Chapter 5
Kirishima Eijirou was gone.
The school went into lockdown within minutes of them reporting to a teacher, but it was already too late. From what Hitoshi gathered, he most likely left the cafeteria right after noticing Monoma and Kamakiri at their lunch table. The security cameras showed him leaving through a side door near the cafeteria, and then racing for the front gates. By the time lockdown was initiated he was long gone. They found the UA uniform shoved in a bush one block away from campus, just outside the cameras' range.
An emergency wellness check was made to Kirishima's apartment, but there was no sign he'd been there recently. Apparently, it had been at least five days since his neighbors could remember last seeing him.
Instead of homeroom, the next morning Classes 1-A and 1-B gathered in the auditorium where they'd taken the entrance exam. With only forty students as opposed to the original hundreds of examinees who'd filled the seats last time he'd been there, the room felt absolutely cavernous this time. They filled the first couple of rows while their homeroom teachers, Principal Nezu, and All Might stood at the front of the room.
If anyone somehow had any doubts about how serious the situation was, Hitoshi imagined they were gone now. All of them looked more serious than he'd ever seen, including after USJ. Even All Might looked unusually grim, arms folded over his chest and his trademark smile missing as the other teachers spoke.
"You are not to speak to anyone outside of UA about this," Vlad King told them sternly. "Not your friends, your neighbors, or even your parents. We have already informed all the necessary parties, including the parents of those whose families live locally."
"You are not allowed to discuss this with other classes, either," Aizawa added. His bandages had been removed from his face though his arms remained in casts, allowing a clear view of his harsh glare made even sharper by the crescent scar under his eye. "The hero classes in the other years are also being informed of the full details, as are a select few other students. Outside of that though, the rest of the school—and the public at large—is only being told that Kirishima is missing."
"We're framing it to the media and school as a suspected runaway case," Nezu continued. "His parents have agreed to go along with this cover for the time being, and police will also help spread this story. We are only telling you the specifics because this directly concerns your classes and safety."
Iida's hand shot in the air. "But sir, isn't this a security risk? Someone impersonated a UA student and infiltrated the school!"
"And that is precisely why we cannot make this publicly known," Nezu replied sharply. "With everything else that's occurred so far this year, the media is already keeping a close eye on everything that occurs at UA. You've seen firsthand just how invasive they can be just standing at the gates. If word of this gets out, journalists will jump on it and almost certainly impede our investigation. Reporters have a habit of overstepping boundaries and ignoring public interest in favor of being the first to air a story."
"And with everything else that's happened this year, they'll be even more rabid than usual," Aizawa muttered with a scowl.
"It is regrettable, but we must prioritize the investigation," All Might interjected, speaking for the first time. That just reminded Hitoshi that he wasn't smiling, which was just so freaky. "This isn't just about avoiding publicity. In the past, we've had villains evade capture because the news would report details on our investigations that gave them enough warning to flee."
"I had an entire raid we planned for two months fall apart in an instant because some idiot reporter tried to interview one of the suspects," Vlad added in a grumble. "All of them had run by the time we found out, and their base was cleaned out. Two months of work, down the drain in a flash." Aizawa's face darkened as he muttered under his breath too quietly for the students to hear, while All Might just nodded sagely.
"There is nothing more frustrating than having months of work and effort ruined by a single news report. More than that, it affects public safety because it can allow the culprits to escape. We have just barely begun the investigation into Kirishima's disappearance and the imposter's identity. This is the most critical time period for the investigation, and we absolutely cannot risk such an interference happening now."
Maybe it was just because it was All Might saying it, but Hitoshi found it hard to argue with that logic. That, and how bitter the teachers looked, with Aizawa scowling even harder than usual and Vlad seeming like he was plotting someone's murder. Only Nezu didn't seem particularly angry, just nodding in agreement.
"This year has already been stressful enough so far," he said. "Spreading this information without any further solid facts will cause undue panic, as well as lead reporters to go after even the most nebulous leads. That includes potentially harassing families of both Kirishima, and current and former students of your classes, for more information. They'll likely use it to probe for more details about the other tragedies this year, and they've already disturbed the family of Fukidashi Manga enough."
The atmosphere grew somber at the reminder, both classes feeling the loss acutely. The murder of Bakugou's parents was bad enough, but at least they still had hope he might be alive, unlike Fukidashi. Hitoshi might not have known him, but the knowledge someone in their year died still felt heavy and oppressive.
"Once we have more information and made progress on the case, we'll of course release a statement about everything. But we currently have too little information to reach any conclusions yet, and—as All Might stated—we have barely even begun the investigation. At present, all we know for certain is that Kirishima has not been seen at his apartment since sometime last week, and has not contacted his parents since the prior Sunday."
"On that note, whoever infiltrated UA has a Quirk that lets them copy not only people's appearances, but also their Quirks," Vlad added. "The full details of how it works are currently unknown, but we do know it requires ingesting blood." That had some kids shifting uncomfortably, not that Hitoshi blamed them. He'd felt pretty queasy when Monoma had told him that part too.
"For that reason, we'll be suspending practical training for the time being," All Might declared. "We'll be having lectures and going over theoretical concepts instead during your heroics class, along with your homeroom teachers. All of these lectures were already planned for later points in the year, so this won't impact your overall curriculum too much."
"If you get any injuries outside of class, report it to a teacher immediately, and cover it thoroughly," Aizawa added sternly. "Do not dispose of anything with blood on it, give it to Recovery Girl instead. We don't know how much blood is necessary to activate the Quirk, so report it even if it's just a paper cut. We're also working on verification measures for everyone and should have one ready by the end of the day. But as a solid rule of thumb: no one is to go anywhere alone. Stick in pairs, or better yet, groups of three to four if possible."
That got a series of serious nods from all the students, while Hitoshi had to try not to look at Monoma. Given he'd been the one to find Kirishima was an imposter, he thought the blond's Quirk would be a good way to test for it, but the teachers clearly avoided mentioning him. Thinking it over, it was probably for the other boy's safety.
The imposter had probably realized someone copied their Quirk given how quickly "Kirishima" left yesterday. Monoma would probably be the first person they'd want to target, since he could give away their disguise. But if the imposter didn't know who had it, Monoma would be safe.
While he mulled over this one of the 1-B students raised his hand. "Sir, can we ask about Kuroiro?" he asked, and Hitoshi could feel the other class grow still with anticipation. Especially when the teachers exchanged brief looks.
"Yesterday at lunch Present Mic went to his apartment," Vlad replied after a moment, and Hitoshi swore he could feel air rush out of everyone's lungs. "His neighbors reported they hadn't seen Kuroiro either. When Mic went inside, there was no sign anyone had been there for over a week. As of now, Kuroiro Shihai is also missing."
The silence that followed was the heaviest yet.
"It's just, Kiri did seem kinda off, but everyone was weird last week," Ashido said softly. "I just... I don't know. How didn't I notice?"
Morning classes got canceled again, everyone just gathering in groups and talking quietly. It was hard to focus after the morning's assembly. Ashido and a few others had come over to talk with Kaminari, Jirou and Sero, all of whom sat near Hitoshi, so he got to be privy to their conversation. Most of which centered around Ashido's guilt.
"Don't blame yourself," Jirou told her softly. "It's not your fault. It's been a weird couple of weeks, I don't think anyone's been acting like they would normally."
"Yeah," Asui agreed. "This entire year has been strange, kero. Things keep happening and we haven't gotten any real breaks, and it's still barely the first month. I don't think anyone has really felt normal since it began, kero. And we all still barely know each other."
"But I do know Kiri!" Ashido protested, tears in her eyes. "We went to the same middle school! We didn't talk much back then, b-but... I still should've known...!" She trailed off, lower lip wobbling as she looked down at her feet miserably. The fact they knew each other before UA was news to Hitoshi, and judging by their surprised looks, a lot of the others didn't know that either.
He noticed Ojiro seem to waver for a moment before twisting in his seat to face the group. "If you didn't talk to him much, it's still not your fault," he said. "Even if you went to the same school, that doesn't mean you'd know everything about him."
"He's right," Satou added from the back row. "Unless you really knew him, it would be hard to tell he was acting off. He didn't seem different to me from when the year started."
"Yeah, the only real difference I noticed was he seemed less confident," Kaminari piped up. "And said 'manly' a lot more too, I guess, but I thought he was just nervous 'cause of the stuff with Bakugou and... well, you know." He shrugged awkwardly with a small grimace, probably thinking back to the mugging.
"He didn't really seem that different at all," Sero agreed with a nod. "Don't blame yourself, Ashido."
"It's so hard not to though," she mumbled sullenly. "We're supposed to be heroes. What kind of hero can't notice something's wrong with one of their friends?"
There was an awkward silence after that, no one having a good answer. Eventually, Kaminari gently cleared his throat. "Uh, so does anyone think we should come up with some anti-copy measures?" he suggested, clearly trying to change the topic. It worked, getting attention from some of the other nearby students.
"Oh, like, code phrases or something?" Hagakure piped up eagerly.
"That would only work if none of us are the imposter now though," Shouji pointed out, and Tokoyami nodded sagely.
"It's unfortunate, but it may already be too late to implement such safeguards. There may already be another intruder hidden among our ranks..."
"Shit, I really don't want to think about that," Hitoshi groaned, letting his head rest on his desk. This just... this sucked. He hated wondering about whether his classmates were actually his classmates or some phony with a transformation Quirk.
"Maybe we can ask each other things only we would know?" Yaoyorozu suggested. "And then we can come up with passwords?"
"But what if the transformation Quirk gets the person's memories, too?" Sero worried, sparking a quiet round of uneasy murmurs. Hitoshi scowled as their voices washed over him and then abruptly stood up, getting everyone's attention.
"Fuck it," he said flatly. "Being this paranoid is just bullshit." He strolled to the front desk where Aizawa sat, the teacher eying his approach silently. "Hey, sensei. Would it be cool if some of us went into the hall for a minute to do that question thing Yaoyorozu suggested?"
"As long as you don't leave the hallway or stay out for more than five minutes at a time," Aizawa agreed with a nod. Hitoshi nodded back and glanced back at his classmates.
"Everyone at the Bakugou house, let's go," he said. "Yaoyorozu, Ojiro, you first."
"Why them?" Mineta asked with a frown, but the two he'd called out paled, clearly recognizing his reasoning.
After all, they were the ones who discovered the bathroom.
In the end, Hitoshi and everyone who'd been to the Bakugou house easily verified their identities with each other. Since Tokoyami, Shouji and Jirou had been present at lunch yesterday when the Kirishima imposter had been identified, they also managed to confirm their identities by asking about the conversation before Monoma came over. He and Ojiro verified Hagakure, too, by asking her about some of the training they did after school.
All of them set up some code phrases in private, settling on a total of five to spread across the group so they wouldn't have to memorize a dozen different phrases for each individual person. They also each gave a unique codeword to Aizawa so he could verify their identities later, too.
The rest of the class followed suit, but unfortunately they had a bit more difficulty. No one knew when Kirishima had been replaced, or if he was even the first. That last thought made it all too easy to get overly paranoid. That, combined with the lingering concern that the transformation Quirk might include copying memories, meant only about half the class managed to verify their identities with each other to a comfortable degree.
"I don't think it works that way though," Yaoyorozu said at lunch. Their whole group sat outside, choosing to meet under a tree far away from any other students. "I feel like Monoma would have mentioned if he got Kamakiri's memories when he copied Kirishima's Quirk... or, well, whoever that was yesterday."
"I'm inclined to agree, but I suppose it could also be a limitation of Monoma's Quirk," Iida murmured. "It seemed to wear off quite fast after all. There might be other restrictions to what he copies."
"I just don't get why the teachers don't have this Monoma guy try checking everyone," Hagakure groaned, and Mineta bobbed his head.
"Yeah! If it let him copy the imposter's Quirk, then wouldn't that be the fastest way to find out?"
"It's probably for his own safety," Asui said, echoing Hitoshi's earlier thoughts on the matter. "The imposter would want to target him if he gets too involved, kero."
"But isn't he a target anyway? They obviously left because they knew the jig was up!"
"Actually, we don't know if the imposter knows it is Monoma's Quirk specifically," Yaoyorozu mused. "I think they saw us look over while talking to him and Kamakiri together, and realized the second Kamakiri may have been part of their Quirk. Someone from 1-B said they saw Kirishima leave before the transformation wore off, so they may not know who was using it."
"I guess it all depends on how that Quirk works," Jirou muttered, and glanced at Hitoshi. "Shinsou, you followed Monoma yesterday. Did he say anything about it?"
"Not much," Hitoshi replied with a shrug. "Just that he had a sudden taste for his classmate's blood. Said he licked a bleeding cut that Kamakiri guy had, and that was enough." That had the others cringing.
"How did he even find that out?" Ojiro grumbled with a grimace.
"Yeah, talk about creepy," Mineta muttered, shuddering.
"The way he phrased it, I think he just got a sudden craving for blood?" Hitoshi shrugged. "I think the Quirk has some bloodlust hard-coded into it or something."
"Okay, that is really creepy," Hagakure said with a shudder.
"It almost sounds a bit like how I crave orange juice," Iida commented. "That's what fuels my engines, by the way."
"It would make sense that a Quirk would seek what gives it power," Tokoyami murmured with a sage nod. "Dark Shadow finds its greatest strength in the dark after all."
"Still less creepy than transforming with blood," Hitoshi muttered, and next to him Ojiro sighed.
"Well, anyways, it sucks the Sports Festival is getting canceled," he said, changing the topic, and the others groaned in agreement.
With everything that happened and now an imposter infiltrating UA, canceling the Sports Festival was natural. The formal announcement would go out after school today, but Nezu had told them that morning before the assembly ended. Given what Aizawa had told him, Hitoshi hadn't been as surprised as some of the others.
"I'm kinda scared of how things'll look tomorrow morning," Jirou sighed. "There's gonna be reporters all over... Again." All of them groaned at the thought. Between the story of Kirishima "running away" and the Sports Festival getting canceled, the gates were going to be flooded by reporters. Hitoshi was starting to understand why Aizawa-sensei grumbled about the media being "vultures" so much.
"Guess we probably shouldn't stick around too long after hours if we're not gonna be training," Shouji muttered.
"Indeed, we should go straight home after school," Iida said with a nod. "And with current circumstances as they are, we shouldn't go home alone, either."
"So what, call each other on the phone until we're safely inside and have our doors locked?" Hitoshi asked sarcastically, but to his surprise a few of his classmates nodded at that.
"It would be a good way to make sure we get home safely," Asui said. "Maybe have another call before bed, too, kero, and while going to school in the morning."
"Yeah," Jirou said. "Better safe than sorry. Plus I think most of you guys moved here just for UA, so maybe some of you should try to bunk together...?" Everyone exchanged looks at that, a bit of tension in the air, and Hitoshi slowly buried his face in his hands with a sigh.
"What the fuck," he whispered. "This is so messed up." They were actually seriously thinking about extending the buddy system to beyond UA.
"Yeah, it is," Mineta groaned. "I think I'm just gonna call out of school tomorrow." Ojiro looked ready to protest, but then paused.
"You know what? I can't even blame you. I'm tempted to do the same."
"As surprising as it is, I also cannot fault you," Iida admitted, which really was surprising. Given how serious he was about school, it felt almost like a sign of the apocalypse to see him approve. "Normally I would protest anyone missing school outside of illness, but with recent events, it's only natural to be concerned."
"I've thought about staying home too," Asui admitted. "I still live at home with my parents and little brother and sister, and I'm worried that this imposter may harm them if they try to copy me, kero." That led to an even tenser silence, everyone exchanging pained and horrified grimaces. Hitoshi lived alone, so he hadn't even thought about what they'd do to their families.
"That actually might make you less of a target," Shouji said after a few moments before the thought could spiral further. "If the Quirk can't copy your memories, your family would be the most likely to see through the act."
"And grim as it is to consider, if they did harm your family, children going missing would cause a much larger uproar," Tokoyami murmured with a nod. That sentiment made the atmosphere feel even heavier than before, the thought of children being targeted sending a cold chill down Hitoshi's spine. At least Tokoyami was right that it'd get a lot more attention, attention the infiltrator probably wouldn't want.
After several long moments Yaoyorozu broke the silence. "The teachers said they'd try to prepare some more formal protocol to try to verify people's identities by tomorrow, so this may not even be an issue by then. But if any of you do decide to skip school, I suggest you have someone else join you, just to be safe."
"Please tell me someone will volunteer," Mineta begged, and there was an awkward silence. Hitoshi felt himself start to wonder if maybe he should volunteer, but then Iida sighed and spoke up.
"I do not plan to miss school, but I suppose you could stay at my house tonight and tomorrow," he offered. "We have a spare room, and my parents have already been informed of the full situation. They will surely understand and let you stay with us."
"Really?" Mineta asked hopefully.
"Wait, they're allowed to know?" Hagakure asked in surprise. "But Principal Nezu said we're not supposed to tell our parents though!"
"The teachers did say they told families that lived locally," Ojiro reminded her. "For safety and all that."
"And my parents are also well-established heroes," Iida added, getting a quiet "ah" from the others. He sighed and crossed his arms, looking conflicted. "I do not fully agree with the school's decision not to inform everyone, as this directly involves the safety of our students, but... I can understand the reasoning. As much as it pains me to admit this, telling too many people could lead to impeding the investigation and harassment, especially if it became public knowledge."
His expression sharpened as he added sternly, "And for that reason, we cannot tell anyone about Monoma's Quirk. What we discussed here today remains here, and here alone. We shouldn't talk about it even with each other after today." Everyone nodded with serious looks. The less people who knew about it, the better.
True to Yaoyorozu's predictions and their teacher's word that morning, UA quickly come up with a measure to verify everyone's identities.
"Everyone, you are to place a few strands of hair in one of those containers," Aizawa announced right after lunch. They'd returned to the classroom to find every desk had small plastic containers on them, labeled with their names and seat numbers. Well, almost every desk did.
"Uh, Aizawa-sensei?" Hagakure called, raising her hand. "I don't have one."
"Same here," Mineta added, and a whimper from Kouji revealed he lacked one too.
"That's because your hair is invisible and thus too hard to use, and Mineta and Kouda don't have any hair we can use," Aizawa responded blandly. "We'll be taking you three separately to verify your identities."
"So you don't need hair specifically then?" Satou asked.
"Of course not, Tokoyami has a container too," Sero pointed out. "And he's got a head full of feathers."
"Actually, this is hair, not feathers," the bird-headed boy corrected. There was a pause as everyone digested that, and then several students turned to stare at him in disbelief. There just seemed to be more surprises every day.
"For security reasons, I am not giving you any details on how the process works," Aizawa said. "I can assure you now that it's accurate though. Ideally we should have done this yesterday, but we needed to do some tests to ensure it was feasible. We'll know the results by the end of the day, and can determine our next move then."
There was a collective sigh of relief at that, everyone relaxing at the knowledge their paranoia would soon be at an end. They all dutifully pulled off some hair to drop into the containers, and Present Mic soon arrived with a large bin to collect them since Aizawa still had both arms in casts.
All Might entered for his lecture just as they left, but to their surprise he chose to put on a movie.
"It is admittedly unconventional, but I believe you all need a chance to relax," he explained. "This film is considered highly inspiring by many Pro Heroes, myself included, and had a large role in shifting public opinion of heroism in the early days of the profession. So it will be entertaining, and also give you some better cultural understanding of the industry's history!"
It was a good enough justification if anyone tried to criticize the choice, and a welcome distraction. The film turned out to be pretty engrossing, and Hitoshi barely noticed Hagakure, Kouji and Mineta get taken out of the room one by one for the mysterious test.
By the start of their final period, the school already had the results.
"Everyone in this room is who they say they are," Aizawa announced. The relief in the air was palpable, several students loudly groaning and slumping in their seats. Hitoshi was among them, feeling a good amount of tension seep out of his body. While he'd been trying not to think about it too hard, knowing for sure was just such a relief. The mood didn't last long before Aizawa continued though.
"That said, it's too soon to completely relax. We still don't know the intent of this individual, so we can't guarantee that they won't try again. We'll be doing this test every morning, but the biggest risk remains being off-campus, so you need to be careful. Go straight home after school. Stay on the phone with someone until you've safely arrived and have confirmed the door is locked and there are no intruders."
"What about people who moved to Musutafu alone to attend UA?" Satou asked.
"We're highly aware of that issue, and we're discussing building dorms. It isn't an overnight decision or process though, so we'll give you more information as we make solid plans. Until then, I recommend that those of you who moved here alone find someone to stay with. If you do, I of course expect you to inform us of the arrangements. And on that note, we'll be giving out some security cameras to take home."
On cue the door opened and one of the school's many robots entered, pushing a cart loaded with rather basic-looking security cameras. "These are all basic cameras built by the support department that can interface with your phones. Since we built them UA can access them, but we won't be using them to spy on you, so you don't need to worry about us invading your privacy. Either way, I recommend you keep them inside your front door, or any other area that an intruder would be likely to pass through."
The rest of the final period was spent passing out cameras and setting up the apps on their phones to ensure they would work. While doing that, Ojiro also approached Hitoshi to suggest they move in together. "Safety in numbers and all that," he said, while Hitoshi just stared at him.
"Seriously?" he asked, still stunned Ojiro had asked, even if Aizawa had suggested people bunk together.
"After what we've been through so far, I trust you," Ojiro replied bluntly, while Hitoshi continued to just stare. He'd gone from having pretty much no friends, to someone willing to live with him.
As had become the norm, this was not how he'd expected high school to go.
In the end, they decided to stay at Ojiro's apartment since it was ultimately closer to UA. Aizawa gave the seal of approval upon being informed, and after school they were off. "You'll need a sleeping bag or something though," Ojiro commented as they walked to Hitoshi's apartment to get some of his stuff. "I only have one futon."
"Maybe I can ask sensei for a recommendation," Hitoshi joked, and Ojiro snorted.
"Yeah. With how much he slept in that thing when we first started, it must be pretty good." They fell into a companionable silence after that, but Hitoshi found his mood fading. No matter how well they got along, he couldn't forget just why they were walking together after school. Not even a full month in, and so much had happened.
He could only hope they'd find the culprit soon.
It's true. Tokoyami DOES have hair instead of feathers. This was pointed out to me by SnowyH20 on my discord last year, and has quietly horrified me ever since. Also, writing "imposter" makes me feel like this is an Among Us fic. Which... it kinda almost is :D
Special thanks to Ernand and Sun again for helping with the opening bit from the teachers and making sure the reasoning was solid! If you want a real world example of how media can screw up investigations, just look at the Black Dahlia case. Reporters totally destroyed the crime scene, and some even actually sat at desks at the police station so they could answer the phones and get first dibs on tips. While that wasn't the only problem with the investigation, their interference definitely played a large role in why it will never be solved.