~O~

A few minutes after Shigaraki attacked Midoriya...

All For One was standing on the sidelines, looking at the destroyed building with an unreadable expression. He had already moved the other villains to a safer place and was now waiting for either Shigaraki or Midoriya — depending on who won the battle — to show up so he could take his next step.

And speak of the devil, the winner showed up,

"Ah, you're back. I take it went well then?" All For One turned to look at the boy, smiling.

"You don't have to worry about him anymore... Master." Shigaraki replied, smirking, "He's nothing but dust now... His death will be such a good story to tell to UA. I can't wait to see their reactions... Won't that be amazing?"

"Mhm. Maybe it'll be better than to have him as a villain." All For One nodded, "Come on, we have places to be now, Tomura..."

Shigaraki only stood there until All For One warped them both to where the rest of the League was.

Didn't he say he'd take care of all the nuisances?

He did. And he was so glad to see his plan going smoothly.

No one has to worry about Izuku Midoriya anymore.

No one has to...

~O~

"Will someone kindly explain what's going on here?" Aizawa asked to the seven students and two Pro Heroes who just fell from the sky and into UA's training grounds. They already sent Best Jeanist to a nearby hospital. Thankfully, he was still alive.

None of them spoke but only exchanged nervous glances at each other. Almost all of UA's teaching staff — and the principal — were standing in front of them, waiting for an answer that could help the situation.

Now, if it was just the students from Class-1-A — minus Shinsou because he has no idea what kind of problem child he was yet — Aizawa would have understood everything without them speaking another word. But, it's not everyday that Class-1-B is also involved in their activities. And of course, not forgetting the fact that the number one and the number two who weren't affiliated with the school one bit were here as well.

When no answer came, Aizawa spoke himself, "Shinsou?" He looked at the purple haired boy for an explanation.

"Um..."

Shinsou bit his lower lip nervously and took another glance at his classmates before looking back at his homeroom teacher who perked an eyebrow, waiting for a reply.

"We... Uhm, we were told to follow Endeavor in his mission... And rescue Midoriya from the villains... I don't think any of us had a clear idea of what we were doing because Hawks said we weren't supposed to rescue him... We were just following orders..." Shinsou replied looking down, trying his best to be honest and at the same time not to give any details about Midoriya's planning.

"Orders by who?" Aizawa asked.

"Er..."

"The Commission." Endeavor backed them up, "And I think I've told you all about that earlier."

"And Young Midoriya?" All Might asked with a concerned expression.

That question hit Todoroki like a thousand bricks.

He was the last person who saw Midoriya. He was the only one there. He saw Shigaraki using his quirk on the green haired boy. He couldn't do anything to help him. He left him there alone. He saw him beginning to turn to literal dust. Yet, he was helpless. He couldn't believe that he left his first friend to die alone. He felt so, so guilty for leaving him there. If he was there, he could at least have fought the villain and the worst that could have been was a few injuries to the both of them...

Not this...

"Wasn't Todoroki the one who came in last...?" Monoma pointed out and everyone looked at the hetrochromatic boy for a reply.

Todoroki took a deep breath,

"Midoriya... He... He's g-gone..."

They only stared at him. Not even wanting to think about where he was taking it.

"Gone?" All Might asked, "Gone where? What exactly happened to him, Young Todoroki...?"

The retired hero was mentally begging for Todoroki to not say it. He hoped that the boy would tell him something like the villains took Midoriya to another place...! Or Midoriya ran away from them...! Something along those lines and not what was the most obvious coming from that statement. All Might wasn't sure if he was ready to take the news that his successor was... Dead.

Todoroki looked down, clenching his fists, "... I-I think we all know what I meant."

There was a moment of silence, no one said anything.

Nezu sighed, "Students, head to Recovery Girl's office, in case of injuries and back to your dormitories. We'll talk about this later."

"Endeavor, Hawks, my office. Give me a quick run down on the situation. Then you're both free." The principal added.

Everyone simply followed the instructions that were given.

~O~

Red eyes scanned the place.

It looked like a normal room. There wasn't anything there that could tell him why All For One decided to bring him there. Heck, he didn't even know what or where this place was!

Tomura Shigaraki turned to look at his so-called Master, "Um, why are we here?"

"Ah, you see how the heroes had a clear notion of our previous location?" All For One asked.

Shigaraki nodded.

"This is a completely unknown area to them. I have to keep you and your League here, hidden. And as far as transportation is concerned, I'll have Kurogiri know about all the necessary coordinates. This place has everything that you'll need, so don't worry about a thing." All For One explained, "May I also add the fact that there is a whole army of Nomus, underground, already prepared to rip apart the heroes on your command?"

Shigaraki's eyes widened, "B-But, Master, we didn't even start creating those Nomus! How did you—?"

"You're right at your place, Tomura. We were supposed to make an army of High ends... But you've already seen the circumstances we've been put through." All For One replied, "I had a feeling the boy might betray us... Even after he answered all those questions with honesty... So, I prepared a patch of about a hundred normal Nomus just in case."

Shigaraki took a moment to process what All For One just told him.

So, Midoriya wasn't the only one who planned ahead, huh? All For One was trying to play the same game as him, huh?

"Master," Shigaraki smiled, "... That's outstanding!!"

"Quite," All For One smiled, "You can progress your plan without any trouble... But there's this one thing."

"Hah?"

"When you retrieved a few villains along with me, there was this man; Kai Chisaki. I'm pretty sure you remember him." All For One stated. Why would All For One bring him up? He already stole his quirk. What else could he want from him?

Shigaraki nodded, impatiently waiting for the Symbol of Evil to proclaim his condition.

"I did some research and read his files... And I found something of my use. Something beneficial to all of us!" All For One said.

Shigaraki stared at him, curiosity rising in his system

"I want the girl alive."

...

Oh, he wanted Eri.

~O~

Endeavor sat there in his office, he just came back from UA after filling Nezu in about everything that happened.

The flame hero stared at the text he got from his son. And then back at the book he was given.

'C-9-4.'

Endeavor pondered for awhile; what could those numbers mean?

The book wasn't divided in sections so why was there a 'C'. The '9' and the '4' could easily refer to a page, paragraph or line. What was the purpose of the alphabet?

He then turned to page 9, line 4... It started with a 'C' and after that everything was blacked out.

He sighed and rubbed his thumb against the paper, growing impatient.

Suddenly, he felt something.

The blacked out part of the paper came off.

This wasn't ink... This was just a black sheet. How did he not notice that!?

There was a note in between the paper and the sheet.

The whole thing — that the heroes were supposed to do — was written out on it.

Whatever Mastermind was controlling their actions through cryptic books sure knew how to do his thing.

~O~

The following day at UA High...

Unlike the usually lively preparations that went on campus, things looked a lot more dull.

Since, everything that had recently happened have been kept a secret from most of the student body and the media, the one's who knew couldn't help but feel all the pressure on their backs.

A student was reported dead. The villains were planning a big attack. Only two Pro Heroes were doing something. Nezu could call of the festival any moment. And only they knew that.

The one's who went to save Midoriya from the villains told their other classmates about what happened. And for Todoroki, the hardest part to describe was to what happened to the green haired boy in the end, again.

It was a shock to all of them... But they were instructed to not act any different. And it was killing them to act like nothing happened.

On the other hand, Eri started to get worried when Midoriya didn't come to see her two days in a row. They usually hung around in his free time with Mirio!

But now he wasn't there...

Did something bad happen?

She asked Mirio but he said that he hasn't seen or heard from Midoriya in a while either.

She hoped he was fine.

Mirio just left her back at the teacher's dormitories as something came up from his classmates.

Eri sat down on the couch in the Common Area, alone, waiting for him to come back.

A warp gate appeared behind her.