Chapter 52

.::Calmness is Overrated::.

"Fucking asshole, get back here!"

Bakugou's roar rang through the tiny cell as his racer was sent careening off the track by a blue shell on the television screen. Shinsou looked fairly smug as his own racer passed him to take up the number one position, a satisfied glint in his eye as the blond shouted in aggravation. Izuku just watched silently from Shinsou's bed, absently tuning out the string of colorful curses and threats while he scratched Sushi's ear.

At the moment the trio sat in Shinsou's room playing Mario Kart. After spending two hours going over schoolwork with Aizawa-sensei they'd decided to take a brief break from planning, and actually play the game like Izuku always claimed they did. They'd reasoned that it would help cement their story if people asked them about the game, and that a little bit of leisure would be good for their stress levels.

And Izuku had a lot of stress right now.

Volunteering to sit out the first few rounds had been a no-brainer for him. They only had two controllers after all. Shigaraki had taken one with him after another surprise play session on Thursday evening, and then Kacchan had "accidentally" broken another when they tried Neko Café Manager again (for some reason none of them could explain). He wasn't in the mood to deal with Bakugou's temper or Shinsou's ruthless playing style anyway.

...In retrospect, those exact reasons probably made it a bad idea for the pair to play against each other, but what was done was done. Izuku just had to hope they wouldn't try to murder each other by the end of it.

As they started the final lap he zoned out from the game, thinking over the disastrous tutoring session from that morning. Aizawa hadn't reacted too strongly, but Izuku knew the man well enough to recognize how much it had absolutely rattled him. The man had spent a majority of the time glaring at him, as if he blamed Izuku for Bakugou and Shinsou being prisoners. (Which... might not be entirely wrong.) As far as Izuku could tell, the only thing working in their favor was that they'd convinced Kurogiri they didn't need a guard stationed inside the cell at all times. That would have been a disaster. Either way, it was clear he'd have a lot more work to do now.

If he wasn't glaring at Izuku, Aizawa was often glaring at the anklets instead though. Every time Izuku noticed him looking at the bands, it reminded him they still didn't know how to remove them. Since leaving the cell, he'd found that a much safer and less stressful topic to consider.

His brief conversation with Uraraka about them echoed in his head. The possibility of the anklets needing key fobs hadn't occurred to him, but he really hoped that was the case. Like he'd told her back then, the only other alternative he could think of was that the anklets weren't designed to be removable, seeing as Shigaraki could just disintegrate them instead. Or maybe someone had a lock-picking Quirk like she suggested, it'd certainly be a good fit for villains...

He snapped back into the present as Bakugou let out a victorious howl. "HA! TAKE THAT, LOSER!" Looks like he'd won, and Izuku blinked in surprise as he saw the final times were within a second of each other, the closest he'd seen yet.

"Woah, that was really close!" he exclaimed. "Good job!" His sudden shout startled Sushi enough to make her jerk away from his hand, hopping out of his lap with a displeased mewl. Izuku flashed her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Sushi." Whether Sushi accepted his apology remained to be seen, the feline plopping onto Shinsou's lap instead. He happily set down the controller to begin stroking her back, Sushi arching into the touch, while Bakugou huffed and turned to face Izuku.

"Okay Deku, what the hell are you moping over now?"

Leave it to Kacchan to get straight to the point. Izuku internally groaned as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"You've been mumbling to yourself for the past five minutes," Bakugou pointed out flatly, and Izuku had to suppress a flinch. "I wasn't paying attention because I was busy kicking this loser's ass, but I know I heard you mention Shittyraki. Something's obviously on your mind, and no way it has nothing to do with this shithole. Spill it."

Izuku sighed and nodded. There wasn't any point in putting it off, so he quickly summed up his conversation with Uraraka and her thoughts on the anklets. Once he finished the others considered the information thoughtfully.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Bakugou muttered to himself. "Guess we'll have to look for the key." Shinsou cocked his head to the side, picking up his phone to type on the text-to-speech app. Given he had one hand firmly resting on Sushi's head, it took a few extra seconds to type his message.

"I know it can be removed," he said. "Toga mentioned removing it a couple times while flirting with me." Izuku and Bakugou both winced at that. Toga had made no attempt at hiding her creepy infatuation with Shinsou in front of Bakugou when she'd escorted the latter out of his cell, so he'd gotten a firsthand look at her crush. Needless to say, all of them agreed that it was better to keep Toga away from him.

"Okay, so she'd probably have a key then," Izuku said, very pointedly pushing the thought away. "As far as I know her Quirk just lets her transform into other people, so I can't see her using that to remove it." Pausing, he then added, "Uh, on that note, she needs blood to transform. So... Yeah." Both of them looked a bit shocked at that, and after a few seconds Bakugou snorted.

"Of course she does," he grumbled under his breath. "Creepy ass Quirk for a creepy psycho girl..." He shook his head and added, "We still don't know what the thing looks like. Could be a remote, could be some weird key fob thing like for cars. We'll have to look into it later. At least that Eraser guy doesn't have one. Not that I saw, anyway."

"I haven't noticed one either," Izuku murmured to himself. "Maybe he does have one and it's just hidden, but..." He grimaced. "They probably figured chaining him down and breaking his leg was enough."

"Yeah, that does make this stupid jailbreak harder," Bakugou muttered with a frown. "Hero or not, we're gonna have to end up lugging him around when we bust out of here, aren't we?"

"Yeah, definitely," Izuku sighed. "I still don't know how we'll get him out. Hijack's probably tall enough to carry him, but..."

"I'm out of shape," Hijack typed after Izuku trailed off. "I don't know if I can carry an adult."

"I probably could, but I'm better with my hands free if we run into trouble," Bakugou said, scowling at his palms. "Deku, don't you somehow have some super strength Quirk now?"

"Y-yeah, I could lift him easy, but... I'm not that, uh, big." Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. Had the situation not been so serious, the mental image of him trying to carry Aizawa would be comical. Piggyback ride? Awkward as hell, and Aizawa's broken leg would probably be hard to get a good grip on anyway. Fireman carry? Aizawa's waist was easily wider than Izuku's shoulder, it'd probably just end up digging into the man's middle. Also, that one probably wouldn't give decent support for his bad leg either. Princess/bridal carry? No. Just, no.

No matter how he pictured it, the end result would be ridiculous. Maybe the others were imagining it too, because Shinsou gave a snort and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no, I don't think you could even carry the Vigilante Wonder over here without looking dumb," Kacchan declared, flashing a vicious grin as Izuku pouted at him.

"Then why'd you suggest it in the first place!?"

"Because someone's got to come up with ideas, and you're too busy moping to do anything actually productive."

"Can we get a wheelchair?" Shinsou suggested before Izuku could retort, and he had to pause to consider it.

"I... maybe? This place did used to be some sort of medical facility, so there might still be wheelchairs around... I haven't seen any though, and I don't know where they'd be. Maybe if I ask Kurogiri... But I'd need a good excuse to ask him for one..."

"We want to have a wheelchair race down the hall," Shinsou's phone intoned, and for a second both Izuku and Bakugou were dead silent as they stared at him. He stared back, perfectly straight faced (or as much as he could be with the muzzle), and then Bakugou—

Kacchan laughed.

"Damn, it's stupid but it'll work!" he cackled, doubling over and pounding his knee with a fist. "We'll get some of the other villain bozos in on it to really sell it! Let's see if any of those bastards can beat my explosions!" Izuku found himself smiling faintly as Shinsou snorted in amusement, lilac eyes glimmering with glee while Kacchan's hands lit up with small explosions.

It was a ridiculous, childish excuse, but then, they were just a bunch of bored teenagers. Giving a more serious reason would open them up to way more scrutiny than something silly like this. Based on all the weird adventures described in his journal, a wheelchair race wasn't even the weirdest idea he'd come up with.

His smile faded then as he glanced at the door. The room didn't have a clock and he didn't have his phone, but Kurogiri had dropped off lunch just before this latest race, so it should probably be early afternoon. "I should go message Uraraka about all this," he commented. "She might have some ideas too."

"Fine by me," Bakugou said, picking up his controller. "I can go back to kicking this loser's ass while you're gone."

"In your dreams," Shinsou typed before giving Sushi a final pat and grabbing his own controller, and Izuku smiled faintly as he left. Thankfully they had gotten permission to let Bakugou and Shinsou hang out alone in Shinsou's cell as long as Izuku locked the door behind him and returned Bakugou to his room by curfew. It was a small step, but it was progress.

Izuku returned to his bedroom where he'd left his phone, quickly opening FacePage. Right away he noticed a new message already waiting from Uraraka, and he perked up when she saw her asking him to come over. If she wanted to meet in person, she must have learned something big. Most likely she'd finally gotten in contact with Ashido and confirmed she was from their world, and wanted to go over what to tell her.

Izuku glanced at the clock to check the time before making up his mind, pocketing his phone and calling out. "Seiko?" He didn't know if she was actually around to hear him, since lately she seemed to split her time with other things. Getting a response seemed to be fifty-fifty the last few times he'd called her to check.

This time she was here though, and he only had a minor heart attack when he turned to find she had materialized right behind him and was waiting behind him expectantly. Even if he'd half-expected it, it was still a shock how suddenly she could appear.

Her head cocked to the side, those eerie, empty-looking eyes seeming to bore into his soul like always. "Yes?" she asked flatly, and he gulped, unable to help the shiver. How the hell did just her voice leave him so uneasy? Izuku thought he'd be getting used to her after so long, but instead it felt like the opposite was happening. The more he talked to her, the more wrong Seiko felt.

"Um, I need to go visit Aiko's apartment," he said, shoving down his unease. "I left Kacchan with Hijack, so can you let them know I'll be back later than I planned?" She didn't respond, seeming to study him, and then—

She smiled.

It was a small, faint thing, just the barest upturn of her lips, but it was still enough to make Izuku suck in a sharp breath. Maybe it was just how dead her eyes looked, empty and void of that spark of life and creating an odd dissonance with her smile. Or maybe it was how rare the expression was on her usually blank face. Whatever the cause, it was still enough to make him feel frozen and his spine shiver.

"Sure," she agreed, and then disappeared into the shadows without another word.

Well, he was going to have nightmares tonight. No idea why, but Izuku already knew he definitely would. Maybe sending her to tell Kacchan and Shinsou was a bad idea. He tried not to dwell on it too much as he headed to the bar, where he found Kurogiri behind the counter as usual rearranging glasses. No one else was around, most of the villains out today doing... whatever.

"Hello, Izuku," the misty man greeted as Izuku entered. "Do you need something?"

"Can you send me to Aiko's apartment?" he asked. "I realized I forgot something there last time, and I thought I could hang out there for a while." He would have said Aiko invited him to come over since that seemed like something she would do, but Uraraka had told him last night she'd left on some mysterious job. He didn't know if Kurogiri knew about this job, so he figured it'd be better to be vague.

"Very well," Kurogiri agreed easily without further prying, much to his relief. "Where are your friends?"

"They're playing games in Hijack's room. I'll probably be back before dinner unless Aiko has me stay over, so I'll let Kacchan out then. I'll call or text if she wants me to stay for dinner, but I'll definitely be back later tonight to give Eraserhead his food." He added the last part with a pointed frown. Aizawa's trust in him was low enough, having another person suddenly deliver his meal would raise questions.

Kurogiri didn't seem bothered by the strict tone, simply nodding as he set down the glass he'd been holding. "That is fine. Feeding him is your responsibility after all. Do text by six at the latest, though." Even as he spoke some of the fog drifted from his body to form a portal large enough for Izuku to step through. Izuku thanked him a final time before entering, and soon found himself inside his bedroom at Aiko's apartment. Once again he found himself struck by all the hero merchandise, a strong wave of déjà vu washing over him as he looked around.

The laptop wasn't on the desk, so he realized Uraraka must have taken it to another room. "Uraraka?" he called as he headed to the door. He had barely reached for the handle when it flung open, revealing a bright-eyed and grinning Uraraka.

"Deku!" she exclaimed, relief and excitement evident in her voice. Before he could so much as say 'hi' back she'd grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the main room of the apartment. He stumbled at first but quickly matched her pace as she led him towards the couch. "Come on, I don't know when Aiko will be back and we have so much to talk about!"

"You got in touch with Ashido then, right?" he asked eagerly.

"Not exactly," she replied, and he blinked in confusion as she barreled on. "One of her friends messaged me instead. But Deku, listen!" She stopped and spun to face him, grabbing his shoulders and looking right in his eyes. The grin on her face wasn't cheerful or friendly, it was something more vicious and triumphant, closer to the smile she'd sported before the Sports Festival. "We're not alone."

His heart soared at her words, relief and anticipation cascading over him all at once. "S-so, she is our Ashido?" Uraraka's hands tightened on his shoulders, her eyes sparking with excitement as her smile became even fiercer somehow.

"Not just her," she said, and Izuku felt all the breath leave his body, mind momentarily going blank. She released her hold on his shoulders and spun around to grab his laptop from the coffee table, turning and opening it to face him. His eyes widened as he saw several photos of two people in hooded costumes—very familiar-looking costumes, with "1-A" clearly emblazoned on the backs.

"Jirou?" he breathed as he spied familiar, chunky-looking boots. Then upon seeing the other person with an index finger pointed, he whispered, "Kaminari?"

"Deku, we have so much to talk about," Uraraka said, and from there proceeded to blow his mind.

Ashido was pacing. Shouto had lost track of how many laps she'd done around the kitchen, clearly too agitated to sit still. He tried not to watch her as he finished off his lunch, a bowl of cold soba. He hadn't asked for his favorite food, but he welcomed the surprise. "Man, that was good!" Kirishima said as he polished off his own bowl. "Remind me to thank your brother later, Anjou."

"Sure thing."

"Where is Kuroe, anyway?" Shouto asked curiously. Kuroe had headed off shortly after breakfast, and it was already close to one.

"Work or something," Anjou said with a shrug, and Shouto frowned as he dredged through his memories.

"I thought he was a programmer?"

"Yeah, that's one job." The cryptic remark had his frown growing, but before he could press Ashido abruptly stopped her pacing to slam her hands on the table.

"What's taking her so long!?" she whined. "It's almost one! Ocha-chan should be done with whatever it was by now!" Shouto leaned away from her as she slumped forward; he'd already forgotten how dramatic and over-the-top she could be. It's not like they'd interacted directly that much back at home, he mostly just observed her outbursts from a safe distance. Anjou and Kirishima seemed to be used to her theatrics though, looking only mildly disturbed by it.

"Ashido, I get waiting is boring, but we don't really have a choice," Kirishima said. "She'll send Anjou her number when she's ready."

"But when will that be!?" Ashido cried.

At that moment, as if the heavens heard her plea, Anjou's phone gave that distinct chime from FacePage, and she quickly unlocked it. "Right now, I guess."

Ashido squealed at the confirmation, and Anjou had to fight the pink-girl off when she tried to pounce and grab the phone. Shouto watched the exchange in silence for the most part, finding Ashido's excitement to be a little over the top and just slightly intimidating if he were honest. At one point, he swore she hissed at Anjou. Eventually he and Kirishima helped pull her off, and calmed her down.

"Remember, keep cool," Kirishima told her lowly, and she nodded seriously. Still, the air felt tense with anticipation as they all turned to watch Anjou make the call, putting the phone on speaker.

It rang only once before the other person picked up, and they heard a familiar voice say, "Hello?" Almost instantly Shouto felt some of his tension fade: Uraraka. She was a little wary and hesitant, but he recognized her voice almost right away. (Strange, the sound quality seemed clearer than when he called her in their own world.)

Unfortunately, Ashido also recognized her voice and that just kickstarted her excitement all over again. "OCHA-CHAN!" He winced at her shout right next to him and pulled away. He really should have predicted that, grimacing as he watched her lean over the phone with a manic grin. "I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU WERE INFINITY GIRL!"

"Ashido, volume!" Kirishima hissed, making her flinch and mumble a quick "sorry."

"Wait, who was that?" Uraraka asked, and they heard a faint... something from the background. "Wait, Kirishima? Was that Kirishima? He's here too?!" Any doubts about this being their Uraraka faded instantly, though Shouto found himself wondering about the faint background noise. Was someone else with her?

"He's a Kirishima, but probably not yours," Anjou replied for the redhead, who looked a bit flustered at the questions. "And I see we're skipping the checks. Again." She shot a pointed look at Ashido, who looked absolutely unrepentant as she shrugged.

"Sorry, I just got so excited!"

"Uh, hold on, who was THAT?" Uraraka questioned. "Was that... Nettmegg?"

"Yeah, it is," Anjou confirmed, turning back to the phone. "My name's Anjou Ran. I'm a friend of this world's Ashido and Kirishima, and apparently the one in charge of arranging this weird phone reunion. Also."

She glanced at Shouto pointedly, and he recognized the unspoken cue to introduce himself. "I'm here too," he announced, and he heard a loud gasp.

"Todoroki!?" Uraraka squeaked, and was it him, or did it sound like there were two voices just then?

"Todo's from our world too!" Ashido exclaimed eagerly, leaning closer to the phone with a giant grin. "We only just met up last night though! He had no idea anyone else might be here, and was on his own this whole time!"

"That's why we had to delay the calls until today," Anjou added. "Last night involved some pretty big bombshells, and we needed some time to process everything." Shouto frowned but said nothing as he averted his gaze, feeling a brief moment of shame over his reaction last night. Shame, and confusion.

He still didn't know why the news Endeavor had died in this world had shaken him up so much. It had been shocking, yes, but he felt like his reaction had been a bit extreme. Ultimately, this man wasn't his father, so the loss shouldn't impact him. So then why did it upset him so much?

"That's totally understandable!" Uraraka replied, not missing a beat. "I mean, this whole situation's kinda insane, ya know? I don't know about you guys, but we've been through a TON of stuff."

"We?" Shouto latched onto the word, squinting at the phone as Ashido snapped to attention. "Uraraka, is someone else there?"

She didn't reply right away, and they heard faint mumbling before she finally spoke again. "...Um, before I answer that. Did you guys get in touch with Jirou and Kaminari—I mean, the, uh, vigilantes?"

"We did!" Ashido confirmed all too excitedly. "Uraraka, it's totally them! We talked to them earlier today and confirmed it all and everything!"

"We didn't talk much though," Shouto felt the need to add. "We wanted to wait to have you join the call, too."

"Actually, we're supposed to call and conference them in," Anjou commented, picking the phone off the table. "You cool with that?"

"Yes please, thank you. It'll be so much better if we can do it all at once!" Anjou hummed as she tapped away on the phone, and within a couple minutes Jirou and Kaminari's voices sounded over the speaker.

"Uraraka, you're here too!?" Kaminari exclaimed. "SWEET!"

"Good to hear you, Infinity Girl," Jirou greeted wryly, in what Shouto thought might be a teasing tone. Uraraka groaned loud enough for her phone to pick up.

"Come on, it worked, didn't it? Ashido recognized me right away!"

"Yeah, she did. Good job." As they spoke Ashido seemed to be getting more and more excited, a feat he hadn't thought possible. She vibrated in place with increasing frequency until she finally seemed to reach her breaking point.

"This is AMAZING!" she exploded, throwing up her arms with obvious delight. "It's almost like we're all together, just over the phone!" She slammed her palms on the table and leaned closer to the phone. "Uraraka, you HAVE to tell us everything you've been up to! I want the details, stat! Why'd you run away? Did you know Midnight's looking for you!? Oh! Oh! And what's up with your family in this world? Like, why were you being home schooled!?"

"Uh, it's kinda a long story," Uraraka muttered, and seemed to hesitate.

"If it's a long story, how about we all explain our sides first?" Jirou suggested when several seconds passed in silence. "I mean, all of us have been pretty busy, so if you want to wait..."

"Yeah, I think it'd be best if I go last," Uraraka laughed weakly, clearly relieved. "I don't think anyone would be able to focus on anything else when I'm done." That was a surprising claim, and Shouto felt like he might be able to reasonably counter that. He did wake up next to Dabi after all. He didn't argue it right away though.

"Alright, then who should go first?" he asked. There was a pause, and then he, Kirishima, and Anjou all turned to look at Ashido, her face split into a giant grin.

He shouldn't have even bothered to ask.

So a notice to anime-only fans: yesterday something big happened in the manga. I won't say what, but I'm just warning you to be wary. There's going to be fan fics popping up as people vent their feelings (already seen at least one on AO3), and someone ALSO mentioned seeing it spoiled in a thumbnail for a YouTube video. So yeah, be very careful for the next couple of weeks.

Question for next time: what would be the worst way to drop the "Izuku's here too and living with the LoV" bombshell?