POV - TOKOYAMI FUMIKAGE

Fumikage is no stranger to waking up in odd locations.

Even before his flock had gone on the run, he and Dark Shadow would often find themselves struck with the urge to wander. There was just something about the stillness of night that called to them.

They are the creature in the shadows that small children fear.

He never intends to scare them, not really.

It's not his fault that their fellow classmate's eyes aren't adapted to seeing in low light. Or that his own eyes tended to reflect what little light did remain, leaving behind the ghostly image of two large disembodied eyes, floating in the dark.

Really, you would think they'd learn to stop screaming after the first several occasions.

And after their world fell to chaos, and there were no more small children to accidentally startle awake with their presence, Fumikage and Dark Shadow remained.

But none of those facts matter right now.

What does matter is that Dark Shadow is patting his cheek and murmuring in soft, concerned tones. Fumikage's head throbs with the beginnings of a migraine.

"A͘w̕ak̢eǹ.͘ R͘i̴s͟e,̕ ̵Fu͝m͟ii̧i̡. Loo҉k͟."

Fumikage grumbles, and ineffectively tries to fend his sibling off by flailing an arm.

His movement causes whatever's he's laying upon to give way with a loud 'snap!', and before Fumikage knows it he's falling.

Dark Shadow screeches in alarm, catching him in their outstretched arms and clutching him close. Now wide awake, he can clearly see the branches of a large tree hanging over their heads.

Fumikage blinks, but the scene doesn't change. How peculiar.

It's only then that he remembers what transpired before his impromptu nap.

Sitting bolt upright, Fumikage looks around, but he sees no sign of his class anywhere. He is alone.

Dark Shadow clacks their beak at him. "̵F͘u҉mi.̵..̀?͘"

Fumikage breathes and turns toward his ever-constant companion and sibling, noting the state of their feathers. His own must be rather ruffled too, he thinks.

With a little pat to let them know he's alright, Fumikage stands. Dark Shadow curls forward to wrap themself around his shoulders in a comforting manner. It makes Fumikage feel a little better, though he is still quite worried.

The tree they had been in sits atop a lone hill, overlooking the buildings that surround it.

"I do not believe we are in Tokyo anymore, my friend," Fumikage mumbles, though he's not certain they had ever been in Tokyo in the first place.

Dark Shadow merely huffs in response, their breath ruffling Fumikage's own messy feathers.

They fall into a familiar pattern. Fumikage lets his legs carry him where they will, and Dark Shadow ensures that no one sneaks up behind them. This way, the two of them have a near complete view of their surroundings. He feels a glow of appreciation fill his chest. Fumikage isn't sure where he would be today if it weren't for Dark Shadow.

Most likely, he would be dead.

Fumikage brings a hand up so he may gently card his fingers through Dark Shadow's feathers. His sibling churrs, and affectionately bumps their head against his.

Yes, he is very glad his sibling is here with him.

Soon enough, they reach the edge of the grassy hill.

Countless buildings loom above their heads, offering sanctuary in the long shadows they cast.

The darkness welcomes them like an old friend might; with open arms and a warm embrace. It is a comfort. Even so, Fumikage keeps his guard up, slinking low to the ground while he swings his head back and forth in search of threats. Dark Shadow does the same, letting out a little chuff every so often.

With each and every unexpected noise, the duo freeze in place, resisting the urge to let their feathers puff up and make themselves look big.

Sunlight was beginning to filter into the safety of their shadows, chasing Fumikage towards the darker back alleys. He allows this, and with the help of Dark Shadow they make their way to the rooftops.

For a bird's eye view of the terrain, if you will.

Peering over the roof's half-wall with caution, Fumikage watches as the streets below fill with more people than he's seen in months. Dark Shadow tilts their head beside him, chattering nervously. Perhaps they two have become a bit crowd-shy.

Even from this distance, they can see that the people below are dressed in everyday clothing. The look clean, free of tears and grime, and so very, very... normal.

Fumikage looks down at his own clothing, patched back together so many times now that is was more thread than solid fabric.

It's a good thing his sense of smell has never been the greatest, because he's sure he smells downright awful. Finding enough fresh water to sate their thirst was a challenge alone, but enough to allow nine people to bathe? Near impossible.

The days they were blessed with rain were curses in disguise.

He remembers the first time it happened, the entire class running out and getting themselves soaked, himself included. And thus, nearly all of them fell ill. Aizawa-sensei had lectured them for hours. Only once their ears rung with more than just fever did he finally relent, going out only to return with as many blankets as he could find. That, and canned soup. So much soup.

Aizawa-sensei is a good leader for their flock.

He hopes the man is alright, wherever he is. He must be alright.

The air feels heavy, making Fumikage shift in discomfort at the way it clings to his feathers. He wonders if it will rain soon, though the sky is free of darkened clouds.

Fumikage spends too much time simply watching these people go about their morning, moving about as though they had not a care in the world. It's foolish of him, but he finds himself envying their carelessness. The way they adorned themselves in bright colors, standing out so vividly against the drab backdrop of the city... Easy prey.

He backs away from the edge.

The shadows have long been chased away by dawn, and Fumikage allows himself a brief moment to bask in the warmth. The same light makes Dark Shadow hiss softly and shake their head, but they don't yet retreat to the safety of his shadow.

With a chuckle, Fumikage climbs down the rusted open fire escape and lets the darkness take him once more.

Fresh laundry hangs in lines to flutter in the breeze above his head. Melancholy swirls in Fumikage's chest at the sight; so ordinary in appearance, yet something he never imagined he would bear witness to again.

Windchimes ring somewhere in the distance, accented by the sound of birdsong.

All of it together has fatigue settles over his mind like a weighted blanket, and Fumikage wishes he could rest right here. The promise of a nap is so tempting...

But no, this area is too open, too dangerous. He is alone and without his flock to protect him. In an effort to fend off the fatigue, he reaches up and sluggishly yanks at a few feathers, barely flinching as they come loose in his hand.

Dark Shadow nudges his hands away with a disapproving look, tutting at the small pricks of blood now welling up on his neck.

He chatters softly in apology, then freezes at a clatter of noise that sounds a little further down the alley. Instantly, both he and Dark Shadow are on edge. They press themselves closer to the building, blending in with the scattered boxes and garbage.

Fumikage flexes his fingers, knowing just how capable his talons are of inflicting harm.

They feel the presence draw closer, Dark Shadow bristling in preparation for battle. It pauses just beside their hiding spot, likely able to sense the tension in the air.

There is a moment of stillness, neither willing to make the first move.

Fumikage braces himself, feeling Dark Shadow still at the same time, before they both lunge out of hiding and towards the threat.

It moves in the same instant, dodging the swing of talons to lash out with a kick aimed at his chest. While it doesn't land, Fumikage is forced to dodge and roll out of the way.

He fully expects Dark Shadow to jump into the fray as a distraction, yet confusion slams into him when his sibling does... nothing.

They simply hover with wide eyes, staring towards—

POV - ASUI TSUYU

"...Tsu?"

Tsuyu blinks slowly, her heart still racing from the short scuffle.

Of all the people she'd expected to find in this alley, she hadn't been expecting Fumikage and Dark Shadow.

When Tsuyu'd heard muffled chattering just ahead, her first thought had been of a low-grade nomu. And knowing just how difficult it was to sneak away from a nomu, no matter its strength or size, she'd attempted to distract it with a thrown object. It would have sensed her soon regardless.

It did not immediately go to attack the source of the noise, however. Instead, it had hidden. That made Tsuyu all the more wary. Nomus weren't exactly known for hiding, so she'd gone to investigate.

Cautiously, of course.

And, well... It wasn't a nomu.

"Fumichan?" Tsuyu answers, head tilting to the side as she carefully relaxes her stance. He nods slowly in reply, eyes still wide in disbelief. Did Tsuyu truly startle him that much?

"...Are you alright, kero?" she asks.

Dark Shadow snaps out of their shock first, and they rush forward to nuzzle against Tsuyu's cheek. She smoothes their messy feathers down with a smile.

Fumikage blinks. "I... my apologies. We didn't realize it was you," he flusters, feathers all puffing up.

"It's alright," Tsuyu waves his concern off with her free hand. "Have you seen any of the others?" She can't help but worry; her classmates have become more and more like siblings to her after everything had gone to ruin. They're all the family she has left.

But Fumikage only shakes his head with a frown, walking forward to stand at her side.

"No, you are the first familiar face we've come across," he says. He angles his head towards the other end of the alley, and adds, "We saw many civilians, however."

She nods, taking in the new information. "Hmm. I woke up in someone's koi pond, kero." Her clothing is still damp, despite her best efforts to wring the dirty fabric out. All the koi had been floating on the surface when she'd awoken too; dead.

Fumikage tries to stifle a laugh at the offhand comment, but isn't quite successful.

"̡W͏ȩ a͝w̸o̢ke͞ ͞in a ҉tre̴ȩ, ̶Ts̡u͝c̡h̵a͏ń~" Dark Shadow giggles, moving to nudge against their brother's arm. "̕Do ͜you ̕t̕hin͞k̴ e҉ve̕r͘y̛o̧ne̵ w̕o͡k͜e up͡ ͟s̀oḿewhe̷ré,̶ to̷o?"

Tsuyu nods again, and gives Dark Shadow another little pat on the head. "That would make sense, kero," she says. "Perhaps we were hit with a quirk similar to Kurogiri's?"

"Like at the USJ..." Fumikage mutters, frowning thoughtfully. "Are you suggesting that we may have been split up on purpose?"

"No. This feels... different," Tsuyu has to admit, glancing around the alley in discomfort. Her and Fumikage drift closer to one another. "We haven't been attacked at all, kero..."

Not that being attacked was a good thing necessarily, but it might have at least given them some extra information to work with.

"We d͘o͏n'͡t̡ ̧l̀ikȩ b҉ein͢g ͟ẁa͟r̵p͟ed. ͏I̶t̀ makes ͢us ̛ḑizz̀ý,"̡ she hears Dark Shadow whine, the living shadow moving to drape themself around Fumikage's shoulders like a cloak. Fumikage pats his sibling's back despite the awkward angle.

"At least we know now that our comrades should be nearby," he says, turning to Tsuyu with what looks like relief. She feels much the same.

In response, she bumps against the duo with her shoulder.

"We should stick together, kero. It'll be safer," Tsuyu says, though she knows she's stating the obvious.

Their sensei made it very clear what they were to do in a situation such as this.

'Stay together. Stay hidden. Stay alive.'

It's what they would've done anyways. Strength in numbers is important when there was no one else to turn to for help, after all. But this feels different, regardless of the previous times they had been split up.

"Kero..." Tsuyu ribbits, unable to help her nervous habit. She can't help it; there hasn't been a single nomu or villain attack since she'd startled awake surrounded by murky water and dead fish only a few hours ago. It feels like any moment now the other shoe would drop. And everything looks like it did before, perfectly maintained, livable.

It leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

Fumikage and Dark Shadow are eyeing her with concern of their own, so she decides to ask, "Have you noticed how clean everything looks, kero?"

The question seems to catch them off guard, though Dark Shadow nods after a moment while Fumikage tilts his head.

"...We did," he says. "The civilians we mentioned earlier were also dressed rather oddly." With that, he motions again towards the alley's exit. "Colorful. Like poisonous... frogs."

"Hmm," Tsuyu hums in response.

As they've been talking, daylight has stretched above their heads to fill the dreary alley with light. It was no longer safe to stay here out in the open.

Moving towards the street, Tsuyu peers out and takes note of what Fumikage was talking about. He's right, the civilians are dressed oddly, in the sense that they were dressed in completely normal clothing. Clean, colorful, undamaged.

She looks to the rags that her and Fumikage are wearing. They don't exactly blend in at the moment.

They did before, but not anymore.

Backing up once more into the relative safety of the alleyway, Tsuyu turns to Fumikage and Dark Shadow with a frown. "What do you think we should do, kero?" she asks them. "We'll be noticed if we go out there."

The 'looking like this' part went unsaid.

Fumikage nods. "Our best bet would be to find a suitable disguise," he says.

Ah, but where to find said disguise was the better question.

Tsuyu doesn't really feel like trying to steal clothing from a store, assuming there even was a viable one nearby. But those people on the street had to get their clothes from somewhere, right?

She notices Fumikage looking up, and follows his gaze to see... ah.

"That's convenient," she can't help but say, looking over the multiple sets of clothing hanging from the lines above their heads, strung between the buildings. They look clean, dry, and most importantly, free for the taking.

With a signal from Fumikage, Dark Shadow flits up to grab a handful of random items.

Tsuyu catches all the clothespins before they can clatter to the ground, and places them into her pocket without a second thought. They might be useful for something.

The articles of clothing are a few sizes too large for them, though considering how malnourished her entire class is after so long without a proper meal, that's not exactly saying much. It saves them the hassle of going back for more.

She watches with an amused huff as Fumikage gleefully snatches a Hawks themed bomber jacket, pulling it on over his tattered cape. Tsuyu follows suit, picking up an All Might themed hoodie and slipping into it easily. They both laugh when Dark Shadows wriggles into a 'Put Your Hands Up!' shirt, despite the fact they don't need their own disguise.

The three of them still look pretty out of place, but at least they now have a way to partially hide their identities.

Tsuyu pulls the obnoxiously bright hood up to cover her hair, ignoring Fumikage's laughter at the bunny ears on top. She sticks her tongue out at him, which he mirrors just as cheekily.

She can be poisonous, too.

Tsuyu doesn't hold back her smile, bumping into Fumikage with a soft laugh.

"Let's go find our friends, kero."

POV - SHINSHO HITOSHI

Falling asleep and being knocked unconscious are pretty much the same exact thing in Hitoshi's book.

Though, can he just say, he much prefers waking up from a normal nap.

This was not a normal nap.

Everything hurts, and that's putting it lightly. Seriously. His heart's pounding wildly, as though he's just awoken from a terrible nightmare, but he doesn't remember it if that's the case.

Slowly, Hitoshi uncurls from the little ball his body got rolled into, joints popping and creaking with the movement. Several small objects shift and fall around him when he does, and it's only then that Hitoshi realizes where he is.

He's in a fucking dumpster, surrounded by trash.

Literally what the fuck.

Hitoshi is honestly feeling a little offended. Did somebody stuff his body in here, or...?

Oh, right. They were fighting and got hit by a quirk.

Fuck, Hitoshi really hates transportation quirks. Assuming that's what kind of quirk this is, at least. Gods, he hopes it's as simple as that. He doesn't feel like dealing with anything more than that right now, he doesn't even want to deal with this.

Moving slowly so no more garbage would get dislodged and fall on him, Hitoshi pokes his head out of the dumpster and looks around.

He sees an empty parking lot, with a singular lamppost casting a sickly yellow glow across the cracked pavement, flickering every so often. There's one parked car, but it looks abandoned.

Okay.

Figuring it's safe enough to hop out of the rancid confines of the dumpster, Hitoshi does just that.

Behind said dumpster is the side of a worn brick building.

He still has no clue where he is, though.

Cautiously, Hitoshi slinks through the shadows clinging to the short building until he can peer around the corner of it.

The front of the building is better lit than the side with the dumpster, and he can see now that it's a 24/7 convenience store. The lights inside are even on.

Neat. He hasn't seen one of these things in ages, let alone one that was open.

Maybe there'll even be food inside?

Scratching idly at the scar stretching across his throat, Hitoshi finds himself as always grateful for the capture weapon wrapped securely around his thin shoulders. He doesn't care if the cloth is stained with dirt and blood and other such things, or even that the ends were tattered and fraying beyond repair.

It's his, that's all that matters.

And right now it offers the security of anonymity, even if it might make him look suspicious as hell.

He pulls the fabric close, wrapping it around his hair and mouth to leave only sharp purple eyes visible. Again, suspicious as hell, but he doesn't want whatever group that's taken this store over to remember his face.

Straightening his posture to his full height, Hitoshi walks out and doesn't flinch when the glass doors slide open on their own.

This should be simple. Just get in, grab some food, and get back out.

Easy peasy, but don't squeeze him.

There's only one person in the store, which is a surprise; a single cashier who looks about as tired as Hitoshi feels. They shoot him a suspicious look the second they lock eyes, which, yeah. Understandable. But then Hitoshi notices one of their hands slowly sinking below the counter, and that might be a problem.

What do they have under there? A weapon?

Fuck it.

"Mind if I use the restroom?" Hitoshi rasps, his words coming out in more of a breathy whisper than an actual voice.

Their eyes narrow at the question. "It's—"

Silence.

Hitoshi's grin is easily hidden behind his scarf. Got'cha.

"You're going to stay there until I leave. When you wake up, you won't remember seeing me," he tells them, feeling his quirk wrap around them. Some small part of him still feels guilty over using his quirk for something like this, but...

No, he can't let himself dwell on that.

Hitoshi isn't a villain, he's just doing what he has to do to survive.

And he's not hurting anyone, he just can't risk the cahier trying to attack him. That's all. 'Better safe than sorry' as the saying goes. There might even be others somewhere in the building that they were trying to alert, and that just wouldn't do. Speaking of...

A quick check of the whole building doesn't uncover any other people like Hitoshi had been expecting. What the fuck? Were they just leaving the place unguarded?

Hey, whatever. That makes it easier for him.

He moves quickly, grabbing several bottles of water, bags of beef jerky, and a handful of granola bars, one of which he peels to start eating right away. He's hungry, sue him. The rest of it all goes into his beat-up backpack.

There's even what looks like fresh first aid kits in one aisle, so Hitoshi grabs two of those as well.

Just as he's about to head out the door, a newspaper catches Hitoshi's attention.

More specifically, the date printed in bold letters on the front.

Without even thinking about it, he grabs the top paper and stuffs it into his pocket. It's still technically a need. Aizawa-sensei's always talking about how important it is to gather information, after all.

And this is some very interesting information.

As soon as Hitoshi's a good distance away from the store, he mentally lets the cashier free from his quirk and sighs in relief as his headache eases off a bit.

Awesome, he got away with that?

He keeps walking along the empty streets, noting how the sky was starting to lighten with the beginnings of dawn. He'll have to find somewhere to bunk down in until the sun's gone back down. It wasn't safe to go running around in the daylight.

Hitoshi ducks into an empty looking park, and plops down on the first bench he finds.

It's a little damp, and there's some questionable graffiti, but that's okay.

Only once his capture weapon is properly situated around his neck again instead of his whole head does Hitoshi let himself relax.

The first bottle of water he'd grabbed is drained in only a few gulps, the empty bottles being stashed back inside his bag for future use. He sips much slower as the second bottle, munching on another granola bar as he looks around. Most parks nowadays have long been destroyed, or they'd become so overgrown from neglect that they were difficult to navigate through.

But this park looks well-kept, the smell of freshly cut grass hanging in the air.

Hitoshi sneezes, startling himself with the noise.

Eugh, spring allergies.

Only then does Hitoshi remember the newspaper he'd grabbed earlier, and he reaches into his pocket to pull out the crisp off-white paper.

Now, keeping track of what day it is wasn't really a necessary thing anymore, but he's pretty sure the date printed here is wrong. After all, there's no way it's the first day of the new school year. The paper even goes on to talk about the potential of UA's newest hero students. UA doesn't exist anymore! So how...?

Hitoshi hisses out a curse, crinkling the paper in his hands.

Of fucking course it couldn't just be a simple transportation quirk, of COURSE it had to include time travel.

Of all the complicated bullshit quirks to be hit with... fucking time travel.

A slightly hysterical laugh rings out in the silent park, and it takes Hitoshi a minute to realize that it's coming from him.

Looking around wildly to make sure no one heard him, Hitoshi stuffs the newspaper back into his pocket and stands. There's a lot more light now as the sun rises higher in the sky.

He needs to find somewhere to hide out soon.

But if Hitoshi woke up in the past... does that mean his family did too? Aizawa-sensei and his classmates. It'd only be logical if they were sent back with him, right?

Hitoshi really doesn't want to be alone anymore.

It's difficult to keep his body language relaxed and open as more and more people start walking the streets, but Hitoshi's been practicing.

Something tickles at the back of his mind.

He's... been here before? Yeah, there's that café he liked to visit after school sometimes. On the days he had enough money to buy something, it was nice to spend time there before he had to go home. The smell of fresh coffee floods in senses, and embarrassingly enough Hitoshi can feel himself starting to drool.

Oh, what he wouldn't give for a cup of coffee right about now...

Before Hitoshi can be lured closer to the promise of liquid gold, something else catching his attention. Someone.

It's Eraserhead.

Hitoshi pauses, watching the man shuffle down the street with hunched shoulders. It looks like he's trying to avoid anyone's attention just as much as Hitoshi is.

That's good, his sensei will hopefully know what's going on. And if he doesn't, that's alright. They can find the others together! All Hitoshi really cares about is that his sensei is right there, and soon he won't be alone anymore.

Aizawa-sensei's always reminding them to be stealthy, so Hitoshi grins and does his best to silently creep up behind his, hopefully, unaware teacher. Unlikely. The man always seemed to just know when they were trying to sneak up on him, using his years of hero training to make it look like he hadn't noticed them when he was actually very much aware of their every move.

But Hitoshi's been practicing, too.

Soon enough, he's right behind the dark haired man.

"Dad-sensei!" Hitoshi chirps quietly in greeting. He bends down to bump his forehead into the man's shoulder—he's been a little taller than him for a while now—hiding a little smile behind his capture weapon.

Unexpectedly, Aizawa-sensei jumps about a foot into the air, and he whirls around to look at Hitoshi with wide eyes.

Hitoshi blinks, then feels a slow grin stretch across his face at the realization that he's finally done it. He successfully snuck up on his sensei! With how much Aizawa jumped, he must've really not been expecting it.

He shuffles a little closer and nudges into Aizawa's arm again with mirth filled eyes, waiting for his sensei's eyes to fill with recognition and warmth.

They never do.

He can only stare in mounting confusion as his Aizawa-sensei's familiar eyes narrow dangerously, and it looks like he's about half a second away from activating Erasure.

Hitoshi's grin falls into a frown instead, and he has to stop himself from shying away. Did he fuck up?

"...Dad?" Hitoshi questions.

"I'm not your dad, kid," Aizawa grinds out, though the way he's eyeing Hitoshi's capture weapon with uncertainty...

Now that he's looking closer, Hitoshi can see a few major differences that he didn't notice before. Namely, this Aizawa isn't favoring his right leg. His hair, while still messy, looks like it'd been brushed semi-recently. And most damning of all, there's no crescent shaped scar under his right eye.

The date on the newspaper sitting innocently in his pocket flickers in Hitoshi's mind.

Two years ago, the start of his first year at UA. Which means the incident at the USJ hasn't happened yet, which means...

Oh, shit.

No longer able to make his voice work properly, Hitoshi frantically signs; "Right, of course. Sorry. I thought you were someone else—" He backtracks, trying to get out of this situation as fast as possible.

Preferably before this Aizawa decides to capture him or something else equally troublesome.

Thankfully the man only watches Hitoshi abscond, though his eyes are still narrowed and tracking his every movement. Hitoshi sort of feels like he's enter some kind of Twilight Zone, seeing the man he knows so well look at him with zero recognition in his eyes.

He keeps Aizawa in his sights for as long as he can before he disappears around a corner into the nearest alley. As soon as their eye contact is broken though, he spins and bolts away.

Fuck, his Aizawa-sensei is never gonna let him live this down.

POV - HATSUME MEI

Mei wakes up laughing.

How could she not? That quirk was glorious. She can still feel the aftershocks of it coursing through her veins.

If only there was a way for her to harness that kind of power.

And now she's somewhere new, definitely not the broken street she'd been on just a few minutes ago. The sky is dark where it had once been light. That can only mean one thing.

Mother. Fucking. Teleportation.

Mei sits up and ignores the wave of vertigo the motion causes so she can look around. Her grins grows ever wider at the sight.

She's absolutely surrounded by broken appliances and machinery.

Somehow, she's been sent directly back to her old stomping grounds. It must be so, because she recognizes that tall pile over there with the mint green fridge near the base. So many wonderful machines destroyed by the elements and scavengers... it brings a tear to her eye.

But that doesn't matter right now, because she has so many ideas for new babies that can finally be brought to fruition!

There won't be anyone here to bother her, Mei knows that from experience.

This dump in particular had always been her favorite, since it's so full of scrap that there's no room for any more to be added. Which of course meant that no one else ever came here, except for the occasional hopeful fool who thought they could cram a little more in. But those people are easy enough for her to avoid.

So the place should be abandoned, which is just the way Mei likes it.

Even so, she takes a minute to scan her surroundings.

'Never make assumptions about your environment.' Zawa-sensei's always lecturing, often looking at her specifically when he does so. Which, rude, but also fair.

So she scrambles up to her feet and towards the nearest decently intact pile, hands twitching in excitement... before they go still.

Power Loader's voice echoes in her skull.

'Hatsume... If you get tetanus, you won't be able to work on your, er—'babies' anymore.'

Right! Thank you, mental Power Loader-sensei. The dangers of tetanus would not go unheeded on this day! Or any other day, thank you.

Mei digs her favorite sturdy gloves out of her bag, hastily pulling them on so she can get to work all the faster. She zeroes in on the tangled mess of wires inside what used to be a washing machine, noting the distinct lack of rust or animal related damage.

Yeah, she can work with this.

First baby on the agenda? Hmm, now there's a touch question... Maybe the flame-thrower knife? No! The electrified grappling hook! Or what about the—

Mei blinks, one idea in particular sticking out in her frazzled mind.

Her new sensei was so sad when Present Mic-sensei died. Mei had been sad too, not only at the loss of such a noble pro-hero, but also at the fact she'd never been able to study his support gear. That directional speaker in particular could've been so much more efficient.

It could have kept him safe.

Sometimes, in the very beginning after she joined Aizawa-sensei's group and before Present Mic-sensei died, he would talk with her. He wasn't a support engineer, but he was still very smart. He'd been able to keep up with her own manic rambling and could give as good as he got.

Mei misses talking with him, and she wishes she could have made his speaker better. Maybe then he wouldn't have died.

Well... maybe she could create a new one that doesn't need the Voice quirk to function? She can see it now, schematics whirling through her mind as her quirk activates.

Yes, she can do that.

Mei practically flies around the dump, muttering under her breath and laughing manically as she collects as much scrap metal as her arms can safely carry.

There are just so many possibilities! If only Zuzu was here, he loves analyzing the babies with her. Zuzu's so good at figuring out how people fight best, and Mei is great at turning his ideas into a reality!

She's got all the materials she could ever need right here, so all that's left to do is build. She could style it like the original directional speaker if she wanted to, or even simplify the design into something more subtle. Hand-held maybe, or like a muzzle? She'll have to think about the repercussions of emitting such loud frequencies so close to the user's ears, too. Hearing protection is a must!

Think subtle, Mei. Subtle.

Hearing aids like the kind Kats' wears could work, though he'd never let her test the new design on him. And anything over 120 dB was damaging, so setting the threshold there was a start.

Being able to tell what's going on around you is important though, so letting in some noise is necessary.

Memories of old blueprints flit through her mind, reminding Mei of the support gear that Kyoka Jiro from the hero class had ordered years ago. Her quirk was fascinating, with the dual need for hearing protection and a similar sound-based attack all worked into the gear. It was a fun challenge at the time, though those babies are now long gone.

But that's okay. Mei will rebuild them better this time, stronger.

She won't let any of her other classmates die.

If only she still had access to UA's resources. There just wasn't enough quality materials in the apocalypse for her to work with. Not only that, but there's no one around to sell her babies to!

Of course her new classmates appreciate the babies she provides for them, but money doesn't hold value anymore. They don't have any money anyways.

Not that she was in it for the money, but it would've been a nice bonus.

Currency could be exchanged for more supplies, after all. Something they had precious little of.

Yaomomo wasn't even able to help her by providing rare materials anymore either. People may think that Mei's denser than a brick, but she does in fact notice things. She just didn't feel a need to bring it up. So, she knows her friend is essentially starving herself. Quirks that used the body's own resources as fuel tended to do that.

Mei knows how those quirks influenced a person's metabolism.

So, she did what she could, and snuck a few extra bits of food from her own rations towards Yaomomo when she wasn't looking. The girl hadn't liked it when Mei bluntly offered her more food, something about being selfish.

That was hard for Mei to understand. If her body needed more food to function than the average person, then why not just take it?

Honestly, she still doesn't really understand. But if Yaomomo would prefer to not intentionally take the amount of food she needs, then Mei is fine with doing it where she won't notice.

She also stopped asking the nervous girl to use her quirk since it was hurting her, instead focusing more on finding whatever she needed during supply runs.

A pile of machinery falls over somewhere nearby, and while normally Mei might have ignored it, she can't ignore the cry of alarm the shift had caused.

A cry of alarm that came from someone other than her.

She isn't alone here.

Mei feels her eyes dilate at the thought, her entire body going still as someone starts cursing loudly only a few yards away.

Heart now pounding up in her throat, Mei tries to zero in on the threat while simultaneously stashing her new babies into her bag and pockets. But in her haste to get the hell out of dodge, she fumbles with a tricky bit of metal and can only watch in zoomed-in detail as it clatters to the ground.

The voice goes silent.

...Fuck it, a dead Hatsume can't build more babies.

Deciding to cut her losses, Mei abandons the remaining scrap she hadn't yet secured and makes a run for it.

The shout that sounds behind her only serves to quicken her pace, nuts and bolts tumbling out of her open pockets as she skids around a corner. She knows this dump like the back of her hand, easily able to navigate the maze of twisted metal without needing to pause.

But apparently her pursuer is the same, refusing to let themself fall behind in their game of cat and mouse.

Mei hates being the mouse.

A body slams heavily into her back without warning, knocking the breath from Mei's lungs and sending both chaser and chasee tumbling to the ground.

It takes a moment for her to regain her senses.

And when she does, Mei whirls around with bared teeth and a half crazed battle-cry towards her attacker.

Then, she feels her whole body go slack, staring at the other person with slowly widening eyes while she takes in their appearance.

"Oh." she says.

Well, isn't this unexpected?