Chapter 26: Long Night Ahead

"So what do you do in your off time?" Shimura asked as he dusted himself off.

True to his word, Shimura tried out the suggestions Nezu brought up, save for the more direct application, and he found that his decay is dependent on intentions. However that works. If he wanted a portion of a wall gone, it stopped when it was gone. The decay wouldn't spread like cancer. It was localized at best and distant if he wanted to disintegrate the object entirely. If someone was against that wall, they would be safe from the decay spreading.

Finding that out lifted a weight he didn't know was on his shoulders.

He and Thirteen spent most of their time at the USJ, something that terrified him to begin with, but Thirteen knew how to take things slow. They weren't one of the best rescue heroes for no reason. They eased him into it, making use of UA's multiple gyms and grounds to simulate disaster scenarios, and slowly ramping up the intensity until they were nearly at the USJ's medium difficulty setting.

To no one's surprise, Shimura thrived in zones that were set up like earthquakes and landslides. Being able to remove the rubble easily or creating the fastest way to the victim while making sure the structures were still stable felt all too natural for him.

Thirteen was stood at the Collapsed Zone's control panel, fiddling with settings and dials, "What do you mean?"

"You're a rescue hero, but your specialty is widespread disasters. I'm grateful there haven't been many disasters, believe me, but are you always just on-call?" He hefted a mannequin onto his shoulder while he picked up a smaller one and tucked it under his arm. He walked back to the zone's control area and deposited them there, "Are you called out all the time? Are you on reserve?"

"Just because I specialize in disasters doesn't mean I don't help out where and when I can," they replied sagely. "I'm still a hero, and while I'm primarily rescue, that doesn't mean I can't help out with a villain encounter, especially if said villain has a particularly destructive quirk. Beyond that, I'm almost always running through simulations here, or planning a talk at a seminar, convention, or conference, or even just doing my work at UA."

"So you never get any time off."

They chuckled, "A hero's job is never over. You'll come to know that soon enough."

Shimura opened his mouth to ask the next question but stopped himself, the question at the tip of his tongue, but he swallowed it back down. Now isn't the time for that one.

Instead, he pursed his lips in thought but didn't carry on the conversation. He went back to retrieving the dummies so they could move to the next exercise. Up next was the Flood Zone, and he wasn't looking forward to it. Thirteen tried and offered to put it off in consideration of him, but he knew that he couldn't avoid it forever. Thankfully the zone wasn't just centered around that boat, but also had a portion that looked like a port-side town. Little wins.

The "town" was situated behind a dividing wall, on the other side was the open water and boat. A portion of the wall was opened, allowing the water to spill into the town, simulating a dam breaching.

He ran through the simulation much slower than those previous. The longer he took, the more the water slowly started to rise, and the amount of time spent walking was slowly giving way to time spent swimming or diving. The longer he took, the less air the victims had access to. Just like with every other disaster, time was of the essence, but it's more prominent in this scenario.

Minutes went by, and if his count was right, he had two more dummies to rescue, but they were stuck in a two-story building closer to the hole, and he was in a higher one. What air pockets they would've been using would be shrinking quickly. He was running out of time.

Dropping down onto the building's ceiling, he made a hole to enter. If things went according to plan, that would be his exit as well. He searched the floor room by room before confirming they weren't there. He ran back to below his entrance hole and crouched, making another right beneath him.

The floor gave out and he dropped into water, yelping in surprise. He quickly swam back up to get a big gulp of air before plunging back down.

The underwater portion was completely lit up, something he was grateful for, but made a mental note to add flashlights to his costume. He swept the first floor much like how he did the second, clearing it room by room, and periodically decaying holes above him so he could catch a full breath, but he couldn't find his last two targets.

He was starting to worry. He might be dealing with mannequins and dummies, but Thirteen made it clear to treat them as if they were real people. It's been far longer than any normal person could hold their breath for, and unless they had an aquatic mutation, their chances would be looking slim. He did one more sweep as quick as he could before he found a door blocked by a fallen over cabinet, probably toppled by the initial onslaught of water. The hinges displayed on the outside. His heart sunk.

He swam as hard as he could toward the door and decayed it. Immediately, two bodies floated into him, a large one and a smaller one. He looked over the mannequins for their "vital" readings and saw a flatline. The building had a basement. The cabinet against the door and the added weight of the water would've made it extremely heavy to push against to open.

He sullenly grabbed the last two victims and swam his way back out towards the way he came, using the holes he made on the way in to catch a breath. Once he was out, an alarm sounded signaling the end of the exercise. His chest heaved as he laid down on the building's roof, the two victims besides him. He heard Thirteen's hurried steps as they ran to meet him.

"Shimura!" they cried, kneeling next to him as they moved their hands over his body, "I'm so sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen. I made sure to at least make the start of the exercise at sixty percent to an actual, but sixty percent is still more than enough to cause damage."

"Does it bother you that you're a rescue hero sometimes?" he asked suddenly, his voice shaky. Thirteen's attention snapped to him, "You're always on the site after the disaster happens, right?"

The eyes on Thirteen's helmet displayed full circles, the equivalent of someone's eyes widening in surprise or realization. Thirteen adopted the tone of voice they would use when comforting someone, "Shimura…"

He brought his arm up and covered his eyes, "How often do you get there and no one's alive to save?" He sniffled and brought his arm back down. He turned his head to look at Thirteen, tears pooling at the edge of his eyes, "What do you do if you're too late?"

Following their talk, Manual pulled Iida off to his office. Iida sat in the chair offered while Manual punched in a code on the keypad to his right. The wall receded and pulled up, hidden behind was a map of the city marked with X's, O's, and small pictures of heroes.

"I know we just went over this, but I'm really sticking my neck out here, Iida-kun. What I'm about to go over is extremely confidential, and not to mention way above yours and my paygrades combined," Manual warned. "Please don't make me regret this."

Iida gave him a serious nod, but no verbal response. Manual shook his head and sighed, "Let's do this, then."

Manual explained the map and the markings. The black X's show where a hero was found dead. The blue X's was where a hero was found but the area was burnt to a crisp. The red X's were Stain-confirmed kills. The red O's were where heroes were found and recovered. There was only one of those.

Iida was soaking up everything Manual was throwing at him, committing every little fact or theory regarding the killings to memory.

"The locations where the heroes were found all checked the same criteria: back alley, quiet, and three blocks away from the nearest agency, police station, or location the hero was known to frequent." Manual debriefed. As he gave the last point, his expression soured, "It's like he's taunting us with these locations. It would've taken less than three minutes for reinforcements to come, but they were always too late."

Iida studied the map intently, already mentally marking locations for possible sites Stain would use. Minutes ticked by before Iida realized Manual had stopped talking, the tunnel vision he was feeling suddenly receded and he looked to Manual.

"Forgive me, Manual, I got distracted. Could you please repeat the last part?"

"There wasn't much left to say, so I let you have some time to yourself. I guess at this point, I suppose you have questions?"

Iida thought hard. He had questions, but if he asked them, then Manual would know for a fact Iida was planning something else. "Are we going to do anything regarding this information?"

"Stain's long broken his pattern of four kills per city, but we're banking on the other half of it. Stain never stayed in a city longer than a month, and we're almost two and a half weeks in, and as much as I am loathe to admit it, this city is lacking in heroes."

He tapped the map twice, "Between Stain and our arsonist, Hosu has lost nearly the top twenty biggest and strongest heroes it had to offer. All that are left are either small-time heroes like me, or the stronger sidekicks. To make up the difference, the HPSC is bringing in other heroes to crack down on the city and try to find Stain before he leaves. Since there aren't many left, they're assuming he's going to pack up and go somewhere else soon."

"You're going to try to keep him in the city," Iida summarized. "If heroes are coming in, then how come we haven't seen them when we go out for patrol?"

Manual's gaze turned serious, "Because they're all expected to start trickling in tonight. We're going to comb the city and not leave a single stone unturned. Until Stain is found, we'll have heroes patrolling the city twenty-four seven."

Which means all I have to do is find him first. "Then we should get some rest for tonight."

"Start packing, Sparkplug. We're leaving." Conduit said as he passed by the bathroom, Kaminari sitting on the toilet applying ointment to the numerous bruises that marked his legs and arms. Hearing Conduit say that, Kaminari nearly fell to the ground. He hurried to the door, gripping the door frame as he leaned into the hall.

"Where we headed? Kitakyushu? Kumamoto? Nagasaki!?" Kaminari asked, growing more excited as he listed out cities and prefectures.

"Hosu."

Kaminari's mood dampened immediately, "Oh. But uh, that's like a half a day away. I don't think I can line ride for that long yet."

"You can keep your balance just fine, and you're constantly connected to electricity, negating your exhaustion. The only reason you say that is because you're scared," Conduit listed out.

"Well when you put it like that…"

Conduit rolled his eyes, "If you really can't do it for that long, we'll catch a train on the way." Kaminari still looked uneasy despite the generous compromise. Conduit would've written it off as nerves, but he took a long hard look at Kaminari. "You're scared of Stain."

"Is it that surprising?!" Kaminari exclaimed, "And it's not just Stain. One of my friends is in Hosu, and I may be me, but it's pretty obvious he's going after Stain."

"You're not expected to fight him. Hell, the only reason you're coming along is because the HPSC put an all-hands and all-points bulletin out. All independents able are expected to join the hunt, and since I'm independent, you're stuck with me." Kaminari blanched, "Kid, seriously. I wouldn't want you coming along regardless. My hands are tied, but at least this way you'll get the truest glimpse at the dirty side of heroics. I'd rather you go through that with me than with literally anyone else. Or even worse, on your own."

Kaminari still looked scared, but he could see Conduit's logic. He gulped and nodded shakily, "Fine, but when we go, we're meeting up with my friend, and we're sticking with him the entire time."

"I'm not babysitting another snot-nosed brat."

"Then you go off and leave me with him."

"Kid…"

"Let me have this!" Kaminari pleaded, "When this is all over, I'll do whatever you say, no questions. I've got a real bad feeling about this."

Conduit studied Kaminari, scanning his face for any hints of hesitation, searching his eyes for a crack in his resolve, but found nothing. He growled, "You're lucky you're not the only one that feels like this whole thing is bullshit. We leave in twenty."

Kaminari fist pumped and ran off to his room.

An excited air filled the bar, but tension still bled through. After nearly a week of searching and another three days of waiting, their efforts have paid off. Stain is due to meet with them today.

"This goes without saying, but I'm doing it anyway because you all act like children when it comes to him," Kagero addressed the League, his gaze lingering longer on Dabi and Toga. They were all sat in the bar, Dabi and Toga in their usual attire and Mustard with his helmet sitting in front of him. Jin was now dressed in a black and grey bodysuit and matching grey boots. His head was covered with a mask, the top half grey with white eye sockets, the lower half a solid black that blended in to his suit. He wore rounded red wristbands with a green band on his arms, "Outside of greetings, if we even do that, none of you are to speak unless spoken to. We've been treading on thin ice since I first spoke to him, but now the ice is cracking, and Stain has a hammer. We do not want to be enemies, so don't do anything that could provoke him any further than what we've already done."

He was met with a round of nods, everyone slightly cowed by the venom and emphasis he put into his last sentence. Kagero nodded once, "Mustard." He sat straighter in his seat, "This is your first real contact with a villain outside of this group, and he is dangerous. What is your job?"

He swallowed before answering, looking straight ahead, "I sit there, I say nothing, and I take notes."

"What do you do if Stain talks about you, or speaks to you directly?"

"I say nothing."

"Wrong," Mustard flinched. "If he talks about you, you say nothing. If he talks to you, you answer. What did I say before?"

Mustard searched his memory, "You said not to speak unless spoken to."

Kagero hummed and moved on. He took a step and stood in front of Dabi and Toga, "You two. Either through your combined efforts or sheer luck, you were able to get Stain to meet with us, so credit where credit's due. Regardless, you two are on an even shorter leash. I may have instigated it, but you were the ones that actively went against our initial agreement. Again, I don't need to say it, but you will give Stain his due respect. This shouldn't be a problem for either of you, correct?"

Both nodded, both with a serious expression. Toga's cheeriness and Dabi's nonchalance were replaced by focus and attention, but excitement was still brimming just beneath the surface.

"Good." Kagero reached up and clicked a button on his right earpiece, his mask folded out and covered his face, "Kurogiri, bring him in."

Kurogiri's portal opened in the middle of the bar. It sat undisturbed for a few seconds before it wavered a little. Stain's spiked boot came through first. His hunched figure caused his face to come through next before the rest of his body. His eyes were immediately taking in the surroundings, taking stock of everybody in the room, gauging the distances to the door to the outside and the one leading into the rest of the building, scanning the hallway that led to the bathrooms, everything.

The League couldn't help but be impressed at his instincts, the air around him radiated with barely restrained displeasure. Mustard felt a chill run up his spine and fought to keep himself from cringing. Jin looked anxiously between Stain and Kagero, unsure if he should do anything to release the tension. Toga's eyes were wide and dilated as she swayed ever so slightly on her stool. Dabi was stricken with awe, his mouth slightly opened as if he was looking upon the face of God.

"Kagero Shigaraki," his grated voice spoke, "You had better make this worth my while. I left this bar under the assumption we would stay out of each other's hair, yet your little puppets were out making a show."

"Stain," Kagero greeted evenly, "Sorry about all of that, but the more I thought about our last conversation, I realized there was still some stuff to gain if we… amended our current agreement."

"So your first thought was to immediately renege it."

"Would you have done anything else if you were in my shoes?" Kagero bit out, temporarily losing his composure. He took a breath to center himself, "If you were chasing a ghost, how would you find it? Play nice? Bring it something to connect with? No. You'd provoke it into giving you a response."

Stain huffed, "So what is it you want this time? By the looks of things, you're no longer desperate for new members." He swung his arm, gesturing to everyone else, "Money? Respect? Prestige? Do you not already have those?" Stain hunched forward a little more, his eyes boring into Kagero's, the tension in the room rising a notch, "Or maybe you're looking to remove me from the picture entirely?"

Stain slowly reached for one of the daggers sheathed to his side. Toga leaned forward as well, her hand sliding to the knife strapped to her leg. Dabi's hand started to smoke. Kurogiri's form bristled at the perceived danger and he caught the slightest hint of Mustard's quirk in the air, Impressive reaction. He's improving, but Kagero held a hand up, staying them.

He knew Kurogiri would side with him, Mustard too. Jin probably would as well, but he saw how he was becoming friends with Toga. If it came to blows, with Stain in the room, Toga and Dabi were no longer with him. They might be on the fence, but their toes were already on Stain's side. He couldn't count on them, and if Jin sided with Toga, he would need to go first. It would be a shame to lose two promising assets and a gold mine, but sacrifices would have to be made.

He kept his hand up, slowly bringing his other to his mask. He pressed on the lower canines, retracting his mask, showing Stain his full face. To show he wasn't above fighting as well, he puffed a small ball of fire, "Let's all calm down a little, yeah? Just like last time, I only want to talk. I've got a proposition that you might want to hear before we tear each other's heads off. Maybe a drink to settle our nerves? If not, the least I ask is that we move outside. I'd hate to make a mess here, and I'm sure Kurogiri would appreciate that as well."

Stain continued to stare, but slowly removed his hand from the knife's handle. Seeing Stain stand down, Toga and Dabi did as well. Kagero kept his hand up until everyone settled back down. He glared at Kurogiri in warning before he eventually dropped his hand as well.

"No drinks. No bullshit. No stalling," Stain stated.

Kagero smirked, the right corner of his mouth pulling a little higher, "I understand you've hit a plateau of sorts while in Hosu. As such, I've got a warning and an offer."

Stain watched every muscle in Kagero's face, listened to every tone and syllable in his voice. He gave the tiniest nod to continue.

"My warning is this: If you stay in Hosu any longer, you will be caught. It's not a matter of if anymore, but when. They know your pattern of four heroes per city, with a maximum of a month residency. You're running out of heroes to cull, so now you're planning to move on. They've caught on to that as well. As we speak, heroes from all over are converging in Hosu, casting a net, and preparing to reel it in. With the mess you've caused there, I wouldn't be surprised if Numbers One and Two showed up too."

In the corner of his eye, he saw Dabi tense a little, trying to disguise it as a sound of disgust. He smiled inwardly, that confirms that. "My offer is a choice: I'll transport you out of the city to your next location or…" he trailed off.

Stain leaned forward ever so slightly, clearly enticed by the prospect of making a clean getaway, but not completely hooked yet. Kagero could see his companions' reactions as well, they were just as entranced despite the offer not extending to them.

"… you can use this opportunity to take out as many of the Fakes you hate so dearly in one fell swoop."

The tension in the bar dissipated in an instant. Stain wasn't the most expressive outside of near-manic grins, but Kagero could read him just fine. Stain stood a little straighter, the aura surrounding him vanished and the look in his eyes lost their sharpness, but there was still the slightest bit of hesitance.

"What do you gain from this? Everything I'm hearing only benefits me," Stain eventually commented. Dabi shifted on his stool, watching and listening carefully. The deal Kagero was making was lined up almost exactly like his own – stacked too heavily on one side. Is this how he wins people over? Similarly, Mustard was jotting down his observations, soaking up everything about Kagero's actions in hopes of one day being able to emulate him.

Kagero put on a fake offended scoff, "Is it so wrong to want to help out a potential partner and fellow villain every once in a while?" He nodded towards everyone in the room, "Relations like ours is a give-and-take. All I've been doing is taking from you, so now I want to do a little giving."

Stain growled, "I said no bullshit, Shigaraki. What is your stake in this?"

Kagero smiled lightly, "I get to put the heroes through the wringer without having to lift a finger. We've established our goals are similar, but our methods differ. You like being quiet, while I don't mind a little bit of chaos. You like going at heroes one at a time, while I enjoy group tests.

"I'll sprinkle some chaos in Hosu as a stress test for the heroes while you sit back and observe. Instead of ambushing on random days, use the cover of my attack for your hunt. Find the heroes you were already gunning for and judge them when their true character shines through, take them out like you planned. Anyone you leave alone I'll deal with."

Kagero could see that he was slowly winning Stain over, but there was still something holding him back from agreeing completely. He chanced a glance at everyone else in the room and saw them all looking expectantly at Stain, none more than Toga. He could tell that she was begging as much as she could without speaking that Stain would accept, her hands clasped as if in prayer and her eyes were wide and pleading.

Stain was quiet for a stretch, clearly debating with himself and weighing the options. Kagero shrugged and turned his attention to Kurogiri, silently asking him for a drink. If Stain wanted to think, then he would give him all the time he needed. There's no point in pressing the issue when the ball wasn't even in his court.

Everyone was shocked at how easily Kagero dismissed his guest. Dabi felt a brief spark of anger towards Kagero for the blatant disrespect. He nearly scolded Kagero before Stain surprisingly moved to sit next to him, also ordering a drink.

"Why would you go so far for me? Why offer this now instead of when we first met?" Stain asked in quick succession.

Kagero swirled his glass idly and took a sip before responding, "You changed your MO and threw the heroes through a loop. I'm just making the best of the opportunity you created. Like I said, I'm doing a little bit of giving this time. Helping you is out of courtesy."

They fall into another silent spell, the only sounds in the bar were the air conditioner's hum, bated breaths, and the sound of glass on wood. Kagero kept his eyes focused on his drink, watching it swish and swirl against the glass while he let Stain continue to think.

Mustard and Jin relaxed minutely at the lapse in conversation, using this time to stretch and move around, taking extra caution to make sure Stain knows he wouldn't be attacked. Dabi gave in and ordered a glass for himself as well. Toga dropped her chin to the bar top, quietly blowing raspberries to herself.

"I prefer working alone, at my own pace, and in the quiet," Stain finally broke the silence, everyone's heads turning to look at him. "If what you say is true about heroes coming in to Hosu, then it saves me a lot of trouble and planning."

Kagero hummed, his expression giving nothing away but he was extremely pleased all the same. He turned to look at Stain, who was looking at him with begrudging respect, "So what are you going to do about it?"

"This is it. We will work in tandem this one time. Afterwards, you are to never contact me again. We are to go our separate ways and you will never seek me out for any reason. I will still honor the original agreement of sending anybody who comes to me your way. If I'm bothered by them, they will be nothing but a burden for me. I expect you to hold up your original end," Stain laid out his terms.

Kagero smiled, nodding to Kurogiri who produced another bottle and filled their now empty glasses. Stain noticed it was the same sake he had the first time around. Kagero grabbed his glass and lifted it up, Stain did the same. They clinked their glasses like old buddies and downed the contents.

Toga squealed with glee at the sight while Dabi released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"I don't doubt your skills, but are you planning on laying siege to the city all by yourself?" Stain asked, trying to gauge Kagero's plan, "Or are you going to employ your members?"

Kagero chuckled darkly, "While that would be delightful, I've prepared some gifts for the heroes. Kurogiri."

A portal opened and Kagero walked through. Stain followed a few steps behind, everyone else bringing up the rear. Kurogiri came in at the end, the portal receding into him.

When they exited, they were stood on a rooftop overlooking Hosu. Night had fallen, but they could all see an increased number of heroes patrolling the streets, their bright costumes hard to miss. Kagero walked to the edge and turned back around to address the group.

"While I would love to attack this city on my own, I know my limits. That's why I have these instead." He gestured to the side where another portal opened, and three figures emerged at the same time. The League cringed in disgust as they saw what exited, Mustard nearly throwing up at first sight.

The biggest of them had black skin covered with muscles and bright red scars, wearing only a pair of blue jeans and what looked like a baseball catcher's shin guards. Its head displayed its brain, much larger than normal with only the lower jaw showing, its lips gone displaying nothing but gums and teeth.

The yellow one had a pair of massive wings, pointed at the tips and torn on the webbing. A rebreather-looking device was fixed on its mouth, its feet deformed to look like a raptor's claws.

The final was pale green and lanky, its limbs longer than normal. Its mouth hung open while four beady eyes were settled on its exposed brain.

"Nomu!" Kagero yelled, the three beasts snapping to attention, awaiting orders. "Wreak havoc. Cause chaos. Scatter."

In response, all three let loose inhuman screams and jumped off the building. Moments later, terrified screams filled the air.