Chapter 14

.::Bonding with "Strangers"::.

"Are you sure you've never played Mario Kart?" Izuku asked in near disbelief. Shinsou just mutely shook his head, his attention focused on the television screen as he maneuvered his racer around the track. After going shopping with Shigaraki and playing games for a majority of the previous night, Izuku had been inspired to move a TV and game console into Shinsou's room so they could play games together. He figured it'd be a better way to bond than asking for help on his homework.

He kind of regretted that now. Izuku squawked in dismay as Shinsou lobbed a blue shell at him, sending his Luigi spiraling away. "Seriously!? That's the third one in a row! How do you keep getting them!?" Shinsou offered a half-hearted shrug, and if he hadn't been wearing that damn muzzle he thought the other teen would be smirking rather smugly right now. Maybe he was, judging by that gleam in his eye.

"I just suck at video games, don't I," Izuku sighed, head hanging in dismay and quiet resignation. Shigaraki had been absolutely unsurprised when he lost while playing against him, repeatedly and horribly, across multiple games and genres. The only game he'd been remotely good at was Mario Kart, but Shinsou had thoroughly trounced him in every single race thus far.

As he finally crossed the finish line—a near fifteen seconds after Shinsou—he threw the controller down on the bed and slumped back against the wall with a sigh. Shinsou glanced over at him curiously, setting down his own controller more peacefully and picking up his whiteboard. 'Are you done already?' he wrote.

"I think so," Izuku sighed. "Sorry, I don't think I'm having as much fun as you."

'You're just saying that because you keep losing.'

"Shut up," Izuku grumbled, pouting at him. Shinsou's eyes glinted with amusement as he picked up his controller again, exiting the multiplayer race to bring up the single-player courses instead. He paused though, shooting Izuku a hesitant look, and the green-haired boy offered a small smile. "Go ahead, I don't mind. I'll just watch, might be more fun that way." Satisfied to get approval, he selected a course while Izuku settled back to watch him play, content to just be an audience.

At least the brainwasher seemed to be enjoying himself. This was the first time Izuku had seen him remotely pleased since meeting him in this world; usually he maintained a gloomy air of reluctant tolerance towards him. Maybe virtually kicking his butt in racing had a therapeutic effect for him, Shinsou didn't have many outlets for his stress and frustration here.

...Izuku decided not to think too much on how he played into that stress.

In any event, he felt like some of the tension between them had dissipated today, much to his relief. So far he'd made minimal progress with getting Bakugou to warm up to him, but Shinsou had proven a little more amenable to his overtures of friendship. He never acted overly friendly, but he maintained a much more amicable front around him during visits than the blond did.

Izuku wished he could attribute it to a growing sense of camaraderie between them, but he knew that wasn't the real reason. He figured out early on that Shinsou spent most of their visits analyzing him. Whereas Bakugou was volatile and prone to reacting without thinking, Shinsou was naturally quiet and calculating, even without the damn muzzle. His eyes always held a sharp, calculating gleam when they spoke, carefully molding his reactions and responses to foster a friendlier relation between them.

To him, Izuku was not a potential ally, but a potential resource, something to exploit if he played his cards right.

The thought hurt at first, but Izuku had to accept it. For all he loathed the situation, he was technically part of the people responsible for holding Shinsou prisoner. He was Shinsou's best shot at freedom, whether through willing cooperation or trickery. Had he been in Shinsou's shoes he likely would have done the same thing.

It... gave Izuku an idea though. Since learning of Shinsou's presence he'd started forming a vague plan, one that might not really establish trust, but would hopefully help make some progress in establishing an alliance, no matter how shaky. As the two fell into a companionable silence he could feel the envelope in his hoodie pocket, his fingers itching to pull it out.

Of course, that thought once again got interrupted by the sound of the doorknob turning.

Both of them startled, Shinsou's character swerving into a nearby racer on screen as his thumb jabbed the joystick. They both twisted to stare at the door, and in a near repeat of the previous day it slowly opened, only this time it wasn't Shigaraki who stuck his head inside. No, instead it was Toga, that usual lazy, deranged grin stretching across her lips as she peered inside.

Given how his Toga acted around him, Izuku briefly wondered if Shigaraki would have been better.

"Helllloo, Mido-chan," she greeted, and her eyes flicked towards Shinsou and her smile grew. "Jackie-chan." Shinsou physically shuddered at the affection dripping from her voice as she butchered his vigilante title, while Izuku felt his own stomach twist uncomfortably. It reminded him too much of his own Toga's psychotic crush on him, and it suddenly occurred to him that Shinsou might be her type in this world. Speaking from experience, that was not good.

He frowned, subtly positioning himself in front of his friend protectively. "What do you want, Toga?" he asked, keeping his voice as calm and level as possible.

"What, a girl can't visit her favorite vigilante?" Toga giggled as she covered her mouth, the gesture so normal and girly it felt out of place on the demented girl. Izuku swallowed, glancing back at Shinsou doubtfully. He did not want to expose the other boy to the deranged girl, and judging by the look Shinsou gave him he felt the same way. It made Izuku frown, turning back to her warily.

"Sorry, but we're in the middle of playing a game," he said, gesturing to the TV. She followed the motion and tilted her head curiously.

"Oh, Mario Kart? Who's winning?"

Izuku hesitated to answer, not wanting to give her more ammunition for her obsession with Shinsou. He felt the purple-haired boy shift behind him, and glanced back to see him write on his white board before turning to show her. 'Neither. You interrupted us and the AI racers are murdering me.' A glance at the screen confirmed this to be true, Shinsou's racer immobile and hovering in eighth place as the computer racers zoomed past him.

Toga seemed unfazed by the response—in fact, she seemed delighted, her eyes lighting up. "Ooh! Ooh! Do you guys do a punishment game when someone loses?"

"...Punishment game?" Izuku couldn't help the bleak note of horror in his voice as he repeated the phrase. Had it been any other high school girl he would expect silly punishments like "wear one of Kaminari's weird-smelling shirts" or "call Aizawa-sensei dad to his face" or something else (relatively) harmless. Toga though? Knife-wielding, crazy, villainous Toga? Yeah, no. "We're good," he said tightly.

"Aww, but punishment games make stuff even more fun!" Toga whined with a pout. "The stakes add to the pressure and make you want to win even more!"

While Izuku frantically tried to think up a response, Shinsou wiped the board to write another message. 'I am not letting anyone stab me.' The blunt wording combined with his deadpan stare made Izuku want to smack his forehead in exasperation. That was pretty much his own thought, but he'd been hoping to think of a more tactful way to phrase it to the mentally unstable knife-wielding girl.

"It doesn't need to be the stabby-stab kind!" Toga chirped cheerfully. "Tomu doesn't let Mido-chan play those kinds of punishment games anyway!" That earned Izuku a startled look from Shinsou, a bit of concern actually flashing through his eyes. The rare display of caring for his well-being would have warmed Izuku's heart normally, but at this point Izuku was just so done with everything he could only shrug listlessly.

"Then what punishments would you suggest?" he asked Toga tiredly, just... giving in. If there was no stabbing involved, it couldn't be that bad, right?

"Hmm, let's see." Toga tapped her lips with a thoughtful frown, then perked up and clapped her hands. "Oh! Oh! I know! The loser has to confess their crush to us!"

Izuku stared at Toga in disbelief, his jaw dropping open. Somehow, that both struck him as the last thing he'd expect to hear from her, and also made absolute sense coming from her. Next to him Shinsou took up the white board once more. 'I don't have any crushes.'

"Me neither!" Izuku agreed quickly.

"Oh? You don't?" Oh no. Izuku could recognize the mischief in Toga's eyes as she smirked, her head tilting to the side as she folded her fingers under her chin. "Not even that girl Tomu saw you talking to yesterday?"

And at that moment Izuku's blood ran cold. Uraraka. A rush of complicated emotions washed over him as he recalled his brief encounter with his friend—relief, hope, anxiety, fear. Knowing there was another person from his own world here had been so relieving at first, but it had quickly turned to horror when he'd realized just how dangerous it was to associate with her.

He couldn't expose Uraraka to the dangers of the Alliance, not after seeing Bakugou and Shinsou. He couldn't let anyone else get pulled into this. So he'd pushed her away, and tried to avoid thinking about her and evaded questions from Shigaraki—but apparently that hadn't been enough, because she was now on Toga's radar.

His hands clenched into fists, his head bowing as he took a sharp breath. "So if I talk to a girl, I automatically have a crush on her?" he asked lowly. "She's just a girl I met once when I was a kid. I was just surprised she recognized me! I barely even know her!" He scowled at Toga, his green eyes glimmering with barely suppressed anger. I can't let you hurt her.

Apparently his expression surprised her, because for once her sleazy smile faded to be replaced by a look of blank surprise. "Huh? Mido-chan, that's a really scary face."

"Just go away, Toga," Izuku ordered, turning back to the TV and picking up his discarded controller. "We need to get back to playing." In the corner of his eye he could see Toga frown, looking more puzzled than upset, but then to his immense relief her smile returned and she gave an exaggerated shrug.

"Okay, fine then. I need to get going anyway. See you later, Jackie!" She flashed Shinsou a bright smile as she waved and then exited, the door closing behind her. For a long moment neither of the boys moved, Izuku just staring at the TV while Shinsuo eyed him. Finally the purple-haired boy picked up his whiteboard once more, jotting down a quick question.

'Are you okay?' Upon reading it Izuku felt his shoulders droop, tears starting to prick his eyes. Shinsou startled as the green-haired boy threw his arms around him, ignoring the way the other teen stiffened as he began crying.

"I'm sorry, it's just so stressful, Uraraka's so nice and such a good friend and I miss her but I don't want her to get pulled into this too and shoot, I sound like a jerk saying that to you when you're already here, but I just don't want her to get hurt either—" As he continued babbling on endlessly the other teen awkwardly shifted inside the embrace before his chest heaved with resignation and he wrapped an arm around Izuku, patting his back comfortingly.

Izuku really didn't deserve such a good friend.

Nearly twenty-four hours after seeing Deku, Ochaco found herself curled up on her bed with her phone again, her bedroom door locked and the blankets pulled over her head as she tried not to freak out.

Seeing Deku had filled her with so much relief at first. He had been the same as ever, tearing up almost instantly when he saw her and regarding her with nothing but relief and joy. She had felt the same way, just so happy that she wasn't actually alone. If she was going to be stuck with anyone in this alternate dimension, she couldn't have picked a better person than Deku.

But then when she tried to exchange phone numbers so they could talk and make plans he suddenly changed, going from crying with joy to panicked and horrified in the span of a single second. The change had been so abrupt she hadn't been able to make sense of it. Then a vaguely familiar stranger showed up he called "Tomu-nii," and then Deku had practically fled with him while Suimin all but dragged her away.

From there, the oddness had only escalated. Immediately after parting ways with Deku, Suimin had insisted they go straight home, calling all sorts of people and hissing "code blue" and street addresses into her phone as she rushed Ochaco back. The sudden change in her normally friendly demeanor had left Ochaco confused and alarmed, temporarily distracting her from Deku's odd behavior. Once they got home she was sent straight to her room so Suimin could talk to her mom while they waited for her dad to get home, but when she asked what was going on they refused to answer.

It had been ten minutes after that when Ochaco finally realized why the name "Tomu-nii" had been so familiar. Once it clicked, she had been grateful to already be in the privacy of her room so no one could see her freak out.

He's stuck with the League, she thought in a daze as she stared at her phone in the present. No wonder he didn't want to give me his number. She couldn't imagine how it must have felt to wake up surrounded by the League of Villains. If it had been her she'd be freaking out in a heartbeat. To keep his cool in that situation, and even call Shigaraki "Tomu-nii"... Ochaco couldn't imagine doing that. It just reinforced how strong Deku was.

But still, to push her away after finally meeting again? To try to protect her from them while leaving himself at the League's mercy—alone? It burned at Ochaco's gut and frustrated her like never before.

She couldn't stop thinking about what he must be going through right now. Maybe if Ochaco had something to do, it wouldn't be so bad, but her dad had refused to take her to work today. He avoided saying why, just claiming he was worried, and it left her uneasy. She'd heard her parents whispering harshly with Suimin-sensei last night, so she knew they knew about Shigaraki.

Suimin-sensei had definitely recognized the villain. Looking back, she might have even recognized Deku; she had been on guard the moment she saw him, even before Shigaraki showed up. And when he did, she focused on getting Ochaco away from there as fast as possible. But how, though? And why? She wanted to ask, but she wasn't sure how to broach the topic without having to explain how she knew. In any event, for now Ochaco had nothing but her phone to try to find answers.

She almost wished she didn't have it.

'Orphan son of Flight 174 victims goes missing,' read the headline on the screen, making her bite at her lip. According to the article Deku had disappeared at age eight, just two months after his parents died in a plane crash. It didn't go into nearly enough detail for such a spicy headline, the article little more than a blurb describing how he'd been depressed and had obviously run away, and the other articles about it weren't much better. The brevity irked her, and one word told her why:

Quirkless.

Why did it say that? That strength he showed in class—the power that broke his bones and mangled his body so easily—it couldn't be anything but a Quirk. But the word littered the few articles she could find on Izuku, brief as they were, and the repeated usage made her stomach twist with discomfort.

Quirkless kids tended to be the subject of much bullying and neglect, and she quickly realized that title, combined with a lack of parents, had led the police to neglect Deku's disappearance in favor of more "pressing" cases. For that same reason she couldn't find any information on him, even the newspapers forgetting he existed within a week of his vanishing.

What happened to Deku after he ran away? Did the League kidnap him? Why? They didn't seem like they'd be interested in someone who was supposedly Quirkless. Maybe they realized he had a Quirk, like he was a late bloomer and only manifested it sometime after running away. It would explain why he had so much trouble controlling it when they first started at UA, the teachers said his lack of control was more like a toddler than a teenager. Between his Quirk and his sharp mind, he'd be a valuable asset to the villains.

None of that felt right though. Izuku had seemed so calm and happy when they met yesterday, like he'd temporarily forgotten his circumstances. No matter how relieved he might be, she couldn't imagine him forgetting for even a second if he'd been forced to help the League. He'd probably be haunted with guilt, even if it was some other Izuku who'd done it in the past and not actually him. He was just that kind of guy.

A pop-up notification silently appeared at the top of the screen and covered half the article, and Ochaco blinked before quickly switching over to the tab with FacePage. The messenger was still open, a new message waiting for her.

'I'm at lunch now so I can talk!' Alien_Queen_Pink wrote. 'Just had a math test and preeeetty sure I bombed it. Help!'

Ochaco smiled slightly, feeling some of the weight lift off her chest as she typed out a reply. 'How can I help? I can't change your grades for you.'

'I dont know! Cant you rewind time with your infinity powers?'

'That's not my Quirk, sorry!'

She got a string of distressed-looking emojis in response, making her giggle quietly. She started talking with who she suspected to be Ashido just yesterday, using it as a distraction from her concerns about Deku. They hadn't talked about anything specific, just basic introductions and random chatter about this and that. It felt just like her other text conversations with Ashido, solidifying her suspicions about her identity, but Ochaco hadn't dared to directly ask about it just yet.

Not after the disastrous revelation about Deku's circumstances.

If it was indeed Ashido and she came from their own dimension though, she at least seemed to be in a better position than him. So far she'd mentioned nothing particularly bad or worrying. Aside from school of course. 'Infinity is a math thing right?' the Alien Queen questioned. 'Are you good at math? Could you tutor me?'

'If I tutored you, would you actually be willing to go thru with it?'

'...prob not. Maths boring. Oh and my friends say hi'

'Are you with your friends right now? Why are you messaging me instead of talking to them then!?'

'I dunno, I like meeting new people I guess? Also their getting annoyed & its funny.' This time Ochaco did laugh softly to herself, smiling as she typed out a scolding response. The conversation ebbed and flowed as probable-Ashido interacted with her friends, the wait between responses growing longer. She giggled when her texting partner sent several long strings of random characters. No doubt her friends had reached the limits of their patience and were in the process of trying to steal the phone.

Ochaco typed up a response as more keyboard mashes were sent, just a joking query, 'Should I be worried?' Of course she got more keyboard mashing in response, making her smile grow. Soon enough it faded though, her thoughts trailing back to Deku as she waited for an actual response.

Here she was, idly chatting online with someone who might be a classmate in the luxurious safety of her room, while Deku was stuck in the middle of enemy territory all alone. Her heart panged with guilt, biting her lip anxiously. Ochaco felt a bit like a spoiled princess from fairy tales, far removed from the dangers of the world and kept safe in her castle while the heroes went on their epic quests.

And in a way, that's exactly what was going on. In this world she was a rich heiress kept isolated and sheltered from an incredibly dangerous world by her parents, surrounded by kind people who would shower her with love and praise. If she ever wanted something, she just had to ask her dad and he would give it to her, neither of her parents burdened by the financial strain she was used to in her own world.

The more time passed, the more this world felt like some sort of weird bizarro version of her own world—and the more she felt like an imposter.

Her fingers curled tighter around her phone, her mouth setting in a firm line. She didn't like it. She didn't like sitting around doing nothing while Deku was risking his life every day, just by being wherever the hell he was. Seeing him had invigorated a fire in her, her eyes hardening as her resolve settled.

Ochaco wasn't a princess, she was a Hero—and it was time to act like it.

"Give it back!"

"Not until you stop being rude!"

Mina scowled as she desperately reached for her phone as Kumiko held it above her head, silently cursing her old friend for being just slightly taller than her. She growled in irritation, jumping and feeling her fingers just brush the case but failing to grab it. She released a frustrated yowl, stamping her foot with an angry huff. "Dang it, Kumiko! No fair!"

"That's what you get for being on your phone when you're with your friends at lunch," Kumiko replied, sticking out her tongue. While Mina continued growling Kirishima frowned.

"But... doesn't Anjou spend all her time on her phone?" he pointed out meekly, glancing at the girl in question.

"If you try to take my phone, I will murder you," Anjou said bluntly, never looking up from her phone, and Kirishima winced and scooted away from her. Rolling her eyes, Mina leaned over to knock on his head, making him yelp and jerk away.

"What the hell, Ashido?!" he sputtered.

"Don't be such a coward!" she scolded. "Be more manly!"

"Why do you keep saying that!"

"Because Kirishima Eijirou is supposed to be super manly! Not some mopey wuss!" Kirishima looked at her skeptically but she didn't care, just continued to glare at him reproachfully. She was getting really annoyed by his timidity in this world, it was definitely worse than middle school. It really made her wonder if something had happened to him in this world, because this couldn't just be him being meek. Whatever the situation, she really missed her Kirishima.

With Mina suitably distracted Kumiko finally lowered her phone, glancing at the screen. "I don't get why you're using FacePage to talk to someone else," she commented. "Aren't we good enough for you!"

"Of course you are!" Mina denied instantly, frowning at her as if hurt by the accusation. "You're my best friend, Kumiko!" The claim held true even when she'd been at UA. While they'd gone to different schools, she and Kumiko had a history that her new classmates just couldn't match. They would text almost every day, meet up on weekends and holidays whenever possible, and Mina fully planned to drag Kumiko to UA at some point to meet her new friends there.

"Right," Kumiko said, scrolling through Mina's phone. "Otherwise you wouldn't be turning to total strangers for companionship." Pouting, Mina pointedly looked away from her friend in mock betrayal while Kumiko hummed. "Seriously, who is this 'Infinity_Girl_8'? Actually, strike that, you obviously don't know judging by this chat history. How'd she find you?"

"I don't know, it doesn't matter," Mina huffed with a frown. Actually, she was really sure that the account belonged to someone from Class 1-A. Infinity_Girl found her as Alien_Queen_Pink after all, the most obvious name Mina could think of. She hadn't outright asked yet though, having the sense to realize that asking a random person if they're from another dimension might come across as a bit weird if they weren't. Plus, wouldn't Infinity_Girl bring it up if she was?

She totally thought it was a classmate though. She'd narrowed it down to Uraraka or Hagakure, mainly because Jirou, Tsuyu and Yaoyorozu would have definitely mentioned it by now. Maybe not super-direct (except Tsuyu, she would absolutely just straight up ask), but they'd have at least hinted at it by now. She could see Hagakure taking her time and just talking though, or Uraraka being too nervous or careful to bring it up right away.

"She's homeschooled?" Kumiko said, raising her eyebrows as she read the earlier chat. "Dang, this girl sounds really lonely."

There was also that. Mina couldn't blame whoever sent her the friend request for just wanting to talk. The other girl hadn't gone into specifics but she said she was homeschooled and lost touch with her friends. If Mina had woken up in this world alone with no friends, she would have run away by day two just to escape the sheer boredom.

Trying to picture the situation actually made her grateful she had the option to go to school here. School might suck, but it gave her something to do.

"So you're trying to brighten the day of a poor, socially deprived girl?" Anjou asked, arching an eyebrow without looking up. "How charitable of you. And stupid."

"Hey!" Mina snapped. "What do you mean, stupid!?"

"Just saying. You don't have any proof that's actually a girl."

"Anjou's got a point," Kirishima agreed with a nod. "You don't know anything about this person. Like, it could be some creep trying to fish for information about your Quirk."

"Or a scientist who thinks you're actually an alien," Kumiko added with a smirk. "Seriously, Mina? 'Alien Queen Pink'?"

"Give me that!" This time Mina successfully snatched her phone back, scowling at Kumiko before scrolling back down to the latest message. Dang it, they'd sent a bunch of keyboard mashes during the struggle. Pouting, she quickly tapped in a quick reply to Infinity Girl's query. 'Sorry, my friends are jerks & stole my phone!' She added in a couple annoyed-looking emojis with their tongues sticking out and sent it, leaning back in her seat with a sigh.

"Still, you were talking to her pretty late last night," Kumiko commented. "The last message was at what, one in the morning? No wonder you looked like a zombie today!"

"You know, you'd probably have done better on that test if you'd actually studied last night instead of chatting," Anjou commented sarcastically, and Mina flung her hands up in annoyance.

"Ugh, no I wouldn't! I hate math! When will I ever need it?"

"Pretty much every career path available, if you believe Kawara-sensei," Kumiko teased.

"Man, I hope not," Kirishima groaned. "Math is really frustrating. I think I mixed up which number is what on the graph questions..."

"Oh thank All Might, I wasn't the only one," Mina moaned. "I definitely got up and down mixed with sideways a couple times." Anjou paused, finally glancing up from her phone to squint at them.

"Are... are you talking about coordinated pairs?" she asked. "That's the most basic thing on there."

"So you two absolutely bombed it, huh?" Kumiko mused with a sage nod, and both Mina and Kirishima sank in their seats with depressed moans. Picking at her lunch idly, Mina glanced at her phone, willing another message to come through to distract her from her despair. But when one finally did arrive, it made her stiffen, sitting up ramrod straight with a heavy frown. Her friends looked at her in surprise, all of them frowning.

"Ashido, what's wrong?" Kirishima asked.

"Did Infinity Girl ask for nudes?" Anjou asked blandly, easily ducking away from Kumiko's annoyed attempt to swat her arm.

"No, but I don't know what to say," Mina said, turning the phone to show them.

'I'm sorry, but I need to go for a while. I'll contact you again when I get a chance. Wish me luck!'

So in this world, Toga has a crush on Shinsou instead of Izuku. I am not sure if Izuku finds this better or worse.

No question for next time. But feel free to throw in predictions! See you next year!