Once the decision was made, everyone packed up fast. Silk was a bit reluctant to leave Compress there with all the crazy people, though he assured her he'd be fine. 

"Not that it's not kind of cute to see you worry about me," he said slyly.

Silk blushed uncomfortably. She got more embarrassed by acknowledging vulnerable feelings than attraction...but it was so fun to make her get that way.

"Just don't die," she said. "If I not allowed to kill you, no one else is either."

"Ah, poetry," Compress said, "but I'm not the one to be worried about... I'm betting those two love birds will have a fight before we're all out the door."

He wasn't entirely right: Mirko waited till he had gone out the door, and Medea was tugging her bags out also.

At first she didn't plan to make it a fight, but just going off with no word of warning didn't sit well with her.

"Just keep your eye on him," she said to Shigaraki.

But Shigaraki was waiting for someone to say that exact thing, especially her. He was way more tense about it than he thought he was. He only knew that it seemed twice as irritating as usual when she said it--it was probably actually concern underneath the irritation.

"I don't need your advice!" he snapped in a low voice.

Mirko was easily provoked after all that stress.

"Well, maybe you should think twice about just blowing off the fact that everyone thinks this is a bad thing except for you, dumba--," she spat back.

"Don't speak for the others," Shigaraki said. Which was ridiculous--All of them clearly had their reservations about it except for Toga. Even Twice had said he shouldn't be alone. But he was brushing aside their concern.

He couldn't do that with Mirko. She was too direct.

"Well, someone has to say it." Mirko's eyes narrowed angrily. "You're an idiot, you know that? AFO just conveniently busting out after that Ujiko thing? He's clearly up to no good. And if it doesn't register as a bit of concern with you that the guy powerful enough to almost defeat All Might is now loose, and we have no All Might to stop him if he does decide to wreak havoc--Are you stupid enough to think his intentions are really good? Good people don't go to prison for almost leveling an entire city block."

"As if that was his fault," Shigaraki said. "All Might is the one who interfered."

"You were trying to kidnap one of his students! What did that kid ever do to deserve that?!" Mirko was getting more worked up by the second.

"It was none of his business to interfere with Master." Shigaraki really knew so little about it, but he had blind faith that AFO hated All Might for valid reasons, even after what Shine had told him.

"Oh, wake up," Mirko said, forgetting she was talking to someone who was brainwashed. "You heard Shine same as I did. AFO brought that on himself."

"Shut up!" Shigaraki snapped the end off a chair, maybe not on purpose. "You don't even know Master, and you've already taken All Might's side, just like a Hero."

Now that...that was crossing a line...

In the past it wouldn't have bothered Mirko at all, but now, after all the better moments of the last couple months...it felt like a slap in the face.

Shigaraki probably realized it at some level, based on the look on her face. But he didn't take it back.

Mirko swallowed back her rage, because sometimes you're so angry, you feel it would be less satisfying to hit someone than to just glare at them.

"I may think All Might is right," she said in a terribly cold voice (it would send shivers down most people's spine--even Shigaraki wasn't sure if she was going to send him through the wall or not), "but it's not because I'm a Hero. I've heard the whole story now, and I think what AFO did was inhuman. I guess it doesn't bother you, huh? But it does bother me. I hate it when people just use others for whatever they want. I don't have to know AFO to think he's evil. And if he's okay with someone like Ujiko doing what he does, that's all I need. You're an idiot for thinking there's somehow a difference between the two of them."

Shigaraki almost choked on rage. 

"You have no idea what you're talking about. Master has lost everything because of Heroes-- everyone has! And he's going to get it back! You have to be able to make wise decisions in order to do that--decide who to use and how."

Mirko winced. Then she glared. "You know, what's funny is that doesn't sound like you, really. Mr. Everyone gets their own choice about the League. I kind of liked that about being here, actually. I don't get the feeling 'Master' ever gave you much of a choice about it, though. Just a hunch. I know those nomu guys didn't get a choice, and neither did Kurogiri. Seems like it's only okay if AFO does it. I call that a double standard. But hey, what do I know?" She frowned. "I'm just a stupid rabbit, right?" She haughtily turned and stormed out of the room.

Of course she'd have to have the last word! Shigaraki had half a mind to go after her and either yell or throw something...but then he thought better of it. The League would just ask questions if he made a scene.

Of course all of them had heard. Even Medea was standing just outside the door and had to jump aside when Mirko stormed out of it.

"Let's just go," Mirko said. "I'm done with this."

"Just for now, right?" Medea was nervous. "We're coming back."

Mirko sniffed. "We have to walk a while to get to the car." She picked up a bag and started walking.

"Hey, you could carry more than just one," Medea said. "It's not my fault that you have all this coffee-making crap in here. It's heavy!"

Mirko tilted her ears back.

"I'll carry it for a while," Medea muttered more meekly. "Bye, Compress." She waved. "Stay out of trouble."

"As if you even need to tell me." Compress waved.

Silk kissed him quickly and sighed. "Well, time to go. I want to know what happens as soon as you know anything."

"You'll be the first, my dear."

"Stop it with that," Silk said. "This is serious."

Compress sobered. "I'll contact you, Kira, I swear... I'm not anxious to be alone in this anyway. But I'm the escape artist, so who has the best chance of surviving if it goes south, right?"

"I know," Silk said. "Dasvidaniya, Atsuhiro." She walked away, probably forcing herself not to get emotional about it.

It was strange that everyone was so upset, Shigaraki thought from inside. AFO had never hurt any of them. What was there to be so afraid of?

He had an uneasy feeling about Mirko's claim that they all had a problem with this. It just didn't add up.

"Everyone's being stupid!" he said, stalking away from Twice. Who was confused.

* * *

The DJs told their team about the decision.

"It's probably for the best," Dabi said, "but I don't like it.  I only met AFO through a TV and just that one time he showed up to fight All Might, but I was scared of him then, and I am now. I was glad he never really talked to me directly. If he did, I'd feel like I had to do what he said."

"I hope you would not feel that way now," Shine said. "Evil people always rule through fear."

"Now? I guess after our little mission, I'm over it," Dabi said. "But at the time...well, you were right--I was a coward."

Shine smiled. "But you're not a coward."

"I'll tell you the League is cowed though," Wally remarked. "And Shigaraki doesn't get it, and he's probably thinking this is a lucky break. But can't even a guy that clueless find the timing of this odd?"

"He's not stupid," Shine said, "but he is naive. Even if he feels it deep down that it's odd, he will brush it aside because AFO is his benefactor. I don't even blame him much. What else does he have in his life but one person he thought was concerned for his welfare?"

"But how can he think," Shoto said, "that a man who would use his family against him, and tell him he was a destructive force, and kill his grandmother just for being a Hero, would really care about his welfare?"

"Because, Shoto, you don't know how far humans can fall," Shine said, "when we really think that we're worthless... But don't you remember Sasuke? Or Jugo or Karin? People who are used start to think that is all they are worth, and they see being used as some odd form of affection."

"I remember," Shoto said, "but it's not right."

"Yo, it seems like if we were trying to show them they were better than that, someone should show Mr. Shigaraki," Camie said. "I mean, did anyone even try?"

"I'm afraid to him it was just words," Shine said. "He thinks we just had use for him too, no doubt. It was the only way to get closer to him, but it comes at a price. Even if we clearly were trying to help, he can explain it away...and he will, because it would hurt too much to think otherwise and to still decide to ignore it."

"But why does he have to ignore it?" Iida was still new to all this. "Why can't he just leave AFO?"

"Would you leave your parents?" Ibara spoke gently. "Or your brother? AFO is like his family now."

Iida hesitated. "But if they were wrong..."

"Iida, he's not so different from your family," Shine startled him. "They produce Heroes, right? Famously. What if you didn't want to be a Hero?"

"I...I think my parents would support whatever I wanted," Iida said.

"It may be it's true, but it would be odd nonetheless, and some in your family no doubt would be upset," Shine said. "Multiply that by a 1000 because AFO is his only family-like relationship, at least that he recognizes as such. Would you really not hesitate?"

"I'm not entirely sure why we're rooting for him at all," Iida said. "I take it this team does, but he's still a Villain in my book, even if his past is tragic."

"And is that what matters?" Momo looked up from leaning on Shoto's shoulder. "Him being a Villain, not the suffering he's undergone through no fault of his own?"

"Didn't he bring it on himself?" Iida said.

"How can you say that?" Kaminari said. "Come on, dude, his family dying was an accident, remember?"

"Most of it," Iida said.

"And a child defending himself from an angry parent swinging a pole at them is so very reprehensible?" Shine said. "Not that it's Mr. Shimura's fault for trying to kill his own son?"

"Well, after his son destroyed his whole family," Iida said. "I'm not saying I would have, but I'm sure his father was very shocked...and it doesn't mean it's okay that he's become the head of the LOV and tried to wipe out society."

"If it was his idea," Shine said, "I would agree with Iida. If I thought Shigaraki, or I should say, Tenko Shimura, had come up with any of this on his own out of pure spite, I would agree. But I paid careful attention to him all this time. I've gotten reports from our very brave girl on the inside. Would you be surprised to hear I no longer think any of it could have been his original thought?"

"But he's been on his own for months now," Iida said.

Wally tilted his head. "So?"

"It's like my faith," Ibara said. "I didn't come up with it, I just practice it. Is hating Heroes like religion to Shigaraki?"

"Very good, Ibara." Shine smiled weakly. "I knew you would catch on quickly."

"Religion or not," Aizawa spoke up, "it's not right to kill people."

"And we aren't saying it is," Shine said, "but you might as well blame Eri for what she did. Tenko is just as much a pawn as she ever was."

"Eri didn't want to hurt anyone," Aizawa said. "I think there is a difference of temperament here."

"No," Shine said. "Tenko didn't want to hurt anyone at first either--that's become clear to me from talking to him. He was told he did. If Eri was treated like him, she might have turned out the same. Kids believe anything. Aizawa, I was convinced for years I was a bad child for resisting abuse. I believed it. I used to wonder why I couldn't make myself change. Shoto, you know about it."

Shoto nodded. "I believed my left side was bad because of my mom's fear of it."

"What our parents tell us sticks with us," Shine said, "just as Eri believed she was hurting people by trying to get away from Overhaul, when it was him hurting them. People lie, Aizawa. It's disgusting. Can you not see the very same forces at work in Tenko's actions? His professed desires don't match up with his way of handling others. He's better than his training. So yes, I root for him." She suddenly looked dangerous. "And I'd advise you to do all in your power to help him make the right choice if you get the chance."

Aizawa was silent. The comparison to Eri had given him a different perspective on it than before.

"Now that we've seen more of it," Momo said, "I truly do pity him. And I truly do want him to be free of it, but I still don't see how it would happen. AFO is out now." She put her face in her hands. "It's so horrible, like some nightmare."

"Like how Itachi wouldn't just die," Bakugo growled, "or that snake Orochimaru. Why do these people have to be so persistent?"

"Because a man who knows he'll go straight to hell will avoid dying twice as much as anyone else," Shine said, "and will cheat it as long as he can. AFO should be dead now, but he's survived on sheer hatred."

"I get that you feel bad for him," Jiro said, "but I'm kind of with Iida. If we just stopped the guy by force, everyone would be safer."

"Oh, no," Shine said, "we'd not be safe at all. Shigaraki would not be killed right off if he was caught. They'd break him out. We have proof of it now, but I assure you, any sense of fairness or pity he has for us because of our help would be gone. We knew that from the start after I met him. Why do you think I scoped him out so early? If forcibly stopping him would have worked, we could have offered off the bat."

"So," Miss Joke said, "you did do that on purpose."

"Of course." Wally bit into a snack. "You think we're stupid?"

"How in the world did you know what would happen?" Aizawa said. "Back then none of us dreamed someone would be able to break them out, and I thought you were mad to toy with the League... I see now that it saved our lives probably, but, with no facts, how could you have guessed it?"

"It's the most shocking thing, Aizawa," Shine said, "that when you decide to treat people like people, regardless of their moral alignment, and you follow that logic and the guidance of God to your best ability, it's almost as good as being able to predict the future. In fact, it ends up being the same thing in the end."

Silence.

"Maybe we should all be praying for how this goes, then," Shoto spoke. "Because, if you really did all that because of God, then it shouldn't go to waste."

"That's a good idea." Momo sat up. "Let's do that."

"We have to do something," Wally agreed. "Sounds good."

So they did.

* * *

Prayer or no prayer, AFO still was going to find the League. But the way he did it rather surprised them.

Early the next morning, they were anxiously waiting around, and warp goo just appeared around them.

They'd forgotten that AFO also possessed this quirk. It was cloned like Shigaraki's.

Shigaraki wasn't ready at all. He coughed on the black stuff.

"Ew, ew," Toga was muttering.

"Ah, Tomura Shigaraki." The familiar voice of AFO filled the air. "It's been a long time."

* * *

Compress's eyes adjusted. They were in a dark room. AFO seemed to prefer those, maybe because light made no difference to him. But he could make out AFO sitting in shadows at the far end in a large chair, with medical equipment around it.

He didn't have his mask.

Compress was not the same person he was months ago. AFO had only mildly disturbed him then.

But now, watching how Shigaraki turned and walked toward him almost in a trance, like a dog would to its master, and kneeling down in front of him while AFO put out his hand...

It was a whole different feeling.

This was wrong. Shigaraki had been a leader, if an unconventional, often enigmatic one. Even if he wasn't like a Hero, he shouldn't act like a pet.

It hurt Compress' sense of role casting.

Twice was muttering to himself nervously like he didn't care for this either. 

"Shut up," Compress told him, since he could say the wrong thing if he kept on like that.

"And your associates are here too," AFO said, just as if he had not done that on purpose. "But why do I only see three of them?"

Please don't tell him, Compress thought.

"The others were out." Shigaraki luckily said the safer answer... Maybe he was embarrassed to admit they'd run for it. "And Dabi--"

"I've heard about it," AFO interrupted. "It's so unfortunate...to lose a member like that. But I hear you found replacements for him. You must tell me about your progress."

He had some nerve, Compress  thought. Abandon us for months and come back and act like he's been a part of it the whole time.

Oh, wait...he had. Huh...this was uncomfortable.

In fact, it was the manner AFO treated the whole absence matter with that was the most unsettling thing.

Even Toga was nervous-looking.

Shigaraki told AFO about it all though... Not in a lot of detail, he just listed the things that had happened with the Metas and the Originals--and Dabi...

But he wasn't asking about Kurogiri, not yet.

Compress took more stock of the room while they talked. All the equipment sure looked familiar...like Ujiko's work.

Then he spotted the little man in the background.

He gave a start.

Shigaraki hadn't noticed him yet.

"And Ujiko has deceived us," he finished rather peevishly, "so I told him not to disturb us again unless it was urgent."

"Yes...I heard about that." AFO's tone was hard to read. Could have been benevolent, could have been displeased. "Well, perhaps it was a misunderstanding. I'm sure my old friend would never go against my will."

"He has," Shigaraki insisted, "or has done something outside of it. But I took care of it."

It was this sentence that caused a shift in the mood. Up till then AFO had spoken as he always had to Shigaraki, like he was talking to very young child who was trying to play adult. And Shigaraki had always answered him like he was a child. But this last sentence sounded a bit...more experienced.

AFO seemed to shift in his seat. "Now you know, Tomura Shigaraki, that I was put in jail by that despicable All Might against my will, but I used the time wisely. I'd like to hear what progress you've made towards your goals."

Silence.

"We've had a lot of setbacks," Shigaraki said.

Compress realized that all those details had been his way of making excuses... He was prepared for AFO not to be happy about it.

With good reason. Compress had yet to see AFO when he was actually displeased with something, and he didn't want to see it.

"I understand that, but surely, you've gained some knowledge, some wisdom for what to do, and have a plan in mind, which I can provide you the tools to enact," AFO said. "I have not been wholly idle in all this time."

Here it came...

But Shigaraki had no plan. Compress knew that. If he did, he'd have said it.

And...wouldn't have Ujiko informed AFO of that?

Compress knew this had to be a test, but did Shigaraki know that?

Shigaraki was thinking too long about it.

"At the moment, I don't have a set plan," he admitted. "Things have changed a bit in regard to it. I've started thinking that maybe Stain had a point--not all Heroes should be destroyed."

What? What was he saying?

"Maybe some could be included in our new world," Shigaraki went on, "and some other people too. It's not as easy to judge if people will come to see the truth as I used to think. There should be a way to test them...perhaps if we conferred more with people outside our circle."

This was not good. Did he think AFO would want to hear this?

But AFO didn't get angry. "Oh?" he said instead.

Compress would not have kept going for a million yen if he were Shigaraki, but Shigaraki didn't seem to catch the warning sign in a monosyllabic answer.

"I've made some new acquaintances who have ideas that work, though they sound crazy," he said. "At first I didn't think I should listen, but then bad things began happening every time I didn't. We lost Dabi and then...Kurogiri...and almost more than that...and Kurogiri was not what I thought he was either. Did you know he was a nomu?"

"A nomu?" AFO either didn't think he'd use that word, or was pretending to be ignorant.

"Yes," Shigaraki said. "An intelligent one...and that's another thing. I don't like the use of nomu." He sounded whiny there, but since it wasn't about him, it didn't hit the same way. "It was all right when they were just pets, but they have souls, and messing with someone's soul doesn't seem like the right thing to do. I told Ujiko I don't want to use any more."

"I heard about that," AFO said. "I'm truly surprised that you feel that way, but of course, if you don't want to, you don't have to use them. It's all about what you think is best."

"I doubt that," Compress muttered to himself. 

He knew acting... AFO couldn't possibly mean what he said, or he'd not have planted the idea of nomu in Shigaraki's head to begin with. So he was acting...but he was good at it. His tone was also convincing, if you had no theater experience whatsoever.

"Yes," Shigaraki said, "and what's more, I don't like Ujiko messing with any of the League allies, even if they are Heroes. If you know where he is, I would tell him that."

"I think you made yourself quite clear to him," AFO said. "He's not likely to forget a humiliation like that."

In the background Ujiko winced.

"But Tomura Shigaraki...aren't you just...a little...well, overly trusting, perhaps?" AFO said. "It seems you've been keeping strange company lately. But I am concerned that these Heroes may not be what they seem."

A pause.

"Which ones?" Shigaraki finally asked.

"Which? Any of them. The one I hear most about was a surprising choice, though it's also likely she was useful. The number 5 Hero Mirko...in the past that one would have been an automatic kill for the League, but you saw fit to put her to use," AFO said. "And that is a wise decision, but to expose her to all your activities, I had thought you were playing it more carefully with that Hawks one. Why risk so much with a Hero known for being indiscreet?"

This was close to criticism... How odd.

Shigaraki acted like he was stunned by it too. He actually seemed to shrink back a little uncomfortably. Of course, it made him defensive, not meek. "It made sense. The ninja were giving us too much trouble. We couldn't risk them getting ahold of her."

"I see... Well, I suppose that makes sense. But they've been subdued for some time, and yet she still lingered on, like she's looking for something or waiting for something. Some opportunity perhaps," AFO said.

What was he doing? Compress tensed.

"Opportunity?" Shigaraki took the bait.

Uh oh.

"Well, I can't pretend to know your constituents better than you," AFO said, "so perhaps you can tell me if this is wrong, but, well, did they know that I, the one who almost defeated All Might, was still in touch with my dear friend Ujiko?"

"Yes," Shigaraki answered, still concerned, "but what does that have to do with it?"

"Heroes tend to want to go for the big boss," AFO said. "Even before, my capture was because of that. I would hate to be responsible for the same error, but, as it is, I would almost suppose that Pro was waiting till I made a move, perhaps as an effort to stop it, once and for all... You would know best, though. Would you say she was disinterested in my fate?"

Compress understood the trap...but he was powerless to stop it. He was...too afraid to speak.

And he'd always been selfish... He wasn't even willing to stick his neck out in a way that would get AFO to kill him later.

He could try to set this straight later, he decided, not now.

"No, she's very sure it's a bad thing." Shigaraki was so clueless. "But I told her it was stupid. The League was your idea, after all. Why would you pose a threat to it? Sometimes that Pro is paranoid."

If only he sounded more irritated and less fondly worried when he said that.

Not that his tone would sound fond to most people, but if you knew how harsh he normally spoke, you'd notice the difference. AFO would.

"Paranoid? Or determined?" AFO said. "I rather think it's similar to Hawks--at least it sounded like that. Earning the trust of the League in order to find out more about what they're planning, seeming to help them with things, even be their friend, only to plan in the end to flip the tables on them. She might just be a bit better of an actress than that feather-headed idiot. They're close friends though, aren't they?"

Silence.

Compress couldn't gauge if that shook Shigaraki or not.

"I wouldn't assume Hawks never actually let her in on things. My source told me he tried to warn other Heroes about the Metas when he first began with them., AFO mused. "They meet and talk a lot too...but perhaps it's nothing. It's not like she's actively tried to undermine what I've done or said, after all. She wouldn't tell you that I'm some power-mad man, just using you."

How did he know what she said? Compress grew more afraid.

Shigaraki finally flinched. "She did say that," he said.

"Oh?" AFO had the gall to sound surprised. "Really? That's so odd. I was just guessing what someone who had an agenda against me would say. All Might, he used used to say things like that, remember? But she wouldn't know that."

"She did take All Might's side," Shigaraki said. 

Oh no...

Compress noticed Twice and Toga were not present anymore. And neither was Ujiko.

Where had they all gone?

The shadows seemed oddly thick in this room all of the sudden.

"But she's a hot head." Shigaraki suddenly changed his tone. "Maybe all those things seem bad, but Mirko doesn't have the creativity to plan something like that."

Funny that him insulting her could be so heartwarming...at least if it wasn't probably sealing her fate.

"You're sure?" AFO said.

"Yes." Shigaraki did not sound sure at all, actually. He sounded very uncertain.

"Well, if you do have any lingering doubts about her, I suppose they will be put to rest if nothing happens," AFO said, "and perhaps nothing will. If you're positive, I will let Ujiko know not to plan to retrieve that Pro after all. I was going to bring her to us and just ask her directly and sort this out. But if you think she would probably be too paranoid and deny it, I suppose that won't be necessary."

Compress wasn't sure which answer AFO wanted, because either sounded like a trap.

He half thought he maybe should say something, carefully, here--but then he realized he couldn't speak... The shadows in the room seemed to contort around him...and then he was...not there anymore.

[Uh oh.]

Shigaraki looked for Compress, actually, to try to gauge what he thought...and saw they'd all left... Huh.

"I take it your comrades are afraid to be here after all," AFO said. "Jumpy little people, aren't they? What do you say, Tomura Shigaraki?"

"I think she wouldn't come," Shigaraki said. "Likstar convinced everyone it was a bad idea."

"Likstar?" AFO said. "If that's all, I can set her mind at ease too. You believe if they just met me they would understand us, right? If they are really so open minded as you say? How about it?"

Shigaraki...realized that he was in a corner.

He did not realize AFO had backed him into one on purpose. He believed AFO was sincerely concerned about it. But he saw that if he said no, it would seem he wasn't sure himself. Or that they were not open minded at all.

"I...concur," he said. A sick feeling kind of came over him even so.

"Excellent," AFO said.