Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku hadn’t meant to become a vigilante.

Seriously, he hadn’t even known that was an option until doing a quick Google search on what to do if being a hero didn’t work out. It had been the logical next step after his dreams of heroism had been utterly destroyed by All Might. Even his attempt to be a hero and save Kacchan was only met with scorn and scolding from the other heroes. Over and over, the words echoed in his head.

No, I don’t think you can be a hero without a Quirk.

Be realistic.

But, the rush of saving someone, the mere fact that he had somewhat contributed, the proof he wasn’t useless? That had been real. That had been attainable. And by the gods, was it addicting. The fact that, according to law, you were only a vigilante if you used your Quirk to do it only increased the temptation.

But that’s not to say Izuku immediately escalated that to technical lawbreaking as soon as he realized that in his online search. No, that had honestly not been his fault. He had just been walking home late at night when he saw some big thug harass some schoolgirls his age. Upon seeing no one else around, and before he realized what he was doing, he had picked up a large metal pipe and smacked the guy across the back with it. Unfortunately, all that did was piss him off. In a blind panic, both at the fact of what he had done and that the thug was now charging at him, he swung the pipe at the guys head and somehow hit him in the chin so hard, he was knocked unconscious (probably helped that the man was flat-out drunk).

Okay, so maybe it was kind of his fault, but what else was he supposed to do?

Apparently, Izuku attacking the other guy had allowed the girls to run and get help. The first person to show up was actually Midnight, who just burst out of nowhere with a glare on her face. This promptly shot Izuku’s already panicked mind into “GTFO” mode, causing him to blank and bolt out of the alley like he was on fire. Luckily, Midnight was too busy with the perp to chase him.

Despite the tense rush home and the subsequent panic attack he had upon his arrival, Izuku found himself staying out later and later at night, wandering into areas that were rife with crime more often, and jumping in every time he saw someone in trouble. Sometimes he beat the perp. Most of the time in those early days, he got beaten up and had to run. However, he never failed to extract the victim from the situation, and whenever the villain was too much for him, he ran for the nearest patrol route and had a hero take him in, managing to slip away in the process.

After about a month of this, Izuku gave up any self-deluding pretenses that he wasn’t a vigilante. He set up a schedule for patrols, established patrol routes, made an actual vigilante outfit and weapons, and started to train. First, he started to build muscle by cleaning Dagobah Beach. Lifting and lugging the heavy trash allowed him to exercise all his muscles and build up a physique that most likely would keep him alive. He also started working on his fighting technique. Izuku had always been something of a visual learner, so watching and taking notes on renowned heroes and martial artists allowed him to incorporate a lot of abilities into his arsenal with enough training. Also, he was already good at running and dodging (thanks, Kacchan), now it was just a matter of doing so and immediately attacking before the villain could recover. It took him a bit, but he managed to get it down with some tutorial videos and lots of practical experience.

However, he truly made progress in his mental abilities. And really, he got the inspiration for that from an unlikely source. Three months after the Sludge Incident, the teacher gave out a reading assignment to the students, assigning each of them various books, and told them to write an essay about the book itself and how it related to modern society. Kacchan got Meta Liberation War, the other students got books published by recent scientists and thinkers, and Izuku got The Art of War … printed in English. (The teacher probably wanted Izuku to be unable to read the book so he could fail him.)  Luckily for Izuku, you couldn’t be a die-hard All Might fan and not be fluent in English. (The teacher failed him anyway, citing plagiarism that didn’t exist. But that wasn’t new; Izuku was all too aware that his grades were doctored.)

It turned out to be the best thing a teacher had ever done for him. It really got Izuku’s gears turning about mental warfare and how to use his intelligence in a way that was actually useful. He found himself practicing psychological manipulation on villains, using fear tactics, taking detailed analyses of villains and criminals, and deploying strategy more often in his fights. The progress was immediate. Fights became easier, villains started to back down the moment they saw him coming, and Izuku started to receive fewer and fewer injuries on his patrols. As the weeks passed, he got better and better about ending his fights quickly and efficiently, building up a reputation with both sides of the law.

About four months in, he realized being a vigilante and going to school (which, really, were very similar when it came down to it) wasn’t going to work out; he didn’t have enough time to patrol, go to school, do his homework, and get enough rest to do it all again tomorrow. So, he used his new skills at psychological manipulation to convince the principal to let him test out (he implied that he wasn’t going to high school, and as such, the results of the test wouldn’t matter anyway, making it easy to sweep under the rug; plus, him testing out would make him not Aldera’s problem anymore). To Izuku’s shock (but obvious in his hindsight), it worked. He took the test (which he suspected had been made extremely easy in order for him to be able to pass with no problem) and was out of Aldera within the week, to the delight of the staff.

Now freed of his academic responsibilities, Izuku could devote his time to his vigilante persona, which the media had dubbed Jade since he was so often garbed in various shades of green. Since he no longer had to go to school, he was able to do about two or three-day shifts a week, as well as at night, in order to throw the police off his trail. He was very careful to keep his mother in the dark about his alter ego. He already knew she didn’t really support his hero dream. As such, she’d like what he was doing now even less. However, due to a recent increase in her workload at the law firm where she worked as a lawyer, it was surprisingly easy to hide this kind of thing from her. She was working such long hours and was home so seldom, he didn’t even need to tell her he had tested out of junior high.

Within six months of the Sludge Incident, Jade was one of the most famous vigilantes in Musutafu. Despite numerous attempts by the police, local heroes, and even the UA staff (Midnight and Eraserhead especially), Jade was as slippery as a wet eel. All attempts to catch him were met with failure. It was the same for the villains as well; no matter what the crooks did, Jade would never be caught by traps, ambushes, or any type of assault. It didn’t help either side of the law that Jade was an all-around nice guy, showing mercy to people who turned to crime in desperation or were forced into this life. He even went out of his way to help the people on hard luck, either by buying them food or finding them a job or whatever they needed to get back on their feet. This pure-hearted nature allowed him access to a vast collection of open doors and people who had conveniently seen nothing whenever he needed to lay low.

However, despite this, Jade’s actions were small at best. An annoyance to the HPSC for sure, but nothing too major. And Izuku liked it that way. That meant there was no chance of him being on the wrong side of a hero-led manhunt, or worse, targeted by a major villain group.

However, that was all about to change…

—————————————————————

Izuku pulled the zip ties around the perp’s wrists as he squirmed and cursed. The guy had tried to rob a convenience store, using both his gun and his viper mutation quirk to intimidate the store owner. Izuku had snuck into his blind spot and struck him from behind with his trusty pipe. It had been insultingly easy, given how full of himself the guy had seemed. All his bragging did was make it easier for Izuku to get up behind him.

It was his fifth capture of the night, yet he had only been on patrol for two hours. The night wasn’t normally this active, which was a bit concerning. He decided he would have to ask around his network of contacts to see if anything had happened that had emboldened the criminal underworld. One could never be too careful, after all. Besides, any information gained was useful, it just needed to have the right application.

The store owner had called the police the moment the crook had dropped since he had seen Izuku approach (he had been going for a shotgun, so Izuku had allowed him to see him so he didn’t do anything stupid). As such, once he had finished restraining the crook, the man didn’t need to be told to contact the authorities, and as such went straight to the thanking. “Thanks for that, Jade,” he said with a deep bow. “It gives me comfort that you and the other heroes are out there, keeping us safe.”

“I’m just doing my part as a concerned citizen, sir,” Izuku insisted. “I’m not in this to be thanked or praised, so there’s no need for all this.”

As time went on, Izuku found himself acting more competent and sure of himself as Jade. Internally, he was the same, cowardly, crybaby Deku that would let himself be known every time Izuku took his mask off, but while under it, he had gained a reputation for being extremely humble and kind, as well as cool and collected under fire. But, just like he was right about Izuku’s chances in the hero course, All Might was right in how a smile was the most effective method to hide the fear inside. Every time Izuku went out, he was paranoid and jumpy on the inside, especially in active situations. He had just learned to suppress and hide it well.

The fact that Jade and Izuku looked very different helped a lot. While Izuku was just an unassuming teen in t-shirts with puns on them, jeans, and red shoes, Jade was both expertly camouflaged and stood out like a sore thumb. He wore black jeans and boots, the former with several pockets and the latter designed for climbing. He also had a forest green windbreaker with a hood, a black face mask, tinted goggles that were colored a deep jade green, and a padded shirt that was colored a green so dark, it was practically black. He also had a utility belt around his waist that carried two black steel pipes, caltrops, party poppers, zip ties, bandages, and a few other surprises he liked to keep in there for easy access.

Overall, Jade looked like someone who lived in the shadows, but also knew how to interact in the light, implying a confidence Izuku in no way had, but was able to fake pretty well.

The store owner shook his head with a small smile. “Be that as it may, I’m giving it to you,” he replied. “Heaven knows you deserve it, for all the good you’ve done around these parts. You’re as much a hero to me and several others as All Might himself, and that’s worthy of something .”

Oh yeah, Izuku was definitely going to cry when he got home. “That’s very kind of you, sir,” he managed, barely keeping his voice from cracking and his tears at bay.

Suddenly, the two heard the sound of sirens from close by. The owner gestured with his head towards the door. “You better get going now, Jade,” he warned. “If the cops see you, they’ll arrest you for sure.”

Izuku smirked, even though his desire to break down had been suppressed by overwhelming panic at the sound of the sirens. “They’ll have to catch me, first,” he said with false bravado. Saluting to the owner, he ran out of the store and into the night.

Upon leaving, he immediately looked around to see if anyone was watching. Like when he had entered the store, however, the street was completely deserted, and the sirens were getting louder. Thinking quickly, he dashed across the street into a nearby alley. Izuku had dedicated himself to studying the layout of Musutafu once he had given up trying to delude himself into thinking he wasn’t a vigilante. Thanks to those long hours of intense study, both on paper at the library and in person for parkour practice, Izuku knew the backstreets better than almost anyone in the city. Thanks to these skills, it was child’s play to navigate the alleys in a complex pattern that would throw off anyone not used to the alleys, then climb a building and hop across the rooftops to another district before climbing down again and disappearing into the darkness.

—————————————————————

A few minutes later, Jade re-emerged from the darkness in a part of the city three miles from the convenience store he had protected. He normally didn’t venture this far out, but anxiety demanded he put as much distance between himself and the sirens as he could. It only got that overwhelming when he was high-strung, like he was after that compliment, but luckily for him, that had gotten better over his vigilante career, making similar incidents few and far between.

Izuku panted a bit, trying to catch his breath from the intense run he had just been on. Say what you want about vigilantism, it made for a great workout if you were to ask Izuku. He had already gained at least 15 pounds of muscle since starting this career, and he was pretty sure he was going to gain more!

Regaining his air supply, Izuku set off down the street, trying to figure out the best way to get back to his patrol route without alerting the police, or worse, the heroes, to his position. This train of thought was quickly overthought by the remnants of Izuku’s anxiety that he hadn’t locked down yet. So, he was quickly sucked into his own head, making plans, counterplans, then discarding what he came up with when his paranoia showed a way that could go wrong, softly muttering as he did so.

He was so wrapped up in his own head, he didn’t notice the little girl until she had run into him.

Shocked out of his mutter spree, he looked down at the young girl. He couldn’t see very well due to the darkness of the night and poor lighting around him, but what he did see raised several red flags.

At his feet was the trembling figure of a child who couldn’t be any older than six. She had long, wavy, white hair, a small horn growing out of the right side of her head, a ratty hospital gown that looked more like an old sack, dirty bandages wrapped around her arms, and no shoes.

She was also extremely terrified, seeing as how she was looking up at him with no small amount of fear.

One Izuku recognized all too well, having seen it in the mirror so many times throughout his life.

Steeling himself and trying to push the fear welling up inside him down, Izuku knelt before the girl. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not gonna hurt you,” he said, slowly and comfortingly. “Are you alright? Can I touch you?”

Staring at him as if he had just burst into an alien tongue, the girl nodded slowly after a few seconds. Izuku immediately scooped her up in her arms, rocking her back and forth, whispering soothing sounds to the young girl. At this point, his brain had said “fuck it” and left all the work to be done by the body’s instinct. So, Izuku was comforting the girl with nothing but his intuition, and doing a fine job at it, too.

“Ah, there you are Eri.”

Said intuition crashed and burned as Eri tightened her grip on Izuku’s jacket, Izuku stiffened, and every single instinct he had screamed run . Slowly, he turned around to face the newcomer, praying that it was just an abusive father he could easily just beat up and leave…

…only to find himself face-to-face with the leader of the Shie Hassaikai, Kai Chisaki, aka Overhaul.

As a vigilante, Izuku was no stranger to yakuza. He knew for a fact that they still had quite a lot of influence in the underworld. In fact, several of his drug busts over the past month had been stashes, deal locations, and manufacturing and/or distribution centers for the Shie Hassaikai. However, he hadn’t expected their leader to come after him over something so trivial.

“Thank you very much for looking after her, Jade. I’ll go ahead and take her home.”

It wasn’t a request and Izuku knew it. If he didn’t give the girl up, Chisaki was going to attack him, no ifs, ands, or buts. However, leaving a child, especially one as abused as the one in his arms, didn’t sit right with Izuku. As such he hesitates, allowing the girl (“Eri”, Chisaki had called her) to speak up.

“Please… please don’t go.”

It had barely been uttered, a level so low calling it whispering would be an overstatement. But Izuku heard it, plain as day.

Overhaul scared this girl. In fact, Izuku was unsure if it was possible to fear anything more than the fear she was already exuding. The mere possibility of going back to him terrified her to the point she was willing to throw herself into the arms of a stranger to get away from him.

Throughout his life, Izuku had felt many emotions: happiness, despair, fear, nervousness, excitement, awe, and several others. However, he could count on one hand how many times he had actually felt rage. Oh, he had felt annoyance and anger before, sure. But pure rage? That was something so foreign to Izuku, it took something truly heinous to make him feel it.

That number had just gone up by one.

Instinctively, he clutched Eri closer to him as his mind tried to work out the best way to deal with this situation.

That proved to be a bad move.

“Jade. I’m asking nicely,” the yakuza boss did in a calm, yet cold tone. He started to reach for one of his gloves and started to pull it off, letting some killing intent loose to make the vigilante freeze in place and scare Eri into coming back with him.

In any other circumstance, he would have had every advantage. The street was deserted, meaning he could go either way when it came to getting Eri back; he was the more experienced and powerful combatant; and, even if Jade got away, he had the legal high ground. If Izuku tried to take Eri away forcefully, that would make him a kidnapper in the eyes of the law.

However, Izuku wasn’t like other people. He had fine-tuned his instincts and responses to be extremely sensitive to outside stimuli, a necessary precaution when you were Quirkless in a world that valued power, and even more needed when you were a vigilante. Plus, due to Izuku’s heroic nature and anxious personality, his instincts had a habit of grabbing control of his body from his brain and then doing whatever the hell they wanted.

So, when Overhaul let out his killing intent, Izuku didn’t freeze. Instead, he defaulted to his base instincts: in this case, the flight or fight response.

Quick as lightning, Izuku drew a small pellet from his belt and flicked it directly into the yakuza’s face. The smoke within was a combination of water vapor infused with pepper spray and ash. As such, the soon-to-be violent man immediately became more occupied with his face rather than the vigilante, giving Izuku ample time to bolt.

Running faster and faster away from the cursing and screaming criminal, Izuku dashed through the shadows of society, plunging deeper into the darkness, the only thoughts on his mind being getting away and keeping a right yet gentle hold on the girl in his arms.

He didn’t know this at the time, but this incident would be remembered as the night when the vigilante Jade unofficially declared war on the Shie Hassaikai.

Chapter Text

Izuku was panicking. Seriously, what the hell was he thinking ?! He had just pissed off one of the top 10 members of the People I Do Not Want To Piss Off List . He had made that list for a reason , why had he not adhered to it?! He was screwed, he was so screwed!! WHY HAD HE DONE THAT?!!!!!!

That last question was answered immediately upon looking at Eri, who was currently fast asleep on Izuku’s bed and instinctively curled up a little. This just made all of Izuku’s worries about Overhaul disappear and made him wish he had stuck around after throwing that pellet, if only just to kick the crime boss in his tiny balls.

Despite the furious attempts of the yakuza leader to reclaim his “daughter”, Izuku was well-versed in dodging pursuers and using the shortcuts and secrets of Musutafu’s backstreets to his advantage. The fact that the crazed germaphobe was blinded didn’t help him in catching the vigilante either. As such, despite leaving the street Eri had run into Izuku on a mess, Izuku had gotten away rather easily, then Chisaki was forced to flee from the incoming police and heroes.

Izuku’s adrenaline and fear of being caught had completely shut down any systems used for reasoning and had defaulted to simple tasks, like running and keeping a tight hold of Eri. He supposed that he should be thankful that he had done enough crazy maneuvers that his body now had the muscle memory to do it automatically and that he had retained enough of his reasoning to not attempt anything that would put Eri at risk while also maximizing speed.

Upside, this allowed him to get home, lock all the windows, close all the shutters and triple check the doors were bolted shut in record time, plus it prevented him from panicking in a critical moment.

Downside, now that the danger was over and they were both as relatively safe as they could be, Izuku was now having a much larger panic attack because now, he had repressed it, causing it to grow. The fact that not only had he attacked a known criminal, but also technically kidnapped a child didn’t help.

Thankfully, he had managed to keep from panicking long enough…

-Flashback-

Izuku walked back into his room after checking the doors had been securely locked, thanking his lucky stars that his mother had gone on a business trip to the other side of the country. She hadn’t told him what for, but assured him she would be back as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the lowball estimate was a month at the absolute minimum.

Still though, it kept him from having to explain how a six-year-old had appeared in their house in the middle of the night. So, upsides?

In any case, said child was currently curled up on his bed, gaze flickering left and right and all over the place. She was probably freaking out, as he was a stranger who had just uprooted her from all she had ever known. Granted, her previous living circumstances were utter shit, but still. They had been familiar. This was not.

Izuku’s adrenaline was still through the roof at this point, so he wasn’t exactly thinking very clearly. He needed to channel his energy into something , so when he saw this girl look around fearfully like the world was out to get her… like he had used to look at the world…

Yeah. Panic, which is what was no doubt coming, could wait. Right now, this girl needed him.

He channeled his raging adrenaline into stomping out any jitters or nervousness that may come up and kneeled down in front of her. He gently lay his hands on her shoulders, causing her head to snap towards him, eyes wide with nervousness and uncertainty.

“It’ll be okay,” he said.

Eri shook her head. “No, no it won’t. He’ll come. He’ll find me. He’ll take me back. He’ll… he’ll hurt you. Because of me.” She lowered her head and sniffled, tears forming. “It’ll be my fault. Just like it always is.”

Oh, hell no.

“Hey,” Izuku chided, gently cupping Eri’s chin and lifting it upward towards his face. “That’s completely not true. You can’t control the actions of anyone except yourself. You didn’t force me to save you; I chose to do that. And if Overhaul wants to hurt people to get what he wants, that’s on him. He’s the one that does that. You have no say in it, so it’s not your fault.”

He could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t believe him, but she didn’t protest. Baby steps.

Izuku took off his mask and smirked at her. “Besides, if he shows up here, I’ll throw stuff that’s a lot worse than a smoke pellet in his face.”

The corners of her mouth twitched.

Izuku looked at her seriously. “Eri. Do you want to go back? Don’t say yes because you don’t want me to get hurt. Be selfish for a second and think about what you want. Do you want to go back to Overhaul?”

Eri was quiet and still for a few moments, tears silently slipping down her cheeks. Then, she finally shook her head, just barely.

“Then you won’t have to. Ever. I’ll keep you safe from him, for as long as I need to. I swear to you, he won’t ever touch you again. Not as long as I am here.”

Eri looked at him in shock. “Does… does that mean I… I can stay?” she asked.

Izuku nodded. “Yes,” he said. “For as long as you need it, this can be your home.”

The girl teared up more and broke down, quietly sobbing. Izuku was quick to wrap her in a hug and gently cradle her as much as he could. She had stiffened at first, but slowly leaned into it. As he gently rocked her back and forth, he hummed a song he had once heard on an internet show about anime girls with oversized weapons. He was pretty sure it was called “All That Matters”.

Whatever the case, it worked. Eri was soon fast asleep. He gently laid her on the bed, still humming softly.

Izuku stood up and smiled at the girl, taking in her adorable features. She looked so small and innocent like this. He couldn’t understand why Overhaul could be so cruel to her.

…

Wait, he had just taken a child from Overhaul.

…

Wait, he had just taken a child from Overhaul?!

WHAT THE HELL WAS HE-?!

And that’s when the panic attack set in.

-End Flashback-

It took a good bit of time for Izuku to recover from that episode. It was a vicious cycle: panic about Overhaul, wonder why he had thought that was a good idea, look at Eri, remember why it was a good idea, reassure himself, look away from Eri, start panicking all over again. After about an hour had passed, and no one had come busting down his door, Izuku finally realized that the odds of Overhaul coming after him any time soon were slim. Still, though, he found he didn’t panic so much if he was looking at Eri. So, he sat next to the bed, looked down at the young girl, and thought about his next move.

He would obviously have to lie low for a bit. Overhaul would be furious at this, and be out for blood, particularly Jade’s. As such, going on his nightly “runs” in the near future would be ill-advised. But that was alright. The area had enough heroes to pick up his slack for a week or two. Plus, with the Shie Hassaikai poking their noses everywhere, large-scale crime would be forced under to avoid the stampeding yakuza and the cops that would be on their tails wondering what got them so agitated.

Truly, the threat to himself was minimal. The real problem was Eri.

Letting her loose was an absolute no. Overhaul would hear of it and snatch her up first chance he got, so that was a non-starter. That, of course, eliminated all of the normal options, such as foster care or an orphanage (not that he would trust them, anyway; those systems were dangerous and outdated for a reason). Giving her to the heroes or cops was also a no-go, as it would technically be a confession to kidnapping, even if the Shie Hassaikai were proven guilty of child abuse later. Plus, she didn’t seem to trust anyone except for him right now. Handing her off to a bunch of strangers would not end well.

Also, there was the fact that… well, he had promised. He had promised her that she could stay with him and be safe there. And yeah, he hadn’t exactly been thinking straight at the time, but that didn’t matter in the long run, did it? All that mattered was that he had promised this girl she could stay, so stay she would.

Izuku sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. He wasn’t sure what this made him. A dad? An older brother? Some combination of the two? Whatever the case, he was now responsible for this girl. He would need so many things to make sure Eri was comfortable: toiletries, clothes, more food, toys, first aid supplies, makeup, blankets, brushes, tampons-

TAMPONS?!

Izuku turned an interesting shade of bright red and sickly green and fought down the urge to puke. Where had that come from?

Oh, right. Teenage girls used them all the time. But Eri was six! Not forever, she wouldn’t be. But that’s so far away! Pays to be prepared for anything. But-!

Izuku, with quite some effort, managed to stop thinking. He put his head in his hands and groaned.

He was overthinking this. Big time.

“I need help…” he groaned.

Luckily, he knew just the person to ask. Thankfully, said person was due for a visit tomorrow. He’d ask them when they showed.

But first, sleep. He was exhausted.

Without much more fanfare, Izuku crawled into the bed next to his little girl Eri and fell asleep, hoping for the next day to be a little less crazy.

Chapter Text

Katsuki Bakugou was not a good person, and he’d be the first to admit that.

Granted, it took him about 10 years, a stupid book, and almost dying to realize this fact, but he did. Eventually. (His mom wasn’t kidding about his thick skull.)

He had bullied his best friend for a decade over something stupid (just because De-Izuku didn’t have a quirk didn’t change that he was smart, stubborn, and damned loyal as a dog, he reminded himself of that), belittled his dream (over thirty underground pros with weak quirks would be in the top 50 if it weren’t for their secretive work habits, so why couldn’t a quirkless person?), beat him up and destroyed his stuff multiple times (while illegally using his quirk, no less, what had he been thinking?!), and even once told him to kill himself (he still had nightmares about what would’ve happened if Izuku had actually gone through with it). And while the then “Deku” had been his main target, he hadn’t been an exclusive one. Anyone who didn’t fit the expectations he set for them often wound up on the ground, burned and bruised.

Bakugou blamed a large portion of that on his teachers, which Izuku had agreed with, what with their constant praising of his “many talents” and bending over backward to make sure he never got in trouble. Still, though, he held himself responsible for a lot of it, because he should’ve known better after being the one person that could match Izuku fact-for-fact about All Might. He still wasn’t sure if he had gnawed on his crib bars while they were covered in lead paint while he was a baby.

Things started to change after the Sludge Incident. A situation where his “oh-so-perfect” quirk had done fucking squat. If anything, it had made the situation worse by causing all those fires and making it so that that wooden hero or that water dude couldn’t get to him. And the other heroes weren’t any better. The oversized bitch wouldn’t even consider trying to even reach into the alleyway that was too small for her, the bulky fuck punched the sludge once (and almost hit him in the process) then fell back and said he couldn’t do anything, while the other two extras just stood around and watched him drown.

And that? That had been fucking terrifying. His quirk, once praised as the answer to all his problems, was solving nothing, the heroes he sought to join were just abandoning him, and everything he once thought he knew was now turned on its head. He was going to die. And he realized in that split second that his parents would be the only ones to miss him. His teachers would move on to another star, his “friends” would flock behind a new popular kid like the sheep extras they were, and his victims definitely wouldn’t miss him. Especially Izuku. And that thought… had honestly hurt a lot more than he thought it would.

Of course, it was quickly disproven when the idiot fucking ran out into danger to help him.

Here he was, a quirkless, scrawny nobody with no training or experience in fights besides taking a beating, running out to save the guy who had belittled and beaten him for most of his life. And, get this, it had worked. Izuku’s desperate attempts to free him had allowed him precious seconds of air. In just one move, he did way more than the heroes did, by stopping him from drowning. He had… had saved him.

And the reason? For why that green-haired nerd had rushed into almost-certain death to save the guy who had suicide-baited him not even an hour ago?

“My legs just started moving!”

“You just looked like you needed saving.”

Like it was that simple. Like it was that natural.

And when All Might swooped in and saved the day again, deep in his gut, Bakugou realized something. For people like All Might, it was that simple and natural. It was what made them great heroes. And no matter what he or anyone else did or said, Izuku would join them one day, because he was like that as well.

Of course, he buried that under a mountain of denial and old assurances, but those weren’t really working after that harrowing experience. Especially after that bulky fuck (well, technically the wood guy too, but he had an excuse for not being able to get close) had the gall to scold Izuku for interfering in a “controlled situation” (what fucking crazy-ass world was he living in where a drowning child is considered controlled?!) and the extras tried to kiss up to him and praise him for his “bravery” (they had all been more than happy to watch him drown not even a couple minutes ago, was he now all of a sudden worthy of their attention now that he wasn’t a danger to them?!). That had really worn down his old habits.

He was tempted to track the nerd down and make sure he knew that the incident had changed nothing, but he didn’t for two reasons. One, it was a fucking lie and he knew it; that incident had completely warped his perception, and only time would tell if that was a good or bad thing. Two, after the shit day he had had, he just didn’t have the energy to be angry. Hell, he didn’t even yell at his old hag when he got home, he was so drained.

Things only started to get worse for him after a fitful night of sleep. No one at school besides Izuku could shut up about the incident, saying he had been “so brave and cool” fighting off that villain (that was a lie, he had been scared out of his mind and dying, there was nothing brave or cool about that), so he had quickly made it clear that he didn’t want to talk about it in his usual explosive faction. The flashes of fear on their faces reminded him of how those two extras had looked before the Sludge grabbed him, momentarily making him sick (he wasn’t a villain, he wasn’t! ). Already feeling shitty, and not feeling like confronting Izuku, he decided to default to his favorite pastime of putting extras in their place. But as he did so, he couldn’t help but think about the fear that he had felt at the hands of that slime fucker. And of the relieved expressions these guys would have if he had drowned in that sludge. That and his already shitty mood killed any enthusiasm he had. So, his heart not really in it, he roughed them up a bit, then bluffed his ass off about why he was letting them go.

After that, he mostly just kept to himself. He didn’t bother anybody and nobody bothered him. His silence also had the effect of putting any other extras off of harming anyone else. Once he would show up, all he had to do was glare their way and they would either wrap up their business or abandon it. His so-called “friends” stopped trying to get him to hang out after a month of his isolation. And Izuku? He just… existed. A week after the Sludge Incident, a couple of losers cornered him and told him he’d never be a hero. His response? “I know.” He then went on to explain he wasn’t trying for the hero course anymore. People still called him names, but now that he wasn’t trying to be a hero (everybody knew he was going for UA’s general course, but they paid no attention to that fact because who would, apparently?), nobody knew exactly how to hurt him. Katsuki certainly didn’t.

Then, three months after the Incident came the final nail in the coffin: the book project. He was given some dumb manifesto called Meta Liberation War. It basically regurgitated everything his teachers had told him about strength and his place in the world (the strong ruled because it was their right and the weak served and suffered whatever they had to because that was their purpose). Of course, by now, Katuski didn’t trust his teacher’s rhetoric further than he could throw it, so he looked the book up, because no way was this a real book. They had to have made it up to try and get him to listen to him, right?

Turns out, it was real. And that was worse than it being fake.

See, the thing about the manifesto was that it had been written by a man named Destro. Back during the early days of quirks, he had been a terrorist who had fought for quirked rights. He viewed the usage of “meta abilities” as a natural right and the quirkless as paranoid oppressors for forbidding them to use it or hunting them down and killing them. However, he wasn’t called a terrorist for shits and giggles. The dude carried out massive slaughters of civilians and government workers alike. He and his “Meta Liberation Army” only served to make the situation worse and push both quirked and quirkless to agree to the harsh quirk registration laws.

Destro was the epitome of everything Katsuki did not want to be: a deluded, hypocritical villain. And to his horror, he realized that Aldera had come very close to turning him into that.

He did his report (fighting to not vomit the whole way) and then immediately turned to his parents to see if they could help him. That conversation had been painful, awkward, and involved a lot of screaming, tears, and hugging, especially after Katsuki revealed what he had done to the other kids, including Izuku. In the end, though, Katsuki was transferred out of Aldera about a month later (leaving behind letters of apology to Izuku and every single student he wronged) and had two afterschool activities: anger management therapy and the homeless shelter.

The old Katsuki would have despised those two things. Which is why Katsuki did them now. And holy wow, did they put things into perspective.

Anger management was self-explanatory. His therapist was a very blunt person, but had this way of gently easing you in and then slamming you with a blunt truth. It kept him on his toes and actively thinking of where she was going with this. Often, he was led to make the connections before the truth was slammed into him, which helped him accept it easier since he had arrived at that conclusion. Also, the shelter really put into perspective just how full of crap modern society was. The residents told stories of crimes, committed by crooks, villains, landlords, and even heroes, ones that fucking nobody was doing anything about. Heroes never showed up in that part of town because there were no cameras, leaving behind only some underground heroes to patrol the area. Katsuki actually got his introduction to underground heroics at the shelter, and by and large, he was impressed (it took guts and drive to dive headfirst into the shadows of society with little backup or power and for crap pay). In all honesty, thinking about it, Katsuki wasn’t sure why underground heroics didn’t have more heroes in its category considering the utterly massive workload the spotlight heroes dumped on them in order to stay in the limelight (there were many more slums and red-light districts than there were cities, with only a handful of underground heroes to patrol all of that per city). If Katsuki ever went pro, he’d have a spotlight and an underground identity, help out by doing both (let it never be said that Katsuki Bakugou did things by halves).

However, a couple of months into that job, Katsuki started to hear talk of some vigilante punk named “Jade” who apparently was doing the heroes’ jobs for them. He wished the guy all the luck in the world, he sounded like the decent sort. But, the more he heard about the guy, the more he started to sound more and more familiar to Katsuki. It was only after one guy said that the guy had green eyes that the clues finally clicked together.

Katsuki was exasperated, proud, pissed, and a bit in awe all at the same time. He was also frustrated that he hadn’t put this together sooner.

He immediately went to the nerd’s house and confronted him by opening with “Hey, Jade. How’s life?”

That was apparently the wrong move because he then had to talk the nerd down from a fucking panic attack that he had then and there. Afterward, Katsuki made some of Aunt Inko’s special tea and gave it to Izuku so he could settle a little. After that, they sat there for a while, nobody talking.

Then, Izuku opened up with “Why?”

Katsuki was caught off guard. “Huh? Why what?”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Izuku asked. “Aren’t you going to beat me up and turn me in to the police for pretending to be a hero? Aren’t you gonna disparage and humiliate me? Aren’t you going to blow my costume to smithereens and mock me as-?”

“IZUKU!” Katsuki finally shouted. That seemed to startle him, as his eyes bugged out. “What the fu-? Did you not read my letter?!”

Turns out, he hadn’t. Apparently, he had tricked the principal into helping him test out at the same time Katsuki transferred.

The blonde burst out laughing at this. “Only you, Izuku. Only you.” Seeing the greenette’s confusion, he took out a copy of the letter he held onto just in case and gave it to him. He was silent for a while, before looking up at Katsuki with teary eyes. “You mean it?”

Katsuki nodded… then got in a dogeza position. “Izuku Midoriya, I am so fucking sorry for everything I ever did to you. I was a shit friend, a shit hero, and a shit person, and I was so fucking stupid and you were right and I should’ve known better-!”

Katsuki stopped as Izuku put a hand on his head, lifting it so he could see him. The nerd was crying. So was he, if the water Izuku wiped off his face was any indication. “I’m so glad to have you back… Kaachan.”

The two hugged it out… like old times. And by God, did that feel good.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After that, Katsuki became Izuku’s closest confidant when it came to vigilante matters. Jade needs a hiding spot? Katsuki knew someone from the shelter. Jade needs new gear? The cashier at the department store is a recovering alcoholic Katsuki helped, he gets stuff at a discount. Jade saw something completely batshit fucked up and Izuku’s having a panic attack? Katsuki had Auntie Inko’s tea, a box of tissues, and The Adventures of All Might #182 ready in the DVD player.

It wasn’t much, but Izuku was grateful for it and that’s all Katsuki needed.

Of course, it didn’t stop him from scolding the guy every now and then.

“What do you mean the best option was to charge into a hail of bullets?!”

“NO! I don’t care that you had an antidote, you don’t run headfirst into a hero fight while the villain is hopped up on experimental Trigger!!!”

“Zuku, where did you get these guns and why do you need them destroyed in three hours? And it had better not have anything to do with that arms ring that moved into town. … Oh it does? Fan-fucking-tastic, you utter moron.”

“WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND YOUR NON-SENSE OF SELF-PRESERVATION?!?!?!?!”

Izuku had gotten himself into a lot of situations and mishaps throughout the month and a half Katsuki had been drawn into his world.

This however? This took the cake.

Izuku had just finished his story of why he had suddenly pulled Katsuki inside during his thrice-a-week visit to Izuku to check on him. Apparently, the fucker had run from the heroes straight into a yakuza boss, who was chasing a little girl. So, like a crazy person, he flung a smoke bomb into the dude’s face and ran off into the night, girl in tow in an attempt to save her.

Katsuki was tempted to yell at the nerd for something so risky. A yakuza boss? Seriously?! He was just about to, as well… when he saw the little girl sleeping peacefully in Izuku’s bed. He knew then and there that he would willingly die for that kid. She was just too precious for this world.

So, instead, he just sighed. “Alright. What’s done is done. What’s your plan now?”

“Mostly, just lie low until the main heat of this blows over,” Izuku replied. “Overhaul is going to want my costume on a silver platter and seasoned with my blood, so I better stay out of sight for a while. Besides…” He looks over at the girl, Eri. “I wanna do right by her, Kaachan. I want to give her what I didn’t have. A childhood. She trusts me to keep her safe from whoever comes for her. I can’t… I can’t just go back on that.” He looks at him, determination in his eyes. “I won’t go back on that.”

Internally, Katsuki smirks. ‘There’s the spine that’s been growing in. Hopefully, it’ll stick around.’ Externally, he just sighs. “Alright. Considering there’s no way to talk you out of this, might as well do it properly. I’ll talk to the guys and ask them to spread rumors about the girl on the other side of town. And if anybody asks, I’ll say I’ve never seen her. That should give you enough breathing room to let the yakuza tire themselves out while you lay low. Also, I’ll bring over some parenting books so you won’t be flying by the seat of your pant- oof!”

Aaaand, Izuku had tackled him in a weeping hug. Crap. Ah, well. There were worse things.

Katsuki hugged his best friend as the wanted vigilante let all the stress out of his system.

Chapter Text

The yakuza. The fucking yakuza. The kid had now pissed off the fucking yakuza . And not just one gang either. No, that would be too simple. Jade had gone and pissed off the one gang that had not only managed to survive the era of All Might, but had cemented its control over all other yakuza gangs as well. As such, it was not some yakuza that was after Jade, it was all of them . Because why not?!

Naomasa Tsukauchi was not paid enough to deal with this crap.

Even though his specialization rested in interrogation, he had found himself somehow put in charge of the Jade Task Force, the team in charge of catching and bringing in Jade. He suspected that the HPSC had been partially responsible; they were still pissy at him for helping Nezu interfere with their business and making sure UA could function semi-independently of the organization (the investigations into UA’s corruption had been what got him promoted to detective). Tsukauchi failing to bring in the budding vigilante was just what they needed to discredit him. However, most of his “failures” he was able to deflect.

Case in point, Eraserhead’s report about the recent upset Jade had wrought upon the underworld. Apparently, Overhaul had promised a king’s ransom for the capture of Jade, which had the entire underworld in an uproar. However, nobody was really sure why Overhaul was suddenly so hell-bent on capturing the vigilante, with a particular emphasis on capture. All that was really known was that Jade had stolen something from the Shie Hassaikai, something very valuable, and thus it could be guessed that the yakuza gang didn’t know where he had hidden it. As such, the emphasis on live capture.

Tsukauchi would be able to spin not catching Jade initially first due to the obvious entrance police sirens and the HPSC’s “top heroes” make when traveling, especially since he has emphasized ambush tactics consistently , alongside Eraserhead. Second, Overhaul destroying the street Jade had fled to had caused too much chaos and destruction to even try to catch the yakuza boss, much less a vigilante as slippery as Jade. Plus, Tsukauchi would be able to justify not catching Jade anytime soon due to him being a hunted man and most likely going into hiding. Naturally, that excuse would be worth nothing if Jade decided to be dumb and make public appearances despite being the most wanted man in the underworld. But, Tsukauchi had a gut feeling that he would not be making any appearances any time soon.

Or, his gut was wrong and he was severely overestimating Jade’s common sense and/or self-preservation, but he was stressed enough as is without getting into the what-ifs of life.

In any case, what Tsukauchi now needed was a raise. And failing that, he needed to submit his next progress report packed full of those excuses in order to keep the HPSC off the department’s back.

As he was just wrapping up his report, Eraserhead, the main hero on the Jade Task Force, walked in, looking exhausted as usual.

“Aizawa, I was just finishing my report on the recent Jade sighting,” Tsukauchi reported. “Anything you can contribute?”

Aizawa grunted. “Only that Overhaul’s gone completely nuts trying to find Jade. Whatever the kid stole from him must be vital to some operation he has in the works,” he informed him. “My contacts in the underworld have been reassigned to try and figure out what mattered so much to Overhaul that he’s completely upending everybody in the criminal underground.”

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow. “I thought the HPSC said that any contacts you had were to be used for the sole purpose of finding Jade,” he said.

The underground pro smirked. “That reminds me, I have good news,” he told the detective. “We’re getting reassigned, and thus no longer have to answer to the HPSC after today.”

Tsukauchi lit up. “Are we leaving the Task Force? Is the Task Force being dissolved? Do our new positions come with a raise? ”

Eraserhead sighed. “No, no, and no,” he reported. “That’s the bad news.”

Tsukauchi slumped into his chair. “Then why should I care?” he asked.

“Because our new superior is Sir Nighteye,” Eraserhead told him. “Apparently, he and his agency have been investigating a surge in Trigger dealings. Their main suspect for the center of the dealings was the Shie Hassaikai, which was validated when the waves they made demanding Jade’s capture exposed their dealings and connections. Due to Nighteye’s record, his agency’s experience with the Hassaikai, and a little pushing from All Might, the Task Force is now under the jurisdiction of Nighteye until the Shie Hassaikai is all brought in and pressed for every detail they know about Chisaki.”

Tsukauchi absently nodded… but then sat up. “Hold on, two things don’t make sense there,” he noted. “For one thing, how can a joint HPSC-Police operation be placed under the command of a hero agency ?”

“A complete mess of bureaucratic nonsense and paperwork backlog that by the time someone calls them out on it, the investigation will likely be over,” Eraserhead grumbled. “Not that that will stop Nezu from trying. What’s your problem with Nighteye?”

“Nothing,” the detective answered, “just was curious, is all. If anything, having a competent superior will be a nice change of pace.”

They both chuckled at that before Tsukauchi brought up his next point. “Secondly, how will the Hassaikai know anything about Jade that we don’t? They’ve only just now put out the bounty.”

His friend scowled. “That’s the worse news,” he growled. “Due to ensuring a ‘smooth transfer of administration’, we’re being told to back off anything about this for the next few months. Really, the HPSC is hoping the Hassaikai take care of Jade for them and are trying to do everything in their power to do so, though with Nezu and Nighteye pressuring them, it’s going to be hard.”

Tsukauci scowled. “Even then, it’ll take at least a week to do any investigating about the yakuza or Jade.”

Eraserhead nodded.

Tsukauchi sighed and rubbed his head. He was not paid enough for this crap.

——————————————————————————

Taking care of a kid was both easier and harder than Izuku or Katsuki anticipated.

Easier because she didn’t misbehave or throw fits. Eri was quiet, kind, and, although curious, hesitated before asking questions. She went out of her way to make herself useful around the house, didn’t bother Izuku (or Katsuki when he came over) unless it was urgent, and kept to herself as much as possible.

Unfortunately, that exact quiet was what made taking care of her so much harder. Every parenting book Kacchan had brought over said that this was not natural. Even Kacchan agreed that something was off with Eri. After three days of this, Izuku finally sat her down and gently tried to coax why she was so withdrawn.

He hadn't even opened his mouth before Eri revealed what was going on.

“I’m sorry,” she had said. “I don’t know what I did wrong, but please don’t hurt me too bad.”

Izuku was absolutely stunned at this statement. But that look of fear and resignation triggered a memory of seeing that look in the mirror… and it clicked.

She was deathly scared that if she did a single thing wrong, Izuku would throw her out on the street or hurt her in a heartbeat. Because that was what Overhaul had done. And despite Izuku’s actions, she didn’t know him, so she had no reason not to think that he was any different.

So, step 1: cutting the bullshit train off at the station.

“Eri,” he said, “I’m not going to hurt you. You did absolutely nothing wrong, and even if you did, I wouldn’t hurt you. It’s not okay to hurt a child, for any reason.” He softly placed his hand on her shoulder. “I promised you I would keep you safe. And that’s what I’m going to do. As long as I’m here, nobody will hurt you. Not even me.”

Eri looked at him with a disbelieving look like last time, but this one had a bit of hope in it as well. “Promise?” she whimpered.

Izuku smiled, lifted his hand off her shoulder, and held up his right pinky. “Pinky promise,” he said.

Eri looked confused. “What’s a pinky promise?” she asked with a head tilt.

After smothering his growing rage at Overhaul, Izuku explained, “When you make a pinky promise, you wrap your pinkies together and you swear to uphold your promise. And the thing about pinky promises? They’re completely unbreakable, no matter what.”

Eri’s eyes shone. “Really?”

“Really,” Izuku replied, offering his extended pinky.

Eri stuck out her own and slowly wrapped it around Izuku’s, who wrapped his own in response. “Pinky promise,” they both said.

From there, it wasn’t exactly smooth sailing, what with Eri’s nightmares (Izuku was always one hug away), general ignorance about the world (she didn’t know what chocolate was!!!), and relapses at loud noises (Izuku’s house became a firm Kacchan-Behave-Yourself-Zone). Still, after that conversation, Eri came out of her shell more. She started learning how to write, read, and analyze by watching Izuku make his notebooks. Izuku discovered the girl’s love of apples and immediately introduced her to candy apples (her hum of utter joy was something he would cherish). Eri found that she was a very capable artist and made dozens of drawings that covered the surfaces of the Midoriya household. Katsuki even got in on it with two things. One, cathartic therapy, aka secretly take her to a roof in an abandoned industrial complex and have her scream obscenities about Overhaul (Izuku was not pleased, but couldn’t deny it made her nightmares go away a bit more). Two, he took her and Izuku to the homeless shelter he worked at, which had a man woman named Kenji there, helping those who were forced out of their homes/jobs for being trans.

Izuku and Kenji actually got along very well and the people there adored Eri and how she tried her best to make them all feel better. Katsuki felt rather proud of himself…

…until the giant bird and his thugs broke down the door.

——————————————————————————

It turned out that a subsidiary of the Shie Hassaikai had had a mole in that shelter for the last month in an attempt to get more feelers in every level of society. This guy hadn’t had much success, as he had an obnoxious voice, a superiority complex, and smelled like spoiled bleach. Plus, he was about as observant as a rock. As such, while he didn’t see Izuku and Katsuki’s connection (nor did he think to get a good luck at the guy carrying Eri), he did have enough brain cells to recognize the kid and call his boss, who brought in the cavalry.

Un fortunately, said boss was transphobic and very vocal about it. As such, he had to deal with not just a defensive Jade and an angry shelter worker “attacking in self-defense”, but also a livid trans woman who the press would call Lady Magne. Coincidentally, this was the start of Lady Magne’s illustrious career as a vigilante and the beginning of a fruitful partnership between her and Jade.

The media vultures ate it up, spewing multiple articles about how the Shie Hassaikai had attacked Jade and a bunch of helpless civilians and how Magne had selflessly jumped to their rescue. Because of their combined efforts, property damage was minimal and no one got seriously hurt (except for the spy, but what the media didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them; same for Izuku and Katsuki).

Overhaul was bat-shit fucking livid.

All for One started paying a tad more attention to this “Jade”.

Re-Destro just used it to undermine society.

Nezu laughed.

The HPSC started to get concerned.

Nighteye was working around the clock trying to get every detail he could about this fight.

And Eraserhead and Tsukauchi were sharing depressed drinks. Neither was paid enough for this crap.

Nobody knew it, but the Jade-Precept War had begun.

Chapter Text

Nighteye didn’t know what he expected when he picked up this investigation, but it wasn’t this.

Unfortunately for him and Nezu, getting the “smooth transition” over and done with took two weeks. And by that point, Jade had practically vanished into thin air and the underworld conflict the press had dubbed the Jade-Precept War had escalated. Now, Lady Magne was leading a squad of vigilantes against the Shie Hassaikai in a nationwide campaign against the yakuza as retribution for the Shelter Ambush. It didn’t help that their actions had somehow inspired Stain to suddenly change his MO of killing minor heroes and start terrorizing the yakuza (all hearsay could gather was Jade had done a pure heroic deed in correcting a grievous sin committed by the gang, which caused Stain to target the Shie Hassaikai exclusively).

And, to reiterate, Jade had vanished into thin air. With no clues as to where he went.

Now, Nighteye and his new task force were forced to simply clean up the mess that Jade had left behind.

To put it simply, the local criminal underground had turned into a burning powder keg. With the vigilantes (dubbed “Gems” by the press) now full-on assaulting the operations of the Shie Hassaikai, they were also using the opportunity to use their takedowns to drag down other criminal groups as well. This was causing more criminals and minor gangs to become what the media called “Acolytes”. However, the yakuza weren’t helping themselves as their counterattacks against the vigilantes didn’t just hit other criminals, either due to perceived sympathy or to expand their own holdings. No, they also hit nonprofits vigilantes sometimes visited, demolished buildings used by squatters and Gems, and even assaulted an Underground Hero Agency. This caused many of the disenfranchised, either directly assaulted by the yakuza or alienated by their tactics, to either become Gems themselves (this wasn’t common) or set up places jokingly called “Refineries” with nonprofits and local businesses. Refineries were basically rest stops and supply stations for Gems, a place where they could lay low from the law or the yakuza, patch up wounds, get a bite to eat, and some places even replaced or repaired broken equipment.

The only reason they were able to know so much about this was because Eraserhead’s information network had worked overtime to keep track of what was happening. Alliances and partnerships were forming, and though they were shaky now, they indicated lines being drawn in the sand. And if something wasn’t done soon, they would turn to lines carved in stone.

For the past week, Mirai had turned the underworld upside-down looking for Jade and arresting any Gem, Acolyte, or yakuza thug he came across. The problem was A) Jade had, to reiterate, vanished completely, with no one the wiser as to his location, and B) with so many arrests, the local courts were being overclocked, the police overworked,  and there weren’t enough heroes to keep a lid on the situation.

Nighteye would either have to change his approach to this dilemma or he needed more help. And if the absolute incompetent moron sitting in front of him had his way? He’d have to do the former, and he wasn’t sure if that was the right play.

“The funding the HPSC gave you was perfectly adequate for the situation,” the representative sniffed contentiously.

“No, you gave me slightly more funding than the initial Task Force, which, as I recall, had no structure, barely cooperated, had two competent members, and lost almost a third of its funds to embezzlement,” Mirai intoned with strained patience. They had argued this point four times already. “Also, despite your… funds I was able to cobble together something four times more efficient and cohesive.”

“Then I fail to see why you suddenly require more assistance,” the now-twitching representative sneered.

Mirai slammed his hand down, patience dry. “Because, representative, as I have said repeatedly, I was still not given adequate resources to handle the situation as it was a month ago. In that scenario, I would only have been able to give a 72.8% certainty of success. But now, I can’t even manage to handle the common criminal, considering every resource I and the local police have is focused on finding a man who disappeared more than two weeks ago. His trail is either long since cold or erased by the turf war that has erupted.”

To accentuate his point, another “battle” erupted just down the street as Acolytes appeared and attacked a local bookstore, probably a Refinery.

The representative jumped at the sound and looked at the carnage, stunned. Mirai cut him off when he turned back to him and opened his mouth. “Let me be clear, representative,” he droned with a Glare. “I am no longer dealing with a vigilante. I am dealing with the figurehead of a full-blown gang war. And if I am not reinforced by the HPSC, I will not be able to crack down on the increased violence tearing apart the streets, much less find Jade. As such, your organization will provide me with more manpower and supplies, or I will not be able to stop Jade from becoming a Symbol. Do you understand?”

Because that was what would happen. If Nighteye couldn’t get a handle on the War, Jade would become cemented in the public consciousness as a larger-than-life figure and provide inspiration to others who shared his views. The Refineries and Gems, though isolated, were only the beginning of a trend. They were the fuse of a powder keg that would definitely destroy the Shie Hassaikai, of that Nighteye was certain. But it was what else would get caught in that blast that had Mirai so nervous.

The representative gulped. “I’ll… talk to my superiors,” he said, caving. Nighteye nodded in thanks as he packed his bag. “But know this, Nighteye,” he said before leaving. “You were put in charge of this investigation because you said you could get results. Fail to get them… and there will be consequences .”

Nighteye simply sat there and stared at him. The representative left, with no idea that the hero’s leg was slightly trembling.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Overhaul was livid.

Bad enough that some vigilante scum had stolen Eri. But, said vigilante had somehow inspired two underworld figures, Lady Magne and Stain, to wage a total war against him. Now, his organization was leaking men and money with every attack. Plus, the frequent attacks and negative media attention drove away anyone who might fund his ventures to create more of his quirk-destroying bullets. His only saving grace was these dumb and scared “Acolytes” who were providing an essential lifeline for his operations. But they were just cannon fodder to stave off the sudden wave of vigilantes that had suddenly sprung up.

And to make things worse, the recent acquisitions Nighteye had gained from the HPSC were allowing him to crack down on the war in its entirety, shutting down both vigilantes and yakuza. If he didn’t do something soon, all his goals would go up in smoke.

Which led to now, with him meeting with the last man he’d ever wish to turn to.

“Well,” said an infuriatingly smug Giran, in his light purple suit and small glasses with a cigarette clutched between his fingers. “I gotta say, this is unexpected.”

No, it wasn’t. And Giran knew that. Overhaul had long since made his stance on common crooks clear. And people like Giran, who fused them into sick groups of petty thieves and murderers like some twisted matchmaker? They were worse than the common scum.

But times had forced Chisaki to swallow his pride.

“These are… unexpected times,” the boss gritted out.

Giran took a drag of his cigarette and blew it out. “Yes, I heard about your little war,” he smiled. “From what I hear, you’re bleeding resources left and right.”

“Rumors,” Overhaul growled. “Rumors perpetuated by the ignorance of these… “Gems” and nothing more.”

Giran nodded. “Of course, of course,” he said. “But the thing about rumors? They always have a grain of truth to them. And the fact that you even reached out to me in the first place? Vindicates that grain.” He leaned forward. “So. What does a big, all-important yakuza boss like you need a tiny, scummy broker like me for?”

Overhaul drew in a shaky breath. “I am holding my own against the Gems,” he said. “However, the war in its current state is just rehashing the old argument of quality vs. quantity. I have the numbers and reach thanks to my… “Acolytes”,” he said with a chuckle Giran shared, “but the Gems are versatile, slippery, and each one is, on average, worth at least six acolytes.”

He leaned closer to Giran. “I have the infantry. What I need is cavalry.”

Giran smiled crookedly. “So, you want premiere scum, huh?” he smirked. “I can do that. But be warned, the best won’t come cheap.”

“I can pay,” Chisaki replied.

Giran chuckled. “With what?”

Chisaki leaned forward. “Tell the ones that ask for a price that they will receive a down payment of at least half their fee upfront,” he said. “Then when the job I have in mind is done? They’ll get their full fee.”

Giran blinked. “An extra 50% at the very least, huh?” he replied. “Whatever you’re planning must be good.”

Overhaul grinned. “It will be,” he promised. “It will be…”

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When Katsuki came back to the Midoriya house, he expected to see Izuku cooking dinner for Eri.

He did not expect to see a kid that looked like a fucking frog to be at the table too.

“...Izu?”

“She was abandoned in a box! I couldn’t just leave her!”

“She’s not a fu- flipping pet!”

“...Eri used the eyes.”

“...gosh darnit, Midoriya.”

Chapter Text

The kid’s name was Tsuyu Asui. She was about six years old with forest green hair (which was even tied in a bow at the base of her back), wide eyes the color of gunmetal, a cute little tongue sticking out of her mouth, a verbal tick that had her “ribbit” almost every time she talked, and even a small tadpole tail sticking out of her back. In short, she was just like Eri: unfairly adorable. And in Katsuki’s defense, it took her about 20 seconds to wrap him around her little finger. Eri had done it in less than five, so he was making progress! Still, not even a minute after knowing the kid, he was ready to murder just whoever had dumped her in a box like she was garbage, despite Midoriya’s protests.

What did stop him was the fact that her parents had done that and then immediately died.

The way she said that, so resigned and matter-of-fact, stopped Katsuki dead in his tracks and got him to sit down and listen to the whole story (told in a detached and resigned tone that just made Katsuki’s skin crawl and eyes moisten).

Apparently, Asui’s (“Call me Tsu.”) Tsu’s mom had just given birth to twins just last week but had done so in a hospital that was often frequented by rich folks with outdated views about how society worked. Some didn’t like the fact that a bunch of “mutant freaks” had the gall to spawn their scum in the hospital of “proper humans”, and said as much both at the hospital and in threatening letters to the house for the past week. When her parents ignored their hate, the rich bastards decided to take off the kid’s gloves… and bust out the Molotovs.

Tsu’s mom had taken her outside with the twins and hidden her in a box. She was probably gonna go place the babies somewhere else, but those fuckers had gotten past her husband and gunned her down. Tsu would have scooped up her siblings if the box hadn’t been nudged next to an AC unit, causing her to slip into semi-hibernation. The jerks then looted the bodies and stole the babies. It had been hours before Midoriya had found her, alone and shivering.

Katsuki might have done something rash… had he not immediately looked at Midoriya and found him gone.

He had already moved over to Tsu and wrapped his arms around her. “You don’t have to be strong,” he said soothingly. “I’m not going to judge you for anything. That was a really scary scenario and a horrible situation. There’s nothing you could’ve done. You can cry. It’s okay.”

That was all it took. Tsu broke down and started sobbing and croaking into Midoriya’s chest, with a tearful Eri jumping up and hugging the both of them. Midoriya just held them both for a while, murmuring sweet nothings into their ears and hugging them gently. Katsuki had already excused himself quietly to go make some warm soup (no spices, of course, because the girls weren’t tough enough yet and Midoriya was a wuss).

By the time everyone had calmed down, all that was left for the soup was just letting it warm up and mix together. By then, the girls had come in. “What are you cooking, ribbit?” Tsu asked.

“Soup,” he replied stiffly. “Helps after a good cry. Made it a bunch at the homeless shelter.”

Tsu nodded thankfully and took a seat at the table that Midoriya was starting to set up.

“Do you have any other family?” Midoriya asked. She shook her head. “Then you can stay here.”

Tsu and Eri looked at him with surprise and restrained hope. Katsuki just looked at his friend like he was crazy. “Ribbit?” Tsu croaked.

Midoriya smiled. “I have the space and you need someone looking after you. I’ve already got some experience with Eri, plus you two have bonded with each other. It’ll be good for both of you to interact with people your own age in a safe space.” Tsu seemed to ponder this as Katsuki was holding back thirty different expletives that would demand Izu to stop making this sound logical.

Then Eri gently took Tsu’s hand and gave her a wide-eyed begging look. “Please?” she asked timidly.

And just like that, the Midoriya household now had a new resident.

After dinner, which Tsu and Eri thoroughly enjoyed much to Katsuki’s pride, the blonde boy took his friend to the side while the girls watched cartoons in the other room. Weirdly, both Tsu and Eri insisted on helping clean up, Eri out of the habit of obligation and Tsu out of politeness (apparently). So, it took them a while to get the two of them alone in Izuku’s room so Katsuki could ask his question.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“I have no idea! Sh-she just looked so small and helpless and-and-and I couldn’t just let her go back, I mean what if those assholes are still looking for her she could get hurt or killed or worse andwestilldon’tknowwhathappenedtohersiblingsorwheretheymightbeohdearkamiwhatdowedo…” Midoriya descended into muttering and panicking, requiring Katsuki to lightly chop his head.

“Izu. Breathe,” he ordered. “What’s done is done, stop worrying about the nuances and focus on the task at hand. You’ve adopted a frog. You now have two daughters. What needs to happen now?”

Izu took a deep breath and immediately started writing a bunch of stuff down in a notebook. Katuski normally would’ve snapped him out of his process, but from the look on his face, this wasn’t hero analysis. As such, if Katsuki interrupted, he would not like the consequences. So, he simply waited for Izuku to get done.

After about seven minutes, Izuku snapped the book closed and handed it to Katsuki. “Here’s a list of things to ask Tsu and make sure of so we can take care of her,” he said. “I’ve got a grocery list memorized that I’ll grab while I’m out. Keep the house locked and the windows drawn, I should be back in a day, two at most.”

Katsuki numbly took the book before rallying. “Woah, woah, where the fuck are you going?” he demanded.

Izuku got his vigilante gear out from under his bed. “I’m going to find Tsu’s siblings,” Izuku Jade stated.

(Katsuki would later recall how Izuku hadn't denied that Eri and Tsu were his daughters and wonder... before dismissing it in favor of the current problems, mainly making sure Tsu and Eri didn't try to clean the whole house again.)

Lady Magne hadn’t been idle since Jade had last seen her almost a month ago. While he had vanished into obscurity, she had personally led the charge against the Shie Hassaikai in a two-week guerilla campaign that swept through the criminal underworld like a tempest. The smart criminals had battened down the hatches and consolidated what resources they could in the face of the oncoming storm and inevitable crackdown. When said crackdown came, the ones that hadn’t wised up were crushed underneath the wrath of Nighteye’s task force, newly rebranded the “Anti-Vigilante Task Force” (AVTF), but scuttlebutt called them “Monks” as they swore off both “Gems” and “Precepts”.

But Magne was one of the smart ones. She had spent the two weeks laying down a rough communication network between vigilantes and Refineries, creating the basics of a network to keep the so-called “Jade-Precept War” going. So when Nighteye and the HPSC came, they got a sizeable chunk of the vigilantes and Acolytes as well as several other minor crooks, but the bulk of the Gems made it into the shadows and disappeared. To Magne, this was a good thing, as Overhaul had made tenuous alliances with multiple factions and then done the same as the Gems. So, she had spent the remaining weeks between the crackdown and this new meeting growing her network from a patchwork of “know-a-Gem-who-knows-somebody” to an actual solid organization.

Jade could see the potential of such a thing and wondered how it could be utilized in the future against groups like the Shie Hassaikai or the Inhuman Supremacy Party. Mainly, it was advantageous because it could help him with his mission.

Izuku was just about to die of embarrassment and shame that he had somehow inspired the creation of a vigilante agency. Not only that, but many people there either thought he was in charge and/or wanted him to be in charge.

Thankfully, after Magne was done showing him around, he managed to (with minimal stuttering) turn down any offers of leadership, citing the current increased attention as an excuse. This was a brief foray because of something urgent, which he clarified.

When he was done, Magne crushed a table with her magnet pole and the onlooking Gems looked pissed.

“THOSE DIRTBAG, SCUM-SUCKING, FUCKWADS!” she screeched. “HOW DARE THEY?! NOT ENOUGH TO KILL A COUPLE FOR GIVING BIRTH IN THE WRONG HOSPITAL, BUT KIDNAPPING BABIES?!!! ” The rant went on for a little longer, with much more strong cursing and a bit more property damage.

When Magne was done, Jade spoke up. “I trust I have your support on this, then,” he said.

“Oh ho ho, you better fucking believe you do,” Magne snarled. She turned to the onlookers. “Put out a priority message on all channels! I need the name of the hospital the Asuis checked into, its financial backers, the personal info of its clientele, what both of those last two have been doing for the past 72 hours and where, any news of human trafficking, and two coffees mixed with energy shots!”

Jade paused as the people around them got busy. “What’s the coffee for?” he asked.

“Drinking,” Magne replied. “We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

The next evening…

“-the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” the officer said to the arrested couple as they were loaded into the vehicle. They looked awful. Their eyes were wide and hair matted, like they’d just woken up in a hellscape. Their clothes, rich silk pajamas, were torn, scuffed, and dirty, ruined beyond what any seamstress could repair.

Nighteye paid them no mind as he headed up to Detective Tsukauchi, who looked as tired as he felt, with bags under his eyes and his chin scruffy. However, his face was hardened and focused with a look in his eyes that could melt steel and strike AfO down with a heart attack if it was physical. “Detective,” he greeted, causing the severe man to look at him. “What’s the situation… in fact, what the hell happened?” He gestured at the mansion in front of them, which looked like a bomb had been set off on the front door.

“Sir,” Tsukauchi said grimly, “Jade resurfaced.”

Nighteye’s eyes widened. “Full report.”

“At approximately 9:17 pm, a private alarm was triggered inside the mansion. Personal security rushed to investigate and found that Jade and Lady Magne had infiltrated the mansion with several Gems. They tried to apprehend them, but were utterly ignored or torn apart- metaphorically,” he clarified to Nighteye’s horrified face, “torn apart as they rampaged through the house. However, they finally managed to corner them in the Entrance Hall around 9:22 and the couple came out to gloat at them. Only, the Jade and Lady Magne present there were suddenly revealed to be fakes. We suspect some kind of cloning quirk is involved based on testimony. In any case, the real duo set off an explosive on the door to give the Gems a clear route out as well as cause confusion. Around 9:30, they had defeated and tied up everyone here and escaped cleanly. The police arrived at 9:40 with the people inside the hall still bound.”

Nighteye frowned. “Then why were those two arrested?” he asked, pointing at the now-leaving police car.

“Because the Gems left behind the reason why they attacked the manor and evidence to back up their claims,” Tsukauchi growled. “The owners of this house, the Yaoyorozus, are members of the CRC, and have a hobby of tracking down “unruly mutants”, killing them for their supposed “crimes”, then kidnapping their children to turn them into pets for the rich. And I mean that literally since most of the training is centered around getting them to act like animals.”

Nighteye was just about to break his teeth from grinding them so hard when Sansa came up and said “You forgot about the girl.”

Tsukauchi blinked. “Oh, yeah. Apparently, they were also trying to force their daughter to adopt their mindset, but a tutor with a conscience and a few smuggled books ruined that. So, they resorted to beatings and harsh punishments. They also had a habit of forcing that six-year-old to overuse her creation quirk to make counterfeit money and jewels.”

If Nighteye wasn’t holding back all of his energy from screaming, he would’ve realized something. This was way more coordinated than the Gems should have been capable of. The estimates of the raids in the crackdown had said that 80% of all Gem operations had been suppressed, not counting the Refineries which were impossible to track until they were attacked. Such a weakened and decentralized coalition shouldn’t have had the resources to pull this off, much less research it well enough to make sure what they did stuck.

The Night of Nighteye, as the press had called it, had been a massive PR win for the HPSC and the heroes. But if this was what the Gems were capable of, just how much of that win was real? And how would both the general public and the villains react to such a triumph by the Gems?

Text Messages

Uh, Kaachan?

Kaachan: what’s wrong

So, good news and bad news. Here’s a photo.

surprise.png

Kaachan: so, the good news is you got tsu’s siblings back

Yep

Kaachan: and the bad news is you adopted another kid

Her parents were abusing her and her creation quirk to make money! I don’t know which is worse considering that’s *such a poor use* of her quirk! She can literally turn her lipids into…more

Kaachan: zuku

Kaachan: ranting

Right, sorry

Kaachan: just come back. tsu and eri are getting antsy

Chapter Text

Times like these were when Shouta really hated the press.

What came to be known as the Yaoyorozu Heist had been publicized across almost every billboard, newspaper, and website, detailing everything from the heist itself, to background information on the Gems (reviving a lot of old PR wounds), to a detailed article on the Creature Rejection Clan, to an expose on the trial of the Yaoyorozus. All it did was undo all the work that had been put in during the Night of Nighteye. Public faith in heroes took another massive hit after just barely starting to improve and vigilantes and thrillseekers went after the wealthy and the CRC in droves. Most of these people were anarchists and crooks trying to paint their crimes in a positive light, but the HPSC was quick to expose those fuckers as frauds.

It didn’t stop the main problem, and that was the increase in Gems.

True, genuine Gems started to become local icons, carrying out daring raids on local crime groups and exposing corrupt officials and heroes. What was worse, they were starting to connect with each other through what Lady Magne called the “Obsidian Alliance”, the central body responsible for the Yaoyorozu Heist and what was believed by many to be the hiding place of Jade. Although Shouta’s intelligence said Jade had only popped up with the Alliance to perform the heist, it was still the best lead they had on him and pressure from the HPSC was mounting to shut down the organization before it could grow too much.

In Shouta’s opinion, it was way too late for that. Of course, he couldn’t say that out loud since he was in the middle of a press conference with Nighteye and Tsukauchi. For the past hour, they had been defending their capabilities both by referencing their strengths as well as those of the Gems, painting a picture of what Hizashi would call “yes they’re cool but so are we”. It wasn’t exactly what the execs wanted, but by this point, the entire task force thought the HPSC could choke on their complaints.

“Do you think this is becoming more than just a standard gang war?” one reporter chimed.

“No,” Nighteye firmly stated. “Jade’s influence barely reaches out of Musutafu itself and this ‘Obsidian Alliance’ only has managed to dig roots in Shizuoka and the neighboring prefectures. We are working with hero agencies across those territories to contain them and make sure their influence does not spread further.”

What Nighteye didn’t mention was the fact that it wasn’t the Alliance itself that was the problem; it was their message. Already, word had spread across Japan about this new “vigilante agency” and several minor copycats and vigilante teams had started popping up like zits. Minor annoyances on their own, but much of the quarantine on the Alliance was about keeping information about these potential recruits out of the hands of Magne as well as trying to bottleneck her influence. And the analysts weren’t sure how well it was working.

“Has there been any progress on the capture of Jade?” said another.

“Jade has again gone to ground,” Tuskauchi said. “Our intel suggests he’s taking more of a figurehead role at the Alliance in an attempt to attract more converts.”

That was just an educated guess. In reality, Jade had completely vanished once more and the AVTF had no idea where to find him. Even the Alliance didn’t seem to be keeping tabs on him.

Another hand came up and was picked. “Chitose Kizuki, Shoowaysha Publishing,” said the blue-skinned reporter. Shouta groaned internally. Shoowaysha was one of the worst vultures in Japan, utterly ruthless in pursuing knowledge and information. Their inflammatory and well-documented articles had ended the careers of several heroes, politicians, and public officials. Twice, they had been run in on charges of illegally procuring documents and collaborating with villainous elements, but the cases always fell apart due to lack of evidence. And Chitose Kizuki was the head vulture, the most ruthless and cunning of all.

“I was wondering about what the tactics of this new alliance say about the Night of Nighteye,” she smiled. “I don’t belittle the efforts of the AVTF in any way, nor do I accuse you of negligence, but I have to wonder about the Shie Hassaikai as well as the Alliance. When the Night concluded, I was sure that with the resources of the HPSC you had cleaned the slate completely. But if Lady Magne was able to preserve so much of her organization, is it possible that the yakuza group she fought did the same?”

Shouta would later blame what happened next on a multitude of factors: tiredness, lack of good coffee, annoyance at the conference, Chitose’s mere presence, the list went on. But in that moment, he only had one thought.

Fuck the Hero Commission.

“We have no intel on the Shie Hassaikai at this time,” Shouta spoke up before Nighteye could retort. “Our priority from the moment of this group’s founding was and is the capture of Jade. The Jade-Precept War made tracking the man nearly impossible, so both sides had to be cracked down on so we could investigate the matter thoroughly. However, after the Night, we were… reminded that our priority was Jade, not yakuza. As such, after the mass arrests, we were ordered off any cases related to the Shie Hassaikai unless a direct link to Jade could be proven. As such, we have not been monitoring their movements or their activities, so we have no idea if they got away with more than Magne or were completely wiped out in a freak accident.”

And just like that, Shouta could sense the blood pressure of the HPSC higher-ups spike exponentially. He did not give a fuck.

As the reporters exploded into questions that Tsukauchi and Nighteye desperately tried to field, Shouta leaned back in his chair and sighed. No doubt, this would blow back on the AVTF, but not nearly as bad as it would on the HPSC. At best, they had made a tactical decision with questionable moral and practical components. At worst, they had ignored a group of high-profile criminals they had on the ropes in favor of a personal agenda. And all it had taken was a single statement.

Shouta’s neck hairs stood up, causing him to look back at the reporters… and Chitose Kizuki staring right at him. Her eyes had a mixture of shock, awe, respect, and a touch of confusion, but her widening grin only held manic curiosity. Only then did Shouta realize that by taking that ballsy stance, he had just made himself the most interesting thing in that room. And Kizuki tore interesting things apart, dissected their organs, poured preserving agents on what was left, then stuffed the remnants.

Put simply, he had made himself Chitose Kizuki’s latest Curiosity.

And what did he do with that knowledge? He basked in his temporary insanity (there was no other word for it), sent her a wink, and gave her a lazy smirk that just screamed “try me”, all but cementing her attention on him.

…however, that didn’t explain the sudden blush.

Kenji Hikishi, aka Lady Magne, wanted to laugh. The so-called “Central Quarantine” was impressive on paper and in the daylight. But once night came and the big spotlight pros got sloppy and lazy, it became as effective as tissue paper. All it took was knowing when to move and how to move.

Initially, that had caused problems, since stealth was a learned skill and not many of the recent Gems had had the right experience. Most of them had just been patrollers that beat up the occasional mugger or gangster, or heavy hitters that were good on raids and bad at sneaking around. As such, her network had been stretched thin, trying to keep in contact with the multiple vigilante groups that agreed to a non-aggression pact at least and joined up as members at most. However, a large windfall suddenly blew her way, all tying back to the Yaoyorozu Heist.

First came the matter of the Yaoyorozu’s assets. The family had had its hands in almost every pie in Japan and functioned as a sort of “jack-of-all-trades” company with an emphasis on a select few areas (many of them illegal). This had made the family down and out dirty loaded, and that wasn’t something people just wanted lying around. Thankfully, the ensuing investigation into the family’s affairs had cleaned out their company’s corrupt leadership, leading a group of four as the Board of Directors. These four were actually philanthropic, virtuous, and had been trying to blow the whistle on the conglomerate for years. As such, the company quickly helped the Yaoyorozu Response Unit (an alliance of several policemen and the agencies of Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist) clean the company out of all criminal activities and shut down a lot of what it was connected to, chief of which being CRC assets and fronts.

The real kicker, however, came when the new CEO approached Kenji directly to negotiate terms on how to turn the new company into not a Refinery, but a Quarry (apparently, the obvious corruption of the past and the heavy-handed approach of the present–thanks Endeavor–had alienated the group from the government). Now, the Alliance could use the resources of the Yaoyorozu family to make and deliver supplies to its Refineries in broad daylight and the heroes wouldn’t think twice. (Momo Yaoyorozu, of course, signed the final signature as it was technically her stuff, she just wasn’t old enough to inherit yet.)

The second windfall was Wraith. No one knew who they were or what they looked like, but a letter to Magne claimed they owed their freedom and identity to the Yaoyorozu Heist, and, by extension, her and Jade. As such, they wanted to use their unique skill set to run messages and carry packages under the cover of darkness. And they were damn good at it, too. So far, the heroes hadn’t even realized that their night patrols might as well not be there thanks to Wraith. In fact, the only hints of their existence were the occasional letter to Magne and the beaten bloody crooks they sometimes left tied to a street lamp with a little pink sticky note.

In essence, the winds of fortune had rendered the Obsidian Alliance immune (if temporarily) to the efforts of the heroes. The strong presence based in Shizuoka and its surrounding prefectures was now branching out across Japan, ignoring the Quarantine like it wasn’t there.

Which led her to her latest task; convincing an old friend to take a gamble.

“Ah,” Kagero Okuta, aka Giran, said as he lowered his glass of fine whiskey. “Kenji, you always know where to find the good stuff. Reminds me of the day we met, really.”

She remembered. The two had met at an underground fighting ring, with Kenji selling her own drinks and pocketing all the profits and Kagero running a booking scam. The two started cooperating together with their two-fold scam and had been friends ever since. “Remind me again, did they figure out I was illegally selling drinks or that you were fixing the odds?” she asked.

“Neither, actually,” Kagero replied. “Apparently, we had skimped out on ticket fees one too many times. Still, that night was the night we hit it big, wasn’t it?”

Kenji laughed. “Indeed. We drank good that night,” she said. “That’s part of why I’m here, actually.”

Kagero sighed. “Yeah, you aren’t the type to just call me up on a social call, especially these days,” he said ruefully. “What did you have in mind?”

Kenji looked at Kagero seriously. “I want you to join me,” she told him. “Hear me out,” she interrupted his sigh, “it’s a good plan. I’ve recently gotten my hands on a boatload of resources and I’m reaching out to several of the recent copycats. I’m building connections, gaining manpower, and the public opinion of our operations is already great. With your information network, we’d be able to reach several more sympathetic ‘villains’ and take on the bigger names in crime! Plus, every victory for us is a defeat for the HPSC! Already, people are questioning the validity and competence of the organization. Together, we could turn this entire society upside down! Live large and proud, just like we always wanted!” She turned a wide grin to Kagero.

He wasn’t smiling.

“Kenji,” he sighed, “you’re my friend. We’ve known each other for a long time. As such, I’m going to offer you two choices, though I’d prefer it if you took the first.”

Kenji frowned. “What’s the option?”

“Drop it.”

Kenji almost staggered back. Kagero wasn’t kidding. He was being deadly serious, his face set in a neutral frown and his eyes hard. “Leave the Alliance, leave it to its own devices, and watch as it crumbles. Because it will,” he warned. “Overhaul finally threw out his pride and came to me. He wanted introductions to quality villains and hired help, offering substantial rewards for all helping him. And if my info’s correct, not only does he now have that, but he’s also formed a joint partnership with what’s left of the CRC.”

Kenji snarled. “I should’ve known they managed to slip away.”

“Oh, trust me, they didn’t,” Kagero chuckled humorlessly. “They lost quite a bit of their assets, from people to shell companies to actual companies to plain liquid capital. But there are still quite a few members left and they still have some ties to old money. And now? They hate Jade and you. In light of that, they’ve tied themselves to the Shie Hassaikai. They’re planning something big, Kenji, and I don’t think even the heroes could stop it.” He leaned forward and looked Kenji dead in the eyes. “Kenji, run. Go find a dark corner of Japan where they won’t find you and bury yourself in it until this blows over and the Obsidian Alliance and Jade are just passing memories.

Kenji looked right back at Kagero. For quite a few seconds, there was silence. Until Kenji responded, “If you had told me that at the start of this, I probably would have agreed. Now, though? I couldn’t back away even if I wanted. I’ve seen what those CRC fucks have done, to each other, to innocents, to kids. I can’t let that lie. And now you’re telling me they’re working with the Shie Hassaikai? The ones who started this war?” She shook her head. “No. I’m not leaving.” She then huffed a dry laugh. “Besides, I’ve gotten attached to these Gems. I can’t just leave them to die.”

Kagero lit a cigarette and sighed. “Well, I had to at least try,” he grumbled. “Door #2 it is.”

He gave Kenji a document. “Here’s a list of sympathetic figures in the Underworld,” he told her. “Ranging from people who agree with your ideals to people with a grudge against the Shie Hassaikai or the CRC or both, they should all prove useful in some way. Just hope they and the rest of your motley crew will be enough.”

Kenji blinked at the list as Kagero stood up and turned to leave. “Hold on,” she said. “The warning I can understand, but why give me this? I thought you were working with Overhaul.”

Kagero chuckled drily. “I work with Overhaul because he’s paying me a fortune. But honestly?” He turned back to his friend.

“I’d rather see you win. You make this world a hell of a lot more interesting. Besides, had you asked before Overhaul, I would’ve said yes in a heartbeat.”

It had now been eight months since the Sludge Incident and about two months since the Jade-Precept War began. It had also been a bit more than a month since Izuku had brought home Tsu’s siblings and little Momo Yaoyorozu. In that time, they had managed to come up with a dynamic.

Keeping Tsu’s siblings at Izuku’s place had been a nonstarter, considering they tended to wake up in the middle of the night and start crying. Given the trauma Momo, Eri, and Tsu suffered, this was not just depriving Izuku of sleep, but everyone else as well. After a few days, Bakugou finally intervened and took the twins home with him, telling his parents that they had been the kids of a friend at the homeless shelter and that Izuku was looking after their older sister. Tsu was allowed to visit whenever she pleased, which was a massive comfort for the girl.

The remaining three girls had quickly developed their own dynamic. Eri stepped up as the big sister, teaching the other two the “important things”, such as the house’s escape routes, where the food was, how everything needed to be ordered and cleaned, and how to play V&V (Vigilantes and Villains, a dystopian tabletop RPG where there was barely a central government and you got to create your own hero or villain), a game of her own creation. Tsu took over as the middle sibling, both following Eri’s directions and looking after Momo if she was ever busy with something. She taught them a bit more about socializing with others and how to have conversations. Momo became the bright youngest child, curious and innocent (seemingly). She often followed around her “siblings” and asked questions about everything under the sun. She also managed to teach them more about things they were learning in school and how to handle money responsibly.

Each of them had their own quirks and difficulties. Eri still trembled at the thought of upsetting someone, whether that be her new sisters or Izuku himself, and thus strove to make herself likable and useful (though she still hadn’t been able to smile yet). Tsu was very blunt and quiet, often requiring Izuku to try and include her in conversations. Momo was used to a much more regimented lifestyle and harsher guardians and was often insecure about herself and what she was allowed to do. Izuku was trying his best, but he wasn’t sure just how to help them.

Still, he was making progress. He sometimes took the girls out of the area (to avoid prying eyes and local villains) so they could bond and see new things. Tsu had loved going to the aquarium in Okinawa, Momo had deeply enjoyed the tour of Edo, and Eri had gazed at Japan from Mt. Fuji and had the corners of her mouth perk up quite a bit. They were starting to understand that Izuku’s house was a safe space where he wouldn’t judge them for the things they did or hurt them at all. Thanksgiving, while an American holiday, had been very helpful in that regard due to Katsuki and Izuku throwing the trio a massive feast and even a few gifts. Lady Magne (she insisted the girls call her “Auntie Kenji”) even showed up, Izuku having told her about his house after the Yaoyorozu Heist, with a delicious curry and some hand-knit sweaters. (She had also taken Izuku aside and told him about her deal with Giran and her new prospective recruits. Izuku asked her to keep him updated on the situation as he would help in whatever way he could. He owed it to the girls so they would be safe.)

(He later had a panic attack over what he had just volunteered for, but managed to keep it away from the girls.)

Izuku hoped that this next trip would teach the girls how to just let go and have fun.

As the girls put on their winter clothes to protect them from December’s biting cold, Eri looked up at him. “Where are we going this time, Midoriya?” she asked.

“Mie,” he replied. “We’re going to their Christmas festival at the local shopping mall.”

(‘Nothing will go wrong’ were the words on repeat in Izuku’s head.)

Chapter Text

The ride to Mie was relaxing. The district itself was a bit different from Shizuoka. It had a bit of a more… rural and rustic vibe than the metropolitan district of home. Everything seemed a bit more spread out and scaled down, compared to the towering skyscrapers and compressed apartment buildings back home. It might have been his imagination, but the air almost seemed cleaner and brighter than home. It was certainly different, but not in a bad way. It certainly helped that the snow had dusted everything in a clean white that made everything look picturesque.

And it may be because of Izuku’s lack of positive contact for much of his life, but the people seemed to be much nicer there as well. While on the train ride there, he had gotten a few warm looks and approving nods from passersby as he herded his charges and did his best to make them feel appreciated. Some had even approached him, exchanged friendly conversation, and offered a tip or two from their own kids. (He would definitely need to find a bathroom to scream in later, as well as have a long talk with Kaachan. He felt like such a fraud.)

Arriving in Mie was both a blessing and a curse, as it got him out of that situation, but he found himself wanting to stay and talk more, basking in this new feeling of… elation? Hm. Something for later. In any case, with his panic somewhat suppressed, he and the girls were now standing in the snow-dusted streets of Tsu (which all four found very amusing) and touring the place. It wasn’t all that different from Shizuoka, but the local culture was much more open and inviting than Izuku remembered from home. (Probably because of all of his negative experiences.)

It hadn’t been that long before Izuku noticed Tsuyu trembling. He flinched as he realized that, despite his precautions in bundling up the little frog, she was still susceptible to the freezing temperatures. However, he didn’t want to make her feel like she was derailing anything simply because of something she couldn’t help. So, he started thinking of a way to change the subject and get them indoors when suddenly Momo spoke up.

“D-! Izuku-san! Isn’t that where the festival is?” she asked excitedly, pointing at a large indoor shopping complex. (Recently, she had started to pick up a verbal tick where she would say something starting with “D” before formally saying his name. He had told her he was comfortable with whatever she wanted to call him despite his instinctive flinch at what sounded like his old nickname but it seemed not to have sunk in. Still, he shouldn’t push on these things, so he allowed her the time to ready herself.)

Izuku, glad at the convenient excuse, nodded. “It is. Wanna go inside? Pretty sure there’s a stall for hot chocolate and apple cider-”

The girls were tugging him at full speed towards the complex before he could finish talking.

The room was dark and damp, the only sounds being the hum of machinery and the dripping of pipes. This made sense since it was a boiler room for the shopping complex in Tsu. It was always dark and had those kinds of noises.

Today, though, there were two differences. One, Kumo, the local janitor who was the personification of the words “friendly giant” with his polar bear mutation, was lying on the ground instead of tending to the machines. Surrounding him was a pool of his own blood and his eyes were long since deprived of life. Two, multiple hooded figures scurried about in the shadows like rats, whispering in hushed tones and uncaring of the body on the floor. (One went so far as to spit on the bear mutant, calling him a “monstrous freak”.)

“How close are we to completion?” asked a figure with robes that were much fancier than the rest.

“Soon, High Priestess,” said one of the figures. “Squads Knight and Revolutionary are in position, with Knight ready to begin as soon as you give the word and Revolutionary preparing the final touches. However, recent changes in police behavior have delayed Squad Inquisitor. Despite this, they report that things are proceeding on schedule. They will be ready by the appropriate time.”

“They’d better,” snarled the High Priestess. “Mother, holy and just, has entrusted us with this task in the hopes of creating a Pure World, free of beastliness and sin. I will not fail her and her glorious vision. I refuse to fail her, and anyone who jeopardizes that… will be punished with a fury they cannot even comprehend. Clear?”

To the lackey’s credit, he didn’t so much as flinch. “Of course, High Priestess,” he replied.

“Good. Make sure Squad Inquisitor knows as well.” She then wrinkled her nose at the corpse. “And could someone throw that trash in the incinerator? I didn’t think it was possible, but it smells worse in death than it did in life.”

Fortunately for the late Kumo, the mall didn’t have an incinerator, so his body was discovered in a nearby dumpster soon after all was said and done. Unremarkable in life, he would soon become a symbol and a martyr against the rising threat.

It was a winter wonderland. Shops dotted the walls of the mall, the halls decked with false snow, various bells, candy canes, and, of course, boughs of holly. Izuku didn’t even know a mall could have this many Christmas decorations. Of course, the festive atmosphere was a bit dampened by the various ads that boasted of various sales and discounts for the holiday season, but it was only a minor detail.

However, the real showstopper was the festival itself. In the central courtyard, the space had been turned into Santa’s workshop. Various stalls manned by people in holiday getups decorated the perimeter and throughout the yard itself. They sold everything from food to clothes to knick-knacks and more. Of course, fluffy cotton masquerading as snow was lined all around to sell the illusion.

Momo’s attention, however, was cemented on the large house at the back, in front of which sat a familiar old man in a bright red suit and hat. She tugged on Izuku’s leg and pointed. “Izuku-san, is that Santa Claus?” she asked, her trembling hand and shaky voice giving away her excitement.

Eri blinked and looked at Momo curiously. “Who’s ‘San-ta Klaws’?” she asked.

Izuku felt the familiar combination of heartbreak and unyielding rage while Momo just looked at Eri with wide eyes. Tsu, however, was able to act swiftly and calmly in correcting Eri’s ignorance. “According to popular culture, he’s a mythical giftgiver. Once a year, on Christmas Eve, he goes around the world and gives presents to all the nice children in the world, while the naughty kids get coal.”

Eri’s looked at the jolly man in excitement, before suddenly becoming sullen. “But… he never gave me anything…” she whispered.

Izuku, by this point recovered from his emotional high (and slightly in panic mode), quickly said, “D-Don’t worry, Eri! Th-That’s just because you never told him what you wanted! B-Besides, think about it; would… that man ever let a kind man like Santa into his complex if Santa did know what you wanted?”

Eri thought about this for a minute, then, finding no flaw with this logic, turned to Izuku. “So… how do I tell him?” she asked.

“You go down to that guy dressed as Santa and tell him,” Izuku said, pointing at the house. “He’ll then send a letter to the North Pole where the real Santa lives with all the wishes he received on it.”

Eri shrank a bit at the thought, looking at the crowds. Izuku knelt down beside her and gently cupped her hands. “Don’t worry, I’ll be right there with you the whole time,” he assured her.

Now mollified, Eri got a somewhat determined look on her face as an excited Momo led the way through the Christmas village. They only stopped a couple of times to ask about certain wares being peddled before getting in line to see Santa.

Eventually, they made it to the front. Tsu went first to show Eri how it was done, sitting on Santa’s lap and bluntly asking for a lilypad blanket, which had caused warm smiles all around (except for one elf who wrinkled his nose, but a look from his coworkers and a fiery glare from Izuku kept his mouth closed. Eri was rather nervous, but some warm smiles from the “elves” working there and a gentle laugh from Santa was enough to steady her nerves, sit on the man in red’s lap, and ask for a stuffed unicorn, similar to one she had seen in a shop nearby. Santa had simply smiled and promised to deliver before handing her off back to Izuku. Momo, however, whispered her wish into Santa’s ear, preventing Izuku from hearing it.

Santa’s eyes widened. “Oh, my,” he said. “Well, that’s quite the tall order. But, it is Christmas, one of the most magical and miraculous times of year. I’ll work as hard as I can, I promise.” Momo, satisfied, hopped down and went off to join her sisters.

Izuku would’ve joined them if a nearby elf hadn’t tugged on his arm. “Santa wanted you to know this,” she said before whispering Momo’s wish into his ear.

Izuku initially blanked. ‘She wants what?!’ was his initial thought. But then he thought about it… and thought about it… and thought about it some more.

He thanked the elf for her help, then turned to look at the three girls, chatting excitedly and pointing all around. He contemplated just how he felt about them for a moment.

Izuku smiled and shook his head with a sigh. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?” he asked himself under his breath.

“You couldn’t help yourself, could you!?” Mirai snapped.

Shouta sighed. “Could you not scream at me, Sasaki?” he groaned. “I’m running on forty-five minutes of sleep and five espressos. I don’t have the energy for this.”

Mirai felt like growling. Ever since Shouta had dropped the “we ignored the yakuza” bomb at that press conference, he didn’t know which was worse: the HPSC cracking down or the increased media scrutiny. The execs hadn’t taken Shouta throwing them under the bus well at all and had made that very clear to Mirai. However, aside from some withheld funds and nastily worded letters and phone calls, they couldn’t do much to the AVTF due to the media holding both organizations under microscopes. And even the withheld funds had netted the HPSC uncomfortable questions.

Speaking of the media, they hadn’t left the AVTF alone since the conference. It made doing stealth ops practically impossible for the heroes on the force, requiring them to outsource their missions to plainclothes police or unaffiliated heroes. Not to mention that the constant media presence made the perfect shield for... less-than-savory characters to get close to them. Fortunately, after an incident between Centipeder and a CRC sympathizer, the press had backed off, extremely embarrassed, but the fact that it even got to that point made Mirai furious.

“I am having to field angry calls from the HPSC Board, invasive questions from petitioners and amateur reporters, a crisis in my PR department, a dead halt to all operations for the Task Force, and have had to issue forty restraining orders since your little stunt. Why exactly do you get to rest after all of that?!” Mirai screeched.

Shouta gave him a dead look. “Chitose Kizuki has not left me alone. For weeks.”

Mirai opened his mouth… and then closed it. That was fair.

(He also didn’t point out the suspicious bush with bits of blue and purple sticking out of its branches outside the window.)

Mirai inhaled a large breath. “Let’s… let’s just put this behind us and get back to our jobs,” he grumbled.

“Amen,” Shouta agreed. “Before we start, where’s Tsukauchi?”

“On his last day of forced medical leave,” Mirai replied. “His vitals have stabilized, he’s had at least three hundred hours of sleep, he’s managed to shower and shave, and he hasn’t had to pay a cent. He should be back to work right as rain by tomorrow.”
Shouta nodded. “I’d say ‘lucky bastard’, but considering that stroke, I have no room to complain.”

Indeed, not even a week after the press conference, Tsukauchi had collapsed from a stress-induced stroke. The medics, upon learning this and Tsukauchi’s recent work habits, had forcibly removed him from the AVTF until he was back to peak condition. That included a total information blackout on the details of the case as well as mandatory bed rest.

Which wasn’t exactly good, since the two heroes would’ve liked the help.

“Still no word on Jade,” Eraserhead reported. “If scuttlebutt is to be believed, Magne’s keeping him updated on the progress of the Alliance, but outside of that, they’re confident he’s not involved in any of their affairs. Apparently, his greatest contribution is simply as their figurehead and inspiration. Outside of that, he has no influence or say in the organization.”

“I would say that my findings contradict that, but considering the mental health of some of these Acolytes and CRC members, I’m tempted to say they’re just crazy,” Nighteye sighed. “All reports indicate that the Shie Hassaikai and the CRC have formed a coalition, and they’re stepping up their searches for Jade. The bounty on his head has tripled and both organizations have recently been shuffling their resources. Some of the analysts say that they’re gearing up for a series of minor operations, but that’s just a guess.”

Eraserhead frowned. “Hold on, I thought we had been completely forbidden to look into the CRC or the yakuza? And we couldn’t even discuss this case or any case with other agencies?”

Nighteye smirked. “We are forbidden from doing such things,” he replied smugly. “However, Ryukyu and Gang Orca were never given gag orders or alternate orders. As such, they’re free to give me as much as they please for “later consideration”. I just can’t reply until this is over.”

Eraserhead chuckled darkly… before sighing. “Still doesn’t change that we’re basically stuck here, waiting for something to happen.”

Nighteye groaned. “No, it does not.”

The clothing store they had chosen to look into next was having a massive discount. Dresses, shoes, and themed sweaters were particularly cheap. Which was good, because Izuku’s allowance was already feeling the strain of caring for three little girls. Unlike the Alliance, Izuku had wanted nothing to do with any of the Yaoyorozu’s money. That money was tainted by the dirty deeds used to obtain it and Izuku would rather burn it than use it to provide his girls with luxuries. Still, it brought into question how he was going to keep this up. Izuku had only managed to scrape enough for this trip thanks to Kacchan chipping in.

However, before he could tell the girls a limit on what they could get, Tsu had wandered off. This caused Izuku to frantically search the store until he found her cuddled up in a sweater that said, “Have a Froggy Christmas!” with a cartoon frog on the front. Apparently, the AC was on in the store and she had shimmied to find warmth.

Izuku found this absolutely adorable, so he bought all three of the girls sweaters, plus what they were normally getting. All the girls got a pair of shoes, a dress, and some hair accessories. Eri got a sweater saying “Deck the halls with Paws of Holly!” with a picture of a cat. Momo got a sweater that said “Dreaming of a White Xmas” with several pictures of snowflakes and a dreaming child asleep. Izuku’s wallet wept at the purchases, but the smile on his girls’ faces was worth it.

It always would be.

…still didn’t solve his money problem, though. Maybe he could be a freelance or a hired hand? But what would work…?

Danjuro Tobita, the Gentle Criminal Vigilante, looked at the headquarters of the Obsidian Alliance in awe. When he had received the offer from Lady Magne to join, he had almost thought she was kidding. After all, despite his good deeds and HeroTube channel, he hadn’t really done much to truly stand with the greats and had only recently started out. Hell, he had only been in this business for a few months and had only gone from being a criminal to a vigilante within the last couple of weeks.

But, no. This was serious. Magne had explained that even his work as a villain had been a boon in his favor, considering he went after people who had inconvenienced others rather than just random civilians. Also, his versatility with his Quirk and La Brava’s genius with computers made both him and her vital assets.

So, here he was, in the heart of the Obsidian Alliance: the Vault. It was a massive, underground complex that had once been used by the Yaoyorozu family to store illicit goods and double as a fallout shelter. Now, with the goods gift-wrapped and presented to the authorities, the Alliance was now free to use it as their main base of operations, considering it was off the grid and off-record. Already, Danjuro could see the effects of the Alliance’s work. Various people in both suits and costumes bustled to and fro, carting equipment, carrying messages, and darting to nearby action.

It was inspiring. It was history in the making. And Danjuro would be a part of it.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” Lady Magne asked. “It’s only the beginning. I plan to have other small hideaways we’ve… ‘appropriated’ over the years turned into regional branches. Soon, these kinds of setups will be all across the country. We only have a few right now, but we’ll soon be in a position to fight the Jade-Precept War on a truly national scale.”

La Brava looked at Lady Magne. “But what you already have is practically a hero agency!” she exclaimed. “You could probably crush those yakuza bastards with just the stuff here!”

“Ah, La Brava, you miss the point,” Danjuro tutted. “The yakuza are ultimately small-scale in the face of the grand picture. This is more than just winning a small war. This is about creating a lasting system that does the nation, if not the world, good! To do that, it cannot simply be in one place! It must be everywhere! And besides….” His tone turned sour. “I highly doubt those uncultured crooks are that easily beaten.”

Magne nodded her head. “The Shie Hassaikai have recently conjoined with the crippled CRC in their hatred against us Gems,” she reported. “This is more than just a gang war, it’s a civil war that will tear the criminal underworld apart. If we’re going to survive the coming storm, we’re gonna need one heck of an army to combat the one they’re no doubt mustering against us. And that requires multiple fronts and multiple leaders. That way, if the Vault is ever compromised, other groups can rise up and continue the fight.”

La Brava nodded. “Which is why you need us,” she responded. “Me, to make your cybersecurity impenetrable, and Gentle, to give you a versatile and strong frontline fighter. We’ll be on the front of this new offensive.”

Lady Magne nodded again. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but right now, I need every bit of help I can get for the coming crisis,” she said. “Talk about it amongst yourselves. You can still walk out right now and face no shame. I need to check in with the other regional offices.”

As she walked off, La Brava turned to Danjuro. “Gentle, are you sure about this?” she asked. “This isn’t a convenience store or a newspaper company printing false articles. This… this will be war. Against real villains. Aren’t… aren’t you scared?”

Gentle kneeled before her. “Yes, La Brava,” he said. “I am scared. Scared of what is coming, what might happen, how it might impact me or you… but mostly? I am terrified of two things: being forgotten and what the world might come to when this war inevitably kicks off. In order to make my mark, I must take part in this conflict and protect as many as I can. Besides, if we were to leave, we would likely be caught up in the crossfire anyway. At least this way, I can rest easy knowing you are safe and that this time, I have many fellows watching my back.” He stood up. “So, yes. Despite my fear, I am sure. If you cannot follow, I bear no grudge. This path is not for everyone. As Lady Magne, there is no shame in leaving.”

“No way!” La Brava declared. “Where you go, I go, Gentle! That’s my duty to my love for you and as your number one fan!”

Gentle nodded. “As you wish. Then let us go and make history together!” he declared.

“You may get that chance sooner than you think,” Lady Magne suddenly said from behind them. Whirling around, they saw her serious expression. “I’m glad you decided to stay, but there’s already trouble on the horizon. The Refinery in Mie isn’t responding to our calls. Some kind of interference-.”

The door at the back of the Vault burst open. “BOSS!” cried a voice. Everyone looked to see a gem in a red and grey outfit carrying a badly burned teen. “Get help!”

As they were walking through the food stalls, Izuku felt a sudden urgent tugging on his pant leg. “Izuku? L-Look! Look!” Eri was excitedly pointing across the way towards a stand that sold candy apples.

Izuku smiled. “You want one?” he asked.

Eri nodded rapidly, making her look like a bobblehead.

Izuku chuckled. “Alright, c’mon. We’ll all get-.”

“STEP RIGHT UP AND TRY THE WONDROUS FUTURE!”

“Gwah?!” Izuku flailed away from the voice that had suddenly shouted next to him.

A girl with pink dreadlocks, dirty overalls, and welding goggles had appeared out of nowhere, with a sample tray of odd knickknacks and doo-dads. Her golden eyes had strange crosshairs for pupils, which were spinning wildly and focusing on practically everyone who looked at her too long. And that included him, apparently. “You, sir! Care to try my wonderful babies?! Guaranteed success for whatever your need is, quality is expected from Hatsume Industries!”

Izuku began to sputter and deflect as she started to get into his personal space and advertise her equipment, which seemingly did everything from cut food to trace phone calls. She kept going and going without letting him get a word in edge-wise, going faster and faster to where he could barely keep up.

Then Eri whimpered next to him and he suddenly found a well-spring of confidence.

“Ma’am,” he said firmly, channeling some of Jade’s confidence. “I can appreciate passion as much as the next person and I don’t doubt your quality, but you’re scaring my girls. Please back off.”

The girl suddenly straightened and took in his face, which he had subconsciously set to “do not fuck with me” and her face fell as she took in the three girls standing next to him. “Oh,” she said softly, her head slouching as she backed away. “Sorry, I… darn. Guess I got carried away again.” She dug into her pocket and pulled something out. “Here. Take this as an apology, on the house.”

Izuku took what looked to be small coins and a small box. “Malls are a place where you can easily get lost,” the girl explained. “Believe me, I’ve done it quite a few times looking at cool gadgets. These are little tracking devices to keep track of your charges in case something unexpected happens. Guaranteed to work within a three-mile radius of the box.” She gave a sheepish smile. “Sorry again, I just… inventing is something I take a lot of pride in and I really want to get an early start before I get into UA’s Support Course. Guess I just got… overexcited.”

Izuku looked at the devices in awe. “I… thanks. Yeah, apology accepted,” he said quickly, letting his surge of Jade confidence carry him through the conversation as he handed the “coins” to Momo so she could pass them out. “Let’s start over. I’m Midoriya Izuku, and these are my wards.”

(It wasn’t until later that he realized he had broken one of his biggest rules in his temporary madness: never give your real name to other people .)

The girl smiled at him. “Mei Hatsume, future CEO of Hatsume Industries!” she said energetically. “Thank you for your patronage, sir!”

Izuku chuckled and shook her hand. “The pleasure is all mine, and I should be thanking you. Honestly, I was a bit worried about the crowds.”

Momo bowed politely. “Thank you, ma’am.”

Eri and Tsu both waved shyly.

Mei just gave a big smile. “No worries, cuties. Sorry again for scaring you like that. Didn’t mean to give your dad a hard time. Oh!” She took out a piece of paper and gave it to a stunned Izuku. “Here’s my card if you’re interested in more stuff! I’d stay and talk more, but I got investors calling my name! Toodles!” She ran off into the crowd.

Izuku barely noticed.

D… DAD?!

…wait a…

HOLY SHIT I GOT A GIRL’S PHONE NUMBER! AND I TALKED TO ONE!!!!!!!!

On autopilot, Izuku turned to go find a bathroom to maybe have a panic attack in, absently gesturing to the girls to follow-

*WHAM*

-when he ran right into another person and sending them both tumbling to the ground.

“Ow, dammit!” the other person said as they and Izuku got up.

Izuku, rubbing his head and a half-formed apology springing to his lips, looked at the person he had knocked over-.

Bob-cut, chestnut hair.

Rosy cheeks.

Chocolate brown eyes.

Heart-shaped face.

Adorable finger-beans.

And immediately suffered a system crash.

CUTE GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Chapter Text

Ochako Uraraka was a simple girl with simple expectations. She expected to graduate from middle school. She expected to skimp on a meal or two so her family wouldn’t have to scrape and strive so much for her sake. She expected to come to this festival and sell mochi so she could make a little extra money for her parents. She expected to take the UA Entrance Exam and get accepted so she could learn to become a hero and make a ton of money for her parents.

…okay, maybe that last one wasn’t so simple.

The point was that when she had arrived at the festival that morning and set up her small mochi stand, she hadn’t expected much to happen that day. At first, she had been right. The mall was as busy as normal, but that was typical, and many people stopped and tried her mochi. She already had a ton of extra cash from the sales and had had to refill her stock twice. (She was already thinking about maybe setting aside some yen for her… friends.)

Then, a bit of a commotion that quickly died down broke out a little ways away. Seems that the inventor girl was harassing another “potential customer” with her products. She had already been warned by mall security twice to knock it off. Ochako attributed that to why the girl backed off as quickly as she did and paid no more attention to it. Looking back, that had been a mistake.

If she had paid more attention, she might have noticed the boy before running right into him.

“Ow, dammit!” she briefly cursed as she fell on her keister. Thankfully, she was able to keep her tray of samples from splattering everywhere (by some miracle) and thus allowed to turn to the idiot who had just run her over.

Well, that had been the plan. But, looking at him now, she was more hesitant to do so. The guy was clearly ruffled and haggard, given his disheveled appearance. His coat was rumpled and askew, his pants and shoes were scuffed and dirty,  and he looked like his entire world had just been thrown into chaos. Good money said that he hadn’t been looking due to his internal crisis. Which, given his completely vacant expression, wide eyes, and some mix of… blush and pale face(?), he was still experiencing.

Of course, Ochako didn’t even get the chance to apologize and/or ask if he was alright before she was set upon by a force not even All Might could conquer.

“Oh Kami!!!”

“What did you do?!”

“Who are you?! What’d you do to him?!!”

That is to say, a trio of the most unfairly cute girls she had ever seen.

Two of them, a little unicorn girl with snow-white hair and a princess-like girl with black hair, were fretting over the still comatose man after running up from behind, frantically trying to get a response. The ravenette was splitting her time between that and vehemently questioning Ochako about what she just did while the unicorn girl was just desperately trying to get her father to react. The greenette in front of her, with a few mutant frog traits and a cute tadpole tail, was just getting up in her personal space, demanding answers and apologies. Ochako was trying to give them, but every time she tried to get a word in edgewise, she just riled them up more and they talked over her.

Finally, the princess started to have her palms glow and the man instantly reacted.

“Woah! Momo! Put those away, you know the laws on quirk usage!” the man scolded, scooping up the unicorn in his hands and pushing the others aside gently, one by one. “Tsu, get out of the beautiful lady’s personal space, that’s rude.”

Ochako blushed. Beautiful?

Momo suddenly cut off the sparks and drooped, firmly chastised. Tsu, meanwhile, just croaked angrily. “She knocked you over!” she protested.

“I wasn’t looking where I was going,” the man replied. “It was just an accident. I appreciate the support, Tsu, but that was out of line. Remember what Kacchan and I told you about making assumptions?”

Tsu sighed. “In layman’s terms, don’t,” she grumbled.

“Exactly,” the man nodded. He turned to Momo and gently caressed her head. Initially, the girl flinched but relaxed and looked up in a bit of awe at the man’s gentle treatment. “I know you were worried about me, Momo, but you can’t just attack random people on the street. That’s what a mean villain does. And you’re a kind hero, right?”

The girl nodded firmly. “Right,” she said.

“Atta girl,” he praised. He then turned to the unicorn girl. “You okay, Eri?”

Eri just nodded and buried her face in his shoulder, to which he just rocked her and soothed her.

Ochako felt like she was going to spontaneously combust. This was so cute!!!!

The man suddenly noticed her. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” he burst out. “I totally just left you lying on the ground, and after we were so rude to you, I am so sorry for all of this, it’sjustthegirlsareveryprotectiveofmeandhaveabunchofpaininthisregard…” He descended into muttering.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright!” Ochako waved off. “I wasn’t really paying attention either, so let’s just split the blame!” She gave a nervous laugh along with the man, as the children gave small bows and apologies. “Let’s start over. I’m Uraraka Ochako. I already know the names of your kids, so that would make you…”

The man seemed to… freeze for a second. Just before things became awkward, he blurted, “Akatani! A-Akatani Mikumo. These are my w-wards.” He then blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry, a-again, about earlier.”

“Oh, don’t worry! If anything, I should thank you for the earlier compliment,” she replied.

Akatani blinked. “Compliment?”

Ochako nodded. “When you called me beautiful!”

Ochako was beginning to see that the confidence displayed earlier was the exception, not the rule, when it came to this guy. Because after she mentioned the compliment, his head turned into a tomato. “Oh dear Kami, I did,” he whimpered. “Oh, you must think I’m a freak and a perv and a delinquent and…” He down spiraled into more and more negative titles.

“Hey, hey, no, no! I don’t! Promise!” she assured him. “How about this; I’ll be done with my shift in ten minutes, and after that, I can show you around as thanks for the compliment?”

Akatani blinked. “As… thanks?”

“Of course! I don’t hear compliments like that from my peers all that often,” Ochako said with a sunny smile. “Besides, what’s wrong with a little outing between friends?”

Taking the affirmations of the girls and Akatani’s dumbstruck expression as an affirmative, Ochako returned to her stall with a spring in her step.

(Izuku stared after the image of Amaterasu reborn. Were people in Mie blind ?)

Despite the rocky start, Eri and her sisters quickly grew to like Uraraka. She was cheerful, funny, passionate, and very relatable. She had this… presence that soothed your worries and said you’d be okay. In that regard, she was a lot like Izuku.

Momo had warmed up to her first. One of the first places Ochako took them was a doll store, with a little play area that had its own dolls and accessories in a play area to use as customers saw fit. With Ochako’s help, they quickly put together a Christmas tea party at the North Pole, with Uraraka and Izuku as Mr. and Mrs. Claus (Izuku was very red throughout this), Momo and the girls as head elves, and the dolls as regular elves. It was rather dramatic and silly, with Ochako taking on one of the poshest accents Momo had ever heard and coming up with a bunch of ridiculous etiquette rules that everyone found funny and enjoyable to enact. After that, she often had a fun debate or two between stores on economics (Momo took the stance of big business while Uraraka was a bit more… “progressive”).

Eri warmed up to Uraraka due to her obvious care. She always asked the girls and Izuku for their opinions, never talked down to them, and was extremely understanding when they thought they shouldn’t do something due to their trauma. Eri once slipped and skimmed her knee a bit and Uraraka spent five minutes helping Izuku fuss over her. It was obvious that she cared a lot about others and wanted to help out however she could. She also gave really good hugs!

Tsu actually took the longest to warm up to Uraraka, but her mistrust also disappeared the quickest, almost immediately replaced by admiration. For most of the day, Tsu acted aloof and bluntly to throw off Uraraka and constantly made her uncomfortable. She also croaked when she thought the older girl was getting a bit too close to Izuku. Then, as they were leaving a crafting store, some guy in a trenchcoat knocked her over and gave a snide remark about “mutant trash”, which nearly caused a panic attack. However, Tsu latched on to the first thing that came to her senses to ground her, which turned out to be Uraraka’s enraged and shrill screaming. The girl beat the jerk’s ass like a drum in a cuss-filled lecture that managed to insult the man, his ancestors, his descendants, his fashion sense, his taste in music, and his… “sword-fighting” skills. The man was forced to flee, quite humiliated, by the stares around him that quite agreed with what she was saying. Uraraka then turned to Tsu, gave her a big hug, and asked if she was alright. Tsu immediately decided that Uraraka was nice, and more than that, she was her second favorite person just under Izuku.

Of course, their reactions were nothing to Izuku’s. He had been blushing, shifting, stuttering, and being just plain old awkward around the girl throughout the day. When Uraraka laid into Tsu’s harasser, he looked like he had just seen Venus rising from the sea, with a red face, drooling mouth, wide eyes, and everything. He quickly snapped out of it as Uraraka began comforting Tsu, but Momo and Eri had seen it.

Eri was too sheltered to realize what was happening and Tsu was too young. But Momo, who had read some romance novels ( actual romance novels, not smut labeled romance), was quickly able to piece together what was going on. And seeing them interact with each other made her infant shipping senses go nuts. It was like watching the interactions between two halves of the same person! When Uraraka was outgoing and energetic, Izuku was reserved and quiet. When Izuku was confident and leading, Uraraka was gentle and supportive. Both of them almost had an innate desire to help everyone they could find.

Unfortunately, that did not seem to include themselves. Momo deeply cared for her rescuer, but outside of caring for the girls and his Jade persona, Izuku seemed to have absolutely no self-confidence. He kept looking at this girl like she was an angel sent from heaven, but he refrained from making any obvious moves as he was sure she wanted nothing to do with him. Which couldn’t be further from the truth, since a few minutes spent with Uraraka confirmed that she wasn’t like that.

Uraraka, bless her, was just as oblivious as Izuku, if not more so. She seemed to miss all of the signs that Izuku was infatuated with her. Or, failing that, didn’t want to indulge them for whatever reason that Momo just couldn’t fathom, because it was clear that the two were a match made in heaven!

Well. If they weren’t going to do something, she would just have to do it herself.

She discussed the situation with her sisters as they walked towards the food court for lunch. “Okay, so it’s obvious that Uraraka and… “Akatani” like each other, yes?” she asked them quietly. (They remembered one of Izuku’s biggest rules when going out in public; don’t give people your real name. Though, they did wonder why he hadn’t done so with Mei or why he had given Uraraka their real names, but not his.)

Tsu nodded. “Definitely,” she croaked. “But with Akatani so self-deprecating and Uraraka so oblivious, it’ll take a miracle to get it past this stage of awkwardness, ribbet.”

“Which is exactly why we’re going to make one,” Momo said firmly.

Eri shuffled. “Should we be getting involved in this?” she asked nervously. “I’m not sure Iz… Mikumo would be very pleased that we butted into his personal business.”

“It’ll be okay, Eri,” Momo assured her. “All we’re doing is giving them a slight nudge in the right direction, nothing overt. Plus, this isn’t just for our benefit, it’s to make him happy!”

“Besides,” Tsu piped up, “do you really want to deal with this the rest of the day?” She pointed at Izuku, whose hand had accidentally brushed Uraraka’s and thus sent him into another storm of apologies, stutters, and blushing.

Eri stared for a moment, then sighed. “Fine, but as the oldest I reserve the right to chaperone and/or pull the plug should it come to that.”

The girls doubted the accuracy of this statement, but they didn’t protest and the deal was struck. “So, what now?” Eri asked.

Momo smiled. “I’ve got the perfect plan.”

Izuku thanked his lucky stars that things hadn’t fallen apart more than they had. All throughout this tour, he’d acted like an utter doofus and creep throughout his interactions with Uraraka, and it was only by the grace of whatever gods hadn’t forsaken him that she had somehow not noticed. She was here, taking time out of her day to thank a useless screwup like him for a comment that didn’t even require a passing thanks, and he was acting like a worthless simp!

But he just couldn’t help it! Uraraka was a vision. She was the most adorable and bright person he had ever seen, with a personality that perfectly complimented her looks. Gentle, caring, and just all-around cheery, she looked and acted like an angel from heaven! And she was so good with the girls, as well! They hadn’t even known her for more than a few hours and she already had them wrapped around her finger! (To be fair, she was also wrapped around theirs, but that was just the natural order of things.) She always made sure to talk to them rather than at them, she was conscious of every time they might wander off or seem uncomfortable, and if she ever did cross a boundary, she immediately apologized and never made that mistake again! What was this girl and how was she so perfect?

And then, everything went wrong.

They had been going to the food court in order to grab some lunch when Eri suddenly started to groan.

Izuku immediately crouched by her side. “Eri?”

“My tummy hurts~,” she whined. “Maybe I shouldn’t have drunk all that hot chocolate…”

“Don’t worry, Eri! We’ll take you to the bathroom and make sure you get it all out of your system!” Momo said with a bright smile. Tsu ribbetted an affirmation as they both took her hands and started to lead her away.

“Woah woah woah woah,” Izuku piped up. “You’re going alone ?”

Tsu gave him a blank look. “Yeah? The bathroom’s just over there, in plain eyesight, with only three empty tables in between us. The woman’s bathroom.”

Izuku suddenly blushed at the insinuation. “A-A-A-Alright, b-but be sure to come straight back!” he stuttered.

The girls all gave him an affirmative and hurried away, Izuku not taking his eyes off of them until they disappeared behind the bathroom door. He heaved a heavy sigh. “What am I going to do with them?”

“From where I’m standing, you’re doing a fantastic job already,” Uraraka piped up… which caused Izuku to realize his dilemma.

He was now alone.

With Ochako Uraraka.

The prettiest girl he had ever seen.

With absolutely no buffers outside of a sudden villain attack.

‘Why have you forsaken me?!’ (He wasn’t sure if he was demanding that of the gods who had previously been on his side or the girls. He wasn’t feeling very particular.)

Awkwardly, they grabbed a table nearby and waited for the girls to return. “So… new to Mie?” asked Uraraka.

“S-S-Sorta,” Izuku mumbled. “I-I came w-with th-the girls to sh-show them th-the Christmas F-Festival. Try to… l-lift their spirits a b-bit.”

Uraraka frowned. “Those three… they’ve had it rough, haven’t they?” she asked. “I can see it in their eyes. They’ve seen things.”

Izuku just nodded. “Yeah,” he replied. “I won’t give details, but… yeah.”

Uraraka quickly backtracked. “Oh, no no no! I wasn’t going to ask, that would be a complete overstep!” she assured. “I just wanted to be sure before I jumped to conclusions! Still, who could hurt such pure children like that?”

Izuku scowled. “Monsters,” he replied. “Most of whom are now in prison. N-Not that I had anything to do with that, I just-! I j-just took them in!”

Uraraka just chuckled. “I didn’t assume you did,” she said. “Honestly, I think that’s very impressive. Taking those girls in just because it was the right thing to do? That’s really brave.”

Izuku waved her off. “Oh, no, i-it’s nothing. I’m honestly surprised they wanted to stay with a Quirkless screwup like me.”

Ochako blinked. “Quirkless screwup?”

…

FUCK.

Izuku froze, aghast that he had let such a personal detail slip and accepting of the inevitable rejection-

“Neat,” Uraraka remarked simply. “Don’t see too many people like that around these days.”

…nani?

“That’s… that’s it?” Izuku blurted.

Ochako frowned. “What do you mean?”

“‘Neat’?! That’s it?!! No rejection, no disgust, no comments about being sub-human?! Just… ‘neat’ ?!!!” Izuku wasn't exactly conscious of what he was saying, but this emotional rant had been building his whole life. Now that it had an outlet, it wasn’t gonna stop.

“Of course not! Why would I do that?!” Uraraka honestly looked a tad offended.

“Because that’s what everyone does! ” Izuku exclaimed. “Every time it happens, it’s the only word that matters. I’m made of glass, I’m subhuman, I’m not worth the air I breathe, I’m below everyone else and should just stay to the side! And those are the kindest ones! Every day, I get told I’m better off dead, that I should just disappear and do the world a favor by dying because I don’t have a quirk! That’s all that matters, that’s all that’s ever mattered in my life! It controls where I work, who I talk to, what I can do, what’s acceptable, it’s the iron rule of-!”

*SLAM*

Izuku’s rant immediately died when Uraraka slammed her hands on the table. Looking at her, she was the picture of calm determination, but her eyes practically frothed with restrained fury.

“Mikumo Akatani,” she said. “Take my hands and stare into my eyes.”

He did so (idly noticing she had raised her pinkies).

“Everything you just said can be summed up in two words. Bull. Shit. ”

Izuku blinked comprehensively. “...huh?”

“I could give a rat’s ass whether you have a quirk that can bend the laws of physics into a pretzel or no Quirk at all. Because I have spent the last hour walking around with you and I can say, without a doubt, you are the nicest and most charming person I have ever known. I know this because I have seen you with those three girls and they adore you for who you are, not because of your Quirk. That didn’t give you your girls, it did not give you your kind heart, nor did it give you your earnest nature and brilliant intelligence, that last one I know because I heard you dissect Thirteen’s quirk when I mentioned I was a fan, don’t deny it.” Izuku shut his mouth, which had opened incredulously. “You’re kind, brave, honest, and by far the most genuine person I have ever met and I doubt that that can come from any Quirk.

“Your Quirk status is irrelevant to who you are as a person. And I will throw down with anyone who says otherwise.”
Izuku gaped at this girl who had just torn his entire world asunder with her paradigm shift of a response. He wanted to cry. He wanted to shout for joy. He wanted to laugh at every single person who had told him he would amount to nothing and hold this girl up as an icon of what a hero should be. Deep down, a part he had long suppressed wanted to find the nearest mistletoe and give her a deep kiss.

But he never got the chance to do any of that.

BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

The girls huddled in the bathroom, snickering. “This was the greatest plan~!! ” Momo sang softly.

The conversation (which they could see through a small camera Momo had set up) had been going pretty well. There was that one hiccup where Izuku seemed to shrink in on himself and say something that seemed to surprise Uraraka, but then her face had hardened and she had grabbed his hands and made him look her in the eyes. No doubt she was breaking whatever self-deprecating thing he had uttered with a sledgehammer, which was a fair assumption given Izuku’s shocked face.

It was all coming together. Izuku would light up with joy, maybe ask her out or kiss her, and they would both be happy for the rest of this trip!

And then it all went wrong.

BOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!

The mall shook as at least three dozen explosions echoed throughout the complex. People began to scream and shout and run as scary men in masks appeared and began to shoot everything that moved.

The girls quickly abandoned their shipping plan and ran out of the bathroom to get to Izuku, on his feet and whirling around, looking for the girls.

Before they could cry out for him, they were seized from behind.

“Hey, guys! Check it out, a couple of mutant freaks and a mutie lover!” sneered one of the men. Tsu went still and the other girls widened their eyes. It was the same kind of men who had hurt Momo and Tsu! What were they doing here?! Had they tracked them down?!! Where was Izuku?!

The thugs paid no mind to the racing thoughts of the girls, just jeering and laughing at their soon-to-be fate. Then, the apparent leader got a good look at them. “Hey, wait a minute,” he said, quieting down the thugs and cementing the attention of the girls on him. He gave them a closer inspection. His eyes widened behind his mask. “These are….” He then started to release a cruel laugh. “Well, my my. Divine Providence has smiled upon us, brothers and sisters!” he cheered. “We’ve caught not just the Yaoyorozu heiress, but also Overhaul’s lost lamb! With these in hand, our previous influence and our ally’s strength is returned!” The thugs cheered.

“Hey, hold on!” one piped up. “I thought that heretic Jade took them both!”

“Indeed,” said the leader. “But he’s nowhere in sight and intelligence suggests he’s busy with his little band of misfits. Good odds say he stashed them here to keep them out of reach. Well, he’s about to learn that the arm of God is long indeed. Let’s go. The Priestess will want to see them.” They began to drag the girls away, despite their protests. Across the hall, Eri locked eyes with a still frantic Izuku, who had only now come to a part of the food court where the flames did not block his view of what was happening to his girls.

There was no thought.

No hesitation.

Just instinct and action…

…culminating into a desperate scream from Eri as months of repressed emotion poured out.

“DADDY, HELP ME!!!!”

Chapter Text

Ochako had known Mikumo was a good father. It showed in every single act of care he gave those three girls. Oh, he may not have said the girls were his daughters, but she had seen her father and his coworkers act that way towards their kids enough to know a father when she saw one. And from all accounts, he was an excellent one.

Case in point: the moment he heard Eri’s scream and saw the villains grabbing the girls, his first instinct was to pick up a table and throw it at them.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!!!” Mikumo roared, running after the fleeing thugs (the table had, unfortunately, missed). Ochako took after him, taking the time to send out an alert on her phone, trying to catch them before they could escape. They dashed down the hallway leading away from the food court and around the corner, Mikumo huffing like a crazed bull.

Unfortunately, Ochako saw it before he did.

“Mikumo, wait-!” she started to shout.

BOOM

The villains had led them into a kill box. The hallway they had taken turned right into an atrium, and several villains had already taken up positions on the ground and top floors. Two grenades turned the walkway into rubble, throwing Ochako to the side, before machine gun fire forced her to take cover. Wildly she looked around, desperate to see if her new friend was alright… but saw nothing but a scorched coat.

Izuku cursed as he ducked into a broken storefront, shielded from view by the flames. Stupid stupid stupid! How could he have lost his awareness of the surroundings like that?! He had practically gift-wrapped his ass before presenting it to them on a silver platter! Now, he was pinned down and his girls had been taken who knows where by these fucks!

Izuku sucked in a deep breath through gritted teeth. ‘Alright, calm down. Calm down, Izuku, getting angry won’t save the girls, you literally just proved that,’ he thought desperately. ‘Okay, what’s my situation?’ He peeked out at the atrium, but what he saw made his eyes widen. This wasn’t just a kill zone. At least a dozen villains with machine guns and assorted weapons had taken positions on the second level and the ground floor, with their muzzles pointed directly at the spot he had just vacated. From the smug laughs and congratulations, they seemed to be under the impression that they had killed him. ‘Well,’ he thought as he opened his bag to reveal his Jade costume and basic equipment, ‘no reason to let them think otherwise. That way, they won’t be expecting me to get behind them and beat them within an inch of their lives .’

Izuku wasn’t normally like this. But, with his adrenaline through the roof, his protective rage surging, and a dash of vindication that had come from Uraraka’s affirment, he was in high spirits and uncharacteristic confidence.

However, before he could get his costume out of his bag and on his body, the TV flickered and came to life. On it were two figures in black cloaks and skull masks, carrying iron poles with three white candles on the end. They were flanking a woman with heavy white makeup to make her face appear like a skull, but with a red star on her forehead. Her robes were also black, but a golden stole was wrapped around her shoulder and heavy rings were on her fingers. Her blonde hair was braided with bits of bone and wood, adding to her occult appearance.

Izuku connected the dots before the woman began to speak. The Creature Rejection Clan.

“People of Mie. Hear me and rejoice. Today, your tainted lives are washed clean. Today, the oppressive government of Mie is reduced to ash. Today, the sin that hides among you is revealed and purged. Today, humanity takes its first steps back to its rightful place: dominance over all.”

It happened without warning. One moment, Kazuto was working the desk of the police station. The next, multiple people with ski masks had walked in and started shooting up the place. Multiple officers were dead in seconds. As others jumped up, they found themselves gunned down by interns or other officers. The armory was locked down. The phone lines suddenly didn’t work. And everybody, Kazuto included, was being hauled out of cover or hiding places at gunpoint before being frog-marched out of the station. If they didn’t surrender, they were gunned down. Just as Kazuto was placed in one of the armored trucks, he heard the intercom come on. “The beast called Chief Tsuboi is dead. The law has been cleansed.”

Kazuto felt sick. Chief, dead? He had three kids and a sister! He was the nicest guy around! They were all going to go to the Shiketsu Sports Festival next week! How could he be dead?! And why?!!

“Today, you are rescued from squalor by the Creature Rejection Clan.”

“I know you have heard us being called many things. Zealots. Cultists. Murderers. Lunatics. But I assure you, we are here to save you. You, who ignorantly surround yourselves with filth and vermin who dare masquerade as humans. You, the unknowingly persecuted by these creatures. You, who only have prosperity to expect from us.”

Sugou Ayano walked proudly with her squad. Taking the government building was easy. The fools here were mostly desk jockeys who had never used their Quirks offensively in their lives. Most of them surrendered the moment they broke down the doors. Not that it did the officials or the mutants any good. The officials had to be excised because they were part of the problem, willing to indulge in the unholy corruption that these creatures spread with their mere presence. As for the creatures… well. That went without saying.

With a sick smile, she waltzed into the office of Prefecture Governor Yuuki and, just as he got up to demand who the hell she thought she was, she shot him. Her squadmates quickly dragged him out as she sat at his desk with a heavenly sigh.

So many months of pretending to be that oaf’s secretary, now brought to a satisfying conclusion. With the holy forces running across Mie and controlling all aspects of government, no one would dare challenge the might of the CRC. Soon, the beasts would be brought to heel or exterminated and she’d never have to look at another diseased freak ever again.

“Your orders, Daimyo Sugou?” one of her men asked.

Sugou shivered. Daimyo. Oh, what a rush of power at the word. But first, business. “Make sure our signal jammers are operating at peak efficiency,” she ordered. “Our takeover is still fresh, and thus fragile. The only news we want reaching the Japanese Diet and the HPSC is what we want them to hear. No news in or out, only a notification that a sudden and immense power surge has disrupted communication. Not a villain, just a freak accident with no injuries or fatalities. We can fix it fine on our own.”

The men nodded and left. Sugou basked in the power of her new station. First Mie, then Japan. All shall be as it should be.

“We are not here to destroy. Only preserve.”

“You may call this extremism or genocide. No… this is salvation. We are lifting you up from this squalor infected by the inhuman and bestial, who seek to drag you into their depravity and filth. Those who call themselves “leaders,” “heroes,” “officers,”... “Gems.” Rest assured, we will hunt these beasts down and destroy them for daring to sully you and our society. In time, they will understand their place, and you will understand yours. And those of you who cannot understand? Do not worry. We will guide you to where you belong… no matter the cost.”

The Refinery in Mie had been based in a warehouse owned by a small-time construction company. They had rented it out to a man in a trench coat and never asked any questions about what went on in there. And if they diverted a bit of their funds to its operations, no one ever had to know. Despite it only being a couple of weeks old, it had already made a distinctive mark with its trademark combat sweaters and belts, alongside a few makeshift weapons. At least half a dozen Gems used it as a supply base and it was the center of operations for dismantling the local human trafficking ring.

Now, it was a prison.

Tear gas grenades had been tossed through the windows. As the workers and Gems sputtered, cultists broke down the door and subdued or killed all in their path. Mutants were shot on the spot, regardless of occupation or threat level. The others were beaten and cuffed, and the local heroes were dragged from their agencies or patrol routes to join them at the new jail. Prisoners were hauled off to makeshift cells and kept under tight guard until they could be sorted. Some would go to reeducation. Others would have their Quirks deemed “bestial” and sent to a work camp in the country once they were set up.

As for the children who were being hidden there? The ones who had been rescued from the human traffickers and told that their nightmare was over and that they would be safe now? They were all thrown into trucks, crying as their heroes were slaughtered or caged, and shipped off back to the mall, which was now the CRC HQ. Those without mutations would be sent to reeducation. Those with them, such as a certain boy with multiple arms and a face mask, would face a… different sort of reeducation.

“Rejoice and jubilate, my children; you are all Clansmen now. So says the High Priestess of Mie.”

Izuku could count on one hand the times he had been truly angry.

No, that’s wrong, he could count the number of times he thought he had been truly angry on one hand. It felt like simmering rage, indignity about the injustice happening, great frustration at his previous powerlessness, and shock at the audacity of the person committing such a heinous act, all mixed into one explosive, wrathful cocktail that was served with arctic ice. But none of those instances, his encounter with Overhaul included, had actually been true rage. He knew that now.

No, true rage was hot. Blistering hot. So hot, blood boiled, his vision tinted red, and everything was fair game for pain.

Because Izuku wasn’t angry right now.

His daughters wards had been kidnapped by a bunch of insane cultists that had already harmed two of them before. Said cultists were taking over an entire district. And their message was so asinine and anathema to everything Izuku ever knew and believed about Quirks, Izuku could not even begin to rant about why it was so backward and full of shit, and if he ever could, he’d be ranting for two days straight.

So, no. He wasn’t angry.

He was absolutely batshit fucking livid and he had a biological need to make that the CRC’s problem.

Quick as a flash, he donned his Jade gear and snuck up behind a nearby cultist as they closed in on Uraraka’s position. She was still pinned down from where she had fled after the first salvo.

“Give up, little girl!” one of them called. “You heard our leader! We’re in control now! Just surrender nice and easy and we’ll make sure you’re treated fairly!” Given the lecherous tone he was exuding, it was obvious just what he meant by that.

“Yeah, sweet-cheeks!” cheered the one closest to Jade. “No one’s coming to save you! No one even knows what’s happening here thanks to our jammers! It’s just you and us, doll!”

“Wanna bet?” Jade snarled.

The thug wheeled around and got a face full of fist. Before he could hit the floor, Jade twisted his arm 270 degrees, it making a sick cracking sound as he did so, before a quick neck chop sent him to dreamland.

“IT’S JADE! SHOOT HIM!!” shouted one of the thugs. Jade dropped a smoke bomb as they opened fire. Diving into another storefront, he snuck through it and towards the stairs. With everyone’s attention on the smoke, he was free to ascend them and drop a flashbang next to two gunmen on the upper level. When it went off, Jade swept the legs of one and knocked him out, then tackled the other as another gunman tried to shoot him. Slamming the tackled thug’s head into the railing, Jade picked up a dropped firearm and chucked it at another shooter. As he recoiled, the vigilante charged and grabbed his rifle, using it as a club to beat him into unconsciousness. The gunmen from behind finally caught up and shot again, but Jade simply pulled out bolas and threw them around the cultist’s neck, dropping him as he strangled. A group of five charged up the stairs towards the vigilante, but Jade dropped another flashbang on them. By the time it wore off, Jade had beaten them to a pulp like some sort of Asura/Black Widow hybrid. Another group charged across the walkway, guns blazing. Jade jumped off the walkway, but threw a small disc at an overhead light, causing it to fall on the group and crush them.

Slowing his fall with a concealed grappling hook, Jade dropped to the floor below, then charged one of the last gunmen. Before the man could fire off a shot, Jade had seized the gun and jerked the cultist towards him, kicking his right knee in as he stumbled forward. Falling from his broken knee, the cultist couldn’t stop the wrathful vigilante from seizing his nostrils with his fingers and pulling upwards. As the cultist roared in pain, Jade delivered a swift neck chop, causing the thug to drop.

Suddenly, a gun clicked right next to Jade’s head. The last gunman had gotten behind him. “I’m gonna enjoy killing you, you green-”

*WHAM*

The thug was sent flying into a nearby storefront. Jade wheeled around to see that Uraraka had left her hiding place and was now wielding a broken metal bench like a baseball bat.

Holy moly, that’s hot as fuck- FOCUS!!!!

Uraraka focused on Jade and her wrathful visage suddenly turned to shock. “You’re… you’re him. You’re actually here .”

Jade sputtered. “I… yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I was… in the area.” He glanced at the spot where he had hidden.

Uraraka looked at where he had looked and then back at him. “Wait… are you…?”

Shitshitshitshit!

“Did you… know Mikumo?”

OHTHANKKAMI .

“Yes,” Jade replied simply. “I rescued three girls from bad situations and they… needed a place to stay. So, I… entrusted Mikumo with them. I visit when I can, but… well. It’s not easy, being me. I… I know I should do more, but I just…”

Uraraka laid her hand on his shoulder. “You do what you can,” she replied. “I’m sure they know that’s enough.”

“No, it isn’t,” Jade snarled. “If it was, they wouldn’t be in danger, and now-!” He huffed. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter. That changes now.” He turned and went to march deeper into the mall.

“Wait,” Uraraka said, grabbing his arm. “What are you doing?”

“Getting my girls,” Jade declared. “Let go. Now.”

“No. You’re going to get killed,” Uraraka protested. “You may be impressive, Jade, but you’re one man and they have an army! A proper army! And you heard them, the government’s under their control now! If you just burst in there by yourself, you’ll get killed and then what use will you be to those girls?!”

“I can’t just leave them there! Momo and Tsu have already suffered at their hands, and Eri’s been through enough already! I won’t abandon them!” Jade roared.

“THEN DON’T!!!” Uraraka screamed. Jade was caught off-guard by this reversal. “I’m not saying don’t do it. I’m saying don’t do it alone .”

Jade blinked… then took a deep breath. “Fair enough,” he conceded. “Do you know where a Refinery is?”

“You heard the broadcast, the Gems were also hit in the attack,” Uraraka refuted. “Fortunately…” She paused, then tapped a wall, revealing a hidden door. She smirked at Jade’s wide eyes. “The Gems aren’t the only vigilante force in Mie.”

The High Priestess took a deep breath in as she lounged on her throne. At the moment, it was simply an overpriced, garish chair painted gold with red cushions, situated in an ordinary department store, but many of the clothes and shelves had been cleared out to make room for the CRC’s equipment. Monitors, weapons, radios, and jammers lay strewn all over in a mess of organized chaos. But this chaos was merely a pretext for the order she and her paladins were bringing.

“Do you smell that, my kinsmen?” she asked. “That is the air of a Pure World. One that we helped make.” The men around her cheered. She turned to a nearby aid. “How goes our progress?”

“All teams report smooth success, High Priestess,” he reported. “The local authorities, legal or illegal, have been rendered powerless. The ‘Refinery’ on Central Avenue has been refitted into the first Iscariot Prison, which is already accepting heathens and demons. Any local hero has already been subdued or terminated. The government has been deposed neatly and Daimyo Sugou reports no pressing issues in the change of leadership after the purges. As for word on the ground, most of the people are scared, which is understandable due to the current climate, but we’ve had no outbursts of violence or heretical protests.”

The High Priestess nodded. “Good, very good. And our jammers? What does the government know?”

“A power surge?!” Nighteye demanded. “You expect me to believe that an entire district has gone dark because of a power surge?!”

“That is the official word out of Mie,” said the HPSC representative. “Yes, I know it sounds suspect, our agents are already investigating-”

“Your agents have repeatedly proven themselves about as useful as a woolen sweater in the desert,” Eraserhead snapped. “If the entire district is dark, we need to assume this is something on the level of a terrorist attack or an uprising. We need to get down there and ascertain the situation and the proportionate response-”

“Uprising? Proportionate response?! Eraserhead, this isn’t the Dawn of Quirks, uprisings don’t just happen these days,” the representative scoffed. “Our intelligence has detected no known terrorists in the country and any that could be here have no reason to subvert Mie of all backwaters. You’re overreacting.”

“OVERREACTING?!!” Eraserhead roared. “An entire district has gone silent, possibly even destroyed, and you say I’m overreacting?! Villain alliances such as the CRC and Shie Hassaikai have the combined forces to accomplish such a feat, and that’s just the same reasoning! If you don’t send us down there to ensure safety,-”

“You. Are going. Nowhere,” the representative snarled. “Your responsibility is the apprehension of Jade and the Gems, nothing else. Neither I nor my organization cares if the Quirk Boogeyman has sprung up in Mie, you do not belong there. Your job, which you are failing, is to capture vigilantes. Nothing more. So, you will stay in that building until you do. And if Jade does appear in Mie? Then you will arrest him and you will do nothing else. That is your purpose as we have decided. We will handle Mie. You will handle Jade and only Jade,  or we will replace you with someone who will stay focused.” With that, he hung up on the two flummoxed heroes.

“...they’re insane,” Nighteye whispered hysterically. “They’ve gone insane.”

Eraserhead roared and flipped the table. It didn’t change the fact that he was stuck in this building, forced to betray his oath as a hero by people he hated.

(Outside, Chitose Kizuki was frothing. On the one hand, how dare those corrupt politicians threaten her Eraserhead the heroes for doing their jobs?! On the other hand, the story this would become would be legendary .)

“You’re certain?” Magne asked, seated in her command chair as she waited for a report on the burned Gem.

“Positive,” said the Gem, Streaker. She wasn’t much to look at, just a woman with white hair in an orange jumpsuit and a yellow lightning bolt. “It’s not just the Refinery that’s incommunicado, it’s the entire prefecture. The HPSC is keeping it quiet, but people are starting to notice that their calls to relatives in Mie aren’t getting through. Eventually, this is gonna blow up.”

“What do we do, boss?” asked a nearby worker.

Magne heaved a heavy sigh. “For now? Nothing,” she ordered. An uproar rose in protest which she stalled with a raise of her hand. “I like it as much as you all do, but we can’t risk it. Too small a response for too big a threat, we just send some of our members into a death trap. Too big a response for too small a threat, we reveal ourselves for no reason and we’re hunted down in another Night of Nighteye, only with us as the main target. So, until we get more intel on the situation, we stay the course and do the only thing we can.” She folded her hands as she leaned forward in her command chair. “We observe.”

The aid smiled. “They are blind, High Priestess. And by the time they see the truth, it will be too late.”

The High Priestess lounged in her chair. “Excellent,” she said approvingly. “Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen.”

The reference caused the group to chuckle.

An armored truck (or, at least, a makeshift one) thundered down an abandoned street in Mie, the occupants more focused on singing perverted hymns than looking for insurgents. Drunk on their smooth victory, they rolled along the street… ignorant of the fact that two of the biggest threats to their operation had been passed by.

Ochako and Jade peeked out of the alleyway they were hiding in. After leaving the mall through a service exit, they ghosted through the streets avoiding patrols newly instated by the CRC. Loud PA systems informed the civilians of new laws and regulations, as well as spewed CRC propaganda. Now, their destination was in sight.

Ochako dashed over to a nearby sewer grate, placing all five fingers against it and causing it to float into the air. She gestured for Jade to go in first, which he did, her following with the manhole cover. A press of her fingers together and the cover dropped back into place.

After a minute, they reached the end of the ladder. “So, now we’re in the sewers,” Jade observed. “Is this where your base is?”

“Not quite,” Ochako replied. “It’s in an old manager’s station, just down this way.” She gestured and went down the path, Jade following.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how’d you end up in this business anyway?” he asked.

“I’ve always wanted to be a hero,” she said. “One of my earliest memories is seeing a hero, Eel Boy, save the day. But, I couldn’t focus on the hero. I was focused on the smiles everybody had on their faces. I knew then and there that I wanted to be someone like that. Someone who could make everybody smile. Later, I justified it as wanting to earn money so my parents could live easily, but… that motivation never went away.”

“And then you came along. You and the Gems, fighting back against the criminal syndicates heroes ignore either because they’re paid to or because there’s no glory in it. I wanted to help. So, I joined with a couple of friends as an aid worker for the Refinery. It was a good cause, and I made a lot of memories there.” She frowned as she recalled her coworkers. ‘I hope they’re okay…’ “But, it didn’t seem like enough,” she sighed. “Progress was slow. Gems weren’t too common. It just… felt like we weren’t doing enough .”

“Then, one day, a friend of my parents approached us with an offer. He wasn’t part of the Refinery or the Alliance. The group he was in was new. More… radical. Their doctrine was really… eye-opening. I mean, I’m not going to try to convert you, but… I feel like we do good work. We were just about to debut in about a week when this happened. It may be a little premature, but… well, it seemed like the best time.”

They finally reached an old door with a strange tag on it. It was a green pitchfork, outlined in white. After Ochako knocked, a slot opened. “What is the greatest, most beautiful thing in the world?” asked the person behind it.

“Corn,” she replied. “It’s pure gold, wrapped in jade leaves.”

“Jade leaves?” the man asked. Then his eyes widened. The slot slammed shut and the door was yanked open. A burly man in overalls and a white button-up looked over Ochako’s shoulders at Jade. “Holy shit.”

“Language, Kensei,” Ochako chided. “Jade’s here to help us with our debut, which needed to be moved up to yesterday .”

The man got over his shock and snorted. “No kidding.” He walked back in, the two vigilantes right behind.

The room they entered was no decrepit office. It was a strategy room. Computers mounted the back wall and radios sat on a table on the opposite wall. Weapons were stored on shelves bolted to the walls above. Around the room, men and women coordinated and moved in a smooth operation that contradicted the chaos above. In the center, a map of the city was displayed, massive districts outlined in red. Figures of red were being placed in seemingly random positions as red lines were drawn all along the roads.

Ochako saw the moment Jade realized it; they were tracking the movements of the CRC.

“Jade,” she greeted, attracting the room’s attention, “meet the leaders of the rural militia, the Farmers. We’re not vigilantes. We’re citizens tired of the HPSC’s interference with the justice system, the police, and the government, especially after the Yaoyorozu Heist. If the government or heroes won’t take action, we will. The Gems can handle the villains the government won’t. People like us take care of the people in government who won’t go after the villains.”

Jade looked around the room, visibly impressed despite the mask. “Impressive,” he remarked. “It’s no Alliance, but this might be just as good.”

“Glad to see we impress,” said a figure at the table. “Shirai Harumi, at your service, Jade. I’m the leader of the Farmers. If Uraraka is to be believed, you’re here to help us?”

“The CRC kidnapped my wards,” Jade snarled. “I will get them back, no matter what.”

Shirai was visibly surprised, but nodded firmly. “Understandable.” She gestured to the map. “We have a plan. We’ve been analyzing the CRC’s movements since the attack began, and we’ve discovered a pattern. They went after the cornerstones of the system and subverted them. The police and heroes have been neutralized, the Refinery’s been converted into a prison, and the government has been overthrown. What’s worse is that they brought powerful signal jammers that prevent any communication with the outside. The national government has been told that a massive power surge has knocked out communications, and they seem to be buying it for now. We’re on our own. With our stores and supplies, though, we should be able to cripple the CRC’s control. By striking these key checkpoints and radio stations, we should be able to cause enough chaos that their efficiency should freeze and we can take advantage. Maybe attack the prison or get a signal out to the other prefectures…”

Jade wasn’t looking at the checkpoints. He pointed to a specific building on the map. “What’s this?” he asked.

“The radio station,” Shirai replied. “We think it hosts their main jammer, because the place is locked down tight. We have resources, but assaulting that would be suicide.”

“Why do we need to attack it?” Jade asked. “We don’t need to hold it. All we need to do is send out a signal, right?”

Ochako looked at him. “What are you planning?”

Jade pulled his mask down just enough for them to see his smirk. “Anybody got a video camera?”

**Warning: Dehumanizing talk and messed-up, mild verbal abuse. Skip if that makes you uncomfortable**

The High Priestess felt like singing. “Oh, my beautiful acolytes, you have outdone yourselves!” she cheered. “Well done, well done all of you!”

The group smirked. The reason for the High Priestess’ jubilation was the trio of girls squirming in their clutches. All three were being held off the ground so they couldn’t run away, but this was made somewhat redundant due to the zip ties around their ankles to prevent them from kicking their captors. The men had firm grips on their arms to keep them from hitting anyone, and their “annoying cries” had been muted by strips of tape across their mouths.

“Aw, don’t worry, dear Momo,” the villainess crooned, gently caressing the heiress’ features. “I know this may seem scary. After all, you’re just a child with no understanding of the world. It’s only natural that these heretics were able to fill your head with silly ideas of ‘equality’ and ‘quirk rights.’ But don’t fret, my child. We know exactly how to purge such thoughts from your mind. The process is, unfortunately, quite painful, but you’ll eventually thank me for guiding you back to the proper path, little lamb. A necessary sacrifice for the greater good, you’ll understand in time.” Momo, very pale now, bucked and struggled, shaking her head in denial.

But the High Priestess had already moved on. “As for you,” she snarled at Tsu, who defiantly glared back. “Jade will pay for what he has done to us. Oh yes, his time of judgment will come soon. In the meantime, you will suffer for your role in the humiliation of the Yaoyorozus, you and your demonic kappa siblings. Eventually, you will accept your place in the world: an animal, a demon who should be grateful for being spared rather than exterminated. And the last bits of human speech you will sully with your freakish tongue will be to thank us for teaching you your true nature as subhuman.” She smacked the girl across the face. “Until then, you will rot with your fellow freaks.”

She moved on to the last girl. She sighed. “How could the key to saving the souls of so many future children be so unsightly ?” She roughly grabbed Eri by the horn. “At best, you look like a goat. At worst, a devil. Though, I suppose a one-horned devil is weakened, which is an appropriate sign for such a power.” She shrugged and turned away. “It makes no difference to me. You only matter as one thing: Overhaul’s sacrifice.” At that, all three girls paled and tears of fright slid down her cheeks. “Once I hand you over to Mother and Overhaul, my position as her right hand will be secured,” she proclaimed reverently, raising her hands to the sky. “Your blood will finally give us the tools to eradicate the Inhuman Plague once and for all. And the Creature Rejection Clan will take its rightful place as masters of Japan! And then?! The world!!!”

**Warning over.**

The cultists cheered to the silent horror of the girls. The “holy” figure lowered her arms and turned back to the girls. “One day, you will understand everything we do as right. And thank us for our actions. But for now,” she concluded, shooing them away, “put the frog in the cages with the rest and take the Sacrifice to the Vault. As for little Momo, take her to reeducation. She will come home soon.”

The thugs took the frantic girls away, separating them as they wept. The High Priestess ordered her followers to call the Mother and Overhaul so she may give them the news. And quietly, the three sisters prayed that their guardian could perform a miracle.

Chapter Text

Yagi Toshinori was torn.

He had been torn for quite a while. Almost five years, in fact. Before his… incident, he had been certain, driven in his focus and pursuit. He knew what needed to be done and how to do it. And he had a goal: All for One. Stopping him, destroying his empire, ending this cycle of violence and cruelty, avenging Nana, everything he did was in pursuit of ending the Demon King forever.

But then, he did. And he paid for it.

Now, he was of barely any use to anyone. Oh sure, he was still the Symbol of Peace. He still saved people and put in the hours to make sure the era he had created lasted. But it felt more and more like he was going through the motions. Like he wasn’t sure what to do with himself now that his enemy was dead. Plus, the fight that had ended AfO had left him crippled. He could barely go out as a hero for three of the day’s 24 hours. The rest of the time, he was nothing more than a shriveled, Quirkless husk, no use to anyone.

And as time went on and his joints ached and his wounds burned, he realized he couldn’t keep this up forever. He found himself faced with two daunting prospects: his mortality and his legacy.

The first was just something he had long since had to accept, what with Nighteye’s prophecy. If he were to die, he would do so. He’d keep going and save as many people as he could before he finally burned out, as was only expected. He didn’t like it, but he had long since accepted it.

Or at least, he had. But then…

“No, I don’t think you can be a hero without a Quirk.”

Kami. When and how had he fallen so far? How was that the response he gave to a poor boy pouring his heart out to him, begging him for a chance, a ray of hope, as he had once begged Nana? What would Nana say to him if she were still alive to see him do that?

The most ironic thing about that whole incident was that the boy had proved him wrong almost instantly. The more he thought about it, the more ludicrous and impressive it was. Impressive in that a Quirkless nerd had run into a situation with no hesitation, almost like it was second nature, leaving the frozen pros behind. Ludicrous because what were the heroes doing?! “Wait for a suitable Quirk?” Nezu had given months of detention to students who used reasoning like that! How had the standard fallen that far? And they had the gall to lambast the boy?!! (By Kami, he didn’t even know the kid’s name!!!!)

In an effort to assuage his guilty conscience and try to push down his new doubts, he had tried to find the boy and offer him his Quirk. But, his time limit reared its ugly head and cut his search efforts off at the pass. So, that ended up being a nonstarter. Plus, the more he thought about it, the more callous it seemed. “Hey, I know I just crushed your dreams and spat on your hard work and your day was absolute crap, but here’s a sudden, half-assed apology and a huge bribe from the most powerful guy around! We cool?” Jeez, he sounded like a shady politician or a crime boss.

He soon gave up that line and met Nighteye’s candidate, Togata Mirio. The problem was twofold. One, One for All protested. Violently. A short vision with the Vestiges later, and Toshinori discovered something harrowing: One for All was too powerful. Any person who inherited it and had a quirk would have their lifespan slashed. If Toshinori gave it to young Togata, the kid’d be lucky to see twenty-five.

Second, Toshinori had taken the time to research modern heroics before the meeting… and hated what he saw. Half of the modern heroes focused on publicity or side gigs, putting in only the bare minimum for patrols or crime busts. Collateral damage was through the roof. Wealth gaps were prevalent. Quirk discrimination and hate crimes were all too common. Was this the era of peace he had fought so hard for? A place where heroes were basically spoiled celebrities and the downtrodden fell to the wayside because “he was there” to pick up their slack?!

Togata was just like All Might. Not Yagi Toshinori, All Might. And Toshinori was quickly starting to see that as a problem. Nighteye, of course, disagreed, but shut up when All Might used his best weapons against him: logic and data. With the facts presented in such a clear-cut manner, Nighteye had to accept reality. So, he joined Toshinori and Nezu in trying to craft a new legacy for All Might. The current generation was a lost cause, except for maybe the younger heroes who needed a wake-up call. So, they would craft the next generation into an army of Pillars, of Symbols. So that no one would ever dump their weight onto one point of failure, and so everyone could be inspired to do their best as a hero.

A world where a hero could look a Quirkless kid in the eye and tell them that they genuinely believed they could be a hero.

It was one of the reasons why Nighteye and Toshinori were so focused on the Jade case. Now here was a hero! A young man, perhaps even a child (disturbing), who went out into the night and fought for the little guy, doing whatever he could to help. Nezu wanted him in UA and Toshinori agreed. Jade was a perfect example for other heroes to follow. Thus, when Jade became a high-priority target for the HPSC and the yakuza, Toshinori threw around his influence to get Nighteye in charge of the task force to bring him in. With Nighteye in command, this wouldn’t be another vigilante witch hunt akin to those Endeavor led that ended with the vigilante crippled or dead. No, this would be retrieval and recruitment.

Toshinori hadn’t kept up with the case since then, more focused on his upcoming occupation as a teacher at UA High. Nighteye had suggested he keep out of it, so as not to draw more unwanted attention either to him or to Jade. But, now, as he sat in his Tokyo office, gazing from the top of Might Tower, watching the setting sun, he couldn’t help but wonder if that was enough. If he could do more for Jade, like he should’ve done more for that Quirkless boy. Did he really want inaction and half-hearted gestures, so common in society, to be his legacy?

His thoughts were cut off. The TV at the other end of the office, which had been playing some game show he couldn’t bother to pay attention to, suddenly glitched and went to static… then displayed a familiar screen.

‘An emergency broadcast?’

“You have done well, my child,” crooned a weathered, female voice. It came from a monitor displaying a woman in pure white robes, skulls stitched into the sides of her hood (which concealed her face). This was the Mother, the ultimate leader of the Creature Rejection Clan, and she was extremely pleased with the High Priestess’ success. “Not only have you taken the district of Mie, but you have also retrieved our most valuable assets. With Momo back in hand, the resources of the Yaoyorozus will once again be ours. And of course, the retrieval of your sacrificial lamb will accelerate your plans to where you say they should be, isn’t that right, Overhaul?”

“Indeed,” Overhaul admitted from another monitor. “With Eri back in hand, we could move forward with our plans for purity. But I would not declare victory just yet.”

The High Priestess looked at the man quizically. She was kneeling before the Mother’s monitor in a section of the store that the CRC had made their base. This portion had once been the tech section, but had been converted into a communications hub with pirated tech and dismantled store products. In the background, guards moved around, finalizing Mie’s subversion. Just behind the Priestess, Eri, tied to a chair, struggled to free herself, especially now that she was under the scrutinizing gaze of her tormentor. “Dear Overhaul, whatever could you mean?” the High Priestess questioned. “The brat is in our captivity, and the authorities now serve us. The people are too weak and scared to do anything against us. What reason is there  not to declare victory?”

“Do not underestimate Jade,” Overhaul snarled. “I have made that mistake too many times. The cur has the tendency to twist the situation in his favor no matter the circumstance. He can discover allies in the most unexpected places and turn them into threats beyond reasoning. He can manipulate circumstances to his favor. And worst of all, he is an expert at disappearing and reappearing like a ghost.”

The Mother hummed consideringly. “I will admit, his influence has become long-reaching,” she admitted. “His record also speaks for itself.”

“You worry for nothing, Mother,” the High Priestess assured. “My paladins informed me that the only guardian the girls had was destroyed quite easily, and Jade himself has not been seen during this entire venture.” (There had been that platoon of troops that was beaten to a pulp in an atrium in the mall where the girls had been found, but soon after, a couple of underground heroes were killed nearby, so that had to have been their handiwork.) “Besides, we have completely subverted all forms of authority and government in the city, trapping the masses in their homes, and my forces across the district communicate the same. Where could Jade even find reinforcements, especially with the jammers up?”

As if to answer her, all the monitors glitched out and displayed an emergency transmission.

Across the country, televisions, radios, computers, cell phones, and PA systems went offline as an emergency broadcast hijacked their systems.

Magne turned away from watching the burned Gem’s surgery.

A sullen Nighteye and furious Eraserhead glared at the cracked TV, the office in ruins from Eraserhead’s rampage.

The HPSC turned to their screens.

Heroes turned to billboards or nearby televisions.

Gems picked up hodgepodge radios and comms.

Villains turned their attention to their devices.

Stain picked up the bloodstained HeroNet phone of his latest victim.

All were stunned by the faces and words that came out.

“People of Mie. Hear me and rejoice. …”

Earlier…

“What we need isn’t the station,” Jade had said. “What we need is the tower itself. And that doesn’t require a siege.”

Near the radio station the CRC was using to jam transmissions, a sewer grate opened up near the back. Out of it came four figures dressed in clothes of utility workers, each carrying large toolboxes. Their uniforms were blue, denim bodysuits with cloth tags. Their faces were covered by goggles, hard hats, and face masks. This was all the nearby guard, who had come out of the station to see what the noise was, got to see before he was clubbed over the head with a wrench. His unconscious body was dragged behind the dumpster before the work crew let themselves in.

Due to the CRC having already swept the building, most of the defenses were focused on the outside to prevent any attacks. As such, the station itself was pretty barren. There were a couple of guards that patrolled the hallways, and a handful to man the radio rooms. Despite this, any attempt to take the room quietly would require insane speed, stealth, and strength, even by the current superhuman standards.

Thankfully, the infiltrators weren’t after the recording equipment or the broadcasting hardware. What they wanted was through a service hatch that led to the roof.

“Once the team gets inside, we just need to hardwire our message to the tower and pump up the power. If we can boost the signal transmitting from the tower, we could get a message past the jammers to the outside. With the CRC panicking over being exposed, they’ll become sloppy. The Farmers can take advantage of this by leaping on the holes that appear in their defenses. An omnidirectional attack will only cause more panic and thus more weak points.”

Once on the roof, three of the figures opened their toolboxes. Inside were pieces for assault rifles and pistols, which were quickly assembled and loaded. The three then took guard positions near the entrances to the roof. The fourth, meanwhile, opened her toolbox, revealing an assortment of doodads, machines, and computer parts. Within minutes, she had cobbled together a bulky looking box with a glowing, green computer screen and several wires poking out of it, the latter of which were attached to the tower’s cables and structure.

The figure took off her mask, revealing a manic smile, and moved her goggles to her hard hat, showing off her golden eyes and crosshair pupils. “Okay, Signal Booster Baby!” she giggled manically. “Time for you to show the world the power of Hatsume Industries!” She inserted a USB into the device and magnetically attached the device to the tower. After a few seconds, a progress bar appeared, quickly loading and finally displaying a word:

TRANSMITTING…

Suddenly, the phones of the four figures lit up as an emergency broadcast was beamed right to them. Hatsume Mei began to laugh. “IT WORKS!!! MY BABY HAS LIT THE FIRES OF REVOLUTION!! NOTHING CAN STOP US, OR JADE, NOW!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!! ”

Now…

Melissa Shield knew of the Creature Rejection Clan. Many Quirk biologists who worked with her father liked to mock their doctrine and their founder, citing pseudoscience, contradictions, and pure fantasy. What she had heard was enough for her to scoff and not take the group of fanatics seriously.

Now, sitting with her father in his cluttered workshop, hearing what was basically the announcement of a takeover in Mie and a basis of their doctrine and goals? She was disgusted, horrified, and downright pissed.

“Disgusting,” her father, David, growled. “I had heard about these cultists from your Uncle Might, and I was initially concerned with how much joy he had in demolishing their influence. Now, though? I’m much more sympathetic.”

“Is there anything we can do, Daddy?” she asked. Privately, she was hoping for something along the lines of “we can build a giant gun and blast those motherfuckers into oblivion,” but she knew that was unrealistic.

“Sadly, no,” David replied. “We’ll just have to cheer on your Uncle Might when he inevitably crashes this party. Although….” He frowned and paused, putting his hand to his chin in thought.

“What is it?” Melissa asked.

“This broadcast is addressed to Mie, as in the Japanese district,” he said. “And if this signal is any indication, this is being broadcast across an area that encompasses hundreds of miles. They’re basically begging for the Japanese government to destroy them. Something doesn’t add up.”

Suddenly, the message ended and was replaced. Three figures again stood in front of the camera with a black drape behind them, but they were different. They were all wearing kimonos of rough cloth, hints of modern body armor poking out from underneath. Their heads were covered with straw hats that made them look like feudal peasants and their faces were covered with kabuki masks. Clutched in the hands of the two figures flanking the third were modern assault rifles. The third, the obvious leader, instead had a katana and two pistols. In the background, a flag similar to the Japanese flag hung, but the sun was not in the center, but instead hanging over a field of green with yellow crops.

“People of Japan,” the leader spoke. “We are not the CRC. We are the Farmers. And we send this message to request the help of all who are willing and able, as well as declare our intent.”

“The government will label us vigilantes, perhaps even terrorists. We are neither. We are the ultimate response to the current situation.”

Iguchi Shuichi stared in awe at the screen displaying the ordinary folk. As a mutant himself, his hatred for the CRC’s doctrine was a given, though he was used to it due to suffering discrimination similar to it on a daily basis. He fully expected the heroes to charge in, wipe out the villains, make some empty platitude, then move on with nothing changing.

This, though? This was more than that. This was what Shuichi had been hoping for for years. This was the people standing up to the system, saying, “This is wrong and needs fixing.” The Gems were great, but they simply flouted the system to do its job better than it could. If he was reading this right, this was more than that. This was a direct attack on the system.

And it made him wonder… if they could attack the system and create something better, could he do the same? Could he spin a new tale for himself and others?

“The CRC exploited the lax system that is in place in order to conquer Mie. Spotlight heroes, a majority of the current employed heroes, focus on flashy fights or side jobs in entertainment rather than protecting the populace. The police are beholden to the whims of politicians and shuffled to the side as a cleanup crew rather than enforcers of the law. Corruption in the high echelons of society and government, proven by the Yaoyorozu Heist and this current crisis, runs rampant and unpunished. And all of this is supported and encouraged by the Hero Public Safety Commission, in the name of “keeping the peace.” In other words, preserving the status quo.”

Stain’s grin was so wide, it practically tore his face in half. Half a mile away, heroes and police were half-heartedly trying to track him down after his latest victim, but they were much too busy paying attention to this broadcast. Not that he blamed them; all needed to see these icons and hear their words.

Finally, someone who understood. Someone who saw the garbage and facade that the current government propped up and knew it had to be torn away. Someone who was willing to take action against the corrupt and the false idols. Oh, it was beautiful. This is what society needed, this was the wake-up call he had longed to be! Either the heroes would acknowledge the points made by the Farmers, or the Farmers would call them out and tear them down. And if the reactions of the public he was seeing, perched on his rooftop, were accurate? The people would cheer when they did.

Though, that did present a problem. With the Farmers now serving as an example and a warning, what was left for him? What use did a Hero Killer have in a world where fakes were purged by the new system? Hmmm… perhaps he was reading too much into it. He would need to see what the Farmers did and how they interacted with the world once this crisis was over. Until then, he would do as he had always done. And if the corrupt HPSC tried to remove this threat to the status quo? They would find him waiting for them.

“We are the inevitable conclusion of such a negative feedback loop. We are the citizens who have finally said, “Enough is enough.” If the government will not help and the heroes and police are incapable, then we will take matters into our own hands. Starting with this insurrection .”

“Members of the Creature Rejection Clan, this is your only warning: surrender or be decimated. We are the citizens of Mie, and we reject your ideology and your so-called “salvation.” We are free and decent humans, and thus we have no need for either.”

HPSC President Teki Kenichi rolled his eyes at the whining of these radicals. This wasn’t the first time a large group had risen up to protest how things were. They wouldn’t be the last. And they were just as easily fixed as their predecessors. He had already been drafting a hero team to respond to the CRC crisis, which included Hawks and Endeavor. Now, he was adding additional orders to both men to show the Farmers no quarter. Endeavor was told to treat them as rookie vigilantes (aka acceptable collateral damage) and Hawks was ordered to have the main figures of the Farmers (leaders, charismatic individuals, etc.) suffer “accidents.” Both of these should be enough to permanently destroy the movement.

‘Of course,’ Teki thought bitterly, ‘this assumes that things proceed as they should.’

Things had a tendency not to do that anymore. And it was all because of that thrice-damned ignoramus, Jade. The cretin ran around with a costume at night beating up drunks and street punks, then got too big for his britches and spat in the eye of a yakuza boss. Suddenly, he’s the de facto symbol for rebelling against the system?! It just made no sense, and neither did the repercussions of his actions, due to their having an enormously wide range of impact.

Still, it was fixable, just like these Farmers. They would be broken up by the HPSC’s heroes (if the CRC didn’t annihilate the rabble before the heroes arrived), the AVTF would track down Jade, Nagant would kill him, and then the movements both had or would inspire would die out for good. And everything would be as it should be.

“Do not think that fighting is an option. Try to destroy us and you will fail.” With that, the leading figure stepped aside and revealed she was standing in front of a drawn curtain rather than a simple drape. The two figures to the side stood at the ready, like an honor guard. From behind the curtain suddenly emerged a fourth figure, dressed in a jumpsuit of various greens, white gloves, red boots, a black tool belt filled with hodgepodge weaponry, a dark green hoodie, and a black carnival mask that covered his cheeks and his upper face.

Despite having never seen him before, the President recognized him on sight.

“Why? Because I am here, ” Jade snarled. “And I swear here and now, I will finish what I started.” With that, the broadcast cut out, returning to the news channel that had been playing in the background before this mess began.

The President dived for his phone. Screw a team, Nagant and Hawks could handle the Farmers and with Jade seemingly out for blood, patterns suggested he would cripple the CRC enough that it woulld just be a routine mop-up operation. (Just because he found the data ludicrous didn’t mean he couldn’t see its validity.) No, the imperative was the death of Jade.

The return of the HPSC’s peace was dependent on his death.

The response team lay in waiting outside the mall as their broadcast cut out. After a moment, Shirai’s radio lit up with chatter. After a few minutes, she hung up. “Hatsume and her guards got out,” she reported. “It’s as you said, Jade. The guards were too busy panicking and sweeping the station to check the roof. They managed to slip away in the chaos.”

Jade nodded. “And the other districts?”

“Our other branches are on standby,” she replied. “The broadcast reinvigorated them, as well as the private broadcast that relayed the strategy. Gotta hand it to that girl, she can work miracles with some metal and a screwdriver.”

Jade chuckled. “Don’t underestimate tinkerers, Shirai. Their creativity is an absolute wild card.”

Everyone playfully shuddered and nodded. Ochako, however, still looked nervous.

“Do… do you really think it worked?”

The Quarry was deserted. A skeleton crew was left in its place. The burned Gem, who had woken during the broadcast and told his story, was resting in the infirmary. He had been hunting CRC remnants and stumbled upon their takeover plan by accident. However, because he had stumbled onto it, he had been caught and nearly killed. Now, his message delivered and corroborated by Jade himself, the Obsidian Alliance was out in force.

Convoys of unmarked vans and trucks, courtesy of Yaoyorozu Inc., poured down the roads of every district surrounding Mie. And leading the way was Magne’s convoy from the Quarry, decked out for war.

Tsukauchi hadn’t even waited to be cleared by the medical staff assigned to him. He had simply told them what was happening, told them to make it happen, and rushed down to the AVTF headquarters. He had expected a mass panic.

What he got was a mass rollout.

“What’s happening?” he immediately demanded as he approached Eraser and Nighteye.

“I thought you weren’t due back until tomorrow,” Nighteye said instead.

“I’m not waiting until tomorrow to deal with this clusterfuck,” Tsukauchi insisted, “and you cannot make me.”

Nighteye, wisely, didn’t contradict that. “We’re rolling out,” he said instead. “Once we reach Mie, we are to cooperate with any local forces to disable the forces of the CRC with extreme prejudice.”

Tsukauchi frowned. “I thought the authorities in Mie had been dismantled by the CRC,” he mentioned, “and that our only priority was Jade.”

If Nighteye’s smirk was dangerous, Eraserhead’s wide smile was lethal. “Orders from above our pay grade say different,” the underground hero purred, holding up a document. “This executive order, signed by the Prime Minister himself, says we are to focus our attention solely on the CRC. Also, we are allowed to freely work with any Gem, Farmer, or other vigilante/paramilitary soldier we find.”

Tsukauchi blinked in shock… then giggled evilly. “Sounds dubious, but I like it,” he said smugly.

“That’s not the best part.”

“What’s the best part?”

“We get this done in the next 24 hours? We get a pay raise.”

Tsukauchi would deny to the day he died that he squeed right there and then.

The girl ran through the streets of the port city in Mie, CRC cultists right behind her. Why, oh why did she choose today of all days to take a holiday in the country? She didn’t even moonlight as a vigilante anymore, leave these kinds of things to-!

A gunshot jolted her out of what would be painful memories. No time to reflect on the bitter past, it was running time.

She jumped over rooftops, ducked through alleys, and cut across streets in order to ditch her pursuers, her All Might hoodie flapping in the wind. Somehow, the ad hoc armored trucks the cultists had kept up with her, despite her leaps and rapid dodges. Finally, one jerk with a grenade got tired of this game… and got lucky.

BOOM

The explosion blew her out of the air mid-leap, throwing her down onto a nearby pile of trash in an alley that the cultists quickly surrounded. They began to chuckle menacingly. “Quite the merry chase you’ve led us on, Queenie,” one sneered, “but your punishment is at hand. Did you really think you could get away so easily? Time for you to pay for your sins.”

The girl lifted her hands up. “W-W-Wait, please, that wasn’t me!” she protested. “I-I-I didn’t-!”

“SHUT IT, FREAK!” another roared. “No more talking, time for divine retribution!” He cocked his gun…

…and the truck behind him exploded.

The cultists whirled around and got a face full of gunfire. Within seconds, the cultists were all either dead or wounded. The girl simply lay there, curled up in her hoodie, peaking out at the devastation.

Soon, a woman in a rough kimono over body armor approached her, machine gun stashed away. “Hey, you alright?” she asked.

The girl stuttered, adjusting her glasses as she accepted the hand up. “Y-y-y-y-y-y-yes, I-I’m alright,” she replied. “Who… who are you?”

“We’re Farmers,” replied the woman. “We’re pushing the CRC out of Mie. I saw part of that chase you were leading these fucks on. You’re quite skilled.” She then noticed something on the girl’s face. “Oh shit, did those fucks get your eye?!”

The girl blushed and rubbed her arm. “N-No, this… this is an old wound,” she assured. “Th-thanks for the compliment, I… used to be a-active. In a way.” She gazed at the carnage, her expression far off.

This reminder of her past triggered something. Deep inside, a new feeling rose up, one that the chase’s terror had suppressed. But it was a feeling she was familiar with. A feeling she had felt long ago, that had been rekindled by a speech by a group of brave people and a remarkable man. (Though nothing could quite compare to him in her opinion.)

Once more, she felt the desire to help any way she could.

“...did… did you want my help?” she asked.

The Farmer looked at her. “You can dodge, but can you fight?”

“...somewhat,” she responded. “Mostly, I can distract, ferry, and raise m-morale. But, I can fight in a pinch. I’m just… rusty.”

The Farmer sighed. “Well, we need all the help we can get with these fuckers. That’s why we’re sheltering any Gems and heroes we find from the CRC. If you can help, we’ll welcome anything you can give us. You got a name?”

The girl stood up straighter, channeling the energy she held from days gone by. With that, she took off her hood, revealing her bushy pink hair.

“Haneyama Kazuho,” she said. “Call me Pop Step. And I may not be a Gem, but,” she whipped out her phone, “I know a couple of guys.”

A helicopter from Juzo News flew through the air towards Mie. Originally, they were headed to an extraordinary traffic jam in Aichi. However, before they could arrive, the Farmers’ broadcast hit the airwaves. As such, HQ immediately rerouted the chopper towards Mie to capture what was bound to be historic news.

“Oh, I can just picture the headline! Mie Liberated! Civilians and Vigilantes Defeat Villainous Cult!” Tokuda Taneo proclaimed. A rather laid-back and somewhat good-looking man, he was the lead cameraman and reporter for the chopper. He was accompanied by the newscaster Takahashi Sakuya as the chopper flew through the air.

“Are you sure we should run with that?” she asked. “The government doesn’t approve of exclusive coverage of vigilantes, especially in recent times.”

Taneo tsked. “The government doesn’t give a damn, it’s the HPSC that has an issue with all of the positive press vigilantes have been getting,” he grumbled. “Besides, we are not bound by censorship from federal organizations. We are bound to promote the truth and spread it to everyone who wishes to know. So long as the public wants news of these events, we will report it.”

Sakuya frowned. “True,” she admitted. “But I’m still not sure whether this is really worth it.”

Suddenly, a large noise echoed across the plain and a large gust of wind shook the chopper. Taneo, whose instincts had warned him something was wrong just before the calamity, grabbed the handholds within the cabin, turning to the source of the commotion and quickly snapping a photo. With a loud whistle, something streaked through the country air in the direction they were travelling.

“What the hell was that?!” the pilot shouted as everyone recovered from the sudden turbulence.

Taneo printed out the photo he had snapped, gazing at it in awe… and just a bit of fear. “History,” he said again, showing his compatriots.

There, on camera, was All Might, mid-leap towards Mie. And he wasn’t smiling.

Jade nodded. “Yes. I’m certain.”