A/N: Have this chapter a day early. I have in-service training before my full-day lifeguard shift, and I probably won't have the energy to post to all of my platforms tomorrow, so I figured I'd do it today! (Plus, people have been begging to know what happened! HandsToTheSkye on A03 was closest to figuring it out! So very close.) Enjoy!
Denki had just gone to the restroom and wasn't gone for two minutes, and of course he wasn't there to greet his boyfriends with a hug and kiss like he had planned. They had beat him to his own dorm room, and just let themselves in. The familiarity that they treated each other with sent warm butterflies through Denki's stomach. He'd never get used to it.
When he turned the handle and pushed on the door that he knew for sure that he didn't lock before just going down the hallway to the restroom, he figured out instantly that his boyfriends must be inside.
What he didn't expect to see, though, was a pale-faced Hitoshi opening the door and abruptly yanking him in before slamming it shut again and locking it behind them. What he didn't expect to see was himself, scrambling to get out of Neito's hold just to barrel into Denki himself.
The two Denkis collided, one easily and opening accepting the other, coming together and embracing as one sobbed against the other's chest. Real-Denki didn't have any hesitations this time; if the soulmates were interacting with her, then she wasn't just a hallucination trying to ruin Denki's life.
Denki's serious eyes met the eyes of his boyfriends who matched his intensity. Great. They were all on the same page.
It was strange and a little disorienting to see two Denkis, one still sobbing and the other consoling. The soulmates were already on board; of course, they were. Ever since that day at the waterpark, they formed their own, individual friendships with her, too. For a villain, she was surprisingly likeable, but the soulmates figured that having an in with Denki worked heavily in their favor on that front.
"Toga," Denki whispered as he slid down the wall next to the locked door, pulling her down with him. "Tell me what's wrong when you're ready, okay? I'm ready to listen. We're ready to listen."
"It's Magne!" Toga wailed against Denki's shoulder, pressing her face even harder against his shirt, trying to relieve the emotional pain that was anything but simple. "She's dead!"
Between bouts of wails and sobs, Toga explained how during a meetup with one of Twice's picks for recruitment, they had a run in with the Yakuza. It went south when their leader, Overhaul, had suggested that they should join forces with Overhaul being the leader of both groups instead of Shigaraki. Shigaraki actually tried to diffuse the situation, but everyone else was so wound up and it all got out of hand so quickly. One second, she was there. The next second, her molecules had burst apart and there was nothing left behind. It was instant, much faster than even Shigaraki's decay. Not to mention what had happened to poor Mr. Compress's arm!
As Denki helped Toga work through her emotions while struggling with his own at finding out the news of Magne's early demise and Mr. Compress's new situation, Hitoshi ran downstairs to get some snack and drinks; it was looking like it was going to be a long night. While rummaging through Class 2-A's cupboards and refrigerator, Hitoshi was so focused on his task and getting back as soon as possible that he didn't notice Midoriya wander in.
"Hey, Shinsou!" Midoriya greeted in his normal, upbeat tone. "Party in Kaminari's room, huh?"
"Not exactly a party," Hitoshi mumbled, reaching into the back of the fridge to grab some sodas. When Hitoshi turned to catch the concerned look flashing across Midoriya's face, he added, "we need something to hold us over for the night to study for that damn history test. I thought it was next week, so they're helping me catch up on my studying so I might pass by the skin of my teeth."
"Sounds stressful," Midoriya empathized, reaching past Hitoshi to grab a few bottles of water from the refrigerator before heading back to his own study group in the common room.
"You have no idea," Hitoshi mumbled to himself in response, long after Midoriya was out of earshot.
"Maybe we should go check on Kaminari," Uraraka suggested to the group as Midoriya handed her a bottle of water before retaking his place on the floor next to her.
"Great idea," Iida praised loudly. "What a good way to show Kaminari that we notice and care about him!"
"Maybe later," Midoriya suggested.
Everyone turned to look at him, puzzled. Usually, he would be the one suggesting such acts of consideration, so it was odd that he was opposing it.
"I just ran into Shinsou in the kitchen," Midoriya explained, throwing his head in the direction from which he came to make sure they understood that it was the kitchen in their residential building, dropping his voice down lower so no one would overhear if anyone were to wander into the common room.
"He's here?!" Uraraka asked, eyes widening as she looked toward the stairway, like she might be considering bolting up the stairs to check to see if Denki was okay that very instant.
"I don't know what might be going on up there," Tsu started slowly, "but whatever they're doing to fix the mess they're in—I trust Shinsou and Monoma to treat Kaminari with respect, and I don't think that he'd appreciate us barging in and interrupting if they're talking things out right now."
"You trust Shinsou and Monoma that completely? Since when?" Uraraka challenged, but not unkindly. She was concerned, and no one blamed her.
"Have you seen the way they all look at each other? Ribbit," Tsu inquired in response; it was so obvious, was it not? "They both look at Kaminari the same way they look at each other. Their conversation might not be pleasant, depending on what they're talking about, but even if there are hurt feelings, they really care about each other."
"Even after the whole incident with Monoma tearing into Kaminari during the first-year training?" Uraraka pressed, still not convinced.
"You didn't see them today," Tsu argued, but not harshly. "Your group was the last to go and the last to join the rest of us, so you only heard about what happened, and didn't actually witness it yourself. When Kaminari kissed Shinsou, ribbit, and everyone was watching them, I was watching Monoma, and I don't think I have ever seen him look more… comfortable than in that moment."
After a heavy pause for the group to consider Tsu's argument, Iida declared, "you both make excellent points. I, for one, trust Kaminari to be able to handle himself and ask us for help if and when he needs it. He's not, after all, one of our more stubborn classmates who will refuse to ask for help at any cost."
After everyone nodded in agreement, they all turned their attention back to the task at hand.
"I'll check in on everyone tomorrow," Midoriya promised, assigning the task to himself, and ending the conversation for good.
With no objections or further concerns, the group got back to work, mapping out the routes that trading ships would have taken across the globe back in the 18th century.
When Hitoshi got back with his arms full of snacks, sliding himself into the room and closing and locking the door behind him once again, and dumping the pile of sustenance on the carpet, Toga was tense.
"How are Dabi and Shigaraki handling it?" Denki asked.
Toga roughly wiped at her tears with her arm, frustrated that they just wouldn't stop falling, even when she felt a little calmer.
"Dabi… a lot as been going on with him besides this, and this just added shit onto the shit pile, so to speak," Toga said, voice cracking with emotion. "Things with the Hero Commission, and now Magne, on top of—oh—that hero I was telling you about! After he—did he tell you?"
"Neither of them has been online for weeks," Denki whispered, desperate to hear about how his friends were doing, even if they weren't telling him directly themselves, and even if Toga's shattered and scattered thoughts weren't quite making it through in a way that could be understood.
"It's not my news to tell," Toga hedged softly. "I don't think even he knows what he's going to do about it all, yet."
Denki nodded, understanding exactly where Toga was coming from. Glancing at the soulmates, he knew he had no room to argue. He hadn't been forthcoming about Dabi's identity; he was astounded by their laissez-faire reaction to his rapidly developing friendships with the various villains who called themselves members of the League of Villains. He didn't know how to tell them that Touya was actually still alive, and it turns out that he's a villain. It also wasn't his story to tell. He hadn't talked with Dabi about revealing his identity to the soulmates; truthfully, Denki was too nervous to even inquire about that because that was a heavy task that he wasn't sure he would even handle correctly. How do you tell someone that the person they mourned and even attended the funeral for was still actually alive? Denki had no idea.
"Shigaraki, though," Toga continued, after not receiving any backlash or argument from her withholding from Denki. After a heavy pause to consider what she wanted to say, she settled on, "he's so cool."
Hitoshi and Neito, who were listening with rapt attention, but not quite following along, were so taken aback that they snorted.
"Sorry," Hitoshi forced out from behind his closed fist pressed against his mouth.
Toga shrugged, knowing that it probably wasn't expected. She was the queen of inappropriate reactions, so she waved off their shows of unexpected, pleasant surprise while surrounded with less than desirable circumstances.
"He's taking everything in stride. I don't know how—I would have broken down and went on a rampage by now if I was dealing with everything he was. I don't know what it's like behind closed doors, but he's keeping a brave face for all of us, at least. He practically apologized to the Yakuza! Can you believe that?!"
"Apologized?!" Neito interrupted, appalled on behalf of villains that he had never even properly met. "After they killed Magne?!"
"That's what I'm saying!" Toga insisted, rapidly gaining energy as she spoke and explained. "No one else would have been able to do it, even with the strategy in mind! He's so damn self-controlled now, and none of us have any idea when any of that changed!"
Toga realized that she had unknowingly relaxed in the trio's presence. After Hitoshi had dipped out with the excuse of grabbing snacks, she thought for sure he'd come back with reinforcements to drag her away. It would have been so cruel, ripping her away from her chosen family after losing Magne forever. It would have been unbearable.
She knew that they were on decent terms after their fun at the waterpark, but she didn't know that she could rely on them so firmly like this. They didn't even hesitate; there was no discussion about what to do about her abrupt intrusion. They seemed to know what Denki would do, and they followed suit without a second thought. It was amazing, and not just because Toga benefited from it. She thought about how their in-sync ways reminded her of Shigaraki and Dabi in a way, and she hoped that they would have a better outcome than those two misfits did.
"What strategy?" Denki had asked. Then, more urgently, "Toga, what strategy?"
"Oh!" she chirped, breaking out of her thoughts and sitting up straight. "We're going to infiltrate the Yakuza and take them down from the inside," she explained like she was telling them that she was going to separate her colors before she did laundry.
"Toga," Denki drawled, the concern as clear in his voice as it was on his face.
"It'll be fine! I'll be with Twice!" Toga quickly informed, like that made it any better. "And it's super flexible, too. Shigaraki is sending us in with no plan or instructions or anything. Just kind of letting his feral pets to run free and cause havoc!"
"Do you see the kind of stress I have to deal with on a regular basis?" Denki asked, ignoring Toga in favor of turning to look at his amused boyfriends that had perched themselves on the edge of his bed.
"I see two Denkis sprawled out on the floor," Hitoshi answered automatically.
"I know!" Neito gasped, turning to glance at his soulmate. "It's trippy, isn't it?!"
After Toga promised not to take any unnecessary risks, and after Hitoshi checked the hallway to make sure that it was clear, Denki gave Toga one of his jackets to make it look like he was just popping out for some fresh air if she happened to pass any of his classmates on the way down. To make it even more convincing, Hitoshi and Neito were going to go with her. It was in no way unusual to see the three together, so it would be a perfect cover for Toga, and the soulmates were heading out to their own dorm building anyway. Two birds, one stone. Win-win-win-win.
After the three left, Denki sat quietly on his floor with the lights turned out. It wouldn't do the group any good if someone had seen Denki in the stairwell, only to see signs of life in Denki's dorm room seconds later. It also allowed him time to think (and worry) about what his friends in villainy are getting themselves into.
"So…" Hitoshi drawled the next morning as the three made their way to class, finally getting the chance to voice a concern that was at the back of his mind since running into Toga on the stairwell, "are we going to talk about how Toga knew which room was yours?"
"And how she turned into you?" Neito tacked on. "How did she get your blood?!"