"As you can see here," Nezu said, pointing to the screen, "Hitoshi Shinsou, Himiko Kan, and Eri left with Sir Nighteye. It appears that Sir Nighteye arrived through a side entrance using a duplicate copy of All Might's key card and left the gate propped open so that he would not have to scan the children's cards as they left. We are unsure of what he said to them to get them to leave with him, nor do we know why he took them. I have tried tracking his phone, but have been unable to locate it's signal. Shinsou left his phone here, so I am unable to track them that way either. Students, if any of you know anything, tell a teacher straight away. All of you except for Midoriya, Todoroki, Monoma, Togata, Amajiki, and Nejire are to return to your rooms."

Once 1A had left, Bakugou having to be ushered away when he tried to linger, the gathered teachers turned their attention to All Might.

"Why the hell did you let him borrow your key card?" Vlad King snarled, invading the other man's space.

All Might put up his hands in a placating gesture. "I didn't! He must have taken it from my wallet when I wasn't looking to make a copy!"

"Alright," Aizawa said, glaring. "Why did he take the kids?"

"I don't know."

"You have to know something!"

"Sir has been acting weird lately!" Mirio blurted out, catching everyone's attention.

"Mirio…" All Might said in a warning tone.

"All Might-sensei, we have to tell them. Other people are in danger now."

"Tell us what?" Nezu asked, his eyes narrowing.

"For a little while now, Sir has been acting a little off. He was more distant from All Might and I in some ways, but in other ways, he wanted to know everything. He said his quirk was acting up though so I figured it was just the stress!"

"What did he want to know about?"

"School and training, mostly. Which isn't too weird; he's always been really invested in that kind of stuff. But he wasn't asking me about my partners anymore, or about my parents. He stopped checking over my essays too, which he used to love doing because it meant he got to bust out his fancy red pens. After the whole thing with Midoriya and Toga, I mean, Kan, he started asking me questions about them. Not a lot, especially since I told him I wasn't really supposed to tell him stuff about them, but he'd want to know if they were settling in well with their classmates, and how Kan's quirk was developing, and how Midoriya and Eri were getting along. I didn't tell him anything, I swear! All I would say is that they were all doing well. The only time I ever said more than that was after I gave Midoirya the lunch that Nighteye made for him."

Mic and Aizawa looked at Izuku sharply.

"I don't remember this," Aizawa said icily.

"I opened the bento and read the note before I gave them to Midoriya. There wasn't anything weird," Mirio insisted.

Nezu frowned. "I doubt that. Midoriya, will you elaborate?"

"Um… Well…"

"What was in the note, Izuku?" Mic asked.

"There wasn't really anything in the note. It was the bento. He… he hid a phone in the rice. There was an email on the phone from him. He held up his end of the deal we made regarding my… my mother's grave. He wanted me to hold up my end to help Mirio with his quirk."

"Wait, so all the advice Sir gave me was actually from you?"

Izuku nodded. "I… I thought I was doing good by helping. And I did a lot of research and stuff about how your quirk developed the way it did and… I have theories about it. I didn't tell them to Sir though. Like you said, he was acting… off. But I also don't really want to talk about the theories right here in front of everyone."

"Izuku," Aizawa growled, standing from his seat. "You will tell us everything right now, do you understand me? Or do you want villains to kidnap and use your sister and her quirk to do who knows -"

"It's about Nana Shimura!" Izuku blurted, looking to All Might for help. "The theory. It's related to Nana Shimura. I'll talk about it right here and now, if you think it's okay, but I didn't know if it was safe to."

All Might looked stricken, his broad face slack. "You… You know about Nana?"

"Yes. And her quirk."

With a shuddering breath, All Might nodded. "The teachers here all know. The only people here who don't would be Hawks, Young Todoroki, and Young Monoma. Seeing as they are a part of this investigation now, we will just have to trust them."

With that, All Might shrunk into his smaller form, a puff of smoke going up around him. Hawks and Monoma both let out startled noises, Hawks' being decidedly more birdlike, while Todoroki stared on with wide eyes.

"I want to save my energy," All Might explained. "You'll understand why I am like this soon enough, boys. Midoriya, why don't you explain your theory. If you are wrong, I will tell you the truth."

Izuku nodded. "Well, Nighteye gave me a few files and articles about people who had unexplained quirk enhancements. After I did a bunch more digging, I found a whole line of people who had these evolutions, all one right after the other. They trained each other too, one after the other. Nana Shimura trained you, All Might, and All Might is now training Mirio. The enhancement, though, isn't normal. A normal quirk evolution would be related to the base quirk, not just a brand new quirk. And then I saw a pattern. Each of the people with this quirk enhancement glow when using it. It started at a really low level, but now it's gotten so powerful that Mirio glows and has lightning coming off of him when he activates the quirk. That's how I figured out not only is it the exact same quirk, being passed from person to person, it is strengthening as it goes. Mirio, this quirk could be so powerful by now that it could seriously hurt or kill you. If not you, then whomever you pass it to. I really don't like the idea of you using it. I was trying to do more research on how to measure the power output and how to measure what your body could handle to compare the two but I haven't found anything concrete yet."

Izuku took a moment, pausing long enough to see All Might nod.

"And then I found stuff about All For One. He's this ancient villain that can take and give quirks. I'm pretty sure he's Shigaraki's sensei. On the surface, that makes no sense. At least, until you know who Shigaraki is. I am nearly 100% positive that he is Nana Shimura's grandson. The only way I could be more sure is if I had a DNA test done on him. Tenko Shimura was 5 years old when his whole family died. It was ruled as a villain attack, but no villain was ever found and no similar attacks occured. The entire house was reduced to ash and rubble and all that was left of the family was a little bit of blood. I managed to dig up a photo of Tenko and saw that he wore quirkless shoes. That's when it clicked that Shigaraki wears them too. He also is the spitting image of Nana, except for the eyes and hair. But when you look at photos of Tenko, you see he has black hair and brown eyes, not pale blue and red. If Tenko was given an extremely powerful, possibly tampered with, decay quirk even though he was quirkless, it could destroy the pigment in his body. Shigaraki, or I guess Shimura's quirk is turning him albino. And once the pigment is gone, it will probably turn towards attacking other parts of him, possibly killing him. All For One will have chosen Tenko for this to get back at All Might and torture him, since Nana was All Might's mentor."

Hawks looked up at All Might, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Is that true? Is that all true?"

All Might's blue eyes were watering. "All For One is real. Young Midoriya is correct. He is also correct about my quirk, One For All. It is a power stockpiling quirk that can be passed on and I have passed it to Mirio. But… I knew nothing of Tenko. Midoriya, are you sure? Are you sure Shigaraki is Nana's grandson?"

"I'm pretty sure. I can go get the phone Nighteye gave me and show you a picture."

"Yes, please."

Izuku glanced at Aizawa, who was still frowning at him. Aizawa gave a short nod.

Izuku quickly scurried away, hurrying to his room. Once he had pulled the phone out, he saw he had an email from Nighteye.

Swallowing his dread, he opened it.

And there, on the tiny screen, was a picture of Eri, Hitoshi, and Himiko. All three were tied up, handcuffs encircling their wrists and ankles, but strapped to Hitoshi's face was a big, metal muzzle. Eri was the only one awake, the two teens unconscious. Eri's big red eyes stared at the camera pleadingly. Draped across her shoulder, though was a long arm. She was being pressed into the side of none other than Shigaraki, who grinned at the camera. Just behind them, lying on the ground, was Sir Nighteye, completely unconscious. Looking closely though, Izuku could see that this Nighteye had a beard growing in, along with cuts and bruises in various states of healing. His clothes were tattered and he was filthy, as though he had been there for some time. Nighteye's glasses were nowhere to be seen and the man looked far too thin, thinner than when Izuku saw him on the security footage.

The only message with the photo was " Found something of yours. "

Without thinking, Izuku called the only number on the phone: Nighteye's burner.

The call was picked up after two rings.

"I don't know what the fuck you are playing at," Izuku growled, not even waiting for the person on the other end of the line to speak. "But you are going to give them back. Do you understand me? If you hurt them, I will kill you. If you try to make them use their quirks, I will kill you. If you so much as look at them for longer than 2 seconds, I will kill you. I will find you and tear your life apart bit by bit until you are begging me to end your miserable excuse of a life. So let them go. Now. "

There was only silence. And then, a deep, blood-chilling laugh filtered through the phone.

"This must be Deku. My, my, you have a temper, don't you?"

Izuku repressed the urge to gasp. "You're All For One, aren't you?"

"And you're bright too! Tomura told me you were smart, but I didn't think you were that smart. For once, I am pleased to be proven wrong. Tell me, how did you unearth my identity?"

"Give back my friends."

"Come on, Deku, we were having such a lovely conversation."

Izuku gritted his teeth, his grip on the phone tightening. "That's not my name."

"No? That's what Tomura calls you. Do you prefer Midoriya? Does it remind you of your mother? It's sad, what happened to her. But Tomura thought it best. After all, without a mother, where would you go except into our arms?"

"You…" Izuku bit out, a tremor starting in his body. "You killed my mom?"

"Well, I had something to do with it, but I did not kill her directly. Tomura simply instructed a low level villain to destroy the building she was in. Honestly, Deku, you didn't find it odd that your home was destroyed precisely when you weren't there? Or that Tomura was right there to whisk you away? You never had questions regarding that?"

"I… I thought that Shigaraki was just there to watch All Might and look for any weakness."

"No, it was simply a stroke of luck that All Might happened to be the one that responded to the call regarding our little villain. All Tomura wanted was you ."

"If he wants me, then why the fuck did you take my friends?"

"I said Tomura wants you. Not that I do. I wanted Eri. Toga and Young Shinsou were simply bonuses. I think Tomura will have a lot of fun catching up with Toga, don't you? They have a lot to talk about. And I can't wait to speak with Shinsou about his quirk. It's rather villainous, you know. Hardly suitable for a hero student."

And just like that, the fear in Izuku's body evaporated, only to be replaced with a burning rage unlike anything he had ever felt before.

"Listen here, you old bitch," Izuku spat, nearly snarling into the phone. "I will find you. And if any of them are hurt, I will make you regret it. If you know what's good for you, you will let all of them, including Nighteye, go."

"And if I don't do as you say?"

Izuku grinned, his eyes wide and crazed, his teeth on full display. It was a feral smile, one he hadn't found a need to give in some time, ever since he found his place at UA.

"If you don't," Izuku said, his voice even, "I'll ruin you and everything you've built."

All For One laughed. "Lovely! Just perfect! I knew you still had that villainous spark inside you somewhere. I was worried that the heroes would try to snuff it, but it seems they have failed. I've enjoyed this conversation, Deku, I really have. I hope we talk again soon."

The line went dead.

Still seething, Deku ripped the back of the phone open and pulled the SIM card from it, before closing the phone again. Stalking back to the common room, he found Aizawa pacing. As he walked in, both Mic and Aizawa looked at him with varying degrees of panic.

"What took so long?" Aizawa asked gruffly.

"I got an email with a photo," Izuku said, handing the phone to Aizawa to see. "Shigaraki has Eri, Hitoshi, and Himiko. He also has the real Nighteye and seems to have had him for a while. So I decided to call Nighteye's burner phone. All For One picked up. He wants to use Eri's quirk and wants to steal Hitoshi's. He plans to let Shigaraki torture and kill Himiko. If you give me a computer, I can track them down and we can go save them."

" You spoke to All For One?! " Mic shrieked, launching himself off the couch and grabbing Izuku into a tight hug. "Are you okay? What did he say?"

"Mostly I just threatened him, he laughed about it, told me he and Shigaraki are the ones that caused my mom's death, and then he hung up on me. Now, can I have a computer please?"

Aizawa flicked through the photos on the phone and found the picture of Hana and Tenko Shimura. Sucking in a sharp breath, he handed the phone to All Might to see.

"Izuku was right. Shigaraki is Tenko Shimmura," Aizawa said, watching as All Might's expression fell.

"I can't believe it…"

"Yes, so hard to believe I was right," Izuku said bitterly. "Computer? Anyone?"

"No. No computer," Aizawa snapped, finally looking at Izuku. "You're not on the case. You will be staying here. Todoroki, Monoma, you two are in charge of keeping Izuku away from any and all technology. Hawks, until we are ready for a rescue raid, I want you watching them too. Keep them locked in my apartment and do not lose sight of them. Once we have a location, we'll call you."

"What?" Izuku shouted, trying to struggle out of Mic's hold.

Monoma was on his feet in seconds. "You have to let us help!"

"We don't have to do anything," Vlad growled, putting a hand on Monoma's shoulder to keep him from trying to fight anyone.

"Hitoshi is my boyfriend," Shoto said darkly. "And Himiko and Eri are our friends. We deserve to help."

"I know the League the best! You need me!"

"No, Izuku," Mic carefully said, giving him a squeeze. "We need you to be safe."

"I'll be fine! Even if I'm not, this is all my fault! I should have told you about the phone! I should have been the one that was taken, not them! If anyone is going to get hurt, it should be me! Not Hitoshi. Not Himiko. And especially not Eri!"

Finally, Aizawa snapped. "No!" he shouted, his quirk flaring for a moment and making his hair float. "You were manipulated, again, by villains. They wanted information on One For All and Mirio. You told them nothing about Eri, or your friends, so while I am not thrilled you went behind my back, this is not your fault. They took your sister, Izuku, and I need to focus on rescuing her, not keeping you safe! So I need you to stay here and not do anything that could put you in danger because I can not lose both of my children in one day, do you understand me?"

Izuku burst into sobs, fat tears streaming down his cheeks as he went limp in Mic's arms. Mic crooned quietly, holding Izuku up so the boy didn't collapse. Carefully, Hawks padded forward, his wings shifting nervously.

"Here, I'll take him. You guys get on tracking them down."

Mic nodded and let Hawks pull Izuku into a hug. Shuffling down the hall, Hawks managed to get Izuku back to the apartment, Shoto and Neito following. Aizawa watched them leave, a conflicted expression on his face. As they left his line of sight, he took a shaky breath and turned back to the gathered heroes.

"Let's get to work."

--

All For One set the phone aside, smiling to himself. Beside him was the shapeshifter, a weak willed man named Ichiei Kawasaki. He had been born with a boring, eye color changing quirk, and had gone in search of a more powerful quirk. So, All For One had made him a bargain: he would give him a shapeshifting quirk, but should All For One ever had a need for his ability, Kawasaki would help. The man had quickly agreed. Years later, some of All For One's informants told him that All Might was spending more time with Sir Nighteye and Nighteye's apprentice: Lemillion. Then, when he got word that Lemillion's quirk had evolved, All For One knew he had found the next One For All holder. So, he had Sir Nighteye kidnapped and planted Kawasaki in his place. It was simple, really: all they had to do was put a small amount of Nighteye's saliva on his glasses, and Kawasaki was ready.

For the shapeshifter to use his quirk, he needed a small amount of the individual's DNA on a well-worn belonging of theirs. He would then wear the belonging and be able to transform into them. He would be able to pick up bits and pieces of their personality through the DNA, letting him fool people easier. They had tried to get more information out of Nighteye through torture, but it hadn't worked. The man was too tight-lipped. So, they kept him locked in one of the bunkers, that way they always had access to fresh DNA. And Kawasaki took Nighteye's place seamlessly. With his connection to Lemillion and All Might, he was able to feed All For One and Shigaraki information not only about the One For All users, but also information about UA, including schedules and student quirks.

And it worked beautifully. No one, not even Deku, had picked up on the spy. At least, not until they wanted him to.

Eri sniffled as she pressed herself into Himiko's side. Himiko was just beginning to stir, groaning in pain. Beside her, Hitoshi was also starting to awaken, his purple eyes blinking blearily.

Shigaraki was shifting from foot to foot excitedly beside All For One. Behind Shigaraki were his three remaining League members, Twice, Mr. Compress, and Spinner. On All For One's other side were Kurogiri and Kawasaki.

"Did I do well, sir?" Kawasaki asked, wringing his hands nervously.

"You didn't bring me Deku, as I requested."

"He was always with the heroes! Or he was with the Todoroki boy, who would have been problematic for all of us."

"Not for me," All For One said sharply, making Kawasaki cower.

"But… I brought you Eri! She's the one you really need! Once she heals you, you'll be able to get Deku, right? And I got you all the information on One For All, like you requested. I had Deku analyze it and everything. You have all the information you need to defeat All Might and his successor!"

"Ugh, will you shut up already?" Shigaraki rasped, shooting Kawasaki a glare. "They're waking up!"

"Can… Am I free to leave, sir?" Kawasaki asked All For One, looking up at him hopefully.

Without responding, All For One lashed out, using a combination of quirks to not only take back the shapeshifting quirk he had gifted Kawasaki, but to also kill the man. Kawasaki dropped like a stone, his body nothing more than an empty shell.

"Kurogiri, open a portal and send the body through to the doctor. I'm sure he has some sort of use for it."

With a wave of his hand, Kurogiri opened a warp gate and allowed Kawasaki's body to fall through into the doctor's lab. With another wave, the gate closed.

"Eri?" Himiko mumbled, her eyes finally opening. "Eri? Where are you?"

"I'm here," the little girl said, leaning over Himiko so she could see her. With a bit of a struggle, Eri was able to help Himiko into a seated position. Hitoshi had finally seemed to get his bearings and was also working to sit up, leaning heavily on Himiko.

"Rise and shine, brats," Shigaraki hissed, grinning maniacally. "Long time, no see, Toga."

"Shit-araki. You're looking as flaky as ever."

"And you're still a bitch, Toga."

"It's not Toga anymore. It's Kan. I got adopted cuz, you know, you murdered my parents."

"You should be thanking me for that."

"I don't think I will."

"Bitch."

"You already called me that. Try coming up with some better insults, then we can talk."

Growling, Shigaraki started to move forward, hand outstretched to grab Himiko's face. All For One's hand came down on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

"Patience, Tomura, you will get your chance. Wouldn't it be better for her to be intact and fully aware once we finally have Deku? I thought you wanted her to watch his procedure before you killed her."

"You're right, Sensei. I forgot myself."

Eri's eyes had gone wide at All For One's words. "Pro… Procedure?"

"Yes, little one," All For One said, giving her a smile that was clearly meant to be sweet, but bordered on sadistically sarcastic. "Procedure. Have you heard of a Nomu? They are those mindless creatures that we use on occasion to slaughter heroes, like your friends. We have a few, though, that are not completely mindless. They are our High End Nomus. I think Deku would make a fine addition to their ranks."

"Don't you dare," Himiko hissed, struggling against her restraints.

"Why not? Deku has always craved a quirk, hasn't he? As a High End Nomu, he would have multiple quirks, and still be able to use that big brain of his. Of course, we would have to eradicate all of his memories and heroic tendencies. Make him a bit more docile. Wouldn't be the first time we did that to a hero hopeful, and I'm sure it won't be the last."

Beside All For One, the haze of Kurogiri's quirk flickered for the briefest second before settling again. All For One continued, not noticing the slight disturbance in Kurogiri's demeanor.

"What I need first, from you children, is little Eri's help. You see, I heard about how special your quirk is, Eri. You can revert living things into a prior state of being, all without impacting their mental capacities. That is quite a gift. Though you can't use it on yourself, can you?"

Whimpering, Eri shook her head. Himiko and Hitoshi both were trying to shift themselves in front of Eri, shielding her from the towering man.

"That's what I thought. If you could, then I would simply take the quirk from you so I could use it on myself. It would make things simpler. But, alas, that is not the case. You will just have to use it on me yourself. Tomura, collect the girl for me."

"Don't touch her," Himiko snarled, baring her teeth at Shigaraki.

"Don't you try to bite me, vampire bitch, or we'll muzzle you like we did your little boyfriend. Only reason we haven't muzzled you yet is because I wanted to hear you scream and beg when we hurt him and the girl," Shigaraki said with a twisted grin.

Before Himiko could respond, Spinner stepped behind her and dragged both her and Hitoshi out of the way, leaving them in a heap beside the emaciated Sir Nighteye. Shigaraki had grabbed ahold of Eri's arm, careful to leave one finger raised as he harshly yanked her up. In a few long steps, he was back to standing in front of All For One, where he unceremoniously dumped the small girl onto the ground.

Behind his muzzle, Hitoshi was yelling, his voice muffled. Himiko was also screaming, shouting profanity at All For One.

"Leave her alone, you bastard! She's just a little girl! Fuck! Just, let her go!"

"Sir," Kurogiri said, taking a step forward, leaving him between All For One and Eri, though to the side, so he wasn't directly in the way. "Perhaps the child should test the quirk first? Kawasaki stated that she did not have full control of her powers as of yet, and it could be dangerous to -"

"Silence, Kurogiri. You aren't here to have thoughts. You're here to follow orders," All For One snapped. "Now, Eri, Activate your quirk and rewind me to a healthier state. Don't even think about touching my quirk factor."

Eri sniffled. "I… I don't know how. I'm bad at using my quirk."

All For One sighed, frowning. "You must activate it yourself. If I activate it for you, I am tied to you and you may not be able to use it on me. So you need to activate it. And you need to do it now, or I will be forced to do things I don't particularly want to do."

"Please, sir, I don't know how to do it."

"How about this? If you don't activate your quirk by the time I count to three, I will take Shinou's quirk and allow Tomura to torture him to death. But, if you activate your quirk and rewind me, the way I have asked, Shinsou won't be killed today."

Eri's eyes began to fill with tears, her breath rate picking up in pace. "No! No, please!"

"Then activate your quirk."

"I'm trying! I don't know how!"

"One."

"Please, I can't!"

"Two."

Eri started to hyperventilate. "I'm really trying! I swear!"

"Sir, maybe we should-" Kurogiri took a step closer to Eri.

"Three."

Shigaraki grinned, turning to look at Shinsou.

Before anyone could move, golden light burst from Eri's horn as she screamed, writhing in pain as her quirk lashed out from her body. The force of the overloaded quirk sent All For One and Shigaraki stumbling back a step, but Kurogiri froze, the golden light hitting him. He was completely rigid, his yellow eyes wide as the purple and black smoke around his body fizzled and wavered, as though it was unsure of what to do.

"Eri!" Himiko screamed, trying to be heard over the sounds of the girl's cries. "It's okay! Turn your quirk off! You're going to hurt yourself!"

Eri's back arched as more light streamed from her, latching onto Kurogiri's body. More and more of her quirk poured into him, as though his body was soaking up the power that radiated from her.

Himiko looked around, trying to find something, anything, that could help Eri. That's when she and Hitoshi made eye contact. He shifted, moving his arm closer to her. His eyes flicked back and forth between his arm and Himiko, as though he were trying to tell her something.

That's when it clicked.

With a sudden lunge, Himiko bit Hitoshi's arm, just enough to break the skin. As soon as the blood touched her tongue, Himiko transformed, morphing herself into Shinsou.

"Eri!" she shouted in Hitoshi's voice. "I'm going to help you! Answer my question! Who is your brother?"

"I… Izu!" Eri screamed. As soon as the word was out of her mouth, her body went limp, her eyes blank and vacant.

She was under Himiko's control.

"Eri, turn off your quirk."

And as though a switch had been flipped, the light that had been encompassing her and Kurogiri flicked off. Himiko dropped her control of Eri just as her time limit as Hitoshi ran out and she turned back into herself. Blinking the spots from her eyes, Himiko searched the room, trying to find Eri and make sure she was okay.

Eri was unconscious, the overload from her quirk wiping her out. And beside her, instead of Kurogiri, were two bodies. One was of a black haired man in rags, who was very obviously dead, from the way his body was broken and mangled. The other was of a pale-blue haired man, who was lying face down on the ground. He was tall, with long arms and legs, all of which were muscular. His shoulders were broad and square, filling out the white button down and black suit vest he was wearing. It took Himiko a second, but she realized that he was wearing Kurogiri's clothes. The man groaned, trying to push himself up. His hair was wild, sticking up in waves, similar to the shape of Kurogiri's shadowy silhouette. As he lifted his head, Himiko was able to see a deep scar across the man's forehead, long since healed, and a small bandage across the bridge of his nose. When he opened his eyes, Himiko saw they were a pale shade of blue, not far off from his hair color. Beside her, Hitoshi sucked in a startled breath when the man glanced over at the two of them.

Before the man could say or do anything, All For One kicked his side, hard enough to flip the man onto his back.

"Oh, fuck," the man moaned, gripping at his ribs. "You're stronger than you look."

"Holy shit," Spinner breathed, taking a step back. "What the fuck happened to Kurogiri?"

"She deconstructed a Nomu. How interesting," All For One said, studying the blue haired man.

Shigaraki was glaring at Eri. "Can we reverse it? I want Kurogiri back."

"I'd prefer if you didn't," the man said.

All For One kicked him again. "I don't think it will be possible, Tomura. Before, the two were both alive, though on the brink of death. We were able to take the DNA of the teleporter and combine it with the cloud user. If we combined them now that the teleporter is dead, they would turn into a normal Nomu, not a High End, like Kurogiri. I believe that Kurogiri has simply run his course."

"Well, can I kill this guy?"

"Let us keep him alive for now. Perhaps I can find another quirk that we can use to turn him back into a High End. He won't be Kurogiri, but he would be similar. Cuff his hands and leave him here. While we wait for little Eri to recuperate enough to use her quirk again, I will do some research on what quirk would be best to use. Move Toga away from the others as well. I don't want a repeat and I don't particularly want to muzzle her just yet."

Compress stepped forward and expanded one of his marbles, revealing a set of cuffs. He bound the man's hands, though he didn't bring them behind his back, like they had done for the children. He then pulled the man over to sit between Hitoshi and Himiko. Spinner dragged Himiko over to a wall, away from the others, and attached her cuffs to the wall so that she couldn't move back. Finally, Twice picked Eri up, with a gentleness that the others had not shown, and set her down near Hitoshi.

"Anything else we should do, sir?" Spinner asked, looking at All For One nervously.

"Not now. Come, all of you. Let us leave them to their thoughts."

With that, the villains left, leaving the prisoners alone in the dark, dank basement.

--

"This is bullshit. I can't believe they think I need three babysitters," Izuku grumbled, sitting on the couch with folded arms.

Hawks glanced up from where he sat at the dining room table, nursing a strong cup of coffee. "I think I'm supposed to be babysitting all three of you."

"Makes sense. You're Izuku's older brother, after all."

"Not this again, Shoto. Now's not the time."

"Wait, no, let him continue. Because it's so true."

"Shut up, Neito."

Hawks' face lit up as though he had just found the meaning of life. "Oh shit. Eraserhead and Present Mic have practically adopted me. That's awesome."

"Fine, they adopted you. Yay. Want to be a good big brother and help me break out of here?"

"Don't think that would make me a good big brother."

"As the only one who actually has older brothers, I can confirm that a typical older brother would help with something like that."

"Shut up."

"Please, Hawks, you could go with us! It'll be a bonding experience!"

"No, and if you try to escape, I can and will hogtie you so you can't escape."

"This is bullshit."

Neito snorted. "You've already said that."

Izuku launched a pillow across the room at him in response.

Before any of them could say or do anything else, a knock sounded at the door. Hawks was immediately on alert, all of his feathers puffed up menacingly. Jumping up from his seat, Hawks took a few bird-like hops towards the door before stopping himself, continuing on at a normal gait.

He cracked the door open and found none other than Bakugou standing there, hands in pockets and red eyes staring down at the floor sullenly.

"I need to talk to Izuku."

"Did Izuku give you permission to call him Izuku?"

"Listen, bird brain, I've known him longer than anyone. I know for a fact he's probably spiraling right now and he needs someone to talk some sense into him. With Aizawa and Mic busy, that person needs to be me. So either let me in or send him out here to talk."

After a moment's hesitation, Hawks opened the door wide enough for Bakugou to slip in.

"Bakugou?" Shoto asked, cocking his head in confusion.

Neito huffed. "What are you doing here?"

"Nerd. With me. Your room. Now."

"But-"

" Now. "

Unceremoniously, Bakugou grabbed Izuku's arm and forcefully dragged him off the couch, spinning him around and sending him stumbling down the hallway. Bakugou gestured for Izuku to continue walking. Rolling his eyes, Izuku led the way to his bedroom. Once inside, Bakugou slammed and locked the door behind them.

"Want to tell me why you decided to barge in here and manhandle me?"

Instead of responding, Bakugou was looking around the room, taking in every detail. His red eyes scanned over everything, almost as though he was calculating it all.

"It's different from your room at your mom's."

"What?"

"Back when you lived with your mom. Your room was covered in All Might stuff. Every inch of your walls had All Might posters, and you had figurines everywhere."

"They got destroyed."

Bakugou nodded. "I have a few. Of your merch pieces, I mean. I was… I was waiting to give them back to you. Was trying to give you space, you know? During the building clean up, I snuck on the site and dug around. Managed to find a few of the plushies. They were really dirty, and one was waterlogged, but I cleaned them up. Put them away in a box in my closet back home. I had… Well, I had wanted something to remember you by. And then, when you were back from the dead, I wanted to give them back to you. I've just been a coward and haven't said anything."

"You're hardly a coward."

"I am."

"No, you-"

"Izuku," Bakugou said, cutting him off. "I am. I'm a coward. A coward who was scared all the time as a kid and took it out on you. I thought I had to be the best and for a little bit, I thought I was. But then, as we got older, I saw that you were better than me. You didn't have a quirk, you weren't particularly muscular, but you were smart and you were kind. I could catch up with you in grades, that wasn't too hard, but the kindness… I was shit at that. So, like the snot nosed little asshole I am, I took my anger and insecurities out on you. But you never broke. You just kept going. Everyday, I had to see you being better, and braver, and kinder, and risking yourself.

"Then, when I got to UA, I didn't see you anymore. I… I realized that I was worried about you. I was mad about it at first but then sorta thought about it and realized I always worried about you, in my own fucked up way. I thought that… maybe one day I could apologize to you. I knew you'd spit in my face and tell me to fuck off, and I would just have to accept it, but then you were dead. I freaked out. I really really freaked out. Because I realized that you are important to me, even when I was furious with you and a complete dick, you were still important. So I'm here to finally tell you that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for how I treated you. That was why I didn't want my parents to adopt you. Not because I was angry with you or disliked you, but because I wanted you to finally, finally , have a place of your own without my influence. I wanted you to have a place where you felt safe and that you could relax.

"And that place was with Aizawa and Mic. It wasn't with me. I convinced my parents of that and I convinced them to go to therapy. Things are better, at home. We talk things out instead of yelling. I'm hoping that maybe, one day, you would trust me enough to come visit, maybe for dinner. It would make my parents really happy. I would even leave, if that would make you feel better, that way you could spend time with them without having to worry that-"

Bakugou cut off his speech with startled noise as Izuku threw himself forward, hugging Bakugou tightly.

"I love you too, Kacchan. Even if you are a prick."

"I never said I loved you."

"You did. In your own way."

Awkwardly, Bakugou patted Izuku's back. "Yeah, well… we're… brothers. Sort of. Brothers don't always get along but they still care."

Izuku sniffled. "Exactly," he said, pulling back to laugh slightly. "I'm getting a lot of siblings today. I just got Eri, and then I got Hawks and now you."

Bakugou scoffed. "I'll be a better brother than that poser."

"Want to prove it? I want to go after Himiko, Hitoshi, and Eri. I know I can help."

"Obviously, you can help. That's why I'm here. I came to apologize but also to see what I could do. What do you need? Distraction?"

"Well, we really can't plan much here. Not with Hawks listening in."

" Huh? "

Reaching around Bakugou's back, Izuku plucked a red feather off his hoodie. Raising the feather up to his mouth, Izuku took a deep breath and then screamed loudly, right into the feather.

A horrible squawking noise was heard from the living room, along with a crash and then a thump.

"What the hell, Izuku?" Hawks yelled.

"Don't spy on me!"

"It's for your own safety! I don't want you sneaking out!"

"I'm sneaking out whether you like it or not! So either get me a laptop and help, or you're going to get knocked out!"

--

Hitoshi kicked the blue haired man's leg with his sneaker clad foot. The man glanced up, looking over in confusion. Hitoshi turned his body and started to fingerspell in sign language to the man. The man watched carefully, mouthing the letters as he went.

"...G-E… Do I know sign language? Yes, I do."

Hitoshi nodded, still facing away. He started to finger spell again.

"... K-U-M-O… Oh! Yeah! I'm Shirakumo! You know me?"

Hitoshi started to sign again.

"Mic? What about Hizashi? Did he tell you about me?"

Hitoshi nodded and then spelled one more word.

"Yearbook? Oh! There must have been a photo in the yearbook of us! So you know I dated Hizashi and Shouta. Are they still together? I only saw them once since I became that… thing… and it was at USJ. Couldn't really tell if they were together or not."

"We aren't telling you," Himiko said, glaring.

"Right. Makes sense. Shouldn't talk about that here. Don't know if anyone is listening," Shirakumo said before shuffling over to check on Eri. Carefully, he managed to pull her into his lap, where he checked her pulse and her breathing. "Eri seems to be okay. Just unconscious."

"Good. Stop touching her."

Hitoshi shot Himiko a look, shaking his head. Furrowing her brow, she cocked her head for a second, almost encouraging Hitoshi to continue. Hitoshi widened his eyes, jutting out his chin slightly and communicating only with his eyes. Himiko huffed but then nodded.

Shirakumo's pale eyes flicked between the two of them. "Uh… So is it cool that I'm holding her? I just… I want to keep her safe any way I can, even if that means just keeping her from lying on the dirty floor."

"Fine. But if you hurt her, I'll find a way to make you regret it."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you. You're a tough kid. Always have been."

She frowned. "So you can remember your time as Kurogiri, right?"

Shirakumo nodded. "Most of it. Parts of it are fuzzy, same with my life before Kurogiri. But I can remember Shouta and Hizashi really well. Can remember us at school, at UA. Can remember the patrol that led to… led to me nearly dying. I should have been dead, honestly. That should have killed me. But All For One's mad scientist managed to keep me from completely croaking. Then he did all his crazy tests on me. Combined me with that other guy. It was only a little DNA from the teleporter guy, along with pieces of his quirk factor. My body was the host body, so I think that's why I survived the split Eri caused. It's weird. I can remember being Kurogiri, but it doesn't feel like me . And he isn't in my head either. He's gone. It's like he just sprung into existence and disappeared just as fast."

"Sounds kinda freaky."

He laughed. "Yeah, it sorta is. How is your sense of smell, by the way? Can you smell that guy behind us? He's a hero. I don't think I'm strong enough to pull myself over there. He's got some dried blood on him. Can you pick up his scent and see if he's healthy? Spinner was in charge of keeping him alive and I have no idea if he was doing a good job of it."

Himiko gave him an odd look before raising her nose in the area, taking in a deep breath. "Malnourished. Dehydrated. Has some injuries, obviously. He's been drugged, which is why he's unconscious. Can't tell what drug it is, honestly, I never learned to tell them apart. Besides that, I think he's okay."

"Good," Shirakumo said, his shoulders relaxing slightly.

"You actually care?"

"Well, yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

"I guess I'm just used to Kurogiri, I guess."

"Right, Kurogiri wouldn't have cared. I know I was Kurogiri for a while, but I'm not him, I promise."

"Okay, but if you were young when you became Kurogiri, how are you an adult now? Doesn't make sense."

"Oh!" he said, perking up. "I can actually answer that! So, even though I was combined with that other guy when I was 17 and turned into Kurogiri, my body under the smoke continued to age, just like my brain. I'm guessing when Eri used her quirk, she accidentally separated the combination instead of just rewinding me. And now, I'm just a normal 31 year old dude. Who, you know, was forced to be a villain for nearly 15 years. Damn, when Sho and Hizahi find out, they're going to be so upset."

Himiko cocked her head, her eyes narrowing. "You keep bringing them up."

"I dated them. Still love them." Shirakumo paused and looked down at Eri. Shuffling her slightly, he was able to bring his bound hands up to brush her white hair from her face. "Like all lovesick high schoolers, we talked about the future. We all agreed that we'd adopt at least one kid, one who was in need, but that we'd also save up and shell out the money to pay someone with a child creation quirk. We decided that it would be Sho and I that the kid was created from. Hizashi's quirk was too finicky when he was little, so he didn't feel comfortable passing it on. Sometimes, I would daydream about what my kid… our kid, would look like. Sometimes, they would have Sho's hair and my eyes. Sometimes… sometimes they would have my hair and Sho's eyes, sort of like Eri here. That pale hair is so close to mine, and her red eyes remind me of Sho when he uses his quirk. And, while I haven't seen her smile, I can imagine that when she does, it's just as bright as Hizashi's. I know UA has been protecting her, meaning Sho and Hizashi have been helping. Knowing them, they probably care about her. And so, I care about her. I want to protect her. I want to get her out of here."

Himiko nodded. "Me too. If any of us get to survive, it should be her. Sorry Hitoshi."

Hitoshi shrugged, as if to say that he understood.

Shirakumo's brow furrows as he frowned. "All of you kids will be getting out of here. I'll make sure of it."

CON PICS AND UPDATE!

I had a great time at the convention! I dressed as Dabi on Friday and met the English VA for Dabi. He was super nice and in my book, he wrote a quote from Dabi and then put "3 Dabi" before signing. Then, during the picture, right as it was being taken, he growd (in Dabi's voice) "Burn." So overall, that was such a cool experience! And then I won my division in the cosplay contest with my Anastasia gown, and finally, on Sunday, I dressed as Kate Bishop! And yes, I had to do the stereotypical female superhero pose, I just couldn't resist! I couldn't get the pics to look right so check out my instagram post, linked below! Remember, if you haven't already followed me on tiktok and Instagram, go do that! I post cosplay updates and fanfic updates! All the cosplays shown here are ones that I made myself! https//p/CciS81fLeFe/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=