Chapter 128: Aftermath

It had been, 8 hours after the event, and the kids, as well as both Sori and Sai, were all standing in front of Izuku, who was sitting on the steps of the facility, with Shina standing behind him.

"Alright. I'm going to explain everything in the simplest way possible." Izuku announced as everyone looked at him attentively. "Earlier today, we were attacked by two villain organizations. One is the League of Villains, and the other is the Meta Liberation Army."

The league of villains. What a stupid name. Yonda rolled her eyes at the childishness of that name.

"The League of Villains is a seemingly recently founded villain organization. Not much is known about them, other than they had the ability to create artificial creatures, that we've figured out are called Nomu." Izuku explained. "Which are those creatures Aka took control over earlier."

"So are they like Yami's Grimm?" Nara asked curiously.

Izuku shook his head. "No. Yami's Grimm are quirk-made beings, born from nothing but energy, with no minds or will of their own. The Nomu on the other hand, seem to have been people, heavily altered by some sort of experiments. Some of which retain some level of their sense of self, but others appear to be mindless monsters."

Looks of disgust spread among the crowd, and Eri turned visibly pale, as the thought of human experiments hit a bit too close to home.

"Again, we still don't know much about them." Izuku continued. "The Nomu Aka captured have been taken by the government for study. I doubt we'll need to worry about them again…However. The leader of the league, Tomura Shigaraki, as well as assistant Kurogiri, were both mysteriously transported away while they were being escorted to prison."

"WHAT!?" Shouted pretty much everyone, Shina, Sori, and Sai included, all staring at him with fear and shock in their eyes.

"As concerning as this is, I don't think we'll have to worry too much about them," Izuku reassured them, keeping his calm and collected tone. "From what we can tell from the interrogations, the League themselves didn't seem to care too much about us. Rather, they were here for All Might. They knew All Might would be here, so we ended up being caught up in their attack. Although there is still the risk of them seeking revenge for what happened, considering All Might is still alive, it's more likely they'll focus their efforts on him. What's more concerning, however, is the Meta Liberation Army."

"The Meta Liberation Army, to think such abhorrent group could still exist." Sai spat out with disgust.

"What's a Meta Liberation Army?" Sori asked curiously.

"I'll re-explain it for those who don't know." Izuku cleared his throat. "The Meta Liberation Army is a group that came into existence after quirks started to become more widespread and normalized, as well as more regulated. Some people viewed these regulations as against human rights, and one man, known as Destro, radicalized the people into fighting against the government, to try and create a more quirk-centric system. Thus the Meta Liberation Army was born. Given that the Meta Liberation Army put great value on quirks, they quickly began to view them as the most important thing to a person. Deciding that a quirk should decide how much value a person has. Those with stronger quirks should be in a higher class than those with weaker ones, and those with no quirks should be below them. It gets more complicated, as some people are more radical in believing that those will villainous quirks, weaker quirks, or the quirkless should be outright killed."

Yami could see the anger rising in many of his siblings, as Izuku continued explaining this horrible group. But in particular, he kept his eyes on Kiba.

She was livid right now and tightening her fist to the point where Yami was worried she'd draw blood, but she showed no sign of transforming much to his relief.

"This group was believed to have been disbanded many, many years ago, but it seems like they've returned." Izuku continued. "There's still a lot we don't know. None of the people we've identified as M.L.A. members have been willing to talk. However, thanks to Shina, we do know a few things."

Shina gave a nervous, awkward smile, and a small wave.

Most of the children didn't wave back, except for Kei, Fu, Yami, and Netsu(Kai wanted to wave back but he had no arms) with the rest of them giving her a hesitant look, causing Shina's already fragile smile to fade.

"I know that you may not have gotten off on the right foot, however, Shina wasn't herself at that moment, and she had valid reasons for doing what she did," Izuku said sternly, trying to wane away a bit of the tension between her and the others. "And at the end of the day, she was a huge help in turning the tide of the battle. But regardless of all that, she's now part of the family, and I expect you all to treat her well."

"Ok!" Kei, Netsu, and Kai gave an enthusiastic response while everyone seem to be less so.

"Alright, back to what I was saying." Izuku sighed. "Shina provided us with some valuable intel. Apparently, this new M.L.A. have been in action for a very long time. Generations even. They've amassed a lot of power and influence, with many of their members being either very wealthy business owners or even politicians. They've inducted many, many children into their group from birth, attempting to brainwash them into believing in their cause, and some of the children with the more promising quirks, are brought into special programs, with a select few being turned into child assassins. Another of which we've met. Nise, the one Fu encountered."

Sai felt like she was gonna be sick. She dispersed the H.P.S.C., but at least they had the decency, to wait until their specially picked out child soldiers were in their late teens before they started asking them to fight. It was disgusting.

"Using Shina's information, as well as my contacts with the police and the heroes, we're currently working on arresting a few dozen members of the M.L.A., some of which are those aforementioned wealthy, or high-ranking ones," Izuku explained before giving a sigh. "However, it's unlikely we'll catch many of them. News of this attack and its failure has already been spread, and with Tomura Shigaraki free, assuming his group is still communicating with the M.L.A. he's definitely going to tell them about Shina's betrail, which will likely lead to many of the suspects fleeing before we can arrest them. And even then, that's likely not even a fraction of their forces."

A feeling of unease spread throughout the children, and the adults to be honest.

Shina in particular looked extremely unnerved. She'd hoped to have been of more use, but even after killing her forgetfulness, she could only really give them so much, which was actually so little. She knew there was so much more to the M.L.A, that her handlers didn't tell her, or show her. Saying that she'd learn about it one day. Now she wished she'd dug a bit deeper, and learned more while she was there.

"But, the important part is, now the heroes are fully aware of the M.L.A.'s continued existence and will be looking into this matter extensively," Izuku said, to try and pick up the mood. "As you can guess, the government is taking the existence of a powerful terrorist group hellbent on overthrowing them, very seriously. And doing everything in their power to try and root them out. Now, as for what we'll be doing."

Izuku sighed and looked back up at the house. "Obviously we can't stay in the building for the time being. It's going to be under construction for at least a month. And we can't really stay at a hotel because of…well, Kai."

Everyone looked back at Kai, who was looking down in shame. "Sorry."

"It's fine Kai, it's not like you can help it," Izuku reassured them. "But due to this, we'll be camping out in the woods for a while."

This received…various reactions.

Some like Netsu, Kioku, and Kei seemed enthusiastic about the idea.

Others like Eri, Kiba, and Fu didn't seem to care all that much.

While some others such as Ken, Shiruku, and Nara, seemed a bit upset at the notion ofbeing out in the woods with no wifi.

"All except for Yami," Izuku said, looking right at the pale boy, who looked back curiously. "I'm currently making arrangements for Yami to stay in the city. And before anyone complains, the reason for this is because we lost, a LOT of Grimm. Yami needs to gain a lot of negative energy, in order not just to replenish the amount of Grimm we lost, but to increase them. Because after today, I fully plan on drastically increasing the security, both using Grimm and other elements I'm currently working on. While it's true that at the end of the day, all of you walked away without a scratch, that's only because of Eri and Shina. Had it not been for them, things could have ended much, much worse."

Izuku looked down, his fist clenched as everyone around could feel the guilt and anger radiating off of him. "As you all know. I hate of idea of having to send you all to fight off villains. I understand you're strong, I understand that many of you aim to become heroes one day, but right now you are children. You shouldn't have to worry about fighting for your life. And if the M.L.A. is going to go after us, then I have to do, EVERYTHING, in my power to make sure you all aren't harmed. I assure you, things WILL be different from here on out."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After sending the children away with Sori to find a camping spot, Izuku stayed along with Sai, to have a private conversation.

"Those things had multiple quirks." Sai cut to the chase, looking up at Izuku as he still sat on the stairs.

Izuku nodded solemnly. "It's quite possible that HE is involved. We're not a hundred percent sure but…"

"Tch. Damn that man! Damn every inch of his foul body!" Sai cursed, her clenched fist trembling in anger. "Never in my life have I hated someone I've never met so much!"

"I feel the same." Izuku agreed, before sighing. "But that's not why I wanted to talk to you about. What I wanted to talk to you about, was that girl you fought."

"You mean the one that claimed to be my daughter?" Sai groaned while rubbing the bridge of her nose. "Honestly, I have no idea who she is. Likely a child of one of my sisters, or even my brother. I have no idea how she could have gotten such a ridiculous idea in her head."

"Well…about that." Izuku looked away. "You see, they were um…they couldn't identify her in any way, so they did some D.N.A. tests…and…"

Izuku didn't finish his sentence, instead of pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket and holding it out to her.

Sai took it hesitantly, wondering what exactly was on that paper to get this kind of reaction.

Then she looked at it, and her eyes went wide.

There was a long, long pause, as Izuku just looked away from Sai, and Sai looked down at the paper in disbelief.

"T-This…this can't be right," Sai muttered in shock, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "I-I've never been pregnant before! I would know if I gave birth! And I know for a fact I couldn't have fathered the girl!"

"I asked them to check it multiple times," Izuku assured her. "But, each time the results came out the same."

"But that's impossible!" Sai continued to protest, looking at Izuku almost desperately. "I've never even gone so far as to have sex before let alone bring a child into the world!"

"Well, the world is full of strange quirks that can make strange things happen," Izuku told her. "Regardless, she is your biological daughter."

"I-I-" Sai was speechless. She fell into an overwhelmed silence in response to the news, and so she just stood there with her mouth open for a while.

After a few minutes of silence, Sai managed to compose herself, and she walked up the stairs, before taking a seat next to Izuku and rubbing her head.

"Who is the other parent?" Sai asked, trying her best to sort out her thoughts and feelings.

"We don't know," Izuku explained. "The second D.N.A. signature is unknown. Likely whoever they are, they're not on the grid."

"Great." Sai groaned.

"Um, I should also let you know, that um…somehow, and I don't know-how. Your mother found out about this." Izuku winced as he said it.

Sai's eyes widened once more. "What?!"

"Yeah, while I was speaking to the police on this matter, your mother showed up, and uh…asked that we discuss this matter." Izuku once again winced as he recalled how things went out.

Meeting Sai's mother was a… experience. She looked exactly like Sai, but bigger, in every sense of the word, and while Sai was stoic, this woman had an unrelentingly cold glare on at all times. It felt like she was trying to freeze Izuku with her eyes.

"I am…so sorry." Sai shivered, as she imagined how terrified Izuku must have been. "But, what exactly did she want?"

"Well, she wanted to see if I could help reduce the girl's sentence to house arrest," Izuku explained. "Specifically, she wanted to get the girl into her custody."

"WHAT!?" Sai screamed in shock, jumping up to their feet.

"And I agreed." Izuku continued, wanting to just get through all this already.

"I-B-but-why!?" Sai shouted out, with a completely flabbergasted expression. "She attacked you! Why would you agree to something like that!?"

"Well, I'll be honest, your mother paid me, a LOT of money," Izuku admitted, blushing a bit from embarrassment. "Money I'm going to need in order to put all my plans into effect. And to be fair, from what I was told, the girl didn't even know she was attacking my facility. She just heard she'd get the opportunity to kill you, and went for it. She didn't even know there were kids around."

Sai took a deep breath, and went silent again, as she took some time to try and get her thoughts together.

"Are you going to need some time off to deal with this?" Izuku asked with a voice full of trepidation. In truth, he REALLY needed her help right now, but, considering her situation, Izuku couldn't refuse if she asked for some time off.

Sai shook her head. "I can't. As kind as the offer is, I JUST started working here, and right now you're in a terrible situation. It wouldn't feel right to just leave. I'll make time for…all this."

"Thank you." Izuku bowed his head in appreciation. "I appreciate it, VERY much. But with that said, I'm going to need you to stay with Yami in the city. Sori will stay here and guard the rest of us."

Sai nodded. "Understood. By the way, where are you sending Yami.?"

"He's going to be living with Amai and her family for the time being," Izuku explained. "I already called them and discussed it, and they agreed rather easily. Apparently, her father's grandmother was quirkless, and so their family is viewing taking Yami as a stand against quirk discrimination. Which just about echo's the public's feelings about this."

"Oh?" Sai raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean."

"Well, almost immediately after the attack, I talking with D.O.C., once we confirmed the M.L.A.'s part in this, we agreed to spin this as an act of quirk discrimination, which it is, but we're basically making this out to be a statement rather than a petty grudge," Izuku explained. "And so supporting me, is considered to be a statement against quirk discrimination."

"So…your taking advantage of the situation." Sai summed up.

Izuku sighed, once again feeling a bit embarrassed. "Yes. But I kind of have to. As I said, I have plans for increasing security, and none of them are going to be cheap. Already donations have increased by 75%. And I'm not the only one benefiting. Other anti-quirk discrimination groups are also likely to see a rise in donations, and hopefully, this might spark enough fire in the people to get some more progress going on this front."

"I do hope so. I don't understand why people must always find something to discriminate." Sai shook her head in disgust. "Skin color, status, sexuality, there's always something."

"From experience, it's about three things," Izuku responded. "First, is superiority. Some people like the idea that they are just better than others. Even if it's over something small. The second is justification. People get angry, and they want to take it out on someone else, and they use discrimination as justification to hurt someone, simply to make themselves feel better. And third is handed down teachings. Some people are taught since birth that some people are below them, and those people grow up, thinking that that's the truth. All that is the reason Kacchan turned out the way he did."

"Sometimes I hate this species." Sai sighed.

BRRRRRRRRR!

Izuku pulled out his phone and looked at who was calling.

Namae.

Izuku sighed. "I can undertsand why."

He then answered the phone and brought it up to his ear.

"Hey! So, we got all the camping stuff you asked for, as well as the special equipment." Namae told him. "Now, as for the new child, you'll be taking care of."

"WAIT! Hold on a second!" Izuku shouted, his eyes widening as he jumped to his feet. "You want me to accept a new kid, NOW of all times?"

"Yeah, it may seem like a bad time, but this one…this one is a special case," Namae explained. "And they might come with something, you can use."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What the hell happened!?"

All for One sighed, rubbing his head to try and provide some relief for the horrible headache he was experiencing.

First, his attack failed, utterly and completely failed. All Might was still alive, no one died, they lost many, many troops, as well as their powerful Nomu, they didn't get a single one of the children, and he had to step in to save Shigaraki and Kurogiri.

Overall, it was a mess.

And now, he had to deal with a very pissed-off Re-Destro over facetime.

The leader of the M.L.A. was currently glaring daggers at him, he was seething with anger, and he could even see black spots from his quirk covering his face.

"Our attack failed." All for One answered. "Simple as that."

"Simple!? We lost good men in that attack! And the government is now aware of our existence!" Re-Destro shouted in a rage!

"You're surprised? You should have known that would happen if we lost." All for One said casually. "Surely you were ready to accept that consequence when you offered your assistance in my plans."

"You told me that you have powerful forces on your side! That you had something, capable of going off killing even All Might!" Re-Destro yelled. "That they had little to no chance of winning!"

"Yes, and everything I told you was correct." All for One nodded. "However, little to no chance doesn't mean they have no chance. Even if something only has a 1% chance of happening, that still means it can happen. Not to mention, I told you that, not knowing that one of your own against, would betray us, and singlehandedly turn the tide of battle, in their favor."

That, made Re-Destro freeze, his eyes widening with shock. "I-What!?"

"That's right. Shigaraki informed me, that he saw what was her name, Shina Gami? He saw her fighting alongside Midoriya's forces." All for One explained. "He also saw Ochaco Uraraka using 100% of her power, something which is normally impossible for her, that Eri girl freely using her quirk to completely revitalize her allies, something also normally impossible, and he was defeated by Izuku Midoriya, who was wielding a powerful quirk, again, something normal impossible. All of this was thanks to YOUR child assassin."

"I-I-" Re-Destro kept looking at the camera in shock for a minute before suddenly an enraged expression came to him, and his face became covered in black. "RAHHHHH!"

Suddenly the camera went out, as Re-Destro presumably started smashing things in his office out of rage.

All for One sighed at the static-covered screen. "To think that man is leading the M.L.A., I give them at most two years before they collapse."

Things were going to get much more lively very soon.

But for now, he had to lie low. The heroes would be on high alert, and he couldn't be too aggressive. At least not right now, especially while Shigaraki was still healing.

For now, he'd sit tight. But soon enough, he would have All Might's head.