.(PSA: Previous chapter just released yesterday, you might have missed it. And I did the chapter 21 retconn, whoo; eventually, by WhiteAngelKillua's suggestion I'll make a "biological index" once we get a little deeper into it. About this chapter, this is an interlude chapter I decided fit well here, Escape Pt2 is upcoming next.)

Interlude A: Different Worlds

Three days earlier, the day after Mirio fought class 1A...

Shoto wondered about different worlds, as he sat in the cafeteria, distantly surrounded by chattering students and his classmates. He held a pair of chopsticks to his mouth, and idly chewed the rice-tempura mix before setting the two sticks down, parallel on his plate.

He wondered how people came from different worlds. He remembered, when he was younger, his dad pulling him by the arm and telling him that the two laughing playing children out there, his siblings, were "in a different world from him". And it was true. In Shoto's world, rather than laughing and playing outside, he trained with his father to become a hero. His father was the Number Two Hero, it was natural. His family coexisted in a different world than everybody else's.

Killua Zoldyck, the white-haired boy who had joined Class 1A the last month, was also from a different world. Shoto didn't fully understand yet why he had been at UA, but he had enjoyed the boy's company. His other classmates had become livelier when he was around, particularly Bakugo, and it was… nice to see them smile and laugh. Midoriya especially seemed to have taken a liking to the young boy, making sure he was taken care of in class and knew where to go in UA's halls.

But then Killua had gone off and killed people, and no one knew what was going on. Shoto had watched as the rest of his classmates had cried and looked on flabbergasted, but he understood: Killua was from another world.

It was so impossible, he thought, looking around the cafeteria, at Yaoyorozu's anxious face, Mina's withdrawn eyelines, Uraraka's constant furrow, Midoriya's shaky smile, and Kirishima's absently clenched fist, even as they chattered and maintained a facade of casuality, laughing and chattering, for them to understand why Killua had done what he had. In the same way, it was impossible for Shoto to understand – he did not come from Killua's world, either.

But he thought he understood this, at least. Each of the people he saw in front of him came from subtly different worlds, each unique to their own circumstances. When those worlds were far apart, that led to misunderstanding, or no understanding at all. To understand then, one must look past the blocking distance, past their own world's preconceptions, in order to understand without having existed in someone's else's world. Midoriya had done that for him.

Absently, he picked up his chopsticks again, letting his thoughts roam. Training today… he'd have to improve on his ice control during physical maneuvers. After school, he had promised to stop by and see Fuyumi and Natsu. He had gotten permission from Aizawa-sensei. He would have to thank Fuyumi for the bento box today, it had been good.

Finally, he had finished his meal, and found the others still sitting in their seats. After a moment of thought, he tucked his empty bento box away, then stood to greet them.

"Hi, everyone," he said, as he stood, then looked at them quiet, expectant.

They blinked back at him owlishly.

"Hey, Todoroki," Midoriya finally said, smiling at him. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well," Shoto said, then sat in the empty seat next to the huddled group. "Are you all talking about Killua?"

A quiet, deeper than the awkward quiet that had existed moments before when Shoto had first entered the circle, settled over them.

Clearly, he had made a mistake. They hadn't been talking about Killua.

Strange. He had thought this particular group had arranged itself together to do so. They usually don't all sit together for lunch.

"A-ah, actually – " Midoriya started, then looked around.

"No," Mina continued shortly, looking downcast and suddenly utterly forlorn enough that Shoto started having a guilty conscience. "We weren't…"

Then, her expression abruptly changed, becoming riled up and creased with heavy lines that didn't fit her usually-happy face.

"What kinds of friends are we!?" Mina shouted, pumping her hands in the air, frustrated tears in her eyes. "Just trying to ignore what happened!? Bakugo's gone, and so's Killua and little Gon!? What're we gonna do!?"

"Ashido-san…" Yaoyorozu broke in worriedly, looking at her. "You know, right now they are known as fugitives…"

"I don't care!" Mina said, snapping her arms up again with an impish, defiant expression. "They're my friends! We don't even know what happened."

"Well," Shoto said, feeling he had to say something, "we know that there is a video of Killua killing two people, and that he came from another world. And more evidence has been coming to light recently…"

Seeing their expressions, he trailed off, feeling that what he had said was not very helpful. He tried to reconsider and reframe his words, but they had already continued the conversation without him.

"Not cool!" Kirishima said abruptly in a response to a comment from Yaoyorozu, his hands abruptly swinging into the table. "Look – I know what you all think of Bakugo – but he's not like that. He wouldn't – if he went out with Killua, he's got a reason. I mean, that kid's like his little brother – wouldn't you?"

"Kiri…" Mina said worriedly.

"I'm just saying," Yaoyorozu said cooly, "that his best option would be to turn himself and Killua in, then we'd have all the information and the law can judge them. Surely, if they haven't done anything truly wrong, then – " She then bit her lip, seeing hostile expressions, and averted her face.

It was like a lightbulb popped into Shoto's head.

Yes, Yaoyorozu lived in a very different world, not just from Killua, who she also previously had conflict and misunderstandings with, but also from her classmates. Like Shoto, she had been a recommendation student, and from what he knew, she came from a very wealthy family. It wasn't much different from being part of the family of the Number Two Hero. It caused a separation in thinking that defined a different perspective and decisive outcome.

He tried to explain this.

"I don't think Yaoyorozu is wrong," he said, "but I don't think Killua or Bakugo will be able to think the same way. And…" he paused, another thought occurring to him, "– and the heroes, in charge of his case, might not either?"

The table stared at him in bafflement for a moment, before Midoriya abruptly nodded.

"Ah! Todoroki's right," the green-haired boy said, nodding once to himself again as he seemed to gain more in confidence. Shoto gave him a relieved look, Midoriya was always much better at speaking and getting through to people than he was. " … besides," his look grew darker, more serious, and he clenched his fist. "I want to help Bakugo."

There was a brief pause, where everyone looked at him, taken in by his severity. Shoto smiled. Midoriya had that about him, sometimes, when he spoke, that made everyone stop and listen.

"Alright, man!" Kirishima cheered abruptly, cutting short the silence. He grinned down at Midoriya fiercely. "We're on the same helping-Bakugo crew, then!"

Midoriya looked up, startled.

"A-ah," he agreed hesitantly. Then he released a breath, closing his eyes shortly. "To tell the truth," he said finally, opening his eyes again to meet theirs. "I already have a plan."

This drew looks of startlement and questioning from the others.

"I can't explain it all," Midoriya said, eyes determined, "but for myself, I want to get involved – in the right way. That's how I decided on my work-study."

Everybody's eyebrows raised and they began looking at each other, nodding, like this was some sensible decision. Shoto, instead, remained looking at Midoriya.

Which hero agency? he wanted to ask, but remained silent. Midoriya would have told them if he wanted to.

"That makes sense," Yaoyorozu said softly. "As long as it's in the bounds of legality…"

Mina nodded determinedly, then shook a fist in the air. "Then it must be the right thing to do! To be a hero, help your friends, and play by the law! Pow, bow, wow!" she mimed punches in the air, "taking the baddies down and being in the right!"

"What a manly spirit!" Kirishima said, grinning at Mina, who grinned bright-eyedly back. "Yosh, then it's settled! Now we just have to find internships that get to the heart of it!"

They all looked back at Midoriya.

"U-um," he abruptly looked alarmed and waved his hands in the air. "I-I don't know if I can tell – I only know about one agency that's on the case, and I haven't even gotten accepted yet –"

"Aww, bummer," Mina said, sighing dramatically and placing her cheek on one palm. "It's fine, Mido-kun. We just have to poke around ourselves, huh?"

"Guess so," Kirishima huffed. "Man, it doesn't feel right, to do nothing…"

"We still don't know what is going on," Yaoyorozu cautioned sharply. "Even if you get involved… you can't do anything against a pro hero's directives."

"Don't worry, Momo," Mina said, puffing her cheeks, sounding somewhat sour. "We got it. I don't want to mess with any investigation accidentally, anyway." She then sighed, pushed herself to her feet and picked up her tray. "It's getting dreary in here now. How about we get ready for our next class?" She smiled hopefully at Yaoyorozu, and after a moment, the other girl smiled tentatively back.

"Yes, let's," she said, standing. She then cast a tentative look to the rest of the table. Uraraka's gaze remained fixed to the table, where it had been the entire conversation, an almost angry furrow in them. Midoriya looked determined but worried, Kirishima unrepentant. For a second, Shoto met Yaoyorozu's gaze, and she sighed, that anxious crease in her eyebrows growing again.

Then she looked at Shoto again, and something seemed to grow in her eyes. It reminded Shoto of the time they had conducted the Final Exam together and Yaoyorozu had ultimately taken charge. She turned to the table.

"I'm sorry, everyone," she said, in her Vice President's voice. That had everyone looking up at her, even Uraraka. "I can't help but feel like some of this is… my responsibility." She averted her eyes momentarily, before returning to face them all squarely. "Killua was under my charge, to some extent, and I pushed him away, scolding him, rather than trying to be welcoming – "

"That's not true, Yaomomo," Uraraka finally burst, standing up. "This is not anyone's fault!"

Everyone looked at her in surprise, and it seemed that they had finally attracted some attention from nearby tables as well. But Uraraka didn't back down, embarrassed, like Shoto had thought she might have, instead, she continued looking at Yaoyorozu, then the rest of them, fiercely.

"I can't say that I know what happened," she said lowly. "But I know that we all can make plenty of mistakes, me, Momo, Killua, or Bakugo, all of us. Let's not let what happens now be another one." She breathed heavily for a moment, closing her eyes with an expression of intensity, centering herself, before her eyes snapped open again with a vivid expression. Her eyes rested first on Deku, then Yaoyorozu, then Mina behind her, then Kirishima, and finally Shoto.

"Fighting with ourselves is the worst thing we can do," she said fiercely. "We can have faith in them, or not. We can try to help them, or not. But think about this!" She threw a hand in the air. "Killua has Gon, and Bakugo has Killua. They're all together, and they aren't alone either. No matter what happened, the time we all spent together isn't lost. That time – when we were all laughing and happy – that was real too. So – let's not forget that now, and still try to have fun! Things may be bad – and all the time seem to just be getting worse – but – we're all here! And fighting! And no matter what we do, that's what we gotta remember!"

Then she slumped back to her seat, exhausted.

"Ahhh, that took a lot out of me," she then sighed, slumping like her soul had been drained from her.

Shoto looked at them all, and saw that no one really understood yet, still, that they lived in different worlds. There was a lingering sense of comprehension and incomprehension on all of their faces. No one quite understood what the other was talking about, and no one was able to put words to their thoughts clearly.

Shoto could emphasize with that. Recently, he had discovered there were quite many things he wanted to express but found himself unable to put the proper words to. Yet, after his first clumsy trials to connect with his classmates, he found that he hadn't needed to put the words to them. He had found himself content to just, enjoy things as they happened, see how the people around him unfold, but he also saw that this often wasn't enough for them and tried to reach out.

"You're right, Uraraka," Yaoyorozu finally said soothingly, and Shoto could tell that this wasn't quite right, not quite what Uraraka had meant. "We should all work together in these times."

Uraraka gave her a shaky half-smile, but Shoto could tell, too, that she knew Yaoyorozu hadn't understood what she had meant. She had just wanted them to understand that they should still appreciate the good times that they had now and move forward, even if bad things had happened too.

"Yeah," Kirishima said hesitantly, though he sounded disgruntled. "I just can't help but want to do something about it, y'know? But I'm not about to do anything reckless."

Uraraka's expression fell more, but she gave him a thumbs up.

Should I intervene? Shoto wondered. He doubted he could explain it any better than Uraraka had, anyway. There were too many complicated turns to think about, and his previous attempts hadn't been successful.

"Y-yeah," Midoriya finally agreed, then Mina nodded after him, awkwardly still standing and holding her tray.

The other five, sensing an end to the conversation, soon departed from the table, standing to put their trays away and departing to get changed early for their next training class. Midoriya, next to a sighing but forcefully optimistic Uraraka, gave Shoto a curious, questioning glance as he left, but Shoto nodded at him only and steeped his hands together, showing that he wanted to think. Midoriya had then nodded and left with the others, leaving Shoto in the cafeteria room alone to think over the discussion.

He didn't think what anybody had said was wrong. Ultimately, Killua and Bakugo would be judged by the law. They would have to be, when a pro hero eventually caught them and took them in for questioning. If they turned themselves in, they would likely get a better judgement, like Yaoyorozu had said, and be able to explain themselves. Even Endeavor had told him many cases worked that way.

And personally, Shoto also understood, it was frustrating to do nothing, as Kirishima had said. He knew that both Midoriya, Kirishima, and Mina, knowing Killua and Bakugo more personally, wanted to do something to help their friends. Shoto himself… wanted to become involved. He only knew he wasn't likely to get that opportunity; he had already decided to go to Endeavor's agency again for his work-study, to learn more about his quirk from the Number Two Hero, and he doubted that Endeavor would get involved in this type of case where there was no active threat. It was not the way the Number Two Hero worked.

"What about Gon?" he muttered then, quietly and to himself. Mina had mentioned Gon, but she had been the only one.

Gon had been a new addition to Bakugo's and Killua's motley duo. He seemed cheerful and bright, but got along with Killua well, which seemed strange to Shoto. He had arrived only two weeks or so ago, Shoto wasn't sure. He wasn't raised up in as many of the conversations in UA as Killua and Bakugo after everything had so suddenly and startling had gone wrong, but the timing of his appearance was strange. Shoto wasn't quite sure what to make of the young boy, but Shoto wasn't very good with children and had truthfully never quite known what to make of Killua either, who had obviously grown up very differently from Shoto as well.

Ultimately, Shoto decided to himself, Uraraka was also right. While there were many sides to the situation, he thought it was best to continue living and getting along with the others. If he got a chance to help, he would help, but otherwise, he would keep trying to do his best to train and learn so that he can help other people and his friends better on later. It was his dream, after all, and he was certain that other heroes were already well handling the situation.

Nodding to himself, deciding his own stance, he stood up from the cafeteria table to finally rejoin the others.