25

Inko sat back down on her couch substantially more exhausted than she was earlier. She had finished her conversation with Nezu about her discovery of Hawks' feather, and the chimera had spent 15 minutes talking her down from hunting the Wing Hero down and liberating him of his kneecaps. They couldn't afford to be so rash; the Commission had clearly made a move against them, and they couldn't be certain as to when. They were already planning a strike against the Commission with Endeavor's situation, but as of right now, the Midoriya home was pretty much compromised.

Fortunately, Nezu already had plans for the construction of dormitories for UA students that lived too far to comfortably travel and had to move or get an apartment closer to the school. He'd have Cementoss expedite its construction in order to get the Midoriya family to a more secure environment. Meanwhile, they would continue planning, gathering allies, and putting pieces in place for the downfall of the HPSC.

Then they could liberate Hawks of his kneecaps.

For the time being, Inko was both stressed and exhausted, and she just wanted to see her son, so she opted to video call him. He picked up after a few rings, and Inko was greeted with the sight of her son's bandaged face sporting a very sheepish smile.

"Hey, Mom."

Inko was only mildly alarmed by her son's clear injuries. He was tough, and he could heal himself if necessary, but what the hell happened to put him in that state?

"Honey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he assured. "I just got a little banged up dealing with Murphy's Law."

Her brow furrowed. "What exactly happened?"

She watched her son nervously scratch the back of his head, so she already knew that she wouldn't like the answer. "Hehe, funny story…"

"Hold that thought," she interrupted before casting her Chinese evergreen a glance and standing up from the couch. "It's a little stuffy in here, so I'm gonna step outside for some air."

She idly noticed her son giving her a curious look, and she knew that he wasn't going to like the news one bit when she told him. She wouldn't worry him while he was on his trip.

"Okay, what happened?" she asked after shutting her front door and walking away from the apartment.

"Um, well, the I-Expo was attacked by villains."

Inko stopped in her tracks and fixed her son with a look of concern. "Excuse me?"

"Some guys hijacked the island's security system and tried to hold everyone hostage while they stole some really valuable tech and research."

"Tried?"

"I, um, may have intervened…"

Inko gave him a flat look. "Izuku…"

"All of the pros were trapped and restrained, even All Might. They literally couldn't do anything without risking innocent lives. We were in a position to help without putting lives in danger, so we did that."

"'We'?"

"Me, Ochako, a few others from my class, Mei Hatsume from the sports festival, and Melissa Shield."

"In other words, no one with a license," she sighed.

"People are free to use their quirks as they please on I-Island, provided it isn't for criminal activity," Izuku responded. "From what I understand after the police spoke with me a little while ago, vigilantism isn't technically criminalized on the island, particularly since there isn't ever any crime for regular people to stop."

"So, you skidded by on a technicality once again," she chuckled.

"I suppose," her son chuckled along with her. "It helped that Mirko and Ryukyu showed up at the end for a deus ex heroine. They beat that guy into the ground."

Inko frowned. "Was that guy in question the one who did all this to you?"

"Oh, no," Izuku hastily assured. "These injuries are all self-inflicted."

Inko stared blankly at the screen, and her son began to sweat under her gaze. He coughed and cleared his throat, deciding to explain further.

"I sort of lost control of my quirk…" he muttered.

"How?" she pressed.

"A new color," Izuku answered before briefly looking away from the screen to hide his shame. "A bad one."

Inko, of course, picked up on that movement, and she frowned in concern. "Sweetie?"

"I'm okay, though!" Izuku quickly spoke up to move on from the topic. "Just need some more time with my healing flames and then I'll be good as new. What's going on back home? How's everything going?"

Inko wasn't fooled by the attempt to change the subject, and it worried her even more. However, she would let it rest for the moment and allow Izuku to enjoy the rest of his trip. She could press for more information when he got back home.

With that in mind, the answers to the questions he asked would worry him should she respond truthfully. She knew that he wouldn't react very well to the news that the HPSC was attempting to surveil them.

"Everything's fine," she finally answered. "You're okay, so I'm okay."

Inko could see in Izuku's eyes that he caught the way she dodged the question, and she internally cursed how sharp the boy was. She was relieved that he didn't press the issue either, though, and he only offered her a bandaged smile.

"What's the time difference between Japan and I-Island?" Inko asked, half in an effort to change the subject again and half out of pure curiosity.

"Honestly?" Izuku began with a hum. "No idea. I don't even know where in the Pacific we even are right now. This whole island is powered by plot. Don't think about it too hard."

"I'll try not to," she replied with a snort. "I'll leave you to get some rest. You need it."

"Okay. I love you, mom."

"I love you, too, Izuku."

"Are you serious?! I missed all of that?!"

Tensei Iida was beside himself. When the island's security protocol had lifted and foot traffic was allowed once more, Tensei considered leaving the hotel to check on his brother. However, keeping up his cover was important to keep certain bureaucrats from asking unwanted questions, so he stayed in his room and was mildly reassured by the texts he received from his brother when the island's cell reception finally returned. Only when Tenya returned and informed him of what actually happened did he understand the true enormity of the situation.

Needless to say, he was rather nettled.

"Do not despair, elder brother!" Tenya tried to placate him. "We defeated the evildoers, and everyone made it out safe and mostly unharmed."

"No, no, I figured that much," Tensei waved off. "I'm upset that I was cooped up in a hotel room with no TV or internet while there was prime villain butt to be kicked out there! Do you know how long it's been since I kicked a strong villain after a Recipro Burst?"

Tenya stood with an utterly incredulous expression before he sighed and his eye began to twitch. "As tactless as ever, elder brother."

"You know it," Tensei chuckled before sitting on the bed. "How's Midoriya?"

Tenya's expression became slightly solemn, surprising the older Iida hero. "He sustained numerous injuries in his battle with the leader of the villains. He assured us that they were self-inflicted after he lost control of his quirk and that he could heal them himself, though."

"Wow, that's rough," Tensei remarked with a frown. "He seemed to have really fine control over his fire from what I've seen. I wonder what happened to make it slip."

"I wonder that, as well," Tenya agreed. "I can't imagine what could have pushed him so far, and he was very hesitant to reveal many details."

"Well, I suppose we can just be glad that he alongside everyone else made it out alright," Tensei sighed before turning a smile back towards his younger brother. "Now, tell me about these villains and how far you kicked them."

Izuku had taken his mother's advice and gotten more rest. The burns incurred from the black flames were healing incredibly slowly, just as he expected they would, and the constant stamina drain of having his pink flames continuously active would probably kill him at some point if he didn't rest and eat intermittently. Several times he awoke to see Ochako sitting beside him, usually with food, despite his assurances that he was fine.

That final instance of him waking up wouldn't be so pleasant, however. Enough time had passed for daylight to be breaking through the window of his hospital room, so he knew that it was at least the next day and the I-Expo had officially begun. Sitting next to his bed wasn't Ochako, though; it was Mei, but she was busy napping, as well. He chuckled and snapped his fingers in front of her face to wake her, jolting her awake with all the spastic glory that only she could provide. When she finally laid eyes on him, he could see relief and genuine happiness on her face.

"Human Torch, you're awake!" she cheered.

"That's a new one," Izuku laughed. "How's the expo been?"

Mei's face quickly lost its levity, and she became pensive. "The expo is mostly proceeding on as planned with a few exceptions."

"…You're making it sound like there's a lot more to this than just the villain attack," Izuku cautiously probed.

"David Shield was arrested," Mei replied.

"WHAT?!" Izuku exclaimed, practically hopping out of his hospital bed. "Why? What the hell happened while I was out?"

"The villain attack was an inside job," Mei began to explain, and Izuku's eyes nearly shot out of his skull. "Apparently, the professor and his partner hired a squad of actors to stage a heist so that they could retrieve a powerful device and research that their bosses forced them to scrap."

"Are you serious?" Izuku asked incredulously, and she nodded. "What device could possibly be worth attempting something so comically stupid?"

"A device that amplifies quirks," Mei responded, and Izuku went pale. "It's basically trigger without any of the harmful side effects. He wanted to extend All Might's time as the Symbol of Peace. It was a whole thing."

Izuku sat back onto his bed and preemptively massaged his temples for the headache he could already feel coming. He just knew that he would be incredibly annoyed by whatever outcome resulted from this mess.

"The problem was that the actors weren't actually actors," Mei continued, and Izuku felt his headache gaining strength. "They were real villains who had every intention of stealing the invention, and they were legitimately holding the island hostage to accomplish that."

"So, Professor Shield and Mr. Abraham were arrested for conspiracy and attempted theft, then?" Izuku hazarded a guess.

"…Not exactly," Mei hesitantly denied, and Izuku did not like where this was going. "I only know because I was with Melissa when it happened, but one of the guys was only masquerading as a hired villain. I don't know if he was working alone or if he was colluding with another party, but he attacked Shield and Abraham and then left with the device."

She went silent for a long moment before she hesitantly spoke again. "…Abraham didn't make it. Shield accepted responsibility for it, as well as for the device being stolen."

"Oh… oh dear," Izuku lowly remarked. He was truly at a loss for words. The shitshow had become a shit-motion picture. "And the expo is still going on?"

Mei's face screwed into one of disgust as she nodded. "It was likely a financially motivated decision given just how many important and wealthy institutions either attend, fund, or have some sort of stake in the expo. I don't have any actual details on that, though. Again, I only know as much as I do because I was with Melissa when it all happened, and we were questioned together. I can only speculate beyond that."

"So… a man is dead," Izuku slowly uttered, "and one of the island's premier scientists and inventors is held responsible, but 'the show must go on' in spite of the scandal in the interest of not losing money?"

"Like I said, no actual details on that," Mei answered with a tired sigh. "We're pretty much on the same page, though."

The two sat in silence for a lengthy minute and marinated in the insidious implications. "Shit-motion picture" truly did not even begin to cover the situation, after all.

"…The man who did it," she quietly continued while fixing Izuku with a look of concern, "he knew my name. He knew exactly who I was."

That certainly took the boy by surprise. "What did he look like?"

"He had straight, red hair and violet eyes, and he was kind of tall, but everyone is tall to me," Mei answered.

Izuku's eyes hardened at the description. It couldn't possibly be the same person from the mall… could it? He needed to be absolutely sure.

"Did he have a lackadaisical yet entirely too threatening air about him?" Izuku pressed.

"Yes, very much so," Mei nodded.

'Shit, it is the same guy. Just who the hell is he?'

He put that out of his mind to think about later. "How's Melissa taking it?"

Mei silently mulled the question over for a moment. "She's handling it as best as anyone could in her situation. All Might has stayed by her side, so that's probably helping."

"Where is she?" he asked.

"She sequestered herself in her lab at the academy," Mei answered. "That's actually why I'm here. She gave me her ID to come in and out of the building, so I thought it would be better to come get you once you were discharged. Your interpersonal skills are substantially better than mine, so you'd be better suited for comforting duty than me."

"You give yourself too little credit, you know," Izuku remarked even though she wasn't wrong in the slightest.

Mei just shrugged. "I know where my strengths lie."

"I suppose inventing and improving support tech is easier than dealing with the inherent volatility of human emotions," the green head mused while laying back into his bed.

"That," she nodded, "and babies tend not to disappoint you. If they do, it's because you probably did something wrong. People, on the other hand, just try to make you believe that's the case."

…That was a much more cynical outlook than he would've expected from her. He considered probing further for more insight into that, but one of the doctors that was monitoring his condition entered the room. It wasn't long before he was officially discharged and on his way to the I-Island Academy to check on Melissa. When the two arrived to her personal lab, they found her hunched over her table and entrenched in one of the gauntlets of the crimson power suit she had created. She didn't look up at them when they entered, only throwing up a haphazard wave before returning to her work. Izuku idly noted that All Might wasn't in the room with her, meaning he probably left to get food or something.

When the two approached her, Izuku got a better look at the haggard girl. Her hair was a mess, and that was even discounting the few clumps of it that were strewn about the floor of the lab. Her eyes were red and had more bags than Yaoyorozu after a particularly fruitful trip to the mall, but they were still laser-focused on the gauntlet she was working on. Mei and Izuku threw a glance towards each other, and they silently sat down across from her while she worked.

Without a word, Melissa slid a set of schematics and notes over to Mei, and Izuku noticed that her knuckles were bruised. As Mei put on her goggles and grabbed the other gauntlet, Izuku looked around the room, and his eyes quickly landed on the bits of broken glass on the floor. Beside them was the smashed remains of the frame that held the photo of Melissa and David. He turned back to the blonde and noticed that every so often, her hands would twitch while she was working, and her subtle flinches whenever they did told him that she was in pain. He reached over with his palms bathed in gentle, pink fire, and he hovered them over her own.

She paused but didn't look up, allowing him to use his healing flames to mend her bruised knuckles and restore her hands to an unblemished state. When he was finished and retracted his hands, she did not return to working on the gauntlet, instead sitting in choked silence. Tears started to trail down her cheeks, but she swiftly wiped them away. She paused once again when she felt a hand on her shoulder, though, and she finally brought her watery gaze up from the table to see a kind, warm pair of green eyes staring back at her. She turned her head slightly, and Mei had removed her goggles and was also giving her a reassuring look.

Melissa gave the two a small, genuine smile, and she slid another copy of the schematics and her notes to Izuku. White flame bloomed in Izuku's hair while he looked them over, and the three silently worked on the gauntlets together. Nary a word was uttered among them, but nothing needed to be said. In that moment, a solid understanding blossomed between the three: baby-making could bring anyone together through the toughest of times.

Overhaul was a businessman, but more than that, however, he was a man of science. As such, the super-powered society entrenched in sickness that resulted from the development of quirks was inherently incongruent with how he believed the world should function. With that in mind, he could still find it in himself to do business with the diseased in the interest of practicality.

To Overhaul, the ends always justified the means. If he needed to manufacture the very compound that boosted the sickness he sought to destroy in order to artificially inflate demand for a counter to that drug, he would do so and then capitalize on that demand maliciously. If he needed to continually tear apart and reassemble a 6 year old girl in order to create that counter, he would gladly do so. It was all for a world free of the disease of quirks (ruled over by the yakuza, of course).

All of that being said, it would come as a surprise to no one that Overhaul did not take encroachments on his operations lightly, especially at a time where the development of his cure to the sickness of quirks was drawing ever so near. A group of filthy degenerates attacking one of his trigger operations was unfortunate enough, but under normal circumstances, he could just have some of his men locate them and deal swift justice without him having to spend any of his own energy on it.

This was not a normal occasion. Not only was the trigger operation attacked, but a third of the Eight Bullets were killed in the process. Finding downtrodden saps that he could manipulate into pledging loyalty to him while also being competent enough to be useful was rather annoying, but they could inevitably be replaced. However, the insult of attacking the Shie Hassaikai so brazenly could not be overlooked, and retribution would be had.

So, what was Overhaul to do? Well, on such deserving occasions, he'd opt to make an appearance among the degenerates in question himself, upon which he'd personally slaughter each and every single one of them. Then, he'd reassemble one of them to get the message across to never cross the Shie Hassaikai again, hopefully spreading the word to the rest of the roaches skittering about the criminal underworld. Let it be known that Overhaul was a firm believer in every action garnering an unequal and excessive reaction unless there was potential business to be done, but no such business would be done here.

As he calmly sat at his desk and continued comparing his findings from the newest batch of his quirk eliminator from the last one, the young man had already sent his hounds out to sniff out any and every bit of information they could find on the lead they had as to the identities of their attackers. Blue flames and dust seemed like long shots at first glance given the unfathomable quantity of quirks in Japan's monstrous population, but he wasn't the youngest yakuza boss in Japan's criminal underworld for no reason. With his very expansive network of informants (many of which would likely have to be "persuaded" to cooperate), he was certain that he could suss out a man that wielded blue flames and a man who could render entire buildings to rubble. Those quirks, repugnant infections they may have been, were exceptionally powerful, and anyone casually boasting that kind of power would not be able to hide from Overhaul forever.

No one could.

The next few days came and went, and the I-Expo reached its final day. Izuku had wanted to forgo the festivities and stay with Melissa, but she insisted that he shouldn't deprive himself of the experience for her sake. He tried to fight her on it, but she was vehement that while she greatly appreciated his concern and would consider him a great friend without question despite only meeting him that week, she wasn't a damsel in distress, nor was she a fragile, porcelain doll that needed to be handled with the utmost care. He stood his ground, though, knowing exactly the toll being alone with your thoughts could take on someone after any length of time.

Needless to say, the back-and-forth got a little heated, and tempers (mostly Melissa's given her already tenuous emotional state) flared when neither party backed down. Fortunately, cooler heads would ultimately prevail, and they eventually came to a compromise in which Izuku would split his time between the expo and hanging out with her so long as he brought her food whenever he returned. Izuku would also explain away the black eye he had by saying Mirko tagged him during another impromptu spar.

Meanwhile, David Shield's name was dragged through the mud over the course of the week. There were a litany of angles he was getting attacked from in the coverage of the scandal. In one angle, he was painted as the orchestrator of a terrorist attack with the goal of stealing dangerous technology out of anger of having his work shut down for the greater good. In another, he was displayed as a scorned, mad scientist attempting to take his ball and go home after ruining the I-Expo, and the expo continuing on in spite of his failed attempt was just a refusal to bend to villainy.

Not a lot was reported on what was actually stolen, and the reporting left it very ambiguous as to whether anything was stolen at all. It made sense to Izuku if what Mei said was true. That quirk amplifier likely wasn't ever supposed to see the light of day in the first place, and advertising that a villain was able to infiltrate and escape I-Island with it would be the worst look imaginable. Just as well, it would indubitably spur a massive manhunt for the person/group in possession of it by people on both sides of the law.

When it was time to leave the island, Izuku and Mei found themselves on All Might's private jet once again, though it was without All Might this time. He had chosen to stay behind to continue shielding Melissa from the scandal and help sort out where exactly things went from there. At least, that's what he told them he was sticking around for. Izuku had his suspicions, but he let it be, especially after the almost tearful goodbye he and Mei shared with Melissa.

The flight back home was a lot more subdued than the initial trip to I-Island. Most people would be much less excited to leave I-Island than to go, and that was partially the case for Izuku and Mei, but they were also understandably exhausted from all of the hullabaloo that they had to endure. It was certainly a trip to be remembered, both for all of the right and wrong reasons.

"Hey, Izuku?" Mei addressed him from her seat across the aisle from his own, drawing his attention from the window. "Thanks for inviting me to this trip. Venturing to I-Island was a dream come true, despite everything that happened while we were there."

"You were the first person I thought of aside from my mom," Izuku replied with a smile, and then he took on a thoughtful expression. "I don't think I've ever heard you call me by my first name, though. Makes me feel special."

"You've already been calling me Mei for a while now, so I figured I'd at least return the favor," Mei replied with a shrug and smile of her own. "I've never had many friends, and I think I can confidently say that you occupy the top spot in that regard."

That admission truly warmed the green head's heart, particularly since he knew that she didn't often get sentimental about much of anything. He was really lucky to have been able to make such great friends in his short time at UA thus far.

"Plus, I made a ton of connections with support companies the world over, and I also now have a wealth of ideas for all the super cute babies I can make!" Mei continued with a manic grin, her more familiar gremlin behavior taking over once again.

Izuku couldn't fight the fond chuckle at her antics. She really was one of a kind in so many ways. He'd make damn sure that Hatsume Industries took off by hook or by crook, and he'd have her along with him on his hero journey every step of the way.

Re-Destro stood in his office in Deika, fondly gazing out of the window at the glorious city as he was wont to do. They were inching closer towards their ultimate goal with each passing day. Recruits and sympathizers were funneling in weekly as senseless villain attacks on civilians became more prevalent, and their already established forces were growing more competent by the day under Geten's heavy-handed instruction. The inevitable liberation of society was near, and it was clearer than ever. Not since his days as a gnome in his youth had he felt such clarity.

A knock came from the other side of his door, and he smiled; that was the signal that his lieutenants had all arrived at the conference room, and the meeting he called for was finally upon him. Striding out of his office and down the hall to the room in question, he opened the door and saw his most trusted comrades sitting in their seats at the conference table. Curious, Skeptic, Trumpet, Geten, and Kusari were all in attendance, and Re-Destro took his seat at the head of the table.

"I trust you all know why this meeting was called," Re-Destro began, and each lieutenant nodded, having at the very least a rough idea of what had recently transpired at I-Island. "Excellent. Kusari, showcase the device."

The redhead complied and retrieved a large case from under the table, opening it for everyone to view. "This is David Shield's quirk amplifier that is supposedly able to massively boost the capabilities of one's meta ability without the harmful consequences usually seen in artificial enhancers, such as trigger."

"Okay, we have the device," Geten spoke up from under his hood in his soft voice that betrayed the "survival of the fittest" sigma grind-set he touted. "What exactly do we do with it?"

"What exactly can we do with it?" asked Trumpet, the MLA's inside man in the political world of Japan as the leader of the Hearts and Minds Party. "It's certainly a powerful tool, but it's only one."

"We can do nothing without the accompanying research that went into developing it," Skeptic spoke up. "Unfortunately, that research was confiscated when the project was shutdown upon pressure from several governments, Japan's included."

"So, in other words, you have it," Curious surmised with a deadpan expression, knowing how dramatic her comrade could be when flaunting his skills and intelligence.

"Of course, I do," Skeptic scoffed. "Getting into their systems and obtaining the information was only slightly more tedious than slipping past UA's numerous firewalls unnoticed."

"So, we have both the device and the instructions on how to develop it, meaning we could potentially reverse engineer this thing," Trumpet surmised.

"And mass produce it," Re-Destro finished with a dark smile.

The pieces began to fall into place for the other occupants of the table. If they were able to crack the code on a risk-free quirk amplifier, they could outfit their entire army with them and develop a nigh unstoppable legion of super soldiers. No one would be able to stand in the way of liberation; not any heroes, not any governments, and not any standing armies or self-defense forces. Hell, not even a surprise collaboration between the Symbol of Peace and the Symbol of Evil would be able to stop them.

The Liberation of society truly was near.

"Hn," came a low grunt from within the thick parka of Geten.

"Something the matter, Geten?" Re-Destro asked.

"I don't usually agree with the use of artificial enhancements on principle," Geten calmly explained. "It runs against our ideology of wielding our own power as we should and dominating with our own strength."

The room was engulfed in a thoughtful silence at the surprisingly insightful take from the hooded man. Kusari, having long since abandoned his lazy masquerade for such an important meeting, set his sharp gaze onto their Grand Commander as he mulled over Geten's thoughts. The older man's eyes were closed, and he was slowly nodding, as if he had come to a grand realization through nirvana.

"You are not incorrect in your assessment, Geten," Re-Destro began, and he had the rapt attention of his lieutenants. "The mission of our movement is the liberation of our natural gifts, and the proper cultivation of our natural gifts into powerful, efficient weapons so that we aren't reliant on filth such as trigger is one of our keystones. However, in our hands, this device is more than just a shortcut to power or a tool akin to steroids; it's a symbol."

After taking a moment to ensure that he had everyone's undivided attention, he continued. "This device is a showcase of our potential should society unleash itself of its shackles and allow its inhabitants to live freely and wield their abilities as they should, as is their right. This device will show us what society *could* be if only we would allow it to be, what it *should* be if only we are successful in our righteous endeavors. It potentially may not happen in our lifetimes, but such is the nature of revolution. Change does not happen overnight. Utopia takes time to achieve, and Utopia is exactly what we will liberate our society towards, as is Destro's will."

"Based," Geten replied with a nod, and he, alongside the other lieutenants, placed their right hands in the Liberation sign with their thumbs on their foreheads and their index finger pointed to the sky.

"Based, indeed," Re-Destro said with his dark, self-assured smile.

"How long will it take us to actually reverse engineer this?" Curious asked, living up to her codename.

"Unfortunately, it will likely take quite some time, though much less time than it would take without the accompanying research," Kusari chose to answer. "However, time is on our side in this situation."

"How so?" she questioned, and Kusari smirked.

"Let's say, hypothetically-"

"Please keep this one brief," Trumpet interrupted pleadingly, and the others all nodded alongside him.

"Whatever," Kusari huffed indignantly. "Anyway, suppose I was fingered as the guy who killed one of the developers of that device and walked away with it. The first thing they will investigate is my connection to the League of Villains, so the heat will already be directed elsewhere."

His smirk returned with an even more vindictive edge. "What's more is that they will eventually stumble upon the League's connection to All For One, assuming they haven't already. He's enough of a high priority threat as it stands, but the very idea of the Symbol of Evil hiding away in the shadows with a device that amplifies quirks is cataclysmic enough to warrant hero society mobilizing in full to eliminate him."

"All of their attention will be on ridding the world of the Quirk Thief and what remains of his empire, and none of it will be on us," Re-Destro added on to Kusari's line of thinking, and the redhead nodded. "They'll be so focused on killing each other while we're left to work in peace, and whoever comes out of that will be helpless to defend against us once we are prepared to strike."

Re-Destro let the moment breathe so that the weight of the misdirection set in for the other lieutenants, and they were all cognizant of the implications. Kusari, in particular, was very pleased with himself. Assuring a reliable red herring for the heroes while the MLA gathered their strength was a commendable feat, and he would revel in his self-congratulatory high for as far as it would take him.

Re-Destro smiled and gave his lieutenants a final look-over. "Until that time comes, everyone, continue your work," Re-Destro commanded. "We are making excellent progress towards the ideal society, and we can only go even further up from here. You all are dismissed."

A few short days of rest for both his mind and body was all Izuku was afforded before he would be back on the move. Classes 1-A and 1-B were outside of UA and weathering the last minute lectures about their training camp that Aizawa and Vlad King were giving them, respectively. When they were finished, his classmates fell into excited chatter about what their training camp would have in store for them, and he could certainly understand their anticipation, but he was content with very little excitement for the foreseeable future.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he noticed the pair of floating arms making their way toward him in his periphery. Knowing exactly who they belonged to, he didn't feel the need to do anything to stop their advance, and the hands snapped around his neck and lightly squeezed while shaking him.

"You little bastard," the voice of his fellow green head growled from beside him, and he turned to send a smile to the floating head glaring at him. Her face then took on a very exaggerated look of hurt and betrayal.

"You met Godzillo and lorded it over me, how could you?" she asked in an equally exaggerated tone. "I thought we were the best of bosom buddies, Midoriya. Green-haired royalty is supposed to stick together, not undercut each other."

Izuku could barely fight his laughter while reaching into his bag and retrieving a notebook. He flipped to the page with Godzillo's signature on it, and he held it up for her to read. Upon seeing that it was actually an autograph made out to her specifically, her eyes widened, and her arms went slack. She slowly grasped the notebook and held it with such reverence that anyone watching would swear he had handed her the location of the Fountain of Youth.

"You are forgiven, Lord Midoriya," Tokage eventually said with her sharp-toothed grin.

"Glad to hear it, Lady Tokage," he replied with a laugh.

"That's Tyranokage to you, minion," she corrected with a playfully haughty tone.

"My mistake, Your Highness," he placated with his hands up in mock surrender.

"Come on guys, the busses are here!" Kendo shouted to her class, and Tokage took that signal to flick Izuku in the temple and fly away with the notebook in hand. Izuku amusedly shook his head and walked toward his class' bus. He did notice Mineta staring at him with the same look of reverence he had several times in the past, and he would finally admit that it was starting to weird him out a little bit.

The mind of the shorter boy, meanwhile, was in the midst of a complete whirlwind. At the center of his thoughts was his class rep, Izuku Midoriya. He would consider the absurdly powerful teen a friend, and he hoped that the feeling was mutual, but he couldn't really be sure these days. He never really could be sure with anyone, if he was being honest with himself.

Making friends wasn't as much of a struggle for him as allowing himself to believe that they were genuine and not secretly looking down on him behind his back; metaphorically speaking, of course. Everyone looked down on him physically on account of his diminutive stature. That, in and of itself, was also kind of the problem.

Sure, people were never cruel or particularly unfair to him, but they were often dismissive of his dreams of becoming a pro hero. His small size and odd mutation quirk were biological hurdles for being respected, as most would immediately write him off to be the gag character that was good for little more than comic relief and occasional slapstick humor. His admittedly overzealous appreciation for the fairer sex didn't exactly help matters, either. It hurt to see the rest of his class think less of him in real time after the locker room fiasco. He knew that he went too far; it was a gross invasion of privacy that got another classmate hurt in his stead when he should've just had some damn self-control. Now, not only was he a short, weird-looking nerd with shoddy social skills, he was a creep on top of that.

He just wanted to be cool. He wanted to be respected. He wanted people to finally look at him as anything more than a quick laugh. He wanted people to feel reassured in his presence, not repulsed or apathetic.

He wanted to be like Midoriya.

Ever since the day he met Midoriya at the entrance exam where the taller boy jumped in front of a robot attack to protect him and then collaborated with him to take down the remaining swarm, he was constantly reminded of the kind of person he wished he could be. He watched the green head practically stumble into being obliviously surrounded by female friends, the respect of his classmates and pro heroes across the nation, and even a strangely devoted following of people online that talk about him on hero forums. Mineta was even browsing through the dumb rumors about Endeavor being a bottom when people spring-boarded the conversation to Midoriya and his fire quirk.

What the hell was even the correlation there?

They weren't even halfway through their first year, and he was already everything Mineta ever wanted to be. He was strong, likable, heroic, ridiculously smart, and above all else, he was respected.

Mineta truly just wanted to be respected.

"HEY, GRAPIST! GET THE FUCK ON THE GODDAMN BUS BEFORE I SQUEEZE YOU INTO JUICE!" Bakugo shouted out of the window of his seat at the only 1-A student to have yet to board.

"Language, Bakugo!" Iida could be heard shouting from inside.