The episode started with the continuing of UA's press conference. A reporter asked Aizawa why he'd 'encouraged the students to fight'.

A number of students couldn't help but laugh at that. Aizawa? Encourage them to fight? That was about as likely as him not taking a single nap throughout the day!

Aizawa said he gave the students his permission in order to avoid the worst possible outcome. The reporter asked if he wouldn't call the current situation the worst possible outcome.

"Uh, of course it's not the worst outcome!" Hagakure protested. Ashido nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yeah, duh dude. I mean, it was a full on surprise villain attack. If nobody died, then of course it could be worse!"

"They just want to hear me say that." Aizawa grumbled. "They want to see me admit that fatalities or more injuries was a possibility."

And Aizawa did just that, saying that the worst outcome would have been students being killed due to having their options taken away. Nedzu explained that most of the injuries were due to the gas attack, which the 1B students cut off early. He said there were no serious injuries from the attack, and that UA was providing mental care to the students. So far there were no signs of serious psychological trauma though.

"Sir? What do you mean there were no serious injuries? Even if the students knocked out from the gas regain consciousness with no issues, I'd say Midoriya's injuries were pretty serious. Plus Shoji lost an arm." Momo pointed out.

"I likely am not counting them in this instance, since I was talking about 'the majority' of the students and the gas attack specifically. Midoriya and Shoji are only two students, and were hurt by something other than the gas." Nedzu smiled slightly. "Given his tone, this reporter may be one of those that will interpret answers in the worst way possible, and specifically try to make the one he's speaking to look bad, so I don't have problem using exact wording to get around his intentions.

The reporter asked if Nedzu was trying to frame that as a 'bright spot'. Nedzu said they considered 'the worst outcome' to be one that damaged the future. The reporter then brought up Bakugo's kidnapping. He pointed out that Bakugo had shown a heroic side via his good grades and fighting back during the sludge villain incident, but that he also showed a violent and unstable side after he won the sports festival. Wasn't it possible that the villains took him because they wanted to take him down a dark path? If that was the case, what evidence did UA have that Bakugo had a future?

"What evidence do you have that he doesn't?!" Kirishima burst out. "You just said that he was known to be heroic too! You can't just throw all that out because he was on tape while freaking out one time!"

"I mean, he's been pretty bad in the past, we've seen that, but it's not like this guy would know about that. So, yeah, assuming he's gonna go to the dark side based off that one incident is kinda ridiculous." Jirou agreed.

"Kacchan would never become a villain." Midoriya said firmly.

Angry grumbles and agreeing comments filled the room, and many baleful looks were shot toward the reporter's image. The general consensus seemed to be that, while Bakugo had done some bad things on a more personal level (aka his actions toward Midoriya) that none of them believed he'd willing become an outright villain.

Bakugo had been about to demand what kind of bullshit that bastard was spouting, but had been beaten to the punch by Kirishima. Then he watched as the whole class seemed to agree that he wouldn't become a villain, no matter what he'd done in the past.

Kan thought to himself that the reporter was being too aggressive, and was likely trying to goad them. He begged Eraserhead not to fall for it as Aizawa stood up, looking very pissed off.

Then Aizawa bowed, and said he took responsibility for Bakugo's violent behavior. He went on to clarify that Bakugo's actions at the Festival came from what he considered 'ideal strength', and that he was trying harder than anyone to become a hero. If the villains took him for the reasons stated earlier, then they were being shortsighted.

"You tell 'em Mr. Aizawa!" Sero beamed.

"Yeah, don't be so quick to dismiss Bakugo or anyone else from our class!" Sato agreed.

Aizawa just nodded in satisfaction, glad he'd managed to speak up for his student without snapping at the reporter for his insinuations.

Bakugo's throat closed around any words he could have said. Because a part of him couldn't fault the reporter for what he said, for people being worried he might turn traitor. Because that was the part of him that, knowing the things he knew now and seeing the things he'd seen, could admit he'd done some shitty things in the past. He would never turn, he never doubted himself about that, but he could see how he could have become the wrong kind of hero. The kind like Endeavor, who was powerful and effective but deeply hurt the people around him.

Yet, despite seeing his past, his class, his teacher, and Midoriya the one he'd most wronged all believed he wouldn't become a villain. They probably disagreed on what kind of hero he'd be, but they all believed he'd be one.

How could he want to smile this much when his throat and chest were so tight?

The reporter said that he wasn't asking about Aizawa's feelings, he wanted to know if they had a concrete plan in place.

"Didn't sound like you were asking about that." Mineta grumbled.

Nedzu assured the reporter that UA was working with the police and would get their student back. The scene changed to show the villains' bar, with them and Bakugo watching the conference on TV. Bakugo grinned and agreed with Nedzu and Aizawa.

Aizawa felt torn between being heartened that Bakugo had heard his other self's words, and found comfort in them, and anxious about how Shigaraki would respond to Bakugo's outburst.

Bakugo yelled at the villains, and surveyed the room. He surmised that, since they saw him as someone important who might turn to their side, that they wouldn't seriously try to kill him. So he could take out a couple of people and then escape!

"Better make sure one of those people is Kurogiri, otherwise you're not going to get very far." Ojiro pointed out. Bakugo nodded.

"I know."

"I also wouldn't be so sure about them not killing you." Todoroki said. "Shigaraki can be very temperamental."

Bakugo huffed. "Yeah, I know that too."

Yagi's eyes flickered back and forth between the real Bakugo and the one on screen. There was a lot of damage you could live through, and not wanting to kill Bakugo might not stop them from hurting him if he got too ornery for their taste.

Bakugo declared that he was still working under permission to fight back! The villains all showed different opinions on how smart he was for saying that and being obvious about not being won over. Bakugo declared he wouldn't do something he didn't like, even if he was faking it. Throughout all this, Shigaraki was still staring at the hand laying on the ground.

The class and teachers themselves also had mixed opinions on how smart it was for Bakugo to be planning to break out like this while in the midst of so many villains. What they could all agree on was their growing tension over how fixated Shigaraki was on the hand Bakugo had knocked off.

Shigaraki started to move, and Kurogiri urged him to calm down, but the leader only lifted his hand to order the others not to touch Bakugo at all, saying he was valuable. While he placed the hand back on his face, he expressed regret that they hadn't come to an understanding like he'd hoped.

The collective heart rate in the room had skyrocketed when Shigaraki first moved, but they were left stunned when he didn't attack Bakugo at all. For a moment, the audience could only stare. A few even did so with their mouths open.

"Did...did Shigaraki just control his temper?" Jirou asked incredulously "Is he actually learning?"

"Nooooo! The worst kind of enemies are the ones that learn!" Ashido wailed.

"I don't know, hearing him talk so calmly after that is almost scarier than if he got mad." Uraraka said.

Izuku nodded. He didn't like the way Shigaraki was speaking right now, something about it put him on edge.

Bakugo declared there was no chance of that. Shigaraki said he they didn't have time for a leisurely discussion, and turned to a monitor behind him. All for One was shown, and Shigaraki asked his master to lend him his power. AfO smiled, and said Shigaraki had made a good decision.

"Wh-what does that mean? What is he gonna do?" Mineta demanded.

Bakugo recalled what Nedzu said about All for One and what he could potentially make Bakugo do. A low growl started in the back of his throat, and his grip on the arm of the couch almost tore the fabric.

"I think Uraraka was right, this is scarier than the stuff Shigaraki did before." Tsuyu said.

Yagi stared at the screen, one hand gripping the fabric of his shirt over the center of his scar.

Aoyama swallowed at the sight of the man who held his parents' lives over his head.

The scene changed to the Kamino ward, with Momo leading the group with her tracker. They looked around a corner at the building the signal was coming from. Kirishima commented that it definitely looked like a secret hide out.

"But it's not their hideout, right? I mean, that isn't the bar." Sato said.

"No, but she wasn't tracking any of the main villains." Shoji reminded him.

"Oh yeah, she put the tracker on the Noumu."

"Is that where all of them are kept then? Is that...if they go in there..." Koda fretted, and Tokoyami nodded gravely.

"I do not know if the beings can awaken when they are 'stored' as we've seen before, but if they can, our classmates will face foes they are not prepared to handle."

Todoroki, Izuku, Momo and Iida all looked at each other with various degrees of worry. Their other selves didn't know just how many Noumu had been made and stored all together, and wouldn't know to factor that into any plans.

"Relax guys, we've all agreed to keep it stealth, so I'm sure we won't wake any of them up." Kirishima said.

Momo said she didn't know if this was the hideout, she just knew her tracker hadn't moved from here for a day. She also pointed out that they couldn't know for sure if Bakugo was here or not, so they needed to approach this objectively. Iida also reminded them that if things seemed even a little dangerous, then he would insist they leave. He wouldn't hesitate to call the police if he had to. Midoriya thanked him.

Despite the serious situation, some people couldn't help but start laughing and giggling again when they saw the outfits the group was still wearing.

"Glad to see you don't have complete tunnel vision about this." Aizawa said, then turned to Iida and Momo. "And that the two of you are taking your pledge to keep everyone out of trouble seriously." He still would have preferred them not go at all, but he could at least be grateful that these two hadn't gotten sucked into the excitement so much that they forgot their promises. He was also glad Midoriya didn't begrudge what Iida was saying, the way Iida himself had done when Midoriya showed up to help him with Stain.

Midoriya started muttering to himself, trying a figure out a plan that didn't involve them using their quirks. Kirishima said it'd been a while since he'd seen this and Momo commented that it 'felt like Midoriya'.

Izuku blushed lightly at the scene. "Thanks guys."

"Huh? What for?" Kirishima asked.

Izuku just smiled at him and waved his hand to brush off the answer. He was still getting used to having friends and classmates that didn't take issue with his muttering. Some had at the start of the school year, but now Kirishima and Yoayorozu talked about it so casually. It was just really nice, and he was so thankful for it... but he didn't want to make a big deal about it. Things weren't about him right now, they were about seeing what would happen with Kacchan.

Iida, while not knowing the depths of his friend's emotions about this, still picked up on what he was thinking about, and lay a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Iida thought to himself that Midoriya was unstoppable once he put his mind to something. It's what he respected him for, as both a friend and a rival. He swore he'd protect Midoriya this time.

"You know you don't, uh, owe me anything right?" Midoriya asked.

"This is not about repaying a debt. Well, it's not only about that. Friendship must go both ways to be genuine, and so far you've done much more to protect me than I have to protect you, so now that the opportunity has presented itself, I will not fall short." Iida declared.

Tears welled up in Izuku's eyes. He allowed himself to relax a bit more, which let him lean into Iida's side, and Iida's arm ended up comfortably slung around his shoulders.

The scene changed to show the pro hero group that had been put together to go after Bakugo. Endeavor was saying he didn't get why he should have to clean up UA's mess.

"What the heck kind of logic is that?" Jirou asked. "It's your job to fight villains and to save people; what does it matter that UA is involved? Are the teachers here just never supposed to ask for help with anything?"

Todoroki scowled at the image of his father. 'Right, who cares about the people who keep threatening UA. Not like one of your kids spends a great amount of time there or anything...' Aloud he said "He's probably just mad that he has to share a mission with All Might. He knows he won't get as much of the spot light that way."

Best Jeanist told him to quiet down, and reminded Endeavor that he was UA alumni himself. Tsukauchki pointed out that they couldn't afford to bring more heroes away from UA, then turned to address the rest of the gathered group. He stressed to them how important this mission was. Best Jeanist mentioned that Bakugo had interned with him, and that he was a very stubborn person, so he was likely fighting back right now.

Bakugo was feeling that tightness in his chest and throat again, but this time it didn't stop him from grinning. He'd been thinking about interning with someone else once they left this place, considering what Best Jeanist did to his hair, but maybe sticking with him wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"Can we petition to make Best Jeanist go up in the rankings? He seems like a kind hero, and a feel like we should value that more." Ojiro said.

Gang Orca asked if Best Jeanist had been able to change him at all, and Jeanist said his pride was inflexible, even to the roots of his hair.

The reminder of the hair incident, and the giggles that followed, wiped the grin off of Bakugo's face. He was still considering interning there though. Best Jeanist's words may not have been the admiration he first thought it was, but the hero was still confident that he wouldn't become a villain. That still counted for something in his book.

The detective explained that the info gathered from the tracking device lead them to believe there were multiple hideouts. They would send the bulk of their force to where they knew Bakugo was, and send a smaller force to the other hide out location to limit the League's options for retreat and back up.

"Does that mean some of the pros are going to show up at the building our other selves found?" Izuku wondered aloud. Iida nodded.

"That sounds likely. Hopefully we won't get in the way of anything for them."

"Maybe it means we'll get a front row seat to the heroes taking down whoever is looking after the Noumus." Kirishima said excitedly.

"Only if we deem it to be a safe distance from the action." Momo reminded him.

Gran Torino asked All Might about his own presence there, and All Might confirmed that he was there in part because they believed this attack would cause All for One to make a move. Tsukauchi said they were in a race against time. He revealed that the principle's words at the press conference were meant to deceive any League members watching, so they wouldn't suspect that they would be attacked on the very same day!

While the screen showed the heroes getting into position for their attack, the excitement among the student body rose. They were eager to see the League taken off guard, as well as to get Bakugo back and to see some payback for the attacks the League put their class through.

The teachers watched warily though. Aizawa and Present Mic hoped that the heroes at the other location moved in quickly enough to keep their students out of it, and that the rescue was successful. Yagi, Nedzu, and Recovery Girl could only hope that the press conference would be enough of a smokescreen so that All for One would be taken off guard too. With Shigaraki directly appealing to his master, they needed all the head start they could get.

The scene changed to 'a few minutes earlier' and back with the group following the tracking device. They had gotten a bit closer to the building while pretending to make a selection from a vending machine. They looked over the building, wondering at how vacant it seemed, and Midoriya tried to think of what to do next. They couldn't enter carelessly after all.

"You shouldn't be thinking of entering at all." Aizawa grumbled. He knew it wouldn't change what was happening, but he couldn't help but worry over the students even thinking of trying to get in. Couldn't they satisfy their need to do something with an old school stake out? The kind where you watched things from a distance?

Midoriya was broken out of his thoughts when a couple of drunk guys passed by their group and started saying inappropriate things to Momo. Todoroki suggested they move away from there, while the others stood between her and the men.

Momo cleared her throat, and tried to hide the blush that resulted from her discomfort and embarrassment. "My apologies, I seem to have drawn attention to us."

"You have nothing to be sorry for! The drunken actions of others are not your responsibility!" Iida chopped his hand through the air.

"Yeah, they were the ones being unmanly!" Kirishima declared, and Todoroki nodded in agreement.

"Even if you'd chosen a different outfit, they would have still said something. That's just what some people are like."

"Y-yeah, and honestly that might have made us less suspicious! I mean, altercations like that are probably common in an area like that at that time of night right?" Izuku said.

Momo's blushed died down, and was replaced by a grateful smile.

The group decided to try approaching the building from the back, to see what they could find without arousing suspicion from anyone passing by. The group was shown squeezing between the building and it's neighbor, a space just big enough for them to sidestep into. Momo worried that she would get stuck.

'Do not make a comment about her chest. Do not. You are strong, you can resist.' Mineta told himself. He cast his mind out for something else to say. "I'm surprised Iida can fit in there."

"Oh yeah, he's gotta be the bulkiest one there. Not sure me or Shoji would fit in there at all." Sato said.

The group saw a window above them, and talked about whether or not they'd be able to see anything through it. Momo offered to make a night vision scope, but Kirishima revealed he'd brought one along with him. Midoriya commented on how expensive those were, but Kirishima dismissed it.

"Yeah, who cares about a little extra cost when we've got a classmate to save." Kirishima said.

"You aren't even at the right building." Bakugo pointed out.

"It's the thought that counts."

After some fumbling and negotiations, Midoriya got up on Todoroki's shoulders and Kirishima got onto Iida's. Kirishima looked around with the scope. At first he didn't see anything, then he suddenly drew back so fast he almost fell down. When asked what was wrong, he thrust the scope at Midoriya and told him to look in the back corner. He looked through, and quickly saw the tanks containing the Noumu. Izuku's eyes went wide and his voice shook when he realized what they were.

Everyone held their breath, or stared intently at the screen, hoping that none of their classmates would trip something that made the Noumu wake up, or alerted whoever might be guarding the creatures. Because surely someone must be guarding them, right? They wouldn't leave something like that just lying around with no supervision.

The scene changed back to Shigaraki at the bar, asking AfO to lend his power.

"I can't believe all of the stuff we've seen has been going on all at the same time." Hagakure said.

Bakugo demanded to know if Shigaraki wasn't actually the main boss. Shigaraki ignored him and told Kurogiri and Compress to make Bakugo sleep again. Bakugo taunted Compress as he stepped forward, but internally he was thinking about how he couldn't go full fire power with Kurogiri in the way. He desperately tried to think of a way to make an opening for himself.

Everyone was on the edge of their seats now. If all this stuff was happening at about the same time, didn't that mean the heroes were just about ready to bust in? Would they be able to find Bakugo if he was turned into a marble just before they did?

Even with the building tension, Aizawa was happy to see that Bakugo was actually thinking, and mainly using his bluster as a smokescreen. That could be an effective hero persona, if he cultivated it properly.

The building tension was suddenly cut short when there was a knock on the door, and a voice saying that there was a pizza for them.

For a moment, the students looked just as confused as the villains did. Then things clicked together for them, and the room dissolved into a laughing, giggling mess.

"Oh...oh my gosh did they just use the pizza man gag on them?" Sero wheezed.

"Who got the honor? I wanna know which hero got to say that line!" Kaminari managed to say through his own laughter.

"They all look so confused!" Kirishima said gleefully.

The wall opposite the door suddenly collapsed as All Might blew through it. Shigaraki called for Kurogiri to warp them, but Kamui Woods put a stop to that by using his binding move on him, along with a few other League members.

"He finally got to use that move he Mount Lady cut off back in the very beginning. Good for him." Tsuyu said.

Midoriya would have pointed out that Kamui Woods had likely used it a number of times since then, they just hadn't seen it, but he was too busy being enraptured by the fight.

Dabi activated his quirk to burn through the branches, but Gran Torino zipped in and knocked him out before he got that far. All Might declared that the League couldn't run anymore. "Why? Because we are here!"

The students burst into cheers and applause, some even jumped on their seats in excitement.

Compress was aghast that the heroes came so quickly, and asked if the conference and the attack were all prearranged.

"You bet it was baby!" Present Mic was caught up in the excitement, and used the voice he did on his talk show.

Pro hero Edgeshot was shown unfolding from the front door. He said that when one was on the offensive was when defense was the most neglected.

"Oh, did Edgeshot get the pizza line? That would be great!" Kaminari said.

While the students were getting lost in the attacks immediate success, Nedzu felt a bit of foreboding when Edgeshot said that line. UA and the pro heroes were now going all out on the offense after all, so did that mean that their own defense would be seen as neglected and subsequently taken advantage of?

Edgeshot revealed that the building was surrounded by police and pros, including Endeavor. Endeavor demanded to know why he was holding the perimeter while All Might got to go in. The detective said it was because Endeavor had a wider field of vision and would be better at spotting anyone who tried to flee.

Jirou snorted "Good to know Endeavor has his priorities straight. The hostage is fine, by the way, thanks for asking."

Todoroki couldn't help being a bit pleased at his old man's obvious ire.

All Might turned to Bakugo. He apologized, and said he must have been scared, but reassured him that things would be alright now. For a few moments, Bakugo looked like he was about to cry, then he got his usual scowl back and declared that he'd never been scared at all! All Might just gave him a thumbs up.

People chuckled good-naturedly at the obvious emotional cover up; the joy at the successful rescue was starting to mellow into warm relief.

"It's okay Bakubro! I'd have pissed myself if it were me, so you did great!" Kaminari admitted with no shame.

"Don't call me that! And I wasn't scared, that was just me being cautious!"

"No shame in being honest about your emotions, it's manly! But I can see the manliness in wanting to reassure everyone else that you're okay too." Kirishima said.

"Whatever." Bakugo rolled his eyes.

Not all of the watchers were so easily swayed by the current success though.

"We've yet to see any sign of All for One." Recovery Girl noted.

Yagi nodded tensely. Despite how hands off All for One had been handling the League so far, surely he wouldn't stand for them being defeated and arrested without a fight.

Shigaraki grumbled to himself about All Might, 'the last boss', coming here after he planned everything out so much. He suddenly called for Kurogiri to 'bring as many as you can over!'. All Might seemed to be suspecting that though. The scene suddenly changed to the building the 1A group was investigating. They saw a truck rise up outside the alley, which was revealed to be lifted by Mount Lady. She smashed it down into the building, and the resulting wind knocked the kids to the ground. The scene went back to Shigaraki, who looked around in confusion.

While other students laughed at Mount Lady's pose or Shigaraki's reaction, those in the investigating group looked at the scene with wide eyes.

"Wow...we're kinda lucky that we didn't just get crushed with debris or something, huh?" Kirishima said. Not that he had to worry much about that himself, but he didn't like thinking what might happen to the others.

"With the buildings so close together, I'm sure Mount Lady would do her best to keep the building from collapsing outward too much." Midoriya pointed out. "No hero wants to be known for excessive property damage."

"Still! It would be better for us to retreat and remove any possibility of getting caught in the line of fire!" Iida said.

"Right, right!" Izuku nodded vigorously.

All Might put an arm around Bakugo and started scolding Shigaraki. While he did so, images were shown of the raid on the Noumu hideout. Mount Lady picked one up, Tiger had found Ragdoll, Best Jeanist restrained everything with his threads. All Might's aura washed over the villains as he declared that this was the end!

This brought on another round of cheers from the students.

"Ah, thank goodness they found Ragdoll." Aoyama said with relief, and Koda nodded along in agreement. He'd been worried people would forget that Bakugo wasn't the only one missing after the Summer Camp attack.

Internally, Aoyama wondered if this might really be it. If it was, then maybe he never had to tell anyone anything. The heroes could use this knowledge of the future to take down All for One, and no one would be the wiser of what he had to do. Maybe he could stop worrying about his parents and become a real hero, just like he'd always wanted.

Shigaraki shakily stood up, all the while talking of how he would destroy their ideas of justice and peace. That's why he set All Might apart, why he gathered people to his cause. He was only just beginning! He called for Kurogiri again, but Edgeshot used his quirk to render Kurogiri unconscious.

"Ha! Take that!" Bakugo cried, more than a little vindictive at seeing one of the League's trump cards taken out so quickly and cleanly. Numerous classmates joined him, also glad to see that the League couldn't use him to escape.

Gran Torino then started listing off the names of the League members, much to their dismay, revealing that the police had been able to use their time and resources to uncover the identities of the League Members.

The teachers, as well as Midoriya, made sure memorize the names that they hadn't known before. If they could get any of these people put away before they had a chance to join the League, that would be all the better for them.

Todoroki frowned. Dabi was the only new League member that Gran Torino hadn't named. Did that mean even the police couldn't figure him out? How could that be when his look was so distinctive? Were the scars recent enough that they made him look too different from who he was before? Was that why he didn't fear going out without a mask?

Gran Torino asked Shigaraki where his boss was. That seemed to trigger something in the young man. The scene changed to show a young boy slumped on the ground. He had Shigaraki's exact same hair style and color. The voice of All for One was heard as a looming figure appeared. "No one came to save you, huh? It must have been hard, huh, Shimura Tenko?"

Among the murmurs of confusion and interest, Izuku heard a strangled noise come from the area where the teachers were sitting. He looked over, and his eyes went wide.

All Might looked absolutely stricken. Color had drained away from his face, making him look more like a skeleton than ever. His eyes were riveted to the screen, like he thought he'd lose something irreplaceable if he looked away for even a moment.

Izuku cast his mind around. What could have caused this? It seemed to happen when All for One said that name. What was it about the name? Wait...Shimura. He'd heard the name Shimura from All Might not long ago hadn't he? Because it was...it was the family name of the One for All holder before All Might. It was the name of his mentor.

If that was the case then did that mean that Shigaraki was actually...?

"Shimura..." All Might's voice was strained. "It can't be...he's...he should have been safe..."

Recovery Girl looked at the man next to her with growing concern. Yagi pressed a hand to his mouth, and she already had a towel in hand, ready to give to him.

"Shimura. That was the name of your mentor, wasn't it?" She asked lowly.

Yagi nodded slowly, like the movement pained him.

"So you think they are related?"

Yagi took in a shuddering breath, but said nothing.

All for one said that everyone had pretended not to see Tenko, because they told themselves a hero would deal with it. He insinuated it was the heroes' fault people thought like that. Then he extended a hand, and told Tenko that he hadn't done anything wrong. It was fine, and that he was here for Tenko.

"So, Shigaraki was groomed from a young age to see All for One as someone who cared for him and would help him where others wouldn't. If that's the case, it would make sense that he would be loyal to him." Momo mused.

"Does it count as grooming if it's true? I mean, from the sounds of it the kid was walking around looking for help but people ignored him, unless that was a part of his manipulation too." Ojiro said uncertainly.

"I sure hope it was, because who sees a kid that age looking for help and doesn't stop to ask them what's wrong or offer to call the police for help or something?" Asked Jirou. "That's just what you're supposed to do isn't it?"

Nedzu hummed, and took a sip from a tea cup everyone would have sworn wasn't there a moment ago. "It's hard to say. We know so little about what young Shigaraki was going through at the time; we don't know what kind of help he needed or why. I believe I theorized earlier that a quirk activation like his own could have hurt someone, and that could be the reason for the previous flashback we saw. If, at the time, Shigaraki looked like he was the cause of trouble rather than the one in trouble then it is possible those who saw him really did avoid him and waited for someone 'more qualified' to intercede."

Yagi looked a little more pained with every sentence spoken.

Young Shigaraki looked up at AfO reverently, then things switched back to the present. Shigaraki mumbled to himself, wishing those around him would disappear. All Might loudly demanded that Shigaraki answer him, and Shigaraki snapped and shouted 'I hate you!'. Just as he did, some kind of black liquid started gushing into existence in different parts of the room, and Noumus started to emerge from them.

Cries of dismay went up around the room.

"What?!"

"No!"

"But they captured the stored Noumus! We just saw the other group do that!"

"They must have had more stored elsewhere." Iida surmised grimly. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Uraraka asked

"Unless something has happened to the other group of pros while we were watching this one." Midoriya finished the thought.

Edgeshot confirmed that Kurogiri was still knocked out, so he wasn't controlling the portals. All Might ordered Kamui Woods to keep hold of the villains no matter what, but while he was looking away Bakugo suddenly vomited up the same black liquid. The liquid expanded and engulfed him. By the time All Might noticed and tried to grab him, Bakugo and the liquid vanished. All Might's cry of "Noooo!" seemed to shake the whole building.

Any noises of despair or frustration that might have come from the watchers were swallowed up by the cry of All Might on screen. That one shout seemed to covey every emotion they felt upon seeing Bakugo disappear after they were so close to getting him back, and they found themselves speechless in the face of it.

The exceptions to this were Bakugo himself, who'd just had to go through the feeling of puking up that black goop and was still dealing with the aftereffects, and Kirishima, who was trying to figure out how to comfort him without stepping on his fragile pride.

Kamui Woods tried to call for backup, but Endeavor and the police force were being attacked by Noumus as well. Tsukauchi called on his radio to ask Jeanist what had happened over on their side, but got no response.

A now familiar dread began to suffuse the room. Not only was Bakugo taken once again, but it was beginning to sound like their other wayward classmates were about to be in much more trouble than they had anticipated.

Yagi stared at the screen as his thoughts spiraled. 'How could I lose my student when he was right there? How could I let myself get so complacent when I knew who I'm up against? And what of young Midoriya and his group? What is happening to them now? Could I have prevented it if I kept better track of my protege? Could I have prevented the current state of Shimura Tenko if I'd kept better watch too?'

The scene changed to 2 minutes earlier, and switched to the Noumu storage location. The 1A group picked themselves up after getting knocked down from the impact of Mount Lady's attack. Seemingly unharmed, they went back to looking through the window and saw the various pro heroes there.

"Great! You've seen that the pros are here and on the case so all of you can retreat and go back home." Mic said.

"You know that's not going to happen, they'll get too caught up in watching and then get caught up in whatever is about to happen." Recovery Girl pointed out.

"I know, but a guy can dream can't he?" Mic asked. Aizawa looked like he wanted to disappear into his scarf, but made himself keep watching.

Mount Lady complained about how easy their part of the plan was. Best Jeanist told her not to equate level of difficulty with level of importance.

"That's it, Mount Lady jinxed it." Mineta said.

"I believe it was jinxed the moment Shigaraki called upon his master." Aoyama pointed out. His hopes from earlier had been dashed upon seeing the Noumus attack the main force of pros. He should have known things wouldn't end that easily, not for him or for anyone else.

"That is an accurate statement from Best Jeanist, one you should keep in mind as future pros. Just because a mission seems small or simple does not mean it lacks in importance. Some of the most important systems in the world are upheld by someone doing a small, thankless task." Nedzu chimed in.

Best Jeanist told everyone to proceed with caution. Tiger tried to get Ragdoll to wake up, but she remained catatonic. Tiger demanded to know what had been done to her.

Koda wrung his hands together in worry when he saw the blank expression on Ragdoll's face. She had been so lively before...what could have happened to put her in such a state?

The 1A group smiled as they realized that heroes had been moving before they had been. Iida said they could retreat now, and Midoriya wondered if Kacchan was with All Might's group. Momo said things would be fine if All Might was leading the others, and the group all started to walk out.

For a brief moment, Aizawa held hope that his students would leave the area just before anything happened. He knew now they wouldn't stay away if they noticed something was going wrong, but he could at least hope they would be just far enough away to either not notice or not get caught up in the attack itself.

Yagi felt wholly undeserving of young Yoayorozu's confidence in him.

Midoriya suddenly stopped, which made Todoroki stop. Midoriya turned, and footsteps were heard close by. The voice of All for One said "Sorry, Tiger. She's always had a good quirk."

The sound of that voice made all thoughts come to a screeching halt.

"Oh no." Hagakure said softly. "Oh no no no no..."

The five students that made up the group on screen went pale as they realized who was on the other side of the wall.

Yagi felt like his heart had stopped, right before it started hammering against what was left of his rib cage. No. No this couldn't...Midoriya couldn't be there! Not with him! It was too soon, he wasn't ready! It wasn't supposed to be his turn yet! It was never supposed to be his turn He had to do something!

But the only thing he could do here and now was pick himself up and go to sit with his boy. He didn't know if his other self would get there in time to intervene, so he would be with young Midoriya now.

AfO explained he'd taken Ragdoll's quirk. He was walking out from the dark interior, so none of the pros could see him properly. He went on to say that his resources were eaten up after his body became so damaged. The moment he could be seen, Best Jeanist used his quirk to make AfO clothes tie him up. Mount Lady protested, saying he could be a citizen.

Kaminari spluttered. "How many civilians do you know that hang out in villain warehouses and talk about taking people's quirks?!"

Sato scratched his head. "I mean, I guess he could be another hostage, but yeah, don't think a typical hostage would talk like that after the pros showed up."

"Plus he's just restraining him, not really hurting him. Seems like Best Jeanist had good instincts." Shoji said.

All for One's body shuddered, and Best Jeanist's restraints came undone. A moment later there was a flash of light and the sound of an explosion. The shot zoomed out to show smoke and dust flying above the other buildings.

"What? No! Don't zoom out! We need to see what happened! How big was the explosion? Are our classmates okay? The pros?" Ashido asked desperately.

The others either stared at the screen in anticipation, or looked over at their classmates. None of them that were at the scene were showing signs of pain, but that could just be because they hadn't been specifically shown yet.

Izuku's group huddled together, bracing for whatever may come. Iida grabbed extra towels, and handed one to Midoriya then Todoroki before taking one for himself. Seeing this, Jirou grabbed a couple. She held one out to Bakugo and Kirishima as she passed. Kirishima's eyes were glued to the screen, so Bakugo took it and whapped Kirishima on the shoulder with it to get him to turn and take it for himself. When Jirou returned to her seat she offered the remaining towel to Momo, who took it mechanically.

More details of the destruction were shown. A building now askew, fire spreading, dust and debris in the air. Somehow, the wall shielding the group from 1A remained mostly in tact, and they all stood there. They were frozen in fear, but remained hidden for now.

Seeing their classmates unharmed relieved the students, but only slightly. Because if All for One could cause that level of destruction that quickly, then how long would they stay that way?

The teachers worried about that too, as well as what the students would do now. Would they stay hidden? Try to help? Try to escape? Would any of those options lead them to safety?

AfO stated that he was happy Tomura had started making decisions for himself, and that he wished those present hadn't gotten in the way of that. As he talked, the students were shown to be frozen with an affect that was strongly reminiscent of the one that happened during Stain's speech. Midoriya's voice said they didn't have time to do anything, it happened in an instant. The man's power gave them hallucinations of death.

Midoriya heard All Might's voice saying he'd have to face a great evil one day. He asked himself if this was it, if this was All for One.

The man himself was floating in midair, some sort of helmet covering his whole head.

"Now then, shall we do it?"

"How about no? What about we all take a nap instead? Those are good right? Everyone loves naps." Mineta babbled. He was honestly glad he only sounded slightly hysteric because he felt way more freaked out than that.

"You guys are so dead."

"Sero!"

"What?! Can you see this going any other way? The part of the wall that didn't fall down barely clears their heads! And assuming the pros aren't all down for the count people are gonna start fighting so it's only gonna get worse!"

"That may be true," Nedzu interjected "but there is also a chance that your classmates will escape before things get that bad, since I'm sure All for One will be distracted by the pros and won't be looking for them specifically. In either case, the next episode is shaping up to be stressful, so I encourage everyone to take a short break and brace yourselves before we continue on."


Looking back on it now, Aizawa probably hadn't needed to give that lecture after the last episode. He just needed to look at the kids now to know they now fully understood why running off and going to that warehouse had been a bad idea. They, along with a few other friends, stuck together during the break, likely taking some comfort and solidarity from all being in the same situation together on screen. His eyes linger on Midoriya for a few extra moments. He couldn't hear every word the boy was mumbling, but it sounded like he was theorizing about whether or not those 'hallucinations of death' were a part of some quirk that All for One used, and what had caused them if they weren't. It was a good question, though not one he'd be worried about in the same situation. He supposed everyone found their distractions in their own way though.

Maybe, if he ever needed to keep Midoriya distracted, and not running off in the future, he should think of some quirk theories to throw at the boy when he wasn't expecting it.


All Might sat alone in the bedroom he'd claimed as his own. His thoughts and emotions had continued to swirl around throughout the last part of the episode, but the one that he kept coming back to was the name All for One had called the young Shigaraki. Shimura Tenko.

If it had been anyone else involved, he may have brushed it off as a coincidence. But this was All for One, there was no way the explanation was that simple. How could this have happened? Nana had gone through so much pain giving up her son in the hopes of keeping him safe, but apparently it had all been for naught.

All the times the boy said he blamed him for things and said how much he hated him, it all made so much more sense now. If only he'd-

"Yagi Toshinori, don't you try to slink off after a reaction like that."

Yagi looked up to see Recovery Girl had soundlessly swung the door open and closed while he was distracted with his thoughts. He needed to get his head in the game if he was letting people sneak up on him so easily.

"I just...I needed some time to think about things."

"If you need space then let me know and I'll back off for now, but don't fall back into shutting everyone out, not when you were just starting to realize you have people you can rely on."

Yagi sighed. "Perhaps it would be beneficial to get some things out in the open."

Recovery Girl came over and hopped up onto the bed beside him. "I'm listening."

Before he could start, there was a knock on the door and young Midoriya stuck his head in.

"Um, I noticed you weren't anywhere in the main area, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Because, well, you seemed kind of upset..."

Yagi smiled slightly. This boy was too sweet sometimes.

"I appreciate your concern, young Midoriya, and you may come in. I believe this is another thing I'd like you to hear from me instead of from whatever the episodes may show us."

He started after Midoriya sat down on the other side of Recovery Girl. He explained how Nana had lost her husband and gave up her son out of fear that she would lose him too.

"The boy looks too young to be Shimura's son, so perhaps a grandson then?" Recovery Girl guessed.

Yagi nodded. "That seems likely." He let out a long breath "Seeing what's become of him, I can't help but think that either Gran Torino or myself should have kept an eye on Nana's son, checked in on him now and then at least. Assuming what All for One implied in that memory was true, then my mentor's son is dead, leaving behind a young child, and I didn't even know."

"You were just trying to respect your teacher's wishes." young Midoriya said.

"That is true, but the safety of the living is more important than the desires of the dead. We should have made sure."

"You said you thought All for One was dead, and you almost died yourself. You shouldn't blame yourself for not knowing they would be in danger, especially when you were trying to recover yourself!"

Recovery Girl nodded along with Midoriya's words. "He's right. The safety of that boy and his family were not your responsibility alone, many people must have failed for things to go so drastically wrong. Not to mention how All for One himself probably twisted the boy's perspective of things. If there's anyone you should blame for this, it's him. He's the one that took advantage of a vulnerable child just so he could poke at an old grudge later. Plus, you had every right to focus on healing after such a fight; I even wish you'd focused on that a little more." she gestured to Midoriya "You keep telling this boy that not everything is his responsibility, so put your money where your mouth is and don't let yourself take all the blame for whatever happened to Shimura Tenko."

Yagi looked into young Midoriya's worried eyes. He smiled at the boy, and ruffled his hair.

"I have been saying that haven't I? And you do make a good point my boy. It is hard not to regret not being there to protect the loved ones of someone I loved, and I'm not sure I can make myself stop, but I'll try to keep both of your words in mind. Thank you."

He tried to smile for young Midoriya, and must have succeeded well enough because the boy smiled in return. Still, the guilt gnawed at him, and likely would for quiet a while. He may have accepted that he couldn't save everyone, since he could only be in one place at a time, but this was so much more personal than just knowing that people were suffering in other countries while he was in this one. He suddenly felt he could relate to young Midoriya when he got into one of his trances while trying to figure out a quirk. He kept thinking that if only he'd known...if only he knew what had happened to put Shimura Tenko in that position, then maybe things could have been different. And if he learned it now, maybe he could at least figure his own feelings out.

Maybe he could even help Shimura Tenko find his way back to light again, if only he knew what had really happened.


Everyone sat closer together when things settle back down, especially those who were in the student group at the site onscreen, as they were all worried about what will happen to them. Bakugo was edgey because of the crowding, but didn't say anything. He was too busy internally berating himself for getting captured again when All Might was standing right next to him. Not even chopping things in the kitchen during the break had been enough to assuage his anger at himself.


A.N.

Reporter: Insinuates that Bakugo would become a villain.

Class 1A: The lion, the witch, and the audacity of this bitch!

Further in the episode, after Bakugo has knocked the hand off of Shigaraki's face:

Shigaraki: I'm trying this new things called Tranquil Fury.

Shigaraki after All Might has declared they won: Screw tranquil, there is only fury!

Also, at one point when I watching All for One burst out and start hovering right where Midoriya and the others are, I imagined that one song tik tok made popular playing in the background. The one that goes "oh no, oh no no no no no" over and over.