Waking up in a bed that wasn't your bed was something Izuku would probably never get used to. Initially, staying in the dorms felt just like staying in a hotel. When you're staying in a hotel, you never know who you're sleeping next door to. You never bother to figure out either. But when you're in a dorm you quickly find out and the feeling of seeing the same people every morning starts to overcome you. It's like having siblings. Is that what having siblings was like?

Now sharing rooms? That was a little bit of a different story, even if it was just a hotel room. And sharing rooms with Kacchan was especially not something Izuku would ever be getting used to. Good thing Kenji was there to make sure he kept cool.

For the trip, they'd try spending as little as possible on hotel rooms for the sake of food and gas. And whatever utterly fantastic nicknacks the morons just had to have. Katsuki refused to spend every night in the van so the arrangement had ended up being two rooms per night if they could help it. Should they be stranded somewhere and the need arose, they had pillows and blankets lying around in the van. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Katsuki had a hard time sleeping in a bed that wasn't his own the first night. What was harder was the floor. Katsuki had given up a bed for Kenji. He was an asshole but not a heartless asshole. But people didn't need to see that—

"SHIT!"

Reaching for his cellphone, Katsuki noticed he'd waken up the other two with his sudden shout. He looked at the time: 7:10 AM.

"Let's go already, come on!"

Katsuki could be ready to leave in ten minutes. Izuku? Thirty. Thirty-five. Kenji? He wasn't sure. Did that guy even brush his teeth?

They could all be downstairs and in the van by 7:30 if they really booked it.

On second thought it probably wouldn't take four hours to get to Osaka. It'd probably take closer to six. Add the time it'd take them, especially Deku, to idle around Lake Biwa and Kyoto and they'd probably be in bed by 9 or 10 tonight. The earlier the better.

There already was the reason why he didn't want to do this in the first place. Izuku made everything a chore. Wait, this wasn't Izuku's idea, was it? It was Ochako's. She was the one who dragged the van into this. Everything would've been just fine if they took a train to Fukuoka on Thursday morning. But nooooo… there was a sense of adventure that came with road-tripping. What a ditz. A dumbass. Her idea, her ride. Your way or bust. Might as well "medicate" all the way down.

I wonder if Denki has any… oh yeah, I have to be freaking out right now.

Surprisingly, the three of them were out the door by 7:19. 7:20. Stop staring at the time, dumbass, get moving.

"Come on," Katsuki looked up into the morning blue haze, "I'll go knock on their door and we're heading out."

He watched as Izuku and Kenji walked down the hallway towards the elevator and went the other way to the girls' room.

When he found it, he knocked. Politely. Then he realized that even if he had time, he wouldn't have been so polite normally. He pounded on the door.

"COME ON!"

As if she knew he was there already, Ochako opened the door. Katsuki left his fist in the air, then narrowed his eyes.

"Come on, let's go."

"Just give me the keys, I'm driving today, right? Bring the bags down."

"If I leave, you'll just take forever," Katsuki said, "we gotta go now, pronto!"

Ochako twisted her face in a way that irritated him enough to want to take the keys and leave her and Tsu behind.

"Don't make that face!"

"I think I'll keep making this face all day."

"Ugh, fine! Just take the damn keys!" Katsuki slammed the keys into her palm and—hit the ceiling?!

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL—?! Oh, right…"

Looking down at Ochako from this angle wasn't so much as humiliating as it was amusing. She gave him a tired smile and grabbed his arm. He'd gotten so used to this whole thing that he didn't bother dwelling on it anymore. She had the keys now.

Getting the car started was the easy part. It was keeping the car on the road and at a steady pace that was the challenge. You know, the driving. Ochako was actually more afraid that Katsuki would get mad about her driving and force her to let him drive instead. He was probably thinking about it right now.

Why can't Kenji drive? Does that guy even have a license?

At least this time Katsuki was in the back. Tsu was in the front this time. She kept her eyes on her window, taking in all the paddy fields and open skies. It was clear enough to see Mt. Tsuda in the distance. That might make a nice place to hike. There was just so much they all wanted to see and do that they'd just have no time to do all of them.

Temple. Old Imperial Palace. Shopping in Osaka. Perfectamundo. Hopefully there wasn't anything on the way that Izuku wanted to do that they might miss…

"Oh," Tsu said all of a sudden.

Oh no…

"There was this tunnel that Izuku wanted to see," Tsu said.

Ochako had to think for a moment. The road was straight right now so it was fine.

"Do you want to see it?" Ochako asked.

"I guess so, if he wants to see it we should go."

"Do you even know where it is?" Ochako was getting worried.

At that, both Izuku and Katsuki looked up from the back. Katsuki looked like he was about to have a major cow. No, a whole pasture.

"This better not be a huge-ass detour!"

Tsu looked up into the rear-view mirror to meet his eyes.

"It's fine, Bakugou…"

He didn't want to admit it but it felt weird that out of all their immediate friends (friends?), Tsu still called him "Bakugou" and not "Katsuki." He would've taken "Kacchan." It made it all feel so formal, like dealing with a teacher. That's what Tsu felt like to him, one of the teachers. It wasn't that she was smarter than him, in fact she was behind him and Izuku in the midterms. Then again, she was far ahead of most of the class in the finals. They were pretty evenly matched in skill so he couldn't help but feel intimidated by her. The only one he'd accept overtaking him in class and after was Izuku Midoriya. Not that he would, he knew he could never. No way.

Whatever. Thinking too much. Deku's rubbing off on you.

"Did you hear that?"

He didn't.

"Huh?"

Ochako was looking at him through the mirror.

"I ask you if you got any word of any goings-ons's."

"What do you mean?" Katsuki asked.

"Like… updates?"

"Oh, yeah, Sato asked me if anyone's allergic to anything. He's baking cupcakes for the different schools."

"Oh," Ochako said, "that's sweet of him."

"Actually, he said Camie put him up to it. Said she picked out all the decorations and shit."

"Oh… I guess she's helping with the organizing."

"Yeah. Her, Ms. Joke, and four-eyes. Don't know about the other schools."

Katsuki tried figuring out what to say next. What were they talking about before? Oh yeah, that nerd wanted to see some tunnel or something. Not that he gave a shit.

"Anyway, we'll go see the tunnel if you know where it is, but don't take all day. And don't get lost. And don't go off solving a mystery…"

Everyone looked at Katsuki.

"Without me."

Ochako was the first to look away.

"We're not going to be solving any mysteries," she said, "we're on vacation. This isn't an exam or an exercise. And this is certainly not another campout."

Katsuki kind of wanted to forget about that campout. Sure the theme park incident was scary but that camping trip was on another level. That blonde girl…

"Uh, yeah" he said, steeling himself up.

Maybe Tsu caught that because she was totally looking at him through the mirror again. Kenji probably was too. Katsuki looked over at him to make sure.

Sure enough, Kenji was looking at him, but he'd only caught him looking away in the last second. Izuku's eyes were still glued to the makeshift table in the middle. Who knows what Mr. Uraraka used the van for originally but Katsuki could tell whatever it was now was a far cry from it. The inside had to be severely gutted some time in the past. The wonky back seat was still intact but had to be covered with cloth to conceal the dried paint and holes. The van was pushing forty years.

This was all too much. His family was well-off enough that he didn't find himself in places like this. Wait, did a vehicle count as a place? He would have even paid for the tickets if he was asked to. Keeping everything on a budget was for his sake. His mom would kill him if he found out he was blowing all their cash especially now. Apparently Japan was going through some kind of economic rough patch. For the record, he was not blowing all their cash. As much as he would like to.

"We're here," unmistakably Ochako said.

When he looked up, Katsuki saw another field. More trees… more hills. Yeah, that's what it was gonna be for a while. When they got out, Katsuki didn't notice anything else. Nothing alarming. Then what was it that made Izuku scream like a little girl?

"WHAT?"

"THE TRUCK!"

Everyone looked to where Izuku was pointing shakily: an old blue pickup truck with a wooden crate in the back.

"What? That damn truck?" Katsuki really shouldn't have asked. He'd have to hear something again from the nerd.

Kenji gave Izuku an assuring look, but Izuku didn't look back. He just… wobbled.

"W-we're being followed! Toga hurt Toru! Or killed her!? Ah! And sh-she's impersonating her right now! I can hear breathing! She's right here! OH WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

"Izuku, that's me breathing," Kenji said.

Katsuki did the only thing he knew to do when Izuku was having a meltdown… SHAKEDOWN!

"CALM THE HELL DOWN, IZUKU!"

After thoroughly shaking the shookness out of the nerd, Katsuki turned over to the truck. He tried remembering something… oh yeah.

"Hm," he started, "that is weird. This was the truck we saw yesterday."

"You…" Ochako blanked, "think we're being followed?"

Katsuki would soon have enough if all the others started freaking out.

"Alright!" he shouted, "Come out and show yourself!"

Tsu kept calm with a finger poised on her chin. Her thinking face was on. She recognized it as the same truck, the same crate.

"If we were being followed," she said, "then why is the truck here before us? Did they know we'd be here?"

Big mistake. Izuku's eyes and face went completely white. He might soon sweat his entire skin off.

"I-I need to sit down," he… giggled?

"Izuku, please," Tsu said, "we have to stay focused here."

Kenji looked around at the others. He was the adult so why wasn't anyone looking to him? He sighed.

"It's none of our business, we should stay away from it. We'll call the police if we need—"

"I'm not getting the Man involved, man!" Katsuki gave him the old murder glare, even his hands were stretched out and ready to rumble.

They both stole a glance at Izuku on the ground.

Kenji didn't appreciate the Baku Rage, just as anyone, but he understood it. It was a frustrating situation. A scary situation. Kenji could feel there really was something up since they first found the truck without a driver. And now here? Well, twice was a coincidence. Three times was a pattern. Then again… detectives aren't allowed to believe in coincidences.

Maybe they should all get going. See if the truck shows up at their next destination. That might work. Then again, would their would-be stalkers wise up to that? If they were listening now, they'd certainly know. Kenji nodded.

"It's nothing, young Midoriya," he said.

It didn't feel right to torture the boy like that but he had to be sure of this one thing. For even a moment. Hopefully the stalker wasn't smarter than that. Hopefully the kids could keep their mouths shut for a moment. He continued, despite Izuku's muttering.

"Let's all just get this stretch in and get to the hotel."

Both Katsuki's and Tsu's eyes narrowed.

Hotel? What happened to the tunnel? Kenji was planning something.

"Come on, Izuku," Tsu said as she lead him into the van.

"W-we're leaving?"

"Yep, just having a stretch, ribbit."

"Oh…"

When they were back on the road, taking glances back every once in a while to make sure the blue truck was nowhere behind them, Kenji sniffed around. There wasn't anything unusual. Didn't seem like they were bugged.

"Is everything alright, Izuku?" he asked.

Izuku sniffled and shrugged, "Yeah."

Kenji could only sit. No energy to sigh or shake his head. After all they'd been through in the last, what, two years? This is what really freaks the boy out? He could understand that Shigaraki fella. And Toga. But a blue truck? Maybe it was the crate. Maybe it was the way Kenji was dealing with it. How the others were dealing with it.

"Any idea where that tunnel is?"

Izuku looked up and smiled.

On some dark and dingy backroad in the hills just west of Kyoto was… a tunnel. Just a plain old road tunnel. So freaking spooky. As it was nearing noon, even more spooky. Ooooh.

Katsuki just stared blankly into the darkness with his eyes narrowed. The sun came down hard, making it look like his white shirt would burst into flames. It would in a second if he'd have to stand here any longer. Izuku was looking up at the diagonal stone walls on either side of the tunnel, moss covering them nigh-entirely. He was so enamored by such a mundane thing. There were just too many "haunted" tunnels around Japan. People really stopped caring about that kind of made-up trash ever since the Quirks came into existence. Some took advantage of it, though. Maybe that's what was happening recently. Maybe… if Ochako would stop staring him down he could form a half-coherent thought.

"What?"

"What? Don't have the energy to be mad right now?"

That was… so obvious. Why the hell did she do this? It was almost as if she wanted him to be pissed off all the time. It wouldn't be that bad of an idea. Being pissed off exhausted him.

Right now he didn't know if he should focus on Izuku descending into the tunnel and potentially disappearing forever, or on Ochako.

Maybe I should make her go in there…

"Hey," he said, "go in the tunnel."

At that, Izuku froze and straightened. That wasn't meant for him but he must've thought it was. He didn't seem to mind so Kenji went along with Izuku into the tunnel. Hopefully they'd both get run over. No, not really. Just Izuku.

Tsu looked over at Katsuki, her hands flew to her hips. She looked like she was about to make him apologize.

Nah, not gonna happen.

He looked over at Ochako, who was still in the same position she was a few seconds ago. A minute ago? Damn, how much thinking has he been doing lately? He sighed.

"Yeah, probably not a good idea."

"Be careful, you two," Tsu shouted into the tunnel. Her voiced shrunk and got tinny a second later.

Then a whoop came out of the tunnel.

"Yeah!" came something pathetic from the bowels of the earth. If he strained, he could've sworn it was Izuku.

When Ochako was sure Izuku and Kenji were out of earshot, she followed Katsuki's gaze and met his eyes.

"You wanna talk about it?" she asked.

"What is there to talk about? He's been freaking out about this damn stupid truck thing and it's really pissing me off. I just wanna have a stress-free week for once in my goddamn life. Is that too much to ask for?"

Ochako had her arms crossed, foot tapping, eyes floating better than she could float a boat.

"No, it's just that you should be more… supportive."

"Oi! I can be very supportive! You wanna get a nipple piercing?! Live your best life, goddammit!"

"You know what I mean!"

Ochako's actually kinda cute when she tries being scary.

There was a big, fat, unmistakable, unshakable grin on Katsuki's face.

Uh, I mean…

"Well, shit, that's all you had to say! I'll talk to him later. I'm bored and hungry right now."

"You wouldn't have talked to him unless I said something?"

Oof, the gall on this girl.

"Uh," Katsuki stalled for a while, "yeah. I don't do touchy-feely shit. You know that."

"You can't expect me to help you every step of the way, I'm not your mom."

Katsuki wanted nothing more than to make the, oh-most bon mot suprême of inappropriate comebacks. Damn frog ruins everything just by being there. Probably a good thing on second thought.

"Right," was all he said, "I suppose we can't leave them behind too long?"

"You would, wouldn't you?"

"NO! That'd be counterproductive."

"Then be productive and help him out a little."

The more they sat here and argued, the less time they'd have to wallow around in Osaka. Talk about counterproductive.

Katsuki didn't know what was next. Go after Izuku and Kenji to get them to get going? Keep waiting here? Get a snack from the van? Listen to the radio? He looked over at Tsu who was still standing on the edge of the road with her arms in front of her. He hated the way she stood. It was weird.

How did he get stuck with this group again? He'd prefer going to the concert with Eijirou and the others. I think Mina, Denki, and Hot Topic? Then again, they were traveling in a surf van so he'd get sick of it within a millisecond. What the hell was that chick's name?

"Hey, Ochako?"

She looked up somewhere but Katsuki didn't see her. He realized she had already been heading back to the van and he was still with Tsu at the threshold of the tunnel. Their eyes met again.

"Uh… what was that chick's name? With the ears?"

"Kyoka Jirou?"

"Yeah," he wandered off again in his mind, "wasn't she going with Kaminari and the other morons?"

"She's flying with Momo, Shoto, and Mina," Ochako stopped to wander herself, "she didn't want to take up too much space and Mineta and Sero wanted to join in on the surf."

Mineta. Sero. Still on a family name basis, huh? Then again, he did just refer to Denki as Kaminari. It was definitely a different situation from 'gotta look tough and act formal about this dude who's totally not one of my best friends.'

Poor Mineta. Everybody hates Mineta. Sero probably deserved it.

"Jeez," he said, "I actually feel happy for Mina for once."

"Why?"

"Just, weird, I thought she'd be going with the guys surfing."

"Oh."

Okay, it wasn't that weird. Katsuki just thought that ever since Mina and Eijirou went public that they'd simply be inseparable. Then again, being the only couple in a van full of sweaty dudes was no way to spend a vacation. Even someone as clinically single as Katsuki knew that.

Unless they were into that. Which Katsuki would also understand.

Mina and Eijirou went public… everyone, including Katsuki, thought it would be Kyoka and Denki who'd go public first. Were they even together? He hoped so. He always thought they were cute—

Just shut up, K.

"Alright," Katsuki finally gave a time's up, "GET YOUR ASSES BACK OUT HERE BEFORE WE LEAVE YOU BEHIND!"

Tsu looked like she could just punch him right about now. She should have. Ochako just sighed. Katsuki wavered around.

"That's just how we communicate."

Somewhere deep within the dark, Izuku and Kenji… just walked. And the cave wasn't even that dark. There were orange-red lights lining the ceiling. It gave the place a more ethereal, not spooky, vibe. Despite being afraid of conventionally scary places, Izuku still wanted any chance he could get to call a place "uber creepy" and get away with it. Now was not appropriate. This place sucked, honestly. The summer heat made it worse. There was absolutely nothing scary about the heat unless it was the threat of a slow, simmering, melting.

"You think we'll find anything in here?"

Izuku looked up at Kenji but didn't answer.

"Yeah, no," he said, "I don't think so."

"Go back now?"

Izuku stopped. Then Kenji stopped. Izuku looked ahead, further in the dark. Maybe, just maybe, there was something just around that bend. There was always something just around the corner. It was the end, he could tell from the faintly lighter "glow." They could easily keep it up to the end of the tunnel.

"We're almost at the end."

"Hrmph," Kenji sniffled, "so we can say we went through the whole thing and not be full of shit."

Izuku laughed, he'd never get used to how funny it was when he talked like that.

"Yeah."

Back in the spirits again, they ventured forth around the bend of the tunnel and on to the light.

"Well," Kenji started, "I suppose you can say we disproved the existence of ghosts once and for all."

"Yeah," Izuku said, "what's dead is dead."

What's dead is dead for sure but what was inside Izuku was… alive? Something, somewhere, else? Ever since All-Might had entrusted Izuku with One For All, he'd find himself lost in a space where he could 'talk' to the previous users. He wouldn't call them ghosts. Just consciousness. There's been theories of "genetic memories" that are passed down. Like instinct. The feeling, the need to look up into the trees as if something is going to come down and eat you. But also… memories, straight memories. Just not ones that you could fully grasp like your own. That's how Izuku would describe it.

He didn't get anything like that from the outside world. Everything was just what it was because that's how it came. People died building this tunnel, at least that was the story, but there was no whisper left of them. Just the thought that they were there. A fear. Izuku only brought that fear with him. And he'd be leaving with it. And it would be with him long after. Sometimes he'd hope that they'd "forgive" him and leave him be, make the fear go away. But when things got tough he rather enjoyed the company that those fears gave him. When someone, a friend, would help make those fears go away, he'd begin to miss them.

It was different from having the voices of the previous One For All users. It was something that had always been there. And always would.

That blue truck. Just the thought of a blue truck…

Sure enough, it was there when they got back.