Infiltrating Yūei to kidnap the Rewind child would not be easy, but they had no choice. According to the last doctor consulted, Hana would take months if not years to wake up. The coma caused by the drastic drop in her lipid levels and the various physical tortures she had been exposed to wouldn't allow the doctors to "force" her to wake up. Therefore, rewinding her to a state prior to these abuses was the best solution to heal her and wake her up. They had no other solution, hand, without Dabi's flash of genius, they probably wouldn't have thought of the child for several precious weeks.

If it were up to Shigaraki, he would tear Musutafu apart to get the said "Eri" back, but he knew how much his sister would resent him. Besides, he couldn't afford to expose his newfound powers for all to see. Otherwise, he would lose his advantage in the war. Part of him didn't care, but another part couldn't forget that he was the Grand Commander of the Paranormal Liberation Front and as such, he had obligations. Dabi in particular would be furious if he lost their advantage over the heroes. The pyrokinetic was not one to accept feelings and emotions as an excuse, too focused on his strange vendetta against Endeavour.

He took his sister's hand, watching Hana's unconscious face for the umpteenth time. She looked peaceful, as if she was only asleep and would soon wake up. Had she looked like this when her quirk had rebuilt her fifteen years ago? Or had she looked like she was in excruciating pain from Decay? He hadn't asked her if she'd been in pain while her quirk was saving her. He should have. Instead, he'd strangled her twice, hurt her. Again. Was he only capable of hurting her? Couldn't he protect her, even once?

Shigaraki gritted his teeth. He wanted to protect Hana as she had surely done many times when they were little. And to think he had never seen how much pain she was in. And to think he'd never seen their father hurt her. If only he could turn back the clock, never touch her with his five fingers. If only he could go back, protect her from their father and kill Kotaro Shimura before he hurt her.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do that. All he could do was protect her now that she was back at his side. And to do that, he had to wake her up, allow her to smile again and be happy in his army. She would never have to fight or do anything. She just had to be happy and welcome him back from the battlefield. That was all he asked of her.

A hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder, and Shigaraki leapt up to disintegrate whoever was sneaking into the room. Fortunately, Toga was more agile than a feline and easily avoided his outstretched hand. Shigaraki froze. If it hadn't been Toga...

"Tomura-kun, everyone's here," she told him tenderly, smiling softly.

Shigaraki looked around; indeed, his nine lieutenants were there, awaiting his orders. Dabi was slumped in a chair, the only one expressing anything other than obedience. He seemed deeply annoyed to be there, but Shigaraki couldn't blame him. The pyrokinetic was recovering from a near death experience that was far too imminent for Shigaraki's liking, and from an operation that had replaced three of his vital organs, not to mention the gallons of blood he had been given. He probably just wanted to sleep.

"In Yūei is a child named Eri," Shigaraki declared. "She possesses the only quirk that will allow Hana to wake up and be healed. The goal is simple: get a hold of her. Skeptic, how long before you hacked into Yūei's security?"

"An hour. Two at the most if their firewall is better than the last one," Skeptic replied.

Shigaraki restrained himself from saying that he'd already done it in less than an hour, when he'd had access to all the technology Sensei had. Otherwise, the lieutenant would go ballistic, and Toga would glare at him. Not that she liked the brunette, far from it. She was simply forced to work with him and put up with him even less when he was in a bad mood. Shigaraki didn't blame her; he already had trouble putting up with Skeptic when he was in a good mood.

"Perfect. Get me all the information you can on this kid and her damn quirk. Especially where exactly she is in Yūei and an accurate map of the place. Compress, Toga, you will be in charge of infiltrating Yūei and retrieving her. I don't care how many kids you have to kill in the process, threaten her if need be, I don't care."

"Yay! Finally! I'll be able to Ochako-chan from afar!" cried Toga, her cheeks even redder than usual as she hopped around.

"Count me in, Shigaraki. I'll make sure Eri-chan gets settled into my marbles," Compress replied, nodding calmly.

"Good. That said, we'll need a diversion. Dabi, Geten. Form me an expendable squad that can mess up Musutafu during the operation. I want eyes there and everyone to forget about Yūei."

Geten nodded seriously, probably already thinking about a team. Shigaraki would never admit it to Dabi, but he appreciated Geten's seriousness and devotion. He was probably one of the most reliable members of the Paranormal Liberation Front. Dabi, for his part, grunted a few insults from his chair before straightening up.

"Why don't we use the kids we got from the cult? If we use our soldiers, we take the risk that they'll end up throwing it all away in a quirk. We haven't talked to the Front kids. All they know is how to worship the ground you and your sis walk on. Tell them it's for her and bam! They'll sacrifice themselves."

"It seems like a dirty thing to do," Spinner interjected. "They're kids, and they've been manipulated all their lives."

"Please. Toga is seventeen, and a villain since she was sixteen. Some of the kids are the same age, they know exactly what they're doing. And what's the worst that can happen? Who cares if they were manipulated? We can use them, and we'd be wrong not to! Do you think any of the Front members were manipulated?" Dabi retorted coldly.

"Dabi-kun is right," Toga interjected before Spinner could respond. "Hana-chan is really in danger, and we can't risk the heroes finding us!"

"I agree," Re-Destro added. "The members of the Violet Regiment are among the best informed since they have lists of strategic targets to attack. Taking that risk is too dangerous."

Shigaraki had absolutely no desire to use the cult children, but for a completely different reason. They made him extremely uncomfortable, calling him "Father" at every turn and treating him like a deity incarnate on earth. He didn't like being deified like that. He rolled his shoulders to get rid of the unpleasant feeling, before looking back at his Lieutenants who were debating among themselves.

"We'll use the cult kids and a soldier from the Front as team leaders. Dabi, Geten, you still manage the team building. Guerrilla warfare is your domain. Re-Destro, feel free to make a media appearance to occupy some cameras. The less attention this whole mess gets, the better."

"Yes, Grand Commander," Re-Destro replied as Dabi muttered something intelligible.

"Geten, when the team is assembled, you'll come back to watch Hana. I need some rest," he added after a pause.

"Hallelujah!" exclaimed Dabi. "He's finally going to sleep!"

"Yes, Great Commander," Geten said, glaring at Dabi.

Soon the room emptied, and only Spinner remained. Shigaraki glanced at him questioningly, and the mutant scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"You should tell Dabi how you feel about him..."

"That's between Dabi and me," Shigaraki grumbled, her wings unconsciously unfolding behind her back before she lowered herself, defeated. "Either way, he's clearly not returning my feelings."

"I have no idea how Dabi feels," Spinner admitted as he sat down across from him. "But do you think he knows how he feels himself? He's so far in denial that he's never mentioned his health problems to us when with the PLF money we could have gotten him his transplants weeks earlier. And some skin that's not holding on for dear life."

Shigaraki shrugged. He didn't really know why Spinner decided to talk to him about this now, but he supposed the mutant would eventually tell him. Still, he hadn't expected Spinner to come and talk to him about love. He would have seen more of Toga or maybe Compress in that role. Toga because she loved love stories, and Compress because he had a fatherly attitude towards his cadets. But Spinner? He couldn't even close the deal with anyone. So giving love advice...

"What I'm trying to say is that Dabi won't wonder about it until you tell him. He's convinced that Toga's making a fool of herself - yes, she's told him about it, but to be honest, it's painful to watch - so he doesn't even think about it."

"Painful to watch?" retorted Shigaraki.

"Honestly? Yeah. Dabi's blind, and you're not telling him anything. We've been considering locking you in a room just to get it done. Even Geten is fed up, and I thought nothing could annoy him. As for your last boy-toy, Toga almost stabbed him six times."

Ah yes, Kuroshi. His latest lover, who looked too much like Dabi to be a coincidence. Cursed was his unconsciousness and his feelings for his most unattainable Lieutenant. Shigaraki should probably dump him, he was becoming boring.

"She seemed to have realized it too..." added Spinner in a low voice, his eyes on Hana.

"Hana's smart, I wouldn't put it past her..." sighed Shigaraki.

He stroked his sister's face, foolishly hoping that this gesture would wake her up, that she would lay her onyx eyes on him. Of course, she remained unconscious, the monitor's incessant beepingtheonly sound breaking the leaden silence that had just descended upon the room. After some twenty seconds, Spinner cleared his throat and stood up.

"Anyway, we all hope you tell him. For your sake and his. He needs to know that people love him, I think. Anyway, I'm going to... well, I'm going to go!" the mutant concluded as he left the room.

Shigaraki watched as the man who had become his best friend leave the room and shook Hana's hand before looking down at her again. Would she advise him to go confess his feelings? Surely. Hana wanted him to be happy, wanted everyone close to her to be happy. She was too kind for this world, even if she had crossed the line of no return, murder.

"What an impressive the Great Commander. Depressed about his sister and crushing on a guy in the middle of an emo phase," he scoffed bitterly in a low voice.

000

Himiko had no trouble following one of Yūei's students' home. The teenager was not a heroine apprentice but was still a member of the Student Bureau. There would be no questioning her presence in the dormitory of second 1-A. Perched on the balcony of the teenager's apartment – Yui Koriko – Himiko jealously watched her lead a most mundane life. Why couldn't she live her normal life? Why did heroes have to ruin everything every time? She thought of Mag-nee, her dear Mag-nee, who couldn't be free and became a criminal because of it. Society hated people like Mag-nee or Himiko and created those like Dabi-kun and Tomura-kun. But it didn't matter; she hated society in return and soon it would be destroyed.

Himiko snuck into the apartment and crept up behind her prey. Then, with a smooth movement, she snapped her neck and let the body fall to the floor like a disjointed doll. Disposing of the body once she had taken the necessary amount of blood would be easy, especially with the help of Mr. Compress. They couldn't risk anyone finding out that she was behind Eri-chan's kidnapping. With Skeptic's help, they could probably blame the attack on the power-hungry yakuza that bastard Overhaul had. Now was not the time for more trouble.

Finally ready, Himiko looked at herself from every angle in the bathroom mirror. She tried a few expressions and other mimics, various poses. Then she sang a few banal melodies to get used to the new voice. The first few times she'd tried her quirk after running away from home, she'd found herself quite silly when she'd been taken by surprise by the change in her voice. She'd been immediately unmasked while trying to buy food for herself, and she'd found herself starving several times because of it.

"Himiko-chan, you're quite adorable like that. A perfect little high schooler!" Mr Compress complimented as he entered the bathroom behind her.

Himiko giggled and turned to him, offering an almost goofy smile in response. The kind of smile one would expect from a high school girl.

"Thank you, Mister! Shall we go? I want to get home quickly to wake up Hana-chan!" she replied in a voice as sweet as honey.

"Let's go dear. I'll hide in your pocket."

Himiko nodded and a few minutes later she was off in the direction of Yūei. Yui Koriko didn't have class this afternoon, but it was only two o'clock and there would be no questioning her presence at school. Especially since she was a member of the Student Bureau. She walked towards the school of renown quietly, taking the time to stroll around as any teenage girl would. Just as she had done what seemed like an eternity ago.

Once outside Yūei, she swallowed and forced herself to walk back without admiring, awed, the facade of the country's largest heroic high school. If she was discovered here, she'd be screwed. One did not escape from Yūei unless one was capable of teleportation. Fortunately, she wasn't asked for any papers or other proof of identity to enter the building. She was anxious about failing, and her voice would surely have shaken if she had to talk to a proctor or teacher.

Quickly, she walked towards the dormitories. At the same time, she received a message. It was from Tomura-kun, telling her that the distraction operation was starting. She smiled a little and entered the dormitory of 1-A. Only to come face to face with Eraserhead himself. Himiko gasped and took a step back, swallowing a terrified expression. If he activated his quirk, she and Mr. Compress would be screwed.

"Ah! Aizawa-sensei, hello!" she exclaimed. "You scared me..."

"Sorry," he grumbled. "You're not in my class, what are you doing here? And who are you?"

"Yui Koriko of the Student Office, at your service," Himiko laughed, standing at mock attention. "Since I don't have class this afternoon, I'm saving my seniors some time and going around the dorms to check if anything is missing, if everything is up to standard, that sort of thing. I was told to start here so I wouldn't wake up little Emi-chan if she ever took a nap."

"It's Eri."

"Eri? Oh dear! I'm sorry, Aizawa-sensei. Where is she? Don't let me make too much noise opening doors and such."

"Second floor, girls' side."

"All right! Thank you sir."

Then she entered the building as if she had nothing to worry about. Fortunately for her, Aizawa seemed to be satisfied because he didn't follow her. Nevertheless, in order to cover her back, Himiko took out a small notebook from her bag and began to write down some random information. The number of place settings, that sort of thing. She then made sure there were no cameras, and once in the elevator, went straight up to the second floor. Eri's room was easy to find, since there were colourful kanji indicating to Himiko who each room belonged to.

She pushed open the door and found the little girl sitting on her bed, reading a story. The child gasped and looked up. Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to scream something, but Himiko was quicker, and tackled her to the floor with one hand over her mouth. She undid her facial transformation and smiled at the child.

"Hello Eri-chan, remember me?"