Nemuri's contacts hadn't been able to give her much on Kakurete. Most of them had never met him and those that had really didn't have anything incriminating to say. The man was their boss, nothing more. He occasionally came in to approve a particular advertising campaign but for the most part his duties as a Representative took precedence. They all reported that Kakurete wasn't much involved with the companies he owned. He ran Kunshu, and allowed Kunshu to run the other companies.

But one of her contacts had whispered something to her about BioSimip. It wasn't about their QERI program, but about something before that. BioSimip made sleeping pills that they claimed were derived from natural ingredients. The mag had tested the pills and agreed they were natural ingredients, but they had found something else. They had isolated what BioSimip claimed was a quirk based ingredient. It was only found in the high end sleeping pills. The lower quality ones used a synthesized variant. Her source had wanted it investigated further but no one ever did, except for now, when there were people asking questions. Nemuri had tried to find out who else her source had told but he'd shrugged, and told her he'd given the information to anyone who asked. She'd focused on the information after that. Who else knew only became important if she had something.

By itself, the incorrect listing, wasn't anything that bad. What made it noteworthy was that the ingredient wasn't actually registered. Not properly anyway. The registration had holes in it. It wasn't like someone had forgotten to sign a page or something. The source had not been filled in on the registration. The source always had to be filled in to ensure that they were being properly compensated for their contribution. The fact that the source wasn't listed was odd and could mean a few things.

One, the source wasn't actually a quirk but was something BioSimip had synthesised completely. That would cause a bit of a scandal if true. The testing regime on a quirk based drug was different for that on a laboratory created drug. If BioSimip had listed the compound as being quirk based when it wasn't, they could be in trouble for that. Another possibility was that the source wasn't one they wanted to admit to. And that, with BioSimip's link to Kakurete could be a link to the League.

Her contacts told her they believed the compound was quirk based. Through the years, they had made several observations that led them to that belief, but Nemuri wasn't interested in that. She was interested in the fact that they had managed to confirm that a young man with light brown hair made a biological delivery each week. It was a smallish canister. The routine was so established that he simply delivered it to the receptionist, who handed over an envelope and he went on his way.

Apart from the fact that it was a completely improper way to accept what was a potential biohazard, Nemuri was interested in the description. He sounded like Mustard.

And wouldn't that be interesting, if Mustard was producing the quirk based ingredient BioSimip used? It would provide a direct tie between Kakurete and the League, though Nemuri was not so blind to realise it would be that easy. Kakurete could claim he didn't know. But if they could tie BioSimip to the League then that would cause problems.

She sighed. They had enough information to cause Kakurete problems but nothing big enough to bring him down. It was getting to the point when they should just release their information. Giving him problems was not their goal but at the moment, it might be all they were capable of, and you never knew which problem would be the one to snow ball into the thing that did bring him down.

That's why she was following the young man who had made the delivery this week. If not for the missing teeth, he might have been called handsome. He had several tattoos on his forearms, but she couldn't see much more. He'd taken the envelope and shoved it into his pocket before leaving BioSimip. Then he'd walked back to a train station.

That much had been easy to follow. She was sitting in an adjacent carriage watching him through the glass. He was tapping at his phone. Nemuri was pretending to read hers.

Finally he got up. She was surprised. It was a good neighbourhood. Working class but not lower working class. Middle working class. The young man walked out of the station, confidently strolling down the empty roads. It was an older part of town. They were narrow. You could fit one small car down them. They were mostly for walking. She wondered if he'd led her here deliberately. At this time of day, the suburb was empty.

Still, for all that many thought her a one trick pony, Nemuri had been a fully fledged Pro Hero. She could convincingly follow someone, even when there were no crowds to hide behind. It just required the ability to pay attention to your surroundings.

The man didn't look back often, but when he did, Nemuri was always out of sight. In the inset of a narrow walkway, around the corner of one of the tall garden walls, behind some bins that had been left out to clog up the available space. It wasn't glamorous but it got the job done. At least, that's what Nemuri thought until the man turned a corner, and she then heard his feet pelt against the ground as he ran.

She swore, and took off after him. Thankfully she was close enough that she didn't lose him in the rabbit warren that was the suburb. Instead she ran straight into his trap.

It was a cul-de-sac. He stood at the end. Pink gas surrounded him. Nemuri ran into it, and breathed it in before she realised what had happened.

"Mustard!" She gasped the identification.

The bastard grinned at her looking up and she could see he had a thin mask over his face. It wasn't the old style gas mask he had worn when he was younger. This was something new, more modern. It did the job without being anywhere near as bulky.

"You should be asleep soon," he told her casually.

Midnight nodded, and then staggered.

He took a step closer.

She leaned against one of the fences, her hands steadying her. And then Nemuri felt her legs collapse. She folded them under her.

He chuckled and moved in.

Just what she had been waiting for. She hadn't collapsed without a purpose, instead, she was resting on her feet, and Nemuri lashed out now, spinning to sweep Mustard's legs out from under him. He went down cursing, straight into a quagmire of the compounds her quirk allowed her to make. Nemuri lunged at him, reaching for his gas mask.

Mustard wasn't a large man, but he was fit. Thankfully she hadn't let her training go to waste, and one thing no one really expected with her theme was for her to be a grappler fighter. But really, grappling was just another position for sex, and she was expected to be proficient there.

It was an interesting thing when those who created compounds fought. Nemuri was affected by Mustard's sleeping agent, but after so long of making her own, she did have some resistance. She wasn't sure if he did. He always seemed to wear a mask, indicating that he may be susceptible to his own creation.

Nemuri hoped he was. She might pass out for a little, but she should wake up first. And then she could capture him.

She got her fingers under his mask and then allowed Mustard to push her off him. His mask went with her. Nemuri rolled on the ground, gaining distance but she still heard him gasp.

"Two can play the sleeping game," she told him as she rose. Mustard snarled at her. Nemuri tried to breathe lightly as she directed her quirk towards him.

He recognised the gesture and made his own. She felt her chemicals pushed away but Mustard raised one hand, holding it over his face. "Is the little boy feeling sleepy?" she mocked. She wished she had her whip. If she did, then she could have pulled him over.

"Bitch," he growled and Nemuri was surprised when he lunged at her. Despite the years, there wasn't much information about Mustard's fighting style. He tended to hold back and let his gas take care of his enemies but he was known for carrying a gun. Nemuri examined him, tossing the mask away as far as she could. She couldn't see a gun, but it was something to be wary of.

"You are just like those morons! The world pandered to you because your quirk was good but still safe." Mustard swung at her. It seemed slow. She tried to hit him back but Nemuri knew her reaction time was compromised. They both ended up swinging wide and staggering like two drunks. Except, the fact that Mustard could move meant he also had some immunity.

This was not going to be fun, in any sense of the word. She had been trained to fight under the influence of drugs. It was in the third year curriculum and was meant to help if you were ever targeted or kidnapped. Nemuri wasn't sure if it really helped but at least she was still on her feet. They took another few swings at each other, staggering when they managed to connect but Nemuri could feel her eyes growing heavy and her thoughts were logy. She couldn't last much longer.

Thankfully Mustard appeared to be in the same boat. The villain was obviously stronger now than he had been. He glared at her, and then staggered away, weaving his way back down the cul-de-sac. Midnight considered following but it was all she could do to keep her eyes open. This time, when she slumped against a fence and her legs collapsed under her, it wasn't a ploy. She kept her eyes on Mustard. He went through a gate, entering the tiny front gardens the houses in this area had.

The gate closed and she collapsed. She barely heard him collapse before sleep dragged her under.

-afp-

Dabi made his way down the road. He didn't like visiting Mustard. The League member lived too much in society for his comfort. The surrounds were proof of that. The houses weren't mansions, not like the traditional house he'd grown up in but they weren't small. These houses belonged to those on the upper end of comfortable.

They all had gardens and high fences but the houses looked over those fences and judged him. To say nothing of the rabbit warren the twisting streets were. He always felt exposed here, despite everything closing in. Still, Mustard was correct about one thing, at this time of day, he almost never ran into anyone, so from that point of view, it was safe enough.

There were cameras on a lot of houses but so long as no one stole anything, there was no reason to look at those cameras.

Still, he was cautious and made sure he wasn't being followed. That was routine so as he walked, Dabi thought about what Imoku wanted. Killing ExplodoKill was something the League wanted but it wasn't like killing a villain. The vigilante didn't follow a routine. Though maybe... Dabi frowned, thinking about what he knew of the man.

ExplodoKill was a childish name. It reflected his childish nature. He had been enrolled in UA's hero course, and had failed the first round of mandated psyche testing. After that, he'd just never shown up to the General Studies course and... that was when people lost track of him. He wasn't in the underworld. Dabi had checked, though he had been around the fringes. So who was his supplier?

That was something to ask Giran.

The fire villain nodded. And if the vigilante wouldn't play ball, then there were other ways to make him. ExplodoKill still had family.

Dabi felt his scarred skin stretch in a smile. It wasn't honourable, but the League were villains and it was time to remind the world of that. Taking out a vigilante's family would send a message. And Imoku had said they could go wild against ExplodoKill providing the vigilante died. Dabi wondered what Imoku had against the man... Nothing sprang to mind. He snorted to himself, nothing would spring to mind. The boss was very good at hiding his desires and his past.

Dabi wasn't stupid. He had looked into Imoku's past as much as he could. There wasn't much to find. There wasn't meant to be much to find and everything he did was legit. Over the years, while it was like pulling teeth, he'd managed to extract some information from Kurogiri about Imoku. The warp villain was ridiculously loyal. Just like Toga.

But Kurogiri confirmed that Imoku had been set up in the system by the Old Man. He ran the League's legitimate businesses, and paid the League. At least he had, until he turned the League into its own business. Very successful businesses too, Dabi was forced to admit. Mustard worked once a week and made enough to live here. He worked more, but he had he Noumu's and had gone into a more underground business. With the reintegration of heroes, the public was not able to see Villain versus Hero quirk battles on a daily basis, and to compensate, quirk based fighting rings exploded in popularity. There were some legit ones, but they were wussy. The ones that were really popular were the underground rings. He was at the centre of them all, and actually ran several levels of quirk fighting rings. The rules got harder, as did the fighters as you moved up the ranks.

The final champion was the Noumu High End. The creature loved to fight, and the harder his opponent the more he loved it. Dabi loved High End as well. There was a huge winner's purse for anyone who could defeat the Noumu. He'd never had to pay it out.

But that was beside the point. There wasn't much to learn about Imoku and even when Dabi took Toga's pet name of Izuku and looked for information, there was even less. He had managed to make the connection between Imoku and Izuku Midoriya. Imoku looked exactly like a much older Izuku but was that really possible? Not the aging. Dabi knew that was possible, but the knowledge and the rest of it. Could Imoku really only be about 28... in which case, how the hell had he managed to run the companies and be a Member of the House of Representatives at 16? That bit beggared belief.

But if it was true, then that would explain the connection between Imoku and ExplodoKill. The two of them had supposedly been friends.

Hah! Friends. Not that good a friend if Imoku wanted the other man dead.

Dabi shrugged as he neared Mustard's house. He'd think about it later, and maybe he'd even just ask. Given that ExplodoKill had taken out Twice, and captured Ujiko, the League didn't need any more reason to kill him. But it would be nice to get to know the boss a bit more.

Dabi stopped. His nose twitched. He knew that smell. You work with a man for more than 13 years and you learn what his Quirk smelt like. Mustard had been using his in the street. But it wasn't his quirk alone. There was something else mixed in with it.

The smell was subtle but Dabi had practice. He also knew that this toxicity wasn't enough to affect him but he still pulled out a mask. It was better to be safe than sorry. The League still carried their gas masks. It was good practice and a defense against more than just Mustard, and if nothing else, it doubled as a regular mask to hide his identity.

Dabi looked around carefully. He couldn't see anyone and he couldn't feel anyone but before he moved forward he palmed his phone and messaged Kurogiri. He waited for a reply before he walked further, cautiously towards Mustard's house. The gas grew thicker but he could tell it was dissipating.

Mustard lived in a cul-de-sac. Dabi knew that and so peeked around the fence of one of the neighbours to check the coast was clear. He hadn't expected to see a woman slumped against the fence a little way into the road. She had tried to keep herself upright but had fallen and was now asleep. At least Dabi assumed she was asleep. He examined her carefully. Here was a good place for an ambush. Her eyes were closed and her hair was black... but there was something familiar about the spiky tufts. He was sure he'd seen her before. Dabi's eyes narrowed as he continued to examine the street. He couldn't see Mustard and if he'd gotten into a fight and had managed to subdue the woman, then why was she still on the street?

He looked to the gate that led to Mustard's house. It was closed. Dabi examined the bottom of it but couldn't see anything underneath it. Then he looked back at the woman. She hadn't moved. That was good. Those who were pretending to be asleep often liked to shift and murmur things to enhance the illusion, except it broke it. People stayed still when they were asleep, and under the influence of Mustard's Quirk one didn't go through the dream phase which might allow some movement. Either the woman knew what she was doing, or she was really asleep. Given Mustard's Quirk, the later was most likely true.

Dabi examined her again, looking at her face. He still thought he'd seen her before. It was a long time ago, back before the integration of her- Midnight. Dabi felt his eyes widen when he finally placed her.

What the hell was Midnight doing here, passed out in the street near Mustard's... Well, that was the explanation of itself. But where was Mustard? Dabi brought his phone out again.

Has Mustard messaged you? He sent to Kurogiri.

No. The reply was quick. The answer wasn't helpful. Who else would Mustard have called? Though that didn't explain why Midnight was in the street. If he'd won, he would have...

Shit. That meant Mustard was probably inside and passed out. The idiot! If he'd known Midnight was there, why hadn't he called for back up? Dabi phoned Kurogiri and once the League's warper had picked up he put the phone back in his pocket. With this question, the warp villain would know what was needed.

Dabi strode forward, reaching down to grab the back of Midnight's shirt and drag her towards Mustard's house. He was almost at the gate when it exploded outwards. Dabi might not have been in the news as a Villain for the last few years, but he had kept up his training. He jumped back. The motion took the former hero with him and he dropped her, covering both of his hands in blue flame as he raised them.

He half expected to hear an alarm but the area remained eerily quiet.

"Fucker!"

The expletive wasn't expected. Out of the dust caused by the explosion, someone Dabi hadn't expected to see walked through the ruins of the gate. He was dragging Mustard. Mustard was unconscious. His mouth was agape and Dabi could see that the vigilante had knocked out his false teeth.

"ExplodoKill," Dabi greeted the conscious man.

The blond glared at him before a vicious smile spread across the vigilante's face. "Dabi," he replied. "Just the man I wanted to see."

"Oh?" He asked, raising one eyebrow, but not lowering his hands. The vigilante was fast and with his explosive quirk, he was dangerous.

ExplodoKill dumped Mustard's body, throwing it to the ground harshly and he raised one hand, half mirroring Dabi's stance. Small explosions danced in his palm. "Because you can tell me about your boss!"

Dabi snorted and held his ground, matching ExplodoKill's explosion with a burst of fire. "Now, why would you want to know about him?" He asked. According to Toga ExplodoKill already knew about their boss. He could feel Kurogiri listening in but the warp villain would wait for a signal before making his move. Besides, Imoku had said they could kill ExplodoKill and what type of Leader would he be if he didn't at least try?

"I want to know all about the fucker!" ExplodoKill snarled.

Dabi tossed a fireball back and forth between his hands. "As it happens, the boss has an interest in you," he told the vigilante.