Chapter 51

.::We're Not Alone::.

Shouta... did not expect this.

"Kacchan, did you get the answer to question three yet?"

"Fuck no! The question doesn't make any sense! What the hell is this bullshit?"

"Um... Math?"

"Tch, I know that much Deku! But this doesn't make any sense!"

He really did not expect this.

It took a lot of self control and years of training not to visibly react as Shouta watched his new "students" bicker. Midoriya he had expected, but the other two... Kacchan—or rather, Bakugou Katsuki, as he'd introduced himself—had an obvious temper, throwing insults at the green-haired boy as casually as saying hello. The other one, Hijack, who currently squinted at his workbook in obvious confusion, was much quieter in comparison... mainly because he had a fucking muzzle.

The second the trio had entered carrying books and other school supplies, every single one of Shouta's instincts blared with alarm. The fucking muzzle wrapped around the purple-haired one's lower jaw made it pretty clear he wasn't exactly a willing member of the Alliance, and the warning signs only grew from there.

"Hey, Eraserhead," Izuku had greeted with a timid smile. "Thanks again for agreeing to tutor us. Sorry if we're bothering you." While he spoke the blond teen crossed his arms, leering at Shouta with an irritable scowl.

"So you're the hero Deku keeps talking about? You don't look like much."

"I normally don't have a broken leg," Shouta quipped dryly, and the kid snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Um, a-anyways!" Izuku piped up nervously. "Th-this is Kacchan—uh, I mean—"

"I can introduce myself!" the blond snapped. "My name is Bakugou Katsuki. I'm Deku's bodyguard or some bullshit like that. I don't know, Shittyraki told Deku, not me."

"He didn't make it too clear," Izuku said almost sullenly. "He just said you guys were part of my 'party.' He called you a tank...?" He trailed off and shook his head. "A-anyways, uh, this is..." He trailed off and looked to the purple one, who had pulled out a phone.

"My name is Hijack," an electronic voice declared. "What am I, Mi-do-ri-ya?" He directed the last bit towards Izuku—whose surname must be Midoriya, apparently, and Shouta silently decided to just use that from now on because he was NOT on a first-name basis with the brat—who looked a bit startled before realizing what he meant.

"Oh, you mean in the party? Uh, I guess you're the rogue...? Tomura-nii mentioned a rogue and tank, and Kacch—I mean, Bakugou, isn't really a rogue, obviously, no offense. And tanks are more front-line fighters, and you don't seem like you're built for that. Not that that's bad!" Midoriya added hastily. "But your skills are obviously way more suited for stealth and sneak attacks, so—"

"Deku, shut up," Bakugou interrupted, and the green-haired boy clamped his mouth shut. The blond focused on Shouta again, the hero eying him warily as the teen approached and plopped onto the floor not too far away. "You're supposed to be our teacher or some shit, so if we've got any questions, you've got to answer. Got it?"

"I'm aware," Shouta replied briskly, and the brat grunted and grabbed one of the books. The man watched warily up until the boy crossed his legs and the hem of his pants pulled up, and he caught sight of a metal band with a blinking light around the boy's ankle. Eyes widening just a fraction, Shouta had to quickly look away and keep his expression cool, gaze darting towards "Hijack" to see an identical band around his own ankle.

The kids were prisoners, both of them. Midoriya was the only one who didn't have that anklet with the ominously blinking light, making the distinction all the clearer. The thought made his blood boil, though Shouta didn't show it. He knew some villain groups liked to recruit by kidnapping kids with powerful Quirks, but to actually see it with his own eyes was something else entirely.

And he was powerless to do anything. Shouta was just as trapped as them, fucking collared to the ground in a windowless cell with a broken leg. Never had he felt so helpless as a Pro Hero, faced with someone in desperate need of aid while he could do nothing. The fact Midoriya had brought them here felt like rubbing salt in the wound.

He quietly ground his teeth as he tried to calm himself. Getting agitated wouldn't do any good, they needed him to be composed. These kids seemed calm enough right now, but they were still victims, two kids forced into a wildly unfamiliar and dangerous situation. They needed a sense of stability and comfort, and seeing a Pro Hero so worked up would only upset them further.

To that end he focused on Hijack, who continued to squint down at his workbook. "Kid, you look confused," he commented, and it took a second for Hijack to realize Shouta was talking to him. It felt weird calling the kid by an obvious codename instead of an actual name, especially when the kid was a prisoner, so he wasn't too keen on using it. When the teen finally glanced at him in surprise he continued, "I'm guessing you're more behind than those two."

The kid seemed to hesitate, and then pulled out his phone. The phone which Shouta had quickly realized had no calling or internet connection capabilities, given to him only so he could use a text to speech app because he couldn't talk with the fucking muzzle. Dammit, just thinking about it made him want to growl.

"I haven't been to school since I was twelve."

Shouta's ire was quickly forgotten at the response and his eyes widened at the admission. While he vaguely recalled Midoriya mentioned he'd dropped out, actually hearing it from him was something else. "How long have you been here?" he demanded before he could stop himself. The other two had stopped their bickering to tune into their conversation, and Midoriya perked up.

"Oh, no, no, no, he hasn't been here that long!" he said hastily, and Shouta had to fight down a flinch at the kid's voice and the urge to glare as the brat waved his hands. "Hijack dropped out and ran away! He's been living on the streets as a vigilante, but—wait, did you say twelve!?" He whirled to face the purple-haired teen with wide eyes and a hanging jaw. Even Bakugou seemed stunned, just gawking in obvious disbelief.

The purple-haired kid just shrugged, tapping away on his phone. "That's when I started ditching classes. Dropped out for real when I was thirteen and ran away." Shouta quickly did the mental math while tears started to gather in Midoriya's eyes.

"Y-you.. You've been living on the streets that long?" He sounded dangerously close to crying, while next to him Bakugou just stared.

"Damn," he breathed quietly. "Fuckin' hell, Eyebags. You said you were young, but not that young. You're tougher than I thought." His eyes held not horror (well, not much), but respect—a dangerous thing in Shouta's opinion.

Hijack represented the other extreme end of the spectrum he didn't like to dwell on: the kids who ran away because of their Quirks. The kid said he was thirteen when he dropped out, and he looked to be closer to sixteen now. Doing the mental math, it seemed fairly obvious he ran away after the UA Massacre, a thought which made Shouta's stomach curl unpleasantly until he pushed it away.

"You're likely behind on all of this material then," he said bluntly. "Did you try to keep up your education at all?"

The kid shrugged as he typed a reply. "We worked on some history and science books. Never really bothered with math though."

Shouta sighed and shook his head, filing away that casual use of "we" for later. "What we really need is a comprehensive assessment test for you, but that's probably not an option. Just forget about math for now and see if you can understand the other subjects."

Hijack nodded, putting aside the workbook to grab one of the other textbooks instead. The other two put aside their own math books as well to pick up whatever one he had grabbed, and Shouta leaned back with a quiet sigh. The motion had him suppressing a wince, the subtle shift reminding him he had a broken leg.

Damn, his leg still ached... His mouth thinned as he glanced at the pill for only a fraction of a second. The brat had claimed it was a painkiller, but he didn't trust it. It didn't matter how nice the boy might seem, Midoriya Izuku was still connected to the Villain Alliance. Shouta had no reason to trust him, and he had even less after this.

Bakugou Katsuki and Hijack were victims and prisoners of the Alliance, clearly captured with the intent of having them work with and for Midoriya. Whether the boy himself had picked them barely mattered. A normal civilian wouldn't need a 'party' or whatever they liked to call their little group, and if they really were equals then Hijack wouldn't be fucking muzzled. If Midoriya was willing to overlook that, then the villains had obviously influenced him more than Shouta had thought.

For now, Shouta would need to reanalyze the kid, and keep a close eye on the dynamic in this group. As far as he was concerned, Midoriya Izuku was now at the very least a probable accessory to the Alliance's schemes. He could only hope the kid still wasn't completely corrupted, or none of them would be able to get out of here.

They weren't alone.

Ochako had already suspected it from her messages with Ashido, but to get the actual confirmation had her heart soaring. Even now she kept rereading the few messages she'd gotten last night from the mysterious Nettmegg. Nettmegg had quickly made it clear she was a stranger, but she was one of the friends Ashido had mentioned in their brief conversation before Ochako ran away. It hadn't taken long for her to dispel any doubts about her identity.

Nettmegg hadn't outright said it of course, she had to be frustratingly obtuse in case any of their accounts got compromised. (You know, again.) She'd said enough to make it clear to Ochako that she was talking about Class 1-A though. 'Does a boy with a pink head with a pet rabbit sound familiar? And a punk rock girl and a girl who says 'kero' a lot?'

Ochako had responded in the affirmative, recognizing Kouda, Jirou and Tsu-chan right away. All three ran in different social circles, so the idea of someone identifying them specifically couldn't be a coincidence. Still, just to be safe she'd asked, 'Do you know about a boy with a bird head? And a boy with green hair, and a super-manly guy with red hair?'

There had been a brief pause on Nettmegg's end, and then, 'Yeah, I know them all. Everything checks out. Things are messy here so we can't talk tonight. Will reach out tomorrow. But look up the vigilante scene in Hosu.'

The conversation ended there but that had led to a whole different rabbit hole, one which kept Ochako up for half the night reading article after article. The 1-A Vigilantes had exploded onto the scene just shy of two weeks ago, and she buzzed with excitement as she recognized the costumes and their Quirks as dead ringers for Jirou and Kaminari. Becoming vigilantes was genius on their parts, the 1-A branding guaranteed their classmates would recognize them.

Ochako wanted to tell Deku right away, but she forced herself to refrain for the moment. Deku had messaged her yesterday to say he'd be starting quasi-tutoring sessions with Aizawa-sensei along with Bakugou and Shinsou. The thought of how their teacher would react to the other two teens made her wince sympathetically. Showing up with obvious prisoners would most likely tank whatever trust Deku had managed to build so far, so he was understandably stressed.

For that reason, Ochako had decided to wait until after the undoubtedly disastrous first tutoring session to tell him any of this. He needed all his focus for the meeting, and telling him about it now would just make it harder for him to concentrate. Besides, telling him over text about something so major didn't feel right.

They'd been hopeful there might be more people than Ashido, but now they had evidence there were at least two more. Ochako had already followed the profiles for the 1-A Vigilantes on FacePage and Tweeter, and she had written out so many aborted comments on their posts and photos. She wanted nothing more than to reach out to them and confirm it once and for all, but... where did she even begin?

There was just—just so much to go over. No one seemed likely to suspect Deku was here too, and she doubted any of them would predict him being stuck with this world's equivalent of the League of Villains. Honestly, Deku's situation was what really made her hold back from reaching out just yet. Ultimately, it wasn't her place to tell them about it. He was the one caught up in it; she only had his secondhand accounts, so he'd be able to explain it better himself. She couldn't call them and explain what she'd been up to without explaining all that, either, and doing that felt like a violation of his privacy.

That thought ran through her mind as she looked at a message from Nettmegg asking if she had a burner phone so they could call and talk that way. She bit her lip as she considered it, before finally typing a reply.

'I do, but before we talk I need to take care of some MAJOR stuff. I'll message you my number when I'm done, is that okay?'

She got a simple 'okay' in response a few seconds later, and Ochako switched over to the chat with Deku to send a message. He should be with Aizawa now, so he'd see it after the tutoring session when he'd hopefully have the rest of the day free.

'Can you come over today? We have a LOT to talk about.'

Kuroe's house was very quiet on Saturday morning. Even as they all sat in the kitchen eating a late breakfast, no one really spoke. Not Mina, not Kiri, not An-chan, and especially not Todoroki.

Mina felt simultaneously overjoyed by Todoroki's presence, and also like total garbage. The fact she wasn't alone still sent surges of joy all through her body, making her want to leap up and scream and dance in celebration. She already knew others were here, but actually meeting someone else from her world had filled her with a whole new level of joy and relief. But as excited as she was, the revelation from last night put a damper on any celebrations.

Todoroki didn't know Endeavor was dead in this world.

The fact he hadn't known still left her horrified and guilt-filled, even if she had no control over it. Mina had learned about Endeavor's death while relentlessly searching her phone for information on her very first day in this twisted, screwed-up world. He had died battling a whole horde of villains a year prior in a battle that lasted hours. Mina hadn't read up on it much since she had other priorities, but she could tell his death had shaken all of Japan.

After a whole year though, his death didn't exactly get talked about every day anymore. From what Todoroki had explained, he hadn't had a chance to do much research on this world at all, and he'd specifically avoided looking up Endeavor. The fact he even saw that broadcast about Tokoyami had been a total stroke of luck. It made sense he wouldn't know about Endeavor.

Still, she couldn't imagine how it must feel to find out so suddenly. Todoroki had all but shut down after finding out; she would never forget that strangled cry he made once he realized they were serious, his face so full of anguish and confusion. Mina knew there was something going on between Todoroki and his dad, especially after what he'd said last night (which was really concerning), but it was still his dad.

After that, the rest of the night had been kind of a lost cause. Most of it had been spent just kind of comforting him, while the others took turns basically getting everyone caught up on, well, everything. It turned out An-chan was the coordinator for this whole network of runaways based out of Odawara, complete with cool-sounding codenames for everyone. They didn't tell them about everyone, but it was still so weird to see so many of her classmates and friends there with none of them recognizing her at all.

They also explained Todoroki had told them about coming from another dimension, but they'd decided he was probably being brainwashed or something and decided to play along and keep an eye on him. Mina would be offended on his behalf, but given he was looking for Tokoyami and Gentle Criminal, she guessed she couldn't blame them for being cautious. Their concern came from a good place, even if it was stupid and wrong.

On that note, Gentle Criminal had moved on to Hosu on Wednesday, but they'd hidden that from him, which Mina did take offense on his behalf. Apparently they were concerned he'd run off after him. Todoroki didn't really seem to be in the right state of mind to care about that though, and they left not long after that.

So now she, Todoroki, Kiri and An-chan were just sitting in Kuroe's kitchen eating breakfast and just being all-around quiet. Todoroki had spent the night there too, and they'd had no problem giving up the guest room bed to him. An-chan had her own bedroom here, so Mina and Kiri just camped out in the living room, though they didn't talk. They all had a lot to think about, and for once she wasn't in the mood to talk.

Luckily for them, though, An-chan was a girl of action.

"So, they responded, right?" Mina asked, breaking the heavy silence. "You said last night you messaged everyone and they all responded, right?"

An-chan hummed around a mouthful of cereal and nodded. "They did. I didn't talk to them too long, and they never outright said their names. But they ended up answering enough questions to confirm that they've got the same set of memories as you guys. They all want to have a phone call just to confirm this is the real deal."

Mina's heart soared at the prospect, buzzing in her seat excitedly. "I can't believe this is really happening!" she exclaimed, turning to look at her fellow dimension jumper. "Isn't this great, Todoroki? There's more people!"

"It is," he agreed quietly, and it wasn't the bad kind of quiet much to Mina's relief, just the regular level of Todoroki quietness. Some of the shock seemed to have worn off overnight thankfully, and he seemed much more composed than he'd been last night as he glanced at An-chan. "When will we call them?"

"I gave them all my number, the vigilantes said they'd call after their patrol," she replied. "Gravity girl said she had some stuff to do first, and would send me her number when she was done." That was a bit disappointing, since Mina had been talking to Uraraka the longest out of everyone in this mess. She really wanted to know what was going on with her. However, she didn't let the disappointment hold her back.

They weren't alone, and that was all that mattered.

They weren't alone.

Kyouka had honestly been starting to lose hope until last night when Kaminari's sudden hysteric laughter had led her to prematurely ditch her bath to check on him. When he'd shown her the messages, she'd been blown away and too stunned to speak. Pinkie, Heights Alliance, and Chargebolt meant more to them than words could describe.

Kaminari had been insistent on messaging this "Nettmegg" and straight-up questioning if they were from Class 1-A. He'd even already sent a friend request so they could message privately. Kyouka ultimately had to wrestle the laptop away from him and handle the response herself. While she wanted to ask the same questions, she knew they couldn't be too bold or open. The "asking for a friend bit" left her wary and suspicious, so she played it cool.

'The names mean something. Heights Alliance is a building, right?'

'Yep. Do you know Pinkie's first name choice? And who rejected it? And one more question: who made the giant glacier, and where?'

And that had been what eliminated any lingering doubts. The glacier Todoroki made at the Sports Festival had been legendary, and not the kind of thing someone would randomly reference. Combined with all the other questions, there was no doubt this person knew about it specifically.

That had really been all the confirmation they really needed. After the Kyouka replied (keeping it vague of course, 'a boy with two-colored hair at the Sports Festival'), Nettmegg had explained she wasn't part of Class 1-A but reaching out on behalf of someone who was. It had been disappointing that she was a stranger, but the confirmation that someone else was here overshadowed that.

Nettmegg wrapped it up by typing, 'I can't talk much tonight, there's stuff going on here. Can we talk tomorrow?' That led to a brief discussion ultimately ending with Nettmegg promising to send a phone number to call after setting up some other stuff.

Now she and Kaminari had just finished wrapping up an impromptu morning patrol, and Kyouka was on her way back to Kaminari's apartment after buying a burner phone. The spontaneous Saturday morning patrol honestly felt like a dumb idea, since (as Kaminari put it) most people liked to sleep in on Saturday mornings, including criminals. They'd only done it because they'd felt too pent up to just sit around until ten—the earliest time Nettmegg said she'd be available—and even a quiet patrol would be productive.

As it turned out, it wasn't that quiet though. Some villains turned out to have the same idea as Kaminari, so they ended up taking care of a robbery at a jewelry store. The would-be thieves had been left restrained for police, and they'd split up so Kaminari could drop off their gear at the warehouse while Kyouka went to buy the phone. It was a little bit before eleven now, so Nettmegg should be able to answer the call right away. Just knowing they'd be talking to someone in their situation... It felt unreal.

Based on the focus of the messages, it seemed pretty obvious that Ashido was the one trapped here. Kyouka... had mixed feelings on that. Ashido was cool and they got along pretty well, and Kyouka was glad they weren't alone here, but she was far from her first choice for a situation like this. This situation seemed to call for a good amount of brains, and Ashido... well, that definitely wasn't her strength. Kyouka wasn't used to being the sole brains of the operation, but so far it was shaping up to be that way.

Hopefully someone else was here too. They still had a few classmates whose current statuses were total unknowns. Maybe one of them would be able to help.

It didn't take long before she was back at the apartment. Kaminari had yet to arrive, so she unpacked the phone and then went to the kitchen to grab a post-patrol snack and opened the laptop to open the messenger. The one with Nettmegg's phone number was near the bottom, and she pulled out the burner to plug it in so they could call the second Kaminari arrived before focusing on her snack.

By the time she'd finished half a bag of pretzels he finally showed up, practically slamming the door open and shut. He fumbled to lock it before beelining right for her, having to practically skid to a stop before he crashed into the table. "Okay, we're doing this now, right?" he asked eagerly, and Kyouka nodded as she grabbed the phone.

"Let's do this," she said, and Kaminari plopped into the other chair while she hit dial. One ring, two, three—

"Hello?" They both wilted a bit at the unfamiliar voice, disappointed even if they'd known it was a possibility, but quickly pushed past it.

"Is this Nettmegg?" Kyouka asked, straight to business.

"Yeah. I'm guessing this is—"

"JIROOOUU!" They startled as a familiar shout suddenly rang out over the phone, their heads snapping up to stare at each other wide-eyed.

"Ashido?" Kaminari blurted, and they heard a delighted shriek.

"I KNEW IT! I knew it was you guys! See Todoroki, I told you!"

That had them both bolting upright, their eyes even wider as another, much quieter voice responded, "I never said I didn't believe you, though?"

"Wait, Todoroki?" Kyouka asked sharply. "Are you saying you both—?" She stopped herself short, unsure how to finish the question. Fortunately, she didn't need to.

"We are!" Ashido answered enthusiastically. "And it's not just us, either! Uraraka's here too! We haven't actually called her yet, but we've sent messages and it's totally her!"

And once again, the situation improved. They'd found not just one person from 1-A, but three. "Holy shit," Kyouka whispered, while Kaminari cheered in sheer relief.

"We're not alone!" he cried as he threw his arms into the air with a hysterical laugh. "We're not alone! There's more people! Oh man, do you think anyone else is here too?"

"That's actually what I was hoping to figure out," Nettmegg quipped dryly, and the duo tensed at the reminder an outsider was listening in. The pair exchanged wary glances, now much more on edge.

"No offense, but who are you again?" Kaminari asked warily.

"Oh, that's An-chan, she's one of my best friends in this world!" Ashido replied cheerfully for her, but then added, "Uh, I think, anyway. An-chan, we ARE best friends, right?"

"...At this point, yeah, I guess so?" Nettmegg sounded more amused than anything.

"So we can trust her, then?" Kyouka pressed, just to be safe.

"Absolutely!" Ashido confirmed, not an ounce of hesitation. "An-chan's like, super smart, so she'll be a HUGE help! Oh, and Kiri's here too!" Kyouka and Kaminari both perked up, but soon slumped when she sheepishly tacked on, "But he's, uh, not our Kiri though. But he's still here and helping out!"

"Uh, hi." Kirishima's voice sounded over the speakers, more timid and nervous than Kyouka had ever heard him. "I'm uh, probably not gonna be much help, so sorry about that. I just kinda got swept up with Ashido, I guess..."

It was disappointing to find out about another person who hadn't come over, but the last part made Kyouka fondly roll her eyes. Yep, that sounded just like Ashido to drag in another world's Kirishima. For his part Kaminari didn't seem too disheartened. "Eh, you might not be able to do much but it's still good to have you here," he decided with a grin. "Once a bro, always a bro! Even if you're not our Kirishima."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," Kirishima replied, and he sounded just a little more relaxed as he added, "I'll totally try to help however I can! Even if it's just helping you guys figure out, you know, what you don't know about this world and stuff. We definitely had to help Ashido a lot."

"Thanks, bro!"

"I thought we'd ask some more questions to make sure this all checks out, but looks like we're skipping that," Nettmegg quipped dryly. "Screw it, we've got a lot to cover so let's just get to the point." Kyouka and Kaminari both sat a bit straighter at that, all business now.

"Ashido said Uraraka is here too, right?" she pressed.

"Yeah. I messaged her last night and her answers checked out, so all signs point to them being someone from 1-A. But we haven't made full contact yet so we don't know it's her for sure yet."

"It totally is her though!" Ashido piped up. "She called herself Infinity Girl! And THEN I got a friend request from '1A Space Rescue Hero'!" Yep, that definitely sounded like Uraraka. "But she ran away before I could actually talk to her about, you know, everything. I didn't even get to reply to the new friend request before we ran away."

That last bit startled them. "Wait, why'd she do that?" Kaminari asked.

"I don't know!" Ashido whined. "We barely got to talk at all before she suddenly left! And then Midnight showed up because she ran away!" Wait, what?

"Anyways," Nettmegg continued pointedly before they could ask questions (because seriously, what the hell?). "She said she had to do something first, and she'd reach out when she was done. So we have two options. We can start catching up now and do a rehash after she contacts us, or we can wait for her to make contact and go over everything at once." Kyouka and Kaminari exchanged quiet looks, the latter biting his lip.

"I kinda want to hurry up and do something now, but if Uraraka's here..." He trailed off, and Kyouka sighed.

"Honestly, I'd rather go over this once," she admitted, scratching her cheek. "We've, uh, been pretty busy."

"I'll say," Nettmegg snorted.

"Is the vigilante scene in Hosu that active?" That was Todoroki this time, sounding genuinely curious.

"Among other things," Kyouka replied vaguely, thinking of the stuff with Yaoyorozu and Iida. "We'll get into it after Uraraka joins in, I guess."

"Sounds good," Nettmegg agreed easily. "I'll call you up when I get a chance—oh, actually, one thing before we go," she said. "Ashido and Todoroki gave me a list of your classmates, to see if we can find anyone else here. We want to figure out who else might be caught up in this. Chances are you guys aren't the only ones, so might as well cross off some more names while waiting on Uraraka or whoever."

"We've already crossed out Kiri obviously," Ashido added. "And we've met a couple other people, but they definitely don't remember."

That got their interest. "Who'd you meet?" Kaminari asked. There was a pause on the other end, and then some muffled mumbling the phone couldn't really pick up.

"We can't say the names for safety reasons," Todoroki finally said. "But I've met four people from Class 1-A, and three from Class 1-B."

The vigilante duo frowned at the information, particularly the last part. The idea of someone from Class 1-B being here never even occurred to them. They glanced at each other before Kyouka spoke. "We haven't met anyone from Class 1-B—"

"Actually, there's one guy in my math class," Kaminari cut in, looking almost sheepish. "I don't know his name, but he was kinda short, had gray hair...? He was the guy who dropped out after the second round along with Ojiro." He shrugged feebly before perking up as he remembered something else. "Oh, and I saw that green-haired girl too!"

"Green-haired girl?" Kyouka repeated, and he nodded.

"Yeah! The one that teamed up with those two other girls in the cavalry battle!" Kyouka actually kinda remembered her. She'd been on that all-girl team in the cavalry battle. "She wasn't at school here every day though, she showed up like, once a week, I think? I think the teachers called her Tokage...?"

"Come to think of it, I think I saw her too," Kyouka muttered, the description jarring her memories. "I think she's in one of my classes." She didn't clearly remember her from the Sports Festival, but it reminded her of the online classes in this world. One of the students had gotten her eye for some reason she couldn't place, so it'd make sense if she subconsciously recognized her from UA.

"Okay, that's neat and all, but anyone from 1-A?" Ashido pressed impatiently.

"Right!" Kaminari nodded. "Okay. So, first off, we found Mineta's FacePage profile on like, day one—"

"Boo," Ashido cut in flatly, and Kyouka smirked while Kaminari grinned at the lack of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, figured you'd feel that way," he said. "Anyways, he's obviously not caught up in this or we would've reached out to him by now. But THEN, on our very first patrol we ran into Sero, and he works at a convenience store here! He, uh, doesn't remember either," he added sheepishly. "He helped us tie up the criminal though, which was awesome! Then later we met Satou on a different patrol. And—yeah, he doesn't know us, either. He has an awesome Instagram about his baking though!"

"Oh man, I miss his stuff so bad," Ashido groaned. "Remember that cake he made the day before we all ended up here?"

"Oh man, how could I forget!" Kaminari whined. "Dang it, my mouth's watering just thinking about it!"

"It was good," Todoroki commented, and that made Kaminari pause.

"Hold on, you don't think...?" Kyouka quickly figured out where his trail of thought had gone and rolled her eyes.

"Kaminari, if it was the cake, Satou would be here too," she said flatly. "So would Kirishima, all the girls, Sero, Shouji and Midoriya." Kaminari sagged in disappointment, and they heard a snort from the other end.

"Well, that's one theory down," Nettmegg said dryly. "Since we're on the topic, any chance you've met a certain nerdy jock and a rich heiress at school?" The reference to Iida and Yaoyorozu had Kyouka raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, but that's a bit more... complicated," she said. "They're not from 1-A either, but we should probably save the rest of the details for the full story. That should be everyone we've met though."

"Fine by me. Thanks, that really whittles down the list a bit. I'll go over the full list of who's missing once we have Uraraka on here. There's some... special cases on here that we should probably all discuss at once." Well, that was ominous. "For now, this is probably a good stopping point. We'll call back when Uraraka finally gets in touch."

"Sounds good to me," Kyouka agreed while Kaminari nodded.

"Yeah. Guess we can't do much until we get her side, huh?"

"Nope, not really."

"It's so awesome to hear your voices!" Ashido shouted. "I miss you guys SO much! I can't wait to talk to you again!"

"We haven't even hung up yet though?" Todoroki sounded faintly confused, and Ashido made a scoffing sound.

"I still don't want to hang up! A phone call isn't nearly enough! I want to see you guys right now!" Kyouka smiled as he listened to her whine, able to easily imagine her flailing her arms and throwing her head back melodramatically.

"Yeah, we miss you too," she admitted, and heard a gasp.

"Kyouka-chan! I knew you loved us! Ugh, I just want to go to Hosu and hug you right now!"

"That's probably a bad idea when there's a ton of people searching for us," Kirishima pointed out, and Ashido made a dejected, drawn-out rumbling sound halfway between a groan and a whine that made Kaminari loudly snort.

"We'll talk details on how to meet up later," Kyouka promised. "Until then, call us whenever. We'll be free all day. Later."

"Later," Anjou replied, and then the call ended, leaving the apartment in silence. After that they sat in silence for a few minutes, just processing... everything. Then, Kaminari gave an excited whoop as he leaped to his feet.

"We're not alone!" he cheered, and Kyouka found herself smiling as she watched him begin to dance around the living room. If she'd been any more the carefree type she might have joined him. They weren't alone, and that's all that mattered. Things were finally looking up for them.

This chapter's a bit later than I usually like to post them, but I had to do a lot of editing and had barely any sleep last night so it was harder to focus on it. This is the first of a series of frankenchapters. You see, originally I wrote out two separate phone calls. First I had Jirou and Kaminari, starting here and continuing into the next chapter, and THEN Uraraka calling later after she has a chance to fill in Izuku on everything. Total chapters spent between those two calls: 51-55. Then I realized that five chapters dedicated to two phone calls was ridiculously slow pacing even by my standards, especially since one of those chapters consisted mostly of rehashing the first call (even in just summary form).

So cue some big-time editing/rehashing to mix the two calls together. New end chapter: 54. That one's still currently unfinished, but it's like 90% done so I'm on track to wrap it all up. Honestly, I might even look into trying to see if I can merge two of THOSE chapters together. So yeah. Next couple chapters miiiight be a little rough because I'm cutting and pasting parts of conversations into different characters' POVs. But yay, everyone's FINALLY getting connected!

On a brighter note: Aizawa and prisoner bonding time! Uraraka scheduling a secret rendezvous with Deku! PHONE CALLS AND CONFIRMATION THEY'RE NOT ALONE! Things are finally looking up for everyone~

Question for next time: how do you think the characters will react to the villains' canon counterparts after they get home? (Specifically Izuku and Shigaraki/the rest of the League, or Todoroki and Uraraka with Dabi. You KNOW Todoroki's going to find out the truth by the end of the story.)