Chapter 14

The Meeting

"What are we doing here, guys? We don't know what to look for," Tsu said after a long while spent trying to find an inconspicuous place to keep watch. She'd been as fired up as the rest of them when they read Midoriya's texts – when so many things had suddenly made so much more sense, when they knew why he'd been so secretive and sometimes fragile (honestly, Tsu was just glad it wasn't what they'd thought, somehow the thought of him being a refugee from another world was less upsetting than thinking he had a cruel stepfather or was a runaway being exploited by an older lover). When they'd read that there was a chance they could help beat All For One, maybe the last chance anyone in the world would ever have …

But now? After sitting here for an hour, knowing something was going to happen in the building a little ways up the block, something vital … but having absolutely no idea how to help. She still wanted to, as badly as she'd ever wanted anything, but she also did not want to get underfoot when better informed people were trying to act.

From what Midoriya had said, Shimura and Hawks and the gangster who paid for his hotel room (thinking of Shimura working with vigilantes and gangsters had pushed her closer to doubting the story than Midoriya saying he was from a parallel world) had called a bunch of adults to wait and watch for the inevitable arrival of reinforcements … but they weren't in on it. They were missing that vital information.

"We'll know it when we see it," Togata insisted fiercely. Tsu had never seen him so serious – he hadn't cracked a smile since they'd been here.

"How?" she asked.

"When the fight starts, people will probably start to run out and away. We look for people going in."

"And hope they're not allies," Tsu said under her breath.

Time crawled past. Hino sipped coffee, already getting tired with the sun going down so early with winter rapidly approaching. Amajiki hadn't said a word all night, but nervously nibbled on a little tray of sushi. His quirk was theoretically very useful, and he'd trained with it sometimes, but the thought of the timid boy facing down minions of All For One … Tsu wasn't sure he could. She wanted to believe he could, but … Maybe they should go. There was a reason Shimura hadn't called them.

"It's almost eight," Amajiki said, the first words he'd said all night, and all of them went quiet. It was too late to retreat now.

They just had to hope Togata was right.

The groups had arrived at the hotel that housed the tearoom one by one, no more than one or two checking in at a time to avoid tripping whatever security sweep All For One would do.

Shota had been especially amused imagining how into it Nemuri had been checking in with Todoroki. There had probably been some method acting in her cover as sultry mistress, especially when she'd seen how handsome he was.

But now it was the core group – the ones that All For One had been told to expect. Shimura smoked a vape pen for all it was worth the entire drive over, and neither Shota nor Chisaki, who normally would have objected, had said a word, only his friend Sosaki. "You said you quit," she scolded.

"I did, it's been a bad couple of months," he answered, rather underselling the situation.

"Is it … really going to be him?" Young Ashido asked, fiddling with her hands.

"It had better be, for all the trouble we've gone through," Chisaki said unhelpfully.

"Yes. Your fear is normal. But you just need to be calm, and tell us honestly if you recognize your friend's voice if he lets us speak to her, and otherwise stay quiet," Shota said, trying to model that calm for her.

They pulled up at the parking garage attached to the place they were meeting, and Chisaki found a spot. Shimura took one last long drag on the pen, then killed it and shoved it into his pocket. "Let's do this," he said, managing to sound excited instead of terrified.

The attack team was in the hotel room directly above, Eri, Shinso, and Namura were in the one directly below. They hadn't risked going to check on either group, just went straight to the tea room.

Before they'd left the compound, Hawks had given Tenko a tiny feather which was now tucked in his jacket pocket. Hope you can hear something else over my heart beating at ten thousand beats per minute, Hawks, Tenko thought wryly.

The wait was almost unbearable – Tenko poured every ounce of therapy he'd ever had into not losing his mind in the ten minute gap between his group being seated in the tea room and the entry of the enemy.

At last, the door opened. And there he was. Everything from Tenko's nightmares all his life, and the black hole in his memory that ended his childhood. A giant of a man with all white hair, but not frail or seeming old, despite being at least two hundred. Tenko's breath caught, but he kept his calm. He was aware of Chisaki tensing next to him. This was your idea, you better not blow it for us you idiot, he thought viciously, but he focused on what he needed to do. He stood and he bowed. His stomach was sick at showing any deference for the man before him, but this was his part, and by God, he'd play it. Aizawa, Ashido, and Sosaki did the same almost at the same instant, Chisaki took a second longer but he did it. Swallow your damn pride, he willed him. Hopefully Sosaki was telling him that with her quirk right now. "It's an honor to meet you, sir. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me," he said smoothly, none of the acid churning up his insides leaking into his tone. He took in the two people at the enemy's side – a thin, pale redhead with a permanent sneer, and a tall, curvy blond woman. Neither were the man made of mist Midoriya had described – maybe he really didn't have Kurogiri in his service here. Or he'd taken the warping quirk for himself. There were only two, because Tenko had said he'd have two bodyguards. He was sure there were more lurking around, just as a small cadre of resisters were in the room above, but there were only two in this room. If for unwise reasons he chose to include himself and the girl, at least they had the advantage of numbers in this room.

"It's an honor to meet you as well, Mr. Shimura." Like they hadn't met when he was a terrified child. "I was surprised when Mr. Hiraoka passed along your proposal – not least of all considering the source." His gaze fell on Chisaki. Chisaki bristled but stayed silent and kept his posture deferential.

"I have missing children, I want them back, the sitting government is uninterested in assisting me. I used what resources I have."

"Do you consider them yours? That's a heavy burden for a man of twenty." Bastard, bastard, bastard!

"I've dealt with their weeping families, so yes. I do, and yes, it's a heavy burden. You could take some of it off my shoulders, if you're willing to return these children." He took a picture of Katsuki and a picture of Himiko from his pocket, opposite the one where the little red father sat, and pushed them across the table, using every ounce of his self-control to do it with steady hands. Katsuki had been gone for months and Himiko for weeks. He couldn't describe the fear he had for them. What happened to the other children was monstrous, but what was the Western saying? "Better the devil you know, than the devil you don't."

"Shall we have tea before we discuss business?" The coolness of the monster before him to stick to the formalities while discussing such a matter pulled at the nerves, but it was objectively a good proposal. If they could have convinced him to sit down to a ten-course meal so Eri could work on him for hours with breaks, that would have been ideal, but this would have to do. He gathered the pictures and placed them back into his pocket.

"Of course. Ms. Sosaki, summon the server."

Ms. Kayama entered, as cool and collected as if she did this every day, and served them slowly, deliberately, as slowly as she could without it being clear she was stalling. The kimono she'd stolen from the employee locker room fit well enough, he wouldn't have noticed it wasn't a perfect fit if he didn't know what she'd had to do. Her form was unimpeachable, and there was a wild part of Tenko that wanted to hug Aizawa here and now for finding her. She left and they drank, Tenko drawing as much pleasure as he could from the warmth and the crisp taste of the tea, praying to every deity he'd ever heard of that Eri was making a dent in All For One's power level.

"What is it about these children that brought you here? Why do you care for them so?" the white-haired man asked, just when Tenko least expected it. He didn't let it scramble his nerves.

"I care about them all," he said firmly.

"I'm sure you do, but you've never sought me out before. What is it about these children that pushed you over the edge?"

He set his cup down, and his hands shook. The white-haired devil noticed, he glanced at his hands and smirked, ever-so-slightly. Fine. This didn't matter, it was just stalling. So, honesty. "I'm worried about what you're doing to them."

"Really? More than any of the precious little ones?"

"I want that to stop too, make no mistake. But what happens to them … well, I survived it."

"Did you?"

That cracked his composure like nothing else had. You bastard, you utter bastard. You don't even remember me? You stole my childhood, you took my quirk, you probably have it floating around in you as we speak if you didn't give it away to a henchman to do God knows what, and played with my genetics like I was a lab mouse, and you don't remember? He sucked in a breath, he let his face fall. Ashido moved a little, probably having to stop herself from reaching to him. Aizawa, Sosaki, and Chisaki stayed steady.

But just for a second. He fixed his face, and folded his hands in a neutral position. He forced himself to smile. "Yes, in fact. But that's not why we're here today. You've had them for months and weeks respectively and I want to know why. More than that I want them back."

"The boy, I understand. His parents probably call you all the time."

"They do." His father wept, sometimes his mother did, mostly she was angry. He was a dearly loved child.

"But the girl, why? She's just a runaway, you can't be getting calls from her parents." It was Ashido's turn to break composure – she'd been doing wonderfully for a girl her age until now. She shifted in her seat and audibly sucked in a breath. Tenko put a hand on her arm to steady her.

"She's one of my people. As you can see, she's loved by our community even if her own family turned their backs."

"What are you willing to offer for them?"

"We have resources. We have donors that would be willing to raise a ransom …"

"Don't insult me. I've seen your organization's budget, you can't afford a proper teaching staff for your after-school programs, let alone anything that would be worth my while."

No, no they hadn't already reached this point of negotiations. They needed more time. "I have access to several politicians. Most of them are against us, obviously, but there's a few that might be persuaded to provide political favors for the return of these young people."

"You know what I want, Shimura, and you implied you were willing to give it. If you're not willing after all, we're done here."

"I'm afraid I don't know what it is you want. Spell it out for me," he said coyly.

"Young Bakugo and Young Toga offer me something valuable – I believe they could be powerful allies, in time." You mean servants. Slaves, even, considering the duress they're under. Tenko rallied his nerves, trying not to think about what methods of persuasion might have been used against them.

"Himiko will never work for you!" Ashido shouted angrily, standing up. Tenko motioned for her to sit down, but was grateful for the few more seconds the outburst bought them, both to steady his nerves and for Eri to snatch some more time from him.

All For One went on as if the girl had never spoken. "In order to forego the hope of earning them to my side, I'd need other resources to compensate. Metahuman resources."

"You want me to hand over names. You want me to betray other members of my community."

"Are you willing?"

Tenko waited, hands folded over his mouth, pretending to be internally debating.

"If you're not, then as I said, we've reached an end of our negotiations …"

"I'll give you names," he said softly. "But not until I have assurances Bakugo and Toga are alive. I don't think that's an unreasonable ask."

"Perfectly reasonable."

Another couple of precious minutes ticked by while the redheaded bodyguard was allowed to leave and return with a nondescript black phone, and then a number was dialed. "Yes. Mr. Iwayama, please retrieve Mr. Bakugo and Ms. Toga. I have someone who'd like to speak with them who has a tantalizing offer." More time, more precious minutes, Tenko was grateful for each one, but he also wondered if Eri was reaching her limit. But Sosaki hadn't signaled – Namura hadn't stopped her yet. "Yes, I'll put you on speaker."
He set the phone down between them. "Who the hell are you and what do you think you're doing?" an angry young man's voice demanded, his voice crackling over the speaker.

Tenko almost laughed in relief. He'd heard that voice in videos his mother recorded. Usually just that angry. "Young Bakugo, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, don't do anything stupid because of me!" I have no intention of it, kid.

"We're going to find the best solution for everyone, Young Bakugo. Stay calm."

"I AM CALM! DON'T GIVE THIS BASTARD ANYTHING!" Good, good boy. Tenko folded his hands over his mouth to hide his smile. Katsuki Bakugo was alive, and still had plenty of fight in him, and his fight was leaking into him, steadying his nerves for the hardest part.

"That's enough, put the girl on," All For One said, ignoring the invective.

"Uh … hi …" a girl's voice said unsteadily.

"Himiko!" Ashido cried, leaning forward towards the phone.

"Mina!"

"Himiko, are you okay? What have they done?"

"Nothing yet, just locked me up."

"Is that your friend, Ms. Ashido?" Tenko asked, though it was crystal clear from Ashido's reaction.

"Yes, I'm sure of it."

"Who's that, Mina?"

"Listen to me, Ms. Toga, we're going to get you home, all right?"

"No! I mean – like Katsuki said. Don't give them anything! They'll double cross you anyway …" she yelped in pain. The hope lit by Katsuki's belligerence was dashed in a moment of panic, Tenko leaned forward at the same time Ashido did.

"What was that, Iwayama?" All For One asked, clearly displeased with his underlings' failure to control the situation adequately.

"Nothing, just gave her a little love tap is all. Isn't that right, Toga?"

"Yeah, I'm not hurt, don't worry about me," the girl's voice said defiantly. Tenko hardened his resolve. They were going to take down the monster before them, then they were going to find these two kids. But they had to focus on the former. They were strong kids, they'd be okay until help got there … they had to be.

All For One hung up the phone, set it down, and pushed it away with a dramatic flourish. Tenko ached at having that precious line of communication cut, but at least they'd had it. At least he knew they were still alive, and still fighting. We're coming for you, Katsuki and Himiko, as soon as we can. "Now then. You said you had names for me."

Tenko drew a deep breath, and did something he'd never done in his life before they put this plan in place last night, and to the worst possible person. He outed other metahumans. "I assume you've heard of the vigilante Hawks."

"I have," All For One said, his voice dripping with intrigue. "Truth be told, he's caused me a bit of trouble."

"I can deliver him to you, he trusts me. He thinks he's helping, but he makes everything worse running around playing Robinhood. I don't care what happens to him," Tenko said, as coldly as he could. All For One raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"That'll buy you Toga. Who are you trading for Bakugo?"

Tenko drew another sharp breath. This one hurt even worse – at least Hawks was already known. "Enji Todoroki. He has a devastatingly powerful flame quirk."

"You think I haven't already recovered all the fire powers I could ever desire, for myself and my associates?" the white-haired man asked, and to demonstrate, he held up his hand to show a flame dancing in it.

"Not like his. He can make a fire so hot, it's like something straight from the hottest Hell. But he's a lawyer, he doesn't need it."

"That's certainly intriguing. But … Young Bakugo is just, so powerful, and so spirited, and has so much darkness inside him. I think I'll need one more."

Every man upstairs and Namura had given their consent to be outed, but it was still atrocious.

"Hekiji Tengai. He has a barrier quirk that …"

"No, my friend Shimura, I insist on a unique ability this time."

The wheels spun in Tenko's head. But he knew, instantly, who he should say. This one hurt the worst, because it wasn't anyone here, anyone who'd consented. "You can only have this one, if you swear on your honor, that you won't tamper with his genes. Don't risk taking away his chance of being a father."

"Of course."

"Mirio Togata. He can travel through walls, floors, anything solid. It's difficult to use, but it'll be useful for a spy if they can master it."

The man sat back, making a satisfied gesture. "Now, that sounds like a reasonable trade. But tell me, for you to ask for special treatment for the last one, you must care about him very deeply. So, tell me why you offered him, and not the Yakuza trash on your flank." Chisaki's posture was so tense that Tenko strongly suspected an even marginally less powerful enemy would already have been struck.

"I need his organization to do what the police have no interest in doing. And I didn't know he had a quirk," Tenko said steadily, though his heart was starting to race.

"Oh? You didn't know he assembles and disassembles whatever he wants at will? I guess these things do have a limited ability to come up in civil conversation. I don't imagine you've been to any of the brawls where he tears people apart." One For All took another sip of tea, as though the conversation hadn't just turned deadly. "It's an excellent … what did you call it? A quirk? I'd already have it, if Aizawa didn't have his eyes locked on me as we speak. How long before you're forced to blink though, Aizawa?" Inside, Tenko was swearing a blue streak. Go, go, go he thought desperately, but Sosaki's telepathy only worked one way. "Honestly, I'm a bit insulted. I don't know what your assassins on the next floor up are waiting for, but I would have thought you'd have brought more than a handful of people to try to take me down." He turned to Chisaki. "I'd think you'd know, more than anyone else. But I suppose either bravery or stupidity or both run in your family."

"GO, GO, GO," came the signal, at long last, to everyone in this room, above it and below it. Tenko braced for impact as Chisaki's man brought up a shield around all of them for the initial onslaught, and all hell broke loose.

Up next: The Fight, Part I

The confrontation is finally here.

Author's Note: Originally I had an earlier scene with Toga and Katsuki in captivity in Chapter 6, but I decided to hold off on confirming they were alive and (mostly) okay until now, so that the moment Tenko hears their voices would pack more of a punch. Like many of the deleted scenes, I'll post it at the end after the conclusion of the story.