Chapter 7

Inertia

Eri had never been so deeply unhappy. Not only was Grandpa gone, but she couldn't even go to his funeral. "Kai, it's her grandfather," Ms. Namura pleaded, late at night after the wake when she probably thought Eri was asleep. She didn't know why they called each other Kai and Aiko when they were alone and Mr. Chisaki and Ms. Namura in front of everyone else, including her. Not knowing made her confused and upset. She clutched her rabbit Usagi closer to her and slipped out of bed and closer to the wall between her room and the living room so she could hear them better.

"She can't go. I can guarantee those bastards have eyes everywhere, including on the temple. I can't show them any weakness, I can't show them her. Or you."

"Have Aizawa take her, she can stand with him, they'll think she's his child."

"That's more involvement than I promised him."

"It's his student and her grandfather's funeral, he can't turn his nose up at that."

"Aiko. They'll figure out he's not part of the organization, and then they'll figure out he's a teacher, and they'll know she's connected to someone, and it won't take much deduction to figure out who. It's better if you stay with her, here." He was quiet for a while. "It's not just the funeral. She has to stay inside, more than ever before. We can't let her out anymore, not even for day trips. Like I said, I can't show them any weakness." Eri squeezed Usagi very tightly.

"And not me, either, I know. I'm your housekeeper and nothing more outside this house. And not Kurono either?"

"I don't give a damn what happens to him." That was very upsetting – why was Uncle Kai mad at Mr. Kurono?

"Kai, it wasn't his fault …"

"He should have fought, he should have died like a man."

Ms. Namura sighed, and went on like she hadn't heard. "It'll be better when we're in your father's house. The garden's walled, isn't it?"

"Part of it, but I wouldn't trust it." Eri didn't want to leave this house. It had been her home for almost as long as she could remember. She liked Grandpa's house, but she didn't want to live there without Grandpa and without being able to go in the garden. But she would go, and go without whining, because Ms. Namura said that's what girls in chivalrous organizations did. But she couldn't stop herself from crying.

She crawled back into bed, and pretended to be asleep when Uncle Kai came in a few minutes later to check on her. "Eri, I know you're not asleep. How much of that did you hear?" She didn't answer, still trying to pretend, but he sighed and stroked her hair. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Aizawa will be back tomorrow, I already told him to train you how to use it, not just stop it. You'll grow up so strong, and one day we'll fight the man that did this to our family, and it'll be over."

She didn't want to think about the fighting, she didn't want to think about one day. She wanted things to be okay right now. She wanted Grandpa back. She wanted to go outside. "Can you stay with me for a while?" she asked softly, the only thing she could ask.

"Yeah, I'll stay until you fall asleep."

She thought that she wouldn't sleep and Uncle Kai would have to stay for a while, but she drifted off in moments, troubled by bad dreams about shadowy figures.

Three days had passed since Deku's disastrous Thursday. Needless to say, he'd given up on any of his aims that involved any level of "espionage." He should have known better, he'd crossed so many lines … and he hadn't felt at peace since then.

He tried to put aside his growing sense of unease and his grief over this universe's Kacchan as he dressed to meet up with Togata and his friends. He'd been at the beach training all morning, and now it was time to rest.

He headed to the theater to meet them, and his rideshare dropped him off just in time. He looked around in front of the building, and it didn't take long to spot them. He rushed over. His heart raced when he saw who else was with them, but he prepared to pretend they hadn't met. "Midoriya! Glad you made it." Had … had that been in doubt? What kind of impression had he made so far? "This is Asui …"

"But you can call me Tsu."

"And this is Tokoyami," Togata said, indicating the very familiar boy. "This is Hino," he said, indicating a black-clad girl about their age with flowers growing from her skin who was holding Tokoyami's hand. "And this is Amajiki." Amajiki was half-hidden behind Togata. "Everyone, this is Midoriya, he's been helping me with the kids' classes at the center."

"It's nice to meet all of you," Deku said, smiling. He hadn't expected to know all but one of them.

"I'm glad you could make it," Hino said brightly. Amajiki gave a timid wave from behind his friend.

They made their way into the theater, Deku watching to see how he could slot into the friend group, if he could. Deku ended up sitting between the two girls, and they talked for a little bit before the lights dimmed. He tried not to favor one girl or the other, but it was hard not to favor Tsu by virtue of familiarity and Hino being more drawn, understandably, to speak with her boyfriend. His impression of Hino was that she might share Tokoyami's fashion sense, but her personality was so sunny it probably weakened Dark Shadow.

The movie they'd chosen was a horror movie, and Hino immediately challenged his first impression, just a little bit, by clearly being the most into it of any of them, watching with a little half-smile no matter how intense it got. Not that it was too much for any of them – even Amajiki did okay. He was usually the first to laugh after a tension breaking moment, and that would start all of them laughing.

The lights went up after a truly harrowing ending. Everyone was a little shaken except Hino and Tokoyami. "That was pretty good," she said cheerfully, reaching for Tokoyami's hand as they all stood.

"Not as good as The Hollow."

"Oh come on, this was way better than that. The ending of that one sucked."

"It was fine until the ending."

"If you don't land the plane, it wasn't a good flight."

"Can we save the review until dinner? I'm starving," Togata asked good-naturedly.

They went across the street to a place that was open until much later that night so they wouldn't be the jerks walking in right before closing time. They all sat and talked around the table, Deku joining in where he could. Even slightly isolated from them as a newcomer – both to the friend group and their world – it was surprisingly easy to fall in with them, talking about school and the movie they'd just seen and all of the hot gossip about people he didn't know.

It felt good to just sit and talk, and be with other kids.

And it also felt very bad. Why did he deserve this, when people at home were worried about him and so many people here were in such dire straits? He was wasting time, there had to be something he could do … but what? He was just one person, and there was still so much he didn't know, no matter how much he tried to learn … "Midoriya, are you okay?" Tsu asked. Of course she was the first to notice he'd gotten quiet.

"I'm fine, I just. Thanks guys."

"For what?" Hino asked.

"Just for … letting me normal for a little bit," Deku said.

"Sure, what's going on though? Can you tell us?" Togata asked.

Deku shook his head. "No. Maybe one day. Thank you."

They finished dinner and went their separate ways. Deku walked Tsu to her bus stop before calling his own ride. "Thanks for saving me from being the fifth wheel tonight," Tsu said.

That took Deku a moment too long to parse. "Fifth whe … Oh, are Amajiki and Togata …" they weren't together in his world. Were they? If they weren't, what had stopped them? Probably not his business, and he'd had enough of sticking his nose in other people's business for a lifetime this week.

"No, but they're so close that when you're with them, and a couple, it can feel a little awkward," Tsu said with a shrug. "Anyway, I'm glad you made it. Whatever you're going through, I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Tsu. Tonight helped, I mean it. Have a good night."

"You too. Get some sleep."

The ride back to the hotel was one of the loneliest car rides he'd ever been on.

Kai stared at his phone in some consternation. Now and then, an enterprising telemarketer got through to it by random number generation, but this didn't look like that. Telemarketers didn't usually block the number. Tentatively, he answered. "Who is this?"

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Chisaki," a man answered, but there was no sympathy in the oily voice.

"Who is this?" he demanded again.

"Oh, did I forget to introduce myself? How rude of me. I'm Mr. Hiraoka, and I'll be your contact, if you decide not to be a fool."

"Contact for what?" Kai demanded, but he knew. He already knew, and he was seething.

"I don't know if your father mentioned it to you, it's just a little fee in exchange for protection – you know how that works."

"Protection from what?" he growled.

"You're welcome to find out if you want to be stubborn but, given the tragic circumstances, my employer and I are willing to be patient. To a point."

"What kind of fee are we talking about?"

"Not much, only about oh … two million yen a month. If your little organization starts doing a little better, we might talk about higher priced options."

"What if I choose to opt out?"

"I wish you wouldn't talk that way Mr. Chisaki, there's a lot of … scary people, out there. It'd really be a shame if anything else happened, with your family already in mourning. How's your sister, by the way, was she as close to your father as you? I'm sure she was, she was his biological daughter after all. She certainly looked distraught at the funeral." They were watching the temple – monsters. You idiot, you have no idea, you think you know everything – you have no idea how it was between them, how it was between Pops and me, how it is between Sayuri and me. You have no idea I have Sayuri's abandoned child in my house – and you'll never know, not until she rewinds you out of existence on the way to your boss. Or I turn your upper half to red paste to clear the way for her – that sounded more appealing, frankly.

He almost told him there was no deal, almost let him do whatever he wanted with Sayuri. But the threat to his family, even to a member he didn't particularly care for, made his blood boil. And it was better to feign concern – let him think he gave a damn what happened to Sayuri, that was better than him going looking for people he did care about. Or coming after him directly – in a way, he wanted the latter. But he couldn't take them, not yet.

He took a breath, and swallowed his pride. It was hard to get down. "Fine. How am I supposed to pay your 'organization.' "

"I'll call you, every first Tuesday of the month at ten AM, with a location for drop off. Two of your guys drop off the money, and they leave. They don't try to stay and see who picks it up, understood? Is this a good number to reach you? It behooves you to be reachable, to me."

"Fine. And yes, it's a good number. Talk to you Tuesday then."

"Have a nice evening, Mr. Chisaki." He hung up, and that was it.

Kai shook with fury, but this had to be endured. Just for a while, just until Eri was old enough to fight. He'd gather an army to back himself and Eri, and the shadow lord would never know what hit him.

It was starting to get a little chilly in the mornings, but Deku had worked up a sweat. By now, the refrigerators were all in a pile near the entrance, and most of the batteries had successfully been taken for recycling.

There was no one else around, so it was time to try Blackwhip again.

He breathed in and out. Surviving here without crying himself to sleep every night worrying about his mom and his friends back home and all the horrible things people had to live with here had been a brutal crash course in controlling his emotions, learning to let them wash over him without overwhelming him.

He kneeled a couple of meters away from one of the remaining refrigerators he wanted to move to the pile, holding out his wrist. He thought about how much he wanted to pick up the refrigerator, to use Blackwhip to fling it onto the pile and be done with the task so much sooner.

That didn't happen, but a thin whisp of black material did come out and extend to the refrigerator before dissipating. Progress!

Deku's phone was ringing. He pulled it from his pocket. The caller ID said Emi. "Hi Emi! What's going on?"

"Izuku, I have everything through what we talked about."

"Everything?" Deku asked, stunned. He'd given her what he thought would be weeks worth of story.

"I worked on it as much as I could after school, then I stayed up all night last night, it was just so good." She sounded exhausted, and he felt a little bad. He had to keep in mind that she wasn't great at pacing herself. "Thank you! Can you E-mail them to me?"

"Of course! When are we meeting again?" she demanded, enthusiastic despite the fact she sounded like she might fall asleep any second.

"We can meet Tuesday. I'll give you a smaller piece this time. Get some rest."

"Okay."

He cut his training short and hurried "home" to the hotel. He spent all day working on adding dialogue and narration with a software he'd downloaded. He did a few trial runs with his own considerably less impressive drawings as practice before he started trying it with Emi's.

Even her minimal manga style, which was basically her sketches cleaned up, was achingly beautiful. Her figures were almost all thin and willowy, almost ethereal, very different from any manga he'd read, but it would work. She was able to convey a lot of detail despite the minimalist style, but thankfully not so much that he was worried he should have asked her to change more people's identities.

He worked into the night, as determined as she had been to finish as much as he could, though he was only going to try to publish what she'd done this weekend in segments.

Before it got too late, he sent the proposal for posting it on the site to the publicity team – if they didn't go for it, he was going to create his own blog using a VPN so he had plausible deniability. "My friend is really talented and made this," he typed, fondly thinking of Emi's enthusiasm. "And I thought it might be good to share. What do you guys think?"

Tsukauchi didn't ask for permission before lighting up a cigarette. The diner where they were meeting didn't seem like the kind of place where anyone would object. Tensei noted, wryly, that two of the three people he'd sought out were smokers, and hoped that wasn't what this issue was going to do to him. But it might, or push him to something else destructive.

"Must you?" Sasaki asked.

Tsukauchi ignored his investigative partner. "So you tried to light a fire under the captains, huh? How'd that work out?" he asked before bringing the cigarette to his mouth.

"It was an unmitigated disaster," Tensei answered. No use beating around the bush. "They looked at me like I'd grown three heads as I tried to explain the return radius, and that it should be perfectly doable to man all or most potential return spots within the radius."

"Could have told you that. Why do you think I went private?"

"Believe me, I've been thinking about it for at least seven years. But how do we tackle this from a private citizen angle, since the chiefs have made their intentions to remain firmly planted on their asses crystal clear?"

"That's the problem. We don't," Sasaki said, pushing his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. "The best possible lead would be to figure out where the kid was returned, then tail the suspects and/or get the security footage before it conveniently disappears. Without the police, we don't have the manpower to do that. Even if there happens to be a rich parent willing to pay out, we couldn't hire enough people to cover every potential drop spot in the affected area."

"Okay, so what's plan B?"

"Plan B's already in progress, Officer, and we're not at liberty to discuss it."

"Sasaki, ease up," Tsukauchi put in. "We can trust him with at least the general shape of it."

"How do you know?" Sasaki demanded.

"I worked with his old man for years, only decent guy I worked with." Tensei didn't particularly appreciate being talked past, but if it got him information, that was what it cost. Tsukauchi turned back to Tensei. "Someone's leaking information to the shadow underworld. Probably a lot of someones." Tensei wanted to protest, but he remembered what Shimura had said about the security footage. "Not just about these cases, about everything they've got their hands in. Drug dealing, human trafficking, embezzlement. We think they have a protection racket against the Yakuza. They have to buy off a ton of cops, judges, politicians, everything else to get away with it. And some of the people in their pocket are high up. You can't even ask too many questions about some of the crimes without getting told to look elsewhere."

"So what are you planning to do about it?" Tensei asked.

"I think that's the end of our meeting, officer …" Sasaki said, standing to go. Tsukauchi motioned for him to stay put.

"We're putting together a dossier, a dossier as thick as my forearm is long, on everything we have on everyone we think is in their pocket."

"What are you going to do with it, if the system's so deeply corrupt none of it matters?" Tensei asked, arching an eyebrow.
"We just have to wait. We wait for the moment public opinion tips enough in the other direction it'll matter, that enough people will demand heads roll over it," Tsukauchi said, his eyes bright. He was still an idealist, somewhere underneath it all.

Until public opinion tips enough that people will demand heads roll … Shimura and the SDMR's work was even more important in that light.

"Or until we can gather enough airtight evidence against enough people that heads would have to roll, just by the sheer magnitude of it," Sasaki put in. "But … unfortunately I don't foresee either scenario coming to pass anytime soon."

"I told you, use your power and find out," Tsukauchi said slyly.

"No, I won't look that far ahead, too many variables. And I'm afraid if I don't see anything changing in our lifetimes … do you know how hard it is to carry on, when you're certain of a bad outcome?"
Tensei ached to ask more about this power, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Hey, I get it," Tsukauchi said, putting his hand up in surrender. "I get it. Wish I could tell you something different, Iida. But unfortunately, at this point, we just have to wait. As intolerable as that feels."

"What if we did catch a snatcher? What if the chiefs could be prevailed upon to move, to help man the drop spots?"

"That would help. Even a tiny break in the case could be our moment to move on what we have," Tsukauchi answered honestly.

Internally, Tensei steeled himself. They had to make this happen, one way or another.

Homura was one of the kids in the Monday night class. She had a fire quirk that was similar to, but seemed much weaker than, the Todoroki family's. But then, that might just be because she was young and just now learning. And she was completely terrified of it. "Hey, Homura, what do you think makes you so scared to use it?" Deku asked gently, sitting on the floor by her.

"I'm afraid I'll get hurt, or hurt somebody. I'm afraid I won't make it do what I want it to do." He knew something about that.

"Homura, have you ever microwaved an egg?"

"Mom says not to do that because they explode."

"They do! I've made a huge mess a few times," Deku said, and the little girl giggled. "But there's always a moment before they explode, where you don't know if they're going to or not. They hiss and they wiggle. Sometimes they calm down and sometimes they explode. I want you to hold your fire like it's an egg that's been microwaved, and just imagine it not exploding. Let's try just imagining that for a little bit before you actually try it."

She closed her eyes, holding out an imaginary egg. "It keeps exploding," she said, disappointed.

"Just keep trying. You're in control."

She practiced just visualizing for a long time. "Do you think you're ready to try?"

"I'm still scared, Midoriya-sensei."

"That's okay. I'm right here, and so is Togata-sensei. We'll keep you safe." Given how potentially dangerous Homura's quirk was, she always got both of their attention, and always at the end of the class in case they needed to evacuate. Togata was ready with a non-flammable blanket to put out the flames if the worst did happen.

"Okay." She held out her hands, cupping them, and then, sure enough, a tiny ember of orange flames danced in her hands. The little ember started to dance erratically and the girl gasped in fright.

"Remember the egg." The ember was still for a moment, and then started to dance erratically again, and no amount of coaching could stop the panic and the ember snuffed out.

"I can't do it," she said, discouraged.

"Yes you can. It just takes practice. It takes time to train your brain, just like it takes time to train your muscles," Deku said encouragingly. "Practice imagining the egg at home, without the fire." She nodded.

Class was over very soon after that, and Deku and Togata were sending the kids on their way. "Midoriya," Shimura said from behind. Deku failed to stop himself from jumping. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Are you the very talented author or the very talented artist of the manga you submitted?" Deku turned to face him – his tone was teasing, but his face said he was sincere.

"Oh I …" he had planned to say neither, but he was such a bad liar, and there didn't seem much point for this. "I just write it, when I said very talented I meant my friend Emi, her art is amazing. I hope it's okay, I understand if the page isn't the best place to put it."

"No, it's not really the best place." Oh. That's what Deku thought. But it had been worth a shot. "Make it its own page, we'll promote it with the official accounts." Oh!

"You … you think we should?"

"It's beautiful work. Her art, and your writing. I'd break it up into smaller chapters, no more than five pages, then post the first three whenever you're ready, then one chapter a day after that, if you can keep the pace up."

"Oh I … already worked on a bunch of it with Emi so if we do really small chapters we should be able to last a while doing it that way."

"Very good! It's excellent work. I doubt it'll change the world, but it'll be something hopeful, and we don't have enough of that." The smile on his face, so bright and so very different from the evil smirk or scowl he was used to, put Deku a little more at ease.

"I'm glad, mis … Shimura, that's what I was going for."

"That's cool, Midoriya, I didn't know you were a writer!" Togata put in.

"I'm not, not really I just … I've had this story in me for a while, I wanted to give it a try."

"Izuku Midoriya, Best Selling Mangaka: Origin," Togata said, and Deku flushed a little. "Link me when you post it, if Shimura's excited it's gotta be good."

"I will," Deku said, his heart soaring. What Shimura had said, that it'd be something hopeful and that they needed that – that's exactly what he'd been going for! Maybe he was finally getting somewhere!

"Can I read your manga, Midoriya-sensei?" a little boy with feathers called Sasuke asked brightly.

"Oh um … I don't know, it might get kind of intense, especially later. Ask your parents."

"More intense than the USJ fight?" Shimura asked curiously. Oh, he'd gotten that far – a shiver went up Deku's spine, knowing he'd read the part when Deku first met Shigaraki – having no idea …

"Yeah, I mean, that's pretty intense, but there's a few things later …" How was he going to handle All For One? Would he still call him by that name, knowing that name was a boogeyman here? Would that draw too much attention? He'd have to consult with Mr. Aizawa.

"You've got it pretty well planned out then, huh? That's good, I'd hate it to end on a cliffhanger. I did want to mention a couple of things, though – these characters aren't based on real people are they?" Shimura asked.

"Oh uh …" his nerves almost revolted, but he stayed steady, and told half the truth. "Some of them are inspired by my friends, but I changed the names and Emi is the one who came up with the character designs so they shouldn't look like anyone real. Sometimes I changed some of the details of the quirks too, so it wouldn't be identifiable."

"That's good. Verisimilitude is important, but you know how important it is to not out anyone."

"Of course si … of course."

One of the kids separated from the line to come hug Shimura around the legs. He put a hand on her shoulder. "Hello Kazue, how are you doing?" The little blond girl didn't answer, just giggled.

Shimura remained in place while the crowd of kids thinned out, having an easy conversation with Togata about a case in which a metahuman couple were suing over housing discrimination, easily breaking when it was Togata's turn to check the line of sight before sending a kid out. "Kazue, your mom's here," Togata said, and the little girl finally let go.

"Bye Tenko!" she said cheerfully and skipped out of the room.

"Bye Kazue," he called after her. "She's a woman of few words. How is she in class?" Shimura asked.

"Quiet – I'm sure you're shocked. But she's seemed happier the last few times I've seen her than she was for a while."

"Good. We had a donor come through with the funds to keep her family in their home, that's probably why."

"Oh! Thank goodness."

"How do you know her, Shimura?" Deku asked, pleased to have any excuse to speak.

"Her older sister was …" he glanced at the five kids still waiting on their families. "Her family had some misfortune, I met with them during that ordeal." You did not mention the "snatchers" or anything related to the kidnappings in front of the kids, not if you didn't want very upset kids on your hands. Statistically, it wasn't a lot of them, but it was enough that it was something all the kids lived in fear of.

"Do you meet all the families that … have that happen to them?"

"If they're willing, yes." That had to be a lot of families. "And when …" another glance at the remaining kids. "Everything is resolved, I like to talk to the kid too. We have counseling but … it helps the most to talk to someone else that went through it." Deku nodded. Sometimes, the thing you needed most was to talk to someone that understood what you'd been through, especially if you'd just had everything you knew upended.

"I'm sure they appreciate it."

"I hope so."

Finally, the last of the stragglers was headed for home, and it was just the three of them. "So if you got to the USJ, you must have got through what I sent in," Deku said.

"I did! I preferred the world building things with the school, but I'd be lying if I said the fight wasn't great. I was not expecting their teacher to be such a badass, that was awesome. And this Shigaraki character, wow, what a piece of work." Deku gave a nervous laugh. Since it was already a pseudonym, he'd left it alone in the writing, now he wished he had changed it, just for his own sanity. "So twisted. I wouldn't have guessed you had it in you to create a villain like that," Shimura teased, mistaking the reason for his nervousness.

"Oh now I have to read it," Togata put in. "Nothing gets under Shimura's skin, this villain must be something."

"It's just … I don't know, something about him," Shimura said off handedly, and Deku was dying on the inside. He groped for something that sounded intelligent to say about the "character" being praised for being so despicable.

"Yeah I um … I just wanted to have a character that was … like the embodiment of … How having to hide and be ashamed of your quirk can be really toxic."

"Mmm. That's really good. I like that. Emphasize that more, going forward, I did not get that but maybe I would on re-read."

"Will do," Deku said, having no idea how he was going to do so. "Thanks so much, I'm so glad you like it, but I need to get going to makes sure I get home in time for curfew," he excused himself as quickly as possible.

"Make your posts around sixteen hundred, whatever day you're ready," Shimura called after him.

Deku had asked Emi to change how Decay worked, so Shimura wouldn't recognize his own stolen quirk – he'd asked her to make it work more like Chisaki's Overhaul, since he was probably going to skim over that as much as possible to avoid causing disaster, maybe even skipping it entirely, and he was glad for every change he'd made. When he gave Emi the incident at the mall, he'd ask her to change his face. He probably wouldn't be recognizable in her art style … but still. Deku was taking no chances.

Hitoshi tried to slip out. He was pretty good at it by now – his parents had always been none-the-wiser. He usually didn't leave or stay out late, he usually left early in the night, saying he was going to study at a library or with a friend, and that was plausible enough they didn't question him.

"I'm headed out, going to study with Kobayashi and a couple of others," he said, without looking back. The key was to tell the lie without any guilt – that was hard for him, especially with his parents, but he'd gotten used to it.

"Hitoshi, can we talk to you, before you go?" Dad asked. He and Mom were holding hands, sitting up straight on the couch. This seemed serious.

"Sure," he said brightly, trying not to let his nerves show. He was supposed to be standing watch very soon. "But not too long, I don't want to keep them waiting."

"Hitoshi, is everything okay?" Mom asked. Her eyes, the eyes she gave him, were so full of worry and the guilt ate at his stomach. But he had to do this.

"Yeah, mom, everything's fine …"

"Hitoshi, your English teacher called, you've fallen asleep in her class twice now … and your homeroom teacher's worried. What's going on?" Dad asked.

Damn it. He kept his grades up – it was hard, sometimes he would study from two to four in the morning after running a mission, or do homework until midnight even knowing he had to get up early to get to the bank right when it opened to get money they needed, sometimes he did without any sleep at all and still went to school the next day, but he did it, because he thought if he did his parents wouldn't worry, wouldn't catch on, and he'd need good grades and a good job for plausible deniability if he wanted to keep helping …

"And you don't talk to us anymore, and for the last few weeks you've seemed … worried, all the time." Mom asked.

How could he not be worried? His best friend was missing, and he couldn't tell them about her. Could he?

"Hitoshi … be honest with us … is it a boy? I know we promised we wouldn't be nosy but if someone's treating you badly …" Dad started.

"No, Dad, it's not a boy," he said, flushing. And he knew he couldn't tell them … if he said he had a friend that was missing they'd want to know how they could help and where they met … and he couldn't tell them.

Because they met in a warehouse his parents didn't know about, couldn't know about. They'd be worried to death for him – and they'd stop him from going back. "It's fine, I'm just … there's a lot going on, at school, right now. Just a lot of work. I guess. I'll be fine though, high school's just … tough. And I've always had insomnia, you guys know that."

"You come by that honestly," Dad said with a laugh. There were deep shadows around his own eyes. "But … do you think you need to see a doctor?"

"No, Dad, I'll … try melatonin, or something. I really need to go, I don't want to keep them waiting …"

"Is it that you can't sleep or is it really taking you that long to get your work done? Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night and you're still working, do you think a tutor would help?" Mom asked.

Through the course of this, Hitoshi was learning he was not nearly as sneaky as he'd thought he was. "No, Mom, I'll be fine," he insisted.

"Are you sure? It's okay if you're struggling, like you said high school is tough …" Dad started.

"I'll be fine, I've got to go," he said, and headed for the door, not letting himself turn back.

His chest was tight. He hated lying to them. And he hated that he couldn't talk with them about Himiko – it felt so wrong, that there was such a big part of his life that they didn't know.

At least he'd be with people who understood soon … sort of. Even other meta kids didn't quite know, why they meant so much to each other. He thought back to the day they met as he got on the bus, winding his way through the city.

It was over a year ago now, he'd just figured out where the warehouse was and started hanging out with the kids there. Hawks hadn't even approached him yet. "Shinso, have you met Toga?" Ashido had asked eagerly. That was Ashido – she was everyone's friend, and always eager to introduce her friends to each other. This time, the girl she was motioning to was a petite blond girl who gave him a shy smile that revealed little fangs.

"No, I don't think I have," he'd said.

"Toga, this is Shinso."

"Hi! What's your power?" she'd asked eagerly.

That was always an uncomfortable moment. It wasn't bad enough having a meta-ability, oh no, he had one that made even other metahumans uncomfortable.

"I um … I have a telepathic ability."

"That's cool, can you read my mind?" Toga had asked brightly.

"Oh no … it doesn't work like that."

"Don't be shy, Shinso, tell her how it works," Ashido had prompted, and she'd sounded so certain.

"I get people to respond to questions and then I can … hypnotize them," Hitoshi had said hesitantly, trying to sell it as softly as he could, his heart beating fast. He'd expected Toga's face to fall, expected her to pull back. Instead, she'd only grinned even more broadly and leaned forward, and Hitoshi's chest had unclenched.

"That's so cool!" she'd said, without a hint of hesitation.

"Thanks," he'd said, his voice shaking a little. No one had ever reacted that way. "What's yours?"

"I can shapeshift! I can be anyone but …" her voice had taken on just a shade of the hesitation his had had. "But only if I have some of their blood."

"Not a lot of blood," Ashido had added quickly, knowing exactly how people reacted.

He'd wanted to ask how Toga found that out, but after the way she reacted to him, he would have felt like a louse to do anything else but react in kind.

"That's awesome. So, you can be anyone?"

"Yeah! Well … anyone human. I can't do animals."

"Could you be me?"

"Yeah! I don't know you enough to fool anyone for very long, I don't think … but I could look like you. Not for very long, I can stay shape locked longer the more blood I have, and obviously I wouldn't take a lot," she'd said.

They'd tried it a few days later – just for the experience, after they'd gotten to know each other a little bit. They had been isolated in the little section of the warehouse where she crashed, afforded some privacy by the screens she'd put up. Not everyone was going to take this well – Hitoshi hadn't been sure he was going to take it well, but he'd been determined not to show any discomfort. "Do it yourself," Toga had said, pushing the pin away.

"No way, you do it. I'm too big a wuss."

Her hands had shaken as she took the pin, holding his hand. "I trust you," he'd said, and she'd smiled at that. The shaking stopped. "Ugh, I can't watch," he'd said, turning his head as she pricked his thumb. It hadn't hurt badly – it was a small pin, and she'd pricked it on the side where the nerves weren't as thick. She'd squeezed his thumb to draw the blood and he turned to look, and had regretted it almost immediately, as the sight of his blood made him a little bit squeamish. She'd brought his thumb to her mouth – he had expected her to take the blood on her own hand, but he didn't mind. He should have, that probably wasn't sanitary, but … he couldn't bring himself to worry about it. She'd sucked on the little wound. It wasn't a … great feeling, but it didn't repulse him either. Some guys probably would have found it exciting.

"Uh, so … when I shift I'll be wearing your clothes and it'll get uncomfortable if I have mine on too so …"

"Oh, right," he'd said, and turned his back so she could undress.

"I just thought I'd warn you, I don't really mind if you watch," she'd said. "Especially since … you know. I know you're not going to get that excited by anything you see from me in female form."
"Is it that obvious?" Hitoshi had asked, smiling a little, but kept his back turned as he heard the rustling of clothes.

"Not to everyone else, I think, but I'm bi, so … the outsiders always find each other."

"Oh! I didn't realize, thanks for telling me."

"You'd have figured it out pretty quickly," she offered. Hitoshi knew other meta kids, and other gay kids, but before Himiko, he'd never known any other gay meta kids. At least, that he knew of.

"Okay, turn around if you want to watch the transformation itself."

Hitoshi had hesitated, knowing she was still naked, but she'd said she didn't mind, and she had a point. He'd turned around – she was covering herself by holding her clothes in front of her, and he'd blushed a little in spite of himself. But she hadn't seemed ashamed at all, and as he'd watched, her face melted into his, and she set the clothes aside. "Oh, that's …" he'd started, covering his mouth with his hands. It was like looking in a mirror, but … not.

"It's weird, right?" she'd asked, in his voice, in his cadence.

"It is, but it's also awesome! You could …" his imagination had gone wild. "You could infiltrate the criminal organizations, probably, maybe even the shadows …" As soon as he'd said it, he recoiled at himself. "Don't try to do that, please don't try to do that, that sounds insane …"

"I think one day I will, if Hawks thinks I can, but I want to learn first. Like, how to fight and things like that, so maybe I wouldn't die doing that."

He didn't like "maybe" in that sentence. But he understood "maybe." If he could do something to stop the shadows, to make it better for kids like himself and Toga … he'd take "maybe" too.

They'd been quiet for a minute, letting "maybe" hang in the air. "Let's prank Mina, she'll lose it," Toga had suggested brightly, her cadence sounding very odd in Hitoshi's voice and her smile looking very odd on his face, but he'd grinned and nodded.

When Ashido was thoroughly flustered, only figuring out what they'd done after fifteen minutes of them showing up in different locations they couldn't have possibly reached if they were one person, they'd all broken down laughing. Then Hitoshi and Toga had regrouped in her room. She'd shifted back to her natural appearance and dressed while he turned his back again. "Okay, now use your power on me. I want to know what it feels like."

He'd hesitated, but … this was Toga. "Okay, what do you want me to do?" he'd asked, engaging his power without making it obvious.

"I want you to …" their minds had connected. He hadn't been aware of her thoughts – his power didn't work that way. But he had been aware of her presence in his own mind, the mental version of sensing someone standing by you.

He'd grinned mischievously, imagining something Toga would never say, unless he made her, but wouldn't be too mean. "Hi, I'm Himiko Toga, I'm a girly girl, and I love pink and stuffed animals and I am terrified of bloody horror movies," she'd said brightly. Then he'd broken the connection.

"Shinso!" she'd protested, and smacked his arm, but not hard at all.

"You wanted me to use it," he'd said, rubbing his arm as though it had hurt more than it had. "Was it weird? It wasn't unpleasant was it? I can't do it to myself … I've tried." He'd spent many a late night looking at himself in a mirror trying to brainwash himself into going to sleep at a human hour to no avail.

"No! It wasn't unpleasant at all. I knew it wouldn't be, you're too nice to use it in a mean way."

He'd swallowed hard, his eyes stinging with tears. She really did trust him – just like he'd trusted her to drink his blood without hurting him.

She'd reached over to take his hand, and squeezed it tight. "You're a good person, Hitoshi," she'd said, and he didn't even mind she used his given name.

"So are you, Himiko," he'd said, without hesitation.

It wasn't long before they were inseparable. She usually texted him first thing in the morning, so he'd go into school feeling a little bit less alone knowing he had at least one friend.

And now she was gone, and he didn't know why, or how to find her again, and he might as well be the only person left in the universe.

Next up: A New World

The manga takes off! How will the denizens of Deku's new reality react to a glimpse of his world?

Author's Note

Sorry it's a couple of days late! For those of you that missed the note on my profile, I've had a really tough week at work. I got off work at nine on Wednesday night and by then my brain was so shot I could have had fifty typos in this chapter and missed every single one. This won't affect the chapter posted tomorrow, which should still be up around 2:00.

I purposely made the manga Izuku writes not exactly like My Hero Academia, but obviously it will hit most of the same plot points and feature the same characters except with changes for their counterparts' protection.

This was a beefy chapter and it used to be a lot longer, I decided to cut several scenes for pacing. The most painful cut was a scene with Mitsuki Bakugo and Shimura, which I thought was a good scene but replayed a lot of the same ground as the scene in the last chapter with the description of the search for Himiko (only unlike poor Himiko, Katsuki has parents desperately trying to find him) which I will probably include as a bonus after the story is concluded.