A great band of heroes stood in a meeting room together. From small time heroes to the Top 100 on the hero list. Everybody except for 7 people knew what they were doing there. This was about the Hassaikai and the League of Villains. Kaori stood next to Aizawa, minding her own business as she kept her arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot to a non-existent beat.
" What's going on? Talk to me, Ryukyu! What's the scoop?" She heard Nejire's voice ask. She looked up, seeing Nejire talking to Ryukyu, one of the Pros in the Top 10. She looked around, searching for anybody else familiar. She then spotted Midoriya and Mirio standing next to Tamaki, Kirishima, Uraraka, and Tsu. What are they all doing here?
" Mr. Aizawa, Kaori! What are you doing here?" Uraraka asked as she approached them. Tsu followed, placing a finger to her cheek, puzzled.
" I was wondering the same thing when I saw you." Kaori said, standing in a more relaxed pose.
" We were called in last minute for this thing. I think I've got a rough idea about what it might be about." Aizawa said, turning toward his two other students. And you didn't tell me? You know, you aren't winning that honest-father award-
" You should, too, ladies. Remember what I told you girls?" Ryukyu said, a few feet away. The two girls remembered her comment about the new case they'd discussed after taking down two people with Size Enhancing Quirks. Kaori's gears churned before being interrupted by the start of the conference.
" We're all here Nighteye. Let's get started." Ryukyu said, turning toward the man, Sir Nighteye.
" Thanks to the information provided by all of you, our investigation had progressed substantially. We've invited you all here for a joint conference to share the intel we've acquired. Regarding the yakuza group, Shie Hassaikai, and what we believe they might be planning." Nighteye explained. The conversation had been moved to a conference room with a big screen, the heroes sitting on the sides of the table as Nighteye was at the front. Mirio and Midoriya sat to his left, while the other students were seated with their Work Study Heroes. Luckily, she was directed next to Aizawa. Yakuza? That robber mentioned the League working with them. This might be a chance to finally track them down! I might see Koko!
" All right, let's begin at the beginning. For the past couple of weeks now, those of us at Nighteye Agency have been conducting an investigation into Shie Hassaikai; a small but organized group of criminals." Bubble Girl explained, looking at a screen that had the information they'd gathered on.
" What prompted this?" One hero asked.
" An accident regarding a gang of thieves called the Reservoir Dogs." Bubble girl explained.
" Yeah, I heard about it." Another hero said.
" The police thought the whole thing was an accident, but there were a number of details that didn't add up, so we began tailing them." Bubble girl said.
" In my capacity as a Nighteye Agency sidekick, I began following leads to see what I could uncover. I found that, in the past year, the members of Shie Hassaikai have had increased contact with those outside the organization, including other groups whose business dealings are less than reputable. Their arm seemed to be expanding their organization enriching its coffers. Shortly after out investigation began, they made contact with a member of the League of Villains." Centipeder, another one of Nighteye's sidekicks, said. Uraraka and Tsu's heads perked up at this information along with Kirishima and Midoriya. Kaori was beginning to bubble with curiosity as that two-personality villain appeared on the screen.
" Jin Babaigawara. Villain Name : Twice. They were wary of being tailed before they disappeared into a warp gate, so I was unable to follow them, but with the help of the police, I confirmed that an altercation had occurred between the two groups." Centipeder said as an image of the broken warehouse appeared on the screen. Holy smokes...please be ok, guys...
" That'd be about where they decided to reach out to Tsukauchi and me. Figured we'd be able to assist, given the League's involvement." Gran Torino explained.
" Where is Tsukauchi?" The hero next to him asked.
" Follow-ups with some other eyewitnesses. Y'know, cop stuff. Sorry, kid. I didn't see something like this coming. I've got a bad feeling that things are about to get ugly." Gran Torino said, looking at Midoriya. Cop stuff. Why do I have the feeling it isn't just CoP sTufF.
" I don't care if they do. I wanna help." Midoriya said.
" Hold up, you know him?" Mirio asked. Catching Kaori's attention, she looked toward the front end of the table.
" Oh, Gran Torino? I did my internship with him." He said. As the two finished their conversation, Bubble Girl continued.
" So, after all that went down, we posted a notice in the HN requesting assistance." Bubble Girl said, but Centipeder buzzed in.
" I think we can skip that part." Centipeder said.
" What's the HN?" Uraraka asked, looking to Nejire.
" Stands for Hero Network. It's an online service that can only be accessed by pros. You can see what all the heroes in the country are up to, and you can ask for help from people whose Quirks might come in handy." She explained, looking towards her friends across the table.
" Does anybody wanna tell me why a buncha high school kids were invited to this conference? I don't care if they are from UA. If we have to keep stopping to explain this stuff, we'll never get to the actual plan." Rocklock (I think that's his name) said. Kaori gave a light scowl at the hero just on the other side of the table. Rude ass.
" Hey, don't say that. These two have some important information to pass along!" Fatgum, another pro, said. Didn't Kirishima intern with him? Along with Tamaki, too, right?
" Uh, we do?" Kirishima said, confuesed by Fatgum's enthusiastic nature.
" Anyway, I see a lot of new faces, so let me introduce myself. Nice to meet ya! I'm Fatgum." The pro said. I like this guy. He seems like a big, puffy mochi.
" Hassaikai's movements are hard to trace, but we suspect one of their main sources of income is illegal drug sales. So I requested help from heroes who have some expertise in that area." Nighteye said.
" Yup, I brought in my fair share of drug dealers back in the day, and at Red Riot's debut fight, he proved he could, too. Tamaki was shot, and the bullet contained some kinda drug I've never heard of before. One that destroys Quirks." Fatgum explained. Kaori's eyes widened, looking over to her friend. She looked over to her Father, his expression the same. Only a Quirk like their's could momentarily shut off a Quirk.
" Destroys quirks?" A hero asked.
" Whoa, what? Tamaki, you're okay, right?" Mirio asked.
" Yeah, the stuff wore off while I slept. Here, look." Tamaki said, holding up his arm, except it was a cow foot. She let out a relieved breath, placing a hand on her heart.
" I've got this cow hoof and everything." Tamaki said.
" Guess we know what you had for breakfast." Mirio said, trying to lighten the mood.
" I'm glad to know the effects aren't permanent at least. So this stuff doesn't zap a Quirk for good." Rocklock said.
" No. But Eraserhead and Miss Shimura might have some further insight." Nighteye said. All ears were to Class 1A's teacher, Shota Aizawa and his daughter.
" It doesn't exactly function like my Erasure does. Since I'm not actually attacking the Quirk directly. What we call a quirk is an extraordinary addition to an ordinary human body. Those additions are collectively referred to as Quirk genes. I can shield those genes and temporarily block their expression, but I don't actually damage them." Aizawa said. She moved onto her portion of speaking.
" Like Eraser said, it doesn't function the same as Reverse. Since I can't touch the gene, I'd have to touch the person fully, which normally ends up in Death," The room went stiff for a moment.
" It takes a lot of concentration, even to just turn metal into wood. You're changing matter's functions, practically destroying its original construct and rebuilding it again. As far as the doctors have told me, there are only abbreviations of my Quirk. There are different branches of Reverse, but the power I have is unlimited. If I managed to concentrate enough, I could cancel a Quirk, but not forever." She explained, touching the table with her pinky, changing it from steel to glass to wood, then its original state. The room began to settle, Fatgum's voice coming next.
" But after Tamaki here was shot, we brought him to the hospital, and they found that his Quirk genes had sustained damage. Fortunately, they seem to have healed on their own and he's back to normal now." Fatgum said.
" What do we know about the substance he was shot with?" Nighteye asked.
" Whatever it was didn't harm the rest of his body. Nothing but his Quirk was impaired in any way. The guy who shot him clammed up. He won't say one word. And the round that hit Tamaki was totally spent. However, Kirishima bravely defended Tamaki from a bullet, which then bounced off his own body and should now provide us with a viable sample." Fatgum said.
" Whoa, I did that? Really? That's crazy." Kirishima said.
" When we analyzed the substance from the bullet, we discovered something that made me sick to my stomach. It contained human blood and cells." Fatgum said. Everybody's hearts started beating heavily in their chest. If this was the Hassaikai, where were they getting this from? Kaori's mind started turning, her gears moving faster to find out what was happening.
" In other words, that effect came from a person. A Quirk that can destroy Quirks." Ryukyu said. Kaori's face went pale as she came to a realization. Oh god no...
" I'm not connecting the dots, here. How is all this related to Hassaikai?" A masked hero said.
" The man who shot Tamaki used an illegal drug to boost his Quirk during his fight with Kirishima. The distribution channels for stuff like that are complex. Although things have shrunk since the old days. Drugs still pass through various people and organizations before they finally reach the end user. There's no concrete evidence that Hassaikai handled the drug, but we know for a fact that they interacted with one of the middlemen responsible for moving it." Fatgum explained.
" That's all?" The masked hero asked.
" The other day, Ryukyu's team broke up a fight between two villain groups. One of those groups was controlled by the intermediary organization that Fatgum just mentioned." Nighteye said.
" One of the two giants had been given as inferior drug that didn't last long." Ryukyu said.
" There have been a rash of gang-related crimes recently, and most could be connected to the Hassaikai if you tried hard enough." Another hero said.
" Which is what it seems like you're doing, trying to make them guilty. Don't you have anything that implicates them more clearly?" The masked hero asked. The image on the screen changed from a wrecked building, to a man with a crow mask.
" They young head, Chisaki : Quirk, Overhaul. With this power, he can disassemble things and then reassemble them. A Quirk that allows him to completely break down matter. And a bullet that can break down Quirks." Nighteye said. She looked at Mirio and Midoriya instantly, seeing their bodies stiffen.
" Chisaki has a daughter named Eri. When Mirio and Midoriya encountered Eri, they noticed there were bandages wrapped around her arms and legs. Chisaki also mentioned that Eri was clumsy." Nighteye said. Aizawa was put on edge almost immediately. Bandaged body. Bullets made from human blood. Kaori's hands began to shake as they tightened on her uniform's skirt.
" Could he really do something so horrific?" Ryukyu asked.
" Unfortunately, yes. In a world of super humans, if you can dream it, you can do it." Gran Torino said.
" Hold on, what are they talking about?" Kirishima asked. Come on, guys. Grab a brain.
" They're wondering if Chisaki is turning his daughter's body into bullets and selling them on the black market. Am I wrong?" Kaori asked, looking up at the head of the table. Her eyes were full of rage and sadness. Nighteye nodded his head slowly. Aizawa placed a hand on her shaking one, trying to calm her down.
" No.." Kirishima said, horrified by his friend's words.
" No, don't tell me..." Uraraka said.
" To be clear, we aren't certain that he's actually selling the bullets. At this point, their efficacy appears to be questionable. It's possible they're still in the testing phase, and he's giving them out as samples to rally more people to his cause. We have no hard evidence, but we do know he's gathering allies and funds from across the nation. If the completed drug allows him to annihilate someone's Quirk entirely, imagine the devastation he could cause." Nighteye explained. Samples. He's giving his daughter's body as samples. Despicable.
" Just talking about it...it's enough to make my blood boil. Let's go get this monster." Fatgum said.
" Tch. Woulda saved us a lot of trouble if these amateurs had just gotten the girl away from him." Rocklock said, glaring at the two boys who were already guilt-ridden. Kaori glared down at the man.
" I take full responsibility. The blame should not fall on them. Even without knowing the whole story, they acted to save the child, each in their own way." Nighteye said, defending them, but it didn't make the two heroes-in-training feel any better. Only worse.
" Midoriya was willing to bear the risk of taking her then, while Mirio chose to wait for another opportunity when success would be more likely. I assure you, nobody in this room is more frustrated than they are." Nighteye said. The two heroes-in-training then stood up abruptly, their chairs making a clattering sound.
" We'll get Eri away from him next time!"
" And we'll protect her!"
" Indeed. That's precisely what we've come here to discuss."