"Hey Katsuki," a holographic projection of Akumi said in a room back at the Wild Wild Pussycats' private property in the mountains. "If you're seeing this it's already too late for most things to be changed. It's funny, you know. I don't like you at all but you're the last person I'm giving a message to. I could have chosen anyone else but still chose you for some reason."

"I hope you can forgive me for giving you the responsibility to regain in Akari, Izuku, and Youta. The moment I leave they'll go through a lot of change. Those two weren't even supposed to be in the story."

"Since you're the only one from our childhood that doesn't know what's going on yet I hope this message will explain something." Akumi takes a breath and stares directly into the camera. "I'm apparently a Nomu. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm not from this world."

"Although we are."

"This will be one of the only compliments you'll get from me. You understand more about what makes us tick than anyone gives you credit for. In fact, if you and Youta had all the information I had you would have thought of a better solution leading to a better outcome."

"But sadly I won't let you have them because you'll be a big hindrance if you develop too fast."

"Not like I would let them hinder your growth. You don't have a way to turn us back. And I know that's not enough for you to stop trying but…"

"I wanted to tell you, Katsuki, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself for being kidnapped. Don't think it's because of you All Might's time came to an end."

"Because this time it's my fault."

"I'll be seeing you soon and if you're seeing this it means you've escaped."

"It looks like I'm out of time. Sorry, this isn't as sentimental as the others. Knowing you and Youta, you two would have wanted to see the other videos too. I'm sorry if this one isn't as sentimental as the others. You guys should be arriving in a few moments. Good luck."

Bakugo picks up the holographic projection disc. "And that was the message she left for me."

"I guess you were the last one she left a message to," Youta said. "Thank you, Bakugo. For sharing the video."

"Hey, don't forget to give me her message to you. We will have to work together if we want to get that Sponge back."

Youta tosses two discs at Bakugo, "Keep them, I've made copies for that very purpose."

Bakugo catches the discs and says, "I knew you were privileged. Always ready with your neat gadgets."

"My resources are yours. Although, I don't like you all too much either. I'm willing to work with you until this situation is solved."

"So when are we going to meet this informant of yours?"

"Well, as much as I hate to say it, we're waiting on Deku." Youta looks at the emergency room. Izuku sits just outside it facing the red light on the door. "I'm sorry it had to come to this. I didn't expect her to use her prototype armor. I thought she had her finished power suit on. If I knew I wouldn't have just left like I did."

"Youta Okazaki," Itsuki's voice calls out. "It's quite hard to find you when you go into hiding, you know."

Bakugo takes a look at Itsuki. Then taking a step back he sits down and watches the show. He knows better than to get into a battle of relationships.

Youta turns to face Itsuki, "Itsuki Kajiwara. Son to the renowned hero family, Waste Fall. What brings you here?"

"I finally met the man to whom Akari had spoken so highly. A bit more hot-headed than expected."

"You're a bit shorter than I expected," Youta replied immediately, noticing a centimeter height difference between him and Itsuki.

"I heard you let her get to the brink of death!" Itsuki's bloodlust filled the room. "Why would you ever let that happen to her!"

Youta returns the favor and sends his killing intent to Itsuki. "I did it for her growth."

"If you loved her you would never let anyone hurt her. You don't deserve Akari's affection. You only so happened to be there for her in her time of need. If I was there…" All the tension in the air suddenly lifted as Itsuki took a step forward. "Growth, yeah right. From what I heard from Akari I thought you were the same as me. But no, you're exploiting her abilities for your own benefit!" Itsuki within arm's length of Youta says, "I'm Akari's fiancé, so I can't let you keep endangering her life any more than you already have. Not on my watch."

"Is that so?" Youta takes a mental note. It takes everything in him not to attack Itsuki right now. "So you're the fiancé."

"Can you two take your chat somewhere else," Izuku said, still facing toward the emergency room door. His voice commanded their attention. No one would have expected Izuku of all people to be able to sound so deadly serious. "Your conversation is flaring off danger signals that Akari might see from beyond this thin door."

Itsuki takes a bow. "Where are my manners? My name is Itsuki Kaijwara. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. It's been a pleasure to meet Akari's friends." Standing back up straight he continues, "I never thought Akari would be hanging around so many boys. I would have thought her best friend would be here."

Youta lifts his right arm about to use his quirk to kill Itsuki, but at the last moment, he puts his hand back down and looks towards the emergency room door. "There's no point in fighting at this moment. I would advise you to stop with your provocation."

Itsuki doesn't respond and instead goes to take a seat at one end of the room and waits. Youta does the same and takes a seat on the opposite end. Izuku stays silent and remains still. Bakugo had already left due to the boring conversation. No more words were passed for the next hour or so.


(Hours before)

"Aizawa Sensei! We need to get Akari to recovery girl!" Izuku held onto Akari's almost lifeless body. Not waiting for a response Izuku takes Akari and rushes to the nurse's office activating full cowling.

Bakugo almost had guilt on his face until he remembered this was within the boundary of expectation. He did feel upset that Akari would be stupid enough to waste her life here. This fight was more difficult than he would have imagined.

In a blink of an eye, Izuku was gone from everyone's sight. "Everyone! Training will be put on hold for now. Ectoplasm I'm going to check on Midoriya." Aizawa runs out of the training ground after Izuku.

"What just happened?" Uraraka is the first to speak after a moment goes by. Everyone's mood was down. All eyes were on Bakugo.

"Is she going to be fine?" Kirishima asked in concern.

"Bakugo, you went too far this time," Yaoyorozu shouted.

"Too far," Bakugo scoffs. "You thought that was too far! At the sports festival, Akumi did the same thing! And you think this is too far," Bakugo shouts back.

"Akari isn't a fighter. Izuku even said as much. We already know the outcome if she fought you. She would lose," Kirishima said.

"Akumi was the one who wasn't a fighter." Frustration was on Bakugo's face. "Us five came from the same school. Grew up with each other. If anyone, Lie Detector has the best skills out of all of us. She should have no problem taking all of us down if she just thought ahead for once!"

"That still doesn't justify the outcome of the fight!"

Ida walks in between the group and Bakugo then shouts, "That's enough already. Bakugo has done nothing wrong. This was a sanctioned fight. We also heard from Izuku that Akari had done the most damage to herself. We saw her equipment malfunction which led to this outcome. Getting upset at Bakugo will do none of us any good!"

Ectoplasm then decides to speak up, "While we wait for confirmation on the situation I advise everyone to stop squabbling. Emotions are high enough as it is."


The light on the emergency room door eventually turns green. Everyone waits patiently for the people inside to come out and give some sort of information on Akari's condition. Then a minute went by before the doctors and nurses exited. One doctor stayed behind to explain the situation to the three boys, "The girl. We have stabilized her. Many of her nerves are damaged and some metal has infused onto her hands and feet. Her vital are not damaged but her brain has some sort of anomaly that we would need to test with better equipment. At best, she should recover in about a month. Worst case scenario she stays comatose for an indefinite amount of time."

"Can we go in to see her," Izuku asked.

"I would advise not to but, I won't stop you. She is fighting really hard right now," The doctor said as he opened the door to the room.

Izuku, Itsuki, and Youta all walked into the room at that moment and saw Akari. She was hooked up to tubes. An oxygen mask was around her mouth. The heart monitor showed her heartbeat at one hundred beats but dropped to thirty for a few moments only to jump back up. Her hands and feet had a metallic coding around them. The rest of her body was bandaged.

"Hey, how about we continue our conversation outside," Itsuki mentioned to Youta. Without questioning it, Youta leaves and Itsuki follows after. Izuku stays by the open door that the doctor is still holding open. After Izuku stepped in a little further the doctor closed the door as he monitored Akari's condition with the nurse.

"I've already failed one sister. I don't want to fail another." Izuku grits his teeth and clenches his hands. "I have to get stronger."

The other vestiges of One For All could feel what Izuku was going through—guilt, anger, sadness. Izuku felt the same thing he had felt when the sludge villain attacked Akumi. But a new emotion slowly starts to surge from his heart. As much as his heart of gold tried to suppress it, it started to overflow.

H̵̤͖͖̣̃̎̋̃̋̄̕͝͝ͅA̷̫̫̹͔͆͑̐̿̅͊͋͋̆̚T̶̡͖̻̟̺̭̱̳̣͉̳̀̿͗͐̊̆̿̄͘͜͝Ę̶̨̞͖̻͓͙̇̅̒̆͑̽̚͠

Outside the hospital building the sun was setting. The moment Youta stepped outside the building Itsuki slammed him into the wall holding him by the collar of his shirt. "You let that much happen to her!" Youta doesn't respond and doesn't resist. His eyes were filled with shadow. Itsuki continued yelling, "Say Something You Son Of A Bitch!"

"What do you want to hear…"

"HUH?!"

Youta shouts, "What Do You Want Me To Say?! I already know, Damn It! It's my fault that she's in that condition! This time it's all my fault. But I know she can come back from this!"

"You Know, Or Do You Need Her To Come Back From This! It's troublesome enough that you hid her but now you crippled her!" Ituski throws Youta onto the ground. "I want you to stay the hell away from her!"

Youta stayed on the ground contemplating what he should do next. He could feel genuine love from Ituski's words. But it's too late to turn back now. He already set things in motion and once it starts it won't stop until Youta himself dies. Youta got up to his feet and replied, "No."

"No?" Itsuki paused for a moment. "If words won't convince you then maybe violence will." Silver-like materials start to sprout from his hand.

Youta prepared for the consequences of his action raises a hand. "Then, bring it on."

"That's quite enough, both of you," Itsuki's father had said. Standing beside him was Youta's father.

"Father?" Itsuki said in surprise. Quickly stopping his quirk he bowed and said, "I didn't notice you."

"Youta," Youta's father said.

"Yes, father?" Youta had responded, lowering his hand.

"You're in broad daylight. You even forgot to check for cameras." Youta's father pointed to multiple cameras recording the whole situation. "You still have much to learn."

"I apologize, Mr. Okazaki. My son seems to have forgotten his manners." Itsuki's father bowed his head.

"Let us let bygones be bygones for now. After all, a storm is approaching." They look over to the hospital entrance.

Izuku walks out of the hospital and nothing but his footsteps can be heard. A deadly aura surrounds Izuku as he passes the group and disappears into the distance not saying a word. The only thing on his mind right now is one question, "How can I get stronger?"

"We're leaving. Come Itsuki." Itsuki's father walks to and enters the back seat of a car. "Now that we know where she is, Akari can not hide any longer."

"We'll continue this another time," Itsuki said before following his father into the car.

Youta rushes over to a nearby tree and punches it leaving an indent. "I knew that had to happen but…" He punches the tree again as hard as he can and shouts, "Just why does it have to be them who are hurt the most!" Youta began punching the tree until it fell. His fist was bloodied and his head fuming.

"It's hard when you first start. But once you reach the end it might all be worth the sacrifice," his father said. The tree starts to grow back as his father approaches.

"Do you regret it," Youta asked. "Taking leadership I mean?"

"Only one thing." Youta's father stands next to Youta, staring at the newly grown tree.

"What was it?"

Youta's father places a hand on the tree. Youta's father replied, "That it was paved in blood." Moving his hand away from the tree, remnants of Youta's blood outlined where his hand was. The half of the tree that fell quickly decomposed into the dirt.


"Cities all over Japan are in chaos. And you still chose to go and do vigilante activities in rural areas," Aizawas scolds Maeko. "What's worse is that now you're taking Shinso with you." Walking through an empty hallway their footsteps echoed off the walls.

"Those areas have also increased in small-time villain activities," Maeko defended herself. "Besides, everyone knows all the big-time villains only attack the big cities."

"Nagai, you know better than to disobey what you are told. Not like the public cares now that the number one hero is dead. What's worse you've caught the attention of the Hero Public Safety Commission."

"What's that got to do with me?"

"Nothing good that's for sure." They stop at the end of a hallway. A single red door stands closed. Aizawa knocks on the door and moments later it opens. "I'm not allowed after this point so good luck to you."

"Good luck? Why would I need it?" Maeko looked through the door and it was another corridor with a double wooden door at the end. Checking Aizawa's memories to see if this is a trap of some sort, Maeko doesn't find anything. Trusting her Sensei she walks into the room. The door closed behind her as she entered.

"We've noticed your vigilante activities, Maeko Nagai." A woman's voice came from a speaker in the room. "You have quite the skill for someone your age."

Entertaining the idea for a moment Maeko says, "What do I get for joining?"

"You get your Hero license without having to take the exam. You'll also be privy to information only the Hero Public Safety Commission knows." The woman answered almost like she was expecting this outcome.

"Enough with the sugar coating, get to the point."

"Let me ask, what do you want?"

"Why now? What's the reason behind trying to recruit me now instead of then? What changed."

"Your brother Re-Play has been spotted doing some questionable things. He goes by the name Hysteria now. He has murdered a total of 20 pro heroes." Maeko wasn't surprised his brother was killing people but the number was a lot more than she had expected. "We should be thanking him for getting rid of those problematic heroes but what he is doing is no different from the Hero Killer Stain."

"I'm not going to fight my brother if that's what you are asking." Maeko interrupts the man. "I'm quite over him. Whatever is going on with him is his problem. I want nothing to do with it." Maeko tries to leave the room. Pushing and pulling the red door, it doesn't budge. "If you want to recruit someone, go ask someone more naive."

"Your actions say otherwise." The woman's tone had changed. "Your vigilantism activities are all around the places where those pro-heroes died. Are you trying to right the wrongs of your brother by protecting the area that those heroes should have filled?"

Steel walls rise blocking off the exits. Maeko watches as the scene unfolds. The room shifts from a corridor into an interrogation room. A table and chair are at the center of the room.

"What's this? Is this your pathetic attempt to convince me?" Maeko mocked. "I'm done…" Maeko wanted to use her quirk to leave the room but it didn't work.

"We've been monitoring your and Doll Maker's activities for years now. The only reason we didn't take any action until now is because we made a deal with Doll Maker. Thanks to your brother, Doll Maker is no longer around to uphold his end of the deal."

"What did you do?" She can still activate it but the reset didn't work. "This isn't Eraserhead. The only other thing is if I used it already and didn't remember."

"It was difficult to try and catch you since you would always disappear every time any of us tried to approach you. But after you met your brother you let your guard down. Even with a memory quirk like yours, it would seem like you can forget sometimes."

"We've talked already." Maeko goes into her memory to see what happened. There was a blank period from the moment she entered the red door and from the time she heard the voice speak. She doesn't know what happened but she does remember there was an attack made on her. "I'm part of the anomaly created by Akumi. So whatever I do will severely impact the future that she doesn't know." Maeko walks over to the chair and sits down. "As soon as my cooldown is over I'm out of here."

"You started to gain some traction with the locals of the towns you patrolled. A mysterious pink-haired girl doing hero work better than the pro heroes. We were lucky that you can just erase the key details of who is involved in these cases. We've warned you time and time again. Cease your vigilante activities."

"And I will give the same response. Are you afraid of me?" Maeko stares into a hidden camera in one of the walls. A hint of hostility exuded out of Maeko. "I'm just as dangerous as Akumi, am I not? Maybe even more." Maeko then copied the face she saw Akumi make during the sports. Eyes widen, grinning from ear to ear, and glaring almost through the camera to the other side. "She may know the future but I know the past. Every little dark deal you Hero Public Safety Commissioners have made. Every hush operation, every person you've blackmailed to work for you. Just how much luck are you going to push before one of us breaks and spills?"

A single reddish-orange feather falls into the room and Makeo immediately changes the conversation. "Heroes killed my brother. Villains kidnapped my friend. Your people covered it all up. Count your blessings that I haven't already gone off your radar."

"Why haven't you joined the villains or more specifically your brother? Are you placing your bets on the memories you saw in Akumi, aren't you? Or is it that you found new camaraderie at U.A. High? Hitoshi Shinso was his name. Maybe you are trying to turn over a new leaf and become a hero. It was Doll Maker's last wish. It isn't difficult to read you now that your walls are down. It's just a matter of which would be more convincing."

"Even if you did know the reason it wouldn't matter," Maeko had thought to herself. The reason for her wanting to be a hero is simple. To clear her brother's name. That person she saw then wasn't her brother. That person looked like her brother. That person's quirk was like her brother's. But there were no memories that she and her brother had in that person. As much as she would love her brother to be alive he's dead and has been for a long time. She was in denial up until the moment she met that imposter.

She cared about Akumi, the only one who understood. Or more like Yumi and Akiko. From the moment Akumi walked into the room to confront her about her vigilante activities she knew there was more than one person in the body. She questioned it at first like if Akumi lived through multiple lifetimes. Was it some sort of reincarnation? But after snooping around stealing information about All For One and Nomus it confirms there was more than one person. Akumi wasn't the only one burdened with knowledge. She couldn't care less about what happened to Akumi but the person inside she considers a friend that is who she worries about.

Shinzo and Aizawa reached out to her at U.A. while others feared her. There were no ulterior motives behind their approach. Shinzo also went through the same discrimination she did but he got through it without compromising on his belief and Maeko admired that about Shinzo. She wishes she could be more like that again but with the situation being as it is, she finds it difficult to do so. Aizawa on the other hand had gone through loss himself and Maeko can relate to that. Aizawa's combat training was exactly what she needed to be a better hero. She already had the experience of a real battle but she needed formal training to combat other experienced fighters.

Maeko knows that the Hero Public Safety Commission sees her as a potential threat to hero society. She can get information out of anyone alive just by looking at them. She would be a very useful tool to gather intel if she was on their side. Or better yet eliminate her so that she is off the board. However, due to circumstances eliminating Maeko would bring unwanted conflict with the user of One For All. Crippling Maeko was not out of the realm of possibility. After all one potential impact for the future has already been crippled what's one more going to make.

Maeko looks back at the camera and asks, "What do you want me to do?"