Author's Note: Hey everyone! Here's another thing that I've been wanting to post as soon as it was done. This leads to a few things that could be seen before or could not. Who knows? You'll probably be able to see where this is going by the end of the chapter. Just one or two more chapters left in this arc. Looking forward to arc 3 a LOT.

Also, if you want to get into a place with other lovers of MHA, and specifically IzuJirou stuff, come on and join this Discord server that I'm on:

/eFtmT8cTbY

We're only kind of crazy, and not at all a cult... except, we also kind of are. Anyway, yeah, join that!

I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's cross-posted on Ao3 as well. Leave a review if you want to. I welcome the feedback! See you next week.

Aizawa paced back and forth across his home office, which, granted, was pretty difficult, all things considered. There were several feet of red string strung up around the room, connecting several different pictures and news articles together.

"Since their debut just a few weeks ago, this group has done a lot already…" Aizawa said, looking from picture to picture. His own police report and several others. Akihabara, Musutafu, Yokohama, Nagano, and now just last night, Hosu.

They were everywhere already… just who were they?

"Nezu says that they're dropouts of UA… could children like them really take down Stain?" He asked himself. Iida had been there during the fight, but he was still recovering in the hospital. He'd have to wait a few days before he'd be able to talk to the boy again. Of course, Aizawa had gotten the official report from the police, but he had also heard of their plan to cover it up. To keep the public unaware of what was happening. Especially with what Stain said about them.

Stain's ideology was dangerous enough as it was, but now to have people that agreed with his ends, but with a more peaceful means? Or at least less deadly ones? Aizawa knew that the Hero Commission wouldn't exactly take kindly to them.

And yet, he was stumped. He couldn't move past the fact that Nezu of all people would think that these were kids. From Iida's report to the police, which was, of course, getting covered up in favor of Endeavor taking Stain down, he said that the main fighting force of four of them showed teamwork, strategy, and compassion for one another. And they saved a possible trump card til they ran out of options. It wasn't perfect, but the work that they did was up there with the work of a lot of current Pros, if not better.

"Damnit…" Aizawa sat down in his chair and rubbed his eyes slowly. As soon as he had gotten the news, he immediately got back to his office and started things up again. He had to find these people. Vigilantism was a dangerous thing to get into. Stain was a prime example of that. Despite his earlier lecture to his class about vigilantism, he didn't have the worst relationship with a few vigilantes. He mainly talked about that to cover himself. He knew what could happen if someone were to get on the bad side of the Hero Commission. He wanted to cover his bases first and foremost. But if he could get to them before the public was really made aware of them, then that would be best. He could save them? Convert them? "I might be able to stop them before it gets too bad…" He sank further into his chair with a sigh. "What a headache."

He got up and began to look at each of the reports. There had to be something he could glean… Anything…

He was interrupted from his musings by a knock at the door to his office. "Shouta?" His girlfriend's voice sounded from the other side of the door.

"Sorry, Emi. I'll be heading to bed in a little bit." He responded. The door opened shortly after that, and Emi walked slowly into the room, avoiding the red string.

"Shouta, honey. Come on. This is one of the few nights off that we've both had in a while. Please just lay with me." Emi's arms wrapped around his waist, her green hair falling over his left shoulder.

"Yeah… yeah, you're right. I'm sorry, Emi." Shouta followed her out of his home office, turning the light off as he exited. He looked back into the office one last time that night before shutting the door.

"I'll find them and stop them before they do something that they can't come back from…" he thought to himself.


Izuku woke up with a start. It wasn't bad, just sudden. He went to stand up, but was held firm to a source of warmth behind him. He sighed and fell back into his girlfriend's embrace.

The noise of Izuku stirring brought Kyouka into consciousness. Groaning, she pulled Izuku closer and shoved her face into his neck.

"Kyo… Are you going to let me get up?" Not saying anything, Kyouka just shook her head side to side. "Then what is gonna happen here?"

"Hmmmm… I will be here and you will be here too…" Kyouka said while snuggling closer, if that were even possible.

"Kyo, hon, we need to get out there to see how things are…"

"And who said that?" Kyouka asked quietly.

Sighing, Izuku relented. "Fine, but only for a little bit longer, okay?"

"Okay!" Kyouka smiled as she hugged him; however, she shortly let go of him and stood up.

"Kyo?" Izuku asked, confused.

"Mei is getting the pans out again. I can hear it. Give me a second." Kyouka walked out of the room, and Izuku soon heard a conversation between her and Mei.

"Oh hey, Kyouka what's up? Wait, what are you doing? Ah!" Almost immediately after, the sound of clattering pans on the floor could be heard.

"We don't need to wake up at the ass crack of dawn every morning! Let us sleep in sometimes!" Kyouka said, not quite loud enough to be yelling, but not quiet enough to be at normal speech volume. Footsteps could be heard after that, and Kyouka came back into Izuku's room and laid back down with him. "There, that should handle it for today at least."

Izuku couldn't help but laugh at the antics that his girlfriend had just gotten up to. "Yknow, I don't think…" Izuku checked his phone to see that it was 8:45 in the morning. "I don't think 9 in the morning is the ass crack of dawn."

That one earned him a jack in his side. "You know what I meant, Izu. Now get down here!"

"Kyo, you and I both know that we SHOULD be getting up soon."

Kyouka sighed. "Fiiiiiine." She rolled off of the bed once again and stood up. She went to her room to change. Izuku did the same, changing into some comfort wear. He then went into the living room of the warehouse. Mei, Hitoshi, and Kyouka were in the room, sitting at the table.

"So, now that our leader is out here, should we look at the news to see what they're saying of us?" Mei asked with a smile on her face.

"Without Fumikage?" Izuku cocked his head to the side.

"You do not have to worry about that, Izuku." Fumikage said from behind him.

"Then alright. Let's put it on." Izuku said, shrugging. He walked to the couch, all of his friends joining him. Once everyone was seated, Izuku turned on the TV.

After a few minutes of commercials, the nine o'clock news broadcast's fanfare began. "Hello once again. I am Itten Fumura, and this is my co-anchor, Seki Natto. Our first story today is a very important one. We will be going back to Mikara Tara in Hosu City for this."

The camera swapped to show the cityline of Hosu and the field correspondent Mikara Tara. "Hello, I am once again here in Hosu Cityto bring you more information about the Hero Killer Stain."

Mei started giggling, as did Kyouka. Hitoshi and Izuku couldn't help but smirk. Even Tokoyami had a small smile on his face.

Mikara Tara continued. "The Hero Killer was apprehended last night. Police now have him in custody."

"Hell yeah he was!" Kyouka yelled, giving Mei a high five, followed by a hug to Izuku.

"With me now is the pro hero Endeavor." The camera panned just slightly to the side to show the hero in question.

"What the hell is he doing there?" Mei asked, gesturing to the TV.

"I have… no idea." Izuku answered. "But I feel like we're about to find out."

"Good Morning Endeavor. How are you doing today?" Tara asked.

"I'm not one for small talk. Let's just get to the important thing already. I took down the Hero Killer! You're welcome!" Endeavor puffed out his chest, and his flames grew for the briefest of seconds.

A chorus of "What?!" could be heard in the warehouse as everyone yelled in shock. Mei immediately got up and walked over to her computer.

"Mei, what are you doing?" Izuku asked.

"Planning for retribution." Mei said as she started typing like a madwoman.

"You've heard it here, folks!" Tara's voice came from the TV, garnering everyone's attention, aside from Mei's, again. "Our number two hero, Endeavor, is the one to thank for the subual and capture of the serial killer Stain. Back to you, Itten."

The camera changed once again to the newsroom. "Thank you Tara. We will be covering this more in detail later tonight at our six o'clock news. Our next story also concerns Hosu City last night. A series of fires and explosions were set off, and some creatures that were called "Nomu" by some hero students and heroes were seen in the city last night. They are not considered to be connected to the Stain incident. In fact, we have received word that this might be the doing of a sect known as the "League of Villains". These people are believed to be the-" Izuku shut off the TV.

"That's not important. Mei, what did you mean by planning for retribution?" Izuku said, standing up and walking over to her. He saw several different things up on her screen at the current moment. One of those things was the website for the news station that was just playing. Other windows included a video editing software and some screen with a bunch of code.

"I'm going to hijack the six o'clock news broadcast. We're going to record something today and blast it through their broadcast. We're going to show the world that it was us, not Endeavor. We did the work, not him. We can't have him taking all of our credit!" Mei explained.

"How are we going to prove that?" Fumikage asked.

"I may have installed cameras in your masks and have been using the video files every time the masks are given back after each mission. I have a huge folder full of the files." Mei said.

"Invasion of our privacy aside, that's pretty smart." Kyouka said.

"That being said, the five of us need to prepare for the video. Izuku, can you make a script? And Fumikage has a flair for the dramatics." Mei said.

"Fumikage, come with me. Kyouka, you come too. You're a songwriter. You can help us write something, yeah? Hitoshi, you do whatever Mei needs help with." Izuku explained. The five of them got to work almost immediately.


"Welcome back to Channel Six News! I'm your host, Itten Fumura. With me as always is my co-anchor Seki Natto." The massive screen in Shibuya lit up with the news. The several hundred people in the square continued on with their daily business. "We're here to repeat the information about the infamous Hero Killer Stain." Now that got everyone's attention.

"That's right, Itten. We covered this story this morning as soon as we got the information on it, but since it was rather late in the morning, we are covering it again now. Last night, the Hero Killer was apprehended by police. He is now in custody, heading to Tartarus. Earlier, our live correspondent, Mikara Tara, interviewed the pro hero responsible for taking down Stain, Endeavor."

The screen changed to show the interview that had played earlier. Eventually, it got to Endeavor's turn to speak, to which the recording played the line from earlier. "I'm not one for small talk. Let's just get to the important thing already. I took down the Hero Killer! You're welcome!" Endeavor puffed out his chest, and his flames grew for the briefest of seconds.

"As you can see," Itten began. "Endeavor has helped save Hosu from more attacks by the H-" The broadcast was cut off, only static showing on the screens. Hushed murmurs began to circulate through the watching crowd; however, they didn't stay confused for long as the screens then turned completely black.

What looked to be an egg dropped from above the screen. It landed without bursting, and then a few seconds later, it twisted and the top half of the egg separated from the bottom half. Something was sprayed behind it, and then after the spraying had finished, the top half began to rotate quickly. The rotation was soon followed by a massive spray of paint everywhere around it, including the camera. As the lens was covered, paint dripped down, and as it left the screen, the egg was gone. All that remained were the words 'Societas Requiem' in multicolor paint against the black background. Soon, the words faded, and they were replaced by a lone figure sitting in a chair with its head bowed forward. It was too dark for any clear distinction of clothing to be made.

"It seems that the news has been lying to you. Not intentionally, mind you, but lying nonetheless." A deep, somewhat robotic voice spoke. The head raised. "Endeavor? Taking down Stain? Don't make me laugh."

Another figure stepped into frame to the right of the first one. "I'm with you, Snake Eyes. We're the ones that did it, but the heroes and the police force don't want you to know that. Isn't that right, Mastermind?" Its voice was like music, carrying an oddly calming melody.

Yet another figure stepped into frame, this time on the other side of the one referred to as 'Snake Eyes'. "You would be correct, Heartquake. But don't just take our words for it. Overwatch here has proof, don't they?"

As an answer, another figure came into frame, not by walking, but via swinging into frame with a grappling hook. As the figure slid to a stop next to Mastermind, they cut the cord and replaced something inside of the grappling hook gun. "Plenty of proof! I've got videos, pictures, all kinds of stuff! Here's one now." The voice this time was completely robotic and distorted. The one known as Overwatch pulled out a remote and pressed a button.

The screen changed to a video from someone's point of view. Stain was being bombarded with several hits from some dark looking bird creature. One person had just set up a circle of something, and the person that the viewpoint was from was also wailing away at Stain. A knife sailed past Stain, and the dark bird thing pushed Stain into the circle. Everything exploded.

The video ended there. "Now, that was quite the combat sequence, wasn't it, NightHawk?" Overwatch asked.

A fifth figure fell from above the frame, landing next to Heartquake, their cloak framing the fall. "It was quite a difficult fight, indeed. But let's not skip over the end of the fight when Stain was detained, now, shall we?"

"Of course not." Overwatch raised her remote one more time, and another video started. Someone jumped down from the rooftop and stopped Stain in his tracks. Handcuffs were put on, Stain was directed to the wall, and then another person shot Stain with some kind of goopy pink stuff multiple times. The video ended there.

"A good ending, no? Nobody even the pro hero or the hero student in training that were there. I can guarantee you that if we hadn't shown up, Hosu would have had two more people dead by his hands." The figure in the center stood up from the chair. A light behind them lit up, and as the figure in the center pushed the chair out of frame, the silhouettes were astoundingly intimidating. Five people, all in tactical gear, masks covering their faces, backlit, and with their forefront in darkness. "There is, however, one last thing that we wish to show you before our time with you comes to a close. Overwatch?"

"With pleasure!" The remote was clicked once more.

The video showed Stain restrained by the pink goo against the wall. "You five have shown the resolve to change things. You have beaten me, and I can't really get out of here. I have seen your resolve, I have seen your priorities. You saved these false heroes when you did not have to. You will change the world. I know it. The world may not see you as heroes right now, but just know that I now see you as true heroes. And if what you tell me about All Might is true, you five are all more heroic than he. You have earned this victory, and I will be cheering for you in the future." He spoke.

"What? What does that mean?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"Did Stain just call these people heroes? Why should he have any say on who are heroes or not?" Another person asked.

"I'm sure you're wondering how Stain has any say on who heroes are?" Heartquake said. "Stain kills heroes who use heroism for the wrong reasons. For fame and money. Not for saving people or doing the right thing."

"Our goal is not Stain's, however. We seek to change how the world sees quirks. Heroes based around the strength of their quirks instead of their morals are just as dangerous to society as those that Stain wishes to destroy." Snake Eyes said, stepping forward. "As the leader of this group, I have something to declare. We are not Stain."

All five of the people in the frame spoke at the same time. "We are the dying song of society. We are Societas Requiem. We will change the world." With that, Snake Eyes stepped forward, pressed a button on the mask they wore, and as images of dice rolled where their eyes would be, they stopped on two ones. The last thing that the video feed showed was a close up of Snake Eyes' mask with two glowing red dots. And then the screen went black.

The quiet murmurs of the crowd watching in Shibuya quickly turned into shouts of different emotions. Confusion, anger, hope, uncertainty, outrage, and even apathy were some of the many emotions portrayed by the people in the crowd. Several were shuffling through others, wanting to go back to whatever it was they were doing prior, while others stood in shock. The police quickly arrived on the scene to make sure that nothing too dangerous happened.

One single blonde girl hidden in an alleyway watching the news broadcast had a different mindset, however. While others were content with or scared of how this played out, this girl watched in fascination. Fascination with the people that could take down Mr. Stain. And as she kept watching, she realized that she was right to have followed them out of the alleyway that night. All things considered, when she realized that these people were coming to Shibuya, she couldn't have been more elated. She knew her way around the town a decent bit. Now all she had to do was to find their hideout. No doubt it would be something that didn't seem too out of the ordinary. But she had seen their van, and she had seen them when they were fighting Mr. Stain.

As the girl turned around and left after the broadcast ended, she had only one goal in mind. "I will join the people that Mr. Stain said were true heroes…" And with that, she disappeared into the night with a fanged smile on her face.


The Todoroki residence was a disaster area after the news had gotten out. Enji was thrashing about wildly in his home gym. He had already received word that his ratings were going to plummet after the public found out that he had lied to them about being the one to take down Stain, and as such, he was letting his frustrations out on everything.

Most of the children of the Todoroki family were freaking out as well. They hadn't seen their father this upset in a long time, and it concerned them; however, one of them, Shouto Todoroki, was sitting in the living room, thinking.

"This group has done what a lot of heroes and even myself couldn't for years now… They took my father down a peg. I can't help but feel drawn to them. I wonder if I could meet them some day...?"

Before he could think anymore, though, he heard his dad yell his name. Sighing, he went to see what his old man wanted.


Shouta slammed his fist down onto the table. "This is exactly what I've been talking about for weeks now! These people took down Stain and in two nights have undermined the public opinion of the number two hero!"

"Aizawa, please calm down." Nezu said.

Shouta smoothed his hair back on his head as he took a deep breath. "My apologies, Principal Nezu. I simply wish that we would be taking this matter more seriously."

"Would you still like the school's resources?" Nezu asked. "You can have them."

Surprised, Aizawa blinked a few times. He hadn't expected the sudden change in Nezu's behavior, but then again, when has Nezu ever been predictable? "Th-Thank you, Principal Nezu. I will make do with as much as I can with these resources. I will use this to start finding their location, thank you."

"Of course, Aizawa. Thank you for your fervor in regards to this situation. It has been noted." Nezu said with a smile.

Aizawa walked out of the office with a smile on his face, thinking only one thing. "I will find them. I have to find them."


"Well done, everyone! It seems that our video was well received. Someone recorded it and put it online, and the views are off the charts. Comments are rolling in, asking why Stain mentioned All Might in his speech, who we are, what our quirks are, and what we want to do. We've officially been thrust into the limelight." Mei said with a smile.

"Well, I'm proud of everyone." Izuku said, his smile bigger than anyone else's. "Just know that this has put more of a target on our backs. We have to keep away from authorities and work on bettering ourselves. It's only going to get harder from here, but we're going to push through it."

"Hell yeah, we are. This country is going to change!" Kyouka raised her fist in the air triumphantly.

"We're gonna show all those quirkist assholes that we can still do good." Hitoshi said.

"We must stay vigilant so as to not fall into the darkness that Stain warned us about, but we will usher this society out of the night of its stagnation and into the dawn of a new day." Fumikage clenched his fist in determination.

Everyone else stayed silent for a few moments before Kyouka spoke up. "That was really deep, Fumikage. Like, stupidly so. But yeah, what you said." Kyouka gave him a sarcastic thumbs up.

"I thought it was cool…" Fumikage trailed off.

"Hey, I think so too, buddy!" Dark Shadow said as he came out of Fumikage. "It was really cool."

"Thank you, Dark Shadow. Your appreciation means a lot to me."

"Anyway…" Izuku said, looking back at Mei. "We need to figure out our next moves. Any chatter going on?"

"Let me see…" Mei began typing. "Ah! We have something. Seems that the groups that we stopped on our first mission are moving again, according to the UA database. We could work on something there." She suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me. We'll take them down." Izuku said. "Let's do this." He smiled.