The Problem

When they barged into the room, all the eyes focused on the green-haired teen sided by the brunette. Everyone had a mix of worry and sadness on their faces, even Bakugo, to an extent. Before Midoriya could ask questions, Aizawa walked up to him, pushing the boy outside.

"Sensei, where are–"

"To the Principal's office. We have some questions."

"Eh? To me? But Eri-chan–"

"Is missing, yes. That's precisely why you'll have to tell exactly what you did last night before leaving U.A." He told the young man, with a stern voice that wasn't very characteristic of him. This only made Midoriya more confused.

If Eri was gone, why was he being brought up for questioning? Practically everyone left to assist in the crisis last night, were they screening everyone? Unless…

A terrible thought crossed his mind.

"Aizawa-sensei, Himiko… did she…"

"Yes. Toga Himiko is also missing."

He clenched his fists. It was his fault.

Last night

The scruffy man stood in front of the TV screen, watching the transmission going on. His mind raced, trying to make sense of the situation. Suddenly a cult of weirdos decides to call for an uprising, openly and even daring the heroes to try and stop them. From what he heard, this did not come from anywhere, and they had quite some time to organize, which only made things worse. That meant the heroes were falling behind in dealing with cases like that, be it because of a lack of manpower or because they were not seeing something.

Regardless, now they had to deal with this chaos and then assess the situation after everything calmed down. The last thing they needed was public opinion on heroes getting another dirty patch.

Tired as always, Aizawa rubbed his eyes, reaching for the eye cleaner in his pocket. They had been working around the clock recently and after a lot of dead ends, even he would feel a bit frustrated.

Then, it happened. A purple mist appeared in the room. He caught that from the corner of his vision, and in a matter of seconds, he jumped back, eyes glowing red and bandages unraveling around him. Unfortunately, something akin to mud stuck his hand to the wall. His expression became serious as he saw just who came out of the mist.

"Oi, oi, even for someone like you, these reflexes are too fast. Aren't you super cool… Eraserhead?" Said the young man with severed hands all over the place and covering his face.

"Shigaraki…"

He was accompanied by Kurogiri and another villain, a lanky guy with a toad face.

"E-Eraserhead?! I-I'll hold him off, Shigaraki–"

"Easy there, this guy… Even restricted like that, he will knock you out."

"Even you?"

"Yeah, even me. I guess we got a lucky shot by having you spit before we crossed the portal. RNG is on my side this time."

Silence fell in the room. The tension was so high it might cause sparks to fly. Eraserhead kept his eyes focused on the villains while his free hand slowly got closer to the knife hidden on his back. Meanwhile, Shigaraki slowly walked around the common room, looking around.

"Ho, so this is where those kids spend their days, huh? U.A. surely spoils these brats. Ne, if you're here while hell is breaking loose outside… I bet there's something important here, right?"

"Or maybe our students are more than capable of dealing with small fish. I would be worried if I was you."

"Tch… You're not wrong, but I know from a trusty source that there's something special here. Or rather… someone, hahahaha."

"Shigaraki," Kurogiri interjected before he said more, but that was more than enough for Aizawa to connect the dots.

"... Why are you here?" Asked the pro hero, with a deadly serious tone. If he was quick and precise enough, he could throw the knife right through Shigaraki's leg and cut an artery, anything to build him some time.

"Well, wouldn't you like to know?"

The gray-haired man turned to the stairs with an increasing grin crossing his dry lips, but something made him stop dead in his tracks. Something that Aizawa couldn't see.

"You…"

Or rather, someone.

"Shigi!" Said the blond girl, genuinely surprised to see her former "boss".

From where he was, Eraserhead couldn't see Toga. Time was running out before he blinked, and he would probably only have that opening to free himself from that goop. But something else worried him. Coming here at this moment couldn't be a mere coincidence. They could have guessed the chaos would divert a lot of attention from the pro heroes, but how could they have guessed exactly where Toga was, and that the place would be mostly empty? They had to know of this beforehand, otherwise, the League wouldn't come with such small numbers, especially after laying low for so long.

"Himiko… You spent a lot of time playing house with Midoriya, huh."

"Not as much as I would like, to be honest. You see, they keep me on a short leash." She said, pointing to the collar.

"I see. Well, this will make things easier. I get to kill you first, then I get what I came for, game over–"

"What? Kill me? For what, exactly?" She asked, puzzled. If that was genuine or just her stalling, he didn't know. Shigaraki was still under the effect of the erasure.

"For one, your stupid date, which turned into a major pain in the ass. Second, you gave the heroes a lot of info, it's treason then. Lastly, you have been trying to turn into one of those heroes for a while now, so all the more reason for me to turn your neck into a pile of dust." He said, taking one step up the stairs. Toga went one up too.

"Now, wait just a moment. Who said anything about me being a hero?"

"Isn't that why you're here, and why you have one of those?" Shigaraki pointed at her green hero costume, a facsimile of Deku's, safe for a few details, and more tight fitting.

"Oh, this? It's so that I can mix around. You see, Shigi, I only wanted to get closer to Izuku, but I never planned to be a hero."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, why would I? It's so boring! They have to go to school and do homework and tests, and I can't even stab anyone. It's not the easy life I want, you know?"

Shigaraki looked at her with heavy skepticism. It wouldn't be the first time she had lied to him. Heck, she lying about things she planned to do and already did was the whole reason why they were in this mess, to begin with.

"And why should I trust you?"

"Ouch, after everything we have been through, Shigi, do you really not trust me?" His unmoving stare was enough of an answer. "Fine. How about this, I'll help you get whatever you came here to get."

"Who told you I came here to get anything? We just came to kill you."

"And risk getting yourself caught? Shigi, please. I know you don't hold me that close to your dried-up, cold heart. I know the place pretty well, whatever it is, I can get it to you faster, so you won't have to worry that much about being caught."

"Or I could just ignore you and do as I want."

"Yeah, you could do that, and get caught when Aizawa-sensei gets free and come after you. Then, the alarms would blare all over the place and you would have a few more pro heroes to deal with, and Kurogiri-kun wouldn't be able to give us an easy escape. Sounds like a plan to me~"

"... I'll take my chances, you can't help me in this anyway."

"Are you sure? Are you really sure? Because I have an idea of what you want…" She took another step back, showing her fanged grin.

"And that would be…?"

"A little girl with gray hair, and a little horn on her forehead. I heard she has a very powerful quirk, but can't quite control it. Now, imagine what would happen if someone else had that quirk. Someone that could control it…"

His deadpan face turned into a grimace.

"Himiko, where's the girl?" He took another step up but she blocked the way.

"Ah ah ah, slow down there. Shigi, you can't just go up there and take the girl like that. She can't control it, remember? The last thing you want to do is to scare her and be turned into a toddler. Or even worse"

Shigaraki remained silent for a moment.

"She does have a point, Shigaraki," Kurogiri added.

The young villain pondered a bit before looking up at the blondie again.

"So what? Are you going to tell me she trusts you?"

"She will after I work out a few details–"

"Toga, touch that girl and you'll be dead on the spot," Eraserhead warned her from his spot.

"Oh, Aizawa-sensei. I thought you were alive, so I didn't show myself. Don't worry, sensei… I'll take good care of Eri-chan~"

His eyes widened a little in surprise.

"That voice…"

"Voice command, Midoriya Izuku. Restriction zero. Well, we don't have much time. See you soon, sensei~"

With that, he heard rushed footsteps going up. Kurogiri followed suit, followed by Toad Face. Eraserhead immediately pulled the knife and started to carve out the thick mud gluing his hand to the wall, which was noticed by the last villain. He tried to jump at the pro hero but had his head wrapped by the bandages. One pull and he got a knee connected to his stomach, knocking him out. Aizawa returned to free his hand as fast as he could.

Every second counted and he was trying his best, but this thing was giving him a lot of trouble. He pulled himself out, stepping on the wall for extra leverage, while the knife slowly cut through the thick material. His eyes were drying up and he thought hearing noises on the upper floors. One final pull and he managed to free himself, but unfortunately, he blinked.

Not wasting time, he rushed upstairs at max speed, blasting through the door of Eri's room, only to see the black mist dissipate in front of him. On the floor, there was a book that Mirio gave to Eri.

"She knew how to unlock the thing, but more importantly, she mimicked your voice to bypass the security. The only way she could do that was if she drank your blood. Midoriya…" Aizawa didn't need to finish, the green teen already knew what was the question.

"~sigh~ Yes, I… let her drink a little." He looked at the floor in defeat and shame. He should know something like this would happen.

"Do you understand the severity of this single decision?" The teacher was merciless and straightforward. There was no other way to address this now.

Midoriya stood up frozen, looking at the floor as the teachers and pro heroes waited for his response. This wasn't really necessary, for they could imagine how guilty the young man felt. Regardless, Aizawa was impassive, and he wanted a clear response from one of his best students, so he waited, glaring at him with unwavering eyes and arms folded.

"I… I understand." The sound of defeat hung heavy in his voice.

"It's good that you understand, and since you're pretty smart, you must know there will be consequences. But before that, I have another question: why?"

This question got Midoriya a little confused, so he looked up at his homeroom teacher and fellow pro heroes.

"Eh?"

"The blood. Why did you give it to her?"

"Well, I…"

How could he explain this? He should have known better, he knew better! Why did he trust Himeko to begin with, what was he thinking? She was a villain through and through, and she couldn't be changed. She openly admitted so, despite acting differently. And he thought Himiko only wanted to mess with him, after those nightmarish days he spent in that dark place. It wasn't enough to just torture him, she had to trick him again and shake his convictions, or so he thought. It was clear now that she just wanted to infiltrate and escape with Eri when the opportunity appeared. He admittedly got blinded by the idea of her redeeming herself for a second. Heck, he was almost getting convinced she actually had genuine feelings for him, but no. Toga Himiko was an irreparable villain, a psychopath, and a deranged person who hurt him to no end and kidnapped poor little Eri.

And all the blame was his to carry.

"I thought she could change," Midoriya admitted, shamefully. "I thought she had changed… but that was never the case. I failed, I'm deeply sorry…"

"You seem to have learned a valuable lesson. Unfortunately, as I said, there will be consequences." Aizawa continued.

"Aizawa-san, this is a dire situation, yes, but I think there are other ways to solve it–"

"With all due respect, All Might, this is a problem even you wouldn't solve, and Midoriya is the one to blame." The blond man reclined back in his seat. "The League of Villains had a specific interest in Eri's peculiarity, they somehow bypassed our protocols again, and all of that comes after the fact she's just a little girl traumatized by her previous custodians. I cannot stress how serious this is."

"I get it, but just beating this into his head won't change anything, will it?" Kayama intervened, getting closer to the scruffy man. They exchanged some fierce glares.

"Let me remind you I'm still the teacher responsible for these students, as well as Eri."

He didn't think she would make excuses for the boy just because of the nature of their relationship, but at the same time, Kayama wasn't a person with a cold heart. Deep down she wanted to defend him. Damn it, he didn't want to bash him either, but such was the problem they had to deal with. The fact of the matter was that he caused it, and now it was Aizawa's duty to act accordingly, without partiality.

"We already spent too much time on this, anyway. As for your punishment, Midoriya–"

"Sensei! Before you tell me I'm expelled, I just want to say," His emerald green eyes focused on the pro hero with so much intensity they looked like green flames. "I will not stop until I find Eri and get her back safe and sound."

The room went quiet for a moment, and all eyes focused on the young man. Whatever guilt and shame he had on him up until now has been converted to determination, commitment, and sheer will.

"That's good to hear, but who said anything about expulsion?"

"Even without my license, I will keep looking and- eh? I'm not being expelled?" And now the young man was taken by confusion.

Aizawa rubbed his eyes, then picked his eye cleaner, applying it as he spoke.

"I said there will be consequences, but did I ever mention expulsion this time?"

"Uh, no, but–"

"As I said, we have already spent too much time on this. Your punishment will be decided later after we find Eri and bring her back safe and sound, as you suggested. And "we" definitely includes you. The last night clearly shows it, we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing who can and cannot help us."

Aizawa then turned to Ryukyu, who stood quietly in her corner up until now. Her heart felt heavy with the knowledge of the situation, but at the same time, a part of it also hurt for watching Midoriya being grilled by Eraserhead, of all people.

"Ryukyu, I hope you can still keep them under you for a while longer. Let's make use of what we learned from that mess of yesterday. I want every hero of every agency to work together. Exchange info, coordinate, find leads, and do your thing. This is a top priority." He stated, then glanced at Principal Nezu for his approval.

The giant mouse nodded and that was enough for him, so he took his leave, but not before speaking to Midoriya again, holding the door open.

"I will hold you to that promise, Midoriya. Until you find her." He said, never turning back to face the green teen, but there was no need to. He knew his students fairly well by now, and he knew exactly how that boy would answer.

"Understood."

The door closed behind him. Even without Aizawa in the room, the weight of his presence still hung in the air. None of the adults said a word until a rather impatient bunny girl broke the silence.

"So… what now?" If she could be more informal, Miruko would probably have done so.

"As Aizawa said, this will take some extra coordination from us, on a scale that we didn't see before. Our enemies are getting clever, and they're making their moves in the shadows. We're at such a stage where heroes need to be more proactive in dealing with villains." Nezu said, looking at his colleagues and then at the green-haired teen in front of his desk.

"You can say it again that they're getting clever. They bypassed our defense protocols more than once, even with the extra precautions we took." Power Loader said, already thinking of upgrades to the defense systems of U.A.

"Well, you could argue this was human error this time," Cementoss added. Harsh, but the truth.

"No, not entirely. I checked the logs and there was some abnormal behavior around the time they teleported into Heights Alliance. The type of thing that you need internal information to hack and control."

"Are you suggesting that…" Snipe began, but it was Present Mic who conclude the line of thought.

"That we have a traitor among us? Haven't we already considered this possibility?"

"One problem at a time, everyone," Nezu cut in, ready to give instructions. "I'll contact the investigative department and see if they can help us. Ryukyu-san, if you could be so kind as to inform Centipeder of the situation,"

"Hai, I'll look around myself too." Said the blondie, glancing at Midoriya. By the few things she knew about him, she could tell he wouldn't rest if he wasn't able to participate in the searches.

"Excellent. As for our security systems, we should strive to always improve. We can't play this game of catching up any longer. I'll be counting on you once more, Power Loader-san."

"Got it, boss."

"Ahem, if you don't mind, Power Loader-san, I have been talking to a friend of mine who I believe could help us with that. He's pretty knowledgeable in the creation of support gear and other technologies, and I believe he could give valuable insight." All Might added.

"Good to hear, any help will be welcomed."

"Finally, Midoriya-san."

"H-hai!"

"I know it's hard to reign our emotions in desperate times, but I'll need you and all of your friends to remain levelheaded and professional about it. I don't think I need to explain why harsh actions are ill-advised, do I?" His eyes told the green teen everything: do not make stupid decisions.

"I understand."

"Good. You're free to go now."

And just like that, Midoriya left the Principal's office, with his mind racing and his hands tightened into fists. How he wished things were different, but what has been done could not be undone, and now he had to deal with it. The punishment further ahead wasn't even weighing on him, for all he could think of was the gray-haired girl and her sweet, innocent smile. If he failed on rescuing her, or if she was hurt because of his actions, Midoriya wasn't sure if he could look at Mirio's face ever again, or at All Might's. Hell, how would he face his lovers knowing this entire situation could be avoided if he didn't fall for Himiko's tricks? Truth be told, this could all have been averted if he just let her catch dust into a dark cell, with the key cast into the ocean. The League of Villains would have it coming for them, but Himiko would pay for this.

Back to facing his harem, when the green teen entered the dorms' common room, he found a larger crowd than usual. Every girl present turned to face the door and they rushed to meet him when they caught a glimpse of him.

"Deku-kun, is everything alright?"

"What happened, Muscles?"

"Did they say something about Eri-chan? Ribbit."

"Is that blond devil responsible for this, Dear?"

"Baby did the collar malfunction or–"

With everyone speaking at the same time, Midoriya was quickly overwhelmed.

"Girls, wait! Not all at once!" He said, pushing them back a little. It was obvious to them now that he was upset about the situation, and reasonably so.

As they gave him enough space to fully enter the dorms, he met the gaze of the other students from the hero course, and they were just as curious to hear from him.

"How bad is it, my Love?" Asked Komori.

It took him a second to breathe in and lay out the truth for everyone.

"Himiko is missing. She went with the League and they kidnapped Eri-chan. And… it's all my fault." He said, looking at the floor again. The teachers mentioned the possibility of a traitor, but he just couldn't imagine any of the people he knew being a spy, so he didn't factor this in at all.

At the end of the day, he was the sole cause of this huge mess. And he wasn't shocked that this surprised everyone around him.

"How…? How did this happen?" Kaminari quietly said, both thinking out loud and throwing the question everyone had in their minds at Midoriya.

"I made a mistake. I trusted her, and this was the result. I'm sorry." He wasn't sure to who he was apologizing. His classmates? his harem? Eri? Himself?

Regardless, one person made their way to Midoriya, with a rather neutral face. A pair of ruby-red eyes focused on his emerald green ones.

"Who the fuck cares about what happened? Just fix it, Deku." Bakugo told him with a very level voice. There wasn't as much malice or aggression in his tone as usual, which was kind of even scarier.

To this, Midoriya had no words, so he simply walked past Bakugo and went to his room.

"Oi, Bakugo! Be more reasonable. At a time like this, Midoriya-kun is feeling the worst–"

"Hah? And what the fuck does that have to do with me, Shitty Glasses?!" And old Bakugo was back.

"Such improper language! Right now we need to stay united and–"

"Let him be, Iida," Todoroki stopped the class rep with an arm. "Everyone is worried, and Midoriya definitely is feeling the worst. Just give it some time."

Iida fixed his glasses. Everyone remained mostly in silence since there wasn't much to be said here. As for the girls, after that little exchange, they followed Midoriya to his room, crowding in front of his door. Uraraka hesitated a bit but knocked on it.

"Deku-kun… can we get in?"

There was a moment of silence from the other side before the door opened and he quietly let them inside. Good thing U.A. made their rooms quite large, but even so, it felt full. He imagined this would happen, the girls clearly wanted more answers. However, they didn't want to ask, he was already hurting and carrying this guilt by himself, so there was no need for extra "punishment". Regardless, they had to make sense of the situation.

"~sigh~ Alright, I'll bite. Izu… how did Toga escape?" Tokage asked, taking the role of the "bad" girlfriend.

"I… let her drink my blood. Then, when the League of Villains appeared here, she managed to copy my voice and unlock the collar. She probably tricked Eri into thinking it was me…"

"But why did you give her blood? And why didn't you tell any of us?"

"I… I thought that…" He let out a tired sigh, sitting on the bed with both nads on his head. "I thought she was different, that she could change… Obviously, I was wrong and now we're in this mess."

Okay, this didn't explain everything, but it wasn't something impossible to imagine. She was a manipulator after all, and she was pushing everyone's buttons, but the way Himiko acted around him was just too weird and straight-up disgusting to them. Midoriya had a kind nature, and even after everything that she did to him, he was willing to give her a chance, even if they were against it. Now was not the time to say "I told you so" and they all unknowingly agreed on this, but once this mess was over…

"Deku-kun, do the teachers have a plan to find Eri-chan? If we all help then–"

"No," He cut the brunette short. Then, Midoriya raised his head, but he wasn't exactly looking at them. His usually bright green eyes looked almost glassy and vacant. A chill ran through Uraraka's spine as she saw her love like that.

"I will find her."

The temperature seemed to drop in the room and each of the girls was racking their brains to try and come up with something positive to sheer the distraught green teen when a knock on the door broke the tense atmosphere. Their heads turned to the door, and Midoriya in particular wondered who could it be since all his girls were here now. Well, almost all of them.

"Umm, Midoriya-san? It's uh… it's me, T-Tatsuma." Came the voice from the other side, surprising everyone, but the girls more so. What was Ryukyu doing in here?

As for the green-haired young man, Midoriya answered mindlessly.

"It's open."

The knob turned and the door was gently opened, and a blonde head poked inside. Her eyes fell upon the green teen, but quickly took notice of the rather large group of girls sitting in front of him.

"Oh, right…" For a brief moment, Tatsuma forgot about Midoriya and his… special relationship with his classmates, which only made this unexpected meeting more awkward for her. "Do you mind if I… ummm…"

"Oh please, just go inside already," Said another voice, followed by Tatsuma being pushed forward and into the bedroom. The door opened more to reveal a tanned woman with long white hair and red eyes, as well as bunny ears. Great, now two pro heroes knocked at Midoriya's door, the girls thought.

"... I see," Said Miruko as she took in the scene. It's not like she cared much about Midoriya and that little group of fuck buddies. Well, not so little, but she wasn't particularly bothered anyway. In fact, she was pretty confident she could snatch the emerald child for herself, but that wasn't the reason she came here, to begin with. Not today, at least.

The truth is that she followed Ryukyu out of worry for the young man after they saw that scene at the Principal's office. She would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little concerned for his well-being. Now that they were here, Tatsuma only had to say what she had in mind to comfort Midoriya, but the extra guests made it more complicated for her. She felt like an intruder, but regardless, the blondie mustered the courage to speak to him.

"Umm, I know it doesn't help to solve the situation at hand but… if you ever need a place to rest and vent off, I'll always be available… for you." She put it simply, taking a step closer to him and doing her best to ignore the many stares focused on her figure.

"Thanks, Tatsuma-san," Midoriya replied, again, rather coldly and automated.

"And you know, if you have any other, uh, needs to be taken care of… maybe in the after-hours we could, you know…"

It took him a minute to understand what she meant by that.

"W-wait just a second, it was just that one time!" And the old Midoriya was back, already flustered and with a faint pink hue crossing his cheeks.

"A-all I'm saying is!- If you need some form of release, well, Nemuri and I spoke a little and it seems you have, how do I put it, a lot of energy to spend. And doing so on the school grounds wouldn't be right so-"

"Aha! I knew you would try to make a move, Ryuko!" Miruko shouted from the back, closing the gap between them and pulling the blondie away from Midoriya by her arm.

"W-who's making a move?! Didn't you decide to follow me after I told you I wanted to see him?"

"Yeah, because I knew you would try and make a move on him, you sneaky lizard~"

"That's not my original intention!"

"But now you're thinking about it, aren't you?~"

"Well, yeah. But only because you brought it up!"

"Alright, miss "if you have any other needs to be taken care of", I totally trust you."

While the two pro heroes argued, the girls watched the back and forth, occasionally glancing at the green teen sitting on his bed. Midoriya was covering his face, avoiding looking at the two "adults" discussing these things in front of his girlfriends. Then came the dreaded question, carried by none other than Uraraka. Past experiences gave her a pretty good idea of what was going on, but she wanted direct confirmation from her man.

"Deku-kun, what is this all about?"

"Umm, you see…"

How should he explain this? It wasn't as if he wasn't in a similar situation before, but this time it was kind of beyond his control, with both Miruko and Ryukyu being affected by the side effects of HP's quirk. That and Nemuri said he could, but she wasn't here to back him up right now. It wasn't a matter of just telling the truth, but how to say it while defusing potential outbursts.

"I don't know, I think you're overcomplicating things. Just be upfront with them, Izuku." Nana said inside his mind.

"What? Do you want me to go 'Hey, by the way, I had sex with both of them last night but it is all good because they were under the influence of a weird quirk'? They're going to jump on my neck this time."

"Oh please, they wouldn't dare hurt a hair of your precious head, have more confidence, Izuku. Plus, I get it that you value their feelings and all, but let's be honest, you already developed a high libido that requires a lot of attention. They agreed to share you on that premise, so why be so hung up on it every time you have sex with a not-so-strange stranger woman?"

"Umm, Nana-san, that's not exactly how it works…"

"~sigh~ I know, just… I don't know, be more assertive. You have proven your loyalty to them many times, you don't pick any girl that comes around your way, as a fact, and they'll end up embracing her into the "sisterhood" down the line. So why make a fuzz about it?"

"Because I told them that wouldn't happen again!"

"Well, at this point I would consider that's a given. You're just that charming~"

"Not very helpful now, Nana-san…"

"I know, I know, I'm just teasing you to put you in a less gloomy mood. But at least be upfront with it, no need to beat around the bush…" Nana's voice slowly faded into light chimes on the back of his head, and as Midoriya refocused on the real world, he met the expectant gazes of his girlfriends, the main brunette, in particular, looking very impatient.

Well, time to try this upfront policy.

"Well, the truth is, uh… we kind of… had sex last night, Ryuko, Rumi, and I."

"Oh, you don't say!" Shouted the brunette. The two pro heroes stopped bickering and turned to the group of youths, having their little secret ousted so casually.

"And Nemuri was there too…"

"Of course she was! Why wouldn't she?!"

"Uraraka-san, calm down a little, now is not the time to–"

"Don't tell me to calm down, Kendo! This keeps happening over and over again, and I can't stand it! Why does every bitch around must have their eyes on my Deku-kun?!" She said to no one in particular, or perhaps she meant to ask whatever entity governed this universe.

"C-calm down, Uraraka-chan, I know how you feel, but now is not the time." Komori got closer to her, fanning the fellow brunette who was hyperventilating out of frustration.

"Umm, in his defense, we were quite pushy and he did say he already has all of you girls…" Tatsuma inserted herself into the conversation, hoping to de-escalate it a little. However, it only earned her mean looks from the 1-A girls and skeptical gazes from the others.

"Yeah, he was stubborn pretty much all the way, even after Nemuri told him to bang me. Sheesh, you all keep that poor boy on a tight leash." To say Usagiyama's comment was not well received was an understatement. Even the more laid-back and less jealous ones looked at her with slight murderous intent.

"How shameful," Shiozaki murmured, and the girls nodded in agreement.

"Okay, I can tell when I'm not welcome. I'll shut up now…"

"A-anyway, they were under the influence of an unknown quirk, it wasn't entirely their fault," Midoriya got up to defend the two pro heroes.

"Even so, was it absolutely necessary to have sex with them?" Kodai asked, her usually monotone voice a little altered, indicating her annoyance with that. Even she was starting to think Uraraka had a point in being super protective of him if this was such a common occurrence.

"Well, that's debatable, it kind of happened in the heat of the moment." He said, scratching the back of his head. "But you girls didn't give me much of a choice either, did you?"

A few of them raised a hand to object, but he wasn't wrong, so they all just nodded in silence.

"Well, so what now? Are they part of the gang? Do you love them? Do they love you?" Tokage asked, measuring the two women standing there. Tatsuma looked a little hesitant, nervous perhaps, while Usagiyama was just bored out of her mind, having her arms folded in front of her chest and slowly tapping her foot.

After all that has happened last night, he did not confirm that. Midoriya was still under the assumption that all that was said was because of HP's blood and the effect it had on them. Even now he thought maybe Ryukyu was feeling guilty, and Miruko might as well just be teasing him again, although he was pretty sure he left a very good impression with the tanned hero. He turned to the two of them, his emerald green eyes showing that usual gleam once again.

"So? Do you feel any different, or maybe you regret doing it with me–"

"No!" Tatsuma cut him short, taking a step closer to him. She refrained from jumping on the bed and embracing him in her bosom like before, with all those eyes focused on her. Every cell of her body was screaming at her to do so, but without the side effects coursing through her bloodstream, at least now Tatsuma could actually reign these emotions and desires.

"I ah, ahem, I don't regret saying what I said. I do believe my actions crossed the line but…" Her eyes locked with his. "I stand by every word I said. I still want you… to be my treasure." It was a little weird to see a grown-up woman confess her feelings in such a shy manner, almost as if she was just a teenager.

Then again, if the girls spend more time with the pro hero, they would find out she was still a pure young maiden in the heart. For now, the harem's verdict was "acceptable".

"And how about you?" Jirou asked and their eyes focused on the rabbit hero, who flinched a bit.

"Me? Hah! No, I'm just after Big Boy's big boy, I don't need all the lovey-dovey mushy stuff." She said, waving a hand in dismissal, but surprisingly, the girls still held their skeptical glares at her.

"What? I'm serious! I don't love that brat or anything, it's just that he can be super sexy when he wants and… well, you know, last night was good and… y-you know!"

"You do realize we won't allow any random chick to have her way with our Izu-kun, right?" Tsunotori told her calmly.

"Oh yeah, and what are you gonna do to stop me?" She taunted the horned blondie.

"As the saying goes, fuck around and find out." Regardless of the language, the message was delivered.

"W-well, whatever! Just don't be disheartened when your man comes to me later on." Admitting defeat was not something Miruko allowed herself to do, and it wasn't different with a "bunch of horny teenagers", as she put it a few times.

Between now and last night, Midoriya couldn't decide how honest she was being, but that wasn't the biggest of his concerns, by a large margin. But at least he still had something precious in his life to help him keep afloat. The news of Eri being kidnapped was so shocking that it knocked him back to a very dark place. There was no time to feel guilty or think about what he could have done differently. She needed his help, and by everything sacred on this blue Earth, he would save her.

"~sigh~ Thank heavens."

"Hmmm?" He heard Uraraka sigh in relief.

"You were looking so depressed and gloomy earlier, I got really scared. But now you're looking like your normal self again, Deku-kun~ Even if the circumstances are not the best, I'm glad." Her honest smile, as well as the relieved faces of his lovers further improved his mood.

Midoriya was still dead serious inside, but right now he allowed himself to indulge a little in this warm moment.

End of Chapter

A/N: Alright, I'm back, still alive and writing. Now, there are some things I need to say so let's get over with it. First of all, apologies for how long it took to update. If it felt like I was neglecting this fic, well, it's because I was, at least partially. Between writer's block, laziness, lack of motivation, work-related stuff, and a dash of burnout, I really couldn't get myself to sit down and type away. But I have been thinking about it and to say I have changed how I feel about this story is an understatement. It started as a silly side project, I didn't plan it to be so long, nor did I imagine it would get so much traction. For that, I once again thank you all, really. But that raises a few interesting and quite problematic issues. Mainly, I have been winging it for the most part in terms of plot progression and the general direction I'm taking this story. Looking back I feel the difference in quality is pretty visible, painfully so, which brings me to the first big news: I'll be doing a rework of the first few chapters.

Not now, sometime in the future, but this is something I have been considering, especially when a lot of reviews point out how bad and straight-up stupid these are, and rightfully so. I'm also considering cross-posting the story on other sites, but that's not very important. More than that, I'm spending more time planning ahead, to make sure the story ties up nicely. There's a lot to cover still, but these years have taught me the value of having a clear goal and a path traced.

Second news, I'll try to reduce the word count on the chapters, in favor of more frequent updates. This one was meant to be a single, giant chapter, but I decided to break it into smaller parts, so expect a few more updates soon. The experience with other fics demonstrated to be easier to keep track of, and it seems you guys prefer it over long spans of radio silence. Can't promise but I'll try my best. Speaking of which, this is probably the last Note I add, as well as the last time I'll plug the discord server, promise. I do read the reviews, but I never find the time to reply, and answering them here is quite cumbersome, honestly. So if by any slim chance, you have any interest in chatting, keeping tabs on other authors, or just pestering me directly about the next update, you can join via this here link, which is also on my bio: gg / nbvVH6aUTc. It ain't much but it is honest fun, and there's a 100% chance I'll answer your questions. Plus, you might get a few peaks in the upcoming chapters.

Well, that's about it. Sorry again for the unofficial hiatus and radio silence. Seeing people following and favoriting this story almost every day is what keeps me from dropping it, seriously. I've considered it a few times but there're so many readers I feel obligated to continue so I don't let anyone down. Expectations must be met! Man, it IS good to take it all from my chest. Thank you for reading this story so far, and have a nice day. See you all in the next chapter.