"The worst sight in the world...

is seeing your mother cry."

-Unknown

"...That's the gist of it. Our little 'alliance' will convince all of the villains who chose to stay on the fence before. Stain can try to say that he never agreed with our cause, but at that point, it will be too late. Kurogiri, make sure to leak a bit of the footage, but not all of it. Just enough to show that he was here. Shigaraki, you remember the people I've pointed out before, yes? Wait for Kurogiri to give you the okay, then meet with them as the League of Villain's official leader. Don't be too impatient; it will take time for the news to spread. As for myself..."

He picked up some sunglasses while forcing his unruly curls into a beanie.

"There's something I have to check. I'll see the two of you later. Call me if we get any takers."

'...I need to figure out exactly what his motives are. Although it's unlikely that he would lie, considering the situation, it never hurts to be too careful. There's also the fact that All for One told Kurogiri to bring him to the hideout. Surely he knows what Shigaraki is like. If the Hero Killer hadn't demonstrated such an irregular response compared to the actions he has undertaken until now, he would be dead.'

He stalked down the streets, walking as fast as it was socially acceptable to do in a crowded space. He had to get to Hosu City as fast as he could and find the Hero Killer. As long as he pinned down some of the more... dubious villains, the Hero Killer was sure to follow just like a mouse to a piece of cheese. It wouldn't mean anything if he was unable to lay down a trap before the mouse secured the cheese, however.

In his haste, he stumbled upon a scene crafted and forged from the deepest pits of his nightmares. Except, it was real. He couldn't wake up.

"Please officer! There's no way that my son would... would commit suicide! He must be so lost and alone right now, and you, and you-! You all are just giving up! How can you give up on a lost little boy and call yourself police officers?!" The woman broke down crying. "Please, I beg of you... Please don't close the case. If you... If you do that, he will never come home! And, and I-"

"Madam, just because we will be stopping any active efforts to find your son, does not mean we will stop searching entirely. We have already extended the search timeline by a lot because of your requests. But... there are no more leads. The first 72 hours are critical and after that-"

He couldn't pay attention to the conversation, no the desperate pleading and begging taking place. He couldn't focus on anything but the fact that she looked... miserable. And so, so heartbreakingly older. She was a shell of her former self with deep, dark circles under her eyes, puffed up with one too many tears shed. She had lost a great deal of weight, something that was accentuated by the floppy clothing that seemed to cling to her form. He... He remembered that shirt. He went shopping with her once and suggested it thinking that it would go good with her hair, and-...

I-It was never that loose..!

A trembling line of saltwater fell down, falling to the Earth under the ministrations of gravity. Somehow, the fact that her shirt no longer fit hit him the hardest. The beanie slid down a tad bit, drooping over his eyes like a shield from the world itself. Under its silent protection, drop after drop fell down to the ground, uncontrollably. His body started to shake, just a little, from the repressed and welled-up emotions.

(It was the first time he'd cried in a very long time.)

In a hoarse whisper, he spoke aloud,

"...I'm sorry, mom. I'm... really really sorry. I-... I never meant to make you like this. I just... I didn't think that-!"

Inko Midoriya looked on determinedly at the police officer, steadfast in her pleas and not budging an inch, despite what the officer was telling her. She knew that, truthfully, the police couldn't spend all of their manpower and time on a boy that hadn't been seen in months, but... That boy was her child! No matter what, she could never... She couldn't abandon him! She wasn't there in his time of need, nor was she a good pillar of support the one time that he needed her! She... She couldn't fail him again.

She had let herself get distracted with bills, and rent, and the mortgage when she should have been focused on Izuku. The signs were there: the bruises, the way he no longer smiled, how thin he had gotten... The note she received. But, his body wasn't there. As long as it wasn't found, she would never give up on finding him. She couldn't. And if she couldn't, then the police couldn't damn well give up either!

"Let me talk to your superior. Surely they won't dismiss the lack of a body, and just proclaim it suicide after you hear that my son is quirkless! By law, he's a missing person, but you didn't try to find my son! You-, You just went through the motions! Don't you dare... Don't you dare deny me even going through the motions now! D-Don't you dare..."

She gripped tightly, dangled even, from the cuff of the police officer's uniform, as tears ran down Inko's face unabashedly, the thin woman no longer even bothering to hide them. The scene was starting to gain attention from wandering pedestrians, and the police officer had an ugly look on his face. Finally, the officer couldn't take it anymore and almost fled inside the police station to find his superior.

A second later, a gaunt, sickly-looking man popped out of the entrance with pink, ashe-like hair. What stopped people from dismissing the man even with his pink tresses, were his eyes. They were dark green, verging on black. They seemed to have neither disdain nor groundless compassion, only justice. Wherever he went, he carried with him an aura of command and authority. His name was Yuganda Itoku. As for the other police officer... Well, he was average for this country. Black hair, black eyes, and a disturbingly natural prejudice for the quirkless.

"I have been informed of the situation. While it is not possible for the police to continue to invest so much manpower-"

"But!"

"-You have my word that I will continue to personally search for this boy myself. I am carrying out patrols, regardless. It would not be very hard to look for a boy on the side. I am sorry that we cannot do any better than this, but it is the only thing I can do for you."

Her fingernails dug into her palms.

"You... You really can't just extend it just a little more?"

"I'm afraid not. Without any leads or clues, we can't justify investing that much manpower in one case, you see. It's part of the code."

With slightly trembling fingers, she reached down into her purse, dragging out a heavily worn and clearly cherished photo of a boy smiling like the sun itself. Her trembling increased ten-fold as she put the photo into Itoku's open palm, almost caressing it before letting go.

"Please... Please find my little boy."

'I'm sorry, Izuku. I'm so, so sorry. I'm a failure of a mother.'

Silently, in the background, Izuku's eyes dried themselves of the tears that had been plaguing him. He was tempted, incredibly so, to just go over there and tell her that he was alive and that she didn't have to torture herself anymore. It wasn't because of the farce excuse of revenge either. He had made many enemies over the past half-year, and if they knew she was his mother... It wasn't impossible for revenge-...

No, that was an excuse too. He was just scared, plain and simple.

He was scared that she wouldn't want him anymore after she realized what he had done. The dread paralyzed his limbs, locking him in place, unable to speak a word past the fear that glued his lips in place. He knew that he couldn't make a judgment until she actually knew, but... The sheer possibility of such a thing terrified him more than anything else. If she rejected him, then...

He would break.

"Deku, we have two new potential recruits. Giran himself recommended them. As you said, they're interested in joining because of Stain. They seem fairly strong as well," He paused for a moment, before continuing. "I apologize for the interruption. In any case, do you think you will be able to return? Shigaraki doesn't seem to like them very much."

"I'll be there in a moment. It shouldn't take long."

"...Are you okay? Your voice sounds hoarse-"

"I'm fine. These things just need to be fixed. Last time there was static noise as well."

"...I'll see to it that they are replaced."

The mini-communication device ended the call with a beep, and Deku slowly leaning against the wall, not quite ready to venture back to the hideout. Not when his mother was just a few meters away from him. Kurogiri would just have to deal with the situation until then-!

He channeled lightning into his legs, escaping without a second thought as he felt a malicious gaze filled with such intent to murder, maim, and torture that it sent a chill down his back. Fighting such an opponent, especially one that came out of nowhere, just wasn't worth it. He felt awful to just leave his mother at the scene, but he couldn't stay there. His instincts were screaming at him to just get out of there.

"Is there a problem, Mr..?"

The pink-haired man cleared his throat, repressing the murderous intentions deep in his heart.

"Itoku. Yuganda Itoku. I never did tell you why I was doing the patrols, did I? Someone of my station would never need to do such things usually. It's precisely because it's only something possible if I did it, that I'm currently doing this. I need to find someone."

A trace of malice lit up his eyes, the color turning pitch black in the shadow of the cloud-covered sun.

"And repay everything they've done."