A few months after Twice's recruitment into the League…

There may have once been a time when Eri was happy. The small child isn't certain of this assertion, but she has to imagine that her life was better before her Quirk curse killed her father and made that woman abandon her to Overhaul.

A few days ago, Rappa had snuck her into the upper courtyard of the manor (he was always the nicest of Chisaki's men) and let her see the sky, the sun and the life outside the underground. Looking at how the birds and butterflies soared, uncaring, through the air…it made the child's heart stir with an intense desire to finally be free, a thought she did not let go even as Chisaki drained her veins dry and then reassembled her later that day.

So now she ran. Eri ran, knowing that if the caretaker she had given the slip managed to catch her again, there was likely no escape from the compound ever again. Down the alleyway, past the garbage cans, around a stray cat and towards the nice-looking lady and her son on the street…

"Oof!" Izuku groaned as the white-haired child with one horn impacted his leg, knocking him to the ground.

"Oh dear, are you alright?" Inko asked, crouching down next to her son and the small child who had run into him. "That goes for you too, young lady." The greenette woman's eyes narrowed as she noticed the bandages on the child's arms and legs, and the dirt on her dress. "This reeks of abuse in so many ways…"

Izuku, meanwhile, studied the child in front of him. Like his mother, he noticed her dirty clothes and the bandages on his arms, but he had an extra depth of perception that his mother did not. Maybe it was the fact that he was actually touching the girl, or maybe it was just his natural analytical talents, but the 14-year old also noticed her thin, frail physique. "She's malnourished and shows signs of neglect, if not outright abuse." Then the girl looked up at him, and Izuku simply froze.

Her two eyes, red like bloodred rubies, boiled with pain. "This child…" the teen thought. "She's definitely suffered at least as much as Himiko, possibly as much as Tenko has. She can't be older than four…what kind of monster could inflict this much pain on a child so young for it to be seen in her eyes?"

"Eri."

The small child froze in sheer terror at the deep, commanding baritone voice that spoke her name. Turning around slowly, Eri's worst fears were realized as she saw a golden-eyed man standing at the other end of the alley, a plague mask on his face and white gloves on his hands. This was Kai Chisaki, the young master of the Shie Hassaikai and source of her pain; the man known as Overhaul.

"Please do excuse my daughter; she has an awful tendency of running away" the man said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. Chisaki kept his bloodlust well contained, but what little leaked out was enough to make the hair on both Midoriya's necks stand on end. "This guy is bad news…" Izuku thought, while Inko's palms glowed slightly as she established telekinetic grips on several objects in the alley.

"Do you have any idea why that might be?" the teenager challenged the man against his better judgment, keeping one hand on the child's shoulder to try to reassure her. "We'd better be ready to run at a moment's notice."

Overhaul sighed. "It's a funny and kind of sad story, really, but also an embarrassing one. I'd rather not tell it in public view…would you mind coming back here so that I may tell you without fear of eavesdropping?" While saying this, the man took a step forward and began to slide off one glove.

Before he could make another move or the Midoriyas could attempt to fight or escape, Eri let go of Izuku and ran back to Overhaul's side. "I'm sorry, father" she said, attempting to calm the man slightly and divert his anger away from the mother-son pair at the mouth of the alleyway.

Chisaki inhaled deeply, his fury visible from the clenching of his fists and stiffening of his body, but after a few moments he relaxed slightly. "Very well, Eri; we are leaving" he said, turning to walk away. While doing so, he briefly looked back at Inko and Izuku. "And thank you for helping me find her; I'm very appreciative."

Later, while strapped to the chair in Overhaul's laboratory, feeling the life drain out of her as he extracted all of her blood yet again, the white-haired unicorn child wondered if she would ever see the two people who had been so nice to her and tried to protect her from Overhaul again.

"A plague doctor mask?" All For One asked, sitting on his throne while hooked up to his life support equipment. "Those are a hallmark of the Shie Hassaikai, a Yakuza family based in the western Tokyo metro. I do remember seeing their boss, Kosuke Murasaki, shortly before my fight with All Might. At the time, his second in command was a young man with golden eyes named Kai Chisaki. It sounds like he may have been the man you encountered."

"Kai Chisaki…" Izuku murmured. A printer in the corner of the room came to life as Hisashi activated a technopathic Quirk, using it to print all the information he had on the man and his organization. The first page that printed depicted the same golden-eyed man that Inko and Izuku had encountered earlier that day. "That's him. Everything about him and that girl screamed 'bad news'."

"A child? Fascinating" Hisashi said. "I remember during my last meeting with Murasaki that he mentioned his daughter and son-in-law were expecting soon. I wonder if that girl was the same child they were expecting at the time. However, too much is amiss to suggest that Chisaki is the girl's actual father, which suggests that both Murasaki and his daughter's family may not be in the picture anymore."

"There was so much pain in her eyes…whatever is going on with her, I can tell that she's got at least as tragic a backstory as Himiko, if not Tenko" the teenager replied, leafing through Chisaki's file. "I'm pretty sure this man is abusing her somehow."

"Then what are you going to do about it?"

"Huh?" Izuku asked, turning to the blind man in the back of the room.

"You heard me. I know you desire to become a hero, despite me being literally the greatest villain in Japanese history. This seems like a good trial run of morally gray heroism, dipping slightly into villainy" Hisashi responded. "You're so much like your uncle that it's terrifying, but you've got much more common sense and think more critically than he did…"

Setting down the papers, Izuku straightened up and turned to his father. "You've talked about my long-dead uncle more than a few times and have mentioned something called 'One For All' in the past. I'm tired, dad; I want the truth out of you. And when I say the truth, I mean the whole truth" the teen said, determination shining in his eyes.

Hisashi grimaced slightly and was silent for a few moments before sighing deeply. "Fine. But you'll want to pull up a chair for this, because it's not a short or fun story at all."

And so the great demon lord All For One began to tell his story.

"I was born in the year 2001 here in Shizuoka Prefecture. My parents were Hirona Suzumebachi, heiress to a noble estate in Hokkaido, and Tomura Shigaraki, heir to one of the few zaibatsus of its size to have survived the 1990s economic recession. It was an arranged marriage by their parents, and not one that either of them agreed with."

"...That's never a good start to a story."

"No. No, it is not. Anyway, I was born with white hair and red eyes, same as I had until that blonde gibbon surgically removed them with his fist. I was assumed to be an albino and was looked at oddly, but nobody really suspected anything was genetically amiss until my brother Yoichi was born three years later with white hair and green eyes, a combination unheard of at the time."

"Oh! They were signs that you would both go on to develop Quirks in the future."

"That's correct, but at the time nobody knew what a Quirk even was, because they'd never been seen before. In order to not be perceived as freaks, Yoichi was forced to have his hair dyed and both of us were pretty much isolated within our mother's large estate, homeschooled out of the public eye. In order to keep from dying of boredom, we turned to superhero comics we'd secretly ordered online and hidden from our parents. Our favorite was Captain Hero, but while he liked the main character for his sense of justice and self-sacrifice, I preferred the main villain for his gritty realism and willingness to get his hands dirty to achieve his goals."

"That sounds…awfully familiar."

"I may have gone too far in emulating the Demon King in achieving my goals. Right as All Might was shearing my face off, I came to the all-too-late conclusion that I was just an ascended chuunibyou who had taken that schtick too far."

"Awkward but correct."

"Because of our parents' hatred for each other, we became their proxies in their little war against each other. Yoichi was my mother's favorite child, so she locked him in the house and kept him from developing normally - this decision affected his physical development and eventually led to him developing a chronic autoimmune disease. I was my father's proxy, so he'd push me to excel until I broke and then made me keep going. Pretty much the only semblance of normalcy your uncle and I had was sneaking into each other's living quarters to read comics."

"I don't like where this story is going."

"It gets far worse than abusive parents. Around 2020, the Glowing Baby was born in China, and society went topsy-turvy. It was thought that a global pandemic at the time was forcibly evolving the children of its survivors to develop Quirks, but Dr. Garaki - whose real name is actually Kyuichi Shigaraki and is my cousin on my father's side - thinks they were about to develop naturally anyway, as nobody in our family had the virus but my cousin, your uncle and I all developed Quirks anyway."

"Garaki is your cousin?"

"Hard to believe, I know - he couldn't handle more than a single copy of his own immortality Quirk, while I have three preventing me from aging as badly as he did. I had just finished college and was trying to get your uncle out of that household when society came unglued and the Sino-American War started flying over our heads, with the Quirks being an unexpected addition that made a pear-shaped situation go completely plum-shaped. In the chaos, Japanese society started to crumble, and so I started amassing influence as a self-defense measure. Unfortunately, I LARPed a little too convincingly as a demon king, and your uncle started a rebellion against me in order to keep the old government afloat - which eventually went down in flames anyway when the People's Republic of China nuked the National Diet."

"Wait…it was all a big misunderstanding?"

"It was at first. However, after my brother died and passed on the transferrable Quirk I didn't know he had, taking the stockpile Quirk I'd given him with it, I kind of went…mad. Even after the world stopped being at war with itself and Japanese society stabilized, I continued to grow my criminal empire while hunting down and murdering all of my brother's successors in pursuit of his Quirk, since it was the only memento I had of him. This lasted until All Might became the first hero or villain to nearly kill me in my 130 years of living, and now here I am, stuck to this chair."

"...You're telling me that most of modern hero society in Japan and the modern villain scene all exist because my grandparents were terrible at parenting at the most inopportune time in human history?"

"Correct."

Izuku blinked a few times. "That's…pretty bad. Now what?"

Hisashi sighed. "While All Might demolished and imprisoned a lot of my lieutenants in Tartarus, my abrupt disappearance and presumed death has caused a power vacuum that has been filled by my remaining lieutenants and allies and some new faces. Additionally, the Heroic Public Safety Commission's current administration appears to be trying to slowly transform Japanese society into a totalitarian Quirkist dictatorship over the next few generations. I feel this is my mess that I have to clean up, but there is little I can do from this chair. Son…do you think you can forgo heroics in favor of becoming the demon king the underworld needs to bring back stability?"

Izuku shook his head. "I'm sorry, dad, but I can't give up on my dream, even with no Quirk…but I can also take your goals on as well."

If Hisashi still had eyes, they'd have opened wide in surprise. "Both?" he asked. "You want to pursue heroics and villainy?"

The greenette nodded. "It's as you said. The Japanese underworld needs a strong leader to purge the most violent and anarchistic influences in it, while hero society needs a Symbol of Reform to get rid of the corruption in its midst while thwarting the HPSC's authoritarian tendencies. If I can be both the Number One Hero and the Number One Villain, I'll be able to make both dreams a reality and bring stability to society while staving off anarchy, stagnation and tyranny alike."

As he took his son's words in, a grin slowly grew on what remained of Hisashi's face. "Magnificent…" he murmured. "It's like you've got all my best traits and all my brother's best traits with your mother's common sense and stubbornness. I will support you in all your endeavors in both heroics and villainy, son."

Izuku beamed at his father. "Thank you. Now, about the Hassaikai…"

Hisashi nodded. "The girl, yes, we'll want to rescue her from that situation immediately. If she's being experimented on like that, she undoubtedly has an interesting Quirk as well. Speaking of Quirks, are there any in particular from my collection that you'd like? Fire Breath? Air Cannon? Heavy Payload? Color Change?"

The greenette shook his head. "I want to treat this like a heist and an espionage mission, so having a Quirk might color my view of my capabilities as a frontline combatant instead of a mission leader and planner. I do not want a Quirk at this time, but I will consider it in the future when I start preparing to go to UA High."

"Splendid" Hisashi responded. "I recommend that you begin preparing for your operation now. I will have full access to all my archives for you by the end of the day; in the meantime, you should ask your mother to help find you and your new League of Villains someone to train for combat with."

As Kurogiri opened a portal at the far end of the room, the greenette waved goodbye to his father, returning to the bar to begin planning for his future as a villain leader…

While he had initially been confused about what his father meant by asking his mother to assist in combat training for the League, Inko was more than amenable towards Izuku's request when he asked her. Now he, Tenko and Himiko were standing in a dojo that Kurogiri had warped them to; looking out the window on one side, the greenette teen could tell the dojo was in a loft overlooking the inside of an old warehouse.

"I wonder who Auntie was able to set us up with as an instructor" Tenko pondered, playing some mobile game on his phone as he sat on one side of the room.

"Ooh! I know! I know!" Himiko said, all hyped up. "She probably was able to get in contact with someone really cool in the underground, like the Hero Killer! Learning from him would be amazing!" the blonde teen gushed.

"I don't know about that one; I think she probably just knows someone really good with martial arts" the greenette responded, completing his latest set of analysis notes on Overhaul's Quirk. "One way or the other, I hope Jin is having a good time right now."

Meanwhile, somewhere in Tokyo…

Jin Bubagaiwara wandered down a street, a surgical mask covering his face to help him avoid detection and ensure that he remained mentally stable. While he'd made significant progress on a psychological level since joining the League, he still wasn't quite back together, and wanted to make sure that he didn't have an episode while carrying out his important task.

After all, Prometheus had sent him on the streets with the goal of finding the Shie Hassaikai's headquarters, which was why he had several dozen clones of himself walking, bicycling or taking taxicabs across the region looking for men in bird masks. It was like a giant manhunt, and boy, was it fun!

Abandoned warehouse dojo…

"He's probably fine right now" Himiko said. "Do you also hear those footsteps?"

Sure enough, the sound of footsteps came from a nearby corridor, signaling the arrival of their combat instructor. The three teenagers looked expectantly towards the doorway, only to be caught completely off guard by the new arrival. Standing in the dojo, wearing a slightly loose-fitting green sweatshirt with elbow pads and a ballistic vest over it, a pair of black cargo pants, a set of dark combat boots and a black domino mask, the trio were greeted by the sight of…Inko Midoriya?

"Mom?!" Izuku exclaimed in surprise, jumping back slightly.

"A-Auntie?!" Tenko yelped, jumping to his feet and fumbling his phone back into his pants pocket.

"I-Inko?" Himiko asked.

The green-haired woman smiled. "Good afternoon, class!" she greeted. "I'm glad to see you all here right on time. Who's ready to get started on close-quarters combat training?"

Izuku and Tenko both let their expressions fade from confusion into enthusiasm, while Himiko jumped up and down. "We are! Who do you have teaching us? Mister Compress? The Hero Killer?"

Inko laughed. "Don't be silly, Himiko, I wouldn't let anyone as pedestrian as them face you" she said. "I'll be training you myself!"

Just like that, the enthusiasm drained from all three teens, replaced by a look of abject confusion. "You'll be training us, mom?" Izuku asked in surprise.

"Are you sure you're up for that?" Himiko added.

Tenko tapped both his compatriots on the shoulder. "I don't mean to alarm you guys, but, uhhh…I think I hear boss music" the blue-haired teenager said, a petrified look on his face as he stared at their teacher.

"Lesson one starts now!" the green-haired woman said cheerfully, before an intense look appeared on her face. "Your goal is to survive the next five minutes. Good luck!"

Meanwhile, in Tokyo…

"God DAMN it's hot!" Jin grumbled to himself, an ice pop in his hand. The blond-haired man continued to march down the side streets of the Tokyo metro, combing the city in a grid pattern with his Doubles to ensure he didn't miss the Hassaikai's hideout.

A few young children ran past him on the street, laughing and shouting silly names at each other. The scarred man laughed to himself slightly, then looked up to the sky. "I hope those kids are having fun too right now."

At the warehouse dojo…

Izuku groaned in pain, lifting himself off the mat slowly in the hopes of avoiding his mother's attention. He staggered to his feet just in time to watch Tenko charge at Inko with all five fingers uncovered and extended, only for her to gracefully sidestep the teen's charge, grab him by the shirt and belt, and throw him head over heels across the room into a pile of cardboard boxes. A few moments later, Decay spread through the boxes and caused them to crumble, revealing the dazed teen lying in a heap half-conscious on the floor.

Himiko let out a war cry and jumped towards their foe from behind, bringing a knife down over her head in a stabbing attempt. Inko responded by pivoting around, disarming the blonde teen with a graceful kick, and then channeling her Quirk into a devastating palm strike that launched the girl back several meters.

The green-haired boy shivered as his mother turned to look at him with a look that promised pain. "Well then, Izuku, are you going to show me what you've got? Come to mommy, dear…" she said, her palms glowing slightly. Izuku dashed backwards in an attempt to retreat, only to feel a sudden tug on his t-shirt (labeled with the word "pants", of course) as Inko used her Quirk to pull her son towards her rapidly.

The last thing the teenager could think before his face collided with his mother's fist pretty much summed the situation up. "Well, fuck."

Notes:

Huh, a new chapter already? Fun fact - it took two weeks to write the first three paragraphs of this chapter, and two hours to write everything else. My commitment and focus is spotty and unpredictable on the best of days, friends. This chapter's implications…

The Midoriyas, and by extension the League, are now aware of Overhaul and the Hassaikai's operations and Eri's existence. This brings us directly into the next story arc; starting next chapter, I will officially welcome you all to the Yakuza Extermination Arc.

All For One's backstory and Izuku's goals are both explained in this chapter. To summarize, Hisashi and Yoichi are products of a really, really shitty arranged marriage and were weaponized against each other by their parents in a demented proxy war. This turned them both into chuunibyou LARPers who took things way too far and ended up shaping Japan's post-Quirk society as a result.

Inko Midoriya is a goddamn badass. This will be explained in detail in the future; not gonna spoil it for y'all, but the backstory for her involves Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugo, Okuta Kagero and a group called the Shin Bakuhatsu Kai…but that's a story for another time.

Next chapter, phase one of the Yakuza Extermination Operation will begin. We're gonna be practicing espionage and recruiting muscle for help, so don't miss it!