Chapter 81: I Cry

All for One might have been defeated, but he didn't go down without leaving scars on society, and on Midoriya. Scars which can be exploited.

In the few seconds of lull, Pony didn't waste time. With her horns carrying the cargo, she sent it flying towards Midoriya's open mouth. “Eat up!” The horns carried it deep into his body before the heat kicked back up again and destroyed it.

Or at least, it seemed to, as the chemical it had been carrying had been a prototype designed by one of Momo's parent companies' subsidiaries. One that would hopefully serve with firefighters and work by feeding off flames to create a flame-retardant foam. The greater the blaze, the greater the retardant it made, and while it only showed results with incredibly hot fires and wasn't suitable in places where fires didn't group up, which would be most fire situations, when packed into an enclosed space like Midoriya, a place which was hotter than most volcanoes…

It was incredibly effective as the boy froze, confusion itched into his face before he started to spasm out, coughing as foam bust out of his mouth and then his vents, working its way through his body as he struggled, tried to fight it, only for the dangerously high heat energy he had been building up to finally start dropping as more of it was consumed till at last, he collapsed.

His massive frame, weighed down by the added mass of the dozens of flame-retardant foam filling his core and spilling out of his orifices and exposed now-cooling magma parts, slammed into the ruined, cracked, sweltering earth with a hard crash. The impact shattered parts of his rapidly cooling body, spilling out more gas, smoke, and heat-consuming foam.

For those left in the field, not a single one of them felt a shred of victory, not when one only needed to look around the fiery hell that still reigned around Hosu. Communication was still spotty, but with Midoriya down, his quirk's impacts were fading, and they could hear that the other heroes, led by Endeavour, had already arrived but had turned to aiding with the evacuation.

Ryukyu was thankful for that, at least in part, but she, Nejiire-Chan, and All Might could already hear reports of just how devastating the fires were and that some people…couldn't be saved in time through the chaos.

Line Break

Those fires would burn well into the early morning hours, and the sun would rise on a city in ruins. All for One had destroyed a good chunk with his opening move, yes…but the true damage came from flames, as smoke still lingered in many parts of the city, let out from small smoldering piles buried in the ash-covered rubble.

Even before the sun rose, hundreds of emergency crews and heroes were on the scene, as the news reported. The reporter, no doubt a professional, couldn't quite keep the tremble out of her voice as she relayed the destruction the city had suffered and how long the pros and others had been hard at work clearing debris and locating survivors.

When news came about the culprits, things grew more concerned and scared as All for One, restrained, was led into a black maiden. Watching him was Endeavor, the number 2, ready to move should the villain make a move.

On the other hand, All Might had vanished for a while and only returned recently with the second transport for the second culprit…for the U.A. student, Midoriya. Unlike the villain, he couldn't be seen as; he was in a cocoon when he had been extracted from his giant, monstrous form. One large enough that it didn't fit into the regular transports and needed a specialized one, which All Might rode along with. In his place, Ryukyu had remained on site and aided in the boy's extraction.

Listening to the reporter in the distance, the dragon hero could only feel worry for the situation and, on some level, relief that they couldn't see Midoriya's face. Protocol would dictate that he be broken out to be properly restrained, but they still had no clue what lingering side effects the drugs had on him. The best move was to transport him as is and crack the cocoon under a more controlled environment.

As for All Might, while he was too worried for young Midoriya, he was more focused on his students, as they had managed to escape in the confusion. From how Endeavour was scowling, he had a feeling he knew his son had been there, but at least he hadn't mentioned it.

‘One issue at a time, Toshi…one issue at a time.’ All Might sighed as young Midoriya was carefully loaded via crane into his transport, and he and the other pros remained just in case of another eruption.

Line Break

2 days later, the police would gather their regional heads in Tokyo for a meeting. Such a gathering was rare outside annual conferences. Those were often in good spirits as heads and their staff already shared intelligence and evidence with one another, so in-person meetings over the years had turned into something of their own private gala with food and drink as they joked and discussed some of the more bizarre and humorous cases they'd handled since they last saw one another.

Today wasn’t one of those days, as from the person to the last, not a single one of them looked happy to be there. With the room filled, their lead investigator stood and started the presentation.

"The Nomu we captured during the raid are just as unresponsive as the last ones; they're essentially mindless animals. Because of that, we haven't gotten any new information from them compared to what we captured during the Hosu incident." The lead investigator reported that the screen behind it showed an aerial shot of the Kamino battlefields, both the bar and the warehouse.

The first two shots were taken during the operation or shortly afterward; the next two showed them the following morning. The bar was damaged, but the building was still standing. In the shot, it was crawling with CSIs and closed off to the public. The warehouse, on the other hand, didn't exist anymore. It, along with everything within 200m of it, was nothing but ruin, charred black, cracked, smoking debris, and clear, cooled lava spots.

"The warehouse they were kept in was completely destroyed. We'll continue our investigation, but between All for One's sheer power and the flames and magma, we're not sure anything of use survived." None argued that, as if they didn't know a city was there, they wouldn't have been able to tell. They were still clearing away debris…and locating the dead.

"What of the bar? It was damaged, but we had to get something out of it, " the police chief asked, as they needed something here.

Sadly, he wouldn’t get nearly as much as he wished. "We confirmed that several of the League members had been staying there and left plenty of personal items, but nothing that could help us track them down. We did locate Shigaraki's electronics, but thus far, we've only found gaming apps and appliances. The phone was a burner that fried itself when our technicians tried to access it."

The police chief only frowned harder, his head feeling a headache forming. He supposed this was expected; All for One was a crafty bastard. He would bet his next pay cheque that the only reason Shigaraki's 'gaming' gear was untouched was that they'd gain nothing from it.

One of the others spoke up. "We need to face facts; we failed. Capturing or eliminating the Nomu was the secondary goal, but our priority, apprehending the League, was the main objective, and they all escaped. "Sure, we captured All for One, but he managed to ensure he went down with most of Hosu. At best, this was a bloody draw."

“At best, but we’re not working at that optimism,” The head of police rebutted. “Our country's witnessed another mass villain attack, the worst one yet. More than that, they all saw how much All Might struggled to handle All for One and the so-called captive. His status as the invincible Symbol of Peace has been challenged, and he was defeated."

A police chief from up north crossed his arms. "It's what we get for relying on a single man for this long. As much as it hurts to admit, this was bound to happen if for no other reason than All Might is growing old." It might be inappropriate, but he could think of a dark joke that if they allowed things to progress, All Might could just as easily throw his back out on the job.

“Speaking of, what was that with the captive? His criminal record isn’t clean, but he’s been on the straight and narrow, enough that U.A. would back him.” Another spoke up, as that had shocked them and the nation. More so because it was the captive who caused more damage, and people were up in arms about the media, with the media feeding into the frenzy of demands for answers.

It was a mercy that the U.A. students who had gotten involved without their permission or knowledge had all worn convincing enough disguises that no one seemed to realize it was them.

The investigator's face hardened, from professionalism, horror, and disgust towards the monster who caused all this.

"Gran Torino, Ryukyu, Nejire-Chan, and All Might all reported that Midoriya was drugged by All for One before his rampage. When he was extracted from his…cocoon. He went through several tests at Central Hospital." The slide changed from images of the battlefield to test results from Midoriya. His tongue had been resected to preserve it in its current state before his body could undo damage.

They saw a tongue nearly entirely coal black, which could only mean one thing.

“They confirmed traces of Ideo Trigger in his body; early results point to 3 times the regular dose.” The lead investigator said he tried to keep his tone consistent and fitting the situation. Still, he couldn't keep the fury from his tone at the idea that someone would inject something, a child, with such a massive dose of the quirk booster.

"Three times? How the hell is the kid still alive?" one of the officers, who led the region that dealt with the worst of the Idea Trigger incidents a few years back, asked with a stunned face.

Best the investigator could tell them was what the doctors had theorized, which was Midoriya's inherent regenerative nature, and the fact that he was stopped when he was, as from what All Might reported All for One claimed, if things had gone on longer, Midoriya might have overloaded and erupted, showing the entire city in fire, magma and toxic volcanic gases.

The public didn’t know it, but they were dangerously close to becoming the modern Pompeii.

“Well, it would explain why he was so powerful and aggressive,” another mused. However, this raised another question: "What of Endeavor? Why didn't he and other pros get involved?"

"The rest were working to evacuate the area as the exclusion zone we set up prior proved woefully undersized and collateral was inevitable with Midoriya's widespread attacks."  The lead investigator reminded them. "As for Endeavor, he chose to remain out of things, as according to his quirk registry, Midoriya's quirk effectively makes him immune to fire, particularly when he's transformed. More than that, he can consume it to supercharge his attacks."

The head of the police nodded, unhappy, but he could see the logic in that. It made more sense, as Midoriya had interned under Endeavor not too long ago. If there was anyone present who would know his abilities, it was him.

"A wise choice from our number 2, but it's going to be hard to explain that to the public. This operation was meant to show them and the villains that they couldn't raise hell as they pleased, and that the pros would be ready for them." The people had been demanding answers for that, as Endeavor had been visible throughout the incident. Now, people were calling his capacity as the number 2 into question, and something told him that explaining it was a bad match-up, perhaps one of the worst for all parties involved, wouldn't soothe their anger and fears.

"Well, it showed something. That we're just not equipped to handle them, and with a few thugs, some drugs, and a good plan, you can damn near level a city." The youngest of the officials present commented, as over half of Hosu was just gone, with another 20% having to be evacuated due to damaged buildings, downed powerlines, and dangerous volcanic residue that would need to be cleaned.

"Some of that fault lies on us, even before this operation, our initial profile of Shigaraki characterized him as childish, short-sighted, and prone to tantrums, but that was mainly based on the USJ. If we had perhaps analyzed the Hosu and Summer Camp attacks more thoroughly, we could have done more to account for unpredictable factors.” Another groaned, as this failure weighed heavily on them.

"Yes, with All for One captured, Shigaraki is the true head of the League, and it seems like his former master, his thought process is evolving as he rapidly matures from a violent brat, into a serious threat who's capable of plotting long-term how to unravel society." The head of police added that things were worsening by the day, despite how much All Might tried to be seen fighting crime.

"All Might's still around, but his hero time is steadily decreasing; that only gives villains greater windows to strike, and with this latest mess, Shigaraki can expand the League's influence over the criminal underbelly." He added, almost as an afterthought, as the rest of his fellow officers looked at one another, sharing a silent conversation and concerns before one looked back at the head of police.

“Are you implying this was the League’s plan?” a chief from Shikoku asked, as that seemed unlikely. Even if Shigaraki was evolving, how could he plot for such an outcome, especially when he seemed to freak out and yell like an angry teen when All Might's raid hit the bar and captured him, if only briefly?

"I'm saying we, as the police, need to take a more active role in things. Times have changed, and we can't afford to act as backup anymore." The head of police replied, as he had some ideas. He would be more than willing to run them through his fellow law enforcement before he brought them up with the government and the hero commission.

Line Break

The police weren't the only ones discussing the current crisis they found themselves in, as it was front-page news across Japan, but for Ryukyu, she just wished it would all go silent. Thus, she turned off her private phone, keeping her work one active as she sat in the private waiting area at Central Hospital.

Such a place was largely for pros and others, as much as she hated to say, important people. Still, it was the best hospital and medical research center in Japan. Thus, Midoriya had been brought there for his treatment and exams.

Hado and she would have been there the entire time, waiting on news, but they had to help with the clean-up and search and rescue, and when she finished, she dismissed Hado so she could go home and rest. Hado didn't like it, but she was exhausted and, from what her father told her, slept for a solid 8 hours. Now, her apprentice was waiting for word on when Midoriya would be allowed visitors, as she, as a top hero and his hero guardian, had special rights, though it hadn't led anywhere.

She had already tried to speak with him, taking the first train once she heard he was awake, but it had not yielded any good results.  So now she had to hope his mother would be able to get through to the boy. Minutes later, the door opened, and Inko shuffled in, looking defeated and close to breaking down. “Inko, any luck?”

Ryukyu knew the answer before Inko could respond, as the middle-aged mother collapsed beside her on the couch. “He…he wasn’t in the mood to talk.”

The dragon hero, in some part of her, was at least happy it had only been the boy’s unwillingness to speak and not something akin to when he first woke. "I can't imagine what he's going through after such a horrible incident; it was…perhaps naively opportunistic to assume he would be willing to talk." She sighed, as she had hoped that if not her, or the doctors, then he would speak with his mother.

They had done so much to repair their bond, growing closer again, and Izuku clearly adored his mother. But if she couldn't get him to speak, then Ryukyu didn't know what to do.

“Was…was it really that bad? When he woke up?” Inko asked, terrified of the answer she might receive, yet pushing herself to ask regardless.

“It was.”

Ryukyu hadn't been present for it. She was glad she wasn't present for it, as when Izuku woke up, he freaked out, crying and screaming for the nightmare to end, and he said he was sorry. A nurse trying to plead with him to stop using his quirk, it just got worse as, in his highly emotional state, he had terrible control over it, which only fuelled his flames, creating a horribly self-boasting loop.

He had to be sedated. When they discovered that a careless nurse had left him the TV remote, which was turned on and on the news, they concluded he had seen the news coverage of the failed raid and his rampage.

After that, he was moved to a room in the hospital's special maternity ward, which was supposed to be used for newborns with dangerous or uncontrollable quirks but would function as a means to house him without risk of Midoriya burning down the hospital should he have another episode. It also had no radio or TV; the less the news cycle could fuel that fire, the better.

Inko started to cry, as it was getting to her. "So what happens now? My baby boy…he…he wasn't in control, he didn't mean to hurt anyone, he-"

"I know, Inko. I know he didn't; it was all because of the villains who kidnapped and drugged him. He can’t be held at fault for any of that.” Ryukyu tried to comfort her, but Inko gripped the younger woman, and anger, grief, and motherly concern fused, leaving Inko unsure of what she felt or what to do.

"So why are people saying it is? They all think he's just like them, but he's not, and I don't know how much more I can take!" Inko cried, as she had seen it. The entire country had seen that monster fighting the heroes. She saw what he did to Jeanist. She saw her baby released from the horrid containment, spasming out because of something the villains did to him.

She had cried and begged for mercy, for it to be a nightmare when her boy changed into…that beast and just started burning, fighting, and destroying everything. Roaring like a deranged animal with nothing to lose.

She had cried in joy when he had finally been defeated, but come morning, it was like the entire country wanted her son dead, or thrown in Tartarus along with the real monster who caused it. She couldn't take any pundits saying he was 'too much of a risk' or 'mentally unstable and criminally volatile' and that he should be placed in some mental hospital for villains, stripped of his place at U.A, his dream school, all because he was used against his will.

“I just got him back, and now…now they want to lock him up.” Inko sobbed, as she didn't know what she could do. She wanted to fight for him; she would fight for him, but how? How would she fight an entire country wanting to see her boy as just another vile villain?

“We won’t let them,” Ryukyu felt the same, as this was…not what she would have thought of heroics when she was young. Still, she wouldn't allow this madness and paranoia to lead them into the world the villains want. “As a hero, I want to save everyone who needs it, and right now, he needs him as much as the people need to feel safe.”

“While you were gone, I spoke with the doctors. They confirmed that the trigger has been purged from his system.” Ryukyu started with the best news she could give the struggling mother.

Inko gasped, having already been told of the situation and how the latest tests confirmed he was drugged out of his mind. “So he’ll return to normal?” She tried to smile through the tears, but Ryukyu's face instantly alerted her that there was more, and she wouldn't like it.

“They…don’t think so,” Ryukyu managed to say.

"But…isn't that how the trigger works? The news said it's short-term, and all the ads about not using it say the same!" Inko demanded, as she wasn't an expectant, but the doctors and experts were, so why wouldn't her boy return to normal?!

"Normally yes, but because of the massive dose and the particular strand of Trigger used, it's impacts…well, it altered how his body views its '0' state," Ryukyu explained it, using similar terms to what the doctor she had spoken to had used.

“Zero state?” And just like she had been 20 minutes prior, Inko was confused by the term.

"It's his body's perfect healthy mode, without any augmentations or transformations," Ryukyu explained. However, the understanding didn't help Inko feel better about this.

“So how he looks now…is his new normal?”

Ryukyu wished she could lie, or that she had faith in such a lie. “As far as they can tell, as…as they don’t know if they can cure it.”

“He….you said when he woke up, and he saw it that he…” Inko started, Ryukyu recalling the second reason for Midoriya's freak-out: his room had a mirror, and he could see his triple dose of permanent done to him.

“It’s just…something he’ll need to accept for now, but we’ll all be here for him, every step of the way.” The hero responded, though she had to worry about how they would tackle everything else relating to this.

Line Break

Being the President of the Hero commission came with plenty of perks and privileges outside the large pay cheque, benefits, and connections that come with being in power. Though she rarely used them, she preferred to work and focus on said work, using the tools of her position to further it and her goals.

But as she walked through Central Hospital, 4 armed guards with her, Madam President knew this was part of those goals.

Her arrival was not announced, and the staff knew better than to try to stop her as she strolled through the place.

Not to visit any patients like Jeanist, who had just recently come out of life-saving surgery, or Ragdoll, who had woken up less than 12 hours after being rescued without her quirk and now couldn't perform hero work as she once did.

She wasn’t there to speak with the staff either; her destination was the hospital’s special maternity ward. Entering, she ignored several other doors. Her party was joined by a member of staff, someone who knew why she was there and had been waiting to guide her to the purpose of her visit when so much was happening that needed her attention.

Eventually, they came to a door, though it was more accurate to call it a vault.

It was made from solid steel with a thick Plexiglas-looking port on the other side. To the side of the door were hazmat suits, which anyone entering was required to wear for their safety and the safety of the room's occupant. To the other side, 2 nurses sat, part of the 24-hour watch rooms like this, while a sign above reminded visitors that the room was monitored via CCTV at all times.

“Is this it?” She asked the staffer who showed her the way.

"Yes, ma'am. You just need to wear the suit, along with anyone who's following you-"

"I'll be entering alone." She cut the man off before turning towards one of the 2 nurses on watch. "Is he awake?"

One of them nodded before replying. "He's been awake since 9 but hasn't moved from his spot since 11."

“Wait outside.” Madam President ordered as people stepped back, saying nothing as she was suited up in the hazmat suit, one she noted was rated for extreme heat. With it on, she was allowed into the room’s transition space, the vault door closing behind her. Only when that had sealed did the true door into the room open.

Walking in, she couldn’t feel it, but she could immediately tell this was not the average room. Sure, it had the typical baby colors and innocent patterns designed to keep newborns passive and happy, but she could spot the ceramic composites and reinforced concrete that the room was built and/or coated in. Above and around the bed were seemingly reflective panels, while in the four corners of the room, CCTV houses were in transparent heat-resistant glass domes.

The thermostat to the side registered that the room was being kept at an icy 5 degrees, a thermostat she noticed didn't have a dial or means to alter that setting. The floor and ceiling both seemed to have square sensor plates. However, if they were just for motion or temperature regulation, she didn't know. She could spot the fire suppression system in the roof, which had a label noting it wasn't water within but fire-retardant foam and CO2 gas.

All impressive, all things most didn't like to think about when it came to a room designed for newborns, but when infants could and have been born with quirks active at birth, it was a necessity to have such rooms in place.

But she saw all this in those first moments. After that, her focus turned to the corner of the room, where a figure sat curled up, the blanket from the bed covering him. The figure didn't turn, they didn't flinch, they didn't so much as acknowledge her presence.

"Good afternoon, Midoriya. I came to speak with you." It had never been said that Madam President was a particularly soft or kind woman. And she wasn't here to comfort the boy.

Again, Midoriya didn’t shift. "I'm fine, doctor…I don't feel hungry right now, " he muttered, his voice low and dejected.

"I'm not one of the doctors, but I'm from the Hero Public Safety Commission. You might have heard of us in classes at U.A." She clarified, which seemed to bring up a jolt out of Midoriya, who turned to her. He did his best to cover himself up, leaving only 2 glowing orbs out of the depths of his impromptu cloak and hood.

"I…we…didn't learn about you…yet, but Ryukyu mentioned you…" Oh, her mistake. The first years probably didn't learn about the boring aspects of hero regulations and rules until their second years. Still, it was interesting that Ryukyu brought them up in her time with the boy. She could only assume it wasn't favorable comments because Midoriya seemed terrified of her. She could use that fear.

"Am I in trouble? Are you…here to take me to prison?" Midoriya's voice wobbled and swayed, and his words carried a mix of dejection and hollow resignation.

"No, I am not here to do anything you don't want or deserve," she clarified once more. She could use fear, but she knew it was a short-term tool at best and required far too much upkeep to be worth using long-term.

She had seen the mistakes of her predecessor and how it ended for him.

“I heard about the incident; you have my condolences for the pain those criminals put you through.” She gave a brief nod.

“Thank you, miss…” Midoriya paused, looking down.

“Shizumi Morinaga, that’s my name, Midoriya. It’s only fair you know it.” Shizumi revealed that she at times found it odd that so few knew her name when she was a public figure, but she wasn't bothered enough to advertise it.

“Ms. Shizumi, how…how many did I…” Oh, she could see where this was going. She had already heard that some careless idiot had given him the means to watch the news.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Midoriya," She repeated. Still, it was as effective as cooling a nuclear reactor with a bucket of water. Well, if he wished to know…“But if you wish to know so badly, then as of this morning, we’ve confirmed the deaths of almost 200 and over 500 injured.”

When he heard the number, she saw something wiggle and contort beneath the blanket as the room temperature spiked, only to fall as Izuku desperately clamped down on him, muttering repeatedly about 'not being bad'. Only after he managed not to turn the room-sized fridge into an oven did the weight of the numbers hit him. “I did that…I…I wanted to be good, I tried, I went to see the therapist, I watched myself, I…I was working so hard and now,”

How he spoke was of a man trapped in a hell of his own making; he didn't lift his hands out of the cloth to prevent himself from having to see what he had become, but how he seemed to shrink on himself told enough of his thoughts. “I’m just another monster.”

“You are very much not such. What happened was a tragedy, but not of your own doing. You were drugged and sent out on a rampage by the true culprit.” She stuck to the facts; emotional assurances had never been her forte.

If Midoriya had been perhaps ruder or just more strained, she suspected he would have scoffed or glared at her for the comment. Instead, he just looked at her, her words going in one ear and out the other, only reaffirming a belief he already held. "I saw the news, I…they're right about me. Why did I ever think I could be anything more? Vlad-sensei and everyone at U.A. stuck up for me, and I went and ruined it!"

“Would you like to make amends?” She would try a different tactic; one had been effective with villains they'd turned into informants or helped start new lives after they sold out their fellow villains and criminals.

But she wasn't so foolish as to say such now. “I still believe in your potential, and I would be surprised if U.A. doesn't agree."

“I can’t be trusted.” Midoriya shook his head as he replied.

“We have a solution for that,” she said, quickly cutting him off before he could become unsalvageable for her goals. "Provided you're willing to trust me to help you put your flames to good use."

Midoriya went silent, but he didn't shift back around. He looked at her, really looked at her, and then he looked at the ground. At a certain point, he retreated into his blanket, which she realized was acting like a child's safety blanket for him.

But she was patient, and so she waited without a word for around six minutes before Midoriya slowly lifted his head. Again, she couldn't see anything with the hood covering his head, only those glowing green eyes. “How….?”

"It's something we've done in the past, but we could give you something that will give you peace of mind as you work to become a hero, " she replied before she went into detail on her little tool for this.

Line Break

I am not in the best mood writing this. I had a major power outage in my area last weekend, so we just...didn't have power for most of Friday and Saturday. Nothing to charge my devices outside the phone power bank, nothing to cook or heat food in the fridge, hell, the fridge had to remain closed for most of the time just so I could be reasonably sure stuff inside didn't spoil.

So, with that said, it's Sunday evening, and instead of working on Monday's chapter, I decided to work on this just to vent, as I have an easier time with the Emerald Furnace stories, more of a concrete plan. Speaking of, man, the last chapter was a doozy as that fight went on far longer than I had planned, but damn was it fun to write. It says something when AFO vs All Might is relegated to the side battle because Midoriya in steroid-infused crack was seen as the more dangerous threat.

But if you thought it would be over, read the title. I'm not telling the rest, as it's far too juicy for content and will play a pretty big role in things going forward.

Line Break

Like I said, I won't just leave this Kamino thing sit. Part of that would be Izuku being forced into a reality where all the negative things people used to say about him, which formed part of why he ran away for so long, have come to pass. Yes, he has no fault, but try telling him that.

For Ryukyu and Inko scene, I wanted to show how they were dealing with this, as we seen how reactionary the MHA news cycle is, much like the real world as even if they came out and said 'Hey, he was drugged' it sells more papers to claim or 'give your opinion' to avoid legal issues, that the kid was just a ticking time bomb and this was something that could have been avoided if he was locked up. Hado nearly made it into the scene, but I had no clue how she would bounce off the other 2, as it seemed…off when I tried.

As for the Safety Commission, I've been trying to work them in for a while now, as this shady group without making them do stuff that Nagant would have been around for. In a way, I want Madam President to be smarter about it, making her a much more devious and dangerous person. Though I'm not sure if she was in charge when Hawks was brought in, I assume at the least, she was in charge long before he became an active pro since he wasn't sent on the sort of missions which ate away at Nagant till she domed the last President.

And just like with Hawks, the commission swooped in to secure a powerful asset for them. Only where Hawks really had no options, she's using guilt and his emotionally unstable state to snare him before she makes moves to ensure that, like the Winged Hero, he ends up a flame in their lantern. Or at least, that's the plan, as it is early in the plan, and unlike Hawks, Izuku isn't alone.

Oh, and her name, Shizumi Morinaga(Shizumi is her given name), is something I came up with.

With her family name, Morinaga, the first part has the kanji which means ‘guard’ or ‘protect’, for her role as the bulwark for the status quo. Naga adds to this as its kanji means ‘eternal’ or ‘long-lasting’ as she’s this nameless figure of institutional power that has been around for a while.

Regarding her given name, Shizu's kanji means  'calm' or 'composed', which fits considering her overall demeanor as she never really expresses any emotions outside of 'business'. Even in the flashback when Nagant was recruited, she's standing at the back of the smiling former President, looking like a secretary, thinking of how she'll balance his schedule. The last part, which came out with very different spellings but I'm sticking with what I have, translates to deep blue/turquoise, the color of her eyes, but also implies a sort of pragmatic distance.