56 - martial dead

Chapter 56: Vacations End

By the time Star and Stripe landed on her family's apartment building, she had circled the island a few times and had even crisscrossed it too, leaping around the outer wall and sometimes just letting herself sail off into the ocean where she would float for a little while before she was kicking out of the water, soaring through the air and landing back on the island's walls.

Getting inside from the balcony, Star and Stripe casually let her costume retract into its tech ribbon before becoming the small capsule she always carried with her along with her pogo stick if she was going anywhere in her smaller form. Back in her dress, which was designed to stretch over her enlarged frame, Melissa entered her home with some trepidation, not sure what she was expecting. Honestly, a part of her wished she had just stayed over with Izuku and Ochako for the night. She wasn't sure she wanted to deal with the fallout of the night's attack, and spending a night with those two honestly wasn't sounding that bad of an option at the moment.

Those two definitely have an attraction to them. He he he…maybe it's not too late to go knocking on their door…

"Hey kid."

Melissa's thoughts interrupted, she turned to find All Might sitting in the living room, hunched over and just looking dead tired.

And very strained. Melissa had heard the change in tone in her uncle's voice. So she looked at the weary man and sighed. "Before we start… just… I know about you. So I know this," Melissa motioned to him, "is hurting you, so just… drop it."

All Might looked at Melissa, either too tired or just unable to hide his surprise, but either way, he apparently wasn't up to even trying to deny the fact. With a long sigh, All Might's body hissed with steam as he shrunk back down. "For how long?"

Melissa took a seat across from him. "About when I started my Quirk training."

All Might let out a small chuckle that had too little mirth in it to sound natural coming from him. "That long… Why didn't you say anything?"

Melissa shrugged. "You're always smiling. So I kept smiling too."

This time, All Might's soft tired laugh did have the right amount of a mirth to sound natural coming from him. "Seems like I taught you more than I thought."

"Yeah…" There was an awkward pause as the two didn't seem to know what to say.

Yeah… this sucks. Definitely should have bummed it on Midoriya and Uraraka's couch.

Deciding that ignoring the problem wasn't going to make things any easier, Melissa just ripped off the band-aid and got it over with. "Where's Papa?"

Melissa assumed he must be in bed or—

"In custody," All Might answered sadly. Though he immediately put his hands up when he saw the way Melissa's face twisted. Hurt, betrayal and for an instant, rage, flashed over her features. "It was his idea. I wanted him to wait until tomorrow at least… but he was insistent."

Melissa buried her face in her hands, as she rubbed her brow. "Damn it… Damn it, why is he doing this? The governing board just got embarrassed by this whole thing and they'll use Papa as their sacrificial lamb to appease—"

"I didn't turn him over to I-Island's custody," All Might cut in. "I turned him over to the American embassy."

Melissa's head snapped up. "You…?"

"He didn't say who he wanted to be turned over to, you see. So… I gave him into the custody of people I feel I may have… more sway with." All Might rubbed his hands together. "While I was there I put in a request to speak to someone in charge. To… discuss the events, and to go over… how things are going to move forward. I specified I wanted to speak to someone that would be able to speak to the governing board here. Someone with some weight behind his voice." All Might looked at Melissa with something of a smile. "Being me… well, the people there were more than willing to give me a list of individuals that could fill that role. And at the top of that list, happened to be Commander Agpar."

"Commander…" It made sense. Agpar would have connections to I-Island since it was under his leadership that the Tiamat missiles were developed here. So he would have a huge voice for American military interests and investments in connection with I-Island. Which also meant he had a lot of weight to throw around when dealing with the board.

"So he'll be on site tomorrow. And I'll be having a discussion with him on how things could move forward. Well, him and the governing board."

"On how things could move forward?"

All Might shrugged. "I'm not the most politically savvy person in the world. But I know enough to know I still have some favors I can call. At the very least… this should give David the best chances, even if he doesn't feel like he should get them."

"Your voice does still carry a lot of weight back in the states. Should I—"

All Might held up his hand. "I think it would be best if you sat this one out. Either you'll be dealing with people that know your connection and that'll put you in a compromised position with them, or you'll be dealing with people who don't and they'll wonder why you're sticking your neck out for David. Which could get messy. Best you let me try to deal with this first."

"You could also deal with the same scrutiny."

"Yeah, but I'm old and, well, at this point, I'm kinda past the point of needing to worry too much about that kind of stuff. Since I'm… well," All Might motioned towards himself, "I'm probably not going to be in a position where I have to worry about things much longer."

Well, that put a bit of a damper on an already uncomfortably moist mood. All Might sighed and leaned forward. "You should know… he didn't really talk about the things he did or why he did them that much with me. He said enough that I could put it together of course, but… his focus wasn't on his crimes. It was on you."

"Me?"

"It really hit him… all the things he said, and was doing. He realized he was so focused on the past… he couldn't see what was right in front of him. The shame on David's face when he said it out loud. I think it was another reason he wanted to be locked away. He couldn't bear the thought of how you would look at him after everything."

"Damn it, Papa. Well I guess that's another thing I'm going to have to give him a piece of my mind about."Melissa sighed. "Ideally before Mama gets her hands on him… Does she know?"

"I called her and informed her of… the situation. She's getting everything settled on her end to fly out here as fast as she can. But it'll still be a couple of days. Hopefully… I'll have David's side of things settled by then."

Melissa nodded. "Okay… Okay. So at least get some time to figure out what I'm going to say to Papa after pulling such a stupid stunt."

"My advice, until I tell you what's going to happen… Try not to think about it. Maybe spend the day with Young Midoriya and Young Uraraka. I do plan on giving them and the rest of the class a little reward for everything they did. I'm sure you'd be welcome for your role."

"Oh, what are you doing?"

"No earthly idea."

…

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" It wasn't that funny, but seeing the complete befuddlement and lost expression on her uncle's face, just sent Melissa into an uncontrolled laugh. And at least for the moment, she felt like she could breathe.

"I'll let you go, get changed and get some sleep. After a night like this, we could all use some shuteye." All Might got up, and shuffled more than walked over to his guest room.

As Melissa watched him go, she felt a question rise up and rest on her tongue. It wasn't the time for it. Not after everything. But also, sometimes the best time to get the truth is when people are too tired to lie.

"Why Midoriya?"

All Might stopped and turned to look back at her. "Hmm?"

"Why'd you pick Midoriya… and not me to be your successor?"

"That's…" All Might had fully turned to look at her, but before he could really get a handle on her question, she followed it up with another.

"Why'd you decide to give him One for All over me?"

The look that crossed All Might's face would have been hilarious if the topic wasn't so serious. All Might openly gapped at Melissa before his mouth closed and formed a hard line. "Young. Midoriya."

"Whoa whoa whoa." Melissa didn't like that her uncle was directing some frustration towards Izuku. "I overheard you two talking the other day. And knowing what I already knew, I confronted him."

"Confronted?"

"Remember when we all went out to get burgers?" All Might blinked, then he did recall when Melissa had gone off to follow Izuku. "Aaaand… I kinda threatened him."

"You…threatened?"

"Yeah…" When she saw how All Might looked at her, something clicked. "Oh, yeah, I threatened him when I was like this." She motioned towards herself. "See, Midoriya sorta… kinda… knows. About me."

Another pause as All Might facepalmed. "How?"

"My time ran out and he followed me into a room just as I transformed."

"Ha…ha ha HA HA HA!" All Might bowled over, clutching his sides. "He– Ha ha ha! I can't— Ha ha ha! History doesn't repeat but it rhymes." As he finally got his laughter under control, he asked, "I imagine Young Uraraka knows?"

"Yup."

"That tracks."

A brief summary of who knew what and how followed and All Might was back in his chair as he absorbed everything.

"You know, suddenly a lot of stuff that happened tonight makes sense now. When you got knocked away," Melissa muttered something along the lines of 'cheap shot bitch villain,' "David screamed your name, and Young Midoriya didn't bat an eye. Plus there was his whole speech. Now that I know he knew who you were… Yeah, that explains a lot."

Melissa looked at her uncle. "You're avoiding my question."

"I am. Yes," All Might said with a chuckle. "…Okay…" All Might rubbed his hands together. "Okay…"

Melissa waited, letting her uncle find his words.

"Before I answer… What are your thoughts about Young Midoriya?"

"Oh, he's perfect. A lot like you in some ways. Worse in some other ways. Better in a lot of ways," was Melissa's immediate answer. "He's got my support, no questions asked. We're friends after all… Plus, I think Uraraka would actually try to kill me if I tried anything."

The relief that crossed All Might's face, Melissa almost felt it like it was physical. "That… Thank you. Having one person be so dead set against him was bad enough. If you followed his lead I think it would break my old man's heart."

Melissa's eyes narrowed. "Wait? Wait? Wait?" She held up her hand. "Who would be so set against Midoriya?"

"You remember my sidekick Sir Nighteye?"

"Yeah?"

"Him. He has been training another young man with the intent to present him to me as the best possible choice for One for All. And… before he could, I met Young Midoriya and, well, here we are."

"Soooo, he's upset he's having to watch you give One for All to someone else? What a fucking cuck bitch."

Blood sprayed out of All Might's mouth as he fell over hearing that kind of language from Melissa. "Okay! You can never let your mother hear you say that!"

"…One, she swears worse than that, and two, am I wrong?"

"You hanging around those jet jocks might be a mistake."

"You didn't answer me."

All Might chose not to make eye contact.

"Anyway, you had a question you wanted me to answer." Melissa leaned forward, ready to hear him out. "So, there were two factors that led to me deciding to look elsewhere for someone to pass on One for All. One was personal and the other was… well, it came from you directly."

"Wait, me?"

"Do you recall a conversation we had a while back? This would have been about two years ago. You had just made your unplanned debut."

Melissa frowned. "I think? You were offering me a lot of advice on what I should do to capitalize on the wave of public interest I had garnered."

All Might nodded. "That's right. I was passing on my infinite wisdom," he ignored the small chuckle from Melissa and continued, "but at the end, I asked you something."

Melissa took a moment to think back, recalling that day. After her sudden debut All Might had, like he had done so many times before when anything had happened to her, booked it over to come see her the very next day. She recalled all the advice. How he told her the best ways to endear herself to the public. To show the world that she had arrived. A few warnings on what kinds of products not to endorse. It was a lot, but he had offered everything he could think of to help her take the next step in her life. Lots and lots of advice and…

"Ah—" Melissa's eyes widened. At the end. As she and All Might were walking back to his jet as he got ready to leave, he paused while there was no one around, and just looked at her. Thinking back, Melissa didn't think she had ever seen her uncle look at her like that. And he never had since. There was something in his eyes at that moment, like he was taking her measure. Weighing her. It had been only a few seconds, but Melissa could still remember it. Then All Might seemed to collect himself and asked, Melissa repeating the question out loud, "'What if I told you I might know a way that you could get even stronger than you are right now. Instantly. Would you be interested?' Don't tell me you were talking about—?"

All Might chuckled. "I was."

Melissa just gawked. "I thought you were talking about Trigger or something! Some 'don't do drugs' thing. Thatwas your One for All pitch?!"

"I wanted to hear what you would say about the idea when it was broken down to its most simple idea. One for All is an instant power-up. I admit, at that time I hadn't really tried to think about passing One for All on. I was still in a bit of denial. So I hadn't really gotten a sales pitch put together. Took me a couple of years to figure it out so I could pitch it to Young Midoriya." All Might said with a laugh, "Buuut you were rather up front with your disinterest." Melissa's cheeks burned. "I think you said something like, 'Why would I want to take some shortcut when I'm already The Queen of Wrecking Villains' Shit?'"

"Oh god, please don't remind me of how cringy I was as a kid." Melissa wanted to die right then and there. Fourteen-year-old her was the worst. Wanting to move on as quickly as she could, Melissa pushed for the second reason.

All Might became a little more somber. "That second reason is why I didn't pursue the topic with you again. Honestly, you had shown that you had every right to One for All after I had asked the first time, but…" he sighed, "I didn't want to have to put you in a position where you'd be forced to lie to your parents."

The hypocrisy of that reason was not lost on All Might, since he had actively helped Izuku lie to his own mother. But he supposed with Melissa, things were a little more complicated. He was part of things where Melissa was concerned. So it made things messy.

"You didn't… want me to have to do the same thing to Mama and Papa as you'd been doing."

"Yeah…"

Melissa supposed she could accept that. Their family had to deal with more than its fair share of lies and secrets. Looking at it, it was those lies, despite being for the best intentions, that had caused this mess to begin with.

"Thank you, Uncle Might. I think I understand now."

One for All was a tricky thing. It seemed to be fraught with many dangers, and that was before you even considered the villains and history of it. It was the secretive nature of it that could cause so many problems. Melissa had an idea of how Izuku was trying to deal with it. From the little she had been told, he was trying something different, at least to a degree. So she supposed, with her own experience with dealing with these sorts of things, she could help Izuku deal with the pitfalls he was trying to avoid. She had meant it when she had said that Izuku had her full support. And now she was starting to realize just what that all might mean.

"Secrets do have a way of coming out at the worst time for people like us, huh?"

"Yeah, they do, don't they?"

It took Izuku a little while to figure out where he was and what he was doing. Even with it being his second night, waking up in the large bed was still a little confusing. This morning especially since as he snuggled up, keeping his eyes closed to try and fall back into blissful sleep, he felt something warm pressed against himself. Slowly, Izuku pressed himself against the soft warmth, humming happily to himself. It took a few moments for it to sink in just what, well, who, he was now spooning with.

Cracking his eyes open, Izuku's vision was blocked by a messy tangle of bedhead hair. Smiling, Izuku squeezed his arms around Ochako a little tighter, pressing her back into his chest as he snuggled with her.

"Hmm, Ochako's so pretty," Izuku pressed his face into the nape of her neck. "So warm."

He recalled that they had fallen asleep facing each other. But he wasn't going to complain about how they ended up.

He pressed his lips against her neck and trailed a line of light feathery kisses up and down her neck and shoulder that wasn't covered by her tank top.

A soft moan and the slight shift of her head to give Izuku more space to kiss, let Izuku know that he wasn't the only one that was awake. Izuku smiled and continued to give Ochako the most pleasant 'good morning' he could.

Soon the kisses started to get hotter, and when Izuku felt Ochako's fingers drag along his side, and she let out a soft but throaty moan as Izuku pressed a wet kiss against her, his tongue pushed past his lips and teased the spot he lightly sucked on.

Slowly, Ochako began to roll over, pulling Izuku with her until she was laying on her back and Izuku was leaning over her, hands on either side of her head, sinking into the pillows.

"Good morning," Ochako whispered huskily, puckering her lips and welcoming more of Izuku's kisses. Of which Izuku was more than happy to give her.

As Ochako got out of bed, Izuku rolled to his side and watched her walk around the room. She wasn't doing anything erotic or even particularly flirty, just washing her face and then getting herself a drink of water. But even still, Izuku's eyes were drawn to her. He just wanted to watch her, because this was his girlfriend and she was so beautiful.

"Best morning ever," he sighed wistfully.

Ochako chuckled, leaning on her drawer. "You won't hear any complaints from me." Opening it up, Ochako began looking for what she was going to wear. "So, what do you want to do today? I mean, we should probably check on Melissa and All Might first, make sure they're both okay. After that…" Ochako trailed off, looking over towards the bed and saw that Izuku was still looking at her. When she was about to start getting changed.

"Deku?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, we should definitely check on them," Izuku replied.

Ochako blinked, waiting for something to click, before a faint blush spread over her face, along with a smirk. "Well, aren't you bold."

"Huh?"

"Watching me change? You might make a girl think you're having less than honorable intentions, Deku."

It took a second for that to sink in, but when it did, Izuku reverted to form so fast, you wouldn't have gotten him to jump and turn faster if you'd poured ice water on him. "Ohmygosh! I'msosorry!"

Ochako started cackling, happy to see that her nervous goodie-goodie was still with her. "Oh don't worry so much Deku." With a devilish smirk, Ochako pulled one of the straps over her shoulder down. "Maybe I wouldn't mind if you watched me change."

The chirp Izuku made almost had Ochako rolling. Oh, she liked this a lot. Flirting with Izuku when he flirted back was great, but now she also got to experience some of the fun only Himiko had gotten to do, too. Flirting with a boy that was just too pure.

Absently, Ochako rubbed a few of the bruises along her neck and collar. Well, not too pure, she thought with a small thrill of excitement.

"I'm sorry," Izuku repeated. "I don't know what I was thinking."

Ochako frowned. "Hey, it's okay. I was only teasing you, Deku…. also, turn around. I'm still dressed." When he did, Ochako wasn't sure she was a fan of the worried and thoughtful look he had. "Hey…"

"Ochako, I mean it. I shouldn't have been looking at you like that. I've just been so caught up in how incredible everything is… I got carried away."

Ochako waved him off with a reassuring smile. "Deku, really. You have nothing to apologize for. We've both been doing stuff we probably wouldn't do otherwise. That's the fun part of everything."

"So… do you think we've… kinda went a little far with the…" Izuku motioned towards the tub. "Everything?"

"Oh, completely," Ochako confirmed immediately with pink rosy cheeks. "But I don't think we did anything wrong."

Ochako idly picked through her drawer as she looked for what she was going to change into for the day. "If we were back home, no chance we'd be taking a bath together so soon Deku." Izuku caught onto that wording. 'So soon' still meant that this sort of thing was going to happen eventually. "But we're on vacation, we're not home right now." She smiled, her embarrassment and confidence fighting to control her expression. "What better time to push things a little far, right?"

Izuku nodded in agreement, though he was pretty sure Ochako could say the sky was green and he'd agree with her. Still, he also got the sense that this new incredible thing they had, could start to get away from them. They were on a train barreling down the tracks and there was a chance that if stuff kept going, well, at what point is it too late to pull the brake to slow it down before catastrophe? "I think we still should… maybe talk about us. And how we want to handle things going forward."

"Oh sure, we definitely need to do that," Ochako agreed immediately. "We need to figure out rules, how we want things to go once we're back. Lots of things we need to make sure are figured out for both of us. But." Ochako tossed a shirt over her shoulder, then strolled over to Izuku sitting on the bed and poked him in the chest. "That's for when we get home. We still have one last day of our vacation. And I say we enjoy it and leave the responsibilities for later hmm~?" As she hummed flirtily her finger trailed up Izuku's chest, making him shiver as it ran over a few of the bruises she'd left, before resting under his chin.

Izuku gulped. "So does that mean you'll let me do that thing you promised back during finals?"

When Ochako's eyes started to smolder almost immediately, Izuku knew she knew what he was talking about.

"You know Deku," Ochako was still swaying her shoulders, but was now looking at him. Not directly, but her eyes were on him. "When all this is over… I wouldn't mind letting you find out. What's hard… and what's still soft."

There was a pause, then Ochako tossed the shirt she had grabbed onto the bed before she turned and fell onto her back, sinking into the soft comforter next to Izuku. Raising her arms, Ochako lay them so they were above her head. Her black tank top rode up, exposing her toned stomach, as she lay in the most open and inviting position she could, using those romance book covers with the main heroine laying on rose petals as an example.

Smoke puffed out of Izuku's nose as his face went beet-red and his mouth dried. "Ochako?"

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! She isn't!

Ochako smirked, and winked.

She is!

Izuku had just expressed his worry that they should be careful, that maybe they were going too fast. But as his eyes traveled up Ochako's bare legs and thighs—to the tight black gym shorts that hugged her hips, up her exposed, sanity-melting, tummy, and then the swell of her chest, only covered by a thin black tank top with a pink bralette peeking past the seams—suddenly he couldn't remember a single concern he'd had. The only thought in his mind now was what he was going to 'check' first.

Izuku's hands drifted, hovering over Ochako's form, then, as Ochako watched with giddy anticipation, Izuku's hands started to move down. Towards her uncovered and inviting thighs.

Knock!

There was a long pause as both Izuku and Ochako froze.

Then, Ochako's face contorted into a soured frown.

Izuku looked towards the door. "Does… who knows about the room?"

Ochako sat up, looking pissed. "The girls. I'm going to kill them."

"Maybe they'll go away if we—"

Knock!

"Gonna kill'em." While Ochako marched to answer, Izuku was up and moving to hide from view of the door.

She swung the door open, ready to tear into the unfortunate friend that had been insanely dumb enough to interrupt her about to get felt up.

"Ah! Good morning Young Midor… Huh?"

"Eh?"

Ochako stared up dumbly at All Might, who was looking down at her, with the same blank expression.

All Might blinked, then looked down at his phone in his hand. "Um… I thought this was Young Midoriya's room? Let's see… yes, 314."

Ochako gulped.

All Might confirmed the room number, then looked back at Ochako. And then there was silence between the two.

Then suddenly, "Young Midoriya!?" All Might barked into the room. Right after there was a surprised 'eep' from around the corner, and Ochako let her head fall against the door frame.

Shit.

All Might pointed towards the sound, then at Ochako. Then back towards the sound, then at Ochako again. "Oh… oh no no no." Dread filled his voice.

All Might paced back and forth as he was now forced to deal with a very serious and uncomfortable topic.

"Young Uraraka, Young Midoriya, do you have any idea how much trouble you're both in?" All Might asked, now that he had made his way into the room to confront both teens. All the while he tried his best not to raise his voice. He was not going to scream. "And you Young Uraraka. I thought we had an agreement. And here I find you sneaking into poor Young Midoriya's room."

"Poor?" Izuku asked, feeling like he should be offended by that.

"Our agreement was for the date," Ochako pointed out before looking at All Might evenly. "And what trouble? For being in my own room?" Over her initial shock, Ochako had taken a stance of defiance. Her touchy time got interrupted, so someone was going to pay.

"Eh?"

"You might want to check the reservations you set up, before you start making accusations of who snuck into whose room."

All Might had his phone out and was quickly scrolling through his emails. "No, see I reserved… oh…" Now that he was paying attention, he saw the issue. Uh oh.

Ochako powered on. "And before you start thinking about trying to punish either of us for what may or may not have happened last night…"

"May or may not?" All Might wasn't sure he liked that wording.

"Who do you think is going to get in more trouble with Mrs. Midoriya?" All Might stared at Ochako blankly, then pulled at his collar. "I'm not burning alone, old man. I might get the frying pan, but you'll get the whole fire."

Izuku, back to sitting on the bed and watching the two, coughed. "Just to be clear, we didn't, um… do anything wrong."

All Might looked over at Izuku, an eyebrow raised, and crossed his arms. "Young Midoriya. I'm well aware that neither of you hold me in the highest regards when it comes to my capabilities as a teacher. I freely admit I can be a bit scatterbrained."

Izuku didn't make eye contact while Ochako just openly nodded.

"However, I'm not incapable of seeing what's so obviously in front of me. I've forgotten more about observing people than you've even begun to learn from Eraser Head." That got him a couple of confused looks. "You don't get those kinds of bruises from a fight."

Ochako chirped, realizing that neither her tank top or Izuku's loose t-shirt did much of anything to hide the many, many marks on their skin.

"And quite frankly, with all those love bites, I think I have to ask if Young Toga isn't hiding out somewhere in this room. Because it looks like your necks… and then some, were the main course of a vampire social gathering."

Ochako was suddenly on the back foot, and her hands were now covering her neck. "W-Well. It's, um…"

"I said we didn't do anything wrong and I meant it," came Izuku's defiant and surprisingly frosty retort. "I asked Ochako if I could give her a hickey. She said yes, and when she asked if she could give me one, I said yes."

All Might was tempted to cut in and say they gave each other more than just one, but the tone and demeanor he was seeing was reminding him of when Izuku had snapped at Recovery Girl back in Hosu City. And after seeing that, he knew it was better to let Izuku say his piece.

"We just survived another villain attack. We wanted to find some comfort with each other after and yes, it was a little more than just kissing. We've done nothing that could put either of us in an uncomfortable or compromised position, or put our future plans in jeopardy. We're mature enough to know what is and isn't appropriate." Izuku paused, then added, "So you shouldnt have to feel you need to warn us not to have sex just after we got together."

Ochako's eyes bulged at Izuku just coming out and saying the s-word, while All Might now looked extremely uncomfortable.

"You trusted us with One for All and you trust us enough to point us in the direction of All for One. So maybe you should trust us with the less life threatening stuff too." Izuku glanced at Ochako, then at All Might, his face taking a stern edge that made both recall All Might's first meeting with Inko. "So you shouldn't have to pull anyone aside again to tell them to behave." Both All Might and Ochako swore they saw a little fire flicker out when Izuku added, "Because that makes me think you might be making some insulting assumptions about Ochako."

All Might flinched like he had gotten punched in the face. Ooookay. Note to self, the boy's already hair-trigger temper revolving around Young Uraraka just got a lot more delicate.

Clearing his throat, All Might decided that defusing the situation was the best option. "Seems like you've given Young Midoriya quite the confidence boost after only a day together, huh."

"I guess," said a slightly taken aback Ochako.

Izuku shrugged. "I have a beautiful girl that likes to kiss and bite me. That'll do it."

Ochako covered her face. "Deku pleeease don't say it like that."

"And just out of curiosity, odds of me getting one of you out of here and into another room…?"

"Heck no."

"Yeah, no chance."

"Right okay… you've been here two nights already. At this point making a big deal out of it has a good chance of getting one or two Midoriyas after me. I'm not built for… all of this so can we just move on to why I came by?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Ochako agreed.

Izuku nodded as well. He'd said his piece and was back to his normal demeanor.

"So, maybe I should get to the reason for my visit…" All Might paused. "…and I'll just ignore the fact there's an empty champagne bottle over there." Izuku scratched at his neck while Ochako was back to her previous stance. I burn, you burn. "First and foremost, you should know Melissa and I talked quite a bit last night. Over a few different things. Firstly, I know you both know about her. So I wanted to thank you both for doing everything you could to help her preserve her identity."

"I mean… we knew how important keeping a hold of that part of her life was. So of course we'd try to help her," Izuku said simply. Ochako nodded along with that.

"I also know she knows about One for All." That got some nervous glances, but All Might put those worries to bed. "I'm aware I had asked you not to tell her, but Melissa explained how she found out. So neither of you need to worry about me being upset."

Both were glad for that.

"Aside from all that, I was hoping I could ask you two a small favor. You see, I'm going to be meeting with the authorities in a little bit, to discuss… what's to be done with David." The pair winced. "Yeah… So while I'm doing that—"

"Wait, who's with Melissa then?" Izuku suddenly cut in.

"She's probably going with All Might as Star and Stripe to help deal with things, Deku."

"Um… actually no. I asked her to stay home since her coming might… Um…" All Might trailed off when Izuku and Ochako looked at him incredulously.

"You left her alone? After last night?!" Was Izuku's shocked and horrified response.

"What is wrong with you, how could you do that to her?" Ochako asked, equally appalled at the idea that after what happened All Might would have the gall to do something so horrible.

"Wait wait wait! I came to ask you both to go hang out with her until I was done!"

…

Izuku was off the bed and looking through his drawers for something to wear while Ochako sighed in relief. "Oh thank god, I thought you were suddenly a heartless jerk."

"We were planning on checking in on you both too, so this works out." Izuku paused, then asked, "…All Might, why not just call us so we could come over before you left?"

"…Ah… Yeah, that might have been the way to do this."

"Oh my god," Ochako groaned.

"Anyway!" All Might could feel the respect leaving his protégés and he needed to get things back on track. "I was thinking you two could take her around the island and maybe find a good spot for a little cookout. I wanted to reward you and your classmates for the jobs you all did last night."

"Oh, that sounds like a great idea," Izuku said with a smile.

Ochako was about to immediately agree but paused. "Wait, everyone… Does that include Bakugou?"

"He assisted too, Young Uraraka."

How Ochako didn't let out a swear then and there, only god knows.

Shortly after, All Might left and Izuku and Ochako hurried to get dressed so they could get to Melissa. Ochako looked Izuku over and felt a blush spread over her face. It dawned on her that while Izuku had been decently careful with where he had left his love bites on her, she… well, hadn't. Izuku's marks on her were easily hidden by her top, but her marks… definitely had gone too high up on his neck. So the shirt he had pulled on was not going to cut it.

Like, at all.

And while she had the convenient excuse of their big fight last night to explain any bruises, she rather not fall back on that if possible, and rely on 'out of sight out of mind.'

"Hey Deku… it's a pretty mild day again. You could probably wear another layer over your t-shirt."

Izuku blinked and looked down at himself, and pulled at his shirt under the 'vacation shirt' lettering across the front. "Is there something wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Ochako scratched her cheek. "Well, no. Not exactly wrong. You look great… it's just, um…" It suddenly became difficult to just come out and say, she had chewed on him too much last night.

God I was fucking thirsty last night wasn't I?

"Deku, c-come here." Ochako pulled Izuku over to the mirror over the bathroom sink. "See?"

Deku looked at his reflection, leaned forward a bit, turning his head side to side, looking himself over. Then reached up, and played with his bangs. "What, you think I need a haircut? I got one not that long ago."

HAIRCUT?!

Ochako facepalmed so hard. Oh, she was going to have to say something. "Deku, the hickies."

Izuku blinked, looked at himself. "Oh. What about them?"

'OH?!'

"Deku, you can still see them." Ochako waved at his neck widely. She could not believe this. Even when Izuku was behaving like a dense knuckle-head she was sure he would have noticed those. So why was it—

"Oh, am I supposed to hide them?"

It wasn't just the question that threw Ochako for a loop, it was the fact he was asking it so genuinely.

"I mean, I don't see why I need to. After all," Ochako was sure he was about to bring up the comparison to their battle bruises, but, "They're your marks showing I belong to you. So I should make sure people see them, right? Like a badge of honor… or something like that." He ran his fingers over the couple that could be seen. "Don't you want everyone to know that I'm yours?"

Ochako gulped as something raw ran up her spin and made her shiver. That had to have been one of the most dangerous things she had ever heard come from Izuku. And she had heard him moan last night. She wasn't sure there was a horny bat strong enough to bonk her at that moment. It also didn't help that Izuku had said it earnestly, and not in some kinky, sex-driven way. It was his honest to god belief he should be showing those marks off.

This, plus the fucking 'Muscle Mommy' nickname from last night, really drove home just how completely smitten he was with her, and that without any trace of a filter, he had no problem showing how much of a love-blinded simp he was.

Deku's going to fucking murder me with this shit. Then when she looked at him again, she gulped. Oh fuck, I want him to fucking murder me.

Ding dong!

Melissa groaned as she reached for a couch cushion and put it over her head. After waking up, and putting on something that resembled an outfit, she had plopped down on the couch, flipped on the TV to some anime and had sat staring at it all day without actually watching it. At least with her uncle gone, she didn't have to pretend to be a functioning human being.

Ding dong!

She pushed the cushion down, and ignored the doorbell. This was her day off, apparently, and she was going to use it to mope around and act like a couch potato.

Ding dong!

Melissa ground her teeth. Are they seriously just going to keep—

Ding dong!

Ding d—!

Ding—!

The pillow was chucked off, bouncing off the ceiling before it landed back on the other side of the couch. "Are you kidding me?!" Melissa sucked it in as she stormed for the door, not sure if she was going to scream at whoever was crazy enough to—

Ding—!

—STILL be ringing her bell like a fucking lunatic, or break their fucking nose and then yell at them. Almost crushing the doorknob into mangled metal, and very nearly ripping the door off its hinges if not for the incredible work quality of I-Island, Melissa sucked in a deep breath and got ready to unleash hell.

"Melissa! Good morning!"

"Good, you're here!"

Only to find the smiling, beaming faces of Izuku and Ochako looking back at her. The roar clogged up her throat, not that either of the two seemed to notice. Izuku reached out, grabbed her hand and, without letting her get a word in, pulled her out of her doorway. "And you're already dressed too! Great! Come with us!"

"WHA—?!"

Ochako closed the door behind them as the two pulled the completely befuddled Melissa with them.

Agpar was not having a good morning. Suffering from horrible jet lag, and lack of sleep, he was now looking over the most up to date reports he had over the incident last night and he wasn't sure if he should be adding cream to his coffee, or whiskey. The members of I-Island's governing board, and representatives of the other backing nations that were with him for this meeting, also looked like they needed something strong to mix with their drinks.

He had been personally requested to be here, and there were enough higher-ups in multiple branches of the government that had agreed that him accepting the request was the best option. So one flight later, spent getting filled in on the shitshow, a couple hours of sleep and now going over these new reports… Well, he was thoroughly done. And it wasn't even eleven o'clock yet.

"Sirs," came a buzz from the intercom. "He's here."

Agpar sighed. "Send him in." He paused and confirmed, "It's just him, correct?"

"Yes sir."

Agpar felt just a tad of relief. One potentially angry hero he thought he could deal with. If Star and Stripe decided to get involved, well, that could get messy. Agpar could only assume that All Might had talked her into letting him deal with the fallout, and he was grateful for that.

All heads turned as All Might walked into the room. Everyone watched him very carefully. All Might was known around the world, and his accolades got many people on edge. This meeting was to determine what was going to happen to the hero's best friend; this was extremely uncomfortably personal. So everyone was looking for some sign that he was coming into the meeting with dangerous intent. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. He seemed calm, dressed for the meeting in his suit, and not for a fight with his costume.

He did take a moment to glance at the assembly. Agpar knew he had originally requested that this be a more personal meeting, but the representatives at the embassy had been right when they said that while he did have a good amount of sway with the board, he could not just outright come to a decision and enforce it on them. Nations had representatives here, but I-Island was its own nation.

"Everyone, thank you for agreeing to this meeting with me." All Might bowed. "The recent events have… been a strain on all of us."

"Your efforts to prevent the attack from escalating saved a great many people last night, and potentially many more if those villains had been able to escape with… Mr. Shield's device," Agpar replied diplomatically.

All Might nodded, then he seemed to wait. His eyes glanced over at the members of the governing board like he was waiting for them to say something. Maybe a snide remark that they were right to want to seal the device in the first place. Or maybe expressing their displeasure that he had gone around their authority by taking David to be held at the American embassy. But nothing came, and that visibly put him on edge.

"Please All Might, take a seat. There is a lot to go over since you stopped the attack."

Oh, All Might did not like the sound of that. "Then perhaps it's best to start at the beginning. Though my understanding was, this meeting was to discuss what was going to be done with David considering how he was manipulated."

"Manipulated," one of the representatives repeated back. "Not the most accurate way to describe Mr. Shield's involvement."

All Might nodded as he sat down. "Maybe not. But it could be the most palatable. For everyone."

Agpar huffed. "Someone's been taking notes on how to talk like a politician."

All Might just shrugged, but noted that more than a few people were nodding and focusing on that word choice of his.

No one is openly coming out against me? All Might expected pushback, expected harsh condemnation of his friend. The island's perfect reputation as a safe haven had just been tattered, and with the help of some of their own. All Might had expected the board to be screaming for David's head. So why aren't they?

With All Might sitting at the table with everyone else, Agpar flipped through his notes. "For the records, let's start at the beginning with what we know. I find that's the best way to make sure everyone has a clear picture of the situation."

Murmurs of agreement from all around let him know he was good to start. "Some weeks ago, Mr. Shield was brought before the governing board to go over his most recent invention, a device that could enhance a person's Quirk to unrealized heights without there being any damage to their body. The potential damage that such an invention could do to the world's stability was deemed too great, so the board elected to have the device and everything related to it stored away.

"During this time, board members noted that Mr. Shield argued intensely against this decision, becoming visibly agitated when his initial pleading was dismissed. Some members were alarmed by the ferocity, then eventual despondency, that came over Mr. Shield. Since having an invention or work sealed away could be devastating, his actions seemed to go well above the normal arguments to prevent such a move. A quote from one member, 'It's almost like he had some unknown personal investment in the device.'"

Agpar paused. "One might infer that he planned on selling the device to individuals or governments that would fall outside his normal customer base. Though," Agpar continued, "while he took extreme measures to get his work back, it was clearly never meant to fall into the hands of villains. But that doesn't answer who this device was for."

"Me," All Might answered immediately. And the way some heads snapped to look at him, you'd expect them to need ice packs to ice down the whiplash. "David created the device for me."

The people all had varying different reactions to that little bit of info. Shock, sure, but also confusion and then, some fear. Because while All Might was a hero, he was also already incredibly powerful. So him being made even stronger, had them on edge.

"For you? You asked Mr. Shield to make you such a device?" asked the representative from Japan.

All Might shook his head. "No. I only learned about it last night. Before I delivered David into custody."

"Why would Mr. Shield even want to make this for you?" Agpar asked.

"Simply? I'm getting old." He waited for that to sink in. "Time is the one enemy no one can defeat and, well… I've been a hero for a long time now. I'm not the spring chicken I used to be. I've spent the last couple of years preparing for how villains will react once my age starts to become noticeable. What I failed to do, was think how my friends would react when they began to notice." All Might sighed. "And because of that, David began to desperately try to find a way to prevent what he thought was the worst possible outcome. And I wasn't able to see how the idea of me having to step down had affected him so much. I suppose, I share in the responsibility of what happened here."

"That…" Agpar tapped the desk. "Could explain the extreme steps he took, if he was working under the assumption that only his work could… preserve you."

"Desperate people are easily manipulated." Several members of the group nodded.

Agpar moved on, "After this, according to the reports and recordings taken from the tower vault, Mr. Shield was then convinced by his assistant Samuel Abraham to stage what he was led to believe was a fake villain attack. During this time they would be able to steal back the device and research. However it's clear that this was all a ploy by Mr. Abraham to get the device into the hands of his compatriots. During the attack it was your students that were able to disrupt these plans and free the captured heroes, resulting in the villains' plans falling apart."

The Japanese representative cleared his throat. "Having children from U.A. once again involving themselves in a matter that should be left to professionals. That Midoriya being at the forefront of it again as well. One might wonder what you're teaching these days."

Agpar cut in, "At no point were the children aggressors in any altercation. In fact, they took multiple steps to avoid combat as they tried to get Mr. Shield's daughter to the control room. As it stands, I see no reason why they need to be brought up during this meeting." Turning his attention back to All Might, Agpar asked, "Before you brought Mr. Shield in, you said you two talked. It's how you learned about why he made the device. Did he tell you anything about the villains? Or Mr. Abraham's connection to them?"

All Might frowned. "David didn't have much to say about the villains themselves. Up until the attack, he was working under the impression they were fake. He had no idea about their affiliations, or anything about them personally. But, he mentioned the sudden change in Sam once everything started to come out in the open, and some of the things being said between that metal manipulating villain and Sam."

"Anti-Quirk sentiment?"

"To put it mildly. He said Sam acted like a completely different person. The language used was… xenophobic. Purebloods, true humans, and a lot of other nonsense. The stuff he heard said between them seemed to come right out of an old world history book, when Quirks were first manifesting."

"But nothing specific?"

"No."

A murmur went through the members of the meeting. All Might watched them. It didn't seem like they were all that surprised, but at the same time, their disappointment was clear, and their nervousness was obvious. So when they noticed All Might looking at them, clearly noticing, the governing board at least, shied away from his gaze.

What in the hell is going on?

"All Might, have you heard of an organization known as Humarise?" Agpar asked.

All Might hummed, rubbing his chin as he thought about that. "I… hmm. I think it's a name I've heard of before. But not in a villain organization context."

"Perhaps in the same breath of Quirk Singularity, or as some call it, the Quirk Doomsday Theory?"

"Yes… I think… It's a religious movement or something. Founded in Otheon, right?" It was a long time ago, but All Might recalled it was brought up as an organization to be added to a potential watch list.

"Cult would be a better term. But yes. That's them. In the past few years their influence has spread to many countries, opening over twenty branches. Their teachings tend to attract Quirkless individuals, with their warnings that those with Quirks are headed towards oblivion."

"Quirkless, huh? When people started to develop Quirks, what constituted as a human was thrown into question. Do you think this group is responsible for the attack?"

"Unfortunately, we don't know for sure. Right now, we have very few leads we can follow to investigate. We were hoping Mr. Shield might've mentioned something to you."

All Might narrowed his eyes. "Few leads? I'd say you have multiple leads. I'm sure once you interrogate the villains…" All Might trailed off when Agpar shook his head.

"The villains are all dead. Assassinated during transport."

"What?!"

Agpar folded his hands on the table. "The villains had been moved to a secure hospital after the attack, basically making sure they weren't in immediate medical danger. The plan was, after the checkups, they would then be moved to a secure location on I-Island until transport to I-Island's prison could be complete. But… when security went to check on Mr. Abraham, they found him with his wrists slit open. After finding him like that, security rushed to get the remaining villains moved, hoping to prevent more potential death by making sure they could be monitored more closely. But while they were getting moved, they were killed."

Agpar motioned, and a monitor flickered to life, playing footage of the incident. The villains, cuffed and wearing Quirk suppressing restraints. Some were getting loaded up into vans when suddenly there was a streak of green, a spray of blood, and then arrows were shot into the villain's skulls. A few more shots showed that the attack was hitting multiple locations around the hospital as they had spread them apart to prevent any attempted escape. The last one to die, Wolfram, had already been loaded into the van which was screeching away. A green streak twisted before an arrow shot through the van. Footage switched to Wolfram slumped over, the arrow sticking out of his chest.

"How did this happen? With the island's security returned, this shouldn't have been possible."

The footage changed again. "This was recorded with aerial weather cameras, some few thousands of feet above the city skyline." It took All Might a few seconds to figure out what he was seeing. At first, it was just a dark sky. The sun had only just begun to peek out from over the horizon. Then the sky began to twist as a dark mist spread out.

All Might instantly recognized what that was. "Kurogiri."

While the villain himself didn't materialize, someone did come out of the dark warp. A woman, wearing a green hooded cape and a gray sleeveless combat suit. The woman fell out of the warp, but only a few feet. Soon, she was floating up in the sky. All Might watched as this unknown woman held out her left hand and a longbow formed from it. Then the woman began to fire shot after shot, green streaks curving unnaturally downward until the arrows hit their marks. Then, just as soon as she appeared, Kurogiri swallowed her up and they were gone.

Multiple Quirks again… All for One.

"The attack took place above the range of the island security, and was so fast, there wasn't time to counter."

So, not only did these members of the governing board preside over the first villain attack on the island, they were also the ones that allowed a second incursion by another villain which led to the deaths of the villains who attacked first. Cutting off any potential leads into the case. If things weren't so fucked up, All Might would have laughed. No wonder they're all being so agreeable. They're grasping at straws to try and come out of this with their political careers intact.

Agpar watched All Might and saw that he was quickly getting a handle on the situation.

"Have there been any attempts on David's life?"

"No. He's been kept secure since you dropped him off. Ever since the attacks, I've had him moved into the deepest part of our embassy with tightened security."

"What about Sam? Do we know if there was any attempt to get to him before he committed suicide?"

"None. It appears that they were lying in wait for the villains to be moved. But since neither Mr. Shield or Mr. Abraham were ever taken into the open, no attempts on their lives were made."

"And now that they've carried out their attack, it's doubtful they'd try anything again. Similar to when the League of Villains used Kurogiri to attack U.A."

"I would agree."

All Might replayed the news he had just learned in his head. As he did, something odd poked out at him. "Forgive me, but earlier you asked me about this Humarise organ… cult. Why are you suspecting them in particular? Sam's rants aside, that's not enough to narrow down to a single group. And from what hasn't been said yet, I doubt any of the villains talked while in your custody."

Agpar nodded. "You're correct. They all kept their mouths shut. It was Mr. Abraham that led us to Humarise. Though we don't have any concrete proof, nothing that would allow any hero or government agency to act on at least."

"But you have something?"

The screen changed, and All Might hissed through his teeth. Images of Sam's room were displayed, with the walls and floor covered in blood. Though, as All Might looked, he realized it wasn't random puddles and splashes. "Holy shit. He wrote a message."

"He did. He quoted several passages from Humarise's bible. That's why we're interested in them."

"'Soon the curse that has infected mankind will be purged. God's judgment will be a dark cloud of retribution as the false men will die by the very curse they spread and propagate amounts themselves.'… Well that's ominous."

All Might was aware of the theory. That at one point Quirks would be mixed up and become too strong for a human body to handle them. What he just read sounded like someone took that, and tried to make it theatrical. So, a bible passage.

"It's enough to at the very least give the cult a little scrutiny, but not enough to actually do anything. Unfortunately, if there is anything going on, we'll have to wait until they make another move."

All Might agreed. There wasn't much to be gained now that all the leads were dead. So now that he was completely caught up on everything, he decided it was time to address the issue he was here to address. "I would like to talk about David. And what's going to happen to him."

"You've stated that Mr. Shield was manipulated, but at the end of the day, he was an active participant in an attack that had several heroes and security personnel assaulted, caused damage to one of I-Islands key facilities and potentially put the lives of civilians in jeopardy." Agpar spread his hands out. "Mr. Shield is going to have to face justice. In the court of law and of public opinion."

All Might leaned forward. "I can think of some people's opinions that should make you more concerned than others." That went over everyone's heads except Agpar's. Melissa, David's daughter and the current number one hero of his country, would probably not take the news well if anything happened to her father. "And it's like I said, 'manipulated' could be the best way to swing this. A man at his lowest point tricked, then forced to help a group of villains after he's betrayed by his closest assistant." All Might then glanced at the members of the board. "Plus, you might be able to swing it so the board's connection to this whole mess doesn't get them all recalled and voted out."

It was interesting to see the board members react to this. Clearly they had been worried about how letting the villains get killed was going to look for them. But the implication that their initial act of sealing away the device triggered everything, made them sweat.

The representatives from the other nations were less moved, though they didn't seem like they were outright against the idea. Agpar rubbed his thick whiskers. "That almost sounds like blackmail, All Might."

"I'm not smart enough to pull it off trying to blackmail a whole government. But I know a thing or two about governments and cover-ups. Sometimes the best solution is the one that's the cleanest, right? I'd have to imagine that if things become disrupted here, more than they already are, with investigations and scandals and recall, that might make companies think about moving away. Less companies could lead to work and study shortages and anything that... say, other governments are having built here could end up getting delayed or maybe even suspended indefinitely until things calm down." All Might watched the government representatives and saw a few flinches.

Agpar chuckled. "Not smart enough, huh? Right now, things are already starting to return to normal. It says something about the human condition with how quickly people will work to pretend things didn't happen, even if something abnormal has just occurred. But, one too many blows to that security, or one big change, and those same people… will demand accountability."

Agpar leaned back into his chair. "He can't just be let off scot-free… despite everything and how some of us might personally feel, Mr. Shield facing no punishment would be a miscarriage of justice." All Might nodded solemnly. He knew that and he knew that Melissa did too.

"But, I agree that while he worked to steal tech, none of this was supposed to happen. These events spiraled in a way because they were planned by people with malicious intent." All for One's name wasn't said, but those that knew, knew. Wolfram had multiple Quirks. That isn't something that happens naturally. "I will work for a house arrest of sorts. I think the members of the board will agree that this could be the least complicated answer."

The board members whispered amongst themselves, but in the end they seemed to be behind the general idea. "To facilitate some of the requirements I'm sure will be imposed on him, it may be wise that he be moved off I-island for this duration. If no one opposes the idea, Mr. Shield will be returned home to the states, where he'll serve out his punishment."

It seemed like, at least the general idea, was agreed upon by the group. All Might was sure the finer details would be hammered out, as well as an official story for everything. But at the very least, he wasn't going to have to face Melissa and tell her that her father was going to get locked away. No, he was going to get sent home, and potentially into the clutches of his wife Zuri. All Might was pretty sure he wanted to be back in Japan when that happened. Odds are he'd get dragged into whatever punishment the woman cooked up. And honestly, with how All Might's connection to everything affected how David ended up in the situation he was in now, All Might wasn't sure he didn't deserve some of Zuri's wrath.

"Oh my god!" Was Melissa's scandalized gasp as she started pulling on Izuku's shirt collar, openly gawking as she peered down his front. "Look at all of them!"

Izuku was beaming with pride as he did what he was sure any sensible and smitten boyfriend would do, bragging like crazy at how thirsty his girlfriend was last night. "Ochako let me give her one and then when it was her turn, well, about half of those were her first go."

"Holy!" Melissa's face was almost down Izuku's shirt. "She was all over your chest! I thought she just got your neck!"

"Nope! She used me like a chew toy!"

Above them, Ochako wailed.

"Oh, oh, she got one of your nipples too. That must have hurt."

Izuku laughed. "It did, but it also felt really good… Is that normal?"

Another wail.

"From my experience with pinching myself, yes. It's totally normal…" Melissa quickly moved on before that could sink in. "Okay, how far down did she go?" Melissa pulled her head back and was now pulling up Izuku's shirt.

"MELISSA!"

"Aww, she didn't quite reach your belly button."

Izuku scratched his head. "Yeah, to do that I'd need to be sitting on the jacuzzi's ledge and we both felt that the position we'd be in… could be a bit much."

"She did or you did?" Melissa asked, a naughty knowing smirk on her face as she glanced up while Izuku put his shirt back on.

"Well, I said that it kinda felt… a little much if she was…"

Melissa flashed Izuku a thumbs up. "Good man. And as for you." Melissa turned her attention back to Ochako, pulling on the ribbon she had attached to the girl's ankle as she started floating away. "How many love bites did you get last night?"

Getting put back on her feet, Ochako's face burned as she came under Melissa's excited stare. With steam practically coming out her ears, Ochako rolled the collar of her shirt down, showing off the ring of marks around her collar. Then as Melissa whistled, Ochako just got it over with and pulled the collar out, so Melissa could see leaned in, getting a good look. "Damn, he must have been sucking pretty hard on a few of these." Melissa noted that Izuku's marks didn't go down anywhere near as far as Ochako's. She could tell where the top of the towel Ochako had been wearing sat.

"How'd it feel?" Melissa asked with a mischievous grin.

Ochako gulped, letting her shirt go. "Really good."

Behind the two, Izuku pumped his fist into the air. "Yes!"

Both turned to look at him before bursting out laughing. "Oh my god, that's too much."

Izuku crossed his arms. "I will not apologize for celebrating making Ochako feel good."

"Damn." Melissa smirked, then leaned over to whisper into Ochako's ear. "You're in so much trouble once you guys start getting serious." Ochako nodded, her face very, very red. "You know, you're lucky I know you got Midoriya all to yourself. Otherwise, with the way you two have been acting, you two just suddenly showing up to my door and kidnapping me, might make a young impressionable girl like myself think you were taking me to do all sorts of things to spice up your vacation."

While Izuku started stammering at the implications. Ochako chuckled. "See, you say that, but you haven't met Toga yet. She would have very strong words if we suddenly brought another blonde into our lives…. There would definitely be some stabbing."

Melissa blinked, and looked over towards Izuku to see if there was some context she could get from him, only to find him turned away, hand over his mouth as he tried not to laugh so hard. "Wait… so is she like you guys' girlfriend or something?"

Ochako tapped her chin. "We would definitely have the 'it's complicated' box checked on our social media pages."

"Toga is…" Izuku, having himself back under control, searched for the best way to describe what they were with Himiko. "Complicated."

"The person or the relationship?"

"Yes," Izuku said with a nod. "That. But she's also special to us. And we'll need to let her know that. In actual words. She knows we care, but… saying it is important."

"Completely," Ochako agreed. "Also Tsu, who's another good friend of ours, totally has the hots for her, soooo…" She shrugged.

"Complicated," Melissa finished.

"Yeah."

"Huh."

Ochako smirked playfully. "So you'd have to settle for concubine if you want us to whisk you away."

"Oh, I don't mind that at all." Melissa smirked back, just as playfully. The blush that spread across both Izuku and Ochako's faces brought a very smug smile to Melissa's lips. "You two do have one more night here. I'm just saying, you're the two that suddenly swooped into my life, found out my secret and then went about being two of the most incredible people I'd ever met. You don't get to be surprised by me being a little crushy."

For the next few minutes, Melissa found herself in the unfortunate situation of worrying that she may need to find a pond to toss Izuku in in case he caught fire with all the smoke pouring out of him, and holding onto Ochako's ankle for dear life as the slightest breeze threatened to blow the weightless girl away.

A little while later, by which point Ochako and Izuku had recovered enough to get back to the task at hand, the trio came to a spot that Melissa was sure would be perfect for the cookout her uncle wanted. So the three went to work, making sure the area was claimed. While they did, Izuku heard a sniffle that grabbed his attention immediately. "Melissa?"

Melissa hurried to wipe her eyes. "Sorry, sorry. Guess I didn't realize how much I needed this. Just, um… give me a second, will you?"

They helped Melissa sit down and waited with her as she let herself just cry. But what had started as her pent-up emotions after everything that had happened with her father, soon drifted into new feelings. She was crying for selfish, childish things.

"I don't want you two to go," she whispered out between sniffles, taking off her glasses and trying to dry her tears. "God, I sound like a baby. But… you two are the first people I've felt like I could talk to. I don't have to be one or the other. I can be… me. Damn it, I don't want to lose this. I… ah—" Melissa felt arms encircle her on both sides. Izuku and Ochako leaned in, and hugged her, offering what comfort they could. For Melissa, who had gone so long without hiding herself away from only a select few, family and men of rank, feeling this kindness from people she saw as true friends, it was exactly what she needed.

"Here, give me your phone for a second."

With Melissa back to her old self, Izuku held out his hand to her. Melissa did as asked and handed it over. Izuku took it and then quickly typed away. After he was done, there were twin pings from his and Ochako's phones. "There we go."

Ochako, knowing exactly what he had done, cheered. "Oh quick, take a selfie with that."

Izuku and Ochako crowded to Melissa's side and she, not getting it but also just enjoying the fun mystery, took a selfie with them.

"Post that in the group chat," Ochako said as she quickly typed away on her phone.

Melissa blinked and finally took a second to see what Izuku had done. A quick glance found her looking at a whole new group chat, with Ochako's name pending a message. "Dekusquad?"

"Don't worry about that," Izuku muttered, reminding himself that there really needed to be a new vote over that name. "Say hi to all your new friends!"

Melissa blinked. "My wha?"

"Welcome to the squad, Melissa. You're one of Deku's nerds now," Ochako said with a big smile.

Uraraka: Nw frnd! S y h1!

Shinsou: So u adptd anth3r 1 huh?

Uraraka: Shar pics!

Ochako waved at Melissa, urging her to share the selfie and introduce herself. While Melissa tried to keep up with the sudden change, Izuku gave her a little nudge. "I know you can't just go around telling people everything, but I promise you, everyone in here will listen to you and talk with you regardless if you're big or small. And I made sure you had Ochako and my numbers, in case you needed to talk. Or facetime, or anything. We might not be able to stay on the island with you, or travel to America, but we're still here for you."

Melissa suddenly felt like she was going to cry again, but instead, overcome with so many joyous emotions, she just did the first thing that came naturally to her. She bent down, wrapping an arm around both of the dorks, and planted a kiss on their cheeks. "Thank you. Thank you, you're both just so amazing. You two might be making me serious about earlier."

While Izuku and Ochako both blushed and stammered, Melissa started typing in the chat room, introducing herself and telling everyone she was an inventor going to I-Island Academy as well as All Might's niece. She then posted the selfie she had taken with the pair. A few seconds, came more messages, welcoming her with selfies of them waving. She recognized a few names from the night before.

Himiko: H0LY FCK! UR TALL!1!

Melissa snorted at that. "So that's Toga?"

"Yup," came the dual confirmations.

"She looks like a handful."

"Yup," came the dual confirmations.

Melissa looked at the picture of the fanged girl. "I could totally take her."

Ochako stammered while Izuku's eyes sorta glazed over. "I'd love to see that."

"Deku!" Ochako looked at him aghast. "You're not supposed to say that out loud." She then covered her mouth, since that could imply she had been having similar ideas.

Melissa smirked teasingly. "Good to know you're both on board."

Hatsume: (≖o≖├┬┴┬┴

Hatsume: Im th invntr of th gr0p.

Hatsume: No touchng my client.

Hatsume: Wth inferi0r tech

The playful mood suddenly chilled and Melissa felt her brow twitch. "Inferior?"

Izuku suddenly felt a shiver run up his spine. "Uh oh."

Hopefully none of his friends would dare mention what he had been wearing last night.

Todoroki: Tht supprt itm Midoriya had lst n1ght smed alrite to m3.

I wonder how much trouble I'd get in if I helped make Todoroki's face match on both sides.

Suddenly the group chat was filled with back and forth as Melissa and Mei got angrily acquainted.

After some gentle nudging, and with Izuku all but sure he was going to get killed when he got home, the trio sent All Might a message about where a good spot to hold a cookout was. A little while later, he arrived, carrying a large grill and enough food to feed a small army.

Soon the rest of the students of 1-A arrived and everyone chowed down. Melissa got to introduce herself to Eijirou and Mezou, thanking them for helping with the hostage situation in the tower.

Meeting Katsuki was, in the most polite way to describe, an experience. His brash, loud, and condescending way that he claimed he could have handled everything, made Melissa just stare at him. His comment that extras should just keep their heads down and let the experts deal with stuff was shocking. She had met people who were full of themselves before, but this took the cake. When no one from the class seemed put off by it, she looked at Izuku for some help.

"That's just Kacchan," Izuku said while he went back for another plate of food.

"What he means," Kyouka said between bites, "is that he's a total b—"

Momo reached over to try and get Kyouka to stop while Katsuki snarled at the rocker girl. Shouto casually picked up his plate of food to get out of the blast radius..

"Care to say that over here?! I'll blow out your ear drums!"

"Up yours!" Kyouka added a middle finger to show she didn't care at all. Tenya quickly stepped in to remind the pair that they were U.A. students and should behave as such.

Fortunately, before things could escalate, Eijirou came to the rescue. Because as he happened to walk by Izuku to get to Katsuki, his eyes picked something up.

"Um, dude? What happened to your neck?"

When Mina's head whipped around, and Ochako saw the look in her eyes. She knew she was screwed.

As the sun set and everyone went back to their hotels, All Might finally had a moment where he could talk with Melissa about her father. Izuku and Ochako offered to head off as well, but Melissa said it was fine.

The relief that spread over her when All Might summed everything up was evident. She almost lost her concentration and transformed right then and there.

Back in their hotel room, Izuku and Ochako spent some time making sure everything they needed was packed up and ready for their flight home in the morning. Once that was done, Izuku clapped his hands together. "So. What do you wanna do for our last night he—"

Ochako leapt into his arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him as they tumbled back into the bed. Ochako didn't even bother with a teasing, 'what do you think?' Instead she picked up where they had left off the night before, kissing Izuku deeply, hotly and eagerly.

When she pulled back, she smirked at the dazed smile on Izuku's face. That was a look she'd never get tired of. Leaning in, Ochako's lips pressed into the sensitive skin behind Izuku's ear, peppering the spot with soft kisses, which made her boyfriend squirm. Between kisses, Ochako's hot breath tickled Izuku's ear as she asked, "Sharing a room like this. Sharing a bed. I could really get used to this. How about you," Ochako playfully closed her lips on his earlobe, "Izuku?"

She loved the shudder she felt from him. She loved the way his arms wrapped around her waist even more. It meant that pretty soon, Izuku was going to play too.

"You know what I think?" Izuku asked as he pulled her back so he could see her face.

"Hmm?"

"I think we need to start figuring out excuses to hang out at your place now."

This time, it was Ochako's turn to shudder as she gave that idea some thought. That or because Izuku had pulled her into another kiss, and was gently sucking on her lower lip, looking for her to open up, and let him in. Ochako's tongue running along his lips, was her enthusiastic invitation.

Melissa watched the plane until it vanished into the sky. Even after her new friends and uncle were out of sight, she stood and just looked off into nothing. A lot of stuff had happened, and there were about to be some changes. With her father getting moved back to the states, Melissa would definitely be finishing any school work online. There just wasn't any reason why she'd need to come to I-Island now. But there was most certainly something for her somewhere else.

"Uncle Might spent time abroad, no reason why Star and Stripe can't do the same."

"The assignment has been completed."

"I see. The loss is unfortunate. But the weapon has been destroyed. And after seeing the threat it is, I doubt any nation will want to see it surface. What of David Shield?"

"He was being held in the American embassy and was being kept under close watch, even before I made my move. As of now, getting to Shield will be all but impossible. Unfortunately Samuel Abraham also took his own life before I was able to silence him. And it appears he chose to leave a message behind before he died."

On the other end of the speaker phone, there was a sigh. Not exactly sad by any means, but a resigned one that came from a man accepting some unfortunate news. "Shield's free life is now at an end. While he may still live, he will rot never knowing freedom again. Sam… his end is a shame. He was loyal to the cause. I hoped that after having to spend so long mingling with the corrupt and sick that he would have the prodigal return he deserved. It seems his devotion caused him to make some… unfortunate choices at the end. This may end up being an issue, but as we move closer to our chosen day, we expected that more eyes would be upon us regardless."

"If there is nothing else, I would say our transaction is completed."

"You are of course welcome to join us. Our cause welcomes all that are willing. And your abilities would be a great benefit to us. And." There was a pause. "If you are with us, you would be spared the coming judgment that will befall all those tainted."

The dark bar was quiet as several eyes turned to look at Beros. The hooded archer tapped her fingers on the wooden bar top. "I will have to respectfully decline. I've already been hired for a new job, which I get the feeling is going to be better for my long term health. Especially since I doubt either of you will be able to afford letting the other live."

"Very well. Then I wish you good fortune. Until you and the rest of your kind are wiped off the face of the earth."

The soft click from the speaker ended the call. Beros picked up the phone, before clicking it back into place, ensuring the call was ended on both sides.

"What a fucking prick," Tomura muttered while he went back to flipping through the channel on the TV.

"Hmph, religious nutjobs anticipating the end of the world are nothing new," Chimera said while looking over the box of gear that Giran had sent, and helping one member try on theirs for the first time. "And you, quit struggling. These things are supposed to be a tight fit."

Said member could only make strangled angry sounds while their mask was being test fitted. To his side, Spinner snickered as he went back to work adding more blades to his magnum opus. He ignored the worried looks everyone in the room gave him as he worked.

The computer monitor, still displaying 'Sound Only' cracked as the man behind is chuckled. "Nor is he the first to use such messages to amass followers and lead them to kill. Cult leaders are a truly fascinating thing from the old world. Men without real power controlling so many with just their words."

Beros, glanced over at the monitor. "Will you be taking back the Quirk then? Since it was part of the deal when I was still contracted to Flect Turn? His research into Trigger, in exchange with arming his men to better their chances with their mission."

"That won't be necessary. Float is yours. I'm sure you will put it to good use going forward."

"Speaking of going forward." A very angry grumble was the group's one warning as Lady Nagant walked into the room, carrying a cracked open beer and looking like she wanted to fight. "Anyone want to explain why she's even here? All she does is everything I can do."

"Everything you can do, but better." Beros was undisturbed as she was poured a drink by Kurogiri. "Clearly they wanted someone that could do the job." She glanced at Kaina evenly. "That didn't have to look like that."

Kaina felt her eye twitch, hating that she had to reach up and wipe some of the suds from her brow so it didn't drip into her eyes. The shampoo and conditioner that was soaking her scalp was supposed to help stimulate her hair's growth. It was just a pain in the ass having to leave it in for so long.

"Plus, unlike you, I wasn't rotting in a cell for… what was it, a decade at least? So my skills aren't rusty."

Heads turned to watch the pair. As hilarious as the situation looked, the more mature villains in the room knew full well that any fighting between members, like Beros and Kaina, would very well mean they would at best be down one member of the League.

"Now Beros. It's unfair to make such assumptions. Kurogiri can attest that Lady Nagant's skills have not diminished during her time in Tartarus. While she may not be able to use her Quirk at the moment, she was happy to demonstrate her talents when supplied weapons from Giran."

"Has Giran found those last members yet?" Tomura asked offhandedly. "I'm almost healed up. So we better get those people here soon. I'm ready to do something."

"He's reported that he will be bringing in three more individuals in a few days," Kurogiri informed him.

Spinner tightened a belt holding a hatchet to his growing sword. "Let's hope they're not nutjobs like that one guy. Freaked me the fuck out. He looked like he wanted to cut me open with those teeth of his."

Tomura scratched at his neck. "Finally. Once they're here, I can go on the offensive, right?"

"Soon. Once an opportunity presents itself, you'll have your chance, Shigaraki."

Tomura's nails dug deep into his skin in irritation. That wasn't the answer he had been hoping for. Not that he was surprised. He supposed he was supposed to be tactical or some shit. "And how are we supposed to know when that opportunity is? We could be waiting around forever."

"Oh I doubt that. Now that we have someone on the inside, you'll have everything in your favor."

"What do you mean visitation is suspended indefinitely?"

The security guard eyed the girl through the inches thick glass at the reception desk. He really wished she wouldn't glare at him like that. Those damn eyes of hers, it was like she was looking at him through the lens of her sniper's scope.

Besides him, Shishikura stepped forward and pressed his hands down on the desk, so he could look down at the visitor. "Let me make this clear. Extreme circumstances allow us to void any perceived visitation rights you may think you have. And no, you do not have the right to know what these circumstances are."

The girl frowned. "The courts have said—"

"We have already submitted paperwork to the courts stating our position. Their previous ruling is now suspended until the situation has been resolved." Shishikura stood back up, and crossed his arms. "I suggest you leave the premises. Harassing the faculty could end up earning you room here if you're not careful."

Shishikura watched the girl carefully. Watched those damned eyes twitch as she took everything in. Finally, after it was clear she wasn't going to get her way, the girl turned and left. Besides him, the receptionist sighed and rubbed his brow. "That kid freaks me the hell out." Shishikura grunted. "Sir… what exactly are we going to do? She could file a report or—"

"Until the HPSC's done with their investigation, we don't let any news of the incident get out. And any report she tries to file will get buried as well. The president herself is keeping an eye on this, so there's nothing that little bastard can do."

"I wonder why she came by though, this isn't her normal visiting hours. Or day. I had to call you because we had nothing prepared."

Shishikura just shrugged. "Schools out. Just make sure everyone knows not to change the story with her."

One silent train ride home and the young woman walked into her messy apartment. Scrap, pulled apart appliances, shelves and drawers overflowing with electronics and unfinished work, and more than a few packets of hair dye. How she could move around without tripping or having her school uniform catch on something was a small miracle. But where some would see chaos, she would claim it was her system.

Sitting down at a small workbench, the young woman casually fingered a soldering iron she had left on. Something she'd get told off about, if she was at school. Here, by herself, she could let her system flourish. With a sigh, she reached into the bench drawer and pulled out a surprisingly undamaged postcard. Given its pristine condition, it couldn't have been left in the drawers long, otherwise it'd be a torn up mess. A day or two old, at most.

On one side, there was an 'amusing' hologram image. Look at it one side and you had an office worker, imprisoned in their cubicle. But, angle the card, and the picture changed, to that same office worker, now wearing a tropical shirt and hoisting an oversized tiki drink. With the caption, "Free At Last!"

Amusing, if taken at face value. But paired with the simple message on the back, and it changed everything.

'See you soon kiddo.'

The young woman chuckled. "Guess you really got out of that hell hole, huh, Mom?"

Chapter 317 - 56