The fog seemed thicker than usual.

Is this someone's Quirk? Izuku thought as he approached the bridge. Two iron towers appeared on either side of the road, ghostly figures emerging from the mist. It reminded him of a movie he'd seen one time.

"Stop that!" the woman shouted.

Izuku looked down off the side of the bridge. There was a walking path below - it ran parallel to the river that the bridge crossed, and so it was perpendicular to the bridge. There was nothing separating the path from a steep concrete embankment that led down into murky, dark water.

And on the path, right below Izuku, a woman was being assaulted by a man.

"STOP!" she repeated, as the man tugged on her shirt and pulled her under the shadow of the bridge.

From up here, she looked like a mutant, too - he thought of Iruka. Izuku hopped down.

What if he has a gun, he thought, mid-jump, and as if in response, a gunshot cracked the air.

Izuku winced and whirled around, landing on the path with an odd lack of impact compared to usual. He swore he had felt something whizz past him, brush the hair on the back of his neck as if he'd narrowly dodged the bullet, but no. The bullet had neither been aimed at him nor even shot by the assaulter.

The man fell, behind the woman, dead on the path, just under the shadow of the bridge. He tugged her shirt a bit as he fell, and then released it.

Two police officers came running up the path from the other direction, both male, one lowering his gun. "Are you okay, ma'am?" the shooter asked.

Pale-faced, the woman only shook. Her eyes were wide, and Izuku saw now that she was not a mutant. She was just a normal brunette, though she looked oddly like a girl Izuku had seen in a YouTube video one time.

The officers spotted Izuku. "You!" one of them declared, pointing at him.

"...Me?" Izuku's voice traveled oddly through the mist. For a second, he had an odd, alien thought: what are they seeing when they look at me?

The woman only seemed to be growing more and more terrified.

"Leave her with us, hero. Begone." The officer's accent sounded strange.

Okay… "Just as long as she's safe," he said out loud, feeling suspicious about everything he'd just seen. The assaulter's body was motionless, yet Izuku had not actually seen the bullet impact, nor was the body leaking any blood on the ground.

The woman finally noticed him. "Please!" she shrieked. "Don't leave me with them, they'll…they'll do the same thing!"

Izuku felt oddly cold. "Huh?"

"Shut up! Come with us!" One of the policemen roughly grabbed her arm and began to drag her under the bridge.

"Wh-what? Hey, wait." Izuku put his hood up and over his face. He did not recall taking it off. "Get back here. You can't take her."

"We're taking her!"

Izuku stepped forward. Both officers raised their weapons…not toward him but toward the woman.

Recklessly, he rushed in with an incalculated amount of One for All. The mist swept past his face and drew tears out of his eyes. The shadows of the three figures spun by him. He felt himself make contact with a body, and heard a gun clatter to the ground. I can't see! What was happening?

When he finally managed to right himself, he saw that he had gotten one arm around an officer's neck. Without thinking, Izuku threw him…into the river.

The policeman screamed, splashing into the dark, rushing water. Can he swim? Best not to take the chance. Izuku got him out with a Blackwhip and placed him on the edge of the path.

"You can't fool me again," Izuku heard himself say as he stepped over the officer. "I will not be fooled!"

The man was unconscious. Had he passed out in fright? What were they trying to do to that woman?

He looked back up the path. The other officer was also laid out on the ground now, unconscious, next to the original assaulter. Standing over them both was Mirko.

"Scumbags," she sneered. Her white costume and hair made her look almost unholy in the mist.

"Where'd the woman go?" asked Izuku.

Mirko looked around and then gave him a baffled stare, as if he was the weird one for even asking. "Beats me," she said.

"They were going to…"

"Yeah. I know, kid. Men giving their base instincts full control. It's happening more and more out here." Her voice sounded so strange and distant. The water and the fog are playing with sound.

Izuku approached her. At some point his hood had flown off again, so she could see his face. Her red eyes watched him carefully. "Of course," Mirko said, "not that you would ever do that, huh? I bet you don't even have those base instincts at all. You're prey. You're a rabbit, like me."

For some reason, that annoyed him. "I am not prey. You don't know anything about me or my…instincts."

"Oh yeah?" She closed the gap, grinning wide now. Getting in his face confrontationally. "Then why is the world out here eating you up now? You're not ready for it. Izuku Midoriya, too scared to talk to girls. Means you're too scared to do anything else."

"Where the hell did you get all that from?" He held his ground, though she was close, and somehow seemed taller than him. "You're just making stuff up!"

"Ha! I'm right, aren't I? Look how upset you're getting!"

"Shut up, Mirko."

"You've never felt what it's like to be with someone like that. You don't even know what you're fighting for!"

"I have too!"

"You can't be with someone like that."

"I could if I wanted!"

"Then prove it!" She was inches from his face.

Izuku, fed up, threw himself into her.

They fell onto the grass beside the path on the inward side, wrestling and kissing furiously at the same time, rolling over and over until Izuku was firmly on top, pressing her down.

"That's…*kiss*...more like it…" Mirko growled, her lips spread in a grin even as they pushed against his, their mouths opening deeply, messily as they fought and grinded on each other.

Izuku spun his tongue around hers. His crotch stirred to life, blood pumping through his body as he gripped her tighter and tighter, still kissing…

He rocked into her, causing her boobs to move against his chest, under the tight white cloth of her leotard. "Ah…" she gasped into his mouth.

Her long, firm, muscular, perfect legs wrapped around his waist, keeping him locked there, the sensation of them like heaven…wait.

Mirko doesn't have both legs, he thought, even as he swapped spit with her. She lost one in the war. One of those legs should be metal.

Oh for Christ's sake. This is a dream. This is all a damn dream.

He lost control of the illusion the second he realized it. That lovely grinding firmness that he'd dreamed of coming from Mirko was replaced, in that slick sort of way that reality always replaced dreams, with old, cracking leather. His eyes saw two scenes halfway, and his brain played one more absurd line from the rabbit heroine before he lost the dream completely: "I knew you didn't have it in you."

"Shut the…" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes and blinking himself awake.

He was lying facedown on a decrepit couch, abandoned on the rooftop of an empty apartment building. The air and sounds and smells felt real again, wind rushing brightly past his ears. That foggy bridge…I'm not even sure that's a place that really exists.

Izuku rolled over onto his back. He was, annoyingly, very erect, and had sweated a bit through his costume as well. The stars stretched across space far above him. The sunrise was still hours off.

What is going on with me. He had not been dreaming much since the start of his solo mission. Mainly due to the fact that he hadn't slept much. And when he did sleep, it was the deep, almost comatose kind of sleep that could only be brought on by pure exhaustion.

Of course, he'd dreamed a lot when he was younger, and since he'd always been a stressed, anxious, boy, with a lot on his shoulders…his dreams were never exactly…calm.

Still, when have I ever had one like THAT? He quickly recalled the whole thing in backwards chronological order, before it slipped away. Mirko. Mirko had appeared suddenly, as she had numerous times in real life over the past few weeks. No wonder he dreamed of it happening since it had become rather commonplace. Then she'd sort of made fun of him, though she'd used some absurd logic. Trying to say I can't fight out here just because I can't talk to girls? First of all, he could talk to girls now. Second of all, she'd been a dream bully, the type that used absurd logic that would never have been worth debating on the grounds of in real life, but of course, dream Izuku had done just that.

And…yeah. They'd rather aggressively made out. Izuku suspected that if he hadn't realized it was a dream, they might have had sex. Though it wouldn't have looked or felt right, considering I've never had sex. In fact, he would say the dream sensations of the whole experience were basically memory sensations from his night with Iruka, with perhaps a bit of imagination tossed in from the times he'd fantasized about Mirko before.

Still, when was the last time I had a sex dream? They were very rare for him. His subconscious did not usually have enough self-confidence to conjure a scenario where a girl wanted to get busy with him. But…perhaps due to recent events…

I didn't even question it. I took the idea that Mirko wanted me to do that with her…in stride. Considering his recent encounters with women, his subconscious now apparently saw this as a viable possibility.

Of course, his subconscious also lagged behind the times, since his core memories of Mirko involved her with all her limbs. That had been the giveaway, but there were other retroactive things that made it obvious as well, such as how poor he'd been with One for All in the prior scuffle. I managed to use Blackwhip, though…the other Quirks were generally so new to him that they'd hardly ever appeared in his dreams, even when he was in a dream-fight where he could use them.

There had also been a corpse without blood, and the whole situation with the police…where did that come from? Izuku was not dumb; he knew that obviously everything he'd seen had been completely fabricated by himself. That explained Mirko bullying him, he supposed, and then the sexual encounter…but why would he imagine up a scenario where police would shoot an assaulter, and then try to assault the woman themselves? Even in this lawless land, he'd had no issues with police officers…so far. He knew plenty of people who didn't trust them, and he couldn't even disagree with them, but he'd never been that opinionated on the matter himself…

Whatever. Just a stupid dream. He had bigger things to worry about. Most immediately, the problem straining at his pants, which had irritatingly not gone away.

Phone service had been restored inside UA's boundaries, so Tamaki was able to shoot Nejire a text message. Where are you?

A couple of minutes later, she replied: Just needed to check something in the records. Will meet you back at base.

Tamaki pocketed his phone and rubbed his nose, walking through the busy corridor. His feet hurt and he was nursing a headache. At least I got a decent lunch.

"Excuse me. Suneater?"

He turned. It was someone he recognized: the white-haired woman from the hospital, Endeavor's wife.

She seemed poised, but alarmed. "I knew it was you, though we never formally met. That is your hero name, yes?"

"Yes, but-"

"Come with me. There are people having an argument. I believe it may grow violent."

"Ah, uhh…what?"

She grabbed his hand, like a mother dragging their kid through a mall. "Come," she repeated doggedly.

"Alright, I'm coming, you don't need to-" He pulled out of her grip, but followed, keeping up with her despite her businesslike pace.

They twisted and turned through the narrow halls of the UA fortress.

"Sorry to take you away from whatever you were doing, but I believe this is urgent, and you were the first hero I came across," said Rei.

"Where are we going?"

"It's on this floor, it's not far…"

"Okay. Floor twelve." Tamaki began typing a text message to Mandalay, who was also on break at the facility right now.

Rei raised an eyebrow at him as they walked. "Are you getting backup?"

"Yea."

She made no comment.

Tamaki could hear the situation before he could see it, around the corner up ahead. Raised voices. Very raised.

"...if YOU hadn't screwed everything up-"

"He's delusional! He's delusional, and you protect him!"

"YOU'RE the one who'd rather go out there and die!"

Tamaki and Rei rounded the corner. In a wider intersectional space between halls, a group of civilians had circled around three central characters: two men and a woman. The woman was standing between them, shielding one man from the other, who had a raised fist. All three looked furious.

The man with the raised fist was taller than the other two, and he was in the midst of saying, "YOU'D rather die in here-"

"I'd lower your arm, sir," Tamaki forced himself to call out, suppressing all the shake in his voice, "unless you intend to use it. And then we'll have a whole other…b-bigger…problem."

The crowd backed up and parted upon seeing that a hero had arrived, muttering to each other…

No one's going anywhere, said Mandalay's voice, entering all their heads. Stay where you are!

That froze them all to the spot with fear. Tamaki was a bit relieved. He couldn't see her yet, but she would be here very soon.

The tall man snarled at him. "Oh, is a hero here to tell us what to do?"

Tamaki had no response, but then the woman spoke with an accusing pointed finger. "Sir, he was trying to make our entire extended family go along with his escape plan. Like those others who got caught!"

"And now he tried to attack me because I was going to report it!" the shorter man added.

"Escape plan?" Tamaki was shocked. "You want to leave the fortress? Why?"

The tall man rolled his eyes. "As if you would get it. Young, ignorant hero, without kids, probably with a strong Quirk. We trusted you to stop those tyrants who attacked the country, and you haven't caught them, and what's more, now there's this bomber on the loose. Who the schools can't do anything about!"

More muttering from the crowd. It did not sound entirely disagreeable.

"Y-you would take your kids back out there?" Tamaki clenched his fist. "What if they didn't want to g-go? What if they felt safer here?"

"It's up to the parents to make that decision. But I wouldn't expect you to get it. Look at you, probably still in school, can't even talk to a man without stuttering. Who says we need a hero here to solve this problem?"

"I say." Rei stepped forward out of the shadows. "You have not seen Suneater fight. You have not seen what he and his comrades are up against out there."

"Oh, great. The mother of a mass murderer has an opinion." The man's eyes suddenly grew feverish. It was like he was going to cry. "I did see it! My kids saw it! They watched our neighbors' houses get stomped by Gigantomachia! They saw a gang of thugs beat a defenseless old man to death! They saw…" He cut himself off, trembling. "I wasn't even able to protect them," he muttered. "But I can now. If I take matters into my own hands…"

"No," Tamaki said. "No, you…you don't need to do that. Your kids won't thank you for it. You can think I'm young and stupid and weak…but please…don't try and escape. It d-didn't work for the others…it will not work for you."

"Then can we expect protection from this bomber if we stay? Can you guarantee it?"

"I can't guarantee anything!" Tamaki shouted. "What the hell do you expect me to do? Go out there and knock out Mustard with my right fist and All For One with my left? You seemed salty about me having a strong Quirk earlier, like you don't like me being put on a pedestal for having that, so don't put me on a goddamn pedestal! I'm just a human, like you! Treat me like one!"

"Yeah! Don't shout at a kid like that, what's wrong with you?!" the woman demanded.

More shouts rang out around the crowd, almost entirely supportive of Tamaki.

The tall man growled, threw an angry punch at the air, and tried to walk out of the space, but people blocked his way.

"You said you had kids?"

"They need to take you in-"

"He won't be getting close to them on my watch!" the shorter man spoke up.

It seemed like it was about to get physical. Tamaki gathered his courage to step in, but then Mandalay intervened.

Let him through, she transmitted to everyone, appearing at the far end of the hallway. On either side of her were UA security robots. They'll take him from here.

A few minutes later, after the other members of the family thanked Tamaki and Mandalay and told them the names of other conspirators on the escape plan who had not been present, the two heroes were left in the space that was rapidly draining of people, as the crowd dispersed.

"What t-took you so long?" Tamaki muttered.

"I…admit that I sat back and observed for a minute. You did well," said Mandalay. Her eyes retained their melancholy that had been present since the casino. "I still remember the raid on the addict den. How I barged in and ruined everything. I didn't want to repeat that."

"I was barely handling it before you got there. Hado was doing most of the good work." Both there and at Annaka. That's why I need her to focus up now, instead of…whatever she's doing!

"Still…I heard from someone that you also mediated a difficult situation with Mitoma's hostages. And that someone is here. They want to speak with you." Mandalay nodded over her shoulder.

Tamaki did a double take. Nova was standing there. Her skin was as…galactic as ever, though she was wearing a long sleeve blouse and baggy pants that covered most of it. Her hair seemed longer than before.

"Ah…hi, Nova."

"Amajiki-kun." Her face was hard to read. "It's been a while."

Rei stepped out of the corner, offering a slender hand to Mandalay. "Thank you for bringing the robots. I am not sure what that man might have done otherwise."

The brown-haired woman accepted the handshake from the white-haired one, a bit cautiously. "He was a safe one to handle insofar that he was a…erm…"

"A Karen?" Nova suggested.

Mandalay made an unpleasant face. "I suppose that's a term you could use. There are other people just as angry as he is, though, and not all of them are so blatantly unsympathetic. If news of the bombs has really gotten around…"

"It has," said Rei, "though not by my doing. I myself was injured in the Shiketsu bombing, but I have been trying to pacify the unrest whenever I see it, at the lunchrooms or otherwise. Many of the other survivors feel that they have gone out of the frying pan and into the fire." She seemed uncomfortable with herself for having used that expression.

"I was afraid and skeptical when I was first brought here, too," Nova put in. "But people like Suneater made me feel safe, and…I mean. Anywhere's better than out there. Right now. And most reasonable people understand that the heroes need time. Either that, or more help. And a lot of people would rather just sit on their asses and complain. Even some of the ones that have a Quirk that could be useful!"

"There have been other escape plots," Rei muttered. "I often sit with the other bombing survivors. They never try to rope me in on them, perhaps because they distrust me due to my family connections. But for many of them I understand why they don't feel safe here at the moment. We were made to feel safe at Shiketsu, and that literally blew up in our faces."

We have to stop Mustard, Tamaki realized. The importance of doing so had not fully struck him until that moment. It was like dawn had come in his mind.

"Other plots?" Mandalay nodded down the hallway. "Would you mind taking a walk with me? I've got to be back to base in half an hour, but if there's any more information you'd be willing to share…"

"Of course, ma'am." Rei nodded. "For someone like me, sharing is a rare opportunity." She slipped an amused smile, as the two women walked shoulder-to-shoulder out of the scene. "Especially with someone new."

"Well, the world is small. We might have shared something before without ever knowing it," Mandalay replied.

Tamaki watched their backs as they left down the corridor.

Nova came up to his side. "I hope I can make friends that easily when I'm an old woman," she commented.

"They're not that old."

She tilted her head at him knowingly, and then, absurdly, they both shared a small laugh. The last two people left in the hallway.

When his amusement faded, Tamaki quickly became nervous again. He was not sure what Nova wanted from him, and in fact immediately asked about it.

"After the casino battle, I saw a good many of my old friends. Some I hadn't seen in years. All talking about how they were rescued by a dark-haired boy with pointy ears." A big grin spread across Nova's face. "Imagine their shock when I told them that I was the one who gave him all the information he needed to save them!"

"Ah…yeah. I guess I haven't seen you since we had that chat. I'm s-sorry, I feel bad…"

"Don't be. You're a busy guy, and besides…why would you need to see me?" Nova took a step back and seemed to wiggle her hips a little. "We're nothing to each other."

"Ah…what?" His eyes widened, hurt.

"What's with that face?" She was still smiling. The pinpoint stars in her sclera began to slightly drift, giving her eyes a perfect twinkling quality. She took a step back toward him. "I don't get it."

"Well, I guess it's fine, I just…" The pointy tips of his ears were burning.

Nova took another step forward. She was within his personal space. "Unless…of course…you thought that we were…more than nothing…?"

I thought we were friends, he thought, but managed to realize that the mood would instantly die if he said it out loud. Because clearly, Nova was not talking about friendship.

Another step closer. He could feel her breath. Her head tilted up. One of her legs bent forward at the knee and pressed against his legs. Her hands went to his chest.

"You know," she whispered, "this is the first time I've given anyone one of these for free."

She kissed him, one of her hands feeling up his chest and going around his neck.

Tamaki was frozen on the spot, in total disbelief. It took him a full two seconds, but he managed to get his arms around her waist, pulling her in a bit closer…

The kiss broke very naturally just a moment later. Nova let out a wavery exhale as she pulled back. In place of a blush, she had two identical glowing nebulae on either cheek. "I didn't expect it to feel like that," she muttered.

"Me neither," he confessed in a blurt.

That made her laugh again.

His hands were still on her hips, but he looked frantically to either side now. "We're still in a hallway."

"So we are. Would you like to go somewhere else? This is a big place. I have my own room."

"Ah…I, umm…don't you think that's a bit…fast?"

Nova looked sad and happy at the same time. "Oh, Suneater," she breathed. "You treasure. Yes, of course, I suppose…that is fast. I mean, I'm not even using your real name, and you don't even know mine. But…well. You're the first guy that's made my heart race like this…ever? So I may have gotten a little excited. Sorry."

Tamaki's brain was in a rapid tailspin. I don't understand her at all. Well, maybe he didn't need to, yet. "What is your real name?" he asked. "Mine's Tamaki Amajiki."

"I knew that, you goof." She booped his nose. "And, as for me…well." Hesitation.

"To tell the truth, I…have to go soon." He smiled apologetically. "But next time I'm on break here, I'll immediately come find you, and you can get ready to…tell me whatever you feel comfortable telling me. And we can…maybe, do other stuff? I g-guess?"

That had clearly been a good thing to say. Nova beamed. "Sounds like a plan, Amajiki-kun. Let's put a pin in it for now. That first kiss…we'll call that a thank you from me. And this one…" Like lightning, she darted in and captured his lips again, more passionately this time. It was a lot of effort not to simply pass out. "...is a thank you from all the others at the casino."

Tamaki reluctantly broke apart from her, stepping backward down the hall. "I won't forget," he promised. Look at what all my good work has brought me. He felt more uplifted than he ever had by Nezu's encouragement, or even Mirio's, as much as his blonde best friend deserved credit.

She watched him go with what was clearly unfiltered affection. "Goodbye, Suneater. Sunlight." The last almost sounded like a nickname.

"Bye…" He went around the corner, a skip in his step. I haven't had any fowl, but I feel like I could grow wings and fly right now!

Nejire met with Tamaki just outside the fortress. "Amajiki," she began, wanting to fix things, "about yesterday-"

"Don't sweat it. It was to catch Mustard, right?" There was a light in his eyes she had never seen before.

"Yeah," she admitted, "but-"

"I'm not going to report you, Hado. All I expect is for you to keep trying your best. Let's get over the finish line, like Nezu said, together."

Nejire beamed. "Well…alright then. Let's plan this arms deal bust."

Endeavor and Hawks sat together in the warehouse, taking a quick breather. Endeavor stared at his phone as it rang. INCOMING CALL: SHOTO.

"Shotoooo," he muttered. "I'm sorry, but I can't…talk right now."

Another phone sound came from behind him, causing him to jump.

"Sorry, that's me," Hawks apologized. He stared at the text message. "It's from All Might…oh! Midoriya came across another of All For One's assassins-"

Endeavor whirled about, alarmed.

"-and defeated him instantly?"

Toshinori Yagi stared through the gaping hole that Deku had just formed in the house.

The house was a large, ornate one, clearly owned by an upper-class individual before the collapse. Now it was dark, drafty, open to the elements, spiderwebs forming in corners of the large central parlor space.

Hung suspended over a swerving staircase was the large, sharp-toothed villain Deku had just defeated, tied up in Blackwhips. Deku floated over him, staring down at him.

"What were your directions?" young Midoriya demanded.

"Agggh…I told you…some mansion…in the woods…that was where we were supposed to take you…"

"The mansion is destroyed. You never received any updated orders?" Deku tightened the whips.

"NO! Please, it hurts, just let me-"

Midoriya removed something from his pocket. A slip of paper with symbols on it. "Does this mean anything to you?"

The villain's eyes widened. "That…that's a secret code…"

"I know that." Midoriya yanked his whip down. It was attached to the rafters like a pulley, and so the villain went flying upward, crying out in pain before slamming back down.

"AHH! Let me…let me finish! One time I was…working with a crew doing a heist, and the leader, he…he was using…that code to communicate with our buyer. I swear. Those half-moon symbols were the same. It's a…villain code…ack…" The man was clearly choking.

"So you don't know how to read it?"

"Ack…no! I swear! Look, I helped you a bit, man, can't you…let me go?"

"No." Izuku hopped up and knocked the villain unconscious with a kick. He pocketed the paper and returned to Toshinori.

"Young Midoriya…" Outside the house was a large front yard, where All Might had parked the police car. It was raining moderately.

Deku walked past his mentor, masked and slouched. "All For One never meant for any of these bottom feeders to actually succeed." The rain and darkness made his eyes glow in their sunken dark holes. "He won't wake up anytime soon. Bring the police."

He activated One for All and began to take off.

"WAIT!" All Might called, desperately. "You must be hungry, right? Look, I…"

Deku stopped.

Toshinori lifted up the lunchbox. It was the third time he'd brought Izuku katsudon from his mother. The first two times, to his knowledge, Izuku had eaten it.

"I brought you this…you need to eat and maintain your strength…" For some reason, staring at his student's masked face, All Might was losing confidence.

Deku turned back away. "...home," he muttered.

"What?"

"Go home, All Might. I don't need your help."

"I…no…" Toshinori gasped. No, please, don't say that.

The rain pattered the mud.

"You've already been almost killed once, and you lost your armored car. It's too dangerous for you to be out here." He was walking off, leaving All Might behind, and All Might powerless to stop him.

I can't let him go. I can't. "NO! Izuku, what about you? You can't stay out here alone, I…you don't even have a communicator anymore! Where will you get food? Listen to me, please!"

"...I'll be fine. Don't worry. You don't have to follow me." Green lightning stirred at his boots. He crouched.

No…no…it was his worst fears coming to life. All the things he'd suspected for weeks, as Midoriya's mental state had obviously deteriorated…and me too slow. I'm still too slow, I can't…

"IZUKU! WAAAAIT!" Toshinori screamed, rushing forward with the lunchbox and diving for his student.

Deku blasted away. Toshinori slipped and fell into the mud, onto his belly. The lunchbox spilled all over the ground, the steaming porkchops soiled by dirt.

All Might's tears landed next to the rain. I still had to tell you…that I know how hard it is…to carry this burden alone…

But after all the conversations, after everything, nothing he'd ever said had gotten through to the boy. He'd never found the right words. He had failed as a teacher.

Toshinori sat up on his knees, filthy and soaked, and sobbed. Deku was already a distant speck in the night sky.

Unbeknownst to him, from behind a nearby wall, Stain had seen the whole thing. But he did not attack.

May fourteenth had arrived.

The rain had not stopped. In fact, it had gotten worse. Reflections of hazy orange streetlamps shimmered in the surface water gathering and growing on the roads. White dashes of rain could be seen whizzing through the illuminated beams, breaking through the night.

Izuku met Nejire and Tamaki under the overhanging roof of a warehouse, deep in Harbor territory. The Kijimi leaders had three minor heroes with them as well. Izuku tried to recall their names and couldn't. A few months ago that would have been unthinkable for me.

"Is it just us, then?" he asked, hardly raising his voice over the torrential rain.

"Yeah," Nejire speak-shouted back. "The rest of the unit are performing a big rescue operation on the other side of the territory."

"Surely this takes priority."

The young woman had a glint in her eye. "I want whoever we're up against to be nice and confident. They still don't know that we ever got the intel for this deal. The casino incident may have changed their plans, but if they think we're all distracted somewhere else, then they won't suspect a thing."

"Besides," Tamaki spoke up, "we have you."

Izuku did not bother to protest that.

"I got a lead on Mustard's power station clue," he told them. "It's some kind of code commonly used by villain crews. No doubt he learned it when he was part of the League."

"Surely that's some elaborate bait, right?" said Nejire. "I mean…everything he did and said on that phone call made it really sound like he wanted you off his case. If I were him, I'd be using everything in my bag of tricks to mislead you."

"Yes. But even a misleading clue can potentially point to what his true next move is." Izuku gestured out at the dark, rainy night. "Besides, if we intercept those casino explosives here, then that may thwart him completely."

"We won't have caught him, though," Tamaki pointed out, "unless he's here tonight."

That had occurred to Izuku, but he was anticipating that Mustard would not be present. We know the Harbor is selling the weapons, but who's buying them? Another proxy?

Nejire was busy explaining the plan. "Two cars are supposed to arrive there-" She pointed far across the industrial port area, to the riverside. "At dock eight, at eleven PM."

"There's a cargo ship there," Tamaki commented. "It's pretty big."

"That's at dock nine. They may be using it as cover. The buyers will supposedly arrive on a small boat at the same time, which gives us ten minutes." She glanced at one of the other minor heroes. "You are going to reinforce the police squad we have posted on the entrance ramp to the highway. Make sure they can't escape that way. You two will watch the other exits. You see that fence?"

It was hard to make it out through the rain, but Izuku squinted. There were a few floodlights turned on from the various warehouse buildings, and yes, he could see the fence.

"There's a north exit and a south exit. That's where you guys will be posted." She turned to Tamaki and Izuku. "Deku, I'd like you on the roof of the building with the big PORT AUTHORITY sign. You see it?"

"Yes."

"Suneater, you'll be on the ground by the dock. I'll give you a cue to engage if necessary, but mainly, I want you to ensure that those weapons don't get away on that boat, however possible."

"Got it. Where will you be?"

A hint of a smile from Nejire Hado. "I'll be up on the cargo ship."

"I'm in position," Tamaki reported through the comms. Nejire had handed them each one of Hatsume's earpieces to wear. Izuku slightly adjusted his and shimmied closer to the edge of the roof, crouching low.

The open lot before him was framed by two big buildings: the one he was on and another, lower, longer one on the far side. To his left was a long fence, and to his right was the river. On a night like this, all he could see over there was a churning darkness, but there were floodlights on the buildings that reached the edge of the docks.

Izuku saw a swish of Suneater's white cape pass through one of the beams of light, and then it vanished into the rainy shadow. Just beyond there, parked at the dock further ahead, was a looming, hulking mass. A dead cargo ship. Nejire would be somewhere up there, he knew.

She spoke now. "Let us know when you spot vehicles. Everyone sit tight."

"Understood," said the other heroes.

Izuku sighed and settled into comfortable observation of the scene. It was hard to see anything, and he was soaked, but that didn't matter. There will be time to wash later. To rest later. To eat later.

He would not let his mind drift. Not to All Might, left behind in the mud, nor to his mother and her lunchboxes. They need to stay away from me and stay safe.

Every day brought him less and less work to do. Every day he solved incidents to reduce the total number of incidents remaining. He'd lost count of the people he'd rescued and the people he'd captured. The former had all been evacuated, the latter arrested, and now, slowly, he was starting to make his way through increasingly empty streets. Setting the stage for the battle, where we're all one side or the other. Drawing clear lines.

It was so close now. He just had to do a little more. For All Might, for Class A, for my mother. For their safety. Mustard was within reach. Tonight we take his tools from him.

Weapons, not tools. Izuku frowned. He thought of the thing Lady Nagant had said again. Calling him a weapon. Once upon a time, I called myself a pastry in a microwave, and that gave me my big One for All breakthrough. When training with Gran Torino, he'd figured out Full Cowling for the first time. Could I use the weapon metaphor for something similar? With the Quirks at his disposal, was there a way he could reach one hundred percent without damaging himself?

It felt like he was on the edge of an epiphany, but annoyingly, Kaina Tsutsumi's face kept floating through his memory. Thinking of Lady Nagant made him think of flirting, which made him think of his dream again, and of Mirko. The real Mirko would never do that. The real Mirko stood me up in a karaoke bar, remember? And he'd never found out why…

"They're here," one of the minor heroes said through the comms. "North side."

Izuku was somewhat relieved. There was a chance this whole thing had been called off due to the casino battle, and they had no way of knowing until right then.

He saw and heard the cars a second later. Tires rolling over gritty, wet pavement, their high-beams streaking through the night, swinging about as they turned into the rainy parking lot. One car was small, the other was large and boxy, and both were black.

Izuku eyed the trunk of the larger vehicle. The explosives will be in there. He fought the urge to just rush down there and finish this, but their priority was containment…and the boat wasn't here yet. Need all of them together.

"Watch the water, Suneater," Nejire advised.

"I am. I don't see the buyers yet."

Multiple car doors slammed in the lot below. Figures were moving around the vehicles, hardly distinguishable from here, but only one was holding an umbrella. The others were exposed to the elements.

There were some raised voices. One man pointed at the small car and gestured to two others. It was hard to make out words over the rain.

"The one with the umbrella is the Quartermaster," Nejire supplied. Izuku supposed she had a better vantage point of their faces, seeing as they were all turned toward the ship. "He runs operations at the docks. With the Skindancer out, he's the highest-ranking Harbor person we haven't captured."

"What's his Quirk?" asked Izuku. He was itching to fight.

"Nylon Control. That's what makes him so good at running a port. All those ropes."

"And the others?"

"Not sure. If they're all just muscle, then they probably have basic attack Quirks."

"My costume has nylon in it," Izuku muttered.

"So does mine, but he won't know that."

"He could make a pretty good guess."

"Steady, you two," said Tamaki, of all people. "Hold fast. The boat's coming."

Izuku turned his head. Sure enough, a sleek, dark, pointed shape was quietly pulling up to the dock, on the edge of the light. He squinted. "What's it look like, Suneater?"

"It's a typical cabin cruiser."

Silence.

"...Deku? How much do you know about boats?"

"Err…nothing. What you just said meant nothing to me."

Nejire snickered on her end of the comm.

"It means it's got a small deck, but most of the space is interior. A cabin."

That was surely where they meant to put the explosives.

"They're c-coming now." Suneater went quiet.

In the time the heroes had conversed, the boat had been parked and tied up, and now three figures were walking up the dock and into the path of the floodlights. The Quartermaster and his men, by the cars, noticed them. The two groups hailed each other.

"Great night for it, huh!" one of the boat people shouted, loud enough for Izuku to hear.

"No," someone yelled back.

"Let's get this over with," someone else called.

"Do you have the goods?"

"Do you have yours?" That was the Quartermaster speaking; the voice had come from under the umbrella.

"Yeah, yeah. Our guy is bringing it." The boat-person who'd been in the lead waved back toward the dock, and a fourth man emerged from the darkness, carrying a box of something.

"Are those…those aren't the explosives, are they?" asked Nejire.

"He walked right past my hiding spot. It didn't seem like it," responded Tamaki.

"Besides, the people on the boat are buying," Izuku said. Trying to sound confident about it. "That's probably just money."

Did the intel not specify WHO was getting what in this arms deal? They had just assumed that the Harbor would be the ones selling the weapons, but…

No, those explosives disappeared without a trace. There's no way they would need to buy weapons when that's what they managed to save from the casino. Unless the disappearance had been caused by something else.

Izuku shook his head. No time for my mind to wander!

"We need a plan of attack," he told the others through the comm.

"I know, I know, just…watch and wait. We need to be sure."

The man had set the box down in the floodlight-beam, about twenty yards in front of the cars. Words were thrown back and forth, these a hair too quiet for Izuku to discern as anything more than shouted gibberish. There was a good deal of gesturing from multiple people on both sides, some of it appearing angry.

Two of the Quartermaster's men were heading to the back of the larger, boxy car. Preparing to open the trunk.

"They're focused on each other," Nejire said. It sounded like she was realizing it in real time. "These two groups…they suspect betrayal from each other. They're not thinking of outside intervention. We need to attack when they make the exchange. That'll be the most delicate moment. All their focus will be pulled onto that."

Izuku knew she was right, but…

He saw movement from behind the small car.

His eyes darted there. A previously unseen individual. In these conditions, it looked like everyone was dressed in black, but somehow he could tell that this person was dressed in…black black. They were hiding behind the smaller vehicle.

Then they straightened up a little, and Izuku saw that the figure was decidedly feminine. Very feminine. Almost unfairly so.

That's Camie. His eye twitched.

Izuku turned on his comm. "This just got complicated," he whispered to the others.