Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 160:

"Grrr- rrgg, Gah! Nn," Zach ground his teeth, and he clenched his eyes shut for a moment. He managed to hold back any more noise, keeping it down and then letting out a gasp as he felt his stomach completely seal up.

"Lifebringer! A moment, please!"

Zach Sazaki's head turned as he was standing back up, and he rose his lips up into a smile and stopped panting as much. Behind him an EMT got back on his knees next to a patient he had lost at the scene of the crash in downtown Yutapu. There were a couple other heroes still cleaning up the mess that had happened when the out of control driver flew into an intersection when he should have stopped at a red light. Zach was ready to go though, as the only reason the corpse behind him was still on the scene was because the reckless driver had gotten pinned between crunched steel in the middle of the pile-up. He had died shortly after they removed the wreckage trying to get him out, and despite the EMTs on hand to provide immediate assistance they knew he would need, the man in his mid-twenties had died of blood loss due to his body almost being bisected.

Some others in critical condition got taken to the hospital. I should head there and check on them, Zach thought, turning from the camera and looking down the road ready to get going.

"What took you so long to get here?"

"Why don't you want to talk to the press?!"

Zach held back a sigh and turned to the reporter who called that at him. He smiled and gave her a look like he did not know what she was talking about. Then he turned to the one who had asked what took him so long, and he responded, "Sorry, school just got out. I'm not allowed to skip anymore or I won't be able to graduate, which means I won't get my full license to be able to keep doing this." Zach glanced back over his shoulder, as the man who was helped up to his feet was being apprehended by police officers. The guy was not struggling and instead just thanked Lifebringer for bringing him back, a look of regret covering his face as he could see the damage his driving created all around him.

"Lifebringer!"

"Lifebringer will you answer more questions?"

Zach looked back forward and he hesitated. "I'll let you know if any of the patients pass away," the EMT behind Zach told him, referring to the ones Zach had asked about who were already taken away in ambulances.

"And there are other heroes around right now, so there's less of a chance of being attacked!" Another member of the press called out at Zach, as the guy figured that might be why Lifebringer was avoiding this. Even if Zach wanted to use it as a reason now though, it had been addressed so directly that he needed to smile instead and stand there to take an impromptu press conference.

Good move, even if he doesn't realize what he did. People would start getting real nervous on the street if they saw me dip now because it was too dangerous. Even in a situation like this, I need to run? Yeah, I need to give them some of my time. Not much though. I'll hit the hospital whether or not I'm notified. Just a quick stop. If the only person I bring back today is the one responsible for this, they'll get me misconstrued and shred me by tonight. Has to be everyone involved. Unfortunately- no, fortunately he was the only one. So far- but hopefully it stays that way.

"And?" Zach asked. He had fully turned back to the reporters and stepped towards them, but they were all just waiting on him to say something. "Did you have questions for me?" Zach asked, cracking a slightly bigger smile at the way they were all just staring at him. He chuckled hesitantly as they all started questioning him at once, and he stood there awkwardly as the press just got louder to try and shout over each other to be the one whose question he answered.

"Lifebringer! What do you think of United Korea's new vigilante exception law?!" The reporter who called it out was up close to Zach as he shouted, and the others around him quieted down a bit as Zach looked to the man and his microphone the guy was holding up towards him.

I don't really like it, Zach thought, while his expression turned thoughtful showing he knew exactly what new law the reporter was talking about. Case by case decisions are allowed by heroes on the scene to choose whether or not to chase vigilantes. It used to just be an unwritten kind of thing that happened, actually making it legal has a different feel to it where now the pressure's actually on heroes not to do anything unless there's a lot of damage. That puts restrictions on heroes and them carrying out their justice, but, it could also be used as an excuse for heroes who happen to let vigilantes get away when they weren't intending to. Like whenever Death shows up, heroes can't be held accountable- well, considering the terrorist status remains I guess they wouldn't be considered part of it.

"I think it's not my place to question the law codes of other countries, or to even give an opinion on them as I'm not a citizen of United Korea who that law will affect." The way Zach replied made it sound like he was avoiding the question, but that did not actually give anyone a good idea as to what he was thinking. Most of them figured he would support it based on his past, but his response sounded almost like he did not want to support it but did not want to criticize either. The man who asked the question wanted to follow up, but everyone else shouted louder than him before he could even open his mouth to begin.

"Then what do you think of Japan's current laws surrounding vigilante justice?!"

"What do you think of Prime Minister Nikko's proposed plans for shifting Quirk usage into key manufacturing jobs over the next three years to keep up with foreign competition?"

"Why haven't you been bringing more people back to life?!"

"Are you Death?!"

"Why did you bring that man back to life and not Hiro Rekinawa?! An eight year old girl who died in the emergency room two days ago here in Yutapu…"

"What are your plans for after graduation?! Will you be starting your own agency here in Japan?!"

"Do you agree with the Prime Minister's stance on Quirk education starting earlier at the middle school level?!"

"I think..." Zach began, looking at the woman who called that question at him between all the shouts of the news' crews around her. The reporters all quieted down so their microphones would catch what he was going to say. Man, they really care about what Zach Sazaki has to say. Half of those questions weren't even about me. Does Lifebringer's opinion really carry that much sway? Why didn't anyone ever ask All Might about his thoughts on laws? Guess the legal climate at the time was at a standstill. No one wanted anything to change, but now people saw changes occur with a correlation to crime rates dropping, and everyone's wondering if more change can mean an even better and safer world. I think so too. Down to middle school though? "...That starting education of Quirks earlier is a great idea. Not just for aspiring heroes, but for everyone to learn how to properly use their own Quirks in a safe environment."

"But is just starting in middle school alright?" The woman called out before it sounded like Sazaki was finished, because she knew if he was allowed to finish his reply that everyone else would pounce with their own questions. "Or do you think the Prime Minister isn't going far enough? In the leaked report you wrote two years ago at U.A., did you not claim that Quirk education should start at the earliest level and continue through school?"

I don't know if I phrased it like that, Zach thought, while hesitating with a thoughtful look at the question. "I think it is, again, not up to me to decide. I do believe it is a good first step though to broader Quirk education and comprehension-"

"Sazaki!"

"Lifebringer! Over here!"

"Yes, you," Zach said with a point at a reporter slightly farther back but who did not just start shouting the question, instead raising their hand to be called on. The others who saw him do that instantly noted it for the next time, as Zach intended when he pointed.

"Although you have responded to questions at impromptu press conferences, such as these," the thin man with slicked-to-the-left black hair began. "Why is it you have declined more formal press conferences? Or television appearances as you have been offered by several stations?"

"It's just a safety concern," Zach replied with a shake of his head like there was nothing big to this like the press often made it out on tv. "I think-"

"Is that also true with the press conference you denied with the Prime Minister?" The same reporter called out, making Zach freeze with his mouth open. He continued while catching Sazaki off guard, "My sources say that you were requested to have a make-up press conference with Prime Minister Nikko after the first one was, cancelled. Do you have any comment on the validity of that statement?"

He already knows. Can't catch me in a lie though if I don't lie. "It's correct," Zach replied. "But again, it's for the same reason."

"So you don't have anything wrong with the Prime Minister? Do you not support him?" Zach Sazaki paused, and the reporter jumped on it, "Nikko's first act as Prime Minister was to pardon you for your crimes and release you from Tartaros. Don't you feel gratitude towards him?"

This guy's good. If I don't feel gratitude then I'm a shit person. If I feel gratitude then there's the risk that I'll be used. "The Prime Minister, like myself, is a public servant," Zach replied. He stared at the reporter while saying it in a calm voice, and he continued before that man could interrupt him, "He pardoned me because it was the will of the people who elected him. I am not a political piece to be used." He said it while staring at the reporter in a way non-accusatory, yet the words he said were clearly accusing the reporter of trying to get him to incriminate himself as such. "But do I feel gratitude? Yes, I do, but not that I owe him. I know the Prime Minister released me feeling the same way, and it was just because he believed I deserved to be pardoned like many others did."

An EMT came up behind Zach as more reporters started calling out questions at him, and Zach turned and listened as the man whispered something into his ear. The tvs broadcasting the scene of the accident showed Lifebringer turn to the crowd of reporters and apologize for cutting it short, saying he needed to get to the hospital without elaborating on what he meant by that. He turned and started running though, just sprinting to the sidewalk and then down the road still in the jacket he wore over his school uniform that day and had left Shiketsu in not an hour earlier. One of the people watching Sazaki run off was standing behind his desk with his hands curled onto the top of it so his fingernails were nearly digging into the wood.

"Can you believe him?" Nikko said, his voice full of frustration at what Lifebringer just said.

"How did it get out about your second press conference-"

"I don't know!" Nikko snapped, then he took in a deep breath and lifted his hands from his desk. He turned towards his wife and got an apologetic look on his face, "Sorry, for yelling. But this is twice now he's accused me of being dirty with no evidence!"

Enri Nikko stepped towards her husband. The shorter woman with brick-red hair falling to her shoulders began in a soothing but stern voice as she got close to him, "He isn't saying you're dirty. Both times he said the opposite, and last time was harsher but it was also private and more directed straight to you. You realized that-"

"But this time he brought it up in front of the world," Kaizo snapped again, his fists clenching in anger this time. "No one was even thinking about it. Now, it doesn't matter that he says he believes in me. Everyone else is thinking I let Lifebringer out just so I could have him at that press conference say all sorts of great stuff about how grateful he was to me! I didn't care! Just having a single press conference wasn't much to ask when I just released him from prison! Wasn't it?"

"Not much at all," Enri agreed with a nod, and she frowned back towards the screen for a moment but Lifebringer was no longer on it. "He's still just a boy though, Kaizo. Give him some time, then order him as his boss to come speak with you. Not a publicity stunt or anything, but just a meeting." Kaizo frowned deeper at his wife's suggestion, as the idea of meeting with Sazaki now just made him think of all the media would run with him asking for favors or being corrupt. "But before that, show that Lifebringer doesn't define you as Prime Minister."

Kaizo looked back at his wife and into her eyes. His pretty but professional-looking wife in a business suit stepped up close to him and looked up into his eyes, "It's still early in your term, but people are starting to forget why they elected you. It was not just because of Lifebringer. You got that done on the first day, as you promised. Now, you need to get to work."

Nikko kept his face steady for a few more seconds, then he sighed and let out a long exhale. "You're right. You're right!" He said it louder and nodded as he knew it to be true. He shook his head around and took in another deep breath, "He helped me get elected already, I don't need him to get done what I wanted to get done." Though it would have been easier to pass what I want to get passed if Sazaki would just play along. His support would make it all so much easier.

"That 'first step' comment he made, Sazaki's still in the extreme on most issues," Enri added. She gave her husband a smile and put a hand on the side of his arm to encourage him. "Most people don't want such radical changes, but the moderates will all be happy to see your small changes. The conservatives will be glad you aren't pushing all of Lifebringer's extreme progressive ideals, ones we all know only because of a high school paper he wrote at sixteen year's old." Kaizo nodded again, and then Enri finished, "The only ones you'll have trouble reaching are the ones who solely want everything Lifebringer suggests and nothing less, but you don't have to please everyone. You got elected because of the policies you believe in. Let's start with those, and we'll see what comes after."

"The next election is far off," Kaizo Nikko agreed. The Prime Minister walked back behind his desk and looked down at some folders full of papers he had to go through today. "It's time to work," he said, and he took his seat while giving his wife one more encouraging look before she said she was going to get back to her own office. As Enri left the room though, Nikko frowned back down at his desk and his face scrunched back up in annoyance and frustration. Approval ratings have never dropped so fast after an election before. And they're only going to drop more now. Lifebringer was supposed to be helping me. Instead, it's been all take and no give. I can't rely on him at all. People voted for me for my policies? Don't kid yourself Enri. Most of them picked me for one policy and one policy alone. Freeing that brat.

Near the top of one of the tallest skyscrapers of Musutafu's skyline, Kaizo Nikko sat at a wide desk across from a business executive he was meeting with alone. The office was wide and took up most of the thirty-eighth floor of the building, though the Prime Minister was a bit surprised they did not have the meeting on the top floor above them. "…Your interest in Quirk advancements in technology is shared by many in the Japanese government, including myself," Nikko assured the CEO in front of him. "We need the assistance of the private sector in order to change perceptions inside Japan, however, and those perceptions will only change slower if companies like yours choose to outsource business and manufacturing outside of the country."

"The cost of producing inside Japan is now unreasonably higher than in even China or Mexico. The countries I have subsidiaries growing in have even lower costs of production than those two, and that cheap production outweighs the cost of shipping goods back into the country," the man before Nikko said it calmly, not in as much an argumentative tone as one just explaining why he could not fold easily on this.

"But you do this and consumers get to pay the lower prices, which in the short run will be good for them, but we need to think about the long term here," Nikko countered. He was younger than the man in front of him, but Adam Rasheed was still a middle-aged man himself despite being in charge of the multinational Rasheed Corporation. Rasheed hummed at Nikko's counter and looked to be thinking harder about it, but a bead of sweat was sitting on the right side of his face and his fingers tapped on the underside of his desk as he continued his talk with the Prime Minister. He knows I'm right, Nikko thought, noticing the strange behavior of the executive before him. Nikko leaned forward and continued strongly, "If consumers saw prices getting lower everywhere else but staying high here because of your higher cost of production, due to you keeping your businesses in Japan, they would be more inclined to support bills altering laws regarding Quirk usage in the workplace. We missed the gap, Rasheed-san."

"How do you mean?" Rasheed asked quickly.

"When the world was going through such rises in villain activity and a large-scale spread of chaos, people were inclined to change things to make their lives better. We missed that surge though, and now things are better and we did not change very much at all, leaving people to wonder if anything need change in our status quo." Nikko said it firmly, then he sat back straight-up in his seat and he said, "I know you don't want to lose business by accepting lower revenue and higher costs, but I assure you that many in Japan would choose to purchase your products more exclusively should you make a pledge to keep businesses and jobs in Japan. I will do my part by doing what I can to raise prices on imported goods, and it will hurt the consumer in the short run but I believe, strongly, that it will lead to greater support for the bills I plan to pass over this term alone. Rasheed-san, we are falling behind. Your company is falling behind to foreign companies who were early on this trend too, and without government assistance you will not be able to get back in the race to compete on an equal playing field."

"So that's the kind of man you are?" Rasheed asked. He took in a deep breath and sat back in his seat, staring intensely at Rasheed though still with some anxiety covering his face even more pronounced now. "I like the way you think, and I would be happy to work with you on this," Rasheed said it in a calm voice, but he gulped afterwards and the way he was acting made Nikko start feeling a bit more hesitant about all this. "Mr. Prime Minister, would you look over at that wall?" Adam Rasheed said, and he turned his head to his right to look at the wall on the opposite side of the room as the windows.

"Why?" Nikko asked confusedly. He looked where Rasheed had him look over to, and he asked, "Who is that?"

There was a picture frame on the wall of a large man with broad shoulders and a stern but somewhat friendly demeanor. "My former CFO," Rasheed replied. "Seiki Ganji. This was actually his office." Nikko looked around and back at Rasheed, giving him a look wondering why he was letting him know that. "Ganji went missing, some time back."

"I think I heard something about that," Nikko began, nodding his head with some familiarity though he was still lost as to what was going on.

"The truth though, is that Ganji was killed," Rasheed said. His voice got lower and his eyes more nervous as the Prime Minister stared at him with wide eyes. "By the League of Villains," he added softer.

"You know this? And you haven't made it public?" Nikko asked. He gave the CEO a stern look and frowned deeply as he had thought he just made an alliance with a reputable businessman. "Withholding information like that-"

"I couldn't make it public," Rasheed countered. "As I was being blackmailed, due to the former CFO's villainous activities he used Rasheed Corp's resources for." Rasheed's eyes grew wider as he said this, more sweat forming on his face while the Prime Minister stared at him in shock. "That information the villains had would destroy the company I spent my life building, and it would destroy the memory of my best friend who they killed… due to his being an anti-hero who worked outside of the law to fight villains."

Nikko stood up out of his seat. "I don't think you should tell me anything more," he said. Does he think I'll sympathize because I let out Lifebringer? This is too much. "If you are supporting the League of Villains-"

"I just needed to let you know, why," Rasheed said, while getting up from his seat too with an apologetic look over his anxious face that made Nikko feel an immediate need to get out of that room.

Clank.

Nikko turned his head, and he looked towards a crack in the wall on his left not far from that picture of Seiki Ganji. Part of the wall slid apart, and a low voice chuckled from inside which made Nikko's body cover in sweat and for him to take a step back. "What is this?!" Nikko shouted, spinning to Rasheed and then back to that dark crack that got wider and showed silhouettes inside of some secret room connected to theirs. He opened his mouth to yell at the figures inside asking who they were, but he had no need to do so when the light from this room illuminated the two men standing there looking out at him.

The two of them stepped out of the secret room of Ganji's old office. One was a man in a pair of dark blue jeans, with a black jacket on over a white shirt that could be seen since the jacket's zipper was down and opened up. He had spiky black hair, and his skin on his ankles, wrists, neck, the bottom of his face, and around his eyes was purple and scarred like burns. Dabi lifted a hand and blue flames came off as Nikko opened his mouth to shout again, and the Prime Minister saw his life flash in front of his eyes. The man next to Dabi spoke up though, "Please, use your inside voice Mr. Prime Minister. Wouldn't want anyone to interrupt our meeting."

His voice gave Kaizo Nikko chills and made his hair stand on end. He had on all black clothing but had a gray cloak over his clothes falling behind his back with a raggedy bottom and sharp edges to it. His arms were partially hidden under the cloak, but the material protruded out due to the hands connected to his arms going from his wrists up to his shoulders. He had another two gray hands on his head: one over his face and the other grabbing the back of his head and connected to the ones on his shoulders by two red cords sticking out of it. Shigaraki Tomura stepped farther into the room but towards Rasheed's desk that the CEO nervously moved away from in the opposite direction until he was standing between it and the windows.

"Shigaraki, Tomura," Nikko said. He turned his head and followed Tomura around his desk to the spot Rasheed had been sitting at before. Shigaraki sat down, scooted the chair back in, then he motioned at the seat across from him. Nikko could see Dabi in the corner of his eyes, but his fists curled at his sides and he said in a low voice, "I have no time to waste listening to you. If you are not here to kill me, then you should start running." Nikko told himself to turn around and leave after saying that in such a convicted way. His eyes darted towards Rasheed though who he had been considering letting get away with something, maybe, if they could work something out here. I would have been working for the League then though- wait a second. If he had just entered into a partnership with me, they would have had their in! Why would they do this?! I don't need to know, just leave!

"Are you sure you'd like to do that?" Shigaraki asked the Prime Minister standing before him. "The Prime Minister caught in a meeting with the League of Villains. Or, the Prime Minister crying wolf when the press and heroes arrive to find we aren't here?"

Don't listen to them. They're villains. There is only one course of action here for the Prime Minister to take. "That secret room too? Can you make that just disappear?" Nikko scoffed.

"Maybe not," Shigaraki admitted. "That's a good point. You were making a lot of good points a minute ago, actually. It's a shame more people don't listen to you."

"I'm leaving," Nikko said.

"No you're not," Dabi replied, and Nikko spun to him to see the spiky-haired villain smile at his stunned look. "Just give us a couple minutes of your precious time. We came all this way to see you."

"All the way from where, exactly?" Nikko said, and Dabi looked surprised this time at the angry look Nikko gave him while sounding like he was trying to find out their base location. "You've been in hiding for so long, I figure all of you must have run so far away I'd never have to see your ugly faces again." Nikko spat it out at the scar-faced man, then turned a glare back to Shigaraki Tomura with that hand attached to the front of his face covering up his expression that Nikko figured was probably as dark as Dabi's just got. I'm going to get myself killed here! They aren't trying to take me hostage or anything though. I can't let them talk to me. They're going to try and blackmail me. But there's nothing they have on me! My record's clean! I've never committed a crime in my life!

"There's no need for insults," Shigaraki said, holding up a hand to his side while chuckling at the way this was going. "Sit," he said, motioning his hand for the chair in front of him as he repeated it in a darker voice full of malice and yet still sounding like Shigaraki Tomura was smiling. Dabi stepped towards Nikko, who this time walked back towards the chair and just took his seat despite having told himself he was going to try and walk out earlier. "That's better," Shigaraki said.

If I can stall them, my security detail will come and find out what's going on. I should have brought them in with me. Then again, the fact that they knew I was having this meeting today- is because of Rasheed! But who suggested to me Rasheed over other execs? Or was it just that he accepted a meeting quickly, or he even made it out like he would accept or had similar views so that my people would try to meet with him? How long have they been planning this meeting?! Nikko had a serious and more calm expression on his face than his panicked fast-paced mind was working. "What do you want?" Nikko asked. I can at least find out their plans during this meeting. No one could suspect me if I found information, without even being a hero, on the long-missing League of Villains!

"To help you," Shigaraki said with a friendly smile hardly seen under that hand over his face.

"I highly doubt that," Nikko responded.

"Oh I'm sure," Shigaraki agreed with a chuckle. "Instead, you can rely on much more reliable people to help you out, can't you? Such as… Lifebringer?" Shigaraki said the name and his tone shifted the smallest amount. It sounded like he was just trying to keep up the facade of the voice he was using, but halfway through the name, Shigaraki's lips twitched and Nikko saw a darker look in his eyes between the fingers of the gray hand in front of his face. Nikko's heart fell as he heard that tone shift, suddenly remembering that he was speaking to an insane mass murderer and not someone he should be bantering back and forth with like he was in any way trained for something like this.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Nikko thought, and he only cursed internally for a moment at his stutter there after a life of public speaking.

"Don't you think it's a bit unfair, how he's been treating you?" Shigaraki wondered.

"You got him out of prison and what did he do? Straight up accused you of corruption on live tv," Dabi remarked, moving around behind Nikko and making him flinch as the voice went from one ear to the other as Dabi passed his back. "He's a cautious one, not trusting the government. Then again he has lots of reasons to. You're all a bunch of slimy bastards."

"Well, most of you," Shigaraki said, countering with a look towards Dabi and then a turn back to Nikko who could clearly see they were pitching something to him. He was trying very hard to just keep thinking about how he was stalling, and that he should not agree with anything they were saying as much as they were some of the things he had thought himself. "But you, you haven't done anything. You aren't anything like all those corrupt officials and politicians he exposed around the world over the year he was gone."

"As Death, you mean?" Nikko asked. "Do you have proof it was him?" He questioned again, wondering if the villains were attempting to give him this as the whole purpose of the meeting.

"No one has that proof," Shigaraki countered with a shake of his head. "Which is why he knew he could come back here. So that he could start his plan, whatever that plan may be."

"We don't know what it is," Rasheed mentioned, making Nikko turn towards him and frown much darker at the CEO who he did not feel as scared to be talked to. Both Dabi and Shigaraki gave him darker looks too, and Rasheed shut up instantly and just stepped farther back towards his windows at those three dark looks.

"But whatever it is, he's coming for blood," Dabi said. In his head, he saw the last time he saw Sazkai in person. He saw that dark figure firing a beam of Death at him that killed more of the League around him before he sprinted away. "He's coming for us, and Mr. Prime Minister, we don't feel very comfortable about that."

"Then turn yourselves in and go to prison," Nikko said calmly without looking back at Dabi. He stared at Shigaraki and said in as confident a tone he could muster, "I promise you'll be safe from him in there."

"That's not going to happen," Shigaraki said, but he left some wiggle room in his voice like there was chance for negotiation here. Nikko opened his eyes wider and actually listened closer as Shigaraki continued, "But we do have our own idea for how to be safe from him. Nikko, Mr. Prime Minister, your popularity is dropping by the day. Everyone can see you only got elected thanks to Lifebringer, and they think you don't have the balls to stand up to him. Letting him get away with doing whatever he wants. People think you're his puppet."

"And yet he plays it like you wanted it to be the other way around," Dabi remarked with a scoff. "Like he didn't get himself thrown in Tartaros knowing exactly what you'd do."

"He couldn't have," Nikko retorted quickly. Stop listening to them! They don't know what they're talking about. It's all lies-

"We knew," Shigaraki said. Nikko froze and got confusion over his whole face, then sweat all over his body as the door far behind him opened. He turned his head partially to the side and looked back, but it was the worst person he could imagine who just came in and was coming towards him. My guards? How did he get past them?! Are they dead? Did they get bribed? Nikko turned his head slowly back forward from the blond he just looked back through the room at, looking into Shigaraki's eyes with his own shaking and wide at what the leader of the League of Villains was saying. "We knew long before you even announced you were running. What platforms you planned to run on. The fact that you were going to release Lifebringer. Well, we didn't know that part, since Lifebringer had not turned himself in yet at the time, but we knew exactly what you were going to do every step you took to do it."

"Good for you," Nikko said, trying to keep his voice steady though it did shake there for a second. "You think that scares me? You think, I'll help you just because you knew… or because you think Lifebringer's using me? He's staying out of politics, and that's good for him. I don't need his help to fix Japan."

"Maybe not," Raijin began behind him, and Nikko grit his teeth hard at that cocky voice he heard coming closer to his back. "But no matter what you do, no one will ever believe it was you who fixed Japan. No matter what measures you get passed…" Nikko's eyes widened again, and he bit down even harder as he knew this already. "No matter what accomplishments you make in the Diet…"

Nikko had kept it in the back of his mind, trying not to think very hard about it. Raijin brought it to the surface though instantly, and Nikko lowered his eyes down with his dark hair shadowing over them. "You released Lifebringer on the same day you came into office. And everybody cares about him a lot more than they care about you. So if things get better over the next couple years, while everyone's focusing on Lifebringer and what he's doing… you know it's him they're all going to give credit for 'fixing' this broken country."

"You're right," Nikko whispered. Call the police as soon as they're gone. Nikko's expression was dark as he stared down at the desk in front of him. "But, there's no way to avoid that. Lifebringer will always be popular, and I'll never be able to surpass him." Tell me your plan and I'll agree, and they'll let me live. I'll report them as soon as I'm clear and it'll be up to the heroes to catch them. I can even call Lifebringer and get him here to help me! He's my true ally! I don't believe any of this- I mean, I do. But I am not a villain.

"We have to throw him back in prison, and only you can make that happen," Shigaraki said. "You'll get the proof you need to charge him for being Death, and you'll throw him back into the deepest part of Tartaros."

If I agree with them here. Even if I say I did it just to get them to leave me alone, they could be recording me and it would all be over anyway. I… I can't fold! "I won't make a deal with villains-"

Raijin stepped up behind Nikko. He leaned over the Prime Minister's right shoulder, making the man lean hard to the left at the unsettled feeling welling inside him. "How can you say no to us?" Raijin asked. He put his phone over the chair and in front of Nikko's face with the screen facing back towards them. Nikko's unsettled and anxious expression flipped. His eyes bulged and his heart nearly stopped before racing as fast as it had when he first saw Shigaraki Tomura in that secret passage. In fact, this time it was racing even harder. His vision started getting blurrier in the corners, his breath getting harder to get out of his own throat at the sight. "Do you really want these pictures getting out?" Denki Kaminari asked.

Nikko stared at himself in his focused vision. He heard Raijin but the words were muffled, as he stared at himself naked on a motel room bed, with a woman… who was not his wife. The bombshell blonde laying there with him on top, with her on top of him, pictures were taken from various angles around the room somehow in the middle of the love-making without Nikko ever seeing it there. And then Raijin flipped to the final picture of the blonde woman with her eyes open staring straight into the camera, and Nikko's bottom lip dropped before his jaw fell the rest of the way at what Kaminari spoke straight into his ear, "What would people think if they found out their Prime Minister was cheating on his wife? What would people do, when they find out that she was actually a teenager? And a villain? A murderess?" Raijin's voice hissed at the end and he brought his lips right close to Nikko's right ear while the older man had completely frozen up and felt his world crumbling around him.

"The most wanted, Himiko Toga?"

Raijin smirked while pulling back. He saw the Prime Minister's horrified look of realization at how these pictures were possible. The reality of what had happened slammed down on him over and over, a soul-crushing revelation that continued even as his vision came back to him fully and the panic completely set in. He snapped his head up and reached a hand for the phone, but Kaminari pulled it away and smacked him on the opposite ear for the attempt. "Uh uh uh," he said, wagging his finger in the Prime Minister's face and then sparking some electricity off the tip when the PM was about to try and stand.

"Since these pictures were taken before you were elected," Raijin began again, while walking around Nikko's chair and to the side of the desk he leaned on between Shigaraki and Dabi. "It could be said that you got into this position of power just for the League of Villains if it came down to you being discovered." Nikko's already collapsing world just fell even deeper, and Raijin added, "If you were being blackmailed the whole time, well that would be treason wouldn't it? Life without parole in the deepest part of Tartaros. No more loving wife. No more adoring country. But a cell to spend the rest of your days in." Raijin shrugged his shoulders and leaned his head back, "A pretty harsh punishment for one unfaithful night, for a drunken mistake! But, that's politics for you," Raijin chuckled ominously and slid his phone back into his pocket that he patted once for safe keeping and had the Prime Minister staring at with a dry mouth.

"Th-That might- How do I know that was actually Toga-"

"I photographed the real Nozaki Tanja on that night too," Raijin said with a smug look over his face. He leaned his face forward and smirked maliciously at the Prime Minister staring at him in horror, "She has a strong alibi to claim that she never had sex with you. And when the video of Toga's initial blackmail comes out, threatening you to run for Prime Minister, her disguise melting away to show who she really was as she holds up these photos… well, the evidence just stacks up against you doesn't it?"

Nikko bowed his head and brought his hands up to his face. He felt like screaming at the top of his lungs, and yet he was too scared to do so as the villains in front of him could just decide to kill him if he did something like that. Rasheed bit down as he watched this happen to someone else, and he turned away and looked out the windows of his building in such a hateful way. Fucking, League of Villains.

Dabi glanced to his side at the smirking blond next to him who looked so proud of his work right here. How he did this is nothing short of fucking prophetic. A whole year leading to this moment. And now, Dabi's head turned and he looked back at the Prime Minister grabbing his face and looking like he might be crying. We have him in the palm of our hands. We needed this though. This, and everything else we can get, now that he's back…

"You know," Raijin began again after Nikko had a few moments to try and process how horrible his life had become in only a minute. "It's only because of Lifebringer that we're doing this to you."

"All for a kid who isn't even thankful that you let him out of jail five and a half years early, in his sentence for murder." Dabi paused after saying it, and he was glad Nikko's face was still down as his expression did not match the tone he just used to try and fake this as well as the other two were.

"And we don't want much, Mr. Prime Minister" Shigaraki said. He shook his head while Nikko was raising his. Nikko's eyes were red and his face ten years older than when he bowed it as if all that stress had already worn him down. "Lifebringer's the one we're after. He's the only one we're after," Shigaraki specified. The reason we've come out of hiding. Imagine that! That we came out of hiding just for Lifebringer, and we might go back into it should we get what we want. Nikko blinked a couple times, his eyes widening as his heart started speeding up again. Shigaraki held back his smirk as he could see his own thoughts being echoed in Nikko's mind the way he intended them to.

Shigaraki stood up and he shook his head in a pitying way. "Do you really want your whole life destroyed for him?" Shigaraki asked while looking down at the man who felt so small now, so out of control of his life and everything happening within it. "For someone who doesn't care at all about you?"

Nikko's head bowed again. He looked down at his hands. He clenched his eyes shut and saw himself waking up in that room, next to that beautiful woman he had been talking to the night before who was just so easy to get on with. Who had been so much more attractive than his plain wife, and who had taken such an interest in his ideas for the future… and in his political future… Nikko opened up his clenched fists. His face looked defeated, and he slowly lifted up his head trying to muster a bit more of a stern look over that hesitant expression. "Is Lifebringer… really you're whole goal?"

The group of villains nodded at him. Nikko's eyes dropped back down, and smirks rose, all around.

A/N And they back! About 40 chapters ago while Zach was Death-ing about the world, we had that one scene of Kaminari in his hiding place with some comrades, and that blonde came in who melted away to show Toga... anyway just reminding in case anyone forgot about that. XD The League of Villains are starting to move in the shadows, huge corporations and government leaders falling into their hands one by one. Zach's busy with school, dealing with the press, and his own moves, but other plans are being put in motion at the same time. The League know who their most dangerous enemy is... Anyway thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and leave a review below telling me what you think, comments, predictions, or questions for the story!

Licorice chapter 159 . Jun 6

I just noticed that the anniversary of death is in 9 days.

5 more! Probs get another 2 chapters in by then!

GuestP chapter 159 . Jun 7

*Maniacal Laughing*
tHiS StOrY iS bReAkInG mE
Okay, I'm fine now.
Zach has PTSD and it's making me really sad, because gosh Zach's just got all this pent up emotions and rants that he can't do away with and I actually feel bad for him.
I've always loved how you manage to make him act so human-like. For example, the flashbacks that Zach has in this chapter and the call backs to characters that are long gone, it physically and mentally affects him, it reminds me of soldiers who come back from war - the regrets and grief overwhelm many. I don't think I've written enough about how much I admire the way you write, and the inspiration you give me as both a reader and writer is incredible. Thank you!
Keep up the awesome work my dude!~
Can't wait for the next chapter!~

Thanks for the review! Zach's got so much he could rant about... if only he had someone to rant to. ;( Too much of his stuff he's keeping hidden, but he's in it for the long game (as much as he has to remind himself of it sometimes). Zach's PTSD showed last chapter a lot because of similar reasons as what happened to him when he returned from escaping the League of Villains in the past. He's just trying to keep on with whatever it is he's got going on. I'm glad you enjoy my writing style, and that you feel the way Zach's feeling and what he's going through is pretty accurate for someone who'd gone to war. Zach did that, and a whole lot more too. He's still keeping up appearances best he can though and living it out as Zach Sazaki. Can he keep that up? What will the League do now with Nikko's help? What's coming?! Find out soon on Death!