-This is made by Starrshard on Ao3 and Wattpad, please check them out. I have been given permission to upload this to, as they do not have an account on this website-

Tsuyu awoke to her doorbell ringing.

I have a doorbell? she mused, rolling out of bed. I didn't realize...

She put on a pair of slippers and went to get the door. Behind her, she could sense Eijirou's eyeless spirit hovering by the bathroom. Shadows swam on her walls, as if the room were lit by candles and the corpses were having a dance. The frog jar on her desk seemed to bear mania in its eyes and bloodlust in its grin.

"Hello?" Tsuyu opened the door just in time to run into Nejire, who had her hand raised and poised to knock, as evident by her loose fist. The Beauty Pageant's other hand clutched two small papers.

"Ah, Tsu! Are you a psychic? 'Cus I was just about to knock..." Nejire chuckled and handed Tsuyu a note. Tsuyu unfolded it and read it.

'Please gather in the cafeteria! ~Mirio'

"I'm helping him pass out these things. I'm almost done. Do you wanna walk with me downstairs? Or do you have to wash up first?" The girl was bright and peppy as ever.

"I'll just brush my hair and put on some shoes. You can go if you want; I'll catch up," she offered.

"Okay~! I'll see you in a minute!" And with that, Nejire was gone.

Tsuyu did as she said; she grabbed a comb and brushed through her dull green locks, sitting at her desk, her eyes scanning the room. The shadows were gone; the corpses were evidently done having their party. Eijirou was still sitting by the bathroom, his right socket weeping blood, his left eye closed. He was dozing.

Ochako had popped up while Tsuyu was occupied with Nejire; the brunette sat at the foot of the bed, staring listlessly at the frog girl with a haunted gaze while whispering. Tsuyu couldn't make out the words, but she could hear smidgens of Ochako's soft, gentle voice, like a leaf in the wind. Tsuyu picked up the green ribbon from the desk and put on her boots. She left her room, not giving a second glance at the ghosts. As soon as the door shut, the whispering abruptly stopped.

She stepped into the hallway and turned to the right to see Nejire bouncing out of room 1-K, where Yaomomo resided. Tsuyu went up to the taller girl and accompanied her downstairs. They peered into the cafeteria through the doorway. It was empty. "Mirio and Tamaki are still handing out notes on the fifth floor. They have more notes to hand out than me, and Tamaki's only following him," Nejire explained. "Let's get something from the kitchen."

It had been two days since the trial, the case where Eijirou was killed and Izuku was executed. Since then the two boys had joined the ranks of the spirits Tsuyu would glimpse throughout the day. As the girls walked into the kitchen, Tsuyu spotted Izuku standing stiffly by the doorway, staring blankly ahead with lifeless jade eyes. His mouth was open; blood dripped from it, as well as from his ears. "Hey, Nejire," Tsuyu said, unnerved by Izuku's presence. They were fetching cereal from the cupboard in the back. "Do you think we should do anything about him?"

"What? Who?" Nejire's eyes widened, and she whirled around, immediately on edge.

"Izuku."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Now the bluette was visibly confused, her guard lowering.

"Right there, by the door." Tsuyu pointed at him. He was in the same position. The blood was still running.

"There's nothing there, Tsu. You must be hallucinating, or something. Maybe you didn't get enough sleep," Nejire suggested. She turned back to the cupboard, finding and grabbing the box of cereal.

Tsuyu blinked, staring at Izuku. He was clearly there. Look, the blood's dripping on the floor now... But she shrugged off Nejire's blind eye, and instead decided to just eat breakfast with her upperclassman.

"Good morning everyone," Mirio greeted formally.

"..." Of course, nobody responded. The remaining survivors -except for Mezou- were all gathered in the cafeteria. Everyone was silent. Tsuyu sat near the head of the table, by Nejire and across from Tamaki. Mirio was the only one standing this time.

Mirio sighed and put his hands down on the table, leaning forward. "Guys, I know it's been rough. Eijirou was killed, and Izuku... Izuku was executed. But we have to move on! How would we be honoring their memories if we stayed hung up on them for forever?"

I don't think they mind, Tsuyu decided, glancing towards the side of the room. Eijirou was sleeping, hanging from the ceiling by a single wire tied around his neck, and Izuku had followed her and was facing the wall now, still standing stiffly. Tsuyu could tell the blood was still running. She shuddered and returned her gaze to Mirio, trying to ground her rampant mind.

"What would Eijirou and Izuku want us to do?" Mirio continued. "They would want us to move on and get out of here, for their sakes. Remember what Izuku's last words were? He wanted us to have hope. What would he think if he saw us despairing despite his dying wish?"

He'd stand there and drip blood from his face, Tsuyu thought, shuddering.

"I agree with him."

"Eh?! Shouto?" Nejire looked up, surprised by him speaking out, of all people.

Tsuyu observed the scene. Shouto had gotten up from his chair, but his gaze was lowered. "It's just as Mirio said. Izuku..." his voice faltered. "Izuku wanted us to move on. And Eijirou wanted death. Both of them should get what they want, or else it'll all be meaningless. Who would want that to happen?"

The class was stunned, staring at the heterochronous boy. Tsuyu would've expected him to grieve longer, considering Izuku was his boyfriend and that he'd been completely shattered for the past two days, unresponsive to everything, including Tsuyu knocking on the door- which she'd done because she thought she heard Izuku's voice saying something to her in her bathroom.

Then Denki spoke. "Shouto's right. If we can't do anything else, we should at least fulfil Izuku's dying wish."

Murmurs spread through the table. People seemed to be agreeing.

"So we agree? We should move on and continue our escape plan?" Mirio spoke up. Everyone nodded, a flame relit in their hearts, it seemed. Tsuyu looked up to see that Izuku and Eijirou had both vanished. However, now there were needles all over the floor. That's better than the ghosts, at least, Tsuyu thought, relieved they were gone.

"Our escape plan?" Tooru echoed.

"Yeah! I'm almost done with the device, actually. I just have to run a few more tests, and it'll all be good," Mei piped up. "I lost motivation yesterday... I'll try to finish up today!"

"And we should continue our investigation from way back, before Kyouka died," Yaomomo said, her voice unemotional even as she said her dead friend's name.

"Oh yeah, speaking of that..." Mashirao got up and regarded Mirio. "First and foremost, we should get rid of the vent map."

"I agree with him," Shouto added. "It's been used in two cases already. We can't let this go on."

"Umm... that's fair enough," Tamaki stammered. "I sort of agree... it's caused too much death."

"I suppose," Mirio murmured. "It can't hurt to be too careful."

"Mirio! Can you go get the map from your room?" Nejire piped up. "It looks like everyone has decided!"

"Actually... I have it right here, in my pocket." Mirio pulled out a large, folded-up piece of graph paper. He unfolded it to reveal the original copy of the vent map. It was color-coded and appeared to be printed, just as described.

"Perfect! Let's destroy it immediately!" Mei declared. "...wait. How are we going to destroy it?"

"It has to be permanent," Yaomomo stated. "And ripping it up won't do. Someone could piece it back together."

"Isn't it obvious? We should burn it!" Tooru suddenly suggested.

Burn it... with fire...

Fire... like the fire that burned the library..?

Like the fire I watched dance before my eyes in the vent..?

"Err... Tsuyu, are you okay..?" She looked up to see Nejire. "You're shaking..."

She hadn't even realized she was shaking until her upperclassman pointed it out. The world suddenly became very overwhelming; her classmates voicing their concerns were too loud, their words reverberating in her skull. The smell of the cafeteria, its warm, ramen scent, was suddenly bitter with smoke and the odor of burning rubber. The lights were too bright. The air was too thick. It's too much, it's too much, it's all too much-

"I think mentioning... burning... might've triggered something in her memory. The library, and Yuga..." Tamaki lowered his voice, but Tsuyu heard it anyway. The mention of the event made everything in her senses increase twicefold again. She lowered her head to her arms, but as she stared at the floor, all she could see was the blood-covered needle tips pointing up at her.

"We're going to have to do it to the map anyway," Yaomomo spoke up. She actually seemed genuinely concerned for Tsuyu. "She shouldn't watch. Someone should stay outside with her."

"I'll stick with her," Nejire volunteered. "C'mon, Tsu. Um, can I touch you? Can we walk outside, into the hallway?"

Tsuyu lifted her head, her gaze blank as she looked up at Nejire. She was afraid that being touched would amplify her senses again, and it was already too much at the moment. "I'm fine... I'll walk..." she mumbled.

She carefully turned and set her feet on the ground, wincing as tiny pinpricks of pain shot through her feet as she stepped on the needles. She gingerly staggered away, towards the door, Nejire walking at her side. She could practically feel everyone's eyes fixed on her.

Why can't I just be normal..? Take the Killing Game and whatever it throws at me..?

Why am I so... not normal?

Why can't I just be like Mashirao, or Hitoshi, or Tooru, or Shouto?

And the ghosts...

...why do they keep following me?

Shouto watched as Tsuyu stumbled out of the doorway with Nejire beside her. "Oh dear... I hope she'll be okay," Tooru murmured. "I should apologize later. I didn't think mentioning burning the map would be that bad."

"Poor Tsu... the trauma Yuga gave her, dragging her through the vents like that... I thought she'd gotten better, but I guess mentioning fire sort of set her off," Yaomomo decided.

"Let's just get this done with and then not mention it again," Hitoshi suggested. "Try not to mention anything along the lines of fire or burning around her."

"That's fine by me," Mei sighed. "But anyway, where are we going to dispose of the map?"

"The kitchen," Denki immediately said. "Put it on the stove in a pot, or something. Turn the heat up, coat it in alcohol, and it'll go up."

"That's a good idea. Come on, guys, let's go." Mirio turned and began to walk out the door. The rest of the class followed.

When Shouto stepped out into the hallway, Tsuyu and Nejire were both gone. I guess Nejire took her downstairs, or into a room, or something.

But if Tsuyu doesn't get better... well, anyone could guess what could happen to her.

"Alright, where's the alcohol? White wine would do, right?" Mirio asked.

"Yeah. I got it," Hitoshi instantly replied, since he was standing next to the pantry. He peered inside, rummaged around, and pulled out a glass bottle of, presumably, wine. "Here you go."

Mirio took the wine, took out a pan, and turned up the heat. A flame was ignited below the metal grid. He set the map in the pan and poured... probably a bit too much alcohol into the pan. He stepped back, staring at the pan and wine-soaked map. All was silent for a moment.

Then the map burst into a column of red flames.

"Ahh!" Denki, who'd been standing next to it, jumped back into Shouto. "Eek, sorry Shouto!"

"It's fine." Shouto was staring at the burning map, staring in wonder at the brilliant crimson flames. It's... beautiful, in a twisted sort of way.

The flames seemed to dance for what felt like an eternity, while everyone watched on. Finally, when all the alcohol coating the map was gone, the fire leapt to the paper like a pack of wolves upon its prey. Shouto watched as the blaze ate up the paper, burning it to a crisp, before finding itself starved of substance and fading.

The fire flickered out as abruptly as it began. Now, all that was left in the metal pan were the burnt crisp remains of the vent map. "Well... I guess that's it, then," Tamaki murmured. "It's gone for good now."

One less murder tool in our possession...

...but will it really make a difference?