The entrance exam was slowly approaching.

Izuku was growing both anxious and excited. The entrance exam, and his acceptance because there was no way he wouldn't be taken, it would be the beginning of all of his plans. From inside he would have intel, no one would suspect the stuttering quirkless whose only dream was to be a hero but couldn't because of his disability . There, he would be able to put his plan in motion. Rumors had it that All Might had been meeting with Nezu and, with his current weakened state and weakening quirk, he probably wanted to lay low for a while, maybe even pass One For All on. There was nowhere better than in a hero school, Izuku supposed. If he could inform the League of the hero's plans and habits, they would get precious information for their attack. The only risk was with the security in UA. Izuku almost feared the principal and his tendencies to 'go mad' as some had said. He was both itching to get his hands into the security of the place and scared to mess it up. He could always plead curiosity. From programmer to programmer, he might be able to dodge trouble. He would only have to be careful when it came to showing his actual skills. He didn't want the school to know everything. What if they expected him to work for them? To help them chase villains, maybe even his own villains? That would be a terrible gamble on everyone's intelligence versus his own.

At least his studies were going well.

La Brava had whistled when she saw that he managed to clean his computer completely of every little bug and spy program and was now asking him to do actual jobs for her, as Guidance if he wanted to and had reduced her prices for she was done teaching.

The Doctor was still not agreeing to let him go around the nomus-to-be on his own but his theories had helped in the creation of the anti-All Might and his tests on quirklessly copying quirks was doing wonders. He didn't talk about it to Sensei, since it was still the man's main part of the project but Izuku kept this knowledge stored in his notebook, safe while encoded. He had also been looking more deeply into the storage system of the labs since he could get around the security there almost easily now. It still took a while but it was possible and he now knew how to do it.

He had found more details about Kurogiri, mainly the tests and failures of the projects, as well as information on the man he was but he hadn't bothered checking it, as nothing would help him on his work in it.

Turns out the fact that Kurogiri seemed to be almost an entire being was a mistake. Sensei intended for his weapon to be brainless, only capable of fulfilling simple orders. Kurogiri's free speech and actions were unexpected results of his work.

Izuku had avidly read everything about the mix of quirk which made Wrap Gate. Not every quirk intended to be added had actually been accepted by the body. The Doctor's theory, and Izuku had to agree, was that quirks were like limbs and organs. If you wanted to transplant one, there was always a risk of the body rejecting it. The fact that the body was technically dead and under heavy supervision had helped in the integration of the new quirks. This is how Izuku figured out that, perhaps, quirkless people were more apt to easily accept a new and unknown quirk into their body, as there was nothing in place before to replace, but their bodies were actually not made for the quirks they received. All Might's weakness was not solely due to his injury. And the fact that it was passed on probably made each of the holders more at risk, as their body could try to reject it. Izuku was going to go through some research on the project, hoping to find some trace of the quirk back in history and see how the holders died.

His first step would be Nana Shimura, since Sensei had mentioned her as All Might's mentor.

He also hoped to be able to get some DNA from All Might and actually study the effect of the quirk on the man.

As for the Oreos Twins, they were making him work very hard.

Izuku tended to end up electrified more often than not and with greasy hair after pushing them back from his eyes with oil on his hands over and over again. He was still having fun, always thirsty for knowledge. But the mockery of the twins was starting to get annoying. At least he got to see the 'real' heads of Gambit Industry. Which was no small fit. Mitsuka was actually hilarious with her deadpan humor, even if Izuku was always the subject of the nasty jokes.

He remembered Tenjirou, he called him pepper in paradox of his sister salt, putting his gloves on in a hurry to ruffle Izuku's hair with energy when the teen had managed to create his first invention. It wasn't much at first, a small box which created electro-vibration to mess up the phone's connection. He had since updated it to actually cut all but chosen technologies and their connection to the outside of the magnetic field and had great fun trying it on Tomura. He had set it in his friend's room, watching him lose it as his game lagged while his computer and phone were working just fine. Tomura had destroyed the device once Izuku stopped laughing but it was honestly worth it, even if he had to make a new one.

The only time Mitsuka actually talked to him was to tell him to stop bringing the damn thing to their labs because, yes good job, but I'd like to actually work.

On another side, he started searching for the Hero Killer. Trying to find a pattern, clues about his identity. And he did find it.

He was waiting on a bench in some park in a city a few hours away from home, scrolling on his phone. He had easily figured out the way the man worked. A certain number of kills per city, targeting heroes that he deemed fake.

Izuku had spent time leaving clues, implanting words of a fake hero, of a terrible person, and hoped Stain would bite. His bait wasn't a fake man, per say, but the hero, even if flawed, wasn't in the city and wouldn't die tonight. Izuku, though, was rather at risk. Good thing he was going to call Kurogiri the very moment he would stand up from his bench. If anything went wrong, the man would open a gate and Izuku would just jump into the safety of the bar. His only real worry was who would be listening to the call.

Sensei would also surely be listening, he had a strong desire to reach the hero killer and was so glad Izuku was going for them.

The praise he received from the man always made his cheeks heat up. He had wanted to idolize the man, right after All Might fell off his pedestal, the spot was free and Sensei had given him a new purpose. He loved feeling useful and accepted but his newfound confidence sometimes made his ears ring at some of Sensei's wording. The man was old, he probably thought himself better than everyone else with his thousand of quirks, probably better than the weird kid Izuku was.

Izuku was still grateful for the opportunity though, and didn't mind repaying it. He might have to tread carefully around him, and didn't want to mysteriously disappear from the face of earth one day, but he was willing to work, and forever glad for his meeting with Tomura.

He could still test the waters and had already safely downloaded his 'mentor's medical records, leaving proof that he had tried but fake ones of his failure and others of failed tentatives to enter other 'risky' folders. He was curious to see if the man would actually comment on it or not, but just in case he had already prepared his game, trained for the little character he would play. It wasn't as much of a character as his old self, all awkward and stuttering, losing all face in front of a figure of authority.

Izuku was very thankful of Tomura's little lessons on how to level up his Charisma stats. He still happen to mumble from time to time, mainly when he felt safe with his friend. He had started hiding more and more behind his Guidance's persona. Someone more poised, calm and cocky when he was with the right persons. He was growing into it, still polite with the right people and less so with others. He was careful to not show this too much when he knew Sensei could know. Like in front of the Doctor or Kurogiri. He wanted to trust the latter and was trying to find a way to bring out the man's free will out more, even if he wasn't sure it was actually possible.

It was Guidance who was now standing up, hands in his pockets, hair dyed black to make a clear distinction between the future UA student and the villain who would meet Stain. He had chosen a plain grey hoodie and loose pants, just in case he had to run. Under it he was wearing a very thin leather-like combination to protect his skin. He hadn't been able to figure out the details of Stain's quirk but was suspicious of a freezing quirk, maybe touch-based or something. With a minimal amount of skin exposed without looking suspicious and a fake assurance that he was slowly growing into, he walked in the alleys where he expected to meet the villain.

The only thing he had to do was meet Stain, give him in secret, meaning without anyone hearing it from his phone, a paper with plans and a way to contract him and propose him some collaboration with the League of Villains. He doubted Stain was going to jump on the occasion with joy and enthusiasm but if he managed to get him curious enough they could meet later on without a third, hidden, party following their every step.

Truth to be told, Izuku hated keeping secrets from Tomura. He saw a true friend in the easy to anger guy, even though he had some childish habits and tended to look past other people, Izuku saw the truth behind his action, probably not having normal socializing growing up and no management over his emotions. But his friend wasn't able to see his Sensei in any other way than a mentor, loving, helping figure. Which until now wasn't wrong. But Izuku had a bad feeling about the man's intention.

Tomura had been presented to him as the son of Sensei. But what parent made his child call him Sensei? Weird ones. And even if he adopted him, after Tomura manifested his quirk and killed his actual biological family, he hadn't tried to help him much. It seemed to Izuku that he had merely encouraged the blue haired man outburst and thirst for revenge.

The teen had no intention to take Tomura out of villainy but he wanted him to be in it by himself, for his ideas and not working, without knowing, for a man who couldn't do his work by himself anymore.

So Izuku would keep some secrets for himself for now. At some point he'd find proof and a way to get his friend out of the man's grip and then they would both thrive, showing the world what it meant to let the wrong people on the bench.

Izuku heard a thud behind him and turned around as a shadow ran up to him. He dodged, barely, used to hits and people charging at him and tried to take some steps back.

The shadow stopped a few meters away, looking at him.

A sword in one hand, a knife in the other, a teared down red scarf floating vaguely around him, Stain was searching Izuku's whole body, coming to the realization that he, in fact, was not some corrupted hero ready for the ripping.

"Who are you?" he asked with a husky voice.

"Guidance," the teen answered.

"I'm not looking for you, kid, leave now and go back to your life."

"The hero you're searching for isn't in the city at the moment."

"What are you on about?" The villain took a step, eyes flashing red.

"Now is not the time to get into a fight. I came with a proposition."

The man stopped but didn't lower any of his weapons. His mask hid most of his face but Izuku could see some perplexity as well as a slowly rising anger.

"I believe you are right about our society being corrupted, heroes unable or unwilling to follow the true path they were made for."

"So you're some fan?"

"I wouldn't get this far. More like a supporter, a partisan of sorts, an ally if you will."

"And why on earth would I need an ally?"

"You're not stupid, you know killing heroes left and right won't change much in the long run." Izuku slowly, trying not to get killed by a flying knife, took out a note out of his pocket. He took a few steps back, motioning for the Killer to take the note. "Me and some potential allies would like to help you clean this tainted society."

Putting his knife back into some pocket, Stain approached the teen with slow steps and grabbed the piece of paper off the ground, unfolding it with a swift move. Izuku knew it read 'said potential allies wanted to listen to this conversation, we aren't alone. If interested in working with someone, or only curious, contact this : xxx-xxx-xxx. Burner phone is okay if not trusted.'

"We have some means, places, information, money, and actual influence. If you ever want to be more than some villain off the street." Izuku motioned at the note then his ear where the earpiece was. "We're interested in your capacities, Stain. What do you think of other people willing to stain themselves in the heroes' stead, when they are unwilling to do their work? I'll come back later this week if you have an answer. I'm now going to leave. Think about it."

The villain was still looking at the paper in his hand back to the teen in front of him with confusion clouding his eyes.

A few meters behind Izuku, a cloud of purple smoke appeared and he quickly made an escape in it, ending up in the bar with a smiling Tomura and Kurogiri.