KYOKA POV

"Where should I even start with you?"

Izuku and I were up in my room. He was sitting in my desk chair while I stood over him with my arms crossed.

"I have so many questions for you right now and I don't even know where to begin."

"I guess the beginning would be a good place." A soft nervous laugh escaped from him.

Raising an eye, I shook my head. "Izuku, why did you walk in the rain the entire way back?"

"I… uh… I didn't have an umbrella."

Sighing I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Why didn't you buy one? There are places that sell them on literally every corner. Do you want to get sick, because that's how you get sick."

He shook his head. "No, I just had a lot on my mind."

"Was today really that bad?"

His answer was a silent nod.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I can't, the case is confidential."

Biting the tip of my thumb I looked to the ground. As much as I wanted to continue to grill Izuku for walking into the dorms drenched from head to toe and then for some reason lying on my bed without drying himself off, now wasn't the time for it. Even if he was speaking clearly his voice had a hushed tone, whatever was on his mind was serious. It took a lot for Izuku to be pushed to this. It was best to let sleeping dogs lie, even though he was lying about the case being confidential.

Sighing I made my way over to him and sat in his lap before wrapping my arms around his neck. The sudden physical contact caused him to jump slightly. I couldn't help but laugh at him.

"A little jumpy are we?"

"No, I just wasn't expecting that."

Taking a hand and putting it over my mouth I feigned offense. "Do you really see me as someone who won't comfort her boyfriend when he's clearly distraught?"

"No."

Smirking, I kissed his cheek. "Good."

He smiled softly before wrapping his arms around me. "Thank you Kyoka."

I smiled before burying my head in the crook of his neck and returning the hug. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

For ten minutes we sat like that in silence. The sound of his breathing and heartbeat were my personal soundtrack. The moments where we could just enjoy the other's presence without the need for words always assured me that we had something special.

His hands tensed up on my back. "Things are about to get complicated."

I gave him a teasing laugh. "Your erection doesn't bother me. After being poked every morning I've gotten used to it."

"I'm not talking about that. I meant this work study."

Instinctively my grip around his neck tightened. I didn't think he'd bring this up again after not wanting to talk earlier. "Why?"

"There's just a lot going on. This case that they're doing has extremely high stakes."

"Can I ask what's going on?"

"We're trying to stop two groups from meeting up and joining together. That alone is pretty stressful, but another factor was added in today. There's a child that's been thrown into everything and she's living in hell."

A lump was forming in my throat. Anyone could tell that he was withholding information from me. "What are you gonna do?"

"Get her out of there. Once we know for certain where she's at we're going to save her. After that I don't know what's going to happen next."

Sighing I cupped his face before locking eyes with him. "Izuku… No."

A confused look spread across his face. "What do you mean no?"

"It's not going to happen."

Izuku's eyes narrowed as a tinge of anger filled his voice. "You don't think we'll save her! What the hell Kyoka?"

"Woah, you need to drop that tone, I never once said that."

"You literally just told me 'It's not going to happen.'"

"Yeah, but I wasn't talking about saving her. Izuku I know that once you set your mind on something you get it done. You've already decided to save her so I know you will. I was talking about what comes after."

The expression on Izuku's face had completely changed. The sheer mixture of anger, embarrassment, and confusion caused a contorted mess.

"I…uh… I just… I…" A deep sigh came from him. "You know I'm just gonna let you explain this one to me. It's not worth the headache."

Pursing my lips I sent a glare at him. "I'm going to let that comment about me being a headache slide for now."

"Thank you."

"Quiet." I gently pressed a jack to his forehead. "Look Izuku, when, not if, when you save that girl, we're not going to adopt her."

Izuku's expression turned to one of disbelief. "What?"

"It's not that the idea of raising a child with you isn't a dream of mine, but we're barely sixteen. It's way too early for that."

"Um, Kyoka, that thought never once crossed my mind."

A deadpan look spread across my face as I rapidly blinked at him. "Huh?"

Izuku burst out into laughter. "Oh my God, where did that even come from Kyoka?"

Looking away I felt my face heat up from embarrassment. "Sh.. Shut up."

His laughter didn't stop. "There's no way in hell I'd adopt a kid at my age. I mean seriously look at me, I still have my own issues to work out. What makes you think I can raise a kid when I can barely take care of myself?"

My face was a deep crimson. "Seriously Izuku, forget I said anything, it's really embarrassing."

While I was trying to wallow in my own embarrassment I felt Izuku's lips press against mine. Giving in, my eyes closed and I melted into his embrace. When we separated a smile was left on his face.

"Still, I'm glad that you're thinking about our future."

I felt my face heat up again as I buried my face into his chest. "One of us has too."

Closing my eyes I enjoyed the silence of his arms wrapped around me. As embarrassing as it was that I had completely assumed the wrong thing about his thought about saving this mystery child, I was glad that he had opened up about what was on his mind. Even if the information he gave was vague, it gave me plenty of insight as to what was on his mind.

The comfortable silence we shared was music to my ears. Sadly the silence had a sporadic click track. When I opened my eyes again Izuku was typing away on his phone.

"What are you doing?"

Putting the phone to his ear he smiled. "Calling your mom."

Raising an eye, I gave him a perplexed look. "Why?"

He didn't give me an answer. A smirk spread across his face as he put the phone on speaker. The familiar voice of my mother came from the other side.

"Well if this isn't a welcomed surprise. What did I do to earn a call from you?"

"You didn't do anything Mama Mika. I just had something to tell you."

I could practically hear the smirk on my mothers face. "Oh really? It must be something big."

"Not really, you were right again."

"Obviously I was... So what was I right about this time?"

"Kyoka's baby crazy."

"What the hell Izuku!?"

"Oh I didn't realize you were there as well Kyoka, why didn't you say anything?"

"Obviously I thought it was a private conversation."

Izuku gave me a confused look. "You watched me put the call on speaker."

"Izuku, that's not important right now."

"She's right."

"Thank you mom."

"So Kyoka's baby crazy, you should have believed me when I told you the other day."

"Mom, I'm not baby crazy."

"She is."

"Izuku thinks you are."

"I'm not."

"Well Izuku doesn't strike me as the type of person to lie about this, so why would he tell me you are?"

Sighing, I took the phone from Izuku. "Izuku and I were discussing a case where a child was involved and needed saving. He said he didn't know what would happen after she's saved. The way he was talking about it I assumed he wanted to adopt her. I told him no, that wasn't going to happen and that we were too young for that."

"She also said that raising a child with me was a dream of hers."

I quickly shot a jack to his throat to shut him up. Even though I had said that, my mom didn't need to know that. Sadly the damage had already been done.

"Yeah, sounds like baby crazy to me. Izuku, are you still there?"

A pained voice came from the other side of the bed. "Just barely."

"I recommend sleeping in separate rooms for a few days. Also lock the doors so she can't sneak in."

"MOM!"

"I would, but I wouldn't be able to sleep."

A smile spread across my face. "Awww he can't sleep without me."

"She would find a way to get a key then proceed to torture me."

The smile on my face quickly turned to a scowl. "Excuse me!?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Dammit mom, why are you agreeing with him?"

"Kyoka… can you honestly say you wouldn't do that?"

"… That's not important."

Both my mother and Izuku broke into laughter. Even if it was annoying and at my expense, I was glad that the two of them were getting along. I was certain Izuku felt the same way whenever he saw Mama Joke and myself get along. As the two of them carried on teasing me, I could hear my phone going off.

Momo: "Can you and Midori come to the common area? Uraraka, Tsu, and Kirishima want to tell us something."

Kyoka: "Sure thing."

My mom and Izuku had finished laughing and switched to the topic of music choices. As much fun as this topic was going to be, it needed to be stopped. We easily could have been on the phone for hours.

"Hey mom, Izuku and I have to go. I just got a message about an emergency class meeting."

"Well I guess I can let you two go. It was so nice hearing from you Izuku, don't be a stranger."

"I won't."

"Good. Kyoka, please try and keep your hands to yourself."

"Goodbye mom."

Using my jack I took the phone from Izuku and hung up on her. That call had been far more taxing than I had expected it to be. Finally getting off of Izuku I made my way to the door.

"Come on, everyone is waiting in the common area."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes, based on what Momo said I'm certain it has to do with work studies."

Downstairs everyone had gathered. Much to my surprise Bakugo was even sitting quietly. Instinctively Izuku and I made our way next to Momo who was gracefully sipping her tea. With everyone now being present all eyes fell on Kirishima who was clearing his throat.

"Alright, I guess you're all wondering why we gathered you all here today."

There was a small murmur throughout the group before Sero spoke up. "Not really. We all have a pretty good idea of what you're going to say."

"Wait seriously?!" A dejected look spread across Kirishima's face.

"I mean, given the people who called us here, it was pretty obvious."

Kirishima hung his head before sighing. "Yeah… I guess that makes sense."

"Aww, cheer up Kirishima. It's not manly to give good news when you're depressed." Mina reassuringly patted him on your back.

In an instant his mood had turned around and the shark tooth smile we all knew was back. "Hell yeah! Well I'm just gonna come out and say it. I got a work study with Fat Gum."

Even if everyone already knew what was coming, we all still congratulated him. Hado did say she had a feeling Amajiki would pick someone from our class, but I didn't expect it to be Kirishima. With excitement still in the air, everyone's attention directed back to Uraraka and Tsu. Once again we all knew what they were going to say, but it was still exciting nonetheless.

With all the attention focused on them Uraraka nervously scratched the back of her head with a big smile.

"I guess it's not a surprise that Tsu and I also got accepted for a work study."

Once again the class erupted in cheers and questions about when they would start. It was honestly crazy to think that we had four students already have work studies set up this quick with notable heroes.

Just when we all assumed things were starting to quiet down we had another interruption from the stoic bird of the class.

"I wasn't planning on telling anyone until everything is made official, but Hawks has asked me to go to his office tomorrow."

The room went quiet. If someone were to drop a pin it would be heard and not just by me. Tokoyami had just dropped the biggest news of the evening. Once the initial shock had worn off a massive cheer exploded from the class congratulating him.

The sudden outbreak caught him off guard causing him to try and deflect the attention. Even if he hadn't officially signed a contract with him yet, just getting a potential offer from a top ten hero was an amazing accomplishment.

The common area once again was filled with questions and celebrations. This time it didn't die down after a few minutes but instead the ones who had work studies lined up turned to Izuku. They began to bombard him with questions as to what they might expect.

From an outside view he looked more than happy to answer all their questions, but that was far from the truth. He only had one days experience, so he didn't have much information he could give them. That being said from the little he told me there would probably be some emotional burnout by the time they're done.

As the questions seemed to never end, I could see Izuku's mask starting to slip. Everything that had happened today was starting to catch up with him again and he was slowly becoming annecy. Not enough that it was obvious, but just enough to where if you were really paying attention you could see something was off.

"Alright everyone, I think that's enough questions for the night. I'm sure Midori is exhausted after today. Why don't we let him get some rest."

A faint smile dawned his face as he turned to Momo to thank her. Uraraka and Kirishima, who were the main culprits for asking questions, apologized way more than was necessary. The small group dispersed and Izuku started making his way to his room. Before turning the corner he gave me a look that asked if I was coming. I shook my head to let him know that I'd be up shortly. When he finally disappeared Momo came to my side with a cup of tea.

"You're not going up with him?"

Taking a sip of the tea I shook my head. "Not yet, I actually needed to talk to you first."

"Oh my, I should consider myself honored."

Her comment brought a smile to my face. "I wanted to thank you for stepping in back there."

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

"I've told you before that lying doesn't suit you at all."

"I know, I know, but it's nothing to thank me for. I was just doing what a good Vice President should do."

Smiling, I took another sip of the tea. "I know this is asking a lot, but I feel like I'm gonna need your help with him. I have this sinking feeling that all hells gonna break loose soon."

Momo nodded. "I think you may be right. He definitely wasn't his normal self tonight."

I raised an eye at her. "You sure are paying an awful lot of attention to my boyfriend's mannerisms."

"Based on everything I've seen and heard, I'd be doing him a disservice if I didn't. Honestly I've seen one of his lows, and I'm certain you've seen him even lower, that's something I never want to see again."

"I know we haven't even seen him at his lowest and that terrifies me. He's made so much progress, but occasionally the old him pops up. I need to be able to get rid of the old whenever it rears its ugly face."

"You turned down a guaranteed work study for his mental health. I know some people won't understand it, but you're not alone. I don't care if I'm stepping on your toes, I also don't want him falling into despair again."

Nodding, I finished the tea she gave me. "Momo, I don't think we could have asked for a better friend. I promise one day we'll repay you for all the help and support you've given us."

With a smile she shook her head. "That's not necessary, it's like you said, we're friends. Friends are there for each other no matter the situation."

IZUKU POV

A week had passed and there hadn't been any developments on the case. The monitoring of the compound showed no activity and our patrols turned up nothing. The entire situation was starting to piss me off. Even if we didn't have a full plan yet, we essentially had the go ahead the moment we found where she was at. The longer this went on the more I started to wish I had just ran with her then.

"A real hero would have gotten her out of there."

Biting my knuckles I shook my head. "No, it was the only choice at the moment. There's no telling what Chisaki would have done."

"She asked for help and you handed her over to the person who is literally killing her."

Instinctively my knuckles started to rub against my wrist. "I didn't have a choice."

"She's probably dead now."

My hands slammed on my desk while I shouted. "God Dammit shut up!"

The room was silent and everyone's eyes were on me. Their faces were confused and a few were scared. The voices had been echoing in my head all week and they finally broke me down enough so that I exploded in the middle of class. A few students began to whisper but they quickly died down whenever I looked in their direction. Everyone was looking away whenever I turned towards them, except Kyoka and Yaomomo. They just looked worried.

"Alright everyone, that's enough. I know Hero Law can be boring, but this is important information." Ms. Midnight was standing in the front of the room looking impatient. "Midoriya, I'll need to speak with you after class."

"Yes ma'am." Sighing, I rested my head on my desk. I continued to rub my knuckles against my wrist hoping that the voices would be quiet for just a few minutes.

Twenty minutes later classes had ended for the day and I found myself sitting in a silent classroom with Ms. Midnight. Nothing was said between us, but her eyes were fixated on me. A few more minutes passed and she walked to the door, opening it slowly before peaking out.

"Alright, everyone should be gone, let's head to my office now."

Without a word I got up and followed her. The halls weren't exactly empty, but enough of the students had gone back to their dorms for the day. Occasionally we'd get curious looks from the few students left, but I was just glad that everyone from my class was gone.

Once inside her office she locked the door while I set my bag down on a chair. I already knew what was about to go down so I took off my jacket while she closed the blinds on the window.

"How long have they been this bad?"

"Ever since I started my work studies they've progressively gotten worse."

"Are you still taking your medication?"

"Yeah, but it's never helped with the voices."

"Do you have an idea of what caused it to get this bad?"

"Yeah, but I really can't go into many details about it."

"I'm your therapist everything said here is confidential." Her tone was oddly stern. It had been awhile since I'd seen this side of her in therapy.

"I know, but still."

"Midoriya, you essentially just had a full breakdown in the middle of class. Whatever is going on is affecting all your other classes as well. This past week you've gone from top five to middle of the pack. Everyone has noticed that you've been slipping, or have you been so stuck in your head that you haven't seen it yet?"

"I know, I've had a few people ask if everything was alright. I just told them I was tired from my work study and they stopped asking questions. The only ones that keep asking now are Kyoka and Yaomomo, but they're not trying to force an answer out of me."

Sitting down she crossed her legs. "Well I'm not them. What exactly is going on?"

After taking a deep breath I went on to explain the entirety of what happened on the first day of my work study. Throughout my entire story she sat in silence while listening intently. When I finished everything she continued to stare at me in silence.

"Midoriya, you're experiencing extreme amounts of stress right now. On top of that you're someone who overthink everything. You feed these voices without even meaning to. No matter what, I need you to remember that these voices aren't real."

"I know, but it's hard when they never stop. I keep trying to reassure myself that I made the right choice, but they always have some sort of rebuttal."

"Tell me, do you feel any better now that you've gotten all of that off your chest?"

"Yeah, but I don't know if it's because I'm just distracted from them for now."

She gave a faint smile before moving next to me and resting my head in her lap. "Well, I want you to know that I think you made the right choice. Just by holding onto her that little bit of time, you gave her hope. You don't know it, but I'm certain Togata is kicking himself about the same things right now."

I smiled softly as she patted my head. "You think so?"

She gave me a genuine smile. "I'm certain of it."

"Thanks Ms. Midnight."

"Think nothing of it, that being said I am going to talk to all of your teachers. Until things quiet down again you'll be allowed to wear a single headphone in class to help drown the voices out, but you'll need to wear your hair down so the other students can't see them."

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now Midoriya I need you to stand up."

Begrudgingly I got up from my place of comfort. "Are we doing that again?"

"Yes, based on everything I think it's necessary."

Sighing I started to unbutton my shirt. "Pants too?"

"Yes."

"Fine, let's just get this over with."

After stripping down to my underwear Ms. Midnight stood up and began to inspect me. The first time she did a body check on me it was extremely embarrassing, but over the years I had gotten used to it.

First she went over my arms. They were adorned with old scars and each one had a story. She meticulously looked over each one before putting a finger on my left wrist which was a deep red.

"This was just from class today?"

I nodded. "It was the only thing I could do to help keep them down."

"I see." She took a moment to think before taking her finger off me. "I should have just sent you to my office right away. I know this is better than the alternative, but you've practically rubbed the skin raw."

She continued to look me over, occasionally stopping to ask questions about any marks she found. I had nothing to hide so I wasn't worried. All the 'new' marks came from training. I understood why she wanted to check now, but I hadn't thought about cutting since the sports festival.

When the check was finally done and I was dressed again Ms. Midnight let out a sigh of relief before sitting on the couch.

"I'm glad that there was nothing new."

A chuckle escaped from me as I sat across from her. "You and I both."

She nodded with a smile before turning serious. "Are you still drinking?"

"I've had a drink before bed every night this week. It make's ignoring them a little easier while I'm trying to sleep."

She shook her head. "I've told you that studies have shown that it could make them worse."

"I know, but it helps keep me from overthinking everything."

"I understand that, but you can't become reliant on it again. Honestly it would be best for you to kick that habit all together… until a legal age of course."

"I know, Yaomomo says the same thing."

She pressed her hand to her forehead. "I still can't believe Shota and Emi tolerate it."

"Yeah, I think it was more of a necessary evil given everything that was going on at the time. They didn't want a depressed teenager going through withdrawals while meeting with people he wasn't comfortable around."

"Still, I think they could have handled it differently."

"I think they did the best they could. I mean I turned out alright… so far."

She scoffed at my comment. "You give yourself too little credit. The scared lonely little boy is long gone and in his place stands a young man that has a lovely vampire for a girlfriend."

I felt my face heat up as I looked away. "I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Oh please I know a bite mark when I see one." She pointed at my waist line. "Did you think I seriously wouldn't see that?"

"No, I hoped you'd ignore it though."

She gave me a deadpan reaction. "You do remember who you're dealing with right?"

Sighing I sunk in the couch. "Yeah."

A grin spread across her face. "So, how far have you two gone?"

"Third base."

Her expression turned disappointed. "I thought I taught you better than that."

"Look, it's complicated."

"She wants it to be special and you don't want to push anything because you think you'll ruin the relationship."

"… Lucky guess."

She proudly crossed her legs. "Call it a woman's intuition."

Rolling my eyes I was ready to ask if we were done, but before I could ask my phone started to go off. Sir's number was displayed on the screen and I felt my heart begin to race. I looked at Ms. Midnight and she gave me a nod.

"Hello."

"Midoriya, I know this is last minute, but I need you to come in tomorrow morning. Something has come up. I've already gotten the ok from UA so there's no need to worry."

"Yes Sir, I'll be there."

"Good, I'll see you then."

The phone went silent. Anytime Sir called our talks were quick and to the point. I wanted to ask for details, but I could tell by his tone that it would be easier to explain in person than over the phone.

"You got called in tomorrow?"

Grabbing my bag I nodded. "Yeah, is it alright if I head out now? I have a feeling it's gonna be a long day so I want to try and get some rest."

She gave me an understanding nod before making her way to see me out. "Of course."

After leaving Ms. Midnight's office the rest of the night flew by. Apparently my outburst became taboo to talk about. I was grateful for it, but I still received odd looks from time to time. I tried not to pay them any mind, my classmates' judgmental looks were the last thing I needed on my mind.

When morning finally came I was ready to hear why Sir called me in. I was hoping that we finally made some progress and would be able to save that girl. As I was approaching the main gate I heard footsteps behind me. I stopped assuming it would be Mirio. If I had been called in, he definitely would have been as well.

"Hey Midoriya, wait for us!"

Shocked, I turned to see Uraraka, Kirishima, and Tsu running to catch up to me.

"Did you three get called in as well?"

"Yeah, we all got calls after class."

"It is a little strange."

"Ah don't worry about it, I'm sure it's just a coincidence."

I wasn't so sure about that. All four of us getting called around the same time to come in on a day we were supposed to have off wasn't a coincidence. Something big was going to happen and I had a sinking feeling that the case Sir was working was the cause. My suspicions were being proven right with each passing minute. First we all were taking the same train, then we all got off at the same stop, after that we kept walking in the same direction, and finally we all made it to Sir's agency building.

When we opened the doors the room was filled with hero's. As surprising at how many big names were gathered in the room the most surprising was Pops who was standing by the door as if he was waiting for us. When the doors closed he motioned for the four of us to come over to him.

"I need you all to listen to what I'm about to say, things are about to get intense. We're about to start a meeting and you need to stay quiet. Don't speak unless you're asked to talk. Don't let these Pro's look down on you just because you're first years. The agencies you work for requested you to be here so that means they think you can handle this."

"Mr. Aizawa, what exactly is going on?" Kirishima looked around the room confused.

Pops looked around the room before sighing. "First we're out in the field so it's Eraserhead. I would have hoped your agency explained the basics of the situation, but I guess they didn't want to put a burden on you before it was necessary. Everything will be explained shortly, but in short we're discussing a possible team up for a case." Pop's attention focused on me. "Midoriya, you already know the situation right?"

"If it's what I think then yeah, I know what it's about. Although I think there's some new information that I haven't been told yet."

Uraraka looked between us at a loss. "Can you fill us in as well?"

Just before Pops could answer the doors to the main conference room, Sir was standing in the center and motioned everyone to take a seat. I quickly found my spot next to Mirio and Bubble girl. My other classmates sat with their respective agencies. It was finally time for the meeting to begin.

"Thank you all for coming here today. I understand this may be last minute, but I assure you this was necessary." Sir's voice carried a sense of urgency. "Recently my agency has been keeping tabs on a certain Yakuza group. Slowly they have been expanding their reach into the world of drugs. In order to get the funding to make the final push they have reached out to the League of Villains."

The mood of the room changed in an instant. Everyone's expression turned serious at the mention of the League. As far as the world knew they hadn't made any moves sense Hosu City, but they were the only organization to attack UA and get out.

"Alright, I'm just gonna come out and say it. We're dealing with some serious shit here, so why are we bringing kids into this? There's no need for them to get dragged into this mess."

The pro hero Rock Lock had just addressed one of the elephants in the room, his thoughts weren't completely wrong. Mirio, Amajiki, and Hado were one thing, but us first years were definitively potential risks.

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that one Rock Lock. From what I've seen and heard from Red Riot these kids know how to handle themselves."

"We can discuss this after the meeting." Sir slammed his seal on the desk, turning all the attention to him. "I gave each agency that has work studies the option of involving the students. If they decided that they should hear this, then that's their decision. That being said, in the end the decision will come down to their teacher." Sir took a breath to recompose his usual calm demeanor. "Fat Gum, I believe you said you recently found some information about a new drug."

"Yeah, the other night while on patrol we stopped a small gang of criminals. One of them had a gun that had bullets that could make someone's quirk disappear. Sun Eater was hit by one, but after a few hours he was good as new. Lucky for us he also shot Red Riot, but it bounced off him thanks to his quirk. I took that round and had some tests run on it to see exactly what it was and it had traces of human blood. It seems like it's still in testing." Fat Gum clenched his fists as he stared at the table. "I've never seen a drug like this before. Something like this needs a lot of time and money to make, so I'm certain that this is coming from that Yakuza group."

A pit formed in my stomach. The experiment I saw him perform in the memory was probably him testing the limits of her quirk. For a moment Mirio and I made eye contact. Even if he didn't know the full details, he was smart enough to put two and two together.

"We have a running theory on how these bullets are being made." Sir clicked his remote and the screen behind him showed a picture of Chisaki. "This here is Kia Chisaki and he is the young head, his quirk allows him to disassemble and reassemble anything he touches. Last week while Mirio and Midoriya were doing patrols they ran into him, as well as his daughter Eri. There is no record of her birth so we have no information on her." Sir stopped for a moment to take a deep breath. "Based on the description given she looks to be around six, she has a horn on the right side of her forehead, and her arms and legs are covered in bandages."

The mood of the room changed again. The silence was palpable as the majority of people had a distraught look on their face. The first to break the silence was Rock Lock.

"Once again, why are we bringing kids into this? We're dealing with a psychopath that is potentially using his own daughter to make quirk erasing bullets." Rock Lock's gaze fell onto Mirio and myself. "That being said, this situation could have been avoided if those two had taken her back then."

"Enough, don't you think they've been thinking about this every sense they saw her? They did what they thought was best at the moment. If they had decided to take her then and there the destruction I'm the area would have been catastrophic."

Rock Lock sighed before backing down. "Alright, so where do we go from here? I doubt they're keeping her at the main compound."

"That's the reason why I called you here today." Clicking his remote the slide switched to a map with different locations marked on it. "Each of these marks are known areas that they have strongholds in. I'm asking you all to help investigate all these locations. I've already handled everything with the police, so the moment we find her we can save her."

"Uh sorry to interrupt, but I have a question." Pops had raised his hand as if he were in class. "I don't know the specifics of your quirk, but couldn't you just use it on us to see which locations we end up going to?"

"I can't do that, I've set a personal rule to not look into the future of comrades. What I see is set in stone. I've tried to alter the future from what I've seen before , but it always corrects itself. That and it would also cause a paradox. How would we know which location she's in if we never searched for it?"

"That makes sense."

"Thank you for understanding." Sir looked around the room. "I understand if taking on this case is too much for some of you. The stakes are extremely high. One slip up could mean death."

The room was filled with incoherent mourners. I didn't like the sound of it. Slowly they died down before Ryukyu cleared her throat. "You don't need to ask that question. We all became hero's knowing the risk. What's important right now is there is a little girl who needs help. My agency will gladly help."

One after the other all the other hero's agreed to join the case. A wave of relief washed over me. We were one step closer to saving Eri; however I still couldn't shake the voices telling me it was too late.

A felt hand placed on my shoulder, looking to my right I saw Mirio's trademark smile. "Don't worry little buddy we got this."

A faint smile spread across my face. "Yeah, you're right."

The meeting lasted for a few more hours as the locations on the map were divided up. During this time Pops also proposed that us students have our work studies put on hold until Eri was located. His request included the third years as well. Everyone, minus us students, agreed that it would be for the best. When the meeting finally ended, all of the students were sent to a separate room. We all sat in silence as we thought about everything we had just heard.

"Hey… Midoriya, was what happened yesterday caused by this?"

I looked over to Uraraka who had her eyes locked on me. Really everyone was looking at me.

"Yeah, I kept replaying everything that happened and eventually I snapped."

"You could have talked to us. We're friends, so we look out for each other."

Tsu shook her head. "I don't think he could have done that Kirishima, this case was more than likely confidential."

"I get that, I really do, but what kind of man lets a friend suffer in silence."

"You had all of us really worried. We had never seen you act like that before."

"I'm sorry for worrying you all, but I'm fine now."

I wasn't fine, even now the voices were screaming that we're too late and that we'd never find her. The sound of footsteps echoed through the room. At some point Pops had walked in.

"That's good to hear." All eyes fell on Pops as he approached the group. "I know you're all upset about being put on standby until further notice, but this was the principal's idea. I'm confident you third years could probably handle it, but it's too big of a risk. We have one shot with this case."

Hado, Mirio, and Amajiki all nodded. "No, we understand."

"Good." Pop's attention redirected to us first years. "After hearing everything, are you four still certain you want to go through with this? All the training in the world won't prepare you for something like this."

Clenching her fist Uraraka looked at Pops with determined eyes. "Eraserhead, after hearing all that, I can't imagine not being a part of this. We saw how much it was killing Midoriya going through it alone, so I want to stay on it."

Tsu nodded as well. "I agree with Ochako. We're too invested not to see it through."

Kirishima wiped away a few manly tears. "You guys, that was so manly, I couldn't have said it better myself."

Pops nodded before turning all his attention on me. "I don't need to ask you." Squatting down he put a hand on my head. "We're seeing this through and we will save her. She may have gotten away the first time, but it won't happen again."

"Yes sir."

Pops stood back up and looked over the seven of us. "I'll keep you all updated whenever I hear anything new. It will be hard, but go about your days as if you knew nothing about this."

The seven of us have a resounding 'Yes sir'. With that our meeting came to an end and we were allowed to head back to the dorms. The trip back wasn't one of silence, but the air felt serious. Even though we were Heroes in training, all we could do was play the waiting game.

A/N:

Alright everyone I know it's been awhile and I apologize. Life has been hectic. After posting the previous chapter I had shingles for a couple weeks which was a lot of fun. I probably could have written this chapter then, but I can't describe how hard it was to focus and relax. Most nights I was sleeping two hours then up for two hours because I couldn't lay comfortably. I ended up having to move a lazy boy into my room, because it was the only thing I could sleep and sit in comfortably.

On the upside I managed to watch 300 episodes of One Piece during that time. I am halfway through Punk Hazard.

The second reason this chapter got delayed was because of Elden Ring… yeah I don't think I need to go into any more detail as to how that took up any and all free time.

I think this is as good of a time as any to let you know that we are approaching the end of the story. I had always planned on ending this after the school festival arc. I know that doesn't seem like we have much time left… and you'd be right. I still have quite a few things planned so look forward to it. Along the way we will have smiles, tears, and laughter.

I more or less have decided on which ending I'm doing. It's like an 80/20 split in my head, but don't worry both will make sense as far as the story goes.

As for the previous chapter I saw quite a few people confused about what the game is. Well for those of you that got it all I have to say it get fucked. I can't begin to tell you how long I've had that planned.

For those of you who don't get it, I apologize for you not having a middle school and high school experience. The game is something that one you start playing you never stop playing. The goal is to go as long as possible without thinking about the game. If you think about the game at all you have to announce to everyone that you lost the game. It is an extremely irritating and troll game that made school a little more tolerable.

Anyways that's it for this chapter and update. I hope you all are still enjoying the story. Stay safe and stay frosty.