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Gamemastersden and then .com

There was a meeting at the main conference room of the ESD main headquarters. Attending the meeting were some of the most powerful figures in law enforcement. Both generals were there as well as a few superintendent supervisors. The head chief of command at the ESD was present along with several other superintendents. This meeting was convened the morning after the disaster at Kamino ward.

"Currently, we estimate losses to be within acceptable parameters of the current calendar year. Casualties are not as generous; as it would seem that after a thorough search and scan with all measures available to us, we estimate losses to be roughly in the low hundreds."

Everybody in that meeting had the decency to have a moment of silence for those lost to such an unnecessary conflict. The supervisor of the ESD continued the debrief after the silence was concluded to be acceptable.

"We currently have our officers working around the clock to provide any essential services and medical support where it can be used."

"Thank you again for the support, head of command."

The two departments bowed their heads to one another out of respect for the shared sentiments.

"Public opinion on the destruction is still favorable as we have our Department of Public Development and Maintenance to thank for their work around the clock to help those who are seeking compensation and reconstruction from the altercation. We are managing to reach those in need at a reasonable pace as it were, though we would like to know what it is you would like us to do, Nakamura-san."

Over next to the gigantic glass window overlooking the city stood Haru in a slim italian suit with deep blue and black pinstripes as the color choice. Since it was him who convened the meeting to this location, he answered without looking back at the others.

"Proceed to increase staffing by twenty percent for financial aid and insurance. Give the construction effort thirty five for materials and staffing. See to our contacts in Europe to see if we can obtain any construction materials in bulk. I would rather we put this behind us already."

They acknowledged the request and made it so. Next on the agenda was the discussion on the villains responsible.

"As of right now, we have all necessary records and information on those present at the raid as well as information on the recently deceased members as well. There seems to be a rather loose connection with those involved, likely they were recruited shortly before the events that transpired."

Each person of interest was reviewed and when it came to Toga, Nakamura asked that the file be frozen until further notice. Her file was placed as temporarily null and void until Nakamura said otherwise. Their decisions were made to the value of their capture and ended with most of them with a bounty and committed manhunt with available resources. Then came the subject of All Might.

Many there thought the situation as more of a stalemate with their leader captured and the remaining fugitives on the run. The one to correct the assumption was one of the generals there.

"You idiots. What we lost is the symbol of peace. Right now people are asking why it was that a ragtag group of mercenary types were able to bring down the symbol of peace on their own."

That was a fairly rough truth to come to terms with. Though that was seen as a huge loss, they were not helpless.

"If it hadn't been for Nakamura's foresight to create the Emergency Security Department, we would all be in hot water right around now."

Haru decided to be the one to speak as the one to clear the air as to what was to happen next.

"I did indeed create this department of law enforcement as a contingency in the wake of losing something so significant, but it goes farther than that."

He turned and started making his way to the center of the room to speak in front of everybody. His reasoning as to the creation of the department continued as he did so.

"Did you know that UA, one of the most prodigious schools in the country, has one of the most dangerous and aggressive entrance exams out of their competitors? Do you know why they employed such a practice so recklessly?"

Most of them were well aware of Recovery Girl and her presence at UA Academy. Haru further elaborated before he could get a response.

"One person. They have one person there that apparently made this reckless practice completely acceptable by not only their predecessors, but by those who trusted the school with their own children."

There was a very clear point that everybody in the room could read on the wall. Nonetheless, he said it out loud for everybody's benefit.

"This city has allowed their hope to cloud their judgements. They put all their eggs in one basket and think that swinging it around is completely acceptable. This department is just my way of redistributing some eggs into other baskets."

The decisions that people made when heroes get involved were rather poor in hindsight. Now that it was pointed out, they all found it hard to deny.

"There are systems set at UA that were mind numbing for how poorly they were implemented. So much was dependent on just the school's supply of professional heroes."

Nakamura posed the next question to the rest of the room. It was to simply put the logic in their heads while getting them on his side.

"When you fire or lose an officer or employee, the simple answer to fix the issue is to replace them. Even all of you can just be replaced with somebody with the qualifications. But what they had wasn't as flexible as that."

Nobody thought anything about being replaced. Haru was somebody who would tell you when you should be calm or afraid of him.

"Many heroes there are professional heroes because of their unique abilities. I don't even care if they are good or great people at heart, that's the truth. If they were to retire or leave the post, what of the systems that were created for their function? Would the system previously made just be remade for the newest addition? Why create something that has so much value and has no secondary plan when things fall through?"

This truth was what guided Haru. To see the world as ideal is fine for those who can afford to do so. In Nakamura's eyes, the world was too many shades of gray to think that nothing could go wrong with even the best version of what they could achieve. His brainchild was out of his need to protect those he had a hand in providing for, in a way.

"We will not fall because we lost one person. As of now, I'm going to be moving the Emergency Security Department into its next phase. While many think that hope has been lost and those seeking to take advantage will scuttle out of their holes, we will be the ones to protect those seeking help."

As contradictory as his position was as not only the country's invisible ruler, but as the one who commanded every major criminal enterprise in Japan; he truly did work to give the people a quality of life that was most ideal for them. All of them stood to salute the man seeking the betterment of society from a position he can do so.

The discussion carried over and covered a wider range of topics to address. After all was said and discussed, the last opportunity for questions brought up one point that the leaders were curious about.

"Nakamura-san, how long until we can expect to see your return?"

"It shouldn't be too long. I'll mostly be discussing business during I-Expo, but will be taking personal time while being there. It should be just over a week. If you need me, you know how to reach me."

With that, the meeting ended and everybody went to work to protect and serve where All Might left things off. Haru headed back to ask Inko when she wanted them to go shopping for her dress and pulled out his phone when a familiar number came through before he could even unlock the screen. A rare sight to see Haru react warmly to the sight of receiving a phone call over his usual cold indifference. He answered immediately and gave a familiar and kind welcome.

"Hey kiddo, how are things? Work going okay?... Uh huh, yeah… Mhm… No, we should be okay. What about you, did you need anything?... Are you sure?... I got you, I got you…"

This went on until he reached his luxury car out front. The car roared to life and connected his phone to the car itself to allow him the conversation unimpeded. For almost the entire trip they spoke over different subjects while just being familiar with one another during their conversation.

Finally, he was approaching the Midoriya household and had to cut things short. They said their final farewells before the call ended.

"Sorry, kiddo. I gotta go. Stay safe out there."

A voice belonging to a young man replied with a kickback attitude to his tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You worry too much, pops."

Haru just smirked at the cheek boy he's known since he was a child. He could never just say yes.

"Alright then. Love you, son."

"..."

"..."

"... I love you too, dad."

The call ended quickly and it just made Haru just chuckle at the young man's antics even after all these years. Now was his time to help somebody he loved forget her troubles and give her something to look forward to.

Elsewhere

Midoriya and the others were saying their goodbyes at the train station before they all took their own rides home. Momo had admonished the other boys besides Iida and eyed them suspiciously as if to see if they were actually going home or not. They gave her their word, which seemed to be satisfactory enough to the well pampered teen. Turning to Midoriya, she and him just kissed deeply and made all the other boy's turn away embarrassed that they were doing such a thing right next to them.

That was the goodbye she really needed from the green haired boy. All of them went home and were far too tired to do much else than just go to bed. Shoto ran into his sister who let him know that their father was on the warpath. He gave her a warm welcome and apology before following the sounds of destruction that inevitably led to the family dojo.

God, how much he hated this place. All the beatings and endless hours of training till he passed out. Seeing it in shambles was only a shame to him for how it wasn't him to do so, since that honor went to his father. Endeavor was huffing mad and muttering to himself how things couldn't end like they were. It seemed that his father had reached the point he wanted, but didn't do it in the way he wanted. Shoto would have cared more if it wasn't that reason his childhood was terrible. The boy went to bed and slept like a baby.

All the other teenagers managed to get home safely enough, though Kaminari got an earful while Momo got the same treatment from her own parents due to a certain… Incident, in the past. In the end, all was well enough as the teens finally reached the end of their chaotic night.

Midoriya Residence

Midoriya was turning the corner on his street when he saw a car there he didn't recognize. It was exotic looking and rather expensive looking with a metallic blue very deep in its dark paint job. He thought it was interesting, but still felt too tired to linger. The apartment was finally in reach as he turned the handle to enter his domicile. His familiar red basketball shoes were removed and put into place, though in his exhausted mind the presence of a pair of men's dress shoes went completely unnoticed.

Between being hungry or tired, he just wanted some sleep. He heard his mother in the kitchen and thought to at least let her know he came home. Turning the corner, he announced his return for the likely concerned mother.

"Hey, mom. I'm ho-"

It was Nakamura who he failed to notice had come into the home before him. He was next to Inko as she was at the sink, washing the cups and snack plate she and Haru had their tea with. He was dressed to the nines and was now just looking at Izuku with a neutral expression. Now was when Izuku realized how oddly expressive Haru was when he smiled or had any other sort of expression when he interacted with him and the others. Him not having a reaction was one of the more unsettling things he's seen.

The younger Midoriya could see that his mother and Haru were having a conversation when he interrupted them. Haru pushed himself off from leaning against the counter edge with both pockets occupied with his hands. Thinking that this was his chance, Izuku tried to say something to his mentor.

"Ah, Ha-"

"I gotta go, Inko. I'll come pick you up tomorrow."

He gave her a kiss on the lips that she quickly turned her head to accept. That feeling of Nakamura just slipping past Izuku sent a heavy pang of guild into his chest. A few moments of being dumbfounded eventually ended when he spoke to his mother.

"... I… I-um… I-Im home, mom."

There was no animosity as she allowed Izuku to have his moment to recollect himself from what just happened. That same kind smile both he and Haru loved adorned her face as she checked Izuku over and lovingly stroked her son's face.

"Welcome home, son… I'm sorry for what happened to All Might. It must be tough, huh?"

Despite being the truth, he felt a bit numb at the moment. He just wanted to know why it was that his mentor was there in the first place.

"Mom? Why was Haru-san here? I thought he was gonna be at Ka-chan's place."

Just enough of his mind could recall where Haru had said he was off to last night. Inko sighed and just couldn't hide the disappointment in her child as she asked Izuku her questions.

"Izuku, what happened between you and Haru last night?"

It was clear that his mom knew of the planned attempt to save Katsuki and how he and the others were caught doing so. Stutters and tripping over his words, his faulty attempt at an excuse was interrupted by Inko.

"Izuku, did you know how devastated Mitsuki-san was? She only had Bakugou left as her only family. I asked Haru if there was anything he could do and he swore to me that he would do his best to try and help comfort her."

Inko finished the last of the dishes and dried her hands off before facing her son completely. Her stare felt like lead weights on his sternum.

"This was not a thing I asked just to be nice. He really did have to go through a lot of work to help her through the grief of her missing child… So why?"

He couldn't even look up at her. Even if he could go back and take back the actions he took, there was a part of him he felt would have done it. That part of him that made him react without thinking. Izuku was really starting to hate that part about himself, besides the fact it was this trait in his personality that got All Might to notice him.

"You've known him for years. He almost raised you as his own. You knew it was wrong to do so. Worst of all, you used that information to do the one thing he's asked you numerous times not to do!"

This stinging sensation was getting close to the point of intolerable. His eyes stung with the threat of tears, to which his mother sighed and just embraced her boy.

"Izuku, he doesn't hate you. In fact, I think that you need to think things over after you get some sleep."

Though now he wasn't going to cry, Izuku felt like absolute shit right then and there. Only his desire to fall asleep was moving him.

"Izuku…"

One last look over his shoulder was all he could manage to let his mom know he was listening.

"I understand how you feel hurt and want to fix things, but he needs time until he's ready. Just be patient. I want you to remember that."

Landing on the sheets of his bed felt like absolute heaven. At the end of the day, the villain was caught and Bakugou was safe. That all that mattered for right now. It was the afterwards part that was now starting to bother Izuku.

After this mess gets wrapped up, he still hurt Mina and Haru by being single minded. Haru lost his trust in him and now wouldn't even speak to him. Mina didn't answer any of his calls or texts. The more that time passed, the worse he felt. He couldn't even fall asleep in fear of waking up to the reality that two people in his life were beyond frustrated and hurt by him.

With a good amount of willpower, Midoriya pulled out his phone and just stared at the many texts and missed calls he sent to her. Reading some of the stuff back, he could see how he made things worse. Acting like nothing happened and then apologizing when she kept ignoring him felt as though he was just doing this to get her to forgive him. There was one part of him that still wanted to talk to her. If the next call he made went to voicemail, then he would fall asleep to think about it tomorrow.

Dial tone after dial tone rang out into his ear. When the dial tones stopped and the seconds rolled by without a voice mail, all Izuku could do was push himself into a sitting position as he realized Mina picked up finally.

"M-Mina?! Mina? I-it's me! It's Izuku!"

Of course she knew it was him, since they memorized each other's numbers by memory. That didn't matter as now Izuku had the opportunity to speak to her again.

"Are you there? Hello? Mina?"

"..."

In the background noise, he could still hear the sounds of her mother's stereo downstairs. She was there and listening, and now was sitting in resolute silence. If this was to try and drive him insane, she was doing a damn fine job of doing so.

"Mina, please… Please say something…"

"..."

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything I said, just please say something! I just want to know you're actually there… I want to hear your voice, Mimi… Please…"

After a few more moments, Izuku received his confirmation that Mina had indeed listened in the form of her hanging up. Maybe she really was too good for him. His eyes were leaking tears as he silently scrolled through his photos of her and their time together. Unknown to him, a girl who was taking over his mind was being consoled by her mother as she too was crying herself to sleep.

ESD Medical Center

Whoever the ESD could save were all being cared for and being transported to nearby hospitals one after another. Only those in critical enough condition were being sent to ESD medical. After the treatment, If they were stable enough, they would be moved to other available facilities due to occupancy issues. One of these rooms had three very familiar faces all talking about recent events that transpired while going over the data. All Might, Gran Torino, and stucauchi were all left alone in All MIght's room to discuss private matters.

Every scrap of power and strength he once had was used and dried up. None of the comforting warmth was there. For the first time ever, he lacked the ability to be the symbol of peace he used to be. This wasn't going to dissuade the hero to do what he felt was still within his means. That then led into the subject of the identity of Shigaraki Tomura.

This sort of truth to be revealed after losing not only his power, but the safety he provided to the public was unfathomable to the former hero. Why was the truth revealed to him when he was already about to sacrifice it all? None of this felt fair, yet he could do nothing against it.

Gran Torino could tell that his former student was conflicted on the matter of Shigaraki. He forbade him from acting on such a rash action. All Might was no more in terms of being a national hero for peace. The ideology he represented may cause more heroes to rise, but for now, this was something people with ill intention would take advantage of.

Gran Torino swore to take the matter with Tsukauchi and himself to search for the missing blood relative. This subject of discussion then led into the largest elephant in the room; the one who actually submitted All for one to All Might for him to finish off.

"Bloodsoaked… What the hell is he? I couldn't tell you what he had for breakfast even if I was sittin there with im!"

Gran Torino had avoided death from the mass murderer in the past, now he was far from estatic to see him much could be said now, but nobody doubted that this was the last they saw of him; especially with Tsukauchi working with the man in question directly.

All Might, former hero, still couldn't shake what the masked man said to him in private that night. How was it that he knew and even cared for Tenko? How was it that he lost the boy to All for One? Was his connection to All for One even deeper than he possibly could have imagined? There was no way of telling for now, though he was hesitant to say that he would be looking forward to discovering more about this Bloodsoaked character.

"Oy, Toshi!"

Noticing that his former pupil was deep in thought, Gran Torino grabbed the injured man's attention to ask what it was that got him lost in his own head. Keeping secrets at this point was not a point of contention, so he came out and just said what he heard from Bloodsoaked.

"... He said something to me. That night, when he saved me."

That got the others' attention. They insisted that he tell them immediately while preventing him from doing so by being so incessant.

"H-he said that he failed to save him! That it was his fault that All for One had him for so long."

None of this made sense for the elder hero. The man he knew was nothing short of a sadistic monster who bathed in his victims blood. Why would he have saved the boy all that time ago at the end of his murderous rampage? Was he going to kill him? He couldn't find the logic behind Bloodsoaked's actions at all. There wasn't a single thing about him that Gran Torino could see as logical.

"He said… He said that he's spent years looking for him. Maybe that's why he left All for One alive all that time ago, so see if he could lead him back to the boy. While I didn't even know teacher had a grandchild, this murderer was out looking for him and doing everything he could to do so…"

Toshinori felt so terrible that his words were failing him. Being the one that was out of the loop just made the hero feel even more guilty for not looking into his teacher's history. He felt that he should have known that one fact at least.

A solid clunk of a staff hitting the hero in the head knocked him out of his self deprecation. Gran Torino threw his walking stick at the man's head to get his attention. With a very heavy and serious tone, he warned his former student of such a thought process.

"Toshi, listen to me. You are not at fault for not knowing about her grandchild. She buried that truth so much that her own son resented how his mother was a complete stranger to him. This is her mistake, not yours."

There was a pause as he let Toshinori process for a moment what Gran Torino just said.

"... She wasn't perfect. Her mistakes hurt those closest to her heart. That was fear that made her fuck up. You don't have to think like that."

It was rare when his teacher acted sincere, but not unbelievably so. His words reached deep into All Might and consoled his restless heart.

"This was a mistake that came from years of miserable circumstances. All of it was far out of your control and well before you even knew the truth. Even then, do not compare your lack of action to that thing's motivation to do so. You are the hero, not him."

Sincerity did help to give Toshinori the confidence to quell his doubt. Gran Torino finished off with one last line.

"The greatest hero in the world will never be compared to someone who will never be a hero. Steel yourself, All Might. It isn't over yet."

Later That Evening

The chime of a private message woke Izuku out of his slumber. His hand hadn't released the phone from how he gripped it when he was scrolling through his personal picture gallery. He saw that it was from somebody that still commanded his immediate attention. Izuku was out of bed and out the door before his own mother knew just what the heck was going on.

Elsewhere

Arriving at the beach where he first trained, Izuku scanned the sand and spotted All Might standing by his lonesome at the same spot they met when Izuku was about to go to UA Academy. All Might was there, as well as… His mind kept focusing on other things as he approached his mentor.

"All Might!"

"Yo, young Midoriya!"

This friendly greeting from All Might then went straight into a very weakened Texas Smash. It was just a left straight from the emaciated skeleton of a man. Izuku gave away under the force of the punch so as to not injure his teacher and rolled with the force of the hit. This fact wasn't lost on All Might as he still retained the experience that came with his extensive career as a hero.

Izuku went rolling into the sand while All Might could tell that it was just a ploy. This went into the reveal that All Might was only now able to use his power for about ten seconds at most per day now. Reprimanding Izuku was mostly done out of concern for the boy, but his knowledge of how to guide those under his care kicked in and had him tell Izuku that he was now just his mentor no matter what.

Izuku cried openly after everything he went through. He lost not one, but two of his mentors, as well as the love of his life. All of this was not how he envisioned it to be. With this personal declaration of shifting interests from All Might, now it was nothing short of final for the greatest hero to live to that date. All Might had finally retired.

Later

Izuku had climbed up the stairs to the beach parking lot and spotted a beer bottle that hadn't been there when he arrived at the beach. He would have ignored the piece of trash hadn't been for the way he was raised. Haru never failed to clean the area around his food truck and would never fail to dispose of his own refuse if he could help it. The bottle was picked up and was about to go into the trash when Izuku noticed something.

This sort of detail would fly underneath most other people's radars without context. For Izuku, it wasn't only the brand of beer that Haru drank, it was also the type of smokes he preferred. No matter how much scanning Izuku did to search for his other mentor, Haru had been gone for some time since he saw Izuku embrace All Might.

All Might picked up on his pupil's search attempts and was curious as to the nature of the rather random behavior. Izuku hesitated and it was something that All Might could understand as something that would distress a boy as noble as Midoriya.

"... The reason I… I-uh… I was able to find the villain base was… It came from Nakamura."

His eyebrows raised at the fact that it was the enigma of a traveling chef that had that sort of information available to him. Since it wasn't the focus of the conversation, Izuku kept breaking down the previous events of that night.

"He got the information to help Ka-chan's mom and to tell her that Ka chan wasn't going to be hurt… And when somebody in the class overheard him saying he could find out…"

"... You thought you could use the information to find young Bakugou."

He was ashamed of what had happened and had constant guilt over what he did ever since. Hearing it from All Might made it hurt so much worse. It brought Izuku to tears that he fought to contain.

"A-and… And he, and he found out! He just… He… He threw it at me and just told us to take it… Oh, god, I'm so stupid! I didn't think that… That he would… He… I…"

All Might held the crying boy against his chest and helped the boy muster out the last of his tears. Throughout his years as a man, he knew that disappointing somebody you looked up to was a horrible feeling. For Izuku, what he was feeling must have been almost overwhelming. That man knew the boy since he was a young child and that he had guided the boy with nothing but good intention and love.

Getting his trust betrayed by somebody he raised as his own was its own problem as well. You didn't have to be a genius to see that Nakamura was dealing with his own emotional turmoil and was a bit justified to be so cold towards Izuku. Deep down, All Might knew what to say to the boy for him to understand what he did wrong and how to tell the boy what that thing was.

"Izuku, listen to me. I want you to hear what I have to say."

Midoriya had stifled his crying enough to look back up at his mentor to listen to his words properly.

"... Being a hero doesn't mean doing the right thing without thinking about the consequences. You still have to be a good person to balance your life out. Good intentions don't mean anything if the people you love just end up getting hurt."

While Izuku was thinking of Mina and Haru, All Might was thinking back on Tenko. Perhaps his teacher had made a grave mistake in alienating herself from the family she had out of her fear for their safety. Even the hero himself had something to think about with how he put Izuku in his shoes without thinking things through.

"Making the decisions you think are good in intention doesn't make them the right one. I urge you to think about that. I certainly must…"

Both he and Izuku had quite a bit to think about for now. All that could be done now was to weather the storm and wait for an opportunity for Izuku to make amends. He just wished that the time would come sooner than later.