One would think that the experience with Eraserhead would be enough for Naoko to back off, learn her lesson and walk away before the shit hit the fan. One would think she would at the very least slow her roll in their plans to dismantle the Hassaikai Yakuza so they could pretend to be cautious.

That did not happen.

Naoko, who was absolutely delighted that her teacher had just given his approval for her being a vigilante, had no plans of slowing down.

In fact, this just helped enforce the idea that she needed to work even harder so they could get the Yakuza taken out. Because once those assholes were out of the way, she could take out Kurogiri and Shigaraki, abduct the rest of the League (because Mag had promised that most of them would be more than happy to join), before finally settling down into her accidental empire.

She got maybe three hours of sleep after Aizawa left at the insistence of Hawks, who had firmly declared that a kid Naoko's age should not have such a bad sleep schedule (which was both ironic and hypocritical), but by the time she woke, she was more than ready to go.

It would be a full day of patrolling the area around Overhaul's base, seeing how often the guards changed, if there were any patterns in the people, and, maybe most importantly, if there was anyone she could bribe.

A lot of the heavy lifting here was being done by Hasame's network, which had an astonishing number of people who hated Kai Chisaki, they would be watching for the next three days.

After that? Naoko, Dabi, and Mag would storm the place with Todoroki standing by for back up. Levi and Chris would do their best to keep the area clear until after the raid started, and their media whore of a hero (Hawks) would either send an anonymous tip to the media to send them Naoko's way, or he would lead them there himself.

Either option was good, because if Hawks had to come himself, he could be shown as being favorable to KISMET.

Not that they needed the support, especially from someone who was held so tightly by the hero commission, but he was still the number two hero, establishing some kind of connection now could help them.

Or it could fuck them over, only time would tell.

Naoko was allowing herself to be positive this once. She knew it would probably be a terrible mistake, but hey, they were out to smash Bird Bitch, she was in a very good mood.

Of course, not everything was fun and games, it never could be at their little coffee shop, but this was less of an issue, and more of a needed explosion. Like a controlled burn or those mini landslides the forest service would make so that a giant landslide wouldn't happen.

After Eri woke up the next day, she was quiet, which wasn't that unusual, but there was an edge of tension around here that put everyone on alert.

Panic attacks were relatively common in their group, there was too much trauma hovering around for it to be any other way. The fact that Eri had helped Naoko the night before by returning to the place that had hurt her most meant that a panic attack was almost mandatory.

They knew this, so while they tried to keep Eri out of her own head, they didn't push.

Well... Most of them didn't push.

Naoko, who had the subtlety of a rampaging bull, only took about two hours of giving the kid her space before she pulled Eri into the room over and the two knelt on the floor together.

It was awkward, especially when Eri started to cry quietly, it was an expected reaction, one that Naoko had been trying to figure out how to handle before she even approached Eri, but still Naoko could only think to pat Eri on the back in silence.

How was she so bad at this?

Hasame was infinitely better at comforting people and Naoko knew her dad had been great at giving warm hugs and letting Naoko lean on him during bad days... Had she gotten her crap people skills from her mom then?

Eventually it became clear that just sitting quietly was only going to make Eri feel worse (a slight glow was starting to develop around the girl, a sure sign of both panic and her quirk going haywire), so Naoko pinched herself on the thigh to pull her out of her own head and patted Eri's back once to get her attention.

"Hey, you know you don't have to hold it in, right?"

Bloodshot red eyes met green as Eri pulled her face out of her knees and watched Naoko, tears still running down her cheeks.

Naoko wanted nothing more than to disappear, but instead she took a deep breath and continued on, "There's a lot happening right now, and I know it probably brings back shitty memories. You don't have to be okay, we all want to help you."

Eri still hadn't told them much about what she'd been through while being held by Kai and no one wanted to push. They didn't need to know everything to get a general idea.

"And just in case you think you're a burden or some... something, you're not. We all get what it's like to struggle and be scared, or whatever. You won't be... Burdening? Us. I think that's the right word there."

Naoko was about to fall face first into rant mode when Eri shrugged Naoko's hand off her back. Those red eyes that were normally so guarded, had come alive.

Sadness was there, sure, but anger too, and Naoko stopped herself from grinning. Getting mad was healthy, it was something that Eri didn't do nearly enough. Naoko could handle anger way better than she could handle sadness.

"You don't." Eri's words were barely said, if Naoko hadn't been focused, she would've missed it entirely.

"Don't what?" A simple push, one that could diffuse the situation or make everything worse. Naoko was kind of hoping it would be the latter.

Eri's fingers dug into her thin thighs, but Naoko couldn't focus on that, she also wasn't about to touch Eri, since she showed she was sensitive to that right now.

"You don't know what it's like."

One of Naoko's eyebrows rose in what she knew was a perfect recreation of Aizawa's disbelieving face, "Oh? Try me."

They were inflammatory words, and she knew that. It was a good day for a mental breakdown.

Nothing was said for a heartbeat, but Naoko could see the pressure building on Eri, she could physically see the moment Eri snapped.

"You can't know what it's like." Eri's face was alive as she glared at Naoko, "No one knows what it's like because Overhaul didn't let anyone else live." Somehow, she wasn't yelling. That alone was impressive, "Stop saying you do!"

Oof, had she come across that way? Once Eri had calmed down, Naoko would have to explain that to her.

"I was killed over and over and over, and then I was put in that little room by myself. I was hurt and no one wanted to touch me more than to put those... That white cloth on."

"I was always so alone, and that's what it was supposed to be."

Oh? Okay, Naoko leaned forward ever so slightly, "Why, Eri? Why were you supposed to be alone?"

"Because I'm bad!"

It was a statement that carried deep pain, one that Eri completely believed... Also, one that Naoko understood perfectly.

As much as Naoko wanted to be silent, to let Eri start rambling on her own without any more emotionally unintelligent comments from the teen (Jesus, who had let her be in charge here?), she could guess that this would be a terrible idea. Overthinking was a bitch.

"Why?" Still not the best thing to say, but Naoko was trying her best here.

Eri looked at her like she was dumb, like Naoko was the least intelligent person to ever walk the earth (how were kids so good at that look?), before she gritted her teeth and shook her head, "I hurt people."

Huh... Naoko was a bit lost, sue her, "So?"

This was going so well.

It also, was not what Eri was expecting. Which didn't make sense, she had been living with everyone for months now, she knew about Dabi and Mag's past, she knew that there were people in their group that didn't flinch at causing others pain.

How did she not expect this?

As if to prove why Naoko should, in fact, agree with Bird bitch's assessment of her, Eri shook her head and the light from her horn began to glow brighter, "I've hurt a lot of people! Over... Over... He used me to hurt even more! I'm not good, Noko. Stop telling me I am!"

Well, okay. Naoko grinned at Eri (which was absolutely the wrong thing to do), "Kid, did I say you were good?"

Eri flinched back like she'd been struck, which was a pretty good indication for Naoko that she had fucked up.

"Wait, shit, no." Naoko began to wring out her hands, causing Eri to flinch away from Naoko further, which quickly led to Naoko cursing again, "No, you're not bad, sorry, that's not what I meant. God, I'm so bad at this."

Naoko forced herself to take a breath before she also started hyperventilating, "What I meant, or at least, what I was trying to say was that I don't think you're bad at all, but also, no one is fully good? Like... Humans are usually not great, but no one is all bad or all good, that's just kinda how it is. You know?"

Eri did not know, if the way she was spiraling was any indication.

Okay, abort mission, that line of thinking wasn't getting Naoko anywhere, "Eri, do you think I'm bad? Do I deserve to be with the Bird Bitch?"

The reaction was truly visceral. Eri jerked as though she had been electrocuted and shook her head, tears swimming in her eyes. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out, no matter how hard she seemed to try.

Naoko, calming down slightly now that she had a plan, nodded her head, pretending to think deeply, "Okay then, how about Touya? Or Maggie?"

Cue a violently signed "NO!"

"Huh," Naoko grinned a humorless grin, "That's weird, because between the three of us, we've hurt and killed way more people than you ever could."

This was... Not something that was often talked about here, it was too triggering for Naoko to think about the USJ and no one really wanted to shove murder in anyone else's faces. It didn't really matter that Touya and Maggie had been villains, none of them enjoyed the deaths they caused, many of which were done out of self-preservation.

Because of that, Eri had never really learned about the things Naoko or the others had done.

It seemed that Naoko was going to have to suck up her trauma and explain, because the way Eri's eyes widened was heartbreaking and comical at the same time.

Okay, Naoko, deep breath, you can talk about this without getting lost in your own panic attack.

This situation did not need both people lost in panic.

"Eri..." Naoko floundered as she tried to think of where to start, "I don't... fully understand your experience and I never will, but I do know what it's like to have a quirk that you can't control."

"I know what it's like to hurt people because you lost control."

Eri sat frozen, hardly daring to breath as the two maintained eye contact, obviously waiting for more information.

Damn it.

"I... Had a panic attack." Naoko wanted to scream, but she couldn't. She was the adult here (ha), she needed to stay calm, "It was when I was still going to UA."

Naoko could see the lights at the USJ, those circular light she had spent so long counting while trying to ignore Iida... Because 13's mask was opaque. She could see the flicker that had started it all.

Breathe in, hold, breathe out. Don't fall back into that moment.

Pain lanced up her arms as her fingers dug in, the only method she had to ground herself right now, "I was pushed into a panic attack when... When we were... attacked."

That's right, they had been attacked. Naoko had repressed parts of the USJ more than she realized as bits and pieces from that day filtered back in. At this point she was either going to have her own panic attack or she was going to trauma dump on Eri, neither of which the kid needed.

She shakily reached for the quirk suppressing cuffs she always kept on her. Usually, she just kept them of when she slept, but she knew the risks far too well. She would not hurt Eri here.

Breathe in, hold for three seconds, breathe out.

"I... I can't get into the details," Literally, there was no way Naoko would be able to go into any details right now, "But when I came to, I'd killed people... A lot of people."

Red surrounded her and for a moment, Naoko forgot how to breathe. The pain in her arm grew, but her connection to it faded slightly as she did everything she could to not fall completely into that flashback, into the absolute horror that had been waking up surrounded by half melted bodies and blood.

Soft hands patted at her cheeks and Naoko had to stop herself from jerking away, thanking everything that her quirk was being suppressed right now.

Eri had moved while Naoko was struggling and was currently kneeling in front of Naoko, watching Naoko carefully. She didn't try to speak or hug Naoko, just knelt there with hands on Naoko's face to ground her.

Vaguely, Naoko recognized it as a gesture that Chris would do for Levi when the man had fallen into his own thoughts, but that was hardly a priority as she was holding desperately to the line that kept her in the moment.

With hesitant, shuddering gasps, Naoko looked up at Eri, who had entirely shut down, "So?" Naoko had no clue what her voice sounded like, but if it was anything like how she was feeling, then it was absolutely wrecked, "Do I deserve what you got? Or maybe worse? Because if I don't, then neither than you."

There was a stubbornness in Eri's eyes that somehow grounded Naoko more than the pain ever could. "Eri." For the first time since Naoko had pulled Eri aside, Eri focused completely on Naoko.

"You are not all good. You've accidentally hurt people and killed others," They both winced at that, "But you are not bad. You don't have to think you're perfect, but I promise that the Bird Bitch wanted to make you feel like you are the worst, even though you're not."

*

Eri was frozen. She couldn't get any words past her lips and was trembling desperately.

She... Logically, she knew that she wasn't bad like Overhaul told her she was, but what her brain knew and what her heart knew were two very different things. So, up until now, she had ignored it.

But now Naoko was telling her that everything she knew was wrong and that she didn't have to be good to deserve better than what Overhaul gave her.

Naoko... Nao was like her, Nao had been scared of her quirk too, but she kept moving, kept working on it. Eri knew that much she knew because Noko disappeared for hours every day to practice with her quirk in the cellar, even though something had hurt Nao's quirk before.

No one went into the details of what that meant, just that Nao's quirk had been hurt (that Nao had been hurt), and that she was trying to get control over it again.

It was so weird to watch as Nao started to pull herself back from the panic that she almost fell into. The teenager was watching Eri carefully, but she was showing her stress as she snapped the bracelet on her wrist.

Eri did remember when Nao had started wearing her bracelet (a simple green hair tie with metal beads on one side), but she would be silly to not see the way Nao would start snap it against her wrist when she got stuck in her head.

That was one thing that a lot her family (a weird term that Eri had never been able to use before. It felt right with everyone here) did. They all got lost in themselves and pulled back into scary or bad memories. Eri knew this because she did it to.

Rei had told Eri that getting lost like that was her brain's way of trying to understand all the bad things that had happened. Apparently, her brain gets just as scared as she does sometimes, so it has to wait to think about big things until it feels safe.

Auntie Hasame had used the term 'Coping Mechanism,' but Eri didn't know what that meant. She liked the thought that her brain was a small animal that hides away when it feels scared.

But back to Nao.

Eri had never really... Thought about the fact that Nao could be like Eri. Nao was kinda scary, but also strong. She wasn't as old as Touya or Maggie or even Chris, but Nao's eyes looked just like theirs.

So to think that maybe... Maybe Nao was like her. That she wasn't good either.

It was a scary thought.

Because if Nao was like Eri, then that meant that a lot of their family was like Eri. They were all hurt and maybe they even thought they deserved the bad things that happened to them.

And that wasn't right.

Her family (because they were her family. At least... she wanted them to be) were the best people she ever met. She had never once been taken apart or told she was bad with them. They always listened to her and smiled kindly!

Even Levi, who was really scary, had sat with Eri and helped her make soba one day when Rei was sick! He was nice and always kind when she got her signs wrong!

They were all so good!

"You've... You've hurt people too." She knew Nao had. She shouldn't push, what if Nao decided to get rid of Eri? She'd been the one to bring Eri in and take her from Overhaul, so no one would be mad if Nao would get rid of her.

A familiar energy built in Eri's bones, making her feel like both like she was about to be sick and that she needed to run away. It was something Hasame would probably have a word for, but Eri was too focused on Nao, on the blue haired person who always looked more tired than just about everyone.

Nao smiled a smile that didn't look like a smile. Eri wasn't sure what it looked like, she wasn't good at smiling yet either, but it wasn't happy.

"Yeah. It's not fun, especially when you can't control your quirk and that's why they were hurt, but I can promise you are not bad because of it. Neither am I."

How many times had Nao said that today? Eri wasn't really sure, but somehow it made just a little bit of sense. She could feel her eyes clouding over before she lunged at Nao, wrapping her arms around the girls waste and starting to sob.

Yes, it was a good day to be sad, because maybe... Maybe someday she could learn to be happy because of it.

***

Naoko walked out with Eri's hand in hers. They had talked for a little bit longer, but most of the time was taken up by Eri crying as Naoko sat there, unsure of what to do.

What? She never claimed to be good at people. In fact, she knew she wasn't, but Eri hadn't seemed to mind.

The main space in the café was never incredibly crowded, sure, it was usually busy to an extent, but never crowded, there was too much space in the old warehouse to ever feel full.

But as Naoko walked out? It was positively claustrophobic.

Maybe that wasn't the best wording, seeing as how Naoko's issues with enclosed spaces had only been getting worse since her kidnapping, but that was besides the point. The sea of faces that was staring at her made every instinct she had sing for her to turn around and return to the relative safety of Eri's room.

She hadn't even been aware that their group had grown this big? She was the de facto leader of KISMET, but that didn't mean she was aware of everything Hasame was doing.

And yes, she was blaming Hasame for all these people. There was no one else that could draw people in like her. And when Rei was helping?

Those two were a terrifying team.

Unfortunately for everyone, Naoko was not as good at speaking to people as anyone else in their group. Literally, only Touya was worse than her, and that was because he was a bitch who didn't give a fuck what anyone thought of him and had opinions louder than his grafts.

"Um..." Naoko coughed as every eye in the room turned to her and cursed under her breath. Why did she become the leader again? Anyone who knew Naoko for more than ten minutes probably could've been able to tell that this was a terrible idea.

But hey, this was the big moment, so she could at least try a little harder than she had for the sports festival (ah, such simpler times).

In the corner of the room sat Shouto, the bitch, who was sipping on a cup of tea next to Rei, both of whom were watching with identical amused faces. It took every bit of self-control that Naoko did not possess to stop herself from flipping them off.

Here goes nothing... Naoko took a deep breath before forcing herself to speak, "Thanks to the resident bunny," She squeezed Eri's hand to stop herself from flushing with embarrassment, where was her fucking filter? "We have all the information we need to take down the bird bitch."

Some of the members that Naoko recognized were grinning and Naoko made a mental note to train with them later (she may not be all that intimidating normally, but she was proud of how scared they were of training with her. She'd been taught by both Aizawa and Levi, after all).

(She earned that terror, god damn it.)

"I know some people think that this will be an easy in and out, and if we do it right, it might be, but the bird bitch is a yakuza leader who obviously has no god-damned morals, so anyone who doesn't want to join doesn't have to." She actually preferred it if fewer people joined, honestly.

Fewer people meant fewer potential casualties.

Eri, seemingly sensing Naoko's discomfort, squeezed their hands and tugged gently, giving something for Naoko to ground herself with.

"Most of you will be providing lookout or interference, but if you see a good chance to beat the shit out of one of the yakuza assholes, you're more than welcome to take it." Most of them had some kind of axe to grind with the yakuza. After all, the crime syndicate was getting test subjects from somewhere. There wasn't a person in the room who hadn't been affected by them.

More people were smiling, but it was a feral sort of grin rather than anything truly happy.

"None of you need to know the details, but I'd appreciate it if someone delivered our... warning next door after we leave."

All it really was, was a plate of cookies that would give them an out, let them know that they should jump ship before they were taken down too. Perhaps Naoko was soft, but she was currently neck deep in a poker tournament with some of the Yakuza next door, she'd give them one chance to save themselves.

Naoko bit her cheek as she tried to remember all the necessary information for the operation.

"Maggie is currently in position to kidnap the Yakuza's hostages, along with Levi and Chris, so be ready to receive them. If this is done right, they shouldn't be pursued, but let's prepare for the worst, shall we?"

People nodded resolutely before Naoko slumped, "Okay, that should be it, Rei is in charge while we're gone. If anyone needs to get ahold of me, text Touya."

"Let's move."

Hasame was already at the main site, preparing some last minute 'oh fuck' drops in case things went sideways. But that was all they needed. It was time to act.