45

Beros groaned as her eyes fluttered open. She quickly tried to remember what happened. One moment, she was pulling her arrow to snipe the hero and the briefcase, the next, something slammed into her temple, knocking her out.

"The briefcase!" gasped Beros as she sat up, only to hear some chains jingle. Looking over to the source, she saw herself handcuffed to the bed.

"Finally awake," said a voice from a corner.

Beros quickly looked over to see Kaina leaning against the corner of the room. Beros tried to create a bow with her fingers, only to find out she couldn't.

"Your quirk is sealed if you hadn't noticed," said Kaina, pointing to a wristband that Beros hadn't noticed, "Not to mention you don't exactly have ammo to shoot with. You can't make your own ammo."

Beros remained silent as she sat still, taking in everything. She was still alive, even if captured. Though for how long was the biggest question.

'Did Lord Flect Turn activate his plan?' thought Beros, 'It doesn't seem like it. It means there is still time before-'

"Humarise's plan failed," said Kaina bluntly, "Flect Turn has been arrested, along with other members of Humarise. The bombs have been safely disabled and disposed of. The only remnant is only you."

"I see," said Beros, "So humanity's salvation has failed and will go into ruin."

Beros sat there in silence for a second before deciding her next course of action was to take her own life so she wouldn't see humanity's end by biting her tongue. Before she could do so though, Kaina was already upon her in a flash, grabbing her cheeks to prevent her from doing so.

"Don't be so impulsive," chastised Kaina, "There's more to live for than just being a dog for someone. I should know. You have the same eyes as I did, or rather still do."

Kaina slowly released her grip on Beros as soon as she was sure she wouldn't do something like that again before pulling up a chair from somewhere.

"So, from one assassin to another, tell me about yourself," said Kaina, "I can go first I suppose."

Kaina began to go over her early years, pausing to see if Beros would respond. When she wouldn't Kaina kept going.

Kaina had finished going about her high school training when she looked at Beros once more. This time Beros, who had been staring vacantly against the ceiling, was now actually looking at Kaina.

"I think it's your turn now," prodded Kaina gently.

"... I was born a sinner," said Beros flatly, causing Kaina to raise an eyebrow.

"My parents are devout worshipers of Humarise. Both sides of the family kept themselves free from the sickness," continued Beros, "Then when I was born, I was marked with the sin of bearing it. It did not reveal itself until I was two when my fingers transformed into a bow in front of my family. My family disowned me for being a sinner and threw me out. Lord Flect Turn saved me and showed me my path of salvation before I was stoned. He, who also bore the sin of sickness, took me under his wing and gave me a new life to live."

"So he trained you," said Kaina bluntly, to which Beros nodded, "Was this your first assassination?"

Beros paused before nodding. She had always trained on dummies, and spent most of her time shadowing Flect Turn, being his bodyguard. It was only because of the leak did Flect Turn sent her out to kill.

"So you're not blooded yet like I am," said Kaina, "Good. Means it's not too late."

"Too late for what?" asked Beros with a flat tone, "I've failed my mission. I couldn't stop the traitor in time, and humanity's path of salvation has failed thanks to you villains. Why couldn't you see that this was the only way to ensure the survival of the human race!?"

"And that means eliminating about 80% of the human population?" said Kaina dryly, "Including yourself and Flect Turn, since you carry the 'weight of sin'.

"Yes," said Beros with conviction, "Once those who are diseased are gone, we would also commit suicide to ensure the pure humans live in peace."

"That's not what some of your quirked members said," said Kaina as she pulled up a video from her phone, showing an interview of the Serpent Twins and a few others. Most of them claimed that they would live in the new world order.

"Obviously a ploy. Flect Turn wouldn't have let them go about freely after their services," said Beros swiftly, "Too risky to have them go about. They could spread their seed, making all our efforts in vain."

"And what if I said Flect Turn didn't plan on dying either?" asked Kaina.

"... What?" blanked out Beros.

Kaina showed an interrogation of Flect Turn himself with Star and Stripe being the lead interrogator, utilizing her quirk. Not only that, but the man himself was pale, wearing quirk-suppressing bands, meaning he couldn't reflect anything. Under such conditions, Flect Turn confessed that though his plan involved the mass extinction of all quirk users, he himself was not included in that mass. He truly believed he was saving humanity, but at the same breath, admitted to what Izuku had said before. That he wanted everyone to suffer the same as he had, merely slapping on the title of saving humanity.

While Beros was shocked, there was one more bit. Kaina had requested some questions to be asked, and Star and Stripe allowed it, asking Flect Turn about the origin of Beros.

"... She was brought into our organization when she was two," admitted Flect Turn, "We told her that she was abandoned by her parents because she had a quirk while her family didn't, and that her family tree was purely quirkless. That was a lie. Her parents were a scientist and a sharpshooter whom we killed when they refused to join us. One of the agents found her and decided to take her back, where she was raised to become my bodyguard/attack dog."

"No… That's a lie!" shouted Beros in shock, "I saw my parents recently! They told me how disappointed they were at my sin and yet proud that I was doing my part of Humarise!"

"We had members acting as Beros's parents and having them tell how disappointed they were at Beros. It wasn't difficult since she had a quirk, and the ones pretending to be her parents were free of such sin, having to associate with one that was ridden with sin," continued Flect Turn, as if answering her statement.

Beros felt her world shattering into pieces after watching the whole interrogation with Flect Turn. She could not claim that Flect Turn had been forced to lie about everything since Cathleen had used her quirk to force him to tell the truth.

"... What do I do now?" asked Beros in a dull tone, "All my life, I've lived for someone else, and no other."

"Not going to lie, that's the hard part," sighed Kaina as she sat next to Beros, "Though you still have a life ahead of you. According to Flect Turn, you're only 17. Technically you can still go to high school, and with your training, you can make it into the hero course easily. Not only that, you technically don't have a record on you as you were a non-existent entity even within Humarise."

'And I'm pretty sure I can swing her into U.A., that rat bastard owes me that at least,' thought Kaina to herself.

Kaina glanced at Beros in time to see tears falling out of her eyes.

"What… is this?" questioned Beros in shock, touching her eyes, "Water? Why would water come out of my eyes?"

Kaina felt a muscle tick on her forehead. Beros hadn't been even given the chance to feel emotions thanks to the heartless training she had been through. At least she had a childhood before being tricked by the past HPSC. She wanted to put a gun to Flect Turn's head if given the chance. But right now, there was something more important to do.

Kaina put her arms around Beros and hugged her, pushing Beros to her chest. At first, Beros thought she was being attacked, but she didn't detect any harmful intent. Instead, she felt warmth as Kaina hugged her. It was Beros's first time being hugged in such a manner that she didn't know how to react. But the warmth reminded her of something. Something long ago that she could barely remember. But it was familiar… like a mother's hug.

Kaina felt Beros wrap her arms around her body as she cried, letting her emotions spill out for once.

"It's okay," whispered Kaina, "Let it all out."

In the hallway connecting the room, Cathleen and Izuku leaned against the wall, letting the two have their private moment. They were at the California base at the moment, watching over everything. It had been two days since the whole incident. Sneaking Beros out had been a hassle, but as stated, Beros had been an invisible entity within Humarise due to her being kidnapped. Nobody could really prove that she was even a member as Flect Turn didn't register her in Humarise, which worked out their way. In the end, only Cathleen's insistence was Beros allowed to be handed over to them.

"That sucks," sighed Izuku as he glanced over to Cathleen, only to blink in surprise to see her crying while biting on a handkerchief from somewhere.

"That's so sad!" cried Cathleen in a river of tears, though not overheard as she used her quirk to keep herself silent for this conversation.

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle as he turned to go train. Some of the soldiers were offering to spar against him, and he would be a fool to not accept.

"So what happens now?" asked Beros as she finally regained control of her tears.

"Well you're both technically free and not free," said Kaina, "Free from Humarise, but still restricted because of your actions with Humarise. But luckily, we managed to catch a break since your names weren't released as part of Humarise. You're actually at Star and Stripes California home base, where you'll be supervised by her, whom she appointed me to do so. I'll admit, your skillset is quite similar to mine, so I'm actually rather eager to be teaching you."

"Similar skillset?" asked Beros in confusion.

Instead of replying, Kaina morphed her right arm into a rifle and fired it out the window, hitting a fly that had been buzzing around, and pinning it into a tree.

"We're both snipers," said Kaina "However, I have years of experience over you in regards to this, even if I did go on a bit of a hiatus. It's how I was able to locate your position and counter-snipe you after one shot."

Beros looked at Kaina in wonder, causing her to lift her chest up a little.

'Is this what it feels to have an apprentice?' wondered Kaina before asking herself if that was even the appropriate word, 'Eh, good enough.'

Kaina looked over at Beros, feeling something in her heart. It couldn't be helped, as she had been sent to Tartarus for more than a decade, meaning finding a meaningful relationship had been ultimately fruitless, not to mention her own dark past. Seeing Beros having a similar role in Humarise as she had in the HPSC made her feel protective of her. Though she didn't know just what that emotion was though.

If she only asked, she would've been told that it was like a mother caring for her daughter.

'I swear, I'll have her walk in the light than in the dark like I was forced to,' swore Kaina in her heart, 'She won't suffer the same injustice that I had to, nor bloody her hands for somebody else's power.'

The bloodstains on her own hands seemed to fade away a little in her own imagination, but she pushed it away.

"Good! Don't go along with your opponent's tempo, try to disrupt them and force them to dance to yours!" grinned Cathleen as she advised from the side while Izuku was fighting against another American hero that Cathleen had invited for him to spar.

"Not bad! Haven't had a chance to fight another hero that can stretch as I can!" grinned Izuku's opponent as he dodged a punch by stretching and conforming his body in an unconventional manner that made it difficult to follow through, "But you need to be more flexible!"

Izuku was currently fighting the Elastic Hero, Elastiman, using only his Devil Fruit powers.

"It's hard to change up a fighting style that I've used," grunted Izuku in acknowledgment as he pulled his head to the side to dodge a punch from the man.

"Didn't mean that you have to change it up completely, just that you have to learn and adapt from other styles!" called out Cathleen, "Your whole body is capable of making contortions that aren't humanly possible for a lot of people. Use that to your advantage and confuse the hell out of the people you fight!"

"You can also stretch farther than I can," added Elastiman as he dodged a kick from Izuku, "And you're stronger than me. All I got is more experience than you, and you're catching on quickly. Honestly, I'm a little jealous."

Before Izuku could reply, Izuku sensed danger and ducked, dodging an arrow aimed at his head. Izuku quickly jumped back, backflipping and twisting in the air to avoid more arrows, utilizing his Ghost Perplexing Steps.

"Good, you're still aware of your surroundings," nodded Cathleen as she glanced over to the source of the shots. All the arrows had been blunted for training purposes, of course, but the shots had come from an interesting angle.

"Tch," expressed Beros with a click of her tongue from her position, on top of a building to the right of Izuku. However, the shots had curved, making it harder to track her position.

"Not bad, you can curve your shots and track your opponents as long as you see them," nodded Kaina from beside her, "If someone didn't have a weird sixth sense that he didn't tell us, those shots would've hit. However, there are ways to counter this."

Without hesitating, Kaina transformed her right arm into a rifle, putting a special bullet through the hole in her hand, and fired at Izuku. Izuku dodged it, only for the bullet to suddenly ricochet from the ground up right at him. Right at that moment, another shot was fired from another angle by Kaina, who curved the bullet this time.

Izuku slightly panicked before contorting his body to dodge the said bullets before landing on the ground ungracefully. Before he could have the chance to recover, another bullet slammed into his waist. Obviously, the bullets were just rubber bullet tips, but the point still stood.

"Force them into a position where they can't dodge," lectured Kaina as she transformed her arm back, "I could've aimed for his head or heart, but even with training bullets, that's a bit risky. Spamming a bunch of shots is nothing compared to a few calculated ones."

While Beros looked at Kaina in awe, Izuku was picking himself up.

'Why couldn't I see that shot?' asked Izuku to himself and to the vestiges within One for All.

"Danger Sense did pick up that initial shot, and your Observation Haki predicted where, but the recoil was out of both predictions," replied Hikage from the mindscape, "I knew there were bound to be some loopholes that would bypass Danger Sense, but I never imagined this being one of them."

"You'll need to train up your Observation Haki if you want to avoid that from happening again," commented the devil, "You're just barely hitting the basics as it is with just intent."

"There's another level?" asked Izuku.

"Future vision," nodded the devil, "It's basically foresight, being able to read just how your opponent's attack is going to go. But that's going to be a rather advanced technique to use. Even your predecessor took more than two years to effectively learn how to use it. Focus on improving what you can do. Danger Sense is already acting as a shortcut for you."

Izuku nodded as he dusted himself off. There was still the Paranormal Liberation Front that would act soon. He needed to make himself stronger if he wanted to help.

"Again!" pleaded Izuku as he got into a fighting position, causing Cathleen to laugh before nodding.

"Alright, but now it's my turn!" grinned Cathleen before rushing at Izuku.

Back at Japan

Izuku was not the only one going through heavy training. At gym Gamma in U.A., the sound of explosions could be heard.

"DIE!" roared Katsuki as he blasted towards his opponent before firing another huge explosion at said opponent.

However, the opponent raised her arm and shot a spiral wave at the explosion, cutting through it.

"Wow, your explosions are getting stronger!" grinned Neijire as she floated in the air, "It's taking me more power to match your explosions."

"Fuck you!" shouted Katsuki as he chained off another explosion, "Give me your strongest shot! I know that's not your strongest. I'll show you that I can destroy it!"

Katsuki took offense that he wasn't able to overpower someone just two years older than him. Sure he couldn't compare to firepower against Endeavor, but the man was currently the number one Pro hero in Japan and had years of experience.

Katsuki took secret pride in being part of the monster trio in the freshmen year. It was even rumored that they could take on the second-year hero course students, though nothing was verified. However, Katsuki's pride would not let him lose against a third-year student so badly. Sure, with his grenadier bracers at full charge, he could outmatch Neijire, but that took time to fill, and he wasn't going to rely on a support gear just to match his senpai.

With a roar, Katsuki pushed himself forward once more into the fray, all while trying to figure out how to improve his quirk further. He needed to be stronger, faster, and overall kick everyone's ass!

At ground Alpha, which was just a flat terrain of dirt, Shota was panting as he was experimenting on using both sides of his quirk at once. He still couldn't use them both as he wanted to. Even switching sides took a second, something that could prove disastrous. Not to mention he was limited on each side, with ice on his right and fire on his left. Shota knew that if an enemy who was immune to ice charged to his right and vice versa, he would be in danger.

"I've let myself become handicapped by sealing away the fire for so long," murmured Shota to himself, "No longer. I will become the hero I want to be!"

Picking himself up, Shota began trying to use both sides at once again, though taking notes after each attempt.

They weren't the only ones picking up their training. At another gym, Ochako, Itsuka, and Momo were sparring against each other, trying to get one up on each other. Standing near them were Midnight, Eri, and Nighteye, with the two pro heroes shouting advice while Eri cheered them on.

"So passionate," commented Midnight as she watched them go, "All for their loved one."

"Who?" asked Eri curiously, causing Midnight to almost jump in shock before remembering Eri was there.

"Ah, just their desire to protect the citizens," said Midnight hastily. As much as she liked being the R-Rated hero, Nemuri Kayami was not one to corrupt young children until the proper age.

Nighteye ignored her words before shouting some advice to the trio. Nezu had asked him to help educate some underclassmen in his free time, and he agreed.

"Try to predict what your opponent is doing!" chastised Nighteye, "Once you know what they are going to do, use what you have in your arsenal to counter!"

At the other side of the gym, Mirio was fighting against Rappa, dodging his barrage of fists. However instead of completely phasing himself out of the way, Mirio decided to ramp up the difficulty by choosing which parts of his body to phase through the punches before closing in to land a gut punch.

"Shit that hurts!" coughed Rampa with a grin, "But I ain't done yet! Let's keep going!"

Mirio nodded in agreement with a smile as he barely phased a punch in time, the knuckle touching the surface of his skin before he phased. But it was enough to leave a scratch. At the side sat Eijiro, Tetsutetsu, and Rin, who were groaning in pain after their spar against Rampa. Rin had joined, thinking it would be a good time to test his own defense while thinking having spikey carapaces would be able to dissuade the punches. He found out how wrong he was when Rampa punched through them without a care.

At another gym, Nieto and Tamaki were having a conversation about combinations. However, it was more like Nieto flamboyantly talking to Tamaki, who was facing a wall to avoid talking to someone. It was only thanks to another friend, Yuyu, who served as a translator between the two that something was done.

Tsuyu and the other students were out on their own work studies, learning everything they could from their respective Pro Heroe teachers.

Nezu sipped on his tea while watching his students all work hard. But this peace would not last. While Nezu did not want to, they would need all heroes, including the ones in training, for the upcoming raid. It would be the biggest raid in Japan to ever conduct, but it would be needed considering just who they were going up against.

"But at the very least, we can leave them with a peaceful future," muttered Nezu to himself before turning away from the windows, "Tell me La Brava, how goes the search?"

"Going good," nodded Aiba from her seat, "You promise this'll help Gentle?"

"Of course," nodded Nezu, "I'm quite curious about bringing him to not only help him, but he might be able to help my students with his own quirk and point of view."

At I-Island

Toshinori was visiting David with Inko and Melissa.

"Good to see you again," said Toshinori as he stepped into a pod.

"It's nice to see you looking a lot better," nodded David as he began typing in the procedures, letting the pod fill up with water as Toshinori put on a rebreather, "Your vitals are looking better. Looks like the replacement organs are working fine."

"That's good," said Inko with a sigh of relief, "How about his weight and blood pressure and everything else?"

"He's maintaining a healthy body mass, no doubt thanks to having working organs as well as you cooking for him, otherwise he'd be eating takeout every night, and that's not healthy unless he hired a professional chef, and with his work schedule and tendency to hide everything, that wouldn't be happening," said David bluntly, causing Toshinori to blush within the tank.

"How's work and home arrest now?" asked Melissa as she hugged her father. It felt too long since they last talked face to face.

"Admittedly easier," admitted David, "Now that I'm not such a high-level individual, I get a lot more free time, most of which I pass as a consultant. Despite what happened, the others are willing to come to me for advice as long as I'm not shown the main product, and even then the requests are screened first before they come. I still have a lab space though."

After the routine check was done, David looked at the numbers before speaking, "The Quirk numbers are almost gone, but that's understandable from what you've told me. Other than that, you're pretty healthy."

While the two girls cheered at that, Toshinori leaned over to David, "And my other request?"

"... You do know I'm technically a criminal and under house arrest, right?" asked David.

"Yes, but it's still a request from me," smiled Toshinori.

David sighed before replying, "It's going. Thankfully I've still had most of my materials from before, though I had to cannibalize my old vehicle to make it work. You owe me for this Toshi, I loved that vehicle!"

"Sorry, I'll be sure to get you reimbursed for everything!" pleaded Toshinori, clapping his hands together.

David could only sigh as he leaned back against his chair, "It's already done. But why are you requesting this? Aren't you supposed to be retired?"

Toshinori glanced over to Inko and Melissa, who were talking to each other, before whispering to David, "I am. But something is happening, and I don't want to be caught by surprise, even if I'm just retired. All for One still has a plan even if he is jailed. The ones who created the Nomus are still out there, and the League of Villains hasn't been captured. What's worse is we recently received news that they may have bolstered their forces."

"By how much?" breathed out David fearfully.

"Enough to threaten all of Japan," admitted Toshinori, "We have a spy who's reporting back to us, and we will strike first. But the numbers require all active heroes as well as recalling non-active heroes on duty. Including me. But I refuse to stand in the back or sidelines when there is something I can do. I may not have my quirk anymore, but I have years of experience still within me. I just need a way to use them. Your invention will help me utilize it. While it may not completely replace my old power, I can make up the difference with my cunning and your intelligence."

David nodded before glancing over to Melissa once more.

"I plan to ask Inko and Melissa to stay here," answered Toshinori, "It's their decision. Melissa already knows, having deciphered the message before. While I hope they will stay out of harm's way, you know the girls act if they don't get their way."

David could only sigh in agreement. Melissa's mother was certainly that way. She had been the one to ask David out, stomping right into his laboratory during an experiment to ask him out. He had been too shocked to say anything but yes out of response. Then everything spilled from there until they got married.

David looked over at the only family photo of all three of them that he kept on his desk. Melissa's mother, Melanie, died when Melissa was barely two from cancer. David so wanted to keep his daughter safe, but knew she had her mother's attitude, to never shy from danger when one needed to face it. The whole I-island terrorist incident was obvious. Not to mention she technically had a quirk now, and wasn't powerless.

"Well then, let's get brainstorming," said David, "We'll also need to put you into peak physical form. Electrostimulation on the muscles to help while resting, a strict diet, and plenty of juice while bouncing ideas. I admit, I'm quite excited about this project, even with my limited powers."

Melissa couldn't help but join in as they began to expand on the idea, all while Inko smiled as she began to cook for the trio.

"So what's going on?" asked Rekai as she was on a not-a-date with Gran Torino in her dojo, drinking some tea.

"Hm?" replied Gran Torino while taking a bite of his taiyaki.

"You're hiding something," stated bluntly, causing Gran Torino to wince a little, "Don't forget, my hearing can hear a lot, including bullshit. So what's going on."

Gran Torino took another bite of his taiyaki before biting the bullet, so to speak.

"It's going to be dangerous in Japan soon," stated Gran Torino, "You should find somewhere safe to go. Preferably out of the country. The countryside might be safe, but that's not a guarantee."

"I see," said Rekai as she sipped on her tea, "Well then I refuse. I already made my plans to die in this dojo. Whether it comes sooner or later is of no consequence."

Gran Torino could only groan, knowing that she would answer like this. While he had expected it, it didn't mean he liked it.

Knowing his not-girlfriend would not budge on this, Gran Torino dropped the subject while at least extracting a promise that Rekai wouldn't do anything foolish or provoke others. The two enjoyed their peaceful private time together before Gran Torino hauled his ass to U.A. He had been 'convinced' by the rat overlord-... Principal Nezu to help whip up some students, namely some second and third-year students in the hero course who needed an ego check, if not several. While not something that he would be against, he was supposed to be a 'retired' hero.

After Gran Torino left, Rekai went to a phone in her house, something she rarely used. Picking it up, she dialed a specific number, letting the tone ring once before someone picked up.

"Master?" said the voice in surprise, "Why are you calling?"

"Something's going down," said Rekai bluntly, "Make sure you and your friends are prepared."

Without even letting the voice reply, Rekai hung up before walking towards her bedroom. Sitting on her bed, she let her mind wander to her past, when she was so much younger. She remembered her fights, the disciples she made, and the one man whom she had loved fell into darkness.

"Guess I better get some asses into gear," grumbled Rekai as she laid in bed. Her other disciples would dig up the proper information and let her know.

Izuku meditated, thinking about his match and working on his Haki before he felt himself being tugged into his mindscape. Letting himself go, Izuku closed his eyes before opening them to find himself within the void where One for All was located.

"So what's going on?" asked Izuku, looking over to Yoichi, "Why bring me in?"

"I'm not the one who wanted to talk to you," said Yoichi, "They did."

Izuku looked over to where Yoichi pointed to see the second and third users of One for All were for once looking directly at him.

"What's up?" asked Izuku, "I thought you two weren't talking to me yet."

"Do you want me to change my mind?" riposted the second user, "Because I can very easily continue it."

Izuku quickly shook his head while the third user chuckled, putting his arm around the second user.

"Let's just say we were impressed with your little statement against Flect Turn and with the upcoming raid, we'll be letting you have an earlier look at our quirks," stated the third.

Suddenly Izuku was already in front of them, pulling a notebook from somewhere, which shouldn't have been possible considering where he was, but that was a question for later.

"Alright, if you're going to learn about our quirks, you should know our name," said the third user, shaking his spiky ponytail, "I'm Bruce, and he's Kudo. My quirk is Fa Jin. It can build up kinetic energy by performing repetitive movements and storing it for later use. When the user chooses to release the energy, they gain an explosive burst of speed and power. That energy can be used on any part of their body. Combine it with One for All, and you'll get more than 100% power from it. I used it to really show off my one-inch punch!"

"What this idiot isn't saying that he had to build up the kinetic energy beforehand by doing stupid things before the fight, and used it to show off," grunted Kudo from the side, the speech bubble piercing Bruce harshly, "Now he's done, mine is Gearshift. It allowed me to change the speed of objects through space, ignoring the laws of inertia. I used it on the bullets that I fired, but this quirk has been inside One for All the longest, letting it evolve. However, because of that, it may be the hardest to control. But I'm sure you'll be able to figure something out."

Izuku eagerly nodded as he took in the information, all while questioning them how they used it to supplement his own theories. It was an informative night for sure.

Week later

"What do you mean you developed a new aspect?" asked Catherine, her eyebrows twitching in confusion and frustration.

She had been already confused that Izuku had more than just black whip and smokescreen that had been stated, but chose not to question it. She thought it had been the result of being captured by the Kamino villain, experimented on by Nezu, the mysterious rat principal of U.A., or some other crazy theory. However, Izuku had All Might's seal of approval, so she decided to overlook it. Plus the boy was a very eager learner and had a cheerful attitude, making it difficult to dislike him.

But to have him suddenly get new 'aspects' of his quirk so suddenly made Cathleen's bullshit radar ring. It was too sudden, and Izuku had no encounters that would've let him 'develop' these quirks. Sure, quirks were a bit bullshit, but there was only so much that it could take.

If maybe during his fight against Flect Turn that a hidden Trigger bomb had gone off, perhaps Cathleen would've accepted the coincidence. Highly unlikely, but something she might write off, as the Trigger bombs Humarise had developed were much more potent than any Triggers that were bought off the streets. But Izuku had stated that there had been no such thing.

This brought another question, how did Izuku defeat Flect Turn? Cathleen was confident that he was strong, but she would've thought that he would delay Flect Turn enough until she arrived, only to find out the leader of Humarise cratered into the ground with a visible imprint of Izuku's fist on his face.

Cathleen took a deep breath, pondering what to do. This was too…. suspicious not to investigate. But she really wanted to trust her brother-in-discipleship to All Might. So she made a choice.

"Izuku," said Cathleen seriously, "I know that you have secrets. Secrets that would prefer to remain a secret. Both All Might and Nezu wrote about it in another letter to me. But I cannot train you effectively if you don't tell me what's going on. I would prefer not to pry, but at the same time, I can't let this go due to my own unique position. So I'm going to give you a chance. I will use my quirk on you to tell me your secret, but if you can resist it, then I'll continue your training without question. Otherwise, I have no choice but to send you back."

Izuku nodded, understanding the situation. It wasn't like back in Japan, where Nezu and Toshinori were privy to One for All, where he could hide its secrets for now. Taking a deep breath, Izuku replied he was ready.

Cathleen took her own breath before stating, [Izuku Midoriya will tell me the truth about his quirk and everything else.]

Instantly, Izuku felt something take hold of him and compelled him to spill everything. It was similar to Shinso's Brainwashing, but its power was magnified by ten. There were some key differences though. Cathleen had limited it to just telling the truth about One for All, meaning Izuku could technically run away. However, the more difficult part was that Izuku couldn't snap out of it from feeling pain like Shinso's quirk.

Izuku felt his mouth starting to open, as if to speak. He could hear the vestiges of One for All telling him to snap out of it, but they seemed so far away.

"My quirk is One-" began Izuku before he began to struggle once more. He could feel something building up within, his will mounting up. Something was beginning to swell inside his chest, and without knowing what he was doing, Izuku let it out.

Cathleen felt the air itself shiver while something exploded out from Izuku, like an invisible pulse. Enough to shock Cathleen out of using her quirk on Izuku. It felt like…. willpower, if Cathleen could sum it up, though it made no sense.

However, a deal was a deal, and Cathleen wasn't one to back out of one she made.

"Not sure how you broke out of that, but a deal's a deal," sighed Cathleen, "I won't question your quirk."

Izuku took a deep breath as he regained control of himself before he heard the devil fruit start speaking to him. Cocking his ear towards it, Izuku heard the suggestion before clearing his throat.

"I can give you some details," said Izuku, "But in exchange…. I want you to use your quirk on me like you did before."

Cathleen looked bewildered at that request while motioning with her hand for Izuku to continue.

"What I did just now…. It's considered the core part of my quirk," said Izuku, "Manifestation of willpower. There are 3 parts to it, two of which I can train by myself. The third one however, was something I couldn't train until now. Your quirk allows me to use it to break free, but you weren't using the full extent of your quirk were you?"

Cathleen chuckled before admitting, "Yea, it wasn't. I didn't put everything in that order."

"Then I want you to keep using it so I can train this third part until I can do it voluntarily," said Izuku, "If I do, then I could use it to potentially disable or disarm villains before they do anything rash."

Cathleen chuckled, "That's all I'm going to get out of you for now, right?"

When Izuku hesitantly nodded, Cathleen shrugged, "Alright then. But I expect an answer in the future, alright? Even if you are my spirit master's disciple, I can't keep ignoring this."

Izuku nodded in agreement as Cathleen rolled her shoulders, "Alright let's do this again, but I'll do something a little less extreme. [Izuku Midoriya will not be able to stand up until I say so.]"

Izuku instantly felt the pressure once more before he began fighting.

Back at Japan

"We're going to miss you brat," said Mitsuki as she and Masaru were finishing packing, "Sure we can't convince your school to give you a little break?"

"Hell no hag," cussed Katsuki, "I'm not stopping until I'm the best!"

The Bakugo family was talking over the phone as Masaru began the last steps of preparation.

"Thought so," chuckled Mitsuki, "Be good alright? Don't give your school more trouble than it needs. Inko might swing by to accompany us with that extra ticket since you're not using it. So your 'uncle Toshinori' is going to be keeping an eye out on you for us."

"Fucking sounds weird to make All Might my uncle," stated Katsuki bluntly.

"And yet, you're excited to have the previous number one hero as part of the family," teased Mitsuki, "Even if Inko isn't related to us. Speaking of which, you still haven't gotten that card of yours signed by him, right?"

"Fuck you hag!" shouted Katsuki, "Fine, I won't cause trouble for him. But if someone comes for me, I'll finish it."

"As I expected," said Mitsuki, "And show some damn respect you brat!"

The two family members began shouting and cursing over the phone while Masaru sighed, immune to all this. Honestly, it was a weird way of showing their love to each other, but it somehow worked. At least Katsuki never took that attitude with him though.

"Alright you two, it's almost time," said Masaru, breaking up the conversation, "We're going to be late if we don't leave now."

"Alright brat, be good!" said Mitsuki, "If I hear you getting in trouble, I'm coming back to kick your ass for getting in trouble and cutting my vacation time short!"

Mitsuki hung up before Katsuki could get the last word, and the two were on their way to the airport.

"You know, since we're going to have a lot of free time there," said Mitsuki with a rather sultry tone, "Why don't we get practicing on expanding the family a little more?"

Masaru shivered before suddenly looking more forward to their vacation.

It was the end of March….. when 98% of heroes in Japan vanished from the streets.