As Yuga Aoyama sat, restrained to his chair in the dimly-lit room, the only noise to come from his mouth was the occasional tortured gurgle. He had been caught. Well and truly exposed. After everything that he had been through, this was the end for him. Already, his parents had been taken by the police for questioning and it seemed unlikely at best that they would be seeing the light of day any time soon. As for Yuga himself, he doubted he would be much better off. All of the terrible things he had permitted by giving All for One the information he needed. As if the guilt was not enough, he would be lucky to ever step foot in UA again once this was all over. if it ever ended. That was no guaranteed statement anymore. Would things ever be the same again?

"I just want to know why you didn't tell us." The other student noted from behind Aoyama as they returned with two mugs of tea, passing one to Yuga. Gratefully, the grief-stricken young man took the mug by slipping his hands under the restraints and bending down to take slow, pitiful sips. As he did this, his peer sat back down on the chair opposite from him. "You could have told us absolutely anything. We could've helped."

Glancing down into his lap, the guilt radiating in those dull, broken eyes,Yuga chuckled bitterly. "This is All for One. The cost of failure would have been catastrophic. Had he sensed in any way that I was going against him, the police would never have found the bodies of me or my parents. The Aoyamas would have disappeared off the face of the earth."

"I see." Nodding slowly, out of understanding, the other student stirred their tea. "It must have been awful for you. The things you've done have caused irreversible damage to hero society..." The scene was as gentle as it was sombre as the typically sparkling blond processed the words that had been said.

"Yeah..." He finally muttered, having to force the words out. "Yeah... I just don't know anymore..."

"That kind of guilt weighing on a person's consciousness is often too much to bear." The friend noted, raising their own cup to their lips. "Many would go mad with that kind of guilt."

"Maybe… How are the others?" Yuga knew he had no right to ask such a question, but he could not resist. He just couldn't. Because truly, beneath the deception and the heartbreak, he cared for them. For a period of time, he could have considered them to be his friends.

"They're not doing too bad." Was the answer to come. "They seem divided. Hagakure and Ojiro… and some others are angry. There are those that are sympathetic to you, though."

"Hmm..." Aoyama mused on this. "All this pain… I can only imagine what they would be feeling right now… What All for One said is right. Yuga Aoyama is the name of a twisted villain."

"No, I don't think you're twisted." The friend replied as they got up to their feet. "Not one bit."

Something about those words ignited something within Yuga. Something deeply human. Almost like a sense of relief to have such words affirmed to him, even if he deep down felt them to be undeserved. "Really?" Shaking, he looked up at his friend…

And he saw the end of the gun barrel pointed directly at his forehead.

"I think you're pathetic." The other student responded as they squeezed the trigger once, then twice. The blasting gunshots echoed around the room as Yuga Aoyama slumped, dead on impact. His eyes were frozen, displaying no emotion and his mouth hung slack. With the sickening stench of cordite drifting through the room, Aoyama's killer allowed the handgun to fold away into a small cube in their trembling hand, before placing the cube in their inside blazer pocket. And as they stood over him, they shook their head, slicked with sweat.

"What a waste..." They sighed, their voice bordering on irritation. "All you had to do was keep your head. You had to get emotional, you had to tell all. Izuku Midoriya called you a hero." The corners of their mouth twisted into a manic grin. "Maybe he wasn't wrong. A pathetic rat like you is perfect for the current system of heroism."

{--}

"Dead?" As young Mina Ashido repeated the word said by Inspector Naomasa Tsukauchi, her voice was barely above a whisper. "What do you..."

"I'm sorry." Tsukauchi pinched the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. Standing in front of all the students in the Height's Alliance lounge, with a few fellow officers and teaching staff behind him, the best word to possibly describe him was tired. Completely and utterly exhausted. "Yuga Aoyama was found deceased not an hour ago."

In the back, the officer with the head of a feline nodded, his bell rustling gently. "Two bullets to the forehead. Blood everywhere. No trace of the murderer. We're gonna get forensics teams over here soon enough, but there don't seem to be many-"

"Sansa!" Naomasa snapped as he looked over his shoulder with a glare, although his heart did not seem to be in it, his voice hassled and hoarse.

"Oh, uh right. Sorry, sir." The catlike cop hung his head and purred in embarrassment.

Rolling his eyes, the inspector turned back to face the students. "Either which way, it's obvious to state that this is a complete disaster."

"Hmm..." Sitting on one of the couches, all of his arms folded onto his lap, Mezo Shoji seemed to be trying his best to stay calm and admittedly doing a good job of it. "Aoyama was being held in the main building, was he not?"

For a moment, Naomasa hesitated, clearly reluctant to part any information to the kids, but he soon relented, shaking his head. "Yeah. He was being held there for the time being while we waited to process his parents. The safest place for him right now was this school, but we couldn't let the public get near him. Not that it means much now. I suppose the high school rumour mill was working overtime though, even in these times."

As Izuku Midoriya sat and listened to all of this, he couldn't quite believe it. Aoyama? Dead? It all just seemed so sudden. Only that morning, it seemed like, although things were far from ideal in the fortress that was UA, they were due for a bright day ahead. But now… everything had crumbled so quickly. "So then… What happens next*"

"Some of that is obvious." Announced Principal Nedzu as he brushed past Tsukauchi's legs, his expression as grave as his limited facial features could convey. "For a start, this dorm room is to become your permanent residence for the time being. And by that, I mean permanent. You will not be permitted to leave and nobody from outside will be permitted to enter. The same is the case for the other classes. You have my apologies for such measures..."

From the back of the room, Katsuki Bakugo snorted. "Tch. What a buncha bullshit."

"Language, Bakugo." A battered and bruised Aizawa, recently returned from the hospital, warned, his voice more terrifyingly low than anyone could recall, as he stepped forwards slightly. "You'll keep that large mouth of yours shut for once and listen to what the principal has to say."

"..." Katsuki looked ready to retort, but, embarrassed, he fell silent, and not a single sound came from his mouth. Nodding in response to this, Nedzu continued.

"Those of you that have families on the ground currently, will not be forbidden from contacting them. But keep in mind that emails, texts and calls will all be monitored. No exceptions." As he heard this, Minoru Mineta's face visibly twisted into one of pure horror, but nothing was said on the matter. "Simply put, not so long ago, I was one hundred percent convinced that there was no one among us in UA who was passing intelligence to the enemy. Now, not only have I been proven wrong, but the possibility stands that..." Then, there was silence, before Naomasa finished the sentence.

"... That there's more than one."

At hearing this, the silence shattered and the students launched into frantic, terrified discussion amongst one another. "Are you saying that someone wanted to silence Aoyama-kun?" Uraraka finally inquired fearfully as she held her hand to her chest.

"What?!" Kirishima, conversely, was having none of that. "Come on, you've got to be having a laugh. Aoyama? Who'd want to have him silenced? C'mon, this was either a suicide or a civilian found out what he'd done."

"It wasn't a suicide." Sansa pointed out. "Both shots were directly to the-"

"Sansa, shut up!"

"Sorry, sir."

"Good grief..." Again, the inspector pinched the bridge of his nose. "But yes, I suppose. Whoever did this and for whatever reason, it's a murder. Not that it's anything for you kids to worry about, because you'll be staying right here while we sort through those housed in the campus."

"Whoever did this is undoubtedly still on school grounds." Nedzu corroborated. "And us teachers will work with the police to find out who it is. We will ensure that they won't get far, that is our promise to you. And for us, the best thing you can do is stay in this dorm and wait for it to blow over."

"Like hell we'll do that!" The redhead man of steel yelled out. "One of our guys has been killed and you're tellin' us to let a stinkin' murderer prowl the place as they please?"

"Calm down." The bird-headed Tokoyami urged with a roll of his eyes as he sat with his arms folded. "You're making a spectacle of yourself. This isn't our fight."

"Isn't our fight?!" Something that resembled pure insanity blinked into Kirishima's eyes. "Are you "completely out of it? This was our friend, you idiot! Of course it's our fight!"

"And what could we do?" The bird responded with a steely cold glare, one that was usually synonymous with his attitude. "You can act gung ho all you want, but this is a matter for professionals."

All was silent. Kirishima looked around the room. And then, of all people, Tsuyu Asui nodded.

"He - ribbit - has a point you know." She stated blankly as she brought a finger up to the corner of her mouth. "We aren't investigators. All we could - ribbit - do is get in the way."

As he stared at his peers, the self-proclaimed pillar of manliness shook his head. "Dammit, are you people completely insane? I-" And then, he turned and walked straight out of the room.

"Hey!" Bakugo called after him, to no effect. "Jesus. Talk about not taking it well."

"I can't say I blame him..." Naomasa muttered. "Either way, I'll leave this to your teachers now." And with that, he stepped back, allowing Aizawa to come to the front.

"Right then." Shota spoke up as the gathered police officers began to file out of the lounge and into the outside world. "You heard what Inspector Tsukauchi said. And I'm done playing around here. If any - and I mean any - of you even think of going against what has been said, you will be tossed out of these gates as soon as this disaster is over and won't be invited back. The time for fun and games has passed. You're going to do what's been instructed of you or you won't ever step foot in a UA classroom again. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

For a moment, there was hesitant silence. And then, a unified chorus of "Yes, sir."

After a moment, Aizawa nodded. "Good, good. Alright then. I'll leave you to it for the time being then. I'd advise you try to get some rest."

And that was it.

Really, what else was there to be said?

{--}

A few hours passed by as the sky darkened, going from its typical blues to a radiant orange to the inky purple that currently hung above all of Japan. Izuku Midoriya had no intention of sleeping, nor did he believe for even a second that it would be possible. So, he sat down in the lounge as the hours stretched by with a few others, namely Uraraka, Kaminari, Ashido, Jiro and Shoji. At their current situation, Mina lay sleeping on one of the sofas, while the others had their attention turned to the TV.

"It's the same crap that's always being spewed nowadays." Denki sighed as he reached for the remote to flick off the news channels. "Chaos this, anarchy that. Seems like we've been plunged into the apocalypse."

"My dad used to love the phrase, things have gone to Hell in a handcart." Kyoka mused as she played a couple of chords on the guitar that lay sprawled lazily on her stomach. "I'm starting to understand what he meant by that."

"True that." The lightning-based hero-in-training agreed. "You hear about that old guy? The hero. When he retired, there were people booing the fact that he didn't kill himself on stage." He shook his head. "People are looking for blood now. And they don't really care whose it is."

"It's not like you to be so nihilistic." Mezo noted as he worked on what appeared to be knitting a sweater of some description, using all of his available arms to do so.

"I'm being realistic." Kaminari corrected. "We can't just plug our ears and say we ain't listening anymore. Things are serious. Real serious. Aoyama's been feeding the League our every move for God knows how long and now… he's..."

"Aoyama-kun wasn't a bad person..." Ochaco mused softly. "He was forced into an impossible situation, there was nothing he could do. I really wanted to believe we could save him, Deku."

"I know…." Izuku responded, keeping his head low. Really, he was still to fully process all that had happened. "I did, too. Like you just said, he wasn't a villain, despite what even he thought."

"But now… he'll never get a chance to redeem himself." Was Jiro's gloomy cap to that line of thought as she gave up even trying to play and set her guitar down carefully, standing up against the arm of the couch. With her arms free, she stretched a little as she yawned. "This is all… way too much right now. I think I need some sleep."

"I think you all do." The new voice caused Izuku to jump a bit as Tenya Iida entered the lounge, brushing off his polo shirt as he went through the archway. "I thought it my duty to let you know that it's almost midnight."

"Oh?" Curiously, Midoriya looked at his watch; So it was. "How'd that even happen? Time's passed so quickly..."

"Hmm..." Coming over to them, the class president rested one hand on the backrest of the couch. "I know for a fact that sleeping is going to be almost impossible with everything that's happened, so I won't force you. But I'd advise you at least try."

"Right, of course." Nodding, Jiro went over to where Mina slept and rocked her shoulder gently. "Hey, sleepyhead… Let's get you up to your room, okay?" Slowly, Ashido opened one raccoon-esque eye in acknowledgement of this and let out a low groan as she very gradually started to pull herself up. Meanwhile, Shoji too got to his feet.

"I think that's for the best, Iida-kun." He nodded as he started to head out of the room, taking his sweater with him. "Take care, you guys."

"You too, Shoji." Denki stated as he raised his hand to his mouth in order to obscure a yawn. "Jesus, maybe I'll sleep okay after all. I'm beat."

"Yeah..." Izuku himself felt not an ounce of tiredness weighing on him in that moment, he was far, far too wired. He went for the remote to turn off the TV for the night and as he did, he caught a brief snippet of what looked like an interview between some brave-as-sin reporter and a couple of men who professed themselves as members of the Paranormal Liberation Front's Heteromorphic Liberation Squad.

"Those guys..." Kaminari sighed. "I swear, they're givin' a bad name to a good cause. If you want to spread a message, you don't just go around smashing shit and you definitely don't appoint one of our country's biggest terrorists as your figurehead. It's mad."

"I can see the appeal..." Young Uraraka pondered. "The Spinner guy, right? He's got everything the heroes don't have right now. He has a strong face, a backstory people can rally behind and, the one thing we really don't have… a unifying goal."

"True..." Jiro muttered, keeping her voice low as she escorted Ashido to the stairs that led up to her room. "Right now, it seems the purpose of the heroes is just to survive. But the villains… they have so much more to gain from all of this."

"A-anyway, enough about that." Urakara broke in, anxious. She started to head away, followed by Denki. Then, it was just Izuku and Tenya left in the room. The two friends looked at one another for what felt like far too long.

Then, Iida removed his glasses and started to polish them. "Midoriya-kun… What happened today… It cannot be forgiven."

"I know..." Izuku agreed as he kept his eyes glued to the floor, trying hard not to let the tears show. He promised he wouldn't cry anymore. Never again. "I want to believe that all these villains… There's more to them than just mindless evil. Tomura Shigaraki, Himiko Toga, Mr. Compress, Dabi and Spinner... The other PLF leaders... They all have their reasons and I want to believe they could have been good, great, people. But whoever shot Aoyama…"

"Anyone who could look at that face and pull a trigger against it must surely be a person who lost their humanity years ago." Tenya finished. "I understand the feeling. Whoever did this, whether as a force for good or evil in their minds, needs to be stopped. But I don't see how anybody could see themselves as the hero after doing such a thing."

"It's all so much, Iida." Gingerly, Izuku reached out and rested a hand on his taller friend's shoulder. "Thanks for being here for us."

"Don't mention it. We shall get through this eventually. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah. Hopefully..."

In the end, Izuku did not sleep. He could not sleep. Just as expected. He had gone up to his room and he had done very little. For a while, he sat atop his bed. At one point, he attempted to watch something on YouTube with his earphones plugged in. Then, he tried some music. After a while, he just lay and allowed his thoughts to overtake his mind. Everything seemed so very daunting, so utterly impossible to scale. All in one day, Aoyama's true nature had been revealed and he had been killed. And by who? This was the question that kept bursting in the young hero's mind. He just could not imagine who would want to dispose of Yuga. Or at least, no specific person. The way he saw it, there were two possible motivations. One told that someone from the civilian populace in the UA fortress had learned of what the Aoyamas had done and had killed the boy out of revenge. The other, and the far more unsettling, possibility was that there was another traitor lurking within UA somewhere. Another person acting under All for One's wishes, who had taken steps to silence Aoyama now that his usefulness had been outlived. To think that would be to think that their problems would only be getting worse from that point on. And Izuku refused to believe anyone else within the school was under such circumstances. It seemed as if everything was truly falling apart. They were nearing the end. And only time would tell who would be the one to reap the rewards of that end.

Soon, he could tell that with everything that was weighing upon him, sleep was a total impossibility and lying there with his contorted thoughts was not going to do much to help, so he decided to get up. Stretching gently, he went to the balcony window of his room and pulled open the curtains, allowing the harsh glare of the moonlight to seep through, basking portions of the room and of course, his own face. This was where Aoyama had attempted to contact him, what felt like years ago now. Back when it was so much easier to maintain hope. And so, Izuku stood, hand pressed to the glass, as he looked up at that bright white moon.

"Aoyama-kun..." He muttered sadly, feeling the hand not pressed on the window clench into a fist. Shaking his head, he looked back to the door of his room. Maybe he should go for a walk…

After pulling on his ruffled green dressing gown, tying the sash nice and tight to keep it closed, Izuku stepped out into the hallway. It all felt very dark, very lonely. In the past, the corridors had been associated with a sense of boisterous comradery; Now, there was nothing.

Knowing that he was completely alone, Izuku started to walk down the hall, keeping his hands in his pockets. He reckoned he would go down to the bathrooms, throw some water on his face, just try and stifle the overwhelming helplessness. But, as he moved to his intended destination, he heard a voice.

"Yo man, you alright?"

Turning his head, a little shocked to hear the familiar tone, Midoriya was granted the sight of Kaminarj, blue and white striped pyjamas and all, standing in the doorway of his own room. He looked for all the world like he had just rolled out of bed, his hair even more of a mess than was typical for him.

"O-oh, hi." Izuku nodded, keeping his voice as low as possible. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

Denki shook his head. "Nah, not at all. No way in hell am I getting any sleep tonight. Figured I'd try have a walk. You the same?"

Izuku then nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright then..." Kaminari craned his neck to look both up and then down the hall, seeing that nobody else was present. "Do you wanna come in for a bit then? Parents got me the next couple of volumes of Darkstalkers when I was in hospital, I never got to tell you since you went AWOL just after that… I'll let you have a read of it, or we can just talk. Whatever you feel like."

"You know what..." It was only at the last second before his mouth opened that Izuku reached a decision. "Sure." He was weary and his heart was heavy; Maybe some time talking with a friend would help smooth things over.

"Alright, sweet!" Seemingly delighted with the agreement, Denki stepped back from the doorway, allowing Midoriya into his room, which was characteristically messy. "Don't wanna spoil it for you, but trust me dude, Volume Twenty-three is when the story ireally/i gets good. Sure, the first half is pretty weak, it's just a continuation of the training arc from the last couple volumes, but man, that second half..." He then made a zipping motion over his lips. "But hey, as I said. I won't spoil it for you."

"Thanks, Kaminari." With the door shut behind them, Izuku glanced around the room, as Denki gestured to an uncluttered futon at a low table next to the bed.

"Sit there if you want. Best seat in the house." He advised as he sat himself down on the bed.

"Sure, sure." Gratefully, Midoriya obliged. For a while, the two sat in silence, neither one of them having much to say. They were content to sit with their own thoughts, in the presence of one another.

Eventually, it was Kaminari to shatter the nothingness. "So, what do you think of this whole lockdown thing?"

"I'm not really sure right now." Izuku answered truthfully. "Mom's out there in the general campus. I suppose it's going to be hard for her to see me for a while. And she's already had so much to worry about."

"Hm. I get whatcha mean." The spiky-haired beacon of electricity sat back on his head with his hands behind his head. "My people are in UA, too. It really stings that they could have Aoyama's killer amongst them and not even realise it. 'Cause, even if they murdered him out of a sense of twisted justice, there's no telling what someone capable of that kinda crap will do. And it's frustrating that we can't do a thing about it." As he raised a hand above his body, a small spark zipped around his index finger. "He was our guy, no matter what."

"Yeah… Yeah, I know. We'll just have to trust the cops and pros to get to the bottom of it." After his time spent rouge, Izuku knew all too well now that there were some things that the still-inexperienced students of UA simply couldn't do. The heroes and police had decades more experience than them and it would only be arrogant to assume otherwise.

"I hope they do soon." The other boy noted. "All of this… I just want everybody to see a happy ending. I wanted Aoyama to have one."

"Mhm..." As he nodded, Izuku glanced over to where a pile of books lay, including Darkstalkers Volumes Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five. Curious to see what came next in the story of the fabled vampire hunter and his army of lovable side characters, he went to pick up the books. And as he did, he saw the corner of a third book just underneath them. It looked classic, leather-bound and of a deep crimson. And as he lifted up the manga, he saw the front cover of this third item.

And he froze.

The Metahuman Liberation War, by Chikara Yotsubashi.

The book of the Paranormal Liberation Front. There, and clear as day, sitting on Kaminari's floor. Midoriya remembered the copy he had been handed by Hawks all those months ago, before the PLF were even a conceivable force in his mind. He had tossed out that copy just before leaving UA. Gradually, he looked up and he saw that Kaminari too had noticed. And he looked positively terrified.

"Kaminari-kun..." Midoriya finally whispered as he found his voice. "What- What's this doing here?"

"I- Shit." With a little gasp, Denki reached down and scooped up the book. "Trust me, dude, there's an explanation for this, I swear."

"That- that book was outlawed." The hero-in-training known as Deku murmured softly. "It's totally illegal to own."

"H-hey, c'mon." Kaminari chuckled nervously. "I mean, the Commission's in shambles, who the hell is gonna enforce that? Look, I got it back before the war all got started, it was a- a gift. I just got too lazy to toss it after everything that happened."

Izuku then looked back up so that he was staring Denki directly in the eyes. He could sense the unease. "Did you really?"

A visible lump formed in Chargebolt's throat. "Yeah- no, shit, fine, okay? Maybe it wasn't a gift. I just, uh, I wanted to see what it was like." When Midoriya did not offer a response, his eyes widened. "Hey, c'mon! I've got nothing to do with the PLF, honest! You know me, dude. You seriously think I'd buy into all that crap? You and I both know I'm the only one in this Goddamn school who doesn't stick for Bakugo-kun's BS, you think I'd call ihim/i out and then just let myself get suckered into this stuff in my next breath?"

As he heard the panicked words of his friend, Izuku just stared down at the book again, as Denki grasped it in both hands. "I want to believe you." He finally said, his tone hollow. "I really do. I want to believe that everyone in our class, in the school, has the potential to be a true hero..."

"So, you won't tell anyone, right?!"

"I-" Midoroya sighed. "No. I won't."

"Aw, seriously?" Almost immediately, Kaminari seemed to relax. "You are such a bro. Thanks, Midoriya, I won't forget-"

"But." Came the interruption as Midoriya's weary eyes of emerald gore holes into Kaminari's. "If it reaches the point where I can't defend you anymore… I'll have to turn you in." It pained him to say such things, but if there was a chance that he was face-to-face with Yuga Aoyama's killer… He could not ignore that.

{--}

Three Months Prior, Somewhere Between Gunga and Jaku

"Hmph..." The Paranormal Liberation Front advisor known as Skullcutter huffed, satisfied, as he stood over the body of Nemuri Kayama. The woman was well and truly dead. And from the looks of her wounds, she certainly would not be getting an open casket. Looking up to the fresh air of the world above, wrought with the stench of death and chaos, the man reached up and pulled away his skull mask; Beneath, was a gaunt, skeletal and pale face, with hollow eyes obscured by shadow and tufts of matted blond hair. He almost looked like a zombie, revived from the dead by a chaotic necromancer. And as he held his helmet, he watched the leaves of the trees above rustle in the light breeze of destruction. He knew he was not supposed to have the mask off for too long, but it felt nice to have some air on his face.

"Well, then..." He muttered to himself. "I guess that beast must be headed towards Shigaraki. Tch. Grand Commander, my ass. I'll take Re-Destro any day of the week..."

"That doesn't seem to be an unpopular opinion, does it?" Came a new voice from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, Skullcutter saw a student. A young person, dressed in a particularly garish hero costume. But the man did not fret one bit, for he knew who this person was.

"Huh." He said, slightly louder, although his voice was weak and strained, as he poked Midnight's body with his foot, kicking her over onto her back, with those lifeless eyes gazing up to the sky where her soul had been sent. "They really did roll you kids into this. Dumb bastards… The people ain't gonna stand for that. Child soldiers." He chuckled. "Not that we can judge."

"No, I suppose not." Passively, the student looked past Skullcutter to their former teacher's corpse. "Is she dead, then?"

Again, the advisor let out a dull chuckle, which escalated into a coughing fit. He saw this as a sign that he should place his mask back and so that he did. "Yikes, kid. You're cold. Wasn't she one of your mentors."

"It had to be done." Was the curt response from the young hero. "To shake the foundations of this society, we have to knock out its pillars. Besides, that woman was utterly unsuitable for the position of teaching staff."

"Guess so. I never got a fancy private education like you kids did." Now that the helmet was back on, Skullcutter's voice sounded stronger and slightly modulated. "Is the quality of the staff really that poor for such a prestigious place?"

"You'd be surprised." The conversation was suddenly cut short by the sound of rapid footsteps from behind. The student spun around. "Should we-"

"Nah, they're us." Replied Skullcutter knowingly, even as a small platoon of Liberation warriors burst into the clearing of the forest. Most of them were Heteromorphs. "I guess you'll want to stay with the school, then? I mean, if you want, you can leg it to high ground with the rest of us."

"No." Was the predictable answer. "If I remain within UA, then I can continue to gather information for you. We both know that after all of this. That place is going to become a fortress. We can crack their security, though. Myself and that imbecile Aoyama."

"Sure, sure. Good luck, kid." With a nod of his head, Skullcutter's gaze went off into the distance, even as the student melted away into the crowd of soldiers. "I saw you on TV, the Sports Festival." He suddenly said with no real prompting and seemingly to nobody in particular. "You did a damn good job, I reckon. Tsuyu Asui, right?"

{--}

Present Day, Height's Alliance Dormitories

It had been a few days since the enforced lockdown of the dorms for students. And, although it was difficult to get a grasp of any news, it appeared that the police and heroes were not coming any closer to catching their killer. In time, it was clear to tell who had grown restless and who was still holding onto sanity. There were those who stayed in the common room, tried their best to interact with others, prepare meals, do their very best to keep some semblance of normality. Ashido, Jiro, Sero, et cetera. Then, there were those who stayed up in their rooms, the most notable example being Kirishima. There were those who stuck to something in between. Midoriya reckoned he fell into that third group.

"You know, I reckon the worst part about this whole thing..." Mineta commented as he flicked through channels absent-mindedly. "... Is how boring things are."

"Dude!" Sero exclaimed, seeming somewhat taken aback. "iThat's/i your biggest worry? You're bored?"

The pint-sized future hero shrugged. "Hey, there isn't much to do here. And unlike some people, I'm planning on doing exactly what the cops said because iI/i don't want to cause any problems."

Hanta folded his arms. "What are you on about?"

"Oh, don't give me that, Sero-kun. I know you've been part of that Scooby gang." Smugly, he supported his cheek with his fist. "Next time, don't hold your meetings right next to my room with paper-thin walls."

"I-" The raven-haired student groaned. "Okay, so what if we're just conducting a little investigation? Who really cares?"

"I must say, I agree with Sero here." Shoji noted as he continued to knit away at his sweater. "Although it would be best to do as was instructed of us, there's no harm in looking down a list of suspects."

Concerned, Asui, who sat cross-legged on the floor, tilted her head. "I don't - iribbit/i - know… Is it really a good idea to jump in with amateur - iribbit/i - investigations? We should leave it to the professionals."

"She has a point." Ochaco agreed. "Besides, you know as well as all of us that we can't start to suspect others. That'll only create a bigger divide." Izuku felt inclined to side with this, for he too had been worrying about that; Ever since Aoyama's outing, it was only a matter of time before trust would begin to break down between the peers. He couldn't let that happen.

"Hmm..." Kaminari remained silent, to which Kyoka jokingly flicked him on the back of the neck.

"C'mon, what's your damage, Jamming-way? You've been sulking way too much recently."

"Sure, whatever. If you say so." It was clear that Denki was completely indifferent to all that was going on, he was almost entirely passive in fact. And it felt strange to Izuku, knowing that he was possibly the only one to learn the reason why. Early the morning after the meeting in Kaminari's room, he had found the burned remains of a book in the trash can just at the end of the hallway. Sero and Ojiro, who had been with Midoriya when he found it, had chalked it up as Mineta disposing of the evidence of his many, many magazines, but Izuku knew the truth. He only hoped that he had made the right decision in holding Kaminari's secret; Currently, he was not too sure if he had.

It was at that point that Izuku got to his feet. "I'm just going to get some fresh air." He announced as he sauntered out of the common room and went directly to the currently-deserted kitchen. Upon reaching his destination, he pulled the latches of the window and tugged it open, allowing the fresh air of the outside world into his lungs. Not that it felt very fresh at all. Death, and rot, hung in the air, so thick that he could almost taste it in the back of his throat. Even still, it was better than nothing. And in a way, it at least reminded him of what he, and all of the others, were fighting for. A chance to feel that fresh breeze in all of its beauty yet again. And the only way to ever do that would be to destroy All for One. As much as he hated to admit it, there wasn't any other option. The overlord of evil, and his myriad of minions, were beyond redemption. He had tried to make others see reason during his time as an outlaw, tried to understand them, and where had it gotten them? The one known as Muscular was unchanged, Kai Chisaki had been placed on suicide watch upon his re-arrest and Lady Nagant was on death's doorstep in the very same hospital that housed Mr. Compress and the Kurogiri. Maybe some of the villains could still be reasoned with. But the more Midoriya saw the destruction, the terrified civilians, Aoyama's fate, he wasn't sure anymore.

And then, he spied something, something that caught his eye. A small glint of metal, protruding from one of the bushes outside the windows. Even with the current state of things, the greenery was still lovingly maintained by UA's gardening club. So clean that the black metal stuck out from a mile away. Just what was it? Izuku attempted to lean forward through the window, but he couldn't quite make it out from the angle. And so, he made a split-second decision, one that he would look back on in later times and positively cringe at. Taking a hurried look behind his back, to ensure nobody was watching, he crawled right through the window, landing on his feet in the outside world. Now this could be a problem. He knew full well just how serious Aizawa-sensei had been and the consequences of being caught breaking the lockdown were unthinkable. But still, now here he was.

Cautiously, keeping one eye in the back of his head at all times, the young man made his way to the bush, where the metal object glimmered. And there, he picked it up. A small, black cube. One that looked very familiar to Izuku, who had some knowledge of recent firearms patents.

A collapsable handgun. SIG. It had to be. He recognised that sleek look from the various police officers he had seen before. And indeed, as he held it, it slowly unfolded automatically. And in his hands, Izuku Midoriya held a pistol.

His blood turned to ice. His heart stopped beating. All he could hear in that moment were the pulses of his brain. His legs felt weak and bile rose in his throat. A gun. What was a gun doing on the UA premises? Maybe a cop had dropped it? No, no, that couldn't be the case. Only the very best had been assigned to look over the school campus, none of them would do something as silly as losing their weapon and not realising. And so, he craned his neck up. Directly above him, a few stories up, was one of the balconies, with the door still hanging open. And judging from what he knew of the building's geography… that would be…

"Kaminari-kun's room..." He muttered as he looked down at the gun again. And this time, he realised something new; A speck of blood at the end of the barrel. And then, he looked back up again. This couldn't be…

And then, he turned. And he saw, staring directly at him, Mezo Shoji, resting on the window sill.

"Midoriya." The heteromorphic student stated before Izuku could even get a word out; In a complete turn of events for his usual personality, he sounded absolutely shocked. "What are you doing there… What have you got in your hands..."

"Shoji..." Izuku had to cup one hand over his mouth to prevent himself from releasing his vomit, as he felt sick to his very stomach. "This isn't what it looks like." He dropped the gun as if it were a ticking time bomb, and stepped back from it. "This..."

"Hmm..." Shoji leaned back from his position a little bit to reveal that Uraraka was also standing there. Midoriya felt his stomach churn yet again. How many of them were there?

"It's just us two." Ochaco answered softly, as if reading her friend's mind. "Deku, please tell me this isn't what it looks like."

"It isn't… I can promise you that..." Suddenly, Midoriya felt an awful lot like how Kaminari muet have on that night. "I was getting some fresh air. But I found this in the bush. It caught my attention..."

"I see..." Regaining some of his composure, Mezo leapt from the sill down to the ground, promptingUraraka to wince, now that two of her friends were breaking the orders. With one hand, he scooped up the weapon from the ground. And there, he examined it. "Do you think- this was used by the murderer?"

Izuku nodded resolutely. He could find no other explanation.

"And you found it here?"

Another nod.

"Then..." Shoji paused, as if he was struggling to get the next words out of his mouth. "... Either somebody is trying to frame one of us… Or..." He shook his head, as if unwilling to accept that possibility. "This needs to be handed into the police."

Uraraka cupped a hand over her mouth. "But, Shoji-kun, we're going to have to explain how we found it..."

"I know, I know..." Gently, Mezo rested one hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Your inquisitiveness could well have allowed for a breakthrough. If the police could find DNA on this… It would be amazing. But it's not fair that you should be punished for your sharp eye. I'll… I'll take it. I'll say I was the one who found it."

"What?" No, Izuku couldn't allow that. "No, come on, Shoji. You didn't do anything wrong, you shouldn't have to take the fall."

"I'm standing here right now. Breaking the lockdown. There's no point in both of us getting done here."

"But- Couldn't we submit the gun together?"

"Don't worry yourself." Shoji seemed utterly resolute. "When I was very young, I was told a scary guy like me could never make it as a hero. But, as they told me that, all I thought was how I wanted to prove them all wrong." He took in the dark sky above. "I want to prove to the whole world that a scary guy can show everybody a beautiful sunrise. I want to help people, even if it hurts me. So, I'll go. Is that okay?"

"I-" Something about Shoji's speech was just too touching. Midoriya felt tears start to bloom in the corners of his eyes. Dismissing them with a shake of his head, he finally nodded. "Alright then. I'll let you do it, Shoji."

"Alright." Then, the young man turned to Ochaco. "If anyone asks, us three were in the kitchen when Midoriya saw the gun. I leapt out to go and get it. Do you hear me? That will be our story." As soon as he got the hesitant nod of confirmation from the girl, he turned and headed around the side of the building, off on his way to go and find the police. And so, that just left Uraraka and Midoriya.

"He's really willing to go that far to help us..." The girl whispered. "We really are looking at the people who are going to save this world."

Feeling a thin smile appear upon his lips, Midoriya nodded. As much as it disturbed him that they could potentially be so close to Aoyama's killer, he was truly touched by Shoji's actions. It gave him new hope. "Yeah. It's beautiful."