All For Them Ch. 47 (MHA/Dispatch) (Patreon)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Kaina finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

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“I just don’t know what to do…”

Kaina side eyes Himiko for a moment.

“You break the glass so we can get inside.”

Rolling her eyes right back, Himiko proceeds to do exactly that, the glass shattering as quietly as possible while no alarms sound despite the building’s security. The two of them enter wordlessly along with some other Red Ring grunts who immediately move ahead to carry out their own individual tasks.

Once they have relative privacy again, Himiko pouts at Kaina.

“You know that wasn’t what I was talking about.”

Unfortunately, Kaina did indeed know that wasn’t what Himiko was talking about. She just hadn’t really wanted to have this conversation if she was being honest. And yet…

“Seriously, what am I supposed to do here? It all just feels so… tangled up at this point!”

It was rather telling when even a functioning sociopath like Himiko was feeling like she was out of her depth. But then again, Kaina understood where the younger woman was coming from. After all, Izuku was putting a lot on her.

“Shroud wants me to make the Phoenix Program think I’m spying on him for them. In the meantime, he also wants me to gather intel for him on what they’re doing in pursuit of him and his operations.”

Kaina inclines her head in acknowledgment of those ‘facts’, even though she of course knows differently.

“The only problem is, all that the Phoenix Program wants is for me to try and find out why the hell he’s putting so many resources into spying on them!”

Right. Kaina winces as Himiko throws her hands up into the air.

“It’s paradoxical! Who am I supposed to tell what here? Both sides only want to know why the other side is so interested in them. I feel like I’m stuck between two people who both want to give the other a love confession but don’t know how! Ugh!”

Hah. Not an unamusing mental image, especially given what Kaina knows. Because at the end of the day… it’s so much more convoluted than even Himiko is aware of. After all, both sides… are being played by Izuku Midoriya.

Izuku IS Shroud, but he’s also the dispatcher and secret money behind the Phoenix Program. And while they’ve uncovered about half of the spies that ‘Shroud’ has inserted into the program so far, they actually have yet to realize that the entire program is made up of Shroud’s agents. Each and every member, outside of Blonde Blazer herself.

All because… Izuku believes that they can all be redeemed. Kaina doesn’t necessarily mind that bit. If the women making up the Phoenix Program can truly become Pro Heroes worthy of the title, rather than the bastardized corrupted version that the Hero Commission has been propping up all her life… then that’s a good thing.

Meanwhile, Kaina herself is just happy to help Izuku tear down the Hero Commission and the corrupt institutions that they’ve created and propped up all these years. Once Shroud and the Red Ring have done their jobs of exposing the worst offenders within the current Pro Hero Culture, once things have actually changed for the better… then the Red Ring can be taken down and everything will be… copacetic.

Of course, the problem with all of that was… well, Toga was originally supposed to be part of the latter organization’s takedown. And now? Now everything was getting a bit topsy turvy. Was she going to be allowed her own redemption? Was such a thing even possible?

Kaina knew that Himiko Toga looked up to her. She wasn’t unaware of the younger woman’s mild idolization of her and her professionalism. At the same time, Kaina also knew that Himiko was… unquestionably unstable. She might be better off in a psychiatric hospital than out on the streets.

Unfortunately, the authorities would just stuff her in Tartarus and throw away the key. And Kaina, having experienced it herself, would not wish Tartarus on anyone.

Letting out a sigh as she and Himiko oversee their subordinates ransacking the place they’ve broken into, Kaina crosses her arms over her chest and shakes her head.

“Why are you asking me this, exactly? Why not just ask Shroud outright what he wants you to tell the Phoenix Program in order to stay in their good graces?”

Silence falls for a moment as Toga bites her lower lip and squirms. It really is the most obvious solution and they both know it. Unfortunately, logic doesn’t always win against emotion. And Himiko Toga is nothing if not an emotional creature.

“… I guess I’m just a little afraid of how he’ll respond.”

Kaina arches a brow, causing Himiko to glance off to the side.

“What if he thinks it’s obvious and decides I’m just wasting his time? Look, out of all of the blowhards and shit I’ve worked for and with in the past… Shroud is the real deal. He’s dangerous. And I know he’s already done me a huge favor by sparing Ochaco’s life so… I don’t really want to rock the boat too much.”

Irritatingly reasonable. Hadn’t Himiko once been a reckless, self-destructive crazy woman? Why was she acting so differently of late? Ugh…

“Besides, you’re Shroud’s right hand woman. If you ask for me, he won’t be upset, right? And you’ve helped me out in so many other ways too…”

… Wait, was it all Kaina’s own fault? She stares at the younger blonde for a long moment as Himiko nervously averts her gaze. Yes she’d taken Himiko under her wing, sort of. But she hadn’t done that much, not really. Was Himiko latching onto her like some sort of lost duckling all the same? Oh god, did she consider Kaina to be a mentor or something?

Kaina had definitely not signed up for this sort of responsibility. She finds herself completely taken aback, both by the compliments and by the realization that Himiko clearly looked up to her. This went beyond mild idolization, didn’t it? Fuck.

For the first time, Kaina finds herself questioning Izuku’s plans. They’d gotten entirely too convoluted at this point and while Kaina thought she still knew what the end goal was, she couldn’t actually see it when she looked forward anymore. The path to the future Izuku had proposed was all starting to become too tangled up for her tastes.

Grimacing, Kaina comes to an abrupt decision. And sure, maybe she’s jumping the gun here… but fuck it.

“Alright. I’ll talk to Shroud and see what I can do. You just… keep doing what you’re doing I guess.”

Himiko puffs out her cheeks.

“Keep doing what I’m doing, huh? I mean, I guess I can’t complain since you already said you’d help me out… but the problem is I don’t even know what I’m doing now, let alone what I’m supposed to do…”

Rolling her eyes, Kaina snorts.

“We’ll figure something out.”

With that decisive closing statement, they finish up their latest mission and part ways. It’s a complete success once more, nobody even managing to come out to try and stop them. Between the blows the Hero Commission has taken recently in the public eye as well as some of the Hero Agencies who have been raked through the mud, they all have bigger problems it would seem.

One day, Kaina hopes they can live in a world where the politics doesn’t stop heroes from going out and stopping crime wherever they find it. But… they don’t live in that world yet.

Regardless, she soon finds herself arriving back at the mansion and once she’s there, she quickly searches for Izuku. She finds him in his office, poring over documentation. The Shroud mask is on the desk next to him and his signature trenchcoat is folded and laid over a nearby chair, leaving him in just a tight long-sleeved shirt and armored pants.

“Izuku, we need to talk.”

Looking up from his work, Izuku tilts his head to the side.

“Yes? Did the mission go well?”

Kaina nods shortly.

“It went fine. It went off without a hitch.”

He clearly senses the dissatisfaction in her voice because Izuku gives her a crooked grin.

“You don’t need to worry, Kaina. In fact, you should enjoy it for now. Eventually, the Red Ring’s success will turn to failure once we’re ready to start winding the entire organization down. Once that happens, you might even miss missions like tonight’s, especially once you have to start pulling your punches and taking falls.”

Hah, he thought she was upset because the Red Ring was currently too successful for her tastes. No, that wasn’t the problem. Kaina fully understood that in this situation, the Red Ring had to become a large enough problem to unify the Heroes of Japan even as the Hero Commission fell apart from all of its internal corruption being outed.

Eventually, as he’d said, the Red Ring would be taken down… they, its creators, would make sure it didn’t have even a remote chance of outlasting their plans.

“That’s not the issue.”

Arching a brow, Izuku gestures for her to take a seat.

“Alright then. What seems to be the problem?”

Sitting down, Kaina frowns.

“It’s… how convoluted everything is getting. This entire situation… do you not worry it’s getting out of hand?”

Frowning right back, Izuku furrows his brow.

“I’m not sure what you mean? Everything is going according to plan, Kaina.”

Arching her brow right back at him, Kaina scoffs.

“Is it? Was Himiko Toga offering you an unconscious Ochaco Uraraka on a silver platter really part of your plans, Izuku?”

He doesn’t flinch. He’s as in control of himself as ever. But Kaina has spent months getting to know Izuku at this point, so she likes to think she’s not imagining things when it feels like he tenses up for just a split second.

“… Unanticipated variables will crop up from time to time. That particular situation has been handled. Everything is back on track.”

Kaina growls, leaning forward.

“Is it, Izuku? Because it seems to me like your solution was to haphazardly thrust Toga into a triple agent situation where she’s spying on you for them while spying on them for you, while they have her trying to convince you that she still works for you.”

Huffing, Izuku leans back in his chair.

“It’s not that different from what I’ve done with the members of the Phoenix Program. All of them started out thinking they were working for Shroud. Many of them have now turned on Shroud out of a desire to be true heroes. Himiko just needs… an extra few nudges along the way. Eventually she’ll realize that she belongs at Ochaco’s side and Ochaco… Ochaco will put her into the light along with her.”

Raising both eyebrows now, Kaina crosses her arms over her chest.

“And was that the original plan, Izuku?”

“No, you know it wasn’t. But no plan survives contact with the enemy. Like I said, we’re adapting to unforeseen variables.”

When Kaina stays quiet for a moment, Izuku narrows his eyes at her.

“Yes, I was surprised when Toga tried to turn Ochaco over to me as Shroud. Is that what you want to hear, Kaina? I’m not infallible. Nobody is perfect. That’s why my plans are so adaptable in the first place.”

Biting her lower lip at the surprising display of vulnerability, albeit of the slightly caustic variety, Kaina shakes her head.

“I know you’re not claiming to be perfect, Izuku. I just find myself wondering if you might be… in too deep.”

“What? What is that supposed to mean?”

“I mean… if you really think Himiko is worthy of redemption after all, if you really think she can be brought into the light… why not just tell her more of the truth? Bring her into your inner circle with Mei and I and let her know what the real plan is. You’ve already earned her trust by beginning the destruction of the Hero Commission and exposing the part they played in her past… she’d probably have gone along with it.”

Silence falls as Izuku ponders Kaina’s words for a long moment. Before finally, he shakes his head.

“We couldn’t afford to take that risk.”

We… or him? Kaina purses her lips together, prompting Izuku to continue.

“I appreciate your concern Kaina, but I know what I’m doing. Everything is proceeding as it needs to and we will continue to adapt to the changing circumstances accordingly.”

“… And what of Himiko’s latest ‘assignment’? What is she supposed to tell the Phoenix Program now that you have her trying to convince them to spy on you for them? You told her, as Izuku, that you wanted her to find out what Shroud’s motivations were behind the expansive infiltration of the Phoenix Program. Well? What are they? What does she give them?”

But Izuku… Izuku just shakes his head again.

“Irrelevant for now. No one over there is expecting Toga to have the answers they want within a day or anything like that. Especially not with the levers I can rely on over there as their dispatcher. Just… leave it be. Himiko needs to experience more exposure to the heroic side of things. She needs to learn that she can truly seek redemption if she’s willing to reach for it.”

But how is she supposed to do that if she feels more and more grateful to Shroud for everything he’s done for her? The words are on the tip of Kaina’s tongue… but in the end she doesn’t speak them. Instead, letting out an explosive sigh, she simply nods and rises to her feet.

“I understand.”

Izuku gives her a look for a moment before smiling.

“I appreciate you coming to me with your concerns, Kaina. My door is always open to you, you know that.”

She does know that. At the same time… Kaina just dips her head in acknowledgment before leaving Izuku’s office. Then, she sets her feet in the direction of Mei’s mansion workshop. Because at this point, if anyone is going to be able to talk sense into Izuku, it’s not going to be her. It’s going to be Mei.

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A/N: Remember to Vote, leave a Like, and let me know what you think!

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sZJkqRI-7C6F-Ww-XEGRQ4mUh0__biIK4kOThmflR7Q/edit?tab=t.0