"Kirishima, guess what?" Kaminari asked, grinning. 

The blond had been snooping around for weeks now, making sure to catch every possible detail on anything that could benefit him. He'd caught on to quite a bit, but he wasn't sure exactly how much to trust the stuff he got from Monoma Neito. Aside from him, though, the few things he'd managed to overhear from the new guy and Itona were pure gold.

"The other's from Itona's class forgave you?" Bakugou gave them a strange look, standing from his seat to join them. Kaminari mentally cursed the redhead.

"Who the hell is Itona?" Bakugou asked, scowling. "and forgive you for what?"

"Nothing," Kaminari said a little too quickly. "I crossed the line a little with this guy outside of school and his friends all came and gave me shit the next morning."

"And you let them," Bakugou sounded unimpressed. "why'd you tell Shittyhair and not the rest of us?"

"Actually, they ran into me first." Kirishima smiled sheepishly. "I basically played messenger boy..."

"Tell me who threatened you," Bakugou said. He got this grin on his face that made them feel weird. "those preppy assholes won't know what hit them."

"Hey guys," Isogai greeted, smiling softly. He turned to Bakugou. "are you okay? You seem... upset?"

Isogai tried his best to sound genuinely concerned. In actuality, he wanted to hear whatever Kaminari had found out. He probably already knew, but it was still worth hearing in case he didn't. He wasn't in either of the two classes the majority of his friends were in, so he figured that he missed a lot of the little things thanks to being absent.

He also didn't want anyone else to be killed, which might happen if Bakugou were to go and piss off any number of the ghouls in the top two classes. If he could prevent that from possibly happening to a classmate again, he'd gladly step in.

"None of your business." Bakugou sneered.

At the end of Isogai's second day at Rakuyama, he confronted Kaminari. He'd heard what had gone on and wanted to remind him that the threat was still valid on everyone's behalf. Kaminari had easily gotten the message. Just another ghoul on my back...

"He's just hearing about, y' know, the thing with me and Itona just before you transferred. He wants to bring it back up with everyone who got involved." Kaminari looked more worried than he sounded, causing Isogai to sigh.   

"He knew and I didn't?! Who are your friends?" Bakugou grumbled.

"Calm down," Isogai said softly. "Itona, Nagisa, and Karma told me about it."

"Nagisa and Karma?"

"Shiota and Akabane..?" Isogai said quietly. "guess they're going by their last names now. Anyway, Bakugou, don't do that. I heard that you called them preppy, but, Karma's basically a thug and Nagisa... well... that's a can of worms I don't wanna open."

"Yeah man," Kaminari agreed. "I heard from a former Kunigigaoka student in Class-E that Akabane used to go looking for people just to smash their faces in."

"Maybe just lay off this one," Kirishima offered.

Bakugou reluctantly accepted and went back to his seat with Kirishima. Kaminari went to follow them, but Isogai held him back. His light brown eyes seemed to go dark.

"What exactly were you going to tell Kirishima?" Isogai asked.

"Oh, just some stuff I heard from Uraraka and Monoma-"

"Kaminari," Isogai urged. "what exactly were you going to tell Kirishima?"

Kaminari sighed. "All of you guys are impossible to get passed, huh?" Isogai didn't answer. "apparently, Monoma's nuts about joining the Crows."

Isogai looked at him with a disappointed look on his face. That obviously wasn't all there was to it. Kaminari wouldn't have gotten so excited if that was all there was to it. From the way the blond was avoiding eye contact, too, Isogai had reason to believe that Kaminari was holding off.

"I get that we aren't close, but don't keep whatever you heard to yourself. Spill."

"...Monoma wants to join the Crows is what Uraraka told me. What he told me matches that, but apparently, he's with the Blood, who are rivals with the Crows! It sounds like Uraraka only knows the part about him wanting to basically infiltrate the Crows." Kaminari wracked his brain for a moment. "Also, after the thing with Yamaguchi, he thinks that the Crows recruit through some program here at Rakuyama, like a club or something. Aside from that, I heard from Uraraka who heard from Monoma who heard from someone who was eavesdropping that (Y/n) and Todoroki told Akabane and Shiota that the Dove who led the case on Yamaguchi is Todoroki's father!" 

Isogai paused for a moment. That was a lot to take in. There seemed to be a lot of turns in the grapevine, so he wasn't sure how true all of this was. That said, Kirishima had accidentally let it slip that Kaminari was good at getting information. Apparently, he'd turned down his acceptance into U.A. not because Rakuyama was better, but because he wanted to cut ties with a group who wanted to pay him to find, befriend, and rat out all the possible kakuja on campus—even staff.

That would obviously have to be challenging, seeing as only kakuja could sense kakuja, which meant that Kaminari had to be good. He probably wouldn't tell Kirishima anything that he had doubts about. 

Isogai couldn't help but be a little upset. He knew that news could travel fast—especially through Monoma (from what he'd heard and seen previously), but this had to have happened a couple of days ago. That meant that Nagisa and Karma knew that Todoroki's human relative was a Dove. Obviously, Enji Todoroki knew about Todoroki and (Y/n), so... no wonder they had been so sloppy and ruthless with their earlier killings. They've got a major Dove covering their backs.

He was going to have to have a word with them after school.

┈

"Wait, you're with the Blood?" Uraraka asked. "they're all the way in Tokyo, and I thought you wanted to join the Crows."

"I do want to join the Crows," Monoma said. "a better word might be infiltrate, though. I'll meet their head, rat him out, and maybe even hear what actually happened to Yamaguchi."

"That's... terrible. You that'll probably get the Crows' leader killed, right?" Uraraka sounded like she was going to be sick.

"Of course I know that," Monoma answered. 

"The Crows and Blood will be back at each other's necks like they were ten years ago." Uraraka saw a new type of glint in his eyes. She was definitely going to be sick now. "you're sick. Monoma, you need help."

"No, what I need is power." Monoma grinned. "and that's exactly what I'll get. Nobody will be able to trace anything back to me, but they'll all know me. I'll let them know that they were both framed, and I'll bring them together over their defeats. I'll have the Crows and the Blood under me. After that, I'll go after the Owls, which are close to the Blood. It'll be a new Monarchy for us ghouls, and you and I will be at the top."

"Why?"

"Remember when we were younger and you were just starting to understand that your family was poor? You said you wanted to be a princess back then." Monoma smiled softly and Uraraka's heart ached at how innocent he looked. "your parents have gotten back on their feet, but you never got your wish. I can give it to you now, but better, Ochako. You'll be a queen."

The world seemed to be crashing around her. She didn't want this at all, and his plan was already in full swing. She remembered a time about a year ago when Monoma was absent from her life a lot. Now, much too late, she wondered what he had been up to during that time.

┈

"Nagisa, Karma." Isogai confronted them after school, catching them with (Y/n) and Todoroki before any of them even left their classes. Nagisa could tell that he wasn't happy.

"Isogai, hey," Karma greeted. "what's up?"

Isogai just gestured to Todoroki, his eyes flooding black. They were the only ones in the room, and his hostility was obvious. Todoroki's eyes flared as well. Isogai turned to Nagisa and Karma again, only slightly less aggressive. He was fully aware that every person in this room could kick his ass, but he felt he needed to make a point.

"You guys knew and didn't say anything." Isogai did his best not to sneer. "his father's a Dove, guys. Why would you not tell anyone?"

"How do you know?" (Y/n) butted in, his ghoul's eye turned. 

"Through the grapevine," Isogai said dismissively. "but it's true, isn't it? You guys have a Dove covering your asses?"

"Yuuma," Karma warned.

"What? Why are you helping them? They have enough help," Isogai said.

Nagisa revealed his kagune, frowning. Isogai backed up.

"What 'grapevine' did you hear this through?" Nagisa asked. "I want names."

"I don't who heard your conversation, but the only other three people I know who know are Monoma and Uraraka from class-1 and a guy from my class," Isogai told them.

"Kirishima or Kaminari, Isogai?" Nagisa questioned. "those are the only other two ghouls in your class."

"Kaminari... but leave him be. I think we should befriend him."

"Why would we do that?" Todoroki asked.

"Kirishima let some stuff slip and let's just say he's good at gathering information. Like, he told me some other stuff."

"Like?" (Y/n) urged him to go on. Karma nodded.

"Monoma thinks the Crows recruit through a club here, and he's going to pretty much invade them for the Blood. From what I've heard about this Monoma guy, it's also safe to assume that he'll try to find out more about Yamaguchi and... well... do whatever a prick like him would do with that information."

"That'll basically cause the two organizations to go war again," Karma stated. 

"No shit, genius," Todoroki grumbled. 

"If things go to hell and Monoma gets caught, he'll rat us all out to save his own skin," Nagisa sighed. "what's the best way to prevent this crap without getting actively involved?"

"I wish we still had Ritzu, she'd give us ideas." Isogai ran a hand through his hair.

"Ritzu?" (Y/n) asked.

"Another time," Nagisa said. "now, let's assume the Crows do gather members through Rakuyama. We need to know everything Yamaguchi was involved in. Any ideas, Karma?"

"We can't ask Tsukishima. He'll have a meltdown and won't tell us anything. I know that Yamaguchi wasn't a part of any of the formal clubs, if any. He was excused from the fair for those...wait. Yachi's close to Tsukishima and I'm pretty sure she was close to Yamaguchi. She might know something."

At that moment, Yachi entered their classroom, a nervous look on her face. They all looked are her, surprised. She frowned slightly. "Sorry, I was eavesdropping... but, I can help."

"Who are you?" Isogai asked. Nagisa elbowed him.

"That's Yachi," Todoroki muttered.

"Nevermind."

"It's fine." Yachi turned to Karma. "I can't tell you where to find the Crows, but, if there's anything else you need me to tell them, I can."

"Are you..?"

"No," Yachi lied. They all seemed convinced. "I just know a guy."

"Alright, that's great. Just tell them the stuff regarding Monoma, and, well, not the stuff about me?" Todoroki said.

"Yeah, got it." Yachi nodded. "I've actually got to go, so I'll see you guys tomorrow! Meet me in the courtyard tomorrow before school."

┈

Yachi filled in some papers on her clipboard, sitting next to Kiyoko for the majority of practice. The squeaking of shoes on the gym floor and the joyous/argumentative yelling were somewhat calming. When practice was finally over, she stayed behind instead of leaving with Kiyoko, Tanaka, and Nishinoya. Asahi and Sugawara stayed behind as well, catching her concerned look.  

"What's wrong? Are the guys in your class still gossiping about Yamaguchi?" Suga asked.

"No... this is different," Yachi answered.

"Is everything okay?" Asahi questioned, obviously concerned.

"No. This guy in my class, Monoma Neito, wants to join the Crows, but, he's a part of the Blood." Yachi sighed. "he wants to rat out the head and basically cause a massive conflict." 

"If this Monoma kid goes here, how'd he manage to join the blood?" Asahi asked. "they're through Nekoma."

"That doesn't matter. What matters is-" they all heard quick footsteps outside- "what was that?"

"Was someone listening?"

"I didn't sense any other ghouls, and I didn't smell a human..."

"An animal?" Asahi sounded hopeful.

"What if it was a kakuja?" Yachi asked. 

She hated to be the one to say it, but it was better to introduce that possibility sooner rather than later. The only people who would be here this late were other people on their team. If someone was listening, then that meant that there might be a kakuja on their team. The question, though, wasn't so as "who," as much as it was "what would they do with that information?"

┈

(2356 Words)