Spinner wasn't sure how the LOV would take the news that Kitsune had told him.... The answer turned out to be mixed.

It made little difference to Compress, or Silk, who remained silent and depressed.

Medea also didn't care.

Twice didn't seem to have an definitive opinion.

Toga was excited, but time had cooled her passion for Stain, so beyond hoping they'd run into him, she didn't have much to say.

Shigaraki had the most reason to be concerned--Stain could threaten his whole operation.

But since nothing had been heard about him, he said maybe Stain would just retire.

No one else believed that, but they couldn't exactly track him down.

At a loss, Spinner asked Mirko what she thought.

Her answer: "I think it would be bad if he started working again. Especially for me."

Spinner didn't know how to read that. Why was she so depressed?

Medea couldn't get any answer out of her to that--she just denied being depressed or else said nothing at all.

They finally asked Shigaraki to just ask her.

"Why would I do that?" he grumbled.

"Because this started after she had her little blow up at you," Medea said. "Silk told me what happened, but she apologized later, right?"

"She did," Shigaraki said distantly.

"So she should be all right, then," Spinner said. "This just isn't normal."

"And if it has to do with you, you have to fix it," Medea said. "You know, I think she let me hit her yesterday in training because she wasn't paying attention, and she didn't even get mad. She just said it was a good hit."

"How is that suspicious?" Shigaraki said.

"Have you ever fought Mirko hand to hand?" Medea said, raising an eyebrow.

"She said something really weird about Stain too," Spinner said. "Like it also sounded like she thought she'd be in danger if he came around us."

"You'd like to meet your idol, wouldn't you?" Medea said. "Lethe and I kind of thought he was cool at first too. I mean, he was all over. But we weren't really for the murdering part."

"If you can't embrace all of what he does, you're not a true fan," Spinner said.

"Should I do drugs because pop icons do them, then?" Medea shot back.

Spinner was caught off guard. "Well--"

"You're the type of fan who'd do that, aren't you? I bet you'd change your hair gel if Stain used a different brand," Medea mocked him.

"Don't make fun of me!" Spinner said.

"Enough!" Shigaraki startled them by snapping. "I really don't see how this is my problem. Stain is more of a concern for us because we've been inactive for so long.... Now that the Originals are out of the way, we can change that...at least once we're sure they're out of the way. We should give it a few more weeks, probably. The heroes won't need to worry about him if he doesn't do anything though."

"Well, if he did he'd be caught again," Medea said. "But do you think that would stop him?"

"Nothing would stop him," Shigaraki admitted.

"Yikes..." Medea shivered.

"Why is it always one delay or another, one problem after the next?" Shigaraki griped to himself.

* * *

Mirko was staring into space that evening, replaying the mission she'd been on that day...

She'd been asked to help Best Jeanist and Ryoko handle a large job a few cities away, and had obliged.

She'd performed mechanically on it, with none of her usual snark other than few half-hearted quips here and there, and the other two top Pros kind of noticed.

"You see oddly calm today," Best Jeanist said. "Are you sick or are you just finally realizing you need to correct your image?"

Mirko didn't answer him.

"Jeanist, don't you think that's a little harsh?" Ryoko had said. "If something is wrong, you can tell us, Mirko. I don't want anyone to fight injured.... What's that bandage from? Major fight we didn't hear about?"

"It's nothing." Mirko brushed her wound. Which hurt a lot...

"It looks like it was a bad hit," Ryoko said. "Seriously, we have it if you aren't at your A-game."

"I'm fine. Just busy," Mirko said.

But she didn't think they were convinced.

She shook her head at herself, remembering it.

Then realized Shigaraki had come in while she was distracted, and she nearly had a heart attack.

Trying to hide her surprise, she glanced up. "Medea's not around."

Shigaraki just stared at her like he was trying to figure out something.... Okay, it was getting creepy now.

"Quit staring at me." She stood up. "I'm not about to explode.... I'm just going to turn in."

She began to leave the room.

"Wait." Shigaraki sounded like he hated his life. "Spinner and Medea say you're acting weird."

"And they told you to deal with it because you're the boss? Well, you can tell them to piss off," Mirko said. "I don't need their intervention." She looked at her feet. "Anyway, it won't do any good."

"That makes it sound like there is a problem. Does it have to do with Stain?"

"That's just icing on the cake," Mirko said bitterly. "But I don't want to talk about it, especially not with you."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Now offended.

"You know what I mean." Mirko pulled a classic woman line.

"I have no clue." Shigaraki's frustration was real.

Mirko didn't want to talk about it...or did she?

"It's nothing to do with the League," she finally said. "I'm just disappointed in myself, and I'm trying to live with it. That's all."

"If that's all, then why the change in behavior?" Shigaraki asked. "Everyone's tired of you moping around."

"I didn't think anyone would care," Mirko said flatly. "And I'm not moping."

"You are."

"I am not! Shut up!"

"Fine. Call it what you want, then. Something is off." Shigaraki put his hands together like he was ready to blow a fuse. "It's what Hawks said, isn't it?"

"What? Oh no, I never even gave that a second thought." Mirko waved dismissively. "He's so stupid. He's just pushing his guilt onto me, like Shine always says about him. I never realized he was such an insecure pill before. He hides it so well with that nice, charming routine.... Then again, I'm not one to talk..." She frowned to herself.

"That, that right there is what's weird." Shigaraki finally identified it.

"I don't think you would get it even if I tried to explain," Mirko said tightly. "Not the most sympathetic of people...and anyway, it's a Hero thing."

Silence.

"Fine." Shigaraki was tired of this. "Don't talk about it. I don't care."

"Then why did you ask?"

"Because I try to keep things running smoothly, and I don't want this to gum up the works!"

"Oh, so it's just about efficiency, huh?" Mirko seemed oddly mad about that for some reason. "Well, don't worry about that. It won't matter soon enough anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means....I don't know what it means," Mirko faltered. "I can't just quit.... This is my whole life.... Literally, I put everything into Hero work. I don't have a fallback plan....I like it anyway." She was talking to herself now. "But can I keep kidding myself about my qualifications? I guess I could fake it for the rest of my career, but is that really the way to be happy? Satisfied? It doesn't sound like it to me."

"What?" Shigaraki no longer understood what she was on about.

Mirko reflected she should really quit this habit of talking to herself out loud when other people were around.

"Nevermind what I just said." She waved dismissively.

"Why would you quit being a Hero?" Shigaraki was mystified.

"I can't," Mirko said. "literally.... That would ruin it all...but I may never not feel guilty about it again...even if I enjoy it."

That sounded kind of familiar too...but why?

"That...doesn't make sense," Shigaraki said. "And why the sudden change in personality?"

"Let's just say the blinders are off," Mirko said darkly. "Not sure how long it'll last. I guess I'll forget it eventually.... Lethe was right about one thing--I don't think people stay too long with what they don't like about themselves...but just now, I don't like anything about myself, so I might not get over that for a while. None of you concern, is it? I hope you're satisfied. Stop bugging me about it."

"Not that many people like themselves," Shigaraki said. Which was a true, though sad, fact. Especially in the League. "But you always seemed to be one of the annoying exceptions to that, and now you're not. It makes no sense."

And sudden personality changes were a concern after all the brainwashing going around lately, he thought. This was suspicious.

"Did someone brainwash you?" he said.

"What?" Mirko said.

"Of course that would make sense," Shigaraki told himself. "All heroes are brainwashed in a way. They just can't help what they do, like Compress and Silk said. Wired to blame themselves and get angry...but this time it's not at someone else..."

Really, for someone who had almost zero experience with people, that wasn't a bad set of conclusions.

But Mirko was appalled. "Brainwashed? I'm am not Brainwashed. What a load of s---!"

"There's no other rational explanation," Shigaraki said that with dead seriousness. "Someone should call Likstar. She's good at this."

"What--? No! That's the last person you can call!" Mirko almost blew a gasket.

"That's just what a brainwashed person would say." Shigaraki remembered Kurogiri yelling at them to leave him alone also.

"Are you stupid or something? I'm not--Stop!--Err!" Mirko kicked the innocent wall...cracking it.

[With all the walls she breaks, I hope she doesn't break the 4th wall one of these days.]

She stared at the crack for a second, then sighed. "I did it again.... I really can't stop..."

"Breaking walls?" Shigaraki didn't get it.

"Look, I'm not brainwashed." Mirko suddenly was very tired sounding. "I can't talk to Shine right now, though...not after how I acted around her."

"What way was that...?" Shigaraki thought, nothing that unusual...

"Are you kidding? Or do you just think it's normal to treat people that way?" Mirko said. "She needed help, and I couldn't help her.... If that wasn't bad enough, I actually had the gall to...to make it worse." She shook her head fiercely. "I couldn't look her in the face, because she'll act like nothing happened, I bet...or maybe she won't. Maybe her patience is limited after all.... That would be better. But I swear if she just acts like it was nothing, I'll die on the spot."

"Because she did nothing?" Shigaraki wasn't following.

"I was so useless on that whole mission..." Mirko leaned on the wall, defeated. "After all that waiting for a chance to get at them, I couldn't handle anything that happened...but if that wasn't enough humiliation...I got a little free look at how everyone thinks I am...and I couldn't argue with it. It was all true. All this time, I just thought people were whiners and wimps and didn't get it. But I think I was the one who didn't get it. I've made it through 26 years of life and never really taken a close look at myself." She looked at her hands. "I'm not a good Hero.... I don't even think I'm a good person anymore."

At least that made sense.

"Because of Likstar?" Shigaraki said.

"I guess that's just what made it clear, you know?" Mirko said. "Literally everyone handled that better than me. Freaking Compress handled it better. Even you did, and did I accept that? I could have at least shut up about it, couldn't I? No, I just had to double down on it. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!..."

She sank to the floor, hitting herself in the head.

Shigaraki was reminded of himself when he was younger.... He hadn't thought much about that for ages, but the gesture seemed kind of familiar.

"Ah, I shouldn't be saying it all out loud," Mirko sighed. "I knew I'd end up spilling if someone pushed me. Happy?"

[I relate so hard, Mirko.]

"I'm never happy," Shigaraki said dully, "but this still doesn't make any sense at all. What did you do that was so worthy of this reaction?"

Mirko actually looked up and stared at him like he'd asked her if elephants were orange.

"Are you fricking with me right now?" she said finally.

"I remember a bit of yelling, but that's hardly unusual," Shigaraki said, "and it's not like other people didn't get worked up. So what are you referring to?"

"I.... You.... You know, it's kind of twisted to mess with someone like this." Mirko scowled at him. "I know that's your thing, but geez, I thought you drew the line at mind games."

"What mind games? I seriously don't know what you're talking about."

"Did you just forget what led to that?" Mirko pointed to the gunshot wound.

"What did me walking off have to do with what you were talking about?" Shigaraki asked.

Mirko shook her head. "He can't be this stupid..." she said to herself.

Shigaraki finally remembered that she'd made a similar sort of apology at the time.... He hadn't thought much of it since. He was so used to people getting violent around him, that the idea of even bringing it up again had never entered his mind.

"Oh, that," he said finally.

Mirko realized he remembered and said nothing.

Silence.

"What does that have to do with Likstar?" Shigaraki finally asked.

"It's all of a piece," Mirko sighed. "Like I said before...I just can't work with others. I've solved every problem with violence or the threat of it since I was a kid. I can blame my neighborhood, but maybe I just liked it that way. I always did get a kick out of beating people up. I'm not even certain that's totally wrong--might as well like it if it's your job...but when I realized I literally have no other way to solve anything, I knew I messed up somewhere along the line. I can kick anyone's a-- anytime, but I don't know anything about being kind, helpful, or supportive. I've always looked down on people who think that's more important than being able to do your job, but when I saw Miss Joke handle the situation with Shine, it just...it clicked. Compassion is part of the job."

Shigaraki finally got that a little.

It was a good point actually. He'd had similar thoughts after witnessing Shine help Kurogiri.... Not that compassion was the word he would use, but that there was something to be said for knowing when not to take the forceful approach with someone.

He sat down next to the sofa, which was across from her. Thinking.

Mirko shook her head. "Sounds like a Hero problem, right? But that's what the League hates about heroes, isn't it? Too much emphasis on punching people, not enough on really helping them.... I could make the excuse that the public likes the glam slamming side of it, but that's not really an excuse for someone who's never liked to conform.... I just didn't care. That's all there is to it. In the end, I think I do act kind of like a villain...if villains were really stereotypes, but they aren't all like that, and nothing is black and white about it anymore."

Silence.

"Aren't you going to gloat?" Mirko finally asked. "Say something. This is exactly what you accused me of way back when you lectured me in that hole."

That was an embarrassing memory to bring up.... Shigaraki grimaced to himself.

Maybe he'd laid it on a little thick back then.... Had that really been the time and place for a tirade?

That he even could think that showed he'd matured more than he realized.

"I think you've said it all," he stated flatly.

Mirko didn't take that well.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess I did," she said bitterly. "Still, you must be dying to gloat. I wouldn't even stop you right now. That's how little I care anymore.... I might as well say it while I'm on this tack....I'm aware I've made it harder for the League also...and I thought it didn't matter--they were villains right? But it's occurred to me it's pretty stupid to make things difficult for people who are helping you, even if it's for their own reasons, when you're out of options. So maybe I'm not the smartest person either."

"Medea said once you just did that because you were stressed," Shigaraki recalled.

"We're all stressed, but no one else takes it out on other people that way," Mirko said. "The truth is, I could always get away with it because of my image. That much was true. I just didn't care to admit it. I won't be saying this again, so don't ask me to repeat it, but, at some level, I do appreciate the help." She sighed again. "Even if I'm never going to act like it."

Shigaraki really would have asked her to repeat that just to be sure it was real, but she'd just shot that idea down...

He was not the person to be comforting at such times. Telling her to destroy the problem wasn't going to work here, and that was all he had.

Why was this anything to be so upset over though? That was what he didn't get.

"So why is all this such a problem?" he said aloud.

"What? Because, I'm a total fake," Mirko said. "Or...no, I guess...I can't even fake it. I really just don't get it. I'm literally sitting here talking to you, of all people, about it because of the level I do no get it at. This has got to be some kind of record low--a Pro Hero talking to a head Villain about how bad they are at their job."

All Might had beaten her to the punch on this, but she didn't know it.

"Sounds more like you just think you're bad at anything but your actual job," Shigaraki surmised.

"Well...yeah, that too," Mirko admitted. "I wonder if this is what having an identity crisis feels like..."

"So why not talk to someone who'd actually be helpful, like Likstar or even Ren? Or Medea. Why are you just denying having a problem?"

"Par for the course for me...mostly because I can't stand admitting it to someone who already told me and I blew them off," Mirko said. "And Ren? Aw, I can't tell him about it. He's my younger brother, and the only person in my family who actually likes me. It would just seem ungrateful to gripe to him about it."

That made no sense to Shigaraki, but the other two he kind of got.

"But you just blabbed all that to me, and I've said the same things," he said cluelessly.

"Yeah, but you're just as bad as me," Mirko said, "so it's not as humiliating."

"What? What do you mean?"

"Would you describe yourself as compassionate? Kind? Sensitive? Any of the things I suck at?" Mirko said.

Well...

"No," Shigaraki said.

"Then even if you're judging, I can just say you don't have a clue either." Mirko gestured. "Or maybe I just don't have a filter. Whatever....Actually you're probably better at the team work thing than I am, don't know about the rest of it. But it doesn't really matter."

"I wouldn't go that far. I hate people," Shigaraki said.

"So do I," Mirko said, "apparently...or at least, I find them very annoying."

"Exactly!"

"Yeah, well, don't know if it's hit you yet, but maybe the reason for that is, I know deep down that I don't get them, and that they don't think I'm good enough," Mirko said. "And so I don't like them because it's easier to brush it all off that way. But I'm sure your reason is totally different."

Shigaraki thought it was...but that also sounded oddly plausible for some reason.

"We're not the same," he said, by way of switching tactics.

"I don't mean completely the same," Mirko said. "Just in that one way.... Ironic, isn't it? I wanted to deck someone the last time they said that, and now I'm agreeing with it. It's been one thing after another though, to push me to the edge of my limit." She looked up at the ceiling. "Ever since the Originals targeted me, I can't do anything right about them.... In the end, even stopping them wasn't on me. I don't remember what it was like not to worry about it anymore, and they got to Ren and to Likstar and to everyone else. I thought they were just always one step ahead, and it took that Hantai guy to make me understand that they could be one step ahead because I just didn't know what I was doing. Talk about being taken down a peg...try a whole set of pegs...and by quirkless people...so even if I pushed all the other stuff aside, I still failed at my job. Isn't that a reason to be depressed?"

To the guy who'd killed his whole family in a fit of panic, maybe not, but it did sound a lot like how things had gone for the League for a while.

"The Originals are just sneaky b-----ds," Shigaraki said.

Mirko laughed weakly. "Sure."

"But at least the problem is taken care of," Shigaraki said, "and all of us can move on to more important things."

Mirko didn't find that comforting.

"Why does it matter if you're a good or bad person?" Shigaraki said. "No one around here really asks that question. What matters is having a goal and fulfilling it."

"Not sure that reason is going to fly with the Hero profession."

"It seems like most of them believe that," Shigaraki said coldly. "And if in the end, your goal was to stop the Originals, and they were stopped, then why does it matter how it happened? The LOV can't be that picky about its victories, and it's stupid to complain about winning."

Mirko looked up. "Hmm...yeah, maybe that's true.... Doesn't change the rest of it though. I happen to think personal standards matter. I'm not the person I thought I was. Either I forget that and just go on with it, like Lethe, or...I don't even know the or. It's driving me crazy."

"No one in this League would care about that," Shigaraki said. "If you want to talk about personal standards, you have to go to Likstar. She can't shut up about that kind of crap. And that's the person you're avoiding, so you've done this to yourself."

Mirko blinked at him...then she laughed, kind of wryly. "When you put it that way...that is true...but I never have been good at following advice, let alone hers."

"Well, if you want to feel sorry for yourself, then don't act like it wasn't a choice," Shigaraki sniffed, not noting the irony of him saying that. "This whole thing could be be solved in five minutes if you just talked to her."

"You have a lot of faith in her abilities."

"She snapped Kurogiri out of it. She seems to know what she's doing."

"She did..." Mirko said. "I wish it were that easy. But if it were, my mother would have fixed me years ago.... I don't even know how bad I want to be different. I would have died rather than change anything about myself a year ago. I can't even say why it changed."

"Making an actual friend maybe." Shigaraki didn't even know why he said that. Other than Medea had said something very similar to that in the past.

"Stop being a smarta--," Mirko said. "I know that! I just don't.... I hate saying it.... I mean, I guess being friends with a World Walker would be kind of an accomplishment--not a lot of people can say that. I don't think too many people can handle that kind of scrutiny either. But still...that gets back to not being anything worth as a friend."

"Not an expert on friendship," Shigaraki said, "but if Likstar cared, I think she'd have way less friend who were Villains or otherwise difficult people."

Good point.

"Isn't that what makes her annoying?" Mirko said.

"Yes, it is, but also very hard to get rid of," Shigaraki muttered. "I hate her."

"You do not!"

"It doesn't matter anyway. I'm sure she'd just thinks it was nice that you intended to help her at all. You heard what she said to Lethe? People are just as horrible everywhere else as they are here."

Mirko laughed. "That's one way to sum it up.... Yeah, I guess other worlds aren't as different from this one as you'd think.... Sucks for her and West."

Shigaraki had no interest in continuing that topic.... In fact, how had he ended up talking about this this long?

He almost didn't want to stop, but this was ridiculous!

He got to his feet.

"The whole thing is stupid."

"Sure, yeah, well, what did I tell you?" Mirko got up also. "But off the record, thanks...I think I know what I have to do now. Maybe you stumbled your way into actually getting it right for once." She winked and walked out of the room.

Shigaraki felt kind of weird....like his pulse was speeding up...

That didn't seem good...

He sat down for a second.

"Did it go okay?" Medea appeared through the wall from the next room.

"Did you eavesdrop?"

"On part of it, yeah."

"Then why are you asking me?" Shigaraki snapped.

"Ouch...I guess you're right.... I think it went okay," Medea said. "You know, I kind of figured that was what it was the whole time, but I didn't realize how much it was.... I feel sorry for her now...but hey, good job with that. Did you take sensitivity lessons or something?"

"What? No, I just said what I thought," Shigaraki cried.

"So what you think isn't as mean as it use to be." Medea didn't miss a beat. "Good to know. I hate mean people. Later."

She sprang out of the room and through the wall again.

[I noticed that in this part Mirko and Shigaraki entirely switched perspectives from their first major argument in the hole, as Mirko referenced in the conversation.

She went from defending herself to admitting pretty much all he accused her of was true.

Shigaraki has gone from holding heroes to this impossibly high standard, to admitting that sometimes people can try and not be great, but at least they won in the end, and it's unrealistic to think it will always play out how you wanted it to.

What I like is that neither of them changed their mind solely because of the other person, but because of the experiences they went through in this story. It felt very natural.

Also both seem to be trying to justify the other person in a way, because they see the errors in their previous way of thinking.

I do think Mirko is more aware of it than Shigaraki is, which makes sense, but I'm hoping he'll realize all this pretty soon.

Dang I'm good at this.]