Countdown to Reality
1. I'm sorry… I cannot resist, this one ends with a cliffhanger… anyway, I hope you'll like it!
2. Thank you for being there and have a good time reading!
Day 3. Time to go to school. Countdown: 19:20:43
What a wonderful day.
The weather was just perfect, with its shining sunrise and its blue sky. The birds were chirping and it was Friday, the last working day of the week, usually the best day.
What a wonderful day, in the gangsters-horror-house! Kirishima wanted to close his eyes and go back to that dark place called sleep, but a too-enthusiastic-for-his-own-good ray of sunlight had made its way through the window. He growled and rolled on his back.
He hated bright mornings showing up when they were not matching with his mood. It felt as if the world was having a party but had forgotten to send him an invitation.
He opened his eyes, and immediately tried to harden his hands. The skin around his nails became rougher, a little calloused around his joints, but it stopped there.
Stay optimistic! It was better than before. Not back to normal, but better: a little hardening back, no flickering stuff, no fainting and no fuzzy-everything instead of the good old steady world. Obviously, the situation had improved.
He sat up and noticed someone had left a small breakfast trail by his door. He was not feeling hungry at all – nauseous was a much more accurate description – but he forced himself to eat. He was already Quirkless. He could not afford to be weak on top of everything.
A buzzing sound interrupted his thoughts. His phone, on the nightstand, displayed a tiny red envelop. Email? Who would send him an email?
His chopsticks got a little slower as he opened the new message.
To be perfectly honest, for a moment, he felt stupid.
He could not read it!
Then only did he understand that it was not his fault. It was nowhere near English or Japanese. Actually, it was not even a language. Languages normally did not include a handful of numbers in each word.
It was a coded message.
Kirishima had had an introduction to messages encryption and decryption. It was part of U.A. course. Unfortunately, they only had the introduction, and even Bakugo had struggled explaining the topic. (Funny thing to witness by the way: Bakugo struggling on an academic subject and still trying to act as if it was easy.)
There was no way he could break that code, or any code.
He put the chopsticks down, having completely forgotten about his breakfast, and checked the sender… but it was useless: ns01. uninteresting. jp. He also went through the rest of his mailbox to look for similar messages, but apparently, the other Kirishima had carefully erased anything like that.
"The other me…" He said aloud, finally putting two and two together.
Shit. That must either be his parents, either someone else, someone he was working with… or working for! If he did not answer, they would draw conclusions they should not draw! They would think something had happened to him!
A knock on his door cut through his line of thoughts and he nervously hid the phone. A little plump woman entered, wearing a lab coat over her regular clothes. In all likelihood, she was the nurse.
"Kirishima-kun, is it?" She asked, checking him from head to toes. "A doctor will see you in fifteen minutes. Can you come with me?"
Since Kirishima could not answer, "No, it's a wonderful day to explore your marvelous-horror-house and search for hidden tortured-little-girls," he followed her silently towards the infirmary.
The courtyard was empty, and only a few windows were open. That part of the house looked almost deserted.
"…will… will the doctor be… the same one as yesterday?" Kirishima asked, trying to sound only curious, and not scared.
"Hum… he should. He really is the most qualified." She said, but sounded a little annoyed. "But I've heard he has to see the boss… so no, not now."
"Oh. I err… I hope he isn't unwell," Kirishima muttered, feeling relieved he would not have to face Chisaki again in such short notice.
The nurse gave him a weird look. "You do have amnesia."
"Yes…? Why?"
"The boss, unfortunately, is not young anymore. It is common knowledge he is about to hand the reins to Chisaki-san, his health has to be his priority now. He just wants to do a last deal… you know, something grand, to end his career."
"Huh. I had no idea."
"Don't worry, we are going to arrange that."
His interview with the nurse went very smoothly. Her office was neat and still not an underground lab with mad scientists. She asked him generic questions about his medical history and ran basic tests. Kirishima almost relaxed, but that was until the doctor arrived.
He was somebody he had never met, a bald man with eyes so dark they almost matched Mina's. The nurse left them alone, and at first, the man stayed utterly silent. Then, he leaned above the desk and put his chin on his hands.
"I had to do extra hours, and run your blood test three times, thanks to your little lies. You never took any anti-Quirk medication."
It was not a question. Questions usually included questions marks. Since it was not, Kirishima decided to keep from answering and focus on keeping a non-wavering smile. The doctor, though, seemed to consider his last sentence as a valid question and silently awaited.
Kirishima gulped.
"…it's err, well… I…. I think Yu-something… I mean… Yuchiko-san told me I skipped from time to time," He uttered, tripping over his words. "But.. but… I don't know if I did or if I did not. I really don't remember."
The doctor did not smile.
"I wonder about that lie too."
"For the fifth time, I fucking don't know why May 27!"
Deku was getting annoying… no, he had gotten there hours ago.
Bakugo had arrived at the point where he was considering going back to the disappearing old bat windowsill to get some silence.
"I am just summarizing..."
"Do it with your brainless head, not your tongue!"
"…We knew something was coming and to some extent, we must have known what. We also probably had written information about it. The problem is, we completely forgot what it was. We searched all my pockets for that paper but we couldn't find anything remotely like it..."
The room was a mess. Bakugo had shaken every book while Deku had checked every single pocket of his clothes. It looked like they had a fight… when they had actually worked together.
"…so I assume it disappeared with the rest of the normal world, like your phone or my posters."
Bakugo wondered how many additional times Deku needed to run his mouth in circles.
They had not slept. They had tried to for a few hours, but Bakugo woke up each time he closed his eyes, feeling the nightmare would be back. It was a weird feeling. The rational part of him wanted to see more of it, but every single time, irrational instincts woke him up…
…to listen to Deku. He muttered for literal hours.
"These papers disappearance aside, you don't remember what was written on it and you don't remember anyone explicitly talking about what was supposed to happen. We could be over interpreting. These papers could be just homework. We lack context."
"Fuck you. Deku, it was not homework! I went back in my room and I did not do my homework because we had none until the next Monday!"
"If it was not homework, and if it was actually related to our situation, then I can see three options."
Did he really need to emphasis his "if", like that? It made it sound like what Bakugo said was not believable.
"First, this place could somehow be something set up by U.A. However, I don't think so. If that were it, they wouldn't have given us information to have us forget about it. It is just a waste of time, and it is not exactly like Aizawa to go through useless effort. In addition, U.A. is sometimes going overboard, but to put some of us in jail... Can you imagine any of our parents accepting that…yours? Mine? Endeavor?"
Bakugo wondered if the nerd would notice if he sneaked out… but outside, in the living room, there was Deku's mother, and she was worse. At least, Deku's questions were rhetorical.
"Second option: it was some kind of mission. There too, my theory is far from perfect: we never did a mission together as a class. And even if they needed many people, why would they send us? Our licenses are only provisional… they would have sent at least some adults to supervise. Also, since we forgot everything about that hypothetical mission, we can safely assume something went wrong from the start: U.A. wouldn't send us to a dangerous place without minimal information."
Thankfully, Deku only had three fucking hypothesis.
"Third option. They gave us information about a Villain. Maybe we had to go hide somewhere, and it could be someone with a crazy Quirk. Maybe someone who would attack U.A… but in that case, he obviously won."
"No one won! And they never did that for the League!"
Deku continued pacing through the room, his chin in one hand, bags under his eyes.
"…I don't see why All Might did not want me to come along, and I can't see why I would punch Kaminari…"
"I can see why I would punch you. Like, very clearly."
Deku stopped pacing.
"We are missing something."
"No kidding."
Deku grabbed his notebook. He had drawn a timeline over two pages during the night. It started at five in the afternoon on the last day they were at U.A. and ended on the morning they woke up. He had highlighted the parts where they had absolutely no idea what happened and written little labels where they did.
The end of the page was messy a mix of highlighter.
"Why May 27?" The Nerd repeated. "Why, why May 27?"
"Ojiro's birthday."
Deku blinked.
"…what?"
"My point: I actually listen when you say some shit. There is no need to repeat everything FIVE FUCKING TIMES!"
Deku finally….FINALLY shut up and sat on his bed, not even pushing the stack of clothes away.
Bakugo was tired. Lacking sleep was terrible.
"Kacchan. Ojiro's birthday is on the 28, not 27, but…"
"… but nothing! My mother is about to arrive and drag me to a fucking supermarket. Trouble is about to pick you up for school. If Invisible Girl calls about Icy Hot and Raccoon Eyes, we are screwed. For the remaining five minutes, shut up and let me plan how I'll ditch my mother if it comes to it."
"I'm skipping class. Honestly, it's useless." Deku declared, slumping on the bed.
"Good for you. I wish I could skip my mother. So shut up or die. I have to take care of my own shit."
The number of problems on Izuku's list was steadily increasing. Memory loss issue. Kacchan-speaking-clock. Kacchan-maybe-not-entirely-Kacchan. Disappearing neighbors. Missing pieces of information. Missing people. No All Might. Todoroki and Ashido-san in danger. Kirishima still inside a crime syndicate. Eri. Their parents. His not perfectly hidden scars. Increasing lack of sleep. And Trouble-
Wrong name.
…Sumire-san.
Kacchan… was exhausting.
So. Not Trouble, even if again, the nickname was fitting.
Sumire-san was at his door, standing next to Bakugo Mitsuki. The first one was staring at the second's face, as if…
He had no idea how intelligent Sumire-san scored, but she was not blind. Mitsuki looked like Kacchan.
A. Lot.
He suddenly wished he had not opened the door and that he was not facing the upcoming cataclysm. If Sumire-san put two and two together… or if she asked Mitsuki if she was related to his 'secret-friend'… ! No. These two couldn't speak.
He just hoped they had not already.
"Aren't you…" Sumire-san started, and Izuku saw her connecting some dots.
"SUMIRE-san!" He interrupted, grabbing his backpack in one hand and her shoulder with the other. "We are already late!"
"No we aren't…" She protested, but he dragged her towards the stairs as quickly as possible. "Wasn't that… Bakugo's mother? You know, the kid who…"
"Yeah, she and my mom are friends." He said, hurrying down the stairs the faster Sumire-san could follow.
Probably because she was still surprised, she did not resist, at first. The moment they reached the street, she finally put some resistance. She shook his hand off and crossed her arms on her chest.
"I won't ask." She said. "You have your secrets. I can respect that. However, there is no need to drag me around like that and there is no need to act as if I am stupid! Besides, what are you doing, going to school with a shopping bag?"
Izuku stared stupidly at his backpack… but it was not his backpack at all. It was the groceries bag. Growling, and put his face in his hands.
"Sumire-san."
She put a strand of loose hair behind her ear, and waited for him to say something.
"I am not going to school."
He expected her to ask more questions. She did not. She mulled the sentence for five good seconds and uncrossed her arms.
"Okay... I did not feel like it either, anyway. I mean, it's rather boring, when you think about it. And grades will only be important in two years. Let's have some fun instead."
Izuku instantly put a hand in front of her.
"I-I was just talking for m-myself, Sumire-san!"
"Oh. What a surprise. So it's not an invitation to hang out? You are ready for shopping, after all!"
"No, it's not… there is something I must d-do."
Her smile did not fall, but all suddenly, her face got serious. She paused again, looking at him straight in the eye.
"Your secret. To be honest, I'm afraid I'm starting to understand. You see, you muttered a lot yesterday at the restaurant and some nicknames kind of stick with the years. But I won't ask. I won't pry more. It's not my secret to tell." She declared, half-smiling. "I trust you to know what's best. I… I just wish you'd stop lying. Just tell me your friend needs you, I understand it is much more important than just school. And trust me. I am on your side, even… even if you just trust me to smile and cover for you, I don't mind doing that. It's kind of fun."
Izuku opened his mouth… only to close it.
She knew.
And it was not even a big deal.
"Well, if you need to do something today… I guess I'll tell the school you are still sick, but next time, you'll owe me one. Clear?"
"H-huh… Okay." He whispered.
Her face relaxed, but he could see an odd mix of melancholia and amusement there. That loose strand of hair fall on her cheek once again.
She turned away, smiling.
"So? What are you waiting for?" She asked. "Don't you have something to do? … Say hello for me and… and be careful, okay?"
Izuku grabbed his shopping bag a little harder.
He felt a painful nudge in his chest.
He had friends. Real friends. Yet, seeing that girl walking away… knowing everything, knowing how dangerous it was, and still acting like this… he envied what the other Izuku had.
Maybe not her. Maybe not that girl exactly, just… the idea of something similar to her.
She represented something he always wanted. Something he never really had, and because of his secrets, not even at U.A. Everything Kacchan never was. Someone not jealous, not angry, not mean and seeing the truth so easily. Someone who smiled. Someone who cared.
Someone who had always been there, who would always be there.
"I'm going." He said.
He had a childhood frien. Kacchan, with his flaws and everything… and he was probably going to spend the day not too far from him, to make sure they could move easily to help their other real friends.
He would not have seriously traded for anything in the world.
So why did he hesitate, when Todoroki, Kacchan… when his real friends needed him?
It scared him, the way that place played with them.
It scared him even more, to know that in real life, he had missed things like her.
Kirishima straightened on his seat and found no words. The doctor was not moving, still waiting.
He was done.
They would get answers one way or another. They were Villains. Kirishima knew he was sweating, and that it was probably obvious how uncomfortable he was. Still, he could not let himself be consumed by fear, he had to fight it.
He probably would have to for his entire hero-career.
"I…" He inhaled, exhaled, and maybe it was obvious, but be it. He needed it. "I remember having dinner with Yu…Yuchiko-san yesterday evening, and I remember clearly taking the drug at that moment, but before that, all the other meals of that life, I can't tell you what I did or did not. I was not there."
"That's convenient." The doctor said. "Just to make things clear, it's in your best interest not to lie. We are going to run tests, and IMR don't lie."
"I…"
"That was not a question."
Kirishima shut his mouth. The doctor rose from his chair, stretching his back a little, then grabbed the papers the nurse had left.
"Tell me what you do remember. I mean, after taking that pill."
"…it was… weird. I understood there was something wrong, but I did not think it was coming from me." He explained immediately, eagerly changing subject to avoid more difficult questions-not-questions-but-still-questions. "I saw very flashy lights, like going off, then on, then off, super-fast. Things were flickering, like the table, or Yu-som… Yuchiko-san. They were in front of me, and then, they weren't."
"Did it hurt?"
"No, and it was nothing like fainting. The problem felt like coming from outside, from… my plate for example, and my brain couldn't follow up. It was just too bright, too dark and too fast. It was just stressful."
"You faint often?"
"I…" Kirishima stopped himself from saying that yes, it happened from time to time due to his hero training, "…I feel like it happened before, fainting, normal fainting I mean, but I don't remember exactly when or where."
The doctor had been taking notes, and stopped.
"I hope for you, that it is the truth. I don't fancy losing my time on liars. Now… how's your Quirk?"
Kirishima extended a hand and tried to activate it, achieving the same result as before. The doctor raised an eyebrow.
"My skin should become super-hard."
"I read your file. I know. Now, have you watched the news, recently?"
"Errr…yes… I mean no. I should have?"
"There was a prison break, yesterday."
Kirishima hated that man. Every single word coming from his mouth sounded like a threat. Even if he knew there was no way the doctor could have know about his link with Todoroki and Mina, he felt more sweat roll on his back.
"It's actually good news for you. Since you do not remember, let me explain. Major media attention on very dangerous Quirks always give investors the little push they need to sign contracts with us. Only this time, we have the big fish on the hook, and negotiations aren't going to be done by anyone but the boss and Chisaki-san. Meaning, you've got extra time to work on your little lies… and seeing how bad you are at this game, I encourage you to use that time to find a good explanation."
He almost missed Yu-something and her empty threats.
"I…I'm not lying…"
"Well, that's wonderful news. The nurse will call you when your extra-time is about to end and that Chisaki-san is available to look at that very interesting blood analysis. You can go."
He rose from his chair slowly, legs a little wobbly. The doctor made sign towards the door and he waited no longer to rush outside the nurse office.
That doctor was not buying anything of what he said.
Not. A. Single. Word!
He hoped that whoever they were singing dirty drug deals with was not a fish, but a toothy shark. If only that person could shred them to pieces and keep them stuck in front of never-ending paperwork forever...
Unfortunately, he could hardly imagine someone capable of that.
His "extra-time" was probably very limited. He had to start looking for Eri before they decided that his lies were worth investigating. He did not even want to imagine how that could end up.
He turned around, surveying the courtyard to check if somebody was watching him. He needed to get out of that medical ward, and head for inside the main building, towards that corridor with the secret passageway.
He never did.
He never even tried.
He simply blinked, and stayed rooted in front of the infirmary.
Not because he was facing a deadly villain. Not because he was suddenly having another episode of lights flashing everywhere.
No, the reason was so much simpler.
He did not need to start searching anymore.
On the grass, with and a man watching her from a bench, was a little grey-blue haired girl with big, round, apple-red eyes.
Eri.