Izuku entered the upstairs room of the base where he knew he'd find what he needed.
The room was storing some miscellaneous, specific assets for the Kijimi op. Crates of cleaning supplies were stacked in one corner. Clothes and uniforms, mainly for police, hung on a z-rack in front of two washer/dryers. But on the end of the rack was the thing he needed: the suit.
There was only one other person in the room: Mandalay. She was turning a small device over in her hand and staring at the rack contemplatively. Specifically at the formal gown that was hanging next to the suit.
Izuku sighed upon realizing it was her, which caused her to spin around and gasp.
"Ah! D-deku, it's…"
"Give me the invitation, Mandalay." He held out his hand. No time for games.
Sosaki's nervous eyes went down to the device in her palm. It had been handed to the heroes by the Hojo's mysterious envoy. It contained a scannable code to enter the charity ball. "No," she answered, finding some steel. "...That's a poor plan. If anyone should go, it's me."
Izuku shook his head. "Can't let you do that. I go alone. The invitation is for one."
"It'll be a trap. They'll try to kill you."
"And I'm the only one strong enough to survive."
"This…hasn't been authorized by Nejire-chan or Suneater."
"I don't work for them."
"B-but I do." She turned fully to face him, lips pursed, pale. "I'm not giving it to you willingly. If you want it, you'll have to take it."
Exasperation threatened to transform into reckless action. Izuku's legs spasmed with adrenaline. Mirko all over again.
He stepped forward, knowing he looked either stoic, exhausted, or furious. Sosaki took a timid step back, the edge of her costume's tutu pushing against the washing machine.
Izuku clicked his teeth and walked to the side of the room, putting his back to her as he reached into a crate to grab one of the masquerade masks: a white one with purple decorative markings. He pulled it over his curly hair and past his ears, and let the mask rest around his neck for the time being. He could feel her eyes watching him, still frozen to the spot.
He turned and walked toward her, causing her to let out another squeak and take some hasty steps away…but he was only going for the rack. He took the suit off the rack and threw it over one arm, not even looking at her.
Then, he sighed. "Last chance, Mandalay. I'm serious."
"Like I said. If you r-really want it, you'll have t-"
A Blackwhip shot out from his free hand. He'd meant to simply aim for the device and steal it, but at that moment, he was thinking less about the invitation and the mission ahead of him and more about the woman herself, and his general frustration with her.
He was distracted, and Blackwhip responded to his subconscious. It wrapped around Sosaki's waist and pulled her close to him, and before he knew it, they were in each other's arms again, desperately close, staring wide-eyed at each other.
Sosaki gaped at him, trembling with shock, her eyelashes so long that they nearly brushed his skin. And then…her eyelids lowered, and she flicked her gaze down toward his mouth, her own lips parting, expectant, accepting.
Izuku took the invitation from her hand and sidestepped her, his head buzzing with energy. Blackwhip dissipated, and Mandalay fell forward half a step into the spot he'd vacated, disappointment flickering across her eyes before it was replaced by even more shock, at him, at herself.
Red-faced, Izuku snapped, "Get out of this rut you're in. You're a great hero and a great leader. We need that Mandalay back." The last thing he saw before storming out of the room was Sosaki putting her hand over her mouth.
People called out to him as he stormed down the stairs, heading for a place to quickly change into this suit and get going. He ignored them all. He was a tornado right now. Nothing would stand in his way.
Don't they get it? Our enemies are acting now! We have to act, too!
Anger and embarrassment were threatening to flood over. Why'd he have to do and say all that with Sosaki? I've moved on from what happened. She needs to get over it.
It's in the past. I forget. I go forward. Forward to this next responsibility.
…
The twins heard a knock on the door.
They exchanged a glance. Behind them, the party had already begun - music pounded, lights flashed, silhouettes moved across the floor.
"Someone's here late," one of them said.
"Only got about three invites outstanding by my count."
"My count had four."
"You counting the hero invite?"
"No, dumbass. This can't be the hero invite. They would have activated the trip alarm, the barrier, the gun turrets…all of it. We'd have known they were coming long before now."
"So you're saying they're not coming."
"Never said that. But whoever this is isn't a hero. They're just late."
The other twin sighed. "Late it is. I'll get the door. You stand back."
His brother nodded, one hand on the gun at his belt, as he retreated into the shadows beside the door. The twin reached forward to open it, right as a second, more insistent knock came.
"Yeah, yeah-" The man blinked as he swung the door open to reveal the person standing there.
It was a young man in a suit, slightly slouching in the darkness outside the building. The man didn't recognize him.
Green eyes lifted up from the shaded face. "I want to speak to Naru Hojo."
The twin suppressed a shocked laugh, and raised a hand to indicate to his brother. "Don't know anybody named that. You got an invite?" Both twins gripped their firearms.
The person outside showed their invite. It glowed off the device, a spinning holograph. The twin recognized it on sight. It was the hero invite.
"I want to speak to Naru Hojo," he repeated.
This time, the twin did laugh. "Alright, buddy, I dunno if you stole that or what, but-" He prepared to lift his gun.
"I wouldn't do that."
His brother came around the corner, fuming. "Who the hell do you think you are?" They both faced down the mysterious young man now.
"The one who got past all your traps."
"Listen, bud. I'd go back where I came from if I was you. Otherwise, that fancy suit's gonna get all filled up with blood."
Izuku Midoriya stepped into the light, right at the threshold. "Mine or yours?"
The twins froze. The green-haired man pulled a limp piece of fabric out of his pocket and held it up, unfolding it. Hanging there was a green hood with pointed ears.
The brothers glanced at each other, alarmed. Him. And he snuck right through our defense.
"I'm alone," said Midoriya. "Don't make me repeat what I want a third time."
Meaningful glances passed between the guards. "You want to speak to the boss," one of them finally said. "Fine. Follow me."
…
Izuku's eyes jumped out at anything and everything as the two identical guards led him into the event space.
It was not entirely unlike the club he'd infiltrated last month, though more crowded, and the music, outfits, and decor were ever so slightly classier.
And this one has a bigger fish at the top of the barrel. Before, he'd come disguised, to see the second-in-command, who'd known nothing. Today he was himself. And today he was talking to the elder sibling. The patriarch of the Hojos.
As the twins led him down a short set of steps and onto the dancefloor, the music cut off, and the chatter suppressed itself.
All of a sudden, half a hundred pairs of eyes converged on Izuku.
He felt their gazes crawl, the quiet almost suffocating. Moody lights continued to crisscross the faces in the room.
His own eyes jumped around. Men and women, some even mutants, all halting their festivities. They were all wearing masquerade masks, meaning he recognized no one, even though he'd pored over the criminal records.
Then he saw the emcee, on a raised platform on the left side of the room, staring at him with fear. More specifically, staring at the hood in his hand. He saw that and cut the music. Izuku pocketed the hood again. He had his own masquerade mask on, but now there was no doubt that everyone in the room knew who he was.
His heart pounded, and he kept his eyes forward and steady, the stares still hot on his neck, following him. Up ahead was another set of stairs, leading to a second floor that extended around the edges of the room in a perimeter balcony.
When the twins had led him over halfway to it, the music started up again, and the guests slowly began to restart their partying. A sense of ebbing tension and relief went up Izuku's spine. They are not stopping me.
The twins handed him off to another set of guards that stood at the bottom of the staircase. Whispers were exchanged in ears. The stair-guards nodded, seeming a bit more stoic than the twins, and led Izuku up to the second floor. The twins returned to their place by the door.
Up on the balcony now, Izuku had a good view of the party, which had gotten back into full swing in a matter of twenty seconds. They have already forgotten me. He had been so sure that since most everyone here was a criminal, they would be constantly on edge about a hero showing up. But…while the guards on the floor's shadowy margins remained alert, the party guests in the bright, flashing middle were a different story. They had been afraid of him while they could see him and that was the extent of it.
Career criminals. All of them dipping their toes into one bad business or another, all scum looking to profit and rise up out of the ashes from our destroyed society. To them, heroes - who often focused their efforts on a different, more direct sort of evil - were hardly ever the enemy. Their foes were the tax collectors, the business rivals, the government. They had no understanding of physical Quirk combat, but they were villains all the same. And I must find a way to stop every single one of them. In All For One's ideal world, such people would be given free reign and privilege, no doubt.
It was a masquerade ball, but it was a charity ball too. Izuku would bet all his All Might merchandise that the guests "charitably donating" tonight, safe behind their masks, would be the likes of small-town mayors and council representatives, bureaucrats, police chiefs, big business owners. The corrupt. To them, the Hojos made good friends in the darkness.
Izuku was taken through a door that led off the balcony, deeper into the building. The guards exchanged him to a different set of guards. These two were mutants, one a puma, the other with wasp-like features. They both activated their Quirks and snarled upon seeing him, but then both their earpieces lit up, and they listened to whatever the message was and calmed down. Electing to lead him on.
Orders? Izuku thought.
A twisting maze of hallways and doors and stairs later, and he was brought into a moodily lit penthouse room at the top of the building.
The stars shone through floor-to-ceiling windows. Sullen, industrial cityscape stretched away, most roofs lower than this room. Inside the room was a set of lush couches and chairs in a sunken space, and to the right, a circular table.
Three men were playing cards at the table, which was lit from above by a warm lamp with an ornate design. They were all suited and mid-fifties or sixties. Izuku wondered which was Naru.
He got his answer a moment later, when one of the men noticed the guards entering, and whispered to the other two. Those two put their cards face-down on the table and stood up.
They left, walking past the guards and Izuku. Neither of them spared him so much as a glance.
The remaining man still sat at the table. He was slim, with curly grey hair and a mustache, but no beard. There were odd markings on his neck - Izuku couldn't tell if they were tattoos, or genetic residuals from some Quirk had by his ancestors.
He exhaled slowly and took a sip from the glass next to him. Ice cubes clinked in brown liquid. Then he put his own cards face-down like the others, and called to the guards. "Stay by the door," he said. His voice was accented oddly.
The guards obeyed, retreating from Izuku's side and into the shadows.
Naru Hojo's gaze levelled to his visitor. "Is it just you then, boy?"
"Just me."
He slipped a wry grin. "You had to get saved last time. When you were posing as my nephew."
"I can only assume you've taken measures to ensure that won't happen again."
"Well, you apparently got past those measures."
"I did. They won't be able to," Izuku said, meaning the Kijimi heroes.
That caused the old man to raise an eyebrow. "You must know your friends' Quirks well. I'll take that as a compliment to my defensive strategy."
"I still broke it."
"Mm. Yes." Naru gestured to one of now-empty chairs across from him at the table. "Have a seat."
Izuku walked over and sat down.
Naru leaned forward and picked up one of the sets of face-down cards, a hand used by one of the men that left. He inspected it with a hum, and then put it back, not even bothering to return them to the exact same position.
When Izuku raised an eyebrow, the man just shrugged and said, "No wonder he was getting so confident. He was close to beating me." Then, he leaned down beneath the table and procured another glass, empty save for two ice cubes, and a bottle of whiskey. "Drink?"
Izuku took a moment to decide. "Yeah," he finally said.
Naru smirked, and poured. Izuku watched the alcohol splash on the ice and fill the glass halfway up. The drink was passed across the table to him.
Izuku took a sip. Experimentally. It burned his throat and ears, causing his head to yawn, but he got it down without letting his face slip.
Naru was watching him carefully. "You don't need that mask in here," he said. "Nor the one you keep in your pocket. I know who you are."
"If that's true, then you know what I'm capable of."
"Yes, well…" Naru tilted his head side-to-side and took another drink. "You are only a teenager. Yet here you are, representing the heroes by yourself…there's no way they let you do this. Not with Thing One and Thing Two still out there." He waved toward the window, referring to Shigaraki and AFO.
"Which means you are here without their permission." His grin widened. "This is why I allowed you through without a fight. Why I ordered my guards to stand down and escort you all the way. If you are rogue, it means there's something you want desperately. Something I can provide. And that…I am willing to do." He poured himself some more whiskey.
He found out I was here very quickly. Izuku hadn't noticed any of the guards reporting into their earpieces, except to talk to each other. Is it a Quirk? Are we inside one of his forcefields right now? If so, then what's the rule of this particular field?
The two of them were close enough to be at a Quirk-stalemate. Izuku had no doubt that if necessary, Naru Hojo could generate a barrier immediately around this table, and if that happened, then he'd be under a state of mind control. Similarly, he could simply dash over the table and knock out the man in the blink of an eye.
But neither of them were exactly sure of the other's speed. So, for now, they were cordial.
"You're willing to provide what I want."
Another shrug. "Depends on what it is, but yes. For a price."
They both drank.
"A price," said Izuku, staring at the rim of his glass. He didn't like the sound of that.
"Of course. It will be nothing too steep for you, I imagine. What you want…is information, yes? You have captured many of my business partners, and even some of my family members, and no doubt they've told you what they know, which is very little." Naru made a disappointed tut sound and shook his head. "I was devastated to find out that so many of them were criminals. And right under my nose, too…"
Izuku was taken aback by the man's arrogance. "They were arrested for solid charges we could nail them with. But you…cover your tracks better than that."
"I'm not sure what you're implying." Naru blinked, feigning innocence. "Every man has secrets, of course. I'm sure you even have some of your own. But when it comes to investigations…matters of state…I would like to be as open a book as I can. So ask away, dear boy, and if it's something I know about, then I shall help." He took another sip.
Izuku narrowed his eyes. "And what do you want in return?"
Naru sniffed. "Even after all pretense, you could still try and take me out of here. You'd have a hell of a fight to get through if you tried it, but you could. Because I am not in a shelter. And your government has ordered the citizens to shelter themselves."
"Heroes aren't allowed to force people to go to them."
"All the same. You'd find some reason to do it."
"Why not go to a shelter? If you're really out here attempting to do honest business…it must be difficult, with the country in such a state." Izuku leaned forward. I will play his game and test him along the lines of his own story. "Why not wait until we've cleaned things up?"
"Because I do not run from my problems." The way the old man said it, with such conviction, made Izuku honestly believe it. Villain or not. He took a huge gamble to continue to try and operate out here, with AFO and Shigaraki unaccounted for. There's no guarantee they wouldn't kill him if they saw him as competition. "Like I said. I don't want to leave Kijimi. I want to see it prosper once again, and I am willing to help the heroes in making it so. All I ask in return is safe conduct. That you leave this meeting without attempting to fight us, and go back on your way with the information you've gathered."
Izuku's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't want any information on the heroes in return?"
Naru laughed. "Are you willing to give it? To tell the truth, boy…you're not exactly running a stealthy operation. Which is the point, of course, since you upstanding types feel you have nothing to hide…nevertheless, I already know everything I need to know about your group. There's nothing you can give me on that front."
A chill went up Izuku's spine. He's being honest there, too.
"Done," he said.
"Excellent." Naru raised his glass, and Izuku clinked his own into it, feeling dirty. They both took a drink. Safe conduct it is.
"Now then." Izuku paused a moment, letting the fiery alcohol slip down his throat. "Where is the Company Town?"
Naru's eyes only twitched a little, to his credit. "Right to the jugular, eh."
"Well? Is this part of your open book? Or is it in another one, that's closed?"
The man laughed. "You know, boy…books are a funny thing. If you'd taken a closer look at your books…that is, the records you have on me, my family, and our businesses…you'd find what you seek there, fair and square. The Company Town…it's a colloquial term used by many of my employees, I've heard, though I never call the place that myself. It's the off-site factory where we manufacture our athletic equipment used in Kijimi's entertainment centers - clubs for the mini-golf, axes for the axe throwing, rocks for the climbing wall. It's the Gumyoji complex off Route 218, in Minami Ward. Off to the south. Of course, since the battle, we've had no production there. The employees all evacuated, and we can't even send anyone down to maintain it. I suppose it's technically abandoned at the moment. Home to gangs of free-roaming hooligans, no doubt." Naru spat on the floor. "You'd find all that information in the books, though, like I said. So it makes me wonder what you're really here for."
Izuku's head spun. I should have done my research. Once again, it was hard to tell if Naru was even lying about anything he'd said. He knows I already promised safe conduct. By the time I get a chance to fact check any of that, he'll be safe here, with time to reorganize his defense against us.
"Abandoned, you say? So if I were to go to the factory right now, I would find nothing being produced?"
"You'd die before reaching it. I sent a team to check up on it myself, three weeks ago. Too optimistic. We haven't heard back."
Izuku had not been down to Minami Ward during his travels, but he'd gone to other places in other directions that were even further. "I wouldn't die."
"Well, that's your choice." Another shrug, another drink. "It'd be a waste of a trip, I fear. There's no one there."
"Then why did one of the guys we captured at the arms deal the other night say he was from the Company Town?"
Naru threw up his hands. "How should I know? Criminals say lots of things. I count myself well-rid of anyone you captured who claimed to associate with me. He may very well have been an employee at the factory before the battle, but I assure you, that isn't the case now."
Izuku threw the business card across the table. "He had this."
For the first time, Naru Hojo's face flickered with fear.
Izuku smirked.
The old man's hand reached out toward the card, as if not quite believing what he was seeing. "He…you…" He lifted it up and hissed, "How would someone like you know what this means?"
"I have my sources." He refused to bring up Camie here. This was all about protecting her. Vindicating her. "That arms deal. It was between some of your men and the Harbor's. Of course, since you have a fierce rivalry with them, it ended in betrayal. The arms in question…the explosives…were removed from the scene by a Quirk. Teleported. More than likely into the hands of a villain called Mustard, who has bombed two hero schools and intends to target more. He also murdered a woman last month and left another one of your cards at the scene of the crime." Izuku stood up abruptly, his chair falling backward. Naru, forced to match him, also stood, and in the corner, the guards' hands went to their guns. "Why are you working with Mustard? How did you get the explosives to him?"
"I…I…" Naru was stepping back toward the big windows, the city-night stretching behind him, terror writ upon his face. Izuku matched him step-for-step. Despite wearing a suit, he still had his steel-toed boots on, and they clunked against the floor menacingly.
The mobster winced, his back touching the window…then, he sighed, and his shoulders sagged.
"Dammit," he muttered. "I didn't want to have to tell you this part. But you've done well, for a kid. Better than you look." He pulled a box of cigs and a lighter from his pockets, and took half a minute to smoke a puff. He looked visibly disappointed with himself.
Izuku waited patiently, his heart racing, wondering what was coming now.
Smoke drifted from Naru's face. "Don't know anything about anyone named Mustard," he said. "I heard about the school bombings, though. Awful. It comes in generations, you know. Before Quirks, there were a lot of guys like me." He gestured at himself with a sort of wry smile. "You know what I am. I know what I am. But I've got class. And then…there were Quirks, and there was All For One…and supervillains and terrorists ruled the day. Then society stabilized, and guys like me…we came back with a vengeance, you know?" Naru made a funny noise and punched the air. He seemed to be genuinely reminiscing. "And now it's reverting again. Tough shit. You can see why I wanna stay out here, kid. Why I try to persist." He took a smoke. "I'll even do things I'd rather not share. To persist. Things I can't even tell my family. My son."
Izuku was taken aback at the man's manner. "And those are…"
"The Harbor and I have been working together for some time." Naru took a long drag of the cig, as if saying that sentence had disgusted him. "We had no choice. Especially now with you in the picture. You heroes have changed. We weren't sure whether you'd have the patience to ally with one of us or the other. So we allied with each other. Of course, many of the lower ranks don't even know that's the case…which is how you end up with betrayals like that arms deal. Goddamn, but is it all falling apart." He turned to face the window, and put one hand flat against it, still smoking.
"Yeah," he muttered. "I've been compromising with my sworn enemies. It blows to admit it. Those cards…they were designed by my grandfather. He was a graphic designer. Even won an award at his university. They were special to us. But…because of how special they were…and because of how secretive this alliance had to be…the only way to seal the deals made between our factions was with those cards. They're my personal mark. If that card is present when the two sides do business…it's a stamp of approval. It means it should, in theory, be safe to proceed." He sighed again. "But you heroes crippled the Harbor, and now they're too desperate. I wanted those explosives as bad as you did, boy. I got stuff to protect, too. But it seems that those riverside fools found a higher bidder. And instead of just letting us know that, they decided to go ahead with the deal. To trick me. To trick you. To trick all of us."
"You're saying that the Harbor has more of these cards, given by you at various deals you've done with them. That they're the ones working with Mustard, sending him the explosives. That he got the initial card he left at the murder from one of them."
Naru shrugged. "You have no idea how much it hurts to hear that my grandfather's design made it all the way to a…a murder scene. I can't tell you what I don't know for sure. But…that's the situation. This Mustard guy must be smart if that's what he decided to leave behind. He's led you right to me!" He barked out a harsh laugh.
Izuku despaired. "Who's left in the Harbor with enough power? We took out almost all of them. It'd be someone with a teleportation Quirk…"
"I don't know," Naru replied miserably. "You know more about everyone's Quirks than I do. I don't have records, and the Harbor keeps things close to the chest."
The business card…Mustard knew what this confusion would lead to. He planted those numbers in the video to lead us to that arms deal. This has all been a massive mislead. But there were no REAL leads, so what did that leave him but to pursue the bait?
Retreat, Ninth, Shinomori advised. Discuss with your allies. Including Utsushimi.
He's right, said Nana. This is too dangerous of a place to work through so much information in your head. Stay alert.
Izuku became overaware of the guards watching him. Naru, meanwhile, seemed off in his own little world, still staring out the window.
"Thank you…" Izuku managed to say. "For all that."
The head of the Hojos made a noncommittal noise. "Wish I could have been of more help."
Izuku stepped back toward the door. Slowly. "I haven't forgotten the Company Town," he said.
Naru kept his back turned. "Safe conduct," he reminded.
"We'll see each other again. This isn't over."
"No doubt." The man turned the cigarette over in his fingers. "Enjoy the party."
Izuku left the room.
The guards escorted him back down through the building.
I should have done better. His head felt light and fuzzy from the alcohol. He'd thought it necessary to drink to look intimidating, but now he was regretting it. It could have been poison, too. And I just drank it immediately! Am I even thinking straight right now?
It was difficult to separate what felt like truth from what felt like lies. None of this has helped me figure out what school Mustard will target next. And surely now, with several days gone by since the arms deal, the bombing would come very soon. And Izuku had nothing. Why did I do all this in the first place?
Who was he kidding. He'd done it for Camie.
My heart hurts.
He was led down the stairs and back into the midst of the party. The event was quieter now. There was a slower, more classical song playing, and people were dancing together, while others talked business with each other near the walls, holding drinks.
Despite the lower energy, no one paid him any attention as the guards left him there, amidst the sea of other masked people. They had forgotten him entirely. I could melt into this crowd now if I wanted. But what he really wanted was to leave. To leave and stave off the alcohol in his system somehow. The slowly moving light-beams, and the way they played with the room's rich shadows, were making it dizzying to even stand here.
Two pairs of dancing partners moved away from one another, about fifteen feet from him. Behind them, a woman was standing there. And she was staring at Izuku.
He blinked, staring back. The woman was standing rather austerely, but she was wearing a dark blue chiffon cocktail dress with a v-neck, and the dress had shoulder ruffles, which made her look almost playful. The dress spread out in ripples just beneath her knees, revealing a pair of surprisingly muscular calves. Those gave Izuku pause, and when a light passed over her head, revealing that her dark wavy hair in fact had multiple colors layered into it, he knew he was staring at Kaina Tsutsumi. Lady Nagant.
All thoughts of leaving fled him. Izuku strolled toward her, not breaking eye contact. His heart pounded in his ears.
Her eyes blinked prettily behind her simple, dark masquerade mask. Her lips curled up into a smirk. "Nice mask," she commented. "I like purple. Goes well with your green."
"What are you doing here?" he hissed, coming right up to her. People danced all around them, but not between them. They were now in their own space. Their own little world.
Lady Nagant folded her arms behind her back innocently. "I was invited. And you? How did your talk with the big guy go?"
"Terribly," he said, frankly. His head was properly spinning now. Aren't you supposed to not get drunk unless you have more than one drink? Am I this much of a lightweight?
She chuckled deeply. Izuku had a strange idea that if there had been a speech bubble representing that chuckle, it would have said fufu.
They stared at one another for another ten seconds. The weight of unsaid things felt like it was making the floor tilt.
"You knew I'd be here," he decided aloud.
"I guessed. I'm a good guesser."
"Aren't you going to try and take me in, then?" He stared down at her bare arms; the dress was sleeveless beyond the shoulder ruffles. "They check weapons at the door, but they can't check yours."
"This is hardly the ground to handle such matters, don't you think?" she replied. Izuku was beginning to panic. It was impossible to read her with the mask. He wondered how badly he was failing at being similarly aloof.
I promised safe conduct to Naru, but not her. She is more important. She connects to my biggest enemies. If he was going to disrupt this event and start a brawl, it would be worth it just to capture her. And I could salvage one thing out of this foolish errand.
But. Instead.
"We look silly just standing here," said Kaina, and clasped her hands with his. One of them stayed there, but the other guided his hand to her waist. Then she moved her own hand up to his shoulder.
They began to dance. And Izuku went with it.
She looked surprised after the first few steps and sways. "You know how to dance," she observed.
"We learned for a school festival."
"Even this type?"
"I had a…thorough instructor." Ashido.
Nagant chuckled again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have some drink in you, Izuku Midoriya."
"Whiskey," he answered. Inwardly, his brain felt like a house on fire, with the vestiges running around crazily, like chickens with their heads cut off. "I'm thinking I won't do that again. Only one drink, and it's making me see angels."
Kaina giggled. "I am very real, I assure you."
Izuku swallowed. They did a spin, brushing past other dancing couples. They were one pair amidst a sea, unnoticed by those around them. Their own bubble. All he could focus on was Tsutsumi. The faint whiff of her perfume. The perfect crook in her waist where he was holding her. The barest brush of her breasts against his chest, as they danced with minimal space between them. The slightest hint of red on her cheeks. The angel comment did affect her, but she hides it well.
"You've decided to fight fire with fire," he said aloud. There would be time to freak out and be anxious about this later. For now, he drove forward through the situation. "My flirting threw you off your game, so now you think you can best me the same way."
"Is it working?"
Izuku spun her, intentionally going a bit quickly. Her composure flickered, but held. "Depends on what your follow-up plan is," he said. "Planning to seduce me? Take me out somewhere after this and then shoot me? Or will you try and get more drinks in me and let me stumble out of here, so you can get the drop on me from above? Or…"
He paused, doubtful.
Kaina's eyes challenged him. "Can you only think of two things? There's at least five more plans I could use. This isn't my first rodeo, you know. I've killed plenty of people where the night started this way, but…" One of her fingers traced up his chest. "I doubt you've ever had a night quite like this at all."
She's been a professional for over a decade. He had to remember that. For her, this was work. And same for him. There was nothing really going on between them. That was preposterous. Need to sober up.
"We're entangled now, Izuku Midoriya." Her voice had dropped to a whisper. "You play with matters your young brain is only beginning to understand. I've been following you for months; you think I haven't seen it? The heroine in blue, with the facial scars. The other one who dresses all in black. You think you are ready to play the game this way? To not just outpunch your opponents but outsmart them as well? To work not in justice, but in justice's shadow? The Commission would eat you for breakfast if they got their hands on you."
"The Commission hardly exists anymore." Their dancing had increased in tempo.
"And if you and UA and the others have their way…they'll be back. The world is burnt, and all you can think about is returning it to the way it was when the match was lit. That's what the heroes' peace looks like."
Understanding was breaking through the fog in his mind. "So you've decided that All For One's world would be better than that, then." It made him angry. "How could you be so blind?"
"I'm the least blind of us all." Nagant averted her eyes and bit her lip. "Once, when I was a hero, some children came up to me asking for autographs. When I reached out to one, I saw blood on my arm. A hallucination. But…those kids…I couldn't go near them. They're probably your age now. But I think of the ones who replaced them. The kids today, and the ones of the future. What kind of world will they grow up in, I wonder?"
"All For One's? They'll live in terror!"
"Yes." Her eyes shimmered with a deep, mature emotion that he could not understand. "Terror, and anger. All For One's evil cannot last forever. His tight grip of control will rile up the masses, and they will be able to overthrow him, and create something truly better. But he has to gain that control first. Don't you see? It's all too soon. You are too soon, Izuku Midoriya. You grew up in a world coddled by All Might and saturated with disgusting, colorful glory. You're not angry enough. You're not strong enough. All you can imagine is what you knew. Those in power above you are grateful for that. The Commission. The police. The government. UA. They'll use you to return to their status quo, and nothing will fundamentally change. We'll be back to square one, and in the alleys, in the gutters, another group of angry outcasts like the League will rise. What other choice do they have? All regimes breed radicals, Deku. AFO's regime will at least breed the good kind. The world you and your allies want can only breed the bad."
Izuku was silent for a long moment, processing. His grip on her waist tightened, though he didn't notice that.
"You're an accelerationist," he declared. He'd learned the word from Aizawa just a few months prior. "But what if you're wrong? What if All For One gains so much power that he becomes impossible to stop? What if the present time…what you call too soon…is the only time?"
Kaina's composure flickered again. They were even closer now, their chests pressing together. He could feel her breath tickle his neck. "It doesn't matter," she murmured. "You will fail in the present. Even if you stop Shigaraki, and this boy Mustard, with his anger against the schools…the systems that bred them will return. You're too young to stop that from happening."
"What if I promised to stop it?" He tilted her chin up with his fingers, making her look at him. "If you've really been watching me, watching Nejire and Camie and the others…you must see. We don't operate the same way as the older pros. We can build the better world you want. Though…it would help if you were there with us, guiding us to the right path."
There it was. The gamble. He was annoyed by his lack of sobriety, his mishandling of all this detective work, and his emotional weakness, and he just wanted to succeed here. To make this woman see the light. She is not lost for good.
Kaina had paled. She bit her lip, slightly trembling in his arms now. "I can't," she whispered.
A beat. Something had shifted in the air. Izuku blinked, a trickle of fear entering his system. "What do you mean?"
"You don't…get it. You never will. Even now, while my heart says one thing, I know you're still too young…" She closed her eyes forcefully, wincing.
"Tsutsumi-san." He held her tightly. Before, it had been possessive, a subconscious means of preventing her from escaping, but now it was something else. Something protective.
"There's a bomb inside me, Midoriya." Her voice was very, very small. "He put it there when he gave me Air Walk. I cannot give up on capturing you, even after this. The moment I do…I'm dead."
The buzzing left Izuku's head. He was sober.
"I understand." So that was how it was.
They danced in silence for another few minutes. Izuku wasn't sure what to do next.
"You…you wanted to know about the Company Town, didn't you?" she spoke up.
"Err…yes. Among other things."
"I have also been trying to figure it out. Doing my own investigating here while I am their guest." Kaina's eyes shifted back and forth. "They claim it has been abandoned. I do not think so."
"I don't think so either." What's this? Is she helping me?
Lady Nagant seemed to summon some courage, and as they swayed to the side of the dance floor, clear of the other pairs, she stopped his motion with two stable hands. Looked straight at him. "Meet me there," she said. "I assume your path leads there eventually. Meet me there…and we will finish our…business."
Izuku understood. A decided battleground. A clear indication that she was no longer going to interrupt his other pursuits, at least until he reached the Company Town. But she had not abandoned her mission. She could not.
He nodded.
"You should get going," she told him, visibly miserable.
Izuku gathered his words. "Until we meet again…I won't forget what you told me," he said. "Tsutsumi-san. This doesn't have to end the way you think it does. By the time I come to the Company Town, I will have figured out a way to free you. So that you can help us rebuild the world and avoid the systems that ruined your life. I will free you. I promise." His own voice rang in his ears.
A tear slid down Nagant's face. She leaned forward on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "If you say so," she whispered.
Izuku's body felt like it was on fire. It was with a great effort that he turned and walked away from her. He wanted to grab her and not let go. But not for capturing. Not even close.
His feet led him out the door, and out of the party.