Chapter 29

.::Reasons to Hate Mondays::.

Monday morning found Denki curled up in bed miserable and in pain. One thing they had grossly taken for granted at UA was access to Recovery Girl. This oversight became very clear after a variety of incidents, including: getting thrown in the air by the weirdo riding some weird makeshift plow in a grocery store; getting almost tossed into a building by a guy with six arms, and instead hitting a bunch of metal trash cans; and then the mugger who body-checked him into the pavement.

All of that had happened in the span of three hours, after which they called it quits because he was WAY too sore and battered to continue. Had they not been so close to his apartment last night when their patrol ended, he doubted he would've made it back before collapsing. He'd hoped going to sleep would help, but no. It just made him feel even more sore somehow. His body felt like one giant bruise.

Their only saving grace was that he hadn't actually broken anything, so he was just sore and in pain. Calling out from school had been a no-brainer, his body too sore to do anything right now. Hatsume had graciously agreed to stay home from school to work on adding extra padding to their costumes, but that did little to help his aching bruises now.

At least they had gotten a lot of attention. Adding the 1-A to their jackets had been a stroke of genius on Jirou's part, giving them a catchy name to trend on social media. The post on Satou's Instagram in particular had exploded, and now less than twenty-four hours later he could find plenty of posts about the 1-A Vigilantes. Between that and their costumes' resemblance to their actual hero costumes, anyone from their class should recognize them.

However, despite that he had a lot of doubts right now. They had seen Satou of all people, and even though Denki made eye contact with him—even though he said the guy's name like an absolute idiot—he hadn't recognized them. It wasn't just a moment of Satou being confused and suspicious. It hadn't been intentional but their vigilante costumes strongly resembled their actual hero costumes, anyone from Class 1-A would recognize them. If Satou didn't make the connection then, he simply wasn't their Satou. With Yaomomo, that made three classmates that they'd found who didn't seem to be from their world.

Four if you counted Mineta. They hadn't talked or anything, but Denki had been keeping an eye on his FacePage profile since it was the only one he could find so far. Earlier today he'd posted about saving a girl from falling to her death when a villain smashed into their train and it got derailed. It wasn't even a brag, it was literally "ohmygosh a villain smashed the train and knocked it sideways and we almost fell! I saved this one girl but IT WAS SO SCARY! WAY TOO CLOSE! #onlineschooltime"

Denki snorted softly at the hashtag, a feeble, bitter smile curling on his lips. When he pressed it he found a slew of other posts using it. Part of him idly debated using it today, but after scrolling through the other posts with it, everyone seemed to be using it for extreme cases where they missed weeks or even months. Almost all of them recounted rising villain activity in the area, or concerns of missing person cases making them paranoid, or even just one bad morning like Mineta.

These weren't kids who didn't feel like going into class that day for one reason or another. These were kids scared for their lives.

The thought made him clench his teeth, gripping his phone tighter as he squeezed his eyes shut. I want to go home.

He shoved the thought away as he opened his eyes, switching out of the depressing hashtag results to another tab showing all the posts with the 1-A Vigilantes. Looking at them made something inside himself settle, the ball of unease unfurling just a bit to be replaced by determination. Sitting around feeling sorry for himself wouldn't do anything right now. He needed to do something, and his next move was obvious enough.

Kyouka almost felt like she was in Bizarro World today—well, even more than usual, anyway. She kept her head low as she walked down the street, her earphone jacks plugged into the noise-canceling headphones hidden under her coat's hood, though she didn't actually turn them on. This time she wasn't wearing her vigilante costume, but her winter coat and school uniform.

Today for the first time since arriving in this crazy world, Kyouka would be going to school.

She wouldn't be actually attending the classes, thankfully, but she had to go to the building. One of her classes had a major test today that required all students be physically present to take, even online-only students. Kyouka didn't feel too worried about the test itself, this school's curriculum was tough but not as tough as UA. It was everything else that worried her.

Obviously as someone from another world, she lacked any memory of the school and teachers there. The latter had been partially resolved with Hatsume's help, as they got her to help put together and label a set of photos of every teacher for Kaminari's reference. Kyouka had studied it intensively herself after her homeroom teacher told her about the test, and she could only hope it would be good enough.

At least she wouldn't have to worry about getting lost. As the school came into sight she spotted someone waiting at the gates, a man in a doctor's coat with a dog head. She recognized him from the photos as Kirihito-sensei, the school doctor. "Jirou-san, I presume?" he asked once she got close enough.

"Yeah," she replied with a nod, and pushed back her hood so he could see her face more clearly. His eyes zeroed in on her headphones instantly.

"Still sensitive?"

"A bit." And it was actually true today, her hearing was a bit more sensitive than usual, though not as bad as she claimed. It happened sometimes, especially after days where she'd used her Quirk a lot. Those days had been less and less since starting at UA, but she hadn't really used it much since coming to this dimension. It hadn't surprised her much given how eventful yesterday's patrol had been. "It's getting better, but sensory overload's still a bitch."

"I see." Kirihito-sensei nodded, turning to the door. "Well, luckily everyone's in second period now, so the halls should be quiet. Come on, let's go." Kyouka nodded, following him inside and silently grateful she didn't need to worry about having to navigate the building alone. The school had scheduled it so that the online students would arrive at ten o'clock after second period began, to make it easier to record their arrivals. To that end they'd also stationed faculty at the gates to wait for each student and escort them inside, and even as they walked inside she saw another teacher go to take Kirihito's place.

Kirihito led her to an office area near the entrance, gently nudging her towards a waiting room before heading back to the entrance. Two other students already sat in the armchairs, glancing at her briefly before looking back at their phones. Kyouka didn't recognize either of them, and since they didn't address her she remained quiet as she sat in an empty chair. She took out her own phone and opened the newsfeed, idly wondering if they were even in the same class.

According to her homeroom teacher, the school scheduled multiple tests on the same day to try to host as many online students as possible regardless of class and year. They'd wait in the office until all of the online students had arrived, at which point they'd be escorted to a secure classroom for the tests. If someone had tests in multiple classes, they'd be given the tests in a random order, getting the next one whenever they finished the first. Students could leave once they finished all their tests.

The exact specifics didn't matter to Kyouka. What did matter was that she and Iida Tenya were in the same class, which meant this would be her best opportunity to meet him.

The thought made her swallow harshly. So far they'd met a total of three people from Class 1-A, none of whom remembered them. Kyouka's leading theory was still that the phenomenon only impacted the students on the third floor of the dorms, meaning others impacted by it would be Kouda, Ojiro, Hagakure, and Iida. After seeing Satou yesterday who lived on the fifth floor, it only seemed to strengthen her case.

...Well, that or the Quirk had been used on this side. If that turned out to be the case, they'd need to find a new approach. Iida's reaction would determine it once and for all.

As the minutes ticked on more students started to trickle in one by one, her gaze flicking to the door each time it opened. Most of them she didn't know, but surprisingly she did recognize a couple from other classes at UA. She didn't know their names or anything, but she remembered one girl from Class 1-C's haunted house, and another guy who tended to be really loud and obnoxious at lunchtime.

When that guy raised his voice while talking to two other kids they slapped his head with a harsh shush, shooting Kyouka a pointed look as they did. He grimaced and mouthed a "sorry" at her, and at that point it occurred to her the teachers had likely informed the other students of her condition. That was... surprisingly nice, actually. Unexpected but nice.

Almost immediately after that the door opened again, and when she glanced over her heart almost stopped as she finally saw Iida. He looked so similar to the Iida she knew, with that same stern expression and his hair neatly combed to one side. The similarities ended there though, as the blue Munakata uniform looked weirdly out of place when she was so used to him in UA's gray blazer and green slacks. Even his glasses were different from her Iida, still rectangular but the frames using a different kind of metal.

He glanced around the room and zeroed in on her almost instantly, heading straight for her. Kyouka silently watched him as sat in the empty chair next to her with an increasingly erratic heartbeat. The fact he'd approached her so purposefully made it clear he wanted to talk to her, and since they didn't seem to be friends (at the very least, he wasn't a contact in her phone), it made her think he really was her Iida.

To her surprise, rather than talk he pulled out his phone, typing out something before turning the screen to her. 'Good morning Jirou. Kirihito-sensei says your hearing is still sensitive?'

She read the message in mild surprise before nodding, opening a memo app on her own phone to type her reply. 'Yeah, a bit. Thanks for typing instead of talking. You can get loud. No offense.' Back home Iida had a tendency to trigger her sensitive hearing even on good days. She might have exaggerated her sensitivity in this world, but today he'd probably trigger it, especially sitting right next to her like this.

He gave a business-like nod and typed his response. 'None taken. I am aware my volume can be off-putting to some, and my main priority is the safety and comfort of my classmates.' He didn't smile but he had an air of pride to him, so familiar it made her mouth tug into a small smile of her own.

'Thanks Class Rep. You rock.' She showed him the response, and Iida's eyes narrowed as he typed a response before showing her.

'Thank you for the compliment. However, I must correct you that I am not the class representative. Online students are automatically exempted from student government positions.'

It took everything to keep up her poker face as she read it, her smile falling as her stomach sank. No, this doesn't prove he doesn't remember UA yet, she reminded herself. Iida's response was a correction, and honestly she had a feeling her Iida would make that correction even in this situation. That, or maybe he just didn't know yet that she was from their world and didn't want to show his hand.

She nodded, mind racing as she started typing her response. 'Yeah, guess not. You give off the vibe though.' She needed to say something that would be enough of a clue, without outright asking if he was her Iida or believed in multiverse theory. 'You with Yaomomo as VP would be the ultimate team.'

Kyouka held her breath as she showed him the phone, studying his face for any reaction. She had to confirm Iida's status before they left to take the tests; once they left this room, they might not get a chance to talk again. There wouldn't be any breaks, and once students finished their tests they could leave right away. She had no idea how many more students would be arriving, but given a total of eight had already arrived, the next one could very well be the last.

Iida's mouth thinned as he turned to his phone, the minute shift in his expression giving her hope. Then he turned the phone to her, and her heart sank.

'Thank you for the compliment. Speaking of Yaoyorozu, she has been very worried about you. She says you've been ignoring her calls?'

Dammit Iida, that still doesn't tell me if you actually remember me or not! Kyouka bit back the words as she nodded and typed her response, her mood sinking further as she did. 'It's complicated. She did nothing wrong, but I'm just not up to talking to anyone right now.' Ignoring Yaomomo left an awful taste in her mouth, the reminder from Iida flooding her with renewed guilt, but she had to focus on the here and now.

'Even so, please reach out to her. As I said, she's very concerned.'

She gave a thumbs up, her mind racing to figure out something to get a response that would settle it once and for all. The door opened and another student entered, making her heart pick up its pace. Kyouka couldn't waste any more time, she had to cut straight to the point. 'Will do. Also, totally random but did your brother ever meet Stain?'

There. That had to be enough. Ingenium could walk here so he obviously hadn't met him, but his attack in her world had been enough to set Iida off for a while. If anything would get a reaction from her Iida, it would be this.

However, as he looked at the response with a slight furrow she felt her heart sink once more, her hopes dashed once and for all. The genuine confusion on his face made it clear he had no memories of the battle even before he responded. 'Who's Stain?' he typed, and that... okay, that actually caught Kyouka by surprise.

Was Stain not active here? Looking back, Kyouka hadn't seen anything about him in the news, and she hadn't looked him up. Come to think of it, the guy was a huge All Might fanatic, so maybe All Might's death turned him off the "Hero Killer" route. Or maybe he got killed years ago, or he simply never turned to vigilantism in this world.

...Or maybe he was active, and his activities just hadn't been publicized.

Her lips pursed into a thin line as she typed her response, suddenly much more wary. She had no idea who Iida might talk to after this, and if Stain did exist but had his crimes covered up, revealing she knew about him when she shouldn't could cause a lot of problems. 'Not sure tbh. I heard people gossiping about some guy named Stain on the way here.' There, that should be impossible to trace and confirm.

Iida frowned, opening his mouth before catching himself and clamping it shut with an even firmer frown. 'Eavesdropping even in public is incredibly rude and impolite!' he scolded over text, and despite her sullen mood Kyouka smirked. Guess some things really didn't change.

'Kinda can't help it right now.' She pointed to her earphone jacks, still plugged into her headphones, and Iida's stern expression quickly gave way to a more sheepish look.

'My apologies, I forgot you were having sensitivity issues.' Kyouka just smirked, and started to type a response pointing out he'd still remembered to scold over text instead of vocally when the door opened. Two more students peeked inside, probably siblings based on their resemblance, but they remained outside as a lady Kyouka had seen at the desk in the front office stood in the doorway.

"Alright everyone, the last students are here. Time to go to the classroom." The assembled students all stowed their phones away as they got up to follow her, the quiet chatter dying down. Kyouka gave Iida one last nod before slipping out after them, trying not to feel too disheartened.

Iida didn't remember. Her theory was wrong. They really might be the only ones here from UA.

Ochaco felt reasonably sure she'd found the League of Villains/Villain Alliance.

After escaping the abandoned part of town where she'd almost been caught, she'd managed to find (populated) civilization once more and went straight to an internet cafe. Shelling out the funds to rent a spot even if she had plenty on hand at the moment had left her wanting to cry, thinking of how much food she could've bought with that money. But she had no choice, she had to do research first and foremost.

It hadn't taken long to confirm there had been a large battle in Nabu six years prior, involving a bunch of local heroes and villains she didn't recognize. It had caused serious damage to the area, the photos from the time looking like something out of a war movie and making her gulp. The only reason it hadn't ended with a higher death toll was because the area had already been rundown and closed most businesses, so not many people frequented it anymore. Between that and the projected costs to repair it, the area had been written off as a total loss.

After confirming this information, Ochaco went straight to planning her next move. And when she thought about it, there was really only one choice: set up a stakeout and wait to see if the villains would show up. Calling the police wasn't an option, she'd get taken in before she'd have a chance to meet Deku, and yesterday she'd already reminded herself why Pro Heroes wouldn't work either.

That was how she found herself huddled on the second floor of some sort of shop on Monday, wrapped in a blanket while cooking ramen on a camping stove. She'd spent the night there, arriving just before dusk and staying there ever since. Ochaco chose the location because the building seemed stable, the second floor was intact and thus somewhat insulated, and it had a good view of the building where she thought she'd seen the face.

Sleeping in a cold, abandoned building in winter had seemed like it would suck, but the three season sleeping bag she'd bought had been surprisingly warm. She'd be mad if it wasn't, because she'd almost cried at the final price. Between that, the camping stove and everything else, she'd depleted a lot more of her funds than she'd liked, but she knew she couldn't skimp costs on this stuff, especially the sleeping bag.

Aizawa-sensei would be proud, she mused, giggling quietly to herself as she thought of her teacher's characteristic sleeping bag. She still felt mildly disappointed she couldn't find one in the same gaudy shade of yellow, so out of place with their otherwise dark-looking and black-wearing teacher. The familiarity would have been nice, even if the thought also made her feel a little homesick.

While the sleeping bag might have the Eraserhead seal of approval, he'd probably be less approving of everything else she was doing right now. That thought sobered her mood, and she quietly went about turning off the stove and finishing the preparations to actually eat. Soon enough she sat by the window, looking out at the suspected villain base as she quietly ate her late breakfast.

Ochaco had stayed up until nearly dawn, figuring villains would be more active at night. No one had appeared though, and eventually she'd gone to sleep and woke up around half an hour ago. Since then she still hadn't seen anyone, much to her dismay. It was only day one though, surely she'd see something if she waited long enough. Those villains yesterday had clearly been looking for her, so their base must be close.

Unfortunately, they definitely weren't looking now.

Time dragged on slowly as Ochaco stared at the empty street, her initial adrenaline at being so close to enemy territory waning faster than she'd expected. Stakeouts turned out to be very boring, especially when you were alone. Eventually Ochaco got out some yarn to practice some string tricks the other girls had taught her. It would be quiet and help pass the time, but not take her total attention.

Probably another hour passed as she practiced making string figures. She was trying to remember the steps of this particularly complex one Yaomomo showed her when movement outside finally caught her eye, at which point she abandoned the string to direct her full attention to the street. She didn't know whether to shout with joy or freeze with terror when she saw a small group of people striding towards the suspected base.

Almost all of them wore bulky winter coats that hid their figures, and even without those they were too far away to make out their features clearly. But Ochaco didn't need to look hard to recognize Shigaraki at the lead of the pack, his silvery-blue hair almost glowing against his black coat and pale severed hands gripping his sleeves. He strode towards the base with a brisk air about him, radiating danger even from a distance. She recognized Compress and Toga next to him, Mr. Compress's top hat and trench coat unchanged from her world and Toga's hair done in its usual buns, but all the others were unfamiliar.

This was it. This had to be the base. Her heart pounded faster and faster as they reached the building, Shigaraki never breaking stride as he stepped into the gaping hole in its side with his small army trailing behind him.

She swallowed thickly as they all disappeared inside, pulling away from the window before scrambling to pack up her things. It only took her a couple minutes, having already folded and rolled up the sleeping bag after waking up. With the camping stove and all her clothes stuffed into it, her backpack had very little space left, and she silently bemoaned not buying an actual camping backpack. No time for regrets though. The bag was too bulky for her to wear while sneaking around, so for now she stashed it in a corner of the room to retrieve later and crept towards the stairs.

A quick five-fingered tap to her arm had her bypassing the creaky stairs to float over the bottom floor, quickly deactivating and then reactivating it just before she could crash to the ground. Ochaco took a breath as she deactivated it a final time and her feet gently touched down on the wood with barely any sound at all, and she quickly darted towards the front of the building while keeping low.

Right now, she couldn't afford to get caught. While she wanted to join the Alliance to find Deku, getting captured while sneaking around their base's area might negate her chances of being recruited. And that assumed they wouldn't just, you know, kill her on the spot. She had no idea what to expect of them, so for now she'd need to observe them, gather all the information she could, and then she could decide her next move.

"What are you doing?"

Ochaco almost screamed at the voice behind her, only barely managing to suppress it to a gasp as she whirled around to see a dark-haired woman behind her. The stranger hadn't made a single noise until she spoke, her sudden appearance sending Ochaco's heartrate skyrocketing. While Ochaco didn't know her, it didn't take a genius to figure out she was probably with the Alliance. Her clothing looked too suited for fighting to be a random civilian, wearing a black coat and heavy combat-style boots, and those tinted goggles over her eyes only added to the subtle air of danger.

"I-I just—I was just, I saw people, a-and—" Ochaco started stammering nervously, but stopped as the woman held up a hand, her breath catching in her throat.

"Kid, this place is dangerous. You really shouldn't be here." Ochaco gulped, her hands clenching at her side.

"Are you with the Villain Alliance?" she asked, forcing the question to tumble out. The woman visibly stilled, and Ochaco wished she didn't have those tinted goggles because she'd give anything to be able to see her eyes and try to figure out what she was thinking. Asking outright like that had to be the riskiest thing she could do, but if this woman was a member of the Alliance, this might be her chance.

"...Kid, please tell me you're not angling to be a vigilante," the woman groaned, pressing her hand to the bridge of her nose. "Last I checked we've already got one all locked up, and I'd really rather we don't fill up any more cells with stupid teenagers who think they can take on murderers." Her words simultaneously terrified Ochaco and sent her heart soaring, being as good confirmation as she could get.

"I'm not!" she replied quickly. "I'm—do you know Midoriya Izuku?"

The woman visibly tensed once more, and her hand slowly lowered from her face as her mouth pulled into a frown. "...Izu...?" she murmured, so quietly Ochaco almost didn't hear it. "You're..."

Before she could finish speaking they heard a loud shout from behind, and Ochaco spun to look at the base. Another shout sounded followed by a guy being thrown out the second story window, making her eyes widen. What the hell? Seconds later she felt a hand grip her shoulder, and she turned her head to see overly long, black-tipped fingers that looked like claws digging into her sleeve.

"Time to go," the woman said behind her.

Then Ochaco was yanked back and fell into a void.

For those curious for details about the Mineta post (though I doubt anyone is): the villain smashed a hole through the train, followed by it derailing and turning over on its side, thus causing people to fall through the hole he'd made. Mineta panicked and threw a bunch of balls onto the walls and one girl got caught on them, keeping her from falling (and him too when he grabbed onto her legs). Total panic reaction, but the kid saved a life. Also, we have now confirmed that Iida is NOT from the main dimension. Too bad.

Also, hi Aiko. Bye Ochaco. Whee!

Question for next time: what heroes could you see working as villains in this AU?