Camie waited until the last possible moment to jump down on Wakamaru Hojo.

The broad-shouldered young man was coming around the street corner, talking into his phone in a rapid, annoyed tone. "...don't care if you have to threaten the plumbers! They'll have to get used to threats in this new world. We need that water to work, or else people will find somewhere else to go. Yes. Yes. I understand. My uncle will find the money you need. Stop your worrying. Get to work-"

She plummeted down from the ledge and delivered a kick to his shoulders. Wakamaru, for his credit, had the reflexes of a well-built organized criminal. At twenty-four, he was much taller than her and certainly at the peak of his physical abilities. But he had no hero training. And she intended to use that to her advantage.

"Gah!" He spat when she landed the hit, but he immediately pushed himself sideways toward the wall, cleverly, choosing to sacrifice his phone with a throw to the pavement. Camie followed up with another driving kick, and when he dodged this one and made to grab her leg, possibly throwing her into the wall, she blew out smoke and activated her Quirk.

Wakamaru's eyes widened when he realized. "Utsushimi. Bloody nuisance. You've got some nerve coming back here…"

Camie made herself invisible in the new illusion environment, covering the street corner with fake fire and brimstone, turning into a cartoonish hell. Wakamaru kept his hand pressed against the now-invisible wall behind himself, anchoring there. Lowering her points of approach.

"I'm too smart for you now, little girl," he snarled. "You made me break my damn phone."

Camie threw her voice like she'd trained at Shiketsu, to mask her position. "Your daddy can buy you a new one."

"Not in this environment. We're struggling for our footing just like everybody else in this apocalypse. Is that why you're back? You looking for some more work?"

"I have some. It starts with you, as a matter of fact."

Wakamaru grinned. "Then come get it, dear." He lifted his hand and pointed out away from the wall, and started moving his hand all over, pointing his finger in different directions.

Camie gasped, and ducked and rolled, dodging. She thought in an instant, I have to close the distance now before he…

Too late. His Quirk activated on her, and she got forcibly yanked forward through the air, smacking into him with a cry and getting stuck there. Her illusion shimmered out. Wakamaru pushed against her head with a massive, meaty hand as she materialized against him. "Found you, you little twerp. Say goodnight-"

"Let go of her!" Midoriya cried out, jumping down from the ledge.

Wakamaru gasped and looked up. "What the…"

In an instant, Camie had been swept off, the pain and pressure being applied to her ebbing away. Replaced with a thrilling warmth, the green sparks echoing around her as Midoriya pulled her back, carrying her bridal style. Just for a moment, before he put her down on her feet, making her windmill her arms to stay upright with how fast he was there and gone again. Blast of wind accompanying his speed. Her heart raced.

Wakamaru tried to activate his Quirk again, but without any part of Midoriya's skin exposed, it didn't work the way he'd intended. "You're the green demon they've been talking about! You…"

Midoriya closed the distance with a swing of one of those black whips, anchored to the fire escape on the wall above them, and then delivered a sharp kick to Wakamaru's head. The young man immediately went slack-jawed, falling limp to the ground, unconscious.

Midoriya landed next to him, brushing his raggedy green costume off, and then looked back at Camie. "Are you alright?" he asked her, genuine worry in her voice.

Camie flared her nostrils and stomped her foot. "I was handling it! You let him see you! That was specifically what we were trying to avoid, remember?!"

"I'm…I'm s-sorry, I just thought…you needed help. He was hurting you."

She had to avert her eyes, pouting. Her arms instinctively crossed. "Whatever. It's fine. Now we just have to go fast and hope he doesn't wake back up."

The two of them headed back up onto the rooftop, carrying Wakamaru with them.

They stood on the ledge, looking out over the entertainment district. It was an odd mixture of bright lights from still-operating businesses, places where the Hojo family and the Harbor were still breathing life, and areas that looked completely dark and abandoned. The sun was setting in the distance, leaving orange streaks across a shadowy city.

Camie moved like a silhouette, swaying her hips as she crossed the roof, looking down toward the club. Blue light beamed from the windows. Even from here, the bumping music was softly reaching their ears, carrying on the wind. "Looks like he was heading there. To talk to his father, probably."

"His father?" Midoriya swallowed. "Is that…the Hojo?"

"No. His younger brother. Wakamaru's not the main heir. His cousin is. The head Hojo is his uncle."

"Right." Midoriya looked back down at the unconscious man. "So I just have to…pretend to b-be this guy."

"I mean, yeah." She turned and walked back over to him, getting close enough to where their chests were nearly touching, and tilted her head up to look him in the eye. "You're the taller one."

"Okay. Okay. I pretend to be him, walk into the club like I own the place, request an audience with this guy's f-father…"

"With your father," Camie corrected. "Start thinking like he'd think. Your father is the second most powerful person in the Hojo family. Best we could possibly do, really, since old Naru never shows his face anymore. If anyone knows about how this card could have gotten out to some random murdering bastard…" She lifted the card they'd found at the crime scene up, and handed it back to Midoriya. "...It's him."

Midoriya took a deep breath.

"Will you be okay? We've already made contact with Wacky Waka down here, so it's too late to turn back and try another night."

"Yes, I know that." He exhaled. "That's why I'm steeling myself up right now."

Camie curled her lips up into a smile. "You know, for a guy who's so willing to jump into battle to save a girl, you sure do get nervous easily."

"This isn't exactly the t-type of mission I'm used to."

"Hey, if we want to catch that prick…and protect your precious UA…this is what we gotta do." She looked back over the city for a moment, the breeze picking up and tossing her dark blonde hair. "And I'll be in your ear every step of the way, remember?" She tapped the listening device attached to her lobe, then stepped forward, and tapped his.

Izuku fought not to twitch from the feeling of her finger hitting his ear. She's awfully close. And touchy. "So," he said. "Now you've seen him. Can you make me look like him?"

She took a half-step back and bit her lip, appraising him up and down in an analytical way. Izuku's heart fluttered a little. "Hmm. Yep. But I'll need you to take the mask off."

"...Ah. Oh." Izuku hesitated. It wasn't like he had to conceal his identity from her. But still…he'd been keeping the mask on around everyone for quite some time now…it felt like there was some safety in it. Protection. Comfort.

What had the Hojo man called him before he'd knocked him out? The green demon. Under this mask, that was what he was to criminals. But maybe to civilians, too. Even as he fought to save everyone, he was alienating many of them. But the situation out here was too messy to do otherwise. Speed was what was required now, speed at cleaning the country up before it was too late. He would have to patch his reputation up later.

Even so…now he had to show Camie his face. So, with some trepidation that he couldn't even really place the origin of, he lifted the pointy-eared green mask up and off his head, then lowered the respirator away from his mouth.

Camie's reaction to seeing him was…interesting. It occurred to him then that she'd never actually seen him before. It was hard to remember that, considering it was still difficult to divorce this Camie from the Toga impersonation he'd met at the exam.

In any case, her normally low, sultry eyebrows twitched upward, and her jaw seemed to relax, as she appraised him. Her eyes darted around a little, as if searching his face. Izuku just stared back at her, waiting.

After a moment, she just commented, "Your hair's kind of a mess, dude."

"Conditioner's hard to come by out here."

Camie sighed and stepped forward, looking down at his chin again where her eye-level was. "Well, I'm going to disguise you now. Remember, my illusions aren't solid, and this guy's a little bigger than you, so I'm just going to put an illusion of his clothes and body over yours. People's hands will just pass through your outer layer, sorta kinda. So try not to let anyone touch you in there, 'kay?"

"'Kay," Izuku echoed, softly.

Camie looked up at his eyes again for a moment, cleared her throat awkwardly, and said, "Right. Here I go."

She began to blow on him. A soft caress of air jettisoned from her mouth and tickled his chest. Izuku immediately closed his eyes and winced, knowing this was uncomfortable, but also just part of the plan and par for the course when it came to utilizing strange Quirks to their full potential.

"Ffffffffuuuuuu…" She moved across his body, covering him with the illusion smoke, as it started pink and then solidified, covering him with a skin-shield that matched the appearance of the unconscious man on the ground.

Feeling that little push of air crawl over him made Izuku open his eyes again. Goosebumps. He had to fight not to shudder. It was, to his dismay, not entirely an unpleasant feeling. But if she figures out I feel that way, I'm dead.

Maybe not, Ninth! She might be happy to hear it!

Oh, you pipe down.

It seemed to him that she intentionally moved a little faster with her work as she moved down to his legs, having to of course cross his…crotch area. He felt sweat on the back of his neck. His hero costume felt pretty tight all of a sudden.

Camie circled around to his back and blew all the way up it, all the way to his shoulders. It took what felt like several minutes as she covered his arms as well. Then, she circled around to his front again, and…blew on his face. Very close.

At first, Izuku kept his eyes fixated on a distant spot above the top of her head, but for some reason, the awkwardness of the situation reached such an apex that something in his mind went screw it, and he looked down to stare into her eyes as she blew. Her eyes widened a little, but she did not stop her work.

Then again…while it seemed like she might have rushed herself when she was covering his lower body, when she reached his face it almost seemed like she was lingering a bit longer than she needed to. That's probably just my imagination.

"Fffuuuuuuuuoooo." She finally stopped, lowering her palm from beneath her mouth, and un-pursing her lips. She stepped back a bit. Izuku felt the gooseflesh on his arms fade away. The spell had broken.

Then, Camie pouted.

"What's the matter, Utsushimi-san? Did it not work properly?" Oh, please tell me it did.

"N-no, that's fine, it's just…" She actually stammered. "It just kinda sucks that you have to look like this guy. He's like, totes uglier than you, just as you are." She seemed to intentionally look away and down at Wakamaru, giving his side a light kick.

"Oh. Well. Thanks? I think?" Izuku reached up to scratch the back of his head, but then realized how the air back there around his body felt…strange.

"Be careful with that!" She hissed, looking back up at him in alarm. "The illusion is stable but not if ya fiddle with it too much."

"Hmm. I don't feel any different." There had been a pink aura in front of his eyes while she'd been blowing on his face, but he'd been too distracted to care, and then it had vanished. Was the illusion just not visible from the inside, now that it had settled? He lifted up his arms to look at them, and saw that they were now wider, hairier, and exposed. In place of his hero costume, which he could still physically feel on his body, he had the same white button-up with the sleeves rolled back that the unconscious man was wearing.

"This is weird," he muttered aloud.

Camie laughed. "I can imagine. Ya get used to it, though. At least if you do it a bunch."

"It's certainly a very useful power." He suppressed his urge to go on one of his Quirk-excitable-question-rants. "Say, what's this guy's Quirk? The one he used on you. He pulled you to himself. Maybe one of my Quirks can imitate it somehow. That would make no one doubt that I'm him."

"Wakamaru? He can pull two objects of the same material together by pointing directly at both of them. So like, if he points at his own skin and then at someone else's skin, he can drag that person over and force them together. I guess that's why it didn't work on you, since you have no exposed skin with that costume on. In that fight he was pointing blind, but he managed to target my face, I guess." Camie hugged herself around the torso and looked over at the club. "You'd better get moving. Anything else you wanna know about him? Just generally act like a jackass who thinks everyone's beneath him and you'll be fine."

Act like old Kacchan. Got it. Still… "Utsushimi-san…you do know an awful lot about these people. Their family connections. Their personalities. How their organization functions. Even their Quirks. And that guy knew you."

"Yeah. That's all true enough. What d'ya have to say about it?" Her voice had taken on a tense edge.

Izuku didn't speak immediately. Meddling where you don't need to is the essence of being a hero.

But that doesn't always apply to matters such as these, Nana Shimura told him. And especially if it's a woman you don't know very well.

For once, he was thankful for Nana's input.

"...I'm not going to pry, Utsushimi-san. But…thanks for letting me…use your expertise to do this mission. Thanks for helping me. And…whatever your background…I'm glad you're here. B-becoming a hero, and all that…"

Camie's arm fell from around her front, and she looked back at him for a moment. Her eyes shimmered, and her blonde hair moved in the wind.

"If you just wanna call me Camie, I'm down with it," she said.

Well, that hadn't been what he'd expected. Izuku opened his mouth, closed it again, and then opened it again, speechless. His brain short-circuited.

She grinned good-naturedly, and then nodded her head down at the club. "You'd better get a move on. I'll stay here and give Waka another kick if he stirs. And I'll chat up your ear, too." She tapped her device again. "Good luck, Midoriya-kun."

You can call me Izuku, too, he thought, but didn't say aloud. He could only jump down into the mission, thankful that his very red real face was hidden under this false one, and cursing himself for getting so distracted by a girl when there was work to be done.

Izuku reached the club entrance, the bumping music and flashing blue lights now assaulting his senses. There was a very short line of men and women in party attire outside, but when the two guys at the door saw him, their eyes widened and they waved him on forward.

"Waka. What's up, man."

"Yo, you're a little late, aren't you?"

Izuku shrugged. "I got into it with the uhh…plumbers. Then my phone got busted." Just using what literally happened with the real Wakamaru, minus the knockout.

One of the guards hissed through his teeth. "Damn. That sucks."

"You, uhh…putting on that accent for the plumbers, Waka? Didn't peg you as the type to talk sweet with 'em."

Izuku shifted, trying to disguise his alarm. I have to make my voice deeper, and more like a gangster's! "Well, ya know…sometimes I find it in me to be nice. Sometimes."

The two of them chuckled darkly at that. "Well, go on in. Your old man's waitin' for ya, I think."

Izuku just gave them another nod and walked in, uncertain, trying to show confidence. He could feel people's eyes on him. He hoped it was just because they were afraid of this guy, or in awe of him.

Inside the doors of the club, the music somehow seemed to get ten times louder, if that was even possible. The lights flashed around the open floor as people danced, moved around standing tables, talked, held drinks. Silhouettes in party attire.

It was a nice crowd, Izuku thought, but a far cry from the usual packed club scenes he was used to in movies, and closer looks at the suits the men were in and the too-short dresses on the women showed that many of them were worse for wear.

These people are in a dying land, and they're trying to distract themselves. The Hojo family seemed to be offering that distraction. Though, Izuku could see on the stairs and the upper balcony that circled this big, spacious room…a few armed guards here and there, dressed in all black. Watching with scrutiny.

A few of them nodded at Izuku. He nodded back, then lowered his head and began to walk slowly around the outer edge of the club, hugging the wall, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. "How am I supposed to hear you with this racket?" he half-yelled, barely able to hear himself over the music, even.

"Midoriya, it's fine. These are right in our ears so it's no biggie. Also, don't shout pls. I can hear ya just fine."

"Oh. S-sorry." He could actually hear Camie right in his ear better than he could hear himself. He kept moving, trying to keep his mouth movements to a minimum. "So, where do I go? They told me my father's waiting for me."

"Well, to be honest, I've only been in there a few times. It's just a border club; it's not exactly Hojo HQ. But I would have to guess he'd be in the big private room upstairs. Should be a staircase at the far end leading ya up to the balcony."

"Yes. I see it."

"Mmkay."

Izuku began to walk in that direction, but then from around the other side of a table close to the wall, someone moved to intercept him. A dark-haired woman with heavy makeup and a very short blue dress. "Hey there, Waka." She reached for his sleeve before Izuku could react, and her fingers passed through the illusion…

Izuku stepped backward frantically. "Hey, whoa!" the woman chuckled, maintaining a pretty smile, fluttering her long eyelashes. "It's been a while, babe…" Her hands flashed down to her fingers, and then back to him. "What's up?"

Did she notice? Could she tell? Her smile seemed fixated, as if frozen on her face. Izuku's heart was pounding. His mouth was going dry. "I…ah…sorry. Gotta report in to…my old man. Already runnin' late as it is."

The woman tilted her head a bit, as if confused, or possibly…suspicious. There was another woman and a man standing at the nearby table she'd just come from, and they were watching him strangely.

Then, the woman narrowed her eyes and grinned. "Ah, you're a bit jumpy round him, is it? What's the matter Waka? Does he scarrrre you?"

Izuku's mind spun to search for the proper reaction to this. He himself had a tendency to melt into stutters when a woman teased him like this. Unbidden, Camie's face floated in his vision. Aaaagh. But no, a guy like Waka might blow her off or get angry. "We'll see who's scared before the end of the night," he muttered, forcing himself to sound tough.

"I…ah." The woman closed her mouth. She backed away a hair, and although she was still smiling, Izuku could see terror in her eyes. What's this guy done to her before? He had to wonder. "Well…see me after, maybe?"

"Maybe," Izuku grunted.

The woman shut her eyes and…shit! Before he knew it, she'd leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

Izuku fought to suppress his panic. The woman had leaned all the way back again before opening her eyes, so she must not have seen that her mouth had passed through his outer layer to kiss Izuku's real cheek.

"Hm." The woman bit her lip. "You shaved. It doesn't look like it in this light. Later, then. See ya." She strutted back toward her table.

Izuku watched her go for a moment, and realized in terror that those other people from the table were watching him too. Had they seen? She'd kissed him on the opposite cheek from the side they were on, but maybe it had still looked wrong. Too close of a call. Got to hurry. He turned away from their strange gazes with a show of a huff, and made his way toward the stairs.

"Did something happen?" asked Camie.

"No," Izuku mumbled in response, unable to hear himself again as he crossed the floor, keeping his head down as he passed in-between people and tables, music and chatter. "Everything's f-fine. Just found out this guy is sort of a jerk, I think." That woman was terrified of me.

Besides that, he'd just been kissed for the first time ever by someone who wasn't his mother, and it was some random woman. That made his heart race for a whole different reason. She seemed rather pretty, even though she had a lot of makeup on. Briefly, he allowed himself to imagine what "later" might mean. Even though he wasn't who she thought he was. He wondered if the illusion could hold through…aaaaaah. Maybe she wouldn't mind if it didn't, and that he was himself. Maybe that would make her happy, even-

"Midoriya, stay focused!" It was as if Camie had read his mind.

"Ah! I'm…I am focused. It's just…why couldn't we have just interrogated this guy about the card? Instead of me impersonating him? I'm sure he would have known something."

"Waka doesn't know shit about this, I almost guarantee it. What we're doing is our best bet."

"If you're sure. I'm about to head up to my father." He activated the comm link through a button on his wrist, so it was not obvious when he was using it, but Camie also couldn't hear everything that was going on, either.

"Okay. Good. Remember that you're like, super strong. Stronger than Waka. You don't have to let that guy push you around if you don't want."

"Well…okay." That seemed like strange advice. Did Camie have history with Wakamaru's father as well? "I'm gonna hold the button while I talk to him, so you can hear everything. If you want me to say anything I'm not saying, just prompt it into my ear during a lull in the conversation."

"Sounds like a plan."

Izuku climbed the stairs, passing by a pair of drunk-looking mobmen, then a few more guards. They all nodded to him. He nodded back. He hoped that was what Wakamaru would have usually done. Maybe he's more likely to ignore them? Well, shit. It was too late now, wasn't it.

He made his way to one of the doors, the only one that had two guards outside. This had to be the private room that Wakamaru's dad, the second-in-command of the Hojos, was in, right?

One of the guards stepped aside to open the door. "He's ready for ya," the man said coolly. Izuku inwardly sighed in relief. He was in.

The door opened, and inside was a luxurious lounge. Yellow crystal lights hung from the ceiling, reflected twice over in the floor-to-ceiling windows on the far side of the room. Art panels decorated the solid walls, and low, plush furniture was arranged in a rectangle pattern in the center. There was a small bar to the left, where a grey-haired man was pouring himself a drink. He was the only one here.

"Waka," the man grunted. "You're late."

"Had some trouble with the plumbers," Izuku replied. He was very afraid that this man would know an impersonator of his own son, by the voice if anything else. But the music was still pretty loud in here, and the elder Hojo just shrugged. "Uppity bastards. Craftsmen have always been too full of themselves, in my experience."

He poured another glass besides his own and pushed it across the bar toward Izuku. Izuku looked at the bottle. He didn't know what it was. I can't drink alcohol. Not that he was such a stick in the mud that he wasn't willing to break a small law for this, but he doubted his ability to do it convincingly was the problem. I'd probably choke or something. Camie should have done this herself.

He held up a hand with a grunt, as if to show that he just wasn't in the mood for it right now, and sat down at the bar with his arms folded. Hojo gave him a confused look, then shrugged again and clinked his own glass against Izuku's. Then he drank.

"Tell ya what, Waka," he said with an exhale after lowering the glass from his mouth. "I knew things'd turn out like this. Some guys in the outfit, they thought that with the nation in collapse, everyone'd come together. People'd put aside their differences and help each other out. I knew it'd be the exact opposite. As things get worse, so do the people. Leanin' into their worst traits. The people who provide things like water and shelter…they should be less selfish now, not more. But here we are. A mob outfit that can't even threaten plumbers to do our bidding." He walked around the outside of the bar, taking his drink with him to the backside of a couch. "Pah."

"Maybe we'll just have to go in person," Izuku said.

Hojo raised an eyebrow. "Don't be a fool, boy," he drawled. Even though Izuku wasn't actually this guy's son, he still felt like shrinking back. "You know what's got your uncle spooked. There's heroes in the area. They've been targeting the Harbor for the past week, which seems good for us now, but…Naru's convinced they'll come for us too. Blah. World falls apart under their watch, and just when we manage to find a situation where we can thrive again like the old days…they decide to come try and clean us out."

Because you're keeping people hostage here, Izuku thought. Establishing militant control. And worse. It must get worse. He flexed his fist. Not what I'm here to do. Not what I'm here to do.

Camie prompted him. "Suggest that maybe the heroes are just after the Harbor since they're deeper into illegal drugs."

"Maybe it's just the drugs they're after," Izuku suggested. "That's why they're only goin' after the Harbor. They did do that raid on the Eight Precepts last year…that was 'cause of drugs. Maybe they'll leave us alone."

Hojo fixed one disapproving eye on him. "I always have wondered if you have a screw or two loose. Sure, the Harbor are in it deeper than us, but the heroes could still find a hell of a lot to shake up around here. If they so chose. And yeah. That Hassaikai raid was nasty." He took his last sip of his drink.

"In any case, there's somethin' else," said Izuku. "I wanted to ask ya."

The old man raised an eyebrow. "And what's that, boy?"

Inside, Izuku was trying not to tremble in fear. I'm stronger than him. I can just knock him out if I have to.

He pulled out the card. "One of my connections outside the district said the police found this. It was at the scene of a murder." He handed the card over to the elder Hojo, who stared at it for a long time. "It was in an area the police were in the process of reclaiming. My…connection took it out of the evidence bag when they weren't looking. Said they never did manage to figure out what it meant before…"

He trailed off. That was his part done, right? Izuku's heart raced. He watched Hojo. The man just kept staring at the card. Staring. And staring.

"Boy," he said at last. "This is what you bother me with? This is what's got your ass on backwards?"

Izuku paled. "I m-mean, I just thought that…"

"No, you didn't fuckin' think. You never think. Connections outside the district? The fuck do you think you're doing? Meddling with police investigations and shit. You'll have the whole bloody business up in flames if you're not careful. A card? Those cops would have probably never figured it out. We keep the meaning of this card under wraps for a reason." He held it up to show Izuku, in a predatory, educational fashion. "But now you can bet they'll be suspicious if you took it. Bloody hell, Waka. If you'd just use your brain for one second…"

"But…you don't have any idea how it might have gotten out…I mean, we didn't have any people out there or…"

"What does it fucking matter? And for what it's worth, no, I have no idea. I'm not the only bloody one who keeps these things. Hell, it could have been anybody. It could have been my brother for all I know. Who cares? We've got heroes bearing down on us. You wanna use your connections for something useful, then figure out what the hell their plan is. You can get to work on that tonight. If I catch you still in this club in fifteen minutes, chatting up some lady, you're dead, kid. Get out of my sight."

Shaking, thinking that he was probably giving a pretty realistic reaction, Izuku turned and exited the room.

His mind was spinning as he hurried across the balcony, walking like a storm passing through, the guards parting at the sight of him in fear. The music pounded in his head. The lights flashed.

"Damn, dude." Camie whistled through the earpiece. "I got all that. So nothing to do with him then, huh? Unless he's hiding something from even Waka. Then we'll probably like, never find it out."

"Unless we interrogate him directly. As ourselves," Izuku muttered, heading down the stairs, eyes darting around to the various guards in the club.

"Dude, you see the security levels in there? And some of 'em have Quirks that are like totally nutso. Even you probably couldn't take on that many at once, and believe me when I say you'd have to fight ALL of them to get to him if you were showing as Deku-"

Izuku was no longer listening. He had gotten distracted.

"Midoriya-kun? You there, pal?"

He was watching a scene over by one of the tables. It was the dark-haired woman in the blue dress he'd interacted with earlier. She was being pulled along by one of the drunk mobmen who'd passed him on the stairs. The guy was grinning at her and leaning close, but she was snapping at him in annoyance.

Izuku walked closer.

"Deku, what's happening?"

He got close enough to just barely hear what they were saying. The people at the table spotted him, and their eyes widened, but they said and did nothing. Useless. Why won't anyone help her?

"...can't go with you, if I leave now, Waka will kill me!" The woman was shouting.

"Not my problem, doll," the man responded creepily, trying to yank her along.

Then, she saw Izuku approaching. Her annoyance was flooded over with fear. Total fear.

Izuku felt awful. Maybe not a sex worker in title, but…how many women are practically being held hostage here? By guys like this guy I'm pretending to be?

"Hey," he said gruffly, walking over to the man. "What the hell is going on?" He didn't realize that he had the comm button pressed.

"Midoriya. Like, what are you doing."

The man, clearly way too drunk, turned around, wrenching the woman about and causing her to cry out. Izuku stepped forward, meaning to help her. The man shoved his hand against Izuku's chest. "Who the fuck do you think you arrrrrrre…ouhh. Waka." His eyes glanced up at Izuku's face in shock. "Uhhh…wait." He looked back down at his hand. His hand had gone through the illusion. It was touching Izuku's chest, past the outer layer of Wakamaru. "How fucked up did I get?" he muttered aloud.

Izuku hissed and stepped back. "Get lost, you scum," he coughed out, losing his grip. Trying to maintain character. The woman was watching him in confusion and terror. The people at the table were, too.

Some guards had come down the steps, or emerged from the shadows along the walls. "What's this, huh?"

"What's going on?"

"Hey, what the…Waka? What's the deal with…"

They were all looking at him. Izuku spun in a panicked circle, the lights flashing around him. A vaguely pink aura glimmered in front of his face. He realized…the man had shoved him too roughly. The illusion was breaking.

"Uhh…hehe." Izuku laughed nervously. One of the guards stepped forward with a look of open suspicion.

"Midoriya, get out of there!"

The man's gun poked through the illusion shield. The glamour of Wakamaru glitched and faded. Izuku looked down and saw his own green costume. The spell was broken.

The guard looked at him in pure shock and astonishment. Then:

"IT'S AN IMPOSTER!"

"OPEN FIRE!"

Izuku jumped straight up into the air as gunfire crackled through the room, following him up, tearing up the walls. The music blared as he bounced off one wall, then another, then swung over the top of the balcony using Blackwhip. The lights flashed. The gunfire followed him.

He landed on the balcony, bending his knees lightly, and one of the guards still up here fired on him. Izuku lashed out a Blackwhip and grabbed the gun, throwing it away. The man pulled a knife and charged. Danger Sense was going haywire. Izuku dodged the knife as the man swung up, down, across. He kicked the man in the shins and punched him in the chest with five percent of One for All. Walked back toward the staircase.

"DEKU! Deku, I'm on my way!"

A Quirk-laser fired at him. He ducked low, and another man reached him. A grappling of hand-to-hand combat. Izuku threw one guy over his shoulder, spun and kicked the next guy down the stairs, and then the third guy got into a deadlock with him.

Izuku stiffened for a moment, their fists clashing together, as he realized that this one had super strength as well. He jumped upward again, green sparks flashing, and used Blackwhip to throw him off the stairs.

Then, a guard opened his palm and generated some kind of net. The net coursed with violet light, and when it closed around Izuku, he felt all his limbs go limp. The net tightened, forcing him into a pencil position, his whole body swaying sideways as if he was going to fall over. Holy shit!

A bullet hit him in the leg. He cried out in pain. He'd broken bones before, but he'd never been shot with an actual bullet. That was a first.

He billowed smoke up around his body, obscuring himself, not knowing what else to do. Trying to use small Blackwhips to tear through the net, even as he fell to his knees from whatever paralyzing effect it had. The users were screaming in his ear. Camie was screaming in his ear. Danger Sense was blaring.

A man with a club sticking out of his arm tried to attack him. Izuku managed to bend over and hurl the man off of his own back with a thrust of upward force, and then kicked him in the crotch. His leg hated him for it, all the blood in it rushing around and nearly making him black out.

Fa-jin. Need Fa-jin. Now's the time to use it…

Another bullet grazed his arm. He tore half the net off, but collapsed at the same time. Silhouettes moved through the smoke. Someone leapt on top of him roughly. He could feel the strength of One for All, the strength he could use to beat this, but his body couldn't move to use it. Everything was overwhelming…

Then, a familiar sound of a familiar Quirk, and a familiar voice.

Shoooooooooooooom.

"NEJIRE TSUNAMI!"

Yellow spirals swept over the attackers. Izuku managed to tear the other half of the net off with Blackwhips, and felt the blood recourse through his body. His limbs flailed. There was a flying silhouette fighting guards above him. A flash of blue and lilac. My savior. The smoke and Danger Sense going haywire was driving his brain into mush. My heroine.

"Hado…senpai…is that you?"

The smoke seemed to part to reveal her, backlit by the flashing lights, a huge grin on her face, her eyes alight as she took out one last guy. Behind her, more people were storming in. Heroes. Police. "Hey there, Deku!" she called, narrow spirals ejecting from her feet and keeping her in the air. "Fancy seein' you around these parts!"

"You…you got a haircut." It was all he could think to say.

She tilted her head. "Sweet of you to notice…HEY LOOK OUT!"

Danger Sense was so screwed up that it focused in only at the last second. It was the guy with the net Quirk again, and this time, he fired his projectile point-blank at the back of Izuku's head.

Nejire's attack enveloped him a half second later, but by then all the One for All users had screamed in terror, and then everything went dark.

They finally intersect!

Also, Izuku's just knocked out. For what it's worth, I think he's totally capable of taking out like, at least a hundred dudes with low-level Quirks in a clear environment. Especially at his postwar power level. But I also like the idea that having too many options and having something like Danger Sense could actually work as a detriment in a place that overwhelms the senses. That'll be part of his arc in this fic - balancing all the crazy shit he's got going on in his head so he can fight at maximum potential.