Bakugou felt sick. Not that it wasn't his usual feeling when he saw Kakurete, but this time it was worse.

Izuku was dressed in black and was giving a speech. It was a funeral speech and it was being televised. "We cannot let violence dictate our lives," he was saying.

Katsuki clenched his teeth. He was willing to bet both hands that Izuku was the source of the violence. The Police had found a ruined graveyard, two bodies and blood and not all of it belonged to the bodies.

The perpetrator wasn't there and there was no CCTV footage of anything.

Bakugou snarled at the screen. He knew what had happened. He'd told Kirishima but the Special Forces Officer had simply shaken his head. He hadn't even questioned Kakurete. He wasn't there, is what Kirishima told him.

That might have been true. But Izuku sure as hell knew what went down. He'd ordered it. Of that, Katsuki was positive. And now... Their last hope of legitimately defeating fucking Deku was gone.

"We must continue to be vigilant. We must continue to let the law deal with the issues we discover in life."

Oh he did not say that! Katsuki snarled at the TV.

Fucking Deku had not just implied that Toogata was out being a vigilante when he was killed! Except, Bakugou knew what he'd heard, and he knew what others would hear... Without a perp, the press were going to have a field day. They would run so many stupid stories... Katsuki knew they would because that fucking Deku would tell them to!

It didn't matter what Toogata had been there for, by the time shitty Deku's press was through with him, he'd be the losing vigilante in a fight against...

"Fuck!" Bakugou swore with some heat.

It could very well be him. Deku's press could spin the story that Toogata had gotten into a fight with him. "Shit, shit, shit!"

That explained Kirishima's look.

When Bakugou had become a vigilante, he had known he couldn't rely on anything except cash. He had a cheap apartment in a bad part of town. His reputation was enough to keep things safe. His reputation and a few well timed beat downs. But he still focused on getting anything at a bargain price. It meant it was easier to replace and he could spend more on items for heroics. Not that he needed much but he had priorities, such as several special soak pads for his sweat... and a few other surprises in the event he had to get serious.

However it did mean he was a loner. He didn't have a fucking alibi for the day that Toogata was killed. Nothing that would hold up anyway.

Kirishima hadn't given him a warning, which meant shitty Deku hadn't started that campaign. That meant he had some time. That was good. He couldn't come up with an alibi but he could do other things.

He shook his head, snorting. He should have known he'd be in this alone. He should have refused to meet with the others when Aizawa had invited him. They hadn't known what they were getting into. They thought that shitty Deku was just another villain. They didn't know he was far more than that. And now, it was down to him.

Bakugou rolled his shoulders. Well, it had always been up to him.

Fucking Deku... Katsuki looked back to the screen. Deku was still speaking. While he didn't know Mirio that well, the fact that he had been a Candidate for the House of Representatives meant at least some of the politicians were there. Shitty Deku, as one of the youngest had been invited to speak. They invited the murderer to speak and Bakugou could tell from hs posture that Deku fucking thought he'd won.

Over his dead body. No, wait! Over Deku's. The fucker had had his own way long enough.

His phone pinged. Bakugou growled, but grabbed it. It was a message.

A slow smile spread over his face. The message was encrypted but he had been waiting for it. He finally had a lead on Dabi. It was time to take the fight to him.

-afp-

"You know, it's been really annoying. Did you have to take him?"

Kasen paused in the hallway. He was aware his boss, Dabi, had another boss, but it was one of those unspoken things. Dabi hardly ever spoke about, or to his boss. So with the question from Dabi, Kasen couldn't help but wonder if the man was here, or if Dabi was on the phone. His eyes scooted over to the door.

Dabi's office overlooked the fighting pit but he was in the corridor on the far side. The door was open a crack or he wouldn't have heard anything. The office had the best sound proofing of the entire building. He nearly peed himself when he saw the outline of another person there.

Shit, shit, shit! Kasen thought to himself, his eyes like saucers. Dabi's mysterious boss was right here. The League's Leader was just there! The ultimate criminal mastermind who ran everything from the deepest fucking shadows... A man no one knew, but everyone respected, because it was rumoured that if you offended him, then you just disappeared. No questions asked. This was the man who ran the underworld with an iron fist.

He didn't know if he should faint or scream or cry. He did know that he was going to listen as much as he could. This was... This was an unexpected opportunity.

The man sighed. Kasen couldn't see anything but his outline. The door wasn't open enough for much more than that and he was thankful he could see that much. It was like he was in the presence of God.

"High End has been on my back to have another good fight," Dabi clarified his complaint to the boss. They were obviously discussing the League's affairs.

Kasen almost shuddered at the mention of that monster. It was huge, stupidly strong and obsessed with fighting. Of course, it did great in the fighting ring but Kasen wasn't sure it could be called human. And he didn't like the way it looked down on them all as if it would as soon as kill them as simply let them be in the same room.

"You said you had someone coming through the ranks?"

"Yeah, he won the Osaka round the other day," Dabi said.

The villain was proud that he could follow the conversation. He knew who the boss was referring to. Dabi ran fighting rings all over the country. They were all heats to get into the main underground fight, where the fighters eventually faced off against High End. The fact that the monster hadn't been defeated in years just made it the goal of all the wannabes. There was always more morons who had more balls than brains willing to fight and die. Most of them died against High End. That's what underground rings were about.

"Is he any good? I mean really good?"

"Maybe?" Anyone who went up against High End had to be really good or they wouldn't survive. Most didn't anyway.

"Accelerate the ranks then?" The boss suggested.

"I'll think about it," Dabi said. "He should be coming here later today," the Acting Leader shrugged. "I'll decide then."

It was an interesting dynamic. Kasen hadn't expected to hear that Dabi could say no to a suggestion. He always thought the boss was absolute.

"It's up to you. You are in charge of the fighting rings," the boss said.

It couldn't be that simple, could it? Would the mysterious Head of the Underworld really just let Dabi do what he wanted because he'd been put in charge of that aspect? That was...

That was the level of trust that existed between Dabi and his boss, Kasen realised. Dabi was the acting head. The public head of the Underworld, so of course the real boss trusted him.

"How are you going with ExplodoKill?" the boss asked.

Dabi huffed. It was audible from where Kasen was standing, looking at the outline of the boss. "With Mustard and Ujiko gone and Twice captured, I'm going to have problems with what you want."

"I can't get Twice out," the unknown man said.

Kasen remembered that Twice was in Tartarus. It made sense that there were limits, even for his ultimate boss.

"I still want to kill him," Dabi assured the man.

"Oh, I don't doubt that."

Dabi sighed again.

"What is it?" The boss asked. He sounded genuinely concerned.

"I know you said we could go wild against him," Kasen heard Dabi begin to explain. "But I don't think many of us want to come out again."

"Ah."

Kasen didn't know how he knew it, but he could just see the understanding look on the bosses face. It was in the depth of that single syllable.

"You aren't surprised!" Dabi accused

"I had accounted for it. You've had ten years of peace, and profit," the boss said with a chuckle. "Why risk that on a vigilante? Especially when it's just going to bring unwanted attention."

"That makes us sound selfish," Dabi objected.

The boss laughed again. "Villains are selfish!" he told the Acting Leader.

"Yeah, but you ordered us to kill him."

"No. I said if you wanted to run wild, then you had to kill him."

"Except he's been killing us regardless!"

"He never stopped looking for you all," the boss said.

"Fuck," Dabi growled. "We fucking lost Twice, Ujiko and Mustard because of him."

The boss said nothing.

Kasen didn't know what was going on.

"We will get him," the boss said finally. "Eventually. I can make a plan if needed."

"You said you'd judge ours," Dabi said with an odd lilt.

"That was before he got so aggressive."

"He's not going to be a danger to you?" Dabi asked suddenly.

The man was silent for a few moment. "He'll probably take a crack at me," he replied with a theatrical chuckle.

Kasen was reassured just hearing it. The boss was confident.

"It's about all he has left, since I've taken out the rest of the problems."

Dabi snorted a response to that. Kasen wondered exactly who the boss was talking about. There was no question that he was talking about murder. It didn't bother Kasen. That was just an occupational hazard of the industry but whoever the boss had taken out must have been special, simply because they warranted his attention.

Though there was another implication with the response. Someone out there, who wasn't the upper echelons of the League knew who the boss was. Who the hell could learn that? And how? Kasen knew most new League members, as soon as they found out that Dabi wasn't the highest boss, tried to work out who that real boss was but no one ever did.

That someone had... that an enemy had worked it out, Kasen wasn't sure what he thought of that.

"How did he find out about you anyway?" Dabi asked. It was the question Kasen wanted to know as well.

"I told him."

"What?"

That was Kasen's reaction as well!

"We grew up together, Dabi," the boss continued. He didn't sound annoyed. "He was always going to know I am me."

"You know that isn't possible!"

"Oh, it's possible," the boss laughed. "You just haven't worked out how yet."

"You can't be younger than me!"

"Why not?"

"Imoku! You are forty-eight and a Member of the House of Representatives, you are not the same age as my younger brother."

Kasen froze at sentence. If he thought his eyes had been wide earlier, they were stretched tight now. He knew that name. He'd been around Dabi long enough that he'd learned more about politics than he ever wanted. He knew the name of Imoku Kakurete. Suddenly Dabi's interest in politics made perfect sense... But...

Fuck, fuck fuck! He wasn't meant to hear that name. He wasn't meant to hear any of this. His throat tightened.

Kasen scrambled away from the door. He hit the other side of the corridor, still scrambling.

The noise was his undoing.

"Shit!" That was Dabi. There were quick steps and the door was flung open.

Dabi glared at him. There was murder in the fire villain's eyes. Kasen was reminded that while Dabi was pretty cool to work for, he was still a villain. Behind him another man appeared. Kasen's eyes fixed on him. His eyes were green, to match his hair and he appeared calm.

Then the green eyes dismissed him. This is what it felt like to be an ant. He gulped, trying to moisten a mouth that went dry.

"I think we have larger problems," Imoku murmured, putting one hand on Dabi's shoulder.

Kasen couldn't follow his gaze. Dabi did.

"Fuck," the fire villain said before he threw a gout of flame down the corridor.

It was only because Kasen was already against the wall that it missed him. The fire was blocked by an explosion.

"Fucker!" there was curse and Kasen wrenched his eyes away from Imoku to look down the corridor.

Even with Dabi's display of power, the Representative... The League's Leader seemed calm. Kasen didn't know how, especially when he saw who was here.

ExplodoKill! What was the vigilante doing here, with a wildly pleased grin on his face? Dabi sent another gout of fire towards him before throwing himself backwards and slamming the door to his office.

It wasn't what Kasen expected though the motion made sense. There was only one reason ExplodoKill would be here and they had to protect the boss. The vigilante stormed down the corridor. His eyes were red and burning and he snarled at the door. Kasen was ignored. He didn't know what the thought about that.

"Deku!" ExplodoKill screamed.

They weren't going to hear him. Not in Dabi's office. Kasen wasn't sure what to do. Just a moment before he had been under a death gaze, now he was forgotten.

No, not forgotten. He'd be dealt with later. He felt cold. Fuck! He never wanted that. But Kasen knew, as soon as the vigilante was dealt with, he'd be next. And he had no doubt that the boss had already worked out how to deal with the vigilante.

Unless he dealt with this situation first... Which would prove his loyalty. Which would save his life.

Kasen looked up from where he had fallen against the wall. ExplodoKill's back was to him. The vigilante was screaming at the door. His quirk was making explosions in his hands. Kasen watched as he slammed his hands into the door. Burn marks appeared on it but the structure was solid. It was designed that way.

The vigilante wasn't paying any attention to him. Good. Slowly, Kasen reached around his body. He didn't have a powerful quirk, at least, nothing powerful enough that he wanted to risk attacking ExplodoKill in the back with it. His quirk was one of those ones deemed worthless. So he'd joined the League. There had been those who had only focused on quirks but generally the League focused on results. He'd given them results. Just not with his quirk.

Still, today, his gun felt cold in his hand as he clasped it. He pulled it out of the holster he kept it in. It was in the small of his back. Kasen brought his hand around. He was slightly surprised by how steady it was.

He lined his gun up, aiming for the centre of ExplodoKill's back. He would definitely be rewarded for this. The vigilante was concentrating on the door, sending explosion after explosion at it. Dabi was no fool. His office was reinforced. All it was doing was leaving burn marks on the door and the panels beside it.

Kasen squeezed the trigger.

"Urgh!" An explosion threw his hand off, and then he felt something hit his head. The gun clattered from his hand.

He blinked at the new angle, trying to work out what had happened. He looked up at the vigilante. ExplodoKill was turned towards him now. His red eyes were mad. Kasen realised what must have happened. The vigilante had thrown off his aim and kicked him. All in the one movement. He couldn't even groan and everything hurt with that one kick.

"Actually, that might be useful," the voice belonged to ExplodoKill. The vigilante bent down to pick up his gun. "Thanks fucker!"

The world went dark.

-afp-

Dabi's office might be soundproofed but Izuku could still hear the explosions from Katsuki against the door. Dabi had slammed the door and the locks were holding but it was only a matter of time, and they both knew it.

"I guess he's taking a crack at us both," Imoku said, referencing his earlier conversation with Dabi.

"Call Kurogiri!" Dabi urged. The villain didn't find this funny.

"I'm not completely useless," Imoku defended, creating a shower of sparks. It was a forcible reminder of what he had done to All Might.

"You can do that to him?" Dabi demanded.

"Maybe," Imoku was forced to admit. "There are a lot of sparks in the human body, and it takes me a while to isolate the right ones," he explained. "That's why I had to talk to him."

"Then call Kurogiri!" Dabi countered.

Imoku glanced over at the window. There was floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the fighting ring in Dabi's office. "Can't we call High End?" He made the counter suggestion, wincing as a particularly loud explosion actually rattled the door.

Whatever Dabi had constructed wasn't going to hold against Bakugou when he was this determined.

Dabi cocked his head at that before he grinned. It wasn't a nice grin. "It would solve the problem," he admitted. He moved to the side wall and Imoku watched as he tapped a series on the wood panelling. There was nothing about the wood to say there was anything different, but Dabi then stepped to the side, away from the windows and pushed at one of the panels. It gave away.

"Ingenious," Imoku murmured. Just touching the wall wouldn't open it which meant no one would find the passage without knowing it was already there, or taking down the entire wall.

"Go!" Dabi insisted, gesturing for him to go through.

Izuku wasn't afraid of facing Katsuki, but he would much rather it be on his terms. He crawled into the passageway and was pleased to see that there were several lights in there. They were tiny led lights that gave just enough illumination to see by. He kept crawling.

This suit was being burned when this was over. Izuku grinned to himself. He'd sacrifice a suit any day to have Bakugou brought low.

"Go left," Dabi said from behind him.

Imoku obliged as he continued crawling. The passage wasn't that long but he knew it wouldn't come out close to Dabi's office.

"How many passages do you have?" Imoku asked over his shoulder.

"A few," Dabi admitted. "I had this building set up to my spec," he explained.

They crawled further and there was a thud from behind them.

"I think he's just found the office," Imoku told his underling.

"And we made it to the exit," Dabi replied.

Imoku looked back to see Dabi press against a panel. It gave and Imoku got a vision of some of the seating. It was near the fighting ring. He backed up, and out of the passage, before standing. His initial impression had been right. They were in the seating area of the fighting ring. Imoku looked up. They were also out of the line of sight from Dabi's office.

"Clever," he murmured.

The fire villain grinned at him as he replaced the panel. "This way," he said after it was done, gesturing towards the ring.

It wasn't so much a ring as a flat area. Hanging above it was a cage. The cage could be dropped to provide cage matches on an as needed basis. There was seating all around, except for a few tunnels. Izuku realised those tunnels were there so that fighters could make dramatic entrances.

"Where's High End?" he asked, walking towards the open area.

"High End!" Dabi yelled.

There was an answering roar.

Imoku caught on. "Good fight!" He added his voice.

The answering roar was closer and definitely carried a note of happiness.

"Cheater," Dabi muttered.