An hour after sunrise, Nejire climbed up the fire escape and knocked on an upper-story window.

Behind this window was the room that Midoriya had occasionally been using to sleep, whenever he was in Kijimi for the night and felt like sleeping. Over half the time it was empty, but Nejire was certain it was not this morning. The window was unlatched. He'd dived in here in a hurry.

"Midoriya-kun. I know you're in there." Knock, knock.

A groan from inside.

"I'm coming in." She swung the unlatched window open, and parted the curtains. Morning light was thrown across the narrow room.

"H-huh? Ah! Hado-senpai, waaaaait…" Midoriya rolled over in the bed, blinking awake, mostly covered by white sheets. He was topless, and his green hair was a total mess.

Nejire sighed and climbed inside, crossing her arms and surveying the room. His hero costume and the suit he'd stolen from the storage had both been carelessly thrown over a chair, which was the only other thing in here besides the bed.

"Hado…" The boy pushed his green curls out of his heavy eyes. "What time is it?"

"Just past seven."

Midoriya cursed under his breath and sat up rapidly, then groaned again and clutched his head. "Need to get going."

"On that we agree. Hold on…are you having a hangover?!"

"Uh…surely not? I only had one drink…it might have been laced, though…I got it from Naru…"

"So you did speak to him."

"Yeah…" Midoriya stared at her, and his eyes widened. "How much have you heard?"

"Not enough." Nejire pouted, unable to help herself. "I should be mad at you."

"Why aren't you?"

Can't answer that question honestly. His sheets had slipped off his shoulders and she was trying not to stare at his chest. "Because the night guard who brought you back in last night gossiped about what happened. To the whole camp. Everyone knows what you did."

He winced. "How'd they take it?"

Nejire ground her teeth. "...Positively. It's all anyone's talking about this morning. How they're happy that someone took action at the charity ball and got back safely."

Even if she wanted to admonish Midoriya for his reckless actions, she was the commander here, and he had (unintentionally) made her look bad. She hadn't come up with a plan for the ball. He'd gone and done it.

Midoriya didn't seem too happy, though. "Ugh…" He leaned back in bed for a moment. "Getting back safely is all I did."

"What did you find out from Naru? What else happened?" She restrained herself to two questions.

"The Company Town is in the books. It's a factory in Minami. He said they use it to manufacture entertainment stuff. Golf clubs, climbing walls, things like that…"

"Bombs?" she blurted.

Midoriya shook his head. "I doubt it. The Hojos aren't working with Mustard. Mustard just wanted us to think so." Then he explained to Nejire everything that Naru had told him - the secret dealings between the two criminal organizations, the arms deal, and how Mustard's clues played both sides.

"I can only conclude that there's still a major Harbor person loose," he finished. "Someone we didn't get. They got the business cards to Mustard. They moved the explosives out of the casino, and then later out of that car. They're working with him to play with us. But who? Should we talk to Mitoma again? Maybe she'd know."

Nejire's mind stirred. "No." She had an awful suspicion now. A loose Harbor person. Someone working with Mustard. "There's her bodyguard. Asano. We never found him," she squeaked. And he was there at the power station, right where Mustard had been just a few minutes before. Midoriya didn't know that, though.

The boy frowned. "His Quirk was something with musical notes. Not a teleportation Quirk. Though I guess we never saw him use it."

"Still. It's worth pursuing, right?"

"Yes. He'll have to be caught, regardless. I can work on that today." Midoriya stood up.

Nejire deadpanned. "You slept in your costume pants."

"Yeah. Would you have preferred me to sleep naked?" He grabbed the upper part of his costume from the chair and slipped into it.

"N-no." She flared her nostrils.

"You were the one who barged in here."

Since when can he banter like that? "So you're going again?"

"The Asano lead needs pursuing. There are areas around Tokyo that I haven't checked in weeks. Mustard could strike his next target at any moment. No time to linger." His eyes relaxed. "Though…I ought to tell Camie what I found out. She still thinks the Hojos had something to do with Shiketsu…she deserves to know the truth."

Nejire didn't like the face he made when he thought of Camie. "I thought you didn't have a way to contact her," she said testily.

He reddened. "W-well…if I did run into her…it would be around here. So that's one reason not to go too far…besides. The Hojos do still need to be stopped." He told her about Naru's Quirk, and what he suspected to be the true nature of the Company Town.

Nejire's eyes widened. "That's not in any of our records, here or at UA. Are you sure? There's no way he told you all that directly."

"I can be convincing," Midoriya replied evasively.

"Anyway, if they're not working with Mustard, then let us handle it. You don't need to go to the Company Town. The new rule about our operation going outside Kijimi boundaries was put in for a reason. Stopping them is my duty as commander. You have other things to focus on."

"I do have to go," he muttered.

A pause.

Nejire tilted her head. "...Midoriya-kun? You never answered my initial question. What else happened at the charity ball?"

He looked sheepish. "Lady Nagant may have been there. I may have spoken to her. I may have…agreed to meet her there. For a final battle."

"What?! What do you mean, you spoke to her? Midoriya, she's with the…the bad bad guys! Why didn't you fight her? Why didn't she try and fight you?!"

"It just…wasn't the vibe?"

Nejire fumed, crossing her arms again. Her foot tapped. "Did you flirt with her again?"

"Ah…what? H-how do you know about that?"

"I'm asking the questions here."

"We…danced. Together." He rubbed his cheek, and his eyes got that same relaxed look as when he spoke about Camie.

She kissed him on the cheek. At that exact spot, where he's rubbing it. I'm so sure of it. I'd bet my life on it. "What makes you think this is a good idea?!"

"You…you don't understand." He raised himself up defensively. "She doesn't really want to fight for AFO. He's rigged her extra Quirk with a failsafe. She'll die if she gives up on capturing me, but she does still have a hero's soul. She wants to help us. She has…ideas for rebuilding the country."

"Midoriya, this woman wants you dead. You can't be so…susceptible to a pretty face."

"I'm not," he insisted, though he was blushing. "Everything's under c-control."

Nejire remembered her encounter with Nagant out in Taito. The woman was fleeing, genuinely thrown off by Midoriya's flirting, but also…talking to someone. And clutching her chest. All For One? A failsafe.

"You're right," she mumbled. "I'm sorry for getting heated. It's hard for me to trust…after Dabi and the Skindancer…but if you think she can be saved, then I'll support that." I myself have never really "saved" a villain before. For all her reputation as a chatterbox, she'd never managed to convince a fighting opponent of anything. She didn't have it in her, but that didn't mean Midoriya couldn't do it. I have to trust him. She'd stood up for him in front of his class, but that was meaningless if she tried to be overprotective. The same way they would.

"Thank you, Hado-senpai." Midoriya smiled. That relaxed look in his eyes was now directed at her, which made her heart flutter.

"S-so…what's your plan, then? What's your immediate first move out of here?"

"Hm." He reached into his costume pocket and pulled out the bottlecap. "Alkenhzi."

…

"Me?" asked Tamaki. "What do you want me for?"

"You know where the brewery is, specifically. All I know is that it's near Kamino. I need a guide. Plus, you were the last one to see Stain. You could be helpful in the negotiation," Midoriya replied.

"But…" The lieutenant commander looked doubtfully around at the onlookers. The other heroes and police who had gathered to see Midoriya off. They had all been happy to greet and support him, and they seemed fine enough with his ideas now.

"If it's a role only you can serve, then you'd best go, Suneater," said Gang Orca. "We can handle things here."

Shouts of agreement.

"I think Stain wanted to kill me, but whatever," Tamaki mumbled. He sprouted two chicken's wings from his back. "These can't carry me as far as Kamino."

"They'll help reduce the weight, at least. I'll keep you in the air with Blackwhip." Midoriya's eyes went from one graduate to the other. "Hado-senpai? Do you want to come too? I could use a third set of hands."

Nejire laughed nervously, feeling eyes converge on her. If they support me leaving too, does that mean they don't feel like they need me? "Three heroes just to talk to him?"

"He is a hero…killer. To be fair. He may not want to talk at first."

"N-no, I shouldn't go. I'm in command. While you're gone, I'll work on figuring out loose ends with any major - or minor - Harbor criminals. How's that sound?"

Midoriya, thankfully, nodded. He still has no idea of my fear of going out into open territory. Asano's haunted singing echoed in her memory.

"I'll have you back here in two days maximum," Deku was saying to Suneater.

"Err…okay. Hang on. Give me a few minutes to get ready." Tamaki hurried back inside.

Nejire snickered. Midoriya raised an eyebrow. "What's he need to do?"

"Finishing his leftovers. He'll be able to manifest for around thirty-six hours if he eats now."

"Hmm. Perfect. Should be just enough time."

A little while later, Tamaki came back out. His face was slightly pale, and he suppressed a belch. He was wearing a backpack tucked under his wings, which had a water bottle in the side pocket. "Okay. Ready."

The operatives had dispersed to their duties, leaving just Nejire to see the boys off. "Did you put your food in your bag?" she asked her former classmate incredulously. "You'll make it smell."

"It's just for a few hours! I couldn't bring myself to finish it right now." He defended himself, then looked to Midoriya. The younger boy shot out a whip and wrapped it around his waist, tethering them together.

Green lightning, and flapping wings, and they lifted off the street. Nejire's eyes tilted up, following them. "Good luck," she called.

"And to you. Good-bye, Hado-senpai."

"Bye, Hado."

She waved as they went. Drums pounded in her head.

…

A couple of hours into their flight, the two boys stopped for a break.

Izuku lowered them onto the roof of a disused metro station. Amajiki's wings sank, and he took a quick sip of water, beads of sweat dripping off his pointy ears.

"Just need a few mins," he gasped. "The wind is making my eyes water." He wiped them. "I'm not actually crying. I swear."

"You'd do better with a mask," Izuku pointed out, from behind his own.

Suneater gave him a dubious look. "...Right." He sat down on the roof, and Izuku released the Blackwhip, choosing to sit down with him.

Amajiki pulled a folded paper box out of his bag and began to eat from it - fried chicken and pineapple, from what Izuku could tell. "Cold," the boy muttered, "but whatever."

Izuku took off his hood, unpocketed a granola bar, and munched on it.

The two of them sat in silence for a minute. Izuku wasn't sure what to say - they were both highly introverted, and had hardly ever interacted without Nejire as a buffer.

The rail line curved gradually away to the north and south. A train sat sticking halfway out of the station, stretching dead from the platform. It was partly cloudy overhead, and one-story houses stretched away in most directions. They were in a residential area.

All was quiet, save for the breeze striking a nearby flagpole. The flag of Japan was in tatters, the red dot in the center with frayed holes in it. Izuku watched it wave in the wind with a mouthful of granola, until a zipping sound shifted his eyes over to his companion.

Amajiki had opened his bag again and now leaned his head closer, sniffing. "Awh!" He made a face. "She was right, of course. It does smell now."

Izuku swallowed his bite. "She usually seems to be."

The older boy allowed himself a grin. "Ah. You've figured out my multi-year struggle at last." He took another swig from his water bottle, and looked southeast. "How far to Kamino from here?"

"Should be there by nightfall."

"Comforting." Amajiki closed his eyes and sighed. "You could have said morning, or afternoon, or any other time, but of course it's nightfall."

"Once we're there, I'll need directions."

"Yeah, yeah. I can figure out where it is from the All Might statue, if we go there first."

"Sounds good." Izuku frowned. "You don't think that could be related, do you?"

"Hmm? You mean, Stain hiding out near where All Might had his last battle?"

"Stain worships All Might," said Izuku. Even more than I did.

"We don't even know if the cap was left by him, remember? This could all be pointless."

"No." Izuku tucked the empty wrapper back into his costume. "It would be too big of a coincidence. A brewery in such a significant place. The cap's placement on the ground. You said he had something to give me. He wouldn't just leave without ensuring I had a way to find him."

"I guess that makes sense."

"You don't have any idea what it is, do you? The thing he has for me."

Amajiki shrugged. "It was some papers, like I said before. Maybe it's a clue."

A clue. A clue to what? Stain didn't know that he was looking for Mustard, and he surely didn't know that he was All Might's successor. Unless…? Izuku supposed All For One could have leaked that information to all the Tartarus escapees, even the ones not working for him. Then, could it be a clue to Shigaraki?

"Well, we'd best hope he knows how to read this code," Izuku said aloud, pulling out the paper Mustard had left at the power station. "The message on here will be a trick like the others, but at least we'll know for sure."

Amajiki wanted to say something, but was having trouble working up the courage. Izuku could tell. "What is it?" he asked the older boy.

"Why does Stain trust you, Midoriya? I know you and some other first-years ran into him last year, but…"

"We more than ran into him. We, ah…defeated him. By ourselves. The official story was that Endeavor did it, but he didn't even help."

Suneater's eyebrows went up as he chewed. "Oh, man. Mirio was right. He's gonna be stoked when I tell him…oh! Sorry, I d-didn't mean to imply that I would…I mean! I'll keep that a secret if you want."

"The time for secrets is kinda over." Izuku stared down the rail line. "Though, you say Togata saw through the cover story? Huh." He managed a chuckle. "But yeah. I guess…during that fight, Stain saw me as…a true hero. Or whatever." It felt awkward to say that, especially to another guy, so he deflected by scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Wow. Now it all makes sense. Mirio was so sure of it after he fought your class. And especially after the yakuza raid."

"You two are good friends, huh?"

"He's my best friend." Amajiki smiled to the north, the general direction of UA. "He's done his best to make me more confident, but oddly…it hasn't been until the last few weeks where I've really started to feel it. I guess it's because of my girlfriend, but…"

"Who's your girlfriend?" Izuku blurted, surprised. Then, a panicked suspicion flooded into his brain like a broken fire hydrant. "Hado-senpai?!"

"Err…no. No, it's a…girl we rescued. A citizen."

"Ah. R-right." Izuku coughed and put his hood back on to hide his face. He could feel Amajiki staring at him. He imagined that if either of them were extroverted, or girls, that further questioning would have taken place. Thank goodness we aren't. "Let's get going."

…

It had grown dark by the time they reached the battle site.

Izuku and Amajiki landed behind an abandoned newspaper stall, on the edge of the open space. The desolate ruin created by All Might and All For One's clash had been converted into a huge traffic roundabout, with a park and memorial taking up the middle. Low, curving metal walls were set up in a grid, marked with names that had perished in the battle. They wrapped around the very center, where All Might's statue stood.

Not all was quiet. Sounds of rushing feet alerted Izuku, and he saw moving shadows going up to the statue.

"People," whispered Amajiki. "Six of them. What are they doing?"

Izuku watched, low fury boiling up inside him. He heard a snicker. One of the shadows boosted up another, to reach the statue's shoulders. The person hung a sign there. Izuku couldn't read it from this distance, in the dark.

"They're vandalizing it," he growled. "C'mon."

Amajiki hissed at him to wait, but Izuku rushed into the roundabout, activating One for All, then Smokescreen. His only coherent thought was I cannot allow this.

From the perspective of the six vandals, all males in their twenties and thirties, the darkness behind them suddenly grew even more dark. Almost smokey. Then they heard a strange noise, and they whirled about in fear.

One of them elbowed another. "Go check it out."

"Hell no. You've got the laser. You do it."

"I told you guys we should have left it…" A younger, nervous one said.

"Nah. We gotta keep this up. That bitch of a woman will be back in the morning. We gotta break her spirit." Iron-link chains grew from the speaker's arms. "And break whoever this schmuck thinks they are." He stared into the smoke.

Green eyes pierced the gloom. A shadow floated toward them, almost of a height with the statue. "Curious," Izuku commented, watching the vandals' eyes flood with terror. "Six men, not in shelters, all risking their lives to commit vandalism. Does it take six of you just to hang up a sign?"

"We're only keeping the truth posted and clear!" one of them snarled. The sign read I AM NOT HERE. Hanging over All Might's chest.

"Just the truth, you weirdo," another agreed. "All Might's not here."

"But I am." Izuku grabbed all six of them at once with six separate whips, and yanked them together, knocking their bodies into one another hard. They cried out, and only two of them scrambled back to their feet. A laser Quirk fired, which Izuku dodged easily, going low and crouching against the pavement beneath the cover of smoke. He blasted forward and knocked out the laser user. A chain whipped past his cheek and nearly slashed him. He shot out another Blackwhip, grabbed the last man standing, and threw him sideways, bodily, into the base of the statue. SLAM.

"Wait!" another one was blubbering from the ground. "Who do you think you are, coming along and beating us up? Is this really the-"

Izuku punched him in the face to shut him up and knock him out. How dare you. HOW DARE YOU. Trembling with rage, he jumped to the top of the statue and kicked the sign off, splitting into a half dozen pieces. "There. Now you can't bring the damn thing back ever again."

Amajiki arrived out of the dissipating smoke, huffing and puffing. "Couldn't even find my way in here with all the-" He noticed the mostly-unconscious people on the ground. "Holy sh-shit. Why did you fight them? They were just some roadmen."

"Because they fought back." Izuku activated one of his last remaining beacons and dropped it on one of the vandals. The nearest police unit would pick them up in a few minutes. "They need to be taken in."

"It's just…it's just vandalism…in normal times, they'd only be fined, or locked up for a few days at most."

"Repeat offenses. One of them mentioned keeping this up. Like they do this all the time." Izuku snarled. "I should come back here regularly to make sure."

"If you s-say so," Amajiki mumbled. "We should c-continue our main task, Deku." He pointed down a street leading away from the roundabout. "The brewery is this way."

"Lead, then." Izuku deferred to his senior. They left the memorial area.

As his anger faded, it was replaced with mixed feelings. Why's Suneater so uncomfortable? It had to be done. Now at least they'll be off the streets. Izuku supposed he could have been a little less…aggressive.

No word of input from the vestiges. He wondered if they were upset with him. They'd said nothing since he talked to Lady Nagant.

…

The brewery was a red-brick, rectangular structure, tucked between a taller parking garage and a much taller office building. A fake smokestack rose up from the roof, and large, dark windows gave little of the interior away from the street. Around the side was a gravel alley with a truck loading ramp and a closed garage. ALKENHZI BREWING CO. was painted in big, industrial yellow letters across most of the front wall.

The front door was cracked open, showing a sliver of darkness.

Izuku and Amajiki hid behind an abandoned car parked in a street spot, the ajar door about twenty yards away. "Now what?" the older boy whispered.

"No glass broken in the windows," Izuku mused, analyzing the building. "It looks more closed for the night than abandoned, don't you think? As if someone is in there, keeping it up."

"You think Stain knows how to make beer?" Amajiki asked dryly.

"Not like that. I just mean living in the building, keeping it fit for habitation. And it's someone that your average street hooligan is too afraid to mess with. The building looks untouched."

"So you're saying he's in there, right now."

Izuku twisted his mouth. Danger Sense wasn't activating. Is that because he's not here, or because he means me no harm?

"What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking I walk in there and declare myself."

"Oh, of course. Simple." Suneater threw up his hands.

"No, listen. The last time I fought him, our reaction times were about even. I've gotten much stronger since then, so even if he tries to attack me, I'll be okay. If he does manage to paralyze me with his Quirk, that's when you intervene."

"Leaving me to fight him alone until you can move again. I don't like this at all."

"Well, it's what we're doing." Izuku stood up and approached the front door, ignoring Amajiki's hushed protests.

The door was thick and industrial, and it creaked when he opened it further. A triangle of moonlight grew across the floor of the quiet interior.

Izuku swallowed and stepped inside.

Fuzzy darkness crawled across his eyes. His boots made deep tapping sounds on the concrete. It smelled musty in here. Huge silvery vats loomed on the edge of vision, tanks where the drink had been brewed.

The air was still.

Izuku took fifteen steps into the building and stopped. "Hello. Are you here?"

Silence.

He took off his hood, showing his face. "If you're who I think you are…then you'll recognize me. I'm Izuku Midoriya."

Still nothing.

Izuku's face twitched. Empty after all? It was so hard to believe. "Stain," he called, more forcefully. "Show yourself. I'm here to talk, not fight."

Step. Step. Step.

Behind me. Still no Danger Sense.

The gleam of his blade appeared a half-second before his flat, narrow face materialized, snarling from behind his red mask. Izuku turned to face him fully, in a cautious, but not aggressive, stance.

"If that's true," the Hero Killer rasped, "then why is that guy here?"

With his sword, he pointed to a shadowy space tucked next to the door, just inside the building.

From there, Amajiki walked forward in disbelief. "You knew?"

"You two spent a long time just sitting out there debating." Stain walked sideways and wide around Izuku, keeping himself from ending up between the two heroes as Suneater came forward. The villain's red eyes searched them suspiciously. "I suppose my clue was vague. Now that you've found it at last, I'll have to hide somewhere else."

"Is that all you've been doing? Hiding?" Izuku dared a step closer. "Or have you been doing more murder on the side?"

"I ended the careers of forty heroes before I was locked up. It was never on the side."

"You didn't kill Hawks or Endeavor," Suneater pointed out. "Even though you wanted to."

"Yeah, well…" Stain sniffed. "Maybe that stuff you said at the hospital made me step back and think a little, kid."

"I told you that there's no heroes left out here worth killing. Everyone still working is a true hero, because working now means putting your life on the line at every moment." Amajiki's voice, to his credit, hardly shook at all.

"But other heroes gave up entirely. Retired. Let the pressure get to them. Sunny-day heroes." Stain spat. "They're all hiding in the shelters now, but if I was given the chance…they'd be dead in a heartbeat. Does that make you want to stop me now?"

"You said you'd only let All Might stop you," said Izuku. "I remember that clearly. All Might is one of the retired heroes too. He lost his power in a battle near this very place, after you were locked up."

"I know that," Stain snarled. "I've caught up with…current events, best I could. I've waited by that statue for him to come. To at least look at it. But he never has. I suppose it really is no longer within his power."

Izuku felt a pang of regret. I told him to stay at UA. "But you told Suneater you had something to give me."

"Yes. I don't know everything, but based on what I overheard from those…demons I shared a prison with as we were all breaking out…you're the next best thing. And after our last fight, I can believe it." Stain stared at Izuku. "How's your friend? The one with the glasses."

"None of your business." He clenched his fist around Mustard's paper clue, balling it up. "We have other matters to attend to here." He threw it.

Stain snatched it out of the air and uncrumpled it. His eyes scanned the paper. He knows the villain code. I can tell just based on how he looks at it.

"What's it say?" Izuku asked.

The hero killer grinned. "Now I see. You could have come here any time to stop me or receive my data. But you didn't bother, until you were sure there was something else I could do for you. Smart."

"What's it say," he repeated.

"Something strange. The judgment of Achilles was the first of many. I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean."

Izuku's brain worked at it. "Achilles…the Greek hero."

"A European pro? I've never heard of him," said Amajiki.

"Not that kind of hero," Stain muttered. "The older kind. A hero of myth." His eyes met Izuku's. "He was extremely strong, but he had one weakness."

"His heel. His mother dipped him into the Styx to make him invulnerable, but his heel was never submerged. He was shot by an arrow in that spot, and died."

"He was never judged, though. Judgments and trials happen often in the stories, but not in his." Stain paced back and forth. "Of course, a trial is famously depicted on the shield that Achilles used. It was just one of many scenes, though. It was an incredibly detailed shield."

"So you think 'the judgment of Achilles' refers to a shield of some kind." Perhaps a forcefield? Generated by Naru Hojo? All of Mustard's other clues had pointed back to Kijimi. Perhaps this one was a similar trick.

Stain shook his head. "You're overthinking it, Midoriya." He sounded almost mentorly. "Achilles, I think, refers to a person here." He tapped his chin, and suddenly looked at the two boys with a raised eyebrow. "What's this for, anyway?"

"That's for us to know," said Amajiki.

"No…it's fine, let's tell him," Izuku decided. "We're after a villain. This clue was left behind at a place where we tracked him. The thing is…I know this villain, and I know he wants me to stay away."

"Hmm. Interesting. A villain using the archetype of the serial killer who wants to be found, yet doesn't want to be found." Stain set his sword down, now fully absorbed in the riddle. "With this knowledge, we can assume that everything he leaves for you is meant to send you on a wild goose chase."

"But if we solve this, we'll at least know what not to do."

"That's true. So…Achilles. His judgment being the first of many. Who has been judged recently? Has this villain judged someone?"

Izuku's eyes widened. Achilles is invulnerable, but has a weakness. His power was gifted to him; he was not born with it.

"And famously, he was blond," he muttered aloud.

Amajiki gasped. "Achilles is All Might. They even share some of the same letters."

"Now hold on…" Stain protested.

Izuku looked toward the other boy energetically. "The first of many judgments. Meaning, what Mustard is saying here is that he plans to judge other people the same way he did All Might."

"What did he judge All Might for? I heard from Hado about the church, but I wasn't there…"

"Did you guys say Mustard?" Stain put in, but was ignored.

"He judged him not for being a bad pro hero, but for being a bad teacher. A bad teacher at UA. What he's saying in this clue is that he intends to target more UA teachers. Perhaps even UA itself."

"Which means UA isn't his next target. It's some other school. He wants us to think that it's UA, though-"

"Boys!" Stain bellowed.

They both cut off, looking toward the man in surprise. Izuku realized he'd gotten carried away, but this was the biggest brainstorm he'd had in a while. Not UA. Somewhere else. He couldn't help but feel relieved, only…

Somewhere else may not have much time left.

Stain looked between the two of them. "You said Mustard, didn't you. The bomber."

"You know him?!" Izuku blurted.

"Possibly." The man picked his sword back up and sheathed it. "It's true that I haven't killed any heroes since I was freed. But villains are another story. Some of the creatures I've hunted out here…would make your blood run colder than if I used my Quirk on you." He grinned, and a chill went down Izuku's spine. "Anyway, as of late I've been on the trail of someone I used to share Tartarus with. He was set loose like the rest of us, and he's fairly evasive, even though his crime scenes are…messy. The closest I got to him was just last week, about twenty miles from here. I almost considered going for the kill, but he was meeting someone, and I wasn't sure of the other person's Quirk. But they were short, and had a young voice, and called themselves Mustard."

"Mustard…met with someone you were tracking? Where? What happened next?!" Izuku demanded.

"I couldn't find the place again if I wanted to. It was somewhere to the west, but…" Stain waved a hand. "I didn't want to take a two-on-one fight, so I retreated, but not before I listened to their meeting. The boy…Mustard…he said the two of them were going to attack a place called Seiai."

"Seiai Private Academy." Amajiki groaned. "That's so far away."

Izuku's head pounded. Seiai. Finally. A lead. We have one up on the enemy. There was no reason for Stain to be lying. Barring the slim possibility that Mustard was being somehow doubly deceptive, this was the real deal. His mouth began to slightly water.

"It's one of the major hero schools, all right," he said. "Definitely on the target list. Where did the two of them go after that?" The question was directed at Stain.

The hero killer slumped his shoulders. "I lost the trail."

"What can you tell us about the man you were tracking?" Another Tartarus escapee, so it can't be the Harbor person we're looking for. Mustard has multiple allies. The thought was chilling.

"I don't know his name. He was on death row before the breakout, though. Marked for execution. His Quirk lets him turn his teeth into blades."

Something about that seemed oh-so-familiar to Izuku, but he couldn't quite put a name or memory to it. "Okay. Thanks anyway. Stain…I'm serious. You have no idea how helpful this is."

Those deep-set angry red eyes seemed to soften. "Perhaps I can do just a little bit more." He pulled something out of his pocket. It was indeed paper; it was an envelope. He stepped forward and handed it directly to Izuku. "Get that to your superiors."

The envelope was thicker and heavier than he'd expected. "What's in here?" Izuku asked.

"Data from Tartarus. The blackout killed almost all of it. What's left is on that disk." Stain began to slowly retreat into the shadows. "I assume I'm not being arrested tonight, Izuku Midoriya."

"...No." He'd debated it, but…

"Then, until we meet again. Best of luck to you."

The Hero Killer vanished into the darkness, and his rushing footsteps faded away.

Amajiki's eye twitched. "He just left us behind in his hideout."

Izuku stared straight ahead. "It's not his hideout anymore. He won't be back." He turned and handed the envelope to the older boy. "Put this in your bag. We'll get some sleep here for the rest of the night."

…

In the morning, they prepared to set off again, back toward Kijimi.

"What's the plan when we get there?" Amajiki asked, remaining still as Izuku secured him with Blackwhip.

"First, speak to Maboromicamie. She has a stake in this. And a motorcycle, which might be useful. We need to get to Seiai quickly." Seiai is where her mom is sheltered.

"We'll need more people than that, if there's gonna be a death row Tartarus escapee involved."

"I know. I'm working on it." Izuku was sure that plenty of heroes were already guarding Seiai, but that hadn't been enough at the previous two schools. There's an element of subterfuge to it. Was it just hubris to assume that he would be able to figure it out if he could just manage to get there before Mustard?

"Regardless, all relies on us getting the drop on him, rather than the other way around. We have the advantage. We can't waste it."

They took off, flying high over Kamino Ward. Izuku kept his hood up, and noticed that Amajiki had manifested a pineapple and was using it to shield his own face from the wind, his wings flapping in the air. Blackwhip wavered between them, dragging the older boy along.

It'll take us all day, but once we're back, then it's go time. Izuku was glad he'd decided to get some sleep; from here until they had Mustard in custody beneath the walls of Seiai, he didn't intend to rest.

They passed over the All Might statue, and Izuku noticed something. A woman was walking up to it.

"There's a civilian," he pointed. In broad daylight this time? Surely not another vandal.

Hadn't one of the vandals last night mentioned a woman? They're all gone now, meaning the police came and got them. But here she was.

Izuku descended. Amajiki didn't protest this time.

The woman was a pretty brunette. Izuku landed in the midst of the memorials, a fair distance behind her, as she stared up at the statue. "The sign is gone," the two boys heard her say. "I guess maybe they gave up after all."

"Ma'am." Izuku called.

She whirled about in surprise. "Ah!" Her eyes filled with panic, and she suddenly used her Quirk - a fluffy ball inflated beneath her feet, from her feet, and lifted her into the air.

"Wait!" Izuku ran forward and held up a hand. "Don't run! We're heroes!"

She shook, still standing atop the sphere her Quirk had generated, staring down at him. "He was a real hero." She nodded at the statue. "He saved me, even when he had no time to do so. When he was facing that monster. You…don't look like a hero."

That stung. Izuku recoiled. He became overly, hotly aware of his mask.

Amajiki caught up. "I assure you, ma'am, it's true." His voice sounded much more calm and peaceful than Izuku's had. "You should come with us to safety."

Her eyes relaxed, but still darted toward Izuku nervously. He remained silent, feeling somewhat put off. "I can't leave. If I leave, there's no one left to keep it clean," she told Suneater.

"If you were coming to remove the work of those vandals, we stopped them last night. They won't disturb the statue again," said Amajiki. "I promise."

Slowly, the woman nodded, and deactivated her Quirk. Getting level with them. "...Okay. If you're sure…where are we going?"

"A hero-controlled area. It's a bit of a journey, but you'll have safe passage to UA once we're there." Amajiki glanced at Izuku. "I'm afraid we don't have many comfortable options for transport. My partner Deku here can use his tethers to carry you, or either of us can carry you directly."

The woman paled, staring at Izuku again. "I think…I would prefer to be carried. Directly. By you." She glanced pointedly back at Amajiki.

"Uhhh…yeah! Alright. That's fine. Deku, are we ready to go, then…?"

"Yes." He avoided making further eye contact with the woman, as he pulled out Blackwhip again and lifted them into the sky. He heard her protests, her fear, and forced himself to ignore it. Suneater will keep her calm. He'll handle it.

It was only natural. Suneater was two years his senior. He had more experience. He was shy and introverted like Izuku himself, but he looked like a hero to them.

Izuku should have been proud of the other boy's progress. Togata would be proud. Hado would be proud. All he could conjure was a sliver of envy.

He looked down and back at All Might's statue one last time. Stain had called him the "next best thing" to All Might. But I have so much left to do, and I'm racing against the clock…how will I ever have time to win their hearts the way he did? The more I fight, the more terrifying I look to them.

He heard Mustard titter in his mind. The judgment of Achilles was the first of many, the young villain promised.