The episode started with a news chopper that was flying above Hosu while the attack happened. The reporter pointed out the various fires, and said they had no idea if they were the result of accidents or villains.

Some looked at the screen in confusion while others shifted anxiously.

"All those people running out and they still don't know what's going on? Not even from heroes reporting in?" Momo narrowed her eyes at the reporter.

"It could be that the details have not made it past the hero agencies just yet." Todoroki theorized.

"With how crazy things are, I can see why they'd focus on getting back up over calling the press." Jirou nodded along with the explanation.

"I see your point, Still, I figured some news would have escaped along with the citizens by now. From the citizens panicking over the appearance of the Nomu, if nothing else." Momo said. 'Perhaps the League is blocking signals again somehow, but that seems incongruous with how spur of the moment this attack was.'

The woman stopped reporting, but she told her camera man to keep filming. While they looked around, the reporter noticed Shigaraki and Kurogiri on top of a water tower. The scene changed to focus on Shigaraki. He had a pair of binoculars in his hand, and therefore could see two of the Nomu being taken into custody. He decayed his binoculars in anger and scratched hard at his neck.

"Serves you right for pulling a move like that!" Mineta shouted at the screen.

"You know, I gotta wonder how much of the budget the League must put toward all the random equipment Shigaraki destroys." Ojiro said. Hagakure laughed.

"It probably has it's own column on the budget, they put a little aside every month." she felt a thrill when that made Ojiro chuckle.

Shigaraki told Kurogiri it was time to leave. Kurogiri asked if Shigaraki was satisfied. Shigaraki said that would depend on what happened tomorrow.

"Hm, he knows that much at least." Aizawa said.

"Um, what does he know?" Uraraka asked.

"He knows that how successful he was will depend on how the heroes, the commission, and the press frame what happened here, and how the populace reacts to it all." Nedzu said.

The scene changed to the following day at the Hosu hospital. Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki talked about how they hadn't really been able to sleep.

The three boys grimaced simultaneously as their other selves where shown in hospital garb with bandages on various limbs.

"If this is how bad the other Izuku feels then I can understand why he couldn't sleep." Izuku groaned at the phantom pain now filling his arm and leg.

"I'm sure that is part of the problem." Iida said. His voice was tight, both in pain from having his arms in casts and from the lingering shame he felt at this other self's actions. With an injured body on top of a restless mind, even he would have difficulty keeping his regular sleep schedule.

"I've slept through worse, but the fight probably added to it." Todoroki said. That made a few more people grimace.

Midoriya mused that they'd done something pretty amazing by taking on Stain, but it was also a miracle they were alive. Todoroki agreed, saying they were left alive on purpose. He told Iida it was amazing he lasted as long as he did. Iida denied it and started to say something, but was interrupted by the arrival of Gran Torino and Manual.

"At least you all understand the gravity of what happened." Aizawa sighed. It was good to know they weren't oblivious to how poorly this could have turned out for each of them. Now if only he could find a way of preventing these kids from getting into these situations in the first place. 'Well, that's part of why I agreed to this viewing I suppose. But I'll need a plan for when we get to a point past where Truth shows us the future, possibly earlier than that if we change things enough to change the timeline of events when we get back.'

Gran stated he had a lot of complaints for Midoriya, but that they had a visitor to see to first. A man walked who was very tall and had the head of a dog, he was introduced as the police chief. Midoriya seemed nervous about his sudden appearance, and the fact that he said 'woof' at the end of his sentence.

That 'woof' and Izuku's reaction to it got a few giggles from his classmates, making Izuku' redden slightly.

"Are you okay Izuku? You seem a little worked up." Uraraka pointed out.

"I get nervous easily."

"Fair enough."

"First we got that one officer who looks like a cat, now we have a police chief that looks like a dog. Does every police precinct have an officer that looks like an animal?" Kaminari asked.

"You know, that might actually be a thing. Animal based mutations are pretty common after all." Mineta mused. "I mean, we have Tsuyu, and isn't there some girl in 1B who is similar to a horse? I mean, they don't have the heads of those animals, but it's close enough."

The chief asked if they were the students who took down the hero killer, and they said yes. Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the chief, and wondered why he'd come all the way down here.

"Is that not normal?" Izuku asked.

"Now that you mention it, if it were a simple update about the situation, I would think any officer could have done that. Plus they could have just told the pros and expected them to tell us what they felt was needed." Iida said. "You are quite keen to suspect something so quickly, Todoroki."

"I was just wondering why this was big enough to need him." Todoroki shrugged.

The chief talked about how severe Stain's injuries were, and how he was being treated. He went on about how it was important to maintain standards and ethics as a police officer and as a hero to ensure that quirks won't be used as weapons. So even though they did it in self defense against a very strong opponent, using their quirks while unregistered was still breaking the rules.

"Are we really gonna worry about stupid crap like that right now? They caught the Hero Killer that had everybody else stumped, doesn't that count for anything?" Bakugo demanded angrily.

"Now is precisely the time to worry about it, little listener." Mic replied. "In the heat of the moment, they did what they had to do defend themselves and each other until Stain was in a state where he couldn't hurt anyone. That's good, that's exactly what they should have done, once they knew running wasn't an option."

"but the rules are still important for maintaining balance, and the public's trust in heroes." Yagi interjected. "There's a fine line between hero and vigilante after all."

"It would have been better if they'd been able to subdue him without causing so much harm to him, but we know from this viewing that he didn't give them much of a choice. Unfortunately, that kind of thing isn't so obvious from an outside perspective."

Iida, Izuku, and Todoroki looked at each other, wondering what exactly all that meant for their other selves.

The chief said that, because of all that, those involved in the incident needed strict punishment. Todoroki immediately went on the defensive, saying how Native would have died if Iida hadn't shown up, and that those two would have been killed if Midoriya hadn't show up. He demanded to know if the chief was saying they should have played by the rules and let people get killed. Iida and Midoriya stared at him in amazement.

Iida and Midoriya were doing that in real life too. Neither of them had expected Todoroki to get that fired up. The boy shifted a bit in his seat, but sat up straight and looked back at them.

"It's like Midoirya said, we did something amazing and I don't want that taken away from myself or either of you. Plus, after everything I've heard and seen here, I can't believe that following the rules is more important to being a hero than saving lives."

"I-I agree with you! And Thank you! I'm just surprised you talked back to a police chief so fast!" Izuku's voice squeaked a bit, but he beamed at his friend.

"You have my thanks for your defense as well." Iida said.

"And, back on subject, I'm sure the police chief will take your heroic actions and motives into account when deciding what to do." Yagi said soothingly. 'He'd better, anyway.'

The police chief argued back that it wasn't good to set the precedent that you could do whatever you liked as long as things worked out in the end. Todoroki was taken aback by that, but still argued that it was a hero's job to save people. The chief pointed out that they weren't heroes just yet.

"Well, you may not be heroes officially, but I'd still call you heroes." Uraraka said firmly.

"Unfortunately, while their hearts were in the right place, the law still requires a license, or mentor supervision, before going all out like you did." Aizawa said. "It's unfortunate for extreme circumstances like this, but it's still important to every day life. So they have to be seen doing something about it." He narrowed his eyes at the students. "Besides, it's still important to remember that this entire situation was foolhardy and shouldn't have happened. Even if Iida had had pure intentions upon coming to Native's rescue, the only thing he alone could have done would be to die alongside Native. That's likely what would have happened had Midoirya not been lucky enough to stumble upon you in time."

Iida winced and looked down in shame.

"It would be a different story if Iida had seen signs of Stain and informed Manual so his mentor could accompany him, or if he'd gotten lost on accident and tried to run with Native before getting caught. But that's not what happened, and neither the police nor the heroes can be seen rewarding interns that leave their mentors to rush off into danger without a word."

There was silence for a few seconds. Then Todoroki spoke up.

"In Midoirya's defense, Gran Torino left him first. Plus, I did tell my father where I was going."

Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose. "True, but Midoriya had also been instructed to stay with the train. And while Endeavor did seem to be accepting of your actions, I don't think we should hold him up as the standard for how heroes should act."

That last part finally got a grudging nod from Todoroki, and he didn't move to make any further arguments. He did see the grateful looks directed at him from Uraraka, Iida, and Midoriya though, and gave them a small nod.

The Torodoki on screen was still on the defensive though. When the chief asked what he was being taught by UA and by Endeavor, Todoroki stalked forward angrily. Iida tried to stop him by saying the chief was right, but Todoroki didn't stop until Gran Torino told Torodoki to let the chief finish explaining.

Todoroki watched the scene with a straight face, despite his own anger simmering in his chest. He wondered if his other self's aggressive movements were more due to the chief bringing up Endeavor like that, or from the way his tone and words implied a threat towards his first friends. He could easily believe both, given his own feelings on the matter. It was probably the Endeavor comment that pushed him over the edge. Maybe the others did have a point about not interning at Endeavor's agency. He hadn't thought about how angry he got at others implying his own skills were all the work of Endeavor, and interning under the man, no matter his skill level, would not help dissuade people of that idea.

The chief went on to say that if they made the details of the fight public knowledge, then they would likely be praised by the people but would still have to face punishment. If they decided to hide what really happened, by saying the burns were caused by Endeavor, then the kids could avoid punishment. But it would mean that the kids wouldn't get recognized for their achievements. He asked which they would prefer.

The students around the room gave that some thought, wondering which they would choose in their place.

"I mean, I guess I'd want to avoid punishment, but it sucks that people wouldn't know how awesome they are. I mean, they took down Stain!" Ashido said. Hagakure nodded vigorously.

"Exactly! Even if they go with the second option, could they at least downplay Endeavor being a part of it? Or say that Endeavor was there and 'officially' took him down but that Midoriya, Iida, and Torodoki were all there and helped? It wouldn't be so bad if they had permission from a hero to fight after all right? Heck, Todoroki technically did have permission to be there!"

"Unfortunately, the position the laws put them in doesn't give our classmates much bargaining power in that area, and I can hardly see Endeavor sharing credit if he can avoid doing so." Momo pointed out. Hagakure huffed.

"They could at least give Todoroki some credit!" Kirishima complained. "I mean, Endeavor wants Todoroki to surpass All Might eventually right? You'd think he'd be all for building his son's reputation early on. Leaving them all out is just so unmanly!"

"I'm not sure my father has fully considered that surpassing All Might would mean I would eventually surpass him as well. He has always been determined to see me as an extension of his own power." Todoroki said. It was honestly the first time he'd thought about like that too, since he now viewed his quirk as his own. Pus, He always pictured his father as retired from his hero career by the time his own really got going, or close to it. He'd never seen a pro as old as Gran Torino though, and now wondered how long his father would stay an active hero.

"I wish there was some way I could be punished without bringing the same down on either of you." Iida said. "I was the only one among us that truly had unheroic intentions after all."

"Even if you started out that way, you still did the right thing in the end." Izuku said firmly.

"We couldn't have taken Stain down without you." Todoroki agreed.

Iida wished he deserved such loyal friends.

"Bresides, I don't care who gets the credit. What matters is that we saved Native and ourselves and made it so that Stain can't hurt anymore people." Izuku continued. Yagi smiled at him.

"Well said my boy!"

The chief admitted he didn't want to punish such young promising heroes for making a mistake like this. Manual said that he and the other mentors would have to take responsibility of losing track of their interns. Iida came forward and apologized for the trouble he caused, and Manual was quick to forgive him as long as he promised not to do it again. Midoriya and Todoroki were quick to follow in the apology. The chief said that, due to the way things were, they wouldn't get the public acknowledgment that they deserved, but that he could still thank them personally. He did so with a deep bow. Todoroki muttered that he should have started with that.

"Careful Todoroki, your feelings are showing." Jirou teased lightly. Todoroki gave her a flat look, and Momo had to stifle a laugh. "Seriously though, I do agree with you. He could have gone into that better. I mean, I get that you guys broke the rules and its serious and all but he could have gotten to the thankfulness part sooner. Or maybe even started out by asking how all of you are doing after taking down a serial killer that had stumped them for months."

"That's a good point!" Sero said. "They just go into this hospital room where two thirds of the kids inside have half their limbs out of commission and just starts going off about how rough THEY were on the crazy strong villain and how they should be punished for it."

Present Mic winced. "Yeah, when you put it like that it seems pretty insensitive."

"I assure you, we care much more about your health than the health of villains." Yagi rushed to reassure the kids.

"Perhaps he wanted to make sure you knew the gravity of your situation first and foremost. He wasn't exactly around for your discussion just before they came in after all." Aizawa theorized. "The current solution wouldn't do much good if you didn't take it seriously enough and did it again later." Aizawa turned to eye Todoroki and Midoriya. "With most kids I'd say the whole experience and injuries would be enough to keep them from doing something like that again, but the Sports Festival did a good job of advertising how certain students here aren't like other kids in that area."

Izuku let out an embarrassed chuckle and Todoroki nodded in somewhat grudging agreement.

Midoriya's voice over came on, and started to explain that, despite the details of that fight being buried, its influence would 'eat away at us' without anyone realizing.

Tokoyami cocked his head up and to the side, giving the screen a suspicious look. "Quite the ominous statement, Midoriya."

"If only I knew what it meant." Midoriya joked weakly.

"There are many things it could be referring to. Perhaps Stain's ideology starts to influence more people now that he's been arrested, since it could gain him some form of martydom. Perhaps Shigaraki ends up displeased with how the events played out and starts lashing out more, or perhaps both and more. I guess we'll have to wait and see." It was the collective opinion of the room that Nedzu sounded just a touch too cheerful when he said that.

The next scene showed citizens reacting to the news of the hero killer being arrested. A couple people commented that, despite them feeling better now, the arrest was 'unfortunate'.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Iida asked sharply. No one had an answer for him, and the show continued.

A news broadcast was shown. It had been put together that the recent Nomus were also attached to the League of Villains. As they mentioned the hero killer's arrest, a heavily scarred man was shown watching the large, outdoor TV before walking away.

"Whenever we see someone get focused on in particular they always seem to show up later." Tsuyu observed. "Does anyone recognize him?"

No one did. The show continued.

The news broadcast continued, but the scene switched to a foggy forest. There was a radio sitting on a stump, presumably where the news was now coming from. The scene switched again, following a high school girl with blonde hair skipping through an abandoned part of the city. Someone with earbuds in was shown. Finally the scene came to the villains' bar, where Shigaraki was reading the paper and listening to the same broadcast.

The room's occupants stared at the screen, wondering what the significance of each of those scenes could be.

"I suppose the radio in the woods could signify just how far the news has spread. The couple of people shown before Shigaraki will likely be seen later, like Tsuyu said, but I can't imagine why yet." Izuku mused. "The girl was wearing a uniform, and looked to be about our age, but it wasn't a UA uniform so she's unlikely to be a classmate."

"Not much to do about it now. Let's see what Shigaraki is doing." Shoji said.

Shigaraki pounded a fist on the table angrily. He'd wanted to make people forget a bout Stain, but despite the chaos they inflicted the press had thrust the Nomus into the background in favor of Stain.

Mineta hissed. "Oh yeah...almost forgot that's why Shigaraki sent out the Nomus, aside from Stain making him mad in general I mean. But doesn't it kinda make sense that Stain would be talked about more though? I mean, nobody really knows anything about the Nomus aside from them being connected to the League. There's more to talk about with Stain, now that he's been arrested."

Aizawa snorted. "Trust me, not knowing anything won't stop the media from talking about something if they want to talk about it. Still, I suppose it makes him easier to talk about, plus there might be some restrictions on League info being given to the press."

"That is true." All Might agreed. "I think it is also true the Stain has the more compelling story right now, especially if any of his ideology has made it online or on TV."

"You're saying that the news is talking about Stain more because he has a... a narrative? More so than the League does?" Izuku asked.

"Exactly, my boy. He seemed to make it clear to anyone who would listen what his goal is. While Shigaraki stated what he wanted at the USJ, my death, no similar claims were made at Hosu."

"Hm, an excellent point, and one similar to what Stain himself said to Shigaraki when he refused to join the League. I wonder if the boy will make the connection." Nedzu said.

At Best Jeanist's office, he was making a speech to his staff about the recent events in Hosu. He admitted to being worried about them himself, but that this was exactly the sort of time when heroes needed to remain calm. Some people liked to take advantage of such chaotic times after all. While he was speaking, the camera panned those listening, including a shaking and still perfectly coiffed, Bakugo.

Bakugo's expression and hairstyle completely ruined the serious tone, and had people around the room giggling and laughing.

"Yeah yeah laugh it up extras." Bakugo grumbled. Had this guy let Bakugo go out and actually do anything or did he just spend the whole time playing stylist with him?

"Honestly? I don't think the hair looks that bad. The spiked style suits you way better, but this one okay." Kirishima said, in an attempt to make him feel better.

Bakugo just sighed.

Best Jeanist announced it would be business as usual for them today. Bakugo was only thinking about how much he wanted to go home.

"You actually want to go home instead of working on hero stuff? You must really hate that hairdo." Jirou said.

"At least my Mom doesn't try to give me makeovers." Bakugo huffed.

Jirou, who definitely knew how important having your own style could be, actually found herself able to relate. "Fair enough."

At Fourth Kind's agency, Kirishima had just gotten a reply from Midoriya and had just found out that location marker was meant to signal a need for help. Kirishima was glad he reported it.

"Ah yes, that reminds me." Aizawa stood to address the room. "Midoriya proposed that sending a location marker with no info could officially be made an 'SOS' sign for the class. Raise your hand if you agree to that."

Hands shot up around the room.

"The motion passes! Now don't forget about it and send anyone into a panic accidentally, you hear?" Mic declared.

There were several reassurances they wouldn't. Such a signal would be hard for them to forget after seeing the Stain fight after all.

Izuku breathed a little easier knowing that it wasn't just Todoroki who had noticed the text and thought it might mean something was up.

Within moments both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were dragged away by Fourth Kind for patrol. The scene changed to one of Uwabami's commercials, one where Momo and Kendo actually got to be a part of it. Momo looked very displeased to be a part of the whole thing, while Kendo focused on the positive of getting seen on TV. They both perked up when Uwabami said it was time to do a patrol.

"Hey look, she actually does do real hero stuff now and then." Jirou teased.

"Finally, at least the entire internship wasn't all about the modeling aspect." Momo said with obvious relief.

"I guess it makes sense that she would spend more time on commercials and stuff than other heroes. Uwabami is more of a rescue hero, and rescue scenarios are rarer than petty crime. Still! I'm glad you got the kind of experience you were looking for eventually." Midoriya said.

"Also, as cute as the curly hair was, I think your usual ponytail is even better." Hagakure chimed in.

Momo smiled. "Thank you both."

Uraraka was shown talking to Midoriya over the phone. She admitted to be worried and said she was glad both he and Iida were okay. Midoriya apologized for not contacting her sooner and she said she understood they had been through a lot. The call was cut off when Gunhead called Uraraka over for training.

"Oh? Been through a lot? Did you perhaps tell the fair lady the real details of your adventure?" Aoyama asked.

"Considering their deal with the police likely included a non-disclosure agreement? Probably not." Recovery Girl said dryly.

"It's okay if you didn't tell me, I'm just glad we got to talk eventually. With you three running off to fight serial killers, I was beginning to feel kinda left out." Uraraka teased.

"Okay, we'll remember to invite you along for all future rebellions and revenge plots." Todoroki said. Izuku laughed.

"There will be no revenge plots!" Iida chopped his hand in the air.

"You're right, that's a good rule. But we can still have a little rebellion now and then, right? As a treat?" Uraraka turned her big, hopeful eyes on him. He stopped chopping and seemed to give it some serious thought.

"Hmm, a little bit perhaps, and it must be appropriately placed."

"Yay!"

When Uraraka hung up, Gunhead asked if that was her boyfriend. Uraraka stammered while denying it. Meanwhile, Deku was shown, still in his hospital outfit, freaking out about how cool it was to talk to a girl on the phone because her voice was so close.

"So you like having Uraraka's voice in your ear huh?" Ashido asked with an impish grin. Kaminari and Mineta howled with laughter in the background.

Both Uraraka and Izuku had gone beet red when that sequence played out. Izuku's response to Ashido's question was to slide down to the floor and then turn so he could put his head and shoulders under the cushion he'd just been sitting on. "Bury me." He mumbled.

Iida stared uncomprehendingly for a few seconds, so it was Todoroki who got up and grabbed the two cushions off of his seat and used them to cover Midoriya's back and legs. He then sat down on the floor next to his mortified friend.

Seeing this, Iida stood up. He grabbed his own cushion and handed it to Uraraka, who promptly buried her face in it. Iida then joined Todoroki on the ground.

Midoriya was shown returning to the shared hospital room. He started to tell Iida about his phone call with Uraraka, when Todoroki interrupted him. He explained that Iida had just been told by the doctor that he might have permanent damage in his left hand.

Uraraka quickly got over her embarrassment when she heard that. "Oh Iida, I'm so sorry!" she said after lifting her head from the cushion. Seeing her friends on the floor, she decided to join them after putting the cushion back.

"It seems a fitting enough punishment for what I did, for how much danger I put my friends in. Perhaps such a permanent reminder of what happened will ensure my other self does commit such actions again. But myself, I'll have to remember without a physical reminder."

"You do have a physical reminder." Todoroki said. When Iida gave him a confused look, he elaborated "We'll remind you. We're physical. We can sit on you if you start acting up again."

That startled a laugh out of Iida. Izuku, now that he'd managed to separate himself from the couch and cushions, was quick to agree.

"Yes! You can come to us if things ever get to be too much again, and we'll keep each other from doing anything dumb." Izuku remembered their current track record. "Well, we'll keep each other from doing those things alone at least."

"And in the cases of those little rebellions I mentioned, we can help each other do dumb things!" Uraraka declared. She held out her pinky, and the others caught on and latched theirs to hers (though Todoroki only figured out to do that after he saw Midoriya and Iida do it).

The collective of hands bounced once, and the agreement was made.

Iida went on to explain that both of his arms got beat up pretty badly. His left arm got the worst, and that it could result in him having trouble with moving his hand and experience some numbness. There was a possibility that it could be fixed with surgery.

The emotional level in the room lowered a bit after hearing that. The diagnosis was still bad, but it could have been worse given what they went through. Plus some of the students remembered that their Iida wouldn't have the injury now, and hopefully never would.

Recovery Girl resisted the urge to go over and give Iida and his friends another look over. It wasn't like she could do anything, and they were doing an admirable job of pressing on despite the pain each of them must be in. It would be a shame to disturb their concentration.

Iida bowed his head as he said that he stopped being able to think once he found Stain. He admitted that he should have told Manual right away when he saw signs of Stain, but he let his anger get the better of him instead.

"Hindsight is 20/20." Mic said sagely. "At least we know he's realized where he messed up."

"And hopefully this Iida's hindsight will help our own Iida keep his mind clear." Aizawa said.

Iida remembered how Stain berated his behavior, and admitted that, while he still hated the man, he was right about how unheroic Iida had been acting.

"I feel like 'Jerkass has a point' is Stain's whole theme at this point." Jirou said. "Not about Ingenium, your brother sounds really great Iida! But definitely about some other things."

Iida sighed and bobbed his head once in agreement.

Iida said that he was going to leave his hand as is until he was sure he was a true hero.

"I guess your other self agrees about the whole 'physical reminder' thing." Todoroki said.

Recovery Girl snorted. "If you want a physical reminder then you can tie a string around your finger or some such! Medical needs should be treated when most appropriate for your health, not when you feel you've reached some arbitrary goal! It may not seem like much, but muscles seizing up can lead to some bad consequences if the timing is wrong. And with the way this class is going that may happen sooner rather than later."

Iida winced, then nodded grimly. "You make an excellent point. I will certainly try to avoid such injuries in the future, but I will remember your words should it happen anyway."

Izuku started to think that if he'd done more to help Iida before, then this may not have happened. But he cut himself off before he got too far. It would be rude to apologize after Iida already accepted his situation. Instead he told Iida he agreed, showing off his scarred hand, and proposed that they become stronger together. A single nod from each of them sealed the promise.

"I am glad this other you stopped such thoughts, Midoriya. It was clear that my other self was not open to help from you, nor anyone else, so it is not your fault that events played out like this." Iida said.

"Yeah, I know you wanna help everyone, but you shouldn't hold yourself responsible for what other people do." Uraraka agreed.

"Plus, you couldn't fight him on live TV, so that did limit your helping options." Todoroki pointed out with a light smirk. That got a laugh out of Izuku, and the others were quick to follow.

"Thanks guys, I'll remember that." Izuku said as he finished laughing. "I know we haven't just beat a serial killer, but should we add that to our earlier pinky promise? We'll all help each other get stronger?" The group quickly agreed and locked pinkies again.

"That's so manly! Bakugo! Let's do that same!"

"I'm not doing some dumb pinky promise with you."

"Fist bump then?"

"...sure."

Soon students were all asking their friends for the same things. The scene only continued once the round of agreements, fist bumps, hand shakes, and pinkie promises made it's way around the room.

Todoroki looked at the pair with awe, then said that he felt kinda bad. When Izuku asked him why, Todoroki said that him getting involved in fights seemed to lead to people's hands getting messed up. He grimly asked himself if it was a curse. Izuku and Iida stared at him for a moment, then started laughing. They laughed even more when Todoroki clarified he wasn't joking and called himself the 'Hand Crusher'.

The rest of the room was quick to follow the boys on screen.

"I assure you you do not have a curse! It was your intervention that made it so my hands were not further damaged, as well as other parts of my body!" Iida rushed to reassure his friend, even as he grinned at the other boy's seriousness.

"It's only been twice now Todoroki! Don't worry so much!" Hagakure said. Ashido nodded in mock seriousness.

"But if it happens again you might wanna get it looked at, because three times is when it starts to be a pattern."

Todoroki seemed confused about whether or not he should take his other self's observation seriously. Uraraka patted him on the shoulder.

"If your worried about it, I'm sure we can find you a good luck charm once we get out of here."

"That might help."

"There's a lot of hand stuff recently, with this on top of Shigaraki." Shoji observed, a smile in his voice as he watched the others laugh and joke about what just happened.

"Perhaps that's it. Both Midoriya and Iida stood up to Shigaraki in their own ways. The hands he drapes himself with may be a means to deliver curses upon the hands of others." Tokoyami suggested. Shoji looked him over, trying to figure out if he was being serious, then shrugged.

"Pretty sure Midoriya's thing was a problem before he met Shigaraki, but that sounds like something he might try to do."

The scene switched to the UA staff room. All Might got a call, which he answered, and it was shown that Mic and Aizawa thought his ringtone was annoying.

"If it bothers you that much, I could change it before arriving at the school." Yagi offered. Mic waved it off.

"It's not that bad."

"Speak for yourself." Aizawa grumbled.

"...I'll turn the ringer down at least." Yagi compromised.

All Might coughed up blood when he realized it was Gran Torino calling. He berated All Might over the fact that, due to what happened with Midoriya, he was getting a paycut and his teaching license was being revoked for a while. He admitted that it couldn't be helped though, since Midoriya's tendency to move without thinking was so much like Yagi's.

Izuku was torn between feeling guilty that he caused such trouble for Gran Torino and being both embarrassed and pleased at being compared to All Might in such a way. The latter won out because, despite the consequences, he could never regret saving his friend.

"I'm honestly surprised All Might didn't go and visit Midoriya in the hospital himself." Mic said.

"It's possible they were only letting people directly involved in the case visit, given the talk the kids got about the 'official story' and all." Aizawa pointed out. Mic grimaced.

"I can't imagine that would go over well with some of the parents. The Iida parents must have been frantic after already having one child in the hospital, not to mention Tensei if he was awake enough to hear about it. And we've seen how Midoriya's mother gets."

All Might apologized profusely over the phone, saying this was all due to his bad teaching.

"W-well, if I can't take responsibility for what Iida did, then you shouldn't have to take responsibility for what I decided to do!" Midoriya declared. Yagi looked startled for a moment, then smiled warmly.

"It's a little different for us, since I'm your teacher and an adult while you and Iida are both young students, but I can see what you mean. I'll work on not blaming myself for what others do, since you are working hard on that also."

"It's still so weird to see All Might so freaked out about getting scolded like that." Sato said. Several people around him nodded in agreement.

Torino said that he didn't care much about his teaching license, since he only got it so he could teach Yagi. Yagi apologized again and said that who he was today was due to Torino's teachings. Torino asked why he didn't visit more then, and Yagi tried to say he was just busy with being a teacher.

"You have been a teachers for only a few months. Pray tell, what kept you during all the months before that?" Aoyama teased.

"Well, obviously it was the paperwork." Mineta said with fake seriousness.

"Oh yeah, I bet hero paperwork takes FOREVER." Kaminari said.

"You'd think someone like All Might would have a secretary or something for that." Sero countered.

"I am my secretary." Yagi said. Sero frowned.

"You mean you don't have one?"

"No, I mean my civilian identity is that I'm All Might's secretary." The room turned to look at him in mass, and he started to sweat. "Well, I had to come up with some reason for my civilian self to be coming and going, otherwise someone might have gotten suspicious."

"I suppose that makes sense, and would work as a fairly good cover. It would allow you to get some work done even after your time limit has been reached." Momo said.

"So do you do your own paperwork then?" Sero asked.

"Is this really what you're all most interested in right now?" Yagi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Turns out, it was not. The subject was put on the back burner in favor of turning back to the screen.

Torino changed the subject to the hero killer. Torino admitted that, despite only seeing him briefly, Stain had terrified him. Yagi asked what had caused it. Torino said it was likely the strength of his ideology and his intense obsession. He said it was like an inverse of Yagi's own status as the Symbol of Peace, because it had a similar level of charisma. As the investigation continued, Stain's ideology would be talked about by the media, which would cause it to spread. People who wanted to follow Stain's example would start to appear.

The room was quiet as the implications of that settled over the occupants.

"Okay, I know I said Stain had a point, but that didn't mean I want more people trying to do what he did. Just throwing that out there." Jirou broke the silence.

"You think this is what that comment about the fight 'eating away' at us meant? That it would inspire more people to act out and wear us down?" Tsuyu asked, a thoughtful finger on her chin.

"It could be." Ojiro said. "I wouldn't have pegged Stain as the 'anti symbol of peace' though. I was thinking whoever is really running the league would be closer to that."

Yagi almost coughed up blood at how accurate that descriptor actually was.

"I'm not sure Stain would quite be the opposite of All Might, since he was very against siding with the other villains and considered All Might the one true hero. It's like he's in a position that's more...adjacent to the Symbol of Peace rather than the exact opposite." Midoriya grimaced. "Adjacent and way more extreme."

"Indeed. His ideology may be extreme, but him bringing attention to problems others have seen but been unable to do anything about could net him followers, especially with his high charisma as Gran Torino said. But with Stain himself arrested, then those who wish to take action will have to start their own movement, or find another to join. Perhaps one that hasn't yet settled on an ideology and therefore could adjust themselves to be more appealing to such people."

The room became even more uneasy as people started to catch on to what Nedzu was implying.

"You think more people will try to join the league?" Mineta asked fearfully.

"It would make some sense. Stain himself isn't available, and the way the two attacks happened at once could lead people to believe Stain approved of the League." Midoriya said, voice just above mumbling level.

"I suppose it would be too easy if Shigaraki was too proud to accept people who liked Stain more than him, huh?" Hagakure said.

"Probably, but I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed that he is, kero."

Yagi pointed out that such individuals would be scattered and show up sporadically. Gran Torino pointed out that's where the League would come in. Gran started to point out what Nedzu just had, that people would start to connect Stain to the League and that the League could benefit from that perceived ideology and take in those who were inspired by Stain. Allowing all of those people to ban together could be very dangerous. Torino said that if the leader knew this was going to happen from the start, then he was very smart about steadily improving conditions to allow his movement to grow and go unhindered.

People around the room shuddered. The Nomus were bad enough, and the thought of the League gaining any of Stain's clout and rising in number was not a pleasant one.

"You don't think...is it possible that this 'sensei' Shigaraki had to ask permission from let him attack Hosu because he knew there was a good chance this would be the outcome?" Momo wondered.

'If he's who I think he is, then that's entirely possible.' Yagi thought grimly.

Yagi gripped his knee as he thought about the suspicions that he'd had when he heard about the Nomu having multiple quirks. Gran Torino was thinking along the same lines, as he said that All for One, the man who killed All Might's mentor and crippled All Might himself, must be on the move again.

"WHAT?!"

There was not telling who all yelled, the response was such a jumbled mess.

"Th-the man who did that to All Might, HE's leading the League?!" Mineta cried. He wasn't the only one that looked to be on the verge of panic. Anyone that could do that to All Might at the height of his power was worth panicking about.

All Might let out a long breath, and clamped his hands on his knees to keep them from shaking like his other self's were. "Unfortunately, I believe that to be the case. I had believed him to be dead. But the evidence he is not is becoming impossible to ignore." he held up a hand to forestall more questions. "I ask again that you allow this explanation to wait until it is revealed in the show. Please, I'm sure it will not be much longer now." The children were quiet, but were obviously still scared, so Yagi dipped into his All Might persona. "If this is All for One, then we are now at an advantage. On top of the knowledge I already had about him, I now know exactly who we are dealing with, when he likely expected us to need longer to figure it out. Plus, we now have a level of foresight that not even he is capable of! So with our combined strengths, and our will to continue forward, I know that us heroes will be able to find away to beat him. This time we'll make sure he stays down!"

People calmed as All Might put his own charisma on display. It wasn't quite as effective as it would have been in his hero form, but it was enough to calm the room and keep them from spiraling. Izuku once again met Yagi's eyes, and understanding passed between them. Yagi was glad he decided to tell Izuku about All for One when he did, as that gaze allowed him to regain some of his own peace.

All Might said he didn't want to believe that man was still alive. Gran Torino reminded him of how much Midoriya looked up to him, and told Yagi that he should tell Midoriya the full truth about his quirk.

Despite taking comfort in Midoriya's understanding gaze, the boy's eyes also made All Might feel guilty. Midoriya had shown no fear when looking at him just now, just as confident in All Might as the boy had always been. He wished he felt deserving of it.

'I'm so sorry my boy. This is one thing that I hoped never to pass on to you.'

The scene jumped ahead to two days after Stain being captured. Izuku's voice over explained how the Hero Killer was now being exposed for the world to see. At a bar, a man complained about fewer people being willing to commit crimes and how it was interfering with his business. Another man with a gun explained that it was a serious crime to develop and sell support items without a license.

"Heh, no wonder that Hatsume girl was so eager to get sponsors then. She can't make more of her 'babies' if she doesn't!" Kaminari tried to inject a bit more levity back into the room. It didn't work especially well. He only really distracted Iida for a second while the boy cringed at the memory of the sports festival.

The man with the gun explained that there were rumors of legit companies selling on the black market as well as to pro heroes. The first criminal, who had an eye patch, said he missed the days before All Might.

"Days before All Might? How old is that guy?" Kirishima asked in disbelief. All Might managed a small chuckle.

"I know it may be hard for ones as young as yourselves to believe, but there was a time before I gained enough notoriety to become the symbol of peace. I'm sure some of your parents can recall a time before I was a pro hero."

Momo frowned at the mention of support companies selling on the black market. She'd have to ask her parents if they ever heard anything about that.

Eye patch missed how wild and impulsive villains could be back then. He said it was a good time.

"Maybe for you." Uraraka groused.

Eye patch said that all changed when All Might showed up. He mused that maybe it was time for him to retire.

"Yes, do that, all the villains should retire." Todoroki said.

The white haired man with the gun, which turned out to be a lighter, said he had an offer for Eye Patch instead. He brought up a video of Stain, saying he was 'hot right now'. The video listed off Stain's real name, then explained that Stain had been inspired by All Might's debut and had set out to be a hero. He went to a hero high school, but became disappointed in how flawed its teachings were. He dropped out during his first year, and spent his time trying to convince people to go back to the old idea of heroes. When speeches on the street didn't work he realized that words had no power.

"That is categorically untrue." Momo huffed. "Words can have great power when they are used correctly."

"Yeah, I mean, if he wanted to change things with speeches then shouldn't he have gone into politics or something. That's who makes the laws and standards and stuff." Mineta pointed out.

"That may have been effective, if he did it right and got lucky with some things, but politics has even more blatant corruption than the hero system does. I can't imagine Stain would have been okay with participating in politics if the hero system put him off so deeply." Yagi pointed out.

"Oh man, can you imagine if he stuck with it and became a hero?" Kirishima asked. "With how committed he was, he could have lead by example and terrified villains while helping people! It would have been so manly!"

"Yes, I can imagine he would have been impressive. It's a pity he chose this path instead of trying to work with other heroes to change things. I'm sure such a charismatic man could have found allies among other heroes." Nedzu said with a wistful sigh.

The video went on to say that Stain spent 10 years honing his fighting abilities, during which is parents died. He continued to call for a return to old hero ideals, where heroes were not compensated and the title was only given to those who showed true self sacrifice. He hoped to expose the fake heroes for what they were through his purge. The video then showed an alternate viewpoint of Stain's speech after saving Midoriya from the Noumu. It was clearly having an effect on eye patch.

"Even without the weird special affects we got when listening to it, he still looks really intense." Ojiro observed. Hagakure nodded.

"I hate to say it, but I can see how some people would be drawn to that."

Iida frowned grimly. He made sure to memorize Stain's name, and saw Midoriya writing it down over and over in his notebook to do the same. That was good, that could go a long way in finding Stain before he hurt Tensei or anyone else. But if they didn't find a way to avoid this when they arrested the man in real life, then they would never be free of Stain completely.

the white haired villain said the video kept getting taken down and reuploaded, because both sides realized how 'infectious' Stain's words were. It was reaching out to scattered criminals of all kinds, and reaching into places people hadn't dared to look into before. And those people were now heading for the league of villains. While he talked, some of the same people from earlier were shown but they were now shown in a much more menacing light. The episode ended there.

"So those people, the girl we saw and that scarred guy and the others, they're all going to join the League?" Sero asked.

"That's what it sounds like." Bakugo said, his voice more subdued than usual. He wasn't scared about the League getting more people, he'd find a way to take them on no matter what! But Stain...he'd been set to be a hero. And he could have done it if he had half those skills as a high school student. But he became a villain instead. Even if he had some 'higher purpose' he still killed heroes, and that made him a villain. With a quirk like that, and some luck, he probably could have taken down All Might if he really wanted to...

Was Stain already a villain, or starting to be one, when he was at his hero high school? Was Bakugo himself a hero just because he was in the hero course? Stain had considered All Might the one true hero...and Bakugo doubted Stain would have given the same title to him even if he did beat All Might one day.

Bakugo wasn't sure where his mind was going with this. It was one more thing to add to the swirl his head had been ever since his talk with All Might.