Trixuny - HA, my masterplan of surprising y'all with that one plottwist worked then. Honestly though, check his wiki entry. If his Civilian picture doesn't scream RETIRED SCARY COP, then I don't know what does.

Raw666 - I actually thought about expanding system like that, although in All That's Left (that one not really written or more like written a few chapters and now being rewritten). The biggest problem with it is that there are many villains that straddle between multiple categories. What you wrote sounds like something of an additional categorization that's typically left on files of the villain in question, while general, 'important' stuff is simpler :P [though I might end up borrowing some of that eventually, if that's alright].

Guest - Tsuyu is, unfortunately, an adult. Otherwise she would quickly have an entire queque of people willing to adopt her.

(***)

Izuku Midoriya returns to the base to witness the start of the celebrations. Kirishima is the star guest.

Naturally, the celebrations are very austere. They don't have a lot of money at hand. Most of them have only two sets of clothes that they have to alternate between. Other goods are even more scarce.

Also, Izuku is almost certain that Shinsou's confrontational behaviour is at least 50% caused by him really needing a smoke but not having the money for it. Suffering from nicotine AND caffeine withdrawal at once must be mentally taxing.

Then again, he should at least quit smoking. That would be rather healthy for him in the long term.

So it's mostly water and a few teacups. At least before Mina pulls out her phone, sets it to the max volume and starts going through her playlist.

Toga (still in her restraining mask) immediately jumps off the couch and the two have a rather intense dancing competition. That immediately pulls everyone's attention, because wow, those two are superb at it.

They both hate their quirks. One did horrible things because of hers. One had to live through horrible things because of hers. And both seem to be the party-hard type of girls. It was probably understandable that they hit it off immediately.

Tsuyu eyes them from the edge of the room, probably weighing the benefits of spending time with people with the downsides of having to listen to loud music. She doesn't like loud sounds, but she likes people a lot.

And of course, she is still not wearing anything.

Baby steps, Izuku. She said she'd start wearing clothes once it gets cold outside. Plus, once they start attending UA. There is clear progress. He just has to make sure that Mina won't do anything crazy because Izuku is 99% sure that she's already planning what clothes Tsuyu should be wearing.

The frog girl also doesn't want to hibernate that year. That alone is rather heartwarming.

Izuku retreats into his room. He needs to talk with Mei about the new villain classification system that Aizawa inquired him about through an SMS. This is a bit too loud for him as well.

He feels Tsuyu's eyes on him as he departs.

(***)

An hour later (and thirty minutes after Mina won the dance competition), Kirishima decides he has enough. Even with his Hardening, he took quite a beating from his brief bout with Glassmaker.

So he goes to sleep earlier. Shinsou follows him soon after that, as it's clearly being too loud and cheerful for him, too.

"And now there are only girls left. Hmph." Mina pouts at this. They are all sitting around the table in the common room. Mina is at the top of the table. To her left are Uraraka and Tsuyu (who joined full-time now that the music stopped playing). To her right are Eto, Jirou and Toga. "It's no fun."

"Oh, it can be very fun." Toga gives her an impish smile. "We just have to do what a moment like this calls for."

"Namely?" Uraraka sounds vaguely suspicious that this is going to be something weird. She doesn't seem to be a great fan of Toga. Or, more like, she is rather reserved about Carmilla's presence in the Network.

"We gotta talk about the boys we like, duh." Toga replies. This time, she makes a full-blown shit-eating grin.

Uraraka goes beet red. Toga clearly smells weakness, but decides not to pounce at it right now. Tsuyu suddenly has a finger on her lips, a clear sign of confusion. Or disagreement. Or being deep in thoughts.

Reading the frog girl's facial expressions is a complicated thing indeed. Despite her having only a few of those.

"And now I feel painfully excluded." Jirou states dryly.

"Same." Eto adds from her place right next to her. "Except for painfully."

"What?" Uraraka blinks at them. "Why?"

They both gave her a tired stare. Mina chuckles at the spectacle. After a few seconds, Uraraka realizes what it is about.

"Oopsie?" She says. Jirou sighs, while Eto rolls her eyes.

"No problem." Eclipse adds. "We should have probably mentioned it earlier. But certain someone is an obstructive ass that prefers privacy and whatnot." Jirou lightly slaps her on the cheek with her earphone. "Hit me harder, Kyo." She says in a distinctly suggestive tone.

Jirou almost chokes. Eto laughs loudly. She isn't the only one in the room who does that.

"Alright, alright, let's get to boys then." Eclipse then says with a wry smile. "Not exactly interested in them, but I want some tasty blackmail mater… errr, gossip."

"We're kinda low on them, not gonna lie." Mina says. "We have three boys here and eight girls. That kinda sucks."

The numerical imbalance was rather bad. Were the superpowers more common among the girls? Then again, Overhaul, Mustard and superintendent Aizawa moved the bar back towards the balance. Of course… then came Rewind and Glassmaker.

"And worst of all, all of them are taken." Toga pouts at that. "This is pretty sad."

"Shinsou is taken?" Jirou is surprised by that. Then her face is lit with a sudden realization. "Wait… does he know he is taken?"

"I'm yet to mention that to him, yes." Toga replies confidently. "But it's only a matter of time now."

Oh, now that's quality blackmail material. At least to Mieko Eto. Although judging from the looks that Toga gets, this was actually a rather shocking admittance to most of the girls gathered in the room.

"Wait, like…" Uraraka blinks at her a few times. "... what do you actually like about him? He is kinda mean, he was the one who kept you locked before the mask thing, and… well, he mind controlled you? I mean, for a good cause, but…"

"Yepyep." Now Toga's eyes are almost dreamy. "And it's so hot."

This time it's Uraraka's turn to almost choke. Tsuyu looks confused and lost, probably not understanding what it was all about. Which is probably for the best. Mina is grinning at them all. She has clearly decided that talking about the boys was the best idea ever.

"Okay." Jirou says loudly, her eyes closed. "I didn't want to know that." Bad decision. Her girlfriend was waiting for a slip-up like that.

"Now I want to hear more." Eto says. When Jirou gives her a death stare, she dares to look innocent. "What?"

"Do you think that if I kill you, I'll still qualify for the whole underground heroism dig that Toga and Shinsou are part of?" Jirou asks. Her face is expressionless. Eto actually shrinks a bit in her seat. "Good. Fear me."

Mina is openly laughing now. Uraraka is chuckling lightly. Tsuyu still seems to be busy deciphering what it is all about.

"So, time to change the subject." Jirou decides to turn the situation against the one who created it. Or, well, the other person who started it. After all, she's having too much fun about it and it cannot stand. "Mina."

"What?" Mina stops laughing suddenly.

"How's the manliest man under the manly sky's performance as a boyfriend?" Jirou decides. Mina seems vaguely conflicted about being put into the spotlight. But she immediately gets over it.

"Oh, he is awesome." She replies confidently. "Sure, we don't really have a lot of shared hobbies. That sucks a bit. But he is super honest about everything, and I like that. Super supportive too, but I don't really feel smothered or anything. He knows that if I need his help, then I'll ask him. And… like… when we're together, I'm absolutely the only thing on his mind, and I can really, really feel that. So yeah, enthusiastic five-star review, would confess to again."

This review absolutely skims over the tragic backstory, as everyone in the room is rather certain that none of the bullet points presented in it were actually factors when Mina confessed.

Well. He is there when she has a worse day. Always. That was probably the most important. If she didn't want to publicly acknowledge how much of a pillar of support he was for her… well, according to Izuku, the UA should organize them all some psychological help.

That would be pretty great. She cries awfully often for someone this cheerful.

"So… the next one on the block…" Mina grins. Uraraka shrinks a bit in her seat. "...Singularity!"

"I thought that this was supposed to be about the boys!" The gravity girl is extremely defensive about it.

"It is!" Mina's grin grows even wider. Toga isn't the only one who noticed the weakened prey. "Whom do you like the most?"

Uraraka sighs painfully.

"Look, I don't really want to talk about it." Mina keeps staring at her. "Like, seriously. This is a private thing." Mina keeps staring at her. "Oh, dammit, Mina, stop that!"

"No!" Mina replies with a grin. "We're all getting publicly humiliated, no one is excluded from this!"

Except for Alchemist, Defiant, Gargoyle and Hijack. Who were spared by the virtue of not being there at all. But Mina ignores that fact entirely.

"Okay, so I might like someone, but they are taken." Uraraka says, following it with a painful sigh. "And I don't think that it's heroic to butt into that. So I prefer not to think about it too much."

"Let me guess…" Mina leans towards her with a conspiratorial glint in her eyes. "Is it a certain broccoli steamed in the heroic sauce?"

Uraraka somehow gets redder. It's an achievement. She also looks away from them all.

"You know, considering the tales that I've heard about him from Alchemist, I'm like 99% sure that he could handle the two of you at once." Mina keeps sticking a needle into Uraraka. She somehow achieves an even deeper shade of red. "Seriously, where is this coming from? He is super wimpy. And innocent-looking to the point where it should be illegal."

"His hair looks fluffy." Surprisingly, it's Tsuyu that speaks. Mina actually gawks at her. Even Uraraka is briefly shaken out of her shock.

"So I'm not the only one who noticed!" The acid girl adds after a few seconds. "Damn it, what sort of shampoo is he using? I need to know so much!"

"Same." Jirou adds. "It's actually the first thought that came to my mind when I saw him without a mask. Why is his hair so criminally fluffy?!" She looks exasperated at that. "That's what should be illegal!"

"Wait, that was my first thought when I saw him!" Uraraka looks surprised by this. "I mean the 'his hair looks fluffy' bit! Literally word by word!"

"It was mine too!" Mina pitches in.

"Maybe his hair has a quirk." Tsuyu comments. The girls present in the room actually give it an honest thought.

"But what would that be?" Toga asks. On her face, an expression of seriousness and curiosity in equal measures.

"Girls Attraction, apparently." Eto replies. Her eyes are on her phone. "I just messaged Alchemist, and she said that she made a similar comment when she saw him without a mask the first time. Oh, and… "She gives Uraraka a shit-eating grin. "She says that if we're talking about the boys, I'm supposed to remind you that her offer to share is still on the table."

Mina makes a loud 'ooooooh' exclamation. Toga giggles. Uraraka suddenly finds herself floating in the air, trying desperately to hide her face behind her hands. Tsuyu ribbits, probably to herself. What she meant by it, nobody knows.

(***)

"Uhm, Mei" Izuku asks. "Why are you playing with your phone?" They are having a videochat, talking about the villain classification, but for the past few minutes, it's rather clear that Mei's mind isn't with him.

"No reason." Mei quickly replies and hides the phone. "You were saying?"

Okay, this is suspicious.

(***)

If there is one thing that Aizawa likes in Defiant more than anything else, it's the fact that the kid doesn't waste time. He was asked about classifying villains, and he answered the question several hours later. While probably spending most of that time on figuring out what to say.

Sure, the grading felt a bit… anime-like. But it made sense.

Villains were to be graded from D to A-Rank. In the simplest terms, those could be summarized as:

D-Rank - The villain that's committing crimes, but not particularly nasty ones, and can be reasonably incarcerated. An example of this would be Hijack before he became a hero. Default treatment - incarceration in Tartarus, or rehabilitation. Engaged non-lethally.

C-Rank - The villain that's committing crimes, but not particularly nasty ones. However, they are either particularly elusive about it (and thus can cause a lot of losses) or hard to incarcerate. No example of that, thus far. Default treatment - exile to Izu islands or rehabilitation. Should be offered an alternative of staying at Tartarus, but only if they behave. Engaged non-lethally.

B-Rank - The villain that's committing violent crimes, but can be reasonably incarcerated. An example would be the Glassmaker, or Carmilla, before she changed profession. Default treatment - incarceration in Tartarus (rehabilitation only if there are some serious extenuating circumstances). Engaged non-lethally, but if they attempt an escape once incarcerated, shoot-to-kill.

A-Rank - The villain that's committing violent crimes, and is either rather heinous about it or can't be reasonably incarcerated. Thus far, no example of that. Default treatment - exile to Izu islands (rehabilitation only if there are some serious extenuating circumstances). Engaged non-lethally, but if they attempt to escape once incarcerated, shoot-to-kill.

Above that, you became a supervillain. And those were divided into two categories.

S-Rank - The villain that's just particularly dangerous, capable of killing dozens of people in quick succession - and actually committing violent crimes, so there is a threat of large civilian casualties. Mustard landed here, with his ability to gas entire buildings in a single usage of his meta-ability. Default treatment - Izu islands. Engagement rules - lethal means allowed if civilian lives are at stake.

SS-Rank - The villain that's capable of causing large-scale civilian casualties, either because of the direct usage of their meta-ability or due to amassing more people like him behind him. In short, if S-Rank is a threat to a village or town, SS-Rank is a threat to a city or the whole prefecture. Overhaul was here. Default treatment - Izu islands. Engagement rules - take alive if convenient.

It was a simple system, but logical. And in all honesty, the Takoba police needed at least some framework to work upon. They will make changes depending on how things develop from then on.

It also needed to expand said system AT LEAST to the other cities of the prefecture. But Aizawa did not know how to even start doing that. He was having a short string of successes in the war against Overhaul, but Chisaki controlled organized crime in the entire prefecture of Musutafu. Winning in Takoba, even if it was the capital city, would only be a major dent in Shie Hasseikai's operations. Certainly not the end of the war.

It was a pain in the ass to deal with.

In the meantime, Aizawa sent the file he got to Chief Inspector Torino and Inspector Tsukauchi. The former was supposed to offer his input. The latter, if things were to continue as planned, would be tasked with classifying identified villains. Probably with some input from Defiant. Who (how old was he really?) was the closest thing they had to an expert on meta-abilities and damn if it didn't sting.

Tsukauchi would classify both those that were conclusively identified, and those that were suspected to exist. Alchemist was kind enough to share her intel, and at this point, Aizawa had only one question. How the fuck aren't superpowers openly discussed in the media?

(Sasaki was kind enough to inform him of the governmental gag order placed upon the largest media conglomerates during the war, one that was apparently still not called off. Principal Sasaki's knowledge about the situation was rapidly expanding beyond what Aizawa could match once he discovered superpowers' existence)

Aizawa decided that with this matter out of the way, he can focus on planning the next operations of the Takoba police.

(***)

"So, we lost Glassmaker." Overhaul summarized the report he received. "And the extortion money." The latter didn't matter, not with the size of monthly income that the Shie Hasseikai received from its many other enterprises. The former, though…

Joi Irinaka isn't particularly happy about having to be the one to report that. Then again, he and Hari Kurono (who is drinking something that looks like whiskey by the wall of the room) are the two people within the Shie Hasseikai that do not have to be afraid of Overhaul doing anything nasty to them.

"Unfortunately, yes." Joi replies. "It boils down to just that. Worst of all, this is a mood-changer, at least in the area where that happened. Now the police are actually making patrols there, and I don't think that we can hope to get a lot of protection money from the locals."

Ah yes. The locals there now had hope. That was irritating. They would have to squash it, but it was a problem when you weren't trying to spark an open war with the police (yet).

"Send our thugs to squash a business or two." Overhaul replies. He was busy reading a book about human anatomy during the entire report. He has an interesting idea about the application of his power that he needs to test as soon as possible. "Make sure the police know they are unwelcome there, Kurono. A handful of skirmishes, maybe a demolished car or two. No open warfare. Yet."

Kurono nods. He is Overhaul's second in command. His deputy. That's his job. Irinaka makes sure that the books are alright. He was the one who figured out what happened when the protection racket men didn't return. And neither did the Glassmaker.

"What do you think happened to her?" Overhaul asks. His eyes are still on the book. Does Kurono want to know what his idea is?

Oh, well. He'll tell them once he makes it work. Whatever 'it' is.

"We do not know as of now." Kurono replies honestly. "We don't have any sources close enough to superintendent Aizawa to find out. She is dead or imprisoned somewhere. Certainly not in any of the official prisons within this prefecture."

They have infiltrated those well enough. And Aizawa knows that.

"Superintendent Aizawa is becoming a serious thorn in my side." Overhaul comments. "He is doing what Senior Commissioner Koji should be, even if only locally. And that's… irritating."

They expected to at least have an eyewitness of their villain being taken down. That would tell them something about the level of preparation of the police. How many officers knew about the superpowers? How did the cooperation between the superheroes and the police work in practice?

Instead, they had nothing. Unless their associates in the local prison system contact the Shie Hasseikai members that were taken alongside Glassmaker. Alas, Aizawa probably expected that.

"If the police keep pushing us back in that district…" Overhaul continues. Marukane Ward will be the first serious battleground between the police and the Shie Hasseikai. "... we'll send the Arch-Arsonist."

Dabi was itching to set something on fire, either way. Blaze was only narrowly less of a pyromaniac than her boyfriend.

He should also start looking into a way of dealing with superintendent Aizawa. And, perhaps, improve the quality of his cannon fodder. He can't wage and win a war with only his handful of ability-users, his praetorian guard and the thugs. He can only really trust the former two.

Oh. He has an idea. It will take him a while, but… It will be interesting. If it works. He notes it down in his mind to check-up on later. He should also expand the underground section of Shie Hasseikai's headquarters. His quirks let him do that quickly and without making much noise.

A supervillain needs his own villain lair, after all.

In the meantime, they have to keep amassing firepower, establishing money sources, and so on. All in the preparation for the Reveal Day. And the inevitable collapse of society that will follow.

Each time Overhaul thought about the future, the greater his ambitions grew. Taking over Musutafu would be the first step. Once there would be no government to even theoretically rein him in… the possibilities were limitless. Perhaps… perhaps entire Japan was within his reach?

"I think it's time to get rid of the independents." Overhaul continues. "And potential competition."

He is the undisputed head of organized crime in the prefecture, but it's not like there are no groups outside of his reach. Smaller towns. Illegal businesses small enough to exist without getting noticed. Some local gangs, too unimportant for him to notice. Well, no more.

"Really?" Kurono is surprised. Overhaul shrugs.

"We have to make a statement." He says. "Besides, the additional funds and manpower will be useful. Make an example out of some. Take either Mustard with you." He wants Dabi with him at all times as a bodyguard. Just in case the local SAT unit stormed his headquarters alongside Defiant. Caution is advised when fighting a superhero. "And half of my praetorians. Be as brutal as you can if they do not come along obediently. Look for the potential ability users, too."

There could be some minor or perhaps non-combat ability users hiding among the independents.

This should be enough. With Musutafu's criminal world under his total control, he'll finally be able to look outside. To the neighbouring prefectures.

(***)

UA is rather thorough, Izuku has to admit. And they are ready to tailor their school uniforms to fit even some rather non-standard body builds. Such as Tsuyu's. Naturally, she still complains about having to wear something.

"It's weird. Ribbit." She says, ignoring Uraraka and Ashido cooing about how cute she looks in the UA school uniform. "Restrictive. How can you wear clothes at all times?"

"Practice makes perfect, Tsuyu." Izuku says as confidently as he can. Tsuyu seems to be busy digesting it, so he turns to the others.

They are about to depart for their first day of school. Of course, this is going to be one big improvisation. Worst of all, they can't really hope to keep their identities hidden. At least not from their teachers.

Attending the school in full masks is… well, it's an option. But it would be utterly pointless. The biggest issue is that they would still leave some material evidence here and there. The school, if they wanted to, would find out. Especially with how thorough Sasaki is.

Then again, they have a lot to offer him. Such as his school getting the laurels of being the world's first school for the metahumans. New potential market (support items) on which his engineering department could be the pioneer. New medical discoveries for his hospital.

Mirai Sasaki clearly wanted to be ahead of the curve. And he was extremely stringent with information security. Izuku still trusted him less than he trusted superintendent Aizawa, but… well. Sasaki at least couldn't be ordered to arrest them by the government. He was powerful for the said government (especially now) to not risk his wrath.

There was still an infinitesimal chance they were walking into a trap.

"So, is everyone ready?" Mieko is about to start assembling a warpgate to the coordinates they got from Principal Sasaki. "And everyone is alright with UA knowing your faces and names?"

In all honesty, only Izuku and Kyoka had something to potentially lose from it. Kyoka decided to not hide who he is (and her parents agreed to it). Izuku decided to go as himself because, honestly, his medical condition was rare enough that once the UA catches wind of it, he can forget about staying under the radar.

Then again, if merely knowing his name could set whatever enemy his father had upon him, his mom would have long ago changed it. Of course, she might have done that. Huh. Now that's a weird thought to have. What exactly was his father's surname?

He got a chorus of 'yeah yeah' back. Well, if so they want. It's time to do something that Izuku never expected himself to achieve in his life - attend UA.

(***)

E and F-Ranks aren't there, and probably won't be for the duration of the story. There is some particular quality of the early quirks (something that will be eventually explained) that makes REALLY weak quirks simply not be there yet. Hence, it's just D-Rank upward. SSS-Rank (threat to the country as a whole) will eventually be there, though. It's just that Aizawa and Midoriya are still operation only within a single town, this really doesn't let them even consider threats of this scale.