After that meeting, the Pros asked us to wait around for a while. This seemed to be true for the others too; the four of our classmates who had made a huge splash - Midoriya, Uraraka, Asui and Kirishima - were moving in class maneuvers faster than us, and refused to share why. I was attempting to outclimb Kirishima and falling embarassingly behind.
"The work study group is moving really well," I heard Jirou murmur from below. Bakugou predictably screamed at Kirishima, "YOU'RE HIDING SOME SECRET YOU LEARNED OUT THERE! BETTER SPILL THE BEANS!"
"Sorry, no can do," he called back.
We weren't allowed to t all, and they weren't allowed to talk about what was going on, about our villains. According to Midnight Sensei, after the pros had left,
"We have lots of pro heroes involved in this mission. While of course you may accompany us, the expectation is that you will have fairly minor roles when we finally smoke out the Mercenaries and confront them. What are your thoughts on taking this chance?"
"Of course we'll be there!" said Ashido.
"Absolutely!" Hagakure was probably nodding.
"Naturaillement."
"Mmm."
"Of course, I consider it my duty!"
"We are here as true heroes, and these villains must be stopped," I added
"I'm ready to make em pay!"After a moment, Jirou added, "Seems like a plan."
Midnight sensei nodded. "It's good to see such youthful enthusiasm. But remember, these are very talented professional villains. While you have had some contact with the League of Villains in the past, these mercenaries are not that type of antagonist. That is to say, they are not a known quantity. The League's goals are at least vaguely understood, but we are working in the dark here. Bear that in mind."
It was a quiet and frustrating week or two after that, a frustrating sense of anticlimax. Where was the rallying cry, the pursuit of the villains? Why all this sitting around while they committed more crimes? I had to brood on that frustration in silence for a time. And it became clear as I observed Jirou's rather darkening mood that I was not alone.
"Jirou?" I asked her one day during training, "are you all right?"
She looked up, and looked around for a moment. Nobody was close enough to hear us. She lent in and murmured, "This is driving me crazy. Isn't it bothering you?"
"What?"
"Just sitting around and waiting, while those…while they're out there, hurting more people?"
I looked at her for a long moment, and then nodded sadly. "Yes, it is. I can't pretend I'm not impatient."
"Well? Is this - is this gonna be what hero work is like? From here on out? We have to wait for the get go, and spend time in meetings, and - stuff, before we can stop any bad guys?"
I turned away, feeling a spasm of pain. "And not to mention the uncertainty," I murmured, "with regard to Miss Tigress."
"Yeah. I mean, if - not that I think she - but if we can't trust our heroes? who do we trust anymore?"
"We can trust most heroes."
She sighed. "I know it's shitty to feel this way, but ever since Kamino - it's been harder to trust in the system. In the heroes in power. Like that pillar is gone."
I reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. And smiled. "At least we know we can trust each other."
It was really something to state that firmly to her. Jirou I would trust with my life, no matter what happens.
It felt like an eternity later, but at last the call came in. We got the texts. The seven of us met up outside Heights Alliance, ready to suit up for action, take the train into town, and meet the other pros.
"We've got information. In cooperation with the police, we've investigated and discovered the Mercenaries' modus operandi. They respond to payments and villain requests. We've been on the lookout for signs of activity, and we've found Greed and Sloth on the move. We plan to follow them when they escape after a seemingly triumphant fight with the heroes."
"I'll be playing the dummy hero," explained Midnight, "teamed up with Gang Orca's agency. We will create the illusion that our plan was to use counter-sound and my somnambulist to knock them out, but convincingly lose to Sloth's body manipulation powers. The stealth heroes among us - "
She pointed to Jirou, Hagakure, Tokage and Shoji, alongside Majestic.
"Will be in pursuit of the villains to their base. You will each use a tracker and be teamed up in groups of two, with Mr. Musha accompanying his teammate Hagakure and Ms. Tokage, Jirou and Shoji with Majestic. You will each be assigned to one, Greed and Sloth. You will move in stealth mode and track them, with our group following at a reasonable distance. You will provide their location and we will hunt them down, take them out, and arrest them fr their crimes."
Hayashi waved some papers. "We've got the arrest warrants right here. Since almost all of them have been identified, and pinpointed at the crime scenes, they can be legally taken into custody for breaking the law. All we have to do is defeat them."
"We know their quirks," said gang Orca. "We know their tactics and their names. Once we're there we will assign targets, hopefully based on who is best suited to take who down."
"Teamwork!" Ashido grinned at Hagakure and Aoyama.
"Yes, indeed. We will be exhibiting cooperation in the hightest order. Prepare, young heroes. We will make sure that the people are safe from these villains!"
