Nejire walked through a sea of people who now took orders from her.

Some were policemen, some were medics, some were technicians, a few were heroes. Most were congratulating her, giving her encouraging smiles, applauding lightly now that they'd heard the big news. She got a few claps on the back as she passed through.

A few lingering on the margins of the crowd, though…she could sense a smidge of unhappiness there. Mistrust. For all the people here genuinely wishing her luck and thinking she deserved it, there were a few whose faces seemed to say, who is this girl? Who does she think she is? We have an impulsive child as our leader now?

Tamaki was walking at her side. He was being cooperative for now, weakly nodding to those who were offering him encouragement. Nejire knew he had lingered at UA a bit longer than her after their meeting with Nezu, but had no idea what he'd done. Maybe he stayed behind to speak to Nova.

The two of them went to the elevated dais at the front of the room, where Gang Orca and Mandalay were standing. They turned to face the crowd once up there.

Gang Orca spoke up to the whole crowd. "This position switch is for an interim period. The UA graduates are being given a great opportunity to flex their leadership skills. If any of you are unsure and seek a second opinion, my professional one is that they are more than capable of leading this unit. I would ask you all to give them the same respect you gave me while I was commander. Mandalay and I will be stepping down into the graduate's former ranks for the time being."

Mandalay simply silently nodded in concession, off to the side.

Gang Orca stepped back, deferring the center of attention to Nejire. She raised her voice and clearly spoke, "Principal Nezu gave Suneater and I the choice of who takes what position, or if we wanted to do joint command, we could. He and I have decided that I will be taking Gang Orca's former position of commander, while Suneater will fill Mandalay's former position as lieutenant commander."

Tamaki shifted on his feet. Some pairs of eyes went back and forth between the two; Nejire couldn't tell if they approved or disapproved.

She cleared her throat. "The cleanup and slow-advance strategies will largely continue, with some small alterations that we will deliver via orders to individual teams. Otherwise, we are in the early stages of planning our next big operation, which will involve disrupting the arms deal that is scheduled for the fourteenth. Any questions?"

"What about the Hojo charity ball?" someone asked. "Is someone going?"

Nejire blinked. "We don't know yet. Otherwise, there is one big policy change that I would like to share with you all while we're gathered. The situation in our country is not so simple that it can be divided into concrete zones. Our enemies here have dealings with enemies elsewhere, and their influence is bigger than Kijimi. So from now on, we will operate on a case-by-case basis in other places besides Kijimi if the situation calls for it. That will involve rotating some of us in and out when necessary."

This announcement resulted in some whispering among the masses. Nothing she hadn't expected. But Nezu put me in charge, and I want to do more. Help more, see more, assist more, impact more. Get more and more involved. She had fought one upper rank villain to a stalemate and used her wits to basically one-shot another. Nejire Hado was flying now, and she refused to let anything hold her back, not guilt, not the Skindancer's words, not whatever was going on with Tamaki.

Her eyes were searching the crowd for someone without her permission. It took her brain a moment to catch up to who that even was. It was…Midoriya. He wasn't here.

Nejire bit her lip. "Alright, that's all for now!" she announced. "Take a rest for the night, everyone. You've all earned it. Tomorrow morning we'll return to our usual duties."

As everyone dispersed, Mandalay and Gang Orca lingered just off the dais.

"Nice speech," said Orca with an approving tone.

Nejire smiled at him. "Thank you." He didn't need to say those good things about me first, but he did. Gang Orca had never directly apologized to her, but he was clearly acting different from before. The older pros…their mindset is changing.

Mandalay rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand. "We are in your capable hands, Nejire-chan, Suneater."

Nejire stared at the cat heroine. I can't tell if she's alright or not.

Another thing she was trying not to think about. While she'd been completing the mission, Mandalay had been…with Midoriya. And no one else here knows about that besides me. So many emotions had run through her in those two minutes back in the casino…at first, she'd thought she was going to kiss Midoriya, then it looked like it would be Sosaki, then she'd ended up kissing no one at all.

I should be relieved. But for some reason, thinking about the whole situation slightly annoyed her, and she didn't want to confront why that was, so she put it out of her mind. Maybe I should punish Mandalay. But she's already clearly shaken up about it. If Midoriya wants to report it, it's his business. She would just try and forget about it.

"If…if there's anything that Suneater and I don't know how to do, or need help with…you guys will help us, right?" she asked the older pros, somewhat nervously.

Gang Orca chuckled. "Of course. We're here in an advisory capacity, and a personal one as well, for whatever advice we have to give."

"Mmhmm," nodded Mandalay. "But…I think you'll do great, regardless. So don't worry."

Izuku was heading to the barricade which marked the border between the Kijimi zone and UA's safe territory. It was a fairly innocuous street intersection, guarded by police, but as he walked up he saw Mirko sitting on the curb.

The rabbit heroine was fiddling with her prosthetic leg, teeth clenched together in a grimace, sweating. "Damn…thing…ugh." She looked up and noticed him, and blew a strand of white hair out of her face with a pfffuuuh. "What are you lookin' at?"

"Just surprised you're still here." Izuku covered his mouth, wide-eyed. "That sounded rude. I'm sorry."

Mirko made a non-committal annoyed noise and moved her real hand down to her fake leg again. Her prosthetic arm hung limp at her side. Izuku wasn't sure if she couldn't use it for whatever she was trying to do or if she was simply refusing to.

Finally, she sighed and gave up, appraising him. "You movin' on, then?"

"Err…no. I mean…n-not yet."

Mirko raised an eyebrow. "Where d'you think you're gonna head when you do?"

"Not sure. Wherever I go, Lady Nagant will come for me."

"Well, you certainly don't want her to come here."

The sound of an engine took their attention to the barricade. It was another black car, this one belonging to All Might.

Izuku swallowed.

"Mmm…yes, this seems private enough." All Might peered out the doorway before closing it.

The two of them were in a storage room at the base. It was currently mainly being used for food, so they were surrounded by different colored-packages and jars, all products manufactured before the war with a long-distant expiration date.

All Might took a seat on a box. Izuku remained standing.

"How are you feeling?" his mentor asked him. "Holding up okay?"

"Yes." Izuku cracked a knuckle. "I've been able to get some better sleep the last few nights…being here."

"Yes, that's good. I'm glad. And I'm glad you helped with that…awful woman. Would you believe me if I told you I'd never heard of her before last week? Some of the things that were kept from us when the Commission was in charge…it boggles the mind." All Might shook his head. "Well, I guess we're only fixing it from here, eh?"

"We're certainly trying."

"I know. I just want to make sure you're trying the correct amount. Pick your battles wisely, young Midoriya. This battle…this was a good example. The Skindancer cast a massive economic shadow over the growing black market in our new Japan. Taking her out will have good impacts elsewhere. Attacking things at their source. That's what you need to do."

"Did Nezu come up with that shadow metaphor?"

All Might deadpanned. "Are you even listening to me?"

"I am. And I intend to do what you're saying. But we can't attack a source if we don't know where it is."

"Which is why you need to move away from this place, young Midoriya. All For One is a careful man. He will only attack the area around UA when he has gathered his full forces and made a concrete plan. If the idea is to take him out when he's not at full strength, to catch him before he's ready…the only thing that will pull him out of his hiding place is you. And you…are not a juicy enough catch, when you're so close to what AFO sees as a danger zone to him."

"Lady Nagant is the one coming after me anyway."

"She won't attack you here again either. She will not make the mistake she made at the convoy. She'll wait until you're alone, and far away."

"So let me be alone," Izuku blurted. "I don't need Endeavor and Hawks and Jeanist close by. If they want to help, they need to keep doing what they've been doing without me. Cleaning up other areas, improving their own reputations with the people."

All Might sighed. "The five of us agreed we would work together on this."

"I know, but…"

"I don't understand your resistance here, young Midoriya. I thought you wanted to avoid UA at all costs. What are you doing, lingering here?" All Might leaned forward. "If you miss your classmates or your mother, there is no shame in visiting them for a minute. They would like to see you."

"No. I can't do that. That's not why. I'm trying to prevent another bombing. I have no way of knowing if it's the next one or further down the line in his plans, but Mustard will make a play at UA eventually. And he's already gotten past the security of two other insanely fortified schools somehow."

"What is it here that you think will connect to him?" All Might asked, softly.

"I…" Izuku had to pause and gather his thoughts. "He left a Hojo business card at a crime scene. When we invaded that casino, some explosives disappeared and got away from us. There's an arms deal planned at the riverside port on the fourteenth. I need to be there. I need to figure out how this all connects."

"The fourteenth is some days away. I would recommend that you operate somewhere else in the meantime, at least." Toshinori Yagi sighed, wearily. "I know I can't control what you do. God knows what Nana and the others are telling you in your head. But that goes both ways, too. I am going to help you, young Midoriya. You can't stop me, and you can't stop Endeavor and the others, either. Stop trying to take on everything by yourself."

"I'm not," Izuku muttered. That wasn't it at all. If anything, he was more receptive to help than he'd been a month ago. He'd accepted help from Camie, Nejire, Mirko…plenty of people. So what was different about this?

Endeavor and Hawks and Jeanist aren't girls, Banjo proclaimed dryly. You just want to hang out with women, kid.

Izuku felt heat spread to his ears. And…if I do?! He defended himself inside his own brain. So what?

"Young Midoriya, are you talking to them right now?"

"Err…yes. Was it that obvious on my face?"

"I can feel the tension. Through my own vestige. I've been feeling it for days." All Might stood. "Please take my advice. Get further out and bait Lady Nagant. Endeavor, Hawks, Jeanist, and I will be ready when she comes. If she doesn't come anytime soon, then pick more battles like the Skindancer. But don't stay tied down anywhere, please. You already have enough to focus on. Trust someone else to handle Mustard." He reached into his backpack and pulled out a decorated, wrapped lunchbox. "From Inko."

Izuku took it, gingerly. It was warm on the underside. "Katsudon," he muttered. From Mom. It feels like it's been ages. It was stupid, childish, but he'd missed it so much. His stomach threatened to growl just from smelling it, but it was mid-afternoon. Not really a good time to eat. He turned to the fridge that was in the storage room and put it in there, for later. "I'm going to stay here tonight," he told his mentor. "And leave early in the morning."

"That's fine. Get a good night's rest." Yagi headed for the door. "I'd like to speak to a few more people while I'm around. If you need me for anything else within the next couple of hours…"

Izuku tapped his communicator. "Will do."

It was getting dark out as Izuku headed for the base camp to find a place to lay down, and oddly, he could both see and hear sounds of leisure - lights streaming from some of the windows, light chatter and laughter floating out of doorways…even some faint music coming from the jazz club.

The Kijimi operation had brought their little section of street to life for the evening. Celebrating off the heel of a victory. Izuku supposed he could understand that - and this was well-timed, since All Might had also given him the go-ahead to take a break.

Even still. He was antsy. So many people here being currently off-duty, and off their guard, unnerved him. It took a lot of willpower to not immediately take to the skies and do a short patrol, at least.

He was stepping under a tent when he heard, "Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku turned. "Hello, Hado-senpai." She was wearing casual clothes - a grey string hoodie and exercise pants. Her bright blue eyes shimmered in the twilight. Randomly, he noticed that her hair seemed longer than before - on the front side of her face it had grown into a tasteful set of fringe bangs, and was a bit longer than Uraraka's in the back. "Congrats on the promotion. Is the partying your doing?"

"Thank you, and yes. I thought it would lift everyone's spirits a bit if they got a break. Plus a chance to use all this entertainment district stuff we've been surrounded by for weeks." Nejire gestured to the jazz club. "I was actually just in the arcade…we couldn't figure out how to make any of the games work, but one of the rooms in the karaoke bar has power! Soooo, we're gonna kick back in there for a little while. I'm guessing the answer is probably no, but…if you wanted some people to hang out with for the night…" She rocked back and forth on her toes.

Izuku's eye twitched. For some reason, his heart immediately jumped out in a desire to do as she said. "I…don't know. I'm not a great singer."

Nejire made a pfffft sound. "Lame excuse. C'mon."

"I…well…"

"As commander, I'm ordering you to come have some fun."

"I don't work here."

Nejire pouted.

"...Alright, fine."

"Yay!" She hopped up and down, once, and waved for him to follow. "Let's go."

Izuku was shaking. It felt like he was doing something taboo now. Putting his back to the streets and putting crime out of his mind. His brain had to completely re-calibrate to the idea of…having fun.

All the same, he followed the older girl down the street and into the karaoke bar.

It had a spacey vibe, with a central hub-room circled by doors to the private karaoke rooms in an arc. The carpet was black, the ceiling lights were a cool, soothing blue-purple. The bar had old, dusty glasses on it, and the tables were art deco-like, round and sleek and trimmed with gold paint.

To Izuku's surprise, Mirko was here, also in casual clothing, sitting on the edge of an open doorway into one of the private rooms. She was in a rolling chair, which she'd surely stolen from some other building, and was twirling a microphone around her fingers. The mic was attached to the machine inside the room by a long spiral cord which the rabbit heroine had stretched to its limit.

"Ah. Welcome, Deku," she greeted sarcastically with a slight nod of her head. "As you can see, the private rooms have no lights and no furniture, but the screen in this one works. We're just gonna stretch the cord all the way out here and party in the main room for the vibes. There's also no drinks, which is a bit shit, but hey, take what you can get." She shrugged.

"Where'd Amajiki go?" asked Nejire.

"He said he was feeling tired. He just didn't really want to be here, I think. So it's the three of us, then." Mirko stretched and hopped up, giving the chair a kick. It rolled across the room until it smacked a table.

Nejire was frowning. "Well…alright. I wish he'd at least waited for Midoriya. Maybe that would have changed his mind."

"How's that?" Izuku wondered aloud.

"Because you two can be quiet and off-putting together." Mirko snorted and walked over to the bar, picking up a remote. "Batteries are still good," she muttered.

"Hey! Amajiki can…occasionally be off-putting, but he means well! This just isn't his thing! And Midoriya is certainly not off-putting!"

Izuku snorted and went to the water tap behind the bar, testing it. Nothing. "You don't have to defend me, Hado-senpai. Mirko is still s-salty from when I beat her up last week." Dammit, that didn't even sound that cool.

Nejire put both hands to her mouth with a gasp. "Really?"

"That's not-!" Mirko clenched her teeth and growled as she turned on the karaoke machine. "He's making things up to sound impressive. It was hardly a fight."

"On that we agree."

"Wha-! You wanna go again, kid? No Quirks this time!" She hopped up onto the bar and loomed over him, angry, ears twitching.

Izuku blinked up at her, every cell in his body going toward the effort of maintaining his composure. Am I crazy, teasing her like this? "That wouldn't be fair," he pointed out. "How can you un-rabbit yourself? There's no way for you to fight without using your Quirk."

"Fine then! Arm wrestle me!"

Izuku blushed. The idea of seeing Mirko's arm muscles flex, while holding her hand no less, was destabilizing. Plus, it probably wasn't a good idea to arm wrestle when he was supposed to be preserving his arm strength for actual useful things…

Mirko grinned, sensing his wariness. "Oh, now you back down. The tough guy act only ever lasts for about fifteen seconds at a time before it all catches up to ya, huh?"

Nejire was laughing. "That's basically Midoriya in a nutshell! Ooh, I know! We can have a singing competition!"

Both Izuku and Mirko groaned at the same time, in almost the same pitch and cadence, and then both started saying, "Do we have to-" then cut off abruptly and looked at each other in surprise.

That just made Nejire laugh harder. "Oh man, no, this is perfect! I've got both of you out of your comfort zone! Don't worry, I won't make it regimented or anything. But you're both gonna sing at least once and I'll be the judge of who performs better!"

"Pfft. This isn't out of my comfort zone." Mirko stalked back over toward the machine. "I've been doing karaoke since before you two were born. I love singing."

"I'm hearing a lot of talk and not a lot of la-la-la," Nejire said.

The rabbit heroine swiped up the mic and began to run the machine without paying for it. When Izuku raised an eyebrow, she told him, "We found the admin password on a piece of paper in the back. Anyway, I'm goin' first, so you youngsters sit down and let me show you how it's done." She typed in a song on the machine and the instrumental began, playing out of surprisingly functional speakers.

As chipper as she'd been in days past, Nejire plopped down in a chair at the nearest table. Izuku pulled up a different chair to join her.

Mirko backed up sideways so that she could see both the glowing screen inside the private room and the two of them outside of it, the mic cord stretching just a bit more.

The instrumental was a quiet but quick, driving beat, and suddenly it began to swell, and abruptly dropped into an insane rock instrumental. Mirko rocked her head back and forth, her hair whipping about, as Nejire let out a "Whoa!" and Izuku scooted back, jumpy. Of course she would like music like this.

The lyrics appeared on the screen, and Mirko jerked her head up, half her hair falling over her eyes messily, and she lifted the mic and began to sing. The lyrics were fast and furious but surprisingly muttery, almost spoken-word, and Mirko kept up with them very well. Taking fast breaths, she sang like a punk rocker, reminding Izuku of Jirou.

The music swelled again into a chorus, where suddenly Mirko's voice grew louder and more melodic, lifting her head up toward the ceiling while making wild, jerky dance movements. Nejire whistled and clapped, and even Izuku let out a shaky, appreciative bout of laughter, more at the audacity of the rabbit heroine's performance than anything. Though her voice wasn't bad, she was mainly carrying it with attitude. Which makes a punk song a wise choice, I guess. Izuku wasn't actually one hundred percent on what qualified as punk.

It was just a three-minute song, but it was basically loud and overwhelming the entire rest of the time, leaving Izuku somewhat exhausted when Mirko finally set the mic down and shook her hair like a dog, taking deep, gasping breaths.

"Yeaaaaaah!" Nejire cheered, standing up and giving her a round of applause. Izuku wearily followed her example, conceding that what Mirko had just done was certainly impressive. Mirko herself ran a hand through her windblown hair to pull it out of her face, inhaled sharply, and grinned at them. Her skin was glistening under the cool lights.

"Worked up a sweat?" Izuku asked, going up to take his turn.

"All the best things are worth working up a sweat for." Mirko held up the mic to hand off to him, and brushed his arm as she walked past to take his former seat. It was probably just a trick of the light, but Izuku thought she might have shaken her butt a little, white tail and all. His head spun. I need to get a grip.

"Alright, Midoriya-kun. That's gonna be a tough act to follow." Nejire had an intensely serious expression, cradling her chin in her fingers like a critic. "Pick your song wisely."

"Aaah…uhh…yeah." He scrolled through the machine's selection, looking for anything that he at least recognized.

Oh, okay. This one. It was an alternative song, somewhat moody but definitely still a vibe. He was surprised to find it here, but he knew it would set him apart from what Mirko had just done. I've never told anyone that I listen to this band. He didn't listen to that much music in general, so he hoped that the surprise factor would help his mediocre vocal skills.

Izuku played the track, which began with some kind of isolated string instrument doing repetitive little runs, pleasant. His eyes hopefully darted to the girls: Mirko's eyebrows were slightly up, and Nejire was making her patented curious O-face.

The percussion of the song came in, enriching the soundscape, and a nice feeling swept over Izuku. Something about the lights in here, the slightly shoddy quality of the speakers…he'd listened to this song many times, but it had been a while, and it had never quite hit like this. It was like listening to it for the first time. Without realizing, he'd begun to sway and move, very naturally, not even thinking about it.

The lyrics began. They were drawn out and in a lower register than Izuku was comfortable with (he supposed the word for it was crooning) but he was in the song now. The lyrics were romantic, but he'd forgotten that, and he'd forgotten that the girls were there as well. He just sang, thinking about all the times at UA when he'd listened to this…on an early morning run when there was still dew on the campus grass. Leaning up against the window of his dorm room with the wind blowing outside, working on homework. Was it valid to get nostalgic for things that had only happened in the past year? The entire scope of my life's happiness.

The first verse ended, Izuku singing but I will live for you, and then his favorite part of the song hit, a chewy bit of bittersweet electric guitar rising above the rest of the mix. He closed his eyes and moved back and forth, feeling underwater.

Nejire was whistling and cheering, which brought him back to reality somewhat. As the song reset for the second verse, he lost his step a little, his singing growing a little more forced and strained, but he powered through to the end of the track.

When it was over, both girls stood and applauded.

"So good!" Nejire gushed. "So good! I wasn't expecting it at all!"

Mirko was smirking. "You certainly pulled out all the stops. I could even tell you got out of your own head. Dunno where you went instead, but it was certainly somewhere."

"I…yeah, I guess you could say that." Legs shaking, Izuku set the mic down on top of the machine. "So…erm…Hado-senpai?"

Both of the others looked at Nejire expectantly. She shut her eyes and shook her arms. "Grrr…I don't know! You both did so good and in different ways, too. It's like having to pick between fried chicken and an ice cream sandwich."

"Booooo." Mirko put her thumb down. "I knew you'd back off, girlie. Whatever, I know you have a real opinion in that floaty head of yours. I'll get it out of you sooner or later."

"I don't care, it's my turn now!" She hopped up and practically skipped over to Izuku, poking him in the shoulder. "Go sit down. Give me the stage."

"Alright, alright, I'm going." He returned to the table, taking her former seat.

Nejire picked up the mic and hummed into it, rocking back and forth with hyperactivity as she scrolled through the list of songs. "No, no, no…"

"Do something heavy metal," Mirko suggested.

"...No. Ah! Here we arrrre."

Nejire pressed play.

Izuku's entire brain, without his permission, was immediately paying full attention. He didn't know what he'd expected from a Nejire Hado song choice, but it wasn't this - the instrumental was Latin-esque, almost…flamenco? I'm so bad with music terms.

Then she began to sing.

The lyrics were somewhat fast, though slower than Mirko's song, and they were significantly more melodic. Nejire had a high, clear voice, enunciating very well as if she was chorally trained. Izuku's eyes widened as he realized he was fully processing the lyrics she was singing as they were coming to him. These sound very…personal to her? His brain was picking up on connections.

The Mediterranean instrumental continued very tastefully, with basic clap-hits as the underlying beat, and no mess in the mix. Nejire danced as she performed, swaying her hips and shaking her head back and forth rhythmically, moving her arm about in a swing, her free hand dragging and rotating at the wrist like a poised ballerina would do.

The chorus began, and suddenly the vocals slowed down and began to jump, the range between notes growing wider, and Nejire's voice soared. Izuku fell back into his seat, enthralled. As she sang, she seemed completely into it like he'd been, barely noticing the two spectators. But the lyrics…Izuku noticed they not only felt strangely relevant to Nejire but they also connected to another person. Nejire was singing about herself as she related to someone she loved. It felt…disillusioned, yet happy at the same time. Which just about sums her up, doesn't it?

"Let's ride away, let's ride awayyyyyy," she sang, and Izuku felt gooseflesh crawl up his arms.

After the second chorus, the song went into a bridge of vocal ahhhs, and Nejire briefly got crossed up with how they overlapped, tripping over her own voice and giggling, looking briefly at the spectators with a slight blush. Izuku's heart skipped - even the mistake was adorable.

There was one last chorus, which began stripped-back but had a full instrumental return halfway through, and at that moment, Nejire made a sharp dancing movement and turned her body and eyes…seemingly…right toward him. Still dancing, but now maintaining eye contact with Izuku…for a second, then, smirking, she glanced at Mirko, finished the chorus, and lowered the mic, letting the rest of the instrumental play out.

Mirko cackled and gave some hearty applause. Determined, confident that he'd enjoyed it even more than the rabbit, Izuku clapped even louder, a smile unable to vanish off his face.

Nejire seemed taken aback at his reaction specifically, her eyes widening, her jaw slightly dropping in a small, stunned gasp. Then, she blinked and let out a small, airy laugh, swaying now a bit unsteadily. "Thank you, thank you…" Her eyes going back and forth between them. "Got any super honest feedback, haha?"

"It ruled," Mirko put forth.

"I think that if you'd done that at the beauty pageant along with your Quirk performance, we would have had fainters in the crowd," said Izuku frankly.

Nejire reddened. "Oh, my," she blurted. "...Thank you, Midoriya-kun." A huge smile spread across her face. For a moment the two of them, with their mutual trauma yet unacknowledged and undiscussed, were awash in the joy of this moment of rest and leisure…

Mirko snorted, looking between the two younger heroes, and stalked up to the machine. "That song gave me an idea for another one, actually. Me next."

So Mirko went again, offering the mic to Izuku when she was done, but he held up a weary, declining hand, wishing to just sit and relax. She briefly taunted him about the choice, but didn't push the matter. Nejire went again, and for a bit the two women switched back and forth between doing songs they liked.

Around half an hour passed, and Izuku was getting kinda hungry, fantasizing about the katsudon he had waiting for him in the fridge.

Nejire excused herself to the bathroom. "I'll be a few minutes. Feel free to carry on," she told them, flattening a wrinkle on her hoodie, and retreated behind the locked door marked LADIES.

Leaving Izuku alone with Rumi Usagiyama.

Mirko sniffed, using her nails to pick at the trim paint on the table, lounging with her legs, both real and false, propped up on a separate chair. "You wanna go again while she's gone?" she asked.

"Err…why would that make a difference?"

Usagiyama shrugged. "If you can't figure it out, then I'm certainly not gonna tell you."

"You…you aren't legitimately angry about what happened, still…are you? I'm sorry for saying you need to grow up, if it's worth anything. That was rude."

A shadow fell over her face. "I was never angry, kid."

Izuku, frankly, didn't believe her. But now the vibe of the room had changed. His anxiety was catching up to him again, and he latently realized that he'd just spent a full evening hanging out and being sociable with two women. The old me would have noticed that right away! Oh God, I've probably said so much embarrassing stuff tonight without realizing…

He put a hand over his face and groaned. How was it possible that gaining more experience with girls seemed to be making him more dense?

It's called confidence, kid, said Nana. It's when you stop thinking about things that don't matter.

Mirko had not reacted to his outward gesture of frustration. When he looked at her again, she seemed very pensive, her mouth flat. Then, abruptly, she stood, her metal leg making a bouncing pneumatic sound. "I think…I need to go," she said, in a strangely strained voice. "Apologize to the girl for me. Sorry about this. I…yeah. I just need to go."

"Huh? Wait, but-" Izuku held out an arm, wanting at least an explanation, but she was already bounding out of the club and back into the street.

He got up and ran to the door, just in time to see her jump high onto a balcony, and then onto a roof, vanishing into the night.

A few minutes later, Nejire emerged, looking somewhat disheveled but still in a good mood. She looked around in confusion, only seeing Izuku leaning against the bar. "Where'd Usagiyama-san go?"

"Left. She didn't say why. It was really weird." Izuku frowned. "I hope it wasn't just because you left her alone with me. Am I that annoying?"

"Wha…no! I'm sure that's not it. She was super antsy about the operation, remember? She probably just…well. I don't know her well enough." Nejire sighed. "I thought it would be fun to invite her, but I didn't actually expect her to say yes, so this was more than I could have wished for, anyway. Do you want to sing any more, or would you rather duck out?"

"Oh…I mean…" Izuku coughed, becoming immediately aware that it was, in fact, now just the two of them. "I don't want to cut your night shorter than you wanted it to be or something…I feel bad that the other two bailed…"

"You're not cutting my night shorter. I was suggesting we both duck out and go do something else. Together. Unless you're just really sleepy or something."

"I'm…n-not not sleepy." His stomach growled. "But I'm also hungry."

Nejire grinned, having heard the noise. "Apparently so. C'mon, let's go raid the storage room."

"Err…is that ethical?"

"I'll just be taking my commander's share."

The storage room had no overhead lights, so they only had the moonlight and few exterior lights that had been turned on in the street, coming through the window, to illuminate the space. Izuku opened the fridge. The fridge light emitted a white glow that filled the room softly. They could hear distant music from across the street.

Nejire sighed and sat down on the same crate that All Might had sat on earlier. "This is nice," she commented, closing her eyes and leaning her head back, taking a breather.

Izuku had been about to take his pork out of the fridge, but then closed it and looked back at her, weighing his options. She had picked up a can of cold ravioli and made a tiny sparking wave out of her palm, opening the can with it. "Toss me a spoon?"

"Oh…huh?"

"They're on top of the fridge."

He found a basket of plastic spoons, all individually wrapped in those clear pouches, and threw one over. He slightly misjudged the throw, but Nejire jerked her arm to the right and scooped it out of the air.

"Nice reflexes," he commented.

"Bad aim," she threw back.

They both laughed a little, and then settled into a silence. Nejire ate a little bit, but she seemed…off. The light that had been in her eyes earlier had died.

Izuku sat down on the floor and leaned against the fridge. His stomach was desperate for his dinner, but he felt like he needed to give her his full attention. She wants to talk. I owe it to her to talk.

"So…about…everything that's happened."

Nejire chewed, swallowed, and looked up at him slightly nervously. "Yeah?"

"I just…if you wanted to. Discuss it. While we have the time. I mean…I have to leave tomorrow, and you have this place to run. We may not run into each other again until the fourteenth."

"So you are gonna come back and help with that?"

"Of course." The decision felt easy when it was her. She doesn't try to resist my choices like All Might or Endeavor or Hawks. "But…Hado-senpai. About the casino."

Nejire pursed her lips, her eyes on the stacks of cans off to the left. "Are you upset with me?"

"...Should I be?"

"I stepped up and took your task, and I made a mess of it. I crippled someone."

Izuku took a moment to respond. "I've fought a lot of villains. I've given a lot of thought to…how to respond appropriately to each one. Sometimes people deserve mercy and sometimes…" The jury is still out on Tomura Shigaraki. "You made a choice in the heat of the moment, and now the Skindancer can't hurt people anymore. And you've gotten rewarded for it as well, so that should tell you all you need to know."

"But if this was the old times, and it was in the news…"

"You'd catch flack for it? Sure, of course you would. Everyone has their opinions."

"But I want to know yours."

Izuku took another spoon from the basket and turned it over in his hand repeatedly. "I can't say for sure what I would have done," he finally muttered. "It played out how it played out."

Nejire set down her can of food and hugged her legs. "That's another thing. It played out that way because I was the one pushing for us to do that plan. I knew the risks, I just thought…I felt like I had to do it, just to prove to everyone that I could. But that seems so silly now."

"Now, wait just a second. I was the one who took over the mission. I was the one who came up with everything. And to be honest…I didn't know the risks. I wrongfully assumed that we'd be able to take her out before she made us do anything dehumanizing. That was my fault. Not yours."

"But I can't help but feel bad…I didn't actually have to do anything. I was spared. It was you that was…"

"And you cut it as short as it could have been! You did perfectly-"

"All the same," she insisted, forcing her words over his. "You shouldn't bury this, Midoriya-kun. You may not report Mandalay, and forgive her, and forgive me, and that's all your choice, but that doesn't mean you have to forget that this happened."

"Forgive you? You didn't do anything that I would need to forgive."

"Please listen to what I'm saying. If what happened bothers you, you can talk about it. This isn't just a one-way thing. It's not fair if I'm the only one venting here." She laughed, a bit harshly.

"If what happened…bothers me?"

Izuku thought about it. He dropped the spoon on the floor and stared at it.

After a pregnant pause, Nejire said, "...If it doesn't, then it doesn't, I guess…"

"I'm sorry," Izuku muttered. "The only direction I can think in right now is forward. I have to stop our enemies. Everything that happens along the way in that fight…is just part of the course. Besides…I don't know if you heard, or if she just transmitted it directly to me, but Mandalay asked for my consent before she kissed me. She asked me to blink, and I did. And…if anything, it was more like I kissed her."

"Err…yes. I certainly saw that."

Izuku looked up from the floor. Her expression was hard to read.

"Sorry…I made things heavy. Maybe we should have just relaxed."

"No, that's okay." Nejire picked herself up and smiled wearily. "I wanted to talk, too. Thank you…thank you for not just ignoring it. Plenty of other people would have found that easier. Especially you boys."

"Well, I do try."

"I can tell. You try harder than anyone I've ever met." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "So thank you, again. For talking with me. For taking the time to hang out with me even when you've got to save the world. For everything."

"I…" His head was buzzing. Her words made him feel so…so… "You're welcome. I wouldn't…I wouldn't want to…" I could stay here and just work with you for the rest of my life, or even not work, and maybe just…live…and I think I'd be happy. What an utterly overwhelming thought, and so, so taboo. There was nothing less possible for him to do than that. Besides, she wouldn't even want that from me.

He had no idea how to convey this feeling. It was not the same as the mild crush he'd cultivated on her back at school, nor was it anything like the desire that he'd stirred up for Iruka or Rei or…

(Sosaki)

…anyone else.

Izuku turned around and took his katsudon out of the fridge. Unwrapped it. Took the box, and walked across the room. Handed it to her.

"My mom made this for me," he said. "I want you to have it."

Nejire blinked. "Huh?"

"It's katsudon. Cold, I know, but…I can tell you aren't happy with that can of slop. This stuff in here is all you've had to eat for weeks."

Nejire's hand slowly lifted up toward the box, gingerly. "Your…mom made it? It's homemade?"

"Yes. I'm giving it to you."

"Wha…" Her eyes widened in total shock, her jaw dropping. "You can't! It's yours! You haven't gotten to have any decent food either!"

"But you deserve it," Izuku insisted. "I think my mom would be happy to know that I gave it to you."

A full blush bloomed on Nejire's face. "I…I couldn't…" she muttered, though her eyes drifted down toward the box, and he knew she could smell it. "I…"

Izuku nudged it toward her. She sniffled, overwhelmed with emotion.

"You're sharing it with me, at least," she demanded shakily, finally conceding and taking the box from him.

"Ah…okay."

"There are chopsticks on top of the fridge, too."

Nejire Hado watched him turn around and go get their utensils, her heart totally full. I used to fantasize about a moment like this. But she never imagined it now, in this pocket of quiet time amidst a sea of battles and chaos…and certainly not with the boy who would save the world.

She clenched the box tightly, treasuring it, her legs trembling. Her feelings had reached a consensus, and it was a very, very simple one.

Toshinori Yagi had lingered longer than he'd intended. There were parties going on in Kijimi now, and he saw no sense in getting caught up with them, so he headed back for the car, parked at the barricade.

Music wafted out of a nearby building. Toshinori could see silhouettes of people, still dressed in their work uniforms, dancing and laughing. He smiled. Haven't they earned it?

He wondered if Midoriya was celebrating somewhere. Or if he was just sleeping. It better be one of the two. He better not have gone off on patrol.

Toshinori climbed into the car and scanned the dash. There was an array of buttons with direct call lines to select allies, one of them being Detective Tsukauchi. He pressed that one now.

His old friend picked up halfway through the second ring. "All Might?"

"I'm departing Kijimi. I know it's late, but I can meet you at the rendezvous point at about three, if you and your men are up to it."

"That works for us. Sleep is just a memory."

"Don't I know it." The two men chuckled. "Alright. See you soon."

"Yep. Stay safe." Tsukauchi cut the call.

Toshinori leaned back in the driver's seat and took a deep breath. He had parked right up against the barricade, so he needed to back up to get out of here. He turned on the car and put his arm on the seat, turning around to make sure the coast was clear behind him…

…A boy in a gas mask was sitting in the back.

"Hello, All Might," said Mustard.

Toshinori still had a hero's reflexes, and immediately made to open the door and leap out of the car, aware of what being in an enclosed space with this villain would result in. Unfortunately, the boy's gas filled the space in an instant, just light and airy enough to make Toshinori woozy, and his hand slipped off the door handle…

Mustard lurched forward and got a piece of cloth wrapped around All Might's neck, cutting off his oxygen. Toshinori flailed. His eyes were growing heavy, only succeeding at putting more gas in his body with each desperate breath.

There was only one guard at the barricade, and he had a glass bottle in his hand that he was taking occasional swigs from. Lovely. Toshinori tried to reach for the headlight dial to flash them and signal to the man, but couldn't. Mustard was keeping him pulled right back against the seat, and his body, his injured, emaciated body, was too weak to do anything.

"Don't worry," the young villain whispered. "I only intend to make an example of you. It will all be over soon."

Another, more potent flood of gas released from the boy, and All Might's world grew dark.