Author's Note: Yes, I'm continuing MHA from various points of view! I'm into Season 5-6, chapters 242-298 (Plus World Heroes Mission and Light Novel Volume 5) for this year, and I hope you all continue enjoying hearing this story from supporting characters. Sad the series ended, and plan to continue the plot in my own way once I catch up. In my mind it will go on and in any ways I want, as long as I keep doing this. Faithful fans unite!

Eijiro

"It's just too bad about All Might, isn't it, Ei?" Mom asked me over the New Year's dinner table.

Thanks to the League of Villains, security around going home for New Year's was pretty tight, and I had had to come home escorted by Present Mic-sensei. Not that I was complaining, I sure as heck didn't want to get attacked again. It just meant I was only gonna see my family for one day, and only my Mom at that since Dad was away on a work trip.

My folks sold the house we grew up in after I moved into the dorm system. Nobody wanted to talk about it, but it was because they needed a smaller, less expensive place. Once I graduated, there wasn't really any place to come back to.

"Hmph," said a rather gruff voice I knew pretty well. "That's what happens in the end to those heroes."

Dad travels overseas plenty, so Mom has our next-door neighbor Aina stay with her when he's gone for some company. Aina doesn't seem to like me much, something about thinking hero work is a waste of time and too flashy a dream for a kid with a quirk like mine. Mom and Dad are pretty supportive - but I always kinda guessed they thought the same thing.

"Hush, dear," Mom told Aina in response to that remark. "Remember, All Might is one of Eijiro's teachers. It must be so nice to see him day after day!"

"Well, he's not the only inspiring hero at UA, even if he is one of the best!" I grinned at her. "It's pretty exciting to be going back to Fatgum's agency."

"Oh, dear, I sup- HRCH!" She coughed a bit and I reached out to help her set down her cup.

Mom's getting on in years…sometimes I feel guilty, like I should leave UA, get a job somewhere young and make money to send home. Mom's big on following your dreams and she won't hear of that. She wouldn't even take the cut I tried to give her from what I made at my work study at the Fatgum agency.

"It's fine dear, I'm fine," she reassured me. "I'm glad you're getting more work experience."

"I maybe didn't tell you, but that little girl Eri is staying at UA now, the one we saved before. And she's doing a lot better! She's smiling and having a great time."

"You must be such a hero to that little girl, saving her from villains and all."

I didn't want to answer that. I hadn't met Eri during the rescue, so she didn't really recognize me. She was always nice, but I wasn't her hero. That was Midoriya and Togata. Not that I wanted to compete with them, or anything. But all I'd really done was fight one villain during that mission. I hadn't really saved anyone.

"I hope you'll be careful, though, dear. I don't want you to end up facing that nasty League of Villains again."

Back then - that other time when I didn't - couldn't - save someone. Bakugou, that time. My friend, well, kind of former friend.

Ashido lived nearby, so she'd come with me. Heading back, we were taking the same train towards the city where our work studies would begin.

"Man, you look pretty down!" She told me. "What's up?"

Ashido probably knows me better than anyone, and she can always tell when the smile I wear is fake. There's really no fooling her.

"I was thinking about how me and Bakugou don't really hang out anymore."

"That bothers you?" She laughed, then stopped. "Sorry. I mean - how come?"

"I don't know. I guess he's just too busy, with getting his license with Todoroki and now going to do his work study with Endeavor. Most of our gang from the start have kind of - gone different ways? I guess?"

"Our gang?"

"You, me, Bakugou, Kaminari, Sero…we're all kind of doing our own things now. It's been a while since we hung out."

"We all live together. We see each other every day."

"In passing, yeah. Not to just - hang out alone."

"That's probably because we can't go anywhere without supervision - no offense, sensei," she added to Mic, who had been too busy entertaining nearby passengers with his radio chatter to really pay attention to our conversation.

"Don't sweat it, kiddo!" He tossed off. Ashido rolled her eyes.

"Hopefully we'll get that League of Villains soon, then we'll have time to hang out again!" She grinned. I smiled a little too. Ashido has a way of making you feel better like that.

"Yeah. Hopefully."

The train came to a stop and I announced, "This is the stop for Fatgum's place. Good luck at Musha's!"

Ashido

Mr. Musha was standing behind his big desk looking big and grim as always. Hagakure and Aoyama were already there and suited up, and Mr. Musha's three sidekicks looked annoyed at me for being late. Ish. I wasn't. Maybe a minute!

"Nice of you to finally join us, Pinky," said Musha. I shrugged. "Sorry, train ran slow. What's up?"

"We are going to be taking a bit of a road trip for this case," he informed us. "Take your bags and get into the van."

It was a pretty junky old van, but big enough, I guess, for all seven of us. Big open traveling van that Musha used to patrol Japan far and wide with his team. Me, Hagakure and Aoyama, being the junior sidekicks, were squeezed into the back, while the three main sidekicks sat in the front.

"We're investigating a case of murders in the rural south," explained Splatter, holding up a laptop to show us the data. The newscasters, broadcasting from what looked like the middle of nowhere, looked pretty grim.

"A long series of mutilated bodies have been appearing throughout the countryside. They appear to have been cut up and drained of blood, but the police cannot determine the weapons. They are bodies of humans that have been treated much like animals would be in a slaughterhouse."

"Ew!" Said Hagakure, putting her invisible gloved hands over her mouth.

"You'll need a stronger stomach than that to do this work," said Musha from the front seat.

"The police, along with heroes working for the Musha agency, have apprehended a drifter in the nearby area who they suspect may have some connection to the killings."

"That's good!" I said. "They got him?"

"Her connection is spurious at best," said XXXX, shaking her head. "She was nearly out of her mind and talking about slaughterhouses and killings, cutting at herself with a long knife…"

The screen cut to an interrogation room, where the woman they were discussing was pacing around a cell, scratching at her body.

"What do you know about the killings?"

"Ermph, give me, give me! I want - want blood, want blood! Flesh!" She hissed out, scratching at herself some more.

I winced and looked away. Sure, I was a hero, but I didn't have to watch this.

"Ma'am, we need -"

"Scratch you!"

She leapt out at the police officer and reaching through the bars, tore down the cop's arm, drawing blood, licking it.

"How repulsive!" Gasped Aoyama.

"It's a gruesome case, indeed," XXXX sighed. "We're investigating a tenuous link. We can only hope to find who's behind this, and stop them together."

I didn't much like the idea of having to face more people, if they were anything like that woman. This made the League of Villains sound tame.

Eijirou

Fatgum's agency always smelled of the fresh cooked foods Fat and Amajiki needed for their quirks. Today it smelled like amajiki was hoping to use his standard takoyaki, alongside some new thing I hadn't seen before, while Fat was chowing down on his favorite deep-fried treats.

Meeting me at the gate was familiar face, one I'd agreed to recommend. Tetsutetsu, my old rival, grinning from one side of his face to another.

"KIRISHIMA! READY TO KICK SOME BUTT?!"

"Calm down, man. We're in public."

We walked through the doors, Tetsutetsu shaking his head. "YOU NEVER USED TO BE SO QUIET."

Fat was at his usual desk, chowing down, while Amajiki stood in the corner, refusing to face us.

"Welcome to the agency!" Fatgum greeted Tetsutetsu with a wave. "Got a good recommendation for you from Red Riot here. Real Steel's the hero name, I hear?"

"THAT'S RIGHT!"

"Well, Real Steel, you should know that my agency's been getting along all right with these two sidekicks here -" pointing to me and Amajiki - " just fine. Sure, you come recommended - but tell me, Real Steel - what will you bring to the agency?"

Tetsutetsu grinned. "ENDURANCE! CONFIDENCE! THE WILLINGNESS TO ALWAYS GO BEYOND!"

"Hm." Fat looked at me. "Red's got those traits already, you know."

I opened my mouth; I was about to contradict him and say "No, I don't, I'm just a regular guy", but something in Fat's face told me I needed to just go with it. So I kept quiet.

Tetsutetsu was looking at me. "We've been compared ever since the Sports Festival, haven't we, Kirishima?"

"I guess so," I said, not sure where he was going with this.

"It's hard to stand out these days, with the kind of simple quirks we've got."

That was true. I'd been told my whole life a plain quirk like mine wasn't really cut out for heroism. I didn't have Ashido's flashy looks and personality and powers, or Bakugou's explosions, or Midoriya's show-stopping power. I was just a regular guy who could harden. And there was another guy out there who was basically just like me. It made it even harder to stand out. I'd been totally fine with recommending Tetsutetsu - I mean, I wasn't gonna refuse - but I couldn't help but wonder if working with him was just gonna show up the things I wasn't as good at.

"You did so great against Todoroki in our Joint training, though…" I mumbled. "You really showed me up. I feel like I've got to run twice as fast just to keep up with you."

"C'mon now, Red! You're the one who's done real pro hero work. Tangled with the toughest villains there are! Gone out rescuing people and doing the kind of work a real pro needs! You're a total inspiration. No need to get so down on yourself!"

I grinned a little, feeling reassured. Fat said, suddenly, "I think you'll fit right in here, kid. Now, change into your hero gear! We're out on patrol!"

"That was sudden," I murmured, as me and Tetsutetsu headed to change.

"JUST GLAD TO HEAR I'M IN! I'LL WORK PLENTY HARD!" He called.

I kind of got the impression though, as I was thinking it over, that it had something to do with me cracking a smile at what Tetsutetsu had said.