Kae Membrana: Lol, thank you! I'm happy you enjoy it so much and decided to stick around for the long haul!

Short chapter this time. Enjoy~

At lunch a couple days later, Luffy finally learned what his fellow classmates had been doing that was stressful. And it was quite different from Hawks' agency's mission, but still equally stressful. They were after a group that had drugs that could erase quirks, which was very scary. And poor Mirio lost his quirk and they had his and Midoriya's pro-hero mentor die. It was tragic at the end. Luffy's was tragic at the beginning.

When he explained what had happened in depth, Uraraka gasped and put her hands in front of her mouth. "Yeah, it was pretty terrible. But we were able to find the other kids and now they're safe at a loving foster home." He looked down. "I feel like a coward. I left before I had to explain that their friends and loved ones were dead, they weren't coming back."

Iida said it wasn't heartless or cowardly. "You're not a licensed therapist or even an adult. Outright telling them their friends were dead would be honest, but tactless and needlessly cruel. And you said that home is used to traumatized kids from bad situations." Luffy nodded, knowing that was true and feeling just a little bit better. All of them were feeling light from their missions being over and somewhat successful in the end.

But now they had a lot of makeup classes while the other students got to plan for the school festival. At the junior high he'd gone to, their class had done a maid cafe where Luffy was covered in chalk and was apparently there for decoration with his wings out. It was humiliating but he got 20 bucks for doing it regardless.

They made up their classes and barely had time to talk to their fellow classmates about what they'd be doing. So a few days later after the work studies students caught up with their classes, they finally joined in with the rest of the class.

Luffy was surprised but also pleased that they weren't doing something cliche like a maid cafe. They were doing a music performance. Luffy hadn't ever played any instruments besides the harmonica that Hawks got him and he threw out the window when he realized it wasn't a real instrument and the pro-hero was pranking him.

"So, those who can't do any of the music parts will dance!" Ashido announced. Luffy froze, not sure if he would be a good dancer. He was fast but his wings didn't make his normal movement seem very graceful. Flying made him look awesome, but clunky wings sometimes got in the way of things.

But then Kirishima said they needed affects. Luffy was going to fly around dumping things below, probably. It didn't sound fun at all, but he would be a part of it. He couldn't bond with them with the villain attacks, he could at least do well in the school festival. So he didn't complain, this was for the class, not him.

"What would I sprinkle over everybody?" he asked.

"Something interesting!" Hagakure said. Luffy didn't have any idea what would be interesting to drop down. He said that glitter would take forever to clean up. "Ooh! We could capitalize on your wings and have you as decoration. If we put christmas lights on your back, you'd be a rainbow silhouette!"

"That's a great idea!" Kaminari shouted. Luffy held in a sigh. Decoration again, huh? Todoroki pointed out that Luffy had been decoration for every school festival he'd had. "Oh. Something else then!"

Luffy said, "It's fine. I want to do something to help for once other than tipping the police off." They froze and he didn't realize what he'd said. "What?"

Midoriya said, "You tipped the police? For what?" Luffy pursed his lips but then sighed. Well, he couldn't take back what he said.

So he explained, "I was the one that tipped the heroes and police where Bakugo and the League were after he was kidnapped." They all shouted in surprise. "Shh, nobody else knows. Not even Aizawa," he hissed. Kirishima demanded to know more. "I went looking for him everywhere. I found the bar and heard some explosions and Bakugo shouting. So I told the police."

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

Luffy answered honestly, "Well, how did the League know about where the camp was? There might be a spy or something in the school. I didn't want anybody to know and come after me. So I went to a phone booth in a different city and called." He added, "I didn't do it to get in good graces or to make up my not being there. It was the right thing to do, so I did it. Don't tell anybody else, okay?"

The class frowned and Tsu asked if he still felt guilty about not being there. He looked down and nodded. "I just feel like an outsider. You guys went through all that stuff together and I was stuck at home."

Uraraka shouted at him that he was not stuck at home, he was in the hospital! "But I was better by then. My head had healed and only Hawks, Aizawa and the doctor said I couldn't go."

"If Aizawa banned you, there's nothing you could have done, you know?" Sero said. Luffy deflated, and said it didn't change how he felt. "Well, now we know what you did and you did it selflessly. You did help us, a lot! We just didn't know."

Midorya added, "I don't think anyone considers you an outsider."

Luffy looked ashamed suddenly. "When I dropped out here, when the USJ incident happened, at first, I thought it was a good thing I didn't get involved. I've felt terrible about it ever since. Like I just abandoned you guys."

Todoroki put a hand on his shoulder. "Luffy, you weren't part of this school anymore, and you were here for a week. You couldn't have done anything about it at all. Besides, I didn't want to get involved. Things would have been different if you'd been there with us, we know you wouldn't have just left or something like that." Then he asked everyone if they thought that line of thought was terrible.

All of them shook their heads. Bakugo had said nothing, but still looked shocked about Luffy being the one to get him rescued. Luffy gave them a small smile and said a thank you. The guilt wasn't gone, but he did feel a bit better.

The practice for the school festival performance had them staying till late after school, learning the dance with Jiro teaching the others how to play. Bakugo was pretty funny on the drums, but at least he hadn't blown them up yet. Luffy wouldn't be surprised if he did, even if it was on accident.

Luffy didn't have much to do other than sit, but they did try his role at night, taping christmas lights to his back with a small generator and flying around, those below saying it looked really cool. At least he wouldn't be a statue again. This was better than that was.

After a week of the school festival practice and some very boring days in the Hawks agency (which he was fine with), the event was coming up the next day and everyone was ready. They were still nervous, but ready. The little girl the other interns saved came to the school one day to explore before the school festival so she wasn't overwhelmed once things got busy.

Luffy heard she was traumatized by the villain they'd defeated and taken into custody. She was fascinated by Luffy's wings, like most children who saw him up close. He crouched and asked if she wanted to feel his feathers. She was hesitant and hid behind Mirio's leg. Luffy was still sad for him for losing his quirk.

The winged teen slowly moved his right wing forward so it was closer to Eri. She hesitantly reached out to touch it, running her fingers through the feathers before pulling back. "It's soft," she said. "You can fly?"

"That's right. I flew around the world once," Luffy said. She looked shocked. "I won't do it again, but it was really fun." He asked if she wanted to see him fly. The little girl slowly nodded and Luffy took off, flying a spiral up and then doing some flips and spins and twirls before landing lightly.

She said nothing, but looked amazed. Didn't smile, which was what Mirio and Midoriya were aiming for. Hopefully she would smile during the school festival.

The next morning, Luffy had his backpack stuffed with the christmas lights and rotating rainbow disco balls that were taped to his back. Hawks left a note that morning, but it wasn't weird or anything, just said "Good luck and have fun." It was nice of him to write that. But it was weird it was just something a normal person would write.

The class was waiting behind the curtains for the concert to start, and Midoryia still wasn't there until literally two minutes before the show started. Luffy was already on an ice perch above when the music started and he jumped off of the ice perch and flew in fast circles above so it looked like there was a spinning ring of light in the air, looping in smaller and bigger circles. He couldn't be seen as a person since the music wasn't slow and wouldn't match with a leisurely pace.

He saw Eri below watching up at him. The lights were duct taped down and hanging off just slightly to be more visible. They didn't come off of his shirt, luckily, and he flew in circles even as Kirishima sawed ice shaves and Aoyama shot lasers, the ice shavings reflecting the lasers and lights from Luffy. There were also birds, tape and colorful streamers shot into the air, Uraraka touching people with her fingers to make them float.

By the time the music stopped, everyone was cheering loudly and he saw Eri smiling from below. He was happy they made her smile. The cheering was great, but it sure was a mess to clean up. But it was totally worth it. The class cleaned up and heard Eri describe the concert happily, like a completely different person than before.

It would still take her a long time to heal from her trauma, but this was the first step in making progress. The first smile was the first big step. Luffy was happy to be a part of it.

-x-

"Another nomu sighting," Luffy said on his laptop in the agency room, calling Hawks over. "This one is closer to here, but still over an hour away. And it was by a man this time."

Hawks looked closer at the photo, which wasn't blurry by rain like the one Luffy found weeks ago and had been trying to find any clues. He'd gone on patrols, asking if anyone saw anything weird, but there were just so many people that it wasn't likely to come across one who knew of a nomu or saw one recently. This photo was of the same looking one as before. With multiple arms, only you could clearly see the exposed brain. Hawks frowned and asked where it was exactly.

"In Kumamoto. But this was from a dash cam from a car that was accidentally left on. It's recent, so it's not in the news. It's not even posted anywhere that would get a lot of attention. Just of the most popular conspiracy sites. The car was parked in an abandoned area. This area used to be a mall until an earthquake destroyed it. Nobody has fixed it up since then," Luffy explained.

Hawks said he'd like to talk to Endeavor about it after the Japanese Hero Billboard Chart. "C'mon, don't want to be late," Hawks said. Luffy sighed, knowing he'd do something stupid again. Luffy closed the laptop and brought it upstairs before they flew off to the building it always took place in. They went through the back entrance, Luffy telling him not to do anything stupid.

"Sure, I promise," Hawks said, clearly not promising. Luffy didn't consider obvious fibs as lies. His voice was not sounding sincere at all. Luffy shook his head and went to sit in the back so his wings didn't get in anybody's way. Luffy was sure he was going to do something, especially with All Might gone.

The other heroes were announced, Luffy only knowing one personally besides Endeavor, Mirko, who was… an interesting person. Kind of cocky. When she got in an argument with Hawks, which was really her getting mad and Hawks being teasing and annoying, she would send him "gifts" sometimes that really weren't needed.

Or when she tricked him into thinking she gave him a coupon for a "good" sushi place all the way at the other end of Japan that tasted like shit. So, he was quiet until it got to him, when he pulled the humble card.

"Number two! He does things his own way, but he's fierce! With great momentum, he's reached the number two spot! The Wing Hero: Hawks!"

"That's an exaggeration," he said. Yeah, he wished he wasn't so high up (he says that) but he still enjoyed the limelight. Then, the lights turned off and Endeavor came out, getting the longest introduction as the number one hero after All Might's retirement.

While the producer and boss of the whole event talked about why they were doing this in person, Hawks said something that annoyed Endeavor and then pretended to zip his lips shut. Luffy sighed already, honestly not knowing what Hawks was going to say this time.

Then, while the others were each saying their own piece, Hawks was visibly bored. Luffy knew he was doing that on purpose. Honestly, sometimes he was so much less mature than Luffy. He worried about what he was going to say, but it honestly probably wouldn't change anything. He was still well liked by the public.

When Edgeshot was speaking seriously, saying he didn't care about numbers, only being a good hero and wanted his job to be to bring peace, Hawks finally spoke. "Who's gonna be happy listening to that? Stain?" The room was silent. "I'm bad at controlling myself," he said when he snatched the microphone from the interviewer. "Let's see. If we're just talking about approval ratings, Best Jeanist-" who was on hiatus at the moment right after the mission he partook in. Nobody knew why "-is the number one with the boost he got by being on hiatus, second is me and third is Edgeshot." Then he lifted himself up to be flashy and purposely let some of his feathers go, trying to look interesting or impressive, Luffy didn't know.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling old while doing it.

"Fourth is Endeavor. I'll skip the rest. I think approval rating is the most important number right now, though." He spoke to Endeavor multiple times, but was acting like he didn't even know him, which was a bit strange. Probably just for show since it wasn't well known that Hawks worked with him.

"Is this really the time to be dragging out the past? You don't think we need to change how we do things? The Symbol is gone. At this 'critical juncture,' why are those less accomplished than me playing it safe? Say something that sounds more hero-like. That's all from me." Then he gave the mic to Endeavor.

Luffy had his face in his hands, shaking his head. Well, he really couldn't say he was surprised. Endeavor sighed, and said, "After that young person fanned the flames, I won't say much." Then he looked up. "Just watch me."

It totally wasn't what Luffy had been expecting. Previous speeches had never been calm like that, but then again, he'd never been number one before. Things were a lot different now. Of course, Hawks started clapping, his secret number one fan. Luffy almost laughed but kept it in when nobody joined the clapping.

After it was over, Hawks was going to go ask Endeavor to lunch to discuss the nomu issue. Luffy announced that he was going to go on patrol and was bored after sitting through that. "How'd you like my speech?"

"It was awful."

He fake gasped. "How could you say such a thing?"

"Just being honest. Good luck with Endeavor, you're gonna need it after that performance." Hawks gave him a thumbs up and Luffy left to fly off.