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Although she had already experienced being transported during the U.S.J. incident, this was the first time Konata Izumi walked through a portal so openly. The moment she stepped out, the scenery changed completely—from a forested mountain into a rather shabby-looking bar.
The ones who had returned earlier seemed to have already left. Now, inside this not-so-large bar, only a frail-looking silver-haired young man sat at the counter, listlessly drinking. Beside his left hand was a tall pile of powder stacked like a small mountain.
When Kurogiri noticed that powder pile, his face instantly changed. Forgetting about greeting the newcomer, he hurried—using his Quirk if needed—to rush behind the counter where he usually stood. There, he discovered that the brand-new set of glassware he had carefully stored away before departure had completely vanished.
Staring silently at the mountain of powder next to Shigaraki Tomura, Kurogiri suddenly felt exhausted. Saying nothing, he simply left the bar and shut the door behind him. In that moment, only Konata Izumi and Shigaraki remained.
"I feel like Kurogiri has given up on you. Keep this up, and you'll lose him," Konata said bluntly, walking over to the counter and sitting down. Not finding any cups behind it, she simply pulled a bottle of alcohol from the shelf.
"You're not afraid that I might just kill you right now?" Shigaraki didn't have his disembodied hand on his face this time, and he seemed to have washed up properly, so he didn't look quite as grotesque. Still, his lips looked awfully dry.
"Because of my Quirk, hardly anyone dares to sit next to me anymore. Even Kurogiri is the same," Shigaraki muttered.
"You serious? Don't you realize your position? You're the boss of the League of Villains. A boss! Employees don't just casually drink with their boss on the clock—that'd be stupid. Honestly, if not for you sitting here alone, anyone walking in would just think it was a manager's suicide meeting."
After struggling for a while without opening the bottle, Konata finally handed it to Shigaraki.
"Your ability would be great for opening bottle caps, don't you think?"
Silent for a moment, Shigaraki placed his fingers on the cap.
"Thanks. I've wanted a drink for ages. Too bad Midnight-sensei keeps such a close eye on me, and I don't exactly have spare money for alcohol."
The bottlecap crumbled under his Decay, and Konata let out a relieved sigh.
Honestly, this blue-haired loli was becoming more and more of a surreal sight.
"To be honest, I never would've guessed you were Sensei's daughter," Shigaraki said flatly, turning his head away.
"If you want to fool others, you have to fool your own first. Haven't you learned that?"
Maybe it was the alcohol, but Konata's cheeks were now flushed red.
"As a qualified double agent, I've studied everything—The Self-Cultivation of a Spy, The Growth of a Spy, Advanced Methods for Spies, How to Avoid Your Master's Suspicion… After so much studying, I can now help my master eliminate traitors, then eliminate the loyalists, then eliminate the master himself!"
"You've had enough. If you can't handle your liquor, don't drink," Shigaraki frowned. But before he finished speaking, Konata was already lifting the bottle again, gulping down another big mouthful.
"Drunk? Ha!" She rolled up her sleeves, put a foot on the chair, and sneered at Shigaraki.
"Bet I could crush you at Five-in-a-Row even drunk! In chess, I'd even let you keep half your pieces! If I lose a game, I'll take your last name!"
Shigaraki's gaze darkened. "If you regret it so much, why walk this path?"
"Regret? My family sells regret medicine! You're barking up the wrong tree talking about regret with me."
Laughing, Konata slumped back into her seat.
"But really, you better hurry and win back Kurogiri's heart. If he falls in love with someone else, you'll regret it then."
"If you keep spouting nonsense, even if you're Sensei's daughter, I'll kick you out," Shigaraki said coldly, shifting his seat slightly aside.
Konata suddenly looked up, surprised.
"So you're actually a girl?! Ah, I get it now! I thought it was some forbidden love triangle with you and Kurogiri, but the truth is way spicier! You secretly love him, don't you?"
Silent, Shigaraki stood up, walked over, and yanked the bottle from Konata's arms with four fingers.
"Sensei had plenty to say about you, but right now you're clearly in no condition to talk. Drinking to drown your sorrows is foolish, and I'm not cleaning up after you."
He pointed at the back room of the bar.
"Go sleep. Now."
"Sleep?" Konata perked up. "Where, where? Is there a loli in there?"
Unable to stand her antics any longer, Shigaraki grabbed her by the collar and tossed her onto the bed in the back room, slamming the door shut behind him. Finally, silence.
"Annoying little brat," he muttered.
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During the training camp incident, even though the heroes had already made preparations in advance, they didn't expect the League of Villains to attack so quickly.
According to Tsukauchi and All Might's judgment, the League would act in the last few days of the camp. No one thought they would strike this early, and even less that they would come with such unprecedented strength. Compared to the petty thugs in the USJ incident or the Nomu and Stain during the Hosu incident, the League's power this time was several times greater.
As soon as news broke, reporters gathered like cats smelling blood. It didn't take long before every detail of the training camp was exposed.
By the next day, reports about the training camp spread rapidly among the media and the public. Most reporters, if not all, thrived on chaos. In their coverage, they shifted all blame toward the heroes who had attended and U.A. High School who organized the camp.
It was ironic—everything was caused by the League of Villains, yet the arrows of blame pointed at the heroes. Some even demanded U.A. apologize to the public. And with the reckless actions of a certain blue-haired girl, U.A. was pushed further onto the chopping block. The same Class 1-A that had once been praised as the model hero course was now being condemned.
If Konata Izumi once had a public favorability of fifty points, now it had plummeted to minus fifty. Abuse and slander poured toward her, dragging Midnight down with her simply because they lived together. If Konata dared to appear in public now, she'd probably be met with eggs or rotten vegetables. That might sound exaggerated, but the reality wasn't much better.
For Midoriya Izuku, the psychological blow was heavier than physical pain. Especially when he saw the reports about Konata online and read the comments beneath them. If his classmates hadn't visited at just the right time, he would've smashed his phone out of frustration.
Yaoyorozu Momo brought both bad news and good news.
Thanks to the signal attached to Bakugo Katsuki, All Might and the police had pinpointed the League's hideout. But because of the enemy's mobility, the operation had to be delayed to avoid alerting them. Yaoyorozu shared this to calm Midoriya down—he had looked extremely shaken when he first heard. But if things went as planned, all they had to do was wait. The League would be crushed, Bakugo would be rescued, and Konata Izumi's name would be cleared.
That would be the best ending.
But not everyone believed in waiting.
It was noon. A gentle breeze carrying a hint of flowers drifted in through the hospital window.
At this time, Aizawa-sensei and the principal were busy fending off relentless reporters. Tsukauchi and the police were investigating every League member's identity and background. Class 1-A students gathered in the small hospital room. Midnight lay on Konata's bed with her hands under her head, staring blankly at the ceiling. All Might was contacting his old teacher, the pro hero Gran Torino.
Not a single one of them believed Konata had truly chosen to betray them. Even after she had caused so much trouble, they still believed in her. In some ways, she had failed miserably, but in others, she had succeeded remarkably.
Because his wounds would take time to heal, Midoriya's classmates eventually left, leaving him alone to rest. Before leaving, Todoroki Shoto turned his back to Midoriya and gave a subtle hand sign. No one knew what Konata herself was thinking, but that didn't matter—they were worried. Not about the heroes, but out of consideration for her.
The heroes' plans couldn't be disclosed to students. Unless an action was happening immediately, the students would never know the details.
They could choose to wait. But they wouldn't.
Two people had already begun planning a reckless move—just like Bakugo had once risked himself to figure out what was wrong with Konata.
They firmly believed they would succeed, just as they believed Konata would never betray without reason.
Time slipped away unnoticed. As Midoriya lay on the hospital bed, running through the next steps of their plan in his head, All Might suddenly entered along with the glow of the setting sun.
"Young Midoriya, I heard you've already woken up, so I came by to see you." All Might waved from the doorway, then stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
"All Might..."
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"Sorry, I was busy handling other matters before, so I couldn't come to see you right away."
All Might placed the fruit basket he was carrying on the bedside table, pulled a chair over, and sat down beside the bed. As for the issue about the muscle-bound man, he had asked Tsukauchi to keep it hidden. Regardless of whether the injuries were caused by Midoriya Izuku or Konata Izumi, attacking someone who was already incapable of resistance was definitely punishable by law.
"All Might, am I really useless?" Midoriya lowered his eyes, unconsciously clenching his fists.
"Don't say that. From my perspective, your rate of progress is already frightening."
All Might patted Midoriya's shoulder, intentionally lightening the mood.
"I had expected it would take you much longer—perhaps only by the time of your work-study to grasp the basics of One For All. But your performance far exceeded my expectations. You're definitely a genius."
"If it wasn't for her, I could never have learned this quickly."
Midoriya's head drooped lower, his expression sinking further.
After thinking for a moment, All Might spoke.
"Young Midoriya, I'm sure there are many things you want to ask me right now… including about her."
He hesitated slightly, then continued.
"I know you have deep doubts about all this. Perhaps I can give you an answer—why she chose to do what she did."
"The reason…" Midoriya suddenly raised his head, staring at All Might. The one thing that had confused him the longest was Konata Izumi's reason. He had imagined countless possibilities, but none held up in the end.
"One For All… I remember I told you before about All For One, right?"
All Might's voice grew heavy, as though he had made a great decision.
"Originally, this was something I should never tell you. But I think it's necessary. Konata Izumi… she is the daughter of that man, All For One."
"Daughter…?" Midoriya was stunned, the shocking news leaving him speechless.
"That's right. Based on all the clues, she is indeed All For One's daughter." All Might sighed.
"With that premise, everything makes sense. Why she possesses such an overwhelmingly strong Quirk—because it was inherited from her father, All For One, making her ability nearly omnipotent. Why, during the training camp incident, the League of Villains targeted her—not just because All For One wanted her Quirk, but because he wanted to reunite with his long-lost daughter. Perhaps at first, she really wasn't a spy sent into U.A. But during the Hosu incident, when she finally met her biological father, that's when her inner struggle began."
All Might's tone carried clear self-blame.
"I should have noticed something was wrong back then. If I had guided her properly, maybe things wouldn't have turned out this way."
"All For One's daughter…"
Hearing All Might's words, Midoriya recalled her strange behavior since the Hosu incident. She had suddenly come into a large sum of money, and even used it to buy gifts for everyone. Maybe that was her way of saying goodbye. If it had been him in her position, caught between justice and evil, between classmates and teachers on one side and irreplaceable family on the other, he might have collapsed even more miserably.
Yes, how could she not be in pain? On one side, her criminal father. On the other, her friends and mentors. Both sides destined to be enemies. No wonder she knew about One For All—because her father was All For One. What else could she do?
And yet, he hadn't realized her suffering at all. Midoriya clenched his fists tightly.
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"Pain? Shigaraki Tomura, have you lost your mind?"
Sitting at the bar counter, Konata Izumi pointed at herself, looking baffled.
"I only drank a little too much because I can finally drink openly and without restraint. How does that turn into 'drowning my sorrows' in your eyes?"
"Drank too much?"
Shigaraki pulled out the half-finished bottle he had snatched from her last night.
"If you call drinking less than two cups and then going on a drunken rampage all night 'drinking too much,' then sure." His expression was grim.
"If I'd known you were going to wreck my room like that, I'd have kicked you out immediately."
Looking away a bit guiltily, Konata forced a reply.
"Consider it renovations. That place was so run-down anyway. To outsiders, it looked more like a slum. Some boss you are."
After a pause, Shigaraki, knowing he probably couldn't win even at this range, decisively changed the subject.
"You betrayed them so easily. Aren't you worried about your classmates? One of them, your precious sweetheart, is still in our hands, you know."
"Since I've chosen to switch sides, I'll go all the way. Indecision isn't my style. By the way—where exactly did you hide that durian?"
Abandoning any attempt to correct her wording mistake, Konata glanced around the bar. Aside from the two of them, there wasn't a soul.
"What, your bar's going out of business?"
"Someone who sleeps until five or six in the afternoon has no right to say that."
Shigaraki shot her a look, then stood up from the counter.
"Since you're finally awake, come with me. Sensei wants to see you."
"That tin can-headed old man wants to see me?"
Jumping down from the chair, Konata asked curiously.
"Oh, right—I still haven't—"
"At the very least, you should show basic respect to your father. That's common sense."
"…Hah."
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Sorry for not updating. I won't even complain about the powerstones, lmao—it's clearly my fault this time.
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