Disclaimer: I do not own any of the copyrighted materials contained herein. They are the rightful property of their respective creators and/or associated companies. I make no profit from this whatsoever and I have no intention of changing this at any point in the future. I write because it's fun and because there are those who enjoy reading my stories. Therefore please refrain from any legal action against me because I can promise you that I don't have anywhere near enough money to make it worth it in the end.

Note: As usual positive reviews will be greatly appreciated, constructive criticism will be considered but not necessarily acted on and any negative/bashing/venomous/trolling/bullying/hateful/negative reviews will either be ignored outright or burned as fuel to keep the story going. I realize that there are people who probably don't like my writing very much and that's their right as individuals. However no one is forcing them to read my stories or submit reviews. That can only mean that either they're not reading them at all and just like bashing fan fiction via reviews or they're intentionally reading stories they don't like so they can write venomous reviews.

That last bit makes NO sense to me whatsoever! I know that if I read a few chapters of a fan fiction and decided that I hated it I'd just stop right there and leave. If two or more stories by the same author were just as bad as the first one then I'd write off that author entirely and never read another one of their stories. The only way reading stories you don't like and leaving venomous reviews makes any sense is if the person is both miserable and hateful themselves and wants to spread the misery around. If that's the case then they REALLY need a hobby…or therapy…or both.

Well enough of that! On with the story!

The Todoroki Household

Afternoon

Todoroki Rei's POV

~Toya…where are you…?~ She thought her worry not having gone down at all ever since the news of the fire at Sekoto Peak.

Indeed she felt as though the only thing that was keeping her from experiencing another moment like…like that time…was the fact that no bodies had been discovered by the firefighters on the scene. As of a few hours ago the fires on the peak had been mostly put out with only a few small ones needing to be extinguished. As a result of this search and rescue personnel had been sent into the affected area to look for possible victims that might've been unable to escape the blaze.

Given that no one had called since this morning her hope that Toya was fine was remaining strong but every time the phone rang that strength fluctuated until she learned that the call wasn't what she feared.

She did her best to keep a normal face on whenever the children entered the room. While they wanted to know where their big brother was as well it would've been wrong to tell them the truth. They would only worry themselves needlessly so she'd just told them that their brother was having a sleepover at a friend's house. They were buying her story for the time being but the longer Toya was missing the more her lie would become apparent. Enji had come home yesterday but had said precious little to her before retreating to his office.

All he'd told her was that it was pointless to worry and that it'd all work out in the end.

More than ever before she felt a mountain of conflict within her that threatened to rip her in half. On the one side of things she felt great love for her children and took pride in every step they took as well as everything they accomplished.

She was happy to be their mother.

On the other side of things she regretted giving into her parents' wishes for her to marry Enji all those years ago. Her once prestigious family had been spiralling into oblivion ever since their chief claim to fame had dried up during her grandparents' time. Efforts had been made to turn things around but she'd heard the arguments her parents had often enough to know that nothing was doing any good. It had been her love for her family that had caused her to go along with her father's wishes even though she felt nothing towards Enji at the time.

She'd tried. She'd really tried to turn the arrangement into a genuine loving family but despite the smiles Toya's birth had inspired in each of them it didn't last. Once it became clear that Toya would never be able to use his quirk without injuring himself Enji's attentiveness towards his son evaporated and all parental duties were dumped on her. When her husband had informed her that they would try again she'd almost refused but consoled herself with the thought that a second child could support Toya when she couldn't. Giving birth to a girl this time, Fuyumi, she too proved to be a failure in Enji's eyes bringing about the birth of Natsu who only proved to be a disappointment as well.

It wasn't until Shoto was born that Enji finally got what he wanted and she'd thought that perhaps her husband would finally calm down. She'd even dreamed that perhaps with such turning point her husband might be more open to treating the other children better.

It didn't.

Instead Enji had focused all his attention on Shoto to the point where he barely acknowledged the existence of his other children. None of them took this treatment well but the one who reacted the most irrationally had been Toya who she felt believed his youngest brother represented a direct threat to his dream. The attack had come out of nowhere and while her husband had succeeded in preventing any harm from done it'd also caused the Pro Hero to completely isolate Shoto from the others. More and more time passed until she could no longer stand the sight of her husband and she even began to get upset whenever she noticed some of Enji's traits in the children.

She'd even done the unforgivable not so long ago when she'd dumped boiling water on the left side of Shoto's face just because his eyes reminded her of Enji's eyes. She might've snapped out of it immediately and used her Frost quirk to treat the burn but that didn't excuse what she'd done.

All of this. All of it had left her in a precarious position mentally speaking and she knew it.

If something…if something happened to Toya…she didn't know what she'd do.

KR-EE-K.

Hearing the front door open she got to her feet without realizing it as her mind wondered who it could be. She knew that the children were already home as was Enji. There were precious few others who could just enter their home without knocking or ringing the doorbell first and she could think of no reason why they would be here today. Her heart leapt into her throat as he soul proposed a possibility and before she knew it she was running for the front door.

Could it be…

"Toya!" She exclaimed as she turned the corner and came into full view of the front door.

There, standing before her, none the worse for wear was Toya and her heart leapt for joy even as the fear of his being hurt vanished from her mind. Without saying anything more she wrapped her arms around him in a hug embracing the concept that he was home and safe. Only once she was satisfied that her heart had taken all it needed did she let go and get a better look at him. The first thing she noticed was that he wasn't wearing the clothes she'd last seen him in but rather some rather plain looking substitutes. A simple T-shirt and jeans combo with unremarkable sneakers comprised his new outfit. It was certainly odd but not enough to take her full attention since there were more important things to talk about.

"Where have you been?! I've been worried to death!" She declared before beginning a motherly full body search for injuries.

Just because she couldn't see any that didn't mean that none existed. It was possible that new injuries were hidden beneath the new clothes but when she didn't spot any wincing or feel anything suspicious she decided to conclude that he was physically okay.

"Mom! MOM! I'm okay!" Toya exclaimed at her method of diagnosis, "Sorry I worried you."

"Where've you been? Why didn't you come home?" She asked a bit thrown by a change she could see in Toya.

When she'd last seen him he'd been so angry, so furious and so much like his father with a singular focus that she'd been scared for a few moments. Now…now it looked like the anger that'd been burning brightly in his eyes had noticeably dimmed and he looked more relaxed.

"I…I had some thinking to do and a friend I made offered to put me up for the night." He replied sounding like there was a lot on his mind, "It was just something I had to do on my own."

"Something you had to do with Alexandria Clairemont you mean." Came an intimidating strong voice from behind her.

Turning halfway around she saw Enji walking towards him a focused look on his face looking as powerful as ever. She could tell immediately that he intended to pry the answers he wanted out of his eldest son one way or another. She glared at him, right in his eyes, conveying to him that this was not the time for his brutal way of dealing with things.

He just glared right back informing her that he would do as he pleased and she should know that she had no way of stopping him without exposing everything to the public. At the thought of that, of the trauma she'd be putting her children through with such a spectacle, her feelings of defiance crumbled. She could not allow herself to defy Enji if it would only lead to her children getting harassed by the press and questioned by the police.

"Yeah." Toya said without elaborating further.

When her eldest son said that one word she could see the anger in his eyes spike a bit but not to the heights she'd been expecting.

"You should have come home the moment you dropped her off at Mirko's apartment." Enji said as though his way was the only way that mattered, "She's not the sort of person you should be associating with."

"Oh? Since when did you start caring about who I spend my time with?" Toya asked his anger simmering just beneath the surface, "You told me to give up being a Pro Hero. To find other things to get interested in. Now that I found someone I like spending time with you're telling me to stay away from her. I don't think I'm going to listen to you anymore Dad."

With that her son strode away likely heading to the room he shared with Natsu evidently not inclined to discuss anything more with her or Enji. While it was not how she'd wanted things to go she knew that Enji tended to bring up irrational feelings in Toya and that it probably wasn't wise to push her luck. Better to wait until Toya had calmed down before trying to learn more about what'd happened and about Alexandria Clairemont.

Who was she?

"You will listen to me!" Enji snapped with a tone that would not be ignored, "The girl's dangerous. She has the ability to steal quirks and according to my sources there's the potential that this quirk could prove fatal if she holds on for too long. There is no way you could have spent enough time with her to discern her true nature. Only a fool would remain close to someone so dangerous without first determining her true intentions."

"That's your way huh? Don't trust anyone until you know everything there is about them." Toya said stopping but not turning around, "Is that how a Pro Hero's supposed to think? Paranoid? Scared? COWARDLY?"

"Toya don't-!" She exclaimed knowing that the words would only provoke Enji and make things worse.

"Pro Heroes are given the greatest responsibility to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Failure is unacceptable. Failure means suffering and perhaps even death." Enji said in surprisingly even tones, "As such the element of chance must be reduced however possible in order to ensure victory with a minimum of collateral damage. If that means acquiring as much information as possible about a stranger before encountering them then so be it."

"How can you expect the people you're supposed to protect to trust you if you do not trust them in turn?" Toya asked with an edge in his voice, "How can you expect them to have faith in you when you have no faith in them? It's a two way street Dad."

"Such an outlook, such beliefs, introduce too much risk to a situation." Enji said dismissing the meaning to his son's words , "All the public needs to know is that I am a Pro Hero and I will defeat all that threatens them. So long as they trust me to do that, so long as they have faith that I will do that, then the rest doesn't matter."

So cold.

Colder than her Frost quirk could ever hope to be.

While the reasons varied from person to person she believed that most who grew up to become Pro Heroes did so with the noblest of intentions in their heart. Even if they wrapped themselves in fame and fortune they at their core acted to protect the innocent and inspire hope in those who saw them. To hear such words coming from Enji's mouth did not inspire much hope in her. In fact it made it clear to her that all her husband cared about was the title of 'strongest'. In today's world the title of strongest belonged to Pro Heroes and Villains with quirks that could ravage entire blocks if they wanted to do something like that.

It was for this reason that Enji had chosen the path of Pro Hero.

It was for this reason that he put Toya and Shoto through such horrendous training.

"Then…" Toya said turning fully to face both of them, "…then I will be a Pro Hero that works hard to earn the public's trust in all ways. Someone whose earned their unwavering faith by keeping as few secrets from them as possible. When they see my flame…"

With a raised fist fire burst from Toya's hand wrapping it and half of his forearm in flame.

However it was not the orange flame that he'd manifested before but rather a bright blue flame that crackled with a strength she hadn't seen before. Worry spiked in her as she remembered what always happened when Toya used his flame quirk to this level.

"Toya! Stop! Your arm!" She exclaimed stepping towards where a fire extinguisher was stored as a precaution.

"What about it Mom?" Toya asked before his flames went out…

…and revealed a completely unharmed arm.

Not a single burn could be seen by her eyes!

Looking to Enji she could see the shock on his face as well irrefutably confirming that she was not hallucinating this at all.

"How?" She asked turning back to her eldest son.

"It's common knowledge that quirks a biological in nature Mom. Like a muscle the more you train it the stronger it becomes. The less you use it the weaker it becomes." Toya replied as though he hadn't just turned the world of his parents on its head, "It's also a fact that quirks have been known to evolve when placed under stress. Turns out that's what my quirk needed. A strong enough push to force my flame resistance into an active state."

That…made sense.

She'd seen news segments when they spoke about a quirk's nature and its ability to evolve was something that was well documented fact. Could it really have been that simple?

"Ridiculous! While quirk evolution is a scientific fact that does not explain what I saw on Sekoto Peak." Enji roared rejecting his son's explanation, "Your burn scars. They're gone. Quirk evolution doesn't do that."

"Saw that did you?" Toya asked in a way that sounded rhetorical, "Well that's just going to have to be one of life's mysteries for you."

Once more Toya turned to leave and she could see that Enji was preparing to use his quirk to prevent their son from leaving but she knew how that would go. If her eldest son's quirk was now without its former weakness and his flames were truly stronger than Enji's then even if her husband possessed superior skill as well as experience the damage the fight would cause would be great. It would endanger Fuyumi, Natsu and Shoto!

Rushing forward she grabbed the arm Enji was raising in preparation to use his Hellfire quirk and pushed it down even as she used her Frost quirk to its utmost.

"No Enji! You'll both set the house on fire!" She said pleadingly before having an epiphany that she acted on, "Do you want to risk hurting Shoto?"

She could tell from his expression that Enji didn't like the fact that she was standing up to him but at the mention of Shoto, the one that'd inherited both their quirks, his temper cooled down. With a grunt of dissatisfaction her husband dispersed his flames, pulled his arm out of her grip and stormed off likely to retreat back to his office.

She didn't believe for a moment that this would be the end of it but at least she'd managed to hold off a violent confrontation if only for a time.

The joy of knowing that her eldest would no longer hurt himself with his own quirk and was free to pursue his dream was hindered by her imaginings of what Enji would do next.

Would that man ruin this chance at happiness that had been presented to them?

A Private Office

U.A High School

Principal Nezu's POV

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing helping those brats?" Mirko asked from the sofa in his office, "They're brats after all. Could be reading the situation wrong or making it all up."

"While I will concede to the first I do not believe the second is an issue." He said from behind his desk as he waited for an alert to come from his computer, "I have had numerous encounters with Miss Clairemont since she came to U.A and I have not seen anything to make me think she's a competent liar. As for young Toya both your investigation and my own support the story that something is not right in the Todoroki household. Taking both into account makes their accusations at least worth investigating fully.

"If they're lying or mistaken then helping them will only make this clear all the quicker preventing needless chaos and conflict." He said even as part of his mind mapped out possibilities, "However if their accusations are indeed the truth then Endeavour has been committing crimes upon his own family for years and escaping justice. Whether it was due to his own intimidating nature, the resources available to him as a high ranked Pro Hero or because those that manage relations between the public and Pro Heroes have been suppressing the data the result is the same. A criminal, no a VILLAIN, has been escaping justice and to any self-respecting Pro Hero that is unacceptable."

"Damn straight it's not acceptable!" She said with anger on her face, "If that asshole was any kind of Hero he would've just accepted that being Number One was beyond him and stopped at Number Two."

"As if you're willing to accept being Number Five and leave it at that." He said with a smile knowing full well that Mirko would continue to push for the top spot no matter what.

"Never said I was. But I'll get there on my own without anyone else getting mixed up in it." She said showing her true nature, "I'm gonna give it my all every day, train until I can't anymore and if even after that I'm not the top Pro Hero of Japan then at least I'll be satisfied that I did all I could. No way would I stoop so low as to fuck a guy just so my kid'll have the chance to be Number One!"

Honestly the odds of someone actually catching Mirko's interest enough to date them never mind marry them were so low he didn't even need to bother calculating them. The only odds worse than that would be the ones of Mirko one night standing some poor man just because she had that 'itch' that she wanted scratched. From what he could recall she tended to deal with such issues through training twice as vigorously as before or finding some hapless Villains to take down. He'd heard rumours that some members of the villain community had worked out a system by which they'd know when to stay in when Mirko was feeling particularly aggressive and violent. Not that he believed such a rumour it was just amusing to think that the criminals would hide in their safe houses to avoid getting pummelled.

Be-beep.

"Ah! The video feed from young Toya's micro-cams is coming in." He said as he manipulated the feed so Mirko would have no trouble seeing it, "Hmmm…looks like he positioned them in good places as well. Obscured but not prevented from providing good coverage of the room."

"Tch! Place practically screams 'I am so much better than everyone else'." She scoffed looking at each separate square of camera feed, "Ya can tell it's meant to show off to any guests that drop in."

He didn't say anything but rather focused on the camera feeds that showed a member of the Todoroki family.

Todoroki Rei.

Todoroki Toya.

Todoroki Fuyumi.

Todoroki Natsuo.

Todoroki Shoto.

There was no sign of Endeavor himself but that merely told him that the Number Two Pro Hero was likely in a location that young Toya didn't feel safe placing a camera. Probably his father's office since Enji would likely have spent enough time there to spot any changes faster than elsewhere in his home.

A small hurdle that he could overcome should it become necessary.

With a few keystrokes he took steps to ensure that the incoming video feed would be recorded and stored on isolated data storage devices for safe keeping. The devices could only be accessed at certain times of the day and only from his office computer, his personal computer at home and his smartphone. Add to that a complex twenty-four digit password and he doubted that anyone looking to gain unauthorized access would be able to get very far without him knowing about it. If such a thing did occur he already had several plans for kicking them out or deleting the data in order to keep it out of shady hands.

"So now what?" Mirko asked having finished her visual surveying of the various camera feeds.

"Now we wait." He replied knowing this would displease the bunny hero, "I'll review the footage at the end of each day or when something gives me reason to in order to see if we've caught Endeavor redhanded. Once we have enough we can move on to phase two of the plan."

Yes.

Phase two.

While he'd like to think that Hero Public Safety Commission would do the right thing when they saw the footage he could not dismiss the possibility that they already knew. Young Toya was eighteen after all and had three younger siblings all of whom had likely been subjected to Enji's agenda in one form or another. Coupled with the strain it likely would've put on Todoroki Rei mentally and there would've been signs that agents of the Commission would've spotted. Given his own history and what he'd learned from other sources he knew that there were things that the HPSC did that they didn't want the public to know about. Many had a stake in maintaining the current status quo of society and would be willing to sacrifice justice to keep everything intact. Such people would want to keep Endeavour's actions buried and at most might suggest fabricating official reasons for Enji to keep his distance from his family. Anything that would be accepted by the public with little difficulty until such time as the members of the Todoroki family affected by Enji's obsession were strong enough to stand up to him.

In all practicality this probably would be the best outcome for those involved.

Toya and Alexandria were primarily concerned with the safety and overall wellbeing of those being abused after all. If those five could be relocated someplace and Endeavor made to keep his distance then a measure of peace and happiness could be fostered. The Public Safety Commission could keep their Number Two in place without threatening how the people perceived him and the man would no longer be able to pursue his agenda.

However there was a chance that either Toya or Alexandria would object to such token efforts being the extent of the consequences being dropped in Enji's lap. The former had been on the receiving end of his father's abuse for quite awhile and had it not been for Xandria's intervention could very well have died in the forest fire. In the case of the latter he was beginning to suspect that the girl had gone through similar situations with her own family and the similarities were making her particularly passionate about seeing justice done.

If both of them pushed for more and did not receive it they might well decide to make a public spectacle about it and to hell with the consequences to themselves or others.

That was why their plan called for something more difficult but at the same time more thorough.

Essentially it would involve the manipulation of various variables that would force the HPSC to take the strongest actions possible against Enji short of exposing the entire affair to the public. He was no fool and after some explaining both of the teenagers agreed however reluctantly with this one line in the sand. As much as they wanted to believe otherwise exposing the Number Two Pro Hero of Japan as an abusive husband and father by taking him to court would shake Japan if not the world. The entire current dynamic of the world hinged on Pro Heroes living up to the hype they were given as well as the depiction of costumed heroes in various works of fiction. The public needed to believe that so long as their Pro Heroes were there then those that would abuse their Quirks would be held at bay. The Villains needed to be convinced that if they committed a crime it was only a matter of time before a Pro Hero brought them to justice.

If something happened to put cracks in these perceptions and make both sides believe the truth was more fluid then chaos would flow into society like water from a cracked dam.

He'd seen the records of the early days of Heroes and Villains and met with a few elderly heroes that'd actually lived during those times and survived. Chaos, confusion and violence were the three things mentioned most often. In those days the prejudice against those possessing quirks was still strong enough to be felt and conventional methods of keeping the peace were often woefully inadequate. As such those with applicable quirks had taken inspiration from the heroes of their youth and donned colourful costumes before going to aid those in need. From there a path to peace and hope was opened but none educated in the necessary areas were foolish enough to take it for granted. Both desirable things had only lasted as long as they had because of the presence of legendary Pro Heroes whose strength and skill proved enough to keep the Villains from being too successful.

If a hero, the Number Two no less, were publicly exposed as having committed such horrendous crimes the people would begin to question if other Pro Heroes were guilty of the same if not worse. Suspicions would grow and he had no doubt that the Villains would do all they could to fan the flames in order to make things harder for their opposites.

Indeed with All For One still out there he had little doubt that the fiend would find ways to twist the proverbial knife in society's belly if only to revel in the chaos.

As such while he would work with the others to do all they could to hold Todoroki Enji accountable for his foul treatment of his family they'd keep it behind closed doors. The tricky part would be forcing the Commission to go that far with the matter instead of making token gestures.

"Then I'm outta here." Mirko said heading for the door, "Let me know if you manage to find anything shady. I wanna be there when that bastard gets the cuffs slapped on him!"

With that the number five Pro Hero of Japan left allowing him to once more direct his gaze to the incoming feeds from the micro-cams. In order to ensure that he was notified the moment something illegal was occurring he would likely need to write a suitable filter program and attach it to incoming video feeds. It would involve keying the program to recognizable signs of violence or abusive language but fortunately for him Endeavour had a tendency to speak in such a manner towards villains. It wouldn't be difficult to sift through various clips online and define the right tone of voice or specific words.

He did have responsibilities as the head of U.A High School after all and this matter involving young Toya was more something he'd taken on himself rather than an official assignment.

Nevertheless he would devote all of his considerable intellect to handling both to the best of his ability.

His pride would allow for nothing less.

U.A High School

One Week Later, Morning

Xandria's POV

~This world's fragile.~ She thought even as she listened to the teacher lecture.

It had to be if throwing the entire book at the Number Two Pro Hero of Japan for all to see was enough to send a seven point oh earthquake through society. Honestly if she had her way there wouldn't be a person on the planet that didn't see Endeavour as the asshole he was right before the bastard got tossed into Tartarus. No one could be allowed to be above the law, not even Pro Heroes, otherwise the truly corrupt ones would take full advantage of that loophole knowing they couldn't be punished too harshly. Sure the civvies would freak out a bit but she liked to think that they might also be reassured that Pro Heroes wouldn't get any special treatment if they broke the law.

Still Nezu had made some good arguments in favour of 'the plan' they were all following and so she'd agreed to toe the line along with everyone else.

At least until it became bluntly obvious that it wasn't going to work.

After that it'd be her plan and she'd relish the moment when Endeavor lost the only things he really cared about.

~^We weren't really doing something legal back home with the Scoobies you know.^~ Echo Willow thought in his mind, ~^We just did what we wanted even if it was illegal.^~

~We did it to help people! The Sunnydale PD was corrupt or clueless!~ She thought back defending the actions of the Scoobies, ~If we hadn't done anything Buffy would've died and the world would've ended!~

~^I'm not saying that what we did was wrong!^~ Echo Willow fired back at him, ~^It's just that… things aren't black and white Xandria. If the world's really as fragile as you think then that's all the more reason to protect it. Even if that means not getting everything we want.^~

She hated the fact that Echo Willow had a point.

This wasn't anywhere near as simple as just making a dramatic entrance and kicking ass. As flawed as the current system was its destruction would unleash utter chaos on the world for as long as it took to erect a better one. Whether it was short or long there would be much suffering, hardship and death before evil was once more pushed back into its place in the shadows. As much as she hated Endeavor and wanted him to pay for what he'd put Toya and his family through she couldn't let her zeal lead to suffering for innocent people.

Better to focus on her studies and be ready to play her role in the plan when the time came.

"Now if Miss Clairemont is done daydreaming let's move onto the most important part of today's classes: your internship with official Pro Hero agencies." Snipe said from the podium at the front of the class, "As you're aware part of the purpose of the Sports Festival was to make the representatives take notice of the abilities and progress of the participating students. Naturally depending on how much you stood out some representatives would submit requests without further evaluation whereas others will take their time in choosing who to have intern at their agency.

"Already we've received a number of requests for most of this class which I'll be handing out to you a moment." Snipe said raising everyone's interest, "Don't be disappointed if you're not one of the ones who get a stack of requests today. Like I said a lot of reps take their time to rewatch the Sports Festival in order to make the wise choice. Even if you get no requests U.A has a list of standby agencies willing to take in one or more of you in order to help gain insight into Pro Hero life and broaden your understanding of what'll be expected once you become a Pro Hero yourself. Be patient. You won't be left behind."

She'd been expecting this but she didn't need to worry about requests.

She'd already made it clear to Nezu that she wanted to go to an agency that would help her growth but also be one of the lesser visited ones by U.A students. She had no desire to reap the benefits of the fur ball's scheming but neither did she want to neglect her education on the path to becoming a Pro Hero.

Especially if her personal goal was to be brought to fruition.

She might've agreed to follow Nezu's plan for dealing with Endeavor but that didn't mean she couldn't add a little cherry on top to really make it hurt.

That personal goal?

To steal the number two spot from him as soon as possible in order to ensure the bastard spent the rest of his Pro Hero career looking at her back. If being stuck at Number Two behind All Might got him pissed then getting shoved behind someone younger than him would really shove a blowtorch up his ass. It'd be one thing if she took just as much time as Endeavor did to reach the top five Pro Heroes of Japan but if she could manage to do it in half the time or less she'd completely show him up.

With that in mind she'd been diving into her studies and training with a zeal that shocked both Echo Willow and Mirko.

Besides the topics covered in official classes she'd spent some of her own personal time reading up on subjects that would be useful when combined with her Rogue powers. Things like locations where she'd be able to make full use of her ability to fly and places where flying would be too difficult to be practical for the usual hero work. Then of course her superhuman strength needed to be considered since excess collateral damage would cost her in the end one way or another. Either she'd damage too much property or she'd wind up seriously hurting someone if not killing them in a moment of carelessness. That was why she was she'd put in a request to the support division of U.A to develop training equipment specifically meant to help her learn how much was too much for a given target. Since the adoption of science over superstition work had been carried out to find out things like how much force was needed to break a human bone or when a strike would wind up damaging internal organs.

All of these things would need to be taken into consideration as a Pro Hero if she wanted to succeed.

As far as interning at an official agency was concerned it'd teach her the logistics of being a Pro Hero in this world as well as the procedures she'd be required to follow by law. Being proficient in saving lives and catching villains was all well and good but it'd all prove pointless if she ignored the way Pro Heroes were expected to carry out their duties. While she imagined that there was a degree of flexibility and even a few acceptable exceptions since real life wasn't a classroom where variables were both controlled as well as expected. There were bound to be situations where the rules, procedures and guidelines would need to be compromised or ignored in order to do the most good.

The road to her personal goal was a long one but if there was one thing she agreed with when it came to U.A High School: a Pro Hero needed to go beyond what was considered normal in order to do their job. Someone aspiring to be a Pro Hero couldn't allow themselves to be content with just meeting the minimum standard needed for the job. Every day, every week, every month and every year they needed to push themselves to go even further beyond where they were before.

She would not allow herself any laziness along the path she'd chosen.

~Doesn't mean that I'm gonna be an all work and no play girl.~ She thought as Snipe continued to explain the internship, ~Everyone needs time to unwind and relax.~

She knew all too well that the number one pothole that workaholics tended to hit was burning themselves out from overwork. So aside from sleep she'd be sure to hand out with Kaoruko when she could but only as much as she needed to in order to offset the stress of her training.

She'd never been all that patient either as a guy or now as a gal.

"Miss Clairemont? See me after class." Snipe said once he finished laying out the particulars of the internship.

Naturally this had everyone look at her and drawing their own conclusions as to what she was being asked to hang back for after class. Judging by the vindictive look on Roxy's face the bitch no doubt thought that she was being punished for something or worse being told she was getting expelled. Deliberately looking away from the girl she instead focused on the lecture Snipe began to give that was at the core of today's class.

Time passed by as it did with her taking notes all the while Echo Willow gave her pointers on how to record the important information while letting the trivial stuff slide to the side. When the class ended everyone else walked on out she simply proceeded up to the front to find out what the Pro Hero teacher wanted.

"Principle Nezu told me of the request you made to him following your match with All Might during the Sports Festival." Snipe said taking out a single piece of paper from a folder in his hand, "It took him awhile to find hero agencies that met your criteria and were open to the idea of taking on an intern. You may choose from the agencies on this list."

Taking the piece of paper she began to go over those on the list.

The first thing she was able to confirm was that the names on the list didn't ring any bells so Nezu had listened to her by choosing agencies that weren't well known. When she looked at the information she could also see that the agencies while not located out in the boonies weren't near any areas that had a high rate of crime either according to her research. There'd still be stuff for her to do but she doubted that there'd be many headline making events to get excited about.

One after another she examined the agencies and their attached info but she didn't need much time to make a decision.

"This one." She said turning the paper around for Snipe to see and pointing at her choice, "Tell Principle Nezu to make the arrangements."

"Are you…sure?" Snipe asked sounding like he couldn't quite understand.

"It's the one place no one'll expect to see me at." She replied nodding her head to show her decisiveness, "Any newshounds lookin' to get a story about me'll come up empty handed unless they got some solid sources. Ah'll be able to focus on learnin' without getting badgered with questions."

"Learning to deal with the press is also a part of being a Pro Hero Miss Clairemont." Snipe pointed out after recovering from his confusion.

"If they want their questions answered they can wait for the police to make the official statement." She said showing she had no intention of giving the press the time of day, "A Pro Heroes priority should be saving and protecting the people. Not giving interviews or posing for the cameras. Any time they can waste on stuff like that they can put to better use training or doing their jobs."

"So you would have them never get to know you? Never find reasons to trust you outside of your diligence in your duties?" Snipe asked as though it was important to listen, "How can they trust you if they don't now you? If they don't trust you how can you save them?"

"They can trust that ah will always stand between them and harm." She said turning to leave the room, "They can trust that as long as ah'm able the Villains won't have time ta rest with me after'em. That'll be good enough."

After seeing how Endeavor operated she was more determined than before to follow her own idea of what a Pro Hero should be rather than conform to the general idea society had of the job. It would be her chosen path to the top and what she'd use to shame Endeavor and Pro Heroes like him to the bottom of their very souls.

She'd make it so those kinds of heroes would either change their ways…

…or change jobs to something more fitting to their interests and what was important to them.

If fame and fortune were what they sought they'd be better off going into showbiz or become professional athletes at one sport or another.

Fame and fortune were mere unintentional byproducts of a Pro Heroes true priorities bestowed upon them by others rather than something they sought out themselves.

These would be the rules she would live by as a Pro Hero to the end of her days.

An Inconspicuous Building in a Remote Part of Mustafa

Not Very Long Later

"How do you feel Master?" Doctor Garaki asked as the liquid from the tank finished draining out.

"Quite well my friend." He replied plucking up the house coat from the nearby chair and putting it on, "You do excellent work as always."

"No, no master. It's the good fortune we had finding someone with a regeneration quirk." Garaki said downplaying his own work, "With a bit of tinkering I believe I can accelerate its affects so that any injury you sustain will last no more than a minute at the absolute most."

"I look forward to seeing the results Doctor." He said sitting down in his favourite chair, "Now how are things progressing with the project I gave you before undergoing treatment."

"Of course. Fortunately for us I was already working on a similar problem at the time." Garaki said bring images up on the monitor, "At your request I began to explore the idea of turning street trash with useful combat quirks into foot soldiers for the war ahead. Fortunately there's no end to such trash so I haven't had to worry about the rate I've been burning through them. As any scientist worth their salt knows defeat can be even more useful than victory in making progress towards your goal.

"When you'd made the request I'd just finished successfully completed the design of what I'm calling the lower-tier creations. They're powerful enough to handle minor Pro Heroes and succeeded in surviving the quirk implantation procedure without melting." Doctor said showing the heads of the successful lower-tiers, "Their ability to act on their own initiative is virtually non-existent though and require instructions from a designated handler to perform any task. Naturally I knew that these would not be what would satisfy you so I began to make improvements and work towards the goal of making soldiers capable of handling any Pro Hero outside of the top twenty."

"Good, good. While the girl has the power to rival the higher ranks she was clearly inexperienced." He said recalling the fight that'd forced him into a period of recovery, "Had I been aware of her power absorption quirk I would never have allowed her to get that close to me. Indeed things would've been much different."

"Of that I have no doubt. Indeed with my newest model of soldier I can safely say it's almost a full two levels above my initial attempt which was more of a proof of concept than anything else." Doctor Garaki said bringing three images onto the screen, "These don't quite deserve a label like 'upper-tier' but with another year or so of work I can make one. After I finalized certain base traits I began to tailor them to be quite effective against your chosen target. Defense, offence and mobility have all been enhanced. I've even managed to rig a combination feature just in case though it is a bit unstable. If it works I can guarantee the target will be rendered completely helpless."

"Very good doctor. While it would be more prudent to simply eliminate the girl that would be a waste of a potentially useful resource." He said remembering the encounter quite well, "The ability to absorb the quirk of another and immediately be able to use it in combat. Even I need time with a new quirk before I can use it as well as the original owner but not her. If we could bring that ability to our side of the war and copy it onto all of your creations the Heroes would be helpless."

One could say that he should simply add Alexandria Claremont's quirk to his own and be done with it but they did not know what he did. In the moments following the use of her quirk the girl exhibited signs that she also took in a copy of the mind of the quirk's origin as well as the quirk itself. More than that the copy appeared to possess the ability to influence her and possibly seize control should her will prove too weak.

This was a decided difference from his own quirk.

While he could confirm that when he acquired a quirk for his own personal set he did have to put up with the annoying psychic echo of the previous owner they were never more than that.

An annoyance.

As such he felt it better to first test the copying of dear Alexandria's core quirk on Garaki's creations first was the better course of action. If it was proven that they could retain control of their soldier after the successful copying then he might be open to adding it to his set. However if the creation began to exhibit behaviour indicative of a mind of its own or more precisely HER mind to a degree that the Doctor couldn't adjust for then he would accept Miss Clairemont's death instead.

"All we require is to choose the right moment to deploy them." Doctor Garaki said leaving the images on the screen.

"Do not worry about that Doctor. Predicting the actions of your enemy is essential when fighting a war." He said grinning at the ease at which his desires could be fulfilled, "If I am right then All Might has almost certainly taken the girl to U.A where its rodent principal will choose to take her in both for her protection as well as to mold her into a future Pro Hero. During this time of year many of their students are placed in internships with various Pro Hero agencies across the country. Miss Claremont will be sent out as well and away from U.A High School she will be vulnerable."

"Is there not a chance that someone will be sent to protect her in anticipation of you making a move Master?" Garaki asked with some concern.

"Unlikely Doctor. I have something of a presence in case you've forgotten." He replied with a larger smile, "All Might and those who know of me will never let my existence become common knowledge due to the sheer chaos it would cause. As such they will not be able to reassign a suitable Pro Hero without a more acceptable reason or send her to the agency of one without a feasible reason. Given how enslaved Pro Heroes are to public approval most agencies will shun the girl to protect themselves leaving only a handful willing to allow her internship. It should be easy enough to find out which agency the girl can be found at and after that choosing the perfect moment to strike."

"I'll make sure these three are prepared for relocation immediately and call Giran to arrange discreet transport." Doctor Garaki said before walking off to put action to word.

Left alone with only the images of the three creations on the screen he wondered if they would truly be capable of capturing their target and delivering her safely to him. Oh he had faith in the Doctor's work otherwise he would never have allowed the man to get so close to him but the girl was an unknown quantity. Despite his efforts to learn more about her he had not been able to find anything definite through his American allies to substantiate the contents of her Japanese file. One would think that with such a powerful quirk and her acquisition of no less than three additional quirks the Americans would have a detailed file on her. Had he been based in the United States rather than Japan he would have even arranged for her to be placed close to one of the Pro Heroes under his control for 'educational purposes'.

It was a mystery but not one he felt motivated towards devoting further resources towards at this time.

If all went well he would have the girl in his custody and have ample time to pry the answers from her mind while at the same time reshaping her point of view into something more useful. He had no intention of abandoning Shigaraki Tomura as the next him but if he could craft the girl into a loyal lieutenant it would ensure that his 'successor's' reign would not be disrupted as his had. Indeed looking back on his defeat at the hands of the girl and his fight with All Might up until her arrival he had to concede that perhaps it would've been wiser to cultivate a second in command. A lieutenant would've been able to keep the girl busy long enough for him to either kill All Might or at least wound him using the special energies the doctor had cooked up for him. Either outcome would have furthered his plans nicely. A second in command would've also been able to handle his affairs while undergoing the Doctor's treatment ensuring there'd be no delays or a need for adjusting his timetable.

Something to consider in the weeks to come.

For now…for now he would wait to see how Alexandria Clairemont reacted to the good Doctor's creations and how well they fared against her.

He had no doubt that it would be quite entertaining!

Outside a Small Village Near Hyogo, Japan

One Week Later

Xandria's POV

~Looks like this is the place.~ She thought after coming up far enough on the hill to spot her destination, ~Hope I made the right call.~

~^You're the one that wanted a lesser known agency that rarely got anyone.^~ Echo Willow thought in her head, ~^Guess we know why now.^~

True.

When she'd chosen the Pussycat Agency she'd been expecting it to have a theme of cats but she'd been imagining a professional looking office with perhaps a cat shape incorporated into the sign above the door. As for the four heroes attached to it she'd been imagining the likes of Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat or perhaps someone with a physical cat looking quirk like Tigra of the Avengers. According to the information Snipe gave her they specialized in mountain rescue operations like finding people lost or helping those caught in landslides. Given the time of year she didn't know how many of either would happen but odds were high she'd get through the entire internship without doing anything exciting.

Not that she minded much.

Learning the logistic and paperwork side of being a Pro Hero would be useful as well since there'd be no avoiding it once she got her license and began hero work for real. Sure people would focus on the flashy stuff she did in the streets but it'd be the suits and desk jockeys that'd get on her case if she neglected to file reports or show up for meetings. Any tips she could get that'd help make those sort of things go smoother needed to be pursued.

Another advantage to taking an internship out in the boonies like this was that it afforded her a chance to train where the risk to innocent people would be minimal. Sure she couldn't go completely overboard with the destruction but if she could get a solid grip on at least two of the powers she suspected were within her it'd further her goal significantly.

Hefting the large case she had on her back she resumed walking towards the Pussycat Agency wondering if the inhabitants were as strange looking as the exterior of the building. She'd been required for the internship to bring her armour, that Power Loader had once more fixed much to his anger, but given its makeup she'd had to put it in a coffin-like case. If it weren't for her super strength she'd need to put wheels on the case to get it from point A to point B. In her other hand was the bag that carried a week's worth of clothes as well as her Pro Hero level toiletries since she found early on after Halloween that normal store bought stuff wouldn't work for her. It took an embarrassing amount of trial and error to get the hang of it but thankfully practice really did make perfect.

~Time to get things started.~ She thought as she arrived at the front door and reached up to knock.

"Rock on with these sparkling gazes!" A voice said out of nowhere making her stop in her tracks.

"We've come to lend a paw and help!" Another voice said from another source.

"Coming out of nowhere…!" A third voice said from yet another direction.

Then just as she was expecting yet another voice to appear there was an explosion of four different colours of smoke all around her making her cough at the air pollution. When it cleared though she had to wonder if she'd come to the agency of a cat themed idol group.

Four people, three girls and one guy, all dressed ins one combo of sleeveless shirt and a skirt of all things were posed before her with cat accessories helping to match the theme going on.

"…Stingingly cute and catlike! Wild, Wild Pussycats!" All four declared even as a final explosion of multicoloured smoke manifested behind them.

Honestly it reminded her of live action team oriented hero shows that'd been taken from Japan and adapted for North American audiences. She couldn't really remember the name…Power something or other…but she remembered the heroes in that show striking poses and having explosions happen behind them like it was normal. Then again she'd come from a world where there were no superheroes and those who fit the description preferred to work in the shadows. Seeing so many people in costume with powers that followed no real patterns that she could make out doing hero stuff still struck her as odd. Even with the mental baggage from Halloween it was different seeing and experiencing such things firsthand.

"Um…hi?" She said not quite sure what the right thing to say would be at this point.

If the four Pro Heroes had approached her normally like most employers would do upon their first meeting with an intern she'd have had a better idea. Just treat it like a job and ignore the rest. Be respectful to those above you and do your best to learn the ropes. Nothing more and nothing less.

This made her think she'd be flying by the seat of her pants for most of her stay here.

"Welcome to the Pussycat Agency Miss Clairemont." The brunette wearing the red, white and gold cat themed idol outfit, "I'm Mandalay the leader of Wild, Wild Pussycats and head of this agency. We're happy you chose to intern at our agency."

"Ah'm glad ya agreed to let me intern here." She said with a bow she'd gotten the hang of since coming to Japan, "Hope ta get a lot of trainin' and learnin' done here."

"Yeah, yeah! We'll show you everything you need to know!" The woman with the waist length green haired said almost skipping forward, "I want to get to know the girl who went toe to toe with All Might! It was SO cool!"

"Yeah…it was." She said honestly even as she wondered how many cups of coffee the woman had gulped down before showing up here, "Didn't last long though."

"Longer than anybody thought you would." The blonde in the blue and gold idol outfit said before extending a hand for a shake, "I'm Tsuchikawa Ryūko. Hero name Pixie-Bob. Nice to have you here."

"Nice ta be here." She said shaking the hand carefully keeping in mind her super strength.

"Well let's get you settled in." Mandalay said leading the way to the agency's front door, "We pretty much live and work out of this place. With our jobs focusing on mountain rescues in the area it wouldn't make since to work out of the city."

Following the experienced Pro Hero inside she found that the interior designer had definitely gone wild with the whole cat house theme with the striped wallpaper peppered with cat paw prints. From the furniture to the carpeting everything had something that made it clear it had been designed with cats in mind. HELL! Even the computers and appliances must've been custom designed to fit with the agency's central theme.

"Nice…place." She said deciding that even if it was strange it looked comfortable for the most part.

"We like it." The girl with the caffeine problem said moving about the room like it was impossible for her to stay still for more than a minute.

"This is our main work area where we handle the paperwork and receive requests for Hero work." Mandalay said gesturing to the desks with various brightly coloured odds and ends, "We've set up a smaller desk for you so you can get a feel for the side of Pro Hero work most people don't see."

"Yeah. The PAPERWORK!" Pixie-Bob said with exasperation, "Reports to fill out and mail. Phone calls to make and get. ARGH! Nobody told me anything about this when I said I wanted to become a Pro Hero!"

"She's not wrong." The muscled man dressed in a brown and white outfit that must've come as a package deal with the costumes the others had made, "You see Pro Heroes saving lives and stopping Villains but you never see the reporters showing you all the work going on behind the scenes."

"Probably figured people'd change channels if things got too boring." She said honestly doubtful that she'd have kept watching a show if it got too detailed about the paperwork side of being a Pro Hero.

"Got that right!" Green Caffiene declared returning to the side of her teammates, "Too bad we don't have the budget to hire some office staff to do it all for us."

"It's the way the system works. While all Pro Heroes get a base pay for their work everything else is determined by the number of people you save, the number of villains you capture and how much screen time you get on TV." Mandalay said not quite as bothered as her subordinates, "Still we do important work. Might not get as much Villain action as the cities but people get lost in the forest all the time, climbers have accidents and bad weather in places like this needs rescuers like us nearby."

True.

Hero work was about helping people and until the entire population of Japan moved to the big cities and never left it there'd be a need for Pro Heroes out in the wild.

~Still think the Hero Public Safety Commission could spare the yen for a small office team though.~ She thought as the tour continued, ~The time these guys spend doing grunt work is time they could be out there helping people.~

"Here's a small lounge area for when we have guests whether they're from the HPSC, the town leaders or people who need help." Mandalay said pointing at a small collection of chairs, tables and sofas, "Not much in the way of refreshments and food though. Just some vending machine snacks and some tea. Then, if you follow me, I can show you the second floor."

Following the fellow brunette they ascended a flight of stairs just out of sight from the public area of the agency building and thankfully it was a bit more normal looking. Sure there were still a handful of cat accessories laying about but it still looked more like an ordinary apartment with a living area, a kitchen and what looked to be five bedroom doors though one of them appeared to be shut.

"As you probably have guessed this is where we live when we're off duty." Mandalay said smiling and probably trying to look welcoming, "You'll be in the guest room we have during your internship. Usually it's just used for people we rescue or when my cousins come to visit but that won't be a problem."

"Not visitin' anytime soon?" She asked mentally noting where her room was.

"No. They work closer to the big cities to take on any Villains that make it past the city limits but don't feel like camping in the woods." Mandalay replied with a negative shake of her head, "Mostly just scum laying low until the heat dies down enough to come back out of hiding. It keeps them pretty busy but they still manage to schedule vacation time during the off season."

"Off season? Didn't think Villains had one of those." She said this being the first time she'd heard someone use the phrase.

"When you get right down to it Villains are people who want money and power but don't want to go through the legal way of getting either." Mandalay said as she led the group towards the bedrooms, "While there're bottom feeders who'd steal anything and everything they could get their hands on most Villains are after the big score. Tons of money, things that can be fenced for tons of money and ways of setting up a steady flow of money. Not many places where you can find any of that and when it comes to goods you can sell some times of the year are better than others. Conventions, big presentations and things like that."

Made sense.

The thugs and cannon fodder Villains would be too stupid to see the big picture and would choose to attack any target that struck their fancy. However the more cunning ones would draw up plans, choose their targets with care and cultivate power enough to keep what they'd obtained. Some of the delusional ones probably even aimed to become this world's version of the Kingpin of Crime. Those sorts of dreams couldn't be rushed and often went better if you exercised some patience.

Or at least that's how Hollywood portrayed it.

Seeing the door to her room open she found it was fairly simple in appearance and she could see some leftovers from a kid in the form of junk food wrappers but inly two or three. Obviously the Pro Heroes had done some cleaning to make things presentable but had missed a spot. No problem. She remembered missing a few spots herself growing up not due to lack of diligence but rather because of concealing corners or cracks.

"We'll leave you to get settled." Mandalay said bringing the intro to the agency to an end, "Lunch is in a little over an hour. You like katsudon?"

"Who doesn't?" She asked back having had her fill of Japanese food since waking up in this new world.

"Got that right!" Caffiene Green said showing her love of the meal.

With that being said the Pro Heroes left allowing her to set down the box containing her hero costume down in the closest available spot. Unlike other Pro Hero costumes that could be folded into a suitcase hers was far too solid for that. The only thing that could be folded was the full body sleeve that Power Loader had included in the design that the armour would be assembled on top of. Considering how high tech the suit was the box was solid metal and had a keypad lock built into it so that it'd be hard for someone to get it open without the code.

Not impossible for someone with the right quirk but it'd hold for a good while.

Taking the clothing suitcase she went to the closet to hang up her outfits but after opening it she found something had been placed there for her to find.

To be honest it looked like a cross between Felicia's costume and Patsy's outfit but modified to fit in with the Wild, Wild Pussycats costumes.

~One more thing to talk to them about at lunch.~ She thought since while the cat costume wasn't terrible it was too appearance oriented.

Function over form was her position.