There was an awkward silence between Izuku and his friends as they ate in the lunchroom this time, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

Iida and Ochaco had very troubled expressions, and even Tsu seemed upset, although if you didn't know her it would be hard to tell.

"So um...do you guys want to...talk about...you know?" Izuku said quietly, hoping to help in some way. "Maybe vent a bit?"

Iida and Ochaco looked at each other, before Iida took a deep breath, and spoke up. "If your willing to listen, then there are some things that perhaps we could get off our chest-"

"I can't believe they almost got us killed!" Ochaco shouted, her face red with anger and frustration. "Seriously! This is supposed to be the best hero school in the country! Maybe even the world! And THIS happens!?"

"It is very discouraging, to say the least." Iida sighed, looking more confused than angry. "It just doesn't make sense. I understand that All Might is powerful, but to take such an unnecessary risk...it just makes no sense for the H.P.S.C. to order such a thing."

"If it weren't for Spider-Man then all of us would have died!" Ochaco continued. "That-that thing! Would have turned us into smears on the walls! You know what! Screw what the H.P.S.C. says! I'm not catching Spider-Man even if I had the chance!"

"I wouldn't go that far, although if the chance arose to help provide testimony to reduce his sentence in court, I would be more than happy to assist!" Iida said. "But Spider-Man aside, I simply can't wrap my head around the H.P.S.C.'s complacency."

Izuku took in their words, and Nezu's speech yesterday came to mind.

"All Might has this way of putting people at ease. And while this is normally a good thing, it also puts the people who should have their guards up at ease as well. He gives people a false sense of security. And as such the H.P.S.C. didn't take the threat seriously."

"When I said All Might inspired complacency, I was not excluded. While I know All Might is not a solution to everything, it does make me look at villains as less threatening or dangerous."

And those words brought a burning question to Izuku's mind.

"Hey, guys," Izuku said, getting their attention. "I have a question...if it had gone the way the H.P.S.C. and U.A. had thought. If All Might had been there and beaten all the villains in five seconds...would you guys be as mad? Not mad in general! I mean...as mad as you are now?"

That question seemed to have stuck something in all three of them.

Ochaco and Iida both opened their mouth, seemingly to say yes, before they stopped, and took a moment to think.

Tsuyu's eyes actually went wide for a moment, but she continued to stay silent, staying deep in thought, and absorbing the words with those around them.

"I...I want to say yes but...I'm not sure I would?" Iida admitted. "It's...It's strange. Logically, it's what the H.P.S.C. expected to happen, and it's still just as poorly thought out...but thinking about it, if the situation had gone that way...I'm not sure I would be as upset."

"Yeah...I-I'm kind of feeling the same?" Ochaco looked so confused. "I think if that happened I'd be talking more about how stupid the villains were than the H.P.S.C...Maybe it's just because DID almost die."

"It's...not just that I think," Izuku spoke up once more. "I heard...from somewhere, that All Might...and his strength, can inspire complacency. That it can make people feel safe, even if they aren't. It causes people to lower their guard, even if they're the people who NEED to keep it up...If All Might was there with you, even if the villains were surrounding you again, would have been as scared? Would you have paid as close attention to villains?"

Once again, Ochaco and Iida took a moment to think about this. And they were both kinds of embarrassed to think that the answer would have been no.

Meanwhile, Tsu was kind of having a bit of internal crisis.

She had felt...betrayed.

Tsu had always held a sense of trust and respect for authority. For heroes, for U.A. and the H.P.S.C. And so for them to show such...such callousness with their lives, and make such an asinine decision...it spits in the face of all faith she put in them.

Sure people make mistakes, Tsu was aware of that, and she could forgive that to a degree, but this was such a terrible, and easily avoidable mistake, that could have had deadly consequences.

But now she was considering Izuku's question. What if she hadn't gone through a near-death experience? What if she didn't almost watch someone give their life to save them?

Izuku had a point. She'd likely be upset, but not nearly upset as she was now.

She can't deny, when All Might came in, she felt at ease. The villains weren't beaten and could have had another ace in their sleeve for all she knew, but she felt like the battle was already over. And had completely lowered her guard.

In retrospect, she understood how dangerous that was. Mineta had managed to drag Spider-Man away while none of them were looking, what's to say a villain couldn't have snuck up and killed one of them?

That sense of ease, the feeling that everything was going to be alright. It normally seemed like such a good thing, but now seeing it in this light, it was also terribly dangerous.

And now All Might expected her to give people that same feeling? Was that a good thing? I mean, it definitely had its positives, but if lead to people making mistakes like this, then surely there had to be some other solution?

Meanwhile, something was bothering Izuku. All of this talk about All Might lowering people's guards, and making them complacent... reminded him of a particularly bad memory.

"And...maybe that feeling of ease...and lowering people's guards...isn't exclusive to All Might." Izuku wondered aloud. "...If you saw someone dying in front of you...and you could save them...but a hero told you not to...what would you do?"

That question took everyone by surprise, all of them giving Izuku shocked looks, before taking some time to ponder his question.

Seconds turned to minutes, as all three of them came to their conclusions.

"I...I mean...if a hero is there then they should save them right?" Iida asked, sounding more unsure than he'd like.

Izuku looked down sadly, as he recalled Katsuki's death once more. "I...I wish that were true."

Suddenly, all three of his friends gave him concerned looks.

"Midoriya are you ok?" Ochaco asked.

"Your crying." Tsu pointed out, speaking for the first time today.

"Huh?" Izuku suddenly noticed a wetness on his cheek. "Oh!"

Izuku quickly whipped the tears off his face. Feeling a sense of disappointment in himself. "I thought I was done crying over him."

"O-Over who?" Ochaco asked him.

"I said that out loud!?" Izuku cursed his muttering habit. "It's nothing. Just something from...a while ago. It's behind me now."

"If it's nothing then why are you crying?" Tsu asked bluntly. "Midoroiya, is there something YOU want to vent about? Get off your chest?"

"I don't invade upon your privacy Midoriya, but if you do need to talk to someone, then you can talk to us," Iida told him

"Yeah, we're your friends. You can open up to us." Ochaco gave him a reassuring smile

"I-" Izuku was overwhelmed by this genuine support from his friends. Something he was still very unused too. Once again the tears flowed, but for a different reason now, and he smiled at all three of them. "Thanks, guys. I'm-"

"I AM HERE!" Suddenly, All Might burst into the lunchroom and burst towards their table.

The three of them looked at him in surprise, as he looked down at them, and realized that his timing may not have been the best. "Was I interrupting something? Young Midoriya are you alright?"

"A-All Might!?" Izuku said, still getting over his shock. "O-Oh my god it's such an honor to meet you!"

"The honor is mine!" All Might said with his signature smile. "Are you sure your all right young Midoriya? Do you need Hound Dog's counseling service?"

"U-Uh no I'm fine! I just got a bit overwhelmed at the fact that I have friends now!" Izuku blurted out.

"That is...incredibly sad!" All Might said. "I will still suggest visiting Hound Dog at some point! But that aside! I came here to see if Young Asui would like to have lunch with me! I have a few things I would like to discuss with her a few things. Principal Nezu also asked me to retrieve young Midoriya. He would like to speak to you."

"Oh. Thank you. I'll head over to speak with him immediately!" Izuku said, standing up and getting ready to go. "I'll see you guys later. Thanks for….thanks for being my friends."

Before anyone could say anything in response, Izuku dashed out of the cafeteria.

"I wonder what principal Nezu wants with Midoriya?" Ochaco asked curiously.

All Might shrugged. "No idea. I'm sure he has his reasons. Now young Asui, do you have a moment?"

XXXXXXX

All Might and Asui settled into a private room. Sitting on couches across from each other, with All Might having returned to his skinny form.

"Firstly." All Might said. "I would like to apologize for-"

"I don't want an apology," Asui said curtly. "I know that you're all sorry. What I want to know is why didn't you tell us?"

All Might sighed. "The H.P.S.C. told us-"

"That's the part I'm struggling with." Asui cut him off once again. "You knew that it was wrong. You all did. But you did it anyway. Even though you're supposed to protect us. To know what is right for us. Even though you're pro heroes. You, nearly got us all killed, in something that could have been easily avoided. Because I'm willing to bet that Nezu could have found a way around this if he really wanted to. Or he could have gotten away with disobeying their orders. But he didn't even try. None of you even tried. You all just shrugged your shoulders and said that YOUR strength would be enough. Even knowing about your time limit, or about the injuries, you all still took your power for granted. What if we hadn't weakened that Nomu? Do you think you could have beat it before your time ran out?"

All Might paused, bringing his hand down to his injury, before answering. "That thing...even in its weakened state, managed to reduce my time by thirty minutes...had you not poisoned it...I would have won...but I can't tell you how much it would have cost me."

"And the less time you have, the fewer people you can save." Asui pointed out. "How many people could you have saved in thirty minutes? How many people are going to suffer because of that stupid decision?"

All Might winced as Asui really laid into him.

"The heroes could have surrounded the building with a full team, and none of this would have happened," Asui added.

The number one hero took a minute to let her calm herself before he spoke up. "I'm not going to sugarcoat things. We made a mistake. I understand you're upset. You can't understand why-"

"I'm upset because I do understand," Asui said. "I...didn't start understanding until just a few minutes ago. Midoriya asked us if we would have been as upset if you were there the whole time. If we didn't almost die during that attack. And even though the decision would have been just as dumb either way...I wouldn't have. I would have been mad, but not like how I feel now. When you entered the building, I felt like the fight was over. Like we'd won. I'd completely let my guard down...all of us did. What if a villain had snuck up on us while we were watching your fight, and killed us?"

"I...I doubt you were all THAT unaware." All Might said, not sounding 100% sure.

"Mineta managed to drag one of the most wanted vigilantes out of the building, and no one noticed until he'd already gotten away." Tsu pointed out. "We were all THAT unaware...Midoriya... asked us another question...if someone was dying in front of us...and we could save them, but a hero told us not to, what would we do? And the answer...it terrified me, sir. And it makes me think...are we making people complacent? You wanted me to be the next symbol of peace, but if I do that, will I inspire people with the power to help others, not to do so? Because I'm there? I don't want that sir."

All Might looked at his successor, and kicked himself mentally. She was scared and confused.

She was unsure if she could trust heroes right now. And he couldn't blame her.

"Young Asui, I'll be honest with you...I'm not sure about myself or...heroes in general...causing complacency. I can't say we don't after this incident, but...I never really thought about it." All Might admitted. "I just wanted to save people, and make them feel safe. I've never really giving thought to the possible consequences of this...I've been accused of solving all my issues with my fist, and that's not wrong. And to be honest...if this truly is a problem...then I'm not sure how to solve it."

All Might saw a flash of disappointment in Asui's eyes. But he continued regardless.

"But...your not me...and I'm not asking you to be." All Might told her. "Your smarter, more thoughtful than me. You can take the mantle of symbol of peace, and make it into something different. Perhaps something that won't cause...this. I may not know how to fix this issue, but you'll have years to figure it out."

"That's...a lot," Asui responded, looking a bit overwhelmed.

"It is...I apologize that this much pressure is being placed on you. But One for All comes with great responsibility." All Might sighed. "And when you don't fulfill that responsibility...this happens."

XXXXXXXX

Izuku walked into Nezu's office, nervously sweating as he had no idea what was in store for him. "Um, hello sir?"

"Hello Mr. Midoriya, please sit down," Nezu said, pointing at the chair in front of his desk. "And close the door firmly behind you."

Izuku nodded and shut the door. Making sure it was properly closed, before pulling up a seat and sitting in front of the principal.

"Now, I don't believe I need to explain what I called you here for," Nezu told him. "Let us get right down to business."

Nezu took out a holodisk, and it activated, projecting an image of a very fat man in a white suit.

"This is Futoi Furisuku. C.E.O. of Furisuku industries." Nezu explained. "But to villains and heroes alike, they know him as the Kingpin of crime. Or rather just the Kingpin."

"So he's a powerful individual, using his businesses as a way to obscure his criminal actions." Izuku guessed. "And my guess is that he's also using his power to make sure no one can interfere with his empire?"

"Very astute of you." Nezu praised. "He's responsible for a list of crimes so long, we'd be here all day if I tried to list them, however, he has friends in high places. Including those in charge of the police, and the heroes. He's made it so that way taking action against him, is extremely difficult, at legally."

"And that's why you're asking me." Izuku assumed.

"Once again, you are correct, although that is not the only reason," Nezu told him. "The Kingpin has been pursued by underground heroes, and vigilantes before...all of them has disappeared. He's most likely used his resources to amass defenses beyond your standard bodyguards and security systems."

"Like mercenaries?" Izuku asked.

"Or even villains," Nezu explained. "Given his resources, he could afford to hire rather powerful people. Which is another reason I'm sending you. You've defeated A-ranked villains in the past. Although don't get overconfident. Even if a single A-rank isn't a threat to you, an army of them might be."

"Of course." Izuku wouldn't underestimate unknown opponents again. Not after the Nomu incident. "So you want me to gather evidence on Kingpin, and give it to you? But wouldn't any evidence you got through me not, be accepted?"

"I have my ways," Nezu dismissed. "There are many people who want the Kingpin toppled, many of whom hold a lot sway in the legal system, and they'll be happy to look the other way as to where this evidence came from, so long as they're sure it will, in fact, lead to his downfall."

"So I'm going to need a lot of damning evidence," Izuku said. "I'll do it of course, but...this is gonna take some time."

"I'd imagine so," Nezu said. "This will prove to be your most complicated mission yet. But I have faith you'll prove yourself capable."

"Yes sir. I won't let you down!" Izuku said, his eyes shining with determination. "The Kingpin won't know what hit him."

Yup, so the next arc is about the Kingpin! But of course, other villains will be making appearances as well. Which ones? Keep reading to find out.

Anyway, that's for now true believers, please review and have a nice day.