"Ugh, curse it..." Momo wiped her tears off. "I guess I'll just shut myself at the school dorms and not stick my nose out. I'll have to cancel my meetings with the editor and... refrain from seeing you."

She looked at Dabi with sadness. She didn't want to part with her friend just because she was hunted by some cruel villains who had tailed her all the way from Georgia.

"Alright, calm down," Dabi said. "I'll think of something. Now, what did you want me to taste?"

He unfolded the menu that Ani had placed on their table some time ago. Momo, uplifted by the pictures of her national dishes she had missed a lot, wiped off her remaining tears and began to relay their details to Dabi:

"So, I think we should take khinkali here - it's a special kind of meat dumpling, a bit bigger than the Japanese ones. I guess I can eat four all by myself, but since you're new to it, let's take seven."

"Wait, how big are they?"

"Well, about this size." she clenched a fist.

"You want to say that you can eat four dumplings of that size all by yourself?"

"Well, I might not look like it, but I eat like a savage." Mameko grinned with pride. "And I have a talent to never get fat."

"That's some appetite... So, that'll be all?"

"Are you serious? This is barely one portion, dude!" Mameko flipped the pages of the menu. "Next, we should take this roast meat with onions."

"Wow... alright. What else?"

"Now you're talking!" Mameko's eyes brightened. "I think we should also take a khachapuri - a pastry filled with cheese. It's our traditional dish, one of the best."

"Alright... That's all, I hope?"

"Yeah, we can order some stuff later." Mameko closed the menu. "We should take Georgian red wine for a drink - it's one of the best! Even better than French wine, if you ask me."

"Wine? Aren't you underage for that?"

"Oh, dude, don't treat me like a wimp! You're talking to a proud Georgian maiden here. In our country, we drink wine ever since childhood!"

"What?" Dabi was astounded, "What kind of people are you?"

"Party-lovers, lazy couch-potatoes, and dancers to our heart's content." Mameko grinned with pride, and called to the counter: "Auntie! We're ready to place an order!"

"Coming!" Ani ran up to them with a small notebook, "So, what will it be?"

"So, seven khinkali for us, a plate of roast meat, a khachapuri - a small one, and two glasses of red wine - that secret one, from grandpa's cellar."

"Wait, how do you know about that?"

"Shota blurted to me about it." Mameko grinned.

"Oh, goodness!" Ani laughed, "You two are so mischievous! Well, since it's your very first visit to Japan, I guess Uncle Gia can make an exception for you."

"Are you seriously okay with her drinking wine?" Dabi couldn't hide his surprise.

"Well, she's been at it ever since she was ten when her father first let her give it a taste." Ani smiled. "She doesn't drink much, either way, so it's fine, I guess. In Georgia, kids tend to start drinking wine at thirteen, sometimes."

"That's crazy..."

Ani received the order, took the menus and went to the kitchen. When she was out of sight, Dabi turned to Mameko:

"By the way, I've thought of something, regarding your situation..."

"Huh?"

Mameko got frightened - she preferred to have forgotten about that hideous matter altogether, and now, Dabi had brought it up again.

"You see, even if you're such a hopeless wimp, you're familiar with villains. I thought if you joined our League, they wouldn't want to hunt you down anymore. We'd take care of that scum Death Bearer and those sloppy Georgian heroes together. If they died in Japan, you wouldn't be put to blame, and they wouldn't be able to persecute you in Georgia anymore."

"What? Join your League? Kill the heroes?!" Mameko grew dreaded, "Sōen, I_"

"It is the only way. Even if you remain in the U.A. at all times, you'll have to come out when your semester is over, to go to the airport. They will know and will be waiting for you there. They won't care how many people die if only they can reach their goal."

"But... But..." Mameko began to shiver again, "Sōen, if I join the League, and remain in the U.A. all at the same time, won't I be tricking them both? Won't I... be a scoundrel just like those Georgian so-called heroes?"

"Aren't you already tricking them?" Dabi's cold turquoise eyes pierced her ones, "You've befriended one of the highest officials of the League of Villains, and are chilling with him in a restaurant."

Mameko shuddered - that severe tone, that cold gaze... He was so scary when serious! Yet, he was right - she had already tricked the U.A. and was indeed chilling with their mortal enemy behind their backs. She had always been among villains, even if she aspired to become a hero. She couldn't shake off that part of herself - she was born a villain, and there was nothing she could do about it. She could only accept herself for who she was, and instead of avoiding villains altogether, she could join their rows but remain a hero at the same time, by finding out the villains' secrets and vanquishing them in the best way possible, later on. She was not authorized to take on the League of Villains - the organization in a foreign country - but this perilous experience, if executed well, would serve her in the future.

"Tell me about your plan."

Dabi grinned once he beheld her blue eyes scintillate with courage. He whispered the details of his plan to her. Mameko nodded as a sign of acceptance.

The dishes and the wine were brought. Dabi took a taste of all three of them and was left quite delighted. He was also astonished at how Mameko guzzled down all the food as if nothing, and even emptied her glass of wine. Her cheeks grew red and she hit Dabi on the shoulder in a brotherly manner:

"Oh, you're such a great guy, Kazu-chan! I love you, man!"

Dabi rolled his eyes:

"There, now you've gone drunk."

"Who ye're calling drunk? I'm perfectly sober!" Mameko pulled a sulking face, "I can take on every damn villain in this district and crush them to bits, just you watch!"

"Alright, I guess I'll take you to the U.A. quarters." Dabi stood. "The way you are, you won't make it there alone."

"Yeah, see me home as a boyfriend should!"

Dabi froze. Beholding her red cheeks and a foolish smile, he only sneered. Mameko grabbed her schoolbag, thanked her family, bade them goodbye, and exited together with him.

Dabi indeed accompanied her home. He was worried that her pursuers might get a hold of her at her current state, so he preferred to see her to the U.A. train station, at least.

While they were on the train, Mameko handed him her manuscript and bragged that she had made it so cool that even her editor was dazzled. As Dabi ran through the lines, he got assured that she was right - the character Blue Flame, particularly, and this latter's younger brother Saikō, reminded him of his own self and his issues. When he finished reading, he handed the manuscript back to her with a smile:

"Nice job, midget."

"Told ya it was awesome!" Mameko grinned, "Admit it, I'm the best!"

"Go home, you're drunk." Dabi chuckled.

He was surprised at his own self - he felt such goosebumps all over his body, in a good sense, as if he was indeed happy... yet he didn't know why exactly. Every time he looked at this little brat, he perceived her to be cute, silly, and lovely, not annoying or irritating like everyone else, even if, just like them, she was too loud. She was so different, so light-hearted, so excited... and this excitement had rubbed off on him too. She had lived through such sad times, endured so much, and was being persecuted and hunted even now, yet, had still found the strength to be happy and optimistic. Truly a weird one, but in a good way.

"You can't be a hero if all you care about is money and fame."

"Save others? What do you think 'saving others' means? The ones who need saving the most are the villains, for they are hurt right in the soul! What do you know about people? You worthless scum!"

"A pillar of hope? If that pillar crumbles, all that is left is despair, felt double as hard, only because you relied on that single pillar to solve all your problems."

"I wonder if I decide to kill you now, when will those heroes appear? After five minutes, ten minutes? That is enough time to not only kill you but incinerate your corpse so that not even your ashes will be found."

"A single hero can save nobody. 'Even a single life counts'?! - You're just patronizing yourselves. You look at the bright side in order to justify your actions. If even a single life counts, think of how many lives have ended, not how many you've saved! Oh, nothing you can do about it? - Then how about you admit that you're not a hero but a clown, and instead, put some effort into teaching people to protect themselves on their own?"

"Admit it, hero - you're not needed in this world. What humanity needs is good parents and teachers - the more the better."

All those quotes he could remember from the book belonged to this little midget, who laughed loudly as if she were the happiest child in the world. All those quotes full of inner sadness, anguish, and wrath, belonged to this brightened face.

A single person with a solid conviction can change this world. You, midget, are exactly such a person...