Chapter 26: Eri!

Izuku, Mirio and Overhaul.

A couple of minutes later.

Izuku was the first to wake up, having experienced this before, he was a little more immune to it. He slowly opened his eyes, not knowing what century he was in before it all came rushing back. "Ah!" Izuku yelled as he shot to his feet. He looked around the place and found Mirio and Overhaul peacefully knocked out beside him.

*Oh god oh god oh god ohgodohgodohgodoh god I'm so screwed!* Izuku thought in pure horror. *Ok, first things first, let's wake up Mirio.*

"Mi- Lemillion! Wake up!" Izuku gently shook him. After a couple more times, Mirio woke up.

"Huh? What happened?" Mirio mumbled, and in a very similar fashion to Midorya, he also remembered what just happened. "Ah!" He yelled as he stood up straight within a second.

"Lemillion! Are you ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Wait, Where's-" Mirio questioned, when his eyes landed on a knocked out Overhaul slumped uncomfortably on the pavement. "Oh. Oh crap."

They slowly backed away from Overhaul's unconscious body until they were a safe distance away.

"Deku?"

"Yeah?"

"We're screwed, you know that, right?"

"...Yeah."

"Oh god, I should've never introduced Luffy to Sir, I can only imagine how pissed he'll be." Mirio dragged his hand across his face.

"...Sorry, i-it's all my fault, if I just didn't tell Luffy about Sir Nighteye." Izuku looked down in regret while holding his other arm. *But the little girl did look pretty scared, maybe it's a good thing…*

"It's not your fault, you didn't make Luffy kidnap a little girl. For now, let's just salvage as much as we can from this whole mess." Mirio looked at Izuku with sympathy. "Where do you think they could be right now? Maybe we can catch up to them?"

"I don't think so, Luffy's fast, very fast." Izuku had witnessed Luffy's speed firsthand. "Hmm, well, knowing Luffy, he'd probably be hungry." Izuku paused, "He'd definitely be hungry, but I don't think he'd risk that girl's safety by going to a random restaurant, so the only place where he could get a free meal would be at U.A!"

"You're sure?" Mirio didn't know Luffy all that well, but food? The first thing he'd do is eat food? Luffy can't be that simple-minded. (Oh, you have no idea - A)

"Positive." Izuku affirmed with a look of determination.

"Ok then, what about Overhaul–" Mirio fell silent, looking for said villain.

"Well, we can't just leave him there, not after we kidnapped his daughter. Maybe we should bring him to jail? But we can't incriminate him, besides the fact that–"

"Hey Izuku?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Overhaul?"

"What-" Izuku whipped his head around, and, lo and behold, Overhaul's unconscious body was nowhere to be found. "Oh…"

Mirio shook Izuku violently. "Quickly! Call Sir Nighteye! We're way in over our heads! I'll try to find him!" Mirio rushed into the alleyway to start his search for Overhaul, using his quirk to look through the buildings as fast as he could, popping his head through walls, scaring to death the people inside.

"O-Okay." Izuku stammered out as he took his phone out and dialed Sir Nighteye. Running his other hand through his hair in an attempt to calm himself.

Meanwhile

Overhaul.

Overhaul managed to quickly climb a building, using his quirk to make a ladder. Now, he looked down at the two boys before releasing a massive sigh. He sat down, hiding himself from everyone else.

*What the hell just happened? I was... knocked out? How? Did somebody hit me from the back? Filthy hero's… did Strawhat do it? Guess it doesn't matter now.* Overhaul thought to himself before taking his phone out.

After a couple beeps, his subordinate picked up. "Hari? Is that you?"

"Yeah boss, what's up?" Hari Kuruno picked up. The guys whose quirk is basically the slow-slow fruit. Overhaul's subordinate.

"It's bad, they got Eri."

"What?! What do you mean? Who's they?"

"They, him, I'm not sure yet, but a U.A brat stole Eri and we have to get her back."

"Oh man, are you okay?"

"Yeah, he somehow knocked me out and ran away before I could do anything."

"Wait, a U.A student knocked you out and stole her?"

"..."

"...I-I mean, since he's from U.A., It's obvious he's strong so it's not like it's something to be ashamed off–"

"Stop talking."

"Yes sir."

"Now, we have to focus on getting that little kid back."

"How are we going to do that sir?"

"Lemmilion! Did you find him? I just got off the phone and he said he'll come meet us at U.A." Overhaul overheard Izuku shout to Mirio.

"No, I didn't. Fine, let's just go to U.A. We'll figure it out on the way there." Mirio responded, and both of them started running to the nearest metro station.

"Boss? You there?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm here." Overhaul released a sigh he didn't know he was holding. "Call a meeting and invite them."

"Them? Ooh! Them! Wait, are you sure, boss? I thought that inviting them was a worst case scenario."

"And what do you think this is?!" Overhaul spit out before he closed the call. The only thing he could do was take a deep breath and release it, looking at the blue sky. "A worst case scenario."

Eri was the key to his plan, this was his chance to cure the world of the disease that was the corrupt hero system, and he wasn't about to let her slip through his fingers.

Luffy and Eri.

U.A. Dormitories.

Luffy landed right in front of the doors to the dorms, his legs absorbing the impact. For him, this was nothing unusual, on the contrary, this is how he preferred going in and out of town, but stupid 'laws' and 'common decency' and 'Momo' prevented him from doing that, so this was actually kind of fun for him.

"Yosh! We're here! Did you have fun?" Luffy, in complete disregard for the girl's comfort, asked her.

You know who didn't have fun during this roller coaster ride of death? Yep, you guessed it, it was the little girl he just saved. Eri, who had been clinging to Luffy with the might of Zeus for the last 5 minutes, not even daring to open her eyes out of the sheer fear that she would get scared and fall off.

"It's spinning… Everything is spinning…" Eri said as she got off of Luffy's back. She even had swirls in her eyes from all the motion sickness.

"Shishishishi, sorry about that, let's get inside and find something to eat!" Luffy laughed as he took her arm and helped her inside.

"O-okay."

Arriving at the kitchen, Luffy realized one thing. Momo isn't here. So he did the most logical thing that came to his mind.

"MOMOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Luffy yelled so loudly that even Aizawa woke up from his nap. Of course, this scared the absolute shit out of Eri who had just gotten over the motion sickness.

"?!" Eri was absolutely dumbstruck by this sequence of events.

"MOMOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Luffy yelled again, and Eri wasn't sure if he was calling for someone or signaling an alarm.

"MOMOOO–"

"I'M HERE! STOP YELLING!" The person in question revealed herself. She was panting, as she had just run down the staircase to stop Luffy from yelling and getting another noise complaint from the neighboring dormitories.

"Oh, hey Momo! What's up?" Luffy asked casually.

"Huh? I don't know, you called me!" Momo said as she approached the kitchen.

"I wasn't sure if you'd be here yet!" Luffy stated, Momo rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess, food?"

"Shishi, Yep! How did you know that?" Luffy asked 100% seriously.

"Magic."

As Momo neared the kitchen, somebody else came running down the staircase.

"AH! Is everyone alright?!" Ochako said, panting much more heavily than Momo.

"Everything's fine, Ochako, Luffy was just hungry." Momo responded.

"Oh, that makes sense." Ochako, just like everyone else in Luffy's life, was immune to Luffy's weirdness and just accepted it as fact.

"Hmm? Hey, wait a second, weren't you two supposed to be doing some hero stuff?" Luffy asked curiously.

"We were supposed to do our work studies, but something came up and we rescheduled for another day. And since we were pardoned from school today, it just kind of worked out with us staying in the dorms." Momo explained as she and Ochako entered the kitchen. "But why are you here? Did something come up?"

"Yeah! I saved this little girl from a bad guy!" Luffy took a step to the side to reveal Eri, who had been hiding behind his coat. Eri squealed in surprise. "Her name's Eri."

"Y-You remembered!" Eri beamed up at Luffy, which was a rare sight to see from this girl.

"...What?" "Oh! She's adorable!" The 2 girls had entirely different reactions.

"Nice to meet you, Eri!" Ochako waved as she got closer to Eri with a friendly smile.

"H-Hello." Eri responded shyly.

"Wait, what do you mean saved her? Where's Midoriya? Why is she with you and not at a police station?" Momo took a more practical approach to this situation, Luffy really didn't see the issue.

"I mean, she asked me to save her, so I did. There was this guy, you should've seen him, he gave off such a villainous aura. Also, Greenie and Cartoon Face didn't even do anything to stop him! They even said to give her back to him!" Luffy explained with a disappointed shake of his head. "Can you believe that?!"

"Wait, so you just took her and left them there?" Momo could feel the headache coming her way.

"No, no, of course not."

"Okay, that's good-"

"I knocked them out first, and then I took her and came here." Luffy added, digging through his nose completely unbothered.

Yep, there it is, there's the headache. Momo started rubbing her temples and pacing back and forth. Mumbling something about "I knew he would do this, that idiot, I knew it!"

"Wait, Luffy, when you mean knock out, you don't actually mean–" Ochako stopped her talk with Eri and asked Luffy.

"No, I mean, I used my haki to knock them out." Luffy clarified. "Nobody got hurt."

"Luffy! You insane, deranged idiot!" Momo yelled very angrily as she marched up to Luffy, grabbed his collar, and started to shake him. "We. Talked. About. This!"

"'Ah! But Momo! I had to!" Luffy managed to say in between shakes. Now, this wasn't anything new to Luffy, in fact, this was pretty tame compared to what Nami used to do, but Eri didn't know this. To Eri, this was like witnessing a divorce.

"S-Stop it!" Eri said as she pushed Momo with all the power a six year old could muster, managing to finally put herself between Momo and Luffy. "I asked him to do it, so please don't get mad at him!"

I'm sure Eri imagined herself as a lioness protecting her cub when it was really the other way around.

"Oh my gosh! You're so adorable!" Ochako squealed as she started hugging Eri like a doll. Luffy was amused by Eri's bravery, and obviously Momo couldn't do anything more to Luffy, but the real reason she stopped was because she noticed Eri's bandaged arms.

A tense, sad smile crossed Momo's lips. "Okay, if you say so, then I'll stop."

Eri was happy she managed to pay back Luffy, even if she couldn't show it on her face, if only a little. She actually stood up for someone! Then her tummy grumbled. Her proud face was replaced with a beet red one. This caused Luffy to laugh, Momo to realize the real reason Luffy was here, and Ochako to coddle Eri even more.

"Are you hungry? Oh yes, you are! Yes, you are!" Ochako said as she started playing with Eri's cheeks. Eri couldn't even do anything else besides accept her fate. She never had anyone to play with or pamper her, so it was strange for her. Contrary to what she expected, she did not hate it, in fact, she liked it.

"But Lu, you know you're in trouble, right? A lot of trouble." Momo made her way to the fridge and started to make some food.

"Pfft. I don't care." Luffy chuckled as he sat on a stool.

"Well, I do. I just know something bad is gonna happen." Momo could feel it in her gut. "Ochako, do you want anything? I can make you a portion as well."

"No thanks!"

After a couple of minutes of cooking, the food was ready to be served. They all moved to the dining room.

Momo handed Eri a normal-sized plate of omelet mixed with sausages, cheese, and tomatoes. She also handed Luffy the same thing, but it was giant-sized, way more than what a normal human could eat.

"It's…" Eri said after taking a mouthful of food. "It's so good!" Eri couldn't stop herself from eating.

"Thank you, it means a lot." Momo said as she sat with Ochako at the same table as them.

"I know, right! It's super good!" Luffy agreed, already finished with his plate. It's a miracle that he didn't eat the plate itself.

Momo and Ochako sweatdropped at this. "Did you even taste it?"

They suddenly hear the door to the building burst wide open, drawing the attention of all the present company. Inside came running Izuku and Mirio.

"Is he here?!" Mirio asked through heavy breathing.

"I smell food." Izuku noted before running further inside and spotting Luffy's relaxed figure, with Mirio following after him. "Aha! He is here!"

"Oh boy, here we go." Momo muttered. Eri, at the sight of Izuku, hid behind Luffy.

"Luffy! Do you have any idea of how much trouble you're in!" Izuku scolded, more so out of fear of what's going to happen to Luffy, not as a real reprimand.

Luffy shrugged. "I don't know, how much?"

Izuku was about to continue, but just now he spotted the other girls. "Yaoyorozu? Uraraka? What are you guys doing here?"

"Something came up." Momo said. "Are you guys okay? You look like you ran all the way here."

"We kinda did, you have no idea what Luffy just did." Izuku responded as he sat down to catch his breath.

"Luffy told us what happened."

"So, what was I supposed to do? Throw Eri off of me and leave her with that guy?" Luffy said as he moved out of the way to reveal Eri to Izuku. Eri, startled, hid behind Luffy again.

After Izuku saw Eri, a flash of guilt flashed across his face. He got out of the chair and went to Eri. "Look Eri, that's your name, right?"

Eri nodded, Izuku knew her name, but he tried to break the ice there.

"Listen, of course we wanted to save you but–" Izuku looked at Mirio, who was looking through his phone. "We're both sorry for neglecting you, but we couldn't save you without putting everyone in more danger."

"But Luffy told us that nobody got hurt." Ochako blurted.

"Yet." Mirio deadpanned. As Izuku went back to his chair, Luffy didn't miss the way Eri held tighter to his coat.

"We had a plan, Luffy. All of us agreed on it, and sure, I'm glad you saved this little girl, but at the cost of what? How many more people are going to suffer because of this?" Mirio continued.

"I don't think that's fair." Momo intervened. "Our primary job as heroes is to save lives. I'm sure you saw the state that Eri was in, and look at her now."

All eyes in the room looked at Eri, whose hands were trembling in fear, Izuku balled his fists, he well remembered the look on her face when he first met her.

"It's obvious that Eri doesn't want to go back to that place, to me, it just sounds like Luffy is doing what a hero would do." Momo defended.

"Like I said, how many more people are going to suffer for this one child?" Mirio countered. He didn't realize just how much those words would hurt Eri. Both sides had solid arguments, but unfortunately, their debate was stopped by the one and only-

"Mr. Aizawa!" Izuku was the first one to spot him, the homeroom teacher was standing tiredly at the door.

"Hello children." Aizawa yawned. "Mirio, what's the emergency?"

*So that's what he was doing on his phone.* Izuku realized.

Before Mirio could respond, Aizawa's phone started vibrating, and Momo started sweating. "One second, I'm getting a call."

"Yes? … Sir Nighteye? … Yeah, they're here … Wait, you're coming here? Why? … No, they didn't … Luffy did what?! Ughhhh." Aizawa groaned and started pacing back and forth. "Mhm, mhm … Yeah- no, I'll keep him here. Ok." Aizawa closed his phone and whipped his head so fast at Luffy that you'd think he broke his neck. "Give me one good reason not to expel you right now."

"Umm- well, Mister-" Momo tried to intervene.

"Shut it Yaoyorozu or you're going home with him." Aizawa snapped. Momo quickly did as she was told.

"Hey! I thought I told you that I don't care what you do to me, but leave Momo out of this." Luffy angrily stands up to confront Aizawa.

The sudden movement caused Eri to lose her grip on his coat. Eri quietly yelped in surprise and rushed behind Momo who patted her on the head soothingly.

"And I thought I told you to never lay a hand on anyone again!"

"Well, I mean, you could say that I technically never laid a hand on him."

"You know damn well that's not what I mean!" It just pissed him off more. Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose and starts to loop around the room. "Damn it, Aizawa, you knew this would happen but you still let it happen anyway."

"He's talking to himself now." Ochako whispers to Izuku as Aizawa continues to mumble and fiddle with his phone. "Should we be worried?"

"That's my secret, Uraraka." Izuku says while sweating buckets. "I'm always worried." (I wonder who's gonna get that reference.-A)

"All I did was save Eri, while these two tried to leave her behind!" Izuku and Mirio tensed. Luffy looked at Momo, who nodded. "Isn't that what a hero is supposed to do?!"

"Sigh… Mirio, how badly did he screw up?" Aizawa growled, more worried about the large-scale consequences.

"Well, we lost the element of surprise, months of planning went down the drain, Overhaul's probably going to tighten his security. That or he's going to retaliate, either way, innocent people are going to suffer." Mirio abruptly informed everyone.

While Mirio hated to see this little girl in such a state, he was more focused on the bigger picture, and yes, he would have loved to save her then, but Overhaul was too much of an unknown variable to risk it.

"Not only that, but he's also going to be furious about you stealing his daughter." Aizawa rubbed his temples. "You asked what a hero is supposed to do, a hero is supposed to save as many lives as possible, not endanger them on a whim."

Luffy looked at him, confusedly. "I don't care about the other people, I just want to protect the people I care about."

"So you're fine if other people get hurt?!" Aizawa furiously gets face to face with Luffy, his eyes flashing red.

"Can't you guys protect them? I thought this place was full of heroes!" Aizawa seemed taken aback, along with everyone else in the room.

The door slammed open. "It's a bear! It's a rat! It's a cat! No It's your principal! Nezu! To check out what all the fuss is about!"

"Hello students." Sir Nighteye entered after Nezu with a serious expression. Aizawa backs away from Luffy, his hair falling around his face. Luffy glances at the new arrivals and goes back to his stool. The rest of the spectators visibly relaxed.

"Phew. It's a good thing Nezu got here before things got ugly." Ochako sighed in relief and wiped her forehead.

"Sir Nighteye! What are you doing here?" Izuku was baffled by his sudden appearance.

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Nezu says, confidently walking in the room with everyone, with Nighteye following after him.

"It's fine." Aizawa rubs his eyes. *I can't believe I got worked up like that.*

"Are you sure? I can still feel the tension in the room." Nezu persisted.

"I said it's fine." Aizawa spat out a little more sharply than he would've liked to. "Anyway, now that you're here, we have some things to talk about."

"Sir Nighteye informed me on the way here." It's a good thing Nighteye bumped into Nezu since Aizawa forgot to mention exactly where the dorm was.

"Then you should know what I'm going to say now." Aizawa put some eye drops in his dry eyes. "I want him expelled."

"You know very well why we can't do that." Nezu's mysterious statement left Izuku, Nighteye, and Ochako wondering.

While Momo. *Ah! I see now! Because Lu's from another world, Nezu can't let him loose and risk something bad happening! So he's not going to be expelled!*

"I don't care anymore, I want him gone. He's been a pain in my ass since the beginning, but this is crossing the line. I can't keep taking responsibility for his screw ups." Aizawa crossed his arms. "You either expel him or fire me."

*Nevermind.* Momo started to lose hope that she'd ever see Luffy in U.A. again.

"Oh boy, why don't we sit down and have a cup of tea first." Nezu tried to defuse the situation.

"I don't want tea, I want an answer." Aizawa seemed pretty adamant on this.

"Mr. Aizawa, If I could say somethi-" Izuku tried to intervene, but Aizawa stopped him.

"One more word from a student, and they're getting expelled alongside Luffy." Aizawa said, quickly shutting down any protests.

"Now." Aizawa said to Nezu with a tone of finality. Now the tension is back to where it was before.

But before anybody could respond, a soft sob from Eri filled the quiet room. "N-no."

"Eri?" Momo turned to face her.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Ochako went up to her. Now every pair of eyes in the room were on her. With tears in her eyes, she ran past the two girls and came face-to-face with Aizawa.

"P-Please stop! I-I know it's my fault! I know that, so please stop! I'm sorry for esca-escaping, so I'll go back! Please, I'll go back, just stop being mean to Luffy!" Eri cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, her hands and feet shaking, her voice trembling as she stood up to Aizawa. "Sob I'm so sorry, all of this is my fault. All those in-innocent people are going to be hurt because of me, I know that. If I go back, everything will be fine, right? All I have to do is endure it, and nobody will suffer because of me!"

The shock of her words was enough to bring Ochako to tears and Izuku to furiously wipe his eyes.

"Oh, Eri..." Momo said as she crouched down and took the crying girl in her arms, Eri nuzzling into the nook of her neck. "Nobody is ever going to make you go back, I can promise you that."

"You don't have to cry anymore Eri. Momo and I won't let the bad guys have you ever again, right?" Luffy looked to Momo for approval, she nodded without any hesitation.

Eri sniffled, "B-but if I don't go b-back, Luffy won't be able to s-stay here anymore…"

Ochako was quick to correct. "No! No, Eri, it's not your fault! Even if Aizawa says he will, he won't actually expel Luffy, Nezu said so!"

"S-So sniff does that mean that, maybe I can stay here?" Eri whimpered, embarrassed by her selfish request. Eri hated the thought of having to go back, but she despised the thought of Luffy getting in trouble because of her.

"Of course." The students said it without hesitation.

Time seemed to freeze for Aizawa, he looked at this little girl, balling her eyes out while begging that he wouldn't expel Luffy. Aizawa was a very pessimistic and realistic person, he looked at life not the way he wanted to but the way he had to, sacrificing one person for the greater good. A big picture kind of guy. Funny how a little girl can make someone like him bend his own principles.

Nighteye looked at Eri with mild confusion. "Mirio, who is this little girl?"

Miriro straightened. "This is Overhaul's daughter. The one I told you about on the phone."

Nighteye's eyes widened, and his voice grew a little softer as he addressed the shaking child. "Eri, I suppose you could stay here, but won't your father worry about you?" Nighteye knew that Overhaul was a bad guy, but Yakuza had a reputation for caring for their family.

"NO!" The quick denial escaped Eri's mouth uninvited, and she slapped her hands over her mouth, surprising even herself.

Everybody looked at her in surprise.

"Eri? Is something wrong?" Ochako questioned, her brow furrowed.

"No, I just… I don't want to go back." Eri shyly looked at the ground.

"Why is that?" Momo curiously asked.

"..." Eri couldn't find the words.

"Eri?" Izuku's voice was filled with concern.

Eri's trembling increased, like leaves in a storm, but if she had to tell them, if only never to go back there, then she would. "I don't want to go back because… they hurt me, he hurts me, over and over and over… H-he takes my body." She hiccups through the tears, "And he cuts me and pokes me s-o much…""

"Oh my god." Ochako spoke without breathing, mortified. Eri's hands started trembling. Eri would have gone into a panic if Momo had not been there to physically comfort her, holding onto her little hand reassuringly.

"He.." She hesitates, if she told them more. Then Overhaul would surely kill them… but, she remembered the way she was saved, and steeled her nerves. "He's obsessed with my q-quirk, so much that he.. He reconstructs me all the time, saying he wants to 'cure everyone', even if I-I'm too tired, please- please don't ever take me back there!"

"Oh Eri." Momo spoke as she caressed the girl's back, stilling her own shaking hand. "Nobody is sending you anywhere, you'll never go back."

Aizawa didn't know if Eri was aware of the effect her words had on the room, Nezu looked at her pitifully. All the students besides Mirio and Izuku, who had horror on their faces, wiped tears from their eyes, Luffy's face was twisted into anger, even Nighteye looked disturbed.

Nobody was as distressed as Mirio and Izuku. Their chests were tight, their gut clenched painfully in guilt. They tried to stop Luffy from taking her, tried to stop him from saving this poor, tortured soul, what would they have done? Izuku tries to tell himself he would have taken her even if Luffy wasn't there, Mirio tries to believe it would have been fine if they saved her later, but deep down, the pair knows they would have regretted leaving her behind for the rest of their lives.

"We wouldn't be able to call ourselves heroes if we sent you back after you told us your situation." Nezu calmly told Eri. Eri turns to face Nezu. "Speaking from experience, I know how terrible it must feel to be in your shoes now, but me, the people in this room, and the whole of U.A. is at your disposal, so don't be afraid to ask for our support."

"W-wait so, does that mean…" Eri turned to Aizawa. "That you won't send Luffy away, a-and I can stay?"

"..." Aizawa turned away from Eri, it was too hard to say no to her cute face. "I'll postpone the discussion."

He turned and pointed to Luffy. "But this isn't over!"

"No problem, sunglasses!" Luffy agreed, he was glad he wouldn't be expelled, but more glad that Eri would be able to stay here, it sounded cruel, the place she had been before.

"I'm glad that that whole debacle was settled, even if it's for now." Nezu sideyes Aizawa, who 'tsk's in response. "But now we have to find a place for her to stay while we figure out what to do next." Nighteye nods.

"I'll take her." "I'll take her." Aizawa and Momo said it at the same time. A battle of wits was about to commence.

"She should be with other adults who are responsible enough to care for her." Aizawa argued.

"I think being with the people who saved her would make her the most comfortable, also, we are free for the rest of the day so we can focus our attention on Eri." Momo countered.

"You have class, hero work and homework. I can always free up my schedule." Aizawa argued.

As the argument threatened to get more heated, Nezu decided to intervene.

"Ok, ok. Settle down. Both of you make great points, so why don't we just ask the little lady what she wants." Nezu suggested, calming down the pair. "Eri, where do you want to stay?"

Eri could hardly believe she was allowed to choose. "I-I want to stay with them." Eri says as she buries her face deeper in Momo's embrace. A smug look appeared on Momo's face. Aizawa sighs in defeat.

"Then it's settled, I'll have the nurse come here to check up on her and Aizawa and I will discuss Luffy's and Eri's situation." Nezu said, happy that this whole problem was resolved. "What will you do?" Nezu asked Nighteye.

"I'll go to my office for now and try to find out what Overhaul's plan was with Eri." Nighteye explained as he started to leave, but not before glaring at Mirio, Izuku and Luffy. "Tomorrow we'll have a talk, don't think you're getting off scot free."

Mirio and Izuku were reeling with too much guilt to notice the glare Nighteye shot at them. As for Luffy, well, he just didn't care.

Meanwhile

Overhaul's hideout.

"Scoff. The worst thing about this boring office is that I had to run around in circles for half an hour to find it." Shigaraki said this from his seat on his sofa, with his feet kicked up on the coffee table. "Also, what's with the big blood spot in the hall? Looks pretty fresh."

"I like to keep things nice and tidy, and not all of our guests have the best intention, the maze is just one of our tricks to hide from them, and the spot you saw was just me dealing with a nuisance." Overhaul said, sitting across from him in a much more formal way. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"I, for one, like this office-like room, which reminds me of my own base of operation. It must've been tough for someone with a quirk like yours to maintain the Shie Hassaikai." Speaking from his own seat at the head of the coffee table was a middle-aged man with a big mark on the right side of his forehead, a bad case of widow's peak, brown pointy hair, and an even pointier nose. "Isn't it unfair? To be forced into a life of crime just because of society's view of your quirk

"What's this guy's deal?" Shigaraki asked, not impressed. "I thought this was supposed to be a private meeting."

"I never said this was going to be a 1-on-1 session, my soon-to-be friend over here is going to participate in this meeting for a potential 3-way partnership." Overhaul told Shigaraki. "Do you have any idea who he is?"

"I know he's some big shot of that quirk company." Shigaraki didn't even bother showing him respect. "I always knew big shot CEO's had some dirty hands, but I didn't expect him to drop to our level."

"Well, then allow me to introduce myself. My name is Rikiya Yotsubashi, CEO of the support company Detnerat and the Grand Commander of the Meta Liberation Army, but you can call me Redestro." Redestro introduced himself with a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you." (Gus Fring vibes - A)

"Meta Liberation army? Figures their leader is a CEO, only a lunatic can lead those guys." Shigaraki said it with disdain in his voice.

"Oh? You sure have a big mouth for someone who was destroyed by a bunch of high school kids." Redestro, whose muscles were bulging and his forehead mark was getting larger, spoke in a very composed tone as he drew closer to Shigaraki. "Shall I shut it forever?"

"I'd like to see you try." Shigaraki said menacingly as he also got up from his seat.

"Gentleman, please, this is a place of business, and that's what I'd like to do." Overhaul could not risk this opportunity slipping away from him. "We have the chance of destroying hero society for good, do you really want to waste it over a couple of words?"

To be honest, it's a miracle Shigaraki even made it here. With all the surgeries and training the doctor has had him go through, he was barely able to keep this bluff, so he chose to retreat... for now.

Redestro was a businessman through and through, he didn't want to lose this meeting and the potential benefits it might bring, so he also chose to back down.

"So, what's this chance you're talking about?" Shigaraki asked as he plopped back down on his seat with a grunt that he hoped nobody heard.

Overhaul pulled out a red bullet from his pocket and put it on the coffee table. "This. This right here is the answer to all of our problems."

Redestro took the bullet and started to examine it.

"How's a little bullet going to overthrow hero society, exactly?" Shigaraki didn't bother to look at it, not because he didn't want to but because his body was too sore.

"A needle?" Redestro said as he looked very closely at it. "This isn't just a bullet, it's a dart, right?"

"Correct, this dart is filled with a special formula." Overhaul said as he took out a case filled with those bullets. "An anti-quirk formula."

"A quirk suppressant, really? That's your big plan?" Shigaraki sounded completely unimpressed. "Isn't the black market filled with shit like this?"

"Not quite like this, while the black market has tools to temporarily remove quirks, this bullet is going to do it permanently." Overhaul said, and all of a sudden the air in the room changed.

"You're serious?" Shigaraki's eyes shot open.

"Do I look like I'm laughing?" Overhaul said.

"A quirk is a part of someone's identity, how dare you try to rob them of something so precious?!" Redestro was outraged. "The meta-liberation army aims to change this society into a quirk society, one where no one should be ashamed or have to hide their quirks, and you aim to remove it entirely?!"

Overhaul pulls out a blue bullet from his other pocket this time. "This is where that comes into play." He tosses the bullet at Redestro. "A bullet that can give someone their quirk back, completing the loop. We can sell the red bullet to the villains and the blue bullet to the heroes, creating a monopoly that averages bili- no trillions of dollars, that's right, not yen but dollars and euros, I plan to go international with this. A business that'll make the top 1 percent of the world look like your local ATM machine."

Overhaul looks at Shigaraki. "How's that for a plan?"

"The world certainly revolves around quirks, so this scheme is more possible than not." Redestro, seemingly calm now, hands the bullets back to Overhaul.

"Keep them." Overhaul says nonchalant. "Take it as a gesture of good faith." Redestro seems surprised, Overhaul knows what kind of resources he has, so why would he just hand him the key to all of this, which is when it clicked for Shigaraki.

"And you need us for something." Shigaraki said it as a fact. "You already have everything you need to distribute and make it, so it's not like you need us for that, on top of that, you even gave it to the guy who is the CEO of a tech company, which means there's something in the formula, something you had that you lost, something to do with the blood outside?"

"Gotta hand it to you, you're smarter than I gave you credit for." Overhaul and Redestro were genuinely impressed. "And you're right, the thing I lost is the key to this whole thing. A little girl who has the quirk to reverse anything. The guy who was supposed to be in charge of her is now on the wall outside."

"Hahahaha! You had the golden goose, and you just lost it?!" Shigaraki found this hilarious. It hurt Overhaul's pride to hear him laugh, but he couldn't risk driving him away, so he just had to endure it.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" Redestro asked.

"I do, but it's in a heavily guarded place, which is where you guys come in." Overhaul said. "If you do decide to join this 3-way partnership, you will help me get the little girl back and I can guarantee you an equal split of the profit, provided you help with distribution and fabricating the product."

"So you not only want us to help you kidnap her, you want us to do your job for you?" Shigaraki didn't seem pleased with this.

"Without the girl, we can't do anything, and I'm not saying you do my job for me, I'm saying we divide our work equally among the three of us. Remember when I said I wanted to go international with this? How about this, Shie Hassaikai takes Asia and Australia, Meta Liberation Army takes the Americas, and the League of Villains takes Africa and Europe."

"Sounds more like world domination than 'International'." While Redestro mocked Overhaul's choice of words, he didn't hate the plan at all, he actually liked it.

"I want Asia." Of course Shigaraki wanted Asia, that's where All-Might is after all.

"The details can be hashed out later, but for now, this is what I present." Overhaul crossed his arms and hoped for 'yes'.

"How do I know you won't just take the girl and run away?" Redestro questioned.

"Besides my word, I can give you one of my crew members as collateral, and vice versa, that way, I won't be able to betray you without you killing my crew." Overhaul spoke with regret. He didn't really care about his crew, but he faked his emotions if it meant convincing the people in the room.

"..." Shigaraki liked this plan, really liked it, not for the money or world domination, but for the bullet, it was like he could have Erasurehead's quirk whenever he wanted and use it permanently, he would finally be able to kill All-Might, Deku and Straw Hat.

"..." Redestro loves quirks, he loves how unique they are, how they can influence a country's culture, how they can define a person, and he hates society that tries to suppress that. If he had the amount of money Overhaul was talking about, he could start his own society, one without people having to hide who they are. And if things go downhill, he has an army he's not afraid to use to get what he wants.

Shigaraki nodded, as did Redestro. Overhaul extended his hand to Shigaraki. "What's this?"

"The journey of 1000 miles begins with a step."

Shigaraki looked at his hand, he knew Overhaul's quirk, he knew what he could do, and vice versa.

He took his hand, held it for a couple of seconds, and shook it.

Overhaul turned to Redestro, shook his hand with a suspense that could give someone a heart attack.

"So, now that that whole thing is over with, would you care to tell us where this little girl is?" Shigaraki said, weirded out by that whole interaction.

Overhaul pulls a blueprint from under his sofa and plops it on the coffee table. "U.A. High."

"U.A? Wait, don't tell me." Shigaraki was glad that he had a palm stuck to his face, he didn't have to facepalm himself now. "Straw Hat?"

"...Yeah." Overhaul seemed embarrassed.

"Motherfucker."

"Wait, so you want the three of us to attack the best hero school in the country?" Redestro asked, and Overhaul nodded. "When?"

"Tonight."

U.A. Dormitories.

5:30 PM.

As Eri tries to fit in this new, foreign place, she is suddenly bombarded with a bunch of new faces all bursting into the room at once. She already had to deal with Recovery Girl's fussing but now this?

"Oh em goodness, Who is this?!" Mina gushes.

"Hello Mina, this is Eri, she's going to stay with us for a while." Momo informs the class, causing various looks of confusion and wonder.

"H-hello." Eri whispered.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest thing in the world!" Mina rushes forward to give her a hug, stopping when she flinches back to hide behind Momo. She is not put off and looks at her with shining eyes.

"I know right?!" Ochako grins.

"Deku! What the fu–" Bakugo's protests are cut short by Momo.

"Language!" Momo reprimands.

"...Deku what the frick is this?! I didn't come to school to babysit, you witch!" Bakugo flips his ring finger. Deku rushes to Bakugo to hurriedly whisper in his ear.

"Oh, Kacchan please calm down. This is Eri and she's very traumatized, we're her only safe space right now." Bakugo scoffs but has the decency to look embarrassed.

"Dude, calm down!" Kirishima loudly whispers to his friend before he turns to face Eri.

"Sorry, he's just a bit loud.." He apologizes on behalf of Bakugo, Eri looks on with wide eyes.

Bakugo looks at Eri and grunts.

"Jus-Just keep her out of my way." He's quick to storm upstairs to his room.

"Hello, little lady!" Denji, and the others get a good look at her.

"Finally, I'm not the smallest." Mineta grins.

"N-Nice to meet you all." Eri manages to squeak out.

"How did this happen?" Sero seemed concerned, it wasn't every day you got a new roommate nearly half your age.

"Luffy saved this little girl from some bad guys. While the teachers find her a place to stay, she's going to stay with us." Ochako clarifies.

"Luffy!" Iida was in outrage. "This is not the proper environment for a child!"

"Calm down, vicerep." Jiro pricks Iida. "You're scaring her."

Iida get's one look at Eri's expression and hastily bows.

"I-I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart!"

The class laughs at his expense, and Eri seems a tad more comfortable. Peeking out from behind Momo.

"Wait, where is Eri going to sleep?" Hakagure asks.

"She can stay with me! Yes, she can! Yes, she can!" Mina offers enthusiastically, phantom-miming pulling on her little cheeks.

"I think it would be best if she stayed with someone who she feels comfortable with." Momo retorts, trying to hide that the only reason she wants Eri in her room is because of how cute she is.

"I can take her!" Asui offers, also bewitched by Eri's cuteness. "My room has cute little froggies for her to look at!"

"W-well since my room has a king sized bed, a Alaskan king size bed actually, it would have enough space for the both of us!" Momo quickly intervened.

"I guess that's true."

"Eri." Momo looks at her. "You're going to sleep with me tonight, is that alright?"

Eri nods.

U.A. Dormitories.

9:00 PM.

Momo is going to her bedroom, with Eri following close behind. Eri finds herself refreshed, having a bath for the first time in as long as she can remember was a new and welcome experience.

"How was the new toothbrush? I tried to make it a pretty colour for you!" Momo's heart practically shattered into a million pieces when she found out Eri didn't know how to use one, having to teach her the basic rotating motions with patience.

"I-It was good, sorry, I didn't know how to use it." Eri felt ashamed. "I was never taught how to."

"Oh Eri, you never have to apologize, not to me, not for that." Momo feels sorry for Eri. "Don't worry, I'll teach you how to do everything you don't know."

"Thank you." Eri feels happy, but can't quite let go of the quiet shame she feels.

"Of course, this is my room!" Momo announces and opens the door to her room and her giant bed.

"Wow!" Eri couldn't do anything but stare in shock and awe, she couldn't imagine a bed could be so big.

"Do you like it?" Momo asks.

"Of course!" Eri nods, then visibly hesitates as she looks at the bed.

"Do you want to… jump on it?" Momo offers, mischievous grin.

"Can I?" Eri asks.

"Normally no, but this is a special occasion." Momo jumps first, to really show Eri that it's alright. Eri is slow to follow and doesn't jump very big, but nonetheless, she looks like she's having fun.

As they continue to goof off, something she wouldn't have done a few months ago, Momo can't help but notice that even though Eri is jumping higher and with more confidence, she isn't smiling.

She can't blame the girl, sadly, she thinks Eri doesn't remember how.

Eri yawns widely and her moves become sluggish. Momo decides it's time for bed, it has been an exciting day for her after all. "Let's get you into bed."

Eri nods sleepily, after they change, Eri getting some comfortable PJ's from Momo, they get under the covers. "Goodnight Eri."

"Goodnight." Momo sleeps on one side, Eri the other. After a little while Eri fidgets and slowly but surely inches towards Momo.

Momo notices Eri is moving towards her, when she feels Eri's hand on her back, she turns around and cuddles her, catching Eri by surprise. "You don't have to worry anymore, I'll protect you with my life."

Eri, in Momo's warm embrace, hugs Momo back, and, for the first time in her life, she sleeps without a care in the world, without fearing what the next day might bring. A tear goes down her cheek.

"Thank you."

Meanwhile,

A nearby building.

Redestro is standing upright, with a hand on his tie, looking down at the U.A. building. "Is everything set?"

"Should be." Overhaul says as he sits perched over the side of a building near the school. "Where's Shigaraki?"

"He just sent me a text, it says he's going to be there soon." Toga grins, leaning over the side of the building, near where Overhaul is.

"What are we waiting for then?" Dabi says impatiently, he wants to set it all ablaze. "Let's light this place up."

"Hold on, you can't just rush into things Dabi! Let's all jump now!" Twice yells at Dabi who just ignores him.

As the moon eclipses the five villains, they hear a thundering roar and the building starts to shake.

"I'LL GET YOU, ALL FOR ONE'S SUCCESSOR!"

"That's our cue." Toga giggles as a malicious grin appears on her face. "I just can't wait to see my friends again! I'll paint them in their own cute blood!"

"He really wasn't kidding, I didn't expect the League of Villains to have such a card up their sleeve." Overhaul deadpans as none other than Gigantomachia appears over the horizon, moving in faster than you could imagine someone of his size. An echo of police sirens and other emergency alarms follows him.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

Gigantomachia's roar is loud enough to wake up everybody in the vicinity. In front, if you could make it out, is none other than Shigaraki, leading the monster on and heading straight to U.A.

"Oh, you'll kill." Shigaraki says as he moves at inhumane speeds. "Just not me."