It had been a full week for Izuku, mostly because, even as he did his training, he was also taking his mid-term exams. Hado had been doing the hard work for the investigation, Izuku mostly helping between study sessions and training sessions. She insisted it wasn't a bother, and Izuku did his best to help any time he could, but he had to admit, it was a bit unlucky they got the case right then.

Still, he managed to reach the weekend with very high grades, placing third overall in the school year. Considering this was Ondereno and not Aldera, that was a really good placing. And with that done, he also got a message from Hado. 'Meet up Saturday morning. Dress for a day of outside work.'

The last time, Izuku had been surprised by the fact they had to wear normal clothes, but he accepted that they weren't supposed to stick oud. So, when Hado made her request, and added to bring some gloves, he had complied.

What his partner hadn't told him was that they were going to the beach. He only found out when Hado came to meet him at the dorm and asked if he really planned to wear his shoes at the beach.

"Wait, we are seriously going at the beach?"

"I mean, unless you know a better way to find our guy, yes."

Izuku tried to find a coherent answer to why this didn't seem right, but Nejire chuckled, "Did you miss a page on his file? I wouldn't blame you, the last year of middle school exams here at the Institute are hard."

"Wh-What? No, I swear I read it all. What kind of al- person he is, what he can do, where he lives, his cover-up job…" He looked around, but no one was around, since they had already walked away from the dorm.

"Then why is it so surprising?"

"Well, I thought that we would, I don't know, bust into his hideout and try to capture his gang, or something like that."

Nejire tilted her head to the side, "Capture his gang?"

"Well, they are Villains…"

"Ah, yeah, I get it." Nejire nodded, "Well, it's true arresting him is an objective if he is guilty, but why would we run straight in his lair? Most of his followers either aren't Aliens, or aren't involved in our case. Remember, we are Government Agents, not Heroes. Heroes take care of Villain organizations, but our job is more specific. We deal with the threat at hand, but if we jumped in and tried to do what Heroes do, we'd get in each other's way. Not to mention, secrecy kinda goes out of the window when whole gangs start to get taken down by unknown government agents."

Izuku hummed. Yeah that… That did make sense. He sighed. He still had to adjust to the idea he wasn't going to be a Hero, it seemed. His usual instinct, the result of admiring people like All Might, was always to imagine Heroes as someone that would take on full gangs, one against many or with other Heroes' support.

But that wasn't who he was now.

"Yup." Nejire said loudly, and Izuku jumped, realizing he had been mumbling, "I adore All Might, and everyone else loves him too, but we aren't Heroes. We save people by dealing with the Alien threats, and the rest is up to the Heroes."

Izuku nodded. "Alright. So, we are going to Zushi, in the Kanagawa Prefecture, right?"

"Nope!" Nejire chuckled, "We are actually going to a different place, one a lot closer to home for you."

-

Nejire wasn't kidding. When they took the train for Musutafu, Izuku had just wondered what that meant. As it turned out, it meant they were, indeed, going to the beach. Just that they were going to the one beach nobody ever visited, the dump known as Dagobah.

Except… today Dagobah wasn't empty. Far from it. In fact, it was crawling with people, carrying away waste in groups of two or three.

"Hello!" One of the many people wearing the same shirt 'Kani-Kani Environmentalist Group', a tall man with an acquatic Quirk judging by the gills on the side of his neck, walked up to them, "Are you here to help with the cleaning effort?"

"Yep!" Nejire smiled, "We figured it was a good cause."

"And it is! I'm glad to hear more young people are joining today."

"Uhm, sorry, but…" Izuku coughed, "My friend kind of… dragged me here without explaining. N-Not that I don't want to help or anything, this is… actually something that had to be done, but I just wanted to ask."

"Ah, no problem at all!" The man gestured toward the beach, "You see, we of the Kani-Kani Environmentalist Group are a group of people that, either due to our Quirk giving us an affinity for the sea, or just because we think it's the right thing, want to help cleaning the environment of the Japanese coast. We go around Japan, and set-up public efforts, inviting people to clean their beaches and give back to the community that way."

"That's… awesome. Great!"

"I'm glad you agree! Well, here are your gloves, and a bag each. Not a plastic one, of course." He winked as he handed both a bag made of cloth. "They all get cleaned and reused, or recycled if they break, so don't worry if they tear, we will just give you a new one."

Izuku nodded, taking his own and passing hers to Nejire, and then they stepped on the beach. "Well, this is a lot of trash." Izuku said, "Guess we should start working."

"Yup. While we work, we will try to find Dholak." She said with a thumb up, starting to pick up trash.

"Where would he be?" Izuku asked. He was catching on why they were there. After all, the group was called Kani-Kani. And they were looking for a crab-like Alien. Not a difficult connection to make.

"Somewhere around here. He never misses a day."

Yeah, that part of the file was something Izuku remembered. Apparently, Dholak hid behind the public identity of Douraku Umijima. He owned a sushi restaurant in Kanagawa, but more importantly, he was one of the founders of an environmentalist group. Izuku had never thought that information would be important, but here they were. Weird to think a wanted Villain could just hide in plain sight and do stuff like this, especially one that was as infamous as Dholak.

"How has he escaped suspicion?"

"He looks a bit different." Nejire said, either catching on what he meant or signaling Izuku he had mumbled aloud again. "Remember, he is a colony-Alien. It means his 'body' is actually multiple Aliens that live together. All he has to do when the police investigates him is prove his body is shaped differently from the Villain. Since he is registered as a purely Heteromorphic user, no one questions the differences."

"But if we know that's what he is doing…"

"We can't prove it, can we? Have you ever heard of a 'colony human'? That would just out that he is an Alien, and we don't exactly want that. Once again, we have to count on the Heroes and the Police to figure out the trick. And they have to prove it with a proper trail, otherwise it could get thrown out in court." She frowned, "Or we can arrest him today, if we are right about the weapons. Whichever works."

Izuku made to answer, but suddenly he got called over to help move a fridge. Him and two other people did a good job at it. Izuku sighed in relief as he put the fridge down on one of the trucks they were using to carry the trash to the closest dump. "Thank you for the help." A girl with grey hair said, drinking from a bottle. She looked surprisingly pale for someone that would be doing something like this, and she had to be about his same age.

"Don't mention it." Izuku huffed. Well, it seemed his training with Nejire was giving his fruits if he was actually helping. Just a month or so ago, he'd have been basically useless.

"This would be a lot easier if I could use my Quirk…" The girl added, shifting her shoulder. "Well, no use griping about it."

"Yeah, I guess so…"

"Eh, at least we are fine. Out of curiosity. Last year of middle school?"

"Yup." Izuku nodded.

"Same. Is it a school around here?"

"Ah? No, no, it's a big Institute in Tokyo." He replied, and then realized that usually Institute wasn't the term someone used for their school. The girl nodded.

"Ondereno?" She asked.

"Yeah… Guess it wasn't hard to figure out."

"Not when you use the word Institute. Usually for a middle or high schooler it's that." She sighed, "Good for you. I go to a small school in Aichi."

"Thanks. It was a real surprise when I got in." Izuku replied.

"Ah! I couldn't imagine. Well, maybe I will manage next year."

"Trying for some important school?" He asked.

The girl hummed, but without really answering. "Do you do this often?" She asked suddenly, and Izuku blinked, startled by the change of argument.

"Y-You are still talking to me?"

"Yeah." She nodded, "Don't think there is anyone else."

Izuku wanted to argue there were many people around, but he coughed and tried his best to smile. "Ah, um, no, not really. A friend of mine got me to come here today."

"Oh. Good on you to come. I'm in a similar situation."

"Really?"

"Yup. Usually I'm more of an internet girl, but when investigating, you need to go on the field sometimes, or that's what my friend said."

Izuku's mouth was agape for a moment, before he closed it. "I-Investigating?" He shook his head. 'Calm down Izuku, it probably has nothing to do with you.'

She seemed genuinely bewildered at his confusion, several seconds passing before she finally spoke."Yeah? I figured… Oh, was I wrong? You never heard of the PIF?"

Izuku had the impression he had, recently, but nothing precise came to mind. Maybe someone had mentioned it in a conversation? "Sorry. Not really."

She seemed a bit bummed about it, and Izuku wondered if he had done something wrong, but before he could ask what the PIF was, the girl seemed to retreat in her shell, losing completely that friendly aura she exuded earlier. It wasn't that she became hostile, but more that she pulled back worried. "Ah, I see. Well, no... no problem." She put the empty bottle in the plastic container and turned around. "Nice talking to you, but I guess we should go back to work."

And with that calm comment, she just walked off. Izuku saluted her, before walking back to where he had left Nejire, and then, several steps further, he realized an important fact. "I spoke to a girl!" He exclaimed. Several people nearby chuckled at that, and Izuku immediately turned bright red.

"Well, I'm glad I apparently don't count as a girl." Nejire said with a pouty look on her face, walking next to him.

"I-I-I meant…" Nejire snorted, and Izuku stared at her.

She shook her head. "We need to work on your confidence, Izuku, you can't get surprised every time I girl talks to you. Either way," She grinned, "I found our target, while you were busy flirting."

"I wasn't…!" Nejire winked, and Izuku sighed. There was no winning against his partner. He followed her further down the beach.

The moment they spotted the man, Izuku had his expectations upturned once more, as one would expect. The pictures of Dholak always showed a threatening, angry, almost bloodthirsty Villain. Officially, his Quirk was Spider Crab. His body was covered in a large, sturdy carapace, he had, besides his legs, a pair of hands ending with claws sprouting from his back, and three pairs of shorter protuberances around his head. Those limbs were all he was supposed to have.

What mixed it up, allowed him to hide his identity behind the mask known as Douraku, and really was a tell-tale sign that something was off, was that Douraku had an extra pair of limbs, 'arms' that ended in two more spider crabs, both complete with eyes, both with ten limbs, looking like he had just attached two Japanese spider crabs to his arms in place of his hands.

The weirdest thing was that, if Izuku hadn't known in advance this person was an Alien, he would have just assumed this was some sort of really extreme Heteromorphic Quirk.

He would have also assumed he was a kind, if stern, man, judging by how he was directing the volunteers. He handed a helping hand – Japanese crab, whatever – where he could, and also looked kindly at kids and adults alike. That didn't really fit the public image of the infamous Dholak, a proud, greedy Ushimitsudoki commander that was said to put success above survival.

When they walked up to him, he nodded to them. "Ah, it's nice to see more young people interested in helping the community and all sea life. How can I help you?"

Hado moved closer, making sure she couldn't be overheard by the people nearby. "Agent Nejire Hado and Izuku Midoriya of the HASC." She said, flashing her badge quickly, "Can we talk for a moment?"

If Douraku was taken aback by her bluntness, he didn't show it. His only noticeable reaction was the sudden steeling of his eyes. On the other hand, he did spend a few moments looking at both of them. Izuku, who had been looking at his hands, had the unique experience of seeing both hands' eyes go wide in surprise, before the Alien took a deep breath. "Of course. Saki!" He shouted to a nearby worker, "I'm taking those two to check further down the beach and see what else we find that is too big for the trucks. After that minivan, I want to make sure everything is alright."

The guy he had called out nodded, and Douraku quickly gestured for them to follow. It wasn't long before they were in a part of the beach that was still untouched, the smell of dead algae a rotting trash stronger than it was in other parts of the beach. "So, Agent Hado, Agent Midoriya… You look rather young, but I guess with the HASC you never know. So, what can we do for you?"

Izuku found this was going almost too smoothly, but he nodded, "We are investigating the alien weaponry the Ushimitsudoki Alliance is using."

"Isn't starting with us profiling?" Douraku asked.

"Sirs, you are stowaways that made it to Earth hiding in a spaceship. With all due respect, if someone had criminal contacts in space out of your colleagues, you would be the most likely." Hado said.

"They got us there." Douraku's right hand suddenly commented, and Izuku couldn't help but jump back in surprise.

"Idiot, we aren't supposed to speak!" The left hand chimed in.

"You aren't supposed to speak!"

"No you!"

"You both." Douraku clapped, both crab-hands suddenly quieting down even as they whimpered. "Sorry, we are usually more careful."

"I hope so. If someone finds out about your true identity…"

"We are aware that an illegal that causes accidental discovery is sentenced for life in Block A of Tartarus, thank you for reminding us." He shook his head, "For that same reason, why would we do something that runs afoul of Alien-related laws? It's much more convenient to be treated and sentenced like a regular Villain, if we want to commit crimes and are captured for it."

It was quite blunt, but he was right. The HASC didn't get in the way of Hero business. That meant so long as the Aliens behaved like normal humans, even committing crimes, the HASC wouldn't get involved, save for making sure that Villains sentenced to Tartarus were sentenced to Block A if they had Alien origins. "Do you know who the culprit might be then?"

"Now, we are not about to sell someone for nothing." Douraku replied, "I don't know who it is, though I can make a guess."

"Could you?" Izuku asked.

"For a price." He said, "We suppose the HASC can make a decently sized donation to Kani-Kani, through some third party, right?"

Hado nodded, taking out her phone, but Izuku was confused.

"Wait, that's it?" Izuku couldn't help but ask. The glare the Alien shot him was almost piercing.

"Of course 'that's it'. Let us guess, you are the Earthling in your pair, right?"

"I…"

"Yes kid, that's it. We want this planet clean when we will inherit it." He shook his head, "Not that you humans are doing much with it anyway. Look at this! A beautiful beach, and what do you do with it? You turn it into a dumpster. And it's not the only one in Japan! This is why I think you humans need guidance."

"Wait, we aren't all…"

"Oh, you aren't all guilty? Please, the cleanest of you all is still a massive waster. We Aliens see this planet for what it is: a treasure. Seventy percent of water, do you understand how valuable that is?! And you just… waste it! Pollute it! Turn it into a dumpster!" He kicked a can in the sand, sending it flying toward the road, and then turned around and pointed one of his clawed limbs at Izuku, "Mark my words kid, when we take over Japan, we will force you to clean every single square inch of this country, and-"

"Stop." Nejire ordered, and Izuku felt weird. Her voice sounded… odd. Different from the norm, more like she was humming the word and whistling.

The reaction from Douraku was even weirder, because it was like half his body stopped moving and half didn't. His feet froze as he was stepping forward, and one of his arms fell limp, but the other kept moving, just pointing at Izuku. He glanced at her, eyes calculating.

"A Faedian. Can't believe there is one of you down here. Especially a-"

"The information, mister Umijima." Hado replied sternly.

He grimaced, even as he took a step back, arm and leg moving again. "The money first."

"Here." She showed him her phone, "Twelve million are being donated to Kani-Kani's online site as we speak. Not all at once, of course, but they will make it through over the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours."

Douraku glanced at the phone, then took out his own, surprisingly showing great skill at using it with the limbs of his 'hand'. He frowned, however.

"Pardon us, let me just…" He moved his other limb on the back of his head and pulled. To Izuku's shock, the carapace around his head opened, revealing a large cavity hosting the eye stalks. As if it was the most normal thing in the world, Douraku leaned forward, eye stalks extending to look at the phone up close. "Ah, excellent. One million already from the HPSC. How nice of them."

"The rest will come from fake accounts, but we figured this was a good signal."

"We will trust you for the rest. The HASC usually keeps its word. Very well." He closed his head again, cracking his… neck? Was that what it even was? "Devilfish."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure enough. We met Kaizou a few weeks ago, and he had no news of using Alien tech. We would have told him not to, if he mentioned it, but he also isn't dumb. Devilfish is. If he got a way to purchase Alien tech, he definitely took it. That moron…"

"And no one else would know?"

"Curator is busy, some new scheme of his, and we are pretty much on our own until he is back. If someone used alien weapons, they are keeping them for themselves, until Curator is back."

Hado nodded, "Very well. Thank you." She turned around.

"No problem. Don't want to talk too long with a Faedian anyway." Douraku replied, and Nejire stopped, almost falling, "Although, your voice sounds a bit weak. Need a mint?" He added with a clear mocking tone.

She didn't answer, instead stepping off. Izuku looked at the Alien colony for a moment, trying to figure out if he was supposed to say something, but then resolved to just glare at him before rushing after Hado. "Hey, Hado, are you…"

"Sorry." She coughed, looking away from him, "Can we not talk about it?" She took a deep breath, "Come on, we need to get back to work for a while. If we just run away, people will ask questions." As she said that, she grabbed a piece of wood, the broken door of some furniture, and put it in her bag, with far more strength than she needed to.

Izuku stayed near, glancing at her, but she didn't speak.

-

Izuku was never good at talking with people. Still, he had come to consider Hado a good friend. The fact she looked so angry on their train ride home was… really unusual. He had seen her sad, or pouty, but never genuinely angry at someone or something. As they sat on the train headed to Tokyo, he couldn't help but wonder if he should have said something.

The problem was, Izuku wasn't really sure what he was supposed to say. "Uhm, do you want to talk…"

"No." She looked away, "Thank you but… No."

Izuku sighed. Well, he was two on two on missions that had left his partner in a bad mood. He really hoped this wasn't going to become a trend. A part of him – alright, most of him – wanted to insist, but Hado really looked like she didn't want to talk about it. Mom had told him he should learn when it's time to speak up and when it's time to stay quiet, or change argument. In this case, Izuku figured the latter could work. If the problem was the bad mood, he could at least try to choose something else.

"Sooooo… Devilfish. What's the plan?" Izuku asked, after making sure there was no one around to listen in.

Hado of course understood immediately the change of argument for what it was, but she took it with a little smile. She sighed, but her usual cheer came back at least a bit. "Right. So, I looked into the files of our four suspects, and I have a general idea of where Devilfish would be on a weekend night, unless he changes his habit. It's unlikely, so we will assume he won't. And that's why, once we reach Tokyo, we should try to go to Yokohama."

"Why?"

"Because… We are going to drink. There's a little bar in Kamino with some shady clientele. Devilfish likes to go there with his closer advisors, from time to time."

Uhm… Can we even enter?"

"… Midoriya, they serve villains. They will serve two teens that want a drink. We just need to change a bit."

-

Changing a bit meant Hado forced Izuku, after he took a shower and came back with longer pants and a black shirt, into a black jacket with rips, metal studs and stitches all over. She had gone for a punk look that Izuku found rather odd on her, considering that she tended to like clothes more in the white and light blue department. Short jeans, a black shirt, and she had even added an earring and a fake piercing on the lip. All in all, she did look like the stereotypical bad girl, except for her hair. It made sense though, since Hao loved her hair. Izuku couldn't imagine her with short ones.

"Alright, I'd say we can pass as teens looking for a thrill!" She said enthusiastically.

"Isn't it a problem if we are seen? I mean, Ondereno…"

"The Institute works with the HASC. The principal is aware, as are a few others. So don't worry, we won't get kicked out for this." She chuckled, "If there was the risk, we wouldn't use Ondereno as cover in the first place."

Well, that was reassuring. Last thing Izuku wanted was for his mom to get a letter about him getting kicked out of his school because he was seen at a shady bar. Or walking around in those kind of clothes. Or… Yeah, better not think of that.

He stepped out of the train and they started walking through Kamino ward. Nejire knew the route, so it didn't take long before they arrived at the entrance of the bar, a stair leading underground. They looked at each other and stepped down the stairs, reaching a door that led in a bar with mostly wooden furniture.

The first thing Izuku noticed was that calling the place sleazy was a compliment. As they entered, they found a good number of people sitting around, smoking, drinking, or gambling. Izuku's eyes went wide as he spotted some of them. "Hado…" She whispered, "Some of those are actual Villains… One of them is Habit Headgear, and that guy over there is Tesla."

Both men were busy drinking together, and Hado shook her head. "Don't worry about them." She whispered, "We are here to get into trouble officially."

Izuku nodded, and then forced his eyes away from the drinking Villains and toward the bartender. The man was made, or covered, in black fog, his yellow eyes shining. "Welcome to the All for Drinks. What can I do for you?"

"We just want some beers!" Hado said with a wide smile.

"Mh… Aren't you a bit young to drink?" The man asked. They looked at each other, before hearing some of the other people around start laughing. The bartender did the same, before quickly pouring both of them a beer and taking Hado's yens.

Izuku and Hado took the time to look around, and Izuku was the first to spot him, even if only because he had looked randomly in the right direction.

Sitting there with a bunch of other Heteromorphic Quirk users – or Aliens, who even knew – was a very unique individual. Up to his neck, his body appeared to be that of a perfectly normal man, with the exception of his long arms and webbed hands. However, in place of the head, there was pretty much an entire octopus, as if someone had decapitated a person and then stitched on it the sea creature.

"So… We go talk to him?" Izuku asked.

"Yep." Hado replied, "Can't be too hard, right?"

Izuku wasn't sure. Unlike with Tokoyami or Doruku, this guy was most likely guilty.

"Just so you know." The bartender said, startling them, "We don't have rules against bar fights, and in fact usually try to put up a betting pool, but I won't call the police if someone gets hurt."

"I'm fairly sure that's illegal." Hado pointed out.

"Should I check your IDs for that beer then?" The fog man asked.

"… Alright." Hado chuckled, "Mh, can I ask something? Do you have a real body or is it all fog?"

"Oh, there's a body somewhere in here." The bartender replied, shrugging. Hado nodded, then turned around to move to another client. Izuku recognized him as the Villain Minotaurus, slumped down and clearly quite drunk.

Hado took a deep breath, and then stood up, beer in hand, heading for Devilfish' table. Izuku imitated her, deep breath and all. However, when he did, his hand passed right over the Orgue, and he found himself touching it for good luck instead.

-x-

"Sir, I believe we might have a problem." Kurogiri communicated on the phone, his cloudy hands hiding it, even if the movement itself was noticeable.

"Oh, I can tell Kurogiri, but this is a good chance for us." The voice on the other end of the line replied with a grin.

"Is it wise to let the HASC free reign in the All for Drinks, sir? You built this place for..."

"Kurogiri, I believe I'm aware of my own goals. Do not push your mind, or I will have to inform the Doctor that you are acting a bit too freely."

Kurogiri stiffened. "Forgive me, sir."

"You are forgiven. Still, keep an eye on the situation. Make sure they don't know we figured out who they are. If they start a fight, treat it as usual. There is no cause for alarm."

Kurogiri nodded again. "As you say, sir." The call ended, just as the two HASC Agents reached the Octovian's table. Kurogiri noticed several costumers were now looking toward the table, and for obvious reasons. Everyone here knew Devilfish, since he was a B-Class Villain. Two teens without visible Heteromoprhic Quirks walking up to him was almost guaranteed to spell trouble, either when they started it or when he did.

He saw a few people start counting cash, and silently he prepared the board.

Devilfish and six of his men against two HASC Agents.

Well, there was an obvious winner there.

(XX)

Investigation, investigation! And some stuff on Nejire, a mysterious PIF that definitely has no importance in this story, and Izuku experiencing more of the universe's varying species.

So, Dholak is a character from Horikoshi's Oumagadoki Zoo manga. The same is true for Devilfish. Both characters are introduced as high-ranking members of the Ushimitsudoki Aquarium, so here they are part of the upper echelon of the Ushimitsudoki Alliance. The same is actually true for the other high rankers mentioned in this and the previous chapter, by the way.

Dholak is mostly focused on climbing up the rankings within that story, so I made him someone willing to snitch. Most of the rest, regarding his character, is original content, not that I expect someone would recognize him. But as a fun fact, him opening his head is actually something he does in the story, even if I changed the way that looks adding the eye stalk, to give it a more 'alien' vibe compared to the original supernatural appearance.

And oh my, Kurogiri's bar actually working?! This is truly an AU! But yes, the All for Drinks is quite the unique environment in this story. This is not the last time we visit it.

What else can I say? Hope you had fun reading this, and see you next week!