quite what to say, so they were quiet for a moment.

"When you get back to your world – thank your teacher for me," Mr. Aizawa said.

"For what?"

"For making me look good. Eri thinks I can do all the things your Aizawa can."

"I don't know why you couldn't, sir."

Mr. Aizawa smiled wryly. "With enough time, maybe." He was quiet for a moment longer. "Also, thank him for teaching you. Thank All Might, thank your Ms. Kayama and Present Mic, thank every teacher you have and your mother."

Deku felt uneasy – he didn't know what to make of this. "I will, sir."

Mr. Aizawa put a hand on his shoulder. "Whatever happens, I'm glad to have known you, Izuku Midoriya." As with Emi, it sounded horrifyingly final, but unlike that conversation, Mr. Aizawa had said "when," he'd given him an order. Deku realized … he was certain they'd win, he wasn't certain he'd live to see it.

All of them were ready to die to take down All For One. Everyone they'd recruited.

Deku tried to reckon with that. They weren't pro heroes, not in this universe, but they'd still die for their world, from a police officer like Iida to a gangster like Chisaki.

He understood, more than ever, what humanity was. There was evil, there was darkness – so many people had helped All For One come to power, and turned their backs while he caused so much pain. But there was something else, something undefeatable.

He was in tears, but they weren't sad tears. "Thank you sir, and I'm glad I know you," he said as he wiped his eyes.

"Get some rest," Mr. Aizawa said once more.

"I'll try, sir."

Tensei was about to head to the rendezvous point. But he had one stop to make first.

The offices of Sasaki and Tsukauchi were small but well-appointed, and smelling heavily of the latter's cigarettes. "So … what's so urgent?" Tsukauchi asked from behind his desk, smiling brightly. He had no idea that he and Sasaki were about to become the most important investigators in the world. That's why Tensei was here.

"Your dossier, is it ready to go, if something happens?" he asked.

"Yes, we thought about dropping it when the news came in about the six snatchers that were apprehended, but it didn't seem quite the right time yet …"

"Get ready to drop it tomorrow." If they failed, it'd be the last chance anyone had, if they succeeded, they'd need to act quickly to catch as many of the rats jumping ship as possible, and to take advantage of one victory to hopefully get some more.

"Why? Do you know something we don't?"

I do, I know what's coming. Only … no he didn't. None of them did. None of them could, except … "Is Sasaki here?" Tensei asked.

"Uh … yeah, why?"

"Do you think he'll use his power on me? Just once. Just once I need to know."

"What's going on Iida?" There were lines of worry across Tsukauchi's face.

"I can't tell you anything, I can't loop you in. Just be prepared to send out that information to whoever it needs to go to, no matter what you hear tonight. Do you think Sasaki will …

"Yes," Sasaki said from behind, sticking his head out from his adjacent office.

He looked into Tensei's eyes for a moment, and then he drew back in horror. A knot formed in Tensei's stomach as he watched all the color drain from the PI's face. "What did you see? Do we win?"

"I … I don't know," Sasaki said, barely in a whisper. "I don't know … what happens to everyone else. Don't … don't do this, Iida."

So. That was it then. Tensei should have known better than to ask.

He wasn't going to make it. He'd never know how it turned out.

"I have to," he said, with the same determination the kid had shown, even before they strategized. If he died, and they won, it was fine. If he sat it out, and they lost because he did …

He was doomed either way.

He turned to go – he needed to meet Shimura's volunteers. "Iida! Don't! I mean it!" Sasaki called after him, but Tensei went on. He was so glad he'd spoken to Mom, and to Tenya, one last time.

It was almost time. Just an hour left, and they'd be fighting for the future of everyone in two realities. Most of the rest of the group was already in place at the hotel – Namura was leaving in a few minutes, Kai wouldn't be long after that. Kai thought of Aiko, making the little sign. It was sad, but her pain was nothing, in the broad scheme of things. None of their pain meant anything individually.

He loved Eri, he wanted her safe. But she had her gift, she had her purpose, even if it hurt him. "Namura, can I speak to you for a moment?" he asked.

"Sure thing, Boss," he said, as cheerful as always, and came aside with him into the hall.

"You're with Eri, you know how crucial her role is."

"Yes, sir. I'll get her back to you safe and sound," he said, and gave Kai a reassuring look. "I'll get her out as soon as …"

Kai cut him off. "You have to make sure she stays long enough to tip the scales. Even if she's hurting, even if the fighting has started. Keep her at it as long as you can, until the danger's imminent."

"Boss … you heard what Aizawa said, if she …"

Kai's temper flared. "Do you think I'm deaf? Do you think I didn't hear what he said?"

"Boss, think about what you're saying, you love that little girl, I've seen it …"

Kai pushed him against the wall. His hands shook with barely suppressed rage. "Don't tell me what I already know. I love her. I'd kill for her, I have killed for her. I'd die for her. She's also the only thing standing between freedom and everyone in this country and beyond having to kowtow to my father's murderer for the rest of our lives." Even more than we already do, like we haven't already swallowed enough of the indignity of it. "She doesn't stop until either the fighting breaks into your room, you lose visual, and you better keep visual for as long as possible, or his voice starts cracking, you understand?"

Namura nodded. "Yes, Boss, I got it. Loud and clear, I got it. I'll push her as hard as I have to, to make sure he goes down."

"Very good. We're counting on you to help her."

Namura nodded. That was all that was needed.

Next up: The Meeting

The moment of truth has arrived. How long can Shimura keep All For One talking, and how much can Eri turn back time?