One Saturday afternoon, the Todoroki residence received a strange phone call.
"Hello?" a young woman asked. "Is Shouto there?"
"No," Enji said, frowning. He couldn't remember anyone ever calling to ask for Shouto - and definitely not any girls. He was certain he would remember that. "Who is this?"
"This is his, um…" The caller's voice broke, and Enji could hear her crying. "Well, I thought I was his girlfriend, but he hasn't spoken to me in days. He blocked me on his cell phone. I haven't been able to reach him ever since I told him I was p-pregnant…"
Enji held very still.
"...and he was so nice to me at first, too," the girl went on, sniffling. "Normally people are so mean to me when they find out I'm Quirkless, but he didn't tease me at all. I thought he even loved me…"
"Shouto no longer lives at home," Enji said, keeping his voice steady only through great effort. "However, I will be contacting him about this matter shortly. What did you say your name was?"
"Oh, no," the girl said quickly, growing shrill with fear. "No, no, I wasn't supposed to tell you any of this. Please forget I called!"
"Wait-"
She hung up. When Enji called back, it went straight to voicemail; the phone had been switched off.
Across the city, Bakugou Katsuki was rolling on the floor, laughing.
"Was that good?" Camie asked him, turning her phone onto airplane mode. She wiped her eyes; she'd been so into the act, she'd teared up for real. "You liked it, right?"
"Holy fuck," Bakugou said, "you're a genius. Camie, you're a fucking genius."
"No one's ever called me that before."
"Oh my God," Bakugou said, talking more to himself than to her. "Ohhh my God. Fuck." Camie could see tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, now, too. "We have to find him. I have to hear how this goes down. Can you disguise yourself?"
"Yeah, sure," she said, and did as he said.
"Not - not as Todoroki, that's weird," Bakugou said. "Someone else. Kaminari?"
"Okay," she said, pulling her phone back out and finding a picture for reference. "How's this look?"
"Fine," Bakugou said, getting to his feet. As they made their way out into the hallway, Camie was careful not to take his hand. It certainly wouldn't have been the first disguise ruined by unthinking public affection, but she was getting better.
They made their way to Todoroki's room. Camie could hear someone talking inside, although she didn't think it was Todoroki himself. "You almost had question 8 correct, but you forgot-"
Then, from within the room, a phone rang. Bakugou had to shove his fist into his mouth to keep from laughing aloud.
"Hello?" A pause. "Uhh, no? ...What are you talking about? -I don't, I… Stop talking for a minute. I'm serious, I don't know anything about this. Hang on. There's someone I need to-"
The door opened, and suddenly they were face to face with Todoroki. Further back in the room Camie could see two other boys sprawled on the floor, textbooks and notebooks spread open around them.
"Hello Bakugou," Todoroki said, his voice cold. "Fancy seeing you here."
"I just came by because I was studying with Kaminari, and he needed help with the math-"
"Uh-huh."
"-and my brain blanked, and there was one question I just couldn't figure out, so I was hoping to ask Four-Eyes. But he wasn't in his room, so I thought maybe he was in yours. And, voila, there he is! Hey, Four-Eyes!"
"Bakugou," Todoroki said, standing firmly in the doorway to prevent them from entering. "Somehow I find myself doubting your story."
"Excuse me? What the fuck do you mean by that?" Despite his words, Bakugou couldn't really be threatening: he still had a hint of a laugh in his voice. "You doubt me? Why the fuck would you say that? I just admitted I needed help with something and you add insult to injury by telling me you don't believe me?"
"Hey," Todoroki said, turning to Camie. "What's your Quirk?"
Camie thought back on the picture. She was disguised as the yellow-haired one - his Quirk was easy to remember. "Electricity," she said. "Duhh."
Todoroki squinted, still suspicious. He pointed to one of the boys in the room behind him. "What's his name?"
"I know you guys think I'm stupid, but this is ridiculous," Camie said. "Go ahead and doubt Bakugou, but why are you doubting me, too?"
"Kirishima?"
"Yeah?"
"Fuck!" Bakugou said.
Camie didn't realize what she'd done for a moment. Then she sighed deeply and let her disguise drop. "I'm sorry, babe." She took Bakugou's hand and planted a kiss gently on his knuckles. "That was my bad."
"Dad, are you still there?" Todoroki said. "Yeah. Look, it was a prank. I'm going to put her on the line and she can explain it to you."
Todoroki's gaze was steely as he held out the phone. Camie was frightened of his anger until she caught sight of the boys in his room. One just looked confused, but one was trying his best not to laugh, and that gave her confidence.
"Mr. Todoroki, sir," Camie began. "I've just gotten the chance to talk to Shouto. He says I'm supposed to tell you it's a prank."
"Because it is a prank!" Todoroki said, slapping his forehead with one palm. "Camie, come on!"
"He's - he's yelling at me now. Please, Mr. Todoroki, forget we ever talked. This was a prank, it really was."
Bakugou had his free hand over his mouth, but Camie thought his laughter was probably still audible through the phone. Todoroki's shouting certainly was. He snatched the phone back from her, so fast she jumped in surprise. "Dad, listen. Her name's Camie - yeah, the girl from the class I had to take. She's dating Bakugou, and they - yeah, that Bakugou. And they do this sort of thing all the time." He was glaring at Bakugou now. "Look, I really haven't gotten anyone pregnant. Don't tell me you believed her…"
Bakugou, giggling, began to sneak away, and Camie left too, using her Quirk to make it look like they were still standing obediently in the hallway. She didn't drop the illusion until they were safe in Bakugou's room, the door locked firmly behind them.
"God, you were amazing," Bakugou said, grinning, and Camie grinned too. His excitement was infectious. The truth was that Camie had nothing against Todoroki. She liked him, even. He was a decent guy, and he'd done nothing to offend her. But Camie had not yet discovered anything else that got the same reaction from Bakugou besides playing pranks on Todoroki, so she made him the sacrifice over and over again. And Bakugou's smile, his wholehearted, joyous laughter, was normally so rare, but she could make it come out just through stupid silly pranks.
"Remind me to never get on your bad side," Bakugou said, ruffling her hair. Camie groaned and squirmed away from his touch, although it was just an act - she didn't mind it when he did that, even if it did mean her hair got tangled. "You're evil."
"What if…" Camie twisted her mouth, thinking. "What if we really were evil?"
"The world would have to fucking watch its back," Bakugou said, leaning in to kiss her.
They were rudely interrupted just a few minutes later by someone pounding on the door, but Camie created an illusion to hide the sound from herself and Bakugou, and they continued on, unheeding.