Doctor Chito held the door for them to enter into her office. "Come in," Nakama Arisu sat in the chair across from her desk, she was hunched over staring at the ground. "Good to see you again investigators," the doctor sat back down at her desk. "I appreciate you waiting until I spoke with the Commissioner in private. Captain Aizawa?" The doctor motioned to the chair, he sat down, pausing at the murderous look on Arisu's face as she glanced at him.

"Really?"

Pursing her lips, Arisu wanted to strangle whoever had fucked with her brain. "Look for yourself," she seethed. Tears of rage sprang into her eyes as she tilted her head towards the scan on the display behind them.

"I could only take a few scans since we had a full schedule on the machine today and I understand this was an emergency." The doctor pointed to the results on the display. "That is Nakama's brain on the left and one of the prior patients on the right.

"Shit," Kiri breathed out looking at the two scans that had identical dark spots. "The same."

"Someone fucking used me and took away my memory!" Nakama burst out trying to control the emotions boiling through her. "I'm like a fucking puppet without even knowing!"

"Arisu calm down," Shouta placed his hand on hers, squeezing gently.

"Calm down!?" She snarled, grabbing his wrist, she activated her quirk. "Feel it, Shouta! Do you feel the violation?!" Her body trembled as tears dripped from her eyes.

Reeling back at the raw anger flowing from her mind to his, Shouta felt the helplessness of being used, he wrenched his arm free. "Don't do that!" He gripped her shoulders hard, "it's the same thing when you do that to me." Her face crumpled as more tears dripped down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She began to sob, pulling herself into his chest, she felt his arms wrap around her. His hands rubbed her back soothingly.

"We'll wait outside," Kiri grabbed Ochako and Momo's hands.

"No," Arisu hiccupped into Shouta's shoulder. "It - It's okay, just - just give me a second."

"It's a lot to process, Commissioner," the doctor sat quietly waiting for her to catch her breath.

"There's no way to figure out who did this from the scans, is there?" Kiri stared at the two images, it was eerie how alike they were with those prominent black spots.

"Not that I've been able to determine."

Turning around Kiri tugged the heavy book on quirks off the shelf. Flipping towards the back he found the page.

"Have an idea?" Ochako whispered, leaning into him.

"No, that's why I'm looking," he frowned. "The author claimed that it's activated by touch." Kiri looked up, "if that's right, it has to be someone that saw her after the A/V order was made."

"What do you mean after?" Arisu pulled away from Shouta, wiping her eyes.

"It would have to be an associate, someone you work with routinely. They probably lied to you about why the equipment was needed and then they just waited once the order came in to make you forget." Kiri read the paragraph again. "The author said it can be an instantaneous wiping of the memory."

"But when? I meet with people every day!" Frustration mounted, "and who knows how many fucking times it's happened to me." She glanced at the doctor. "Sorry."

"No apologies needed. I'd be as angry too if that happened to me."

"Wait," Ochako snapped her fingers, "Nakama, when we asked about your day, you only looked at your calendar for the day that you ordered the equipment. What Kiri is saying makes sense! Who did you see when it was actually delivered?"

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she sucked in a deep breath. "I'm not sure when the order came in."

"I took a picture," Kiri zoomed in on the page. "Looks like May 20th, almost three months ago."

Pulling up her calendar she scrolled through her schedule. "Nothing really out of the ordinary, I did go to the ministry offices that day. I had a meeting with Kezu and," she paused and looked up at Shouta, "Uchiyama."

"Uchiyama?" He leaned over and looked at her phone.

"If it's her," Momo paled, "Todoroki and Kaminari went there to question her earlier this morning. What if she touches them to clear herself?"

"We need to get over there, do you think they're still there?"

"I'm calling Denki now," she swallowed hard, listening to the phone ring, she shook her head. "No answer."

"What time is it?" Nakama stood unsteadily leaning on Shouta.

"Almost one, they could be at lunch?" Momo tapped out a quick text.

Momo - Have you interviewed Uchiyama yet?

A text alert sounded, she read his reply out loud. "He says, not yet, did a tour of the building and went to lunch with Tenya, on our way back to the ministry now."

"Thank god!" Ochako sighed audibly.

"Tell him that he and Todoroki are not to go near Uchiyama," Arisu straightened herself and pulled on her jacket. "That's a direct order from me." Turning, she bowed to the doctor, "thank you Doctor Chito, I appreciate how fast you were able to accommodate me. I'd like to discuss this more later but as you can see, I have someone to deal with right now."

"You're welcome, I hope you apprehend this person, I'm interested in finding out more about them and their quirk." She watched as the five headed out the door.

Leaving Uchiyama's office, Matsuno frowned, seeing Tenya's chair was empty. "Shoot," she hoped she hadn't missed the investigators. There was a note in the middle of the desk.

Friends came to do an early tour and then we'll get lunch. Penciled time on Uchiyama's calendar for 1:00 pm, we'll be back by then.

Groaning she kicked at his chair sullenly, she'd really hoped to join them for lunch this time. At least she'd packed something to eat, if they got back early, she might have a chance to talk with them again.

"Matsuno?" Nana came out of her office, her gaze landed on Tenya's empty desk. "Where is he?"

"Went to meet his friends, they'll be back to finish up your interview afterward."

"Thank you," Uchiyama smiled thinly. "I'm going to meet with the Minister of Education on the new school ruling around quirks, I'll be back by then." Nodding curtly, she left the office.

Pouting, Matsuno went back to her desk, slumped in her chair and sifted through the phone messages. She really hoped that she'd have time to hang out with them when they returned. Their lives were so exciting compared to hers. Opening her last project, she sighed as she began working, her eyes drifting to the clock every so often.

A streak of light flashed in the sky. Katsuki heard the rumble of thunder in the distance. He watched as the rain ran down the windshield. The rivulets of water blurred the auto shop across the way. He'd stopped back in after grabbing some food at the convenience store only to find Tadashi covered in grease and alone, still no Akio. Pulling out his phone he checked his texts. Shouto hadn't replied to him, he was probably with Uchiyama by this time. "Shit," he grumbled, he'd really wanted to see her squirm under their questions. Fuck, he hated just sitting around but this was the only lead he had from the junkyard. Stretching back in the car seat, he checked the clock. It was about 12:30, he'd been sitting in the car for two hours. If Akio wasn't back soon, he'd just head to the ministry offices, Shouto would be done and they could at least go over everything.

The steady drum of rain on the car was making him sleepy. Blinking, he concentrated on keeping his eyes open. The silence in the car was almost loud, like a ringing in his ears. Listening closer he realized there was a buzzing noise under the patter of the rain. Tipping his head, he tried to pinpoint the sound. It was getting louder, a rhythmic hum, like the sound of insects singing in the summer. Then the familiar metallic taste flooded his mouth, chills swept down his arms. He sat up quickly. "Deku?" The soft hum stuttered for a moment, then continued growing louder. "Is that you? Fuck, can you answer me?" Katsuki held his breath, was it really him? Again, the hum flickered, pausing and restarting. "Okay," he let out his breath, "okay, that's fucking you, got it." The metallic taste was growing thicker, coating his mouth. "What's wrong Deku? Where are you?" He waited to hear his voice, anything else besides the humming, but there was only the rain hitting the car. The hum faltered and then began to fade in and out until returning again to a constant tone. After a few seconds it started again, pausing briefly several times. What the fuck was he hearing? "Is - Is that a pattern? Izuku? Is that a pattern?" He strained to hear the humming as it stuttered, the noise was growing fainter but it cycled again, the same sequence. "Three quick?" He concentrated, "four quick? Fuck, how many dashes?" The hum was almost gone, the taste receding from his mouth as the pattern played again, one last time.

Head snapping up, he started the car and slammed on the gas, screeching tires spinning helplessly for a moment on the rain slick road before catching and launching the car forward. Fumbling under the passenger side, Katsuki grabbed the siren and planted it on the dashboard. Flipping it on, the bright light cut through the rain in front of him as the electronic wail pierced the lunchtime traffic. Heart pounding, he hit send on his phone and glanced at the screen, Shouto wasn't picking up. "Fuck, come on." It went to voicemail. "Dammit!" Pushing the gas flat on the floor, he gripped the wheel tightly. His mind went over the damn pattern that had played over and over. It had to be! It was the only thing it could be. They'd studied it at UA, Izuku had mastered it and made him fucking study it until he'd almost murdered the Nerd. There was no doubt, the strange humming had played the same pattern over and over. 3 dots - 4 dots - 3 dashes - 2 dots - 1 dash - 3 dashes. In morse code that spelled one word.

Shouto.

"How are they doing?" Garaki walked into the infirmary. The two-way mirror was still cracked up the middle but since they were moving, he hadn't bothered to replace it. The two men were still passed out on the beds, their hands restrained. Lida and Ide were relaxing at the table in the room.

"They haven't moved a muscle."

"It was particularly bad," Garaki frowned, "especially for him." He touched the red and white-haired man. At one point he actually thought the ball was going to explode, it had morphed and shifted so violently while Shouto was on the table, he'd feared for the man's life.

"Has it calmed down yet?"

Garaki understood what it was. "No, the readings are still off the charts, I'm surprised you can't feel the tremors in this room."

"This basement was originally built as a stronghold for a nuclear war." Tenya pushed his glasses up on his nose firmly. "The concrete thickness of the walls is almost double the normal requirement plus it's retrofitted with rods to be flexible in the event of violent earthquakes. It was supposed to be the original safe house for the Prime Minister until she moved and built the more modern one in her prefecture."

"Really?" Garaki looked up at the ceiling, "it's too bad we're leaving, I doubt UA has this type of architecture."

"You're moving to the UA campus?" Tenya's voice registering surprise, "really?"

"That's what I've been told, Endeavor finalizes everything with the board in the next week."

"Interesting," Tenya stared at the two men on the beds. He had an affinity for both of them, not as deeply compelling as what he felt for the doctor, but he could tell from his memories that they were friends. "It would be nice to see the school-" A groan from the bed interrupted him.

Running to Todoroki's side, Garaki pulled out his penlight and lifted one of his eyelids open, he flicked the light watching as the pupil dilated. "Are you awake? Shouto?" Another groan as his eyes blinked open, squinting against the light in his eyes.

"Bright," he muttered trying to cover his face with his hands, but they wouldn't move. "Where am I?" There was someone above him, an older man with a bushy mustache and thick goggle style glasses, Shouto frowned, he looked familiar.

"How are you feeling?" Garaki watched him closely. "Do you know me?"

"Maybe?" He closed his eyes and tried to think where he'd seen his face before but his thoughts were caught in a whirling snowstorm, reflecting back only bright white. A soft yellow light burning deep in his mind caught his attention, so far away it was just a speck. It appeared to be a tiny lantern swinging wildly in the thick blizzard. Shouto squinted in his mind's eye trying to see it through the heavy snowfall. That light was important for some reason. He moved towards it but his feet were frozen to the ground. Using all his strength he tried to pull free as the light drifted further away. Don't let it get away! Panicking, he ignited his fire to melt the area around his feet, but the ice remained thick around his ankles. The speck grew fainter. His desperation whipped up, like the storm around him. Smashing his fists against the ice, his hands were coated in blood as only a few small shards fell away. Looking up he saw the very last bit of light. "NO!" Screaming he clawed at the ice, his blood freezing to the surface. A last gust of wind blew and the light flickered out.

"Shouto? Shouto!" Garaki grabbed his shoulders as his body jerked violently underneath his hands. "He's having a seizure!" He screamed as Tenya and Ide raced to his side. "Put something in his mouth!" Suddenly his red and blue eyes snapped open, a swirl of purple light infusing through them. Garaki gasped, holding up his hand. "Wait," he stopped them, "it worked." Reaching out he began to unbuckle him from the restraints. "Hello Todoroki, it's good to see you again."

"You too," Shouto stared at the man hovering by him, a feeling of trust and respect flooded through him, he was clearly someone very important to him. Shaking out his shoulders, he sat up. His muscles were sore, like he'd worked out too hard. Looking around the room, he saw Denki still passed out on the bed beside him. "What happened to Kaminari?"

"Don't worry, he'll be awake soon," Garaki pulled out his stethoscope. "Let me check you over and make sure you have no injuries. I'm afraid we don't have much time, everyone expects you back in about 30 minutes."

"Back?"

"To question Uchiyama, remember," Tenya sat down on the bed beside Shouto.

He furrowed his brow for a moment then nodded. "Yes, I remember, we need to get details on her son, his release from prison and his murder." He looked down patting his pants, "I need my notebook and phone."

"Yes, we have everything," Tenya stood and pulled his jacket off the coat rack, digging through the pockets, retrieving his stuff and handing it to him.

Grabbing them both, Shouto noticed the missed calls, opening up his texts he read through them all, a few from Kat and one from his dad.

"Did Bakugou call you?" Tenya looked at the screen.

"Yes, looks like he's tracking down a possible lead from the junkyard, he'll meet up with us later."

"Do you want to call him back?"

"No, he was probably just letting me know he's on his way over, we should hurry." A loud groan sounded from Denki. Watching as his gold eyes opened, Shouto smiled at him. "Kaminari, you're awake."

Slamming on his brakes, Katsuki held out his badge to the guard at the gate. "Bakugou Katsuki, I have an emergency call from my partner," he yelled to be heard over the storm.

"I haven't heard of an emergency." The guard squinted at his badge, not budging from his dry booth. Looking at the closed-circuit TV's, everything appeared normal. Grabbing his clipboard, he scanned the page.

"Oi!" Katsuki leaned out the window glaring at the man. Rain drenching his face and hair. "It's from my partner, Todoroki Shouto, he's meeting with Uchiyama Nana, call her assistant Matsuno!"

The guard smiled and pointed to the clipboard. "Relax buddy, you're on the list for visitors today." Hitting the button, he opened the gate waving at him to drive through.

"Don't fucking call me buddy," Katsuki seethed under his breath as he skidded around to the visitor lot. Jumping from the car, he raced through the rain into the ministry's lobby. Wiping his sleeve across his wet face, he fumbled for his phone. He dialed Shouto again. No answer. Seeing a guard at the main counter, he walked up to her window. "I need to meet with my partner, Todoroki Shouto, he should be with Uchiyama Nana, the Assistant Defense Minister." His words were coming out too fast, he tried to calm down.

"Sure," she looked up and bit back a laugh. The man was drenched from head to toe, saggy wet blonde spikes dripping on his suit. "I can call up to Matsuno, are you-" The guard stopped and looked up as the lights in the lobby flickered. "What is going on today?" Shaking her head, she picked up the phone.

"Today?" Katsuki eyed the panels in the ceiling. "Have the lights been flickering all day?"

"Not all day," she covered the mouthpiece, "but in the last hour almost non-stop."

Stepping back, Katsuki watched the lights. "C'mon Deku," he whispered, "show me where to go, where's Shouto?" The lights hitched one last time and then the room was engulfed in muted darkness as they went out completely. Gasps echoed in the lobby as the electric machines grew silent. The guard gave an exasperated look at the phone and hung up.

"Shit," she pushed an earpiece into her ear, listening to the chatter over the radio.

"Please remain calm." A guard standing by the security area called out. "We will be doing manual wand searches." Another guard held up a handheld metal detector and waved at the few people waiting to step through a side gate. Emergency lights came on, barely lighting up the room, they gave a dull glow to everything.

"I'll escort you up to Matsuno," she pulled out her earpiece. "There's a crew heading to repair the electrical, they think the storm is most likely the source." A large group of people walked into the lobby, shaking out their umbrellas, they stopped just inside the darkened room.

Seeing a tired look cross the guard's face at the new crowd, Katsuki unclipped his badge and pushed it to her. "No need, you've got your hands full here. I've interviewed Uchiyama before, I know where to go."

Picking up his badge the guard played with it for a moment, "Bakugou?"

"Yep, you might know me as Dynamite," he cringed, dropping names, especially his own, wasn't his style but he needed to get to Sho and fast. "My partner is Shouto, fire and ice, he's up there already." Looking at the sign-in the book, she sighed and gave him a long look before bending down under the counter.

"Okay, take the stairs by the elevator to the fourth floor," she wagged her finger at him, "and do not go anywhere else. As soon as the phones are up, I'm checking on you. There's emergency lighting but just in case." She pushed a flashlight and his badge across the counter.

"Thanks," he held up the flashlight. "And I promise, straight to the office," clipping his badge back on his belt, he headed towards the line at the gate.

"Hang on!" She threw open a door on the side. "That weapon of yours is gonna set off the magic wand over there," she motioned for him. "Come on through this way then straight through the lobby to the stairs." Turning she began waving the new group of people to the counter.

Striding quickly across the lobby, Katsuki stepped inside the dark stairwell, emergency lights lit up every other stair. Flipping on the flashlight he stood still listening. Above him there were people talking rapidly, clearly panicking as they thudded down the stairs. Shining the light over the metal railing, he peered over into the inky blackness below, he guessed it was more than one flight to the bottom based on the flashlight's reach. A door slammed above him and everything went quiet. "Okay Nerd, I'm here, start talking," he stood waiting for him.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Denki massaged his wrists. "Those were kinda tight," he complained, checking his skin for bruises. A pinging from his phone caught his attention. He looked around searching in the bed. "Uh," he looked at Shouto, "does someone have my phone?" Another ping sounded as Ide pulled it from his pocket and handed it to him.

"Here, I grabbed it earlier so it wouldn't get broken."

"Oh, uh, thanks, I guess?" Denki looked at the text. "It's from Momo, she said Nakama doesn't want us to go near Uchiyama."

"My boss?" Tenya was sitting at the table, eating a bowl of instant Ramen. Denki had woken shortly after Todoroki. While they were being checked over by the doctor, he'd heated up some instant noodles for all of them to eat before heading back up to the office.

"Yeah, they're all on their way here."

"All?" Doctor Garaki looked up distractedly from making some notes in his notebook. He was humming softly to himself. Both men were in perfect condition, not even a scratch and both seemed to be just like Lida Tenya, completely willing to do whatever he asked.

"Momo, Ochako, Kiri, Captain Aizawa and Nakama," Denki held up his phone so he could see the text.

"Uchiyama? Interesting." Standing he slipped his notebook under his arm. "I'll be right back, I need to make a call." He checked the time and turned to Ide. "I'd rather they stay here until-" The lights in the room flickered on and off, then the room went black.

"Shit!" Denki yelped. Clicking on his phone, he punched the flashlight button, the bright light shining in the darkness.

"What happened?" Shouto looked up at the ceiling. They were at least two flights under the main level as far as he could remember.

"Seems like an electrical outage," Tenya looked around the room, "the emergency lights will come on soon." After another few seconds, a strange humming filled the air as the lights flickered on dimly. "There, that's the emergency generator, it will last for quite a while, I assume they'll fix the problem by then."

"Why aren't the lights as bright though?" Denki flipped off his phone, the room was still slightly dark.

"There's too much power needed in this building for a generator to maintain everything, it would give out too quickly. To give the electricians enough time to restore the power grid, they connect a limited amount of wattage in the building." Tenya leaned over his soup and slurped a mouthful of broth.

"What do you mean by a limited amount of wattage?" Garaki stood completely still staring at Tenya as fear whipped through his body.

"Actually, I mean gigawatt, to be accurate," he chuckled to himself. "This compound consumes easily a few gigawatts of power daily. Since there are projects that can't go without power, they funnel any emergency power directly to those systems and keep non-emergency areas to these dim lights only, enough so that people can evacuate safely as necessary."

"But, I - I thought this was a bunker of some kind?" Garaki spun around, he could hear the humming that reverberated in the room.

"It was," Tenya nodded, spooning noodles into his mouth.

Lunging at him, Garaki slapped the ramen off the table. The bowl crashed on the floor, noodles and broth splashing across the tile. Grabbing Tenya by the shoulders he shook him. "What does that mean!? How much power is connected to this area!?"

Wincing, Tenya sucked in a breath, "I'm - I'm not sure but based on the lights probably only enough for-" He stopped abruptly, looking down at his hand on the table as the feel of vibrations rippled up from the floor. A deep groaning from within the walls sounded as alarms began to blare outside the room. The doctor's eyes grew wide with panic as he looked down at the floor. The shuddering tremor lasted a few more seconds and then quieted. The alarms continued to sound throughout the area.

"What was that?" Shouto had felt the vibrations through the bed.

"It's them," Garaki turned, his face pale. "Without power there's nothing stopping it from escaping." Opening the door, he saw white and red rotating lights flashing down the darkened hallway.

"Them? It?" Shouto watched as the doctor looked down the hallway. "What is it?"

Closing the door, Garaki leaned against the cool metal. "It. Some strange power connection between All For One and One For All. I believe you're the only one in this room that knows the destruction it's capable of, you saw everything first hand from what I understand?"

"THAT?" Shouto stared at the doctor in horror. "That - that ball? The energy? It's still-? You mean?" He swallowed hard seeing the look on the Garaki's face. Looking down at the ground, he suppressed the urge to lift his feet off the floor. That thing was somewhere below him. "It's here, down there?" The doctor nodded slowly. "I was right," he clenched his fists. "When we dug down and only found Midoriya's body, we thought it had dissipated and All For One had escaped. But," the memory of standing on his balcony and Izuku calling to him rang in his mind. A gnawing pain throbbed in the back of his head. "Kat-" He squeezed his eyes shut as the pain grew sharper.

Watching him intently, Garaki knew he was processing memories. He'd wondered how they would handle those that were in contrast to their commands from him. He glanced at Ide and gestured towards him. The other man stepped up behind Todoroki. "Are you okay?"

"Something happened to Tenya." Shouto's voice shook from exertion, sweat beaded along his forehead. "Tenya." He repeated.

"I'm right here."

He looked up, squinting at him. "You're not with Izuku?"

"No," Tenya gave him a worried look, "He's dead Shouto. That was four months ago when we buried him."

"Dead?" His brain continued to whirl, looking frantically for the conversation, he could see Kat standing above him. He was saying something, but the words were swirling around him, floating like snowflakes, caught in the wind before he could hear them.

"Are you okay Todoroki?" Garaki stepped to the bed and laid a hand on his forehead.

Looking at the old man's face a sense of warmth and comfort filled him. "I - I am." The doctor patted him before turning back to the door and opening it back up. The doctor's touch was all he needed. Shouto relaxed completely, letting his new thoughts take over.

"Good," Garaki stood staring out the door. "We need to find out if it's still contained in the vault." The alarms suddenly shut off. Strobe lights continued to blink down the long corridor.

"That's a good sign," Tenya stood up. "If they've shut down the alarms, they're working on the grid."

Holding the door open for the others, Garaki pointed into the hallway, "we need to go now." Obediently Lida, Kaminari and Todoroki started walking to the door. Ide stood still.

"Are we really going down there?" his voice hitched slightly.

"Afraid?" Denki smirked at the man as he passed him.

"Kaminari," Shouto put his hand on his shoulder, "that thing destroyed a quarter of our city in less than ten minutes, I'm afraid of it."

"Oh," his golden eyes round, he looked back. "Sorry," he murmured. Filing out the door, they began to work their way down the dark corridor towards the basement vault.

Standing in the dark stairwell Katsuki picked up on the low hum reverberating around him and smiled. "Okay, now which-" A tickling vibration shot up his legs as a strange groaning echoed from deep within the building. Alarms began to sound as lights flashed intermittently with the noise. Looking over the railing again he could now see a door being lit up by the flashing lights at the bottom of the stairs. "What the hell was that?" Whatever it was, it definitely came from below. "Alright nerd, I'm coming, ready or not." Running down the stairs, Katsuki opened the door and stepped into a wide hallway illuminated by more flashing lights. The hallway was long, running in both directions. "Which way?" He whispered. The alarms were so loud he couldn't hear the humming anymore, looking right, he debated what to do, suddenly the alarms went quiet. "Okay," he laughed, "right it is." Moving down the hallway as quietly as possible, he saw a set of double doors ahead. There was a keypad with an intercom button on the side, a green light blinked rapidly on the pad. Trying the doors, they were unlocked. Opening one side slowly, he peered into the room, it was a bare office with only a metal bookcase and desk. There was another door on the far side. "Fucking strange place." Walking across the room his shoe crunched as he stepped on something. Stopping, he shifted his weight back and lifted his foot. Squatting down, he saw a broken cap to a syringe. Pursing his lips, he looked at the far door. "Was this what you warned me about Izuku? Did someone drug Shouto?" Rolling up the sleeves of his jacket and shirt, he shook his wrists feeling the comfort of his thick bracelets against his skin. He needed to be ready.

Moving to the far door, he opened it slightly, the humming had stopped and there were no other sounds. Stepping into the corridor, he could see to the left that the hallway ended in another set of double doors. On the right it curved out of sight. "Fucking endless doors and hallways." He glanced up at one of the red and white strobe lights, he smiled wistfully, it reminded him of the two-toned brat. Clicking his tongue, he looked both ways. "C'mon Deku, where is he? Right or left?" He waited for a moment trying to decide what to do. "Fuck it! Going right, if that's wrong send me a damn text." Laughing bitterly to himself he started down the hall. As he rounded the bend, he saw another door. This one also had a keypad but the light was blinking red. Trying the handle, it was locked. "Fuck," he looked further down the hall. The sound of muffled voices echoed in the corridor behind him, from where he'd come. Sliding up against the wall, he edged back down the hallway towards the room he'd walked through. Just as he reached the door, he heard the double doors at the end of the hallway swing open. Slipping back into the empty office room, he listened intently to whomever was on the other side. There were several of them from the sound of their footsteps but they stopped talking as they passed by his room. He clenched his fists waiting. As badly as he wanted to start blasting his fire, he needed to find out what the hell was going on with Shouto, or if the people out there were even involved. Someone began talking again, the sound of the voice was further down to the right by the locked door that he'd seen. Leaning his ear against the door, he tried to make out what they were saying.

Pulling up to the guard station, Nakama lowered her window and showed the guard her credentials. "I have business with both the Defense Minister and the Assistant Defense Minister." Stepping out into the rain, the guard leaned over to look in the window.

"The electricity is out," he shielded his face from the rain. "The building is on lockdown."

"Lockdown? Over the electricity being out?" Nakama could see the main building through the windshield. "That doesn't make sense."

"Sorry Commissioner, that's the order I received."

"Hang on." Pulling out her phone she dialed Kezu.

"Nakama?" Kioku answered, he sounded breathless.

"Hello Defense Minister, I'm at the gate, I had a last-minute cancellation and I wanted to join the interview with Uchiyama but I'm being told I can't get inside right now."

"Nakama," Kioku sighed, the day had been going well until the entire grid had gone down. He tapped his foot impatiently, he was waiting on the doctor to give him news on the two heroes. "Yes, the electricity is out and it caused the alarms to go off. I just received notification that the outage caused a malfunction in the alarm system. There was a manual check of the building perimeter and nothing has breached the compound. The engineers have advised me that the electricity will be turned on in less than 15 minutes." He ran to his administrators' connecting door. "I'll advise my staff to let you through."

"Thank you, Minister." Hanging up, she nodded to the guard, "the minister's office should call you to let us through." Waiting, he went back into the booth and stepped out a few minutes later giving her the thumbs up. Racing through the rain to the gate, he lifted the electronic arm manually.

"That's a good sign," Tenya noted the keypad to the vault stairwell.

"What is?" Doctor Garaki looked back at him.

"The red light is on, I noticed the double doors at the end were green, the locks were released from the electrical being out. This is red, meaning power may still be running to this section."

"Really?" Garaki stared at the red light, he hoped he was right.

"Who's going to open the door?" Ide had slowed to the back of the group.

"I'll open it," Shouto braced his hand on the door, he pushed the doctor to the side. "Swipe your badge and get behind me." He nodded to the others, "go back down the hall just in case, I'll open the door and use it as a shield for the two of us." Ide quickly backtracked down the hall with Tenya and Denki following him.

"Is this far enough?" Denki called back to Shouto.

"Nothing is far enough," Ide whispered nervously.

Grabbing the handle, Shouto waited as the doctor swiped his badge. The light flipped from red to green, the click of the lock released as he turned the door handle. As the latch disengaged, the door launched off its hinges and slammed into Shouto's face, slamming him into the doctor. A high-pitched rush of energy blasted through the hallway.

Katsuki could hear the voices again right outside his door, they were returning down the hallway. Stepping back, he prepared himself if they came into the room. A sudden wailing sound howled loudly in the hallway, even through the door he heard screaming underneath the high-pitched whining. His mouth flooded with the sharp, now familiar, metallic taste. The screaming stopped as suddenly as it started, leaving behind an eerie silence. Heart hammering, Katsuki stared at the door. Did he dare open it? What was on the other side? The metallic taste melted from his mouth. "Fuck, I hope that was you Deku," his hand trembled as he opened the door slowly. The smell that hit his nose was chlorine-like with a distinct burnt metal undertone. The hallway was dark, the flashing lights were out and now only a dim light shone through a gaping doorway to the right. The quiet was broken by a heavy groan just past the lit-up door frame. Stepping into the inky blackness, he inched along towards the noise using the wall as his guide. Pausing at the now busted door frame, he could see down a flight of stairs, there was another broken doorway at the bottom. A dull glow came from the room below. He heard more groaning to his right. Continuing cautiously, his foot kicked a body, he stopped. Flipping on his flashlight, he looked down at the person on the ground. "Shouto!" Katsuki dropped to his knees. His body lay awkwardly over another person, blood streaming from his nose and mouth. Running his hands gingerly over his body, he felt for broken bones or more blood. Breathing a sigh of relief when his only visible injuries appeared to be on his face. "Messed up this handsome mug, didn't you?" Cradling his body, he laid him flat on the ground and tugging off his jacket he tucked it under his head as a makeshift pillow. "Sho?" He touched his cheek gently. Nothing

"Ngh," the man next to him grunted painfully.

Shining the light on the other person's face, Katsuki studied him closely, he looked familiar. "Fuck me, are you Doctor Garaki?" He remembered his face being plastered all over the media when he'd been arrested and sent to prison several years ago. His eyes blinked open inside his glasses that were strapped to his face, one lens was cracked across the top. Standing Katsuki grabbed the doctor's arm and hauled him to his feet roughly. The doctor swayed, his eyes clearly unfocused. Before he had time to regain his balance, Katsuki twisted one hand behind his back. "I found Shouto, now tell me where the fuck do I find Izuku?" He snarled menacingly in his ear.

"Downstairs," Garaki croaked out, his head was throbbing. Reaching up with his free hand he touched his swollen temple. His fingers came away tacky with blood. "What happened?"

"Not sure but you look like you'll live," Katsuki saw the blood trickling down the side of his face staining his mustache. Shoving him forward towards the now gaping doorway, he looked down the stairs. "This way?"

"Yes," he whispered, his eyes growing wide at the damage below. The door at the bottom was hanging off one of its hinges, the chamber was lit up by an amber glow that reflected off the shards of glass littered across the floor. Was it gone?

Glancing down at Shouto, who was still passed out, Katsuki pushed the doctor down the stairs. Slowly descending, more of the room came into view. There was a gaping hole where large glass panels had once divided the room. He could see the glass had blown out as far as the stairs. A large instrument panel was cracked in two, one half dangling by wires. There was no movement. "If he was in there." Katsuki sucked in his breath, "he's dead."

"I don't know that he was even alive to begin with," Garaki admitted, peering inside the doorway as Bakugou pushed him into the room.

"Then let-" Katsuki let out a heavy grunt as something hard came down across his back. Falling forward from the force, his shoulder drove into the doctor's back sending him into the broken panel. Twisting, he landed on his side, sliding across the floor as broken glass sliced into his shoulder. Spinning on his back, he thrust out his arm, firing an explosion at whomever had attacked him. The scream told him he'd hit the target. Not stopping to look at who jumped him, he sprung to his feet maneuvering backwards, keeping his eyes on the door.

"Help."

The hoarse whisper came from behind him, whirling around Katsuki sidled up to a gaping hole that opened into a dark chamber. The glow from the lights above barely illuminated a large square room encased in thick concrete walls. Movement to the side caught his attention, the doctor had pulled himself to his feet and was trying to stand, his body hunched over in pain. "Who's in there?" Katsuki called out, keeping his eyes locked on the doctor and the door. He couldn't tell if the person he'd hit with his fire was still in the stairwell.

"Kacchan?"

Katsuki's heart lurched into his throat, "Deku?!" Scrambling into the room, he tried to see, "where are you?"

"Here… over here."

Light flooded the room as the overhead panels suddenly lit up. "Shit," covering his face for a moment, Katsuki was blinded by the sudden brightness. Hearing the sound of feet moving across the broken glass in the outside area, he turned in time to see the doctor race from the room. "Dammit!" Blinking several times, he adjusted to the now brightly lit room. Looking back, he saw him. "Deku?" His voice choked, there in the corner of the room he lay crumpled against the wall, his face soaked in blood, one eye completely swollen shut, the other blood-shot around his green pupil. He raced to him, taking in his injuries, he squatted down not sure what to do first.

"Kacchan." Izuku tried to smile as those familiar red eyes went wide, his face draining of all color. "You look like you've seen a ghost." He tried to laugh but the pain along his side was overwhelming. He took a shallow breath.

"You - you're alive." Katsuki couldn't process anything as waves of grief and happiness flooded his brain. "I can't fucking believe it."

"That I'm alive? Or that you found me?" Izuku pushed himself up into a sitting position slowly. He gasped at the pain that vibrated through his entire body.

"Fuck, where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," Izuku grimaced trying to focus, his thoughts felt thick and slow. "Took you long enough. I've been telling you where I am for a while now."

"What?" A flicker of annoyance crossed his face.

Smiling Izuku, reached out and touched his cheek. "There you go, Kacchan. That's the expression I recognize."

"Fuck you, Deku." Laughing harshly, Katsuki swiped at the tears that had begun to roll down his cheeks. He put his hand over his, "you look like shit, is anything broken?"

"My ribs and arm, I think," Izuku stared down at his arm that hung off his elbow at an awkward angle. "Is this real?"

"God, I fucking hope so," he breathed out, "I missed you."

Izuku looked back up at him, his cheeks wet with tears. "I know," he sighed and leaned his head back against the wall, his mind continuing to swim through altered images. "I think I missed you too, Kacchan."

"So, you gave me all those damn nightmares?" Katsuki cocked a brow. He ruffled his green hair tenderly, stopping at the wince of pain that crossed his face.

"Where's All For One?" Izuku looked around.

"He's here?" Looking over his shoulder, there was no one else in the room.

"Well, if I'm here, he has to be here too."

"Shit, the person who hit me. I bet that was him." Bouncing up on his feet, he hesitated looking back at Deku.

"Go, I'm fine, he's more important, catch him." Izuku touched his swollen eye with his fingertips.

"Okay, I'll be right back." Running into the outer room, the glass crunched loudly under his feet. Katsuki paused at the side of the doorway and peeked around at the area at the bottom of the stairs now lit up by the lights. It was empty. He started up the stairs.

"I can't believe you're alive," Garaki went up each step carefully, All For One's arm draped over his shoulder tensing every time he moved.

"I'm not feeling very alive." He rasped, pressing hard on his thigh with his other hand, he could feel the blood seeping between his fingertips. A large section of glass had sliced through the meat of his leg during the explosion. He'd woken in darkness on a staircase, blind to everything, bleeding and he was sure he had a few broken bones. From above him, he'd heard talking and had painfully dragged himself off the stairs to the side, where he'd managed to stay hidden. He'd about given away his position when he'd heard the doctor's voice, thankfully he'd stopped hearing the gruff voice with him. Instead, he'd quietly felt around in the debris around him, his hand finding a twisted metal pipe. Following the sounds of the voices, he'd swung wildly, realizing he'd connected with a body and hoping it hadn't been the doctor. A moment later his face had been engulfed in flames. Screaming he'd fallen backwards, pain lancing through his already throbbing nerves. It was his old friend that had bent over him a few moments later and started dragging him up the stairs.

"I have bandages, we need to stop that blood flow." Garaki noticed he was stepping blindly up the stairs. "Can you not sense the steps?"

"No."

"Your quirks?"

"Nothing is working right now."

"Then we need to get you out of here quickly." Pulling him through the doorway Garaki paused in the bright hallway. He hadn't even noticed the lights had come back on while they were in the stairwell. Shouto was sitting on the floor feeling around his head. Looking up as they emerged, he jumped up startled to see the doctor.

"Can I help?"

"Thank you, Todoroki," he heard the sharp intake of breath from his friend. He squeezed his hand signaling for him to stay quiet. "This person is one of us and I'm taking him to the infirmary, he's injured." Looking towards the double doors, he saw Lida and Kaminari leaning over Ide. "Get the others and kill the two men down in that room. They want to hurt me." Shouto's eyes locked onto the open doorway as he started for the staircase. Garaki grabbed his arm, "not by yourself, you can't deal with them alone, you need the others. Also," he paused, "don't tell anyone about my friend here, if someone asks, you only saw me." Turning, he half-walked, half-dragged All For One towards the double doors, stopping in front of Lida.

"Sir," Tenya leapt up grimacing at Ide's body. "I'm afraid he's dead."

Pursing his lips, Garaki nodded. "Leave him for now, help Todoroki with the two men in the downstairs vault. They're the enemy here, they want to kill you."

"All of us?" Denki's brows snapped together.

"Yes, you too."

"Yes, Sir." Glancing at each other, they ran to catch up with Todoroki.

Garaki watched for a moment as they began talking, looking down into the open doorway. He felt All For One shift under his arm.

"Who were those men? The first one, Todoroki? Was that Shouto? Did I hear correctly?"

Chuckling he leaned over and started going through Ide's pockets. "They were your enemies, now working for us." Pulling out a set of car keys, he jingled them. "These and this," he unclipped Ide's pass from his belt, "are just what we need to get out of here."

"Why are they working for us?"

Standing Garaki swiped the pass over the keypad of the now secured double doors, they swished open. "You've possessed them somehow."

"I've possessed them?" His voice surprised.

"Sort of, a part of you is in them," grunting as All For One leaned heavily on him. "Maybe that's why your quirks aren't working."

"Interesting." Slumped against the doctor again they began moving slowly again. Pain radiated in his thigh. "I'm not sure how long I can go like this, you said there were rooms this way?"

"Yes, but we can't stay here. More will be coming. Stop here and lean on the wall." Garaki waited as he gained his balance and ran into the makeshift hospital room, a first aid kit sat on the cabinet. Shoving the box under his arm, he ran back and looped his arm over his friend's shoulders. They hobbled together towards the exit sign at the end of the hall. Swiping Ide's badge on the back door, it unlocked. Garaki grinned as the smell of rain hit his nose. Ide's car was parked by the side of the building.

"We're outside?"

"We are." he cackled softly, "I'm finally free. I haven't smelled fresh air in a while and I'm very glad to be leaving with you, old friend."

Arisu jumped from the car as her driver pulled up in front of the main lobby, everyone climbing out behind her. Pounding on the glass doors, she waved frantically at the guard talking to a group of people. "Hey!" She yelled, pressing her badge up against the glass. The guard held up her hand as she came around the counter and approached the door. "I'm a guest of the Defense Minister," she called through the glass. The guard peered at her badge and nodded. Leaning down she unlocked the door and opened it up. "Thank you!" Nakama stepped inside the darkened lobby.

"Sorry, we're on lockdown for all regular visitors." She waved them in, "I'll contact the Minister and let him know you're here."

"Actually," Arisu waited as she locked the door behind them. "We were hoping to see Uchiyama first, the Assistant Defense Minister. This is my criminal investigation team." The guard gave them all a quick look.

"She's popular with investigators today." The guard cocked a brow.

"Yes, I believe Todoroki and Kaminari came earlier today."

"They did but the other one checked in too." Reaching over the counter she grabbed her registration book. "Bakugou, arrived right before we lost electricity." There was a sudden whirring noise as the large walk-through metal detectors began lighting up. The overhead lights flashed and turned on, brightening the lobby. A cheer sounded from the people stranded in the lobby.

"Everyone that has a visitor badge you may proceed to your department." Another guard began to guide the remaining people through the now functional scanners.

"Thank goodness," the guard looked relieved as she handed them visitor badges. "Can you please have Uchiyama or one of her administrators call down and confirm that Bakugou made it to their office? I need to verify and am really busy, as you can see here." She pulled out her keys and ran to unlock the door again. "One of those days," she sighed as more people ran across the parking lot under umbrellas to get into the lobby.

"Sure, I'll call down as soon as we arrive in the office," Arisu made her way through the metal detector with the other detectives, picking up their weapons on the other side. Walking to the elevator bank, she stared at the doors nervously, turning, she beelined for the staircase to the left. "Let's go up the old-fashioned way," she started up the stairs before anyone could argue.

"So, the plan is for Captain to erase Uchiyama's quirk if she tries to touch any of us?" Kiri trotted up the steps with Ochako.

"Yeah, Nakama is going to arrest her for obstruction of an active case. If Captain sees her try to touch her, he'll erase her quirk until she can get those special gloves on her."

"And this is all assuming that book is right and the quirk is activated through touch," Momo muttered worriedly behind them.

"I hope it's right," Ochako squeezed the railing in her hand. "What if it's a sight quirk like Captain Aizawa? I wonder who would win that fight?"

"First to blink?"

"That's not funny Momo," she glared at her.

"I just hope she can lead us to whoever tried to kill Suguta," Kiri rounded the last flight.

"Uchiyama's offices are on this end of the building." Arisu opened the door and made her way down the wood lined corridor, the plush carpeting quieted their steps.

"Where's the Minister's office?" Momo stared at the expensive sconces that now shone brightly along the entire hallway.

"He's on the opposite side, his team takes up most of the fourth floor." Stopping at two ornate doors, Arisu stepped inside Uchiyama's outer office. A single desk sat empty in the middle of the room. "Wait here, let me get Matsuno." Walking to the side office, she saw her in front of her computer. "Hello? Matsuno?"

Looking up, surprised, Matsuno smiled warmly. "Hello Nakama, I haven't seen you in a while. And of all days to come!" She stopped short, seeing Captain Aizawa behind her. "Oh! Captain." She covered her mouth, a red heat climbing into her cheeks remembering her blunder with him. Stepping from her office, she bowed. "I - I hope you can forgive me about my mistake with the Assistant and Tenya yesterday. I'm so embarrassed."

"Don't apologize," he smiled. "We're just happy he's okay. Speaking of him, where is he?"

"They all went to lunch and promised to be back by one, but they're late." She glanced at the clock, "Uchiyama is late too, so I guess it's okay."

"Uchiyama is late? Are they together?" Concern laced Arisu's voice.

"No," Matsuno shook her head slowly, wary suddenly. "She went over to the next building earlier for a meeting with the Minister of Education, but I think with the electricity outage she probably got stuck over there." She pulled out her phone, "is there a problem? I can text her."

"Where's Bakugou?" Momo had stepped to the picture windows overlooking the compound, watching as people ran between the buildings in the rain.

"Bakugou? Isn't he with Tenya?"

"No, Kaminari came with Todoroki earlier instead. The guard mentioned he came up here right when the electricity went down."

"He never came here," Matsuno furrowed her brow. "At least I haven't seen him."

"When did the electricity go out?" Shouta tried to dampen the sense of dread that was building in his mind.

Scrunching up her face, Matsuno looked back at the clock. "I want to say it was almost one, because I was expecting them back. So, it went out about twenty minutes ago?"

"And he never came up here?" Kiri clicked his tongue. "Where the hell is he?"

"You don't think he went off somewhere stupid?" Momo began to study the people below, maybe the dumb blonde was out there?

"Of course, he did," Shouta snapped back. "But where?"

"What if he saw Uchiyama?"

"They would've just come back here though," Matsuno typed a quick text on her phone.

Kiri shot Ochako a quick glance, "or would they?"

"Where is the Minister of Education?" Momo pressed her hands against the glass, trying to see down the line of buildings.

"Um," Matsuno walked across the room and pointed out a similar building to the north. "Right there, fourth floor, same as here." Her phone vibrated in her hand. She read the text, "Uchiyama said she's on her way up to the office."

"No Bakugou?"

"No, she had no clue why I was asking."

"I bet," Arisu smoothed her hair and straightened her suit, she steeled herself for the confrontation coming. "We'll figure it out once she's back." She gave the others a knowing look.

"You heard from Denki, but not Shouto, right Momo?" Ochako checked her phone, the text she had sent earlier was still unread.

"Right," Momo turned from the window, her brow wrinkled. "You know," she worried her lip, "if they really went to lunch like he said, I'd have a million stupid shots of sushi or noodles by now."

"We all would," Ochako shivered slightly. "Do you think someone took his phone?" The door swung open as Uchiyama walked into the office. She pulled her rain slicker off, shaking it out. Turning she froze, staring at all of them.

"Hello," Nana gasped, her hand trembling as she turned back to hang her coat. Pressing her lips together tightly, she closed her eyes. Nobody knows anything. They were just here to ask about her son. Turning back, she forced a smile on her face. "Hello Captain Aizawa." Her gaze traveled to the woman standing next to him. "Hello Nakama," the disgust evident in her voice, "to what do I owe the honor of the Commissioner coming for a visit?"

Gesturing to her office doors, Shouta bowed his head slightly. "Perhaps we should discuss this in your office?" Locking eyes with her, he cocked a brow waiting to see her reaction. "I imagine these won't be easy questions for you."

"Of course," she looked past him to her assistant. "Matsuno, won't you prepare tea?" Opening the door, she went into her office and motioned to the large table in the corner. "There should be plenty of room for everyone." Setting her briefcase on her desk, she ran her hand over her damp hair taking a steadying breath.

Stopping at the door Arisu turned to the others. "Why don't you wait out here in case they get back from lunch and keep trying to find Bakugou, we have to figure out where he's gone."

Uchiyama spun around, "Bakugou? The big blonde investigator, he's Dynamite, right?"

"Yes," Shouta stayed outside her arm's reach. "That's correct, he arrived at the building about twenty minutes ago and supposedly came to your office but as you can see, he's not here."

"Where is he?" She moved towards him, Shouta took a quick step back.

"That's what we're trying to figure out ourselves." Arisu fingered her gun.

"We need to notify security," Nana reached over to pick up her phone. "We can't have someone just running around the building."

"Wait," Arisu commanded tersely. Uchiyama paused, hand on her phone, she flicked an annoyed glare at her. "I'm sorry Assistant Defense Minister, but I need you to put your hands in the air. I'm here to take you into the precinct for questioning."

"Questioning at the precinct?" She grew pale, "for what? I thought this was about my son?"

"It is," Arisu walked towards her slowly. Lifting a pair of thick leather gloves, she placed them on her desk. "We can start the questions here in your office, if you are willing to put on these gloves."

"What the hell is this?" Indignation crept into her voice. "Some kind of joke?" Looking from her to the captain, she realized they were serious. Thinning her lips, she snatched the gloves off the desk. "Fine. But why gloves?" She seethed, shoving her hands into the dense fabric.

"Just a precaution."

"Against what? Giving you germs?"

"Thank you for cooperating, Assistant Minister," Shouta looked back at Arisu. "Now what?" He mouthed quietly.

Walking to the table, she pulled out a chair, "sit here."

Marching across the office, Nana sat down, her back ramrod straight. She slammed her gloved hands on the table. "This is ridiculous."

"First, where is everyone?" Arisu slid into the chair across from her.

"Everyone?" she huffed, rolling her eyes. "You mean your lost investigator? He's the loose cannon not me."

"Not just him, but Lida, Todoroki and Kaminari, they all checked in at the guard station. They supposedly went on a tour of the facility and then to lunch but no one has heard from them."

"What's that have to do with me?"

"Look," Arisu leaned forward. "We know, Uchiyama, we know everything."

Shifting in her chair, Nana wiggled her fingers in the gloves. There was no way, no one knew. "Only dumb people give themselves up, so you're going to have to tell me what you think you know or let me call my lawyer."

"The email?" Reaching into her pocket Arisu slid the paper towards her. "This came to me from the Minister of Defense. I spoke with him this morning, he denied ever sending this email." A flicker of surprise reflected in Uchiyama's eyes as she looked at the email. "Since the person that benefited the most from this was you and your son, I'm assuming you sent it?"

"That - that," she sputtered, her eyes tearing up, she turned her face away.

"It had to be difficult knowing your son was in jail but why didn't you just come to me directly?"

"I did!" She jerked her head back, her skin glowing red. "I met with you and you said there was nothing that could be done! She snarled. "You backstabbing bitch." Shaking her hands violently the gloves went flying across the table, spinning to a stop at the edge. "What the fuck are these for!?" Panting she could feel anger and fear slamming through her at once. "I saw the Minister today, he - he didn't say anything." She searched through their conversation, didn't he say no one knew? It was so muddled, she couldn't remember anything. He'd said it, hadn't he?

"When did you talk to him?" Ochako reached forward and threw the gloves back across the table, her eyes never leaving Uchiyama.

Picking them up, Arisu handed them to her. "We're not going to discuss anything with you if you're not wearing these." She waited for her to take them, "besides, you need to come up with another story. I never had a conversation with you, in fact we only met once, that was right after the Ministry Advisory meeting and you know that. I can show you my calendar." She reached for her phone, fear crept up her spine as the blood drained from her face. "Wait," her voice faltered. "Did we meet before? Did you erase that memory too?" Gritting her teeth she threw the gloves at her. "Put those on!"

"Erase what memory?" Nana ignored the gloves as they fell in her lap. "You came here to meet with the Minister and stopped by as a favor to me. You can ask Matsuno! She let you in here." Crossing her arms, she glared defiantly at her.

Leaning out of the office doors, Shouta called to the young woman brewing tea. "Matsuno?"

"Yes?"

"Can you come in for a moment?"

"Sure Captain," setting down the tea, she hurried into the office. The tension in the air was palpable, Uchiyama and Nakama glaring at each other.

"Matsuno," Nana continued staring at the bitch across from her. "Please pull up my calendar and find the meeting I had with Commissioner Nakama. It was in June of this year, I think early in the month if I recall."

"Y-Yes Ma'am." Walking to Uchiyama's desk, she turned on her computer and scrolled to her daily calendar. "Was it a meeting here?"

"Yes."

"Um, are - are you sure?" Her hands trembled. "I - I don't remember her coming here until recently ma'am," she squeezed her hands together, twisting them nervously. Uchiyama spun and looked at her stunned.

"What are you talking about? She sat right there at my desk!" Throwing her hands up in frustration she looked back at Nakama. "What the hell is going on? I swear you came here!"

"I've got it up for June and she isn't on here," Matsuno bit her lip. "I - I'm so sorry, unless it was when I was out?"

"No!" She slammed her hands on the table and leapt to her feet, the gloves skidding across the floor. Arisu pulled her gun from the holster. Staring at the weapon, Uchiyama gave her an incredulous look. "Put that damn thing away! I'm not going to do anything!" Turning she stalked to the computer, shoving Matsuno aside.

"Don't touch her!" Ochako yelled getting up from her chair, she motioned for Matsuno to back away.

"Why do you care if I touch people?" She seethed clicking through her calendar.

"Your quirk."

"My what?" Nana looked up at the Captain, his eyes began to shine red as his hair started to fly around his head.

"Get the gloves on her!" Kiri grabbed them off the floor and tossed them to Momo. Racing up behind Uchiyama, he grabbed her arms firmly. "Put them on her."

"Dammit! I need to look at my computer." She struggled to pull her wrists from his grip. "I don't have a quirk, you idiots, look at my national registry."

"That's easy to fabricate," Nakama held her gun steady.

"Something's wrong." Momo held the gloves up. "Uchiyama, you're saying Nakama was here in June and Matsuno saw both of you?"

"That's right!" She continued to try to yank her hands from Kiri's grip.

"And Matsuno," Momo turned to the younger woman. "You're saying that you don't remember Nakama coming here?" Shaking her head, the poor girl glanced worriedly at the Assistant Defense Minister. "Does she get a lot of visitors that you escort into the office?"

"No, not everyone, only if I have something to bring to the meeting." She thought for a moment, "except for any of the Ministers, I always escort them into the office."

"This quirk," Momo turned to Ochako, "it erases memories but didn't you say it can replace a memory?"

"It can," Ochako nodded, "there was one patient who kept seeing one thing and then another. I guess you could cover a face with another face?"

"Like Bakugou," Kiri breathed out, "when they were digging into the debris, he saw Izuku dead and bloody, then totally fine in another dream. Are you saying you think," releasing Uchiyama's hands he stepped back quickly, looking at Nakama.

"Shit!" Arisu put her gun away. "Uchiyama, do you remember sending that email?"

Rubbing her wrists, she closed her eyes seeing the memory of herself typing the email. "I do, but only because you wouldn't help." Tears filled her eyes, covering her face, she sagged down into her chair.

"When I met with the Minister this morning, he mentioned you exchange passwords. We thought that's how you hacked into his account."

"I - I do," Matsuno raised her hand slowly. "I exchange with his administrator every six weeks. It's protocol in the event one was to, well, pass on."

"That's right." Nana dropped her hands by her side. "I believe you have a protected folder that you share on the drive."

Running around the desk, Matsuno clicked on the computer. "It's right here."

"When was the last time the password changed?" Momo leaned over to watch as she logged into the protected folder.

"It's been a few weeks," Matsuno opened a list of passwords with dates next to them.

"How does that work?" Momo peered at the screen.

"It's actually an encryption, you copy the password into this link here, then after logging in again, the system decodes it to the correct password. It's a new feature they installed six months ago when the Prime Minister did her security crackdown." Clicking on the link she logged in again. "Oh! That's right!" She clicked on the settings, "one of the new features gives a log of anyone who uses the system."

"Am I on the log?" Nana swiveled to see the screen.

"You're not," Matsuno looked down the list of users, "since the system was installed, you've never logged into here."

"So, how did I get Kezu's password to send the email from his system?"

"You're sure you sent it?"

"I can see it in my head," she hunched over thinking about typing on the keyboard. She watched as her fingers flew across the keyboard in her mind. The hands, she stopped to look at them. "Those," she tried to focus as a sharp pain flared along her temple, "those aren't my hands though."

"Shit," Kiri groaned. "She doesn't have the quirk, she'd been hit by it. Someone's using her too."

Arisu sank into the chair, the paper still in her hand. "The Minister." She said flatly.

"Him?" Ochako spun around, "but if it was-" Her eyes flared wide, "Shit! Suguta.

If it's him!" She tried not to imagine the worst. "What did he do?"

"He was probably erasing her mind today," Kiri growled. The room went silent.

"Maybe he's a victim too?" Matsuno replied in a small voice.

"She's right," Shouta rubbed his face. "We can't assume anything, this damn quirk is impossible to pin down, it could be anyone."

"But - but you think it could be the Minister doing something to everyone?" Nana chewed on her lip nervously.

"It's possible but then," Shouta stared at Arisu's ashen face. "If we think about everyone who we know that has been touched by the quirk, they do link back to him."

"Suguta Ren and the two people that Doctor Chito treated worked here on the ministry compound." Kiri turned and pointed to Nakama. "You were hit and so was Uchiyama. Oh! Bakugou, we think he was too."

"He's the odd man out," Shouta pondered. "Everyone else could have come in contact with the Minister except Bakugou."

Swiveling in her chair, Nana stared at the computer. Looking at the icons on the screen, she noticed the shared calendar. "Matsuno, do you have access to the Minister's calendar?"

"Yes, I do." Pulling up the shared drive, she clicked on his calendar. "If he marks something private, you can't see what he did, just that the time is blocked out."

"Check back, around the destruction of the south ward. Didn't he do a press conference from the site, I think Oh Kaede was with him."

"You're right," Kiri snapped his fingers. "I remember because we weren't allowed into the area, everything was shut down. I'd tried texting Shouto and Katsuki but I didn't hear back." He thumped the desk, "we all went to that bar and watched the news together."

"Yes!" Matsuno shouted excitedly, "he held a press conference from the south ward right after the area was shut down!" Her eyes went owl wide, "then his entire calendar is blocked for almost two days, nothing public."

"So, he was near Bakugou at some point when they were digging out Midoriya."

"But why hit him with his quirk there?" Nana scowled, "that doesn't make sense. What was he hiding?"

Sitting back in her chair, Arisu tried to wrap her head around everything. "We believe that the energy that killed One For All and All For One was taken by someone, maybe the Minister? It's possible he hit everyone that day?" She leaned back, "hell, it really could be anyone."

Nana gripped her hands together tightly. "So, if it is the Minister. Could he have killed my son?"

"Maybe?" Kiri shrugged, "I'm not sure if the two cases are related. If he was involved, I doubt he did it directly."

"That's another thing." Arisu wondered if anything she knew was true anymore. "The Minister claimed there were stolen collectibles from his party and he insinuated that your son did it."

Staring at her, Nana debated what to say. "Listen," her voice tight. "My son was involved in a counterfeit scheme with some stupid gang, that's why he was arrested. But I swear, I never heard anything about more stolen stuff."

"That's because he just told me today," Arisu sighed. "Apparently several items were taken at the party you attended last week."

"Really? And you believe him?" Nana laughed harshly. "Well, the dead can't defend themselves. I don't know if my son stole anything that night, although he did ask to go to the car in the middle of the party." She waved her hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter, what's important right now is that the Minister is possibly responsible for my son's death, I want him arrested."

"It's not that easy," Arisu stood pushing the chair under the table.

"Why not? You came marching in here ready to arrest me."

"We had proof."

Nana's brows shot up as she laughed wickedly. "You mean the email I didn't send?"

Arisu frowned, "okay, falsified proof."

"I'd rather find the others first," Momo interrupted.

"Actually, if our suspicions are right, we might find the Minister if we find them."

"Okay, fine," Nana tapped her fingers on her desk. "Who exactly is missing?"

"Tenya, Kaminari, Todoroki and Bakugou," Kiri ticked off a finger for each.

"They went to lunch and to wait for you, Assistant Minister," Matsuno's voice sounded frightened. Uchiyama reached out and patted her hand.

"Be strong Matsuno, this line of work has endless problems." She picked up her phone. "That means they went to the cafeteria, it's downstairs." Dialing the main operator, she waited. "Hello, I need a direct line to the cafeteria."

"Are we really going to arrest the Minister of Defense?" Ochako whispered, moving closer to Nakama. "Can we?"

"Not officially, but we can hold him and notify the Prime Minister."

"Well, they never went there." Nana hung up the phone.

"Could they go somewhere else?"

"It's possible, but I doubt they would've in this rain."

"Perhaps they were kidnapped somehow-"

"There's no way," Aizawa shook his head. "They're too powerful."

"Okay, if they were kidnapped," Arisu corrected herself, "where would someone take them and not be found anytime soon?"

"A lot of areas," Nana clenched her fists, "but the one place that the Minister has been personally very interested in lately is the basement area." Grabbing her pass, she stood up. "Let's take a trip down to those labs that I can't remember seeing."