Chapter Summary: A foundation is laid with four cornerstones.

Villain!Izuku, canon-divergent

(warnings for: past kidnapping, past torture, past experimentation, brainwashing)

This was co-written by kattenprinsen and cross-posted from archive of our own.

Chapter Ten: misconception, mismanage, misdemeanor, misery

Gran Torino's place looks about the same as the last time that Toshinori visited, which is to say that it's just a normal looking as can be. He sits on the couch, relaxed for the first time all day. No one is about to burst into the room like they might in the teacher's offices or anywhere else he happens to stop and catch his breath.

In his hand, he holds an old picture, worn around the edges and crinkled a few places where it's been folded. He runs his thumb lightly over the edge and then sighs, tossing it down onto the coffee table in front of him. Torino looks up from the tea he holds in his own hands, sitting across from him.

His gaze drops down to the picture and he gives a little frown. "That's the boy?"

"That's the picture his mother gave me when he went missing." Toshinori clarifies. He can still remember that afternoon, as clearly as if it had happened the day before. Midoriya Inko's tearful eyes, her tear streaked cheeks, her hands shaking as she clutched the picture of her son for All Might to have. Her voice shaking as she begged All Might to do something for her son. Anything at all.

In the image, the twelve-year-old boy is grinning up at the camera. He wears an All Might shirt- one that Toshinori can tell is one of the limited runs from earlier that same year. There were only a couple thousand printed in the city and this boy had gotten one. Inko had believed so fiercely that All Might could find her son.

He had tried- he really had tried- but no one had seen anything. No one was talking- no villains that were caught, no undercover heroes, no one.

Then he'd been found in the arms of that weird creature, held hostage, presumably to agitate Bakugou- Because it was unlikely that many villains, if any, knew his own interest in the boy's well-being. Which, considering the way Bakugou and Midoriya had interacted since then, led to more questions than answers.

"The one that was in the clutches of that villain alliance."

Toshinori nodded. "He described being in the captivity of someone remarkably like All For One, Torino," Toshinori said with exhaustion in his voice. "And it's not like this isn't the first time that man has worked behind the scenes in order to attack me. He knows I'm the last. He knows I haven't chosen anyone."

"So what purpose did he serve for that man?" Torino asked. "That's what you've been trying to figure out?"

"As far as I can tell," Toshinori said, "He was used as subject to experiment on. He said that the man with the hands on his face brought him along to the fight, but Midoriya didn't realize that Bakugou would be there at the same time." He sighed and rubbed his face with one hand. "Yet he knew that I was supposed to be there. He said that they were there to attack and kill me."

Torino set his cup down on the table. He shook his head slowly. "This isn't good. You need to find a successor to train, Toshinori. You can't keep putting this off." He paused and then asked a little quieter, "Or do you intend to be the last bearer?"

Toshinori closed his eyes. He propped his chin up on his hand and sighed, long and slow. "As long as All For One is out there I have to keep going. One For All has to keep going. His focus is all on me, and I can't let him look away. If I was gone he'd be free to do anything he liked and I can't let that happen."

"I understand," Torino murmured.

He didn't say it, but Toshinori doubted Torino really understood. Being the focus of someone as determined, intelligent and amoral as All For One was a weight that he bore on his shoulders alone. All For One had taken his own mentor from him and Toshinori could feel it in his bones that he, too, would fall to that man's onslaught eventually. His body was already wearing down. The injuries he'd taken over the years were making it harder and harder to take his muscle form and be a hero.

He'd joined Yuuei two years ago in an effort to find a student that would be able to handle all that One For All was: the strength, the wear and tear on the body, a symbol of peace and justice, and a target for arrogant villains and competitive heroes alike. Throw the possibility of death at the hands of the near immortal All For One user, and it was no wonder that Toshinori hadn't been able to pick a single student to succeed him.

Toshinori's gaze fell to the picture on the table. Bright green eyes and an optimistic smile. He had that same look even now- Toshinori had seen it on the boy's face, though only in passing as he was not one of the boy's main teachers. Five years as a lab rat and what was his greatest desire?

"I just want to be a hero and save people like me. I want to save people who are lost like I was!"

He wanted to save the lost. And with a smile like that, with such a burning personality… Midoriya could do it. He could be a light in the darkness.

And what a darkness it would be. The whisperings of a League of Villains, of some alliance being formed in the underground, of some powerful and charismatic leader gathering forces together, to follow his rules- Those rumors were coming true. All Might was off the main fighting circuit, but it was bad enough that word had spread to the professional heroes that worked as teachers in Yuuei. There was something out there. Something coordinating villains. Something that was tearing up parts of the city, taunting heroes with senseless messages.

Toshinori picked up the photo and considered it again. "Did you know…" he started, speaking slowly, thinking over his words as he did so, "Midoriya has a minor regeneration quirk? Nothing strong enough to heal him instantly, but over time his bones set and heal and his muscle knit back together. He spoke of some of the tests done to him- ones including having him falling from a great height- and he was able to regenerate to full health."

He glanced up and saw Torino looking at him with his lips pressed into a thin line. The old man reached out and picked up his drink again. Then he held out his other hand, "Let me see him."

Toshinori handed it over. "He has… many quirks already. In fact, it seems he has a strength quirk already in use. One For All wouldn't break him apart like it would any of the others."

"Those quirks were forced on him," Torino said. "He was an experiment. He certainly isn't stable enough for this."

"He's been medically examined. Both physically and psychologically. He still is meeting with a therapist," Toshinori said, "Despite his years away and a little bit of awkwardness, Midoriya displays an incredible amount of goodwill and cheer. He wants to be a hero. He wants to be a light for those that are lost."

"So you mentioned," Torino said, "That is why you supported his enrollment into Yuuei if I recall correctly." He tossed the photo back onto the table where it slid to the center. "Do you really think he can handle the responsibility of One For All? Are you sure of his allegiance to the greater good?"

"I'm sure that he is trying his best," Toshinori said. He made a fist with one hand, resting it on his knee. "He is anxious to be a hero. He wants to heal and move on from that trauma."

"Don't rush into anything, Toshinori," Torino warned. He eyed Toshinori over his cup as he sipped. "You can only pass it on once. It must be to the right person to carry your legacy."

"He can do it." Toshinori insisted. But he quickly acquiesced under Torino's hard stare. "But I won't give it to him right away. I won't talk to him about it yet, either. The Sport Festival is approaching quickly. I can use that time to see if he can handle this quirk and the responsibility of it." Torino's look didn't let up. Toshinori frowned and looked off to the side.

"There isn't much else I can do, is there? The strongest students in my class are either too volatile, too brittle or can't handle the strain of One For All. Midoriya would be able to adjust the quickest. He can break his body and it will heal. He was captive for five years and his spirit wasn't broken. He still smiles like he did in that photo, Torino, and that tells me enough."

"Wait until after the Festival to decide," Torino said, "The boy might have some surprises up his sleeve still."

Toshinori kept frowning, but he nodded in agreement. Midoriya was a little troubling in some ways, so of course, he'd be paying close attention to the boy. Still…

He looked at the photo. That twelve-year-old boy beamed up, ignorant of the pain and fear his older self must have gone through.

If Midoriya could smile like that, even after all he was put through… He certainly could be one to follow in Nana's footsteps. Toshinori was certain about that.

The hospital room that Shouto's mother stayed in was well lit and warm from the sunlight from the window. The walls were painted a soothing lavender color that went well with a landscape painting hanging across from his mother's bed. She looked up from the book in her hands when Shouto stepped in. He smiled at her. The smile she gave in response was such a fragile, small thing.

"Hello Mother," He walked in and up to her. She sat at the little desk that had been provided for her. Shouto sat at the end of the bed, hands in his lap. "How have you been?"

"Shouto," she greeted, turning towards him. She immediately closed her book and set it aside. Shouto tried not to frown at the sight- she hadn't saved her place in any way. He worried that she hadn't even been reading it, had just been staring down at the pages as she sometimes did. "There you are. I've missed you. It's been so quiet here lately…"

"Well I have some new stories about school to tell you if you want to listen," Shouto said. She smiled and got up from her seat, crossing the small distance to sit beside him. Shouto tensed for a moment but then reached out and put his hand over hers.

"Of course I do. I love your school stories so much." She held his hand in both of hers, squeezing it tightly.

"Well," Shouto said, "We had a mock battle on Friday," his eyes drifted away a bit from her face as he remembered the fight. He recounted the first fight quickly- fighting Team B hadn't been all that exciting, really. Witnessing the second fight that morning had been, though. He'd never seen Bakugou go down so quickly before in his life.

He skipped over what happened to Monoma, though. Shouto didn't want to upset his mother with the fate of the teenager. When he started talking about his fight with Midoriya, though, his mother's grip grew tight on his hand.

Shouto paused after describing the crazy castle that had been made to look at his mother's face. She was a little pale, her eyes a little wide.

"Go on," she said to Shouto, her voice insistent, even a little eager, "Please go on."

Shouto nodded. He stroked the back of her hand as he spoke. He carefully danced around the fact that he had used his flame quirk- it was uncontrolled, it was all Endeavor and his mother didn't need to hear about that. Instead, he explained Midoriya's ice; how he had formed spikes on his knuckles, how he'd conjured daggers with such skill.

"I wish I could do the same, Mom," Shouto said, holding up his right hand. "I don't have the same control as him. I could do this," he formed a small spike of ice. His mother crowed in delight at the sight of it, letting go of his other hand to run gentle fingers along the edge of the ice. "But I can't make the daggers he made. They looked like real knives, too. I could pick them up and throw them back at him."

"Like real knives?" His mother repeated back at him.

"Yeah. And then uh… there was this bit I was unconscious for, but when I came to I was in the ice castle. And, Mom, I wish you could have seen it. It looked like it was laid with icy brick, not just formed all at once. And the tops of the spires looked like an actual rooftop." Shouto explained with a little buzz of excitement. There was color rising in his mother's face, her cheeks flushed more than he'd seen in months. There was a spark of something in her pale eyes, too.

"He created this slide to get down from the castle safely," Shouto said. "It looked like it was made out of crystal. The railings had all these intricate loops and swirls to it. They looked like vines made out of ice."

"Vines?" She repeated him again.

"Yeah," Shouto nodded. "They were so incredibly delicate looking. Mother, I wish I could do that, I wish I could show you. I had no idea an ice quirk could be so… Mom?"

Her wide eyes were glazed over. Her fingers curled around the spike he'd created out of ice. "...do that…" She whispered, her breath so faint he missed half the words.

"What?" He asked. He gently put his hand over hers. All his instincts told him he needed to get that back now.

"I could do that." She said, her voice suddenly sharp. She moved her hands, trying to shake off his grip. "I could do that with my ice."

"Mom-"

"That's my quirk!" She shouted. "That's mine!"

Shouto flinched back, his hands pulling off of her. Now he recognized her expression, wild and haunted around the edges, as the one from his childhood. He froze, staring at her, unable to speak or move.

"I was able to do that! Me!" Her voice rose even higher, "No one else could control their ice that well! I was a prodigy! And they took it from me! They took my ice! Give it back. I want my quirk back!" Her hands lifted up, the spike glistening in them. The heat of her skin was beginning to melt it, making it slip.

Shouto stared up at it, throat tight, mouth dry. He was a child again. He was in his kitchen again. There was his mother over him, capable of anything, capable of ending his life as she had given birth to it. Fear pinned him to the bed.

The door to the room burst open. Shouto heard it only distantly. His mother's screaming filled his ears. Her quirk had been stolen. She wanted it back. It was her quirk. There was someone whose hands were strong as they gripped him by the shoulder and pulled him away from the bed. He saw but didn't see orderlies calming his mother down, restraining her, taking the ice from her grip. She screamed and fought them before they were able to bind her wrists together.

Once she could no longer freely move, Shouto's mother sagged to the side and began to sob.

Shouto watched, wide eyed, breathing shallowly. Someone came over to him, careful and cautious and asked him if he was okay. He nodded his head, swallowing with difficulty. "I didn't know," he said.

"What was that?" The orderly asked.

"I didn't know she as quirkless," Shouto said, looking at his mother in horror and sorrow. "I had no idea."

"Ah," they said to him. "Well… Your mother is a bit of an unusual case. Her quirk faded away a year or two ago. She's not been… quite the same since. We were asked by your father not to say anything to anyone- not even her children. But considering you just saw this…"

Shouto stared as his mother curled up on the bed, sobbing, his mind blank because of the shock. He couldn't speak. There was nothing he could think of to say. His mother was quirkless and he… he was still scared of her hurting him anyway.

It's nearly seven at night, but Izuku isn't alone as he strolls through the park with his phone out. He has an earbud in one ear to play the cheerful background music of his app and he's half paying attention to the screen and half looking around for a familiar face. There are over a dozen other twenty-somethings out in pairs or small groups. Most of them have their phones out as well.

One, passing by, stops and turns, "Hey, did you see the ponyta down by the fountain?"

"Yeah," Izuku said, "There's a horsea down by the pond if you're looking for that."

"Thanks, man," the guy says before trotting off, phone in hand. Izuku smiles and continues down the path.

There's a good turn out that night. The weather is warm and the sun is taking its sweet time in descending. Izuku is in casual clothes, with the addition of heavy duty gloves (with a pad on the finger so he can still use the screen of his phone) and his goggles hang loosely around his throat. He's not in any of his child forms, not the eight-year-old his mother prefers or the fourteen-year-old that he uses to visit people at the bar with. He's not seventeen, either, because even a high school student alone might catch someone's attention.

No, Izuku's aged himself up to the stable age of twenty-three. The weight of his true form settles a little easier with this build. His broad shoulders and heavily muscled arms and legs are hidden under an All Might hoodie and baggy pants. His face doesn't change much, never really does, making him look younger and wide-eyed with innocence. This form is, perhaps, his favorite of the handful or so that he works with because of the ease with which he can move through the city. No one looks twice at an adult- and with the undercut to his hair, the height of his body and the confidence of his movements, Izuku is nothing but an adult.

As he rounds the fountain, eyes on his phone, he hears a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Mint-niichan!"

Izuku looks up, grinning, just as Kagaya takes a running tackle into the center of his chest. Izuku staggered back, catching her with one hand and spinning to diffuse the momentum. Her wiry arms are slung around his neck and she laughs brightly. "Mint-niichan, I missed you! Gomi-nii has missed you too!"

Izuku rolled his eyes. "I saw you, like, two days ago." Kagaya wrapped her legs around his waist, leaning back and grinning up at him. Her golden eyes are alight with mischief. "I saw both of you two days ago." He easily supports her with one arm.

"But that was a boring meeting, and short! And we didn't get to hang out at all!" Kagaya complained, locking her ankles together behind his back. "By the way, did you catch the vulpix out by the gazebo? Choco-chan is there right now."

"Yeah I caught it. Is he still working on his ninetails evolution?" Izuku asked, turning to face the way he was before and walking again. It was nearing the half-hour mark and they still weren't at their meeting spot.

"Yup." She unwound her arms from around Izuku to pull out her phone and pop open the app. "What should I name mine? I haven't named it yet. What did you name yours?"

"Haruka," Izuku said immediately. "She had that kind of vibe to her."

"Hmmmm," Kagaya's head tilted from side to side, making her braided pigtails swing along with the movement. Izuku's gaze caught on them, noticing that the dye was fading somewhat. She must not have been able to refresh it while she was out of town, he figured. Either that or she'd been too busy to do so. "Sacchan." She said, fingers tapping the screen. "That's a good name for a vulpix."

"Sounds good to me," Izuku said, leading up a stone path. The farther he walked, the fewer people were around them. "How are you doing?" He ducked them both under a low hanging branch and took the moment to look more closely at her face. The other night, after the bus ride, he hadn't had much time to spend talking to Kagaya or check up on her.

Her golden eyes still had that brilliant, cunning light to them and her makeup was as impeccable and unique as usual. On her right cheek is a painted black spade; mirroring it on the left is a pink heart. She looks like she's gotten enough sleep recently, as there's no makeup being used to cover shadows under her eyes. When Izuku shifts her body against his, he estimates her weight and decides she's probably been getting enough to eat too.

She waved her hand at him, the other scrolling through her pokemon or something. "I'm fine, Mint-nii. Gomi-nii and I both were on the last trip together. I didn't have to stay behind with Choco-chan or Bakaboss."

Izuku chuckled. "Well, I'm glad he could take you with him. I worry when you two are separated."

Kagaya eyes him for a moment before huffing and returning to her phone. Quietly, she said, "I don't like it when my niisan is gone. Either one of them."

Wincing, Izuku held her a little tighter. Kagaya frowned but propped her chin on his shoulder in response, looking down over his back at her phone. "Sorry," he murmured. "But don't you like getting to see your little brother?"

Kagaya elbowed him in the ribs, though not as sharply as she could have, Izuku knew, and grumbled, "Duh," at him. "My lil' brother is the cutest." Izuku could hear the grin in her voice as she added, "Choco-chan agrees~"

Izuku laughed. He came to a stop by a cherry tree, the one that had a green ribbon fluttering from a branch just above their heads. Kagaya looked up and sighed. She unhooked her legs and slipped down. Izuku put away his phone, taking out the earbud so he was more aware of his situation. Kagaya used him as support still, leaning against him as though he were as solid as a tree.

He looked over at the rustling of some grass and smiled at the familiar face that appeared. Dabi looked up from his phone and smiled back. Then he blinked, looked Izuku over from head to toe and smiled wider. "Hey," he said, "Haven't seen you like this in a while. You look good."

Kagaya snickered softly from Izuku's other side. Izuku ignored her, though Dabi gave her an annoyed look. "Thanks. It's nice to stretch out a little. How have things been?"

"Eh. The most exciting thing was that call the boss got a few days ago." Dabi shrugged with a shoulder. He came walking over, phone in hand. "I've been all over the city this week but still haven't hatched my 10-k egg. I think it might be bugged out again. Other than that, it's been pretty dull." Once at Izuku's side, he showed the screen of his phone, "Caught a vulpix earlier, and a ponyta. I heard there was a psyduck around, but I didn't see it."

"That was a rumor," Kagaya said with a sigh. "Someone started it because there were ducks in the pond and there are never ducks in the pond."

"What? That fucking sucks," Dabi groaned. "I spent twenty minutes hunting that thing." He scratched at the back of his head. "How has your hunting gone, Boss?"

"Eh, school is really fucking with my hours," Izuku complained. "But I think Hitoshi and I are going to go hunting together next week sometime. There's a project we have to work on with a classmate so we're going to use that as an excuse to wander around town collecting pokemon."

"Mint-nii is going on another date?" Kagaya grinned up at him. "You just went on one the other night!"

"That wasn't a date," Izuku said. It didn't dim Kagaya's grin any, though. "I just needed to regain lost calories and thought it would be nice to spend time with Hitoshi."

"Yeah?" Dabi asked, "Where did you take him?"

"Ah," Izuku cleared his throat.

Kagaya's grin broadened to show all her teeth. "Mint-nii took his date to All Might Central. Himichan saw him there." She leaned in, prodding Izuku in the side with a finger. "Gomi-nii and I saw you there too. He was eating out of your dishes and sharing your milkshake straw and everything."

"Oh shiiit," Dabi said, eyebrows rising, "That sounds like a date to me, Boss."

"It wasn't a date," Izuku felt his cheeks heating up. "Hitoshi is my friend. Right now, we're just friends."

"Right now," Kagaya repeated back as a taunt. "You totally kissed him on the bus. We saw it happen. Didn't you check his blog? He totally posted about the kiss!"

Izuku elbowed her back, but she nimbly ducked out of the way, giggling now. "It was only a little peck on the cheek."

"A kiss from Boss is still a kiss," Dabi said with a shrug. "Don't you want to start dating this guy? Why don't you start already?" He frowned, looking at Izuku. "Does he not want to date you? Is it because you were kidnapped? Does he think you're a bad dude?"

"No, no, it's nothing like that," Izuku shook his head. "I just don't want to rush him into anything. It's a bit like…" he ran a hand through his hair and down to the back of his neck, scratching at it idly. "It's a bit like when I met you guys. I didn't ask you right away to help me, did I? Even though I thought that eventually, we'd work really well together and that you could understand what I was trying to do, I didn't start off that strong.

"It's kind of like that with Hitoshi. I feel like we could be really good together but I don't want to come on too strong. Maybe he likes me back, but maybe he's just a little overwhelmed by having me as a friend so suddenly." Izuku sighed. His interactions with Hitoshi weren't always as clear cut, considering the varying interests and desires he had of the teen. On the one hand, Izuku certainly had a romantic interest. On the other… Well. Hitoshi's quirk was just a bit too powerful, wasn't it?

"Ohh, the slow burn," Dabi said, "That's what Himiko would call this."

"It's not that slow," Kagaya said.

"It's the exact speed that Hitoshi needs it to be," Izuku said firmly, hoping to end that topic. His timing turned out to be perfect, as at that moment the fourth and final member of their group arrived.

Chizome came up the path, his long legs carrying him swiftly down the stepping stones. Izuku saw him first, but Kagaya saw him second. She let out a screech and hurled herself forward to tackle him. Chizome caught her with one arm around the waist but she still got hers around his neck, squeezing a hug so tight that Izuku winced in sympathy.

"Bakaboss! You're still alive! And not in jail!" Kagaya giggled, kicking her legs idly as she hung in the air.

"And you are the same little monster as usual," Chizome said with amusement. He pulled her off by the back of her shirt, and fortunately, she let him do so. He set her down and then looked up to the other two. "The two of you ready to get on with this?"

"You don't sound all that excited," Izuku teased lightly. "Isn't this what you've been building up to all week?"

Chizome crossed the distance between them quickly. Izuku blinked up at him- there were few that had inches on him when he was his adult self and Chizome was one of them. The man roughly rubbed the top of Izuku's head. "You little brat, you're still in a tenuous place, aren't you? That was a hell of a scare you had Friday."

"It was just a scare. I'm fine now." Izuku gave him a smile. "I haven't had any trouble since then."

"Not even with the witness?"

"No. Actually, he defended me when I wasn't there. Hitoshi Informed me." Izuku said looking away guiltily. His Inform quirk wasn't very invasive, as far as verbal compelling quirks went, but it was still a compulsion quirk. It was one he only used to get quick explanations from people already willing to divulge to him.

"Ah," Chizome said. He lifted his hand and tucked it under Izuku's chin, making him have to look up again. "Your cover is good then, Arbiter?"

Izuku snorted and brushed Chizome's hand away from his face. "Of course it is, Bloodstain." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dabi straighten up at their use of each other's code names. "I wouldn't be working it still if it was blown."

"Even a little suspicion isn't good for you. They know you have some association with the likes of us," Chizome said, "They watch you too closely and they'll know more about you than you think they do."

"Pocky is keeping an eye on some of that," Kagaya said from behind him.

Izuku nodded, though. His lips were pressed into a firm line, his brows lowered to mimic Chizome's serious expression. "I understand. I'll keep my head down better in the future."

Chizome watched him for a moment, silent and calculating, then he too nodded slightly. "There is more attached to your cause than just your own name and skill, Arbiter. Don't throw away your best chance for a little romance or fun. Those things are secondary to your cause, are they not?"

Izuku's jaw tightened. "They are."

He got another nod for his admission. Then Chizome glanced to Dabi. "Don't encourage Arbiter to go astray."

"Yes sir," Dabi said immediately. "I apologize."

Chizome waved that away with a hand. He turned to look at Kagaya. She stood with her hands on her hips, a cocky grin on her face and a devilish look in her eye. "What," she said, "Are you gonna try and boss me aroundtoo, Bloodstain?"

"God knows what kind of shitshow that would be, Eris," Chizome said, calling her by her code name as well.

She laughed.

"It's time to go," Izuku said, flicking his gaze up towards the sky. He checked the angle of the sun, the light of the horizon, the oncoming darkness and gave a wicked smile. "Flames will do nicely tonight."

"How do you want to divide it?" Chizome asked. "Singles or pairs?"

"Pairs," Izuku said. "Dabi and Eris together, you and I together." He flicked his gaze over the group, "Complaints?"

"I agree but only if I get to sit in the booth next to you when we're done," Kagaya said, beginning to stretch. Her arms went over her head, her back arched and she rocked up to her tip-toes. There was the faint crack of her bone as she moved fluidly from one stretch to the next.

"Agreed," Izuku said. He glanced to Dabi, who shrugged.

"I know better than to get in the way of your planning time, Boss." He sighed and rolled his shoulders, stretching them out a little as well. "What point count are we going for?"

"No more than two hundred, at a hundred a pair," Chizome said. "We've taken a couple dozen points here and there all week. This is the largest one, though, so it's more about overall property damage and a wide range of destruction to catch attention."

"We're working from the outside in," Izuku continued, "The final scene should be right outside the agency. It'll be tight if we don't keep them at bay around the edges, but if we manage it, I'll have plenty of time to leave a message to the number two."

"You two go north and then east. Arbiter and I will go south and then east. Avoid capture. Avoid being seen if you can. Move quick and keep going until you see the signal to scatter." Chizome instructed. He glanced to Kagaya who had perked up at his mentioning a signal. "And yes, it's the usual one."

"When we're done," Izuku said with a smile, "Reconvene at AM-Central. My treat." Chizome pushed at his shoulder gently at that, but Izuku just kept grinning. "What? It's been a while since we could really sit and talk. I'll have some time to spare after this, I'm sure."

Kagaya whipped out her phone, "I'll tell Niisan to meet us there! It'll be a party!"

Chizome shook his head, sighing in exasperation. "If you have no more questions…?"

"We're good," Dabi said with a nod. "We'll see you soon." He looked intently at Izuku. "Be careful with your flames."

"Be careful with yours," Izuku replied. He pulled his goggles up from around his neck and slid them properly into place. The world was tinted and darker for a moment before his eyes quickly adjusted and the brightness no longer was an issue.

Kagaya skipped over and slipped her arms around Izuku one more time in a tight hug. "Careful, Mint-nii," she whispered, "Remember you promised me dinner!" Izuku put an arm around her, hugging her tight to his side and he smiled at her.

"I'll be there. I always keep my promises."

She nodded and ducked away again. Dabi lifted a hand in a wave, gave Izuku one last long look and then followed her out through the bushes. This left Izuku alone with Chizome.

For a second they looked at each other in silence. Izuku grinned first, wide and vicious as he flexed under his loose clothes, adding extra bulk with hardly a thought. Chizome's grin was just as broad and he gave an open-mouthed grin. "Shall we race? Our first destination is only a few blocks from here."

"Sure," Izuku agreed readily. He flexed his hands, making fists and shaking them out a little. Looking up, he met Chizome's gaze and flashed another quick grin. The next second they were tearing out of the park, headed southward. Once they broke away from the green grass of the park, the weapons came out.

Chizome's sword flashed in the light of Izuku's burning fist of fire. They were neck and neck as they ran, fleet-footed despite their heavy boots. There was only minor damage done to their surroundings as they ran- Chizome took a corner too hard, knocking into Izuku, who hit the side of a car with enough force to leave the impression of his side in the door. He kicked away from it, laughing, fire trailing from his hands and sending people screaming away from them.

Izuku hit their destination first, running fast enough that when he skidded to a stop he went face first into the wall. Chizome had to slow up sooner but arrived only a second or two after Izuku. He chuckled under his breath, caught hold of Izuku's hood and pulled him free of the wall.

Izuku shook the dust from his hair and grinned. "I won."

"You're being idiotic." Chizome gestured to the wall which had caved in somewhat around the impact. "Look at this. Someone is going to have to take care of this."

"You're right," Izuku laughed. "But to fix it… the rest of it probably needs to go." He looked up the two story building and flared the fire in his hands a little hotter, though not much bigger. "Think I can bring it down in the time it takes you to get, what, fifteen points?"

"Fifteen?" Chizome scoffed, "I can get thirty, easily."

Izuku lifted a fist, readying a punch. "Prove it." He taunted and then slammed his fist into the brick, creating a hole through force and heat. He heard the crunching step of Chizome's boot as he took off around to the front of the building. Izuku grinned wildly as he let fire rise up his limbs and consume him. His clothes didn't burn, this time, but his hair lit up like a wick, burning much like that number two hero, Endeavor. Except, instead of a red and orange natural flame, Izuku's was blue and white and hot enough to melt the metal of the first appliance he came across in that small back room.

With a dark chuckle, Izuku set to work with flames and fists. This was only the first of several buildings that they were going to tear apart and if he really did want to meet up at the diner and get some dinner, he was going to have to hurry up.

It was full dark by the time Endeavor made it back to his offices. He had caught sight of only one of the multiple assailants- and it was a different one than he'd seen earlier that week. Rage burned in through him, almost as deeply as the exhaustion that made him sluggish.

It had been a week of this- chasing the after image of villains tearing through his section of the city with fire and destruction. They were quick, whoever they were. He'd seen one for a second, on the other side of a shattered window and a wall of his own flames (ones that he'd sent up to try and capture the bastard) and that wide grin and the flash of gold from the giant M on his hoodie made Endeavor's blood boil in his veins.

He didn't even make it into the building before he was accosted by an underling. The woman was breathless as she caught up with him, "Endeavor, sir," she said, "The villains. They left another message."

"They did?" He rounded on her, "Where? What is it?"

She pointed across the street. "On the side of that building, there."

"Take me to it. How did they get so close to the agency without getting caught?" Endeavor asked her, the flame on his head roaring up with his voice. "Where was everyone?"

"Out, sir," She said, her voice shaking only a little bit. She had been around enough to not be quite as afraid of him as some of the newer heroes he had working for him. "There's been damage all over. Buildings falling, cars exploding, people walking off of rooftops, it's been crazy, sir." She led him across the street to the building she'd mentioned before. "Some of us only just returned, like you, sir."

Endeavor scoffed in anger. He'd called in everyone today, scheduled or not, once that first building had gone down. There had been a build-up all week- taunting messages, numbers counting down to today- but he hadn't been sure when they would strike.

And yet, they still hadn't managed to catch any of the villains. He wouldn't even know for sure how many were involved in this until he'd heard everyone's reports.

"Here," she said, gesturing up. "That's what was left behind."

Along the side of the wall were five words, each one a meter tall at least and they were made of solid ice. As he stood there, looking at them, fear crept into Endeavor's heart for the first time in years.

Dead Wives Tell No Tales.

TBC

Notes:

the Inform Quirk:
This quirk requires the victim of it to be willing to give information to the user. The user has either a few particular questions or a specific scene in which they want to know the exact details as much as possible. The use of this quirk makes the victim recount, word for word, to the best of their ability, their memories. The quirk lasts only a few minutes and ceases to work if the victim, at any point, becomes unwilling to provide information.