Chapter 80

.::Yuuyake Koyake::.

It happened like this.

After everyone staying at Kuroe's house left Odawara, Ashido had gotten stir-crazy. Her friends were gone, Kuroe was busy working on his laptop, and the video games weren't fun alone. More than that though, she hated that she was doing nothing. Everyone else was being productive in looking for Porter, so she decided to be productive too and do some searching of her own.

Now, the thing is, she had already determined that Kouda would be able to cover all of Odawara on his own. So she decided to just meet up with him and combine efforts. After all, if he was anything like their Kouda, he'd probably be pretty lost on how to talk to Porter even if he did find him. So before leaving, she double-checked with Kuroe about which number to text in the burner phone he gave her with all the runaways' numbers, and sent him a message.

(Kuroe had no idea what the kids were doing, and he didn't want to know. He'd just expect his support and connection to Ran would grant him clemency after their invasion of Japan or whatever.)

A quick back-and-forth with Kouda introducing herself ended with her not-classmate agreeing to meet in person. His only request was she bring some breakfast. So she threw on the wig Uraraka gave her, raided Kuroe's closet for a disguise (with his bemused approval), and headed to the konbini to buy breakfast for him.

Meanwhile across town, Kouda Kouji was mildly panicking. One of the people from the other world where he apparently went to UA had suddenly texted him asking to join the search. The fact Ashido had figured out he'd be using his network of birds to search the city for Porter painted her as a highly intelligent hero-in-training with a mind for strategy. An intimidating person to meet for sure.

(Monoma, who had been assigned to join him partly to help if he found Porter, and mostly to keep him away from Mail, had looked rather doubtful when he caught wind of Kouda's worries. Mongoose Habuko, who had joined because today wasn't as cold as other days and felt kind of cooped up in base, had just shook her head when he looked at her. They wouldn't be the ones to break reality to him.)

Now, Kouji wanted to make a good first impression on this other-worlder. She must be some sort of genius to attend one of the most prestigious hero schools in the world. He, meanwhile, was a runaway who hadn't even finished middle school. All he had going for him was his Quirk, which had been what got villains' attention in the first place. (He didn't regret reporting that dog fighting ring though. He would never regret that, even if it caused some of the gamblers to pick up on his Quirk's use for spying.)

Ashido clearly knew his Quirk and likely had lofty expectations based on her own world's version of him (which was still so bizarre to think about). So it made sense to him to show off the best of his Quirk's potential, namely by sending a bird to find her and guide her to the meeting place. Ashido had told him about her disguise, describing it in detail, so having a bird find her even in disguise would stand out.

So he sent the best bird he knew, a crow named Yuuyake whose eyes glinted a burning reddish-gold like the setting sun. Yuuyake stood out from the rest of the birds in Odawara because he had a Quirk, one that let his eyes capture and reflect light like, well, a flashlight. Kouji learned Yuuyake also had a boost in his intelligence from that, making him not quite as smart as most humans, but at least on the level of a young child.

Yuuyake listened to the description of the disguise and took flight, heading off to the area where Kuroe lived to start his search. Most humans had already gone to work or school for the day, making the search easy enough. Once he found the konbini Kouji mentioned, it didn't take long to spy the person in the black hat and jacket with pink skin, carrying a bag from the store.

It also didn't take long to notice that a blond human seemed to be following her.

Now, Yuuyake was a smart bird. He was smart enough to not swoop down and alert his original quarry, because that would alert the other human. He followed them for about three streets, just to be safe, and in that time he determined that the blond was indeed following his quarry. That was enough to start forming conclusions:

Kouji's friend was being followed. Kouji's friend was wearing a disguise. Kouji and his other friends were always hiding and sneaking around. Therefore, this new friend must also want to hide and sneak around. But this other human was following Kouji's friend.

And just as he processed that, Yuuyake heard some cries in the distance from his avian brethren. "Snake-friend is coming!" someone called. "Snake-friend is looking for Kouji's new friend!" The reference to Kouji's snake-face friend (Akai or Mongoose, so silly how their names changed so much) mildly irritated Yuuyake, because didn't she trust him to find the other human?

But more importantly, if Akai came here, then the blond human would see her.

Kouji's friend was still being followed. Kouji's snake-face friend was now coming over. Snake-face friend would talk to the disguised friend. But this other human still followed Kouji's disguised friend. He would see both of Kouji's friends together. He would follow them back to Kouji.

And he had one of the electronic square "phones" in his hand that he could use to contact other humans.

With that thought process, Yuuyake's next move became clear. He swooped into a nearby garden to pick up a small rock, and then promptly dropped it on the blond man just as Kouji's snake-face friend came into sight. He didn't aim for the head like his instincts first called but instead the phone-square, which promptly fell to the ground. There was a distinct cracking sound as the man yelped yelped in dismay.

That was enough to alert Kouji's friends just in time for Yuuyake to swoop in and attack the stalker.

Now, there was one other interesting facet of Yuuyake's Quirk that he rarely felt a need to use. You see, Yuuyake's eyes didn't just catch and reflect light. The stored light took on a hypnotic sort of quality when he made direct eye contact, placing the other into a trance-like state. He just found it cheap to use when hunting prey, as if conceding his own natural skills weren't good enough.

For that reason, he also hadn't used it since early summer, the longest he'd gone yet. Usually he'd use it every three full moons, and it had now been six.

So when the man looked up and their eyes met, Yuuyake's eyes flashed with a bright light. And just like that, Yuuyake discovered a new trait of his power as the man instantly swooned and fell unconscious. Oh, so apparently storing up the light did make the effect stronger. He'd had his suspicions, but he didn't know it could knock out a human. Neat!

As he landed atop the unconscious man with an air of pride he heard the new friend shout, "Oh my gosh!"

"Wait, Yuuyake?" Akai called in surprise. "You can knock people out?" New friend turned to look at Akai in surprise.

"Wait, Akai-chan? What are you doing here? Aren't you cold?"

"Yeah, but I came to check because apparently Yuuyake wasn't bragging to the other birds about finding you yet. He does that apparently."

It should be noted now that despite his intelligence, Yuuyake couldn't understand all of the conversation. He had no real use for human language, so mostly he heard, "Yeah, but came to check... Yuuyake... other birds... does that." He didn't know what the conversation was about, but he heard the name Kouji gave him, so he cawed to draw their attention to his glorious success.

"Oh my gosh, he totally knocked out a guy by staring at him," new friend said breathlessly. "Does he always do that!? Why did he do that!? How did he do that!?"

"Yeah uh, that part is new. And also, wait, did he destroy that phone?" Yuuyake recognized the word phone and preened proudly, chest feathers puffing out as he crowed triumphantly. The shiny phone-square had been destroyed before it could be used to contact more humans, and would now make a wonderful addition to his collection. They were just so shiny.

The humans had gotten closer, and Akai looked less than pleased. "Yuuyake, why?" she asked. He just cawed, knowing she wouldn't understand him, and she groaned. "Right. Can't talk... We'll ask Rockfish. But listen, Yuuyake's smart," she said to the other girl, and Yuuyake preened again at the praise. "He wouldn't attack a random guy for no reason. He must've been doing something. This guy's suspicious."

"You think?" she asked, looking at the man, and then froze before blurting, "Wait, Mic-sensei!?" Akai jolted, eyes going wide.

"Wait, what did you just say? Sensei? Please tell me this isn't a Pro Hero!"

"I would, but that is totally Present Mic," Kouji's new friend said. "But what is he doing here? I mean, he doesn't have anything going on in Odawara, right? Unless it's some surprise... signing... like Monday..." She trailed off, seeming to stare into space. "...Deku just got an autograph from him on Monday... And Mic-sensei definitely recognized him... And An-chan was there too..."

She trailed off, but Yuuyake barely understood any of that so he didn't care. What he did understand was her tone, the tone of someone who'd come to a serious realization. Which meant he had done good in stopping this human.

He proudly puffed his feathers and cawed again, and that snapped Akai out of her daze.

"You grab his legs, I'll get his arms. We need to go now."

And so Yuuyake proudly followed the two friends as they carried the bad man away. Yuuyake had done good today, and expected many treats as compensation.

Consciousness returned to Hizashi rather abruptly. One second all was black and the next he basically had a single convulsion, his whole body spasming briefly as his eyes snapped open. That meant he got to take stock of his situation pretty fast.

First observation: he was lying on the ground in a dimly lit space. Cold, cement ground that had a chill that seeped even through his thick winter clothing. So while it was too dark to be outdoors, it wasn't exactly a place with heating.

Second observation: he was tied up, hands behind his back and ankles and knees stuck together. Once again, the bulky winter coat and gloves would work against him since he couldn't even tell what had been used to tie his wrists, he could just feel the tightness through his sleeves.

Third observation: he'd been gagged. And pretty securely too; seemed like they'd stuffed something in his mouth and tied off some cloth on top of it. It wasn't a fetish gag thankfully, which would be much creepier, but he could barely even move his jaw with whatever was inside his mouth. Which, shit.

Fourth observation: holy shit there were glowing eyes right next to him.

Hizashi made a muffled noise of shock as he registered the pair of beady eyes, glowing faintly reddish-orange in the darkness. Then they vanished as the darkness shifted, and only then did he realize those eyes weren't even human. No, they belonged to the crow that had suddenly dive-bombed him earlier and then knocked him out. Its beak opened wide as it squawked, except he couldn't hear it.

Fifth observation: whoever kidnapped him had probably removed his hearing aids. Except, wait, he'd definitely heard himself earlier when he first saw the demon bird, and a test grunt confirmed he could still hear just fine. So what the hell?

He tried to sit up only to grunt as his head bumped into something, making his confusion grow. As far as he could tell he was in the middle of a room, with no walls or ceiling right next to him. Unless... they were invisible. Great, a Quirk that could make invisible boxes. Well, at least that might explain the lack of sound instead of him going deaf.

By this point his eyes had started to adjust to the dimness of wherever he was. and as they did he registered more movement behind the crow. When he glanced over he startled upon seeing several masked figures in hoods. And by masked, he meant freaking festival masks you'd see sold in booths. A fox mask with a big mane of red hair, a bright horned blue oni mask, another kitsune mask but in black, a creepily grinning demon mask, some kind of sentai superhero with the bottom of the mask missing, a guy whose mask kept changing...

Only two people didn't wear masks. A teenager floating close to the ceiling (and absolutely not wearing a winter coat or even shoes unlike everyone else, what the hell), and Ashido Mina. His attention zeroed in on the last person, making a muffled noise of recognition. She still wore the same clothes and the hat and shades, but he was still certain of her identity. That, and she was the only person here he actually recognized from before getting knocked out by the demon crow.

The guy in the creepily grinning demon mask stepped forward, making him flinch. In the dim lighting of the room, the pasty white skin looked even more ghastly. He snapped and the walls surrounding Hizashi suddenly shattered. Turned out the box wasn't fully invisible, just slightly hazy, so the room wasn't quite as dim as he originally thought.

That really didn't lower the creepiness of the masks.

"Don't even think about shouting," the masked man warned. "We're inside a tunnel that's far away from anywhere else, so no one will be able to hear anyway. Got it?" Hizashi bobbed his head quickly, and the guy then pulled off the gag. When it was removed he spit out whatever had been stuffed in his mouth, and then blinked.

"Is that half a foam ball?" he asked. It looked like one of those foam balls you'd squeeze if you felt stressed, just cut in half. And then cut some more, to actually fit inside a mouth...

"We're working with what we have," the one in the white kitsune mask huffed, and that was definitely a girl's voice. A teenage girl, not an adult. "We don't usually have people following us around so it's not like we keep stuff for this!"

"But you keep creepy cult-ish masks," Hizashi muttered, glaring at them darkly.

"Hey, Joker-Blue isn't creepy," the guy in the sentai mask grumbled. "Though yeah, everyone else's is definitely creepy."

"As Akai said, we're working with what we have," the one in the black fox mask huffed. Akai must be the girl then. Fitting with the red coat and hair. "But that's not important. We have some questions."

"You and me both," Hizashi huffed, and decided to just get straight to the point. He zeroed in on his prime suspect for Ashido and asked, "You're Ashido Mina, aren't you?"

The girl groaned, ripping off the hat and shades so only the black hair remained. "Ugh, why did I even wear this if someone would see through it right away!" she whined.

"To be fair, most people probably wouldn't see through it," the floating kid commented. "It's a solid disguise, even managed to work the glasses into the aesthetic to wear inside. You just got unlucky and ran into someone who was hyper-focused on you in particular."

"Well that's just creepy," Akai deadpanned, and the boy grinned.

"Yes it is."

"Hey!" Hizashi muttered defensively, and regretted it when everyone turned to face him. The synchronized movement just reminded him of how creepy those masks all looked in the dark room. Still, he didn't let it deter him. "So I'm guessing one of you is Kirishima Eijirou, right?"

"Kiri's not here," Ashido huffed, crossing her arms.

"Why are you looking for them?" the one in the black kitsune mask demanded, and Hizashi huffed. Right now he really didn't want to answer, but he knew his position wasn't the best for being obstinate. He had no idea how much these guys knew so he didn't want to reveal his identity just yet, but he might be able to glean information by playing along a little bit.

"I know Oracle, the hero who was watching you guys," he said. "There's a bunch of people looking for you since you two made a big splash. We're all worried you might have fallen in with the wrong crowd."

And it looks like you have, he didn't need to say as he glanced at the other kids—and that's what they were: kids. Other than the guy in the creepy demon mask, all of them so far sounded like teenagers. What the hell were they caught up in?

"How did you even find me?" Ashido asked in frustration. "I was disguised and everything!"

"I took a chance and came here because one of your friends has a brother here," Hizashi answered honestly. "I figured you might've gone to his place. I was just in line at the konbini buying snacks when I heard you change your voice. That's what got me paying attention."

"Ugh, seriously," she groaned, slumping dejectedly. "Dang it universe, why're you screwing us over with coincidences now?"

"Is anyone else here?" the black kitsune mask kid questioned, ignoring her ramble.

"Do you really think I'll answer that?" Hizashi deadpanned.

"Don't try to dodge the question or lie. We're not afraid to have Yuuyake attack if you do." The crow cawed at the name, answering Hizashi's question about who Yuuyake was. Given how that beak would be very good for poking out eyes, he found the threat mildly effective.

"K-Kaitou, please don't use Yuuyake as a threat." The quiet interjection came from the kid with the blue oni mask, catching Hizashi off-guard. With the bulky build and the sharp-fanged snarl on the mask, he'd expected that one to be more intimidating, but instead he sounded very soft-spoken and timid. He actually flinched when Hizashi glanced at him, ducking closer to the super-sentai kid and mumbling something.

"He says he doesn't like encouraging any of the crows to attack people," the kid said. "You-know-who is smarter than the rest, so he might get ideas if we're not careful."

"Fine," the black kitsune (Kaitou, apparently) huffed. "But we have other methods we can use if you don't cooperate."

"Like what?" Hizashi demanded, and then suddenly he felt himself go limp and his torso slumped forward to lay on top of his knees at an awkward angle. The hell?

"That," said the creepy white-mask guy. Hizashi could feel control returning already, and he sat up more warily. Well he had no idea what that Quirk was, or if there was more to it than the brief paralysis, but that was clearly a warning.

Fine then. "Yeah, there are others," he lied. "And if I don't check in, they'll come looking for me—"

He was cut off by a weird rumbly noise, making him jolt. His head snapped to the source to see... a yellow weasel? It poked its head out from behind the oni kid's legs, scurrying around him with a series of chittering grunts akin to growling. He whispered to sentai who nodded. "Haya says he's lying about other people being here," he reported.

"Wait, what?" Hizashi asked dumbly.

"Huh, a marten with a lie detecting Quirk?" the floating kid asked curiously. "That's weirdly convenient. Do you just collect animals with Quirks?" The oni-masked kid shrugged, clearly not up to answering. Wait, so could that kid talk to animals or something? Also why the heck did they have a marten with a lie-detecting Quirk? Didn't those things live in forests!? What use would it even be?

"Well, Haya is never wrong," creepy demon mask guy commented. "So you are alone. Then, does anyone know you're here?"

...Was he seriously being interrogated by a bunch of kids and a marten? Apparently yes, he realized as all the kids and the marten stared at him. This was absolutely not covered in his training. Hizashi frowned and kept his mouth firmly shut, deciding it'd be better to not bother answering.

"If he's quiet, that probably means no," Kaitou noted after about a minute, and dammit, the kid was right. Was this how criminals felt talking to Tsukauchi? Granted most of them wouldn't know about his Quirk, since he tried not to warn suspects so they couldn't try to come up with a workaround. Still, the point stood.

"Wait, you didn't tell anyone?" the floating kid asked, looking genuinely surprised. "I mean, I said it was possible, but I didn't think you'd actually be that careless." Hizashi shot him an offended scowl.

"Can you please not talk to him?" Akai grumbled irritably. "We're only letting you hang around because we literally can't keep you away."

"I can make you disappear though." And then a brand new voice spoke up, one that warbled in pitch and tone and made Hizashi jolt. It was the deepest voice yet, and it must belong to the guy with the mask that kept changing. Right now it seemed to be flickering between pieces of a dragon mask and a tengu as he faced the floating boy. "I'm not even sure why I'm letting you be visible in the first place other than to keep track of you."

"I'm not going to do anything," the floating kid said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. "This is the most entertainment I've had in years. I'm watching a bunch of kids interrogate a guy using a Quirked marten." The marten made a growling noise to the oni kid, apparently recognizing its species. "Just saying, I've got no motivation to work against you right now."

"Is entertainment really that strong of a motivation?" creepy mask guy asked.

"After two thousand, nine hundred eighty-seven days where you're stuck watching people without being able to interact with almost anyone or anything, you learn to appreciate the value of entertainment." Hizashi startled, quickly doing the math in his head and then just stared. That clocked in just a bit over eight years by his math, which—damn, what the hell? The kid looked sixteen!

"Yeah, that would be boring," the Sentai muttered. "Still don't know how you didn't go crazy."

"Who says I didn't?" floaty kid quipped with a cheerful smile, and wow, that was sad and oddly intimidating.

Okay, so to recap, there were at least two runaways, a bunch of kids in cheap masks from festival, multiple Quirked animals, a kid who'd apparently been cut off from all human contact for over eight years... Yeah, Hizashi wasn't like the picture he was starting to put together. He had seen plenty of shady stuff over the years, and this was setting off all kinds of alarm bells.

The guy with the demon mask and the guy who kept changing struck him as the main threats. They seemed to be the oldest ones here going by their voices, but more than that, the changing guy basically threatened the floating kid. Something about "letting" him be visible? Was he why the kid had been isolated for eight years?

His jaw clenched at the thought. Ashido and Kirishima might be in deeper over their heads than he'd initially feared. "Hey," he said lowly, drawing everyone's attention to him. "What's the deal with all you guys, anyway?" There was no reason to beat around the bush right now. Asking directly might get him some answers depending on how cocky these people were as long as he didn't directly accuse the adults.

So he was surprised when he was responded by half of them chorusing, "No." The simple response had him blinking, because seriously, what did that mean? Just "No"?

"We're not telling you anything," Kaitou said firmly, getting nods from the others.

"It's bad enough anyone knows, let alone an adult," Akai added.

"Sorry Mic," Ashido said, and that had him startling.

"Wait, what did you just call me?" he asked incredulously, and she immediately flinched as the others turned to stare at her flatly.

"Okay, guess we're just acknowledging we know who he is," creepy mask guy muttered, making her flinch again with a small grimace.

"Sorry..."

"How do you know that?" Hizashi demanded sharply.

"We're not telling you," the guy with the ever-changing mask declared flatly.

"Anyways," Kaitou cut in loudly. "So to double-check, you have no one who currently knows you're here?" Hizashi immediately pursed his lips, refusing to answer.

"He's still avoiding answering, so I'm going with yes," Akai piped up.

"Honestly, that's good enough for now," creepy mask guy sighed. "Hey Mime, cube him." Wait, what? Hizashi jolted as the kid with the sentai mask stalked over.

"Hey, what're you—" He didn't get to finish the question before the kid was blowing into his hand, and he yelped as a cube suddenly formed. Within seconds he was trapped in the same kind of cube as when he'd woken up, cutting off all outside sounds. He could try to scream to break it, but with how small it was, he worried his voice would just bounce off the walls and hit himself.

As it stood, he could only glare sourly at the kids as they all headed out beyond a thick, black curtain, leaving only the crow behind. It opened its mouth to caw, not that he could hear it. Even without sound, it felt oddly mocking.

Great. Just great. He had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

BONUS: Origins of Haya

~One Year Ago~

Kuroe had been fast asleep when his phone rang, making him groan and blindly grope around the end table. "Hey, Kuroe," Aiko's voice streamed over the phone, chipper as ever.

"What?" he groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"Wait, did I wake you up? It's already noon!"

"I stayed up late because I had to meet Stendhal, creepy fucker," he muttered under his breath. Hard to feel tired after spending time around that guy, always took a couple hours to fall asleep. "Anyways, what do you want?"

"So, do you want a marten?" That was enough to have him sitting up, losing his sleepiness.

"...Why do you have a marten?"

"I have no idea," Aiko replied flatly. "I've spent the past four years thinking there was a rodent infestation at one of the abandoned labs. And I guess I was kinda right, except it was a single marten instead of a bunch of rats. So I guess I didn't need to leave out as much food as I did."

"...Why did you ignore it for four years? Actually, wait, why did you leave food for it?"

"Because these places suck and deserve any damage rodents can wreak on them." Hard to argue with that. "Anyways, do you want the marten or not?"

"Can't you just release it or something?"

"Feeding a wild animal will lower its ability to survive in the wild, and I don't know if this one knows how to hunt. Kuroe, I left a LOT of food for it because I thought there were, like, five hundred rats. Also, when I tried to dump it in the woods it looked heartbroken and started crying, and I'm not HEARTLESS."

"...Can't you give it to Izuku as a pet or something?"

"Kuroe, this thing is a master of escape. I just spent the last two days repeatedly tracking it down after it repeatedly escaped my traps. And how do you think villains visiting the bar would react to a loose marten?" Also hard to argue that. "Look, doesn't one of the kids have that animal-talking Quirk, or did he leave?"

Kuroe hummed. "Nah, he's still around."

"Great. Then he can take it and figure out if I screwed over its ability to survive in the wild by feeding it every week."

"Fine, fine. When will you drop off the marten?"

"Right now." Wait, what? "Hey, Giri! He said okay!" Wait, WHAT?

At that moment a tiny black portal appeared and a yellow weasel-like creature fell out of it, plopping onto the bed. Kuroe just stared at the marten, and the marten stared back, beady black eyes full of eerie wisdom. "Thanks Kuroe, you're the best! Gotta go now, talk to you later!" There was a click as the call ended, and Kuroe continued to stare down the marten.

Then it spun and took a flying leap off the bed, Kuroe lunging after it before it could ravage his bedroom.

And thus began Haya's new life.

Yuuyake is my new favorite OC. Best POV ever. The name comes from the song Yuuyake Koyake, which a lot of towns and cities play at the end of the day around 5 PM when it's time for kids to go home. "Yuuyake" means sunset, and the lyrics reference crows, and thus Yuuyake the crow is born!

Also yes, they DO have a convenient lie-detecting marten. Why? Because I said so. (I literally wrote that bonus omake today, so excuse any errors/mistakes in it. I think you can guess why Haya has that lie-detecting Quirk from that. Also yes, Kurogiri knows Aiko has connections in Odawara, mainly because she's had him warp her there and back. He doesn't ask questions.) On that note, Haya is a Japanese marten, and finding any videos of them making sounds is HARD.

Also if you search "Japanese festival masks" you should find most of the masks described. Mime/Tsuburaba modified his to expose the mouth to use his Quirk. On that note, there's a whole wiki for sentai rangers that has a table with all the teams and colors. Apparently there's a team based on Lupin. Neat!

Question for next time: What do you think the kids' invasion of Japan that Kuroe half-expects would entail?