A/N: Hey, I managed to keep to the speed-run schedule! How 'bout that?

P.S. Quick reminder that we'll be releasing the next chapter one week from now, and then afterward, we will resume the normal schedule. Cheers again for all of your support!

Christmas Ghosts

"You know, growing up, if I had believed in Santa Claus, I think this is what I would have imagined his workshop to look like," Akarui said as he and Kurai walked through the hallway of the prison that was holding their mother and a number of other white collar criminals.

"Really?" Kurai asked with a puzzled air.

"Of course," his brother nodded without looking over his shoulder. "I mean, come on. Santa's got a hidden workshop full of, what, a few hundred elves at most? And he's got them making toys for billions of kids the world over? That can't be a healthy work environment, much less a happy one. I imagine that there's been more than one union uprising over the centuries, and the big man's gotta show 'em who's boss, right? Hence, this place." He made a vague gesture at the building around them as he allowed a small grin to crawl across his face. "They've even got work stations in here, right?"

"Yes, Akarui, law enforcement took a cue from Father Christmas when they built the prisons we know today," Kurai said with a roll of his eyes. "Truly, what a historic marvel you have uncovered."

"With an attitude like that, I get the feeling that someone's gonna be getting coal in his stocking for Christmas," Akarui snickered as they came into the visiting room.

"Given this December as a whole, I feel like I'll be topping the chart of the naughty list for the next decade or so," his brother shrugged as they sat down. "Guess I better get used to it."

"Man, it's no fun when you're putting yourself down with me," the younger boy grumbled. "Where's the goodwill toward men today?"

"We're in prison, there's not much in the way of goodwill," Kurai said as a door opened across the room from them. Having heard it, Akarui turned toward the sound, and his brother saw an opportunity in his distraction, so he raised a fist above his head with an evil smile on his face. "But if it'll help your Christmas spirit, here's a stocking stuffer for ya." With that, he dropped his fist on the other boy's head, and none too gently, causing him to let out a yelp of protest before he fixed a glare on his sibling, who was wearing a smug expression, though his eyes remained lifeless as ever.

Before the two of them could start exchanging hits, they heard a loud gasp, which drew their attention to their mother, who was being escorted by a guard in her usual cuff-and-chain arrangement, a stunned look on her face. "Akarui?" she asked as the two of them forgot their squabble and stood up to greet her. "Kurai? Is that you?"

"Hey, Mom," Akarui said with a grin and a small wave of his hand. "Good news- you can stop developing gray hairs, cos Kurai took 'em all." So saying, he jerked at thumb at his brother, who scowled at him in response.

"Wha-? How did-?" Moka seemed unable to finish her sentences, so the boys waved her over in order to avoid having the discussion across the room. There was also the fact that she looked as though she might collapse from the weight of what her eyes were telling her. She had been informed of Kurai's death, as well as his subsequent resurrection, but she had not been informed of the recent development concerning his deathly appearance and Akarui's return to good health, which more than justified her current reaction.

Once she had been seated across from her sons, Moka could only sit in an awed silence as she waited for someone to explain what she was seeing. Kurai decided to take the initiative once the guard had moved to the wall, saying, "A new hero that not many people know about came to UA and was able to help the both of us. They restored me to life and were able to return Akarui's body to the point before he forced his quirk into overdrive."

"A new hero?" Moka whispered. "Someone with the power to reverse death itself…?"

"It was a one-time thing, apparently," Kurai said, his voice becoming grim. "It's not a power that they can use on a whim." It had been decided by the UA faculty that the fewer details that got out about Future Eri, the better, so the two brothers wouldn't be volunteering any more information than was strictly necessary.

"And unfortunately, they decided to use it on this guy," Akarui said with a dry tone as he jerked a thumb at his brother, who shrugged noncommittally.

"I didn't ask to be brought back," he deadpanned.

"Akarui, why would that be-?"

"I can't be a hero anymore, Mom," Kurai interrupted her, looking tired as he did. Moka's eyes widened even further as his shoulders slumped while he prepared himself to tell her about how his drive to become a hero had been destroyed.

Before he could open his mouth, however, Akarui sobered up his expression and said, "Kurai lost his powers on Nabu Island in the fight against the villain that killed him." His words drew the surprised attention of both his family members, so he went on to explain, "Energon isn't inside of him anymore, so unfortunately, he can't be a hero." He declined to meet his brother's confused gaze as he concluded, "It's a real tragedy, but there's nothing that we can do about it at this point. He's gonna be switching to general studies, but he'll remain at UA under the guardianship of Mister Aizawa."

"Sorry, Mom," Kurai apologized as he hung his head a little, not wanting to see how she reacted to his next words. "I know what you and Dad sacrificed for me, but I can't see my journey through anymore. I'm sorry that I allowed the gift you gave me to go to waste." He had no idea why Akarui was covering for him, but he supposed that could be addressed later.

There was a long moment of silence before Moka broke it by saying, "You didn't waste it, Kurai. And by your own words, that was not a gift- it was a curse disguised as a blessing. Maybe that's because we so desperately wanted it to be one, but whatever the case may be, I suppose that I'm actually rather relieved."

"Relieved?" Kurai repeated as he looked up to see that his mother was smiling sadly at him.

"Yes," she nodded. "You were right, Kurai. We should have had faith in you, that you would become a good man with or without a gift like everyone else's. I'm sorry that the journey has left you so battered and worn out, but I suppose I can rest easy at night, knowing that you'll finally have the life that you should have had from the beginning."

"What kind of life is that?" Akarui was the one to ask the question.

"A life free of your father's burden," their mother answered as a tear slid out of her eye. "A life free of my mistake."

"It wasn't all bad," Kurai admitted with a shrug. "I was able to save a lot of innocent people. I was also able to make good friends that I wouldn't have, otherwise. I wouldn't have been able to meet Mina and the others if I hadn't gotten into the hero course, so… silver lining?"

"Also, he saw Dad on the other side," Akarui piped up, bringing his mother's startled attention back to him. "At least now we don't have to wonder about whether or not we'll have to wait another couple of lifetimes to see him again."

"Here's hoping it's only one more," Kurai grumbled, earning him an elbow in the ribs from his brother. "What? I'm on my third lifetime in this same body, I don't care to go for a fourth one."

"Seriously, you always gotta bring it back to that, don't you?"

"It's a very unique card, and I am not above playing it."

"Mom, your son is being annoying," Akarui complained. "Make him stop."

"Do I have to choose which one, or can this be a two-for-one deal?" Moka asked, an awkward smile working its way across her face, in spite of the circumstances being what they were. Akarui let out a chuckle at that, while Kurai's lips finally twitched upward for a brief moment.

"I wonder where we get our stupid sense of humor from?" the younger brother asked.

"Your father," Moka answered immediately.

"Really?" Kurai asked. "I think I can count on one hand the number of jokes that man made while I was around, and all of them were dad jokes. Our sense of humor isn't quite that stupid."

"I dunno, he made you," Akarui snickered.

"It's also why he made you second, punch line," Kurai shot back.

"Good grief, somehow I miss my cell," Moka said with mock severity, which got her youngest to chuckle softly again. Giving the both of them a teary-eyed smile, she then asked, "How are you both doing? What's going on in your lives?"

"I got a job," Akarui said, a little proudly. "I'll be working as an assistant to Recovery Girl at UA with my medical license."

"That's wonderful," Moka said, pride working its way into her voice and smile. "I know you've wanted to be in the medical field for a long time, now."

"I'll also be taking online classes so that I can get my master's in biology and major in engineering," the younger boy added.

"You sure you're gonna have time for all of that?" Kurai asked with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you have lesson plans and all that?"

"I can come up with those on the fly as long as I know the general topic for the day," Akarui said dismissively. When Kurai kept his eyebrow raised, Akarui copied the expression and said, "Yeah. I'm that good."

"Kurai, what is he talking about?"

"He's also going to be working as a guest lecturer alongside the support course at UA," her eldest son explained. "I assume it's to compliment the engineering major?"

"Bingo."

"Well, you'll certainly have your work cut out for you," Moka said with a small shake of her head. "You have your father's work ethic, that's for sure."

"Good, I'll need it," Akarui chuckled.

"And you, Kurai?" their mother asked the other boy. "I know you said you were leaving the hero course, but is there anything else going on that you'd like to talk about?"

"Not really," he answered. "Honestly, I just wanted to come and see you with Akarui. I can't remember the last time the three of us were in a room at the same time."

"The day that All Might came to have Mom sign the papers to let you live in the dorms," Akarui informed them without missing a beat. "After that, there was always one of us absent."

"That long?" Moka murmured, a glazed look coming into her eyes that Kurai could sympathize with. He knew that a large part of their separation had been on her, but a good number of those reasons also had to do with his own choices, leading him to feel a twinge of guilt in his gut.

"Well, nothing like a family reunion to make it feel like a holiday," Akarui said with a cheerful smile before the melancholy could set in. "Who says you can't have a holly jolly time in prison?"

"According to you, it's always a holly jolly time in prisons," Kurai reminded his brother, who rolled his eyes.

"I feel as though I'm to regret asking this, but what are the two of you on about?" Moka sighed as she placed a hand in front of her eyes.

"Oh, apparently we should thank Father Christmas for your new housing arrangement," Kurai said with another almost-grin as his brother rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sounds real stupid coming out of someone else's mouth, doesn't it?"

"Anything sounds stupid coming out of your mouth, unless it's you girlfriend's tongue, in which case-" Whack! "Ow!"

"No altercations," called the guard from the side of the room.

"Sorry ma'am, won't happen again," Kurai called back while giving his brother a piercing glare. "Will it?"

"I think I preferred it when I was in a wheelchair," Akarui complained. "You were nicer."

"And I liked it better when I was hanging out with Dad and Uncle Shiro," Kurai said with an icy smile. "Nobody's perfect."

"What more could a mother ask for the holiday?" Moka chuckled as she shook her head in mock disappointment. "This is just like being home."

Kurai and Akarui finally shared a mutual grin before they said, "Merry Christmas, Mom."

The two brothers enjoyed another twenty minutes of talking with their mother before their time was up, and they had to be on their way. After promising to be back for another visit in two weeks' time, they hugged their mother goodbye, to which the guard decided to turn a blind eye. Season's blessings, I suppose, Kurai thought as they departed, remembering how his initial visit to the prison had gone.

As they were on their way out, Kurai saw someone heading in from the outside, so he stepped aside after opening the door to let them pass through. When he saw that Akarui was about to step through the door, he grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back to avoid a collision.

"Dude, what?" the younger brother asked with a frown as he was tugged aside.

"Let the other guy go first," Kurai said as he kept the door open.

"What other guy?" Akarui replied as he looked as his brother like he was stupid.

"The guy that's…" Kurai let his voice trail off as he realized that if there had been another person outside the door, they would have gone through by now. A quick look through the exit confirmed it, leading him to say, "Huh. Guess I saw a reflection in the window- my bad."

"Uh-huh," Akarui said as he rolled his eyes and went through the door. "There's better ways of messing with me, man."

"I wasn't- ah, whatever," Kurai muttered, deciding that it would be better not to waste his time arguing with his brother over an honest mistake. Even so, he kept an eye over his shoulder as they walked away until the door was shut, but no one ever appeared.

Even so, the strangest part was that as soon as he turned away, he could have sworn that he felt someone examining him from a distance. Probably just the security cameras, he decided, figuring it would be best if he didn't indulge in a pointless bout of sudden paranoia. The only issue was, he knew that there was no reason why surveillance equipment should bother him.

It snowed on Christmas Day, almost like a scene from a movie. The majority of students from Class 1-A were all up and out the door before eight o' clock, spurred on to a snowball fight by Kirishima, who somehow decided that being shirtless in the snow was the best way to start the day. Kurai had wondered if his brother wouldn't be joining them, but he had decided to spend the holiday until New Years' with their aunt and cousin, since he would be moving on campus soon enough.

Kurai was surprised when Mina walked up to him, dressed in light snow gear, after he came down for breakfast and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "What was that for?" he asked, confused by her apparent lapse in holding her own boundaries.

"Merry Christmas," she said warmly as she gave him a hug. In his ear, she whispered, "It's a good day for surprise presents, but don't get too excited- that's all you're getting outta me today."

"I'll take it," he said with a proper- if small- smile of his own as he returned the embrace, enjoying the reestablished sensations of his right arm holding her close to him. Even though it didn't last for very long, he was grateful to her for the tangible reminder that she still loved him and was willing to wait for him.

As if she could hear his thoughts, she said in a soft voice, "I love you, Kurai."

"I love you too, Mina," he replied before she gave his back a firm squeeze, and then ended the embrace. "Merry Christmas."

She gave him a smile before backing up and saying, "Kirishima's got some of the other guys gearing up for a snowball fight, and Xiao Long is rallying the girls. You gonna join?"

"Maybe in a bit," he said as he moved to grab a coffee mug. Without her in his arms, he suddenly felt a good deal colder than he had a couple of minutes ago. "I need to get something in my system before I'm awake enough to handle any roughhousing."

"Roughhousing?" she repeated with a giggle. "What are you, sixty? Who uses words like that anymore?"

"I spent too long with Akarui yesterday," he answered. "Go on out, I'll join you once I've finished having one of these."

"Better be on your guard," she warned him. "Once you're out there, it's gonna be every person for themselves." Then she was out the door, ducking a snowball that Sero tried to whip at her with his tape.

Kurai shook his head in silence as he moved to pick his coffee. He wasn't totally surprised to see Yaoyorozu already setting the kettle to boil, no doubt for a tea that she would have brought down from her room. "Merry Christmas," he said as he came up alongside her. "Think there'll be enough for me when you're done?"

"I believe so," she said as she moved aside and gave him a friendly smile. "Merry Christmas to you, too. I'm glad that you'll be joining us for the day."

"Yeah, well, Eri is coming by later, and I don't feel like ruining her first Christmas at UA by being a coward, so here I am," he said with a small shrug.

"Eri is already outside," the tall girl said as she indicated a now-familiar figure who had her back to Ochaco and Izuku as they tried to hold off a barrage from Kaminari, Sato, Ojiro, and Hagakure, all of them laughing as they did.

"I meant little Eri," he said, which got Yaoyorozu to nod in understanding.

"Of course, my mistake," she apologized, which Kurai waved aside.

"How are we explaining to the rest of the school that the girl who attacked us is now going to be one of our classmates?" he asked, wondering if Aizawa had possibly filled his peers in on any details while he was out the previous afternoon. "As a matter of fact, how are we explaining Eri to Eri?"

"Principal Nezu already sent out instructions to the other teachers that the students are to be informed of a similar story to what they already fed the police and media," she answered. "She's a hero course student from another private program who was brainwashed into attacking us by the League, and now because of her talent and the fact that the League might try to get at her again, she will be staying with us from now on."

"That seems kinda thin."

"Perhaps, but it appears to be working so far," Yaoyorozu shrugged. "She'll be officially enrolled in our class starting in our second year, after you've gone to general studies. Until then, Mister Aizawa and Principal Nezu will be seeing to it that she's sufficiently educated."

"How's she gonna get a provisional hero license in time to be doing stuff in the field with the rest of you guys?" Kurai wondered aloud.

"Officially, she's already had one since we all earned ours'."

"And unofficially?"

"I believe that the principal pulled some strings with the Hero's Safety Commission."

"How'd he score that?" Kurai asked with no small amount of disbelief. "They're not exactly 'simpatico' with our school these days."

Yaoyorozu shrugged before saying, "They said nothing to us of the 'how' it happened, but I personally believe that he was able to exploit the fact that they were the ones more or less responsible for your death and our endangerment on Nabu because of the work program in order to threaten them with a negative PR campaign."

Kurai raised an eyebrow as a thought occurred to him at that point. "That a hunch, or did Jiro hear something?" he inquired, causing Yaoyorozu to look away from him.

"I have no idea," she replied with a completely straight face. "Though Mina did mention that she saw her brother, Mako, talking to the principal a couple of times this past week."

"Heh," he smirked as he leaned against the countertop to watch the snowball fight. "That's a court case I'd love to see in person. In the meantime, I guess we'll have Lemillion and Lamillion ready to go once those work studies get going again?"

"Actually, Togata refused Future Eri's offer to rewind him back to normal," Yaoyorozu said, drawing her friend's startled attention back to her. "He thanked her for the gesture, but apparently he wants to wait until little Eri has enough mastery over her power to restore his quirk. Said something about her needing the confidence boost as much as he needs Permeation again."

"Damn," Kurai murmured, impressed with their senior's level of commitment to helping little Eri overcome the trauma of her past. Maybe Nighteye was onto something, he added silently as he allowed his gaze to lose focus, just a little. One For All could hardly go to a more worthy successor than a guy like him…

"We're not done."

"Huh?" he snapped his gaze back into focus and turned to Yaoyorozu, who was giving him a puzzled look in return. "What's not done?"

"I don't know," she answered. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought I heard…" He let his voice trail off as he looked around the room, and realized that Momo was the only person close enough to have been the one who spoke, but she seemed genuinely confused about his inquiry.

"Are you alright, Kurai?" she asked him worriedly as he scratched at the side of his head.

"Yeah, I guess I just haven't woken up all the way," he chuckled as he lowered his hand and shook his head. "Once I get my coffee, I should be okay."

"You're sure?" she pressed, her concern hardly abated.

"I'm sure," he said to her with a more confident smile. "I just haven't been sleeping very well since I came back."

"Nightmares?"

"No, it's…" He hesitated, trying to think of how to explain the situation to her. Eventually, he told her, "In the afterlife, I never needed to sleep, or rest at all, really. Now I have a body that gets tired again, and I can't rely on Energon to give me an energy boost to get through the day if I need it. It's just taking some getting used to."

"Why not use One For All to increase your stamina?" she suggested, but he was already shaking his head in the negative.

"If I'm not going to use this quirk to be a hero, I don't have right to use it for a minor inconvenience," he said firmly. "Besides, people have been making it through the day long before quirks were around."

He could see that she wanted to press the subject, but he was grateful when she merely shrugged and kept quiet about it. Instead, she asked him, "Are you at least looking forward to exchanging gifts this evening?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Don't tell him I said so, but I kinda wish Akarui could have been in on it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, my gag gift works a lot better with an audience," Kurai grinned.

"Gag gift?"

"Every year, Akarui and I would get each other a real gift and a joke gift," the boy explained to the puzzled-looking girl. "For example, last year I got him what looked like a set of baseballs for him to practice with, but it was a bunch of bath bombs. I also got him a limited-edition Rogue One concept art book."

"I always assumed that such things were delivered as a passive-aggressive message, and were not meant to uphold the spirit of Christmas," Momo said as the water began to boil, leading her to take the kettle off the stove. "Yet it seems as though you two did it as another way of growing closer during the holidays."

"Well sure, if you wanna put bells on it," Kurai replied as she finished pouring into her teacup. "Personally, we like to think that it lets us into a gray area outside the criteria for falling onto the naughty list. You also didn't tell me how we're explaining big Eri to little Eri."

The abrupt change in conversation threw Yaoyorozu off for a second, but she quickly replied, "Mister Aizawa came up with the idea to tell her that she's a long-lost relative on her mother's side that they managed to track down. Since they have 'similar abilities', she'll be able to help her learn to control her powers."

"Smooth," Kurai said approvingly. "Is big Eri going under a different name in public, then? Can't have two of them with the exact same quirk- that'd be too suspicious."

"Hikota Emiri," she replied. "If one of us slips up and calls her 'Eri' in public, her assumed name is similar enough that we can get away with it being passed off as a nickname."

"Nice."

"And speaking of Eri, look who's come to visit," his friend said as she gestured out the window, indicating two familiar figures, one dressed in black with a white scarf, and the other dressed in a miniature Santa Claus outfit.

"Well if that isn't the cutest thing I've ever seen," Kurai murmured as the snowball fight drew to a close in order for the class to welcome their guests.

Future Eri's meeting with her younger self went as well as could be expected. The older girl had applied fresh black dye to her hair in order to obscure the fact that the two of them were completely identical to one another, so that she would avoid confusing her child self. Now she stood in front of the little girl with a warm smile on her face as she extended a hand in greeting. "Hello, Eri," she said kindly. "I'm your cousin, Hikota. I'll be living here from now on so I can help you learn to control your powers."

Eri looked up at Aizawa, who nodded wordlessly, leading her to shake hands with her older self. "You look like someone I think I used to know," she said as she tilted her head at the other girl.

Future Eri smiled a little wider at her younger self before she said, "Well, we are family. I wouldn't be surprised if I looked a little like your mom or dad."

Little Eri's face fell at that before she mumbled, "I don't remember what my mom or dad looked like."

"Maybe not very clearly, but the memories are in there," Future Eri said as she knelt in the snow in front of the other girl. "Our family never really leaves us, even if we just see them in the echoes of a dream at night. Maybe a small part of you remembers your parents, and now I'm just shaking those memories loose."

"You really think so?" Little Eri asked with something like hope in her eyes.

"I know so," her elder self said with another warm smile. "I'm glad I get to meet you in time for Christmas- holidays are always more fun with friends and family. And speaking of friends…" She turned to wave over Kurai, who approached the wide-eyed child with a muted smile on his face.

"Hey, Eri," he said as he knelt in a similar manner to her future self. "Been a while, huh?"

"You're alive," the little girl said softly. "Mister Aizawa said you were, but he also said you died. And…" She reached out hesitantly toward his head, her fingers stopping just short of touching his silvery strands of hair. "What happened?"

"Emiri brought me back and fixed my arm, but she decided that I'd look cooler if I had hair like yours'," he answered as his smile began to widen ever so slightly, even while he held his arms open, leading to the little girl running in to give him a surprisingly strong hug. "Oof, take it easy," he managed to chuckle as he returned the embrace. "I still need my neck to work."

"I was so sad when you died," the little girl cried into his shoulder, wiping the smile from his mouth. "I never lost a friend before, and it hurt so bad…"

"I know, and I'm sorry," he said gently. "I'm not gonna die again, not for a long time."

"You promise?" she sniffled.

"I promise." As he pulled back, he made sure to wipe at the tears falling down her face while smiling and saying, "I like your Santa outfit."

"Thanks," the little girl sniffled again. "I need it to go trick-or-treating."

Kurai just stared at her for a couple of seconds before his shoulders began to shake and a wider grin worked its way across his face. "Trick or treating?" he repeated, very obviously trying not to laugh. "Uh, Eri… That's not-"

"Wrong holiday, Eri," her future self said with a wink. "Don't worry, you'll still get plenty of candy, as long as you go and tell everyone 'Merry Christmas'."

"Merry Kissmas?" she tried to repeat, apparently unfamiliar with the pronunciation of the word.

There was a full second of silence before everyone was rendered speechless by the sight of Kurai falling over backwards, laughing his head off. Future Eri might have scolded him for it, if not for the fact that it was the first time he had openly expressed something like happiness since his revival. "Suddenly everyone's a comedian," she sighed ruefully to try and dispel the slightly awkward silence of the atmosphere. "You'd think Miss Joke was around or something."

Unseen by her, Aizawa stiffened and quickly glanced over his shoulder, only allowing himself to relax when he was absolutely certain that there wasn't a certain wisecracking heroine about to sneak up on him.

The gift exchange was a joyous occasion, fully enjoyed by everyone in Class 1-A. Many gifts were traded, but Mina surprised the class when she and Yaoyorozu started handing out Santa hats that had been personalized for each individual. For example, Jiro received a hat with a musical note instead of a white fluff ball, while Bakugo was forced to wear one with an explosive symbol by Kirishima. Kurai's had a four-star dragon ball on his, and the smile he had when he put it on made Mina feel truly happy for the first time in a while.

Kurai once again surprised his closest friends with his apparent knack for giving gifts, starting with Iida, to whom he gave a history book detailing the exploits of some of the early speed-type heroes when quirks were first appearing. To Todoroki, he gave a pair of identical Christmas-themed sweaters, one for him, and one for his mother, should he wish to have something to match her. The collected teen offered a polite thanks when he opened the present, but Kurai didn't miss the smile lurking at the corners of his mouth as he went to don the gift. Kirishima was yelling with excitement when he realized that Kurai had gotten him a set of Crimson Riot-themed coverings for his textbooks, causing his other friends to laugh at his antics.

Mina's eyes went wider than dinner plates with delight when she opened a box that contained a dress identical to the one that she'd had to ruin during their battle on I-island. "How did you even-?" she started to asked.

"I had some help from your mom," he admitted with a slight grin of his own when he saw how happy the present had made her. He knew he wasn't out of the doghouse, but if her broad smile was anything to go by, he was starting to head in the right direction.

"Thanks, dude," she said as she held the dress up to her body, delighted to find that it would fit the same as the one she'd lost. "I was super bummed about it getting ruined, then stuff kept happening, and I never got around to getting myself another one!"

"I figured as much," he nodded. "Merry Christmas, Mina."

His next gift was to Ochaco, who was initially puzzled to find a pair of pink artist's gloves sitting in a small box. "Uh…?" she said blankly while giving her friend a look, who was now wearing a suspiciously smug smile on his face.

"Put 'em on," he told her. "Trust me, you'll like this."

Ochaco still looked confused, but she complied with the instruction. Soon, both of her hands had their pinky and rings fingers covered by the comfortable fabric. After that, she looked at Kurai and asked, "Now what?"

"Izuku, gimme your hand," Kurai said as he turned to the greenette, who looked utterly bewildered.

"Wha?" he inquired. Truth be told, he was still feeling sore at Kurai over the issue of One For All, but in the spirit of the holiday (and at the urging of his girlfriend), he had decided to play nice during the party.

"Just do it," Kurai insisted as he held out his own hand to the other boy. When Izuku reluctantly complied, his friend grabbed him by the wrist, moved aside, and put his palm in Ochaco's. Before either of them could protest, he worked his grip on each of them so that their fingers were fully intertwined before he let go.

At first, everyone just looked at him like he had lost his mind, so he widened his grin and asked, "Notice anything?"

"Not… really?" Izuku muttered, red in the face with embarrassment.

"Exactly," Kurai said proudly. "Ochaco's got all her fingers touching yours', and nothing's happening."

"What does-? Oh!" Ochaco gasped, suddenly realizing what he had done.

"Yeah," Kurai nodded as he saw the recognition flicker into Izuku's gaze. "I thought that maybe you'd like to be able to hold hands on a date without the risk of sending him off into space." Because the gloves only covered half of her fingers, she could now hold onto anything- or anyone- she wanted to without involuntarily triggering her quirk.

"I love it," Ochaco said delightedly. "Thank you, Kurai!"

"You're welcome," he replied before she gave him a brief hug in gratitude.

Following that, Izuku accepted a gift from his friend in the form of an All Might figurine that featured his early use of support items, an item that nearly made his eyes pop out of his head when it was revealed, and for a moment, he even forgot about his irritation with the other boy. "Where did you get this?!" he babbled as he examined the box excitedly, stunned that it was in excellent condition. "I couldn't even find a video or a picture, but there's a figurine?! How?! When?!"

"I think Akarui had to sell what's left of my soul on the dark web to find this thing, but we managed to dig it up in a shop in Colorado via their website that specializes in retro hero merch," Kurai explained. "You mentioned that All Might used support items briefly, but there's no mention of it in Japanese media, so I figured that it had to have been something he utilized only in America, before he came back here. After that, I called in a favor with my brother, and he did the cyber-sleuthing necessary to procure it." He decided that he'd leave out the part where the figure was actually dirt cheap because no one really wanted it, seeing as most people took one look at it and assumed that it was some kind of crappy knockoff, as opposed to legitimate merchandise.

"Oh man, I have the perfect spot for this!" Izuku said as he bolted up off the couch and made a dash for the elevators. "Thanks, Kurai!"

"Merry Christmas!" he called back as they watched him go.

Kurai's friends gifted him with many things that he deeply appreciated. From Mina, he got a 50KHD copy of the Star Wars movie that they had gone to see together on their first date. Izuku and Ochaco had teamed up to give him a cookbook that contained all the ramen recipes used in the Naruto series, which he was immediately eager to try out, somewhat to Mina's chagrin.

"You make me sound like some kind of ramen fiend," he complained when she told Ochaco that he would probably be eating recipes in that book until March came around. "I don't eat it that often."

"You have it at least once a week during lunch period," she countered.

"A little consistency in one's diet never hurt anyone."

"A lot does."

"Gah!"

Following that, he received a ticket for a paint job on his motorcycle from Iida, and a concept art book with details on just about every Dragon Ball character ever made from Todoroki. "These are awesome," he said in gratitude to each of them. "Thanks, guys."

"Our pleasure," Iida smiled.

"You're welcome," Todoroki answered with a rare smile.

Kurai returned the smile and was about to say something, but whatever it was, he forgot as soon as he noticed something in the corner of his eye- something in the window that wasn't quite right. His expression turned into a puzzled one as he turned to look at the glass screen more closely, but by the time he had his focused attention on it, whatever had caught his eye was gone.

"Kurai?" Mina asked as she stood up and looked at him with a small frown of her own. "You okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, yeah," he said with a shake of his head as he turned back to his friends. "Sorry, I thought I saw something outside, but I guess it was just a reflection in the window."

"Are you tired?" Iida asked him with concern. "Perhaps you need some rest? It's been a long day, after all."

"No, I need to stay up, at least until Mister Aizawa comes back to pick up Eri," he said with a negative shake of his head.

"We have plenty of people who can look after her without you here," Todoroki said as they all looked over to see Yaoyorozu showing the little girl how to decorate her sugar cookies. "You're still recovering from an ordeal- don't push yourself if it feels like something is wrong."

"I'm fine," the other boy insisted, though his eyes were beginning to revert back to their muted, glassy appearance as he did. "Besides, Mister Aizawa should be coming before long. I have a gift for him, is all. I'll go to sleep right after he leaves, especially if it means I don't have to pick up after the party." His attempt at a joke might have gone over better if he had smiled along with it, but other than seeing Eri for the first time in a while, and receiving some of his gifts, such an expression was markedly absent from his face.

He was about to relent and say that he'd be more than happy to help with the cleaning, but once more, something in the edge of his peripheral vision caught his attention. Frowning again, he decided that this time it would be more prudent to walk over to the window for a better look outside. Through narrowed eyes, he peered into the dark snow scape that had become their school's property, trying to find a hint of the presence that was beginning to bother him.

"Kurai?" Mina asked again as she stood next to him. "See something?"

"Nothing clearly," he muttered in response. "But I'm sure that I saw something." After a brief moment, he added under his breath, "Be nice to have my Divine Eye right about now."

"Can't Izuku use it?"

"Akarui and Yaoyorozu haven't made him the quirk retrofitter yet, so he doesn't have the physiology needed for that move, not to mention that I have no idea whether or not his Ajna chakra is clean," Kurai murmured as he stepped away from the window.

"What is it?" Todoroki asked as the couple stepped back and turned toward them.

In a lowered tone, as to not alarm the others, Mina told them, "Kurai saw something outside. A couple of us should go take a look, make sure that nothing weird is going on."

"Ochaco and I can go look," Izuku volunteered. "No one will think twice if it looks like we're just going out for a quick walk together."

"Good thinking," Todoroki agreed. "We don't want to alarm Eri." As soon as he had said it, the group looked over to see that the small girl was still fascinated with the art of decorating Christmas cookies.

"I'll have Jiro listen with her quirk through the walls," Iida added. "She'll be discreet."

"Also good thinking," Kurai nodded. "Hopefully it's just an animal that you guys can scare off, or someone from another class playing a prank."

"Here's hoping, but since when do things work out that smoothly for us?" Mina muttered.

In spite of the students' search, nothing was discovered around the building that could be contrived as suspicious. "Not even tracks from an animal, or footprints?" Kurai asked with a slight frown when Izuku, Ochaco, and Jiro gathered to discuss their lack of findings.

"None," the gravity girl confirmed.

"Even the tracks that we made from our snowball fight earlier are gone due to the snowfall," Izuku added.

"And I didn't hear anything, either," Jiro said as she twirled one of her cables around her finger. "Might've been a couple of birds that you saw."

"Whatever I saw was moving too slow to be a bird," Kurai said with a shake of his head. Reluctantly, he then conceded, "Maybe I'm more tired than I thought…"

"Go on up to bed, then," Mina urged him. "I'll get your gift to Mister Aizawa."

"Why'd you get him something, anyway?" Jiro asked with a light grin. "Trying to get back on his good side?"

"I got it for him way before Nabu," Kurai answered with a roll of his eyes. "It's a new sleeping roll- I noticed that his is getting kinda worn down; thought I'd replace it for him."

The others exchanged looks of surprise before Iida mused, "It's a well-thought-of gift, but Mister Aizawa strikes me as the kind of person who wouldn't accept presents from his students."

Kurai shrugged at that and said, "If he takes it, great. If not, I get a 4500-yen refund after New Year's." Silently, he made a note to get Future Eri a nice holiday gift with said money since he hadn't had a chance to give her one with the circumstances being what they were. On the chance that his teacher actually accepted the present, he still had some leftover spending money that he might be able to use.

"Almost in time for your birthday," Mina remembered aloud. Kurai's birthday fell on the first day of the calendar New Year, and Akarui's happened to be thirty days after that.

"Yep," the white-haired boy confirmed. "Maybe I'll get myself a copy of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 10: Director's Cut."

"Wasn't that the last one that Bandai made?" Iida asked, surprising the others with the fact that he knew anything about video games at all. Seeing this, he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses while saying, "I spent enough time at Kurai's house as a child to pick up on a few things every now and again."

Kurai nodded again and said, "That's the one. Akarui still has it at the house, and we've been wanting to play it together online, but I need my own copy to make that happen."

"Worry about it later," Mina urged him as she gave his shoulder a gentle shove. "Go get some sleep."

"Alright, alright," he said as he started to walk away. "Lemme just say goodnight to Eri before I go up. Sorry to make you guys worry over nothing."

As they watched him go, Izuku stepped up next to Mina and asked in a low tone, "Do you think he's okay?"

"No, but I think he's getting better," she admitted.

"I've never seen him paranoid to the point of jumping at shadows," Iida said with concern. "He's not the hysterical type."

"You didn't see him the morning after he woke up from losing his arm," Mina countered softly, a distant look in her eyes. "And none of us have ever seen someone come back from the dead, either."

"Maybe he's right to want to stop being a hero," Ochaco mumbled. When everyone but Todoroki gave her incredulous looks, she shrank back a little bit and said, "Well, if he's jumping at shadows or reflections in a window, that can't be very good for someone who has One For All, can it?"

Her words gave the others an uncomfortable pause, especially Izuku. Eventually, however, he simply said, "I don't regret giving him the quirk. I just wish that he didn't regret accepting it."

"Maybe you should tell him that," Mina said as they watched Kurai finally smile again and give Eri a warm hug goodnight.

Kurai was rubbing his head as he stepped into his room, finally having realized that there was an ache there that had been building up for some time. Guess I got caught up in the holiday spirit, he thought wryly as he moved toward his bathroom and started running the water in the sink while flicking on the light. He splashed cold water on his face and scrubbed it with some soap to try and assuage the headache, as well as feel a little cleaner, seeing as he hadn't had a shower that day. Once he had finished, he rinsed off and then reached for his hand towel to dry himself off before he lifted his head to look in the mirror- and immediately widening his eyes so that they nearly popped out of his head.

Staring back at him from the mirror was not the haunted, dull gaze that had become his default expression as of late, but one of fire and purpose, topped by a mess of black hair with a shock of silver on the side. As his heart skipped a couple of beats, Kurai realized that he was looking at himself as he had been in the moment that he received One For All, minus his injuries. He stumbled backward, breaking out into a cold sweat, nearly falling over and breathing hard, but the reflection did not move from its place in the mirror.

He wanted to blink, to try to dispel the image, but his eyes stayed wide open, and the reflection remained, hard-eyed and unwavering. Just as he opened his mouth to speak or cry out, he wasn't sure, the reflection beat him to it.

"We're not done," Kai said from within the mirror. Kurai's mouth went dry as he realized what he had been seeing in reflections and the corner of his eye all day- since his visit to the prison, now that he thought about it. The appearance also explained the voice that he had heard, and why it sounded so unfamiliar coming from an outside source- the voice was his own.

Before he could try and work past the dryness in his mouth, there was a knock at his door that scared him so badly that he actually yelped and jumped to the side and crashed into his one of his bookshelves, knocking it askew and causing it to eject several contents onto the floor and his body. He cursed angrily as he was struck by a textbook on the head hard enough that he knew he was going to bruise later, which prevented him from hearing the doorknob turning.

"Kurai?" Izuku asked as he stepped in through the door, alarm crossing his features as he saw his friend curled up in pain on the floor. "Kurai, are you-?!"

"Get away from me!" the other boy shouted, flailing his arm randomly, driving Izuku back half a pace in shock. His gaze was unfocused, and with the crack he had been given to the head, Kurai was half under the impression that his reflection had come out of the mirror and was now advancing on him.

Of course, Izuku had no way of knowing what had transpired, but he had never seen Kurai so disheveled and terrified before. He hung back in the doorway, uncertainty etched into his face as he tried desperately to come up with a plan of action to help his friend.

After a few seconds, Kurai started to regain control of his senses, and he slowly uncurled himself while awkwardly trying to get his legs underneath him. "Izuku…?" he gasped in a dazed manner, his breathing still coming out in ragged gasps.

"What happened to you?!" the other boy demanded before he could stop himself. "I came up to drop off the gifts that you forgot downstairs, and you look like your shelves just attacked you! What scared you so much that you didn't even recognize me?!"

Kurai cast his gaze about, trying to find any hint of his old self's reflection in a window or a picture frame, but he saw nothing this time. Returning his wide-eyed, frightened gaze to the other boy, he managed to gasp out, "I need…" His tongue felt thick and clumsy, so he shook his head to try and recalibrate the feeling in his face before he said, "I need Mister Aizawa… and Recovery Girl."

"Why, what's happening to you?!"

"Izuku…" Kurai breathed out as sweat continued to bead on his brow. "I think I've started to crack."

"Crack?" his friend repeated as he pulled out his phone and knelt in front of the panicking boy.

Kurai's body began to tremble violently as he whispered, "I'm seeing things. Things I know can't be there."

His friend's eyes widened further before he sped through his contact list and then hit the call button. While he waited for the phone to start ringing, he glanced at Kurai, who was rocking back and forth while holding his head in his hands and staring out into nothing. Once the call had connected, the greenette turned away from Kurai and started speaking rapidly to their homeroom teacher, so he missed it when the other boy stopped his rocking motion and instead reverted back to trembling, much more violently than before as he paled to nearly the same shade as his hair.

Behind Izuku, lurking in the doorway, was Kai, looking down angrily upon his living self with his arms crossed. "We're not done," he repeated ominously before turning and walking away, out of his line of sight. Even so, Kurai knew that he was somewhere nearby, because he heard him add, "You're not done."

Kurai: Seriously? This is putting yourself into my character? Insanity?!

Mataras: Before you start complaining too loud, I'm gonna tell you to tread very carefully on this ground.

Kurai: ...Why?

Mataras: Because unlike a fair number of imagined pains and conflicts that I conjure for these stories, which are drawn solely from my imagination, I actually suffered the stress of psychological breaks- several times over.

Deku: Wait, so... Does that make you...? Umm...

Mataras: Crazy? Short answer is 'yes'.

Kurai: Surprise, surprise.

Mataras: Keep it up, I'll leave you where I would have been without my friends and family ten years ago.

Kurai: No, you won't, because then this story wouldn't be anywhere nearly as interesting as you want it to be.

Mataras: Don't assume you've got plot armor, mate. I can still get you killed or leave you brain-dead, and then we've still got Eri with One For All to handle what's coming.

Deku: You wouldn't!

Mataras: Wouldn't I?

Deku: You wouldn't do that to Eri! give her hope, just to yank it away from her like that?!

Kurai: ...Oh, snap. I might actually be boned, here.

Mataras: Now you're learning. Next time- Lost

Deku: You're gonna move on to the preview, just like that?! We don't get to hear the long answer about your sanity?!

Mataras: Don't have time.

Kurai: Make time!

Mataras: Fine, medium version is that I am crazy, it's treatable, and I am properly medicated as to be considered 'safe' for myself and society. Satisfied?

Deku: How hard of a time is Kurai about to have?

Mataras: No more difficult than it was for me to piece my mind back together at his age.

Kurai: Wow, there are just no words to describe how screwed I am.

Mataras: Hey!

Deku: Well, whatever happens, Kurai will have his friends ready to back him up! We'll all Go Beyond!

Kurai: Plus Ultra!

Mataras: Yeah, about that...

Kurai/Deku: Oh, come on!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Renewal...

"Alright, that sounds reasonable to me. I'll need Eraserhead's signature on a few forms before we can get the transfer started. In the meantime, it would be best if you prepare him for the upcoming arrangements."

"Understood," Nezu said as he slid off his chair and bowed to the doctor. "Thank you for agreeing to help us, Kentaro."

"Don't mention it," he answered with a smile. "Just doing my job." He seemed as though he was about to add more, but then his pager beeped, leading him to take it off his belt and frown when he stared at the little screen.

"What is it?" Aizawa asked, though he already had a pretty good idea of what it was about.

"It's Hikari," Kentaro answered. "Seems he's having another hallucination, and he's asked to be sedated. I'd better get down there- you two should come along."