"Heard you got into a bit of a scuffle out there in the wide world," Snipe commented, leaning casually on the wall. Mina, taking a break from her regular attempt to beat Izuku's record at the shooting range, perked up.
"You got into trouble?" she said. Izuku was a little offended by the way she apparently instinctively looked him over, as though looking for injuries. As though he wouldn't be able to hide them.
"You know how it is," he said, "You get invited out for coffee by your local Quirkless cult and some poor lunatic out of his mind on some kind of drug cocktail bursts in and starts threatening everyone. Probably should have expected it, really, given my luck all this year."
"I'm gonna be real with you, Midori," she said, pausing to add weight to her words, "No, I don't know how it is. What're you even doing, meeting with Humarise? You said they were a cult."
Izuku raised both his eyebrows at her and saw the realisation strike.
"Oh," Mina said, "Right. Yeah. Got it."
She glanced at Snipe. If she was trying to read Snipe's expression, she was out of luck: he was wearing his mask like always. His body language, however, remained completely relaxed.
"Not to worry, lil' miss," Snipe said, "I won't be goin' blabbing t' everyone. Or anyone, come t' think of it. If Midoriya got snatched up by an angry cult Nedzu'd probably shut this place down, hardly anyone ever comes here."
Mina and Izuku both gave Snipe disbelieving looks, but he shed their scepticism like rain on a poncho.
"Anyhow," Snipe continued, "Seems to me like there might be something afoot, what with all these Trigger incidents recently. Concerning, if you ask me."
If Snipe started to make a 'crime is on the rise' speech, Izuku was going to leave. Competing with Mina be damned, he'd had more than enough ominous speeches from Bruce. Even if those were in a past life. Maybe Snipe read his mind, because he shrugged.
"Just sayin'," he said, "It's a dangerous world out there. Not as rosy as it used to be. Lotta people could do with pickin' up some extra skills."
"Is this your way of saying you'd like more people to come to these lessons, sir?" Mina asked, apparently moving on from the earlier cult mention. Apparently, because Izuku suspected he'd be getting interrogated about it later. That was fine. Snipe laughed, low in his throat.
"Well, I wouldn't say no," he said, "A man likes to feel wanted. Though I'm sure they'd take a while to catch up to the two of you."
"Speaking of catching up," Izuku said, while Mina was dramatically swooning over the brief praise, "I've got something to test out, from the Support Labs."
Izuku pretended not to notice the way both Snipe and Mina backed away a step, reaching into his bag. Snipe was watching him like he was about to pull out a rattlesnake, or maybe a rocket launcher.
"I thought Hatsume was still banned from the support labs," Mina said, still retreating slowly. Izuku blinked.
"Yeah, she is," he said, "She can't get through the locks, apparently. Or she can't get through the locks yet. Turns out simplicity was the key."
He paused, frowning.
"I can build my own gear, you know!"
"Sorry, Midori," Mina said, holding her hands up, "Just that you're the only person crazy enough to regularly test out her designs, so…you know."
Izuku considered that and, admittedly, found it fair. He shrugged.
"Yeah, alright," he conceded, "But not in this case. My design, even if it's based on something Hatsume mentioned, and I made it myself. Got access to the labs thanks to saving Power Loader from Hatsume."
He rooted through his bag, eventually producing a visor. It looked more like something that would go on his helmet than something that could be attached to a domino mask, but it was only a first draft.
"This," Izuku said, "Is a replacement for Hatsume's idea for making shooting things easier, which involved a fully automated exoskeleton, a roving pack of probably murderous spotter drones and, I suspect, a terrifying amount of bodily harm and mental trauma. Put it on."
"That don't make the prospect of wearin' whatever mad science gizmo you've cooked up too endearing, I suspect," Snipe said, "Maybe if you explain what it's for?"
Izuku, still holding the visor out, repressed the urge to frown at Snipe. No understanding of drama, this man. Mina slowly reached out and Izuku wiggled the visor enticingly. She kept reaching reluctantly out, but she gave him the puppy eyes and he caved almost immediately.
"In the interest of not being too much like Hatsume," he said, "This is basically an aim assist. It's not perfect at all: it's only short range, and it only works with a couple of guns that've been properly programmed in. Prototype, and everything. But you're using one of my guns, so if you put it on and activate it – the button on the side there, right."
Mina reached up, pressing at the button – it took a couple of tries, something Izuku noted as an improvement to be made – before a light flickered on at the side.
"So how does it – wow, that's a lot," Mina said. Izuku knew exactly what was happening, the visor flicking through screens as it measured temperature, light level, wind, anything else that might have been useful.
"It should stop once it's fully booted up," he said, "Hold your gun up in front of it so it can scan it."
"That is so weird," Mina said, holding up the pistol with both hands. Izuku knew what it would be doing now, cataloguing and calculating.
"It says that the weapon is synched," Mina reported, "What now?"
"Hold it out in front of you, pointed at a target," Izuku said, "And it should show you almost exactly where your bullet'll hit."
He paused.
"Well, if we were using real bullets. It'll show you where your fake bullet will hit, I guess."
"That is…so cool," Mina said, slowly lowering the gun in both her hands and moving it from target to target, "It's like a video game! Is this what the inside of your helmet looks like all the time?"
Izuku blinked.
"No?" he said, "No. My helmet doesn't have anything like that, I shoot better without it. It's really, really new."
Mina turned her head to him. Izuku was strangely proud of the way that the gun didn't even twitch in his direction – she'd taken Snipe's safety lessons to heart. Honestly she might be better at safety than Izuku was. What did they say, familiarity bred contempt? Izuku considered that for a moment before deciding to brush up on it again, just in case.
"I'd assumed your helmet had all sorts of gizmos in," Mina said. Izuku nodded.
"And it really does," he said, "But not this. It only really works pretty close, and I can hit things that close. It might be useful for a sniper, but it's not really…it's not an AI, you know? It can't read my mind and know what I need to target, so the most useful thing for a sniper is temperature, wind, all of those things. My helmet does have those."
"Do you have a sniper rifle?" Snipe asked, like that was a reasonable thing to ask. Izuku didn't answer, because the man knew full well that Izuku didn't. Yet. Snipe hummed something in the briefly awkward silence. Izuku was pretty sure that it was rhinestone cowboy, but he didn't know where Snipe would have heard it. He wasn't even sure where Jason would have heard it, come to that.
"So it's just a gimmick for now?" Mina asked, unaware of Izuku's thoughts spiralling into tracking a very old song. Izuku might have been offended, but she didn't sound judgemental, just interested. And it wasn't like she was wrong.
"For the moment, yeah," he said, "It'll probably have some uses in the future. I think Hatsume's drone idea might even have uses, and I'm definitely gonna use it for some things – but for the moment, it's just an easy way of teaching people how to aim."
"Hey," Mina said, "I like it! Does it come in pink? Or even purple, I'm not that fussy. Glittery?"
"Glittery might be too far," Izuku said, "Looking for a more high-tech aesthetic?"
"I feel like I could rock it," she said, glancing at Snipe, "Could you set out the targets, sir?"
Wordlessly Snipe clicked the button, and he and Izuku watched Mina shoot. She was getting pretty good. Not as good as Izuku's borrowed reflexes and skills were, but skilled amateur definitely. Almost a shame that her powers didn't exactly mesh with gunfire, but there was nothing wrong with having a hobby. Besides. It was nice to have some competition now and again.
Once Mina had once again failed to beat Izuku's record, even though she was gradually creeping closer, the two of them left the shooting range to head home. Izuku wasn't surprised, however, when Mina stopped in the middle of an open courtyard and pulled him to a stop with a hand on his prosthetic, looking around as though checking for cameras. There were plenty, Izuku knew.
"Alright, Midori," she said, "Spill."
Well, none of the cameras were actually in listening range. Just too much audio noise for it to be worthwhile, Izuku knew, which made Mina's choice of location prophetic. He was so proud.
Well. He trusted Mina, after all, and it wasn't as though the Humarise thing was a secret – which was probably why Snipe brought it up. It was the sort of thing a student would probably tell their friends about, right?
"Humarise must be keeping an eye on UA," Izuku explained, "And they're doing a better job of working out who's who than the press are. I got an invite to meet with one of them, just a friendly chat I guess. Got interrupted."
"You said they're a cult," Mina hissed, looking around worriedly, "Why didn't you say no?"
"I…"
"Midori, seriously. Are you spying on them?" Mina asked, still very quietly given her normal volume. Izuku didn't make eye contact and she put both hands on his shoulders.
"Midori."
From past experience, Izuku knew that Mina wasn't above attempting to shake answers out of him. He could probably withstand it, but then she might bring out the puppy eyes and the pouting and honestly, why was he even lying?
"Yeah, they're probably a cult, and I'm basically spying on them," he admitted, folding almost immediately. Mina slumped in place, still standing.
"Izuku," she said, sounding exhausted, "Why are you like this?"
"It's probably the trauma," Izuku said happily, "But it wasn't that bad, really. Met the guy, he was nice, the coffee was nice, the poor guy who broke in wasn't too bad. It was pretty good, overall."
"Please don't describe it like it was a mediocre date," Mina grumbled, but she did at least let go of him.
"I didn't – did it sound like that? It wasn't meant to."
Mina patted him gently on the arm, giving him a commiserating look.
"So you went off and ended up in trouble, again," she said, "It wasn't anything to do with…the other thing, right? With the MLA guys?"
Izuku hadn't told them, his friends, about the OMC, and Overhaul, and Eri. It was just all too much of a mess, and he knew they'd just worry. Maybe he should, but…he didn't know. He would have liked to say it was because he was worried one of his friends could be a spy for All For One, but if one of them was then his cover was already blown. And Eri? He didn't know where Eri had gone for this very reason.
"It's not…not because of that," he admitted, pausing before the next words came in an abrupt rush, "They wanted me to talk to my secret identity, because they don't know he's me."
Mina's mouth moved silently as she worked through his words. He wasn't surprised when she laughed.
"It's not that funny," he said, sadly. Mina kept laughing, although now she was pointing at him. Despite himself Izuku found himself smiling, the laughter contagious.
"You're telling me," Mina said once she'd gotten herself under control, even if she was still grinning widely, "That they've recruited you to recruit you?"
"Yeah," Izuku said, "That's about it, yeah. They don't know, obviously…I hope they don't know, anyway. I'm trying to convince them that Akatani is, you know, not interested."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it," Mina said, shaking her head, "How do you even keep it all straight? I'd probably end up answering to the wrong name or something."
"I just remember that I'll probably die horribly if I say the wrong thing, and it really sharpens the mind," Izuku said. He was aiming for nonchalant: from the side-eye Mina gave him he might not quite have managed it.
"You're weird, sometimes," Mina said, starting to walk and pulling him along after her before letting go of his arm, "Good thing that it just makes you fit right into 1-A."
"Ojiro's not so bad," he said. Mina laughed.
"I'm not sure if that's mean to Ojiro or to the rest of us," she said, "Besides, I think he's got some sort of rivalry starting with Kendo from 1-B. That's what Tooru was telling me, anyway. I think she might have been jealous."
Oh no. The only thing more terrifying that a supervillain, romantic talk. Izuku's expression must have caught Mina's eye, because she barely stifled another laugh.
"Aw, come on Midori. Don't you think it's sweet?"
"I don't think about it, really," Izuku admitted. Mina shook her head.
"You know, Tsuyu said almost the same thing. I'm surrounded by, by, by – what's the opposite of a romantic?"
"Unromantic?" Izuku suggested. Mina gave him a disgusted look.
"Unromantic?" she repeated, "That's not dramatic enough!"
"Would anything be?"
Mina huffed out a breath.
"Don't be ridiculous," she said, sounding almost fond, "Of course it wouldn't be. Something as boring as the two of you need to be countered with something ridiculous."
"I'll bear that in mind," Izuku said, and Mina nodded.
"You should. You should."
She went quiet afterwards, a brief pause in the conversation as they walked. Izuku sized up her expression with a sideways glance and side.
"You're worried about something," he said, not bothering to make it a question. Mina smiled, but it wasn't as wide or bright as normal.
"Is it that obvious?" she asked, shrugging, "Yeah. Kinda. There were a bunch of Trigger incidents, and I heard from one of the sidekicks at Shine Dancer's that there's been even more recently. And you obviously know something, if you're talking to Humarise, so…is there something going on?"
"There's always something going on," Izuku muttered, glancing away from Mina. He briefly mulled it over for a moment, trying to work out if he really thought there was some kind of conspiracy involving the Trigger or if it was just a new supplier. A sizeable part of him, the part that didn't really believe in coincidences anymore, couldn't believe it wasn't a conspiracy. But equally, what if it was? What use would Trigger outbreaks have, besides drawing attention to it? Surely someone with access to that much Trigger and control could have tested more subtly, lab tests and kidnappings.
Unless, of course, the cruelty and the chaos was part of the point. Half of the Gotham Rogues could have gotten themselves a nice cushy job with some morally bankrupt company, but they enjoyed the mayhem too much. Maybe the mastermind behind this string of Trigger incidents was the same. Izuku hadn't yet heard anything about the powdered Trigger he'd stolen, but he wouldn't be surprised to hear that it was stronger than the regular form.
Briefly, Izuku wondered what the theoretical maximum strength of Trigger was. How far could you push your Quirk before something went wrong? And what, exactly, did 'something went wrong' entail? He didn't think he wanted to find out.
"There's probably something going on," he said, hating that the words felt so obvious in his mouth, "But nobody knows what."
"Well, not nobody," Mina said, "Whoever's doing it probably knows."
"Yeah, probably. But nobody I know knows what's going on," Izuku reflexively replied, before pausing to consider his sentence structure and frown. Mina seemed to shake it off.
"Well, it would be boring if nothing was ever going on," she said, with a sort of determined chirpiness, "Right?"
"Right," Izuku agreed, although it came out considerably drier than Mina's tone, "I wouldn't want a boring life at all."
The worst thing was, he reflected, he was probably telling the truth. Mina didn't seem to notice his tone, or at the very least didn't comment on it. She might have noticed, though, because she changed the subject a couple of steps later.
"Midnight's still arguing with me over my Hero name," she said, "Still thinks Alien Queen is too far. Is it really a copyright issue, though? It's not like people are going to confuse me with a film monster!"
"I guess it depends on how hard you work at it," Izuku said, "Don't think your current costume is that close to the xenomorph, really."
"Right? You know what Midnight suggested? She said I should call myself Monarch, and change my theming to a butterfly. Because I dance. She's crazy, right? It's not just me who thinks that it's – it's barely connected?"
"Monarch," Izuku said, "Because of Alien Queen?"
"Yup. But it doesn't match anything else, it doesn't match my powers. And it's not even cute, like Froppy!"
"Do you even want a cute name?" Izuku asked, vaguely amused. Mina pouted.
"No," she said, "But it would be something. You know? I mean, Monarch is maybe better than Pinky? But the theming. The theming."
Izuku, fully aware that his own Hero name had basically nothing to do with his theming, said nothing. Mina threw her hands up briefly.
"Maybe an orange costume? I could pattern the wings on? But orange kinda clashes with pink, right? I'd have to do so much redesigning."
Mina sagged dramatically, throwing both hands into the air again.
"Why is naming and designing so hard?" she asked. Izuku shrugged.
"I didn't find it that hard," he said, perhaps undiplomatically. Mina looked at him, slowly shaking her head, and Izuku belatedly continued.
"Of course," he said, "I didn't really bother that much about theming. Bit easier when you don't have any powers to theme with."
"No offence, Midori, but your costume hardly has any theming at all. The aesthetic isn't too bad, but Red Hood? With a brown hood and a red helmet? Unless it's, you know, short for…is your full legal name Red Hoodlum? Is that why you do the whole biker jacket thing?"
"I wear the jacket because it's cool," Izuku grumped and Mina patted him on the shoulder.
"Sure is, kiddo," she said, "Sure is. I guess the costume's not as important, really. Yeah it's an image, but Heroes change their costumes all the time – even not counting winterised versions or whatever. Tsu was thinking of changing her costume a bit, she said."
"Really?" Izuku said, "She didn't say anything to me. I thought she liked her costume."
Mina shrugged.
"The, you know. The I-Island thing. She wanted to make a more armoured version, just in case she said. I think she was going to talk to Hatsume about getting some of that gel armour that you've got, just over her chest."
Izuku considered that. The Adaptive Gel wasn't perfect in water, but it was a lot lighter than most other things she could have chosen. And, to be honest, it wasn't like he was going to complain about his classmates getting more heavily armoured. Almost all of them could do with it, in his opinion.
"You're thinking we could all do with more armour, right?" Mina asked. She knew him too well.
"Maybe not Iida," Izuku conceded, to Mina's amusement, "But I'm just saying. I've never regretted wearing body armour."
"You get stabbed a lot more than the average."
"Not just stabbed," Izuku said, "But you're right, all of you are a lot less likely to get. You know."
"Hospitalised?"
"Hospitalised," Izuku agreed, the word coming out on a slow breath.
"You need to be more careful," Mina said. It should have sounded like a joke, but her tone wasn't quite right: it landed a little flat. The two of them paused at the UA gate, hesitating. Mina opened her mouth, her expression suggesting she was about to say something serious, but then she shook her head and visibly let it go.
"Walking me all the way to the gate," she said instead, tone teasing, "Such a gentleman."
"A regular sweetheart, that's me," Izuku said, deadpan, "Although you could say that you were walking me to the gate, too. So you're the…gentlelady?"
"Just lady, I think," Mina said, "And I am, thank you. But you've got some super-spy stuff to get to, right?"
Izuku didn't bother to deny it and Mina nodded to herself, wisely.
"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" she sang out, leaving through the gate. Izuku waved slowly, trying to keep the incredulous look off his face. Once the gate had closed again he let his hand drop, standing in silence for a moment before turning around to make the walk back to the school. He met Snipe a short way in, the teacher going the other way in full costume.
"Midoriya," Snipe said, "Heading back in?"
Snipe paused his walk, half turning as though to try and guess Izuku's path, and made a quiet humming noise.
"Right," he said, "Course. Sorry about earlier, pardner. Didn't know you were tryin' to keep it all hush-hush."
"It wasn't really a secret," Izuku said, "I was there as myself. I just hadn't thought of bringing it up."
"Yeah?" Snipe said, "Still, I'll be more careful in the future. For a moment I thought you'd gone all Nedzu on us, thinkin' that even your friends might be spies. Cain't say I'd like to be as suspicious as that."
Izuku thought about that, mulling it over before shrugging.
"Mina was one of the first people I told about the OMC," he said, "The Neo-MLA guys. So if she's the spy, she's always known. Besides, one of the best ways to catch a spy is to leak the information and see who knows what. Surprised that Nedzu isn't already doing it."
"You think Nedzu'd put you in danger?" Snipe asked. Izuku looked him in what was probably the eye and shrugged.
"I would, if I was him."
Snipe might have been side-eyeing Izuku. Hard to tell with the gas-mask like mask that he wore, but Izuku got the impression that he was.
"No wonder you're Aizawa's favourite," the man murmured, "You're headin' back in to speak to Aizawa, then? Or the Principal. Don't tell me, actually. Don't want to know."
Izuku shrugged again, deciding to do as Snipe asked.
"You're going on patrol, sir?" he asked instead, changing the conversation. Snipe sighed.
"I've told ya, pardner, you don't need to call me 'sir' outside of class. Makes me feel like an old man. But yeah, I'm heading out on patrol – Power Loader wants some of those snap-freeze bullets you and Hatsume designed field tested, for comparison against the foam ones. Feel like the freeze ones might work better, hand on heart. Foam's all well and good, but it's gotta anchor on somethin'. Ice'll keep whatever it encases still."
Snipe had a point. It was one of the reasons that Izuku would never try his foam rounds on All Might: even if the foam could hold, whatever it was stuck to couldn't. Not that ice would do much better. If Izuku ever had to fight All Might, his plan was the same one Jason had kept in reserve for Lady Shiva: run as fast as possible and hope there was a juicier target around.
Not that Izuku thought he'd ever have to fight All Might. But in case there was, he didn't know. Some kind of evil clone, or something. All Smite? All Blight? Whatever. Izuku could feel his anxiety ratcheting up just thinking about it so, in the spirit of self-interest, he stopped thinking about it. He could deal with his Superman related trauma some other day.
"You're just doing a normal patrol then, sir?" Izuku said, forcing curiosity in order to overcome the paranoia, "Not going after anything in particular?"
"Just normal," Snipe confirmed, "We've stepped up patrols near to UA with all the Trigger activity, but that ain't nothin' unusual. Did the same thing after the USJ, for all it mattered."
Izuku nodded.
"Good luck then, sir," he said and Snipe chuckled, pushing the brim of his hat up with one hand.
"Do my best, kiddo," he said, "Do my best. You have a good night."
Izuku watched Snipe stroll through the gates, already whistling an appropriately jaunty tune, and let out a slow breath. Mina to her home, Snipe to patrol, and Izuku? Izuku turned and started towards Nedzu's office. The MLA, after all, wouldn't wait forever.
Insane as it probably was to say, Izuku missed patrolling. It was a crazy thing to say, given that he'd never actually patrolled in his life – only in his memories – but still. There was something about walking the streets and – slash – or roofs of a city, taking the pulse of the population, intervening in petty crimes. Little things that made it feel like it was all worth it, being able to help people immediately.
He couldn't believe he was nostalgic for the smog and drizzle of Gotham, but he really was. The heart was a mysterious thing. Technically, he probably could get away with going on patrol, now that he had a provisional license gifted through the power of raw nepotism, but there were some boundaries that Izuku was a little reluctant to push. He should probably save his rule breaking for when it was really needed. Not that he could have, tonight, because apparently Nedzu had gotten the test results for Izuku's pilfered Trigger back and wanted to talk about it.
"Traditionally," Nedzu said as soon as their group – Aizawa, Nighteye, Izuku and Mirio – were all gathered in the office, "Trigger in Japan has come from two sources. The first, most common, is smuggled. This can take various forms, but usually it's manufactured in America and smuggled in. A long trip, but profitable enough. The second form is home-grown, which tends to be weaker if not cheaper. The Eight Precepts of Death have recently cornered the home market – or so we thought."
In Izuku's experience, absolutely nothing good ever followed the phrase 'or so we thought'. Never.
"Alright, give it up with the ominous proclamations and just tell us," Aizawa grumbled. Aizawa seemed marginally better rested than usual, maybe because the initial Trigger investigation had gone quickly and smoothly, but it didn't seem to have made him any less grumpy. Izuku had heard of people who weren't morning people, and he'd heard of people who weren't night people. But he'd never seen someone quite like Aizawa, who seemed to be against being awake in general. He kept the thought to himself.
"The Trigger that Eraserhead and Midoriya recovered was from a different source," Nighteye concluded, "You're sure? I know that we can identify batches from the contaminants, but it could simply be from a different factory out of country."
Nedzu shrugged.
"The lab I sent it to are very good at what they do, and even more discreet," he said, spreading his paws, "They tell me that the contaminants indicate a Japanese manufacturer, different from the Eight Precepts. Which makes sense, as we already knew that the MLA were looking into providing their own supply."
"If it's the MLA," Mirio said, speaking up for the first time in the meeting, "Why would they be distributing it? Doesn't it make it more likely that they'd get caught?"
"More likely, yes," Nighteye said, "But the risks are likely worthwhile. The MLA as a whole won't be distributing the drug. Just as they did with the OMC, they will have satellite gangs and shell companies that they can easily cut off. Although if they are testing the value of the Trigger, they should do it on their own people. Better to control the variables."
"But without the broadness of a public distribution," Nedzu said, "For the MLA, Trigger is the great leveller. They may have tens or even hundreds of thousands of members, but how many of those members have the training and the experience of even a mediocre Hero? They would be more of a mob than an organised army, and one good defeat could set them fleeing. Enhancing their members with Trigger would allow power to compensate for skill."
"Assuming that they do intend to launch a coup," Nighteye said, "And we should not assume that they will be unskilled. There are a great many Hero schools, after all."
A delicate way to say that they couldn't trust anyone, Izuku thought. What Nedzu was saying made sense, the MLA using drug gangs to test the most effective Trigger formulation for their shock troopers. It almost made too much sense. Maybe it was paranoia speaking, but it was worth considering.
"If it isn't the MLA, though," Izuku said, "Who else could it be? What would someone have to gain from a Trigger epidemic?"
"What would you suggest?" Nedzu asked, smiling that knowing smile. Izuku could guess what he meant. Izuku thought back, to Gotham, and wondered what he'd suspect if something like this was happening there.
"The Eight Precepts are at war with the League of Villains," Izuku said, "War takes money. They could have increased production to fund themselves, which is why they're being less careful about who they sell to. It could even be the League of Villains themselves. The more Trigger incidents there are the more Heroes have to intervene, and the weaker they'll be when the League attacks them."
Or it could be some malevolent psychopath who got a kick out of hurting people, but that probably described half the people Izuku was talking about anyway. He momentarily wondered if Trigger could be ingested in water. Hadn't Scarecrow tried something like that, once? He could barely remember all the insane schemes that had come up in Gotham.
Izuku wondered how Trigger felt. How did it feel, to have your Quirk suddenly be stronger? Was it obvious? Was it something you'd only notice when you used your Quirk? If, say, Endeavour was poisoned with Trigger would he know to be careful beforehand, or would the first he knew of it be when he accidentally put out twice the fire he was expecting and incinerated a dozen people? Izuku didn't know. When he asked, none of the others knew either.
"Our Quirks aren't conducive to testing, either," Nedzu said with a frown, "High Specs is always active. I suppose I would get cleverer than I am, but how would I measure that? And it wouldn't help without our question. Aizawa?"
Aizawa shrugged.
"I can't feel Erasure when I'm not using it," he said, "So I wouldn't know. Mirio couldn't get more intangible. Nighteye?"
"My future sight can differ in how many years it covers," Nighteye said with a shake of his head, "There are too many variables. We need, perhaps, someone with an Emitter Quirk. Someone who can turn on their powers and have them be measurable."
"A significant number of our students could be considered Emitters," Nedzu said, "But I cannot condone experimenting on them. Unfortunately. There have been studies carried out on Trigger that I may be able to access, but it will take a while. The institutes that have carried them out are not in Japan, and I doubt they'll freely give me access."
"Midoriya's idea has merit, however," Nighteye continued, "Heroes are a bedrock of our society."
Aizawa muttered something that, at best, was probably 'for better or for worse'. Izuku suspected it was less flattering than that, but Nighteye continued undeterred.
"The League of Villains struck at All Might, in order to destroy one of the pillars of peace. Shattering public trust in Heroes, or at least weakening it, would fit with their prior motivations."
"Has anything like this happened before?" Mirio asked. Nedzu folded his paws together.
"Heroes going out of control? Oh, yes. Certainly. Usually it's more along the lines of a scandal, like the recent issues with Captain Celebrity, but sometimes it can be worse. It's rare to have a Hero kill someone where the public might see – accidental or otherwise. It's always been covered up: proper arrests, signs of previous instability, sometimes outright abuses of justice to make it seem like there was no other choice, but if several or more Heroes were to accidentally kill on the same day, or close to it…"
"I can already see the shocking expose's being run about Trigger dependency in Hero high schools," Izuku said, "Truthful or not, it's a good line."
Izuku wasn't sure if the faint creaking sound he could hear was Aizawa grinding his teeth or Aizawa's death grip on his coffee cup, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Ignorance, in this case, was bliss.
"It's only speculation at the moment," Nighteye said, "Although I assume you have a media blitz already prepared, Principal?"
"Oh, naturally. I try to be prepared for anything, after all."
Izuku had very, very unpleasant memories of Bruce saying something similar. He hoped Nedzu was a little more careful with any plans for eliminating Heroes.
"I don't know if I should be afraid or reassured," Mirio said quietly and Izuku nodded in agreement. Nedzu just continued to smile, although Aizawa and Nighteye seemed to ignore the whisper.
"Cute theories, but still theories," Aizawa said, the voice of dubious sanity among them, "Until we know more, we're just speculating pointlessly. We need a plan of approach. We can keep up looking around the streets, but we have someone in the MLA, if it's the MLA."
"It's not the easiest thing to ask about," Izuku mused, "Akatani could maybe ask, given the connections to the OMC Trigger smuggling, but he'd have to be careful not to seem too well informed. Chitose, especially, could be a problem. Can't tell if she's really as fanatical about the cause as she pretends, but her investigative journalism history isn't faked."
"We have time to set the groundwork," Nedzu said, "The outbreak of Trigger fuelled violence could serve as a way to initially bring up the problem. But if it isn't the MLA, which it very well might not be, we will need to look into other options."
"Knuckleduster is investigating as well," Aizawa said, "If anyone is likely to run into something, it would be him."
Knuckleduster did seem like the kind of person to effectively find information, partly by being connected to a whole lot of criminals and partly by having absolutely no qualms about snatching someone off the street and beating answers out of them.
A round of nods went around the room and Izuku folded his hands together, feeling his prosthetic cool against flesh. There was always something, but Izuku still hated to wait.
"Do we know if Overhaul has a new base yet?" he asked, "I know that the League are basically just wandering around killing people, but Overhaul runs an actual business. Although I guess some of the League members must have somewhere to go. Wasn't one of them a schoolkid?"
"Tentatively identified as Mustard, probably because his Quirk allows him to produce gas," Nedzu crisply replied, like he knew everything, "He wears a school uniform, not of any unique school, but he might not be your age. He seems to be new. In all the footage we've seen he's very much secondary to Shigaraki and Muscular in combat."
"If we're considering the League as part of this Trigger epidemic, we should brief some of the heroes," Nighteye said quietly, "Muscular and Shigaraki are dangerous enough on their own. If the two of them were able to enhance their powers through Trigger…"
"I'll prepare a data packet," Nedzu said, "All of the League members could be dangerous on Trigger, but you're right. Shigaraki and Mustards powers seem most suited to causing a mass casualty event."
That was a very sterile way to say that entire towns or maybe even cities could die a gruesome death, should the two of them unleash their powers. Izuku remembered the feeling of the decay cracking through his arm, shrivelling the flesh away, and shuddered.
"I'd prefer to avoid that, if we can," Izuku said, "Even if it means bringing other people into all of this. I can stop infiltrating if I need to."
Nedzu nodded.
"I will bear that in mind, Mr Midoriya," he said, "Although I think, at the moment, we don't need to move precipitately. We don't have any evidence that the League of Villains is investing in Trigger, and we don't know how close the MLA are to catching the League. You're meeting with Chitose again soon, yes?"
Izuku nodded.
"You want me to ask her about the League," he said, "I think she'll probably tell me. The MLA have to have some heavier hitters in reserve, ones that they haven't showed off. Maybe they're waiting to catch the League in the open?"
"Or, more likely, waiting until the League have built up enough of a reputation that utterly destroying them will be a public relations coup," Nighteye said dourly. They all glanced at him.
"Have you seen something?" Aizawa asked. Nighteye shook his head.
"Nothing, I haven't looked," he said, "Without having access to one of them, I can't see their future. But it makes sense, if you don't care about civilian casualties."
He was right, Izuku thought, but that didn't mean he should say it. Mirio looked slightly appalled, and Aizawa looked about as exhausted as ever.
"The truth of Heroism," Nedzu said, "Villains act, heroes react. As much as we've tried to change that, we aren't all-knowing."
That admission drew a rare scowl from the Principal. It might have been funny if they weren't talking about potential mass murder.
"Not much we can do about it," Aizawa said eventually, "Unless we can catch the League ourselves, we'll just have to keep looking. Shigaraki's not the type to stay hidden for long and if he keeps attacking Agencies we'll have to find a pattern in the end."
They all nodded, if somewhat reluctantly. Just waiting for the next disaster didn't quite sit right with Izuku, but all he could do was what he was. Hopefully someone in the MLA would know, and then…Izuku wondered what would be worth burning his cover for. If the Heroes broke up an attack and arrested everyone when Izuku had been told about it, the MLA would realise he was a spy. How many deaths would be worth abandoning his cover? Questions for later.
"The MLA were talking about tests on me," he said instead, changing the subject, "Blood tests, genetic tests, to try and cure my loss of Quirk. If they do those – my details aren't in the system, are they? A blood test won't come up as Izuku Midoriya?"
"No," Nedzu said, sounding more confident, "I have checked that. Whatever genetic information was taken from you to test for Quirklessness when you were a toddler, it was destroyed years ago as required. Even if it wasn't, it's very unlikely that the MLA would be able to access those. What would they care for the DNA of a Quirkless child, after all?"
"You don't have to say it like that, sir," Izuku said, almost quietly enough that nobody heard, but when Nedzu just grinned he spoke louder for his next sentence.
"Do we know if anyone else has been shot with those bullets? It'll look suspicious if my DNA looks different, if the Quirk markers are just missing instead of damaged or whatever, and the MLA would be more interested in finding that."
"Nobody confirmed," Aizawa grunted, "We've been keeping an eye out, but nothing yet."
Izuku nodded, although uneasily. Maybe he'd get lucky, then, and the MLA wouldn't have anyone to compare with – but he didn't like relying on luck in an infiltration. That was the kind of thing that got people killed, and Izuku was quite attached to his life. For a moment he wondered what Knuckleduster's DNA looked like. How did the damage done by All For One stealing a Quirk, as Izuku was almost certain had happened, compare to natural Quirklessness? It could be worth investigating, even if it wasn't relevant at the moment. Nedzu cleared his throat.
"I've also been looking into a way to have Mr Midoriya and Akatani Mikumo seen together, in order to reduce suspicion," he said, "It's proven unsuccessful so far, but I think there are ways. The most obvious is to find someone with a cloning Quirk, but the only one I've found so far is a minor and rather unstable Villain. If we can have him brought in, perhaps we could leverage Mr Monoma's Quirk in order to bypass the Villain entirely, but he's hard to find, even for me."
"I could ask around about him," Izuku said, "But if I do…"
"Yes," Nedzu said, "Better to avoid drawing attention to him. We are making progress, slim as it might seem. More and more MLA agencies are being identified, and they're getting less and less comfortable. It won't be forever, Mr Midoriya, but for the moment? For the moment, remain as you are."
Izuku nearly asked Nedzu to stop tempting fate, but stopped himself at the last moment. No need to invite disaster, after all.
Izuku was starting to become familiar with Slidin' Go's Hero Agency. It wasn't a bad thing, it was good to know where he was in case he needed to run for it, but it still itched at his paranoia. Same location every time, only made it more likely that someone would realise something suspicious was going on. He resolved to try and find a way to bring it up, just in case. A sidekick met him at the door, a man in a full body costume who called himself Mellifluid. Izuku wasn't sure what his Quirk was, but he suspected something to do with speed, or maybe friction. Agencies had a bit of tendency to stick to a theme. Mellifluid led him through the Agency to a reception room, where Slidin' Go was waiting. Izuku might honestly have preferred Chitose. Chitose was dangerously clever, yes, but she was also a little less obviously extreme. Izuku liked to do his best to avoid obvious fanatics.
And Slidin' Go – Tatsuyuki, as he said – was a real dyed in the wool, hardcore fanatic. The genial public persona gave way to a harsh taskmaster, psychotically devoted to the cause and dedicated to the MLA until death. Izuku probably wasn't supposed to wish death on people, but if Tatsuyuki happened to end up on the wrong side of Shigaraki's 'ashes to ashes, dust to dust' routine he wouldn't shed any tears. It was a little interesting that Tatsuyuki's Quirk seemed so similar to the one used by the vigilante Crawler, but Izuku knew that it was only a coincidence. The similarities were probably only superficial, and if he was categorising people based on their Quirks then Bakugou would go right in the MLA box thanks to his similar Quirk to Chitose.
Izuku considered that for a moment and then mentally shook his head. Bad example, maybe. He was pretty certain that the Crawler wasn't MLA, anyway. That was the important thing. Tatsuyuki continued to gesture and proclaim as he led Izuku along corridors deeper into the Agency, mostly verbalising plans to eliminate Shigaraki and denouncing the League's goals, but Izuku mostly tuned him out. It wasn't important, and if it was his hidden microphone would pick it up. He would have liked to have Nedzu in his ear, but they'd reluctantly agreed that here, in the heart of the MLA, it was too much of a risk. Nedzu would only contact him if his cover was blown.
"The League won't last," Tatsuyuki said confidently, "They're strong now, I'll grant them that, but they're stupid. They think they're going to win because they're scrappy, hah! How many of them are there, eight? A dozen? I've got more manpower than that here!"
There were arguments to be made about the value of manpower – Izuku was absolutely, completely certain that if you put ten thousand regular criminals against All Might at the end of the fight you'd have ten thousand prisoners and a mildly annoyed All Might – but there was a time and a place for that argument. Still, Izuku made the right noises and said the right things until Tatsuyuki led him into a room that looked like a nurses' office. Chitose was sitting on a medical bed, looking like she had no need to medical attention, and there was a woman in a lab coat near the far wall.
"Akatani, dear," Chitose said chirpily, standing, "It's so good to see you again, safe and well."
"You too," Izuku said, before shuffling awkwardly and looking at the other woman. Chitose saw it – she would have to be blind not to – and took the bait, answering his unasked question.
"Doctor Akiyama," Chitose introduced, "She's part of the team that's investigating your Quirk loss."
Doctor Akiyama was a short woman, pretty, with crinkles around her eyes that suggested she smiled a lot. She was maybe thirty, Izuku estimated, her brown hair streaked with blonde highlights.
"Hello, Akatani," the doctor said, smiling, "Can I call you Akatani?"
Izuku shrugged.
"I don't mind," he said, speaking the truth for once in this place, "You're going to look at my Quirk?"
Akiyama nodded, gesturing to a chair.
"Sit, please," she said. Izuku sat, watching Akiyama as she bustled around the small ward.
"Have you heard anything about the attack on the I-Island Expo?" Chitose asked, out of the blue. Izuku blinked at her, slow and confused, and shook his head.
"The – no, I don't think so?" he said, "Not anything more than was in the news. Villains attacked, didn't they?"
"They did, they did," Chitose said, "They were chased off by the Heroes there, in the end, and UA Class 1-A were credited with assisting the Heroes. I'd wondered if 1-A were boasting about it, but you haven't heard anything?"
Izuku shook his head and Chitose shrugged, continuing.
"The Villain leader was defeated by All Might, after All Might broke free of the security systems," she said, "That's all the official story says. But there's a man in the underworld, who claims to be the assistant to David Shield, who says that the villain could fight All Might because of a device David Shield made that makes Quirks stronger. And this man, Sam Abraham, says he's got the blueprints."
"If Mr Abrahams is telling the truth," Doctor Akiyama said, "It could provide a solution to your Quirk issues. At the very least, it would give us something more to work off. We're looking for Mr Abraham now, aren't we?"
"We are," Chitose said, smiling, "And I don't think it'll be long before we find him. You'll have your Quirk back soon, Akatani."
Izuku smiled, but he felt sick in his stomach. The MLA with the Quirk Enhancer? Even if Abraham couldn't build one as effective, it was so much more useful than Trigger. Almost as bad, Sam had spoken to Izuku, seen Izuku's face. Izuku didn't know if his disguise would hold up if Sam saw him. At least Nedzu, listening through the hidden microphone, would know.
"Now," Doctor Akiyama said, "We've got some theories on how the Quirk erasing bullets work, but we need a blood sample to test it out. Do you mind if I take one? It won't hurt."
Izuku drew in a breath, nodding.
"I don't mind," he said. He would have to be careful when lifting his sleeve, but he could manage it: if there was one advantage to the hoody that Izuku had taken to wearing as Akatani – other than conveniently covering his prosthetic arm – it was that he could conceal a surprising amount in the baggy sleeves and numerous pockets. Nothing perfect, but he had smoke pellets secreted away in his clothing. The pepper smoke pellets that he'd brought along, as a final just in case measure, were hidden in his prosthetic. He'd prefer not to use them – getting pepper-gassed really wasn't pleasant – but he was pretty sure he could tolerate it better than the MLA members. This became a slight disadvantage now that he'd have to pull his sleeves up, but the pellets were tucked away and save. Akiyama walked over, a syringe in hand.
"Which arm would you prefer?" she asked. Izuku smiled, involuntarily, and raised his left hand.
"It'll have the be the right," he said, waving the metal and plastic fingers of his left hand at her before reaching over to his other sleeve. Akiyama blanched.
"Of course, I'm sorry," she said. Izuku shook his head.
"It's easy to forget. It's okay."
Doctor Akiyama smiled, brief and distracted. Izuku eyed the needle in her hand as he carefully rolled up his sleeve, watching her as she leaned in.
Izuku didn't have a thing about needles, not really. Even Jason hadn't been too bad, although he very much preferred to avoid having anything injected – but drawing blood was fine. Even so, Izuku turned his head away when the needle went into his skin, choosing not to look. It was a good personality quirk, he told himself, something that was identifying. He was doing it on purpose.
Mostly on purpose. The doctor made a noise that could only be described as a coo and Izuku ducked his head, thinking embarrassing thoughts to summon a blush. That was something.
"There we go," Doctor Akiyama said, "That wasn't so bad, right? I'll get this to the lab so we can see how it looks, and how it interacts with our first treatments."
Izuku nodded silently, still averting his eyes. It shouldn't do anything, of course, but so long as they didn't have anyone to compare it to it would be fine. He hopped down off the desk and rolled his sleeve back down, rubbing briefly at the injection site. Doctor Akiyama patted him on the shoulder and headed out, holding the syringe of his blood like it was something precious. Truth be told, it was: Izuku would have preferred to avoid giving it up. But Akatani Mikumo would be desperate to get his Quirk back, so he wouldn't have hesitated long. He could have it destroyed once all this was over, Izuku consoled himself. Do it personally, he was sure Nedzu would allow him that indulgence.
Izuku watched the doctor walk out of the room until she was completely gone, hoping that his look of anxious hope was convincing, before looking back to Chitose.
"Has anyone else lost their Quirk, to the bullets?" he asked, subdued. Chitose shook her head.
"Not that we know of," she said, tapping a single manicured finger against the medical table, "Only the other members of the OMC, maybe. But we didn't know to check them, and by the time we did they'd gone to coroners that we don't control. We're trying to get access to the test results, but they might not have anything useful. They died almost immediately after, from what you said."
Izuku nodded quickly, trying to make it look as though it was a memory he didn't want to revisit. It was even the truth, all things considered.
"It would be easier if we knew how the bullets were made," Tatsuyuki growled, "Or if we had the child, Eri. You should have stayed with her, Mikumo."
Change to last name, not ideal but probably not too much of a concern. Izuku pulled on an apologetic expression.
"I tried," he said, tinging his tone with just the right amount of apology – excuse, "But Principal Nedzu was right that she was better off in witness protection. I barely managed to convince him not to put me in there."
"And that was enough," Chitose said, directing a quelling glare at Tatsuyuki, "You did more than could be expected of you by rescuing Eri."
Izuku shrugged awkwardly and Tatsuyuki rolled his eyes.
"I'll give you that," he said, "But you have to go above and beyond! If UA does one thing right, it's understanding this: to be a Hero, you must go Plus Ultra!"
Tatsuyuki clenched his fist in front of him and Izuku nodded along, wide eyed and believing. He didn't look at Chitose, who just sighed.
"Alright," she said, "We have the blood sample. That was what we mostly wanted you here for, but there's something else as well."
Izuku looked at her and Tatsuyuki laughed abruptly, a short and ugly noise that sent a chill through Izuku.
"Yeah. Before you go," Tatsuyuki said, "We have something for you."
He gestured, leading Izuku out of the room with Chitose following. Izuku briefly considered not following, but - no. It wouldn't be any more of a trap if he followed, his odds of escape couldn't get much worse. Adrenaline tingled icy along his spine, but he followed nonetheless, taking the chance. Down a flight of stairs to another corridor, that faint crawling feeling of paranoia was back - although in this case probably warranted - and Izuku tucked his hands into his sleeves to reach for the concealed smoke pellets. Tatsuyuki reached the bottom of the steps and paused, turning.
"The OMC were betrayed," he said, "That's clear. They'd barely begun to discuss moving against Overhaul and they were attacked and killed. Someone betrayed them, and there are only two options. One of them is you."
Tatsuyuki was close, within grabbing range. Izuku didn't clench his jaw, or nervously swallow, but part of him wanted to. He was confident in his skills but Tatsuyuki was trained as well, tall and broad and committed to his cause, and Chitose was close behind. Strike for the eyes, Izuku thought. Drop the smoke pellets, go for the eyes with his flesh hand, go for the throat with his prosthetic. Try and trip Tatsuyuki into Chitose to stop her from using her Quirk, and then what? Kill Chitose? Or run? Neither was a perfect option, but killing Chitose was probably the best way to go about it. Or Chitose first? No, stick to the plan. Indecision killed. Izuku looked Tatsuyuki in the eyes, tried to look innocent, and made his peace with violence.
"It would be easy to accuse you," Tatsuyuki continued, "But your capture and subsequent escape made it harder. That Chronostasis hasn't been seen since your escape, and the bounty that Overhaul has put on your head, solidifies the doubt."
"There's a bounty on my head?" Izuku blurted, just as a more or less innocent schoolboy would have, and Tatsuyuki smiled coldly.
"Dead or alive," he said, like he was relishing the words, "Consider it a compliment."
He turned away before Izuku could reply, continuing down the corridor.
"The other person who survived the OMC was Mara Bennet, Crocodile Quirk. She wasn't present during the Eight Precepts attack, and wasn't captured. She hasn't been seen since.
"I know," Izuku said, unable to stop all of the irritation from leaking into his tone. Of course he knew, if he'd really been Akatani the attack on the OMC would have been the defining moment of his life. Why was Takayuki telling him it again? The man didn't turn around, but he shrugged.
"Simply jogging your memory," he said, "Bennet tried to disappear, because she was the traitor. But she couldn't run forever. The MLA have a long reach."
He turned right, opening a door in the corridor, and Izuku followed more slowly. Sick, dreadful anticipation coiled inside Izuku's chest, a suspicion of what he was about to see pulsing in time with the beat of his heart, but he still followed. He stopped in place once he'd entered the…the cell, there was nothing else to call it. The cell.
Battered and beaten, Mara Bennet slumped on her knees with her arms held up by chains. Her head was tilted down, almost on her chest, and there were cuts and bruises along her arms and what Izuku could see of her torso, under her tattered t-shirt. Some of it looked like it was from fighting, like she hadn't come quietly. Far more looked like the result of torture, the marks of methodical beatings and cuts far too clean. Izuku didn't feel like he was about to vomit, but he couldn't stop his expression from wrinkling.
There was a table in the room, with bloodstains on it. No instruments of torture remained, but there was a single item on the table. A gun.
"Bennet," Izuku said, barely above a whisper. She didn't stir and he looked at Tatsuyuki as the man walked over to the table.
"You tortured her," he said, his tone coming out flat. More like the cold tone of the Red Hood than the shakiness of a boy seeing something like this for the first time, but Izuku couldn't bring himself to care. Tatsuyuki picked up the gun, running a finger down the top of the barrel, and nodded.
"Some actions cannot be accepted," he said, "And sometimes examples must be made. Do you think Overhaul wouldn't have tortured you? This way they will know."
Down the slippery slope they went, without even trying to brake. Izuku didn't say anything as Tatsuyuki walked back over to him and held out the gun. Izuku didn't take it until Chitose stepped from behind him and reached out, like she was going to lift his hand. He stepped away, automatically away from the threat of her Quirk, and took the gun in his left hand. Even in his prosthetic it was heavy. Tatsuyuki walked over to the corner, by the door, and came back with a bucket of water that he sloshed carelessly over Bennet. Some of the spray hit Izuku, freezing against his face, and Bennet jerked in her chains, gasping.
"Wake up, Bennet," Tatsuyuki said, his voice colder than the water. Chitose walked around Izuku to stand by his side. She was smiling, Izuku saw from a sideways glance, but there was no amusement in it. Only calculation.
"Wh…why are you here?" Bennet asked, her voice weak and wavering, "What are you – why? Why?"
"Why?" Chitose said, "Isn't it obvious?"
"Betrayer, and betrayed," Tatsuyuki said, because God he liked to hear himself talk, "Did you think you could escape us forever?"
Bennet's head fell back down, her breath coming out jagged and broken, a sob heaved from her lungs. Izuku felt a spike of pity in his chest, unwelcome if not unexpected, but didn't let it show.
"Please," she said, so quietly, "Please."
"Oh, dear," Chitose said, "You must have known it would end like this. We really are sorry, but what would it look like if we left you alive? No, it's too late for 'please'. Akatani, dear. It's time to take your revenge."
Revenge. Izuku was familiar with revenge, if only second hand. It didn't look like this, not to him. Revenge was hot rage and burning hatred, action and violence. Revenge was the fight, the blood spilled in fury. Revenge was an inferno, basking in the flames. Not this. But still.
He should do it, Izuku knew. It was the practical thing to do, the sensible thing to do. It would eliminate a loose end, secure his position with the MLA. Get him into their confidences. He should do it. He'd killed before, hadn't he?
He should do it.
"Why me?" Izuku asked, his tone still so very flat. Tatsuyuki gave him an incredulous look.
"It has to be you," he said, "Of course it does. The two of you are the last of the OMC. You're the one she betrayed, you're the one she almost got killed. You suffered because of her. You triumphed because of her. Show her your hatred, and your gratitude, and offer her death."
Bennet looked up at him. One eye was swollen shut by bruising, the other squinting against blood running from an injury on her forehead, but she was still conscious. There was pleading in her eyes.
"She betrayed you," Chitose whispered, "She betrayed us. She betrayed our cause. She's the reason your friends are dead, she's the reason all those Heroes have been killed by the League of Villains. It's all her fault. Doesn't she deserve to die?"
Didn't she deserve to die? She did, Izuku thought distantly, she did. And yet…and yet, when he looked her in the eyes he wasn't sure what to do. He knew what he should do. He should cement his place in the MLA, he should avenge his dead…friends, as Chitose might have thought of them. He should tie the loose end that was Mara Bennet up, and he pressed the barrel of the gun against her forehead.
He knew what he should do. And yet.
And yet, when he looked her in the eyes, he hesitated.