Now, you may be wondering exactly what was going on up at the school after Masami's little trip to the teachers lounge. 

Well, the first thing that happened was the school being put under lockdown. Confusion ran rampant throughout the students as some of the teachers went to head towards the USJ while others stayed behind to look after everyone in the main building. So far, nobody but All Might, who had already left for the USJ, and Nezu, who was assembling a group of multiple teachers, knew about Masami's involvement in the situation.

Speaking of, the brown haired girl was currently curled up on one of the couches with a throbbing headache as Nezu handled everything that needed to be done. For some reason, they thought that it would be perfectly fine to leave her all by her lonesome in the lounge. Though, she supposed that the whole villain attack probably distracted them from making sure she at least had some sort of supervision.  

Honestly, she wasn't going to bother herself all that much over it. 

At least the teachers lounge was quiet.

She could still hear the noise coming from all the classrooms, but it was more dulled being in a separate room while also wearing her ear plugs. Every once in a while, though, she'd have to rub her nose in annoyance. The smell was still getting to her. Sure, she could probably get a nose plug, but it would just be too much of an annoyance having to breathe through her mouth until the sensory overload ended. 

"You look like you're having a bit of trouble there."

Masami's head snapped up at the familiar deep voice, her body tensing to get ready for a fight. She paused, though, when she noticed that there was not a single person in sight. 

Oh, god. She was finally starting to go mad, wasn't she?

"There's no need to look so alarmed." Okay, she was pretty sure that definitely sounded real. "I'm not there in person as I'm sure you're already aware." She totally knew that. "I have no plans of risking such a move just yet."

Masami scowled, the expression a bit uncharacteristic as she stared into the seemingly empty space of the lounge.

"Let me guess," she started with a sharp tone, any semblance of patience she had for the day gone. "This is just yet another quirk among a long line of others that you've stolen, isn't it, All for One?"

A chill went up her spine at the ensuing chuckling that came from the man.

"You're just like your mother," Masami's hands clenched in anger at the man's amused words. Somehow, their conversations always included him taunting her in some form or another. "Smart enough to see the whole picture and yet too foolish with your binding morals and sense of heroism. It really is a pity that neither of you could be convinced to join me."

Masami stared resolutely into the room. 

"I would never join such a cowardly and cruel person." She told him, the sharp tone never leaving her voice. "Especially one responsible for ruining so many lives."

Her own included. 

"Cruelty and cowardice are nothing but a matter of semantics," All for One argued lightly. "Though, one could argue your cowardice just as easily."

Masami snorted. "I'm not the one hiding behind the powers of my quirk."

Even though she said this with confidence, she knew that she couldn't entirely refute All for One's words. She was a coward. She knew that all too well. Lord knows how many times that has been proven to her time and time again, but you know what they say. 

Fake it till you make it. 

"But you are hiding," the villain countered, causing Masami to tense even further. "And believe me, I am truly anticipating the day you finally decide to stop."

Masami couldn't help but be irritated at how amused he had sounded throughout the entire conversation. Here she was worrying about what was going to happen, and then there was him treating everything as nothing but a game. 

"What do you want?" She finally decided to just get straight to the point. 

"I want you to realize how truly powerless both you and your precious heroes really are," He stated loftily. "Tomura may not succeed in killing All Might today, but he has managed to make a statement, one that will plant seeds of doubt in the mind of the populace. How can they trust their heroes when their heroes can't even prevent their own territory from being invaded?"

Masami was silent. 

In some ways he was right. Heroes were the type of people that are judged off both their successes and their failures. However, their failures are what always seem to make the biggest statement. One loss can overrun hundreds of wins in a matter of seconds. 

However...

"It would seem that you and I have a very different definition of powerless."

"Oh?" He seemed genuinely curious about what she had to say. 

"It's not a matter of whether somebody is powerful or powerless," Masami took a deep breath as she continued. "It's what they're able to do despite it. Strength and power comes in all different forms. It all depends on how we're willing to look at it."

There was a pause of silence in the room before a disappointed sigh resounded.

"How unfortunate," All for One commented. "Being such an idealist will get you nowhere."

At that, Masami actually smirked for the first time since the conversation began. 

"And yet I'm still here," she mused. "This world has thrown me through hell and back. You have thrown me through hell and back, but I am still here, still alive and still fighting against the cruelties this world has to offer. I have learned and seen so much over the years. I have met so many people, both friends and enemies, and I have come out of those experiences knowing so much more. All of my experiences thus far have shaped who I am today. So tell me All for One, can you really say that I've gotten nowhere with my so-called worthless idealism?"

"..." His hesitation honestly probably just made her day. 

"I suppose we'll have to see."

*****

"Wow, Eraser Head!" Shirokage exclaimed as she jumped into the fray of villains, knocking out a few with a single kick. "Fancy seeing you here!"

The man glanced over at the voice after knocking down yet another villain, took one look at the girl, and he let out an annoyed groan.

"Not you." He complained. 

It was safe to say that he was not pleased by her appearance.

Even with the mask, it was easy to tell that Shirokage was offended. She placed a hand over her heart after smashing two villains heads into each other. "You wound me with such cruel words!" She exclaimed dramatically. "And here I actually came to help you!"

"Does it look like I need your help?"

"Um," Shirokage paused, looked at him, looked at the surrounding area filled with villains, and looked at him again. Sure, Aizawa was a bit of a badass, but even she knew that he wasn't that much of a badass. "Kind of, yeah."

Aizawa sent a quick glare.

He hated to admit it, but he did need help. He had just been hoping that that help wouldn't have come in the form of some vigilante that never took anything seriously.

Aizawa sighed. "Just don't get in the way."

"Aye, aye, captain!" She gave him a mock salute as she knocked out another villain with a roundhouse kick.

Without another word, the two continued taking out villain after villain. 

Surprisingly enough, the two seemed to work together in almost perfect tandem. Considering that the two were normally fighting against each other, it certainly wasn't expected. 

Grunt after grunt was going down with ease. However, it was starting to become a bit clearer to any observers, the Eraser Head was beginning to tire out. He was starting to slow down a bit, and the amount of time he could use his quirk was growing shorter and shorter. Shirokage seemed to be more than making up for any tiredness he might be showing, though. With how low-level the villains were, she didn't even have to use her fire.

Her only concern lay in the Thanos wannabe and the hulking beak brain of doom that she was currently searching for between punches and kicks. Out of all the villains there, those two, along with Kurogiri, were the biggest threat to them. 

Fortunately, it didn't take her that long to find them. Unfortunately, Mister Hands-a-lot was currently making his way towards Aizawa.

Taking out another grunt, she began heading in the same direction with gritted teeth. Even from that distance, with all the chaos around them, she was able to make out the sound of Shigaraki counting down as the hero and villain ran at each other.

"The final boss, huh?" Aizawa muttered.

Eraser Head got the first strike in as he tried to elbow the man child in the chest only for it to be caught. And, unfortunately, Eraser Head's quirk ran out at the same time.

"It's hard to see because you keep moving around," Shigaraki murmured low enough to where only Eraser Head and Shirokage could hear him. "But there's an instant when your hair falls. That's when you've finished an action. And the space in between has gotten shorter and shorter. Don't push yourself, Eraser Head."

Shirokage kicked up her speed so that she reached the two in a matter of seconds. 

"Shirokage..." She started as she jumped up in the air. "Kiiiick!"

Both of her feet planted into Shigaraki's side as she fell causing him to finally let go. At the very same moment, other villains came running, trying to attack now that the hero had been injured, effectively surrounding him.

"Shirokage..." Shigaraki muttered as he began to scratch at his neck. "I never expected such an annoying fly to show up. No matter, Eraser Head's quirk isn't suited for fighting long fights against a large group is it? Isn't this too different from both of your guys' usual jobs? You both excel in short fights after a surprise attack, right?"

"Oh, um, actually, I'm pretty good in any type of fight," Shirokage raised her hand a bit awkwardly as if she were in class. "I just never really fight other than at night when the darkness gives me cover. I mean, as a shadow, it's natural to blend in. Get it? I'm a shadow because my name has 'kage' in it." She paused upon noticing the looks of irritation the two gave her. "Oh, wait! I forgot, you guys don't like puns! How unfortunate~!"

The villain and hero pair actually stopped fighting to give her incredulous stare after she gave a disappointed sigh. 

"Did I say something wrong?" The vigilante tilted her head innocently, trying to take out the villains that had surrounded Aizawa as quickly as possible. 

Honestly, he should know better than to stop in the middle of a fight like that. 

"You..." Shigaraki's eye was twitching, his irritation beginning to get the better of him as he scratched furiously at his neck. "You're just as bad as Hideyoshi!"

Aizawa jolted at the familiar name. 

"Ah, I take it you're speaking of Hideyoshi Masami?" Shirokage nodded wisely along to her words as though she already knew the answer. "Strange girl she is. Doesn't seem to be that big a fan of me. Decent puns, though. Not as good as mine, of course, but you have to appreciate her creativity." She raised a brow at Shigaraki. "So what'd she do to you exactly?"

The irritation on Shigaraki's face only grew as he remembered all the puns and conversations he had been forced to endure whenever he had attacked the brown haired teenager.

"The brat threw a lamp at me telling me to lighten up! And that's not even the worst of it!" 

Silence. Complete and utter silence before a small laughter began to ring out.

"Only she would have the balls to sass a villain like that!" Shirokage snorted. "Good on her!"

Shigaraki growled in irritation. If it was up to him, he would have killed both Hideyoshi and Shirokage ages ago.

It was too bad that All for One wanted them alive. 

Eraser Head looked between the two, conflicted in his thoughts as he dodged another attack from one of the underlings. He quickly wrapped him up in his bandages before knocking out the other ones. He was already aware that Masami hated Shirokage and that the villains seemed to have it out for her, but for her to be so involved that she can be mentioned so offhandedly in the middle of a fight…

He had a feeling that they were missing quite a bit in regards to the mystery known as Hideyoshi Masami.

*****

2170 words excluding A/N's

Finished - September 22, 2021

Bye~