Izuku may have been surprised by the rumors Nite-Lite had started, but Shouta wasn't. "I had actually thought Bakugou would start the rumors first," he admitted. "That's the only thing I'm even a little surprised about."

Wrinkling his nose, Izuku nodded at that. "Fair enough. We probably shouldn't count our eggs before they're hatched when it comes to that though." Bakugou had already tried to go to the Media once. Izuku had stopped that, but he was probably still planning something else-hopefully it would be limited to just spreading rumors this time, and hopefully he was dumb enough to do it with people who knew Shouta, and knew better than to believe what Bakugou was saying.

There were a lot of 'hopefully's' in that, and Izuku was already making contingency plans.

But, luckily for Izuku and Shouta, Nedzu took Izuku's concerns about Bakugou very seriously . Which meant everyone and their dog got to see Nedzu, every day, popping out of nowhere to watch Bakugou with narrowed eyes and write in a little notebook. The first few times it happened it generated a rush of whispers within the Hero community, but most people brushed it off. Nedzu was strange, there was no telling why he was watching Bakugou like a criminal. Izuku had laughed, because Nedzu was killing two birds with one stone-able to both observe Bakugou to see if Izuku's conclusions were correct, and also able to start their plan to ruin Bakugou's life.

And then civilians got involved. They started asking pointed questions about why, exactly, Principal Nedzu was watching a Pro Hero so closely. Dynamite had already been losing some of his shine with civilians because, while attractive, he was also rude and destructive-on par with Endeavor. This hastened his fall in some aspects, and Best Jeanist very quickly pulled Bakugou out of the field once some news stations started asking those same pointed questions-to Bakugou.

It had promised to be an ugly situation, and Best Jeanist may have liked Bakugou, but he refused to let the hot-tempered young man put the reputation of his Agency at risk. So, despite Bakugou's loud protests, Best Jeanist pulled him out of the field and instead had him do desk work

And if Izuku had a few people who owed him favors who were journalists and news casters, who had warned him about Bakugou sitting down with some of their higher ups, well. All he'd done was give them a nudge in the direction of some real news. Once, while Shouta and Izuku were walking past Nedzu, the small mammal had held out a paw to Izuku who had cheerfully fist bumped him. Nedzu had his own contacts in the media, and he knew exactly what Izuku had done. They'd both decided it was time to go on the offense.

"Do I want to know?" Shouta asked warily. Seeing Izuku's frankly terrifyingly cheerful smile, he very quickly decided that no, he did not. He was smart, and good at logical ruses. But the slow,

methodical ruining of someone's life? That had never been his cup of tea, to Nedzu's slight disappointment during his time as a student. Now, watching Izuku plot and plan? That was absolutely something he enjoyed.

Izuku had plans. He had plans inside of plans that he bounced off of Nedzu, much to the mammal's manic delight, and there was one that had to be put into place quickly-if it was still an option.

Izuku: Toshi, see if Todoroki would like to come over tonight. I'd like to speak with him. Hitoshi: Is that code for smacking him around until you feel better about the situation? Izuku: Uh, no. It's code for I'd like to speak with him. About the situation. Dumbass. Hitoshi. So rude. I'll ask him.

Hitoshi: He said sure. I think he wants to apologize, as a heads up.

Izuku: Thanks for the warning. Seriously though, let him know I'm not going to yell. Hitoshi: That was specific. You're not going to yell. What about Sensei?

Izuku: I make no promises about that.

Hitoshi: Yikes.

Izuku laughed, shaking his head at his phone. "I'm about to head to work," he told Shouta. "I asked Toshi to bring Todoroki over tonight. It's time to start Phase 2 of my plan to ruin Bakugou's life."

"Wait, what was Phase 1?" Shouta raised an eyebrow.

The sharp little smile that curved Izuku's lips wasn't something Shouta had ever expected to see on his face, but somehow it didn't seem out of place. "Phase 1 was Nedzu-Sensei observing him, and the first prong of the media attack."

Shouta blinked slowly, putting his customary cup of coffee down slowly. "The first prong of the-," he cut himself off. "You're the reason the media has done such a turnaround on Bakugou?"

"Not just me," Izuku said. "Nedzu also has contacts he's been utilizing." His expression darkened, just slightly. "He was trying to go to the media about you . It's his own fault-I only countered what he had already tried to start. It's not my fault that they managed to catch him behaving badly," Izuku lied blandly.

It was absolutely his fault. He managed to figure out when Bakugou was involved in certain fights, and prod the media his way. The fact that they then got to hear Bakugou insulting various Heroes, the villain, and the civilians that didn't manage to get out of the way fast enough really wasn't Izuku's fault though. Really.

"OK," Shouta said after a long moment of silence. "That's mildly terrifying, but alright. What's the second prong of the media attack?"

Izuku's smile widened a little. "Bakugou has been behaving badly for a long, long time. It's time to make it clear to everyone that this isn't the first time he's acted like this." He clapped his hands together. "But! That's for the secondary part of Phase 2. The primary part involves Todoroki, so

please don't make him run for the hills tonight. I have plans."

Shouta scowled briefly. "I won't make him run for the hills," he agreed, "But I'm going to make myself clear about how irritated I am that he didn't think to do any basic fact checking with anyone except Bakugou."

Considering that, Izuku shrugged and nodded. "Fair enough. I'm not too pleased about that myself." Todoroki had a lot of trauma that Bakugou had used, and Izuku could sympathize. But also, the fact that at no point had it occurred to him to ask Hitoshi if he could speak to Izuku about it was...frustrating. Still, there was no point in crying over milk that had already spilled-they just had to clean it up and move on.

Glancing at the clock, Izuku sighed and stood from the table. Accepting a kiss from Shouta with a smile, Izuku made his way out the door. He didn't dread going to work as much as he had. X-Ray had kept his word, and Nite-Lite found herself herded away from Izuku the vast majority of the time. From what Izuku heard-and he was paying far more attention to the office gossip nowadays- they hadn't actually told her that they knew she was twisting things. They were just telling her to leave Izuku alone. Which was entirely acceptable, if only because it was working.

'Was' being the operative word there, Izuku thought drily as he caught sight of Nite-Lite at his desk, her butt firmly planted on the edge of it. The dangerous set to her mouth kept everyone away, and Izuku remembered that X-Ray had taken a few days off. He'd reassured Izuku that the others would continue to keep Nite-Lite away from him-obviously they'd both been a little too confident in that.

"Nite-Lite," Izuku greeted mildly as he dropped his bag and sat down. Standing would make him look defensive, and he wasn't giving her the upper hand this early in the conversation.

"Oh, you can actually talk to me now?" She mocked, the sneer turning her pretty face into something vicious. "I thought you were hiding behind the rest of these assholes?"

Izuku leaned back in his chair, raising an eyebrow and silently gleeful at the way her hands clenched at the careless action. "I've never hidden behind a single person in my life, Nite-Lite, and I'm not about to start now."

Oh yeah?" Nite-Lite challenged, leaning closer to Izuku. "Then why is this the first time I've been able to speak with you since I was reprimanded?"

Izuku laughed. "Well, maybe everyone in this building has realized you're a fucking liar ." No one may have told her they knew that what she was saying wasn't the truth, but no one had told Izuku to not say anything either. And hell, maybe she really thought Bakugou was telling the truth. Izuku didn't care at this point. "And maybe I'm not interested in being associated with someone who spreads rumors, lies, and puts her hands on people without their permission."

Nite-Lite was frozen in place, pale. "I-it wasn't like that," she said, her voice far lower than it had been. "You're twisting things."

"Am I?" Izuku demanded, sitting up and placing his hands flat against his desk. "Fact. You've been telling people that Shouta has been isolating me. Fact. You've been telling people he rushed me into moving in with him. Fact. You haven't provided context for any of those situations. Fact. You put your fucking hands on me without my permission ," Izuku hissed, before taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, trying to regain some equilibrium.

"And you got me punished for it, didn't you?" She rallied at his last point, only to deflate at

Izuku's slow shake of the head. "What do you mean, no?"

"I mean, I didn't say a word to Hideo. I'm assuming he was watching on the cameras, but you did it in full view of at least one other Hero that works here, so who knows if he said something." Izuku shrugged. He doubted it, because X-Ray didn't tend to go to Hideo for interpersonal issues like that, but it was a possibility.

One of Nite-Lite's little tagalongs, Sonic, came over. "Nite-Lite, you're making a scene," the young woman murmured timidly. "Everyone's watching."

Both Izuku and Nite-Lite glanced around, and sure enough, everyone was watching. Including a coldly furious Hideo. Izuku grimaced and stood up, moving to go to Hideo and try to calm him down a little-being this pissed off all the time couldn't be good for the man's blood pressure and neither of them had time for a health emergency.

"Stop turning your back on me ," Nite-Lite snarled from behind him. Izuku felt her grab him, and her nails dug into his shoulder hard .

He could see the others starting to move forward to help now that the situation had moved past merely a verbal confrontation, but Izuku didn't need their help. He turned sharply, feeling those sharp nails break skin, grabbed the elbow she'd left so conveniently by his face and her waist, and tossed her over his hip. The ugly thud she made as she hit the floor seemed to echo in the now silent room. Izuku leaned over her, his eyes cold. "I warned you once. Do not put your hands on me ever again." He was done letting people touch him without his permission-Hideo's demand that he not allow it had been the final tipping point that allowed Izuku to tell himself 'no more'.

Nite-Lite curled up on the floor, coughing harshly as she was able to breathe again. Rolling up to her knees, she looked up at Hideo. "Did you see that?" She managed painfully, one arm wrapped around her ribs. "He assaulted me! I want to file a complaint."

Hideo's mouth dropped open at her unmitigated gall. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He looked around, half hoping he'd heard wrong. The disbelieving faces around him told him otherwise. "You literally grabbed Izuku while his back was turned. You're lucky you're still conscious ." Even analysts became dangerous when they worked with Underground Heroes-it was a consequence of the job. Izuku had been dangerous before he'd started working with them, and his time in the Underground had only honed his skills to an even sharper edge.

Touching his shoulder, Izuku's mouth tightened as he pulled his hand back to find his fingers stained red. "She made me bleed." His voice silenced everyone again as they saw his bloody hand that he held out as proof. Looking down at Nite-Lite, Izuku told her, "I didn't report you last time, but I am this time." Turning to Hideo he said, " I want to file a complaint for physical assault."

If Izuku had filed a complaint every time he'd had a reason to against Nite-Lite, she'd have already been fired. But he'd wanted to give her a chance. He'd wanted to see if she could change, if she could see reason. Nite-Lite drawing blood had burned through the last amount of goodwill he'd had to offer her.

Hideo nodded grimly, going to get the paperwork. "Fill this out," he told Izuku quietly. "I'll come grab it before I leave tonight-if you need, or even want, to leave early, just drop it off before you leave." Then he turned to Nite-Lite, that soft expression on his face dropping off like it had never existed. "You. My office. Now." His voice was still quiet, but now dangerously so. Every Hero in the room took a step back. They had never heard Hideo this close to absolutely losing it before.

Nite-Lite struggled to her feet, and no one moved to help her. She looked around, something

almost devastated in her face when she realized no one would meet her eyes, not even Sonic. She opened her mouth, but Hideo's expression stopped her in her tracks. He pointed to his office silently, and Nite-Lite's head fell as she slowly shuffled her way over, her arms still wrapped around her middle.

Izuku took his seat again silently, and began filling out the complaint paperwork. "You don't have to do that," Sonic said quietly after the majority of the other Heroes had dispersed. "She can't afford to have an official complaint filed after she was just reprimanded-she could be fired. You've made your point."

Izuku set his pen down carefully. "And what, exactly, do you think my point was?"

"That you're not interested in her. We get it, and I'll make sure Nite-Lite gets it. I'll make sure she stops flirting." Sonic looked a little desperate, and Izuku remembered that Nite-Lite was the one who'd stuck her neck out for the Junior Hero and vouched for her.

It didn't excuse her willful ignorance of the situation.

"Is that what you think this is? You think that my filing this complaint is because she's flirting?" Izuku raised an eyebrow, the scornful expression on his face making Sonic flush. "She physically assaulted me. Nite-Lite made me bleed, Sonic. I don't give a damn about her flirting, I care that she has made it perfectly clear that she's willing to put her hands on me whenever she pleases, even after I've told her not to."

Nodding slowly, eyes trained on the floor, Sonic turned and walked away silently. Izuku was sorry that she was hurt by the situation-he really was, he liked Sonic, and he had enjoyed talking to her about her Quirk. Being able to create a sonic boom was just cool . But he wasn't sorry that he was still filling out the paperwork. Nite-Lite, much like Bakugou, had been given too many chances by Izuku. It was time to stop giving more chances to people who just used them to hurt him.

Izuku was tempted by the offer Hideo had implied. Leaving early would be a gift on a night like tonight, when it seemed like everyone was trailing by his desk just to hesitate and then walk away. They obviously wanted to say something, but no one would actually say it, and it was frustrating him to no end. But he managed to make it to the end of his shift, Hideo dropping by his desk to glare at the Heroes loitering around and to pick up the complaint form about halfway through. That had seemed to scare them off enough that Izuku could at least focus on the work he had to get done.

But by the end of the night, Izuku was mentally exhausted. And his shoulder hurt. He'd taken his lunch break to head to the Agency doctor, who'd clucked over his shoulder and cleaned the wound before covering it, but you never realize how often you use a part of your body until it's injured, and Izuku had never realized how often he moved his shoulder until it pulled at the injury every time he did so.

The second the clock ticked over to the end of his shift, Izuku was shoving everything into his bag and tossing it over his good shoulder. He was entirely done with this entire night. Meeting Shouta outside, Izuku gratefully stepped into his arms for a hug. "I cannot wait to go to bed," he mumbled into Shouta's chest. "I am one hundred and ten percent done with today."

Patting Izuku's back gently, Shouta murmured, "Todoroki and Hitoshi are coming over tonight, remember?"

Izuku groaned, leaning on him even more. "I completely forgot," he admitted. "I had a night ."

"We can always reschedule with them," Shouta told him. And if Todoroki had a problem with that, Shouta's talk with him would get a lot less civilized than Izuku had asked it to be.

"No, no," Izuku sighed, regretfully prying himself out of Shouta's hold. "This is important-I have plans, and if I can get Todoroki to agree it'll make my life a lot easier. I have contingencies, obviously, but I'd rather try this first."

Shouta held out his hand, smiling when Izuku easily threaded their fingers together. "Then let's go home and terrorize Todoroki."

"I'm not going to terrorize him," Izuku protested. "I'm going to ask him nicely!"

Shouta smirked. "That's fine. You can ask him nicely, and I'll terrorize him into accepting."

Izuku bit back a laugh badly, giggles still escaping despite his best efforts. "You're terrible," he said, finally giving up and letting his laughter spill out freely. "I mean, I wouldn't be mad about it though." He shot Shouta a sly grin that had him laughing as well.

They took a quick detour to pick up food, because as much as Shouta had lifted his mood Izuku still didn't feel like doing much of anything and Shouta's patrol had been long and irritating. Sprawling on the couch after they were done eating, Izuku tucked his feet behind Shouta's back.

"So, you feel like telling me a little more about the plan to ruin Bakugou's life?" Shouta asked curiously. It had been eating at him all day-he'd known Izuku and Nedzu had planned to go on the offensive soon, but the first steps had been so subtle (beyond Nedzu watching Bakugou like a snake watches a mouse) that Shouta hadn't even realized they'd started yet.

Izuku grinned at him. "So, the obvious part is Nedzu. We want people to ask why, exactly, Nedzu is watching Bakugou like a criminal. Which was remarkably successful until Best Jeanist pulled Bakugou from the field. Then, I tipped off a few people who owed me favors who were in the Media about when Bakugou would be in the field and made sure they could get close enough to actually hear him. Nedzu did the same, and that was also very successful until Best Jeanist decided to try to mitigate the damage." Best Jeanist was trying to protect Bakugou. Izuku could appreciate that he was trying to protect a young Hero...if it wasn't getting in the way of his plans. And, of course, if Bakugou hadn't spent so much time literally stalking him.

Shouta nodded. "It hasn't just been successful with civilians. A lot of Heroes, Underground and Limelight both, have started to ask what's going on with him. People are swapping stories..." He trailed off, eyes narrowing at Izuku's smug look. "That was the two of you as well?"

Izuku laughed. "Partially," he admitted. "There were a few...plants, I suppose you could say, to start people talking. But there are a lot of people who had poor interactions with Bakugou who thought it was a one off situation-we just made sure they realized it wasn't."

Shaking his head in amusement, Shouta asked, "OK, so what's next? You two are obviously planning on doing more."

"Well, the next step is making sure people realize that he isn't acting like this due to some recent stressor-we have to make it clear that this is a pattern of behavior." Izuku grimaced. "It's going to make UA take a hit, which I'm not pleased about, but Nedzu said that he'll take the hit since Bakugou's behavior wasn't fixed during his schooling."

Shouta winced slightly. "I did my best."

Izuku's eyes widened. "Oh no, neither of us blame you for it. Like Nedzu said before, you gave

him the skills to become a good Hero-making him a good man wasn't your job, but you still tried to do that as well. That's all anyone can ask of you, Shouta." He offered a half shrug. "Besides, I think Nedzu is going to point out that someone can act far different at school than they do outside of it, and it isn't like UA stalks it's students to see how they act outside of campus-it's just assumed that they'll represent UA well, and if they don't I think you all expect someone to bring it to your attention."

Considering that, Shouta nodded after a moment. They did expect people to bring it to their attention if a UA student wasn't acting appropriate off campus. "UA will weather it fine." Of that, Shouta was sure.

"It will," Izuku agreed. He would make sure of it. UA, and Nedzu, had saved him. He wasn't going to let this hurt them. The knock on the door startled both of them, and then Izuku let out a soft huff. "Time to deal with Todoroki," he murmured.