A/N: Hey, past readers of this series. You ever wonder about that one loose end I never discussed by the end of the book?

Yeah, me too. Me too...

-line-

The bag was abruptly and roughly pulled off of the man's head, snapping him from his uneasy doze. Heartbeat pounding in his ears, he shrank away from the glowering man before him who held the bag pinched between three fingers.

"Well," rasped Shigaraki, eyes glinting, "you've got a lot of explaining to do, Ashikaga."

"I- I didn't know, I swear, I had no idea," the man groveled, bowing his head in a pathetic display of deference. "I swear, Shigaraki… please, spare me, please…"

"You crossed the wrong man when you took her. You should have known not to cross Midoriya Inko, and yet you decided to test your luck?" He spat. "All For One is not happy, and neither am I."

"You're right," came a new voice, and the rotund man in the chair froze in terror. "I'm furious."

Shigaraki could hardly conceal a smirk as the sheer intensity of his master's presence in the room made the older man's entire body begin to tremble.

All For One stepped into the flickering light, his face set into one of displeasure, cold eyes taking in the pathetic display before him.

"You were warned," he began.

"Y- yes, I understand, I know that- that you reminded us of your whereabouts, but-"

"But you decided a quick wad of cash was worth crossing me for." The villain let out a deceptively-calm breath through his nose. "Naturally."

"All For One, I promise, my men would have never touched your wife if we could help it." He bowed his head again before tilting his thin enough so that his pleading gaze could be seen through his eyelashes. "We- we were given a specific target, and when she happened upon them, I- I guess they just figured that…"

Trailing off, he shook his head rapidly. "I knew I shouldn't have hired those rookies…"

"So that's it, then?" All For One questioned, folding his arms across his chest. "That's your excuse? That you hired stupid idiots? That's all you have to say to me, after all the mercy I've given you thus far?"

"We've let you carry out your little scheme for years without much incident since you were such a liability," Shigaraki added with a sneer.

"I want to know who, exactly, gave you my wife's information." The villain's tranquil demeanor grew cold for a moment, a moment long enough for the man to stiffen. "And I want to know why you thought I wouldn't notice."

"I- it was some contact out of Musutafu, I think," he shakily replied. "I never actually got the guy's name. One of my boys told me we were getting a good deal."

Upon seeing the older man's arched brow, he meekly continued, "They promised us a mil if we brought her in. I'd have been a fool to pass that kind of money up."

"Clearly you were a fool regardless." All For One's lips pressed into a flat, unimpressed line.

"Musutafu…" Shigaraki mused to himself with a frown. "It couldn't have been Yuuei. They'd be too stupid to pass out the information of one of their students' families; they're still trying to track down the kid and All Might, right? But then who …?"

"Tomura, you're thinking quite hard over there," his master observed with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Care to share?"

"I'm trying to figure out who could have been the one to order the hit," the young man answered. "Someone in Musutafu… could it be…?"

"I know that rat isn't bold enough to directly challenge me like this." The smile that spread across the silvery-haired man's face was wide. Too wide. A ripple of a shiver went down the trafficker's back.

"Maybe not him, but perhaps some hero agency decided to send a spy." He shot a flat look at the rotund man in the chair. "Obviously they sent a bad one, but I wouldn't put it past some underground hotshot to attempt to brute-force a solution."

"Maybe so," his master agreed, "but one doesn't come across information like that so easily. I made certain that my wife disappeared from the public eye. I didn't treat her with that one quirk so that she could be easily recognized in this part of Japan."

Both sets of eyes turned to the trafficker.

Under the scrutiny, the man wilted back. "I've already told you everything I know, sir."

With a wider smile, All For One sauntered toward him with one hand outstretched. "I'm sure you have."

Nedzu accidentally dropped a pencil. As it hit the floor, he sighed. "Oh dear."

There had been a terrible feeling in the air all morning, yet as of now he couldn't quite figure out what it was.

His staff seemed blissfully unaware too - except for Kan, that is, but he figured he couldn't blame him for being on edge.

"Should I be relieved that we both have the same unease…?" He wondered to himself.

Ever since he'd been found out, Nedzu had taken care to keep a close eye on the hero. Part of him held a sadistic glee that he kept that fact in mind; surely he would be far less likely to do anything against them now that he had a dirty secret to keep from the rest of the staff.

Of course, he didn't consider himself heartless. A genius, perhaps, but certainly not heartless. He still took care to avoid undue mistreatment or personal favoritism. If the dynamic between principal and teacher changed, the others would catch on, and he wasn't ready to reveal him as a traitor quite yet. Not while there was still so much to be done.

As he grasped the pencil, a horrible feeling rippled through his small body. Nedzu's face darkened in a deep frown. Something was wrong. But what?

His phone vibrated on the table, and he grunted as he got back up into his chair. Swiping the device from the tabletop, he squinted at the message.

Kan had texted. Sir, a notorious trafficker has just vanished from Saitama Prefecture.

His frown smoothed out. Ah, so that was it? And?

I've received word from Aizawa that one of his colleagues was able to glean that the trafficker was after Midoriya Inko.

That's what he wanted to hear.

A smile curled on his face. Excellent. Do we know which city he was operating in?

He didn't say, but apparently this was near Besupin City.

A reasonably-sized part of the prefecture, nestled in a good part of the country near the coast. It wasn't nearly as large and bustling as others, such as Tokyo, but it was a decent tourist trap.

Perfect for snatching unsuspecting women, whether for their quirks or otherwise.

Disgust flashed through his mind. There were a lot of grievances towards humanity as a whole, but every once in a while he found that he could still be surprised by a new low.

Turning to his chessboard, he hummed in thought. Several of the black pieces had been captured from the board, and only one or two white pawns had been knocked out of play.

"I have to admit, you're proving to be more of a frustration that I first perceived you to be, All For One," he chuckled quietly to himself.

Another pawn was knocked from the board, and the stoat surveyed the set for a moment before turning to look out the window at the gray skies overhead.

"But we both know how this ends."