"Good, you are here." Mera said, leaning back on his chair, and looking about as tired as he did the last time Izuku had seen him, over three months before. Just to emphasize that, the man yawned. "You were fast."

"We got here as fast as possible, Sir. What's going on?" Hado asked.

"Well, the mail was clear, we have a symbiotic Alien pathogen on the run." Mera sighed, "And if you can't find him fast, it might become a big deal."

"But how did that happen?" Izuku asked.

"Have you heard about the landing of the UFO – well, not that U for us, but still – from last month?"

"Yeah." Hado nodded, "It was sighted near Tottori, right?"

"More like in Tottori, since they decided to land right on the sand dunes…" Mera passed a hand over his face, "That one was a headache to cover-up, but that's not the point. The point is that there weren't just normal Aliens on board."

"The… pathogen?" Izuku said.

Mera nodded, "Alien pathogens are a big deal, because we usually don't know how they interact with our species. 'Badly', is usually the assumption. And then you have the issue that this is a symbiotic type."

"So it will look actively for a host." Hado finished, "It's sentient."

"That seems to be the case. The pathogen was only identified in the first place due to trace amounts we found while dismantling the ship, so it had over a month to spread. When we asked the Alien, they confirmed there is a form of colonial monocellular organism on their planet that infects a host, and then spreads parts of its body to others. The symptoms were described as 'low energy', 'heightened aggressivity' followed by 'tiredness' and 'a need to protect the main host'. Once the illness passes, the group remains aggressive and loyal to the main host, even willing to risk their own lives."

"Does that count as a pathogen?" Izuku asked, "I mean, it seems more of a symbiotic but fully sentient being…"

"We classify it as a pathogen. We need to make sure it doesn't spread. It had a month to do that, and we want it found and contained or destroyed. I don't care which."

"Yes sir!" Izuku and Hado said as one, surprised by the burst of energy of their superior.

"Good. According to the Aliens, on their home planet this thing is used to build the hierarchy of rulers – the hosts - and peasants – the sub-hosts – so you can see why we don't want it around. Imagine if it ends up with a malicious host and powerful sub-hosts?" He waved his hands, "I'll mail you the file, I just wanted to brief you both in person."

"Yes sir. Uhm, one final question?" Izuku added as they stood up.

"What?"

"Uhm, why us? N-Not Hado, she is amazing at her job, but, I mean…"

"You are asking why I chose a team including a new recruit to go after a potential threat to our society as we know it?"

"Yes sir."

"Because of your partner. Hado is a Faedian, which means a lot of things. Like the fact that she can't get sick, the relevant part in this case." He waved his hand, gesturing for them to leave, already grabbing a cup of coffee, "Oh sweet Jesus I needed this…" He muttered as they left his office and closed the door behind them.

"Amazing at my job, uh?" Hado asked.

"I mean, you are." He said, honestly. Hado was good at it after all, with all her knowledge about Alien species and her experience as an Agent.

She smiled, seeming pleased, and patted him on the back. "Come on then, your amazing partner will show you how to prepare this investigation."

-x-

Two hours later, dressed as regular tourists, complete with simple t-shirts, shorts, hats, sunglasses and a camera each around their necks, plus what looked like regular backpacks on their shoulders, the two Agents were on the train, on their way to Tottori.

"So, going through this again." Hado said, checking her phone, "The 'pathogen' reproduces properly, creating a new host, once every four Earth months. Considering that it took almost two months for those Aliens to arrive here, and then one more month since then, it either is about to start the process of splitting, or has already done that."

"Which is already bad, and even worse because we have no proof the guy it bonded with is still in Tottori." Izuku nodded, "What do we know?"

"Not much." Hado shrugged, "We know the symptoms it causes, at least, but that's only a guideline. For all we know, when it infects Earthlings and Quirked Earthlings, 'tiredness' translates into entering a coma."

"And it's only one for now, so even if it was spreading steadily to other sub-host, it wouldn't infect too many people."

"And the rest… What does the undying loyalty translate into? Would it be just some positive opinion of the main host, or would it mean they are essentially their slaves?"

They sat on their seats of the bullet train, one in front of the other, Izuku trying to put together the few ideas they had. "Hospitals?"

"We checked, and there was no suspicious spike of deaths, comatose individuals, or dubious problems." Hado replied.

"But we can't rule those out, because the spike might happen in the next few days. Apparently, this thing can take over a week to find a suitable host, and can survive up to three weeks without a body." Izuku groaned, "This mission sounds like a real problem. Shouldn't we send hundreds of Agents to comb Tottori for clues?"

"It's the secrecy thing again." Hado replied, sighing, "If hundreds of people start asking around for the same thing, normal people are bound to start taking notice. They probably sent a few," She added when he made to argue, "Trust me, the Chugoku branch at least did, and if they find anything they will send us something, that's why this operation in particular has a common repository for all documents. But it will still take a lot of work to solve this. Also, there aren't that many Agents, and it's not like this is the only case. We are two thousand or so, which sounds like a lot but split over all of Japan isn't exactly that many."

Izuku nodded. It made sense, in the context of 'we don't want people to find out Aliens are real', but it was still annoying. They could have gotten so much more done if they could work on the problem with more people.

"Alright." He said, "So what we know is that it causes a stronger aggressiveness, tiredness and loyalty. Putting loyalty aside, I guess we should look in the former two."

"Hospitals and clinics first?"

"Sure, but also Police stations? If people are suddenly becoming more aggressive, it would make sense they are also getting arrested, and their victims hospitalized."

Hado hummed, "I guess the rest is up to the host. The Aliens say the host tends to be aware of their growing following. Whoever it is, they will know there are people looking up at them as a leader."

Izuku sighed, "That goes back to the loyalty. Which is harder to gauge, since we don't know what it translates into. The best-case scenario is that it makes them mildly more popular…"

"That's the worst-case scenario, for us. It would be basically impossible to find someone that is just 'mildly more popular' in class or at work."

"Ok, ok, so let's assume the opposite. Let's assume this is shifting their social status enough it can be noticed. Where would that be more noticeable?"

"… Schools, large companies and criminal gangs, I guess? Those are the three places I can think about."

"But if it's school, we are out of luck, because it's summer vacation right now, and it has been for the past two weeks. So that leaves…"

"Companies and criminal gangs. Sure. Especially the gangs. Aggressiveness from the co-workers would be noticeable on the workplace." She shrugged, "It's a good plan as any. Hospitals, Police and then the more crime-infested areas?"

Izuku nodded.

Well, at least now they had a plan. All they had to do was… "Wait, how do we interrogate them without being found out?"

Hado grinned, "Izuku, did you assume Aliens never go into the medical field? I can't guarantee for clinics, but we won't have any problem in any hospital."

-x-

"You know, I'll never understand why they recruit you and send you on mission as teenagers." The elderly doctor said, typing in the computer, "It's as if we started sending doctors in the operating room as children."

Izuku didn't really know either, but the man seemed to be asking more of a rhetorical question than actually being interested in the answer. "So, were there any such cases?"

"Heightened aggressiveness and tiredness don't usually go hand in hand, I must say. Even adding comatose individuals, it's hardly an unusual amount. By which I mean we had only two in the last month or so, and one was due to injury." He commented in response. Izuku looked at him. He didn't really show any trait he would have expected from an Alien. His appearance was entirely human-like, with even his eye and hair color being completely natural – and Izuku had green hair, he knew even Quirkless people could have hair colors that were never seen before the Age of Quirks – but with brown eyes and black hair as a combination, he had no idea of what kind of Alien the man could be.

"We understand, doctor, but…"

"Please, don't worry about it." He pressed a couple of keys and Hado nodded, as the mail arrived on her phone. "Do remember to…"

"Delete the files if they aren't needed for our investigation, of course."

The man nodded, as they stood up, shook his hand, and were accompanied outside. "That's the last hospital." Hado said with a yawn, "What about the police stations?"

"I think we are done with those too." Izuku replied, opening the phone to check again. Two whole days of asking around hospitals, private clinics owned by alien physicians, and police station, and then examining the documents they received, only to come up with nothing useful, were tiring, and the third one was proving even more so.

"Phew, thank goodness. Though, even those don't seem particularly useful." She sighed, scrolling through the files, "Drunken brawls, car accidents… I guess we can…"

"Wait, there is a final one." Izuku corrected, "We forgot about this district."

"Ah, right." Hado yawned, "Well, let's go take care of that then."

Izuku nodded, and not ten minutes later they were standing in the waiting room of a police station. Izuku waited a minute as Hado checked which detective was their contact, before nodding and leading him down the hall and at a door.

"Yeah?" A voice asked from inside.

"Uhm, it's Agent Hado. I sent you a text a minute ago?"

"Ah, right, right, come in."

Izuku followed Hado in the room. The girl standing behind the desk was surprisingly young, and once again, didn't look the part of the Alien. She was somewhere in her mid to late twenties, whose only truly distinguishing feature was the red hair, with six tufts to the side and a pair of bunches shaped oddly like a crab's pincers on top.

"Detective Kaniyashiki of the Tottori Police at your service." She said with a salute, a Kansai accent hidden under her pronunciation but still palpable. "Can I see your badges?"

"Hello detective." Hado said with a nod, showing her badge quickly, "We are looking for some information." She said, quickly giving the Detective a rundown of what the problem was. The woman hummed.

"Actually, I have two distinct stories that might both be related." She said, sitting down.

"Really?!"

"Sure. Let me show you..." She typed something in her PC, and quickly turned it around. "First, we have recently had an uptick of Villains and general criminals found beaten up and out of commission. And not in the 'Vigilante on the loose' way. Trust me, I have some experience. No, this was more of a 'Villain scuffle gone wrong', and we think it might be related to the rumors we have heard of an underground fighting ring. This sounds exactly like the kind of stuff you want."

Izuku nodded, "It's possible. Why didn't we hear about this at the hospital though?"

"We sent them to a private clinic since we are trying to keep the investigation more hush-hush. I think the owner is a normal human, so I guess you avoided visiting it for now, am I right?"

Izuku nodded. They had left situations like that for later, if they didn't come up with a better plan. "And the other one?"

"Well, this might be nothing, but there is this case. Group of teens found training with their Quirk, about two weeks ago. Usually we let it slide if they aren't harming anyone, and this was pretty much that since everyone seemed to be agreeing to it, but the officer mentioned how he went for blocking the main perpetrator – the one testing his Quirk on the others – to give him a stern talk, and the other grew aggressive to the point he felt threatened enough to request back-up. The main perp told the others to scramble, and since it's a minor crime the officer let it go when the teens made their escape, but…"

"It was an odd reaction, I get your point." Hado nodded, "Well, those are good. At least they both sound unusual enough they are worth investigating."

"Do you know anything else about the teens or the underground fighting ring?" Izuku added.

"For the former… Well, we did identify one of the teens, though since there wasn't enough to build a case – he wasn't even using his Quirk, technically, only letting the other kid use his Quirk on him – nothing came of it. There is also a description of the other teens, at least indicating what they generally looked like."

Izuku nodded, taking a look at the file that had arrived on his phone. "Thank you, detective. Uhm, about the fighting ring…"

"The file has a list of probable locations. They aren't sure, and they likely move a lot anyway, but it's in one of those." The Detective replied, "We were planning to start organizing with the Heroes for an infiltration, but nothing has been set-up yet, so you should have a clear way in and out."

After that they tried to get more details, but aside from the mention of a certain Villain that was rumored to be taking part in the underground fighting, a so called 'Rapper Champion' or something like that, she didn't have much else.

A few minutes later, they were out, Hado quickly sending all the info up in the file repository before turning to Izuku. "So… any ideas?"

"Nope. We can only go and ask, I suppose."

-x-

The house was a simple two-floors building, with a balcony on the west side of the second floor. Izuku rang the bell, looking around. Next to the house was a bakery, open and with a good number of clients going in and out. Aside from that, there weren't that many people around.

"Can I help you?" A guy asked in that moment, emerging from the door. He was tall, standing a whole thirty centimeters above Izuku. And yes, that didn't sound like a lot, since Izuku was short, but Nejire was taller and she still had to look up to look the teen in the eye. His spiky brown hair was paired with dark eyebrows of the same color, and his lips and nose were both larger than average.

"Rikido Sato?" Izuku asked, checking the document he had been handed.

"I am. Can I help you?" He asked, seemingly relaxed. Izuku couldn't blame him. He was clearly muscular under the black tank top he was wearing, and he probably assumed he could easily take out Izuku and Hado if they caused any problem.

"My name is Mikumo Akatani." Izuku said, pointing at himself. "And this is Emi Kayama." He quickly added. "We are looking for someone."

"Oh? If it's my dad, I can…"

"No. No. Uhm, we are actually looking for a teenager. About your age, on the shorter side but taller than me, grey hair…"

Sato frowned, "And what do you want from him?"

"Just pay back the favor. He helped us out when we arrived in Tottori last week, and asking around in the neighborhood some people mentioned he came around your house a few times, so…"

Sato hummed. "I will ask him if he has helped someone like you, and then…"

"Wait!" Hado rushed forward, "Look, I… I really want it to be a surprise, you know? If you ask, he will find out, and we don't want that, right? Please…"

She looked incredibly innocent. Izuku found himself thinking that, if Sato dared to deny her, he would fight for her, only to then realize that in said scenario he was the one that ended up bent like a pretzel by the far more muscular teenager.

"I…" Sato seemed unsure, and almost prepared to push back, when Hado went for the metaphorical kill.

"Please, if you know where he is, I'd be really grateful if you could tell me. Really… Grateful." She said, leaning a bit closer and forward. She wasn't wearing a particularly open shirt or anything, but the gesture itself was enough to make Sato stutter and blush. Izuku could understand. The teen was fairly sure that, if she did that to him, he would have just died instantly.

"I… I suppose I can accompany you." Sato finally said, "Not now – I have stuff to do – but tomorrow I should be free. If you can share your phone number…"

Hado quickly took down the number, shared her own, and marched off. "See? I used my head to solve this problem. And Soga dares say I never use my head…"

Izuku snorted, "Mister Kugisaki is a very… honest teacher, and he comes off as rude, but I think he genuinely wanted to give you some advice."

"It's Agent."

"Uh?"

"Agent Kugisaki, not mister." Hado chuckled, "I know, sounds like I'm splitting hair, but it's important. It's a rank we all work hard to get. I think we should use it."

"Understood, Agent Hado." Izuku said, and Hado smiled.

"Great. Now, underground fighting ring?"

"I think so…" Izuku said, "would be useful if we knew where it is. All this says is that a mask covering the eye is mandatory to 'celebrate the fifth anniversary of our predecessor's abrupt end'." He said, examining the report, "Apparently, by waiting in certain points of town while wearing those, someone vets you and if you pass takes you to the right spot."

"Problem is, we don't know the place. We could try to find it by looking at every location, but it's just luck by then. Still, I don't think we have a better option…"

Izuku thought for a moment. There was a way, it was just… Well, it was probably dangerous, and it relied a lot on his own skills, "We are going to make it in the arena." He said to Hado, "Though it will be a pretty big risk."

-x-

Two HASC Agents walked into a sleezy bar. Izuku noticed it sounded like the beginning of a joke, but this was a lot more serious. He marched toward the counter. Having dropped the camera, he was now wearing his sunglasses down – which didn't help his visibility in the slightest, and marched up to the man currently busy cleaning a glass.

"Can I help you?" The man asked. He was tall, muscular but not overly so, with a look that said he was bored and didn't very much like the idea of dealing with a teenager.

"Yes, actually." Izuku nodded, doing his best impression of a confident guy. "My girlfriend…" He pretended to take a pause to show off Hado, even as in reality he used it to eat up his stutter, "Thinks I'm not tough. So, I want to prove otherwise."

"And how can I help you with that?" The man asked.

"Well, I've asked around." Izuku took out some money he had on pocket, "And I've heard you can help with this." Which translated to the fact they had checked through the HASC and Detective Kaniyashiki if they knew anyone that might have contacts with the underground and was easy to reach. As it turned out, this pub was owned by some guy named Giran, an infamous underground broker, and the barman was Giran's right hand man for whenever he wasn't in town.

The man grinned, now seeming more amused at the idea. "For real kid? You want a run in the ring?" He looked him up and down, and Izuku understood his expression. He wasn't exactly the pure image of a fighter.

"I'm capable, I assure you."

"Suit yourself, the New Masquerade allows anyone to take part, so long as they aren't police, but I think I can throw that out. You are a bit too young for that. You picked a bad day, though. There's a new guy, and he looks like he plans murder." The man shrugged, "Do you have a mask?"

Izuku pulled out one. It was technically the gas mask that he had brought in case the symbiote spread through breath among humans, but now it offered another use.

The man just shrugged and pointed to a chair nearby, telling them to wait. Meanwhile, Hado studied the object. "Did Hatsume make that?"

"Uh? Oh, yeah. She said something like 'you will probably need this more than me'. I kinda disagree, Hatsume probably needs a gas mask at least as much as I do, but… Well, I'm happy I have it."

Hado nodded, "Makes sense. You two are getting along quite well, aren't you?"

Izuku chuckled, "I guess. I wish she wasn't constantly asking me to smuggle tools in the school. She says I look innocent enough I would make a great smuggler, and has been very insistent about me sneaking a power saw in."

"How does she expect you to do that logistically?"

"To quote her 'You are smart, you will find a way'." Hado snorted, and Izuku frowned, "What? I could find a way to sneak it in."

"Yeah, sure." Hado rolled her eyes, and Izuku chuckled.

"Is that a challenge, Ha- Kayama?"

"What if it is?" Hado asked, "Will you really risk your reputation at school to get a girl some special toys?" She asked with a wry smile.

"Sure, I'll get her those toys- That came out wrong."

"Oh my, you won't get her toys to make some babies?" Now her smile had turned into a shit-eating grin, "How cruel of you…"

He turned bright red and looked away, for once the one pouting while the girl snickered, "Y-You are impossible…"

"Ah, you know it's good fun." She commented, and Izuku sighed, though he couldn't prevent another chuckle. For a while after, they stayed silent, just waiting. Hado felt her phone suddenly buzz, and she pulled it out, breaking the silence. "Oh, it looks like we might not have to meet up with that Sato guy after all."

"Why?"

"Remember I mentioned at least a few other teams were on the case? One of them has found a teenager with grey hair they think is a likely suspect."

Izuku sighed, "Well, I guess we better hope this one is the right stop then."

Hado looked at him, noticing he was trembling slightly. "Are you ready for this?" She asked.

"Sure, infiltrate the Fight Club while you check the crowd." He sighed, "Excited for this super easy mission."

"You came up with the idea, if you don't want to…"

"I know. I'm not scared, I'm just…" Izuku sighed, "I still don't like it."

Unfortunately, the dice was cast. They couldn't hope to get an invite to the 'New Masquerade' in time, so they had to go with plan B. Unfortunately, plan B meant he had to put himself in the ring.

He could only hope this was worth it.

-x-

"Where is Setsuno?" Mimic asked, the man hiding behind his usual doll, "If he decided to step out of line again and go do something on his own…"

"I'm sure he had something important to do if he decided to walk away." Yu Hojo said, passing a hand over his bald head to push away some sweet. God, he hated the summer heat.

"If you say so…"

"Setsuno has been here in Tottori for days to look for the fighter the boss asked for, and he found him. Isn't that enough?"

"I hope he just found the right one." Mimic replied, "It would be pretty insulting if Overhaul came all the way to a fight club for nothing."

"I told you, it's the guy the boss wants." Hojo replied.

"I hope so. He better prove worth the hassle." Mimic replied. He wasn't sure what made Overhaul think to recruit 'more muscle'. He thought Hojo and Katsukame were enough, but apparently the boss had his eyes on another fighter.

He wondered what caught his attention of this Rappa.

-x-

"Alright, we got you kid." The man said, stepping forward slowly. The teenager they had cornered looked rather young, probably fifteen at the oldest, but his short grey hair and toothy smile were pretty recognizable. He fit the description.

"I don't get what you want." The teenager said, pushing his phone in his pocket. He had been checking it out before they cornered him, but it seemed the kid wasn't planning to give it up. Not that they needed it, but it was a ballsy move for someone that didn't know if the person cornering him was a thief or a killer.

"You don't need to know. Just relax and come with us. We know your current situation sounds fun, but I assure you, you need help." The teen stepped back further, glancing from him to his apprentice. "Don't get ideas, kid. She is pretty tough, trying to take her on would be a fool's bet."

The kid was scared, of course, but the Agent knew there wasn't much he could do about it, short of revealing who they were, which would have been a bad idea. Secrecy, after all, meant they weren't supposed to reveal the HASC and Aliens to every person involved in every incident. Japan was already the biggest risk to the international Alien Secrecy Act, so making things worse wasn't a good idea. The best option right now was to knock him unconscious, extract the parasite, and let him go, with the teen none the wiser about the Alien he had come in contact with. He'd probably babble about being kidnapped, there would be some investigation, and then nothing would be found.

He tapped his gas mask to make sure it was properly sealed, and stepped forward, flicking his wrist. A large baton extended forward, and the teen took a few more steps back.

"I don't like…" He started, before he heard a sound from behind. He wheeled around, ready to block the incoming blow, and his young partner in training did the same, but the girl could only shout as both her and her partner's mask vanished, appearing in the hands of a blonde man on the other side of the small alley they had pushed the boy into.

"Are you ok, kid?" The blonde man asked, fixing his beak mask, "Shit, you are lucky I was nearby when I got your message."

"Thank you, Setsuno." The teenager said, pushing his phone back into his pocket with shaking hands. Had he taken it out without the HASC agent noticing? That was quite the sleight of hand. He had to admit he was impressed. Even more so when his baton also vanished from his hand.

"Do you want me to kill them?" The man asked.

"No! I told you, I don't want to be a Villain, Setsuno. This is just… I think a kidnapping."

"With a Quirk like yours… Well, your call, kid." He said, "But what's the plan then?"

"Well…" He looked at them, "I guess the same thing I did when you tried to rob me. I don't know what those guys want, but they tried to attack me, so I think it counts as self-defense, and it's not like I'm hurting them."

"Eh. Guess it will work."

The old man dashed forward, trying to hold his breath as he attacked, bringing down a fist. His partner in training did the same thing.

And then gas started to shoot out of the teen's hands, and the man felt his mind go blank.

-x-

"Heightened aggressiveness and the ability to force loyalty in the subjects, doctor?"

"Indeed sir."

The man hummed. Quite the valuable specimen, this one. And self-replicating too. "Do you believe the family might get involved?" He had the answer already, of course, but he wanted to see if the doctor agreed.

"With all due respect, sir, I believe the so-called 'family' wouldn't be interested. Their leader is more interested in technology than in biology, after all."

"My thoughts exactly, doctor, I'm glad we agree." The man smiled, a grin that he knew made even those loyal to him, like the doctor, afraid. "It would be an interesting addition to our collection, don't you think? Let's send someone to retrieve it."

(XX)

Alien pathogens, a teenager with some gaseous Quirk, Overhaul looking for a certain recruit, underground fight clubs, and a man in the shadow that should probably not be in the shadow at all but I can't help it.
It's Tottori time.

Tottori is actually a pretty nice city from what I've read. The Tottori Sand Dunes are a real place, by the way, they are in a natural park near Tottori city. Damn Aliens landing their UFOs in protected locations.

And Izuku, my boy. You didn't have to join the fight club to investigate the whole thing. There were probably better ways.
Welp, too late, have fun, don't get disintegrated by Overhaul. He isn't here for you at least.