Stain's rescue from the villain hospital felt like it'd happened a lifetime ago–almost as if Izuku had been told of it rather than living through it himself–but that didn't keep the nostalgia from hitting as he watched Shoto flood the corridors behind them with ice from wall to wall. Spinner was doing a commendable job of running alongside them all, he and Morse not uttering a single complaint despite their injuries and partial blindness respectively. Stain kicked open one more door ahead of them, but they didn't waste time with it as it seemed to be more storage space. Every room thus far had been devoid of people, the few men and women they came across getting encased in ice. By Shoto's wide eyes, it was clear that the teen was doing his very best to do that last part as quickly as possible so Stain wouldn't have the chance to kill anyone. Still, the Hero Killer seemed too focused on finding Overhaul to complain about the small fry, so Izuku figured that it didn't matter.

He'd guided them in the direction he knew the girl had come from the day prior, but he hadn't been able to determine anything else beyond that. As they ran and turned corners and the ground inclined up and down, Izuku wondered if they were going to be able to find where Overhaul was, let alone come across the girl. Izuku knew that killing Overhaul was the main goal now, but he still hoped they find some clue as to where the girl was.

They took the right turn in a hallway that was divided into 4, every tunnel looking endless. How could the yakuza own such a vast network of underground tunnels when they had supposedly gone all but extinct with the rise of quirks? It made no sense.

"Where are we going?" Shoto asked breathlessly, hand shaking as he kept using his quirk without a second's rest. "We have to leave and meet Touya and Toga."

"They're probably heading back here," Spinner said and Izuku nodded. He felt winded already.

"They can take care of themselves," Stain growled. "Exterminating Overhaul takes priority."

"We don't even know where he is."

"I'll find him." And it was as much a promise as it was a threat.

They turned a corner and Stain zoomed ahead like lighting, breaking down a door and disappearing into the room within with his blade at the ready. Izuku almost tripped, half expecting the sound of gunshots to reach his ears, but there was no such chaos. When Stain stepped out of the room a second later, far before Izuku and the others even had the chance to catch up, his clothes were clean and his weapon wasn't dripping with blood.

"He's not here anymore." Stain huffed. "But I'm pretty sure he was."

Izuku glanced into the room as they caught up, recognizing it as Overhaul's empty office. The small desk on the side, perhaps the only piece of furniture worth looking at in the room, had both its drawers wide open and a glance inside confirmed that whatever had been in there was gone. He cursed inwardly. It was hard to tell with all the adrenaline and the running, but they must've been going for ten minutes already, and yet they hadn't seen anyone with a mask resembling Overhaul's, only a bunch of randos that looked too frantic to be anyone of use to them. Had they all evacuated through a free exit, or was everyone in police custody already? Out of those two, Izuku begged for the latter.

Morse suddenly clung to Izuku's arm, her whole body shuddering as she hid her face in his shoulder. There was no need for him to ask what was wrong, it was obvious from the anxious and calculating glances the others were giving the walls that they'd all felt it; the unmistakable tremor of the ground beneath their feet.

Something akin to primal terror started to bubble up Izuku's throat, but he settled for simply holding Morse close to try and keep calm.

"They can't have gone far," Stain reasoned, eyeing both ends of the hallway as if hoping to spot Overhaul's purple collar.

"But which way?" Shoto asked. His shoulders were tense, his demeanor more on edge without Dabi by his side. Izuku couldn't blame him.

"Maybe they left something useful?" Spinner said, stepping inside the office and ripping off a drawer from the desk. The flag on the wall was askew, and one of the couches had been pushed out of place. "Or maybe there's an exit just for Overhaul and his masked puppets?"

"Probably," Izuku agreed, rubbing his forehead as Morse hit his chest lightly in a rhythmic fashion that almost matched his heartbeat. There was another door at the opposite end of the room, but the hallway he could see looked just the same as the one he was standing in. "But where?"

Before the oncoming steps even had the chance to echo through the tunnels, Stain was already halfway down the hallway, blade poised to strike. The man at the front of the group of strangers that had just turned the distant corner dropped dead not a second later, the one behind raising his hands.

"FRIENDLY", he screamed, the voice so high that it took Izuku a solid second to recognize it. "We're with you!"

"Stain, wait!" Izuku called out. His mentor did freeze, but Izuku was sure that he'd allowed his blade to come dangerously close to Hara's body just to scare the young man. Or maybe he'd been hoping that Izuku wouldn't stop him in time. Both were very likely.

Hara looked at the blade as if he'd already been stabbed, eyes wide and skin sweaty. He swallowed and eyed Stain with more fear than respect, though Izuku doubted that Stain cared about that particular distinction.

"You should tell your men to lower those." Stain warned, shoulders still tense. "If you want your insides to stay there, that is."

Izuku caught up and noticed that Hara wasn't alone; there were two people barely rounding the corner, both with their guns drawn and aimed in Stain's general direction.

Did they think they'd be able to hit the Hero Killer like that? Izuku almost felt pity for them.

Almost.

"Put them down," Hara ordered carefully, slowly moving his hand to make himself clear. The two men behind him hesitated and looked at their dead comrade before they did as they were told.

Stain let his threat hang in the air a little longer before he too stood down, stepping back but not easing his grip on his weapon.

Morse finally recognized Hara's voice, head rising and fingers tapping a greeting against Izuku's back. Shoto and Spinner arrived then.

Speak slowly. Act dumb, Izuku told himself. They don't know. They can't.

"What's happening?" Izuku asked. "Everyone started running around, and no one's telling us anything."

Technically not a lie. Good.

"I was looking for you," Hara said, his eyes not leaving Stain for more than two seconds at a time. "Your room was empty, so I thought you might make your way here. The ice made it a little difficult, but I know a few routes here."

"Is that so?" Spinner asked, pink dots scanning Hara's companions with rapt attention and suspicion. "Well, you found us. Now what?"

"I'm here to guide you to a safe exit."

"Why?" Stain asked, turning his knife so the reflection would hit Hara in the eye he'd regained after Deika.

"Boss's orders." Hara looked at Izuku, but he didn't know what to make of it.

"You didn't answer my question," Stain warned.

Hara sighed through gritted teeth.

"...We're getting raided," Hara explained. One of the men behind him narrowed his eyes but said nothing. "We need to evacuate."

As if to reinforce the time limit on their situation, the ground shook again. Morse's silent chatter stopped.

"Is your mighty boss not going to defend his little castle?" Under different circumstances, Stain's mockery might have made Izuku anxious. But he couldn't deny that he was more interested in what information his mentor could get by pushing.

Hara swallowed and the ground beneath their feet trembled, low and silent. Morse pressed against Izuku, Shoto's eyes landing on her. Izuku's stomach lurched a little.

"What my boss does during emergencies is not information I'm privy to," Hara spoke more evenly, finally working the bravery to take a step away from the Hero Killer. The sharp end of Stain's weapon was pressed against his neck immediately, and Hara stopped. His voice hitched a little when he spoke again, much to Stain's cold satisfaction.

"I only know my orders, and that's to get you out safe."

"And why would he ask you to do that? He doesn't care about us." Spinner scoffed, looking unwilling to trust anything coming out of Hara's mouth.

Izuku wanted to frown, afraid that too much pushback would rob them of their opportunity to get information. They had to keep it mild.

"Your capture benefits no one," Hara said, eyeing the mutant. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Or your boss wants us to owe him another favor." Stain challenged.

Izuku started nodding at that, but he managed to tilt his chin so he was shaking his head instead. No point in insulting Hara when they needed him.

Now, what they needed him for was up to who exactly you asked at that moment.

"Where would you even take us? If the situation is dire enough to initiate an evacuation then there's no way there's safe exists." Izuku said.

"...You've seen the size of the compound. There's plenty of safe top-side entrances."

Is that true? He did find us despite the ice, so there must be some truth to it at least.

"We don't have time for this," One of the men behind Hara said. He looked almost afraid of intervening, but Izuku had also noticed the increase in frequency and intensity of the tremors shaking the base, so he could hardly blame him. "We have to go. Now."

"No."

Stain's eyes only left Hara to look at Shoto for a few seconds, the teen looking at Hara with almost as much distaste as Stain himself. Somewhere in the distance, a low rumble was heard.

"What?"

"We're not going anywhere until we know where Toga and Dabi are," Shoto said, eyes just mismatched slits of neon and determination. "When they come back, we need to be here."

"The people out with them know about the situation, they'll head to a safe rendezvous location and then–"

Shoto scoffed. Hara's frown deepened, the bridge of his nose firmly pinched between his thumb and pointer finger. His men looked about ready to abandon him.

"Last we heard from them, they were already heading towards the safe location so–"

And then Hara stopped, eyes opening with sudden realization. One of the men behind it picked up on it and raised his gun.

The last time the yakuza had heard of the people Dabi and Toga had left with, everything had been going swell.

But dead men don't report back.

The man raising his gun barely managed to aim it in their general direction before Stain's thrown knife struck him right in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. With the same movement, Stain caught Hara by the front of the shirt and threw him over his shoulder, head tilted and grin maniacal.

A shot rang out, the sound sharp. Morse screamed and dropped with her arm over her head, dragging Izuku down with her. A rush of freezing air passed by them, stinging their skin and drowning the hallway in a heavy mist. White and lavender flashed in Izuku's mind and his head shot up in terror.

"Stain!" He cried out.

"You're quick, I'll give you that," Stain said. It took Izuku a moment to realize that he wasn't talking to him. As the icy clouds dissipated Izuku could see Stain standing over a cocoon of ice, a glare directed at Shoto through slitted eyes. Shoto's hand was raised still, the barrage of ice consuming the hallway beyond, along with the three men that didn't belong to their group.

Izuku was never not impressed by Shoto's quirk control, his breath visible in the cold atmosphere.

"Anyone wounded?" Spinner asked, getting to his feet.

Izuku looked at Morse and then himself, his eyes widening at the splatter of blood on his mentor's shoulder.

"Did they shoot you?!"

Stain gave Izuku a passing glance, his gaze softening if only for a moment.

"Too slow to get me, kid." Stain assured. He looked back and located his knife in the sea of ice, kicking and shattering the construct–with only one kick, mind you–and retrieving his weapon from the surely now-dead yakuza.

"I had time to get them," Shoto hissed, eyes wide despite the deep frown on his face. "You didn't have to–"

"Have to what?" Stin said, an open invitation for Shoto to speak his mind. He licked the blood from his knife while keeping eye contact, and Shoto openly trembled.

Stain kicked the ice covering Hara and gave Shoto a small nod, his posture guarded.

"I'm keeping this one alive for now, if that makes you feel better."

"Why?" Spinner asked.

"He reached for this, for one." Stain produced a gun from behind him, tossing it over to Spinner who caught it deftly. When he had taken it from Hara was unclear. "And he's our best shot at information at the moment."

Izuku hadn't seen Spinner handle a firearm before, and he was honestly amazed at the ease with which the mutant examined and disarmed the weapon. He had the magazine out in an instant and a bullet in the palm of his hand a second later. Izuku swallowed, recognizing it as one of the ones Stain had given Overhaul after Deika.

"Are these…?" Spinner asked. Stain nodded and the ground beneath them shook, the sounds of chaos becoming more clear as they echoed down the infinite corridors.

Morse trembled, staying low to the ground even when Izuku tried to pull her to her feet.

"If we're gonna get info from these guys we need to do it now," Spinner said, reassembling the pistol and stashing it in the back of his waistband. "Before the whole place comes crashing down on us."

The whole tunnel shook at that, dust and ice particles gently flowing down upon them. Morse whimpered and white flashed in Izuku's mind. He couldn't help but look fearful.

Stain narrowed his eyes, giving Izuku a look that was getting familiar but not welcome; tightly veiled worry.

"I can get this done myself; he'll break easy. You four go check the other door in the office and-"

"No," Izuku said hoarsely, shakily taking Morse's hand and reaching over to Shoto to hand her over. She tried to hold onto Izuku for a moment but ended up balling her fists in Shoto's shirt after the green-eyed teen stepped away. "He won't."

"He's common trash. They all break."

"Not him. I know him. He…" Izuku bit his lip, knowing that, if he was right, he wouldn't be able to explain it easily. He gave the ceiling an urgent look, hands clammy. "I can do it."

Izuku turned back towards Stain, looking much more like a man with a point to prove than the raggedy teenager he actually was.

"Go on, then," Izuku said hoarsely, a sort of challenge. Stain watched him for a solid five seconds, seemingly looking for something, before relenting. He smashed the ice as he had before, and Hara's face was freed with a shuddering gasp. Stain made an inviting gesture, moving back an inch to let Izuku step forward. Izuku's jaw tightened.

"Close your eyes, Hara," Izuku said after a moment.

"W-w-what?" Hara shivered, eyes wide as he tried to focus on his surroundings. Thankfully he was immobilized enough to not let him look around.

"I know Overhaul can't hear you; you wouldn't have talked to me back in those cells if he could. And I also know you won't break, no matter what we do, because there's something much worse to you than death or torture."

While his time in Deika had left him with memories he wished he could erase, his talks with Hara weren't among them. If he could conjure up even a crumb of the emotions from back then, the trust, this would work.

It had to.

"Just keep your eyes closed and tell me what I need. He doesn't have to know."

Hara's face morphed slowly, from shock and confusion to bitter understanding. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"Midoriya… You know I can't."

Izuku swallowed. He looked at Stain and found nothing, red eyes betraying no emotion. The tunnel shook and the ice along the walls cracked.

"...What evacuation route is Overhaul using?" Every word was an effort to speak, every syllable a conscious effort. "Did he go from his office? Which way?"

"Midoriya–"

"Where does his exit route lead? What part of the city? Where does he go from there?"

"I don't know," Hara's voice had an edge to it, of frustration or annoyance, perhaps. "I don't know! I told you my orders, I wasn't told anything else."

"Your orders then," Izuku choked, the words barely making it past his teeth. "What are they in full? Where does the exit lead to, and what are you supposed to do with us after that?"

"Midoriya, come on," Hara sighed. "You know I can't."

"This is a waste of time," Stain deadpanned. A piece of ice fell not two inches from his head, but the man didn't flinch.

Izuku's teeth chattered, though not from the cold coming from Shoto's quirk. He remembered swinging lights and dead bodies, white walls a wire mesh cell doors, and above all things, he remembered a whispered confession from a man willing to not only die for his sins but also repeat them endlessly.

"I saw her" Izuku's voice came out weird, almost like a different person's, earning a glance from everyone. He returned none of them. "The girl you mentioned back in Deika, I know she's down here. I know. Where is she?"

Hara's lower lip wobbled, all the confirmation Izuku needed. Stain bared his teeth as his eyes darkened, but he didn't make a move.

"I understand what position you're in, trust me, I do. But please… Just tell me where she is, or where they're supposed to take her in case of emergencies. We'll take care of the rest."

Hara's brow twitched, a sheen of sweat building on his forehead.

"He'll never kn–"

"No."

It was spoken with such force that Izuku physically leaned back. Spinner's face, which had been expectant and serious, twisted with anger.

"Scum. Are you that much of a lap dog? You won't even help us save her?"

"You don't have to say anything about Overhaul, we'll find him ourselves, just–"

And then it struck Izuku. Why out of a whole life in the yakuza, out of years of crimes and delinquency, he would only feel regretful of what he'd done—or avoided doing—regarding her. Why it'd been important. Izuku looked at Stain, the man's eyes dark pools of acid.

"Oh, but you'd be leading us right to your boss if you told us where she is. Isn't that right?" Stain hissed.

A piece of ice cracked off the ceiling and hit Izuku on the shoulder. His head tilted to the side, eyes wide and unfocused.

"He has her. She's important. And you don't want her to get rescued," Izuku said, feeling hollow. He suddenly wanted to pry open Hara's eyes to see what the other man felt. "Do you?

Not a word in response, just a face of stubborn determination with both eyes closed.

Izuku took a step forward. He wanted to do a million things other than talk—run, hide, cry, scream—but he managed to painfully clear his throat as he crouched by his friend.

No. That wasn't the word, was it? It never had been.

It's hard to accept that in times of terror and loneliness, you will cling to whoever is closest to you in search of comfort regardless of pride or ideals. It was even harder to accept that once the danger is gone, you have to face that those people are strangers that you know nothing about. People that, under a different light, you'd never stand beside.

It really hurts.

But Izuku had bowed to follow a path despite the pain it brought. And he'd be damned if he didn't follow through.

"I know you never meant to help her," Izuku said, barely above a whisper. "But don't you see that if we get rid of Overhaul then your brothers–"

"You can't." Hara hissed, eyes screwed shut so tight that it looked painful. It took him by surprise, the amount of blatant anger in Hara's voice.

"Bigger and better men have tried to take him down for years, and they've all died," Hara growled. "And you think your little band of street murderers can just waltz over and kill him? Not only that, take the very foundation of his operation from him? You're nothing compared to him, Midoriya. Nothing at all."

Izuku's ear rang painfully, the ground beneath them trembling. Or was that just him shaking?

"So if you think I'm going to risk my family so you can play savior of the innocent, you're more diluted than I thought you were." And then, added in a dismissive spat, "Just because you have nothing left in your life to lose, doesn't mean the rest of us are the same."

The blade almost managed to dig itself into Hara's neck, but Izuku caught Stain's wrist right on time. He heard Shoto gasp and felt the air grow colder, followed by Spinner telling the other teen to 'wait'. Izuku didn't know if he was glad or not about the interference. He knew from experience how conflicting this lifestyle could be, but he also knew that this was not the time for Shoto to be a hero. None of them were.

Especially not him.

Stain watched him with rapt attention, his face a mask of fury. The Hero Killer was a man of pride, and he wasn't one to forgive such a blatant insult to his motives and actions. Still, Izuku's hold on his mentor's arm did not falter.

Yeah, it hurt like hell to realize that someone he'd considered a friend was nothing but a fake. And yet, the hurt that would have usually driven him into despair, down into the black abyss of dissociation, did something different. He'd only managed it a couple of times in the past year and a half, and none had been on purpose, not in the sense that he'd been trying to do it consciously. But as he looked down at this man he'd been through so much with, everyone else noticed it; he was emanating that same dark, malicious energy that the Hero Killer alone was able to produce.

Because Midoriya Izuku wasn't hurt; he was fucking angry.

"Your full name is Hara Yukio."

Hara frowned at the words, mouth opening with what was undoubtedly another insult, but Izuku beat him to it.

"You're from Kioto, and both your parents are gone. You have three younger brothers…" Izuku tilted his head, noticing how the color drained from Hara's face as he said: "...and their names are Atsushi, Kei, and Makoto."

There was a moment of heavy silence after that, the tension thickening until it was almost hard to breathe. Hara was fully sweating now, his teeth bared in a way that didn't seem all that threatening to Izuku at the moment.

"You never mentioned if you all still live in Kioto, or if your brothers go to school, but having four full names and a starting point makes things much easier regardless."

"Mido–"

"And you see, I think you've got me all wrong. You saw me at my lowest, so you assume that's normally how I am, but there's a lot about me you haven't seen. I am the student of Japan's greatest serial killer, a man I helped break out of the most secure villain hospital in the region. I outlived professional heroes in the Hosu incident, and I broke into the late Endevour's house afterward without getting arrested. I disbanded the League of Villains from the inside out. My mentor is the only reason you even saw the light of day again."

Hara's entire face was twitching by that point, the emotion behind it not entirely clear to Izuku. He leaned in closer before continuing, catching the way the young yakuza flinched at the sudden closeness of his voice.

"Your boss might have a fancy quirk, but that's i. Your being afraid of him doesn't make him stronger, and it definitely doesn't mean he won't die at the Hero Killer's hand. We're going to rid the world of him and save the girl you so cowardly abandoned, with or without your help, but let me make one thing clear."

Hara twisted his face away as Izuku whispered in his ear.

"If you make us waste one more minute and something happens to that girl, all the pain and torture you withstood in Deika will be for nothing. Your brothers–"

"Don't you dare talk about them," Hara warned. "You have no right–"

"I don't care," Izuku concluded with a hiss. His insides felt like they were twisting, his face following suit. "You think your life matters more than hers just because you have someone out there? Do you think saying that it is for someone's sake justifies you standing by and allowing it to happen?" He scoffed.

The man swallowed and opened his mouth but Izuku didn't let him speak.

"Tell me where she is," Izuku threatened, his lips dripping poison. "Or Overhaul won't be the only man you and your brothers have to run from. That's a promise."

Spinner held his breath, his face the picture of amazement and respect. Shoto let Morse pull him close, silent horror bubbling in his veins. And Stain? Why, he looked like the proudest father in the world.

Whatever was causing the ground to shake was closer now; the trembles were more intense and there was some sound to it now, that of destruction and people.

Izuku blinked, the overhead lighting darkening his face as he looked down upon the man he'd escaped Deika with. Hara's face twitched, the feelings of a betrayed man twisting his handsome features into a bitter sight. The bridge between them still burning, Hara bit his lip and leaned back his head.

"She's in the lowest level of the compound. There's a way down in the office and the infirmary, but I've never seen them open the doors. That's all I know."

And then a cruel smile bared Hara's teeth, hatred clear in his voice.

"You stand no chance, Midoriya. You should have stayed in your cell; you're still gonna die underground at the hand of someone ten times more powerful than y–"

Izuku was still holding Stain's wrist tight when Shoto's ice entrapped Hara once more, an extra layer of frost hiding him from their sight. Stain exhaled loudly, pushing against Izuku's hold just enough to get his point across.

"He deserves nothing less than death. You know that." Stain spoke, every word enunciated perfectly. His pride towards his student was hidden from everyone other than Izuku, the shine in his eyes lighting a fire in the teen's chest.

"He saved me in Deika. I would've died without him," Izuku said, bitter sadness dripping back into him with every second. Still, the anger won. "I've paid my debt. If I see him again after this, I'll take him out myself."

"...I'll hold you to that, Disciple." Stain pulled his arm out of Izuku's grasp, twisting his blade gracefully before offering Izuku a hand.

Izuku nodded his thanks and took it, finding solace in his mentor's calloused hand. Stain took a moment to pat Izuku's shoulder before heading back toward the office. Everyone trailed behind him.

"We need to search this place," Stain instructed, not wasting a second more and stepping inside. "If we find that hidden door, we find our targets."

As they reached the door Izuku opened his mouth, the gears in his brain turning diligently.

And then, like an elevator without walls, the floor and ceiling rose.