I really do wonder how this is going as much as you guys. I'm really goddamn curious.

Explanation for certain things later in the chapter.

The silence was thick as the four "students" kept their eyes on the Shadow at the front of the room. The tension was oppressive as it didn't give them any mind, writing on the chalkboard, as if it was expecting them to obey.

Izuku hated to say that this was probably one of the more positive experiences he's had in a classroom environment.

"I do expect you to be in your seats before I turn around. Class can't begin until then." The 'teacher" tutted. Her voice was crisp as she addressed them, pushing into hostility. "Detention is not a good look, especially to those wanting to head into schools like UA."

Izuku and Hitoshi shivered. It hit a nerve, and Shiho was the only one to fully keep her composure as she cleared her throat and said something to give Morgana a chance to find a way out.

"Not that I don't mind rehashing on a few things," Shiho said carefully, watching as the Shadow continued to write on the board as if she was ignoring her. "But, uh, what exactly do you teach in this class."

"Anything I see fit. Though, as you can understand, it's hard to get materials for everyone with the funds heading our way." Another round of tutting came from her. It echoed off the barren walls. "So many children to teach too. Everyone says that no child should be left behind, but there's always a learning curve somewhere."

"That's not an excuse, though." Izuku stated it matter of fact, feeling bile rise up out of him. He felt Crimson pushing at his instincts, and it took a lot of self-control not to let him out. "A teacher really wouldn't say that."

"You're right. I'm more qualified than any other one." The Shadow turned around finally, hitting her desk with a ruler. The desks moved around, knocking the four into their seats roughly. "Now, since you're in your seats, we can have a lesson in humility."

"Hey, you can't keep us here! We haven't even committed a punishable offense." Morgana stalled, struggling to get out of his. His pride was wounded when he noticed it was made specifically for him. "I want my lawyer or lawyer equivalent-"

The cat was silenced quickly as Hitoshi kicked at his chair. The boy looked panicked but was gritting his teeth to prevent it from showing.

"Shut up and play along. Goto maybe an old bag, but she always had a thing for theatrics when she taught our classes." Hitoshi didn't consider their chances good, and it was better to wait. Hopefully, he could trick her into letting them go if he could activate his Quirk. "Just follow my lead. I've been here a million times, and it gets easy to catch patterns."

Izuku figured he could trust his judgement. He could at least reach his gun if he needed to, but he wasn't sure how well getting Crimson out would work for anyone.

"Now, without further ado," The Shadow tapped the ruler on the board, the words in chalk changing. "Let's get on with our lesson."

The words shifted until it moved into two words: Life Lessons. Several questions formed to the right of it, the two columns forming to give options for true or false. Izuku could already recognize the signs of a pop quiz from a mile away.

"What exactly are we being tested on?" Izuku kept his face neutral, wondering what 'Life Lessons' could even mean. "I'm, uh. Not sure if I studied for it."

"It's an easy subject for anyone with half a brain, so you won't have to worry." The Shadow hit the board once again, a question forming on it. "Charles Darwin is commonly associated with the term 'survival of the fittest.' True or false?"

"True? I mean, I don't know if he said that, but he's associated with evolution." Shiho didn't understand how this related to the matter at hand. That was barely related to science. "Mostly involving turtles, from what I remember."

"Correct. No need for supplemental information, young lady." The question on the board changed as she spoke curtly. This one was even more confusing compared to the former. "Are people with flashy, more combative Quirks more likely to be heroes?"

"True. That's mostly due to the way most hero schools will conduct tests, and with even places like UA favoring combat Quirks." It was a study Izuku had looked into thousands of times. "That doesn't mean every one of them has a very obvious Quirk. Eraserhead and Ms. Joke are examples of that."

"Yeah! I don't know who those people are, but he's got a point." Morgana squirmed, feeling the hold the seat had on him loosen. "Heck, I remember that weird rat- or was it a bear- is a principal of a hero school due to an intelligence Quirk."

"A fluke. That animal isn't qualified to flip burgers and should've learned to stay in his hole like a good animal." The Shadow sneered. She held a hand up and twisted it. "Now, I'd suggest staying in your seats."

The desks suddenly constricted on all of them, causing some to gasp and others to nearly yell in pain as it felt like a boa constrictor on moved around them. Hitoshi slammed his hands on his desk when he could get them free.

"Goto, just quit it! I've had to go through this lecture a million times and I really don't get how you think it'll stick." Hitoshi pointed a finger at the copy, not believing for a second that was fully Shadow Goto. A Shade, perhaps "When are you going to quit this crap?"

"I never did like it when students started talking in my class. Always so disruptive." The Shade didn't respond to Hitoshi's question, causing the boy to groan. Looks like this one knew about his Quirk. "Though, if they feel the need to shout, clearly they need attention…"

The board changed again, the desks easing off of the students. She was fully facing Hitoshi now and the tension jumped higher in the room.

"Let's change this up since none of you seem to be absorbing the lesson." The question was fully formed, the true or false section muddled as if water had been thrown onto the chalk board. "Is there such as thing as a villainous Quirk?"

"No. Quirks are Quirks." Izuku answered for him. He knew what kind of logic she was about to start using and she wasn't going to win here. "It's what a person does with their Quirk that determines if they're villainous or not."

"False. You cannot say certain Quirks aren't subtle and intrusive. Especially his." The Shade shook her head. A loud buzzing sound came on shortly afterward, and strike was put against them. "Another question; can someone without a Quirk be useful in this society?"

Izuku choked at that. Was it that easy to figure out just from looking at him?

"True. It's not like everyone can have a useful Quirk for any situation. A lot less people would be saved if that was the case." Shiho went in with the save. It was honestly frightening to see Izuku choke up like that. "What about your Quirk? You're just a shade, but you're still part of Goto."

"False, on multiple accounts. Hush is a perfectly good Quirk with practical applications. I'd certainly do better than a genetic hold out." The board changed again. "True or false; can someone with a well-known past like yours live a normal life again?"

"Okay, that's it!" Morgana stood up briefly before being forced to sit back down. "You have officially crossed the line here! If I get my paws on you, you're going not going to be able to see straight anymo-"

Shh…

The room quieted instantly. Not just Morgana's shouting, the heavy breathing coming from Izuku, but every single thing in the room that was capable of making noise. Izuku could barely breathe as the silence blanketed over them and nearly smothered them entirely.

"I said no interruptions. Animals, the lot of you. Or is it just you?" The Goto Shade leaned forward and glared. Morgana did look disturbed but was still trying to keep a brave face on as she looked into him. "Maybe just 'creature' would work better. Animals eventually learn their place in the world, and something tells me you never learn at all."

Izuku felt the Quirk ease off of him now that the focus was being pointed towards someone else. The Shade must be able to mimic Goto's Quirk and it somehow felt more… powerful here. He'd seen it be used in real life, but it wasn't anything like this. Unless it was due to…

"Hitoshi," Izuku whispered harshly, trying not to catch the Shade's attention. He got a brief look from the other teen. "Her Quirk is stronger here. I think her cognition is influencing how it works and making it better, and it might work both ways."

"The hell are you talking about?" Hitoshi whispered back, jerking a little in his seat. Something about what Izuku made sense, but how the hell did that help them right now? "Not like Shiho can just deck her and hope it knocks her into the wall."

"Maybe it's- shit." Shiho kicked at the desk to get it to back off of her. "You said you need to ask questions for your Quirk to work, right? Maybe it won't be needed here."

Hitoshi wanted to throw that back in her face, but he did stop to think about it, panic settling as he understood. If that was really the case, then maybe... screw it, might as well see if it worked.

"Hey, Goto!" He shouted at the Shade, ripping her attention away from Morgana long enough to give him a glare. "You know, I never enjoyed that teacher uniform you always wore. Always made me think you were cosplaying a nun, and I'm sure you're not holy enough to be one despite your attitude."

"Oh, now that's just immature, Shinsou." The Shade moved, snarling as she looked at the boy fully. "Making fun of someone's uniform isn't..."

It trailed off, eyes going blank as Hitoshi's Quirk took hold. The desks immediately backed off, Shiho immediately moving out of her seat with a grunt, nearly knocking it over.

"I never thought I'd miss some of the teachers at my old school, but I'm starting to appreciate Kawakami-sensei's hands off method more every day." Shiho debated on hitting the Shade over the head with a desk but deciding to back off. Not a guarantee it would knock her out, after all. "How long do you think she'll be under your control?"

"Not sure. I've never been able to keep someone under my control for more than a minute." He only knew that due to a few chance encounters with a bully. It wasn't like Hitoshi was able to experiment outside of that. "It looks like you were right, Izuku. I might be able to hold her off longer now too, but I don't know what'll happen if we run."

"Let's get into the teacher's desk, then. It might have something we need, or at least something that will point us in the right direction." Izuku felt relieved he was able to at least help a little bit. "Hitoshi, just keep her in check. If she moves without your permission, shoot her."

God, that would sound so bad if it was heard out of context. Izuku hoped no one would ever hear about this.

"Remember, nothing we find here can be taken outside of the Palace. And even if it could come out, it probably won't be the same as it was before." Morgana ran to the desk, hopping onto a stool and opening up one of the drawers. "This will mostly be detective work. After this, I think we should call this a day."

The others agreed, Izuku and Shiho moving to join him on the search with urgency. Shiho did pull out her gun just in case the Shade made a move she didn't like, though it remained deathly still. It wasn't like she wanted to repeat this incident twice.

"I'm not finding anything too damning. This looks like a lot of student profiles if I can take a guess." Izuku figured that's what they were. It contained plenty of information on various students, including their age, health, and Quirks on different lines. There was one thing that stood out to him, though. "Only thing that doesn't make sense is that some of them have different amounts of Yen attached to them. Could it be costs related to each kid at the orphanage?"

"That would make sense, but- wait, I found a similar pile here." Shiho pulled out some papers, this time with thin little papers stapled onto them. She took one and looked it over. "These look like receipts and... reviews? This doesn't seem right."

Hitoshi, still keeping his eye on the Shade, felt his face twist. Something about that irked him, forcing him to speak up.

"Shiho, mind giving me some names from it? I might know a couple." He sincerely hoped he didn't. Hitoshi had a few guesses, and he hoped the more optimistic ones were correct. "Start with the most recent ones."

"Uh, okay." Shiho hesitated, checking the papers over before she started to read them aloud. "Sasaki Arataka... Watanabe Ito... Miura Itanabe..."

"...Some of those ring a bell." Hitoshi hands twitched and he was tempted to order the Shade to knock herself out now. Those names were awfully familiar. "Cat boy, you got anything?"

"Maybe! It looks like this is her junk drawer or something." Morgana groaned, wondering how he got the one useless drawer. He did stop to smell the air, the scent of something valuable hidden in there. "I might have one particularly good thing in here though- oh!"

Morgana pulled something out of the drawer with a huff, a plank of wood coming out with it. Looking in pristine shape, the block had the words 'HALL PASS' crudely carved into it. It was almost right out of a horror movie, especially since something tried to paint the letters in red.

"…Not much, but it has to be something important. Noting else really sparks my interest." Morgana sniffed the air over the drawer again, looking into it. "It looks like toys and phones, maybe an ID or two? Guess she confiscates a lot from you in class."

"Likely story for the first two, but the ID's aren't normal." Hitoshi was given the hall pass, looking it over briefly before turning his full attention back to the Shade. He frowned, deciding to take a risk. "This isn't Goto's Shadow, right? I'm assuming this is just part of her subconscious."

"It should be. If it were really her, I doubt we'd be alive right now." Morgana figured that it was safe to take her out if needed. "If I can guess, this is only one facet to her personality. So, we're safe to do what we have to."

There was a moment of silence as they considered their options. Hitoshi waved the hall pass at the Shade, giving Izuku a raised eyebrow. Izuku hesitated before nodding, not sure why the boy wanted to ask for permission. The teen didn't waste any time, clearing his throat and addressing the Shade.

"Alright, Goto. I'm going to ask you a few questions, and you're going to answer them." Hitoshi wasn't sure if his Quirk could make people speak out loud, but since it was getting a power-up, he figured it was worth a shot. "What does all of this paperwork mean? It can't be just student profiles from the looks of it."

"They are applications." The Shade's voice stated in a monotone. It was almost a relief to get an answer at all, quite honestly. "They list the strengths, weaknesses, and everything needed for the person acquiring the student."

Hitoshi frowned, looking towards the others for confirmation to continue. He received another nod from Izuku, and he cleared his throat again. "These 'students' in your profiles were all my age. Why are so many of them getting adopted?"

Shiho blinked, going over the files again. Now that she was looking it over, she could see that most of the files with receipts attached were at least first years in high school, with some even being third years. The ones without any were younger, but some of them were clearly being primed for something.

"There's always someone looking for specific requirements, and some of them don't appear until later in life." The Shade said again, the monotone still there with only a slight crack of emotion under it. An eye twitched. The questions were starting to wear down the mind control. "Quirks constantly evolve, and some only come to fruition after puberty."

That set off some alarm bells. Quirks most likely did play a large part in the adoption process- something Hitoshi would attest to at every opportunity- but talks of "requirements" and things like that were more sinister. Quirks brought on plenty of advancements and the ability to reach new heights, but that didn't come without new challenges and a slew of differing crimes...

"You have one more question, Hitoshi. After that, I suggest we take her down and run." Izuku pointed a gun directly at her head, keeping his finger off the trigger for now. They wouldn't be able to leave safely with her still active in the Palace. "We'll leave the Palace after this and figure things out from there. This was too much of a close call and we can regroup later."

"That sounds like a promising idea to me." Morgana took the hall pass back from Hitoshi and moved it into Shiho's bag for safe keeping. He brought out the sling shot and pulled it back. "This might also be our only chance to take her out without a fight, so make it count."

Hitoshi considered his last question, raising his rifle alongside Shiho's. He figured the answer was obvious now what this really was, but he didn't want to imagine it being real.

As everyone put their fingers on the trigger, he figured he might as well hear it from the horse's mouth.

"Final question," Hitoshi grit his teeth. "Not all of these were adoptions, were they."

"...None of them were."

The fight started with the resounding bang of various gunshots going off at once.

The Shade was still going out of the embrace of Hitoshi's Quirk when Izuku's shot to the back of her head caused her to nearly fall forward, the momentum of which was almost cancelled by Hitoshi's rifle hitting her in the chest. Morgana used the sling shot to full effect, dodging to the side as Shiho unloaded a clip into the Shade at full force.

While she was damaged and dazed, the Shade only let out a roar of anger at the realization at what happened to her. Izuku let off a panicked shot, hitting her in the shoulder as she got up, motioning for several desks to head their way. Shouts of confusion and fear rang out as they moved to avoid them.

"Well, so much for killing her in a few shots." Morgana knew it must've knocked her health down by a lot, but it still clearly wasn't enough. Maybe if they were able to land a few more hits with their Persona's it could work out just fine. "Hit her with everything we got! She's not going to go down easy."

Izuku figured it was good enough to bring out one of his Persona's then. With a flick of his wrist, Crimson was brought out and used Zio, the electricity arcing straight towards her. The Shade was hit, though she didn't seem as bothered as any normal Shadow would. He grunted as a desk grazed his side and he switched gears and summoned Bicorn, throwing a gust through Garu her way.

She was nearly knocked off her feet at that, hitting the wall behind her. She dodged a shot from Morgana, forcing a desk to be thrown at the cat's face head-on. It nearly knocked him out, though Shiho was able to grab him before a part of the ceiling came down to try and crush him.

"I won't stand for this! You children don't know what it's like to survive out in the wild, and you only have me to teach you." The Shade started, throwing more of the environment their way as she avoided another round of shots. "Violence is the rule of beasts, so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by this. So many of you are weak, have no future, or have already had it tainted from your own pasts."

"Oh, shut up!" Hitoshi fired another round before he could get brained with deadly school supplies, trying to get her to respond to him again. "You think you know everything? I highly doubt you even know what goes on under your own roof, much less the real world."

"He's got a point." Izuku threw more gusts of wind her way, feeling it tire him out, but still getting the desired result as he was hit. They needed to end this fast, and he wasn't sure how long they could hold out against her. "The real world isn't all Lord of the Flies and all that, so maybe you shouldn't make that required reading."

She just screamed again, a wave of desks being her only response. Izuku barely dodged, firing off a shot to prevent another wave and moving to the side. Morgana had recovered finally, using more powerful bursts of wind to hit her. It seemed to keep her busy, as Hitoshi saw an opportunity as he rushed behind her. Grabbing one of the desks, he reared it back as he moved behind her and swung as hard as he could.

"I'll see you in hell, you son of a-"

Crack!

Hitoshi's curse, and his attack, were cut short immediately, the desk coming a jarring stop as a hand had reached out to stop it. A new one. Coming out of the Shade's back.

The new arm twitched as it held the desk and the Shade turned slowly, the battle halting as her left hand shot out to grab him by the neck and holding him upward. Her fingernails dug into his skin as with more cracking and squelching noises, more hands shot out of her back. As Hitoshi's windpipe was nearly squeezed shut, the others scrambled to get their guns and Persona's ready.

"Hey, you put him down right now!" Shiho made sure the sound of her gun reloading was heard as she kept it on the Shade. It didn't do much to intimidate her, but it made the panic settle before it blew over. "I may have just started using this today, but you know how accurate I can get with this."

"And how many shots have you fired with it already? I can't imagine it hasn't gotten quite low by now." The Shade eased off, only to get a firmer grip on Hitoshi's neck. "If I also see anything involving those things you summoned, I will make sure that he doesn't make it to graduation."

The threat made the tension rise, but guns were pointed down. She made no motion to let the boy down, her free hands motioning as the room changed around them, with every piece of furniture, decoration and supplies twisting around them in a virtual cyclone. They were effectively trapped again, except with less options for a way out.

"I never understood how someone like you could be so delusional." The Shade's features shifted closer to Goto's, though still divorced from abject humanity. "You kept on being stubborn, grasping for some dream right out of your grasp, refusing to accept reality. It makes me sick."

"Screw you, you old hag." Hitoshi choked out, kicking at the woman futilely, aiming at any limbs he could find. He couldn't find a way out of this, and he felt the oxygen leave his lungs little by little. "That-that isn't true. I always had a chance, and you never supported anyone. All you're doing is just being a massive-"

The Shade gripped harder and the bones in his neck creaked. The pain almost knocked him out then and there, and he felt despair fall over him as thoughts entered into his mind.

Why did he even bother coming back here? Curiosity nearly killed the literal cat last time, and this had proven to just as fatal. Did he want to stand up for Shiho or something? Did he seriously think he could actually help someone through this? He was always deluding himself, wasn't he? She had a point. There wasn't anything to gain struggling against people always wanting to prove he's the villain in his own story…

"Don't listen to her!"

Hitoshi opened his eyes, looking over to see Izuku still pointing his gun at the Shade. He looked ready to fire, eyes unnaturally angry as if he were ready to maul her in an instant.

"I've known ten different people exactly like her! The only reason she puts you down is because she has no one else to have control over." Izuku was ready to use Crimson at the drop of a hat. "People like her can't stand up to anyone else in power, so they decide to take it out on kids who can't do anything. Isn't that right?"

Despite not being Goto, the Shade took it personally as she summoned scissors to be thrown his way. Izuku was able to dodge before he got impaled, causing her to growl. As she prepared to throw another strike, she stopped at the sound of laughter coming from her charge.

When she turned back, she was startled to see that the boy was smiling.

"What do you have to smile about?" The Shade growled out, ready to snap his neck once and for all. "You don't have any hope for your future, much less the next few seconds."

"Heh, maybe. Maybe. But he's got a point, you know?" Hitoshi stopped, looking into her eyes, and still showing a toothy grin. Something in his iris changed from his regular purple to something tinted with yellow. "You really are some useless hag that doesn't have any control of her life."

Hitoshi readjusted his arms to he was gripping the one on his neck tight, swinging his legs up and kicked hard at her face. Both of his feet made contact and it sent her head rearing back as he was dropped, prompting him to roll backwards. He got onto his feet, shaky as his eyes pulsed yellow and he felt the words awaken something deep in his mind.

"And here I was thinking that my prayers would go unanswered."

"Who the hell?" Hitoshi felt a headache coming on, like the ones that would happen if he overused his Quirk. The voice wasn't unfamiliar to him, though he'd never heard it before. "Who are you? Are you-"

"The answers of who I am don't matter, but yes. I am. At least you have your faculties enough for you to come to this conclusion."

"Who's he talking to?" Shiho knew she'd seen this before. This was literally what happened the first time they got here. "Is he- yeah, he is."

"We have to buy him time to let it completely happen!" Morgana was already dreading the awakening, but it wasn't like he hadn't expected it. There was a pattern he was a slave to, but he wasn't going to play along with it unless he gave permission to do so. "If he gets interrupted- well, it won't be pretty."

"Fine by me!" Izuku fired a shot at the Shade, not letting her fully recover. Crimson appeared behind him in a flash, and he pointed at her, rage fueling him. "Crimson, let's hit her with everything we've got!"

"You're friends seem to be very loyal to you, helping you take the burden off your shoulders." The voice kept talking, the action not bothering it in the slightest. "Mine weighed on me when no one was on my side. Why not help them with theirs to repay the favor?"

A flash of light nearly blinded Hitoshi, and reflexively grabbed at something covering his eyes. It didn't feel like a mask, feeling blocky, but light. They were almost like goggles, a dark purple and the lenses were separated into blocks. There was no glass.

He recognized these goggles. He hadn't been able to buy Eraserhead merch due to their near non-existence, but he'd looked up too many pictures to know these were close to his.

"…You have my attention."

"Good." Another pulse. Hitoshi felt it- him- reaching out. "Now. Let's introduce ourselves to our allies."

The Shade had been dodging shots, trying to bring control back to her classroom. She felt a pulse of something behind her, and it almost sent her off kilter and careening into the lightning the one child was throwing at her. She looked just time to see Hitoshi starting to tug at his goggles, and she shrieked.

"NO!" She lunged at him, all her hands reaching out to rip the boy apart. "You will obey me!"

She was inches way and Hitoshi ripped off the goggles, bleeding with a smile nearly splitting his face.

"Giles! Come to me!"

A ripple hit the Shade hard and forced her backward. The assault was stopped as everyone covered their eyes from the flash of light, greeted by the sight of Hitoshi and his new Persona.

Giles stood stoically with a musket in hand, carefully keeping the end of it pointed to the ground, the bayonet glinting in the harsh light of the room. His outfit was a cross between a pilgrim and huntsman, polished gold buttons and buckles standing out among the worn black and white outfit he wore. He wore a coat that went over most of his body, frayed at the edges, and was carrying vials and knives on his body. The wide brimmed hat prevented anyone from seeing his eyes.

Hitoshi was wobbling a little, but he stood on his feet, the combat boots providing excellent leverage. The trench coat he wore was armored, looking menacing as it shifted around him like water. Under it was like a suit fit to his body, containing a multitude of vials and knives like his Persona. He looked like something straight out a spy novel.

Mask and Persona in hand, Hitoshi stared at the Shade with malice, but a form of glee that he couldn't recognize.

"Now," Hitoshi cracked his neck, looking feral. "Let's change this up a little bit."

Well, looks like things are finally jumping up. I really will try to speed things up, but this should get faster soon enough.

I based the Persona for Shinsou off of Giles Cory, one of the more famous people to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. I'm not sure how true it is, but when he was literally pressed to death to induce confession, he asked for more weight to be put on him. I think that matches Shinsou's energy very well. As for his costume, I figured it would be something close to being villainous and that was my main thought. I can at least change it later since the Metaverse is malleable.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you next chapter.