"What? Real villains? No way." Kirishima said in disbelief. "How could so many of them get into a UA facility this secure."
"Yeah. Thirteen, why aren't the alarms going off?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"Good question. I'm not sure." Thirteen answered, staring down at the villains.
"Is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their only target?" Todoroki questioned from next to Noriko. "Either way, if the alarm sensors aren't being triggered, then one of these villains must have a quirk that's masking their presence. They carefully choose this isolated facility as an entry point at a time when a class was being taught. They're fools for trespassing here, but they've thought this out. Whatever their plan, they must have a concrete objective in mind. But what is it?"
"It's just like before. Those villains knew what they were doing... " Noriko muttered, thinking back to when villains attacked her studio. Though, Noriko could've kept the thought in her mind because Todoroki gave her a confused look.
"Thirteen, get them out of her," Aizawa ordered. "And alert the main campus. Actually, if they've got the ability to block our sensors, then they might be jamming our regular communications, too. Kaminari, try using your quirk to contact the school."
"Yes, sir," Kaminari replied, placing a hand on his transmitter.
"What are you gonna do? You can't fight them all on you're own!" Midoriya exclaimed. "There's too many of them. Even if you can nullify their quirks, your fighting style's not suited for this. Your power works best in stealth and one-on-one fights. That's not gonna help with a group."
"You can't be a pro if you've only got one trick. I'll leave it to you, Thirteen." Aizawa said before he jumped down the stairs to fight the villains.
Once Aizawa disappeared down the stairs, the students started to head toward the exit, only to be stopped by the mist-portal villain.
"There's no escape for you," he said, his voice sending chills down Noriko's spine. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains. I know it's impolite, but we decided to invite ourselves into this haven of justice to say hello. And besides, isn't this a fitting place for All Might, the Symbol of Peace, to take this last breath? I believe he was supposed to be here today and yet I see no sign of him. There must have been some sort of change in plans that we could not have foreseen. Ah, well, in the end, I suppose it doesn't matter. I still have a role to play."
Thirteen was about to use their quirk only to stop when Bakugo and Kirishima jumped forward to attack the mist villain. But when the dust cleared, Noriko saw that there wasn't even a scratch on him.
"You live up to your school's reputation. But you should be more careful, children. Otherwise, someone might get hurt."
"You two, get out of the way, right now!" Thirteen yelled.
"I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades and your death!"
Suddenly, the purple mist came toward the students. Noriko took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes.
When she opened them, she was in the landslide zone. Surrounded by villains.
"Oh, look what we have here. A little boy and-" one of the villains started but stopped when he looked at Noriko. She tensed as the villain stared at her for a minute with narrow eyes as if he was trying to put something together in his mind. Then he continued, "Wait a minute. That's her! Nora! It must be. She looks just like that picture Shigaraki showed us!"
Noriko barely processed what the villain had said, but the name Shigaraki was clear in her mind. He was the one that attack her studio. That had been one of the only names that she remembered from when her studio was attacked. The event had happened while Noriko was performing at a concert and Shigaraki and his gang of villains had attacked her public studio while Mai and her producer Takumi Kato were there. They had nearly been killed.
A few of the villains jumped at Noriko and Todoroki, only to be knocked down by an ice dragon Noriko created. The villains that hadn't been able to attack her were trapped to the ground by ice and the ones Noriko just knocked down also got trapped in ice.
"Hiromi," Todoroki started, pulling Noriko's attention from the villains that were all struggling to get out of the ice that was slowly creeping up their bodies, "what was he talking about?"
Noriko's eyes widened a bit but then shook her head, "N-nothing! You can't ever believe something a villain says. I mean, what he said was nonsense! It makes no sense! None at all!"
Todoroki looked unconvinced and Noriko knew she had only made it worse by her panicked reaction. She wouldn't be shocked if he picked up on how few differences between in appearance between her and Nora and all he was missing to confirm things was her confirmation. He sighed before saying, "We need to figure out how they plan to kill All Might. You can tell me about the Nora thing later."
Noriko nodded just before he lightly pushed her to the side as a villain attempted to attack her from behind. He froze that villain in place and a second villain that had also tried to come at him.
"Listen well. If you stay frozen your cells will slowly die as your body succumbs to frostbite and hypothermia." Todoroki said to the villains. Noriko shifted a bit, glancing around for more villains and feeling slightly uncomfortable by Todoroki's tone. "Luckily for you, I wanna be a hero. So I'd like to avoid any unnecessary cruelty. But I can only do that if you tell me how you plan to kill All Might. That's the only way you'll survive. So, start talking."
Noriko stared at Todoroki as the villains told him how they planned to kill All Might using this thing called a Nomu. As he was talking to the villain, it became quickly clear to her just how much of a difference there was in terms of skill and intelligence between her and Todoroki. Thinking of what the villain had said about her, they had a photo of her as just herself that they connected to her as Nora. And Noriko had a feeling that if she tried to talk Todoroki out of the idea of her being Nora he wouldn't believe her. At a glance, and when someone's not thinking of it, it's hard to tell that Noriko is actually Nora. But if anyone looked just a little deeper they'd probably be able to figure it out.
"We need to head back to the plaza," Todoroki said, snapping Noriko out of her thoughts. She was about to follow him away when she stopped.
"Where did you get your information?" Noriko questioned suddenly, turning toward one of the villains. "About me?"
"Wh-what?"
Noriko glared at him, "You know what. How did you get any information on me?"
"Shigaraki, t-told us," another villain near her answered, his voice shaky from the cold.
"Ok, but how did he get anything on me?" Noriko questioned. Her mind was running a million miles a minute. She needed to figure out what these villains knew and how they knew it. Ryu and her had always been so careful not to let any of her private information get out. "How did he figure out I was coming here? How did he figure me out? Where did he get his information? What else does he know?"
"I-I don't know! I don't k-know!" The villain cried. "Shi-Shigaraki didn't say anything. He j-just showed us a pi-picture and told us your name."
Noriko frowned and crossed her arms. That told her nothing. For all she knows knew, this Shagarki villain could know where she lived, who she was closest to, everything about her family, and more. They could know everything about her, but all she knew about Shigaraki was that he knew her identity and what class she was going to.
"So you are Nora," Todoroki said suddenly, making Noriko jump a little. She hadn't realized he had stopped walking when she was interrogating the villain.
"Wh-what? No! I'm not- what made you think- you can't just- I-" Noriko sputtered, knowing it was hopeless. She let out a long sigh and cleared her throat. It was clear the idea of her being Nora was planted in his mind and the way she had questioned the villains probably all but confirmed things for him. She was an idiot for what she was about to do, but she felt it was better to tell him the truth than let his mind run wild and possibly tell someone. "Yes... I'm Nora."
"Why are you at UA?" Todoroki questioned, sounding genuinely interested. "If you're already a singer, why do you want to be a hero?"
Noriko pressed her lips together, "Because that's what Ryu wanted me to do? Honestly, I don't really understand how I got here. I was getting targeted by villains for a while and Ryu thought the next best move was for me to become a hero."
Todoroki slowly nodded before asking, "Who is Ryu?"
"My manager. And kinda like my dad. It's complicated." Noriko answered with a shrug. "But can you keep this a secret? I don't need my public, singing life to be mixed with my private life. I like being able to go to the store and buy myself something without a crowd of people following me. Just, please don't tell anyone."
Todoroki stared at her. Noriko wasn't sure if he was comprehending what she had said or deciding whether or not he should keep her secret. But after a few seconds, he said, "Ok. I won't say anything."
Noriko let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you."
Todoroki lightly shook his head, "We need to focus. Let's get going."
"Oh, right."
Noriko followed Todoroki to the plaza. They passed a few villains, which they easily froze, on the way.
When they got to the plaza, Noriko stared, in horror, at the sight in front of her. Aizawa was being pummeled to the ground by the bird monster she had noticed earlier. Noriko guessed that was the Nomu as it lifted Aizawa's head and smashed it into the ground.
Then, a sound came from the door and she saw smoke. And when that disappeared, it reveal All Might standing there with an unnatural frown on his face.
"Have no fear, student. I am here!"