Chapter 11: Support Group

Inko was cleaning the table when she heard a knock on the door. It was unusual, since Mitsuki and Kuro usually only visits when Izuku and Kacchan were not in school. She walked over and opened the door and saw Kuro, who should totally be at work right now. "Don't you have work?" She asked.

"I'm on paid time off," Kuro shrugged. "Anyways, I was going to ask you for a favor."

"Of course," Inko smiled at the man. Kuro was always there to help out around the house and with anything Inko needed despite his already huge workload. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm hosting a support group for some people who haven't had the best life," Kuro started. "I thought I would ask you to come. I'm not implying that there's anything wrong with you, but I feel like you would be a positive influence on them."

Inko thought for a moment. "It's really nice that you're doing something like that for these troubled people," She said sweetly. "I would love to help out."

"Well, saving people doesn't just consist of punching villains and stopping crashing planes," Kuro smiled softly at the woman. "It's in a couple hours actually. I'll be in my apartment."

Inko nodded as she closed the door, pondering what to do for the support crew. A lightbulb lit up in her head as she smiled. Yes, that was perfect.

Toga was humming a tune as she paced around her apartment. Kuro had signed some papers so she could take the school day off. Uraraka's jealous, pouty face popped into Toga's head, causing her already huge grin to widen. They had become rivals, of sort. When they were not fighting for Izuku's attention, they were competing over everything. Even though they would bicker a lot, the two girls had a silent respect for each other and they did consider each other friends.

"Hime-san!" Dabi called from the living room. "It's time to go!"

Toga gigged as she put on her old school uniform. As much as she enjoyed the UA school uniforms, nothing beat the outfit she used when she was a villain. She skipped over to the door, where Dabi was already waiting for her in his old villain outfit, stiches and all. Dabi opened the door and the two ex-villains walked all of eight feet to the next door over and knocked.

After a couple of seconds, the door opened, revealing their neighbor. "Ah, Toga, Dabi. Come in," Kuro smiled as the two walked inside the apartment, realizing that the uncomfortable chairs that were there last week were replaced by couches and cushioned chairs. Twice and Spinner were already there, debating about whether or not Twice's measuring tape was as sharp as Spinner's sword and a new person, a teenager with a gas mask and a normal high school uniform sitting alone, seemingly deep in thought. They took their seats next to each other as Kuro sat, leaving one empty seat.

Right when Toga starting thinking about this new mystery person, a knock on the door was heard. Kuro smiled and bounded over, opening the door. Kuro and whatever person was at the door exchanged some pleasantries, being too far to be seen or heard. Toga was shocked when Kuro came back with Izuku's mother, holding a tray of home-baked chocolate chipped cookies.

"Thank you for having me, Kuro," Inko smiled softly as she placed the tray of intoxicating cookies on the table in the center of the circle. "Now, does anyone want some cookies?"

"Ooh, can I?" Toga squealed excitedly. She has had Inko's cookies before, and they were heavenly. "Please please please?

"Of course, Himiko-chan," Inko smiled softly at her son's friend. "Please. Help yourself."

Toga squealed excitedly as she took a cookie and munched on it, melting at the divine flavor of the chocolate.

"Nah, I'm fine. I don't really like sweets," Twice said while taking two and eating them through his mask.

"I would never deny your baking," Dabi smiled as he took a cookie.

"I'll take one," Spinner smirked, taking a cookie and biting down. "OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS?! THIS IS AMAZING!"

Inko chuckled as the lizard man excitedly finished his cookie. She softly smiled at the boy with the gas mask. "Now, no need to be shy. I made these cookies for all of you, so feel free to take them."

"Are you sure?" The boy asked her. "You would really let someone like me have one?"

"Of course, dear," Inko said, her smile not wavering. "I hope you enjoy."

"Thank you," The boy said wholeheartedly as he shyly plucked a cookie from the tray, lifting his mask slightly to nibble it. "It's delicious."

"I'm glad," Inko said softly.

"Now, we have two new members," Kuro started. "Here we have Mustard, an ex C-rank villain, and Inko, my next door neighbor. I asked her to come because she is a really sweet lady, and I thought you all would like another friend."

"You flatter me," Inko's cheeks tinted red at the praise. She's seen all these people on TV before as villains, but wasn't scared. Kuro would protect her. He always did. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

"Anyways, let's get started," Kuro said, taking a cookie for himself, smiling nostalgically at the flavor of the cookie. Inko was always curious about the look on the hero's face whenever he ate her cookies, but he avoided the question whenever she asked. After a couple times, she decided to drop it after he gave a sad smile that spoke of untold sorrows.

Inko sat silently as Kuro asked who wanted to start. There was an awkward silence as the ex-villains contemplated whether they wanted to talk now rather than later.

"I'll go first," Spinner said, raising his hand. "I really like this new place. People don't seem to give me weird looks as much when I go shopping or when I go to work. The people at the forge are really nice to me, and treat me like anyone else. It's a great change of pace and I'm really happy here."

"That's great," Kuro smiled. "There are a lot more mutant types here, so people are more inclusive here, which is why I thought it would be good for you to live here."

"I went to the therapist you mentioned," The man apparently named Twice spoke up. "I've been contradicting myself less and I've really made some progress in figuring out my identity. The therapist is really patient and caring with me and I'm really happy I went."

"With Endeavor gone, I don't really have much to worry about," Touya, who went by Dabi here said. "The bar is amazing. I love hearing people's stories and talking to people. I met an interesting man the other day. His name is Atsuhiro Sako if I remember correctly. He had many interesting stories to tell, and I really enjoyed his company."

"Ah, that's very interesting," Kuro stated. "I was thinking of inviting him to the group, actually."

"Wait, he's a villain?" Dabi asked back. He knew better than to protest Kuro, though. It's not that he was one to intimidate someone into silence, but Kuro was almost always right.

"He goes by the name Mr. Compress," Kuro said simply. "He's a B-Rank villain who prides himself as an entertainer."

"Really? I've worked with him a couple times," Spinner said. "He's great to work with during heists. He is a bit showy, though."

"Anyways," Kuro cleared his throat, causing Inko to giggle. Despite all the talk about villains, this group of people seemed really fun, though her heart reached out to them. It sounded like they all had tough lives, from what she could infer. Bigotry and societal standards were terrible things, and she wanted to help these people. "Hime-san, how's UA?"

"UA's really fun!" Toga chirped. Inko heard a scoff from the boy named Mustard, but she waved it off as her imagination. "All the kids are really nice and they all want to be my friends. Except Kacchan and Sho-kun, though."

"Ah, that makes sense," Kuro smiled softly. "Give them time. They'll come around eventually."

Kuro then turned his head to Mustard. "So how has your first week been?"

"It's been alright," Mustard sighed. "I've had some trouble enrolling into a school, though."

"I was actually thinking of wiggling you into UA like I did with Hime-san," Kuro started. Mustard's head snapped in surprise at that statement. "You'll have to be in the general education class, though. Though the sports festival is soon, so I'm sure you can work your way up to the hero course in no time."

"I want nothing to do with the pampered kids that go there," Mustard said simply.

"You'd be surprised how hard those kids work sometimes," Kuro said. "Shigaraki Tomura and Kurogiri are both S-Class villains. Those kids fought for their lives back at the USJ. Maybe I can take you to a class and you could see how it works."

Mustard paused to think for a little while. "Fine," he thought, sneaking a glance at Toga. "I'll give it a try. But no promises."

Kuro smiled. "I wouldn't expect any less," he said. "Now, is there anything else anyone wants to say?"

"I do!" Toga raised her hand excitedly. "Everything is so boring! I like UA, but it's boring! I don't get to fight that much anymore! I want something fun to do!"

"I agree," Dabi said. "As much as I like the bar, I feel so stuck. I want to move around and fight. It's what I'm used to."

The other villains nodded in agreement, and surprisingly, Kuro smiled. "I have an outing planned for us in a few hours. I think you all would appreciate it."

That evening, Kuro stood outside with all the ex-villains and stared at the moon. "So you guys are going to accompany me on hero work."

"Wait, so we're going to be heroes?!" Dabi exclaimed. "Fuck that!"

"Nah, I'm not that cruel," Kuro waved his hand dismissively, smirking at the fire user. "You'll be vigilantes. Contrary to popular belief, I don't give two shits about that stupid quirk law. I'll be saying that you're working under my firm, but I'll give you pretty much free reign, as long as you don't work too far from me and only attack villains and criminals. Is that clear?"

Dabi groaned. Toga squealed excitedly. Spinner smirked and unsheathed his gigantic sword. Twice raised his eyebrow and took out his measuring tapes. Mustard twirled the two revolvers Kuro gave him only moments before with his fingers, smirking underneath his mask.

"Alright guys," Kuro smiled. "Let's go."

Miruko was locked in combat with a group of villains. There were around five or six, each with control over a different element. Miruko jumped, dodging a bolt of electricity and kicked a shard of ice. She was vastly outnumbered, but not outmatched. She knew she could win, but it would cause a lot more damage than she would like, and would probably be wounded in the progress.

As one of the villains launched a stream of fire, catching Miruko off guard, a stream of blue fire intercepted it as a man jumped in front of the hero. Miruko's eyes widened as she recognized the stiches the man had on his face.

"Dabi!" She exclaimed. Just her luck. She was fighting an already huge pain in the ass, but the A-rank villain she had clashed with so many times had popped up out of nowhere.

"Relax, rabbit lady," the villain said as he melted a chunk of ice and kicked the ice wielder in the face, sending him flying. "Boss man said I can't attack heroes, so I won't."

"Boss man?" Miruko asked as she dodged another bolt of electricity as she saw a man, S-Class villain Twice smack the sender with a measuring tape before cloning himself and engage two more enemies. Miruko stood in shock. As Twice worked, never has he cloned himself before. Just what was happening?

Another villain tried to attack Miruko as she stood there, distracted, but a lizard man hit her attacker with the flat side of a gigantic sword. "Are you okay, Miss Hero Lady?" The lizard man asked, smirking at the hero.

"Y-yeah," Miruko said. With little effort, the three villains cleared out the elemental villains.

"Oh, I see you've met my new sidekicks," A voice caused Miruko to jump. She turned then to see her friend Gisei Kuro walking up to her, his hands in his pockets.

"Sidekicks?!" Miruko demanded, the amount of shock and confusion on her face evident. "These are villains!"

"Ex-villains, Miss Hero Lady," the lizard man, who Miruko suddenly recognized as a small time villain named Spinner. "We're now working with Black Lightning. We've turned over a new leaf and are trying to not be bad for once."

"What did you do?" Miruko asked the beefy man, rubbing her temples.

"Some people just need some good in their life to realize that villainy isn't the way to go," Kuro said back. "You'd be surprised."

"Sometimes, I think nothing can surprise me anymore with you," Miruko sighed. "Anyways, I'm off. If any of you step out of line, I won't hesitate to arrest you."

"Yeah, yeah," Dabi waved his hand dismissively. "Do what you want, see if I care."

"Shut up, flame brain," Miruko growled before jumping off.

"Flame brain," Kuro chuckled. "This is going to be an interesting evening indeed."