War Game It Out

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/40974426.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero
Academia
Relationships: Hatsume Mei/Midoriya Izuku/Monoma Neito/Shinsou Hitoshi, Midoriya
Izuku & Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress
Characters: Midoriya Izuku, Monoma Neito, Shinsou Hitoshi, Hatsume Mei,
Todoroki Shouto, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Class 1-A (My Hero
Academia), Class 1-B (My Hero Academia), Kirishima Eijirou, League
of Villains (My Hero Academia)
Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, Alternate Universe, AU of and AU, Sensei | All
For One is Midoriya Hisashi, Sensei | All For One is not Midoriya
Izuku's Parent, Sensei | All For One is Midoriya Izuku's Grandparent,
Midoriya Izuku Has All for One Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has One for All
Quirk, Villain Midoriya Izuku, Found Family, in the literal sense, When
your Found Family Turns Out to be Your Actual Family, Family Tree is a
Nightmare, Monoma Neito and Toga Himiko are Siblings, Midoriya
Izuku and Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko are Cousins, Magician
Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress is a Little
Shit, Parental Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, and he is not sure how it
happened, Tags Contain Spoilers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added,
Shinsou Hitoshi Replaces Mineta Minoru, eventually, Inspired by Hero
Class Civil Warfare - RogueDruid, Cannibalism, Midoriya Izuku Has a
Blood Quirk, Asexual Yagi Toshinori | All Might
Language: English
Series: Part 2 of All for Nom
Collections: Rhynes MHA favs, Novel's List of Books to Read
Stats: Published: 2022-08-12 Updated: 2023-07-31 Words: 46,292 Chapters:
12/26
 War Game It Out
by InsomNyaC

Summary

"Nedzu has a few concerns given your family history so wants to know where you will draw
your lines in the sand over what is and isn’t okay.”
That made Izuku’s brows shoot up. “My family history?”
“According to Nedzu your great-great grandfather was the infamous Peerless Thief.”
“Oh that.”

Set in the same universe as Task Fail Successfully but a change earlier in the timeline occurs
as Nedzu acts upon some of what he has found in the Izuku's family tree sooner and sends
everyone careening down a new path.

ON HIATUS because the author is writing an actual book

Notes
See the end of the work for notes

Inspired by Hero Class Civil Warfare by RogueDruid (Icarius51)

 A Deck Is Shuffled
Chapter Summary

The classes are introduced to the idea behind their new final for the term

Chapter Notes

Originally posted August 12, 2022.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

This could be a problem.

Nedzu flicked his ears back in annoyance, enjoying being able to emote more naturally in the
privacy of his office this late in the day.

Midoriya was really living up to Aizawa’s title of Problem Child. The worst part of it all was
that the poor boy had literally no say in any of this. The test results had come back positive as
he had feared. Shigaraki, whoever he had been born as, was indeed Midoriya’s blood relative.
In fact, with how close the blood relationship showed, it was likely they were full blood
brothers though half brothers with the other parents being either siblings or close cousins was
also possible.

He had not wanted to be right about his suspicions but it had been obvious the moment both
he and Hound Dog had caught the other man’s scent. It seemed that Midoriya had even more
criminals in his family tree than first thought. Now it seemed that they would have to do the
other final exam this year with how large a risk Midoriya was if he was to go rogue.
Knowing how he thought while acting as a Villain would be a great help in case it became an
issue further down the line.

While the Commission would write off his familial connection with the Sako family as
merely his mother’s foster family, travel records and Yagi’s own testimonial showed that they
were as good as blood family for the Midoriya’s. That gave him at the very least a strong
connection to the most skilled thieves in the country, not that Nedzu planned on turning them
in despite the evidence he himself had gathered on them over the years. It was also that
family background that likely led to Midoriya’s strong sense of right and wrong and drive to
do the right thing regardless of what the law might say just like his great-great grandfather
Harima Oji better known as the Peerless Thief had. The man had been a more real Robin
Hood figure for the Quirk community in years long passed after all.
He nodded to himself, decision made. Now to just decide who would be the other three team
leaders and make the arrangements.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Izuku found himself a bit concerned with the pained look on Aizawa-sensei’s face as he
walked into class that Monday following the end of their internships. “Under normal
circumstances today I would be assigning you to write a paper summarizing what you all
learned from your internships this past week however in the wake of both the attack on the
USJ earlier this year as well as the recent attack in Hosu and a few other factors, it has been
decided that you will participating in a UA style game of Heroes vs Villains for your final
practical exam this term.”

He fished out a stack of Manilla folders with seat numbers on the fronts. “Before I continue,
first I feel I should distribute these basic rule packets. Inside two of them are role cards, one
Hero Team Leader and one Villain Team Leader. The people with these cards are the only
ones in the game who will have pre assigned roles. Beyond that it will be up to the team
Leaders to recruit members. That being said, if you have been assigned a role, it is up to you
if you wish to reveal yourself to the class as a whole. There are pros and cons of doing so, of
course, but that being said it should be obvious who is on what team even if you never
publicly declare your position. All that we ask is that the Team leaders submit their finalized
roster of members before the exam begins so that everyone is graded appropriately.”

With the packet now in hand, Izuku was quick to open it and peek inside before pulling out
the rules in case his growing worry that he would be the hero team leader was correct. If that
was true, he would wait a couple days until he figured out the other team leader-

Oh.

Well.

That was a thing.

He was careful to keep his expression masked with the same nervous excitement as he had
been wearing as he pulled out his rules, mindful of the card so it did not slip out. At the other
side of the room there was a whoop of excitement as Kirishima pulled out the Hero Team
Leader card and held it aloft. It was a plain blue card with “1-A Hero” written in bold
lettering in white contrasting well with his own red and black card.

“Don’t worry guys! I promise to not let you down!”

Aizawa-sensei sighed. “As I was saying, while the roles for the rest of the class are currently
unassigned, that can change if either you fail to end up on either final role list or if the Villain
team has fewer than five total members including the Team Leader. At that point the
necessary required Hero team members will be assigned Traitor cards and have to get in
contact with one of the two Villain team leaders after the test begins.”

Iida’s hand shot straight up. “I’m sorry did you just say two?”

Aizawa-sensei nodded. “Of course. 1-B will be running the test simultaneously with you with
their own two teams. This will create the effect of working in a city with two hero agencies
and everything that comes with it. For the course of the exam proper, you will be locked into
the testing site for one week or until one side is no longer able to continue either because of
an in-game ‘death,’ major injury or capture. That being said, please try and avoid permanent
damage to your classmates and yourselves.” Izuku blushed as that last point was clearly
leveled at himself.

He sighed. “For the rest of the morning you will have an extended free period to talk and
recruit as I pull each of you aside one at a time to go over the rules and answer any additional
questions that you might have. Additionally, if you wish to offer to be on one of the teams
without publicly announcing your intentions you can let me know and I will pass the message
along to the team leader. Now Aoyama you're up first.”

The class devolved from there. Kacchan was quick to stand up and walk over to Kirishima’s
desk. “You better put me at the top of your stupid list Shitty Hair.”

“Oh! And me too!”

Izuku watched his classmates unsurprised. Both Kacchan and Ashido were givens with the
other leader being Kirishima. Uraraka bounced over to himself with Iida in tow. “Deku, you
want to come and sign up with us for the Heroes?”

Izuku paused before shaking his head as he crossed them off his mental list of possible
recruits with a bit of sadness. “Sorry, I want to see about finding out who the other leader is
first. Depending on who it is I might want to try the other team for the challenge. Plus it
might be fun to get the chance to fight Kacchan again.”

Uraraka looked a little disappointed but Iida only nodded. “That makes a good amount of
logical sense. That being said I personally still wish to side with the Heroes to make up for
my recent failings as a Hero so I apologize in advance if that means we will have to face each
other in a fight later down the line.”

Izuku nodded. “That’s fair.”

Todoroki, who had strolled up halfway through the conversation, turned to Izuku. “I intend to
pick whichever side you chose Midoriya. After our fight during the Sports Festival, I think it
would be wise if we stayed on the same side.”

Izuku snorted at that. “Yeah I am not sure the teachers would be happy with us leveling the
testing site.”

That earned a giggle from Uraraka. “I still can’t get over how intense that was. The two of
you really embody the whole ‘Plus Ultra’ motto of the school.”
“Ashido your turn!” Aoyama returned to the room and began to people watch as Izuku had
recently noticed was a common hobby for him.

Izuku gestured down at his packet of rules as he reached into his bag to pull out his spare
notebook. “If it is alright with you guys, I want to read through the rules before I talk with
Aizawa-sensei so I know what questions I should be asking.”

Both Uraraka and Iida nodded before wandering over to Kirishima’s little forming group.
Todoroki just grabbed a nearby chair and pulled it up and pulled out his own packet and rules
to read through. Taking a quick glance around with just his eyes to check to make sure there
was no focus on the two of them, Izuku tapped his desk silently and carefully pulled his card
out and quickly slipped it into Todoroki’s folder before writing.

In a couple days if needed and allowed in the rules you are going to “accidentally” drop
“your” card and claim to be the secret Team Leader of the Villains.

He nodded in understanding and wrote on the page himself.

Do you want me to try and recruit other members?

It might not be necessary. I will decide after I talk with Aizawa-sensei.

Let him know you are going to act as my official proxy and show him the card so you
can collect the official goals page when you go back to see him

Another nod before Izuku flipped the page and began to review the rules in earnest.

The better part of an hour passed before Izuku found himself stepping into the private
meeting room with Aizawa-sensei. “You are already making plans, I see. Passing your card
off to Todoroki was a clever idea to hide yourself from the Hero team.”

Izuku gave a shaky grin. “That was allowed right?”

Aizawa-sensei nodded. “If it isn’t specifically covered in the rules, it's allowed.”

Izuku frowned. “That is kinda a lot. It isn’t exactly a long list of rules in the first place.”

His sensei nodded. “That is by design. Part of this specific test is to test to see how far you
will push the rules specifically. Nedzu has a few concerns given your family history so wants
to know where you will draw your lines in the sand over what is and isn’t okay.”

That made Izuku’s brows shoot up. “My family history?”

“According to Nedzu your great-great grandfather was the infamous Peerless Thief.”

“Oh that.” Izuku considered that and the stories his grandmother had told him growing up of
her own grandfather. “Yeah I guess that is fair. I mean, we aren’t blood related but I did hear
a lot of stories about him from my grandmother.”
Aizawa-sensei looked surprised for a beat before shaking his head. “Anyways that would be
the main reason for you being on the Villain Team as leader.”

“So how was Kirishima picked for the Hero?”

“Honestly it was purely because of Bakugou. We couldn’t pick him for rival team leader with
the rivalry and history between you two but anyone else and it seemed likely he would have
completely ignored them. We’re hoping that if he can learn to work under someone else
willingly like this, it will make him more likely to try and listen to other Pros in the future
when he does future internships and eventually becomes a Sidekick. While he mostly
behaved himself with Best Jeanist from what I understand, it was not an internship without
issues.”

Izuku nodded in understanding. “Yeah Best Jeanist is one of the few top Heroes he respects
on an equal level he does All Might.”

Aizawa-sensei’s brows shot up in surprise. “Really? I had wondered about why he had picked
to intern with him when Endeavor sent him an offer as well. That seemed like it would have
been a better match in both style and temperament.”

Izuku considered that. “That’s surprising but maybe he decided against it knowing that
Todoroki was already going with his father?” Izuku shook his head. “We’ve gotten off topic.
Who all have said that they would be willing to play Villain?”

“Right.” He picked up a folder and opened it. “Along with obviously Todoroki, you have
definites from Aoyama and Tokoyami and maybes from Koda, Shoji and Jiro so far. I’ll pass
along both Mineta’s and Yaoyorozu’s thoughts another time over the next couple days if need
be.”

Izuku leaned forward. “Did any of them say why they were currently undecided?”

A nod. “Koda was not really committed to the idea of either team and could go either way
depending on what the different teams offered. Shoji wants to make sure that the Villain team
will use his full skill set and not just his spying abilities. Jiro told me point blank that she just
is going on the opposite team of Mineta, whatever that might be, which honestly is a bit
concerning.”

Izuku frowned. “You know he was the one behind the prank on the girls back at the Sports
Festival right?”

His teacher frowned. “Yes, but unfortunately unless the girls actually file formal complaints
about his behavior, his father on the school board will continue to reject my attempts to
remove him from the course. If you could convince them to do so, that would be fantastic.”

Izuku was quick to nod. “And if you could tell Mineta that the Villain team has no desire for
him to join that would be great.”

“Any other questions given Todoroki has your goal list already?”
“A few. The rules bring up ‘civilians’ from time to time.”

“Largely those will be robots playing the role however there will be some paid actors
sprinkled in as well as a couple third-years to play the vigilantes in place of their normal end
of term exam.”

“And the two Villain teams can merge into one right?”

An amused smirk. “Correct.”

“In that case could you send a message to the other Villain team leader to contact Todoroki as
my proxy to see about coming to a mutually beneficial arrangement?”

His teacher considered that. “If you want, you might be about to meet directly with them
right now depending on where Vlad is in his own class line up. Do you want me to check?”

Izuku was quick to nod wondering who it could be. He was less familiar with the other
class’s seat numbers so it could really be anyone at the end of the other class list. His teacher
was quick to return with both Vlad-sensei and Monoma on his heels. Ah, that made sense he
supposed.

Izuku quickly hopped to his feet and offered the blonde a short bow. “Thank you for agreeing
to meet with me on such short notice, Villain Leader of 1-B.”

Monoma frowned for a hair’s breadth before breaking out his confident smirk. “I was not
expecting you but I suppose that the contrast between our minds for strategy would make a
more realistic challenge!”

“Actually I was picked because I am the only one in both classes with an actual Villain in my
family tree as far as I am aware. I am one of the heirs of the great Peerless Thief after all.”

Monoma’s smile faltered and was immediately replaced with open curiosity and a hint of
excitement. “Really? Then you know what his Quirk was? It was something subtle right? I
have always wondered! I actually modeled a bit of my Hero identity after him. The Phantom
Thief.”

“Oh he was Quirkless, just a really good magician.” That earned him confused and
disbelieving looks from everyone else in the room. Sensing an incoming argument he
continued. “My Grandmother was First generation on that side of the family. Both her mother
and grandparents were Quirkless but stage magic is a family tradition from him. I’m not the
best at it but that is what everyone in my family on my mother’s side does outside of me and
her. I am pretty sure if I texted my grandmother she could dig up a picture of herself with
him.”

Monoma fell to the floor. “My life is a lie!”

Vlad-sensei snorted. “You can freak out about this later. Midoriya wanted to talk to you about
something other than his family.”
Izuku rolled his eyes and fished out his phone to hold it out to the other boy. “It’s fine, just
give me your number and we can talk after school today. I am planning on grabbing two
other students from other courses just as a heads up. Also if anyone asks, I am acting as a
proxy and not the real 1-A Villain Leader but try not to draw too much attention to it right
away if you can.”

Monoma straightened himself out and took the phone for a second to punch in a number.
“Right, I see. I expect you will claim the same for me for now. And who might I ask is
playing pretend 1-A Villain Leader?”

“Todoroki. He agreed to be on whatever team I was on before I handed off my card to him to
let him know our team. You?”

Monoma considered that and nodded. “That is a real asset to the team. Use Tsuburaba for me.
He will back the claim. We will have to discuss our possible alliance later just know I will not
be playing second fiddle to you if we do merge teams.”

Izuku grinned and held out a hand to shake. “Equal partners.”

After a quick handshake the two of them left to return to their respective classes. However
once Izuku reached the door he paused. Both of his classmates with superior hearing were
potential teammates. “Jiro, if you are listening, Mineta is not going to be on the Villain team
and Shoji, of course, we will be playing to your other strengths. You are one of the physically
strongest guys in the class and we plan to use that. Please keep my identity a secret for now.”

He paused for a beat before opening the door and stepping through. “Mineta, it’s your turn.”

Izuku had just sat down and the door closed behind Mineta when Jiro poked Yaoyorozu with
her Earphone Jack. “We are joining the Villain team.”

That got everyone’s attention as Yaoyorozu seemed to sigh in relief. “You got confirmation
from the Villain Team Leader?”

“Yeah, they said point blank that they don’t want Mineta on their team before coming back
in.”

Ashido pouted slightly. “Ah man, we should have thought about doing that.”

Jiro offered a smile. “I mean you guys could switch sides?”

Hagakure waved her off. “Nah, it is only fair that there are girls on both teams. Sucks that we
will have to put up with him for the week but there are going to be more of us to keep an eye
on him.”

Tokoyami cleared his throat. “If you are going to be open about your alignment with the dark
it is only fair I share my own.”

Dark Shadow popped out to drape itself around his shoulders. “Yeah! This is a great chance
for me to go wild and not get in trouble!”
Izuku cleared his throat. “I mean that is not completely true. You will still have to be a little
careful. Some of the “citizens” in the simulation will be played by actors and a couple
upperclassmen from what I understand. You don’t want to accidentally hurt them too badly.”

Kirishima looked interested in his interruption. “Wait really?”

Izuku nodded and blushed lightly. “Yeah, that is one of the things I asked about when I talked
with Aizawa-sensei about the rules. I noticed that the word civilian came up a lot in the what
to dos and what not to dos with them so I asked about it. The vigilantes will all be third years
doing their own exam.”

Kirishima broke out into a grin. “Wow Midoriya, I am not sure if I would have thought to ask
about that. Thanks! Have you decided which team you will be on yet?”

Izuku shook his head. “I want to give the Villain Team a chance to pitch their side first. Give
me a couple days.”

That earned him a thumbs up. “Fair enough dude!” He turned his attention back to his
already existing teammates.

After a minute Jiro drifted over following Yaoyorozu leaving the room for her own chat with
their teacher before quietly speaking. “A chance to win you over huh?”

Izuku gave her a small grin before quietly responding. “I don’t want them knowing the
Villain Leader for our team is me. Class 1-B is doing something similar for right now until
we decide if we are combining forces or not.”

“So who all do we have so far?”

“Besides you, Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami? Aoyama and Todoroki for sure. Shoji is likely once
I can talk to him properly and Koda is a current full neutral to win over. Additionally I plan
on snagging two more students from outside the Hero course, Shinso and Hatsume from the
Sports Festival. They stood toe to toe with us and only lost because of a poor match up on
Shinso’s part and because Hatsume threw her fight.”

She nodded in understanding. “So nine members. That is more than I was expecting. Maybe
this will not be such an uphill battle as I thought.”

Izuku actually considered that. “Well there is one more person I have been considering but
that one depends on a number of outside factors. At the very least he would be able to help
me practice my presentation.”

“Oh?”

Izuku nodded. “My cousin is a stage magician or, well, his parents and our grandparents are
too but he was the one I was thinking of. Anyways I was thinking if he could infiltrate the
actors to play a ‘civilian’ he could be our wild card. Once the game starts we are free to
recruit from the actors if we can win them over, and having a ‘civilian’ face in our team
would be useful. I’m going to try and call him after school today at some point.”
She scratched her chin. “Not a bad plan but is that allowed?”

“According to Sensei, unless otherwise stated in the rules, everything is fair game. The
reason I was picked for Team Leader is because Nedzu is assessing my thinking specifically
as a Villain since my family has a known Villain in our family history. My great-great
grandfather was the Peerless Thief.”

Jiro looked surprised but gave a small understanding nod. Before they could really chat more,
Koda approached them. ~Excuse me, I am not interrupting the Villain team’s pitch am I?~

Jiro shook her head. “No, we were just chatting about his magician cousin helping me learn
some sleight of hand. You want to ask something?”

Koda gave a nervous nod before signing to them. ~I was just wondering what the Villain
Team was considering offering for me to join the team?~

Jiro shrugged. “I haven’t really had a chance to consult with the boss on that. Give us a few
days to get back to you?”

He smiled and nodded. ~I can wait that long. Do you know if you have enough team members
yet?~

She did nod at that. “Yeah we have five confirmed in the class already and a couple of
maybes including you and Midoriya here.”

He nodded in understanding. ~Okay. Thanks for telling me.~

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

As soon as Izuku finished changing out of his Hero costume following Heroics class, Izuku
made a beeline down to the class 1-C classroom after sending Monoma a text that he was
going to try and recruit some people before he could chat. It was empty of all students except
Shinso who was working on his homework. Something that Izuku had noticed about Shinso
since their fight a little over two weeks before, was that he often stayed late on campus and
didn’t leave until after the Hero Course students did for one reason or another.

The boy looked up at him in confusion as he opened the door. “Uh, can I help you?”

Izuku gave him a grin. “How would you like another chance to prove that you should be in
the Hero course?”

The boy narrowed his eyes with suspicion. “I would like it a lot but I don’t see what that has
to do with you.”

“Sorry, I just think it is criminally unfair that you keep getting denied your rightful place in
the course with such an amazingly useful Quirk for Heroics because you keep getting put in
bad matchups.”

The boy frowned slightly. “So you're just pitying me? No thanks. I’m not interested.”

Izuku was quick to wave the thought off. “No, I am just saying that you should have been in
our class from the start. I would vastly prefer you over Mineta. He is only still in our class
because his father on the school board is making it hard for Aizawa-sensei to remove him
apparently. I’m hoping that if the next time he tries, if he has clear proof that you are a better
candidate for his seat in our class we can switch you.”

That earned a quirked brow. “Damn, what that guy do to you that you want him out so
badly?”

“It wasn’t so much to me as all the girls in the class. He is sort of a walking sexual
harassment case waiting to happen and I don’t really enjoy having him seat directly behind
me in class where I have to hear him degrade our classmates under his breath all the time.”

Shinso looked a bit bewildered but gave a small puzzled nod. “Okay, so what is this plan to
get me into your class over him?”

Izuku winced slightly. “Okay you are probably not going to like this part much but let me
finish explaining first. The final exam for Heroics this term has already started. Basically we
are playing a massive game of Heroes vs. Villains the week of finals but we have the weeks
between now and then to recruit members to our teams and plan. I am the Villain Team
Leader and one of my first plans of action once the game starts is to have Mineta taken out of
the game to make it more enjoyable for all the girls. I was hoping that if it was shown that
you from Gen Ed were better than him in a one on one fight that it would be proof that you
deserve his seat more but regardless, if you were to play, it would only help prove that you
deserve to be in the course when you show you can hold your own against literally anyone
else in the Hero course besides me and maybe Tokoyami.”

“You're right. I don’t like it. Why should I join the Villains if joining the Heroes is an
option?”

Izuku sighed. “Because it is not. I am uncertain about 1-B but I know for a fact that the 1-A
Hero Team Leader will not recruit you. He won’t think of recruiting outside our class and
even if you did offer, he will likely not see the need given the Hero teams are going to
outnumber the Villains teams just by nature.”

Shinso frowned and slowly nodded. “So just to be clear, you want me on your team not
because you pity me or because my ‘Villainous’ Quirk is perfect for the scenario?”

“There is no such thing.” The response was such a knee jerk reaction that Izuku didn’t even
register that he had said it until Shinso broke into a small smile at that.

“Wow. I wouldn’t have taken that to be such an instinctual response from someone with such
a ‘Perfect Hero’ Quirk. Sore spot?”
“Er… I am sort of an outlier in my family as far as Quirks go. My Mom has been accused a
few times of trying to steal things when she sometimes grabs something with her Quirk while
out shopping if she is too short to reach it. The whole idea of Quirks being ‘Heroic’ or
‘Villainous’ is just completely ridiculous.”

Shinso was openly smiling now. “Well damn Hero Course, you really know how to win a guy
over huh? Alright, I’ll play along for now.”

Izuku grinned and pulled out his phone. “If you could add your number. I am planning on
making a Villain Team Chat for planning later tonight after I do a few more things. Now if
you could follow me, we have one more person to possibly recruit and to talk to about getting
you some support gear.”

Shinso quickly punched in his number and handed the phone back before scooping up his
homework and supplies before shoving them in his bag. They were halfway to the Support
Labs when Shinso suddenly paused. “Wait, you mentioned that you thought my Quirk would
work on all your classmates except you and that Tokoyami guy. Why?”

Izuku blinked. “Oh I guess that wouldn’t be obvious. The reason I was a bad matchup is
because I have a sentient Quirk like he does. Mine is just less obvious about it. It was how I
was able to break free.”

Shinso sighed. “Well that answers that mystery. I’ll be honest, the fact that I couldn’t for the
life of me figure out how you broke my control was bothering me.”

“Oh, yeah sorry. If it makes you feel better I didn’t even realize my Quirk was sentient until
then too. My Quirk came in pretty late so I am still trying to figure it out.”

Shinso nearly tripped. “Shit, you're a late bloomer? Great, now I feel like an asshole for some
of the things I said.”

Izuku waved him off. “It is not like you knew. Besides you were just trying to get a verbal
response from me at the time. That was all fair game.”

“So is that why you break your bones when you use your Quirk? Not enough time with a
Quirk counselor to get a full handle on that before starting here at UA?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah basically that’s it. I was able to finally work out what was going wrong
during my internship thanks to the Hero I interned with. He also helped me with my mobility
training too as an added bonus.”

They had reached the Labs now but before they could open the door for class 1-H where his
next target was, the door blew off its hinges in an explosion. “That’s it! You're done for the
day Hatsume! Out!”

“But my babies!”

“No! Out!”
 Izuku and Shinso watched as a soot-covered Power Loader shoved a begging Hatsume out of
the doorway. Izuku scratched the back of his head. “Uh, is now a bad time?”

The pair froze for a heartbeat before Hatsume was on him. “Ten Mill! What brings you here?
Do you need help making babies!”

Shinso beside him, caught completely off guard, was blushing wildly. “The fuck? TMI!”

Izuku laughed. “She means her inventions Shinso.” He turned back to the pinkette. “Yes
actually but not for me yet. I have an offer for you. How would you like to be the official
Support item creator for the class 1-A Villain Team for our Heroes vs Villains Final?”

Hatsume was practically vibrating with excitement. “An exclusivity deal?”

Izuku nodded. “I would like you to be an official team member actually. That way if I find
myself in need of something during the exam that I didn’t think of before starting I have you
and your skills.”

“Sold! What’s the plan Boss!”

Well that was easy, not that he had really expected any issues with her. Izuku gestured over at
Shinso. “This is Shinso. Your first order of business will be helping him get some support
items since he has none. Before I leave you two to it, can I have your number so I can loop
you in with the rest of the team?”

She made grabby hands for Izuku’s phone before punching in her number and grabbing
Shinso to pull him back into the Lab. Izuku found himself being stared at by Power Loader
with a resigned look about him. “Of all my students, I understand why you would pick her
but did you really have to?”

Izuku offered the teacher an apologetic grin. “Sorry but not only is her tech good but she has
a bit of combat experience which would be good to have in an emergency unlike any of the
others.”

He just sighed and shook his head. “I best get back to keeping an eye on her before she blows
up your other outside recruit. Best of luck with your preparations.”

With that, Izuku was alone again. Now to head home and make a few calls.

Chapter End Notes

I put all that effort into making that stupid family tree that of course I plan on getting as
much mileage out of it as possible (see chapter 15 of Task Failed Successfully for it for
now). In case it isn’t obvious, this is set in a AU of one of my AUs so here are a few
random things canon to this fic that aren’t relevant yet but may eventually be from that
fic.
Izuku writes fanfiction in the regular (On a site called Our Hero Archived Anthologies
or OHA2 which is the equivalent of this site)
Izuku, Tomura, Natsuo, Mina, and Hitoshi as well as likely a few others I have yet to
decide all have accounts on the equivalent of Tumblr in the AU (Rollr)
All for One was kinda a slut when he was a bit younger and had a few bastards running
around that he is yet to become aware of (the most important one being Fourth since that
is how both Izuku, Tomura and a few others are his blood great-great grandchildren)
Izuku has a Quirk factor but it is damaged. As a result he has all the negatives of having
his version of All for One and basically none of the benefits (The Quirk Hunger is real)
Izuku is still under the mistaken belief he is perfectly straight when he is very much not
given he is a polyamorus bi-disaster as should be obvious from the ship tag for him.
 Cards Are Drawn
Chapter Summary

The Teams finalize themselves early due to peer pressure

Chapter Notes

Originally posted August 12, 2022

See the end of the chapter for more notes

“Hey, are you busy for the next couple weeks?”

Atsuhiro hummed in consideration thinking about his recent conversation with Giran. “Not
that I am aware of. I am in the middle of negotiating a new contract for future work but it is
unlikely that I will be starting a new job in that time frame.”

“I was hoping you would be willing to help me with my plans for my final exam for the term.
We are doing a UA style game of Heroes vs Villains and I am the Villain team leader. I was
hoping that at the bare minimum you would be able to help me teach my team members some
sleight of hand for the exercise? I would have considered asking your parents or our
grandparents but they are still doing their show in Hokkaido and it seemed like a long trip for
them to make.”

Atsuhiro almost laughed at the irony that his little Hero cousin that he had not seen in person
since he was a toddler was calling him for help acting Villainous right before he took his own
first real steps into Villainy. “I would be more than happy to help! Would you be so kind as to
put Auntie on the phone?”

There was a sound of the phone changing hands. “Was there something you need Atsuhiro?”

“I was just wondering if you had space at your place for me to stay while I was in town
helping Izuku teach his friends or if I should look for a cheap short term rental.”

“We don’t have a spare room but we can most certainly set you up on the spare futon in either
my own or Izuku’s rooms.”

“That would work just fine. Would you be opposed to me coming over tomorrow?”

“No tomorrow works for us if you can do it that soon.”

“I am between jobs right now so it is no trouble. I am honored that it falls to me to teach
Izuku both sides of our family business even if it is just for a game.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

After a few more shared pleasantries on his mother’s and cousin's parts, Izuku was returned
his phone. Retreating to the privacy of his bedroom he dialed one of his newest numbers.
“Monoma is now a good time?”

A dramatic sigh from the other end of the line. “If we must.”

Izuku rolled his eyes. “I spoke with my cousin about getting lessons in sleight of hand for my
Team. Did you want to join at least for those even if we don’t end up allying in the game?”

“Yes! I mean- I am already skilled in the art thanks to my own personal training but I would
be a fool to pass on the chance to learn some of the Peerless Thief’s tricks from your family.”

Izuku had to muffle his snort at the other boy’s enthusiasm. “If I had known you were as
much of a fan of my great-great grandfather as I am of All Might, I would have told you
sooner you know, class rivalry aside.”

There was a noise of embarrassment from the other end of the line. “No one will ever believe
you!”

Izuku laughed. “Hey I wasn’t going to say anything about it, I just thought it was an
interesting new side to see of you that wasn’t just you hyping your own class up over mine.”

A scoff. “Well I can’t help it if 1-B is clearly superior to 1-A. We are getting off topic though,
I believe you wanted to talk about possibly working together?”

“Yeah I was thinking there would be safety in numbers if nothing else. Individually our teams
don’t stand as much of a chance but combined we might outnumber the Hero teams if we
take them on one at a time.”

A hum in thought. “That is an excellent thought I will admit. How goes your recruitment? I
have met the minimum requirement already but I am trying to see if I can get a few extras.”

“I have five others besides myself confirmed on the Villain team from my class and two more
possibilities. Additionally I was able to talk around both Shinso from 1-C and Hatsume from
Support to our side.”

“So a possible maximum number of 18?”

“19 counting Dark Shadow separately from Tokoyami and 20 if my cousin can enter the
exam as an actor.”
“Wait, that would be allowed?”

“If it is not otherwise stated in the rules, it’s fair game. Still that is less of a guarantee since
there are multiple factors beyond our control there. Still we can count him as an honorary
member since he would be helping with the preparations.”

“You know with that many members, we are just two shy of a possible full set of Major
Arcana.”

Izuku considered that. “Actually with how I was thinking it would be smart to play things, we
have a full set. I was thinking that we keep our identities hidden for as long as possible so we
would each have two Villain identities. One as the shadow Villain group leader and one as a
recruit each.”

A pause. “Well now we have to do it for our Villain group theme. We might have to stretch to
make some of the Arcana match up with some of the members though.”

“I mean that’s fine. It would only help in creating confusion for the Hero teams. I think it
would make the most sense if one of us as Leader was Death and my cousin was The
Magician but everyone else would be up in the air.”

A hum in thought. “The other Leader should be the Tower I think if you recruited Tokoyami.
He is a good fit for both the Lovers and The Devil between him and his Quirk.”

“Chaos and Death. Yeah that makes sense for the Leaders and you're right about
Tokoyami…”

They spent the next several minutes bouncing card assignments back and forth between them
and discussing a few ideas of how to guarantee the last couple members before moving onto
more plans they had in the works. About an hour later when Izuku had to hang up to go eat
dinner, the two of them had developed a bit of a more natural rapport with one another, a
shared love of magic tricks and cards now known between them.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

The Hands of Fate

Midoriya Izuku added Monoma Neito

Midoriya Izuku has granted Monoma Neito Admin privileges

Monoma Neito added Awase Yosetsu, Kaibara Sen, Shiozaki Ibara and Tsuburaba
Kosei
 Momoma Nieto changed their name to Wheel of Fortunate Death

Midoriya Izuku added Aoyama Yuga, Jiro Kyoka, Hatsume Mei and 4 others

Wheel of Fortunate Death changed Awase Yosetsu to The Emperor

Midoriya Izuku changed their name to Strengthen The Tower

Wheel of Fortunate Death changed Kaibara Sen to The Sun

Strengthen The Tower changed Aoyama Yuga to The Hanged Man

Wheel of Fortunate Death changed Shiozaki Ibara to The Hierophant

Strengthen The Tower changed Jiro Kyoka to The World

Wheel of Fortunate Death changed Tsuburaba Kosei to Justice

Strengthen The Tower changed Sako Atsuhiro to The Magician

Wheel of Fortunate Death changed Hatsume Mei to The Fool

Strengthen The Tower changed Todoroki Shoto to Temperance

Wheel of Fortunate Death changed Shinso Hitoshi to Judgment

Strengthen The Tower changed Yaoyorozu Momo to The High Priestess

Wheel of Fortunate Death changed Tokoyami Fumikage to The Devil Lovers

Strengthen The Tower: Welcome everyone to our combined team!

Wheel of Fortunate Death: The future WINNING team

Midoriya and I have hashed out an agreement and picked a theme for the group of the
Major Arcana from a Tarot deck since if our last possible recruitments work out we
would have a full deck with the two of us holding two identities

Strengthen The Tower: We plan on playing the true identity of the team leaders close
to our chest so if you could refer to each of us as Death and The Tower when speaking
about your respective leaders we would appreciate it

( •ᴗ•)♡ ✧*。

Judgment: yeah i am not reading through all that mess to figure out my name

oh sweet

The World: Who is Sako Atsuhiro? The name doesn’t ring any bells.

Judgment: i will be here silently judging you hero course guys then
The Magician: I would be surprised if you did.

Hello UA students, I am Izuku’s older cousin who will be helping teach you the basics
of magic tricks for you to use in the exam!

Strengthen The Tower: Atsuhiro is actually a Magician by trade like a number of

members of my family

The Fool: Should I be mad about my card?

I feel like maybe I should be reconsidering my offer to make you all a bunch of babies

Wheel of Fortunate Death: The Fool represents Spontaneity and a Free Spirit upright
and Risk-taking in the reverse

The Fool: Oh never mind then

Carry on

The Hierophant: I assume you most have selected all of our names with the meaning of
the cards in mind then?

I would have assumed that I would have been the High Priestess otherwise

Strengthen The Tower: Yep!

It took a bit to work everything out so that even the unconfirmed fit with their cards but
we are pretty sure we matched everyone fairly well

Tarot Card Meanings

/\ so you can read up on your card

The Devil Lovers: I have to ask about my name.

Why do I seem to have two cards as well?

Strengthen The Tower: One is yours and the other is Dark Shadow

You can pick which is which, they fit the pair of you either way

The Devil Lovers: I see

Dark Shadow appreciates the inclusion

Temperance: I assume that since we will be referring to our Leaders as Death and The
Tower that I no longer will be needed to pretend to be the Team Leader?

Strengthen The Tower: No you're good!

You can return my card later when you pass me my hard copy of our goal sheet
 Thanks for the picture of it by the way, that was helpful while Monoma and I were
figuring things out

Yuga lowered his phone as the messages continued to roll in. He was wondering what on
Earth had compelled him to tell his Sensei he was playing for the Villain Team. It had been a
stupid idea. There was no reason for his teacher to understand his impulsive cry for help and
all it was going to do was make his position as the UA spy for All for One more precarious.
But what was done was done.

Curious as to what the card chosen for himself meant he clicked the link and read.

The Hanged Man

Upright: Pause, Surrender, Letting Go, New Perspectives

Reversed: Delays, Resistance, Stalling, Indecision

“The Hanged Man shows a man suspended from a T-shaped cross made of living wood.
He is hanging upside-down, viewing the world from a completely different perspective,
and his facial expression is calm and serene, suggesting that he is in this hanging
position by his own choice. He has a halo around his head, symbolizing new insight,
awareness and enlightenment. His right foot is bound to the tree, but his left foot
remains free, bent at the knee and tucked in behind his right leg. His arms are bent, with
hands held behind his back, forming an inverted triangle. The man is wearing red pants
representing human passion and the physical body, and a blue vest for knowledge. The
Hanged Man is the card of ultimate surrender, of being suspended in time and of
martyrdom and sacrifice to the greater good.”

Yuga stared at the description for a few moments before sending Midoriya a private message.

I just read the description for my card and I have no idea what to make of the fact you
chose it for me.

Midoriya:

Ah sorry I guess that doesn’t make sense without context

I was hoping you would play spy for us with the Hero Team since you have given no
outward indication that you are on our team

Sorry I was planning on checking with Aizawa-sensei what the rules were for someone
intentionally signing up for both teams and making sure it was okay

Theoretically I think it would mean you would function like one of the “Traitors” in the
example Aizawa-sensei gave in his explanation of what would happen if there were not
enough Villains but I need to confirm it

Yuga stared at his phone for a second before turning and burying his face in his pillow with a
scream. That done, he decided to deal with whatever this Karma was.
 At the very least I can pretend to sign up for the other team.

I suspect that since I formally declared my allegiance with the Villains that my declaring
myself on the other team aloud for their benefit won’t change my alliance.

Midoriya:

Sorry if it feels like I am pushing you to do this!

You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to!

It is fine mon ami!

Just the sort of cloak and dagger drama I had been hoping for actually.

So what is the plan you were hoping for with me?

Midoriya:

One of the goals for the Villains is to fake a death of a team member convincingly

I was thinking that we could “capture” and “torture” you on camera while livestreaming
the Hero team before “excuting” you

After that you would fully be acting on our side until it is suitably dramatic to reveal you
as our Hanged Man

Yuga blinked.

That seems a bit extreme.

I am not complaining, I merely was not expecting it from you.

I know you are not all sunshine and rainbows like our class on the whole seems to think
but still.

Midoriya:

☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*(´∀｀)*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆

This is exactly why I was happy that things worked out so you could play spy

I’ve seen how much you people watch so I know I could trust you to pay attention to our
classmates

Clearly he had not given Midoriya’s observation abilities enough credit.

I see.

Well I will endeavor to not let you down.

 ---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

The next day began with Izuku meeting Todoroki at the front gates before slipping away out
of sight so the other boy could pass him his Villain card and goals list which he was quick to
slip into the depths of his bag for the day before heading their separate ways, Todoroki to
their class and Izuku to the teacher’s lounge to ask his new question.

Snipe-sensei looked up as he knocked on the door. “You looking for Aizawa? He won’t be
here for another half hour or so.”

Izuku fidgeted with his bag straps. “Uh, I am not looking for him specifically, I just had a
question regarding the final.”

He put down his paperwork he had been working on and gestured to one of the other chairs in
the office. “Well I can help you out with that. While the Hero vs Villains assignment isn’t run
for finals in the first term for first years like you guys very often, it is standard practice for
my Third Years. Shoot.”

Izuku’s brows shot up at that. “Oh, I didn’t know that. Does that mean my year will run it
twice?”

“Yep that is the standard procedure though you wouldn’t have the same team leaders next go
round and be encouraged to mix up your teams more.”

Izuku nodded. “That makes sense.” He shook his head. “Anyways I was wondering what
would happen if a student signed up for both teams.”

“Ah but they wouldn’t actually be signing up for both now would they? They would be
assessed as a Villain. You planning on running the team hidden on the other side?”

“No, that would be too much of a communications hassle. I just wanted to make sure that my
plan to have one of my members play spy would work.”

“Yep. I can confirm it has been done in previous years successfully though the mileage they
got in each case varied based on the quality of the spy.”

Izuku grinned and gave his teacher a short bow. “Thanks Snipe-sensei. That was everything
for now.”

“Have fun messing with the other team kid.”

Izuku left, pulling out his phone to quickly send Aoyama a message confirming that their
thoughts had been correct and to move ahead with his plan as spy. Izuku was greeted by the
sight of the morning class mostly split into two groups.
Kirishima gave him a wave. “Hey, Midoriya! Villain team leader get in contact with you yet
to give you their pitch yet?”

Izuku nodded as he strolled over to where Jiro, Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu were sitting. “I
have accepted the Tower’s offer.”

Confusion danced over the various Hero team members as well as a few flickers of
disappointment as it dawned on them that they had lost not only Izuku but Todoroki as well
as the bi-colored boy moved his seat over to sit with the small Villain group. “The Tower?”

Jiro turned to look back at the confused Hero Team Leader. “Our Leader’s Villain name.
They want to stay anonymous for now so asked that we only refer to them by that name until
they reveal themself.”

Uraraka huffed. “What did the Villain team offer you, Deku? I was looking forward to
working together on this.”

Izuku pulled out the deck of cards he had brought with him and made a show of flicking the
card he had palmed up his sleeve earlier into his fingers. “A chance to use some of my lesser
known skill sets.”

Kacchan snorted. “Those stupid magic tricks you can do aren’t going to help you on the
losing Team Deku.”

Izuku gave him a grin. “True except for the losing team part Kacchan. The Tower was
looking for someone with showmanship skills to help teach them some tricks for their own
persona and, well, my family has that in spades.” He flicked his hand again to switch the 2 of
hearts in his fingers with the Ace of Spades.

That earned him a couple of cheers at the trick. Kaminari was in his face in a heartbeat.
“Dude, that was so cool! Why didn’t you tell all of us you knew magic tricks?”

Izuku’s smile broadened. “It never came up. My mother and I are the only ones in my family
who aren’t magicians actually.”

Ashido turned to Kacchan eyes burning with curiosity. “Is that true?”

Kacchan huffed but nodded. “Yeah, the whole lot of them are apparently a bunch of magic
weirdos living up in Hokkaido. I’ve never met them but Deku used to show back up after
visiting them doing all sort of stupid magic shit. It was annoying as hell before he stopped
bringing that shit with him to school. The idiot has hit me in the back of the head with cards a
stupid number of times practicing though I for the life of me have no idea why. It is not like
he plans on doing anything with it as a Hero.”

Izuku shrugged. “It is just a hobby, Kacchan. You know it wouldn’t hurt for you to pick a few
up.”

From his seat in the front of the class Aoyama gave an over dramatic shrug. “As interesting
as that all is, I feel I should point out that card tricks would be no match for the Hero team’s
fabulous sparkle.”

Kirishima brightened. “Oh, you want to join the team too?”

Aoyama gave a shrug. “But of course! Where else will I be able to truly shine?”

The other boy looked around the room. “That just leaves Koda and Shoji undeclared right?”

Shoji shook his head. “No, just Koda. I was just waiting on confirmation of something from
the Villain team.”

Ojiro gave him a puzzled look. “You don’t have to join the Villains if you don’t want to.
They have the required five they need already.”

Shoji nodded. “That is true but I think I will enjoy the challenge that comes from being on
the smaller team.”

Kirishima shrugged. “Up to you man.” He turned his attention to Koda. “Do you want me to
put you down for my team?”

Koda hesitated before shaking his head. ~I want to hear what both sides have to offer for me
first. I already heard from the Villains but what would I get if I joined your team?~

Izuku internally grinned as he realized that his messages he had sent to both boys the
previous night had been well received.

Kirishima’s grin faltered as it took him a few seconds to work out what the other boy had
signed. “Uh, you would get to be a Hero like we are all training to do?”

Koda nervously flushed. ~And that’s it?~

“I mean yeah? What were you looking for?”

Todoroki gave the Hero Team Leader a considered look. “You realize most of the best signers
for our class are already on the Villain team? If nothing else, he can communicate more easily
with our team.”

Several of the Hero team winced as they realized the truth of that statement. Sato gave the
other quiet boy an apologetic grin. “Sorry, it is not like I am not trying to get better, it is just
you sign a bit fast for me to keep up at times.”

~It is all good. It is just nice to have confirmation that I won’t have to verbally speak if I
don’t want to.~ He turned to the Villains. ~I guess I am accepting the Tower’s offer.~

Grinning, Izuku pulled out his phone and added the two to the chat (Koda as The Hermit and
Shoji as The Chariot).

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---
Izuku felt a bit nervous after school as he led not only his own team of recruits but 1-B team
as well home to his little apartment. It was going to be a tight squeeze. He had warned both
his mother and cousin how many people were coming but it wasn’t until they were all exiting
the train happily chatting with one another that it hit him just how many people were coming
home with him. He had never invited friends over to his place before outside of Kacchan and
now he was bringing home 18. Okay so he might not really be friends with everyone
personally yet but they would be spending a week living and committing fake crimes together
so it was honestly just a matter of time really.

He had already won over the hardest one in Monoma by chance and he was already on at
least good terms with all of his classmates as well as the two outside Hero course recruits so
that only left 7 that he didn’t really know all that well yet. Honestly Monoma was worse off
since he had to deal with the fact he had been openly antagonistic towards all of 1-A for
weeks and he seemed to be settling into casual conversation with at least a couple members
of the group.

Finally he was at his front door and kicking off his shoes. However before too many of the
others had made it through the door themselves, Izuku found himself greeted with the sight of
his cousin in less then casual dress stacking playing card boxes from his spot seated on the
living room floor. It wasn’t until that moment that he mentally registered the fact that his
cousin seemed to actually be pretty close in age as some of their teachers. That wasn’t to say
he was old at 31 but that it had never really hit him how young their teachers generally were.
The statistics of how young Heroes generally retired suddenly hit him if they even lived that
long.

“Oh dear, Izuku are you alright?”

Izuku shook his head to clear it of that depressing train of thought. “Sorry I just had a bit of a
realization that you might actually be older than my homeroom teacher and the fact that I
might have to switch career paths by the time I reach your age sort of hit me like a truck.”

Atsuhiro frowned. “Ah. I am not sure if I should be insulted that you are calling me an old
man or concerned that you hadn’t considered that fact sooner given that you managed to
permanently disfigure your hand before you had even been in UA for more than a month.”

As his teammates poured into the room, several of them seemed to mutter between
themselves. Shinso however just squinted slightly at Atsuhiro with a tilt of his head. “No, he
does have a point. Both Aizawa-sensei and Mic-sensei are only thirty and Midnight is only
31 based on the footage I watched from old sports festivals.”

Atsuhiro’s eyes widened. “Oh dear I suppose I am actually older than some of them then.”

Kaibara from 1-B raised his hand. “Okay I am just going to ask, anyone else find it weird
how much older he is than Midoriya? I was expecting him to only be like a couple years
older than us since he is Midoriya’s cousin.”
 Izuku snorted. “There is only a year more of an age difference than there is between Iida and
his older brother. It is not that weird, especially when you consider that my Uncle is 10 years
my Mom’s senior.”

Atsuhiro waved him off. “It’s fine. I know it must be a bit weird hanging out in a semi casual
setting with someone basically twice your age. Besides, I am here to teach you sleight of
hand anyways.”

Izuku flashed his cousin a grin. “Oh should we all start calling you Sensei then?”

That earned a laugh from the kitchen from where his mother had been watching the
conversation from afar as his cousin made a face at the idea. Atsuhiro waved off the idea and
started picking up decks of cards and tossing them around at the others. “Just Sako is fine
from your friends here, Izuku.”

Jiro smirked as she opened her box of cards. “Maybe we should call you Magician so we can
all get in the habit of using each other’s Villain names.”

Izuku lit up. “Oh that is a good point. We should be doing that.”

So with that in mind, the lesson that followed was filled with not only fumbling of cards but
names as well as people practiced putting Villain names with faces.

Chapter End Notes

I finished the chapter after all! I wasn't sure if this would be going up a soon as I hoped
after the first one since I only had it half written. But here is basically the second half of
chapter one (as I like starting fics). Basically the whole team is listed out in the chat
section but I will list the team in Arcana Order at the end of each chapter from this point
forward as a helpful cheat sheet. The description of the Hanged Man was provided by
the site linked in the main story.

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Recruit Midoriya Izuku
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 Placing The Cards
Chapter Summary

Setting up for the final exam

Chapter Notes

Originally posted November 5, 2022

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Atsuhiro sat nervously in the offices of the Help Us Company as one of the acting managers
looked over his resume. “So, Sako, could you explain why you have expressed interest in
working with us for a one off exercise for UA? And how you even knew about it in the first
place?”

“Ah. That is simple. My cousin is going to be one of the students participating in the exam
and given that the Villain Team that he is a member of are allowed to recruit from the
actors…”

The man nodded. “So you are applying as a faux villain actor specifically. Lucky for you one
of the third years a couple years back from UA wanted to pull something similar as your
cousin so I know all the protocalls for doing this. You are going to have to submit a fake
police dossier to Nedzu directly before we can sign off on you and pass his background check
and temporary Quirk licensing for the exercise but from what I say of your audition tapes and
your skills from your background in magic for sleight of hand I think we can pencil you in as
one of the low level criminal actors.”

Atsuhiro grinned. “Easily done. It will be fun working with you.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

As the time passed and the exam drew closer, the divide in the class continued to grow. This
right here was the reason Shouta had always been so against the class doing this exam.
Against doing the exam in any year really. His own class in his third year went nuclear when
they had done it and he and Hizashi burned a lot of bridges as the “Villains” of their year and
if the same thing happened with Midoriya and his team then the next couple years would be
hell for the kids.

But on the other hand working toward this exam had made his son the happiest he had been
in a while. Hitoshi was not exactly all that great about making friends, sharing far too much
in common with Shouta himself. Honestly, the older he grew, the more Shouta found himself
agreeing with his husband’s assessment that the kid could have easily actually passed as his
biological son if it wasn’t for that fact that Shouta was a couple years too young and had only
ever dated Hizashi.

Honestly, with how murky their family histories were as foundling orphans, it was entirely
possible that they actually were related. Not that it mattered either way for them. After all, if
it had, they would have taken up Nedzu’s offer to run a comparison test back when he and
Hizashi had first taken the kid in.

As it stood though, Hizashi was sending Shouta looks of amusement as Hitoshi happily
rambled about how the Villain Team meet up that afternoon had gone. Shouta rolled his eyes
at his husband before reaching out to ruffle their son’s hair. “I’m glad that you are making
friends.”

Hitoshi huffed and carded his fingers through his hair to reverse what Shouta had just done.
“So you might have been right that not all your students are that bad. I still don’t have to like
the ones on the Hero team though. From some of the stuff Midoriya has said about Bakugou,
I am still pretty sure my first impression of him was correct.”

Shouta frowned. “Oh? And what was that?”

Hitoshi shrugged. “That the guy has a massive ego that needs to get taken down a peg and is
a major hothead. At least in his defense for the second one, Midoriya says that his temper is a
genetic thing. Apparently Midoriya’s aunt who is Bakugou’s mother has just as short of a
temper.”

Ah. Shouta had known that Midoriya and Bakugou had a history but he didn’t realize it likely
dated back quite that far. He mentally recategorized the pair of them from just school rivals to
family members. “So the two of them are cousins?”

Hitoshi made a so-so gesture. “Midoriya says that they aren’t actually related but his mother
and Bakugou’s have been best friends since they were around our age. She is his aunt the
same way Nem is mine.”

Hizashi nodded. “You learn anything else super neat about your new friends?”

Hitoshi seemed to have to think for a bit on that. “Todoroki is apparently a bit of a conspiracy
theorist. He thinks that since Midoriya’s father is not in the picture that All Might is secretly
his biological father. He’s not, Midoriya’s father is just a cheating asshole so Midoriya’s
mother didn’t want him in Midoriya’s life which is fair.”

Both Shouta and Hizashi winced at that and exchanged looks before Shouta gave their son a
questioning look. “Should that be something to worry about for Midoriya?”
Hitoshi shook his head. “No I don’t think so. While Ms. Midoriya was pretty closed lipped
about his father when the topic came up, she did mention that the guy was a Pro Hero who is
just as much of a womanizer as Captain Celebrity used to be.”

Hizashi immediately relaxed and snorted. “I hate that is still vague enough that I can’t sus out
who it is. Thanks to Nem, I know for a fact that we have like 3 more aromatic heroes besides
her and one poly one in just this city.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Izuku spun slightly on the raised platform that they had set up in Yaoyorozu’s place. They
had started relocating their after school meet ups to her mansion after that first one because of
how cramped it had been in his own apartment. Today was one of their final preparation days
left so they had to get their costuming figured out before it was too late. Izuku was wearing a
green vest over a black button down top and black pants with some reinforced red shoes
made to mimic his normal ones with a long green coat thrown over top. “I don’t know.
Something still feels like it is missing.”

As several of the others around the room threw out suggestions, Atsuhiro gained a thoughtful
look. He pulled out one of his marbles and snapped to release its contents before handing
over a pair of gloves, a black balaclava, a large top hat, and a black and white mask. “Here,
try these.”

Izuku looked at them questioningly, before taking them and beginning to pull them on. “You
just happened to have these on you?”

Atsuhiro shrugged. “I was planning on using them for my own Villain costume, pairing them
with my normal magician outfit.” He gestured to himself as if to make his point. “If they
work for you, we can just recreate them in a more suitable color palette for you.”

Monoma made a noise of appreciation once he finished getting it all on. “You know, that goes
a long way to making you hard to identify as you. Maybe the majority of us should dress up
similarly? That way if we need you to be seen acting as the Tower or myself as Death before
our reveal, we could maybe switch the mask for a different one and exchange and remove the
colorful identifying clothing.”

Tokoyami huffed. “That is all well and good for most of you but what about those of us with
mutations? It is not like those masks would do anything to disguise Shoji, Koda, Shirozaki, or
myself. Plus there is the issue that one would not even fit over my face.”

Jiro lifted her earjacks up. “Add me to that count as well. I can’t wear anything that covers
my ears like that without interfering with my Quirk anymore then Shirozaki can with her
vines.”
Izuku winced behind the mask before tugging it off. “That is true but that was going to be an
issue regardless. We can still get you guys masks even if we aren’t hiding your identities like
with the rest of us for the sake of group unification, though obviously yours will have to be a
custom shaped one, Tokoyami.” He turned back to his cousin. “Do you have more masks like
this or are we making more of them from scratch?”

Atsuhiro fished out another marble and snapped his fingers again. “Just these six but one is
technically just my template for if I wanted to make more so it's blank.

Shirozaki lifted the plain white mask from his hands and turned it over. “So we need 13 more
of these with different designs and one more for Tokoyami? If I draw up a few patterns,
Yaoyorozu, would you be able to create them? It seems I have found my true purpose for
siding with the dark forces for this one endeavor.”

Jiro gave her a puzzled look. “No offense Shirozaki but why did you choose to side with us? I
get why most of us did, either because we are friends with our class leaders or like the
aesthetic or whatever but isn’t this like the complete opposite of the sort of thing you would
like?”

She nodded. “True however I could not help but I could not help but see myself holding a
candle to hold back the darkness of our team’s hearts.”

Monoma rolled his eyes. “I asked her to join to make sure we don’t get too carried away in
the role of Villains as soon as I saw the goals sheet for the Villains. A fact I am extra glad I
did given some of the shit Midoriya has been coming up with strategy wise. I am pretty sure
like half of the stuff I have had to veto us doing would be considered psychological torture
for our classmates.”

That earned Izuku a mix of surprised and exasperated looks from the others. His cousin
however was an exception in that he just snorted. “You do have to keep in mind that his
mother is one of the most ruthless attorneys in the heroics industry. Ripping apart how other
people think is her bread and butter. I am frankly not surprised that Izuku has picked up on
some of that over time.”

Izuku huffed and walked over and shoved the man lightly. “I am not that bad.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Eijiro was a bit worried about how the test was going to go. It wasn’t that he didn’t think that
his team wouldn’t do awesome as Heroes and all that but he couldn’t shake the gut feeling
that something was going to go wrong.

Unlike with the Villain team, the Hero team did not have a whole lot of prep work to do in
the lead up to the test. Most of it was learning the paperwork that they would be expected to
fill out over the course of the test as Heroes that they would one day be doing working as the
real Heroes. After action reports, how to compile a Villain dossier on a new Villain found and
how to update an old one in the database, and financial and insurance reports to make sure
that everyone was “paid” correctly after a major fight.

He was slightly jealous of the Villain teams. While they had to do a lot of prep work before
the test started, during the test they would not have to deal with a single sheet of paperwork.
At least some of the pressure of doing the paperwork had been relieved of him by Iida and
Bakugou who had ended up as his second in commands. Between the two of their detail
oriented selves, he at least would not have to worry about forgetting something important.

But the test would not start until tomorrow afternoon. Today, he still had to get through the
written exam and ensure that he was all packed up for the possibly week-long stay in the
Hero Team headquarters. Tomorrow morning, the Villain teams would get a head start into
the city to set up their bases while both Hero teams would get their “formal police”
debriefing about the new Villain groups and the “Vigilantes” that they might run into.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Tamaki couldn’t help but feel a spike of anxiety when he and Nejiri were told to head to
Nedzu’s office at the end of the day. While they were joined quickly enough by Mirio, that
feeling deep in his gut of worry did not exactly fade.

He flinched as the door to the office slid open without prompting at their arrival to reveal
Nedzu sitting comfortably at his desk with his paws clasped in front of him. “Good
afternoon! I am so glad you could join me. Care for some tea?”

Tamaki was quick to shake his head in denial. “I’m fine! No need to trouble yourself!”

Mirio patted him reassuringly on the shoulder as he confidently met their principal’s gaze.
“Why don’t you tell us why you wanted to talk with us first?”

Nedzu smiled. “Ah, that is simple, I was hoping you would all three be open to taking an
alternative final practical this semester. I find myself in need of a couple fake Vigilantes for
the first year Hero course students Heroes vs Villains practical. They are going to be taking
the final exam that you will be having next semester so consider this a bit of a free preview of
what is to come for that. If you agree, you will have to take your written exam either this
afternoon or early tomorrow morning so you can enter the faux city for the entirety of the
exam, unless one of the Villains removes you from the game. I would be setting the three of
you up with an apartment in the city to operate out of for the week. However, you will not be
provided with your Hero costumes for the sake of realism so you will need to pack clothes
accordingly. UA will be happy to reimburse you for any damaged clothing as a result after
the test.”

Nejire was nodding along excitedly. “Oh that sounds like so much fun but doesn’t it seem a
little mean to put a bunch of first years up against us?”
 Nedzu hummed. “If it was any other group, I would agree but Aizawa’s 1-A this year is a bit
different then most first year classes. That being said, I would appreciate it if you would
refrain from taking down Midoriya Izuku as a Villain yourselves unless one of the Hero
Teams officially recruits you into their agency. He is being graded under different criteria
from the rest of the Villain students since he would be considered an ‘At Risk’ Hero student
by the Commission.”

Mirio gave him a puzzled look. “At Risk? At risk for what? Villainy?”

Nedzu nodded. “All Heroes and Hero students that are discovered to have Villains in their
family background are flagged for monitoring by the HPSC. Midoriya just happens to have
the misfortune of a connection to the Peerless Thief thanks to his mother’s informally
adoptive family. Since his mother was only fostered and not adopted formally, he wasn’t
immediately flagged and he still technically isn’t but if the Commision does realize their
mistake in writing off the connection, it could hurt him later on. I am hopeful that his results
in this test while on the Villian team should clear him of any need of close monitoring by
them later on. Personally, I have never liked their system for handling such things since it has
ruined many a hero hopefuls career before they have a chance to prove themselves. After all,
it seems excessive to judge a person based on what a great-great grandfather did when all
living members of the family are perfectly upstanding citizens.”

Nejire winced at that. “Poor kid. He would get kicked from Heroics for just that?”

Nedzu gave another solemn nod. “Like I said, I have no fondness for how they like to do
things.”

Chapter End Notes

It's been a bit since I worked on this one huh? I wanted to finish my graphic of all the
masks that the Villain team are going to be wearing since some of the designs I had in
my head for them were hard to explain in text, even the ones that have designs I ripped
from canon. Tokoyami's mask is spilt half and half to represent both himself and Dark
Shadow. This chapter is shorter since I didn't want for the exam to start until next
chapter so that is just where the chapter ends since it is where the preparation did.

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Recruit Midoriya Izuku
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 The Fool - Upright
Chapter Summary

“Beginnings, innocence, spontaneity, a free spirit”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted November 12, 2022

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Atsuhiro grinned happily to himself as he waved the special ID card that Nedzu had issued
him as an “actor” for the event. As nerve racking as meeting with him had gone, what with
the Chimera making it perfectly clear that he knew some of the less than legal shit he had
gotten up to over the years, Atsuhiro had been cheerfully cleared to join the exercise.

“Having an actual Villain on the Villain team will most certainly make for an exciting
learning experience for the students.”

Nedzu leaned forward, paws threaded together in front of him, his grin turned predatory.
The air suddenly felt heavy.

“Just remember that this is still just a game. If one of my students is harmed because of
you, know that there will be no place you can hide from me Mr. Compress.”

Then he leaned back and the pressure was gone. A smile. “I look forward to seeing how
you perform.”

Atsuhiro shivered slightly at the memory as he slipped into the testing site alongside the other
actors. He took stock of the city around him as it began to come to life. He needed to figure
out where his apartment for the test would be so he could lead the Villain Team back to it so
young Hatsume would be able to set up her work station, his own request for a place to stay
for the week with a safe work space for her being granted with the understanding that the
reinforced and sound proofed room would be completely covered with cameras and have a
direct line to the teachers on staff so Power Loader could monitor things appropriately. And
that as the adult he would be the only one that could open the electronic locks on the door to
the room.

A fact that had made Atsuhiro shiver from the way Izuku had positively lit up to that
revelation.
Atsuhiro had a sneaking suspicion that would probably not be a good thing for the other
team.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Yuga yawned slightly as the Hero Teams of 1-A and 1-B settled in around the table feeling
slightly jealous of his Villain teammates and the Hero ones around him. This was worse than
being an actual spy. As a real spy, he wasn’t normally forced to do twice the work of
everyone else. If it wasn’t for Midoriya doing all the assigned paperwork for him on the
Villain side of things to make up for having to work basically overtime to play spy for him,
Yuga would have just outed himself as a Villain team member by the end of the first few days
of preparation.

He noted slightly bored that both Hero team leaders (the other being Kendo, their class rep)
were chatting about who all was missing from the other class rosters as if they were not just
about to be basically handed a list that told them exactly that in a few minutes.

He was admittedly a bit excited to see their reactions when they realized that both Villain
teams had combined and that there were more Villains then the head count implied.

Principal Nedzu finally entered the room, followed by Aizawa-sensei and Vlad-sensei
carrying stacks of folders. “Good morning Heroes! Are you all ready for your case debriefing
because this one is a bit of a dozy!”

Nedzu hopped up onto a chair that had been set up next to the projector screen at the end of
the room as the classes quieted down. The lights clicked off and Nedzu clicked the remote in
his paw to start the slideshow that Midoriya and Monoma had worked so hard to make look
professional. “It seems that we have discovered a new Villain group calling themselves the
Hands of Fate running around in UA City.” A click to reveal a faked security camera picture
of Midoriya in his Villain costume as Strength “breaking” into his own apartment, Quirk
sparking around him on full display as he seemed to be using it to smash the door open.
Another click to show Shinso as Judgement (basically the same outfit as Midoriya just palette
swapped to lavender and with yellow accents in place of the green and red of his and his own
mask) holding a gun to the head of an out of costume Present Mic who apparently had been
game to play victim for the photoshoot that had been tied up and gagged to pose for a
“kidnapping hostage” photo. As Nedzu clicked through the next couple of photos, Yuga
found himself stifling a laugh at Mic-sensei’s clear over acting for the pictures. As a few
snickers broke out around the room at them, it was clear that some of the others in the room
also found it equally amusing.

“While we don’t have as many faces and real names as we have confirmed and rumored
members, the police have compiled this list from those we have been able to identify. First
we have Koda Koji aka The Hermit. Quirk Anivoice. He can use his Quirk to control animals
around him. That includes using them to collect information to sell off to the highest bidder.”
A picture of him in his Villain costume (basic black button down and dark green pants under
a hooded and feathered cloak like a few others had had chosen as well as his mask) was
juxtaposed next to his student ID photo used as a headshot.

A click. “Shoji Mezo aka The Chariot. Quirk Dupli-Arms. Known drug runner for the group
and one of the group’s muscles.” Shoji’s Villain outfit was basically off the rack looking
military pants and boots and a plain tank top that his balaclava was tucked into the top of. His
mask rested comfortably over his face.

A click. “Jiro Kyoka aka The World. Quirk Earphone Jack. Like Koda, she specializes in info
brokering and blackmail.” She was basically just in her Hero costume with just the addition
of the mask the only real change was her top being swapped for a gray one.

Click. “Todoroki Shoto aka Temperance. Quirk Half-Cold Half-Hot. Wanted for arson and
the murder of his father, the pro Hero Endeavor.” There were a few gasps around the room at
the choice of charges that Todoroki had gone with. Yuga had to stifle a laugh though as he
saw the picture of him in Villain costume (Another palette swap of Midoriya’s only with
white and ice blue and no coat. His vest, hat, and gloves had embroidery of snowflakes and
flames stitched in a pattern around the edges for the appropriate side) and was reminded of
how the other boy had spotted Sako’s mask with the eye patch design that immediately called
dibs on it on the basis it matched his scar. “He is one of the most dangerous of the known
members of the group so I would strongly advise against trying to take him down in a one-
on-one scenario.”

Click. “Midoriya Izuku aka Strength, formerly Deku. Quirk Superpower. He is also wanted in
regards to Endeavor’s murder as well as the massacre of his Sidekicks and is known to be the
main muscles of the group alone with a litantly of other smaller charges that you will be able
to read up on later in the packet that is being passed around. Like Todoroki, as a Hero Killer
he is to be considered extremely dangerous if confronted.”

Yuga watched a few of his classmates pale in the dark as it seemed to finally click that they
were going to have to fight the absolute feral monster that Midoriya had become during the
Sports Festival. However the clear shake that Iida had developed as a result of Midoriya’s
title of Hero Killer was interesting to notice. As he took a mental note of it, he suddenly
remembered that Iida’s older brother had nearly been killed by Stain just weeks before.

Oh.

Yeah, there was no way that Midoriya had not chosen to do that intentionally. So much for
Monoma reigning in his psychological torture impluse that the guy apparently had. Yuga
suddenly had to wonder how it was that the guy was supposedly All Might’s successor
(according to what All for One had said) when he clearly would have fit right in with All for
One’s crowd.

A click drew him back into the present. “Yaoyorozu Momo aka The High Priestess. Quirk
Creation. Wanted in relation to Drug creation and smuggling. We believe she is using her
Quirk to create the new hit drug on the streets called Destiny or at least to create the
equipment necessary for the manufacturing of the high end psychedelic.” She was dressed in
a flowing plan black backless dress but practical running shoes. Like the rest of the girls, she
had declined wearing the balaclava under her mask and her hair was pulled up in its signature
fashion revealing a pair of sparkling diamond earrings.

Click. “Awase Yosetsu aka The Emperor. Quirk Weld. A Cleaner for the group. His Quirk has
been linked to a handful of recovered bodies fished out of nearby bodies of water, him having
used it to tie the bodies down to a large weight.” As several of his classmates turned slightly
green at the description, Yuga silently was amused to realize the boy had used his normal
headband pattern of the hat he wore of his costume, a detail that had slipped by him before in
his exhaustion during their meetup to decide costumes. Other than that he was much like
most of the boys in the group in that he was wearing a palette swap of the look they had
decided on with Midoriya, his being a deep royal blue white like his headband as accent.

Click. “Kaibara Sen aka The Sun. Quirk Gyrate. Breaking and entering specialist. He is
wanted in regards to several millions yen of stolen goods.” His palette swap was purely gray
and silver but his gloves were replaced with the special finger guards from his Hero costume.

Click. “Kuroiro Shihai aka The Moon. Quirk Black. Kaibara’s partner in breaking and
entering.” He wore an all black palette swap of the outfit with one of the feathered cloaks in
place of the hat and coat, the only white on him being the white from his mask peeking out
from under his raised hood.

Click. “Tsuburaba Kosei aka Justice. Quirk Solid Air. Another one of the group’s enforcers.
Often seen paired off with other members and trained as a sniper.” He wore an outfit more in
line with that of Shoji, off the rack military, though his was more angled towards being urban
camo and he had a jacket. His Quirk being what it was, his mask sat askew on the side of his
head like a festival mask being casually worn over his uncovered hair. He was pointedly
carrying the sniper rifle that Midoriya had suggested he try to get extra trained with Snipe for
was slung over his shoulder in the Villain “surveillance” shot.

Click. “Tokage Setsuna aka The Empress. Quirk Lizard Tail Splitter. Awase’s partner. She
keeps lookout while he cleans up the mess.” She was dressed similarly to Jiro in a casual
punk style, with purple boots and top under her black leather jacket. Like Tsuburaba, her
mask was pushed to the side since she had seen little point in wearing it correctly with how
often she would be using her Quirk to split off her eyes and ears to spy on people.

Click. “Monoma Neito aka Wheel of Fortune or Chance as we have heard a few call him.
Quirk Copy. A jack of all trades in the organization as far as we can tell and one of the
Leaders’ right hands. Has been seen committing crimes as minor as breaking and entering but
as major as assisting in the Endeavor agency massacre.” Yuga had to fight back a snort at his
Villain persona picture as did a few others who clearly failed at the sight of it. Monoma in his
costume (formal black and white except for the accent of a pastel blue tie and hat band with
black polka dots) practically falling backwards from how far he was dramatically bending
back in a redemption of his “Villain” laugh was far too comical. Especially since the mask on
his face hid just what he was doing. Yuga wondered if the silly picture had been an
intentional choice to lighten the mood as his rap sheet was read off.

Click. “Yanagi Reiko aka The Star. Quirk Poltergeist. In comparison her recorded crimes are
rather minor. Just pickpocketing and a shop lifting. Still her link to the organization is clear
so she is to be held under the suspicion of a possible link to other member’s crimes.” She
wore a long black coat with a white fluffy collar reminiscent of the coats that most of the
guys wore over a plain long black top and ripped leggings. Her silvery bangs half spilling
over the black half of her mask, the star on it almost completely obscured.

Click. “Shiozaki Ibara aka The Hierophant. Quirk Vines. No actual recorded crimes but has
been clearly linked to the group as a fervent supporter of the group’s leaders, often acting as
their harald. Most of what we know about their leaders is thanks to her.” She was dressed in
basically just a black version of her Hero costume with the white mask over her face seeming
extra angelic above it.

Click. “Which leads us to Tokoyami Fumikage aka The Devil though we have also had
reports of him being referred to as Lovers. We suspect the inconsistency there is a result of
his Quirk Dark Shadow’s sentientance. As such Lovers might just be the code name for his
Quirk that the group uses. He has been linked to a series of murders over the last few months
which was what kicked off our original investigation into the group. He should be considered
extremely dangerous like the Hero Killers.” Like Jiro and Shiozaki, he was mostly just in his
Hero costume, the cloak just being exchanged for the feathery hooded one to up the drama
factor. In the picture only the Devil side of his mask was on display (all black with a white
pentagram for an eye to juxtapose to the all white side with a black heart for an eye on the
other) as he was posed in costume facing off to the right side of the picture.

Click to reveal another picture of Judgement’s mask staring down a camera. “That being said
there remains those we only know from a handful of sightings and by word of mouth.
Pictured here is the one we only know as Judgement. Quirk currently unknown. What little
we do know about him is that he is evidently the other right hand of the Leaders and his word
the others carry out as law. Like Monoma he goes where he is needed so has a record to
match. He is the final person we have as definitively linked to the Endeavor agency
massacre.”

“As for the other members, we have only fragmentary information. That being said, we do
have one more lead on a member.” He clicked to the next slide revealing a picture of Sako
posing for a security camera in full colorful Villain costume. “This is Mr. Compress. From
his mask and dress, it is safe to assume he is one of the currently unseen unidentified
members though he has never been seen in association with another member. Normally he
would be considered just a petty thief but the association is concerning.”

“That being said we do know for a fact he is not the member we only know from word of
mouth as the Fool purely due to the fact that when other members of the organization have
mentioned her in passing, it was with clear gendered terms. As such it seems likely that the
Zero or Zippy that they talk about are also her based on their groups overall theming and
context. She is wanted as the primary suspiler of the groups illegal support items and for the
creation of an explosive from a bombing linked to the group.”

“That just leaves The Magician and The Hanged Man as well as the co-leaders of the group
The Tower and Death. Frankly outside of the names and the genders of the first two, we have
no leads for you. That being said, as some of you might have already picked up on, the Hands
of Fate all take their names from the faces of the Major Arcana from a Tarot card Deck.
Assuming that the likely titles are not random, then it is likely that we can infer that the two
leaders took the names of the cards they felt best matched them. As such I feel it prudent to
mention the most common interpretations of the cards. In the upright state Death could mean
not only the literal meaning but also endings, transformation and transition to something new
but in the reverse implies resistance to change, an inner transformation or inner purging. The
Tower on the other hand in the upright speaks of sudden change and upheaval, chaos,
revelations, and awakenings while reversed also signals personal transformation as well as
fear of change and averting disaster. With all of that and the words that Shiozaki have said
about the group, well their ultimate goal seems to be one of destroying the current system of
doing things to rebuild the city under their control.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room as Nedzu finished. Then the room erupted into
chaos.

“There are 21 of them?!”

“Where did those extra members even come from?! The only one’s missing here were the
ones that were named?!”

“Fucking forget that! Who the fuck are the Villain Team Leaders?!”

Seeing the opportunity that Midoriya had asked him to watch for, Yuga cut it. “You don’t
think the mystery team members are among us do you? Spying on us?”

The silence that fell upon them all in the wake of his questions was deafening. As everyone
began to look at everyone else but Kirishima and Kendo with clear suspicion it was obvious
the seed that Midoriya had wanted planted in the group had swiftly taken root.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Neito sighed as he paused to take a break from hauling shit up the stairs. Neito knew why he
and Midoriya had picked the building to set up their base in but surely they could have
picked a lower floor for their main space. As he panted slightly from the exertion, he glared
at the duffle bag of “special” ammunition. They couldn’t risk Sako Compressing it since
trying so with the first batch had ended explosively with how unstable it was. Hatsume was a
mad genius but one of her biggest flaws as a team member was that her work was basically
incompatible with Sako’s Quirk.

So of course her lab had to be in his apartment several blocks away.

As a result as she knocked out production of all the equipment that the needed for stage one
of the plan, they were having to haul it back to base by hand without trying to get spotted as
suspicious by the “civilians” so they wouldn’t report their comings and goings to the Heroes
after they arrived on site in an hour. That meant no obvious Quirk use so no borrowing
Yanagi’s quirk to float the bag behind him as he climbed the stairs.
Awase came to a stop beside him on his own climb. “Uh, Chance? You good man?”

Neito waved him off. “Fine. My bag is just heavy.”

He frowned and set his own bag down to try and lift Neito’s and almost immediately fumbled
and dropped it at the unexpected weight. “The fuck? What is in here? Bricks? Why isn’t
Strength or Chariot carrying this?”

Neito groaned. “I might have made a rash decision to try and prove that I could handle
anything Strength could. It is full of the tracker rounds and their receivers.” He held out a
hand to take the bag back. Just four more flights.

His classmate winced and passed it back. “I know you don’t have to listen to me and all since
you outrank me but you should probably take a break and do something else once you get
this up there.”

Neito sighed and began to trudge up the stairs again. “I’ll take over supervision of the
unpacking.”

Suddenly there was a flurry of fast steps before a shout below them in the steps rang out. “On
your left.”

Neito watched as Midoriya basically flew up the opening in the center of the stairwell,
bouncing higher and higher as he ping ponged back and forth up from rail to rail under the
green sparking power of his Quirk, carrying a duffle bag under each arm like it was nothing.
The bastard.

Neito huffed and buckled down to force himself to the top. By the time Awase and he were
opening the door to their floor, Midoriya had gone past two more times, once back down and
once coming back up, the show off. Neito decided the worst part of all of it was the fact that
as cool as his Quirk would be to use, Midoriya was a Blank because his Quirk was a form of
stockpiler.

Midoriya looked up from where he had been setting down and unpacking his most recent
load. “Oh hey Chance, Emperor. I was wondering how long it would be before you guys
caught up.”

Neito glared at the other boy before walking over to lightly swat at him as he set down his
bag. “You know you could have stopped and grabbed our bags too.”

Midoriya rolled his eyes. “You were the one that said that you could carry it yourself.”

A few of the others working on setting up around the room snickered. Neito glared at Jiro,
Tsuburaba and Shinso who he quickly identified as the sources. “Not a word. I control all of
your fates, remember?”

Shinso rolled his eyes. “Yeah and so does Tower, Death. I am pretty sure he won’t let you
sacrifice us as pieces so long as we have a part to play in his plan for chaos. Plus with the
exception of Justice here, we are cards from his hand not yours.”
Neito was torn between annoyance that he was right and a happiness that had bubbled up
with Shinso leaning into the card and game metaphor as fit his role in the game. “Still, I can
make your lives hell so long as you are in the game.”

Midoriya threw a protean bar from the table he was at. “Take a break and have a snack. Your
low blood sugar from burning all those calories is making you cranky.”

Neito reflexably caught it before giving him a glare. “I am not cranky .” Still he ripped it
open and ate it. He was hungry after all.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

As Hizashi settled in to help monitor the test for a bit alongside Shouta, Kan, Maijima, Nedzu
and All Might since technically one of his students was participating as well (and like hell
was he missing the show, his son participating in it or not), Maijima cursed and picked up the
phone beside him. On the display for the small support lab, a phone rang that a man Hizashi
didn’t recognize but assumed from context was Sako picked it up with a tired sigh not even
bothering to raise it to his ear, he turned to Maijima’s student and blandly spoke. “Zippy,
Power Loader said no.” Hatsume huffed and stopped working on whatever she had been
doing, beginning to take it apart. Sako nodded and put the phone back down on the receiver.

Shouta gave a snort of amusement as Maijima put the phone back down on the hook before
adding a tally to the sheet of paper in front of himself with a sigh. There were already a lot of
those and Hatsume could have only been there for 4 hours at this point. Hizashi gave the man
a questioning look. “What was that all about?”

Maijima, not tearing his eyes from the screen, sighed. “She is working on building a bomb
for a plan the Villains have later. It is suppose to be just a glitter bomb so we can tag people
as dead without anyone actually getting hurt but she keeps trying to add real explosives to up
the effective range.”

Well that was mildly concerning. “Is she not worried about hurting the other students?”

“No, not even remotely.” He sighed. “Hatsume always puts 110% into everything she works
on so dialing down the yield of the explosive when given the request to make the biggest
glitter bomb she could is not sitting will with her, despite knowing full well why I keep
telling her no. It doesn’t exactly help that she doesn’t view explosions as a big deal with how
often she blows stuff up accidentally.”

Kan huffed. “It is making it painfully obvious why she was recruited from outside the Hero
course to play Villain by Midoriya though.”

Hizashi saw All Might wince at the reminder that his kid was playing Villain. Hizashi didn’t
care what the guy said, he had seen the two of them together. Midoriya was his kid no matter
how much he denied it. It was clear that he was uncomfortable with Nedzu's decision to name
 Midoriya as a Villain team leader regardless of his understanding as to why he had. It
probably didn’t help that the preparation work for the test showed that he was probably going
to be good at it too.

Hizashi decided to leave the poor guy be and turned to his husband. “So anything else
exciting I might have missed?”

Shouta shrugged and pointed to the monitor displaying their son chatting with Monoma as
they helped set up the Villain team lunch. “Nothing test related but I am sure you would find
the fact that Monoma isn’t exactly denying Hitoshi’s teasing him about having a crush on
Midoriya interesting…”

Chapter End Notes

Yes in the canon of the story for the game Izuku and Shoto teamed up with Nieto and
Hitoshi to take out their trashfire dads. No, no one but Izuku knows that one of the
Sidekicks he chose to list as his kill was his cheater of a father except Nedzu. Yes,
Nedzu finds that choice as well as Shoto's to commit fictional fratricide as worth
keeping an eye on.

Poor Atsuhiro is having to be the responsible adult and he is already not liking it.

Edit: If the next chapter is late, I am probably just distracted with the new Pokémon
games. Whoops.

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Recruit Midoriya Izuku
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 The Devil - Upright
Chapter Summary

“Shadow self, attachment, addiction, restriction, sexuality”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted November 19, 2022

See the end of the chapter for more notes

With only half an hour left until the Hero teams would enter the "city," Eijiro found himself
in an emergency meeting with Kendo. She was pacing back and forth in thought. "So we
have at least one traitor each hidden among our ranks assuming the other 4 unaccounted for
Villain team members are all from outside our classes."

That immediately threw Eijiro. "Wait, from outside our classes? They can do that?"

She paused in her pacing. "There was nothing in the rules that said that they couldn't.
Actually the opposite given the rules explained how they could possibly recruit the civilian
actors to the group after everything started. Given what little we know about this Mr.
Compress guy, he was probably a plant on their part in the actors. A friend of one of our
classmates willing to join in for the week."

That sparked a memory of Eijiro. "Oh! He’s probably Midoriya's cousin. He mentioned him
in passing in our class since the planning for this started a few times. He is a professional
magician like most of their family apparently. That probably makes him the Magician if the
code names aren't random."

She nodded. "Yeah that sounds likely. That would explain how he was able to get a job
among the actors on such short notice too." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I have a guess
about who the Fool likely is too. From the sounds of things it sounds likely that they picked
up a Support student too. That just leaves Judgment and the Hanged Man as either Gen Ed or
spies with the Villain team leaders hidden in our teams. Do you have any suspects from your
class because I don't. Up until now I was pretty sure that Monoma was the Villain team leader
for our class but that makes sense if he was who the real one was using to lead by proxy."

Eijiro shook his head. "No, not really. I thought for a while that the whole Tower thing was
just Tokoyami being dramatic pretending he wasn't actually the Villain team leader but
obviously I was way off on that one. There are a couple people I am pretty sure are not secret
Villains though. Ashido and Mineta namely. The first is just because I have known her since
junior high so I can tell she is being honest about being on my team and Mineta because the
whole reason Yaoyorozu and Jiro joined the Villain team was to avoid him."

Kendo sighed. "If only it was that simple for me. Unfortunately, given that Shiozaki joined
the Villain team despite my original assumption that she was a given for my own team, it is
painfully clear I don't know my classmates nearly as well as I thought."

Eijiro winced at that. "Okay but to be fair, I am pretty sure we all just assumed she would be
on the Hero team, like I really should have with Aoyama."

She frowned. "Aoyama?"

"Oh, the guy who realized we probably had spies in our midst and pointed it out. He is kinda
a weird guy and a bit of a loner in our class so didn't rush my desk to join the Hero team
immediately but I think part of the problem is that he might just have language difficulties
sometimes since he switches to only speaking French when tired."

Kendo gained a look of understanding. "Yeah, Tsunotori Pony from my class has similar
issues, only English is her first language. Okay so he is another one for the probably not a
suspect list then?"

Eijiro nods. “And we can add her from your class…”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Yuga was slightly baffled as Kirishima pulled him Ashido and Mineta aside five minutes
until the Heroes could enter the arena only to become even more bewildered as it was
revealed that somehow he had accidentally made it onto the list of Kirishima’s of classmates
clear of suspicion for being a secret Villain. Now he most certainly was not going to
complain about that fact even if he had less than zero idea how that he had been cleared so
easily.

Midoriya was going to get a kick out of this for sure but now not only was he a spy on the
Hero team but somehow he had accidentally become an inner circle member.

As they entered the arena, Yuga peeled off from the main group heading to their agency on
one of the first patrols of the game as assigned to him by Kirishima out of that surprising bit
of trust. It only took a few minutes for Jiro to peel herself from the shadows in an alley as he
cut through it to hand him his communication equipment for his actual team.

“See about getting Tower the full schedule of patrols from 1-A as soon as you can and 1-B if
possible.”

Yuga snorted. “Oh that will be more than possible. Pass along the news that I managed to
infiltrate the inner circle of ‘safe’ Heroes for the Hero team leaders so I will have unrestricted
access to better watch for ‘Traitors’ among them.”

She laughed. “Damn Wednesday, way to Plus Ultra it.”

Yuga gave a small sheepish shrug. “To be honest, I am not quite sure how I managed it. All I
know is it will make my moment in the spotlight all the more impactful.” He was nearly back
out on the street now. “Talk to you later Gaia.”

“Later Hero.”

And just like that, she was gone again just as silently as she had appeared. Smiling to himself,
Yuga exited the alley. He had a patrol to finish.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

They were starting small but immediately upon game start while they waited for preparations
to finish for the real start to the game. Picking up the easy points before the Heroes had a
chance to really get themselves established.

One successful drug deal. A bit of graffiti. Shoplifting. Pickpocketing. A mugging.

Small stuff, just on a large scale as everyone but a few key members were out doing it. Izuku
being one of them as he found himself sitting atop Hatsume’s lap as she whined about being
kicked from her lab. It had been necessary since Izuku had needed to free up Atsuhiro to go
case their major planned targets, taking advantage of the man’s anonymity as one of the clear
actors for the event. Still while he was doing that, Izuku was left with Hatsume unable to
work on her projects for later since Power Loader did not trust her to be left alone without
any adult oversight after she had repeatedly tried to make a potentially actually lethal bomb
to fulfill Izuku’s own request for explosives for Act 2 of their show for the Heroes.

Izuku had tried to distract her by having her set up their communications hub in the staging
base but that had only worked for five minutes. That was why he had to resort to physically
restraining her like this.

And it had to be him given that he and Shoji were the only ones of their group actually
physically stronger than her with how much she lifted on the day to day building support
gear. Between that and the fact he was one of only a handful she vaguely listened to and,
well, it just had to be him.

“You don’t really have to do this Ten Mill. It was just one little bomb.”

Izuku didn’t look up from the laptop on the floor in front of him. “You could have actually
killed someone. I’m sorry if I find that just as concerning as the teachers. This is just a
game.”
He caught her pouting out of the corner of his eye as he had to shift his laptop just out of her
reach again. “Ah, come on! I can hack into the Hero network too. I do it all the time!”

Izuku paused in his typing to turn and look back at her. “Wait, are you telling me that you
regularly hack into the actual HeroNet?”

She hummed and used his shock to reach past him and pull the laptop into his lap before
reaching around him on either side and beginning to type. “Oh yeah, it’s super easy if a bit
boring but I get all sorts of great ideas for new babies from stuff on there.”

Izuku was absolutely stunned at the causal admittance to the major crime. “Hatsume, that’s
illegal.”

“Meh, if I was going to get arrested for it, I am pretty sure Nedzu wouldn’t have just asked
that I stop doing it on campus during class.”

Izuku had to take a moment to process that he might have accidentally actually recruited a
potential Villain in the making. “Okay, besides the hacking and bomb making, is there
anything else blatantly illegal that you get up to on the regular?” As she stopped typing for a
second and seemed to have to think about it, Izuku cut her off. “Nevermind, I don’t actually
want to know.”

She giggled. “I don’t think it was all too bad. I mean compared to some of the stuff you have
planned, it really isn’t.”

Izuku groaned and rubbed his face. “You have a problem, you know that right? Your impulse
control when it comes to illegal things?”

She gave another giggle and went back to typing, her head now resting on his shoulder.
“Yeah I know but life is more fun this way so why stop myself?”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Tamaki was the first of the three of them to realize the issue standing in their apartment for
the next week. “Wait, do either of you know what this Midoriya kid actually looks like?
Nedzu never showed us a picture.”

Nejire tapped her chin in though. “Hmm, no I don’t think so.”

Mirio also shook his head. “No but I am pretty sure that was intentional on his part. This is
our final exam too. He is probably testing our investigative skills by only giving us the name
to work off of.”

Tamaki sighed and slump down with his duffle bag for the week to the floor. “That figures.
At least you have some knowledge of how to do that right from your time with Sir
Nighteye?”
Mirio gave his bright sunny smile. “Yep! I guess we know what we are doing first as
Vigilantes!”

Nejire gave a small cheer. “We so total have this! We won’t accidentally help the Heroes
catch Midoriya and we will help them stop their evil deeds!”

Suddenly a thought hit Tamaki. “Oh. It’s a handicap for us. So we don’t just take out the
whole Villain team in one go.”

Mirio smiled and pulled him into a side hug. “There is the self confidence in you we have
been looking for!”

Tamaki flushed and buried his face in his hands. “I mean it is less self confidence and more
acknowledgement that we have two years of experience over all of them.”

Nejire joined in the hug from Tamaki’s other side, making a Tamaki sandwich. “Yeah but the
you of two years ago never would have said something that bold.”

Tamaki sandwich. His stomach growled at the thought earning a laugh from his two best
friends as they teasingly poked at him as he felt his face just get hotter. Mirio gave him an
extremely amused look. “Well I was going to ask what you two wanted to do next but
Tamaki’s stomach has spoken! Let’s go get that lunch now.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Neito’s heart sank as he spotted Midoriya and Hatsume upon his return. Cuddling.

He had been afraid of that. That Midoriya was in a relationship with someone else already.
That he preferred women.

It wasn’t that he disapproved of the match given that as far as the girls went, Hatsume was by
far the most attractive one of the group in his book and was an intellectual match for
Midoriya with the same sort of chaotic energy…

Neito paused in that train of thought and he mentally worked down the list of things he liked
about her next to his list of things he had found in Midoriya.

1. Not bad on the eyes

2. Clever
3. Fun to be around
4. Could totally bench press him

Okay the last one was less important of a qualifier for dating material for him but the fact that
both of them were fully capable of the feat was not an unattractive quality. He was forced to
admit she was just the pink female support course variant on Midoriya now that he thought
about it.
Wait.

“Shit.”

Midoriya jumped slightly in Hatsume’s lap. “Death, Judgement, is there something wrong?”

Shinso patted him on the shoulder as he walked past Neito. “Nah, Chance just figured
something out I did a while back.”

Hatsume finally looked up. “Oh, is that why he was just standing in the doorway like that for
so long?”

Neito winced at being called out and finally entered the room blushing wildly. “Sorry.”

Midoriya looked at him slightly puzzled. “Oh, what did you realize?”

Neito really did not want to answer that question. After all, what kind of guy just comes out
and admits to crushing on both members of a couple. When he took a bit too long to answer,
Shinso snorted. “Well I would say he was having a bit of gay panic it wasn’t for the fact I
know he knows he likes guys from bothering him earlier so it was probably bi panic when he
realized he has a crush on Hatsume here too.”

Hatsume gave Neito an odd look before turning to Shinso. “Too as in he has a crush on
someone else or too as in you have a crush on me as well.”

Shinso shrugged and fell into one of the chairs. “Can’t it be both? For the record I am both bi
and poly and think everyone currently in the room is dating material.”

Midoriya sputtered out a noise of disbelief and immediately hid his face in his hands. “But I
am not that attractive? I have, like, the most boring face out there?”

Neito cut in before he could stop himself. “Have you even seen yourself in the mirror when
your shirt is off?”

Hatsume laughed and poked at Midoriya’s stomach as she set the laptop aside. “He has a
point Tower. I mean, I know I have abs but even my stomach has a bit of squish to it. You are
like hugging a muscly statue.”

Shinso snickered. “Yeah I think Monoma here just has a thing for people who are buffer then
him.”

Neito flushed. “That isn’t the only qualifier! I like someone who can hold an intelligent
conversation with me too and you can’t deny that they are both some of the smartest people
in our year, even if their areas of expertise are generally rather specific.”

Hatsume considered that for a moment before shrugging. “Okay I can live with that.” She
turned to give Neito a questioning look. “Hey, out of curiosity do you maybe like Judge too
or is that just a one way thing? I’m only asking ‘cause I’m always up to trying new things.”
 Neito, feeling very lost, immediately turned to the smug bastard from 1-C. The one he was
beginning to realize had been flirting with him since basically they had met. The guy who
basically had met none of his own mentally listed qualifiers.

None except one.

“Stop that!” Neito lightly swatted at him the smug bastard as his smirk just got wider.

He chuckled with his wonderful voice that did not belong with his stupid face. “I’m not
hearing no~”

As he tackled the jerk to the floor and pinned him down to earn a “kinky” from the other boy,
Hatsume poked at Midoriya. “Hey are you good?”

Midoriya nodded and forced himself to take a few calming breaths. “You all like me?”

Hatsume hummed. “Yeah and probably each other too. You don’t have to if you don’t want to
but the way I see it, the easiest way to work out our feelings would just be to date all of each
other at once.”

Midoriya was still flushed as he looked between them all as if considering them in a new
light. “Sure? Uh what now though?”

Shinso snorted from his place still below Neito. “Basically same as normal except more
cuddling and hand holding. Oh and we get to do this to each other.”

His lips collided with Neito’s own.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

As Hizashi gave a small cheer at the sight on the camera that they had all found themselves
focusing on given the “drama” of it and the fact that everything seemed to be smoothly for
the other Villains and the Heroes were clueless still. Shouta sighed and rubbed his hand over
his face. “Of all the people he could have picked. The three biggest Problem Children of the
other classes.”

All Might gave him a puzzled look, looking away from his kid on the screen as he tentatively
had his first kiss with the girl who’s arms he had been sitting in for nearly an hour. “Pardon?”

Kan snorted. “Shinso is his and Mic’s adopted son in case you missed that fact. He is just
worried that if it works out for all four of them, he just gained the other three as future in-
laws.”

Chapter End Notes

Just a heads up, there is a good possibility of me skipping posting next week since I am
going out of town to visit family for Thanksgiving here in the US. I'm not sure if I will
knock out the next chapter before I have to make the 4 to 5 hour long drive. If I get the
draft saved on her before I go I will be able to hit post at my normal time but given I am
currently in Pokémon mode with the launch of the new games, I am probably going to
get none of my prewriting done until I finish playing the main story of that. I wish I
hadn't been sick early this week. It threw off my scheduled prewriting plans so I
wouldn't have this issue completely. That being said, I will see you all either next week
or the week after here, or in 48 hours if you are following my other stuff. :D

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Recruit Midoriya Izuku
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 The Star - Reversed
Chapter Summary

“Lack of faith, despair, self-trust, disconnection”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted December 3, 2022.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Katsuki couldn’t decide if he was insulted or not about Shitty Hair thinking he might be the
secret Villain leader. On one hand, it meant that Shitty Hair thought he would be a good
Villain like all those extras started saying after the Sports Festival but on the other it meant
that he thought Katsuki was clever enough to follow all of the class.

“...It is not that I don’t want to trust you Bakubro but given some of the stuff Midobro said
about the Villain team leader and how he was recruited, your history with him kinda makes
you a suspect. I mean, I’m not sure anyone but you knew about the magic stuff with his
family to recruit him for that so unless he feely offered that about himself when getting
recruited, you are sort of the only one who would have known.”

Katsuki scoffed. “He could have mentioned it the first day when Earlobes talked with him.
Seriously, though, how the fuck are Giltterbomb and Raccon Eyes free of suspicion?”

Shitty Hair shrugged. “Well Mina and I go way back like you and Midoriya do so I am pretty
sure I could tell if she was lying as much as I am sure you could probably tell with him.
Aoyama I am pretty sure has language difficulties so I doubt the teachers would have picked
him for Villain leader.”

“And why not the other four unaccounted for?”

“Kendo and I are pretty sure they have to all be from outside our classes. Mr. Compress is
clearly one of the actors for the event and Fool is pretty obviously a Support student. We
think that Hanged Man is probably another Support or Gen Ed with Judgement who might be
trying to use this as a way of transferring in. It explains why Mic-sensei helped them with
their photoshoot since he is 1-C’s homeroom teacher. Personally my money is on him also
being Support since they generally work in teams.”
Okay Katsuki did have to concede a point there. He thought back to the image of Judgment in
his purple and yellow and mentally tried to recall if any of the Gen Ed extras had done well
enough in the Sports Festival to make recruiting them appealing for the villains only to come
up empty. He did however remember the crazy support chick that had teamed up with Deku
in the second round and went on to make a fool out of Glasses before disqualifying herself. “I
think that Fool might be the crazy support girl from the Sports Festival that worked with
Deku, Goth and Round Cheeks.”

Shitty hair brightened. “Oh! That is actually a good point. It would explain the Villain team
in with the support students anyways. I’ll have to call over to Ken-”

He was cut off as an alarm began to blaze over the Agency intercom as Racoon Eye’s voice
rang out over the system. “We are getting reports of a massive bombing in the city center
halfway between A and B Agencies!”

Katsuki didn’t even look to Shitty Hair for guidance, he was already running out the door to
respond. As he shoved open the front door, he saw the massive plume of smoke and had a
moment of panic as he wondered if the idiots had used an actual bomb. But there had been no
massive bang like he would have known there would be if it was real. He was a living bomb
himself after all.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Tamaki stared down at his two friends from his place seated on the sidewalk in shock as they
played dead, looking embarrassed. Mirio especially given his Quirk. Their entire fronts were
painted in bright red glitter from the bomb that they had apparently accidentally found and
had been carrying. They had spotted the bag being forgotten by one of the actors at the
outdoor restaurant they had been eating at, so Mirio and Nejire had decided to go after him to
return the bag while Tamaki finished eating. They had not made it far when the bag exploded,
“killing” them both and everyone in a 5 meter radius and “injuring” everyone in 20. All the
actors in the six buildings closest to it were quickly filing out so that Nedzu could remotely
collapse the buildings safely and then return to the rubble to either be saved or play dead as
they were instructed.

Tamaki had completely "lost" an arm (not that it was really an issue with his Quirk, he could
regrow it fast enough), having just been sitting at the edge of the center radius of the
explosion. He had only survived because Mirio and Nejire had been directly between him
and the explosion so had reduced the damage. He huffed and buried his face in his hands.
“You two just had to leave me all alone didn’t you.”

Mirio reached up to pat him on the shoulder. “Hey you’ve got this. We’ll be cheering for you
from beyond the grave.”

Tamaki sighed. “Mirio, dead people don’t talk.”

His smile turned sheepish again. Before Tamaki could think more about that, there was a
series of rapidly approaching bangs as one of the Hero students literally flew into the site
with his explosive Quirk. He spotted Tamaki sitting over two very red bodies and quickly
came down to land next to him. “Hey, what the fuck happened?”

Tamaki shook nervously, not wanting to deal with this right now. He gestured at the remains
of the bag and the canister all the glitter has exploded out of the top of. “Bomb. My friends
and I saw a guy leave his bag behind while we were eating lunch and they were trying to
follow him to return it when it went off.”

The other Hero students were appearing now, fishing any “survivors” from the ruins and the
street as emergency vehicles began to appear. The explosive guy quickly turned to the others.
“I’ve got a living witness to the bomber bleeding out over here!”

He cursed and pressed his hand to where Tamaki’s “missing” arm was in reaction to the
description of Tamaki’s injury that was relayed to him over the student-teacher com network.
“Can you tell me what the guy looked like?”

Tamaki forced himself to swallow down his nerves like Fat Gum had been trying to help him
with. “Roughly 180 cm. Plain face and short brown hair. Somewhere between late 20s and
early 30s. He was wearing an orange button down under a black vest and matching pants. He
had white boots too I think.”

The other student cursed as a girl in a vaguely space themed pink suit ran up with a first aid
kit. He turned to her. “Mr. Compress was the one who set the bomb. The witness got a decent
look at him without his mask.”

She nodded. “Bakugou can you pull off your glove? The material will help absorb the blood
while I get him over to the ambulance.”

“Don’t bother, just make him lighter and I’ll carry him over myself. Focus on getting the
rubble off of people, Dumbass.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Hitoshi took a deep breath to steady himself as he watched the Heroes swarming the scene to
pick out his target. He was not the best sniper out of the group; that was Justice hands down
with his breath control from using his Quirk. Still, this was the moment that Tower had built
up for him from the start. He closed his eyes and took one last breath as Death counted them
down.

Judgment opened his eyes and lined up his scope with his target. The final count. Three. Two.
One. He squeezed the trigger in unison with three others as their target's chests exploded
from the paintballs impacting them. Uravity screamed in shock as the surviving vigilante
immediately relaxed and fell back to the ground, clearly relieved that he wouldn’t be stuck
alone without his partners for the rest of the week. But that was not what Judgement was
focused on. Grape Juice was curled up in a ball on the ground now clutching his crotch
having been shot there by World while he had gone for the fatal blow.

It took him a moment to find the target Tower had picked for Magician as one of opportunity
given he had joined the sniper team on the off chance that Togata had survived the initial
explosion. Ah, there, Gevaudan from 1-B. That made sense given the other boy’s sense of
smell from his Quirk Beast could have become an issue with some of the later plans.

He pulled back from his roof edge to pack up his gun as more shouts of panic rang out. A few
rooftops over Death hopped up on the edge in his all black version of his outfit with one of
the feather cloaks tossed over top. He switched his modulator’s vocal feed inside his mask to
the speakers they had set up in advance for the beginning of stage 2. Judgment quickly began
to roof hop to get to that one alongside both Magician, Justice and World, falling into flank
Death as Magician compressed all the gun cases.

“My apologies Heroes but I am afraid that their times were up. I do rather hate it when people
are late for their final appointments. It often throws off the whole schedule for everyone and
is awfully inconvenient for everyone involved.”

There was a shout from the street level. “Who the fuck are you?”

Death cocked his head slightly. “Why Death of course. Who else would wish to oversee the
exit of so many lives? Oh, well, I suppose my counterpart Tower might as well but he is
elsewise occupied for the real start of the show.” There was a crackle over the radio as both
Chariot and Hermit gave the all clear. “Speaking of…”

Abruptly every building lining the street that divided the fake city in two dropped as Tower
joined him on the roof edge in his more formal looking black suit, looking more like a
businessman than anything if it wasn’t for the masks and gloves hiding every inch of his skin
and hair. He gave a dark chuckle, his voice modulated as well but in a less artificially
sounding way, merely dropping it deeper. “Now Death, what did I say about having fun
without me?” There was another round of explosions and buildings dropping as the other
members cleared another zone of actors widening the gap between the two Hero groups.

Even without seeing his face, Judgment knew Death rolled his eyes. Still, he stuck to the
script. “I thought a little early detonation on one bomb wouldn’t hurt to set the stage. Besides,
those vigilantes you were worried about nearly moved it too far from position.”

Another hair raising chuckle from Tower as the pressure he gave off seemed to lock the
Heroes in place. “Oh I hardly was worried about them, I merely thought they would run the
risk of throwing a few things off schedule. I do you know how you hate that my dear~”

Everyone on the roof was slightly stunned as Tower took one of Death’s hands in his and
raised it up to where his mouth was behind the mask as if to kiss the back of it. Where the
hell was the nervous blushing wreck of Midoriya Izuku under all of that smooth villain
confidence? Hitoshi felt slightly bad for the other three with him on the roof with them since
they hadn’t really had a chance to warn anyone of the change in their relationship statuses.
Death scoffed and pulled his hand back. “Like you care about that. Chaos is what you live
for.”

That had him chuckle again. “Ah, too true.”

Finally one of the Heroes seemed to force themself out of it. Ingenium. “Just who do you
think you are?”

Tower flicked his hand to reveal a full deck of tarot cards that he began to shuffle. “We are
those who wish to use the hands that fate has dealt us to reshuffle the deck.” He pulled a card
from the top to reveal The Fool upright. “We will bring about a new start,” A new card, The
Devil Upright, “so that devils like us can walk out in the light without fear or,” A new card,
The Star Reversed, “falling into despair as your kind abandon us.” He pulled Hitoshi’s own
card next in the upright alongside Justice. “We are absolution. The great equalizers. The
people born of your system, reborn to show you the truth. We are monsters but ones that you
created. You have made your bed. Now I am afraid it is time for you to lie in it.”

He flicked his hands to clear them for the audience below. “That being said, I am not without
mercy.” He turned to Death. “I think it is only fair to give them time to mourn their dead and
put their affairs in order, don’t you? After all, the game is no fun if there is no one to play it
with.”

Death tapped his chin. “That is fair I suppose. Besides, it is not any other their times yet.
Collecting them early could throw things off just as easily as too late. Not that I expect you
care all that much given your sneaking in Gevaudan while you thought I wasn’t looking.”

Tower chuckled. “Oh darn you caught me.” He bumped his mask up against the side of
Death’s face in another phantom kiss. “I had hoped to sneak that one by you.”

They pulled back from the roof edge walking over to the now changed Sako who had ducked
into the roof access door and held out hands to start compressing them to slip away
undetected giving the pair a clear look. “We are going to talk about all that improv later.”
Hitoshi’s world slipped away before the pair could respond as one of the hands brushed up
against him.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Toshinori couldn’t breathe. He was staring at the screen that up until seconds ago had held his
boy. Except, that very much had not been Young Midoriya on the screen. Everything from the
way his voice had been changed down to his mannerisms had screamed All for One to him.
He had spoken with the same exact cadence and everything.

The way he had planned and executed this level of destruction without a second thought. The
way he stood above the destruction without a seeming care in the world. And the
monologinging.
 For the first time since he had met his successor, he was left horrifyingly wondering just who
the boy’s father was. His stomach rolled with the worry that he might have given One for All
to All for One’s own blood family. After all, both Young Midoriya’s father and biological
material grandparents were a massive unknown.

A hand came down on his shoulder jolting a breath out of him. “Yo, Yagi, are you good my
dude?”

Toshinori turned to Nedzu ignoring Yamada as a question reared its ugly head. “You didn’t
name Young Midoriya as a Villain team leader just because of his mother’s adoptive family
did you?”

Nedzu offered an apologetic look. “This cannot leave this room but no it was not. The young
man Shigaraki from the USJ came back as 72% genetic match for him making him either his
full brother or a half brother through an unknown sibling of his mother which given that
unknown seems probable.”

Aizawa stiffened. “You are testing him not only because of the concern about him potentially
going rogue but because you are hoping for insight into how Shigaraki might think.”

Nedzu gave a nod. “That is one bonus, yes.”

Toshinori flicked his eyes back up to the screen tracking Sako’s movements back to the
Villain base. “You don’t think that the similarities between young Midoriya and him are a
coincidence either do you?”

Nedzu threaded his paws together. “It stands to reason that it is possible. He has been around
a long enough time that Young Midoriya and Shigaraki could just as easily be his great-great
grandsons as they could possibly be his sons directly. There are too many unknown factors
there.”

Yamada slammed his hands on he table. “What the hell are you to going on about?”

Nedzu gave him and the others an apologetic look. “The Villain who gave All Might here his
injury is roughly two centuries old at this point. Up until the first Nomu appeared we had
assumed that he had died in the fight that had cripled Yagi but now we are beginning to
suspect he just went to ground to train his successor Shigaraki. The way that young Midroya
has seemed to have decided to carry himself is making a possible familial connection to him
more and more likely.” He turned to Aizawa. “You might have heard of him before in your
Hero work as the Boogieman of the Underworld. He is only known by the name of All for
One, his actual name is lost to history now.”

Chapter End Notes

To repeat the message from Mischief, sadly this is probably the last regular update of
this for a while. I am moving next week over state lines to start a new job so I have no
idea what my writing schedule will be like for a bit. I am not exactly putting this on
hiatus though since I expect I will still be putting out chapters of this and other things
during that time but I can’t say for sure it will happen every week. Who knows, I might
have a very productive night of no sleep in there and dump multiple chapters of this
back to back like I did with my new fic on Sunday night and Monday morning earlier
this week. Regardless, I will see you back here again before the month is up.

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Recruit Midoriya Izuku
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 Judgment - Upright
Chapter Summary

“Judgment, rebirth, inner calling, absolution”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted December 17, 2022.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku fidgeted nervously under the gaze of his elder cousin. Under the gazes of all of the
Villain team members really. “So, uh, we might have decided to try dating while you were all
out making preparations.”

Atsuhiro snorted. “Yeah, I got that. You couldn’t have at least warned us before deciding to
openly flirt with one another as Death and Tower though?”

Hitoshi cracked open an eye from where he had thrown himself on Mei’s lap after they got
back. “Should probably clarify the whole poly thing too while we’re talking about it.”

As Izuku died inside with all the attention being on him, Neito rolled his eyes and slung an
arm over his shoulder. “We, that is Tower, Judge, Zippy and me, are all currently dating one
another while we figure things out. If anyone has a problem with that you can take it up with
me.”

Jiro gave him a look of surprise. “Huh. Didn’t think you were into girls.”

Hitoshi snorted. “He is making an exception for the one chick among us that could deadlift
any of us.”

Mei shoved him off her lap. “You make it sound like he is only interested in me because I
don’t do girly girl stuff.”

Hitoshi didn’t even bother moving from his new place on the floor. “I am just saying that I
am pretty sure he is generally into people who are physically stronger than him.”

Kaibara gave him a questioning look. “Well if that is the case, how do you factor into
things?”
Hitoshi shrugged and cast a look up at Neito who was blushing nearly as much as Izuku at
that point from Hitoshi calling him out like that. “Dunno. Why not ask him?”

Neito buried his face in his hands. “The jerk has the same thirst for chaos that both Tower and
Zippy do.”

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. “He is sort of the one who figured out that we all sort of
liked one another and posed the idea of a poly relationship in the first place.”

Mei shrugged. “Yeah, I am not sure how long it would have taken for any of us to pick up on
that fact with each other without him. I am better with machines than with people and
between Chance and Ten Mill alone, I am not sure either of them would have asked any of us
out since Chance thought me and Ten Mill were already dating and Ten Mill is just as
socially oblivious as I am.”

Hitoshi snickered. “Yeah, it is kinda obvious that all three of them are slightly antisocial only
children from how much they can’t read other people. From where I was sitting it was all
pretty obvious.”

Tokoyami snorted. “I suspect that with the exception of Todoroki and possibly myself if you
count Dark Shadow, everyone here is an only child.”

Todoroki however was giving Hitoshi an interested look. “I didn’t know you had siblings?”

Hitoshi sat up and shrugged again. “I don’t now. I’m adopted as an only child now but for a
good part of my early years, I was a foster kid living with other kids my age. My parents are
great but they don’t exactly plan on adopting anyone else any time soon. As it was, I was sort
of an unplanned acquisition on their part.”

That had Izuku’s full attention given his own mother’s history. “How could that happen? The
adoption process is not exactly something you can do accidentally.”

Another shrug before an amused smile crept over his face. “I was like my aunt’s cat Sushi, a
foster fail. I was only supposed to live with them for a couple of months after an incident put
me in their care as an emergency foster but by the time I was supposed to move out, we had
all sort of become attached to one another. Next thing I know, I'm adopted.”

Izuku’s eyes widened slightly as a few small things clicked. “Most emergency fosters are Pro
Heroes… Is that why you are always hanging out on campus late?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, I sort of live here. Well, in the staff dorm at least. In case it wasn’t
blatantly obvious from how easily I was able to rope him into the photoshoot, Present Mic is
one of them. That is all you’re getting on the matter though given the fact that he is married
with a kid is sort of supposed to be a secret for the sake of his public image since his agency
doesn’t think he would sell as well if people knew he wasn’t single.”

Jiro snorted. “I hate that I know that would be true. For a good while my Dad’s agents had
him hide his marriage with my mother and that they had me for his own image and he was
just a rock star, not a Pro Hero. Obviously it didn’t last too long but that is definitely a thing
that would happen.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes slightly at Hitoshi and made a mental note to ask about that later.
After all, if his theory about Mic-sensei and Aizawa-sensei was correct, it was more likely
that it was being kept a secret because of the other teacher’s involvement given that he
doubted the Underground Hero would be particularly happy about his face being blasted
everywhere as the more public Limelight Hero Present Mic’s husband.

That thought was interrupted by a text over the Villain com network from Aoyama.

Hanged Man:

?!?!?

You and Chance are dating?!?

When did this happen?!

It hasn’t even been 6 hours since I last saw you all in person?

Izuku winced and quickly typed a message.

About 10 minutes before the first bomb went off.

Sorry for the lack of warning on that for you and the rest of the team.

We are in a poly relationship with Judge and Zippy so if you want to help sow some
more confusion about things with the Hero team, you can mention that I am dating
Zippy or something.

Hanged Man:

Copy that.

I want the full story about this later though.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Ochako was shaking slightly as she sat down on the seat in A Agency. Her suit still was
painted in “blood” from the chest of the witness that she had been about to help Bakugou
transport to safety and medical treatment when he had been shot. Over a thousand dead in
just minutes. Whoever the mastermind behind the Villains of both classes was someone who
she was uncertain she would ever be able to look in the eye and trust again. None of the
Villain team were. Not if they could do something like that without hesitation.
The fact that they could have dreamed up something like that at all was horrifying but the fact
that they had been joking around like that after…

Kirishima cursed as he struggled to connect the video call with B Agency on the other side of
the Divide. Most of their classes were on clean up duty still but he had forced her to take a
break as she hit Quirk exhaustion point so now she was getting to sit in with him and a few
others (Iida, Bakugou and Aoyama who had also been among the first responders to the
attack and thus witnesses to Death and Tower’s little show) as he talked with Kendo and the
others on break about what had happened.

She had lowered her head to rest on the cool metal of the table to try and will her nausea
away when there was a small clink on the table in front of her prompting her to look back up.
Aoyama had set a glass of water on the table in front of her with a concerned look. “Are you
alright?”

She sighed and took the glass and quickly downed the cool water. “Thanks. I’ve been better
but I could be worse I guess. I think I am more in shock than anything.”

He fidgeted with his own glass. “That is understandable. I will admit that performance of
thiers on the roof edge was assez surprenant… quite surprising I mean. I was not aware that
any of our classmates were dating one another from the other Hero class.”

She considered that. “That’s actually a good point. As far as I know the only ones I know
dating are Jiro and Yaoyorozu and they are dating one another.”

He shook his head. “Midoriya is also dating that Support Girl from the Sports Festival.
Hatsume I think? Regardless, I have seen them cuddling down in the support lab a few times
since then.”

That was like an arrow through the heart. “Deku has a girlfriend?”

Her raised voice caught the attention of the other boys at the table. Bakugou snapped fully to
attention. “What is this about Deku dating someone?”

Ochako blushed. “Ah. Aoyama and I were just talking about the people in our class that are
dating so we could maybe figure out who Death and Tower are. He just said that he had seen
Deku and Hatsume from the Support course together before.”

Iida frowned. “As interesting as that is, we really should not be gossiping about our
classmates’ love lives behind their backs, even if I do have to question our friend’s taste in
partners.”

Kirishima scratched his chin. “Huh. You think that is how they got Support students on their
team?”

Bakugou however narrowed his eyes at Aoyama as the other boy shrugged. “What the fuck
were you doing hanging around the Support students to even notice that?”
He rubbed the back of his neck as he gestured down at his belt. “I was hoping to maybe see
about getting a smaller belt designed to work with my Quirk to wear under my casual clothes
eventually once I go Pro. My current one is a oeuvre d’art… a work of art but it is also less
than comfortable for wearing for a long durée- a long time that is. I couldn’t help but notice
our classmate was also spending time down there too.”

Kirishima huffed. “Bakubro, Aoyama is obviously not the traitor. He was literally right there
with us when everything went down.”

Ochako gave a small “oh” as the real reason for their little meeting here clicked. “We are all
the ones one hundred percent cleared then?”

Kirishima shrugged. “I mean Mina is too. It is sort of why I left her in charge of organizing
the others. Plus Ojiro since whoever Tower is they don’t have their clear mutations given they
didn’t have a tail or horns. I figure we can get them both up to speed after they come back
though.”

Iida sat back in his chair. “That only leaves Asui, Kaminari, Sato, Sero and Hagakure. I
would say that we could discount the possibility of the girls being Tower if it wasn’t for the
fact that it is possible the very male persona could have been created to throw us off their
trail.”

Aoyama cleared his throat. “Um, have you gotten a connection yet?”

Kirishima cursed and went back to messing with the computer. “No! It's so weird! Every time
I get a connection for a second I get booted right off of it!”

Bakugou frowned and got up to shove him away from the computer. “Let me see that.” He
furiously typed away at the computer for a bit before curing and hard shutting it down. “They
fucking hacked us. We need to hard restart all our systems at once to kick them out.” He
tapped his ear to turn on the Hero Com. “Hey dumbasses, we need everyone back here for a
couple of minutes to reset coms. The Villains are listening.” He looked over at Iida. “We need
someone to run over to tell those idiots over in B about the hack.”

Iida glazed over to Kirishima for confirmation. Kirishima nodded. “Follow Bakubro’s lead on
this. He probably knows computers better than I do.” He turned to Bakugou. “I think I am
going to have to appoint you as the official communications officer of the agency for now. If
we can clear Kaminari later he can take over but for now it is all you.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Yuga relaxed as he fired off another short update text from the restroom before flushing his
stall toilet and stepping out to wash his hands. Somehow, despite this being a more
demanding spying job than his one for All for One, it was so much easier. It was probably the
fact he did not have to worry about fooling actual Pro Heroes like Nedzu and Aizawa-sensei
but the classmates he had already been fooling for the better part of the semester already.

He knew just what buttons to press and when to keep the attention off of himself for too long.

He hated how naturally it all came to him at this point. The manipulation of the others.

But it was what Midoriya had asked of him so he would deliver. Maybe one day he would
work up the courage to come clean with him at least and ask for help. After all, the only
person he was nearly as scared of as All for One at this point was him .

If Yuga had a natural talent as a spy, Midoriya had it as a Villain, hands down. It was frankly
unnerving how fast Midoriya had taken to thinking like one and how naturally he wore the
persona as his own. That little show on the rooftop with Monoma had made it painfully clear
how comfortable he was playing Villain. The sheer pressure he had given off for a few
moments with just his presence was not something that could be faked.

He had not been pretending in that moment. The fact he had clearly meant every single word
of his little speech which was concerning for multiple reasons. Especially given that from All
for One’s interest in him specifically as All Might’s apparent successor, it was likely that he
and Yuga shared a quirk of genetics in common. From what All for One had implied,
Midoriya had been Quirkless too.

If he of all people went rogue with All Might’s former Quirk like his speech implied he was
not opposed to doing, Yuga was not sure who he would betray between the boy and the
Boogeyman. Perhaps, when (because there was clearly not an if with Midoriya at this point)
he went full Villain Yuga might be able to cut a deal with him to act as the middlemen
between him and All for One? Or perhaps he could point the two at one another to duke it
out. That might solve that problem for him at least.

The door opened beside Yuga, jolting him from his thoughts. Ojiro.

The other boy waved at him slightly. “You good man? You have been in here a while.”

Yuga jerked his hands out from under the running water of the sink and turned off the tap.
“Désolé. Sorry. I was perdu dans ses pensées. Ah, that is lost in my own thoughts I mean.”

Ojiro gave a small nod. “Must have been a serious train of thought to leave you forgetting to
use Japanese like that. You worried about what our Villain classmates have planned?”

Yuga nodded. “I am worried about what they said about a schedule. If that mass bombing was
just their opening act, I fear what they have planned for the rest of us. That the fact that Death
said it was not our time to die yet means they likely have all of our deaths planned out.”

The other boy shivered slightly. “Oh, geez that is an unnerving thought. So who do you think
it is? Tower from our class?”

“I am not sure.” He lied. “The fact that they got into our computers could point to Kaminari
but given they have Mirdoriya’s girlfriend on the Villain team that could just be the
explanation behind that.” He gave the other boy a curious look. “What are you doing in here
anyways? You are clearly not here to use the toilet and I never thought you to be one for
gossip.”

He winced. “Ah, no not really. I just wanted to talk with someone about what was going on
privately and the others clearly are all busy with the girls and the boss coordinating recuse
and body recovery at the site of the Divide and Iida and Bakugou working on getting
communications back up to normal. Um, you don’t really think it is Hagakure, do you? That
is Tower?”

Yuga frowned. “Why?”

He blushed. “It’s just that, well, I was hoping to ask her out at some point after this was all
over but if she is Tower that would mean-”

“Oh you worry that she might already be in a relationship.”

He nodded. “Yeah. I don’t wanna be that guy asking her out if she is already happy with
someone else.”

Yuga patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Well if it is not her, then I wish you the best of
luck mon ami.” He sighed. “Now if only I could find love so easily.”

Ojiro gave him a smile. “Aw, don’t be like that. You are a pretty nice guy yourself. I’m sure if
you asked you could succeed in finding someone easily enough. Is there no one from our
class that you like?”

At least there was an easy out for this now. Yuga shrugged. “No one single I am afraid.
Besides, it seems my crush favors the fairer sex after all. Tis life I suppose.”

It took the other boy a second. “Oh, uh, would that be Midoriya or one of the girls?”

“Midoriya. Your first assumption was the correct one. While it was obvious he was flustered
by girls I had hoped that was all there was to it.”

Ojiro rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t wanna assume anything but-”

Yuga laughed. “But I am very clearly gay?” He flashed a smile. “Quite true. It is not like I
was trying to hide it mon ami. In fact, part of the reason I am so open about it is in the vague
hope that perhaps one of our class less open about it might take the chance and try asking me
out. Sadly it hasn’t worked yet but we do have a few more years here at UA so who knows
what could change there.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---
Atsuhiro couldn’t help but feel a strange twist in his chest whenever he looked at the
destruction of the fake city. Feel a growing worry for his little cousin and a stab of guilt for so
whole heartily agreeing with his Villainous plans for the test that most would have considered
a step too far.

Because his plans were most certainly Villainous.

He found himself worriedly wondering if his encouragement had allowed Little Izu to go
further in his plans than he ever would have on his own. If by giving the boy his stamp of
approval on the plans, he had absolved the boy of the normal guilt he would have felt by
going this far.

There was nothing for it now though. The wheels were in motion for some of his darker plots
already and there was little chance of them stopping now.

It wasn't that he felt bad about what was to come for the boy’s classmates. He was a firm
believer in the thought that a good scare built character but he was worried about the fallout
the boy would eventually face for all of this in their eyes.

Perhaps if it all went badly enough then Izuku might be more inclined to step back from
Heroics before he permanently maimed himself further making Atsuhiro's decision to reach
out to the League to do damage control pointless in the end.

Or perhaps if it goes well enough, Izuku would jump ship to make this fiction a reality.

Atsuhiro was more than a little guilty of hoping that would be the case. That they could one
day work together to make their great-great grandfather’s dream a reality. To make a world
where the weak and poor stood on equal footing with the rich and powerful. A world without
discrimination for factors beyond one's control.

"Mister? You're being pretty quiet over there."

Atsuhiro snapped back into focus, turning to his companion for the Hero patrol watch on
their next target that Izuku had posted just in case the information their spy had given them
was incorrect. "Ah. My apologies Temperance. I was merely contemplating how the next act
will go."

Young Todoroki cast his gaze out to the city in the direction of their soon to be target. "You
are worried that the museum heist will not go well?"

Atsuhiro shook his head. "Of course not! A robbery like that should be a walk in the park
given that the Heroes have no idea it is on the list of Villain goals. I highly even doubt I will
require your assistance with it. No, I was thinking about what comes after ."

The boy made a small noise of understanding. "You are worried about the bank robbery
tomorrow with the hostages."

Atsuhiro nodded. "Yes. While I do believe myself a good actor, I worry the Heroes will see
through me before I can finish playing my role. If I get caught and removed from play, Izu
 will have to skip down to Plan J for all following performances."

The boy slowly nodded. "I had noticed that he was relying on you and your Quirk a lot for
the plans to work."

Atsuhiro sighed. "As have I. I want to say it is only because my Quirk is one of the more
versatile ones and my identity as an actor for the game makes me moving around simpler but
I can't help but wonder if he finds the fact I am an adult a valuable fact as well. Between that
and the fact I am his cousin, I suspect he trusts me to make judgment calls in a crisis when he
can't himself. After all, unlike your class, 1-B haven't seen real fights before."

That seemed to pique his interest. "And you have?"

Atsuhiro blushed slightly behind his mask as he waved off the thought like the liar he was
pointedly pretending he had not had to run from the odd Hero over the past few years when
he pulled less legal jobs. "Goodness no. I am however trained in the art of escape and can
take anyone with me whether they want to come along or not."

"Ah. I suppose that would be true."

Astuhiro glanced at the time on the com. “I should probably head to position now. Wish me
luck!”

Chapter End Notes

A couple of hours later than normal but I am just happy to get this up on Saturday after
all. Between the move and the cat, this chapter took a bit longer to write than I was
expecting. Still, it is good to be posting stuff again.

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Recruit Midoriya Izuku
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 Justice - Upright
Chapter Summary

“Justice, fairness, truth, cause and effect, law”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted March 25, 2023

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Nedzu found himself smirking into his tea. So it seemed that Sako had come to a similar
conclusion to himself about Midoriya’s lack of any inhibitions towards Villainy. It had struck
Nedzu as odd at first just how… aggressive for lack of a better term Midoriya had been with
his plans for the other teams.

Hopefully with his realization, Sako would begin the process of reeling in the boy a bit more.
After all, the true purpose of this test had shifted the moment the man had walked into his
office at UA. The moment the man’s distinctive scent had hit his nose. The moment he had
the test results back after a small deception on his part to trick the man into gifting him with a
sample of his blood.

After all, despite what even they might think, somehow Sako was blood-related to both
Midoriya and Shigaraki. He was not as close of a relative to be sure but all three of them
carried a distinctive hallmark on their genes that was likely shared with their one common
ancestor. An ancestor whose distinctive DNA profile had been on the record long enough as a
Villain that the HPSC had classified it decades ago.

All for One had secretly sired a child at least once.

The thought of that had sent him down a rabbithole of research into the DNA databases.
After all, now that he knew the signs he should be looking for, it was only a matter of time
until he got a few hits.

It was much worse than he thought.

He had only been expecting to find one or maybe two others tied to the cursed lineage.

He got four more from the HeroNet database alone.

Four more and all of their descendants.

Endeavor and thus his children (including young Todoroki Shoto who he suspected would be
thrilled to know that he was likely cousins with Midoriya).

His bastard half-brother Salamander and his one (known) son.

Shinomori Hikage the Fourth Holder of One for All itself. And it clearly wasn’t One for All
creating a false flag when none of the Holders after carried the marker until Midoriya.

And somehow the worst discovery thus far, Sir Nighteye. Sasaki Mirai.

It was that last part that made Nedzu hold his tongue on the topic for now. After all, there was
no chance that Sasaki knew any more than Midoriya did about the familial tie (even if the
fact that All Might had accidentally likely chosen his former sidekick’s nephew as his
successor amused him greatly).

He would wait to break that news after he had time to figure out how their family tree was
puzzle pieced together. There had been only the one evening before the test left and he had
spent most of it making sure he had every confirmed family member of All for One
compiled.

For now though, he needed to watch and learn how Sako carried himself as a full Villain and
not just the thief he currently was. After all, while Midoriya was a rather low risk of joining
his brother Shigaraki in following their likely great-something grandfather, Sako very much
was not.

That being said, Nedzu was hardly comfortable playing judge to the man for a crime he
might never commit.

Sako was clearly loyal to his cousin Midoriya or Nedzu suspected the man would have taken
the opening Nedzu had offered for him to bow out of joining in on the test. Additionally,
there was the fact that, ultimately, Midoriya’s strong sense of right and wrong had been
cultivated by the man’s family and their belief that it was the job of the powerful to help
those that were weak. A belief that Nedzu himself did have to admit to supporting.

So he would watch and wait.

He just hoped that Sako would take his warning before the test seriously.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Izuku felt a stab of guilt about what he was about to do. For the plan he had only told Neito in
private to hear his thoughts on it.

He was about to betray Atsuhiro’s trust for the sake of fairness to the Hero teams.

For the sake of multiple optional objectives.

A successful prison break, betraying a teammate, and feeding the Heroes false information
about an upcoming plan.

As far as Atsuhiro knew, they were planning on combining the hostage situations objectives
with the bank robbery objectives.

But they weren’t.

No, the hostages would be collected and dealt with later. As would the bank when there
would be few Heroes to interfere.

As far as Atsuhiro knew, Izuku was working towards the goal of completing all the objectives
by the third day.

That wasn’t the plan.

Doing that would have never given all his teammates their time in the spotlight after all.

Izuku checked that his voice modulator was on the right setting one last time as he picked up
the payphone off the hook and punched in the Hero Line emergency number.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Ochako picked the phone up off the hook before it could ring for a second time. The phones
had been ringing off the hook since they had gotten into the test site but aside from the
bombing earlier (which they had not even needed people calling in to report) most of the calls
had been pretty minor stuff.

Someone reporting directly about finding new “Hands of Fate” graffiti on the back of their
building when they took out the trash. People asking for help with directions or reporting
someone they thought looked sort of suspicious looking. The police forwarding a case report
to them when they linked a minor crime with the rising Villain group.

“A Agency, how can I help?”

That is why you couldn’t blame her for being surprised when the smooth deep voice of the
Tower came from the other line. “Ah, Uravity. So lovely to hear your voice! I was just calling
to inform you that we have a robbery in progress at the museum. I believe that Tailman and
Chargebolt should be patrolling nearby. Perhaps you should send them that why?”

Ochako’s mouth went dry. Still, she didn’t freeze up and immediately not only set out the
alert over the network about the possible robbery in progress with a note that it might be a
trap and started the phone trace.

Okay.
She could do this.

She just needed to keep The Tower talking. Easy. He (or maybe she?) liked the sound of their
modulated voice clearly.

“Why are you telling us this? Isn’t ratting out your teammate sort of counterproductive?”

A hum. “True but this way is more fun. And more fair to you Heroes I suppose. Magician is
far too experienced a player in these games to stay in permanently. Consider his capture as an
offer of goodwill of free Hero Points. I hardly wish to make a real enemy of our class after
all.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t sure what to think of that. “So you are definitely the 1-A Villain team
leader?”

Another hum of confirmation. “I have the team leader card around here somewhere, yes.”

“Who-?”

“And spoil the surprise? Where would be the fun in that?”

Ochako felt a spike of irritation. “What? Is this all just fun and games to you? You bombed
two blocks over nearly a kilometer! Killed thousands just like that!”

There was a pause. “Uraraka you do know this is a game right?”

The lilting cadence was gone. The act momentarily dropped.

Ochako didn’t care though. “Still! How could something like that be okay with you?! You are
supposed to be a future Hero! How am I supposed to trust anyone who could look at that
level of destruction as okay?!”

A slow exhale of breath. “Oh. I see why Aizawa-sensei is so against this test now for our
year.” There was a bitter sounding laugh. “Well, I guess the next couple of years are going to
suck. It was nice talking with you all the same.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

That was a punch to the gut.

Izuku dropped the phone onto the hook before taking a shaky breath and resting his face up
against the cold metal of the booth. He couldn’t stay here long. Uraraka was smart enough to
realize that she should be tracing the call.

Still, the words she had said were bouncing around his skull on repeat. He gave a broken sob
as he found himself falling to curl up in the bottom of the booth, ripping the mask and
balaclava off his face.

He couldn’t stay there though.

He couldn’t bring himself to leave though.

His worst fear about the test had come true and he hadn’t even gotten to the really bad part of
his plan yet.

He had lost one of his best friends at UA.

A crackle of static came from his ear. “Ten Mill? Where are you? No one can find you
anywhere at base? Are you getting up to some mischief without us?”

Izuku wanted to reply back but his throat clamped down on his voice like a vise. All that
came out was a broken keening noise.

“Shit. Okay, Ten Mill, give me a second to locate your earpiece. Ah got it! You’re not far
from where Snipe Jr. is perched to keep a lookout. I’m sending him to come to get you
okay?”

As Mei kept babbling over the line, Izuku felt the air get knocked out of him as a new
realization hit him. One that he should have had a while ago. His teammates were his friends
too. They had been worried about him.

They were worried about him.

He closed his eyes and let the sound of his girlfriend’s voice wash over him. It would be
okay.

He would be okay.

Because they were also here in the same boat with him. Except unlike him and Neito, all of
them chose to be here with them. Back on that first day of the test introduction, Uraraka had
clearly never considered that the Villain team leader would be him. She had not even
considered waiting to find out what the Villain team would be like and had just written it off.

Iida, he had understood. As the other boy had explained, after his own near stint in murder in
his brother’s honor, it made sense why he would be reluctant to join the team. Add that to the
fact that he had previously chosen to not team with Izuku back during the Sports Festival and
Izuku was not terribly surprised. It was that latter bit that made him so sad though. Not
because of Iida but because, despite being all in on working with her “friends” for the
Festival, she chose not to when it frankly mattered more.

He was still curled up struggling to breathe when he felt a hand on his back that began to rub
small circles. “It’s okay, kero. Just breathe Midoriya. In 1 2 3 4 and Out 1 2 3 4.”

Mei’s voice cut off in his ear to the sound of the other female voice. Female, meaning not
Tsuburaba who she had sent.
Froppy had found him.

It took a few more rounds of her counting his breaths to get him out of the clear panic attack
that he had just had (Thank you Aizawa-sensei for making sure everyone in the class knew
how to help with those after the USJ) for him to quite register that she was there and he
wasn’t wearing his mask.

He blinked at her. “Tsu?”

She gave a soft smile. “Are you okay now Midoriya?”

“Ye-ⵢ-ah.” He winced at the voice crack but she didn’t comment on it.

“Don’t worry about having to run. I told the others on my team that you, Tower that is, had
already run. No need to rush yourself, kero.”

Izuku stared at her slightly bewildered. “Why?”

She shrugged. “Because it seemed like the right thing to do. It would hardly be fair if you lost
because Uraraka gave you a panic attack. Consider it just a time out, kero.”

Izuku however felt something click into place in his head. The one optional objective that
neither he nor Neito had thought feasible to do.

“Tsu? Why did you not consider joining the Villain team at all?”

She tilted her head in thought. “I had assumed that since both Uraraka and Iida were already
signed up for the Hero team that you and Todoroki would as well. That and to help keep
Mineta in check but you already handled that for me and the other girls, kero. Thanks for
that, kero. I suppose the fact you joined the Villain team makes more sense now. You didn’t
have a say in the matter.”

Izuku grimaced. “Mine and Atsuhiro’s great-great-grandfather was the Peerless Thief. The
main reason Nedzu is having us do this test sooner than in other years is because he was
concerned about what would happen with me when the Commission found out that my
Mom’s foster family is still very much considered our family despite them never bothering to
fully adopt her.”

“I suppose that makes sense. If they consider you a risk of going Villain, having a record of
what you are like when acting in the role makes some sense, kero.”

Izuku bit his lip. “Tsu… would you like to join the Villain Team?”

She tilted her head again. “Is that even allowed?”

Izuku licked his lips. No going back now. “It is one of the Villain Team's optional objectives.
Convert a full Hero at the start of the game into a Villain team member. I think it is how spies
on the other team are normally planted if there are no Heroes dealt the Traitor role.”

She seemed to consider that. “So you do already have a spy in the Heroes, kero.”
“We weren’t exactly planning on hiding that fact. Not with our spy not at risk of being found
anytime soon.”

She nodded. “So you don’t want me on your team to be a spy, kero. Why risk asking me?”

Izuku gave her a smile. “Because you are not only my friend but you risked your grade to
help me with my panic attack.”

That earned a smile in return. “Okay, I'll join. Just one thing first though. I heard that you
were dating Hatsume from 1-H but also that you as the Tower were flirting with Death.”
Izuku snickered at the look she gave of disbelief as what she said seemed to hit her. “Wait,
was the flirting with Death thing a joke? For the pun, kero?”

Izuku laughed. “Uh, no actually, I hadn’t even realized I had done that. Uh, no, Hatsume and
I are in a poly relationship with Shinso from 1-C and… the 1-B Villain team leader. Um, you
will have to wait on that though. I would rather not say who it is out in the open like this.”

She stood back up and held out a hand to pull Izuku up to his feet before reaching down to
pick up the mask and balaclava. “Well, then lead the way, kero.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Tsu was pretty sure she was a pretty unflappable person. Still, the sight of Monoma from 1-B
rushing across the room in the Villain hideout to tackle Midoriya in a hug caught her slightly
off guard.

At Midoriya’s sheepish look at her in response, she just stared back. “Midoriya, I am not sure
if I am more puzzled by the choice or the fact that you somehow managed to keep him from
outing himself as the Villain team B leader more.”

“Hey!”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Atsuhiro was not one hundred percent sure what had happened, even if he had a pretty good
guess. Even if Izu didn’t know it, he knew all the Villain's objectives thanks to Nedzu.

Izuku had sacrificed him for the sake of optional points.

He wasn’t sure if he was more proud or puzzled by the choice.

Well, at least it went a long way in explaining why Little Izu was using him so much on the
first day. He was getting as much mileage out of having Atsuhiro around as he could before
he “betrayed” him.

Yeah, he was definitely proud of his blossoming little Villain cousin.

Izu was definitely a natural at this.

Still, it had taken restraint on Atsuhiro’s part to not just escape when he realized what was
going on. The fact that all of this would be recorded for posterity later had him holding back
from showing all of his tricks. After all, if he were to be grabbed by a Hero in real life, he
would very much rather be able to escape than not.

A rapping of knuckles on the metal table draws him from his thoughts. Red Riot and little
Katsuki. If he had to guess from Katsuki’s temper, it would be a case of Good Cop, Bad Cop.
He gave the latter a wide smile. “Ah, Katsuki, I haven’t seen you in person since you were
still a toddler. How are you?”

That seemed to completely unbalance them. Katsuki though was quick to recover though and
slammed his sparking palms on the table. “What the fuck are you talking about Villain?”

Astuhiro cocked his head slightly. “Ah, are we playing it that way? Shame. I had hoped to
catch up with you since I haven’t seen you since I last babysat little Izu. I’ve not had the
chance to visit you and your family with all the prep work for this event going on. I suppose
we can talk later.”

Red Riot was quick to hold up a hand to stop Katsuki from snapping at him again. “So you
are Midoriya’s cousin then?”

He flashed a smile. “Guilty as charged there. I have been enjoying the chance to catch up. It
is not often my schedule has lined up with both Izu’s or Auntie Inko’s at the same time.”

Katsuki pushed the other boy’s hand away. “So you’re the Magician right?”

Atsuhiro shrugged. “I mostly go by Mr. Compress but yes, that is my title among the Hands
of Fate. Why do you ask?”

“Then you know who the rest of the mystery fuckers are on the team.”

“But of course.” There was a pause as the pair of boys stared him down. “Oh, were you
expecting me to reveal them to you? I am afraid I will have to pass on that. My loyalty is to
Izu and therefore his teammates.”

Katsuki ground his teeth but Red Riot gave him a sympathetic look. “Even though they
clearly betrayed you? Tower called us to tip us off.”

He hummed in agreement. “Yes, well the fact that my backup failed to back me up was a
rather large clue. Still, I am not surprised that it happened, just that it happened so soon. Most
of the Villain team didn’t seem to think my being on their actual team as fair for all of you so
removing the temptation to keep using me for their plans was rather inevitable. Plus I suspect
removing me so that Zippy couldn’t get back into the Support Lab that Power Loader set up
for her during the test was probably an intentional choice given that she is apparently inclined
to the use real explosives in her fake explosives.” He cocked his head as that statement he
had not thought of before it was leaving his mouth rang true. “Actually, I am starting to think
that might have been the main reason.”

“Um, Zippy is Midoriya’s girlfriend, right?”

“Well if you are asking that then I suppose there is little harm in confirming it. Young
Hatsume is really quite the terrifying young woman… which knowing Auntie might explain
the appeal to Izu.”

Atsuhiro was amused as a flicker of grief of all things flashed over Katsuki’s face. “Shit, now
that you point that out, I can’t unsee it. Fuck he and the crazy support chick are probably in it
for the long haul, huh? I am not looking forward to seeing the little monsters that the two of
them might produce.”

Red Riot looked sort of lost at that. “Uh, Bakubro, why do you say that? Midoriya’s like one
of the nicest guys in our class.”

That earned a laugh from both Atsshiro and Katsuki. “Where the fuck have you been? Did
you completely miss his fight with Icyhot or the fact he tried to punch Shigaraki in the face?
Deku is fucking unhinged.”

Atsuhiro snickered as he nodded. “I do have to admit that about him at least, as much as I
love him to bits. He might not look like it, but his first instinct when being held by someone
when he does not want to be is to bite them as hard as he can. The only reason I came away
from babysitting him for years unscathed is that we were able to convince him to stop doing
that was because we told him that Heroes don’t bite people. And don’t get me started on him
and Quirks. If I have learned one rule about him is you do not get between him and a cool
new Quirk.”

Red Riot looked positively dumbstruck.

There was a knock on the door before Uravity stuck her head in. “Um, Red Riot, sir? Maybe
I should take over. Neither of you seem to be getting much of anywhere, for all that he is
saying. Besides, you need to issue a public statement about Mr. Compress’s arrest.”

“Ah, right! Um, Bakubro do you think you could-”

Katsuki grabbed him by the shoulder and started to steer him out. “I am not fucking talking to
the reporters for you. I’ll help you write up your statement but the rest is on you.”

After the door snapped shut, the happy smiley face on Uravity was gone. When she spoke, it
was short and clipped. “Right. You are going to tell me everything you know.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---
 When Ochako snapped the door to the jail cells closed, she had to force herself to take a
calming breath. “Right. We have a potential hostage situation and a chance to maybe catch
Deku so we can talk.” She slapped her cheeks. “I can do this. I can do this.”

With that, she squared her shoulders and began the hunt to find Kirishima to give her report
of what she had learned.

Chapter End Notes

It's been a bit since I updated this huh? I wanted to get the other fic in the series
basically caught up before the rewrite started before I came back to this but got
distracted with my other fics. Asui is here now and has joined the Hands of Fate.

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Currently Recruit Midoriya Izuku (Eventually Asui Tsuyu)
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 The Hierophant - Upright
Chapter Summary

“Spiritual wisdom, religious beliefs, conformity, tradition, institutions”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted April 9, 2023.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Izuku winced as Recovery Girl placed the cold metal of the stethoscope against his bare skin.
Apparently, when the teachers had spotted him struggling to breathe on the camera they had
called Recovery Girl into the site. The only reason that she had turned up at their base instead
of being rushed to the site where he had collapsed was because Tsu had found him first and
helped him stabilize his breathing.

She pulled the instrument away. “Well your heart rate is still rather elevated but your
breathing sounds nice and strong now. That being said, you are no longer allowed to go out in
the field for the rest of the exam on your own. Doctor’s orders.”

Izuku winced. That would not be too hard to work around even if it was less than ideal. “I
understand.”

“You better. Now I am going to have to insist that you tap out for the rest of the night and get
a good night’s sleep. If you have anything else that you were planning for the night to do
yourself, you are not doing it.”

Izuku nodded. “No, nothing big tonight. I can sleep it off. I was fine really. You didn’t need
to come into the test site.”

Recovery Girl sighed. “You know, there are times when I can’t help but see you as
Toshinori’s boy and this is one of them. Just because you were able to walk away under your
own power does not mean you are okay. The brain is just as capable of suffering from illness
and injury as the rest of you. If you ever feel too badly stressed out by the test, there is no
shame in stepping back to have someone fill in for you so you can recover.”

Izuku felt his gaze drifting down to his hands. “I know, I just wasn’t expecting Uraraka to be
so… mean about things. This is all just a game and I am playing a role you know but she is
acting like I want to actually hurt people.”
Recovery Girl patted him on the leg. “I am going to fill you in on something I have learned as
both a Hero and a Doctor. Sometimes you don’t really meet someone until you meet them on
a battlefield because people will always show their true colors when they are scared shitless.
The fact that she is lashing out like this verbally just goes to show how scared she is of what
you are doing. While under normal circumstances, I would say to take that as a sign to dial it
back a bit, given the nature and the reason for the test normally, I would say you are doing a
good job in the role you were assigned. After all, real Villains would not go easy on your
classmates so if you are going to make this a realistic scenario, you are doing a good job.”

Izuku gave a watery smile to her. “Thanks. I think I needed to hear that.”

She gave a fierce nod. “Good. Now I am going to head out. You better go straight to bed
young man.”

“I will.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

“Shouta, you should probably go to bed now. Kan has an eye on the kids. They all seem to be
bedding down for the night anyways.”

Shouta gave his husband a weak glare before sighing and pulling himself to his feet. “I’m
still spending the night here in case of an emergency.”

Hizashi snorted and held out his sleeping bag to him. “I know. I’ll bring you a nice cup of
coffee in the morning while I enjoy our nice soft bed all alone.”

Shouta huff. “You can’t guilt trip me into leaving. It is bad enough that Midoriya had a panic
attack bad enough that we had to send Recovery Girl into the test site to look him over. I am
not leaving until all my kids are out of the test.”

Hizashi, the bastard, lit up. “So you admit it! You are attached.”

Shouta huffed and buried his face in his scarf as Kan laughed at his expense. “Yamada has a
point, Aizawa. You nearly died for those kids, I would be more surprised if you weren’t. Now
get some rest. I can watch the cameras. Trust me to look after your kids like I am trusting you
with mine during daylight hours.”

Shouta snatched up his sleeping bag. “It still feels wrong trying to go to bed this early.”

Kan snorted. “And it feels weird for me to be staying up so late. Doesn’t change the fact that
it is better for you to be up when Midoriya and Monoma are up than it is for me. If one of
their plans goes wrong, you being rested and at the top of your game is important. Especially
with Midoriya’s Quirk being like it is. Sleep. I’ll fill you in in the morning about anything
you might have missed.”
 ---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Katsuki waved to Raccoon Eyes. “I’ve got the phones. Go get some fucking sleep.”

She yawned and rubbed her eyes. “Ugh, thanks. The last couple of hours have really sucked.
How the hell are you so awake already?”

Katsuki snorted as he slid into his seat. “Unlike all of you apparently, I am a fucking morning
person. I am normally up around this time every morning anyways. I’m more surprised I
stayed up so late last night.”

She snorted in return. “9 at night is not late.”

Katsuki gave her a smirk. “It is when you wake up at 4 in the morning. Now go sleep so you
aren’t fucking useless all day.”

She gave him a smile. “Night Bakugou.”

And then Katsuki was alone again. Just how he liked his mornings. After he finished
checking over Raccoon Eye’s logs of the night, he stood back up and started clearing some
space for his morning ritual of a quiet workout. He would not be going out on his morning
run until Glasses woke up in a few hours at 6 to take over but that was fine.

It was extremely unlikely that the Villains were going to be doing anything at such an early
hour anyways with so many of the two class’s night owls on one team. That was one issue
that Katsuki had realized when he and Shitty Hair were working out patrol schedules. Out of
their class, of the people remaining on the Hero team, only two were night owls. Sure
Katsuki and Glasses were the only morning people in the class but most of the class clearly
struggled to stay up later than midnight too. It meant that Raccoon Eyes and Pikachu were
the only two who could take the late graveyard shift and with Pikachu currently under
suspicion, that only left Raccoon Eyes to take the phones.

He was in the middle of push-ups when Pikachu stuck his head in. “Oh, did Mina go to bed
already?”

Katsuki stopped and popped back up to his feet. “Yeah, about twenty minutes ago. Where the
fuck were you? Your patrol should have ended a while ago.”

Pikachu looked embarrassed. “I might have gotten a bit lost. Everything looks pretty different
this late at night. Vlad-sensei took mercy on me a few minutes ago and gave me directions
back after he realized I was completely lost.”

As much as he didn’t trust Pikachu to not be at least working for the Villain team, he did have
to admit that sounded rather believable. Especially when he had gotten turned around a
couple of times on the practice patrol he had done with the extra with the tail earlier before
they had brought in Deku’s cousin. “Just go to fucking bed. You need to be up again by
noon.”

“You don’t want me to do my post patrol report?”

“What are you even going to put in it? I got fucking lost for over 4 hours? If something had
happened, I figured you would have led with that.”

Pikachu was very red in the face now. “Ah, right. Night Kacchan!”

He bolted before Katsuki could retaliate for the nickname. He hated that Pikachu had picked
up the habit of calling him that from Deku so fast. If it wasn’t for the fact he had started with
that shit back before the Sports Festival, he would have considered it evidence of him
potentially being on the Villain team. The guy knew he didn’t like anyone but Deku calling
him that but did it anyways. Apparently, he thought it was only fair since Katsuki liked to
“jokingly” insult the rest of the group of extras that hung out around him.

It wasn’t like Katsuki was ever going to admit the real reason he did it. That he genuinely
struggled to tell people apart and the nicknames were how he kept people straight in his head.
It was easier when they were all in costume but when everyone was all in uniform until he
heard their voices or saw them use their Quirk, half the time, Katsuki had no idea who he was
fucking looking at.

There were exceptions of course. Major visible mutations were easier for him but he wasn’t
going to tell Raccoon Eyes she was one of the few people he could easily recognize. Besides,
he was pretty sure she liked the nickname he gave her since it was apparently an insult she
had not heard before regarding her alien looks.

He internally winced as a thought occurred to him.

Deku knew. There was no way he didn’t after knowing Katsuki for so long. Did the idea for
the uniform for the Villains come from him? Surely he would have realized that Katsuki at
least would not be completely fooled by the full body coverage.

It was probably why they had gone to such lengths to disguise the voices and body language
of Death and Tower. If it had just been one of their classmates doing a voice, Katsuki would
have still known it was them.

It was something to think about later though. For now, he had a workout to finish that
hopefully would not be interrupted by the phones.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

It was odd waking up so early. Even having made a habit of doing morning runs since All
Might had started training him, Izuku was still at his heart a night owl. In hindsight, that had
likely been one of the worst contributing factors to Izuku making himself sick trying to
follow but improve upon All Might’s original plan. Once All Might had shifted things so he
was doing more of his working out after school hours instead of before, he had felt so much
better and things had only improved after Izuku took fully over his own workout planning
and reduced his morning workout to just his daily run.

He was still probably not getting nearly enough sleep normally but his Mom would have
flipped if he had taken up running in the late evening instead. It was one thing to start
running while it might still be a bit dark out and another thing when it only got darker as you
ran.

Still, since he was up and wide awake after the early night, there was no reason to not take
his morning run now.

“And where do you think you are going?”

Izuku jumped slightly at the voice behind him. “Ah, Shiozaki, you startled me.”

She gave him a mildly disapproving look. “Didn’t Recovery Girl say you weren’t allowed to
go out alone for the rest of the test?”

Izuku blushed at the reminder. “Yes…? I thought it would be okay if I did my run this
morning still. I am pretty sure that there aren’t many people up yet.”

She shook her head. “Wait here, I’ll change into my gym uniform.”

Izuku nodded and began to do some more warm-up stretches while he waited for her to get
back. The moment she returned, they slipped out onto the streets at a casual jogging pace
though Izuku kept his eyes peeled around them for any of the Heroes on an earlier morning
run of their own. It was not likely they would see any with how few morning people there
were between the two classes and even by that standard, it was stupid early.

To Izuku’s complete unsurprise, they completed the short impromptu 5k without running into
any of the Heroes. As Izuku began to run through his cool-down stretches, he gave Shiozaki a
questioning look. “So why are you up so early anyways?”

She gave him a pointed look. “After you were sentenced to an early night’s rest, we
eventually realized that you would wake up before everyone else so of the few of us that
qualified as morning people drew straws for who would get up a little earlier to stop you
from potentially going against Recovery Girls orders. That being said, even if we had not
drawn straws for it, I likely would have gotten up anyway. It is not much earlier than I
normally wake as it is unlike is the case with both Yaoyorozu and Kaibara.”

Izuku winced at the reminder of the time. “Sorry, all the same. So what do you do this early
normally anyways?”

“Gardening and tending to my vines. It is better to water twice a day, once at the start and
once at the end after all. I suspect my Quirk has led me to develop my sleeping patterns based
around getting the maximum amount of sun. If I have extra time after that and perhaps a
morning workout, I like to spend the extra time with my art.”
 ---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Waking up was odd for Tsu. For one, she was not being woken by the sounds of her younger
siblings but by the sounds of Ochako and Tooru trying to quietly get ready for the day
without waking Mina who had likely only been asleep for a few hours. Secondly, she was
waking for the first time with the knowledge of the fact that they were no longer her
teammates for the exercise.

Last night had been interesting, albeit not terribly informative, about what was now expected
of her as a member of the Villain team. Midoriya had not gotten a chance to really hash out a
plan for what she should be doing with Monoma before Recovery Girl had turned up and
forced him to bed early.

Still, she had learned the answer to the biggest mystery about the Villain Team; who was all
on it. Answer? Surprisingly there was only one mole with the Heroes in Aoyama who had
accidentally tripped his way into being completely cleared of suspicion by pure chance. With
the Hero team convinced that the Villain Team leaders were hiding in plain sight on their own
teams, they had blinded themselves to the possibility of the truth: the Villain team leaders
were hiding among their underlings.

She had also learned the reason that Kirishima had not ever consulted her for her input on the
situation, that she was a suspect for being the Villain team leader for their class.

She had to wonder if Midoriya would want her to play that role for the Heroes later on.

For now though, she was here among the Heroes playing along as if she was still on their
team. Perhaps she would get a chance to talk with Aoyama about things later if they ended up
on a shared patrol.

It was something to possibly look forward to.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Shouta hated mornings. There was little getting around that fact. It was something that his
friends had learned early on about him during his time at UA as a student and the lessons
they had learned from that carried on to this very day.

The most important one?

Shouta was not to be woken without an offering of coffee.

Shouta opened a bleary eye to the smell of the heavenly beverage that Hizashi had likely
woken up early to prepare for him as was their normal morning ritual. This morning however
broke with tradition slightly as Shouta registered the stiffness in his back from sleeping in his
sleeping bag on the floor all night and the sounds of other voices.

Shouta ignored them for now as he unzipped his sleeping bag enough to grab the coffee that
Hizashi was sitting on the floor next to him holding. After a long drag of the hot liquid,
Shouta demeaned himself human enough to figure out what was going on.

Ah. Nedzu and Kan were talking. Neither seemed agitated so nothing had likely happened
while he was out cold.

Beside him, Hizashi snickered. “You awake yet Shou?”

Shouta blearily looked at his husband. “No.”

As Hizashi laughed, he took another sip of his coffee. “There is more coffee where that came
from.”

Shouta decided to ignore his ridiculous spouse in favor of the other two. “What time is it?”

Kan cast a glance off to the side. “Just before 7. Most of the Hero Team kids are starting to
get up by now but only Asui, Aoyama, Midoriya, Shiozaki, Kaibara and Yaoyorozu are up on
the Villains though the first two are likely only up because of the Heroes waking up.
Midoriya and Aoyama are texting while most of the guys in the Heroes believe Aoyama is
busy fussing with his hair and doing his skincare routine which to be fair he is actually doing
as he texts.”

Shouta nodded at the update. “So he knows about Asui’s team shift last night then?”

Nedzu cheerfully nodded. “Midoriya is updating him about that now, yes, as well as giving
him orders to pass along to her and how they should handle each other.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

La Menace Vert:

Froppy is now on our team

???

Is that even allowed?

La Menace Vert:

Converting a “true” Hero to the Villain team was an optional objective so yes
 I need you to inform her to slip away to meet with me when she gets the chance since I
wasn’t able to really talk to her about what she should be doing last night

Avoid patrolling together alone for now if you can help it without making it obvious

She will help with your “kidnapping” later on so when that time rolls around make sure
you are set to patrol together alone

Otherwise continue as you have been

Will do

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Tetsutetsu was bored.

Ever since early this morning, he had been stuck playing guard for the bank on the B side of
the City because of a supposed planned robbery and hostage situation at one of the two major
banks in the faux city.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his 1-A buddy Kirishima to not try and give them bad
information but with how they had gotten the information… Well, Tetsutetsu had to agree
with Kendo that it seemed like a trap or a red herring. The man they had gotten the
information from was intentionally given up by the Villain team. Honestly, it would have
been smart to not give the guy accurate plans for what they had planned for the test so they
didn’t have to worry about him telling the Hero teams anything.

Of course, there was also the chance that they were banking on the Heroes to assume the
information was bad and were going to do it anyway. That was why he was here. Kendo had
assigned him the post by himself, trusting him to be able to at least stall long enough for
backup to show up if push came to shove.

He had positioned himself up on the roof of a nearby building to watch the front of the
building out of sight but so far nothing.

A flash in the corner of his eye drew his attention.

Tetsutesu snapped his head around to spot movement on a roof not far away on the opposite
side of the street. The opposite side of the too wide street for him to get over to without
alerting the Villain.

Scratch that.

Without alerting the Villains.

He immediately tapped on his coms. “Guys, I have sights on three of the Hands.” He
squinted, trying to ID all three. “Looks like Strength, Emperor and Empress.”

A voice crackled to life in his ear (Shoda). “Copy that Real Steel. Mudman and Shemage are
already heading your way. Where are they?”

“A few roofs over on the other side of the street.” He paused as he finally registered their
location. “Shit, they are on top of the Commission Building! They must be going for the
Commission Representative!”

“Correct.”

Tetsutetsu froze as a familiar voice came from behind him. He whipped his head around to
meet the masked face of Todoroki, leaning slightly over his prone form. Before he could do
much more than activate his own Quirk, he found himself incased up to his chest in ice,
completely unable to move. The boy far too casually held up his left hand to Tetsutetsu’s ear
with the com in it before pain erupted over his face as he saw flames licking across his head.

Understandably, he screamed.

Thankfully, his reaction was enough for Todoroki to withdraw his hand and replace it with
the just as painful cold of his right side. “I’m sorry. Recovery Girl will be here shortly.” He
paused. “Oh. The teachers want me to inform you that you are now considered dead so if
your teammates happen to find you before she does, you aren’t allowed to say anything about
what happened.”

“Happen to- Why wouldn’t they-?”

“Because you were talking with Shinso, not Shoda.”

Tetsutetsu winced. “You guys hacked into our coms again?”

Todoroki hummed in agreement. “I think you would find keeping Hatsume out of them a
rather futile gesture.”

“Your spies keep letting her back in then?”

“No. I am not sure how she does it though. You would be better off asking Nedzu or
Powerloader if you didn’t want to wait to hear her explain. Is your face feeling better?”

Tetsutetsu gave a jerky nod. “What was that for anyways? Surely if you wanted to ‘kill’ me
you had other options that would have hurt less.”

Todoroki shook his head. “Not with your Quirk. Either we would have had to deal you a lot
of concentrated force in one spot, wear you down until your Quirk stopped working or cause
a temperature differential to make your Steel brittle. ‘Melting’ you was the easiest to do
safely to prevent long term damage. As it is, you are still probably a bit burned on that side
but hopefully I kept the temperature low enough so we do not have matching scars.”
 That startled a laugh out of Tetsutetsu. “Shit, that shouldn’t be so funny dude. I already have
to deal with guys in our school saying I am the inferior version of Kirishima with how alike
our Quirks are, the last thing I need is people comparing me to you.”

Todoroki cocked his head slightly as if he was listening to something. “Ah. Midoriya wishes
for me to inform you that your Quirk is way harder to counter than Kirishima’s. That is why
he had to use me against you since besides himself and Monoma copying my Quirk, there
was no one else on the Villain team that could really even hurt you. I was the obvious choice
to use with that under consideration since my Quirk control would have been the best.”

“Midoriya is listening in? Isn’t he busy across the street?”

“Midoriya is rather good at talking while he works. Especially when Quirks are involved.
Besides, he was just taken along with Tokage and Awase to help open doors and carry the
body since it is faster when he does it.”

“The body?”

Chapter End Notes

Did I wait to intentionally post this chapter on Easter Sunday? You can't prove anything.
lol I don't even celebrate it but I saw the chance and took it.

In other news, Katsuki is completely face-blind and no one has any idea he is. Even
Izuku just thinks the nickname thing is just because he sucks at names, not because he
has no idea who anyone is.

Yuga's name for Izuku in his phone is French for "the green menace"

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Currently Recruit Midoriya Izuku (Eventually Asui Tsuyu)
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 The Moon - Reversed
Chapter Summary

“Release of fear, repressed emotion, inner confusion”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted June 24, 2023

See the end of the chapter for more notes

It took them far too long to realize something was wrong.

Kendo winced as she ripped her eyes away from the dummy standing in for Tetsutetsu’s
body. It was far too realistic for all that it didn’t look anything like him. It was intentional she
knew since the teachers had warned them about the body dummies that would replace the
“dead” people “killed” by the Villain team but this was worse than she was expecting.

The body had been encased in solid ice before the head had been cooked- no- had been
cremated. The flesh substitute material was gone leaving just the ceramic bone of the skull
blackened with heat.

There was no question at least who had done it.

Fighting down bile, she dialed her phone with the other agency’s number.

“A Agency, how can I help you, mon ami?”

“Can’t Stop Twinkling? It’s Battle Fist. Can you put me through to Red Riot? We have a
problem.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

The Hospital morgue was crowded even with just six people. It wasn’t because the room
itself wasn’t a decent size, but because Real Steel had not been the only body found.
The Villains had been busy. Two more dead Heroes and the head of the city's office of the
HPSC missing and they hadn’t even had a clue it was happening.

Sero’s “body” had similarly been found after they had realized he wasn’t reporting in during
the rushed roll call after Tetsutetsu’s body had been found. Given that his dummy had been
dropped off the edge of the building he had been keeping watch of the bank sitting on with no
sign of him using his Quirk to either fight or try and catch himself…

Mashirao had to control himself to keep his tail from moving in his own fear bubbling up.
“They have Shinso from the Sports Festival on their team. He Brainwashed Sero into
jumping off the roof.”

Kendo shook her head. “It might have been Monoma but I think you are right about his Quirk
being used. I mean, it makes sense why they would recruit him given that he made it to the
Tournament bracket but his presence is concerning.”

Aoyama, who had been looking rather green looking at the bodies, averted his gaze up
towards the ceiling. “He would probably be Judgment then, would he not? Given the colors
and the fact that he would likely have been able to pose for pictures with Mic-sensei the
easiest.”

Shoda shook his head. “In hindsight, it should have been obvious that Shinso was at least one
of the outside class recruits. Judgment was far too prominent in the group to have just been
some other random kid from Gen Ed or Support. He probably asked to have an important
position in the group for them to recruit him.”

Kamakiri growled slightly and spun away from staring at the “body” of his apparent close
friend. “Damn it! They can’t keep doing this to us! We outnumber them!”

“No, we don’t.”

Kirishima’s voice cut through them all like a knife.

Kendo shot him a worried look. “What do you mean? There are still…” She trailed off. “Oh.
Shit .”

Mashirao quickly looked between them. “What? What is it?”

Aoyama sighed. “They realized that the Villains now outnumber the Heroes, even with one of
their number captured, 21 to 18 with the spies. Still even without, they now would
regardless.”

Kendo shared a quick look with Kirishima. “Change of plans. How big is your agency? Most
of the bigger potential targets are on your side of the divide.”

He frowned. “Big enough. You can’t seriously be saying what I think you are saying? We
aren’t abandoning half the city just because they have gotten the drop on us twice.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want to any more than you do but right now we are easy
pickings divided like this. We can retake the B side later on once the numbers are more in our
favor. As it is, we are spread too thin. No one should be partoling alone from now on.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

As Astuhiro sat in his cell listening to the panic going on in the building above him, he felt a
laugh bubbling up in his chest. These poor kids had no idea what was coming for them if
some of the ideas that Izu had thrown around were actually on the table.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Tsu only managed to slip away due to the confusion of the two groups combining into one.
Thankfully, she only needed to go over a few streets.

Midoriya met her in the stairwell. “Oh good, you're here! Here, put this on and talk for me.
We need to tune the voice modulator to work with your voice.”

Tsu took the choker-like device without question and snapped it on. “So there-” She cut
herself off momentarily as she registered the voice coming out of her own mouth sounding
male. “Oh, this is weird, kero. How does that even work?”

Midoriya pointed at the one around his own throat. “It sits on top of your vocal cords and
vibrates to modulate your voice up or down in pitch. Now just keep talking. It doesn’t have to
be about anything in particular, I am just tuning you into close to the right frequency. Judge
will do final adjustments if needed before you go hopefully but if he isn’t back in time to,
well, it should still do the job.”

“What job is it for, kero? I have been wondering what the plan is for me since last night. Is
there a reason you are trying to tune my voice a specific-” She cut off again as the smooth
timbre of Tower’s voice escaped her own lips. “Oh.”

Midoriya grinned. “Basically, we are going to prove the Heroes’ theory about you being the
possible Villain Leader right. Don’t worry about them catching you as a Villain team member
if you need to play the card early since we will bust you out with Atsuhiro later but if you can
hide it until it is time to ‘kidnap' Aoyama, that would be great.”

“And when will that be, kero?”

Midoriya pulled out a phone from his pocket to check the time. “Not long now. If all goes to
plan the two of you should have a patrol together tomorrow. You just need to hide that you
are ‘Tower’ until the two of you leave on that patrol. After that, you can follow Aoyama’s
lead on that since we practiced his kidnapping a few times before the test. Theoretically, you
won’t need the voice modulator until it is time for the broadcast but I thought it was better to
get it to you sooner rather than later.”

He grabbed her hand and brought it up to the device so her finger found a small switch on it.
“That is the on-off so you know how to switch it later if you need to but for now, I would just
leave it on and pull it off since your costume’s neck is not high enough to hide it.”

Tsu nodded and pulled it off to tuck it into one of the pouches on her belt. “Anything else,
kero? I should probably get back before they realize I am gone.”

Midoriya shook his head before giving her a thumbs up. “You should be good. Thanks again
for agreeing to join us. You have no idea how much easier this makes things.”

“Of course. What are friends for?”

The smile she got in return was one of the most open and happy that Tsu could ever
remember seeing from Midoriya. It was a rather bitter-sweet realization to have she realized
as she slipped back into the confusion that was the Hero B Agency move into A Agency’s
base of operations. After all, as happy as she was to see him clearly happy talking with her, it
was tainted with the realization that despite Midoriya being a good friend with her and the
others from their normal lunch group, he clearly had not trusted all of them to show his true
face to them until this test had worked him up into such a state that he had a complete
breakdown when he probably realized that he had been right to at least a degree.

While she did not know what exactly Uraraka had said to Midoriya, whatever it was had
clearly been taken extremely personally. That was not okay and now she was left wondering
if their friend group had been permanently changed in the wake of it, even if she did not
know it yet.

Of course, it had probably already changed with Midoriya’s change in relationship status. It
was no secret among the girls in their class that Uraraka had been crushing hard on Midoriya
since Day 1. Even setting aside the Villain reveal yet to come, that was still likely would have
changed something, if only because she likely would have felt hurt about him hiding his
boyfriends and girlfriend from the group.

A pair of fingers snapped in front of her face. “Yo, Earth to Froppy. You in there?”

Tsu blinked away from the box she had been clearly staring at for a while to meet the gaze of
Kaminari. “Sorry, kero.” She made a show of rubbing at her eyes. “I did not sleep well last
night and now I am having trouble focusing.”

“Oh. Mood. I mean, not last night obviously but it was kinda hard for me to sleep after I got
back in this morning since everyone waking up and moving around kept waking me up. You
have trouble sharing a room with the other girls or was it something else?”

She shrugged and opened the box up to start unpacking it. “I normally sleep with my window
open this time of year to listen to the cicadas. I didn’t realize that not being able to hear them
would make it hard to fall asleep when I am fine the rest of the year without them…”
 ---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Toshinori was glad that he would likely not have to see Young Midoriya for a few more days.
At this point, he wasn’t sure how he would have acted around him otherwise without the time
to process things.

He was also not sure how he would explain what he was doing right now to the boy either.
Not after avoiding meeting with the boy’s mother for so long directly out of concern at first
that she would have stopped him from passing down the Quirk.

Especially since with the recent revelation, Toshinori was no longer one hundred percent sure
that it had been the right choice.

It was not that he didn’t believe that the boy was a true Hero at heart but that was no longer
the only factor in the equation. Between the clear blood close connection with Shigaraki and
the revelation that All for One was possibly still alive…

Midoriya Inko opened the door shortly after his first knock, drying her hands on a kitchen
towel in her hands, Toshinori likely having interrupted her while she was preparing to make
herself dinner. “Can I help you?”

“Midoriya Inko? My name is Yagi Toshinori. I am one of your son’s teachers at UA, I was
wondering if I could come in and ask you a few questions about him.”

The small woman narrowed her eyes at him. “All of my son’s teachers are Pro Heroes. Who
are you?”

He tried to give her his best reassuring smile. “Ah, I’ll show you if you let me inside. If it is
all the same, I would rather not activate my Quirk while in plan view but perhaps this will be
enough for you?” He finished out his Hero License, something he had not had to use in
decades, himself as All Might being a household name these days.

She took the license and seemed to momentarily lock up as she saw the civilian name printed
in small font below his picture, placed and sized just so that a Hero could show their license
to a civilian without revealing their own civilian name unnecessarily. She looked back up at
him, slightly dumbstruck, before moving aside and gesturing him inside. “Can I ask what
happened to you, All Might?”

Toshinori winced as he took his license back and put it back in his wallet. “I fought a
powerful Villain about six years ago and suffered a major injury. It is part of the reason I am
teaching at UA now. I was hoping to transition into teaching so my retirement from Heroics
here won’t be a complete shock to everyone in a few years but the time I can work in my
more Heroic form is getting shorter and shorter faster than I was expecting.”

“Does Izuku-?”
“Your son knows, yes, but most of his class still does not since I have yet to figure out how to
reveal my current real state without making them panic.”

That got a look of confusion. “And you had no such worry with Izuku?”

Toshinori blushed and gave a nervous blush. “His discovery of my condition was not
originally planned even if him knowing has admittedly been helpful in covering things up
with his classmates. I happened to meet him for the first time while I was almost out of time
on my transformation and failed spectacularly at running away from him to power down. He
can be very stubborn when he wants something as I have come to realize.”

That earned an amused smile. “Very true.” Her smile dropped. “But you are not just here to
talk about that. I assume you are not here in an official capacity for UA or I suspect that they
would have sent another one of his teachers that I would have recognized surely and
obviously, this doesn’t have to do with what is going on with Izuku during his test since if
something that important happened, UA would have called to inform me on an incident first
if Atsuhiro did not beat them too it.”

Toshinori sighed. “True. Officially speaking, nothing major has happened during the test that
I am aware of that needed to be brought to your attention but unofficially, this test has
brought a few questions about your son to my and a few others' attention. Namely, the
suspicion we have of a highly probable blood relation of his to the Villain who gave me my
injuries. Given that our only known family of yours that we have are your adoptive ones, we
were wondering if you would agree to a possible DNA test to check to see if the Villain in
question is related to him through you since your birth parents are unknown or his biological
father. Additionally, I was curious if you could provide the identity of the man in question
since as far as I know, Young Midoriya doesn’t know who he is.”

There was a long pause before Ms. Midoriya sighed and shook her head. “Actually. I do
know who my birth parents are. My mother left me a letter to open when I turned 18. I’ll go
dig it out here in a moment. As for Izuku’s father, he’s Salamander. At the time I slept with
him, I was unaware that he was already married so cut my losses when I realized that fact
after I discovered he had gotten me pregnant with Izuku.”

It took a second for the name to ring a bell. “That is one of Endeavor’s Sidekicks, correct?”

She nodded. “We met while I was coordinating with Endeavor’s agency over a property
damage claim. He seemed nice enough at first that I humored him when he asked me out for
drinks. I found out about his wife and son on my next visit. Excuse me, I’ll go find that
letter.”

“Take your time.”

As she opened a hallway closet and started pulling out old photo boxes, briefly turned to case
him a puzzled look. “So who is this Villain you think Izuku and maybe I am related to?
Besides dangerous, I mean.”

Toshinori considered that for a moment before deciding that given the connection that Young
Midoriya had with One for All alone, she deserved to know just as much as Young Midoriya
did as a possible target. “He goes by the name All for One. He has been around for a long
time and is far older than he seems. Among the many crimes he has committed, he also killed
my mentor Shimura-”

“Nana.”

Toshinori locked up. “How-?”

The woman whose face was now drained of blood gave a slightly hysterical-sounding laugh.
“What are the odds? Your mentor and my birth mother being the same person.” She opened
the box in her hands and a yellowed envelope flew up out of it and into her newly freed hand.
She held it out for him.

Dumbstruck, Toshinori took it. He didn’t have to open it to know the contents would confirm
it.

After all, he would know Nana’s handwriting anywhere.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Izuku hated how easy all this was.

It should not be this easy to fool his classmates like this. To manipulate them into what he
wanted them to do.

Tricking the Heroes into consolidating their forces like this had made the whole day a walk in
the park as their actions on what they referred to as the B side of the Divide as the Heroes
were too spooked by what had happened that morning with Sero and Tetsutetsu. Additionally,
the confusion of the quick move had made it easy to tag all the point targets that belonged to
B Angceny that the Heroes had brought with them with the tracker rounds and tags to ensure
that they knew the locations of all the objectives in case they moved them later after Tsu’s
“betrayal” tomorrow.

The remaining few that the Heroes had mistakenly left behind in the evidence locker were
quickly claimed for some easy points. It seemed that they only took the evidence that was
marked as being clearly linked to the Hands but not all of it. To be fair to the class 1-B
Heroes though, how were they supposed to know that the All Might bunny themed Kigurumi
was relevant to the case?

One of the many things that the Villain Team had to do in preparation was provide
“evidence” that linked their civilian identities with their Villain. Basically, they each had to
pick an item to represent themself for the Heroes for them to later recapture for points. The
items had probably seemed rather random given that all the ones belonging to class 1-A had
ended up in B Agency and vice versa.
After all, how were the students of 1-B to know to link the collection of photos taken of a
conspiracy board about noodle shops being related to Todoroki or 1-A know that the box set
of old horror manga was for Yanagi? Answer? They weren’t supposed to. That being said, if
said objects were viewed by those in the same classes as the Villains, they would have been
quickly identified.

Of course, there were also some red herrings thrown in by Nedzu to mask the true meaning
such as what Hitoshi had been amused to reveal was one of his Dad’s hair scrunchies and an
otherwise empty wallet with a picture of Midnight’s cat Sushi. Additionally, there was the
extra layer of difficulty in the fact that the evidence wasn’t all filed as such. The reason that
the handful of items remained at the Agency was due to them being in the Agency’s lost and
found and thus getting written off as unimportant.

Izuku was just slightly relieved that Aoyama’s item (a brown fedora) had been deemed as not
important enough to take. To be honest, Izuku was not sure that even many of his own class
would have connected the hat to the boy. He had explained his choice as representing the fact
he was playing the spy as fedoras like that were common in old western fictional spy media
and, as a hat, it also represented his love of fashion.

Still, Izuku was much happier with the hat being in their possession.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Hanta yawned at his seat at the desk in front of the camera setup. Being “dead” was somehow
even more boring than he had expected it to be.

To make up for dying before the test was over, they had to peer review what the others did for
the rest of the test right and wrong. According to Shishida from 1-B as well as their
upperclassmen who had been taken out on the first day during what should have been their
own final embedded in their own, today had been a much slower day on the parts of the
Villains. Apparently, they had done a lot that the Heroes had yet to see or hear about.

Such as converting Asui to the Villain team.

Sero was not sure how he felt about that one.

Or the fact that apparently, up until he died, he had been a suspect for the Villain team leader
and spy when the actual 1-A leader was Midoriya and the Spy was Aoyama who was clear of
all suspicion.

Mineta grumbled as he clicked through the feeds.

Apparently, after hearing some of the things he had said about the girls from the two classes,
the girl Hado had gone to Nedzu to get the boy banned from any feeds that had any of the
 girls in them. Additionally, to his own surprise, Mineta was apparently being reviewed for
repeated misbehavior and sexual harassment.

That wasn’t to say Sero didn’t think that Mineta didn’t deserve it, especially after the incident
in the locker rooms with that hole in the wall but he was surprised that the teachers were
actually doing something about it. After all, given how Aizawa-sensei started the year by
threatening to expel someone, the fact that Mineta was still in their class after so long had led
him to believe that maybe Aizawa-sensei either couldn’t or wouldn’t for one reason or
another.

As it turns out, he was kinda right.

Apparently, after Aizawa-sensei expelled his whole class at the start of the year last year all
in one go, the school board revoked his ability to do so without them reviewing the student
first. Normally, given what Mineta had been doing, this would not have been an issue as far
as Sensei was concerned since he did actually manage to justify his actions last year to them
that the expulsion for the course stuck for all of them and only a handful clawed their way
back in before the end of the year from Gen Ed after learning their lesson.

The problem however lay with Mintea himself.

The reason?

Mineta’s father was a high-ranking member of said board. Because of that and the fact that up
until the test began, Mineta had been smart enough to not get caught clearly on cameras
harassing the girls of their class, he had been able to get away with it with his father
defending him. Now though, Sensei had view proof, not only from the short two and a half
hours that the boy had been in the test but from how he had spoken in this room too. After all,
while they were no longer being tested on their physical performance, they were still being
tested and thus monitored.

If Sero was completely honest, he wouldn’t miss him.

Sure, Sero liked girls as much as the next (straight or bi) guy, but he knew that that kind of
behavior would never win him any favors with any girls. Besides, it wasn’t very Heroic
behavior either.

“Oh, that’s interesting!”

Sero perked up from his thoughts to look back at Togata. “What’s up?”

The blonde boy pointed at his own screen. “Tokoyami is out in the open walking straight for
A Agency.”

Chapter End Notes

It's been a bit hasn't it? I haven't been logged in here much over the past few months for
various reasons, the main one being I kept getting sick enough that I didn't feel like
writing thanks to my allergies and then getting sick a couple of times on top of that. Add
that to the fact I wanted to finish rewriting all of the Dad for One fic going up here in a
few weeks for Dad for One Week... I feel bad leaving you all hanging on so many fics
on the unplanned Haitus though. I decided to break my normal update order to pick up
this fic first since the outline I made for it made it so I did not have to reread my
previous few chapters of it to get back into the swing of things thanks to the future
events of the fic already being pretty thoroughly outlined for the next several chapters so
I could use the Major Arcana for the chapter titles and have them match up to what is
going on. Next on the new order list for updates is Erratic Idiosyncrasy which will
hopefully follow in the next few days.

Before anyone asks, Yuga's hat is a joke reference to Perry the Platypus specifically
since it was the first spy reference that popped in my head. That being said...
Yuga: *appears*
Mic: A student?
Yuga: *puts on hat*
Mic: *gasp* The UA Traitor!

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Currently Recruit Midoriya Izuku (Eventually Asui Tsuyu)
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 Wheel of Fortune - Reversed
Chapter Summary

“Bad luck, resistance to change, breaking cycles”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted July 25, 2023

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Toshinori felt very out of place in his powered-down form as he followed his newly self-
proclaimed little sister toward Endeavor’s Agency in search of Salamander to get to the
bottom of things.

The past several hours had been… a lot for him.

Sure, she did not really think of Nana as her mother actively as such given her own adoptive
mother, but she had seemed slightly amused by the idea of introducing young Midoriya to
him as his recently discovered uncle since she had seen right through himself in regards to his
own feelings for the woman in question.

Still, as happy as he was about the new familial connection that he had been granted with his
boy… A part of him was disappointed to only hold the title of Uncle.

It was only fair, especially with the fact that even if there had been no connection, there had
been zero chance of him stepping into their family as the woman’s husband to become his
boy’s father between the fact that not only was he apparently was not really Inko’s type but
there was the rather major factor of his own sexuality at play.

Or lack of one as it were.

As much as Toshinori had a soft spot for romantic stories, the idea of actually being with
someone sort of skeeved him out. At least the squeaky clean brand image of him as All Might
had helped act as a buffer from having to deal with questions like that too often.

Still, a part of him regretted not talking with Inko sooner but another was half wishing that
they had still never met after she had reemed into him about giving her son One for All after
what had happened to Nana.
He was drawn from his thoughts by Endevor’s voice. “Please don’t tell me someone is trying
to start a frivolous lawsuit against us again because they don't have proper Villain insurance.”

Inko waved off the Hero who was clearly just coming back from patrol from how he stood at
his own agency doors flanked by a few of his Sidekicks. “No, I am not here for that today. I
was wondering if we could talk with Salamander about something personal?”

That earned a few groans, snickers and eye rolls from the crowd as Endeavor just facepalmed
and held the door open for them. “Let me guess, personal suit from a woman who is accusing
him of being the actual father of her child again?”

Toshinori felt his eyes widen. “Wait, does that happen often?”

“More than I would like, unfortunately. Thankfully so far all but one of the accusations he
has gotten about actual paternity have been proven to be false. That one belongs to his now
ex-wife. For as bad as he is about sleeping around, he is rather good about remembering to
use protection.”

Inko just snorted, clearly not too worried about revealing the real reason they were there in
front of the man’s boss and colleagues. “My son sort of proves otherwise.”

Toshinori was surprised to see Endeavor balk slightly at that. “Pardon?”

Inko crossed her arms with a shrug. “I never brought it up with him because it hardly
mattered given that as far as I was concerned he was just my son’s sperm donor. It was not
like I needed the additional financial support. If it wasn’t for recent developments regarding
concerns about his family history on that side of the family, both Izuku and I would have
been more than content ignoring the connection.”

Endeavor was grimacing now. “He’s still out on his own patrol but follow me back into my
office. Perhaps I can clear whatever it is up.”

As Endeavor closed the door behind them, he shot Toshinori himself a questioning look.
“And who are you and what do you have to do with this mess?”

Toshinori bit his lip. It was not that he did not trust his fellow Hero with the truth but… he
knew it would likely be a bit of a shock. He glanced back at the door, to double-check that
the other man’s Sidekicks were not eavesdropping before briefly powering up and dropping
the form again to not burn too much of his time. “Sorry for the slight deception, but Inko and
I thought it would be better if I didn’t attract every news crew in several blocks radius to your
agency with how sensitive the topic of the matter is.”

Looking quite stunted, the other Hero fell into his chair. “All Might… What the hell
happened to you? You look-”

“Like he is missing two vital organs and is terrible at looking after himself? Don’t worry, if I
have anything to say about it, my brother isn’t going to drop dead on us any time soon.”
Somehow that seemed to surprise him even more. “Brother? All Might, I thought that you
were an orphan?”

Toshinori flushed. “I mean I was and still am. My mentor, who was as close to a mother as I
ever had, was Inko’s biological mother. Inko just considers me just as much her adoptive
brother as the brother she grew up with because of that fact.”

Endeavor took the time it took for Toshinori himself to explain to recompose himself. “Right.
Thank you for trusting me with this since I assume it is a safe assumption that none of this is
known by many people given I'm sure people would at least panic if they knew about your
current health. I’m guessing this is the real reason why you decided to try and take up
teaching at UA?”

Toshinori sighed and nodded. “I was hoping that by doing so, my upcoming retirement from
Heroics would come as less of a shock.”

“Six years ago, the six months you took off, it was for those injuries, wasn’t it? Why the hell
did you not take off longer?”

Toshinori winced at the very pointed comment. “You saw how the public reacted to the news
that I was going to be gone for even those six months.”

“Yeah, and the other Heroes and I held the country together just fine in your absence. Hell,
we still are since you clearly never got back up to your old normal hours.”

Inko patted Toshinori on the arm as she shot the other man a pointed look. “As a reminder,
we did not come here to talk about his health. You said you might be able to help us answer
some questions about Salamander’s family history?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded. “Right, sorry. Yeah, I would probably be the
better person to ask anyways since I doubt he has ever given more than a passing thought
about that sort of thing since Nenha and Shuichi cut contact with him a few years back. To
clarify since we are laying out all the cards on the table, Salamander is my half-brother on
our father’s side. Let’s just say that our father was just as bad about sleeping around as he is
and leave it at that.”

Toshinori felt a strange wave of… relief(?) at that.

Relief with the bizarre realization that there was actually a chance that the number two Hero
was related by blood to his arch nemesis because if he was then a revelation about the
relation to the Villain in question on his own boy’s part could not be justified as being enough
to disqualify him from his future of being the Hero that Toshinori knew him to be. A
realization that left him silently realizing that the man across from him did in fact carry some
features in common with the monster that haunter his own dreams. They were small features
that were easy to look past but… they were there.

The man’s general silhouette and jawline. His proud and stubborn nature. The coldness in his
eyes when he was mad.
They could be just a coincidence that he was finding himself reading too much into but-

He was jolted from his thoughts by the appearance of Salamander opening the door and
tugging off his mask revealing a mess of red curls that jarringly Toshinori was horrified to
realize was both identical to not only his boy’s but All for One’s as well.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Fumikage was extremely nervous, a fact that he hoped that Dark Shadow would not give
away as he walked as casually as he could in full Villain gear right towards the Hero
stronghold. This would be his moment in the metaphorical spotlight as he played distraction
while the rest of his team worked to set up the stage for tomorrow morning in the darkness
created by the now set sun.

The two of them had to get all of the Heroes’ eyes on him or there would be the chance to
actually lose more teammates in the game tomorrow during the “kidnapping” and break out if
things went wrong. They would only get the one shot at it since there was no way that the
Heroes would fall for the trick for a third time. As it was, he was uncertain that they would
fall for it this time, even with Midoriya’s assurances.

He let out a calming breath behind his mask.

Like Magician, he was being set up as a pawn to be taken. Unlike the man, he carried hidden
on him their means of escape.

‘It’ll be fine, Fumi! We will be the ultimate agents of darkness!’

‘Just… Try and stay in character.’

He shivered slightly at the dark chuckle his shadow gave as they peeled away from his body,
their form now dwarfing him under the cover of darkness. A shiver at the reminder that he
was hardly the one in control right now.

“Come out come out wherever you are little Heroes! It’s time to play~!”

A familiar snarl burst from the building as Bakugou appeared in the doorway shrugging off
the hand of Kirishima who had clearly failed to rein him back in. “Are you ready for me to
beat your asses again Bird-brain?”

Dark Shadow’s grin twisted in an unsettling way. “You are forgetting something,
Bakugou... The Night is our domain.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---
“Why aren’t you stopping him?”

Eijiro turned to Kendo with a clear look of defeat painted on his face. “You heard him.
Bakubro has made up his mind and clearly has no plan on listening to us anymore.”

One of the remaining class B boys (his name was Shoda right?) peaked out the door. “He
knows it is probably a trap right? That there is no way that they are out there by themselves
alone.”

Eijiro winced but before he could comment, Kaminari cut in. “I mean he is kinda right
though. That we are just going to lose if we just let the Villains do what they want without
challenging them.”

“He is also banking on the fact that Deku would have cut a deal with the Villain team so that
he could be the one to take Bakugou out himself. Something that given what Midoriya said
before he even picked the Villain team officially, I have to agree as being likely.”

Eijiro turned back to Iida who stood at one of the neighboring windows. “Now that you
mention him, I don’t think we have really seen Midoriya since this whole test started. It is
kinda od-”

He was cut off by a shockwave that blew out the glass of the doors and windows.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Yuga winced as the glass at the window he was at shattered, thankful for the protection of his
fashionable glasses of his costume. He had suspected much like the rest of his team that
Bakugou would not hold back once he realized just how powerful Dark Shadow was at night
but this seemed excessive.

He blinked as he registered the fact that despite the light from the blast that Dark Shadow
was still somehow overpowering Bakugou.

Or perhaps not.

Oh dear, this could be a problem.

How were they supposed to break Compress out if the pair won their fight that they were
planned to lose?

As if hearing his worried thoughts, his phone lit up with a text from the Green Menace.

La Menace Vert:
 Back Kacchan up.

Don’t worry about the Heroes reprimanding you later for going against orders to stay
put.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Katsuki winced as the recoil of his explosions began to make his arms ache. Clearly, he
needed to add more recoil protection for the large blasts if it was going to hurt this badly to
use them since he had overestimated their ability to finish off the living shadow in one go. He
would not have the luxury of being wrong in that kind of level of misjudgment out in the real
world.

If fucking sucked though that he might actually lose this fucking game before he and Deku
got their fight though because the rest of the Hero teams were being fuck cowards. After all,
if Deku was going to fight him, surely he would have cut in by now?

His thoughts were broken by a pained scream from the shadow as a beam of light sliced
cleanly through it. Katsuki risked a glance back to the agency to see fucking Glitter Bomb of
all people was the one coming to his aid. “Sorry to cut in mon ami but I believe I am the
better match to shine bright against this darkness. While I play the beauty to this beast,
perhaps you could capture their host?”

Katsuki felt his grin return more feral. “That I can fucking do.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Atsuhiro’s eyes widened as he watched as the Devil Lovers were carted past his cell not long
after the sounds of nearby explosions tapered off by a smug-looking Katsuki and the smiling
face of their Hanged Man.

“Interesting.”

His current guard, Mudman, gave him a questioning look. “Not expecting that?”

Seeing little harm in being truthful, Atsuhiro shrugged. “I had assumed I would be the only
piece sacrificed in Death and Tower’s game. Especially the Devil Lovers given that as soon
as those two handling them were out of the game, they would have been impossible for your
team to stop.”

He considered that. “Of course, perhaps that was the point? Give your team a fighting chance
against them for the sake of fairness like sacrificing myself?”
Mudman gave him a questioning look. “You seem fairly confident that the Villains are going
to win.”

He smiled behind his mask. “But of course. After all, how can your team hope to win when
you have no idea who you are playing against?”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

“Sako’s got a point there. We could end this test right this second honestly with how bad of a
lead the Villains have over the Heroes. Even if the rest of the kiddos somehow managed to
find and capture all of the Villain team members, they’ve earned enough Villain points and
the Heroes have lost enough opportunities for points that the Villains definitely won early this
morning.”

Shouta watched Nedzu just nod. “Still, we need to let things play out. Think of it as just a
good learning opportunity instead of a test.”

Shouta snorted. “A learning opportunity for you. Psychological torture for the Hero team
students. The Problem Children aren’t taking any half measures and at this point, I can only
assume they took your list of ways to earn points as a personal challenge to complete as
opposed to just different paths to take.”

Kan who had arrived not long before the recent fight, paled sharply. “You think that they
actually going to-”

“At this point? Yes. The real question is who Midoriya is going to do it to. Why do you think
we basically kicked Yagi out of here for the rest of this test?”

“But those goals are only on there to check the Villain team members' reactions to them even
being on there. They can’t actually do them without breaking the rules of the test about
hurting their classmates.”

Shouta felt Hizashi’s hand grab and tighten on his wrist. “The only rule about that is to just
make sure to try to not permanently maim the other students. So long as they all come out in
mostly one piece and should have no long-term injuries, it is fair game.”

“But it is literal torture.”

“And is something that the Commission has no issue in dealing out themselves to those they
consider deserve it.”

Kan fell silent under Nedzu’s pointed comment.

Shouta ignored the exchange in favor of the list in front of him of the ways that the Villain
team could win points to read the ones left.
 Recover all lost items from the Heroes.

Prison break.

Torture someone.

Successful ransom of a hostage.

Film a murder.

Fake the death of Villain.

Kill all Heroes to take the city.

After the past two days, that was it.

After the past two days, they had already committed so many things from the list that they
had not been expecting.

Forcing someone to commit suicide.

The Mass bombing.

Killing all the Vigilantes.

Stealing all the target items.

At this point, he was more wondering how Midoriya was planning on stretching things out to
last the remaining three days.

Assuming that he didn’t draw out the torture of his victim for too long.

Shouta hated the sickening feeling of relief that his son at least was safe from that as a
member of the Villain team. “When it comes time for that, we need to be ready to interfere if
Midoriya takes it too far.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Hitoshi fell into the nest of bedding and electronics that his boyfriends and girlfriend had
made out of their bedding in the small more private room. “So is everything ready for
tomorrow then?”

Izuku gave a brief thumbs up, not looking up from the phone in his other hand that he was
quickly testing on. “You get in contact with Tsu then?”

“Yeah, finally. She had to wait until all the girls not on night shift went to sleep before she
could sneak out to meet me to double-check the voice modulator. In hindsight, I should have
been the one to hang back at base earlier to meet her.”

Neito yawned and propped himself up. “Yeah, probably. We weren’t exactly thinking about
that earlier but yeah adjusting plans for that probably would have been a good idea.”

“Hey Ten Mill, the Heroes are beginning to wonder where you’re at since they haven't had
any sighting of you as Strength yet.”

“But Real Steel…” He smacked himself on the forehead. “Oh right, I didn’t think about the
fact that with us intercepting the call, that they would not have known I was involved in the
kidnapping. Ah, well, they will see me tomorrow while we do the livestream.”

“Do we know yet who will be joining Aoyama as one of the stars?”

Hitoshi watched the look of clear guilt that flashed over Izuku’s face at the question. “I had
him arrange things with Kirishima so that Uraraka out be the one guarding Atsuhiro and
Tokoyami when they break out but it will ultimately be up to them to decide.”

Mei gave a noise of clear approval. “Oh good! I was hoping for a chance to get back at her
for making you cry.”

That startled a sputter out of the now blushing Izuku. “Mei you can’t just say something like
that. We are literally talking about torturing someone!”

Hitoshi snorted as he reached around to tug the other boy into a hug. “Yeah, and we are
Villains.”

“Playing Villains.”

Neito exchanged a glance with Hitoshi. “But are we?”

Izuku stiffened. “What?”

“Are we just playing at this point? Izuku, that speech you gave yesterday… that didn’t sound
like you were just playing around. You meant it.”

Izuku gave a clear fake laugh as he began to shake slightly in Hitoshi’s arms. “You guys
really shouldn’t joke about-”

“Ten Mill, there aren’t any cameras watching. It is just us.”

The boy immediately crumpled. “You’re sure?”

Hitsohi snorted and nuzzled into the other boy’s neck. “You really think she wouldn’t know?”

That earned a more genuine laugh. “Right, stupid question.” His face dropped again. “You
want to do this for real? Become real Villains and hurt-”

“Help people, not hurt. Help the forgotten like your great-grandfather by working against the
system that hurts them. Tear things down to build them up for the better so no one has to
grow up dealing with the shit we and our friends have faced for being ourselves.”

They lapsed into silence following Nieto’s words as Izuku seemed to consider them.

“How many?”

Hitoshi felt a smirk cross his face. “Not including us? Todoroki for sure but I would not be
surprised by others. I have been very careful about feeling everyone out before coinciding
approaching them. I suspect after last night that Asui might be open to things after how she
acted when she found you during your panic attack as is likely the case with your cousin but I
have not had the chance with either of them. With how naturally Aoyama has taken to spying
as well, he might be one that we want to sway to our side if he is not already on it.”

That earned a snort from Izuku. “Given how happy he was to play spy, that might not be a
hard sell so long as one day he can have his dramatic reveal.”

The smile dropped again. “I hate that not only am I considering being an actual Villain but
that I want to.” He gave a bitter laugh. “How messed up is it that working as a Villain has
made me happier over the past few weeks than all the time I have put into trying to be a
Hero?”

Hitoshi tightened his hug as two more sets of arms wrapped around them. “It is because who
you have been pretending to be as a Hero is not really you I think but you as Tower is.
Someone who is a natural leader and planner, not just someone who rushes in to punch things
as hard as needed to stop things.”

“But that was just a show-”

“You can’t fake a presence like yours was during your speech. Even if you might not think it
was really you because you rehearsed it beforehand, that doesn’t change that it was you who
wrote that speech.”

Izuku turned slightly to look at Neito. “Do you think that too?”

Neito made a show of rolling his eyes. “Tower, do you really think I would have given up so
much control over the planning to you if I didn’t realize that you were better at it?” His gaze
dropped. “Honestly… I am not even sure what I even contribute to our group. You are the
mastermind, Zippy is the tech god and Judge is the one that knows people. Me-?”

“You are the pretty face obviously.”

Neito blushed as he shoved at Hitoshi. “I’m being serious.”

Mei snorted. “I think so was Judge, Chance. You are our front man so that we can work
without the attention falling on us.”

Izuku froze again as his eyes widened. “Like Shigaraki is for All for One…”
 ---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Tomura glared at the phone in his hand as it once more failed to connect. “Are you sure that
the guy gave you the right number? I keep getting a number not in service message.”

Giran shrugged. “He probably has his phone compressed right now for some reason. I’m sure
he will pick up eventually. Worse comes to worst, I can pass the message that you want to
meet him when I see him next.”

“I thought you said the guy was excited to join us for any plans on attacking UA again? Why
would he go no contact like this if that was true?”

Giran scratched his chin. “I mean, he did tell me the last time he saw me a few days ago that
he was going to be working a job this week but I didn’t expect him to completely drop off the
map for all of it since he hasn’t done that before. I’m sure I’ll get a good story out of him
about it later.”

“Remember there is no need to rush Tomura. The Summer Training Camp is still well over a
month away.”

Tomura winced slightly at the gentle reminder from Sensei. “I know, I know. I am just a bit
annoyed since I had thought this would be a straightforward thing from what Giran said
about this Mr. Compress guy...”

Chapter End Notes

As some of you might have noticed in some of my other fics main summaries, I am
putting most my fics on hiatus to narrow in on a few fics that either I am closer to at
least an ending (even if I will likely pick the story back up in another part like I have
with a few other fics), or have been possessed by the demon that is my muse to write
(my muse likes dragons a lot apparently lol). I will slowly pick back up all the other fics
as I knock these three out. This fic should be the first one to finish since it currently has
the fewest chapters left. That is right, you are seeing correctly, there is in fact a final
number of chapters on this now officially. Technically, I have had that set number
planned from basically the start of chapter four since originally I was not sure how many
chapters there would be in the lead-up to the start of the test but I never actually got
around to showing all of you. Whoops. That is fixed now at least so you can see where
we are in the story (not even halfway). Still, even with that in mind, this fic is the closest
to the "end" out of all of my ongoing stuff outside of Eyes on the Future which has a less
rigid outline than this one so I won't be able to give an accurate final chapter count until
likely a chapter or two before the end.

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Currently Recruit Midoriya Izuku (Eventually Asui Tsuyu)
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
 The Magician - Reversed
Chapter Summary

“Manipulation, poor planning, untapped talents”

Chapter Notes

Originally posted July 31, 2023

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Toshinori watched with a hint of jealousy as the other three began to get drunk as they sought
to avoid the reality of the recent revelations now relocated to the privacy of Enji’s home. The
discovery of confirmation to Toshinori’s own fears as well as another jarring truth as they
worked out a full family tree. Not only were the two other heroes blatantly the great-
grandsons of All for One but their father’s sister was the mother of both his own former
Sidekick Mirai and the woman who had married Inko’s one biological brother. A family that
had been dead for a decade and a half at this point.

Well, all but one of them.

Toshinori snorted to himself as he stared down at the photo of the young boy who was likely
the true identity of Shigaraki Tomura. Shimura Tenko. “No wonder the DNA test came back
with him so closely related to Izuku.”

Inko gave a sad sigh as she tore her eyes off the picture of her nephew. “Given that he was
registered as Quirkless too, do you think his Quirk was also given to him? By All for One?”

Toshinori winced slightly. While the truth about his own Quirk was now open knowledge to
everyone in the room out of necessity, it was still jarring to hear someone new openly talking
about it. “I wouldn’t put it past him. That being said, we cannot also rule out All for One
paying off the boy’s doctor or someone else to give a false positive diagnosis for
Quirklessness and then just sat back and waited for the enviable. Decay is an extremely
volatile Quirk from what little we know about it. Regardless of which it was though, I can
only imagine how badly things went when it activated for the first time given the report about
the destruction of the property… and the lack of human remains despite the amount of blood
found…”

Enji dropped the tablet that he had been working on in favor of taking another swig of his
beer. “Do you think your Sidekick knew about all of this? Nao was his sister so he should
have been notified when it was discovered that she had died as his last known living family.”

Toshinori shrugged. “If he was, he never brought it up with me, though given he knew my
connection with his brother-in-law, and the fact I was avoiding learning what happened with
him after… our mother died to try and uphold her wishes, that might have been intentional.”

Houryu stared blankly out over the garden. “Someone is going to have to call him to at least
let him know about the Supervillain in our family tree. And someone not me should probably
tell Shuichi too since he won’t pick up if I try to call him.”

Enji groaned. “Shit, I just realized I am going to have to talk to Rei and the kids about this
mess after Shoto and Izuku are out of their final exam.”

Houryu turned back to give his older brother a puzzled look. “Are you sure that is a good
idea? Telling Rei that is, not the kids.”

Inko frowned. “I’m afraid I am out of the loop on that point. Why wouldn’t he?”

Enji grimaced. “Rei is a willing long-term patient in a mental hospital. Interned her there
after she suffered a mental break after we lost our eldest Touya and attacked our Shoto
mistaking him somehow for me which gave him that scar.” He tapped his own face where his
youngest son’s scar sat. “She has been able to check out for years now but has always been
too afraid of hurting our kids again to leave. It was only after Shoto himself started visiting a
few weeks ago that she started to actually consider doing so. He’s worried that she would
take the revelation that I am actually blood-related to a Villain to twist me into something to
fear again.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Hisashi paused in his work rearranging funds for his planned possible capture so that Tomura
and the Doctor would not have to worry about the Heroes freezing all of his own accounts
following the inevitable raid on his successor’s current home as an alert popped up on screen.
Someone was digging into the Shimura family.

How curious.

He quickly traced the data download to the requesting client device and toggle the
microphone on the device to transmit to his own system.

“No wonder the DNA test came back with him so closely related to Izuku.”

Hisashi froze at the sound of All Might’s voice. Cross-referencing the audio with the other
device’s display of an image of young Tomura before his Quirk had come in they had to be
talking about him… but who was Izuku?
A woman’s sigh cut in next before a voice began that he did not recognize. Likely not
someone that he had come across in relation to All Might before then.“Given that he was
registered as Quirkless too, do you think his Quirk was also given to him? By All for One?”

Hisashi would have winced if he could as he listened to All Might’s response with his own
thoughts on the theory. Every day he was thankful that Tomura himself had clearly never had
such a thought, even if it wasn’t true. Of course, given that he very clearly stress manifested
his Quirk before actively repressing his memories of the event, that was not too surprising…

Wait.

Quirkless too?

Did that mean that Izuku was the Ninth’s name then? Huh. What were the odds that All
Might would pick someone related to Tomura?

The Quirkless part was at least not too surprising given that Eighth was originally Quirkless
himself so it would not have been too out of character to have picked a Quirkless boy himself
as a successor for the Quirk. Especially given that he had previously no idea that Hisashi
himself was alive.

It was Endeavor's voice that derailed his train of thoughts given that he knew for a fact that
the man had previously been in the dark about the truth behind All Might’s Quirk.

“Do you think your Sidekick knew about all of this? Nao was his sister so he should have
been notified when it was discovered that she had died as his last known living family.”

That was at least less of a surprise. He had known about that connection for a while even if it
was clear that the Heroes talking on the other end had not.

“If he was, he never brought it up with me, though given he knew my connection with his
brother-in-law, and the fact I was avoiding learning what happened with him after… our
mother died to try and uphold her wishes, that might have been intentional.”

Hisashi noted the clear trepidation in All Might’s voice at openly referring to the Seventh as
such. Interesting. He had never called her that aloud before. Hisashi had to wonder what had
changed there.

A third male voice that took him longer to place as belonging to Salamander chimed in after
an awkward pause on the other end. “Someone is going to have to call him to at least let him
know about the Supervillain in our family tree. And someone not me should probably tell
Shuichi too since he won’t pick up if I try to call him.”

As Endeavor groaned, likely in complaint about his Sidekick clearly indirectly asking him to
do it, Hisashi severed the audio connection and began the process of wiping his digital tracks.
That had been rather interesting at least.

Perhaps he would do a little digging later into All Might’s successor earlier than planned. It
was something to consider later. For now, he had funding to secure.
 ---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Atsuhiro was surprised to watch as one of his own marbles bounced across the floor to young
Uraraka’s feet. A glance to Tokoyami who had to have tossed it from his own cell confirmed
the request that was being asked for him.

With a snap of his fingers, the girl in question was attacked by the formerly compressed
drone that was already sparking worryingly. With her sufficiently distracted, he was able to
quickly compress the glass wall in front of him and then the girl before snagging the drone
out of the air before Hatsume’s device could explode.

Tokoyami gave him an impressed look. “With how fast you did that, I am surprised that you
did not escape on your own already.”

Atsuhiro shrugged. “I figured that if I was given up intentionally, I should stay put. How did
you drop that marble from your cell?”

Tokoyami pointed up to the metal grating at the top of the cell. “Your marble was small
enough to fit through the mesh.”

Dark Shadow curled out to perch over his shoulder. “I shoved it through!”

Atsuhiro smiled at them as he removed the door to their cell. “Ah, well it was a job well done
by both of you. I take it that this is my cue to break us out?”

The boy nodded before pulling out a folded-up piece of paper from his boot. “Before you
compress me to carry us out, read this.”

Atsuhiro took the note and quickly scanned it.

Magician,

No need to worry about cameras given that Fool has you covered. However if you
would be so kind as to collect all the items tagged by trackers and bring your former
guard on your way out, that would be much appreciated.

-Tower

Before Atsuhiro could ask, Tokoyami handed him the marble he recognized as holding the
transponder. The one that would likely explode within a minute of him uncompressing it.
Fun.

“Well, I did say that I wanted a challenge…”

“And breaking out of here unnoticed won’t be one?”

Atsuhiro chuckled before giving a small bow. “I am a Magician, my dear Devil. Vanishing
acts are what I do. Honestly, the only trouble will be finding everything before the timer runs
out.”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Yuga gave Asui a relaxed smile as they walked out of the agency the next morning on their
“patrol.” Finally, he would be able to stop pretending to be one of the Hero team members.
The thought of the freedom from the extra layer of stress he had inflicted upon himself by
agreeing to play along with this plot was liberating.

He wondered if it would feel the same to come clean with Midoriya about being forced to spy
for All for One when the boy finally admitted to himself that he did actually want to be a
Villain. Because there was no doubt in Yuga’s mind that the other boy would one day have
that realization with how he had relaxed so comfortably into the role of Villain team leader.
Maybe if he was lucky, when the boy eventually went rogue, All for One would decide he
would rather have Yuga spy on Midoriya over spying on UA.

“You seem cheerful this morning, kero.”

Yuga flashed the girl another smile before lowering his voice intentionally ineffectively so
that Iida who was monitoring all comms currently could still clearly hear him if he had
decided to tune in. “It is for the civilians' benefit. If they see that we are not worried, they will
not worry themselves.”

She hummed in agreement. “But you are worried, kero.”

“Oh horribly so but alas that is life. That is why I am trying to think on the bright side of
things. For example, we have three of the Hands sitting in our cells, two of which I helped
take down personally.”

Asui gained a thoughtful look. “I’m not sure if we should really count Tokoyami and Dark
Shadow separately. They are sort of a package deal, what with Dark Shadow being
Tokoyami’s Quirk and all.”

Yuga frowned. “They are very much separate entities mon ami. Dark Shadow is not even the
same gender as Tokoyami, remember?”

She gained a real look of realization. “Oh, I didn’t know that. What are Dark Shadows
pronouns then?”

“They are agender so they/them if you need to. Do most of our class not know?”

She shrugged. “We will have to ask around later. Why do you know since I am not sure
anyone else in the class does?”
Yuga gave her a puzzled look. “I asked? I noticed back during our first week that Tokoyami
seemed to favor referring to Dark Shadow exclusively by their name which seemed a bit
excessive at times.”

“Huh. Out of curiosity, outside of the test, would you say that you three were friends then?”

Yuga shrugged, seeing little harm in being honest. “Dark Shadow and I at least, for all that
they dislike how I twinkle. I do join them both for lunch quite often. Dark Shadow shares a
love for a romance series that I am fond of, so they have been borrowing my books to read
while Tokoyami and I eat. Tokoyami I fear might be annoyed with me getting his constant
companion hooked on the series though from some of the complaints that he has raised about
the two of us discussing the ships.”

“Ships? What do boats have to do with anything?”

That startled a laugh out of Yuga. “Relation ships , mon ami. I take it from that question you
are not involved in any real fandom spaces online or surely you would have heard the term in
that context before.”

She gave a small blush. “Oh, now I feel silly. Yeah, I don’t really get involved with that sort
of stuff even if I am aware that it exists. The romantic relationships of other people, fictional
or otherwise have just never interested me much.”

Yuga chuckled. “That is fair enough. While I personally live for interpersonal drama like that,
I am more than aware that it is not everyone’s cup of tea. Especially given that it really is not
Tokoyami’s.”

Before she could respond, a flash of light from an alley signaled that it was finally showtime.
Yuga made a show of wiping his head in that direction to spot Midoriya in normal jogging
clothes pause in the entrance of an alley before darting inside it as Yuga raised his hand in a
point and clicked the comm’s ping function to get Iida’s attention. “I just spotted Midoriya in
street clothes run into an alley just North of the intersection of King and 4th. Froppy and I are
in pursuit.”

“Copy that, Can’t Stop Twinkling. Backup is heading your way. Don’t engage if you can help
it, just keep on his tail.”

“Roger that!” He gently shoved Asui to pick up the pace as their performance began.

The moment that they were out of sight, Midoriya stopped and held out a hand for Yuga who
happily went boneless as the other boy tossed him over his shoulder to play dead to Asui’s
wide-eyed amusement.

After just a short beat, Midoriya began to speak as they pulled open the door leading up to
Sako’s apartment. “Ah, excellent work Strength. If you could carry him for me, that would be
appreciated.”

There was an explosion of shouts over the comms from the Heroes before he clicked his
tongue chidingly at them. “Now, now. There is hardly any need for that. I’m afraid you will
have to wait just a little longer to discover the fate of your missing party. In the meantime,
however, I believe you have a more pressing issue. After all, what happened to your prisoners
and their guard?”

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Atsuhiro chuckled to himself as he heard the panicked shouts below him as most of the
Heroes rushed out down the street from his view out of one of the upper windows. It seemed
that their escape was still completely unnoticed even nearly an hour later. It had taken a little
longer than expected since he had been forced to comb through the evidence locker visually
to find everything since he had barely avoided the transponder blowing up when he had
briefly used it to find the general direction of the items near the start.

Now to just find a window to crack open enough to marble himself through.

---WGIO-WGIO-WGIO---

Izuku was amused at the slightly gobsmacked look on Tsu’s face as he dropped Aoyama onto
the couch. “How did you do that?”

Aoyama pouted at Izuku before giving her a questioning look. “Do what?”

“Go limp like that. It was impressive.”

Izuku hummed. “Wednesday has put a lot of hours into practicing his performance. While it
was not likely that we would be seen during that part, I thought it would be better safe than
sorry.”

“Wednesday?”

Aoyama flashed her a smile. “It is a reference to the god Odin who was the original Hanged
Man. Most of us have alternate Villain names inspired by our Arcana since some of the
names are a bit long and some wanted to be called something else in more casual settings
since Chance and La Menace Vert assigned all of our Arcana to us from the start. The Arcana
are more our titles than Villain names.”

Izuku huffed. “I’m not a Green Mence, Wednesday.”

Aoyama chuckled. “Well, what else am I supposed to call you? You are the only one who did
not pick an actual Villain name besides your Titles.”
Izuku considered that. It was a good point. After all, he could hardly go on to operate as a
proper Villain after the test if he didn’t pick something else or all of his work in the shadows
would immediately be linked back to himself. As he blinked back into focus, he saw the look
of shock on Tsu's face.

“I just said that out loud didn’t I?”

Aoyama, who Izuku was both unsurprised to see was unbothered by that fact and annoyed
that he wasn’t at the same time, chuckled. “Just a bit mon ami.”

“You can relax, Ten Mill. The teachers are clearly more focused on the Heroes' side of things
from the cameras that are active. I just glitched out the camera and took the feed down in a
way that corrupted the last couple of seconds before your mess up. While Nedzu could
probably recover the data if he notices right away, so long as he doesn’t notice the corrupted
footage by the end of the day, it will be gone-gone.”

Izuku looked back over to Mei who had been hacking away on her laptop at the dining room
table to cover for Atsuhiro’s escape. “Thank you.”

She glazed up to give him a smile. “Of course. What else are girlfriends for but to help you
get away with your criminal activity.”

“Midoriya, you are seriously considering-”

“Decided and yes, I plan on doing some of this for real. Before you freak out, just know that
actually hurting people who don’t deserve it is not something I am planning on doing. Just…
overthrowing the current system of doing things to help people more in the long run.”

Tsu gave Aoyama a pointed look. “And you already knew this?”

He shrugged. “Technically no but I had my suspicions.”

“And you don’t see anything wrong with this.”

Aoyama’s expression crumpled slightly. “To be absolutely frank with you, Midoriya scares
me enough that I couldn’t care less which side he was on, just that I know I want to be on it.”

Izuku flushed. “I’m not that scary am I?”

Aoyama paused as if considering him for a long moment. “Do you want the full list?”

“List?”

Mei snorted. “That means yes.”

“Alright.” Aoyama held up a hand and started counting off fingers. “The first time we met,
you went from running around like a chicken with no head to totaling the Zero Pointer in less
than a few seconds, broke three out of your four limbs in the process and were clearly
planning on breaking the fourth to catch yourself before Uraraka slowed your fall. The
second, you threw a softball with enough force to shatter a finger and then instead of going to
 see Recovery Girl right away, you instead continued with the test. The next day you then
nearly brought a building down on yourself for just the chance that you might win. But not
only that but you had the forethought to redirect both your and Bakugou’s attacks in such a
way to help your teammate several floors above you. Then during the USJ attack you not
only picked a fight with the Nomu designed to take out All Might himself but with Shigaraki
who would have killed you had Snipe not shot him when he did. And don’t even get me
started with the mess that was the Sports Festival or the fact I am like, 95% sure that you
chose to pick a fight with the Hero Killer Stain and won. Add all of that to the stuff I have
seen and heard you do since this test started even the planning stages and can you blame
me?”

Izuku’s face felt extremely hot as Aoyama recounted all of that. “Oh.”

Tsu seemed to consider all of that. “I think you are underselling what happened during the
USJ. It was his quick thinking that probably saved most of our lives down in the courtyard.”

Izuku reminded of the other girl, snapped back to look at her. “You are not going to say
anything, are you?”

She considered that. “For now, no. I need to think about it but you are my friend so I will give
you the benefit of the doubt for now. That being said, if you did anything like the bombing in
real life, I would not hesitate to inform the other Heroes of the truth.”

Izuku waved her off. “I have no plans on hurting anyone innocent, now or in the future.
While I might be planning to be a Villain, I have no intentions of becoming a monster .”

“Heads up, Nedzu is turning on the cameras!”

Before he could respond, Nedzu’s voice cracked out of her laptop speakers. “Can I inquire
what happened to the cameras in here?”

“I was wondering how long it would take you to notice while I was playing with the Hero
Agency cameras.”

“Yes, well done on that Hacking but I do ask that you merely affect the camera feeds locally
as opposed to everywhere in the future. I did not appreciate you hiding Sako’s movements
from us.”

Izuku looked away from the laptop as the door opened to the apartment to reveal Atsuhiro
himself. “I’m not too late am I?”

Izuku rushed over and pulled Aoyama to his feet. “Not yet but we should move into the vault.
It is only a matter of time before the Heroes start searching door to door.”

Chapter End Notes

Aoyama was seriously considering bluntly telling Izuku that he works for All for One
and that he scares him so much because of how alike they are but thought better of it
because of the others in the room and the possibility of it being overheard on cameras.
He didn't, but he really wanted to.

Mask Cheat Sheet

A reminder:

0 - The Fool - Hatsume Mei

1 - The Magician - Sako Atsuhiro (Mr. Compress)
2 - The High Priestess - Yaoyorozu Momo
3 - The Empress - Tokage Setuna
4 - The Emperor - Awase Yosetsu
5 - The Hierophant - Shiozaki Ibara
6 - The Lovers - Dark Shadow
7 - The Chariot - Shoji Mezo
8 - Strength - Currently Recruit Midoriya Izuku (Eventually Asui Tsuyu)
9 - The Hermit - Koda Koji
10 - Wheel of Fortune - Recruit Monoma Neito
11 - Justice - Tsuburaba Kosei
12 - The Hanged Man - Aoyama Yuga
13 - Death - 1-B Villain Leader Monoma Neito
14 - Temperance - Todoroki Shoto
15 - The Devil - Tokoyami Fumikage
16 - The Tower - 1-A Villain Leader Midoriya Izuku
17 - The Star - Yanagi Reiko
18 - The Moon - Kuroiro Shihai
19 - The Sun - Kaibara Sen
20 - Judgment - Shinso Hitoshi
21 - The World - Jiro Kyoka
End Notes

Updates happen when they happen

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