Good news: I think I'm gonna be doing daily updates now to have this done by Halloween! Also, Curve is based off the social media app Line, which is used in Japan/Asia. Thanks to Ernand for suggesting the name!
Also, just in case you forgot, a friendly reminder that this is a horror story. c:
Chapter 9
Once again, as promised, the teachers found a solution to the whole "can't give potential infiltrators their phone numbers" issue. Namely through the social media platform Curve of all things. Hitoshi didn't realize the teachers even knew what that was.
Judging by Aizawa's disgruntled expression as they all added his two-hour-old account as a friend, he probably didn't know.
That, or he hated it. Both seemed viable.
"This is so weird," Hitoshi muttered, staring down at his phone. He'd actually had to download the app and make an account too, since he'd never really needed it before. Not like he had any friends in middle school. Right now his friend list consisted of Ojiro, Todoroki and Aizawa. Of them, only Ojiro had a profile picture that wasn't the default human silhouette against a blue background.
Hitoshi should probably change his icon. Good thing Ojiro was showing Todoroki how to do just that.
"So you tap the photo icon, and it brings up a menu letting you choose your camera or gallery," he explained patiently. Hitoshi raised an eyebrow at the very basic instructions, thinking that much should be obvious. Todoroki seemed to be readily drinking it in though.
"I don't have anything in my gallery though," he commented. "And I don't want to use a picture of a camera."
It took Hitoshi a second to grasp the source of his confusion. "The camera option opens your camera," he informed the other teen, somehow not giving away how mystified he was that he had to explain that. "So you can take a photo to use."
"Oh." Todoroki glanced at his phone with a frown. "I donʼt want to take a photo of myself though."
"Probably safer that way," Ojiro agreed. "I just use a monkey for mine. A friend set it in middle school, and I never got around to changing it. You could also take a photo of something else instead."
Todoroki frowned, and then turned to Hitoshi with his phone raised. Hitoshi blinked as he heard the shutter click, and then Todoroki went back to messing with his phone. "Uh, what are you doing?"
"Iʼm using you as my profile picture so that if anyone steals one of your phones, theyʼll think Iʼm you and mess up in conversation."
That... was surprisingly clever for a guy who very obviously had never even looked at social media before. Or probably text messages, for that matter, since he didn't even know what the camera option meant. Hitoshi glanced at his phone, the gallery open to a picture of a cat he downloaded a long time ago, and then quietly pressed the back button and opened the camera instead.
"Ojiro, say cheese," Hitoshi instructed. He got the most deadpan look in return as he snapped a photo, which fit his new account perfectly. "You should take a photo of Todoroki to complete the trifecta."
"I am not doing this," Ojiro sighed. "This is so ridiculous..."
"Do you think the teachers will be able to tell whoʼs who?" Hitoshi asked, ignoring his friend's grumbling. "Might be a problem if you text 'help' and they come check on me."
"We should probably tell them," Todoroki said. "In person, of course."
"Of course," Hitoshi agreed. "Don't want our message history showing who we are. Kinda defeats the whole purpose."
"You realize they'll probably figure it out anyway from checking all your messages, right?" Ojiro pointed out dryly. "I mean, Todoroki has you as his profile. It'd be weird to message yourself." That had Hitoshi's lips pursing.
"You're right," he muttered. "Well Todoroki, I guess you and I can never message each other."
"I don't have much to talk about anyway," Todoroki said with a shrug. "I don't really see a point in social media."
"Same. That still leaves the whole thing about me having Ojiro's picture as my profile pic... Alright, we can just text like normal," Hitoshi decided with a nod. Ojiro didn't bother responding, obviously deciding to just ignore the whole conversation. It didn't last much longer anyway, the blond's attention soon drawn ahead.
"Isn't that Asui?" he asked, and Hitoshi and Todoroki glanced ahead to see Asui ahead of them on the sidewalk looking in a store window. What was weird was that she wasn't alone though. No, she was with Monoma and some green-haired girl Hitoshi vaguely recognized from 1-B.
The sight was enough to stop the trio in the their tracks. The other trio didn't notice them yet, busy talking as they looked at a window. No matter how Hitoshi looked at it, the group didn't really compute. He didn't know Asui even knew Monoma, let alone that other girl. "Is that girl her cousin or something?" he asked.
"I don't think so," Todoroki murmured. "I recognize her from the recommendation exam, so she has some sorts of connections. I don't think Asui is related to anyone in the industry though, or someone else could have organized extra patrols by her family's house instead of Endeavor."
Even as he spoke Asui happened to glance their way and stood straight to attention, tilting her head at them. She made some sort of sound that had the other two glancing their way, and Hitoshi's group took that as their opening to continue walking and join up with them. "Hey, Asui," Ojiro greeted with a nod.
"Please, call me Tsuyu, kero," the girl corrected automatically. Right, that was a thing she insisted on. Hitoshi didn't think he'd get used to it anytime soon.
"Hey, Todoroki," the other girl greeted with an awkward nod. "Nice to see you, I guess?"
"...Yeah." Todoroki returned the greeting with a nod of his own, and it suddenly occurred to Hitoshi he probably didn't remember her name. That felt kind of hilarious.
"Ah, so more 1-A riffraff shows up," Monoma murmured, more to himself than them.
"Please don't call my friends riffraff, kero," Asui scolded gently.
"Why are you hanging out with any 1-A riffraff at all then?" Hitoshi asked, eyebrows arching pointedly.
"We all ride the same train now, or at least we do for part of the way," the other girl replied for him, jabbing Monoma with her elbow as she added, "And don't make me tell Kendo on you!"
"Sorry, habit," Monoma sighed. Strange to have that habit, since as far as Hitoshi knew this was literally the second time anyone from their class had ever interacted with him (besides Asui apparently). He decided not to mention that as the girl turned back.
"Sorry about him. Real quick though, can we get names out of the way? I'm Tokage."
Last name only, huh? "Shinsou," Hitoshi replied with a nod, following her lead.
"And I'm Ojiro," Ojiro said. "Nice to meet you, I guess...?" He trailed off a bit awkwardly, and she quietly huffed.
"Yeah, kind of a weird time to meet new people, huh," she muttered with a small frown. That was an understatement.
"So you guys ride the same train?" Hitoshi asked, deciding to change the topic.
"Yes, at least at for part of it," Monoma confirmed with a nod. "We get off before Asui, but only by a few stops. So we decided it's safer to stick together as long as we can, even if we're in different classes." Hitoshi noted with a small amount of amusement that Asui didn't correct him over using her surname. Looks like she didn't consider him a friend.
"No one from 1-A rides the same train as me after everyone moved in together, so it's safer, kero," she added.
"Yeah, same thing happened with our class," Tokage said with a nod. "Monoma and I actually only started using it after that, and we're the only ones from 1-B on it. Especially since..." She trailed off with a small frown, looking suddenly uncomfortable. Even Monoma now frowned, arms crossed as he looked away from them. Hitoshi frowned at the change in mood, finding it oddly familiar for some reason.
Asui tipped her head at the 1-B students, and then stepped closer to her own classmates. "Fukidashi-kun and Kuroiro-kun both used to ride this train," she confided quietly, and... oh.
"Damn," Ojiro muttered solemnly, and Hitoshi couldn't put it better himself. What were the odds that both of the missing/murdered kids from 1-B would ride the same train? Hitoshi immediately pictured Fukidashi sitting on the train, his brain conjuring the photo shown on the news after the mugging. He looked pretty distinctive with his speech bubble head.
Kuroiro didn't appear nearly as easily though. He realized that, for all they talked about him, he had never seen a picture of the missing teen. All he could think was, his name means black-colored, so maybe he's like a shadow? Probably not, but...
"Uraraka-chan also rode it for part of the way, kero," Asui added, and wow, it just got worse. "Shouji-kun did too, but he started using a different one after he and Satou-kun moved in with Kouda-kun." She paused then, tapping a finger to her chin. "I hope they get that sorted out soon, kero."
"Yeah, us too," Hitoshi agreed.
"Get what sorted out?" Tokage asked with a frown.
"Kouda's landlady kicked them out last night," Ojiro explained. "We only found out in first period today, so..." He trailed off meaningfully, and she grimaced.
"Oh. Oh, shit. That's bad."
"Yep," Hitoshi agreed with a nod. Last he'd seen, they were staying after class to talk to Aizawa. Though they'd probably have to wait until after Ashido finished up her conversation with him. Either way, Hitoshi was very tired of talking about this heavy stuff.
Apparently he wasn't the only one. "What were you looking at?" Todoroki asked, glancing at the storefront. Hitoshi instinctively looked too, and saw it was a cake shop.
"Tsuyu said she wanted to get some cakes," Tokage explained. "And honestly, I'm with her on this. After the day we had, I think we all deserve a treat."
That was a sentiment Hitoshi could fully agree with, and apparently the others as well. Which was how all six of them ended up inside the cake shop, seated at a large table with a wide variety of cavity-inducing desserts in front of them. He went for a strawberry cake, taking his time to savor it as they all chatted.
"And that's why I have Shinsou's photo and he has Ojiro as our profile pictures," Todoroki finished, having explained their Curve shenanigans.
"That's rich," Tokage snorted with a grin. "If I didn't already have some old friends on mine, I might've done the same thing!"
"It seems like it could fall apart easily, but it could work," Monoma allowed. "Maybe." That seemed like a massive compliment based on their scant interactions thus far, so Hitoshi took it as a win. Asui meanwhile looked thoughtful.
"I only have one friend from middle school, kero, but she doesn't use Curve. I was going to use a frog as my picture, but maybe I could do that instead."
"Use Todoroki," Hitoshi suggested. "Ojiro refused, so you can complete the circle." Ojiro shot him a side glare but didn't counter.
"Wouldn't that leave Asui's face unused though?" Monoma pointed out. "That's hardly 'completing the circle,' I think." Darn, Hitoshi had to concede the point. Damn logic.
"How'd your teacher react to using Curve?" Ojiro asked. "Aizawa-sensei looked more annoyed than usual."
"He doesn't seem like the type to use social media," Asui commented, which was a massive understatement. Frankly the man looked like he'd rather not deal with people ever. Made one wonder why he became a teacher.
"Vlad-sensei looked like he sucked on a lemon," Tokage reported with a sharp-toothed smirk. "He looked so annoyed about having to use Curve."
"At least we know the teachers aren't gossiping about us online," Hitoshi said.
"Only on Curve," Monoma said. "The teachers definitely have some sort of online chat though. Or some sort of alert, anyway. I'm pretty sure Ectoplasm-sensei got the alert about the USJ attack on his phone."
"Monoma!" Tokage hissed, elbowing him with a scowl. "Don't talk about that!"
"No, it's cool," Hitoshi replied, and it was. Wow, how the hell was a villain attack the least triggering sensitive topic of the year? Probably because there were no deaths involved—nope, not thinking about that. He smothered his inner voice as he asked, "But they didn't announce it over the intercom or something?"
"No, Ectoplasm-sensei just checked his phone and told us that something came up, and Kendo and Shoda were in charge," Monoma replied. "The odd thing was that the ringtone was a normal one. It didn't sound like a siren or alarm like you'd expect of something urgent. I thought he might have just been waiting on news from someone, at least until the lockdown began about a minute later."
"They might use Flex then," Todoroki commented. "I think it was designed for heroes? Endeavor's agency uses it. It has a setting for priority alerts to sound even when the phone is muted, and it uses regular ringtones for it to avoid suspicion. It would make sense for UA to use it too."
Wow, they were learning all kinds of things today, weren't they? "So what are the chances they have a chat just for gossiping about kids?" Hitoshi asked lightly.
"One hundred percent," Ojiro scoffed, much to his surprise. He didn't expect him to get in on this particular conversation. "Dude, you saw how disastrous our class was even before USJ. Kaminari fried his brain during the battle trials. And Ashido skated right into a wall."
Hitoshi snorted at the memory. "Okay, yeah, that's fair. Plenty of gossip material."
"Yeah, same for our class," Tokage snorted. "During our battle trials, Shishida got super excited and just charged right through a wall!"
"It at least took the villain team by surprise," Monoma said with a smirk. "Though I think in a real situation, he would've failed since most bombs activate when hit by heavy debris and get knocked to the ground. He still did better than Tetsutetsu, though."
Tokage almost choked on her cake as she laughed. "Hah, that was hilarious!" she cackled. "I can't believe he decided to try to one-up Shishida like that, even after he got scolded by All Might!"
"I'm still amazed he managed to cause that much damage from body-slamming the floor."
The conversation passed like that, surprisingly peaceful and mundane as they exchanged stories of misadventures in the year. By the time they finished their cakes half an hour later the mood was lighthearted and cheery, and the group parted ways on friendly terms after adding each other on Curve. It was a nice afternoon, a rare lighthearted moment. In another world, maybe they'd have more afternoons like that, sitting at a cake shop after school and just being regular teens.
Too bad it wouldn't last. At this point, they all knew any respite was temporary.
Things were still pretty tense in the classroom the next morning. Hitoshi didn't know how the situation with Satou, Shouji and Kouda got handled, or the thing with Ashido, either.
To make matters worse, Kaminari was absent.
"Kaminari called in sick today," Aizawa announced after the hair test results cleared them again. "There is currently a virus going around the area, and a few students from other classes have been sick with it, so he likely caught it. We have no reason to believe anything is amiss, so don't think too hard on his absence."
Obviously, that was much easier said than done.
The presence of the newest empty desk hung like a heavy cloud over the room as morning classes proceeded, especially for Hitoshi who sat right next to the blond. He imagined Kouda had it even worse though. He didn't sit directly behind Kaminari, but two seats back—behind Kirishima's empty desk. He imagined the unhindered view of the back of Ojiro's head would have its own unpleasant weight.
Lunch almost, almost felt like a relief since the classroom felt so stifled. Once again the seating groups were scrambled up to account for the newest absence, and Hitoshi's table found a new configuration of its regular rotating cast. Along with himself and Ojiro, Iida was present this time, as were Tokoyami and Sero. Sero's presence slightly surprised him, but then, Ashido was sitting with the other girls today... along with Todoroki and Mineta. Seeing Mineta away from Iida surprised him, but then, that table did have the most "safe" people.
The last member at his own table surprised him even more though: Shouji.
"Dark Shadow and I kept vigil all night and saw nothing amiss, so I know his face is not a false mask," Tokoyami explained.
"He invited me to stay at his house, and I didn't transform or attack him or anything," Shouji translated.
That... was probably good enough for now, honestly.
"So, I take it the landlady situation is still a mess then?" Hitoshi asked, and Shouji snorted.
"That would be an understatement," he said wryly. "Aizawa-sensei called her yesterday after school, and we could hear her screaming through the phone. And it wasn't on speaker." That made the others wince sympathetically. "In the end, he gave up and told Kouda to go back there to get Yuwai, and that we could stay with Mic last night." The idea of Aizawa volunteering Mic's services to house a student instead of himself was fairly amusing to Hitoshi.
"I happened to still be on the premises, so I heard their plight and offered up my house to Shouji," Tokoyami added. "I only had space for one guest though, so Satou chose to go with Mic-sensei as well."
"Why were you still around?" Ojiro asked curiously, and the bird-headed boy gave a half-shrug.
"I... wished to speak to Aizawa-sensei about Dark Shadow, as the recent events have been rather... agitating for it. However, for obvious reasons, I decided it was not the best time and to wait for another opportunity."
"Can... can Quirks get agitated?" Sero piped up, eying him with guarded curiosity. "Is that a thing that can happen? Because I know Quirks can be tied to people's emotions, but, uh..."
"Dark Shadow does indeed respond to my emotional state, but it is also its own being. It can experience feelings and thoughts independently of my own, and sometimes that can be a bit of a hassle to control." Hitoshi and the others perked up, curiosities officially piqued. Dark Shadow was a sentient Quirk? He'd never heard of one like that before. "It is especially troublesome at night since it draws power from darkness, so I was grateful to Shouji since his presence could help keep its worries under control."
"Me being there basically reassured it that no one would attack Tokoyami while he was sleeping," Shouji added. "It... actually ordered me to guard the bedroom door. I ended up sleeping with my futon in front of it to calm it down."
That... was a lot to take in. "I'm just surprised that Dark Shadow didn't find you suspicious if it's so paranoid," Ojiro said, breaking the silence. "I mean, after yesterday..."
He trailed off meaningfully, and Shouji nodded in understanding. "Aizawa had us all do a second hair test at lunch, so he was able to re-verify our identities. I think that's part of why Satou and Kouda wanted to stay in the classroom today though," he added. "They don't have someone to vouch for them like I do with Tokoyami, so they don't want to make anyone uncomfortable."
"Present Mic could vouch for them," Hitoshi pointed out.
"Mic-sensei is also out sick today though," Iida piped up, making everyone turn to him in surprise. "Mineta-kun and I always arrive extra early, and I saw Mic-sensei in the halls. I honestly didn't recognize him at first. He looked rather pale and clammy, he hadn't even gelled his hair." Hitoshi paused, trying to imagine Mic without his trademark banana-like swoop. It was honestly impossible. "I was wondering why he came to school at all, but I suppose it was to validate Kouda and Satou's identities."
Huh. "So I guess there is some sort of bug going around," Hitoshi mused.
"There totally is!" Sero confirmed with a big nod, and gestured to another table. "Look over there at that table with the 1-B girls. See that brown-haired girl?" They all glanced over to see a girl with a puffy brown bob cut with long straight bangs covering her eyes, a medical mask resting under her chin as she ate. "That's Komori, we happen to ride the same train together. I'm pretty sure she called out sick yesterday because she didn't come to class, and today she's wearing a mask. Kaminari rides the same train, so he probably got it too."
"Well, dang," Ojiro said awkwardly. "Well, fingers crossed people won't be too paranoid around him if he comes to class tomorrow?" The questioning note had them all grimacing, reminded of their situation.
At this point, anything even slightly amiss was cause for concern and paranoia among their class. Unfortunately, someone completely missing class was even more cause for alarm.
"Are we just... gonna get paranoid when anyone's sick now?" Sero asked hesitantly. "Like, if someone calls out once, we're just gonna be super on edge until we can know they're, well, them?"
"Unfortunately, it seems to be heading that way," Tokoyami sighed. "I suppose people who are staying with another person in family homes such as Iida and Mineta, or Jirou and Hagakure-san, will at least be safe from suspicion."
"But if they're staying with just students, like me and Shinsou, people will be suspicious," Ojiro said, eyes narrowing, and Tokoyami nodded.
"Indeed. It would be easier for something to happen during the day while completely alone without any potential witnesses."
"Honestly, Tokoyami is unfortunately likely right," Iida admitted with a frown. "My family has stated if either Mineta or myself miss school for any reason, they'll make sure someone else can stay at home as well for that very reason. If we were to be left alone, there's no guarantee nothing would happen."
"Man, I never thought I'd be happy that my cousin's a shut-in," Sero commented with a grimace. "She never leaves her room, so if I get sick I'll have her around. Not sure she'd be able to do much though if something did happen though," he added with a frown. "I'm kinda counting on her just being there to be a deterrent, I guess."
"Rare for that to be an advantage," Shouji agreed with a nod. "On that note, we're staying with Tokoyami's family, so..." He glanced at the bird-headed boy.
"My parents both work, but I am certain one of them would take the day off if the need arose," the other boy declared.
"So that still leaves the rest of us at risk," Ojiro summarized. "Guess no more sick days for us." If it was meant to be a joke, it fell totally flat, leaving a heavy silence as everyone ate.
Hitoshi frowned for a moment before swallowing his stir-fry and getting up. "I think I'm gonna take a walk," he announced. "This stuff's just way too heavy. I think I need to take some time to just clear my head."
"Good idea," Iida said, getting up. "I'll go with you, then."
"No offense, but I'd rather not," Hitoshi said with a grimace, and the other boy froze, looking aghast at the notion.
"But Shinsou-kun, you shouldn't be alone!"
"I know, but you're also kinda... talkative." That had Iida faltering, unable to really argue despite clearly wanting to. After a few moments Shouji got up though.
"Then I'll come with you," he volunteered. "I want some fresh air too."
"Cool with me." Shouji didn't seem like the talkative type, so they could just be quiet together. No one else had any protests, so they carried their half-eaten trays to the trash and returned them, and set off for the side door.
They walked in silence around the school grounds for a while, neither bothering to strike up conversation. Rather than stick close to the main building they just followed the path, heading further and further away. It might be risky after yesterday's debacle, but even if Tokoyami turned out to be wrong about Shouji, only an idiot would try to attack him now. They had literally announced they were going to walk together; Shouji would be the first suspect if Hitoshi got attacked.
Besides, the walk actually did feel pretty good, the air not nearly as stifled as yesterday. It was a pretty spring day with fair weather and just the right amount of clouds. They still hadn't seen too much of the campus yet, so everything they saw felt new. It felt almost like a weird school tour, just without an actual guide. All in all, it felt nice and relaxing.
They ended up venturing off the stone pathway to a more thickly forested area. A lot of the trees there still had cherry blossoms in full bloom, causing nearly-white pale pink petals to flutter in the breeze. It felt good to walk around the light shower of petals and enjoy the fresh air for a change.
It did, up until the air suddenly didn't feel as fresh anymore. "...Hey, Shinsou," Shouji said. "Do you... smell something?"
"I do," Hitoshi confirmed with a frown, but he wasn't able to place the odor. Just... something smelled bad.
The two glanced around the grove, a bit confused now. Then Shouji craned his neck back and paused. "...Shinsou?"
Hitoshi groaned. Of course something would happen. "Yeah?"
"Is that a shoe in that tree?" He raised an arm to point, and Hitoshi paused and tipped his head back to look.
Sure enough, there was a shoe in one of the trees. A single, plain-looking white sneaker, nearly unnoticeable save for the color being a bit grayer and dirty than the light pink petals.
"What the hell?" Hitoshi muttered, eyebrows furrowing. "Hey, Shouji, think you can go get it?" Hitoshi would have tried, but he could tell the branch was too high to reach without climbing, even if it was low compared to the rest. Shouji could reach it far more easily.
"Of course," the taller boy agreed, already walking towards the tree. His arms transformed as he reached towards it, still not long enough to grab the shoe, but enough to smack the very end of the branch. The shoe dislodged and fell after a few hits, along with several petals. As Hitoshi walked over to inspect it he froze, eyes going wide.
"...Fuck," he whispered, feeling an all-too familiar sense of foreboding and dread.
The shoe had a dried-looking splatter of brown around the ankle.
"I'm telling Tokoyami to get a teacher," Shouji declared after a few moments, pulling out his phone, and Hitoshi nodded.
"You do that," he said faintly, head already tilted back to eye a neighboring tree. He didn't know why but he slowly walked forward, gaze locked onto the branches. It had been a while since he climbed a tree, but there were a few branches not too far off the ground. He grabbed one near the base of the trunk and pulled himself up with a grunt.
"Shinsou?" Shouji asked. "What are you doing?"
"I'm not sure," Hitoshi replied, working his way up the branches one by one. There was something up there, he realized, hidden by the still-pink cherry blossoms. Something white and fuzzy looking. And...
There was the smell. A rotten, putrid stench that became clearer as he got higher.
Hitoshi suddenly stopped, realization crashing over him all at once. "Fuck," he choked out, all blood draining from his face. In his shock his grip loosened and suddenly he was falling, eyes wide. He scrabbled to grab branches as he fell but they kept slipping away even as the tree shook hard. Instead of hitting hard ground he landed in the fleshy net-like webbing of Shouji's arms though, grunting at the impact.
At the same moment, something white fell in the corner of his eye and hit the ground with a squelch. Hitoshi flinched and squeezed his eyes shut as the stench amplified, and felt himself get jostled as Shouji jumped back with a shout.
"SHIT!" the taller boy cursed, clutching Hitoshi even tighter. He couldn't even feel embarrassed, burying his face in Shouji's chest as he tried not to focus on the smell. As he did he could hear footsteps rushing from the distance.
"Shouji?" Tokoyami's voice called. "What's going—urk!" He cut himself off with a gagging noise, audibly trying not to wretch.
"Shit!" a teacher cursed. Hitoshi didn't know which teacher he'd found, and didn't care to check because that would mean he'd have to pull away from Shouji and open his eyes, and he didn't want to do that.
He didn't want to look at the head undoubtedly split on the ground like a rotten pumpkin.
I look forward to your reactions c: