Deku quickly ducked, narrowly avoiding the knife that Toga had thrown at his head. Magne laughed from the sidelines, watching the two youngest members of the league spar. Toga stuck to her knives, while Deku had picked up a few other things. He still had some knives, since they were the first weapon that Toga had taught him, but he also had grown fond of his escrima sticks and his collapsible staff. They were less likely to cause serious damage or kill someone, which was his favorite thing about them.

He may be with the League of Villains, but he still wasn't a fan of death.

Dashing forward, he caught Toga around the middle and knocked her to the ground. She tried to stab at his sides, but he managed to block her swings and knock one of her knives away.

Toga was laughing as she twisted her body, pushing off the ground and rolling Deku beneath her. He had to dodge again as she brought a knife down towards his face. She managed to knick his ear, bringing forth a bubble of deep, red blood. Her eyes were drawn to it and for just a moment, she faltered.

Just as Deku had planned.

Within seconds, he had her pinned and devoid of knives, ending the match.

"You did it!" Toga shrieked excitedly. "You finally beat me!"

"It was bound to happen eventually, Toga," he said with a laugh.

"Good job, kid!" Magne shouted. She smiled proudly at him, making Deku feel warm. As she clapped, the sound echoed off the walls of the courtyard. Toga kept giggling as Deku helped her up from the ground. As soon as she was on her feet, she wrapped him in a hug, leaning up to lick at the cut on his ear. Deku, having become used to her doing this every time he was hurt, just gave a little chuckle. He ducked his head away, pulling himself from her arms.

"Toga, let him go!" Magne called, also laughing.

"Yeah, let him go."

The three jumped in surprise, turning to see Shigaraki and Dabi standing on the edge of the courtyard, watching them. Both looked rather unimpressed. Especially Dabi, who was fiddling with a cigarette before popping it into his mouth, the end glowing slightly blue, having been lit with his quirk.

"We were just practicing!" Toga said. "Deku is getting really good!"

"I didn't let him join us for his fighting skills. I brought him on for his brain," Shigaraki said, his voice rasping.

Dabi snorted. "Yeah, so how about you stop scrambling it?"

Toga pouted, but didn't respond. She just tightened her grip on Deku.

"We have a meeting, so let's go," Shigaraki said, turning and walking out of the courtyard.

"With who?" Magne called after.

"Just move it. Deku, you're coming too."

Deku perked up at that. He had only been brought out a few times for meetings, usually to analyze possible recruits or allies. Occasionally he was brought along for intimidation. Not because he was big and scary, but because he could spout off things about people's quirks without even pausing to take a breath. There had been some whispers starting in the underground about the small and mysterious villain with an analysis quirk, which only made Deku laugh.

Within the hour, they were all huddled in an abandoned warehouse. They each found a place to hunker down, most of them distancing themselves from one another.

Plenty of members of the League were friends, and they managed to get along when it counted, but they hardly called themselves close. Toga, Deku, and Magne considered each other good friends, and Toga was fairly close with Twice. She also had a bond with Dabi, since they joined that league at the same time. Mostly, Dabi just kept an eye on Toga occasionally and Toga would help him with his staples when they got messed up. Spinner and Shigaraki seemed to get along, since the pair played video games together. And then Kurogiri acted like dad to them all, making sure they ate and slept on schedule. Mr. Compress and Magne also got along well. So well in fact that Toga was convinced that Compress had a crush on Magne. Anytime Deku and Toga brought it up to her, she brushed them off with a slight smile.

Deku and Toga had climbed up on some old wooden crates and were lounging together. Toga had her legs dangling over the edge of the crate, kicking her feet happily. Deku had his legs drawn up and he was curled in on himself, his years of being bullied having trained him not to draw attention to himself, even if he did have a reputation by now that kept people from messing with him. He fiddled with his mask, trying to get it to sit comfortably on his face.

He and Toga had designed his 'villain' costume together for when he was dragged along to meetings. When he wasn't going to meetings to creep people out, he stayed in the base doing work behind the scenes. He'd hacked a few things for them and wrote out some more hero analysis too. He had also written up analysis for each of the League members to help them better develop their skills. It had especially helped Toga, who had never been told before that her interest in blood was natural for her quirk type.

All her life, she had heard that her love for blood, both the taste and look, was evil. That she herself was evil for loving it. Deku sat down and explained how it was a natural side effect of her quirk; something that anyone with a blood quirk experienced to varying degrees, including Stain and Vlad King. He assured her that there was nothing wrong with her and that he would never judge her for her interest. Deku even went as far as to offer to let her have tastes of his blood whenever she really needed some. Her confidence sky-rocketed and she was far less nervous about talking to new recruits. She relied less on her overly loud and crazed mask that she put on to keep people at arm's length. Toga even let Deku and Magne see her more vulnerable side.

That's not to say she wasn't still unbalanced. She was still Toga, after all. It was just a part of who she was.

While designing Deku's villain costume, they took into account that people were going to assume he had a quirk. That was fine with them: they'd never guess the truth. Especially not when they used support items to make it seem like he had a quirk.

First, they designed some steel lined boots for him. The soles and toes were steel, meaning when he kicked, it would cause more damage. Toga had wanted to add spikes but Deku managed to talk her out of it. He had agreed to them being red though. Since he was quirkless, he had the extra toe joint, which made it hard to squeeze his feet into normal shoes. Most quirkless people had to buy special shoes and the ones that he always got came from a company that made the shoes bright red as a part of their brand. Deku hadn't liked the color at first, but the brand was affordable while still being comfortable, so he wore them. Eventually, he had grown to like the color. Making shoes for Deku would have been troublesome, so it was easier to have existing ones modified to fit his needs. He had gotten his hands on the ones he wanted and made the modifications himself.

They also designed matching fingerless gloves that had steel built into the knuckles. The rest of his clothes were black, which allowed him to blend into the background much easier. He had military style cargo pants that were a bit baggy that he kept tucked into the boots. The pockets were large, so he was able to keep knives, smoke bombs, and lock picks. His collapsible staff hung from his belt along with a canister of mace. He wore a loose black hoodie that hid the lean muscle he had developed. The hoodie was made out of reinforced material that, while it wouldn't hold up to everything, was slash proof. If Toga tried to lovingly cut him, the knife would just graze right off. Underneath the hoodie, he would wear whatever t-shirt he could get his hands on, not caring too much about it.

Deku always kept the hood up when he wore the jacket, careful to hide his distinctive green hair and to cast a shadow over his face. The mask he and Toga had designed was specially made to not only filter out harmful gasses, smoke, and poisons, but also change his voice. Dabi had told them that no one was going to take him seriously with his young, high voice, so they made the mask so it'd deepen his voice and warp it slightly, making him sound almost robotic and otherworldly. Beneath the loose hoodie and pants, Deku had elbow and knee pads for some extra protection and he wore a pair of goggles loosely around his neck. At his wrists, he had some specially made forearm guards hidden beneath his sleeves. One guard was able to send bursts of flame using a flammable gas and a small ignitor while the other shot out various types of acid. Some of the acids were for harming people, and some were for burning through inanimate objects. In that same brace were two types of gasses as well, one to knock people out and one to induce hallucinations.

Lastly, he had his escrima sticks in a holster strapped to his back. He kept them within easy reach, since he favored them out of all his weapons. They were made out of black carbon fiber, same as the rest of his weapons. They also were equipped to electrocute people if Deku pressed a small button on the handles. Depending on the settling, it would be enough to mildly shock them, or completely knock them out.

The gear would have cost the League a pretty penny if it hadn't been for Deku offering his services to Giran in exchange. He'd compiled a list of possible customers and subcontractors for Giran to explore, along with details about their quirks: a truly invaluable bit of information. Giran had appreciated it so much that he had even thrown in some extra cartridges for the forearm bracers for free.

It was an understated costume, just how Deku liked it. He could blend into the background of the meetings until he was needed.

This time, he wasn't sure why Shigaraki had him come. It seemed like any normal League meeting, which they could have just done back at the base instead of going to a weird old warehouse. That is, until Twice arrived with another man.

The new man would be rather plain looking, with his pale skin and brown hair, if it wasn't for his clothes. He wore a plain black dress shirt that he had tucked into black dress pants. He paired the black outfit with white accessories; a white tie, white gloves, and white sneakers. The only pieces of color in his entire outfit were his jacket and his mask. The jacket was an army green color with a thick, furry purple collar that arched over his shoulders and around the back of his neck. The mask was unlike anything Deku had ever seen. It was based on an old plague doctor mask, giving the man a birdlike appearance. It had been colored a shade of rust red, with gold embellishments.

Deku recognized the man right away.

"You brought us a big fish, Twice," Shigaraki said, his eyes narrowing behind the hand he wore on his face.

Magne frowned. "What? Is this guy famous or something?"

"He's a Yakuza. This is the young head of the Shie Hassaikai."

"Kai Chisaki," Deku said, his voice filtering through his mask.

"It's Overhaul, to you," the Yakuza head snapped, glaring.

Before, Deku would have shrunk away in fear. But now, with his new found confidence, he lazily batted his eyes at Overhaul. He waited until the man looked away to press himself into Toga's side, grounding her and himself while also making them a smaller target if things were to go wrong. Toga glared at Overhaul as she fiddled with a knife, making an obvious threat.

The banter continued, Shigaraki and Overhaul exchanging verbal blows until Overhaul said something that made the entire group tense up.

"All Might hardly patrols anymore and I haven't seen the League do anything impressive recently. There's no longer a king of the light. Or the dark. An open vacancy, if you will."

Shigarki's eyes narrowed even further. Magne tightened her grip on her magnet while Compress straightened in his seat. Toga shifted in her seat, like she was preparing for a fight. Deku balled his hand in the back of her sweater, pulling her backwards.

He wasn't sure what was going to happen here, but he knew it wasn't going to be anything good. There was no way he would let Toga get involved.

"You seem to be mistaken, you Yakuza thug," Shigaraki sneered. "Sensei is still powerful. And should he ever fall, I will be the next to rule."

"Do you honestly think you are the one for the job? I mean, you lost key players, like Muscular, Moonfish, even Stain, to children. The Yakuza is thriving, especially with All Might focusing on teaching at UA. I have plans: big ones at that. All I need is the League of Villains name to earn me the trust of buyers, and I have everything we need to take over. So," Overhaul paused and raised his arms to either side of him in a welcoming gesture, "are you ready to join me?"

Dabi huffed. "You're trying to get us to join you? You stupid or something?"

"I'm asking you to let me lead you to greatness. It's not like you will be able to do it on your own. Not with such… unevolved individuals in your ranks," Overhaul said. His eyes flickered over each of them as he spoke, but his eyes happened to scan over Deku and Toga while he said "unevolved."

Deku's stomach twisted, suddenly flashing through memories of his classmates and teachers talking about how quirked people were more evolved or superior to quirkless. Cruel words streamed through his mind as he felt his body tense. Beside him, Toga hissed under her breath, her fangs bared. Deku tightened his grip on her sweater and pulled her into his side even more firmly.

Magne, who was sitting on a crate below them, snarled at Overhaul. Deku immediately realized that she thought Overhaul was referring to him and how he was quirkless, even though there was no way for Overhaul to know that. Before he could say anything, Magne was in motion.

"Who the fuck are you calling unevolved?" she snarled, lunging at Overhaul with her magnet raised to strike him.

Overhaul raised one hand, glove gone, and dragged a finger down her arm. Magne's eyes went wide, her skin bubbling. In less than a second, Magne's entire upper half exploded outwards, sending blood flying.

Deku's breath caught in his throat as something warm hit his face. With a shaking hand, he touched the splatter on his forehead, wiping it away. Toga had completely frozen, her body stiff and her face blank. For once, Toga didn't look excited at the sight of blood.

With a shout, Mr. Compress lunged across the room towards Overhaul, hand raised.

"Compress! No!" Shigaraki yelled, running forward at the same time.

Overhaul swiped at Compress' arm, and within a blink of an eye, the arm was gone. Compress collapsed, blood spilling across the floor.

Shigaraki reached a hand out, all five fingers splayed and ready to decay the other man. Before his hand could touch Overhaul, other members of the Yakuza, who seemed to have followed Overhaul to the warehouse, burst into the building. Overhaul pulled one of them in front of his body, allowing Shigaraki to touch and decay the underling, leaving Overhaul unharmed.

"What a mess," Overhaul said, pulling his glove back on. "I will leave you for now, Shigaraki. We've each lost a man, leaving us even. I do seem to owe you an arm though. Here's my card. Call me when you're ready to talk."

With that, Overhaul threw his card down, narrowly missing a pool of blood, and walked out of the building, his followers in tow.

The room fell silent as the Yakuza left. Slowly, Toga climbed off the crate and approached Magne's magnet, staring at the blood with a dark expression. Deku scrambled after her, his hand reaching out to take her's. When she felt his skin against her's, she was broken from her trance and she turned to look at him.

Frowning, she dragged her edge of her sleeve across his face and his mask, wiping away the blood.

"I don't think I like you in red anymore," Toga said, her voice thick.

Deku wiped her face clean too, tears threatening to spill over his cheeks. He didn't try to speak, his throat too tight to form words.

"It's my fault," Twice stuttered. "I… I shouldn't have brought him here."

"No. You shouldn't have," Dabi snapped. He walked past the grief stricken man to crouch next to Compress. A blue flame lit on his hand and he pressed it to the stub of Compress' arm. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, making Toga wrinkle her nose. Deku was lucky in that the scent was filtered out through his mask, but the sight of Dabi cauterizing the wound was enough to make his stomach rebel. He had to fight the urge to throw up.

"This was wrong. All wrong. How'd he get the jump on us?" Shigaraki growled as he pulled the hand from his face. "Deku, Toga; I want you two to carry Compress. We need to take him to the doctor. I'll call Kurogiri to open a warp gate. Twice, you and Dabi are in charge of taking care of Magne's body. Try to get this place cleaned up too. Don't need to leave evidence that we were here for the heroes to find."

"What are we supposed to do with her body?"

Shigaraki fixed Twice with a harsh glare. "Dabi has a fire quirk. Figure it out."

Deku hurried over to Mr. Compress and lifted him off the ground. With how much he'd been working out, it was easy for him to pull Compress across his shoulders into a fireman's carry. Toga picked up Magne's magnet, cradling it as one would hold a baby. A swirling purple warpgate opened and the group walked through, much more somber than they typically would be.