Before today's chapter, two things: First, as promised on Friday, I finally drew Aiko! You can find it on my tumblr, cannibalisticapple. Just add "/tagged/my-art" or "tagged/aiko" to the end of the url to find it super-fast.

Second: I got two pieces of fan art! The first is by snowyh2o, who drew the picture of Izuku, Inko and Hisashi from his 8th birthday. I honestly could not have come up with a better design for Hisashi myself. THEN, ariapmdeol doodled Aiko based on the reference I did of her! The colors are so amazing, and she looks so beautiful in it! You can find all the fan art on my Tumblr, I added a link just for the fan art tag.

Thank you all so much for your continued support! Today's chapter is a little longer than usual, so enjoy~

Chapter 39

.::A Busy Morning::.

"All clear over here."

"Nothing here either. Guess everyone's inside." Denki murmured under his breath as he peered out of the alleyway at the empty street, his heart pounding. As he surveyed it Jirou's voice crackled quietly over his earpiece, static tinging her words.

"Let's group up then," she muttered.

"Sounds good to me," he agreed with no small amount of relief, and pulled back into the alleyway to head to the meeting spot. This marked their first patrol since he'd gotten hurt on Sunday, and somehow Jirou had convinced him to split up to check out some of the streets. She had spent a good chunk of yesterday researching areas with high crime rates and a low amount of patrols so they could make a big splash.

Denki got the logic of it, and they weren't too far away from each other—only a couple blocks—but it was still nerve-wracking to be alone. He already felt anxious walking around in his vigilante costume in broad daylight, but he knew it had to be done. They had decided to focus all their efforts on spreading the 1-A Vigilantes' name, and that meant they'd have to take some more risks.

They had already taken another major step. Last night Denki had emailed the school to ask about switching to online classes, claiming he'd gotten spooked after having to be saved by the 1-A Vigilantes. Using their vigilante counterparts as part of their excuse had to be one of the craziest ideas ever, and he still couldn't believe they'd actually gone through with it. Having him connected to his vigilante identity in any way filled him with a rush of adrenaline and dread.

To be fair, they'd taken steps to create evidence for this story, by staging an actual rescue. It had been a surprisingly elaborate ruse: Denki went to the corner store to grab dinner, where a thug tried to mug him after leaving. Before the man could do anything, the 1-A Vigilantes showed up to save the day and spook him enough to run off without a fight—all conveniently in the view of a security camera and the store's cashier.

What no one viewing the footage would know was that Hatsume had donned one of the costumes, and that the "thug" had been a man she somehow recruited to pretend to mug him. Thanks to that, there was now footage and at least one witness identifying Denki as separate from the 1-A Vigilantes—and this alibi was now on record with the police, who the cashier had immediately called. That interview was the most nerve-wracking hour of Denki's life. Good thing the "mugging" gave him an excuse to be nervous.

All in all, the whole plan really impressed Denki... except for the part that Hatsume had been wearing Jirou's costume, and Jirou had been wearing his. To be fair they'd tried to get Hatsume in his costume, but they just couldn't get her chest flat enough to pass as him. So, yeah, he felt kinda weird dressed in his costume knowing Jirou had been wearing it not even twenty-four hours ago. Granted, he'd also feel weird if Hatsume had managed to wear it too, but...

Know what? It was just weird, and he really needed to stop thinking about that.

Fortunately he didn't need to think about it long because he'd reached the meeting spot by this point, a spot where two different alleys intersected. Unfortunately, Jirou hadn't arrived yet, meaning he was still alone. He sighed quietly as he leaned against the wall near a dumpster, trying to keep out of sight in case anyone happened to walk through the alley.

While he waited for Jirou he pulled out the home-made camera Hatsume had made, to make sure the photos couldn't be traced through metadata, or... something. A lot of it went over his head, but it sounded like even with FacePage's security people could still find stuff like camera models from photos? Again, there was a lot of technobabble that flew over his head, so he decided to just take her word for it.

They'd used it to do a mini photo shoot yesterday before carrying out the fake mugging plan so they could set up the FacePage profile later. Unfortunately it needed some special cable to upload it to a laptop though, and Hatsume's only one had broken. She'd buy another today after school, but in the meantime she gave him the camera to get some actual action shots.

For now he opened the gallery and scrolled through the photos they'd taken. One had them posing around a giant crate, Jirou sitting on top of it and Denki leaning against it while they flashed victory signs at the camera. Another had them standing in front of a dark gray sheet draped over the crate as a backdrop, holding homemade signs with Jirou's saying "1-A" and Denki's saying "Vigilantes."

However, by far the coolest one was a pseudo-action shot with them standing back to back. Jirou had a slight hunch to her posture as she started to bend down, one foot slid forward and her hands reaching for the ground. Denki stood a bit straighter, and had his hand pointed forward with the index finger like a gun.

His eyes lit up as he looked at it, the coolness hitting him all at once. The shot felt like something from an action movie, they just looked so awesome! He'd wanted to use it as their profile pic, but Jirou had vetoed it since it didn't show their masks or the 1-A that well, which was their whole branding. It was a bummer, but he couldn't argue there. At the very least, he resolved to post this one first.

"Still thinking about the profile pic?" He jumped when Jirou spoke up, and turned to find she'd arrived while he'd been admiring the picture. "Did I seriously surprise you just now? You can't be distracted that easily while we're separated."

"I know," he groaned, shoulders slumping as he exited out of the gallery and pocketed the camera. "Sorry, Stereo Foot."

"Don't ever call me that ever again," Jirou deadpanned, thoroughly unimpressed by the nickname, and he just nodded as they began walking out of the alley. "It's still pretty early so I don't expect many muggers and petty crooks to be running around yet. There's a couple stores near here that got a lot of hits the past few months though, so we should scope those out."

"How do you even know that?" he asked in awe.

"There's a phone app for crime patterns," she replied with a shrug. "People post there if there's been an attack on a location or area, and it tracks how many reports are made and if the police did anything."

"Kinda sad people have to use those," Denki muttered glumly. He already knew this world really sucked, but for there to even be an app for it?

"Actually, we have it back home, too," Jirou commented, startling him. "The class rep showed me after the internships, it actually started as a local thing in Tokyo years ago and started spreading more to other areas. After everything that happened in Hosu this year though, it blew up big time. I figured with everything wrong here it probably blew up way before that, and I was right. The app's way more detailed here."

"Huh," Denki said. "Okay, now it's less depressing and kinda neat instead. You know, maybe I should look up some of the apps I like and see if they're different."

"You can think about that later after patrol ends," Jirou replied, holding up a hand to signal for silence as they neared the mouth of a different alley. She bent down and pressed a hand to the floor to plug in an earphone jack, and soon withdrew it and stood up. "Street up ahead is mostly clear, just a couple pedestrians. Nothing shady as far as I can tell. Want to go out, or stick to alleys?"

Denki hesitated. He still didn't like the thought of going around in costume in broad daylight—that was just asking for Pro Heroes to look for them—but he had to admit it would get them attention faster. "Let's go," he said, and Jirou nodded before taking the lead.

Like she'd said, the street wasn't that busy, just a couple random people walking around. Once someone noticed them though they made a sound of surprise, more people quickly looking their way. Denki's nerves stood on edge from all the staring, and he felt so relieved the mask and visor hid his expression. It took a lot of self control to not walk closer to Jirou.

One woman in an apron paused sweeping the entrance of a small store and leaned against her broom as she looked at them. "Hey, aren't you those vigilantes?" she asked.

"Yeah, we are," Jirou replied with a nod. Her voice sounded a bit different now, using the modifier Hatsume had just completed on Monday. It didn't completely disguise their voices, just lowered the pitch a bit and still had some minor static, but they'd agreed it worked well enough to hide their identities if they met anyone who did know them. Denki quickly tapped his earpiece to activate his own while the people around them started murmuring.

"So what, are you guys going to be patrolling around here then?" the woman asked. "Maybe that'll actually help out."

"Did something happen?" Denki asked, and she shrugged.

"Just the usual muggings and purse snatchers, but there's been a couple more than usual lately. People are getting bolder, probably want to get money before it gets too cold. Maybe seeing someone patrolling around here will make them think twice, even if you guys are just vigilantes."

The way she added the last bit felt a bit grating to Denki for some reason, like she didn't actually think they were, you know, competent. Given their track record so far, he felt like they'd proven themselves to be pretty good. "We'll definitely check out this area more then," Jirou promised, and he got the sense from how she spoke that she'd picked up on it too.

"Don't worry, we'll be right on top of it!" he agreed, flashing a thumbs up. "If any bad guys try to attack us, we'll take them down, no sweat!"

"...Sure," she said flatly. Yeah, she definitely didn't believe in them. He scowled at her but didn't bother responding, instead following Jirou as they continued down the street. From the corner of his eye he saw someone use their phone to snap a photo, but his nerves at being in such a public place had vanished, replaced by annoyance at that woman's dismissive attitude.

Hopefully they'd get some good action today and prove that lady wrong.

Ochako felt just a little frustrated. Twenty-four hours later Ashido had yet to respond to her friend request, or maybe even see it. Her online status was hidden so Ochako had no way of knowing if she'd even logged on since sending it. It frustrated her because they couldn't make any more moves until Ashido did something.

Their plan was that after Ashido accepted the friend request, Ochako would send a very cryptic question only people from Class 1-A would be able to answer. Once they got confirmation that she WAS from their world, they'd tell her to make another account to continue all contact. They had no idea if Ashido's account might be compromised in any way like Ochako's had been, so it would be the safest way to guarantee no one else saw them.

Except they couldn't do that, because Ashido was not checking her messages!

She let out a strangled sound of frustration as she glared at Deku's laptop, sprawled atop his bed with the device open in front of her. Aiko had gotten her a burner phone with internet access, but she wanted to be able to have a laptop to initiate the conversation as fast as possible once Ashido finally responded. They had a lot to go over, and it'd be easier with a full laptop keyboard than the tiny touch screen on the phone.

Obviously that wasn't going to happen right this second though. A chime sounded indicating a new message, and Ochako quickly switched to the tab with the open conversation with Deku. Last night he'd updated her on the Aizawa situation, and she'd helped him hash out a rough plan to convince Shigaraki to redo Aizawa's restraints. They didn't expect to free him, but they both agreed it'd be easier on everyone if Aizawa-sensei had his hands bound in front of himself instead of behind his back, if only so he could actually feed himself.

Deku's newest message was to let her know that Shigaraki had told him over breakfast he'd complied to the request... though not without some consequences. 'He said Eraserhead struggled so he might have some bruises,' Deku wrote. 'I'm kinda scared to visit him and see what happened.'

Ochako grimaced sympathetically. Based on how harsh Shigaraki had already been with Aizawa, she doubted it would look pretty if he felt a need to actually warn Deku. She bit her lip as she typed her response. 'Well at least he probably didn't break any more bones?' The second she pressed send she regretted it, cringing and ducking her head shamefully. 'Sorry, not helpful.'

It took several seconds for Deku to reply. 'I guess you're right about that at least. He only mentioned bruises, so he probably didn't break anything else.' Even over text the response felt dismal, making Ochako sag in her seat miserably. The fact Aizawa's leg had been broken still made her stomach churn with horror and anxiety. Rescuing him would be much harder if he couldn't walk on his own, and they couldn't exactly wait for it to start healing naturally.

She frowned and lightly slapped her cheeks, nodding to herself as she began typing again. 'Anyways no reply from Ashido, dunno what's up with that. But I got the new burner phone all set up so that's good!' A few dots appeared to signal Deku was typing something for a few seconds, but then it vanished as he seemed to think before appearing again.

'It is. Text me so I can get the number!'

'On it!' Ochako pulled out the phone to quickly shoot a text to his number, which Aiko had registered before giving it to her. That left her with a total of two contacts: Deku, and Aiko herself. Ochako still felt oddly warm that Aiko had gone out of her way to get her a phone beyond her spare. For a burner phone, it was surprisingly nice. It wasn't quite a smart phone, even if it had internet, but it was still fancier than anything she would have bought for herself.

After sending the quick 'hi' she returned her attention to the laptop where Deku was typing. 'Okay, I got it. We probably shouldn't text or call too much though and stick to FacePage. I don't really seem to have any contacts outside the Alliance or Aiko, so they'd probably want to know who I'm talking to.'

'I'll only use the phone if it's an absolute emergency!' Ochako promised, nodding to herself as she sent it. The only reason she hadn't texted him right after getting it was because she didn't want to accidentally text him while he was alone with Shigaraki or something. While originally she'd been fully willing to join the Alliance if necessary, Deku had made it perfectly clear how problematic that could be. She really didn't want a bomb around her ankle.

The thought made her frown. 'Any new ideas on the anklets?'

A full ten seconds passed before he responded. 'No. Shinsou's had it the longest so he's spent a lot of time studying it, but he says he can't even find a key hole. Kacchan said they just snapped it around his ankle when they put it on, so we're not sure how to unlock it.'

'Maybe it has some kind of electronic key thing? Like, you have to hold a key fob next to it, or press a button on a remote? They have little lights, don't they?'

'Yeah, they do. You might be right. I hope so at least, because the only other idea I have is that they're not SUPPOSED to be unlocked and need a Quirk to remove it.'

She frowned. 'That sounds like a really specific Quirk. I guess maybe someone might have something for general lock-picking?'

There was a pause before Deku typed his response. '...Actually, I was thinking more Tomura would just disintegrate it.' She winced and sucked in a breath. Yeah, that sounded pretty plausible.

'Yikes. I wish I could help more. Maybe you could ask Seiko? She was the one who told you about it, right?'

'Nope. I am NOT asking Seiko.' There wasn't even a pause before the response, and she had to snort as she imagined him shaking his head.

'Is she really that bad?'

'WORSE. I'm kinda surprised I haven't had any nightmares about her. She hasn't done anything specific, but there's just something... OFF about her. I don't know how to describe it, but even touching her feels weird.' Ochako hummed thoughtfully as she considered the message. She hadn't met Seiko yet, but Deku had told her a bit about her. Seiko sounded creepy and kinda off-putting with how she'd randomly appear, but she wasn't sure it was as bad as Deku made it sound. She was still a kid, right? How bad could she be?

Well, it didn't matter right now. 'Okay I guess, I'll take your word for it. But you don't think she would be willing to help?'

'I honestly have no idea, I think maybe she'd tell me if I asked? But I don't want to tell her too much. I don't know how much she knows about the escape plan already, and I don't know how much she'd tell the others once she figures it out.' Ah, that was a good point, and Ochako felt sheepish for not figuring that out herself.

'Okay, fair. Well either way, don't give up hope and just keeping looking! We can figure this out Deku! Plus Ultra!' She sent it with a couple fist-pump emojis at the end, hoping to get across her encouraging tone.

Thankfully it worked, because after a few seconds he responded, 'Yeah, Plus Ultra!' She grinned as he sent a single fist-pump emoji after it, and silently pumped her own fist into the air while he resumed typing. 'I should go fill in Shinsou and Kacchan on this before I visit Eraserhead, see if they have any ideas. I'll talk to you later.'

'Bye Deku! Text or message me anytime!' His profile went offline, and she closed the laptop with a quiet sigh. After a few seconds' thought she decided to get up and go over to the neighboring apartment where Aiko stayed. She'd slept on the couch there, feeling too weird to sleep in Deku's room or even in the same apartment as him, so all her stuff was in there. Her phone would chime whenever Ashido finally did something about her friend request, so she figured she should try to do something productive while waiting.

She knocked on the door before entering, but when she didn't get a response she frowned and tried the handle. It was unlocked, so she hesitantly pushed it open to peek inside. "Aiko-san?" she called tentatively.

"In the bedroom!" the woman called, voice muffled by the walls. "Come on in!" Ochako scurried inside at the invitation, heading to the open bedroom door to look inside curiously. Aiko was standing in front of the bed in a pajama tank and boxer shorts, several outfits laid across the mattress and hands on her hips as she stared at them.

"What are you doing?" Ochako asked curiously.

"Trying to pick an outfit. A friend called me in for a favor and I can't look like me."

"A favor?" She felt a small prickle of dread. They still didn't know exactly what kind of work Aiko did, and the fact that this favor needed a disguise made her mind instantly go to the worst-case scenarios.

Maybe Aiko picked up on her apprehension, because she turned to Ochako with a reassuring smile. "Oh, it's nothing bad. He just needs me to play a little distraction. Honestly, I don't even know what they're planning," she added as she turned back to the clothes. "I know it's nothing illegal at least, they're not really that kind of people, but it's not really my business I guess."

After hearing that, Ochako couldn't resist asking. "Would you refuse if it was illegal?"

"Maybe? Sometimes the law is stupid." Aiko shrugged, and then clapped her hands. "Okay, screw it. Uraraka!" Ochako startled as Aiko addressed her, whirling to face her with a sharp grin. "Boy or girl?"

"Uh—boy?" She blinked, surprised and confused by the question.

"Name a color!"

"Green."

"Light or dark?"

"Light?"

"Name another color!"

"Purple?" Aiko nodded, an almost wolfish grin on her face as she turned back to the clothes.

"Great, thanks Uraraka." Ochako frowned, still puzzled by the random string of questions until she saw the woman lift up a faded purple sweater and dark slacks. She nodded to herself as she went to her drawers to rifle through them, pulling out a white tank top. "I'm going to get changed and head out. I'll be back in a few hours. Will you be okay here by yourself?"

"Oh, yeah, of course!" Ochako quickly nodded, and then a thought occurred to her. "Oh, would it be okay if I left for a while though?"

Aiko hummed, glancing at her over her shoulder. "Got somewhere in mind?" she asked, and Ochako shrugged.

"Not really, I just kinda want to check out the area around here." More specifically, she wanted to look for potential hiding places to use after Deku and the others escaped. They'd done some light research on the area where Aiko lived, finding it to be surprisingly close to the warehouse where he'd been training. They figured Kurogiri sent him to this area so that he could go to Aiko's apartment if he felt like it.

"Fine by me. Just remember to use that exit I showed you and try not to be seen coming and going. Not many people come around here, but better safe than sorry."

"Will do!" Ochako promised, and left to give Aiko privacy to change. Once in the living room her eyes settled on her backpack, and she nodded to herself in determination as she strolled over to unzip it. She rifled through it before retrieving a folded piece of paper, unfolding it to reveal Dabi's number.

Pulling out the phone, she plugged the number in and hesitated before sending a text. 'Hi Dabi, it's Floaty. Just wanted you to know I'm safe & I found my friend. Thanks for your help!'

She was surprised when less than a minute later he responded. 'Did you get roped into any trouble?' Her mouth quirked into a small smile, recognizing the underlying question about whether she'd joined up with the Alliance.

'Almost, but I'm good. Staying with his sister now!'

There was a longer pause before the next response. 'Listen to her and stay away from the Alliance. Also stay away from anything chemistry related. You're still playing a dangerous game kid.'

'I'll be careful, don't worry! Anyways gotta go, just wanted to let you know I'm okay!' Ochako grinned as she added a thumbs-up emoji before hitting send, and then pocketed her phone as she headed to the stairs. She briefly pondered the part about chemistry, but she didn't dwell on it long. Time to start scoping the area!

Izuku felt no small amount of dread as he approached Aizawa's cell, arms loaded with books and a simple breakfast. After his conversation with Shigaraki that morning he had no idea what to expect, and he had to brace himself before knocking and pushing it open. Aizawa raised his head with a dark glower when the door opened, his expression only softening minutely when he recognized it was him and not one of the others.

Just as Shigaraki promised, they had indeed changed his bindings and restrained his hands in front of him. Aizawa still didn't have any hope of getting out of them himself, as they'd used thick leather cuffs connected by a single link. They even put on mittens to restrict his fingers. Izuku was still endlessly grateful though, because now the man could at least feed himself more easily, and even use the bathroom without the help of other villains.

From what Shigaraki said Aizawa had put up a fight though, and it definitely showed in the heavy bruising on his neck. Izuku winced upon seeing the dark marks and swallowed harshly, quickly averting his gaze. "Um, I got breakfast," he stammered nervously, carrying the plate over to his not-teacher and setting it on the floor nearby before pushing it closer. It had been one of Shigaraki's conditions for redoing the bindings, that Izuku couldn't go within touching range of the hero.

Aizawa just grunted, reaching to take the plate even if the mittens made him fumble a bit. At least he looks more comfortable now, Izuku thought dismally as he sat against the wall with his latest round of schoolwork. This time his assignments included stuff they'd already covered in his own world, so it was mostly review. Remembering the classes made his chest ache though, his hands clenching around the paper.

Thinking of UA made him feel miserable. He and Uraraka still had no idea where to even begin with trying to get home. If the Quirk that had sent them here had a time limit, it should have ended by now. Quirks with such a drastic effect didn't usually last so long, so to still be here... Most likely, it was a single-use effect that just sent them to another dimension, like Kurogiri's Warp Gate. So even after getting out, he had no idea anymore what they'd do next.

"Kid, are you okay?"

He startled when Aizawa spoke, snapping his head up to see the man watching him closely, eyebrows pinched in contemplation and faint concern. Beneath it Izuku could still see wariness though, a deep-rooted suspicion that kept him from fully emphasizing with Izuku. As far as he knew they were still enemies after all, and the thought just made him feel that much worse.

Izuku took a shuddery breath, reaching up to rub his eyes. They were surprisingly dry, honestly catching him off-guard since even he knew he cried at the drop of a hat, but he ignored that and shook his head. "S-sorry," he said shakily. "Just... thinking, I guess." Please don't ask anymore, he silently pleaded, and hoped his tone conveyed it.

His not-teacher frowned, pressing his lips together as he seemed to consider his response. "What are those papers?" he finally asked.

"Huh?" Izuku blinked, caught off-guard by the question, before his eyes trailed to the papers he still clutched tightly. "Oh, uh, it's homework."

"Homework?" Aizawa echoed curiously. "Do you go to school?"

"Not... technically," Izuku replied hesitantly, and sighed. "Kurogiri says it's important to be educated though, so he gets on everyone's cases to do homework. I think he actually goes out and steals lesson plans from schools." He laughed weakly at that, a little weirded out by the thought of the warp Villain breaking into schools to steal copies of lesson plans.

(Apparently this world's Izuku had decided that to be a very real possibility, and had dedicated a few pages in his journals to joint investigations with Toga of all people. On that note, Toga apparently didn't have to do homework despite being the same age. Neither did Mustard, as far as he could tell. Izuku still did not understand why and really wanted to call discrimination.)

"If that's true, that's definitely one of the weirder thefts I've heard of," Aizawa commented, raising his eyebrows. "Can I see it?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure, I guess." Izuku picked up the papers and slid them over to the man, watching as he briefly struggled to pick them up with the mittens before finally giving up and just turning it to face himself. He skimmed over it closely, a thoughtful hum rumbling deep in his throat.

"This is definitely professionally made, I'll give you that much. Probably pulled from an official exercise book for educators." His comment caught Izuku by surprise, and he glanced up at the teen with a perfectly deadpan expression. "I used to be a teacher."

"R-right." Izuku nodded slowly, his heart pounding. For a second he thought of his own Aizawa-sensei again, and he bit his lip as he tried to quash the growing sense of emptiness in his chest—

He forced his attention back to the worksheets he still had, stubbornly banishing all other thoughts. "Honestly, I kinda already know this stuff," he admitted quietly. "The worksheet doesn't really feel... Necessary, you know?"

"Then why not ask for something more challenging?" Aizawa asked, sounding genuinely curious, and Izuku paused.

"Because I like the extra free time more."

Aizawa huffed a small snort, and only because of his experience with the man did Izuku recognize the sound as amused. He let a small, sheepish smile of his own make itself known, feeling a little bit lighter.

He still hated this situation, but it might be bearable.

Hizashi had to suppress a sigh as he listened to the managers and producers prattle on about numbers and ratings, his boredom reaching peak levels. One of the few downsides to his radio gig was having to sit on all these station-wide meetings, which were usually the most boring thing in the world. Ninety percent of the time he had nothing valuable to contribute since he had little involvement with the administrative side, which was the main purpose of these meetings.

Today was no different. They were talking about the station's budget, which while important had very little to do with him and his show. The station was stable and not at risk of shutting down due to a lack of funding or income, and they didn't need to replace any equipment. The current discussion centered around getting new advertising revenue, maybe restructuring a couple of shows (not his own) to have slightly more ad time.

Seriously, he had no input to offer here. His main contributions to these meetings usually came from planning big events or his own show, which in his opinion didn't come up often enough to justify requiring his presence at every single meeting. So when his cell phone rang he was all too eager to pull it out, and actually had to fight off a grin when he saw the caller ID.

"Sorry guys, I gotta go," he said as he got up. "Duty calls and all that." The others nodded and made sounds of understanding as he headed out the door, some of the other hosts shooting him slightly envious looks. Once in the hall he answered the call and raised it to his ear, already heading to his office. "Yo, long time no talk! Rare to see you calling me up."

"Indeed it is," Sir Nighteye agreed. "I considered asking one of my sidekicks to call, but I thought I should handle this personally."

"Cool, cool. Gimme a sec to get to my office. I was in the middle of a meeting with the radio staff, and I'm guessing you don't want anyone to overhear us." Hizashi could count the number of times Sir Nighteye had called him on one hand, so it had to be big. He figured it must be about either a development about Uraraka, or maybe the Midoriya kid.

"No need. This isn't particularly sensitive, and knowing you, you'll likely want to leave immediately anyway." That made him pause, frowning in confusion.

"Oh, yeah? Then what's up?"

The next words Nighteye said would be forever engraved into Hizashi's memories, his world shattering with hope and despair all at once.

"We've found evidence that Eraserhead is alive."

Today's chapter trivia: the scene with Izuku and Aizawa originally took place in Chapter 41, but the whole chapter felt clunky and more like filler. I only REALLY needed this one scene from it, so I just edited it down and basically cut the rest. As such, the draft is now at 47 chapters instead of 48! Woo!

Next chapter is going to be FUN. (Also, current drawing goal: Draw Anjou and Kas/Oracle before the next chapter.)

Question for next time: Which kids from 1-B do you want to see more of? (I mean both in-canon or in fan fics. Personally, I'd like to see more of Komori Kinoko (the mushroom girl) and Kuroiro Shihai (the black-skinned kid). I feel like they have really fun personalities and interesting Quirks!)