I daydreamed about this chapter for a long time but had quite a bit of trouble putting it into words. Honestly, there's an addition in this chapter that I debated with myself about even including, but the more I played with the idea, the less I liked scrapping it. Hopefully, you all enjoy it or, at least, don't hate it. It's the start of another long-con I hope to pan out near the end of this "book" or the middle of the next one.

Coach Blahk: That's fair; I just wanted to give this Bakugo more substance since Canon!Bakugo always felt pointlessly shallow to me. As for Bakugo X Yui, it kind of just happened and I like that dynamic. Also, it was Himiko that killed Kurogiri. She'd been using Nascha's blood to be her "twin" during the meeting but used her own face to kill Kurogiri so Nascha couldn't be blamed.

Gamelover41592: Thank you.

LEGOBRICK13: Yes! Feed me with your anger! Writhe in the knowledge that I have made you LIKE a version of Katsuki Bakugo! MUUAHAHAHAHA! As for the Bakugo X Yui ship... Eh, it kind of just happened and now I have so many plans. So many highs and lows! A slow betterment of the asshole! Just you wait, I'll have you cheering for Bakugo when I'm done! But also yes, Aizawa, Midnight/Nemuri, and Oboro/Kurogiri were all raised in the Brotherhood and the latter was where AFO learned most of the Brotherhood's secret methods and how to hide from them that last decade or so, even if Aizawa (the son of the Mentor) was the actual target that day. BTW, that means His Purple Highness whom Aizawa and Oboro worked under? Assassin. Also dead by now.

Monkey D. Conan: Thank you and that's fair. I don't like Canon!Bakugo because he's always felt so needlessly shallow, so I wanted to at least give him substance. As for Yui being so strong, I just liked the trope of the unassuming person being secretly jacked and I felt like that'd be one of the things that would get Bakugo's attention.

Monster King: Here you go!

Movieboy66: I never cared for Canon!Bakugo and wanted this one to be more relatable, or at least have clear motivation. Present Mic knows nothing, he was just that kind of person that Aizawa couldn't shake in high school and Midnight/Nemui liked to watch him squirm from PM's presence. Mineta... I just couldn't stand him or find a way to write him without radically changing his character, so I thought this was an acceptable end for him.

mixedfictioner: Hurray! Shock!

Shadowwolf1997: Ah yes, the silent person and the loudmouth. Kind of reminds me of NaruHina a little. Not that we see a mirror of that anywhere else. Also those hints are exactly what they seemed to be. I'm sure that won't be relevant in the future!

stevenpiskuniv2: Yeah, it wasn't the best way for that history to come out, but I couldn't think of any way Bakugo would reveal it naturally. He wanted people to not like him so of course he wouldn't tell them why, but I needed others to know so they can put in the work to wiggle their way into his heart. I'll admit, though, I did base Yui's personality a bit on Mikasa, but Yokai has his own scars that made him react that way. I can't wat to get back to UA so we can see how Yui's dealing with the whole "I almost died and the boy who saved me has serious emotional trauma he doesn't know I know about" thing.

Wizardwolf 1020: I have so many other things on my "to watch" list. I'll get around to it eventually.

zagan: Indeed, the man-child is gone! I'd planned it that way since the Hisha's inception.

Guest: Yokai and Stain do not know each other. There was to conspiracy between the two.

Now, on to the chapter!

Chapter 58:

Of Cubs and Ships

Tsuyu's work-study with Silkie was very similar to her internship. The man had an on-the-job learning policy and an agreement with the Brotherhood through Sirius that had resulted in her first kill during said internship. Not that anyone had meant for that to happen when it did, but when forced to pick between heroic ideals or Sirius' life against that Templar smuggler, she'd made her choice and didn't regret it. Now, with a whole month under both Silkie and Sirius' tutelage in coast heroics and stealth, she couldn't find anything to complain about.

Well, anything except being awake at one in the morning on a muted speedboat in her Assassin garb sailing toward a cargo ship in the distance, Sirius —or as she should be called outside her Hero costume: Assassin Ami Koshimizu— at the helm as they approached. She was a pretty woman with cerulean eyes and light blue hair cut short to frame her face, though such was currently pulled back with her Heteromorphic finned ears under the hood of her Assassin garb.

"Apprentice Asui," Ami began. "Do you remember you mission briefing?"

"Yes, sensei," Tsuyu replied, suppressing her usual ribbits. "The ship La Mujer Marvalosa was one of four ships of a Templar fleet to exit Argentina last week. While the local Brotherhood managed to sink most of them and are now certain each ship had a different destination, it is not on any official registry, implying its cargo is of the illegal variety. We are to identify this cargo, assassinate the captain, and sink the ship with few-to-no survivors and no witnesses."

"And who is the captain?"

"Assuming the captains of the ships did not switch from the unofficial registry the Argentinian Brotherhood sent us, it's Salvador Gotita. He has a Quirk that allows him to control seasalt."

"Good memory, Apprentice," the Assassin praised. "What of the ship?"

"According to the satellite images, La Mujer Marvalosa seems to be a feeder-class cargo vessel. Based on this metric, it can have a standing crew of 13 at minimum but likely holds closer to 18 or 20. Its carrying capacity sits between 1,000 and 2,000 TEU. Feeder-class ships do not usually sail in open water —normally only carrying limited cargo between small ports on the same coast or between larger ships— so its crew must be skilled and hope the smaller size decreases the chance of being seen."

"Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the number of backdoors we have access to," Ami grinned, the shadow of the ship coming into sight as the speedboat rounded a large rock. La Mujer Marvalosa had chosen to hide within an area of multiple natural breakwaters, the cliff-like outcroppings hiding the ship from outside eyes decently well. The number of rocks also served to make the local currents dangerous for smaller vessels, only Ami's extensive experience on the ocean with Silkie and use of her Quirk: Good Ear allowing her to navigate the dangerous waters. Such was only made more dangerous by the spotlight scanning the surface of the ocean, the Assassin dodging said light by a hair's breadth upon their approach. She pulled alongside the ship, securing their speedboat to it using a rope connected to a suction cup.

"Alright, Apprentice," the woman said, eyeing Tsuyu's Assassin robes. They, like several others in the Brotherhood before her, had recently been modified to cling to her body rather than hang loose, crafted with strands of her hair for use of her Quirk's camouflage ability if needs forced. The close fit also allowed for easier swimming maneuvers but limited the amount of hidden items she could hold. There was still some loose cloth to hide her exact proportions for plausible deniability, but they were much more conducive for Tsuyu's froggish skillset. The student did, however, keep two pouches of kunai strapped to her thighs as a ranged option. Ami's robe were of the same make, the back a deep blue while there were small patches of lighter shades on the front, almost mimicking the natural designs of sharks or seals. "You think you're ready for the next rank? Let's see what you've got."

Tsuyu nodded, standing and pressing her gloved fingers —another piece of her personal robes— to the ship's haul. They stuck like adhesive, the student's Frog Quirk allowing her to climb upward with little trouble and no grapple that could've been seen. Ami nodded below, tugging on some catgloves to mimic the younger girl's approach.

Tsuyu strafed right toward the stern of the ship, carefully poking her head over the side of the hull. Two men in reflective vests stood a dozen feet away, one standing and the other leaning on a crate. Both held flashlights, though the latter man's was pointed at the deck.

"¿Por qué nosotros temenos que estar en patrulla? Es demasiado pronto y nadie nos ha pillado antes. (Why do we have to be on patrol? It's too early and no one's caught us before.)"

"Las ordines del jefe. Sólo porque no haya sucedido nada antes no significa que no pueda suceder. (Boss's orders. Just because nothing's happened before doesn't mean it can't.)"

"Sí, pues, yo prefiero estar en la cama como las demás. (Yeah, well, I would rather be in bed with the others.)"

Tsuyu knew enough to recognize Spanish, considering the ship came in from Argentina, but she could still barely understand English, much less another language less used in Japan. Their conversation apparently done, the standing man sighed and went on his way, disappearing into the maze of crates.

Tsuyu croaked. Loud. She wasn't a very good whistler considering the shape of her mouth, but she knew a good croak could get someone's attention. Sure enough, the man still in view jolted, dropping his flashlight with a curse. Scooping it up, he started walking her direction. Tsu ducked down, letting the beam of light pass over her. The man called something, closer, so Tsuyu croaked again. His footsteps approached the ledge.

"¡Seas lo que seas, sal—! (Whatever you are, come out—)"

Tsuyu shot upward, her hidden blade springing out to pierce him in the chest. Her fingers gripped his vest, yanking him over the side as he gurgled through the blood filling his punctured lung. He bounced off the hull before hitting the water below with a muted plunk. With the immediate area clear, the frog-girl climbed over the side and onto the deck, Ami following her.

"Good play," the woman praised. "Dealt with the guard and removed the evidence while ensuring he wouldn't be able to survive the swim or call for help. Well done. Now then, captain's first."

"Most likely, his quarters would be that direction," Tsuyu said, gesturing toward the rise at the stern where several walls rose over the rest of the ship.

"Apprentice, what should be our next step on the way to the captain?"

"We should sabotage the lifeboats, Sensei," Tsu replied, again swallowing a ribbit. "Should we be discovered, we must ensure the crew has no escape before we can eliminate them all."

Ami nodded, gesturing with her head toward the port side. They slunk through the shadows, finding the first of the bright-yellow lifeboats packed into tiny cubes ready to inflate with the pull of a chord. The full Assassin drew her weapon of choice, a half-sized cutlass she kept sheathed on her lower back, and cut the boat's pull chord at the base, tossing the chord itself over the side of the ship. Tsuyu decided to add her own two yen. Pulling out a kunai, she stabbed the cube, slicing through the plastic.

"They probably have two more lifeboats if they follow the IMO, but a forth is possible," Ami commented, studying the area of the ship they could see. Another sailor, the second from the conversation before, approached, prompting the Assassins to crouch behind the closest shipping container. Tsuyu placed a finger against her lips before using her Quirk to climb the box, getting the high ground over the man. Like many, he failed to look up.

Tsuyu fell on him, hard. The impact with the deck shattered the light in his flashlight, darkness rushing over them as the girl covered his mouth with a hand, her tongue securing his hands behind his back as her free hand's hidden blade pressed against his throat.

"Do you speak Japanese?" she hissed in his ear. Understanding her question but not the language, he shook his head. Ami stepped out from behind the box and into his vision.

[English perhaps?] the taller Assassin tried. The man gave a shaky, hesitant nod. ["If you wish to live, Templar, you will tell us where the lifeboats are located. If you scream, she will kill you here and now."]

He nodded frantically, Tsuyu slowly removing her gloved hand.

["Th-Th-There's one right there,"] he began. ["Th-there's one on the other side, one on the stern, and an extra by the bow. P-Please don't kill—"]

Tsuyu slapped her hand back over his mouth since he was getting louder with his desperation. His fingers twitched, beginning to crackle in what was probably an application of his Quirk.

["Too bad you sided with the Templars,"] Ami sighed with fake disappointment. ["And, of course, we promised nothing. You should have gotten something in writing."]

The man's eyes widened, his hands trying to flex. Tsuyu didn't give him a chance, slashing his throat open with her blade. He had not finished drowning in his own blood before she tossed him over the railing.

"I can hear one more sailor on deck," Ami said. "He's near the bow. Other than the one on the spotlights, the rest seem to be asleep in their quarters."

"I'll deal with him and the boats," Tsuyu replied.

"This is your evaluation," Ami agreed. She followed the frog-girl as Tsuyu slunk along the railing toward the bow. She worked her way there and circled back around to the stern. Without need for information from the third man, Tsuyu dispatched him from a distance, retrieving her throwing knife from his corpse and tossing him over the side in short order. The lifeboats were dealt with in equally-swift fashion, the pair coming back to the stern and the doorway Ami said was the entrance to the captain's quarters, a locked door with a diagonal anchor printed on it. Koshimizu gestured to it, prompting Tsuyu to kneel down and pull out her lockpicks. It took nearly a minute of trial and error —much too long in Tsuyu's opinion— for her to get the lock to click, allowing them entry into the captain's quarters.

The room wasn't dirty, but it was a mess by cleanliness standards. Used clothing was shoved in the corners of the room, nearly lost in the shadows of the moonlight from an upper window, while the desk in the center had contents of various make strewn over its surface haphazardly, several papers and paperweights having fallen to the floor around it. Around the room were easels, each with a half-to-mostly-finished painting resting on it, while finished paintings of different coastlines rested against the walls around the perimeter. On the left side of the room was a pair of alcoves, the one underneath for sleeping and the one above a shelf lined with photos and trinkets. Inside that lower alcove was a lump that shifted slightly.

Tsuyu stepped in first, making her way to the bed. The man within was on the taller side, somewhere around six feet and in his late thirties or early forties, with white hair trimmed into sideburns. Upon closer inspection, he did not have white hair but his hair itself was crystalized salt, lines of it forming a mimicry of hair. The student glanced at her current teacher, silently asking for confirmation, which Ami gave in the form of a nod. Given the signal, Tsu reached forward, grabbed the man by the neck, ripped him out of bed, and stabbed him in the gut.

Salvado Gotita's eyes shot open, the man gasping as his arms —toned and muscular from years working on ships— failed to answer his call. He muttered something in Spanish before seeming to remember which country he was closest to.

["E-English?"] he coughed, eyes screwed shut. He must not speak Japanese.

["I speak English,"] Ami said, watching the man from over Tsuyu's shoulder. ["Speak your words now, Salvador Gotita."]

His eyes opened slowly, squinting into the darkness at the women above him.

["Assassins,"] he muttered. ["Beautiful angels of death… That fortuneteller was right."]

[Excuse me?"]

["I was told I'd die… stabbed by two pretty women…"] He gave a wet chuckle. ["I'd hoped it would be a lovers' quarrel, though."]

Ami knelt beside him, her face blank. ["Are those your last words?"]

Salvador Gotita shook his head slowly. [They warned me, but… they say you killers are honorable… I have only one request… Would one of you lovely ladies—"]

["Neither of us is kissing you, Templar."]

"Haha…" he laughed with a wheeze. ["Please, bury me in La Mujer Gloriosa. She is my life. I don't want to part."]

[Your ship will go down with you,"] Ami promised. ["Her and your crew shall find rest together."]

["Then there is only one other thing."] He coughed, blood splattering his beard. ["In the hold is a glass safe… underneath a tarp. Code's 111958. Take her contents. It doesn't deserve the sea like us…"]

Tsuyu and her teacher shared a glance, exchanging a hundred silent words.

["You and your ship shall find eternal sleep within the waters you sailed,"] Ami said, nodding to Tsuyu. The student pulled her hidden blade from his gut and planted its point into Salvador's chest, cutting his heart in two. He breathed his last, slumping backward. "Requiescat en pace, Salvador Gotita."

Tsuyu wiped her blade on his shirt before lifting his corpse, tucking it back into his bed. If anyone came in before they were finished with the ship, they may think him simply sleeping.

"I'll go handle the spotlight," Ami offered. "There's no one to notice it going out now. You can handle that safe, yeah? Did you catch the code he said?"

"I can understand that much English," Tsuyu nodded. The pair split, Ami beginning to scale the ladder up to the crow's nest while Tsuyu made her way into the hull of the ship. She bypassed the crew's quarters —reasoning that their sinking of the ship would finish off the currently-asleep men so waking them to kill them was an unnecessary risk— and moved to the cargo hold. It was well-organized, countless crates and boxes stacked in large cubicles. She moved to the first set and activated her hidden blade, jamming it under the closest box's lid and prying it off.

"Furs?" she muttered to herself, reaching down to pick up the thick, off-white weave that sat on top. This wasn't the first smuggler ship she'd been on after her month with Silkie and Sirius, so she knew illegal merchandise when she saw it, but this looked and felt like llama hair, which was legal to trade. A number of other furs of various color and size sat within the box, the girl pretty sure none of it was actually regulated, but it didn't sit correctly to Tsuyu's trained eye. She pushed them out of the way, finding the box's true cargo. "Guns. I should've known."

Underneath the legal furs sat heavy weapons inset in foam. These, specifically, were a number of two-handed rifles, impossible to hide while being carried but able to be secretly stored for the right price to the right people. Tsuyu wasn't a betting person, but she'd place money on the other boxes had other illegalities hidden among legitimate merchandise.

Sure enough, quick searches found ammo, explosives, illegal furs, and drugs like foreign Trigger in the other containers, but it wasn't until the last one that Tsuyu found what Salvador Gotita had mentioned with his dying breath. Tucked in the back with a mostly-empty box of fish beside it was a cube under a tan tarp. Wary, expecting a trap, the student inched closer. She strained her ears, trying to find any clue to the hidden contents, but no ticking, beeping, or other such noise reached her. She grabbed the edge of the tarp and pulled, jumping away in the same motion.

Nothing exploded, which was a good sign. The container seemed to be glass, a spot of blue shrouded in the shadows and partially blocked by the number pad on the top of cube. Pipes seemed to run into it from a tank around the back. The ball shifted as Tsuyu approached, one round, orange eye opening to stare at her. The creature stood, getting four feet under it as rounded ears and navy-blue fur spotted with black spots stood on end. It hissed, baring a carnivore's teeth as a metal collar around its neck glinted in the light.

"Shh," Tsuyu whispered, reaching into the box of fish. She punched in the code she'd been told, the air-tight glass case hissing as it opened. She dropped a couple fish in, careful to not hit the creature, and closed the lid but did not lock it. The cat —for some type of cat it was— sniffed the fish before taking a tentative bite. "It's ok," Tsuyu promised. "I'm a friend. I'll get you out of here."

The cat never took its eyes off of her as it ate the fish. Tsuyu didn't blink, which seemed to relax the creature. Once its fur had flattened, she slowly approached, opening the lid once more. She reached down, pausing each time the feline showed any teeth.

"Apprentice, are you dead?"

Tsuyu bit down on her tongue to stifle a cry as the cat jumped at the sound of the other Assassin's voice, its fangs latching into the meat of her hand. Claws caught her forearm, holding the creature upside down on her arm even as the girl's blood started to flow into its fur. Ami blinked at Tsuyu's narrowed eyes, her silent words like daggers as she fought through the pain.

"I found a cat, ribbit," she muttered. The girl lifted her hand, petting the animal in an attempt to get it to let go. Thankfully, it wasn't too heavy and its teeth not large enough to do irreversible damage. It was painful but not debilitating.

"Sorry," Ami muttered. "That's what Gotita wanted us to take?" Tsuyu nodded. "Alright, then we're ready to wrap things up here. Come on."

Tsuyu followed the older Assassin with the cat still chewing on her hand, though the force lessened as they went. By the time they reached the bridge where the ship's wheel sat, the blue creature had let go, the frog-girl having to hold it to prevent it from running away, though her gentle pets seemed to be calming it down.

"Well, how do you want to do this?" Ami asked, eyeing the sea around them.

"Hit one of the outcroppings with the port side," Tsuyu recommended. "The explosives in the hull are on that side. We could get lucky with the impact. I also broke holes all the cargo, so the water will ruin it all before any coast guard finds the wreck and tries to salvage."

"Port side," Ami confirmed, pressing the button that would raise the anchors. It was noisy, however, the woman pushing the propeller to its limit and spinning the wheel. Once they were lined up, she pulled her cutlass and hacked the wheel off. "Now, let's paddle out this reef, Apprentice."

They ran just as the first voices started to rise from within the crew's quarters, Ami vaulting over the side to dive down into the water. With the cat in her arms, Tsuyu didn't dare risk the same, the girl using her tongue to hold the railing as she used her feet to control her fall. The cat made a sound like the sawing of wood, its claws returning to latch onto her arm once more. Ami revved the engine of the speedboat and pulled the suction cup loose as Tsuyu landed, taking no pause before pulling a U-turn and speeding away from the quickening ship.

"Three," Ami counted with a grin. Tsuyu glanced at her before directing her attention backward. "Two… One…"

Tsuyu was forced to look away as an almighty SCREEECH of metal rending shattered the silence. Voices yelled from the ship for only a moment before the student's prediction came true. The illegal explosives caught a spark, one explosion followed by a second and a third as they set each other off.

"Requiescat en pace," Ami muttered. "Good work, Apprentice. Let's head back and get that arm and cat of yours looked at."

-AHC-

"Well, good news," the Brotherhood's on-call doctor-vet commented, adjusting his spectacles with a large hand. He was a portly man with a doctor's specialty in both animals and animal heteromorphs, a specialty that applied to himself given his walrus tusks and leathery skin. "She's been vaccinated to all international standards, so you don't have to worry about rabies."

"That's good, ribbit," Tsuyu agreed, her own hand and arm bandaged after all the cuts and punctures the now-identified-female feline had given her. Ami stood next to her, holding the sedated cat in question with one hand while the other worked with a lockpick on the metal collar, her Good Ear proving incredibly helpful. "And?"

"Well, she's a jaguar cub," the heteromorph continued. "A little over one year old by my estimate. Just a touch malnourished but otherwise healthy, likely caused by the stress of being poached and then transported. I think she's also attached herself to you, Apprentice."

"Other than literally?" The frog-girl waved her bandaged arm. The vet gave a chuckle at her answer.

"Yes, for better or worse. Since you rescued her and she may not have family to return to even if we knew what part of South America she's from, you have the option of keeping her for yourself."

"Me?" Tsuyu blinked. "Keep her, ribbit? She's a jaguar."

"She is," the walrus-man repeated. "Of course, we could find some lie to feed the authorities and leave her in their hands, but they would have even less information to work with than we do and who knows where she'd end up."

"Is keeping her yourself really such a bad Idea?" Ami asked. "A lot of families get a pet after the loss of a loved one in the hopes of filling some of that void."

"We're too busy, ribbit," Tsuyu tried to argue. "I'll be going back to school soon, Tsuki and Same are also in school, and Mom works long hours now to at least pretend she's supporting us on a single income. We'd have no one to take care of her during the day."

"What about that girl you mentioned? The one Master Aizawa's looking after?"

"Eri, ribbit? What about her?"

"Maybe she could watch her during the day. Master Aizawa can't always look after her when he has his Hero work and teaching job on top of his Brotherhood duties," Ami explained, unaware of Emi Fukukado's role in Eri's life. Even so, she had her own Hero work and teaching job that put her in much the same position. "I imagine she must get pretty lonely during the day. While you and your siblings are at school, maybe she could help take care of cub once they're comfortable with each other."

"I… suppose that could work," Tsuyu commented. "Once I've trained her some, of course, ribbit." The metal collar popped open, falling to the floor with a clang.

"There is one more thing you should know," the vet put in as the jaguar cub began to stir. "I believe there's more to this animal than a mere color shift. I believe she can—" The cub evaporated in Ami's hands, turning to what amounted to a blue cloud before reconstituting herself in Tsuyu's lab. "Well… do that," the doctor finished. "She has a form of dematerialization Quirk the collar was suppressing. On the bright side, Quirked animals are considerably smarter than their peers, able to understand language and averaging the same intelligence as trained service dogs unless the Quirk in question is intellect-based in nature. In that case—"

"Principal Nezu," Tsuyu finished, a shiver going up each Assassin's spine for various reasons. The amount of political, social, and financial power that rat-bear-dog-whatever wielded was terrifying.

"Point is, if you chose to train her, she'd be a fast learner."

"Sounds to me like you just found a daytime babysitter for Eri," Ami nodded, watching Tsuyu idly pet the cat with her unbandaged arm. The cub purred under her hand. "Well, seeing as you're injured, I think I can convince Silkie to give you the last few days of your work-study to heal. We'll write it off as a training accident. That'll give you plenty of time to do a little training for the little lady."

The little lady in question rolled over, exposing her belly to the frog-girl's hand as her orange eyes silently begged for more. Tsuyu sighed, giving in. Her mom was not going to be happy she adopted a jaguar of all creatures without consulting her first. Luckily, she was pretty sure Satsuki and Samedare would take her side and, assuming the arrangement was agreed upon, the animal wouldn't be left alone at their house. Plus, it wasn't like the feline had anywhere else to go.

-AHC-

As Sirius had promised, Tsuyu was given the last few days of her work-study off work for her arm and hand to heal, though she still did a little training with her tongue and some cardio that morning as her new pet watched. She seemed to pick up on both Tsuyu's intent to get stronger and the purpose of the treadmill since she padded her way over and tried to run alongside. Tsuyu was forced to slow the machine down to a brisk walk, allowing the jungle cat to have a sort of walk with her that first morning before a quick nap to make up for some lost sleep.

Unfortunately, the phone call with her mother turned into the argument Tsuyu had been expecting, the older Asui wanting nothing to do with having a "feral animal dirtying the house." Tsuyu chose not to mention the irony of how dirty and messy she and her siblings were as "little tadpoles" through the years and how messy Satsuki could still be without realizing it, though it may have helped her argument. Her mother had become something of a clean freak after the news of what happened to their father and figured an organized house helped put Beru's own mind in order. She resolved to call back later after her mother had time to process her story and for her empathy to win out over her new need for cleanliness. It probably didn't help her case that the animal in question was a jaguar, not a common housecat, but she was sure her mother would agree after some time.

Still, she'd needed to get away and couldn't find it in herself to trap the poor feline inside after the ordeal that had brought her to Japan. Unlike Eri, who was old enough to understand their worry for her safety and who could request items and such, Tsuyu's new pet could not yet. She opted to give her a walk through a park Tsuyu remembered from her time as a child. With a collar and leash on the cub, no one looked at the creature twice after recognizing she was just a blue cat. Uncommon, but not unheard of. Tsuyu herself had dressed to be unassuming, a simple seafoam dress making her almost blend into the park's background.

"This is exactly what we needed, ribbit," the teen said, getting down to be closer to the cub. In response, the feline pushed off the ground, placing her front paws on Tsuyu's knees. The frog-girl's usually-unexpressive lips quirked upward, the girl lifting the cat into her arms. She'd slowly gotten more and more attached to the quirked animal, faster than she'd ever thought possible. Nodding at the mewling sound the cub responded with, Tsuyu continued down the path. Circling a bend, however, she paused, a shock of messy, green hair catching her attention.

"Izuku?" she questioned, the boy in question jolting at the sound of his name. He sat under a tree, a newspaper floating to the ground as he spun.

"Ts-Tsu?" he asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, ribbit." The girl walked over, the animal in her arms hissing at the boy, attracting his attention.

"Did you always have a cat?" he blinked.

"Sirius and I recently rescued her from a smuggler ship," Tsuyu explained, sitting beside her classmate and fellow spy. "Her name is Lady, ribbit."

"Lady Ribbit?"

"No, just Lady, ribbit.

"Lady," Izuku echoed, said name using the English word. "Is there a particular reason?"

"The ship was called La Mujer Marvalosa, ribbit. Sirius said that means Marvelous Woman and a woman is a lady."

"Fair enough," the Quirkless boy shrugged, leaning against the tree.

"You look like something's on your mind."

"Too much, I guess," Izuku admitted. Tsuyu sensed she might be here for a while and set Lady on the grass, the girl putting the end of the leash around her wrist. "Mast… Mirko and I had an argument or six and I needed to get away to cool off. Any news?"

"Sirius said I did really well on my promotion assessment. She want's to nominate me for the rank of Soldier."

"Congrats." Tsuyu could tell he was sincere, but it didn't sound like his heart was in it. Lady studied him carefully, glancing between the two classmates and spies. "Anything else?"

"Well…" Tsuyu took a moment to think, trying to remember the gossip she'd overheard during her trip to the den for Lady's testing. "Nascha had her first kill. Her first three, actually."

"All at once? That must have been hard. What happened?"

"The Lucky Rook was attacked," the frog-girl replied. "It was in the paper, ribbit. The guys from the USJ showed up with another army, but there was a group of Heroes checking out the casino and they helped fend them off. Himi and Akaguro finished the big dogs after the Heroes had roughed them up, ribbit, but Nascha got caught in the kitchens where some of the grunts had busted into the experimental Trigger. One got away and was arrested later. The Trigger supercharged his blade Quirk and he turned into a piece of modern art in the holding cell, ribbit."

"Gross." Izuku shivered.

"Yeah, and it didn't even make the front page." Izuku tensed at that, Tsuyu narrowing her eyes. "Alright, ribbit. Out with it."

"It's nothing, Tsu," the boy tried. Before he could say more, her tongue shot out, snagging the paper he'd been staring at when she arrived. It was a newspaper from two days previous, the headline reading 'PRICETAG KILLER: VILLIAN OR VIGILANTIE?'

"I heard Mirko was going to do an assessment for you, too," Tsuyu probed, suddenly not sure she wanted the answer. "How'd that go, ribbit?"

Izuku all but deflated, which Tsuyu took to mean something in the realm of 'not well.' She waited for him to give a proper answer, but all he did was move to stand, likely to run from the conversation.

Tsuyu would have none of that. Hard conversations —ones like this one was shaping up to be— needed to be had before they festered. She angled over Lady and swung around, straddling Izuku's legs so he physically could not get up. His eyes widened, flicking up to her face before turning away, the boy seemingly unable or unwilling to look her in the eye. Tsuyu reached forward, grabbing his face in her hands to make him look.

"Izuku, ribbit," she prompted, no room in the words for them to be mistaken as a question. "What happened?"

"…I failed the assessment before it even started," he admitted, refusing to look her in the eye. "I don't know if you heard about it, but we were the ones that took down HeartSeed."

"The dating company that was trafficking women?"

"Yeah. That mission was easy and I stole the leader's ledger. I didn't think Mirko would go after the clients, so I decided to go alone. It…" Tsuyu felt tears on her fingers, the girl wiping them away before pulling the other green-haired student's face into her shoulder. His hands came up unconsciously, wrapping around her as he started to cry. "I-I failed, Tsu. I failed so bad."

"You're still alive, ribbit," she muttered. "You're not exposed."

"But she's not," Izuku whispered into her shoulder. "I went there to save her, and that bastard killed her. I was powerless to stop it. No, I… I think I caused it."

"Whatever happened, it's not your fault."

"That's not what Mirko said." He sniffled. Tsuyu pushed him back so she could stare him in the eye before he could misinterpret the action.

"I don't care what Mirko said, ribbit," the girl all but growled. "She's very strong and an incredibly skilled Assassin, but she's never been one for thought." She paused, but Izuku couldn't argue. Mirko was, as an Assassin and a pro Hero, mostly a brute-force type. No matter what, she lived for the moment. "Was it your blade that killed that woman?"

"N-No, but—"

"Did your hands strangle her?"

"No, I—"

"Did she blame you with her last breath?"

"No, she—"

"Did you get the bastard that did it?"

"Yes, with—"

"Then whatever choice you made, ribbit, it was only one of a thousand that led to that moment." Tsuyu shoved her forehead against his, ensuring he could look nowhere but her eyes. "Listen to me, Izuku. Dad used to tell me the world is like an ocean and we are the fish. Every choice we make is another flap of our fins, ribbit, but each one has the chance to cause a whirlpool. We don't know if these whirlpools will be near or far, but they are the result of thousands of tiny currents just like ours. Every choice effects all the other fish. Despite all this, we can't stop swimming, ribbit. Our purpose is greater than simple fish."

"I just…" Izuku sniffled. His fingers carefully, almost hesitantly, tightened on the fabric of the sides of Tsuyu's dress. "Every time I've seen someone die, there was a Master there. I t-told myself they knew best. O-Or it was their call. It h-helped me with the shellshock. But this… This…"

"We're just Apprentices, Izuku," Tsuyu reminded him. "And from what I've seen of Mirko, she's not a good communicator, ribbit. If she'd told you her plans, if she'd told you that guy was a target, you would have followed her lead. But that's not what happened. There are two states of the world, ribbit: what is and what it not. Our eyes show us what is, and our mind tells us what could have been or what could be, but what is not, ribbit. That's the curse of our intelligence and the burden of wisdom."

Izuku swallowed hard, more tears starting to trail from his eyes and over her fingers. She pulled him in once more, prompting the boy to let out his emotions. Tsuyu didn't care that the waterworks soaked her shoulder, she just knew she needed to be there for him now like Sirius had been for her during her internship.

He slowed after a couple minutes, his crying transitioning to hiccups. Tsuyu used her hand to wipe away the last of his tears.

"Better, ribbit?"

"Since when have you been a philosopher?" he asked with a strained chuckled.

"I was raised with the Assassin mindset. It comes with the territory, ribbit," she replied with the smallest of smiles. "Helps with the job."

They sat there for a moment, Izuku's mind slowly pulling away from its own darkness to take in, in Tsuyu's words, 'what is and what is not.' That led him to realize that said girl had been, and still was, seated on his legs, his face in her hands as she straddled him in a public park of all places while wearing a dress of all things. His face flushed at their closeness and the feeling of her front barely touching his own.

"A-Ah, Tsu…" he muttered, trying to find the words to point out their position. His hands, however, didn't seem to want to move.

She stared at him, her eyes wide with that lingering understanding from their talk. He hadn't noticed before that the green of her irises had tiny flecks of red and her pupils a slight horizontal tapering like those of most frogs. His body shifted without his notice.

"Ts-Tsu, I…"

"Shh," she hissed, her voice low as a nearly-imperceptible shiver ran up her spine. Her eyes flicked to either side, but her body didn't move. "Somebody's watching us."

Izuku glanced over her shoulders as subtly as he could, something surprisingly easy given Tsuyu was shorter than him. He activated his Eagle Vision with a blink only to sputter.

"Wha— Mom‽"

Tsuyu threw herself from the boy and rolled into a low, defensive stance before the words registered. She blinked, taking in the sight of a rather homely woman with long, green hair seated on a bench on the other side of the path, bags of groceries sitting beside her. She had an open box of pocky on her lap, the woman biting off the chocolate-covered parts before offering the last plain handle to Lady, the Quirked jaguar cub sitting at her feet, tail wagging slowly. Froggish eyes flicked to her wrist where Lady's collar hung from the leash, the quadrupedal animal apparently having used her Quirk to slip out whilst she was distracted. An idle part of Tsuyu's mind wondered if Lady believed all people with green hair were good or if it simply reminded the pet of her own.

"Hm?" the woman —Izuku's mother— hummed. "Oh, don't mind me. Pretend I'm not here."

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Izuku questioned, scrambling to his feet. The woman sighed, as if disappointed a soap opera she was watching had ended on a cliffhanger. "H-How long have you been there?"

"Lady, come, ribbit," Tsuyu called. The little feline turned at the sound of her name, bounding toward the frog girl who grabbed the collar with her tongue, quickly placing it back on her pet. She didn't need Lady wandering off and being identified as more than a housecat. "I'm sorry about her, Mrs. Midoriya."

"Just Inko is fine," the woman waved off, gathering her groceries and walking over. "I was never married. Izu's father died before we could even talk about it."

"Mom!" the boy in question cried, probably scandalized that she would use a nickname around one of his classmates.

"You must be Tsuyu," Inko continued, ignoring her now-blushing son. "Izu's told me a bit about you. I had to ask after I saw the Sports Festival."

"You can call me Tsu, ribbit." She walked over, Lady trailing at her feet. "I don't care for formalities. And this is Lady. I recently helped rescue her from a smuggling ship during my work-study with Silkie." The cub let out a sort of growl-bark, which Tsuyu took to be a sort of greeting.

"She's smart," Inko praised, dropping another piece of chocolate-free pocky for the feline. Tsuyu relaxed slightly at her demeanor only for the woman's eyes to focus on her. Quirk-borne froggish instincts kicked in, screaming at her to run from the gaze of a predator. She was suddenly keenly aware this woman's first look at her in person was her straddling her only son in a public park. "So, Tsu… You and Izu are on a first-name basis. May I ask—"

"I really should be heading back, ribbit!" Tsuyu interrupted, gathering Lady into her arms. "I don't want Silkie or Sirius thinking something bad happened, ribbit ribbit! I-It was nice to meet you, Inko! Bye, Izuku, ribbit! See you on Monday!"

She beat a hasty retreat, using her powerful legs to jump even as she felt the woman's eyes all but burning a hole in her back. That heat only alleviated somewhat when her eyes moved to Izuku, the poor boy looking like a deer in headlights.

"Oh Izu~"

"I-I-I n-need to go apologize to Mirko!" he insisted, similarly fleeing. "Y-Yeah, that! Bye, Mom! I'll be back this weekend! Love you!"

Inko watched him go with a giggle of her own, turning to the tree when he was out of sight. She thought it was ironic; this was the same tree where she'd met Hizashi all those years ago when he was moping about being chewed out by his boss. She didn't know what it was the two teens had talked about, but she imagined it was of a similar emotional nature based on the puffiness of Izuku's eyes and Tsuyu's tear-soaked sleeve. Her eyebrows shifted upward, however, when she noticed something left behind at the base of the tree trunk. She reached out, using her Quirk to pick up a newspaper.

"The Pricetag Killer," she read. "How scary. I hope Izuku doesn't plan to get involved."

Well, the children had fled, so there was little more for her to do in the park than reminisce and wax poetic. No, she now had better things to do with her time as she headed home. Mainly, to daydream about the future.

"Oh," she whispered to herself. "I can't wait to see green-haired grandbabies!"

End of Chapter 58

That's Tsuyu's work-study down! Now we just have Momo, then Rin/Shinso/maybe Kuroiro, and a chapter on NightEye's investigation into the Shie Hassaikai incident before we return to UA and the Culture Festival, after which we'll be 100% original!

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods