Chapter 118 - 45-47

Chapter 45: Setting the Board

Izuku woke up with wide eyes, his brain instantly turning on as he realized something that he had been happening a lot to him recently. He didn't remember how he got home. He beat...the fishbowl guy, then wanted to go home, only to wake up in his bed. 'Ah...that was a nice bit of sleep.' he thought while letting out a long yawn before reaching to scratch his back, 'I feel fully refreshed. My back still hurts a bit...but I was expecting that fight with fishbowl yesterday to make my back feel worse.' He then glanced to the clock on the side of his bed, only to go wide-eyed as he saw the date, 'Or maybe its because that fight was two days ago. Maybe that's why I'm feeling so good, getting that much sleep.'

He did a small stretch before going to the bathroom, quickly doing his morning routine. A few minutes later, he sat down at his desk, his eyes going over two things. One was the blood dart, and the other was the fragment of the fishbowl helmet. Taking the fragment, the teen put it under a small scope he had, his eyes darting over every little thing. 'Incredible. That fishbowl guy was a nut, but this tech is something else...unless someone else made it for him. Hmm...this gives me some ideas.'

Pulling out a notebook, Izuku began to write page after page of notes, not noticing a pair of eyes glance into the room. Another pair appeared above it, revealing to be Inko and Himiko. Seeing this, Inko patted Himiko's shoulder before pulling her away, "Leave him alone for now." she whispered.

"What's he doing?" Himiko asked. "I mean, he slept for a full day and now he just woke up and started doing that?"

"He's...well, he's in his inventor mode." Inko chuckled, "Don't worry, it happens every now and then. Want to help me make some breakfast for him?"

Himiko blinked at her before nodding, "Okay!"

And as they walked into the kitchen, Izuku finished another page before glancing up at his computer. There, he saw a notification, making him grab the mouse and click it, only to reveal it was a video on Gentle Criminal's channel. 'What's this?' he thought as he saw the video's title: A Thief's Finale

Clicking the play button, the video changed to something Izuku had never seen before in the villain's videos. He had watched them all before, all to study the villain to capture him, but he had never seen one taped inside Gentle Criminal's apartment. And he wasn't doing some grandstanding or performance. He was just standing there, a plain background behind him as he spoke up.

"Greetings, my viewers. I am Gentle Criminal." He did a small bow before continuing, "As you can probably see by the title of this video, I am here to say that this is my final performance."

'Final performance?' Izuku thought as he leaned back in his chair.

"For several years now, I have been the modern chivalrous thief, one that has stolen from and exposed the corrupt. I have no regrets in this path, as I wanted to show the world what I am and to not be forgotten. However, that ends today." He glanced down at this, his face showing a downtrodden expression, "For you see, after this video, I will be turning myself in."

Izuku went wide-eyed at this, putting a hand to his face as he remembered yesterday, 'That's right. After everything that happened, I forgot he promised to turn himself in...'

"If you are wondering why I am doing this, it is because of Spider-Man." Gentle's expression slightly softened at this, "I have encountered the vigilante twice, and thanks to our most...recent interaction, he has shown me the error of my ways." He did a slow bow at this, "For my private reasons, I will not explain why, but I will say this: Thank you, Spider-Man. Thank you for helping me realize what I need to do."

Izuku slumped down in his seat, shocked at the man's words, 'I...I did it.'

"And to my loyal viewers, thank you for following me for so long. Thank you, and please remember to never give up on your dreams."

And with that, the video cut. There was no flashy ending like the villain always did, no crazy editing or special effects. The video just cut, and there was nothing else.

But that was all Izuku needed as a smile appeared on his face before grabbing another one of his notebooks, this one being over the villains he had fought. And as he flipped over to Gentle Criminal's page, the smile on his face grew as he wrote: Case closed.

'I did it. I actually did it. I...I saved a villain.' he thought before turning the pages, staring at the other villain notes. Izuku felt a rush go through his brain, confidence filling him for the first time in a long time. But then he got to Mister Li's entry, one that was still mostly empty before turning to the Kingpin entry. The teen put the notebook on the desk at this before going to his computer and switched the screen to all the photos he took in Li's secret room. 'And now, I'll fulfill what you were trying to do Mister Li. I think I'm ready to find this...Kingpin.'

The sound of students talking rang out as Class 1-A walked into their classroom. The group of Ochako Uraraka, Tsuyu Asui, Mina Ashido, Eijirou Kirishima and Toru Hagakure had just walked in, only for Denki Kaminari and Jiro Kyoka to stride up to them. The yellow-haired teen waved as the group walked in, "Yo!"

"Morning!" Ashido replied with a big grin.

"Morning, kero." Tsuyu added.

Denki responded by flashing his phone at the four, "Did you see this?! Its been the talk of everyone online!" The girls all blinked at this, now seeing the footage of a certain spider themed vigilante fighting a fishbowl wearing villain.

"Oh my." Uraraka commented as she saw Spider-Man punch one of the illusions away.

"Yeah..." Jiro sighed, the girls turning to her as Jiro rolled her eyes, "He's been super excited about it all morning."

"Well of course I am!" Denki chimed in, "I mean, look at it! Its awesome!" He glanced back down at the phone, "It happened two days ago. Spider-Man fought this villain guy and its been on all the channels. They say it was broadcast across the whole country!"

"Really, kero?" Tsuyu asked while putting a finger to her chin.

"Heck yeah!" Kirishima exclaimed, the group turning to him as he shined a grin at Denki, "I watched the footage yesterday! It was so manly! Spider-Man whooped that villain!" He slammed his fists together, "Man, I would have loved to be part of that fight!"

"Ugh...boys." Mina rolled her eyes before giggling and looking back at the phone, "Still, that's some fight. Wonder if we'll ever have to do something like that when we become heroes."

"It does look rough though." Hagakure added, her clothes making it look like she was tapping her fingers together. "Wonder how we could train for something crazy like that."

"UA could probably build it, kero." Tsuyu commented, "After all, they can make mock cities here. They could probably make a..." She put her finger to her chin as she squinted at the phone, "What looks like a big fake carnival."

"Definitely an interesting place to do a fight." Uraraka continued while staring at the phone, only for her mind to go back to the last conversation she had about Spider-Man. "I wonder what Midoriya thinks of this..."

Ashido turned to her with a big grin, "Oh? And why are you so interested in his opinion?" she asked while her eyebrows hopped up and down.

That is, until Uraraka turned to her with a blank look on her face, "Because he's a supporter of Spider-Man." She glanced back down at her phone, "I should text him and ask what he thinks."

Ashido blinked at her for a second before sighing, "Ugh...you're no fun."

Uraraka looked up at her before tilting her head at the comment, the girls soon switching subjects. But as they did this, their previous discussion had not fallen on deaf ears. It had hit most of the classroom, each making different responses from the remaining students. The ones known as Momo Yaoyorozu, Shinso Hitoshi, Koji Koda, and Mezo Shoji were all completely silent. Tenya Iida tried to remain calm at the mention of the vigilante, only twitching at the name. The others were the same with the exception of two.

Shoto Todoroki's usual calm, emotionless face started to show a tiny smile at the mention of the vigilante. Though not saying anything, he was happy to hear the one he looked up to being praised by his classmates. He knew he wasn't close with any of them, and had no intention of making friends, but he did like what he heard.

The other was Katsuki Bakugo, who was showing his usual anger filled face and was thinking two things. One thought was 'Stupid extras. Gushing about that worthless vigilante extra, Insect-something or the other. Don't they know vigilantes are just failed loser heroes?!'. But it was the second thought that was really reeling in his head. It was about the comment one of them made, making him turn and glare at a certain girl.

'Round Cheeks.' he hissed in his mind. After all, extras had no right to their names. As such, his teeth grinded as he stared at the back of the girl's head. 'How does she know Deku?! Is he still trying to interfere with my origin story?!' Ever since he had heard them talk at the sports festival, Bakugo had made it his mission to find Deku at UA. He checked every class, from general services to support, the idea of having to waste so much time on the piece of trash making him more and more angry.

And despite that, he found nothing. Deku wasn't here. Deku wasn't at UA.

And that was good. That was how it was supposed to be. He was destined to be the greatest hero of all, one that would surpass All Might. One that would go to UA, make them realize that he was the best, the rest of the class would be tossed aside, and he would hit Number One in the ranking right after he graduated.

And Deku wasn't at UA.

All was right with the world.

But then he heard that those extras knew Deku. And they just mentioned him again. He began to tap his fingers on his desk, tiny explosions popping in his palms as he began to stand up and walk over to Round Cheeks to give her a piece of his mind until-

"Good morning everyone!" exclaimed a voice, making them all turn to see the R-rated Heroine Midnight stroll into the room. Everyone quickly zipped into their seats as she walked up to the room's podium. "Aizawa has a meeting with Nezu, so I'll be doing homeroom for you this morning." The students all shared glances at this, Midnight seeing a few about to open their mouths for the most obvious question. As such, she quickly added, "And before you ask, I don't know why the principal called for him. Instead, let's focus on homeroom..." She slowly licked her lips at her next words, knowing it trigger a response. "And the rescue exercises we'll be doing today."

Meanwhile...

Like always, Aizawa was not having a pleasant morning. For one, Nezu had told him to go to his office first thing in the morning instead of going to his class, stating he would have another teacher take over. That was irritating, as he was planning on expelling scaring his students with a multi-part rescue exercise to show them that a hero must always be alert and if they aren't for even a second, they don't deserve to be here. Instead, he has to go listen to the rat. So annoying.

It also didn't help he hadn't had his coffee yet...or any sleep for the last ten hours due to being called in to bust a drug deal happening in his district. After that was a bunch of questioning and other paperwork nonsense....which is what he suspected was going to be today as well as he entered the stoat's office. After all, the stoat had gone silent after the 'Mysterio incident' and the commission's president's following reaction, causing the rat to take a whole day of no response.

Normally, that was wonderful for Aizawa. The stoat not talking or interfering with his life? That's a dream come true! That means he can actually run his class with no interference or stupid criticisms. And if he could finally get rid of All Might, which he was still angry that Nezu hadn't gotten rid of him due the hero being the literal reason why his class was attacked by villains, then his life would be perfect! But it wasn't. It wasn't perfect.

He also knew that silence was not going to last, which meant a bigger headache was coming, the headache known as Spider-Man. As such, as he walked up to Nezu's office with a scowl on his face, a look that could kill some just by the sight of it, and he opened the door. There, he saw that detective Naomasa was already inside, a small frown on his face as he looked up at Aizawa.

"Morning."

"Meh." Aizawa grumbled as he sat down in a nearby chair.

"Sounds like someone isn't in a good mood this morning." Nezu commented as Aizawa turned to him, seeing the stoat tap furiously at his desk computer's keyboard.

"You know I'm not a morning person."

"I know." Nezu responded in a firm tone, one that made Aizawa raise an eyebrow.

"Oookay. You're usually a lot more cheerful in the morning. What's up?"

"I'm not cheerful. Someone is interfering with what I want." Nezu replied before tapping one last key. He then turned to the two, a somehow visible cold stare coming from his beady little eyes. As he did this, he hopped onto his desk and walked to the edge, placing both paws behind his back as he spoke up, "Gentlemen, I'll get straight to the point this time. The hero commission has put a bounty on Spider-Man's head, and has put him in the villain registry as a B-Rank villain. This ranking is due to him not committing any truly atrocious crimes, but merely his media presence as a vigilante. The ranking is skirting on being illegal, but the commission president was able to get the backing. As such, I legally can't get Spider-Man into UA due to this."

Aizawa and Naomasa shared a slight glance before Naomasa asked, "We kinda figured due to...what happened with you and the commission president the other day. What do you want to do about it?"

"Simple. I want to get the bounty lifted."

The two just blinked at this, Aizawa responding, "I'm sorry, but isn't that impossible?"

Nezu tilted his head at this, "Why would you say that?"

Aizawa flatly stared back, "Nezu, villain bounties don't go away unless the villain is caught, or the villain is declared falsely accused of being a villain. And that only happens with like...F-Rank villains. Spider-Man is neither of those things right now."

"But he's innocent."

"No, he's not." Aizawa instantly countered, "He's committed a lot of acts of vigilantism."

Nezu let out a slight hum, "That is true, but that sort of thing doesn't qualify for him to have a B-Rank bounty on his head. That is considered at most for a E-Rank."

"He still did the crime, Nezu." Aizawa replied, "Look, I know I've personally worked with vigilantes before, but the stuff Spider-Man has done...its much higher caliber than the average vigilante."

"That may be true, but-"

"Hold on." Naomasa interrupted, both turning to see the detective raising a hand, "Nezu, no offense, but the hero commission has decided this, and they removed the police department from the case." He showed a huge frown at this, "I know you want Spider-Man, but if you go for him, you will be breaking the law, and if they find out you have him at UA-"

"I know." Nezu replied, his expression slightly darkening. The sight made the two almost flinch as they heard the stoat's tone lower, "I...I'm just a bit angry." The principal then took out a cigarette and lit it, taking a puff before continuing, "As such, I've spent the last day and night coming up with an idea to get the bounty lifted. Its a ridiculous idea, and if I'm honest...if I have Spider-Man do it, I'm not sure what the consequences will be."

The duo shared a glance, Aizawa slowly asking, "What do you mean by that?"

"Gentlemen..." He took another puff of smoke, "When I make plans, true plans to take on villains or make school year finals, I go over all the possibilities. I look into everything, every possible prediction and path that could happen. Its how my quirk works." He sucked on the cigarette for a bit before letting out a giant puff, "The best plan I can think of to obtain Spider-Man is...simple, yet complicated."

Aizawa slumped back in his seat at this, "And that's a bad thing, isn't it?"

"Incredibly so. And yet, I believe only Spider-Man can do it." Nezu responded as he put the cigarette in an ashtray, "Here's my idea."

And as he began to explain the plan, the two went wide-eyed. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Their jaws began to drop, stupefied by what the stoat was saying before Aizawa yelled, "That's impossible! You...you can't possibly believe he could do that! No one has been able to do that!"

"That's where you're wrong." Nezu responded as he took out a remote and pressed a button. Footage of Spider-Man fighting Mysterio appeared on a screen, showing the vigilante outthink the illusionist before the footage changed to him fighting other villains. "He's the one." The stoat spun around at this, a cold glare on his face, "I need to go over some data with my quirk to be sure. As such, we will go and meet Izuku Midoriya tomorrow...and he will decide his fate."

It had taken some time convincing his mother, but Izuku was now webswinging through the streets as Spider-Man. There was a smile on his face as he fired a webline and swung down to almost street level, 'Man this feels good.' he thought, 'I gotta say, I just love swinging like this.'

He then did a flip before spinning around, soon landing on a rooftop with a single roll. After this, he went to the edge and pulled out a notebook, 'So according to what I found on Mister Li's map, that one district was run by Tombstone, but he didn't really have anything for the others...including this one.'

The teen had just gotten to the outskirts of Musutafu, glad webswinging made it so easy to get there, only to find himself in a part of the city had never gone too. It was a more...rundown part of the city, complete with litter-filled alleyways and abandoned buildings. 'Definitely a place to hide stuff.'

With that, he began to swing around, a few hours soon passing. He slowly checked some buildings, mainly looking in broken windows and other nooks and crannies. Despite this though, he found nothing else in the few blocks he swung around.

'I'm not finding anything.' he thought as he went down another block. 'And now all the buildings are starting to look the same. Maybe I'm in the wrong place...or I have no idea what I'm doing.' The teen let out a long sigh, 'If only I had another clue. Too bad Mister Li's stuff just had guesses and nothing else.'

He landed on another building at this, checking his web shooters for a second before refilling them. And as he did this, the police scanner rang out on his phone.

"This is Musutafu police. We have a mobile villain going down Agamar Avenue. Any heroes, please respond."

"Agamar? Am I close to that?" Izuku took out his phone at this, about to tap it, only to hear a screeching noise. "Huh?" He turned to the street to his right, only to see a car speeding by...along with a police car chasing the vehicle.

'Or I could try and help the police here.' he thought before firing a webline, quickly switching into a swing. And as he did this, he saw a person hang out of a window on the car being chased, which was a thug wearing a purple and gray outfit. He pointed his arm at the police car, the teen now seeing a gauntlet on the thug's hand.

BOOM!

A shockwave shot out of the thug's hand and slammed into the police car, sending it flying upward.

"WHOA!" Izuku yelped before reflexively pointing his wrists at the now flipping vehicle. Before he knew what he was aiming at, he fired out a giant web, quickly catching the metal machine. Seeing this, Izuku landed on a street light, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Whoa..." He glanced down at his hands, "I did that like it was...nothing. Was that my spider sense too?"

Another car tire screech rang out at this, making him glance back and see the fleeing car take a hard right. "Oh yeah. Better catch those guys."

He fired another webline, quickly switching into a webswing. 'You know, at least I can do stuff like this. I mean, stopping random criminals is something a hero does, especially a crazed driver and some guy who shoots shockwaves.' His eyes narrowed as he did the right turn the car had just done, 'Let's do this.'

As he took the turn, he saw that the fleeing car swerving around other vehicles, slowing it down. The sight made Izuku smirk before firing two weblines and pulling on them, quickly slingshotting himself right at the car.

THUD!

"What the-" one of the thugs yelped as they felt their car suddenly shake. It sounded and felt like something had landed on the vehicle's roof, only for all three in the car to yelp as they saw a masked face appear on the windshield.

"Hey fellas!" Spider-Man said as he did a small wave, "Say, you don't mind doing a small detour to jail, do you? No reason."

"Aaaah! Its Spider-Man!" one of them screamed, "Shocker, get him!"

"Shocker? Why does that sound familiar?" Izuku raised an eyebrow under his mask, only to shrug, "Eh, whatever. Listen fellas, you need to-"

Danger!

"Die!" yelled a guy dressed in purple as he leaned out the right window and pointed what looked like a metal gauntlet at the vigilante. Spider sense blaring, Izuku quickly cartwheeled to the left side of the car just as a shockwave shot out of the gauntlet.

"Whoa!" Izuku commented as he crawled back up to the roof of the car, his eyes staring at the man's gauntlet. "Nice tech. Let me guess...the gauntlet like, super charges your shockwave quirk, right?"

"Shut up!" the thug screeched as he leaned almost completely out of the car at this, pointing his weapon at the vigilante, "DIE!"

"Don't have much of a vocabulary, do you?" Izuku quipped as he pointed his wrist at the man, webbing instantly covering the gauntlet a second later.

A shockwave began to come out of the weapon after this, only for the gauntlet to just shake a few times, knocking off a bit of webbing...but not enough to make an attack come out. "What?!" the thug yelped, only to feel a hand grab his shoulder.

"Guess it still needs some work." Izuku added before focusing his grip.

ZAP!

"Urgh..." The man moaned as he slumped over, Izuku webbing him to the car next to make sure he didn't fall out.

"That's that." Izuku commented, "I better stop the car now." He leaned over the windshield again, "Hey fellas, I took out your muscle. You don't mind stopping now, do ya?"

The other two saw this and then glanced back to see Shocker's legs dangling from the car window. "Gah! Shocker, you idiot!" The driver growled before glaring at the thug in the passenger seat, "Do something!"

"Uh...uh..." The thug panicked, his eyes darting around, "Um..."

"Use your quirk, you moron!"

"Right!" he replied, "I'll-"

ZAP!

"Ugh..." moaned the one in the passenger seat as he slumped onto the glove compartment, the driver glancing back to see Izuku had reached in from the still open backseat window to zap the thug. He then heard a bit of shuffling on the roof before the vigilante's head now appeared in the driver's window.

"So...wanna give up, or do I need to break into the car and stop you?"

"You little-I'll kill you!" the driver roared as he reached into his pants and pulled out a gun. But as he did this, he saw the vigilante just pointing ahead, "Huh?" The driver looked back at the road, only to see himself about to run into a semi. "AAAAHHHH!" He slammed his foot on the brake, the car's tires screeching to a halt.

"There we go. That makes this even easier." Izuku chuckled as he jumped off the car and landed just outside of the driver's door before pointing his wrists to two of the car's tires, webbing soon covering them.

"That's it!" Izuku glanced back to the see the driver now pointing the gun at him, "I'm gonna-"

In response, Izuku thrust his fist right into car's window, the punch instantly shattering glass before smacking the driver in the face. The blow immediately knocked him out, the thug falling back with his tongue hanging out. "Yeah...that's the end of that." Izuku commented as he pulled out a card from his hoodie, "I think I'll just leave my calling card and have the police handle the rest."

A minute later, he leapt off the car and fired a webline, soon swinging away. 'If only it was that easy all the time.' he thought as he went down a block, soon landing on a higher up building. He glanced up and saw that the sun had already set, the moon now shining in the sky. 'Hmm...I'm guessing this district is a bust. Though to be honest, I'm still not even sure what I'm looking for.' The teen reached into his hoodie and pulled out his phone, flipping to a few photos, 'Says here in Mister Li's notes that there was something here...' He let out a long sigh before putting his phone away, 'But I don't think I'll figure it out in one day.'

"Time to head home." Izuku commented as he leapt off the rooftop, soon swinging away like he was the wind itself.

Just two streets over...

The sound of heavy boots stomping rang out as a large bulky man in a brown leather jacket with a bear logo on the back walked over to a silver-colored car. He wore a giant frown on his face with his blonde hair, and many people would remark he could never look friendly in all the years of his life. Despite this, he knew people he could get friendly with, including the one in the car ahead of him.

As he walked up to the vehicle, the back door opened, the man quickly getting in. The smell of a cigar instantly hit his nose as he turned to see the other in the back seat. It was a man with a thuggish face, and a flat head. "Hammerhead."

"Grizzly." Hammerhead replied as he took out his cigar and let out a puff of smoke. He then tapped the back of the driver's seat, "Go."

"Yes sir!" the driver barked before hitting the gas.

Hammerhead turned to the man called Grizzly and put the cigar back in his mouth, "Well? What do you got for me?"

"Its as you thought. Spider-Man is onto us." Grizzly replied as he crossed his arms, "About six different punks said they saw him swinging around one of our safehouses...but he didn't find it."

"So he only knows its around here." Hammerhead commented as he let out another puff, "Guess our hunch was right."

He then gave the other a glare, Grizzly shrugging in response as he asked, "You want me to kill him? He can't be that big of a threat."

Hammerhead put the cigar down on a small ashtray in the car, "We have a way of handling heroes and police, but vigilantes are...outside the loop. We'll also have to wait and see what the boss wants to do first. According to you know who, he's wanting to do an operation tomorrow, and because Tombstone is gone..."

Grizzly glanced away at this, "You're out of the loop, which means I am too." He grinded his teeth at this, "Tch. And here I was hoping for some action."

"Eh, that's how it works." Hammerhead chuckled as he leaned back in the seat, "Don't worry, we'll get a good score soon. We just have to wait on the boss."

"What's his new operation?"

"Something big." Hammerhead replied before pulling out a phone, "Something really big."

A thin trail of smoke drifted up to the ceiling of the room, its origin being a cigarette at the end of a vintage cigarette holder. Pearly white teeth were clenching down the holder, two glaring eyes above it as they stared at the man before them. On the other side of the desk was a purple masked man in a white suit, a small purple rose pinned to his lapel. He was neither smoking nor drinking, but had something in his right hand. They were sitting on both sides of a marble desk, the lights in the room dimming the area.

"I had the boys try out these out." The masked man said as he lifted a briefcase onto the desk before opening in front of the smoking man. "They all worked, one hundred percent. They nullify quirks for six hours." A small sucked in breath followed this. "I believe this will change things."

"Agreed." The smoking man put his cigarette down onto a small ashtray, "Those yakuza...you would think relics of a bygone age would realize their place. Even now, they act like the thugs on the street, believing that some special quirk thing will allow them to gain power. So pointless."

"I could not agree more." the masked man replied before lowering his head, "What would you like me to do?"

The smoking man stared at the box of bullets before taking one in his hand, squeezing it in his fingers, "Get rid of them. Take their method for making these bullets...and their Trigger formula. I'm tired of playing the drug game with other groups."

"And after I get both?"

"Kill them all." He put the bullet back into the case, "And do it quickly, Rose."

"But of course." Rose replied as he snapped his fingers, a second purple rose appearing in his hands. "I shall make quick work of the Shie Hassaikai."

The purple masked man named Rose stood up at this, taking the case of bullets before walking out of the room. And as he did this, the smoking man leaned back in his chair, "I do not like this. It feels like the underworld is about to change again." He reached out to the cigarette holder, taking out the cigarette before putting in a new one, a small trail of smoke coming from it a second later, "This is only the beginning." He put the cigarette back on the ashtray, its ash leaning into the bowl as he reached over for a small glass of whiskey. "I won't let you win, All For One. This country belongs to me."

And as Rose closed the room's doors behind him, a small smile appeared under his mask as he stared at the sight in front of him. There was five men in the room with him. From left to right, there was a bald man with a full black suit with a lightning zig-zag pattern just below his neck. Next to him was a man wearing a bowler hat with a dusty brown suit and tie. After that was a man in a brown suit with green necktie, complete with a white stetson hat on his head. The fourth was a large muscular man with a big handlebar mustache and was wearing a wide multi-green shirt.

Rose's eyes drifted over the four, his grin still shining behind his mask before turning to the final person in the room. This one was wearing a full-length white suit and a black oni mask, along with a sheathed sword in his right hand. The sight made Rose want to chuckle, only for him to clear his throat instead.

"Gentlemen, we have a job to do." He pulled out a folder and placed it down on a small table, "Who's ready to kill some old school yakuza?"

Chapter 46: The Seer, The Flower, And The Yakuza

Sir Nighteye took a long deep breath as he sat down in a conference room chair. In front of him was a stack of folders, all of them files over every yakuza member of the Shie Hassaikai. The sight of the folders slightly irritated him, the man tapping his fingers on the desk as he waited for several people to arrive.

And as a few minutes passed, a group of people shuffled into the room. The first was his intern, Mirio Togata, also known as Lemillion. Though he would never say it, he was proud of the teen, as he had fully committed to Nighteye's training and had come out as an already pro-level hero, even if he was still at UA. He was also the main candidate for inheriting One For All before...All Might choose someone else. Something Mirai was going to talk to Toshinori about later.

Next was the hero Rock Lock, a man he chose to help with the yakuza member known as Mimic. This was followed by Ryukyu, a hero he chose to handle crowds, Fatgum, a hero for handling certain muscle, along with Crust and Mr. Brave. He had also asked for three interns that were friends of Mirio, but UA only allowed Mirio to leave due to the recent events. After that, his two employees Centipeder and Bubble Girl walked in, both carrying some equipment for the meeting. They entered the center of the room and set up the room's main projector, Nighteye nodding to them when they were done.

Another minute or two passed at this, only for Nighteye to stand up and say, "I suppose all of you are wondering why I called you all here."

"Let me guess, some multi-layered plan to take down a few villains?" Rock Lock replied while leaning back in his chair.

Nighteye responded by pushing his glasses up his nose, "Not quite. In fact, the plan is going to almost be entirely improvised."

This made the older heroes in the room go wide-eyed, Mirio rapidly blinking at those words as he asked, "Sir? Are you okay?"

"No. I'm not." Nighteye growled, "Everyone, the past few months I have been monitoring activity of a certain group of criminals. The reason I haven't immediately gone after them is due to how big their operation is."

"Let me guess," Rock Lock chimed in, "You can't ignore them anymore?"

"Yes." Nighteye sighed as he pushed his glasses again, "Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, my original plans to take care of them have been...let's say, expedited. The reasons are two-fold." He pulled out a remote control seemingly out of nowhere before tapping a button, the projector showing an image next. It showed a bullet along with a photo of a girl, and a certain webswinging vigilante. "This is why I've brought you here today."

"A little girl?" Ryukyu asked while tilting her head.

"And Spider-Man?" Crust added.

"Indeed. Both are connected, even if one of them doesn't know it." Nighteye tapped a button again, the projector now showing a new picture. It was the image of a black-haired man with a bird mask. "This is Kai Chisaki, leader of the yakuza faction known as the Shie Hassaikai." A few opened their mouths to respond, only for Nighteye to flash a palm, "I know what you're thinking, that the Yakuza are dried up old news. However, that changes today. I believe they are about to engage in a gang war with another group of villains, a gang war that I originally thought was going to be delayed...until Spider-Man came along and messed up everything. Now, Kai Chisaki has pushed his research into overdrive and must be stopped."

"Why is that?"

"Simple. Its because Spider-Man has inadvertently, and more importantly recently, taken out one of the main suppliers of Trigger in the criminal underworld. The villain known as Tombstone."

The heroes in the room all slightly flinched at the name, Rock Lock soon asking, "Didn't Endeavor take him out?"

"He did." Nighteye responded while pushing his glasses up his nose again, "However, he was only able to find Tombstone because he was hunting Spider-Man. And because Tombstone is now back behind bars, a Trigger based power vacuum has opened. The Shie Hassaikai are now the main Trigger producers on the market, and a certain villain group are not happy with this, as the yakuza's...research will make the other group act very soon. Not only that, of what observations I've been able to do, the other group preferred working with Tombstone."

"Let me guess, these yakuza raised their drug prices, didn't they?" Rock chimed in, Nighteye nodding back.

"Indeed. And now the two will soon collide due to the yakuza's main project."

"And just what is this 'main project'?" Ryukyu asked with crossed arms.

Nighteye responded by tapping another button, the projector going back to the first image of the girl and Spider-Man. "This girl is their main project." Everyone opened their mouths at this, only for Nighteye to flash his palm at them, "I know. Let me explain before you start asking questions." He then reached into his jacket and pulled out a small plastic bag with a bullet inside. "This...is their project."

"A bullet?"

"Its something far worse that a bullet." Nighteye instantly replied, "If this bullet is shot out of a gun and hits your skin...your quirk will stop working."

The whole room went wide-eyed, some gasping before Ryukyu slowly asked, "How?"

"The girl." Nighteye grumbled as he put the bag on the table before taking a deep breath and pushed his glasses up his nose, "To start, this is why I've been observing the yakuza for some time..."

Several hours later...

Filthy. That was the one word Kai Chisaki would describe the world as. The pale, slightly-darkish brown haired man wearing a long beak-like mask was walking down a hallway, its exit being a small blank white room where all his highest ranked members of his group, the Shie Hassaikai were waiting for him. He glanced down at his hands at this, every finger twitching as he thought about what he was doing.

The man was an idealist, at least in his mind. He saw the world as a disgusting, filthy, garbage-filled place, and the reason it was so bad was because of one thing: Quirks. Vile, evil abilities who's origin most believed was from worthless golden baby some 200 years ago. But he knew better. He knew the truth. That quirks were the single greatest plague on this world.

But that was also why he existed. After all, he was now destined to be the world's cleaner. Its janitor. Its savior. The one that will fix everything.

And all he needed was Eri. A cursed child he had found that had a quirk that reverses organics. Such a powerful curse. Its so much more than any normal quirk, and he had found a way to make it better. He had taken her quirk and made it possible to erase quirks. Such an amazing thing. So powerful. So wonderful.

And now that was going to fall apart. After he had met Rose a few days ago, and while the negotiation had gone well, he knew better. Rose didn't like the prices, his reaction said everything despite trying to hide it behind his mask and not moving a muscle. Not only that, he knew Rose would take the bullets he sold him to Rose's boss, and they would probably decide to take everything. So pointless. Didn't they know how to negotiate? Don't they know how loyalty works? Didn't they know he was superior to that worthless purple-masked man's boss?

The heroes were also coming. He had his ears in the right places, and he knew they were coming. As such, he started by killing all his lower minions. They were all worthless and filthy anyways. And after that, he was now exiting the hallway before staring at nine other masked men. His top men of his operations.

"We're moving to a new location tonight." he hissed as he stared at the group. They all shared glances before Chisaki added, "They're coming for us, so I found us a new bunker with a lab and everything. I've been slowly moving stuff over there, and now we need to move the last bit of the operation."

"We know about the new place, but...are you saying that the guys we made a deal with a while back are betraying us?" asked a guy in a gray coat and wearing a gold trimmed plague mask.

"Yes." Chisaki nodded, "That's why I brought you all here from the other deals we were making. I need your help transporting the last bit, as those scum...didn't take to our prices for Trigger." Chisaki's eyes twitched at this, "Worthless filth...thinking they're superior to us. Such trash." He then saw his subordinates all glance around again before continuing, "Don't worry. We can take them. They're weak."

"So there's not gonna be any good fights?" responded the biggest member, a hulking man with a tattered shirt, light brown hair and a slightly ripped up plague mask. "Boring!"

"You'll get the fights you want, Rappa." chimed in a slim man with closed eyes. "And we shall beat them with ease, but you must wait."

"Shut it Tengai! I wanna fight!" Rappa barked back.

"Shut up, both of you." said another masked man, this one in a bowler hat. "We must obey master's orders in order to achieve his goals." The two glared at him, only for the bowler hat man to add, "Do not argue with me."

"That's enough Nemoto." Chisaki commented as he raised one of his hands. He then pointed at the man wearing the gold trimmed plague mask, "Chronostatis, bring me...her." Chisaki let out a hiss as he said that last word before pointing at the smallest member of the group, a tiny pure black member with a white mask, "Mimic, prepare to use your quirk on our new place if they follow us."

"You got it boss!" Mimic did a small salute.

Chisaki turned back to Nemoto, "Get the car ready." He glared at another member, "Chronostatis..."

"On it. I'll get Eri. Katsukame, with me just in case." The giant man nodded to the white hooded man before both quickly ran out of the room.

"The rest of you, follow me." Chisaki hissed, "And get ready to fight. After all, Rose works for...him."

And as the group began to walk out of the room and into a long hallway, Chisaki glared at all of them. Nemoto was in front of him, the man doing an easy stride. Glancing back, Chisaki saw Sakaki, the drunkard, swaying back and forth while Rappa and Tengai walked beside him. His eyes switched to Hojo and Tabe, the two showing dead stares while Mimic waddled behind them.

'Its all here...' he thought as he looked back at Nemoto, the man doing a slow stride in front of him. 'You won't win this Rose. You or the heroes.'

And as that thought left his head, one of seven around Chisaki put their hand in their pocket...and began to type an unseen text.

*whrrr!*

The sound of a phone vibrating rang out as a certain purple masked man in a white suit slumped down in a passenger seat. It was the man called Rose, who was currently riding a black van, its driver being a man wearing a bowler hat, and was wearing a gray suit with a light brown tie. He glanced over at Rose, "What is it?"

Rose reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, tapping it a few times. "Chameleon." He put the phone back into his pocket, "It seems our prey is on the move. Now remember, I want you to kill them all, even the girl if circumstances call for it. Leave no survivors."

"Got it." The bowler hat man replied before glancing at the back of the van, "Alright Enforcers, get ready. We're about to have some action."

"You got it partner." The man in the stetson responded before turning to the others in the vehicle. "Ya'll ready?"

The other three all silently nodded, the driver looking back at the road as he tilted the steering wheel, the van soon taking a left. And as he did this, Rose snapped his fingers, a purple rose appearing a second later in his hand. He put in his lapel of his suit before pulling on the pair of thick fingerless gloves that he was wearing. A second later, his phone began to vibrate again, making him pull out the device before letting out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?"

"Heroes." Rose sighed as he began tapping his phone. "It seems a few are moving in on the yakuza."

"Should we be worried?"

"No." Rose replied as he put the phone to his ear, "I just need to make a quick call and they'll be out of our hair."

Nighteye stared down at his phone, a slight glare on his face. He slowly tapped the screen before putting the device away, his tic of pushing his glasses up his nose coming next. And as he did this, his intern walked up to him. "Sir? Are you okay?"

"I'm not." the hero instantly responded.

Mirio flinched at the tone. He had been working with Sir Nighteye for some time, and he knew if there was one thing that Nighteye obsessed over, it was preparation. He was a perfectionist by heart, one that planned out every step. Granted, he taught Mirio over and over again that plans meant nothing when they engaged with the enemy, but that didn't mean you couldn't try and make sure to cover the...inconsistencies.

Despite these thoughts though, Mirio knew exactly what to ask in terms of making Sir Nighteye irritated, but he had to know. "Sir...what was the original plan?"

Mirai Sasaki spun around at this, a sharp glare on his face as he stared down his intern. It was a glare that would make most flinch, but not Mirio. He knew his mentor better. And after a second and a sigh, Nighteye replied, "The gang war was supposed to happen a week from now." He pushed up his glasses again, "The two groups were going to engage each other, and I wanted to assemble a hero team to shut both down instantly."

"And we would have spent these next few days on how to do that, right?"

Nighteye nodded back, "Indeed. I wanted to make sure that if anything, we could try to move the fight to a known location. Instead, as you saw in my lecture earlier, I only have guesses where the Shie Hassaikai will try to hide themselves. And if they succeed..."

"That little girl will be lost for good." Mirio finished for him before shaking his head, "How despicable, what that monster is doing to her."

The Pro Hero just shook his head at this, "Mirio, you should know by now that humans are disgusting at times. That is why heroes exist after all."

Mirio nodded back, "I know."

Mirai bit his lip at this, pushing up his glasses again, "I just can't believe that a vigilante has interfered this much."

His intern frowned at this, "You think he'll interfere with this as well?"

"I...don't know." Nighteye slowly replied, "To be fair, he is the reason we even have the evidence we have right now, having captured one of the Shie Hassaikai himself, along with those bullets." The man then took off his glasses, taking out a handkerchief to wipe them, "Regardless, we have our orders and a plan." He glared back up at his intern, "Don't forget that."

Mirio nodded again, "I know. I won't let you down." He slammed his right fist into his left palm, "I'll take all the villains down, yakuza or otherwise!"

"Hurry up Chronostatis!" Chisaki hissed as his subordinate walked up with a small girl in tow. She was covered in bandages, her feet bare and only wearing a white shirt. Pain and fear were all over her face, and a small horn was protruding on the top of her head. She had long messy light bluish hair, and she stumbled as the one called Chronostatis pulled her along.

"Sorry boss. She's...not cooperative with me." Chronostatis responded, only to see Chisaki roll his eyes.

"Whatever. Just stuff her in the back." He pointed to a black van behind him. "We need to get going."

"Got it." He replied while yanking on the girl's arm. "Come on, you."

"OW!" the girl yelped, only for Chisaki to walk up and smack her face.

"Don't you dare speak, you cursed thing!" Chisaki growled, the girl flinching and putting a hand to her face.

Chisaki then leaned down in front of her, his eyes bloodshot and filled with rage and fury. "Cooperate with Chronostatis, or I'll tear you apart. Again." The girl let out a whimper at this, shivering at the sight before being pulled along again. She was soon thrown into the back of a black van, which was filled with boxes. Chronostatis followed her, sitting down beside her before closing the back doors of the van.

And as this happened, Chisaki let out a long hiss as a few hives appeared on his face. "Disgusting. Why did I have to smack that cursed thing?!" He took off his gloves at this, throwing to the side before seemingly summoning a new pair, quickly putting them on. "Filthy. So filthy."

He checked over his gloves before reaching into a pocket and pulled out a phone. "Hmm...almost out of time. I have to act quickly." The yakuza put the glove away before walking up to the side of the van, opening the passenger door. There at the driver's seat was his most loyal minion, Shin Nemoto. The slender man had one hand on the steering wheel, the other slightly adjusting his black plague mask.

The man didn't even turn to look at his boss, but Chisaki was fine with this. After all, Shin was a professional, something Chisaki respected as he climbed into the driver's seat before putting on the seatbelt.

"The others are ready." Shin said as heard the click of the seatbelt.

"Good." Chisaki glanced back, seeing Chronostatis and the girl, along with a bunch of boxes, all of them holding lab equipment. He then glared at Shin, "Let's go. I want your driving to be clean, and make sure no one is following us."

"Don't worry." Shin replied as he grabbed the gear stick, staring straight ahead as a giant garage door opened, "No one knows where we're going."

"They better not." Chisaki pulled out his phone again, "If I'm right, we only have a little over two hours to get to the new location. If we encounter them before that..."

"Understood. I will get us there in two hours." Shin interrupted, nodding and shifting into drive, the van quickly zipping out of the underground building. There were two vans beside them, both holding the other main members. As such, the vehicles soon hit the pavement, Chisaki stared out at the outside with a disgusted glare.

He shuddered at the sight of the world as the three vans began to move down a road, the man slumping down in his seat before glancing back, his eyes now staring at the shivering girl in the back.

"I won't lose you. You're everything I need to cure this disgusting, disease filled world." He looked back at the road ahead, "I will win this game, and nothing will stop me. Nothing."

Two hours later...

Run.

That was all that the little girl could think as her feet touched the hard, rough pavement. She was still barefoot, her feet now feeling every tiny sharp piece of cement as she ran down an alleyway. Her light blue hair flowed behind her, fumbling and flapping as she took a turn.

The sound of explosions, lightning and screams could be heard behind her. Sounds that almost made her stumble, but she kept moving. She had to. She had to get away, had to run.

That is, till a roar rang out.

"ERI!"

The screech made the girl flinch, her whole body tightening up before tripping, her face smacking the paved ground. "Oof!" She yelped as she flopped over, her body coming to a stop for a second. "Ow..." she moaned before raising her head, the girl soon standing up and rubbing the side of her head.

"ERI!"

Another yell happened, the sound making her hop in place. The little girl's hand went to her chest at this, making her shake on the spot. "Oh no..." she whispers, glancing back for a second, only to see nothing.

"ERI!"

The voice roared again, sounding even closer now. The girl started to run again as she whispered, "Have to get away. Have to-"

"ERI!"

And as the roar rang out yet again, the girl glanced back, only to still see nothing. But she knew he was close. She knew he was only a few steps away. The very thought made her freeze up, her eyes darting around in the alleyway. And as she did this, her eyes suddenly went to a nearby cardboard box beside a large green dumpster. Glancing back at the alleyway, she then looked back at the box and grabbed it, quickly putting it over herself before hiding beside the dumpster.

"ERI!" roared the voice one more time, the sound of footsteps coming next. Loud thudding of shoes tapping the pavement came next as the girl shook in place. She didn't want to move, not even peek out of the box...but she couldn't stop shivering. She knew he was coming, the man that was after her.

"Please don't let him find me." She whispered, "Please don't let me find me."

And as she repeated this over and over, her words turning into almost muttering as she closed her eyes and kept shivering. She wasn't sure how much time had passed as she hid there. It was if it was days, months, almost years as she sat there, shivering in the alleyway box.

That is, till a voice spoke up.

"Hey there. You okay?"

The girl's eyes opened at that. She didn't recognize that voice. It wasn't the one that was roaring at her earlier, or any of his subordinates. In fact, it sounded...kind. Her eyes rapidly blinked at this, her head peeking out of the box a few seconds later. And what she saw made her eyes go wide. In front of her was someone who was...upside down. She glanced up at this, now seeing it was a person hanging on a thin white thread, his feet and both hands holding onto the line. He was wearing a dark green costume with a big white spider on the chest and a green bunny eared hoodie.

"Hi there, I'm Spider-Man. Who are you?"

Chapter 47: Trouble, Thy Name is Spider-Man

Click!

That was the sound of Izuku closing the lid on the last newly made web cartridge of the day. He spun the cartridge in his hand next before opening a web shooter and placing it inside. "There we go." He muttered to himself before checking his hoodie, seeing a bunch of cartridges strapped and ready for his next outing as Spider-Man.

'Nice. Now all I need to do is-'

"Izuku..." He turned to a voice, now seeing his mother staring at him with a steady glare and hands on her hips, "Don't tell me you're going out again. You just went out as Spider-Man yesterday. Have you forgotten what's happened to you the past few days?!"

"But mom, yesterday was fine!" Izuku instantly responded while waving his hands, "I didn't get into villain fights yesterday." Inko's eyes narrowed, making him bite his lip, but he didn't frown as he added, "Well...I did get into a car chase, but I got out of it unscathed!"

Inko continued to stare at him, now fully seeing the expression on her son's face. The sight made her sigh before shaking her head. "I'm not gonna convince you, am I?"

"Well uh..." Izuku's face switched to a frown.

His mother shook her head. "Alright. You just ate lunch a bit ago, so don't...you know. Throw up your food."

"I know." Izuku nodded, "Thank you...and sorry for worrying you."

"Its fine." Inko sighed again, "Me and Himiko are going to be doing some more documents from the police over her parole and the...trial date." She crossed her arms at this, "Remember, you're helping with that later."

"I will." Izuku replied before putting on his Spider-Man mask. "Thanks mom."

"Just be careful."

Izuku walked over to the window and opened it, "I will." He repeated as he began to crawl out of the glass frame, "I promise."

A few hours later...

A thin line of webbing shot across a block of buildings as Izuku swung by, the teen doing a small flip before firing another webline. Izuku shined a grin at this under his mask, soon shooting another bit of webbing as he zipped past a few more buildings. And after another minute of webswinging, the teen landed on a nearby rooftop, doing a small somersault as he landed.

"Pretty quiet today." he commented to himself as he pulled out his phone, tapping it a few times. The teen had been webswinging in a certain direction all day, checking his phone every few streets. 'Still nothing.' he thought as he put his phone away, 'Mister Li's notes said that this district is also part of this...Kingpin's turf. Whoever or whatever that is.'

He hopped off the roof at this, soon swinging down another street before doing another flip. The day was getting late now, already past noon and slowly going into evening. And as he did this, he thought back to a text he got from Uraraka, asking him if he had watched his fight with...what was his name again? Fishbowl man? That guy. She was asking if he had watched his own fight on television/online.

'I'm glad she likes Spider-Man.' he thought before chuckling to himself, 'Wonder what she would think if she found out that I'm him. Heck, I wonder what her class would think. A bunch of them have been really nice.' At this, he thought back to his first meeting with Uraraka's friends at FEAST. Remembering how accepting they were, and then remembering when they met Himiko, showing just how friendly they all were.

'Wish I could have met them back at Aldera. Or had one of them as a classmate.' He fired another webline, only to shiver for a second at the next thought, 'All I had was Kacchan.' He then shook his head, 'No. Can't think like that. I...I will be a hero. I just have to keep at it.'

He did a small flip before spinning in mid-air, firing a webline a second later as he did a small right turn. His eyes glanced around, staring at the buildings in the street. They were all old, cracks everywhere on the sides of the buildings, alleyways filled with trash and other signs of...lesser than good living situations. As such, his mind went to what he was looking at, the sights making him frown, 'Man...I had no idea there was someplace like this in the city.'

The sight made him sigh as he kept swinging around, glancing down as he saw only a few people walking. The usual bustle of the city wasn't here, instead just showing nothing but trash and a few stragglers. Biting his lip at the sight, Izuku did another flip before landing onto a rooftop, rolling for a second before standing up.

'I don't think I'm gonna find anything here.' He thought as he pulled out his phone, tapping the screen for a bit. An image of the map he got from Li's room appeared, the teen staring at it. 'I still don't have anything for this district as well, and I'm at the edge of the area on Mister Li's map. Guess this place is a bust too.' He swiped his finger on the phone, showing a picture he had taken of the bullet with the blood injector dart.

'Oh yeah. I still haven't figured this out either.' Blinking at the image for a second, he closed his eyes as he thought about the picture, only for a certain girl's face to appear in his mind. 'Himiko...'

A few days ago...

Izuku let out a long yawn as he left his bathroom, his right hand scratching his back under his undershirt as he closed the door behind him. He was going with his mom to introduce Himiko to FEAST today, and his body was mostly cooperating. But as he left the bathroom, he turned his head, only to see Himiko Toga staring right at him. The sight made him almost flinch, the teen a little unnerved how she appeared so silently. She just stared at him at this, Izuku blinking before tilting his head, "Um...you okay?"

Himiko's head turned to his room's desk before she pointed at a small vial, "What's that, and why does it smell like blood?"

Izuku blinked at her again before his eyes glanced over at the desk, "Uh...well..."

The girl didn't let him finish as her eyes slightly glanced away, "Sorry. I know I'm being...rude, but I just-"

"You smelled it when you first came here, didn't you?" Izuku interrupted, Himiko going wide-eyed as she looked back at him. She then saw a calm expression on the teen's face, one that didn't show a bit of judgement or disgust. Izuku began to scratch the back of his head at this as he continued, "Yeah, sorry about that. I um...I didn't originally know it was blood."

Himiko stared at him for a second before glancing back at the vial, "What do you mean?"

"Well, remember the night we met?" She looked back at him and nodded, "And do you remember that drug deal I was busting before we met?" She nodded again, "Yeah. That blood is...well, its from that."

The girl leaned back for a second before asking, "You...took blood from one of those thugs?"

"Not quite." Izuku replied as he walked over to the desk and picked up the vial, "You see, I thought I was interrupting a drug deal that night, and technically I was. However, the drug dealers weren't trading their drugs for cash. They were trading it for..." He put the vial back on the desk, "Bullets."

"Bullets?"

"Yup. Bullets that were actually disguised injector darts." He turned to his computer and grabbed his mouse, soon clicking a folder and revealing several photographs. All of them showed a viewpoint one could only assume was under a microscope, "The injector darts had this in them."

Himiko stared at the photos, blinking before glancing back at the vial, "The darts had blood in them?"

"Unnatural blood." Izuku corrected as he reached over and grabbed the vial again, "I looked over every document I could find on quirk blood and...this blood is something else. I can't even come close to figuring out what it is, and that honestly scares me." Izuku let out a small sigh, "Though I also don't have the best equipment, which doesn't help me solve this case."

Himiko stared at the vial in Izuku's hand, her quirk nagging at the back of her mind. She clenched her eyes for a second, trying to fight it back before something new popped into her head. A thought that surprised her, but before she could think, her reflexes kicked in as she blurted out, "Do you want me to drink it?"

Izuku paused for a second before turning to her, "Huh?"

The girl put her hands to her mouth, feeling herself blush before stuttering out, "I-I-I mean...I uh...I-I-I could drink it and transform into whoever that blood belongs too."

Izuku blinked at her for a second before asking, "You'd do that?"

Himiko began to twiddle her thumbs, "Well um...I mean...I don't usually transform into something that I don't know what it is, but-" She bit her lip as she said her next words, "I...I wanna help you like you helped me."

Seeing her hesitation, Izuku shined a small smile before shaking his head, "Its okay, you don't have to."

"Huh?" Himiko squeaked out, "But...but I wanna help!"

Izuku shook his head again, "Normally, I would say yes." The teen then pointed at the computer screen, "But as you can see, this blood has been...altered. I don't want it to affect you."

"But what if my transformation could help?"

Izuku put the vial back on the desk, frowning at the glass before turning to her with a big grin, "It might...but I'm not gonna be Spider-Man today. Why don't we wait till he's back on the scene, and then you can help him."

Himiko blinked at him, only to grin and nod, "Okay!"

The Present...

'I never got her to transform into whoever's blood that was.' Izuku thought as the scene replayed in his head as he swung over a rooftop. He did a quick flip before firing a webline, zipping himself across a street before sighing, "Guess I'm just chasing nothing. Figures with my luck."

He continued to swing at this, taking a small breath as he spun in mid-air before taking a turn down another street. And as he did this, his mind went back to what he was doing. Pulling out his phone, he switched to the police scanner...and as a few minutes passed, the scanner stayed silent. Sighing, he glanced up at the sky, seeing the evening was starting, 'Nothing. Not a single thing today. Guess I'll swing around for another hour and then-'

KA-BOOM!!!

"Whoa!" Izuku yelped, losing his grip on his current webline, causing him to fire another bit of webbing...only to hear a 'psst'. "Oh no." the teen whispered before he felt gravity grab him, his body quickly plummeting as Izuku pointed his other wrist, only for relief to appear on his face as it fired a webline. "Yes!"

Danger!

"Huh?!"

WHAM!

And that was the sound of Izuku's body slamming into a nearby building, the teen soon hitting concrete a second later. Thankfully, he only fell a little less than one floor. "Ow..." he moaned before slowly standing up, "Figures that would happen right when some explosion goes off."

He cricked his body a bit as he stood up before reaching into his hoodie, pulling out two web cartridges as he refilled the shooters. "At least I'll be prepared." A second later he fired a webline and yanked himself upward, quickly swinging onto a nearby rooftop. And as he did this, he saw a small trail of smoke appear in the distance. "Time to investigate."

The teen cut into a sprint before leaping off the building, firing a webline with a flick of the wrist. Izuku could feel the wind hit him as he began to speed up, line after line of webbing streaming across the street in front of him. To someone on the street, it would like a blur zipping down the street, passing several blocks with intense speed. And as a few minutes passed, Izuku zoomed down a few streets and blocks, soon landing on a rooftop that was near the trail of smoke. He saw that the smoke was coming from an alleyway beside the building he was on, soon walking over to the side. There, he saw a van turned over, smoke pouring out of its hood.

'A car crash?' He thought before noticing there was no one around the car. Blinking at this, he fired a webline across the top of the alleyway before standing on it, soon flipping himself over as he fired another webline. There, he hung onto the webline and slowly descended, his whole body upside down as he slowly tapped the web shooter, extending the webline as he went down to street level. 'Its so cool that I can do this.'

And as he got to street level and peeked inside the smoking vehicle, he quickly saw no one was in it. There was nothing, not a single soul. 'What happened here?'

"ERI!"

A loud voice rang out at this, making the teen turn to the sound. He then heard the person yell again, making Izuku blink before firing two weblines upward, slingshotting himself back to the rooftop. The teen leapt to the next rooftop, running on the edge as he glanced down at the alleyways below. And as he did this, he realized something. The district around him was like a maze of alleyways. Tons of abandoned buildings and desolate areas, all twisting and turning.

'This is a good place for criminals to hide. Maybe-'

"ERI!"

The voice rang out again, the noise taking Izuku out of his thoughts as he took a turn left this time. And as he looked back down at the alleyways below, he came to a stop. What looked like a small child was running down another alleyway, stumbling and fumbling around as they kept trying to run.

"What the-"

"ERI!"

He glanced back at the other end of the alleyway, now hearing the voice from the opposite way from the running child. Izuku spun his head back to the kid, only to see them zip behind a dumpster. Blinking at the sight, Izuku quickly ran over, soon standing on the rooftop just above the cowering child. He saw that they had now put a flimsy cardboard box over themselves. No thoughts went through his head at this, his wrists just reflexively firing a webline before standing on it and flipping over like he did with the smoking car from earlier.

Izuku slowly went down at this, the voice from before screaming out again as he descended. And as he got to the child's eyelevel, he saw it was a girl under that cardboard box. Her whole form was shivering, shaking like a leaf as he glanced down and saw that she was barefoot. The sight made him grimace under his mask, his brain now thinking about the sight before him.

'Poor kid. Is she this Eri that that guy is screaming about?' He thought before seeing the bandages just above the girl's bare feet. His eyes going wide at this, a certain conclusion now appearing in his head. 'This girl needs help.' Taking a deep breath at this, he went down just a smidge more as he thought, 'Okay, just...be as calm and nice as you can Izuku.'

Taking another silent deep breath, he spoke up, "Hey there. You okay?"

This got a reaction out of the girl, revealing her bandaged up arms as she slowly grabbed the edges of the cardboard box and lifted it up, her eyes peeking out next to stare at the vigilante. Her face showed a look of pure confusion, one that was nothing more than a mix of curiosity and fear. Seeing this, Izuku decided to add, "Hi there, I'm Spider-Man. Who are you?"

The girl known as Eri was not having a good day. In fact, she couldn't remember ever having a good day. The only thing she did know right now was that she had somewhat got what she wanted. She had gotten away from...him. Chisaki. The monster. The one that told her how she was a cursed existence.

She didn't fully understand what had happened. One moment she was in the back of a van with Chisaki's men all surrounding her. The next moment, an explosion rocked the vehicle, sending her sideways. The blow of hitting the side of car knocked her out for a few seconds...only to wake up and see the vehicle was empty.

The outside was not empty though. As she picked herself up, she saw Chisaki and others fighting...something. She didn't really pay attention. Instead, she saw that this was her golden opportunity. One to escape from. One to flee from...him.

And now she was in an alleyway. Cowering, hiding under a box, as she continued to hear the screams of Chisaki, who was now hunting her down. She wanted to get away. She wanted to flee. But her body made her freeze up. Flinch and stutter. It was like it everything in her body wanted her to just...stand there and do nothing. Nothing but cower in fear.

That is, till now. Now she was staring up at what looked like an upside spider person. She didn't actually know what a spider was, but she suspected that was what he was due to him saying his name was Spider-Man. The very sight made her freeze up again, though it wasn't through fear, but rather...just confusion and uncertainty. And as she stared at him, she saw the

upside vigilante slowly spin around, going right side up before letting go of the webline and landing on the ground right in front of her. He crouched down at this, and slowly gestured his hand over to her. Her eyes drifted down to the hand, and she wasn't sure how much time passed as she stared at the hand, only to glance back up and see the vigilante just crouch there. He wasn't moving, wasn't doing anything but presenting his hand.

There was no violence. No beating. No...nothing. He just sat there, waiting for a response. The girl had never seen such a thing. She honestly didn't know what to do. As such, she just stared at him and nothing more.

And as she did this, Izuku blinked at the sight. 'She's...just staring at me.' he thought before looking her over, his eyes directly staring at the bandages and torn up clothes. He then glanced back up at her face, seeing the giant frown and trembling eyes. 'She must be really scared. I gotta be careful.'

Another minute passed, the teen's mind racing as he tried to think about what he could do. And as he did this, a sudden thought went through his head. 'I still have my mask on!' he frowned at that thought, 'My costume might be scaring her.' He put his hand to his chin, 'It shouldn't be a problem to reveal to her.'

The teen put his hand to his face and slowly pulled his mask off, soon showing a small smile. Eri's trembling eyes widened at this as the vigilante tried to show the kind smile his mother would always show him. And as he did this, his smile grew before saying, "Let's try this again. I'm Spider-Man, and its nice to meet you." He slightly leaned down at this, "What's your name?"

"E-E-Eri." the girl slowly replied.

"Eri?" Izuku raised an eyebrow at this, the girl nodding back. Seeing this, he shined an even bigger grin, "That's a nice name."

The compliment made Eri's frown slightly lessen, as if she had never heard of such a thing. As such, the girl just stared at the unmasked vigilante, no words coming out of her mouth. Seeing this, Izuku then asked, "So, what are you doing out here?"

Eri flinched at the question, her eyes drifting away as she quietly replied, "Running."

Izuku slightly tilted his head, "Running?" The girl replied with a nod instead of words. Seeing this, Izuku fully bent down, getting to her eye level. His eyes went over her again, seeing the multitude of bandages on her arms and legs. The sight made him close his eyes for a second, his mind going over what to do next. His brain went to the many videos of All Might he had watched over the years, seeing him constantly smile, even in the greatest odds. The thought made him realize what he needed to do. 'Okay...show her a big smile. Like All Might would, one to reassure others.'

Taking a deep breath, his grin grew before opening his eyes. The sight made Eri flinch, showing the teen that the girl didn't understand what he was doing. Thankfully, he had an idea on what to say as he spoke up, "So...are you running from some bad guys? Do you not want to go back to whoever is chasing you?"

Eri shivered at the question, only to slowly nod again. "I see." Izuku replied before moving his hand up to her before flipping it over, showing the girl his palm, "If that's the case, let's make sure the bad guy doesn't get you. Will you let me help you?"

The girl glanced down at his hand before looking back up at the vigilante and asked, "Um...y-y-you're not gonna hurt me, are you?"

Izuku's smile switched to a frown for a second before he rapidly shook his head. "No, never." He winked at her next, "I just want to help. I'm guessing you want to get out of here and find someplace safe, right?" Eri did another nod at this, Izuku chuckling before gesturing his hand again, "Okay. I can definitely get you out of here."

"Y-y-you can?"

"Yup." Izuku leaned over to her and whispered, "You see...I can climb up walls."

"You...can?"

Izuku just chuckled in response before standing up and winking, "Watch this." Izuku walked over to the wall beside Eri in the alleyway and put his hands on the surface. A second later, the teen began to climb up like it was nothing, the sight making Eri go wide-eyed. That is, till Izuku shimmied himself so he was facing the girl, "See? Isn't that neat?"

"Wow..." she quietly replied, making Izuku chuckle again.

"I know!" Izuku climbed back down at this, peeling himself off the wall before bending down to Eri's eye level again. He presented his hand to her once more, showing a big grin, "So...will you let me help you get you out of here?"

Eri glanced down at his hand, her body slightly shivering for a second before reaching out and taking it. Closing his hand around her's, Izuku shined an even bigger grin before pulling her up to him. As he did this, he gave her a one-armed hug before whispering, "Thank you for trusting me." He whispered, "Don't worry, I'll help you. Though uh...I need to put my mask back on."

The girl stared up at him as Izuku used his other arm to pull his mask down his face. The girl almost giggled at the sight, seeing the teen slightly struggle putting in on one-handed. A few seconds later, the face cover was on, and Izuku curled his arm around her, keeping a steady grip on the girl.

And she felt light. Really light. He knew his spider powers had given him enhanced strength, but this girl felt beyond light.

"Just hang onto me for a second." He whispered while trying to hide any kind of change in tone. Taking a breath, he stood up and carried the girl in one arm before walking up to the wall again. Izuku felt his fingers attach themselves to the rough stone as he began to climb upward next, the tugging of the tiny girl's arms now wrapping around his waist as he slowly made his way up. 'Nice and easy Izuku. The kid's hurt, so take it nice and slow.' he thought as he passed a window. A few seconds later, he reached the rooftop and took another deep breath as he adjusted himself onto the top of the structure. Making sure he didn't have Eri's arms accidentally scrape the edge of the roof, he positioned himself onto the roof and stood up, whispering to Eri that she could now let go.

And as she released herself from the vigilante's waist, he helped her down as he asked, "You okay? That wasn't too scary, was it?" Eri shook her head in response, the sight making the teen chuckle. "Nice. Now, let's see if-"

Danger!

Izuku's eyes went wide at this, only to hear what sounded like a crackle in the wind. Spinning around, his eyes now saw what looked like a streak of lightning about to hit his face. His enhanced reflexes kicking in, Izuku instantly ducked under the bolt, the electric attack now shooting over the vigilante and zapping the rooftop across the alleyway they just climbed up.

"Huh. Not bad." a bald man in a full black suit with a lightning zig-zag pattern just below his neck now appearing in front of the teen. He wore a giant smile as electricity sparked off his hands, the teen now seeing a that the man also has two zig-zag scars going down his face, just like the lightning bolt pattern on his suit. "Spider-Man, right? To think you'd show up here tonight." A surge of electricity poured off his right hand, "Bonus!"

THOOM!

A bolt of lightning shot out of the man's right hand, Izuku's spider sense screaming as he saw the attack was coming for both him and Eri. The teen quickly grabbed Eri and leap to the left, dodging the bolt in the same split-second. Eri let out an 'eep!' at this, only to feel Izuku put her back down before the vigilante glared back at the electric villain. "Hey!" Izuku yelled, "You were about to zap a kid!"

"So?!" the villain instantly replied, "The kid's part of my mission." He pointed his left hand at the vigilante, "Was told if I can't bring her alive, I should fry her." The villain's face shined a giant grin, "And I'm in the mood for frying."

'What?!' Izuku thought as he glanced back at Eri, only to feel the girl grab onto his leg. He could feel her shivering as she held onto him, her eyes staring at the teen's leg, not wanting to look up for a second. The reaction alone told Izuku everything. Granted, he had no idea why she was being targeted, but he knew all he needed to know. 'He didn't hesitate to attack Eri.' His eyes narrowed at this, 'Scum.'

He placed a hand on her head, making the girl glance up at him, tears now appearing in her eyes. That is, till Izuku said, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

Eri went wide-eyed at this, only to hear a cackling laugh, making both turn to the villain. "Seriously?!" the man guffawed, only for his eyes suddenly shine, electricity sparking out of his whole body. "Let's see you try." Electricity began to swirl around both of villain's hands, showing the vigilante the villain was about to charge up. That is, till pointed his wrists at the villain.

Thwip! Thwip!

"Huh?!" the thug yelped as webbing suddenly covered both his hands, the electricity slightly lowering in power. He began to try and fry the webs off his hands, the man growling, "What is-"

Thwip!

"Yaugh!" he yelped again, this time due to webbing now covering his eyes. "Can't see!"

"That's the point." Izuku commented as he fired a webline at the man's left foot before yanking it, the villain letting out a groan of pain as he was knocked off his feet, his back smacking the rooftop. Webbing then covered his whole body, Izuku adding, "Just stay down, sparky."

"You little...I'm Electro!"

"Elec...tro?" Izuku responded as he stopped firing webbing, "That's a weird name."

"SHUT UP!" Electro screeched, only for a surge of lightning to blast off his entire body. His whole form shined as electricity flowed off of him, the light from it making Izuku and Eri close their eyes. Blinking rapidly at this, Izuku tried to look back at the villain, only to see that Electro had fried all the webbing off himself, the man quickly trying to stand back up.

Seeing this, Izuku glanced back at Eri, patting her head and whispering, "Stay here. I'll be right back." The girl looked up at him, only to slowly let go of his leg. Nodding to her, Izuku turned back to the villain and fired another webline just as Electro got up. The webbing hit the villain's leg, only for Electro to fire a small bolt at the webbing, instantly destroying it.

"Not this time!" He roared as he stared at the webbing he just zapped, only to glance up and see Izuku charging up to him. He quickly tried to counter by firing a bolt of lightning at the vigilante, but the teen ducked under the attack before swinging a strong right punch to the villain's face.

POW!

Electro felt the punch slam into his jaw, only to hear the teen let out a yelp of pain. Glancing back at this, he saw that the blow had zapped Izuku as well due to the villain's electric body. "Nice." Electro chuckled before lunging at the vigilante, grabbing his shoulders before Izuku could react.

"You can't touch me, brat! I'm electricity personified!" Electro laughed as electricity surged through himself, the energy instantly slamming into Izuku's body. The teen let out a scream at this, making Electro guffaw at the sight.

'Hurts...hurts so much.' Izuku's mind barely said as he felt his whole body tense up. His eyes were twitching at this, barely able to see anything in front of himself, only to notice something. His hands were now sparking, 'My Venom Power...'

"Guess all the hype about you was for nothing!" Electro cackled, "Time to fry you, and then the girl!" His grin widened as continued to grip down on Izuku's shoulder, "Let's turn up the power and-" His words came to a stop as Izuku suddenly raised his hands and grabbed Electro's shoulders. "What are you-"

"VENOM SHOCK!" Izuku screamed as his own electricity surged through himself, Electro going wide-eyed before feeling something new. It was what the electricity he trusted so much did to others...but to himself.

"YAAAAAH!" Electro yelled as his and Izuku's electricity both surged at the same time. The villain tried to move at this, glancing down at his legs, trying to move them first. That is, till he saw that Izuku had started moving first. He had his right leg pulled back, the sight making Electro go wide-eyed, "NO, WAIT!"

But it was too late. A second later, the kick slammed into Electro's crotch, the pain instantly making him let go of the vigilante. And as the blow began to fully register, Electro barely felt Izuku let go of his shoulder, only for the teen to yell, "VENOM PUNCH!"

POW!

An electrical filled punch slammed into Electro's face, knocking him flying off his feet. The villain's back hitting the rooftop with a thud, letting out a groan a second later. Above him was Izuku, the teen staggering on his feet. "Oooohhh..." he moaned, only to feel a bit of electricity surge through his body, making him flinch. "That hurt...a lot."

After feeling another tap of electricity go through him and flinching at the pain, the teen pointed his wrist at the downed villain and sprayed a bunch of webbing over the thug. "Well...that wasn't fun. Though that was a cool improvised move I just did there." Cricking his neck for a second, he glanced back at Eri, now seeing the girl was staring at him with the biggest frown he had ever seen. She was still shivering like a leaf, the sight making Izuku's heart break.

"Um...are you okay?" she slowly asked.

"I'll be fine." Izuku muttered out while trying to do a little wave. He began to stumble over to her, feeling his whole body slightly tense up. He kneeled down a second later and put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?" She gave him a slow nod in response. "Good."

He glanced back at the downed villain, let out a small breath as his mind went into overdrive, 'Okay, let's think about this Izuku. You followed what appeared to be an explosion, only to find Eri. After that, this Electro guy tried to kill her, and judging by his quirk, he might have been the one that destroyed that car.' Izuku looked back at Eri, 'That means she's in danger. I've got get her out of here, and the best way to do that...'

He stared at the girl, seeing the bandages still on her body. He knew what he was about to suggest would be dangerous for her, but he then glanced down at his hands, remembering his fight with Tombstone and the fight while the sports festival was happening. 'I basically webswinged with one arm after those fights. I should be able to do it again.' The teen looked back at Eri before glancing over to the still webbed-up Electro, 'Especially if villains like that nut are after her.'

Eri blinked at the teen, wondering why he was mumbling to himself. She couldn't fully hear his words due to his mask, only for the vigilante to put a hand on her shoulder. The girl slightly flinched at this as Izuku said, "Okay Eri, I need to ask you a question." She didn't respond, instead just staring up at him, causing the teen to kneel down and add, "Eri...are other bad men like that one I just fought after you?"

The girl did a slow nod at this, no words coming out of her mouth. Izuku slowly whispered out, "I see."

"You...you aren't gonna leave me, are you?" she then asked.

Izuku felt his heart break in two at that, the teen quickly shaking his head. "No. I'm here to help you." He patted her shoulder at this, "Now, I need to ask you something else. I want to quickly get you out of here, but I need you to trust me. Will you trust me?"

Eri continued to stare at him, seeing the masked teen just kneel there, unmoving. His voice sounded so kind, and his hand was warm. It felt...right. And before she knew it, she nodded back. "Good." Izuku then slung his arm around the girl, making her let out an 'eep' before Izuku said, "I'm going to carry you and webswing you out of here, okay?"

"Webswing? What's that?"

"Its uh..." Izuku felt his mind stop at that. The question made him quickly realize he didn't exactly have a way to explain his methods. 'Maybe that's something I should write down in my hero notes.' Shaking his head for a second, he replied, "Its how I get around. Don't worry, I'm make sure to take it slow so it won't scare you."

Erit blinked at him, only to nod again, "Okay."

A minute of adjusting later, Izuku had her cradled in his left arm before walking to the edge of the rooftop. She was about to ask him what he was doing, only to see him fire a webline from his wrist before hopping off the roof. Gasping at this, she soon felt the wind smack her face as he began to swing down an alleyway. Her eyes went wide at this, making her whisper, "Wow..."

"Its cool, isn't it?" Izuku chuckled as he fired another webline, "Now, let's get you-"

Danger!

BOOM!

"Yaugh!" Izuku yelped as he felt something hit his back, the noise the blow made sounding like a mini-explosion. The teen instantly lost grip on the webline, the attack making him flinch and tense up, closing one of his eyes. Despite this, he quickly curled himself up, trying to guard Eri as much as he could as his back hit concrete a second later. His body rolled down the alleyway, keeping Eri in his arms as he came to a stop.

"Urgh...ow." he moaned before opening his one closed eye, soon staring down at the girl in his arms. "You okay?"

She stared up at him with a big frown on her face, "Um...yes."

"Good." Izuku grunted as he uncurled before glancing back to where the attack had come from. And as he did this, his eyes went wide under his mask as he saw a certain man walking up to the vigilante. "No...it can't be."

"The spider." the man said as he continued to get closer. Seeing this, Izuku quickly put Eri behind himself, his form slightly shaking as the man lifted the katana in his right hand, a black and white aura pouring out of the blade. The man was wearing a slick fully white suit, along with a black oni mask.

"Mister Li..." Izuku whispered as the villain known as Mister Negative stopped just a few feet away. Despite wearing a mask, Izuku knew it was him. He didn't need a sixth sense to know, he knew just by looking at the man. And as he saw the man continue to point his blade at the teen, Izuku felt his body tense up, his mind racing as he tried to figure out how Li was here right now.

"So we meet again, spider." Li replied in the language Izuku couldn't understand before pointing his katana at Izuku, only to switch to japanese as he added, "It seems we are fated to fight once again." He pulled back the blade, switching to a stance Izuku could only describe as deadly, "And this time, I will cut you and that girl down."

And as these words left the man's mouth, Izuku felt himself able to move again, quickly crouching down. His body blocked the little girl behind him, the teen taking a fighting stance as he took a deep breath and thought, 'Mister Li is after Eri?! Why?! What in the world is going on?!'

Meanwhile...

"You think Izuku's okay?" Himiko asked as she opened a cabinet in the kitchen, soon pulling out a small box. "I know he left a while ago, but...you know."

"He'll be...well, I hope he'll be fine." Inko replied as Himiko walked up to her with the box. "Thank you." Inko added as she took the box, opening it to take out a tea bag before putting down beside a pot of water she was about to heat up. A few minutes later, the woman was fixing some tea before walking into her living room.

"So Himiko, how has the therapy been?" she asked as Himiko situated herself on a couch.

"Its...a lot." Himiko slowly replied. Ever since the two had gone to the police station and Himiko confessed everything on what had happened to her, Naomasa and Murdock had helped setup Himiko with both probation and a therapist. That and a court date with her parents, something that still disturbed her, and Inko had been trying to help her get ready for that horrible confrontation. As such, she had also been setup for the schoolwork she had missed, which she could do online, and was now taking a break after doing it all day.

"I know its rough, but it will help." Inko added as she walked into the room and sat down beside Himiko, patting her shoulder. "Nothing worth doing is ever easy."

"Yeah..." Himiko sighed as she slumped into the seat, "I just wish it was a little easier." She turned to Inko, "I mean, I still don't know what I want to do with myself."

Inko showed her a small smile, "That's okay. You don't need to rush everything."

"But-"

Inko shook her head, making Himiko's words dry up. "Himiko...don't worry about it. Me and Izuku will help you every step of the way, and nothing is going to-"

Ding dong!

Inko's words came to a stop as both glanced over at the front door. "Who could that be at this hour?" Inko asked as she stood up. A second later, she opened the door with Himiko right behind her, only to find herself staring at a tall scruffy looking man that was wearing a distinct, dead-like glare and a long winding scarf. The sight made her blink before seeing the man to the left of him, a detective she recognized.

"Detective Naomasa?"

"Hello Mrs. Midoriya. May we come in?" Naomasa replied.

Inko glanced back up at the tall man, still seeing that glare on his face. "Um...I don't mind, but who is this?"

"Allow me to answer that!" exclaimed a voice, Inko almost flinching at the sudden declaration, only for a stoat-like creature to appear in the man's scarf, "Greetings! Am I a mouse, or a dog, or a bear? None of those matter because I am the principal of UA, Nezu!" He shined a big grin as he continued to speak, "And I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Midoriya!"

Inko and Himiko shared a glance at this, only for Nezu to add, "But let's skip the pleasantries. Tell me, is your son Izuku home?"