After the group's meeting, the kids talked to each other more about what might be coming up.

Ibara and Monama had to dodge questions from the rest of their class about where they were.

Ibara also noticed that Iida was hanging around the common area for 1-A's dorms and seemed to be displeased that he was not allowed into their meeting.

The DJs themselves avoided eye contact with him, except to smile slightly. Shine didn't wish to make it more awkward for him, but there was no real way to help that.

The following morning, Ibara was watering some flowers she'd put out along the wall when Iida came running around the space between dorms, perhaps blowing off steam, literally. [His quirk, get it?]

"Oh, hello, Miss Shiogazi," he said politely but distractedly.

Ibara nodded back. "Good morning."

"Are you doing better?" Iida asked, again just to be polite.

"Other than an occasional dream about what happened, I seem to be recovered," Ibara said. "All my memory of it came back quite suddenly the other day. Even what hadn't come naturally yet."

She didn't know, and neither did Iida, that this related to Lethe's promise to Medea to release the memories he'd stolen.

Mostly the memories had been unimportant, but some memory of what had happened at the camp had returned full force and left Ibara rattled. But she didn't wish to complain about it right now.

"Well, that's good," Iida said.

"I notice you are troubled yourself these days," Ibara said with her usual blunt but sweet way of talking that made it sound less blunt.

"I...I was afraid it may be that obvious." Iida was not much for lying. "I do worry about my classmates. And this business with The Hero Killer also."

Ibara wondered why he'd care about Stain--Oh, now she remembered. His brother.

She watered one flower thoughtfully. "Does it trouble you because of Ingenium?"

Iida stiffened a little. "That is part of it, yes...and how much of a mystery it was."

"I don't know if this will help," Ibara said, "but in my religion we say that when someone does wrong to us, we have to try to forgive them and hate what they did, without hating the person."

"That seems irresponsible, not to mention impossible." Iida was a little more direct than usual and sounded upset at the idea, too.

Ibara had heard that one before. Who hasn't, who preaches a peaceful religion?

"It's true, it's not what we want to do," she admitted, "but hatred is worse to feel for the person who feels it, not the one who's on the other end. If it bothers you that Stain is now gone, without facing justice fully for his crimes through the law, it might be because you cannot let go of the wish for him to be punished for what he did to Ingenium."

"But what do you know about that?" Iida was a bit nervous now. Had someone told her what happened?

"Oh, nothing at all, I'm sorry," Ibara apologized quickly. "I was speaking out of turn. There's a lot in the Catholic faith about forgiveness. I got a bit caught up in it, is all. I know, I have no right to speak to things I haven't experienced."

"Well, no need to apologize for expressing your beliefs." Iida was all tolerance. "I should apologize for jumping to conclusions about it. People don't usually broach the subject."

"I know, I crossed a line," Ibara said humbly. "I forget that not everyone shares my belief that it is normal to speak of such things."

"It's perfectly all right, Miss Shiogazi. I know that people must follow their moral code." Iida straightened his glasses. "But if I may be so frank, you've had a bad experience yourself now, with that...unfortunate incident in Canada. Would you forgive those scoundrels?"

Ibara set her watering can down while she pondered that question.

"I suppose I haven't given it much thought," she admitted. "I'm still getting used to the idea of what happened at all. Well...you know, I know they're bad people. But I think they must have really resented quirks and been bitter over a lot of things to do what they did. My mother likes to say 'hurting people hurt people'. I'm sorry for them in a way. I'm also grateful I had so many kind friends who would come and rescue me, so I guess the good and the bad together make it harder to know what I feel."

Iida wondered how anyone could be that calm about something like that.

"Perhaps it was wrong to ask," he reflected.

"I don't mind. It was a good question," Ibara said.

"Then, if I may ask another forward question, would you say your faith makes it easier for you to accept hardship?" Iida asked curiously.

Not that many people were religious these days, Ibara being the only one other than the DJs he knew of.

(His classmates changing views towards it had escaped him thus far.)

"Easier?" Ibara repeated. "Hmm. I don't think about that." She fingered one flower delicately. "I like to think of it more like...roots. It's what you don't see. The top part of the plant gets a lot of hardship from the elements and pests and being picked and stepped on, but a deep root system makes it able to recover from all of it. That's how I think of Faith. Same things happen on the surface, but the damages don't affect what's underneath. If that makes sense."

"It actually kind of does," Iida mused. "Perhaps my roots were not as deep as I thought, then."

The whole thing with Stain was bothering him for other reasons he wasn't going to say aloud, like that Shine had seemed to think he was not ready for something but Todoroki was. Todoroki had had resentments too, and had not always spoken well of the DJs, but he'd changed his mind a lot... Was it that flexibility that had made her trust him more?

Iida didn't know if he wanted Miss Likstar's trust. If he did, why resist her all this time?

Or maybe he was just stunned not to already have it. He was a student teachers trusted implicitly on day one. He took pride in holding everything up to higher standard, even if other students didn't appreciate it always.

[Ach, that was me in early college and highschool... I'm more chill now though. Sometimes.]

Of only he could explain that to someone, but he didn't know if Ibara could understand. She wasn't that way, She accepted everyone as they were.

"The nice thing is roots can grow," Ibara replied to his last verbal remark. "I'm sure you'll figure it out, Iida-senpai." She smiled. "It's not easy, but if you really want to, I know you can overcome this. I think we can do anything we set our minds to."

"That's what I always thought also," Iida said, "but I admit, no matter how much I thought I was doing better about this...it just took hearing about it again to bring back all the old anger about it. Perhaps it's my disposition."

Ibara shrugged. "Or it just takes longer."

"I don't know about that. My brother, now, he recovered so quickly, despite losing everything," Iida said, making a fist with his hand. "Perhaps we're not as alike as I thought."

"It's easier to accept something when you feel you can't do anything about it," Ibara hit upon a very real fact. " I think older siblings always try to make their younger siblings not worry so much. I mean, I don't think he would act discouraged around you."

"It's true." Iida had always known that deep down, he supposed. "He may be suffering, and I would never know."

"If you asked him, maybe, honestly, he might tell you," Ibara mused, "if that would help you to feel at peace with it. To help him. I think we just want to make it better."

Iida thought--that wasn't a bad idea actually.

"Perhaps it would," he said. "He's always supported me, but he refuses to tell me what really troubles him... I had hoped taking on his name would be enough, but then I was not fit to do that."

Ibara smiled wryly. "I don't know if we ever live up to our name's entirely, but we must do our best."

"Quite right." Iida was now more into the idea. "I should visit him. He must feel odd about the news too, though he said he was fine over text, but that was probably just him sparing my feelings... Thank you, Miss Shiogazi. I think this is the idea I needed." He took her hands in a gesture of gratitude and goodwill. [You've all seen this in anime before, no doubt. It's not much of a thing in America. I don't know about other countries.]

Ibara reddened. "It was--I mean, I was just trying to..."

But Iida wasn't listening. "I must go get a pass from Mr. Aizawa. Have a good rest of the day." He exited.

Ibara just stood there for a moment before Kendo startled her by asking where she was--it was time to go to class, for crying out loud.

* * *

Iida couldn't get a pass to leave till after school, naturally, and thinking of what he would say to Tensei had rendered him the most distracted he'd ever been in class, but hardly anyone noticed.

Shine saw him going out with street clothes, though, and asked where he was going. As supervisor, she was supposed to either go with him or keep track of him.

"I'm going to visit my brother, Miss Likstar," Iida said. "Recalling that thing we talked about, I believe that it may help me sort it out."

"Ah." Shine cocked her head. "Well, in that case, I think I shouldn't accompany you. But be very careful to stay out in the open. In fact, I'd feel better if you took a cab or something."

"But I can walk, Miss Likstar," Iida said.

"Iida, our rule is no one goes out alone," Shine said, "and now more than ever we must be cautious. I'll let you go alone if you take a cab."

Iida accepted the compromise. "Very well. I'll call one."

Shine nodded. "One thing, Iida." She tugged her hair. "I know it has been very difficult for you, to have us here, and you've compromised by ignoring us. I'm not ignorant of that."

She noticed that? Iida was surprised. 

"I appreciate it, for what it's worth," Shine said. "I should have said that before. I get very caught up in my beliefs at times. I forget to praise what I do like."

"It seems to be a hazard of having a religion," Iida said, since Ibara had just said the same thing.

Shine laughed. "Yeah, well, strong opinions means strong emotions about them, but it's better than apathy, isn't it? Just know, I do care about you too, all of you. Even Mineta, though he certainly does his best to be unlikable. And I would protect any one of you if you were in danger, even if you didn't like me."

Iida nodded. "I appreciate that, Miss Likstar. It's a shame our views are so different. But I also am coming to see that perhaps you follow your moral code to your best ability, and it is different from the one Heroes have, but you are trying your hardest. And even if I think it's wrong, you mean well by it."

Shine smothered another laugh, since he was quite serious. "Well, I'm glad you can at least give us that much credit. I think the same thing about you."

Iida didn't realize that she'd just called him misguided, or that he'd called her that, so he took that at face value.

"Very good."

"Well, I guess we can agree to disagree," Shine shrugged. "But as a teacher, I don't know if that's enough for me."

"As a Hero student, I'm not sure it's enough for me either," Iida returned, very dignified.

"Well, then we can agree to keep trying to persuade the other of our opinion," Shine said, "but perhaps we could do without the insinuations that one of us is a Villain."

Since that insinuation had been one sided, she really meant Iida should stop pointing fingers at them.

Iida remembered what she said about him becoming accusatory once he was angry, and wondered if it was true.

"I apologize for that," he said. "I will have to reconsider my approach."

That was a big concession from him, and Shine knew it, so she let any other criticisms slide for the moment.

"Very well... I do have a tip for going to see Tensei, if you'd like to hear it."

"I don't know if I will apply it, but you can say it if you want." Iida adjusted his glasses.

"You have always looked up to him, from all you've said and I've heard," Shine said. "And he's so much older than you, and he's a great guy, I know. I've met him. And one of the only Pros who's been nice to me right off, other than Emi, so I appreciate that. But when you put someone on a pedestal like that, you miss when they're human. I'm sure that Stain thing was a painful reminder that even Heroes are fallible and have weaknesses. It can be a tough blow to realize that. But you do have an opportunity here. It's just at times like this that sibling can go from one being the mentor/hero, to being equals. And I don't know any healthy sibling who doesn't prefer it that way. Being the hero can be exhausting, take it from me. You want to understand Tensei, think of him the way you would anyone else in trouble. He's not the former Hero Ingenium, he's just a man. And you, as leader and aspiring Hero, can offer help to him."

Iida didn't expect to agree with this idea of her advice as much as he did.

"I suppose...that is a valid point...but I already know I want to help him."

"You wanted to help him not feel so upset," Shine said, "and it's been awhile, so maybe he no longer does. It would help him most now, I would say, to just treat him like you'd treat another friend, only better, because he is your brother. And...one more thing, Iida. Stop hiding things from your family."

"Excuse me?" Iida said.

"If they love you as much as you say, they ought to know the truth," Shine said, "at least Tensei should. I don't know about your mother. It might be a bit much for her. But nothing stays hidden, you know. Stain is dead now. He can't expose you, and, more thankfully, he never tried to in prison, as far as we know. The police covered it, though they shouldn't have, as it was giving you preferential treatment because you were a Hero student, and that's favoritism."

Iida had never thought of it like that, and it shocked him that she was...right.

"Well, you can't change that they are biased," Shine said, "but you can be honest. I think you should tell Tensei that you tried to kill Stain."

Iida was stunned. "What? No, Miss Likstar, I could never. It would be selfish to burden him with that."

"And he'd not approve," Shine said calmly. "And you will never be able to look him in the eye again until you confess that to him. He is your model of heroism. If you don't tell him what happened, you will always feel you don't deserve his support. I know how these things work, Tenya Iida. Guilt is an area I specialize in, when I advise people. I am telling you this so you can become a good Hero. A good Hero owns up to what he does wrong. I'm sure you agree with that...but your culture is based on sweeping all that under the rug. That's not freedom. It'll come out and bite you. I'm sure it's some kind of social taboo to tell you to admit to it, but you have a powerful story of how you were stopped by the kindness of your friends. Which you ought to give them due credit for, by the way."

"Did...did Todoroki say something to you?" Iida didn't like how similar it was to Shoto's speech.

"No, he is no snitch," Shine said. [Except on Endeavor.] "But I can hear, can't I? You can't outrun this, you know. You must face it. So face it." She gestured at the door. "I will not force it, I promise. Tensei will never hear this from me, nor Wally--nor our students, if they listen to us. But he should hear it from you. It will give you peace. But it's up to you. I'll leave it alone now."

She bowed politely and left the room.

Iida was left numb from the weight of this dilemma.

* * *

Tensei was happy to see him, actually. And, luckily, Cece was not around, since it was a work day for her.

Iida asked Tensei how he was doing and got the standard answer of "I'm doing well."

It wasn't fooling him today.

"Tensei," he said, after a while of small talk, "I've been doing some thinking, and I...want you to know you don't have to try to protect me anymore."

"What do you mean?" Tensei looked up oddly.

"I mean...that I know you are putting on a brave face about...about your incident," Iida said, "but I can handle it. I know it must be difficult for you. I'm sorry I have not acknowledged it before. I was...scared to. But I must face it."

Tensei smiled sort of wryly. "Ah...Tenya, I wouldn't ask you to do that," he said. "I mean, to burden yourself with it. It's not your fault, little brother. Maybe I put too much pressure on you too early by asking you to carry on my name.  You don't need to worry about that till you're ready."

"This is you trying to take care of me," Iida said, a little emotionally. "But that is just it--I want to be able to help you instead."

"Ah, us older brothers can't help but want to take care of our little brothers," Tensei said, smiling again. But then he sobered. "I get it, you're getting old enough now to want to help people get through things, right? That's what makes a good Hero. I should be glad, but maybe I just wasn't ready for you to grow up either."

Iida sniffed.

"But I appreciate it, Tenya," Tensei went on, "and, hey, I'll try to treat you more like a Hero now, though it'll be hard to stop seeing you as my baby brother." He was trying to lighten the mood.

Iida felt this was not working...

Could it be...Shine's idea would be the only thing that would work?

But...could he really tell Tensei that...?

Yet she was right--he couldn't even look his brother in the eye with that on his conscience. He'd avoided talking to him a whole lot for months. Maybe moving into the dorms had given him an excuse to get away with it...but was it just guilt the whole time?

Pacing nervously, he finally heard himself saying:

"Tensei...I have something I must tell you...but it's a secret. Only a few people know about it. You mustn't tell Mom and Dad. It would crush them."

"Oh...of course..." Tensei didn't anticipate what was coming here. He imagined it was Hero business.

"I'm ashamed to admit it," Iida said, "and I wouldn't blame you if you were disappointed in me."

Not what Tensei expected. "I could never be."

Iida doubted that.

"Well...The Hero killer Stain...back when he first...put you in the hospital..." This was torture. Finally he just took the band-aid approach.

"I went out searching for him, and I actually found him."

[Most unbelievable part of the arc.]

"What?" Tensei said. "I mean...of course I knew that you were attacked by him... It made me furious, but...I thought it was an accident he found you, even that he might have targeted you because of me... You fought him on purpose? Were you trying to bring him in?"

It would have been so easy to lie about it. Tensei would have accepted it as just youthful folly and over-confidence...but Iida wasn't a liar.

"No," he said in small voice. "I...was going to kill him."

Silence.

"I was blinded by rage," Iida went on, "anger... I didn't know what to do with it. I attacked him. He caught me... If my friend hadn't come looking for me, I would have died...which is what I would have deserved for my foolish actions... I swore I was never going to tell anyone else about it...but...hiding it from you felt dishonest. You are so sure I'll be able to be the next Ingenium, but the truth is, I don't deserve that title."

He finally faced Tensei, who was being very quiet and had an unreadable expression.

"I thought I could forget--I could prove to myself I was different," Iida went on, "but I still feel like I'm hiding something... It's not right."

Silence again.

Iida could think of nothing else to say. He wished Tensi could just speak, yell, cry, something, but he was still as a stone.

And then at long last, he spoke. "So you...you've been carrying this for most of the year?"

Iida nodded.

"Tenya..." Tensei said, "I had no idea...wow...that you were that angry over what happened. You hid it from me, I have to admit."

Iida sniffled. "Are you angry now?"

"No," Tensei said.

"Disappointed then," Iida guessed.

"I don't know that I'm disappointed." Tensei picked up a pen and fiddled with it. "I'm still processing it... All I'm thinking right now, to be honest, is that we're not too different."

"What?" Iida said.

"I wouldn't have told you this, but there were times at first, when I was still getting used to my injury, that I wished Stain would have died too," Tensei said, "that being arrested was too good for a killer like him... Over time I stopped thinking about it. But he hurt a lot of people... I guess he got his now...but I don't feel happy about it. I'm slightly relieved that he won't hurt anyone else, but I guess I know now his death wouldn't make me happy. Did it make you happy?"

Iida shook his head. "Not at all. I just felt angry all over again, remembering."

"So neither of us really would have got what we wanted," Tensei said.

Iida was stunned at his reaction. "Well...I know a girl at my school who thinks hatred is worse for the person who hates than the one they hate..."

"She sounds like a wise girl. I'd keep her," Tensei said wryly. "Cece says it's important to work through anger, so I guess that's the same thing. Dating a therapist can be challenging at times, but you know, I'm glad. I can't afford to feel sorry for myself that way. And you don't need to feel sorry for me, Tenya. Bad things happen to everyone, especially Heroes, but we have to accept it could happen any time. After a while of being upset at Stain, I realized I signed up for this, and was it Stain's fault if I put myself in the situation for him to attack me? I mean, he shouldn't have done what he did, but he was doing what he thought was right, insane or not, and so was I, and we clashed... At least I'm alive. I was depressed about it for a while, and I still am sometimes," he looked troubled for a moment, "if I focus on it...but, on the other hand, I still have you. Thank God he didn't kill you. Your friends were there...and I have mom and dad--and a girlfriend--and there're a lot of things I can still be happy about. I'm trying to move on... Now that you told me this, I hope you can too."

Iida sniffled. "Is that really all you have to say? No lecture about how revenge is wrong?"

"I mean, I do think it would have been wrong," Tensei admitted, "and I am surprised at you...but it also shows you cared about me a lot, and who knows? If our positions were reversed, I might have been tempted to do the same thing. I don't like it when people hurt my family." He frowned darkly. "So I'm saying I can't judge you. You turned back from it, and that's what matters to me. You shouldn't feel too bad about it now. It's time we move forward. I don't know how mom and dad would feel... I'm not sure we need to tell them, though. We Heroes feel differently about things."

Tenya couldn't hold back the open sobbing any longer than that... To his surprise, Tensei kind of teared up also.

He hugged him too. "It's okay," he said. "It's gonna be okay."

That just made it worse.

It went on for a long while, before they both calmed down and Tensei was able to lighten the mood by saying, "So tell me about this girl who talks about such smart things."

Glad of a distraction from the heaviness, Iida did end up telling him about Ibara, as well as a bit about the other events around the school.

They didn't broach the subject of Stain again.

Once the emotional wave was over, though, Iida did realize he felt lighter...clearer.

Shine was right...admitting what happened had given him more peace... Maybe her ideas weren't always crazy...

* * *

Iida got back to the dorms much later that evening. He'd stayed to dinner with his parents, who'd said that he and Tensei seemed cheerier today. They put it down to things finally moving forward.

Shine and Wally were coming back from a visit out, perhaps with some of their other friends, and they were taking roll of everyone.

"Hi, Iida," Shine said lightly.

Iida nodded.

Shine smiled. "You told him."

"How...did you know that?" Iida said.

"You look lighter," Shine said simply.

Iida had had hours to think of this and had come to a decision.

"Well...Miss Likstar, it's as you said earlier--we may not agree entirely...but...something you told me did work. Maybe I should have listened to some of what you taught more carefully."

Shine tilted her head. "I appreciate that, but you don't have to say it. I'm just happy if you're happier."

"I know perhaps you don't expect me to admit it," Iida said with dignity, "but I feel it's only fair...and...if you need any help...in that inner ring you have, I just want you to feel like you can call upon me for assistance. I know I am not included in it because of my past actions, but I believe you're trying to do some good with it...and at least no one has gotten hurt yet because of it."

Shine snorted a laugh. "This is you trying to be open-minded?"

Iida reddened a little. "Perhaps it is too early for this."

"Ah, no." Shine waved her hand. "Very well, Tenya Iida, you can join our circle."

"What?" Iida didn't expect this.

"I see you have learned something, finally," Shine said. "That's all it takes, you know, just a little window. You can be at the next meeting. But if I catch you trying to teach for me, you're getting the boot. We're all on the same footing in our group."

"I... Are you sure that's a good idea?" Iida sputtered. "Perhaps I'm not ready for it, then."

"No one is ready, Iida, but we have to start sometime," Shine said. "I'm not ready either. That's the beauty of it--you really don't have to be. But you will have to do your best. I expect that of you, you know. On that we agree...only, if you fail to do your best, we don't kick you out. That is our way."

Iida nodded. "Well...of course...if you insist on it, I suppose..."

"Right. See you there." Shine walked out of the room.

[And another one's in.

Does that make our 12th player? Or did we already have 12? I think I need to recount. Adios.]