Shigaraki was not pleased that the Egghead knew all he knew now. It was a break from the plan.

Shine had warned them not to tell anyone else about Kurogiri, but that wouldn't have applied to someone who already knew. Still, he wasn't sure he liked how the doctor answered.

Of course, he was right-- he of all people would understand...

The whole meeting had been uncomfortable, to say the least.

Perhaps it was the new members getting appraised-- and the dumb pro.

Shigaraki didn't entirely like how that had gone. The Egghead sort of just looked at them like they all belonged to himself, but Shigaraki was the one who did all the work of recruiting the people. It wasn't like the doctor had anything to do with it. Why was he honing in on it?

Master would have agreed with him too-- the Egghead was just too big for his britches.

Of course...what was his plan going to be if just telling him to back off hadn't worked? It had been a really bad situation.

And Kurogiri really was a nomu... Did that mean all the other things were true too? But that didn't matter... It didn't matter....

"Sir?" Compress startled him out of his musings. "Are you all right?"

"What?" Shigaraki looked at him blankly.

"Oh...well, everyone else seemed a little shaken up by what happened today. I just thought maybe you weren't feeling so great either."

"I'm never more or less all right than any other time, Compress."

"Of course." Compress bowed.

"Well, I thought you were kind of cool," Spinner offered, "I mean, telling the doctor to back off like that. Where does he think he gets off messing with our plan?"

"He always did have a thing for powerful quirks," Shigaraki dismissed it.

"Yeah, well, still..." Spinner huffed.

"You don't even like the plan," Compress said.

"I don't, but it's our plan, and he shouldn't mess with it," Spinner said.

"It's not wise to piss him off," Shigaraki said blandly.

They both froze.

"Right, well, no one was trying." Compress backed off.

"Yeah, sure. We're just saying..." Spinner walked away too.

"You think I can talk about this in therapy?" Medea was asking Silk in the background.

"Ehmm, maybe if you no specify who it was..."

"Ugh, that's not the same..."

Shigaraki was lost in thought again when he was interrupted a second time by Mirko. The others had moved away by now. They were packing. No one wanted to stay here after that.

"Hey, uh...I don't normally say this but...thanks..." Mirko sounded embarrassed.

"Huh?" Shigaraki seriously didn't know what she was talking about.

"For before..."

"What before?"

"Don't make me say it!" Mirko covered her ears. Then sighed. "You know...the lab..."

Oh, that. He'd already forgotten about it.

"Don't thank me. That was just because I don't like that egghead interfering with our plans..." Shigaraki sniffed, "It's not because I was concerned."

"I didn't say it was. But everyone else was a b---, so...I don't know. I don't usually thank people." Mirko crossed her arms.

"Well, you did, so go away." Shigaraki thought this was weird.

"Right, sure...and thanks for the other times," Mirko grumbled, "Ugh, I cannot believe I just said that... Curse that silk-spinner..."

What other times was she even talking about?

Oh, right...that time with the other nomu... That was just a fluke though.

"One question--" Mirko shuffled. "Is he going to...I don't know, do something to you for doing that?"

"To me?" Shigaraki had no idea. "Probably not. Why?"

"I don't know, I was just wondering.... I mean, what does he do anyway?"

"None of your---"

"I know, shut up," Mirko cut him off, "You know though, it's not the smartest thing... Ugh, I can't use words..."

It sure sounded like it.

"I just don't get it," Mirko grumbled, "How did he even know...? What was all that with the nomu...?"

"I don't know why you're finding this hard to put together." Shigaraki was annoyed now. "Don't expect me to explain it to you."

"What the h--- did you pull, then? Rank? What was all that about...? It sure sounded like something was up behind the scenes."

"Still not your business..."

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Mirko frowned. "Guess not. Fine... Well, at least it wasn't what I thought. I thought you all bailed when I got back here, or the ninja got you... Not sure this was that much better of an experience, but..."

"Idiot."

"Not my fault nobody warned me that Doctor Death could warp people. Would have been nice to know."

Since she actually had a point that it might have been a good idea to warn her about that, Shigaraki didn't know what to say.

"Well, we wouldn't have bailed," was all he could think of. Grumpily.

"Why not?" Mirko was curious. "I mean, other than all that other crap, which I'm surprised he bought... If he did..."

"Simple: We owe Likstar."

"I don't get how that connects."

"Likstar, with her classic poor taste, has elected to put you under her protection. The League owes her for several things. Since she protects us, we have to protect her charges in return if the situation presents itself," Shigaraki explained, "Simple laws of equivalent exchange."

"I'm hearing that word a lot lately... So this is her fault," Mirko said, "I never asked her to do that."

"No one did."

"Yeah, she's so annoying." Mirko was smirking. "Ah, well, I kind of like how cheeky she is though... I mean, it takes some nerves to demand things of people like that...though I'm a little confused as to why any of you would care. Isn't double-crossing kind of your thing?"

"Double-crossing heroes, but she's not a hero."

"But I am."

"But you work for her."

"I do not!"

"Just keep telling yourself that," Shigaraki shot back, "Doesn't make it true..."

"Why, you--" Mirko stopped. "Ah, forget it. Not worth it." She walked away.

Silk glanced her way as she strode out. "Hmm," she muttered.

[Tea.]

* * *

While all this was going on with the LOV, things were quiet at UA, but that wasn't true of every hero school.

Camie had been muddling along at Shiketsu since the nomu city attack, and Shishikura had even backed off a little after what Bakugo had said to him apparently hit a nerve.

Moto had smoothly apologized to Camie for leaving her behind. "I thought you were out of danger, swears-- that you went back to Yoarshi. I never thought you'd get cornered like that."

"It's okay, sis," Camie said, though, really, her personal opinion was that Moto had been kind of sloppy, but far be it from her to bring someone else down, "It all worked out."

"It's so cool that you got saved like that," one of her other classmates said, "How romantic."

"Girl, shut up," Camie said, but she smirked superiorly. 

"Well, at least you're safe. I only wish I'd known you were in danger-- I would have rushed over." Yoarshi felt personally responsible.

"Bro, it's no big. You had no way to know what was going down while you were doing your thing," Camie waved it off.

And she thought that was the end of it.

But a couple weeks went by, and Moto was acting kind of distant from her, maybe out of embarrassment.

The staff at Shiketsu was on edge too. The Metas were causing problems all over the country, and some of it was affecting the school. Pro heroes were getting killed in battle. So far no one of the staff there had fallen, but they were not sure they could even keep the school open if this kept up.

Camie looked forward to her time at UA as about the only place that felt peaceful anymore--and that was just when the DJs were around. She kind of thought they were the link to the students' sanity at this point.

And out of her class, Camie alone knew part of what was really going on behind the scenes-- that there were even more dangers than people knew.

But she didn't let that get her down. It made her feel kind of important, and as Shine said, she was their eyes and ears for the other side of the country where they couldn't be.

[Yet again, events surrounding the metas are going to be different from canon. They are still  a problem in this story, but it's not really focused on them or their plan, and they are kind of just a background problem for the rest of the heroes, not the ones this story focuses on. So don't worry about remembering too many details of what I mention about them for now. It really hasn't been a lot. Also it might not have been clear but they seemed to have dumped the LOV because of the Originals popping up. Probably didn't want to get in the middle of it.]

So Camie was kind of surprised when Moto approached her after class was over, and she had not left the classroom yet because she was texting on her phone.

[Kali Moto, image design by Onerose, original template by original creator]

"Utsushimi," she said stiffly, "I need to talk to you."

Camie, at first, was optimistic. Maybe Kali finally wanted to be friendly again. But Kali gave her a grim, dead-eyed stare. 

Camie shuffled from side to side energetically. "So, what's up, fahm?"

"Do not call me fahm..." Kali said coolly, recoiling, "Haven't you done enough s---?"

"Huh?" Camie raised an eyebrow quizzically.

 "You haven't taken heed of any of the threats against Shiketsu," Moto said tersely, "and now you're acting as though nothing happened at all."

Camie frowned a little. "I mean, why harsh my mellow? Things are 5 by 5, you know? No need to stress about it."

"There is need for you," Moto said frostily, "Have you considered that your lack of concern for common caution may be the reason behind your abduction?" 

Camie blinked. "What are you saying?" 

"I'm saying, you nitwit, that if you kept your head on your shoulders and not up your a--, you might not have been singled out for it..." Moto said flatly. 

Camie's frown deepened. "Well, that's way harsh," she said in a more hurt voice, but Moto was impervious.

"Not at all. You're the only one in the class spacey enough to be impersonated without even being missed. That's how little anyone thinks of you." 

Camie's face got a fragile look. "Gee, Moto I don't know if I like this. Are you trying to make me feel worse?" Her language noticeably devoid of slang. Moto took that as a sign she was getting through.

"Not at all," she lied, "I merely want you to be aware of how detrimental your habits are to the class. One of us might be targeted again, maybe even go missing. And who could be sure it wasn't this false you? If no one can tell you apart? Why, anyone associated with you could be suspect. Perhaps there's an inside link to the LOV at this very school."

Camie began to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Oh, you think?"

"That you didn't think of it is proof of your incompetence," Moto said coldly, "If you ask me, you deserved what you got. It should teach you to focus more."

Camie, unthinkingly, raised a hand to slap her.

Moto grabbed her wrist, twisted it, and shoved her up against the wall.

"I will not let you endanger my career with your reckless ways," she said through gritted teeth, "You hear me?"

 Camie struggled, but Moto was way stronger than she looked. Her eyes seemed to turn black. Wait, did they actually do it?

 Camie blinked. No, nothing. Just an intense look of hatred. 

"And all the people stupid enough to hang around you might as well paint a target on their backs. Who will be attacked next due to your carelessness, I wonder?" She released Camie with a jerk that made her stumble and trip over her own feet, hitting the floor. She looked up at Moto in abject disbelief.

Moto brushed herself off disdainfully. "You're just a fool, and I shouldn't waste my time with you. Just stay away from me."

"Sure thing," Camie said flatly, as Moto started to move away. Camie spoke, "Oh, and Kali?"

Moto looked at her.

"You're a b---h," Camie said, very salty.

Kali's eyes flashed red!

Camie started--then Kali had her foot to her throat in an painful choke hold, vertically against the wall, which was impressively flexible as well as terrifying.

 Camie tried to shove her off, but Kali leaned in. "Don't-ever-dare-to-insult-me-again," she said in a dreadfully cold but threatening voice, "or I'll make sure you go down hard. You're trash, Utushimi, just remember that. You never should've tried to become a hero."

Camie squirmed. "Let...go..." she gasped.

Kali shoved her against the wall again for a good measure. "Just remember your place," she said, "and if you mention this little chat to anyone, you'll regret it, trust me. I have connections--and I can get to more people than just you."

She stepped back, letting Camie fall on her hands and knees. 

"You'll wish you could forget all that," Moto said caustically, "Have a nice day." She turned and strode away.

* * *

Camie had been teased and criticized before, but Moto's whole attitude was so much more intense and dark than anything she'd experienced. Her words cut deep because of their cruelty, and that Moto didn't seem to care that they were cruel--even did it on purpose.  

Camie was light-hearted enough to shake off most things, but Moto's style shook her up to the core-- was so antithetical to Camie's own way that it was like smothering a candle. Like a negative charge to her positive one. Moto had not been especially subtle or clever...and that was calculated to hurt Camie more because blatantness could not be lost on her so easily as subtle disdain.

Camie was almost more shaken that someone would hurt her like that on purpose, for no obvious reason, than by the other accusations...but by and by, they played inside her head on repeat. Was it true? Was she a liability to her class? To anyone around her?... Certainly it was possible, wasn't it? The police had been suspicious enough, hadn't they? And what of Kali's threat? What did it even mean? Connections? And it almost sounded like she knew the details of the abduction personally, with the forgetting part, too...or was it another cruel jab? Either way, it was freaky. Camie was so rattled, she figured Moto could make good on her threats. That girl was just...evil...

She looked like she could've killed her without a second thought, and Camie had been powerless to defend herself. Maybe she was just that useless in a real dangerous situation. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be a pro.

[Moto vs Camie Art by Julianna Gardner]

* * *

"Are we all here?" Shine asked at the "ethics club" meeting.

"I think so," Shoto said.

"No. Where's Camie?" Shine asked.

Bakugo looked up from his phone, kind of perturbed. "She's says she can't make it."

"Oh, why?" Shine said.

"She said something came up."

"Oh, that's too bad," Momo said.

Shine tilted her head. "'Something came up' is girl-code for 'I don't want to tell you what it is, and it's not pleasant', usually."

"Really?" Todoroki said.

"Either that, or she's going a on a date with a guy she doesn't want us to know about," Shine said conclusively.

Bakugo nearly choked on the water he was drinking.

"I...don't understand that," Todoroki said.

"No, that makes sense," Momo said, "but it's none of our business, if it's personal."

"Momo, it's great that you're super considerate, and 9 times out of 10, maybe you're right," Shine said, "but, with an open book like Camie, if there's a big neon sign that something is up, that's not normal. Perhaps one of us should try calling her later..."

"If you think it's that serious, of course." Momo was worried now.

"Well, there's a lot of trouble all over right now," Shoto said, "Maybe she got called into a mission, top secret."

"Possible," Shine said, "though we all agreed to keep each other informed...so that would still be odd."

"Or she got kidnapped again and someone took her phone," Bakugo said darkly, "I say we go over there and find out."

"Isn't that a bit extreme?" Shoto said.

"Couldn't you just try texting her something only she would know and seeing if she's really her?" Momo made that suggestion in a completely serious tone.

They all looked at her.

"D---," Dabi said, "The fact that it's kind of come to that point..."

"Partly your fault," Bakugo said testily.

"Katsuki," Shine warned.

"This ain't one of my tricks," Dabi said.

"Text her," Shine decided, "and if it's really her, then maybe we should wait, see if she does this again. Could be I'm just paranoid after hanging around this class too long... Though..."

She didn't finish it aloud, but she was thinking, her instincts were almost never wrong.

* * *

Camie responded in kind to Bakugo's carefully thought out texts, so he was convinced it was her after all. She didn't explain why she didn't show up though.

Bakugo didn't rush to conclusions as fast as most people thought he did, so he suspended judgement... Camie would tell them if something were wrong anyway, right?

But a few days later she did the same. (They were meeting bi-weekly now. Shine just had so much to cover.)

And they were talking more about the mantle and the gifts, which seemed like something Camie would not have wanted to miss.

Shine was proud of how they'd used it to fight nomu. And Momo had used it to heal.

"And you can do all we can and more," she said, "but the trick is, you have to be bold enough to try. Even I doubt when to and when not to...and you can't take it too hard if something doesn't happen. There usually has to be an openness in the person, or someone close to them, to get results. So, it's not always up to you. But you're doing great."

Momo smiled. "It... I know we talked about it a little before, but I don't know if I mentioned, it felt...really good, to do that for someone."

"Even if it was Monama..." Shoto said.

Dabi snorted. "Real noble there..."

"Well, he is a brat," Shine said, "but he's matured a little lately. You know, meeting that Medea girl might really have done a lot for him. Perhaps it shocked him out of his complacent attitude to see that up close."

"Didn't you say they met at school too?" Momo said, "And she's coming to see Cece now..."

"Yeah, and doing decently from all I hear," Shine said. 

"So weird..." Shoto said.

"And how is...the LOV doing?" Momo said.

"I need to check in again, but if they were doing bad, I hope I'd have heard by now..." Shine said.

Dabi snorted. "I wouldn't give them that much credit. That Pro still with them? Still can't believe that."

"She has become a lot more open-minded than I ever thought she'd be," Shine said. 

"Why waste your time on her if you didn't think she'd come around?" Dabi said flatly, "Do you like the abuse?"

"Please, stop saying that." Shine cut her eyes at him in annoyance. "I'd rather think you do from how much time you spend trying to piss people off... I like her independent spirit. She's a real pain, but she's an honest pain. Reminds me of me when I was younger, honestly, before I got a bit more tempered by experience into being humbler. She'll get there, just wait...or she's a blockhead."

"Well, if you're just going to come right out and say it..." Dabi said.

"I wish she did internships," Bakugo said, surprisingly, "She knows how to tussle. It'd probably be more action following her around than it was with Endeavor."

"If you want to do a field trip, I'm sure we could arrange it," Shine said. Then she paused.

"Oh, no, you should not encourage him to do that." Shoto looked horrified. "Can you imagine the effect that Pro would have on Bakugo?"

"What the h--- is that supposed to mean, IcyHot?!" Bakugo yelled at him.

"What do you think it means?" he said with a straight face.

"Are you implying I can't handle it?!" Bakugo yelled.

"I believe he's implying you might like it too much," Shine said, "but really, anyone would be better than Best Jeanist," she cringed, "Ah, that reminds me," she leaned back, "Aizawa has invited Wally and I to go to a Hero Convention that's being had to discuss the problems at large. He didn't say it, but I think he's hoping we'll scope out potential allies to include in our little band we have here. He thinks we're too few who know what's really going on."

"Do we even know what's really going on? There's so much of this puzzle we're missing," Shoto said.

"I know, sweetie, but we have more pieces than just about anyone else, and we have a special advantage." Shine's eyes glowed briefly. "But we are meant to be ever expanding...and it wouldn't hurt for all of you to be keeping your eyes out for any students who might be good too. As many connections we can have that the Originals won't know about, in case they do come after us, may save our lives...and other peoples... I know Wally is thinking about letting Fat Gum and Rock Lock in on it, but he's not sure they're ready yet. They are kind of casual friends..."

"You don't trust them, huh?" Dabi said, "Not that I blame you, but still...ironic."

"It's not that, Touya, it's that I feel guilty every time we endanger a new person, even if it's for the good of more," Shine said, "We don't sacrifice people, but I do think some are thrown in our path. I don't know... We've been right so far..."

"Even now that Utsushimi is clearly bailing on you," Dabi said.

Bakugo got up. "Shut the frick up, Scar Face!"

He stormed out of the building.

"Scar Face is not really appropriate anymore..." Dabi muttered, "but still. Punk..."

"You know, I'm beginning to think you like Bakugo," Shine said dryly, "You've got so much in common. Liking trying to annoy Shoto, nicknaming people to insult them, being explosive..."

"Oh, can it, Likstar." Dabi rolled his eyes.

Shoto looked blank. "Well, we should get back. We can just walk. It's a lot warmer today."

"Go on," Shine said, "I think Touya and I maybe should talk anyway."

"Just like old times, huh?" Dabi said.

"Old times as in a few months ago?" Shine said archly.

Shoto and Momo left them to talk.

It was a nice day, nice breeze. Momo was fine with just a light sweater.

"Are you worried about Camie?" she asked Shoto.

"Not much. I don't think she'd be in trouble and not tell us. She doesn't seem like she ever holds back," Shoto said.

"Oh, no, Shoto, I think Camie holds back a lot," Momo said, "I mean, maybe nothing bothers her. I don't understand her very well, but it's odd that she never complains at all, really. Except about her classmates annoying her, but I never feel like she's that serious. It's like she has no problems."

"You never complain either," Shoto said.

"I..." Momo hesitated. "It's different. I just don't like to bother people."

"I don't think it really bothers people as much as you think. It seems like if people care about you, they want to hear it," Shoto said.

Momo turned red. "Well, maybe...still getting used to that... I think our inner group is so different, I've never seen anything like it. But I don't know if I'm ready to be as open as Shine and Wally are yet. Maybe I'm afraid, or it's just...odd to me."

"Not everyone has to be the same." Shoto had no intention of imitating them to that extent...though he was rather blunt about his problems as it was.

"I guess not."

"Would you expect someone else to talk about things like that if they weren't used to it?"

"No, of course not." Momo held up her hands. "I guess, there's so much good stuff they have to teach us, I just want to learn it all at once. Though Shine often says it will take years to master it, I don't want to wait. The world is in danger now...and people around us are...well, I think they're sometimes hurting more than we know...and I don't know how I didn't notice it till this last year, or I did, but I was too scared to talk about it. I don't want to be that way anymore...but I can't make myself change that fast, no matter how much I want to."

"I think you're already like that, though," Shoto said, "You're always ready to listen to me or anyone else..." 'Cause just saying him there felt kind of weird now that he heard it aloud.

"Well, you're my friends...but to go up to stranger and just...be able to do that," Momo said, "I want that."

"I think you could." Shoto really meant that. 

"Todoroki...you're too nice to me..." Momo reddened further. "You don't have to say that..."

"But I was serious."

Momo didn't say anything for a while, just looked uncomfortable.

Shoto found it hard to look her in the eye right then for some reason... Why did he feel awkward?

[Internal face palming on my part. Just confess already!]

"Anyway," Momo finally changed the subject, "I hope Camie is really fine and is just busy. Probably she's just busy. Who knows what they're doing over at Shiketsu...? I feel like we've slowed down a lot here."

* * *

There was a reason for that.

"Aizawa told me he's purposely trying to keep the kids off the field more," Shine was telling Dabi, "because of the ninja and the metas...though he's been told by Nezu that they really need to be out there."

"I'll bet," Dabi said.

Shine looked at him squarely. "Touya...is Nezu the mole?"

Silence.

Dabi finally looked up. "To be honest, Shine, I never met the mole in person. They contacted me using a voice modulator, just like the metas did. It could have been him. One thing I'm sure of, it was one of the staff. What they had access to, and could plan around, it had to be someone up there. You think Aizawa is in the clear, and sure, he seems to be pretty clueless, but who else could pull it off? You don't have a lot of options."

"I know," Shine said, "and no matter how much I ponder it, I never can come up with anyone else with the kind of power, influence, access, planning skills, and general lack of being under suspicion as Nezu...but I can't prove it, and if I was wrong, it would be a pretty clever person who could be doing all that."

"Don't you have an invisible girl?"

"Too obvious. She'd be the first person to suspect," Shine said, "and...Hagakure is kind of ditzy, unless it's an act. I don't think she could plan. She's a nice girl, but she's not crafty."

"Wow, harsh."

"Like you really care. Don't sass me," Shine said.

"I thought you liked snarky people," Dabi shot back, "What about West? What does he think?"

"Glad to hear you finally ask for his perspective. He thinks it's Nezu, but then, in his world, it usually is the person in the open power position who is behind stuff. It's a weekly scandal, really."

"I'm sure it would be here if they were allowed to expose it," Dabi said, "Gotta keep the rich snobs looking good. Yugh." He made a face.

"That reminds me of that song I told you about," Shine said.

"What song?" Wally buzzed in right then. "Hey, baby."

"Hey, hon. You know, that Switchfoot one."

"Ah." Dabi snapped his fingers. "I know which one you mean. That's actually a really good song, nice and cynical. Could not believe it was a Christian band."

"They are so underrated," Shine said. She started singing the rather jarring tune.

"Welcome to the holy city, the silver screen, built with the lens and the low self esteem. A teenagers's plea for meaning and means. We're selling the news."

"I know that one," Wally said, "because you made me listen to it after we arrived here...like 10 times..."

"I was blowing off steam!" Shine protested.

"Well, it was kind of cool-- but depressing, man." Wally was the type who never listened to edgy music normally unless someone else was.

Not that Switchfoot was that edgy, but Shine liked to say it was for Christian Bands.

"Well," Shine sighed, "it fits anyway. I really don't know how much of this school's facade to believe anymore."

[Makes two of us Shine. Here's the full song they referenced. It's baller.]

https://youtu.be/TYGJK1KcE_s