After a whirlwind tour of various properties with the town's real estate agent, Michiru was at her wits end keeping up the façade of agreeing with the deranged Tsubaki. After declining a late lunch, the undercover girl finally took her leave and left on foot to head back to the closest property she had just been shown.

When she finally got there, Celty and Sakon were waiting, having let themselves in with some lock-picking Celty had learned over the course of her long life. The second Michiru was in the door and out of sight of anyone likely to look in by some random chance, she morphed back into her traditional tanuki form before she shuttered and covered herself with her arms.

"Celty…Celty, it was awful! Those poor people, they looked so worn down and beaten! I…I knew heteromorphs were discriminated against but outright slavery! We…we need to do something, right now! The three of us, we could go free them all right now. We NEED to save them, Celty!" Michiru declared, her voice growing more frantic, more desperate with each passing word.

It was Sakon who responded, her voice low but sympathetic, "I hear ya, Michiru. No one wants to charge in and smash heads and ask questions later more than me. You know that, but…"

"But if we go now, we will free them and we will catch some of the perpetrators but if we want to stop this for good, we need to catch them all. That means evidence." Celty explained as she put her hands on Michiru's shoulders to draw the tanuki girl's attention up to her.

Michiru jerked away, realizing immediately what her leader's words implied. "You, you want me to go back! You want me to get them to spill everything. You want me to sit there and play buddy buddy with these horrible people while they beat and force others to work for them! Celty, I can't! I won't! I feel dirty enough as it is!"

After that, a long, awkward silence settled between the three, which only upset Michiru more because it meant that neither of her teammates were outright agreeing with her. Her anger building, Michiru turned to Sakon and pleaded "You want to beat these people senseless, I know you do! You a coward now, all of a sudden? Afraid of a bunch of farmhands with bats?"

"MICHIRU!" Celty admonished just as the ant girl looked like a line had been crossed and was about to act on it.

Both girls shrank at their leader's shout though, before they could come to blows, allowing the dulahan to continue, this time far calmer "Sakon wanted to rush the field as soon as she realized what it was you were seeing." Michiru looked her formid friend in the eye searching for confirmation and got it when Sakon nodded. Celty continued, "I know it sounds callous, but those people have already suffered for a long time. Just a little longer and we can not only free them but strike a powerful blow against those perpetrating this horror and send a message across the country."

Michiru looked away, tears of frustration and impotent rage spilling over and staining her fur. Again, Celty took the tanuki girl's shoulders and asked firmly "None of that is possible though without you. Michiru, I know this is hard, especially for you but right now, you're the only one who can. Endure it for a while longer and the returns on that suffering will be immeasurable."

Another long pause followed. Sakon was about ready to just give up and declare they should go back to the city for reinforcements when Michiru spoke again, her voice quiet but with a clear edge to it, "Fine. We'll…we'll do it your way. But I can't promise I'll be able to keep my cool all the way through. And, and if I think this is going too far, I'm ending it, you understand?"

It wasn't ideal but it was clear to Celty that Michiru already grasped that being the one that this operation depended on, she held the upper hand. Slowly, Celty nodded, and Michiru appeared to relax a little. That gave the headless hero the chance to change the subject and said "We have our primary mission as well. You said you saw someone that looked like Gigantomachia? Want to give us more detail?"

Also glad for the subject change, Michiru launched into a description that was indeed eerily similar. From there, the three discussed what that could mean and how that informed Michiru's search for the next few days. Business concluded, Michiru left first on foot to head back to the hotel, the other two following in the car.

When Michiru got back, she was greeted by the innkeeper and had to beg off dinner with the family, though she was talked into breakfast the next day. Her teammates arrived later for bed, all three glad the day was finally over.

(X)

The next day came far too soon for Michiru and she soon found herself at the dining room table of Misa and her family. The meal itself was simple; rice, miso soup, tamagoyaki and grilled fish yet the smell of a home cooked meal hit Michiru with a sense of nostalgia that almost made her forget she was lying to this family.

As she sat by, watching the last bits of the meal get placed on the table by the inn's owner, Michiru had a hard time ignoring the childish bickering of the two kids. Misa's husband sat silently, his face buried in a newspaper, clearly ignoring what seemed to be a daily spat between the two siblings.

"Behave yourselves you two! We have a guest!" Misa barked while she placed the last bowl on the table and added enthusiastically "OK, eat up!"

Everyone gathered gave the traditional thanks for the meal before Michiru dug in, hoping to eat and leave before things got too uncomfortable. It was not to be.

"You were gone most of the day Nazuna, you must have really been out seeing the town, huh?" Misa asked almost as soon as the table had gone quiet.

"Yeah, heh, heh. You...could say that. The real-estate agent is really through! She showed me everything in and outside of town." Michiru replied, cursing her luck that the older innkeeper would want the details on her survey of the town. Given what she had already seen yesterday, it was safe to assume that most everyone living here was at least aware of what was going on. That meant it was part of Michiru's mission to find out if this family was in on it too.

"Yes," Misa replied after she finished chewing, "Tsubaki-chan always has been a workaholic. What did you think of our little slice of paradise?"

"Well…I certainly liked what I saw. This town definitely checks some important boxes for me. And when I say Tsubaki showed me everything, I mean everything." Michiru answered, making sure to make eye contact with Misa when she empathized that last word to make her meaning clear.

And the innkeeper did not miss the unspoken message, her own eyebrow raising in response. After a moment, the older woman laughed mirthlessly before responding "Did she now? She revealed our little secret to someone on their first day in town? And yet you're still here? I knew I liked you Nazuna! Does that mean our pest management is the reason you choose to come here?"

Michiru was about to answer when Misa's husband suddenly stood up from the table, his stoic face tense but silent as he abruptly walked to the door, slipped on his shoes and left, slamming the door behind him.

Michiru stared at the door in surprise, unsure what to make of the scene she'd just witnessed. "Don't mind my husband." Misa said, drawing Michiru's attention back to the table, "I told you he has a big heart. Sometimes too big, but don't worry, he knows what's best for the animals, I promise."

"R-right. Of course." Michiru replied, trying to regain her compose. "And you're right, I'm here exactly for the reason you think I am. Never could take the way things are done in the big cities. I'll be glad to get away from it all."

"The older woman shook with excitement and said "Oh! I'm just so excited to have you as a neighbor! I bet you're single too, aren't you? I know several young men who would absolutely love to meet you!"

Michiru tried and only mostly succeeded in hiding her cringe at the suggestion of being set up on a blind date with some racist yokel farmer. The undercover girl then stuffed her face full of rice in an effort to delay answering and to get the hell out of the house as soon as possible. When she had finished chewing, she replied "Yeah…we can totally talk about that after I've closed on a house. I don't even know where I'm going to live yet, seems kind of silly to start seeing someone before I'm all settled, you know?"

Misa smiled despite the rebuff and replied "Sensible, I like it! You got a good head on your shoulders Nazuna! Ken, what have I told you about flinging food in your sister's hair? Come on, we need to get moving or you'll be late!"

Inwardly sighing in relief, Michiru was able to finish breakfast and get out without incident, free to investigate the town once more.

(X)

"Emeralda? Are you ok? I didn't see you last night and you didn't come down for breakfast. Plus, it's getting pretty late if you're going to go visit Eri again today." Zelgadis called from outside the nanomachine girl's room, a hint of concern in his voice.

When he got no response, Zelgadis knocked on the door before speaking again "Emeralda, at least let me know you're in there. I don't want to have to chase after another runaway friend if I can avoid it."

Still, nothing.

"Ok, I'm forcing my way in unless you tell me otherwise." The chimera warned as a last-ditch effort before he readied a wind spell.

Just before he was about to unleash it though, a clear "No, please don't." could finally be heard. The plea was clear but sounded forced.

Still, it was enough to let the sorcerer know Emeralda was indeed in the room, even if it was clear something was wrong. Before he could repeat his question expressing that concern though, Zelgadis heard the greenette say, "I…didn't feel like visiting today. Now please, leave me be."

Wholly unconvinced, Zelgadis stood at the door a few moments longer before he replied "I…don't know what's happened but whenever you feel like talking about it, I'll listen, OK?" When there was no response, Zelgadis turned to look at the next door over. Michiru's door. The thought occurred to the chimera that the pushy tanuki wouldn't have taken no for an answer and the thought brought a smile to his face.

Still, as he left, Zelgadis knew from experience that if someone didn't want to talk, it was very difficult to get them to open up on your terms. All he could do was be there for her when she was ready. With his guitar over his shoulder Zelgadis made his way toward the training room to practice when he noticed Hitomi enter the house. The counselor looked uneasy, at least until she noticed the chimera was there and quickly put on a smile.

"What brings you here, Hitomi? Is everything going ok on Michiru's mission?" Zelgadis asked.

Despite schooling her features to hide whatever was bothering her, the brunette's response showed she still had her mind elsewhere as she said, "What? No, I mean I don't know, we haven't heard anything from Celty's team since they left. Have you seen Emeralda today?"

Now Zelgadis was sure something serious had happened. Whatever it was though, the girl in question had not seen fit to share it with him so instead, he pointed someone else at her. "She's in her room. Been there since she got home yesterday. Wouldn't talk to me though. I don't know what's wrong but if you can help her, please do."

That was enough to bring a small but warm smile to the counselor's face. Before she turned to head upstairs, Hitomi answered "Thank you Zelgadis, I'll make sure she knows you said that. I'm sure it means a lot. It certainly does to me. Good luck practicing and I'll see what I can do.

(X)

Michiru's plan for the day had been to visit some of the other local businesses in town to probe what they knew about what was going on and the Gigantomachia look-a-like. She hadn't gotten very far though when a pick-up truck stopped on the road in front of her while she walked the edge of the asphalt. A large man with a full beard to make up for his bald head and wearing simple denim overalls and a yellow scarf around his neck got out.

Michiru continued to walk, her hands in the pockets of her jacket and an annoyed look on her face as the man stood looking at her expectantly. It was as if he was expecting Michiru to cower, look confused or in some way react to his presence. Instead, the bald man only got a glance from her as the new girl in town got closer. As she was about to pass, the much taller man called out "Hey. You this Nazuna girl Tsubaki told me about yesterday?"

Finally Michiru stopped, having come beside the interloper and looked up at him side-eyed, answering nonchalantly "And what if I am? There a problem?"

The large man did not turn to face her but he did look over and down at Michiru, clearly not happy at the challenging tone just thrown at him. "That depends. Word is Tsubaki took you out to the pet farm. That true?"

Not ten minutes after having to deal with the innkeeper and now this? Michiru had to think fast, not sure exactly where this was going. She had just watched Misa's husband storm out in apparent disgust. It was possible this was a like-minded individual. Odds were that wasn't the case though and if she guessed wrong, the worst she would likely do is offend someone. No, Michiru knew she'd have to continue to play along. "It is. What? Something wrong with that? Don't tell me you're embarrassed by it? Seemed right and natural what I saw yesterday."

In her ear, Michiru had to contend with Sakon screaming to murder the guy, making it very hard to keep a straight face. Luckily, Celty seemed to calm the ant girl and Michiru was able to focus on the response that came next. "Talks cheap little lady. Can't say I'm as trusting as Tsubaki is. You mind coming with me?"

Now the two turned to face each other in earnest as it became clear just what was going on. Still, Michiru wanted it spelled out, at the very least so her teammates could listen in. An eyebrow raised, Michiru remained defiant while she responded "Depends. Where we headed?"

Crossing his arms, his expression shifting a bit from annoyance to a hint of respect, the bearded man answered "The pet farm. I'm a foreman there and it seems to me if you really do appreciate what we do here you won't mind getting a closer look. Am I wrong?"

Michiru's heart sank. The last place she wanted to be was back at that awful place and now she was being forced to prove herself before she had really gotten to process everything she saw the day before. Still, breaking cover wasn't an option and Michiru had to dig deep to force a smirk on her face, replying "You're not. Lead the way. But when we're done, I expect you to drop me off at the grocer, that's where I was headed, and I'd like some supplies."

With a grunt, the apparent farmer moved to open the passenger side door of his truck. When the two of them were seated, the man said "Name's Shu, by the way. You best not be lying missy. Tsubaki had some nice things to say about you and I'd hate to have to keep your pretty little mouth shut if it turns out you can't be trusted, ya hear?"

Unfazed at all by the threat, Michiru confidently shot back "Yeah, I got you. Now, we going or not?"

(X)

Emeralda sat on her bed, back against the wall, her sketch pad resting in her lap and her hand resting limply upon it, pencil loosely held. The nanomachine girl stared blankly at the opposite wall where the faces of her friends and family left behind in her home world stared back at her. Normally those sketches were a comfort to her during the long nights alone she had endured since getting spirited away to this hero obsessed world. Normally.

Until now, when things went bad, Emeralda could look at these pictures and tell herself it was ok because one day she would see them again. She would get home and they would be there for her just as Michiru and Zelgadis were for her in this one. Now, though, Michiru was away and Zelgadis was focused elsewhere. With no one around to share the pain, these pictures suddenly felt very hallow because now all they did was reminder her just how alone she truly was. How pathetic she felt. How…small she felt.

Zelgadis had just tried to check in on her but Emeralda knew he was still recovering from his own problems. How could she burden him with what she had done? After all, she had lied to him just as much as everyone else.

Emeralda's thoughts continued to turn in this vein when she was interrupted a second time with another knock on her door. "Emeralda? It's Hitomi. I…heard what happened yesterday and I wanted to see how you were doing."

Emeralda wasn't surprised word had gotten out, even if she hoped it would have taken longer. Eri had been pretty broken up by the time they got back to the hospital the day before and a watered-down version of what happened had to be explained to the doctors. That would have gotten back to Aizawa and then to Hitomi. Just how much they knew though was still a question. There was one way to find out.

"I am fine. You don't need to worry about me. How is Eri?" Emeralda asked.

"She's…I think she'll be ok. She would probably be better with a friend though. Especially one that kept her from making a mistake." Hitomi answered, her tone carrying a hint of pride at what she perceived as Emeralda's actions.

That meant Izuku had left out the most important detail of how she had stopped Eri. Otherwise, the counselor would have more direct and uncomfortable questions. Now if she could just be left alone. "I don't think she wants to be around someone who will remind her of what happened. Perhaps LeMillion could spend time with her?"

There was silence on the other side of the door and for a moment, Emeralda thought that maybe the counselor had walked away. Instead, Hitomi changed the subject, saying "You know…we haven't really had the chance to talk about what happened to you in the raid. Really, with everything going on, we haven't really had the chance to start up regular sessions. I think you'd really benefit from some time to just talk."

"No, thank you Hitomi. I would rather be alone if that's ok with you." came Emeralda's quick reply. The last thing she wanted was to talk about what had happened that night.

"Thought you might say that." Hitomi answered almost as quickly, mirth in her voice. Tell you what, one of the things I do with other lighters, especially in early sessions, is I give them the chance to look at any memories they want. It often brings comfort to the homesick. Unless I miss my guess, you're still feeling that way, aren't you Emeralda?"

As if by instinct, the greenette looked at the pictures. Maybe it would be nice to actually see them again? Still, there was what happened the first time they had touched and Emeralda's response reflected that. "Only what I want to see? I don't want the same thing to happen like before and you see things I don't want to share, right?"

Guilt could be heard in Hitomi words as she answered "That was the first time I've lost control of my power since coming here. I'm reasonably sure that won't happen again, I promise."

Not an ironclad assurance but good enough. Sliding herself off her bed, Emeralda silently walked over and opened the door, her free hand held up over the scarf that covered the lower half of her face as she looked up at the counselor. "As long as I get to see what I want to, then it's ok." She said.

Hitomi offered a warm smile as she stepped inside when Emeralda moved aside. "It's the least I could do. Sometimes it feels like the only thing I can do. Get comfortable and we can get started when you ready, ok?"

Sitting back on her bed, Emeralda watched Hitomi pull the chair at the desk over to the bed and sit down. The counselor then pulled her pendant necklace out from under her dress shirt and said gently "Are you ready?"

Closing her eyes, Emeralda replied softy, "I am."

(X)

The truck ride had been a quiet one, Shu apparently not one for conversation, at least not with newcomers who could expose the horrors he perpetuated every day. It was just as well. Michiru didn't want to have anything more to do with this guy than she had to either and was happy to take in the scenery. At least she could do her best to memorize exactly where they were going.

When they finally arrived, the 'workers' were just arriving, being forced to walk from their quarters instead of the vehicles their overseers used. Shu spoke, at first to Michiru "Have you ever seen such a sorry collection of miserable creatures? They'd probably be lost in the woods somewhere without us, wouldn't cha say?" before he rose his voice, not waiting for an answer to call out to his team "Get them working! We got quotas and this shit won't pick itself!"

Michiru wanted to look away as the poor heteromorphic fieldhands began to be hit, whipped or kicked to get them moving. Many employed their quirks as weapons to inflict the pain, one able to shoot rocks from his hand. Some fell over from the suddenness or voracity of the blows, which prompted further yelling and physical abuse from the armed men that lorded over them.

"Get up, beast!"

"You want that roof, earn it, boy!

"Someone ain't hungry! Get pickin'!"

The verbal abuse was just as hard to endure as everything else Michiru witnessed. Through it all though, she plastered a lopsided, satisfied grin. It was sickening. All the beastman turned spy could do was tell herself what Celty had the night before, that this was all so she could stop this and make sure it didn't happen again. With each lash, with each scream of pain, that became much harder to do, however.

Eventually, though, the fieldhands all managed to get themselves up and out into the fields to do the work forced upon them. Once work got going, everything calmed down to the point that the overseers mostly just watched on, pointing at things or barking orders from time to time. Satisfied that his guest hadn't shrunk at the sight he forced her to watch, Shu came back over to Michiru and said with no small amount of satisfaction "And that, missy, is how it's done. Judging by that look on your face, I'd say Tsubaki was right. Seems maybe you will fit in around here."

Michiru matched the bald foreman's expression with her own smug grin as she replied "Not like I needed your approval. I'd have found somewhere else if this place turned out to be a bust, so whatever."

Shu let out a boisterous laugh as he crossed his arms and said "I like you, missy! Tough as nails and got your priorities straight. What's your quirk? Be even better if you had something that's helpful with the farmin'."

This question had been something Celty and Michiru had discussed a head of time. Since she obviously couldn't pass her morphing as a quirk with these people, the only thing that made any sense was…"I'm quirkless, actually. Hope that's not a problem." Michiru answered, her tone challenging.

"No!" Shu answered happily "Just the opposite! You're as pure as they come, the way people are meant to be."

Inwardly, Michiru breathed a sigh of relief, thankful Celty's research had proved to be on the money. Far from ostracizing quirkless people, extremists like these tended to look on those without powers as untainted. The fact that Michiru lacked the extra bone in her foot associated with those who had a quirk also helped just in case anyone here wanted to call her on it.

"Glad to hear it. Another reason to get out of the city. I didn't exactly get a fair shake growing up, you know?" Michiru replied after a moment.

With a hearty slap to Michiru's back, Shu laughed again and said "You won't have to worry about that here. Earn your keep and you'll be treated like everyone else. That's a promise!"

The dark irony of that statement was not lost on Michiru as literal slaves toiled away before them. Still, Michiru grunted an affirmative before the two settled into silence for a bit. Eventually, the Gigantomachia look-a-like came into view and Michiru didn't waste the chance.

"Shu, what's up with that one. Am I missing something? I don't see much in the way of animal traits with him." The undercover girl asked as innocently as she could.

Shu seemed to take the question at face value and took a moment to look over to where Michiru was pointing. Once he got a good look, the bearded bald man shifted his weight and seemed to rear back before he said "Well, now that's Tanjukku. At this distance he may not look too out of sorts but up close you'll feel different. Great hand though. He's big, strong and stupid. Do anything you tell him! Alot like his uncle, back in the day."

Sure she had struck gold, Michiru probed further. "Oh? His uncle? You mean there's another one like him running around?" Michiru asked feigning interest.

Raising his arms out wide, Shu answered "Bigger! Much bigger. The guy was as tall as a building! Saw him myself when I was a youngin'. Not as useful farming but great for clearing fields and buildings, I'll tell ya."

A confused look on her face, Michiru pressed "So he's not around anymore? What happened?"

"Aww, his pops got angry with him one day for tripping and crushing a barn. Tried to chain him up and starve him to teach him a lesson. Ya know, really let the big guy know where the food comes from. But the big guy was just too stupid and once they released him after a few days, the kid ran off. Never saw him again. Probably starved to death, if you ask me."

"Sucks he got away. Sounds pretty useful. And you're saying his nephew has a similar quirk?" Michiru followed up, hoping Celty and Sakon were recording every word.

Shu nodded as he replied, "Looks that way. Better off this way. Tanjukku is strong but not in the way. He'll be useful for a long time. Alright missy, a promise is a promise. I'll take you back to town once I make sure my boys know what they're doing. Welcome to Shivmachi!"

Again, Michiru was forced to smile despite the instinct to recoil at this man. With a nod, Michiru answered "Great! Thanks, I really think I'll make a difference here!"

"Thatagirl!" Shu yelled as he marched off, offering a thumbs up.

All for the greater good, Michiru told herself, glad to finally turn away and head back to the truck.

(X)

"Where are we, Emeralda?"

The scene was breathtaking. For as far as Hitomi could see the ocean lay before her, a gentle breeze laced with that most distinctive salty scent apparently universal across the worlds washing over her. The two stood at the edge of a sheer cliff that itself was quite beautiful, behind them a tall white lighthouse that stood at the tip of the long high piece of land that the two found themselves on.

"This is the Aquvy Lighthouse, under which the remains of the civilization I would have called home are buried." The tan girl answered, a faraway look in her eye as she stared out at the horizon.

The sight was enough to hold anyone's attention for hours if they had the time to indulge and for a moment, Hitomi thought that was exactly what the two of them would do. Not long after she answered, however, Emeralda turned and walked away from the counselor. When she, too, turned, Hitomi saw what she was sure Emeralda actually was here to see.

There, knelled on one massive mechanical, if oddly elegant, knee was Emeralda's giant robot, or gear as they were apparently known, Crescens. As the greenette got close enough, she gently touched the smooth metal of the robot's leg. It was not lost on Hitomi that Emeralda appeared not as her current de-aged form but her older self.

Without a word to the counselor, Emeralda leapt up, first onto the robot's knee and then to the chest cavity, which opened on her touch, allowing the tan girl to climb inside. Hitomi faded from her standing position outside and re-appeared inside the cockpit of the massive machine.

Emeralda didn't seem to mind as she sat down at the seat in the center of the space. Closing her eyes, Emeralda's arms sank into the arm rests of the seat. The cockpit latch closed and screens on three of the four sides of the cockpit came alive, giving the two occupants a wide view of the landscape around them.

Once the robot stood up, its distinctive lithe, armless form punctuated by two massive emerald green wings on it's head did nothing more. Hitomi noted that Emeralda kept her eyes closed but had a serene smile on her face. Sure the girl was 'talking' to the mecha, Hitomi had no problem waiting for her patient to finish.

Eventually, Emeralda's eyes fluttered open once more and Hitomi asked, "Did you have a good talk?"

Emeralda's smile grew wider before she said "Yes…yes I did. I realize this is a memory so most of the conversation was one we had had before but it was still good to hear her voice again. Thank you for that."

With a warm smile of her own, Hitomi replied "Thats wonderful. It was the least I could do. Did you want to see anyone else while we are here?"

That question brought the amber-eyed girl up short as she hesitated to answer. It wasn't hard to see the worry in Emeralda's face so Hitomi gently asked "Is…everything ok? We don't have to if you don't want to."

Emeralda shook her head vigorously almost immediately, answering "It's not that I don't want to. Its just if we go see them now…well, this is right after I changed and I remember all the weird looks I got the first time I went back is all."

"Ah" Hitomi said, comprehending the situation. "Again, we don't have to, we can do this again later but to be honest with you Emeralda, I would very much like to see this memory. Would that be ok?"

Emeralda mulled the request over in her head. The more she thought of it, it was one of the few memories where she saw most of her friends in quick succession. "Ok, I think that is fine. Hang on."

Hitomi chuckled at the warning given her non-corporeal form as an observer to the memory, only to be taken totally off guard when the rockets on Crescens' back and feet roared to life and sent the unusual mech shooting into the sky.

The other two members of the group that had journeyed with Emeralda under the lighthouse, her re-incarnated father Fei and Dr. Citan Uzuki had already returned to the airship that was currently circling above. That just left Emeralda and her gear to herself so she could think about her change, or so it had went in her memory. Now the nanomachine girl was taking some liberties with her own recollection, commanding her winged robot to soar toward the airship, doing somersaults and twists as it went. It would have been highly uncharacteristic of the girl, but Emeralda didn't care. She was, if ever so briefly, home.

When she finally piloted her machine into the gear dock of the airship, Yggdrasil, there was a small crowd waiting for her. Once she emerged from her gear and leapt down to stand at her new height, her tattered excuse for clothes now revealing a toned and tan midriff, the looks on her friends' faces ranged from aghast to scandalized.

The sweet and supportive Margie, no doubt drawing on her experience as the leader of the Nisan faith was first to speak. "Fei told us about your change Emeralda…it's impressive how mature you look!"

Maria, the closest in apparent age to Emeralda before and someone known for her seriousness, was less diplomatic. "You just aged up? Emeralda, you barely had a chance to be kid, what are you thinking?"

Billy, who had until recently been in the service of a religious organization despite his young age echoed that sentiment, his face flushed in embarrassment, "Agreed. I don't think it's right at all to change yourself like that. Once you've grown up, you can't really go back."

Bart, the sand pirate and former crown prince of the Kingdom of Avah, never one to hold back opinions, or himself, stepped forward to defend the girl, his single blue eye shining with life "Come on guys! If this was something she wanted to do, I say more power to her!"

Citan, the oldest of those assembled and often the voice of reason, stepped forward as well, coming to stand beside Emeralda. Placing a hand on Emeralda's shoulder, he added in his usual gentle but authoritative voice "It is as Bart says. As fascinating as the method may be, the fact is it has happened, and it was something that Emeralda wanted herself. Is that not right?"

Feeling the pressure of her friend's gaze on her despite the support, Emeralda hesitated a moment before responding "Yes…I wanted to be stronger…I wanted to be more helpful. For Fei's Kim, I mean Fei. For Elly and for everyone. I didn't feel like I could do it like I was. I know I was just in the way. Besides, if we don't win, it will hardly matter what I look like."

The explanation didn't seem to make anyone especially happy, despite the benefits that had just been offered. Everyone listening was keenly aware of what had just been given up and it was heartbreaking. Still, Bart and Citan's words rang true and it was the uptight Billy who spoke first, taking in a sharp breath as he did so, bracing himself for what he felt he had to say. "Citan is right. If this is what you want, then we'll support you."

There was a chorus of agreement from the group, which caused Emeralda to clutch her hands tightly in front of her, a heartfelt and vulnerable smile on her face. "Thank you." she said simply.

In a flash, Margie and Maria were on her, embracing her tightly. Almost as quickly, the two girls grabbed Bart and Citan and pulled them in for the embrace, even if the two men looked less than comfortable.

After a moment standing around awkwardly, Billy was added when Maria yelled at him to join. Fei watched on, satisfied that one of the dreams his previous incarnation as Emeralda's creator was being realized before his eyes. Despite the pile of people embracing her, Emeralda managed to glance over at Fei and their eyes met. For just a moment, Emeralda felt her true father was looking back at her and she couldn't have been happier.

Then, the moment froze and Emeralda's eyes went wide at a realization. Hitomi, who had watched on from behind, very happy to get to see this moment suddenly found herself concerned and asked "Emeralda? Is everything ok?"

The scene faded away to darkness quickly, though Crescens still stood behind Hitomi. Emeralda turned to face the counselor and quickly said "I, I have to go. Thank you, Hitomi, but I need to get to the hospital."

A look of understanding appeared on Hitomi's face as she smiled and said "Sure. Say hi to her for me, ok?"

Nodding firmly, Emeralda responded, "I will."

(X)

Once Shu had dropped Michiru off back in town, she proceeded to the store like she said she would, got a few things for show and rushed off to the same unsold house she had met with her team the day before. They once again had a lot to talk about and she was eager to get some things off her chest. Even though she was alone as she walked the road to the house, the three of them had decided it was best to keep radio communication to a minimum in case someone somehow managed to catch Michiru seemingly talking to herself.

When she got there though, Michiru was surprised to see the relieved look on Sakon's face. "What's wrong", she said, reverting back to tanuki form literally the moment the door shut.

"We weren't sure you were alright! What happened out there?" Sakon immediately blurted out.

Michiru became confused and looked over at Celty, asking "Out where? What is she talking about?"

Her arms crossed and her body posture denoting annoyance, the dulahan replied "When you got out to that field, we lost the signal with you. We had begun to think something happened to you until we picked you up again in that guy's truck. Even then, since you two didn't talk, we feared you were captured until you got to the store."

Michiru's eyes went wide at the revelation and she asked "Wait, so that means you didn't hear anything that was talked about when I was out there? Like, nothing at all!?"

"'fraid not." Sakon bluntly answered. "Sounds like you don't know why we couldn't hear you either. That sucks. What was so important then?"

A frown settled on Michiru's furry features, aware she was going to have to recount the whole terrible experience. Before she got to that though, she skipped to the important part. "That guy that looks like Gigantomachia? They're related. Turns out our target is from here."

"Explain." Celty commanded and Michiru did just that, going over the whole experience and as much of the conversation as she could.

Once the undercover girl was done, Celty asked again "And you're sure there wasn't anything that you saw that could block signals?" When Michiru shook her head there was only one conclusion she could draw. "Guess that means someone has a quirk that can block communications or the like. This is a problem. I didn't bring an actual portable recording device. You're going to have to use your phone next time, if you can."

"I'll try. I think I've memorized where the field is now so we can try and sneak some recording and video." Michiru answered before adding "But can that wait until tomorrow? I…I need a break. Mind if I go back to the hotel room?"

Nodding, Celty replied "That's fair. It sounds like it was rough and I'm sorry. We'll meet back later and talk our plans for the next few days."

With that, the team left. When the door shut, however and the sounds of the car had made it clear they were gone, a lanky pale-haired man with a hand on his face peered into the room, followed by several others.

"Interesting" Tomura hissed, "So this is where my master's legacy has run off to? Looks like we'll be sticking around here longer than I expected."

"And if we're lucky, we can bag that woman with the helmet! I'd love to taste her blood, too!" Himiko added, licking her lips.

"Maybe, maybe not." Tomura answered cryptically. "Two of those three are lighters."

"Why should that matter? If you prick them, will they not bleed?" Mr. Compress asked.

A twisted smile coming to his face, Tomura replied "Seems like now is as good a time as any to tell you guys who the lighters really are."

(X)

The days since her 'father's' defeat had, by and large, been the best days of Eri's life. Even the time spent with Xellos had still been under the oppressive weight of knowing that Overhaul would still have his sessions with the girl and the pain would still come. The comfort that the purple-haired caretaker had provided was fleeting and, as it turned out, false. And she was still bound to her room that she could never really escape.

Until she did.

Now in a hospital with people fussing over her consistently and friends over to visit her every day, it was like a dream. And when that dream was in danger, just as she had reached out to help defeat Kai, so to had she reached out to stop those bullies from hurting her friend. That was what she told herself and told the doctors and Shouta when she had finally calmed down enough to explain everything.

Emeralda had left not long after they got the mono-horned girl back to the hospital, Izuku staying until he was forced to go home. That meant she was left to deal with the consequences of what she had tried to do. She already realized she had tried to go to far but that didn't stop Class 1-A's taskmaster of a homeroom teacher from taking a very long time to explain why what she had tried to do was wrong and why it was so important to restrain oneself when they had such power.

Though Shouta praised her ability to call on her quirk on command, those were about the only kind words he had for her and it left Eri unable to sleep that night. Exhausted and drained, Eri spent the following morning desperately hoping that her friend would arrive to help lift the weight of her guilt.

Instead, Eri had been visited by her doctor, Hitomi and eventually Shouta again, who let her know that her being able to go to the UA festival was now in serious doubt, darkening her mood significantly. At first she had protested but as the lecture went on, Eri retreated into herself, barely acknowledging anything and refusing eye contact, staring at a wall instead.

Eventually, Shouta noticed that Eri's horn was subtitling but noticeably getting bigger and he knew that he had pushed too hard. Deciding he was done for the day, he moved to leave before adding, as a way to give the poor girl something to hang onto "I'm not saying you can't go to the festival. I am saying that it's going to be much harder for you. I want you to think on what I've said today. If you're still up for it, I'll have some things for you to work on tomorrow. That being said, you're not leaving this building before the festival, understood?"

When all he got was another barely audible grunt that could charitably be interpreted as a positive acknowledgement, Shouta moved to open the door and leave. The gruff underground hero wasn't heartless, even if he tried hard to cultivate such an image. It hurt to see the girl who had been so happy and cheerful a mere day ago reduced to a near catatonic state. Between his help and the counseling sessions she was scheduled to have, there was a good chance things would turn around.

It turned out Shouta didn't need to wait long. As he opened the door, a green-haired blur zipped past him. He was barely able to register what was happening before Shouta saw Emeralda leap toward the bed where Eri sat.

The underground hero didn't have enough time to get his capture scarf to move before the tan girl did what he thought was the worst thing she could do: Emeralda landed on the bed with a thud, her arms wrapped around Eri in a tight embrace. "Eri!" Emeralda called, "I'm sorry! I, I shouldn't have left you! I'm here for you no matter what! Ok?"

Eri, for her part had been taken totally off guard by her friend's sudden appearance and subsequent embrace. The pale-haired girl had at first stiffened at the contact, something she had rarely felt since her quirk began expressing itself. Then, when Emeralda spoke, Eri lowered her head and closed her eyes, her lip quivering as she fought to control herself, a flood of emotions crashing against the meager walls she had put up these last few days to help control her quirk. Finally, despite everything Shouta had just been telling her about touching other people and the man shouting at her even now, Eri raised her hand to grasp one of Emeralda's arms that were wrapped around her.

"I, I thought you hated me." Eri began, her voice breaking as she spoke. "I thought I was alone again…thank you Emmy…Thank you!"

When Er fully embraced her friend, Shouta grew silent, his capture scarf left hanging in mid air just short of the two girls, who seemed oblivious to the fact that it was there. After a moment, the scarf returned to normal around Shouta's neck and though he was now going to have a serious talk with Emeralda about several things, he was sure that Eri would come away from this incident even stronger than she already was.

(X)

Conversation. Of all the things All for One missed, and the list was long, was a good discussion with anyone on anything. Sure, gaining power, stealing quirks and ruling Japan had been what drove the master of evil but nothing gave him the same simple amount of joy as having a stimulating conversation. Of course, asserting his own superior intellect in any of those talks was no small part of that joy but the greater the challenge the higher the pay off.

Confined as he was, All for One had very few chances to talk. His jailers knew at least enough to limit engagement with him and since he was being fed with tubes there was no need to have his meals delivered. That meant he only got to talk whenever someone came along to interrogate him or if he was really lucky a visitor would come like All Might to give him a speech or some such nonsense.

The last round of questioning had been especially fun because the two men who came this time were easy to play with and read. It was clear something had happened in the prison and based on the responses to his non answers and follow-ups, the master of evil guessed there had either been a murder or a suicide in Tartarus recently. The possibilities were endless, the perfect development to keep the quirk stealer's sharp mind busy.

With the last interrogation having been just a couple of days ago, All for One hardly expected to get another visit so soon. Yet the doors to his cell opened all the same, the heavy steam and pistons of the massive metal doors announcing new arrivals long before anyone stepped around the corner to face him.

Except this time, it was just one person.

A regular prison guard it would seem. One of the many faceless nobodies who walked this prison's halls. All for One knew standard procedure with him was that no one was allowed to visit him alone, in no small part to make sure one or the other visiting didn't get ensnared in one of his little mind games. Thus, All for One knew something was up with this lone man.

Though this guard didn't look like him, All for One had a strong idea of just who this guard was. As his featureless face cracked into a large smile, the bound and confined Master of Evil said, his voice dripping with anticipation "Why hello Xellos. I was beginning to wonder just how long I was going to have to wait before you paid me a visit.

The guard, who had stood stone-faced until now suddenly offered his own Cheshire smile as he pulled his hat off, his features shifting to that of the purpled-haired mazuku. Bowing, Xellos responded in mock reverence "Yes, well, it is very hard to get an audience with someone as esteemed as yourself. I have been looking forward to this for quite some time, All for One. I hope you don't disappoint."

"We shall see, lighter. We shall see."

(X)

And there we have it. Michiru gets in deeper as the picture becomes simultaneously clearer and murkier all at the same time. Emeralda and Eri continue to heal each other and Xellos has returned to do something with All For One. I had intended for the scene with these two to be in this chapter so we could move things along in the next. Now the next chapter will be a bit uneven in that regard.

With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth coming out this month, I wanted to replay Remake to get myself fully ready and budgeted my time accordingly to handle this chapter and playing. Then my Grandmother suddenly passed away and the month's plan was lost. To make things worse, on the way to the funeral five hours away, the transmission in our car failed and after using Uber to get the rest of the way, we had to deal with getting home with our useless car. It's been a month. Still, I prioritized getting this chapter as close to where I wanted it as possible and will just have to go on my memory when I start up Rebirth. By the time you read this I will be well into the game, getting the nostalgia itch scratched while wondering just where this whole thing is going.

I also wanted to take the time to note that this story now has 50 favorites! I know that by most stories' standards thats not much but I'm proud to have gotten to this point and am so happy to have such interest in this story of mine. On a similar note, this last chapter had the most reviews of any chapter in this story so far so thank you for that! On that note, here are the comments!

From NightmareKnight1:

Well that certainly got... dark. And I already know there's not going to be an easy fix for it. Because while, yeah, what she stumbled upon was pretty horrifying and absolutely should be something that should get everyone participating in it jailed, just like with the original Eri scene, the heroes will have to bite their tongues until they have a means of taking it all down cleanly. It's going to suck for Michiru for a while.

It's great to hear from you NightmareKnight1. In responding to a previous review, I spoke on how Zelgadis and Emeralda had their trauma explored but Michiru would be last. Of the three main cast, Michiru is the most well adjusted. She, for the most part, found herself where she was because of something done to her through no real fault of her own. This compared to Zel and Emmy, who very much see themselves as somehow damaged or broken.

That meant to get at Michiru, or at least what I imagined is buried underneath, we were going to have to go somewhere dark. This is in no small part because of the world that Michiru is from. We, as fans and viewers of BNA saw the more action oriented side of things but asking even a few simple questions about what had to happen for Michiru's world to be where it was puts us in a much shadier world that was only hinted at in the show.

Thus, as you have already foreseen, Michiru is going to have to not only keep her mouth shut, but have to actually act like she agrees with what these people are doing and she isn't exactly known for her ability to fool people. Things will, however, get more complicated for our tanuki girl before they get better. Stay tuned, they was a reason I was looking forward to this stretch of story an I hope that you look forward to it as well!

Endericus was kind enough to leave 3 comments and they are listed below. My response will be to all three at once instead of separately:

Great chapter loving Emeralda opening up more, also is it wrong to want to kick a child?

Michiru got her work cut out for her here, best of luck to our transforming furball in freeing the heteromorphs and exposing CRC with Gigantomachia. Also the meeting with Eraserhead and Present Mic sure was emotional in a lot of ways! Can't wait for the next chapter to find out what happens next.

I sure hope Oboro can get help, after reading MHA: Vigilantes it honestly hurt so much to read how it all happened, also kind of explains why Aizawa is so strict with Midoriya, he is a self sacrificing fool who wants to save people at any cost and that's what got one of his best friends killed.

Hey so I was watching some videos about animals on yt and wanted to ask if you think Michiru could replicate their "special attacks" when transforming. There is a bird called Pedigree Falcon that can dive bomb with the speed of hundreds of kilometres per hour and stunning if not outright killing its prey, or maybe something along the lines of alligators death roll. There is also anteaters and their unique arm bone structure which lets them punch real hard. Anyway just sharing my ideas for things I found interesting can't wait for the next chapter and take care!

If you wanted to kick the bullies then I did my job. The trio was meant to be exactly what you don't want your kids to be and to a degree, the kind of kid that Shino imagined others saw him as or could have become. I am sorry there was no room for any further development for Oboro. He will be back but as I explained above, I didn't get to everything I wanted to this chapter and I am sorry. AS to Oboro himself, yes, his story is a tragic one and definitely a cautionary tale about being too cavalier about your ideals. A certain degree of pragmatism is important anywhere in life but definitely where others lives depend on you.

For Michiru's powers, I will admit to sometimes taking the easy way out and focusing on what she has already demonstrated she can do in a fight. It was my observation in BNA that she often took new forms only after she had encountered those forms. Aside from the expanding arms and expanded tail, she didn't really up with something on her own. To that same end, the only real new form I have given her thus far was the turtle shell from that older hero from the beginning of the story.

That being said, it would make sense that Michiru would watch the exact kind of videos you mention to get ideas herself. In my mind she wouldn't have had time in canon but here, in this world that would have been the exact thing to do during training with 1-A. I myself work with insects (thus why I have a ant OC so prominent in the story) but am versed enough that I can foresee our favorite morpher having a new trick or two. There is the League lurking about after all so Michiru isn't lacking for skulls to smash at the moment. Thank you for the suggestion, you have once again given me more to think about, something I treasure.

Ok, that's everything. Assuming Rebirth doesn't swallow all my time, I'll see you back here next month. Take care and thank you!