? Benevolence ?

Chapter 42

I fidget nervously when they turn to me. "I've b-been doing my internship with Eraser..."

We're eventually led into a large conference room and I'm seated next to Eraserhead.

"Well then, let's begin."

A woman starts. "Since about two weeks prior, we at the Nighteye offices have been independently observing a certain villain group... known as the Eightfold Cleansers."

A man speaks up. "What was the hook?"

"There was an accident involving a thief gang known as the Reservoir Dogs. The police cleaned everything up as just an accident, but there were many points that made no sense and we began to track them."

I watch as another man stands up and introduces himself as a sidekick, Centipeder. He has been conducting the tracking and observation upon Nighteye's request. He's noticed a rapid increase in contact between the group and others in the past year.

"They appear to be an organization moving with the intent to expand and accumulate funds. Also shortly after the commencement of investigation...
He made contact with one Jin Bubaigawara. Villain name 'Twice.'"

My blood runs cold at the name. He was the one to tie me up during the... When they project a picture of him with someone else, I suppress a shudder.

The man continues. "They were particularly cautious of being followed and I was unable to continue tracking them, but here I was able to cooperate with police. They were able to confirm that during this meeting some kind of skirmish had occurred."

A small old man speaks. I recognize him as one of the heroes who were at the rescue for Bakugou and I. "So it's related to the League of Villains... that's why you called me and Tsukauchi."

"And where is he?"

"There was other information from witnesses, so he's checking on that."

The old man suddenly addresses Midoriya. "Listen boy- I never thought it would come to this... You've been dragged into quite an annoying situation."

Midoriya meets his eyes. "I don't think any part of this is annoying."

The tall man from before, Nighteye. "Moving on."

The woman from the beginning nods. "We wanted to request everyone's cooperation on HN... Uhhh, we have this kind of process!"

"You can skip that."

"Okay!"

I hear someone explain that HN stands for Hero Network. A media platform strictly for pro heros to request help based on quirks and view activity reports.

Someone speaks up. "Hey, even if they're Yuuei students, what's with the brats? Can't talk with them around. We're burning daylight just getting to the real issue of what they're plotting."

A large hero stands abruptly, pushing his table lightly. "Enough outta you- these two here are super important witnesses!" He gestures to Kirishima and Amajiki.

I hear Kiri from across the room. "The two... of us?"

The pro continues. "Besides, I think there's a ton o' people who're meetin' for the first time, so better get to it! The name's Fatgum, pleasure to meet y'all!"

Nighteye nods. "We have reason to believe that the Eightfold Cleansers have made the dispersal of unlicensed goods part of their livelihood. As such I have requested help from heroes familiar with that line of work."

An angry look crosses Fatgum's face. "Long ago, we smashed those kinda things to pieces! Then, yesterday, in Red Riot debut battle!! Tamaki was shot by somethin' new- the likes we ain't never seen! A drug... that erases quirks."

Everyone glances to Aizawa-sensei but Mirio stands from his seat. "What?! Tamaki, you're okay, right?!"

"Yeah... after sleeping it came back." Amajiki demonstrates by turning his hand into a hoof. "See?"

The hero who asked why students were here chimes in again. "If it recovers, no need to worry. Nothing fatal."

"No... I'll leave that explanation to Eraserhead." Nighteye sighs.

Aizawa points to himself. "It's a bit different from my erasure. That's because I'm not attacking the quirk itself. A special mechanism, 'Plus Alpha,' is added to the basic human body. That is a quirk. These 'Plus Alpha' are collectively called the 'quirk-factor.' Ultimately, I can only temporarily halt that quirk-factor. I can't cause damage to it."

Fatgum picks up where he leaves off. "Right after Tamaki was shot, we took 'im to the hospital to get a look-see... that quirk-factor had taken damage! Luckily, it recovered naturally and has returned to normal now."

"And the analysis of the thing he was shot with?"

"There were no other abnormalities in his body! It was only, I mean only, the quirk that was attacked. Not a peep from the gang that shot 'em!! The gun's in pieces too! Plus they didn't have no other bullets in their possession 'sides the ones they fired!"

He suddenly glances to his two interns. "However, thanks to Kirishima risking his life, he deflected one!! We were able to obtain the contents of that bullet!"

The redhead pushed back in his seat. "Wha- I did?!"

"Hardening, right? Super cool!" Uraraka compliments him.

Fatgum continues, tone darkening. "As for what was inside... something truly sickening... it contained human blood and human cells."

My stomach twists sickly and I feel myself go pale. "...w-what...?"

---
I couldn't help myself so ig I'm posting twice today

Honestly, this meeting wasn't too fun to write but it is necessary to understand what's going on.

Thank you for reading
and for all your support!!!