It was early. Painfully so. "Good luck." Rumi smiled prettily, in a cocky sort of way. "And go easy on 'em, yeah?"

Izuku yawned. His mother had been so excited and nervous that she practically forced breakfast down his throat and shooed him out the door at the crack of dawn. He was supposed to get to school early, but not this early. Rumi, already awake and insultingly alert, met him at the station. He had a pretty firm suspicion that she hadn't slept at all last night. "Thanks, but you say that like I'm not about to get my butt kicked on international TV."

"Pfft, whatever. You'll be fine as long as you keep your moron brain from distracting itself." She straightened little bits of his uniform, but in the Rumi way. She raked her fingers through his hair, loosened his tie, and popped the first button on his shirt. After a once over that made him blush, she nodded. "That'll do. I bet you make the finals before things get iffy."

He yawned again and considered finding some coffee before the train came. "You gonna watch?"

"Well, not the whole thing probably." She shrugged, clearly annoyed. "Got a lead I need to follow up on. Kinda shitty timing, but what can you do?"

It was surprising how let down that made him feel. Well, maybe "let-down" wasn't quite the right phrase. He wasn't exactly sad either. Disappointed? That felt too… stern. Too harsh. He wasn't sure how to describe it, but he'd been hoping she'd be able to catch the whole festival. At least for his year.

Rumi's mother believed excess wealth was meant to be shared amongst friends and family. Given that she was the chief breadwinner, she tended to splurge on her family and his own, to his mother's continued embarrassment. One year, after it was apparent that the kids were all dead set on heroics, Mitsuki bought six seats in the front row of the UA arena. Seats, not tickets. From that point on the Midoriya's and the Bakugo's watched the festival together. It was a deeply entrenched tradition.

Rumi should be at UA. With him. With her brother. With all his friends. They should be her friends too. Their parents should be watching them compete for the first time. That it wasn't going to happen like that did make him sad, but he promised himself that he wouldn't dwell. He could better use his energy to help her, so, he smiled. "Oh, where at? Anything promising?"

With arms crossed, Rumi glared off to the side, sneering like she saw something repulsive. "Dunno. I'll take whatever the hell I can get at this point though… stupid… goddamn…" With stiff, swept back ears, Rumi continued to grouse under her breath. Agitated. Stressed. "I'm headed to, ah… to Kamino… for a bit."

Oh. That was… less than great news. He must have made a face because she grinned up at him in a hurry.

"Oi, it'll be fine. I'll be fine." She lazily bumped her hips into his. "'Sides, I don't expect to be there for more than a few days. A week at most. If that changes, well, I've got your number."

"Well… that's good to know," He squinted down at her, "but the last time someone I cared about went to Kamino, they forgot to call for a year. It was the strangest thing, because my phone number's been the same since I first got it."

Utterly unashamed, Rumi popped up on the balls of her feet and kissed him. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the exact same thing, dork. Especially now that you know about my dirty skeletons and all the laundry in my closet." She waggled her ears and her eyebrows in sync. "I know all about how noble and heroic you can get."

She had a point, though he was reluctant to admit it. "Well… I mean… still, you could have called."

Rumi laughed, clear as a bell. "I will this time, I promise."

Izuku had always liked Rumi. First as a tentative new friend. Then as a person once they got to know each other. After they got a bit older, he developed a strong crush on the girl. To the point where he very nearly asked her out on the night she first left Musutafu. Now? When he got up in the morning, he saw her bright, crooked smile in the sunrise. When he went to bed, he felt the soft fur of her ear in the fabric of his pillowcase. When he spent time with his new friends, he heard her bright laugh in theirs. When he trained, he felt her dancing around him, arms raised in a loose guard, picking him apart, helping him grow.

It was so cliché, and at first, Izuku wanted to cringe away from all of it, embarrassed that someone would tease him for it. The more he thought about it though, and the longer he spent with Rumi, the more he wanted to feel and think all those cliché things. He decided that he did want to describe their relationship with sappy metaphors, he did want to make big romantic gestures, and he did want to compare their relationship to cheesy romance movies. Because those were all happy things. Izuku had no idea if this was normal, or if things were moving too fast, or too slow. The whole 'childhood friends' thing skewed the timeframe, but he was certain that he was falling for Rumi.

Rumi did what she could to get Izuku up to speed with his quirk over the last four weeks. With the downtime between their sparse meetings, Rumi did what she could to un-fuck her life. Sort of a recurring theme in her life: doing what she could. What a shit show. She also lied. It was a little one, but a lie is a lie is a lie. There wasn't a lead in Kamino, not for her at least. No, she'd been summoned by Shigaraki. The creep personally called her work phone. Told her to get to the bar. Didn't say why.

She lied so Izuku wouldn't worry himself into an early grave. At least about why she was going. Rumi did intend to return in a day or so. Was it a good choice to lie? Probably not.

Musutafu was in Kurogiri's range but Rumi wasn't about to just tell them where she'd been for the past month, so she hopped on the train. After getting to town she'd just call 'Giri from a random spot in town. During the ride she had plenty of time to think about her next step. The situation felt pretty bleak.

The first thing she did, about three weeks ago, was find Hawks. He was in a hospital in Tokyo. The same one that pieced together her skull after she decided it was a good idea to fight Rappa. Anyway, since Hawks was such a high-profile hero security was tight and there was a near constant media presence at the entrance to the hospital. Getting grilled like kushiyaki by Endeavor – or whoever happened to be nearby – was pretty high up on the 'do not do' list, so she hadn't tried to sneak in.

The commission itself was next on the list. She'd met the President once, and only once, when she'd been sworn in as Rabbit Hero: Mirko and received her pro license. Naturally, she had no idea how to contact the woman, but the old bitch would have been the next logical point of contact. If she weren't fucking dead. The rest of the HPSC execs were all dead or in critical condition too. Further down the chain, well, Rumi didn't know anyone else besides Hawks. So that was a dead end.

What then? All Might? Izuku claimed he could get her a meeting with the legend in the flesh. Rumi shut that down immediately, forbidding him from even mentioning his association with her to the man. She wouldn't do a thing to jeopardize his reputation even with a gun to her head. If word ever got out that Izuku was dating a wanted villain… Maybe she was being stubborn, maybe she was being foolish, but she'd long since developed a healthy distrust of the media and what it could do to a person.

Further down the list, Endeavor was a no-go. The man was a hardliner when it came to villains. Would he fry her on sight? Probably not. Would he listen to her? Probably not. Despite his overbearing aggression in combat, he never threw the first punch, and was surprisingly excellent at making judgement calls when it came to use of force. He didn't get to the No. 2 spot and hold it for twenty years by leaving a trail of smoking corpses behind. There wasn't a single instance of collateral damage or excessive use of force in his file. The man was immaculate. Suspiciously so.

Ryukyu, sitting at No. 4, was a mystery to Rumi. She was a consummate professional, similar to Best Jeanist, but not nearly as pretentious. Opinions. She was a powerful, respectable woman with a calm demeanor and a decorated service record. At the same time, she was Nejire's mentor, and Rumi had kind-of sort-of tortured the girl. Not to mention the attempted murder. The Dragoon Hero was equally likely to hear her out or swallow her whole. Literally. Rumi would be so fucking furious – beyond furious – if she had an intern and someone tried to kill them. It was easy to imagine Ryukyu felt similarly.

Maybe she could go through Nejire to get a word in with Miss No. 4, but did she want to drag Nejire back into conflict with Shigaraki? No… no she didn't. She'd stick a pin in this one though, in case of emergency.

Best Jeanist might also be a safe bet. He was well known for defeating villains with non-violent capture methods and was a vocal supporter of rehabilitation over incarceration. As for the rest of the Top 10, well, Rumi had no idea. As a Kamino native, Gang Orca might be somewhat sympathetic, given how she'd trashed the Yakuza family that was poisoning the city, but that was about as far as that went. Did she even know any other pros?

Well, there was Inko Midoriya. Inspire. No, fuck that. Inko wasn't a particularly accomplished hero, or a well-known one, but she'd been at it ever since Izuku was diagnosed quirkless. Most pros didn't last two years before dying, getting a career ending injury, or just… wearing themselves out. Hero work was rough on the joints. Despite that, or perhaps out of spite, Inko had stayed on it for ten years. As a single mother. It was goddamn impressive, and to Rumi, that accomplishment demanded respect.

Rumi didn't know if she could live with the guilt if anything happened to Inko because of her. That woman had gotten her off the streets when she was at a crossroad between becoming a career villain or a normal person. Because of Inko, Mom and Dad adopted her. They gave her a family, a home. A future. No way in hell was she going to drag Mama Midoriya into this.

The first event of the first day of the Sports Festival was due to start in a couple of hours. The stadium was packed to the gills and would be for the next two days as well. Toshinori carefully weaved through the concourse, doing his best to not get stepped on.

His phone rang: Naomasa was calling.

"Naomasa, hello! What's the occasion?" He answered cheerily.

The detectives voice came through low and fast. "Business. All Might, I just left the coroners office, we have a problem."

Toshinori stopped in his tracks, all business. Years of post-injury practice was all that kept him from assuming All Might's stature in the middle of the crowd. "What is it?"

"Remember Mirko's Monster? Nomu? His body never made it to the morgue." There was a rustling. It sounded like Naomasa was moving somewhere in a hurry.

"What? That- the USJ attack was more than a month ago. How are we only now finding out about this?" Damn, this was bad. If Toshinori's suspicions were correct, and Nomu really was one of All For One's creations, then this was the herald of worse news to come.

"Not sure exactly. No matter how I look at it, the situation's rotten. No paper trail. Nothing on the security cams. The EMTs that loaded and moved the body all resigned or transferred to other jurisdictions. The ambulance they used was sold for scrap three weeks ago, but it was already fifteen years old, so it wasn't unusual at the time." He was breathing hard. A car door slammed, and an engine stuttered to life in the background. "No one who should remember anything does, and no one is lying to me."

"That is disturbing indeed, but more importantly, are you safe right now? Do you need assistance?"

Naomasa cursed. "I'm fine, don't worry. I'm meeting Sansa and we're going to make a plan. We don't really know who we can trust right now. I just needed to fill you in. In case anything happens. Someone needs to know what I've found."

Standing straighter, Toshinori reassured his friend that everything would be alright.

"I certainly hope so. We've been friends for nearly twenty years, All Might. Level with me. Is this… Is this that 'worst case scenario' that you warned me about? Is this One For All? Is he back?"

Toshinori grit his teeth. "Yes. I believe so. I thought I had vanquished him… it appears I was incorrect."

"Well… shit… Okay. We'll figure this out, one step at a time. Look, I have to go, just... be careful, Toshinori."

"You as well, old friend."

That was that. Naomasa hung up, leaving Toshinori to stew as the crowd flowed around him like water. All For One… I should have…

Katsuki Bakugo tore him from his grim musings. "You gonna watch? Or are you gonna waste your time painting the grass or whatever the hell it is you do?"

"Oh! Bakugo! I apologize, I wasn't paying attention." Toshinori turned, smiling at the young man who slouched with his hands in his pockets. The blue gym uniform fit him well. "And yes, I will be watching. I believe I'm seated… uhm…" he squinted down at the ticket cradled in his hands. Was it finally time to admit defeat and get a pair of reading glasses?

Bakugo leaned forward and snatched the ticket out of his hand. "What the… in the nosebleeds? You aren't going to see shit from there. You didn't actually pay for this, did you?"

Unbothered, Toshinori kept on smiling. "Well, I don't mind it really. I have binoculars, see?" He held up a small pair. "Besides that, I would feel awful for depriving someone else of a better seat. I am an old man, Bakugo. I've seen many sports festivals in my lifetime." While that was true, sitting so high up also made it much easier to slip away should the need for All Might arise.

Bakugo made a disgusted noise and shoved the ticket back into his hands before stomping off.

Only, it wasn't Toshinori's ticket. His had been black and white, printed at the ticket counter just moments ago. The one Bakugo had given him was printed in full color. It was bigger, with larger font. The UA logo stood out in shiny gold lettering. This was a lifetime ticket, one with a staggeringly expensive price tag. One of the most expensive in the arena, in fact, beaten out only by the private boxes high above the stands. Just under it was the seat assignment. Front row, right in the center of the action. Next to that, a name: Rumi Usagiyama. Toshinori blinked, confused. "Young man?"

Bakugo stopped but didn't turn around. "She was my sister."

"I see..." He said softly. "Is she not any longer?" He already knew who Usagiyama was, naturally. All the UA faculty knew. This was the first time that Bakugo himself had voluntarily offered the information though. It was the first time he'd shared anything without being prompted. Objectively, it was evident that Usagiyama had fallen in with the wrong crowd. It happened all too often to promising young people. It was also clear that Bakugo and Usagiyama had a close relationship before they parted. What Toshinori wanted to know was not immediately evident. He wanted to know how Bakugo felt about it all. Miracle of miracles, the boy had opened up – ever so slightly – over the last four weeks. Toshinori was overjoyed with the young man's progress.

After a moment of silence: "I'm gonna win. Blink and you'll miss it."

Toshinori watched him leave. "Go beyond, Young Bakugo." I fear you'll need to, before long. All of you will. He looked down once more at the shiny ticket, wondering just how heavy it had felt in Bakugo's pocket.

All her musing on the train turned out to be pointless, as Rumi found out when she eventually stepped through Kurogiri's portal. It put her out on the roof of the bar, surprisingly.

Shigaraki sat over on the edge, watching the early morning clouds. "Sit." He didn't look at her or acknowledge her further.

Rumi sighed, and plopped herself down next to the villain. Not uncomfortably close but not out of arms reach either. "What was so goddamn important that you couldn't tell me over the phone? I was pretty fuckin' busy, you know." She wasn't sure what to expect, but surely, he had to have calmed in the month since she'd seen him last. Surely.

Shigaraki did appear calm. Eerily so. "Nejire Hado."

The effort it took to keep herself from swearing, twitching, making a face, anything, was monumental. She'd suspected that Nejire was part of the reason Kurogiri had warned her off after they escaped the USJ. The only question now was what did Shigaraki intend to do about it?

He asked his question lightly. "Do you remember what I told you about Hado?"

"That it was my head if she didn't die." She'd been so stressed and worried about Nejire, who was dying at the time, that she didn't hesitate to agree to Shigaraki's terms. She wasn't stupid, she knew her little trick was going to come back to bite her. Rumi just hadn't expected it to happen so soon. "So what, you finally going to make good on all your little promises to zero me?" She really should learn not to run her goddamn mouth.

He sat quietly, still staring up at the clouds through the fingers of his mask. "Hmm… no, I don't think I will. You're useful, you see," he pulled an envelope out of his hoodie. "but you're too willful. A loose cannon." The paper crinkled as he took great care not to touch it with all five fingers. "And I can't have that, but it's okay, because I realized something."

A terrible feeling washed over Rumi as she watched him peel the envelope open. It wasn't a letter, but a packet from a 24-hr photo developer. The one in a convenience store a few blocks south. How archaic.

"Oh, Look. It's you."

Rumi saw her own smiling face printed on glossy photo paper.

Shigaraki moved that photo to the bottom of the small stack and flipped through the rest. "And here's Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugo. Though, you probably call them mom and dad, don't you?" Spiderwebbing cracks spread across the shiny surface of the photo, and it slipped from Shigaraki's hand. Caught by the breeze, the photo broke up into countless crumbling flakes. "And here's their little bundle of joy, Katsuki Bakugo. He and I have some unfinished business, you know. I can't wait."

Outwardly impassive, Rumi watched her brothers surly face scatter to the wind. After 'Mirko' went viral and her wave of hypervelocity panic wore off, Rumi discovered a whole new facet of anger in herself. The visceral, white-hot rage that she could fly into? That was manageable. She knew the warning signs, she knew the triggers, and Hawks helped her learn how to not lose her shit. This new anger? It was cold and silent. Hateful. Pervasive. Lethal. Right now, it was all she felt. Rumi was achingly close to embracing that hateful and violent urge by choice. She wasn't really afraid of what she might do anymore.

"And this… this must be the Midoriya kid they were talking about on the news last month. They say he bravely held off the leader of the League of Villains, just long enough for All Might to arrive and save the day. Pretty impressive, for a first-year student." That photo crumbled too.

There was a faint whisper of alarm in the back of her mind.

Calm. Safe. Trust. Warmth.

They weren't her feelings, and she knew they weren't Izuku's either, despite the strange link they shared. Rumi shoved the reassuring feelings aside and let her focus crystallize.

"Oh, now this is a cute one." Shigaraki held up one of herself, Kacchan, and Izuku. She was in the middle, with her arms around their necks, pulling the boys in until their cheeks were smashed against hers. Rumi was beaming. Izuku looked like he was a second from crying tears of joy. Kacchan didn't smile but blushed embarrassedly. Knowing the toxic little bastard as well as she did, she could tell that Kacchan was trying to act tough when Mom snapped the picture. It had been her eighth birthday, and the first one Izuku had been invited to since he was four.

"Such sweet little kids. You know, it's strange. I always hear that parents are concerned with privacy, but they so willingly put their entire lives online for the world to see." The photopaper yellowed, cracked, and bubbled as it decayed in his hand. "Kind of hypocritical, don't you think?" The second to last picture was of Inko in full hero attire, with Rumi standing next to her. She'd been gifted a junior gym membership for her ninth birthday. The two of them grinned like All Might, flexing their arms for the camera. Rumi was missing one of her front teeth and looked so happy.

"This must be Mrs. Midoriya. Or should I say, Mama Midoriya?" This one crumbled like the rest as it slipped through is fingers. He was left holding one photo, the one he started with. That one he returned to the envelope, which he gently tucked away in his hoodie pocket. "I was upset after the USJ, I admit. Then I found all those pretty little pictures online, and I just got angrier. See, I would have loved to know that you have friends close to All Might." He chuckled lightly. "You're so cool, Mirko. Cooler than Eraser Head, even."

Rumi stared, eyeing the pads of his fingers, and then his throat. Shigaraki couldn't turn his quirk off, hence the constant pinky-up routine. She was physically stronger than Shigaraki. It would be easy, laughably so, to make this problem go away. It was the first time Rumi had ever seriously contemplated murder.

"I was going to kill you, especially after it occurred to me that you probably sabotaged my plans, just to protect your brother and your little friend. Then it clicked: You have a beautiful little family. So happy. So loving. See, I realized, I don't have to kill you to destroy you completely."

All the seething, impotent rage that she had come to know Shigaraki for was nowhere to be seen. He was calm, as if they were discussing what shapes they saw in the clouds above. "You made your fucking point. What. Do. You. Want?"

"I already have what I want: I own you." He gingerly removed his mask and turned, bearing a wide, deranged smile. "Just… let me be clear about one little detail. If even suspect that you're working against me? I'm going to take your legs. Your arms. Those beautiful ears of yours. I might even take that sharp tongue." Spidery hands twitched and reached but never touched her. "Then, once all you can do is watch, I'm going to turn each and every… last… piece… of your happy heart to ash." With his index finger, Shigaraki tapped the envelope through the fabric of his sweater. "But you, Mirko? I'll make sure you live forever."

The silence was thick.

Two hundred kilometers away, Izuku's quirk roared to life. The Sports Festival had just started.

Rumi latched onto that feeling, letting it haul her up and out of the frigid malice in her gut. She rapidly tore through several emotions on her way up. Anger, desperation, terror. A vague feeling of surprise came across the bond. Then concern, and finally something warm and loving. Reassuring. Almost like All Might himself had just declared 'I am here!'.

Disgusted by how she had been so ready and willing to commit cold-blooded murder, Rumi took a deep breath, then another. They came easily, compared to every other time she'd forced herself back under control. She wasn't alone. She had support. Everyone would be okay. Why? Because she was here, and Izuku was with her. "Alright, Shigaraki. Fine. You win. What do you want me to do?"

Seconds before the beginning of the first event, lost within the crush of students at the starting line, Izuku eased himself into Full Cowling. When he did so, he hadn't been prepared for the deluge of Rumi that came through their link. Anger, honed to a razors edge and chilled to absolute zero, sliced through him. The darkest and most vile hate that he'd ever felt seeped in on its wake, polluting his blood like a poison. A scattered blur of murderous intent, animalistic fear, and absolute conviction flickered around the periphery. It took a solid moment to reorient himself, and to be certain that those emotions didn't belong to him.

What could filter across their link was limited. Thoughts and images didn't carry over. Emotions did. It was easier for Rumi to feel him than it was for him to feel Rumi. For Izuku to sense anything in Rumi's head was kind of like pushing water uphill. It took a lot of effort on his part, or her emotions needed to have a lot of 'momentum' to make it to him. On the other hand, she just seemed to have this… intuitive sense of how he was feeling – not to mention his location – without the need to even focus. That's as much as they were able to determine over the last month.

For Izuku to feel those negative emotions so strongly and clearly… well, he had to do something. He closed his eyes and thought of All Might telling him that he could become a hero. He remembered how he felt when Rumi gave him flowers yesterday afternoon. He dredged up every beautiful and hopeful memory he had: his mother, UA, his friends. Izuku and hoped beyond hope that it would help Rumi, wherever she was.

"UH-OH! IT LOOKS LIKE MIDORIYA FROM 1-A IS STALLED AT THE STARTING LINE!"

Present Mic's commentary smacked into Izuku, dragging him back to reality. He'd been so focused on Rumi that he'd forgotten about the race in its entirety. He now stood alone behind the starting line.

The wash of raw emotion faded. From Rumi came relief, a faint nudge, and then their bond went quiet.

Izuku grinned. Then he moved.

Izuku took first place in the first event. Izuku, as she hoped, not Kacchan, as she expected. The formerly-quirkless-boy-wonder advanced because he took first place! Rumi was aimlessly wandering around southside Kamino when she found out. She was so goddamn proud that she hopped about ten meters into the air, accidentally scaring an elderly couple half to death.

Rumi told him how proud she was – after reassuring him that she was okay – over a sweet and unfortunately short call. Hopefully he'd get a good night's sleep, but she doubted it, given how excited he sounded. If he did well tomorrow, then he could realistically make it to the final event on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, the good mood wasn't meant to last. It was late evening now, and she'd been able to keep herself under control, if barely. Kurogiri politely requested that she return to the bar, and so here she was. The motivation to play nice came easily, what with Shigaraki holding the lives of everyone she had ever loved over her head. Still, the instant Mirko set foot the bar proper she regretted her decision to return. This time, the regret was totally unrelated to Shigaraki.

"Mirko! Baby!" A demon from Rumi's worst nightmares, a lovesick Himiko Toga, flung herself at Mirko.

Mirko sidestepped, letting Toga sail through the doorway before slamming the door. "Why?! Why the fuck is she here?!" Oh yeah, the regret was strong.

The door clattered open behind her. "Hey! That wasn't very nice of you, Mirko." Toga pouted, dagger in hand.

Shigaraki slithered out of whatever moldy corner he'd been lurking in. "Why don't you tell us, O' Glorious Leader." Talk about a heel-face turn. Shigaraki was acting just like he always had, like an edgy middle schooler with anger issues. Like a quieter, emo version of her brother. Gone was the calm, calculating, and goddamn insane Shigaraki.

Really? Are we really going to act like this morning didn't happen? Fuck. You. She thought she was mad just a second ago, but that snide remark got her blood up to dangerously stupid levels. Rumi took a moment and let it all bleed away. She deflated, thoroughly exhausted, and stepped into Mirko's shoes with a weary sigh. "What do you have for us, Kurogiri?"

"To answer your first question, Himiko Toga is here at Giran's recommendation." Kurogiri nodded. "Her skillset will be useful to us."

Mirko curled her lip at 'Giran'. "You know exactly how I feel about that dirtbag, 'Giri."

"I do." Was all he offered.

Toga cocked her head. "Eh? I thought you were in charge around here, Mirko."

"I figured. What's the job, Kurogiri? And no," Mirko glanced at the blonde, tiredly wary of her glinting dagger, "I'm not in charge. I'm just a pretty little figurehead." Per their rooftop agreement, Mirko was to toe the line, do Shigaraki's bidding, and continue to act as the face of the League, if only in public. She eyed the dormant computer monitor with a sliver of real fear before shaking herself out of it. "Isn't that right, Shiggy?" Directly antagonizing the lunatic was a terrible idea, and yet she did so any way. Maybe Nejire was right. Maybe Rumi had exactly zero sense of self preservation.

Shigaraki crossed his arms. "Teacher is the one in charge. We all follow him."

Mirko bit her cheek, literally, to stop herself from saying something suicidal about Teacher. She didn't even let herself think anything untoward, for fear of being 'overheard'.

"Huh? Teacher? Wait, who's he?" Toga pointed at Kurogiri, blinking rapidly. "You?"

Kurogiri was cut off by Shigaraki before he could say anything. "You don't need to know."

Annoyed, Toga rolled her eyes. "Right, whatever. Why am I even here again? Mr. Giran just told me to come here, but he didn't say why really, just that I could get paid, so… what's the deal? And this better not be any sort of couch casting gig, I'm not that kind of girl." She fluttered her lashes at Mirko. "I mean, unless-"

Kurogiri – politely – bulldozed over whatever fucked up thing was going to fall out of Toga's mouth next. "The League of Villains intends to retrieve a wayward ally of our master. Our mission would benefit greatly from your unique skillset, Himiko Toga."

Mirko could have kissed the barkeep for the interruption.

"Huh, me?" The blonde pointed at her own face, blinking owlishly.

Ah, shit. 'Retrieve'? That's not great. Mirko sighed. "A prison break, 'Giri? Really? Kicking down the door to a penitentiary doesn't sound like a great start to my week."

"No, Mirko. This operation requires your expertise at infiltration. Yours as well, Himiko Toga." Kurogiri continued, "However, should the need arise, your martial skill will be invaluable, Mirko."

Shigaraki scoffed behind his mask.

They want it sneaky, huh? "Who's the mark and where are they?" She didn't bother to ask about payment. Mirko was expecting a big fat zero since Shigaraki 'owned' her now. Not that she ever cared about getting paid in the first place. Every single yen she'd received thus far had gone right into the slush fund dedicated to putting them behind bars. At least, it had, before the fund was emptied and she was locked out. She was still pissed that all that cash was gone. Maybe a vacation to the Caymans was in order after she was done here.

Toga watched Mirko and Kurogiri like they were playing tennis, and her buns flopped about wildly on top of her head.

It was cute, and for a moment, Mirko wished that Toga was just… a person. A regular person. Maybe then she would hate herself less for being amused. There was no way Mirko would ever forget their first meeting. The sticky blood and broken tiles. She was afraid, though, that her determination to bring Toga down would just… slip away.

"A close associate of ours is being held illegally by the Biomedical Division of the Shingen Corporation, at a facility in Shinjuku."

Back on topic, Rumi immediately made an X with her forearms. "Hell no! I'm not fucking with Shingen, are you out of your goddamn mind?!" They wouldn't bother calling the police. Once you crossed their property line, Shingen became judge, jury, and executioner. No, beyond that, it was like they became god. An angry, spiteful, and destructive god.

"Err… yeah, hi? Question:" Toga raised her hand like a student. "Uhm, who's Shingen?"

Rumi smacked herself in the forehead. "They're a company, Toga."

"One of the largest and wealthiest multinational conglomerates in the world." Kurogiri added.

"Con-glom-er-ate." Toga sounded out the word and shrugged, looking like it meant absolutely nothing to her.

"They're a giant, rich, international company that owns and does everything, and fucking with them is the fastest way to put yourself into a body bag. They have a private fucking army Kurogiri, and some of the most advanced security in the world."

"Well… don't lots of companies have private security?" Toga scratched at her cheek idly.

Rumi snarled, then took a breath. Easy. Just be calm. Think about going home, and don't do anything stupid. "Toga, I- Okay, look. Not important right now. Oi! Pay attention!"

She squeaked and sheathed her dagger. "Sorry!"

"The only takeaway here is fucking with Shingen, especially on their home turf is beyond suicidal." Mirko sneered at Shigaraki. "There won't be enough of us left to burn when they're done with us."

Shigaraki glared.

Kurogiri was silent.

"Oh…" Toga said. "So… why, exactly, do I want to help you guys piss off this big spooky company?"

Mirko huffed. "Figure it out if you want, I'm fucking out." She only made it three steps away.

"Well, I guess if Mirko isn't interested, then I'm not either. See ya!" Toga eagerly trotted after Mirko.

Kurogiri just had to open his mouth. "We will pay ten times your usual fee."

Mirko stopped dead. Oh, fuck me. This was beyond alarming now. It was right up in call All Might territory before, because whatever the hell Shingen owned that the League wanted could not be good news. Throw in ten times her standard rate on top, despite Shigaraki threatening her into submission? Fuck. Me. Running.

"Woah, wait, ten times? Is that a lot? What do you usually get paid?" Toga looked a lot more interested now.

Rumi turned, deathly slow. "Kurogiri?"

"Yes, Mirko?"

"Who, exactly," she spoke slowly and carefully, "Is worth twenty-two mil to you? On top of pissing off a corporate military with legal immunity?"

Toga screeched, "WHAT? You get two million normally? What the heck do you do for these guys?!"

Shigaraki grumbled. "Not nearly enough."

"As I said earlier, a close associate of ours. Their identity is not pertinent to their rescue."

Well… that was just fucking great. She was going to regret doing this, but she'd regret it more if she didn't. Someone had to keep these lunatics in check until she could prove her identity and call down the hammer. "I cannot fucking believe this, but… I'm in." I'm sorry, Izuku. "You better have a damn good plan, and I don't mean USJ good, because that was a clusterfuck."

Kurogiri nodded. "We do, in fact, have quite a through plan, Mirko."

Author's Note

I stretched the sports festival out over three days. It makes more sense to me this way, since there are three years of students at UA, so how could they reasonably get through everyone in one day? The first day covers the first event for years one through three. Second day: second event, etc.

Given the lack of affection Izuku had growing up, with his mother as the sole exception, I see him as a romantic person. In the sense that he'd be a total sap and sees the tropes in your average rom-com as embarrassing, but ultimately something that he wants for himself. Flowers, candle lit dinners, a big sentimental marriage proposal, the works.

Nomu is missing, and that won't end well.

Katsuki is becoming less of a steamed turd, as Kaminari would put it.

Shigaraki isn't about to just roll over and let Mirko take the reins. He feels quite entitled to his leadership position. Just look at his initial interactions with Overhaul in the manga.

Rumi is getting pushed closer and closer to the edge.

Toga's back. She'll be around more frequently I think.

Two million JPY is approximately equivalent to fifteen thousand EUR or eighteen thousand USD. A lot of money to most, but not an outrageous sum for Rumi to be paid for doing Bad and Naughty Criminal Things for Kurogiri.

This whole Shingen business is coming to a head soon. We'll see why they're even in this story, and what sp00ky things they've been up to.