Fly High, Burn Bright

Chapter 80

The meeting was dragging on for what felt like hours. Then again, Shigaraki had called it before I even had time to get some breakfast, and I didn't have a method of telling the time, so it could've been hours already. We'd spent another two days categorizing the information from the files to see what we could actually use, and had ended up on the decision that the most promising item of value was Endeavor's agenda. The only problem that remained was setting a date to launch the assault on Endeavor. The day planner provided us with the exact details of all the missions that the number one hero had for the next three weeks, so at least we'd have time to prepare ourselves before throwing ourselves into combat.

Still, even with the element of surprise and the chance to ambush Endeavor, I was a little hesitant. After all, he'd managed to fight off the special grade nomu and survive, and there was no doubt that he was still trying to get stronger. There was no way we'd be able to beat him in a direct fight, unless half the League attacked Endeavor at once, but then our chance of sneaking up on him was impossibly slim. Our best bet would have to be stealth, and that meant I'd have to train my quirk to become even stronger. It'll be worth it, I told myself as I already started to imagine the long hours that would go into concentrating on creating the perfect hallucination for hundreds of people at once. I'll get stronger and I'll help destroy not one but two symbols of hope, and it'll be worth it.

After all, Hawks was there too. We didn't have the precise details of his line of work, but he was there too, and maybe I'd get the chance to make him pay for tearing my happiness away from me with his cruel words. But then again, this mission would be focused on Endeavor and Endeavor alone - he was already more than enough to handle - so there was a chance that I wouldn't even need to deal with Hawks just yet. I couldn't tell if that made me relieved or horribly sad. Either way, I'd deal with that when the problem arose. The current job was to come up with a decent plan that could bring Endeavor down, and so far, it wasn't exactly going too well, what with the fourth argument already breaking out.

 "-need to attack as soon as possible! The agency hasn't even realized we broke in, it's the perfect time to launch an assault!" Muscular slammed his hands on the table, making the bowl of chips bounce, and I immediately grabbed it to keep it from falling. Beside me, Dabi reached over and grabbed a handful of chips and shoved them in his mouth, watching the argument as if it was the best form of entertainment for him.

"What are you, an idiot?" Sara exclaimed, her hands flying up in defeat, but I couldn't blame her. Trying to explain something to Muscular was like talking to a brick wall.  "We can't just launch a full-scale attack at a moment's notice! We need to plan these things!"

"And isn't that what we're doing?" Spinner chimed in, and I stole the bowl of chips back from Dabi. He was right. This was pretty fun to watch.

"Yes, it is, now could everyone shut up?" Shigaraki yelled, pinching the bridge of his nose as if he were a stressed babysitter. Then again, he sort of was one. "Muscular, we won't be attacking within the week. Sara's right, we need time to prepare. We can't let the agencies suspect anything, though. We'll have to carry on as usual..."

"Maybe we could dedicate a separate group to keeping the agencies busy?" Mustard offered, and I had to hide a snicker by grabbing another handful of chips. The League really was a mess if the voice of reason was Shigaraki and a literal child, who I still had no idea why we'd even let attend the meeting. To be fair, Mustard had been in the League longer than I have, though, so it does make sense to let him have a voice during the planning stage, especially since he's proved to be useful several times before. Even so, I couldn't get over how strange it felt to be conversing with a teenager still not out of middle school about plans to take down Endeavor. "Maybe five or six people could consistently do raids while everyone else helps out with preparations."

A few seconds of blessed silence passed as everyone considered this. Even the crunch of chips disappeared for the short time span, and everyone unknowingly turned to Shigaraki. "That could work," he finally said. "If we force the agencies to have too much to pay attention to, they won't notice that we're preparing for a larger scale mission. We'll need the brawn to keep the agency's attention with things like bank heists and hostage situations. Make them feel overwhelmed to the point where they think we couldn't possibly have anything else going on, and we'll strike when the agency is tired and weakened." A chorus of nods followed after Shigaraki, but the approving silence was broken by the crunch of chips from beside me, and Shigaraki's head snapped to my direction. "Dabi, Kira, at least pretend to pay attention to these meetings or else I'll kick you out."

"Hey, I'm paying attention," I protested, promptly shoving the bowl into Dabi's lap as if it were incriminating evidence. "I completely agree with this proposition. We should send those with strength-type quirks to keep the agencies busy and draw attention from the fact that we haven't launched any full-scale attacks in a while. They wouldn't expect an attack directly at Endeavor after so many smaller crimes."

Shigaraki raised an eyebrow, though I couldn't tell if it was in annoyance that I'd actually said something useful or because he was happy to be proven wrong. Over three months of working alongside him, and I still couldn't read his expressions properly. "And just how long do you want to keep this charade going?"

I motioned for Shigaraki to hand me the remote, and he did as I asked. I quickly turned to the projector and flipped through the few pages until Endeavor's mission that took place exactly two weeks from now was on display for everyone to see. "We should attack in two week's time. Endeavor has a mission to capture some smaller gang of criminals that has been causing trouble at the city's outskirts for a while. It's a small enough mission that he'll be working alone, but in a place public enough that our battle would likely be broadcasted onto the news immediately, and millions of people can watch him fall. Two weeks should be more than enough time to prepare, and I don't want to drag the distractions out for too long."

The room was completely silent for a few brief seconds as everyone waited for Shigaraki to reply, and even the usual rustle from Dabi was absent. It stayed quiet for what felt like a small eternity, until Shigaraki finally spoke up. "That... actually sounds reasonable," he said hesitantly, as if he didn't want to admit he agreed with me. "Right. If there aren't any objections or better ideas, we'll follow through with this version."

I sat back down and hid a proud smile - this was one of the only few times that Shigaraki had directly praised me, and it felt absolutely wonderful. Beside me, Dabi gave me a discreet thumbs up of approval before promptly choosing to ignore the meeting once again, and I couldn't help the small grin that spread over my face, knowing that I'd made him proud. Wait. Since when had I been fighting for the approval of others? Hadn't it always been fighting to make sure that those who hurt others were punished?  Oh well. It wasn't like it mattered what I was fighting for now. I was with the League, and the League could choose the goal. As long as I could get stronger and feel the rush that I felt whenever I took someone down again, I didn't really care what the destination was.

"So who will be part of the distraction team?" One of the older villains that I'd spoken to maybe once before asked, staring right at Shigaraki and patiently waiting for a response. I had to give it to Shigaraki - he had the entire League under his thumb, even though every single one of us could probably defeat him in a fight. He really was something, but I didn't know if that was good or bad. His aura of control was enough to make anyone cower, and that was saying something.

"I'll have to agree with Kira on this one. The strength-type quirks are best suited for the job," Shigaraki admitted, and I once again felt that happiness of being approved of by the leader come back. "Muscular, you'll be leading the team. Take Giran just in case, and another four will do. If there's anything we can do to assist your job, tell us."

Muscular sat up a little straighter, which made his already-towering form appear even bigger, and I had to hide a laugh, knowing that the real brain behind the operation would be Giran. Still, both villains seemed content with the job, and everyone turned their attention to Shigaraki once more, and the long hours of planning only became more severe.