The last week had proved to be the kind of relaxing break that Zelgadis had needed. Sure, the classes with Minoru and Katsuki could be annoying, especially if the teachers tried to throw them a curve ball but, on the whole, things had been almost…pleasant.

Once Katsuki had joined Zelgadis and Kyoka to round out their little band along with Denki and Momo, the fiery blonde had become almost tolerable. The chimera supposed at least some of that was the sessions with Hitomi helping as well. Preparations for the festival were all but complete, no other world shattering event or interpersonal drama had crept up. It was the kind of week that you think they should all be like but rarely is. Time to decompress and just be. He'd almost smiled once or twice.

Part of the reason Zelgadis could feel so unburdened was that Emeralda had also seemed to have found her own happy medium after the playground incident. Or at least that's how it looked to the sorcerer-swordsmen. It was often hard to tell with Emeralda, even in her younger form but the fact that she kept going to the hospital was surely a good sign.

Just now Zelgadis was reading in his room. One of his few regrets was that Terra still avoided him, leaving him to his favorite pastime on his own. The other thing that nagged at him was the fact that Michiru had been gone for over a week and not a word had been heard from her. He supposed that meant that things were going well enough because if she had called, it likely meant things had gone wrong or the mission was over.

As much as Zelgadis was relishing the quiet of the last week, he would admit if pressed that there was a tanuki sized hole that no amount of arguing with Katsuki could fill. As a matter of fact, Zelgadis had stopped reading because a character in the story had just given another a nickname. The rock-encrusted chimera smiled to himself, remembering the first time Michiru had called him Zel. It was…comforting, in a nostalgic sort of way.

So, it was no small surprise when Zelgadis' phone buzzed to let him know it was getting a call. After taking a moment to fumble with it, still new to using such a device, the chimera managed to answer. "Michiru? Is that you?"

The voice that answered back was definitely Michiru's but there was an almost desperate relief in it when the tanuki girl answered "Heh, of course it's me, didn't my name come up on the phone?"

Immediately Zelgadis feared something was wrong but for the time being he would play along and answered in his usually put-off tone, "Yes, of course it did but that wasn't a guarantee you'd be the one using your phone now was it?" Then, softening his voice, added "It's been so long I couldn't be sure you'd be the one on the other line, honestly."

There was a pause on the other end and for a moment Zelgadis thought he'd lost the connection. Pulling the phone away from his head to check, it was harder for him to hear the meek answer that did finally come. "I'm, I'm sorry about that. I was undercover and couldn't risk giving myself away."

Having quickly put the phone back against his ear and fully catching the second half of the reply, Zelgadis quickly picked up on the implication, asking "You were undercover? I take it that means you aren't anymore? Does that mean the mission is over?"

There was another pause. This time Zelgadis didn't move a muscle, worry continuing to build in his chest. "We did what we set out to do. We found Gigantomachia, and confirmed which way he was headed." Michiru finally answered, sounding about as excited as a dead fish.

Zelgadis tried to stay supportive, now fully aware something was wrong, saying "Well, that's great, isn't it? Shouldn't you be able to head back then? The festival is tomorrow, you should be able to make it, right?"

"Zelgadis, there's more."

Oh damnit. She used his full name. This really wasn't good. "Go on." Zelgadis urged.

"We…ran into a town full of CRC members. They were, they were enslaving heteromorphs. Things got ugly. I did some things I'm not proud of. Sakon got hurt pretty bad because of me. I got stabbed. It was a mess." Michiru explained, her voice rambling.

By now Zelgadis was up and pacing around, trying to burn the nervous energy he was suddenly full of. When he heard that last part though, he stopped dead in his tracks and answered back, his voice raised with worry, "Wait, you got STABBED!?"

Michiru's answer was nonchalant, an attempt to lessen her friend's worry. "Yeah, in the back by this crazy older lady I had pretended to be friends with. Don't worry, she didn't hit anything major. It'll just be sore for a bit." Then adding almost as an afterthought "Don't worry about her, I made sure she got what was coming to her."

"What the hell does that mean?" Zelgadis snapped, not liking the possible implications with such a statement.

There was a sigh on the other end of the line before Michiru answered back "Not now. I'll tell you later. I…really just wanted to hear your voice. It's been a, a hard week, you know?"

Still frowning, Zelgadis replied "Yeah, sounds like it. Look, Michiru, I'm glad to hear from you too but I have to say, I'm worried. You ok?"

There was a mirthless laugh on the other end that did nothing to assuage the chimera's worry before Michiru said "Thank you, Zel. Somehow, I knew you'd care. Underneath that rocky exterior, you're just a big teddy bear, aren't you?"

Zelgadis couldn't help but smirk despite himself at the light dig, happy a little bit of the usual Michiru was poking through. Naturally, the chimera had to respond in kind. "Well, with someone like you running around, someone has to pay attention. Otherwise, we'd all be dead."

There was a laugh that quickly turned into a sob, Zelgadis was sure. When Michiru spoke next, her voice was breaking, despite trying to sound playful. "You ass. Pretty sure you're the one that lost it last time, not me!"

If it had been a week ago, a joke like that would surely have set the sorcerer off. As it was, it just rolled off of him and he went back to an earlier question, asking "So, you going to make it back by tomorrow?"

There appeared to be what sounded like talking to a second person before Michiru came back and said "Maybe. There is still a lot to clean up here and a report to give. If they let us take a helicopter back I'll be back tonight but if not, I'm not sure. Sorry, Zel. And…how's Emmy?"

Feelings of hope mixed with disappointment at the lack of a concrete answer filled the chimera. Instead of expressing his disappointment though, the chimera choose to focus on the latter question, answering, "She's fine, Michiru. There was an incident at a playground where she came in contact with Eri again when the girl's quirk was active but somehow was unchanged but things appear to be fine otherwise. Anything you want me to tell her?"

What Michiru thought of what Zelgadis had just said, he couldn't say because Michiru quickly answered the question without reacting, that he could pick up anyway, answering "Tell her she's awesome! Never hurts to hear that. And…let her know I'll be home soon and that I expect a hug."

"I think you'd get it even if I didn't ask. You won't be surprised to hear she doesn't show it, but I know she misses you. Everyone does. Even Hina." Zelgadis answered, trying to raise his friends' spirits.

It must have worked because the next thing Zelgadis heard was a chuckle, followed by a happier sounding tanuki girl, who said "Thanks for that Zel. It's…good to know."

"And Michiru."

"Yeah, Zel?"

"I do hope you make it back in time. I…I want you to be there. When we play." Zelgadis finished, sounding more vulnerable than perhaps he intended.

"I'll do my best. I promise. I always loved music back home. My best friend aspired to be an idol, too. I've…missed it since all this happened. It…it'd be good to get to enjoy it again. Thanks, for listening Zel. I mean it. I think, maybe you're the only one I'll be able to talk about what happened here. Good luck getting ready and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" Michiru replied, genuinely grateful.

Zelgadis, for his part, was both glad to have been of help but very worried that his help was even needed. Michiru's words led him to think that she had made a mistake similar to his own and now he'd be left to wonder for at least the next day. So much for focusing on the performance. That was for later though. For now, Zelgadis simply answered "Any time, Michiru. Take care getting back and I'll help any way I can. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Zel."

With that, Michiru hung up and Zelgadis looked at the book he'd tossed aside on his bed. There would be no more reading today.

(X)

"Michiru's coming back? That's great!" Eri exclaimed, trying her best to put a smile on Emeralda's face.

It partially worked. A small smile crept onto the tan girl's face but nothing more. "It is…but she isn't sure if she can make it back for the festival."

The mention of the festival put a strain on Eri's excitement, her smile suddenly more forced. A fact that Emeralda did not miss.

The time since the playground incident had been quiet for Emeralda and Eri as well but something had begun to change in both of them. For Eri, the confrontation and subsequent lectures from Shouta had planted in Eri the seed of fear of going out amongst a lot of people again. Between the mental and physical torture she had suffered at her "father's" hand and her first time out, the thought had begun to creep into the little girl's mind that maybe the outside world was just dark and full of terrible people.

And so, the very goal that the mono-horned girl had been working to earn back after the playground incident had become something she very much didn't want to do. The only reason Eri didn't tell Emeralda, or anyone else was because at the same time, Emeralda had also become noticeably less social. Less excited and happy as she had been in the days after she had gotten young again and more focused on helping Shouta with Eri's lessons on control and good behavior. Despite herself, Eri had decided she would go so Emeralda could have fun and maybe go back to the way she was before the playground.

For her part, Emeralda wanted Eri to be happy. To go out and have friends and live a normal life. The more Emeralda thought about it, the more parallels she saw between the two of them. Both lost their parents when they were very young and placed in the care of a cold, heartless man who experimented on them both. But Emeralda had forced herself to grow up. Eri had no such escape.

It wasn't lost on the nanomachine girl that in terms of actual years lived, Eri was in fact older than her. Yet the more Emeralda spent in her younger form, the more…out of place it felt. She kept trying to play the part. To have fun like she had before she changed herself but after the playground incident, it became clear that wasn't possible anymore.

Emeralda wanted to protect her friend. To allow Eri to have all the experiences that she, herself had missed out on. So, Emeralda began pushing to make sure Eri could go to the festival.

Not to mention the guilt she felt for lying to the little silver-haired angel. Emeralda no longer felt right the way things were but at the same time couldn't bring herself to tell her friend. It would, Emeralda thought, be yet another blow to the poor girl.

So it was that the two had developed an awkward feeling between them that neither really knew how to share with the other.

"O-oh. Well, I'm sure she'll try her best. You ready for your demonstration with Mashirao?" Eri asked, changing the subject slightly.

"I am. Saotome-sensei offered some pointers and assistance so I think what we have will be entertaining." Emeralda answered.

"I still say you should have set up your own stall with your work for sale or offering sketches!" Eri offered, the earnest smile returning.

Emeralda looked away, her cheeks lightly flushed with embarrassment before she retorted "Based on what I have heard about these festivals, I still think such a thing would be to quiet and uninteresting to the patrons. But thank you, Eri-chan."

"It also wouldn't have been serviceable as a class project" the dower voice of Shouta Aizawa filled the room as he entered.

Shouta looked even more run down and exhausted than he normally did, the bags under his eyes seeming to have their own bags, his clothes disheveled to an embarrassing degree. This had become the norm for him of late. Now, in addition to teaching at U-A, he was in charge of Eri's training and at every chance he got, would go to visit Tartarus in the hopes that his lost friend would reach out to him from the body of Kurogiri.

"Hello, Aizawa-sensei. Have you come to give us your decision on Eri-chan?" Emeralda questioned.

"I have." The teacher said while he pulled his usual chair over to the bed. Once seated he continued "I have decided that as long as you are under constant supervision, I will permit you to go."

Both girls smiled but the response was less enthusiastic than Shouta had expected. Be that as it may, he continued, "Kasim and Midoriya will be here to get you in the morning and you must be in the presence of at least one of them at all times or Togata. Is that understood?"

Eri nodded quickly before turning and looking over at Emeralda and offering her a grin.

Emeralda nodded in return before she asked, "I assume it is the two of us because I showed to be unaffected and Midoriya could counter the effects of Eri's quirk?"

"Correct. As much as I would prefer to be the one to be there, I have my responsibilities as UA faculty I have to attend to. Besides, if we're being honest, Eri here would likely have more fun with the two of you anyway." Shouta reasoned.

"Makes sense. Thank you Aizawa-sensei." was the tan girl's response.

"See that you do. Your show starts at ten. I expect the two of you to be here no later than nine to pick Eri here up. Security is much tighter this year so leave time to check in. Understood?" Shouta explained.

With another pair of nods, the three got to work with the days lesson, each with mixed feelings of the coming day.

(X)

"I do believe that we have everything ready to go. How does everyone feel about their performances?" Tenya asked the assembled members of 1-A.

It was already late into the evening but they had spent it practicing in gym Beta and going over all the logistics of shifting from one show to the next. It had been agreed upon that those who finished their part would stick around to help those who came after with break down and set up. Mina was serving as host, introducing each act and keeping the audience engaged during the switch out. This was their last chance to make sure they had everything.

"Kasim-san and I are ready to go. We have the fewest props and we go early and are ready to help." Mashirao spoke first confidently, earning a nod from his younger sparring mate.

Rikido spoke next "We've got our recipes down perfectly and Koji is ready with his side. We've got everything we need set up at the stage so we're good to go!"

"Skit's ready to go!" Hanta exclaimed.

"Oh yes!" Yugo added with flare "The magnificent set is all there and we're set on the timetable for set-up. It will be shinning!"

"Very good. And Jiro-san? What of you're performance? Are you satisficed with your progress?" Tenya asked, his serious eyes focused on the musician.

Kyoka looked at each of her bandmates in turn before offering a firm nod. "The instruments are there. Just need to move them in. We'll have to do the sound check off stage before we start though. Not ideal. As for the song? We'll rock it, count on it!"

"Excellent. Remember, we're doing this to raise morale and to let the school know we are doing our best for them too. Also, Kagemori-san may well be here to see us so make sure it is something she can enjoy. Am I missing anything?" Tenya said solemnly.

An enraged Hounddog burst through the gym's main doors at that very moment and snarled "Yeah! You can get to bed! It's past curfew, you all were supposed to clear out already!"

An embarrassed group of teenagers, one young adult chimera and de-aged nanomachine girl suddenly scrambled to gather notes and other belongings and make their way out of the gym.

Now out in the night, the students broke into smaller groups as they made their way from the gym back to the dorms. Kyoka was with Momo and Tsu when Mina came up behind the rocker girl and whispered loud enough for the other two to hear "So, you going to do it after the show?"

Kyoka's face quickly flushed red while the creator and the frog girl looked on in confusion. "What is she talking about Jiro?" Momo asked innocently.

Kyoka, though, gave herself away because she had turned her attention to the rock encrusted older boy walking with Fumikage some distance away, checking to make sure he hadn't heard anything.

When Momo and Tsu followed Kyoka's line of sight, it was the frog girl that spoke "Mina-chan, are you still on about that whole thing with Zelgadis-chan?"

The cheshire smile that spread across Mina's face caused the two more sensible girls to worry for the rocker girl. After a moment, Mina explained "Oh I'm not the one who's 'on' about Greywards, if you catch my meaning!"

Kyoka wanted to scream at Mina to shut the hell up but the fear that Zelgadis would hear was enough to stay her hand. Instead, the rocker girl had to settle for trying to elbow Mina in the gut. Unfortunately for her, Mina was expecting it and managed to evade, nimble as she was.

"We talked about it yesterday!" Mina said between dodging futile swings from Kyoka. Dancing about in a wide arc, the acid wielder came up behind Tsu and Momo and whispered "She wants to ask him out after the concert! Gonna ask if he wants to see the festival with her!"

Momo hid the spreading smile on her face with her hand, though Tsu's already big eyes just got wider in response to the news. Mina paid for spreading the news though, because in stopping to give Kyoka's secret away, the rocker managed to get a good kick into her shin, causing Mina to yelp in pain.

Not too far away, Zelgadis and Fumikage took notice of the silliness going on. Though all the two saw was Mina hoping on one leg while she held her ankle and screaming at Kyoka about injuries before the show. Though he already knew the answer, Zelgadis couldn't help but ask his bird-headed friend dryly "Is it always like this?"

Preceded by a long-suffering sigh, Fumikage responded "No. It's usually worse. Usually after something like that Bakugo would scream some obscenity. Then he would be admonished by Iida and so on. Truly, it is a heavy burden to bare, having to endure such madness."

Then, glancing out of the corner of his eye, Fumikage added "Given what I have seen from your fellow lighters, I get the impression you are all too familiar with such behavior, are you not?"

A soft chuckle escaped Zelgadis' mouth, a response that surprised the raven-headed boy. After a moment, the chimera replied "You could say that. Most of them are insane to one degree or another. It's been much quieter though with Michiru gone, though."

"Forgive me, but you almost sound wistful." Fumikage pointed out.

Zelgadis looked over at the serious barer of Dark Shadow, a contemplative look on his face before offering a light nod. When he turned his head back, Zelgadis looked up at the dark night sky and said "As much as I enjoy being by myself, I will admit there are times when I get a certain amount of satisfaction from being around fools. If you think your class is crazy, the three I used to travel with wouldn't just put them to shame, they'd also eat at least as much as the whole class combined."

Fumikage's face scrunched up in confusion, staring at the rock-encrusted chimera. After a moment, he said simply "…what?"

Zelgadis waved his hand dismissively "Don't worry about it. I seriously doubt you'll ever get the chance to meet them. I guess all I'm trying to say is that I am looking forward to Michiru coming back, even if I might regret it."

Seeing the soft smile on his companion's face, Fumikage couldn't help but smile himself as they continued to walk before he said "Fair enough."

With the sounds of a petty argument between their classmates in the background, the two friends headed back to their dorms. The rest of their class not far behind.

(X)

"Kagemori-san, a prisoner wishes to see you." an officer told the tanuki girl.

Michiru had been in the middle of checking that she had everything before heading back to Musutafu. Sakon was still under a doctor's care which meant she was responsible for the ant girl's belongings as well. The last thing she had expected was to be called upon to talk to one of the captured CRC members.

The thought soured her mood, which had been high. After talking to Zelgadis, the day before, she had been in much higher spirits plus she had slept as well as she had since leaving for this little mission. It didn't help that she very much wanted to leave this horrid town and get back in time for the festival. Stopping to see whatever this person wanted was almost literally the last thing she wanted to do just now.

As she approached the small building the officer had led her to, Michiru wondered who it was. The deranged but overly trusting real estate agent? The cult leader himself? Maybe Misa wanted to talk more after the transfusion Michiru had given her?

It turned out to be none of them, but instead Yagitoko, Misa's husband. After the officer told Michiru the two of them had five minutes, he shut the door to the small room, and locked it. The large, usually quiet man was seated, his hands cuffed, bandages on his head and based on how stiff he sat, his abdomen too. For a moment, the two just looked at each other, one unsure how to start, the other surprised by who she was seeing.

Finally, the taciturn man spoke, getting right to the point, "I…I wanted to say thank you, for everything you did here."

Michiru looked away, scoffing "Thank me? For what? Losing my cool and seriously hurting your wife?"

"For doing what I couldn't. You saved this town. Brought justice to those we've wronged for years." Yagitoko answered almost instantly.

It was at least true that Michiru, Celty and Sakon had done that but the taste was very bitter in Michiru's mouth. It was hardly what she felt like she had done and it must have showed on her face because Yagitoko added "You're the one that worked undercover. I know that was hard on you. Based on what I heard, you had a lot of pent-up stress you let go at the mansion. I…I don't begrudge you what happened to Misa. She, she needs help. Now I hope she can get it."

Michiru listened on silently, on the whole accepting the older man's words before a thought occurred to her and she felt compelled to ask "Why? Why did you stick with her, this town, if you knew such horrible things were going on?"

Yagitoko leaned back in his chair, letting out a long sigh that seemed to drain the life out of him. For a moment Michiru thought she saw the man age twenty years. When he leveled his gaze on the tanuki girl once more he said just one word. "Love."

Michiru cocked an eyebrow, confusion taking over her features. "Love? That doesn't make any sense. What does that even mean?"

Yagitoko leaned forward, locking his eyes with Michiru's own, grabbing her attention. "You're young. Driven to help others. Probably not a lot of time in your life for such things. Me, though, I was out looking for work. Mid-twenties, alone and pretty damn lonely. When I met Misa for the first time…I just knew. Town doesn't get a lot of new folks. They were eager to welcome me in, but didn't share their secret till later. Much later."

Michiru listened on, hanging on every word. Yagitoko continued "By the time I learned the truth, we already had the kids. They were my family and I had committed myself to them. I couldn't bring myself to just leave, or worse, bring the town to ruin. I…told myself I could endure it if it meant we could be together. In that way, I am so much worse than anyone else here."

Michiru looked on the larger man in a new light. Clearly Yagitoko wasn't a bad man. He was, however, a coward. His fear of losing and/or destroying his family kept dozens of heteromorphs suffering as slaves for years longer than they had to. Michiru should have been furious. Yet, when she looked on the man before her, it was clear there was nothing she could say or do that he wasn't already telling himself or doing to himself mentally. Plus, he too was being arrested for his aiding and abetting these horrors, leaving Michiru nothing else to do, aside from having pity on this sad, sad man.

Finally, Michiru spoke again, her voice even "I think you're a fool, at the very least. But you never intended to hurt anyone and that counts for something. You're right. It has been very hard to do what I did this last week, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat every time."

"And that's why you're a hero." Yagitoko replied, pointing at the girl. "Not everyone could bring themselves to do what you did, as long as you did. You hurt my Misa, sure but you didn't kill her. Even if, maybe, she deserved more than she's got. Did you make mistakes? Yeah, but take it from someone who said nothing as he watched people literally be enslaved, it could have been worse. No one whose honest will fault you for messing up when you're trying. So again, thank you."

The officer chose that moment to open the door and look in. That was Michiru's cue to leave, but before she did, she bowed deeply, and upon rising to the shocked face of prisoner and officer alike, said "I hope we meet again, Yagitoko. It means a lot that you helped us out at the end and even more that you know what you did wrong. We could use some more of that in this world, so thank you too and take care."

The older big man nodded in response, clearly holding back from breaking down. With a final wave, Michiru was escorted out, her mind once again turning to trying to leave as soon as she could. She had a festival to get to.

(X)

The hospital that Eri was staying at wasn't exactly a quick walk over to the UA campus. It also wasn't really far away either. If one absolutely had to get from one to the other quickly, taking a car would be your best option but if you weren't in a rush and had planned ahead, a walk wasn't out of the question.

The latter ended up being the choice to take Eri to the UA festival since they knew ahead of time how long it would take. Shouta and Izuku both thought it was better for the little girl to get as much exposure as possible before going somewhere as heavily populated as she was going to encounter at the festival.

Still, the two 1-A students had their roles to play in the performance set to start at ten in the morning so it was important they not waste time. Especially with the elevated security the school was under thanks to the attacks by the League of Villains earlier in the semester. Izuku was keenly aware of the warning they had been given about how even the slightest disturbance would result in a full lockdown and cancelling of the event.

Though Eri had made great strides in controlling her quirk and appeared to be coping fairly well thanks to the presence of Emeralda, Izuku still felt strongly that Eri deserved, indeed needed, to go to the festival and have a great time. To see the world can be a wonderful place far beyond the dark confined walls she had spent so much of her life in.

The freckled hero-in-training was entirely unaware of the apprehensions the girl harbored or why. Thus, as she quietly walked along a sidewalk, behind the two provisional heroes, her head down, Izuku felt that much more sure the mono-horned girl needed to experience the festival.

Emeralda, clad for the first time in her new UA uniform to fit her smaller frame but still wrapped around her neck and shoulders by her scarf, kept glancing back at her friend. It almost seemed like Eri looked more and more worried the closer they got. The atmosphere between the trio was awkward, each attempt at conversation started by Izuku dying quickly after he started.

With every attempt to get small talk going failing, Izuku began to think of more serious topics, namely the fact that Emeralda hadn't been affected by Eri's quirk at the playground. He'd thought about it all week and though there was a great deal he didn't know about lighters or how Emeralda worked, logically, there was only one conclusion he could come to.

With little else to talk about, the freckled boy glanced back at Eri one last time to check to make sure she wasn't paying attention. Confirming the little girl's head was still down, Izuku moved closer to the nanomachine girl and said quietly "Kasim-san…I, I have a question. About, you know, that day with the bullies."

Emeralda didn't react, aside from a slight inclining of her head to show she was listening. The tan girl thought that Izuku was going to ask about Eri and how she was doing since he had asked after the little girl many times over the last week. Emeralda was caught off guard when instead he asked "It's about when you blocked her from using her quirk. You didn't get any younger unlike during the raid. I, I think I know why."

Emeralda had to force herself to keep walking. On hearing Izuku's words, she had wanted to stop right then and there but she knew if she did, Eri would catch on and the last thing she wanted was for her friend to find out the truth of her de-aging. Instead, the tan girl forced herself to look over at Izuku, determined to tell him to drop the subject. She expected to see a pair of accusing eyes glaring down at her.

Instead, a pair of green orbs filled with empathy and curiosity peered back at her. Suddenly it was a lot harder to be apprehensive about talking with the boy beside her. The two held eye contact for a couple of steps before Emeralda ventured to say "Midoriya-san I, I'm sorry, I just wanted to-"

The two heroes-in-training were so caught up in their conversation that they completely missed the pair of people that were turning onto the sidewalk just in front of them. "Oh! Do pardon us, young ones. I hope you can forgive our rudeness." The much taller and older man said congeniality, his voice muffled by the medical mask he wore.

"O-oh no, pardon us!" Izuku nervously replied, stopping to bow, lower than a simple near miss would require.

Emeralda followed the older boy's lead, bowing as well. The older man seemed pleased, though the much shorter girl with magenta hair held up in high ponytails looked much more apprehensive. With an approving tone, the taller man replied "Such manners from someone so young. Very commendable! To be expected from UA students, to be sure. Well then, we have an appointment to keep, good day!"

As the pair turned to continue on their way, the two provisional heroes raised themselves back up and got their first good look at the backs of the retreating interlopers. The older man was wearing a high collared trench coat, and a hat. The girl beside him had very puffy pin-stripped pants, boots, long, upturned frilly sleeve cuffs over the sleeves of her indigo shirt. It even looked like she was wearing a large white bow on her neck. Very unusual.

What was even more unusual was how formal and genital the old man sounded. It was quite distinctive and both Izuku and Emeralda thought they knew where. The former had been made aware of videos on the internet of a man who robbed stores without hurting anyone and with panache. The videos had been something Ochaco had gotten him into as a way to unwind after school and festival prep.

For Emeralda, Hina had been the one to bring them to her attention, thinking somehow the crimes were related to Xellos, since he, too had made a habit of robbing stores in a similar manner before joining the yakuza.

Both immediately suspected the man they had just spoken to was indeed the same Gentle Criminal they had seen. Izuku took a moment to smell the aroma in the air, which caught his attention. He'd just smelled it a few days prior. Then it clicked. They were passing a tea shop and the smell was a high end type of tea that Momo had shared with them. That confirmed it for the freckled boy and he called out "Tell me something." The pair stopped dead in their tracks, Emeralda glancing over at Izuku while Eri stepped up and clung to her friend, sensing the tension now hanging over them.

Izuku continued "That tea was part of your ritual, right?"

The taller man slowly moved his right hand up to clasp his mask before he turned to look sideways at Izuku and asked "Why, whatever do you mean?"

Izuku took a step forward and to the side to cover the two girls and answered, his voice heavy "I saw your video, you can't do this."

But it was already too late, the taller man took off his mask and sunglasses, saying to his compatriot "La Brava, get out the camera."

Izuku's eyes narrowed as he declared "I don't care what you have planned, I won't let you near my school!"

"Emmy-chan, what's going on?" Eri worriedly asked.

Emeralda's muscles had tensed, having realized exactly what was going on while Izuku and the now identified Danjuro Tobita or Gentle Criminal exchanged words. She, too, was prepping for a fight but took the time to answer her silver-haired friend "These two in front of us, they're villains."

Suddenly, all of Eri's fears were realized and she clung harder on Emeralda's arm. "I-I want to go back to the hospital!" the scared girl wailed into the other girl's sleeve.

"Kasim-san, can you get Eri back? And call the police? I'll stop these two!" Izuku ordered, his quirk activated, green arcs of power dancing off of his body.

"That would leave you at a disadvantage." Emeralda pointed out, then raised an eyebrow and added "Is he talking to the camera? Now?"

"-and that is why, dear viewers, I will infiltrate UA High School!" Danjuro finished with a flourish, twisting and turning to face the heroes as he threw his trench coat off to reveal a purple coat with coattails and a collar that stood well above his head, a matching scarf, cuffs and pinstriped pants.

Instead of responding to Emeralda's observation, Izuku was enraged by the dapper criminal's declaration and instead countered with "I won't let you!" before charging forward to deliver a quick and decisive blow to end things before a real fight brought out.

Izuku didn't get very far. A few feet in front of the duo, the bearer of One for All stopped dead in his tracks, having plowed into what appeared to be an invisible wall that seemed to suck him in as he struggled to push past it.

Calm and collected, Danjuro explained "That is my quirk, Elasticity. I can make anything I touch increase its elasticity, including the air itself!" Then, dramatically arching his hand, Danjuro pressed against the wall and said, "Be gone!" which seemed to release the tension Izuku had built up with his resistance, causing the boy to shoot backwards, getting thrown past the two girls and down the street like a bullet, crashing into a wall.

Emeralda and Eri's eyes went wide at the sight. Eri's fears temporarily forgotten thanks to the spectacle. Emeralda recovered quickly, turning back to face the duo, her face settled into a determined glare.

"Gentle! What about your grand plan? We can't be fighting in the street like this!" Manami pleaded.

"Quite right, La Brava! We have a date with destiny, do forgive us if we do not stay any longer!" Danjuro said with a bow, before turning to flee.

Emeralda was having none of it. Izuku was down and if they intended to break into the school, it would ruin the festival. Eri wouldn't get to experience it and Michiru wouldn't get the welcome back everyone wanted to give her.

"Eri-chan, stay behind me! I'm stopping this!" Emeralda exclaimed. Winding her arm up, she threw the limp forward as though to punch. As she did so, her arm shifted into a chain with a small weight at the end, intending the ensnare Danjuro's leg.

Since becoming younger, there had been one thing Emeralda had not done. Train. She had worked with martial arts, sure, but not with her powers. She wasn't really used to the changes in her form. As such, she totally misjudged her own height, causing the chain to come up short, landing at the celebrity robber's feet.

Danjuro glanced back, realizing just how close he had come to being caught. The sight of the girl having mis-fired and the shocked look on her face briefly gave him pause, bringing back memories of his own failed attempt to be a hero in a crisis. The distraction was just for a moment however and as Manami called out his name, he touched the ground.

The simple contact was enough to cause the street and sidewalk to begin to bend and fold, causing it to ripple and become unstable. The two girls struggled to stand as the earth beneath them seemed to turn into a trampoline. Unfortunately for Izuku, he had recovered and choose that moment to arrive back on the scene, landing on the ground just moments later, his quirk-enhanced momentum causing him to bounce way up in the air and out of control.

Emeralda, had, in the meantime grabbed Eri while shifting her feet into poles that she drove into the ground. This did keep the girls from bouncing up and away like Izuku but it didn't stop the quinzaines from the undulating ground. The two girls watched as the pair of criminals leapt up in the air, appearing to bounce on layers of elastic air Danjuro would produce.

As they passed Izuku, Manami noted that she knew the falling boy from the sports festival as the one who broke his fingers while attacking his opponent. Danjuro looked surprised for a brief moment, then called behind him "Hope you stick the landing! Cheerio!"

Back on the ground, things had calmed down for Emeralda and Eri but Izuku was falling with little time to act. Returning her feet to normal, Emeralda said firmly to Eri, who had pulled herself away "I need to save Midoriya-san. You can come with me or stay here but I don't think heading back to the hospital is an option right now."

Eri looked up at the falling form of the boy she had worked with to take down her tormentor. It was an easy decision to make. The worry that had adorned the mono-horned girl's face quickly set in determination and she said, "Let's save him Emmy-chan!"

With a firm nod, Emeralda replied "We will. Grab onto my back!"

Eri quickly complied and the moment Emeralda felt Eri was holding on tight, shifted her feet into springs. She had enough bounce to leap to the side of a building before springing with enough force to shoot the two of them toward Izuku.

Once again, Emeralda misjudged how far the two of them would go, the pair appearing to come up short. Emeralda internally cursed herself for miscalculating twice but still saw a way to salvage the situation. Shifting her arm into a length of cable, she again flung her limb forward and though she almost missed again, just managed to wrap around Izuku's waist. "Hang on!" she called to her two companions as she pulled to the side and begun spinning.

It only took a few seconds for the three of them to gain a dizzying amount of speed as Emeralda spun Izuku in circles like a top mid-air. Just as Eri was about to scream from the experience, Emeralda let go, flinging Izuku like a bullet right at the retreating criminal duo.

Even with the assist from his classmate, Izuku saw he wasn't going to get close enough to actually hit Danjuro and Manami. The dapper man himself was only just becoming aware that he was still being pursued when Izuku shifted from going headfirst to an almost sitting position. Then, with his quirk dialed up past twenty percent, clapped his heads as hard as he could. The resulting blast of displaced air was enough to catch Danjuro in the back and sent him tumbling toward the steel beam skeleton of a building under construction.

Manami managed to land on a rooftop beside the construction zone, worry on her face while the dust from the impact obscured her view. Not a moment later, an older man, a site foreman by the way he dressed, saw the crash and began to wonder what was going on. Manami rushed over and, brandishing her camera, convinced him that everything was for a film project.

Izuku had effectively halted his forward momentum with his clap attack and fell toward the earth once again. This time, though he was much closer to the ground than before and with the enhancements of his quirk, was able to land safely on another rooftop before leaping toward the construction site after Danjuro.

Emeralda followed behind, catching up on her spring legs, having shifted Eri to her front, holding her bridal style. The two passed the old man mumbling something about kids and their silly viral videos. After a moment, the two could see Manami on a rooftop, just as the short redhead noticed them and started to panic.

Manami was only able to get to the other side of the roof and call out "Gentle! We need to go!" before Emeralda arrived on the roof and put Eri down. The tan greenette stared down the videographer, unsure what her quirk was and willing to take a moment to decide how to take her down.

The dainty hacker didn't give Emeralda the choice, choosing to leap onto the construction site and began running up an angled beam in hopes of finding her partner. Emeralda frowned, angry at the hesitation allowing the other girl to run off. Before pursuing, the nanomachine girl turned and asked Eri "Are you ok, here by yourself? I can't let her get away and sneak up on Midoriya-san."

Eri was indeed worried, not to mention a bit motion sick from all the spinning and jumping around. However, it wasn't being alone that worried her, not truly. "What about you, Emmy-chan? You…you don't seem like yourself. It doesn't seem like your quirk is working quite right. Are you ok?" she asked.

"I'm…not used to being this size is all. I'll get used to it. I'll be back, I promise." Emeralda tried to reassure her friend before turning back and charging off as fast as her short legs would take her.

Meanwhile, Izuku had landed in the construction site and was looking about for the well-dressed thief. "This won't do at all" the green-haired hero-in-training heard as visibility increased.

Izuku sighted his opponent comically hanging from his coat, which was caught on a steel beam. Appearing to have the debonair criminal unable to escape, Izuku took the time to demand "What are you planning? What do you want with my school!?"

Danjuro, far from panicking in such a predicament, looked affronted by the question and replied "Come now, boy, I'm not so uncouth as to resort to kidnapping or murder like the League of Villains or any such distastefulness. No, I simply want to sneak into UA, film the fact that I did it and leave! What better way to show the world I am indeed a master criminal!"

"You do that and get caught and the whole festival will be locked down! Everything that everyone has worked for will be ruined! Is a little girl's happiness worth your publicity stunt? Of all the places you could break into, why UA?" Izuku countered.

"My dear boy." Danjuro began as he formed an air trampoline at his feet to allow him to bounce up enough to free his jacket before continuing "This is a dream of mine and though there is a risk we may get caught, it is one I am willing to take. You can always have another festival after all. Legends, however, that takes a lifetime to build! En garde!"

Before Izuku could react, Danjuro leapt from the beam he had been standing on across to another, then another. Each time he landed on one, it began to bend and bounce like rubber bands. Izuku found himself struggling to keep track of where Danjuro even was, the older man was moving about so much.

Izuku knew if he used the same clapping attack as before he'd likely bring the whole place down and since he hadn't been by to see Hatsume at the support lab to get his new gloves yet because he needed to be at the hospital early, he really didn't have a way to shoot controlled bursts of air like he'd hoped.

But before Danjuro could take advantage of his initiative, Manami's voice rang out "Gentle! We're not going to be able to pull this off with two heroes chasing us! We need to-AHH!"

The little red head didn't get to finish her plea, interrupted by Emeralda catching up to her and wrapping her with cable that had just a moment ago been the tan girl's arm.

At the sound of his partner's cry, Danjuro stopped bouncing about, seeming to appear on a beam at the edge of the building's superstructure, concern and anger etched on his well-kept face. "I say! Is this how young heroes act today? Taking hostages of innocent girls?" Danjuro accused before getting a long hard look at the girl holding his partner and adding "Oh my! Is UA robbing from the cradle? Miss, you hardly seem old enough to be a student at UA."

Izuku looked over to Emeralda, who seemed unfazed by the thief's accusation. The thought occurred to the freckled boy that if Emeralda was there, it meant that Eri was completely unguarded and that worried him. In the meantime, Emeralda replied simply, "Looks aren't everything. This girl was filming you earlier and was with you when this started, was she not? Doesn't sound innocent to me."

"Enough talk!" Izuku declared, his quirk arching about him as he readied to charge forward now that Danjuro was standing still.

Or was he?

Indeed, the genteel criminal had begun rolling on his heels, causing the beam he was on to begin to bend up and down. A smirk appeared on the older man's face before he called out "Alright, young lady. If you're old enough to be training as a hero then you should be aware of what happens to an object that comes under intense stress as I am applying to this beam here."

Emeralda glanced down at either end of the metal girder and saw what the older man meant. Izuku saw it too. Not only were the joints giving way, it appeared several of the bolts were missing. Both student's eyes went wide when Danjuro raised his closed fist, opening his hand to reveal the bolts. "Yes." He said with a hint of smugness "I think you two understand all too well. It would seem you two have received a proper education!"

Just as he finished speaking the last word, Danjuro gave the beam one more big push with his legs and it came loose and began falling sideways toward the edge of the adjoining building, just where Eri stood, watching on.

In an instant, both heroes rushed to save the little girl, Emeralda abandoning her hold on Manami without a second thought. Both were quick, but Emeralda had the head start and was closer, her springed legs able to get her close enough in the air to shift her arms into massive hammers that she swung with all her might. The blow was enough to redirect the metal beam, sending it crashing to the ground at the base of the construction site.

The beam did, however, still retain some of its elasticity, which caused Emeralda to be flung in the opposite direction, landing in a heap on the roof not far from where Eri had watched on in fear. The silver-haired girl rushed over to her friend only to find Emeralda bruised and cut from her fall but otherwise fine, if much dirtier than she had been.

Izuku watched on with relief and turned his attention back to the criminal duo, only to find the two of them had again run off, still heading for UA. Incensed, Izuku yelled after them "You…you just tried to kill an innocent girl! After everything you just said about being better than the League of Villains!"

Reputation being very important to the dapper Danjuro, he looked back and replied as the two of them continued to leap on elastic air "Come now, if you hadn't been able to save the girl, I would have done it myself! But being heroes from UA, I trusted one of you would be able to do it! Good day!"

At this point, Izuku was no longer in the mood to be swayed by flowery words or noble intentions. This social media wannabe had just risked Eri's life. A line had just been crossed. Izuku put as much as he dared of One for All into his legs and leapt right at the escaping duo.

After thanking Emeralda and helping her up, the two had rushed to the edge of the roof to watch Izuku cut through the air like a green-haired bullet, smashing right into Danjuro's side, the two continuing forward until they crashed into the ground at the edge of some trees at the border of the UA campus.

At that point, it was hard to see what was going on in the distance. Emeralda wanted to help, especially since they still didn't know what the redhead's quirk was. The thought of leaving Eri again though was more than enough to keep the tan girl held firmly in place. After a moment, Eri, who was still trying to see what was going on, asked "Is…is it always this scary outside? It seems like everywhere I go, bad things happen. Maybe, maybe I should just go back and never come back out."

There was a moment of silence, only filled by the distant sound of fighting. Then, firmly, Emeralda said "There are scary things, that will never change. It's very easy to think the world is scary when you've spent your whole life in a dark room. I…I know what that's like. But you've seen my drawings…I had to see the light in the world before I could sketch it. I want you to see it too. We'll make it to the festival, and you'll see what I mean. I promise."

Eri watched on as Emeralda spoke, her expression contemplative. When the tan girl was done, Eri's gaze lingered on the other girl, as though considering if she should speak. Finally, the words came, and they weren't what Emeralda had expected. "Then, why are you hiding, Emmy?"

Emeralda's head twisted in surprise, her eyes wide before she asked "What? What are you talking about?"

Eri didn't get the chance to reply, both girls' attention drawn to the figure of Danjuro, who was now glowing pink. Even at this distance, the two girls could feel he was somehow stronger. Emeralda wondered if that was the redhead's quirk at play. Izuku again engaged the older man in battle but things suddenly seemed much less decisive now.

"Go." Eri said simply.

"I can't leave you, not again!" Emeralda pleaded. "Besides, I'm…not myself. If Midoriya-san couldn't stop them, I doubt that I could."

"I'll, I'll be alright, Emmy. You need to save Midoriya and the festival! I..I didn't want to go! I was scared! I still am! But, but you're right! I want to see the world like you do…I want you to see it with me and I want you to be happy! I know you haven't been lately." Eri explained, her expression dancing between reassuring and near tears before going back again.

"You didn't want to go?" Emeralda repeated, shocked. "You wanted me to be happy? Eri, that's why I've been pushing you to be ready, I wanted you to have fun. Why do you think I'm not happy?"

"Sometimes you were, but I don't know, a lot of times, I felt like you were playing along with me…like you were holding back, like the adults do. I know you used to be one and, I kinda think you still are. That's why I think you're hiding." Eri said.

Emeralda was floored. All this time Eri knew. Even if she couldn't really say it, the girl had picked up on the lie she had been telling everyone ever since the raid and here Emeralda was feeling guilty for trying to keep the secret. Emeralda had been hiding. Back during the raid when it became clear what Eri's quirk could do, the nanomachine girl had made a decision. Maybe life would be easier, simpler if she was her younger self again. Maybe she could get to have all the experiences she had missed out on. Maybe she could have friends who just wanted to have fun with her.

It took a while, but Emeralda came to realize that it wasn't possible. Even in a younger body, she had aged on the inside. She had made connections with others as the person she was, and to go back to being a kid, as if everything could be reset…that wasn't possible. That's not how it works. And now it had become clear that in a real fight, she wasn't even used to her own body either. No, if she was going to help Izuku and save the festival, it was time to stop hiding.

Just then, Izuku was thrown up into the air. Flying up with him was Danjuro, who with a touch, created a wall of elastic air before falling a few feet and creating another one just below the other, effectively trapping Izuku between them.

The two girls watched on in horror as Izuku became trapped between the two bouncing barriers, effectively stuck bouncing back and forth between them without end. With Izuku trapped, the two criminals would surely make good on their attempt to get into the school and likely ruin the festival.

There was no more time to waste.

"Thank you, Eri. You're right, I have been hiding, but that ends now, I'm going to save Midoriya, I promise!" Emeralda declared, a bright, blinding light engulfing her.

When the light disappeared, Eri looked, wide-eyed at the taller girl beside her. Emeralda was now a head taller, her features once again matured to a young adult. Her clothes, however, had not, the jacket and undershirt now much too short, exposing the nanomachine girl's midriff and the sleeves torn, unable to restrain the larger and tones limbs. Her shoes were ruined as well and the leggings she had been wearing were in tatters.

"Stay here." Emeralda said before she shot off the roof on her spring legs.

(X)

Danjuro and Manami had managed to trap their young pursuer but they hadn't gotten far. The sounds of their battle had drawn attention from UA security, namely Hound Dog and several Ectoplasm clones. With heroes lurking, the two criminals had only been able to shuffle along some trees, waiting for their chance to slip by while Manami worked to disarm the security from her small computer.

Izuku had initially screamed while he endlessly bounced in midair but before long, he struggled to remain conscious while he became disoriented. That meant things had grown quiet again and thus easier for the criminal duo to proceed. Unfortunately for them, though they were hidden from the school side, anyone coming in from the construction site who have little trouble seeing them.

Someone like Emeralda. It took little effort for her to get high enough to grab Izuku and free him, setting the boy on the ground so he could have time for the world to stop spinning and the nausea that had been getting worse to subside. The poor boy wasn't even aware enough to notice his savior's change in appearance.

With her classmate safe, Emeralda focused on Danjuro, who had noticed her arrival, surprise clear on his face. Emeralda noticed he, too, looked a bit different. In addition to glowing pink he gave off an aura of strength that wasn't there before. The short redhead beside the gentlemanly thief once again looked worried but made no move to prepare for combat.

Emeralda still didn't know what the girl's quirk was even if she had her suspensions but clearly focusing on her would not be the right move. The older man had proved quite clever and if she was going to subdue them, it was going to be through him. Without the element of surprise, Emeralda decided to go head on, hoping to rely on her martial arts to down the older man.

Danjuro was ready though and without a word, to try and avoid drawing the other heroes nearby attention. Just as he had with Izuku, Danjuro conjured an elastic air wall in front of them, expecting the now older girl to at least move to the side. What he wasn't expecting was for Emeralda to shift her arm into the sharpest blade she could and used it to pierce the wall of air, allowing her to collapse it and bring her blade within a hair's breath of her target.

For a brief moment, Danjuro thought he was going to die, but as Emeralda's blade arm drew closer, it became a fist once more. Beyond that, the dapper old man had the presence of mind to fall backward against the tree he and Manami had been hiding behind. On contact, Danjuro was able to bounce forward toward Emeralda but dropped his legs out from under himself, allowing him to slide forward and sweep Emeralda clean off her feet.

Now close enough to speak without risking detection, Danjuro said while he quickly got back to his feet "I say, I don't know what happened to cause you to change like that young lady but that was a dangerous attack just now. It seems you still have some growing to do before your ready to be a true hero!"

"You talk to much." was all Emeralda had to say in response, taking the opening while she lay on her stomach to shift a leg into a cable that she flung at Danjuro, and wrapping up his leg. Emeralda quickly got to her knee and yanked hard, causing Danjuro to fall backwards.

But when he hit the ground, Danjuro again used his quirk to cause the grass to bounce him upward, which, in turn, pulled Emeralda right along with him. Before Emeralda could release the thief's leg, Danjuro thrust with the wrapped limb, causing Emeralda to swing back toward the ground, impacting hard from the momentum of the bounce.

Danjuro caught himself with another layer of elastic air before returning to the ground and extending his hand to his partner, who had hid among the trees during the fight. "Come, La Brava. If we make haste, our goal is still within reach."

Manami extended her hand to her savior's, but her face spoke to her deep insecurities about their chances at this point. She was having trouble breaking the firewall protecting UA's security and time was running out. It didn't matter because the next thing Manami knew, Danjuro nearly collapsed when what looked like a spike shot out of the ground and impaled the older thief's leg.

"Gentle!" Manami all but yelled. The pink hue that surrounded Danjuro faded and the dainty redhead knew her quirk had run its course. Her partner was all but trapped now, blood dripping down his leg.

In a rage, Manami glared over to where Emeralda lay, her arm shifted into that very spike now dung into the ground and angled such that it shot back out, hitting her target. The nanomachine girl stared back, cold determination on her face. "This ends here. This plan of yours may be important to you but this festival means much to many, many more. If you think it right that your single dream should outweigh all of theirs just so you can be famous, then you are nothing more than a fool."

"La Brava, you need to leave, now." Danjuro implored, his voice losing all the bravado it had to this point.

Having rarely heard her inspiration sound that way, the redheaded hacker's shoulders slumped and tears began to well up in her eyes. Suddenly, Manami charged at Emeralda, falling forward as she got close, weakly pounding on the now notably taller girl in a desperate attempt to get Emeralda to remove the spike. "You're a monster! Let Gentle go!" she sobbed.

On being called a monster, Emeralda noticeably cringed, a frown briefly but deeply appearing on her face. After a moment, it was gone. Then, taking a deep breath, Emeralda offered a swift strike to Manami's neck, causing the distraught girl to collapse almost instantly.

Catching the tiny girl as she fell forward, Emeralda looked over at her captured target. The two exchanged glances and after a moment, Danjuro said solemnly "I will no longer resist. You can release me, you have my word I will not attempt to escape."

With his partner in her arms and a functionally useless leg, Emeralda knew Danjuro's words to be true even if he had intended to lie. Nodding, Emeralda retracted her limb, returning to normal.

Danjuro fell down immediately, new pain surging through him while blood began to flow out of his wound. Tearing part of his pants off his unharmed leg to wrap his wound, the thief asked between cringing "I don't suppose it would be too much to ask you to take that sweet girl away from here? She doesn't deserve the life I have led her towards."

Emeralda's eyes narrowed. "Are you intending to abandon her?"

"P-parish the thought, my dear! I, I just thought she didn't deserve prison." Danjuro replied, offended.

In response, Emeralda walked over and lay the dainty redhead on the ground beside the man she so admired. Danjuro looked annoyed as he watched her but said nothing, in no position to protest. Then, when she stood back up, Emeralda's eyes meet Danjuro's when she spoke again "You also thought it was ok to break into UA just to aggrandize yourself, risking others hard work. Something she helped you with. Besides, do you think she would be happy knowing you had pushed her away?"

Danjuro's eyes widened before he looked down at his partner's sleeping face. He took a moment to move an errant strand of hair from her face and said "No, I suppose she wouldn't. You and that green-haired boy are impressive for you're age. Good show."

At the mention of Izuku, Emeralda thought she should check on him. With Hound Dog and Ectoplasm clones approaching, she headed back to where she had left him. Moments later, the two patrolling heroes cleared the trees and came upon the two near intruders, left to be arrested.

(X)

"Has anyone seen Midoriya-san or Kasim-san?" Tenya asked the gathered members of 1-A. It was only minutes before the first act of their performance was set to go out and everyone had been busy getting themselves ready or helping others prep for theirs. The ever-responsible Tenya had been doing his best to keep everything moving along and though he knew the missing classmates were out bringing Eri to the festival, time was short and worry was setting in.

Ochaco was first to speak up, herself worried, "No, Iida, I'm sorry! I've texted them both but haven't heard back."

"This is troubling indeed." The studious speedster answered, more members of the class stopping what they were doing to listen in, also clearly worried.

"What of you, Greywards-san? I don't suppose you've heard anything?" Tenya tried, already sure of the answer.

Zelgadis shook his head in the negative, having stopped his last tweaks to his instrument.

"Then I shall go look for them!" Tenya declared. "I am not up first and will be able to cover a lot of ground before I must return. I will also inform the first faculty I see."

"Let me join you! I can look around the gym so you can look further away." Mina offered, several others echoing the suggestion.

Tenya raised his hand and answered with authority, cutting off discussion "We have worked too hard to risk ruining our performances. I will accept Ojiro-san's help since his part is entirely dependent on Kasim-san's presence."

Mashirao stepped forward with a determined nod. That determination turned to shock at the sight that appeared behind Tenya. The class rep quickly took note of the tailed martial artist and other classmates expression before he, too, turned around.

Meekly, Izuku was waving at the class, his uniform worse for wear before he said "Hey everyone, um, sorry for making everyone worry. We kind of got side-tracked on the way back from the hospital."

Silence followed Izuku's apology. In another circumstance, the freckled boy would be more self-conscious with so much attention directed his way, but he knew better. Everyone's eyes weren't on him, but the girl behind him, returned to her original age and sporting ill-fitting or outright ripped clothing.

"Dude…what happened?" Denki managed to ask first.

With the ice broken, Mina quickly ran up to Emeralda as Izuku stepped aside. Clasping the nervous looking nanomachine girl's hands in her own, the pink girl asked, worry and empathy clear in her voice "Are you ok Emeralda? Was Eri's quirk reversed?"

Emeralda managed a weak smile, if briefly before she replied "I am ok, Mina. I, I just realized I couldn't keep hiding is all. I am sorry we worried everyone. We had to stop a villain on the way back. We'll explain it all later. For now, we have a performance, do we not?"

As she spoke, Emeralda's voice carried more confidence and that was enough to at least mollify everyone's worries for the time being. Mina took one last look in Emeralda's eyes and when she was sure the tan girl was indeed ok, she turned back to face the rest of the class and declared "You heard the girl, let's crush it!"

"YEAH! PLUS ULTRA!" most of the class cheered before everyone began rushing to their starting positions.

Emeralda watched on, glad the reveal of her return to form hadn't caused too much of a stir. Her eyes met Mashirao's and the two held each other's gaze for a moment before the two nodded and the tailed boy continued on. Emeralda knew she would have a conversation with him later but for now, the message was sent that they were ready for their spar, despite the change.

Zelgadis, though, came up to the other lighter, sporting a black leather jacket that was uncharacteristically open down past his chest. The sight caused Emeralda to raise an eyebrow but would be a question for later. Now, it was the chimera that had a question for her. "I know Ashido already asked but seriously, are you ok? Is your body unstable or something?"

Shaking her head, this time offering a more confident smile, Emeralda replied "Nothing is wrong with my body. Eri's quirk never actually did anything to me. I'm the one that made myself younger."

Zelgadis frowned at that and had more questions but as Emeralda had said earlier, they had a performance to focus on. Instead, he switched topics. "I…see. I'm sure there will be more to hear about that. You can tell Michiru and me. Was she out there when you came in?"

"No, I did not see her. We found Togata-san so he could watch the show with Eri but I saw no sign of Michi. Have you not heard from her?"

Zelgadis couldn't help but smirk at Emeralda's use of the nickname despite her returning to her older form. That was quickly replaced by concern though. Pulling out his phone once again, he answered "No. Her last text said she wouldn't be able to reply while in flight but that was a while ago. We'll just have to hope she makes it at this point. You ready?"

Raising her hand, Emeralda stared at it for a long moment before clinching her fist and looking back up at Zelgadis. "Perhaps more ready than I have been in a long time. Let's go."

(X)

With this story's 3rd year anniversary 13 days away, it had been my hope to have a big double chapter that included this and the performance to kind of celebrate. As is often the refrain for me, life has not given me the time I really needed to do that so you'll have to accept my apologies for that. On the plus side, this is one of the larger chapters so it's not like you are lacking for content.

If any of you are annoyed/disappointed that Midoriya got himself trapped by Gentle Criminal, remember, he was very angry that Eri's life was threatened. That anger made him just sloppy enough to get caught in a trap that I am frankly flabbergasted wasn't thought of in cannon.

In the first draft of this chapter, I also had Emeralda's and Eri's conversation entirely during the time that Midoriya was trapped. I only had to look over it once to realize that the poor boy would probably be dead while the girls just talked on with him stuck bouncing around so that required a bit of re-working.

Speaking of Emeralda, I don't know how well I hinted at the reveal that she made herself young. I always planned for her to return to normal at this point but looking back, I can't help but wonder if it should have gone on longer. At least it feels like it needed to be to have more meaning for her. Well, regardless, once the festival is over, we'll be moving to more external threats as well as checking in on Xellos and the league. Now, on to the reviews!

NightmareKnight1 says:

As for this chapter.. huh. I was half expecting her to stick to her guns about not wanting to turn others into Beastmen. But I suppose that was pretty... karmic. If a tad petty.

Endericus writes:

Hey great chapter as always! Sorry about the review on the last chapter, I guess there was some kind of error and it didn't save it. Michiru's talk with Himiko was really interesting, kinda like talking with that one bitchy classmate but she has a point if I am being honest, also really interesting way to get revenge on Miss there! Hope that Michiru expands on the chimera mode in the future, it's cool as hell! Love Sakon's response being similar to what I would have thought, bet she will have some questions later but that's a conversation for a future chapter. Anyway Endericus out and stay safe out has it's fair share of troubles and I'm sorry it continues to mess up when you review, I do very much look forward to them! As for Himiko and Michiru's talk, I'm glad you saw it that way. Many of the league's members have reasonably understandable motivations for hating society as it stands and even if they taken them to the extreme, there is often truth at the core of what drives them. I hope to touch on as many of the villains in that way as I can as go along.

Sakon and Michiru will definitely have more conversations not that the secret is out just as her new expanded powers will get more opportunities to shine. Once the festival is over (and some breathing room), we'll be moving into some more combat heavy content so yeah, we'll see it again as she refines it!

Alright, that covers it for reviews this month! Since I'm pretty sure I won't have the time to write a special anniversary chapter, I want to thank you all for being here and enjoying the story. I know I said I would keep going until the story was done and I will of course honor that promise I made to myself and to you. It's easy when you make those promises though to fail to grasp just how much will go into it. 3 years is a long time, especially if you're watching a baby grow to be a child as I have in this time. I can be pretty sure I won't take another 3 years to be done but I admit I thought I'd be done before MHA was. The fact that it just seemed to just end is pretty surprising and though there is still going to be an epilogue, I can only imagine Kohei Horikoshi has burned out. I know the feeling. Anyway! You are all amazing, it means so much that I have had to chance to go on this ride and that you've come along too! I hope you stick around, and here is to another year!

Take care and see you next month.