"Lance, are you coming? Dinner's not going to eat itself!"

"I'll be there in a sec!" Lance called, though he hadn't fully registered the question. No, he'd been too busy staring wide-eyed at the flood of new notifications on his Instagram, pouring in seemingly out of nowhere.

He quickly closed the Crawler video he'd been watching and switched apps.

It was just a new follower. And the new follower liking every single one of his posts.

Lance opened his private messages with a tentative tap.

:

heeyy!

He squinted as he tried to remember any Minas he could possibly know. None came to mind. Perhaps this was one of Veronica's friends? But then why would she be contacting him? Then perhaps a school acquaintance? Had he forgotten about some school project?

Opening her profile, his mildly disoriented state grew into utter confusion. A hero-trainee freshman from Japan couldn't be any further from his social circle. Actually, the longer he thought about it, the weirder the situation seemed. There appeared no logical explanation to the question of how she could possibly know him. And there couldn't be any, either. Except…

No. Nobody knew his identity on that site.

cr_lance_m:

hi?

"Lance! We're all waiting for you!

"You can start without me!"

"You know we won't! Come on!"

:

well if it isn't the hero of the day :D

wouldn't have thought you'd be allowed to be on your phone already

this is Kaminari btw

Mina sucks at English

we figured you wouldn't be up for Japanese right now

Pidge mentioned you are a bit out of it ;))

The temperature in Lance's room plummeted. He might not have understood even half of what this girl (or this Kaminari?) was saying, but the word 'hero' churned his stomach in a way he was all too used to already.

Glancing over to the homemade mask on his desk, a sudden sweat broke out over his body. He felt uncomfortably hot and hurriedly rid himself of his Captain Celebrity jacket. But it must've been too late. The best course of action would be to throw it out, to get rid of the evidence completely.

What would the Crawler have done?

"Lance!"

He couldn't help but let out a tiny shriek as his bedroom door flew open. Rachel stood in the doorway, arms crossed, annoyed gaze softening just a bit when she laid eyes on him.

His sister shook her head as she slid inside and closed the door. "Okay, so what's wrong? You can smell Abuela's garlic knots up here and you still haven't come down to eat."

"Nothing. It's fine. Let's go."

"Lance, your quirk is all over the place. You can tell us if something's wrong, remember? Is someone giving you trouble again? Or… Did someone find out?"

"Maybe they're spies."

Ochako frowned at Todoroki. "...Spies?"

"Then… Could those nightly transmissions on your radio be coded messages?" Izuku grabbed his chin in contemplation.

Iida slashed through the air with stiff hands. "It is quite inappropriate to voice such accusations about our classmates, Todoroki. And you, Midoriya, should not encourage it."

"Hm… I doubt they're secret agents or anything but… What Aizawa told Deku last night about the case being classified, despite it involving our friends… I get how they can't tell us things they can't tell the public, but it still worries me? A lot? Keith and Lance seem to be in pretty bad shape. And they're not used to getting caught up in villain attacks, so..."

Rubbing her neck, Ochako flashed a sheepish smile. Across the room, she could see Mina flail excitedly and ramble on about something. Maybe she should've gone hung out with the girls to get her mind off things. Mina always managed to cheer her up.

"You're right, Uraraka." Midoriya nodded. "I should keep my doubts to myself and support our exchange students to the best of my ability!"

"That's the spirit!" Sero chimed in with a grin, having overheard their chatter. "Present-Mic has actually been asking around about volunteers willing to show the five around the city! Haven't been that many so far. Y'know, since we should really focus more on developing our ultimate moves and all..."

"Guys! Guys! Lance is getting released from the infirmary today! He'll be here in a few minutes!" Kaminari shouted, leaning through the doorway with messy hair and uniform suggesting he'd run the entire way. A good few immediately crowded him, urging Iida to get up and lecture them about giving Lance some space after having been through what was probably his very first villain attack. Hardly anyone listened. A snarky remark from Bakugou actually managed to achieve more.

Ochako glanced back at Midoriya. She didn't quite know what to make of her friend's unhappy expression.

Hunk offered his arm for Lance to hold onto while he stepped into the school uniform's pants. His friend was still a bit lightheaded, it appeared.

Not to mention Keith, still unconscious one bed over.

Oh, what Hunk wouldn't have given for the red paladin to be awake right then. He would've acted as the contrast to Lance, meeting Blue's infectious sadness with… With whatever Keith did. They would've bickered. Lance wouldn't have been maliciously silent like he was now. Dressing with vehement motions while the frown on his face never faltered.

"We've already asked the class to keep the questions at bay," Hunk assured as he fetched the jacket thrown over a chair. He handed it to Lance. "And I've talked to Iida about Midoriya as well. He'll try to keep him away."

Lance ran a hand through his hair. "'Try' is the key word here, Hunk," he sighed. "I don't get what the deal is with the kid and his paranoia…"

The walk to the classroom was a short yet uncomfortable one. Any students or teachers still out in the hallway turned their heads to stare at them, followed them with their eyes, or even pointed at Lance. Perhaps news spread a bit too fast in this school.

"What's up with Allura's marks under your eyes, by the way?" Hunk asked.

"What?"

He raised his eyebrows as Lance began rubbing his face. "You have Altean marks out of nowhere. Ever since you got back."

"I don't know. Maybe… Maybe it's from being around the second blue lion? Blue is still kind of weird about that."

"Hm," Hunk hummed as he finally spotted the others heading to meet them in front of the classroom. Pidge raised her hand in a weak wave.

His expression soured. Nobody had taken well to yesterday's news. No surprise there. Still, being able to comfort neither Shiro nor Pidge at breakfast today, despite knowing of the night they'd had…

Even back in the Castle of Lions, Hunk had always been the one to listen. He would lie awake listening to the cries and the nightmares. He would know of all their pain and count himself lucky he still had something to lose. Along with Lance, though the blue paladin often felt his emotions just a tad too strong. Even despite that, they had always been the moral support of Voltron. The legs to keep the team standing.

But since they'd been mended with their lions, he felt the others' emotions much more intensely.

"Are you okay?" Lance asked with a frown.

All of them averted their gazes.

"I seriously can't wait for this to be over," Pidge said. She took off her glasses to wipe them using the fabric of her skirt. "Stagnating here is clearly driving us all crazy."

He barely had time to register the weightlessness of his body and the miniature forms of his classmates down below as he rocketed closer and closer to the debris plummeting towards All Might. Second-guessing anything was out of the question. Only he and the rock mattered – the raw power flowing through his body, putting an even layer of pressure on every inch of his skin as he readied it to burst.

Bolts of cackling green electricity danced around him as he raised his leg.

"Smash!"

Energy ripped the stone into hundreds of tiny pieces upon contact with his foot.

Letting out a shaky breath, Izuku glanced down at All Might. The man's grin was brighter than it had been in days, hell, maybe weeks even.

Izuku finally had a basis for his ultimate move.

All Might's were generally fists. Since he'd inherited the same quirk, he had thought he should do the same… He had been too rigid in ideas to realize how simple it all really was. So simple he didn't even realize it.

If he was worried about damaging his arms… He'd just have to use his legs.

One for All: Full Cowling Shoot Style, he would call it.

How didn't he think of this sooner? Had he been getting so caught up in recent events he'd been neglecting his training?

"Well done," All Might called as Izuku slid to a stop in front of him and Aizawa. He could feel the gaze of several others pierce his back as well.

A green-white blur rolled down one of Cementoss' platforms to his left. Pidge stood up.

"Midoriya," she stepped closer to him, eyeing his legs with wonder and fascination. "That looked so cool! I can't believe I haven't asked you this before but... How does your quirk work? Where does the power come from? Such blasts require immense energy, don't they? Are your muscles different from the average human's?"

"I- Uhm..." Izuku stammered. Getting hit with such questions out of nowhere… Him not being the one asking them… He couldn't deny the excitement in his chest, and yet he knew he couldn't discuss All for One with just anyone.

"Pidge?" Lance peered down the platform Pidge had just abandoned. "What is it? What do you mean quin-"

Izuku's eyes met those of the other boy. Lance's face twisted, cycling through several emotions as he took in the scene under him. His nose scrunched up as he jumped down to join them.

"Not to be a killjoy, but I thought only Alteans were, like, magical enough to channel quintessence or something?"

Pidge's deadpan expression immediately shut him up.

"What's quintessence?" Izuku asked.

Lance threw a lanky arm over his shoulder, only to step away from him again the next second. "Space jargon. Anyway, Pidge, I don't know if I made it clear enough yesterday, but Alteans aren't really a thing here. Anymore."

Izuku could distinctly remember that the awkward tension between Lance and All Might had not been there the day before. And yet, the bitter anger emanating from the boy when he looked at the Symbol of Peace now made it clear to everyone that something had changed. Though it was best not to ask, one couldn't help but wonder how All Might could've possibly angered anybody.

With a shake of his head, Lance turned around and set off to look for Shiro and Hunk. "Pidge? Are you coming?"

The young girl gave Izuku one last look up and down before joining her friend.

All Might let out a deep sigh.

"What's wrong with Lance?" Izuku asked.

"Some very close friends of his recently passed away. He got the news yesterday." Aizawa answered coldly, showing off a cold glare. "Don't bother him about it."

"Of course not!"

Watching his homeroom teacher walk away, Izuku gulped down the knot in his throat. Had he been aware of this… And he'd even interrogated Lance yesterday, while the boy had been grieving and injured. What a terrible hero he was.

"I heard about your visit to the infirmary last night."

All Might studied him with a neutral frown before averting his gaze again. Izuku could see his bony fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Yes." Heat rose to his cheeks. "And I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"You're really curious about the exchange students, aren't you? Concerned, one might even say."

"I apologize. I know I should keep myself out of their business..."

"But you have your doubts?"

"Keith has been reported missing. Shouldn't they know he's here?"

All Might smiled clumsily. "That's…quite odd. Perhaps we messed some paperwork up. Happens sometimes. We'll get in contact with their school."

"Also, their school...doesn't seem to exist? I couldn't find any schools called Garrison online that teach astro-exploration."

Izuku stared in surprise as All Might sucked in a sharp breath and let out a chuckle. "Young Midoriya, 'garrison' can also refer to a military post. It's not quite a regular school. Perhaps you can ask Present Mic to teach you some English terms related to the military. Working with such organizations is unavoidable as a pro-hero."

Blood rushed to Izuku's head. How embarrassing. Shouldn't a result have come up in his research regardless? Perhaps it was a secret base? Maybe they really were spies, just like Todoroki had said. But then why would they be so open about it? Why would spies have student exchanges?

He bowed as deep as he could, even when All Might brushed it off dismissively. "I promise I'll work harder on my English, Sir!"

"Second-guessing people one meets is not a vice for a pro-hero, though. Villains don't always fight their battles on an open battlefield. It's important to recognize when you're being tricked or manipulated before it's too late. So feel free to keep your eyes open, as long as you still treat them with all the respect and kindness you'd show your friends. You shouldn't overdo the skepticism either."

Izuku straightened out. "Sir?"

"Shiro and his friends have gone through a lot. Outer space can be unforgiving and ruthless. And every bit as dangerous as a tough villain."

Turning his head to look at what his mentor was watching, Izuku caught sight of Shiro, leaping into the air with the assistance of his jet-pack. His prosthetic hand glowed a deep violet shade as he sliced an Ectoplasm clone in half. While his movements were fascinating to watch – his style had something desperate to it, a flow that could only have been perfected by instincts, never by mere training alone.

"Please try to be their friend, young Midoriya. They could use one."

Tsukauchi peered at the rodent across from him as All Might and Aizawa filed in. Principal Nezu hopped off his chair with childlike enthusiasm to fetch two teacups for the new-arrivals as they each took a seat. The detective nodded in greeting.

"How did your training session go, Aizawa? Is Midoriya still as curious as he seemed to be yesterday?" Nezu chirped.

"It went fine," Aizawa grunted in response. "How's Keith?"

"Oh my, how considerate of you to ask! He's recovering swimmingly. Hound Dog has already paid him a visit and talked things through The boy seems to be alright, albeit shaken up."

Tsukauchi's eyes widened. "He's awake? May I interview him later as well? Along with McClain?"

"That is for Recovery Girl to decide, though I'm sure she'll see no issue with it. However, Tsukauchi, I thought we have a new status report to thank for your presence? What have your investigations uncovered about these mysterious space-knights?"

"Right. Very little, unfortunately." Frowning, he fished the documents out of his briefcase and placed them on the table for the others to take. "We have found five American individuals matching the basics of the paladins such as name and appearance. A DNA test hasn't been done yet. More trivial details like height have differed between the different versions, though. And...their quirk. The persons we found all have a quirk factor, while the paladins tested quirkless after their arrest."

"What are their quirks?" All Might asked.

"Nothing that could even begin to explain the existence of the paladins… Mostly average ones, like fire resistance or the ability to manipulate water temperature by up to ten degrees Celsius. Hunk Garrett might be an exception, however… He's been missing since the age of seven."

"How fun! So then you cannot exclude the possibility that the Hunk in this school is the actual one?" Nezu beamed.

"Precisely. We can conclude very little from our current information. Still, the leading theory is that they've been brainwashed or otherwise hit with a quirk. No evidence besides their spaceships and my quirk points to their story being the truth. And we know my quirk isn't foolproof."

The mood shifted in the room. Everyone seemed to take a collective deep breath to come to terms with that revelation.

Aizawa's expression darkened – a hard task given his already grim face. "Brainwashed? By whom? And why?"

"Their lions can cause large-scale destruction and be moved easily. They're a terrorist's wet dream," Tsukauchi sighed.

Nezu seemed to be willing to pick up for him. "Nothing can be said for sure, but a third party controlling them would certainly make the most sense. Interesting! Only leaves the question of what the correlation between them and their lookalikes is… Clones? Manipulated appearances? So many possibilities!"

"What can we do about them?" All Might asked. His fingers propped against each other on the table as he sunk deep into his thoughts.

"Nothing. Not yet anyway." Tsukauchi shook his head. "The Hero Commission is giving them one last chance before taking their fused quirks away. We'll just have to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't do anything while the investigation on them continues. Given their ages and the fact my quirk registered them as having told the truth, they must be unwilling participants of... Whatever is going on. Not to mention the spaceships… Heaven knows what's the deal with those."

"I… I wanted to apologize. To all of you. For invading your privacy. I was overly eager to get to know you guys."

Shiro put his helmet into his locker and turned to Midoriya – or rather, the green mop under his nose as Midoriya bowed in apology.

"Don't worry about it. You meant only well, after all."

"R-right." Midoriya nodded as he straightened out. "Still, if I can make it up to you guys in any way, tell me. I want you guys to have a nice experience in Japan. I know things haven't exactly gone well so far."

Shiro smiled. "It's really fine. Just don't mention Adam again, okay?"

The sheepish grimace blurred as the nodding grew vehement. "Got it."

Turning away to pull a shirt over his head, the matter had halfway left his mind already. Still, he could feel Midoriya still lingering behind him. What was it he wanted? To ask something? To rebut? What else did he know about him or his alternate version? The boy was suspicious of them, after all – no surprise if he had studied every piece of information he had on the paladins and whoever he believed them to be.

Did he know of the illness? Was he watching out for that, waiting to see if he would wince or flinch? Surely this reality's self still had it, not having had the Galra to heal it… Should Shiro have played along?

"Oi, Deku! What is it you're staring at, is he your new personal hero or what?" Bakugou shouted across the room. It made all eyes shift to them.

"N-no…" Midoriya muttered quickly, frantically rubbing his nape as if he could wipe away the watchful gazes. "It's not that… I just wanted to ask if I could join you on the sightseeing tour. I know Musutafu quite well, you see, and..."

"Oh, of course!" Hunk peered at them from behind Lance. "The more, the merrier! That's what they say, right?"

"Are you sure? We wouldn't want to burden you," Ojiro said. "Especially since the incident…"

"What about it?" Lance blinked, meeting curious eyes from all over the locker room with a sheepish smile.

Kirishima frowned. "We figured you might have a concussion or something when you reacted so calmly to all questions this morning, but since you got to participate in training, that can't be the case… Are you sure you're fine after that villain attack, Lance? It's completely fine to be shaken up, you know. There's no shame in it!"

"No, no, I'm alright. I've gone through worse."

The room quieted. Midoriya's pale face didn't escape Shiro's attention. Just like the gears turning in the others' heads until Kaminari stepped up to Lance and gave his shoulder a friendly slap.

"Stop playing it down, dude! Kirishima's right. Yesterday, you didn't even want to acknowledge the whole thing. That definitely ain't healthy."

"Yesterday?"

"Yeah, on Mina's Instagram."

Lance sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. "Right. Yeah. I remember now. Sorry, I was way too tired."

"I could tell," Kaminari laughed. "you seemed super confused."

"Uhh… Pain meds. Definitely the pain meds."

"Were you seriously injured?" Aoyama asked.

"The villain was all bark and no bite. Basically just showy explosions," Lance shrugged it off. "But nothing a delicious lunch can't fix. I'm starving. See you guys at lunch?"

With that, he tore open the door, then did a two-finger-salute and bolted.

"That..." Sero pressed his lips together. "He's definitely not over the villain attack. Is it really a good idea to take him out into the city again?"

Shiro looked at the door with a frown before exchanging glances with Hunk. "We'll talk to him about it. It's going to be alright, don't worry."

"Shiro." Kaminari stood where Lance had stood just a second ago. "When Lance said he's gone through worse..."

Expectant silence followed the unfinished question, a tense and weighty one. Meanwhile, Shiro's brain raced for an explanation of how they had inadvertently ended up knee-deep in the same spiel they were playing with Midoriya. No matter what he said now, it would only fuel the suspicion toward them.

"Our school has a very strict training regimen. We use simulations to replicate the experience in space, for example – it can get immersive at times, especially when you've been in there for days. And things will go wrong. That's the whole point of the exercise, after all. Still, the stress of it can put quite a strain on people. While I don't know any details and I don't think I should be the one telling you about it anyway, I imagine Lance must have been referring to that."

His solemn expression was reflected in the faces of the boys, who slowly returned to finish changing one by one. Quiet chatter took over the room once again, mumbling inaudible stuff while glancing at him and Hunk every once in a while.

"Just shut up for once, idiots! Who gives a damn about some stupid astronaut cadets with issues when our license exam is only days away! This is why you're all just stupid weak brats!" Bakugou yelled at what Shiro guessed must have been Kirishima before storming out of the room, leaving behind surprised yet unimpressed faces in his wake. Only Iida called after him to watch his words.

"You can't keep this up, Takashi," Adam said with a stern expression. Too bad his fiance couldn't see it, pressed against his chest like that. He made sure to press Takashi away just to show his dismay. "This isn't something you can overcome with sheer will and out of spite. And you know that. Please just let us get you a wheelchair."

"It's fine. I'm fine now." Takashi pushed past him and got out of the car, setting off towards the Holt house's entrance with wobbly steps.

Adam quickly turned to catch up. The man was going to be the end of him. Either way, be it Takashi's stupidity sucking the life force out of him or his love for said stupidity coming to get him once Takashi's gone.

His eyes itched at that thought. Even though it happening was an omnipresent fact in their lives, explicitly thinking about it still hurt. Of course it proved easier to store away those worries for a later day.

The door opened before they could even get to the bell. Matt grinned at them as he blocked the doorway with arms spread out wide.

"Adam! Shiro! It's been ages!" He bolted down the steps and met them in the middle, eagerly giving out amicable handshakes to anyone who would have them. "How's the new job? I swear everything is so much harder without you guys. Dad mentions you at least once a day… And what about the wedding planning? Have you settled on a date yet? A venue?"

"Matt, let them come in first!" Coleen called from the porch. "It's wonderful to see you again, boys. Would you like anything to drink?"

"Coffee, please," Takashi replied as Adam and Matt helped him up the stairs to the entrance. "Hello, Katie."

The young girl on the sofa looked up from her console. "Hi, guys."

Adam gently urged Takashi into the living room and onto the couch. Katie eyed his partner thoughtfully before asking Adam in form of a pointed look. He shook his head.

"I'll go get Dad," Matt hummed.

As he left, Coleen waltzed in with a tray of coffee, milk, and sugar and set it down on the coffee table.

Splashing a bit of milk into his before pouring a bit more into Takashi's and adding one sugar cube, Adam gratuitously took the caffeine. He blew on it carefully before taking the first sip.

Takashi leaned forward as Sam and Matt appeared on top of the stairs. Adam placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Long time no see," Sam smiled as he entered the living room. "So… What is this rock you wanted to show me?"