Mask of the Human


When Shouta was young - about the age that most were getting their quirks, but before he got his - he went to play near a creek with a few friends. It was late in spring, when the weather had been unusually rainy and left pools of water in nearly every shallow nook and cranny.

To every four-ish year old's delight, froglets were everywhere.

This is where Shouta's earliest memory begins - laughing with his friends, the gentle water of the creek lapping at his feet on the rocky shore. Catching frogs and then letting them go. He doesn't remember it fondly.

A frog - tiny, no larger than his pinky nail - had sprung away from another he had released. The slight movement had immediately drawn his eye, and in an effort to capture the frog he pounced.

The miniscule creature writhed under his grip - the very same he had used on a dozen before. Lifting it closer, he unfurled his fingers.

Shock and horror had filled him (and would remain as what he would forever associate this memory with), as he had watched the frog squirm - its dislocated leg dragged behind it.

Shouta had immediately dropped it, losing sight of it just as quickly. Even at his young age, he had known he had doomed it. His grip too tight.

When Shirakumo dies, many years later, one of his first thoughts is of that frog. That maybe if he hadn't gripped onto their friendship so tightly, Shirakumo wouldn't have been out there with him. That maybe it wouldn't have hurt so bad if so.

So. He figured that was the same with Yamada, and loosened his grip. He pushed away Yamada, and Nemuri, and many others that had maybe wanted to grip him (softly, carefully - nothing he could ever be) in return, and isolated himself.

He wonders if that is what he is doing with the Shirakumo of today - if he is gripping the shell of his friend too tight, and it would be nothing more than a mercy to have him sent to rest like many of the other nomus.

...

You could let go.

The shrieks of the imposter fill the room as it drags Yamada to its maw.

If he dies now, it'd save him from far more pain down the line.

His friend's own cries of panic and pain are nearly drowned out by the thrashing monster, by the O2 alarms.

When he finds out the truth. Let him die now, and it will be salvation for you both.

"Shou-!" Yamada cries, and Shouta lunges.

He pulls the utility knife from its sheath, dropping into a slide as he passes the struggling Yamada. The metal of the blade hums as he drives it down through tentacles and into the flooring. Yamada anchors himself with Shouta's arm, grip painfully tight while his free hand comes up to tear at the severed flesh.

With a shriek, the monster sucks back into the vent - leaving nothing more than a splatter of blood along the rim.

For a moment, both men can only stare at the opening. The rotating red lights that bring them moments of visibility seem so very fitting in the horror of their situation.

Snapping back to awareness, Shouta jumps to his feet and slides one of the heavy metal chairs in the room over the vent. Pulling tape from his belt, he jogs back to Yamada (who's breathing so heavily now - and it surely can't be from the rapidly draining oxygen alone). Squatting next to his friend, he's quick to lift the injured leg and bind it. Yamada hisses at his handling, but doesn't resist.

"Owe you one." Yamada huffs out. Silence befalls them, and Shouta stands to his feet.

Shouta works his jaw - he wants to say something, needs to say something. That was close, what the hell had Maroon been thinking?! Why Yamada? Why?

"Why?" He finally croaks out.

And why, when he had acted on instinct alone, had he saved Yamada but killed Coral?! He couldn't have it both ways - kill only the most convenient people and play buddy-buddy with those he cared about. It wasn't fair, not to him, not to his victims, not to Yamada. Shinsou. Eri.

With a cry of anger, he slams his foot against their toolbox, sending its contents clattering along the floor. The alarm still blared.

"We don't have time for this. Shouta." Yamada's voice sounds tired. Shouta turns, he looks worn - sweat running down his pale face, hair unkempt from its bun.

The blood from Yamada's wound feels slick between his gloved fingers. He takes in a deep breath to steady himself, and finds the air heavy with his friend's blood. It smelled so sweet.

"Shouta! Listen-" Shouta blinks his eyes open to see Yamada still sitting there, waiting for him, "I need you to watch my back as I work on the locks. Worry about everything else later."

"Right." He agrees, "You're right."

Yamada raises his arms, and Shouta is quick to loop his own under them to help him stand. His friend sags heavily against him, and Shouta nearly stumbles before dragging him to the door.

The knife, stained with blood, wordlessly passes between their hands.

Pulling away, Yamada braces against the wall as he works on the locks. The switches slowly fall back into place with heavy thunks.

Shouta watches as Yamada takes a moment to catch his breath. Unclipping their helmets from their waists, he puts his on and hands Yamada his own. Oxygen floods his suit, and while it does nothing for him, it visibly reduces the strain from Yamada's face.

Snaking Yamada's arm over his shoulders, Shouta begins to lead them to the O2 room, "Can you hang on until after we fix this?"

With a heavy huff, Yamada drawls, "Maaan~, you know me! I'm ready for round two against that thing!"

"Right," Shouta bites the inside of his cheek. He shifts Yamada higher as they take the corner leading to O2. "I'll announce that at the emergency meeting then. It can be one on one."

Yamada squawks at that, but he pays it no mind as they finally reach their destination. Looking around, he's quick to find the source of their leak and rests Yamada on an adjacent tank to work on it.

The hissing of oxygen grows steadily louder.

A massive 'ERROR' reads out on the main screen - Maroon had likely sabotaged the code running it. A paper detailing their solution had been crudely taped next to the code input screen.

Sweat beads at Yamada's brow, and he rests heavily against the tank, "Well that's convenient."

"Not really." He frowns as he scans the paper, "There's another code input in the admin room."

With any luck, the other group would be nearby and know what to do. He internally begs Shinsou to have enough sense to work it out on his end.

"Let's just hope the other group knows what to do." Shouta says and inputs the code.

Moments tick by, and Shouta worries that the ship has lost so much oxygen that it can't recycle enough anymore. Yamada takes a great, heaving breath, and before Shouta can turn to him, a horn blares and the alarm stops.

Oxygen begins to cycle about the ship again, and both men sigh in relief.

Yamada takes his helmet off, shaking his head and causing a few more of his hairs to spring free of his bun. Just before Shouta takes off his own, another alarm blares as an emergency meeting is called.

He doesn't wait for Yamada to grab his bearings, instead throwing his arm over his shoulder as the rings appear above them. Before they are teleported, Shouta notices something in the corner of his eye. The blood from Yamada's leg steadily leaks onto the floor already stained by him when they had rushed into the room earlier.

When they finally reappear in the cafeteria, shouts greet them. He decidedly ignores the lack of presence from Green.

"No time." He says as Shinsou rushes around him to Yamada. Bypassing the table entirely, he darts the both of them for Medbay, "Get started without us. Shinsou, you keep an eye on them!"

His order is dutifully followed, and damn if Shouta didn't wish his homeroom class was more like him. Yamada snickers, struggling to keep up.

They reach Medbay, and Shouta practically drops his friend on one of the tables, moving quickly to the cabinet. In a fortunate twist of fate - it seemed all their supplies were easy to use and super advanced. He takes a moment to appreciate that their setting was in space - with equipment far more futuristic than their own.

A hot glue gun-shaped item - labeled as a disinfectant, sealant, and healing accelerator - fits neatly in his hand. Yamada whistles lowly from the table behind him.

"Damn~" He says, clearly impressed, "We gotta take some of that home for Recovery Girl!"

"Let's see if it works first." He pulls up the suit's legging and takes off the boot and tape bindings, revealing the deep lacerations.

Yamada chuckles nervously, "Haha, that looks kinda bad."

"Hold still." Shouta drives the tip to the beginning of the largest wound, a clear gel seeping out as he pulls the trigger. Yamada hisses, tensing up marginally but obediently holding still for the gun.

It acts quickly, stopping the blood and effectively gluing the skin back together. In a matter of moments, all the once-open wounds have now closed.

Sweat beads at his brow, and he wipes it as he straightens up. Sensing that Yamada was out of danger from blood loss, he moves back to the cabinet to replace the gun.

"Just in case," He looks at Yamada from over his shoulder, "What's your type again?"

Yamada grins and pulls his wounded leg up to cross over the other, "Smart, responsible, limber-"

Shouta immediately tunes him out, regretting ever asking the man anything. See if he ever decided to help him again.

"But really, it honestly feels as good as new again." Yamada rolls his foot, and while there is obvious discomfort on his face, it was more than what he would have been able to do if he had not received aid.

Grabbing some gauze, he forces Yamada's foot up so that he could bind it.

Shouta sighs, some of the tension that had been building up finally releasing. Yamada huffs, sighing away his own tension from the close-call.

"Let's not do that again."

Shouta tucks the end of the gauze neatly around Yamada's ankle, the binding secure and clean. He gently sets his foot back down.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Shouta sniffs, smirking back at Yamada.

"Here. Prop me up." He gestures Shouta over to stand by the top of the bed. Spying a lever, he pulls it like one would a car seat recliner.

It instantly folds inward, squishing Yamada flat. Yamada yelps, face pressed into his knees and arms flailing out the side.

"Heh." Shouta observes him.

"Son of a-! Don't just stand there!" His friend protests, and Shouta was sure if the other had his quirk, then he would no longer have his eardrums.

"Right. Sorry."

Shouta moves to unfold the chair, weathering Yamada's glare like a boulder to rain. The man continues to glare at him, even as he swings his legs over the bed and tests them.

Seeing that they tentatively hold his weight, Yamada stands, bracing against Shouta by gripping his shoulder. Boot and legging back in place, the two shuffle out of Medbay and towards the cafeteria.

The group sits in their usual spot around the emergency button, and sure enough, Green isn't sitting with them. Shouta sags minutely.

"Where is she?" He asks as he helps Yamada sit.

Cyan runs a hand through her hair and sighs, "We aren't sure. Somewhere between Admin and the Electrical room. We were separated once again when we had to fix the oxygen."

Shinsou looks ready to argue about something she said, but Shouta butts in before he gets the chance.

"Alibis then." Shouta demands, rightfully frustrated even if it meant throwing his fellow imposter under the bus. After all, she had tried to kill Yamada. "We can narrow it down, here and now. Yamada was also attacked by an imposter hiding in the vents, moments after O2 was sabotaged."

"Whoever wasn't in your group at the end there, is one of the killers." Yamada summarizes for him.

Tan growls and stands. The man's eyes dart around the table but never quite make contact with anyone, and sweat beads at his brow. Shouta blinks as a finger is pointed directly at him.

"It's the Hero - the one in black! He vented!"

What the hell? No I didn't. Shouta thinks, confused.

Eyes darting between Shouta and his accuser, Yamada places a heavy hand on his shoulder and comes to his defense.

"I've been keeping an eye on him - I'd have known if he did."

That's right. I haven't used the vents. Not since last round.

"What's your game here?" Shinsou also stands up for him, voice turned icy and low - likely holding lingering resentment at being implied in the previous meeting, "Kind of a strange deflection - especially since you were one of the two people suspiciously missing."

"So what? Who's to say both of our Heroes aren't actually our killers, and are just playing us for fools!" Tan sneers, the action so jarring in contrast to his normally cool and collected demeanor, "Huh, kid? What a heartbreak it would be if you found out the two you trusted most here were actually monsters-"

Shinsou stands, glaring down his nose at the man. Shouta stands too, leaning over Yamada to grab his student's arm.

Tan, seemingly understanding he crossed a line, exhales slowly. With a muttered apology, he sits back down - Shouta and Shinsou following shortly after.

The sudden change in character was startling. Tan had always seemed to be so rational - so smart and sharp that Shouta had considered him a threat. What had caused this sudden irrationality? Shouta's eyes widen, and he turns to look at the answer.

Maroon, arms crossed, speaks up.

"What exactly were you guys doing away for so long?"

Tension dropping ever so slightly, Shouta brushes the hair out of his eyes. His gaze locks with the other imposter's unyieldingly.

"We managed to find our destination." He announces. The group immediately alerts at the news, heads turning to focus on him and Yamada.

"It's a base called Polus," Yamada continues for him, "and if we can keep the ship running top-notch, then we may arrive there in as little as 22 hours."

"22 hours?!" The excitement comes from multiple people around the table.

Tan falls back in his seat, looking up at the ceiling through narrowed eyes (and Shouta has to wonder, if he found out on his own or if Maroon had killed in front of him), "And then we can finally find out. If this is one big nightmare or not. It'll end then."

Yamada turns to look at Cyan, "We lost a lot of oxygen back there, I don't suppose you have any new readings?"

She shakes her head, "No. Sorry. But I don't think we lost so much that we would run out before we got there."

"Right, anyway." Shinsou fixes Yamada and Shouta with a steely look, "Outside of you two, Tan and Maroon were the only ones unaccounted for. Green also had blood on her stinger."

His eyes flicker over to Maroon, and while she had no visible injuries, she was maybe a shade paler than normal. Sounds like neither of her victims this round made it easy for her.

Fighting back a smirk, he brings his mind back to the conversation as Shinsou continues.

"There's a strong chance that they both could be killers, but..." His eyes dart over to Shouta, uncertain, "I don't want to make any accusations."

If they killed both Tan and Maroon via ejection, then Shinsou would likely have the idea that he was the one to instigate that hang over his head for the rest of his life. Even though Shouta had told him earlier to not accuse unless he was sure, he didn't want Shinsou to believe that this was a burden he would be responsible for.

In fact, if he could just send the kids out of the room while the adults argued, he would. But he doubted either of them would take too kindly to that.

Before either Tan or Maroon could make any counter-arguments, Cyan stands and reels away from him and Yamada.

"Present Mic has an open wound!"

Shouta actually growls at that, "Ma'am, must I repeat myself that it was the imposter that attacked us?"

"It couldn't have been them." Shinsou narrows his eyes at her, "The timing of when Tan and Maroon were last seen with Green was too recent. They were literally in the hall with her when you called the meeting."

Eri nods along, agreeing with Shinsou's statement. And even if he hadn't had a bias for her, the fact that a child was confirming Shinsou's claim was an answer in an of itself.

Tan says nothing in defense - likely panicking as he tried to come up with anything. It's Maroon that answers for him.

"We aren't the only ones who were unaccounted for. Maybe one of the heroes vented in and killed her before we knew what happened." She wipes sweat from her brow, "And like Cyan said, we aren't the ones with an injury."

Damn the ability of the impostors to hide any mess they make. His teeth grind as he works his jaw, and he decides to seal her fate.

"Maroon is the only one who hasn't had a stable alibi." Neither did he. "Even I did not keep her in my sight the entirety of the round when the reactors went off." Risky to say - because she could claim the same about him. He turns to fix Tan a pointed stare, "And who knows, maybe that was all the time she needed."

"If you weren't there when the murder happened, then where were you?" Yamada pins them.

It's obvious to the two heroes that the question catches them off-guard. Stuttering, Maroon flounders, "We- we were-"

The lights suddenly shut off - their time was up. No one could make a move against each other, not with the ship on its rest mode.

His heated glare falls upon Tan and Maroon. With the little light, Tan stares back, much like a kid caught stealing. Maroon, though, she meets his glare head-on, with heat enough to match his own.

"Tomorrow." He says, "We'll finish this."

...

It's late, deep into the night and yet his mind is running a mile a minute.

Cyan - having been unable to trust either party - had snatched some bedding from their room and said she was going off to find a place to lock up for the night. While it was obvious that she trusted their group more than Tan and Maroon - who had holed up together in the women's dorm - it wasn't enough to get her to stay.

There were no places to lock away into. No places that an imposter couldn't reach. The tip of his canine draws blood from the inside of his cheek where he works it too furiously.

She would be dead by morning. Everyone knew it - and he would have to be dumb to not believe that Cyan didn't know that too.

He rolls over, the bed springs complaining under him. On the bed neighboring him, Yamada too, festers in the late hours.

"Save the thinking for tomorrow." Shouta whispers.

It was surprising, with how much blood Yamada had lost earlier, he'd have thought that he wouldn't have been able to stay awake at all. The blond snorts, but his grip on his sheets go slack, "How very hypocritical of you, buddy."

"Hm."

There's a moment where neither of them talk. Some passive, humming noise turns on somewhere in the ship, and it reminds Shouta of a fridge cooling itself back down. If it were anything other than benevolent, they would've been alerted before the ship went into its night cycle.

"So." Yamada's normally bright voice sounds almost dead, "Sho. Think of a better answer yet?"

No. This nightmare would have no happy ending. So, no, he did not have a better answer for a situation that had become so much worse. He was a killer. He had no plan. Imposter. Crewmate. Wherever he chose to aim his violence in the end, it wouldn't matter - for that was all he knew.

Over his life, he'd had periods of self-hate. That was nothing compared to this.

Shouta hesitates. He swallows, and murmurs out a quiet "Hizashi-".

From the rustle of blankets, he can tell Yamada has turned on his side to face him. His friend has fallen quiet, and he hopes the silence of the room won't let his voice carry beyond just them two.

"I don't think all of us are going to be able to make it." He admits. There's a moment, where everything has become hushed - even Yamada's breathing - so much so that his heart rages in his ears.

"Don't talk like that." Yamada actually snaps, "We're almost at the finish line. We all know it's Maroon - and with a little bit of pushing we can find out for sure if Tan's her partner."

"You know that means we'll have to vote them out." His throat feels rough as he swallows.

They would be sentencing living people into the vacuum of space. Could they even call themselves humans - let alone heroes - after that? Shouta had already come to accept he'd lost his humanity since he first set foot on this ship, but this was something else entirely.

Falling silent, Yamada sighs out deeply. Shouta wonders not for the first time if this man would actually kill another. It didn't sound like he was ready to either way.

"In the morning-" Yamada starts only to pause as Eri murmurs in her sleep. A moment passes and he begins again in a quieter volume, "In the morning we hit the button. First thing. Figure everything else out then."

Shouta is quiet for what feels like too long, "If all of this isn't real." He swallows thickly, "If all of this is just a nightmare. What about the sins that were committed? Can we just wash our hands of them when we wake?"

Can I wash my hands of them? Bloodstained as they are?

He clenches his eyes shut. No.

Yamada's raspy answer falls upon him like a guillotine.

"No."

And Shouta mourns.


Thank you all so much!

Only one chapter left! I hope you guys have enjoyed! I know this fic wasn't as popular as some of my others, but those of you that have followed along or picked it up along the way - I hope you guys know that you are awesome! Couldn't have done this without you! So, until next time! ;)

Round 3 Survivors:

Aizawa & Eri -Black
Yamada - Yellow
Shinsou - Lilac

Tan (young office man), Maroon (young office woman)
Cyan(college girl)

Hope you guys are enjoying! Comments/kudos of very much loved!

Thank you guys again! 3