A/N: Alright, I-island, let's go! As I'm sure you can tell, I've been excited to get to this arc for quite some time, as it will allow me to get a little more creative with the way that the storyline is affected by Kurai, and in this case, his brother Akarui, whom I know some of you have been wanting to see more of. In any case, I hope you enjoy the new cover art for this next couple of weeks, which depicts Mina, Akarui, and Kurai in their 'movie' outfits. Also, it's the first time that I've drawn Akarui, so I might do another sketch of him in another chapter or so.

But for now, read, review, and most importantly, enjoy the beginning of this next arc!

Phase 1: Chapter 22

Island of Dreams

"This is amazing!" Akarui exclaimed as he spun in place, his wide purple eyes taking in every detail that he possibly could as he looked about the moving city that was I-island. "This is going to be the best vacation in the history of ever!" He, Kurai, and Mina had come to the high-security island for the annual expo that displayed the latest and greatest advances in quirk research and support for heroes and civilians both. They would be spending the first week of summer vacation on the island, after which Mina and Kurai had to return for their school's summer training camp.

Since there were no quirk regulations in the city, Akarui was putting his quirk, Solar Intelligence, to maximum use, intent on absorbing as much information as he possibly could while the sun was up. As it was his goal to pursue a degree in the biomechanical field- the study of fusing mechanics and living tissue- he was very keen to gain insight on the accomplishments of the world's leading scientists.

"If we sneak away now, maybe we can get to the hotel before he notices that we're gone," Mina snickered in an aside to her boyfriend, who sighed and introduced his palm to his face.

"And just what would we do without him there?" he asked in a dry tone. He was dressed up in his hero costume, complete with his scouter on his head and photon sword at his hip.

"I dunno, does this island have cable?" Mina grinned. "My house only gets local channels." Like her boyfriend, she was dressed in her hero outfit for the day. Since they were heroes-in-training, they were permitted to wear the equipment in unregulated places like I-island, even without hero licenses.

"You're not fooling anybody with that excuse," Akarui said without looking at them, keeping his gaze fixed on a particularly tall tower. "My brother's too chicken to do anything indecent, but I've got a number on the likelihood of the very hormonal teenage girl trying to jump him. Anyone wanna take a guess at how likely it is on a scale of one to a hundred?"

"Wow, that wasn't embarrassing at all," Kurai said in an irritated tone. Still, he was more or less used to comments like this one during this time of day. His brother's quirk made him much more intelligent the more sunlight he was exposed to, and he had a habit of letting everyone around him know it.

"Is it smartass hour?" Mina grumbled, also looking put off as a sly smile appeared on Akarui's face.

"Yeah," Kurai sighed.

"It's a really high number," the younger boy said, as if he hadn't heard them.

Kurai exhaled again, then unclipped his sword from his belt, and smacked his brother on the head with the hilt. As the younger boy recoiled with a yelp, he said with a satisfied smile, "Surely someone with your intellect would have seen that coming."

"I was busy," his brother complained. "There are hundreds of facilities open to the public this week, so I need to narrow it down to an optimal number, factoring in my own interests, the hours that they are actually open, what the foot traffic will be before and after the expo is open to the public, not to mention how many times I'll have to stop you two from trying to sneak off… It's a lot to consider."

"You might have to factor in the number of times that you'll be knocked unconscious if you keep making jokes like that," Kurai said with a flinty smile.

"No I won't," Akarui said with a devilish smile as he patted his pocket where his phone was. "At irregular intervals, I've set my email to send mom and dad a message saying that I've caught you two in the act, and the only way to stop it is if I kill the email. Seeing as my password was set up during my 'smartass hour', I doubt that either of you has the brainpower to hack into it, even if you took the phone away from me. So basically, if I think that you two are up to anything, I just have to wait for my phone to send that message, and then you two are both dead as soon as we get home."

Mina and Kurai glared at him for a few moments before she muttered, "He'd be way less annoying if he was put up to this by your parents, wouldn't he?"

"Yeah, he's definitely doing this of his own volition," Kurai grumbled. To his brother, he said, "You don't actually expect us to stay with you for the entire week, do you? I've got dirt on you too, remember?"

"I'm well aware of our mutually assured destruction," Akarui nodded as he gave them a thumbs-up. "So basically, I'm gonna set up a few sensors in our hotel rooms, and if they get tripped or tampered with while I'm not there, the email gets sent. I'm reasonably confident that once you meet up with your friends, you'll be too busy having fun to get up to anything bad."

Kurai nodded back as he replied, "Fine. I can abide by that."

"Cool, then I'll get us checked into the hotel," Akarui said as he walked away. "I'll meet you guys at David Shield's exhibit after lunch!"

"Argh!" Mina complained once he was gone. "How'd we end up with a chaperone younger than us, and more annoying than Present Mic?!"

"Package deal, I guess," Kurai grinned slightly. "If you're gonna date me, you gotta be willing to put up with that monster."

"You're lucky you're cute, or else that would be a deal-breaker," Mina sighed as she leaned on his shoulder. "Can we go get something to snack on? The plane food was good, but I feel like everything was elf-sized."

"Hey, Ochaco!" Mina exclaimed happily as she and Kurai walked up to their classmate, who was in a group with Jiro and Yaoyorozu. "Everyone! What's hangin?" The two U.A. students had decided to meet up with their friends in an exhibit that mostly featured the inventions of David Shield, Akarui's personal idol. There was all kinds of technology, from quirk reinforcements for heroes to advanced first aid for civilians.

"Hey, Ashido," the earphone jack girl answered as they turned around.

"Mina!" Uraraka said cheerily as she exchanged a hug with her friend. "I'm glad to see you guys!" Turning to Kurai, she added, "Hey, Hikari! Are you excited about the expo?"

"For sure," he replied with a grin before turning to Yaoyorozu. "Good to see you. How was the flight coming in?" As he did so, Mina and Ochaco moved to the side and began to talk to one another in excited tones.

"Dude, I always thought that flying in a private jet was overhyped, but thanks to Yaomomo, I don't think I can ever fly regular airlines again," Jiro told him with a small grin.

"Normally we fly the family plane for vacations, but this time we had to take the business jet since the other one is having some body work done," Momo said apologetically. "I wish I had reminded Father to have the repairs done sooner…"

"Private jet?" Kurai repeated with mock offense. "Why wasn't I invited?"

"Three words, pal," Jiro said before Momo could answer him. "Ultimate bachelorette pad."

Kurai raised an eyebrow and said, "Really?"

"Well, there's also the fact that the plane was filled to capacity with Yaomomo's luggage," the smaller girl shrugged, causing her friend to flush with embarrassment.

"Like I said, normally we take the other jet!" the creative heroine huffed.

Kurai couldn't help but chuckle at that, but before he could make a reply, he found his arm being yanked out of its socket by Mina, who had a huge grin on her face. "Dude, you gotta see this!" she giggled as she pointed excitedly toward an exhibit that featured some underwater equipment.

At first the boy only saw a high-speed submersible airplane, and he wondered why his girlfriend was getting so excited about it. She only gets excited about that stuff when it's in a movie, not a- Oh… When his gaze lowered, he realized what she was getting so worked up about; Midoriya, decked out in his hero costume, was chatting with an older blond girl in front of the exhibit while Uraraka looked on with a stricken expression.

Dude, check your six! He mentally shouted at his friend. He had suspected for some time that Uraraka had a thing for his friend, but it seemed like a jealousy fit would pretty much prove the idea.

Before Midoriya could realize that anyone was there, Uraraka walked up behind him and said in a strangely stilted voice, "Looks like you're having fun… Deku."

"Uraraka?!" the boy yelped, drawing the attention of his blond companion, and lending the other students a better look at her. "Wh-When did you guys get here?!"

"It looks like you're having fun," Uraraka repeated.

"You said that," Midoriya replied, looking incredibly bewildered and flustered.

"Hey, man," Kurai said as he walked up to his friend for a quick handshake. "I didn't know you were bringing a guest to the expo."

"N-No! That's not it!" the other boy stammered. Indicating the girl standing next to him with a nervous gesture, Midoriya said, "This is my new friend, Melissa Shield! She's a local to I-island, and she was just showing me around the expo!"

"Wait, wait, back up a sec," Kurai said as he turned to look at the older girl a little more closely, now noticing her blue eyes and tall stature. "Did you say Melissa 'Shield'? As in, David Shield?"

"Uh-huh!" the girl answered cheerily as the others gathered around them. "He's my Papa!" Turning to Midoriya, she asked, "Are these your friends from school, Deku?"

"Yeah, they're all hero course students."

"Awesome," Melissa said with a charming smile as she took a few steps forward. "Hi, everyone! It's really cool to meet people from out of town, especially future heroes!"

As she moved to greet the other girls, Kurai had to stifle a smile as he thought, Akarui's head is gonna explode when he finds out that Midoriya's been hanging out with David Shield's daughter.

"It's nice to meet you, too," Yaoyorozu said as she offered a small wave in the way of a greeting to Melissa, unaware of the bemusement of her other friend. "I'm Momo Yaoyorozu from the hero course at U.A."

"I'm Kyoka Jiro," the punk heroine said as she introduced herself.

"Name's Mina!" Kurai's girlfriend said excitedly as she planted herself in front of a slightly surprised Melissa, grabbing her hands and adding, "I gotta say, your hair is super pretty! How d'ya get it so shiny?!"

While Melissa began to speak to the other girls, Kurai moved to stand next to his friend and muttered, "You've been here for what, three hours? And you're already making the girls swoon." He added a cheeky smile and an elbow to Midoriya's ribs, which set his friend to turn into a beet red, stuttering mess.

I think I've been hanging around Mina too much.

The group eventually decided to head over to a nearby café for some drinks, during which Melissa befriended Uraraka and the other girls without any trouble, much to the relief of Midoriya, and by extension, Kurai. While the girls chatted about their varying experiences during their internships over the past semester, the two boys got themselves a table and placed their orders with a tablet that was built into the table.

Once that was done, Kurai jerked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate Melissa and asked, "So how did you end up on a date with David Shield's only daughter?"

"It wasn't a date!" Midoriya protested swiftly. Clamping a hand over his own mouth when he realized that he had probably spoken too loudly, he then mumbled, "I just happened to run into her in the exhibit, and we started talking hero stuff. Since her dad helped All Might out a bunch when he was first becoming a pro, he's apparently been a close friend of hers' ever since she was little- she calls him 'Uncle Might'!"

"Dang, that's pretty cool," Kurai said, impressed. "I guess since you wanna be so much like him, it'd be easy for you guys to get a conversation started, right?"

"Y-Yeah, something like that," Midoriya laughed nervously. "For real, though, it wasn't a date."

"I know that, man," Kurai laughed. "I guess Mina's habit of teasing my friends has rubbed off on me."

"Yeah, I'd say so…"

"Here you are, gentlemen," said a familiar voice as the drinks that they had ordered were placed on the table in front of them by the waiter. "Two icy drinks, as requested."

"Kaminari?" Midoriya asked in surprise as the two students looked up to see their friend dressed up in a black-and-white uniform, and holding a serving tray. "This is the restaurant that you signed up to work for?"

"Yeah-huh!" the electric boy nodded with an enthusiastic grin. "I'm actually making some decent cash, plus there's always the chance that I'll get to hook up with one of the local- hey, who's that?!" The boy stopped with a dumb look on his face as his gaze fell upon Melissa, who was in the middle of speaking to Jiro about her involvement in a hostage situation.

"Who, Melissa?" Midoriya asked blankly.

"Dude!" Kaminari exclaimed as he shook the green-haired boy by the shoulders. "You know a high-voltage hottie like that, and you don't tell me?! You're a terrible wingman!"

"He's your wingman?" Kurai snickered.

"Oh, are you another U.A. student?" Melissa's voice injected itself into the conversation, causing all three boys to turn back toward the girls' table, Kaminari with a sly grin on his face.

"That's right," he said smoothly. "I'm Denki, an up-and-coming top hero."

"Down boy; if anyone's gonna be top heroes around here, it's gonna be those two," Jiro said bluntly as she pointed at Kurai and Midoriya, both of them flushing red while the electric boy's shoulders sagged.

"Why are you so mean?" he asked plaintively, to which Jiro shrugged indifferently.

"Kaminari!" another familiar voice shouted from a few-dozen yards away. "Stop loafing around! You signed on for a job, not a tourist visa! If you don't give your all to this job, you're going to make our school look bad!" Iida charged onto the scene to stare down his classmate with a stern gaze, who cowered in fear of the taller boy's armored physique.

"Oh great, it's the fun police," Kurai muttered sarcastically, drawing Iida's frown toward him. "Hey."

"I thought that you would have been in the Shield exhibit with Akarui," the class rep replied frostily. "Isn't he supposed to be with you?"

"Come on guys, not here," Midoriya begged them earnestly. "It's summer break, can't we all just get along?"

In the background, Kurai was aware of Melissa asking Momo if there was something that she was missing, but tuned them out for the time being, keeping his eyes focused solely on his former best friend. When a moment of relative silence had passed between them, the smaller student eventually shrugged and said, "We're meeting him there after lunch, if you want to say hello."

"I rather think that I'll be busy," Iida answered.

"Doing what?" Kurai smirked evilly. "Getting that stick out of your-?"

BOOM!

An explosion and subsequent dust cloud billowed up from a nearby building that looked like some kind of an arena. Everyone at the café had their attention drawn to the noise, but it was Midoriya who asked, "What's that?"

"Some kind of obstacle course for pro heroes to test their skills," Kaminari informed them. "I woulda gone to check it out, but all my shifts are up during the hours they have it running."

"That sounds like fun!" Mina said as she stood up from her seat excitedly. "Let's go try it!"

"But I just got this," Kurai complained as he held up his glass.

After being rushed to finish his drink by his overexcited girlfriend, Kurai and the others made their way to the obstacle course, Iida and he doing their best to ignore each others' presence. When they came into the stands that overlooked the obstacle course, they were all surprised to see Kirishima emerging from a dust cloud while a female announcer declared him in eighth place so far that day.

While the dirt settled, Kurai took note of the terrain, which had been set up to mimic a small mountain with robots set up in various places. Apparently the goal was to destroy all of the mechs as quickly as possible- the faster your clearing time, the higher your placing on the scoreboard.

"Is that Kacchan?" Midoriya asked as he pointed at a familiar figure, who was walking toward the starting zone.

"How'd he get here?" Jiro asked with a slight frown.

"Hey, guys!" Kirishima called up while Bakugo took off, demolishing the robots with his usual startling speed and precision.

"Hi!" Mina grinned as she waved to her old friend.

"I thought you weren't going to make it?" Momo asked him, even as Bakugo blasted three bots to pieces in the background.

Kirishima glanced up at Kurai for a split-second before he answered, "I won some passes in a lottery and dragged Bakugo along for the ride." By this time, the explosive boy had already finished his run, claiming first place with a time of just over fifteen seconds.

"I didn't know that they had a lottery for this," Melissa mused.

Before anyone could reply, Bakugo noticed his classmates in the stands, particularly Midoriya and Hikari. Gritting his teeth angrily, he blasted his way up into the stands, gripping the handrails that separated the audience from the course, shouting, "Why the hell are you here, DEKU?!" Giving a blistering glare to Kurai, he added, "And why's Saiyaman here?!"

"I got passes for winning the Sport's Festival," Hikari answered calmly. "Midoriya got sponsored by the agency that did his internship."

"Bakugo, chill out!" Kirishima called up.

"This behavior is unbecoming of a U.A. student!" Iida added.

"Up yours, ya four-eyed loser!"

"Why is that boy so angry?" Melissa asked Uraraka.

"He and Deku are fated rivals," the heroine-in-training replied seriously.

"He's also kind of a jerk," Mina added.

"Say that again, Raccoon Eyes, I dare-!"

"Finish that sentence," Kurai cut him off as he put himself between the explosive boy and his girlfriend, a dangerous look in his eyes. "I dare you."

Bakugo sneered at the boy that had defeated him in the festival, leaping over the railing as he snarled, "Oh yeah? If you're good enough to take me on, let's see you beat my time on the course."

"Done," Kurai replied confidently. "And when I'm done, Midoriya can put you in third."

"Like hell he will!"

"Do I get a say in this?" Izuku said nervously as Kurai and Bakugo began to butt heads.

He was surprised when they both shouted, "No!"

When his run was done, Midoriya actually almost outdid Bakugo, destroying all of the robots on the course in sixteen seconds flat, much to the irritation of the explosive boy. As he railed against his classmate, Kurai moved with a confident smile to take his place at the starting zone, unclipping his sword from his belt and igniting it in anticipation of the announcer's signal that he could get started.

Concentrating heavily, he willed his body to release more power, turning his hair orange and his eyes blue while the wind raced away from him. Instead of relying on sheer anger to fuel the ascension, he focused on a stream of memories tied to his core emotions. This was more mentally straining, and it did not produce the same staggering power that he had displayed in the USJ incident, but it also kept his brain from bleeding out whenever he amplified his abilities.

"Ready… go!" the announcer cried, sending him into motion.

There were ten robots that he needed to destroy, all of them scattered across the rocky terrain. Kurai's eyes had tracked each of them down before the allotted time began, and now he knew exactly how to deal with each of them.

Slashing his free arm through the air as he leaped toward one of the taller outcroppings, he sent a barrage of energon blasts that reduced six of the droids to scrap piles in seconds, all while he landed in front of another robot, swinging his sword in a downward arc that cut it clean in two. With cat-like speed, he rushed another duo of bots, taking out one with his sword, and the other with an energy bolt.

Spotting the last mech on the top of the mini-mountain, he sheathed his sword, cupped his hands by his side, and then unleashed a Kamehameha laser at the pinnacle, blowing it to dust, and finishing the obstacle course with another grin. "Fourteen point seven seconds!"

"Ha!" Kurai laughed as he leaped back into the starting point. "I did beat him!"

"Like hell!" Bakugo screamed while Kirishima struggled to keep him up in the stands. "I'm going again and blasting his score to ash!"

"Might wanna wait on that," Kurai smirked as he pointed further back on the starting zone, where another familiar figure was walking in with a stoic expression. "Hey, Todoroki."

"Hello, Hikari," his friend answered as they walked by each other. "You set a high standard for the rest of those trying to compete today."

"Thanks, but I get the feeling that I'm about to get knocked off my pedestal," Kurai chuckled as he turned to watch the other student go into action. "After all, we never did get a clear winner at the Sport's Festival."

"I hardly think that a simple obstacle course like this is a substitute for a battle between the two of us," Todoroki replied coolly.

"True, but after the way my last sparring match turned out, I don't think that Mister Aizawa is about to let us settle the score," Kurai chuckled as he clapped his friend on the shoulder while walking past him. "Good luck, pal."

After Todoroki took his turn on the course, Kurai asked him if he would be attending the big gala later that night, to which he affirmed that he was. Upon hearing this, Kurai then asked, "Would you care to join us at the party, then?"

"I don't see why not," the heterochromic boy answered neutrally.

"Cool, see you there."

Akarui joined them shortly after they parted ways with Shoto, Kirishima, and Bakugo, and he just about swooned when he realized that he was getting to meet David Shield's daughter, who took his enamored approach in stride with a good-natured cheer.

While the boy began peppering her with a hundred and one questions about her father's work, as well as her own interest in the pursuit of hero support, Midoriya said in an aside to Kurai, "Is that what I look like when I'm talking about All Might?"

"Not at all," Kurai said with a light grin.

"Yeah, you're way more of a dork, Midoriya," Mina giggled as the green-haired boy's face fell.

Once the sun began to set, the group broke up so that each of them could go to their hotels in order to change into their dress clothes. Iida told them all to be in the lobby by no later than six-thirty, which Kurai knew was not going to happen, given how much he knew Mina wanted to look perfect for such an outing.

We'll just be a little late, he had decided with an absent shrug.

He and Akarui spent a little time making sure that their dress clothes were in good condition while Mina stayed in her room to do her makeup. Kurai was wearing a blue blazer and orange tie while his brother donned a similar outfit, although with a white necktie. When the elder sibling decided to stash his photon sword inside his jacket, his brother paused and asked him what he was doing.

"The security here is on par with Tartaros," he told Kurai. "I can't imagine that we're gonna encounter any trouble on this island, so why d'ya need that?"

"There's gonna be a few pros at the gala that I want to talk to about possible improvements for the design," he answered with a shrug, causing Akarui to frown heavily.

"Are you saying my design is bad?" he muttered.

"Not at all," Kurai answered with a negative shake of his head. "But you can only make a design based on materials that you already know about. If I get a chance to learn more, it could help us improve the design, even if only a little."

"Oh," the younger brother said, mollified. "All right, that makes sense. But I won't be able to make much out of anything we learn until tomorrow."

"That's fi-"

"Hey, guys!" Mina said as the door slid open. "Sorry I took so long!"

"No proble-" Kurai stopped talking as he beheld his girlfriend in her chosen attire for the gala. She had dressed up in a strapless sky blue dress that went halfway down her calves, and had glitter dusting the lower hem. On her feet was a pair of matching heels, complete with the glitter effect. Holy crap, she's hot, he thought dumbly.

"You like it?" she grinned as she noticed his blank stare.

"If he liked it any more, I'd be trying to kiss you myself," Akarui said dryly. To his brother, he added, "Shut your mouth before you drool a puddle."

"You look great," he finally managed to say after he smacked his brother on the head. "Really great."

"Not so bad yourself, handsome," she giggled, which set his face to blushing a little, but he had been getting accustomed to her flirtations over the last semester. Instead of his brain completely shutting off from sheer embarrassment, he returned the smile and held his arm out for her to loop hers' through.

"Ready to head out, my lady?" he asked her, with the hint of a lordly accent flavoring his words.

"But of course, good sir!" she replied in kind.

"Ugh, gag me," Akarui grumbled.

The three of them arrived at the lobby where they were set to meet up with the others about thirty minutes after Iida had told them to be there, and Kurai was more than a little surprised to find that only the class rep, Todoroki, and Kaminari were present. "And here I thought we were being fashionably late," he said with a slight grin.

"There's nothing fashionable about being late!" Iida exclaimed, though he seemed more upset at the lack of attendance from everyone instead of just being cross with Kurai, specifically. "Does a proper meeting time mean nothing to you people?!" His dark blue suit was a little rumpled, likely from an extended period of time spent pacing with crossed arms.

"Yo, Todoroki!" Mina said as she approached the half-and-half boy. "That suit looks sharp on you!" He was dressed in a white suit with a blue shirt and a red tie that befitted the gala. Kaminari was still in his work outfit, but since it was a black-and-white vest set complete with a bow tie, it was acceptable for the event.

Before Kurai could approach the electric boy, he heard the door opening up behind him, so he turned to see Midoriya walking in, dressed in a red suit, followed soon after by Uraraka and the other girls, all of them in their best getup- or rather, Yaoyorozu's best getup, as she had apparently provided the dresses.

Seeing Uraraka's pink ballroom outfit, Kurai grinned and nudged Midoriya with his elbow as he said, "You should ask her to dance later. I bet you it'd make her night."

"Y-You think so?!" Izuku stammered nervously.

"I think it'll probably make your night, too," Kurai chuckled as the gravity girl approached them with a shy smile.

"Hi, Deku," she said as Kurai moved away to greet Yaoyorozu.

"Glad to see you here," he said as he shook hands with her and Jiro, who was sporting a dress that still managed to keep with the girl's usual 'punk' theme.

"Me too," Yaoyorozu admitted. "I often attend dinner functions like this one, but this is the first time that I get to go with friends. I'm looking forward to it."

"That makes two of us," he grinned at her.

"You don't strike me as the kind of guy that enjoys suit-and-tie events," Jiro said.

"We don't, but Dad's the Police Commissioner," Akarui explained as he approached. "We've been to a few events here and there."

"At least we know the routine," Kurai pointed out.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see you and your girlfriend bite it when it comes to the dance part of the night," his brother smirked.

Laugh it up, buddy, Kurai thought as he turned away to hide his own smile. Akarui didn't know that Mina was an expert dancer, and further, that she had been teaching Kurai how to move to the beat of the music (sometimes against his will).

"Wow, Mina!" Uraraka exclaimed, drawing Kurai's attention as she approached the pink girl. "That's a nice look for you! Where'd you get an outfit like that?" Off to the side, Midoriya was smiling with the hint of a blush on his face, so Kurai resolved to ask his friend about what went on sometime later.

"Oh, I got it after Kurai asked me to come here with him, since I knew there was gonna be a big dinner party," she admitted. "My mom helped me pick it out and everything."

"Sorry I'm late, everyone!" another familiar voice called as the doors slid open again. As Melissa jogged over to meet them, Jiro pumped Kaminari with a sound burst when he started ogling the blond girl in her blue-and-white dress, causing him to collapse on the floor with a pitiful whine.

"I guess the only people that we're missing are Bakugo and Kirishima," Yaoyorozu noted as she looked around the lobby. "Does anyone know where they are?"

"I tried calling them, but they won't answer!" Iida grumbled.

"Bet you anything they got lost," Akarui snickered. "They don't strike me as very good when it comes to directions."

Before anyone could take him up on the bet, alarms began to sound, and metal shutters slammed down in front of the doors, putting all of the students on edge. Unconsciously, Iida and Kurai moved to stand back-to-back in anticipation of whatever danger might come their way.

"Attention, I-island," a female automated voice announced out of multiple speakers. "We have received a security notice that there is an explosive device somewhere on the I-expo grounds. As a result, the entire area will go into high alert mode. Residents have ten minutes to get inside the buildings for their own safety. Anyone outside after the allotted time will be in violation of the law."

"Elevators are out, and my phone isn't working," Akarui said after he checked both devices, looking troubled.

"This is really weird," Melissa said, drawing the attention of her new friends as the alarms died away. "High alert mode isn't what's supposed to happen if there's a bomb discovered."

"What is supposed to happen?" Kurai asked as he and Iida distanced themselves from one another.

"It doesn't matter," Midoriya said as he stepped forward. "We need to get to the party."

"Uh, I don't think fine dining should be on our list of priorities right now," Kaminari said nervously as he continued to glance around their surroundings.

"No, All Might and other pros are there," Midoriya explained. "We need to stay close to them, just in case something weird is going on."

"The elevator's out, though," Iida said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Kurai said flatly.

Before the engine-quirked boy could retort, Melissa pointed down the hall and said, "There's the emergency stairs. They'll get us to the party."

"Then let's go," Todoroki muttered as he took the lead, with Yaoyorozu and Jiro close behind him. "We need to find out what's going on before trouble finds us."

"What makes you think the trouble will find us?" Melissa asked.

"You really have no idea what goes on with my brother's class, do you?" Akarui asked her, his smile strained with fear. "They're like trouble magnets."

Kai: You couldn't give us one chapter to unwind?

Mataras: Given my writing style, I'm amazed that you're still surprised enough to complain about it.

Kai: ...Okay, that's on me.

Deku: Okay, so our roster has changed up a bit from the original, with Min*ta being gone, and you, your brother, and Ashido filling in. I guess this means that we'll have more of a fighting chance when we run into trouble.

Mataras: Well, don't forget that Akarui isn't in training to become a hero. He doesn't have the same combat experience that you do.

Kai: But you've mentioned that he's got something to do with the upcoming changes, so he has to be involved somehow.

Mataras: True. I'm just saying that his presence may not necessarily make things easier for you guys.

Deku: No way, I'm sure he'll be able to help us. He's super smart, right?

Kai: ...Only during the daytime. At night, unless he's standing under direct moonlight, he's just got his smartassery.

Deku: Oh.

Mataras: Hmm... stay tuned on that.

Kai: What'd you do this time?

Mataras: Next time- Fighting Onward

Deku: We'll all go beyond!

Kai: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia...

Turning to Midoriya, Kurai added, "Let's roll."

"If Iida is on board, then I'll go as well," Yaoyorozu said, making her the last student to agree to the plan.

"Have you guys lost your minds?!" Akarui demanded. "You do realize that I have to go with you, right?!" Kurai made an apologetic gesture to the others before he grabbed his brother roughly by the arm and dragged him down the flight of stairs so that they could talk in private, provided that they kept their voices down.

"You're staying here," Kurai told his brother firmly. "You're not combat trained, so if there does end up being a fight, I can't risk you getting caught up in it. Mom and Dad would kill me."

"As opposed to ditching me in a closet while there's trigger-happy villains running around?!" the younger boy demanded. "I'm going with you guys, even if I think you're insane!"

"You'd only get in the way," Kurai said flatly. "You can't even use the excuse that you've got Solar Intelligence- there's no sunlight for you to absorb, so you're as dumb as we are right now."

"Ha!" the younger boy snorted as he reached into his pocket. "That's what you think."