The head of the House of One was an intimidating man. Even sitting behind a desk he was large, more muscle than man. His smile was as large as it was terrifying. She felt small standing before him and Uraraka, standing even closer to the desk, visibly shrank into herself. She let her gaze drift to the side, lingering on her mentor Midnight, who cut a less intimidating figure.

His hands were clasped together on the desk in front of him and when he spoke, despite the even tone, there was an undercurrent of anger. "Tell me what happened, young Uraraka."

Mina gulped just hearing that tone. She bet Uraraka did too. The shakiness in Uraraka's voice was almost palpable as she spoke up, the words tumbling out in a rush. "I got cornered by some thugs and we made too much noise, and Deku told me to run before the cops showed up, so I took the package and floated-"

"Breathe, Uraraka!" Mina insisted behind her. As terrified as Mina felt, she was also worried about her friend. She was forcing words out a mile a minute and Mina thought they'd turn into an incomprehensible jumble if she didn't stop.

Uraraka took a desperate breath, then stayed silent.

He took a breath too, but that felt more ominous than anything. "So you allowed young Midoriya to be captured." Uraraka opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand to stop her. "You completed the mission. There is merit in that," he said. "But this house has a motto, and in leaving your teammate behind, you failed this house."

Uraraka's eyes widened with fear and devastation. Mina risked moving forward to place a comforting hand on the girl's back.

"You are dismissed for now."

"Yes sir," Uraraka said quietly. She shuffled slowly from the room, shoulders hunched and eyes watery.

He turned his head, but his focus did not entirely shift as he spoke to Midnight. "Rescue the boy."

"Of course," Midnight answered.

"And take young Ashido with you."

Mina perked up at this. She couldn't help it. They didn't get to go on mission nearly as often as she wished they would and having the opportunity to please her mentor and head of house was too good to pass up.

"You think she's ready?" Midnight asked.

"I think young Uraraka proved herself not to be," he said.

Midnight turned to look at her and smiled. "Whatever you want, All Might."

Mina could feel herself bubbling with nervous and excited energy. Her mentor placed a hand on her shoulder. "This is your chance to shine, girl. Don't muck it up."

"I won't!" she replied excitedly.

"Do you remember the plan?"

"I open the door, you put them to sleep, I take out the cameras, and you spring the lock."

"That's my girl." Midnight ruffled her hair, careful of Mina's horns as she did so. She bumped Mina forward with her hip. "Now knock."

Mina grinned widely as she held out her hands, activating her quirk and gathering as much acid as she could before tossing it forward. She gathered a second handful and tossed it toward the bottom of her impromptu entryway.

Midnight moved to stand in front of her. "Deep breaths." Mina held her breath and Midnight activated her quirk as she stepped through the corroded entryway. Mina waited only a few minutes before following. She looked to the corners of the room, tossing acid on the cameras she could see.

Midnight was shuffling through papers on a desk. "Alien Queen!" she called out to get her attention, holding up a map and pointing to where she needed to go. "Spring the lock," she ordered. "I've got something to clean up here."

Mina didn't question it. She flashed a bright grin as she called out, "Back in a flash!" She kept a bit of acid ready in case of surprises, but the only people she passed were knocked out by Midnight's quirk. Once she found the cell, she smiled widely and ran her hands down the bars. "Somebody order a rescue?"

Deku's eyes lit up with gratitude and she wasn't ashamed to say it made him look cute. "You're a lifesaver, Alien Queen."

"There's a price to pay for my services," Mina said jokingly. Leaning towards the newly melting bars, she winked at him. "You owe me a kiss." He flushed red and stammered an incoherent reply. "Just kidding." She smiled brightly and held out her hand. "Now come on! We gotta go."

"Right!" he answered promptly. He took her hand and they ran out quickly. "Thanks for coming for me," he said quietly.

"One for all, right?" she said, reminding him of their house motto. "We're stronger together."

He grinned at her and it was so candid and joyful that she almost tripped over her sudden heartbeat. "What would I have done without you."

Mina turned back forward, her cheeks lightly stained with her lilac blush. They were silent until they emerged in the entryway.

"Ready?" Midnight questioned. She was holding a small folder of information, but neither Mina nor Deku questioned it. It wasn't there place and doing so while on a mission would only be wasting time.

"Ready!" Mina chimed.

"Then let's go!" Midnight led the way and Mina followed, tugging Deku behind her. After being locked up for longer than 24 hours, it could be expected that he was a little frightened or lonely, though it still surprised her that he didn't release her hand until they were back at base. Mina found that she didn't mind that at all. If while they were running, she let her hand coil around his a little tighter as well, she was sure no one would fault her for it.

The head of the House of One was a man known as All Might. Izuku couldn't remember a time he'd seen the man without a smile or out of a suit. He was larger than life, the number one crime lord of the strongest house. He was Izuku's hero. A man so strong he had no need of a mask, no need to hide his face or his deeds. Everyone knew who All Might was, one way or another. He was the man who saved a thousand lives. The man who dispatched villains regardless of laws, using whatever methods he saw fit. He was loved and he was feared. Sometimes by the same people all at once.

Being quirkless, All Might was everything Izuku could have wanted to be. Fearless, powerful, but still compassionate. The motto for his House was "One for all." One pool of strength for the family to pull from. One goal for all members. Togetherness, unity, cohesion. One working for the goal of all.

Society didn't value unity like this anymore. It didn't value the weak or the quirkless. It didn't value civilians like his mom, or Uraraka's parents. It only valued heroes, villains, and quirks. He hadn't needed to be any of those things to be valued by All Might.

"Deku!" He was pulled into an embrace as soon as he returned to base. He untangled his hand from Ashido, sending a grateful smile her way, before returning Uraraka's embrace. He hadn't noticed before he'd had to let go, but he was holding onto Ashido's hand like a lifeline. He didn't want to admit how afraid he'd been that he would be left to rot. A quirkless kid in a powerful mafia screamed pawn and he didn't know if he was going to be sacrificed.

Apparently, now was not the time. It might still come, he would still fear it, but there was comfort in being brought home. There was comfort in knowing that, whatever they had planned for him, he had enough worth to still be brought back into the fold.

"I'm so sorry! Can you ever forgive me?" Uraraka cried out.

"It's fine. I'm fine." He tried to give her his best smile, but it was still shaky with fear and insecurity. Ashido had given him comfort, now he had to pay it forward to Uraraka. That was their motto, after all.

Kirishima slung an arm over his shoulder. "I can't believe you sacrificed yourself for her like that. So manly!"

"Geez, don't crowd him all at once," Mina told them, though she was smiling.

Midnight rapped him on the back of the head and flicked Uraraka's forehead. "You two need to be more careful. You can't let yourself get caught off guard like that," She scolded.

"Yes, Miss Midnight," Uraraka said somberly.

"S-sorry," he stammered out.

She smiled as she looked at Ashido. "Good job out there, Queen."

Ashido smiled with pride. "Always happy to help."

Midnight grabbed him by his head and guided him out of his associates' embrace. "Come on, kid. All Might will want to see you."

"Y-yes, ma'am," he answered automatically.

"Not ma'am," she corrected. "Madam. Mistress if you're feeling daring."

"Umm..." his words always failed him when Miss Midnight got like this. He considered himself lucky that he didn't train directly under her all that often. Not the way Ashido and Kirishima did. It was a well known fact that she could be a sadist when she wanted to be and training session were the perfect times for her to go off the rails.

Midnight opened the door and bumped him forward with her knee. He looked back at her with large alarmed eyes. She stuck her tongue out at him, closing the door as she back away. Sometimes he forgot how much she gained enjoyment at her student's expense.

"Good luck, kid."

He gulped as he faced forward. All Might was facing away from him and Izuku stared at the back of the chair as he waited to be acknowledged.

"Young Midoriya." All Might's voice was big, powerful. It perfectly suited a man in his position and it sent nervous chills down Izuku's spine each time he heard it. "I am glad to have you back, my boy."

"T-thanks."

"Tell me something, young Midoriya. Do you know why you ended up where you did last night?" His voice was stern, but Izuku would be willing to bet that the smile hadn't left All Might's face. It was one of the things that Izuku admired. No matter what All Might was doing, no matter what he felt, he was always able to put a smile on his face. It was something that Izuku wished he could do in his own life, but he was no where near confident enough.

"We weren't careful enough," he admitted.

"You weren't, but that is not all that you did wrong." All Might turned to face him, smile stretched predictably across his lips. "You failed to work as a team. You tried to protect young Uraraka from her own mistake instead of working together to fix it. She could have helped you fight them or floated you both to safety. Instead, you both let yourselves be taken off guard."

"But the package -"

"Was only half of your objective," All Might scolded. "Your team is always the other half. One for all, Midoriya. Not one for one. Not one for some. This situation could have and should have been avoided."

"I-I'm sorry!" He bowed deeply, holding the position.

All Might sighed. "You two won't be going on solo missions together anymore. You're both too green. From now on, you'll train under Midnight. Grand Torino may be teaching you good habits, but it won't do you any good if you don't know when to use them."

"Yes, All Might." His voice sounded sullen and probably close to tears, but Izuku couldn't help it. He hated to fail All Might like this.

"Now, now, straighten up." Izuku did so. "This is a learning experience," he told Izuku. "Knowing when to use each strategy and tool, that is the key to victory. You are dismissed, young Midoriya."

"Yes, sir."

His associates were all waiting for him in the sitting room. Kirishima had his arms thrown over the back of the couch. Ashido leaned against his side as she looked up, talking to Uraraka who floated above them. Kirishima was the first to notice him. He moved forward, perching on the edge of the seat and causing Mina to lose her support and fall.

"Hey, man. How'd it go?" Kirishma asked.

"Kirishima, why did you move?" Ashido complained. She flailed one hand in the hair as she tried to get up. Uraraka reached for her hand and floated Ashido up to her level.

Izuku sighed as he let himself fall onto the couch across from them.

"I'm not allowed to train with Grand Torino for a while," he told them. He looked up at Uraraka. "And we can't go on solo missions together."

Uraraka dropped herself and Ashido back onto the couch. "Deku, I'm so sorry. I really messed things up for us."

He gave her a weak smile. "It's not your fault, Uraraka."

"That really sucks, man," Kirishima said. "Now you have to suffer Midnight, the hell mistress."

"She's not that bad!" Uraraka said.

"How would you know? You spend all your time bouncing around with the old man." He sighed.

"We don't just bounce around!" Uraraka argued.

Ashido moved from between them to sit on the table before Izuku. "Did he say anything else?"

He blushed at her sudden closeness, looking away as he answered. "He said that having the right tools is pointless if you don't know when to use them," he told her.

Ashido nodded confidently. "All Might is really wise."

"That's what you say when you don't know what he means," Kirishima added.

"Who asked you?" she yelled over her shoulder.

Deku smiled and leaned back into the couch as he watched Ashido and Kirishima bicker. They had been a part of the House of One far longer than he had. He and Uraraka were the new additions, training under Grand Torino while Midnight had been mostly mentoring Ashido and Kirishima.

He didn't know how either of them had ended up under the House of One. He knew that Uraraka had been driven by desperation. Her family needed money and she could get that under the House of One. They had power and influence, it was easy for them to steer business to her family without calling much attention to them.

Izuku was here for selfish reasons. He wanted to be someone. He wanted to prove that he could be worth something, that he could make a difference. If he was good at it, House of One could be a fast track to power, security, and as contradictory as it seemed, there was a chance he could make a difference.

All Might was at the head of the table. To his right was Midnight and to his left was Grand Torino. Around the table sat Recovery Girl, Mana and Micha Ashido, and Jin Kirishima. They were chatting quietly until he sat up straighter, folding his hands on the table before him, signaling his intention to speak and calling them to attention.

"What did you find, Midnight?" He inquired.

"Not as much as I was hoping," she answered. "It seems they've stayed out of the spotlight as much as possible. There are rumors here and there, a few disappearances, but little else."

"We should inquire with the other families."

"Is that really wise?" Grand Torino asked.

"More wise than being caught off guard," he told them. "Keep your guards up. If he really is skulking around out there, all the families are in danger."

"Whatever happens, we can take it," Mana Ashido said. She was as bright and pink as her daughter, with longer hair and without the horns, which were a feature of her husband's appearance. "We've got All Might on our side, after all?" she added with a wink.

"Should we call Dragon back?" asked Jin Kirishima. His hair was cut shorter than his son's, but the resemblance was clear. "Think we'll need him?"

"It's still too early for rash actions," All Might said. "For now, just keep aware."

There were nods and murmurs of ascent around the room. He looked around at all the members of his house before nodding to them. "That is all."