The cellphone said 10:56 PM.

Izuku said 'KACCHAN THE ARMOR! IT'S GONE!'

It was always Kacchan-The-Armor:It's-Gone PM somewhere. How do they even fit that on a clock?

Getting up, Katsuki realized something wasn't quite right.

Van? Normal. Izuku having a panic attack? Normal. Annoying extras?

"Where's everyone at?" Katsuki gave out, "bleh…"

Stomach… hungry…

It took him a while to realize Izuku's shouting, his stomach was growling so loudly. Crawling up out the back doors to meet Izuku's flushed eyes it dawned on him he wasn't listening. If Izuku had already given him an answer, he'd have to repeat it.

"HEY! I SAID WHERE IS EVERYONE?!"

"UH I JUST TOLD YOU THEY'RE INSIDE RIGHT NOW BU-BU-BUT—"

"BUT WHAT? INSIDE BUTT?"

That paused the blubbering and for a second he thought he could see a humored smirk crawl up on Izuku's face before—

"B-butt… HEY THIS IS SERIOUS, OKAY?!"

Deku Rage was rare, and its rarity made it all the more hilarious to Katsuki. Especially when it was complete with a few meaningless hand swipes.

Izuku's actually kinda cute when he tries being angry—

"ALRIGHT," Katsuki shook his head and got up before Izuku could actually start throwing hands.

Just standing up to a full six centimeters taller than the little guy was enough to shut him up. Just like old times. Damning the only mouth he had, he shoved away the thousand thoughts and memories of their history together. NOT NOW, the second loudest voice said.

"Well come on, let's go!" the loudest voice said.

Psyched up, Izuku ran to the front door of the mansion without a word to leave Katsuki in the dust with.

The mansion was a lot more imposing than impressive at nighttime, especially since there were no lights on inside but the ones coming through the foyer windows. Katsuki was just now realizing how big the driveway was now that he was forced to run across it. After the last two days, the sight of all the blue trucks made this feel like a nightmare. Wait, no, this whole trip had been a nightmare so far.

The look on Ochako's face—

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT—oh," she turned to find the two boys at the door, "you scared the crap out of us."

"Nah, just you," Katsuki said.

Kenji's ears had perked up and Katsuki could've sworn they were up before they rushed in. He was hunched over and sniffing around the room something furious.

Tsu was shaking worse than Izuku. It wasn't cold inside, certainly not with it being late July. Even at night. The mansion hadn't even seemed to have air conditioning. She was afraid of something.

Even in a situation like this, Katsuki always remembered her being steelier than Tetsutetsu Tetsut—god, fuck that guy's parents.

If he had to guess, more happened than just the armor being gone… which it was.

"Shit… any idea where Jane Lennon and Omelette Gandhi are at?"

Tsu looked up. Her eyes had widened so much that Katsuki could've sworn they now had their own gravitational field. He was certainly drawn in.

"Dr. Ujiko's in the study," she whimpered, "I got him there as q-quickly as p-possible."

Shit, this is bad.

"What happened?" Katsuki asked across the group, not wanting to pressure her anymore. Still, she persisted…

"The armor… it… it's…"

Exactly as he was expecting, Izuku was muttering nothings between stilted breaths and chattering teeth.

Don't tell me, the armor's alive?

"Alright," Katsuki said, "where is it?"

Ochako gave all she could at the moment with regards to concern. If anyone was gonna be the brave one tonight, it was going to be her!

"Upstairs," she said, "I'll go with you if you're going—"

Pitch black. The lights gave out.

"AH!" Izuku screamed, then stalled, "SHUT UP, BE BRAVE!"

Balling up his fists, Izuku sprung from his slouch and struck an All-Might-y pose.

SCREECH!

"AH WHAT WAS THAT!?" Izuku jumped like a cat and scurried off behind Kenji.

Katsuki turned to the window where the sound had come from. Outside? A car pulling up?

"Is it the other Kenji?" Ochako asked.

Katsuki could've looked out the window but bold as bold could be, he twisted the knob and stumbled out onto the lawn.

"Kat—"

It sounded like Ochako but he couldn't care anymore now that he was outside with whatever that thing was. It probably knew where he was.

Crawling across the grass, he heard the screeching continue. It was definitely tires on gravel. Then it stopped. Before the headlights crossed his path, he lunged behind a bush. Big pieces of gravel cast heavy shadows across the ground in front of him. The bush would only be a shield for about five seconds. It was do or die.

Five…

Doors opened.

Four…

Doors closed.

Three…

"Impressive…"

That voice…

Oh god no.

Without two seconds to spare, Katsuki leapt from behind the bush to face the horror he knew he'd find from the voice. This was a nightmare.

"NO—"

A shrill bellowing emerged from the night. Nocturnal beasts shrieked and hid away in hollow places out of reach. Birds scattered from theirs, away into the night sky that swallows light. A thunderous clap descended from its twisted maw. A ghastly tempest sang an ancient psalm of ancient pain. Neito Monoma laughed.

"Katsuki Bakugou!? Ha! Let me guess, you're here to solve the mystery of the blue trucks as well? Just… step aside and we'll take care of this."

We?

Vision clearing once again, Katsuki found three more students from Class B emerge from the van. A nice van, much nicer than Mr. Uraraka's old banger.

From the driver's seat came Itsuka Kendo. From the back, Yui Kodai and Kousei Tsuburaba.

How the hell did these poor kids end up with Monoma? And why the hell were they here?

"Oi!" Katsuki took a defensive position, "How the hell did you get mixed up in this?!"

Kendo looked like she had to think about that.

"The blue trucks?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Katsuki said, "That and getting stuck with Slim Shady."

"It's a long story," Kendo said, "and it's getting late."

Monoma was the first to step forward…

"So are the Boy Wonder and the Frog Princess around or is it just the two of you?"

Just the two—

Katsuki nearly spit out his skeleton when he saw Ochako standing right next to him.

"JEEZ!" he reached for a breath, then his knees, "Don't DO that!"

"Sorry," Ochako said, "hey, so… why are you guys here?"

Yui Kodai pulled out a notepad and pushed up her big, round glasses. Ochako never recalled her wearing glasses. Or the color orange. In fact, the entire group looked… out of place. Cartoonish. What the hell were they wearing?

When Kodai didn't give an immediate answer, Katsuki stepped in again.

"They're here for the same reason we are," he said, "apparently."

"Oooh, Mystery Gang shenanigans!" Monoma fluttered around like a San Rafael butterfly, "please help us, we're soooo lost like little infant lambs on—OW!"

Bless Kendo and her anti-Monoma tactical karate chop.

"Yeah," Kodai said, "babysitting."

Tsuburaba rubbed the back of his neck. A lot.

"It's cool," he said, "but the pay sucks."

Good to see Neito's… friends?… had a sense of humor about him.

"I don't need babysitting," Monoma said, "and my parents are not paying them."

"Yeah," Tsuburaba said, "I thought that was obvious."

"Anyway," Kendo said, "we followed one of the trucks here… Kousei's idea."

Kousei smiled coyly.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Katsuki asked.

"We kept seeing these trucks," Kousei said, "and it was kinda weird so I was… getting kinda suspicious and… just had the idea to see what was up."

Katsuki got it, "Weird, same… except we were technically invited, thanks to a certain someone."

"So is it just the two of you?" Kendo asked.

"Nah," Katsuki sighed, crossing his arms, "Midoriya and Asui are here. As well as Tsuragamae."

"YES!" Monoma feigned excitement with an obnoxious little jump, "The whole gang's here! Sorry we don't have a fifth wheel to even things out."

Katsuki and Ochako both rolled their eyes. Kendo put a hand to her chin.

"Hm, uh, how exactly were you 'invited'?" she asked.

"Driver was a fan, apparently, she was already delivering something here so we came along."

Kodai pushed up her glasses and wrote this down… "Hm."

Everyone looked up, the way she said 'hm.'

"Well? Spit it out!" Katsuki said.

Kodai sighed, "So… why would a truck driver have to deliver something directly to the company?"

They all tried thinking of an answer. As she had a chance to look around, Ochako realized once again that the lot was packed with the blue trucks. Certainly a museum required lots of shipping and receiving. But this wasn't the museum. This was the patron's mansion.

"Maybe Dr. Ujiko originally owned the truck company," Ochako offered.

Kodai wrote that down.

"Who's Dr. Ujiko?" Kendo asked.

"You'll meet him," Katsuki said intensely, he was thinking… "Yeah, Hikiishi called him the boss, after all. But that doesn't explain why she apparently helps clean up the place. Why would she do that and drive a truck?"

"Maybe she's sleeping with him," Monoma offered.

Katsuki preferred not to think about that, especially when it was coming from Monoma.

Kodai kept writing things down.

"Anyway," Katsuki said, "it doesn't really matter, we've got a suit of armor running around."

"Ugh," Monoma dropped his head, "another low-rate villain role-playing as a spooky ghost. So boring."

"Any bright ideas on how to shut it down, Yale?"

Monoma looked confused at that nickname. He was wearing a white acrylic sweater over a dark blue collared shirt and an orange ascot tie. He didn't know much about American college or the United States in general but the getup must've made him look like an American college student.

"You know you suck at nicknames, right?"

"I need time to come up with them, okay? And I try my best not to think about you."

"You have to try not the think about me? Ha!"

"Okay, that's enough," Kendo said, "let's all just get inside and figure this out. Where's the driver you mentioned?"

"She's gone," Ochako sighed, "she said she had work to do and just left. That was about six or seven hours ago."

Oh yeah, Katsuki remembered, I've been sleeping this whole time and…

"What the hell have you been doing all this time anyway?" he asked.

"We went to eat, we came back, looked around… the place is huge so we didn't see everything."

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You told me not to bother you unless someone was dying."

Katsuki growled and led the others inside.

"You have flashlights?" he asked.

"Yeah," Monoma held one up, "always carry a few. You should think more about being prepared for emergencies instead of thinking about me."

"You are the emergency."

When they were all inside, they found the others huddled together with a candle's light illuminating their faces.

Tsuburaba met eyes with Tsu and quickly looked away shyly. That awkward thing that happened at Joint Training had never really left his mind. He noted how she had huddled up with Izuku… hopefully she's forgotten about it.

"We got flashlights," Monoma said.

"No time to explain," Katsuki said, "I can take care of this in five seconds so I don't know why I'm here right now."

"Oh no you don't," Ochako reached out and grabbed him. Katsuki was now two meters off the ground.

"OH GODDAMMIT OCHAKO! LET ME DOWN!"

Monoma laughed, "You know, maybe Class A isn't so bad after all. Let's call it a truce. For now."

"WHEN I GET BACK DOWN THERE I'M BEATING YOUR ASS AND LOCKING YOU IN THE DARKEST ROOM I CAN FIND!"

"I'm making you go with Monoma," Kenji said.

"Oh, so we're splitting up and searching for clues, then?" Katsuki said as he spun slowly on his back, arms crossed behind his head.

After being floated by Ochako so many times, he found waving or paddling a certain way would do that. He'd clearly done it enough that it no longer upset his stomach. And he… seemed to enjoy it? Why else would he do it on purpose?

"Sounds good to me," Itsuka said, "would you like to go with me, Ochako? It's Itsuka, by the way in case you forgot."

"Neato," Neito said, "I'm guessing Yui will be going with Asui?"

"Just call me Tsu," Tsu said.

"Okay," Yui said.

Kousei sighed, "Guess I'm going with Midoriya."

Kenji sniffed and looked around again as every group of two got together.

"I guess I'll go with you two, then," he said and followed Kousei and Izuku down a hallway to the right.

Neito looked up at Katsuki, still spinning. He couldn't help but smirk. There was something so cathartic about seeing one of his least favorite people in such a vulnerable position. Class A had it all coming to them. Always the center of attention around the school. Always the ones targeted by villains. Always the ones with the hottest, brightest stars. But burn twice as bright, burn half as long.

"You can let him down now," he said.

"Release," Ochako said.

She kept her hand on his arm even after he came down.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure you don't kick his ass before we get this thing figured out."

"Right. Let's rush this, ascot."

And they were off, upstairs and to the right. Every heavy step they took up those stairs sounded like another rafter coming down off the house. Neito gave one last longing look from the top of the stairs before disappearing into the darkness.

Now only the girls were left in the foyer. The flashlights bounced around the room onto uneven surfaces, paintings, and encased artifacts. Everything looked desaturated in the dark. Being the tallest of them all, Itsuka felt the need to be the bravest.

"Alright," she said, "Ochako and I will take the left upstairs. You two can take the left down here."

She pointed her light to the door of the study, where Tsu had left the doctor. Remembering that he was a suspect, she regretted not tying him up. Not that she had any rope or anything lying around…

Itsuka stopped just as soon as she started up the stairs. They were so much creakier than she had expected, and she expected creakage.

"Yikes," she whispered and continued up the stairs.

If they were still standing after the two blondes had trampled up them a few seconds ago, they'd certainly be fine. Then again…

"Hey," Ochako said, "don't be worried, I'm right here."

Itsuka smiled, "Sorry about Neito, he's a real pain sometimes."

Every step of the stairs was like a step on a giant piano key, every note out of tune.

"Don't worry about it," Ochako said, "sorry about Katsuki."

"Here we are apologizing for our blondes… so… you and Bakugou…?"

"Huh?"

Whoa, where's that coming from? Oh… did apologizing for Katsuki make it sound like we're—

"Uh… no, it's not like that," Ochako said, "um… how about you and Monoma?"

"Hah," Itsuka tried not to laugh too loudly, "no, I'm more like a big sister than anything else."

"Uh… sure, me too. Kind of… it's more like me and the other girls sort of make sure all the boys stay in line. Katsuki's not the only problem but… he's certainly the loudest."

"Well, yeah, everyone knows that. It's a good thing, though. I can tell he's a lot better than he used to be."

"And Monoma, he seems…" Ochako lost the thought, if there even was one.

Had Monoma changed much since they last saw him? She couldn't even recall the last time they'd seen him. Was it the Joint Training exercise? She always remembered him being loud and obnoxious and, well, an asshole. Tonight he seemed kinda tired. It was late, after all. After 11 PM, now. Maybe she wasn't getting him right, she was tired too.

"You know," Itsuka said, "he's not always like this. He's just like this with you guys. When it's just with people he knows, he's a nice guy. Really. He's not an idiot, either, even though he likes to pretend he is. It's weird…"

It sounded like she was going to add more to 'It's weird,' but she never did. Ochako smiled.

"Yeah," she said, "Katsuki can be like that too. I think he just plays up all the bad stuff cause… I dunno, I'm not a psychologist."

"Hey, maybe after tonight they'll be best friends."

"After tonight you'll have to piss out of your ass cause I'm feeding your dick to a pack of stray dogs."

Neito threw his head back but no laughter came. Instead, there was click of the tongue. There was something oddly reserved about him all of a sudden.

"I feel like I heard that one before," he said, "honestly, Bakugou, I don't really find this fun anymore."

Katsuki threw up an eyebrow. What the hell was he gonna say now? That he wants to put all that bad blood behind them and be… friends? Right now? After being around each other again for only five minutes? And still acting like a douche? And in front of everyone?

Or was he just tired like everyone else?

Instead of figuring the fool out, Katsuki continued down the dark hallway in silence. That thing had to be around here somewhere. He hadn't seen it move yet so he had no idea what to expect—

"You see…" Neito sounded desperate all of a sudden, "there's someone… I like."

SHUT UP. SHUT UP.

Katsuki walked faster. I don't care if he ends up by himself, I'm getting the hell out of this.

Somehow, Neito was able to catch up.

"All I'll say is… I'd much rather be with her than continue… this."

"Oh, I see how it is," Katsuki slowed down, "don't give me that shit after tonight. It's all bullshit."

"Y-yeah," Neito stopped, "I still think you suck, Bakugou. But… this whole Class A versus Class B thing is lame if I can't be with a dame. Third year's just around the corner… I think it's high time we set our priorities straight."

Katsuki stopped too. Damn thoughts again trying to come out all at once. The circle of light was all he focused on. Objects to latch onto, things to distract him. He sighed and turned to face Neito.

"Look," he said, "I just wanna get this over with and I don't need you bothering me, especially about shit that doesn't involve me. So yeah, shut up and keep moving. I don't need sudden character development from a B-list extra. Even if it's all for the nookie."

Neito smiled, but it was a different smile from the rest. Katsuki could tell he was actually smiling this time and not just being a douche. Weird. Somehow even more annoying.

"That's more like it," Neito said, "I'm… kinda glad I got to get that off my chest."

Monoma's actually kinda cute when he tries being sincere—

"But I'm still gonna beat you in the Billboards."

"Not gonna happen," Katsuki continued down the hall.

A single bead of sweat dripped down Neito's forehead after that confession. Then there came a wordless voice from down the hall and the sweat began to pour.

Not wanting to alert any villain to their location, he kept quiet. He silently hoped Katsuki would too.

Too bad it was moments like this that Katsuki had no hope, no fear.

"HEY! WE'RE RIGHT HERE!"

No reason to be quiet now. Neito tapped Katsuki's shoulder, activating Copy.

They waited for something to emerge from around the corner but… nothing. Just… sounds. A calm whoosh, like a whisper. A disembodied voice.

They waited. And waited. It was getting cloudy. What the hell?

The flashlight seemed to dim as a thick, dark cloud engulfed the hallway.

Izuku, Kousei, and Kenji had missed the windows to their right. The distant city lights had made this trek less lonely. At least they had the portraits to keep them company.

"This place is so uber creepy," Kousei said.

Izuku grumbled as quietly as he could.

"Um… if we find that thing," he said, "you can trap it, right?"

Kousei nodded.

"Of course…"

Izuku had never really met Kousei Tsuburaba before, never talked. But he knew Tsuburaba could use his Quirk to solidify the air around someone to trap them.

It was hard enough talking to someone in confidence, try someone you knew next door to nothing about. What would they talk about besides their Quirks? Getting through the night? At this point, Izuku felt it'd be a better idea to sneak out of the mansion and catch some Z's in the van.

Kenji, who was walking behind the two boys, seemed to notice something was off. At every door they passed, he sniffed. He'd probably wanted to check each one but he'd implored the boys to keep moving with a wave of the hand or a "keep going." Maybe there was something juicy at the end of the hallway…

Either way, he was distracted enough.

"So," Kousei almost whispered, "you and Tsu?"

Izuku froze. For some reason, that question had scared him more than anything else tonight. The last two days had been a fright train ride up and down his spine but there was something about that that rubbed him the wrong way, in a different way than the other weird things.

"NO, I mean… i-it's not like that."

Kousei shrugged with his eyes but that didn't shake off the feeling. Please, Izuku thought, don't think there's more to this…

"Hm," Kousei murmured, "I was kinda hoping you'd be able to give me some relationship advice, like… ah, never mind."

No, despite knowing nothing about romantic relationships, Izuku kinda really wanted to hear what he was going to ask. He just didn't know how to get him to continue without making it awkward. It was definitely none of his business.

Why do I wanna know what he was gonna ask?

After all that's happened, maybe that wouldn't be so bad. Maybe his gut had the right idea. Screw it.

"Go ahead," Izuku spit out.

Kousei's eyes lit up, but not like a light bulb. They lit up like a curtain catching fire.

"Oh, uh… well, I like someone, you know? I just… you know?"

Izuku knew. And he didn't know what to do. It was the worst feeling in the world.

"Yeah… I don't know," he said.

Kousei seemed hellbent on something, so he persisted.

"Yeah, thing is," he said, "I'm on this trip because of her, you know? Friend of a friend situation. And… the whole truck thing? I just wanted to impress her, you know? It's just… I just don't think she's into me, you know? I think she has the hots for Sen. You know Sen? Kaibara?"

Nope. Definitely less so than this Tsuburaba guy.

"No," Izuku said.

"Like," Kousei continued, "what does he have that I don't, huh? The looks? The brains? The—"

I really shouldn't have said anything. Here I am.

A pained frown came upon Izuku's face, one that Kousei never noticed. He kept rambling on about all the things that Sen Kaibara probably had that he didn't. The one thing Izuku kept wondering, though, was who the mystery girl was. Was it Kendo or Kodai?

"It's just frustrating, you know—oof," Kousei walked right into something tall, dark and… furry and… wearing a shirt and shorts? Kenji?

Kenji turned around, stunned.

"Kenji," Izuku said, "w-what are you doing in front of us?"

Tsu had gathered enough courage back to face this thing. She hoped Yui Kodai was apt enough to do the same. She didn't feel up to carrying the team at the moment. Dr. Ujiko would be enough of a handful.

Speaking of which, where was he?

"Dr. Ujiko?" she called out into the study.

On cue, Yui's flashlight landed on a short, bald man with a mustache and thick glasses. The doctor had been hiding underneath the smaller desk in the corner of the room.

"Y-you brought friends along?" he asked.

"They got here just a few minutes ago… this is…"

Yui seemed to lose focus easily. It took her a good second to answer.

"Um… Yui," she said, "and the others…"

"Oh," the doctor cooed, "yes, I recognize you, Class B."

He must've been a fan as well. No one really knew who Class B was. And if they did, they didn't care.

"Dr. Ujiko," Tsu said, "what exactly is happening? That… the armor… it…"

Dr. Ujiko put his hands on his head and let out a small breath.

"I… I knew it was… I told you not to stay out late."

"Dr. Ujiko, please!"

He locked eyes with her. Two pairs of the hugest eyes staring each other down didn't seem like a good idea.

Yui felt a chill run up and down her spine. She felt like she should leave. She didn't.

The doctor slowly got up, shaking. Tsu was afraid he'd collapse but she didn't go to help him up just yet…

"Please," he said, "we have to leave… the thing will calm down in the morning."

"I'm not leaving," Tsu said, standing up straight.

Yui knew they had a simple task: catch the villain and get a confession. She just hoped Tsu had a plan. Yui wasn't exactly one for making plans.

Tsu was thinking… good, she was probably coming up with a plan. Yui decided to check around the room in the meantime.

"I think I know who it is," Tsu said.

Dr. Ujiko raised both his eyebrows.

"Ah… who? That thing… is not human!"

Tsu frowned.

"It's Hikiishi," she said, "she said she has a magnetic Quirk… so she's using it to make the armor move on its own. I really should've said something earlier…"

Dr. Ujiko looked nonplussed, and his hand returned to his head.

"You… saw that thing for yourself… that mist!"

Yui sifted through papers in the drawers of the big desk at the center of the room. At the feeling of some texture different from paper, she found a photograph. Shining the flashlight onto it she found the faces of three teenage boys in leather jackets. Two of them looked a lot like Aizawa-sensei and Yamada-sensei. The one in the middle also looked a tad familiar but Yui couldn't… wait… Oboro Shirakumo? Who was he again? Why did she remember his name? The… old yearbook.

Over the last two years, Yui Kodai had read over seventy books. She'd read so much, in fact, that she started wearing glasses.

When she got bored of fiction, she went to non-fiction. Books about the history of Quirks, pro-heroes, villains, unsolved cases. Eventually she got bored of that and found herself sifting through old U.A. yearbooks, reading up on a whole lot of old alumni, including those who'd eventually gone pro. It was her favorite thing to do in her spare time. Like meeting new friends. Learning about them, their Quirks, their interests, what they wanna be when they got out of school.

She didn't even have to say anything and that made it even better.

When she'd found the yearbooks including Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic in their first, second and third years, it was like finding that rare comic book issue or that rare collectible action figure. It was trash to an old student but treasure to a hero fan.

In a lot of the pictures in those three yearbooks, Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic were with this blue-haired boy. Oboro Shirakumo. What happened to him? What made him move away and make a new life for himself? Did Mr. Aizawa and Present Mic even know what happened to him? She'd have to ask. Or maybe… she had a copy of the Pro-Hero Ultra Analysis Guide: 1995 Edition somewhere in her bag and she could've sworn his profile was included.

But what were the chances of him becoming the museum's patron, specifically the one at Himeji Castle? And what were the chances of him becoming the owner of the shipping company? And what were the chances of two sets of U.A. students stumbling upon it on their way to an event?

Was this all a setup from the beginning? Was this revenge? Did Yui need to warn the others?

"What happened to Oboro Shirakumo?"

Tsu and Dr. Ujiko looked up at Yui.

"He's missing," they said in unison.

Yui narrowed her eyes and wrote down something in her notes.

"How long?"

"Ten… days," Dr. Ujiko said.

SCREECH!

Knowing now that that was the sound of a vehicle pulling into the driveway, Tsu stumbled over to the window. Sure enough, a blue truck was pulling in, haphazardly. The driver left and ran for the front door like someone's life depended on it. Tsu hoped it wouldn't come to that.

As the driver disappeared around the corner of the window that she couldn't see, she heard the heavy doors opening from behind the wall.

"Hey!" a muffled shout.

It sounded like… Kenji Hikiishi. She'd come back!

Ready to confront her if nothing else, Tsu leapt from a crouch through the study's door, which swung undone and startled Hikiishi.

"Asui! Where're the others?! Are they safe?! WHERE'S DR. UJIKO?!"

"I know it's you, Hikiishi!" Tsu got ready to pounce once again.

"It's not me, okay?! I'm sorry I left you behind, okay?! It's—"

Somewhere in the mansion, someone screamed.