No one else was attacked that night, and when dawn finally came, everyone was tired and scared, but intact.

"I think the clue was what it said," Shine said. "They want to scare us till we're desperate. This is no time to give in. Trust me," she addressed Shigaraki, "if you do now, it'll just get worse. The best thing to do would be to make them show themselves. They'll make a mistake eventually. But in order to stay in one piece, we have to look our for each other. It was very lucky that you and Mirko were right there for each other. The rest of us were too... I doubt they can take us all together. So we stick together. No one goes anywhere alone, same rules as before."

"Can they actually scare us to death?" Medea asked.

Shine and Wally exchanged a look.

"People can die from shock and stress," Wally said, "but if you stay alert, or you have someone else to help you, it's pretty hard for that to happen. My buddies once pulled me out of a nightmare like that... If you all know how to calm yourself down, I think they can't get us like that. They're just telling us they can so that we'll panic."

"In any case, it's just causing more fear," Shine said, "so it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy... Trust me, Fear is my old nemesis. Now, short of going to them, which is what they want, we can only wait for them to come to us. Lethe, does this Akume read people's minds?"

"He..." Lethe gripped Medea's hand. "He can use their dreams to figure things out about them...or to go through their memories...kind of like me...because dreams contain memories. But usually the memories are so jumbled that they wouldn't give you that much info. Just someone's deepest fears, hopes, and so on."

[I got this idea both from Justice League, and a book called "Mark of The Raven".]

"Was he thinking to combine that with your power?" Shine asked.

"Yeah," Lethe said. "They...want to be able to pool quirks, I think. AFO can do that...but he'd have to take both... Maybe they have another way, I don't know. He went into my..." He winced. "Well, you know...and...I think can tell when it's happening more than other people, because of my quirk... He knew all my deepest fears... That's how he bent me to his will...or the nightmares would be unbearable... Same thing over and over again. I thought I'd lose my mind...or I did lose my mind." He shivered. "But Yin...well, he didn't have anything useful to them."

"What was his quirk?" Aizawa asked.

Lethe shivered. "It's not that powerful. He can stop sound in a small radius around him for a few minutes. He just used to steal things and get away without anyone noticing. I doubt they'd have much use for it."

"I could see how a quirk like that could be useful," Shine said. "Are we sure he still has it?"

"If he did, why not use it on us?" Wally said. "He's scared of us...and the other sounds."

They looked hard at Yin, who was asleep for once.

"My guess is he no longer has it," Shine said. "Silk, you've told us they are working with the Originals, right?"

"No...they are the Originals," Silk said. "They...they are the people over them. Higher ups, people the underlings like me would never know about."

"So that tells us what? They hate quirks?" Aizawa said.

"It tells us that if they take quirks from their enemies, they might have people to give them to," Shoto guessed. "Right, Shine-sensei?"

"Very good, Shoto." Shine was impressed. "I'm sure no one who knows about all this truly is committed to that no-quirks ideology. It's just a ruse."

"But...why would they be working with our worst enemies?" Shigaraki said.

"Did you not hear what she just said? It's a ruse," Mirko said irritably. Not getting sleep wasn't helping. "They don't really care about purifying us or whatever."

"No, but running an organization, that is the perfect way to search for powerful quirks to take," Shine said. "AFO is just their missing piece. Instead of eliminating their enemies alone, they now can take their power and give it to their allies... This is concerning."

"So what are we dealing with, then?" Aizawa asked. "Another cult?"

"I don't think it's a cult," Shine said. "Think about it. Originals, the LOV, AFO, all people with very different ideas about what's right. If it was a cult, they could never combine them. Cult people are...well, crazy and often evil, but I'll say this much-- if they really buy that stuff, they would not work with people who don't. The cult is just a cover for what's really going on, clearly."

"I concur with that," Silk said. "They don't seem at all interested in the goals of the ninja."

"Shoto," Shine said, "I want you to go to your Dad's agency today and fill Mabui in on all this. She's our intelligence person. You should be safe around her and Dabi for now. They can handle these things if they do show up there. But I don't think they will. Revealing themselves to that many people can't be good for them."

"But what if you need protection?" Shoto asked.

"We have others here," Shine said. "And we can call in more. For now, the less targets we have to keep track of the better, don't you think? Bakugo will be there today, won't he? So you can confer. Momo will be near enough to meet up. Please, I'm asking you to do this for us."

Shoto nodded. "I will."

Shine went on. "At the moment the enemy has the advantage of knowing who we are, our weaknesses, and our plans, it sounds like...at least, as much as we have plans. I want to level that playing field as soon as I can. We can't find out everything about them, but if they have a pattern...anything we might not have heard about, it could clue us in."

"This makes sense," Aizawa said. "But what can we do in the meantime?"

"All we've been doing: strengthening ourselves mentally, emotionally, and physically as much as we can to bear up under his attacks. They may take a new form soon," Shine said. "But the more they attack us, the more they will show their power. Like I said, at some point, they'll make a mistake. To err is human. We wait them out. And we get stronger to attacks like this the more they happen. That's how we anointed saints are."

"That seems unfair," Midnight said.

"'Though the righteous falls 7 times, he will surely rise again'," Shine quoted. "It's a war of attrition right now."

"Then tell us, what is this power they keep using?" Aizawa said. "It's not like any quirk I've ever seen. You keep acting like it's something more like yours."

Wally winced. "Yeah...so you noticed, huh?"

"When the voice spoke to me, it said I couldn't defeat it because I was just your little disciple," Shoto said. "Didn't you say disciple meant student?"

"Yeah, but that's not a Japanese word..." Shine said oddly. "Was it speaking English?"

"I can't tell anymore," Shoto said.  He glanced at Aizawa. "While we were on our mission, we realized that all of us who've been around them the most just sort of absorbed English from them, the same way they speak Japanese to us... Now we literally seem to speak both. It's odd."

Shine nodded. "I noticed it when I was going over Momo's and Shoto's English homework and realized they weren't making mistakes at all."

"Huh," Midnight said. "That also seems incredibly unfair."

"Well...it sort of makes sense," Wally said. "We're speaking English ourselves, so you're hearing that. It's just in your brain it turns into Japanese. Put that mode on long enough, you'd be pretty much fluent, right?"

"But how do you know the--app-- is not just still on?" Midnight said.

"Because I can do this without thinking," Shoto said in flawless English. Even the accent was good--though still there.

"Wow..." Medea was impressed. "I don't know what he said, but it sounded good."

"The point is, this person could have been speaking English," Shine said. "Think, Shoto."

Shoto thought. "I...think it was, now that you mention it. I remember it that way."

"So...what, they're American?" Aizawa said.

Shine shrugged. "They could be British, or Australian, or Irish, or Scotch, or Welsh, or--"

"Stop! I'm begging you." Midnight covered her ears. "We get it."

"What's Welsh?" Medea asked. "That sounds made up."

"It's the language of Wales," Shine said.

"Yeah, definitely sounds made up now," Medea said. "Whales are sea mammals. I know that, duh."

[Welsh people slap their foreheads.

Example: names like Gwenvael (old form of Gwendolyn) are Welsh. Pronunciation is hard. But it's a lovely language. Can you tell I'm a language buff?]

"Anyway, if this power of theirs is truly something like what we think," Shine said, "then...well...it's sort of in our field, if you catch my drift."

It sounded like nothing good.

But there wasn't much anyone could do except follow her instructions... This was an enemy they weren't trained for.

* * *

AFO, Ujiko, and Akume waited for Shigaraki to return all that day.

Akume had more to do, actually, but he stopped in every now and then, though he seemed only to be gloating.

But he grew frustrated finally.

"They are becoming aware of my probing," he said. "They are guarding more carefully now. I'm not sure I can get into anyone for long enough to find out their plans."

"And this means?" AFO said tightly.

"A minor setback," Akume said. "We have your two pawns. It's only a matter of time before they try to retrieve them. In the meantime, we can send a few of our agents out to stir them up a little more on a different field."

"This is tedious," Ujiko complained. "Why not just crush them?"

"Because Lord Ender has a better use of this than just annihilation," Akume said. "If you small-minded fools would think about it, you might see why. Now, you'll get your tools back, but you do this our way, or you'll lose him again anyway. I still advise abandoning the whole idea. They're bound to use him against you. But in any case, we play it safe."

"And why are you so afraid of them?" AFO said. "So far they've escaped you. Just increase your attacks."

"There are rules," Akume said vaguely. "We won't be allowed that close to them without more of an opening. Not directly. And the time for physical contact is still not here...but, just a little longer, and we won't need to hold back. Patience. Once we have that boy's quirk, you can do anything with it."

AFO smirked slightly. "That is true."

"They'll make a mistake," Akume added. "To err is human."

"'And to forgive divine,'" Ujiko finished the quote.

Akume suddenly turned and gave him a terrible look. "What was that?"

"Ah...nothing, I was just quoting with you." Ujiko was a little surprised.

"Well, stay away from finishing my sentences," Akume said. "That is a pathetic line anyway. Alexander Pope was a hopeless sentimentalist."

"Who?" Ujiko didn't know the origin of the quote, he'd just heard it before.

"Nevermind," Akume said. "We do not use the word 'Divine' here anyway. If the lord hears you say such a word...well...it won't end well."

He was speaking so dead seriously that neither of them asked why.

AFO shrugged. Everyone had their pet peeves... Perhaps he had a distaste for cults. Made sense. They were so obnoxious.

Ujiko didn't really care for an explanation. He didn't like how Akume said it.

* * *

With both sides somewhat aware of the other's goals, things went on in an uneasy stalemate for the next 24 hours.

Since no one could leave, they were bored and tired, and that made them snippy with each other. But the fights ended as soon as they started, because everyone remembered the dark shadow hanging over their heads.

Mirko was restless and moved around the dorms constantly--and went outside and came back in and checked her phone... She even answered Ren's messages, though only with a "frick off". 

She became aware that Shigaraki seemed to be following her around--not closely, but every time she moved, he'd seem to be in the next room or the window or something...

Weird. It was making her self conscious.

It's not like anything had really happened, she thought. It was just an emergency, is all... Medea is being a pill...

Anyway now was the not the time to be thinking about it...but of course...with no work, no plan, and no hobbies...she had nothing else to think about.

She didn't feel like gaming anymore... It was at the point of stress where that just seemed too normal to focus on.

Shine relieved her feelings by singing, dancing, and going through her Bible. That seemed to work for her. Wally patrolled around constantly, and that at least made him feel active. But no one else was fast enough to do this safely, so that option was out.

Shoto checked in later that afternoon with the news that Mabui was on the case now.

"I don't see how she'll be able to help," Aizawa said to Shine when he heard. "She's an alien. I thought she didn't even know how to use a computer."

"Oh, that was last month," Shine said. "She's proficient now... Aizawa, her IQ is crazy high, she has a photographic memory, and she's a trained analyst and intel gatherer. Being a secretary is just her day job. if anything, she's been dying for more of a challenge and I'm sure was only too happy to do this. She was invaluable to us while we were in her world. And she might be able to out-think me even, if we were tested. Who knows? I'm telling you, aside from myself, there's no one better to be on this case. And she's also an expert in freaky, unusual powers."

"And how is she used to that?" Aizawa said.

"Because ninja in that world are into dark arts," Shine said. "It's like quirks here. They think nothing of it, which means we can trust her to keep her head too. You've got nothing to worry about."

Aizawa accepted it.

But then things went back to being mundane and monotonous.

Mirko gave Shine and Medea's advice to her more thought, since she had nothing better to do.

She hopped on the roof of the dorms just to get out of sight of the inside for a while.

It was while she was sitting up here, staring at nothing, that Hawks flew up.

"Hey...I heard through the vine," he said. "How are you guys holding up?"

"Ugh, like s---," Mirko said.

"Yeah, you look pretty tired," Hawks admitted. "Want me to stick around...? I could take a few hours off."

"Not sure you'd really be much help," Mirko said. "And Shigaraki would only be more annoyed if you hung around."

"Uh huh." Hawks gave her a long look. "So that's what important now."

Mirko glared at him. "Since we're trying to avoid him going off and doing something dumb, then yes, it is. Do you have a problem?"

"Easy there, tiger. Fine," Hawks held up his hands. "I'll keep it toned down. I guess it isn't going well."

"Well, nothing is happening," Mirko said. "I almost got dragged away, but other than that..."

"Back up... What did that mean?"

Mirko told Hawks all about it-- Maybe she just needed to tell someone who wasn't there, so she could hear how weird it sounded out loud finally.

Hawks was kind of spooked too. "Wow...creepy. Even I've never seen that...and all you're doing is waiting."

"They say it's all we can do. Try to trick them into revealing something," Mirko said.

"I guess," Hawks said. "So you and Shigaraki together just...kind of avoided it?"

Mirko frowned. "A coincidence."

"Yeah...like the fact that he's watching us right now is," Hawks said.

"What?" Mirko started to look.

"Hey, don't look!" Hawks grabbed her and held her in place. "Then he'll know I said something. That's not keeping it toned down, is it?"

Mirko pulled away. "Stop doing that."

"I'm just worried that you're getting too comfortable," Hawks said. "I mean...did you forget that all this is happening because of AFO? You can't let your guard down."

Mirko rolled her eyes. "I really needed to hear that, Hawks. It's not like I could think of anything else at a time like this or anything."

"And just how much are you thinking about it?" Hawks' wings flexed in a stressed way. And he narrowed his eyes. "I've been seeing this for a while, but I was hoping after the last week, it'd be gone. All Might died... That theater thing, I heard part of...but you stopped it, huh? Is that giving you the idea this is just a minor set back? Because I think you're ignoring the signs, then. This is a ticking time bomb."

"Hawks!" Mirko said sharply. "Stop it."

"Why? Because it's true?" Hawks frowned. "I can't believe you've really fallen for someone like that."

"I--" Mirko stopped... Denial...what good was it going to do? No one bought it anyway.

Her stopping sealed her fate.

"Wow...not even going to deny it now," Hawks said. "I knew you were crazy, Rumi, but this is just...ludicrous."

"It is, huh?" Mirko said flatly. "Says the man dating the daughter of a guy he almost got killed."

"Well...Fuyumi is a very understanding person," Hawks said. "But you're not. You're just in it for kicks, aren't you? You think it's fun flirting with disaster--literally. Is this about thrill seeking or something? That's sick, though."

"Well, which is it?" Mirko's eye narrowed. "Did I fall for him, or am I just thrill seeking?"

"I don't know. Which is it?" Hawks said.

Mirko got mad. Hawks was so annoyingly smug!

"Well, they don't have to be mutually exclusive," she said slyly. "Could be both."

"What? Rumi, this is not a joke," Hawks said.

"Yeah, it's not," she said. "You think it's a bad idea. I think I've only heard that about a billion times, but somehow I'm still alive, and you know what?" She flipped him off. "Maybe that's because I've got something that you don't have."

"A bad boy complex?" Hawks said.

Mirko's ears went back. "Guts," she said.

Hawks scowled. "I have the guts to tell you that you'll only hurt yourself if you push this. Does he know?"

"No, I doubt it," Mirko said.

"You doubt it. You're not sure?"

"Well, it depends on how he interprets certain signals," Mirko said, finally getting a little embarrassed again.

"And what signals does he have to interpret?" Hawks said. He studied her. "What did you do?"

"Nothing," Mirko said. "At least nothing like what you're thinking."

"Well, tell me what I'm thinking, so I know I'm not thinking the wrong thing," Hawks said.

"You know." Mirko made a gesture that was pretty crude. [You've likely seen it in anime.]

"Ew, I hope not," Hawks said.

"Well, no," Mirko said. "And it's disgusting that I even have to answer that. It's none of your business."

"I think it could be," Hawks said. "Not that I want to know...but just how deep are you getting here?"

"I'm not answering that," Mirko said.

"Then you're deeper than you should be," Hawks said. "It won't work out. You know that. Why would you do that to yourself?"

"Well--who says it won't?" Mirko finally snapped. "That's all you ever say...but here we freaking are. Someone's still alive and still doing okay. I mean, I've survived everything so far--why not just go for it? No regrets, right?"

She initially just wanted to freak out Hawks--but once she said it...it just clicked.

What exactly was she hesitating for?

This wasn't what she planned...or expected...but it was how it happened. And...yeah, it was risky, but what wasn't? If she backed down now, she was just letting the odds beat her...and that wasn't her style. Medea and Shine were right... That was wussy.

"No--you're... I... You'll have a million regrets," Hawks said. "And I'm more concerned if you don't... I'm starting to think I don't know you that well after all, Rumi... I thought you were a Hero at least... Heroes don't hook up with Villains just for kicks and ignoring their responsibility."

"It's not like it's that simple." Mirko crossed her arms. "And you can go frick yourself."

"All Might and Best Jeanist are dead!" Hawks said.

It was silent...dead silent.

"And Edgeshot," Hawks went on. "And he's part of the reason!"

Now, while Shigaraki hadn't heard any of the conversation up till then, Hawks was loud enough there for him to hear that, and he glared up at him, but Hawks wasn't watching him anymore to see that.

Mirko shoved Hawks, forgetting all about Shigaraki possibly watching this.

"That's not fair!" she said angrily. "By that logic, we're part of the reason."

"You think I don't blame myself too?" Hawks said. "But my solution is not to...make out or whatever with one of the people responsible."

"That's because none of the people responsible would make out with you." Mirko was weirdly savage. "And because you don't have self respect-- I feel responsible too, goshdang it! But the only way I think I can prevent more of it and move on is by directing that anger at the right target. Shigaraki is not your problem, Hawks. There're people behind this we don't even know about yet, and we're fighting for our lives and sanity, and you want to argue about who is and is not a problem. Newsflash: He's here with us, trying to solve it."

Hawks' mouth dropped open a little.

"So decide who's side you're really on," Mirko finished stormily. "Because everyone else just wants to stop the people really behind this, not point fingers at who is more or less deserving to be here. I'm tired of being such a snob about it. Aren't you? We need the Villains' help...and they need ours, end of story... Or our stories are gonna end here...not to be melodramatic. You're saying I'm the crazy one? Look in the Mirror. It's crazy to be this scared to change your mind."

Hawks stared at her.

Then he slowly straightened.

"Fine, Rumi," he said in a tight voice. "Throw aside caution, restraint, and the law... Become a vigilante, then... I can't protect you from the consequences, then."

"White Knight, I didn't ask you to." Mirko frowned. "Why don't you get out of here? I'm fine." She tossed her hair. "And if this does kill me, then at least I know I chose it, eyes open... Are you just going to hide on the side of the Heroes and ignore what we need to do?"

Hawks winced. "Good bye, Rumi." He flew away.

Mirko sighed. "Yeah, bye, Hawks."

[Hold my heart-- Lindsey Stirling]

She didn't like Hawks' obsession with needing to save everyone he knew, even her...but...she didn't have that many friends on the Pros' side anymore... This still left her uneasy...

She turned and looked down and saw Shigaraki watching.

 She jumped to the ground, facing him. "I hope you appreciated that," she said. "Great show, wasn't it? I think I just picked a side." She walked away towards the courtyard.

Shigaraki glanced up after Hawks, who was disappearing into the distance. "Strange," he muttered.

* * *

[Clarity-- Zedd]

Mirko was tearing grass up with her hands and shredding it when she heard Shigaraki follow her yet again.

She sighed.

Then she looked up. "Are you going to keep stalking me, or are you going to finally say whatever it is you're thinking?"

Shigaraki stiffened and came into full view.

"Who was stalking? There's not a lot of places to go around this dump."

"I noticed it all day," she said flatly, "so don't lie to me."

Silence.... Well, he was caught.

"It's because of the...thing yesterday," Shigaraki said.

Mirko sniffed. "Yeah...well...I'm fine."

Silence again.

"Not really the point," Shigaraki finally said.

"Then what is?" Mirko said.

Yet more silence.

Shigaraki didn't really know. He'd been hung up on what happened--from the theater to now-- just as much as her, but with far less clarity. He wasn't used to wanting things...or to knowing he did...but not knowing why.

Mirko straightened. 

How was she going to talk about this? 

Start with the truth...right...

"You know that whole thing had me really worried," she said, finally. This seemed safer to start on. "Pisses me off."

"There's a reason for that," Shigaraki said, eyeing his hands. "I almost killed everyone. You should be worried."

"That's not why, idiot," Mirko said. She drew a deep breath. "It would suck if they got to you...after all that work."

Silence.

As bad as she was at this, Shigaraki was still worse... To most people that wouldn't have been that sentimental of a sentence, but to someone who never heard anything remotely like that at all, it sounded way too concerned.

"I am dangerous to everyone," he said.

"Stop saying that." Mirko frowned, a little annoyed. "Are you doing this on purpose...? I mean..." Ugh, she felt like this was such a leap. "...personally."

"Personally?" She'd lost him now.

"I mean...I feel kind of responsible for...you know, making sure you're okay," she finally said.

Silence.

"Why?" Shigaraki might well ask that. What reason did she really have?

"I don't know." Mirko looked at the ground. "I guess at some point in all this it became important to me."

There...she'd sort of said it.

"Because you're a Hero?" Shigaraki still didn't get it.

"No." Mirko would have found this funny if she was watching someone else flounder this hard-- It wasn't funny when it was her. "Being a Hero has nothing to do with it... Look, to be honest--" she finally started talking faster. "--I got to know you over the last several months, and...now it seems like it would be the worst if they just got to you after all that effort...and...I liked it better before...when things weren't so...chaotic. I was willing to do whatever it took to prevent losing---well, losing to them. So..."

She was messing this up again, she thought. "What I mean is...I think you should just get to be happy...not go through all that crap again."

Well, she might be failing at confessing, but she was definitely blowing his mind anyway.

Shigaraki stared at her in astonishment.

"Me...happy?" He sounded utterly lost. "When has that ever been the goal?"

"So what if it's my goal?" Mirko spat. "Sounds stupid, right? But I like to think people should be happy, if they can be."

"Well, I don't think that makes sense," Shigaraki said.

"Right." Mirko deflated. "Well...just anything... Anyway, I guess that's that." She started to walk back inside, feeling like she failed completely.

But Shigaraki stopped her--by actually putting a hand on her shoulder.

She froze.

"Why are you getting upset?" Shigaraki could finally tell this was Mirko upset...not sure when he'd figured that out.

"Because you're an idiot," Mirko said hotly.

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, neither does this!" She turned around angrily. "This whole thing...d--- it! Look--you said you can't kill me. Why is that?"

Shigaraki didn't know where that question came from...or how to answer it.

He backed up. "I don't know."

"You don't know? Convenient," Mirko said. "Neither of us know anything, that's what it is." She rubbed her arm. "It's not because you like me?"

She didn't even mean like like. She'd have settled for as a friend at that point-- That would be a huge concession anyway.

Shigaraki had thought a lot about this question since Spinner first explained it to him...and slowly become less certain it was preposterous.

"It might be that," he admitted.

"Might be?" Mirko didn't care for that answer.

"I don't know. I've never liked anyone, so I don't know what it would be like." Shigaraki honestly was kind of cute at such a time.

"Well, you know, neither have I," Mirko said. "I mean...not like... Anyway, so I'm kind of out on a limb here too. Meet me half way, why don't you?"

"I don't hate you," Shigaraki offered.

"Well, that's very comforting." Mirko turned away again. This was getting them nowhere.

"Maybe I like you." Shigaraki didn't want her to storm off.

She stopped. "Yeah?"

"I didn't expect a Pro Hero to be someone who'd fit in with the League," Shigaraki went on, now kind of not sure where he was going with it, "or someone who'd protect them...so I suppose it's not a very usual situation... Why is this so important?"

Mirko smiled to herself way too much for how little that really told her.

"Well," she looked back, "I guess that's a start." She winked. "But...here's a thought-- What if I wasn't really thinking of the League the other day?"

Another long silence.

"Think about it!" Mirko walked inside.

Well, there, she put herself out there...not completely, but...well, what woman would have gone all the way out there with that kind of response...? She'd lost her nerve...but at least she tried...

She sighed. "I am so hopeless...but I guess I'm not one to quit either... Hawks can suck it..." She wandered towards the upstairs. She wasn't sleepy anymore.

[Hey, she tried really hard, guys.

And a full on confession this soon would be kind of boring, wouldn't it?

Don't worry, I'm sure it'll all be way more dramatic than anyone really wanted at this stage, because more pain is still coming. Don't let this lull fool you.]