Izuku in Black

by DarkenRaichu

Quirkless can't be Heroes. But All Might isn't going to end the sentence there. He knows there is something Quirkless people excel at, something that will save people. Izuku, on the other hand, really didn't expect to find out Aliens are real, get recruited by a mysterious agency, and get partnered up with another young agent. But if this can save people, he will do it.

3. Case from the Sea

"I'm sorry sir. We have looked through the house, but we haven't found the weapon. There is a copy, but it's just that." The man skimmed through the pictures, comparing them to the sword, "I think someone beat us here. It's either the HASC or that other group." No response on the other end of the line for a long time. The man took a deep breath. "I-"

"What is done is done. It was probably the HASC, since they replaced the sword instead of buying it. Return to the hideout." His master replied, and he sighed.

"Understood, sir." The other end of the line clicked shut, and the man's hand balled into fists. To hear his master so disappointed by him… "Fucking HASC!" He kicked the fake sword, the weapon rolling off to a corner of the room.

"Fumi, are you back?!" A voice asked from the corridor.

The man considered answering. Calling the woman in and kill her, a punishment for losing the weapon before he made it there. But he remembered his master's words. 'The HASC is probably keeping an eye on the family. Any accident might disclose us. Don't cause any.'

With a sigh, the young man jumped out of the window. His boots lighted up as he took flight. The mother would just think the sword had fallen by itself, and he had been careful to not cause any damage. At least, the master wouldn't have to worry about the HASC.

He landed on a roof nearby, the Projector Boots and Gloves quickly turning off, and took the stairs downwards. As he walked out, he promised himself he would make sure the HASC agents that had made him fail master's quest would pay.

-x-

Izuku yawned. Two weeks after their first mission, and the excitement had considerably died down. Well, not entirely, but enough he did feel a bit restless. He answered the last question on the history mock-exam, and ran through the answers with the grading sheet. Ninety-three. Good. He had only messed up a couple questions on the Meiji Restoration, and one on the Dark Age of Quirks, so he needed to go through those chapters again later.

He closed the mock test and glanced at Hado. "You ok?" He asked. She looked down today.

Hado took a deep breath, "I just got the mail saying they have set-up the first hearing for mister Kurokido, in two more weeks." She replied, "We will have to be available to testify."

Izuku grimaced. He had hoped Hado would have calmed down on the unpleasant fact they had to probably put a seemingly nice old man in jail, but she was still worried about it. 'To be fair, I don't like it either.' He thought, sighing. "There's nothing we can do, Hado."

"I know, that's just really frustrating. He didn't want to endanger someone, and now he will probably get a permanent black mark on his record."

"What is the official excuse? I mean, the one used for the general public if he goes to jail."

"Just some twisting of his crime. The HASC will claim he sold banned materials – probably something like, a turtle shell item – and received the maximum sentence." She sighed again, "I just feel bad for him because I get it. Earth is a lot different from other worlds. It's like you are civilized barbarians."

"Wow, thanks…"

"Come on, you know I love it here, Midoriya. It's just… different."

"What's Tir Na nOg like?" Izuku asked.

Hado smiled, even if it was a somewhat longing smile, "It's beautiful. We Faedians use our powers to build our cities out of natural formations, and then furnish them with the best technology the world can buy. Some cities are made of trees connected to one another, a whole forest town where houses and plants are one and the same. Meanwhile, other cities are built around steep cliffs. Since we can fly from birth, Tir Na nOg doesn't need to worry too much about the location of our houses. We can live our days however we want, too. Law is a much more… soft concept."

"Why did you come here then?" Izuku asked, confused, "That sounds… better than Earth."

"…" Hado said nothing, just looking outside the 'window'

"… You don't want to talk about it?"

"I'm sorry…"

"No, no, it's fair, I was just curious. Did you come here alone?"

"Yes. The HASC took me in, and after helping acclimatize they offered the choice of becoming a Civilian or working with them."

"You chose the latter? Why?"

"I hate crime and violence, and I wanted to help. I could have been a Hero, and the HASC offered to sponsor me for UA or Shiketsu if I went that way, but… I figured I could do a lot here. Being a Hero would be all action, but here I can try to help other Aliens that came to Earth like me." Her smile faltered a bit, "So you get why this whole mission wasn't exactly what I hoped for. Didn't offer much help to mister Kurokido."

"We helped the victim."

"I know, and I'm happy for that. But I want to help both. Most Aliens that commit crimes on Earth get unfairly punished once they are considered 'acclimatized'." She shook her head, "I don't think that's fair!"

Izuku nodded, "I get it. Well, the best we can do is try to testify in a positive way for mister Kurokido, right? Maybe they will lower his sentence."

"I guess…" She still didn't seem happy, and Izuku could tell that the case was still on her mind, if nothing else because the folder with the documentation on their first case, codename 'The Shadow Sword', was on her desk, but he decided to let it go. It wasn't a bad thing that Hado was devoted to their job.

"Ah, by the way, Hado…"

"I AM HERE!" A voice suddenly bellowed, a tall, muscular man with blonde hair all but slamming the door wide open as he entered in the office, the light of the Tokyo Skyline entering from the 'window' and making his perfect smile shine even brighter, "Walking through the door like a normal person!"

"All Might?!" Both teen shouted.

"In the flesh! Good day young Midoriya. Nice to meet you, young Hado. You probably know my assistant, Mister Yagi, but this must be the first time we meet in person!" He replied, throwing a quick look at Midoriya, who was about to say something. Ah, so that was the excuse.

"Hi All Might! It's so nice to meet you." She said, showing her hand for him to shake, something he did immediately, "Can I ask a few thousand questions? How old are you? Do you prefer working in the city or the countryside? Is it true you periodically change the weather to help farmers?"

"Yes, fifty-four, city and yes again." He gave her a thumbs up "But enough about me. I hear you two completed your fist case." He said, "Congratulations to you both!" He added, turning around.

Izuku himself was blushing as he tried desperately to hide the several pieces of All Might merchandise that clattered his desk, from a currently empty All Might mug that he used for his morning coffee, to the All Might figurines lined on the right side of the desk, to the several All Might posters on the wall, to the All Might bento holder he had put on top of the – empty – file cabinet.

"I…"

"Ahah, no issues young man!" All Might said with a hearty laugh, "You are certainly not the only All Might fan in those offices!"

"Thank you…" He replied, looking down in embarrassment.

"Anyway, I'm not only here just to congratulate you two on your first success, but also…" He pulled out a new folder, "To present you a new case!"

"What?!" Both teens shouted, though Izuku's was surprise, while Hado's was a sudden cheer.

"W-Wait, All Might, why are you bringing us an Alien case?" Izuku asked.

"As one of the Heroes that are made aware of the Aliens' existence, it's my job to examine new reports and try to pick up anything unusual. And I believe I have something. As for why I'm bringing it to you…" He winked, "Well, me and mister Yagi gave you the job here. No one can accuse me to have favorites, but I can at least decide to which Agents I submit the files." He winked at them, and Izuku's heart faltered. All Might himself was passing him a case?! And he was doing it because of Izuku.

He could faint right now.

And so he did.

-x-

"…doriya. Young Midoriya?"

Izuku shook himself awake, All Might laughing, "Oh, thank goodness. We really need to stop meeting like this, young man."

Izuku shot up, bowing, "S-Sorry All Might!"

"Nothing to be sorry about. You were only out for a minute or so anyway, and young Hado caught you before you hit the ground. You did give us a good scare though.

Izuku looked up at Hado, who was standing next to him, slightly above the ground. "Are you ok, Midoriya?!"

"Y-Yeah, sorry! I think my emotions got the better of me."

"Understandable." All Might said, waving away the explanation, "Anyway, here is your new case!" He pushed the folder toward them, dragged a spare metal chair toward Hado's desk, and sat down, letting the two teens examine the case file. The first page was a document assigning the case to them, though this one read 'assignment conditional on results', but before Izuku could check the document Nejire turned the page, moving to the reports. After writing quickly 'Case #2' on the side of the folder, Izuku and Hado started reading.

"Zoo Villain…" Izuku read out loud, "An organization that aims to conquer the country, officially in name of Transformation and Heteromorphic Quirk superiority over their 'unevolved' brethren." He gulped. He had seen the Zoo Villains in the news before. Technically, the name was only a moniker only used by the news to make them sound less dangerous, their actual name being 'Ushimitsudoki Alliance', but it was how they were best known.

The report went on about how in a recent attack against a large research facility of the Detnerat group, one of their departments for Heteromorphic Support Equipment production, the cameras had shown them using several unidentifiable weapons.

The drive with the footage was in the folder too, but there were also printed pictures. Izuku looked through them. The camera images showed pretty clearly beams of light emitting from each gun, as the Villains fired on the researchers and the guards.

Hado, meanwhile, was reading the rest of the Report, "They made off with… raw material? That's odd."

"Indeed it is. It's not the first time the Zoo Villains attack a Support Equipment production facility, but this time they only stole a minimal amount of equipment, and instead focused on the materials used to build it."

"Could they be planning to make their own Supports?" Izuku asked, but All Might shook his head.

"I asked the same thing, but the researchers claim the material they stole was mostly used to research new civilian equipment. Gas collectors for people with dangerous gas Quirks, or prosthetics for people whose Quirks cause inconvenience in grabbing and handling delicate objects. I asked if the former could be used to make bombs, but their opinion was that if it was their intention, they might as well just attacked a weapons' developer, since the Gas collectors won't produce much yield compared to a regular old bomb."

"So, we have mysterious new weapons never seen before, and stealing material that isn't to build weapons, but to improve quality of life." Izuku shook his head, "I can see why you think there might be Aliens involved…"

"Not only that, but in general the Ushimitsudoki Alliance has a large ratio of Aliens or Half-Aliens in its midst." Hado added.

"Really?"

"Yep." The girl nodded, "A lot of second-generation Aliens get into the whole 'conquer the world' thing because they are sold the idea from Hollywood, or from message boards claiming it's the Aliens' duty to 'uplift' humanity or some such nonsense." She sighed, "That's so dumb…"

"It is." All Might nodded, "Though I suppose I'm biased."

"Well, I'm not. Still, this could make sense. The problem is figuring out where this change comes from."

Izuku nodded, "We should try to first figure out where they got the weapons." He said, "All Might, the Ushimitsudoki Alliance is made up of three factions, right?"

"Indeed. The main one, Ushimitsudoki, and the two branches, Oumagadoki and Yatsudoki. Those are clearly members of the Ushimitsudoki faction." He pointed to the picture, "They have all physical appearances that make them look like sea creatures, which is their 'theme', so to speak. They also attacked a facility in a port town."

"Then we will focus on the Ushimitsudoki faction for now." He said, "We need to figure out which members are Aliens…"

"And which of those Aliens are high-ranking enough to propose a plan like this." Hado nodded, "I will start to look into it."

"Great! Ah, Hado, the Director wishes to remind you that you have to compile the first trainee review." He added, Midoriya gulping.

"But Midoriya is doing a great job! He is training a lot, keeping up with his studies, and did his part well in the first mission."

"Be as it may, you have to compile a full review." All Might looked at Izuku, "Without young Midoriya around, since him being present could push you toward being indulgent."

"I'd be indulgent anyway, he did a good job so far." Hado replied, and Izuku felt a surge of pride. Sure, Hado was his friend, but she was also the older Agent. If she said he was doing a good job, it must have been true.

"Still…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" She sighed, "Alright Izuku, go eat lunch in the cafeteria, I will take that time to compile this stupid review."

"Great!" All Might stood up, "See you, young Midoriya, young Hado. If I stumble in another case, I will bring it up to you! All Might, away!" And with that, he closed the doors and left. Izuku sighed, then his stomach growled. "So, I guess I will go…"

"I'll call you when we are done, and we will start investigating the case." Hado replied, waving. Izuku nodded, grabbed his bento, and walked out.

He took out his phone on the way to the cafeteria. For some reason, there was signal even underground, probably some concerted effort to make sure no one found suspicious that so many people were unreachable for the whole day.

"Hello mom." He saluted when the woman picked up.

"Hi, Izuku." His mom replied in a cheerful tone that reminded Izuku of Hado's greetings, "How is school going?"

"It's really exciting." He said, "The lessons are hard, and I have to also take a lot of PE classes, but I think this is going really well."

"I'm so happy to hear that, son." Her mom did sound happy, which was reassuring. Izuku could tell that, back in Aldera, she was always worried about him. Bit weird to imagine she was less worried for him now that he worked as a government agent than when he was a normal middle school student. Not that she knew, of course. "Any new friends?"

"Well, I am pretty close with a senpai." He said.

"Ah, Hado? You mentioned her before." Her mom chuckled, "I'm happy you are making friends, son. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks mom." He replied, "Now sorry, but I'm going to eat in the cafeteria and it's…" He opened the door and stared inside, "Pretty loud."

"Alright son. Have a good lunch, and make sure to call me later!"

Izuku saluted her and looked around. He had been to the cafeteria once or twice before, but never to eat, just to buy some water or a snack. Lunch time was quite crowded it seemed. There were dozens of Agents crowding the room, some in line to get food from the counter or the vending machines, more sitting at the tables.

Izuku looked around and found an empty table, sitting down and opening the bento.

"Mind if we sit?" A group of four men asked soon after. Izuku looked up. One of them looked familiar, but the other three didn't. Izuku shook his head, gesturing for them to go ahead, and they quickly sat down. Their age was varied, two of them looking to be in their mid-twenties while one was clearly in his thirties and the last one seemed fifty or older. "Ugh, been a whole week since I left." The one that had asked him to sit, a guy with turquoise hair and yellow eyes, dressed in the simple white button-up shirt most agents used, though he seemed to have dropped both the jacket and the tie, and had black sunglasses hanging at his neck.

"Eight days." The man next to him, the one that seemed familiar to Izuku, replied, "Get your days right Soga."

"Eight days then. Still a long time, and all for nothing."

"Fake trail?" The old man with white hair asked, taking off the black jacket before starting to eat his ramen.

"Turns out it was just regular old Villains. No Alien stuff directly involved. I sent a tip to the police, but we wasted eight days trying to figure out how someone had both laser beams and ice only to find out it was to three twins working together. The third one could make people invisible by touching them, so he alternated touching the other twins and made it look like it was a single person with multiple powers." The guy named Soga passed a hand through his hair, sighing, "I have been on this job for two years and this is always so annoying…"

"It gets easier with time." The man in his thirties, who had large, bug-like eyes and, Izuku noticed, dragonfly-like wings, shrugged, before turning to Izuku, "By the way, I don't think I've ever seen you around. Who are you?" He asked, before opening his mouth. A straw like a mosquito's mouth shot out of it and started to casually suck up the broth that the man had sitting in front of him.

"Ah, I'm I-Izuku Midoriya. I'm a new recruit!" Izuku pulled out his ID, and they all smiled.

"Nice, fresh meat. What are you, a Quirked Earthling?" The guy named Soga asked.

"Uhm, just an Earthling, actually."

That got some reactions around the table, though not from the man next to Soga. The older man smiled, "Ah! So there are still some around. I am too, by the way." He said, "Manabu Shiga, nice to meet you."

"N-Nice to meet you too." Izuku said, extending his hand over the table. The man noticed the Replica Orgue around his wrist, apparently, since he raised an eyebrow seeing it, but then just shook his hand and sat back down. "This guy here is Kojiro Hattori." He added, "He is a Seroshia."

Izuku gulped as the bug man turned toward him. Seroshias were an aggressively expanding species known also as 'space locusts', and were considered dangerous by a large portion of the Intergalactic community. The only thing stopping them from waging wars all over the cosmos was that if they tried a whole lot of other nations would come down on them. "Nice to meet you." Hattori casually said, extending his hand, that didn't end in normal fingers but in four appendages similar to a fly's foot, that Izuku knew allowed Seroshias to stick to walls. "And don't worry, I don't bite. Usually."

"Ah, s-sorry."

"First time meeting a Seroshia, I take. I get it, we don't have the best PR in the cosmos."

"Gee, I wonder why…" Soga muttered sarcastically.

Izuku shook his hand.

"Name's Soga Kugisaki. This funny guy over here is Kashi Kokashi." He added, pointing to the man munching on some dango behind him.

Izuku's mind clicked all at once. "W-Wait, Kashiko Kashi?! The serial killer?! I thought he was in Tartarus!"

The other four looked at each other, than they all started to laugh. "No, no." Soga- Kugisaki shook his head, "This one is Kashi. Kokashi. That one is Kashiko. Kashi." He spelled the words apart carefully. "I get it, his kind is confusing."

"Your kind is confusing. We Kashiks are perfectly normal." The man finished his last dango and moved on to some dumplings, all while one of his hand extended forward, bending and twisting until it was in front of Izuku, connected by a gooey arm, "Kashi Kokashi, a Kashik from planet Kashyyyk."

"The Star Wars planet?" Izuku asked, shaking the hand. Surprisingly, it felt like flesh and bones, despite being connected to a slimy arm. It quickly retracted back to Kokashi.

"I don't know who chose the codename, but I think they were a genius." Kugisaki replied with a smirk, "Though I wish there were Wookies on it, instead of a bunch of shapeshifters."

Kokashi just shook his head, going back to his meal.

"So… Kashiko Kashi…"

"Also a Kashik. When they come to Earth their names are always just Kashiko, Kashi, Shikashi, Koshika, Kashika, or some variation of that." He chuckled, "Kashik don't really get 'creativity' and 'art', so they can't go further than that."

"But why do they look the same if they are shapeshifters?" Izuku felt like asking.

"Dumb story. When we come in contact with a new species that is added to the list the Intergalactic community allows on Earth, it's customary to exchange gifts. So we sent them a bunch of the usual stuff. Statues, paintings… and movies. One of those, probably snuck in by some Agent with too much free time, was some B-movie about an-ex serial killer hunting a copycat. Turns out, the Kashiks loved it, so now when they come to Earth, they always choose to look like the main character or the main female character. Eventually we had to put up a rule about having to make yourself distinguishable, so people didn't question it."

"I'm a full ten centimeters taller, and I don't have the stubble." The Kashik replied, "It's already a betrayal of his perfect looks."

Izuku shook his head. He really was living a whole new life. "I-I see. Thank you."

Kugisaki shook his hand, and Kojiro cleared his throat, having finished his broth and retracted his… mouth-thing. "So, who are you paired with?"

"Nejire Hado, a Faedian." Izuku replied, while eating. He noticed everyone had gone silent a moment later.

"Uh… Well, are you… ok with that?" Kugisaki asked.

"Why?"

"Nothing, it's just… Hado is a good girl, but she is a bit…" Shiga coughed in his fist, "Too nice."

"What?"

"I heard Hado got her past partner killed." The Senoshia said.

"Dude…" Kugisaki hissed.

"What? I don't know if it's true, but I know all of her partners eventually wound up injured, and rumors are one died." He shook his head.

"I don't believe it. Hado would never hurt someone."

"That's the point. They say she always hesitates to take the shot against another life form. She is a capable girl, but you can't trust her to have your back. At least, that's what the rumors say." Hattori frowned, "I don't know if this is exaggerated or not, but the fact none of her partners stuck with her for longer than a few missions is telling, isn't it?"

Izuku shook his head. No, he couldn't believe it. "I'm sure there is another explanation. I trust Hado."

"Good. Trust goes a long way." Kugisaki replied, patting him on the back. "I'm sure the rumors are exaggerated, anyway. I mean, there's a rumor going around of me being a vigilante in my old neighborhood."

"Isn't that true?" Kokashi asked, looking puzzled, "You said you 'shot that speedster bitch like he deserv-'"

Soga shushed him, before shaking his head, "Anyway, the point is, the rumors are just rumors. Maybe she just missed a shot at a bad time and the other Agent didn't like it, or something like that." Soga then turned to the other, "Speaking of other Agents, have you heard about…" He moved on to another conversation, the others quickly doing the same.

Izuku nodded along, trying to forget about the talk before. He did remember, though, that Mera had mentioned how every partner Hado ever had refused to ever work with a Faedian again.

And he couldn't help but wonder why. Except that Faedians were a 'rare classified species' meaning information on them was only available when needed. And Hado, who was always so cheerful, was always very cagey on her past.

Izuku shook his head again, slapping his cheeks with both end. No, he would not start to suspect Hado. He trusted her.

-x-

After lunch, and after saying goodbye to his colleagues, who were heading back to their offices in another section of the building, Izuku headed down the elevator, back to his own. Both the two Earthlings had offered him their phone number, in case he ever needed help in the Chubu or Tokyo 1 Department.

Izuku thanked them, heading down. It was a pretty good thing he had made contacts with people from different Departments. As someone from the General Japan Department, he was basically a free agent that worked all over Japan, but the Regional Departments, or the Urban Departments of Tokyo 1, Tokyo 2, Osaka and Kyoto were the ones that passed along a lot of the useful information, besides also doing their own investigations.

He smiled, pushing the phone in his pocket, before he walked in the room to find Hado busy pushing pins and pictures on a blackboard, print-outs and papers scattered all over the desk. Izuku smiled. "So, what do you have?"

"Well, I followed All Might's hunch and looked into the people that form the higher-ups of the Ushimitsudoki faction, and now I figured I'd look into…"

"Where they commit their most crimes to see if it lines up with the case All Might brought us?" Izuku nodded, remembering one of her lessons, "And what did you find out?"

"Well, for now we can exclude Tekka Maki." She said, tapping the picture of a girl. She looked in her early twenties, and had a long siren-like tail. "Most of her crimes were in Ryukyu, I doubt she'd move all the way to Chubu. Not to mention, according to her file she is confirmed to be a Quirked Earthling."

Izuku nodded. It makes sense they wouldn't look into someone without Alien connections. "What about their leader?"

"Quirked Half Alien, but from generations back. Pretty much his only Alien trait left is that his face doesn't transform completely when he deactivates his Quirk. If he had a contact, he'd have used it long ago anyway. No, I think Curator is also out." She crossed him with a pen. "And Ikkaku is out too. He is a second-generation Half Alien, but from what we know of his history he didn't have relations with his grandparents."

"Isn't that more of a hunch?"

"If we are wrong, we can always go back to it later. For now, though, I think we have to look in those other four." She tapped the people she was talking about. "Devilfish, Octovian Alien born on Earth from Octovian parents." She said, tapping the picture of a man whose head was a full octopus, tentacles emerging from his collar. His body from the neck down looked human at a glance, but that could be a disguise.

Izuku took a look to the left, "Isn't that Dholak. I remember him. He tarnished Endeavor's perfect capture record two years ago when he got away."

"Yeah, Endeavor was unlucky. Dholak is a Macrocheirian. They are a colony-Alien that attaches to other of their species. Dholak just detached the 'main core' of the colony and slipped away." Nejire read on the file, pinning it down, "He also reached Earth illegally, so catching him would be a good result anyway. I'd put him at the top of the list."

"Right. Then, Kaizou…"

"Arrived on Earth forty years ago, fell in a bad crowd. He is an Ikovirel. Large, covered in short fur, thick fat, surprisingly cunning."

"And the last one is this Fuka."

"Yup. First generation Half Alien. He never showed any knowledge of his ancestry from what we can gather, but we can't just exclude him for that. All of them have committed crimes in Honshu in the last year, and all with the MO typical of Ushimitadoki. So…"

"We will need to investigate each of them, right?"

"Yep." She smiled, "This is gonna be our first extensive investigation. You ready, partner?"

Izuku smiled, putting aside all the thoughts of the cafeteria talk as soon as he heard the cheerful tone and reassuring smile of his teammate. They were partner, and he trusted her. "Ready, partner." He replied, and they gave each other a high five.

(XX)

Alright, first chapter that actually introduces worldbuilding stuff. Colleagues, organizations, and the classic totally mysterious figures.

So, regarding OCs, just to be clear yes, this fic will break my usual no-OCs mold and go through some. None of them will have enormous roles, but you know, I figured I'd mention it since it's not my usual MO when it comes to MHA. I just need a lot of unique people and MHA doesn't quite fill the need when it comes to named characters.
Still, not everyone is an OC in this chapter, far from it. Soga Kugisaki should be well known to Vigi readers - and isn't how he got here a story I want to jump into - and his companion, Kashi Kokashi, is taken from MHA character Kashiko Kashi. You know, just because I noticed a certain thing and I want to see if anyone figures out what I mean.

More importantly, the leaders of the Zoo Villains, or the Ushimitsudoki Alliance, more appropriately, are characters from Horikoshi's first work Oumagadoki Zoo, keeping up with the theme of the known Zoo Villains members (for those that don't know, the Zoo Villains originate from an MHA Japan-only arcade game). You can check what they look like on the Oumagadoki Zoo wiki, or just wait for me to introduce them if they appear.
I figure an organization that is into world conquest, and whose members are mostly Transformation or Heteromorphic Quirk-users, would translate well into attracting Aliens that are into the idea of world domination.

Also, our first questions on dear Nejire. What is she hiding? Where do the rumors come from? Are they true? We shall wait and see.