(gentle criminal is not in the story yet in this timeline or he at least doesn't fight deku)
UA High School — Campus — Days Before the Festival
Banners went up along the walkways in bright colors. A big hand-painted sign reading SCHOOL FESTIVAL in blocky letters now hung above the main entrance to the yard. Support Course students hauled thick cables and lighting rigs through the corridors at all hours, while the Business Course kids moved in small groups handing out flyers.
Izuku walked through it all without feeling any bit festive.
His right arm hung at his side weak while the left arm was still in a heavy cast, immobilized from the mid-forearm down and tucked against his body in a foam support. The doctors had been very specific about his recovery timeline and what pushing too hard too soon could cost him later.
Mirio walked beside him, he'd been discharged two days earlier than Izuku and had returned to campus immediately. There was nothing else to do, and sitting alone in a hospital room with his thoughts had made him worse.
They had been walking for a while without any real direction.
"Everyones meeting in the gym," Sero called out as he passed, carrying a collapsed lighting rig across both shoulders like it weighed nothing. "You're late, Midoriya."
"I'll be there," Izuku replied.
He didn't speed up though.
Mirio watched a Business Course student drag a folding table through a doorway, then another student emerge from the same doorway going the opposite direction. The whole corridor moved around them while they stayed stuck in their own slower rhythm.
"Everyone's super busy," Mirio said. His voice had that particular quality of someone trying to fill space rather than actually communicate. "I can't believe the festivals tomorrow afternoon…"
"Yeah," Izuku said.
They kept walking.
"I keep thinking," he said.
He stopped there and Mirio waited for him.
"I keep thinking she was there," Izuku continued quietly. "The whole fight, every time I hit Chisaki, I was picturing her face when it was finally over. What she'd look like when she was safe." He looked down at the cast on his left arm. "And she was never even there at all."
Mirio didn't say anything for a moment.
"I know," he said eventually.
"I just want to know where she is. I want to know she's okay."
Mirio looked at a bright projection on the wall near them, he felt the same and didn't know what to say.
They passed the gymnasium. The sound from inside was louder now it was Bakugo's voice audible even through the closed doors.
"That's probably your cue," Mirio said.
Izuku looked at the doors before he took a deep breath.
"Yeah," he said. "Okay."
He pushed through.
Kansai International Airport — Private Hangar — Earlier That Morning
The process of leaving always took longer than showing up.
The jet sat ready at the center of the hangar, fueled and cleared for departure. Everyone was gathered in front of it.
The cargo they had acquired on this trip was almost finished being loaded. William had taken charge of loading the Nomu tank himself, hovering over Roman's men the whole time. The reinforced container was now strapped down in the hold, humming on its own power. Right next to it, Overhaul lay strapped into the restraints unconscious, and beside him were the cases of the quirk erasure and restoring bullets.
While their new passenger, Eri, was already back on the plane.
Crane looked at the group gathered in front of the jet.
"The rental vehicles go back today, return them exactly where we got them." He glanced at Roman. "Your men can handle that."
Roman gave a single nod and was already gesturing at a couple of his guys. "You heard the boss, get moving boys."
"We depart tonight," Crane continued. "I want everyone on the plane before dark, don't do anything stupid and get left behind."
Most of the group started moving, heading off to deal with the vans. Crane stayed where he was, watching them go, until only three remained.
One van stayed parked near the jet.
"I need the three of you," Crane said.
Cameron, Basil, and Roman turned toward him.
Basil squinted. "What for?"
"One more stop before we leave Japan."
Roman turned his head sharply. "Where?"
Crane was quiet for a moment, as if weighing how much to say.
"UA's holding a school festival today," he said evenly. "I'm going."
The silence that followed was heavy.
Basil let out a short, disbelieving laugh. "You're going to a high school festival, of all the—"
Roman cut in. "Why the hell do you need us for a school festival?"
Crane met their eyes, calm as ever.
"You aren't going but after we're going to pick up one more thing before we go home and the three of you are the right people for the job." He paused. "I'll explain when we get there."
He started walking toward the remaining van.
Roman and Basil exchanged a look, then fell into step behind him. Cameron followed without a word, wings folded tight against his back.
School — Street Level — Festival Morning
He had dressed carefully or rather had dressed to blend in and not draw attention.
Dark jeans, a plain grey hoodie, nothing that would catch the eye in a crowd. He pulled the hood up as he stepped out of the van, hands slipping into the front pocket. The vehicle had stopped one street over from the main gate. From there, he simply walked, matching the slow pace of the families and groups heading in the same direction.
There were more people than he'd expected. Then again, UA was supposed to be one of the safest places in the country. Parents walked with small children on their shoulders, teenagers laughed in clusters, and older couples moved at a leisurely pace, clearly treating the day like a pleasant outing.
Crane kept his head slightly lowered, eyes scanning the crowd and then he thought about the UA website he'd looked at the night before and his mothers photo with that fake smile and persona.
He then thought about the text he'd sent to her… and then immediately deleted.
He joined the queue at the entrance, just another tourist in the stream of visitors.
Side Street — UA Approach — Same Time
The van was tucked into a narrow alley off the secondary road that wound toward UA, far enough from the main streets to stay out of sight. From here, they could just see the top of the school's main building.
Cameron sat with his back against the van's interior wall, legs stretched out, wings folded tight against his body, then looked across at Basil.
"You remember the plan."
Basil let out a long sigh. "Yes, I remember the plan." He shifted in his seat, and his features began to melt and rearrange, his skin tone shifting, face rounding out, eyes turning brown. In seconds he was a Japanese man in his late thirties, a tired-looking salary man, someone who hadn't slept in days and had been crying recently.
He held the disguise for a moment, then let it dissolve back into his own face.
"I could do this in my sleep," Basil said.
"Good, just remember how to say help in japanese like how Siliver told you" Cameron replied.
Basil shrugged and pulled out his phone, meanwhile Roman already had his out. Cameron stayed as he was with his arms crossed, eyes fixed on the opening of the alley.
In the distance, the festival noise drifted down from the school — music, laughter, the occasional cheer carried on the wind.
UA High School — Main Gate — Festival Morning
"Good morning,"
Crane stepped forward in the visitors queue.
"I'm a tourist, visiting from the States, someone told me this was one of the most famous hero schools in the world so I just wanted to see what it looks like up close." He gave a mild, harmless smile. "Then I heard there's a festival open to the public, good timing huh?"
The officer hesitated, clearly skeptical. Behind him, another guard stepped over to get a better look.
"Is he speaking English?" the second officer asked.
"An American, yeah, said he's on vacation."
They exchanged a quick glance, he wasn't any danger just a wide eyed tourist so they waved him through.
Crane pulled his hood back up and stepped onto the campus.
It was louder and more crowded than he'd imagined. Food stalls lined the outer paths, filling the air with the smell of takoyaki and desserts. Performance schedules were pinned to notice boards everywhere, Class B's play was advertised in big letters next to a beauty pageant and a band performance. Students moved through the crowd most looking proud of whatever they'd helped build.
He passed a group of Support Course students arguing loudly about some new designs for suits.
Near the central path, he heard English.
Two people in their forties, clearly tourists, stood with maps open, studying the performance schedule. He angled toward them.
"Sorry to interrupt but are you tourists too?"
They looked up, slightly startled, then relaxed when they heard his accent. The woman smiled. "Yes! From Canada, we've always wanted to see this place. Are you an American?"
"That's right, and it's my first time here too." He glanced at the schedule in her hand. "Anything you'd recommend?"
The man looked pleased to be asked. "Honestly, you should check out Class 1-A's performance. We heard about them on the way over, apparently they're gaining a real reputation and there concert starts in a few minutes."
the woman agreed. "Their teacher told a journalist last month that this class is something special."
Crane looked at the schedule.
"Class 1-A," he repeated. "Thank you." He gave them a small nod. "Enjoy your visit."
He walked away watching them hurry over to the gymnasium.
He also found the gymnasium hearing music thumping through the walls. He stopped outside the doors for a moment hearing the end of the song, but he didn't really care he missed it; it wasn't what he was here for.
Inside, people were cheering for Class 1-A.
Crane stood there a little longer, listening, then kept walking.
UA High School — Outside the Gymnasium — Shortly After
Nemuri had watched the entire performance from the side of the stage.
Class 1-A had thrown everything they had into it and she clapped until her hands stung, then stood with All Might and Aizawa near the back as the crowd began filing out. The three of them lingered before leaving the gymnasium before eventually saying bye to Toshinori who went to speak with Midoriya.
She and Aizawa eventually peeled away from the dispersing crowd, into a less crowded area beside the gymnasium. Festival noise still drifted from other areas, the beauty pageant was in a couple of hours and half the school seemed to have opinions about it.
"Aizawa," she said, keeping her voice low. "I was wondering, what do you remember from the tunnels? From the raid, you described someone to the investigators. A man in a mask, do you remember anything more?"
He was about to answer when a group of younger students passed nearby, laughing loudly about Class B's set design. Aizawa waited until they were out of earshot.
"He was tall with dark hair but the mask covered a lot of his face so I couldn't really identify him. He spoke English, which stood out and Kurono said a name I can't fully remember before he…" Aizawa stopped. "This isn't the right setting for this conversation."
"Ill tell you ater." His tone gently closed the subject.
Nemuri looked ahead along the path.
A hand closed firmly on her shoulder from behind.
She spun instantly, body shifting into a combat stance. Aizawa's capture weapon snapped out in the same heartbeat, wrapping tightly around the stranger's wrist.
"Relax."
The voice was low but the man was speaking,
English…
The man in the grey hoodie raised his free hand slowly, palm open, and looked at Aizawa with calm detachment.
Nemuri recognized the voice before anything else clicked.
"Aizawa," she said, her own voice sounding strange even to her. "Let him go."
Aizawa didn't move right away, he studied the man, height, build, the way he carried himself. Then his eyes narrowed as the man pulled his hood back with his other hand.
Aizawa saw it immediately: long dark hair, similar height and build to the masked figure from the tunnels and he spoke English too, but then he noticed the eyes.
They looked like Kayama's.
Nemuri was trembling. Just slightly, but Aizawa had never seen her tremble.
"Do you know this man?" he asked.
The young man started to speak again. "I thought the faculty's famil–-"
"Aizawa," Nemuri cut in. "Can you give us a minute?"
Aizawa stayed put for a long second, clearly weighing the situation, then Nemuri turned to him, voice softer.
"Please, he's not dangerous."
He gave one last long look at the stranger, then retracted his capture weapon and left.
Nemuri turned back to her son.
She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug before either of them could overthink it.
He went rigid, his body completely still not used to this kind of contact from her. She held on anyway for a few seconds, then stepped back, hands still on his arms.
"I'm glad you're here," she said, voice thick.
"But Suguru… why are you here?"
"I wanted to see it," he said. "Your life, what it actually looks like." He glanced around at the festival activity visible in every direction. "I'm not sure what I expected."
"What do you mean?"
His eyes moved down to her hero costume, then back up to her face. His expression was a little confused and disappointed.
"Your hero costume," he said. "It's very…"
"It's part of the persona," she said quickly, suddenly self-conscious. She looked down at herself. "It works with my Quirk and… the image it creates. I know it's a lot, but—"
A pair of students walked past wearing Midnight-branded shirts. One of them pointed at her and whispered something, then they both laughed.
Crane watched them go.
"It's strange," he said after a moment. "Seeing it in person, I really only have seen you like this online or on the news"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize." He looked away from where the students had gone. "These people don't matter"
"Will you be around longer?" she asked. "There are more events today"
"I have to leave tonight," he said. "I can't be away from work for too long."
She nodded, trying to hide the disappointment that flashed across her face.
"But I can stay for the rest of the festival..."
She smiled at this.
Crane looked at her.
"What else is there to see today?" he asked, smoothly redirecting.
Nemuri was about to answer before she looked down at her costume again.
"Give me fifteen minutes," she said. "I'm going to change."
He nodded once and moved to a nearby bench to wait.