“You realise that this doesn’t excuse his actions, right?”

Aizawa kept his arms folded as Tenya turned to his homeroom teacher sharply. Although the class rep cared a lot for his classmates, he was never the type to condone even the slightest hint of wrongdoing. To see him so passionate about defending a villain was surprising, to say the least.

“We understand, sir. It is true that he made his choice to side with the villains.” Momo pulled out the thumbdrive from the projector. “But it would benefit all of us to understand the motivations behind our friend’s actions.”

“Uh… guys?” Kirishima said hesitantly. “I think we’re forgetting something.”

The five students stepped forward and bowed deeply at the heroes.

“I’m sorry for causing yet more trouble,” Tenya began. “It was my idea to rescue our friends. It was my idea to include Felix Pagonis in our childish rescue mission.”

“We put ourselves in danger without taking you pro heroes into consideration,” Momo said. “It was foolish of us to behave so rashly.”

“We acted on emotion, and endangered your whole operation.” Ochaco choked back a sob. “Not only have we failed at saving our friends, we failed to recognise the enemy in our midst until it was too late.”

“I accept full consequences for my actions,” Todoroki said.

“So do I.” Kirishima closed his eyes. “We’ll accept any punishment you have for us.”

Aizawa released a long-drawn breath. It was true that his students had indirectly invited a villain to their rescue operation. It was true that they had acted without thinking logically and suffered the consequences.

But what were heroes if not rash at times? How many pro heroes in this room would, too, throw themselves in front of danger without hesitation to save others?

A small sense of pride blossomed in the teacher’s heart instead. Although his students were still kids, they had the heart of a true hero. Unrefined and irrational as their actions were, their efforts were borne of the same desire that drove most heroes.

“Shota, they’re your students,” Nezu said. “I’ll leave them to you. I have nothing for them.”

“You kids have made grave mistakes.” Aizawa glared at them.

The students did not flinch.

“Which is why I believe you should be given a chance to atone for them.”

They looked up at him in surprise.

The teacher turned to his colleagues. “I cannot speak for the rest of the school, but if you want my vote, I give permission for Class 1A to aid us in our battle against the villains. I have full confidence in their training and natural aptitude. Felix Pagonis may be a villain now, but he is still their classmate. This would mean a lot to them.”

Vlad King smirked. “Class 1B has my permission as well, should they wish to protect U.A. High. They haven’t had the fortune of experiencing real-life combat yet, but they are no slouches in that department either.”

“I believe everyone, including our students, are on edge about the retirement of the Symbol Of Peace as well.” Nezu climbed onto the table. “We teachers especially have the responsibility of keeping them safe. But if they wish to fight, I say we support them fully.”

Aizawa turned back to his students. “Thank you for this invaluable information, heroes. Go home, have some rest. I’ll see you soon.”

“Thank you, sir!”

The door closed.

“That was very touching, but shall we get down to business?” Nighteye said nonchalantly, rewinding the video. “See that emblem?”

He pointed to a symbol behind All For One.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. The emblem was slightly familiar, although he still could not recall where he had seen it before.

“I recognise it, but it’s slightly different. It looks like Jaku Hospital Board’s emblem,” Midnight spoke up. “I remember a few of their research centres were closed down due to unethical practices.”

Nighteye nodded. “Indeed. The evidence was never strong enough to incriminate the Chairman, Kyudai Garaki, but I had always suspected that there is more to him than what meets the eye.”

“Do we have the location of those abandoned research centres?” Aizawa asked. “I’ll go.”

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“Eraser, I know how much this means to you, but we have to be careful about this,” Nighteye said sharply. “Secrecy is of the utmost importance.”

“Agreed, so Aizawa can be part of the small team of heroes sent to scout out the area. He’s good at stealth operations after all.” Midnight glanced at him, before giving him a small smile.

Aizawa gave her a nod of gratitude. He faced the heroes once more.

“I won’t fail. I will atone for my mistakes. This, I promise.”

~ ~ ~

Being on the run was an unpleasant experience. New, but still undeniably unpleasant. Even the gaols felt better than being trapped in this musty warehouse. Felix crinkled his nose, trying not to sneeze for the seventh time. The air was practically made of dust.

The League Of Villains fiddled with their phones while waiting for Jin to return. Apparently, he had found a powerful potential ally, and called all of them to meet up. But he was late tonight.

Metal creaked as the warehouse doors opened. Two figures blocked the intruding moonlight, casting long shadows which stretched up to the lounging villains.

“Well, now. You brought us a pretty big catch, huh, Twice?” Shigaraki broke the idle silence with his usual raspy voice.

“You think so? Strange, coming from you,” the visitor butted in with a remarkably deep voice, before casting his gaze at Shigaraki. “League of Villains.”

A dark olive-green bomber jacket with a thick purple fur collar draped the pale looking man, barely covering the black dress shirt underneath it. The lower half of his face was covered in a tipped, embroidered plague mask, and three piercings decorated his left ear.

“What gives? Is this guy famous or something?” Magne asked curiously.

“My master showed me a picture of him once. He’s what you’d call ‘yakuza’, the young head of the Shie Hassaikai.” Shigaraki stood up and approached the man. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“He’s the number two of the whole gang?” Magne squealed. “Ooh, I’ve never met anyone like him before! He smells so dangerous. How exciting!”

“What’s the deal?” Toga stretched her legs lazily. “We’re all criminals here, so how is this guy any different?”

“Ah! Allow me to tell you a story,” Compress spoke up, shifting into his entertainer persona. “In the past, there were many different scary troupes that ran the underworld. But with the rise of the heroes came the fall of these criminals, and they were slowly pushed out of the spotlight.”

Felix’s eyes narrowed. So the mafia exists in this world as well.

“When All Might took the stage, their golden era was over. Disbanded and forced into hiding, the yakuza survivors who escaped became mere rental thugs for villain groups,” the man continued. “In other words, they were reduced to the lowest form of criminal, barely scraping by to make a living. Frankly speaking, they’re obsolete. An endangered species, even.”

Plague Mask sighed loudly, adjusting the white surgical gloves on his hands. “Endangered species, huh? I guess that’s true.”

“So what’s a yakuza thug from the slums doing here?” Magne asked. “Let me guess, you’re excited about All Might’s retirement too.”

“It’s great news that he’s gone, yes. But I’m more interested in the one who felled him.”

Felix released a sigh as the man started to raise a finger. He knew full well the notoriety of his powers, but meeting so many people who just wanted to use him was quickly getting tiring.

“All For One.”

The boy raised his eyebrows in surprise as Plague Mask pointed straight at Shigaraki.

“The dark emperor who ruled over the shadows,” the man said. “The old-timers always feared him, even after rumours of his death. Hell, most people my age still think he’s an urban legend. I can’t blame them though; your master certainly is the world champion at playing hide and seek. It was he who gave you the opening to take out the Symbol Of Peace, wasn’t it?”

If Shigaraki was shocked, he did not show it.

“Remind me never to underestimate the power of organised crime.” Shigaraki chuckled dryly. “You should really give your intelligence agents a raise. What do you propose, Kai Chisaki?”

“I prefer ‘Overhaul’. After all, that’s what I’m trying to do for our society.”

“Very well, Overhaul.” Shigaraki straightened up. “I’m the future leader of the villains. Even now, I’m gathering my troops. Our numbers continue to increase every day. With our combined power, I’ll turn hero society to dust.”

Overhaul studied the man coldly. “Save your monologues for the people who actually care. Do you have a solid plan?”

“Watch your tongue and your tone. I thought you came here to join up with us.”

“A goal without a plan is just a wish. If that’s just what you’re offering, why should I join you?” Overhaul shook his head in disappointment. “What happens after you increase your forces? How’re you even going to organise your League? You had the Hero Killer Stain at your side. You even managed to get Muscular and Moonfish. Those were all first-class game pieces, but you lost them all. You even lost that kid from the sports festival. I’m thinking you just don’t know how to play the game.”

Shigaraki’s body tensed visibly.

“You can’t even handle a few crazy people, but you wanna build an army? What happens when that power spirals out of control? You need direction to achieve your goals.”

“You-”

“Unlike you, I have a plan,” Overhaul cut Shigaraki off carelessly. “And I didn’t come here today because I wanted to join you.”

Shigaraki scowled at Jin. “You brought this idiot here without knowing his intentions, Twice.”

“In order to execute my design, I need money,” the gangster said. “Unfortunately, nobody is going to invest in some obsolete, small-time yakuza.”

Overhaul extended a hand.

“Your group, on the other hand, has widespread name recognition. And you still have this nuke right here, at least.” The man glanced at Felix. “Put yourself under me. Make me your new leader, and I’ll show you exactly how to use the right tools.”

Shigaraki did not bother to conceal his anger any longer.

“You forget your place, Yakuza.” He marched up to the man. “You forget who my master is!”

“Tread carefully, Tomura Shigaraki. Are you really prepared to do this?”