Tap. Tap. Tap.

The rhythmic sound of her cane against the asphalt was grounding as Chiyo half-marched, half-hobbled across the parking lot towards the Hosu General Hospital. It wasn't often that she was called for off-campus healings anymore, but today was an important exception.

The Hero Killer and a Nomu attack. Honestly! One or the other would have been bad enough on its own, but no, All Might's protege just had to go and get herself involved in both at the same time! What, did she think that inheriting a two hundred year old power was going to turn her into a pro hero overnight!? Well, if that was what was going through her head, then Chiyo was going to have to straighten her out now, because she had enough white hairs among the gray as it was!

"Recovery Girl-san!" the receptionist at the front desk lit up as she recognized her. "It's so good to see you!"

"Yes yes, now how do you want me to sign in so I can visit that overly-reckless student of mine?" Recovery Girl grumbled back. Thankfully, this woman caught on to her irritation faster than most, and was by far among the most efficient receptionists that she'd worked with in her time. Within three minutes, she had her visitor's pass and was on her way to her patient's room. Several doctors and nurses greeted her as she passed them in the halls. She usually gave them grim nods in reply, but neither party would slow down-in a world of criminals with quirks, a doctor's work was never done. Especially following a disaster like Hosu.

Eventually, the old pro hero reached the correct room. She knocked once, then pushed open the door without waiting for a reply. (One of the advantages of her age was that she was often excused from such tiresome things as that.)

"R-Recovery Girl-sensei!" a voice squeaked in surprise.

"Oh, do you have a visitor, sweetheart?" a tinny voice spoke up.

When Chiyo turned around, she found Uraraka Ochaco trying to sit upright in bed, only to groan softly and slump back against the pillows, her free hand instinctively reaching for her wounded side. Still, her brown eyes were relatively alert despite the dark circles underneath them, standing in stark contrast to her unhealthily-flushed cheeks, dressed in an unflattering hospital gown and clutching her pink flip phone close to her chest even with an IV still attached to her arm and a heart monitor clipped to her finger. "Is that your parents, dear?" Chiyo asked as she stepped forward, still leaning heavily on her cane.

"O-Oh, yes!" Uraraka replied as she overcame her surprise. "Mom, Dad, Recovery Girl-sensei just arrived. Can I call you back in a few minutes?"

"Of course, sweetheart, that's fine."

"I wouldn't count on her calling you back sooner than a few hours from now," Recovery Girl called as she approached. "My quirk will probably knock her out for the rest of the morning, and possibly a good portion of the afternoon as well."

"That's alright," a man's voice spoke up now. Uraraka Yuma, according to her student's file. "Thank you for taking care of her, Recovery Girl-san."

"No need to thank me," Chiyo sighed at the phone. "Just doing my job."

"Even so, thank you. It eases our hearts knowing that Ochaco has people to take care of her when we can't be there."

The old pro hero frowned a little bit at that. She'd almost forgotten that Uraraka's parents lived out in the country. They were really fortunate that the Yaoyorozu family had been willing to board the girl during this whole crisis.

"Anyway, get some rest, sweetheart," the woman cut in again. Uraraka Akari, Chiyo believed. "We're really glad you're doing okay. We'll talk soon, alright?"

"Yeah. We'll talk soon," Uraraka agreed, a small, fond smile touching her mouth.

"We love you."

"Love you too. G'bye."

"Bye, love."

The call ended after that. Uraraka sighed softly, fighting back a wince as she put her phone on the bedside table. Recovery Girl walked around the bed, taking the clipboard hooked to the end to read the notes that the doctor had left concerning the girl's condition.

"Knife wound to the side. Relatively superficial in that it didn't strike any major organs, but primary contributor to approximately twelve percent blood loss, possibly more at one point but the wound was already stitched up and some of your blood replenished by the time you arrived at the hospital. Additional lacerations across the stomach and back caused by the Nomu's claws, hairline fractures in both arms and legs, and high levels of quirk exhaustion, not to mention there had been signs of preliminary infection in some of the lacerations so you were put on antibiotics," the elderly doctor read. She gave the girl a severe look that sent her cringing back against her pillows. "You have a fever, don't you. And I'd wager you didn't tell your parents."

"They were worried about me," Uraraka mumbled defensively.

"Yes, because you were just admitted to the hospital where you should be resting, not putting on a brave face and pretending that nothing happened," Recovery Girl scolded her. "You're still on heavy pain medications, not to mention fighting a bacterial infection. Any self-respecting parent would have understood that you needed more rest."

The girl looked properly abashed by the reprimand, so Chiyo sighed and set the clipboard back on the bed as she walked back around towards her. "Anyway, how did you manage to fracture bones on top of being stabbed?"

The girl glanced towards the closed door before she admitted softly, "I over-used One for All. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I did it; I just kinda panicked. Someone was about to die, and I wasn't able to move, and the next thing I knew, One for All was surging through me and I was dragging the Hero Killer towards me instead. It was strange though, because even though my quirk was a lot stronger than usual, it didn't affect anyone besides him."

"Interesting," Recovery Girl murmured as she looked over the machine displaying her patient's vitals. "Well, I can only imagine that the quirk responded to your needs and desires, but to be frank I don't really understand how the whole thing works. The fact that there is a transferable quirk in existence is enough for me to wrap my head around for now."

"…Yeah."

Chiyo glanced briefly towards the girl's face as she shifted positions once again. The light that had been in her eyes while she spoke to her parents had faded significantly now, and she looked pale and exhausted as she sank against the flat hospital pillows. "Let's have a look at this knife wound, shall we?"

Uraraka rolled onto her side with a grimace and shivered beneath the pro hero's cold fingers as she undid the ties of her hospital gown and unwrapped the bandage concealing a line of stitches about sixteen centimeters long. Chiyo's eyes widened slightly at the sight of it. The stitched skin was unusually puckered, obviously sewn together by inexperienced-although admittedly efficient-hands. It would definitely leave an ugly scar once it had finished healing. Still, that was a relatively minor price to pay for such an injury. What was more concerning to the old doctor was that the lacerated skin was red and inflamed, and while that was to be expected for such a wound, this was far beyond the norm. A good deal of it likely had to do with a few places where the stitches had obviously torn straight through her flesh and been replaced with more professional ones, but it was equally obvious that the wound was at risk for infection.

"Is it alright if I lift your shirt to see the other lacerations mentioned on the report?"

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Those ones aren't as deep, though. I think the doctors were mostly worried because they didn't know what the Nomu may have touched."

"So these were the lacerations that showed preliminary infection?" Chiyo frowned, her eyes flicking over the cuts across her stomach. They weren't deep. Scratches, really. But they were long and the skin around them was inflamed, too.

"I guess? I was kinda in and out then."

"Hm," she frowned, "well, you don't have enough energy for a full healing, but I believe that I can at least finish sealing up these wounds and help you fight off the infection. The knife wound will still ache for some time, not to mention the skin there will be extra tender for awhile. Tomorrow I can come in again to help your fractures. Quirk exhaustion is something you'll have to sleep off on your own though, that is if you want to return to training when school starts again next week. Personally I'd rather you rested for longer, but you're too like All Might to listen to me."

Uraraka blushed, but she didn't deny it.

"Honestly, what in the world were you thinking?" Chiyo griped as she replaced the bandages. "You could have been killed, throwing yourself recklessly into battle like that!"

"But-"

"I don't care if you have All Might's quirk; you're not indestructible and I won't stand for you-!"

"People were dying."

The girl's voice wasn't loud. It wasn't angry. It was quiet and piercing and somehow it shook the pro hero down to her core. Uraraka lifted her head slightly, fixing Chiyo with exhausted brown eyes, burning with a passion unlike any she'd seen from the girl previously. It was all she could do to suppress a shiver at that newfound intensity.

"People were dying," Uraraka repeated softly, "and yet, I just stood there watching. Gran Torino told me to stay on the train, so I did, for a little while. But I couldn't… I couldn't just stand there and watch people get hurt and do nothing about it! And if I had left even a moment later than I did, then Iida-kun… Iida-kun would be dead, too…"

Recovery Girl watched in quiet shock as her patient choked back tears. She sniffled softly, her hands rising to try and wipe away the moisture in her eyes, breathing slowly and deeply until she had regained at least a semblance of control. Eventually, she lowered her hands from her face, staring down at her trembling fingers. "I want… to get stronger," she whispered, "so that next time, I don't have to hesitate. So I can save people."

Chiyo allowed herself a long, low sigh as she retied the side of Urararka's hospital gown and reached for her cane. "Well, when you put it that way, I guess I can't fault you for it," she grumbled. "But promise me this: next time, do not sacrifice your health and safety over a desperate gambit, understand? There has to be a better way to use your quirks than that."

A small, weak smile curled the brunette's lips as she nodded once. "I promise."

"Good. Now let's get you settled, hm?"

The moment Recovery Girl pulled back from pressing a kiss to Uraraka's forehead, the girl yawned widely and her entire body seemed to slump as sleep pulled at her. But a final thought occurred to the old doctor, so she gently gripped her shoulder before she could lose consciousness. "While I'm thinking about it, who was it that gave you stitches at the scene? I'd like to talk to them if possible."

"Hm?" Uraraka's expression seemed to twist with concentration as she struggled to make her sleep-fogged mind wrap around Chiyo's question. "Oh… S'name was Wraith," she mumbled eventually, her eyes fluttering shut.

"Wraith?"

"Mm. Was… a vigilan…" She fell asleep before she could finish the word, but Chiyo had heard enough to infer.

So this 'Wraith' character was a vigilante, was he? Interesting. There were quite a few vigilantes that were self-taught in medicine, but she didn't know many that would stick around after a fight to treat someone else when they might get caught as a result.

Sounds like there may very well be someone else running around with an over-developed hero complex. As if she didn't have enough gray hairs.

With a low sigh, Recovery Girl gathered up her cane and left the room, glancing over her shoulder one last time before closing the door behind her. Honestly, that girl really was like All Might in the strangest of ways. She was passionate about helping others and determined to always do her best. She had a good handle on her limits but always pushed herself to their extremes. She was cheerful and outgoing, but had a bleeding heart. And she had a penchant for hiding her pain from the people around her in her desperation to keep them from worrying about her, even when she had lost over ten percent of her blood, and that had been after someone had already taken the time to stitch up her wound! Frankly, if that vigilante hadn't stepped in, then Uraraka may not have survived the Hosu Incident. If she was being honest, Recovery Girl was worried that Uraraka really was going to push herself too far one day.

Just like All Might had. (She would keep mulling over that unpleasant thought for the better part of the day.)

Chiyo would have liked to stay at the hospital and continue helping with healings, but apparently Nezu wanted to have a staff meeting to discuss the events at Hosu and she was required to be there, so she had to head back to the car. However, along the way, she happened upon another familiar face.

"Sensei. I didn't expect to see you here," Todoroki Shouto said quietly, bowing to her. He was still dressed in simple white hospital scrubs with short sleeves that exposed the bandages he wore up and down his left arm.

"I didn't expect to see you up and about. Shouldn't you be resting?" Recovery Girl frowned back at him.

"I have been resting," the boy shrugged, "and I wanted to talk to Uraraka."

"I see. Unfortunately, Miss Uraraka will probably be asleep for another few hours; I just used my quirk to help her heal a bit faster. Why don't you stay with Iida for a little longer?"

"Iida just stepped out to call his family. He's probably going to be discharged later today, so he wanted to let them know."

"Well, you can visit Miss Uraraka if you want to, but I don't want to hear that you were trying to wake her up, understand? The girl needs her rest."

"I understand," Todoroki nodded, bowing briefly once again and continuing on past her towards Uraraka's room.

Recovery Girl frowned after the boy for a time, her lips pursed in thought. Eraserhead had approached her shortly after the USJ incident to ask for her opinion on the boy's physical and mental state. Apparently, concerns about abuse had been raised, and he wanted to know if there were any medical records on file about the scar over his left eye. She had told him about a hospital report filed when the boy was five years old, describing how he had been scalded with boiling water across one half of his face, however the more she thought about it, it was the lack of records down the line that most concerned her. It was no secret that many top heroes with families started training their children early; it was as much a matter of safety as family legacy-far too many villains tried attacking the families of pro heroes when they couldn't attack the heroes directly-and such training inevitably lead to injuries, but after that hospital visit, Recovery Girl couldn't find a single medical report on Todoroki Shouto. It was possible that they had an in-house doctor, but somehow, she suspected otherwise.

Eraserhead had thanked her for her insight and hadn't mentioned it again, but a few days before the first-year internships began, the principal had presented a somewhat-surprising plan to the UA faculty. Actually, it was probably that plan that he wanted to discuss again today.

She should probably hurry back to the school.

The old doctor managed to get back to her office about fifteen minutes before the lunch period, and therefore the faculty meeting, began. Unfortunately, that didn't give her nearly enough time to deal with the twenty-odd students that had arrived at the infirmary to be treated for burns due to yet another explosion in the Support Labs.

Chiyo would need to have a word with Power Loader about that Hatsume girl. Gifted student or not, this was getting absolutely ridiculous.

"Ah, Shuzenji-kun! How wonderful that you could join us!" Nezu waved when she finally got to the conference room, his voice light and cheerful as always, although one look at his beady black eyes was enough to impress upon Recovery Girl the seriousness of the situation.

"Sorry I'm late," the old pro sighed, walking over to a free chair next to Midnight and climbing into it. "A certain inventor decided to blow up the Labs again. So, what have I missed?"

"Ah, Tsukauchi-kun was just briefing us all on the events in Hosu. But before that, how is Uraraka-kun?"

"She's in rough shape, but she'll live," Recovery Girl sighed, settling into her chair and giving All Might a nod as the foolish old man looked to her with poorly-concealed anxiety. "I'll have to go back tomorrow to help her deal with a few fractures, though. She's very lucky that vigilante fellow was there, or she may very well have bled out before emergency services could arrive, but as it is, she should come out of it with little more than a few scars."

"Interesting. I'd like to discuss your thoughts on the matter more later, but I believe we should continue with our former conversation for the moment," Nezu nodded, turning back to Tsukauchi.

"Very well," the detective smiled, nodding his acquiescence. "As I was saying, the amount of collateral damage and the number of casualties caused by the three Nomus was significant, although most were local heroes rather than civilians."

"Why? What was the point of it all?" All Might murmured, his distress clear on his face.

"Unfortunately, we have yet to determine a motive for the attack, unless it was simply for the purpose of causing panic."

"Could it have been a diversion?" Midnight asked thoughtfully.

"Pretty flashy diversion," Vlad King grumbled, settling back in his chair.

"It's possible, although if it was, then we're not certain what it was trying to cover for."

"What about these rumors that the League and the Hero Killer were connected? The media's cer'ainly tryin' ta make quite a ruckus about it," Snipe suggested.

"While it's not impossible, I do not believe it to be likely," Nezu interjected. "The Hero Killer's target was a local hero by the name of Native, correct? On the other hand, the League's goal is to kill All Might. If the Nomu attack was intended as a diversion for the Hero Killer, then I believe he would have gone after a hero with a-frankly-higher profile, such as Endeavor, who was in the area. Furthermore, the Hero Killer: Stain has already proclaimed himself to be in line with the ideals of All Might-whether or not that is true in practice-which directly contradicts what the League has proclaimed its own goals to be."

"Even so, we have already determined that Deku's intention is to reform society in some way. That doesn't sound too far distant from the Hero Killer's own convictions, judging by what he said in that video," Cementoss mused. "And besides, three of our own students were involved in the battle, no? Who's to say that they weren't the real targets?"

"The League of Villains, much less Stain, could not have had any way of knowing that any of our students besides perhaps Iida-kun were in Hosu," Nezu countered, "and I highly doubt that he could have anticipated that Iida-kun could have been near that alley when it was off of Manual's usual patrol routes. As for the matter of their convictions, while I will not deny that Deku's and the Hero Killer's goals sound similar on the surface, that does not change the fact that Native was too small a target for the League to have concerned itself with."

"Do you think it's possible that the video itself may have been the end goal?" Detective Tsukauchi suggested suddenly.

"The thought had crossed my mind, but somehow I doubt that even Deku could have planned for that to go so perfectly."

"I'm sorry, but what's all this about a video?" Recovery Girl spoke up, frowning between the various members of the table.

"Ah, it's a MeTube video that someone anonymously posted following the Hosu Incident," Tsukauchi quickly explained. "Apparently someone was close enough to the location where Stain was captured and Uraraka-kun was grabbed by the Nomu to film the incident, including the Nomu's and then Endeavor's defeat by the vigilante Wraith. It also includes a speech of sorts by the Hero Killer about how false heroes must be killed to create a stronger society. It's been taken down repeatedly by the authorities, but it always ends up being re-posted by someone."

"Why take it down?" Recovery Girl questioned, "aside from the obvious violation of privacy for our students? There are always videos running around about vigilantes and heroes and their clashes. What makes this one so dangerous?"

"Primarily because it both spreads the Hero Killer's beliefs and demonstrates that Endeavor isn't as strong as he seems to be," All Might explained quietly, "and with the media making it look like the Hero Killer was connected with the League of Villains, it's making it look like he's endorsing their ideology, as well as giving them a demonstration of power.

"It's also sparked a great deal of discussion and controversy about vigilantes and their role in society. After all, if an untrained, unknown individual has the power to take down both a notorious murderer that has killed seventeen pro heroes and crippled dozens of others, as well as take down the number two hero in Japan in a matter of seconds, what does that say about hero society and its worth?"

"That's correct," Tsukauchi nodded. "There are heavy concerns that this will bring a wave of copycat villains, as well as bolster the League's membership and bring a new wave of vigilante justice to Japan, not all of which will be as effective or as tame as Wraith's methods. He may have avoided hurting anyone, but vigilantes as a whole are not generally known for holding back."

"I see," Recovery Girl nodded, frowning deeply down at her clasped hands.

"Do you think this could lead to another attack by the League?" Midnight asked beside her.

"I believe that another attack was always forthcoming, one way or another," Nezu commented mildly, taking a sip of tea. "It is really only a question of whether or not this will speed up the timetable."

"Which it probably will," Eraserhead sighed, massaging his forehead.

"Which is why I want to bring up an important item on our agenda," the rat spoke up, lowering his teacup, and, yep, here it was: "I presented to you all the idea of transforming UA into a boarding school following Todoroki Shouto's encounter with Deku, as a means of both protecting our students and taking early steps against the possibility of infiltration by the League of Villains into our student body. I believe that we need to speed up the timetable."

"So you think the League really is trying to recruit UA students?" All Might asked quietly.

"I'm certain of it," Eraserhead spoke up grimly through the ripple of surprise around the room. "This was still a fairly hazy memory for me directly following the USJ incident, but during my fight with Deku, he specifically said that he didn't intend to harm any of my students, and that he'd hoped to make friends with them, commenting that he couldn't be the only person tired of the society we live in. He mentioned Tsukino Aito from Class 1-B and a number of my students, including Shouji, Ashido, Shinsou, and Todoroki in particular."

"Precisely," Nezu nodded. "Seeing as two students on that list have already been contacted, I think it is a distinct possibility that Deku will try to reach out to the others as well. So, instead of initiating UA's transition to dorms at the end of the semester, I believe that we need to start the process now."

"Hold on, I think I'm missin' somethin' here," Snipe called, raising a hand. "You said two students? I though' only Todoroki'd been attacked?"

"Not attacked. Contacted," Eraserhead explained. "The other incident actually happened before the USJ attack. Deku showed up at my yearly Quirk Assessment Test and reached out to Shinsou."

"Shinsou opted out of the Sports Festival, right?" Vlad frowned. "What's his quirk again?"

"Brainwashing. It's an impressive ability, although it has resulted in a lot of social backlash over the years. However, apparently Deku reacted rather positively to it when he turned up at the Assessment, encouraging him to do his best and suggesting a way for him to use his quirk even when it wasn't well-suited to the tests themselves."

"Why would he do that?" Cementoss frowned. "Why help young Shinsou?"

"I'm not sure," the underground hero sighed heavily. "It's possible that he was just trying to curry favor, or maybe goad him into using the quirk so that he could analyze it more closely, especially since from what Todoroki told me, Deku also goaded him into using the fire aspect of his quirk during their encounter, something that he had avoided up to that point. He still avoids it actually, but he's started working with Hound Dog to get through that block."

"Right now it seems most likely that he was simply trying to gauge the full extent of both students' capabilities, whether as friends or foes," Nezu agreed, "but we cannot know that for certain."

"So what does all of this mean going forward?"

"Well to start, we'll need to inform all of the parents of the desired change, and I suppose that Power Loader and I will need to get started designing and building the dorms," Cementoss sighed wearily.

"Indeed," the principal nodded. "I would like the homeroom teachers to approach our students' parents-preferably in person-in order to explain the reasons for the switch and answer any questions that they may have."

"Should we announce the upcoming change in classes to give the students a heads-up?" Vlad asked.

"Probably wouldn't hurt," Eraserhead muttered.

"Yes, I believe that would be wise," Nezu agreed, "although let's avoid giving out details until they have been finalized and we can meet with parents directly."

"Understood."

Nezu glanced up at the clock on the wall. "Well, unfortunately it would seem that's about all the time we have today. Everyone, you are dismissed to your classes. Homeroom teachers, we will announce the transition to dorm rooms as soon as the first year hero students have returned from their internships. Shuzenji-kun, All Might and Detective Tsukauchi, may I have a word with you all before you go?"

"Certainly," Recovery Girl nodded, turning in her seat while the Detective gathered up his papers and the other faculty members filed out of the room.

"So Uraraka-shoujo is going to be alright?" All Might asked the moment the door closed behind Cementoss.

"Yes yes, she'll be fine," the old pro hero sighed, rolling her eyes a little bit. "As will Todoroki and Iida, before you get around to asking."

"Good," the Symbol of Peace sighed, slumping back in his chair. "I did contact her after it happened, but Uraraka-shoujo has a bad habit of down-playing her own needs when she's struggling."

"My, I wonder who she learned that from," Recovery Girl grumbled under her breath.

"Now now," Nezu chided, sounding somewhat amused. "Tsukauchi-kun, I believe you had something you wished to share with us?"

"Yes," the Detective sighed, taking a chair and pulling it around the table to face them. "First of all, understand that what I'm about to tell you needs to be off-book. Technically, this is a leak, but after the USJ, I felt that you all needed to be informed of this."

"So what is it that's happened?"

"The short version? I believe we've confirmed All Might's suspicion that All for One really is alive and back in action."

Recovery Girl stiffened.

She had been involved in the fight against All for One for far longer than she cared to remember, although for much of that time, she hadn't fully understood the scale of the battle she had been entangled in. She had been there to witness the height of All for One's power, to see the carnage he and his various organizations left in their wake, the lives he destroyed. She had been one of the first responders at every disaster, every raid, every massacre. But then, she had seen All Might's rise to power as well. She had watched a remarkable young man reclaim Japan from the darkness as though by sheer force of will, and still she was there to provide aid in the fallout every single time. Little by little, she gained his trust, and little by little, she learned his secrets, until she was one of the very few in the nation entrusted with the greatest secret of all: that of One for All, and the quirk's history with the shadow lord she had unknowingly dedicated her life to battling.

If All for One was back and active once again, then she was afraid to witness the new levels of destruction he would bring with him.

"How do you know for certain?" Nezu was asking as the old doctor shook herself out of her thoughts.

"We examined the Nomu creature captured at the USJ, as well as the bodies of the monsters killed during the Hosu incident. All of them showed signs of having been genetically modified with drugs and other unknown methods so that their bodies could handle multiple quirks. They also showed signs of possessing the DNA of multiple people, but that on its own wouldn't grant them multiple quirks. Therefore-"

"Therefore there must have been an outside power that put those extra quirks into them," Nezu nodded. "I see."

"There is something else strange about all of this, though," Tsukauchi frowned, glancing down at a new file of notes that he had removed from his bag.

"And what might that be?"

"One of the Nomu involved in the Hosu incident had quirks almost-if not completely-identical to those of the Nomu at the USJ. Super strength and speed quirks might not have been too hard to come by, but healing quirks, even self-healing quirks, are exceptionally rare. How could All for One have come by so many?"

"Not to mention, why waste them on such mindless beasts?" All Might agreed, frowning down at the floor.

"Would that happen to be the autopsy report?" Nezu asked, nodding to the file Tsukauchi was holding.

"No, just the preliminary police report. The autopsy results should be coming in about now, but I didn't have time to wait for them."

"Might I have a look?"

"I suppose so."

Recovery Girl looked over the principal's shoulder as the rat flipped curiously through the file, glancing over the pictures and reading how Endeavor incinerated one to death, how another was smashed into the ground by Gran Torino, and how a third was torn apart by a vigilante's telekinesis quirk.

"That can't be right," the old doctor frowned, glancing between the report and the photographs.

"What can't be?"

"This says that the vigilante ripped the Nomu apart with a telekinesis quirk."

"Yes, that's what the pro heroes and the three UA students on site said the vigilante did," Tsukachi frowned, leaning over the table to follow her pointing finger.

"But look here," Chiyo indicated. "The skin at the edges of the laceration isn't jagged enough to have been torn, as it should have been if it were a telekinesis quirk. This was cut with an extremely sharp blade, one long enough to cleave the creature from head to tail in one fell swoop."

"Huh," Tsukauchi mused eventually. "You could be right about that. Strange. I don't remember anyone reporting that Wraith was carrying any kind of weapon."

"Hm," Nezu mused, a dangerous spark igniting in his beady black eyes. "It would seem that we have yet another puzzle to unravel."

Outtake:

Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry-!

That was the mantra beaten by the pounding of Phoenix's feet against the pavement as he ducked corners and darted down yet another back alley, resisting the instinct to look back over his shoulder as he knew that would only slow him down.

Speed was the only thing keeping him alive now.

On a whim, he ducked into a construction site, hoping to lose himself among the piles of supplies and the irregular silhouettes of the machines that had been abandoned for the night. Under the darkness of a new moon, that was the most that could be seen of anything, but he knew well enough by now that the shadows would not save him this time.

This beast hunted its prey most effectively under the cloak of night.

Finally, Phoenix was relatively assured that he had outrun the monster. Utterly exhausted, he ducked into the half-completed building and slumped against the skeleton of the internal walls, fighting to get his breath back and the pounding of his heart under control.

A sound.

It was soft, but it was enough for Phoenix to immediately snap to attention, his blue eyes flicking open and his head rising as he strained to hear more. Slowly, carefully, the young man began to back towards the window, keeping his eyes fixated on the room's only door, one hand raised and ready, prepared to defend himself in an instant's notic-

He realized his mistake just a millisecond too late. Even as he spun towards the window, a sense of resignation had already closed around his heart, and as the black shadow lunged at him through the opening, he barely even thought to defend himself.

"Touya you absolute jerk!"

The fire-user couldn't help himself.

He burst out laughing, curling into a fetal position in what he knew was a vain attempt to protect himself from the not-so-playful punches that his long-time friend and partner-in-crime was laying on him. "Oh have mercy, great and powerful dark knight of Hosu!" Phoenix all but cackled as he twisted away from his assailant.

"What. The. Hell?!" Wraith shrieked back, punctuating each word with another hit.

"Ah come on, You're making a way bigger deal of it than it needs to be! I mean really, there wasn't even any s- Oof!"

"Why the actual frickin' hell were you even reading trash like that to begin with, much less sending it to me!?"

"Hey, hey, don't be harsh; I'm sure they worked hard on it! And anyway, pretty rude to call something trash if you haven't even put in the effort to read it… Oh. Oh no freaking way!"

In an instant, Touya had doubled over in fresh peals of laughter, tears spilling over his scars as he struggled to breathe. "You… You a-actually read it?!" he wheezed, clutching the resulting stitch in his side.

"I thought you were trying to send me some kind of coded message!" the boy wailed back, his tomato-red face-visible even in the darkness surrounding them-buried in his gloved hands.

"Oh my God, you actually. Freaking. Read that fanfic I found about you and that hero chick!"

"Touya!"

"So what'd you think?"

"Touya!"

"Did you enjoy the make-out scene?"

"Oh my God…"

"You must've if you finished it~!"

"Oh my God would you please shut up!" Wraith wailed, curling in on himself, his arms wrapped around his face like the wings of a bat. Touya snorted, but he relented all the same. Still, he didn't stop chuckling as he wrapped an arm around his pseudo little brother's shoulders and yanked him close enough to noogie his hair. Wraith quickly bat him off, grumbling under his breath before slumping against the wall, all of the fight seeming to rush out of him at once as he massaged his temples, his eyes swallowed by the dark circles underneath them.

"Hey. You okay?" Touya frowned slightly.

"Fine."

"That's a lie."

"So what. For once nobody can hear me but you," the boy sighed, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

"You're having migraines again, aren't you."

"Price of having a quirk."

"But they don't normally last this long. How much have you slept in the last seventy-two hours?"

"…"

"That would be three days."

"I know."

"Well?"

"…Maybe eight hours?"

"Would that be per night or in total?"

"I don't think you need me to answer that."

Touya's frown deepened. "Dude, you can't keep doing this to yourself. You're gonna get yourself hurt."

"I'll be fine. Anyway, what was your big new-? Whoa, hey, what're you doing?!"

"Normally you'd throw me before you wound up like this, or at least use your quirk to protect yourself," Touya grunted, adjusting his chokehold. "Face it: you're exhausted. So here's what's gonna happen: Either you're going to take a nap willingly, or I'm going to knock you out and force you to. Take your pick."

"I don't want to- Hrk!"

"I warned you."

"You can't actually knock me out if I-"

"You know I'm too stubborn for that to make a difference. And besides, you know better than to use your quirk for precision moves when you're this tired. Look, I know you're freaked out about Hosu, but you have to sleep sometime. Come on, I'll even stay right here with you until you wake up; I can tell you what I've learned about Overhaul then."

After about ten seconds of silence, Touya's victim released a long sigh and fell back against his chest. "Fine," he grumbled. "You win."

"For once," Touya smiled, loosening his grip but keeping one arm wrapped around his little brother.

"Yeah," Wraith huffed, his eyes already drifting closed. "For once."

The fire-user settled himself against the wall, watching Wraith's face as it slowly began to relax. It was only in moments like this when he remembered just how young this kid really was-far too young to be trying to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. One of these days, his gamble was going to catch up with him.

Touya could only hope that he would be there to help when that happened.

Uraraka's parents names:

Akari (明莉) - 明 (aka) meaning "bright" (describing personality in this case) and 莉 (ri) meaning "white jasmine" (like the tea)

Yuma (勇真) - 勇 (yu) meaning "brave" and 真 (ma) meaning "real, genuine" (I was going entirely for personality; I know we don't know hardly anything about Ochaco's parents, but her dad has always seemed like an awesome guy to me)

So another chapter with a lot more dialogue and plot than action, but I really wanted to get the progression of Uraraka's convictions in here, not to mention lay down that groundwork for some drama with Wraith. :) Speaking of which, I had SO much fun with that outtake! Yes, Wraith can talk, and no he's not deaf, he just only speaks to people he really trusts. Not to mention Sign Language makes for a great secret code. :)

Next time we'll play around with our favorite electric dunce and the aftermath of Stain on society! Remember I'm having to update every two weeks now, so I'll see you all October 5th! Go beyond! PLUS ULTRA!

P.S. If anyone wants to write that fanfic of Wraith and Ochaco that Touya sent I will die laughing with delight and link it to the story. :D

P.P.S. Do you like the new cover art?! My friend drew it for me! It's her interpretation of the scene at the USJ when Bakugou tries to convince Midoriya to stay with them.