It's good to be back! I've been trying to catch up on updates for this story on my ao3 account, but it feels good to be writing an actual new chapter. Speaking of which, since I've had multiple people send me worried messages about it, yes, my ao3 account is skyestar7703, and the Academia Falls being published from that account is me, not someone reposting my work. Even though it really is me, though, thank you so much to everyone who was worried someone was trying to pass my work off as their own and letting me know about it. It means so much to me that you guys care!

And on a happier note, we have fanart! wolfie-2013 on tumblr(Cactus-Studios on here) made an absolutely amazing fanart of Shouto and it's so cool and you should absolutely check them out!

All that being said, I hope you enjoy!

The first thing Shouta noticed when he stepped through Kurogiri's portal was the odd location.

A western kitchen, looking slightly run down, but still clearly functional. There was a fading smell of pancakes - the stove had been used this morning.

Was this really where his students had landed? If Kurogiri was tricking them somehow, Shouta was going to strangle the bastard.

He checked the portal behind him. It was, thankfully, still open, although he doubted it would remain so for more than an hour. He had to be fast.

"...You've got to be kidding me."

Shouta spun around to see an older man in the doorway, with grey hair and glasses, wearing a dark suit. He narrowed his eyes at Shouta, then at the portal behind him, which was swirling around the kitchen.

"This your place?" Shouta asked carefully, gripping his scarf with one hand. Something was off, and had been since he'd arrived in this kitchen, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Sure is," the man agreed shortly. "And who the hell are you?"

For a moment, he contemplated lying. But if Kurogiri had really dropped his students off in the same place he'd dropped Shouta off, then this man might have interacted with them, and could know where they were now.

"Aizawa Shouta," he said. "And you?"

The man's eyes widened. "As in the homeroom teacher guy? With the expulsion threat?"

He did know Shouta's students, then. "That's me. My students-"

"Yeah, they're here." The man shook his head. "After all of that, this is how things work out? What took you so long anyways?" Shouta opened his mouth to reply, but the man was already turning around. "Hey kids, get down here! Your teacher is in the kitchen! Same creepy purple mist portal that you came through!" From somewhere else in the house, there was a loud thud.

The man turned back to him, before jerking his head towards the portal. "I was told that thing was a villain. How'd you get it to open again?"

"We captured the villain. That's why it took us this long to get here. I promise, we came as fast as we could."

The man huffed. "Tell that to the kids, not me. They're the ones who got stranded here."

"I will," Shouta agreed. He studied the man in front of him - his arms were crossed, he was shifting a little in discomfort, and despite having called for Shouta's students, he still seemed somewhat suspicious.

Not that Shouta could blame him. This whole situation was weird as hell.

"You still haven't told me your name," he pointed out.

There was a small pause. "Stan Pines. I've been looking after these kids since they got here." There was a gruff sort of fondness in his voice, and Shouta took note of it.

"If that's the case, then thank you. I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble." Stan opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a few familiar shouts echoed from behind him. With a grin, the man stepped aside, and four familiar faces barrelled into the room.

Midoriya, staring wide-eyed at both Shouta and the portal. Ashido, looking at him with something between hope and… weariness? There was weariness on all the kids' faces, actually, which was concerning.

Uraraka's hair was completely white and far longer than it had any right to be, pulled back in a braid. And there were bandages wrapped around what Shouta could see of Todoroki's arms.

"...Is he really real?" Midoriya asked quietly, turning to Todoroki. If there weren't any alarm bells about the strangeness of this whole situation before…

"He is," Todoroki confirmed. Out of the four, he seemed least excited to see Shouta, looking at him with narrowed eyes. "Took everyone long enough."

Ashido nudged him. "At least he's here now, right? And that means everything went okay, back at the USJ!"

Shouta internally winced, because okay certainly wasn't a good word for that mess. But this wasn't the place or time to discuss that. "I am sorry it took us so long. We had to track down Kurogiri after he escaped. But he's been captured, and we finally got him to open the same portal he used with you four."

An understatement. Four students being kidnapped from the USJ had nearly caused a mass panic, and multiple top ten heroes had joined in the search before they'd finally tracked Kurogiri down, although his location had been deserted of Shigaraki or any of the other villains who'd escaped the attack, which led Shouta to suspected that they'd been seen coming.

And of course there was the fact that Kurogiri had insisted that he had no idea where he'd sent the four missing students - until suddenly he'd opened the portal back up to their location.

It was… strange, to say the least.

"It took you three and a half months to track down Kurogiri?" Uraraka asked, which-

…What?

"It's been three and a half days since the USJ," Shouta said slowly. All four students went wide-eyed.

"Maybe we should sit down and talk this out," Stan suggested.

"...So. Another universe."

"I know it's hard to believe." Ford offered.

"I can't use my quirk. You showed me the different date, and how no glowing baby showed up in this world." Aizawa paused, looking out the window and nearly doing a double-take as a couple of gnomes scampered across the lawn. "I can believe it. And you said it's been three and a half months?" Aizawa seemed to take in his surroundings again, as if he still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Not that Izuku could blame him.

"Yeah. But it's really been three days! That's… wow. I can't believe it. Why didn't we ever consider that time might flow differently between universes?" Izuku flopped back in his chair, feeling somewhat overwhelmed.

Three days. It had been three days.

"It's happened in some universes, but it's uncommon enough that I didn't suspect it would be in effect between our two," Ford admitted. "I'm sorry, I should've considered every possibility."

"It's not your fault," Shouto insisted.

"Yeah, if it's that uncommon, then it makes sense that you wouldn't think of it," Mina agreed. "But then - we really haven't missed three months? We'll get back home and everything's just going to be… right where we left it?"

It sounded insane. Even knowing about the time difference, Izuku couldn't imagine it.

It felt almost… wrong, somehow. After everything they'd been through, all the ways they'd changed and grown, they could go back to a world that was just the way they left it.

That was supposed to be a good thing, right? They didn't miss any school. Mom was probably worried out of her mind, but at least she'd only had to spend a few days worrying, instead of a few months. And All Might too - Izuku hadn't let him down by getting trapped in another world for so long.

So why did it feel so weird?

"Not everything," Aizawa admitted. "Obviously classes have been suspended until we could get you four home, and so some of your classmates could recover from their injuries. The sports festival is being pushed back a couple of weeks, while we tighten security. We won't be having a repeat of this incident."

"No kidding. Looks pretty bad for a hero school to get attacked by villains like that, I'd imagine." Aizawa, unused to Stan's flippant remarks like the rest of them were, turned to glare at him, and Izuku couldn't help but chuckle.

Ochako frowned. "So… what? This is it? We're going home? Just like that?"

"As soon as you're ready," Aizawa confirmed. "Time might be different here, but I don't want to risk more than an hour, in case another person crossing over alters the time difference."

"It is a possibility," Ford admitted reluctantly, although he looked as happy about the thought as Izuku felt.

An hour? That was all they had to pack up their things and say goodbye to everyone?

There was a moment of awkward silence. Mina stared at her hands, and Shouto glared at the ground. Ford and Stan both looked decidedly unhappy. Ochako took one of Izuku's hands in her own, and shot him a conflicted look that matched his own inner turmoil.

After everything they'd been through, all the friends they made… was it really over, just like that?

Ford cleared his throat. "While the kids collect everything and say their goodbyes, do you mind if I run some tests on that portal? Nothing that will interfere with its ability to stay open! But if we can figure out how it safely connects our two worlds, then maybe I could create a stable portal that stays open."

Hope blossomed in Izuku's chest. "That would be great! I mean, I know the portal itself is made by the villain, but if we could see how he made it and replicate it, we could create something longer lasting!"

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "Kurogiri himself insists he doesn't know how he sent you here. I'd be interested to see if someone on this end can figure it out. Although I doubt many people would be happy about a portal connecting our world to an unknown dimension, and somehow I get the feeling officials in your world would feel the same."

Stan waved him off, grinning. "Who cares what they think? Not like they have to know. And if time really flies by faster here, we could have that portal open before you kiddos know it."

Mina jumped to her feet. "I'll call everyone and let them know what's happening. I'm sure we'll figure this out - this is goodbye for now, not forever!" Shouto got up and followed her out.

Ford stood. "I'll go grab my instruments, then."

Izuku turned to Ochako. "We should… probably start packing, I guess." He swallowed the lump in his throat.

Like Mina said, this wasn't goodbye forever. It couldn't be.

"...So. Three days, huh?"

"Yeah." Shouta and Stan both stood in the kitchen, watching as Ford took measurements on Kurogiri's portal.

Frankly, Shouta wasn't sure what to think about Stan. His brother seemed fine enough, although worryingly eager to open a portal between their two dimensions. Stan on the other hand… there was something about him that Shouta couldn't place. Something that set his nerves on end. He had a sneaking suspicion that had Stan been in their universe, Shouta wouldn't be working with him so casually.

But it wasn't like he had enough evidence to assume criminality. Plus, this wasn't his universe, so it wasn't his problem. And Stan had apparently taken in Shouta's students for over three months, during which they'd clearly grown fond of him and his brother.

Fonder than they seemed to be of Shouta. The wary looks they kept sending him, when Midoriya and Uraraka, and later Ashido and Todoroki, went upstairs, were definitely concerning, and as much as Shouta wracked his brain, he couldn't figure out what he might've done to deserve them. Even his ruse a few days ago wasn't enough cause for wariness like that.

"The first few weeks they were here, the kids talked about you school heroes all the time," Stan said suddenly, and Shouta turned to him curiously. "Eventually they stopped mentioning you much at all. Probably because they realized no help was coming from your end and we'd have to do everything to get them home ourselves."

Despite knowing logically that there was no way they could've come faster, and no way of knowing that time worked differently where his students had been sent to, Shouta couldn't completely suppress his wince. "We're here now."

Stan scoffed. "Yeah, now that the dust has settled and everything is fine."

Shouta raised an eyebrow. "Were things not fine before?"

"Ask the kids, if you want to know so bad. I'm not telling you anything they don't want said."

Interesting. "You care about them a lot, don't you?" Shouta mused. It made sense, especially if he'd housed them for so long. It was just strange when he compared it to his own time frame - three days wasn't very long to get attached to someone, after all.

"Just don't need the brats complaining to me that I blabbed everything to their teacher," Stan said, with clearly forced nonchalance.

In the background, Ford made a pleased noise. "Oh this is some good data. It'll take a while, but I can definitely make something out of this." At that, Stan's expression instantly softened.

"Mr. Pines!" A man in his early twenties wearing a baseball cap and a green t-shirt with a question mark on it rushed into the room. "They're really leaving today?"

Stan winced. "Yeah, it was really sudden." He jerked a thumb towards Shouta. "This guy finally showed up, and he's taking them back to their world with him."

The newcomer seemed to notice Shouta, and his eyes widened, looking distinctly unhappy. "Are you one of those heroes, then?"

"I am," Shouta confirmed dryly. "Sorry this is so sudden. We don't know how long the portal will be open for."

Baseball-cap winced. "Hopefully for a while." He motioned towards the door. "Word spread around that the kids are leaving. We've basically got an angry mob outside." Curious, Shouta moved towards the window.

Baseball-cap wasn't joking. Practically the whole town seemed to have gathered outside of the house, and no one was looking happy. It wasn't just people, either. In a world that decidedly did not have quirks, Shouta could see a bear with nine heads, a few minotaurs, more of the garden gnome things, and… was that an actual unicorn?

Three months was much longer than three days, sure. But was it really enough time that an entire town of people and miscellaneous supernatural creatures would be this distraught by them leaving?

Not for the first time in this past hour, Shouta found himself wondering what exactly his students had gotten themselves into.

"Geez. I hope they'll actually buy some stuff while they're here." Despite his words, Stan was grinning. "Just let Wendy, McGucket, and those friends of theirs inside. Everyone else can wait their turn while we sort this out. And let the kids know everyone is here. They should be done packing by now, unless they're dragging their feet."

Ochako was definitely dragging her feet.

It was stupid, she knew. She'd wanted to finally go home for so long. She missed her mom and dad. She missed Iida. She missed the chance to become a hero and save people and finally give her parents the life they deserved.

So why, now that Aizawa was here and they could finally go home, did everything feel so awful?

"If anyone can figure out how to open a more stable portal, it's Ford," Shouto said softly, even as he stared blankly at the remaining clothes he had to pack away.

"Right. It's just for a while, not for forever," Izuku agreed. "...Do you think once we're home, we'll lose access to our supernatural abilities, like how we can't use our quirks here? Just like…" He trailed off. Just like in the bubble, went unsaid, but they all knew what he'd meant.

Ochako hoped not. As much as her white hair still shocked her every time she looked in the mirror, her ability was a part of her now. She'd saved her friends with it countless times. It was weird not having it for the short time they were in the bubble. She couldn't imagine never having it again.

"Whatever happens, we'll figure it out," Mina declared, zipping up her duffel bag. "And we'll do it together. We might not have Stan and Ford and Soos and Wendy and…" Her voice grew quieter as she listed the friends they were going to leave behind, before stopping and shaking her head. "But we'll still have each other, and we'll get through this together!"

"Together," Ochako agreed softly. "Mystery Crew forever, right?"

"Right!"

Hearing her friend's affirmations made her heart just a bit lighter. It would hurt, to leave Gravity Falls behind for now. But they would help each other get through it, no matter what.

"Dudes!" Ochako turned as Soos ran up the stairs, panting. "You dudes almost finished? There's an entire crowd outside waiting to say goodbye." He sniffed, eyes watery. "No… no one is happy to see you go."

Ochako exchanged glances with the others. "We'll be down in a minute," she promised.

If no one knew when the portal might close, the least they could do was make sure they had enough time to say goodbye to all of their friends.

Soos wasn't kidding. Wendy, Candy, Grenda, Pacifica, and McGucket had all been let inside, but Shouto could see what looked like the entirety of the town outside the shack.

Something warm nestled in Shouto's chest. Despite how much it hurt to be leaving, knowing just how many people here cared about them… Even after all this time, he still had a little trouble believing it.

"You're really leaving then?" Pacifica asked, as everyone took in the duffel bags they'd packed up.

"Yeah." There was a moment of somber silence.

Izuku cleared his throat. "Should we step outside for a minute and address everyone? Then we can come back in and say individual goodbyes before - before we go."

"Sounds like a plan." Wendy shot Aizawa a look. "You should probably stay inside. Town's not gonna be a fan of the guy who's taking our heroes away, even if you're a hero yourself."

Aizawa shrugged, looking intrigued but not denying Wendy's words. "Fine with me."

The rest of them stepped outside. Immediately, the crowd started pestering them with questions, worried and angry exclamations blending together into a dull roar.

"Okay, quiet down, people!" Stan called out. In a show of just how much respect he now commanded in Gravity Falls, the crowd actually quieted. "Yes, the kids are going back home to their own world." Instantly, boos rang out. "But! We're working on a way to make sure they can come back whenever they want!" Now the booing was replaced by cheers.

"We'll be back as soon as we can!" Mina promised.

"And while we're gone, don't forget to stop by the Mystery Shack!" Ochako added with a grin. "A certain old man might get lonely without us around."

"Oh, shut up." Stan rolled his eyes and ruffled her hair fondly as everyone laughed. Shouto could hear some, like Wendy's friends, Mayor Tyler, and even Gideon, promising to visit.

Shouto…

…He was going to miss this place. He was going to miss it a lot.

Back inside, they were immediately swamped with hugs from Candy, Grenda, and Pacifica.

"I can't believe you guys are actually leaving," Grenda sniffed. "Ugh, and I hate my dumb emotions for making me feel things!"

"We're going to miss you so much!" Candy agreed.

Pacifica leaned towards Shouto. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked, speaking quietly so the adults couldn't overhear. "I just got away from my parents, and now you're going back to yours. It… It doesn't feel fair."

It didn't feel fair at all. Shouto had gotten used to this. Sharing a room with his best friends, spending time around adults who actually cared about him. Stan and Ford were more fatherly to him than his actual father was. And now, they had barely an hour to say rushed goodbyes to everyone and everything here.

A part of him didn't want to leave. Didn't want to cross through that portal. For a moment, he genuinely considered deciding to stay.

Except, he'd be without Mina and Ochako and Izuku. And as much as he hated his father, he missed Fuyumi. He couldn't do that to her. Especially after she'd already lost one brother.

"I'll be fine," he promised. Pacifica raised a disbelieving eyebrow, and he nodded his head towards the others. "I've still got people looking out for me. I'll be okay."

"If you're sure…"

"I am. But - thank you." After a moment of hesitation, he hugged her again, and she happily reciprocated.

When she finally drew back, she punched his arm lightly. "Hey, it's nothing. People like us have to stick together, right?"

"Right," Shouto agreed.

"You'll look after Waddles until we come back?" Mina confirmed. They'd talked about it, and as much as everyone hated it, none of them had a home that could properly support a growing pig-bear.

Pacifica nodded, smiling and petting the pig-bear next to her. "He's in good hands." And the best part was, Shouto knew that was true.

Soos, Wendy, and McGucket were next. Soos was already sobbing as they hugged him. "You dudes are already heroes, but you're gonna be the best heroes ever in your world. But be careful, okay? You won't have us watching your back anymore."

"We will," Mina said. "You don't need to worry about us, I promise."

There was a pause as everyone scoffed at that. Shouto would feel insulted, but it was accurate, so instead he just felt amused.

"I can't thank you kids enough for what ya did for me," McGucket insisted. "We're gonna find a way to make sure you can come here whenever you want, I promise!" He gave them a thumbs up. "And Izuku, you gotta stop bein' so hard on yourself. Keep working on your tech!"

Izuku let out a small laugh. "You got it, McGucket."

Wendy held out her hand, and gave each of them a fistbump. "You guys better not forget what I taught you. Keep practicing, alright? I wanna see how far you've come the next time we see each other."

"We won't get rusty," Shouto promised. "Especially considering we'll be at UA. We're going to use what you've taught us to be better heroes, and blow everyone else away."

Wendy grinned. "That's what I like to hear."

And then it was just Stan and Ford.

"This is just goodbye for now." Ford said softly. "As soon as we can, we'll contact you."

"We can't wait," Ochako said, voice wavering.

Stan just looked at them for a long time, eyes watery. "...You knuckleheads were nothing but a nuisance and I'm glad to be rid of you."

Mina grinned, wiping away her own tears. "We're gonna miss you too, Stan."

In lieu of a response, Stan grabbed them all and pulled them into a tight hug. A moment later, Ford joined, and then everyone else. There was a long moment where they all just held each other.

Finally, reluctantly, everyone broke apart. The mystery crew exchanged long glances, then grabbed their bags and turned to Aizawa.

"Ready?" Aizawa asked. "Alright, let's go."

Shouto waved at his friends, and then walked away.

This wasn't goodbye. They'd see each other again.

Some part of him knew it.

He stepped through the portal.

Unlike the first time, when he'd been disoriented and had known nothing of the supernatural, this time, it was pretty obvious that the portal was being held open by… something.

…Something. A familiar something.

This was the genus loci. The loci was what had opened the portal.

And while Shouto couldn't recognize it then, it had felt the same way the first time he'd come through. Which meant the loci was what had brought the four of them to Gravity Falls in the first place. But why? Why them?

There was a flashing of images-

Some sort of starry animal-

The zodiac circle, but different, with ten signs instead of eleven and the stitched heart on Robbie's sweatshirt rather than Ochako's sun and Izuku's lightning-

Strangely dimensional surfaces somehow communicating with each other-

An eye-

And then they were on the other side of the portal. Aizawa stepped through last, and it immediately closed behind them.

Shouto looked at the others. Judging by their startled expressions, they'd seen and felt all of that too.

Ochako still had long white hair, and Shouto could still feel his fire underneath his fingertips, just like he could feel half-hot half-cold again. He looked at Ochako and flicked his hands, before nodding. Her eyes widened, and she concentrated for a moment, before nodding back. It seemed that unlike in Cipher's bubble, they really did keep their magical abilities alongside regaining their quirks.

Inside the room they'd been transported to, All Might, Principal Nedzu, Recovery Girl, and a plain-looking police officer (with a lie-detecting quirk) were all waiting, expressions brightening as they realized all four of them were accounted for.

"Young Midoriya! Young Todoroki, Ashido, Uraraka!"

Izuku flinched, but seemed to force a smile as All Might ran up to them. "It's… it's really great to see you again, All Might." Already, Shouto's friend was tearing up again.

"Are there any injuries I need to tend to?" Recovery Girl asked, all business, starting with Izuku.

"None," Izuku told her, managing a small smile. The rest of them shook their heads, and Recovery Girl seemed to scan them, her eyes narrowing as they landed on Shouto's bandages. Oh. Right.

A part of him was curious if Recovery Girl's quirk could actually fix his cuts. But considering that her quirk worked by using the patient's own energy, and the wounds kept reopening, he didn't want to know what that would do to his stamina.

"They're fine," he promised, and the policeman couldn't tell it was a lie because it technically wasn't. They were as fine as they were ever going to be.

"They were transported to an entirely different world," Aizawa said shortly. "Time worked differently there. It's been three and a half months for them."

The teachers seemed to startle at that, before looking at the police officer, who nodded in confirmation.

"Fascinating," the principal said. "In that case, while your families have been worried sick about you four, I'm sure you've been even more worried."

Ochako brightened. "They're… are they here?"

"They are," Nedzu confirmed, smiling. "And I'm happy to inform you that Kurogiri is safely locked in Tartarus, and we're taking measures to make sure no warp quirks can enter or exit UA. This will not be happening again, I assure you."

Shouto wondered if he should mention that they were hoping that a more permanent portal could be opened, but decided that Aizawa would probably let Nedzu know anyway. And there were other things he needed to worry about.

"Are all of our families here?" He asked cautiously. Next to him, Mina tensed, grabbing his arm.

The teachers seemed to exchange glances. "Young Todoroki…" All Might began hesitantly. "Your sister is already here. We've let Endeavor know that you're safe, but he… hasn't arrived yet. I'm sure he'll be here soon."

Shouto could feel himself relaxing. Fuyumi was here, and his father wasn't. That was the best case scenario. "Okay."

Before they were let out, the policeman, Detective Tsukauchi, asked them a few questions. They were pretty generic - how long they had been in the other world, were they safe, did they think anything dangerous was going to come over - and they all answered as honestly as they could, while leaving as much out as they could. Shouto was sure he wasn't the only one who would never trust the police to actually do their jobs properly after the past few months.

Finally, they were let into the room where their families were.

"Izuku!" Shouto watched as a green-haired woman who could only have been Izuku's mother embraced her son, both of them already sobbing.

"Mom, Dad!" Ochako ran over to a middle-aged man and woman, who both held her tightly.

Her father was crying almost as hard as the Midoriyas were. "You're back, you're safe… your hair-?"

Ochako laughed. "It's a long story. I missed you guys so much."

Meanwhile, Mina was hugging a man with her fluffy pink hair and a woman with the same black and gold eyes. Shouto watched all of this and tried to push down those small strings of jealousy-

"Shouto!"

And then Fuyumi was there.

He'd missed her. A lot more than he realized.

"You're okay," Fuyumi whispered hoarsely, holding him tightly.

"I'm okay," Shouto confirmed. "Are you okay? Was everything okay at home?"

He could feel her wince, and he tensed. "It was alright," she hurried to say. "Father was angry, but he wasn't really taking it out on me." Her voice lowered even more. "Shouto is there any way we can get you out of going home tonight-"

"Shouto." Both of them froze.

Endeavor was there, entering the room, looking absolutely furious.

Of course, Shouto realized. To him, I was stupid enough to get myself captured. Of course he's angry. He watched with an odd sort of detachment as his father drew closer-

"So, we're definitely going to have that sleepover we'd all decided that we'd have when we got home, right?" Mina said, loud enough that everyone in the room could hear her. When Shouto looked her way, she was smiling, but her eyes were locked on Endeavor, burning with protective fury.

Izuku wiped his eyes. "Y-Yeah, that's right!" He turned to his mother. "Mom, do you think… we'd all decided we wanted to have a sleepover when we got home, and we definitely have enough room for my friends to stay over for the night."

Izuku's mother beamed at him. "Of course! I'd be happy to have them over."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do tonight?" Ochako's dad asked her hesitantly. She nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, it really is. I know I just got home, but we've been talking about this for a while-"

"Shouto will not." Endeavor interrupted with a rumble, still glaring down at Shouto. "After being kidnapped for three days, you want to have a sleepover? Don't be ridiculous."

Shouto glared right back at his father, imagining how satisfying it would be to activate his flames now and burn Endeavor's head to a crisp, preferably while hearing him scream in pain-

…What?

…That wasn't.

He hated his father, but he'd never want to-

It was like the room was suddenly spinning, the imagery from the portal flashing in his head again.

Something was wrong.

"I think it's a great idea." Fuyumi's words snapped Shouto back to the present, and he stared at his sister. Somehow, she'd maneuvered herself in front of him, smiling politely at their father. "It sounds like he's been really excited for this. And it also sounds like staying with his friends tonight would make him feel safest."

A part of Shouto wondered what the hell she was doing. Fuyumi had only managed to avoid being hurt for so long because she knew how to mediate. Directing their father's full furious attention on her like this was dangerous-

"Don't worry, they'll be safe with me," Izuku's mom promised. There was something steely in her eyes now, too, something that hadn't been there seconds ago. "I know you're the number two hero, and you're worried about your son, but I promise he'll be perfectly safe at our house. No one outside this room would know he was there, after all."

"That's right," Fuyumi jumped in again. "Since you're so worried about his safety for tonight, wouldn't it be best for Shouto to be somewhere no one would suspect him to be staying?"

There was a long moment of silence, and what seemed to be a staring contest between Shouto's sister and his father. They all knew Endeavor admitting that the true reason he wanted Shouto home - to punish him for being kidnapped - wouldn't go over well with all the other adults in the room.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Endeavor huffed, looking away. "Just for tonight." He gave Shouto a warning look. "You will be home tomorrow."

Shouto just watched him leave, still somewhat stunned. Fuyumi squeezed his hand tightly.

Mina's father broke the silence. "What a cheerful man."

Shouto actually found himself snorting out a laugh at that.

Home sweet home, I guess.

Izuku's home was small and cozy. Mina immediately loved it.

Izuku's mom (who introduced herself as Inko and insisted they call her that), made dinner for everyone. It was the first time in months that Mina had gotten to eat a Japanese-style dinner and it was absolutely fantastic.

A part of her would definitely miss the western-style meals, though. And right now she was sitting around a table laughing with her friends, but it was different than when she'd been sitting around the table in the shack kitchen, laughing with her friends and Stan and sometimes Soos and eventually Ford, Waddles hovering by their feet and waiting for scraps.

But… this was nice too. At least she still got to enjoy dinner with her friends.

Even if she wouldn't, starting tomorrow.

It was hard to believe that this morning, she'd woken up in their attic and eaten breakfast in the Mystery Shack. Things had changed so much, so suddenly, and Mina couldn't help but feel completely unbalanced by it all.

"I can't believe you were really away for three months," Inko gushed, as they made their way through dinner. "Were you okay? Were you safe?"

"We were fine Mom, I promise," Izuku insisted, smiling, carefully not mentioning Weirdmageddon. "There was this really nice man named Stan, and after the portal dropped us off in his kitchen he took us in and let us stay the entire time. And his employees, Soos and Wendy, were really nice, and so was his brother Ford. And we made a lot of new friends."

"We won a photo contest by getting pictures of a lake monster that chased us around for a while. Then we went fishing," Shouto offered.

Inko's eyes widened. "A lake monster? That sounds dangerous."

"No, it was okay!" Izuku insisted. "It was actually just another one of McGucket's robots! And he just wanted people to pay attention to him. Mostly his son… although I don't know if that ever worked out…" He trailed off, looking concerned.

"Izuku and I introduced Shouto and Ochako to Dungeons and Dragons!" Mina rushed to add helpfully. "Or, the other world's equivalent. We still need to introduce them to actual D&D."

"I dunno, is it as fun as playing DD&D: Real Life Edition?" Ochako snickered.

"You can't compare the actual game to that!" Izuku insisted. "We had fun with what we got through of the regular campaign, so I'm sure you'll like our world's version as well."

Inko watched them all, eyes watery again. "It looks like you've made some really good friends, Izuku. I'm so happy to hear that. And thank you three, for being such good friends to my son. I was so worried when he started UA that it would be like his other schools, and then this kidnapping…"

"Mom," Izuku protested.

Shouto shrugged. "Izuku's a fantastic friend. Of course we're good friends to him. He deserves nothing less."

"Shouto, I…."

"Wait, are you crying again? Did I say something wrong?"

"Please don't cry, Deku, Ms. Inko!"

Before they settled into Izuku's room, Inko pulled Shouto aside. Their conversation ended a few minutes later, and he joined them, looking perplexed.

"Something wrong?" Mina asked, concerned.

"Not really. It's just…" He looked at Izuku. "She asked if I was safe at home or if I needed an excuse to stay longer. Did you tell her?"

Izuku shook his head. "I didn't. But Mom's perceptive. She saw how you acted when Endeavor was standing over you."

"How I acted?"

The rest of them exchanged glances. "Shouto, you flinched," Mina said softly. "And you looked angry and terrified."

Shouto blinked. "I did? I don't-" He cut himself off, staring at his hands. "I. There was something… it felt wrong. Something feels wrong, and I can't figure out what it is."

Ochako frowned. "What kind of wrong?"

"I don't know." Shouto made a frustrated noise. "And I keep thinking about those images from when we crossed the portal, and whatever the hell they could mean."

"Images?" Izuku asked. "I mean, I definitely felt the loci holding the portal open, and I was wondering when we were going to discuss that, because apparently that's the whole reason we ended up in Gravity Falls in the first place, which - why us specifically? But I didn't see any images."

"I did," Mina admitted, thinking back on it. "That weird starry thing with the glowing eyes, right? And that altered zodiac circle, with Robbie's symbol but not Izuku's or Ochako's."

Shouto nodded. "I think I saw a few more images, but they went by too quickly and I couldn't make sense of them."

"The loci's always focused on you two," Ochako pointed out. "Deku and I have felt it once or twice, but it's always showing up for you guys. Maybe it's because of that altered zodiac that we're not a part of? But why would there be something like that in the first place? Didn't Ford say he found the one we're a part of in a cave, painted ages ago?"

"As for why us specifically…" Shouto's eyes widened. "Weirdmageddon. We were brought to Gravity Falls specifically during the summer when everything went down, and as soon as Weirdmageddon was over, the portal opened again to let us go home."

Mina groaned, flopping down on Izuku's bed. "So we were, what, the back-up plan, in case the apocalypse actually happened? The loci wanting to make sure everyone on the zodiac was in town, just in case? But then what's with that other zodiac it showed us? It doesn't make any sense!"

"Maybe once Ford and McGucket get the portal back open again, we can work together to figure things out," Izuku suggested. He paused for a moment, then continued. "And even if we were brought there in order to stop Weirdmageddon… I still don't regret being there, you know?"

"Definitely," Shouto agreed. "What we did there still mattered. And so do all the friends we made."

Most of the conversation was tabled there, and the four of them drifted off into happier topics until they started drifting off to sleep completely.

Before she could fall asleep completely, Mina nudged Shouto. "Are you really doing okay?" She whispered. "The other images you saw… and you said something felt wrong. What do you think it could be?"

"I don't know," Shouto admitted, just as softly. "One of them… I think one of the image's was Cipher's eye."

Mina's gut twisted.

Sleep did not come easy, that night.

And so, after this transition chapter, the UA arc truly begins. A few questions were answered, such as how our heroes ended up in Gravity Falls in the first place, and a potential theory as to why they were chosen, but many questions are still unanswered. By the end of this arc, that's going to change. I'm so excited to start revealing the answers to everyone's questions - especially about Dipper and Mabel. Although I think quite a few of you have been figuring it out yourselves. :)

Part of the reason them leaving was so rushed was the explanation given in universe. Part of the reason out of universe? No one, not even Aizawa, knows just how crazy Gravity Falls is yet. Trust me, they're going to be finding out, and not just because they're totally unprepared for how the crew is going to deal with being just hero students again. The Mystery Crew might be out of Gravity Falls, but Gravity Falls certainly isn't done with them.

All that being said, please don't forget to review, let me know what you think! The comments I get on this fic absolutely make my day, and the encouragement makes it so much easier to continue writing, since I know people are reading and caring about my fic.