*tell me why my goddamn OUTLINE is 10K WORDS?

*this is a mostly izuku centric fic but there will be a couple little parts w other povs

*dude i'm so exCITED THIS IS BY FAR MY FAV STORY IVE PLANNED

*maybe i'll,,,,,, actually finish this?

*i prob shouldn't say that GHDBRNGN (i have this like,,,, curse of only getting to the second chapter of a fic but i'm actually writing chapter 6 rn so YAYYY BREAKING THE CURSE)

*I WAS NOT EXPECTING THE RESPONSE I GOT LAST CHAPTER HAHSJDNFJNF tyyyyyysm for uh being invested? idk just thanks for reading and commenting nice things

*yall are so excITED which is so NICE AND COOL i don't wanna disappoint y'all with things that don't make sense, so know that if something doesn't make sense now, it will be explained later

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[6:30]

Iida Tenya is a stickler for the rules, and he is very proud of that fact.

It's his duty to be a respectful hero, and as such, it's his responsibility to care for his classmates. He was selected to represent them all, a show of trust from his classmates, therefore he will set an example for his peers to follow. He promises to uphold the rules and the honor that comes with them.

Which is why the Mafia Game rubs him the wrong way.

It's not that he's questioning Yuuei's judgement; it's the most prestigious school for a reason. But in his opinion, this exercise is only damaging their future careers as heroes.

From his perspective, it seems like it will only encourage villainous acts, and that's the last thing they want. Why make a future hero impersonate a villain? Why make a future hero enact villainous behavior? Why make future heroes lie to their friends? Iida has a sinking suspicion friendships will never feel the same after this.

They're training to become pro-heroes in the future. Iida simply doesn't see how playing the villain will benefit them. To be fair, he doesn't know exactly what the mafia does, not being in it himself, so perhaps it does teach them something other than the harsh reality that comes with suspecting all their friends.

Clearly the Mafia Game must further their careers in some way, right? Perhaps it's like the Heroes versus Villains games they've done before, only on a much larger scale. In that case, the mafia is being used to teach the heroes how to identify underground networks. The exercise will also teach them to distinguish lies from people they trust. Certainly, if they can't notice cues from their friends, they won't be able to from a villain.

That must be it. In that case, Iida feels bad for the mafia. It's a shame they're being used to better the hero side, but it's necessary to their development. Perhaps the mafia will get something out of this as well. What that something is, he doesn't know, nor is he sure he wants to find out.

Iida decides to be excited for the game. He lives and breathes rules and order, which will make it easy for him to find those who disrupt it!

Iida, without a doubt, believes they can catch the Kingpin! And as a hero in training, he will be sure to help in any way he can!

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[7:00]

Izuku knows that if he wants to get started, he needs to get started early.

Most of his class are early risers, him included, so seeing him awake and eating breakfast at seven in the morning isn't out of the ordinary. Satou is in the kitchen, making some sort of meal. Izuku isn't sure what it is, but it looks and smells delicious, plus it's Satou making it, which guarantees it's good quality. Kacchan has already gone out for a run, and Iida is in the common room reading a book. The rest of his classmates will be starting to awaken, and Izuku really wants to get to Yuuei before any of them do.

Iida is his biggest problem. He's insistent on being punctual, which usually means arriving at the classroom a good half an hour before class starts. Sometimes, he arrives earlier. While Izuku isn't worried about Iida seeing him enter Yuuei, he is worried about the class rep catching him leaving. It'll be difficult to time, but it's possible.

"Excited?" Satou asks, sitting down beside Izuku at the table. Izuku swallows a bite of cereal.

"Excited for...?"

"The game."

"Oh." He stirs his spoon around his bowl. "I guess. I don't... I don't want our classmates to have to lie to each other."

Which is true; Izuku knows he'll have to recruit from his class, and the thought of being the reason they lose friendships is a lot to bear. Hopefully everyone will understand that this is ultimately a game, and they won't kick the mafia out of their friendgroups.

Satou nods, dousing his homemade pancakes in sugary syrup. "Me neither. I can't imagine how the Kingpin must feel, having to lie to everyone."

Oh, he has no idea.

It kept Izuku up at night. He'd been just about to fall asleep when he realized he'll have to deceive all of his classmates, all of his friends. He'll have to look Uraraka in the eyes and tell her he's not a villain. He'll have to walk beside Iida, knowing they'll probably end up fighting. He'll have to stand beside Todoroki and act like Todoroki isn't chasing him around.

Because of course Izuku has to be friends with his class's police officer. Nezu is a cunning little bitch.

Izuku walks over to the sink, washing out his dish and utensils, ignoring the fact that he will be straight up lying for an entire month and forcing others to do it as well. Once he dries his bowl and puts it back in the cupboard, he walks over to the door, shoes already tied to his feet. Luckily for Izuku, he has a routine of going for a morning run, so him slipping out the door isn't an uncommon sight.

But Izuku doesn't start jogging along the trail. Instead, he turns and heads for Yuuei.

The building isn't that far away, so he still gets a run in, but not as much as he would have liked. Oh well; he'll have to sacrifice a bit of exercise now and work harder later.

Pulling out his I.D, Izuku steps through the gate and walks into Yuuei. Noting that the only person watching him is Nezu (if the cameras are anything to go by), Izuku makes his way to his destination.

It's a bit hard to find, considering he doesn't exactly visit often, but he eventually locates the room after wandering in a general direction for a few minutes. He knocks on the door, knowing the person inside is used to people throwing the door open.

It takes about two seconds for Hatsume Mei to open the door. "Ah, Mid-"

He puts a finger to his lips and gestures for her to step outside the classroom. She complies, yelling to Powerloader that she's going to the bathroom and shutting the door.

Izuku glances around, straining his ears to listen for other people. Aizawa has been putting them through a lot of sensual awareness classes, and Izuku trusts that it's safe. Or at least, safe enough.

"What's up?" Hatsume asks, leaning against the wall. Her posture seems casual, but her eyes scream mania.

"I need to talk to you," Izuku says. "But... not here. Do you think you can distract Powerloader for a bit? Make an explosion in another room or something?"

Hatsume perks up, interested. "An explosion? I can do that! But," she tilts her head, "why can't we just talk here? If you need support gear, you can just ask."

Izuku shakes his head. "You'll find out if you can make the explosion."

Hatsume shrugs, and she pulls a detonator from her pocket, as if she's prepared for this exact situation. When she pushes the button, he hears a bang come from the support testing lab. Hatsume bounces on her toes. "Done! We should hide, though."

She grabs his arm and dashes to the end of the hallway, practically throwing Izuku around the corner. She's just in time too, as Powerloader stumbles out of the lab a second later, mumbling about problem children as he heads to the ruckus.

Hatsume flashes him a crazed grin, and she once again grabs his arm, this time running to the lab. Izuku learns from last time and sprints to keep up with her.

Hatsume throws open the door, pushing Izuku inside. She then calmly walks in and quietly closes the door behind them.

And then she immediately pounces on him.

"So, what is it you need? Why can't Powerloader know? Do I get to make more babies?"

Izuku waves his hands. "Slow down!"

Hatsume clamps her mouth shut, but by the growing smile and barely restrained energy, he can tell her patience won't last long.

To be honest, he has no idea how to go about this. It's not like he can just blurt out 'I'm the Kingpin and you're in the mafia now! Congrats!' No, he needs to play his cards right. He needs a logical argument, one that gives Hatsume a reason to join him, showing her the benefits he can provid—

"I'm recruiting you into the mafia."

"Okay!"

Oh. Apparently he can just blurt it out.

His shoulders sag as he noticeably deflates. "Oh. I thought that was going to be a lot harder."

"Nah," Hatsume says, waving a hand. "This'll be fun! We'll get to make a bunch of babies together!"

Izuku tries (and fails) to not blush at her wording. "Okay... I-I have a bunch of small ideas, but I need to work on making them bigger. Think you can help?"

"Duh! What do you have in mind?"

When Izuku shares his plans, Hatsume grins, teeth showing and a wild look in her eyes, and Izuku knows he's made the right choice.

And just like that, the first member of the mafia is recruited.

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[8:40]

The air in 1-A is tense when Todoroki steps through the door.

It's a stark contrast to yesterday. A few people are mingling and chatting quietly, but he sees the way everyone stiffly side eyes each other. Right now, anyone but Kendou and him are suspects, and they need to act fast.

The sooner they catch the Kingpin, the better. When reviewing the rulebook, Todoroki realized that by the end of week two, catching the mafia will be a lot tougher. Sure, identifying a member or two might be easier with more people to suspect, but it'll be challenging to end the game. The best course of action is to catch the Kingpin before they can recruit more than two members.

Though, he supposes, he doesn't know how fast the Kingpin will act. The first member gets recruited today, but he has no clue if the Kingpin has already made a move, so Todoroki needs to remain vigilant.

Uraraka and Midoriya are late, per usual, so Todoroki heads over to Iida. The class rep seems to be reviewing notes from yesterday, but he peeks up and sits straight when Todoroki comes into view.

"Todoroki! Good morning!" Iida says, chopping his hands in the air. "I hope you're prepared to catch the Kingpin!"

"Yeah," Todoroki says, leaning on an empty desk. "I've read the rulebook."

"That's good! I read my rulebook as well, but I suppose yours has more information."

"Probably."

"Shut the fuck up!" Bakugou yells, even though he's on the opposite side of the room and the two are conversing at a normal volume.

Todoroki levels him with a glare. "You're just mad because you weren't chosen as police."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Todoroki turns back to Iida, ignoring Bakugou's shouts in the background. He's about to end the conversation when he remembers the reason he was chosen. Sure, he's gotten a lot better at asking others for assistance, but if cooperation was the reason he was appointed, Todoroki should at least honor the teachers and work on improving. "Any ideas as to how I should catch the Kingpin?"

"Only about half of our class is here, so when everyone arrives, look for people acting suspicious."

"What qualifies as suspicious?"

"Anything that doesn't fit their usual character!"

Todoroki hums. Iida and Bakugou are probably out then. Iida doesn't seem nervous to be speaking to Todoroki, and he can't see any reason for Bakugou to be chosen as the Kingpin.

"I'm going to wait for everyone else to arrive," Todoroki says, and Iida nods. He heads to his desk and sits down, tapping his fingers against the desk. Class starts soon, so his classmates should begin to arrive.

Uraraka is the first of his friend group to show up, and she smiles and waves at Todoroki, Iida, and Asui before walking to her desk. She eyes the people around her, keeping people she doesn't know well on her radar.

Midoriya enters next. His hair is slightly sweaty, which Todoroki supposes is from his morning run. His tie is still messed up, his smile is still shy, and he looks around at his classmates as he makes for his desk. Neither Midoriya nor Uraraka act out of the ordinary, except for glancing around the room, but everyone else is doing that, so it doesn't stand out.

As others walk through the door, Todoroki evaluates them, but he doesn't find anything noteworthy. He'll have to find Kendou later and ask if she saw anything.

The bell rings, and Aizawa walks in, sleeping bag in one arm, papers in the other. The class is already quiet by the time he reaches the podium, bracing themselves for his news.

Aizawa looks around with a dead gaze. "Todoroki, stand up."

He complies, chair scratching against the ground. Aizawa looks at him. "Choose your selected officer. I don't care how you do it, just make it quick."

Todoroki thought about this the other day, but not in detail. He got distracted by the rulebook and how many words are in it. Nezu really put a lot of thought into this game.

He knows his selected will have to be someone he can work with, so he rules everyone not in the "dekusquad" out, minus Yaoyorozu. Todoroki can write off Aoyama; as... nice as the blonde is, he and Todoroki don't mesh well when it comes to working together.

Uraraka is definitely an option. Well, all of the remaining dekusquad are options. Uraraka is an all-rounder, capable of strength, smarts, and leadership. She hasn't been acting suspiciously, she's already showing signs of suspecting their classmates, but that's where a problem comes in.

Uraraka has side-eyed other people, but she hasn't looked at any of her friends. As hard as it is, she needs to keep an eye on the people she trusts.

Iida knows the rules inside and out, and having the class rep on his side would be excellent. Iida can sniff out rule-breakers like a dog can sniff out food. However, he's a bit too stiff, and Todoroki doubts he'll be able to catch underhanded tactics the mafia uses.

Asui and Yaoyorozu are quite similar. They're both smart, they're both strong, and both of them can execute plans. Asui won't have the weakness of doubting their classmates, but can he work well with her? Have they ever worked together before? Does he want to put Yaoyorozu on the back burner when she's been working on being a leader?

And that leaves one option, and even without the process of elimination, Todoroki reasons it's the best one.

"For my selected officer... I'll choose Midoriya."

Midoriya's head shoots up.

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[8:45]

What the fuck.

There's no way. There's no fucking way. Out of all the people Todoroki could've chosen, why did he choose Izuku? How did he choose Izuku? How did he manage to choose the one student who happens to be the Kingpin?

Is this even allowed? Didn't Nezu say police officers can't be recruited? Izuku literally cannot be a police officer, but what's he supposed to say? He can't just deny the position; that would give away his identity! He needs an excuse, and fast...

Wait.

Wait, wait, wait.

"The appointed police officers cannot be the Kingpin, nor can they be recruited into the mafia. They are the only people safe from the mafia.

Tomorrow, the appointed police officers will choose a selected police officer. The selected officer will be one other person from their class. Choose wisely. The selected officer cannot be recruited into the mafia, either."

Holy shit.

Sure, selected police officers can't be recruited into the mafia...

But Nezu never said they can't be the Kingpin.

That explains everything! The weird wording, the fact that only appointed officers were described as safe, how appointed officers are chosen before the game starts and selected officers aren't. Nezu was right; Todoroki needs to choose wisely.

And Todoroki has chosen the wisest possible move, because he just handed Izuku his ticket to win.

Izuku already had plans to gain some control over the police, but that would be later in the game. It would be impossible to gain a spy, so one of his biggest weaknesses would be not knowing what the police are planning.

But now... now not only does he have inside knowledge, he can fuck with said knowledge. He can steer them away from guessing his members. He can drive suspicion away from himself, not to mention how much easier it'll be to pull of plans. Holy fucking shit.

Todoroki just gave him the best opportunity.

And Izuku would be damned if he didn't take it.

"Wh-why me?" Izuku asks, twisting in his seat to look at Todoroki. "Surely there's people m-more suited to—"

Todoroki holds up a hand. "The selected officers needs to be someone I can work with. We've worked together and we can work together, which automatically puts you high up on my list. Secondly, you helped take down the Shie Hassaikai, so you already have experience with organizations similar to mafias. Plus, you're very heroic, and I don't want the mafia to get their hands on you."

Izuku can't help but blush at the praise, To be fair, a lot of Todoroki's reasoning makes sense. As their class's appointed officer, Todoroki needs to work at his best, which means having a capable partner who can keep up with him. They've worked together before, so it's not far off to assume they'll be a compatible combination.

Plus, Todoroki is right about the Shie Hassaikai, but for the... wrong reasons. Sure, it gave Izuku experience with mafias, but that only makes him stronger as Kingpin.

As for the mafia getting their hands on him...

Izuku almost laughs out loud, instead beaming brightly to cover it up. "I-in that case, I accept!"

The police don't stand a chance. Not when they're under the mafia's control from the start.

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[10:40]

Izuku has to physically restrain himself from bursting into Nezu's office.

Stopping himself from muttering or bouncing in his seat was a meticulous task, but one he doesn't think he failed. When Uraraka had seen his knee bouncing, she'd given him a cute smile, and Izuku had sheepishly looked back, letting her chalk it up to excitement to be a police officer. Iida had approached Izuku and asked him to join the so called "dekusquad" for free period, but Izuku gave the excuse that Nezu had called him into his office to discuss the police rules.

Nezu hadn't called him, but Iida didn't need to know that.

Being shooed away as to not keep the principal waiting, Izuku tried very hard not to dash through the hallways, keeping a brisk speed-walk that probably looked ridiculous to anyone watching.

Which brings him to now, where the door swings open to reveal a cackling Nezu. "Come in."

Izuku lets a toothy smile show, and he closes the door behind him and then throws himself at the couch.

"Did you hea—"

"I did," Nezu covers his mouth with a paw, clearly trying not to laugh. "This has never happened before."

"But it's not against the rules," Izuku enthusiastically points out.

"No, it's not." Nezu shoots Izuku a knowing look. "I'll have to call in Yanagi since you told Iida I am meeting the selected officers."

Yanagi, huh? Nezu seems to imply she's 1-B's selected officer, which is a fantastic choice on Kendou's part. Yanagi is quiet and observant, as well as intelligent, and it's great for Izuku because he wasn't planning on recruiting her. Not that that's an insult to her, of course. He doesn't have a fixed lineup yet; she just wasn't on his radar.

"S-sorry," he says, rubbing the back of his neck. He does that a lot, apparently. "T-that must be a waste of your time and I caused it—"

"Nonsense," Nezu says, holding up a hand and flashing Izuku a smile. "I have plenty of time. Now, I must give you a police rulebook."

Izuku grins, and Nezu sets a blue rulebook with the words 'Police : The Mafia Game Rulebook' printed on the cover. "Here's all the rules for the police, as well as how the police win. I'm sure you'll use them wisely."

He can't stop the smile that spreads on his face, despite the fact that his cheeks hurt. "This is going to be so much fun."

Nezu chuckles. "I'm looking forward to watching it. This year is already proving to be far more interesting than years past."

Izuku looks up at Nezu. "Speaking of which... if you don't mind me asking- which it's okay if you do!- when was the game last played?"

Nezu leans back in his chair. "It would've been when your teacher was in his second year... so about fifteen years ago."

That's... that's a really long time. That certainly explains why the older students wouldn't know of the game, but then... why revamp it for them? Why the first years specifically? Does it have something to do with the villain attacks? Maybe they wanted to provide a safe, indoor activity, so Yuuei can test the students within the walls, while also playing a game.

"That's almost spot-on," Nezu comments, and Izuku realizes he's been mumbling aloud. He blushes and has to press his hand into his leg to not scratch his neck. "The second reason was so you could see into the mind of a villain. With all these attacks, knowing how a villain thinks could make them easier to take down."

"Is that why I was chosen?" Izuku whispers, fiddling with his sleeve. "Because I'm..."

"All Might's successor, yes, I know. It's because you have a heart of gold," Nezu smiles sadistically, "and I wanted to see how much you'd be willing to twist it."

Izuku hums and acts nonchalant to hide the shiver going down his spine, back hitting the couch. "I hope my friends don't hate me too much after this. Especially Todoroki. I'm gonna have to lie to his face!"

"I'm sure you'll manage." Nezu hops down from his desk chair, returning to a back counter and beginning to brew tea. "Take a moment to review the rulebook while the tea brews."

And Izuku does as he's told, skimming through the contents of the book. Much of what's in the book are things he already knows. The police win if they either catch all the minion members, catch three out of the four Inner Circle, or catch the Kingpin. They can also win if they successfully guess either the entire Inner Circle or the Kingpin.

To combat this, he's going to have to get a mask made, which won't be a problem with Hatsume on his side. What will be a problem is if he ever faces the heroes, his quirk produces very obvious green lightning. That means he'll either have to revert back to the old way of using One For All (aka channeling it all into one part of his body and breaking all his bones), or he'll have to fight quirkless.

He could stage a fake Kingpin, but that means he'll have to be seen and known as the Kingpin. His costume and mask will have to differ from everyone else's, and it will have to have recognizable features. That also means he'll have to interact with people, which puts either him or whoever the fake is in danger.

Either that or he fights quirkless, which isn't a problem in of itself. His quirk is mainly an enhancer, so he can fight without it, he just won't pack as much of a punch. But against someone like Todoroki, or Kaachan, or Uraraka, or really anyone... that's a huge issue.

...

Unless...

But no... he couldn't. Could he?

"You know how the Kingpin book has a bunch of can and can'ts?"

Nezu hums.

"Are they the exact same in this book?"

"All the general things are. Anything related to the mafia and their objectives directly isn't."

"So weapons are the same?"

"Yep."

Izuku finds the table of contents, then locates the page number for weapons. Flipping through the book, he hardly notices when Nezu places two teacups down on the table. Izuku skims to find the section he wants, and he reads intently.

Is it allowed? Can he do this plan? He's not quite sure if the wording lets it, but he doesn't want to ask Nezu, either. Some of the game has to remain a surprise. It is ultimately entertainment for the rat, after all.

Izuku reads the sentence. Then he reads before it. Then he reads after it. Then he re-reads it.

He thinks he can do it. It'll bend the rules so much they'll probably snap, and he's not even sure if it can be made... but he won't rule it out yet.

It'll take out two objectives for sure. As he thinks more on it, the plan starts to fall into place, and Izuku realizes that should he pull this off, he'll most likely clear enough objectives to pass the game with one plan.

But can he do it is the question.

And he doesn't mean legally. He means can he physically pull this off? Can he really do this to his classmates, his friends?

"I can tell you're lost in thought. Care to elaborate?"

"I... I think I should talk to LiveWire first," Izuku says, snapping the book shut. "Is it okay if I leave the tea?"

"Take it with you," Nezu says, waving him off. "Then you can drink the tea, and you have an excuse to come back later."

"Thank you." Izuku slips the book under his armpit and gathers the teacup, bowing to the principal.

The more Izuku thinks about the plan, the more he simultaneously feels more guilty and more elated.

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[12:30]

"Guess what," Izuku says, throwing the door to the support lab open and striding in with a grin maniacal enough to rival Shigaraki.

"What?"

Izuku walks over to her, a crazed smirk on his lips.

"Todoroki chose me as 1-A's selected police officer."

Hatsume almost drops her tool.

Wide eyed, she turns to Izuku, jaw practically on the floor.

"No way."

He smiles. "Yes way."

Hatsume's own grin starts to appear. "No way."

"Yes way."

"No wa—" She's interrupted by a giggle, and they share a look before erupting into laughter, the two of them doubling over. Izuku clutches the table to keep from falling, and Hatsume curls into a ball on the floor, laughing so hard it sounds more like she's choking.

"Th— that— I can't belie— I can't," Hatsume says, holding her stomach as she rolls on the floor. "This is amazing!"

"I know!" Izuku exclaims, beaming at the pink heap on the floor. "Out of... all the people—" He bursts into laughter again, unable to keep himself from collapsing on the ground

Hatsume snorts, and the two cut off all sound as they look at each other with wide eyes, and then they're rolling on the floor again, and Izuku finds that the air is stolen from his lungs and he doesn't care, he doesn't care because all he can hear is Hatsume's laughter and his laughter and the ground is cold and this is the lightest he's felt in months.

This is the lightest he's ever felt, actually.

At some point, their giggling starts to die down, and the fact that they're sitting on the floor, Hatsume holding the table leg and Izuku pressing his hands to the ground, is so funny he nearly starts laughing again. But Hatsume sends him a happy grin, a stark contrast to her usual mad scientist look, and Izuku can't help but return it shyly.

"So, did you get the card?"

"Yeah," Izuku replies, fishing Nezu's keycard out of his pocket. There was a reason he needed to visit the principal, after all.

He had talked to Hatsume about it earlier that day. Nezu had explicitly told Izuku he has cameras, and when Izuku looked for them, he could spot them all over the school. It's not surprising, and he doesn't feel violated or anything, but he knows that gaining access to them would change the game. Not only would they gain eyes all over the school, but they could change footage so the heroes can't use the cameras.

Which is exactly why when Nezu wasn't looking, Izuku swiped the keycard Hatsume had told him to get off of Nezu's desk.

According to Hatsume, who had asked Powerloader, Nezu has a keycard that both accesses the electricity unit and has the passcode for the cameras. There will probably be other security measures, but Hatsume is confident she can break past them, and is also sure Nezu will allow her to.

Plus, if Nezu has motion sensors and an alert system like Izuku suspects he does, hopefully Hatsume will be able to both replicate them for their needs and manipulate them against the heroes.

"I'm not sure how long we have until he notices, so work quickly."

"I always work quickly," Hatsume says, shooting him a wink as she stands up. She offers a hand to Izuku, and he takes it, and Hatsume hauls him to his feet with surprising strength.

"I actually came up with an idea," Izuku says, as Hatsume starts fiddling with the card, abandoning whatever project she was working on before.

"Oh?"

Izuku sighs, leaning his elbows against the table. "It'll take a lot of time and effort to pull off. I'm not sure if it's worth it, either."

"Which objective is it for?"

"If it goes right, it'll take out four, maybe five of them."

Hatsume stops tinkering for a split second, but she soon starts up again. "So you're going for a perfect score then."

"I mean, I'll try. I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off."

"Well, you don't have to pull off anything. If your plan takes so much time, you'll have plenty of members to help you."

"True."

"Then what's stopping you?"

Izuku rests his cheek on his hand, lazily dragging his finger in a pattern. "I don't know whether it's going too far or not."

"Tell me about it, and I'll help you judge. I'm Inner Circle after all, this is the whole point of my job."

And so Izuku spills his plans, and Hatsume almost whacks him atop the head for even thinking about that, but then she realizes she'll get to make so many babies, and she thinks better of it.

The police better be glad Izuku isn't an actual villain.

Though, with this plan... he seems to be pretty darn close to one.

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[13:20]

Hatsume won't admit it, but she was secretly hoping the Kingpin would recruit her.

She didn't know who the Kingpin was, but she hoped they knew about her. Her name had spread throughout Yuuei, so it was likely they would approach her at some point, whether it was then or the last day of the month.

Oh, just thinking about all the babies she could make for the mafia was exciting! There were so many options, and without the restraints of being a "good citizen" and "not a danger to society," Hatsume could pull almost anything off.

So when Izuku Midoriya showed up at her door early in the morning, long before class starts, asking to distract Powerloader so he could speak with her, Hatsume had high hopes. It was too coincidental to not be what she thought it was.

Which was why she immediately produced a detonator from her pocket and blew up the testing room. She'd originally prepared the explosives in the event of a villain break-in, but this worked too! She could rewire them again afterwards, anyways.

Once Powerloader had left, grumbling about, "Bathroom my ass," they were alone in the support lab, and Hatsume couldn't stop the anticipation from making her bounce in place. Whether Midoriya ended up being the Kingpin, or he was just there for gear, Hatsume would be happy regardless.

Midoriya seemed to be nervous, his feet shifting back and forth, and Hatsume was about to tell him to spit it out when Midoriya plainly said, "I'm recruiting you into the mafia."

YES! "Okay!"

Midoriya slumped, as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Oh. I thought that was going to be a lot harder."

Hatsume waved a hand, as if she wasn't elated that he ended up being the Kingpin. "Nah. This'll be fun! We'll get to make a bunch of babies together!"

Midoriya went red, and Hatsume almost laughed. One of the big reasons she called her inventions 'babies' (other than the fact that they were her children and she treated them as such) was to see the look on people's faces. "Okay... I-I have a bunch of small ideas, but I need to work on making them bigger. Think you can help?"

She nearly jumped up and down. "Duh! What do you have in mind?"

They spent the rest of the time before Midoriya's class chatting. She could confidently say that when they sat at one of the tables as Hatsume tinkered and Midoriya spoke, Hatsume was not expecting any of that to come out of Midoriya's mouth. The boy seemed way too shy and way too innocent to even know what some of those things were, but despite all that, Hatsume couldn't hold back the enormous grin spreading across her face.

And just like that, LiveWire was born.

She sent Midoriya off with her phone number and a new mission: find out how Nezu's cameras work. It's a project she'd wanted to fufill for ages, but she never had time. However, Midoriya provided her the perfect excuse to do so.

And so, when Powerloader walked back into the room, covered in soot and paint, Hatsume tried to play off the question about Nezu's cameras.

"Nezu's cameras?" Powerloader questioned, still trying to clean the bright pink goo off of his costume. "Why do you want to know?"

"I was thinking about making some cameras," Hatsume said, currently engrossed in upgrading her Power Suit. "I want to make small, almost invisible ones for the hero students to attach to their costumes, and Nezu's cameras are near impossible to see!"

Powerloader hummed. "That's a good idea, actually. It would be a quick and easy way to convict villains."

Okay, she got it, she was a brilliant inventor with even more brilliant ideas. Could he get to the point already? "So how do they work?"

"I think Nezu has a keycard with a passcode," Powerloader responded. "There's a sort of kill-switch should someone hack into Yuuei, and Nezu's keycard accesses it. I don't know much else about them though, other than the keycard is yellow and the cameras aren't in the bathrooms or student's bedrooms."

Hatsume sighed, pretending the information wasn't exactly what she needed. "I'll figure something else out then."

During free period, Hatsume unlocked her phone, shooting a text off to Midoriya. She also did some research on cameras. Just because she had tried to get information for Midoriya doesn't mean her on the fly idea was bad!

She didn't hear back until Midoriya kicked down the door with a maniacal grin, and for a second, Hatsume thought Nezu had corrupted him. Then Midoriya told of what happened during class, and Hatsume couldn't hold back.

She laughed.

Somehow, the two of them ended up on the floor, Midoriya red faced and teary, and Hatsume grabbing a table leg in an attempt to steady herself. At some point, Hatsume was aware she couldn't even hear their laughter anymore, but she didn't really care.

Huh. She thought inventions were the only thing that could make her laugh for a long time. Hatsume didn't think she'd ever laughed like that. The only time she'd ever cackled was when an invention went either completely right or horribly wrong.

Whatever happened with Midoriya... that was a lot more fun.

Which brings her to now, where she's still half tempted to slam Midoriya's head into the table, even though it's been hours since the boy left the room. She thought his earlier plans were bad, but this is a whole new level.

She likes it.

The baby she'll have to make is something she's never tried before. She's never attempted to make a device designed to go against the exact thing it was made for. It'll certainly be a challenge, one she's never had before, and Hatsume's fingers itch to get to work.

If there's one thing she's learning from the Mafia Game, it's that patience is a virtue.

And so, barely, but she does, Hatsume represses the urge to start on the tech, and instead returns to her current job: hacking through Nezu's defenses.

The principal is extremely clever, so once she's in, she's not sure whether she'll be kicked out or not, but it's worth a shot. At least she knows he won't be able to shut the cameras down, not while the card is in her possession. Having access to the cameras will be a huge advantage. And when she says huge, she means huge. There's so many benefits to the cameras, Hatsume can't even begin to list them off.

Midoriya has impressed her multiple times throughout the day, and they're only halfway through day one! Which is why she shoves the mental blueprints down into her mind and focuses on the task at hand, no matter how much she wants to be a loose canon and do whatever she wants.

The Kingpin is counting on her after all, and she'll be damned if she fails her boss.

[NOVEMBER 1ST - DAY ONE]

[16:30]

Izuku waits until the end of the day to return to Nezu.

He had finished the tea after he'd left the office and held onto the teacup until he had a chance to return it. At lunch, he needed to speak to Hatsume, so the end of the day was the next best thing. It meant ushering his friends to go without him and walking to Heights Alliance alone, but it was worth it.

After all, Plan Nine has already started.

To his surprise, the door doesn't open before he can knock, or even after he does. However, it's unlocked, so Izuku twists the knob and heads inside.

The office is empty, but he can tell Nezu left only a few minutes ago, likely for a staff meeting or something. He has no clue what the principal does in his spare time. And with no time to waste, Izuku places both the keycard and the teacup on the principal's desk, before sprinting out the door.

If it means catching up to his friends, Izuku will look weird on Nezu's cameras all he wants.

*I JUST REALIZED I SHOULD BE CALLING THEM DETECTIVES NOT POLICE OFFICERS HDHEHTBTBT

*WAIT THEN IT COULDVE BEEN THE APPOINTED AND SELECTED DETECTIVES AND EVERYONE ELSE ARE POLICE OFFICERS FUCKKKKKKKK MISSED OPPORTUNITIESSSSS

*tbh i forgot detectives exist BENNFNF

*take a shot everytime i say "after all"

*as for why izuku gets called izuku when it's his pov and mei gets called hatsume when it's her pov, i'm just calling them whatever i refer to them in my head as, which is usually what's more identifiable to me

*dude this past week went by like SUPER SLOW i WANTED TO UPDATE SO BAD but i can't write chapters at a speed faster than once a week so we're sticking with once a week rn. luckily my school is going all virtual for at least the first semester so it should be fine when school starts again too

*idk why you can't respond to reviews so i'm gonna do it here

GUESTS :

ultimately, it's the mafia vs the school, but loopholes with that will be exploited later.

if day one is a sunday, then he'd recruit sunday, tuesday, thursday, and saturday.

theoretically if izuku recruited someone and then they were chosen as police, it would've been allowed bc he recruited them BEFORE they were chosen, but that doesn't rly matter now HJDJDJF.

i have the first five chapters written (so three more after this) so updates weekly for now? i wanted to have more prewritten but liFE got in my way so i can't update as often as i want to

XXXMR. DARKNESSXXX

as much as i hate to dumb todoroki down, i kinda have to. though i think by choosing izuku as his partner, todoroki automatically suspects him less, plus todoroki hasn't realized the loophole about selected officers being in the mafia yet. he thinks all police can't be in the mafia.

TACITAMURA

LMAO YOU CALLED IT HAHAHAHHA WHEN I SAW YOUR REVIEW I BURST OUT LAUGHING.

EMPTYSPOT

YOIHINO

if only canon showed off analytical midoriya more.

DIASPARED

HAHAHAHA TRUE

BATMAN1998

LMAO HOW DID YOU CALL BOTH also yeah momo is pretty cool ykyk.

KASIMROX

the codenames aren't used too often until the end, but yeah i can list them out if that's easier!

FI . ROFFAN (it't not letting me type your name for some reason?)

HDJDJFJNF REALLY I DIDNT REALLY RESEARCH (i mean i did but i didn't research that specifically) so it's cool that it worked out like that!

KARA TOMA

yeah hm i wonder what happens if they are in the mafia from the beginning hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

the mafia doesn't "kill" a person everyday, there's other objectives instead (and it's not daily. this is based off the mafia game, but it's not like,,,,, the actual game HSNSHSBWHD).

the plan is 38 chapters right now bc some of the days are split into multiple parts, but that number might change depending how much i actually end up writing.