"I really don't get it." Izuku said, dodging Shindo's attack and responding with his own fist. He was getting the hang of not releasing his full power with his fists, but it still hurt him somewhat, "What do other Pros with super strength do that I don't?"

Yo wasn't sent flying back, instead holding his own thanks to the low speed of the punch, and answering with a right that missed Izuku narrowly. "I don't know cous. Gunhead likes to teach stuff his own way, and that means not telling you everything."

"I know, my teachers at school are the same. The problem is, it's already Saturday! The tournament is in nine days and I still haven't figured out what they think I'm doing wrong."

Yo hummed, as they continued to exchange slow blows. This way of sparring wasn't really meant to be an hard match, but rather to get in the motion of combat. Slower movements that meant Izuku's punches were not sending Yo fly off and Yo wasn't utterly destroying Izuku in hand-to-hand combat. Izuku had to admit that, right now, his cousin was far more skilled than he was. Not that surprising, but still a bit disappointing considering he had All Might's Quirk.

'If only I could figure out what they mean…' He thought. Admittedly, he was a bit distracted by what happened in the past week. Between his realization that he most likely liked Himiko that way – which shouldn't have been a problem but somehow was, because he didn't want to make the friendship he had with her awkward – and the whole Nagant issue, he hadn't had that much time to consider what Gunhead and Gran Torino had said. "Say, Shindo." He asked, "Do you know someone with a strength enhancing Quirk?"

"Sure, a few people at my school. Why?"

"Do you think there is a difference between them and me?"

Shindo considered a moment… "You feel weirdly weak."

"O-Oh. I- I guess, but…"

"No, no, sorry, I said it wrong!" Shindo waved his hands in front of him, "I was just thinking that when you hit me, your hits feel strong, but when I hit you it's like I'm hitting someone without any enhancing. Like, I imagine if I hit All Might he feels like a brick wall no matter what he is doing, but with you… it's like you-"

"Oh my god!" Izuku slammed a hand on his forehead, "I'm not using this correctly! You are right! All Might must use his Quirk on his whole body to make it effective," He paused, then coughed in his fist and continued, "I mean, like every other user of a Quirk like my Superpower, of course. He has to, because it's not like he can think only about offense, he needs his Quirk to strengthen his body to take a blow too!"

"Yeah!"

"And I haven't been doing that! I've been focusing my all in one spot, so if I instead don't and just let it flow through my body…" Izuku took a shuddering breath. Of course. It was obvious, really. If One for All strengthened the body, there was no reason to focus it on a single punch.

He let One for All flow through his arms, legs, chest, back, and finally the face. Shakily, only the amount he thought he could handle, but he did it. Sparks of green lightning surged around his body.

"Uh, that's new." Shindo said.

"Yep." Izuku smiled, and Shindo smiled back.

"Want to put it to the test?" The older teen asked, taking a few steps back and a full fighting position.

"I'd be glad." Izuku replied.

And then they jumped forward.

-x-

"So, you got too excited, lost control and punched through a wall." Gunhead said with a neutral tone, assessing the damage, "And then, Shindo, you got excited in turn, used your Vibrate Quirk, missed because Midoriya turned in midair, hit the other wall, and caused enough of an earthquake to make both it and the floor above come down on you. To get out of there, you both used your Quirks to break down a third wall – slammed in my lobby, crashed right on the entrance desk, and that's where Midoriya lost control of his Quirk and twisted his ankle."

Izuku, sitting in the infirmary of Gunhead's office as one of his sidekicks healed him, nodded sheepishly. Shindo coughed in his fist, "Uhm, you kinda forgot…"

"I did not forget that before that you thoroughly thrashed the room itself and the equipment inside, it's just that it feels like cents compared to having to repair three distinct walls." He took a deep breath, "I hope you know your parents are paying for all of it- And don't try to say 'it's a good thing, means the mob's money is going to a good cause." He pointed a finger at Shindo, whose mouth was already opening. Gunhead looked at Izuku, "Please tell me at least there was a good reason."

"I figured out your hint, sir! I made my power course through my whole body!"

"Oh thank god, at least some good news." Gunhead nodded in approval, "I was starting to worry you wouldn't figure it out in time for the Sports Festival."

"I… Yeah, in hindsight it feels really obvious."

"Eh, don't feel too bad about it. Sometimes we need an external push to point out the obvious to figure something about our power. Shindo here thought his power was uncontrollable until he came to my place."

Shindo turned red and looked away, "Sheesh, no need to remind me…"

"Oh?" Gunhead wiggled his eyebrows, something Izuku could somehow figure out despite the mask, "Are you saying I shouldn't tell him about Fault Hero: San Andreas? Should I not mention how you spent half an hour on your first day here claiming your power was 'extremely dangerous and impossible to control'?"

"T-To be fair I was a first year with no idea of what I was doing." Shindo covered his face with both hands, "Can we pretend I didn't go through that phase?"

"Pity, I can go on." Gunhead chuckled, and Izuku, seeing Shindo's flustered face, couldn't help but laugh too. His cousin sighed.

"Speaking of first years, after the Festival is when you guys do the internships, right?"

"Oh, right, mister Aizawa told us. Apparently after the Sports Festival we will get to choose a place to intern at for a few days." He looked at Gunhead, "Could I…"

"Nope!" Gunhead shook his head, "I take my internships seriously, since it's a chance to test possible sidekicks. I will choose people I've never met before." He chuckled, "And possibly people that haven't demolished a room training for six minutes by themselves."

"I'm so sorry about that…"

"I'm joking, I'm joking. But I will definitely go for someone that doesn't come here to train every week. Don't worry though, with your Quirk now at least partially under control, you will probably get flooded by invitations."

"So long as you do well…" Shindo said with a tone that was clearly pretending to be ominous.

Izuku nodded.

"Also, you will have to choose a Hero Name." Gunhead pointed out, "I would start thinking about it. Nothing worse than being the last in the class without one."

"Uh, good point." Izuku replied, "I… I never really thought about it."

"Well, now you should." Gunhead looked at the clock on the wall, "Come on now, out of here. Your training is off for today and I have a repairing company to call."

Izuku stepped up, noticing thankful that healing extended to sprained ankle, the pain reduced to a dull beat, and walked away, saying goodbye to Shindo as they both walked out.

-x-

"Uuuuugh, I'm so bored." Himiko slouched on the counter of the bar.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Himiko Shigaraki. It's Saturday night, shouldn't you be out at some social event?"

"I wanted to, but everyone is busy…" She pouted, explaining. She had called Izuku, but according to his dad the teen had fallen asleep right after taking a shower and seemed too tired. Ochaco was busy with something, Soemone had invited Momo out for something before she could and Himiko was too uncertain to ask to tag along, Pony had managed to mumble something in English that she could guess was 'exhausted', and Jiro was going to a concert with her mom and dad that she had organized months before. She had promised they could go together next time if Himiko felt like it, which sounded really fun, but still left with no option…

That left only Iida, but Himiko wasn't going out alone with a boy, let alone the most boring in 1-A.

Ok, admittedly that was mean of her, but not inaccurate.

"What about Mustard?"

"He is watching some special stream or something like that. Something about his favorite Vtuber, that had retired, appearing in some special Vtubers meeting."

"… I see."

"You don't."

"I shall pretend to." Kurogiri nodded, "Well, I understand your problem, Himiko Shigaraki. I don't suppose I can convince you to spend time with your brother…"

"He is out with those guys to plan something or other. Also no." Himiko grabbed her glass of water and finished it in one gulp, "Guess I will stay bored."

Kurogiri considered the situation for a moment. A bored Himiko Shigaraki was a sad Himiko Shigaraki. While the Noumu strictly could have just not cared, since he was technically only meant to watch after Tomura Shigaraki, he also had the order of helping the League. By helping Himiko Shigaraki, he was helping the League.

"If I may, miss Shigaraki, don't you also have a girl called Melissa in your friend group?" He asked. He remembered Mustard reporting on their presence at the recent mall visit, though he lacked the context.

"I don't know…" Himiko looked down at her glass, "Melissa is… I think she wants to be more than friends with Izuku."

"I see. Well, I suppose the idea is out there." Kurogiri shrugged, and went back to cleaning a glass. Ah, that poor glass, he had cleaned all of them to perfection hours ago, but All for One and Doctor Garaki hadn't really programmed many idle animations for their Noumu while they weren't doing much. It was either this, sitting idly – something Kurogiri was too disinterested to do – or standing menacingly. 'Please give me something to do…' He thought. Life as an abomination against nature was surprisingly boring whenever your creators weren't using you.

Just clean a glass, sit idly, stand menacingly, rinse and repeat. Truly, if Shirakumo was still alive, he would have already torn his hair off. Luckily, Kurogiri was a lot more patient.

"I guess I will try. Better than doing nothing." Himiko decided, taking out her phone.

'Go have fun kid.' Shirakumo's side told himself, 'You never know when the fun ends.'

-x-

"Himiko!" Melissa waved and Himiko looked at her. If she wanted to be honest, Melissa was gorgeous. She was tall, with a perfect physique, long blonde hair, and glasses that enhanced her appearance somehow, making her look even cuter.

Walking next to her was, to Himiko's surprise, Tsuyu Asui. "Hi." The frog girl said.

"Oh, hi Tsuyu." She said, feeling a bit guilty. She hadn't interacted much with the girl, but she was in the Green Valley Chat. Odd to think she had just forgotten a classmate.

"Melissa invited me." Tsuyu said, "I was talking with her on the phone when you called."

Ah, that explained it. Guess she had made her surprise clear if Tsuyu had answered on her own, "Well, the more the merrier, I suppose. How is training going?"

"Very well, thank you." The frog girl croaked, then looked around, "What are we doing?"

"I was thinking karaoke." Himiko replied.

"Oh, that's great!" Melissa said, "I've always wanted to try!"

"Didn't we already go once?"

"Yeah but my clothes got ruined and I only got a piece of the experience." Melissa pouted, and Himiko couldn't help but notice how cute that was, "Let's go!"

"Sure." Tsuyu nodded, and Himiko did the same, walking with the others toward the karaoke she knew was nearby. As they walked away, Himiko took a short drink from her thermos, just a sip of blood, while talking with the others about school topics. Tsuyu, however, took notice. "Say, Himiko, what is it you are always drinking?" She asked.

Himiko paled. "Eh?"

"The thermos. I've seen you pull it out from time to time at school too."

Melissa nodded, "Yeah, I was curious too but I never asked."

Himiko tried her best to think of something. 'It's tea… No, it's too cold for that, they could tell just by touching it. Ice tea? What if they ask to try it…' "Uhm, it's… something for my Quirk." She said slowly.

The other two girls nodded, seemingly content with her answer, but quickly put the bottle away. Just in time to see the entrance of the karaoke was quite crowded. It seemed her, Melissa and Tsuyu weren't the only ones that had the idea of going out. "Pretty crowded tonight, uh?" Tsuyu asked.

"It's always filled in the weekend, but we should be able to…"

"Oh my gosh, Himiko! Tsuyu!" The two girls turned around to see, to their surprise, Yaoyorozu, "You are here?!"

"Momo?!" Himiko blinked, "Weren't you going out with some friends?"

"Yes, look." She pointed behind her, to Ashido, Kirishima and a for some reason disgruntled Bakugo. "I didn't think you would be around here, why didn't you tell me? I'd have asked if you wanted to join us!"

"Ah, no it's… I guess it's my fault, I was the one that said I would find something else to do." She blushed, coughing in her fist, "I hope that didn't sound like I was angry."

"No, no, really, I'm… I suppose I could have insisted, sorry. I always have trouble deciding if I should do that." Yaoyorozu shook her head, "Either way, now you are here! And you too Tsuyu! And…"

"Hi, I'm Melissa Shield."

Yaoyorozu smiled, "And I'm Momo Yaoyorozu."

"Wait, from Yaoyorozu Enterprises?" Melissa asked while shaking her hands.

"Yes." She nodded, "And your father is David Shield, right?"

"Yup. Your parents' company sells materials to I-Island, I bet you know that."

"Yes, and in turn we are the chief importers of I-Island products." Yayorozu nodded, "It's nice to meet you. I knew that David Shield had a daughter around my age, but we never got a chance to meet."

"I bet. Have you ever been to I-Island?"

"Not really but I will go this year."

"For the Expo, I suppose? That's great! Himiko and Izuku are coming too, you know."

Himiko nodded when Yayorozu turned toward her with a smile that, Himiko had to admit, made the girl look almost shining. She really was beautiful. 'Damn me and my love for both boys and girls, but she is really hot.' "I am going."

"With Izuku, uuuuuh?" Mina asked, having somehow creeped closer to Himiko without her noticing, "You know, I've heard at night I-Island, with all the stores and buildings lighted up, is really romantic for walks, and then there is the beach…" She snuck closer with a teasing smirk as she saw Himiko grow redder and redder, "You two at night on the beach, taking a swim under the moonlight, and then…"

"Alright, that's enough!" Kirishima dragged Ashido away.

"Kirishima nooooo! It was just getting good!"

"Kirishima yes! Come on Ashido, we are following you."

Mina pouted, "You are no fun."

"So you guys are going to an arcade?" Tsuyu asked.

"Yes. We decided to do that instead of the karaoke because the place is full." Kirishima explained, "Want to come?"

Himiko turned to Melissa and Tsuyu. "Sure, sounds fun." Melissa said.

"I think it would be a good idea." Tsuyu added.

Himiko glanced at Bakugo, who seemed… oddly distracted, glancing to Tsuyu and then pointedly looking away, or doing the same to Yaoyorozu. He hadn't even shouted at her yet, which had to be some sort of record.

"Alright. I guess we can." Himiko nodded, and Mina cheered.

Himiko hoped she had made the right choice. She wondered if Tomura and Masutaro were having a better night.

-x-

Shigaraki sighed stepping on the stage. He looked at the crowd, his new lieutenants nodding approvingly as they raised beers and toasted at their boss, cheering for 'Handjob'. Tomura was really happy right now that the room was soundproofed.

And then the music kicked in.

He wasn't sure karaoke was the way a proper mob boss' way to build a bond of trust with his underlings, but all his father had said was 'you recruited them so they are your responsibility'. Not really anything on how to go about making them follow him.

"Usse, Usse, Usse wa!" He chanted at full volume, some pre-Quirk song that had survived all the way through the dark age of Quirks and that he liked enough to remember the rhythm. Really, this place had a terrible lack of videogame soundtrack. 'Stupid normies and their stupid music tastes…' He thought bitterly as he finished Usseewa.

"That was great Handjob!" The guy with a fish face – 'No, make the effort to at least remember the names of your NPCs, that's… Hanzo, right.' – said.

"Yeah, good execution." Tesla nodded approvingly, "You are a surprisingly good singer." Victor and Sharp Blade nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that was good, boss, but I think I speak for everyone when I say… what's the plan now?" Spike asked, and Shigaraki hummed.

"Well, it's a bit complicated," He said, "Especially now that they have a new guard."

"Is a new guard that much of a problem?"

"It is when it's a high-level PG… I mean sniper. Yes that was definitely what I meant, a high-level sniper. Either way, yeah, they have a sniper now."

"Why does a school need a sniper?"

"I don't know." Shigaraki shrugged, "Either way, during the Sports Festival we will go in, and watch the Festival."

Everyone waited for a long moment.

Nothing else came out of Shigaraki's mouth.

"Wait, that's it?"

"What, you want me to jump in in front of every Hero in Japan and burn the arena to the ground- don't say yes!" He pointed at Victor, who was just opening his mouth, "No, what we need to do, is finding good NPCs that need to be recruited or taken out." He pulled out a series of pictures. Mustard had documented the amount of people that were following Izuku in order to report to All for One, and while his father seemed mostly unfazed – and had smiled at seeing a picture of Himiko and Izuku standing side by side. Smiled! Tomura had never made his father smile like that. If he didn't know that the man was playing along so that Tomura would keep up with the test he was being put through, he might have almost thought he was growing attached to the girl! Unthinkable! – Tomura could tell the truth.

"See, I should have realized sooner that my father wouldn't put me against a lesser opponent. Look at this. The Green Valley Clan's next generation has been recruiting hard in the Hero course, and even in other courses of UA. And it all goes back to him." He tapped Izuku Midoriya's picture, "This guy is some sort of charismatic super genius that has been playing us all. Think about it, Hanzo, he scared you all, right?"

Hanzo nodded, "Yeah, it was terrifying. One moment he is stabbing Sharkyonara trembling like a leaf, and the next he mans up is shouting at us that we are ants under his foot, only worth of groveling. That's some evil boss tier villain right there."

"You think it was an accident that all of you either lost or couldn't do anything?"

"I mean, yes, didn't Kurogiri just send the kids to random locations-" Sharp Blade started, but Tomura slammed a fist on the table.

"Which is exactly what he must have planned. Kurogiri is always around my sister. She probably fed him suggestions on where to send her 'friends'."

"You think he is a traitor?"

Shigaraki paused, "Nah, traitor is a strong word. The man wouldn't be physically capable of turning on us." Quite literally, actually, "But he probably listened to my sister. If she suggested to send the groups like that, he would."

-x-

Kurogiri stopped from cleaning the glass. For some reason, he felt his intelligence was being insulted.

-x-

"Ah! I knew we couldn't have just lost to a bunch of brats!" Victor said.

"First, you lost to Aizawa. Second, no, you still lost to a bunch of brat, and you should feel bad about it." Tomura glared, most of them pointedly looking away, "Especially you Tesla."

"I got kicked in the balls!"

"Wear a fucking codpiece next time." Tomura sighed, "Anyway, the point remains, I'm losing because his NPCs are on average better than you guys. So, I need two things, first, I need you all to get your shit together, stop dragging down the team and improve that K/D ratio."

"Technically none of us died."

"Arrest is game over, so technically all of you are at 0/1, you only got saved because my father sent a high-level PC to fetch you all." He paused, "On my request of course."

"… Yeah, alright. And the other part?"

"Recruiting people worth their salt. I asked Gorilla to- Where is she?" He looked around, noticing that the female villain was gone.

"Oh, she went to the bathroom half an hour ago, right after Oxy-Man did- goddammit Oxy." Sharp Blade sighed in defeat.

"For real? Couldn't they wait until they went back to their apartment?"

"Don't know what to tell you man. Either way, she told me and Oxy about there being issues with the idea of recruiting from outside."

"Why?"

"Because we are nobodies." Spike replied before Sharp Blade could, "We are a bunch of upstarts that didn't really accomplish anything, or at least that's how they will see us."

Shigaraki hummed. It made sense. It was like founding a guild in an MMORPG, if you weren't high-ranking no one would join. "Alright. That means we need to rank up, I see. Let's put a hold to that and hope the Doctor comes through."

Really, Shigaraki's first thought had been to just ask the doctor to turn all his mobs into Noumus. Getting so many high-level NPCs would have been a good way to even the field. Unfortunately, his father had decided that Shigaraki needed the whole 'train to lead followers' thing, so had forbidden the idea.

After that, all Shigaraki had done was asking if they knew some people to recruit to boost his powerbase. That seemed to have been taken well by his father, because he had promised to look into it. Apparently, he had some friends from a few years before that were just getting out of prison.

And he had also mentioned a pet for some reason. Hopefully another Noumu, those were useful.

-x-

Compress opened the door of the old apartment, by turning the lock into a ball and letting it fall on the ground. Dabi yawned and strolled in. "Are you sure this is the place? I know salarymen don't get paid much, especially when they have a criminal record, but a salaryman that is also a drug dealer should gain more."

The apartment was ran-down and there was garbage everywhere, mainly beers and used syringes littering the floor. Compress grimaced at the sight. "Unfortunately, it seems our friend has a strong dependency on a certain kind of Trigger. Stronger stuff than what the Green Valley Clan import, Japanese made."

"Ah, makes sense, so he is wasting all the money he is making on it, uh?" Dabi frowned, "So why are we here again?"

"Who are you?" The man asked emerging from the bedroom. A cat strolled around his legs as a very anonymous individual with black hair, an average build and squinty eyes looked at them. "Who let you in?"

"Are you Mario Kogetsu?" Compress asked.

"What if I am?"

"Well, congratulations good sir, you are our winner! You just received an exclusive reward to collect immediately."

"Look, if this is about the Shie Hassaikai money I owe I promise I will pay, I just needed a fix and didn't have-"

"We aren't Yakuza, good sir. We come from an old friend of yours. Do you remember a certain Six?"

Kogetsu's eyes went wide, "No. No, no, no, Six is dead. Everyone in Naruhata saw him burn himself alive."

"He is, but mister Six wasn't the leader of the little operation he ran, my boss was. And his son is in need of new recruits." Compress stroked the cat that had meanwhile climbed on the table next to him, the animal purring loudly, "I believe you and Monster Cat here would be of great use."

"I-I'm not a Villain."

"Please, mister Kogetsu, you managed to avoid harsh criminal charges, getting away with a one year sentence for drug use, but we both know you voluntarily overdosed on Trigger and turned into a giant monster. All we have to do is leak to the police your activity as drug dealer. Or we might tell the Hassaikai that you have been robbing them."

Kogetsu paled, falling to his knees. "Alright."

"Excellent. Welcome in the League of Villain, my friend. It's a real circus, but you get used to it. To a long and eventful cooperation. Dabi, there will be no burning of the apartment needed."

"Tch, killjoy."

"Come on, we still have two names on the list." Compress let the cat walk away and turned to the salaryman, pulling out a phone number, "Memorize this and stay in contact. And treat the kitten well, we will need him too."

Kogetsu nodded, taking the number and watching the two walk away.

-x-

"Ah, and you said the Villain Factory was a bad idea, Doctor." All for One said, after getting the phone call from Compress confirming the first part of Tomura's recruitment was doing well.

"I never said that, sir. I'm fairly sure it was my idea and you said 'no, that's unnecessary' several times before letting me go ahead."

"I'm fairly sure you are wrong then."

Garaki made to argue, but All for One raised a finger threateningly, and the Doctor let it go, going back to his work on Hood. The High-End was the oldest of the bunch, so keeping it on par with the others was difficult. It was like trying to fix a fifty years old sports car so it could compete with modern ones. "Still, that will only be three people, four if we count the cat. Unless you intend to bring Nine's crew into this…"

"It's not yet the time, Doctor. Right now, those people with strong personality can't be won over by Tomura's meddling charisma, and if I intervened that would do nothing to let him improve."

"Isn't it weird to focus on training him so much considering what the ultimate goal is?"

"Maybe it was. I wouldn't have gone to such lengths if we were still on track, but consider how much changed. First, I had to replace him with Himiko, meaning my whole plan has been derailed and now I need him to be his sister's right-hand man. Second, UA got muscle in the form of Lady Nagant. That was not something I expected, I will admit."

"Do you think Mustard's story that Midoriya had her freed was true?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes. Nagant was related to the Clan, after all, and it can't be just a coincidence that the Heir of the Clan starts going to UA and suddenly Nedzu cares about a five years old, officially closed murder case. I have to admit, I'm starting to think I underestimated the boy. He managed to first terrify some of Tomura's underlings, and then to get Nagant out of Tartarus. Both are quite interesting feats." He shrugged, "I suppose I should expect nothing less from Hisashi and…" He shuddered, "her son."

"If that's true, we really need to keep an eye on him."

"Indeed. I'm glad I decided to make Himiko my heir now, seeking out the Clan. While I believe our ultimate goal will still be achieved, moving it a bit ahead for the sake of keeping them under control was worth the hassle."

Garaki hummed, unsure. He was perhaps the only one to see it, but All for One was softening toward Himiko. Something he had never seen him do before, like throwing a party for her when she passed the entrance exam, was an alarm bell for the mad scientist.

Because if All for One could soften, what would it mean? Would he eventually stop him from doing more of his experiments? Would he stop him from creating his masterpiece?

That doubt ate at him, but there was nothing he could do.

-x-

"Alright, smile!" Mina shouted. The group of teens did, and then Mina rushed next to them, leaving the phone on self-timer as she joined them.

A moment later, the picture fired, and the girl went to pick up her phone, smiling mischievously as she looked at the picture. My, what coincidence that Bakugo was standing right between Yaoyorozu and Tsuyu. She saved the picture and turned to the others.

They were sitting at a table at the arcade's inside cafe, a cheap place that sold only sodas, water and unhealthy American stuff like hot dogs and fries. Still, for a group of teens that had been playing for the last two hours it was an excellent respite.

Mina looked at the girls and boys sitting around, and smiled. The truth was, for all that she sounded like an incredibly nosy person, Mina had very strict rules on the matter. She would try to find out anything she could about romance, but never something that would hurt others. She wasn't going to blurt out confessions in someone else's place.

"Say, Yaoyorozu, is this your first time at an arcade?" She asked instead.

"Yes! It's really interesting! I had heard of places like this from the stories I like to read, but my parents never took me to one before. I'm glad you decided to invite me."

"That's nice! What about you guys?"

"I've been here before." Bakugo said, "I have some records."

"Which game?" Mina asked, curious.

"DDR, why?"

Mina went silent, her eyes growing wide. Next to her, Kirishima sighed, "Damn man, your are super manly to say that within her hearing distance."

"Why?"

And then Mina shot up, "Alright Bakugo, I, The DDR DDestroyer challenge you to a d-d-d-duel!"

"… Are we playing DDR or Yu-"

"Less talking, more dancing!" She shouted, dragging Bakugo away. Kirishima sighed, watching her go. "Well, I think I should go. Bakugo is super manly but Mina is even manlier whenever she gets into DDR. Have fun or come watching!" And he stood up, following the two.

"I want to go see that." Melissa said, "It sounds fun."

The girl stood up, and suddenly Tsuyu, Momo and Himiko were alone.

They all looked at each other, and then Momo spoke. "Can I… Ask you something, Himiko?"

"Sure."

"How did you start dating Izuku?"

"Ah… Well…"

"I mean, not the details, but just, what made you think he was the right guy?" She asked, blushing a bit, "How did you go from liking him to dating him?"

That was a terrible question to ask, because the truth was, Himiko hadn't. She liked Izuku as a friend or maybe more now, but their dating started as an arrangement between two criminal gangs. Problem was 'You just need to be the adoptive daughter of a criminal and get a deal with the leader of another syndicate' wasn't really the suggestion normal girls should get. 'I guess I can just describe how we dated without specifying why.' "Well, so…" She racked her brain, "At first, I didn't."

"You… didn't?"

"I didn't like him that much. He seemed like just another guy." She thought back to their first encounter in the restaurant, "We met at a dinner between our families, and there it came out that we were both planning to try for UA. So a month or so later we decided to start meeting up – the three of us, Masutaro was there too – to study together. And then…"

She went on. The dinner with the Bakugos, the trainers exchange, his kind words about her Quirk, the family dinner, the first friendly date, and then all the other times they had spent together. All the studying, the sitting together in the Midoriya living room or Izuku's room talking about random stuff, the arcade visits…

"I guess in the end all we had to do was spend time together, and before we knew it we were dating." Himiko replied.

"I see." Yaoyorozu nodded, "But… which part made you decide he was the right guy?"

"I guess…" She racked her brain, "Well, maybe the turning point was when he said my Quirk wasn't evil. A lot of people do that, so I… I was afraid he wouldn't like me. But he was just amazed by it, he started just giving advice. He never even questioned if my Quirk was malicious, he just knew it wasn't. He decided I was… That I was normal."

Momo cooed, and glancing at Tsuyu Himiko noticed that even she was getting flustered.

Himiko sighed in relief internally. Crisis averted.

She had kept up the lie.

She ignored the grumble of her stomach. Clearly it was just because she had been talking for… wow, thirty minutes. All about Izuku, but the bloodlust she was feeling, that pit in her stomach that her body wanted her to fill with blood, wasn't related to that.

She wouldn't let it be related to that.

She grabbed her thermos and took another drink.

-x-

Momo and Tsuyu sat on the train. Melissa had left the station before, Mina and Kirishima taken a different train home, and Himiko lived in Kamino, so she didn't need to take the train.

Which left the two girls and Bakugo alone for one last stop, before he left, and then one more as Tsuyu did the same. Her own house was the station after.

All of this wasn't really helping Momo's nerves.

She still didn't know if she liked Bakugo or Jiro. She had known both, really, for a week, even if she had met Bakugo a little earlier at the cinema. Her first kiss had gone to the rocker girl, so that meant something, but by that logic, Tsuyu's kiss with Bakugo meant about the same.

Did that kiss mean a lot for the two as well? That was a thought Momo couldn't move away from her mind.

The truth was, Momo wasn't sure about what she was feeling. She was a romance reader, so she wasn't ignorant about it, but it was one thing to read on a page about how a girl and a guy, or a girl and a girl, would figure out if they were together. Those pages spoke of butterflies in the stomach, or of not eating much, or of staying up late at night thinking about the other.

Had she done that? She had stayed up late, but Momo tended to do that often, since she liked to read fanfiction and most of it came from the west, popping online late at night. Heck, even most Japanese writers could only post late, after coming home from school or work.

She had been thinking about both, that was true.

But Himiko's words had given her something to think about.

'I want to know them better.' She decided, 'Whatever comes of it, I will know what I want.'

She nodded.

Without her knowledge, the girl sitting next to her was reaching a very similar conclusion.

(xx)

One day, Izuku will wake up and find out that the world has decided he is a dangerous S-class Villain. This deduction comes from entirely external investigation on this random guy that is doing nothing.

The song Tomura is singing is Usseewa by Ado. It's a pretty good song.
It's honestly fun to give Tomura those minor underlings to deal with. He gets someone to talk with in 3D. Kurogiri is so proud.

Mario Kugutsu and Monster Cat are two minor Villains from MHA: Vigilante. I really suggest the series to MHA fans that are interested in a smaller, 'urban' story compared to the vast-spanning MHA main story. The whole plot is really entertaining and it will be complete fairly soon, so it's the ideal time to read it.

The Sports Festival starts next week baby, get excited. `;)