Mic led Deku and Toga away while Midnight went to fetch breakfast for them. The students of 1-A and 1-B were told to go about their business, which led to most of them going outside to gossip. The three third years were about to leave when Sir Nighteye caught their attention and gave them a small shake of his head.

Once the common room was empty of the first years, leaving only the pro heroes and third year students, Mirio finally spoke up.

"So, not that I don't appreciate being included in this, but why were we here?"

"You three were a part of the task force that was supposed to rescue Eri, so we thought it only fair that you were made aware of the full situation," All Might said, coming to stand beside Sir Nighteye. "We also are hoping to ask for your help when it comes to the new wards of UA. Unlike the first years, you have little to no bias against Toga and Deku, so we are hoping that you three can check in with them sometimes. Act as a guiding hand to help steer them on the right path."

"We are not asking you to be friends with them. Honestly, I don't think you should spend much time around them in general," Nighteye said, folding his arms across his chest.

All Might gently bumped his arm against Nighteye's shoulder. "Mirai…"

"Yes, we all know what you think, Nighteye," Aizawa snapped. "You think we should lock two abused and manipulated teenagers away in prison and send a traumatized child to stay in a hospital."

"Those two committed crimes and the girl needs around the clock care!"

"Which is what she will get here at UA," Nezu said evenly. "Sir Nighteye, you agreed to this course of action."

"That doesn't mean I am happy about it."

"Regardless," All Might said. "We also think you three could act as role models for Eri. She currently looks up to Toga and Deku, so we would like for her to have others with a less… complicated history to look up to as well. She is still fearful of adults, but she will see you three as kids since you are still in school."

Nejire nodded along. "That makes sense!" she said happily. "We'll be happy to help!"

"Good. Thank you."

Nighteye glanced at his watch and nudged All Might. When All Might looked down to get a glimpse of the time, he grimaced.

"I apologize but Mirai and I must go. If there is anything you need from me, Nezu, please reach out."

With that, All Might hurried from the room, making it feel a lot more open without his bulk filling it up. Nighteye followed after, the pair leaving the dorms.

Aizawa turned to the third years. "Go get cleaned up and get some rest. I'll contact you about talking with the new wards."

--

"Dude, what was that?" Kirishima said, following Bakugou into his room.

"Get out. I don't want to talk."

"No, we are going to talk about this! You said that if you had a second chance at seeing Midoriya, that you would apologize to him! That you'd be nicer! But that's not what I saw back there."

Bakugou spun around, tears welling in his eyes as his face went red.

"He's a villain!"

"He saved that girl!"

"So?! Who knows what he did before that! And whatever he did, it's my fault! Don't you get it? The reason Deku became a fucking villain is because he thought there was literally no other option. He thought that the world was so bad and cruel and against him that being a villain was the only thing he could do to stay alive! I beat him down and hurt him so badly that he became a criminal! Fuck, Kiri, he thought it would be safer to live with the League than to live with me and my family. How fucked up is that?" Bakugou shouted, the tears bubbling over and streaming down his face. He hiccuped as he buried his face into his hands. "This is my fault. It's all my fault. I fucking failed him."

Kirishima didn't move. He watched as Bakugou sobbed and for the first time since meeting Bakugou, Kirishima was angry at his friend.

"You bullied him," Kirishima snapped. "You told me that. And remember what I told you? I told you that it wasn't cool, but that it was in the past. But as soon as you saw him, you attacked him, just like you used to. You were angry, I get it. But why were you angry? Were you angry that he had committed crimes? Or was it because him being a villain reflects badly on you? Because everything you just said makes it sound like the second. Midoriya, or Deku, or whatever his name is, has probably been through hell. His mom died, he lived with villains, was stuck in a Yakuza base literally begging the heroes to help Eri, and when he realized the heroes wouldn't get there in time, he risked his life to save her. He looks crazy skinny and way too pale. Hell, he's probably been going hungry for a while. And did you see that scar on his face? That looked new. He's been through shit and none of it had anything to do with you. So stop making this whole thing about you and try to be supportive of him. You're the only other person he knows here, besides Toga, so at least try."

"How? He probably hates me!"

"To be honest, dude, he kinda has a right to," Kirishima said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "All you can do is apologize and try to grow. You're going to have to prove to him that you want to change if you want him to ever trust you again."

Bakugou nodded shakily, sniffling. "Do you hate me now too?"

"Nah, I couldn't hate you! I was just sorta mad. I got it out of my system now. How about you wash up your face and I'll go get cleaned up and we can go downstairs to get something to eat?"

He shrugged but nodded, letting Kirishima nudge him towards his bathroom.

When the two met back up in the hall, Kirishima had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, which looked much more comfortable than his hero costume. Bakugou had dried his face and it was nearly impossible to tell he had been crying. There was a barest hint of red in the whites of his eyes, but it was doubtful anyone would notice.

Downstairs in the common room, they found the rest of their friend group waiting for them.

"Baku-bro!" Kaminari shouted, hopping up from his seat. "Dude, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Dunce Face."

Sero leaned forward, their bulky elbows resting on their knees. "Are you sure? Cuz your friend just basically came back from the dead."

"Deku's not my fucking friend."

"Sure, it sounds like you guys had a falling out, but he made his villain name the nickname you gave him. Sounds like something friends do."

Bakugou glared. "Deku was a fucking insult, not a nickname. He was always following me around and being useless. And he was always trying to act like a hero, even when no one wanted him to. Dumbass is lucky he didn't get himself killed with how often he went chasing villain fights."

"Well, isn't he, like, lucky to be alive at this point anyway?" Mina asked. Her eyes were closed as she hung upside down over the edge of the couch, her legs up over the back. "You know, since he's quirkless?"

"That's what I just fucking said."

"No, I mean since the average lifespan of quirkless kids nowadays is supposed to be 10-12 years old or something close to that."

That caught Bakugou's attention. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Mina cracked open one eye and looked up at him. When she saw he was serious, she sat up so she was sitting properly.

"Didn't they teach you this in school?" she asked. "We had a whole seminar on it when we were kids."

"Right! I forgot about that!" Kirishima said. He turned to Bakugou and continued. "So our school did a lecture on quirk and quirkless dicrimination. They did it every year for the 2nd graders, and then they did it again in more detail for 5th graders. The teachers didn't usually focus too much on quirkless statistics, but they made a point to tell us that because of the way they get treated, quirkless people have shorter life expectancies."

Mina nodded along. "I have an aunt who is quirkless, so I asked her about it afterwards and she told me that today, quirkless kids get bullied really badly and a lot of times, get neglected by their families. If the kid ends up in the system, they can get abused there too. Stuff can get so bad for the kids that they kill themselves. That, or they get killed by someone else. It's like, crazy sad. It stuck with me growing up and I always made a point to try to be nice to people and get people to get along!"

"That's why you always stood up to those bullies in middle school! You were really good at that."

"Aw, thanks Kiri! Yeah, I just know how hard it was for my aunt and that it's even harder today since quirkless kids are so rare. Did you know that most of the quirkless population are the older generations? It's wild! And when I was a kid, people made fun of me for my mutations but it got a bit better after those lectures, so I assumed that all schools had them. They obviously worked, so why wouldn't they? I can't believe your school didn't do that, Bakugou."

"Yeah, well, the teachers at my school were shit," Bakugou grumbled, looking a little shaken. His shoulders collapsed inwards as he made himself smaller. "They just let us run wild."

"Damn. I mean, my school didn't have the lecture either but they at least kept an eye on us," Kaminari said, leaning into Sero's side.

"I didn't know all that stuff about quirkless people. That's really sad, actually. Bakugou, how was Deku treated at your school?" Sero asked.

Mina nodded. "Yeah, how did people react to him being quirkless? And what was his mom like? Sounds like she was pretty nice."

Bakugou shrunk even further in on himself. "Auntie was great. She was busy a lot, since she was taking care of Deku on her own. She kinda treated him like glass sometimes, I think. Which makes sense; he's quirkless. At school… school wasn't great for him."

"What happened?"

"It… It was just bad, okay? Why the fuck do you guys even care?"

Sero shrugged. "He's going to be in our class. Want to know everything we can about the guy. What happened for you guys to stop talking?"

Finally, Bakugou exploded, his hands popping menacingly. "I don't want to fucking talk about this anymore, shithead! Stop asking questions!"

"Bakugou!"

The group spun around, startled at the shout. Standing in the doorway to the common room was Present Mic, Toga and Deku behind him. The teens were wearing some spare gym uniforms and looked like they had finally gotten cleaned up. Deku's head was hung as he pressed himself into Toga's side, like he was trying to hide. Toga was openly glaring. Mic, who had been the one to shout, was frowning at Bakugou.

"Stop using your quirk inside the dorms. We don't need you starting a fire, got it?"

Mic didn't wait for an answer. He just gestured for the two villains to follow him as he led the way out of the dorm building. As soon as the door closed behind him, Mina and Kaminari bounded over to the window to watch where they were going.

"Looks like he's taking them to the main building. I wonder why," Mina said.

Kirishima came up behind her and looked over her head out the window. "Probably have to do paperwork and stuff. There's got to be a lot that goes into becoming students here when you used to be a villain."