Hello again, everyone. Well, this was not how I expected this to go, but the holiday season has been very stressful for me, which has made it difficult for me in terms of writing as much as I'd hoped to by this point. i'm still in the process of finishing up this adaptation of the third MHA movie, but since you've all been waiting with exceptional patience, more so than I would've had if I was in your position, I wanted to give you all something. I've managed to complete another two chapters at this point, so I'll be uploading both of those back-to-back today as a Christmas gift to all of you, as thanks for sticking by my side all this time. It means so much to me, more than you could ever truly know. I hope you'll all enjoy these two chapters, and that they'll help tide you over while I wrap up the rest.

I've also decided to once more change my uploading style again going forward. From now on, I'll be uploading three chapters at a time as they're finished, so that you don't all have to face months of waiting without any updates when it comes time for me to tackle the huge story arcs we know are coming up.

Thank you to all of you that have continued to read this story after all this time; thank you to my beta readers and consultants, Jonny and Carlos; and thank you to all the artists on DA that have thus far helped to bring this story to life, with hopefully more to join in the near future.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them, except for the character of Stampede Hopper, who belongs to Carlos.

Chapter 139

On the Run

(В Бегах)

Kyushu, Japan, Thursday, January 15th

The interior of Fatgum's office hung with the most foreboding silence once Tunguska had finally forced himself to hang up his call with Nikolay after everything they had just learned from the news; nearly every major network around the world blaming him and Izuku for the death of twelve civilians in Otheon from out of nowhere.

Everyone's hearts were pounding hard with anxiety and concern for their friends and classmates, as they had made no secret of when they had likewise managed to get through to Nikolay on their phones, while Izuku's number had proved infuriatingly busy. But as Eijirou, Maja and Tetsutetsu looked to Tunguska, they could all naturally see that even their tense emotions paled next to his.

Even with his back turned, there was an unmistakable aura of building silent rage emanating from his wide muscular frame, and it was enough to keep all the students glued to where they stood, with Fatgum and Vlad King exchanging similarly worried glances with each other, before the BMI Hero finally spoke up: "Tunguska-san…"

"I need a minute."

This was all Tunguska bothered to say, not wanting to hear any of the countless different platitudes his work partner or students could come up with to try and ease his mind, before he swiftly turned upon his heels and made a beeline out the nearest door; thankfully the one that led to the agency training room, his bristling emotions coming through with the door slamming deafeningly behind him.

KRRRAK!

And that was swiftly followed by the piercing sound of Tunguska undoubtedly punching a hole through one of the solid concrete walls within.

Of course, absolutely none of them could blame him for venting like this. It was just about the one thing he could do that wouldn't involve taking it out on anyone else, whether it be them or the next hapless criminal they were bound to go after the next time the agency got a call for assistance.

After how many times the older Russian had expressed his regrets at having not been there to aid his son in times of danger, he once more found himself in that same situation, but now at an insurmountable distance, and all while Nikolay found himself in the crosshairs of Villains and police alike, with no Pros to help him, nobody but Izuku. But even for as resourceful and courageous as both those boys were, it could do nothing to ease Tunguska's anger at his own inability to be there to protect his own child again. These were odds unlike anything either of them had faced before.

While this was how the Quirk History teacher was choosing to act upon having to say goodbye to Nikolay, practically throwing him to the proverbial wolves; the students could all see they were thinking the same thing when looking to each other: they could only hope that the rest of their friends were handling this remotely better.

Sydney, Australia

"And just where exactly do you think you're going, Pinky?" Mirko asked sternly, practically planting her feet where she stood; a one-woman bulwark before the exit to the Stampede Hopper Hero Agency.

The moment Mina had been forced to tearfully end her fateful phone call with Nikolay, the young pink Hero had wasted not even a moment before she began to make a mad dash for the door. But now, with her internship mentor and the three accompanying Australian Heroes all standing at the ready around her, all of them able to easily read her intensified body language, Mina was refusing to back down. "Where do you think, Sensei? My friends are being set up and have little to no help they can actually go to. I need to get out to Otheon and help them; they need it now more than ever!"

"And how exactly do you think that's gonna pan out, girl? A flight from here to Otheon would take an entire day, and you have no idea just exactly how many police or Villains could be gunning for them, even if you were to find them." Tas-Maniac suddenly pointed out with no noticeable sympathy in her tone as she likewise stared Mina down.

"Besides, you heard the old man over the phone just the same as they did: this is clearly a frame job, probably by Humarise themselves, to try and thin out Hero ranks wherever and however they can. They're gonna be sending everything they have at all of us before long if they're pulling something this bold already; so we need to stay shored up together." Stampede likewise chimed in, while Mirko kept her arms firmly crossed.

"You're not using your head, Pinky. If your quivering-voiced little sweetheart could manage enough to try and leave your little call on even that much of a positive note, then doesn't the idea of you abandoning the duty you agreed to, just to come bail his ass out, sound like you'd just be insulting his wishes? You're forcing me to talk all sentimental and crap, so just stop and think real hard about how dumb an idea this is."

But even under the intense stare of the Rabbit Hero before her, Mina's pink fists were still tightly clenched and shaking at her sides, her teeth biting her lower lip tight as her eyes stung with tears. "I don't care. Someone is trying to go after Kolya-kun and Midori-kun, and one way or another, I'm going to try and help them! I have to at least try that much! Now please just move out of my way, Sensei!"

The moment Mina tried to make a stride for the door, Mirko instantly lifted a single foot up, her toes just barely prodding at her intern's chest. "That's not going to happen, kiddo. I'm not about to let you go off all half-cocked into the field like this, and if you're really about to start throwing hands in order to get there, then know that you're gonna lose."

Mina didn't even give a hint that she'd already been eyeing the window as a second means of getting out; hence it actually took Mirko and the other Heroes a half-second to react when she suddenly broke into an Acid Slide for the nearest one; mentally preparing to dive through and use Acid on her fingers to help catch the side of the building and slow her descent to the streets below. From there, she could break into a lightning fast and consistent slide through the streets for the airport, maybe even fast enough to actually give this bunch of Pros a run for their money.

Of course, that was the thought, before Mirko came rebounding off the floor and ceiling, ricocheting until she was landing in a low and aggressive squat between her student and the window, while Stampede had likewise bounded for the door, with Mantypus and Tas-Maniac likewise positioning themselves in front of the other windows. No matter what route Mina was going to try to take to get out, she was going to have to fight for it.

Fortunately for her, though, she'd had enough practice so far to know how Mirko fought, so she was ultimately going to be the easiest. The Rabbit Hero herself could clearly see which route of escape Mina had settled on as well, as she suddenly threw herself into a blindingly fast low spin, sweeping her lengthy leg across the floor to try and sweep Mina's feet out and trip her up.

But her student had indeed proven herself a quick learner, as she masterfully leapt over Mirko's kick, but didn't try to go for a forward motion, and instead landed right back where she'd stood, ducking low to avoid Mirko's natural move transition into a spinning headstand kick, her legs flying through the air like helicopter blades where Mina's head had once been.

And with Mirko currently focused on that move, it gave Mina the chance to likewise throw herself into a rolling spin across the floor, winding her way just past Mirko for the window. But Mirko and the others were quick to spot this, as the Rabbit Hero finally sprang herself off the floor in a flip through the air, before slamming her unforgiving heel down on the window sill, stopping Mina dead in her tracks before she could spring herself out through it.

Realizing this, but with her adrenaline driving her body for her, Mina instead leapt up from the ground, grabbing Mirko's leg as a grappling point to propel herself further up, already coating her fingers on her free hand in Acid, in order to grip the wall and thus use that as a holding point so she could throw the rest of her body into a flip across the wall that was fast enough to even catch Mirko off guard, as the young Hero's knee ended up fully connecting with her cheek, completely throwing off her rhythm.

But while Mirko had been blindsided, the other three Heroes were all too used to working as a unit for anything Mina could pull to work, as Stampede leapt across the office and slammed his own heel into the lower part of the wall, snapping the boards inside in half with enough force for the opposite end to explode out the wallpaper and drywall, thus throwing Mina off and sending her rolling hard across the floor, where Mantypus and Tas-Maniac were already upon her, thoroughly grappling the young female Hero tight before she could try anything else.

"Don't, kid! Just don't, bloody hell!" Mantypus growled firmly as Mina was already trying to fight her way out of their restraints, while Stampede was already trying to tend to Mirko, who stubbornly waved him off. "I'm fine, I'm fine, dammit!"

Finally, getting a chance to see her teacher actually rubbing her jaw with an infuriated and pained grimace; the bruise already starting to form on her mocha-colored face, was enough to get through to Mina, even in her emotional blind desperation; and as she saw and finally realized what she'd just instinctively done to Mirko, her already anguished heart felt like it was twisting in knots. "Oh, crap! Oh, God, I'm sorry, Mirko-sensei, I'm so, so sorry! Oh, what did I do?!"

But before her student could even begin to think of crying; Mirko knocked her hard atop her head with a closed fist, leaving her looking dazed while feeling painfully at her scalp. "You did what I thought you'd never be able to, that's what. I should commend you for being a fast adapter in a fight, Pinky, but right now I'm too pissed off. Just be grateful I can kind of get where you're coming from, or else this would be a hell of a lot more unpleasant, believe that!"

Grabbing an ice pack from the office refrigerator and putting it to the side of her face, Mirko spoke with a seriousness that could have even given the Grim Reaper chills. "Look, what's going on with your boyfriend and your classmate is really shitty, we all know that, and we can all agree that it's clearly a load that Humarise concocted for whatever reason. It's like Stampede said, though: if they're actually willing to do something like this, turning the cops against Heroes, then it clearly proves they've got a lot more influence in society than we expected, and I think we'd all be willing to bet money it's not just in Otheon that they have this kind of power, either."

Nodding in agreement, Stampede opined: "That's right. Like I said: Humarise may be looking for a means to break our ranks so they can try and pick us off, themselves. I feel for your little squeeze, Pinky-chan, but right now, the best thing we can do for him and everyone else counting on us, is to stick together and not do anything reckless. We still have a job to do, and that includes you staying put with us until something comes up that can give the Association leave to give us our orders to move out."

"Otherwise, if you were to go out there and end up in some other kind of trap of theirs, you could end up getting killed without ever even getting close to helping your mates out. Are you really going to risk doing that to them when they're probably already climbing the walls figuring out what to do?" Mantypus finally concluded, relieved to see that all of their logic was at least getting through to Mina, as she'd finally stopped trying to struggle, and now instead had her head bowed down in painful realization.

They were all right. Of course they were. It only made sense. If Humarise was bold enough to try framing two of the same Heroes that were looking for them in broad daylight like this, on their home turf, then how could they possibly not have the same kind of plans just waiting to be put in motion if she were to go off on her own like she'd been trying to; feeling as emotionally frantic as she had?

And if they were to get their hands on her before she'd even have a chance to have fought back, then there was no telling what that would do to Nikolay and all the rest of her dear friends once the news would reach them?

Even for as scared as she knew she'd heard Nikolay sound on the phone, it was just as Mirko had said: he was clearly still trying to keep it together for hers and everyone else's sake, instead of just rolling over and surrendering. He was putting all of the courage she knew so well that he had to the test, and she needed to respect that by maintaining her unshakable confidence in her boyfriend and friend, and be smart and sensible while out here.

And it was as though all the Pros around her could sense Mina coming to this realization, as Mantypus and Tas-Maniac finally released their holds on her and simply let her stay seated on the floor, pulling her knees to her chest as she finally let the rest of her once desperate tears run their course; an attempt to try and get the rest of her anxiety for Nikolay and Izuku out, for her sake just as much as theirs.

'Kolya-kun…Midori-kun…I know you guys can figure something out from this…but please, please look out for each other, and please be careful, whatever you do…for all of us.'

Otheon, just outside the capital city

"So what's going on here, huh? Your Hero buddies are all coming to get us out of this mess, right? Right?"

From the moment Nikolay and Izuku had finally been forced to hang up their respective phone calls and remove their batteries; the smart-talking young thief they had both been pursuing had finally come back to his senses of just what had happened to them and where they now were. But the urgency of their circumstances meant one of them had to immediately take the lead, as Izuku firmly stated: "We should get somewhere we aren't so exposed right now. I saw a more forested area near here on the way from the bridge. Let's go, you guys."

"Wait, what? Hey, you two, those serious faces aren't doing much for the nerves, you know? Mind telling me what exactly is going on?!"

Naturally, Izuku's immediate suggestion that they had to start moving away from the city was confusing enough for the thief, as was the shell-shocked look on Nikolay's face as the two Heroes began to walk up the hill and across a dirt road to another ridge, just in time to avoid a searching police car that soon came barreling down mere moments later; allowing the two young Heroes to breathe easy, more or less.

With that prospective obstacle crossed, as they then began to descend another slope into a more wooded spot, it was only when the thief had finally asked straightforward just what their deal was, that Nikolay had broken the truth to him: "The news is saying Deku-san murdered twelve people in town, and that we both helped him flee the police. The three of us, we're wanted criminals now."

Naturally, the fleet-footed thief instantly planted himself right in front of the two young Heroes, his once nervous and frightened face now taut with indignation and frustration: "WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS?! This can't be real, can it?! You two are labeled as a murderer and a fugitive, and I'm suddenly your accomplice?! How?! How the hell did something like this happen; and why to me?! My life is already at rock-bottom; what'll happen to me now that I'm a wanted criminal?!"

Unfortunately, Nikolay was still in the finishing stage of reeling from the reality, himself, and to hear someone he knew for a fact was already a criminal bemoaning his circumstances like this, now of all times, was the last thing he had any patience for as he suddenly exclaimed: "If your life was already that low, then you should've done something about it to make it better, instead of simply choosing to be a common criminal! Maybe then we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with!"

Naturally, the thief looked deeply insulted, never mind the clear anxiety on Nikolay's face as the two stared each other down. Thankfully, Izuku was quick to intercede: "Solovei-san, that's not fair or necessary right now! We don't know any of that for certain. Look, the news is saying I'm wanted for an incident that I couldn't have possibly have been around long enough to do, so for all we know, this story could've popped up whether we were pursuing him or not. The point is that we're in the middle of this now, and we need to put our heads together to find a way out of it. No doubt Kacchan, Todoroki-kun and Endeavor-sensei are working on the same goal from their end as we speak."

Thankfully, Izuku keeping a level head was enough to make Nikolay take a forced deep breath to try and calm his nerves (even if his hands were still visibly shaking), which the thief thankfully picked up on, and proceeded to do the same. While doing so, Izuku was once more eyeing the steel briefcase in his hand. "It's absurd to think that the police would actually use deadly force on us over a case of stolen jewelry, so maybe there's something they or someone else might know about what's really in that briefcase."

With that suggestion, Nikolay's expression settled into one of focus. "Okay, then maybe if we were to look through it, we could find some kind of clue as to just what this stuff really is."

Thankfully, now that they all knew there were no jewels to speak of, the thief put up no fuss with opening the case. With that, the three young men proceeded to start looking thoroughly through all the notebooks, files and scattered papers and their handwritten chicken scratch notes that had been inside.

But sadly, after several minutes of nearly reading their own eyes raw trying to pick up on any and all kinds of clues, they had all bowed their heads with defeated sighs, not one step closer to an answer than when they had started, with Nikolay lamenting: "I can't make heads of tails of any of this stuff. It just reads like a bunch of science teacher gibberish; definitely doesn't sound like anything worth the police trying to kill us over."

SLAM!

The moment Nikolay had said so, the thief, with an impressively swift sleight of hand, proceeded to hurriedly stuff all of the contents back into the briefcase before desperately slamming it shut, and then jumping back up to his feet with it held high over his head. "Why're you guys making this sound like something to be disappointed about? If we can't understand this stuff, then that's a good thing! We could just return this case to the police, call the whole thing one big misunderstanding, and they're sure to let us go as nothing more than a bunch of dumb kids, right?"

Nikolay didn't even try to hide the incredulous look on his face as he watched the thief's desperate display of enthusiasm, with Izuku just managing to answer before he could: "That wouldn't change anything about our situation, though. Clearly, someone outside the sphere of law enforcement is pulling the strings, hence why we're being framed like this so suddenly to begin with. Even if we were to tell them we didn't understand any of it, they would have no reason to take that on good faith. They would most definitely just try to kill us and be done with it, no unnecessary risks on their part needed."

That instantly served to deflate the thief's spirits, but his grip was still clutching the case like a vice. "Well…maybe we could just try destroying the case, then. If we get rid of whatever they're trying to find or hide, then they'd have no further reason to come after us. Or maybe we could just threaten to destroy it, unless the people looking for it give us 1 million Euros in cold hard cash!"

This time, Nikolay was the one to answer instantly: "Are you serious? We're the most wanted fugitives in the whole country, and you actually want to try and make a profit off of it by blackmailing the people trying to kill us? If that's what you always base your decisions off of, then how you've managed to stay alive all this time is a damn wonder of the world!"

While the thief and Nikolay were once more staring daggers at each other, Izuku regrettably chimed in: "That aside, us destroying the case still wouldn't change anything. Like I said before; for all the people in charge know, we've memorized or made copies of all this stuff. For that reason alone, they have no reason at all to risk keeping us alive. The fact is that, no matter what we do, so long as we stay anywhere near the capital city, we're essentially dead men walking."

This served to finally deflate the rest of the hot air in the thief's chest, as he collapsed to his knees in defeat, a look of true desperation on his face, as he was racking his brain to try and find some solution.

Suddenly, Nikolay got back to his feet, his two companions looking up, only for Izuku to be surprised by the look of actual clarity on his foreign friend's face, as he seemed to be looking off into the distance. In fact, where Nikolay had once been radiating an air of pure panic, now he actually seemed to be in a headspace the curly-haired young hero had never felt from him before, even when they'd been caught in the heat of battle together before.

Finally, the Russian boy spoke up: "Then in that case, the first thing we should do is get as far away from the city as possible, at least to somewhere the capital or Otheon police in general don't have any jurisdiction, so we can at least catch our breath."

To that, the thief's eyes suddenly lit up with realization, even snapping his gloved fingers in response. "Hey, yeah! If we could find a way to cross over the border to the other nation comprising this island, Klayd, we could at least breathe easy enough to figure out what to do next!"

Now that they were finally getting somewhere, Izuku smiled brightly with confidence. "In that case, the first thing we should do is get some disguises and try to hitch a ride on a bus that can take us there. The sooner, the better."

However, he was taken aback when Nikolay actually shook his head in denial. "The disguises are a good call, but we should try to avoid being anywhere among the general public between here and Klayd as possible. This clearly isn't some third world country with no real infrastructure, Deku-san; the police are bound to be putting up road blocks everywhere going out of the city in order to try and weed us out. Right now, once we get disguises, our best bet is to hoof it through the countryside on foot, and if we have to get a ride at all, we should try to avoid all the major roads."

"WHAT?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE TO GET TO THE BORDER ON FOOT?! Can't you two use your Quirks or something to get us there faster?!" the thief exclaimed with surprising fire in his voice.

However, Nikolay had to take a deep breath to keep his own nerves steady as he answered: "And how do you know the police don't have eyes in the sky looking for us? None of us like the idea of walking, but right now, discretion is our best tool here, so if there's any risk of us being seen or overheard, we should try to avoid using our Quirks for travel as much as possible."

Izuku, while just as disappointed as Nikolay and the thief were about having to relegate themselves to such a slow means of travel, he at least looked like he really understood Nikolay's points. The fact his friend sounded as sure of this as he did, ultimately helped a great deal.

As soon as Izuku nodded in acceptance, Nikolay suddenly turned his attention back to the thief. "Would it be correct to assume you're a lifelong local here? How well would you say you know the geography of the island between here and Klayd?"

The thief, while still having total frustration visible on his face, was visibly surprised he was actually being consulted, but was just as quick to put on a relatively boastful confidence about himself. "Otheon born and raised. My family and I used to actually do a fair bit of hiking and camping around the island before, so it's all pretty familiar to me. As far as disguises go, I remember there's a clothing shop not too far from here. I could grab us some disguises and we could be on our way from there."

Izuku was glad to see his friend and their unexpected tagalong had their heads and hearts fully set on what they were supposed to do. "Then in that case, if we're going to be doing this on foot, then I guess we should just do our best to look like backpackers or hikers to anyone who could potentially see us. We should get going. Hopefully, Endeavor-sensei is working to try and help clear our names as we speak."

Nikolay nodded in agreement before eyeing their clothes. "Plus, since we're going to be hoofing it the old-fashioned way, we'll need to make sure our feet are protected. The last thing we need is to start forming and opening blisters. I suggest once we get our disguises, we make some strips from our clothes to bind around our feet. That'll at least help our shoes to last considerably longer."

With that, the thief (after trying to hide the surprised look on his face at how casual Nikolay sounded about their going about their escape this way after being such a nervous wreck) surprisingly took the lead; Nikolay and Izuku following after him closely, as they began to trek through these woods to wherever this miracle clothing store would be. Nikolay, despite his outward take-charge demeanor, was still internally shaken by just how dreadfully natural it suddenly was feeling for him to be out here like this again; the last possible outcome he ever could have asked for. He could only hope they wouldn't be out here like this for too long, as well as hope that Izuku's assumption was right, and their mentor was doing everything he could to try and clear their names.

Otheon Capital Police HQ

And fortunately for them, Izuku's natural assumption was right on the letter, as the moment the news had reached his ears, Endeavor had all but literally burned a trail straight to the city police station, flat out demanding an audience with the chief of police, and thunderously roaring the moment he was given permission to enter:

"THIS ENTIRE ACCUSATION YOU'VE PUT OUT IS COMPLETELY ABSURD, BASELESS AND FALSE! I KNOW MY STUDENTS, AND THEY COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE CAPABLE OF DOING SOMETHING SO FOUL AND HEINOUS! YOU MUST CALL OFF YOUR OFFICERS FROM THEIR SEARCH, AND ALLOW ME TO FIND THEM AND BRING THEM BACK SO WE CAN CLEAR THIS MISUNDERSTANDING PROPERLY!"

Whether Endeavor's request, with his fiery temper, came across as pleading or downright threatening, the police chief, a wiry and grey-haired man, remained visibly unmoved and far from intimidated, sitting behind his desk with an apathetic look in his bespectacled eyes, simply waiting for the foreign Flame Hero to say his peace. The moment he had a moment of silence, he answered straightforwardly:

"You speak from the position of one who doesn't have evidence like I do. It's as clear as day, and I have my responsibilities to see the individuals responsible be brought to justice one way or the other, regardless whether they're your students or not."

"Then present this evidence you have!" Endeavor's voice boomed; his patience barely hanging by a thread.

But the police chief remained unmoving in his decision. "I can't present evidence to an ongoing investigation, and Midoriya and Bezpalov's case is indeed ongoing. This falls entirely within local Otheon police jurisdiction, and not that of a fellow Japanese or otherwise foreign Hero like yourself. If there is nothing further to add to this conversation, then I must ask you to please leave so I can get back to doing my job."

The sheer condescension in the police chief's tone got under Endeavor's skin to a degree that left the flames upon his face just bristling with frustration and offense…but alas, the Flame Hero knew for a fact that he didn't in fact have anything further to request or even demand. For all intents and purposes, his hands were tied. To make any more of a scene here than he already had, regardless of his reasons, would only serve to further sour relations, and ultimately make all the Heroes' job out here exponentially more difficult.

With only the slightest of bows of his head, and not a single word uttered, Endeavor swiftly turned on his heels and took his leave, with two accompanying police officers following close, just in case he were to try anything at the last second, and ultimately leaving the chief in the silence and solitude of his office…

'Japan's Number One Hero, Endeavor…someone already deep into Stage 5…'

…and after a few prolonged moments of further silence, the police chief felt his nerves ease with the certainty that Endeavor wasn't coming back; and with that thought in mind, he proceeded to pull out his cellphone from his uniform's pocket with one hand, while opening one of the drawers to his desk with the other, inside of which was a single ornate-looking tome with the words 'The Quirk Doomsday Theory' emblazoned on its cover. Running his fingers over its embossed surface like it was the holiest text known to man, the chief recited in a low and resigned register that practically overflowed with zealous devotion: "For the salvation of humanity."

Hitting one of the only numbers on his phone on speed dial, the chief waited until he got word from the party he was trying to reach, and thus wasted no time: "The deed has been done, sir. I was able to fabricate the story and get it out onto the airwaves. Those young Heroes with your case won't possibly be able to make it out of this country with their lives. This should make things far easier for our brothers and sisters. However, there is even more news."

Within the shadows of his private chambers, the blue-glowing leader of Humarise, Flect Turn, silently took his law enforcement agent's news to heart, hanging up without saying a word. He knew the man would understand exactly what it was he was supposed to do about the Heroes in Otheon from this point forward. And thanks to the ever vigilant eyes and ears of the rest of his agents seeded throughout the rest of normal society in that country, he also knew just where his organization's wayward scientist now was. The briefcase he'd stolen may have still been on the loose, but thanks to his leadership and the unflinching loyalty of his followers, that issue and the interlopers involved would all be taken care of soon enough.

Now there was but one more thing he needed to put into motion, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect, as the doors to his quarters were then opened with a deep and resonating wooden creak, with a handful of identically hooded figures stepping inside so he could turn to address them; his sharp eyes looking through them all with ease while one of them spoke with a distinctly Slavic accent: "You have instructions for us, sir?"

"Yes. Our comrades are currently tracking the missing case as we speak. However, the traitor who stole it in the first place is currently in a coma and is being held in the hospital of the Otheon capital city. He is under constant guard by the local and foreign Heroes looking for us. I know you have all waited patiently for a chance to prove yourselves and the strength of your devotion to Humarise's cause, and now your opportunity has come at last. We cannot risk him regaining consciousness and telling the Heroes anything he knows about our great work, so I want you all to go there, and kill him."

With an almost machine-like unison, the handful of hooded men all put their fists over their hearts, bowed their heads, and replied: "It will be done, sir, for the salvation of humanity."

"One moment though, before you all leave." Flect Turn suddenly spoke out, stopping them before they could even begin to turn to depart.

Looking over his followers, the robed man's eyes were studious, inquisitive and piercing, as though he were looking for even the slightest defect in any of their body language. "You and many others of your nationality only joined our ranks quite recently, while most have been working to expand our resources and influence over quite a few years. Furthermore, you all had near identical reasons as to why you would suddenly come seeking to join us now and not far sooner. We haven't had a chance to properly test your mettle, your conviction, until only now, when our great work is on the verge of finally being enacted. Therefore, I must ask: even being Quirkless as you all are, can you truly look me in the eye and tell me you possess no qualms of spilling the blood of your own Quirkless brethren with your own two hands if need be, even when knowing many others will tragically have to pay the same price so our goal may be obtained?"

"Sir, forgive me, but if you are questioning our devotion, then please save your breath for when you need it."

A gruff, Russian middle-aged voice suddenly spoke out with an edge of unmistakable venom from among the small gathering; instinctively catching Flect Turn's attention, while the other four hurriedly stepped back, as if they couldn't believe their colleague would speak out of turn like this.

Without hesitation, the now-outlier of the bunch lifted his head, lowered his hood and proceeded to remove the steel mask obscuring his face, revealing a man who looked like he'd been put through life's wringer from birth, and had only now emerged from it a much harder man; his face lined with deep wrinkles that made him look far older than he should have been. His hair was a dirty blonde with multiple streaks of grey, and his face was adorned with a dreary unshaven stubble of grey, while his eyes looked as though they had been wept into being a permanent bloody pink, giving him the look of a man who had not slept in years, and had no intention of changing that.

Looking his leader in the eye, the haggard-looking Russian man spoke out bitterly, his voice rough like gravel: "This world of Quirks has taken everything from us: our families, our friends, our homes, our livelihoods, our very world as we once knew it. It took us years to even try and piece our lives back together even a little bit after our so-called Number One Hero destroyed it and called it saving us, and yet still we suffered.

"Not only did the son of the very same Hero that ruined our country end up putting my only son…m-my Vanya, in a coma in his own damn school bathroom; but not even a year later, a man who was supposed to be looking out to make sure we could protect ourselves, suddenly comes in and says we should actually welcome back those very same monsters that put us in this position in the first place, the moment he comes into power; all while we're still trying to put our capital back together. That just proves that there are just as many Quirkless people that need to be punished alongside those goddamn Quirks before humanity can ever stand a chance of being saved. So if you want them, or me, or any one of us to kill another Quirkless human who betrayed our mission to save and restore our world to the natural order of things, then I don't even need to think twice about it. It will be done, no matter what."

The mentioning of his child got the man to become audibly choked up, but it was clearly nothing but pure venomous spite that got him to swallow it back down and continue; the raw fury in his voice as he tried to restrain his tone clearly resonating with his countrymen and Flect Turn himself altogether; the blue-glowing leader looking visibly satisfied with this kind of raw emotional conviction. It was the very foundation Humarise was built upon, and if even some of their newest members could already possess this kind of internal zeal, then he had no doubt in his mind that their great work would be achieved.

Otheon Capital City Hotel

Ever since Shoto had gotten the call from Izuku describing his and Nikolay's situation, he had spent the next near hour looking on his laptop through all the major global news networks for any further details on the massacre his friends were being framed for in Otheon. It took a while, but eventually he had managed to come across a short bit of video footage claiming to be on-site evidence of said incident. When he first came across such a title, he couldn't help but feel a chill rush across his skin for a moment.

But when he finally decided to see it for himself, all the while silently reminding himself he needed to be sure, what he witnessed was less than four seconds of a security camera feed of a nondescript city street, where a total of twelve bodies were laid about, with his two friends standing in the midst of it before hurriedly rushing away with the aid of their respective Quirks.

Had anyone else taken the time to see this, Shoto could easily have seen them buying this as legitimate without a second thought. But there was one detail he was fortunately quick to notice, that most others again would have easily missed, due to the less than perfect quality of the footage:

Neither Izuku nor Nikolay were projecting shadows on what was clearly a street well into the daylight hours.

Upon seeing this, Shoto felt himself get overcome with a swell of relief in the pit of his chest, and the first thing he thought to do was hurriedly send a text to the rest of his classmates, having previously been bombarded with so many messages of worry from all of them, and describing what so-called evidence was out there, and how it would affirm all of their beliefs in their friends' innocence.

'Now I know for a fact they're being set up…but now the question is why?'

"Shoto!"

He was suddenly snapped from his restless train of thought by the surprise arrival of Clair Voyant; the local Pro Hero holding a folder in her hand as she hurried over to him. "I got the report back from a detective friend of mine, about the car accident you and Solovei handled that you said had been riddled by a projectile Quirk."

With his mind already racing once again, Shoto shot back up to his feet. "What does it say?"

Looking through it, she firmly answered: "Forensics officers were fortunately able to recover the driver's wallet intact, thanks to you putting out the fire in time. He's been identified as Alan Kay…a scientist previously on record as working for Humarise in past reports."

Shoto felt as though one of Denki's electrical jolts had just shot through his entire body, leaving him wide-eyed in shock. "Humarise? You're serious? Then who attacked him and why? Where is he now?"

Alas, she shook her head in regret. "He's currently in a coma in critical condition, being held in the local hospital's ICU under police guard, but I've taken the care of having the Flaming Sidekickers watch him in regular rotation as well."

"So we can't actually get any answers from him." Shoto muttered disappointedly to himself, before Clair suddenly brought up her phone for him to see.

"There's something else, too. You said you boys were originally chasing after a bunch of Quirked jewel thieves before this all unfolded, right? Well, it turns out the case full of those stolen jewels was recently found all over the scene below the crash."

Indeed, upon her screen were several photographs of a bunch of jewels laid about in a small alleyway. Now, things were slowly starting to come together in Shoto's head. "So are you thinking-?"

VRRRRM!

Suddenly, Shoto's phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Upon pulling it out, he didn't immediately recognize the number from which it was being sent, but considering Clair quickly identified it was clearly an Otheon country and subsequent area code preceding it, it didn't take long for him to come to the conclusion it had to be coming either from Izuku or Nikolay; having since come to the conclusion both boys would be following his advice and removing the batteries from their own phones to avoid being traced. Since Izuku had also made mention of their wayward thief still being with them during their last call, it only stood to reason that had to be whose phone his friends were using to reach out to him.

But upon opening the message, he was met with a message in Japanese that, upon first look, didn't make any sense in context, as he instinctively read it out: "Keep eating lunch with strawberries and make sure you eat the dinner in the fridge, too."

"It sounds like it must be some kind of code to me." Clair immediately theorized. All at once did it become just as clear to Shoto as well, as he began studiously looking at the arrangements of the characters, trying to see if any of them matched up with one another to form a word or a sentence, like a crossword puzzle.

Taking the most obvious approach first, he looked at the characters forming the first vertical line on the left. "Ku-re-i-do."

His grip on his phone tightened as it suddenly came to him. "Klayd! Bezpalov mentioned reading about this island being split between Otheon and another country called Klayd before we even got here! That must be where they're going, since the Otheon police won't have any jurisdiction there."

Shoto's blood burned hot with determination as he made a beeline for the hotel room door. "Clair Voyant-san, I'm going to Klayd to try and meet with Midoriya and Bezpalov!"

To his surprise and immediate relief, the Pro Hero didn't try to go after and stop him. "Understood. I'll inform Endeavor when he returns. You're not worried he'll try to stop you?"

Shoto's stride never faltered as he answered: "If it were me going through what they are right now, he'd undoubtedly be doing the exact same thing, if the thought hasn't crossed his mind by now already. He'll understand."

Just as he began to open the door, it did so anyway, as Bakugo had chosen now to finally return. But Shoto was unperturbed, as he masterfully rounded past his fellow intern, and hooked his arm around his own; pulling the momentarily surprised young Hero along with him. "Bakugo, come with me, if you please.'

"Whoa, what?! Where are we going?!" The spiky-haired hothead spat out in protest as they left Clair Voyant alone in the room behind them.

Within moments, the two boys were stepping out back onto the street, Shoto's mind immediately going back to one of the nearby bus stops he had spotted during their previous shopping trip this morning. As he made a beeline for it, Bakugo forcefully pulled his arm free, but by now his confusion had started to give to quick realization. "This is about that damn Deku and the Russkie, isn't it?"

"That's right. Midoriya sent me a coded message that told me where they're going. We need to meet up with them." Shoto briskly explained. It was hardly surprising to him that Bakugo was very quick to join in on this little impromptu mission of theirs, as he quickly began to take as purposeful a stride towards the bus stop.

But as the two of them walked, Shoto's sharp ears could soon make out some distinct few footsteps trailing along a few paces behind them, far too uniform and intent on being sneaky to be any one of the civilians around them. 'This figures. Given our association with Midoriya and Bezpalov, it only makes sense the police would post officers to watch our hotel for if any of us left.'

"But before we can catch up with them, we need to lose our tail back there first." Shoto explained in a hushed whisper out the side of his mouth, in order to keep the handful of stealthy police officers from overhearing them. So long as he and Bakugo both kept the same casual walking pace and body language as they were now, they wouldn't alert their pursuers that they were onto them, even as Bakugo likewise uttered under his breath: "I know, don't tell me what to do, dammit."

Just outside the perimeter of one of the furthest outreaches of the Otheon capital city, Izuku apologetically handed the thief his phone back, while Nikolay was in the process of getting his hiking pack settled upon his shoulders, just like they both likewise did. Thankfully, their native tag-along had been able to purchase some random street clothes for them with no issue, just like he'd said he could.

The entire time he waited for his two fellows to hurriedly get into their own disguises, and for Izuku to send whatever message he'd had in mind; he couldn't help but fish a small locket from under his collar, eyeing it with an unreadable but intense depth in his eyes, always keeping it close to his side just enough to where neither of them would be able to glimpse it for themselves.

Between his white short-sleeved hoodie, Izuku's grey bucket hat and brown overalls, and Nikolay's blue pirate bandana, orange Hawaiian-patterned shirt and white baggy shorts; the three boys were now virtually unrecognizable from a great distance, and that was just about all they could have asked for, on top of the three pairs of torn cloth strips they now had firmly tied around their respective feet, made from their previous clothes now tucked away in their packs.

"All right, the message has been sent. Let's just hope Todoroki-kun and Kacchan are able to figure it out in time." Izuku informed his fellows; his eyes reflecting confidence, but his tone having the faintest shake of uncertainty. There was no doubt between him and Nikolay that Shoto was more than smart enough to figure out such an obvious code. The only question was whether or not he would be able to make it to Klayd with any more ease than the arduous trek they were about to put themselves through for the sake of staying out of the police's sights.

With an especially rocky and hilly horizon being the only thing waiting for them for now, Nikolay took a deep breath in preparation, looking to the thief in particular. "Alright, you know this place way better than us, so you'll have to take the lead, but we'll be right behind you the whole way. Just make sure not to drink all your water at once; understand? If we can make it last, we'll be able to cover that much more ground before nightfall."

Eyeing their surroundings, the thief suddenly spoke up: "Yeah, I get it. Just give me a minute, okay? There's…there's just one phone call I have to make."

Nikolay and Izuku both exchanged uneasy glances once the thief pointed out a nearby phone booth. Disguises or not, they were still too close to the roads, and thereby the police, for comfort, and the sooner they could get a move on, the better. Plus, the thought of the thief possibly trying to call the police was far too strong for them to just stand aside and say nothing. Thus, Nikolay initially answered: "Since the police saw you with us when we fled, you're in just as much danger as we are, so calling them about where we are won't do you any good."

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, the thief answered: "Gee, like I didn't come to that conclusion right from the start. I'm not ratting us out, I just need to clarify things with an associate so they don't worry about me, is that really too much to ask?"

The two Heroes both looked visibly conflicted; but, considering this was just as much a change for their unwitting partner as it was for them, it was simply unfair to deny him his own moment to try and get his nerves together and get his affairs in order, legal or otherwise. As such, Izuku reluctantly answered: "Well, none of the news reports on TV said anything about you, so it should be okay." "Yeah, just don't be long, alright?"

Nodding in understanding, the thief hurriedly ran for the phone booth, before finally making sure he wasn't at any risk of being overheard, and thus quickly dialed the number he had in mind; silently psyching himself up to not sound too panicked by the time his call was finally answered.

But while the thief was trying so hard to make sure he wasn't at risk of any random passersby glimpsing his face while he talked, Nikolay and Izuku were both keeping a close eye on him from a distance, mainly to make sure he didn't try to make a break for it and leave them hanging high and dry in their most desperate moment.

But as they both watched him, they could see the false confident posture he was trying to maintain through the course of his phone call, visibly deflated into the unmistakable slouch of deep and bitter emotional defeat. Clearly, whatever he was hoping for with his phone call, was going far, far in the opposite direction.

But, respecting their promise to maintain his personal privacy, the two boys didn't approach. Instead, taking advantage of what was sure to be a very rare moment of peace and quiet, Izuku took that moment to speak up: "I'm grateful, Kolya-san…I mean, not that you got roped into this whole framing situation with us, but that you're doing what you can to help us regardless. I never thought I'd end up as a fugitive, but I can't even imagine what it must feel like for you to be here…well, again."

Izuku already looked visibly ashamed with himself for trying to put any kind of positive spin on what was easily the worst case scenario they could have ended up in, being so far from their friends and home already. Nikolay's shaky-sounding response did not help to lift either of their spirits, as he was clearly trying to maintain the focused air about him that had really only come by miracle: "If it's all the same to you, Midoriya-san, I'd really prefer not being thanked for just knowing what I'm doing in a situation like this. I could've happily gone the rest of my life without ever having to hike through any countryside like this ever again…but what good does moaning over it do any of us now?"

But despite Nikolay trying to maintain this calmer demeanor, he still couldn't hide the fact his hands were shaking at his sides; something Izuku was quick to notice; his brow furrowing in consideration. "Kolya-san, if there's anything else on your mind you just want to get out in the open, you can. You know I won't judge you for it."

Nikolay's hands clenched into the same trembling fists as his head bowed, his eyes screwed shut tight as he could just feel the words forcing their way up his throat amid all this new stress. "I can't stop thinking about them, Midoriya-san…I mean, about this, and about that whole Quirk Amnesty conference coming here."

Izuku's eyes widened with remembrance of the huge speech that Russia's new president, Konstantin Khodamchuk was supposed to give in Otheon in several days, calling for the forgiveness and welcoming back of all of Russia's expatriated Quirked citizens. Given how personally invested Nikolay, Tunguska, Maja and countless other Slavic people around the world were in such a monumental event, it was unquestionable just why Nikolay would be so stressed about it now that they were both fugitives.

If anything in Otheon were to be a target of Humarise's next attack; that would almost undoubtedly be it. Yet now, neither of them would be able to show their faces in order to protect it, without getting shot down like animals in the street. The destruction of 80% of the human race and the chance for peace to be reestablished between the peoples of one of the largest nations in the world were both looming menacingly over the horizon, and right now neither of them had a clue as to how to prevent it. Considering that, Izuku was silently amazed either of them were managing to keep their calm demeanors as much as they were.

But not saying anything to try and encourage his friend when they still had such a long way to go, was simply something Izuku couldn't do, as he finally answered: "I understand, Kolya-san, but we can't let ourselves forget: Endeavor-sensei and all the other Pros are still in the city. Even if we, Todoroki-kun and Kacchan have to leave, I'm sure they'll all still stay there in order to make sure the event is well protected, no matter what Humarise may try to do. We need to try and remind ourselves of that, okay?"

Finally looking back so he and Izuku could look each other in the eye, Izuku could now see just how much fear was truly present in Nikolay's eyes. "That's just it, though, Midoriya-san: what if they have something to do with us suddenly being wanted by the police? What if that's part of some big plan of theirs to split us up from each other? If Humarise has enough influence to spin a fake crime to pin on us and have all the police in the country gunning for our heads, how can we know for sure they don't have some kind of presence in whatever security detail is set up for when Khodamchuk's speech finally happens? He could be walking right into a trap, and there's nothing either of us can do about it if we want any hope of living long enough to stop it. God, we don't even have any proof that that's what they'd do or if Humarise itself even has anything to do with what's happened to us, but I just can't stop thinking about it!"

Nikolay was losing his calm by the second, but Izuku was thankfully there to plant a firm yet supportive hand upon his shoulder; a wordless but truly effective reminder to his foreign friend that he wasn't all alone in this. The faint smile on his freckled face said so much: that so long as the two of them put their heads together, they would still be able to find a solution. There was no such thing as a problem without one, after all. Fortunately, Nikolay looked as though he was actually getting that message, as he finally thought long enough to take a deep breath to calm himself down.

"I understand, Kolya-san, I really do. I'll admit, the thought of Humarise being behind all this has crossed my mind a couple times by now, too…but, it's like you said, we have no evidence to prove any of that right now. But we can't bring ourselves down thinking about what we don't have. We've barely even started this whole journey to begin with. Right now, we have a goal to get to, so let's just focus on doing that before anything else…and for now let's just hope Todoroki-kun and Kacchan will make it to the Klayd border to meet us, and that they might be able to figure out something about what's in that briefcase that we might've missed."

"DAMMIT!" The voice of the thief suddenly exclaimed, accompanied by the sound of him slamming the phone violently against the receiver. Naturally, such an outburst snapped the two young Heroes to attention, rushing over to see what was going on, only to quickly find their third wheel still standing in the phone booth, head bowed and shoulders slumped in what was an unmistakable display of pure physical and emotional defeat.

"Hey, are you alright?" Izuku instinctively asked, prompting the young man to twitch with the realization of what a scene he'd just made of himself. He almost immediately straightened himself up and turned to address his two surprise comrades, the same cocky smirk on his face. "Yeah, no problems. The call just ended before I could get everything out I'd wanted to say, plus I'm all out of pocket change, that's all."

With that overly laid back tone and grin, Nikolay and Izuku might've otherwise been convinced, were it not for the fact that he was deliberately avoiding making eye contact with them while speaking.

But upon glimpsing the time on the screen of the phone itself, Nikolay had to quickly push his own silent suspicions to the back of his mind, once more straightening up the hiking pack in preparation. "Alright, guys, we don't know how long we'll have to walk before we have any chance of finding shelter, and if what I saw on the Otheon map during our flight is anything to go by, we could be looking at a possible several-day walk from here to the border, so we'd best get a move on now."

Izuku nodded in agreement, with the thief giving a reluctant sigh before straightening up his own pack, to show he was as ready as he was going to be, before taking an energetic stride ahead of both of them. "Okay, okay, you both just focus on keeping up, okay?"

With that, the young trio finally proceeded to make their way out into the hilly countryside away from any roads, in the direction they knew the Klayd border to ultimately be in; all of them silently hoping that they would be able to make the trek without any further difficulties or dangers beyond the ones they already had.

And while Nikolay was keeping to his own advice on how best to manage their trip by keeping the cloth wrapping around his feet tight, and rationing and timing his water intake over the course of the journey, he still couldn't stop thinking about Konstantin's future call for amnesty for his Quirked countrymen…and the irrevocable damage that would be done to any chance of Russia and its people finding peace and hope if it were to be attacked and the Heroes were unable to prevent it.

St. Petersburg, Russia

With repairs still in their finishing stages back in Moscow, it had long since been decided that the gathering remnants and replacements for Russia's political structure would temporarily set up camp in their nation's former capital of St. Petersburg.

So within the confines of his new office in the Mariinsky Palace, Konstantin Khodamchuk had resigned himself for the last several hours watching the same continuous feed of news from around the globe as many others had been, ever since he'd heard the utterances of a pair of young Russian and Japanese Heroes being framed for a massacre down in the very same country he'd been preparing to conduct his biggest action in for over a month now.

And upon seeing with his own eyes that it was indeed Nikolay Bezpalov who was one of the suspects, he'd initially been stricken with a stomach-twisting sensation of shock and disbelief.

But by the time a subtle knocking had come to his office door, and he'd absentmindedly called for whoever it was to enter, that shock had completely subsided, after he'd forced himself to look at the minuscule sample of video footage the news networks were playing as a show of evidence of the crime, for about the twelfth time by now.

[[Sir?]] The voice of the slender-built, razor sharp-eyed and mustachioed sharpshooter, Angel's Eye spoke out, stirring Konstantin from his focus, finally realizing he and the large, long-haired and braided bearded soldier Ilya Toptunov had joined him, both men looking similarly as shaken as he once had.

Eyeing the news feed on the president's computer, Angel's Eye let out a deeply morose sigh. [[Unbelievable, isn't it? To have gone from saving us and an entire town, to this]]

In response, Ilya let out a heavy sigh. [[But consider just where the kid comes from, my friend. Good intentions before or not, sooner or later, the apple proves not to fall far from the tree.]]

[[Yes…]] Konstantin suddenly chimed in, talking to nobody directly, but rendering his two most ardent guards silent in wait. His eyes were still studiously watching the footage play over and over on his computer, his hands soon clutching into fists upon his desk. [[…it is unbelievable, in the simplest sense of the word.]]

As Konstantin rose from behind his desk to look his two comrades in the eye, his very body language gave off an air of complete immovable conviction, enough to completely dominate the whole room as he firmly continued: [[I don't believe a word of it.]]

This visibly caught Angel's Eye and Ilya both completely off guard; a fact that only served to rouse Konstantin's thinning patience that much more. [[What, do you mean to tell me you actually believe this slander? After everything Solovei and his friends and teachers did to save us, even when they knew why we were in their country and where we were coming from and what we'd done before; you actually believe he would suddenly do something this heinous; that anyone he would clearly be close enough to actually work with would be capable of such a thing? How very disappointing. I would've thought you both would have far greater sense than that.]]

Maintaining their strictly serious posture, Angel's Eye answered: [[Sir, they have video evidence right in front of you. I feel that says plenty more than any eyewitness testimony would.]]

Konstantin quickly rounded his desk, all but shouting: [[Open your eyes, for God's sake, man! We all know how easy it is to doctor video footage to show whatever you want, especially when it looks as shitty as it does here! Someone is clearly trying to set those boys up for whatever reason!]]

Looking between the two men before him, and seeing that neither of them looked willing to agree with him fully on this, Konstantin felt his heart plummet in his chest, as he finally asked: [[Just what the hell has gotten into you two? You were just as loud proponents for Solovei and the rest of those Hokkaido Heroes as I was when we got back here. What suddenly changed? What is it you're trying to do by coming here and agreeing with this drivel?]]

Ilya suddenly cleared his throat and spoke up, even though he still didn't meet the president's gaze. [[Forgive us, sir. A lot has just been happening recently, and with your trip to Otheon, where something like this suddenly happened, coming up so soon, you can't blame us for wanting to take your safety into consideration and…and suggest perhaps you shouldn't do this.]]

With their point having finally been spoken, Angel's Eye spoke much more assuredly: [[That's right. It's bad enough that cataclysm in Berlin happened not even three days ago, but then the son of Tunguska winds up at your destination and is shown on camera with another Hero among a bunch of dead civilians? It would be just irresponsible for us not to try and make you at least reconsider going down to Otheon at this time, sir.]]

Just like that, a deep understanding filled Konstantin, now knowing just what inspired such a drastic shift in viewpoint in his closest associates. With his shoulders now slumped as the tension left his body, he slowly rounded is desk again and approached the windows overlooking the cityscape beyond.

[[Yes…of course, this Humarise business; a bunch of zealots and despots claiming to be working towards a better future, without ever specifying exactly for whom. Just the latest in an endless procession of similarly-minded monsters who call themselves human…the same kind we teetered so close to becoming, ourselves…oh, who am I fooling? The same kind of monsters we'd let ourselves become, and now have a chance to escape from at last.]]

As he watched the people outside going about their daily business, Konstantin could feel his blood rush and his heart rise once again; his hands once more clenching into fully determined fists. [[With this kind of grim timing, one would think they were deliberately trying to stop my amnesty call from happening…]]

Finally, he turned back to face his men; a fire aglow within his eyes that burned so intensely, they felt as if his gaze went right through them. [[…and that's precisely why I can't allow myself to be intimidated out of going, comrades. Our countrymen, and all those with Quirks we'd driven out like animals, are looking to me to finally close the door on the Anti-Quirk chapter of our history, and if I show them I'm willing or able to be browbeaten into hiding by these terrorists, then what kind of message does that give to a world that is always looking for peace? This is for the sake of all of us, and if Solovei and those kids were willing to put their lives on the line for the three of us, then I must show I'm just as willing to take the same kind of risk for everyone else that looks to me for guidance.]]

As he saw the conviction of his words fully settle within the chests of his men, Konstantin's intent gaze once more shifted over to the repetitive news footage of Nikolay and Izuku on his computer.

With the memories of the young Russian's efforts to save his life now replaying fresh before his mind's eye; Konstantin's face went taut with a silent frustration. 'That's right, putting myself out there in order to deliver the call for amnesty and reunification of our people is how I can best save lives. I only wish there was something I could do for Solovei personally right now to help him out of this mess he's in.'

Otheon

Putting their minds together, it was incredibly easy for Shoto and Bakugo to elude their pursuers in the police, and make their way to the train station. Knowing that all foreign Heroes currently in the country would be under scrutiny while the story of Izuku and Nikolay was running on the airwaves, they made sure to switch out of their Hero costumes before finally embarking on the first train that would take them to Klayd. And once they were finally on their way, Shoto proceeded to fill his fellow intern in on everything he'd come to suspect with all the information he now had.

"What? You think the cases got switched?" Bakugo asked, less surprised and more wanting to know exactly where Shoto's train of thought was going, and what this ultimately meant for their two wayward partners, while Shoto still looked as though he was running the scenario through his mind again even as he spoke.

"Yes. The case we were chasing that had the stolen jewelry was found scattered across an alleyway near the scene of the car accident on the highway, while Midoriya said the case he and Bezpalov recovered had nothing but notebooks and papers inside. It's the only explanation. Clair Voyant also found out that the man from the accident was actually a Humarise member. The signs of non-crash damage to his vehicle indicated he was clearly being chased and attacked by someone else, too. The only conclusion I can come to is that the case they have belonged to the organization, and now they are chasing the two of them in order to get it back."

Bakugo's hands instinctively tightened as he could just feel he was coming to the same conclusion. "So you think that's why the police are now chasing after that damn Deku and the Russkie, huh? Like those Humarise bastards have some moles in their ranks?"

Crossing his arms in dreadful thought, Shoto answered: "That, and whatever is inside that case must be very important to them. That would at least explain why the police have mobilized so heavily like this. It's possible they could have moles in both law enforcement and the media, hence why they were able to put that fake video footage together and get the story out across the country so quickly after the accident. They wouldn't have had a reason to put a target on Midoriya and Bezpalov's backs like this before that accident took place. That's why the message I got said they were going all the way to Klayd; it's the one place on this island the police wouldn't have jurisdiction in.

"The truth is, we don't know where Humarise may pop up next, so we'll need to progress carefully from now on." Shoto summarized to himself, while Bakugo glared intently out the window at the rapidly passing countryside.

"Don't order me around, dammit! I figured as much too. So we just head on over the border to this Klayd place, meet up with those two idiots and figure out just what it is they're carrying with them before Humarise tries anything again. If they're smart enough to use disguises, they could just hop a bus incognito and make it there in a couple days at the most."

Glancing back, Bakugo was taken aback to see Shoto's eyes gave a telltale glimmer of concern, while the rest of his face was as pensive and unreadable as always. The red-white-haired young man then spoke up admittedly: "But mass public transit vehicles like trains and busses have cameras, as do all the major roads around the island. All it would take is one of them to get just the right angle on either one of their faces, and they would have the police and Humarise chasing after them all over again. The way I see it, going on foot through the countryside and back roads is their safest bet, which unfortunately means if they don't get lucky, it will be some time before they'll make it to the border."

With the odds already so firmly stacked against their two partners, wherever they were right now, to actually hear someone like Shoto expressing this much uncertainty was not something Bakugo was going to take in stride, as he answered in an especially serious tone: "Hey, don't you start second guessing those two when they're in the middle of this shit, Half-N-Half! How many times have they managed to come crawling out on top when they should've both definitely gotten themselves flattened into the dirt by now? If they have to hoof it out on foot like a couple of hobos in order to actually solve this problem, then that's what they'll do, and they'll definitely be waiting for us to meet them when they get there, so that's what we'll do, got it?"

Shoto was momentarily surprised, but then gave the faintest smile of gratitude and nod of acceptance. Bakugo simply sneered and went back to looking out the window. "That stupid Deku has never had to rough it out in the sticks like this before…but with what the Russkie and his old man have been through before, he's honestly Deku's best chance of making it in one piece right now."

The words had honestly just come to Bakugo without his even having had to think about it, but the moment he realized he'd pretty much just admitted an acknowledgment of Nikolay's survival capabilities for Izuku's sake, he nearly bit straight through his own lower lip, his body had become so tense; especially as he could just feel the knowing look Shoto was projecting into his back at this moment. "Well, I'm sure Bezpalov will appreciate you having said so once we meet up with them."

Many hours later

Breaks were taken sparingly so that they could be able to cover as much ground as they possibly could on foot. Much like Nikolay had suggested, sacrificing a strip of their clothes in order to wrap their feet ended up sparing them the risk of developing some especially vicious wounds on their soles, but that didn't make it any less painful for them, as the strain in their muscles only continued to build as time went on at its sluggish pace. More than a few times had the thought come to Nikolay and Izuku to just do away with the pretenses and simply travel with the use of their Quirks; but each time they did, the reminder of just how many people were looking for them came right back, and thus they had to continue soldering on.

Thankfully, by the time night had at last fallen, not only had the rocky high desert-like landscape gradually given way to sparsely forested grassland amid the hills, but they had even managed to come across a lonely old barn resting just outside the tree line, looking as though it had been abandoned for years.

If anything, that was just the most promising detail, as the moment he could confirm he could see no sign of other buildings or streets anywhere nearby, Nikolay ultimately decided: "Okay, we covered some real good ground today, so I think this is our best option for a place to sleep tonight."

After having spent this long having to be the guide in this little death march of theirs, it was no surprise that the thief's legs felt like they were on fire at this point, so to hear that they could finally get some sleep was the single most wonderful thing he could have asked for. Even Izuku couldn't deny that he was exhausted. Training was one thing, but the stress of having to hike such vast and unforgiving terrain for survival's sake was something else entirely. Of course, even for Nikolay's years of past experience, he had likewise broken into an intense sweat, struggling to catch his breath once they'd finally stepped into the barn and shut the doors.

Climbing up into the upper level, where a few piles of hay were still resting, thus providing a makeshift bed for the three boys; the sensation of finally unwrapping the protective cloths and shoes from their aching feet was downright heavenly. As Nikolay finally let his body go slack and collapse into his own bale, with Izuku and the thief quickly following suit with relieved sighs of their own, the green-haired boy finally spoke up: "I honestly can't decide which I am more: hungry or tired. Do you have any idea how much farther we have to go until we get to Klayd? It feels like we crossed a great deal of distance already."

Alas, the thief couldn't be bothered to hide the disappointment on his face. "Hate to break it to you, but we've still got a good handful of days ahead of us if we continue at this rate. What we should be doing is either hitch-hiking on the back roads, like your buddy here said we could, or we should try and find an abandoned car to hotwire and just cover the distance ourselves."

The more the two young Heroes thought about it, the more sense both of those suggestions ultimately made, even if hitch hiking sounded incredibly risky. But while they thought this over, the thief had his eyes settled on Nikolay; a devious smirk once more on his face. "Speaking of whom, for somebody painting himself to be such an unbending and righteous Hero-in-the-making, you sure seemed to slip right into the role of the intrepid fugitive survivor real quick. No first-timer ever thinks about actually avoiding roads because of cameras, or actually rationing and timing when to drink water, and especially not to wrap your shoes in order to make them last longer and protect your feet. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost wanna guess that you've actually been in a situation like this before…and for quite a while, too."

Having this hooligan suddenly call him out so distinctly left Nikolay visibly caught off guard, before subsequently grumbling and averting his gaze, which only left the smirking young man looking that much more satisfyingly surprised. "Well now, I guess we've got a veteran fugitive in our midst. Makes that whole holier-than-thou act of yours back at the train station seem pretty hypocritical now, doesn't it?"

Izuku could already pick up on the tension that was starting to build between the two, and quickly sat himself back up, ready to try and talk them both down, but Nikolay suddenly answered while still refusing to look the thief in the eye: "Don't act like you actually know anything about me. Yeah, you're right, I've gone through this before, but it's not like I had any control over the reason why back then, either. My Dad had to do so much to try and protect us both the last time I had to go through this…but even then, we weren't the ones actively choosing to participate in a life of crime. I was supposed to be a Hero now, we both were. Things weren't supposed to turn out like this again. Why is this happening to us? Goddammit, I hate this!"

Nikolay's frustration had come rushing back to him now that they had an extensive chance to get some rest, and Izuku could clearly see that's what was driving his words, lashing out with insults towards their companion like this out of nowhere. Of course, the thief himself didn't know or care about that, as the smirk vanished from his face and he bitterly responded: "Hey, right back at you, pal! Don't go talking like you or your broccoli-headed friend here know anything about me, either!"

In yet another attempt to try and ease the growing hostilities, Izuku answered: "Hey, you guys, come on, we've come way too far to suddenly start going for each others' throats like this. It doesn't matter anymore how we initially ended up together like this when everything went south, now we just need to focus on how we can all help each other through it. Besides, if our journey so far has shown me one thing about you, it's that you're clearly a good-natured person."

This caught Nikolay and the thief to both look Izuku's way in total surprise, while the freckled boy continued, looking the young stranger in the eye. "I mean, at any point in the few times we had to take a break, you easily could've taken the chance to try and make a break for it and leave us to fend for ourselves. Since you're so much more familiar with this country than us, you'd have an overwhelming advantage by doing so, and yet you never did. You might not think so, but I think that says a lot about you as a person."

The thief was clearly caught completely off guard that he was suddenly being complimented like this, while at the same time, Nikolay likewise let out a sigh of concession on the matter: "Yeah, plus there's the fact I saw you fishing something out from under your shirt multiple times during this trip, judging by the fact I never saw you dig your hands into your pockets. I never heard any beeping or you talking, either, so you obviously weren't calling or texting anyone. What exactly was it? A locket or anything else with a picture or anything like that?"

The thief snapped his focus to the Russian boy, visibly annoyed at the prospect of having been spied on over the course of their journey, but there was also a visible light of honest admittance in his eyes that told Nikolay and Izuku that he was right. Hence, he continued: "You may be doing illegal stuff, but you're obviously doing it for someone more than yourself. Why else would you have gotten as upset as we saw when you were on the payphone earlier? Nobody gets that deeply upset over losing one payday."

Twee-twee!

All of a sudden, the little pink bird, Pino, sprouted up from underneath the thief's collar, letting out a particularly happy-sounding chirp in response, even nodding its head in what looked like confirmation. This naturally brought a smile to the two Heroes' faces, while the thief himself just grimaced in annoyance and stubbornly situated himself on his bed of hay, refusing to look at either of them. "Think whatever you want. You don't know anything about me, either, so don't go acting like you do."

Izuku looked visibly disappointed that their companion was choosing to remain so distant when they really needed to be on the same page with each other; while Nikolay just looked bitterly annoyed that his own shared attempt at an olive branch from all their previous hostilities had effectively been turned down. But with an exhausted yawn, he just shook his head while Izuku spoke up: "It's been way too long a day to start getting into another fight. That one opening in the wall over there gives us a good wide view of the area, so if for whatever reason, someone were to come, we'd at least be able to see them coming."

With that, Nikolay proceeded to make his way for said opening, sitting at the edge so as to avoid being visible from the outside. "Agreed…so, Deku-san, let's take watches in one-hour shifts. I'll go first."

Izuku knew there was no point in trying to say who should go first, as with a watch rotation, they would all ultimately get the same amount of sleep regardless. So, with an especially tired "Goodnight, Solovei-san", he proceeded to try and get as comfortable in his own pile of hay as he could, while Nikolay silently kept watch on the dark landscape and woods outside, the light of the moon being the only thing to show the beginnings of long withheld tears starting to brim within his eyes.

Now that they'd finally had a real chance to catch their breath, all of the emotions and worried thoughts he'd been suppressing for the sake of Izuku and the thief were coming back en masse. All Nikolay could think of now, was just how everyone else around the globe that knew of their predicament was handling it after this past tumultuous day.

Kyushu, Japan

With their orders to stay put from the All-Star World Heroes Association still being in effect, it was not possible for the quartet of Eijirou, Tetsutetsu, Maja and Tamaki to go back to Yuuei Academy once night had fallen, and the Pro Heroes night shift of the Fatgum Agency could finally take over patrolling duties for their boss for the BMI Hero, Tunguska and Vlad King. They would still have to remain on standby at every given hour, and thus would have to stay in the agency for as long as necessary until their mission was complete. Naturally, as their subsequent host, Fatgum had taken it upon himself to see to it a veritable feast was available for his colleagues and their students when it was appropriate, stating naturally that they would need to keep their energy up as best as possible once further instruction would come.

But what nobody else had initially counted on, but wasn't necessarily surprised by, was the utter aggression and silent anger with which Tunguska ate his own share, ignoring the worried gazes of all those around him. It was almost less like he was eating, and more like he was trying to actively murder the food before him with his teeth, never even taking a moment to just breathe.

Of course, it was the students themselves who couldn't think of what to possibly say to try and get through their Quirk History teacher, as he'd been emitting this overwhelming aura of brewing rage for the last several hours, ever since they'd heard the big news out of Otheon. However, Vlad King didn't have that problem of being intimidated, as after several minutes of this greatly uncomfortable meal, he finally spoke out: "Tunguska-san, you damn fool, slow down and let it settle in your gullet for a minute, would you? Your stomach can't handle so much all at once!"

"He's right, man, otherwise you're going to be keeling over with a doozy of a stomachache all day tomorrow at the least. Come on, it's me saying this to you, take that into consideration!" Fatgum agreed, motioning to his huge rotund form to emphasize his point.

But Tunguska clearly wasn't taking them seriously, as after downing another heaping bowl of ramen, he impatiently snapped: "How about the two of you stop worrying over me? I can down a gallon of straight vodka, this is nothing for me!"

Just as he began to eat once more, Eijirou finally found it in himself to speak up, which thankfully got Tetsutetsu and Maja to do the same: "They're right, though, Tunguska-sensei; you're really overdoing it." "Yeah, it's not like it's gonna go anywhere if you don't down it all in one go." "We're just concerned, Sensei, that's all."

None of them could guess which word had done it, but to have three of his students suddenly talking to him like this was what finally frayed the last nerve of patience Tunguska was holding onto, as he swiftly exclaimed: "ME?! YOU'RE ALL WORRIED ABOUT ME?! WHAT ABOUT KOLYA AND MALENKII MIDORIYA?! WHAT ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS?! They're the ones we should all be worrying about, not me! They're being hunted like animals halfway around the world, and not one of us is allowed to go over there and do anything about it to help them! Real useful bunch of Heroes, the lot of us! We can't even go to save our students, friends and children!"

Under any other circumstances, the students would have been frightened and subsequently devastated to be getting yelled at by their teacher like this. However, there wasn't a soul amongst them who could blame him for being this on edge. Frankly, it was a miracle any of the students were managing to stay this calm and collected as well. But none of that meant anything to Tunguska, for now that he'd finally had the beginning of an outburst, his emotional walls were quickly crumbling from within, as a suffocating air of anguish hung over his every word.

"What kind of cruel, mocking god is looking over this world, where a father makes a solemn oath to look after and save his son from all the dangers this world has to offer, and yet finds himself denied the ability to do so time and time again, and has to spend every waking moment until he gets an answer, as to whether his only child is even alive or not? I lost my right to call myself a Hero after Siberia…but now I feel like I don't even deserve the title of father anymore."

SLAM!

All of a sudden, Eijirou slammed the chopsticks in his hand to the table, practically leaping to his feet; his face wrought with desperate emotion of his own. "Don't talk like that, please, Tunguska-sensei! You absolutely are a Hero, no matter what you think, we've all seen you prove it over and over again! And Kolya-san couldn't ask for a better father! You're a big reason why he's as super tough as he is!"

"That's right; we're all just as worried for him and Midoriya-kun as you are, Tunguska-san. We just know it won't do anyone any good if you keep beating yourself up like this." Vlad King suddenly added on, with Tetsutetsu similarly echoing: "Yeah, I'll bet Kolya-san is climbing the walls worried about how the rest of us are faring. How do you think it would make him feel if he saw us all wallowing and worrying? He'd probably think we thought he and Midoriya-san weren't nearly as capable as they are!"

Rubbing the exhaustion apparent in his eyes, Tunguska lamented: "You all just don't truly understand. I know full well how much more capable and strong Kolya and malenkii Midoriya have become over all this time, but as a father, you never truly stop worrying when your child is away from you, and that's even in the best of peaceful times. So much of his growth has come as a result of all of your friendship and support, and the workings of all his other teachers. I've measured pathetically short by comparison."

To this, Maja rose from her seat, forcing everyone else to look in her pink-blue eyes so they could see how sincere she was: "That's not what we mean when we say you're why Kolya-san is as strong as he is now, Tunguska-sensei. We mean it's because you're his father, like, in the literal sense. You had the heart and inner strength to work and become an active Pro Hero again, even after a decade of going silent with countless people hating your guts. He has the same unbreakable spirit, we've all seen it, and so have you."

Tunguska clearly looked torn between wanting to accept what his students and colleague were saying, and wanting to simply stay in this overwhelming state of paternal worry. That's when Tamaki suddenly spoke up with an unexpected steadiness and clarity in his voice: "You told your son that you have faith that he and Midoriya-kun will be able to come out of this okay and with their names cleared, didn't you? Nobody is saying you don't have to worry about him right now, that'd be impossible. But maybe you should consider taking your own words into account and just try to believe what you told him, yourself."

Of course, any moment of total courage Tamaki could muster up wouldn't last long once he realized he'd drawn all the attention in the room to himself, thus he quickly pulled the hood of his costume firmly over his head and bowed it down low, even turning his whole body so he was sitting curled up into a ball on the end of the sofa with his back to everyone.

As for Tunguska, all the anger and frustration on his face had now completely turned into complete and utter shame. He knew there was no use to be had in lamenting his inability to act for his son's sake; just as he knew he should have been maintaining the sense of hope he'd tried to give Nikolay before they'd had to sever their call. These were all things he knew all too well, but the knowledge of his own powerlessness in the situation just made the truth feel so much more impossibly difficult to stomach.

Of course, he wouldn't be able to actually express any of this to his fellows Pros or their students, let alone apologize for his temper, as all their warnings had chosen that moment to come true, and he could quickly feel his stomach starting to bloat at record speed, leaving him huddled in on himself upon the sofa, his already fair bearded face turning a sickly green in shade.

For the rest of that night, while Eijirou and Maja would both serve to stand at attention outside the spare room he'd chosen to sleep in, Tunguska had nothing but the silence, solitude and darkness to keep him company. It was about the ebst thing he could ask for, as he finally took that opportunity, away from all prying eyes and listening ears, to let his tears of numerous emotions finally come out.

'Lyudmila…I'm so sorry. I've lost count of how many times now our son has found himself facing impossible odds, and I'm left unable to fulfill my promise to you both, to protect him with everything I am. He needs me…and I need to know he's all right. Please…my love, please help me find the strength to hold onto my faith in his strength and that of his friends, more than my fear for his life. It's the only thing I know I can do, but I don't know if I can do it by myself.'

Sydney, Australia

The unfortunate thing about the Sydney team having heard the news from Otheon when they did, was that it was near the end of their day patrols, and much like the rest of the teams, they likewise knew they all still needed to get a proper nights' sleep in order to be energized and alert enough for the next day's work, whether or not the Association would give them the call to action.

And because the news, the subsequent phone call and pained goodbye with Nikolay had devastated Mina as much as it had, and there was no feasible way to justify having her spend the whole night out on patrol where she could be pushed to the edge even further with all that stress; that meant that Mirko had to essentially spend the night in the two-bed guest room Stampede Hopper's agency provided, trying to mentally will herself into actual sleep, while listening to her intern barely try to stifle or at least muffle her tears in her pillow for what felt like hours on end.

It was frustrating enough that Stampede himself had earlier tried to further tease her by offering an especially risqué pair of lingerie for the Rabbit Hero to sleep in; but to now have her regular sleeping routine be so broadly thrown off track by Mina's swelling emotions just left her grinding her teeth and clutching her own pillow tight around her rabbit ears. She could definitely feel for her intern, knowing her beloved boyfriend was in such a shitty situation with only one other ally to rely on while she couldn't do anything to help; but surely the girl had to know that something here needed to give for both their sakes. Mirko honestly had half a mind to whisper yell for Mina to settle down and keep it to herself, but the words of advice from her assistant Chiyuki back at her own agency consistently came back to get her to begrudgingly bite her tongue.

Thankfully, after a while, Mirko's all-around energy had dwindled enough to where her body simply forced itself to sleep. It wasn't what she would personally have preferred, but at this point she would've taken any excuse. Besides, she hadn't heard any of Mina's muffled sobs or faint sniffles for a while now. She could only assume, in her subconscious train of thought, that her intern had simply cried herself to sleep as well.

But if that was the case, then why was it that Mirko felt a distinct sensation of unease throughout her body, when she was still so soundly asleep that she shouldn't have been consciously aware of it. It was like a sixth sense, a natural alertness fine-tuned by years of some of the most dangerous Pro Hero work.

But even all of that couldn't have prepared Mirko when she could no longer ignore this feeling, and thus her body literally forced her to wake up and see for herself what was going on, only to be met with the sight of Mina standing nervously at her bedside; her eyes looking this way and that nervously. Once the Rabbit Hero's initial surprise at seeing the girl awake this late into the night had worn off, Mirko's skin tingled with anticipation for a fight upon seeing how nervous she was. "What's wrong, Pinky? You feel something's off? You hear something?"

But that anticipation would be for nothing, as Mina struggled to ultimately get her answer out: "No, nothing like that…I-I just can't sleep. I'm really trying, but it's just too hard, I can't stop thinking about everything that's going on right now. Mirko-sensei…w-would it be okay for me to…to…well…to maybe share your bed tonight? I'm sure it could do the trick; it always worked with my parents whenever I got scared of the dark or a thunderstorm when I was little."

But Mirko was having none of this, and she made that abundantly clear when she answered in a harsh whisper: "Yeah, except you're not little anymore, and I'm sure as hell not your mommy. You're trying to become a Pro Hero that handles crazy stuff like what's going on out there on a daily basis, and you need to start learning to think and act like it. Get back in your own bed, for God's sakes."

Mirko stubbornly planted her head back in her pillow so as to keep from seeing whatever shade of disappointment was doubtless visible on Mina's face at her request for some kind of comfort being so harshly denied. Of course, that naturally didn't stop her from just feeling that saddened disappointment in the air, as she could hear Mina's footsteps start retreating back to her own bed.

And with each step, Mirko could once more hear Chiyuki's same nebulous line of advice come pounding away at her from within her chest, how accepting an intern and actually establishing a strong rapport with one in the eyes of the public would be her best possible chance at becoming the next Number One. Even she could say she was all but certain that this wasn't the means to developing the kind of approval from the public that some of the bigger Heroes out there were known for…and if that was the case, then what did this night ultimately mean for her chances?

"Wait." She suddenly spoke up, an air of total resignation dripping from her every word.

As soon as Mina turned around, Mirko had already inched over to the far side of her bed, the sheets on the opposite side already pulled back in an unspoken gesture of invitation. In the dark, she couldn't see the look of total annoyance on her mentor's face, as she was simply too overcome with gratitude as she energetically climbed in.

"But let's get two things straight here, Pinky. One: this is a one-time thing. After tonight, you stay in your bed, and I don't wanna hear one word otherwise. Two: if you even think of holding onto me or touching my ears even once tonight, I'm keeping the arms. Understand?"

"You got it, Sensei!" Mina answered in such a chipper tone, it made Mirko instinctively question if the pink young Hero had even listened to a word she'd just said.

But, fortunately, she would be proven to have worried for nothing, as not once over the rest of the night did Mina ever intrude from her side of the bed, thus allowing the two to finally get an actual night's sleep. And the entire time, Mina could feel her once achingly heavy heart become just a little bit lighter as she thought to herself:

'Mirko-sensei is so awesome. She likes to always project like she's so tough and unmoving, but she really does have a big understanding heart underneath, after all. She's right…she and Tunguska-sensei are both right. We've still got a job to do, and I know Kolya-kun and Midori-kun are probably working towards that, even with everything that's going on with them right now. Heck, I know all the other teams are still working super hard on their own ends of the mission right now, too. If they can stay that focused and ready for anything, then there's no way I can't be the same way. I promise I'm gonna do everything I can from now on to live up to your examples, everyone! I'm gonna help us see this whole mission through to the end without stopping for anything, no matter what!'

Otheon

A couple of hours had passed, during which Nikolay and Izuku had both managed a single hour's watch each. Of course, given the thief's position as ultimately a civilian, it was agreed between the two that he be allowed to get more sleep in the long run. Now, Nikolay was taking up his second shift, keeping himself tightly wrapped underneath a armful of hay from another nearby bale in order to help keep himself warm and that much more hidden, even out of view of the large opening in the wall.

However, his physical exhaustion from the past day had been so immense, that it wasn't even twenty minutes after his second shift had started, before his eyes had ultimately fallen and he was fast asleep all over again.

And it was only then, that their third wheel had finally decided to make his move. What neither Izuku nor Nikolay had suspected, was that he hadn't fallen asleep at all, but had instead opted to lie down as though he were sleeping, keeping his back to them so they would never suspect a thing. For the last couple of hours, he'd simply lied in wait, listening to the both of them, looking for his opportune moment. It had seemed unlikely to come, but now that he was hearing Nikolay and Izuku breathe in the slow and steady manner that only someone completely unconscious could, he knew his chance was here.

He moved as slowly and quietly as humanly possible, carefully making his way for the briefcase that Izuku had his arm protectively draped over. With every passing moment the thief spent meticulously lifting the curly-haired boy's arm just enough to pull the case free, and then set it back down, he could only keep hearing everything his two Hero bodyguards had been saying since they'd gotten into this mess. Everything about how returning or destroying the case wouldn't make a difference, how they would have no chance so long as they were still in Otheon. It was downright deafening within his head, but he was nothing if not stubborn, as he held the case tightly to his chest like a mother would to her child. 'It doesn't matter what you guys say. You might've saved me before, but there's more I need to worry about before myself.'

TWEE-TWEE-TWEE!

Just as he began to inch his way back to the ladder leading down to the ground floor, the stillness was suddenly broken by the frantic-sounding chirps of Pino, the little pink bird having chosen now to come flying out from under the thief's clothes, and sounding out aggressively to him, even as he desperately tried to motion for his feathered companion to quiet down.

"What are you doing?" Nikolay's voice suddenly called out from behind his back; causing him to completely jolt and stand frozen, realizing he'd just been found out. "Deku-san, wake up!"

Even though he knew his chance had just been blown, the thief nervously turned around to face the two boys, as Izuku jumped awake at the sound of his being yelled at, only for his alarm to be turned into tense concern once he realized the thief was not only awake and near the ladder, but also had the briefcase in his hands. Slowly rising to his feet while Nikolay was likewise making a quick approach, Izuku quietly spoke up: "What are you doing with that?"

"Isn't it obvious? He's trying to run away with it." Nikolay immediately answered, that all-too familiar look of judgment once again in his eyes as he and the thief made eye contact. "What're you trying to accomplish here? Are you still going to try and ransom that case with the people who're after us? You wouldn't even need the case if you were just going to call the police and tell them where we are. How many different ways do we have to tell you what would happen before you get it?"

This time, even Izuku couldn't hide the look of clear hurt on his own face as the thief kept switching his gaze between them, refusing to let go of the case all the while, before finally finding the courage to speak up: "Don't look at me like that! You both may have saved my life, but I don't owe you anything more than I've already given you! I pretty much showed you what direction to go to get out of this country; and your Slavic-sounding friend here clearly knows what he's doing when wandering around in the wilderness, so you could both easily go on by yourselves and be just fine! I can't be away from home any more than I already have! If forking over this case is my only shot at getting back home safely, then I need to go for it! Hell, I'll even vouch for you both to the police to try and get them off your backs if I have to! But the bottom line is I have to do this! You already figured I'm out for more than myself, so some part of you must understand!"

Alas, Nikolay and Izuku both continued to step forward; the latter motioning to the view outside the barn as he spoke out: "We do understand, but if you advertise that you have that case, the chances are too high that they would simply kill you, and where would that leave the people you're looking out for then? A Hero's job is to help someone in need, and right now, keeping you and that case out of their hands and getting you out of Otheon is our best means of doing that."

Izuku was about to continue, until he suddenly felt Nikolay lightly tap against his right arm, forcing his attention away, only to see a sudden new alertness in his friend's eyes, Nikolay slowly turning his head to meet his gaze as he then spoke up: "Listen, do you hear that?"

Izuku and the thief both immediately tried to listen for anything out of the ordinary, but they didn't have to wait long, for a mechanical whirring and chopping sound was starting to grow amid the silence, the sound of a helicopter. It was fairly distant, but as the seconds passed by, it was undoubtedly getting louder. This sent all their hearts racing as they rushed to the opening in the wall, carefully peeking out to make sure. They immediately spotted a single descending search light hovering through the air ahead; most importantly hovering closer and closer to them in a direct line.

The three boys immediately ducked their heads back behind the wall for cover, hoping above all hopes that they hadn't been spotted already. But that didn't stop Nikolay from eyeing the thief again; a look of genuine hurt and distrust on his face. "You didn't have a cellphone, as far as I could tell…who exactly did you call when we let you go for those couple minutes earlier?"

To this, the thief looked downright incredulous: "Are you even listening to yourself? If I'd called the cops all the way back then, why would they have waited all this time to come after you two? And do you seriously think I know where every little derelict piece of nothing like this barn is in the whole country? I don't know how they found us!"

"Guys, please, just quiet down and let's wait. For all we know, they may not have seen us." Izuku exclaimed in a harsh whisper, thankfully getting through to his two companions, as they once more got themselves flush to the wall, peeking through the tiniest cracks between the wooden boards, trying to see just what the helicopter was going to do.

With his heart racing like mad, and his eyes darting this way and back, Nikolay almost missed the briefest glint of something moving through the air away from the helicopter. But the fact he saw any such thing at all was enough to get him to act, and Izuku had clearly spotted it as well, as he quickly illuminated his whole body with the power of Full Cowling, and darted across the way to grab the thief and kick them both as far away from the wall as possible.

At the same moment, Nikolay likewise sprung back, digging his hands into his pockets and just as quickly pulling them out, now adorned in his gloves and attached Magne Grips. With a speedy flick of his wrists, the magnetism was flipped on, and his trusty bandolier of small tuning forks came flying out from the bale of hay he'd just been resting in, landing clean in his hands just as he'd gotten a good enough vantage point through the major opening in the wall.

He could already see the object that had come from the helicopter now flying right for the barn. It was still too far away and too dark outside for him to make out exactly what it was, but if it was coming without warning, then he had no doubt it was an attack. As such, he immediately drew one of his tuning forks, sent a concentrated flow of his stored up Kinetic power through his arm and blasting out of his finger tips as he threw the tuning fork like a horseshoe, sending it in an inhumanly boosted speed, with just the luckiest enough aim to actually meet the incoming object head-on.

BKOOOOOOOM!

The moment it proved to be an explosive, the tremendous fiery and concussive power was enough to send the three boys flying straight into the back wall of the barn, while the front half of it was reduced to smoldering and flaming splinters and burning hay. To have gone off so close, it left Nikolay and Izuku dazed with their ears ringing something terrible, while the thief between them was only lucky enough to have his hearing come back within just a few seconds.

One after the other, he saw Izuku and Nikolay slowly writhing on the ground as they tried to get back to their senses. Seeing two Heroes like them in such a state was unsettling enough, but the fact that they'd just barely managed to avoid getting killed, on top of the fact the police were apparently bringing such insane firepower against them, was enough to have his stomach twisting into knots.

Lifting his head, he could see that the helicopter was now starting to descend in front of the burning barn. His hands instinctively clenched with anxiety as to what he should do, but doing so brought his eyes back down to see that he still had the briefcase in hand. All at once, the spark of an insane and desperate idea came rushing through his mind, as he quickly jumped up to his feet and went running from out the burning wreckage of the barn, clutching it tight to his chest, all the while ignoring every angry and desperate chirp Pino was calling out behind his back, as he left his two protectors behind.

By the time he was halfway to the helicopter as it touched down, he could see the silhouette of a single person disembarking from it. That finally set him off, as he frantically held the case over his head. "HEY! HEY, I'VE GOT YOUR CASE RIGHT HERE! DON'T SHOOT ANYMORE, PLEASE! CALL OFF YOUR BACKUP, LET ME GO ON MY WAY, AND YOU CAN HAVE IT BACK, NO CHARGE, NO QUESTIONS ASKED!"

He dug his heels into the dirt to stop himself, holding the case out at the full extension of his arms and struggling to catch his breath, as he saw the person from the helicopter slowly approach.

As soon as they stepped into the light, the thief could see this man was not dressed like any Otheon cop he'd ever seen before. He had long red hair, and looked as though he were wearing a suit. He couldn't even begin to make out his face thanks to the blinding searchlight, before the stranger angrily asked: "Hand it over!"

Taking this as the best possible sign that this could work, the thief didn't even hesitate to toss him the case. "Fine, you can keep it! So this means I'm free to go, right?"

For a few grim seconds, the unidentifiable man said nothing, only looking at the case now in his hands, as though he were trying to make sure it didn't have a scratch on it…until he finally set it down and returned his obscured gaze to the young thief before him. "What about your two little friends?"

Having expected to be given the go ahead to leave, this sudden question caught the thief completely off guard, barely able to get his legs to step back, before the man started approaching him further, his arms starting to twitch and bulge underneath his sleeves, as his tone became more aggressive and even bestial, as though it belonged to something far bigger than this slender frame.

"You all saw it, didn't you? All three of you know…ABOUT THIS CASE'S SECRET!"

In a blink of an eye, the slender-looking man's whole body expanded into the form of a massive red demonic-looking bearded creature with one horn protruding from its forehead, and two spiked iron clubs where its arms should have been. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Japanese mythology would've realized this man had practically turned into the classic image of an oni, but right now the thief was too terrified to even think of anything, let alone something so insignificant.

Realizing this person's intention now was to kill him, his legs finally gave out from underneath, bringing him flat on his rear in the dirt, barely managing to find words, let alone the strength to voice them, as he saw one of those clubs start raising over his attacker's head, ready to come down in a vicious coup de grace on his minuscule form beneath.

But even knowing now that his death was coming, all that the thief could think to say to himself and anyone who would listen was: "Please…why is this happening to me? I need to get home to my siblings…they're waiting for me! PLEASE JUST LET ME GO HOME!"

FWOOOOOOSH!

Suddenly, the oni-looking assailant's ears caught the swift incoming sound of something immense tearing through the air right for him. On instinct, he proceeded to swing his other iron club arm in its direction, swatting it out of the sky, only to instead be met with an incredible blast of pure wind power digging his feet into the ground as he used his brute strength to deflect it.

As soon as he did so, he immediately spotted the descending glowing form of Izuku soaring through the air right for him, his leg already fully reeled back in preparation for a kick straight to his head. "ST. LOUIS SMASH!"

With his left arm still extended from his swing, the Villain proceeded to bring his right arm forward in an attempt to block the boy's kick…only to be met with a far more overwhelming excessive force being driven straight through his entire body the moment foot met club. Even with his own insane strength, he couldn't possibly hope to withstand this inhuman amount of raw physical power, as his legs ultimately gave out, and Izuku's attack sent him flying through the air at the speed of sound, ultimately smashing into his helicopter behind him, reducing it to smithereens and leaving his large red body prone and motionless.

The explosive force of that impact even managed to kick up the briefcase, sending it flying back through the air to where it landed right next to the thief on the ground, almost as though it were a curse. Nevertheless, he instinctively grabbed it the moment he realized it was there.

Even with that momentary action; the thief was visibly dumbstruck, having just seen his life go flashing before his eyes, only for the green-haired Hero to come in and save him at the last possible moment. As Izuku looked to make sure he was all right, the young man had half a mind to get on his knees, thank him and profusely beg forgiveness for trying to run out on them. However, just as he began to open his mouth, his eye caught another glint of the faintest light within the darkness behind his back. "LOOK OUT!"

With his sense of alert already running so strong, Izuku immediately turned on his heels the moment he heard the warning, but he was a fraction of second too late, as with a flash of reflected moonlight, he suddenly felt a sharp piercing pain in his left pectoral; the thief only barely able to glimpse the black shaft of an arrow protruding from the boy's chest; a sight that killed all the words in his mouth and made his blood run icy cold…and even worse, when he could see several more high-speed black shapes starting to fly towards them both right on the tail of the first.

"KINETICHESKIY GATLING!"

With the sound of rapid-fire thunder tearing through the sky above, a multitude of condensed shockwaves suddenly came raining down, pounding the ground between Izuku and his attacker into a multitude of small craters, in the process fortunately managing to destroy all the other arrows that would have otherwise ended up turning him and the thief into a pair of pin cushions. Looking up, the thief watched in awe as Nikolay came flipping down through the air before finally landing shakily on his feet. Even from here, he could see the shock and worry evident on the Russian boy's face when he saw the arrow in Izuku's chest.

But Izuku himself was nowhere near ready to slow down, as with Nikolay's save, he now had a chance to lay eyes on whoever had just shot at them. Even in the dark, he could make out the distant shape of a second grounded helicopter up ahead, with a masked woman with mint hair and a green cloak standing right next to it, with what looked like a medieval bow having taken shape from out her thumb and pinky fingers, aimed at the three of them like a makeshift crossbow.

From the widening of her eyes, it was clear she hadn't expected Nikolay to deflect her follow-up attack like this, and that was just the opportunity Izuku needed, as he channeled Full Cowling through his legs once again, hurriedly crouching down and springing himself up into a spinning jump, lifting his right foot as high up as he could get it. "ST. LOUIS SMASH!"

FWOOOOOSH!

With an Axe Handle downward kick, driving his heel into the ground, Izuku sent an extensive cleaving blast down the ground towards the woman and the helicopter; a tremendous cloud of dirt and dust effectively filling the entire field between them, as the vehicle was completely destroyed in the crossfire.

Knowing they'd now completely obscured her field of view,Nikolay could already tell a couple of things: he couldn't whisk them away with his Kinetics like last time, as the resulting shockwave from his feet would undoubtedly end up clearing the dust, and thus give her a clear view of them again. Second: to use his Quirk, even without the first risk, would still make enough noise that she would easily be able to follow, or at least figure out which direction they were going from here.

Fortunately, Izuku had come to the same conclusion, as he hurriedly channeled his Full Cowling into his whole body again, before hurriedly grabbing the thief by his waist, and reaching his other hand out to Nikolay, who thankfully was quick on the uptake, and thus hurriedly reached out and grabbed it.

The moment Izuku knew his friend was holding on, he proceeded to kick his starting foot down, channeling the full power into it, and thus sending the three of them dashing across the land far beyond the speed of sound; thusly leaving their archer attacker in their dust with no means to actually pursue them further.

Izuku refused to slow down his pace for a good couple of minutes; the land around them flying like a blur as Nikolay and the thief continued to hold onto him for dear life as he ran. Eventually though, he knew he needed to shut it off and give his body a chance to recuperate. Thankfully, he could make out the shape of a small village upon an upcoming hill. Taking care to slow himself down well before, the three boys eventually came to a complete stop by the time they were halfway into the town itself; Izuku taking care to end by getting them all over a sizable stone wall lining a dirt road, so they could keep their heads low and thus stay out of sight. Fortunately for them, with Full Cowling being considerably quieter, their arrival didn't seem to rouse any of the locals awake, as none of the houses around them lit up.

But that was far from the first thing on Nikolay's mind, or even that of the thief, as the two of them finally could take the chance to see for themselves that Izuku had indeed been shot, and the shaft was still sticking out of his chest. It even looked as though it had stuck the boy in the heart, which had them both awash in a frigid sweat.

Before either of them could protest for Izuku to stop lest he cause himself to bleed out, he immediately took the chance and pulled the arrow from out his chest. He was indeed bleeding, but it was nowhere as bad as the two boys had feared, especially when Izuku had seen from Nikolay firsthand just what it looked like when someone was bleeding out.

Seeing that his freckled friend wasn't turning deathly pale before his eyes, Nikolay let out a hesitant sigh of relief. "My God, Midoriya-san, I saw you get hit back there, that scared the hell out of me. How are you feeling? Hang on, I might have some gauze in one of my belt pouches." "Yeah, and let me check if the clinic has any ointment for that wound."

Before the thief could begin to head for the nearby building he could see a red cross upon, while Nikolay hurriedly began digging through his hiking pack for his costume's utility belt, Izuku held up a hand, motioning for them both to stop. "It's okay, guys, really. It was just a little incision, nothing more. My phone took the majority of the damage."

To prove it, Izuku dug into his punctured shirt pocket, and produced the shattered pieces of his cellphone. Nikolay and the thief both let out sighs of intense relief, knowing now that Izuku wasn't nearly as hurt as they'd feared. Of course, that was when Nikolay looked at the damage and noted: "Well, that's now one less way we can get in touch with anyone once we get across the border."

After instinctually checking his pack to make sure his own phone and battery were both still intact, Nikolay's eye fell once more to the briefcase in the thief's grasp. Memories of their previous interrupted confrontation came rushing right back, as the thief was visibly bracing himself to start going at it with words again, as Nikolay began to approach once more.

"Are you okay?" He suddenly asked, no accusation or aggression evident in his tone, which caught the thief completely off guard, only managing a soft: "Y-yeah…I t-thought I was gonna die back there…but you guys…you actually saved me again, even after I tried running away. Why would you do that?"

However, Nikolay and Izuku's gazes were now on the case, as the green-haired boy answered: "Because you were in danger, and it's a Hero's duty to save people in danger, after all. But right now, there's something else we need to look into."

Nikolay suddenly grabbed the case firmly, looking at the thief without suspicion, but rather worry. "Yeah, those people definitely weren't the police. If you don't have a cellphone and didn't call the police from that payphone earlier, then how could they track us down to that random abandoned barn? There's got to be something in that case that allowed them to know where we were. If so, they could easily be able to keep tracking us. We just need to make sure."

Those suspicions definitely made a lot of sense, and after they'd gone out of their way to save his skin twice at this point, the thief was well past the point of wanting to put up a fight. With a sigh of surrender, he let go, allowing Nikolay to take the case, wherein he proceeded to hurriedly open it and start sorting through all of its contents.

But despite poring through all the different notebooks and folders, he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary that could have stuck out as a tracking device. Even when feeling along the lining of the interior of both halves, there was nothing he could feel with his fingers that was out of the ordinary.

It was only when he managed to catch the rim of the case's mouth at just the right angle, that he caught glimpse of an unnatural red light inside. Once he confirmed upon showing that the thief and Izuku could see it too; Nikolay carefully reached and pried into the thin opening with one of the pens that had been in the case, before ultimately fishing out what clearly looked like a tiny monitoring device resting in the palm of his hand, rhythmically emitting a brief flash of a red light.

Now that one of their most serious questions had effectively been answered, he proceeded to take care of their problem by reeling his arm back, sending another concentrated surge of built up Kinetic power through his arm and into his fingers, before finally releasing it as he threw the device high into the air with a more restrained Kinetic Boost; the sheer pressure of the air and that speed proving more than enough to break the tiny thing to pieces in the air.

The three boys let out a sigh of relief, now knowing they had taken away their pursuers' means of actually knowing where they were. However, that didn't mean they were any safer, staying out here. And before they could even consider what else to do from here, the thief finally straightened himself out, as he looked at the small bloody spot in Izuku's shirt, and the couple of small trails of blood dotting Nikolay's forehead from the wooden shrapnel of that initial explosion. "Look, we've still got a very long ways to go, but let me at least patch you two up with whatever you've got in that fancy belt, alright? I mean…it's the least I can do, really."

With the adrenaline finally starting to slow down, Izuku could really start to feel the pain starting to form in his chest, just as Nikolay could finally feel the stinging in his forehead. Exchanging knowing looks with each other, Nikolay let out an exhausted sigh as he sat beside Izuku, while the curly-haired Hero gave a welcoming gesture. "Thank you."

Upon finding a roll of gauze in one of Nikolay's belt pouches, the thief quickly got to work cutting it into strips, before then pulling out a needle and thread from his pocket; a sight that caught both boys by surprise. He could see just as much, and thus gave a low chuckle. "I've had more than a few needs to patch up some scrapes and cuts after the odd back alley scrap… and also mend clothes where they needed it."

Nikolay and Izuku both let out a momentary wince of pain once he got to work giving a single stitch to each of their wounds. As he did his work, a heavy silence hung over them all; something he quickly proved unwilling to take, as once he was finally done, he bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry…for trying to run off with the case on you two. That's the only reason you both ended up getting hurt…and yet you two still went out of your way to save my life again. Heroes or not, I just don't see how you could be so forgiving of me doing something so selfish when we're all so deep in it."

Izuku gave a faint smile as he answered: "Because it's understandable why you'd do so. You've got people you care about to look after, and we had to pull you away from them. I think a lot of people would've thought to do what you did in that kind of situation. It's nothing to blame you for."

When Nikolay lifted his head to look the thief in the eye; the young man was surprised to see a look of genuine understanding in the Russian boy's eyes as well. "Yeah. If I were in your place…I'm almost certain I'd have tried the same thing, so…no hard feelings. However, as a favor to us at least, if not also yourself, don't try it again anytime soon, alright?"

Physically feeling a great deal of the tension between them lift with that statement, the thief laid back on his hands, letting out an exasperated sigh of his own. "Oh, don't worry. After that close shave, I don't think I'll be trying anything so gutsy again, even if you paid me a king's ransom."

Nikolay and Izuku couldn't help but chuckle lightly to each other; their companion unable to help but join in as well. But once they'd gotten it out of their system, he looked to the two young Heroes inquisitively. "In all seriousness, though, let's say you didn't already know what you guessed about me. As far as we go, I'm just a common street criminal who's pretty much caused you nothing but trouble. Why go to so much risk for someone like me, one of the criminals you Heroes are supposed to hate so much, who you don't even know the name of?"

This got the two boys looking up to the stars above in deep thought; Izuku smiling confidently to himself as his eyes lit up with their reflections. "All my life, my dream has been to become a Hero just like All Might; someone who can save everybody with a smile, no matter what, and no matter who they are or what they've done. I just always feel the need to help them, and a great happiness when I do."

As Nikolay likewise looked at the myriad stars, his hand instinctively began reaching up for his chest, feeling at the suspended ring hanging from around his shoulders underneath; his heart swelling as he did so. "And me…all I want is to chase the dream I once had that I thought I'd lost: to become a Hero worthy of the faith my parents and my friends have given me all this time…a Hero worthy of my family's real legacy…a Hero that can inspire hope in everyone, just like my Dad once did…like he's trying to do again."

The thief observed the depth in both their eyes quizzically, before he too took to looking at the skies, a knowing smirk once more on his face. "I see. All Might, huh? He's that super-famous Hero the whole world knows, right? Not a bad example to pin your dream on, I guess. He actually seems like the kind of Hero who goes out of his way for the sake of everybody, rich and poor. For the longest time, I always thought Heroes were just a bunch of egotistical blowhards who just save people so they can get fame and fortune. A lot of the Heroes in this country just stick to working the nicer parts of the cities, since that's where they'd make easy money. All the while, those in the slums are pretty much left to fend for themselves…like yours truly, for example."

This managed to snap Nikolay and Izuku back to attention, looking in regretful understanding to the thief as he lackadaisically rolled onto his feet, standing himself up and stretching his back, while Pino peeked out from under his collar, chirping sadly. "But then there's Heroes like you two, going out of your way and risking your skins for people who've given you nothing but trouble like me. No matter how much you get hurt, you both keep pursuing your dreams…heh, makes it hard not to wonder what exactly I'm doing with my life by comparison. It's not like I have the right to go around saying 'I want to be a pilot'. God, I'm so lame compared to guys like you."

With the sting and throbbing pain of their injuries thankfully having subsided, Nikolay and Izuku got back to their feet as well; the young Russian not even hesitating to answer: "Don't be so sure. Every day I wake up telling myself what it's all for, but I've honestly lost count of how many times I've stumbled or felt overwhelmed by the obstacles we've had to face, and doubted my ability to do anything to overcome it. I'm not nearly as strong or steadfast as you think."

Nodding in turn, Izuku likewise answered: "I'm actually pretty lame, too. Being a Hero who saves everyone with a smile is all I ever wanted, and yet for the longest time, everyone in my life told me I couldn't do it, and that I should just do something else. But ever since I got into Yuuei Academy, I've been pushing myself to my limit nonstop, and I've still had to be propped up by so many of my classmates and friends in order to make it this far."

The thief couldn't begin to hide the look of genuine surprise in his eyes to hear two aspiring Heroes speak so humbly after everything they'd already done for his sake…and from that surprise, came an unexpected feeling of genuine understanding he felt between them, as a tired but accepting smile spread across his lips. "Well, then it's good to know we all have something in common: being lame, and having a dream."

The sight of the smile of compassion on his face helped brighten Nikolay and Izuku's spirits with grateful smiles of their own. Afterward, the freckled boy took a steadfast posture and bowed deep before the stunned thief. "Thank you…and I'm sorry for having caused you so much trouble during this time. You're right, we do still have a long way to go, but perhaps we can cover the rest of it without so much tension between us…starting with what should've come a long time ago. My name is Midoriya Izuku, Hero name Deku, at your service."

The thief was clearly feeling quite awkward and at a loss as how to react, but Nikolay likewise stepped forward, offering an open hand for him to take; all hostility and suspicion in his eyes gone at last as he too said: "And I'm Nikolay Bezpalov, Hero name Solovei…and I'm sorry for having given you such a hard time during all of this."

Smiling in a show of no hard feelings, the young man firmly took and shook Nikolay's hand, while at the same time bowing his head in return to Izuku. "Rody Soul, pleased to finally have some actual names to work with here."

TWEE!

As if on cue, the little pink bird quickly flew out from under his collar, flying around the two Heroes with a series of happy-sounding chirps, before it ultimately proceeded to nestle itself within the surprised-looking Izuku's curly hair; earning an amused chuckle from the young man known as Rody. "Oh, right, and this here's my trusty little sidekick, Pino…and it looks like she's already taken a liking to you two."

As he let go of Nikolay's hand, Rody looked him over specifically, his usual cocky smirk now accompanying a knowing glint in his eye. "So, you're Russian, huh? Yeah, I should've recognized that accent. And with what you said before about why you're trying to be a big Hero and having lived on the run…you must be the kid of that one wayward Russian Hero that was making such a buzz online some months back. Tunguska or something like that, right?"

The look of complete red-faced awkwardness that immediately appeared on Nikolay's face told Rody everything he needed to know; his eyes switching between him and Izuku. "Yeah, that definitely tracks. I remember hearing all this noise on the news about some big Russian Hero who caused some kinda big disaster a long time ago and disappeared for years, before suddenly popping up in Japan fighting alongside All Might right before he announced his retirement. And if you're working so hard to be a Hero like All Might as well…man, talk about a small world, huh?"

Izuku was scratching the back of his head while giving an embarrassed chuckle, while Nikolay hurriedly cleared his throat. "Yeah, it really is. Listen, we should probably get a move on if we want to make it to the border in anything resembling a decent time."

Rody immediately proceeded to crack his knuckles before spinning on his heels and taking long striding steps in the lead. "Agreed. After that mess, I think our best bet is to try and find some abandoned wheels that can still run. But first, we gotta find a place where we can get some actual sleep. Luckily, there are some cave systems around these parts we could camp out in."

Nikolay and Izuku quickly followed to stay on Rody's tail. Within a few minutes, they were finally out of the boundaries of the town, with nothing but the wide night-enshrouded countryside to look forward to ahead of them, especially if they wanted to avoid drawing attention by using their Quirks to speed up the pace.

But as they continued on their way, listening to the chirping of crickets and the momentary chirps from Pino as it flew loyally around Rody's head, the young man himself couldn't help but comment further: "Y'know, after all that news came up about your old man suddenly making a comeback, I couldn't help but look around online and see why he disappeared…and hoo boy, no wonder you wanna work so hard. Nobody should have to live under that kinda shadow forever. I'll bet you've probably been quaking in your boots nonstop about the Russkie president coming over here and giving some big old Quirk forgiveness speech or something with all the other politico mucky mucks here. Otheon is pretty much the Switzerland of the Mediterranean, political neutral ground and all that. I wonder if that's why you're in this country, of all places…but then that doesn't explain you, Deku. What's the deal that's got you two wandering around together here so far from school?"

Realizing that Rody was at risk of saying something in regards to Tunguska or anything else current Russia-related that he wouldn't be able to take back, Izuku was grateful he was now the one being addressed as he answered: "Well, seeing as how we're really left with no other place to go or course of action to take right now, I suppose there's not really any harm anymore in telling you, Rody-san. It's a long story, really, but it goes kind of like this…"

From there, Izuku and Nikolay both ultimately proceeded to fill Rody Soul in on everything that had led to them and all their fellow Hero students and Pro mentors alike coming all the way to Otheon from out of the blue, while they continued steadily on their perilous trek for the border to Klayd, where they could all only hope Bakugo and Shoto would be waiting for them, and where they could hopefully start to get some real answers.

Alright, and that's the first of the two new chapters. I hope you all enjoy them, and Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!