77

A/N: And here goes next chapter! Guess you'll all get to see what Izuku has planned, and just what his friends have gotten themselves roped into...

-Hello all!- Kentaro cheered with a broad smile on his face. He remained the only visible thing in the frame of the camera; he was seated, his fingers steepled out in front of him with his arms resting on the table before him.

-I'm sure that all of you within the station are wondering just what this message is for. Well, first off… Fret not! None of Horde's murder-bots are lounging around. I promise you that — from the bottom of my heart!-

Kentaro chuckled. -Besides, I can't have any of you distracted now. You wouldn't be able to relay this message in a timely manner, in that case-

Kentaro gestured to the camera. -Yes, you heard right. Tonight's message goes to a special someone out there. And I'm sure that at least a few of you have guessed who! The valiant, esteemed hero in training, Dragonfly himself!

-Now- Kentaro's grin grew wider. -I'm sure that you know why I'm contacting you, Midoriya. Nice job with Nine, by the way. A nice mix of efficiency, brutality, and cleanliness. Splendid job, really. Bravo!-

Izuku held back his urge to scowl. Where before he might have broken down at Kentaro's baiting, he felt almost… not at peace. Definitely not. But... a little more accepting of what he did. Just one step closer to getting over the hurdle, he supposed.

-Ah, but that's besides the main point! What matters is that you followed through with the challenge. And let me say, I didn't think you had it in you, you know? You're much less brutal than… well, our mutual friend-

Kentaro rested his head in his newly cupped hands. -And of course, I am a man of my word! You should feel proud, Mister Midoriya. You've given Japan six months free from the influences of The Slaughterhouse Nine-

Kentaro leaned towards the camera, his smile seeming all the more sinister. -The question is, my dear Izuku, what will you do in that time? Attempt to find me; will you be able to find us? Or will this short reprieve prove moot?-

Kentaro leaned back in his chair. -Well, whatever ends up happening, the final outcome is up to you, Midoriya. Remember that. The question is: are you going to do something about it?-

The camera feed flickered off, leaving Izuku to stare at the inky blackness of his phone.

Izuku scoffed, sighing, before shaking his head. "Not today Kentaro. Not today."

-What was that, Midoriya?-

Izuku fumbled the phone with his hands, very nearly dropping it to the floor. He managed to catch it, however, with the tips of his fingers.

He let out a sigh of relief, taking a moment before placing the phone against his ear. "Sorry about that Kaniko. Just… contemplating the video."

-Ya sure? It sounded like there was a bit of a scuffle there-

Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "That was just me, um, nearly dropping my phone."

-Ah. Gotcha!-

"Right…" Izuku trailed off. "So, you just found this outside your station?"

-Mhm. And don't worry, we didn't just take Kentario's word at face value. We really rrally made sure that none of those bomber drones were around when we took it in. And we aren't stupid either, so we didn't call you over to the station. And we decided to vet the video thoroughly before we sent you a copy-

"And the original disc…"

-We know how Kentaro's quirk works now. We made sure that only a single officer handled the disc, just in case. And right now he's subject to those… What did you call them? Stranger Protocols?

"Master/Stranger Protocols."

-Yeah! Those! He's under those right now, so nothing to worry about!-

"Good," Izuku breatherd. "Good."

-Erm… Midoriya… You sure—"

"Yeah," Izuku cut her off. "I'm fine. Like… actually fine this time. No need to worry."

-...Really? Huh. You do sound pretty 'un-down.' That's for sure. What's changed?-

"Um… Well…"

-Ah, I know that sound. You don't need to tell me. It's fine. Though… something you said a while ago about something you needed?"

"Ah! Right!" Izuku exclaimed. "Well, you wouldn't mind being up to another stakeout, would you?"

A sigh could be heard through the phone. -Midoriya-

"It's important!... Again. Really!"

-Well… if… you say so. When?-

"Within a couple days. And, erm… you wouldn't mind some others, would you?"

-Others? Like what? Some vigilantes you've met over the years?-

"... Something like that?"

-Right, right. I'll just have to figure it out the night of- Another sigh. -There's just no catching a break with you, is there?-

"Sorry."

"No, no. It's fine. I knew what I was signing up for when I became your handler. Just promise me it's nothing too risky yeah? It'll just be long range surveillance like last time?-

"Of course!"

Well, I suppose that's it fine then. See you then!-

"Yeah, see you then."

"So what exactly are we going to be doing?" Manga asked.

He and the others — that is, Izuku and his self-proclaimed 'inner circle' — were seated in another unused classroom, this time one with a full set of seats and accompanying desks.

At the front of the room was Izuku, standing beside a rolling whiteboard with a tarp covering it. He looked each of the others in the eye, cycling through each of his friends as they sat in their own seats.

"Well," Izuku began, "it's rather simple, really."

"Tonight, my friends," Izuku gripped the tarp and pulled it right off, revealing the scribbles of plans, red lines, and pictures that laid underneath. "We're going after Stain."

Silence.

"Right," Manga chided. "I forgot that you were crazy."

"Wha— It's a perfectly reasonable prospect!"

Pony twisted her nose "But you want to go after the Hero Killer?

Izuku cleared his throat. "Right, let me rephrase that. I mean to say that we're just going to scout out his location. Maybe follow him back to the others. And then we'll report it the the heroes and the police."

"Yep," Manga said. "Crazy. You— Ow!"

Setsuna's floating hand smacked him on the side of his head. Afterwards, she turned towards Izuku to express her own thoughts on the matter. "This isn't just because of what happened during internships, is it?"

Izuku shocked his head. "It's not that. I promise you all that it isn't. It's just… we need to make a change, you know? With the League out there doing who knows what, and Kentaro's group going dark for the foreseeable six months, Stain's the only big problem left."

Momo furrowed her eyebrows as she examined the whiteboard, taking in each and every detail. "I won't berate you thinking this up, Izuku. It's quite a virtuous thing to do. But you are aware that there's a reason that Stain and his followers haven't been caught yet, correct? They're a particularly slippery group."

"Ah!" Izuku exclaimed, walking over to the other side of the board and pointing at it. "But that's the beauty of the plan! The police and the heroes don't have somebody like me and their bugs. And with Mei's drones—"

He looked over at the pink-haired inventor. "Erm… how many are we at now, Mei?"

"Three drones and counting, Izuku! And just so you know—"

"Don't," Izuku interrupted, looking pointedly at the small device in Mei's hands. A small bug on her shoulder buzzed in tandem. "Move your screw a little over to the left. Otherwise you'll blow it."

"Hmm?" Mei's eyes zoomed in. "Oh, you're right! Let's see then…"

"Anyways," Izuku continued, "Like I said, we're going to be tracking down Stain so he and his cronies will be brought to justice. As is, the best way to do this will be from afar. So, I won't necessarily need all of you this time, especially since—"

"But your board says that he's all the way in Shimane!" Pony interrupted. "That's like… eight hours from here by train! How are we going to get there?"

Izuku rubbed the back of his hand. "Well, I kind of have a plan for that. You see—" Izuku cut himself off, eyes darting towards a raised hand. "Yes, Todoroki?"

"I could help with that," Todoroki offered. "If we use the sewers, I could use my ice all the way to Shimane. We should be able to cut the time in half that way."

"Um, no thanks!" Izuku waved his hands in front of him. "You see, I'm planning on inviting Kaniko along—"

"That police lady?" Manga asked. "Right, she knows about all this stuff, doesn't she?"

Izuku nodded. "Just the police and commission stuff. None of the… QA-related stuff." Izuku cleared his throat. "Anyways, since Kaniko's going to be tagging along, I was planning on asking a certain teleporter for help."

"Seriously!" Setsuna exclaimed. "No! Why!"

"It was the only thing I could think of!" Izuku admitted. "How else would we be able to get over to Shimane overnight and still have time to investigate?"

Setsuna groaned. "But Izuku. Why?"

"Um. what teleporter are we talking about, if you don't mind me asking?" Momo butt in.

A swarm of bugs circled around a picture on the whiteboard. "This guy right here," Izuku started. "He's someone that I've noticed Edgeshot and the police force employing every so often. His quirk allows for supposedly limitless and instantaneous teleportation."

"Oh!" Momo cheered, recognition in her eyes. "You mean Traveler-san!"

Izuku's and Setsuna's heads both jerked towards Momo. "You know him?"

"But of course! My family oftentimes uses his services for our travels around the country."

"Right." Izuku muttered, bowing his head. "I wonder if she's used to his pictures then?"

"One problem with that plan, however," Momo added.

Izuku's head shot right back up. "Problem? What problem?"

"Well," she tapped the tip of his chin a few times, "I'm assuming that we're trying to stay off the radar of both the police force and the Safety Commission, correct?"

Izuku nodded.

"In that case, I'd recommend against using Traveler under the pretenses of police business. He has contracts with various hero agencies and other government institutions, and every time they use his services it's marked down somewhere. For financial and documentation purposes, that is."

"Great," Izuku sighed. "Anybody know another way we can get to Shimane in under an hour, then?"

Manga raised a finger. "I don't know. If we're going to have problems with traveling I still think that Todoro—"

Pony smacked him with one of her horns. "I don't want to have to go down into the sewers!"

Todoroki blinked. "Is it because of the smell? In that case we can ask Yaoyorozu to make some gas masks."

"No need!" Momo exclaimed. "We won't need to go through the sewers! I can just Traveler-san up myself. Like I said, my family uses his services all the time!"

Manga looked over at Momo. "You say that, and it almost makes me afraid to ask, but I'm going to anyway. How much does he cost, anyways?"

Momo shrugged. "Oh, it depends on how busy his schedule is. But if I recall… it usually falls around 100,000 yen per person for domestic transport."

A spell of silence grew into existence. Momo quite obviously noticed this, and when she looked around at the others she noticed all of the others — bar Todoroki, of course — with their mouths wide open.

She tilted her head in confusion. "What?"

Izuku was the first to snap out of it. "I can't ask you to do that, Momo—"

Nonsense!" She waved his worries off. "I'm offering! Besides, it's nothing. My parents use him to get around almost weekly. He won't see anything strange with transporting myself and a couple of my friends for a late night outing."

"Right," Izuku said. "I guess that transportation is covered then?"

Momo's expression didn't hide her enthusiasm in the slightest.

Izuku rubbed his neck. "Well, in that case…"

The Night Of…

"Why did I end up getting the short straw?!" Manga whined, throwing said straw to the ground.

"It's fine Manga!" Pony soothed, patting the boy in his back. "Izuku said that we can go with him next time."

"But what if Stain figures them out! Then they'll need the firepower!"

"But I'm going though?" Todoroki questioned.

"Yeah," Manga crumpled, sighing. "I know that."

"Oi!" Setsuna called out. "Don't worry about it bro! I'm gonna be there, aren't I?" She walked over to Izuku and gave him a hard pat on the back. "Izuku's gonna be just fine!"

"Thanks Setsuna," Izuku muttered, rubbing his back. He looked over at Manga. "And there'll be five of us over there. Six if you include Kaniko. I'm sure we're going to be fine."

"Speaking of!" Mei yelled out, taking her attention away from her maintenance check of her drones. "We're missing one! Where's Miracle Girl?"

And as if she was summoned, Momo came through the doors and into their makeshift headquarters, her face strewn with worry.

"Sorry," Momo apologized. She walked over to the others, taking off her sweater as she approached.

"Jirou and Ashido had been asking for a study session all week; there wasn't holding it off any longer. I was having a bit of trouble making an excuse to get away when I noticed the time." She gave a strained smile. "I hope I'm not too late?"

"No," Izuku offered a smile back. "You're good. Kaniko's still a little ways away, so we're really just waiting for her. You made sure that Traveler's still open though, right?"

Momo nodded. "I told him to expect my call around this time. He'll be ready."

"Good," Izuku muttered. "Well, we're all here, so do you all want to head out?"

Setsuna shrugged. "Getting down to the wire. Might as well."

Manga sighed. "Well, guess this is goodnight for now?"

"Seems like it boyo!" Mei exclaimed. "See ya two tomorrow!"

"Bye guys!" Pony exclaimed.

And with that, Izuku, Momo, Setsuna, Mei, and Todoroki began their trek across campus. Right out from the doors, Izuku exerted no effort in concealing himself amongst the shadows and darkness of the night.

Todoroki followed his example, as did Mei — much to Momo and Setsuna's confusion and disbelief.

"Remember guys," Izuku said, breaking the near silence that had enveloped the group. "I'm only bringing all of you because you asked. So listen to my rules while we're on the hunt, all right? Remember, I'm the one with experience here. Though, don't hesitate to say what's on your mind, I'll have a willing ear."

"Then would you mind explaining why you three aren't sneaking around?" Setsuna hissed. "This is supposed to be vigilante stuff, isn't it? What we're doing is supposed to be illegal!"

Todoroki merely shrugged. "Midoriya didn't seem to have an issue with it."

"Yeah!" Mei said, her volume perpetually loud as always. "Exactly that."

"And besides," Izuku said, "Kaniko's coming with us. You know, a police officer? And my handler? That's adult supervision!"

Momo darted his eyes around, searching for any signs that they'd been heard. "It's highly irregular for a police officer to be abiding with letting a known vigilante continue on with their actions. Isn't her acknowledgement of this illegal in itself?"

Izuku paused to consider, his face scrunching at the thought. "You know, before, I would've said yes. But now I'm not entirely all too sure, really. I mean, the Safety Commission sort of has me as one of their agents… I guess? Right? And, well, a representative of theirs—"

"You're talking about Hawks, aren't you?" Setsuna accused.

Izuku waved her off. "Besides the point."

"Wait," Momo interjected. "You met Hawks?"

Izuku sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "I thought that you were caught up with everything." He shook his head.

"Ugh, nevermind. We'll go over it later. Point is, he seemed fine with the fact that I was on nighttime, unsupervised patrol during my internship with Edgeshot. The fact that he didn't berate me sort of counts as unsaid permission, don't you think?"

"Well, if it's the number two hero…" Momo trailed off. "But how about Principal Nezu?" she added. "He's fine with all of this?"

Izuku smirked. "If he has a problem with what we're doing he'll let us know."

"But how? You didn't tell him about our plans. He doesn't even know that we're out here!"

"Oh," Izuku chuckled, "he knows. Trust me, he knows."

"And that, I do!" A familiar voice rang out, piercing the nighttime atmosphere.

"Dang," Izuku muttered. "And we were so close to the exit, too."

Nezu's lithe form landed before them, having jumped off a nearby lamppost. He was, quite predictablly, holding a cup of tea as he did so, and took a sip of it as he turned to face his students.

"You know," Nexu smirked, "I seem to recall curfew starting at 8:00 p.m."

"We're just having a late night out!" Setsuna quickly cut in."

Nezu merely chuckled. "No need for the excuses, Miss Tokage. I've known of Midoriya's stranger qualities for quite some time. This isn't the first time I've caught him sneaking out for some nighttime escapades."

Momo and Setsuna blinked in bewilderment. "The principal already knows?"

"Wha— Yes! Of course he does!" Izuku grumbled. "I thought you said that QA told you guys everything."

"Well, obviously not!" Setsuna glowered. "Leave it to her to leave a bunch of things out."

"We really need to go over what she neglected to mention," Izuku muttered.

"Speaking of," Nezu said, "I had a talk with QA recently."

"Izuku coughed. "You— you did?"

"Mmhm. And I specifically asked her to ward you away from things like what you're planning on doing tonight."

Izuku pressed his lips together. "Nezu—"

"Midoriya," Nezu interrupted. "This isn't like your previous outings. You have others with you. Others who aren't as experienced as you. Others who — may I remind you — are under the jurisdiction of myself as their principal."

Nezu shook his head. "They don't have the freedom that you do with your connection to the HPSC. Their provisional licenses could be revoked."

"Only if anybody finds out," Izuku interjected. "And nobody will. I know what I'm doing, Nezu."

"I know you do," Nezu nodded. "I'm not questioning your abilities. It just doesn't sit well with me that your friends are going with you. And yes, before you say, I'm aware that it's to their insistence, and that you had no control over them knowing."

Izuku opened his mouth to retort back, but promptly closed it after considering the principal's words. Eventually, though, he did open his mouth again to speak.

"So you trust my judgement, right?" Izuku asked. "Trust that I think this is important enough to warrant my actions? That something needs to be done?"

Nezu's eyes shined. "There's quite possibly no one better suited to what you're trying to do tonight. Not within ease of reach, at the very least. Especially not after Ragdoll's incident."

Izuku smiled. "Glad that we reached an understanding."

Nezu nodded, moving aside to let way for the group. "As do I. Just remember that those are my students that you're taking out on definition-teetering, borderline vigilante work. You're responsible for them, even more so than your handler is."

The others may have been oblivious to it, but Izuku caught on to what Nezu had meant. A more nuanced, hidden message - that he was much more than a simple student of Nezu's at this point. Nezu was recognizing that, and that made him…

Makes me what? A partner in crime? A loose cannon vigilante? A highly entertaining piece on his board? A successor that he's meticulously grooming, as he had suggested before?

"That's for you to figure out yourself, Midoriya," Nezu said, taking a sip of his tea in the process.

Momo looked between Izuku and Nezu with a rather confused expression.

"Telepathy, Miss Yaoyorozu," Nezu playfully answered the unasked question.

"He means microexpressions," Izuku said. "He's just messing with you."

Nezu cackled. "Can you blame me? Anyhow, at least make sure that you stick with Miss Kaniyashiki the whole time, okay Midoriya?"

Izuku nodded without a moment's hesitation. "Was planning on just that."

"Good!" Nezu made a shooing motion with his free hand. "Now go, busy night ahead of all of you. Best not that you waste any more of it; Kaniyashiki did arrive a minute ago, after all."

Nezu began to walk off, away from the light provided by the lamppost and somehow seamlessly disappearing into the darkness. "Just don't get too ahead of yourselves out there, alright?"

"What'd I tell you?" Izuku said, turning to face his friends. "Told you that he'd get it."

Izuku turned back around, gesturing to follow. "Come on, let's go. He wasn't lying about Kaniko being here already. Felt her with my bugs ages ago."

Todoroki and Mei followed without issue. Momo and Setsuna on the other hand, both shared incredulous looks and unsaid thoughts of disbelief.

Thankfully, it only took the sensation provided by a few bugs crawling up their arms to snap them out of their trances and follow suit, into the night unknown.

A/N: And there we have it! Actual nighttime shenanigans are next time. Stay tuned 'til then!