Izuku Midoriya was looking at his finished article. It was thousands of words long, each line brimming with horrible things Enji Todoroki, also known as Endeavor, has done to his family. Uploading it with his real name would be a bad idea, so he came up with the name 'Taira Tetsuo' and sent it to his editor. He gave him specific instructions to wait until people stopped raving about the girl who tried to off herself. He didn't think Endeavor deserved to be exposed like that, but he was desperate. It would've been worse if he didn't repeatedly cite Mikumo Akatani as a source, that made him smile.

He started looking through other articles to see what happened with that girl. It seems she survived her suicide attempt, but hasn't woken up yet, he'll have to deal with her later. The police came out with information on a 'Quirkless Killer.' The one problem, at least for them, was the multiple articles saying it was Kanako Suzume who did the murders. Anti-quirkless groups mostly did them, but some pro-quirkless ones too. It seems everyone was against her. That went much better than he could have hoped.

When that news cycle ended his news story was bound to cause a storm, the multiple accusations would make people call for investigations and that would distract the police for weeks, possibly months. It would divide the population into two, ones who support Endeavor, and those who don't. It didn't matter if the allegations were true, which they were, most people wouldn't even read the article.

He knew they were investigating him for a while. They covered up the first murder so the public wouldn't find out. The next one was written off as an isolated incident. The third one raised suspicions, but the police avoided giving information. The last one, the one at the festival, was covered up. When Suzume jumped off the school building, Detective Tsukauchi was forced to come out with the information he gained about the killings. With that, combined with the Endeavor article, the police won't be able to properly investigate for nearly a month. If he played his cards right, he could get away with everything.

He had something else to do that day. He moved away from his laptop and walked to his bed. It had a package from the League of Villains on it. He opened it and looked inside. It had a note. 'Here's your costume. It's based on someone you may be close to. Signed, Sensei.' He looked through the rest of the package. It was filled with clothes, he immediately tried it on.

It was better than he expected. It was a jumpsuit with a black and grey design. It had a hood that covered his entire head. He tried talking, but it disguised his voice. The boots made him slightly taller, he was the same height as Akatani now. The gloves were bulky but light, they had hardened knuckles. The entire thing was cooler than his disguise. He could wear it for hours.

The main selling point was the support items. There was a baton, knives, flash bangs, and a handgun. It all fit on his utility belt or strapped on his back. It took a while to get used to the extra weight, but it wasn't much. He took it off, put it back in the box, and placed it under his bed.

He took out his phone, he got a text while trying on his costume. It said, "You wanna spar" It was from Akatani. "I want to talk." Damnit, it was one thing after another that day. He said he'd be right there, got dressed in workout clothes, and left.


Izuku Midoriya and Akatani have been continually training for the past few days. Izuku made rapid progress, he could keep up with Akatani for nearly a minute, this, of course, with Akatani holding back.

Izuku was spinning a staff, it was his favorite weapon. They were in Snipe's private gym, they were given special permission to use it for training. "What did you want to talk about?" He didn't stop spinning the staff.

Akatani was sitting on the wall. He was drinking a protein shake. "I won't be able to train with you for a while. The hero course is doing a work-study and I got invited to do one in Hosu." Izuku figured something like this would happen, so he got a key to the gym and has been using it every day.

"Why don't you do it with Snipe?"

"I tried, but he refused. He wanted me to do the work study with a higher-ranking hero."

"Who in the top 50 would want to train you?" Akatani's face flashed with anger. "I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that their prejudices would get in the way."

"It turns out that winning the sports festival is a big draw for heroes. It didn't matter that I was quirkless." His face had a mild scowl for a second. That didn't answer the question. Izuku let it go, he didn't care.

"Is that all, you could've sent that in a text."

"I wanted to train one more time before the study. I wanted to see how strong I was."

"Yet you chose me. You could beat me in a second if you went all out."

"What are you talking about? I fought you with all I had."

He stopped swinging the staff. "You're lying. That can't possibly be true." He's only been training for two weeks.

"You don't realize how you mastered the staff in a few days?"

"I did?" He took a few swings with the staff, he didn't feel like a master. "You're lying."

"You were swinging it around while holding a full conversation. That takes years of training."

"It does? But it was so easy. I mean, you just have to." He tried to remember how he did it. "Uhh, yeah I forgot."

"Riveting," Akatani said sarcastically. He got up and picked up a staff. He walked away from the wall. "Come on, we're going again." Izuku walked in front of him.

Akatani got in a stance, but Izuku didn't. "I just want to say that I am not as strong as you say I am."

"That's because we were fighting hand-to-hand. You're stronger with a weapon."

Izuku thought back, he did kill three people and beat a guy twice his size with a hammer after getting punched in the face. "Makes sense." He got into his stance. "I want you to give it all you got from the beginning this time."

"Only if you do the same. Act like you're going for the kill." Izuku would do so gladly. He charged and swung. Akatani spun his weapon and sent it to his left. "Hey, I wasn't read-"

Izuku recovered quickly and sent the staff into his gut. He kept attacking, and Akatani backed up, blocking each swing. "You said to act like I'm going for the kill. Why should I wait until you're ready?"

Akatani went to answer. Izuku swung at his head but he ducked. He jabbed his weapon at Izuku's gut.

Izuku jumped to the side and brought his staff down on his opponent. When it was blocked, he kept pushing. Akatani kept it from hitting his head, he was physically stronger, but if he turned the staff to hit Izuku, he would be vulnerable to a hit to the head. He was stuck on the floor.

Izuku spun his staff around, kicking the lower end into Akatani's crotch. He spun it back around and hit him in the head. Akatani dropped his staff and clutched his privates.

Izuku kicked it away. He started repeatedly hitting Akatani. In his legs, his ribs, whatever it hit as he repeatedly put it down on his opponent. He slightly tapped into his rage, so he didn't stop for a while. He dropped the staff, breathing heavily. "Wow, you just keep refusing to go all out." He would've killed him, but he would be found out in a second, and he still had other plans.

"I did go all out." Akatani sat up. He spat out a tooth. "You just went apeshit. I could've gotten a concussion."

"Did you not?" Izuku hit him with all he had, it would be great if he did.

"Hopefully not. That'd make three this month." He stood up. "I did tell you to go all out. Like you're trying to kill me. So I won't hold the missing tooth against you. But can you help me pay for the dentist? I don't exactly have insurance."

"Send me the bill. I'll pay for at most half. I'm not made of money."

"Aren't you a reporter?"

"You say that like it pays a lot." It didn't, especially with the articles he wrote.

"Journalists get paid six million yen a year." Really? That seemed ridiculous.

"I get paid by commission. Contingent I write about heroes or the hero course."

"Why would you agree to that?" Well, he didn't become a reporter for the money. He did it so he could have a free subscription to a news source and access to any press conference.

"That's not important." He got a text. It was his boss. The jerk wanted to discuss the article in further detail. "What is important is that I have to go somewhere. I'll see you in a week, alright?"

"Where are you going?"

"To get a massage or whatever. It doesn't matter, it's my business." Izuku picked up his things and started to leave.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'll see you in a week." Izuku rolled his eyes as he left. That guy was so dead.


Naomasa Tsukauchi was sitting at his desk. He was going through hundreds of Emails saying to arrest Kanako Suzume. He would assume someone leaked it, but he noticed most of them were from inside the force. He could tell them all that she was in the hospital but they should've known that already, most of them were there when she fell off the building. But the public turned against her, which he should be grateful for, they found someone to direct their anger. Except now the police are getting influenced by them and most of his squad is useless.

He could ignore them, but then he wouldn't be able to figure out who made Suzume kill that girl. He needed all the information he could get, and that meant combing through all of his messages. It takes him several hours a day, it barely gives him any time to go over the facts of his other cases. He was about to open the files of the girl's classmates.

"Excuse me, Naomasa. I'm still here." Oh yeah, All Might was there.

Naomasa slowly put the file down, looked at his friend, and said, "Why are you here, and not with Izuku Midoriya?" He was surprised he didn't scream.

"I don't think it's necessary. I mean, he's quirkless, and we have Kanako Suzume in our custody."

"She's innocent, you idiot. Midnight said the killer was a boy."

"Midnight said she might have misremembered."

"I didn't hear this. Why didn't you tell me immediately?" More importantly, why didn't Midnight tell him?

"I tried, but you were checking your Email. It looked important." Naomasa got a headache.

"Find Izuku Midoriya, follow him, tell me everything." He was their prime suspect, it didn't matter if he was quirkless. After what Suzume said about her supposed friend, it only makes it more likely to be him. He was close to bringing him in for questioning, but he wanted to bring in the Todoroki kid first. Endeavor fought back hard. That wasted just enough time for the fiasco with Suzume to happen. Now he won't be allowed to bring in any witnesses, they supposedly already had the perp.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. I need to do some crime fighting, and I have an appearance on a cooking show. I'm also a teacher."

"Why did you say yes before?"

"I only followed him during my free time, and I seemed to miss him whenever he did everything you're accusing him of. Either you're wrong or I'm the wrong guy for this job."

"Fine, just get out." He couldn't let any more information out. If he asks any more heroes it could get leaked. None of the other heroes he asked said they'd do it. Midnight said she'd get arrested if she followed another teenager. Aizawa said he couldn't because of his teaching responsibility. This was a huge setback. He couldn't follow him, he needed to be a lie detector at interrogations. No other detectives had the free time to follow the kid. He definitely couldn't hire a private detective, it was a leak waiting to happen. If the public knew they had the wrong suspect, they'd get crucified. All Might was still there. "Didn't you hear? I want you gone." He pointed to the door.

"I just have one question. How sure are you that it's Young Midoriya?"

"About ten percent. He doesn't fit the profile. But he was in too many places, at just the wrong time. If he's innocent, he's just unlucky." He took a breath. If that thing with the girl didn't happen, he could've moved on with the case. "I'll tell you what. If we find ever out I'm wrong, drinks are on me."

"I can't drink alcohol." Oh yeah, he was missing half of his stomach. He must be fun at parties.

"Exactly." They both laughed at that. "But seriously, I need you to trust me."

"I do. I just don't want to see my friend running in circles." All Might left.

Naomasa felt better after that. He looked through the files of the girl's classmates again. They were all testimonies of their relationships with Suzume. None of them were positive, they specifically cited her relationship with two girls in particular. One had her brains exposed with a rock. The other confessed to bullying her out of fear. They did horrible things to her. After hours of questioning, he saw nobody who would coerce her into murder. Nobody saw her with Izuku, either, so he couldn't call him in. He could question her for the killer's identity easily. He just needed her to wake up.