"Around this corner," Ochako said into the dark, "you think it loops back around?"
Itsuka held the flashlight up from the dusty wooden floor, the corner turning right felt like two steps ahead. She shivered at the thought of it being a dead end. What if they were being stalked? And turning around meant they had to face their stalker?
Taking a gulp, Itsuka stomped forward. Turning her head to the right, she saw the circle of light disappear into the void…
"Ugh… stupid hallways," she said, "where's the minibar?"
"Just… a little more… we already checked it out earlier, but that was when the lights were working."
Weird how darkness makes even a place as familiar as your bedroom seem like some monster's lair, Ochako thought.
Thinking about that made her think of Tokoyami. What was his room like? What about the others? Thoughts of all Ochako's friends wound through her head like someone had spun a wheel with their faces on it. Soon this would come to pass and she'd see them again. Have a great time. Enjoy summer. Laugh… live… love?
"I think the battery's dying," Itsuka said.
Ochako's nerves forced her to stop moving where she couldn't see. The flashlight's power was fading and soon they'd be swallowed by the night. They'd be standing here. Potentially forever.
Itsuka rattled the flashlight, hoping some movement would give it one last spark of life. There was something so pathetic about a dying light, seeing its death rattles, giving hope that it will last just a moment longer…
"Wait," Itsuka murmured, "w-what is that?"
Adjusting to the darkness, Ochako noticed some kind of gas or fog filling the hallway.
"Should we hold our breath?" she asked.
"We're still standing, aren't we?" Itsuka threw the flashlight into the mist, but there was no clash or clutter.
In a dark hand the flashlight surfaced from the mist. Stepping forward, the suit of armor, its face aglow… two yellow eyes.
"AAAHHHH!"
Without much in the way of thought, Itsuka grew out her hand and threw a smack at the thing like she was swatting a fly. When that didn't as much as stun it, she threw her hand back, curled it into a fist the size of a boulder and went right back in.
"HIYA!"
BOOM!
A good, hard jab landed squarely on the face of the armor and the janky squeak of pounded metal filled the black and blurried air.
But yet again, no clash or clutter came. The armor had gone.
"D-did you get it?" Ochako shook out.
"I… I don't know. If I did, that thing obviously wasn't much of a fight."
Ochako looked around again, realizing it wasn't exactly that easy to look around.
"Can you clear the air?"
Itsuka nodded, "Open a window for me."
Keeping her eyes peeled on the armor's last spot, she waited for the sound of a window opening, to which she grew both her hands, and swiped at the air.
Afraid she'd get swept up too, Ochako held onto the window sill.
Feeling winded, Itsuka decided to stop. The flapping had managed to thin the mist, but not enough to call the mist as good as dissipated. Ochako watched as some of it spilled out the open window.
"J-jeez," Ochako said, "no wonder Tsu was so scared. What even was that?"
"Some kind of cloud quirk," Itsuka never turned around, "it's gone…"
"Maybe it uses that fog to move around… we have to get back to the others and let them know!"
"HEY! OCHAKO!" a voice that could only be Katsuki came from the other end of the hallway.
He must've heard her shout.
"Hey!" she shouted back.
Itsuka steeled herself, hands up. What if it was a trick? An illusion, like Camie's Quirk? Seeing a 'ghost' of Neito and Katsuki run full speed right at her, she hesitated…
"Hey!" Itsuka shouted.
The shape of the boys stopped.
"What the hell is she doing?" she could hear Katsuki say.
"Uh… Neito," she said, "what do I like to drink in the morning?"
There was only two seconds of silence.
"Coffee," Neito said, "black coffee."
"Maybe a bit too obvious," Itsuka put her hands down, "okay, come on."
When they were within spitting distance, Itsuka spat on the ground right in front of Neito's feet.
"Hey!" he jumped up, "what's the deal with that?"
"Just making sure you're real," she said with a smirk.
"Kinky," Katsuki said, "anyway, it's not some dumb-ass hallucination Quirk… just some shitty clouds."
Neito walked up beside Ochako and nudged her shoulder.
"Can you believe that?" he said, "the Lord of Death and Fear himself was afraid of some fluffy little clouds."
"I'M NOT THE ONE WHO SCREAMED LIKE A LITTLE GIRL—"
"That was me," Ochako admitted.
Itsuka frowned and looked around for a door.
"That thing disappeared after I punched it."
"Well good job solving this mystery! Let's get back on the road, shall we?" Katsuki turned around to the walk the other way before Neito grabbed him by the shoulder.
He was floating again.
"WHAT THE—OH GODDAMN SON OF A BITCH!"
Neito stifled a laugh.
"We're not leaving," he said, "we're regrouping downstairs—"
A muffled scream struggled to echo through the twisting chambers of the mansion. Was that thing downstairs now?
"Shit—"
THUD-CREAK!
Katsuki found himself sitting on the floor—
"Come on!" Neito yelled.
Kousei was perplexed by the decision to bring Kenji Tsuragamae along on the road trip. Besides being an adult, he was effectively a teacher. Was Izuku one of those kids who needed adult supervision at all times? If so, why even bother with the others? Must suck to be them.
But in this moment, Kousei felt relieved to have a familiar adult around. Especially one as tall as Tsuragamae-sensei.
Kenji was shaking his head.
"Ermph," he grumbled, "how… all of sudden everything just went black, and then I could see better again and… you guys were just… gone. Then you bumped into me."
Izuku turned around.
"Uh, guys… where's the rest of the hallway?"
Kousei turned around.
Just as he did, there was muffled shouting. Then a muffled scream. Then a muffled… was that something falling over? It sounded like metal pots and pans. What was happening out there? Every sound made Izuku cringe more and more.
"Sh-should we go—"
"Wait," Kenji said, holding up a hand.
Nothing. No more shouting… no more screaming… no more pots and pans being flung about.
"Some kind of hallucination Quirk?" Kousei wondered.
Was that it? Then again, Kenji appearing in a different place than he should have been wasn't really the makings of such a thing. Kenji… appeared in front of them when he was supposed to be behind them. Izuku gasped.
"Teleportation!"
This whole thing was a bump in the road and they were on a time budget. Thinking too much, getting involved, was not Kenji's priority. Even if someone—a friend of friend's life was potentially in danger. Duty be damned.
He frowned. And what were the odds of that? One thing at a time. Time budget. Darn…
"I'm puzzled," Kenji said, "why exactly would someone try to scare us into believing that suit of armor was 'haunted'? We didn't pay to visit a haunted house. Are they just trying to scare us off? Even after knowing who we are? And how does Shirakumo figure into this?"
A good remedy for fighting fear was thinking. Rationalizing. When most of your free time was spent rationalizing Quirks, their utility, battle strategy… suddenly potential opponents seemed so much smaller.
One thing Izuku found himself doing a lot during periods of rest was setting up 'villain scenarios' in his head. What made a villain a villain? What was the rationale behind it all? How could it make sense in their own heads? How could a hero counter them? Defeat them?
"What is he doing?" Kousei asked.
"He's thinking," Kenji said.
"Could you stop thinking for a while?"
"I think I got it!"
Izuku sprung up, index finger in the air. Kousei imagined a light bulb light up over his head.
"Himeji Castle is infamously known to be a haunted place… but since Quirks first appeared people forgot all about that kind of stuff. Maybe Dr. Ujiko wanted to trick tourists and, knowing our reputation, used us… so we'd leave and tell others about it. He'd make a killing off of it."
It was a simple plot, one that Kenji imagined to be the case for a few hours now. Kenji was proud that Izuku had kept it simple. No monsters, no brainwashing, no weird and convoluted science fiction mumbo jumbo. It was about money. The gang was just an afterthought. And it was a coincidence.
Kenji sighed once more, confidence returning to him. It was nice to see Izuku was getting his back, too.
"But," Kousei said, "you said something about another doctor, right? What happened to him?"
"Apparently he's been missing for about ten days," Kenji said, "and he just so happens to be a friend of Aizawa."
"Oh shit," Kousei rubbed his neck, "Mr. Aizawa has friends?"
Izuku regretted not having this conversation earlier. He was hungry, exhausted from thinking, exhausted from the fear, he just wanted to either get to Fukuoka or just… go home. Home was sounding like a nice place right about now. During summer, he actually got a chance to go home, see mom, and stay in his own room.
Soon. Now I need something to get me there!
"Maybe Dr. Shirakumo disagreed with Dr. Ujiko's plans and Dr. Ujiko… no, he couldn't have killed him, could he? M-maybe he just left and never came back?"
"You think this place has a basement?"
Kousei was clearly hinting at the possibility that Dr. Shirakumo was locked up. But this mansion was so big that any room might suffice as a makeshift prison. No basement needed. But earlier the gang did explore a lot of the place. Some doors were locked, but most were filled with junk. There were no screams, no sounds. No shifting chairs or shackles.
"If he left," Kenji said, "why wouldn't he call the police? Scaring people like that is technically assault. If Dr. Ujiko wanted it to seem real he wouldn't outright say it's a 'haunted house.' Also… this isn't even the castle. Why would he bring the armor here?"
Kenji left Izuku to think a few moments. Kousei couldn't stop shifting his eyes and shaking his fists…
"Look," he said, "I know I'm not a hundred percent up to date on all this and it's kinda making it worse for me so… can we just keep moving? I'm sure we'll figure this all out once we catch that thing."
Kenji gave him a look that he couldn't decipher.
"I don't know about Dr. Shirakumo," Izuku finally said, "but Tsuburaba's right. As long as we sit here and think about this, we won't get anything done."
That Plus-Ultra look came back to his face. Even Kousei was feeling it.
"Yeah," he said, "and Tsuragamae-sensei's right, that was assault so… we can actually interrogate the guy!"
"I'll be the final judge of that," Kenji said, "I'll have him under arrest… sorry I couldn't do anything earlier. That's just the way the system works."
Even though he had to learn all about it, Izuku wasn't exactly keen on all the bells and whistles of the crime legal system. Most of that stuff went in one ear and out the other. Like math. He didn't know exactly why, either. Maybe having a hyper-hyper-focus on being a Pro Hero had its drawbacks. You'd eventually forget what 529+390 was.
"Okay," Izuku said, "let's go…"
How dark had it gotten? The flashlight must've been dying. Kousei took a look at it, shook it around. It wasn't coming back to its full brightness.
"Damn thing's broken—"
The light tilted up, he was face-to-face with a dark visage. Eyes glowing yellow.
"AAAHHH!"
"AAHHHH!"
"RUN FOR IT!" Kousei ran screaming back in the direction of the foyer.
Izuku and Kenji went next. That suit of armor was sure to be right on their tail. No turning back! No slowing down!
Izuku was falling.
"AAAAHHH!"
Losing his breath in the mist, he lost focus on that fact. When he stepped right on by through a hallway, he felt as if he'd just woken from a dream… while walking? Was he just sleepwalking? Looking around he noticed Kenji and Kousei were both gone, but it was still nighttime. The hallway looked different.
"Guys?! W-where are you?! Kenji?! Tsuburaba?!"
"Izuku?!"
It was Ochako. She was with Katsuki, Itsuka, and Neito. They looked like they had been running. From what?!
"W-what's happening?" Izuku stood shaking, "W-where's Kenji and Tsuburaba?!"
"They were with you, right?!" Ochako said.
"Teleportation!" Izuku repeated from earlier.
He forgot that they hadn't been there when he said that before but—
"So I was…" Ochako started, "partially correct. That thing is moving through some kind of fog!"
"I-I'm just speculating as much as you are!"
Izuku turned around. The stairs were just a few meters ahead. He turned back to face the group.
"We gotta find Dr. Ujiko! Where is he?!"
"He should be in the study with Tsu and Kodai," Ochako said.
"Then let's go," Itsuka said, "if you need to talk to him."
They started off toward the stairs. It was nice being in a larger group again. Five. What a good number. Even though he didn't know Itsuka Kendo and Neito Monoma very well, he felt safe with them. It was an odd feeling that he couldn't quite place. He felt like he wouldn't feel as safe with someone else from Class A. Maybe because he knew how they'd be in this situation, and how they'd be in this situation was decidedly not safe…
Now looking out over the railing at the foyer, Izuku saw three figures. Two small, one larger. In the middle was unmistakably Tsu. The posture, the hair, the… tongue.
It looked like she'd tied up Kenji Hikiishi with her tongue. He hoped she hadn't been doing that too long. It couldn't have been comfortable. For either of them.
"Let her go, Tsu!" Izuku said.
Tsu hesitated. But trusting Izuku's judgment, she let her go. Using her tongue to tie people up must've really been the worst thing imaginable. Again, for both people.
"Yuck," Tsu said, "I was afraid my tongue would dry out. It's not as easy as it looks."
Five people coming down the stairs at once should've been a death sentence for that staircase. Every step, Tsu could feel the years come off the thing's lifespan.
"You're awfully calm," Neito said, "for being tongue-tied."
"Couldn't… breathe," Hikiishi said, "thought I was gonna pass out."
She was clutching her chest, still on the floor. She was searching for a breath but the floor was no place. Itsuka pulled out a chair from a corner near the stairs and led her to it. How tightly had Tsu held onto her?
"Please… Dr. Ujiko…"
"Just breathe," Itsuka said.
Itsuka stole a glance at Tsu and Izuku noticed. His face changed from mild bewilderment to wild determination.
"Dr. Ujiko is the one behind this," he said, "we're all sure of it!"
He took a look across everyone just to make sure. Itsuka and Neito's faces were hard to read. Katsuki rolled his eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Ochako's face matched Izuku's. Yui looked… confused? And Tsu looked down.
Yui looked around at the air…
"I, uh, have to get something," she said and ran out the front door.
The others said nothing about it, but looked around the air just as Yui had.
"Also," Izuku said, "where are they? Ujiko, Kenji, and Tsuburaba?"
With that awful look still on Tsu's face, she looked him in the eye.
"He's in the study," she said.
There was no time to worry about Kenji and Kousei just now. They'd probably been fine.
Izuku and Katsuki shared a look and rushed to the door of the study. Izuku felt his heart rate increase tenfold in a matter of a second. What if he was gone? Don't be gone.
"ALRIGHT!"
At Katsuki's shout, the two of them stopped in the middle of the study. Their eyes scanned every corner. Every photograph, painting, piece of furniture, instrument of unclear usage… but no Dr. Ujiko.
"The door!" Katsuki pointed to the door to their right.
Izuku ran to it and wobbled the knob.
"IT'S LOCKED!" he shouted.
Katsuki stepped back. Izuku took quick notice and stepped even further back. Katsuki swung his right arm back. In the moonlight, Izuku could see the sheen of sweat on his hand.
Everyone beyond the threshold of the study door stayed put in the foyer. They knew what was coming. Izuku stood firm, arms up in front of his face.
With just a flick of his hand and a full swing, like pitching a baseball, tossing a grenade, Katsuki threw a punch at the door.
CREEEEEAK-BOOM!
Even if he hadn't strained for a series of coughs, Izuku would not be able to tell that the door was completely gone. A pillar of smoke wavered between him and Katsuki. Then there was a gust of wind.
Turning around in a circle, Izuku eventually found Itsuka waving her big hands around the room. He could barely hear her, or even his own, coughing over the whirlwind.
Then silence. Katsuki was gone.
"W-where…?"
Covering his nose and mouth, Izuku made a run for where the door once was.
The room was a void, darkness. No windows. Izuku wondered again how the lights went out. Maybe Dr. Ujiko messed with the circuit breaker. Maybe the circuit breaker was somewhere in this room. He stumbled around in the dark for a moment. Neito was the only one nearby with a flashlight…
"Neito!" Izuku called out to the study. He turned back around, "Kacchan!"
Footsteps. Neito came running in, flashlight in hand. The light was so much brighter than Izuku anticipated. He held a hand up and felt the warmth on his skin. It would've been nice if the circumstances were nice.
"Sorry," Neito said, "where is Bakugou?"
Izuku turned to face the dark again, the light traveling over his shoulder. In the light they found an array of monitors sprawled out on a large desk, partially obscured by an older man's hairless head.
"Dr. Ujiko!" Izuku yelled, "Where's Katsuki?!"
"P-please," he said, suddenly shivering, "I need to find him… that—"
"FIND WHO?"
Dr. Ujiko quickly snapped his head back to face the light. The lenses of his glasses seemed only a purple haze under the lamp, his big and dark eyes clearly visible. It was a look Izuku knew too well, a look he'd had most of the trip, a look he'd had most of his life. Dr. Ujiko was afraid.
"I-I told you… not to stay here…"
"Were you here this whole time?!" Izuku took a step forward.
"Y-yes… that—"
"WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!"
"Uh-uh-I-I-I—"
It wasn't fair to rough up someone vulnerable like him. Small, elderly… but Izuku was beyond caring at this point. If his friends were gone, they were as good as dead. And no adults around—Kenji Hikiishi didn't count, she was just some lady… not a teacher.
And you can't exactly get in trouble when there's no teachers around, right? That's what summer's all about.
"I'm only going to ask one more time…"
Neito reached out…
"Midoriya—"
"ANSWER ME!"
"Security room," Dr. Ujiko said, facing the desk.
"Where—"
A chill… a mist… the flashlight was becoming useless.
Villains had a knack for getting out of questioning so easily, and the universe had a knack for providing some out. Every time there was even a nanometer of an out, they somehow fit through it. It happened so many goddamn times before, it wasn't going to happen again.
If it weren't for the others, he'd strangle Ujiko right here and right now. He already felt his hands tighten around his neck…
No time to think—
"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE PROFESSOR?!"
A nanometer of an out revealed itself in the form of a dark cloud…
"I apologize, but I must be going," he said.
"NOOOOO!"
Izuku's arm was just not long enough to reach him…
…
But Tsu's tongue was.
And a nanometer of an out was too small for the doctor to fit through.
Before the dark cloud could close, Tsu had managed to grab a firm hold of the doctor and pull him out. The look on his face was a pure and final catharsis. Izuku could die right now and that would be alright. But turning around he found some reason to keep moving—
Once again, Tsuyu Asui was his hero.
The doctor sat on the floor, defeated. Izuku gave his bald head a good SMACK!
"OW!"
Tsu poked her chin. Then she just shrugged.
"I'll allow it—"
Izuku fell into her arms, whimpering against her shoulder.
"Thank you."
Neito felt compelled to leave but only rubbed his neck. Did Izuku even remember he was there? Neito always thought Izuku and Tsu were kinda weird but… seeing them like this? They were actually kinda… cute?
Wait, he coughed into his fist.
Izuku pulled away, just as he hoped he would.
"We have to find the others!" Izuku said excitedly.
Tsu and Neito watched him leave. After that smack, he must've felt the doctor was as good as gone. Neito looked down at the old man… he'd need to be questioned. Especially after whatever that was. Neito now noticed there was a microphone sitting on the desk, having been previously obscured by the doctor when he was sitting.
"So," Neito said, "I suppose you just confessed to a crime?"
Maybe this night wasn't so bad after all, Neito thought…
"Wait… what about that thing?"
The doctor looked up with a face that he could only describe as "old." There was so much in it. So much pain, but also pleasure. Regret and satisfaction. Neito wanted to know the man's story. But at the same time felt as if he'd be better off not knowing it. What had he done?
And that thing… the suit of armor. The mist. What was it? Was it trying to 'eat' him or save him? It must've been trying to save him, from the looks of Midoriya's reaction and Asui's tongue-tying.
Tsu turned to Neito.
"Can you keep him here?" she asked.
"Yeah, sure," Neito said.
Tsu held out her hand. Neito sighed and grabbed it, reluctantly activating Copy. Copying a Quirk that changed the shape of your tongue felt exactly as it sounded.
"Just letting you know," he said, "I'm only doing this to impress a certain someone… so this better be worth it… maybe get some rope."
"At least you're honest about it," Tsu said, "but maybe this certain someone would like you better if you did it because you really wanted to."
"Trust me, I could wrap my tongue around old men all day."
Tsu left for the foyer, finding everyone accounted for there. Katsuki, Kousei, and Tsuragamae-sensei were still missing. Yui Kodai had returned in the meantime. She was carrying a heavy hardcover book.
Izuku was scanning the group. Then he remembered something—
"The screens!" he said, "There's cameras all around the place! Can one of you check on the screens?"
Kenji Hikiishi looked up.
"That's how he knows where you are," she said, "I'm sorry… I should've told you sooner."
She looked back down. Itsuka patted her on the shoulder.
"None of that matters now, we just need your help bringing this thing down and getting our friends back… what else do you know?"
"Uh… Ujiko—if that's even his real name—talks to that thing."
Izuku remembered what he just saw a few minutes ago. It was true. The microphone. 'Security room.'
"The microphone," Izuku said, "if that thing is a person, they must have a headset inside that helmet."
"How do we know that you're not the suit of armor?" Ochako said, looking at Hikiishi, "The only time you've been in the same room with it was when it was just sitting around. And you disappeared all of a sudden—"
"Wait! Listen!" Hikiishi waved her hands wildly, "I was just tryin' to get outta here, okay?! I changed my mind so that's gotta be worth something! I wasn't just gonna let you kids die! That's not what heroes do, man!"
"There's no time," Izuku said, "we need to find the others. Ujiko's accomplice has a teleportation Quirk. I'm guessing they can't be too far away."
"Right," Itsuka said, "you said there's security cameras? I'll check on them and let you know if I find them. There can't be that many rooms in this place, right?"
A dull silence fell over the dark mansion.
"I'll… try getting the lights on."
"NO!" Katsuki yelled into the dark, "I HAD HIM!"
The dark void he was in, if it even was a room, was obviously not as clean as the rest of the mansion. He could smell it, feel it.
"Bakugou?" a voice said, it must've been Kousei Tsuburaba.
Turning around in the darkness, not sure what to expect, Katsuki faced the light. Kousei and Tsuragamae-sensei looked poised for a fight.
"Sorry," Kousei said, "what the hell happened?"
"THAT DAMN THING GOT AWAY!"
So Midoriya was right, Kousei thought, teleportation.
"That thing's gotta be human, right?" he posited, "With a teleportation Quirk."
"I don't care who or what it is, I'm kicking it's ass… hey, how long have you been here?"
"About five minutes," Kenji said, "and the others?"
"Peachy, just peachy," Katsuki said, pacing around, "there's no door in here or what?"
"There is," Kousei said, "but it's big and heavy and locked."
Kousei pointed the flashlight behind Katsuki. Turning around, he found a featureless stone wall. Peering around now he noticed strange pieces of furniture, what looked like instruments of torture from a bygone era. Rusting rudimentary rubbish. It all looked much worse in the poor lighting.
Up a small flight of stone stairs was a large steel door that looked properly sealed and shut. Neither Tsuragamae-sensei nor Kousei Tsuburaba had a Quirk to deal with it. Maybe Katsuki's could. So he walked on up to it.
"What?" Kousei said, "You think you can break it down?"
"If you doubt me, maybe I'll try breaking it down on your face!"
Kousei said nothing. His eyes wandered away from Katsuki, but he kept the flashlight pointed in the direction of the door. He found an odd painting to the right of him, eyes of a woman staring at him. It was odd. It was like they were actually staring at him. Being as far away as he was, he couldn't quite make out what was wrong with the picture. The eyes had a slight glaze to them that the rest of the painting did not. Had they been specially painted over with some kind of gloss to make that effect?
He wanted to get closer but didn't feel like moving the flashlight around enough to annoy Katsuki. Especially when he was in the zone.
"Hey, Tsuragamae-sensei," he said, "can you check out that painting over there?"
Kenji looked at it, then at Kousei.
"You have a feeling about it?"
"Yeah… you have a super-sniffer Quirk or something, right? Just… see what's up."
Kenji shrugged and hobbled over to the painting. Now that he was directly in front of it, Kousei could no longer see it. He shifted his gaze to Katsuki, who was still shaking his hands to get them sweaty.
Kenji sniffed around the painting. What the hell was that supposed to do? Looking closer, he noticed the eyes. At this angle, he could see a glare.
Katsuki threw a punch at the door. A sharp smack, something like a firecracker. It left a dent.
A dent. Closer to the painted woman… her eyes. There was some kind of dent. Kenji ran a finger over the right eye of the woman. There was no texture of paint in the center of his finger. In fact, there was nothing. It was a hole. There was a camera behind the painting.
Itsuka walked right past the monitors. With the flashlight borrowed from Neito, she scanned the circuit breaker. Looking at it and everything around her, she was surprised how clean it all was.
Despite the lights being off, the monitors were on. She could see a pale blue light emanate from them in the corner of her eye. They must've had a different button associated with them than the lights. Itsuka was no expert when it came to this stuff. She took a quick glance over to see if any switches were switched to "OFF."
Most of them were. The one labeled "ON" had a sticker conveniently attached to it labeled "SECURITY."
Itsuka shrugged and switched every "OFF" to "ON." Every switch made a satisfying SNAP! that widened the smile on her face.
At some point along the way, the lights came on.
"That oughta do it," Itsuka said to herself.
Turning around, she caught a glimpse of the monitors. Oh yeah. And stepping forward, she carefully scanned each one until she found the one she was looking for: a dog?
Wait, that was not dog… that was a man. Kenji Tsuragamae! And he looked stunned. Now where was that feed coming from? Was there a way to communicate with the others?
When the lights came on, Kenji was afraid he'd done something to activate them by looking at the camera. Then again, the lights were back on.
The next, big blow to the steel door had come and gone. The steel had barely been singed but the dent was significant. Being tired and hungry was not great for this situation. Katsuki couldn't quite move himself to wail on the door. Quirk or not, he'd still just be punching steel. He'd need to focus one big swing on it.
He had barely noticed the lights were back on.
Now that he didn't need to hold the flashlight anymore, Kousei stepped up to the painting.
"It's a camera," Kenji said.
"Weird," Kousei said, "you think the others know we're here?"
Kenji turned to Katsuki, seemingly defeated by the steel door. No, he wouldn't have it. But what if he couldn't break it down?
Kenji knew it was a long shot but it was a shot. Eyes on the camera, he pointed to the door. Maybe the camera's range was great enough that the door was in frame. Maybe someone would see it and look for a big steel door.
"What the…?" Itsuka strained to see what exactly Tsuragamae-sensei wanted her to see.
The footage was grainy, gray. But it was clear enough that she could make out what exactly was happening, even if she had to strain her brain to understand it. He was pointing to what looked like Katsuki Bakugou standing in front of a large door. The door looked beaten, dented. Had Bakugou tried breaking it down and failed? Is that why he looked so pissed? So defeated?
Then Itsuka remembered it was nearly midnight. They had to leave. They had to figure this out. They had to find that door.
The others had been resting for a few minutes now. Neito kept a close watch on the doctor. What exactly was the plan? What were they gonna do with Kenji Hikiishi?
Itsuka imagined if they'd split up, one of them could look for the big door. If it was locked there must've been a key.
"Hey!" Itsuka shouted from the security room.
Neito was sitting weakly on his knees with his tongue wrapped around the old doctor. His eyes were fluttering. Itsuka's shout didn't seem to affect him. Still, he looked like he needed some rest.
"There oughta be something lying around here," she said, "also, where's the keys?"
The doctor didn't answer. Itsuka found Kenji Hikiishi in the foyer, still sitting in the chair Itsuka had pulled out. Yui was pacing around. Izuku, Ochako, and Tsuyu were still talking about some kind of plan. They seemed to be in better spirits now that the lights were back on.
"Hey, any idea where the keys are? Specifically a key to that big door. If you even know where that is…"
Hikiishi put her hands on her lap and got up.
"When did you see the basement?" she asked.
"Just know, I think," Itsuka glanced over to the study, "on the security camera. That's where the others are. You know where it is?"
Hikiishi seemed to dwell on the "that's where the others are" part. She scratched her chin, then the back of her head…
"Well I don't know where Ujiko keeps the keys and… I can't really use Magnetism without risking crushing the others against the door so… anyone here with a Quirk that could knock down a steel door?"
Everyone present except Tsuyu, Itsuka thought with a smile, maybe Yui can shrink the door.
"Yui," she said, "can you shrink a door?"
"Yeah," Yui said.
"Alrighty," Hikiishi said, "I'll take her there."
Itsuka still wasn't sure if letting Hikiishi out of their sight was a good idea but… Yui could handle her. And they all had to trust each other if they wanted to get out of this.
Itsuka nodded and turned back to the group.
"Alright," she said, "Yui, you and…?"
"Kenji Hikiishi."
"You and Kenji here will go save the others, I'll keep an eye on the security camera. Tsu can take over looking after the doctor… Neito can probably take a nap. Ochako and Izuku, you two can look for some rope."
"There's rope in the garage," Kenji Hikiishi pointed out to the front door.
"Got it," Ochako said.
Seeing everyone so pumped and ready to get things done, spirits high and lights back on, Itsuka smiled like victory was around the bend. Then she remembered the mist. That thing. What the hell was it? Who was it? Where was it? Would it be coming back? How could they defeat it? Did they even need to?
Feeling her smile fade and her eyes getting heavy, Itsuka sat down in the chair.
"Wait, Kenji… how much do you know about that… thing?"
Behind the sunglasses, Kenji's eyes twitched.
"Listen," she said, "I-I'm just the grunt, okay? I don't know what sick shit Ujiko's doing, I just brought the suit of armor in and that's the truth."
Itsuka nodded and sat back down.
"Here," Yui said, handing the book she was carrying to Itsuka. There was a bookmark in it. She smiled and walked off.
Itsuka watched as the others all quickly disappeared from sight. She could faintly hear Neito and Tsu in the study. After a moment, Neito came out the door and stood in the middle of the foyer.
"I'm so tired," he said.
Itsuka was tired too. But she couldn't sleep.
"I'm not letting you fall asleep," she said, "stand up, stretch, do anything you can to… stay… awake…"
Her head was tilted down now, her eyes seeming so heavy all of a sudden. Something was building up in her throat, then it came without further warning. A yawn. She heard footsteps. Neito was right above her.
"Can I see that?" he said.
"Hm?" Itsuka first looked at her lap… the book.
Neito grabbed it without an answer and sat down on the steps roughly level to Itsuka. There was a loud creak that by now no longer bothered her. There was a moment of silence broken by occasional page turning.
Then there was a longer silence.
And then…
"Hm… that's kinda sad," she heard him say.
"Hmm?" Itsuka murmured sleepily.
"This guy, Oboro Shirakumo. He was Mr. Aizawa's friend… he died."