A/N: Alright, back to the normal schedule at last! I'm sure that the new cover art for this chapter will be rather confusing (at first), but if you'd like to see the full image after getting the context for it in this chapter, please feel free to check out my Instagram: the_red_swordsman

Now, going into this chapter, I will admit, I had to work through some things, seeing as portions of this arc are very heavily inspired by an event in my adolescence. That said, I'm doing more than okay, so I do hope that you continue to enjoy the story!

Broken

"Weiss, you know that I have always suspected our father of questionable conduct, but what you're talking about…" An older-looking version of Weiss who had sharper features and slightly shorter hair frowned heavily at her younger sister through a computer screen, who was cringing slightly at the other woman's expected reaction. "I don't know that I can find it in myself to believe such a thing."

"Winter, you know me," Weiss said, making sure to hold her posture and measure her breathing while her sibling kept a critical eye on her. "You know the pride that I've always taken in our family's accomplishments, and how much I've tried to overlook the company's more questionable dealings in an attempt to save face with Father. But after hearing what he's doing- what he's planning to do- I can't ignore it any longer. I need to take action against him, and I need your help if I'm to have any chance of success in these changing times."

"And yet you ask me to believe the same thing without providing the very proof that seems to have you so convinced," Winter replied archly. "You've never kept secrets from me before- why start now, when you are asking me to trust you more than ever?"

"Isn't the point of trust somewhat defeated when you demand verification?" her younger sister replied swiftly. "Believe me, if I could tell you, I would do so gladly. But some secrets aren't mine to share. Please believe me that I wouldn't ask this of you if I saw any other way."

Winter made a face before she muttered, "You sound like Ozpin and Crow."

"Well, Ruby is their star pupil," Weiss replied in kind, trying to keep her old bitterness from resurfacing. "Maybe I'm starting to pick up on their bad habits through her."

"I will freeze hell over myself before I allow such a thing to occur," Winter said sharply. Seeing Weiss' raised eyebrow, she then added, "Your bearing has become far more casual than it was when you were at home… I wonder just what kind of influences your new friends are having on you?"

"Perhaps they are helping me to understand that there is more to being a good hero than just one's self-image," Weiss answered. "We're getting off-topic. Will you help me, or not?"

Winter fell silent and stared hard at her sister through the screen again, her brow furrowed deep with thought. Eventually, she said, "The person whom you discovered this deception from… How much do you trust them?"

"With the weight of the literal world," the younger Schnee replied without hesitation. "That is what is at stake, Winter. If I were unable to do everything in my power to prevent what is to come, I would never forgive myself, or anyone else in our family."

Winter leaned back slightly in her chair, having now seen clear enough that Weiss was deadly serious about the topic at hand. Even leading up to her acceptance at Second Amendment, I have never seen her so driven, she thought before she gave a slow, single nod. "Very well," she said somberly. "I'll see to it that the arrangements are made- but I will come to Japan after I take care of some business of my own. After all, it would appear rather unsightly if I didn't oversee the results of our joint investment, wouldn't it?"

Weiss eyes widened slightly in surprise, but she then allowed a little smile to decorate her lips. "I'll look forward to your arrival," she said with a slight incline of her head. "Thank you, Winter."

"Of course, sister dear," the elder Schnee replied in kind. "I rather think that I'll be staying away from home for some time, too. After all, I can't see Father taking kindly to this development, and I'd rather not deal with him in person when he finds out."

With that, the line was cut, and Weiss turned toward her bed, where a somewhat unusual guest was currently sitting. "There you have it," she said as Akarui smiled cheerily in response. "Within the week, my trust fund will be depleted and the sum of its contents moved into your own bank account in the Cayman's… However did you manage to pull off such a feat?"

"Trade secret," the boy winked. "How long will it take before the rest of the funds are transferred?"

"That might take longer, given that Winter now has to liquidate all of her shares in Schnee Support Industries, but she'll be expedient with her time," the albino girl answered. "She won't drain her new account entirely, but you'll be receiving plenty enough that it shouldn't matter. In the meantime, I'll help you to get your hands on all of the prototypes' schematics."

The plan that Akarui had concocted had taken some convincing on his part for Weiss to even consider, but once she had, she decided that it probably was their best course of action, given what they knew would happen to her family's company within the next few years. It involved Weiss transferring everything in her trust fund to a new bank account that Akarui had set up with his personal cyber security measures, followed by the sum of Winter's liquidated assets, and some of her own money. This was all in aid of crippling Schnee Industries' finances (however small the measure might be in the long run), as well as funding Akarui's research into developing better equipment for the heroes-in-training at UA, as well as enhancing the school's defense itself. They would have also liquidated Weiss' company shares, but because she was underage, she had no legal access to them just yet. While this had not been the answer that Akarui was hoping for, he knew that by the time she was able to put claims on those shares, it would be too late to do anything with them.

"We'd better try to coincide those transfers within a few hours of each other, or your father will take extra measures to lock you and your sister out," Akarui said, his expression sobering up as he started thinking over his next few moves in advance. "Priority should be placed on the money changing hands, because while breaking into an improved virtual vault sounds like fun, I'd rather use the extra hours I can save by getting to work with the stuff I'm gonna take, anyway."

"You're sure you can pull all this off without any concrete evidence being tied to my sister and I?" Weiss asked him dubiously. He was very confident- a little too confident for her liking.

"On the four percent chance that I somehow slip up in erasing my tracks, I'll be in their systems long enough to dig up every dirty little secret they've ever tried to hide," the young boy said, his smile changing from confident to slightly sinister. "If it comes down to it, I'll resort to blackmail- hardly original, but I'm sure your father has more than a few skeletons he'd prefer to remain in the closet."

"You're technically talking about corporate espionage," Weiss muttered. "When all is said and done, you could be arrested for what you're doing."

"Yeah?" Akarui snorted as he held up his hands, his wrists pressed together. "Arrest me then, hero." When all Weiss did was scowl harder at him, Akarui chuckled and stood up from the bed, heading for the door as he said, "There won't be enough evidence to use against me in a court of law, so long as you and Winter don't throw me under the bus, which I know you won't. You know that what I'm doing will help the world, and it's not like I'm robbing anyone who doesn't deserve it."

"You seem to have a much looser moral code than your brother," Weiss muttered as she crossed her arms. "How did that ever come about?"

"Kurai seems to have inherited our uncle's sense of justice and honor," Akarui shrugged as he put his hand on the doorknob. Over his shoulder, he then added, "I guess I got my parents' willingness to bend the rules from the shadows for the sake of the greater good."

The American girl regarded him coolly as he swung the door open before she said, "I'll be keeping an eye on you, Hikari. People who believe that their own morals dictate the universal laws of right and wrong are often the ones that end up becoming villains. The moment you forget what the greater good entails, I'll end your machinations, even if it costs me my hero career and reputation to do it."

Akarui hesitated in the doorway before he gave her another cheerful smile and the words, "I see why Bakugo likes you so much."

This was followed by Weiss turning redder than Kirishima's hair, and an icy burst that chased the laughing boy all the way to the elevators.

He was still brushing off a few ice flakes from his jacket when he made it to the ground floor, where a familiar entourage was waiting for him. "Sorry I took so long," he apologized as he stood in front of the quartet. "I suppose I should've accounted for the possibility that Schnee's sister could be more stubborn than our resident Snow Angel."

There was a slight growling sound coming from the kitchen, where Bakugo was seen preparing his breakfast. Since his back was turned to them and the noise had been pretty quiet, there was no way to prove that it had come from him. "Sorry, was there something you wanted add, Blasty McSplode?" Akarui snickered, which earned him a death glare from the resident explosives expert.

"Bite me, Saiyabrat," he snarled as he stormed off. "Go do your job and get your stupid brother's head out of his ass so nothing's in the way when I kick it."

"Why do you antagonize him like that?" Izuku asked as he looked askance at the younger boy. "He's not very big on holding back against people who annoy him."

"Speaking from personal experience, are we?" Akarui replied, his grin still in place. "The difference between you and I is that I've managed to turn the whole thing into a game. If he gives in and blasts me, I win- and he knows that."

"If you're done playing mind games…?" Mina said, a little impatiently. "Kurai just got cleared for visitors, and seeing as it's the last day we can visit him before we heroes have to do our work studies, we need to take advantage of the time we've got."

Her boyfriend had been successfully transported to Itomori without incident, where he would be staying for the foreseeable future. He had been settled into his room the previous night, and thanks to a request from Aizawa to the hospital staff as the boy's acting guardian, Kurai's friends would be able to visit him for a little while. The group consisted of Mina, Akarui, Ochaco, Izuku, and Future Eri, who appeared a little uncomfortable at the thought of seeing what her actions had reduced her old hero to, but because he had requested her presence, she would attend the gathering.

"Well, everyone's disguises are looking good, so I don't see why we can't head out," Akarui said as he re-examined the group. Unlike when Izuku had snuck into Kamino Ward, Yaoyorozu was now cleared to use her quirk to lend assistance to other heroes upon request, which Aizawa had done.

"You can't visit him looking like yourselves," he had deadpanned after giving them the permission to leave campus. "We could get away with it if it was just one of you visiting him at a time, but all of you together will just attract attention. There would hardly be any point in putting him in the hospital under a false identity for his own protection, only to have all of his friends from UA show up and ruin his cover."

With that in mind, Akarui had worked with Yaoyorozu so that her quirk could manufacture some disguises that worked well to hide her friends' true identities. Having been inspired by Izuku's enraged transformation before Christmas, Akarui had set the other boy up with yellow hair dye and purple contact lenses, as well as a dusting of concealer to hide his freckles. After seeing it initially, Yang had laughed and said, "Lookin' good, bro!" After that, the similarities in their appearances forced even the likes of Iida to stifle his laughter as he saw them standing across from each other. His hair had been slicked upward a little to create a stylish part- not quite to the degree that he had used in Kamino, but more of his face was showing than normal, and he was wearing custom clothes- including a dark blue vest- that Yaoyorozu had made with his body type in mind. As a result, the average passerby would never relate him to the humble rising star in UA's freshman hero course.

Ochaco was wearing normal clothes for a winter outing, but with light blue hair and eyes, as well as her usual fringe being drawn back into a braid pattern that Weiss had worked out so that it nearly formed a crown on her head. She also wore a set of half-frame glasses that Izuku thought looked kind of cute- not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

Eri's face had not been leaked to the press yet, but Aizawa had still insisted that she alter her appearance, on the off-chance that someone recognized her as a UA student in the future. Earlier in the day, she had rewound several elderly birds and critters from the woods around the school that Koda had brought her in order to vent some energy, as to make her horn shrink and easier to disguise with her hair. Like Ochaco, she had also changed her hair and eyes to a blue color, though hers' were a little bit of a darker shade. The two of them would be disguised as sisters- Akarui and Kurai's supposed 'cousins'- for the trip, and with the implemented cosmetics, they certainly looked the part.

Akarui had also applied brown colored eye contacts and dyed his hair to become the same silvery-white that now topped his brother's head, which had initially startled the students as they were reminded that the two siblings actually used to look very similar, though Akarui was starting to reach his 'awkward' phase, where a person starts to look like they would as an adult, but still with the gangly proportions of a child. Even so, it only made sense that Kurai's family would visit him, so they wouldn't bother to cover that part of his identity, though he would be going by the cover name, 'Taki Kayaba', while Kurai's assumed identity was 'Madara Kayaba.'

Upon having heard his chosen name, Iida had rolled his eyes and muttered, "Madara? Really? Did he miss the memo where he's supposed to be subtle?"

"You'd be surprised at the number of people who have the name," Akarui had shrugged. "A lot of Naruto fans out there with unfortunate children- and not all of 'em are even in Japan."

Mina's transformation really took the cake, though- even her parents would have had a hard time recognizing her from up close if she didn't speak. With Yaoyorozu and Akarui's help, she had ingested a type of dye that would alter her skin pigmentation overnight, making her wake up with skin the color of light caramel. Hair dye had been applied by the other girls to make her frizzy mop a dirty blond color that worked well with her temporary skin pigmentation. Another pill taken with dinner would serve to change the sclera in her eyes to a normal white shade. Both had caused severe itching for her, so she hadn't gotten all that much sleep, but she had borne the effects for the sake of her transformation without complaint- after all, if there was anyone who was instantly recognizable among their number, it was the girl with the hot pink skin and blackened eyes.

Under normal circumstances, the items being used to make the changes would have cost a small fortune, but thanks to Yaoyorozu's quirk and Akarui's brainpower, the group would be able to alter their appearances at no cost to their wallets whatsoever.

The last issue for Mina to deal with were her horns, which couldn't change size like Eri's did according to how her quirk was used. With all the other preparations she was going through to alter her appearance, she probably didn't need to alter that final aspect of her person, but she didn't want to risk it. With that in mind, she had shown up at Blake's room the night before with a request that had startled the already-confused girl.

"You're gonna trust me to do this?" she had asked after hearing the pink girl out. "You sure that's such a good idea?"

"If nothing else, Eri can rewind me if you decide to jack it up on purpose, but you don't strike me as the vindictive type," Mina had replied dryly. "You gonna do the job, or not?"

Blake had sighed and allowed the other girl access to her room. "Come on in," she had said. "I'll do my best, but this'll probably take a few minutes to set up so I can get it right without taking off anything extra."

The following morning, everyone had been taken aback just by how normal Mina looked, but it was Asui who had pointed out the cherry on top. "Where'd your horns go, ribbit?" she had asked while pointing at the tired-looking heroine as she was surrounded by the others, each of them more than a little intrigued by this transformation she had undertaken.

"I cut 'em off," she had shrugged, startling everyone around her once again.

"You what?!"

"How?!"

"Didn't that hurt?!"

"Who am I supposed to be 'horn buddies' with now?!"

She had grinned at Kirishima in response to the last question, along with the words, "They'll grow back, eventually. One time when I was a kid, I hit my head falling out of a tree, snapped one of 'em off, but it grew back within a year. Made for some pretty funny pics while it lasted, though." She didn't mention the fact that it had been one of the more painful events of her childhood, and her head was still throbbing where Blake's katana had slashed them clean off, being careful not to damage any of her altered hair in the process. The girl really is a ninja, Mina had thought at the time. The spots where the horns had been were covered easily enough with a little styling, and the illusion was complete.

Mina Ashido, for all intents and purposes, looked nothing like Ashid Queen.

Now the kids all stood outside in the snow by their dorm, ready to go whenever their escort decided to show up. Glancing at Mina out of the corner of his eye, Akarui decided then to ask, "Does Kurai know you decided to go with that look?"

"I think he knows we'll be incognito, but no, I didn't give him any details," she answered as a grey car started to pull up.

"Excellent," the younger boy said with a mischievous grin. "I can't wait to see the look of utter bamboozlement on his face when he sees you."

"Bamboozlement?" Ochaco repeated. "Seems like a weird word choice when you could just say 'confused'."

"No, no, trust me," Akarui snickered as the van parked in front of them, leading Izuku to open the back door for his girlfriend, who thanked him. "Kurai has a very specific face when he gets bamboozled, as opposed to confused. I don't get to see it very often, and I'm looking forward to the event."

"Your brother is in the hospital, fighting for his sanity, and you're just cracking jokes about it?" Izuku asked, disapprovingly.

"It's the perfect time to do so," Akarui shrugged as he, Mina, and Eri sat in the middle row. "You didn't see him holding back when I was in a wheelchair, did you?"

"Next stop, Itomori Hospital," said the driver, a young man named 'Akio' who had apparently graduated UA a few years back as a hero, but had thus far kept his head down in terms of grand theatrics. It was for this reason that Eraserhead trusted him with covert ops like the one they were technically running at the moment. "Keep your heads down until I say otherwise- no point in disguising yourselves if you're just gonna be seen strolling out of UA and straight to the hospital."

"How can we be certain that we're not being tailed?" Eri asked as they all leaned down in their seats to avoid being seen as the young man started to drive off.

"That's what I'm for," the driver said with an easy grin. "I've got a telepathy quirk that I can use to focus on one person at a time to communicate without speaking. I can also use it indiscriminately to pick up on the thoughts of anyone within a mile, which can be kinda distracting, though it's easier for me to 'hear' darker thoughts, since they tend to be more intense than the normal thought patterns of the average citizen that passes me by. If someone's focusing on me with the intent to harm, I'll pick up on it, and we can take the proper countermeasures."

"Which would be?" Mina asked.

"Luring our potential friend into a trap and kicking the crap outta them before we hand 'em off to the police for interrogation," Akio replied cheerfully. Having sensed some of the student's startled reactions, he grinned again and added, "Yeah, my ideas for how to deal with villains doesn't exactly line up with a lot of UA alumni, but I do what I can to get the job done. I don't judge people for being soft on the bad guys, though- everyone's got a different way of bein' a hero, ya know?"

The car ride to the hospital took nearly an hour, but Akio was surprisingly chatty for someone who had been called on by Aizawa, which made the time go by a little faster. Under normal circumstances, Mina would have been the most talkative of the bunch, but she only answered to direct prompts from the others- even Eri had more to say than she did during the trip.

When they finally made it to the hospital, Akio parked in front of the building and told them, "I'll be back in an hour. If you have any problems, talk to a lady with black-and-green hair- the name she'll be using is 'Jitsuko'. She's there to keep an eye on Hikari on the off-chance that the villains find out who he is."

"How do we know we can trust her?" Mina asked absently, preparing to step out into the cold.

"Well, Eraserhead trusts me, and I should hope that I trust my sister," Akio grinned easily, surprising his wards. "She's good at her job- she'll keep a low profile and help your friend stay safe while he's in there."

"Thank you," Eri said as she made to step out of the vehicle, the others quickly following her.

"No problem," Akio answered as he gave them a two-fingered mock salute. "Have fun with your visit!" Once the last door had been shut, he drove away, leaving the five teenagers standing in front of the large building, each of them wondering just what would be waiting inside.

Ochaco was the first to stir, saying to the others, "C'mon, it's cold out here. Todoroki says that the people inside are always helpful, and nothing crazy has happened to him since he's come here."

"It probably helps that the patients are all given daily quirk suppressants," Izuku mused aloud as his girlfriend took him by the hand and started leading the way inside. "Even if someone were to become a handful, they wouldn't be able to use their powers while they caused trouble."

"Everyone remember their cover names?" Mina mumbled just loud enough for the others to hear as they approached a set of glass doors. When everyone responded that they did, she nodded and moved to push open the entrance, allowing the others to go in ahead of her.

It didn't take them long to be brought to Kurai's room by one of the people on staff who had been alerted to the fact that he would be having guests that day. "It's nice to see his family coming to visit him already," the orderly said in a warm tone. "Some of these poor people go years without so much as a letter from theirs'."

"We just wanna make sure that he's settling in okay," Akarui said in response, all traces of humor gone from his face as he spoke. "Since our mom and dad aren't around anymore, Madara's all I've got left of my immediate family." Over his shoulder, he added, "Hiyori and Suguha have been making an effort to keep in touch with us ever since the battle at Kamino, but I'm really glad that they'll be able to see Madara in person, today." According to the faux backstory that Eraserhead and Doctor Kentaro had concocted, their parents had been among the people killed at Kamino Ward by All For One- not that it was technically a lie, Akarui thought wryly.

"Well, other than the bruises, he's doing just fine here in Itomori," the orderly said cheerfully, nearly missing the looks of alarm that passed between the five guests. "Is something the matter?"

"Bruises?" Mina asked tightly. "No one said anything to us about bruises."

"Oh," the orderly said, looking a little nonplussed as he paused before turning a corner in the hallway. "Well… Sorry, I thought you already knew about it."

"What happened?" Eri asked, her sapphire eyes narrowing with concern and frustration.

"Before being transferred here, Kayaba suffered from some kind of night terror that triggered his quirk and caused him to strike himself in his sleep," the orderly explained with a slight wince as he gestured for them to follow his lead once more, the group falling into place with worry writ across their faces. "He'll fully recover, don't you worry. They healed most of the damage back at the other hospital, and now all he's got are some light bruises on his jaw that can heal on their own."

Izuku and Eri exchanged a quick look between them, dread settling in their guts even more than their friends'. If One For All was reacting to Kurai's emotional instability in his sleep, things might be worse than they thought.

"Ah, here we are," said the employee, gesturing to a room labelled with Kurai's fake name. "I'll just let him know that you're here." Following a rapid series of knocks, the man asked, "Kayaba? You decent in there?"

"If you're here for my coloring materials, you can forget it," a familiar voice grumbled from within. "I'm not giving 'em back; they're the only thing I have for entertainment until I get cleared to have a friggin' book to read."

The orderly smiled and gave the teenagers a wink before he stepped away from the door, saying in a lowered tone, "Shout if you need anything."

"Thanks," Eri replied as he departed, Akarui moving to open the door to the room.

Inside, Kurai was bent over his desk as he grumbled, "I don't need a quirk to remind you why taking my stuff is a poor idea, Asahi."

"Pretty sure it's the hospital's stuff," his brother replied while Ochaco shut the door behind them, everyone having gathered into the room. It was a fairly nice place, if a bit smaller than their dorm rooms back on campus, and it lacked anything personal that would mark the area as Kurai's.

"Fight me, these guys are- good grief!" The boy's mutterings were cut off as he turned around and nearly fell over backwards when he got a good look at his friends and brother. "Akarui? That you?"

"Oh come on, I don't look that different," his brother chuckled as he slapped his brother's shoulder lightly before they embraced one another. "And remember, it's 'Taki' while I'm in here. Get it together, man." He noticed that the hospital attendant had spoken truthfully about his brother's injury- there was some discoloration on the right side of his jaw, but the swelling seemed to have been reduced to a minimum, meaning that it would only be two or three days before the damage was completely erased.

"That's… the idea," the other boy said slowly, trying to work out what his eyes were now telling him in contrast with his preconceived expectations. "Eri?"

"Hiyori," she answered with a slightly forced smile as she stepped forward to give him a brief hug. "It's good to see you, even under the current circumstances."

"Yeah, you too," he said, looking a little dazed as Izuku and Ochaco took their turns greeting him, informing the boy that their cover names were 'Daigo' and 'Suguha', respectively.

"How're you holding up?" Mina asked as she made her way forward, having known that if she had taken the first greeting, she would have had to be interrupted by the others, but now she could hold onto his undivided attention.

Kurai's eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the sight of Mina's disguise, his jaw working up and down without so much as a peep coming from his damaged mouth as he worked to comprehend just how she had done such a thing. When he did finally speak, it was nothing intelligible, either. "I… uh… duh…?"

"Pfft!" Akarui struggled valiantly to hold in his laughter, but it was doomed to failure as he fell to the floor in a fit of giggling at his brother's supremely confused expression. "There it is!" he hooted between his cackles. "Ladies and gents, he's been bamboozled! Someone get a picture! Hahahaha!"

"What do you think?" Mina asked, a little shyly as she waited for Kurai's thought process to restart itself.

"Uh… it's good?" he finally managed to get out. "It's just… a lot."

"Yeah, Yaomomo went all-out with the aesthetics' change," she said as she looked back down at herself, still unused to the altered coloring of her skin.

"I mean, yeah, but where'd your horns go?" Kurai asked, his tone still a little bit dazed. His eyes kept flicking between his girlfriend and the others as their new appearances kept trying to sink into his brain, with limited success.

"I cut 'em off," she shrugged. "Couldn't risk them giving me away."

At that, Kurai visibly cringed, having been aware of Mina's childhood injury, as well as the fact that her horns were actually a little sensitive where they connected to her skull. "But doesn't that-"

"It's a small price to pay," she said with a flimsy smile that did nothing to reassure him. "They'll grow back, eventually."

"Actually, I'll be rewinding all of us on our way back to UA," Eri informed them. "It'll be just enough to undo the changes we underwent so we don't have to worry about using artificial methods to change ourselves back to normal in time for our work studies."

"See?" Mina said, a little bit of her normal cheer making its way back into her voice. "Problem solved."

Once Kurai had finally managed to shake off the sight of his friends' elaborate disguises, he composed himself and had them all take up positions in the room so that they formed a rough circle, with Mina sitting next to him on the bed, and Izuku standing across from him against a wall.

"How is it in here?" Ochaco decided to ask when the atmosphere stalled with an awkward tension.

"Not bad, food's better than I thought it would be," Kurai answered with a shrug. "These socks with the rubber soles are pretty comfortable. I've already received an offer from a 'recovering' drug addict to become a pimp after I get outta here, so I guess I'm making friends with the guy down the hall?"

Akarui didn't even try to contain his laughter this time, just managing to snort out the words, "That'd be the fastest career turnaround in history!"

Mina slugged the younger boy in the arm, causing him to let out a short yelp and shoot her an annoyed look while she made a rude gesture at him before turning back to Kurai and saying, "You told Mister Aizawa that you wanted to see the five of us specifically, but not why."

"Yeah, did the staff tell you that I got bitch-slapped through a wall?" her boyfriend asked, a little sourly.

"They said you were sleepwalking or something," Izuku nodded, looking concerned for his friend. "I'm sorry that happened, but what does it have to do with us?"

"I wasn't just sleepwalking," Kurai said, his features becoming even more severe as he stared at his hands, which were clenching each other as they trembled slightly. "I told Mina about this, but I guess you four should also know that I've been seeing myself as Kai. That's what scared the hell out of me when you found me on Christmas night." He directed the last part at Izuku, whose eyes had grown wide at the news. "At first I would just kinda see him in the corner of my eye, or hear him at the edge of my range, but then he started getting mouthy."

"Surprise, surprise," Akarui muttered, though he looked just as grim as his brother at the news, so Mina decided to hold off on slapping him again.

"He started off by telling me that we weren't done with being a hero, and I tried to ignore him," Kurai sighed as he continued to stare at his shaking hands. "But eventually he got under my skin, and when I mouthed off back to him, he got violent."

"Wait, you're saying that your… hallucination… used your quirk against you?" Ochaco asked, her eyes nearly as wide as Izuku's.

"If that's true, you're not just seeing things as a result of PTSD," Akarui muttered as his face changed into one of deeper thought. "Your mind might be developing a case of dissociative identity disorder."

"He's doing what-now?" Mina asked, looking more worried than everyone else put together.

"He might be developing a split personality due to all the trauma and conflicting ideals going on in his head," Eri said softly, tears beginning to pool in the corners of her eyes. "Kurai, I'm so sorry."

"Forgiven and forgotten," he said with a slight shake of his head, though he kept his gaze fixed on his now-shaking hands even then. "The reason I called all of you here is because I need your help to choose the next wielder of One For All, and quickly. If my mind is actually starting to fragment itself, I need to get the power into the hands of someone who isn't at risk for a psychotic breakdown. If I'm not in control of myself, I could end up killing someone the next time I lose it."

"But… Your mind is splitting itself into you, the one who doesn't want to be a hero anymore, and 'Kai', who wants to keep using One For All to save people," Mina said slowly as she found herself putting an arm around Kurai's shoulders while using her other hand to caress his left arm gently. "Neither of those… personalities want to hurt anyone, right?"

"It's more than that, Mina," Akarui said, having already seen where his brother's thoughts were heading. "Once the mind splits like that, there's a good chance that more personalities will continue to emerge from his subconscious, and the next one might not be so well-intentioned. There's also the chance that if he passes on the quirk, his dissociated identity will fade away, since it will no longer have the means to carry out its desires."

"So… you think that this might help him keep his mind together?" Ochaco asked Akarui, who nodded in tandem with his brother.

"It's a possibility," the younger boy nodded. "One that I don't think we can afford to ignore. Even if we're wrong, and it doesn't help his mind to heal itself, he's right about the fact that someone at risk like him shouldn't be holding on to One For All- he's like a ticking time bomb on a thermonuclear level."

"But what if we're looking at this all wrong?" Izuku asked, his chin in his hand, his eyes narrowed with consideration.

"What do you mean?" Eri asked him, even as Akarui's gaze also became narrowed.

"What if…" Izuku hesitated, his eyes sweeping around the room before they settled back on Kurai and he said, "What if the personality with us right now isn't the original Kurai?"

Those words rendered the room as silent as a tomb, but the tension increased exponentially by the second. Fortunately, it was quickly broken by Eri saying, "Deku, that's-"

"Let him explain." The unexpected interruption came from Akarui, who ignored the furious glare from Mina and the stunned look from his brother. "We're dealing with a major unknown; that being the 'proper' psychological state of someone who's been resurrected. None of us know what's supposed to happen right now, or how to properly recover from a traumatizing event like that."

"When Eri brought Kurai back to life, his emotions were running really, really high," Izuku said quickly, as if afraid that someone might interrupt him. "Like you've all been saying, that had to be unimaginably stressful on his mind, right? What if in the process of his brain getting acclimated to his old body again, all those negative emotions buried down any sense of his old self? What if 'Kai' is his old personality trying to take control of his body, and is willing to use One For All to do it?"

"Or maybe my old self is beyond sick and tired of all the fighting and horrors of being a hero, and just can't handle it anymore," Kurai snarled, his eyes flashing as he stood up from his bed. "I'm not like you, Izuku- never have been. I asked you here to help me, not to jump on the insanity bandwagon."

"Kurai, sit down," Akarui ordered as he moved to stand between the two other boys. "We're trying to help you, and in order to do that, we have to analyze all the possible causes of the problem."

"We already know the cause," Mina growled as she also shot to her feet. "Stop trying to find new ones, already!"

"Just because the sum of the problems weren't present at the initial diagnosis, it doesn't mean-"

"Kid, I will end you!" Mina interrupted, drawing her hand back to slap Akarui again.

There was a short burst of wind and lightning that ended with the normally-pink girl slammed on the bed, Kurai lying on the ground, and Akarui in an arm lock that Eri was holding with a stony expression on her face. "I didn't turn back the course of time to watch you guys do what the League has been trying to do from the beginning," she said flatly as Izuku and Ochaco eyed the future girl apprehensively. "Ashid Queen, I know that you're trying to help Kai, but hitting people who offer solutions you don't like is hardly an answer. Kai, by your own admission, your sanity is the one in question, so maybe you're not in the best position to say what's right or wrong about the workings of your mind at the moment. And as for you…" She tightened her grip on Akarui's wrist, leading him to grunt with pain before she added, "You have a long way to go before you hold a candle to the Akarui of my time. You don't have a viable solution, and you know it, so stop acting like you do." With that, she let the boy go so that he could massage his aching wrist while he backed into a corner while glaring at the now stone-faced girl.

"Eri-"

"Kurai asked us here to help him pick a new candidate for our quirk," she said to cut Ochaco off. "Let's spend our time doing that before we try to pile more problems on his shoulders. He's got more than enough to deal with right now. Can we agree on that?" With some reluctance, the others in the room gave assent to the idea, leading her to nod and say, "Thank you. Kurai, did you have anyone in mind to receive the quirk?"

"Yeah," he grunted as he sat up with a sullen look and leaned against his new bed on the floor, neglecting to rise as he did. "Togata seems like the prime choice. Izuku thought about giving it to him in the past, and he's got the right attitude. There's also the fact that he has the right body type for it, so he shouldn't have too hard of a time adjusting to its use."

"Problem with that, if you're trying to get rid of the quirk quickly," Akarui muttered, frowning as his wrist continued to throb. "He's waiting on little Eri to get good enough to rewind him to when he had Permeation. If you give him the power now, she might erase One For All entirely when she tries to restore his original quirk."

Kurai scowled, though not necessarily at his brother this time. "Good point," he muttered. "Alright, next on the list- Todoroki."

The others all looked at one another as they considered this possibility. Eri had to reflect in that moment that the Akarui she had known in the future had a frighteningly good idea of how his brother's mind worked, seeing as they were following his thought patterns almost exactly. Still, the memory of the meeting that had happened only weeks ago in the distant future led to her asking, "Not Ingenium?"

Kurai raised an eyebrow as he looked up at her before he asked, "Any particular reason why it should be him?" When she hesitated, he softened his gaze a little bit and said, "I'm not asking to bait you. I actually want to know why you think he'd be a good choice for the quirk."

"He's a good hero, and he might be a physically better fit than Freezer Burn," she pointed out. "His training already works his body pretty hard, so he'd be able to acclimate to the power a lot quicker than Freeze- Er, Todoroki could." The first time she had mentioned the heterochromic hero, she had automatically used the name she had used for him growing up, only to realize that he had yet to come up with that name in this time period.

"But could he handle the pressure?" Akarui countered, doing his best to ignore the curiosity that had been aroused by what was apparently going to become Todoroki's hero name. They had more pressing concerns at the moment, personal interests be damned. "He already takes a lot onto himself that he doesn't technically have to- like someone else we used to know." He gave Kurai a meaningful look as he said this.

"We hardly need another one of me running around," his brother admitted as he went back to staring at his hands. "Todoroki probably would be a better pick, in that case. He's always kept his cool, even when things were looking pretty damn impossible. Even if it takes him a little longer to develop the right muscle mass needed- which honestly won't take him that long, given how fit he already is- I think he could handle the responsibilities that come with it."

"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" Ochaco volunteered timidly. When everyone looked over at her, she asked, "What about the previous holders of One For All? Didn't Eri say that they won't accept just anybody as a new host? Don't you have to get their opinion on this?"

"Oh. Right," Kurai said dumbly, a look of disbelief on his face as he registered something that should have been obvious from the beginning.

Even Akarui seemed disappointed in himself, because he was smacking his forehead repeatedly with his palm as he muttered under his breath, "Idiot, you always miss something!"

"Let's try contacting them now," Eri said to Kurai as she sat down on the floor with her legs tucked under her. "They haven't been very talkative ever since I found you guys, but I've found that I can still see them in my dreams every now and again. I'll bet that if we meditate, we'll be able to talk with them."

"No dice," Kurai replied, causing the other One For All holder to frown up at him. "Sorry, but I can't use my quirk right now."

"Kurai, if you wanna get rid of it, you're gonna have to-"

"No, I mean I physically can't use it right now," he interrupted Izuku while holding up hand toward his friend. "The hospital has me on quirk suppressants, remember? If I could, I'd use it this once if it'd help get rid of it, but I can't." He shrugged helplessly, and Izuku felt a little bad for the accusatory tone he had been about to take.

"Okay, good point," Eri murmured as she closed her eyes. "I'll just talk to them myself."

"Maybe I should try, too," Izuku said as he knelt across from the girl, surprising the others a little bit. Seeing this, he explained, "When Eri and I first came into contact, I could feel One For All itself, and presence of the other wielders inside of her- it's how I recognized who she is. Maybe I still have enough of a connection that I'll be able to talk to the past wielders, too."

"It's a good idea," Akarui nodded approvingly. "Hopefully the other vestiges aren't too pissed at him."

"Here's hoping," Eri nodded before lowering her chin and beginning to take deep, even breaths as she tried to quiet her mind. Likewise, Izuku closed his eyes and started measuring his breathing like Kurai had taught him to when he was first learning to control One For All at a lower percentage.

After another somewhat awkward pause of silence, Mina stirred and asked, "What do we do while we're waiting?"

"If you were to ever go in disguise, I never would have pegged you for a blonde," Kurai said almost instantly.

"Are you still stuck on that?" she couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Blonde!" he repeated insistently. "It's so… normal!"

"Don't mind him, he's probably just getting flashbacks," Akarui snickered as he leaned against the desk in the room.

"Flashbacks of what?"

"First girl he had a crush on in grade school."

"Akarui…" Kurai said in a warning tone.

"Wait, she was blonde?" Mina asked, her mouth refusing to remain in a neutral position. "You never mentioned that part."

Kurai glared at his brother before he muttered, "You planned this."

"Excuse me?"

"You planned this- I know you did."

"You honestly don't trust me?" Akarui asked with an innocent air about him.

"Your brother was the one who said it'd be best if she looked like someone from pre-quirk times…" Ochaco said as her gaze turned toward the younger Hikari, who was grinning unashamedly.

"You won't believe how easy that sell was," he snickered.

"Hrrgh…!"

"One mention of a blonde Kardashian, and she just went for it!"

"Akarui…!"

"Can you guys let us meditate in peace?!" Izuku suddenly snapped, startling the others.

"Sorry," they all apologized instantly.

"It's alright," Eri said with a sigh as she opened her eyes. "They're not answering, for whatever reason."

"Wait, what?" Akarui asked with a frown, becoming all business again. "You can tell that fast?"

"Weren't we being too noisy?" Ochaco asked her.

"I once meditated in the middle of a mall on my way to UA, and I could hear them without any trouble," Eri said with a shake of her head. "In the future, Akarui taught me a lot of meditation techniques to help me master my quirk, so I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at it."

"So our concentration isn't the issue," Izuku grunted as he got to his feet. "Maybe the vestiges already know what we're going to talk to them about, and they don't care?"

"Doesn't sound like them, based on what you two have told us," Akarui muttered. "I'd ask if you were having trouble using the power, but my aching wrist already answers that."

"Don't be a baby, at least she let you stay on your feet," Kurai grumbled.

"If the vestiges are gonna stay quiet on the matter, let's get back to figuring out who should be the next holder," Izuku said, trying to keep the conversation moving in a more productive direction- they'd dealt with enough side tracks for the day, he thought. "Pending Todoroki's acceptance, it seems like he's the best choice for the quirk."

"Good thing we can still agree on some things, right?" Kurai snorted softly, though Izuku failed to return the sentiment. Seeing that his friend was still determined to be sore at him, the hospitalized boy shrugged and said, "Guess we'll have to bring him in for the next visit so we can discuss it."

"Why don't we just call him over the phone?" Mina suggested.

"I'm not allowed to have a phone yet," Kurai answered, his eyes glazing over slightly as he did. "Besides which, this seems like the kind of conversation that we oughta have in person."

"How long until you get a phone?" Izuku asked, his expression changing to one of slight concern for the other boy.

"Depends on when my doctor thinks that I'm okay to interact with the outside world on a more regular basis," Kurai shrugged again. "Might be sometime this week, might not be for months. Some people have gone years without them, apparently."

"So does that mean… what, we have to write letters if we want to talk to you?" Ochaco asked. "Like Todoroki does with his mom?"

"I'm allowed to use a phone they have in the recreational room once every other day, but I only get it for fifteen minutes, and it's not exactly a private place," Kurai answered. Rapping on the floorboards, he then added, "Luckily, the walls and floor in here are pretty sound-absorbent. Helps to keep people from eavesdropping on conversations between patients and doctors, but if someone starts yelling, the noise can still get through."

"Not a bad setup for talks like this one, then," Akarui said with something like approval in his voice.

"What if Fre- Todoroki says no?" Eri asked, a small furrow in her brow as she caught herself slipping on the name again. "I can't imagine that he would, seeing as he's one of the people who first respected your decision to stop being a hero, but he's pretty stubborn when it comes to his sense of purpose and ideals. If for whatever reason he decides that he can't accept One For All, what then?"

"Then Akarui better be ready for one hell of a workout regime," Kurai deadpanned.

This response almost sent his brother into another fit of giggles, but the laughter died in his throat when he saw that Kurai was dead serious. "Are you out of your mind?" he sputtered once he realized this. "I am the last person who should get that kind of power!"

"Pretty sure that spot belongs to me," Kurai replied, but Akarui was already shaking his head rapidly in the negative.

"No way, nu-uh, not happening."

"Why not?"

"Why not?" Akarui spat back, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Why in the hell would you ever think that was a good idea, other than nepotism?!"

"We were raised with the same morals and ideals," Kurai tossed back. "Shouldn't that be reason enough for me to trust you with it? Besides, with One For All enhancing Solar Intelligence, you'd probably be able to figure out how to defeat the League and their hidden allies in like an hour. Your body may not be ready to handle the physical aspect of the power, but it'd guarantee to make you the smartest person on the planet in the interim."

"That's exactly why I can't take it, idiot," Akarui scowled, his refusal continuing to surprise the others in the room as they could only look on in confusion. "Think about it- I've always been the smartest person in the room, sans my encounters with Professor Shield and Principal Nezu. You know how that affects my disposition toward other people- can you imagine what were to happen if I gained the power to surpass all the intellect of history's greatest minds combined? And the physical might to enforce my will if it should contradict with something that I perceive as stupid? I'd become a worse tyrant that Shigaraki did in the future."

"That's an over-exaggeration," Kurai started to protest, but Eri held up a hand for him to be quiet.

"It's not, and you know it," Akarui said heavily. "I'd start off with good intentions, of course. I'd defeat the League and set about crushing the last of organized crime in Japan. But what happens when I don't like something that some hero did along the way because it didn't line up with my idea of a good hero? Do I punish him for doing wrong, as would be my moral obligation, or do I just turn a blind eye? Answer: it doesn't matter. No one could stop me if I decided something was right or wrong and acted to enforce that ideal."

Before Kurai could say anything to counter, Mina leaned over and said in a low tone, "In case you're wondering, yes, this is what it's like to argue with you."

"How do you put up with me?" he grumbled, causing her to chuckle and bump his shoulder with her own.

"So, we're clear on that?" Izuku asked, looking a little exasperated. "Todoroki's the next user, as long as he agrees to it?"

"Yep," Akarui said quickly.

"I don't see why not," Eri nodded calmly.

"He seems like a good choice," Ochaco agreed, seemingly relieved that they were starting to find some common ground.

"He's got my vote," Mina added.

Kurai gave a slow nod of his own before he said, "Alright. I know you guys have to go to your work study agencies for the week after New Year's, so I'll have to make the transfer after that. I'll leave it to you guys to bring the subject up to him. If he says 'no', I'll start thinking of someone else to take the power- probably Togata, even if I have to have you guys sneak one of my hairs into his sandwich."

"Not gonna start on another contingency plan already?" Akarui smirked. "That doesn't seem like you."

"I've had enough arguing for the day, and my brain has been abusing itself more than enough without me putting extra thoughts into stuff right now," his brother grumbled.

Seeing the tired look on his face at that moment, Mina felt that it might be time for something more uplifting for him than the business of who would succeed him as the next wielder of One For All. "Guys, can you give Kurai and me a little time alone?" she asked. "I need to talk to him in private."

"Is everything okay?" Izuku asked, a little worriedly. It was so strange, Mina thought, how one moment he looked like he wanted to punch Kurai's lights out, and the next he was ready to jump to his friend's aid without a second thought. I don't get boys, she thought while she put a reassuring smile on her face.

"Yeah, everything is fine," she told him. "Don't worry, we'll only take fifteen minutes or so. And if I hear anything sounding like a joke coming out of you, Akarui, you'd better kiss your signed limited-edition All Might poster goodbye."

The younger boy- who had been grinning and about to open his mouth- quickly flinched as if he had been stung and muttered, "Kurai, you traitor. How could you sell me out like that?"

"Didn't seem fair to have me as the only person she knows how to comfortably threaten," Kurai snorted softly, a little bit of amusement working into his eyes as he did. "Welcome to my world, brother."

Once the others were gone, Mina sat next to him on the bed while he just stared at the wall with a blank expression on his face, as if in a trance. Tilting her head at him, she said, "I gotta admit, it's a pretty fascinating wall. How can I possibly compare?" She said it with a slightly teasing tone, hoping to get him to smile a little bit.

It didn't, but he did turn toward her and maintain direct eye contact for the first time since they had come into his room. "Don't say that, even as a joke," he murmured quietly. "Sorry if I'm being absent… It's just a lot to think about all at once, but I am glad to see you."

"I know, and I'm sorry I didn't have you told that we were gonna be coming in disguise," she apologized. "It seemed like a good opportunity for a prank, but now I see that was a pretty stupid idea."

"No, it's very 'you'," Kurai said as he closed his eyes and leaned his head forward to rest his brow against hers'. "Don't ever stop being you, not for anything or anyone."

"Have you seen your- er, Kai, since the other hospital?" she asked as she laid her left arm across his back while putting her other hand on his leg out of habit. She reflected briefly that they were supposed to keeping a stricter personal space boundary, but decided that they could both do with this small bit of comfort while they had the opportunity.

"Strangely, no, which is honestly starting to freak me out more the longer he goes without showing up," Kurai sighed, and now it clicked for Mina why he looked especially exhausted. "I feel like he's gonna jump outta the mirror every time I go to the bathroom, but so far, nothing. The doctors haven't diagnosed me or given me any mood stabilizers yet, so I know I'm not 'cured' or whatever. I almost wish that he would show up again, just stop keeping me in suspense, which is counterintuitive, but what do I know anymore?" He let out a hoarse little chuckle before his shoulders started to shake as the laughter turned into tears, and Mina found herself holding him tightly to her chest while she kissed his head as gently as she could.

"Sorry…" he gasped. "I don't know how I'm supposed to handle losing my mind, and I'm just unloading everything unfairly onto you. I'll try to-"

"It's not unfair when I offered to help with your burdens," she cut him off softly. "Neither of us could have ever imagined that we'd have to deal with stuff this heavy, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm not going anywhere."

"I'll make this up to you," he said into her shirt. "Somehow. I don't know how, but when I get out of here, I'll make up for all the trouble I've ever caused you."

She smiled past the tears stinging her own eyes as she said, "Just make it back to me, and I'll call it even." When he started to pull back, she tilted his head so that he would be looking right at her again as she said, "That's all I've ever wanted, Kurai. I just want you to come home to me."

"I will," he promised as they pressed their brows against one another again. "I'll get better, and I'll make my way home to you."

In that one moment, Mina was able to feel her heart lighten just a little as she heard sparks resembling the fire of Kai's voice coming from Kurai's mouth again. It wasn't for long, and it wasn't a resounding declaration that he was aiming at the world, but for her, for now, it was enough.

Deku: Wait, so when people ask if you're crazy-?

Mataras: Which happens fairly often.

Deku: -you're only being honest if you say 'yes'?

Mataras: Well, I'm medicated so that I'm safe to interact with society... Does that count?

Kai: Fine line between being crazy and insane.

Mataras: Yeah, I used to use that line as a jump rope.

Deku: Do you... wanna talk about it?

Mataras: Not particularly. I just thought that an explanation for my handling of this route in Kurai's character development was warranted.

Kai: More like character regression.

Mataras: You said it, not me.

Kai: Hrgh-!

Mataras: In any case, to make a long story short, I suffered psychotic breaks when I was younger, partially due to circumstances of my upbringing, more so because I refused to take the medications that I had been prescribed- sort of the thought that if I took the meds, it would be admitting that there was something wrong with me.

Deku: But... wasn't there-?

Mataras: Yeah, I know, it was a stupid thought process.

Kai: But you're better now?

Mataras: Oh yeah, loads. Got properly medicated and rehabilitated and all that. My life is good.

Deku: Then here's to hoping that Kurai can follow the same path to recovery!

Kai: Next time- In the Absence of a Brother

Mataras: Time for Akarui to Go Beyond!

Deku: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Renewal...

Less than a week back into the school semester, and Akarui met his first real challenge as a guest instructor at UA.

"Hatsume, I don't care how you argue the merits, you're gonna be forced to stand there and build the model according to the specifications I detailed, or I'll give you failing grade for the assignment," he muttered as he stared up at a girl with pink hair and unsettling yellow eyes.

"But that leaves no room for creativity or ingenuity!" she complained, even as the other students in the class worked on their projects as had been assigned to them by the boy genius. He had spent time with Power Loader during the winter break learning each of his student's weaknesses, and had drawn up support item concepts that he wanted the freshman to design in order to spend time on working through those shortcomings. Normally Power Loader wouldn't have the time to craft individual assignments for each of his students, but with Akarui's help, he now had a way to measure the personal growth of his students in the areas that they had been lacking at the start of the year.

Hatsume's test had been the easiest to create in concept, but getting her to follow through with it was proving to be the hard part. It wasn't that Akarui hadn't known that she would challenge the idea itself- it was simply that she was proving to be a lot more one-track minded than even he had predicted she would be.