Chapter 39

It had been a month since the Shie Hassaikai raid and Katsuki was bored, lying across one of the sofas in the common room. In the last month, he'd been called out by Mirko a few more times and he felt like he got a bit stronger since, learning more control while maintaining his power. His mobility had increased thanks to the Rabbit Heroes coaxing. Even so, he felt further away from Izuku then before.

In the month, League sightings had been on the lower end of things. There had been some. Robberies from the police stations and the usual ambushes and assassinations on Pro Heroes with a bad rep from Forge but they were laying low. Izuku was planning something. Katsuki knew it. He never was the type to pick fights without a reason. He had to be doing something.

Because of the League being quiet and Villains forced underground for a while following a loss of resources after the Shie Hassaikai fell, internships with pros slowed down a bit letting them focus more on their studies. There was the Culture Festival a week ago that got temporarily interrupted because a pair of Villain decided to raid it, which turned into just another thing to watch as they fought with Snipe and Hound Dog in front of the school. That was fun. But being forced to participate in his shitty classes shitty band was not his idea of fun, even if he was a god with a guitar.

He hoped tonight would at least be some fun. It had taken a while after Kamino to set up, but now it was finally time for the hero rankings. Interns didn't get a ranking, but he hoped Mirko would do a bit better. March Hare actually deserved it. " Yo, jackass. Move your legs." Bakugo clicked his tongue before complying, letting Jiro sit down. " Preciate it."

" Yo." Eijiro sat between them, Kaminari sitting on a single seat on Jiro's side. Komori sat opposite them.

" What do you jesters all what?"

" Ah, don't be like that." Komori frowned. " We're friends, right? Bakugang." She flashed finger guns at him.

" Call us that again and I burn your stupid weeds, Shrooms."

" They're not weeds. They're fungi."

" Don't care. Don't call us that."

" Yeah. Why call us after him?" Kaminari complained. " Why not after me?"

" Cause your name is too hard to make a group related pun out of." Komori said simply. " Bakugang is easy to remember and it's funny."

" It's stupid!" Katsuki shouted.

" He likes it." Jiro smirked.

" I hate you all!"

" So, are you guys excited for tonight?" Eijiro grinned. " Who do you think is gonna take All Might's old spot?"

" Isn't it obvious?" Jiro asked. " All Might's retired and Endeavours MIA. It's gotta be Hawks."

" I'd hope so. Endeavour's scary." Komori complained.

" Yeah. And he abused his kids into becoming Villains. Who'd wanna trust an asshole like that?" Kaminari huffed.

" That ain't confirmed. It's a rumour." Eijiro raised an eyebrow. " What? You believe Crucible and Dabi are these missing Todoroki kids?"

" Hell yeah I do." Kaminari confirmed. " That guy always gave me a bad feeling. I can totally see him abusing kids with that foul attitude."

" Those are the rumours that are often paired with other rumours right? Like Midnight is a sexual predator or something?" Jiro asked

" That's just creepy." Komori frowned. " I hope that's not true. I've been scared to stay in the same room as her since I heard that." She looked over to Katsuki. " Do you trust the rumours?"

" Endeavour, yes. Midnight, dunno." He said simply. " Heroes ain't all good people. But it's stupid to blame the whole for a few bad spots."

" Like the black spots on Mushrooms!" Komori announced way too happily someone had any right to when talking about mushrooms.

" I guess?" Katsuki shrugged. " If I have to have a vote, I say the bird. He's pretty fucking strong and he's a chill guy."

" I forgot Mirko and Hawks have been working together pretty closely since the whole Yakuza thing." Eijiro hummed. " Must mean you and Tokoyami are getting to be pretty good friends."

" We can work together but our quirks ain't good in the same place so we're usually split." Katsuki shrugged. " Blackbird don't talk much anyway."

" Everyone!" Tenya's voice shouted from the front of the dorms. " Please come to the front door! We have received guests!"

" Guests?" Komori perked up. " I wonder who?"

" Prolly some of those assholes from 1-B wanting to watch this shit with us." Katsuki shrugged before standing up, rolling his shoulder as he did. " Might as well see who."

Interestingly, Katsuki was only half right. There were five visitors, four of whom were the Wild Wild Pussycats, visiting to announce they were coming back to the hero scene after a long absence. The other interested him more. " Psh. You 1-A lot are all so loud."

" Monoma?" Tenya looked shocked. " It has been a while."

" Ha. Yeah. Tell me about it." Monoma laughed dryly. After he was rescued from Kamino alongside the others, Monoma was a key witness in the League's actions. He told them how the League tried to recruit him but gave up rather easily. Katsuki knew that was simply because Izuku was a good judge of character even if he always second guessed all his deductions back when they were younger, but he heard from eavesdropping on the teachers that Nedzu had different thoughts. Either way, it ended with him being knocked unconscious. When he recovered, he found his quirk was missing, stolen by All For One. And, unlike with Ragdoll's quirk, where he fully admitted to still having it, the Villain was annoyingly vague about what had happened to Monoma's Copy. Monoma hadn't been to classes since.

" Where've you been?"

" Ugh. I've been on some series of stupid therapy and recovery courses with Hound Dog for the past couple of months. I've still been sitting in classes, but I've been forced to skip Hero Course lessons for them as I…" Monoma groaned, mechanically stating as if he'd heard it a million times before, " Recover from the trauma of being involved with a great Villain and becoming Quirkless." He sighed. " I don't need it. I just got back from a check up when I ran into the Pussycats. Thought I'd see how you were all keeping up."

" It is good to see you again. We are doing fine." Iida asked. " But what of you? Are you still gonna be a hero?"

" Ideally but the teachers are treating me like a cracked pot." Monoma huffed. " The rest of 1-B have their provisional licence already. I've fallen so far behind. But, I convinced Vlad King to give me a shot. I've been getting some support items fitted by Power Loader to help me even the playing field. But I don't think the teachers even want me to succeed. They think it's impossible for someone without a quirk to become a hero." Bakugo frowned. He thought back to what Izuku had told him at the Shie Hassaikai base. All Might had laughed at him when he asked if someone Quirkless could become a Hero. Katsuki had done the same. But that had just pushed Izuku a way. What he should have done was…

" Prove the fuckers wrong." Katsuki stated.

" Ha. I intend to." Monoma gave a confident smile. " I won't drag down UA or my class. 1-B will still outshine 1-A. I'll make sure of it. That's all I'm here to say." Katsuki laughed. There was the same vow. However, unlike that day weeks before the Sports Festival, there was no maliciousness to it. Monoma's smile, still confident, was more subdued. Friendly even. Bakugo grinned.

" You're on, Copycat."

" I wish you the best of luck, Monoma." Tenya told him. " Give my best to Kendo and the others when you see them."

" Ha. Will do." Monoma scratched the back of his head. After a bit of chatter with the others, he gave them a wave and returned to his dorms. Katsuki chuckled, a small smile on his face. Seems like someone was trying to prove his old friend was right.

Mirko tapped her foot against the ground, swinging on her seat at the front of the stadium, waiting for the show to start in earnest. She eyed the crowd anxiously. " He ain't here." She muttered.

" Looking for someone, Moon Rabbit?" Hawks asked from next to her.

" Endeavour. He ain't here. It bugs me."

" Why?" Edgeshot looked over to her.

" Few reasons." She answered vaguely.

" Let me guess." Hawks smirked. " It's cause he's the next in line for the one spot after All Might, should the ranking remain th same but everyone shifts up one. That's the first reason. The second is likely cause he's been MIA since his arm got frozen off, which is admittedly a sore spot for me since I missed being able to stop it by a minute. The final is, I would guess, those little rumours. Am I right?" Miriko looked away from him.

" Do you believe those rumours, Mriko?" Ryukyu asked.

" As someone who put up with shitty parents, I wanna hear it from his own mouth is all." Mirko said. " Then I'll decide what level of beating I'll give him."

" Calm down." Edgeshot sighed.

" No, she had a point." Hawks folded his arms. " At the very least, I can tell you that the Dabi guy believes the rumours he likely spread. When I stepped in to save Gran and Endeavour from the two, he mentioned it was a family affair. Looking into it further, the quirks registered to Endeavours lost kin and the two fire starters are the same. So it's either foul play or truth."

" Hmm. You do have a point in that respect." Best Jeanist agreed. " However, we must remember that a dual quirk like Shoto Todoroki's can easily be replicated by All For One. His Nomus are proof of that. It is possible that Dabi has a similar quirk to Touya Todoroki and is delusional as well. You know his crime list."

" You ever heard of Occam's Razor, Jeans?" Hawks asked. " It's what regular folk use in their reasoning. The simplest and-slash-or most logical answer is usually the correct one. You can crow about possibilities all you like, but it's more likely people are gonna believe the simplest answer."

" So you're saying you trust the rumours as well?" Jeanist asked. " I've worked with Endeavour on many a case. He may seem bitter but his heart is in the right place."

" I think that friendship blinds you from the truth." Hawks told him. " Heroes aren't always heroic, y'know? As someone with close ties to the Commission, trust me when I say they aren't exactly the purest of people."

" Welcome everyone to the Hero Billboard Ranking Chart!" The announcer shouted, her voice echoing around the room. " A lot has happened in the last six month, but it's that time again to see where the heroes stand. We've lost a titan recently. I hope All Might is happy with his successor where ever he is. After all the events, both from the tragic battle of Yokohama's Kamino Ward and the valiant effort made to take down the Villain group of the Shie Hassaikai, we have a wild change in the top ten. Without further ado, let's begin!"

" What do you mean by that?" Mirko asked.

" I'll tell you later. Just know I ain't a hero just to honour my folks or whatever anyone else is here for." Mirko and the others watched as, one by one, they were called up. Wash went up first, shocked by the placement as he'd jumped past a few others in the teens to reach that spot. Ryukyu remained at number 9 despite the wild times, her actions against the Shie Hassaikai saving her from falling. Gang Orca jumped passed her from number 10 to number 8, likely due to his presence against Chisaki. Next up at 7th place was Kamui Woods, his actions in the Battle of Kamino Ward not going unrewarded. Despite not achieving much in either notable battles, Crust's fans and his actions in his own home city of Osaka had kept him at number 6. After him, retaining his rank since last time was Edgeshot, the leader of a newly formed team between himself, Kamui Woods and Death Arms, formed after Yokohama to try and find the killer of Mount Lady and bring them to justice.

" Next, leaping high through the rankings thanks to being front and centre in the fight against the Shie Hassaikai, we have the former number 8 heroine, Rabbit Hero Mirko." Mirko smirked as she leapt onto the stage, smirking and raising a fist to the sky to the roaring applause. " Now, we enter the number three to a man who has been missing for a while now. He doesn't seem to be here today either, however his fans have kept him up in the ranks despite that fact. Number 3 is End-" A loud crash interrupted the announcer.

The crowd looked up as the door swung open, silently watching as a figure emerged, slowly walking down the isle. It had been a long time since he had even been seen. No-one knew where he was. If he was recovering. If the rumours had him scared. But he was here now, a black iron arm replacing them one that had gone missing, flames reflecting off the cold metal. Endeavour took his place on the stage in the number three spot, folding his arms and waiting. The announcer, as with most of the room, was at a loss for words.

" Uh. Well. Here he is folks your number tw- uh, number three hero for this ranking. We wish him luck on getting back up if he returns to the field. Endeavour." The crowds cheers was a bit muted. " Moving on, your new number two who fought hard in Yokohama alongside All Might himself, it's Best Jeanist."

" They're talking him up." Mirko sighed.

" And finally, the rising star who, in only a few short years went from a feisty new comer to a household name like all the others who stand on this stage. Your new Number One Hero. It's Hawks." The crowd went wild as Hawks shot flew into the air from his seat, spinning around and landing, saluting mockingly to the crowd.

" Show off." Mirko rolled her eyes.

Teruko Matsunaga, the leader of the Commission started her speech. Mirko couldn't get something out of her head. The Hero Commission isn't exactly pure, Hawks had said. She wondered what he knew. She never really trusted the Commission. She may not have looked it, but Mirko wasn't stupid. She knew as well as Hawks did that older heroes had a storied list of problems with the law that conveniently seemed to vanish. It was an interesting trend. Heroes in the last ten or so years seemed to be a lot less likely to break laws than heroes from older generations. Comparing the likes of Ingenium before he was forced to retire to the likes of Midnight or Endeavour proved this. It was obvious why. All Might, that ray of positivity and pureness, rubbed off on people in the right ways. But it didn't change certain facts. It was likely that the commission and these older heroes were definitely connected behind the scenes and she didn't trust how the face of heroism was a seedy business led by a woman who she personally couldn't stand. Matsunaga was an self entitled woman with a bad attitude. She was a large part of why she rarely interacted with the Commission. The less Mirko had to interact with her the better.

Mirko didn't have long to think as the top 10's speeches came. A few choice words from the heroes was the tradition. Wash was never good with words. Ryukyu did some rambling about responsibility. Gang Orca simply thanked people for the support. Kamui Woods thanked Edgeshot for forming a team with him before declaring that they'd bring the new Hero Killer Forge to justice for the sake of Mount Lady and the others she'd slain. Crust lamented the fact he wasn't in Kamino that fateful day with All Might. Edgeshot copied Gang Orca, thanking others for their support and insisting he was doing it to help people, not for any sort of fame.

" Mirko." The announcer lady pointed the mic at her. " Any words about your amazing leaps in popularity over the last few years?"

" Well, I can't let the chicken over there go without any contest, can I." Mirko joked. Hawks chuckled, shaking his head." Seriously though, I simply wanna protect the folks that matter. Any popularity was just an added bonus. Any Villains planning stuff is gonna get sent flying by yours truly. Count on that."

" Very inspiring." The presenter smiled. Mirko tried her best to keep grinning at the obvious attempt to brush her off and move on to the real stars of the show. She hated these big, televised events. Too stuffy. She glanced over to the next person to go. " Endeavour. You being away has taken a toll on your ranking. Are you planning on going out in the field any time soon?" Endeavour remained silent. " Uh?"

" I was injured because I make a foolish mistake." He finally said. " I will keep moving on to make up that mistake. That is all there needs to be said." Mirko raised an eyebrow at the man. She couldn't tell if the mistake he was talking about was a wrong step in his fight or him abusing his children so hard they became villains just to kill him. It was vague but there was something there. Remorse perhaps. It was hard to tell with a man with such a hard shell what he really feeling.

The presenter moves on to Best Jeanist. Jeanist gave a speech about the importance of heroes and teamwork in this trying time, doing his best to both reassure the public while giving his fellow heroes a message about camaraderie. Hawks yawned. Mirko tried not to do the same. " Always so long winded in his metaphors." She muttered. Finally the presenter moved on to Hawks.

" So Hawks. Is it surprising? You were the youngest hero to reach the top ten. Now you're the youngest hero to reach the number one spot. How do you feel?"

" Yeah, it's weird. Still, everyone else has done the whole soppy schtick thanking everyone for their support and whatever. I mean, people are down enough. You don't have to be so straight laced with it." Hawks turned his head to the other heroes, grinning. " That Moon Rabbit had the right idea. Crack a few jokes. So depressing." With that, he snatched the microphone from the Presenter. Mirko chuckled. This was going to be fun. Hawks flexed his wings before slowly rising up into the air. " Let's see. You mentioned approval ratings when talking about Edgeshot, right? If we were going off that Jeanist is the number one for the fight he put up against All For One before All Might showed up. Then it's me. Then Edgeshot then Mirko and fifth would be Ryukyu. You people like animal girls huh?"

" What is he doing?" Edgeshot sighed.

" What he does best." Mirko laughed. " Talking shit."

" Thanks to those rumours, Endeavour's popularity has tanked, not that he was very popular anyway. No comment on those rumours, by the way. Heh. Look, I'll get to the point. Right now, in this scary, scary world, approval is a very important thing. But not the most important thing for heroes I reckon. The past has happened. There's no point dwelling on it. What is important now is how things have changed and how we change with it. Jeans had a good point. We really do need to band together cause Villains like the League will take any weakness and run with it." Hawks shook his head. " The Symbol of Peace is gone and I ain't strong enough to fill his shoes. No one Hero is. But if the fight against Overhaul proved anything, it's that heroes need to start banding together to fill that very big void All Might left behind because Villains? They aren't gonna wait patiently for us to get our act together. So, I gotta ask all you experienced veterans. Why, at such a critical juncture, are you all playing it so safely? I'm thankful for your support this and we'll stop the villains that. That's obvious. You act like nothing has changed. Say something a little more reassuring." Hawks dropped, landing back on the stage. " Don't just count on me. Count on everyone. That's all I have to say."

Tomura grinned at hearing Hawks words, lightly scratching at his neck. " That mouthy piece of shit." The League were sitting in the bar area of their apartment complex, with only Denki and Ochako not present due to being forced into watching it with their dorm mates in UA.

" He's challenging both us and all his colleagues to step up their game." Momo folded arms, leaning back in her chair. " That takes guts. An impressive amount of them."

" The bird and Tiger Bunny are fierce foes." Rappa said with a grin. " I can't wait to fight 'em again."

" I'm more surprised He showed his face." Shoto frowned. " That Bastard. How dare he try and make a cool entrance after so long."

" I made a mistake and now I'm trying to make up for it." Dabi said in a mocking tone. " Worthless hypocrite."

" That big, fiery guy is the bad person who hurt Shoto and Dabi, right?" Eri asked.

" That about sums it up." Izuku agreed.

" He looks scary."

" He won't get anywhere close to you." Shoto promised. " None of them will."

" Out of all of the top ten, Hawks, Mirko, Jeanist, Crust and Ryukyu are good heroes, in order from least to most lawsuits pending." Momo stated, going over the notes in her head. " They don't cause much damage and keep people safely in mind during a fight. Hawks and Mirko are of the generation that came about during All Might's Golden Age, alongside Tensei, Manual and a few other good heroes. Most of the rest are either of All Might's Generation, like Endeavour and Gang Orca, or while he was rising through the ranks. Endeavour is the worst hero on that stage. Then it's Gang Orca, Edgeshot, Wash and Kamui Woods. Most to least lawsuits."

" And they call these people heroes." Izuku let out a dry laugh. " We have our work cut out for us."

" So what's next for us?" Atsuhiro asked. Izuku hummed.

" Momo. Are you done with sorting the information we got from the commission?"

" Indeed. We managed to compile the data in a more orderly fashion than they had it. I can forward to you whenever you need it." Momo confirmed. " Are we acting on it now?"

" Hmm. No. We can't. We still need more members."

" Hmm. That's what our reasoning with dealing with Overhaul was, right?" Momo asked. Izuku nodded simply " Why?"

" A lot of reasons. Bigger organization means more power, more reputation, more people to help with bigger operations. And that last part is very important."

" You know, you keep saying that but you never say why." Hiiro asked. " I'm through with your secrets, Izuku. Don't get me wrong. I trust you. Both of you. But I can't help feeling that you don't trust us with all these secrets you keep." Izuku hummed, tapping his arm with a finger. Tomura frowned.

" Is that what you all think?" He asked.

" He makes a sterling point." Atsuhiro admitted. " I'm fine with being a side character, but it's always nice to know the script."

" I trust you." Shoto said simply.

" So do I. You say hunt and we hunt." Himiko leant back in her chair.

" As much as I hate to say it, it's hard to predict the best course of action when I don't know the big picture." Momo looked over to Izuku. Eri looked around the room, nervously. Some of the others watched, waiting to see if anyone moved. Others eyed Izuku and Tomura, clearly agreeing with Hiiro's point.

" Izuku?" Toru asked. Izuku nodded.

" Tomura. Can I?"

" Hmm. Do you what you want." Tomura sighed. " This was Sensei's idea and I didn't want to ruin it. But I also don't wanna lose anyone over something so stupid."

" Right." Izuku nodded slowly. " I'd prefer to do this while everyone's here, but I suppose we can fill Denki and Ochako in later." Izuku leaned forwards, smirking. " Alright. I'll tell you. The big operation we've got planned."

" I thought I'd find you here." Kurogiri stepped into the forest cavern. The other figure loomed over him, a giant to an ant. The figure sniffed the air then grinned.

" So. It's the real you this time, Kurogiri." He laughed. " It has been too long, old friend."

" Too long indeed, Gigantomachia." Kurogiri agreed. Gigantomachia leant back against the nearest wall. " I apologize for not appearing before you sooner."

" Since Master got captured, I was worried about you and the Doctor. Are you both well?"

" We are. I am currently serving as the protector of Master's protege and his army."

" The fake said as much." Gigantomachia hummed. " It was not a liar."

" One of our own can make copies of our members and so I asked him to make one of me. It took a while to get the right measurements with the state of my form, but I got it eventually." Kurogiri nodded. Over the last few weeks, he was doing something the Doctor had asked of him. A favour only he and Haru were privy to. Gigantomachia was an old hand when it came to allies of All For One, serving him even longer than Kurogiri had though not quite as long as Doctor Garuki had. He hid himself away after the Master's first fight with All Might, under strict orders not to return until the man was locked away or dead. The good doctor felt Tomura needed his aid. So, as a test, he had Kurogiri seek him out. When Gigantomachia was convinced that Tomura was the rightful heir to All For One, so too would the good Doctor be convinced that all was ready. Then they'd move on to the next stage of the constantly altering plan.

Kurogiri had tried to find Gigantomachia for a while. Today, he had succeeded. A clone spotted the giant and tried to approach him. However, before anything could come of it, the clone was ambushed and destroyed by Gran Torino. He didn't realise how careless he was being until that point. However, his investigation finally bore fruit. A quick scout of the area and here he was. " I am here to ask you for you assistance."

" I cannot do such a thing." Gigantomachia told him. " You know fine well Master's final order to me." Kurogiri sighed. " I have seen the action of this League of Villains but I am not convinced of their power. Not yet."

" You wish for more?"

" I do." Kurogiri shook his head.

" Always so difficult." He sighed. " Very well. I shall have to plan something for him to prove his worth, supposing something doesn't fall into our lap first. But when he does prove himself…"

" Then I shall bend my knee." Gigantomachia confirmed. " And I will happily serve until our masters return."

" That is all I ask, old friend. Will you remain here?"

" For a time. The heroes are awfully loud and I cannot risk capture"

" I worried as much." Kurogiri fished through his suit pocket. He pulled out a red disk. " Place this on your armour. I shall use it to track you down when the time comes." Kurogiri placed the disk in the gigantic palm of Gigantomachia. Then man nodded.

" I hope that time comes soon. It has been far too long since I fought for the master after all."