The Tears They Never Received

Disclaimer: I don't own My Hero Academia

"So you are all going then," Tenya questioned the students now before him. They all nodded in confirmation.

Currently Tenya was outside the hospital with Todoroki, Kirishima and Yaoyorozu. They were planning on rescuing Bakugo and Mina from the villains. Yaoyorozu had planted a tracking device on one of the villains who had escaped with the aid from a student in class 1B. The idea was to rescue them without actually getting into a fight, or so they said. The two boys were going because they couldn't do anything before when they were captured, but now they could. Yaoyorozu was going because she trusted Todoroki and would be there to stop the boys in case things got worse.

"Looks like we'll never be able to see eye to eye. Since that's the case then take me with you," Tenya asked. "I'll be there to stop you all from getting into trouble."

There were looks of surprize from everyone. Kirishima changed to a grin.

"Be honest. You were planning on coming with us all along," he said.

"Only if I couldn't convince you," Tenya replied. "At any rate since we're avoiding combat the five of us should extra cautious."

Kirishima nodded with enthusiasm. Todoroki and Yaoyorozu looked suspicious though.

"The five of us? Did you tell another student about this?" Yaoyorozu asked nervously. "Getting someone else involved doesn't sound like you Iida."

"It isn't a student actually," Tenya replied. "While you were planning this I thought I wouldn't be able to convince you so I made a phone call. You could say I called in a favour."

"Who is coming with us?" Todoroki demanded.

"Relax it's not a pro hero. It's-"

"Please leave the introduction to me," a female voice rung out. "Up here just so you know."

Everybody looked up to see a woman with pinkish hair tied up in pigtails standing on top of a lamppost. She was dressed mostly in black. She wore elbow length gloves, a mask covering her face, boots, a mini super-miniskirt held by a three hearts belt and a succubus themed leotard with a heart at its centre. She leaped down to properly introduce herself.

"Internet pop-star and vigilante Pop-Step here," she greeted them. "Nice to meet you all."

Flashback

"Hey there Tenya. Are you alright? I heard about what happened at your training camp," Koichi said over the phone.

"I'm fine but that's not why I'm calling. I called because I need your help," Tenya replied.

Tenya explained about Kirishima's plan. He stated when it was taking place.

"So you're planning on going then," Koichi asked concerned. "Did you learn nothing from that time in Hosu? The trouble you got in then will be nothing to the trouble you get in now?"

"I know that," Tenya replied frustrated. "I will only go if I can't convince them not to go, which I doubt I will. That's why I'm calling Koichi. If we do go we'll most certainly encounter trouble. Our combat authorisations have been revoked so we'll be powerless. Is there any way you could come over and help, or even send someone to help us?"

Tenya realized that if this rescue mission were to go through they would need help. They would need a way to bend the rules. A way to fight without actually fighting.

Koichi seemed to understand this. He knew if even if he tried he couldn't stop Tenya from going. While he did not want Tenya to get in trouble again he knew it would happen anyway. At the very least he could make sure he had a better chance of coming out unscathed.

"Well Knuckleduster and I are busy at the moment but there is someone I can send over to help. She's actually quite a popular idol online. One warning though, she can be a bit of a diva," Koichi explained.

Flashback end

The students couldn't believe their eyes or ears. Iida was in contact with vigilantes. That was completely out of character for him, and the complete opposite of what he was saying to them a few minutes ago.

"A lot more happened to me in Hosu than you think," Tenya explained. "I met people, I changed a bit."

The others looked uncertain. Vigilantes were after all technically villains. In other words they would be working with a criminal. Noticing their expressions Pop-Step spoke up.

"Before you go complain about working with a vigilante, or a criminal as you see it, let me ask you this. What are you planning to do currently?" she asked. Her question earned her shocked looks from the others. "Exactly. What I am and what I do may be against the law but guess what. What you're planning to do is also, so don't act so high and mighty."

This time she got looks of guilt and shame.

"I know most of you are against this but please believe me this will up our odds. Our combat authorisations have been revoked so we can't attack, Pop-Step on the other hand can. Technically speaking she is a villain, but in reality she's a hero," Tenya reasoned. "Let me ask you something. When is it wrong to actually help someone?"

They all stared at Iida in shock. They couldn't quite tell, but something had changed within him. He was like a completely different version from the one they already knew.

"Fine we'll accept your assistance Ms. Pop-Step," Todoroki said. "But only until we've rescued the others."

Pop-Step nodded. Tenya was relieved. The other two looked determined. With the issue settled they headed off into the night. Their rescue mission began.

At Izuku's apartment

"So you take all these notes simply from observing other people's quirks," Mina exclaimed. "I can't believe it."

Mina had looked through one book out of curiosity. The way it so detailed in how the quirks were structured, their weaknesses and how they could be improved. Well, Mina couldn't deny she was impressed.

Currently she was in his room helping him move around some notes as his 'assistant'. It had been stated that she may be helping him in the science department also but not much more. So far Deku seemed to be keeping to his word about what she would be doing for him. Why she was going along with it? It was a much better option than being a torture toy, and she decided it would be better to go along with it for now, at least until someone came for her.

"Thanks. The ones from the sports festival are to your right if want to look at them. Notes about your quirk are in the fourth notebook," Izuku offered. "The rest are filled with notes on all the competitors."

Mina's jaw wide dropped open. She was speechless. Izuku laughed at her reaction, though he really couldn't blame her. There weren't many who were actually capable of that sort of thing.

"Y-y-y-you took notes on every single competitor," Mina stuttered.

Izuku nodded.

"I had monitor to help me. I'm not that fast," he reasoned.

Mina was still shocked however.

"Speaking of the sports festival there's something I'd like to ask you, about one of your classmates actually," Izuku said.

Mina replaced her shocked expression with a confused one. If Deku had been at the festival shouldn't he know enough about her classmates quirks already.

"Since you've been honest with me I'll be honest with you. I don't know how well I'll be able to answer though," Mina replied.

Izuku nodded in understanding.

"Shoto Todoroki. From what I saw at the festival he can manipulate both fire and ice with each half of his bodies representing those powers. Yet for some reason he doesn't use his left side, the one for fire. In fact from what I could see he seemed disgusted to even possess it. I was just wondering why," Izuku stated.

It had been something on his mind for a while now. He remembered at the festival exactly how Todoroki reacted when he used his left side during the cavalry battle. It hadn't been intentional, just a heat of the moment choice. In the aftermath of the event he appeared quite furious with himself for even using it.

Mina went silent. She didn't exactly have a good answer. She didn't speak with Todoroki much, or at all even. He wasn't social with his classmates. He barely even interacted with anyone unless someone spoke to him first.

"I don't know if this will help but it may be something to do with his father, Endeavor," Mina explained. "Whenever their relation to each other was brought up, which is very rarely, he always gets angry. That's all just a guess though. Todoroki isn't really social with any of us in class 1A."

"You probably aren't wrong. I've had an encounter or two with Endeavor while out performing quirk analysis. Believe me he is not a nice person. The first encounter, I nearly got caught in his fire, he didn't even apologise. I've also noticed some of his other behaviour. Compared to other heroes he is quite violent and hot-tempered," he replied.

"You aren't wrong. It's been stated by others online. Still though," Mina said with a sad expression. "Todoroki can be a bit cold to others, but sometimes, he just looks sad, like he's hurting in some awful way."

Izuku said nothing. He didn't really know how to respond to that. However, it did seem that Todoroki was reluctant to use his pyrokinetic quirk due to psychological trauma, one likely caused by his father.

Mina looked at the notebook that contained data on her quirk. She was curious at what Deku wrote about it.

"Hmmm, he's definitely right about my gliding. My weakness it seems is that rely too much on my hands and feet to use it offensively, also the range at which I can shoot acid isn't very far. There are also questions about whether I can use it without excreting it from my body," she thought. Then she came to the improvement section. "If I increase my acid's solubility and viscosity I may be able to create a gelatinous substance which could be used for defence. To improve my range of fire put my palms together and shoot through the gap. Wow these are some interesting ideas."

Deku really did a good job at quirk analysis. He was probably better than most professionals, and at such a young age.

At that exact moment Izuku received a text from Kurogiri saying he (and by extension Mina) was requested at the bar.

"Mina we're needed at the bar, well mainly me but you have to come also," Izuku said. "I don't know if the other villains are aware you're here or not but I won't let them bother you. They're not as bad as you think."

Mina looked slightly nervous but said nothing. She felt safe with Deku, she believed she could trust him with this. Besides, after getting to know him a bit she was slightly curious about the other villains. While she had fought against villains before she had never really interacted with them. Deku was the real first encounter. Muscular and Kurogiri didn't count since she hadn't really had a conversation with them. Before they left Mina had something she wanted to ask Deku.

"If you don't mind me asking, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to," she started.

"Go on," Deku urged.

"I was wondering. How, how did you become a villain?" she asked nervously.

Izuku's eyes widened slightly. He wasn't angry, he knew she would ask this question eventually. But did he want to tell her? Mina had only become his assistant. He didn't want to entrust her with all his secrets, especially since there could be a time when she might escape, or if possible he could free her with the right circumstances without getting into trouble.

Perhaps he could just tell her about how he joined, leaving out the events that lead up to it. He didn't feel ready to talk about that stuff.

"I'll tell you how I joined, but I'd rather leave out the events that happened until that point," he stated to which Mina nodded.

Taking a deep breathe Izuku spoke. "About a year ago, I had a lot going on with my life. I had a lot of pain that built up. One day, some bad things happened and, I just couldn't take it anymore. So at the end of the day I climbed to the top of a building where a certain event happened earlier that day, and I jumped, hoping I'd be reborn with a quirk in another life."

Mina's blood froze. She stood there, unable to respond in any way, she was too shocked to. Deku had tried to commit suicide. It was all too much to take in.

"Kurogiri saved me on Sensei's orders. He'd seen my notes on quirk analysis was quite impressed. He asked me to join as a result. I accepted of course, though I did set some conditions to better my situation," he explained.

Mina was curious about how that man from before, Sensei he referred to, came across Deku's notes. She was more curious about something else however.

"Conditions?" she questioned.

"1. I have free reign over what I do, it lets control what happens. 2. I am provided with this living space since I didn't want to go home, my mother is much safer with me not around," he replied. Mina saw a light shift in his eyes, a hint of sadness. "3. Regardless of the situation the League is in, I will not have to kill. That's one line I will never cross."

Mina said nothing. Deku, he clearly wasn't a bad person. He was a villain not for bad reasons, but because he had been pushed to that point. And his mother, from the way he spoke about her it was clear he loved her. Leaving to keep her safe was enough proof. At the same time, Mina was relieved he wasn't a killer. He didn't want to cross that line and he was right to.

"Since I told you about how I became a villain would you mind telling me about why you wanted to become a hero?" Deku continued. "I'm just curious."

Mina's face brightened into a smile.

"I don't mind at all actually. In fact I'd love to tell you," she said energetically. "It all started in Middle School."

Izuku was surprised at how quickly she had changed her tone. This must have been something Mina really liked talking about.

"Back then I was popular with the school and my classmates, well most of them. My quirk was strong, I had good looks and personality so it was encouraged. What made me really want to be one however, was the way I dealt with bullies. I told you before I didn't always have it easy growing up pink but that all stopped a while before I entered Middle School. Whenever I saw someone being bullied I would intervene and manage to make everyone get along, even if I was scared of a bully I would do it. I can't quite the describe it but, when I did, the feeling I got after helping someone, I wanted to get it again. I wanted to help someone again. And I think that's when I realised I wanted to become a hero, to help others," Mina exclaimed.

Well this was a surprise. Mina wanted to be a hero for the same reasons he had, she was quite passionate about it too. It was sort of admirable really, there weren't many aspiring heroes like her around.

At that exact moment Kurogiri appeared using his quirk.

"Sorry to interrupt you both but Deku you are requested at the bar. Ms. Ashido I do apologise but you must come also since we cannot leave you unattended," Kurogiri explained.

"Oh that's alright. But um, will 'he' be there?" Mina asked nervously.

"You mean Muscular, yes he will be there I'm afraid. However, he will not try anything. Not unless he wants to end up dead in a ditch," Kurogiri replied seriously. Muscular knew better than to stand against Sensei. "There is something I should mention however. The rest of the villains, Shigaraki included, are unaware that you are actually here."

The two teenagers were surprised at this. Mina may have only been here a short while but it's still something the others should have been told about.

"I did not inform them about your presence because at the moment Shigaraki is mainly focused on Bakugo. The others are simply bearing witness. To put it simply it wasn't the right time to tell them," Kurogiri continued. "While you may not agree with it that's the truth. A quick warning though Ms. Ashido, some of them can be a bit extreme."

Mina gulped but nodded in understanding. Izuku was annoyed with the situation but made no complaint. He did however advise Mina to stay near him, something she was fine with.

And so Kurogiri transported them to the bar.

At the bar

Kurogiri warped them to behind the counter at the bar.

"Ah, Kurogiri, you've brought Deku," Tomura started. The moment he saw Mina however his tone changed. "What the hell! Who's she?"

Everyone turned to look at Mina. The majority, Bakugo included were surprised to see her. Muscular grunted in annoyance.

"This is Mina Ashido from class 1A. Like Bakugo she was kidnapped and brought here," Kurogiri introduced. "And now she is Deku's assistant."

Everyone gave looks that held a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"Explain," Tomura demanded.

And so it was Izuku who explained the situation. How he found Mina, why she was here, and that she was now his responsibility. He made sure to include that it was all on 'Sensei's orders' so Tomura and everyone else would understand the situation.

"So you went on your own little mission did you Muscular, why does that not surprise me?" Tomura stated. "I was warned that you were one of Atrocity's group but didn't really care since you were of use to me. I still don't care because the mission was success. However, since you're part of this group try to act like it. I won't tolerate something like this during the next one."

Muscular flashed a glare at Tomura and turned away, he didn't really want to be part of this conversation. Dabi also remained silent. He knew Deku hadn't known about the mission until last night, so there was a high probability he would get in trouble. Besides, he didn't like Tomura much, Muscular even less, a lot less.

Tomura wasn't how Deku knew about the mission's objective but he didn't care. If he was doing this on Sensei's orders then that was enough. There was still one matter to attend to though.

"Listen up you," Tomura threatened turning his attention to Mina. "If you try anything I'll kill you. You so much as try to escape and I'll disintegrate your face. Understand."

Mina nodded fearfully. She knew fully well what this man was capable of, she remembered the injuries Mr. Aizawa sustained during the USJ Incident.

"You'll do nothing of the sort Tomura," Izuku stated loud and clear. "Mina is my responsibility, not yours. Therefore what happens to her will be my decision. That applies to all of you. She is not to be harmed, not unnecessarily at least. But you are definitely not allowed to kill her."

The villains (except Kurogiri) and Bakugo were surprised at this. Mina on the other hand was touched to the core. She hadn't known Deku long, but in the short time she had he had defended her from both harm and death. He was a good person.

"Fine whatever, just make sure she doesn't do anything rash," Tomura replied.

As Tomura turned his attention back to Bakugo several villains moved towards Deku and Mina. These were Dabi, Toga and Twice.

"Toga here, Himiko Toga," Toga said while blushing. "I hope we can become friends."

Mina was taken back at this girl's attitude.

"Hi there. I'm Twice. Nice to meet you. It's not nice to meet you," Twice exclaimed.

Mina was confused by Twice's speech patterns. He said something one second, and the next he was saying the exact opposite. There was no logic to it.

"Name's Dabi," Dabi introduced himself. He said nothing more after that.

Mina didn't know what to make of him. Aside from that they didn't seem too bad.

"Can I try some your blood?" Toga asked enthusiastically.

Then again.

"No Toga you may not," Deku told the girl. "I said no harming her."

Toga pouted with annoyance. Mina wasn't comfortable though. Sensing this Dabi spoke up.

"Don't worry about it. She's like that with everyone. Something to do with her quirk," Dabi explained.

"Yeah she is. She isn't," Twice piped in.

"If you say so," Mina replied as she turned to Toga. "You wouldn't want to try my blood anyway sweetie. It's acidic."

Everyone was amused by her response. It seemed the girl had a sense of humour, even in the strangest of situations.

"Hey um, my classmates. I know you encountered some of them during your mission," Mina said. "Basically what I'm curious about is-"

"They aren't dead if that's what you're thinking," Dabi stated. "The majority of them got injuries but no more. Once we got Blasty over there we retreated. He was our objective after all."

Mina sighed in relief. She had been worried about the status of her classmates.

"They're really something though," Dabi continued. "Not the sort that should be underestimated."

"Ochaco and Tsuyu are really cute too. I'm glad I could become friends with them," Toga stated. "Ochaco especially, she's a girl in love, I like people like her."

Mina ignored the 'friends' part completely. It was the last part that had her complete attention. Mina quickly moved in front of Toga.

"No way. Ochaco has the hots for someone. Who? Someone from class 1A? It can't be Iida, they're just friends. It definitely isn't Mineta, he's such a huge pervert. Todoroki possibly since he's the most handsome in class. Don't know about the others," she said quickly and loudly. "Oh and it definitely can't be Bakugo since he's such an obnoxious jerk."

The latter having heard her comment started shouting.

"Watch what you say acid bitch, or I'll kick your ass," Bakugo shouted.

Mina ignored him much to his fury. She, along with the rest of her classmates, were pretty used to Bakugo's outbursts now. That aside her attention returned to Toga.

"Who is it?" she asked impatiently. "Who does she have a crush on?"

Toga giggled. She really liked this girl.

"I don't know," Toga responded with a grin on her face. "But I could tell just by looking at her. When I brought it up she was blushing like crazy so I knew I was right."

Mina was disappointed that Toga didn't know who Ochaco had a crush on but was excited nonetheless. This was big news, the kind which she would be bringing up the next time she saw the girl. Her reaction would be something to look forward to.

"How could tell just by looking at her?" Dabi asked confused.

Toga blushed again. "Girls, we just know these sort of things," she stated.

At that moment, no one had a response to that. The three men standing there just stared at Toga blankly.

"Well that's good for you. That's bad for you," Twice said.

"Um Mr. Twice, are you okay?" Mina asked concerned. "It's just that you're saying something and then contradicting yourself repeatedly."

Twice flinched at being called 'Mr.', he had never been addressed so politely before. The other villains were surprised at how polite Mina was being to them. Shouldn't she have been scared of them? They were the reason she was here after all.

"Oh that's um, well, it's a personal problem that stemmed from me using my quirk," Twice informed her. "I can make clones of different objects, myself and other people included. When I was younger I made a lot of clones of myself and made them do what I wanted. I was their ruler you could say. However, they had their own wills and soon started arguing amongst each other. We argued about who was the original and who was a clone. Eventually things got violent we began a fight which lasted for nine days. It was quite brutal. Over those nine days we killed each other and I got a head injury which left a scar. At the end of it all I was the last one left standing. Now I don't know whether I'm the original, or just a clone created."

Mina gasped. She couldn't believe the trauma this man had gone through. Didn't anyone ever try and help him?

"That's kinda why I act this way," Twice explained. "It hasn't been easy though. My personality made it difficult to get a job and there was never anyone who knew how to help me. It's also one of the reasons I joined the League, to make a society where people like me can live. Well, that and I was inspired by Stain also."

Mina felt a pang of sympathy in her heart. Like Deku, Twice was villain due to terrible circumstances. All he really wanted was a better life than the one he had now, that wasn't wrong, his methods maybe but his intentions. Mina couldn't help but wonder if anyone ever actually tried to help Twice. Surely there must have been some way, therapy perhaps. At the same time Mina couldn't help but wonder about the other villains reasons for being here.

"If you don't mind me asking. Why are most of you villains?" Mina asked.

Dabi frowned. Toga's blushed more profusely. Mina knew her question was slightly daring but she couldn't suppress her curiosity. From all she had seen and heard she knew they had their reasons for choosing this life, just as she and her classmates had their reasons for wanting to become heroes.

"Well the majority of us were inspired by Stain to do more, to create a better society. As to why were villains well," Dabi started.

"For me life is too hard. I just wanna make it easier to live in this world," Toga spoke up. "My quirk involves me consuming people's blood and it's kinda become addictive in a bad way for me so."

Mina felt sad for the girl next to her. Toga had quirk that basically ruined her life, and she hadn't done anything to deserve it. Dabi looked away as he recalled what turned him into villain.

"My life and my mother's was ruined a certain hero. At some point she passed away due to an illness and I was left alone to fend for myself. It was all because of 'that man' we suffered," Dabi said recalling his painful past. "I'd rather not say more than that."

Now Mina was definitely shocked. A hero ruining someone's life was something she never even considered, they were meant to save people not hurt them (well except villains).

"I'm sorry," she said barely keeping tears back.

"What for?" Dabi asked confused. "It's not like it was your fault?"

It was then that tears ran down Mina's face. Deku, Twice, Toga and Dabi were stunned at her reaction. They couldn't understand what they had done to make Mina so upset.

"I know it's just that, those things that happened to you all. You didn't deserve any it, but it still happened. And what's worse no one ever tried to help you," Mina sobbed. "How can I not feel terrible, how can I not feel sad for you?"

The villains were shocked at what they had just heard, though it was only the ones nearest to Mina that showed it. The others tried to pretend as though they hadn't heard it, they were still surprised though. Even Bakugo was stunned at Mina's reaction.

For the ones who had told their story, no one had cried for them, much less felt the remotest bit of sympathy for their situation. Perhaps it was because they were villains that people didn't care, but still, the fact that this girl did care made them feel a warmth they hadn't felt in so long, it made them feel happy. To them it was a strange sensation.