mdrazeen02rr: Thank you!
kailaxavier33: I update once a week. So this one is every Sunday. There are 10 chapters left for this story.
Longer chapter this time! Next chapter is exciting I think. Lol I haven't read through this in a while. This chapter was the least fun to write in the entire story. I had to follow two whole episodes worth of dialogue. It was so frustrating and time consuming. To be honest, if you've recently watched the meeting about the Overhaul arc, you can skip through some of this one. Enjoy~
There was a knock on their door at 10:30. Ace sighed and turned over, putting his pillow over his ear. He knew it was Midoriya, but he didn't care right now. They didn't know he'd say such hurtful things, never knew he felt that way. He had been angry, but surely there was some truth in there. They weren't just insults said, but more emotional things.
Had he always felt he was living in their shadows? That's why they tried so hard not to do. Why they kept their quirks a secret for so long. Was their friendship broken? Ace and Luffy would always have each other. Midoriya got along with everyone else pretty well, everyone got along besides Bakugo, though he had gotten slightly better. But none of them were with him when he was a target.
Maybe that was the problem. They no longer needed to protect him. He could resent him for that, but who cares, Ace wanted to sleep.
In the morning, all of the work study students were leaving at the same time, all having got a message to go to Nighteye's residence. Midoriya looked at them both and was about to say something when Ace got on Luffy's back and he climbed up high and sat on the slide. They made their way through the city, over neighborhoods, streets, the train, until they reached Nighteye's.
"Hey, hey, what's that like? Can you float?" Hado asked. Ace and Luffy found the big three were there as well. They were waiting outside of the door, but they walked right in, there was no sign telling them to wait outside. When they entered, they saw there were tons of heroes. Ace and Luffy were nervous, and linked pinkies.
A hero who they didn't recognize walked over them and looked to Luffy, who was smiling constantly, hiding the nerves. "I really like the article about you in the paper. You were very honest. Honest people make good heroes. Both of you, I'm sure, will make great heroes," he said. The twins both smiled and blushed a little bit.
A few others smiled in Luffy and Ace's direction. They were only being themselves and so many small things had just made them look good. It was nice. Better than getting good grades because it wasn't their study skills or memory, but their personality and talent they'd worked hard on a lot.
Both of them didn't want to stand around and wait, so they went to the wall and Luffy made a block and they sat down. Ace didn't like doing this, but Luffy was using haki that made it solid for others besides himself. People didn't look too much as they'd seen Luffy's power at the sports festival while he ran in the air and used it as a slide.
"Ace, what do we do about Midoriya?" Luffy asked quietly.
Ace said, "I don't know. I'm still hurt that he took out whatever was bothering him on us. We were supposed to be best friends. Maybe not best anymore, but friends. You don't talk that way to your friends, we've done nothing that warrants him treating that way. We have never made him feel weak, always pushing him to do his best, be determined." His gaze fell. "Honestly, maybe it's best that we aren't friends anymore. Maybe we can become acquaintances so it won't make everything awkward."
Luffy nodded. "Let's not talk about it anymore." Ace nodded. When the door opened again, it was the other students. Seven of them, those they'd seen leaving UA and the big three who'd been waiting outside. Kirishima walked over to them and said, "Man, it took us over an hour to get here. And you just slid the whole way." Ace and Luffy grinned.
"One of the perks of my quirks," he said. Kirishima asked if he could sit and Luffy extended the floating plane that they could sit on. They waited a few more minutes, the girls going to Ryukyu, the dragon hero, and Midoirya standing a bit awkwardly with Mirio. And the upperclassman clearly noticed something going wrong.
But the meeting got started before anyone could say anything, the heroes all talking about what Ace and Luffy assumed was the Shie Hassaikai story based on how it had only gotten really started a few days back, on their first patrol. They were right, as the organization's name was said not ten seconds later.
Once everyone was there, Nighteye began, Bubble Girl standing beside him in front of the screen. He thanked everyone for their information and said that because of that, the investigation had moved forward substantially. Information about the Shie Hassaikai and what they were planning.
The heroes and students all headed next door into a room Ace and Luffy hadn't seen used, a meeting room with a huge table. They all sat around the rectangular table, the students sitting on one side. Ace and Luffy sat next to each other between Mirio on the left and the end of the table on their right. They were furthest from the front, but also less likely to be stared or glared at. It was understandable that some of those in the room didn't feel like the kids should be there.
Bubble Girl started the meeting first, "Those of us from the Nighteye agency have been conducting an independent investigation into the designated villain group, Shie Hassaikai for about two weeks."
Someone asked, "What prompted this?"
"An accident involving a gang of thieves called the Reservoir Dogs. The police wrote it off as an accident, but there was a number of points that didn't make sense, so we began tailing them." Next was the sidekick Ace hadn't seen much, Centipeder.
The second sidekick explained that he did a follow up investigation for that reason and found that the members of Shie Hassaikai had increased their contact with those outside their organization with smaller groups that also did shady business. Centipeder said, "They're moving with the aim of expanding their organization and increasing their funds. And soon after beginning the investigation, he was in contact with a member of the league of villains."
The group had been very successful in getting the public's attention. Ace and Luffy hated the League of Villains for personal but similar reasons. They hated them because Ace was furious about Luffy's torture, and Luffy was angry about how said torture hurt Ace so badly. They wished they'd be taken out already. They heard their stupid club's name so many times it was irritating.
Centipeder continued about the man that Chisaki had contact with that they knew of, "Jin Bubaigawara, villain name: Twice. They were wary of being tailed, and I was unable to follow them. Even though they were wary, with the help of the police, I was able to confirm that an altercation occurred between the two organizations."
Gran Torino then spoke. "Since the League was involved, they also reached out to Tsukauchi and me." Tsukauchi was one of the heads of the police and also All Might's friend, since they'd seen him together more than once. Gran Torino was asked why the guy wasn't there, and was answered that there were other eyewitness reports he had to look into. He wasn't there so he could work on other parts of the investigation. Then he addressed Midoriya, "Kid, I didn't think it would end up like this," the old hero said. That's right, he first interned under Gran Torino, which is how he'd improved suddenly. "I'm afraid I've pulled you into something troublesome."
Ace and Luffy wished he would have just given a "I don't blame you" instead of making a lengthy description to the others and Mirio about how Gran Torino was his first mentor. They didn't notice the not-so-nice looks that were sent their way for having a small conversation in the middle of a large meeting, but Luffy and Ace did, and were holding hands under the table, clenching them in anxiety that Midoriya would make them all look bad. After Midoriya was done talking, everyone was thoroughly irritated. Nighteyes asked Bubble Girl to continue.
"So after this all happened, we put out a request for help on the HN-"
"You can skip that part," Centipeder said. Then Hado and the other two girls were talking, pissing off a dark-skinned hero with a yellow mask around his eyes like Luffy and Ace's were. His name was Rock Lock, and his quirk was sort of like Luffy's where objects could be the the air and stay there with his ability to lock objects in place.
It wasn't as versatile as Luffy's since he could create things. But Rock Lock was irritated.
He asked, "Even if they're from U.A., why are there kids here?" Luffy, Ace and Amajiki were the ones to stay silent. Ace and Luffy knew they were the lowest notch of this meeting, which meant you should speak when you are spoken to. Amajiki might be just because he was shy and quiet anyways. "We'll never get anywhere with them here."
The others looked upset or angry while Luffy and Ace stayed silent and just observed. "The sun will set before we get to the actual plan."
But Fat Gum stood and defended them. "That's not true! These two have important information!'' Then he looked around. Seemed like a cheery guy. "Anyway, I think I'm meet'in a lot of you for the first time, so I'm Fat Gum! Nice to meet you."
Nighteye was not happy with all of the interruptions, it was easy to tell. An angry Nighteye was not pleasant for anybody in the vicinity. "We suspect one of Hassaikai's main sources of income is from unauthorized drugs. So I requested help from heroes who are well-versed in those matters."
Fat Gum was angry, and said, "I crushed tons of guys like that back in the day! And then Red Riot's debut fight the other day… a type I'd never seen before was shot into Tamaki. A drug that destroys quirks."
Everyone, of course, freaked out. Even if they didn't shout, it was clear everybody was alarmed.
But Amajiki said he was fine after he slept when Mirio loudly asked if he was alright. Rock Lock said, "I feel better knowing that you can recover from it. So it's not gone for good?" Ace thought that they should all assume that it was permanent, and not fall into a safe sense of security. They could be tested and trialed easily and improved. They should be as warned as possible. As least, in Ace's opinion. Luffy felt the same but was mostly feeling sorry for anyone who lost their quirk like All Might had. Though his was worse since he was already so sick.
Nighteye responded, "No. We will hear from Eraser Head on that matter." The focus of the table turned to Eraser Head, who looked exhausted, as per usual. He looked unconcerned.
He started immediately. "It seems to be a little different from my Eraser since I don't attack the quirk itself directly." He explained how his power worked briefly and then finished with, "I can stop it from working temporarily but cannot directly inflict damage on the quirks." Fat Gum was up again, and said that Amajiki had had the hospital look at him after being shot, and that his quirk genes were damaged. But thankfully, they healed on their own.
Nighteye asked another question, and Ace was wondering how many had known what to say before the meeting, if anyone. Nobody was asking many questions. But nobody had been asked. But they were pro-heroes right? Shouldn't they be asking questions? Ace and Luffy always asked questions, but didn't feel any warranted enough to be stared at.
It was a bit overwhelming being around so many pro-heroes, even if they weren't focused on the twins at all. Maybe they forgot about them since they were so quiet and at the back of the table. Good choice to sit there, it seemed.
"What about the analysis of what was shot into him?" Fat Gum replied that there was no damage to the rest of his body, but only the quirk. The man who used it wasn't saying anything either.
"The gun's in pieces, and the only bullet we had was the one that got shot!" he said angrily. "But thanks to Kirishima's brave actions that lead to one bouncin' off his body, we were able to get one still filled with the drug! After analyzing' the contents, we discovered somethin' that made me sick. Human blood and cells were inside!"
While the others were disgusted, Ace and Luffy were getting a bad feeling, not knowing why. They're hands tightened.
Ryukyu said, "So that effect came from a person… someone's quirk? A quirk that destroys quirks…"
"I'm not following this. What does this have to do with Hassaikai?"
Fat Gum replied that, "The guy Kirishima caught and the illegal drug he used! The distribution channels for things like that are complex. It's gotten a lot smaller these days, but various people and organizations sell them wholesale until they finally reach the end user. There's no proof that the Hassaiaki handled the goods, but they didn't interact with one of the intermediaries."
Nighteye said, "The other day, Ryukyu's team broke up a fight between two villain groups. Controlling one of the groups was the intermediary dealer organization." This segwayed into the dragon hero speaking.
"One of the two that turned giant had been given an inferior drug that didn't last long." Someone who had a mask or helmet on spoke, but Ace had no idea who'd said it. "There have been a rash of gang-related crimes recently, and most can be connected to the Hassaikai if you tried hard enough."
"It sounds like you're trying really hard to make the Hassaikai guilty. Don't you have something that implicates them more obviously?" Then a photo of Chisaki appeared on the screen, and Ace and Luffy hated seeing him again. Wishing they could have just taken him out and rescued Eri on the spot. The rational side of both of them knew that was the absolutely right thing to do at that moment, but the human side of them hated it. Hated that they couldn't save her and actually give her hope.
"The young head, Chisaki's quirk is Overhaul. His power lets him disassemble and restore things. Disassemble, a quirk that lets him break things and then fix them. A terrible power indeed," Nighteye said, making eye contact with Ace.
Luffy was startled out of his thoughts by this. What if he did that to Eri? If she misbehaved, she would be punished and then restored just fine! He shared a look with Ace, and he nodded, understanding this as well. Why Luffy would make that kind of face after that statement. The face of guilt and horror. Why else would he feel guilty about this information?
Nighteye continued though he had to have noticed his interns' demeanors and auras. "Chisaki has a daughter named Eri. There are no records or details about her birth, but when Mirio, Ace and Luffy encountered her, she had a large amount of bandages around her arms and legs."
"Don't tell me something so horrific," Ryukyu said quietly.
Gran Torino sighed and said, "It's a society of superhumans. If you can dream it you can do it." Kirishima expressed confusion, and Rock Lock rudely said, "Are you sure we need the kids? I'll say this only once. We're wondering if this Chisaki bastard is turning his daughter's body into bullets and selling them." The girls and Kirishima gasped in horror.
"We don't know if he's actually selling the bullets," Nighteye said. "At their current stage, their efficiency is still too uncertain." Ace slowly raised his hand. "Yes?"
Everyone looked his way. "If they are being passed out to people, should we assume the smaller thugs like the ones that attacked Amajiki have worse quality than the ones the Shie Hassaikai holds close? If Chisaki were smart, he would keep the most effective ones close. Should we assume the ones they use are permanent? After all, the one we have didn't work as much as it could."
"If this quirk erasing power was used from her blood, would they just need to edit the potency of the blood?" Luffy asked next.
The others nodded, agreeing that that was probably accurate, if Chisaki was involved at all, which they still weren't sure of. They didn't know for sure that Eri was being used, but still. "If that isn't true, and they are not fully completed, if they are in the test stage, and he's using them as samples to gather more to his cause. There is no hard evidence. But he's gathered people and funds from across the nation. If the completed drug would be able to completely destroy someone's quirk… I'm sure they'll have many ideas for crimes using this."
Rock Lock, now the twins' least favorite hero in there, blamed it all on the three who'd met them personally. Nighteye stood up for them and said he took full responsibility for what had happened. "Please do not blame them. Even though they didn't know the full story, they acted to save the girl."
All three were unable to make eye contact with anybody, eyes shadowed and dull as they looked down at their connected hands. "They wanted to save her badly, but chose to bear the risk of taking her then, and act when the odds were better. They didn't tell the whole story." He looked at them sadly. "The ones most frustrated right now are these three."
Ace sat with his face in his hand while Mirio and Luffy stood up and said, "We'll definitely take Eri next time! And protect her!" Ace hadn't stood, but he nodded into his hand.
"We'll save her and make up for this," Ace swore firmly, even if he wasn't standing or the one to yell.
Nighteye said, "That's right. That is our goal." All three were determined to make up for their huge mistake.
Rock Lock couldn't redeem himself in Ace and Luffy's eyes the more he spoke and the more his bad attitude was put on display. The more he belittled people who could possibly help. "It's fine for the kids to show off, but if it's what we think, that girl's the crux the young head will want to hide, right?"
Ace and Luffy would be able to recognize Chisaki from a distance. It was easy, his presence was like the smell of sewage and almost the thickness of sludge. It was a heavy presence, and so incredibly easy to identify and recognize.
"She got out because of some kind of trouble. On top of that, some new heroes saw her! You think he'll just keep her at home? I wouldn't if I were him." Ace and Luffy nodded silently, agreeing. The guy would keep her someplace safe and hard to find or get to. Hard for anybody to find that didn't have haki. They would find him. They'd find him and then take Eri. Good thing was that since he was with Eri all the time, they would find her if they found him. "Even if we push our way in, it won't matter if she isn't there. Have you already identified where she is?"
Nighteye looked at Ace and Luffy expecting something. Did he know about their haki? Ace and Luffy looked at one another. They would be able to help find Eri with their haki. What would they say? They couldn't say it. They couldn't. Everyone would know. They just couldn't. Maybe they could tell Nighteye and they'd be put in the front.
"But it's a big issue. Since we don't know how far their plans have gotten, we have one chance to strike when it counts," Nighteye said. "To that end, we have found groups with connections to the Hassaikai, or land owned by the Hassaikai and made it as thorough as possible. I would like you all to investigate each place and narrow the list down to possible locations."
One of the heroes pointed out that they, smaller heroes, were only there because they worked closely to those locations. It was convenient. They didn't sound very upset, so that was good. Nighteye was strategic by using heroes who knew where to go. The twins still didn't know who took over their hell hole of a part of town.
Fat Gum grew angry. "For someone who was All Might's former sidekick, you sure are careful. We're going about this too round about! While we're takin' our time, that little girl, Eri, is probably cryin'!" All three who met her winced and Luffy bit his lip, hard.
Nighteye replied calmly, of course, with, "We cannot all become All Might." They made All Might too big. There were plenty of other charismatic heroes. They liked and admired All Might, he had been very strong. But putting him on such an insane pedestal… was that the wrong choice?
All Might was a human as well. He got injured and sick. His body grew weaker over time, he aged. He wasn't immortal or invincible. People shouldn't think anybody was.
"That is why we must put together our analysis and predictions and try to make the possibility of saving her as close to 100% as we can."
Fat Gum was still visibly mad when Gran Tornio commented, "We can't rush. If we make a big fuss about this and then don't get her, this could be kindling for something bigger. Like how Stain's capture became an ad for the league. In fact, that might have been the intent behind distributing quirk- destroying weapons for those hoodlums!" Fat Gum accused him of thinking too much.
This hero was very emotional. He was a leader, he should have a clearer head, and be calmer. They were upset, too. But being overly emotional when things go wrong wouldn't do you any good. Gunhead told them that the moment they said they wanted to be heroes. And their teachers told them that, too. Midoriya hadn't learned or understood that and so he took his anger and unrest out on fellow heroes. You couldn't do that in the hero world, where teamwork is a must.
"If you keep sayin' stuff like that, you won't be able to do anythin'!" Eraser Head then raised his hand and asked if he could ask a question. When he got permission, he asked why Sir Nighteye couldn't just use his foresight, seeing someone's future for an hour, on everyone and see how the mission would go.
"I… cannot do that," he spat out, sounding guilty. "My foresight requires a 24 hour interval between activations. In other words, I can only use it on one person for one hour for each day." He explained that he could see the individual's life from their perspective and all he could see was what they did and their surroundings
Eraser Head was confused and said that his foresight should give them more than enough information and then questioned why that was a problem, many others thinking that as well and nodding. It was powerful, but like all quirks, there was always a weakness. They could overcome the weakness a bit, but no one had a perfect quirk.
Nighteye looked upset and troubled, clenching his hands on the table. "What if in that person's near future, death… just a merciless death was waiting…" he paused but didn't finish that train of thought. "My quirk should be used only after we have already drawn out the highest probability of success, where it can be used to ensure our victory. It shouldn't be used so haphazardly when there are still so many uncertainties."
"What?!" Rock Lock shouted, surprising Luffy and Ace. He was suddenly very loud. Liek Fat Gum only he wasn't determined but angry. Fat Gum got upset because he felt they weren't doing enough for the poor little girl. Rock Lock was just angry because he didn't like what he was hearing. "But death is information, too! We could put together a plan to avoid it!" Nighteye said it wasn't the same as fortune telling. "I have never had a prediction that did not come to fruition. There has never been a situation where the outcome I see changes."
Rock Lock was still angry and making a fuss, "Nighteye, I don't get it! Fine, use it on me! I'll show you I can avoid it!"
"No," Nighteye said harshly, not making eye contact. He looked very troubled, and the twins knew that he must have seen something deeply troubling. Maybe he was scared to use it again like that. Maybe that was his biggest weakness. The pro-hero didn't elaborate, and was stared at awkwardly by everyone until Ryukyu saved the day and said, "Anyway, let's do this. There's a girl in trouble. That's the most important thing."
Nighteye stood up, his troubled face gone and replaced with commanding determination, and said, "Confirm the girl's whereabouts and take her into our protection with the most accurate information we can get as quickly as possible." Everyone stood after nighteye did. "I'm counting on all of your help."
After that, all of the students were sitting at a table outside of the room but still in the building. Ace and Luffy were resting their faces and upper body on the table, miserable. They said nothing. Mirio was the one to say something, also looking at the table with his hands clenched. "If we had taken her back then… then she would be safe. She wouldn't be so scared and alone."
Ace pointed out, "We didn't know his power. He would have killed us. And… and he can fix things right? I don't want to say or think it, it's so terrible. He could have hurt her and taken her back so she couldn't fight anymore." He looked up, eyes puffy but not teary, and said, "We could have just made it worse for her."
Luffy sniffled and said, "We'll save her this time. I'll show her that I was telling the truth and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel." He looked at his hands. "We can't be emotional, we have to be determined. I'm not saying this cause I'm heartless. Being calm makes things easier? Being emotional can cloud your vision, right?"
The others nodded, besides Midoriya who had said nothing. Maybe he realized that Ace and Luffy were having a hard time, too. And that maybe it was a mistake to blow up on them like he had. They didn't want to talk to him yet, not even if it was for him to apologize.
Things… may have gone too far. The lies were one thing, but what he said to them made them feel he didn't know who they were at all. Maybe he wasn't paying attention all this time. But they didn't want to think about it and make them more miserable.
Kirishima said, "I didn't know that happened. I'm sorry. It's so frustrating." Ace and Luffy nodded.
Luffy looked up and said, "We can only hope for a better tomorrow. They'll find her soon, and when they do, we'll be ready. I'm going to be one of the ones in the front. So will Ace and Mirio. It's our fault this happened, we have to be the ones to fix it."
Tsu pointed out that Eri only knew what they looked like, what kind of people they were. Anyone else she wouldn't know and would scare her. And who knows how her power worked if she really was the one supplying the blood to make the drug.
Ace nudged Luffy and said they had to talk to Nighteye about something. Luffy nodded, and they said they'd be back. The others nodded, wondering what they were going to say. They found him with Gran Torino standing in a room with a wall of windows. They looked over and Ace asked if they could talk to Nighteye.
Gran Tornio said his goodbyes. "What is it?"
Ace and Luffy grasped hands, hoping this wasn't a huge mistake. But they'd do anything to save the little girl they'd failed so badly. "We can help. When the right place is found, we can help find Eri and Chisaki." Nighteye asked what they meant. Luffy bit his lip and Ace explained. "The way we knew where you were coming to get us even with our eyes closed. It's been there as long as we can remember. We named it haki. Right now, we can tell where everybody is in about a half a mile radius. We will know where Chisaki is because we know what he feels like to be around."
Nighteye was looking at them calculatingly. "I can see why you don't want this information spread. Is there anything else you can do? I will tell no one as of now." Ace and Luffy nodded and coated their arms in armament haki. He looked surprised since this one was clearly visible.
Luffy looked down. "When I was being tortured, this showed up when Shigaraki was going to decay my arm when I wasn't making any reaction to the pain. It nullified his and the others' quirks. I wasn't burnt by fire. And when we were practicing our ultimate moves before the provisional license exam, using haki on our quirks made them stronger. I was able to form solid shields and objects that I couldn't before."
Ace said, "We don't know where it came from or why we have it, but it could be really useful. If quirks really don't work on us, then maybe we could sustain an attack by Chisaki. We won't risk it, of course not, unless we have to." Luffy said that if they could nullify quirks, they could handle the one that Eri had. If she didn't know how to control it since she was so young.
Nighteye thought for a moment. "I can also see you two wish to save her." Luffy told him that he had to keep his promise. "Very well, you will be in the front with Mirio. You two are strong enough already even without this haki, but it will be very helpful."
Luffy asked him to keep it secret. The only others who knew were Gunhead, All Might and Midoriya. He promised he wouldn't tell anyone without their permission. Then he sighed. "I am sorry your first step into the hero business ended up like this."
Ace and Luffy smiled, though they were a bit strained. "Mirio said experience is power. But we'd rather the experience not be this. But, regardless of how hard it is, we will help and be there." Nighteye thanked them and the two asked for one more thing. Paperwork and notes about anything regarding the situation. They were given that and put it into their backpacks and then two left.
When they got back, Aizawa was where they were heading. "Aizawa sensei," Luffy said. He looked behind them and said that he was going to talk to all of them. They nodded and hurried in front of him to sit down. There were no seats at the table, so they sat on a plane Luffy made for them, looking like they were floating in the air.
"Is this a wake or something?" when they all looked so sad. His students said his name in surprise besides the twins. "Call me Eraser Head out of school. But man, I was going to recommend that your work internships be suspended today." The students of 1-A were shocked, and asked why now. "You heard them say the League of Villains could be involved, right? That changes things." His eyes slid to Luffy. He was meaning Luffy in general.
Luffy said, "I'm not a kid. I'm angry at what they did to me and put Ace through, but I'm not going to go off on a revenge mission on them. I've moved past it, I want to be a hero even if it means coming face to face with my captors again." His voice was firm, making no room for argument. Aizawa sighed but didn't seem surprised.
He turned to Midoriya, crouching now. "But you know, Midoriya, you still haven't regained my trust yet." Ace and Luffy assumed it was both him going off to save Bakugo on their own and then he and Bakugo sneaking out to fight late at night. "Unfortunately, I'm sure that if I stop you now, you'll rush out again on your own. So I'll watch you. If you're going to do this, do this properly, Midoriya. Got that, problem child?"
Midoriya had tears in his eyes. "Ace and Luffy, keep one another safe and do your best," he said in a flat voice. They both smiled and nodded.
Amajiki told Mirio to raise his head, and Hado said nothing will come of him being sad and regretful. He nodded and sniffled.
Aizawa said, "I'll say this to give you some peace of mind. The hand you missed grabbing onto did not necessarily mean despair for Eri. Face forward." The class got determined and smiled, swearing they'd save Eri. Mirio stood up and firmly said, "We'll definitely save her next time, Ace, Luffy."
Ace grinned and Luffy said, "Make our wrong, right." The table agreed.
"That being said, you students, apart from the big three, who are at least as strong as the pros, the rest of you probably won't have big parts to play," Aizawa said. Nobody but the twins noticed the flick of his eyes to them. They didn't understand what it meant, so they just acted like they didn't notice it. "Uraraka, Asui, Kirishima. You three aren't here of your own volition... What would you like to do?"
Uraraka spoke up first. "Eraser head! After hearing that, I can't say I'm not going to help!"
"If you aren't going to say we can't do it, then I would like to help!" Tsu said, firmer than they'd heard her for a while. Amajiki spoke next.
"Since the heroes had you participate in the meeting, I think they have recognized you first years' abilities." Then he said that Kirishima, who was a first year, had shined more brightly than he had. Nobody really seemed to pay attention to what he said, which might be why he didn't talk much, did people usually interrupt or ignore him?
Kirishima loudly exclaimed he was going to use his power to help that little girl as best as he could. Aizawa nodded. "It's fine as long as you understand. Our goal this time is only to rescue the girl, Eri. We won't step in further than that." He said that both the police and Nighteye thought that the League of Villains was not involved in this incident this time. And that the chances of them showing up this time was low.
"But in case they're wrong, and the League ends up being involved, then you guys are out." The first years agreed to this term.
"We're going back, ahead," Luffy said. "See you later." The others nodded except for Midoriya, who looked miserable. They climbed very high and slid away. Both of them knew they looked weird and stupid, but it was incredibly convenient. They didn't want to pay or waste time for the train. And plus, this one was environmental friendly. Ace pointed that out and Luffy had laughed.
They weren't going super fast, so they could talk while on their way. "What do you think of Midoriya? What should we do?" Ace asked sadly. Luffy was quiet for a bit.
He finally said, "I don't know. I guess we can hear him out and then decide later? There's no excuse for the things he said to us. But there had to be a reason. And if he acts like he wants us to lower ourselves so he can be at the same level, then it's over. Friends are supposed to raise each other up, which was what we have always done for him. But he acted like he didn't like that we were good at stuff we tried hard with."
Ace nodded, arms and legs wrapped around his twin's back, just in case he fell. He didn't want to risk that even if he'd be fine landing as fire or Luffy could create something they would be caught on.
When they got back, they had no homework to do and so they brought out the papers and studied them how they studied everything else, though they went overboard. They wrote notes, rewrote sections of the paperwork. They looked up every name mentioned and dug through the internet for any information.
There were a few reports of some of the people involved with other crimes, but they were minor. Still good resources as it went into detail about how their quirks were used in that situation.
After hours and hours, they had a list of who they thought were the most powerful and troublesome, and drew them on paper over and over until their memories were committed. They didn't just go for the faces, since they might wear some face covering. So they looked up height and weight, measuring any full body photos and finding out just how tall they were.
It was too bad they hadn't met them before and could distinguish their presences. Damn. It was three hours after returning that a knock on the door was made. Unsurprisingly, it was Midoriya. Ace sighed and stood up from the floor to open the door. "What is it?" he asked, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice. Luffy was shuffling the papers around, putting them in different piles for different people, having a printer in their room for essays and such. It was small and crappy, but it worked when they needed it.
"Can I talk to you both?" Luffy said yes and Ace opened the door before closing it behind him. "What are you doing?"
"Studying," Luffy said simply. "For the mission," he elaborated. "What do you want to talk about." Luffy was on the bed and Ace was standing against the wall with the window and balcony.
Midoriya looked down. "I'm sorry for all the terrible things I said to you. I was upset about something else. All Might is really, really sick. He said he was gonna die soon." The twins' faces fell, but it didn't explain the things he said to them.
"Then why did you get mad at us about stuff? I thought we were friends," Luffy said quietly, not trying to mask the hurt in his voice. "We've been with you through everything, encouraged you and yet you got mad at us for being good at things we work hard on."
The green haired bit his lip. "I am your friend. All Might said something to Bakugo and me. Bakugo was mad that I'm improving when he's always been at the top. It doesn't apply the exact same with us, but he said a person starting a level one can't improve the way a person at level 50 can."
Ace and Luffy didn't see how that applied to them. "For so long you guys have been my inspiration. I didn't know I felt bad about it. I felt like you were just pitying me by being friends with me, but I was wrong. I was feeling so inferior. All Might will be mad at me for saying this, but I have to be honest.
"There was already someone who was a candidate to get All Might's All For One power. Togata Mirio was supposed to be his successor. But he chose me at the last minute. And then, when I had that fight with Nighteye, he told me I wasn't fit to be the successor, Mirio was better and that he wouldn't acknowledge me. I wasn't deserving to be the disciple."
Ace and Luffy felt bad for him about that. But what he'd said and done still hurt. They didn't really know what to say. "That's why you have to work hard. But do you really think we're heartless? That we weren't upset about Eri?" Ace asked.
Midoriya looked up. "You two are the kindest people I've ever met. I just didn't understand how you could not let your emotions eat you up like they do with me. I was so wrong to say those things to do. I didn't mean them. They had an underlying reason that shouldn't be a big deal and I had no right to target you as my problems. Please, can we still be friends?"
Ace and Luffy looked at each other, knowing their answers were the same. Luffy said, "I don't think we'll ever be friends like how we were. I think that ship has sailed away. But we don't want to hate you or anything. Besides, you have lots of friends, now. You don't need us." Midoriya was crying, looking so ashamed.
"They don't know who I was, though. They only know the me with a quirk," he pointed out desperately.
Ace said, "You aren't that person anymore. We know you're ashamed of how timid and weak you were. Why do you want anyone to know about that? You're surrounded by people who like you, and Bakugo seems to have scaled back the bullying on all of us."
He was looking down, tears running down his face. Ace said, "You have to feel it, too. We've grown distant since we came here. For probably multiple reasons for all of us. But the other night was just… it was too much. You made Luffy cry, and I'm having a hard time coming to terms with that. I'm usually so forgiving, you know we try to be. But you hurt my brother, and looked like you meant to. I can't forgive that easily," he finished sadly.
Luffy was looking away. "We're not enemies. Okay? We don't hate you or anything like that. We just need to take a step back for a while. We'll see where it goes from here. And we can't let this interfere with our work."
Midoriya wiped his eyes and nodded. "I'll be better, I'll prove that I still want to be your friend. And I won't ever make you cry again," he promised. Ace nodded and Midoriya left, going to his room and closing the door.
Luffy was crying into his pillow. Ace sat down and rubbed his back. "We'll be okay. We have each other and lots of other people now." Luffy nodded, knowing that was true. And also knowing that the best friend time had passed a while ago. Just not formally, like it was now. Ace felt relieved. He felt free of thinking he'd done something wrong to push Midoriya away.
Luffy immediately called Gunhead to tell him what had happened. Not about anything other than their relationship with Midoriya. He cried into the phone while Ace stayed mostly silent. "You made the best choice for you. You may be heroes, but sometimes your health needs to be first, boys. Your mental health. You're strong, but you're still humans, still teenagers.
"Sometimes friends drift apart when they age or the situation changes."
Ace finally said, "I think that being close all the time in the dorms helped ruin things. We got barely any time apart. He was always hearing how great we were. That he was the unofficial weak one of the group. I don't think anyone else saw it that way. I don't know if he saw it that way, but still."
"I'm so sorry," Gunhead said kindly. Luffy said he wished they could go home. Could go home and be by themselves. Be home and see Gunhead and tell him about their day in the car. Why couldn't Luffy have not gotten kidnapped?
But he knew it wasn't fully his fault. The League attacked not just for him. And he didn't make them attack or ask them to come and ruin things. They talked for a bit before they got dinner. Midoriya wasn't in there, hadn't come for dinner.
Kirishima asked if they knew where he was. "Don't go talk to him right now," Ace said simply. Uraraka and Tsu looked worried. She commented that they'd all looked miserable at the meeting, and wouldn't look at one another.
Luffy debated whether to say anything, but it would be better than everyone pestering the three about what had happened. "Some unpleasant things needed to happen. At least for the present. Too many things piled up behind the scenes and we had to take a step back for awhile."
Luffy picked at his food, but grudgingly ate it, knowing they needed to be well fed if the mission came at any time soon. "You guys aren't friends anymore?" Kirishima asked.
Ace replied, "Not best friends anymore. We want to be acquaintances, at most. We're heroes, we want to be heroes, but sometimes we need to do things to protect ourselves. You can't put others before you for every single thing. Please don't bring it up or feel pity for any of us."
The three nodded sadly. "We've been studying about the mission. Got some paperwork from Nighteye if you guys want to look at it." They said they'd have a study session about it the next day. And that they had a plan to get more important information. They didn't say what it would be.
The next couple of days were stressful. They were all on standby, unable to talk about it in front of others or tell anybody else. They were all distracted, but still got things done. Ace and Luffy were glad they got their things done ahead of time since the other four were always distant and distracted. In the morning, they left the dorm nervous, with a plan that could get them in big trouble, but would no doubt help. They wouldn't tell anybody about that part. If it worked and they got away with it.
Things… things were better after they came to terms with Midoriya and finally voiced what they were thinking and feeling. Surprisingly, Midoriya was taking it okay. At least, in front of everyone else. They were still classmates and roommates, they couldn't avoid each other forever, but they didn't go out of their way to hang out or talk. And the twins realized that this might be the best conditions after a break up. Still around, not hostile and not alone together.
Midoriya had support from others, and nobody took sides at all after hearing that the three had a falling out. Nobody defended one side against the other, since the three hadn't said anything more about it to anyone else.
Midoriya had been a mess the next day with puffy and baggy eyes, but that dissipated when he seemed to realize he had more friends than Ace and Luffy. It was good for him. The two didn't want to be close to him anymore, but they didn't hate or want him to feel miserable all the time.
For once, they didn't feel bad for making somebody unhappy. Gunhead was right, they did that for their own mental well being. And it was paying off.
Even with Midoriya officially not being good friends with the twins, the six of them did do the study sessions, even though Kirishima found how in depth they were irritating. Everyone else was all for studying appearances and not just the face. Students pestered them about what they were all hiding together. And what they were doing in Ace and Luffy's room after dinner and before bed. And some noticed that they were all more stressed after they went to the internships.
Ace and Luffy refused to lie, and just said they weren't allowed to talk about it. They were the only two to answer that way while the others pretended nothing was going on. Of course Ace and Luffy's admission that something was going on made the others' lies void. After that, the others didn't pester them, not wanting to get them in trouble.
"How did you get them to leave us alone?" Tsu asked one night.
"Told them the truth. We're not allowed to talk about it. That's not a lie, and made everything clear enough for them not to pester us anymore," Luffy said honestly. Ace nodded.
Uraraka said, "Do you guys always tell the truth?" Luffy grinned and said they did it as often as possible. "Wow. But, why? Aren't there things you don't want to talk about?"
Ace said, "Of course. We have things other people don't know, but we're open about it. I mean they are secrets, I guess, but we don't keep them secret… I'm having trouble explaining this," he laughed.
Asui said, "You mean that you are open about the fact that not everyone knows everything about them." Ace said that was it.
"It's been three days," Midorya suddenly said. "How long will this take?" The others frowned, agreeing that it was taking too long. And they weren't going to their work studies while the investigation was ongoing. They were just left to wait.
Ace pointed out that there were a lot of places to watch for a long period of time. And the heroes needed to sleep and eat. And once the place is found, they need to make plans. It would take a couple days at least. They might still have what felt like forever to wait. It was the most Ace had replied to Midoriya in three days.
"The raid will probably take much less time than the actual planning. It'll go by fast, we have to be ready and waiting for things to go wrong," Luffy said. Then he frowned. "I've been thinking of a plan, and I don't know if it would work. You know how Chisaki and destroy and then rebuild things?" They nodded. "Is it possible for him to destroy himself and we're fast enough to stop him from rebuilding?"
The others said they weren't sure. Luffy said, "I'm planning way too far ahead, but a thought keeps coming back. Once we find Chisaki and hopefully Eri, what if Ace gets to blow off his arm. Then we can restrain the other and we won't be able to use his powers again. Or his leg, bad enough to distract him with the pain and then we can put him out of commission."
Kirishima asked, "What are you talking about? We can't get close to him."
Ace said, "You can't. I can. My body is made of flames. You can't destroy flames. Luffy has the outline of a plan, but it would need exactly the right circumstances to happen. If I pretend to be vulnerable, he can attempt to destroy my arm. Right when he's about to make contact, I can turn my arm into flames to get out of the way and move his arm fast enough that he blows his own leg off."
"But time would be everything as he could just rebuild it. Someone would need to restrain or even kill him in time," Luffy said. They were stared at. "What?"
Krishima said he just didn't understand how they seemed to know what the other was thinking. "I mean, you barely spoke about something and then Ace filled the rest of it in." Luffy said it wasn't strange to them. They were together all the time everywhere, so of course they knew what the other was thinking by looks.
Uraraka and Midoriya both said they wished they weren't only children. They concluded that night with a full meal and studying just a little. Aizwaw lightened their load for now, which they were grateful for.
One day later, the dorm was asleep when both Ace and Luffy's phones went off, Luffy's vibrating while Ace's rang an obnoxious song that he only used to anonoy Luffy. They jumped out of bed. The texts read "The mission starts tomorrow."
They ran out of their room and found the four others. All of them had some form of bedhead and tired eyes. It was one in the morning after all. "Did you guys get the message, too?" Luffy asked, a little unnecessarily. They nodded.
"Tomorrow," Kirishima said strongly. "We gotta get back to sleep and be well rested. And eat breakfast tomorrow. And we have to shower and-"
Ace said, "Calm down. We don't need to shower for a rescue mission. But I agree that we need to sleep and eat." Then he made an uncomfortable laugh. "If we can get back to sleep." The others nodded and wished one another good luck sleeping.
