"So what do we know about Imoku Kakurete?" Aizawa asked.

It was just the four of them today.

Sir Nighteye, Mirio, Yagi and himself. Midnight would never be with them again and it was better for everyone if Bakugou stayed away. His actions were being scrutinised and no one was sure if the Police would issue a warrant for his arrest. They should. They really should. He had killed Mustard and most likely let Midnight die but no one was entirely sure what had gone down. From the cause of death for Midnight and the damage to the street they knew Dabi had been there, but there were only so many working theories about what had happened, and Katsuki was laying low. They were still curious to know how he had tracked Mustard. That wasn't important now.

"He definitely has ties to the League," Sir Nighteye said.

"But you can't prove it," Aizawa added.

The former pro hero didn't look pleased.

"I can't prove it either, which is why I accepted Katsuki's theory about Imoku being Izuku."

"Are we sure about that?" Sir Nighteye asked. Beyond looks there was very little to connect the two. Imoku had perfect records. He had school records, all the way back to pre-school and he had an online footprint. When someone created a false identity they usually weren't that thorough. They did the official paperwork, and some rough attempts of online accounts but nothing with that much depth.

"No," Aizawa admitted. He was thinking about Imoku's reaction at Inko Midoriya's death. The Representative had been shocked, had been saddened but it was not the reaction of a son losing a mother. Though he could be one to just keep his emotions to himself. Or All For One might have removed his memory, or emotions... there were a lot of possibilities.

"It's possible," Toshinori said softly.

"You indicated All For One could have done it," Sir Nighteye said, remembering their previous conversation about this.

"More than that," the former Number One Hero said. "Something Imoku said once," he murmured.

Aizawa frowned. He wasn't aware that Yagi had met with Imoku, except for that one time, with him. "When we saw him?" he asked carefully, fishing to see if that was the time. He couldn't remember anything incriminating, which had been incredibly frustrating at the time.

Yagi nodded. "It's not so much what he said, but the way he said it. Do you remember, Aizawa, we asked Kakurete if he had ever thought about being a hero?"

The underground hero, reintegrated as a private investigator nodded.

Toshinori shuddered, and then braced himself. "He gave me a look when he answered. I didn't think anything of it at the time. But his answer was something I told Izuku."

Shouta groaned. He remembered what Imoku had said. "You are the hero who taught him a lesson?" He demanded.

"If Imoku is Izuku, then probably."

"What did you tell him?" Mirio asked.

"Izuku was quirkless. He asked me if it was possible to be a hero without a quirk," Yagi admitted. "I told him that without a suitable quirk, it would be too dangerous." The former Number One hero hung his head.

"That is logical," Sir Nighteye said.

Aizawa groaned again. "You really don't know what it's like to be quirkless, do you?" he asked, ignoring the irony of his question.

Toshinori winced at the question.

"What?" Sir Nighteye demanded.

"You really don't know what it's like to be quirkless," Aizawa said again.

"How dare you!?" The former hero snarled. Mirio didn't know where to look.

"You are quirkless," Aizawa agreed with the unspoken statement, "but everyone knows you had a quirk. Everyone knows who you are, thus you don't really know."

"And you do?"

"No." Shouta wasn't stupid. He could imagine but he'd never know. Quirkless rights had gotten better recently but he knew they hadn't been good. Kakurete was one of the driving forces behind the improvement. Another piece of circumstantial evidence tying Kakurete to Midoriya. "Have you ever researched, Izuku Midoriya?" He asked.

He had. After Katsuki told him who Imoku was, he had of course researched Izuku, though Bakugou's story had given Aizawa a fair understanding of what the quirkless lad had gone through.

"Of course not," Sir Nighteye relied.

"Maybe you should," Shouta said. "Izuku was quirkless. He was bullied and belittled, yet all he wanted to do was help people," the former underground hero told his companion. "He wanted to be a hero. Not number one, just a hero, yet everyone told him no, he couldn't, not without a quirk. Now imagine what would happen if the Number One Hero told him the same thing?"

It was perhaps merciless to lay it out like that but there was no other way of saying it. Yagi looked stricken but even with the expression, Aizawa knew he'd thought about this before.

Sir Nighteye's lips pressed into a tight line. He was thinking about it and not liking the conclusions he was drawing.

"I left Izuku on a roof," Toshinori said. "There is no record of him ever leaving that roof," he added.

"So," Mirio said slowly. "You think All For One spoke to him there? Kurogiri could have gotten them off the roof easily," he added.

"If Imoku is Izuku, then that is possible."

"How did he know to approach Izuku?" Sir Nighteye asked.

There was no answer to that.

"Could he have been in contact with Izuku previously?" Mirio asked. "Then Izuku contacted him on the roof."

"Izuku's phone wasn't used," Aizawa pointed out, but he acknowledged the boy could have been carrying another phone.

"Are we sure of that?" Toshinori asked. "Imoku encouraged investigations into Izuku's disappearance. He wouldn't have done that if he knew he was going to be exposed. Could he have corrupted the evidence?"

Sir Nighteye jerked back. Yagi's question was obvious and they, he hadn't considered it. Why would Representative Kakurete back investigations into his own disappearance if there was any risk of exposure?

"I think we have to conclude that even if there is evidence at the point of Izuku's disappearance, it has been corrupted," the retired hero said. "Especially since we have the person acknowledged to have last seen Izuku."

"Possibly, though your original question has merit," Yagi said. "Why did, or how did, All For One know to speak to Izuku?"

"So you think Izuku is Imoku?"

"I like that possibility better than one of the other options," Toshinori seemed tired. Of everyone here, he was the most cognizant of the evil All For One represented. He knew the depths the man would sink to, the lines he would not even know he was crossing because for him, they never existed.

"Such as?" Mirio asked.

"That all of this is simply a ploy to waste our time and resources. That Izuku Midoriya was killed on that roof, and Imoku Kakurete was merely adjusted to have a resemblance."

"That's a bit far fetched, isn't it?" Aizawa demanded. Why would anyone adjust someone to look like an aged up 14 year old... The theory that Imoku was Izuku was far more likely but if they wanted to get creative, then he could get creative!

Both Yagi and Sir Nighteye gave him a look. Neither of them thought it was beyond the realm of possibility.

"If you are going to be that paranoid, are you sure he's dead?" the former underground hero snapped.

"I'm sure he's dead," Toshinori said. He'd used up quite a few favours to have the corpse checked. All For One was dead. One For All had succeeded, and not through combat.

"You're sure? When Imoku visited Tartarus a few weeks before he died, and the last word he said was 'Izuku'?"

"What?" Mirio demanded.

Sir Nighteye's eyes narrowed as he examined Aizawa and then he broke out in a sweat. "You mean it, don't you? About his last word?" He barely whispered the question.

Yagi was gripping the arms of his chair so strongly his bones creaked.

"I do," Aizawa confirmed. "Bakugou told me but I confirmed it. The guards inform anyone who asks that his last word was Izuku."

"What are you suggesting?" Toshinori asked softly, fighting the nausea that was threatening to make him lose the little food he managed to keep down.

"You are the ones who told me All For One experimented with immortality. His body wasn't in good condition, so let's say he found another way, a way of preserving his mind, and Imoku is his host."

"That's not possible!" Mirio objected.

No one shushed him. They didn't know if it was possible or not.

"You mean to tell me, we might be facing him? That Imoku is him."

"I'm not saying that," Aizawa said, waving one hand. "I'm saying if you want to get creative with theories, then you might as well get creative."

"So what do you believe?" Mirio asked before his mentors could snap.

"I think Imoku is Izuku. I think All For One is dead. Imoku visited Tartarus but never went near him. Those records are public and there was no change in personality after his death indicating a new controlling mind," Shouta explained.

To the inexperienced, Sir Nighteye's expression didn't change but Aizawa could see that he relaxed slightly. He really had been taking his suggestion seriously.

"But as I told Bakugou when he informed me of the relationship between Imoku and Izuku, it doesn't matter. We are not here to stop Izuku, we are here to stop Imoku."

"Know your enemy," Yagi said. "While I agree we are after Imoku, if we know Izuku then we may be able to predict what he wants."

"So what does he want?" Mirio asked. "The League already has their goal. They wanted heroes gone and there are no longer heroes."

That brought silence to the table. "Izuku said he wanted to be a hero," Toshinori said finally. He had thought about the way the boy looked more than once. There had been something haunting about his eyes, and the way his mother keep up hope... Until now, when she was gone.

"Yes, and if we assume he joined the League then he'd want to destroy heroes, and to a large extent he has."

"Then now, he's simply trying to maintain the status," Aizawa said with a shrug before he nodded towards Mirio. "He represents the push to reinstate Heroes but Imoku is keeping that movement contained and controlled." It was almost admirable the way the politician was controlling events. It was skillful but it wasn't in the public's best interest.

"That means he's also controlling the League," Sir Nighteye said. "Maybe that's what we need to focus on, getting the League to be more active so that the movement can't be contained," he suggested.

"What?" Yagi demanded.

The quirkless former hero grimaced. "Not like that," he defended his position. "What I mean is we need to figure out why they aren't active."

"They are active," Aizawa pointed out. They had ample evidence of that.

"Not active in the public eye. And perhaps that's a way of getting the message out there."

"How?" Toshinori asked.

"Imoku based many of his speeches on the effects of language. How using the word villain made crimes all the more bad. It's not true of course. Crime rates haven't really changed. Insurance rate have but crime rates haven't. So we use that. Mirio uses that, he points out those stats that I'm sure Imoku would rather not be highlighted."

"Except no one is listening," Aizawa said pessimistically.

Mirio was embarrassed but didn't try to deny it.

"Then we support him," Sir Nighteye said, looking at Yagi.

The former Number One hero sighed, before he nodded. "Imoku knows what we are doing, so there is no point in hiding. I'll see who else will endorse you," he added.

Mirio nodded but he was frowning. "Why can't we just prove that Imoku is Izuku. It wouldn't be that hard."

Shouta raised one eyebrow and was thankful that Mirio blushed. He knew what that expression meant. "How?" He asked with deceptive gentleness.

"DNA testing?"

"And I could get the sample in a day or so," Aizawa admitted. "We could then have it tested against Izuku's birth blood sample, and then we'd all go to jail."

"What?" Mirio demanded.

Sir Nighteye nodded, backing up Aizawa's assessment. "Wrongful theft of biological material," he explained. "Unauthorised access to pediatric records, libel and slander."

Mirio paled. Before Quirks appeared, those tactics might have worked but protection of DNA was one of the changes that had been very strongly supported after Quirks came into existence. It was part of a futile effort to stop experimentation on humans. The experimentation was mostly dealt with in other ways, but the laws remained.

"And depending on how he wanted to play it, he'd publically have another test, which would come up false, or he'd have it come up true, and then play the victim," Aizawa summarised what he'd told Katsuki.

Mirio nodded and in that action he withdrew his suggestion. At least he didn't even suggest that Imoku might admit to being Izuku somehow.

"We have a lot of circumstantial evidence," Yagi said. "Should we just release that?"

"To what goal?" Sir Nighteye asked.

"Disruption," Toshinori admitted. They had their whole goal but they didn't yet have the means to achieve it. "While he is distracted dealing with the rumours he isn't stopping us."

"He's not doing much to stop us at the moment, and hoping that rumours keep him from controlling the League is not going to work," Sir Nighteye said. There had been times over the years when Imoku had been deep in political maneuvering. He couldn't have been controlling the League then. That's what Dabi was for... "Why don't we see if we can get Dabi arrested?" he suggested.

"It's probably not possible," Aizawa said softly. "You heard what happened with Midnight?" He asked.

Sir Nighteye nodded.

"Dabi's knows Katsuki is hunting the League, and he's probably buried himself in whatever hole he's been in for the last ten years."

"He can't be that well hidden!" Mirio objected.

Shouta looked at the young man. Dabi could be that well hidden. He, and the rest of the League had been avoiding Bakugou for a long time. They had practice at remaining hidden. "The only reason we are finding them now is luck, persistence and some very long term undercover work. Katsuki is doggedly determined," Aizawa summarised. He wouldn't tell them everything but they had to appreciate the amount of work going into this. He'd been working on his wall for years as well. Every piece of evidence there was meticulously collected. The enemy was smart. Those were the most dangerous kind.

"Katsuki is actually the closer to Dabi than all of us," Shouta sighed.

"How?" Sir Nighteye asked.

"The fighting rings," Aizawa reminded them. "He's got a title fight soon."

Yagi nodded. "Keep us informed," he said before looking at Mirio. "For the moment, it's probably best if you ignore Kakurete," he continued. "I'll get a group together to endorse you, which should raise your profile. I think, we are focused on the wrong thing here," he added with a heavy sigh.

"What do you mean?" Mirio asked.

"We are trying to work out a way of discrediting Kakurete. We probably can't. Even if we do find something, the polls have him very much ahead in his electorate, and it's too late for a new comer to nominate. So, we can't turn his electorate against him, which means we need to focus on getting you into Parliament so that you can argue against him there. Then we will have more time. We can discredit him over the period of the next term." All Might tactfully didn't mention that Kakurete would have the same time to discredit them, and that even once they did get Mirio into the House of Representatives, Kakurete had the history and contacts there. Change was going to be hard, but nothing worthwhile was easy.

They had to persist.

It was eerily reminiscent of the time he was chasing All For One. The man was diabolical and it always seemed as if the villain had the upper hand. Even when they were fighting he maintained an air of superiority... even in Tartarus. Yagi grimaced at the memory.

The gesture did not go unnoticed.

"What is it?" Sir Nighteye asked.

"I only ever visited All For One a few times in Tartarus. The man was cut off from everything. News, science, information, entertainment but I guess the guards told him enough."

Sir Nighteye and Aizawa nodded. They knew what Tartarus was like and they knew the conditions All For One had been kept in. He was constantly monitored and constrained. He could barely move for himself. It was a hell that had driven many of the prisoners mad. By all reports, All For One was not one of them.

"He was always smug, and pleased but there was one time when he-" Toshinori paused, remembering his nemesis. With the memory of meeting Imoku in his office, and what the politician had said, All For One's words took a new meaning. The connection was there, he was sure of it.

Even missing half his head, even in Tartarus, the man had given off a dangerous air. The guards all commented and were frequently changed. They did not want any of them influenced. All For One was confident. Captured and imprisoned in a state of the art prison, one of the best in the world, because on keeping dangerous quirk criminals secure, the governments of the world cooperated, yet he was still confident.

But that one time, he had been different. Yagi hadn't been able to spot it at first, it was only on consideration had he recognised the differences. All For One had been almost jubilant.

Yagi sighed. "Right as I was leaving, he turned to me," he explained. "And he said 'thank you'."

The others didn't think anything of it. Toshinori shook his head. "All For One is not a man who thanks anyone," he clarified. "He meant it that time."

"What was he thanking you for?" Aizawa asked.

"I asked, but he shook his head and just repeated it. He said, Thank you for giving me everything. I thought he meant Tomura. He had spoken about him before. But what if he meant Izuku?"

It was a sobering thought because while the League had been causing trouble, were still causing trouble, they alone couldn't have changed the laws. Imoku had done that. Granted, he hadn't been alone, he was an Independent, and had to get the government to approve the changes, but he had been the one to propose them, and now he was the one who was maintaining the new status quo.

"You think he did?" Mirio asked.

"I do," Yagi admitted, biting his lip. "And that makes it all my fault," he added, feeling a stab run through him that had nothing to do with physical pain.

All this time, he had been happy that All For One was gone but... the man had anticipated that already. Given that heroes were no more, who had really won?

The battle, Toshinori reminded himself. The battle, not the war. All For One wouldn't win the war. He was still here. One For All was still here. They still had a chance to win the war.

"I've spoken about fault with Mirio," Sir Nighteye said in a long suffering tone. "Did you know that All For One was watching Izuku? Or yourself?"

"No."

"Then it cannot be your fault. You didn't know what would happen, if the rooftop is the place where things happened. You couldn't have known. Imoku has made his choices, and those are not your fault."

"I could have told him something different. How hypocritical was I? I should have known how bad being quirkless was! I did know!"