Mirko spent most of her mission away dodging or posing for paparazzi and beating up bad guys...and it wasn't as much fun as before.

 Her uncomfortable revelations about herself had taken a lot of the buzz out of it. Whether it was really wrong to do her job this way or not, she kept wondering if she enjoyed it because it was a good job or just because she was kind of manic...

She tried to shove those thoughts aside.

She didn't like to admit it, but she missed Shine also, and even Wally was more tolerable than he used to be. They hadn't gone this long without checking in since meeting. And Shine did send her a letter or two, but Mirko was not one to communicate through the written word...and anyway, Shine couldn't read Kanjis very well, and the idea of someone else translating for her made it weird. No way Mirko was telling her about anything that way.

Miss Joke was nice enough to try to check in, but without Shine, they really were kind of distant friends. It was just one of those things.

And of course, the elephant in the room that Mirko wouldn't acknowledge was that she was starting to miss the LOV a lot when she was away. Not just Medea, either.

Medea actually texted her while she was gone, mostly to say she was enjoying her vacation, but Mirko was probably going to get sloppy without a training partner.

Ren was in touch too. And he was wondering if they needed help again. "This is the longest you've gone without a looming disaster," he commented.

So it was... Mirko wondered if that was a good omen or a bad one.

At least Originals wouldn't be a problem anymore, hopefully... So far they hadn't made any more moves. Maybe they knew they were beaten.

* * *

"She's supposed to get back today," Medea commented to Spinner, Compress, and Silk over breakfast.

"Oh, hurrah," Compress said dryly.

"Didn't you say it was too quiet with her gone?" Spinner said.

"I meant too quiet for all of you," Compress said. "I found it peaceful. Anyway, you should be getting used to it. You know, come the end of summer, she'll be gone anyway, and we can finally go back to normal. This has been a much longer deal than we thought it would be."

"It's been so long, she kind of just feels like one of the League," Spinner said. "Especially with Dabi gone... I mean, we need at least one angry, unpleasant person around here."

"I thought that was you," Compress said.

"Don't we have anything better to do than gripe about her?" Silk said shortly, getting up and leaving the room.

"What's with her?" Spinner asked.

"I don't know. She won't say," Compress sighed. "There's still trouble in paradise, I'm afraid. Unless Medea has any insight, one girl to another."

"Silk isn't like other girls," Medea said. "What do I do with someone who let themselves get memory wiped and then changed her mind about it? Why did she change her mind anyway?"

Compress wouldn't answer that. He just seemed to be smirking.

"Hey, maybe you can get Kitsune to join us, huh?" he teased Spinner. "You two are going steady now, right?"

"Huh?" Spinner said.

"Don't make me feel old," Compress said. "You know." He gestured suggestively.

Spinner turned red. "We're just friends. She's trying to help crack the Stain case..." He scowled. "Which none of you told me about."

"Are you still salty about that?" Compress said.

"Why is it I had to find out from a fox Hero and the media instead of my own League?" Spinner said. 

"We didn't know how to tell you," Medea sighed. "It was too upsetting, sorry. Are you okay?"

"Uh..." Spinner was not ready for that question. "I...don't know how to feel. He was my hero...and now he's...and we don't know how... If I at least knew why, I'd feel a little more closure about it. It's such a waste, don't you think?"

"I'm surprised you didn't go to one of the riots in his honor," Compress muttered.

Spinner hadn't wanted to risk getting spotted. He frowned at Compress.

"Well, I don't really know what it feels like, but I do sympathize," Medea said. "Even if he tried to kill a few of us, he seemed to be thinking over stuff. It's just too bad. I think everyone should get at least one chance to change their minds in life..." She shook her head.

Shigaraki wandered in to grab a very small amount of food.

"Morning," Medea said. She was the only one who ever said it.

Shigaraki didn't answer, as most of them didn't. 

"Well, today's the day," Compress baited him on purpose by saying. "Our dear Mirko is going to be back. Are you excited?"

Shigaraki shot him a warning look. "Why would I care?" He walked out of the room.

"Wow, ice cold," Spinner said.

"Yeah, a little too ice cold," Compress said. "I'd expect a 'wish she'd stay gone' or something if he really was upset about it."

"Are we going to talk about that finally?" Medea said.

"Depends. How much do you want to talk about?" Compress sipped tea, probably on purpose.

"I mean...we all see it, right?" Medea said.

"Something is off there," Spinner agreed.

"Off? I'd more say it's on," Compress said.

"Huh?" Spinner said. "I just meant they're acting tense. What are you talking about?"

"But what kind of tension is it?" Compress said meaningfully.

"Don't be gross, Compress," Medea sniffed. "But it is weird. Glad I'm not the only one...but you know, I don't think they know."

"Oh, quite, they haven't a clue," Compress said. "Which, as you know, I'd expect from the Boss. I doubt very much his benefactor would ever have explained anything of that to him."

"Of what?" Spinner said.

"Spinner, if you can't follow along, do keep your mouth shut," Compress said irritably, "and let the grown ups talk."

Spinner glared at him.

"But Mirko, you think she'd know," Medea said.

"It's a mystery, isn't it?" Compress said.

"I don't know," Medea mused. "I think, maybe, I get it. Girls don't always like to acknowledge their feelings. It can be embarrassing, and it can get so awkies if it doesn't work out. I think it's pretty scary, myself. I mean, I flirted with Monama upfront, so I didn't have that problem, but I was totally shocked when he actually liked me back."

"That is, I must say, so sad," Compress said.

"I never had any guy like me who didn't just want to...you know." Medea gestured now.

"Oh, I know," Compress said. "But careful, Spinner's virgin ears might explode if you explain further."

"Hey!" Spinner snapped. "I know what you mean now...and I think you're both disgusting for talking about it."

"Oh, like you don't think about it," Compress said. "Be honest, now."

"I wouldn't say it, even if I did," Spinner said. "And their personal lives are none of your business."

"I have the strange feeling you're just saying that so you can ride that high horse when you and Kitsune become official," Compress said.

"Shut up!"

"For the record, we don't object to you dating a sidekick. I find the idea hilarious. And she's not much of one if she's willing to just let us slide."

"Well, actually," Spinner said, "she says she just thinks we're not acting like Villains anymore."

Silence.

Well...if he was just going to come out and say it.

"I can't be the only one who doesn't mind it," Medea said. "I don't even want to be a Villain now."

She glanced at the two men. "Do you?"

Silence again.

"Just that we'd hesitate is odd enough," Compress finally said, "but would you believe if I said, I wasn't sure?"

"'I'd be shocked otherwise,'" Medea quote dryly. "But why not?"

"Well, don't misunderstand," Compress said. "I don't like Heroes. I don't really want to go straight, exactly. Being a thief and a villain is exciting...but the hiding out game does get old, and it has occurred to me, if we don't win this, I'll spend the rest of my life doing that. And...do I really want to? I'm still young, you know. It was fun while it lasted, but...if I can't win, what's the point anymore?"

"Don't you think Shigaraki can win?" Spinner said.

"At one time, I did," Compress said, "but, lately, I'm not even sure he wants to." He lowered his voice at the last. "Or if he ever did. We have found out so many things we didn't know in the last few months, and it's harder to judge the situation. For one thing, AFO and that doctor, they are really pulling the strings, even from afar. We all know it. And can we trust them? That Kurogiri bit was a nasty business."

"It is disconcerting," Spinner admitted. "I don't like it, and it could happen to any of us, I bet. That's kind of why I'm not sure. It's one thing when this was about our goals, but...can we be really sure that it is? They could be using us and we'd never know till too late. Shigaraki is an okay boss, but he does whatever they say. Like with that Giant. And I went along with it then because I thought we'd be free of them once we proved ourselves, but it doesn't really look like the Doc wants to step back."

"And what will those experiments turn Shigaraki into if he ever finishes them?" Medea said. "I'm kind of glad they kept getting interrupted. But if they are completed...maybe he won't care about what we want anymore. The nomu were so single-minded..." She shuddered.

"Well, being 'given power'," Compress made air quotations, "doesn't really equal being a nomu, but why do I have the strangest feeling also that the Doctor may just not be fully honest about that process."

"But we can't talk him out of it," Medea said.

"No..." Compress mused.

"Do you think the DJs could?" Spinner said.

"I don't know. They can talk him into almost anything, but he hasn't backed off of that yet," Compress said. "And they are gone for a while yet, even another week could be too late, you know. I had hoped Mirko might be enough of a chaotic force to disrupt all this more, but she's being surprisingly tame since that Stain thing."

"She's trying to be nicer," Medea said.

And having only partial success, in their opinion, but she had curbed herself a bit.

"She picked a great time to get a sense of decorum." Compress sniffed. "Casting caution to the wind might be useful now. I mean, I wouldn't do it, but someone might."

"Then...we just want her to do what we're not gonna do if you put it like that." Spinner said.

"What's with the sudden clarity, Spinner?" Compress said. "I always thought you were so deluded, it was sort of endearing in a way."

"I've been realizing some stuff too," Spinner said. "I mean, you have to grow up eventually and realize that it's not gonna always be up to someone else to decide things for you."

Medea nodded. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean there."

They were silent for a bit.

"But I'm not going to tell the boss," Compress said finally.

"Well neither am I," Spinner said. "I mean, he'd flip...or worse, he'd just be silent."

They all knew, even Medea, that that was worse by now. Shigaraki would gripe and storm and intend to actually do nothing, but if he was silent, he was plotting something. Usually for their benefit, but no one wanted to know what would happen if it was against them.

Medea wasn't sure he'd really hurt them...but he might do something else reckless that would end up getting them hurt just the same. And that's what they were afraid of. They would have felt better following Shigaraki if he had been on his own, but AFO's shadow, and Ujiko's lurking presence were still real to them. And not without reason. Shigaraki still mentally ran all his decisions by them, even if he couldn't do it in person.

They kind of envied Mirko in a way: At least her fate was in her own hands, and she had the freedom to choose what to do. Her career didn't hang on all this, not if she chose to ditch them.

But what would she do? Even she probably didn't know that.

***

Shigaraki didn't know his League was having these kinds of second thoughts, he didn't really notice their change in mood at all.

He did notice Mirko's absence far more than he wanted to and had a haunting suspicion Compress might have been right when he predicted that would come next.

But Shigaraki naturally told himself it had nothing to do with wishing she was around, it was just the disruption of the status quo.

As it looked more and more like Stain's death was just going to remain a mystery, it might be time to drop it and move forward. Ujiko said that the transfer would be completed in just another visit or two. Maybe that the delay had been for the best, in a way. Shigaraki was healthier for it...strangely enough.

The question was...now what should the league's goals be? Without any of their old allies...what could they do?

It was quite the conundrum...maybe being inactive had been for the best for a while...but, it seemed the only thing to possibly do would be to get rid of more Pros.

But what bothered Shigaraki now is that it no longer seemed like that would really send their message to the world. Shine had shown him that really swaying people to your side was more complicated than that. All the cults killed people, and yet Shine and West had united people by doing the opposite, It was concerning to think there could be more than one way to do this.

Heroes had also helped the LOV enough times to make even someone with his ingrained biases wonder if they were all as bad.

And Mirko herself had been living proof that the heroes didn't really understand what the league wanted, just from their actions...and even if he didn't personally care, what did it do for the other members if no one got what they were really about...

No, it was a mess. They needed to define themselves better. But...after helping rescue people so many times...what were they?

Bad guys? The Paranormal liberation thing? Vigilantes?

Shigaraki had tried on every hat along the way that seemed useful, as AFO had taught him to use any situation to his advantage...but again, he had not wholly missed the fact that the DJs also used every situation to their advantage...and yet it ended totally different for them.

They also could do things like stop nomu, cause lightning strikes, and free Kurogiri...that was still troubling him.

Shigaraki couldn't allow himself to question AFO himself, but it would have taken far more insanity than he had to totally ignore all these signs, and he wasn't that big of a fool, even if he was a navie person.

He knew the DJ's methods worked, for whatever reason, and they weren't like other people. He knew that the heroes had somehow changed while working with them, and he knew even that the LOV was not what it once was.

What he didn't fully realize was that he didn't mind that. He was in that stage where he thought he should mind it, so he assumed he did, but it was largely imaginary.

[I think everyone with stricter parents has been there. Or even lenient parents. There are things you know you're not supposed to like, but you do, and when you do you try to convince yourself you don't.]

In fact, the truth was, had Shigaraki been able to realize it, he would have known he'd been enjoying the peace and quiet of the last several months, other than the many attempts on their lives [lol], and that the league being able to just get along together had been the closest thing to a regular life he'd had since he was a kid; and he liked it.

But he didn't think he liked anything, or that he could. To him liking was more of just not caring. And he mistook the fear that all this would be destroyed as discontentment with it. [I felt that one too]

But in reality, he was just more and more determined that nothing would ruin it, and so he was pushed to do just what Ujiko would tell him and finish the transfer. If he had misgivings about what that would do, he was willing to push them aside, he cared too little for his own safety to really feel bad over it.

[I don't normally say this, but...with Shigaraki, clarity itself would probably solve all of his problems. Too bad that even for an average human clarity is extremely difficult to attain or to maintain if you attain it.]

***

Mirko did return that afternoon. Her flight was on time for once. She was fighting jet lag, but other than that, fine. And her spirit lifted to be back.

That was when she first realized...she really couldn't keep denying it, she had come to feel at home here.

That realization was...just...frightening.

But hard not to melt when Medea came hurtling to the front room to say hi, though she was pretending not be that excited, and not doing a good job of it. And Spinner seemed pleased too, and Twice even welcomed her...and then swore at her, but that was just Twice.

Compress went as far as to remark that their respite was over now. But he kept his rudeness to a minimum.

Silk was the only one other than Toga who didn't really seem happy to see her.

Shigaraki didn't appear.

Mirko supposed she should have seen that coming, but he was really still mad even after all this time?

Actually he was afraid that the feeling would come back if he went out there and was putting off testing it.

But then he thought maybe they would get the idea he was afraid of something, so he slunk out quietly.

Medea was going through Mirko's stuff. "You brought us souvenirs, right?"

She'd begged for one rather shamelessly.

"To shut you up," Mirko said. "I didn't want to listen to your whining, but don't expect me to do that again."

"Ooh..." Medea found a bracelet. "This is nice."

"Well we know that's not for her," Silk said dryly. "So it must be for you Medea."

"Yeah well, I bought you all something," Mirko said. "Because if I didn't, one of you would have welched about it, and it's just easier to spend money to shut you up."

"In that case, we should talk more," Compress said. "Sugar mama."

Silk smacked him.

"I meant it ironically, my dear," He said, rubbing his arm. "I'm not that kind of man."

"I'd kick you for that if she hadn't beaten me to it," Mirko glared at him. 

"I bet this is for you." Medea handed Spinner a mask. "Either that or a knife sharpener must be in here somewhere."

"And give Toga more to do?" Mirko said.

"Here Silk," Medea tossed Silk a fan. "That has to be for you."

"I expected something more insulting." Silk said.

"It's because you're an airhead." Mirko said.

Silk rolled her eyes.                

"Oh is that a new deck of cards?" Compress said. "I'm sure some of mine went missing...Medea."

Medea looked guilty.

"I feel like you copied other people's gifts." Spinner said.

"I hate shopping," Mirko put her arms behind her head carelessly.

"What's this?" Medea held up some kind of gizmo.

"Oh that's for Ren, just leave it." Mirko said. "I don't even know what the d--- thing is, but I figure he would, and he'll get a kick out of explaining it to all us plebs."

"Are you sure you're not the twins?" Compress said dryly. "Why is it that superior, self important gene doesn't run through your whole family? Or does it?"

"I dunno Compress, does it run through yours?" Mirko shot back.

Burn. Compress didn't have a come back.

"Ah there you are," Twice noticed Shigaraki had come in. "Look, it's reversible." He had a jacket.

Mirko glanced at Shigaraki, and then looked away deliberately. "Anyway, no whining about what you got."

"Oh believe me, we're touched you thought of us at all, Sugar Mama." Compress couldn't resist.

Silk shot him a warning look.

"Ironically," he said again. "And you know, that phrase can be used in different ways. It's a metaphor."

"It's revolting." Silk said.

"Well, you've been in a bad mood for two weeks anyway," Compress said. "Maybe you've just lost your sense of humor."

Silence.

Silk left the room in a cold fury.

"Nice going." Mirko remarked.

"Oh, like you're any better," Compress said. 

"I'm, like, way younger than you, and even I knew that was a bad move." Medea said.

"Well, I don't know what else to do. She won't talk," Compress said.

"Maybe she's embarrassed." Spinner had a surprisingly good guess.

"Over what?" Compress said.

Mirko shrugged. "Can't imagine... Well, I'm beat, so I'm going to turn in early, probably."

"I hear that makes jet lag worse," Compress said.

"I didn't ask for your advice," Mirko said, leaving the room. Still not looking at Shigaraki.

"I missed her rude remarks," Compress said wistfully. 

"That felt more like a 'leave me alone when I'm already tired' remark," Medea said. She pulled out a hat. "This must be for Boss Man. I guess she did get everyone. Toga has this hair tie, I think."

Toga took it but said, "I don't like how she's kissing up to everyone," and flounced away.

"I think she was just trying to be nice in her own way," Spinner said. "Maybe she missed us."

Compress laughed. "Let's not be silly."

"Well, if she was thinking of stuff we'd like while she was busy busting bad guys, I'd say she did," Medea said, trying on her new bracelet. "It's cute, really. We're like some weird family."

"You can't just say that," Compress said. "It's not dignified for Villains."

"I'm not a Villain," Medea said, "and I was saying it ironically." She smiled deviously.

"Oh...wow...touche..." Compress was impressed. "I think I need to walk that one off." He walked away.

Shigaraki eyed his "gift" suspiciously.

"This seems ominous," he said. 

"Only to you," Spinner said, then, "Sir." In case that was going too far.

Shigaraki frowned at him but didn't know what to say.

"She didn't say anything to you," Twice noted. "Maybe she's still mad...or maybe she's happy." He put his finger to his chin, then snapped his fingers. "It's because you've been giving her the cold shoulder. No, it's not that. Yes, it is!"

Even Twice could figure it out?! Shigaraki was incensed...probably out of embarrassment, if he'd known it.

"Shut up." He left the room.

"Wow...I thought he'd...you know, deny it..." Spinner said.

"Hmm." Medea sounded like a sisterwife.

* * *

Shigaraki visited Ujiko just the next day.

Ujiko noticed he was acting off...not really spaced out the way he normally was, spaced out in a different way.

Like he was smiling weirdly at moments without knowing it.

Ujiko ventured to ask what the problem was.

Of course, Shigaraki didn't know better than to tell him about his problem with the LOV's goals-- and then Mirko herself.

Ujiko was prepping him for the "treatment" at the time.

"So you feel ill, hmm?" he said, hoping it meant some real hatred was taking root. "What kind of symptoms?"

Shigaraki described them with slight...was that embarrassment?

Funny, because he shouldn't have known to be embarrassed, and Ujiko and AFO had taught him never to feel that emotion or shame. They had divided guilt from shame for him carefully by shoving his family's memories into the back of his mind (it wasn't hard because he suppressed them on his own) and holding only the knowledge of what he did, using the hands.

No, he should not feel shame.

And these symptoms? Pulse pounding, feeling warm, feeling lightheaded...

Ujiko didn't like the sound of this at all.

Could it be...something had awakened in Shigaraki that would be a huge problem for them?

At the very least, it would be a d--- nuisance...unless there was some way to use it.

Ujiko would have to think about that.

"Well, you're not actually sick," he said aloud. "This is just the symptoms of strong emotion."

"Oh...is that it?" Shigaraki sounded...relieved?

Also not a good sign.

Ujiko could have killed that rabbit... Hmm...that wasn't a bad idea...but he couldn't do it himself. She was too powerful.

"Yes, it sounds like strong hatred to me," Ujiko lied glibly. Shigaraki would believe that, he knew.

"Is that so?" Shigaraki was naive as usual.

"Yes, I think it's a sign that the urge to kill is getting stronger, and it will probably overpower you," Ujiko said. "Why else would you think of touching someone?"

"That makes sense." Shigaraki sounded awfully calm about it. That was good. For a moment there, Ujiko had been afraid he would actually object to that interpretation.

"Remember you shouldn't hold back from doing what you want," Ujiko said casually, "just like with your family. You can't help it."

"I know," Shigaraki said.

"It would probably happen on its own eventually, even if you didn't try," Ujiko said. "It's just as well--that Hero has been nothing but a problem since she joined up with your League."

"Even so," Shigaraki said, "I can't just kill someone on purpose who's an ally of the League. It would cause problems."

That was where Ujiko began to panic.

This was...this was worse than if he'd just denied the hatred... If he was starting to think there were reasons to hold back, regardless of what he felt, that was far more of a disaster than becoming aware of some less than negative feelings.

"I guess I'll just have to keep avoiding her," Shigaraki mused to himself.

That wouldn't work! 

Ujiko kept a straight face. "Well, I suppose if you think that's best. But I wouldn't trust her. I think eventually every Hero is going to try to take down the League. Even if she's held herself back this long, she cannot help it."

"The brainwashing?" Shigaraki said.

"Uh...sure." Ujiko didn't know what he was talking about. "They just can't stop it. It's like you-- you can't stop from destroying things... It's just something that's in their nature. Hero and Villains are always going to be enemies."

"That's not what Likstar thinks." Shigaraki had never talked back to Ujiko before. But he did this so casually...because, like a child, he imagined he had nothing to fear from speaking his mind to one of his mentors. Though he knew Ujiko was a scoundrel, he didn't think he was a threat to himself.

"She thinks that Heroes and Villains can change sides, can change their nature. It's pretty delusional sounding, but then, there was Dabi... Maybe not everyone is the same."

"You think there are different types of people?" Ujiko said.

"Well, some do change sides." Shigaraki had a good logical point.

Ujiko didn't have a come back for it... He never thought he'd have to have one.

"Well, even so, a Top Pro is probably not one who could ever really let go of their urge to stop villainy," he said, thinking to himself. "I only hope you are not letting your guard down. This game may have some twist levels in it yet."

"I know that," Shigaraki said, "but I don't think that's one of them, not after so much time."

He was too confident in her! Ujiko was livid. How did that little rodent worm her way into the LOV's trust. She was supposed to be the most stubborn, violent, unreasonable Top Pro out there. That's why he'd allowed her to stay in the LOV, sure she'd drive them to hate Heroes even more... How had that plan backfired? Was she not the Pro the media made her out to be...? Ah, never trust the news. He should have known better.

Shigaraki didn't say more about it, but Ujiko kept the whole thing in mind, and after he left with a "one more session" promise, Ujiko got a hold of his contact with AFO.

"We have a little problem," he said. "I can take care of one part of it, but if someone does not stop that Likstar woman, she will wreck all of our plans. The subject is getting to be a little too accepting. Foolish. I'm no match for her, though."

"All right," the voice at the the other end said. "We already have someone working on that, actually. Rest assured, Doc, they won't be a problem much longer. You just focus on your end of the deal."

"And will our Master be joining us soon?" Ujiko said.

"If all goes according to plan," the voice replied, sounded like it was smiling slyly.

Then the call ended.