Chapter 10: Time to Start
"Thank you all for coming," Nezu greeted his teachers, "With the Sports Festival days away, I wanted to touch base with everyone and see if there are any last-minute requests."
Aizawa immediately raised his hand, "No, Aizawa-kun, we can't cancel the Sports Festival." Aizawa grumbled as he lowered his hand, sinking into his capture weapon. "Even if there wasn't a threat to our students' safety, canceling it this late into the process would be disastrous for not just UA, but for everybody involved. Majima-kun, how are things progressing with updating security?"
A short, bare-chested man sat up straighter in his chair. His orange hair covering the entire upper half of his face, an excavator claw shaped helmet sat on the table in front of him, "They're about as good as they can get given the widescale changes you wanted," he tapped on the conference table, a holograph popped up, displaying a camera feed. From the looks of it, the view was of the conference room itself, "All of the cameras have been upgraded to have facial recognition with a direct link to multiple precinct servers for any and all processed criminals. The analysis is done in real time, and can work with a minimum of thirty percent facial clearance, with a ninety-seven percent accuracy rating."
"Wonderful!" Nezu chirped, "And the sensor array?"
Majima scratched his head, dismissing the holograph, "That one is still in the works, unfortunately. The villains that attacked the USJ had the forethought of ensuring we were completely blocked out for the duration of the attack, and because warp slash teleporting quirks are rare, I don't know exactly how to track it, let alone develop a way to scramble it. The footage we had from the attack helps, but there isn't much data I can pull from that."
He paused, taking in the confused looks of his coworkers and Nezu's expectant gaze, "Oh come on now, that wasn't even actual technical language!" Majima groaned, rubbing his temples. Under his breath he mumbled something, but no one was able to catch what he said. "No, the sensor array and scrambler aren't working yet. I know far too little about the warp quirk to develop any dependable means to work against it. Which means," he stressed this word a bit more, hoping that everyone else was still following, "There is still a chance that we could be attacked while the Festival is going on."
He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms, his fingers drumming annoyedly. A heavy silence fell on the room as they processed the fact that there was still a major threat to security.
"It's unfortunate, but this shouldn't be a problem," the spiky white-haired hero spoke up, trying to boost the morale, "We've already increased our in-person security five-fold. Principal Nezu said he was able to contract heroes to patrol around the grounds, and we'll have who knows how many plain-clothed cops walking around as well. Adding the upgraded cameras to the mix, I'd say we're pretty well covered. If someone tries to start something, they'll be shut down immediately."
"Vlad, while I appreciate your optimism, I don't think you truly understand the scope of the villains we're worried about," Aizawa spoke up, "These villains, Shigaraki and Kurogiri, they aren't your run of the mill bank robbers. Shigaraki is smart, and Kurogiri is an asset that we have no way of confronting."
"And I think you're overestimating them," Vlad replied gruffly, "I'm not going to act like I know what I'm talking about when it comes to the villains, because that would be an insult to everyone that was affected, but from what I've heard regarding them we don't need to worry about an attack during the Sports Festival."
The other teachers stared at Vlad, silently asking him to carry on, "If they're half as smart as you make them out to be, then a widespread attack is the last thing on their mind. All Might and Principal Nezu both said that there could be some ulterior motive to the attack, and I think we're witnessing it right now.
"Aizawa, your whole gimmick is making rational and logical decisions, but you pushing so hard to cancel the Festival is the exact opposite. Take a step back and think." Vlad could tell he had everyone's attention when he saw everyone's heads turn between Vlad and Aizawa. Anyone who has ever met Aizawa knows that he prides himself on non-biased and logic-based decisions, so being called out like this is unheard of. "You were attacked, but you came out relatively unscathed. All Might was attacked and came out no worse than he normally is. Your students were attacked and the worst injury was a broken hand. Shigaraki could've killed you and everyone there but didn't. Do you ever wonder why?"
Aizawa hissed, "Every day since. But what about Thirteen, then?"
"Thirteen was attacked and survived, had the worst injuries out of everyone, but will make a full recovery."
"Vlad-kun," Nezu interjected, his paws steepled on the table, "As much as I love hearing your opinion, might I remind you that we are still on a bit of a schedule. I have an idea of your point, but I would like for it to be made in a timely manner."
Vlad sighed, shaking his head, "I believe Shigaraki's ulterior motive was to create fear and panic, while making us doubt ourselves. He purposefully attacked the USJ and wanted to get in our heads. He wants us to fear him, and he did that by showing us exactly how easy it was for him to do it."
Aizawa was stunned into silence. Not only did Vlad call him out on irrationality, but it seems that he also was able to solve the problem that evaded himself, and even Nezu.
The staff liked to joke around a lot, and generally gravitated towards having Vlad on the receiving end because of his reactions, but they all forgot one thing: Vlad King was still a pro with a respectable record. He reacts accordingly based on the joke because he takes everything in at face value. With him being so far removed from the problem, he had the clearest look at the situation.
"What makes you so sure that he won't attack the Festival?" a voice asked. Vlad turned his head to face the hero it belonged to. The hero, in simple terms, looked like a block of cement, with small eyes set near the top of his head and mouth set in a perpetual frown, "If his goal was to create fear, then wouldn't the Festival be the perfect opportunity? Thousands, if not millions of people watch it from home, and at least tens of thousands will be present in person."
"Because of what All Might said," Vlad pointed at the man, who coughed up blood into a handkerchief.
"Wha- What did I say?" All Might spluttered.
"You said that he didn't seem crazed," Vlad pointed directly at him, "The type of people that would launch an attack of that magnitude on that many people has to be unstable to a certain degree. They want chaos for the sake of chaos."
"But because Shigaraki acted as if he had a certain goal, he doesn't fit that category," Aizawa finished. He sat slouched in his chair, seemingly deflating as his head dipped ever further within his capture weapon.
"The Sports Festival should go off without a hitch, yes," Vlad concluded.
After an undeterminable amount of time, Nezu spoke up again, "Does anybody have anything more to add?" He was met with a resounding silence, everyone still caught up in what they just witnessed, "Then I believe this meeting is adjourned. Please resume your preparations. The Sports Festival will begin in two days' time."
"Kagero," the speakers on the TV crackled to life, "The Sports Festival is soon. What do you plan to do about it?"
Kagero stopped typing on his laptop to peek at the TV. As always, no video was shown, but there was no mistake that All For One was on the other end. He glanced at Kurogiri, who stood at his place behind the bar, his eyes asking if he called. With no response from him, Kagero turned to face the TV fully.
"The only plan I have for that is simply to watch it from here. I would try to go in person, but All Might and some of the students saw my face," he responded, "I'm also certain that UA upped their security since the attack, so getting in and out of there unnoticed won't be as easy as before."
"Surely that isn't enough of a deterrent for you."
"It isn't, but I would have nothing to gain from seeing it in person. The entire event is televised, so I would arguably get a better idea of the students' skills than if I were confined to the stadium. The longer my exposure out there, the greater the risk I'd get found out."
"Your penchant for caution is admirable but there are times when you must take a bold step forward. If you continue to hide out, you not only eventually lose any courage you have to take that step, but you also lose any hope of growing. You have stated multiple times that you don't want to lose the momentum you gained, yet all you've done since is take heroes out of the picture behind the scenes.
"The only people aware of what you've done are in this room, the heroes themselves, and the Hero Killer. I heard your conversation with him, I heard the plans that you were making after Giran left, I heard what you did with the heroes. I may have given you my blessing for the long term goal, but you haven't been making any real progress towards reaching it."
Kagero could hear the subtle shift in All For One's voice the longer he talked. He heard it change from inquisitive, to lecturing, to almost impatience, "Do I have to step in for you?"
Kagero lightly bristled at the tone and implication, even Kurogiri's form faltered for a second. Kagero slowly turned his head to Kurogiri, silently he mouthed 'water' at him. A glass was immediately pushed forth, Kagero took a long sip before answering, trying to come up with an appropriate response.
"N-no, Master. That will be unnecessary," he eventually choked out.
"Is it not? You've shown me great potential with your work, yet ever since we had our talk, you have yet to truly take initiative. Your lack of action makes me wonder if you truly have your heart set on the motion."
"Master, if I may-" Kurogiri tried to placate.
"No," All For One cut him off, "I want to hear this from him."
Kagero felt like he was back in the room in front of All For One. He could feel the oppressing force he exudes, and couldn't help but stumble his way through as his mind raced to find a way out of the situation as close to amicably as he could, "I want to buy as much time as I can before I start making my moves. I used the USJ as a test." He paused, trying to find the words, "Society's been lulled into a state of relative peace because of All Might, and I learned that because of that, UA has become just as lax as everyone else. The rat calling himself principal isn't as omniscient or omnipotent he likes to believe, and because they're a school first, they have no real authority outside of school matters.
"The Sports Festival will be filled to the brim with heroes and civilians alike, and will probably be decked out with the best security UA could upgrade to in the time between. If I were to attack it, I'd be announcing myself to the whole world, which I'm not ready to do yet."
"Yet you're willing to show yourself to UA, one of the best hero schools in the country, with no problem."
Kagero perked up a little. He heard the tone change, but he didn't dare to get his hopes up too high, "I can deal with the heroes they have on staff, that much I'm sure of." He shifted a little in his seat, "I can deal with random heroes showing up in the city, but having everyone on the look out for me isn't something I want to deal with right now. That's why I want to recruit people first, bolster my numbers and cover my blind spots."
"Kagero, if you are looking to recruit, would it not be better if we ask around ourselves?" Kurogiri spoke up, "We have the list we received from Giran, so should we not follow up?"
He shook his head, "No, if we start going after them ourselves, we'll make ourselves look needy and desperate. And Master," he leveled a look toward the TV, "I'm sorry to say, but if you get more involved than you already are, we might end up with way more heat on both sides than I'd be comfortable with."
The bar stilled, anxiously waiting for a response. Kagero tentatively finished his water and passed the glass to Kurogiri, who carefully and quietly started to clean it off.
"That was well thought out, Kagero," All For One's voice cut through the silence, "Very well. I'll stay my hand for now, but I do expect results."
Kagero bowed his head towards the TV, "Thank you, Master. I promise I won't disappoint."
"See to it you don't."
The TV clicked off, leaving Kagero and Kurogiri to stare at each other, both releasing a relieved sigh.
"Kagero, do you truly plan on not attending the Sports Festival?" Kurogiri asked, "It would be no bother to me to warp you in undetected."
"I really wasn't planning on it, but after that I feel like I have no choice," Kagero lamented. "At the very least I'll get an idea of what kind of upgrades UA made, and maybe see who they can get to work as security."
Kagero puffed a little smoke in the air, leaning back into the chair he scratched the back of his head.
Getting into UA wouldn't be a problem. Getting recognized would be a pain. Getting out would be even more so. Maybe I'll see if our little helper can't do anything about that…
His phone rang, taking him from his thoughts. Not looking at who was calling, he picked it up, "What?"
On the other side of the call, an annoyed grunt came out, "Nice to hear from you too. Listen, I don't know what you did or said to the Hero Killer, but now I'm getting contacts and requests left and right."
Kagero sat up, his attention fully on the conversation, "I went through most of them, but only three stood out so far. Do you want me to tell them to go to your place or are you going to pick them up?"
"Hmm, tell them to gather at Buraka Scrapyard tonight at nine, I'll have Kurogiri bring them over. I want you here as well. You can either join them or get here however you normally do." Kagero ended the call there.
"I assume Giran came through?"
"He did," Kagero tapped on the bar top in thought, "Maybe there is something to do about the Sports festival after all."