Warnings: a rape insinuation and parental suicide mention.

Chapter Four

First Impressions and Second Impressions

The phone had rang three times on the way over to the house, and because it started ringing for a fourth time as Yuki put the car in park, she grabbed it without even bothering to check the caller ID. "This is Sato," she greeted the caller curtly.

"OH!" the young man on the other side greeted her, as if he didn't expect her to pick up at all. "Yes! Hi! My name is Nobuyuki Watanabe, and I'm the lead writer here at… ," she didn't recognize him or his excitement, but didn't want to be rude. Still, her patience ran thin. Her attention waned and she spared a glance at Jin next to her in the car, and judging by his raised brow, he could hear every word, too. Her attention focused again as Watanabe continued, "…With Fractal's anniversary coming up, I was wondering if I could interview you-"

Her stomach clenched in dread. "Watanabe, you're digging up something that took years to bury. And not just by the families, either." Her words were small, but held steady.

The man on the other end of the phone didn't even hesitate. "Maybe that's why we need to talk about it."

Yuki sucked in a breath, and glanced out the window in front of her, knuckles white on the steering wheel. Memories that she wished she could burn away were vivid in her mind's eye. She forced them back, blinking to see the trees instead in front of her and the road ending at the gate that had been erected that began the drive up to the new house. "I like for my life to remain private, and that's how it needs to stay. Please delete this number." She hung up on him without another word and quickly switched apps to her email.

"Fractal?" Jin asked. Yuki spared him a glance; honestly, she thought he'd get out for a smoke as soon as the car was parked. He'd asked her if he could smoke as soon as they had gotten in an hour prior. But he hadn't moved. Possibly he was curious about the phone call. She couldn't blame him; they'd had an interesting discussion after the third consecutive call about people who can't take hints.

Focusing her attention back on her phone, Yuki replied off-handedly, "Yeah, just… something my family was involved in when I was a kid." There was no easy way to explain that, and really it was better just to leave it buried.

Still, she was all too aware of the tenth anniversary of the event quickly approaching.

"Hold on just a moment; I need to send this email." Yuki quickly copied the number and typed the guy's name into the email and attached the message, "Watanabe got my number somehow. Please make sure my contact information hasn't been leaked. Also, I'm NOT doing any interviews for the 10th anniversary next month." She didn't need to explain further; her lawyers would understand and take care of it.

Pressing 'send,' Yuki grabbed her purse from the backseat and shoved her cell phone inside. "Ready?"

Yuki and Jin pushed out of the car and met at the front bumper. "So why all of this for us?" Jin asked, hands in his pockets, as he admired the half-finished house in front of them, or at least what they could see of it from the street. The large concrete wall was white, surrounding what looked like dense foliage. The wrought-iron gate showed hints of a drive on the other side, but even that quickly curved out of sight. The house beyond had been built onto the hillside, and was the last house on the drive up, ensuring that no nosy neighbors could get information on them.

Shigaraki had asked the same thing as Jin the night that she and Isane first met the League not even a week prior. She and the Leader had stepped away from the main group, far out of earshot, and once she was sure they had no eavesdroppers, turned to him.

He wasn't impressed. "I'm sorry, you're who?"

"Sato Miyoko," Yuki repeated. Outside of the corporate or affluent circles she was known in, and the random fashion magazines she was sometimes mentioned in, barely anyone recognized the name, thank goodness, but usually after she elaborated people would at least catch on. "Heiress to the Sato estate, board member of Sato Medical Equipment and Technology?" Shigaraki was ridiculously hard to read. It didn't help that he had an actual disembodied hand covering his face, but even the single red iris that was visible from between two of the fingers deadpanned. "Anyway, I get a yearly stipend, and have for the last six years. I've got some money saved up."

His shoulders slouched, and he looked all-around unkempt, from his hair to the way his jacket just kind of fell off one of his shoulders. On first glance, he didn't carry himself like a leader - nothing like Death Quake had - but Yuki also had the distinct feeling that he was sizing her up, and that first impressions mattered to him. She remained smiling and seemingly carefree, although every nerve was on high alert.

He didn't move a muscle as he said, "I don't trust you. Why do you want to help us so badly?"

Eh, it was a fair question. Yuki had always been expressive, and most people overlooked her as a result. She had Shigaraki's full attention, however. "It's like finding a charity you want to support - a cause! That was a bad word choice. It's like finding a cause you want to support: if you have money you send it to the cause so it can continue to do the work you believe in. Everyone needs a leg up and I want to help you do that." Yuki grew more serious as she realized that Shigaraki wasn't dropping his guard. Time to level, then. "Look, I've been watching you guys. It looks like you need bodies and funds. I can't give bodies, but I have funds. Funds I'm not using. Let me do this for you."

"For us. You're part of the League now, too."

She nodded. "Yes, for us."

"Why the secret, then?"

That was a story. "Eh, I had a bad experience with our last leader taking advantage of things and using it to her advantage. I'm trying to avoid another situation like that," She summarized.

"…By telling me immediately." Even without seeing his face or expressions, Shigaraki was expressive in his word choice and timing alone.

The conversation had continued, and he promised to keep their conversation between them on his side. It was obvious he still didn't trust her, and he had insisted on someone going with her to check up on the house, which she could appreciate. How many people just found the League and casually offered up billions of yen?

Of course, the second question quickly became: who could join her without the builders calling the cops?

"It can't be Dabi! Or you! Or most of you. Your faces are plastered everywhere! Teams of lawyers are good, but even they would lose that case." They were all crowded in the abandoned building discussing what the next few days would look like now that the land had been bought and building had begun.

"Okay, so someone who isn't recognizable, then?" Shigaraki had asked.

"Yeah, so… Mr. Compress or Twice?"

"Do either of you have a preference?"

"Well," Compress began, removing his mask to offer a well-intentioned smirk, "Seeing as how I could be her father, she probably wouldn't want me to accompany her."

Yuki returned the smirk. This was true; from what she could tell, Compress was fifteen or so years older than she was. Maybe less, but there was a very large age gap no matter how you looked at it.

"What about Twice?" Toga asked. "You're pretty close in age, aren't you? You could pretend you're dating or something?"

Yuki and Twice had looked at each other at the same time. On the one hand, Twice was not hard on the eyes at all. On the other, "I wouldn't want to presume to put you in that situation," Yuki said at the same time he said:

"I'd rather die. I would love to!"

She was still getting used to his manner of speaking, but from everything she could tell about his response, and from watching the veteran League members for clues, he was fine with going with her.

That had settled the matter, and Yuki had found some clothes for him to wear to "play the part". Really, she'd gotten his measurements from him and ordered the black button-up dress shirt and gunmetal gray dress slacks he currently wore.

His body suit showed everything, but the clothes he wore now punctuated and flattered his muscular body. Sleeves rolled up to his forearms and top two buttons left undone, along with the stubble peppering his jawline, Jin was attractive when he cleaned up.

Yuki was also dressed up, in one of her V-neck dresses and stilettos. All part of the mask. The story, if asked, was that they were heading to an event and decided to pop by to see how things were going. It was innocuous enough.

"The fact that you even have this kind of money to begin with is unsettling." Jin said next to her. The car was parked behind the construction worker's vehicles, maybe one hundred feet from the front gate, but even from here they could see no neighbors. Besides the fact that they were at the top of the hill, the base was in a gated community with other ridiculously wealthy people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. The odds of anyone even wanting to try to spy on them were slim.

Yuki smirked. "Dabi said the same thing."

Jin returned the smile. He was like a different person without his body suit on. Calmer, and more serious. When she met him as Twice the other day, he was exuberant and over the top. It was almost like watching an actor take on a role behind the costume and makeup. "I tried to look you up. I think all of us did." His smile said he was joking, but his eyes said he didn't fully trust her yet.

"And what did you find?"

"Not much," he admitted, shrugging. "Found more on Nakamoto than you, which is saying something because there wasn't much on her, either."

"Good. Then the lawyers did their job." Which was the truth. Before Yuki disappeared from the world as Miyoko, she'd tasked her lawyers to cover up everything. It was an easy enough job, especially after what she'd been though. Japan figured that Sato Miyoko needed quiet and privacy, and no one questioned it.

"And what about these guys?" Jin nodded toward the men working on putting the finishing touches on inside. It had only been three days since money was exchanged and building started, but with the use of quirks, the house had gone up in very little time. Another day or two and it would be finished. "Won't they spill the beans?"

Yuki shook her head. "No, these guys built all the homes around here. All for the disgustingly rich. None of these people want their business out in the public view, either. Besides, I had my team draw up non-disclosure agreements. If they even think to mutter a pun regarding any of this, they'll be eating their own hearts before the thought is finished." She shook her head decidedly. "We're good."

"And the lawyers… you trust them, too?"

"As long as I'm Miyoko, I do. And on the workers… I don't want to test the non-disclosures. Which is the reason for all of this." She gestured to their clothing choices before turning back to the house.

He watched her for a moment, and she could feel his gaze on her face. She studied the house, but when his attention didn't waver, she turned back toward him, slight apprehension slipping into her voice. "What?" In the heels, she came within a few inches of him.

"You don't have to buy us, you know."

He said it so simply; it wasn't like a big revelation or anything, just stating a fact. Like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

But Jin's words struck deep anyway, flinging Yuki back to late night talks with her mom. With warm cocoa clutched between her hands and laughs she would never get back.

Jin was walking away before she could even think to formulate a reply. "We've got an event or something after this, don't we? Isn't that the story?" he called over his shoulder, yanking Yuki out of her reverie, and she hurried to catch up.

The gate was pushed open for the workers' vehicles, and Yuki and Jin made their way up to the new base. Really, it was more of a house. At least, that was the way Yuki had had it designed. A place for everyone to sleep under the same roof. A way to bring the League members together, and a way to plan for the future. She'd met with Shigaraki for an hour before running over with Dabi to the bank. Shigaraki had put in his input and she had put the ideas together in an organized format and sent it all to a designer. Once that was approved, she bought the land and gave the first payment to the builder. All cash, of course. Using money to fund a terrorist organization was a crime after all, but it would need to be proven, and not having an electronic trail would make it harder. If asked, she could say she withdrew the funds to buy land and build a house, which was the truth. By the end of the day, ground had been broken.

It was a simple design from the outside. Large windows covered entire swaths of walls to let in the natural light, and where there weren't windows, the exterior was covered in the natural volcanic rock from the surrounding area. The glass was an invention she'd found years ago, back around the time she started out on her own: glass that you could see out of as if it wasn't even there, but from the outside looking in, it was opaque. It was perfect for their needs. The front door was simple wood, with a window on either side to see out.

The sound of drills and hammers greeted them as they pushed open the front door. Mats had been laid out to protect the floors from shoe scuffs. Since it was still a construction zone, Yuki and Jin left their shoes on as they followed the hallway to the living room and kitchen on their left and right.

"Ah, Miss Sato!" A voice greeted them from the kitchen. Turning, the construction manager greeted them, stepping away from two other men that were talking over the blueprints. "We weren't expecting you."

Yuki gave him the story as she glanced around. Furniture had yet to be brought in as well as the finer details installed, but the space was beginning to come together.

"You're welcome to take a look around, or I can accompany you." The man's gaze kept glancing at Jin. It was obvious that he was curious, but he wouldn't ask.

"We'll take a look ourselves; we don't want to distract you. Carry on, please." The construction manager bowed and turned back to his work.

Yuki joined Jin, several steps away, in the living area. A fireplace had been built into one wall, and on the back wall, windows covered the area, overlooking the hillside below, and far beyond that, the ocean. A door from the living room opened up to a deck outside where seats would be.

She watched him for his reaction, but he didn't say anything, moving from the living room to the hallway again, not even bothering to stick his head into the kitchen. Of course, that was likely from the workers being in there.

The hallway led back to the front door. On the right was a separate laundry room with a door, along with a coat closet, and on the left another door next to the staircase leading up to the second floor. Yuki knew that that door would lead to the office space. Jin popped his head in, but again, didn't say anything. It was almost like he was too busy taking it all in to formulate a comment.

She followed him up the stairs next, and he paused at the top. The staircase continued on up from a landing. "There are four floors," Yuki said, coming up behind Jin. "Four rooms per floor, and two bathrooms per floor. Everyone gets their own room, but bathrooms are shared by two people."

"Sixteen rooms?" Jin finally spoke, incredulous.

Yuki shrugged. "It's what Shigaraki wanted. Plenty of room for us to grow and attract new members. And if we need to build another house, this house only uses half of the land that this plot has."

"And we all get our own?" Yuki put together that he meant that everyone gets their own room. She nodded.

Jin walked the length of the hallway, doors spaced every few feet. At the end of the hallway, it opened up to a small lounge area where sofas would eventually sit.

"Why all the locks?" There was a lock on each door. A handprint reader.

"We're not exactly recruiting those of high moral character. This is for both the women's protection and the men's."

"What about Shigaraki?" He was looking at her like it should be obvious. Was there something she was missing? Jin continued, holding up his hand.

It took another full minute for Yuki to compute. As soon as she did, her mouth fell open. "I didn't think of that," she muttered, the revelation dawning on her.

"Dumb bitch." The words left Jin's mouth and immediately he clamped a hand over his mouth, looking horrified. "Shut up! I didn't mean it!"

Shocked, Yuki wasn't quite sure how to address that, but she didn't get an opportunity. Her phone started ringing. Gaze not leaving Jin, because that was uncalled for, she dug her phone out of her purse. If it was that Watanabe guy again she was going to chew him out, but the name that flashed across the screen instead gave her pause. Jin could wait.

She held up a finger for him to wait and answered the phone promptly. "Ito, I didn't expect you to call."

"Miss Sato, I received your email," the man on the other end said. Daisuke Ito, her most trusted lawyer and head of the team. Yuki watched Jin turn away, looking shaken, but he continued down the hallway as if he was aiming to try to check out the lounge area at the end of the hall. He was talking to himself, though. "I know you said you didn't want to do any interviews for the tenth anniversary, however…" Ito continued, laying out and explaining all the reasons why she should complete an interview or two. Every few years one of her lawyers asked her to do one, to maintain a public appearance of some kind, but it was never Ito. Ito had been her father's lawyer, and then her mother's, before becoming hers. He knew everything that had happened, and it had affected him just as it had affected her.

"This is all ridiculous!" Jin nearly yelled.

Several things happened in quick succession. First, heavy footfalls started down the stairs from above as Yuki said to Ito, "Daisuke, I'm going to have to call you back." Hanging up on him, she dropped her phone into her purse as she quickly crossed the span of hallway to Jin. Grabbing him by the crook of his arm, she pressed her hand against the closest handprint lock. The door clicked and she quickly opened it and shoved him inside.

She pulled the door shut behind him as two workers came into view. "Gentlemen," she began with a quick bow. "You can take a break. Please tell the others." The implication was clear: the house needed to be emptied. They bowed and quickly exited, pulling out their phones and calling the others from the upper floors.

Yuki waited for everyone to come down the stairs before pressing her hand against the handprint lock again and entering the room she'd casually tossed Jin into a few minutes prior. At least she didn't have to worry about anyone unexpectedly stumbling upon them, now.

It was a bathroom that Yuki had dumped Jin into, and he was on his knees in a corner, grasping his head and hyperventilating as he muttered about splitting open. She reached into her purse and pulled out his mask that they'd decided to bring along, just in case. Now she understood why he'd insisted upon it.

He accepted it gratefully and pulled it over his head. The panic subsided immediately, and his attention turned to her, looking up at her from his position on the floor.

She didn't say a word but slipped off her heels unceremoniously and dropped her purse beside them on the floor. Careful not to flash him, she sat on the tile next to him, legs stretched out in front of her, and crossed her legs at the ankles. They didn't say anything for a long moment, the house quiet around them. Twice leaned back against the wall with her, stretching one leg out in front of him and bending the other at the knee to brace an arm against.

What a wild few minutes. "So. Dumb bitch, huh?" Yuki began, thinking back to the catalyst of all of it. "Yeah, putting handprint readers on definitely wasn't my smartest idea."

Jin - or Twice, rather, since he was now wearing his mask - looked apprehensive, as if he wasn't sure whether to laugh or not, but Yuki laughed. Mostly because it was just plain funny, but also to let him know that yeah, it was okay to laugh. He joined her, laughing at the irony of it all, and then they just kept laughing at all of it. "I'm sorry I manhandled you."

"You got the job done! I like a woman who can toss me around."

Slowly their laughter died down, leaving silence between them. Yuki took the moment to take in the bathroom they sat in. Two sinks had been installed, and beyond a frosted-glass door that was propped open was the shower and bath area. The toilet was behind a door to their right. It was an airy sort of space. Perfect to be able to decompress after a long day.

Yuki contemplated the words she wanted to say, but ultimately, they slipped out without preamble. "It's a trust," she said, catching Twice's attention, and breaking the silence. "The money comes from a trust fund. My dad died when I was fourteen and my mom died when I was seventeen, and each year since my parent's death I get a stipend. It's like a consolation prize. Like, 'Hey! Sorry you don't have your parents anymore! But here's a lump sum for you to drown your feelings in!' For the longest time, I couldn't even touch it. It still doesn't feel right. I'd rather other people enjoy it, especially people that I care about."

Twice watched her for a moment through his mask. "Isn't your family in hospitals?" he finally said.

She could guess how he pieced that together. The lawyers did their job, but there were still conspiracy websites out there that tried to link the villain Yuki to Sato Miyoko. She, of course, denied it every chance she got and the lawyers did their jobs, but people were still entitled to their opinion. Most people, thankfully, believed her.

"Kind of," Yuki answered. "It's actually medical equipment and technology. It's health care," she shrugged.

"My parents died when I was a kid, too," Twice mused. He said it quietly, as if that was a memory that still hurt him, too. Yuki turned her head to be able to see him more clearly.

"I'm sorry," she said with all the empathy of someone who understood that very specific pain. It was a hole that could never be filled. I'm sorry didn't do anything, but the words were less an apology and more of a substitute for I understand. "How?"

"Villain attack," he said simply and nodded to her. "You?"

She took a moment to see if the words would come, but when emotions that she didn't want to deal with bubbled up instead, she pushed the idea of telling him away. "I can't talk about it yet. Especially Dad." He nodded, like he understood. "Can I ask how you ended up as a villain?"

"None of your business! Trying to survive. You do what you have to, you know?" He brushed it off like it was no big deal, but the uncertain, brief wobble in his voice hinted at a deeper story. He didn't expand on it, though, and she didn't ask.

He did pause, though, for her to answer as well. "… Mom was…" how to say it? "She was ruled a suicide. I found a letter from her later, though. Put the pieces together."

"It wasn't a suicide, was it?"

Yuki shook her head, eyes glazing over, remembering those years. "After dad died, one of Mom's sisters came in to help us. She was… those were some dark years. I understand now that she was trying to get control of the money. She figured, I guess, that she could get some of it. Anyway, I … snapped when I figured it out." Yuki sucked in a deep breath and quickly moved on, clearing her head. "I cleaned up my mess and disappeared. Only really put on the mask of who I used to be to take care of business these days."

"You won't leave it behind? It seems like a lot to juggle."

Yuki hummed. "It is. But at the same time, if it were to come out that I am both Miyoko and Yuki, the money would be frozen. The money is a means to an end, so I'll endure it." She stopped and paused, realizing aloud, "I'm talking a lot."

"I don't mind it," he said. "I mean, it's not like I learned anything from the Internet."

That was fair. "You know," Yuki began, "They probably think we're having sex or something for how long we're taking."

Twice burst into laughter. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them to take a break and empty the house."

He howled. Yuki sat in silence as the realization hit her of possible implications, eyes wide.

When he finally composed himself, he said, "I mean, we could give them something to gawk at. We could have sex."

She put the pieces together. "Make them want to break that non-disclosure agreement?" She whistled. "That's mean." But the idea was tempting.

As if he read her mind, he said, "But to do that, we have to look convincing!"

Twice jumped to his feet and motioned Yuki to stand up next to him. She struggled for a minute, getting her legs beneath her in the dress she wore, and Twice offered her a hand. Once she was on her feet, she realized that without her heels, he was at least a full head taller than her.

"So you're thinking…" She watched him for confirmation as she moved her hands to his buttons, sliding the top two buttons out of the eye-holes. "Maybe unbutton an extra button or two…?"

Before she was done, he reached for her hair. "And the hair," His hands ran through her hair, loosening the style she had done for her hair.

The motion felt odd, and she couldn't help the little laugh that slipped out. Once he was done, she moved to stand in front of the bathroom mirror with him. The dress was a little more rumpled from sitting on the floor for so long, too. She turned her attention to him in the mirror. "Oh, your mask!"

Immediately, his expression fell. "The mask keeps me together." He explained, as if that explained everything. It didn't, but that was a conversation for another time, it seemed.

"I can't get us out without everyone seeing, unfortunately. They're all outside." And the workers would definitely end up talking if they saw the mask that the villain, Twice, wore on Sato Miyoko's "boyfriend." "Can you last a few minutes? Enough time for us to get out the door and in the car?" She didn't want to have to ask him to remove it. It seemed to provide him great comfort, especially when she thought about his mental state before he put it on, but she couldn't think of any other way to do it.

He deliberated and sucked in a breath apprehensively. Ever so slowly, pulled the fabric off his head, holding his breath.

His hair stuck up every which way, but honestly that helped their ruse. His eyes were wide and terrified, and Yuki put her hands on either side of his head, calling on a little of her quirk to get him to focus on her. Temperature control was one of the first things she had mastered with her quirk, and she made sure to use it now, too. "Give me three minutes." He nodded, his eyes still held a slightly crazed look, but he handed her his mask, which she shoved back into her purse. She quickly put her heels back on, and they exited the bathroom, and descended the stairs.

Finding the construction manager outside was easy. The workers were lounging outside, waiting for the okay to go back in. The construction manager bowed politely to her, which she returned. Twice hovered next to her, and she was very aware of the way his body pressed close to hers, further selling their ruse.

"We're finished; it's coming along beautifully. We can't wait to move in." The construction manager glanced between them but didn't say a word. "Please, continue with your work," Yuki said with another bow. Twice also bowed and they stepped away, quickly returning to the car. They barely made it inside with the doors shutting before they both exploded in laughter.

Yuki pulled his mask back out for him, which he put on. "I'm pretty sure we gave them all heart attacks! That was a brilliant idea."

"We could still have sex," Twice said before also quickly saying, "Did you see their faces?" Yuki ignored his first comment. He was a good guy, but sex in a car with a guy she just met wasn't something she wanted to try. "I wonder if we could pass it off to the rest of the League?"

That stilled Yuki, and she glanced over at him, brow raised appreciatively. "Isane will never buy it, but do you think the others would?"

"Oh yeah," Twice replied confidently. "It's worth the laughs at least."

By the time they reached the abandoned building that the others waited for them at, Dabi had joined the group. He'd texted her before she and Twice had ever left that they were going to head out to go recruiting at 5:00 that evening, so by 5:20 when they returned, he was barely sitting still with the desire not to just leave her behind.

Twice and Yuki entered the room, holding hands and brushing up against each other casually. Toga's eyes immediately zeroed in on their clasped hands, mouth dropping a little. Isane leveled a look at Yuki that screamed, "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Good. You're back," Dabi said with a roll of his eyes, ignoring their ruse completely. "We're leaving."

"I thought you said you weren't 'that loose'?" Magne asked from the corner of the room, next to where Isane sat. It was obvious they had been talking.

Yuki and Twice ignored Dabi. "Whatever do you mean?" Yuki asked Magne, turning back to Twice, brow raised.

"I mean…" She trailed off, and just gestured to the two of them.

"I don't get it. Twice, do you get it?" Yuki touched his chest casually.

Shaking his head, he said, "Nope! I don't get it."

Shigaraki's voice only held amusement. "You two look like you've had fun."

"We got nothing accomplished. That's not true! We got a lot accomplished!" Yuki couldn't help but snort with laughter.

"The bathroom counters hold up well-" She started saying but laughter broke up her words. Twice also fell into belly-laughs, until they both had tears streaming from their eyes. The rest of the League looked on with a mixture of horror and humor.

Dabi didn't react. "I'm leaving. You're both idiots."

He started to move to the door, but Yuki extracted herself from Twice to plant herself in front of him, effectively blocking him. But unable to control her laughter, she was wasn't much of a blockade. "Wait! I need to change!"

He didn't even blink. "Not my problem. I said five. It's five-twenty."

He side-stepped her, and she ran to the office where she'd left her clothes hours ago. "Dabi, wait!" She howled from the half-cracked office as she quickly stripped, which, coupled with Dabi's quickly retreating back, made the rest of the League finally break down into laughter.

NOTES/PLEASE READ:

Hey all! I need to go over some housekeeping things. First, if you follow me over on Tumblr (o_dragon05) you'll know that the chapter is a week late because I was figuring out Isane's backstory, and then re-working the plot. The downside with fanfiction is it's often published in first draft form. If it was an unpublished work in progress, I'd make the changes and move on. Unfortunately, with the first three chapters already being published, I need to update you guys on the changes so that you're not massively confused later.

Because of the re-worked plot, some details had to change in chapters two and three. If you found this fic after August 15, 2020, you don't have to worry about the following. If, however, you read chapters two and three before August 15, the following applies to you. If you have a chance to go back and read, great! If not, here are the Spark Notes:

As you probably noticed, I've updated the pairing characters. The main pairings have changed from Dabi x OC and Shigaraki x OC to Dabi x OC and Katsukame x OC. There will still be hints of Shigaraki x OC, but it's not a serious pairing. I don't know how to explain this without giving spoilers away, so that's all I'm going to say for now. I hope I don't lose readers from this change, but if I do, I understand.

Notable Notes from Chapter Two: Yuki has known Giran for years. Isane has not. Isane doesn't trust villains. Yuki and Isane were only together under Death Quake for about a year, and they've only been around each other for about a year and a half, but we get the sense that they've known each other for longer than that. Yuki was under Death Quake for about 3 years. Isane's outfit has changed from shorts to pants and she doesn't wear the fingerless gloves. The "Christmas Day Massacre" name has changed to the "Christmas Day Murders". Spinner doesn't bring it up, no one recognizes her as "Reaper," and we don't get an explanation of what it was (those details will also change). There's a reason for this change that will be explained somewhere around chapter nine. When Shigaraki asks her about her crimes, which she answers with, "Nothing you'd recognize and nothing I'm proud of."

Notable Notes from Chapter Three: Yuki takes out one billion yen from her account, and she's left with 2.3 billion yen in the account (I originally forgot to convert dollars to yen). I completely removed the "Trusting is how you wind up dead or in love." Isane is not that cynical. Someone who was/is important to Isane gave her the kanzashi that she wears in her hair.

When Magne asks about her relationship to Yuki: Yuki was a live wire, but she had had her back from the moment they met. "She's the closest thing I have to a sister."

Information about Death Quake and their last group: Yuki had been eager to join up with a new group after the mess with Death Quake, but Isane had yet to feel that longing to try to belong to another group so soon again. Death Quake had been the leader of their last group, the one that Yuki had convinced her to join. She had had a knack for figuring out secrets, and as soon as she figured out Isane's true quirk, Death Quake had used the knowledge to control her and advance her own interests at the expense of Isane's name. There was a reason why Isane was known as "Reaper" and wanted under the same name.

And: "The last time I trusted a group," Isane began, the words finding their way out on their own. Magne was easy to talk to, as much as Isane allowed herself to open up. "It didn't turn out with a happy ending." Isane could clearly see Death Quake's smirking face in her mind's eye. But she was dead, along with the other nine members of the so-called "family." It had been the only way out for them. As much as Death Quake tried to manipulate them by calling their group a family, it hadn't been. She'd had a family, once. A true family, but she'd managed to lose that, too.

I hope I don't lose any of you guys from the changes and updates. I hate to change details like this, but unfortunately, as I write my fics I usually find out more information as I write them. I don't see anything else changing as drastically as all of this again. I've got the plot and ending in mind, and the first thirty chapters are fully outlined and I've got a loose outline for another twenty chapters beyond that. I'm really excited about this story, and I hope you all stay on with me and keep reading, too!

I do not own, in any way, the characters, places, or ideas of the My Hero Academia universe created by Kohei Horikoshi. I only own my own characters and plot. No money is made off of this story.