"Damn it..." Hayato muttered to himself as he laid in his bed, looking at his ceiling cloaked in darkness. He turned his head, seeing his alarm clock saying "12:30." It had been two days since his last encounter with Blitz, and the scared look of the little girl he had felt as if it was engraved into his eyelids every time he closed his eyes. Why? Why would he be involved with the Yakuza? Why did he have that little girl with him? Why was...why was he so powerless to help her? And each time he had those thoughts: his mind could only wander to think about his missing grandfather and Mira's pleas to find him.
'I might not be able to make up for my mistakes with Towa, but I want to at least help my grandson finish becoming a hero.' Sorahiko's words from the day they met echoed in his mind and the boy could only grit his teeth in frustration at the thought of losing another family member. He closed his eyes once more, fighting past his thoughts to try to get some sleep. Mira's pleas, Sorahiko's encouraging words, Towa and Raito's apologies, the little girl's scared expression...all of that found its way back to the last lunch he shared with Kazuma.
'...I could proudly see my grandson grow into the man he is today.' Kazuma's words began to echo in his mind as well and Hayato could only grab his pillow and throw it across the room in frustration. How could Kazuma be proud of who he is if he can't save Sorahiko or that little girl? If only he was faster...fast enough...that's all he needed. To be...
"Fast enough?" Hayato's eyes snapped open and he found himself in a strange white space. He turned around and saw a man faintly glowing blue with a very odd resemblance to Katsuki except for a large scar in the middle of his face above the bridge of his nose.
"Bakugo? Wait, no. This is something else isn't it?"
"Bakugo? Friend of yours, I assume?" The man asked, taking a step forwards towards Hayato. Hayato sighed and shook his head, and the man just shrugged. "I'm Kudo."
"Kudo?"
"I'm the second user of One for All. I could hear your thoughts and decided to come pay you a visit."
"Must be a hell of an honor. First I took the Quirk I didn't want and now I'm being visited by a ghost of One for All past." Hayato muttered turning around once more.
"Normally we wouldn't do these things. But the circumstances are different this time. Never has there been two users of One for All at the same time, let alone without the other losing their powers." Kudo began to explain as he walked over to Hayato's side.
"I shouldn't even have them to begin with."
"I see what you mean. But this is good."
"How is it good?" Hayato asked and Kudo chuckled.
"All for One is still here, and if eight users still haven't been able to defeat him: then maybe ten will."
"That's a big maybe." Hayato sighed and looked down at his left hand, seeing faint white lines make their way across it. "So what did you want to talk about? Shimura already spoke to me about the Quirk transference a long time ago."
"You want to get faster, I may be able to help you there."
"How?"
"Gearshift." Kudo's reply made Hayato raise an eyebrow. "It's the second quirk that ever became part of One for All, it was mine. I had the ability to alter the speed of anything I could touch. Make it faster or slower while ignoring the laws of inertia. It's all very technical." Kudo explained as he raised a hand, making a small blue orb of light begin to shine from it.
"So if I were to use Gearshift...I could-"
"Enhance your speed ten-fold. Originally I could only use it on small objects, but after combining with One for All: the Quirk's capabilities have increased to the point it would be difficult to control. I would only ever ask Izuku Midoriya to use it as a last resort, especially since it would take a toll on his body after a few minutes could incapacitate him." Kudo explained and Hayato shook his head, before realizing what Kudo was trying to relay to him.
"If Izuku was the one who used it?"
"That's what I said."
"Because his body's not built for a speed-based ability."
"I see you're a quick learner. Your body is built to handle the energy burn as well as take in the Oxygen you need to keep using your ability since it affects your entire body. I entrust you with the ability to make use of Gearshift to its fullest, but I must ask you to please exercise caution."
"Why?"
"There's a danger behind a person who already had a Quirk gaining the added powers of One for All. I can only hope that you may be an exception, but I could still be very much wrong."
"What danger?"
"All in due time, for now you should practice with Gearshift so your body gets used to it. Once you're able to use it in tandem with your own abilities: you will finally reach the point you've been striving to achieve." Kudo said as the white space and his body began to fade out. Seeing the man begin to disappear, Hayato reached out to keep asking him about the danger he mentioned, but all he grabbed was the blue orb that appeared from Kudo's body.
"Hey sleepyhead, time to get up." Hayato opened his eyes and saw Izuku standing over him in his pajamas. He looked at the clock, noticing that his alarm should've gone off half an hour ago. "Your alarm was going off, and you were still sleeping."
"Sorry, I had a lot on my mind that didn't let me sleep." Hayato muttered as he sat up, looking down at his left hand and remembering his conversation with Kudo.
"Well, go get ready before you miss out on breakfast." Izuku motioned toward the door, and Hayato's costume was lazily thrown on the floor near it. He hurried out of the room to give his best friend a chance to change.
"Gearshift...how do I even use it?" Hayato muttered as he got up from his bed and walked over to pick up his costume. He threw it in his hamper to have it washed later since Sir Nighteye told him he didn't have to wear it today, but that his attendance to an important meeting that day was absolutely crucial.
"Alright, time to go." Hayato muttered as he walked out of the dormitory, ready to see whatever Nighteye had in store for him. Before he could continue, he felt a hard pat on his back and turned to see Eijiro standing behind him. "Hey, Kirishima."
"Morning, Kiryuu. You've got work study today, too?"
"Yeah, you?"
"Yup. Fatgum called me in today."
"You guys are going to your work studies today?" The two turned around to see Ochaco and Tsuyu walking behind them too.
"Yeah." The two replied at the same time before stopping to wait for them.
"Where are your costumes?" Hayato asked, noticing none of them were holding the suitcases they kept their costumes inside of.
"I was told I didn't need mine today." Eijiro responded with a shrug.
"Us too." Ochaco added making Hayato think for a moment. He shrugged as well, figuring it was nothing important, and the four continued to walk together.
"This is strange..." Hayato muttered as he walked towards Nighteye's agency. He turned around, seeing his friends walking close behind him, and stopped.
"What's up, Hayato?" Ochaco asked as she walked up to her best friend.
"All of our work studies are in different areas, yet we all took the same train, got off at the same station, and going to the same place."
"Yeah, I was told we were meeting up somewhere different today." Eijiro responded and the two girls nodded in agreement. "You know where we're going?"
"This is the way to Sir's place, that's why it's strange to me." Hayato added before continuing to walk and suddenly seeing Mirio and his two closest friends, Tamaki Amajiki and Nejire Hado, standing in front of the entrance to Nighteye's agency. "And even the Big Three are here."
"Hey! How's it going?" Mirio greeted the four by raising his hand, and Hayato walked up to him.
"Mirio, what's going on?"
"No clue." Mirio's response with the smile he usually had plastered on his face made Hayato groan and hang his head down in defeat. The seven then opened the doors to the agency, surprised to see the lobby of the building filled with several heroes talking with one another and the one that surprised them the most to see was Mr. Aizawa talking to Bubble Girl nearby. "Talk about a full house."
"What the hell...?"
"Oh! You guys are here?" A new voice surprised the group, and they turned around to see Izuku and Fumikage walking in behind them.
"Izuku?" Hayato asked, surprised to see his best friend suddenly standing there.
"Deku? Tokoyami?" Ochaco asked, running up to her boyfriend. "What are you two doing here?"
"Hawks called us and told us to come here." Izuku responded before looking around in awe at the amount of heroes in the room.
"He said it was an important part of our work study and even had a car sent to bring us here from the station." Fumikage responded before the towering figure of Sir Nighteye entered the room.
"Welcome, everyone. We have much to discuss." Nighteye said as he walked forward, catching everyone's attention as he did. "Thanks to the information we received from all of you, the investigation has moved forward substantially. We will now have a conference to share what information we have acquired regarding what the small organization, Shie Hassaikai, is planning."
"Well then, let's begin." Once everyone entered Nighteye's meeting room, they quickly sat down so that Bubble Girl could begin their conference. "Those of us from Nighteye Agency have been conducting an independent investigation into the designated villain group known as the Shie Hassaikai for about two weeks." Bubble Girl said as sh looked down at her clipboard, while Izuku turned to Hayato and began to whisper to him.
"You have?"
"Not me or Mirio. This is news to us." Hayato whispered nudging Mirio on his right who nodded.
"What prompted this?" One of the visiting heroes asked.
"An accident involving a gang of thieves called the Reservoir Dogs. The police wrote it off like it was an accident, but multiple things didn't make sense, so we began to follow them." Bubble Girl explained as now Centipeder began to speak up.
"I, Centipeder, conducted a follow-up investigation. And during so: I found that, in the past year, the members of the Shie Hassaikai have increased contact with those outside of their organization and other groups involved with shady businesses, all with the intention of expanding their organization and increasing their funds. And soon after beginning the investigation, he was in contact with a member of the League of Villains, Jin Bubaigawara, villain name: Twice." Centipeder explained before the large screen on the wall behind him, Nighteye, and Bubble Girl began to show Kai standing with Twice by a black car. "They were wary of being tailed, and I was unable to follow them, but thanks to the police I was able to find out that an altercation had occurred between the two organizations." Centipeder continued, and the screen showed a warehouse with two police cars in front: showing a broken wall as well as burn marks and shards of ice scattered about.
"I hate to interrupt, but can someone please explain to me why a bunch of high school students were invited to this? It feels unnecessary and out of their league to include them in something like this." A dark skinned man wearing a yellow mask over his eyes and a green hero costume with lock shaped earrings said making Izuku begin to feel nervous.
'That's Rock Lock...! His Quirk is so cool!'
"Don't say that!" The entire room watched as a large man wearing a large yellow jacket with the initials FG on it with a black mask over his eyes stood up and motioned to Eijiro and Tamaki sitting next to him. "These two have very important information to pass along." The hero said, confusing Eijiro while Tamaki anxiously hung his head down.
"Uh...we do?"
"Anyway, I see a lot of new faces so let me introduce myself! I'm Fatgum, nice to meet you!" Fatgum announced, smiling at everyone while Tsuyu and Ochaco smiled at him.
"He's so cute and squishy." Was their shared reaction to his introduction.
"We suspect that one of the Hassaikai's main sources of income is unauthorized drugs. So I requested help from heroes who are well-versed in matters like that." Nighteye spoke up, making Fatgum's demeanor suddenly flip to anger.
"I crushed tons of guys like that back in the day. And then the other day, during Red Riot's debut fight, a type I'd never seen before was shot into Tamaki. It was a drug that destroys Quirks." Fatgum said as he clenched his fists, crushing some candy he had inside of it to hand to Ochaco and Tsuyu.
"What?! Are you okay, Tamaki?!" Mirio asked, jumping from his seat concerned.
"Yeah, don't worry. I recovered after I got some sleep." Tamaki said as Mirio sat back down.
"Thank goodness..."
"I feel better knowing you can recover from it. So it's not a permanent thing?" Rock Lock asked and Nighteye shook his head.
"No. We will hear from Eraser Head on that matter." Nighteye said as he motioned to the Hero sitting in the far corner.
"It seems to be a little different than my Erasure, because I don't attack the Quirk itself directly. The Quirk is an extra part with a special function added to a basic human body. Those extra parts are lumped together as Quirk genes. I only turn off those parts momentarily, but I can't damage them directly." Aizawa explained pointing at his eyes before looking at Fatgum.
"Right after Tamaki was shot, we had the hospital take a look at him, and his Quirk genes had been damaged. Thankfully, they healed on their own and now he's back to normal."
"And the analysis on what was shot into him?" Nighteye asked.
"There was nothing wrong with the rest of his body. The only thing that was damaged was his Quirk." Fatgum said and a wave of silence from fear and nerves suddenly swept the room as Fatgum continued to talk. "The guy who shot him isn't saying anything. The gun that fired it is destroyed. And the only bullet we had was the one that had been shot!" Fatgum yelled in frustration before letting out a soft chuckle and patting Eijiro on his back. "Thanks to Kirishima's brave actions: one bounced off his body and we were able to recover one still filled with the drug!"
"Good job, Kirishima!" Ochaco yelled, smiling at the red-haired hero.
"That's wonderful!" Tsuyu added, smiling at him as well.
"Excellent work." Fumikage said, nodding at Eijiro.
"Your Hardening is an amazing counter to a weapon like that." Izuku said, giving him a thumbs up.
"He's right, buddy." Hayato nodded in agreement. Eijiro blushed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Th-Thanks, everyone. But I'm still having a hard time following all of this..." Eijiro muttered before Fatgum continued.
"And after analyzing the contents, we discovered something that made me sick to my core: human blood and cells were inside of it." Fatgum said, and all of the U.A. students suddenly felt as if their hearts had leaped into their throats from shock.
"In other words, that effect came from someone's Quirk?" A blonde-haired woman wearing a red dress with what looked like dragon wings on the side of her head spoke up, looking at Nighteye. "A Quirk that destroys Quirks..."
"But what does this have to do with the Hassaikai?" One of the other heroes asked, confused by the conversation thus far.
"The man Kirishima captured that night and the drug he used. The distribution channels for things like it are pretty complex, it's really shrunk nowadays, but various people and organizations sell them wholesale until they finally reach the end user." Fatgum spoke up, taking it upon himself to answer the question. "There's no proof that the Hassaikai were the ones who handled them, but they did interact with one of the intermediaries."
"That's it?" The same hero from before asked.
"The other day, when Ryukyu's team broke up a fight between two villain groups, controlling one of them was the intermediary dealer organization." Nighteye replied, turning to Ryukyu to continue his point.
"One of the two that turned giant had been given an inferior drug that didn't last very long."
"There have been a lot of gang-related crimes recently, and you could tie it back to the Hassaikai if you try hard enough."
"But it sounds like you're trying really hard to pin the blame on the Hassaikai. Do you have anything that implicated them more obviously?" Suddenly, the screen behind the Nighteye team showed a photo of Kai, wearing his signature plague mask.
"The young leader Kai Chisaki's Quirk, Overhaul, allows him to disassemble and restore things. A Quirk that allows him to completely break down matter. And a bullet that can break down Quirks." As Nighteye explained Kai's Quirk to everyone, a thought began to cross both Hayato and Mirio's minds at the same time. The familiar mask, the conversation of the Hassaikai, it couldn't be possible...could it? "Chisaki has a daughter named Eri." Once they heard that name, the two began to tremble as they remembered their encounter with Blitz and that scared little girl covered in bandages not too long ago. "There are no records or details about her birth, but when Mirio and Hayato encountered her, they noticed there were bandages wrapped around her arms and legs." Nighteye explained as the screen changed to show Eri standing with Blitz behind her and Kai in front of her by the entrance of a building.
"Could he really do something so horrific?" Ryukyu asked, hoping that she could be wrong about this train of thought.
"In a world like this: if you can dream it, you can do it." Aizawa muttered, nodding his head.
"Wait...what are they talking about?" Eijiro asked and Rock Lock sighed once more.
"Seriously, why are there children here? I'm gonna say this one time: we're wondering if this bastard, Chisaki, is turning his daughter's body into bullets and selling it on the black market."
"No..." Eijiro whispered, feeling a cold chill run down his spine.
"Don't say that..." Ochaco whispered, scared for the girl in question.
"Just to be clear: there's no evidence that he's actually selling the bullets. At this point, their efficacy appears to be questionable. It's possible that they're still in the testing phase, and he's giving out samples to try to rally more people to his cause. There's no hard evidence of this, but we do know he's gathering allies and funds from across the nation. If the completed drug allows him to annihilate someone's Quirk entirely, imagine the devastation he could cause."
"Just talking about it's enough to piss me off. Let's go get this monster!" Fatgum yelled while Rock Lock turned his attention to the silent Hayato and Mirio.
"It would've saved us the trouble if these two amateurs had gotten the girl away from him that day."
"I take full responsibility for that-"
"No." Hayato spoke up, surprising everyone as he stood. "I'm sorry, Rock Lock. But there was no way we could've gotten Eri way from Chisaki." Hayato said as he raised his head, showing his anger-filled eyes as he clenched his fists tightly. "I'm sorry, Sir. But there was a bit of information we kept from you that day, and it's because I asked Mirio to keep it between us."
"Hayato-" Mirio tried to stop him, but Hayato raised his hand, extending it towards the screen.
"That man, the one standing behind that little girl...he's Blitz, the Speed Hunter." Hayato said, pointing at the man standing behind Eri. Everyone looked at Hayato in shock, but Nighteye kept the same stern gaze fixed on him.
"What?"
"How can you be so sure that was him?" Nejire asked, and Hayato could only chuckle.
"He's been the bane of my existence since the night we met. I've encountered him enough to know what he sounds like, especially when he's toying with me because he knows I'm powerless to stop him. He was the one we encountered with Eri that day. If Mirio and I had tried anything, neither of us would be here talking with you. But I was still ready to go after them if it meant helping that little girl...Mirio was the one who stopped me from acting out of impulse, and I owe him for that." Hayato explained before sitting back down. Nighteye nodded and spoke up, taking control of the conversation once more.
"Despite that, the blame should still fall on me and not them. Even without knowing the full story, they acted to save the child in their own ways. Hayato was prepared to follow them to try to take her back then, but Mirio chose to stop him and wait for another opportunity when success would be more likely. I assure you that no one in this room is more frustrated than they are. And now we've finally reached the reason for this meeting."
"If what you're saying is for real, then that little girl is at the center of the Hassaikai's entire underground drug operation. She was seen by a couple of heroes, even with her insanely fast bodyguard. I doubt Chisaki would be willing to keep her at home after that. And if we go busting into their headquarters and she's not there, they're gonna know that we're onto them. We've gotta be sure of where he's hiding her." Rock Lock pointed out the issue with what Nighteye was saying, and Ryukyu nodded in response.
"He has a point. Do you have a plan for that, Nighteye?"
"That's our conundrum. Since we don't currently know how far they've taken their plans, the success of the initial strike is crucial. To that end, we've made a list of groups with connections to the Hassaikai, as well as properties owned by their organization. This is our starting point." Nighteye explained as the screen changed to show a map of Japan with ten different locations marked across it. "I'd like for you all to investigate each coordinate on this map. It's the most logical way to narrow down our targets."
"So that's why you asked minor heroes like us to join you." One of the lesser-known heroes said, looking down as he understood why he was there.
"What do you mean?"
"Look at the screen again. The heroes in this room all operate in one of those areas. We know the areas better than most."
"I didn't expect someone who worked with All Might for so long to be such a careful planner." Fatgum said, making Nighteye look at him. "While we're here talking, that little girl is probably crying, waiting for someone to help her. Don't you think we should be acting on this already?!"
"That's exactly why he's the best person to take charge of this." The entire room quieted down as a new member walked in, and even if he was a shell of his former self, they all knew this almost-skeletal man was All Might. "You all have to be very careful and meticulous on your strategies and predictions from the get-go. That way, you all have the highest chance of saving that young girl." All Might said as he stood next to Nighteye, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I understand your frustrations, Fatgum. I wish I had the power to help you all, but this can't be a strike like what happened in my last fight. If you rush in and don't help that child, then you'd just be throwing gas on that fire."
"All Might...why are you here?" Izuku asked, and All Might gave him a reassuring smile.
"Hawks had some information he wanted me to share with you all. First of all, he wanted me to let Nighteye know that he can borrow Young Midoriya and Tokoyami for this operation. He said their abilities will help provide a higher success rate."
"If that's the case, then why isn't that bird brain here too? He was right behind you and Endeavor on the rankings." Rock Lock asked and All Might just sighed.
"I didn't ask, forgive me. But if he said that those two will be valuable assets to this, I trust his word. And the other information, he has reason to believe that Eri isn't the only person in danger of being close to Chisaki and the Hassaikai." All Might said as he pulled out a tablet and handed it to Bubble Girl. After tapping on the screen for a few seconds, she was able to cast the image All Might had on it on the screen for everyone to see. On it was Kai and Blitz, standing with Toga, Twice, and Yuki by a car as someone was being thrown into the back seat. As she zoomed in to try to see who it was, Hayato and Izuku's eyes widened as he recognized the destroyed white and yellow costume, the torn yellow cape, and the bloodied and bruised face of the small old man being thrown in the car by Twice. "Hawks captured this image doing some recon as a favor to Nighteye, and I myself was in disbelief when I realized who this was."
"No way..." Ochaco whispered as she recognized the old man, too.
"I-Is that...?" Izuku whispered before Hayato launched out of his seat.
"Grandpa!" Hayato yelled as he ran up to the screen and stared at it in disbelief. There he was. Sorahiko. So many emotions flooded through him as he saw the state his grandfather was in. He was angry for what they did to him and sad he couldn't help his grandfather, but more than anything, he was relieved he was alive.
"Grandpa?" Fatgum asked, turning to All Might, who nodded.
"Young Kiryuu's grandfather is Gran Torino, my old teacher and a retired hero. He was captured in a sting operation not too long ago by the League, and now we finally have a sign of where he is. So, if possible, I'd like to add another objective to this operation: rescue a fellow hero." Hearing his favor, everyone in the room nodded while Hayato took a deep breath. He didn't care where, when, or how. This mission had just become personal. He was gonna stop standing around. Once things kicked off, he was going to save both Eri and Sorahiko, no matter what.