"Killed?" Kaminari's eyes went wide, "Well, that escalated quickly."

"Not the time, bro," Sero was only so patient with movie references when discussing possible murder.

Aizawa seemed to be the only one who didn't look surprised. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, "Sit down at one of the desks, Monoma. Make this easy on yourself and start talking."

Monoma followed his instructions but kept the air of a petulant child as he sat. "My talking will depend on your actions towards me. Make this easy on yourself and get your students to treat me with more respect."

Bakugou scoffed, "Abso-fucking-lutely not."

The 1-A teacher ignored him, "Did you or did you not use mind control on any of my students?"

Monoma paused. "Yes and no."

"Bitch, you either did or you didn't!" Mina said while pointing an accusing finger at him.

"It was unintentional! Using Shinsou's quirk on Uraraka wasn't even supposed to hurt anyone. It was meant as a prank. I'd planned on having her spray foam on you lot but I suppose my instructions weren't clear enough. Apparently, 'get Kirishima with a fire extinguisher' can be interpreted in multiple ways."

Kaminari groaned, "I'd say that I can't believe how embarrassingly stupid you are, but I'm totally unsurprised."

Monoma scoffed, "Be quiet, you overgrown toaster oven."

Sero cut him off with a glare, "Hey! He might be a toaster oven, but he's our toaster oven!" he looked fondly down at the blonde before adding, "Plus, have you seen his height? He's not an overgrown anything."

Shinsou flinched in sympathy as Kaminari pinched Sero's arm in retaliation.

The recently ignored 1-B student huffed, "Regardless, I still never touched your bird boy, and please spare me your jeering. It's a difficult quirk to use!"

"You're telling me," Shinsou said under his breath.

Bakugou slammed his hand down on the desk Monoma was sitting at- causing the contents to rattle and fall out. "That shit doesn't change the fact that you hurt my boyfriend! You deserve to choke on a bag of dicks, fuckface!"

Kirishima's shocked eyes began to fill with tears, "Boyfriend? You and Tokoyami are dating?"

The ash blonde buried his blushing face in his hands, "Goddamnit, I'm dating a fucking idiot. I was talking about you , shitty hair."

"We're dating?" The redhead gasped.

A still rosy-faced Bakugou growled, "We're talking about this shit later is what we are!"

Mina squealed, "O-M-G! Congrats, bro!"

"Champagne all around!" Kaminari shouted.

Aizawa immediately responded with an, "Absolutely not."

"Weird timing," Sero added and gave Bakugou a pat on the shoulder that earned him a glare. "It only took a possible murder for it to happen, but ok."

Monoma groaned and dramatically held up a hand to his forehead. "Yes, yes, how very romantic you two are. Can we please get back to you stopping this villainous business? I have a deal for you."

"We're listening," Shinsou kept his eyes narrowed. There was no reason to trust the boy, but if it would help them find the culprit he'd give it a chance.

"Yeah, who the fuck is feeding you this war bullshit?"

Monoma sneered at Bakugou's words, "He's smarter than you, villain wannabe."

The explosive blonde roared, "Fuck you, I'll show you a goddamn war !"

The annoying 1-B student shrugged it off and turned to the teacher. "Will I be given a full pardon if I tell you his name?"

Aizawa paused. "I'll consider it."

"In that case, I won't say...but I will get you closer. Use those tiny brains of yours and think- who else can harness the night? Who else could possibly possess Tokoyami's Dark Shadow?"

The group went silent before Bakugou cursed, "Fuck, it's Kuroiro."

"That's right! He was controlling Dark Shadow during our fight with 1-B." Sero turned to Bakugou, "How did we miss that?"

"What the fuck ever, the point is that we've got the little bitch boy waiting for us back in the classroom. Probably laughing to himself, the smug piece of shit."

Their sensei looked pointedly down at the sitting student, "Monoma, you do realize you just confessed to being an accessory to a crime, right?"

Clearly, the kid had not as he suddenly looked as though he'd been told someone spat in a drink he just took a sip from.

Sero, Mina, Kirishima, and Kaminari shared a loud giggle before doing the four-way high-five they'd perfected since the second week of school. Shinsou was always impressed when he saw it in action. He wasn't brave enough to partake in it just yet, but at least he felt pretty confident about his fistbump skills.

Aizawa pulled his cell phone from his pocket, "I also recorded your whole emotional speech so I trust I won't need to restrain you?"

Monoma continued to look aghast- for a good strategist in battle, Shinsou always thought he was incredibly oblivious- before standing up and walking to Aizawa's side.

The teacher and students walked out, with Class 1-A following their sensei like excited baby ducks. As they neared 1-B's classroom they saw Present Mic already waiting by the door.

Kaminari grabbed Shinsou's arm, "Whoa, babe. I think your dads have psychic gay powers. Can we get those too?"

In response to the innocently sincere wonder in the blonde's voice, Shinsou patted Kaminari's head and reminded himself that while Denki was sometimes dumb he was always cute.

"Maybe when we're older."

Mic noticed them immediately. He had a stern look on his usually sunny face. Gay psychic powers (or more likely a text from Aizawa) must have alerted him to what was going on. The tall blonde man broke out into a warm grin despite the serious mood, and addressed the 1-B student, "Hey there troublemaker! Let's go on a field trip to the principal's office, shall we?"

Monoma dragged his feet but dutifully followed Mic down the hallway. He turned around once to glance at the others but was met with one smirking Bakugou Katsuki and his oft-used middle finger.

Aizawa opened the door to the nearby classroom and stepped inside. It was almost the end of the school day and the fall sun was setting beautifully behind the window.

Vlad and his students turned their attention to the man in the doorway. Their silver-haired teacher raised a concerned eyebrow. He was probably expecting Monoma to return and everything to be settled. Shinsou felt a little bad that the man was about to have two of his students given criminal charges.

"Aizawa?"

"Vlad. I'm going to need Kuroiro to come with me."

The dark boy had looked ready to run since they'd opened the door, and he looked no calmer after Aizawa's announcement. "Sensei! Are you going to let them do this to us? They've got their teacher in on it now!"

Vlad looked upon his student with concern. His face was noticeably unsettled, "I wish to talk to my student alone first, Eraserhead."

"I'm afraid not." Aizawa shook his head, "Unless you want to be there with me while I talk with him?"

Class 1-B's teacher sighed and nodded. He stood by his students no matter what, and Shinsou supposed that was to be admired. He's starting to think the man deserves a saner class than the one he has.

The rest of the students looked anxious and upset, but none of them spoke up for their friend. It certainly brought up a lot of questions- are they unsurprised Kuroiro is at fault? Or worse, did they already know he did it?

"Stand up, Shihai," Vlad sighed, "Everyone else, our class is dismissed for the rest of the day. Go to your dorms and stay there until told otherwise."

Before any of them had gathered their belongings, Kuroiro shot up out of his chair and disappeared into thin air. No one had time enough to react before they heard loud footsteps running down the hallway. Kuroiro had used the shadows to rush out of the room, and Shinsou remembered just how quick the boy was able to move with his quirk. He'd grabbed Aoyama lightning fast to capture him during the mock battles with 1-B. If anything he seemed even more speedy now than he had then. Aizawa turned on his heel and took off after the escaping kid.

"Everyone remain calm!" Vlad shouted, before pulling his gloves from his pocket, the ones that helped him access his blood quirk, and running out the door to follow the other teacher. "Return to your dorms and await further instructions!

"Come on," Kirishima called to his squad, "we gotta go catch him!"

The other five students nodded in agreement, and soon all six kids were racing after their teachers and the black-manipulating culprit.

Even Present Mic had joined them, Monoma having been handed off to another staff member so he could help in the hunt.

Their chase brought them to the stairwell, an even darker place, and the footsteps stopped.

"He's in the shadows! Everyone keep your eyes peeled!" Then Aizawa did a double take, "Shinsou? What the hell are you kids doing here?! Leave this to us."

"No way!" Kaminari shouted, "He hurt our friends! Besides, the more of us there are the more chances there are to catch him!"

Aizawa looked thoroughly annoyed with their decision, but kept quiet and let the kids follow.

In the pause between their talking, a heavy metallic clang echoed through the stairwell.

"He's going further down! He must be planning to hide in the catacombs!"

The Catacombs was the loving nickname the school had for the winding tunnels that made up the basement. It was used as a complex escape hatch for those inside and a maze for anyone trying to get in. It wasn't uncommon for a student to be dared to go into it and then need a teacher to come in and get them when they inevitably got lost. If Kuroiro wanted somewhere dark to hide in then he'd picked the perfect place for it.

The group of teachers and students opened and ran through the same heavy door they'd heard slam earlier. They all paused before the two hallway paths before them.

Aizawa turned to Mic, "I need you to inform the other teachers." Hizashi left to go back upstairs. Aizawa turned to face the frozen students. "We're splitting up!" he gestured to the left half, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Shinsou, "You three are coming with me! Sero, Kaminari, and Mina go with Vlad. We meet back here in 30 minutes if you don't find him. Try not to engage with him if you can avoid it, but quirks are allowed if necessary. Go!"

The teams separated smoothly and took off into the two tunnel entrances. Even in the rush, Kaminari managed to call after Shinsou and blow a kiss in his direction. The other boy blushed and tore down his side of the hallway- he couldn't afford to be distracted. There was a villain to catch.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Mina chanted, panting slightly from their run. They had made it a fair distance when the tunnel split again into three different hallways. "What do we do now?"

The three students turned to Vlad, their unofficial leader, for instruction. "Sero, I need you to start marking down the tunnels we take with tape. We need to know which paths we've already tried. Kaminari, I need you to sustain your electricity enough for us to have light. If we keep running through the dark we'll never find him. Mina, take the back of the group and keep an eye out. Spray your acid at the first sign of trouble." The acoustics of the room made his voice even louder than it already was.

"Good thinking," Sero's voice echoed in the hallway. "I definitely don't want to Scooby Doo this situation and split up."

Kaminari considered making a joke about Kuroiro having actually been the janitor wearing a mask the whole time, but it felt kinda tasteless given the context.

The group moved forward, at a decent pace, with their eyes peeled for any movement in the dark. Kaminari kept himself sparking intermittently and the flash led to an even more eerie appearance. They came to another fork in the road, and Sero slapped a piece of tape to the side of the hallway they walked down.

Vlad once again tried calling out to his student, "Shihai! Nobody needs to get hurt. I'll do everything I can to protect you but I need you to come out. The longer you stay away the worse it looks for you!"

The booming voice rang back to them off the walls, but no response was given.

"Maybe he didn't go down this way?" Kaminari offered, his sparks less bright but continuous.

I'm losing some serious steam. I gotta keep it together. I can't afford to end up all Whey-ed out right now…

Mina paused and tugged on Sero's shirt, "Wait, you guys hear that?"

The four went quiet and listened. If he strained his ears Kaminari could make out the sound of sneakers squeaking against the linoleum floor. The acoustics may have helped hear the noise, but it made it difficult to discern where it came from. Mina grunted with frustration, "Which way was that coming from? This whole place is stupid!"

Vlad didn't even pause to consider it before instructing them, "You two, take the left. Kaminari and I will take the right. If you don't find Kuroiro within the next ten minutes we return to meet up here. No matter how much closer you think he is. Safety first. Aizawa would kill me if anything happened to you."

The three students nodded. Sero grabbed Mina's arm and ran into the left of the fork, their footsteps fading as they went.

Denki looked nervously to Vlad. He was glad he'd gotten paired up with the teacher, but the fear of not knowing if any shadow was hiding Kuroiro had long been getting to him.

Vlad seemed to notice his anxiety. He put a large hand on Kaminari's shoulder, "It's going to be okay. Let's go."

The pair ducked into the right passage to chase the sound they'd heard before when Vlad suddenly stopped.

"I hear him. I think he's further this way."

The blonde couldn't hear anything but with his heart hammering in his ears he wasn't surprised if he'd missed it. The sparks he made to light up the room had only grown dimmer in his anxiousness. Steeling himself for a fight, Kaminari followed the teacher further down the hallway. The two reached the end of the path and found themselves in a large dark room. Denki could feel his skin get goosebumps in the cold.

He stopped beside Vlad in the center of the space. They both looked around, searching for any sign of Kuroiro, when the teacher lifted his gloved hands and started to use his quirk. The blood pooled into his hands and Kaminari found himself a little grossed out by it.

Does he see him?

Then, too fast for him to think, Denki watched the blood rush towards him and slam his body against the wall. His breath was knocked out of him and he realized just how much his earlier electricity use had drained him.

Kaminari felt the blood further wrap around him, rendering his limbs and neck still against the wall. The blonde tried to send out shocks but he found himself unable to send the electricity forward. He was now quirkless and immobile. "What are you doing to me!?"

Vlad's face held an unhinged frown that Denki had never thought him capable of as he answered, "Sorry, kid. Blood doesn't conduct electricity."