Smut warning for this chapter.

Chapter 48: Nothing Stronger

Doko and Midoriya left the dorm early that morning, side-by-side. Both had thoughts of their burden heavy on their mind.

"I wonder why we're meeting in a different place than usual," Midoriya muttered, looking down at his phone.

"Maybe it's a place relevant to the yakuza," Doko suggested.

They both spotted Kirishima at the bottom of the steps. "Yo! Midoriya! Katayama! You guys are going into work today too?"

"Yep!" Izuku responded with equal fervor.

"Hmm?" a voice said behind all of them.

They turned. Uraraka and Tsu had just emerged from the dorm door and were coming down the steps after them.

"Are we all going to our work studies today?" Uraraka inquired with a tilt of her head.

"Seems like it," Doko said. He gave Tsu a brief look. She was standing just a little behind Uraraka, slouched. Her expression was…a normal Tsu expression, but normally she would have greeted them, right?

Izuku had noticed as well. In his mind, Midoriya was thinking, the last time Asui was upset, we were able to comfort her…out here on this very lawn, in fact. But that was because she was upset at us. What can we do about what some reporter said? Nothing. It was awfully frustrating, not being able to help.

And not being able to help that girl, as well…

…

"I mean, this is creepy, right?" Doko said to the other four students, as they all began to walk in the same direction from the train station. "We all have to go into work on the same day. We got on the same train. We ran into some heroes who are going to the same place. And now we're all walking in the same direction…"

"Are you guys going here?" Uraraka lifted up her phone, revealing an address.

Kirishima leaned forward and gasped. "Yeah! That's where Fat told us to meet!"

Doko's eye twitched. "Fat?"

"My boss. Fat Gum. A pro hero."

"Oh. Right."

"Some kind of hero gathering…" Midoriya muttered, his eyes staring far ahead. "I wonder what it could be about…"

Tsu remained dead silent. She had not spoken a word to them.

They arrived at the building in question, and the unsettling factor was further increased by the Big Three all being present outside the doors.

Nejire spotted them first. "There they are!" she cried, pointing excitedly. "There's our cute first years! I spotted them!"

Midoriya blushed. Tamaki gently pushed Nejire's arm down. "It's rude to point," he said to her in a voice that made it sound like a reminder. Like he'd said it before.

Nejire pouted and turned to Mirio, who grinned. "Welcome, guys! We were told to wait out here for you and make sure you got the right building."

Doko sighed sarcastically. "Oh right, I forgot. They don't teach you to read a map until second year at UA."

"Do you guys know what this is about?" Kirishima asked the seniors.

Tamaki shook his head almost imperceptibly. Nejire leaned her head in very close to Kirishima, almost within kissing distance, only to simply say, "Nope! Not a clue!"

"Not a clue?" Tsuyu croaked, to the first years' surprise. "Really, Nejire-chan?"

Hado tilted her head sideways past Kirishima. "What do you mean, Tsu?"

"Didn't Ryukyu tell us about this? The agency collaboration thing, ribbit?"

Uraraka looked back and forth between them. "Oh, is that what this is?"

Doko blinked. "I'm very extremely lost."

"Same here!" Mirio declared, giving them a thumbs-up. "Isn't it exciting? Let's go inside and find out more!"

Doko and Midoriya gave each other a look, and then followed the others inside.

It was a spacious meeting room, filled with costumed heroes. Midoriya immediately gasped and began naming every hero he saw, while the others simply looked confused.

Doko frowned. There were certainly a lot of heroes here…wait, was that?

"Aizawa-sensei?"

Uraraka followed his gaze, and gasped. "It is!"

Her and Tsu went over to talk to him. Doko decided to follow, leaving Midoriya and Kirishima behind with the Big Three.

"Aizawa-sensei, what brings you here?" Uraraka asked.

Their homeroom teacher did not look surprised in the slightest to see them here. Doko thought he seemed a bit out of his element, though. Most of the heroes in here were in bright costumes, chatting with each other. Definitely not his usual sort of operation. So what sort of operation is this?

"I was called out suddenly," Aizawa answered. "I received a rough summary as to what's going on."

"And…what is going on?" Uraraka followed up, looking around nervously. "I mean, Tsu and I have a general idea, but just wanna confirm…"

"Didn't I tell you girls?" A female heroine with short blonde hair and a red dress walked up to them, Nejire in tow. "That we'd be playing an important role in that matter."

Oh, this must be Ryukyu, Doko thought. He'd loosely heard of her, since she was in the top ten.

"That matter being…" Uraraka still seemed a little lost, or perhaps in denial.

"The yakuza," Doko muttered, and everyone turned to look at him. "This is the meeting about the yakuza operation, isn't it? And all these heroes will be part of the team."

Aizawa's eyes widened, and Ryukyu gave Doko a funny look. "You're one of Nighteye's newbies, aren't you? The winner of the Sports Festival."

"That's me," Doko told her plainly, offering her a handshake that she primly accepted. "Don't leave out my greatest achievement, being captured by the League of Villains."

The dragon heroine winced. "I…was sorry to hear about that. If I could have been at Kamino…"

Aizawa opened his mouth, but Doko spoke first. "It's in the past. You weren't at Kamino but you're here now. And this operation may be just as important." He had a sinking feeling in his chest, all connected to the girl Eri, and her scared amber eyes.

"Come on, let's get back to the others," he told Uraraka and Tsu, and they followed him back toward the students.

…

Ryukyu glanced at Aizawa concernedly as the three students went away. "All in your class?"

Aizawa nodded. "Uraraka and Asui are reliable and competent, as I'm sure you've discovered. Both have some…shortcomings that I need to work out, however…"

"And the other?" Ryukyu swallowed. "The boy?"

Aizawa's eyes took on a strange twinkling. "He's a little wiseass, isn't he?"

She chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't say that…"

"He's had a long, long past in a deep hole. And I think he's finally climbing out." Aizawa nodded at the green-haired boy, one of the others who'd entered with the rest of the students. "That's the other one that Nighteye took on. Those two…they're an influence on the rest of the class, whether they know it or not."

"And you trust them to do well…in whatever we're about to be up against?" Ryukyu asked.

Aizawa's mouth went flat. "They've faced worse."

…

Nighteye began to address the entire room. "Thank you all for coming today. With the info that you've all collected in your various excursions, we will be able to formulate a plan. And with that in mind…we will now begin a small conference to lay all the facts on the table and make it clear what the Eight Precepts of Death are truly planning."

Kirishima looked up at Fat Gum. "I'm so lost! What's the Eight Precepts of Death?"

"A villain organization who might be up to somethin'," Fat replied. "And you two are very much involved!" He nodded to Tamaki as well, who had a bandage wrapped around his arm…where the Quirk-erasing bullet had struck him.

…

Doko had never been in an odder situation, in his mind.

The heroes were all sitting down at a long table, facing a large projector screen. Nighteye and his two main sidekicks, Bubble Girl and Centipeeter, were standing in front with clipboards.

Doko sat near the front of the line, next to Midoriya and Mirio. Across the way, Uraraka and Tsu were sitting with Ryukyu.

He made brief eye contact with Tsu again. The frog girl looked away quickly, leaving Doko feeling worse than before.

Stretching back from them were Nejire, Aizawa, the old hero Doko had encountered during the Hosu incident named Gran Torino, and a number of local and minor heroes. On their side of the table were Kirishima and Tamaki along with their MASSIVE boss, Fat Gum, and a few more heroes to round it out.

And they were all here for a single reason.

"Let us begin," Bubble Girl called, looking nervously down at her clipboard. "Two weeks past, the Nighteye Agency began investigating the villain group known as the Shie Hassaikai, or Eight Precepts of Death."

"What prompted this investigation?" a hero asked.

"An incident involving a group of thieves known as the Reservoir Dogs. These thieves were all captured by the police, but the belongings they'd stolen were completely burned to ash, and all their wounds had been healed by someone's Quirk. The young head of the Precepts, one Kai Chisaki, has a registered Quirk that matches this description."

"In addition," said Centipeeter, a person whom Doko found to be a little unsettling, "I have been conducting my own investigation on behalf of Sir Nighteye. I have discovered that for the past year, the Precepts have been quietly expanding their connections, dealing with new organizations, and increasing their funding. Also…" An image appeared on the projector screen. "Chisaki was spotted in contact with a member of the League of Villains. Jin Bubaigawara, also known as Twice."

Doko's eyes widened, and he glanced at Midoriya, Uraraka, and Tsu in turn. They all remembered Twice, from the battle in the forest. He duplicated himself…

"I was unable to follow them as they were moving with the intent to shake off any tails," Centipeeter continued. "However, with the help of the police, I tracked their trail to this warehouse, where it seems that an altercation took place between the two groups."

A photo of a ruined building appeared, with police cars and tape all around it. Doko swallowed. Could…could Kaminari have been there? If that was a League or yakuza hideout, and there had been a fight…

For a moment he hoped that the boy had simply died due to villain infighting, but he immediately regretted it. No, no, that's horrible.

He could still see the blonde's blank, empty eyes as he'd spoken to him and Bakugo, tied up in that room in the League's old hiding place. The only time he'd shown any kind of excitement was when he'd started talking about All For One. The real Kaminari. No, I don't think he would have died. Not if he was smart enough to fake emotions for so long…

Gran Torino spoke up. "Because the League was involved, they called Tsukauchi and I," he said.

"Where is Tsukauchi now?" a hero asked.

"He's working on other eyewitness reports. The League investigation is a much larger beast, and we can't pull focus on too many things at once," the veteran hero answered. Then…he turned to Midoriya. "I'm sorry, kid. I fear you've been dragged into something troublesome."

"I don't think of it as troublesome!" Deku protested hotly.

"You know him?" Mirio asked at a whisper.

"Y-yes…I did my original internship w-with him…"

One of the heroes down the line, a dark-skinned man in a yellowish costume, sighed loudly. "Why are there kids here? Even if they're from UA, they will only be a hindrance. The Earth will have flung itself over into the next day before we're done here, without easily distracted they are."

"Who are you?" Doko asked him plainly, feeling more than a little annoyed.

"That's not true at all!" Fat Gum boomed, and gestured to his two students. "These two have important information to share!"

"We do?" Kirishima asked, confused.

"Stop!" Nighteye cried, rubbing his eyes. "Fat, sit down. And no more outbursts from you either, Rock Lock. Let us stay on topic, please?"

The hero apparently named Rock Lock made a tsk sound and averted his eyes away, but not before meeting them with Doko's, who was staring daggers at him.

Doko didn't know much about the personalities of the heroes here, but he did know that he hated when people underestimated kids. You can't imagine what I or Midoriya or Uraraka have gone through. You cannot fathom it.

Without realizing, he'd made his eyes glow purple a little. Embarrassed, he looked away from Rock Lock, who seemed half-terrified. They refocused on Nighteye.

"We suspect that one of the main sources of the Hassaikai's new influx of money is from unauthorized drugs," Nighteye said. "So we gathered heroes who have knowledge on such things, such as Fat Gum here."

"I crushed lotsa those types back in the day…" the massive hero growled. "But then, at Red Riot's debut fight th'other day, I saw one I never saw before! It was shot into Tamaki! A drug that destroys Quirks…"

Gasps rippled around the table. Doko inhaled deeply. Mirio lurched to his feet. "What?! Tamaki, you're okay, right? Why didn't you tell us?"

The dark-haired third year squirmed under the attention, keeping his eyes down. "I recovered after I slept," he muttered.

"So it's not permanent," Rock Lock sighed. "That's good to hear, at least."

"We will hear more on that matter from Eraser Head," said Nighteye.

All eyes turned to Aizawa. Doko half-expected their teacher to be weaker under the pressure, since he was normally reserved and low-key, but he seemed to take it in stride. "The bullet appeared to work differently from my Quirk. My gaze only temporarily halts the activation of the Quirk Factor genes within someone's body. The effect is removed instantly when I blink, and no damage is done to the Quirk Factor itself."

Doko felt weird hearing about Quirk Factor genes, after having just talked to Recovery Girl about his own. My faster aging…

"When we took Tamaki to the hospital afterward to get his wound checked out, his Quirk Factor genes HAD been damaged!" Fat Gum declared. "They healed 'emselves up pretty quick after that, but…"

"And what of the bullet itself?" Nighteye asked.

"Oh, right. Well, the guy who shot it ain't sayin' anything, and the gun was destroyed too. But!" Fat Gum suddenly threw an arm around Kirishima. "Red Riot here was able t' harden himself and bounce one of the bullets off his body. It didn't penetrate, so we have one bullet still filled with the drug!"

"Huh?" Kirishima's eyes widened. "I did…that was scary, it came out of nowhere!"

"Wow, Kirishima!" Uraraka praised. "Good work!"

"Ribbit," Tsuyu echoed, smiling a little. That was a good sign. For a second, Doko was feeling better…

And then, it all came crashing down.

"We analyzed the bullet," Fat Gum growled. "And it made me sick, what we found. Sick, I tell ya. Human blood and cells were found inside the drug."

Doko froze.

A dark cold seemed to spread across the room, falling over all of them like a shadow. He wanted to look to his right, to look at Mirio. But he couldn't.

Human blood…

Human cells…

No, it can't be. It c-can't be, right?

"So, it was from someone's Quirk? A Quirk that destroys Quirks?" Ryukyu muttered.

"How is this related to the Hassaikai again?" a local hero asked.

"The distribution for drugs like this is an extensive network," said Fat Gum. "Smaller than it used to be, but the guys on the ground who end up using 'em are just the end branches of a long tree that goes back to a single root."

"The gang fight that my agency broke up the other night," Ryukyu added. "One of the groups was an intermediary that had made contact with the Hassaikai, which we found out during interrogations after arrest. One of the combatants who had grown large was using an inferior version of Trigger."

"And indeed," Nighteye put in, "many gang-related fights have been stopped by people all over the Hero Network recently. Just look at the records on the HN. We have many of them here for you to look over afterward if you have the time. But nearly all the interrogations have revealed connections to the Hassaikai."

"That doesn't prove that they made this particular drug, though," said another hero. "It just sounds like you're trying really hard to make them guilty. Don't you have anything else that implicates them?"

Kai Chisaki's face appeared on the screen, behind his plague doctor mask.

Doko shuddered. The cold feeling in his chest was getting worse and worse.

"The young head Chisaki's Quirk, as it is officially registered, is known as Overhaul," said Nighteye. "It allows him to destroy and reassemble things, such as the injuries sustained by the Reservoir Dogs thief group. A bullet that destroys Quirks…and a Quirk that can destroy and reassemble…"

"But they aren't the same thing!" the same hero protested.

"No," Doko agreed quietly, and everyone turned to look at him.

"But combined with the right partner, and passed onto offspring…" he could barely finish the sentence. I let her go. I let her go back. I LET HER GO BACK!

"Chisaki has a daughter named Eri," Nighteye announced, and based on the reactions, this was new information to almost everyone in the room. "No records exist of her birth, but my work study students Lemillion and Everywhere here encountered her and the young head while out on patrol. She had bandages all over her arms and legs."

Doko and Mirio looked at each other. The same expression was written on their faces. Cold, abject horror. And incredible regret.

What…did we DO?!

The heroes around the room had taken on similar dark expressions, and were muttering. Kirishima looked around, confused. "I don't…" he coughed. "I don't get it…"

Rock Lock sighed. "This is why I don't want the kids involved. Must I spell it out for you? We're trying to figure out if this asshole Chisaki is turning his own daughter's body into Quirk-destroying bullets and selling them."

The final nail. The shadow hanging over Doko's mind darkened to pitch black. He wanted to look at Mirio again, at Midoriya, but he couldn't. Uraraka and Tsu across the way…what would they think? This was beyond all of them. And none of them could understand what was racing through his mind right now.

She…she's being abused. Abused and experimented on and…who knows what else! A little girl! Didn't I know the signs?! Didn't I think it was worse?! And yet, I didn't do anything…I lied to her face…me, of all people, who should KNOW what that's like…

I am a failure of a hero.

He wanted nothing more than to leave the room right then, to go do…he didn't know what. But he had to stay and listen to the rest.

"We don't actually know if he's selling them," said Nighteye. "But if their development continues? With all these developed connections, and raised money? And they figure out how to make a bullet that permanently destroys someone's Quirk…?"

The last part, he left unsaid. The League was on their minds now, everyone in the room. If All For One's pets get their hands on this…Gran Torino was thinking.

Rock Lock snorted. "Surely this all could have been avoided if the two kids had just taken the girl when they saw her."

"I take full responsibility," said Nighteye quickly. "They acted on my orders and performed in an exemplary way that allowed Chisaki to suspect nothing. Please do not blame them. These two are the most frustrated in the room right now."

"No," Doko muttered shaking his head. "Feel free to blame me if you like. She was in my arms, the little girl. And I let her go back to that monster because I didn't want him to suspect anything." He felt the shake in his voice, as if he was about to cry. "I could have just taken her right then and we wouldn't be in this situation…"

The room was silent. Doko felt a single hand rest on his shoulder. It was Midoriya's.

He sniffled and looked at his green-haired friend, confused.

Midoriya had a grave, determined expression on his face. "It doesn't matter, Katayama."

"It's in the past, right?" Ryukyu echoed from across the room, throwing his own words back at him. Goosebumps crawled up his arms.

"That's right, Everywhere!" Mirio stood up so abruptly that his chair went flying back. "We can still save her! All of us! We're GOING to!" He pumped his fist into the air.

They all looked at Nighteye expectantly, half-thinking that he would protest the point in some way, but he only nodded. "Yes. Saving the girl…is now our main goal."

…

The rest of the meeting was about narrowing down the location that the yakuza could be keeping her. They had various hideouts all over the nation, which was where the local heroes came in. A new investigation was about to ensue, all over the Japanese Archipelago. And then in a few weeks' time, they would meet again. Hopefully. A few weeks at most. Doko didn't know what he would do if they took longer.

The only ones who were less than happy about the plan were Rock Lock, who still didn't want the students involved, and Fat Gum, who was impatient. "Aren't you All Might's sidekick?" he had asked Nighteye. "This way of doing things is too roundabout! While we sit here and plan methodically and everythin', that little girl Eri is probably cryin' somewhere!"

"None of us here are All Might," Nighteye had responded smoothly. "Would that we were. All Might can no longer help us. It's up to the people here to take up the torch and bring a bit of good back into the world, and this is how we do it."

Doko could tell that Nighteye's feelings about the Symbol of Peace were, to say the least, complex.

Now…the eight UA students were sitting at a small table. An oppressive buzz hung over them. Mirio's head was down. He'd just finished explaining what had happened during their encounter with Eri.

"I see…" Kirishima mumbled, awkwardly. He slowly put a hand on Doko's shoulder. "So, there was something like that, huh…"

"Dokkun…" Tsu muttered, looking at him concernedly. Uraraka was giving Midoriya a similar look.

"Mirio…it's gonna be okay…" Tamaki whispered, patting his friend's back. For once, Nejire was silent and serious.

The door opened, and to the 1-A students' surprise, it was their homeroom teacher.

"What is this, a wake or something?" he sauntered toward them, his hands in his pockets.

"Aizawa-sensei…" Uraraka and Kirishima said together.

"Call me Eraser Head when we're out in the professional world. But…dammit…" Eraser Head hissed through his teeth, uncharacteristically putting his guard down in front of them. "After hearing what this meeting was about, I wanted to suspend your work studies."

"What?!" Kirishima stood up abruptly. Uraraka gasped.

"You heard them loud and clear. The League of Villains is involved, which makes this a different animal entirely. They have a personal bone to pick with all five of you, particularly Katayama and Uraraka. It changes the situation."

"No it doesn't," said Midoriya. Aizawa's eyebrow went up.

Izuku lifted his head. His green eyes were full of steel. "It doesn't change a thing, sir. We still have a little girl to rescue."

"Midoriya…" their teacher scratched his neck. "You still haven't regained my trust, you know. None of you problem children have."

Midoriya's eyes widened.

"That's why I know that if I stop you now…you'll just do the same thing you did at Kamino, and go off on your own. With that in mind…" Aizawa knelt down in front of their table, getting to eye level with all of them. Like an equal. "Let's do this the proper way. With more pros at our sides, and a higher chance of success."

A shiver went up Doko's spine. It wasn't a bad shiver. He felt tears come to his eyes.

"Right!" Midoriya and Kirishima agreed, together.

"I don't really know what you're talking about, but I agree!" Nejire put in. "Man, sometimes I wish I was back in first year…"

Aizawa pressed his fist against Doko's chest. "Lift your faces," he said. "You can't face forward, looking down like that."

"Yeah." Mirio sniffled, and stood. "Katayama…we're getting a second chance! Let's not waste it!"

Doko looked at him, and then back at Aizawa. "I don't intend to."

…

On the train back, Tsuyu and Ochaco sat together.

A lot of things were running through the frog girl's mind. For one, she was upset that Dokkun was upset, and briefly entertained the idea of telling Mina about it. No, she'll figure it out on her own. He'll tell her. I'm sure of it. They have…a surprisingly mature sort of relationship.

Besides, they'd been gagged, all of them. Not literally, but…none of the UA students were to tell anyone at the school about this. Wasn't there still the threat of a traitor, as well? Tsuyu had heard talk about that. And who knew how long it would take for the pros to investigate all the different hideouts. If the yakuza catch on to what we're doing…

Somehow, this was unnerving her more than the USJ attack or the forest attack. Those had been unpredictable, sudden. She'd been running off pure adrenaline. And the smuggler incident she'd had at her internship? Low stakes, no big deal.

This…this was something else entirely. Somehow, knowing that she would be going back into battle, and in fact planning on it, made everything feel worse.

If I'd been the one to encounter the girl Eri, and not Dokkun and Togata-senpai, what would I have done?

She probably would have scared the poor girl off. With her flat expression, her indifference. It wouldn't have even mattered what her intentions were. Her face would have said everything. I don't care about you. I don't care about saving lives.

She felt her lip tremble, a croaking bubbling up in her throat. Don't cry on the train. Don't cry on the train.

"Tsu?" Ochaco asked, putting a worried hand on her arm. "You're gonna be okay, right? I realize this is a lot to take in…"

"Ochaco-chan, can I ask you something?"

The brunette seemed taken aback. "Of course, anything." Their conversation was shielded from the others by the noise of the train. No one else could hear them.

The last thing Tsuyu was worried about, but certainly not the least, was her friend here. Maybe her best friend, although Mina would certainly be a contender too. But still…she had a connection with Ochaco, she thought. They'd been through far too much together at this point.

"If the League is truly involved, ribbit. That means that…in this battle we'll be going into…they might very well show up."

Ochaco's face betrayed nothing. "And?"

"Can you promise me something, Ochaco. Promise me you won't get…distracted."

Her face went dark. "I…"

"I know you hate the League. I know you went to rescue Bakugo and Katayama mostly out of spite. But those are dangerous feelings, you know. We can't afford to act on dangerous feelings. There's a little girl's life at stake. We have to…we have to smile and…" Tsuyu's voice broke for half a beat. "We have to focus on what matters. If it comes down to a choice of abandoning Eri or letting, say, Himiko Toga go free…"

Ochaco's lip twitched. "She almost killed us. She had her hands around my neck."

"And she could easily do the same to Eri if we are not careful."

…

Over the next few days, the work study students were on standby. Waiting.

All through daily exercises, studies, training…the five of them moved sharper, in a more focused manner. Before long, Midoriya, Doko, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tsuyu were topping the list in all the competitive training. It was the reverse of what had been happening before, when they'd all been too distracted and overworked.

It wasn't like they weren't distracted, they definitely still were. But a new fire had been lit beneath them, and everyone noticed.

"The work studies are really doing wonders for them, huh?" Jiro commented, flicking her earphone jack up near the top of the rock wall, where Midoriya and Tsuyu had sped ahead of the rest of the group.

Bakugo growled. "They figured something out, didn't they? Hey, what's the secret! TELL ME!" he shouted up to Kirishima.

"I'm sorry I can't!" Kirishima exclaimed back, very fast.

Mina only stared up at Doko's back, with a blank expression.

…

After training, Doko was very sweaty and dirty. He stormed into his room, slamming the door, and went to grab a towel. He would need to take a shower quickly, and then go talk to Midoriya and Kirishima. They had mentioned something about taking a run tonight, and he welcomed the idea. It wasn't like he was getting much sleep anyway.

The door opened behind him as he picked up the towel and prepared to enter the bathroom. Doko turned, annoyed. It was Mina.

"You left practice so quickly…" she mumbled, looking him up and down.

"Yeah, sorry I'm in a bit of a hurry," Doko answered her in a slurred, unfocused manner. He crossed the room to his drawers, and pulled out a change of casual clothes. His uniform stuck to him with sweat, and it was irritating him.

"Doko, are you listening to me?"

"Huh? Yeah? What?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight. We don't have to go anywhere…we could just play board games like last week…"

"I'm sorry Mina, I can't tonight. And I'd really like to take a shower now, so…" Doko wasn't thinking about his girlfriend much. His thoughts were mainly on Eri and battle and failure. He just wanted Mina gone for a moment. He couldn't…he couldn't face her…

Her face had gone dark. When he dared himself to look at her for a second, his mind collapsed to pieces. He froze in place, the towel and clothes still dangling from his arms.

"Doko…" she muttered. "Please talk to me."

His breath caught in his throat. "I…I can't. I can't tell you about any of it Mina…I'm sorry…"

"But I want to help somehow…" she walked over, and sat down on the side of his bed. "You're killing yourself, Doko! There are bags under your eyes. I think you're developing wrinkles. Have you been sleeping at all?"

Doko gasped. He looked down at his own hands. Did they look more shriveled, more weary? Has it already begun? Have I doomed myself to an early grave with my own stress?

Mina continued. "I realize you've had no time. I realize you can't tell me. I realize that…we're going to be heroes, and that makes this hard. But we haven't gone on a real date since you started your work study. We haven't…we haven't done anything." Her voice cracked. "If only I had managed to get one, maybe things would be different…"

"Is that what this is about?" Doko went and sat down next to her. "I was wondering what your…thoughts on the work study were. I was afraid that you weren't feeling great about it, and that you were hiding it from me…but I haven't known what to do about it…"

"I wasn't trying to hide it," she muttered. "It just felt wrong to complain to you about it, especially since I know all the things you carry with you. Even if I feel inadequate, or like I'm not good enough, that doesn't really matter in comparison, does it?" She sniffled and smiled at him sadly. "There's just too much going on right now, isn't there? Neither of us can focus on anything properly. Maybe we should just…"

"Hang on," Doko interrupted. "Mina, do you think your feelings don't matter? That they don't matter to me? Whatever gave you that impression?"

"I just…didn't want to be a further burden on you…and maybe I shouldn't be…"

"You are NOT a burden." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "You're the one who lifts the burdens. When I'm around you, everything feels lighter. And sometimes, things are so heavy that I can forget that. But it's not your fault. This is one of those heavy times. It doesn't mean there won't be lighter ones after this."

He knew now, he knew that he needed to tell her. So she would understand that it wasn't her fault.

"Mina…I can't give you any details. But just know that in my work study…I encountered a situation that I should have recognized and acted upon immediately…and I didn't. I hesitated." His voice shook. "I let something go that I sh-shouldn't have. And…someone is still s-suffering as a result."

Her eyes widened. "Doko…"

"How am I supposed to be Everywhere if I let things go like that? If I doom people to the same life that I had for so long? That's not hero behavior."

"Doko…I'm not sure I fully understand…but it was an honest mistake. We've all made them."

"In any case, I won't accept forgiveness." He heaved his breath in. "I won't accept pity, or mercy. I'm going to fix this. Me. That's why I have to focus. Because we've…the work study students, I mean…we've been given a chance. And I can't let it go to waste."

"Is that why you've been working so frantically?"

"...Yes. And why I haven't been giving much thought to you. For that, I'm sorry, Mina. You deserve better. I don't even know what's good for me, do I?"

She grinned softly. "I think you do. You just forget sometimes."

"Mina…there's another thing." Gotta say it now. He looked down at his hands again, and then moved them to his face, running over it, feeling it. Did it feel…older? He wasn't sure. "My Quirk Factor…it's about my Quirk Factor."

She raised an eyebrow. "Your genes? What about them?"

"Baked into them…is a timer. A shorter timer than what goes into other human bodies. I've figured out a way to use my Quirk that doesn't activate that part and make it worse, however…I'm aging, Mina. I'm aging fast."

Her mouth dropped open a little bit. "I can see it," she mumbled, her golden eyes shining as she searched his face, realizing for the first time. "I can see it. I…I d-don't believe it."

"That's why I feel like…I have to take action as quickly as possible," he muttered, looking away from her. "And why I think you deserve someone better. I'm gonna take a shower now. Goodbye."

He forced himself to stand, to turn away and go into the bathroom.

He cried silently as he stripped down, unsticking his uniform from his body. He turned the shower on to a moderate temperature, letting the sound of it running soothe his brain. It wasn't working well. Everything hurt. It hurt a lot. What did he have to look forward to, other than the potential rescuing of that girl? I will become Everywhere. A permanent fixture in the streets, always there to help. I will become that person with these powers. For as long as I can.

That's all the closure there will be for me.

He stepped into the shower, only half-closing the curtain behind him. He stepped under the rushing water of the shower-head, letting it wash over him. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes and sighing. Like a rebirth, almost.

Two arms wrapped around his torso from behind.

-smut starts here-

Doko froze. He'd forgotten to lock the door.

"Please…" Mina muttered into his ear, pressing her entire body against him. She was warm and soft and squishy. He could feel every curve, every crevice and nook in her skin. "I'm not clean, either. Today's training was intense…"

"Mina…" Doko gulped. "I…"

"You said I deserve better," she interrupted. "But there's no one better than you. Protest it all you want, but I'm going to keep believing that. Now, I'm going to wash your back."

He heard a squirt of soap, and then felt her hands rubbing across him, covering him with froth and lather. Her fingertips brushed him gently, sending gooseflesh across his whole body.

Doko's mind was blank. All the things he'd been worrying about, suddenly they seemed very far away. This girl…she loves me. It's emanating off of her. Her warmth, her heartbeat, the way she pressed against him, rubbed her hands against him. It was filling him up, making him whole again. Subtly, he stood up straighter in the shower, popping his spine beneath her ministrations.

"I love you, too," he murmured. Mina hadn't said it first, but she giggled, understanding. "Prove it," she whispered into his ear, before beginning to kiss it, and his neck as well. Doko breathed in deeply, his nerves singing. Her hands continued to wander, cleansing him, healing him. They wandered lower and lower, as she sucked on his neck lovingly, and finally went around to the front and cradled his manhood, which had been growing harder and harder.

"We should shower together more often," she breathed, running her hand up and down his length. Doko couldn't take it anymore. He spun, causing her to squeak and surprise, and wrapped her up in his arms.

They embraced tightly under the rushing water, their bodies pushing and intertwining closer than ever before. Drops rained down their shoulders and backs. Steam billowed across the bathroom. Doko found her lips, and claimed them tightly, tasting their sweetness. He'd needed this. He'd needed it and hadn't even realized.

Mina moaned into his mouth and slid her tongue round, begging for entrance. He obliged, and they made out, rubbing their soapy hands up and down each other's bodies. "Mmmm…" she sung, getting up on her tiptoes and popping her feet as she tightened her arms around his neck.

They continued to kiss, separating with little pops, their saliva mingling with the vapor in the air. Her curvy, athletic body supple against his. Mina got as high on her toes as she could, pushing forward, and then lowered her thighs around his cock, rubbing them back and forth. She moaned, unable to help herself, as they moved and thrusted together. She needed him, too. Soon. Very soon.

Doko broke the kiss, breathless, and pulled back a bit, nearly reaching climax from just her thighs alone. Mina pouted at him. Under the hot water, her face was a deeply flushed pink, bordering on purple, her eyes half-lidded, looking at him with love and expectation.

He drank in the sight of her, in all her curves. It had been dark in the apartment, and they'd done things kind of fast and constant. It felt like he was looking upon her anew, and he loved all of her. She was perfect.

Doko picked up the shampoo and rubbed some of it back and forth in his hands, before stepping forward and lifting it up to her hair. Mina's curls that he loved so much were tangled and matted under the force of the water, and he pushed through them with the shampoo, petting her, softening her hair up again. She mewled beneath him, and he stroked the edge of a horn with his fingertip, causing her to squeak. He washed her hair thoroughly, slowly circling her, their feet dancing around each other on the shower floor. Now behind her again, he picked up the soap, and continued.

She was already dripping wet down below, or perhaps that was the shower water. In any case, Doko set about washing her. "My turn," he whispered in her ear, and copied her ministrations, running his hands down her back and kissing her neck as he went. Mina shuddered and moaned and melted, at his mercy.

He moved his hands to her front, tracing her hips slowly before going up to her perfect, perky breasts. She let out a long exhale of pleasure as he began to wash them, continuing to suck on her neck.

He covered her tits with soft lather. Her nipples perked at his touch as he rubbed. Her boobs just fit in his hands right. Supple yet firm and round. He knew he was thinking lewdly, but all pretense had been abandoned at this point. They needed each other, and they both knew it.

Mina was very, very ready down below. She turned her head, cradling his chin in her fingers, and met him with another deep kiss. As she pulled away with another soft pop, she whispered, "Do it now. In me, in me."

He entered her, as he'd done before, and they cried out together. It was so hot and wet and steamy and glorious. She moved again, lifting her legs up to straddle him, and they wrapped up in each other, kissing and thrusting. Her boobs bounced against him, as they went faster and faster.

"D-DOKO!" she cried out.

"M-Mina…" he gasped.

He felt her reach climax, her dripping juices soaking him and falling to the shower floor as she gasped into his mouth.

Her legs locked around his. "In me," she repeated, and Doko realized what she meant. "Are you…"

"Safe," she finished, groaning. "On…pill…oh, Doko…" her eyes were rolling back.

Doko thrust harder and harder, their bodies slapping against each other, and reached release, cumming deep into Mina. His vision went white for a moment, his mind reaching complete zen.

He gasped, releasing twice, thrice. It seemed to last forever, and more intense than he'd ever felt it. A release of more than just the sexual kind. It felt like…a release of everything. Like they were truly in front of each other, and within each other, for the first time.

Breathing hard, they slowly separated their legs and pulled away, continuing to hold their foreheads against each other. Their breaths mingled with the vapory steam.

Suddenly, the shower felt very hot and unnecessary.

"We will be doing that again," Mina muttered. "I don't plan on losing you anytime soon, Doko Katayama."

"Nor I you," he breathed back.

-smut over-

…

Izuku Midoriya lay completely awake. It was late, very late. But he couldn't sleep. Despite his arms being over his head, despite the room being at the perfect temperature. He couldn't. He just couldn't.

His phone buzzed. Gasping, he looked over at it, and then threw off the covers, rushing over to it. It was here. The fated message.

They found her.

He quickly slipped into some half-decent clothes, and peered out into the hallway. He crept through the darkness, not wanting to wake the other sleeping classmates. Todoroki and Iida, with their encouraging words. Kacchan, with his quiet suffering. None of them would know what they were about to do. And if they failed…

No, he shook that thought from his head. They would not fail.

He met Kirishima and Katayama on the stairs, both holding up their phones, illuminated with the same message. Kirishima's red hair was down against the sides of his head. Katayama's violet eyes flashed with a paradoxical weariness and energy.

Nothing was said. They all nodded.

They met Uraraka and Asui out in the common room, both with somewhat messy hair and sleepy expressions. Asui's froglike eyelids were half-down, and her mouth was set at a funny angle as if she was queasy. But they had received the same message, all of them.

It was time.

…

"What?!" Rock Lock exclaimed, at the hero's meeting. "She's been at their central stronghold the whole time?"

"Well, we first assumed that," said Nighteye. "But there was always a possibility that she was moved, especially after Chisaki's encounter with Lemillion and Everywhere. However, it seems that in their inaction, they led him to suspect nothing, and she has remained here at their central base. Mirio, Katayama, you two have perhaps made this easier." He turned to address them specifically, and Doko lifted his chest up a little higher.

He was feeling better today. Not just because of what had…transpired with Mina, but there was an energy in the room that was hard to match. Everyone here had the same goal. And they were all prepared. Mirio was practically lighting up next to him, with excitement and determination.

"Made it easier," Rock Lock snorted. "All our investigation was for nothing. She was already where we thought she was the whole time!"

"Not for nothing," Nighteye corrected. "This second round of stakeout has given us more information. It appears that all of the yakuza hideouts have a network of underground tunnels. A maze, if you will. We know we have to go below now. Eri will not be in the ground level of Chisaki's house."

"How are you sure that she's there?" Fat Gum asked. "What confirmed it?"

Nighteye put a box of magical girl action figures on the table, pink and shining.

The room went silent for a beat.

"Huh?" Rock Lock muttered. "What the hell?"

"I spotted a member of the Hassaikai buying this at a local department store," said Nighteye.

"That ain't evidence!" Fat Gum chopped his hand down. "Some people like this sort of thing! He could have just been buying it for himself, Nighteye!"

"No, he said the sort of thing that no one in that hobby would have. He got the name of the release line wrong, and when describing it to the store clerk, said you know, the kind little girls like. Also, when I went up to the cashier, I touched him on the shoulder, and used my Quirk. His future showed him taking the toy to Eri, and her scorning it, turning away. This all took place in a small room in an underground tunnel, where they appear to be keeping her."

Fat Gum and Rock Lock both exhaled. "Alright, fair enough," the former said.

"We have received the cooperation of the police," said Centipeeter. "And received a full search warrant for the house."

"So all that's left is to do it!" Ryukyu exclaimed.

Uraraka and Tsu looked to Nejire. Kirishima exchanged a glance with Tamaki, who quickly averted his eyes. And Mirio turned around to stare at Midoriya and Doko, determined.

"Ready?" he asked the both of them, his juniors.

"Ready," Midoriya echoed.

Doko reached up, pressed the button on his temple twice with his fist. His new and improved mask, black and sleek and angular with holes for his eyes to keep him oriented, unfurled and closed over the bridge of his nose. His purple eyes flashed.

"Ready," he said.

"Let's go!" Nighteye announced.