Midoriya lay against the cold metal bed, fading in and out of consciousness. It had been… a couple of hours, since his last pills. Maybe. Midoriya was struggling intensely with time-keeping. Every minute felt like an hour, every hour felt like eternity. He'd already searched every bit of the room for clues, an escape route, for something. The walls and floors were covered with deep gouge marks, as if something with claws had attempted to slash its way out, but there wasn't anything else of interest. Eventually, Midoriya crawled over to the pipe again, laying against the wall, resting for a second. He heard a faint tapping sound coming through the pipes, pressing his ear against it.

"Hello? Are you still there?"

"Oh, I'm always here," Hana answered back.

"You never leave the cell?"

"Well… not anymore. I've been stuck in here for so long, I can't even remember when I got here."

"It can't have been too long, right?" Midoriya asked hopefully.

A sad laugh answered hm.

"Oh, longer than you could imagine, Izuku."

"How… how do you not lose hope?" Midoriya asks. "I'm already going in crazy in here, waiting for my friends to show up and rescue me."

"Oh, in here, you'll lose hope and sanity pretty quickly. They come and go, for me. All we can really do is sit around and hope for that rescue, I suppose."

Another sad laugh. Midoriya thought it was the laugh of someone who'd been troubled for a very, very long time.

"My friends will come, you know," Midoriya said. "We'll get out of here soon, I promise."

"Maybe," the voice answered. "I can't say I have a lot of hope for that, I'm afraid. I really hope they do come and get you out of here."

"I won't leave you here. I won't," Midoriya said, determined.

"Thanks," the sad voice answered back.

There was a moment of silence, as Midoriya wondered just how long that girl had been trapped in there, waiting for rescue.

"Ummm… Hana?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you keep tapping against the pipe?"

"Oh," Hana answered. "That's not me. That's… well, it's a long story."

"We're not doing anything else. Care to tell it?" Izuku asked.

"Sure, I guess. It's about the boy who was there before you. A shapeshifter."

"What could he shapeshift into?" Midoriya asked, staring at the deep gouges in the metal. "Was it like a werewolf?"

"I'm not sure. I never saw him, but from what he said, he could morph his body whatever way he pleased, as long as it was made up of the same things a human's made up of, and the same rough size. He was… well, a brave one, at least. He always hated the guards. And the cell. And most of the other prisoners. And… well, Makoto hated most things, to be honest."

"Makoto? Was that his name?"

"Yeah, it was. He was a good kid, at heart. I think. It was sort of hard to tell. He seemed real angry, almost all the time. Kept promising me he'd break out, kill everyone responsible for putting us here and get us both out of here. It was sort of sweet. Sort of. Well, sweet enough for him."

"Sounds like a nice guy," Midoriya said.

"Kinda. He used to tell stories to me. Not about himself, but he'd make them up. His quirk meant he was really good at doing the voices. It was nice. Besides that, all he ever did was swear, make threats or talk about some girl he'd fallen for."

"Was it you?" Midoriya asked bashfully, eliciting a laugh that was sweeter than sad.

"Nah. It was one of the other prisoners, I think. I couldn't really tell. That's why he… well, that's why there's that tapping."

"What is it?" Midoriya asked. "Is it… did he die in here? Is… is it his ghost?"

Hana laughed again.

"You're funny, Izuku. Although I suppose stranger things have happened. Even the truth's stranger, I guess."

"So what happened?"

"The Facility offered him a mission, with the chance to get out of here. Of course, he knew in the real world, he'd have no idea how to ever find this place if he needed to. So, he needed a way to do so."

"What did he do?"

"Tell me, Izuku, how many senses do we have?"

"Umm… five," Midoriya answered, confused by the question. "Taste, touch, smell, sight, smell."

"That's the classic answer, but it's not actually true. Those are our main senses, but we have others. There are receptors that detect levels of oxygen in certain arteries, and neuron senses that sense movement to control balance. But what's important here is proprioception."

"I know what that is. It's how we know where our body parts are, like how we can always touch our noses without missing."

"Yeah, exactly. Makoto's quirk gave him really, really good proprioception. So, he decided to make a bit of a sacrifice and use my perk to come up with a plan. Speaking of, what's your perk, Izuzu? It must be pretty interesting to get you locked up here, huh?"

"It's…" Midorya began, before pausing.

"I can't just reveal All Might's secret," Midoriya thought. "I have to lie. I'm sorry, Hana."

"It's called Superpower. Basically, it lets me power my body to perform incredible feats."

"Cool. Mine's called Time Bubble. Basically, I can mess with time, but only for a small area, maybe the size of a room. I can fast forward my movements in my bubble, or slow down opponents. I can even rewind time for up to an hour… but it takes an hour to recharge, so it isn't ideal, but still. Anyway, Makoto came up with a plan to find his way back here, so he could help us get out of here. He… well, it wasn't pretty. He bit off his pinky finger."

"He… what?" Midoriya asked, aghast.

"He tore off his pinky and slipped it into the vents. With my time bubble power, I've kept it fresh and alive, rewinding the last hour again and again and again so it's completely fresh. He's going to use his proprioception to find it, and thus, find the facility."

"And that's what's tapping?"

"Yeah," Hana said. "It's tapping a lot, actually. I hope Makoto's trying to find his way back. The others deserve a life outside of this place."

"And you don't?"

"Oh, I'm sure I do too… but its just not feasible anymore. All I can do it wait for the inevitable."

"Don't talk like that! I'll get us out. My friends, or Makoto, or All-Might… someone's going to come and we'll both get out of here!"

"Yeah… definitely."

Midoriya held the same static announcement he'd heard earlier bounce through the pipes.

"I have to go now," Hana said faintly. "I'll have to rewind again soon, keep the finger fresh. It takes a bit of focus, so don't worry if I'm quiet for a while. Try to rest. I'm sure they'll be testing you soon. You're new meat, they'll be excited to play with you."

"I… OK, Hana. If you're sure."

"Thanks, Midoriya. Get some sleep. I'll talk soon."

With that, the faint voice quietened down. Tired and unwell, Midoriya pressed his forehead against the wall, exhausted, as the tapping intensified ever so slightly.