Yeah, I wasn't allowed to go back to the dorms considering I look like a zombie that just got shot in the head. In fact, I don't even get to leave the training place we are in when Shouta grabs my shoulder, and it takes every fiber of my being not to punch him.

"Sir, hands off," I say in the calmest, most innocent voice I can manage.

"You have a concussion, don't you?" Shouta says with an exasperated tone. You would think that Shouta would be used to this kind of shit from me, but no.

"Yes, and?" Honestly, a concussion is a baby injury if we are comparing it to the fact that I have done arm surgery to myself and also lost an arm.

Oh, and don't forget the lightning!

"Kid, you need to go to Recovery Girl."

"I will punch her in the face if I see her."

"So you rather deal with a concussion instead of just going to see her?"

"Actually, yes." Recovery Girl is a creature that shouldn't exist, honest to God. I think she hurts me more than heals me because of that damn cane of hers.

"I'll go with you."

"I rather be alone, Aizawa," I tell him sharply. Red seems to becoming a new filter even without a phone!

"You're going to see her no matter what. You can either go by yourself and deal with her, or I can come talk to her while she heals you to distract."

Do you think I can beat Shouta's ass with a concussion?

Considering the room looks pretty damn slanted and this is Shouta we are talking about, probably not.

"Fine," I simply tell him while leading the way.

Shouta keeps a hand on me the whole time to make sure I don't fall, and I bite down my anger over that. I appreciate him for not talking to me, so points for that, I guess.

We enter Recovery Girl's office, and she looks shocked considering I look like I just came out of a war.

"What-?" Recovery Girl asks, but Shouta cuts her off.

"Just heal him before he destroys your office."

He ain't wrong.

Recovery Girl does what she is asked, and my vision quickly fixes itself. It's nauseating, but I drank enough. This is nothing.

I get up to leave when Shouta hands me a wet wipe. It takes everything not to snatch it but instead gently take it and leave while wiping away the blood.

Now that the bullshit is out of the way, I enter my apartment and slam the door, taking deep breaths.

"You're pretty damn useless, aren't you, Izuku? You don't have your pretty gadgets to save you. You don't even have all your limbs!"

I don't know why I am throwing a fucking bitchfest over it. I've been called useless all my life! Fuck, Deku, what Bakugo calls me, means useless!

I know I'm not useless. The HC would have ignored my ass if I was useless.

I also know that Shinso didn't mean that. He was just trying to get a rise out of me so that he can use his quirk, but he hit a rough spot, especially with the arm.

It's not like I had a fucking choice to throw my arm into the fire! I'm pretty damn lucky it was only my arm!

I pace back and forth, trying to exert my anger into something.

Why am I being such a bitch about this?

Well, it's probably because I would usually have that situation handled easily no problem if I had my tech. Heck, if I had both of my arms, I could have ended the fight right there!

But I didn't.

What if I run into a situation like that but with a villain? They aren't going to show me mercy! I'm easy pickings!

I'm aware that I am a brains person, not a brawns; but goddamn, that's a scary thought.

I need to be better. That's the issue. I can't have a situation like that happen again.

I need to stop focusing on my damn gadgets so much. I need to focus on my physical strength, something I have been neglecting since I first got my licenses returned. Sure, I've been trying to keep up with it, but time is such a bitch!

I run a hand through my hair and think.

Right now, I'm wasting time standing here. I could be using this time elsewhere. Being a bitchbaby right now isn't helping me, but action will.

With a plan in mind, I grab a couple of things before heading out.

"Izu!" Eri's voice suddenly interrupts me. She bounds up to me with an innocent smile. Since she lives in the teacher's dorms, she tends to hang out the living room, with one of the teachers, or me.

I'm practically banned from her, but I sneak by to chat once in a while.

I bend down, "Hey girl, what's up?"

"Can we play tonight?" I also keep her up past her bedtime just to be petty. Like, if you're not going to let me see my little sister, I'll just allow her to break the rules. I'm shocked I haven't been caught yet.

"Sure! For now, go back to whatever you were doing, alright? I have some things to take care of."

"Yes, Izu!" The girl scrambles back to her spot.

Honestly, just talking to Eri made me calmer. Only a little bit, but at least I don't feel like punching a stranger.

I only want to punch someone I know now.

With a deep breath, I sneak out of UA and head to my training center.

I could train at UA, but why would I do that when I have a personal trainer?

- - -

So the prison doesn't take too kindly to visits without permission, but considering I am here to talk to him, they let me through with no issues.

The guards take me to my one of my past projects, and they don't even bother to step inside with me.

I enter the training facility to find all sorts of proheroes on the floor and Akaguro standing above them.

"You lasted a couple seconds longer. Better than no progress, but you should be training more! This is stuff a kid can do, and you heroes are struggling with it?! Pathetic!" Akaguro lectures them.

Glad to know he is still an ass to them.

When Akaguro hears me entering, he looks up and sees me. Without hesitation, the man storms up to me in the blink of the eye and nearly slaps me if I hadn't ducked before.

"Where the hell have you been?! It's been a month!" Akaguro growls at me.

"Awe, you miss me?!" I tease, which I really shouldn't, but death is also desirable so yeah.

Akaguro scoffs, looking me over until he realizes the missing arm. His expressions shifts for a moment, but it reverts back as quick as they came, "What are you here for?"

"I need training, that's all. Just here to join my fellow collogues on the floor."

Akaguro nods and looks at the heroes on the floor, "Get out."

One of the hero gasps, "What, why?!"

"Because you guys have barely improved despite having a week to practice. Right now, I like this kid more than all of you combined. Unless you want to be thrown out, leave."

You know, I shouldn't take that as a compliment since it is coming from a villain, but I am going to anyway.

The heroes quickly scramble onto their feet and run out, leaving Akaguro to me. Yay!

"I mean, you didn't have to shove them out, but go off, I guess," I tell him.

"They were annoying me. Now, explain the arm."

"Damn pushy. I just lost it at a BBQ is all."

"Something you could have avoided?"

"Well, I was on a highway, and the fire took the whole highway, so you tell me if that's avoidable or not."

"Without the attitude."

"Calm down, Jamal."

"I will kick you out."

"Fine, fine. I've been relying too much on my prosthetic and equipment, and I need to learn how to fight without it again."

"And this didn't occur to you until a month later?"

"Sir, the HC keeps me busy with their damn cases."

"You should still keep up with your body. Let's see how well you can fight then."

Akaguro does not fucking hesitate to try and fucking kill me, and I stumble out of the way and get into position to fight.

Clearly, I fail miserably, which pissed me off more. Dodging? Failing half the time. Hitting? That's not happening.

After what seems like fucking hours when it has only been ten minutes, Akaguro suddenly stops in front of me, "You fight like someone with one arm."

I huff, "Well, duh. I have one arm!"

"Which makes you predictable, idiot! It clearly shows that you are weak on your right side and how much you use your left. I know what you're going to do next because of that."

"...oh..." You know what? That kind of makes sense, "Alright, so what do I do?"

"You fight like you have two arms! And you need to exercise more! You're slower!"

Akaguro doesn't bother to tell me we are fighting again since he attacks me without warning.

That advice is a bit hard to swallow. Do you know how hard it is to punch without a hand? It's not pleasant. I can't even do that.

However, I can pretend that I am.

It takes a while, and when I mean a while, I mean hours later, but it made me realize that I over rely on my left side in general. It takes actual conscious thought to remember that I can't cut my body in half, and that leads to me getting more beat up than usual.

But in the end, it's worth it when I finally managed to land a kick in the head. For Akaguro, it's practically nothing since I'm pretty sure he can survive a nuke if he wanted to. However, for a normal being? Yeah, that would have knocked them out at least.

Akaguro hops back and grins, "Been a while since someone got a hit on me. Weak, but it's better than nothing."

"They can't be that bad, man. Maybe you're just that good," I try to reason with him.

"That's why I managed to get over 40 casualties is with that mindset!"

I hum, "You're not wrong," I straighten myself out, ignoring the new skintone called blue I was trying out from bruises, "I should probably head back now. Who knows what time it is? I didn't tell anyone I was leaving either."

"You better come back. I'm not letting you slack again! You're one of the few good heroes."

"Or else?"

"I won't teach anymore until you come."

"Goddamn. You're pushy but fine. I'll slip you in something, " I go to the side to pick up my jacket and bag, "Keep up the good work. Any progress is better than none at this point."

Akaguro just huffs as me. I wave to him, not expecting a response as I leave.

I feel pain! But I feel calmer as well, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I rather not consider it.

Leaving the prison was not an issue, and I start heading back to UA. During my walk to the station, I pull out my phone to see a bunch of missing calls from Shouta along with my mom, Hizashi, and Nemuri. There's a bunch of text messages as well asking where I am and some threatening from Shouta's line.

I was about to text Shouta that I haven't died yet when I see one of the missed calls is from the HC front desk. Of course they call me the one time the phone isn't on me!

I don't hesitate to dial that back.

The lady there picks it up at the first ring, "Uketsuke is on the line! How may I help you?"

"Hey, girl! It's been a while!" I've become either loved or hated by them for how much I have to go through them with my cases. Thankfully, I got someone that likes me.

"Oh, hey Izuku! Alright, let's see what you're in trouble for this time."

"The fucking audacity to assume I am trouble. I am hurt."

Uketsuke giggles across the line, "You know what I mean. Alright, let's see- oh, okay." Her tone shifts from happy to serious, something I don't like.

"Is something the matter?"

"No. It's just that the the HC president has requested you to meet with her tomorrow."

"Oh boy, I'm dead. What time?"

"If it makes you feel any better, it's about one of your recent cases you inserted. It's at six in the evening. Can you make it?"

"Interesting. Yeah, I can make it. Thanks for letting me know."

"No problem! See you tomorrow!"

She hangs up without letting me say goodbye. Oh well.

I hope to above that I ain't in trouble. I already have enough issues. I don't need more.

I put my phone away and make my way back to UA.

Unfortunately, someone decided to put Eri to sleep on time, so I can't hang with her tonight. I'll just have to sneak her away tomorrow.

- - -

Compared to yesterday, where I nearly wanted to kill everyone, today is chill. I just had my normal paperwork, and then managed to convince Eri's current babysitter Yagi to let me have tea time with her.

Whatever works. I am just happy I got to spend time with her.

However, today has to be ruined by a meeting with the HC president.

Maybe I am harsh on her, but goddamn, can you blame me after everything?

I arrive at the HC a few minutes before the scheduled meeting, so I sign in at the front and wait to be called.

"Midoriya," A buff man calls from the elevator, and I approach and enter while praying that I am not going to be arrested for some reason.

What if I am arrested? I didn't even tell anyone where I was going again. How are they supposed to find out? The media, who is completely biased on everything?

That's a problem for future me, I guess.

The elevator arrives at the top floor, and I step out into a large office that takes up the entire floor. In front of me, the president stands behind her desk with a body guard on each side of her, ready to kill me without hesitation.

I step out of the elevator and approach until I am in the middle of the floor, "President."

"Hello, Midoriya. Thank you for coming on such short notice. However, I believe one of the notes you sent us is significant, and I needed to discuss it with you immediately," She explains.

"May I ask which one? You know I send a bunch of them, most of which get ignored." Yes, I am going to be petty about that. And?

She simply sighs, "We have higher priorities at the moment with the villain rate being so high. You must understand, Midoriya. We can discuss those once everything has settled. Today, our focus is on Deika City."

I nod. I just did those a couple of days ago. Of all notes, I didn't think those would be chosen, but whatever.

The president looks through the papers on her desk, "You reported that there is something off about the hero transfer system in the city. Can you please elaborate?"

"As you know, with a detective license, I can see where heroes are transferred to and such. I was looking through such files for a case when I noticed transfers out of Deika City for specific reasons that I did not recognize. Further looking into them, I found that they were fake. Same for heroes that came to the city. I can not tell you what is going on there, but there is something off."

"I agree with your sentiment. What concerns me is that Deika City is known for its low crime rate. Why would something be happening there now?"

"I can not be for sure, but considering the city is in the middle of nowhere and far away from other cities, it's a good place to make a villain base. Heck, it's a good place to take over in general as it would take heroes at least a couple of hours to transfer there since there is no way of getting there besides by driving since it is not connected to a subway system. By then, it would be taken over, and the heroes would have no choice but to back down."

"Do you have proof of something like that possibly happening?"

"No. The only villain group that is powerful enough to do so at the moment, in my opinion, is the League of Villains. However, they haven't done anything in almost two months. Therefore, there is no evidence supporting that. If it happens, it's sudden."

"I see. Unfortunately, due to lack of evidence, I can not send heroes there to watch over the area just in case."

"I wouldn't anyway. It would just put attention on us that we don't need."

"You are correct. The best idea currently is to send someone there to record what happens so that we have more information to work with to prevent future cases."

"I'm hearing a but."

"We need someone undercover to be inside when it happens. They can not fight or anything. They just need to be there and pick up as many details as possible. I do not want to remove any heroes from their stations due to the crime rate, and our undercover heroes are currently busy on other cases."

"Does it have to be a hero?"

"I am afraid so. I want to keep this information among as few people as possible."

"Of course. So what's the plan?"

"Midoriya, I believe would be best if you went to Deika City."

"What? Why? No offense, but I'm working on cases that you guys send me. Do you expect me to pause all that to do this?"

"If you say that the League of Villains might be involved, then this should be prioritized. From looking at the cases you have completed thus far, you are one of the best I have seen when it comes to recording details, and that is what we need. I will transfer all your current cases to someone else if you do this."

"What happens if I don't?"

"I will have to find someone else, but I would prefer your experience on the line when it comes to recording, and I know you would not expose yourself. Midoriya, you should see how significant this is if something does happen."

"I know. Give me a minute to consider it."

"I understand."

You know, when I signed up to be a hero, I never thought I would be considered for undercover work. I expected everything else but that due to my personality. I do want to be an underground hero, mind you, but personality can say otherwise.

On one hand, doing this will remove all the current cases I have to work on, and I have no clue if those will ever been finished. Adding on, I have no idea if anything will happen. For all I know, this could be a waste of my time. Actually, I expect it to be a waste of my time because of how far gone my idea is. 

However, on the metaphorical other hand, something could happen, and I can see it for myself. I don't know how much information I will get from the person being there. Heck, I don't even know if they will be able to handle it without getting caught.

I hate this.

I can hope that someone will complete those cases. The other heroes aren't that stupid, especially when there are multiple. However, this is one person we are relying on here.

.

.

.

I don't trust that person. I need to do this. If the League of Villains are a part of this, even better. This isn't something I can throw away. It's too valuable.

"I'll do it."

The president smiles at me for once, "I appreciate it. I will compensate you for your work. As soon as you leave here, you are expected to grab whatever you need, disguise yourself, and head to Deika City. Question the citizens around there and search for anything suspicious. If something happens, call us if possible. However, the information is more valuable. Do you understand, Midoriya?"

"I wouldn't be accepting it if I didn't."

"You are doing us a great honor. You are free to leave."

I start to approach the elevator when I am interrupted.

"Oh, and Midoriya? Try not to tell anybody about this. Just grab and leave. If you have to, just tell them you are going to the convention that is happening in Tokyo and are expected to stay there."

"Gotcha."

"And I wish you safe return."

With the information is left unsaid. I see you, bitch.

I enter the elevator with a new mission on the mind:

Figuring out what the fuck is wrong with Deika City.