A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!

An understanding is reached~

-x-X-x-

Straightening up, Izuku barely hesitates before answering.

“I want to do things better.”

That gets a raised eyebrow from the elderly man he’s speaking with but Izuku doesn’t back down as he gives the Shopkeeper a grin.

“My father… All Might… both were titans of their time. But that’s over now. All for One is dead and All Might will soon follow. Someone has to take their place. Why shouldn’t it be me? Why should I follow in my father’s footsteps and make the same mistakes he did when I can forge my own path instead?”

At the Shopkeeper’s side, Izuku sees Yor looking at him more intensely than before. She’s not as visibly embarrassed as she was mere moments before, likely hiding it now as she stares at him and listens to the conviction in his voice. But she’s secondary right now. It’s the Thorn Princess’ handler that Izuku has to convince.

As the Shopkeeper silently contemplates Izuku’s excuse, Izuku decides to throw it back at the man just a little bit.

“You said before that All Might is too important to the beauty of this world to die yet. And you consider how he died as important as when he died. But I’m not thinking about that. All Might doesn’t even warrant consideration from me. I’m thinking about what happens AFTER he dies. With his last breath, an era will end. What does a future without titans like my father and All Might look like? That’s what I’m concerned with. Not relics of the past.”

Brash, blunt, and uncompromising. While also holding a few cards close to his chest. Sure, some might think Izuku foolish for saying things like ‘relics of the past’ in front of a man clearly past his prime. After all, the Shopkeeper was an elderly man who was ostensibly leading the Garden… but the Garden was very clearly just him and the Thorn Princess. It was just the two of them left… relics of a past.

And yet, Izuku could tell that the Shopkeeper wasn’t nearly as self-absorbed about all of that. Yes, the man cared in part about preservation. That’s why Izuku wasn’t about to tell him his full plans to completely dismantle the old system and build a new one in its place. Saying everything at this juncture might make them enemies and while Izuku didn’t care about having the Shopkeeper as his enemy, Momo’s sister was another matter entirely.

“… I see.”

Izuku raises an eyebrow, even as the Shopkeeper’s own eyes crinkle at the corners, the man smiling ever so slightly.

“Intriguing. I believe you, Izuku Midoriya. But one does wonder how much you’re holding back.”

Izuku huffs in amusement at being called out so candidly. In the end though, he just shrugs.

“We all have our secrets, Shopkeeper. I would be a fool to expose all of mine, just as you would be a fool to expose all of yours.”

Of course, what the older man didn’t know was that he’d already inadvertently exposed most of his secrets. The biggest one, that it was just him and Yor left… well, Izuku could have called them out on it. He could have acknowledged their weakness. But he wouldn’t. Not just because he didn’t want to make them his enemies, nor because he was in the heart of their power where they might have a slight chance of actually silencing them.

No… he would stay quiet about his observations both out of respect for what they once were… and because knowledge was power and wealth and you did not spend either on a whim. Not if you wanted to get anywhere in this life.

“Hm. Indeed. Very well then… we shall give you the chance to prove your sincerity. That is… if you still want to secure the services of the Garden, Successor.”

Smiling slightly as the Shopkeeper returns to using his title instead of his full name, Izuku inclines his head.

“Certainly. How much will it cost me, exactly?”

Flicking his fingers outwards as if to flick dust off of them, the Shopkeeper shakes his head.

“Money? What need do we have for that? I am but a humble Shopkeeper, tending to my shop and my garden. And my Thorn Princess is already as wealthy as can be, isn’t she?”

That she was. Though how much of her kit was paid for by her family’s incredibly deep pockets and how much was the Shopkeeper bluffing about their sources of income? In the end, Izuku supposed it didn’t matter. The fact remained; they didn’t want money from HIM. No, they wanted other things.

“Services for services. Favors for favors. I will give you the chance to prove yourself worthy of taking All Might’s place in the new era of beauty we both hope to create. Starting with the Thorn Princess’ next assignment… Hero Killer Stain.”

Izuku’s eyes narrow at that. Everyone was aware of Stain by this point. The man had already killed over a dozen Pro Heroes and injured twenty or so more to the extent that they had to retire completely. Of course, not everyone knew where Stain had come from or what had led him to who he currently was. Izuku had read the man’s file. Chizome Akaguro had abandoned Pro Heroics at a relatively young age, dropping out of Hero School in order to become an activist.

Not many knew about this because… well, the young man’s words had ultimately fallen on deaf ears. His attempt to convince people through street oration and literal soapbox speeches of his Revival of Heroics ideology was cute… but ultimately doomed to fail from the start. Street Preachers had fallen out of fashion centuries ago… what he thought he could accomplish by shouting himself hoarse every day for hours on end, Izuku would never know.

But he did know what happened next. Chizome became the vigilante Stendhal, attempting to make up for what he considered the failings of Pro Heroes by hunting down villains himself. Only, at some point along the way, he became even more disillusioned with society then he already was. The vigilante had broken and ultimately become a villain, though he might claim otherwise.

Still, his track record spoke for itself. Instead of targeting villains, the man targeted heroes now, heroes he claimed weren’t living up to his expectations. Of course, he was insane so in the end his expectations were effectively ‘be All Might or die’.

Yes, Izuku was well aware of Hero Killer Stain… and had fully intended to deal with the man in his own time if no one else got to him. For the time being, Stain had been a useful boogeyman, one that Izuku had been content to let continue on his way so long as he didn’t touch anyone or anything Izuku truly cared about.

All of this passes through his mind in a split second, one of his Mental Quirks allowing him to spend what would be minutes of contemplation for anyone else in just a single moment in time. Obviously, the Shopkeeper likely already knows as much about Stain as Izuku does, if not more so. And yet… at the same time, the old man has overplayed his hand.

All this talk about Izuku proving himself worthy of the new era… but it was clear the Garden’s leader was still very much stuck in preserving the past. Izuku didn’t mind that though. He didn’t mind that the Shopkeeper was trying to use him here to maintain the old status quo, because at the end of the day they were going to be using each other. Services for Services. Favors for Favors. Just like the older man had said.

Of course, this was also a test. Would Izuku balk at the idea of removing a Hero Killer like Stain from the board when he was ostensibly doing Izuku’s job for him? Or would he prove himself a true hero by accepting the task? A bit transparent in the end, but thanks to his Quirks, Izuku doesn’t so much as appear to hesitate.

“Stain. An interesting target. But sure, if you want me to help out with him, I can. What’s your preference for how Hero Killer Stain’s tale ends?”

The Shopkeeper hums for a moment before tapping the counter in front of him.

“Ignobly. In defeat. Whether death or incarceration, it matters not. His poisonous views must be nipped in the bud, lest they spread to the rest of our beautiful Garden.”

Heh, interesting. He wonders, if he’d told the Shopkeeper the full truth about his own views, would the man have called them beautiful or poisonous? Best to keep them close to the chest for now and not let him find out. This… this was better.

“Consider it done. Though admittedly, it might still take some time. I do have the U.A. Sports Festival to prepare for and compete in.”

The Shopkeeper nods his head amicably at that.

“Of course. Work with my Thorn Princess on this please, it is still her mission.”

Yor straightens up at the Shopkeeper’s side, puffing her chest somewhat proudly. It’s funny, she hadn’t seemed so emotive before. Of course, she immediately grows expressionless when the Shopkeeper turns to her.

“Speaking of which… I shall leave it to the two of you to decide how to best handle Momo Yaoyorozu. Her fate is in your hands.”

Izuku reads between the lines of that statement and he can see Yor does as well. The Shopkeeper isn’t talking about whether Momo should live or die or not. When he says ‘her fate is in your hands’, he means that in a more literal sense. Will they tell Momo everything about their secret double lives? Or will they try to keep her in the dark as much as possible so she doesn’t get dragged further into all of this? Tracking her sister down and catching her in her Thorn Princess get-up was one thing. But knowing the truth… well, that was a whole other ballpark.

Of course, Izuku already made his choice when he decided Momo was likely going to be his wife one day. He had never had any intention of keeping her in the dark. She was never going to be some trophy wife, a pretty thing to dangle off of his arm. Even before she’d sacrificed Itsuka Kendo on the altar of his lust, Izuku had intentions of a somewhat equal partnership.

That said… knowing what he knew now about Momo’s older sister, it threw a lot of things up in the air.

With the Shopkeeper’s parting words, Izuku leaves the small gardening shop… with Yor soon on his heels. Silently, she takes over leading the way and Izuku just as quietly follows her up off of the street and onto the nearest rooftop, letting her lead him through a series of roof jumps. Part of him half-suspects a trap even after everything… but no. Yor just leads him to the roof of a small apartment building and Izuku’s Quirks pick up nothing amiss… save for the bound and gagged person in the closet on one of the upper floors.

Izuku’s raised eyebrow at this discovery only grows higher up when Yor leads him to the same exact apartment that that closet is in. Still dressed as the Thorn Princess, the assassin nevertheless suddenly looks nervous and flustered as she unlocks the apartment door and guides him inside. Finally, they reach the closet in question and Yor throws the door open to reveal Momo herself inside, the younger Yaoyorozu woman tied up with rope and gagged with what looks like a shirt. The moment she lays eyes on him and Yor together, said eyes go as wide as saucers and Momo begins making noise through her gag.

“MMMPH! MMMPH!”

Standing off to the side, Yor just looks at him with a panicked, pleading expression. Seriously? Had she even told the Shopkeeper that she’d apparently handled Momo’s discovery of her by tying her sister up and stuffing her in a closet overnight? Actually…

Izuku looks around the apartment for a moment and then rolls his eyes and looks back at Momo.

“You can stop pretending now, Momo. I know you already escaped once.”

Amusingly, but also rather eerily, both Yor and Momo blink at his assertion at the same time. It’s kind of cute. Also kind of creepy. Either way, Yor looks confused while Momo looks… chagrined. After a moment, the gag pops out of the raven-haired girl’s mouth and a knife manifests from her body and drops into her hands thanks to her Quirk. As she quickly begins cutting through the rope she’s tied herself up with, Momo pouts at him in confusion.

“How did you know? I copied the original set up perfectly…”

Izuku smiles.

“Well for one, I wasn’t here to see the original set up, so that sort of perfection only served to fool Yor. But for two… you made sure to do the dishes after making yourself a sandwich and pouring yourself a cup of milk from the refrigerator. The smells are all still in the air.”

There’s a brief pause at that before Momo hangs her head, silently admitting that that’s exactly what she did. Yor, meanwhile, gasps in wonder at Izuku’s observational skills. Of course, he’d definitely cheated… but they didn’t need to know that.

“That’s… that’s amazing!”

The look of awe and childish wonder on Yor’s face is almost enough to make Izuku forget that she’s an incredibly skilled assassin and a consummate killer. Almost. But even if he could forget, Momo… well.

“Look! Yes, I didn’t stay tied up the entire time! B-But I made sure I was tied up when you came back, didn’t I? Now will someone PLEASE tell me what’s going on?!”

Momo’s pleading look as she glances from Izuku to Yor and then back to Izuku is… well, hard. But something does have to be said. Especially since at the moment, Momo probably thinks Yor and Izuku have been working together for longer than they have. She might even think Izuku has been lying to her all this time, going behind her back.

Though, strangely enough, she doesn’t seem too upset by that possibility. As much as she clearly wants answers, there’s no censure or anger in Momo’s eyes or voice as she pleads with them from the closet. She just wants the truth. The only question is… can she handle the truth? And is it really Izuku’s place to give it to her in place of her sister? Yor might be hoping he’ll take over and explain things from here, but there’s nothing saying he HAS to.

They’re just teaming up to take down Hero Killer Stain. Yor and Momo’s relationship… that really none of Izuku’s business, right? Ugh, why was Momo even following her sister around in the first place? This was such a mess.

Still, in the end he has two choices to make. First, is he going to force Yor to tell Momo what’s going on here and rely on the Thorn Princess’ discretion not to spill ALL the beans? Or is he going to take charge and explain things… and if so, what is he supposed to tell Momo about all of this, in the end?

[ ] Izuku goes with a half-truth to Momo, telling her some things about his organization, but then claims Yor as a subordinate as well - 9%