Just four more months until the UA entrance exam. And only a few more days left until Akari leaves. We are in the forest again. This time all of us are here, me, Akari, Izuku, and Youta.

"Ok now that we're here, what do we want to do," I say.

"We're only here so you don't do anything crazy," said Akari.

"Come on. We need to do something crazy. You've only got so much time left before you leave."

"Really Akumi. Could you be a little more insensitive," Youta said.

"I mean it was that or finding a way to attack people. We haven't done anything together in a while. Especially with all of us together."

"Sorry for not being around," Izuku twiddle his fingers. "My coach noticed I was overworking myself so he told me to relax for a day or two while he fixes my training schedule."

"You're all overworking yourselves," Akari's eyes were now glowing. "I leave for a few days and you guys start a sweatshop. I know it's important to you guys to train to get into a hero academy but aren't you neglecting your academic abilities? Especially you Akumi."

"Why are you calling me out? I'll have you know I am the fourth smartest in our class."

"I'm calling you out because you've been flying by the seat of your pants. I don't know how you even get a good score on your actual test even though you do so poorly on the practice test."

"She might be smarter than she's letting on…" Youta says as they all stare at me for a few seconds. "Never mind I take that back."

"Hey!"

"Yeah, I agree. She's just lucky," Akari added.

I look at Izuku, "What do you think about me?"

"Ah, well… I mean… If we're talking about academic abilities then yeah I could describe you as smart. But when it comes to your common sense that could come into question. Taking into account your combat awareness I say your strategy could use some work. Maybe you're playing the fool to trick us into knowing your true intelligence. I'm also your brother so my opinion is biased in favor of you so I don't think my opinion works in this case. Even so, I've seen you pass exams with ease and—"

"Ok, I get it! I'm not the smartest and maybe I am just winging it. It all turned out fine in the end, right?"

"Yeah. For now," Akari sighs, crossing her arms. "So you have something crazy planned right?"

"Well. It depends."

"Depends on what? Please enlighten us."

"I want to investigate Maeko."

"Investigate Maeko?" Akari and Izuku both questioned.

"Come on, that again. Didn't I go over this with you?" Youta rubs his forehead. "I've already tried talking with her about that incident. She really doesn't want to let it go."

"Yeah we talk about it, but with Akari here we can go into more detail."

"What incident," Akari asked.

"Some thugs were running away from vigilantes that ran through here two months ago. And last month Akumi here seems to think that Maeko was one of those vigilantes," Youta replied.

"If that's the case," Akari paused, putting a finger to her lips. "Let's do it."

Youta nods his head, "Yeah I know it's a bad idea… Wait what?! Did you just say yes to that?"

"Let's do it. We're all here. What can go wrong?"

"Really Akari?! I thought you'd be the hardest one to convince," my hopes were up for the sneaky mission we were about to embark on.

"Hold on guys. Before we start getting any weird ideas do we even have proof besides Akumi's intuition. And what do we do if it does turn out that Maeko is one of these vigilantes," Izuku asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes to it."

"No, Izuku makes a good point. Why do you even want to learn more about Maeko… Wait, don't tell me." Youta points at me and shouts, "You're just trying to replace Akari with Maeko to fill this trio thing of yours when she leaves!"

"What!? How could you even think that? Do you think so little of me? I know you have little faith in my academic ability but at least have faith that I keep true to my trio. It will always be Me, You, and Akari."

"What about me?"

"You, Izuku, are the third wheel."

Izuku turns black and white crouching down next to a tree he mutters, "Third wheel…"

"Akumi! How cruel, hasn't he been bullied enough? And by his own sister," Youta exaggerates as he pats Izuku on the back.

"Ok enough Youta. I think you should be the one who could use a little less insensitivity. Akumi would never even think of that."

"I know, but a group of four is a quartet, not a trio. So I don't know why Akumi insistently calls us a trio if she wants to include Izuku."

"I call us a trio because Izuku is my brother, not my friend. Therefore I will not include him in our trio since he is but an alternate member of our trio in case one of us goes missing."

"What happens if two of us go missing?"

"I… I haven't gotten that far yet, but we're going off-topic. We need to investigate Meako before Akari changes her mind."

"Do you even know where to look?"

"I know exactly where to look. I have been secretly tailing Maeko home after school and though it took me weeks I finally pinpointed the location of her house. If we go there directly and with four pairs of eyes we might be able to catch her in the acts of vigilantism."

Akari's gaze cuts deep into my soul. "I see you've been putting off your time to study to go off and stalk a girl. If you weren't a girl yourself I would have reported you."

"Can you blame me? With how the rumors put it, it's more likely for her to be a villain."

"Your following rumors again. Every time we follow a rumor we always end up fighting with Bakugo somehow."

"Now that you mention it… Katsuki does live nearby Maeko. I wonder if they know each other?"

"Welp Izuku, expect to see Bakugo," Youta sighs as he firmly pats Izuku on his back again.

"You're on board Youta?"

"I kind of have to at this point. I can't stop you and Akari from doing what you want and if there is a slight chance that Bakugo is going to be involved I have to be there to stop you two from killing each other since Akari would only get hurt trying to stop you two."

"What about you Izuku, are you in?"

Izuku colors come back to him as he stands back up, "Do I even need to. I'm just a third wheel and I might have to go back to training and—"

"Ok hold it right there," I interrupt and I walk in front of Izuku and look him in the eyes. "Just say yes."

Izuku's eyes darted around, then he closed his eyes, "Ok. I get it. I'll see if my coach can spare me some time in training."

Jumping into the air I shout, "Alright! We got everyone to agree. Akari, when is the next time you're able to be here with us."

"In the next two days, I'm free."

"Ok then. In the next two days, we will reconvene at school."

Today is the day. I'm pretty sure Maeko hasn't caught on to what we're doing yet. Akari, Izuku, Youta, and I met up in the hallway tailing Maeko in secret and followed her at a good distance out of the school back to her home which was a regular two-story house. Maeko quickly enters her house and moments later exits.

"Hey, you guys think we should split the party," I asked.

"What? Are you going to do something dumb," Youta replied.

"I was thinking. Two of us follow Maeko, the other two will go inspect her house."

"That's called breaking and entering. And why split up? We were supposed to do something together."

"No, I was not thinking of forcing my way in. And hurry up and decide she's about to turn a corner."

"Ok fine we'll split the part. But who's going with who."

"How about Izuku and I go investigate the house and You and Akari follow Maeko."

"Of course you would want to break in. Akari and Izuku will go investigate the house and you and I will follow Maeko."

I push Youta and Akari together, "You two are better at hiding yourself and tracking than Izuku and I. So it has to be you two. Now hurry up, you're going to lose her."

Youta grabs hold of Akari's hand and looks to Izuku, "Make sure Akumi doesn't do anything that will get her in more trouble than it's worth." He and Akari then reluctantly made their way out.

"Alright, it's just me and you now."

"Ummm. How are we going to get into Meako's house."

"Just follow my lead." I walked to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell.

"What are you doing!" Izuku gasps out in a panic.

"If you can't follow then just let me do all the talking."

The door opened and a pink-haired woman appeared, "Hello. How may I help you?"

"Hello, I am Akumi Midoriya. Is this the home of Maeko Nagai?"

"Maeko? Uh yes, it is."

"We're former friends of Maeko."

"Former?" I hear Izuku say.

I put a finger over Izuku's lips, "We had a falling out. We don't know why she's being all secretive all of a sudden."

"Maeko made new friends?"

"If you don't mind me asking. What happened to Maeko?"

"Oh no, did she not tell you? It has been a few years since then. It's a long story."

"If you don't mind our sudden intrusion. We would like to know."

"No, not at all. It's rare to see Maeko friends ever come visit after she disappeared in their memory. You must have a strong connection with her if you are still able to remember her. When she wants you to forget about her you will. Come inside. If you're willing to try to be friends with her again. I'll tell you why she started to do that to you."

We entered the house and looked around but there wasn't anything suspicious going on. The woman sat us at the kitchen table. "I'll keep this short. Maeko used to be such a bright child. Nothing could keep her down even when the other students found out what her quirk was and was outed to be a future villain. She continued to smile all in thanks to my son, her brother. Maeko wanted to prove them wrong because her brother was a pro hero."

The woman's face was now frowning and her voice melancholic. "Then everything changed four years ago. Maeko had left with her brother to see what his work was like. It was supposed to be a normal day with little chance of anything happening, but a hostage incident occurred. My son was one of the heroes first to arrive at the scene. He left Maeko to one of the policemen who were there as the situation escalated. The villains made their escape by blowing up the building they were in. My son was easily able to come out of the explosion unscathed but he was not in the right state of mind after what he saw in the aftermath of the explosion. Sadako the love of his life to who he had proposed the month prior and was planning to get married in the month after just so happened to be in the building as one of the hostages at the time. She was unfortunately crushed by the falling debris. You can imagine what could be going through his mind when he saw her body. Then due to the unstable building, the little of what was standing had collapsed down onto him. The other heroes who were on the scene were preoccupied with rescuing the other civilians. By the time they were done, there were a total of 5 casualties including my son and his wife. Two of the villains were captured, three of them still on the run. When we heard the news my husband and I rushed over. To our relief, Maeko wasn't harmed physically. But her usual bright smile was gone, she stared blankly into nothing. She would ask where her big brother was but in truth she already knew what happened. Her quirk wouldn't allow herself to not know what happened to him. She didn't want to believe in her quirk and just kept asking. We knew we shouldn't lie to her so we told her the truth."

"If you don't mind me interrupting. What were their quirks," I asked.

The woman faintly smiles, "Our entire family has memory-oriented quirks. My son's quirk was called Flashback. He can playback any experience he's been through. That be the people, animals, objects, and even the night sky for a brief moment and bring it to reality. All the wonderful things he would show us when he comes to visit. Maeko would try to change them but fail every time. It was only a flashback; you can't change it and after it's over they disappear without a trace. Maeko's quirk is called Memory Manipulation. She can see a memory of a person and changes it however she likes. Though that's all I know. She might be able to do something else with it but ever since she closed herself off she hasn't told us anything more."

"I see. Please continue the story. What happened after the event?"

"Ah yes sorry I went off there. Now, where was I… During the first year of my son's death, Maeko was silent. She made everyone forget about her but luckily for us. My memory quirk allowed me to have perfect recollection so I could never forget about my daughter. My husband also had a quirk that allowed him to not forget about Maeko. It was a struggle to get her to go out again but the second year after his passing. My son's friend came over asking to talk to Maeko. I don't know how he still knew who she was or what he said to her but something changed in Maeko that day. She isn't her usual cheerful self anymore but at least she looks to be doing better than before. Every day since then she's been asking to be around him more. Maybe she sees her brother in him but whatever it was we were thankful for him. She tells us she's made new friends and that her school life is going well. She's even going out late with friends and staying at their house sometimes. We thought she was lying to make us feel at ease but seeing her friends come to me about her, I guess she wasn't lying."

"But right now we don't know what she is doing. There are more rumors of her becoming a villain and it's starting to look more and more true."

"I'm afraid I don't know either. Sometimes she comes home bruised and even cut. We have no proof of abuse from my son's friend and since Maeko doesn't say anything we can't do anything. All we can do is support her whenever she comes home. She lost so much so it was the least we could do."

"Don't you worry Mrs. Nagai. I promise you Izuku and I will get to the bottom of this."

"You two aren't really her friends are you?"

"What are you talking about, of course, we are. Right Izuku?"

"Uh… Huh? What? Ah yes, we're her friends."

"Friends or not, if you guys are going to help Maeko I wish you good luck. My husband and I tried our best to catch any suspicious activities going on with them but they never did anything suspicious. And that's because of—"

My phone begins to ring. "Ah sorry. Can I take this?"

"Oh, go ahead."

I got up and got out my phone and saw that it was Youta that was calling me and I answer and said, "Hello."

"Akumi, did you manage to not get caught?"

"Well on a count of technicality…"

"Ugh. Just meet at the usual spot. We've got some evidence."

"See, what'd I tell you. You two were great for the job."

"Yeah yeah. Just hurry up."

"Alright, fine. See you then." I ended the call. "Izuku we got to go now."

"Huh? Um ok."

"Sorry again for intruding then up and leaving Mrs. Nagai. But it looks like our other friend found some suspicious activities involving Maeko."

"If it's within our capability to help, we will."

"Please don't worry. Maeko is a friend and a classmate. No information has been confirmed yet so please wait for further notice from us. If it turns out true that abuse is happening then we will be the first to tell you." I open the door to leave, "Now come on Izuku we finally have a lead."

I made my way out and Izuku followed me shortly after. As we made our way to our forest hideout Izuki stopped, "I heard of that incident before. I never knew that Maeko was related to Pro Hero Re-Play. It must have been hard for her…"

"Yeah, so don't go dying on me." I also stop as I turn back to look at Izuku. He looked like a sad puppy. "Hey. I won't go dying on you too. And that's a promise."

"No, it's not about anyone else dying I'm worried about. Not that I wouldn't care if any of us died nor do I want any of us to die. It's just. I kind of understand what Maeko must have been through. After all, I thought I would lose you. But for her, she lost her brother…"

"Come on Izuku. If I die, you better not become like Maeko and do some shady stuff." I jabbed at his side.

"It's just… What would you do if I died?"

I walk over to Izuku and slap him in the face. "There is no chance of you dying before me! Not while I'm alive! So get that thought out of your head or so help me All Might! I'll slap it out of you!" I get my hand ready for another slap as I heard Izuku mutter to himself but he looks me dead in the eyes. He was so serious like he honestly wanted a real answer to his question. I lowered my hand then from my mouth spoke words of their own, "If you died before me. I wouldn't be myself anymore."

Izuku closes his eyes as he smiles, "I think we've kept Akari and Youta waiting long enough. Let's go." He rushes ahead of me.

I cover my mouth, "Did I just say that? Ugh. Whatever today is not about me or Izuku." I follow after him.

We eventually arrived at the restricted forest area and Youta and Akari were already there. "Good, you're here. And what happened to your face, Izuku?"

"Oh don't worry about that. What's the scoop you found?" Izuku said as we walked towards them. Akari looked a bit on edge.

"Take a look at this. We managed to snag a picture or two with Maeko interacting with the vigilante that came around here. And better yet look at this." Youta showed us his phone with a video of them vanishing in thin air.

"Now that is incriminating. What do you think this means?"

"Well, what did you two manage to find?"

"Maeko's brother is the Reminiscence Hero Re-play who died some years back. And, well, Maeko has been meeting a friend of her brother ever since a couple of years back."

"So if these events are about a couple of years back then there's a possibility that this person here is the friend of her brother you mention. And if that's the case then Maeko was the other vigilante."

"Quick on the uptake as always, Youta."

Youta closes his eyes as he crosses his arms, "Before your information, we concluded that Maeko might be in some sort of weird deal with that person for some reason. I recommend reporting this to the police, but."

Akari continues Youta's sentence, "We don't know why Maeko is willing to go with this person yet. If we report this to the police now. We might end up being dragged along in this scandal and make Maeko's situation worse. So I think it's best to just drop this investigation now while we still can."

"What! Why now? We're so close I'm sure if we just go a little deeper we can find out the truth." I spoke out.

Akari raises her voice, "You Izuku, of all people should know how dangerous this is! If they turn out to be villains instead of vigilantes then we might not be seeing the next light of day."

"No. It's a guarantee that she is a vigilante," Izuku said back.

"And what makes you so sure about that?"

"Don't you somewhat empathize with Maeko? If Akumi had died then what would we have done?" Izuku looks to Youta and then to his hands. The shadows of the trees seem to only be casting their shadow over Izuku's and Youta's.

Youta grips his hand and struggles to speak, "Well, I… I would've… I…"

"I would stop you two from doing anything dumb," Akari interjects.

"Yes, you would, Akari. But what happens after you leave us, remember, your family circumstances… And when you're gone next without a word. What do you think we would do…?" Izuku stares at Akari as she and Youta go silent, "That's right we might end up doing something similar like Maeko. So this isn't just for the sake of Akumi's curiosity. Continuing our investigation gives us insight into if we did go down that path. And maybe a chance to help Maeko go down a different path."

Youta then spoke up, "We heard Maeko and the masked man talking about heading to a warehouse in block seventeen."

"Do you know when?"

"I don't know, but the way they were talking it's pretty soon."

"Then we have no time to waste. Youta, lead the way," I say.

"Wait," Akari said. "Don't just go and decide that we're all in agreement. Why are you guys so set on Maeko? Is what Youta said actually true? That you guys are just going to replace me with Maeko when I leave."

Akari's eyes glowed a dark blue contrast from her usual bright blue eyes whenever she activated her quirk. Almost like I had absorbed some of her emotion I felt that she was hurting. "Well, tell me. Say that I'm wrong." Izuku and Youta didn't help in this situation either because they chose to stay silent.

Staring down at Akari I ask, "What do you see in us Akari?"

"Something I don't want to see."

"Youta do we want to tell her now or when it's time? You know about that."

"I've already set up everything so it's all up to you. We can even set it up today. But that would mean missing our chance with Maeko."

"About what? What are you all hiding?" I see tears from Akari's eyes. "Why isn't anyone saying I'm wrong?"

"We can never replace you, Akari."

"Then, why? Why do I see that you guys are deceiving me? I won't continue this investigation if you don't tell me."

"That and Maeko are different things. We can't talk about that with you until we prepare it. What you're seeing is that, not the Maeko situation."

"Then why are you so interested in helping Maeko if not to replace me. You can't use Izuku and Youta's reason. I see you have a different goal."

"I do?"

"I had enough of this. Don't act like you don't know what you're doing." Akari's eyes stopped glowing, "Thank you for everything, but if you are just going to replace me with Maeko. I won't be participating in it." Akari walks away.

"Next month!" I shouted to Akari. "Come back next month! That's when we'll tell you!" Akari doesn't stop and continues to walk away without stopping. A bit of guilt goes through my mind."Hey, Youta."

"Yeah?"

"Make sure to make her party one she won't forget."

"Of course. We're going to miss her."

I slap myself hard in the face, "Ok focus! Back to the objective today. Youta, lead the way!"

"Right!" Izuku and I followed closely behind Youta as we made our way to the warehouse. On our way there we notice a group of 5 suspicious-looking men heading in the same general direction. Each from what I can see hiding a gun within a holster by their waist. Two had a metal beam of some sort. But the one in front had a skull necklace and a muscular build. As we tailed them we heard them talk about a warehouse. They also mention that two vigilantes had been giving them some trouble recently and that a trade deal needs to go off without a hitch.

We arrived at a remote warehouse located away from block seventeen. We are a street or two away when we see the thugs enter the building and check if they are being followed.

"So now what? Should we call the police now?" Youta asked.

"Let's go take a closer look. There's a window near the back there," I pointed out.

"Ok just make sure you're not seen."

We made our way to the widow. Looking through it there were seven people there not including the five that had just entered. Two dressed in suits and the others in more casual wear.

"So we've come. Where're the goods?"

"Well, you see, we're dealing with some difficulties on our end. We've only managed to smuggle these," one of the suited members said opening a suitcase.

The man with a skull necklace replied, "Aww yeah. That's more than enough but, why don't you tell us who that person hiding behind there is."

I quickly duck my head away from the window and Izuku and Youta follow suit. "What are you talking about?" We hear a gunshot and a scream.

"What's the meaning of this!"

"Who is this girl!"

I poked my head up again to see the masked girl that had the same build as Maemo in the warehouse alone. Two of the thugs were already knocked out. The rest of them had their guns drawn and aimed at her. Then for a moment, she vanished, then more gunshots but only two more men out cold.

The man with the skull necklace injected a syringe into himself and shouted, "Sorry little girl but I'm bringing this to a shocking conclusion!" The sound of electricity, sparks, and flashing lights goes off and I see her get hit with the electricity. After the electricity stopped the girl acted like it was nothing and got back up and was about to go on the attack again but was hit from behind the head with a bat by one of the men in a suit. "Was she one of those vigilantes that were giving you trouble?"

"Yes, she was. But where's her partner?" They began to look around but it looked like the girl's partner was nowhere to be found.

"Looks like she came alone." The man with a skull necklace approached the girl's body and unmasked her and she was Maeko, "Just as we thought. A little girl, not even high school age. What are you going to do with her?"

"I know a couple of buyers who would love to get their hands on a young girl but she's too troublesome." The man in the suit pointed his gun at Maeko.

"We need to step in now—" A mask gets put on me.

"Way ahead of you," Youta says and I see his red light already inside shielding Maeko.

"When did you have time to get this?"

"There's no time to explain. I can't attack and defend all of us so I'll be counting on you two to go in there and help get Maeko out."

"Got it. Come on Izuku, I'll go through the window as a distraction you go through the front door and get Maeko out of there."

"Wait what!?" I hear Izuku as I break the window and jump in. I don't know what I should be doing exactly but a distraction is needed so I just started blasting air in all directions as a distraction.

"Another one!?"

"Ask questions later! Just shoot her!"

Guns were fired but Youta's red light protected me. I noticed Izuku had snuck in without being noticed. Why did I jump in here without a plan? I have no idea but let's just think of them as a bunch of Katsuki and beat them up. I use my hover movement to speed over to one of the thugs and with all my might I punched him in the face.

My fist connects and the man stumbles back, riving in pain. Then I heard a thud from behind me and it was the man who knocked Maeko out, being blocked by Youta's red light. "Damn it!"

"You made quite the entrance little lady, but it's lights out for you!" The skull necklace man says as he unleashes his electricity onto me. Instinctively I use my absorption ability to suck in the amount of electricity and discharge it back immediately. I was a bit tingly but overall ok. "We have a persistent one, huh." It looked like no one was hit by the electricity besides me.

"Hey Sponge, we got what we came for, let's get out!" Youta shouts from the window.

"There's more!? Don't let them escape!"

"Where did the other girl go!"

More shots were fired at me but Youta's red light protected me again as I made my way back to the window.

"I leave my protege to do a job alone and this is what I come back to. I severely underestimated the difficulty of this mission," I hear Doll Maker's voice.

"This voice… It's him. Everyone be on guard!" Shouted the man in a suit.

"Oh… But it's already too late. You've stepped into my trap." With a whoosh, strings entrap all of the thugs. "Hello again, little lady." Doll Maker appears above me, "I never knew my protege made friends. Go on ahead, I'll deal with this."

I take his advice and leave out the window where Youta was waiting with Izuku and an unconscious Maeko. "Ok guys let's leave quickly," I say to them.

"Ok, but to where?" Asked Izuku.

"Anywhere but here." We ran away Izuku carrying Maeko on his back. Far away from the warehouse before we stopped to catch our breath. "Well… Now what?"

"I don't know?"

"Well, I do." We heard Doll Maker's voice.

Youta got into a defensive stance, "When did you get here? And weren't you dealing with those thugs?"

"I've already dealt with them. They're just your regular old ruffians, not much of a challenge to a proper vigilante like me."

"Why did you put Maeko through that situation?"

"This was a training exercise. But it seems it was too much for her alone. If you hadn't been there and I arrived later they would've… Well, let's not talk about that when Maeko is injured."

"That's right. She was hit pretty badly. We should get her to a hospital," said Izuku.

"No, we just need to wake her up. She doesn't like being near the hospital nowadays."

"With an injury like this if we don't—"

"Ugh… Doll Maker…?" Maeko said, rubbing her head, "Sorry I got caught off guard… Wait, you're not…" Maeko pushed herself off Izuku, stumbling onto the ground. "Who are… Where's my…? What are you three doing here? Doll Maker! Explain!" Maeko demands as she covers her face with her tracksuit.

"Oh, here you go." Izuku hands the cloth that she was wearing to cover her face.

Maeko snatches it out of Izuku's hand and covers her face again, "Not that it matters since you'll be forgetting about this."

"You're injured, you shouldn't be moving around so much." Maeko's injuries suddenly disappeared as Izuku spoke. "How did you do that?"

"Doll Maker, let's leave," Maeko said as she got up.

"But this is the first time I've met your friends. Why leave so soon?"

"They are not my friends. At best stalkers. Stop trying to dig into my business." Maeko glares at me and then begins to walk away.

"Wait… Uh…" I blinked and looked around and saw Youta and Izuku. "What are we doing here?"

"You know… I don't know either. Which is not unusual." Youta replied.

"Oh right, we must be planning Akari's party a few weeks from now, right," Izuku says.

"I have a feeling it's something else though… But how did we end up here? Weren't we at the restricted area?" I scratched my head.

"If we forgot it, it must've not been important. Though it is strange." Youta replied.

"Yeah, I guess you're right… Well, let's head home I guess. If you look at the sun it's already late."

"Oh, we must have been out for a long time. I forgot I have things to do at home. I will be heading back first. Have a safe trip home you two." Youta said as he headed in a different direction from us waving goodbye.

"Oh ok, see you later Youta." We wave goodbye back.

"I actually need to go back to my coach before returning home so you can go ahead of me," Izuku says.

"Ok. See you when you come home then." We waved goodbye to each other as we headed in different directions. As I walked back alone, I felt enticed to walk a different route. And so following my impulses I go down a shady-looking alleyway. There wasn't much to see as I exited to the other side. I looked behind me one time before leaving and noticed strings above me.

This is quite suspicious so I followed where the string was connected to. It led me to a house. I snuck to the front window and took a look inside and from what I could tell it was a bit messy in some areas but empty in others.

"So you notice my string." I hear a man's voice. I was startled but the man put his hands on me, "Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you."

I turn to see Doll Maker. "Is this your house or something?" I asked.

"No, but it used to be Maeko's older brother's house. It was given to their parents when he died. Now Maeko uses it as her getaway place."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Can you convince her to not follow the path of vigilantism? I would myself but she won't listen to me. I think I've told her multiple times but I don't remember if I did or not. She keeps telling me not to talk about that topic again and disappears every time I bring it up."

"And what makes you think she would listen to me."

"You're different. Maeko doesn't consciously erase herself from people's memories, it sort of just happens because she can't control it yet. But for you, I can tell she's actively using it."

Something in my head snaps as memories of today come flooding back in. My eyes widened, "I remember now. Maeko's brother, so this is his house." I turn and take a better look at the house. It was a bit more unkempt than I first thought.

"Oh, you even somehow recall events she removed. That was something only her brother was able to do. Or are you just saying things?"

"So where is she?"

"She's inside. Resting. She used her one-day reset ability and exhausted herself and she's a very light sleeper."

"Is the door locked?"

"Don't worry, this isn't a trap. I just want Maeko to have a more normal life again. This vigilante business only started because I thought this would help her. The danger of each mission we go on just keeps escalating. It's already too late for me but if it's Maeko, if she backs out now she can still be a pro hero."

I breathe in a sigh, "Ok. But I will say what I want to say." I went and opened the door and entered the house.

"She's in the room down the hall to the right. I'll trust you to say what you need to say."

Following his direction, I entered the room. There I noticed a pink-haired girl sleeping. In the room, I see photos of her with a man with the same hair color in a hero costume. "Doll Maker. How many times do I have to tell you not to bother me when…" The girl wakes up rubbing her eyes. "H-How did you get here!" The girl got up.

"It was Doll Maker," I say.

"Damn him…!" Clearly annoyed, she snickers, "What do you want from me? I'm not going to be a replacement for your friend."

"You look different when you don't have your costume on."

She calms down and sits back down on the bed, "Of course I do. How did you regain your memories? You're just here to tell me to stop being a vigilante aren't you."

"No, I'm not."

"Huh?" One of her eyebrows perked up, "Then what do you want? Why are you stalking me?"

"If you put it that way, it makes me sound like a creepy old guy."

"You are a creep. Now leave before I make you." Maeko gets off the bed and begins to walk toward me.

"Wait! I just want to talk."

She stops, "Talk…? Talk about what? What's there to talk about? You already seem to know everything about me…"

"Why turn to vigilantism. Why not become a hero like your brother?"

"You want to know why…?" Maeko clenches her hands and grinds her teeth, "It's because becoming a licensed hero would take too long with this hate I feel. Vigilantes don't have to wait; they just do what they think is justice."

"Don't you think that you're going a little too fast?"

"What nonsense are you spitting out now?"

"Sure it's great to be a vigilante, but jumping in a group of villains alone when you're barely sixteen. You're going to end up dead sooner or later."

"So you are trying to persuade me. I should have known." Maeko grabs me by the collar of my shirt looking me dead in the eye, "I'll warn you one last time. Leave! Now!"

"When did I say I was going to persuade you not to follow your own path?" I smiled and placed a hand on her hand that was holding my collar, "All I'm trying to do is give some advice. Take it slow, you're going to regret going too fast becoming an adult. Your quirk hasn't fully developed yet. And sure, getting some real-world experience helps, but you need to know that there is going to be a time when your usual tricks won't work. Enjoy childhood while it lasts."

She let go of me with a frown on her face, "What do you know…" She places a hand on my chest, "On second thought you know too much. Get out."

"What?" I was then promptly shoved and locked out of the room.