The recovery lounge aboard the massive transport plane had somehow devolved into complete disorder.
Which, strangely enough, meant things were normal again.
The girls had completely claimed the entertainment area, and the lights dimmed as Home Alone played on the massive screen. Mina Ashido was laughing loud enough to shake nearby cups whenever Kevin committed another act of borderline domestic terrorism.
"OHHH! THAT ONE WOULD ACTUALLY KILL SOMEONE!" Mina wheezed.
Ochaco was curled beneath a blanket, trying not to laugh too loudly.
Tsuyu sat calmly with popcorn in her lap. "Kero… American children's movies are strangely violent."
Hagakure was yelling at the screen despite technically being invisible.
Jirou pretended she wasn't invested while very obviously invested.
Momo, meanwhile, had become the unwilling babysitter of the boys.
Specifically—
Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta.
They were currently tied together back-to-back with Tsuyu's tongue and additional restraints created by Yaoyorozu.[1]
"THIS IS A VIOLATION OF MY RIGHTS!" Mineta cried dramatically.
"You lost those rights the moment you tried climbing through the air vents," Jirou replied flatly.
Denki looked genuinely offended. "In my defence, I thought it led to the kitchen!"
"It literally had a sign that said WOMEN'S BATH."
"I thought it was decorative!"
Yaoyorozu pinched the bridge of her nose. "I genuinely worry for society sometimes."
Nearby, the kitchen area was considerably calmer.
At least by comparison.
Most of the boys had started an improvised potluck using food stores from the aircraft kitchen. Sero and Sato were arguing over seasoning proportions while Ojiro quietly tried to prevent Bakugo from setting something on fire.
"This pan is weak," Bakugo growled.
"You're using too much heat to cook eggs."
"AND?"
At the far corner of the room sat the strangest gathering of all.
Shoji and Tokoyami had somehow introduced Kirishima to Mortal Kombat.
It was not going well.
"Wait, wait—how do I block again?" Kirishima asked, gripping the controller like it was a dangerous weapon.
Dark Shadow floated over Tokoyami's shoulder dramatically.
"Your defence is admirable, but your execution lacks darkness."
"That sentence explained NOTHING."
Shoji calmly pointed at the screen. "Duck."
Kirishima immediately obeyed.
His character survived by sheer accident.
"YO, I DID IT!"
Tokoyami gave a solemn nod of approval. "Your instincts improve."
Across the room, Kurokami Tenshin sat cross-legged atop a table while passionately explaining something to David Shield using enough hand gestures to qualify as combat.
"I'M TELLING YOU, the problem isn't whether the support item explodes. Explosions are expected. The issue is whether the user survives the explosion!"
David adjusted his glasses with visible concern.
"That is not remotely reassuring."
Kuro nodded seriously. "Exactly! That's what Mei said before she added the emergency propulsion feature."
"…Emergency propulsion?"
"Yeah! If the explosion is lethal, the boots eject the user at high speeds."
David stared at him.
"…That sounds significantly worse."
"It only broke one spine."
"ONLY ONE?"
(Because David loves his daughter), Melissa Shield, who was nearby, slowly lowered her face into her hands.
"I-Island nearly collapsed because people like you exist…"
Kuro looked genuinely proud.
"Thanks!"
At the center of all this madness—
All Might slept peacefully in a reclining chair.
For once, there was no tension in his shoulders.
No immediate battle.
No desperate pressure.
Just quiet exhaustion.
The faintest smile rested on his face as Class 1-A's chaos carried on around him.
Like a father finally hearing his children laugh after a storm.
...
Japan was colder than usual tonight.
Streetlights reflected off damp asphalt while police tape fluttered gently in the wind. Ambulance lights painted the alley in pulses of red and blue.
Shouta Aizawa stood motionless near the center of the crime scene.
Bandages wrapped around one arm beneath his coat, though he blatantly ignored every medical recommendation given to him.
A nearby paramedic sighed. "Sir, you really should be resting."
"I'll sleep when the psychopath with a sword stops targeting heroes."
The paramedic wisely gave up.
Footsteps approached from behind.
Naomasa Tsukauchi stepped beneath the police barrier, coat slightly damp from the weather. His sharp eyes immediately swept over the ruined alley.
Concrete slashes.
Blood.
Knife marks.
A brutal fight.
"…This resembles him," Tsukauchi said quietly.
Aizawa nodded once.
"Yeah."
Hero Killer Stain.
The name itself carried weight now.
Not just because of the killings—
But because of the fear.
Unlike ordinary villains, Stain targeted heroes specifically. Efficiently. Deliberately. Almost ideologically.
That made him dangerous in a way raw power couldn't replicate.
Tsukauchi crouched beside a deep groove carved into the pavement.
"No fatalities?"
"Not tonight," Aizawa answered.
His tired eyes shifted toward the ambulance further down the street.
"Power Arm got lucky."
Tsukauchi frowned slightly. "You engaged him directly?"
"I tried."
That alone was concerning.
Aizawa was not careless.
If even Eraser Head couldn't confidently stop Stain—
Then this situation was escalating beyond isolated attacks.
Aizawa exhaled slowly.
"At first, I thought he was just stalking random people. Weird fan behaviour. Obsessive stuff."
"But?"
"He wasn't tracking civilians."
That changed everything, and was why a fight broke out here.
A cold breeze swept through the alley.
Aizawa's eyes narrowed beneath his hair.
"He was observing patrol patterns."
Tsukauchi immediately understood the implication.
"…He's hunting."
"Yeah."
Silence lingered.
Then Tsukauchi spoke carefully.
"You said you couldn't figure out his quirk?"
Aizawa's expression hardened slightly.
"Not exactly, but from what I could tell, he only needs one opening."
That answer alone was enough.
A capture-type fighter like Aizawa admitting uncertainty about engagement conditions meant Stain's ability likely relied on contact or a hidden trigger.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Tsukauchi stood slowly.
"The Hero Public Safety Commission will want involvement."
"They'll get involvement after I catch him."
"That's not how the procedure works."
Aizawa looked unimpressed.
"Procedure doesn't stab people in alleys."
Tsukauchi sighed.
"…You really are impossible."
Aizawa ignored that completely.
Instead, his gaze drifted toward the darkness beyond the crime scene. 'A quirk that works off blood, and he's far from the average thug. I hate my job sometimes...'
__________________________________________________________________________
[Auther: One of two for today...see ya.]
[1] "I genuinely wondered how till I realized Tsuyu's tongue is longer than an adult man...stop, stop the LEWD THOUGHTS!!!"