A/N - I know that I've been switching between perspectives and haven't offered Izuku's side yet, but I will reiterate that izuku is the MC. i want to keep the suspense up, after all who knows how much a person can change? The story will mostly be divided half into izuku's POV and the others are various POV's that show how his actions are interpreted. It will be up to you to imagine what goes on in Izuku's mind [cue Inside Out meme] (also me because I'm writing it but whatever). If I was to hazard an estimate, I'd say the ratio between Izuku and Other's POV is around 1:4

As always, feedback is always appreciated.

Abandoned warehouse,
Shinagawa City,
Tokyo

Mase Hotako was going to have a heart attack.

He was fine a minute ago. Hell, he was fine a second ago. He was having a decent day. He had finally managed to get the limited edition All Might collectible. Call him stupid, but he knew the worth of a prisitine collectible. And then he had received the call which made his day turn from decent to terrifying with a touch of abysmal.

He had been part of The Scale for more than five years. Nobody really knew who started The Scale, but they knew it was a governmental organisation that rose during the advent of Quirks. Somewhere between the First Dark Age and the Japanese Collapse, The Scale was set up. Without it, Japan wouldn't have survived the Collapse. Rather than the extinction of the Royal Family, it might've been the extinction of Japan as an identity and country.

Mase knew what he did wasn't exactly legal and/or moral. His entire job description was basically conning professionals into violating laws. But he definitely didn't lose any sleep over his actions. He knew the consequences of following the law, following morals, and suffered the consequences.

Needless to say, the consequences weren't a pretty sight.

Mase shook off the memories that threatened to reduce him into a pathetic, blubbering mess. He had a job to do.

He went back into the persona of an agent, the personality that Toshiaki associated with seriousness.

"If your report is false, it's needless to say there will be consequences."

The voice from the other side of the line gave a bitter laugh. There was a pause, a moment of silence before Toshiaki replied.

"If I could, I wouldn't report this. I would rather prefer the kid lead a life of his own choice than hand him into the den of snakes."

Mase blinked. He knew his counterpart didn't like his job, but to see him voice his opinions? That was new.

The blame was partly on Mase. Toshiaki had more privileges as a B Rank Recruiter than he knew of. One of them was the choice to change his liaison. Mase saw no reason to inform him. He knew if he told Toshiaki of how much power he actually had, he would replace him in a heartbeat, something Mase wasn't keen on. He had slaved in The Scale for two years before moving on from desk work. After another three years of being assigned to recruiters who could barely tell the difference between fire and water, he had finally been assigned to a proper recruiter.

If you were a liaison in The Scale like Mase was, the more successful your recruiter, the better your chances of moving up the ladder.

And so, Mase had done a cost-benefit analysis and came to the conclusion that there was no way he was letting go of his golden goose so quickly.

And Okamura Toshiaki was definitely a treasure. Just within two months, he had recruited four B class agents and two A class agents. However, maybe his golden goose was more of a Holy Grail. Something so good that people would pillage nations for it.

He knew the moment he reported that a recruiter had managed to recruit someone able to influence the future to a magnitude never seen before, there would be repercussions. He had no doubt that Toshiaki would be silenced.

Nobody liked loose ends.

And as a liaison, he would be silenced as well.

Unless, he managed to attach value to himself and make himself invaluable.

Think. Think. THINK.

He mentally urged his brain to cobble together a solution. And when he finally did, he sighed in relief. Sure, his actions were not legal, even in The Scale and was most likely gross insubordination. But if it succeeded, he would keep his life.

"Give me a psyche analysis."

Mase asked Toshiaki while fleshing out his plan, working out the kinks and establishing a time scale. He had his own resources, but it would be touch wood to do the entire thing without alerting his superiors. He would present the agent, but only after the kid underwent his style of indoctrination.

"I only bumped into him, so I can only give a rough approximation. He seemed like a normal kid. Energetic, polite and dreams of heroes.

Mase grinned within the privacy of his cubicle. He was reminded once again of the fact that he would utterly destroy a kid's life. But he reassured himself by saying that society would do most of the dirty work.

It was a weak argument and even he knew it. He brushed his smidge of morality aside and began his plan.

"How much quirk suppressing medication do you have?"

There was a pause as Toshiaki tried to figure out where he was going with this.

"I still have last month's stock."

"You are going to meet the kid. And you're going to inform him that he's quirkless. You'll assign him two tablets of Genezram per week. That should remove any accidental usage for the duration. Give him enough for two months."

There was a long silence on the call before it was replaced by the low voice of Toshiaki.

"I hate you."

Mase fought back a chuckle. He had to present himself as a noble person at the moment. No need for his counterpart to learn of his own nervousness.

He gave out a long sigh and spoke out loud, "Hate me as much as you want. But you have to do this Toshiaki."

"Do you know the consequences? Society will shun him. His dreams will collapse around his eyes. His friends will leave. Hell, even his parents might. Do you-"

Mase cut him off with a pained voice, his tone thick with emotion. Sometimes he wondered whether he should have entered the acting industry.

"I most certainly have an idea. I am quirkless as well. How well do you think he'll react to knowing he controls the future? Every child has dreams of grandeur. Tell him he's Quirkless and his illusions will be crushed. And as much as it pains me to say this, a kid with no dreams is safer than one with dreams and the power to achieve them. Kids believe in simple right and wrong when, in reality the world is varying shades of grey. They'll go for the most straightforward way to achieve their goals. Can you assure me Toshiaki that the kid can understand the burden of his power?"

"Quirk-suppressants have a heavy toll on emotional health as well. If he has an emotion based quirk, you'll be crippling his ability to empathise. Even if he doesn't, the tablets will make him feel weightless and untethered to his own feelings. They are basically antipsychotics and antidepressants but a milder dosage. And he's just a kid. Why can't you understand that?"

Toshiaki said, ignoring the question posed to him. He knew that if someone told him when he was a kid, that he could do whatever he wanted, even if there was counselling, a part of him would compel him to achieve his dreams as quickly as possible.

Mase let silence fill the call as he told Toshiaki his reason.

"Kids are stubborn. How well do you think he's going to react to being Quirkless? He'll try to activate it. Kids look up to authority but also defy it when they feel it goes against their simple belief of right and wrong. Now, I don't need to tell you what happens when Quirks are activated in moments of desperation. After all, your job was to counsel unwanted and unintentional acts of destruction. Now imagine that consequence from someone with the power to dictate the future. Do you want to take the risk?"

Mase finished his spiel and let Toshiaki stew on his words. He could almost predict what the recruiter must be thinking. Initially Toshiaki's morality and integrity would clash with his order. Then his overarching love for his patients would battle back. He would be reminded of his previous patients, who always carried the mark of shame and sadness with them. The loss of life that was caused by their Quirk would haunt them. They would grow so afraid of their Quirk that even talking about it would cause them to have a psychotic break.

When Toshiaki continued to deliberate, Mase knew he had convinced him. If he was really against it, Toshiaki would've simply said no and cut the call. Mase like good people. Mainly because their kindness made it so easy to predict them. Without good people like Toshiaki, people like Mase wouldn't survive.

"Fine."

Toshiaki said and abruptly cut the call. If it had been any other call, Mase might've been incensed. However, all he could feel was a huge sense of relief. Step one was done of the impromptu save-Mase-from-certain-death plan.

Step two was up to society. Mase hoped that it would live up to his expectations.