A.N.

So I've gotten some messages about if I'm going to address the recent reveal of who the UA traitor is. I've decided I will start working that into things now, since this episode actually allows for a good opportunity to start doing so. That's some good timing! So if you don't want that spoiled for you then you might want to stop here for now. Also, I haven't read that far in the actual manga, I've just gleaned details from the internet. Hopefully this will still come off as accurate and believable despite that.


The episode started off exactly where the last one had ended, with Midoriya and Shoji watching Tokoyami trying and failing to rein in Dark Shadow. Midoriya asked Shoji what had happened, and Shoji explained how he and Tokoyami had gotten attacked by Moonfish. Shoji had sacrificed his arm to protect Tokoyami. He would be able to grow it back since it was a duplicate, but the sight of it had caused Tokoyami to lose control.

"You took a blow for me, and now I'm putting you in danger. That is deplorable of me, and you have my sincerest apologies for putting you in this situation." Tokoyami bowed his head in shame. Shoji shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. This is the first time you've been in a situation this scary while it's so dark out, right? It's understandable that this would happen."

"I mean, it's even kind of sweet when you think about it. It wasn't the attack that set Dark Shadow off, it was seeing Shoji hurt. That shows how much Tokoyami and Dark Shadow care about him!" Ashido reasoned.

At this point, Midoriya finished writing a note and handed it to Iida, since Todoroki was back to not letting Midoriya remove the towel. Plus, he didn't actually want to while his other self was on-screen; even focusing enough to write a note had been a struggle.

"Ahem, Midoriya would like to say that you are still learning to control your quirk, just like he is, and that so far you haven't broken any bones so you're already doing better at it."

That got a few giggles from the class. Tokoyami thanked them for their understanding, but was still worried. He knew how strong Dark Shadow could get during these times, so broken bones weren't out of the question just yet.

Yagi and Aizawa watched the three kids, who were all in various levels of pain, push it aside for the sake of apologizing or comforting each other. As stressful as these kids could be, they couldn't deny they had a pretty amazing class.

The pair watched the struggle from behind a tree. Shoji warned Midoriya that Dark Shadow had been lashing out at anything earlier. Tokoyami begged them to leave him and go find others to help, then desperately told Dark Shadow to calm down.

That desperation made Iida think of himself when he was fighting Stain. His own motivations had been much more selfish of course, but the desire to make someone leave so you could handle a problem yourself was still similar. That also made him confident that Midoriya, after hearing and seeing this, would not be able to just leave a fellow classmate behind.

Shoji pointed out that they could calm Dark Shadow if they got him back to camp, because there would be light there. He didn't want to leave Tokoyami here to suffer, and he surmised that Midoriya wanted to reach Bakugo, so he offered to lead Tokoyami away so that Midoriya could make it through.

Yagi found himself hoping that the boys would find a plan that allowed them to stay together. Being held tightly against Shoji's back seemed to be making things easier for Midoriya this episode, given that he wasn't making quite so many noises of pain this time.

"Please don't do something so reckless, I wouldn't forgive myself if you got hurt while attempting it." Tokoyami pleaded, his voice still strained from his other self's effort.

Midoriya protested, saying that the camp was far away and Shoji would be in danger. Dark Shadow suddenly noticed them, and took a wild swing at them. Shoji dodged out of the way, but the tree was demolished.

Students gaped at the display of strength, as well as the close call. Those who had faced Tokoyami before knew that Dark Shadow could pack a punch, but they hadn't expected he held that level of power. That was not a small tree!

Dark Shadow murmured apologies in Tokoyami's head, and he relayed them to Shoji and Midoriya, along with his own.

Once Midoriya had ridden out the wave of pain that came with Shoji's sudden movement, he couldn't help wondering if Dark Shadow was so strong just because it was night, or if Tokoyami normally got him to diminish some of his strength so as not to hurt people. He'd have to ask later.

Shoji told Midoriya he knew that it would be dangerous, but trying to save people would always be risky. He gave Midoriya the option of helping him with Tokoyami, or leaving to go help Bakugo on his own. After a moment of thought, Midoriya said 'sorry' to Shoji, then the scene suddenly changed.

"So, he's gonna go on ahead to help Bakugo? That's why he was saying sorry?" Sato wondered. The only reply was a small chorus of tentative agreements and unsure noises.

Midoriya didn't think he would leave either behind if he could help it, and had a good idea of how he and Shoji could help both Tokoyami and Bakugo. He'd wait and see if his prediction was accurate though.

The teachers, aside from Yagi, leaned forward in interest when the choice was posed. Seeing what option he would choose, and if he would come up with more options, could give some more insight into what kind of pro hero Midoriya would eventually be.

The scene changed back to where Bakugo and Todoroki were fighting Moonfish. The villain continued to go on about flesh and meat while Todoroki threw up more ice to shield them from the tooth spears. Bakugo complained about not being able to get close to him, which lead into another argument about whether or not they could risk a forest fire.

"If you create enough of a shield with your ice you could try sneaking into the denser trees to escape him without him noticing you're gone. It's important to remember that fighting isn't the only option." Mic pointed out.

"And again, we already have enough of a forest fire, please don't start another one." Aizawa reiterated.

Bakugo grit his teeth in annoyance. He always hated having to hold back.

"It's cool that you can make enough ice to keep this creepy guy at bay all while carrying someone Todoroki." Uraraka praised. Todoroki nodded his thanks.

"Ugh, teeth shouldn't be able to move like that, they're teeth! Just looking at it makes my mouth hurt." Mineta cringed away from the sight.

Bakugo and Todoroki argued and tried to figure out what to do, when both they and the villain were suddenly distracted by a loud sound. Giant clouds of dirt and debris were flying up in the air while Midoriya's voice was heard yelling about how he could see ice. Shoji, with Midoriya still on his back, was shown running toward them while shouting for one of them to make some light.

Confused and anxious murmurs were replaced with gasps of surprise and excitement when people figured out what was happening.

Aizawa grinned, very pleased at his students' teamwork and creative thinking.

"Yeah! That's what I call thinking outside the box! Great idea little listeners!" Mic cheered.

"A very effective way to accomplish both goals at once!" Iida also praised.

Todoroki smiled a bit, pleased that Midoriya had enough faith in his use of fire that he would trust him help with this.

Midoriya was just happy his hypothesis about what his other self would do had been right.

Moonfish tried to attack Shoji, but was stopped when Dark Shadow slammed into him.

"Ha! That'll teach you! You got Shoji before, but Dark Shadow says 'not on my watch!'." Ashido crowed.

"Thank you both." Shoji said, turning to Tokoyami.

"I'm glad the plan seems to be working as intended." Tokoyami was in fact, very pleased with Dark Shadows priorities. After all, if they were close enough for Dark Shadow to hit Moonfish, than Shoji should have been in range too. But even with Dark Shadow raging, he still chose to hit Moonfish rather than Shoji or Midoriya, and ended up protecting them by doing so. Tokoyami gave his quirk a few extra mental pats.

Bakugo huffed. Great, now he was annoyed that Birdbrain got the better of the villain before he did, and that was when Birdbrain wasn't in control of himself!

Dark Shadow pinned Moonfish down while Todoroki and Bakugo stared in shock. The story went back a bit to show Midoriya planning out how to use Shoji's quirk to lead Tokoyami through the forest without putting themselves in direct danger from him. Midoriya thought to himself that if he had to make a choice, he'd choose to save both his classmates.

"That was some creative quirk use! Nice job on pulling it off you two!" Mic praised, giving both boys a thumbs up.

Shoji nodded, and Midoriya managed a shaky thumbs up of his own. Getting carried around like that didn't hurt quite as much as running on his own had earlier, but it still hurt. Shoji seemed to be doing his best to keep him still and stable, but there was only so much that could be done with how fast Shoji needed to run.

"Thank you for not abandoning us to our fate." Tokoyami said seriously. He'd never thought their 'out of control' state could be used as an advantage, but Midoriya had found a way. Tokoyami wondered if he'd ever reach a point where he could wield that level of power while staying in control.

Midoriya cried out for Bakugo, which seemed to break him out of his shock. Shoji yelled for them to make light to get Tokoyami back under control. They started to get ready to do that, but stopped when Moonfish started to get back up. He declared that only he was allowed to get a 'cross section' of the kids and attacked Dark Shadow. The quirk told him not to beg, then proceeded to break his teeth off and slam his body into a tree.

Sato let out a low whistle. "Wow, and here I thought Todoroki was the classmate with the best intimidation skills."

"U-um, I think this is a little more than just intimidation..." Koda pointed out.

Many students cringed back at the words 'cross section'. The others found themselves staring once again, caught between wanting to celebrate the villain's defeat and being worried about what Dark Shadow might do now that their classmates were the next available targets.

Thankfully, the students didn't have to worry about that for long. Though Dark Shadow was quick to rear back up, Todoroki and Bakugo both ran by right away, using their quirks to create light. Once they did that, Tokoyami was able to make Dark Shadow settle. Tokoyami thanked them for saving him. Midoriya said he'd done a good job letting go and not fighting Dark Shadow, just like Midoriya had asked.

Tokoyami nodded to himself. At that point, letting go and not fighting would have been a harder choice to make than continuing to do so, since it would mean relinquishing the last bit of control he had.

The atmosphere in the room relaxed a bit, now that the creepy villain was taken out, and Dark Shadow was no longer a danger to the students.

Tokoyami apologized once again, saying that he allowed his anger to overwhelm him and let Dark Shadow take over and hurt them. Shoji was quick to forgive him, saying they could leave that for later. Midoriya smiled at him warmly.

"I am grateful to have friends such as you." Tokoyami bowed his head in gratitude.

"You'd do the same for us." Shoji said.

Then Midoriya got to the chase by telling Tokoyami about how they now knew Bakugo was one of the villains' targets. They went back and forth, making plans to escort Bakugo back to camp. They decided to cut through the forest to avoid the fight happening where the WWP were, and Midoriya came up with ways for each member to help with any villains they might meet. Bakugo kept looking back and forth between the two talking with a dumbfounded expression. Midoriya declared that with them working as a group, they might even be able to take on All Might.

"Your plan seems sound, especially considering how quickly it was put together. However, I think that last estimate may be a stretch given your current condition." Iida pointed out.

"Yeah, that kinda sounds like the endorphins talking." Tsuyu agreed.

Midoriya just shrugged. He didn't disagree with them. He didn't know how his other self was feeling, since he didn't have access to that adrenaline high, but his current self didn't feel like he could take on All Might at all. He felt more like he did after he'd already taken on All Might.

"You okay man?" Kirishima asked, looking between the real Bakugo and the one on screen. He was concerned both for the other Bakugo's silence, and for the seething the real one was doing.

"Peachy." Bakugo grumbled. 'Say something damn it! You already had to be saved, don't let them just talk over you and decide everything!' he internally yelled at himself.

Bakugo suddenly found his voice and started yelling at them, asking what they were going on about and saying not to protect him. The others ignored him and Todoroki just told him to walk in the middle of the group, which just made him yell more.

"If you have to yell at them could you wait until you get back to camp? You're gonna attract more villains if you keep this up." Jirou scolded.

"Shut it, we haven't even seen you in all this mess!" Bakugo argued back.

Jirou glared at him.

Midoriya made a wish that everyone would get back safely. Just after this, the scene changed to '5 minutes earlier', and showed Uraraka standing in the woods with a cut on her arm. She and Tsuyu were facing down Toga.

Midoriya's hand had started to relax when he wasn't on screen, since he wasn't in pain anymore. But when he saw Uraraka on screen, and heard her small gasp of pain, it tightened again. The pressure distracted Uraraka from the pain of the minor injury, and made her look up at him. Seeing the worry in his gaze, she couldn't help but smile reassuringly in return.

"I'll be fine." If Midoriya could still go out trying to save people after everything that had happened with Muscular, then she could take whatever Toga could throw at her.

Tsuyu moved a little closer. Feeling more reassured, Uraraka smiled at her too. It wasn't like she'd be fighting this villain alone after all.

Toga looked at the blade and lamented the fact that she hadn't gotten much blood. Tsuyu demanded to know who she was. Toga gave her name, then called the girls by their names while saying they were cute. Uraraka was surprised by that and Tsuyu figured she knew due to the
Sports Festival, and realized that meant they were at a disadvantage because Toga knew what they could do but they didn't know anything about her.

Uraraka was happy she'd gotten paired up with Tsuyu like this. Just like at the USJ, she was once again showing how level headed she could stay in the face of danger.

"'Cute' feels dirty when she says it, kero."

Some of the students were beginning to wonder if they should opt out of competing in the Sports Festival this year. They would have two more years to attract internships after all, and the less the League knew about them the better. Hopefully the League wouldn't be as much of problem in their second and third years, not if the information gained here was put to good use.

Toga complained about blood again, and brought out a device that she could stick into someone to drain blood out of them.

The teachers made a note of the device. They didn't know if the support item had been provided by the League or if Toga had managed to get it herself somehow. Either way, if they watched places that sold such items, or the components used to make them, then it could lead them to either Toga or the League.

Toga rushed at them. Tsuyu grabbed Uraraka with her tongue and threw her away, telling her to run. Uraraka urged her to come too, and she was about to do so, but was stopped by Toga, who slashed at her and cut her tongue.

"Ack!" Tsuyu let out a yelp and put her hands over her mouth, like that would protect her from further harm.

Uraraka put her free arm around Tsuyu's shoulders to offer her some comfort. She hoped her other self hurried back to help Tsuyu get away, or fight Toga off, whichever was necessary.

Toga picked up on how Uraraka had called her friend 'Tsu' and declared it cute and said she'd use it too.

"No! You don't get to call her that! You have no right!" Hagakure hissed.

Tsuyu nodded vigorously in agreement. She hated the sound of the friendly nickname coming from the villain's lips.

Tsuyu told her that name was only for friends and future friends. Tsuyu dodged when Toga went for her again, but Toga managed to pin Tsuyu to a tree by her hair using one of her needles. Toga gleefully declared that meant they were friends then!

"That's not how that works!" Ashido argued.

Tsuyu let out a small 'mmph!' when she was pinned. Her tongue still hurt, and now she could feel her other self's hair being pulled, and all of her weight being supported by her head and neck. It was not a pleasant sensation.

More students were starting to get nervous now. Many hadn't been before, because Tsuyu and Uraraka were both very capable, and Toga hadn't seemed nearly as threatening as the other villains they'd seen at the attack. She was definitely creepy, but nowhere near as threatening as Moonfish or Muscular or Dabi had seemed. Now they were beginning to wonder if they'd underestimated Toga.

Uraraka was shown running back, yelling at Toga to get away from Tsuyu. Toga pressed up against Tsuyu, and started practically drooling over the blood Tsuyu had on her.

Once again, people instinctively leaned away from screen in the face of Toga's creepy obsessiveness. Tsuyu huddled a little closer to Uraraka, which allowed Uraraka to hold her closer and Iida to give her a comforting pat.

"You can do it Uraraka, show this crazy girl what a real friend is like!" Hagakure urged.

Uraraka got closer, and Toga turned to lunge at her. In that moment, Uraraka's training with Gunhead came back to her, and she executed a swift take down that ended up with Toga face down on the ground while Uraraka pinned her limbs.

The move made the students burst out with cheers.

"That was awesome!"

"Go Uraraka!"

"Can we learn more hand to hand combat in class? I wanna know how to do that!"

Uraraka blushed at the onslaught of praise. Midoriya squeezed her hand, and she looked up to see him doing his best to smile around the gag. She smiled back at him and squeezed his hand in return.

"Thanks for rescuing me. Maybe I should have just let you take care of it from the start." Tsuyu admitted. Uraraka smiled and waved it off.

"Well, you might not have known how much I trained in that sort of thing with Gunhead. Besides, having more time to prepare myself for a fight probably helped, and you sort of distracted her too. So I'd call that teamwork!"

Tsuyu complimented Uraraka, and Uraraka asked Tsuyu if she could restrain Toga's hands with her tongue. Tsuyu asked for a minute, since her tongue still hurt. Toga managed to look at Uraraka, and complimented her too. Toga said Uraraka had the same smell as her.

"Hmph, I doubt you are as elegant as our Uraraka, be it in smell or anything else." Aoyama protested.

Todoroki frowned in confusion. "Do they both use the same shampoo?"

"Who knows." Jirou said. "Maybe once you get her better restrained you could find something to gag her with. That would probably make taking her back to camp more bearable."

Toga said that there was someone she liked, and wanted to be like. Uraraka thought about how she looked up to Deku, and Toga said Uraraka was a maiden like her. Uraraka became more and more disturbed at Toga went on. Toga gushed about how it was natural to like someone so much you started dressing the same as them and wanting to be them. Toga thought of Stain, and said her type was people who were beat up and smelled of blood. That's why she cut them up! Was Uraraka having fun? It was fun to talk about crushes together.

By this point, many of those watching had drawn back so far that they were pressing themselves into the backs of the couches, like they were trying to disappear into the furniture.

"I am not having fun! And it doesn't count as talking together when I haven't said anything!" Uraraka seethed. "And I'm most definitely not trying to- to- become a clone of Deku or something! Admiring someone isn't the same as-"

Iida lay a soothing hand on Uraraka's shoulder. "It is alright Uraraka, I'm sure none of us believe what Toga is saying applies to you."

"Yeah, if admiring Midoriya made you dress like him then most of us would have started dressing like him by now." Tsuyu pointed out.

"Thank goodness we don't. I'm not sure my fashion sensibilities could handle our whole class walking around in shirts that say 'shirt' on them." Aoyama said.

That earned him a wave of giggles. Midoriya looked mildly offended at the insult to his clothing choices, and Yagi gave him a conciliatory pat on the head.

"Is...is this what I sounded like when I talked about girls before?" Mineta asked.

Kaminari grimaced. "Maybe not quite that bad, but probably a bit yeah. Different words but similar vibe."

Mineta looked down at his hands in dawning horror. He'd started to understand why his past and other self's behavior was bad, but this made him actually empathize with how some girls must have felt while talking to him before. Suddenly the reactions he'd gotten in the past made so much more sense.

Suddenly, Toga twisted her hand around enough to jab the needle of her blood pump into Uraraka's leg. The device pumped blood out of her body. Uraraka could only tighten her grip in response to the pain.

"Ow!" Uraraka yelped as the needle went in. "ow ow ow!" 'This hurts way worse than any vaccine I've ever gotten!'

"Can't she stop her?" Sero asked.

"She could try, but if she moves around too much now she could give Toga a chance to break free, especially since she's new to hand to hand combat." Ojiro explained.

Midoriya's mind started going a mile a minute. They still didn't really know what Toga's quirk was, so what would Toga getting Uraraka's blood mean for her? Did she admire Stain because their quirks were similar? Would Toga be able to hurt Uraraka in some way once she had her blood? His hand tightened around hers as his worries increased.

Suddenly, Midoriya's group was there.

And now Midoriya was gripping her hand from both pain and worry.

Uraraka and Tsuyu looked at them, and Toga used the moment of distraction to throw Uraraka off of her. Toga said there were too many people now, and she started to run away. As she did, she caught sight of Midoriya and fixated on him as she fled. Uraraka wanted to go after her, but Tsuyu held her back, reminding her they don't even know her quirk.

Bakugo swore when Toga was shown looking at Midoriya.

"Bro? What's up?"

"You remember what the vampire chick said about people she likes?" Bakugo asked. "Of all the people in that group, nobody's beat up more than Deku right now."

"Oh...OH."

"So after one encounter where he doesn't even talk to her Midoriya's got another villain that's gonna be scarily obsessed with him?" Ojiro asked.

"Seems like his luck." Sato said.

Yagi couldn't help but face palm. Midoriya kept his mind focused on trying to figure out more about Toga's quirk to avoid thinking about anything else related to her, plus it was a good distraction from the pain. Uraraka stared at the screen with a level of vitriol that she'd previously reserved for Shigaraki.

Once Toga was gone the two groups quickly caught up with each other. Midoriya expressed worry over Uraraka being injured, but she brushed it off and was much more concerned with how injured he was. Shoji pointed out that this wasn't the time to stand around talking. Midoriya said he was just glad she was okay.

Ashido and Aoyama sent each other devious smiles at how clearly Uraraka and Midoriya were shown to be worrying over each other.

Uraraka would probably have been embarrassed if she saw the looks between those two, but she couldn't see them from her place on the floor. So instead she just sighed and patted Midoriya's hand.

"My injuries are minor, worry a little more for yourself for once." Though she'd be lying if she said she wasn't worried about what Toga might do with the blood she got.

"Honestly, I'm pretty sure if Midoriya focuses on his injuries too much, it will make him pass out." Todoroki said.

Midoriya urged Uraraka and Tsuyu to come with them, explaining that they were escorting Bakugo back to camp. Tsuyu and Uraraka looked confused, and asked where Bakugo was then. Midoriya started to say he was right behind them, only to turn and see no one was there.

"Huh?"

"What happened?"

"I didn't see him or Tokoyami earlier, but I thought they were just off screen or something!"

"Dude, you didn't run off to fight a villain or something did you?" Sero asked.

"How should I know, dumbass?" Bakugo barked back. He glared at the screen when he was done yelling. He was pretty sure he wouldn't have done that, not without making a bunch of noise at least, which would have clued in the others. So where had he and Bird Brain gone?

Dread filled Midoriya when he saw the empty path. Then a voice chimed in from above them, and they looked up to see someone standing on a high tree branch with a light blue marble in his hands. He said he'd taken Bakugo and was going to bring him to a stage where he could shine better.

"The way the camera is focusing on that marble...you don't think..." Mineta began warily.

"Bakugo's been turned into a marble?!" Kaminari practically screeched.

"What the hell? Where does this top hat idiot get off?!" Bakugo yelled.

"Indeed, our stage allows for much more brilliance than any that could belong to the villains!"

"Not the point shitty sparkles!"

While the others argued, Midoriya was caught between anger at Bakugo being captured despite their efforts, and fascination with the potential of such a quirk. If the man could truly turn people into marbles, and then put them back to normal without hurting them, he would have been a natural at rescue work. No need to worry about jostling broken bones or being unable to get someone free if you could do that. Plus it would work great for capturing villains without them getting hurt too bad either.

Midoriya yelled at the villain to give Bakugo back. The villain sniped back that Bakugo doesn't belong to anyone.

"That means he doesn't belong to you either you jerk! Kidnapping someone like that is so unmanly!" Kirishima yelled.

Todoroki tried to trap the villain in ice, but he jumped away. He called down that he was only trying to show Bakugo that there was more than one path available to him. He said kids these days were forced to choose their path in life based on their values.

"Haven't values always played a big part in what you choose to do with your life?" Momo asked. "I mean, I know the circumstance of one's life can severely limit one's options, and that society can pressure someone into making certain choices, but that's being forced by the world around you, not by your values. Isn't being able to choose what you do based on your own values a good thing?"

"He might just be saying things to confuse us. I kind of wondered if Toga might just be saying things to freak us out too. Maybe we should just stop listening when villains talk." Tsuyu suggested.

"That might be for the best."

Yagi thought about what the man said, and thought that the first point did hold some water. This viewing gave the impression that some villains would not have chosen that path if more options were readily available to them, especially when it came to using their quirks. Still, he was fairly certain young Bakugo knew that being a villain was an option for him, it was just never one he'd had any interest in considering, much less pursuing.

It suddenly hit the group that Tokoyami was missing too. Todoroki wondered what kind of quirk could allow him to grab two of their most powerful classmates without a sound. Todoroki accused the villain of underestimating them by sticking around to talk. The villains said it was a bad habit leftover from his time as an entertainer. Taking Tokoyami was just improvisation.

"Why on earth would a man with such a unique quirk, and a line of work that allowed him to use it, turn to villainy in this way?" Iida wondered.

"Maybe he lost his job and couldn't find another one." Sato said. "Or maybe his job didn't actually let him use his quirk and he wants to do that. Or it could be something else entirely, who knows?"

"I'm sorry. I should have figured out you were gone sooner." Shoji apologized.

"You senses are likely less attuned than normal due to having to support Midoriya, and the villain seems to be quite skilled. I do not blame you." Tokoyami said, ignoring the way Dark Shadow was pouting. Apparently he wanted to be taken because he was a threat, not just on a whim, and was also insulted at being contained in such a way.

The villain explained about Moonfish being on death row, and how he decided to take Tokoyami after seeing the boy take down Moonfish so viciously.

This had the affect of making Dark Shadow feel better and Tokoyami feel worse. Dark Shadow was happy to have his power recognized, while Tokoyami felt distressed that he'd lost so much control that a villain took interest in him like that. Dark Shadow was still angry that the villain was containing him though, which is something he only rarely felt towards Tokoyami's efforts to keep him under control. That was somewhat mollifying.

Todoroki handed off the 1B boy he was holding to Uraraka and created a giant glacier to try trapping the villain again. The villain still managed to get out of the way though, and called out that tricks and running away were the only things he could really do.

The shameless admission startled a few giggles out of the students.

"At least he's honest about his abilities." Ojiro said.

Bakugo seethed over the fact that someone like this had somehow managed to get the drop on him.

The villain used an earpiece to contact the rest of the League members, telling them he'd gotten the target and to meet him back at the agreed on rendezvous point. The group of students gave chase as the villain leaped through the trees.

Students and teachers both stared intently at the screen. The students crossed their fingers or silently wished for their classmates to catch up and get Bakugo and Tokoyami back before more villains could arrive. The teachers cursed the fact that it was once again the kids that were left dealing with a big part of the attack, despite their best efforts.

The scene changed to Twice and Dabi making their way through the woods. Twice went back and forth between praising Mr Compress and saying he took too long, while Dabi said that the man had done a good job. As the two villains continued to talk, Aoyama was shown to be hiding in some nearby bushes. A brief flashback showed that Momo had gone off to help the other students and told him to get Jirou and Hagakure, who were knocked out from the gas, back to the camp. Now that the gas had dissipated, Aoyama thought he could risk moving.

"If the place you were in was mostly clear of the gas and sheltered from sight, hunkering down there for a while wasn't a bad idea." Aizawa said. "Your strength isn't especially high, so moving with two unresponsive people would be difficult, and make it hard to react quickly if you met any villains along the way, or if the gas got thicker unexpectedly. Staying put until conditions became more favorable was a smart choice."

"Thank you sir." Aoyama said, without his usual flair. He was scared. Scared that he'd just stayed their out of cowardice rather than thinking it through like that, and also scared that the two villains would discover them, and he'd be unable to protect his classmates. 'Or worse yet, what if the villains recognize me?' No. He couldn't think about that. He'd done so well at not thinking about it before, at trying to forget that he...

Aoyama peaked out of his hiding place, to see if it was safe yet, and saw Dabi looking in his direction. He quickly ducked back and put his hands over his mouth to stifle any sounds he might make. Dabi started walking toward their hiding spot, but stopped when Twice called out to him. Twice asked if he should call the Noumu thing too, since it only listened to Dabi's voice.

Tension rose in the room with every step Dabi took towards Aoyama, and was let out in sighs of relief when Twice grabbed Dabi's attention. Those sighs turned into gasps when Twice mentioned the Noumu.

"Fuck! They have a Noumu here too? Where the hell has it been?!" Bakugo demanded.

"Do you think...Ragdoll?" Koda whispered fearfully.

The idea made people cringe. There had been a lot of blood on the desk Ragdoll was supposed to be manning. A Noumu could easily be responsible for that.

Aizawa's fist clenched, pulling the material around his elbow tight. He sincerely hoped that a Noumu hadn't attacked the main camp after he ran off. Even if Vlad was there and the students were capable, that could end in disaster.

"Aoyama, I'd recommend keeping your eyes open and getting ready to make an attack if something like that happens again." Mic said. Aoyama could have also run off as a decoy, but that might not have been the best idea given how unfamiliar he was with the forest. With all the chaos going on, they would have a hard time finding Jirou and Hagakure before they were stumbled upon by another villain, or the fire reached them.

"Y-yes sir, I'll try to remember that."

"Thanks for sticking with us." Jirou said, uncharacteristically somber. She'd been holding her breath while Dabi walked closer, cursing the fact that she'd been taken out so early and was now completely helpless.

"Yeah, you did what you could to keep us safe, so thank you." Hagakure added.

Aoyama bowed his head. "You're thanks are quite unnecessary, but very appreciated." 'Especially since I just froze after seeing Dabi, especially after all I did was hide, just like at the USJ. Especially since I'm part of the reason this is happening.'' Had he been recognized? Was that why Dabi had really stopped?

Dabi thought about the Noumu Shigaraki had given him, and said it had probably killed someone by now. The scene changed to another part of the forest. A green skinned Noumu was charging through the trees, holding something yellow and blood stained in its hand. The 1B boy, Awase, was running away from it, and dragging a bloodied Momo along with him.

"What the.. was that a chainsaw?!"

"I thought I saw a drill too."

"What the heck are they putting in these things?!"

"Momo!" Jirou cried, when the girl beside her swayed. Jirou grabbed Momo's shoulders to hold her steady.

"My head hurts..." she mumbled.

Aizawa cursed under his breath. This wasn't what he'd been fearing, but it wasn't much better. Vlad and the other students together may have stood a chance, but two students alone? There's no way they could fight off a Noumu as powerful as the ones they'd seen before, especially not with one of them so injured.

The boy begged Momo to start running because the Noumu was gaining on them. Momo mumbled an apology and said she was fine, but made no move to get onto her own feet. Her thoughts revealed she'd been knocked out at some point. A moment later, the Noumu caught up with them. Drills and saws descended on them. Awase could only try to shield Momo with his own body.

Students and teachers alike were on the edge of their seats. Jirou's steadying hands now held her friend in a tight hug, afraid that she was about to see her die. Momo hugged her back, knowing that was a very real possibility.

Awase shielded Momo...but after a few long moments nothing happened. The boy looked up to see the Noumu drawing it's weapons back and walking off.

The relief upon seeing the Noumu leave was palpable, as was the confusion.

"Why would it just leave like that? It was about to..." Mineta trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.

"Dabi and Twice had just been talking about it, and how it listens to Dabi, so maybe Dabi happened to call it back just in time." Mic theorized. He wondered about Dabi's place in all this. He seemed to have no problems going against the pros and putting the camp in general danger, yet when he seemed to see Aoyama he didn't try to hurt him. His actions also kept Awase and Yoayorozu from getting killed, though that might not have been intentional.

"I don't care at this point, I'm just glad its leaving." Hagakure said.

"That Awase boy was pretty heroic though, doing everything he could to help our Yoamomo." Ashido noted. "We should try reaching out to 1B sooner when we get back, because they seem pretty cool. Except for Monoma, I mean."

"Yoayorozu and I have talked about that possibility, and this makes me even more determined to see that become reality." Iida declared.

Momo just nodded in agreement. Her head still hurt from her other self being on screen, and she didn't feel like she had the energy to say anything. The tight hug she was sharing with Jirou had become a loose embrace after the danger had passed, but she was still glad for her friend's support. Whatever head injury her other self had was making her feel dizzy.

Awase also wondered why the Noumu was leaving. Momo thought that it meant the mission was finished, which meant Bakugo had been captured. She urged herself to think of the worst case scenario, and what she could do to respond to it. She made something in her hand, then gave it to Awase and told him to attach it to the Noumu. He was confused, but did as she said. When that was done, they both fled.

Momo's head cleared as her time on screen ended. She sat up, separating from Jirou as she did so.

"You feeling okay?"

"I am now, yes, thank you for your assistance." Momo said, smiling warmly at her friend. Jirou smiled back.

"No problem. Got any idea what you just made up there?" she said, gesturing to the screen.

"Given the circumstances, it is probably a tracking device. If Bakugo and Tokoyami truly end up being captured, it will be imperative that we learn where they are so a rescue can be organized."

Jirou gave a low whistle. "You know how to make a lot of stuff."

"It's impressive that you were able to think of that so quickly, especially with a head injury." Aizawa said, giving her a nod of approval.

"Yes, your analysis of the situation and quick response to it were admirable." Nedzu agreed.

"Thank you sirs!" she said, giving them both a bow. The small part of her that was still doubtful about her abilities reveled in the praise.

Back at the main area, Tiger was keeping Magne restrained while Mandalay did the same for Spinner. Spinner started ranting about how Stain would live again through him.

"Dude, he's not dead." Sero said. "I mean, I know he looked pretty dead when we last saw him, but he's not actually dead, he's just in prison."

Spinner went on to say that he needed to purge the degenerates and 'that glasses kid'.

"Should I be flattered that I hold such a special place on his hit list?" Iida asked wryly.

"I don't think it counts for much if he can't even remember your name." Tsuyu said.

"Honestly, I'm a bit insulted. He didn't mention me at all." Todoroki said. "He gives Midoriya a pass due to Stain's opinion of him, but I helped in sending Stain to prison too, and Stain didn't show any approval of me."

"That is kinda weird. I mean, I know it was covered up in the official report and stuff, but even if he doesn't know how involved you were, you were still there, and your dad is listed as the person who took him in." Uraraka pointed out.

Yagi could only shake his head at the turn the conversation had taken. Midoriya's eyes shone with amusement as he watched his friends.

A moment later, Kurogiri popped up in the main area, intent on getting Spinner and Magne out of there.

Bakugo scowled at the screen. He sorely wished he'd managed to keep a hold of the teleporting bastard at the USJ. If they'd managed to keep him, then the League wouldn't be able to weasel their way out of so much shit.

The scene changed back to the student group chasing after Mr. Compress and their captured classmates. The villain made a disparaging remark about the students as they failed to catch up to him. Midoriya was clearly in pain, but still said they had to get their classmates back no matter what.

The little group around Midoriya immediately went back into 'comfort mode' when the boy came back on screen. Given the sounds that managed to make their way around the towel in his mouth, Shoji's fast pace in attempts to catch the villain was not doing the other Midoriya's injuries any favors.

Despite his rough voice and even rougher condition, Midoriya came up with a plan. He told Uraraka to float them, Tsuyu to throw them, Shoji to aim them, and for Uraraka to release them again when the distance looked right. Uraraka worriedly asked if Deku was really going to move like that in his condition. Todoroki tried to get Midoriya to stay behind, but Midoriya insisted he didn't feel any pain, and that they needed to hurry.

"Midoriya, the fact that you aren't feeling any pain is actually more concerning than the alternative." Iida said, some exasperation leaking into his voice. His friend's dedication to doing everything he could to save others was admirable, he just wished it didn't result in his friend getting so badly hurt.

"You need to look after yourself too, my boy. I understand your drive to push yourself to save others better than anyone, but I also know how devastating it is to have a permanent injury take some of that ability away from you, which is what you risk by pushing yourself to this extent." Yagi said.

"Shoji and I are strong, and Uraraka could come with us in your place to better judge when to release her own quirk." Todoroki pointed out.

"Yeah, I could do that, my injuries are only minor." Uraraka agreed.

Midoriya listened, despite the pain. He nodded, conceding that they may have a point. Uraraka would get nauseous floating herself though, and that could cause problems in other ways. For some reason, his own injuries causing problems didn't seem to enter into his equations.

"No matter how many times I see it, it will always impress me how Midoriya can come up with plans of the fly like that." Shoji admitted.

"Tell me about it, Midoriya's brain is something else." Sato agreed.

Despite their worries, the other agreed to the plan. Uraraka ripped her shirt to make splints for Midoriya's arms, then used her quirk as ordered. Tsuyu sent them flying, and the group yelled as they hurtled forward and crashed into Mr. Compress.

Tsuyu yelped when her other self used her tongue to throw the three boys.

Uraraka felt grateful that her other self had thought of a way to help Deku keep from getting further injured. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, especially since Shoji needed to use his arms to aim and couldn't keep Deku still anymore.

Pretty much everyone crossed their fingers, or made other hopeful wishes or lucky signs, that this would be enough to stop the villain from running off with their classmates.

The scene changed to the other villains meeting up. Dabi asked Toga if she'd gotten any blood. She said she got one person's blood. Twice dramatically pointed out that she was supposed to get at least three people's blood, then asked why she was so happy. Toga dreamily said she'd made some friends and met a boy she was interested in.

"No, no you did not. No friendships were made tonight!" Hagakure denied.

"I believe some bonds were forged between members of class 1A and 1B." Tokoyami said.

"...okay, some friendships were made tonight, but no friendships were made with her!"

Uraraka was once again glaring at Toga.

"Soooo..." Mic slowly drew out the word "is anyone else concerned about the fact that she was supposed to get blood from several different people?"

"Oh yes, definitely." Recovery Girl said. Being in the medical profession lead her to meet a lot of different people with blood related quirks, and she didn't like the idea of a villain possibly having quirks similar to the ones she was familiar with.

Aizawa just nodded tersely.

Twice went through a sequence of wondering if the boy was him and offering and then taking it back.

"You're way to old for her, don't make this whole things creepier than it already is." Kirishima said with a scowl.

Dabi told them they were too loud, then looked up when he heard another noise. A moment later, Mr. Compress, and the three boys flung after him, all crashed to the ground in front of the other villains.

"Oh son of a-"

"Seriously?!"

Twice first said he recognized the boys, then asked who they were. Then the episode ended.

Despite the fact that their classmates were now in even more trouble than they were before, the quick contradiction still made a few people laugh.

"I'm beginning to think you have a real point about Midoriya's luck." Kirishima said. Bakugo grunted.

"Told ya."

"Though, considering you're a marble right now, yours isn't much better."

"Shut it!"

The strangely amusing ending didn't stop people from worrying about what would happen next. There were three students against three villains right now, which would become four as soon as Mr Compress recovered. They didn't know how good at fighting Twice was, but Dabi was shown to have a powerful quirk, and Twice could make copies of him. Toga didn't seem especially strong so far, but was skilled in other ways, and any further interaction between her and Midoriya was something they wanted to avoid. Hell, Midoriya was so injured that him fighting anyone was something they wanted to avoid. More importantly, this was the meeting place all the villains would come too. Even if there were only a few villains here now, more would be coming later. Could these three manage to steal back their classmates before the others came?


Nedzu called for a break again. Midoriya needed it, no one could argue that, though the others didn't like having to stew in their worries in the mean time.

As usual, Midoriya wasn't letting the memory of aches and pains hold him back. While Recovery Girl and his friends had convinced him to keep laying down on the couch, he'd still persuaded Tokoyami to come over. While the break went on, the two of them talked about Dark Shadows abilities and how the two of them worked together.


While Bakugo aggressively attacked some mess left in the kitchen in an attempt to reign in his frustration, the other students talked about the situation.

"I really hope that, if Bakugo and Tokoyami are marbles right now, that they aren't aware of anything." Sero said. "Like, I hope everything went black when it happened."

Ashido nodded along to what he was saying "Yeah, I mean, being held in a villain's hand, and stuffed in his pocket and stuff? I'd much rather sleep through that, especially if I can't do anything about it either way."

"You think that's maybe why that Compress guy turned to villainy?" Kaminari asked.

"What do you mean?" Kirishima asked.

"Well, people kept calling Shinsou a villain because of his quirk right? Because they were scared of what he could do. If people found out that Compress could use his quirk on people, then maybe he got bullied for the same reason."

"I guess that would make sense. I mean, we were just talking about how scary it would be to be trapped by his quirk, so I can get why people would be scared of that and make him think villainy was something he was destined for. Doesn't make it okay that he actually did it though. Especially...I mean, I just keep thinking: what happens if we get the marbles back but Mr. Compress gets away? Will Bakugo and Tokoyami be stuck as marbles until we do catch him? Would that be safe for them? Would they be okay?"

No one had an answer for Kirishima, and that made their fear and worry all the worse.


Aoyama observed everything throughout the room, from Midoriya's exhaustion to the discussions of the others, to the sounds coming from the kitchen.

He didn't say anything, too lost in his own head. This was the first time since this whole thing started that he'd seen something that might have to do with his 'situation'. Well, something new at least, the USJ had already happened.

He'd tried not to think about the possibility that this 'show' would reveal what he'd done. He knew that was a possibility, and a part of him had even wanted it to happen. He didn't like being in the position he was in, didn't like having to worry about his parents all the time. If things got out in a way that was out of his control...then it would all be over right? But he was also terrified because the change might not be a good one. It would change how his teachers and friends saw him, even if they decided that the threats to himself and his family made his actions forgivable. If they decided it didn't, then he'd end up in jail, or worse.

He agreed to secrets being revealed. He knew that his might get out as a result. He'd agreed to it anyway, because he wanted to save people, not hurt people. Plus, he'd held out some hope that maybe he'd learn something that would get him and his family out of this whole mess. Yet a number of discussions had happened about the UA traitor, and nothing had been shown connecting it to him. How long would it take? When would this build up be over? Should he confess before it happened? Throw himself at the mercy of his peers and the pros?

Things were so much easier when he managed to distract himself. When he let himself be caught up in the story of the others, or in encouraging matches between his classmates. Those were so much nicer and safer things to focus on.

But he couldn't shove his head in the sand forever. It looked like he'd gotten spotted by Dabi, but left alone. One instance was easy to dismiss, but what if more started to crop up now? He needed to think of something, needed to make a decision.

He failed to do so before the break was over.


A.N.

Toga makes me think of a female version of the song "I'm just a boy in love" from this TV show called 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend'. Never seen the show, but I've heard the song in an AMV. Very short, but delightfully bouncy.

Solo:

I'm just a boy in love!

I can't be held responsible for my actions!

I have no underlying issues to address.

I'm certifiably cute

and adorably obsessed!

Chorus:

they say love makes you crazy

therefore you can't call him crazy

cuz if you call him 'crazy'

you're just calling him 'in love!'.