But the whole thing with Miss Joke got Shine to thinking about the League again. Was she really adequate to help them?

She remembered about this time that during that attack from the League, she had stopped Shigaraki with a name... She's almost forgotten that, but he'd reacted so strongly to it...

She needed to find out why... Hard to believe all that had been hardly a month or so ago.

The only person to talk to here was All Might.

Once she had arranged a meeting with him in private, she made some tea. All these people seemed more at home with tea around. At home, it would be coffee, but each to their own.

"So, Miss Likstar--"

"Shine, please."

"So, Miss Shine, what do you want to talk about? Young Midoriya?" All Might asked.

Shine sipped thoughtfully. "I've heard bits and pieces from Deku about stuff you probably didn't want him to tell me. I'm sure he's let you know that."

All Might nodded. "Yes..."

"But I remember both of you mentioned at some point your predecessor," Shine went on, "Wasn't it...Nana Shimura?"

All Might sombered. "Yes..."

"I'm not sure if you told me at all before...but could you tell me more about her?" Shine asked.

"Why the sudden interest?" All Might wasn't stupid.

Shine smiled. "I'll tell you that if you tell me about her. I want to be sure I'm onto the right thing."

"Miss Likstar, it's supposed to be secret," All Might said.

"All Might..." Shine said, "what's one more going to hurt? I already know the dangerous part, don't I?"

Well, she had a point.

All Might told her about Nana.

Shine was nodding slowly. "All For One killed her... I'm sorry. I'm sure that was hard for you."

"I'd say it was harder for the world... She didn't live out her time," All Might said.

"If she passed One for All to you, though, surely she must have had an inkling she might die," Shine said.

"I've often wondered that myself," All Might admitted, "Perhaps my timing with Young Midoriya was lucky. I found out AFO was still alive only afterward."

"God does have a way of making things line up," Shine said, "I find your quirk story fascinating, myself. Reminds me of Elijah and Elisha in the Bible...but that's sadly not the subject I really needed to hear about... Did Nana have any family?"

"Oh...yes, actually, she had a son." All Might grew more guarded. "She put him in the foster care system... She didn't want him to have to undergo the hardships of a hero's life."

Shine didn't think much of Nana's logic there, but she chose not to say so. Why disapprove of her to All Might? She was dead anyway-- too late to challenge any ideas there.

"She just did that?"

"I'm sure it broke her heart, but her job was important to her. It's like that for us holders of OFA," All Might said.

Shine smiled. "Well, in our religion, All Might, we're told that family is very important. Carrying the power of God means we are to have the best families, not none at all, for many of us...but singleness can be a good choice too... I can't say I fault you for it, but I would not pick it myself. We must know what's good for us... She was so sure?"

"Yes."

"So what happened to him? Her son-- did he ever know?"

"Yes, I think he must have," All Might said, "I...looked into it recently...but there wasn't a whole lot I could learn... He had his own family, I know, though, but...most of them are dead now. It was a real tragedy."

"What was Nana's quirk?"

"It was One for All."

"But other than that?"

"I...don't know if I should say, Miss Shine." All Might was little wary.

Shine bit her lip. "Okay...so her son had a family... How big, do you know?"

"I...know he had children..." All Might was very hesitant now. "But not much more than that... Miss Likstar, is there a reason you're asking this?"

"Would the name Tenko Shimura mean anything to you?" Shine asked.

All Might definitely was on edge now. "Where did you hear that, Miss Likstar?"

"Shimura-- that's her name..." Shine said, "And I assume her son kept her name, then...unless it was her husband."

"No..."

"Then, if I'm right...would it be one for her grandkids?" Shine said, "I don't know your names very well. Is that a boy's name or a girl's...?"

"It would have been a boy's, probably...but, Miss Shine...how are you aware of this? Did you dig into it?"

Shine thought it might be best to just tell him.

"You remember when the LOV attacked me?" she said, "And the kids? Well, there was one point that Shigaraki was trying to kill me, and I was sure he was going to do it... At that time, this name popped into my head, and I said it out loud. He...freaked out. I've never seen him so agitated...but he didn't kill me.... I think it broke him."

All Might leaned forward. "You mean, he was at least affected by it?"

"Yes," Shine said.

If she wasn't sure before that All Might knew, she was now. "So you knew for how long that it was him?"

"I... All For One told me..." All Might said, "I thought he might be lying...but then, it is something he would do."

Shine traced her finger on her teacup. "It is...and I haven't even met him... Do you think Shigaraki knows?"

"I have no idea, Miss Likstar...but if the rest of his family is dead...all on the same day, I have a very bad feeling about it."

Shine's eyes widened. "You think he killed them?"

"It would be likely...though I've wished it wasn't true... How could my master's own flesh and blood be so evil...?" All Might said.

Shine snorted. "In the church we call it PK syndrome-- good parents, kids turn out bad... Suffice it to say, it's very hard if people expect you to be good, to be good. Pressure crushed plenty of kids in this world who aren't Shimuras. But how much worse would it be?"

"You think that's why? But that's not a good reason," All Might said.

"Who said it was? But it's human nature," Shine said, "But I'm not so sure it is the reason... Did you ever try to talk to him about it?"

"I've never had the chance... All For One taught him to hate me," All Might said, "That was his revenge. The sick, twisted b------d."

Shine raised an eyebrow. "That's hardly a surprise though...but to me, it says AFO is only using Shigaraki. I thought so already, but Shigaraki does not think so. And why is that, All Might? Why is he so dependent on AFO?"

"I don't know how that happened, Miss Likstar. But as Gran Torino said, it doesn't matter. Shigaraki is still a villain. We have to treat him as one."

"And you believe that?" Shine was incredulous.

"Well, I'm trying to," All Might said, "Why? Do you see a problem with it?"

He almost seemed like he hoped she did.

"Of course I do. We can't treat people the same when we know things about them," Shine said, "What's the point of having connections, then? That's heartless...If I were you, I would have tried talking to him... To be fair, I probably would have gotten myself into trouble for it, but notwithstanding, I would have done it. I'd never pass up a chance like that. I'm sure he would never believe you, though. He thinks you are at fault for everything."

"I know," All Might sighed.

"Not that it's totally incorrect..." Shine mused.

"What?" All Might was stunned. "Miss Likstar, what do you mean...? That is is my fault? I know...but Nana told us not to get involved."

"I don't mean that, All Might. I mean this whole symbol of peace nonsense," Shine said, "I know you meant well. You've done a lot of good and no mistake...but your standard is impossible, even for you yourself, to follow. People thinking that way is stupid... Now, I don't blame you for everything, and no sane person would...but there's fault on all sides, here... I won't say you should just take it all on yourself. That's no good. I mean...we all need to recognize how imperfect we are. Stop claiming it's otherwise... Humility is the one thing that can save us at such a time."

She got up. "I need to go now...but here's a tip... If you do get the chance to talk to Shigaraki, tell him what really happened. He won't listen, but tell him anyway...but don't you let him blame you. He ought to know what All For One really did. I'm sure he doesn't."

"I will keep it in mind, however unlikely it is..." All Might said.

Shine nodded, then she left. She had a lot to think of and discuss with her partner.

* * *

Heedless of Shigaraki's opinion that it was a stupid idea, Mirko went to the next location on her list.

This time, she found the place was a shrine...a buddhist shrine...

Weird.

Not a lot of people were there in the middle of winter, in the woods...so she wasn't even bothered by fans.

Walking up the steps toward the top, she noted there were a lot of trails around the spot. 

This couldn't be right, she thought. There was no machinery here, nothing. Where would they even hide?

She made it close to the top before her ears picked up a larger group of people not too far way.

So maybe something was going on here-- probably just a religious group...but she came all this way, might as well check it out... Only she couldn't go around in her costume like this. People would flip out.

One stop at a gift shop later, she had on some more traditional garb... Not really her style, but at least she blended in more.

It wasn't like she was the only one there with an animal quirk.

Heading towards the noise, she went off down one of the trails...

Nothing special about it, until a certain corner, where...someone was just standing next to the trail.

Eyeing her, the man said, "I'm supposed to tell people there's a special meeting going on here. Religious, you know...so if you're not looking for that, you should go back the other way."

Mirko pulled an innocent face. "Oh, really? Sorry...I was just looking for a quiet place to...meditate."

That's what people did at shrines, right?

The man nodded. "Sure...just go the left. To the right is where they're meeting."

Mirko nodded, walking past him and going left.

Of course, once she was out of sight, she just jumped into the actual trees and bushes and went to the right.

She didn't know if there was really any reason to be suspicious, but she might as well be thorough.

With her rabbit's feet, she really just sounded like another woodland critter going through the trees. Not much chance anyone would notice her.

She found the group in just a few minutes. It would have been faster if she could jump without all the stupid flora in the way. Despite being a rabbit, Mirko was not a huge nature person. It tended to get in her way too much...plus animals liked to attack her.

She found the group of people who seemed totally ordinary at first glance...but then she tuned into what was being said.

"So, we all are here because we have been deeply wronged by the world's focus on these unnatural atrocities known as quirks. We all are one in our suffering because of this."

The crowd would agree with the speaker after her statement.

Mirko got real still. Maybe this was the right place after all.

"With that, we would like to open up the floor for any new pledges to take their oaths here and now," the speaker said.

They weren't wearing a mask... That almost made it creepier. Like they didn't care to hide who they were to this crowd. There must have been 30 people here at least.

From her vantage point, Mirko could see a few uncertain faces there, like maybe some folks had not realized what they were signing up for when they came.

But there were a lot of people who just looked enraptured by it...or angry, even.

A couple people, one older and the other surprisingly young, stood up at the speaker's invitation.

There was a knife and a paper lying on a small stand...

Mirko suddenly had a terrible feeling what was going to happen.

She didn't watch while the oath was actually done, but she heard it.

It was a long oath, but to the effect, they renounced their quirks and ties with hero society and heroes...and vowed to embrace living in the True World again, one as God intended it...without powers.

Mirko remembered Likstar was always on about God...and didn't care for heroes... What would she think about this pledge?

Mirko couldn't picture her being okay with how creepy this was. Whatever else she was, the woman was grounded. But still...

Mirko didn't want to watch this anymore-- it was too disturbing-- but she still took some pictures... Clearly she'd found a recruiting meeting, possibly a location they regularly had them at. She could deduce this meant that the actual hideouts were only for initiated members.

She crept away through the woods and bee-lined it for the entrance.

Once she was away from that part of the shrine and on her way back toward the road, the full effects of what she just witnessed sank in, and despite being a Pro who could have watched a full on operation and not gotten squeamish, it made her promptly sick.

[I often find that even if someone is brave about some things, they are not about others. Especially people who prefer to work with tangible facts. Mirko might be one tough hero when it comes to hero stuff, but to my mind, that just makes it more likely she'd find this stuff to be too outside her zone. I know many people who would. 

Personally, I find it easy to write about because I have had family members in a cult who got out of it, and I heard all about it...but it's still pretty creepy. Not sure it's something you ever get used to, and I didn't want to describe in detail because I don't really want people to experience that in my story. So I only acknowledge what they do. I wouldn't expect any more gory details than that from me, if you were hoping for it ;) ]

* * *

It was just later that day that Mirko was due to meet Shigaraki to find out if there was nothing on those two guards.

When she showed up--and the spot was under a bridge out in the middle of nowhere--she looked pretty bad still.

Shigaraki even noticed. "What the h--- happened to you?"

Mirko didn't even have the salt right then for a retort. She just shrugged. "I found out more...but it wasn't pretty." 

She pulled out her phone to show the pictures.

Shigaraki wasn't really that bugged by it all, as it wasn't anything the LOV hadn't heard of or seen firsthand... What more concerned him was the recruiting meeting happening at all.

"How do people find this stuff?"

"You know I've been thinking of that," Mirko frowned, "I'm sure they must have some way to spread the word. But I can't figure out how that would pass under the radar... Wait, how do the LOV find this?"

"We have informants. It's not the same."

"And how do they find it?"

"That...I've never asked..." Shigaraki suddenly wondered-- how did Giran learn all this stuff? How did Toga and Dabi find him anyway? He should ask them later.

"Real shocker there." Mirko was sardonic. "Well, any luck with those two bozos?"

"As a matter of fact, there wasn't a whole lot," Shigaraki said snippily, "But we did confirm they were quirkless, registered that way."

"Wait, you have access to government records?"

"Like it's that hard," Shigaraki scoffed.

Mirko let that sink in... "Frick..."

"No one saw you, right...?" Shigaraki very grudgingly asked.

"Of course not," Mirko said, "I was the picture of stealth."

He didn't believe her.

"If and when you get caught, they'll probably take your quirk," he said, as if to rub it in.

"That'd be a little hard for me." Mirko pretended not to care. "And I won't get caught."

"The only other interesting thing about those two fools was that they still have identities in the public," Shigaraki went on very tightly, "and jobs."

"Then...just their involvement is a secret..." Mirko mused, "If I could just find out where they take those new initiates... I should have followed them..."

"Why didn't you? Too dumb to think of it?"

"No...I thought they would notice." Mirko barely noticed the insult. She was lost in thought. Something was bugging her about the whole thing.

"Stupid, useless Pro," Shigaraki muttered, "I don't see how this is helping us find Kurogiri."

"Why was there only one guard at the front...?" Mirko wasn't listening to him. "That's kind of weird... So secretive the rest of the time."

"It's easier to get in than get out," Shigaraki said dryly. He really only intended to mock her. "Like a spider web."

So Silk's analogy has stuck with him. The newbie had a way with words.

But Mirko reacted with surprising violence to that. She jerked. "Oh, frick. Oh, frick... I'm an idiot!"

She looked around. "That stupid guard... Ach! I've got to get out of here. I was never here, got it?"

"As if--wait, what?" Shigaraki said.

"Just that I think it might have been a bit easier to get in than to get out in more ways than one," Mirko said, "It's just a hunch...but my hunches are usually right. And this calls for some emergency procedures..." She was rubbing her arms oddly. "Of course it's just an idea... Hmm." She looked around. 

"Aha, water."

She jumped head long into the river that was pretty low, despite it being winter.

Okay, she'd lost it. Shigaraki wasn't sticking around for this. He started to slink away.

Mirko ran her hand through her hair and over her head...then she finally pulled something out...  It was small, almost would have looked like a twig, but it was short circuiting now.

"A tracker..." she said, "That son of a---"

Shigaraki was gone? That was probably just as well. She needed to make tracks too.

Of course, then again...

Err...she hated having to play fair.

"Hey, Shigaraki, did you leave yet?" She pulled herself out of the water and started shaking it off.

He reappeared from behind the bridge. "Going to--What? And it better be important."

"This." She held up the chip. "Much as it'd be nice if someone just picked you off, I suppose it's only fair to say someone could have followed me here. It was another trap."

Shigaraki looked legitimately concerned about that--because he didn't want to be caught dead around a Pro, let alone this Pro-- and by a creepy group of people who'd exploit that for sure.

"You fool!"

"Shh!" Mirko hissed, "Just get out of here. I've got to come up with a plan."

Like what? What was she going to do? She didn't even know. What did you do when someone tracked you but didn't show themselves?

She cocked one ear... There were plenty of people around, but who was closest...? Did she sense anyone...?

Maybe whoever chipped her didn't follow it yet... It was a long shot.

Shigaraki wasn't leaving---because now he wasn't sure who might be watching... He had to think carefully about this, or he'd lead them to the LOV... He'd better just warp, but even that wouldn't get him very far without some kind of plan. But the longer he stood around here, the more chance he'd be spotted.

He could have killed Mirko for being that sloppy, but that was no use at the moment.

Before either of them decided what to do, Mirko finally got a bead on someone that was definitely coming closer.

"All right, don't just skulk around over there." She eyed the trees at the far side of the ditch. "I know you're there. Come out and fight me head on."

Stupid Pro!

Someone in black, like a ninja, did appear. Mirko remembered these guys.

But they didn't attack, they just held up their hands.

Shigaraki had ducked down out of sight. He was kind of interested to see this now.

"Did you follow me?" Mirko looked around for any sign of more of them.

"To think you'd come to us after all that..." the person spoke finally in a low voice, "Perhaps you can't help but feel the pull of the truth, Hero."

Mirko's ears went back. "I know you... You were at the camp."

"I thought you might remember me," the ninja said, "But really, number 5, if you wanted to know more about this, all you had to do was ask... You're so interested in our group? You've begun to understand, haven't you?"

"I understand that you're a bunch of nut jobs..." Mirko backed up just a little. She was sure she sensed more people around.

She glanced back. Nothing.

"But really," the ninja said, "why deny it? You're working so hard to help us-- you kept bringing us closer to real targets. Deep down, you know it, don't you? Something stirs you up about our cause."

"Does this crap really work on those fools you initiate?" Mirko said, "Because from where I stand, we're in the middle of nowhere, having a ridiculous conversation about nothing right now, while you somehow think I'm taking this seriously. It's kind of laughable, isn't it? Does this dark ninja shtick really work for you? You're not scary at all."

"Well, I distracted you, didn't I?" the ninja said.

Mirko didn't understand.

Shigaraki didn't either, until he realized someone was right behind him with a gun.

He cursed mentally. He'd been spotted.

"This is so perfect," the ninja went on to Mirko, "I really think we owe you for this one."

"For...what?" Mirko looked back finally and saw what was going on.

Some more people had materialized out of nowhere and had Shigaraki at gunpoint.

Well, that wasn't so bad... Oh, wait, they were trying to manipulate her...

That pissed her off.

"So, how long did you know he was there, huh?" she said to the ninja casually.

"The whole time... You like to keep problematic company, don't you?" the ninja said.

"Are you one to talk...?" This was not good.

"Never thought we'd see this twice...heroes, villains, working together," the ninja said, "but then again...in our world, heroes and villains will no longer matter. Perhaps you're an inspiration, Mirko..."

Mirko didn't like where this was going... Sure...it was Shigaraki...but even so, these freaks were just a little too smug right now for her taste.

"We do what we gotta to stop people like you," she said airily, "Maybe I just think you're the bigger problem. That whole kidnapping and de-quirking people bit. Not exactly a good thing, is it?"

"A narrow minded person would say that," the ninja said, "But surely you admit, the world would be much better off if people like the LOV didn't have their quirks... We'll start small... Villains, you know... You Pros should be thanking us. In fact, you should join us."

"This cliché?" Mirko was stalling. Why wasn't Shigaraki doing something? Surely he could escape on his own. He couldn't be that useless.

Shigaraki would have liked nothing better...but he couldn't use his quirk. When had it been blocked?

He supposed he should signal this in some way so that d--- Pro would stop stalling and actually do something...but how?

"It's no cliché. You have potential," the ninja said, "You're not the type to care who you knock over on your way to the top, right? That's the same as us. And really, having physical quirks is the least of the sins... We fully understand, you cannot help but use it...but think, wouldn't it be wonderful to not worry about it anymore?"

"To be hobbled? I don't think so," Mirko said.

"Hobble? We don't do that." Either the ninja was unaware of Silk's info, or they were lying through their teeth. "Come now, you can't really think anyone needs a quirk that let's them destroy others... It's evil, from the depths of hell, isn't it?"

"Even if I thought that, where does this make me want to lose mine?" Mirko said, "Or many good heroes who use theirs, even. I've always thought a quirk is what you make of it."

"Oh, that's what they tell you all," the ninja sneered, "You should come to one of our rallies... You'd hear just how untrue that is...but if you want us to leave you alone, for now, you don't have to be on our priority list... You were investigating us out of curiosity, right? No one else was lined up... If you're working with the LOV, that must be true... That's pretty clever, there. Because of that, we are in a position to offer you a deal... Just let us have the villains, and we'll ignore you."

Mirko blinked. "Ignore me? The one who actually found you."

"Oh, so? You can't act on it anyway, can you? It'd be annoying if you kept it up, but we can all just forget about this. You ignore our group, we ignore you... Why should we tear each other apart, number 5? When we can both go our separate ways and never need to worry about it... It'd be awfully inconvenient if the number 5 hero disappeared at this time...so we'd be willing to compromise. That's what I was told to tell you."

The ninja held up a knife. "I'll even swear to it."

Mirko leaned away from the knife. "Very generous... Wow...so that's all I have to do-- turn a blind eye."

That bi---! Shigaraki thought.

Then again he'd do the same thing if their positions were reversed...

But this was no time to be fair.

"If you're thinking of moving," the person behind him said, "just know, I was was told to blow your brains out if you tried. Without a quirk what are you going to do? You piece of s---. The people like you are the worst of all."

Sure, right.

"That's all," the ninja promised, "Forget all about this."

"And what happens to that specimen you have over there?" Mirko asked.

"I'm sure he'll never be a problem again," the ninja said, "So we both win, right? I mean, I thought if we just laid it out rationally to you, you'd see chasing us around is a waste of time. We aren't doing anything to you, after all. You came to us."

Mirko frowned. "And it's easier to get in than it is to get out. So this really is a once in a lifetime offer, huh?"

"Exactly," the ninja said.

Mirko tapped her chin. "You do have a lot of good points there. It's just risky to keep poking into this, isn't it?"

"Yes," the ninja said.

"And it's not really like it's not mutaully beneficial to us if I just...walk away... I don't have to worry about the LOV, you don't have to worry about me."

"Exactly, you see?" the ninja said.

"All right," Mirko said, "Give me that." She held out her hand.

The ninja handed her the knife.

Mirko smirked. "Does being gullible come with the territory?"

"What?" the ninja said.

Mirko turned and threw the knife at the person behind Shigaraki, who didn't see it coming, and it knocked them back into the river. It was a big knife, too.

The ninja looked shocked. "What...? Why did you do that?"

"It's called a hustle, sweetheart." Mirko kicked her over.

Shigaraki was stunned.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Go!" Mirko yelled at him, "Before they're on us like flies--"

Too late for that. More people were rushing out of the trees now.

The ninja sat up and pulled out a gun. "You'll regret not taking that offer, Hero."

"Yeah, don't think I will. Hero without regrets." Mirko shrugged nonchalantly, then jumped out of the way as the gun went off.

"What the he-- was that?" Shigaraki yelled at her.

"It's called distracting them! Why are you still here?" She landed a few feet away and ducked as they kept firing, but then they ran out of shots.

Shigaraki ducked also. "I can't!"

"Oh, that's just great. And you couldn't mention that before because...?"

"I thought it was obvious! Why else would I still be here?"

"Oh, shut up." Mirko ears twitched. "It has to be a short range thing... Okay, this is going to sound crazy--"

"Already don't want to do whatever it is--"

"Shut up. I'm going to jump as high as I can, and if it's a short range thing, it should be too far for it to work. Then you use your warpy thing and get away."

"You're just going to let me go?"

"Not the time to kick a gift horse in the mouth, is it? Ready?"

"No--"

Mirko jumped anyway, dragging him after her, barely avoiding bullets.

She was right though. After about 30 meters [near 100 ft] up, the quirk block thing was too far away. Shigaraki almost didn't have the time, but he did activate the warp.

They both vanished into black goo.