(Shigaraki POV)

As I was walking back to the base, I thought about what the kid said. The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. On one hand, he's trying to play the role of pacifist, but on the other hand, the way he spoke made it sound like he would kill someone if it meant everyone else could live in peace. He seems like the kind of player who would make killing a last resort, and try their best to befriend every single enemy in the game, but would still resort to it if there was no other option. I couldn't help but wonder about what that meant. Then I thought back to the monsters. It was said that they were sealed underground by a very powerful magical spell. In a fantasy game, you would need high-level items and spells to break that kind of thing. There were certain achievements and paths you would have to take to get the information you needed to unlock the level required to reach it. Sometimes, there was only one way to unlock a level and you had to follow a set path that would only work if you played the game right.

Games like that tend to force you to give up whatever role you were aiming for in order to win. If the barrier had been broken, then by that logic... was he truly a pacifist? Or was he just pretending so he could fake being a "hero" in front of his friends? What were the requirements for breaking such a powerful spell? How much did he have to level up? And what kind of things did he have to do to level up in this game? He had to have something bad to get this far, there was no way he couldn't have. Maybe I can use my games as a way to lure this new player into revealing his cheat codes.

'Wait, "Player"? Well I mean, he sure acts like one. Hm... yeah that sounds right. Yes, I think we're going to have a lot of fun together... Player 2,'

. . .

(Izuku POV)

Ever since the finals began, I had a lot of paperwork to catch up on. Yaoyorozu and I had called as many people as we could think of and ran a petition. Surprisingly enough, the act to "secure" monsters had been revoked on the claim that it was segregation in disguise. Most of the people who voted in favor were humans who had seen the worst in society and believed in the mercy that monsterkind provides. The ones who didn't vote had asked for a different option that allowed humans to join the Monster Police Force. much revision and planning from Hawks and me, with Yaoyorozu giving her two cents every now and then, we had completed an act to confirm the public's opinion. As such, the security in Newer Home had allowed humans to further merge with Monster affairs.

Now I was dealing with the dreadful paperwork that came with setting up police records for everyone and filing the reports to the servers that record everyone's quirks and backgrounds. Hawks had hired someone to thoroughly check the backgrounds of everyone interested and Undyne had personally interviewed every applicant to see if they were worthy of the position. My next task was to hire someone to build a police force academy to train and educate those who want to join the force. Luckily, I knew just the person to ask. So here I was, sitting on the couch of the Uraraka household.

"So that's the situation. I know it's a bit much to ask but I promise to pay you accordingly," I calmly stated, doing my very best to act as professional as possible. "You want to hire us?" he asked. Kosei Uraraka was Ochaco's father and was a very kind man. He doted on both his daughter and wife and made it very clear that he would protect and support his family with every fiber of his being. "When I was given the task of building an academy to train new officers, you were the first company that came to mind. The other companies all had either heavy prices that didn't match the quality they produced or sketchy backgrounds that I wouldn't trust anywhere near my family, let alone my security. I have already met your daughter, and she is very good friends with my brother. If you were capable of raising such a sweet girl, I have no doubt you are just as kind and honest as her. I believe I can trust you with this task, and not try to trick or take advantage of me. I'll pay you for all the supplies you need, along with a handsome tip if you get it done right the first time. How does that sound?" Izuku replied.

As expected, they agreed immediately. "Of course! We would be more than happy to take this job, and we are very grateful for your trust. I promise you won't regret this!" Mr. Uraraka said, beaming with joy. His mother was in tears and Ochaco was euphoric. Izuku smiled and handed over the design plans. "Thank you for agreeing to this. I hope we can be partners once more in the future," I said, offering my hand. He was quick to take the offer and shook my hand vigorously. "No, thank you! We are so happy to have an opportunity like this, especially from you of all people! This is an amazing deal and we would are looking forward to being business partners with someone as great as you. Thank you so much, I won't let you down!" he cheered.

With the transaction complete, I gave the family my phone numbers and bid them farewell. I left the small household, deciding to stand outside just a little bit longer to listen to the whoops and hollers of the happy family. I let a smile paint across my face as I imagined what Ilda would have to listen to tomorrow. I suspect he'll be happy to hear the good news and Asriel already knows, considering I've already informed him about my plans. So I doubt he'd be surprised about the news, but he'd probably be just as happy for her when she rants about it as he was when I told him about it.

Well, now that everything has been accounted for and the plans have begun, it's time to get ready for camp.

. . .

(Nobody POV)

Izuku was packing everything up and getting ready to head back to Newer Home when there was a knock on the door. "I'll get it!" Asriel called. Izuku paused in his task to go see who it was. After the thing Shigaraki pulled yesterday, he wasn't sure he wanted anyone bad near his brother. Sure the guy didn't seem very in person, but he still influenced the underworld as a powerful villain that was rising in the ranks. Thankfully, it was just Kaminari inviting the Dreemur boys to the school pool.

Asriel hated getting wet because his fur always fluffed up when he dried it, but Izuku pointed out that he had to practice his swimming, so he relented to Kaminari's offer. Kaminari seemed oddly happy to be training together with the rest of the students, but Izuku wasn't sure how this was training. Regardless, it had been a while since he last went swimming, so it sounded like fun. Izuku grabbed his and Asriel's backpacks and stuffed their swimsuits and two water canteens inside the bags.

When they got to the pool, Kaminari explained that they were using the pool for endurance training, which Izuku appreciated. When the three got finished changing Kaminari bolted out to the pool. Izuku guessed he was excited to get in the water, but when he and Asriel joined him, he seemed surprised for some reason. Asriel just assumed it was because Ilda was reprimanding them for being late. Kaminari had asked why all the boys were here and Izuku had taken initiative and invited the rest of the class as well. Kaminari seemed to crumple in defeat.

Izuku and Asriel were the only ones wearing their own swimsuits, which Ilda also reprimanded them for. But Sero laughed at the green and yellow stripes on their shorts. "Pfft BAHAHAHA! What is it with you two and that color scheme?!" Uraraka was giggling about how they always insist on matching colors. "Kero, don't you guys ever get confused about who's clothes are who's?" Tsu asked. "Nope, we always do our own clothes so we never mistake one for the other. Not that it would matter if we did, though. Since we're brothers and all," Asriel pointed out.

Ilda reminded them to get in the school swimsuits provided in the lockers and shooed them back into the changing room with the lecture on hurrying so the two weren't any later than they already are. Coming back from changing they walked in on a crying Kaminari and an optimistic Ilda. Apparently, he had thanked Kaminari for the idea of training but Kaminari was just upset that he was carried away from the image of the girls playing in the water. The worst part was how he was just picked up like a sack of potatoes. Kaminari was feeling disappointed and humiliated.

The next hour was spent swimming as long as they could without break and they were all exhausted. Asriel had spent half of that time learning how to not drown. He really hated water and swam as little as possible, so he wasn't very good at it. They had all decided to take a break and catch their breath from all their hard work. Ilda had brought out a cooler full of cans of orange juice that were being kept cool with lots of ice. The drink was much appreciated by everyone there.

Izuku told him that he needed to learn if he was going to be a hero. "What if someone was drowning and you couldn't save them because you can't swim?" Izuku lectured. "I'll can always just use my magic to retrieve them. My platforms can-" "-Do nothing because the drawing person will either slip off or get trapped underneath it. You can't just rely on your magic to do everything for you, Asriel. You have to rely on yourself too. That's like expecting Bakugou to put out a fire with his explosions," he scolded, pointing at Bakugou for the last part. A few of the classmates laughed at the jab, while Bakugou- who had finally decided to show up shouted back that he could easily put out a fire better than Izuku could. "I got you're message but sorry I'm late, it took a lot of convincing to get Bakugou to come," Kirishima apologized. Ilda nodded and turned back to Asriel.

"While the last part was unnecessary, your brother is correct. It is just as important to train your body as it is to train your magic. Just like how we are practicing our endurance so we can further rely on our bodies rather than our quirks," Ilda added in. Asriel sighed in defeat at how right they were. "Hey, Deku! Do you think you're better than me? Let's settle things here and now!" Bakugou challenged, popping off some explosions to look threatening. "First of all, my name is Izuku-" "Don't care!" "-And second, I'm not challenging anyone," Izuku replied flatly. Ilda put his thumb to his chin in thought.

"Well, it's true that just endurance training isn't that interesting," Ilda pointed out, catching Izuku's attention. "Everyone, do you want to see which of the boys can swim 50 meters the fastest?" Ilda announced. This caught everyone's attention very quickly. The girls had overheard Ilda's proposal and even asked to help. They would go in teams of five and were allowed to use their quirks on the premise that no people or buildings were harmed in the process.

The first ones to go up were Asriel, Tokoyami, Koda, Bakugou, and Kaminari. Yaoyorozu used her quirk to create a ball whistle. "Alright, on your marks. Get set," and with the tweet of a whistle, they were off. Bakugou came in first because he had blasted himself over the pool. "How was that, you idiots?" Bakugou taunted. Sero and Kirishima didn't take that very well, shouting at him for not swimming. Bakugou defended that it was freestyle, though that didn't change anyone's opinion on his methods.

The second ones to go up were Sato, Kirishima, Sero, Aoyama, and Todoroki. Another tweet and Sero had used his tape to swing to the end but was knocked off course by Aoyama who had gotten a stomachache midway from the three seconds of using his quirk. Todoroki rode his ice to the end, following a similar style to Bakugou. Kaminari and Asriel were next to get mad at him for doing so. "You're supposed to be swimming!" they yelled.

Next up was Ilda, Izuku, Shoji and Ojiro. There was one less person on the last team because there were only 14 boys. Ilda and Izuku were neck and neck. Ilda was riding the pool ropes, much to the dismay of the others, and Izuku was using BRAVERY to boost his strokes and PERSEVERANCE to increase his speed. Ilda used his recipro burst to blast himself to the end, but Izuku used DETERMINATION to add an extra boost of power that got him to the end just one second before Ilda did.

"The winners of each round-- Bakugou, Todoroki, and Izuku-- will race for first place. Does that sound good?" Ilda said, looking between the three. Izuku and Todoroki nodded in agreement. "Hey, half-and-half bastard! You better not hold back," Bakugou barked. "You too Deku!" Izuku rolled his eyes but agreed anyway. Everyone sat on the sidelines while the contestants lined up. Momo had given the whistle to Ilda so she could join the rest of the class. Everyone was cheering for them.

"On your marks," the popping of tiny explosions echoed through the air. "Get set," The hissing of Todoroki's ice whispered its presence. The whistle blew and they jumped... into the water. Izuku had stopped because of the lack of explosions and shouts of surprise. Peeking his head out of the water, he saw Aizawa standing in the doorway to the pool. He had erased their quirks. "It's five p.m. Your pool time is now over. Hurry up and go home," he ordered. "Aww, c'mon Aizawa-sensei. We were just getting to the good part!" Kaminari whined, earning a harsh glare from the tired man. "Did you say something?" he threatened. "Nothing, sir!" the class yelped.

Izuku couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to have your quirk erased. Maybe he'll ask one of the others later.

-----------------------------------------------------

(And that's all for this chapter.

Some new chapters to some of my favorite books have been popping out and it's very exciting. I drop my work to go and read them. Browsing new books has been getting boring, but it's always so much fun when a new chapter to one of my favorite books comes out.

So anyway, that's all for now. As for Shigaraki, he sees a villain in Izuku who just hasn't quite reached his potential yet. Izuku tries to play the role of a pacifist, but his past will always haunt him,  and in the end, he was still the one who killed seven human children. Nobody knows about it yet, but the truth can never stay hidden forever.

And as for the fallen humans... I claimed that there was a reason for why he killed them, and there is one. A very good reason. I won't reveal it until later, though, so just be patient.

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll see you all soon!)