Chapter 4
"There's still no sign of that Kuroiro guy from 1-B?"
"According to Kendo, no." Yaoyorozu looked worried as she hovered by Hitoshi's desk, along with Ojiro and Iida. She had come over before first period began to share her concerns with them, probably because he and Ojiro had actually met Kendo. "All the class representatives had a meeting yesterday to discuss how to handle the current events. Apparently he called in again yesterday, so she's worried about him. She texted me that there's still no sign of him, so she doubts he'll be here today, either."
"She said he missed last Friday and Saturday, too," Ojiro murmured. "Is anyone else calling out?"
"No, but she mentioned some of her classmates discussed staying home after yesterday," Iida replied. "I think the weight of the situation is only really hitting them now."
"Well, Kaminari doesn't look like he'll be here today either," Hitoshi muttered, eying the blond's empty seat. With the bell due to ring any moment, he doubted Kaminari would just suddenly burst through the door. Not that he could blame him after finding Fukidashi's body. He'd looked pretty bad yesterday.
"Still, I'm getting worried," Yaoyorozu confided with a frown, folding her arms over her chest. "I don't know Kuroiro, but Kendo seemed to find it out of character for him to not be here. Maybe I'm paranoid just because of what we saw, but... I'm getting a bad feeling."
Those ominous words marked the end of the conversation because Aizawa entered at that moment, prompting everyone to scramble to their seats.
The rest of the day passed in mercifully uneventful manner. At lunch Hitoshi made up for lost training time by letting Ojiro drag him outside to run him through some basic punches and kicks. They couldn't get much done because they were still in their school uniforms, but Ojiro at least helped him get a better idea of how to make a decent stance.
They continued more in-depth during heroics class, which was essentially a free-study period for them to focus on training for the Sports Festival. It ended up being the most productive Hitoshi had felt since coming to UA, glad to finally be learning something about proper fighting. Being taught by All Might was cool and all, but the guy couldn't really help them learn everything from scratch when he had nineteen other students to focus on.
All in all, it was a decent enough day up until he got called by Aizawa to stay after school ended.
At that point Hitoshi's self-confidence evaporated, replaced by anxiety and dread as he wondered just why his homeroom teacher wanted to talk to him alone. That almost always heralded bad things. There was only one reason that came to mind: Aizawa noticed he wasn't fit for the hero course, and wanted to expel him.
The minute it took for the classroom to empty had to be the longest of his life, silently wondering if this would be the last time he saw any of his classmates. He sat at his desk rigidly as he waited for them to leave, feeling like he was waiting for his execution. The sound of the door closing felt almost like a death knell, leaving the pair alone in deafening silence.
"Before I say anything, I want to assure you that you're not in trouble or getting expelled," Aizawa started, and Hitoshi slumped with relief.
"Oh, thank god," he moaned.
"That said, I have noticed you're struggling," Aizawa continued, and fuck, the dread was back. "I've been meaning to approach you about it since the first week. You got in purely on rescue points, and I saw you applied for gen-ed as a backup, so I already suspected you lacked much prior training."
"I... still don't get how I passed," Hitoshi admitted, feeling like he had nothing to lose at this point.
"Honestly, luck," Aizawa said bluntly. "The entrance exam is unfairly biased towards physical Quirks. Usually rescue points alone aren't enough to pass, but in your case, one of your fellow examinees made a building collapse on several other people. You managed to pull multiple kids to safety before faculty could get on scene. One of those kids happened to be in a spot that had more debris fall down after you removed her, which would have crushed her before we arrived. You genuinely saved a life, Shinsou, and that automatically earned you a spot in the heroics course."
Put like that, Hitoshi felt a bit less out of place. He remembered the incident Aizawa-sensei described clearly. He'd been just wandering around sort of aimlessly, already resigned to not passing, when a building suddenly fell down nearby. When he heard panicked screams for help it seemed natural to go help. He still got a rush of adrenaline remembering that piece of rubble that crashed down not even a minute after pulling that one girl to safety.
"I know you've been trying to train, but given recent events, it's been hard for you to find time," Aizawa continued. "Normally I'd offer to help, but that's not an immediate option right now for obvious reasons. So in the meantime, I want to take you to the support department to put in a costume modification request."
That had Hitoshi perking up eagerly. "You mean for a voice changer?" he asked, and Aizawa nodded.
"I'm glad you already figured that out. Your Quirk has a lot of potential, but it's also severely limited once people know what it is. You need every advantage you can get, and disguising your voice is an obvious one. You might also want to look into changing your voice naturally."
"Like, voice acting?" Hitoshi asked, feeling a spark of amusement at the notion.
"If that's what works best for you, sure. Even something as simple as learning an accent or different dialect could be enough of a change to throw people off."
Aizawa headed to the door as he spoke, Hitoshi rushing to open it for him since he still had his arms all wrapped up. He still couldn't believe the man came to school like that. He didn't know if Aizawa was dedicated to his job, or just that reckless. Going by some of the pointed remarks Present Mic made in class, probably both.
"Think Mic-sensei could help?" he asked thoughtfully, and Aizawa snorted.
"I'd rather you didn't if possible. He'll try to turn you into a mini-Mic. One is more than enough." Hitoshi had to snicker at how exasperated his teacher sounded, even if his tone remained as blunt and flat as usual. With his face covered up, he'd started paying closer attention to Aizawa's voice to pick up cues about how he felt. At this rate, after the bandages came off Hitoshi might be better off closing his eyes and listening than trying to interpret his eternal bored poker face.
As they walked down the empty halls, Hitoshi figured he might as well ask about something else that had been on his mind. "Speaking of advantages, how would you feel if I threw the Sports Festival?" he asked, casual tone covering his heart-pounding anxiety. "I just don't want to put my Quirk in the spotlight too much, and I mean, I'm definitely not gonna win at this rate. I want to go underground like you anyway, so..."
He shrugged, glancing at Aizawa as he waited for an answer. He wished Aizawa's face wasn't still swathed in bandages, it made it literally impossible to read his expression. The man was silent for a few moments before finally exhaling a soft sigh. "Kid, don't tell anyone, but there might not even be a Sports Festival this year," he said lowly, and Hitoshi stopped walking.
"...What?" he whispered in disbelief, questioning his own ears.
"There's still some debate right now, but in the past three weeks, Class 1-A is down three students, and 1-B just lost one, potentially two with how one of them is calling out every day. One kid from the general education department dropped out, too. And that's all without accounting for what happened at the USJ. The remaining students are all more tense than ever. At the very least, there's talk of delaying it for the first years since there's been a lot of pressure on them."
This had taken an uncomfortable turn Hitoshi didn't like. "I don't know if canceling it is the right move," he said. "A lot of us are kinda clinging to it like a lifeline, y'know?" The Sports Festival made a good distraction for everything else, something normal to focus on.
"That's why it hasn't been decided yet," Aizawa replied, starting to walk again. "We know students need any normality they can get, but the festival could also highlight the absent students more. Personally, I'm of the opinion we should delay it. I don't like putting all the students in the spotlight when all this is going on. There's too many questions we don't have answers for yet."
Hitoshi frowned as he listened, feeling more than a little uneasy. "Are you even supposed to be telling me this?"
"No, I'm not. But right now, you're already under enough pressure. As you said, a lot of kids are clinging to the Sports Festival for a sense of normalcy. This is the exact kind of scenario where someone like you is likely to push yourself too hard in too short of a time to avoid thinking about everything else. While the school's motto is 'plus ultra,' you're also still young. You can't rush your physical development."
"So... you're saying I should just try to train at my own pace and not worry about the festival, then?" Hitoshi asked, and Aizawa nodded.
"Exactly. The Sports Festival is up in the air anyway, so for now, you'd do best to focus on the long term, which is why we're going to Power Loader to talk about support gear." He stopped walking and gestured towards a door, and Hitoshi was surprised to realize they'd already arrived. He quickly nodded and stepped forward to knock on it. Right at that moment there was an explosion on the other side, making him jump and even Aizawa step back warily.
"Uh, is everything okay?" he asked, and Aizawa sighed.
"Given it's the support department? Probably."
Hitoshi just stared at the door, feeling a different kind of dread for once. He had a feeling he was about to see some crazy shit on the other side.
(At least there hopefully wouldn't be any blood this time.)
The rest of the week actually managed to pass relatively uneventfully, much to Hitoshi's shock and surprise. He got his support gear request in and walked away alive and intact, he and Ojiro trained after school some more... He was almost starting to get hopeful for a normal week.
"I managed to see Aoyama yesterday," Tokoyami announced on Friday morning before class. He sat next to Yaoyorozu, two seats back from Hitoshi, but he could still overhear the conversation clearly and found himself gravitating closer. A few other students did as well.
"I thought you said you'd check on him on Monday," he couldn't help quip.
"My previous attempts have fell into the abyss. I know where he dwells, but not the exact location, and the gatekeepers seem to be wary of the unknown and would not speak to me." That got several blank looks.
"It's one of those places that needs to buzz people in, isn't it?" Kirishima guessed tentatively, and Tokoyami nodded.
"Indeed. And since I did not know specific gate behind which he resides, and those who administer the building appear to revel in keeping visitors in the dark, I could not call upon him."
"The intercom doesn't have names next to the apartment numbers," Satou surmised, and Tokoyami nodded once again.
"It does not," he confirmed. "Fortunately, fate finally smiled upon me, and last night Aoyama happened to be outside when I visited again."
"How is he?" Yaoyorozu asked worriedly.
"We did not speak long since he needed to run some errands, but he seemed... downtrodden, I suppose. He didn't seem like he intended to return anytime soon."
"Bummer, but I can't blame him," Kirishima muttered. "Guy seemed to be really anxious last week. I guess that mugging was the last straw."
Sero and Kaminari winced at the remark, while Jirou turned in her seat to glare. "Could you not?" she snapped, and Kirishima held up his hands.
"Sorry, sorry!"
"I just wish he'd talked to someone," Yaoyorozu murmured. "He didn't seem to have any friends here, so going through that alone..." She trailed off, everyone feeling mild sympathy for the absent blond. Most of them had managed to form small cliques by now, or had at least made one friend. Aoyama seemed to have been the outlier.
"That reminds me though," Kaminari said, changing the topic. "So we still talk to those guys from 1-B, right? We set up a group chat, 'cause, you know, kinda makes sense to stay in touch after... you know." He shrugged feebly before hurrying on, "So anyways, this Kuroiro guy from their class hasn't shown up for a week now."
"So what, you think he got spooked too?" Mineta asked, while Yaoyorozu bit her lip.
"Actually, Kendo's mentioned that a couple times in the chat we have for class representatives. She was concerned because it seems out of character for him."
"Yeah, you mentioned that on Monday," Hitoshi mused, thinking back to their conversation. "And she and that Awase guy said something similar back on Saturday, too."
"You saw them on Saturday?" Kirishima asked in surprise, and he shrugged.
"Ojiro and Hagakure wanted to use the dojo to train, and it turned out those two had the same idea. We were trying to figure out how to handle that when Hagakure got the call from Ashido."
"Oof, so you got to hear about it before everyone else then," Sero hissed sympathetically. "I totally forgot she called someone back then."
"Yeah, not how we expected that afternoon to go," Hitoshi said with a shrug. Though obviously they didn't get the worst end of that particular deal.
"By the way, has anyone spoken to Uraraka since then?" Satou piped up from his seat. "I know she withdrew, but I haven't heard anything about her." He sat right next to her now-empty desk, so made sense he'd think about it.
"A bunch of us exchanged numbers when we went for ice cream last Monday," Yaoyorozu said. "We did ask how she was doing, but she said she wanted some space."
"Yeah," Kirishima agreed with a nod. "Last I talked to her, she was thinking of going home to her folks."
"If money's as tight as she said, guess there's no reason to stay here," Jirou muttered, getting a few nods. Renting an apartment could get pretty pricey; no point wasting money if she wouldn't be going to school here anymore. Hopefully she wouldn't have trouble breaking her lease.
Aizawa came in shortly after that, and they all returned to their seats for homeroom.
The day passed pretty normally from there, the initial shock at the murder fading a bit and the atmosphere returning to what might count as normal. Might, because Hitoshi had no idea what counted as "normal" at UA. They weren't even a full month into the year yet, and every week seemed to have something happen that just wasn't normal. USJ, the Bakugou murders, Fukidashi... They never really had a chance to breathe.
Hopefully the trend had finally been kicked though.
The most exciting thing to happen was Ojiro rolling his foot in hero training. Recovery Girl fixed it easily enough, but told him to stay off it until tomorrow just to be safe. That nixed their plans to train together after school, and Hitoshi and Hagakure didn't feel like training without him. So he decided to check on his request at the support department (still unfinished, Power Loader informed him while Hitoshi tried not to stare at the students actively spraying some flaming heap of metal with fire extinguishers), and then headed home.
By the time he stumbled towards the gates, wondering if his uniform smelled of smoke, he was only mildly surprised to see someone waiting there. "Oh, Shinsou-kun!" Midoriya called, perking up and waving at him.
"Hey Midoriya," he greeted with a nod. "What brings you here this time?"
"Just... wanted to check if there's any news." The shorter boy shrugged feebly, looking a bit awkward. "Sorry, I know it's probably weird to come here."
"A bit," Hitoshi allowed, because it was, but when Midoriya flinched he decided to take some pity on the other boy. "Sorry, but we haven't heard anything. This week's been pretty quiet." For once, he almost added but stopped himself.
"Oh, that's... good, I guess." Midoriya fidgeted awkwardly, and Hitoshi had a feeling he had something else to say. Sure enough, he did. "Um, did Kacchan ever mention a girl?"
Now Hitoshi just stared at him blankly. "Like what, a girlfriend?" he asked after a beat, but Midoriya shook his head.
"N-no, not that! It's just... I just remembered, right around the time he took the entrance exam, he mentioned seeing this girl now and then. Like, he thought he was being followed by her or something."
Hitoshi did a double-take. "Wait, he had a stalker?"
"I don't know, maybe?" Midoriya shrugged. "I just overheard him talking about it one morning at school. He said he thought he saw her that morning, and that he'd seen her a couple times before that. That was the only time I ever heard him mention it though, and we never talked about it directly. I only remembered it yesterday."
"You should tell the police," Hitoshi urged him, but Midoriya shook his head.
"I should, b-but, I'm... kind of afraid to," he admitted reluctantly. "I know it could be important, but I only overheard part of the conversation so I don't really have any details like what she looked like or anything. I don't want to derail the investigation if it turns out I misinterpreted it or it's unrelated. And besides, I don't think the police would take me seriously anyway," he added with a dejected slump.
Hitoshi wanted to argue, but he wasn't sure he should. Midoriya clearly had some real self-esteem issues, and he didn't seem to know too much. "Well, then maybe you can ask the guys he talked to report it?" he suggested, and got a nod.
"Yeah, I was thinking that too. I just don't know what high schools they're at. They were Kacchan's friends, not mine, so we never exchanged numbers or anything. I'll need to check all the schools for them. That's why I came to UA first, to see if maybe he mentioned it to anyone here."
"If he did, it would've been reported to the police by now. The teachers have been pretty insistent about us telling them if we have any information. Don't think they'd tell us if someone did report it though."
"Then I should probably look for Kacchan's friends, just to be safe," Midoriya decided with a nod. "I guess I'll start checking other schools tomorrow."
"Can't you ask any of your other classmates if they know where they are?" Hitoshi asked, and Midoriya shuffled awkwardly.
"I, uh... don't really know anyone else," he admitted sullenly. "Kacchan was my only friend..."
Ouch, now Hitoshi felt bad again. "Well, good luck," he said, not knowing what else to say, and Midoriya smiled weakly.
"Thanks." They parted soon after that, and as he walked home Hitoshi naturally wondered about the girl Midoriya mentioned. Did Bakugou have a stalker? Midoriya hadn't seemed too sure, but the idea was stuck in Hitoshi's head. With everything else happening now, he felt like he couldn't be sure of anything.
Saturday ended without anything happening, marking the end of the first actually uneventful week since enrolling at UA. Hitoshi felt like he held his breath all day Sunday, but by the time Monday rolled around there was no news, so he finally felt like he could relax a bit.
Of course, that was dashed at lunchtime when Jirou came over to their table.
"I overheard some teachers whispering in a classroom on the way to the cafeteria," she started as she sat next to Yaoyorozu.
"Jirou, eavesdropping is wrong!" Iida scolded.
"My Quirk gives me sensitive hearing, I can't control it," Jirou snarked back before turning to the others. "Anyways, has Kendo said anything about Kuroiro today on that chat you mentioned?"
"Not really, just that he's not here again," Yaoyorozu replied with a frown.
"Well, the teachers were talking about it, and apparently Kuroiro didn't call in today or Saturday. Last time he called was Thursday, said he was feeling under the weather and would probably be sleeping in on Friday or something. I heard Mic-sensei volunteer to go check on him since he has a free period right after lunch."
Hitoshi and the others frowned, and he suspected they felt the same undercurrent of dread he did. "I really hope everything's okay with him," Yaoyorozu muttered, and they could only nod.
Conversation turned away from that soon after, going to more normal topics to distract themselves. A lot of it naturally centered around the Sports Festival, which made Hitoshi wonder if it would be canceled or delayed like Aizawa said it would. He kept quiet about that though, mindful of the fact no one was supposed to know. Maybe with how last week had been so uneventful, they'd go through with it.
At one point though Jirou glanced over to the side and blinked. "Huh, that's interesting," she said. Hitoshi followed her gaze towards one of the tables occupied by Class 1-B, and quickly realized what must have caught her attention.
"Didn't realize they had twins in that class," he commented. There was a pair of boys with yellowish-green skin and green mohawks, two blade-like protrusions on either side of their mouths. They stood out from the rest of the class, so he didn't know how he'd failed to notice them before.
"I don't think they are," Jirou said. "One of them just transformed." Now that was interesting.
"Quirk use in the cafeteria?" Iida asked with a frown. "That seems highly inappropriate!"
"I don't think there's a specific rule as long as it doesn't cause any problems though," Yaoyorozu commented. "If it's just transforming into another student, it wouldn't really bother anyone, I think?" As she spoke the people at that table seemed to notice them looking, and one of the green boys strolled over.
"Sorry to interrupt, but I noticed you watching us," he greeted with a nod. "You're our rivals from 1-A, right?"
"Uh, I guess?" Ojiro responded after a moment.
"So, then could you tell me about that red-haired boy's Quirk?" He gestured to the table where Kirishima sat with Ashido, Kaminari and Sero. "I know he's a part of your class." That had the group tensing, an instinctive wariness rising.
"Why?" Shouji demanded on behalf of the table. As the others eyed the boy warily Hitoshi noticed Kendo stalking over, the boy's twin in tow.
"Kama—I mean, Monoma," she said, correcting herself mid-sentence. The name rankled at Hitoshi's memory, though he didn't know why. "What are you doing? Please tell me you're not trying to challenge them or something."
"I'm not," Monoma said, raising his hands defensively. "I was just asking them about that red-haired boy's Quirk."
"I thought you agreed you wouldn't go snooping too much before the Sports Festival," she groaned. "And can you please go back to normal or whatever? It's weird having a second Kamakiri."
"I would, but I don't exactly know how," Monoma said with a shrug. "I think I'll have to wait for the time limit."
"Uh, could one of you explain what's going on?" Hitoshi piped up, and Kendo sighed.
"Right. This guy is Monoma. Remember I warned you about him?"
"Hey," Monoma grumbled while Hitoshi and Ojiro nodded in remembrance. Right, Monoma had the weird obsession with being rivals with 1-A.
"Well, we aren't telling you anything," Ojiro declared, Hitoshi nodding in firm agreement. No way would they give away any of their classmates' strengths or weaknesses.
Of course, Monoma seemed frustrated by this development. "That's not—I'm not asking because of the Sports Festival or anything!"
"Monoma, I think you got the information you needed anyway," Monoma's look-alike—Kamakiri, probably—said flatly. "No reason to ask about it." Monoma growled in irritation, shooting him a murderous look.
"No, I really didn't." As he spoke his face suddenly began to melt, features dripping downwards and losing color until it became a gray slime-like substance that dripped onto his clothes. It left a considerably more ordinary-looking face in its place, with straight blond hair and gray eyes.
"Okay, ew," Jirou said, scooting back a bit while the others side-eyed him with varying degrees of distaste. Monoma's face twisted into a grimace as he wiped some of the goop off his hair.
"Ugh, disgusting," he spat, shaking it off his hand.
"Isn't that your Quirk?" Tokoyami challenged. "I would have expected you to be used to it by now."
"No, it's not—" Monoma stopped short, shoulders heaving as he sighed. "Look. Earlier at lunch, I saw that red-haired boy's hand seemed to become hard and rigid when he crushed up some nuts for his lunch. Is that related to his Quirk?"
The others at the table frowned, still wary. "We have no reason to confirm or deny that," Jirou said briskly, but Hitoshi saw Kendo jolt in alarm.
"Wait, you mean his Quirk isn't—?" She stopped short, shooting a glance at Monoma before turning to them. "You... don't recognize the transformation?"
Something about the way she said that set off alarm bells, all of them instantly on edge. "No, should we?" Yaoyorozu asked, and Monoma frowned, seeming to debate on something.
"Screw it," he said quietly to himself, and then said more clearly, "My Quirk lets me copy other people's Quirks. I won't say how it works, but I tried to copy your classmate's Quirk, and instead of what I saw, I got that transformation Quirk."
Everyone froze, the implications setting in and bringing a wave of shock and horror with it. Hitoshi's eyes immediately went to Kirishima's table, and his stomach lurched when he saw the redhead was gone.
"Oh no," Yaoyorozu said, seeing the same thing. Ojiro leaped to his feet and raced over, and Hitoshi and the rest followed suit not even a second later.
"Where's Kirishima?" the blond demanded as they caught up to him.
"He just said he needed to use the bathroom," Sero replied with a frown. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"So just to double-check, his Quirk isn't transforming into other people, right?" Kendo asked, and got double-takes from the trio still at the table.
"What the heck?" Kaminari blurted. "No, it's not!"
"Yeah, it's hardening!" Ashido confirmed with a nod, and then paused and grew more wary. "Wait, why are you—"
"That's not Kirishima," Yaoyorozu whispered, face pale, and everyone froze.
"What?" Ashido whispered, and Yaoyorozu visibly swallowed.
"That's not Kirishima," she repeated more firmly. "That—that can't be—!" She stopped short, inhaling sharply as her face twisted with panic, and Iida stepped forward.
"One of you, go get a teacher now!" he ordered, waving an arm through the air in a vigorous chop. "I'm going to check the bathrooms!" He raced off without waiting for an answer, Ojiro, Tokoyami, and Shouji following.
"We'll help look too!" Kendo said, turning to her classmates. "One of you go tell a teacher about Monoma's Quirk, too!"
"Hold on, can someone please tell us what's happening?" Sero whined.
"We're not sure either, but we think that was an imposter," Shinsou heard Jirou explain. He didn't stick around to hear the rest of it, already following Monoma who was running off in search of a teacher.
"You're sure that's a transformation Quirk?" he pressed. "And that it's not some weird other part of Kirishima's hardening Quirk?"
"That depends," Monoma replied tightly. "Does he need to drink blood to use it?" That had Hitoshi nearly tripping over his own feet, boggling the blond in disbelief.
"What?"
"The activation requirements were to consume a person's blood. I only realized because Kamakiri got a cut on his hand earlier today, and I found myself drawn to it after copying that Quirk. He had to remove the bandaid while eating, and the cut started bleeding again, and I just... felt too compelled to lick it." His face twisted with discomfort, shivering. "I swear, of all things to trigger a Quirk... I've never copied one with an active bloodlust."
Hitoshi could only stare in horror, eyes wide. Fuck.
I'm baaaaack~
Sorry for the year-long delay! With the format of this story, I have to be REALLY careful with how I write this, because with what I have planned... Yeah, it's really hard to justify UA not closing temporarily due to all the sudden murders. But it's spooky season again, and the perfect time of the year! I also went through the previous chapters and edited them to fix a few mistakes.
Special thanks to Ernand and Sun from the Ignite discord server for helping me hash out a bit from Chapter 5, and also helping chuunify a bit of Tokoyami's dialogue.
Also: I changed the title a little bit, because I've seen multiple other stories titled "Smoke and Mirrors" and don't want confusion.
Anyways, enjoy the cliffhanger. See you all very soon~