"THAT'S IT, I'M BLOWING THIS HUNK OF JUNK TO BITS!"
"Katsuki!"
"Bakugou!"
"Young Bakugou…"
"Uh… uh…" Izuku lay on the dirty side of the road just outside the tunnel, having been dragged out of the way of traffic by the others.
Tsu watched over him with her hand on his forehead. He didn't have a fever, he'd gone out cold.
Katsuki made a panoramic sweep over the whole group. Blank.
"What?! We're obviously being followed—!"
It was one of those silent group stare downs that really unnerved him.
"SINCE WHEN AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO DOESN'T HAVE A HANKERING TO GET MURDERED?!"
"Tsuragamae-sensei's right," Ochako said, "it's not our responsibility to assume anything."
"Ochako, we have our LICENSES! OF-FRIGGIN'-COURSE IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY!"
"Not when I can be getting a tan right now," Kenji said.
Katsuki couldn't take it from Aizawa-sensei, not Yamada-sensei, and certainly not Tsuragamae. Teachers. Grown-ups. Thinking they owned every place they walked into. Parents of all under their age.
Just one more year, he thought, just one more year and I'll show them all.
If he sat here any longer, his top would blow off and the entire Northern Hemisphere would feel the effects of volcanic winter for decades to come.
"New idea," he finally said, "we're going to… our destination immediately."
"Immediately?!" Ochako, Tsu, and even Izuku said in unison.
Katsuki looked down at Izuku, who was still grogged out. If his brain wasn't so screwed from all the shitty stimuli, he'd have already torn the crate open for Izuku's sake. Why the hell did he have to drag Kenji into this? Izuku couldn't go one yard off campus without adult supervision. What a damn child. They'd have to have a talk about this. Alone.
Meanwhile, Kenji looked like he was seriously considering Katsuki's idea. There would be plenty of backup in Fukuoka. If this was a villain situation, then maybe the presence of potentially six or seven pro-heroes would make them think twice about stalking U.A.'s best.
But still, unless it was a self-driving car or a transformer, then that driver had to be somewhere close by. It was very likely not a self-driving car or a transformer.
"You didn't see anyone around?" Kenji asked.
"The truck was here when we got back," Tsu said.
They all stood in the sun a while in silence. Bugs buzzed through the air. Then there were footsteps on the asphalt.
When they all looked up they saw someone approaching the blue truck. Unbuttoned reddish shirt. Blue jeans. They were taller than Katsuki but shorter than Kenji, muscular, dark red hair down to their broad shoulders. A bit of scruff under wide and full lips. Dark, cool sunglasses. Some kind of bodacious swagger.
When the driver caught them all staring, they shrugged. The shrug doubled up when Katsuki raised his voice—
"OI! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU FOLLOWING US?!"
"Damn it, Katsuki," Ochako facepalmed.
The driver looked… confused. Scared? Yeah, they better be. They put their hands up.
"K-Kenji Hikiishi! I-I'm just a truck driver, dude! I don't know who you—"
Kenji Hikiishi stopped and straightened, then slumped forward…
"Hey," Kenji Hikiishi said, "I do know you, you'll are those cool kids from U.A., man, the Mystery Gang. Some kind of hyper fangirl I am. You kinda scurred me back there, Baku-bro. Guess that's why I didn't recognize y'all."
Baku-bro?!
"WHAT?"
"Again," she said, "big fan but I gotta be haulin' ass here. Boss's expecting this."
Kenji… Tsuragamae… put his hand on his chin while Kenji… Hikiishi… pointed to the back of the truck. Tsuragamae was just now realizing that there was a big label on the crate:
DELIVER TO: OBORO SHIRAKUMO, HIMEJI CASTLE ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPT.
"Oboro Shirakumo," Tsuragamae read out loud, "why does that name sound familiar?"
"Shakkoumon," Katsuki said.
"That's a Digimon, Katsuki," Ochako said.
"Shirako."
"That's—"
"That's the boss," Kenji Hikiishi said, "got some display stuff for the museum in Himeji."
"Explain why you've been following us the last two days!"
Katsuki had apparently already decided that he'd start throwing hand grenades if he didn't get an answer. Izuku could see the shadow of a blow forming in his palm. He'd known it all too well.
"What?" Hikiishi now seemed just as lost as everyone else, "I just got here, I just met you—"
"BULLSHIT—!"
"Young Bakugou," Tsuragamae stepped in again, "just allow… her to explain. I apologize, but, we did see this same truck twice in the last two days. We've been traveling and it's just been… an oddity, hrmph."
"Uh, thanks," Hikiishi said, "uh… it might've been other drivers. We operate all over Japan. Summer's been pretty hectic for us so we're moving a lot of stuff around."
There was a very surprising silence. It was stupid, the circumstances too weird for it to be true. There were so many different words Katsuki could use to… damn having a thousand thoughts and only one mouth!
"Oh," was all he got out, "whatever. Let's just go."
Izuku's eyes widened, he clenched his fists. Getting up from the ground was the easiest thing he'd ever done. After all the fear that this whole "blue truck incident" had left him with… he wasn't going to give this up. If there really was something afoot, he'd get to the bottom of it. No more staying behind. He'd show everyone. He'd show Tsu's parents. He'd show Kacchan. He could and would be a hero, the best damn hero. No more hiding!
"ACTUALLY…"
All eyes on Izuku. He bowed as low as he could. What the hell is he doing?
"WE WERE ALSO HEADED TO HIMEJI CASTLE. IF YOU'RE A FAN, LET US BE SO KIND AS TO EXTEND OUR HOSPITALITIES TO YOU, WE APOLOGIZE IF WE CAUSED YOU ANY TROUBLE!"
What the hell is he doing?
Kenji Hikiishi just smiled.
"Hey, no ill will or nothing. If you're on your way I can lead the way. It's about maybe a three hour drive from here. The boss is a big fan too so… he has a mansion right next to the castle. I'll try to ask him about dinner."
Some old museum guy? A fan? And meeting two fans in one day? Potentially for dinner? At a mansion? Next to a castle?
Ever since the "gang" started actually getting things done after the theme park and then the camping trip, they'd gotten at least some limited recognition. Their teamwork effort brought down Gentle the Gentlemanly Criminal as well as some Yakuza group. Some came to dub them the "Mystery Gang." The real mystery was: 'Who thought that was a good name?'
Out of all of them, Izuku had gotten the least attention. Even those in the class that Katsuki referred to as "extras" had been closer to household names than "Deku." It wasn't fair, I worked so much harder than all of them combined!
Izuku found himself in the toughest spot of his life so far. The crosswalk between trainee and pro. Childhood and adulthood. Second year was halfway over, with third year just around the bend. This would probably be his last free summer. Time to make it count.
When it seemed like everyone had agreed to that arrangement, Katsuki turned to Izuku…
"Can I have a word with you? Alone?"
Ochako smiled at the two for reasons unclear to Izuku. They walked off to the side as the others got in the van and their new… acquaintance got in her truck.
"I'll wait for you but I don't got all day," she called over.
Before, Izuku could just give up and get straight back home. Now something was telling him to jump into action. What the hell was up with him?
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Katsuki made him feel like little Deku again. It was so easy.
"I…"
"Don't answer that," Katsuki turned around to check if anyone was listening, "you have a weird feeling about this too, right?"
Too? Izuku's face brightened up at that.
"Don't push it," Katsuki said, "we do some light snooping and get this the hell over with. I wanna get to the concert in one piece so if this chick chops us up it better be your dick first. Got it?"
Izuku knew not to answer that.
"Good," Katsuki turned to the blue truck and nodded.
As Hikiishi drove up onto the road, Katsuki got into the driver's seat since for whatever reason Ochako decided to climb into the back. He was met with the biggest eyes he'd ever seen.
"Asui," he said, "good to see you."
"Bakugou."
He followed the blue truck down a windy forest road. He'd not gotten much of a chance to notice before but it was a pleasant day. That's all he could find to call it. Pleasant. It was a shitty day. What the hell am I gonna do?
He looked over at Tsu briefly. She was staring straight out ahead at the blue truck. What the hell was she thinking about? All he had to do was ask her and she'd tell him but he didn't want to hear it…
He was going to hear it, wasn't he?
"I'm not sure about this."
"Of-fucking-course you're not sure about this! And why the hell not? We're being invited to dinner so shut up."
"If you think this is all just perfectly normal, I don't know what to tell you."
"Go ahead and tell me in the bluntest way possible that I'm an idiot for accepting a complete stranger's invitation to dinner at some old professor's mansion that will probably end with us as the main course."
"Bakugou, you're an idiot for accepting a stranger's invitation to dinner at an old professor's mansion that will probably end up with us as the main course."
"Not like that. Also, it was all Izuku's idea anyway."
"He was just being… Izuku."
"Could you tell him to not be Izuku for just a little bit?"
"Okay, who do you want him to be, then? Todoroki?"
"Okay, tell him to never stop being Izuku."
Izuku looked up and his eyes met with Katsuki's in the rear-view mirror. Something since the tunnel had put on that smile. He was a hot minute to midnight for something. Was he boldening up for some summer loving? Was that his game? Just the thought could drive Katsuki off the road. Maybe he really was hoping that the blue truck thing would lead to a full-on villain manhunt that would end with Izuku's heroics making headlines. What a sick bastard. Either way… Katsuki kinda felt the same way.
"To the max and beyond! Plus Ultra!"
Tsu couldn't help but blush, "Plus Ultra!"
Soon the whole gang joined in.
"PLUS ULTRA!"
Damn nerds. All of us.
Kenji Hikiishi had slightly exaggerated the distance from the mansion to the castle. It was about half an hour north of the city. Not that it mattered much, it was just slightly annoying.
There was still time to look around at the museum before it closed and they were expected to meet the professor, Shirakumo, for dinner.
Why did that name sound familiar?
Kenji Tsuragamae wanted to be "off duty" just like the kids. But there was something tickling his brain about this whole thing.
Oboro Shirakumo…
Eventually the gang regrouped with the new Kenji just outside Mr. Shirakumo's anything but modest mansion. The wide driveway was packed with blue trucks all of the same make and model. The same as the ones they saw before. It was true. The only other vehicle was a silver luxury car parked inside a small garage by a fancy garden full of purple flowers.
Ochako floated her eyes from across the garden to Hikiishi.
"Sorry about earlier, Ms. Hikiishi," she bowed slightly, "it was a misunderstanding."
"No problem at all," she smiled.
Izuku was still having a weird feeling despite promising himself to Plus Ultra the hell out of this shit.
I wish Katsuki would apologize too.
When he looked over at the atomic blonde, he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. His eyes were steely as they ever were when he was in thought. What was his plan?
'Light snooping.'
Right, light snooping it would be. Izuku subconsciously held his fists up by his chest. Hikiishi noticed but didn't seem to question it. She continued…
"Mr. Shirakumo is probably in his office right now. If you'll don't mind I could actually use some help carrying in the cargo. He likes seeing the stuff upfront."
She pointed behind herself to the truck. The crate looked heavy as hell but Ochako had a knack for carrying heavy-as-hell things.
"Sure thing," she said, "I can do it all myself, even."
Really it was the driving that was more difficult now. In the last two years, Ochako had refined her Quirk enough that this job wouldn't ruin her new clothes.
The crate was easily over a hundred pounds. Nothing compared to some of the training weights she'd been using recently. Five hundred. A thousand. A ton, even.
Bringing it in through the doorway, she didn't even get a chance to wonder at the cavernous, speckless interior. Medieval artifacts from around the world lined the walls in pretty little wooden and glass cases. A private museum. Landscape paintings in some kind of classical style, by artists that Ochako didn't know the name of. The stairwells… one way up and one way down. How could one man live all alone in such a place? And keep it clean?
It reminded her a lot of Momo's house.
"Aaaand release," Ochako released the crate, setting it down as gently as she could.
What was in it?
"Doc?" Hikiishi called out to the empty house.
Doc…? Doc…? Doc…?
Kenji Tsuragamae sniffed around. He must've not found anything unusual.
"Groovy pad," he said, sounding a tinge facetious.
Kenji Hikiishi just looked up and smiled.
"Groovy," she said, "I dunno if the doc's around. He doesn't get out too often and no one really sees him—"
She was interrupted by a large door opening, loudly, out to the left of the front door. Everyone turned around. There was a rather short man, shorter than Tsu, with a bald head and big bushy mustache. Big and bulky round glasses completely obscured his eyes. He wore a black suit with a white shirt.
He hobbled along, every step with his fancy dress shoes making loud clicks on the marble floor. Like a ticking clock.
"I am saddened to inform you that the professor is not available at the moment," he said.
"Uh-huh," Katsuki shook his head but only in one direction, "you're not the professor?"
The man staggered. He took a bow.
"Dr. Ujiko," he said, "Dr. Shirakumo is… missing."
There was a loud gasp between Ochako, Tsu, and Izuku.
A-ha! So there was something up. Unless Dr. Ujiko meant "missing" as in 'I haven't seen him in a few hours so he's probably out drinking right now.' That's probably what he meant, old people tended to talk like that.
"Ah," Katsuki grumbled, "don't get all freaked out—"
"M-m-missing?" Izuku was shaking like he was being spit-roasted by Kaibara and Shindo.
As much as he hated to admit it, he'd pay to see that—
"Yes, I'm afraid so," the doctor said, "no one's seen him for quite a while."
"Aw," Kenji Hikiishi put a hand on her head, "that explains why I haven't seen him around."
She did say he doesn't get out often, Kenji Tsuragamae recalled.
"Hrmph," he grumbled.
"Ah," the doctor fidgeted, "don't be alarmed, however. Dr. Shirakumo tends to disappear quite frequently. It's the way he is, I'm afraid."
If Katsuki narrowed his eyes any more, he'd probably have to start wearing glasses. At least that's how he thought it worked.
"What do you mean by 'quite a while,' Eggman?" Katsuki asked.
The doctor looked up at them all, then raised a finger. In the same motion, he twirled around on a heel and walked off to the door he'd come out of. Captivated, they followed.
"If you will," he called out to them, "I would say… nine, ten days."
'Nine, ten days'? Why didn't he call the police?
Hikiishi closed the door behind her and Izuku jumped a little. Stuck inside a strange room with a strange man. It was a posh office, similar to the room in Momo's house that was sometimes used for study group, but much smaller. There was a huge desk made of some kind of expensive wood in the exact center of the room. On the desk was a collection of ephemera, loose letters and thingamabobs, glasses to gain sight and glasses to lose sight, and a computer. Like the foyer, everything was immaculate.
"If he's been gone," Tsu said, "who's been cleaning up?"
Not the question you should've asked, Izuku thought. He held onto his arm when he felt a chill.
"Magne and I have," the doctor said.
"Who the hell's Magne?" Katsuki asked.
"Uh," Hikiishi rubbed the back of her head, "that'd be me. That's what my friends call me. I've got a magnet Quirk."
The doctor nodded and walked over behind the desk, pulling out an old photograph from the top drawer.
"Dr. Shirakumo does not keep many photographs of himself so… I apologize if this proves inadequate."
He held the old photograph out for the others to see. It looked like it had been taken in the '80s. Not just because of the wear on the photo but the wear in the photo:
Three teenage boys in leather jackets; two black, one brown. The one in brown was the tallest, with big and wavy light blue hair and a bandage over his nose. The ones in black looked a lot like Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic.
Oboro Shirakumo.
"Is that…?!" Izuku's eyes lit up in an odd way. It looked like he wasn't sure to be excited or scared.
"Damn, Mr. Aizawa always looked like Taking Back Sunday?"
"That's Dr. Shirakumo in the middle," the doctor said, "those two were friends of his at U.A., they teach now. In fact, I'd say you all look rather familiar…"
Maybe it was just his imagination but when the doctor looked over the gang, Izuku could've sworn that he looked at him about half a second less than the others.
"You're the star students… Mr. Aizawa's students."
"Aizawa-sensei never told us about this Shirakumo guy," Tsu said.
"I'm afraid with good reason," what could be seen of the doctor's face had turned dour, "they've not spoken in, my, fifteen years?"
"Hrmph," Tsuragamae crossed his arms, "I believe I've heard of him."
"Really?"
"Mhm, though I can't remember what exactly Hizashi said about him, if anything. Shota surely didn't say anything."
"It's a heartbreaking situation, really. I'm sure they'd all refuse to speak of it."
Dr. Ujiko started out the door back into the foyer. He approached the crate, which was standing upright. It was about as tall as Tsuragamae so when the doctor stood next to it, Izuku became a bit worried that it'd fall over and crush him.
"I'm sure Dr. Shirakumo wouldn't mind if we take a look? Magne?"
He held a hand out in Hikiishi's direction. She stepped forward with a crowbar that Izuku hadn't noticed until now. She carefully pried open the crate.
There was that fear again. Like some kind of thing would crawl out of the crate. Sure… there were no monsters. Not the movie kind, at least. What if this was all a trap? Could he just run and hide now before the monster was let loose out of its cage? Would that be smart or cowardly? What… is that thing?
The board facing the group came down where Hikiishi stood. She was sure to hold it up and set it down softly. Wouldn't want to ruin a perfectly fine marble floor.
Inside the crate, shrouded in darkness by the remaining three walls of the crate was some kind of suit of armor. Unlike anything Izuku had ever seen before. For some reason, the neck armor went up to where the wearer's head would be. The menacing, mouthless helmet fit inside the neck snugly. The helmet was a darker color than the rest of the shiny, chrome set. If he could guess, he'd say it was all steel. And very expensive.
"Beautiful," the doctor said, "isn't it?"
"I've never seen any set of armor like that before," Tsu said.
She sounded… skeptical. Maybe she also thought something was up.
"If I had to say," she continued, "it was custom made."
"A special order," the doctor said, "from a collection of rare medieval artifacts. I'd hoped Dr. Shirakumo would be here to retrieve it. I wasn't sure if he'd want it on display in the museum or here."
"What do you do around here besides roost?" Katsuki asked.
"I took Dr. Shirakumo under my wing when he came into the business. I was the head of the department before he took over some years ago. Now I just handle the loose ends."
Tsu put her finger to her chin.
"Did Dr. Shirakumo say anything before he went missing?"
The doctor looked puzzled and turned to Magne, who didn't seem to have any puzzle pieces lying around. She shrugged.
"He didn't," she said, "he sort of just vanished."
Her story wasn't really adding up, Tsu could see. So far she'd been pretty vague on the professor's whereabouts, saying she rarely saw him. Apparently he had always been like this. But if he'd been missing for "nine, ten days" surely she'd have called someone about this? And even if she hadn't for whatever reason, surely she'd seem more worried. Something seemed a bit off about her when Dr. Ujiko said that Dr. Shirakumo was missing.
Thrilling. A road trip mystery. Bless Izuku for being such a scaredy-cat and a thrill seeker. Hopefully this thing will be solved before Friday. It was nearing Tuesday evening.
Tsu pulled out a notepad and discreetly wrote:
SUSPECTS:
KENJI HIKIISHI
Katsuki looked over at her and rose an eyebrow, then shot a glare at the suspect. Tsu must've been really good with names.
"Would anyone want to hurt him?" Tsu asked.
"No, no," Dr. Ujiko said, "the good professor is a very professional and honest man. No enemies and no skeletons in closets."
"But what about Aizawa-sensei?"
Tsuragamae-sensei gave her a look. Then the others followed. Dr. Ujiko was the only one to look the opposite way.
"I'm sure Dr. Shirakumo would not appreciate me discussing this," he said, "but I doubt the situation is worthy of a violent rivalry."
Tsuragamae looked around. There was a lot of expensive stuff here. He sniffed.
"How often do you deal with burglaries?" he asked.
"Never," Dr. Ujiko said, "Magne here makes sure of that."
The two Kenjis made eye contact. Then they both made eye contact with the armor. There was something alluring about its 'gaze.'
Katsuki realized his leg was shaking.
"Well I'm hungry," he said, "we better have something better to eat than dog food… and by dog food I mean shrimp chips."
"Would you be spending the night?" the doctor asked.
No way. And not an appropriate question.
"Nah," Katsuki rolled his head back and grabbed his neck, "we've got that covered."
"Thank you," Izuku said.
Dr. Ujiko looked down.
"Then dinner it is… I should except you all in an hour?"
The group bowed out of the conversation as Dr. Ujiko retreated to another room—
"Oh, and one more thing," he stopped, "I wouldn't stay out past bedtime."
Uh… okay?
The doctor finally disappeared.
Kenji Hikiishi idled around for an awkward moment before going out the front door.
"I, uh," she started, "gotta get some things done, pull in the truck, I probably won't join you for dinner, sorry."
And she was off as well.
Katsuki noticed that Tsu was still staring after her, even when the door was closed. She was thinking something. Maybe she wanted to get to spying on her.
"Can I get a word with you?" Katsuki motioned for her to walk with him down a hallway to the right of the front door.
Izuku looked like he noticed but didn't want to say anything. When they were both out of earshot…
"I think the egghead's more suspicious," Katsuki said.
"Hikiishi didn't seem very worried about the professor," Tsu explained, "she's probably planning on stealing something. I don't know why she hasn't yet, though. After ten days."
Duh! Goddammit, Asui.
"Yeah, no shit, I think she's just a dumbass. We've been through this shit enough that I think it's actually quite obvious that the old man is the perp. It's gotta be something more than stealing shit."
"Oh yeah? What's your reasoning?"
"Bitter old man? Didn't call the cops? You wanna talk about how nonchalant Hikiishi's being? Hell, maybe they're both in on it. Go ahead and write the doc's name on your list. Even if I'm somehow wrong it's better to be safe than sorry. You wouldn't wanna be wrong about something like this, right? The other guy's probably dead. I don't care if he says he 'tends to do this,' it doesn't seem right… okay? Plus, he asked if we were staying the night."
As much as she didn't want to admit it, he had a point. Heartbreaking.
She updated her notes:
SUSPECTS:
KENJI HIKIISHI
DR. UJIKO
"We should probably get his given name too," she said.
"Yeah… given names are very important."
Tsu furrowed her brow. Fine, if you're gonna do this now, I'll do this now.
"I'm sure Deku thought the same—"
"Hey! I don't call him 'Deku' anymore so you can shut up about that!"
"It's more about how you treat him," Tsu's face turned, and turned Katsuki's stomach with it.
Really? This? Now?
Every time he had to hear it from her, it felt like all the progress he thought he'd made had been reset behind his back. Then he'd have to just coax himself out of that hole again and start his day from the top.
Couldn't she just shut up and not try to change who he was? That's why he always preferred Ochako. She could be a solid bitch sometimes but she didn't try to change who he was. Just talk him down from some ledge. There was an edge to her that he could come to respect. She was like Eijirou in a lot of ways. There were people he tolerated but people rarely tolerate him back. Bless Class A.
But Asui… maybe they could never be friends. And that wouldn't be so bad. You can't be friends with everyone.
Whatever… when we get to Fukuoka, I'll probably find someone to switch with me. The others are better off without me.
When he refocused on his surroundings, Asui had already gone back to the others, leaving him alone in the hallway with portraits of long-dead people.
Dinner. Light snooping.
What the hell did I get myself into?
When he got back to the foyer, Ochako was just coming in from an adjacent hallway. Where was she just now? She crossed her arms and frowned.
"I don't think dinner's on the menu," she said.
It was an awkward thing to say but Katsuki understood enough what she meant.
"Yeah?" Katsuki tried getting her to continue.
"Unless someone's getting something out. The kitchen is empty."
"What are you? Scared?"
"Ugh, no, just… worried… about… things."
Katsuki gave her a tired look. No energy to roll his eyes.
"So… scared," he put his hands in his pockets and looked at his feet, "if we can just get this over with without Kenji getting in the way I… I dunno, I'm tired. Or something. Just… keep looking around."
Ochako tapped a finger on her bicep, repeatedly. She looked like she just bit a lemon. Did Tsu say anything to her?
"Yeah, me too, it's been kind of a shitty day. I really don't want to do this right now, I just wanted to enjoy what might be my last free summer."
Everyone knew Katsuki was "bad at feelings," and everyone put it exactly that way. It actually felt like they were making fun of him. But he got what she meant.
Cheer her up, dumbass!
Katsuki sighed.
"Yeah… as much as I'd like to skip and get back on the road, that's not what heroes do. You wanna be a hero, right Uravity?!"
Ochako Uraraka looked up and was suddenly replaced with Uravity, who gave him a dangerous grin.
"Heck yeah!"
"Alright! Now… the old egg told us not to stay out at night so I think we should."
Ochako couldn't really recall him saying that. Oh yeah, he said he wouldn't stay out past bedtime.
She nodded, "It's only 4."
Katsuki thought about what they could possibly do for at least six hours, potentially up to eight. He looked from corner to corner, door to door of the foyer, up the stairs and out the front windows. Just now realizing how… splendidly… sunlight bathed the foyer. Gold. It really was a pleasant day. It was a shitty day.
"Yeeaaah, I'm gonna sleep in the van for a few minutes. Or hours. Don't bother me unless someone's dying or dead."
When he stepped toward the front door, he realized that the crate and the armor were still sitting there. Why did they leave it? And where was that woman, Kenji Hikiishi? Did she ditch them because she knew something was up? Was she getting help? Or was she actually getting work done like she said? She said she wouldn't be joining them for dinner.
I should get a notepad—wait, my cellphone… in the van.
After crawling into the back of the van to fish out his cellphone, Katsuki found comfort in the old pillows and blankets that someone had strewn about the place for sleep. Sleep. Sleep…
"KACCHAN!"
"AH!"
It was… Izuku. Shaking. Shuddering. It was… dark… nighttime.
Katsuki growled.
"You moron… what the hell time is it?"
"KACCHAN THE ARMOR! IT'S GONE!"