Poker With a Stick

Not even a day afterwards, the reconstruction of UA has begun. Todoroki makes it past the workers and heads straight to Aizawa's office. He knocks on the door. He hears rustling on the other side and the door opens.

"Ah, Todoroki." Aizawa responds with dark circles resonating underneath his eyes. He clearly hasn't slept at all. His desk filled with scatters papers of Izuku's report and the rehabilitation file.

"Sensei. Did you get any sleep?"

He bitterly laughs in reply, "I have been looking for that problem child. I'll find him..." He takes a sip from his coffee.

"Oh, well Midoriya called me. He wanted me to change the narrative of the League kidnapping him into a negotiation regarding Shigaraki. He's currently with the League and seems to be okay," Todoroki nonchalantly replies.

Blood-shot eye shoot daggers at Todoroki. Aizawa's hands tremble dropping his coffee and he walks over to him, "What did you say?"

"Midoriya... called me." He answers with a hint of hesitation.

Aizawa inhales then exhales, "Todoroki, if you would. Call him back."

Todoroki takes out his phone and redials the number he last came into contact with. The phone rings, and rings, and rings again. The dial tone sounds, "The number you are trying to call is currently unavailable. Please try again later." Beep.

"Huh." Todoroki clicks out of his phone and looks at Aizawa. His teacher is starting to lose it. "Um, sir. I don't think you'll have to worry. Despite Shigaraki's past he does seem dedicated to protecting Midoriya. Also Midoriya is able to adapt at the drop of a nail, he is fully capable of escaping. It won't be like what happened with Bakugo."

"What?!" Bakugo yells from the doorframe.

"Oh, Bakugo. I was just talking about you." Todoroki nods.

"Yeah, I heard you half-and-half bastard-" Aizawa pushes past them and leaves his offices in a rush.

"Sensei? Where are you going?" Todoroki yells.

He doesn't look back.

The sun sets and the clouds settle into the evening amber colors. Izuku smiles quite pleased with himself. The League's hideout never looked better. He went room by room removing all of the trash and scrubbing out the mess. Spinner struggled to tidy his room before Izuku went in, clearing out anything he saw filthy. Mr. Compress compresses his belongings into marble storing them in glass jars. Toga quite enjoyed having a nice room for a change. Even Dabi was pleased with the newly washed sheets. Tomura on the other hand.

"Are you done yet?" He sulks sinking into the couch.

"Almost..." Izuku replies drying the last of pots and pans.

Tomura sighs loudly, trying to get Izuku's attention. But he goes over to the garbage tying up the bags. "You do realize, we could have spent the whole day together. But you decided... to clean."

"Well, that doesn't sound bad..." Izuku blushes, "But! I don't think I could in such a dirty room!"

Tomura scoffs, "That didn't stop you yesterday..." He mumbles.

Izuku satisfied with his knots picks up the bags one in each hand. He tries to lift it, but it barely moves. 'Huh... Heavier than I thought...' He breathes in, green electricity course through his veins. Tomura taps him on the head.

"Don't waste your quirk on something like this." Tomura picks up the bags.

"Wait! You don't have to do that. I-"

"The faster it gets done, the faster we can relax, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Then I'll do it," Tomura leans over and gives Izuku a peck on the cheek. He heads down the hallway and to the back door.

Izuku stands in shock until he hears the door clicks. He squats down face in his hands blushing hard. 'He did that so naturally!'

"Wow. You are so whipped."

"Dabi?!" Izuku snaps his head to the hallway where Dabi stands.

Toga runs over to Izuku and grabs his arm, "Izuku! You have been working all day. Come play with us!"

Izuku gets dragged to the couches and is forced to sit down, "Oh...okay?"

Tomura heads outside and decays the garbage. "...you think cleaning would be easier." He turns to head inside, but Spinner stands in front of the door.

"Hey boss."

Tomura raises his eyebrow and nods acknowledging his presence, "You need something?"

Spinner stays silent, "...Are you serious about going good? Or is this a ploy to play up Midoriya?"

He pauses and rubs the back of his neck, "Sorry to disappoint you, but... I'm serious."

Spinner looks in his eyes, there is not a hint of irony nor deception, "Oh."

Tomura nods and makes his way past him.

"Then I guess I'm with you."

"What?" He turns back around.

Spinner laughs, "Well, I guess I am just not cut out to be a villain. It has been eating all my gaming time. There were so many raids and world bosses I missed. I couldn't go to a single convention! " Spinner strikes a tragic, dramatic pose. He chuckles and gives Tomura a light smile, "Where you go, I'll follow. He was good enough for Stain, and I think he's good for you too."

Tomura exhales through his nose and looks away, "Thanks."

The two gamers make their way back inside. Turning the corner to the living room the rest of the League, plus Izuku, surround the coffee table. Izuku scrunchies his brows in distress.

Tomura appears behind Izuku, "What's wrong?"

"I lost every hand!" Izuku exclaims slumping on the couch.

On the coffee table are various cards and piles of poker chips. They were playing Texas hold 'em. Both Dabi and Toga had a pretty sizable pile of chips, but Mr. Compress hold the most, practically grinning underneath his mask. On the other hand Izuku has seven left.

Toga giggles, "Izuku is too cute!" She begins poking at his head.

"His poker face is so bad it's hilarious," Dabi laughs holding his cards to his chest.

Izuku looks over to Tomura with sadness in his eyes, "Mura..." He could only hide his laughter and jump over the couch to his next to Izuku. He moves him, so he can sit on his lap.

"Okay, let me help you out." Tomura grabs the cards and hugs Izuku.

"So there we get two cards," Izuku looks at the Jack of Hearts and Eight of Spades in his hands. "Those three cards on the table, that's The Flop," Tomura points to the Six of Clubs, Queen of Diamonds, and Nine of Clovers on the table.

"What's that little pile over there?" Izuku gestures to the faces down cards.

"That's the burn pile, you don't really have to worry about that. What we have to do is make the best five card combination with the cards on the table and the two in our hands," Izuku nods. "Now we'll bet our chances of winning," Tomura put in two chips into the pile.

Mr. Compress burns another card placing it on the face down pile, and flips up another one, "the turn", aligning it next to the other three. It's an Ace of Hearts. Dabi immediately puts two more chips in the pile, Toga folds, both Tomura and Mr. Compress match his bet.

"Ace isn't really what we need, but we can't let them know that," Tomura whispers in Izuku's ear. Izuku nods trying to keeping his face stoic.

Mr. Compress deals the last card, "the River" and it is the Ten of Spades. For the final bets Dabi calls, but Tomura pushes the remanding of Izuku's chips in the pile. Dabi scoffs and matches his bet. Mr. Compress does the same. Izuku tilts his head to the side, but watches intensely.

To reveal their cards, Dabi has two Aces and with the one on the table he gets a Three of a Kind. Mr Compress scoffs and reveals his pairs of Queens and Sixes. Tomura smiles and puts down his Jack and Eight.

"Aww, come on!" Dabi exclaims.

Mr. Compress sighs and pushes the poker chips in the pile towards Tomura. "Wait, what happened?" Izuku asks.

"We won," Tomura smirks stacking up the poker chips.

"How?"

"We had a Jack and an eight, on the table there is a Queen, nine, and ten. If we line it up like this. We have eight to Queen. It's a straight," Tomura lines up the cards to show Izuku.

"Ironic," Dabi adds.

Tomura shoots him a glare, "And that's how you play. But the main thing is watching your opponents and figure out what you think they have. Then you can act."

"Hmm. Can we go again?" Izuku asks.

"Why not," Mr. Compress responds shuffling the deck.

Over the next few games, Tomura explains more of the rules and Izuku gets the hang of it winning more and more. His poker face is still very obvious, but he eventually gets all of Toga's and Dabi's poker chips. The final showdown was Mr. Compress against Izuku.

"And read em and weep," Izuku smugly places the cards down. Tomura hugs Izuku full of pride.

"Tsk! You know what? One more round," Mr. Compress shuffles the cards once again. "But this time no help from the boss." Izuku shakes his head looking at Tomura.

Tomura lets him go and moves aside, "Fine. But let's make this interesting then. If Izuku wins, you get rehabilitated. And if he loses, I'll do whatever you want."

Izuku's jaw drops and his shakes his head even more furiously, "Wait, no! That is a terrible idea, you can't bet on me! I can't win without you."

Tomura's face cracks, he breaks out into a full blown grin. Toga and Spinner laugh at his expression. "Creep," Dabi interjects.

Mr. Compress looks over at a panicked Izuku and at Tomura. He looks back at Izuku and nods. "Deal." He shuffles and deals the cards on the table. He glances at his cards through the mask and says nothing. No micro-expressions movements, tells. Nothing.

Izuku picks up his cards and it trembles in his hands. He peeks over to Tomura, his arms are folded and he gives no reaction as well. Izuku sighs and places two chips into the pile. Mr. Compress matches him. More cards flip over and more chips are added to the pile. Izuku blinks, 'That's a... Wait, wait, poker face. I can't let him know. I have to think of something else. Anything else!'

Izuku's eyes land on Tomura. Izuku completely blushes, turning red all throughout his skin. He coughs lightly and pushes all his chips into the pile without breaking eye contact with Tomura. "I-Izu?" He asks flustered.

"Oh!" Izuku turns to Mr. Compress still red as a tomato, "All in?" He shifts on the couch looking at Tomura.

Mr. Compress pauses confused as the rest of the League. 'Is Midoriya in heat?' he thinks. He shakes off the thought and places his matching bet in the pile. He throws his cards on the table, "Full house."

Tomura's eyes widen and the other League members begin to snicker wondering what Tomura would have to do. Izuku timidly places down his cards, "Royal Flush." They lose it.

"What the hell?!" Mr. Compress breaks his composer and throws his mask on the ground. Spinner tries to calm him down. Dabi laughs hysterically.

"Izuku! No one has beaten him before! That was amazing!" Toga leans over and hugs Izuku.

Izuku scratches his cheek, "Well, I had it before, but I couldn't let him know." Tomura puts his arm between Izuku and Toga and pushes her aside. She curses him as she falls.

"Ehh, you made sure you didn't show it on your face. But, geez, Izu. Just what were you thinking about?" Tomura puts his body as close as Izuku as possible. He face blast red even brighter than before.

"N-nothing!" Izuku stutters any semblance of a poker face completely disintegrating.

"Izu. I don't believe you. How about we do everything you imagine tonight?" Tomura bites Izuku's ear.

"None of that," a black mist portal opens right by the door and Aizawa walks through.

"Sensei?!" Izuku yells in shock.

The League of Villains spring into action. Each ready to attack. Aizawa's eyes squint and he scoffs.

"Stand down," Kurogiri walks in front of them.

"Kurogiri!" Tomura shouts, he runs up pulling Izuku along with him.

"It's been a while, Tomura." He nods with a smile underneath all black mist. Izuku's heart warms up seeing the reunion.

But he gets yanks aside and pulled behind Aizawa, "Sensei?!"

"We'll be heading back now," he doesn't spare any of them a glance nor explanation.

Tomura lunges at Aizawa punching him in the face. Aizawa blocks the hits and shoves him back capturing using his capture binds. The rest of the League aims and strikes Aizawa, but Kurogiri opens portals and diverges all attacks. He sighs, "Aizawa. I do believe an explanation was a part of our agreement."

"I suppose it was..." Aizawa sighs releasing Tomura. "I will bring Midoriya back to UA to prepare for the press conference involving rehabilitation negotiations for both Shirakumo and Shigaraki."

Izuku's eyes sparkle and he can't contain his happiness, "Oh! Also Mr. Compress!" He points in his direction. The masked man sighs and nods.

Spinner makes his way to Tomura and smiles, "Don't forget about me." Izuku jaw drops and Spinner replies with a thumbs up.

Aizawa's eye widen at the amount of villains willing to change then he turns his gaze towards Dabi and Toga. Dabi eyes his eyes and raises both hands up, taking step backwards. Toga shifts a bit uncomfortably and shakes her head no. Aizawa sighs again, "Midoriya, the documents you provided are doable, but it is extremely difficult. You do understand, right?"

"Yes sir. I do." Izuku maintains determination in his eye contact.

"Fine. If you three are serious about this, then I will teach you, I will train you. But this is not a game. There are no setbacks, or do overs. This is your last chance," Aizawa glares at a lot of them.

Tomura scoffs and dusts himself off standing up, "Whatever, cyclops."

"Mura!" Izuku scolds Tomura, he gives a light shrug.

"And you," Aizawa turns to Midoriya, "The Pro-Heros are scouring everywhere to find you. Once we get back to UA you have to explain to everyone that you are okay!"

"Yes sir!" Izuku instantly begins bowing over and over. Kurogiri opens the portal and Aizawa waits for Izuku to walk through. Izuku turns to Tomura and back to Kurogiri, "Umm... Kurogiri-san, would it be okay for me to visit the League again?"

Kurogiri lets out a chuckle and pats Izuku on the head, "I don't have a problem with it, but..." He glances over to Aizawa.

Aizawa squeezes the bridge of his nose, "Okay, fine. But judging by your current attire you will not stay here overnight. Ever."

Tomura pouts as Izuku turns bright red, "Sensei, we didn't do anything!"

"Didn't sound like that last night," Dabi smirks.

Izuku's eyes widen, "Wait, I thought you said nothing-" Tomura quickly covers Izuku's mouth sending daggers Dabi's way. Aizawa's eye twitches. He kicks Tomura and grabs Izuku dragging him through the portal.

The portal leads them to the front of Izuku's dorm room. "Go in and get changed. The conference will start soon." Izuku nods and freshens himself up. After he is done, he follows Aizawa into the conference room. There he is once again swarmed by reporters and makes his way up to meet the Pro-Heros.

One reporter stands right up and grabs the microphone, "Question! Question for Deku! How were you able to escape the kidnapping of The League of Villain?" One of the support units yanks the microphone from the reporter pointing him to sit back down.

Izuku shakes his head and answers the question, "I wasn't kidnapped. I was brought to the League Of Villains to negotiate. Several members expressed interest in becoming civil citizens. "

"No way! They're criminals! They deserve nothing more than to rot in the pits of hell!" One audience member screams with the rest of the crowd slowly rallying in agreement.

"I did not plan on absolving them from their crimes. All For One planned out his chaos and everyone he used was just pawns to him. So I do want to help them become better people," Izuku projects back in response. The crowd dies down, but still murmurs in disapproval.

"Weren't they the ones who attacked Higawase?" Another reporter accuses.

"No, given recent evidence, it is impossible for them to be responsible for what happened at Higawase. Their main plan was to retrieve Tomura Shigaraki ...and myself to discuss potential rehabilitations. Thus, all their resources drained into that mission. Therefore the attack on Higawase was done by someone else," He explains grateful for playing poker for sharpening his bluffing of the "half-truth".

The public opinion is very much distrustful towards the League of Villains. Izuku can feel it in the atmosphere in the room. He sighs and stands up, "I know it is difficult to accept their willingness to change. But I have done the impossible in stopping All For One, so please believe me when I say I will do everything in my power to help them." Izuku bows down to the audience and the other Pro-Heroes watch in shock.

Aizawa clears his throat, "Their rehabilitation is not guaranteed. A preliminary period will be in store to see if they are even worth being treated as anything more than criminals. So I will personally do the examinations before the hearing at the end of the month."

Aizawa's statement relieves the crowd, and chatter amongst the group raises. Whether or not the members of the League and even keep true to their word, much less change. Each Pro-Hero expressed their gratitude for the press and made their way off the stand. In the back, all of Izuku's friends and classmates swarm him with questions and affection. He is dragged to the cafeteria and they all eat dinner together.

Swaying left and right Izuku finally makes his way back to his dark dorm room. "Ugh, long day," Izuku yawns making his way to his bed. He takes off his shoes and runs into a wall. "Ouch! Eh? When did this get here?" Izuku places his hands on the wall pushing it moving up and down.

"Feeling me up?" The wall speaks.

"Mura?!" Izuku recognizes his voice.

Tomura covers Izuku's mouth, "Shhhh... Do you want the whole building to know I'm here?"

Izuku shakes his head and Tomura lets go. Izuku wraps his arms around Tomura giving him a hug, "What are you doing here?" he whispers.

"Well..." Tomura rubs Izuku's back and shifts his weight down causing them both to fall on his bed Izuku squeaks. "That damn teacher said you can't stay over at the League, he never said I couldn't stay over here."

Izuku's face heats up, 'Could he be here to... Wait- no! I'm not ready! I need to-' A pair of lips land on his ceasing his thoughts. He melts into the warmth.

Breaking the kiss, with a light pant, Tomura chuckles, "Relax, hero. You really think I'll make a move being watched by all these All Mights?"

"Maybe," Izuku responds. Tomura rolls his eyes. They could feel each other's heartbeat and exchange their warmth. Izuku's eyes blink, slowly closing, he adds, "Just sleeping right?"

"What? Do you wanna do more?" Tomura teases.

Izuku blushes, "No! ...well we can do this," Izuku kisses Tomura on the forehead and snuggles into him. "Good night, Mura."

"Good night, Izu."

They sleep peacefully in each other's arms.

"What?!" A figure throws his drink, the liquid spatters across the TV screen and drips down onto the floor. The rerun of the conference zooms in on Izuku bowing to the crowd. "They are Villains! Just what are you thinking, Midoriya?" The shadow figure screams.