Mastermind: Strategist For Hire

The Meta Liberation Army

Keigo stood at Hero Commission headquarters, looking up at Yokumiru Mera, who was practically falling asleep behind his oversized, elevated desk. Keigo rustled his wings nervously as he debated what he was going to say.

"The league has invited me on a mission." He said finally.

Mera raised his eyebrows, "That's a good thing, Hawks. It means you're finally making progress and gaining their trust."

"I know, but..." Keigo hesitated, "People are probably going to die on this mission. The league might even ask me to kill someone as proof of my loyalty. If that happens, what are my orders? As the number one hero, I can't in good conscience let people die, not when I have the ability to save them, much less actually kill them myself. Do I have your permission to pull out?"

Mera's gaze hardened, "If you do that, you'll have wasted months of time and effort. For right now, consider the league's orders as if they were coming from the Hero Commission itself. Stopping Mastermind and the league is worth a few lives."

Keigo swallowed, but nodded, turning around and leaving as soon as he was dismissed.

"Yo Dabi!" Keigo faked a smile as Dabi and Freezerburn climbed up onto the roof.

"Hey Hawks" Dabi nodded at him. "This is my little brother, Shouto, but you already knew that."

Keigo nodded, "Kinda hard to miss, considering your debut. Nice to meet you!"

Freezerburn looked at him skeptically, "You know, I kinda get how people are starting to call the number one spot the cursed throne now. Two number ones get murdered and the next gets assigned to infiltrate the league. Kinda bad luck if you ask me."

Keigo sputtered for a minute, "I'm not assigned to infiltrate the league . I have reasons to be here, same as you."

Freezerburn rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure. And if the Hero Commision just happens to get inside information, you had nothing to do with it."

Dabi cuffed Freezerburn over the head, "Ignore him, birdie, Shouto's just a little too fond of conspiracy theories. That being said, we may have invited you on this mission, but don't think that means we trust you yet."

Keigo nodded, "So what's the plan, boys?"

Dabi and Freezerburn both smirked and Keigo felt his stomach drop. That couldn't be good.

"Just some good old fashioned arson." Dabi said. "There's a rival group that we were going to partner with, but they made the mistake of pissing off Shouto's boyfriend, so we're taking them out instead."

Keigo looked at them curiously, "Boyfriend?" He hadn't been told Freezerburn was dating anyone, that could be valuable information.

Freezerburn rolled his eyes, "He's referring to Mastermind."

"Oh?" Keigo blinked a few times before smiling. Now that was valuable information. "Should I be saying congratulations or is this one of those sibling teasing things I never got to experience? Because I was an only child, you know."

Freezerburn laughed, "We're still pretty new, so yeah, you can say congratulations if you want. It's not like the league doesn't know, but it's hard to have a more open relationship when he has a secret identity and I don't. Makes going out a little more difficult, if you know what I mean."

Keigo nodded, "Yeah, I can understand that. Can't just go to the movies in full villain attire, right?"

Dabi laughed, "Please try it, Shouto! That would be hilarious!"

Freezerburn smiled, "We'd have to go to the All Might memorial documentary. Iz...Mastermind would love that, if only to see people's faces!"

Keigo schooled his expression. It wasn't much, but a few letters of a name could be valuable in the right hands, "Um, so if it's arson today, then why am I here?" He ruffled his feathers. "I really hope barbecue wings aren't on the menu."