Chapter 66

.::Prelude to Progress::.

Shouta sighed as he reclined atop the blankets and pillows, waiting for the door to open for breakfast to be delivered hopefully by Midoriya. The kid hadn't skipped out on delivering meals since that one morning when that girl brought it instead. Granted, it had only been a full day and a grand total of four meals since then, but Shouta felt like he was entitled to find room for optimism about something in this mess.

Especially now that he knew Aiko was here.

He didn't know how it was possible, but somehow the stakes in this damn hellhole kept getting higher and higher. After seeing her of all people, the situation had become dire and near-hopeless. The only bright spot was that she didn't seem to live here based on her conversation with Midoriya. However, it seemed rather clear she was a regular enough visitor, which made the situation still incredibly dangerous.

Honestly, the only reason he hadn't let himself just fall apart was because he knew there were other prisoners here. The tutoring seemed like it'd be a regular thing every other day, or at least that's what Midoriya had gathered from speaking to Kurogiri. That meant the other prisoners—the kids—probably wouldn't be coming by today, which agitated him.

Every moment without them in his line of sight already felt risky, and seeing them yesterday had only amplified that feeling. It reminded him that he wasn't here alone this time, that there were other victims—kids. Kids who needed a stable adult to help keep them afloat. Shouta had focused on that, especially because he could tell they were worried for him. They hadn't really asked him any questions, giving him space and letting him just focus on petting Sushi.

At least he got to pet a cat yesterday. That was honestly the biggest highlight he'd had since he first got kidnapped, though he wished he didn't have on these damn mittens so he could actually feel it.

Either way, yesterday's visit had given him time to ground himself without anxiety that some other dangerous unknown would barge inside. And now, part of him felt humiliated at how he'd acted in front of Midoriya. Not the breakdown after Aiko left, he knew that he couldn't be faulted for a heavy reaction brought on by trauma. But even before she showed up, he'd let himself get consumed by his anxieties.

Now that he'd had time to think more clearly he realized just how irrational a lot of his fears had been, fueled purely by years-old trauma. He had let it cloud his judgment, so ready to grovel for Midoriya's approval and forgiveness. While some of his fears weren't completely groundless, Shouta felt frustrated at how quickly he'd let himself fall into despair.

After all, that would only make things worse if Midoriya was truly malevolent.

As it stood, he still had no idea which way Midoriya's morals swayed, and his connection to Aiko only cast more doubt. The kid hadn't given any solid indications since then, either. He still lingered at mealtimes like always, but he didn't try to engage Shouta in conversation as much, mostly kept to himself. Shouta felt even less motivated to speak to him. Not when he didn't have a solid read on the kid.

So he decided to do one more test. Not like the disastrous confrontation that led to... whatever that was. In retrospect, that had been a very foolish idea because angering him would have led to disastrous consequences if Midoriya did turn out to be malicious like Shouta feared. He'd let his emotions and ire at the other prisoners' situations get the better of him, and right now, he needed to keep cool and logical.

That was why he sat up straight upon hearing the door's lock click, opening to reveal the now-familiar face of Midoriya. "Hi, Eraserhead," the kid greeted quietly as he shuffled inside, holding a water bottle and a plate with breakfast as usual.

"Croissants?" Shouta asked, noting the change from the usual diet of sandwiches and other simple to make meals.

"Yeah. I'm not allowed to cook and no one on the permitted cooking list was around this morning, and someone went to a bakery yesterday, so..." The kid trailed off as he set the plate down, nudging it in Shouta's direction. Despite his wariness, Shouta couldn't help but comment on something the boy mentioned.

"There's a permitted cooking list?"

"Some people here are really bad cooks," the kid replied, shuddering with a grimace and faintly haunted look in his eyes. Fair enough. While Shouta began eating Midoriya twisted off the cap on the water bottle, more to show it hadn't been tampered with. He put it down next to the already open and half-finished water bottle, but as he did he suddenly froze, eyes going wide. "Wait. The pill, it's..."

He trailed off, staring at the empty plate that once held the painkiller. Shouta didn't say anything, focused on chewing as he waited for Midoriya's reaction. The easiest way to test the kid was to see his reaction to the missing pill.

Shouta hadn't actually taken it, only hidden it beneath the many pillows and blankets. He still didn't trust it, so the kid's response would be telling about whether the pill was actually a painkiller or something else. If it was legit, Midoriya would probably comment on it. If it wasn't, he'd probably gloat in Shouta's face or otherwise change his behavior as he waited for the effects to set in. Assuming they didn't have some instant effect that should have been noticeable by now.

So far, the kid looked more stunned than anything. "You... you took it?" he asked slowly. "Did—did it help? Is it strong enough? It's not too strong, right? I mean it's just some over the counter stuff so it shouldn't be, and you've probably built a bit of a resistance to painkillers since heroes get hurt so much..." His eyebrows creased with open concern as he cut off his rambling. "Does it help at all?"

"It's... fine," Shouta replied after a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Probably. I just took it before you came in, so it hasn't taken effect yet." Then as an afterthought he added gruffly, "Thanks for the concern."

He didn't expect the kid to suddenly tear up.

The tears didn't start streaming down his face thankfully, but the corners of his eyes still glistened with unshed wetness. Midoriya sniffled and quickly wiped his eyes with his arm before giving Shouta a still watery-looking smile. "O-of course, sir!" he responded, voice wobbling, and perked up as he pulled out his cell phone. "Oh, right! Last night was Present Mic's show but we didn't listen to it, so if you want, we can listen to it now?"

Shouta had to force himself not to stare or react too strongly. The kid just had so much hope in his eyes, hope mixed with anxiety and shyness and some still-lingering tears. It honestly felt jarring after so long surrounded by cruel and callous villains. "That's fine," he agreed with a nod, glancing away with a half-hearted shrug. "Nothing else to do anyway."

Apparently that was enough to set off the kid again, because he heard a sharp inhale and saw his shoulders hunch from the corner of his eye. Alarm briefly spiked as he realized the kid was about to cry, but Midoriya roughly wiped his face again as he fumbled with the. "R-right! Okay!" His voice was even shakier now, and he loudly sniffled before continuing more steadily, "Okay, here's the site. I'll just..."

He trailed off as he pulled up the episode, while Shouta let his mind race. It could just be an act, but right now, it seemed like maybe the kid really wasn't malicious.

Maybe he could work with this kid after all.

In a testament to how normal this world had become, Denki didn't even bat an eye as Hatsume shoved a toolbox at him. "Here Battery-kun, carry this for me!" she ordered, and he yelped as he staggered under its weight.

"You alright?" Jirou asked, glancing up from her phone, and Denki grunted as he righted himself and shrugged. He immediately regretted it because that reminded him that he was holding something super heavy.

"I think I need to do some weight training," he said, and Jirou rolled her eyes as she returned her attention to her phone. The train was finally pulling into Odawara, only minutes away from disembarking, and his nerves felt higher than ever. At long last, they'd see someone from UA—from their world. Not right away, since Ashido had messaged that Kirishima would be the one waiting for them, but even that felt like a relief. At least he already knew.

"So, what sort of babies do you think they'll all need?" Hatsume asked, and Jirou shrugged.

"Dunno," she muttered, sounding distracted.

"Is Yaomomo still texting you?" Denki asked curiously.

"Yeah. Her next class is about to start though." Jirou had been texting her on and off throughout the train ride, only possible because Yaomomo had chosen to stay home from school again to process... well, everything. It still felt surreal to think that she'd been briefed on the situation—and that Tokage girl, too. They hadn't told them everything, but Yaomomo still wanted to be kept in the loop a bit.

Of course, they didn't tell her they were going to Odawara though. Who knew how she'd react to that.

"But seriously though, you don't think they'll want any babies?" Hatsume prodded, ignoring their conversation, and Denki frowned.

"I dunno. They don't really need much support gear in our world. I mean, Ashido has some special shoes to let her slide around on her acid, but the others don't really use much. Or at least, not like we do."

"...Oh?" Hatsume looked very interested now, and Denki felt a sudden pang of dread. "So you're saying, I'll have full creative freedom?"

...Yep, Denki might have messed up. "Uh, if they need gear, I guess?" he said uncomfortably. "But like, Todoroki probably won't. And I don't think Uraraka would need anything special, either...?"

"Not even something to hide their Quirks?" Hatsume pressed, and Denki opened his mouth to respond but then paused. Come to think of it, she kinda had a point. All the others had people looking for them, so using their Quirks might give away their identities even if they disguised themselves. He and Jirou used a lot of Hatsume's gear as vigilantes for that very reason. And with what was going on with Midoriya...

"I have no idea," he said faintly as the stop was announced. Beside him Jirou pocketed her phone and got up.

"You can just ask them," she said briskly as they filed into the aisle to get off. "Midoriya would probably be up for stuff. I know he needed some stuff for the blowback back home, and we still don't really know how his Quirk works here, so..."

"Oh yeah, we never actually talked about it that much, huh," Denki muttered with a frown. During the initial phone call, Midoriya finally confirmed that he indeed had his Quirk in this world, but he hadn't used it much. According to him all the blowback at the start of the year came from a lack of training since he was a late bloomer, and he had no idea if this world's Midoriya had done any sort of conditioning for it.

"This body's a lot more fit than mine was when it first manifested, but it's not at my current level back home," he'd explained. "And it's pretty obvious everyone thinks I'm Quirkless, so I don't even know if my counterpart knew about it. I don't want to risk using it too much, especially without Recovery Girl or anyone to heal me."

Honestly, Denki found it pretty wild to think that Midoriya hadn't even known about his Quirk for so long. It at least explained why he'd had all that trouble with it at the start of the year, but still. With everything else going on they hadn't spoken about it for long before going back to other topics though. "Yeah, he'll probably want something," he agreed as they exited the train. "He won't be there today though, but I mean, he's sending that thing we want you to look at, whatever it is, so... yeah."

He shrugged, still not really sure what Midoriya wanted her to look at. He hadn't really given any hints, but it was probably some kind of villain tech. Denki couldn't really say that in the middle of a train station full of people though. In any case Hatsume seemed satisfied enough, nodding in approval. "Well, until I meet him, I'll just have to see if there's anyone else who might need one of my babies!"

"...That might actually be more likely than I thought," Jirou said, sounding surprised, and Denki glanced at her confusion before noticing two figures heading their way. Even with them all bundled up and most of their features obscured by the usual winter accessories, his heart leapt as they locked onto the larger of the pair, recognizing the fabric face mask.

Shouji came to a stop not far away, eyes lingering on them for a moment. "Jirou and Kaminari?" he asked, and they both nodded slowly. Of all the people to greet them, Denki did not expect to see him. Bad as it sounded, he kinda forgot Shouji even existed.

Next to Shouji the other boy tugged down his scarf a bit to show a grin, and only then could Denki recognize him as Kirishima. "Yo! Nice to, uh, meet you, I guess?" His greeting lost its enthusiasm partway through, suddenly looking a bit shy.

In return Denki flashed a big grin of his own, already knowing this world's Kirishima wasn't quite as confident as theirs. "Yeah, nice to meet you too dude! Did uh, not expect you to not be alone, though." He glanced at Shouji awkwardly, wondering how much he knew and why he was there.

"If you're wondering, I'm briefed on the situation," he interjected calmly, which, what!? Denki could only stare, and judging by her wide-eyed silence Jirou seemed just as stunned. Other people knew? That had never come up on the phone or FacePage. They'd all been so careful not to tell anyone else, so he felt pretty blindsided by this. What was going on in Odawara!?

While they were stunned by this revelation, Hatsume meanwhile remained totally unaffected. "Ooh, 'briefed,' huh?" she asked, bouncing over with a grin. "Sounds so official and businesslike when you say stuff like that!"

"It's a serious enough situation," Shouji said, and glanced at Kaminari. "Do you want me to carry that? It looks heavy."

All of Denki's previous concerns instantly vanished. "Yes please," he groaned, relieved to have someone else take the toolbox, but before he could step forward Hatsume held out her arm to stop him.

"Hold on, Battery-kun," she said sharply, her manic smile gone and replaced by a serious frown. "That's my toolbox, with all my special tools and my babies! I'm not letting just anyone touch it!"

"Babies?" Kirishima repeated faintly while Denki sagged dejectedly.

"Come on, Shouji's super strong though!" he whined. "He's got, like, six arms, too—hey!" He frowned as Jirou sharply jabbed her elbow into his side, but she met his look with a scowl.

"Kaminari, you idiot!" she hissed. "Look at him!" Denki continued to frown, but he glanced at Shouji and then froze as he realized the other teen was wearing a poncho-style coat. One that covered his arms so he couldn't see them. Oh crap.

Despite the situation, Shouji didn't seem bothered, just nodding. "So you do know me," he murmured, while Kirishima's eyes were wide.

"Holy shit, dude, that's amazing!" he breathed to the taller teen. "That's, like, even more proof!"

"More proof?" Jirou repeated, and Kirishima paused at that, looking unsure of what to say.

"We'll explain later after the last person arrives," Shouji replied instead. "It'll be easier to get it out of the way all at once. That train should be here in half an hour. There's a coffee shop nearby where we can get hot chocolate while we wait." That didn't clear up much, but Denki figured there was no point in protesting. Like Shouji said, it would only be half an hour until Uraraka arrived, and then they could meet Ashido and Todoroki and finally get all the details.

With that the group headed out, Shouji taking the lead with Hatsume trailing close behind. "So, you have multiple arms, huh?" she asked. "Is that all, or does your Quirk do anything else?" Denki resisted a sympathetic wince, realizing she was gauging his potential as a client for her inventions. While the questioning went on Kirishima fell back a bit to whisper to Denki and Jirou.

"I'm sorry, what was that about babies?" he hissed, staring wide-eyed at Hatsume's back.

"That's what she calls her inventions," Jirou whispered back with a shrug. "It's weird at first, but you get used to it. But more importantly, who else knows?" she added sharply. "You guys never mentioned anyone else being in on this!"

Kirishima grimaced as he ducked his head and looked away. "Yeah, uh, let's just say Anjou was really justified in being paranoid about people finding out about talking about everyone here. It's kinda a crazy story actually. Oh, but Ashido said to warn you that 'the dark face of UA' is here?" he added uncertainly, and Denki froze.

"Wait, that snob from 1-B?" he whispered in disbelief, recognizing the nickname instantly from their group chat back home. Jirou clocked onto his identity after Denki's comment, back going ramrod straight as she snapped to attention.

"Hold on, is he our Mono—"

"You probably shouldn't use names!" Kirishima cut in hastily. "It's, uh, a long story, but they're all super paranoid. But no, he's from here. Ashido said to warn you because he's actually kinda cool here, apparently. Her words, not mine." He shrugged uncertainly. "I mean, guy seemed pretty okay to me when we met, but To—Yuki seemed surprised too."

He corrected himself harshly mid-sentence, and Denki frowned when he realized he probably meant Todoroki. "Should we use fake names too?" he asked.

"Sure, if you want?" Kirishima shrugged again. "I mean, you guys aren't really on the run like we are, though, so. Yeah." He guessed that made sense since Todoroki was pretty well-known, and Ashido and Kirishima had only run away just last week.

"I think I'm good on that front," Jirou muttered. "Not like anyone's really around to hear us." She had a point. The street they walked on was relatively empty, most people inside to avoid the cold, so Denki didn't feel too worried about someone overhearing.

But talking about it still made him a little paranoid. Especially when Kirishima grimaced. "Uh, yeah, I wouldn't be too sure about that," he muttered, and Denki's paranoia spiked tenfold. Immediately his eyes scanned the area, and his breath caught as he thought he spied a flash of blue against the white snow. When he looked over though there was nothing there.

"R-right, guess we should still be careful, just in case," he muttered shakily, nerves officially fried. He had to think more rationally, he couldn't let Kirishima's words get to him. Still, he couldn't wait to see Ashido again, and he tried to relax as they entered the coffee shop.

Unknown to them Mail watched unseen as always, floating near the ceiling of the coffee shop as they sat at a table with hot chocolate and coffee. After fifteen minutes Kirishima and Shouji had returned to the station to wait for Uraraka, and Mail had elected to wait behind with the trio from Hosu. "So these are the famous 1-A Vigilantes, huh?" he mused aloud. Famous being a relative term of course, not like he'd heard of them before that phone call on Saturday.

As far as first impressions went, he found them pretty underwhelming. Their thick layers of clothes covered their physiques, even after removing the bulky winter coats, but he could tell they weren't the muscular types. The blond one had looked ready to give out just carrying that toolbox, dropping it on the table with an exhausted whine. The girl seemed similarly average on a physical level, though she seemed a bit more naturally attentive to her surroundings. Probably due to her Quirk giving her heightened hearing, judging by how her ears had those long lobes.

"Base fighting style for both is probably Quirk-dependent," he murmured to himself. "Also relatively low situational awareness, either due to inexperience or being trained as primarily frontline fighters. Blond one also seems lacking in strategic department." He snorted as he recalled how easily Kaminari had spoken about Shouji's clearly concealed Quirk, and also used his name before introductions.

All in all, if not for the fact they came from another world, he wouldn't find them that interesting. The pink-haired one seemed the most interesting as the only true unknown. She seemed like a rather enthusiastic girl, and very passionate about inventing judging by her current stream of consciousness about ideas and technical jargon.

He felt like she and Hadou would make a terrifying combo; their combined energy and extroversion would overwhelm even Togata. Oh, Amajiki would flip.

Thinking of the kids back at the agency made Mail's mood sober a bit, rolling onto his side to glance out the window. "Wonder if I'll get back before these kids do something stupid," he grumbled. Traveling across the country with a limited understanding of kanji, no easy access to maps, and an inability to ask people for basic directions made solo travel very inconvenient.

Well, at least he wasn't bored. This past weekend was the most entertainment he'd had in years, the drama at Nighteye's agency had nothing on this. And he had a feeling it would only get better as the door opened and the other two returned followed by a girl with bubblegum pink hair carrying two bags, making the others perk up eagerly.

(Still, he had to wonder about that brief second when Kaminari seemed to glance his way.)

Aizawa later found it hard to focus on Mic's show because Izuku kept visibly trying not to cry with relief whenever he looked at the empty plate.

Also, if anyone forgot, Mail the ghost is still here spying. At this point he almost feels like a stand-in for the readers. He's definitely having fun watching as an outsider!

Question for next time: what characters would you expect to be banned from cooking by Kurogiri? (This applies to any villains and/or prisoners, not just LoV/Alliance members.)

Also: because American Thanksgiving is this week, we decided Aftershock will be having a bonus update tomorrow! Woo! If you haven't read it yet, check it out now! ^^