"I don't quite understand why you wanted this list," Danjuro said, looking over at Padme. Yagi was mixing up some drinks for them (coffee for Padme who lived on the stuff, the same for Danjuro though with plenty of milk and sugar unlike Padme's pure black, and a protein drink Recovery Girl had gotten him on to prep him for the coming surgery to replace his lungs with Anakin's new artificial ones, not that Danjuro knew that) at the drink bar he gotten installed in Padme's office. "I would have thought that our best bet would be to have Star Might do her first interview with a reporter that was more friendly to All Might."

"That's exactly why I want her with a reporter that is going to be doing more hard hitting questions," Padme said. "Thank you Yagi." She took her coffee and took a long sip, not even reacting to how hot it must have been. Honestly it was impressive… and a touch horrifying. Especially since he knew that was her 5th cup of the day. "If we want the world to know that Star Might is serious about being a hero we can't have her doing puff peaces with reporters just looking to spend some time with her. No… I want her answering the hard questions. Not only so that people know she's serious but also because it will show her smarts."

"Hmmm… that is true," Danjuro stated. "Going toe to toe with a cut throat reporter looking to try and destroy her would show that she is not just a glorified celebrity trading off her father's fame." Danjuro accepted his coffee from Yagi. "The question is-" He took a sip only to pause, looking over at Yagi in surprise. "This… is delicious!"

"Thank you," Yagi said with pride. While he couldn't actually drink most things due to just how much damage his stomach had taken he could still taste beverages and a guilty little secret of his was that on his days off he would work to create the most palette delighting drinks he could, just so he could savor them before spitting them out. It was a preparation for when he would get his new stomach and COULD drink all of them to his heart's content.

Danjuro took another sip before setting the glass down. "As I was saying the question is… is Star Might up for it?"

"She is," Padme said, a hungry look flashing in her eye that made Yagi rather nervous. She had told him a bit about her life before arriving in Japan, how she had been a Senator and had loved the thrill of the debate. How there were days where she loved nothing more than arguing with someone and attacking them with facts. He had a feeling she had been starving for a good fight for a while now and wanted to find the toughest reporter she could get in order to satisfy her craving. Just as when he got his new stomach his first meal most likely would not be the simple thing that Recovery Girl would demand he have, so too did Padme want her first meal to be… filling.

As the two began to go over which reporter would be best for the Star Might interview (and Yagi made a note to remind her to make a touch clearer divide between herself and her heroic persona if she didn't want everyone to figure it out) he began to look around the office.

There had been several changes made to the space since Padme had officially moved in. While she still had a desk it was no longer the focal point of the room, having been moved to a far corner. The windows had heavy curtains on them as she had mentioned that even with glass that was supposed to be able to survive a blast from Endeavour (something that happened a bit too often for Yagi's taste though he'd never admit aloud that) she would not work with a clear sightline for an assassin. That wasn't to say the room was dark, as Padme had gotten her husband to help install lighting that was so unobtrusive even now Yagi couldn't spot all the sources. But it made the room feel nice and warm and could also be adjusted depending on what she needed. One night Anakin had arrived because Padme had been working late and he and Yagi had discovered the lights down to what Anakin called 'fireplace level' and Padme asleep on the couch.

That was the other thing: the furniture. Padme had been adamant that she wanted everyone to be comfortable in her office and thus had used the large budget Yagi had gotten for her (he needed to spend it on something; even donating nearly 90 perfect of his royalty checks he still was a multi millionaire several times over) purchased plenty of different furniture. Firm loveseats perfect for doing business from, as they offered the right support. Plush couches great for relaxing on during a lunch period or after work. "Yagi's Chair" as she called it, commissioned by her after she'd gotten Recovery Girl's notes on his condition that was designed to support his body and had a massage feature that would warm and vibrate his muscles. Plenty of padded benches and backless chairs so that if someone had a mutant quirk they would be able to sit comfortably. She'd been introduced to every single person who worked at his (well, their's but Padme herself was still getting used to that) agency and made sure her office would be comfortable for all of them.

It truly made him smile how considerate she was.

The walls of the office were decorated with different nature scenes, some so large and lifelike that it felt like Yagi was looking out a window. There was a fish tank with an automatic cleaning and feeding system. Padme's office was… life itself.

There was a reason why there were days when he only stepped into his own office for a few moments, just to grab his paperwork, and then retreated to her oasis.

"Well, I think that we have a game plan," Danjuro said with a smile, standing up.

"Let me know when you are ready to put everything up online," Padme said. "By the way, how goes convincing your friend to work for us?"

Danjuro blushed at that. "La Brava is… used to her privacy. But I think I am close."

"Remind her that we'll get her immunity for any crimes she committed before working with us," Padme said and Yagi forced himself not to start at that; he knew about the offer but it still surprised him that he, of all people, was offering criminals a chance to escape justice.

"I will," Danjuro said with a bow before heading out of the office.

"He's happy," Yagi stated.

Padme nodded. "This has been good for him. We talked the other day… he was really depressed when he couldn't become a hero. This though… it lets him help." She sighed, shaking her head. "His quirk is amazing though. I think he could have been an amazing hero if he got the right help."

Yagi nodded. "It is unfortunate that so many aren't able to achieve their dreams."

"It's the system. I mean-"

He quickly cut her off, knowing she was preparing for a rant. "Do you have the list of villains you want to try and bring in?"

Padme instantly switched gears. "And some vigilantes as well." She frowned as she got up and walked over to her desk, grabbing her laptop. "I'm worried, Yagi. The reports the Hero Commission sent over… I don't think they realize just what the data is saying. I used to have to comb through thousands of flimsy to try and figure out why one senator voted one way when it went against their stances from just… days earlier. I'm used to finding things people are trying to hide."

Yagi moved to the love seat, sitting next to her as she brought up the data. "Stain?" he asked in worry, seeing the sketch of the serial killer. "You-"

"No."

The word was said with all the firmness of fine Detroit steel.

"No," she repeated. "We only bring him in if it's in handcuffs. What I mean is he has me worried. The Hero Commission is only worried about the heroes he's killed and I get that… that's big news. Twenty heroes killed because of him. And the bits of manifestos he's leaving at the crime scenes… he's not right in the head." She pulled up another tab. "But it's not just heroes he's going after."

Yagi's brain sputtered to a stop.

"Fifty… seven?" he whispered.

"Most were criminals. He killed them quick but… they weren't villains. Just petty thieves, drug addicts, pickpockets. And he's killed ten vigilantes. The Hero Commission doesn't report on those because to them their lives don't matter but…"

"Yes, this is… worrisome," Yagi admitted.

"I want to try and contact a few, bring them in… if only for their own protection. We talked about a rehabilitation program for vigilantes and small time criminals… with Danjuro being our test run I want to bring in a few more." She pulled up some screen shots of people. "Shuichi Iguchi. Hates heroes so it might be a hard sell but that's because the daughter of a hero, Twist Top, led a bullying campaign against him that eventually caused him to drop out of high school. He only recently began to pop up stopping crimes. I think though that if we stress that he won't have to work with All Might or Star Might but instead we want to try to set up a new scholarship he'd listen. Then there is…"

Yagi smiled as Padme continued on.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Master, shouldn't we be training?" Ahsoka asked as she weaved around a slow moving family.

"We are training," Anakin said. "This is a stealth mission."

"We're in the middle of a crowd."

"Being VERY stealthy."

Ahsoka shot him a dry look. "Master, I don't think this is an actual training session."

"And what makes you say that, oh Padawan of mine?" Anakin said with a grin. "We are off on our own. Dealing with something neither of us have ever had to face. Something new. Something dangerous. We'll be flying and falling and very likely getting very wet. That sounds like an adventure to me." He gave a casual shrug. "But if you think you know more than me…"

"I do think though that it can't be called a training exercise when we are going to an amusement park." Ahsoka gestured at the massive gate for "Space Port Omega".

"Come on, Snips, its gonna be funny! We can point at all the things they get wrong." He leaned down and whispered. "We can tell them that we're actual aliens and see if we get a discount…"

"Master… what is going on?"

Anakin stared at her for several moments but when Ahsoka didn't let up he finally let out a sigh and gently guided Ahsoka out of the crowd that was moving towards the gate, finding a park bench and motioning for her to sit down. "I know I said we were going to do training but… I've been thinking about things recently. About how we've been living our lives. And not just how we've been on Earth. Before that."

"Is this something from one of your shrink books?"

"Yes and don't interrupt." He jabbed his finger at her. "Or make that face." Ahsoka's annoyed glower instantly disappeared. "You… know how I grew up." It had been hard, admitting to his Padawan what his childhood had been like. Honestly it was hard to even think about it, let alone talk about it. What he'd gone through… it had taken several months of therapy for Hound Dog to get Anakin to understand that he hadn't done anything wrong. He hadn't been weak. Neither had his mother. They didn't deserve what happened to them either. He hadn't made a mistake in a past life or done something as a baby that got him with the slave chip in his leg. Sometimes horrible things happened for no good reason.

Hound Dog had also gotten him to let go of his guilt in leaving his mother. He had hated doing that for so long, thought of how he should have done things differently. 'Survivor's Guilt', Hound Dog had told him. Everyone had it. Hound Dog talked of heroes who had lost civilians and been unable to continue on because of the grief. Of victims of villain attacks who allowed themselves to fall into anger and hate. When Anakin had brought up the Dark Side and Yoda's teachings that 'fear led to anger' Hound Dog had nodded; he didn't agree with how strict the Jedi were, as he said fear and anger and hate were natural (and Anakin had felt such a weight lift off his shoulders at that) but that they needed to be properly controlled and used. Anakin had let his fear that he'd done something wrong drive him for too long.

It… felt good to get it all out in the open. He and Obi Wan had discussed it a few months back and the conversation…

"I know what it's like, Anakin. That violation."

Anakin shot Obi Wan a heated look before taking a breath. "I'm sorry Master but… no. No you don't. You don't understand what's it's like-"

"I was a slave."

Anakin's entire world suddenly shifted, like one of the great sandquakes that would come about when a Kryatt Dragon burrowed nearby.

"W-what?" Anakin choked out.

"When I was a boy no one selected me to be their padawan. So I was sent away to the Agricorps to become a farmer."

"But Qui Gon-"

Obi Wan shook his head. "He was hurt from his previous Padawan, Xanatos, Falling. He refused to take another Padawan. I only found out when I was on the Council that several Masters considered me and were going to ask me but Yoda interfered. He wanted to… use me to fix Qui Gon." Obi Wan sucked in a breath; perhaps he needed to talk with Hound Dog himself. He'd only found out that little tidbit a few days before they'd gone to the peace talks and he had refused to say a word to his grandmaster. And now he'd never be able to speak about it to him and find out WHY.

"I don't understand… did the Agricorps… did the Jedi…" Anakin felt sick.

"What? No. No!" Obi Wan shook his head quickly. "We were attacked by pirates. I was taken. I…" his hand rubbed against the back of his head, where his skull met his spine and Anakin's eyes widened. He didn't know if having his chip in his leg had been better or worse.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"Would you have listened?" Obi Wan asked softly. "You didn't ever want to talk about it."

Anakin had to admit that Obi Wan was right about that. "I wish you had."

"I wish so too. I think… things would have been better."

"…yeah," Anakin admitted.

"And you were brought to the temple so young," Anakin said, "and you were trained to be a Jedi since you could toddle about." He paused. "I wish R2 were here. I had him upload some baby holos from the archives-"

"Oh please, no!" Ahsoka exclaimed in horror, causing Anakin to laugh.

Once he'd settled down Anakin said, in a softer voice, "I have been thinking about Eri. Nemuri mentioned how sad it was that she didn't get to do so many fun things a child is supposed to do. First day at school. Shopping for toys just because your parents want you to have one. Running in the park until you can't breathe. All these little things. And I realized… well…"

"We never got that either," Ahsoka said quietly.

"Ah." Anakin rubbed the back of his head. "Listen… being a Jedi… it has been great. It truly has been. But this last year has made me realize there is more to it than that. And I'm not just talking about Padme and me. We've… we've gotten to do so much, being away from the Council and the Temple. And look! None of us have Fallen. We aren't sending out Force Lightning from our fingers or wearing all black-"

"You do wear a lot of it though."

"I wear dark browns," Anakin argued. "The thing is… I realized that you and I missed out on a lot of things. And now you are at UA preparing to be a hero and I'm still training you to be a Jedi and I... well… I just don't want to have it where 20 years from now you look back and wonder why you wasted your life constantly training and never living. Because what is the point of saving others if you can't find a bit of joy for yourself?"

"So… amusement park?"

"Amusement park."

Ahsoka considered him for a moment before offering him his hand as she got up. "If you throw up on me I am never going to let you live it down."

"Me, throw up? I've flown customized starfighters that were able to pull out of 90 degree free falls!"

"Yeah but that spinning ride that looks like tea cups might be a bit to wild for you. Maybe the kiddie coaster?"

The two laughed as they headed towards the gate.

~MC~MC~MC~

"And classes are going good?" Rex asked as he and Izuku jogged around the park, waving to Izuku's mom who was sitting on a bench drinking from a water bottle. Inko had joined with them as well, having a rare day off and deciding she wanted to see what the fuss was about, but after about 20 minutes she'd finally decided to take a break, a bit startled that her son and her boyfriend would jog for an hour most days and at greater speeds.

And with full packs.

Still, she had decided that she wanted to build up to their levels. She'd seen some of the looks that Rex got from people and remembered back when she'd gotten all the stares and attention. A life spent behind a desk working on legal briefs had caused her to get a bit… soft… but nothing that she couldn't fix if she got into a routine.

"Yeah!" Izuku exclaimed happily as Rex shifted from going along the circular path when he saw a family of four strolling along, moving towards the trees. Izuku followed, mimicking his movements as Rex darted quickly around the trunks. Bobbing and weaving, they made their way through, never allowing themselves to remain still for a second. "I'm glad you warned me about Mr. Aizawa. I think I would have had a panic attack about him if I'd gone in blind."

"Yeah, we had trainers on Kamino like that, who thought it was funny to confuse us and see what happened."

"Kamino?" Izuku asked. "Kamino Ward?"

"Uh… no. New Zealand base." Sometimes Rex just wanted to admit to Izuku that he wasn't from Earth, that he was from another galaxy, and not have to hide anything from the boy. But then he remembered the dangers of doing just that and how it might paint an even greater target on his back. It was frustrating though.

The two of them burst out of the woods and onto a field where some kids were playing football (or soccer… honestly, Rex didn't get why so many things on Earth had multiple names). "But training is going well?"

"Yeah. Mr. Aizawa had to ask Snipe to help out with my training, since he doesn't use guns all that much." Izuku frowned. "I think there is something… bothering him. He looks at Ahsoka sometimes and I think he's ready to ask her a question but then he stops. Same with Mr. Kenobi."

"Leave it be but watch it anyway," Rex stated.

"Isn't that the opposite of each other?"

"Nah," Rex drawled. "You don't go poking into it but you also watch for other signs."

"Oh, passive investigation. I-"

A football flew at Izuku and it was only his training with Rex that allowed him to grab it before it smacked him in the face.

Turning to find where it had come from Izuku paled a bit as he saw just who was walking up to him.

"Look at this, guys! The little weakling finally showed his face again! We'd thought you'd finally done the smart thing and offed yourself!"

Izuku swallowed, struggling to control himself in the face of Kachan's old friends.

"Well, aren't ya gonna introduce us to your new friend? Or is he the John that's buying you? Only thing you'd be good for anyway."

Taking a breath Izuku said, "This is-"

"I don't care," Rex said coldly.

That made Izuku stop short.

"Why would I care about these pathetic wastes of flesh?" Rex asked, thinking back to all the times he'd encountered Asajj Ventress or any of Dooku's other minions. Remembered how dismissive they were, how cold and unfeeling to others. He channeled all that and mixed it with his own training to stare down the brats that had insulted his protégée. "Let me guess… you think Midoriya is beneath you because he doesn't have a quirk. Right?" He took a step forward and the boys all moved back, suddenly realizing that they weren't dealing merely with Izuku but a grown man. One with muscles and a cold stare. "Long fingers. Extra pointy nose." He waved his hand at the other two. "Honestly I don't care what your quirks are but they have no combat worth what so ever. Not to say quirks are everything."

At once Rex grabbed the football from Izuku and produced the knife he always kept strapped under his shirt, running it along the surface of the ball. Not damaging it… just stroking.

"Also, you aren't that smart. Deciding to be bigots right in front of me when you have no idea who I am. Perhaps I'm a serial killer on the side, studying all your faces, memorizing every detail. You live around here, so it should be easy to find your homes. Pay a visit to you…" He took another step closer and the boys began to tremble. "You know, I used to watch the fish when I was growing up. They would swim around, get into schools for protection because they were so weak. But the moment something bigger and stronger came along… they'd scatter."

He tossed the football back at the long fingered boy who let out an ompf of pain when it struck him in the sternum.

"Midoriya is in the hero program at UA. You four are going to, at best, hold down minimum wage jobs and die when you're in your forties from heart attacks or drug overdoses. Why the hell would I care for a moment who you were?"

The bullies just stared at him.

"Run."

With that the boys fled.

"…you're visiting with Hound Dog tomorrow."

"Wha… what?" Izuku exclaimed, startled.

"And I'm gonna talk with Obi Wan, see if we can get some mental and emotional training for you kids. how to play mind games, deal with tense situations… you froze up and I'm not going to have that happen again. You're better than that." He sheathed his knife. "Come on."

"Uh… yes sir," Izuku said, head swimming as they continued their run.