Pretending to live a normal life was harder than she thought. A lot harder. In all honesty, she felt more at home being Pop Step than she did doing her real job. The job she had been doing for years now. It wasn't that she hated being a producer, more that she simply just missed feeling that rush that if she fucked up she'd be killed, or worse, arrested. But all of those thoughts could just be her eagerness for going out there and trying to find Aiko and all the other girls that had gone missing.

From what Deku said, he was worried about things being more than what they seemed. And now she was as well. She felt like there was a lot he wasn't telling her, but that was fine, she was used to working in the dark. Still, working with Deku did put her at ease. At ease in that if they got in over their head he could just punch shit, while on the other hand she could just end up getting arrested after all this. Still. If she could rescue Aiko then it would be worth it.

"Ms. Hanayama?" One of her girls brought her out of her thoughts and reminded Kazuho that she was currently working her less awesome and ever so slightly less fulfilling job of being a producer. Sure, this was her adult dream job and she loved it, but really, she missed the thrill of being Pop Step. "How was that?"

Kazuho blinked and looked at the sound mixer who just shrugged. Helpful. She leaned over the control panel and pressed the intercom button, "How do you think it was Fuka?"

"I…" Fuka paused, twirling a finger around her dark blue hair complete with pink highlights. The girl always reminded her of bubble gum for some reason, despite the fact that her personality wasn't anywhere near bubbly, Fuka was more serious than that. "I think that without Aiko our harmonics are off and that I need to adjust my vocals to compensate, while Hifumi's-"

Kazuho turned off the intercom, letting the leader of her most recent and most successful group of idols do her thing and try to get their song down. It was challenging without Aiko in the group, but that was just how it was at the moment. But they wouldn't have to worry. She was going to get Aiko back soon.

Leaning against the far wall and watching her girls sing another round, Kazuho tried to pay attention to them. She really did. But it just made her want to get out there and perform as Pop step, all while trying to bust the dumbasses that stole one of her girls. With a grunt she pulled out her phone, checking for any sign of a mysterious text that she should have received.

She wasn't an idiot. She knew that the heroes, if not the police, knew about her alternate persona ever since she ran into Midnight all those years ago. She was probably being watched and had her messages tracked, so Deku getting her number should have been easy. But. No message. How the hell was she going to know when to meet up with Deku? Was he just going to find her? Was he watching over her right now?

Was she being paranoid? Probably. Heroes weren't her enemy.

The police kinda were.

Still, how was she going to find Deku?

"Alright girls!" Kazuho pressed on the intercom once more. "That was very good, how about we call it early for today?"

"Early?" Hifumi asked, her long black hair gave her a serious and studious look. Even if she was the member of the group most likely to stab someone. Apparently she was a weapon nut, which was like a gun nut but it extended to all weapons. Apparently it was related to her quirk. Kazuho really should have made Hifumi go with Aiko back then. Actually, all the time. She also had horns. "We're an hour past when we normally stop."

"Uhh," Kazuho looked at the clock. Fuck. So much for counting down the hours before she could go put on her skimpy vigilante costume and run around trying to find a bunch of kidnappers. "Sorry about that, how about we just have a half day tomorrow?"

"Fuck'n woo!" The grumpy redheaded tomboy Tayuya that was pretty much exactly what was on the tin, let out a dull unenergetic cheer as she made her way to the door, opening the one to the sound booth gently, before kicking open the one out of the recording studio. As bad as Tayuya's personality was, she made up for it with being the best musician and singer this side of the world thanks to both her natural talent and a quirk that helped.

"Thank you Ms. Hanayama." Fuka bowed on the way out.

"Yes, thank you." Hifumi gave a light nod, walking oh so perfectly.

The group just didn't feel right without the cheerful Aiko around to make everyone just that slightest bit less gloomy.

Kazuho sighed and scratched the back of her head. Greasy. She didn't shower last night after getting home, hell she fell asleep in her vigilante costume. And it was likely going to be the same tonight. That extra hour in the morning was going to be so sweet.

Then she heard her girls scream. Not a scream of terror, but the excited 'oh my god there's a cute boy' scream that was closer to a squeal. "Ms. Hanayama! I didn't know you had a boyfriend."

The flying fuck nugget?

"What are you girls talking-" Kazuho stepped out into the lobby and saw him.

The build was the same, and the plain white shirt that said 't-shirt' on it was a poor disguise for someone like Deku. Besides, she did get a decent look at his face last night, even if it was dark, but she didn't see that he had freckles. More importantly why the fuck was he standing in her lobby wearing casual clothes.

He waved at her. "Yo."

Fucking 'Yo'? That was what he said? Deku! One of the top pro heroes just casually waved at her. With a fucking 'Yo'.

"He's not my boyfriend!" She felt her cheeks burn as she marched over to Deku, grabbing his hand and pulling him into her office. "This means nothing by the way!" She slammed the door shut, locking it once and then closing the curtain to her window that looked out towards the lobby. The girls were still in the lobby, she unlocked the door and stuck her head out. "Leave unless you don't want tomorrow to be a half day!"

The girls giggled and headed towards the exit. Kazuho waited for the door to shut before she locked her door once more.

"They seem like fun," Deku laughed, hands on his hips in a classic hero pose. He was smiling a bit too pleasantly. His right arm was covered in large thick scars that she couldn't even imagine what he fought to get. Maybe he didn't have it that easy.

"Alright, so, what are you doing at my job?" Kazuho placed the back of her hand against her hip and glared at him. "And how did you even find out where I was?"

"Google. It wasn't hard, and the security guard let me in when I said I was here for you. Is everyone in this building trying to set you up?" Now it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

She could do nothing but splurt and blush. "Maybe! But that's not the point. Why are you here?"

"I have no idea how vigilantes meet up, and somehow I forgot to get your contact information. Oh and I have a gift! My support friend was actually really excited about all of this, and she also has pink hair, are you related to the Hatsumes?"

"You have green hair, are you related to broccoli?"

"Uhh, no, but anyways, here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a large black rod of sorts, it almost looked like a longer microphone. "Catch."

Of course he would just fucking throw it at her! Why wouldn't he? Stupid heroes. The rod expanded in the air, doubling and then tripling in length until it was just about the same size as her staff was. Only a lot more advanced.

"Woah." There was nothing else to say as she looked at the apparent present she had been given. A light green grid-like pattern glowed along the shaft, as numerous little symbols began to appear around her finger tips. "The hell is this?"

"Registration Complete: New User: "Whatever Vigilante Deku gives this to" complete." The staff said in a robotic voice save for the middle part that was spoken in another girl's voice.

"Uhh, thanks? But isn't this a bit too fancy for a stick I was mostly planning on using to hit people with?" She looked at it and shrugged. "Or maybe use it as leverage or something? Does this have a mic in it?"

"Well, it's one of Mei's babies, so it probably does a lot of things I didn't ask her to put in it. Hell it could be classified as a ballistic missile." The casual way Deku said all those things made her question what kind of person that Mei was. "But, yeah, it has your usual microphone on uhh," he looked from one side to the next and pointed to her right, "That side I think, but it also has a taser, grappling hook, tracking chip launcher, and the microphone can even be separated from it and can be used as a mini surveillance drone. All charged by USB."

"Wow. Wait, really?" Kazuho spun the staff around, the balance felt good too. "Why are you giving me this?"

Deku just shrugged. "I actually asked her to fix your first staff but she got mad and said that she's not a repair shop and then she said that she'd just make you a better one and I made sure it was still sane and didn't turn into some robot butler."

Was it too late to return the staff for the butler?

"Oh. Well. Thanks. I think it should be useful." Especially the drone considering what she tried to do last night. "So, is this the part where we awkwardly exchange numbers and then part ways?"

"Bingo to the first half." Deku pulled out his phone. It was just a phone. She had a similar model. Somehow she was kind of disappointed it wasn't some watch-phone considering the staff he just casually gave to her. "I was actually hoping to see if you'd be willing to go scouting again tonight."

"I was already planning on it, but I'm not sure what exactly I can do since they're probably still on alert after last night." She sighed and twirled the staff around, still amazed by its balance and the way the control buttons seemed to always glide to where her hands would be. She pressed a button and watched as one tip began to spark with electricity. With another press it was off. She liked it.

"Well, one of my allies found a new lead at a different club, if it's not too much to ask, would you be willing to meet up with him too?" Izuku handed her his phone, the screen unlocked and on the contacts page. Her name was already listed, she just needed to put in her number.

Easy enough.

"Is this ally another pro hero?" She put in her number.

"Yep, it's actually Lemillion."

Okay, how many top ten heroes were in on this? "Alright, I guess I can help. But what the hell is your name? You already know mine."

And that way she could find out how the hell she saved him.

"Oh! I thought I told you, sorry about that Kazuho, it's actually just Izuku Midoriya, and we're going to meet up with Mirio Togata." Izuku scratched the back of his head and gave her a wide toothy smile. "Great, now let's get going."

XXXX

Why the fuck did she agree to this?

"Mirio." Izuku, looked at the other top pro hero with one eyebrow raised, they were all in casual clothes. Well. Almost. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"My quirk makes my clothes fall off. Can you think of a better disguise for me?" The tall blonde and muscular man posed for no fucking reason, while looking oh so proud in what he was dressed in.

"I mean, fair, but, why a fireman."

Mirio flexed and struck a different pose, his apparently very oiled chest on display as the open fireman's jacket moved to expose his abs. "Because I bring the heat."

Never in Kazuho's life would she ever have considered that she would be going undercover with one of the top ten pros dressed as a fireman stripper.

AN: POWER!