Izuku found himself standing in the middle of the diner, face full of shock and his finger weakly pointed towards the fellow (ex?-) hero student, while Todoroki was doing the same in turn from his seat.

"Oh hey," Justice sauntered over, "You know this guy?"

"He's cute-" Modeus was silenced with a glare from Justice.

"Y-yeah, we're…" Izuku blinked, completely at a loss for what to say. They may not know each other very well, but this was his classmate. A strong one, if his recommendation status and 2nd place in the apprehension test was anything to go by! He was supposed to be in school, to be learning how to be a hero! Not…

"What are you doing here…?" he eventually managed to ask. Todoroki gestured to his soba.

"I think he meant here as in Hell, not here as in this diner." Justice clarified.

"Oh." Todoroki looked down into his meal, "That's… Sort of a long story."

"W-well…" Izuku looked to the others, "We've got an hour or so, right?"

"Story~!"

"Story~!"

"Story~!" Cerberus helped.

"I…" Todoroki hesitated.

"I'll cover your tab." Justice offered.

"So it all started when we arrived at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint for some training exercises…"

"And here we are, kids! Take it in…"

From a cursory glance, Shouto could see today would go largely as expected; the large dome was split into a number of sectors mimicking natural disasters they could encounter in the field, and all of them were manageable. A damaged city? Ice supports. A forest fire? Ice and water would make it a plain forest. Wrecked ship? Ice bridge. Precarious cliffs? Ice ledges. Today would simply be another step on his path forward.

"Woah, is that a lake?" Kaminari asked.

"There's a raging fire and a constant downpour and you're excited by the lake?" Jirou jabbed at him.

"Hey, shut up…"

Frankly, Shouto found it ridiculous that they could joke like that after the last hero exercise had ended so disastrously. But when he took a second, brief look, he realised Kaminari's curiosity didn't extend to his eyes, the smile from Jirou's good-natured joke barely reached her lips.

Thinking further, he realised Kaminari wasn't in awe of the environments, but probably concerned at what could happen if he lost control of his electricity in one. A large electrical charge and poor control combined with an open body of water meant a devastating result for anyone who found themselves in his vicinity. Shouto adjusted his opinion of him to be marginally more positive.

After the brief chatter, Snipe-sensei began talking them through some of what they'd be doing, which led them to the second hero in attendance.

"Hello everyone!" A spacesuit-clad woman reminiscent of a marshmallow greeted them.

"Hey, it's Thirteen!" he heard Ashido's voice retain its abundant pep, before lowering the volume to only a loud whisper, "Didn't you say she was one of your favourites, Uraraka?"

"Huh?" the girl in question replied with a startle, "Oh, yeah… I like her a lot…" she trailed off just as quickly, unable to maintain any amount of energy. While she still tried to project a positive attitude, her success was limited at best.

If she can't focus then she shouldn't be here… Shouto's eyes softened minutely after the thought, Not that I can blame her… it was a difficult balance: It took courage to keep trying after what had happened but, cruel though it may be, if she wasn't able to keep up it would be better for everyone if she just left. Anyone with a functioning brain knew she couldn't be blamed in any way for what happened at the battle trials, but it was becoming apparent that losing her teammate had her thinking otherwise. In their intended line of work, such thoughts could later mean fatal hesitation if she couldn't overcome them.

While he'd been distracted, Thirteen had been rattling off some basic information about the USJ that people should already know by now. Something interesting he did notice was her asking Snipe a quiet question, and her response being something about All Might not being able to attend as he was 'busy with hero work' or some such. It was hardly a surprise; he'd been notably absent recently for that very reason, though Shouto suspected U.A. were re-evaluating their teaching staff…

"Now, before we start, a few things." Thirteen addressed the group, "Listen carefully. I'm sure you're aware that I have a powerful Quirk. It's called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything
and turn it into dust. I've used this to rescue people, but my Quirk could also very easily be used to kill. Some of you also have powers that can be dangerous. In our superhuman society, all Quirks are certified and stringently regulated, so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be-"

"We already know that." someone interrupted Thirteen with a bitter voice. It took a moment for the group's collective shock to realise it was Uraraka.

"We've already… Everyone's seen how…" her thought trailed off with a wavering voice.

"… Indeed." Thirteen solemnly interrupted the girl as she began to break into quiet tears, "You've already seen this fact first hand. You all know how dangerous quirks can be, and that making assumptions about your powers, or how others will react to those powers, can be fatal. Which is why it was decided that this training would be still be run despite U.A.'s recent tragedy: To teach you all how to ensure your powers are used to save lives, not take them."

'An assumption about how someone reacts to your powers' Shouto would chuckle if the thought didn't disgust him. They could phrase it however they wanted, call it an accident, a tragedy… At the end of the day, it was the inevitable result of a series of mind-numbingly terrible decisions catalysing a loose cannon who should never have been allowed on campus, let alone into a live-Quirk training simulation.

And wait, who the hell thought those gauntlets were appropriate for a first-year-

"Thanks to Eraser Head's fitness tests, we all have a reasonable grasp of your Quirk's potential." her attention had turned back towards the group as a whole, "Today we'll be refining that potential solely to help others. Additionally, I've personally read through the details regarding your Quirks, and have prepared a training regimen alongside Snipe-" the teacher in question tipped his cap, "- built to ensure a safe environment. Now…" Thirteen was cut off by gasps and stares further into the facility, where a black shadow seemed to be growing.

Is this another logical ruse? Seriously? Shouto thought the idea had been poorly thought out the first time, but this was just insulting-

"Everyone stay back…" Snipe-sensei instructed them, a tone of complete seriousness overshadowing the laid-back attitude he'd been projecting. He and Thirteen positioned themselves between their group and the unknown shape.

"Has training started already…?" Kirishima asked idiotically.

No, Shouto reprimanded himself for the insult, they're just in shock… We've never faced a real threat before…

The shadow heralded the arrival of dozens of villains. The shadow – no, black mist – seemed like it was either a warp Quirk or covering for one. Their entrance was fast, but alarms should be going off back at U.A., so they wouldn't have more than a few minutes to make their move. Yet they remained still, seeming to discuss the situation while Snipe corralled the students, who were reacting with varying degrees of shock.

No, wait… Shouto checked his phone, beyond thankful for the support department adding a pocket for it, No signal… They must have a signal jammer, or a Quirk user with similar abilities… But why are they just waiting… In moments like these, the opening move was a crucial one. They had the advantage, they had the element of surprise, but with each passing second they were losing it, his classmates beginning to overcome their shock and prepare to evacuate.

Has something gone wrong in their plan? Were they expecting Aizawa-sensei instead of Snipe- No, wait… Maybe All Might…

"Class President…"

"Y-Yes, sir!" to his credit, Iida recovered quickly.

"Escort everyone back to campus, send for reinforcements…" Snipe prepared his two modded revolver gun things, "Thirteen and I will cover you-"

"I'm afraid not…" the shadow coming between them and the exit soon confirmed he was the warp Quirk user. If they could deal with him, the villains would be trapped…

But this is just mist, and it's not freezing like suspended water! His initial test with some mist that had seeped near him proved as much.

How do you fight air?!

"It's a pleasure to meet you…" the black mist villain started monologuing, identifying themselves as the League of Villains and confirming that they were indeed here for All Might. The event gave Shouto a bit more time to think; maybe he could create some kind of ice dome to trap the villain – no, they'd escape- unless I could freeze the contents solid in time- but then they'd probably die of hypothermia, is the situation that desperate yet-

"Stay back-" Thirteen's warning fell on deaf ears as Kirishima started running forwards.

"Did ya think we were just gonna stand around and let you do whatever the hell you want?!" his hardened arm flew forwards, but the complete lack of resistance betrayed that he hit naught but air.

The villain taunted Kirishima with a threat, but thankfully this time he listened to Thirteen's repeated warning to get back. Shouto assumed she was about to use Black Hole, seeing as it was one of their only potentially useful weapons against an airborne villain. He readied himself to let out an ice wall at a moments notice – if she could get them in a desperate position and distracted maybe he could employ his dome plan-

"I'll scatter you across this facility to meet my comrades, and your deaths!" the villain's sudden expansion, swallowing almost the entire class into the floor, including Shouto, shot his ice plan down in flames.

A moment of darkness later, little more than a blink, and he had fallen into the landslide zone. He fell on his back and slipped on the uneven terrain after the fall, but a quick burst of ice soon kept him held in place. Now he just needed to-

"WAAAAAH!" a scream to his left side alerted him to Hagakure having been teleported along with him, the dust stream making it clear she was having more trouble than him finding purchase on the steep hill. A burst of ice later and she was secure.

"T-Thanks…" her shivering highlighted one of the issues with a costume that consisted of your skin and little else.

"Don't mention it." he stated plainly in response before taking in his surroundings.

The zone they were in featured a large hill with a steep incline, some wrecked buildings tossed in with an otherwise dusty earth ground. It seemed the warp villain had been stupid enough to give them the high ground, giving a clear view of the entire area.

Including the dozen or so villains stationed at the bottom of their hill.

"Hey look!" "The kids're here!" "Why don't you come on down…?" a low chuckle emerged from their ranks, equipping weapons and Quirks ready for combat.

Why would we come down? Are these villains just that stupid?

"They're real villains, aren't they…?" Hagakure asked, clearly struggling to get to grips with the situation.

"Yeah."

"They're gonna kill us…"

"Oh no." Shouto put his right foot forward, an avalanche of ice erupting down the hillside and freezing every villain they could see in place, "Anyway, we should probably go and figure out what's going on."

It took a bit longer than he'd have liked to get the spluttering girl down the hillside, but leaving her here would cause more problems in the long run. Whether by coincidence or plan by the villain, Hagakure was his teammate for now. He wasn't going to leave her alone and risk another Battle Trial incident.

"Hey!" "Let us out!" "You're dead kid!" "I'll kill you!"

"Then why would I let you out?" he asked the very obvious question. It was becoming clear they weren't dealing with a high class of villain, but even rage-filled idiots could be dangerous. Perhaps even more so.

"Frankly, you should be embarrassed for getting overwhelmed by someone, what, half your age?"

"Why are you mocking them-" Hagakure's groan was cut off by a second wave of villains jumping out, having hidden themselves behind buildings. A second barrage of ice incapacitated all of them.

A weak taunt like that is all it took to reveal yourselves? He was almost disappointed with how easy this was. Seeing the murderous intent in their eyes remedied that into relief soon enough.

"If you stay frozen you'll die of hypothermia. If you tell me your objectives, I'll unfreeze you."

It took a bit longer for most of them to calm down and realise they couldn't escape, but after the fear of death was properly instilled they were all too ready to spill everything they knew. Unfortunately, that wasn't much. Apparently a villain in the central plaza with a body clad in hands was the leader, and they were here to kill All Might. Beyond that, they weren't told anything - they were just hired thugs.

What a surprise… he sighed.

"I-I-I s-swear, t-t-that's all we k-k-know…"

"Fine." as promised, he began to unfreeze them.

"PSYCH!"

"Todoroki! Watch out-" It took less than ten seconds for one to attack him as expected.

It took less than two to re-freeze them all.

"I've used just barely enough ice to freeze you, and its temperature is closer to melting point than the last. You'll be fine for a while; I'll come and defrost you once the situation is resolved."

With his ultimatum finished, Shouto wasted no time in making his way towards the central plaza. The fallen buildings and uneven terrain made it impossible to know what was going on until they were closer, so they needed to find out as soon as possible.

"Hey, Todoroki…" Hagakure decided to initiate conversation. He remembered reading somewhere that people often fell back on what was normal in stressful situations as a coping mechanism, so he concluded there was no harm in indulging her.

"Yeah?"

"Has anyone ever told you you're kind of a badass?" the question made his pace falter for a moment.

"… No." he blinked. "… Thanks?"

"Don't mention it!" her tone of voice implied it was a compliment. He wasn't used to those.

… It was nice.

The rest of their journey was uneventful. They kept their pace brisk but measured; exhausting themselves sprinting before conflict would help no one, and the walk gave Shouto's temperature some time to stabilise. They ran into another handful of villains near the end – maybe scouts or perimeter guards – but they went down without much of a fuss. He could only hope that his classmates would find the matter as simple…

No. he shook off the thought, I need to focus on what's in front of me, not things I can't change. I can keep Hagakure safe while we determine how bad the situation is. Anything else is a distraction.

Coming to the bottom of the landslide, all that was left was climbing the exterior fence, separating the zone from the rest of the facility. Realising that just vaulting it into the unknown was less a battle plan and more suicide, Shouto made an ice platform for the two to peer over and find out what was going on.

What they saw was… Less than reassuring.

The most immediate concern was the horde of villains who were locked in combat with Snipe-sensei. Villains were attacking en masse, and Snipe was replying to their careless and aggressive lunges with calculated dodges and bullets planted in their knees, shins and shoulders. He'd taken down well over a dozen thugs, but that was a small drop in the ocean of villains. Any breathing room that Snipe bought was only temporary. His fighting style was suited towards neutralising threats from a distance, not handling an army in a melee brawl. Perhaps if he moved to more lethal take-downs he'd be having more luck – a shot to the chest was quicker and easier than aiming for a knee or shin – but even then his odds weren't good.

At first he assumed Thirteen must be busy evacuating the students, but when he looked up the stairs towards the entrance, the only thing they could see was her shredded suit hanging limply over the edge.

"Is that-"

"She probably ditched the suit." Shouto pre-emptively reassured her. From what he'd heard, her spacesuit was a costume designed to help limit her Quirk, so maybe with the villain attack she'd decided such limits weren't a concern? But the damage seemed bad…

"This is getting old…" a scratchy, irritated voice spoke to the opposite side of Snipe-sensei's ongoing brawl. Turning his head, Shouto realised it was the hand-man the thugs had identified as the leader.

"Maybe we have to take down the mini-boss for the main one to show up…" he scratched at his neck, seeming to take off flakes of skin with his nails.

"Noumu." a hulking, purple monstrosity with an exposed brain snapped to attention beside him. "Just kill Snipe already."

With those simple, apathetically-delivered words, the creature took off, darting across the battlefield in the blink of an eye. It cared not for any supposed allies in its wake, batting them aside like flies as it flew towards Shouto's teacher. Snipe reacted immediately, taking aim and filling the creature's legs with bullets.

They did nothing.

Shouto could hear the punch's impact from the two dozen or so meters away he was. The thwack of flesh against flesh, the crunch of bone as Snipe doubled over… He was flung to the stairs at startling speeds, and the crack his body made against the stairs sent a chill down Shouto's spine. Snipe wasn't getting up. He wasn't moving.

Is he even breathing…?

"Oh my god…" Hagakure muttered from beside him. The words snapped Shouto out of his daze, and he made to vault the fence.

"What are you-"

"Snipe-sensei needs help." he replied in a hurry, "That thing seems to have some kind of super strength and regeneration, at this range it's a terrible match-up for him. But you saw what I can do." he summoned a small flicker of ice around his right arm for effect.

Bullets wouldn't work against a beast like that unless you shot to kill. But Shouto had ice. He could freeze the floor under it to trip it up, trap it in an ice prison, block its vision with barriers, hurl ice spears, freeze it solid… He set his eyes forward in determination.

"I can take it."

"I could not take it." Todoroki ordered another round of soba, taking full advantage of Justice's offer.

"That's…" Izuku reeled at the story, staring into his finished katsudon bowl as he tried to process what he'd been told.

"I'm so sorry…"

"… It's fine." Todoroki reassured him, seemingly more concerned with how soon his new soba would be served than his tragic demise.

"But… But why did you end up in hell, and not…"

"Oh, that?" Todoroki asked with a tint of anger and a look of… Regret? "Apparently a bunch of the villains I froze in place died of hypothermia. I was surprised none of their allies helped, to be honest."

"No honour amongst child-murdering thugs." Justice took a break from her donburi to contribute bitterly.

"I guess." Todoroki agreed, "As it was sort-of self-defence, that alone wouldn't have barred me from heaven – just put me on a probationary period, or something. But, apparently, if I'd focused on escaping and used my…" he hesitated, looking down at his left arm, "If I'd gone all-out and focused on escaping, I could have gotten out and saved my teammate. So I got put here for 'arrogant pride'."

"That's…" Izuku looked towards Justice, "How is that fair?!"

"I know, right?" Justice added, "Hell, giving a punishment which we don't think is fair? When has that ever happened before?"

"Eh." Todoroki replied, "It's not that bad. I've only been here a couple of weeks, but to be honest? So far it's better than home."

…

… Izuku honestly didn't know how to respond to that. What could you even say?

"That's rough, buddy." Justice offered.

"Yeah, that's…" Izuku blinked for a moment, "Wait, did you say you 'could have gotten out and saved your teammate'? Does that mean-"

"Yeah, I died too." a familiar voice spoke up from the seemingly empty chair to Todoroki's left, "And they threw me down here for public indecency! I mean, hello?!" a pair of chopsticks started floating, pointing towards where he assumed the occupant was sitting.

"H-Hagakure?!" Izuku exclaimed in shock, "H-How long have you-"

"Since Kurogiri showed up in the story." she pointed a chopstick towards Todoroki, "I was checking out some of the other food stores; didn't want to interrupt when I got back. But more importantly than that: MIDORIYA!" she suddenly threw her chopsticks to the table and, if the gloves and boots were any indication, rushed around to Izuku.

"It's so good to see you! Even though it's not great that it's here, but we saw you- but then we're- Ah!" she pulled him into a hug excitedly, "I'm so glad you're all right…" a slight nod and serious look from Todoroki suggested he felt the same. On the inside.

"R-right…" he replied with a stutter, awkward about the physical contact but appreciating the sentiment. He wouldn't quite say he was 'all right', but given the circumstances he was doing relatively well.

"Damn." Justice whistled, "And I thought Modeus was forward…"

"Hey!" the demon in question put her kaki dotenabe down in a huff, "You think that's forward?! Just watch me-" thankfully Cerberus was able to hold her back. He'd have to thank her later…

"Wha-" Hagakure stuttered and broke out of the hug, "What are you talking about?! It's not forward to hug a friend you saw-"

"It is when you aren't wearing anything." Justice rebutted while casually tucking back in to her dish, "Well, anything other than gloves and shoes."

"It's my hero outfit! It's all I've got!"

"Your 'hero outfit' is some gloves and shoes?" Justice returned in disbelief.

"They're good gloves! And it lets me take full advantage of my Quirk!"

"Your Quirk needs you to be naked?"

"Well duh!" she used her hands to gesture up and down herself. Justice looked at her blankly.

"Oh!" Izuku realised the issue, "Hagakure's Quirk is invisibility."

"Ohhh." Justice nodded, "Got it."

"Well, yeah." Hagakure muttered uncertainly, "I thought it was kind of obvious…"

"Light refraction doesn't really…" Justice flashed her sunglasses up for a moment to reveal the clouded irises, "Do it for me. Come back with aura refraction and we'll talk."

"Oh. That's… Wait…" Hagakure fidgeted awkwardly, "You mean… You can see me?"

"Yup." Justice confirmed, "You're pretty cute. Hair's a bit messy, but it kind of works for you."

Hagakure's silence spoke volumes of her discomfort.

"If you want to look embarrassed, you'll have to try harder than that. Your blush isn't even reaching half an Izuku."

"Wha-" Izuku spluttered in response, his embarrassment in the awkward situation peaking with the fact he now seemed to be the basis for a measure thereof.

"See, now that's blushing." Justice's point prompted Izuku slamming his head on the table.

"You're right. He looks really red…" he hit it against the table again at Todoroki's note.

"Bet I could make him redder!" Modeus exclaimed.

"Oh, I can be red!" Cerberus' declaration was met with Justice quickly cutting in to stop the diner being filled with large hounds. Hagakure quickly sat the other side of Todoroki so Justice couldn't see her as easily, before quickly trying to move the topic along. Something Izuku was all too happy to assist.

"S-So why're you here anyway, Izuku?"

"Ah." onto any topic other than that… "Well, that's… Also a long story…" he trailed off, unsure how to continue with that. Could he tell them? Should he tell them? How would they react? Who could be listening? Was it wrong to keep them in the dark-

"You can tell 'em." Justice permitted – he wasn't sure if he was muttering again or he was just that obvious with his thoughts, "They told their story, only fair you tell yours."

"… Ok." he swallowed, "Well, there's this place near the bottom of Hell called Judecca…"

"WHAT?!" Toru exclaimed in shock, "You're supposed to be thrown into the bottom of Hell for all eternity because, what, you wanted to a hero and died wrong?!"

"I accepted a responsibility-"

"Pretty much." the fake-blind demon interrupted what was sure to be an overly-apologetic justification.

"That's…" Todoroki seemed at a loss for words, "… so messed up." he seemed more shaken by the revelation than he had been during the entire USJ incident. And rightly so! Thrown into the depths for committing the unforgivable sin of dying?! Toru thought her punishment had been a bit unfair, but it was the height of compassion compared to that!

"That-" Toru slammed her fist on the desk, "We can't let them get away with this!"

"Who's 'them'?" Todoroki asked.

"I don't know!" Toru angrily exclaimed, "The boss, I guess!" she turned her attention to the demon who could apparently see her but she was too enraged to care right now, "Who the hell decided that?!"

"Well, the default punishments are generated by the divine, so… The man upstairs, I guess?" she shrugged, "But if we're talking application of punishments it's probably me or Judgement you'd take it up with."

"Then I take it up! I take it all the way UP! You can't just torment someone for such a stupid reason!"

"That's not-"

"No! I won't let you!" she interrupted what was sure to be some demonic wordplay, "We won't! Right?!"

"Right." it was nice to know Todoroki had her back.

"Uh, I think this is a bit of a misunderstanding-"

"No, no, Izuku." the demon interrupted their friend, "They want to 'stop me'?" she said the words mockingly, "Let them. So let me ask you both…" she put her food to one side and stood up, turning to face the two condescendingly.

"How are you going to do that, exactly?"

"Well, we'll-" Hagakure faltered, not entirely confident in her own abilities before catching sight of Todoroki and remembering she had him on her side, "… We'll beat you?" that had meant to come off as a statement, but the demon's intimidating aura knocked it down to a question.

"Oh?" she asked incredulously, "As in… You'll fight me?" at her words, all conversation in the diner seemed to cease. Toru felt a chill in the air, before almost all of the diner's occupants seemed to hurriedly – but quietly, as nonchalantly as they could manage – leave. She'd heard that demons were stronger than humans in the underworld, but was it really enough to warrant this level of caution?

"I-If we have to, yeah!" she glanced over at Todoroki, "Right?"

"Right." he nodded immediately, getting up to meet her challenge as the air definitely took on a chill around him, "I already failed to save my classmate once. I refuse to let that happen again."

"Yeah!" he may have been talking about her, but Toru had already seen Midoriya die once already. No way she was letting anything like that happen while she could do something about it.

"G-guys, I really think you should all settle down-"

"Aww, but we're just getting started." the demon interrupted Midoriya, cracking her knuckles while winking at him through her aviators, "Tell ya what, you put me down and you get custody over Izuku's soul. Plus, I'll give you the first shot – won't even dodge. Sound fair?"

Midoriya went to get up but was kept in place by one of the dog-eared demons grinning wickedly, while the others began looking eagerly between Todoroki and the aggressive demon. They seemed to silently be chanting 'fight, fight, fight' but if she didn't know better she could swear the hearts-themed demon was chanting 'kiss, kiss, kiss'. Clearly Midoriya was trying to protect his two classmates from whatever wrath these beings could unleash, but he hadn't seen Todoroki in action. And there was no way in hell they'd abandon him to whatever horrid fate they had in store.

"You asked for it." Todoroki instantly froze the ground beneath them, completely coating the demon's feet in thick chunks of ice sealed to the floor. That'll teach her to underestimate-

"That's it?" she pulled her feet out of the solid ice like it was an inconvenient mud, completely unaffected by the attack.

"After all that talk I'd kinda hoped-"

She was interrupted by a second wave of ice, this one not constrained to the floor but instead flying upwards from Todoroki's feet to completely encase their foe. The other demons now stepped to the side, a dog-eared one bringing Midoriya with her. A human would've died from hypothermia in instants-

"Ok, a little better."

Unfortunately they weren't dealing with humans.

The entire structure completely shattered with a light roll of the demons shoulders, like breaking out of a fatal ice prison wasn't even a warm-up. Looking closer, Toru realised that while the attack had Todoroki breathing just that little bit harder than usual, the demon wasn't even phased. But that couldn't be right – an attack like that would've needed intense energy to break out of. Surely she had to be feigning a complete lack of effort.

Surely.

"But if I'm honest it was a little disappointing." the demon sighed, "You're really talking smack when you can barely encase your opponent in, what, half a foot of ice? The wraiths of Gluttony are more of a pain to deal with than that…"

"Wraiths?" Midoriya echoed.

"Long story; be glad we didn't run into any." he let out something between a groan and whimper in response.

"Todoroki-"

"I know." he placed both his hands to the floor in front of him, sprouting spires of ice several meters in length which grew, and grew, and grew as they approached the demon. Gone was any reservation, any concern for collateral damage – it was becoming clear that any hesitation could cost them their friend's 'soul'. Within moments the roof was torn through, the floor shattered and the demons around Midoriya rolling over the bar counter to escape the onslaught – the dog-eared one pulling him with them yet again. The screech of sharp ice tearing through furniture, floor tiles, cutlery, all erupted in a horrendous cacophony that forced Toru to shield her ears. The temperature was dropping degrees by the half-second from the sheer vastness of the ice in Todoroki's wake. The air immediately clouded with water, frozen into a cross between icicles and snowflakes.

"Ngh…" Todoroki heaved forward in exertion, Toru immediately going to catch him.

Cold!

The right side of his body was almost completely blue, shards of ice coating his arm and leg. She briefly panicked after realising she didn't know how to treat hypothermia, before remembering they were next to a kitchen – flames would help with the cold, right? And they were dead – could the dead even get hypothermia? Or was the ambient heat of Hell enough to make sure no one froze? Hell couldn't freeze over, right?

Looking towards the veritable iceberg Todoroki had created, she realised the answer was 'it could now.'

"Can't…" Todoroki muttered through his shivering, rattling teeth, "Can't keep-"

"It's ok." Toru interrupted, looking towards the enormous wall of ice separating them from where the demon had stood.

"You got her."

"Yeah…" a muffled voice spoke through the frozen abyss, a mere moment before the wall exploded outwards. Toru shielded her face with her arms, while Todoroki used his frozen arm to take the brunt of it. Looking past the wreckage and into the now-opened crater in the wall, Toru's face fell in despair.

"Not sure about 'got'…" the demon, completely unharmed, brushed a few specks of ice off of her sleeves as she stepped out of the wall, "But you cooled me down, I guess – been missing Gluttony's frosty vibe a bit, so thanks man!" she pointed towards Todoroki with a chilling smile, "You are my new favourite air conditioner!"

"… What-"

"But now it's my turn." in a blink the demon had crossed the distance between them and was holding Todoroki by the scruff of his collar. Toru barely had time to process what was happening before she tried to rush to his aid.

"Argh!" only for the demon to knock her to the ground with a well-placed blow, the elbow from her free arm being driven into Toru's solar plexus with barely a motion wasted in an almost rhythmic strike.

"Did you forget the part where I can see you?" the demon asked in a disappointed tone, "Now, I think it's time to see what happens if you piss of the wrong demon."

Toru tried to argue in response, but could only splutter as she looked up to find the demon lodging her hand in Todoroki's ribcage. Not ripping through the flesh, not plunging into it, just seemingly… phasing her hand into his chest. Todoroki struggled and grunted in pain, a look of intense agony overcoming him as the demon seemed to route around in his chest for a moment-

"Got it!" before yanking her hand back out with… something.

In her hand was some sort of ethereal, glowing orb. On the surface it seemed to be split into two segments neatly down the middle, one side frozen a cracked blue with the other burning a bitter red, but looking closer there seemed to be more. Layers and layers of colours building into the complex symphony of its complete form. It floated in her hand, remaining in place centimetres from the surface of her skin while a thin layer of white energy seemed to organically fill in the gaps. The orb pulsated in her hands in a repetitive pattern: A pair of beats followed by silence, repeated again and again.

It's like a heartbeat…

The striking object had momentarily pulled Toru's attention away from Todoroki, and when she looked back…

"What did you do to him…" Her words were mumbled in terror. Todoroki didn't simply look dead, he looked lifeless… She barely even registered him as human. The Todoroki she'd seen mere moments ago had been replaced with a colourless, hollow shell resembling a human. He was… Gone.

"Huh? Oh." she dropped the thing that had replaced Todoroki on the floor, before the wrapping slowly started peeling away to reveal what Toru had suspected: Nothing. No muscles, no bones, no organs, nothing. Just an empty shell in the shape of her friend.

"Guess this is your first time seeing a raw soul?" she bounced the orb – no – she bounced Todoroki in her hand carelessly, "Shouldn't be surprised – not many mortals see these and exist to remember 'em."

She looked between the demon's completely carefree attitude and the vulnerable sphere which was her classmate, her only friend in these last weeks in literal Hell… This couldn't be happening. It just wasn't possible – this was some sort of trauma induced nightmare and she was back at the USJ. She was still staring at the horrid creature, completely uncomprehending of what had happened to her friend, completely oblivious to the villain's leader ordering it to kill her too after she started screaming. That had to be what was happening. This was all her mind's attempt to rationalise seeing Todoroki's…

This can't be happening…

"Give him back…"

"Huh- Woah!" the demon sidestepped Toru's sudden lunge.

"I said give him BACK!" she threw herself at the demon again, and again, and again. She'd been a bystander the last time Todoroki threw himself at an enemy he'd underestimated, sat there as her friend was splattered on the plaza's concrete. She'd been completely helpless, unable to even lift a finger in shock and despair, even as she joined him in the afterlife. Not again.

Never again.

I don't care if it's hopeless… even as the demon began sidestepping her blows with flourishes reminiscent of a dance routine, grinning cockily all the while, she refused to stop, pause, to slow down for even a millisecond.

I refuse to do nothing ever again-

"Boop." the demon took advantage of an opening after sidestepping another punch to tap Toru on the nose with a single finger.

The force sent her flying back into the wall behind her.

"Ugh…" Toru coughed from the recoil. The impact seemed to knock every molecule of adrenaline out of her system, her limbs screaming in agony and refusing to respond to any commands-

*SMASH*

The demon landed a kick centimetres from Toru's head, obliterating the wall behind her in the process.

"Ok, this is getting sad." the demon sighed, "Give up yet?"

"Justice…" Midoriya groaned.

"Ngh…" Toru lolled her head around to find the glowing orb her friend now inhabited. Seeing it gave her an ounce of strength, and she tried to reach out for it.

"I can admire the determination." the demon stepped on Toru's injured form, sending a jolt of pain through her.

"Gah!"

"Justice!"

"But determination means absolute jack if you pick a fight with someone you can't beat. Maybe next time you'll-"

"Ha!" another combatant entered the fray: One of the triplet demons with dog ears leapt at the aggressive one with incredible speed before retreating.

"Huh- Oh Shit!" the demon exclaimed after realising what had just happened. As they turned their head back, so did Toru.

"Is that-"

"Ok, Cerbs… Let's all stay calm…" the demon's attitude had completely changed, her calm and cocky demeanour replaced with a restrained panic as she tried to placate the dog-eared one.

Who was now holding Todoroki's soul in her growling mouth.

"Uhhh, Justice…" Midoriya muttered nervously, "What happens if-"

"He stops existing." the demon answered sharply, "And Cerbs gets a power boost."

"I thought- I thought demons had to make deals or something!" he screamed in panic.

"Sure, to get it all easily! But if you're strong enough you can still rip some of it away by force!"

"Like… You were… Going to do…?" Toru muttered.

"I was teaching you a lesson! She'll fucking do it!" the hissed response sent another shock through Toru's defeated form.

Not only was her friend in fatal danger, but it turned out he wasn't even in danger before? If she'd just given up, would the apparently-not-murder-happy-demon not have been too distracted to keep possession of Todoroki's soul?

I did it again… I'm gonna let him die again-

"Um…" Midoriya started uncertainly, "Miss Cerberus… I, um, I'll admit that I'm not the most well-versed when it comes to all of this, but could you please tell me why you want to, well… kill my friend?"

"He's tasty." One of the triplets not holding his soul hostage answered flippantly.

"Like a tangy and sour taste pulling apart but still rolled into one…" the other began drooling.

"Right…" Midoriya swallowed nervously, before catching himself in the action with a slight cough, "I don't suppose I could convince you to… Not do that?"

"But…"

"Tasty…" the third one nodded.

"I know, but…" he seemed unable to put into words just how horrifying her suggestion was. The sunglasses-demon seemed too cautious to approach, and curious to see how Midoriya would handle this, while the hearts-demon was just looking between him and the dog-demon with large, curious eyes.

"As these used to my classmates, they were sort of the closest things I had to friends in the… 'mortal realm'. I know that none of you mean any harm to me…" 'not yet, at least' his expression seemed to imply.

Wait, they don't…? They really had made a terrible mistake, hadn't they?

"But he didn't know that – he tried to help me thinking I was in trouble! So, if you, um, eat him for trying to do that, it would feel like I'm the one who got him killed…"

"But it's not-"

"I know." Midoriya interrupted one of the triplets – a dangerous idea in Toru's books, "But I'd still feel that way. I'd probably feel that way for the rest of my continued existence… It'd make me really sad." he stated one of the most obvious things in the world, but the simplicity and emotion behind his words seemed to convince the triplet of its truth.

"I know I'm just a stupid mortal, barely worth your attention in the grand scheme of things, but… it would really –really –mean a lot to me if you let him go."

"… Hmmm…" One of the triplets pondered.

"Hmmmmmmm…." Another pondered harder.

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm…" the one holding Todoroki pondered hardest. A moment later-

"Ptoo!" she spit him out.

Thank god… Toru melted back into the wall, Or Satan, Izanagi, Buddah- whoever the hell I'm supposed to thank here!

"Holy hell…" the sunglasses-demon stared at Midoriya in… awe?

"One condition!" one of the triplets proclaimed.

"No more 'Miss' Cerberus!"

"Just Cerberus!"

"O-Ok!" Midoriya's expression shifted from terrified to nervous to excited to embarrassed over the course of that single, stuttered word, "Thank you, Cerberus!" all three of the triplets preened at the praise, before one immediately knocked her head towards him and asked to be pet.

"Over three thousand years and I've never seen someone handle her like that…" the sunglasses-demon muttered, "Except maybe… Nah, even he relied on pancake promises…" she seemed to slip into some nonsense, so Toru turned her focus back to Todoroki's soul.

FWOOM

Which suddenly morphed into a full-size body.

"Todoroki!" Hagakure exclaimed, fighting through the aches and pains from her fight to check on her friend, "I'm so sorry- If I'd just… Are you ok?!"

He blinked up at her once. Twice. Thrice. He held a hand in front of his face, examining the saliva which now clung to most of his body. Toru giggled at the motion, feeling tears in her eyes as his focus revealed the fact that despite it all, he was ok.

"… What am I covered in?"

A/N:

And there we have it, the USJ. What? You thought we wouldn't see the USJ in this fic? Just because the protagonist died three days before it happened? Fools, the USJ is an essential element of any MHA fic - abandon it at your own peril!

But with that we're another chapter in, and now only ~3 or so from finishing this first arc, woo! I'm not too far off finishing off writing it, but I got distracted reading My False Love Academia over on AO3, and only managed to write a couple thousand new words since the last chapter. Worth tho, it was a really fun read.

And speaking of AO3, fun little bit of trivia: I got a comment recently on the last chapter claiming to be from 'a leading English online literature platform that houses a vast community of over 10,000 writers!'. Naturally I was intrigued, especially when I noticed the comment wasn't from a user with any official links or even from one with a reasonable username, or even one with an account! Not that I'm doubting user 'zb59zaub', of course. In fact, when I googled their company name (as they themselves recommended), I found results about them! Not a wikipedia page, or any reviews, or an official website, mind you, no, the first thing I found was a bunch of reddit posts explaining that the company is effectively a scam founded on predatory business practices which won't help you get published.

Clearly they're just haters who don't understand the grind. 'WSA Ẅëbιnοveɭ.' is better off without them anyway (No that's not a copy-paste formatting error that's actually the name they give like are they trying to make it obvious they're scammers or ?).

So yeah, my fic was deemed good enough to post predatory recruitment spam. I guess we take those?

As always feel free to comment with thoughts, suggestions, criticisms, etc., and as always hope everyone has a lovely day!