Chapter Twenty-Six

~Kana's POV~

"Bakugou! Todoroki! One of you please, give us some light!" Shoji's shout was interlaced with Kana and James voices.

"SHOJI WHAT THE HECK!"

"KACCHAN!" James came bursting out of the trees and skidded to a stop beside Todoroki. "Hey Shoto!"

"What did you just call me furface?!" Bakugou yelled as Shoji came to a halt by Kana.

"Not the time!" Yuto called.

"Is that… Tokoyami?" Shoto asked in surprise.

"Give us some light quick! Tokoyami's on a rampage!" Shoji urgently pressed. The large shadowy mass with red eyes roared as it seemed to bleed out of the forest, smashing trees as it's arms came into view.

"Nope!" Kana opened a portal behind her. Her hand reached out and grabbed Shoji and Yuto's collar as she fell backwards into the portal, reappearing further down the trail, out of the line of fire from whatever had possessed Tokoyami. Kana was guessing this was Dark Shadow in full rage mode. She was not going to get caught in this mess. "You guys got this!" Kana shouted at Bakugou, James, and Todoroki.

"Is it really a good idea to let Bakugou take control over this?" Yuto asked.

"He is one of the top students." Kana stated. "There's a brain under all that angry Pomeranian." Kana winced as James had to sidestep away from where Dark Shadow slammed his hand down.

"Shouldn't we try and help?" Yuto asked. Kana narrowed her eyes as she saw a darker form wiggling near Dark Shadow. The villain was still in the area. They couldn't make any headway in taking him down, but maybe Dark Shadow could. Especially with how ferocious he was right now.

"We will if they can't handle it." Kana stated. She didn't take her eyes off the villain and how close he was to Dark Shadow. She did however open a portal in front of James allowing him to get behind Bakugou and Todoroki when he got to close to one of Dark Shadow's hits.

"Fleshhh… need flesh, flesh… No good. Need flesh!" The villain moaned as he used his mouth spikes to get to his feet. "No good. No good. Can't forgive you!" Once the villain was on his feet his voice got louder as he released his teeth spikes at Dark Shadow. "DO NOT SNATCH MY PRIZES! I'LL BE THE ONE TO SNATCH THOSE KIDS INNARDS!" The teeth spikes shot into Dark Shadow, however being nothing but shadow the spikes didn't even faze Dark Shadow.

"Ooh, not a smart move man." Yuto hissed in sympathy. "Dark Shadow's gonna kick your butt." Kana agreed silently.

"DON'T TEST ME!" Dark Shadow roared. "YOU VERMIN!" Dark Shadow's hand grabbed the villain and swung him like a ball into trees. Kana flinched at hearing the villain's body connect with the trees and hypothesized that the villain most likely had multiple broken bones. "AHHH! STILL NOT ENOUGH! NEED TO RAGE!"

"Anytime now boys!" Kana shouted as Dark Shadow turned his red eyes at them. Bakugou and Todoroki moved quickly. Todoroki's fire blazed into existence as Bakugou's bombs went off. Dark Shadow's wail as it was forced to retreat from the light was loud. Dark Shadow faded into Tokoyami's hoodie who was on his knees.

"Ah, thanks." Tokoyami greeted. Kana, Yuto and Shoji jogged over to the others now that the villain was essentially out of commission. Kana would have preferred to 'confirm the kill' but she didn't think the boys would be okay with her leaving and waltzing off after a villain.

"I'm your worse possible match up." Bakugou murmured.

"We were struggling just to survive that guy but in an instant…" Shoto began.

"Dark Shadow helped a lot. You know, minus scaring me by coming out of the woods like a boogeyman." Kana smiled.

"You okay Tokoyami?" Yuto asked.

"You went with the plan up to a point, but even then you were doing good." James stated.

"Shoji, I'm sorry. You too James." Tokoyami breathed. "My spirit is still lacking. The moment your arm went flying, I lost control and gave into Dark Shadow. It was the dark night and my own anger that spurred Dark Shadow into a frenzy. But then he grew beyond my control and I injured you Shoji."

"'Save that for later'. I know that's what you would say." Shoji said.

"He's right, we have to get everyone back to the main house. Especially Kacchan." James stated, giving Bakugou a crooked grin. "The villains are after you still."

"Wait why are they after Bakugou?" Tokoyami asked in confusion.

"You probably didn't hear the telepathic announcement from Mandalay if you were in your dark rage," Kana murmured. "Apparently the villains are after Bakagou, but I'm not entirely sure why. I've reasoned they want him because he's an All Might simp so maybe they want to use him to gain info. Though that's just a guess."

"As if Bakagou would ever betray All Might." Yuto stated drily. "Jerk he may be but he's more stubborn than a donkey. Not to mention he'd be more likely to cuss out anyone who tried to insult him that way." Kana nodded at that assessment. She briefly wondered if Shina had informed Shigaraki about Bakugou's attitude.

"We're not sure exactly." James coughed bringing the conversation back around. "Midoriya and I were up against this one villain who was more brawns than brains and he let it slip. Aizawa and Vlad King are back at the main house waiting for everyone to come in. A lot of us are still running around in the dark. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up running into villains like the fang mouth guy or worse."

"If you were with Midoriya James, where is he?" Shoto asked. Kana blinked as she just realized James had been Midoriya's partner into the forest earlier. James couldn't kill him so he should be fine, although Kana doubted Midoriya would ever stand back as long as someone needed saving so where was the confused broccoli?

"Oh I knocked him out." James announced. Everyone turned shocked eyes on James. Kana opened her mouth. She wasn't sure if she was going to yell at James or not but he stopped her by holding up his hands. "I wouldn't have done it if he was sane, promise. The idiot went all out fighting against the muscle head villain and broke his bones, again. He's pretty banged up and wanted to run around the woods to find Kacchan. I promised him I'd get Kacchan back to the house and then knocked him out. Aizawa took him and the kid we found back."

"So we need to safely deliver Kacchan back? How, like you said there are probably more villains around." Shoji stated.

"Did you all forget, we have Kana?" Everyone looked at Yuto before they looked at her. Kana shrugged.

"I mean I could just open a portal. I did that earlier but… my hands are already frozen." Kana held up her hands to show they were dark at the tips of her fingers. It wasn't too bad yet but any more portals and she would be in trouble. Kana's hands had long since turned numb from overexposure and we're white as ice. This was a good excuse but that's ultimately what it was, an excuse. Shigaraki wanted Bakugou and it was in her best interests to follow that request.

However, Kana glanced at Bakugou as he looked between the boys who were talking and making plans to walk through the forest back to the Main house. Bakugou was many things as Kana had learned over the course of this past school year. And despite how much she teased him, she reluctantly called him a friend. Seeing the lost look on his face as everyone made plans to protect him, she made her decision. "Screw it, I can open a portal. Whatever gets me out of this demon infested forest quickest."

"Yay she came to her senses." James cried in joy.

"Whatever." Kana rolled her eyes before she started to move her hands to form another portal. The portal opened to show the front of the main house with the lights on. No one was outside which was probably a good sign. "Go I'll close it after you guys."

"Come on Kacchan." James called. Kana didn't notice any changes or even hear anything before her world suddenly went dark.

~James POV~

"Come on Kacchan." James called to the blond only to see that he wasn't there. "Kacchan? Bakugou?!"

"KANA!" James turned at hearing Yuto's shout. James noted that the portal Kana had opened was gone and so was she.

"Where did she go?" Shoji asked glancing all around them.

"She was just here." Shoto stated in confusion.

"Looking for them?" The voice called making James snap his head to the masked man in the tree. James figured this villain took Kana and Bakugou but the sudden loss of his sister had his fangs coming out. "I've taken them, with my magic. Your friends aren't a resource that should be on the hero side. We're going to put them on a stage where they can really shine!"

"Give them back!" Yuto ordered sternly.

"'Give them back'? What an odd request. If I was going to give them back I wouldn't have taken them." The villain stated as he held up two blue marbles.

"Move!" Shoto called as he shot ice at the villain. James launched himself into the air, swiping at the man's mask. Considering this was all for show James feigned missing him. James heard the soft chuckle from the man as he jumped away from James. James tumbled before he righted himself, getting to his feet.

"You call that an attack?" The man laughed mockingly as he started to make his getaway. "My dear boys, you'll never be the star in any show if you only rely on those base instincts. Show a little pizzazz!"

"He's getting away!" Shoji yelled. James didn't waste time as he darted after the annoying man.

"Calm yourself kitty boy! I promise you'll see your sister again." James rolled his eyes. He knew he was going to see Kana again. It was hard to kill a roach like her. James still ran through the forest. His ears could hear the other boys running after him but only Todoroki was close enough to keep an eye on James as he pounced after the flying magician.

James had just jumped up and over a bush when he let out a surprised yowl as the two girls came into view. Uraraka was sitting on her back, holding her down. His yowl startled Uraraka as she flinched so hard she almost fell off the blond girl's back. The blond girl meanwhile took this chance to get up and run into the bushes.

"James!" James blinked, turning his head to see Tsu pinned to the trunk of a tree by her hair. James opened his mouth in surprise.

"Tsu? Uraraka? Who was that? Nope never mind, are you two okay?" Shoto came blazing onto the scene as these words spilled from James mouth.

"Uraraka, Asui are you two going after the villain as well?"

"What villain?" Tsu asked as James pulled out the knife allowing her to get back to her own feet. "Thank you James."

"Sure. Who was that blond?" James asked.

"I'm not entirely sure but she was a Villain." Uraraka said. "She pinned Tsu to the tree before I managed to detain her."

"That was a good move Uraraka, I'm going to have to ask you to teach me." Tsu complimented. James and Shoto on the other hand were getting impatient. Shoji burst through the bushes before any further conversation could continue.

"Todoroki! James! Did you catch him?" Shoji's eyes widened when he saw Uraraka and Tsu.

"Wait what?" Tsu asked.

"'Catch him'? Catch who?" Uraraka asked in confused puzzlement.

"A villain took Kana and Bakugou just as we were going to head back to the main house. He ran off with them." Shoto stated. "He turned them into marbles with his Quirk. James was following him."

"Yeah and then I ran into Tsu pinned to the tree and Uraraka pinning down some blond girl who they said was a villain." James said. "That scene alone caused me to freeze, and I lost which way the villain went."

"Can't you track him by scent?" Yuto asked popping out of the dark shadows.

"I'm a cat not a dog!" James hissed, flashing his fangs. "What about you? Can't you run through the forest quicker than normal because of all the darkness?"

"I mean I can but it's only going to be in one direction. I can't multiply myself; you know that." Yuto stated.

"Shoji can you hear anything?" Shoto asked. Shoji spread his arms wide, allowing ears and eyes to grow from now only his arms but also the added appendages he made.

"Not yet." Shoji stated.

"How are we going to find them and bring them back?" Uraraka asked. "What do the villains even want with them? I mean, I could understand wanting Kana with her portals but why Bakugou?"

"They probably think he's villain material." Tsu croaked.

"How would they know that?" Uraraka asked.

"The Sports Festival." James stated grimly. "They broadcast the event live on national TV. Everyone everywhere saw us. I think it's safe to assume that the Villains also saw Bakugou's firepower. It didn't help that he was in rage mode during that last half because Shoto wasn't in the fight mentally."

"This is my fault?" Shoto asked. James winced.

"No Shoto, this is the Villains fault. Even if you had given the fight your all, I'm pretty sure Bakugou's showing was too strong to ignore."

"But why wouldn't they also want you?" Tsu asked James. "Your Quirk certainly is destructive enough."

"Guess I wasn't cat enough for them." James replied, deadpan.

"I hear something." Shoji interrupted causing everyone to stop and look at him. James wasn't sure if he was happy about Shoji picking something up as he had figured Shigaraki's plan out a while ago but in the interest of 'being innocent' he perked up his tail and his ears in interest. "It's small and fading fast. We're never going to catch up to him."

"What if Shoto makes an ice slide?" Yuto asked. "We could just slide towards them?"

"It wouldn't be fast enough." Shoto stated. "I would need to stay a head in order to make the slide."

"What if," James tried before he gave up. "No never mind that wouldn't work."

"What won't work?" Tsu asked. James sighed and scratched at his cheek as he avoided looking at anyone.

"I was gonna say, why doesn't Uraraka make us weightless and Yuto and just sling us through the air. But that wouldn't work because of physics. We'd have to calculate the villains speed and direction. Not to mention if we slung ourselves through the air, we wouldn't have a safe landing, we'd slam into either the ground or trees."

"Yeah no that's dumb." Yuto stated, sweat-dropping at James idea.

"I said it wouldn't work." James argued.

"So what do we do?" Shoto asked sounding defeated. "No matter how fast we run, we have no idea of knowing where the villain is going. We'd never catch him."

"What if we followed the blond girls scent?" Tsu asked.

"That may work." Uraraka stated. "She's bound to link up with the other villains at some point."

"Well let's go then!" James announced as he started to run to the area where the blond girl had run through.

"I thought you didn't like being compared to a dog." Tsu stated. James didn't bother to look at her as he answered her.

"I'm not smelling her. I can clearly see her footprints in the ground." His night vision was still good for something he mused as he followed the footsteps. Occasionally he caught the scent of blood but for the most part he ignored that as he was focused on seeing everything in the area as well as listening intently to everything in the forest except those behind him.

James shifted to his hands and feet, bounding through the forest until finally, he paused. Through the shrubs and trees, he could see three people. He hadn't met any of them formally, but he could tell they were obviously with the LOV. The magician villain was standing in front of another man who was covered head to toe in black spandex. The blond girl he'd seen under Uraraka was also here. The last man was a spiky haired patchwork man.

"James," Shoto panted, coming to a stop beside him. "There are more villains than we anticipated. Any ideas on how to proceed?" James nodded.

"I do have some ideas. We need everyone else." James met Shoto's eyes. "Also if this fails, you may not like what I have planned."

"Based on previous experiences, I'm willing to hear you out." James grinned. Shoji, Tokoyami, Uraraka and Tsu came from behind them. Yuto melted from the shadows not too long after. "Yu, did you manage to get a good look at the perimeter?"

"Yep. We can work with this." Yuto stated.

"Work with what?" Uraraka asked. James sighed as he met everyone's eyes.

"I have an idea."

~Yuto's POV~

"You okay Todoroki?" Yuto asked as he pulled Todoroki from the shadows. They were behind the magician villain about three minutes after James had given them his grand idea. It was surprisingly logical but hopefully, they didn't have any casualties after this.

"Yes. You ready?" Yuto looked across the clearing and saw James jumping out of the trees with Uraraka by his side.

"Yep go ahead." Todoroki shot frost across the clearing towards the magician. Instead of hitting the villain though, the ice went past him before it started to climb to the night sky creating a barrier between the magician and his comrades.

"Yuto now!" Yuto shot out of the trees, twin poles in his hands. He ran along the ice intending to hit the magician villain. The magician seemed to anticipate this as he dodged Yuto's strike. Despite the dodge, he couldn't prevent himself from slipping on the frost.

"Hey now! What's this?" The magician cried out. He tumbled but quickly got to his feet. Yuto narrowed his eyes as he noticed some ice that disappeared, but he didn't think anything of it as he and Todoroki moved to do another combo attack. The plan James had put forth was simple, keep attacking and keep the villains separated. Hopefully the constant attacks would work to disrupt their teamwork and allow Yuto and Todoroki to finally beat the villain and get their teammates back.

Yuto used his black poles to keep trying to stay in close-range with the magician, however the magician kept dodging or using his Quirk to drop chunks of ice in Yuto's path. Todoroki tried to keep the magician in a tight area but his ice kept getting absorbed into the villains quirk before they were thrown at Yuto once again. Yuto was forced to back off after a few minutes of this to give Todoroki a wider berth to make an ice field. Todoroki sent a wave of ice at the magician, but the stubborn villain jumped into the air avoiding the ice spikes.

"Ooh, you're not too bad in a fight either ice boy!" The magician called. "If you don't mind, I think we'll have some fun with you!" Yuto sent up a wall of shadows the moment he understood the magician's intention. The shadows shrunk down into a marble. "Well that wasn't fun there Shadow boy. You're not on the list so unfortunately you don't matter!" The magician threw out a handful of marbles that had Yuto cursing as the marbles all replaced with chunks of ice. Yuto didn't have to react much as he shrunk into shadows, instantly travelling through the realm of darkness to the next possible opening.

"I don't like magicians much!" Yuto snapped when he came out of his shadows. The magician was now between him and Todoroki. "But if I've learned one thing, it's that you don't watch the mouth, watch the hands!" With that Yuto conjured a wave of darkness that he used to slam into the magician and Todoroki. Todoroki knew the plan and didn't fight it but the magician yelled out as he got caught in the wave. Yuto grinned as he knew his shadows were the equivalent of jumping into ice water in just your swim shorts so this would definitely cause the villain to become disoriented. Or at least he would have if there wasn't a large flash of blue fire that caused the shadows to retreat.

Yuto frowned at the blue fire and traced it back to the villain that Tsu and Tokoyami should have been handling on the other side of the ice wall. Yuto gasped as he saw the ice wall had been melted down due to the fire's heat. Directly in the middle of the melted hole was the patchwork villain. Yuto didn't see Tsu or Tokoyami as the villain raised his hand up.

"Compress, move!" He ordered.

"Yep!" The magician threw himself to the side as the patchwork villain once again threw a wave of fire at Yuto and Todoroki. Todoroki was closer to the villain and should have been able to block but he was in shock at the sudden fire. Yuto didn't as he pulled his shadows to him and threw it out towards Todoroki. The shadows closed over Todoroki a second before the fire did. Yuto could feel his shadows trying to disperse but Yuto forced his shadows to remain until he could no longer feel the heat of the blue fire. When Yuto did pull back he pulled Todoroki towards him.

Yuto grunted as he could feel the drain from holding the shadows that long, especially in the face of pure light like that. In the back of his mind, he could hear whispering start to get louder. He couldn't exactly tell what they were saying or if it was a man or woman, but he knew he was at his limit for shadow usage. Anymore and he'd potentially be dragged into the shadow realm. Yuto's hand came up to press against his head. The whispering would stay with him for the next couple hours.

"Yuto are you okay?" Todoroki asked, helping to keep Yuto upright.

"I'm at my limit Todoroki." Yuto muttered. Todoroki nodded to show he understood.

"Whoo that was hot!" The magician villain that Yuto had completely forgotten popped out from behind one of Todoroki's ice blocks. Yuto guessed this villain was 'Compress', sure made sense if Yuto thought about it, started to walk over to the patchwork villain. "I thought I'd lost them a while back. They certainly stuck around for an encore."

"You got Bakugou?" Patchwork asked.

"Naturally." Compress started to dig in his pockets. He pulled out two blue marbles. "I also caught a spare. She was trying to help them get away. Seemed such a waste to let her go free."

"You can't keep her!" Todoroki called. "Neither can you keep Bakugou."

"Hmph, they seem intent on getting their comrades back. Although the shadow boy looks more tired. Clearly your fire attack had more damage than we thought." Compress stated.

"Doesn't matter. We need to leave." As if on cue, a giant black and purple mist showed up.

"That's-" Yuto cut himself off. The LOV would leave now and head back to Shigaraki. Kana should be okay but Bakugou… he wasn't so sure. Yuto tensed as his thoughts seemed to run away with him. Todoroki misinterpreted Yuto's behavior as he let Yuto go and threw out his arm.

"You're not leaving with them!" Ice shot upwards in front of Todoroki and Yuto as it grew bigger, heading right for the villains.

"Feh, what a weak move." The patchwork villain threw out fire. When the two Quirks clashed, a giant cloud of steam appeared. Yuto didn't move as the air turned metallic with ozone. He did however hear the loud shouting from the other side of the clearing that sounded an awful lot like James and Uraraka.

"Get back here!"

"NO!" Yuto formed two dark 'wings' on his back. He allowed his arms to join with them as he brought both hands together in a clap. The 'wings' followed his motion and shot the steam backwards from him. He lost his 'wings' as he realized that the magician was stepping into the warp gate from Kurogiri. The patchwork was also stepping into another gate.

"Better luck next time, Shoto Todoroki." He taunted as he disappeared into the gate with a final smirk. The warp gate disappeared quickly taking the villains with them.

Silence descended upon the field.

"They're gone." Todoroki breathed. Yuto fell to his knees as his body finally sank into its exhaustion. Kana would be alright he knew this logically; Shina wouldn't let anything happen to her. Not while they were working with the LOV. But for just once second, doubt entered Yuto's heart and mind. Doubt about the LOV's intentions about their cooperation and aid. That was all it took for the 'what if' scenarios to start. What if Shigaraki went back on the deal? What if they hurt Kana? What if Kana did something to get Shigaraki mad at her, at them? What if Shina couldn't do anything to protect Kana? Not to mention, Bakugou. Why did Shigaraki want that blond loudmouth? If Kana allowed herself to forget to act, he would figure them out. What then?

Yuto took a shuddering breath as he forced those questions away. It would do him no good to continue. But it was as if there were cracks in his resolve. Guilt slowly started to overcome him. If anything happened to them he would be holding himself responsible for it. He hadn't fought with his full power. If he had been at full power, without these stupid training exercises, he would have been able to fight back better. They all would have.

"Yuto?" James nudged him before he felt his brother lift his arm over his shoulder, helping to carry him. "Are you hurt?" Yuto couldn't do anything but shake his head. "Come on, we have to head back to the main house. There's nothing else we can do right now."

"… Kana." Yuto breathed. James lowered his voice when he answered.

"Shigaraki wouldn't go back on our deal. He can't. Not without Shina ripping him a new one for hurting Kana. She'll be fine." Yuto nodded at that. If James believed it, he could too.

~Kana's POV~

Kana blinked as her vision was suddenly filled with bright warm lights. She tensed as she felt a rope tying her hands together in front of her. Kana looked down in confusion and slight annoyance as she could easily break out of the ropes. Her attention however was caught by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

"Calm yourself Egress." Kana saw Shigaraki sitting in front of her, leaning against the bar that Shina had brought them to in the beginning of their 'recruitment'. She didn't see Shina here though, just the villains that Shina must have helped to recruit. "I thought you'd want to gather yourself before we brought your 'friend' out of his own stasis." Kana followed his indicated head tilt and saw Bakugou sitting beside her, strapped down with thick leather bands. His hands were bound with a metal device that no doubt kept his hands from creating his bombs while a piece of cloth covered his mouth. Kana frowned as she looked at her own binds. They weren't as fancy and she wasn't really strapped to the chair.

"Okay not to be a pest but why the heck isn't my chair as detailed as Bakugou's?"

"That's what you're worried about?" One of the scaly villains asked. Kana shrugged.

"I mean, if you're going to take multiple 'hostages' why not make them equal?" Shigaraki snorted.

"You're just like Sunfire."

"And where is my strong, beautiful, and scary big sis?" Kana asked curiously. "I mean she probably wouldn't care if I'm strapped down, but I'd think she would also want to be here to make sure I'm not freaking out."

"You really think she'd be okay with you tied down?" Shigaraki asked doubtfully. Kana shrugged.

"I'm not strapped down. I can easily move my hands and make a portal to get away. This wouldn't be the first time I've had to escape my captors. Besides, Sunny teaches us how to get out of these kinds of binds at least twice a week. This isn't that new." Kana wondered if any of her other classmates had to deal with this kind of thing on an almost daily basis. Besides training how to be efficient when it came to stealing Shina also made it a habit to teach them how to do a wide range of things in case they ever needed to know how to either change a tire or how to escape a jail cell. It was the life lessons that Kana enjoyed.

"Hmph, sounds like her. She is running an errand for me. I'm sure she told you about my desire to take your classmate Bakugou Katsuki?" Kana shook her head. She hadn't really been aware of any plans to kidnap Bakugou.

"Sunfire said you were going to attempt to plan an invasion of the training camp. She didn't say you'd be kidnapping a specific person." Shigaraki hummed.

"Well, I did have a list of people I wanted them to try and take. Although I wasn't really expecting you to be one of them. I apologize if they treated you unkindly." Despite Kana's superficial answers so far, she knew better than to underestimate Shigaraki. Shina had warned her if she ever had to be alone with him that he was smarter than he let off. Plus, she really wasn't aware of how fond of them he was. It wouldn't do to get him mad at her, especially if he was calling the shots for now.

"I'm assuming they weren't too rough if I don't feel any aches or pains." Kana answered. "I'm guessing I'm going to be here for a while?"

"Only until we can guarantee Bakugou's agreement to join the LOV." So Shigaraki did want Bakugou to join them. Kana frowned at that. "Don't like the idea of your friend joining us?"

"Huh? Oh no, it's not that." Kana stated before she paused. She wasn't really sure how to say this next part. "If you don't mind me saying so, I don't think this plan was very well thought out."

"How so?" Kurogiri asked her. Kana should have just bit her tongue. But she couldn't very well go back on what she'd said now. It wouldn't really look good for her if she did.

"Forgive me for saying. But Bakugou is too much of an All Might simp to leave the heroes ranks." The silence at her declaration almost caused Kana to have an anxiety attack for simply saying that. She wished she could take it back but there was no power at her disposal that would allow for that.

"Heh, that level of loyalty and trust is something to be admired." Shigaraki eventually said. "Sunfire has said the same thing." Kana mentally relaxed a fraction before Shigaraki's next words. "I suppose if he doesn't join by his own volition, then maybe he would if he was pressured to? After all, you did manage to snap him out of his rage before at the Sports Festival. Anyone who can stand up to a beast of that level, should be able to convince them that joining our ranks would be for the better. Don't you think?" With every word that Shigaraki spoke Kana felt her disbelief grow. This, this wasn't what she'd signed up for. Shina was going to have a field day when she learned what Shigaraki wanted Kana to do.

"I apologize but I'm going to have to decline," Kana answered firmly, staring straight at Shigaraki. "I understand you've employed our services to gather intel on the heroes as well as to steal a few things, but an order of this level is outside my bounds of acceptance. You'll have to ask Sunfire to order me to do this. And forgive me for stating, but I believe you'd have better luck trying to convince Sunfire to kidnap someone under the age of 17."

"Cheeky brat." The magician muttered. Kana didn't look away from Shigaraki who didn't say anything. Kana had the feeling he wasn't really trying to find a way to convince her, more likely he was reassessing his plan.

"Fine." Shigaraki finally sighed. "All you Shadow Clan females are such a nuisance. I expect you to follow along as we try and convince Bakugou his fight for the heroes is an ungrateful road." Kana wondered if Shigaraki was blatantly ignoring her and Shina's advice because he either didn't believe them or because he thought he'd have better luck doing what they said wasn't possible. Men.

"That I can do." Kana answered.

"Good. Now that that's settled, Kurogiri, give the girl some water. She's going to be here a while." Kana's attention was captured as the only other teenage girl let out an excited squeal.

"Ooh another girl in the bar! I'm so excited to get to know you." Her smile got too wide as she practically purred the next part. "All of you."

"Get to close to me and I'll rip your messy blond panda ears off and shove them down your throat." Kana responded with a friendly smile.

"I'd like to see you try it scar face." The blond girl's smile turned sickly sweet. "I'm going to have fun sucking your bones dry of blood." Kana blinked at that threat. Well, that was a new one on her.

"Go sit down you psychotic freak." The patchwork emo ordered. "If we're going to be here awhile I'd rather not listen to you two threat each other." Kana didn't say anything, but she completely agreed with him there. Gods what had they gotten into? Or what had Shigaraki and All For One pulled them into? Kana's ears perked as she heard Kurogiri talking quietly to Shigaraki.

"Should I also message Sunfire about the change in plans?" Kurogiri asked. Shigaraki sighed.

"I'll do it. She's most likely going to call me anyway." Kana mentally snorted at that. Shina could be a pain when she really put her mind to it. Kana wiggled around in her bonds to get comfortable. She couldn't believe she was going to even think this, but she hoped Bakugou woke up soon. She could at least have some fun annoying him while ignoring the blond girl that was staring at her intently.

GM NASAI: This chapter gave me such a block. This is pretty much the first actual deviation from the original storyline. I had some issues with how I wanted this whole deviation to go. I'm not sure I'm happy with it but it'll do for now because I honestly can't see how this would have worked any other way and still get me where I wanted in the end.

Also anyone notice, Yuto and Kana only think about Shoto as 'Todoroki' but James has no issues with calling him 'Shoto'?