The story about Mei and Shinso made the rounds around the school's gossip chain, and Momo got some weird looks. 

Shine even heard about it when she was in the teachers' lounge. Power Loader had mentioned it, but she didn't know the details. Wally heard it from Gen Ed students when he was helping a few of them move chairs back in place before a teacher could catch them. 

Of course they wanted to get the real story from Momo, and, after, she told them. She mentioned also that Shinso seemed to think it wasn't the best PR to do what she did.

"I see where he's coming from," Shine said, "but if he praised you, he really meant it. He doesn't like too many heroes."

"Isn't that ironic?" Wally said, munching on an apple.

"I was very flattered, but I don't understand still," Momo said.

"Don't understand what?" Todoroki joined a little late, carrying a book.

"Why hero students associating with non-hero students is such a taboo," Shine said, gesturing flippantly.

Todoroki sat down. "I thought it was just because they weren't in our class. Most people only hang out with their class."

"That is true," Shine admitted, "but you're talking to a homeschooler. The idea of sorting into classes was always really weird to me. I never had a class like that, except in Sunday school. And I always had friends who were either much older or much younger than me. Homeschooling is more like the real world outside school: age doesn't matter that much as long as you have common ground."

"I'd think, then, it won't matter once we leave school," Todoroki shrugged.

"A lot of my training was outside of school," Momo said, "so what you're saying makes sense to me. Is it really odd to hang out with people outside of your class? Kendo and I hang out sometimes."

"Ah, but you're both heroes," Wally said, "Didn't you ever notice how much Gen Ed hates hero students?"

"What?" Momo and Todoroki said.

"You really don't know this?" Wally said, between bites, "They talk about it all the time. You know, like annoyances they have to deal with. They complain about the Sports Festival and funding-- you should see the budget for Gen Ed compared to the Hero Course. If you don't have a Batman, it's just not so simple. And Insurance is the worse."

"Why would they resent that?" Todoroki was mad. "It's only natural the budget would go to the Hero Course. We have a lot of expensive training, and it's a hero school. I don't even know why they have a Gen Ed course."

"Yes, they really shouldn't. A complete waste of effort," Shine agreed.

"But they hate us?" Momo said, "I mean, I know some of them do... but I thought after the School Festival, it got better."

"I don't know if flexing your band skills on the whole school is really a realistic way to smooth things over," Shine said, "Some people don't even want to come, because they think they know what to expect. But it's not that big of a deal, is it?"

"But we do need people to like us." Momo was a bit discouraged. "Shinso was right."

Wally slapped his forehead. "It's never any different, is it, Sunshine? Public favor is such a doubled edged sword."

"Wally has the best PR of anyone," Shine said, "but he still has haters. I hate PR. I prefer to work anonymously."

"Like Aizawa-sensei," Todoroki said.

"Mmmhmm."

"Still, I wish we could make amends with the Gen Ed," Momo said, "I wonder if it was Bakugo's poorly thought out remarks."

"Oh, I remember those," Shine said, "That was actually pretty funny."

"Funny?" Todoroki said, "What he said was really disrespectful."

"Well, uh, in his defense, that would have been regular smack talk in many American sports..." Shine said, "I wonder if he's into pro-wrestling..."

"It's not that," Wally said, grabbing another apple, "They hate you anyway. I don't even think it's really personal-- they just don't like that the hero course is promoted, and the school uses them to make you look good. I agree it's pretty sick. I wouldn't like it." 

"I noticed a lot of tension there," Shine remarked.

"But I'm proud of you, Peaches." Wally gave Momo a thumbs up. "You didn't let all that stupidity stop you. I bet you made Hatsumei's day."

"I really... don't know," Momo said. 

"There's kind of a class system in classes. Go figure," Shine used her hands to illustrate like she was drawing on a whiteboard. "The top tier is hero students, then next is support, because at least they make cool gadgets. And then Business is probably third, because at least they invest in heroes, and then last of all is Gen Ed, because who really gives a crap about them when they aren't involved in heroes at all? Being Gen Ed is being a loser at this school. And when people are shoved into the bottom tier, they develop a certain mindset as a defense mechanism. They start to hate the people over them. If they can't blame the school, they blame the students, because you always strike at the person who's more in reach. They start to hate anything that is the 'other'. I'm sure there's a name for it. C. S. Lewis called it the 'Inner Ring.' Some people are proud of being higher than everyone else, others are proud of being lower, because they don't want that crap anyway. Fox and the grapes fable... Sorry, am I over-explaining?"

"Usually, yes," Todoroki said, rather unnecessarily. 

Shine gave him a look. "You could have said that in a nicer way."

"Oh... sorry..."

"I think I get it now," Momo said a bit sadly. "That's kind of frustrating though."

"You think that's bad, you should try going to certain sections of the city sometimes," Shine said casually sipping her drink.

"Which ones?" Todoroki said.

Shine almost choked on it. "Oh... uh... I actually don't know, really. Portaling is funny like that."

"You're portaling to random places, not knowing where they are? Miss Likstar, that is dangerous. You shouldn't be doing that!" Todoroki began.

"What's up, losers?" Bakugo joined them.

"You're late," Shine said.

"I'm not freaking late. You said after we were done training," Bakugo said.

"And you just got done?" Shine said.

"Duh," Bakugo said.

"You know, you train too much," Wally said.

"Piss off, clown!" Bakugo said.

"So why are both of you here?" Momo asked, "Are we learning something new today?"

"Ah, well, Wally and I are a team," Shine said, "but no, nothing new today. Let's just do something fun."

"What? Fun?" Todoroki said, like it was a bad word, "What about learning?"

"I think Momo taught us a lot already," Shine said, "and no one said it always had to be us bringing up all the good points. Let's not push it, okay? You have regular work to do too. We should play a game."

"I'm not freaking playing a game," Bakugo said.

"That's what I thought you'd say," Shine said, "and, it's fine, but, do you have to tell us that so vehemently every time? I mean, we get it. You hate socializing."

"I... don't know if we should spend our time doing that before we're done with homework..." Momo said. 

"Wait, what did Ponytail teach us anyway?" Bakugo said.

"Ah, well, maybe if you'd been on time, you would have known," Shine said, "but there's no make-ups for these sessions. We don't have time for repeats. Of course, perhaps if you played a game with us, we might go over it further, and you could be somewhat in the loop. But, hey, that's just a thought."

Todoroki began to think it might be amusing to participate in this. "I guess a short game would be all right. Just for a few minutes."

In the end all of them played, and Bakugo stayed and heard at least part of the story. It was doubtful he got the point of it though. To be fair, Todoroki didn't really get it either.

***

Shine and Wally hadn't met up with Dabi in a while, and they were wondering what the League was planning on doing next. There hadn't been much in the news about them lately. With Eri doing so well, they were a little more free to come and go. So they decided to leave in the early evening while she was with Aizawa. Shine told the three heroes working with them not to look for them that evening.

"Why?" Bakugo said. 

"None of your business," Shine replied.

He couldn't get any more out of her.

Todoroki was till speculating about it. "I'm sure they're fighting crime," he expressed to the other two.

"We shouldn't mention it," Momo said, "They are trusting us."

"Yes, but I feel as though they want us to choose them over doing as our teachers would wish," Todoroki said.

"Aizawa said not to come to him without proof, and we ain't got proof," Bakugo said. 

That did seem to be the end of the matter.

Shine was in for a very alarming surprise though when she went through her portal, because on the other side she didn't just see one person.

Dabi was there, but so was a person covered in hands-- Tomura Shigaraki!

Shine never let on she was shocked. She just stood there looking at them soberly.

Dabi went from surprised to nonplussed. "Oh, great. This," he said.

"Who the h--- are you?!" Shigaraki hissed, "Dabi, who is this wench?"

"Uh..." Dabi said, "That's a little hard to answer, boss."

He didn't sound real concerned about it either.

Shine decided to do the class act. She bowed politely to Shigaraki. "You must be the leader, Shigaraki."

That was probably the first time in his life anyone ever did that to Shigaraki, and his complete shock and suspicion was palpable.

"The frick are you?" He repeated his question. "Why are you here? How did you get in?"

"Which one do you want me to answer first?" Shine asked.

"All of them!" Shigaraki said.

"I'd have to have three mouths, then, and I'm no Shoji," Shine said, "But my name is Shine Likstar, and I was here to see Dabi, and I got in using my portal, which you saw a moment ago."

Dabi glared at her. Shigaraki turned to him. Behind his hand, his eyes blazed.

"Dabi, are you conspiring with people behind my back?"

"No, boss. She's an annoyance who happens to be useful," Dabi said, "You know who she is, remember? UA's new babysitter for its precious little prick heroes."

"That woman?" Shigaraki turned back to Shine. "You are that new employee? Then you must be here to fight."

"That would be very stupid of me," Shine said, "You should try again."

Shigaraki stood up. "I'd watch your tone if I were you, friend. You could lose a limb with that tone." 

"Ooh, scary." Shine made spirit fingers, something she'd learned from a friend of hers, Shego, to be really mocking.

"Why, you--" Shigaraki began.

"Relax, boss. She's sympathetic to our cause," Dabi said casually, rubbing his knuckles on his coat.

"What? A person at UA? You've got to be joking," Shigaraki said.

"Says the man who has the mole there," Shine said, "but Dabi's sort of right. I don't like hero society very much, and Dabi and I get together to... how should I put this...?"

"B---- about it," Dabi said.

"Uh, not the word I would use but sure," Shine said, "Also, we took a tour through hell not too long ago. I've been thinking about that."

"Did the chicken pin you after that?" Dabi asked.

"He tried, but I jumped off the coop roof," Shine said. 

"Classic," Dabi said. He turned to Shigaraki. "I haven't killed her yet because she pisses off the Pros as much as we do. Remember that thing with Vlad King's class? That was her."

"That was this snip of woman?" Shigaraki said, "I expected someone a little more intimidating."

Shine's eyes glowed gold. "Looks can be misleading, Shigaraki."

Shigaraki gave a start. "What...?"

"She could be useful, couldn't she?" Dabi said.

"That remains to be seen. I don't like her showing up here," Shigaraki said.

"This isn't the base HQ, is it?" Shine looked around, "I just saw a rat."

"Perhaps we can't afford the most luxurious accommodations," Shigaraki said, "Comes of being mistreated by those pretentious Pros. You showed up uninvited too. That's just rude."

"I've heard about a time you showed up uninvited also," Shine said casually, "A couple, actually. Tried to kill some people."

"But those heroes are so annoying, they got in the way," Shigaraki said.

"Yes, it's a real shame, isn't it?" Shine's sarcasm was barely detectable, "Why can't they just let people do what they want?"

"Precisely," Shigaraki said,  "Especially All Might. All of it is his fault. With his stupid smile."

Dabi rolled his eyes. Not this kick again.

"All Might has created a bit of a black hole in the hero world," Shine said, "Though I think it's more complicated than that. I've learned a lot about UA's philosophy: the whole 'smile while you save people' thing. I don't like it very much."

"Then are you here to join our cause?" Shigaraki said, "Because you have to provide useful skills. We don't just take anyone."

"All that spying, and you don't know my skills set already?" Shine said, "You're sloppy. I already know your powers."

"Shut up, you insolent fool!" Shigaraki snapped.

Shine shrugged, then began to walk around the room, stepping over some rat droppings and broken glass. "I wanted to meet you too, but I thought it might be a bit more interesting than you boring me with details like that. At least Dabi threatened me right off and we had to fight." 

"We can do more threatening," Shigaraki said.

"That's all you do," Shine said, "You're a real pleb when it comes to intimidation. I hope you are better at planning than you are at conversation."

Dabi stifled a laugh.

"Why, yo--" Shigaraki was mad, "Who do you think you are, just coming in here and insulting me?"

"Nothing special, but why can't I insult you?" Shine replied, "Are you above criticism?"

"No one has ever criticized me and lived to tell the tale," Shigaraki said.

"That has to be a lie," Shine said, "What about..." she got a strange look, "Stain...?"

"What? Who told you about that!" Shigaraki said.

Dabi was leaning forward now too.

"I got it just now," Shine said, "You and Stain didn't get along, did you? Why does everyone think you're in cahoots with him?"

"Well, we used that to our advantage," Shigaraki said.

"Wait a minute, what?" Dabi said.

Shigaraki had forgotten Dabi did not know about this.

"It's none of you concern, Dabi. And you, b----, what are you trying to do? Cause problems in my League?"

"The fact that it was that easy really says something about the level of communication you weirdos have," Shine said, "And one of my abilities is to discern truth. The longer I hang around you, the more truth about you I tend to pick up on. Villains hate me. But so do many heroes. I'll let you be the judge of why."

"I'd like to here more about this truth," Dabi said.

"Stain and I didn't see 100% eye to eye," Shigaraki said, "but he wasn't opposed to letting the League operate. I just wanted him--" he paused, "to take us seriously," he finished.

"I see," Shine said, "Well... I totally believe you and all, but, I feel there may be more to this story. Why would Stain want to let you operate? You have no morals. You just hate heroes."

"I have convictions!" Shigaraki snapped, "Like killing All Might. Destroying hero society."

"Those are goals, not convictions," Shine corrected, maddening him further.

"Why you insolent little..." He began using words she didn't like. "You think you know so much? My conviction is that hero society needs to burn!"

"Sure it is," Shine said, "Can you tell me why you feel that?"

"Because I hate it," Shigaraki said.

"So?" Shine said.

Her casual tone was ticking him off more by the second.

"It's my right to destroy whatever I don't like!"

"Who told you that?" Shine laughed ironically.

"My master!" Shigaraki said.

"Who is that? All For One?" Shine said.

Dabi was grinning slyly behind his coat collar.

"How did you know that?" Shigaraki said.

"Call it a wild guess," Shine said. "You seem to rely on that man a lot. And is he the one who taught you that way of thinking?"

"What way? This is just how it is," Shigaraki said, "Master can do anything."

"Except not get his rear end whupped by All Might," Shine said.

That was the wrong thing to say.

Shigaraki lunged at her, hand outstretched. Dabi gave a jump like he was stunned.

But Shigaraki lacked the reflexes of a hero, and Shine had been hit by much faster people at UA. She jumped out of his way and pulled her sword out, then she knocked his arm aside with it, kicked him in the chest, and pinned him to the floor with her sword, all in a few maneuvers that proved training with Aizawa's class would teach anyone to act swiftly.

Dabi gaped. He'd never seen her fight beyond their first meeting, and this showed a vast difference in skill from that time.

Shigraki was more stunned than Dabi at finding himself so neatly pinned. He grabbed her sword blade to turn it to ash, but nothing happened to it, and he winced as if the metal hurt him to grip. "What is that? Why isn't my quirk working on you?"

"You can't decay it. It's incorruptible," Shine said, "You need to chill out, man. Perhaps I shouldn't have said that, but trying to kill me is a bit of an extreme reaction, is it not? Oh, right, destroy whatever you don't like. What a foolish thing to teach someone. What if what you don't like is stronger than you are?"

"Shut up!" Shigaraki said.

"And another thing, you're completely unteachable," Shine said, "You don't listen to people, you just lose your temper at them like a disturbed child. I take it you must have some intelligence to run this league, but I can't imagine most of the planning is your idea. You listen only to All For One, and that's no doubt how he wanted it. Well, I see. It would be hard to talk to you. Probably a thankless task. Dabi can at least banter, but you, you're incapable of seeing irony, aren't you? How dull."

"I said to shut up!" Shigaraki struggled to get free. But Shine was taller than he was and probably heavier, so he wasn't succeeding.

"I can't understand why Stain would take you seriously," she said, "but it doesn't seem you repaid that kindness at all. I'd almost prefer to talk to him. Too bad he's in prison. Where you should be."

"Why you!" Shigaraki nearly choked on rage. He started kicking at her. This finally worked. Shine backed off. Shigaraki got to his feet.

"How are you able to do that? Are you like Master?"

"Not in the least," Shine said, "and it's none of your concern, anyway. Perhaps I should just leave."

"Ah, it was just getting good," Dabi muttered.

"Now wait a minute. You don't just get to leave," Shigaraki said, "You can't do that. How do we know you won't go right to the police?"

"Would have already by now," Shine said, "and if you want me to hang around then you'll have to give me more than a temper tantrum. I came to talk philosophy and convictions, not get screamed at, you overgrown manchild."

"Self righteous snob!" Shigaraki shot back.

"Immature narcissist." Shine raised an eyebrow.

"Blind follower," Shigaraki said.

"Oh, you are the last person to talk about that," Shine said, "You and your eternal facepalm. Please."

"Are you just going to insult me all day?" Shigaraki said.

"I wish I could, but it's a waste of my time," Shine said. 

"Was... was that also an insult?" Shigaraki couldn't tell.

"I'd say so." Dabi was loving this.

"Why don't you shut up?!" Shigaraki snapped at him, "You've just let her talk this whole time and no attempt to stop her, you useless NPC."

"Perhaps he's not in an RPG," Shine said, "and he can't regenerate so easily either. Can you?"

"What?" Shigaraki said.

"I thought we were doing gaming metaphors," Shine said, "I play board games more than video games, but I know a few things from my nerd friends. For instance, you aren't the Final Boss. More like a... what's the word...? I don't know. Something. All For One is smurfing in real life, and the League is your party. If you're the leader, why don't you stop me yourself?"

"Shut up." Shigaraki never seemed to get tired of saying that.

"You shut up!" Shine replied, surprising him.

No one ever spoke to him like that.

"Quiet! I hate you!" He began having a meltdown. "Get out of here!"

Shine wasn't impressed.

"Does he do this often?" she asked Dabi over the noise.

"Only with All Might so far-- and losing an online game," Dabi said.

"So this is his losing stance," Shine said.

"Pretty much. Oh, and you're going to get killed if you stay here. Someone else will come in, just so you know." Dabi shrugged. "Do you get a kick out of this or something?"

"I'm starting to wonder if I do," Shine said, "but matching wits with a baby man is not my idea of fun."

"Stop talking like that," Shigaraki said.

"Are you done?" Shine was impatient.

Shigaraki reached the point of rage where he pretty much broke. He just stared at her, seething. But with him, that amount of anger turned into a sort of deadly calm. He straightened.

"So, if you didn't come here to fight, what did you want? A deal?"

"Now that I'm here," Shine said, "I suppose I should tell you what I am doing... I guess you could say I'm recruiting too."

"For a different group?" Shigaraki said, more interested.

"Sort of... I'm here to offer help," Shine said.

"With taking down the heroes? Are you like the Chisaki gang? Because we're not interested," Shigaraki said.

"Not at all," Shine said,  "and I only am not taking offense to that because I assume you didn't mean in the child abuse department. That man is a sick creep. I'd never want to meet him. Unless it was to slap him, maybe, but honestly, even touching him would make me feel dirty."

This statement got a little more intrigue for Shigaraki. "Indeed..."

"What are you talking about with the child stuff?" Dabi interjected. 

"You didn't know?" Shine sounded relieved. "I'm glad at least that the LOV isn't quite that evil... Eri... he abused her."

"That kid they rescued?" Shigaraki said, "What was the deal with that anyway? Was she his daughter?"

"No, not that it mattered," Shine said, "It's not my place to explain it to you. Sick people do sick things. Isn't that all you need to know?"

"That scum." Dabi was disgusted. "I'm even more glad we cut his arms off now."

"That was you?" Shine said, "Gross... but fitting."

"That's not very heroic, is it?" Shigaraki said.

"I wouldn't do it myself, but some things have to be karma," Shine said, "I'd almost pity the guy, if he wasn't too pitiless. But I've seen the aftereffect of his work for months. That poor child."

"So we did you a favor, then," Shigaraki said, "Who cares about that little brat anyway? You shouldn't know about him though."

"Come now, Shigaraki, it's common knowledge," Shine said. 

"Not to us it isn't. How do you know of his crimes?"

"Oh, that's easy. I work at UA," Shine said, "Now enough useless questions.... Tell me, why do you want to hurt UA so much? And why All Might?"

"What business is it of yours?"

"So you don't have a reason. You just want to," Shine said.

"I have reasons!" Shigaraki said.

This back and forth went on until Dabi wanted to ram his head into the concrete floor.

But finally, Shigaraki went off on his monologue about society and heroes and people smiling so carelessly.

Shine listened to all this carefully, as she always did.

Dabi thought Shigaraki was trying to get her to freak out like that stupid Midoriya kid would do, but of course, it didn't work. It was starting to be unsettling that she always acted like all this was familiar, like she'd heard it before... She'd mentioned meeting other villains-- Just who had she tangled with in the past? Not All For One... but she seemed to know him pretty well (Dabi had the mistaken idea that recognizing patterns in evil schemes was the same as knowing them). 

Shigaraki began to run out of steam. He didn't usually get this far before people stopped listening.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything, hero?"

"Not a hero." Shine twisted her sword in her lap.

"Whatever," Shigaraki said.

"What is there to say? You've explained your side pretty well," Shine said, "and I agree about how complacent people are thanks to heroes. If everyone was allowed to use their quirks, heroes wouldn't even be necessary except as backup."

"Exactly-- you're trying to trick me," Shigaraki said.

"No, I'm not," Shine said, "That's the truth. I think you underestimate how many people might agree with that perspective, actually. But like always, they won't be featured on the news, will they? It's called a silent majority. Or minority, perhaps. But, you don't care about people, do you? What's it to you if All Might created a complacent society. Shouldn't you be thanking him? It's easier for villains that way."

"Well, isn't that just the point? Heroes are stupid hypocrites," Shigaraki said.

"I'm afraid your annoyance just isn't explained by that," Shine said, "and here's my take on it, though you didn't ask. I think you really don't like it the way it is because you wish the common person was more well defended, and that society didn't idolize heroes so much. And that, for someone as selfish as you, can only mean you've been mistreated because of both those things. You're like a killer who leaves clues-- you want to be caught. You want heroes to be strong enough to stop you. At least that has to be Stain's whole schtick, but I don't think you're that much different. It's like you were raised with no impulse control at all and are dying to be disciplined."

Dabi choked back a laugh at the look on Shigaraki's face.

"That's so presumptuous. You're nothing but a brat."

"I'm the brat, really? Didn't Daddy ever say no to you?" Shine said mockingly.

"No, why would he do that?" Shigaraki said, "and I killed my father, you numbskull."

Shine stared at him.

"Well... that's sad."

"You shut up," Shigaraki said, "I bet your parents didn't love you, and that's why you're bothering us."

Shine looked sober. After a strained silence she said, "I guess you can dish it back after all... That was almost a real come back. But that's none of you concern, is it? Unless you want to talk about it."

"Never! I want you to leave!" Shigaraki said.

"Very well." Shine got up. "This is not going anywhere anyway. Perhaps I'll come back another time. What's strange is, as psychotic as you all are, I feel less uncomfortable here than I do with the Pros. " 

"You can't just leave!" Shigaraki said.

"Why not?" Shine said, walking away.

"I'll handle it," Dabi said, following her, "This is the door." He grabbed Shine's arm and dragged her toward the door.