Chapter Text
“Thank you all for gathering here so promptly.” The President began. “I know this meeting was last minute, but it’s very important.”
“Of course President.” Kunikida nodded. “What’s the situation?”
The entirety of the Agency was gathered in the meeting room, facing the President. Even Dazai was there, not skipping for once. That was the first clue of how important this was.
“As you all know.” Fukazawa said. “Yokohama has been separated from the rest of Japan for a very long time, due to discrimination against abilities, along with the resentment against the existence of ‘heros’ and ‘villians’, something the rest of the world insists on celebrating.”
“Duh.” Ranpo drawled. “We live in Yokohama, I think we’d know more than anyone, President.”
“Ranpo!” Kunikida scolded, but it was half-hearted due to the sheer respect he had for the man. “Sorry President, you may continue.”
“Thank you Kunikida.” Fukazawa shook his head fondly, before refocusing on the situation. “The point is that I was recently contacted by someone from Musutafu for assistance.”
“We have a case from Musutafu?!” Atsushi exclaimed, looking startled. Everyone else was looking at each other in surprise, for it was practically unheard of to have any sort of communication with the rest of Japan, unless it was between the two separate governments. Or even worse, The Hero Commision reaching out to nag Yokohama about its lack of heroes and the sheer amount of crime in the city.
Well, everyone was surprised by the news besides Ranpo and Dazai. Ranpo was too busy eating snacks to even pretend to be surprised, and Dazai was half draped on the table, eye’s half-lidded, bored enough that he was about to fall asleep.
“Tell us about the case!” Yosano demanded, leaning forward and slapping her hands on the table, eyes shining with intrigue.
“Alright, alright.” Fukazawa put his hands up, signaling for quiet. Everyone’s excited and confused rambles immediately died out, all of them shutting their mouths so that they could look at the president. “I was contacted by principal Nezu from UA.”
“UA?!” Atsushi yelped in shock, while everyone broke out into confused chaos. Over the chaos, Kenji’s voice carried out.
“What’s UA?”
“It’s the biggest hero school in Japan.” Kunikida said, blinking dumbfoundedly. “What could they possibly need from us?”
“Whoa, they must be very fancy then!” Kenji cheered, Kyouka nodding quietly beside him.
“That’s crazy.” Tanizaki said. “The principal contacted you? Why would he do that?”
“I was getting to that.” Fukazawa said, both amused and exasperated all at once. “He emailed me just yesterday. Apparently, it’s been rumored that the League of Villains has set up a base within Yokohama, but they have no concrete proof, let alone a way to get into Yokohama to check.”
Dazai made a face, eyes flickering open. “Ew, the League of Villains. Who calls themselves that? It’s so lame.”
“I agree with Dazai.” Ranpo nodded. “I think the League of Villains sounds stupid. Are they even a threat? Why should we be bothered to deal with them?”
“From what I’ve heard on the news, the League of Villains attacked UA a couple of days ago.” Kunikida said. “They attacked the USJ from what I understand and endangered one of UA’s hero classes. I believe that they were trying to kill All Might.”
“Kill All Might?” Atsushi blinked, tilting his head. “Isn’t that the number one hero? They
really tried to kill him?!”
“Wow Atsushi, I didn’t realize you’d care so much!” Dazai chirped, sitting up properly so that he could fling his arms out, almost hitting Kunikida in the face as he did so. “Are you a fan?”
Atsushi flushed, embarrassed. “I-uh. Not really. I just remember the kids at the orphanage would talk about him sometimes.”
Kyouka nodded quietly. “I remember seeing him on the news sometimes. My parents always respected him, but they always thought that all of hero society relies on him too much. He’s only one person. I remember Akutagawa always thought of him as a joke though.”
Atsushi immediately scowled at the mention of Akutagawa. “Of course he would say that.”
Dazai laughed. “I thought you didn’t care much about All Might? Did hearing Akutagawa’s opinion change your mind about him?”
Atsushi crossed his arms, sinking into his seat with the same grumpy pout he always got on his face whenever Akutagawa was mentioned. It was so unlike him every time it was almost cometic. “Maybe my opinion will change.”
Kunikida shook his head. “I think we’re all getting very off topic here! We were discussing the League of Villains, not All Might!”
Tanizaki shrugged. “Well, doesn’t the principal just want us to deal with the League of Villains? If they really have created a base here, don’t you think the Port Mafia will just deal with them?”
Yosano nodded. “Tanizaki’s got a good point.” She shrugged, leaning back in her chair. “Honestly, the whole thing doesn’t sound like a very big deal to me. Based on what I’ve seen on the news, the leader, the hand guy, or whatever his name was, isn’t very smart. And they don’t seem to have very many members. If anything, they certainly won’t be more difficult to defeat than the Decay of Angels. Not even close.”
Fukazawa cleared his throat. “It’s a little more complicated than that, I’m afraid. Nezu proposed a very interesting solution to me.”
Ranpo sat up slightly, eye’s cracking open just enough to show a hint of green. “What kind of solution?”
“Nezu believes that the League of Villains has some sort of secret benefactor.” Fukazawa explained. “That the person, Shigaraki, who claimed to be the leader is actually just a front for the real mastermind.”
Dazai tapped his chin. “That would certainly make more sense. Hand job has too weak of a spine to lead much of anything if you ask me.” Dazai snickered at his own joke, ignoring the angry exclamation Kunikida made at the choice of nickname, something about kids being in the room.
Fukazawa nodded. “I wouldn’t have said it exactly like that, but yes. Shigaraki is certainly not fit to be any sort of leader.”
“So, why does he need us specifically to deal with them?” Atsushi asked. “Can’t he just ask the government? Like the Special Division for Abilities?”
Fukazawa sighed. “That’s what I wondered at first too, until I read the plan Nezu had laid out. He wants one of us to go undercover in the League of Villains to figure out who exactly their leader is, and what their actual plan consists of.”
“He wants one of us to be a spy?” Yosano exclaimed.
“That’s not all.” Fukazawa said, holding up a hand so that they wouldn’t all start protesting at once. “Nezu also believes that someone in UA is a spy for the League, since the League would have no way of knowing all the specific scheduling details when it came to their attack on the USJ, such as where All Might would be and what class he would be teaching, unless there was someone working for the League infiltrating UA. So, he wants someone from the agency to also join UA as a spy, to figure out who from the League has infiltrated them.”
Kunikida blinked in shock. “He wants two of our members as spy’s?”
“It would only be temporary.” Fukazawa sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I agree, it’s not ideal, and it would likely be very dangerous. But, it’s a good plan on Nezu’s part. Of course, I would never agree without hearing all of your thoughts first.”
“If the League has a base in Yokohama, won’t the Port Mafia just deal with them?” Tanizaki asked.
“Both Nezu and I considered that.” Fukazawa said. “But he believes that their base is somewhere outside of Port Mafia territory, and likely has been disguised in a way to not draw attention to themselves. Nezu said that the League is not dumb enough to want to draw the ire of the Port Mafia, so they will likely do their best to do so.”
“Can’t we just go in there and take care of them though?” Kyouka asked. “Why do we need to spy?”
“Well, we still don’t know where the base is located.” Fukazawa said. “And while I’m sure that both Dazai and Ranpo could locate it if they wanted to, we have no guarantee that the true leader of the League will be stationed there. In fact, an attack on the base in Yokohama will likely just send the League into hiding, and we will lose all trace of the leader. It’s the same as with the traitor in UA. Discretion is necessary for the delicate situation.”
“Why do we even care?” Ranpo groaned, pulling a lollipop out of his mouth. “Isn’t this the Hero Commission's problem? Why should we care about what the League is doing?”
“I agree Ranpo, the League was the Hero Commission’s problem. But it was made our’s when they dared step foot in Yokohama, despite the laws prohibiting it.” The president said sternly. “The League is threatening Yokohama’s safety with their very presence, and it is our job to protect the people here.”
Ranpo pouted, but shoved the lollipop back in his mouth and seemed to accept that answer.
“Where would the spy be positioned in UA?” Dazai asked.
Fukazawa turned towards Dazai. “Good question. Nezu said the spy is very unlikely to be one of the teacher’s, since he has a lot of trust in all of them. He thinks the spy is probably one of the students, very likely a student from the class attacked during the USJ event. So, the person would have to join the same class so that they could be near the spy.”
“Why would a student want their own class attacked, even if they were a spy?” Kunikida asked.
“To be present during the attack, to better lead the enemy forces there.” Dazai said. “And they’d have better knowledge about the schedule if they were directly a part of it.”
“Huh.” Kunikida said, blinking slowly. “That makes sense.”
“Why do you sound so surprised?!” Dazai wailed dramatically, throwing himself at Kunikida, only to be smacked away.
“Shut up you waste of bandages! We’re trying to have a serious discussion here!”
“I was being serious Kunikida-kun! Until you started bullying me!”
“I was not bullying you! You can’t blame me for being surprised about something smart coming from your mouth!”
“What?! Did Kunikida-kun just call me dumb?!”
“Are you not, you moron?!”
“Uh, Fukazawa-san?” Atsushi started timidly, ignoring the sound of arguing from beside him. “Who… who would be going?”
Everyone immediately fell quiet, attention swiveling back towards the president.
Fukazawa sighed. “That’s a very good question, Atsushi. Truly, we have more options when it comes to who would infiltrate the League, compared to who would infiltrate UA.”
“What do you mean?” Yosano asked carefully.
“Well,” Fukazawa said slowly, “The person infiltrating UA would be joining Class 1-A as an exchange student according to Nezu. The cover story would be to open up relations between Yokohama and the rest of Japan. But that means, well. The person would have to be the proper age to be in the first year of high school.”
“Wait.” Kunikida said seriously. “The only people who fit that description are… Kenji and Kyouka!”
“What?!” Atsushi yelped, looking immediately worried. Kyouka had stiffened in her chair, while Kenji just looked mildly confused about what the big deal was.
“President, to be frank, aren’t they both too young and new to the agency to be undertaking such a big mission?” Yosano asked, eyebrows furrowing together.
“That’s very fair.” Fukazawa said. “I agree, but Nezu promised me that he would keep whoever joined the school very safe. I trust him to a certain extent that he will do so, but I also understand that no matter how hard he tries, it will still be very dangerous and difficult. So, I won’t force any of you to go. In fact, we do not have to take this case if we feel it’s too dangerous.”
“No.” Kyouka said, sitting up tall in her chair. “I can do it.”
“Kyouka-” Atsushi started, only to be interrupted.
“It’s alright Atsushi.” Kyouka said. “It makes more sense for me to do it. Kenji is very strong, but I have more training then he does, and Kenji still doesn’t understand much of the city, so to put him in a completely different city would be very dangerous for him. I can handle it. Nothing… This couldn’t possibly be harder or more dangerous than being in the Port Mafia. It’s just a high school, isn’t it?”
Kenji shrugged. “I believe in Kyouka, if she says that she can do it!”
“I have a lot of faith in your skills Kyouka.” Fukazawa said. “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?”
Kyouka nodded, resolute.
“Then I’ll go with you.” Atsushi declared. Everyone’s eyes turned towards him in surprise, and he immediately shrank back in his seat in embarrassment.
“That’s good.” Surprisingly, Fukazawa nodded in approval. “Kyouka would have to live outside school grounds after all, and it would be dangerous for her to live alone when she’s not at school. So, to have Atsushi there with her would be ideal.”
Kyouka smiled slightly, shoulder’s relaxing as she learned that she wouldn’t be totally alone in a brand new city, that she would at least have Atsushi with her.
“So, if Kyouka and Atsushi are going to handle the UA part of the mission, what about the League part?” Kunikida asked.
“I… well.” Now, the president grimaced slightly.
“The president doesn’t want to be mean and tell you that you wouldn’t fit in with the League Kunikida.” Ranpo answered for him. As Kunikida sputtered in surprise, Ranpo continued. “Though, neither would I in all fairness. I wouldn’t blend in with those idiots at all. And Tanizaki and Kenji are too young to go.”
Dazai smiled grimly. “I think I’m the pretty obvious choice then.”
“No.” Yosano said, to everyone’s surprise, especially Dazai’s, if his wide-eyed look was any indication. “I should go.”
“You?” Kunikida asked. “Why? I agree, Dazai would probably fit in with the League the best, considering his history with the mafia.”
“I have a history with the mafia as well, if I need to remind you.” Yosano said. “And most importantly, no matter what happens, I can always fall back on my ability to not get hurt. Dazai is the most vulnerable out of all of us, because I can’t use my ability on him. And we have no guarantee that Dazai can nullify quirks like he can abilities. Unless you’ve nullified a quirk before?”
Dazai’s plastered on smile twitched, eye’s darkening with his annoyance. “I can’t say I have Yosano!” He said, fake cheer decorating his voice.
Yosano softened slightly as she took in Dazai’s expression. “It’s not that I don’t think you can do this Dazai, I agree with Kunikida, you would be the best out of all of us at infiltrating the League. But, I don’t want to see you get hurt. And you're still healing from what happened at Meursault, so it’s just not worth putting you at risk like that.”
Dazai scowled at that, sinking into his seat slightly as he stole a glance at his leg, which was still in a cast after being thoroughly shattered falling in an elevator. “Fine.” He grumbled. “Yosano’s right. She’d be the best for this.”
“Very well then.” Fukazawa said. “Yosano, are you sure you can handle this?”
Yosano hesitated slightly, swallowing thickly as memories of war and blood flashed in her mind. She shook her head of the thoughts though. This wouldn’t be like that at all. She’d seen the news, the so called villains of the League were nothing like Mori. She would be fine.
“Yeah.” She took a deep breath, flashing the president a confident smile. “I can do this.”
“Very well then.” Fukazawa said. “I will inform Nezu then that we will be taking the case.”
Just like that, it was decided.
Three members of the agency would be getting a taste of hero society.