He found her.
Shouldn't have lost her in the first place.
It took a whole, miserable day.
Useless.
But he finally found Ochaco Uraraka again.
He'd been well accustomed to her routine of walking home from school. That green-haired boy had been her shadow - always going out of his way to drop her off at her door before turning around and heading off to the nearest bus stop. However, after her first day back from school, he never saw her leave the grounds.
Her absence felt like a bleeding wound somewhere in the depths of his already shattered mind. He spiraled.
You're crazy, Jin. Never forget.
What if she'd left him? What if she'd run away - into the future that was supposed to be so perfectly molded for the two of them together without him? What if she knew the truth? What if she knew that deep down he would never be good enough for her - that no one would be?
Of course she did.
It tore him apart.
But he'd returned again the next day.
With her parents still safe little marbles with Compress, he'd had little else to do. Besides, he needed to protect her. He hadn't forgotten the blonde boy who'd followed her around the day of the Sports Festival.
The nerve of him.
Kill him.
So he'd posted himself in his usual spot, a back and forth between the bus stop a few blocks over and the alley just a few meters from the gates of UA High School. He had the time to wait, though tonight he was actually required to be with the League. Boss had requested the use of his quirk for a meeting after dark, giving him a few hours to waste.
She's never a waste.
He shook his head in a brisk, subtle motion as he adjusted his back against the warm brick building. He should have waited at the bus stop longer before strolling as naturally as possible over to the alleyway, but he couldn't help himself.
He was eager.
Students filtered from the gate in small bursts, typically sticking to the sidewalks along the raised walls of protection the school so boldly offered the aspiring heroes.
What a waste.
He wouldn't have noticed normally, but he suspected that something simply drew her to him when he caught sight of a familiar face staring out of a car window.
It was him.
The boy was glaring out from the backseat of a dark SUV, his red eyes stark even through the tint. When he whipped his head away, she was there.
She was there.
He kicked off the wall, emerging from the pocket of the alleys he'd always been so fond of. His eyes glued to them, memorizing the car and the license plate number even as the afternoon sun glared across the thin piece of metal. He needed to know where they were going.
But following a vehicle through the bustling streets was a task even too great for him.
You can't save her.
She doesn't even want to be saved.
She needs you.
His feet dragged against the pavement, bystanders in school uniforms passing him by as the car faded away.
. . .
"Why are you pouting now?" Dabi shot across the table. He was stretched out in the old wooden chair, his long legs spread and his hands clasped behind his head.
Twice couldn't look at him - couldn't see anything but Uraraka and the blonde in the backseat of a car. He clenched his jaw, feeling the movement in the fist he rested his chin on against the table.
Dabi released an annoyed breath. "I gotta say, I don't get it."
Of course he doesn't.
No one does.
No one can.
No one ever has.
Twice shifted his elbow before his forearm fell asleep.
"I mean, she's just some girl," Dabi continued. "What's the big deal?"
A vision of doppelganger mud splattered through his memories. She was there. She had been right there and he'd just… watched her die.
He couldn't let it happen again.
He had to save her.
So they could run.
But Dabi didn't know the truth that he did.
Lies.
He could never be sure he was the original - never know whether or not he was the Twice that was meant to make it out of that night and so many nights after that. He was a myth, a ghost, a relic of whoever Jin had once been.
And maybe, just maybe, if he connected with the real Uraraka she could be the one to finally show him whether or not he was right. Maybe she was the key to this all along.
"Everyone's gotta have a purpose."
Dabi raised a brow at him. "Not really. Life is pretty meaningless when you really think about it."
Twice narrowed his eyes at the younger villain - a gesture the other couldn't see behind the mask pulled across his rough mop of short shaggy hair and stretched down over his nose and cheekbones. "There's more," he insisted.
"You realize we're talking about your crush on a teenaged girl?"
"It's not like that!"
"Yeah," Dabi huffed. "Okay."
"You don't know anything about her," he heard himself say.
Like her favorite color is pink.
She loves hot chocolate and mochi.
Her laugh is adorable.
Dabi shook his head. "Don't need to - thanks." He rolled his neck as the door to the back rooms opened over his shoulder. "Maybe we should introduce you to someone your own age," he said, then added, more to himself, "or even actually getting Toga to give you a chance would be better than this."
Boss strolled in, a tangible tension following in his wake as he made his way to his barstool. He sat, his fingers taking to a tapping rhythm against the dark wood of the counter.
"I heard that," Twice snapped. "It's not the same."
He loved Toga.
He knew he did, but their relationship had withered to dust the night Uraraka died in that fat man's mansion. He loved her, but it wasn't the same.
They worked together now, a fact she was almost blissfully unaware of, and though he felt the rush beneath his skin when she was near - he could never see her without thinking of that night, of all the doubles - of her.
A bang broke through the growing tension in the room. Twice and Dabi turned toward Shigaraki.
Bad hair day?
Shut up.
"You," their boss cursed under his breath.
Dabi's already impassive face dropped lower.
"Er, who?" Twice dared, snapping out of his existential crisis.
As if.
Shigaraki slumped over the bar, his spine an alarming curve in the low light. He pulled back an arm, slow and languid, pointing a finger. "You."
"Me?" Twice said, shifting his eyes between Dabi and the boss.
A growl rolled from Shigaraki's chest, growing into a shout. "They're not coming. You lied to me."
"Who's not coming?"
Dabi turned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Those kids and All Might. That's what those letters were about."
"They were supposed to come here?" Twice asked, incredulous.
Shigaraki's face darkened as he spun on his bar stool to face them. "They were supposed to leave a sign of acceptance - then the location would be arranged for tonight." He tipped back his chin, scratching his neck. "You said they cared about that girl. You said they had ties."
Twice was confused. "They do," he said. "Why would they-"
"He offered the heroes her parents in exchange for the meet up," Dabi said. "And they ignored him - totally left him on read."
Another growl stirred in Shigaraki's chest as he glared at Twice. "Those idiots," he snarled. "No more doing this your way."
"My way?"
"They don't want to accept my generosity? Fine," Shigaraki said, intensifying his scratching. "We'll teach them never to ignore us ever again."
Twice pushed out a frown that no one could see, turning to Dabi and tilting his head in silent question.
"I don't even fucking know, man," he said.
"Dabi," Shigaraki said, lowering his arm. "I need you to make some friends - fast."
"Hoo hoo," Twice laughed. "That'll be your hardest mission yet, eh?"
A sharp look from Shigaraki silenced Twice's fun.
"I want a team. Get Giran in on it," he commanded. "And you," he eyed Twice, "get with Mr. Compress. You're going to need your hostages - and not in the form of marbles."
Twice nodded slowly, remembering just how much Uraraka looked like her mother. A vision of her head peeking over the blonde's shoulder in the backseat came to his mind unbidden.
They'd been sitting so close.
"What are you going to do with them?" he asked.
"Those heroes think they're too good for a face to face with the League of Villains?" Shigaraki said. "Let's prove them wrong."
"Let's show them what ignoring the League of Villains will get them."