Chapter 67
.::Another Letter Reading::.
Once upon a time, Mina wondered what it would be like to have a voice Quirk after seeing a movie about a woman whose singing voice could make glass shatter. Now she felt glad she didn't have one, because the windows would definitely shatter when Kiri and Shouji returned with three familiar people.
"YOU'RE HERE!" she screamed, launching herself at them. Uraraka, angel that she was, ran forward to meet her embrace with a squeal of her own, followed closely by Kaminari who nearly knocked them down with a heavy tackle.
"We're not alone!" he shrieked, laughing in delight as he hugged them. "We're not alone!" As the three hugged and reveled in having other people Mina quickly turned her gaze to Jirou, who stood to the side.
"...I don't have a choice, do I?" she asked, scratching her cheek.
Rather than respond Mina tore herself away from the others and charged forward, leaping across the last bit of distance to hug her friend. While Jirou tried to act cool, she opened her arms at the last second to accept the embrace. "Good to see you too Ashido," she said as she squeezed Mina back, and all was right with the world.
The initial contentment at the reunion lasted a while, the group just soaking up the feeling of being together again. From the corner of her eye Mina saw Shouji lead Kiri and the pink-haired inventor girl towards the kitchen to give them some space. That suited her perfectly fine, just happy to be with her friends after so long.
The excitement couldn't last forever though, and soon enough they broke apart from the hug. "So, um, interesting meeting place," Uraraka said awkwardly as she glanced around the room. The runaway network had set them up inside an old roadside restaurant which had been abandoned for years. The main room was dank and dusty, the windows all boarded up save for a few little gaps. The main light came from some paper lanterns on the tables, which admittedly made it a bit spooky.
"Yeah, definitely... interesting," Kami muttered, side-eying one of the tables which still had silverware and a plate on it. "This, uh, feels kinda creepy. Almost like it's haunted."
"Yeah, I've been mostly playing a game and trying to ignore the place," Mina said with a sheepish laugh, gesturing to her JoyStation Anima which rested on one of the tables. She'd only put it down a few minutes before they arrived, but the screen still glowed faintly since she hadn't turned it off.
Jirou walked over to glance at it and nodded in approval. "Rhythm game, nice."
"Still, I'd be kinda creeped out waiting here alone," Kami continued.
"Who said she was alone?"
Kami and Uraraka shrieked when someone spoke up nearby. Even Jirou spun around in a defensive stance, looking ready to fight. Rogue stood behind them, smirking in amusement as he nodded. "Yo."
"Who the hell are you?" Jirou demanded, and Mina saw it was time to jump in to make introductions.
"Guys, this is Rogue, he's like, the leader of the runaways I guess?"
"Runaways?" Uraraka repeated, and Rogue nodded.
"Yeah, there's a reason Nettmegg didn't want to talk about all this stuff on the phone," he said, turning to head to the kitchen. "Come on, Yuki's waiting in the room over here. We'll talk more there."
"I'm guessing he's still shaken up by yesterday, huh?" Kami muttered as they followed him.
"Can you blame him?" Jirou asked. "Not every day you find out your brother's a villain." As she said the last part Mina noticed Uraraka grimace, making her shoot the other girl a questioning look. Uraraka caught her eye and mouthed "later," and Mina frowned but nodded. Okay, there was definitely something going on there, but she'd find out later.
The kitchen was a little brighter than the main room since they brought in some portable lamps there. The kitchen was pretty big so they'd also grabbed some chairs to sit around two empty metal tables used for cutting up stuff or something like that. Mina didn't know the purpose, she'd never been inside a restaurant kitchen before, but it beat sitting at the counters.
Todoroki sat at one of those tables along with Kiri, glancing up as they entered and rising from his chair. "Hey," he greeted with a nod, and then reeled back when Kaminari raced forward to tackle him in a hug. Mina wouldn't lie, she kinda wanted to laugh at how dumbfounded he looked. "Um, hello Kaminari?"
Kaminari pulled away from the hug to grin at him. "Todoroki bro, I know we never really talk back home, but it is really good to see you. Seriously dude."
"Yeah, definitely one of the better options to get stuck here with," Jirou commented. "Glad to have you, Todoroki, even if the situation's kinda messed up."
"Yeah!" Uraraka bobbed her head with a bright smile. "Seriously Todoroki-kun, I'm so happy to see you—our you." Todoroki relaxed a bit as he nodded at her.
"You too, Uraraka," he replied, and that had to be the happiest he'd sounded since yesterday, even if he didn't smile. Still, Mina felt alarm bells ringing because Uraraka just smiled back at him but made no move to approach. She figured Uraraka would have been just as eager to hug Todo as Kami was, maybe a little less enthusiastic but still. They hung out sometimes back home, didn't they? Weren't they friends?
Before she could dwell on it too long Uraraka turned to look at Shouji and the inventor girl, who stood by a counter near the back with several bags. She perked up and ran over, grabbing at a duffel bag. "Thanks for bringing my stuff in!" she told Shouji, unzipping it to root around before turning with a bright smile. "Ashido, catch!"
Mina instinctively reached out as she threw something at her, and blinked when something black and fuzzy landed in her hands. Wait, she realized suddenly. Not fuzzy, but hairy. "A wig!" she exclaimed with a bright grin, quickly turning it over in her hands for a better look. The lighting made it kinda hard to see the color exactly, but she could see bits of blue, red and purple mixed in.
"I put it in last, so it shouldn't be too messed up," Uraraka said. "Your horns might be too long to cover up completely, so I also got this wig cap thing we can use to figure out where they are and cut out holes in the wig for them. Then you could cover them up with a hat, or... something? We can figure out details later, I've got notes on stuff and makeup ideas, too."
"Ocha-chan, you are a genius!" Mina declared, grinning as she put the wig on the table next to her. "I never would've thought of that stuff!"
"Uh, thanks, but it wasn't my idea," Uraraka replied as she turned back to the bag to root around some more. "Let's just say my, uh... was really enthusiastic when I asked about disguising horns." Mina's curiosity was piqued once more, wondering "your what?", but she didn't get a chance to ask before Uraraka lifted something wrapped in a handkerchief. "And while I'm at it, here Hatsume-san. This is the thing we want you to look at."
Everyone snapped to attention at that. "Gimme!" Hatsume called, lunging over to snatch it. The cloth fell away and Mina caught sight of something dark and kinda reflective, but she couldn't see it clearly in Hatsume's hands. "Hmm, what do we have here?"
Uraraka cringed, looking reluctant to answer. "...An anklet with a bomb in it?" she replied hesitantly. All at once the room grew tense, the good mood sapped away almost instantly.
"...Uraraka," Jirou said slowly. "How did you guys get one?"
"Because... um..." She trailed off, glancing at Shouji and Rogue. "I'm sorry, but I really don't want to say this in front of other people, and I don't know how much you guys know?"
"Hah, guess we should do formal introductions then, huh," Rogue muttered, scratching at one of his overly large ears. "Dammit, don't really like the spotlight, this feels so awkward..." Mina perked up, recognizing her time to shine, and quickly pulled some folded papers from her pocket.
"That's okay!" she exclaimed as she waved it around. "An-chan gave me this letter explaining everything!"
"Oh thank goodness," Rogue said with obvious relief while everyone else turned to look at Mina curiously. Mina just grinned.
"Come on, let's sit down and get this started!"
The tension in the air could be cut with a knife as they waited for Ashido to begin reading the letter. Ochako sat at the table next to Todoroki, Jirou on her other side with Kaminari sitting next to Kirishima. Being around everyone else from their class felt so great, but the unexplained presence of Shouji and a total stranger kinda cut into the good mood.
Ashido and Todoroki didn't seem bothered by having them there, but Ochako couldn't help feeling a bit anxious. At least Shouji was familiar as a classmate from their own world, but he clearly didn't know her personally. Meanwhile, she knew nothing about Rogue. She tried not to look at them and focus on Ashido standing at the head of the table, clearing her throat.
"Sorry I can't be there for the meeting. There's a lot you guys need to talk about so I'll just get to the point. Odawara is home to a network of runaways who had to leave their homes due to being targeted by villains for recruitment, family members being targeted, and other reasons. Don't know how it happened, but Odawara is somehow one of the safest cities in Japan. Villains tend to get crushed before they can do anything, so it's become an unofficial top-secret hub. I work as the coordinator because my Quirk, Neural Networking, lets me keep track of people I tag among other things I'd rather not share in a letter."
Ochako sat a bit more alert at the last part, as did the others. "Okay, that explains why she wanted to meet us," Jirou muttered while Ochako nodded fiercely.
"We could really use that with Deku!" The escape would go way easier if they could keep track of his location. Even if Anjou couldn't tag anyone else at the Alliance's headquarters, it'd make coordinating with an outside team much smoother. They'd already agreed he'd probably need someone on the outside to help with the getaway, especially with Aizawa's broken leg.
"Guys, let me finish!" Ashido hissed, and they fell silent so she could continue. "The group has a lot of members who are in your class, and some from 1-B too I guess. I won't say any names for security's sake, but I think Pinkie and Yuki know about everyone and can fill you in. Some members have been partially read in on the situation, some haven't. Chances are Rogue will be there since he's basically the leader. Parasyte should be too. If Parasyte is not there—"
This time Ashido paused on her own volition, blinking down at the paper before she went back to reading. "If Parasyte is not there, call him over because that's just stupid." Ochako frowned, confused and a little worried about the name parasite, but next to her Todoroki just nodded.
"He is critical to this," he commented, Ashido and Kiri nodding in agreement.
"Uh, who's Parasyte?" Kaminari interjected hesitantly, looking a bit worried.
To Ochako's surprise Shouji raised his hand as he spoke up. "Me. We all use codenames."
"Oh thank All Might, that name freaked me out so much." Kaminari breathed a large sigh of relief (which Ochako internally mirrored), and then paused. "Okay, but so why do you have to be here? And why Parasyte?"
"I'll... explain later," Shouji hedged, and glanced at Ashido. "You should finish." She nodded and continued.
"I gave Rogue the full details, so you can ask him what he told everyone else because we are NOT telling everyone about Midoriya's situation." She emphasized the word not before continuing. "Parasyte, whatever you hear, don't tell anyone. You'll understand why." Now it was Shouji's turn to look confused, but the rest of them just nodded. "I won't be able to come back anytime soon, but I want to be kept up to date on whatever's discussed today. We can work out details to meet someone later for that.
"As a final note, you cannot tell anyone about the runaways. Not your friends, not any adults or heroes, no one. This is what I meant by there being lives at stake. Odawara is safe for now, but we can't guarantee it will stay that way if the wrong people find out about the network. We're making a big exception to help you guys for reasons Parasyte and Rogue can explain. Good luck."
Silence fell when Ashido finished reading, everyone just taking a few moments to process it. "...Huh," Ochako finally said once she felt ready to speak again. "Okay, I totally see why you guys were so paranoid to talk about this on the phone."
"So who's here?" Jirou asked. "I remember Anjou said she knew about what most of the class was doing in this world after talking to us. So I guess that'd mean... Kouda, Ojiro and Asui? And Shouji too, obviously."
"Yeah," Todoroki confirmed. "I met Kouda and... Shiozaki from 1-B, I think? Kuroe got me in contact with them I first came here."
"Kuroe... That's Anjou's brother, right?"
"Yeah, he's super cool!" Ashido piped up eagerly, before adding a little lamely, "He, uh, doesn't know about this stuff though. Like, the stuff with us."
"We try not to get him too involved in the network," Rogue interjected. "We don't know what he does entirely, but he's involved with some shady folks so we keep our distance just to be safe. Well, most of us do," he added under his breath with a soft huff.
"Most of you?" Kaminari repeated.
"Some members are vigilantes," Shouji replied, and Ashido did a double-take.
"Wait, what?" Apparently this was news to her and Todoroki, both of them looking pretty stunned. "Who is it?"
"Ooh, then does that mean they need babies?"
Everyone jumped at the voice, surprised shouts and shrieks echoing around the kitchen. When she whirled to look at the source Ochako was greeted by a devilish-looking grin and flickering green eyes against a backdrop of gold, making her heart stop. Nearby Ashido, Kirishima and Kaminari all screamed again, chairs scraping loudly against the tile as they jumped up and scrambled back, bunching together in a protective hug. Ochako kinda wanted to join in.
While they panicked she noticed Jirou quickly relax in the corner of her eye though. "Oh right, forgot you were even here," she said. That made them pause, and when Ochako looked again she realized that the figure was Hatsume. She now wore steampunk-looking goggles similar to the ones from the Sports Festival; the green lens just happened to reflect the flickering light in a particularly creepy way.
She pushed them up to grin at them, the cross-hairs in her irises only making her look a little crazy. "That's because I've been busy looking at this!" She gestured to the kitchen counter behind her, where she'd set up a bunch of tools along with the anklet Deku had given her. The sight made Ochako perk up.
"Did you find anything?" she asked eagerly.
"Not much yet, I only just started. I was just unpacking all my tools while pinkie over there was reading that letter. But this is some amazing craftsmanship! I think it uses magnetic fasteners for the clasp, I can barely even find the seam without my Quirk. You said it's a bomb? Any idea what kind of explosives are involved? High or low? Chemicals used? Oxidized? Strength? Detonation method?"
Ochako winced at the onslaught questions, shuddering at the implications. "Uh, no," she replied with a grimace. "We haven't actually seen them explode yet, and we really don't want to. So we don't know anything about how they work." Pausing, she added, "Oh, but if it helps, it triggers when it leaves the building? And Deku says that there's a light that blinks when it's on?"
"Very interesting," Hatsume hummed, turning to inspect the band again. "There's either a GPS transmitter in it to track the location, or it sends and receives signals from some central hub device, and activates if it stops receiving signals... But if it explodes when activated, then there would be a risk of the hub device losing power and triggering with the second option, unless you have a good backup generator..."
While she sat back down and rambled to herself Rogue turned to look at Ochako. "Okay, seriously, why is there a bomb?"
"The Alliance guys use that on people to make sure they can't escape," Ashido piped up before she could answer. "Didn't An-chan tell you? The letter says she told you everything!"
"Nope, this is the first I'm hearing of bombs." He shook his head, looking understandably frazzled. "Holy shit. Bombs? Shit."
"The Alliance," Shouji murmured, arms folded over his chest. "That's the name of the villainous group that Midoriya is with?"
"Yeah, the Villain Alliance," Jirou confirmed with a nod. "They go by the 'League of Villains' in our world and there's some differences, but take our word for it when we say they're bad news."
"What did Rogue tell everyone?" Todoroki murmured, eyes narrowing at the teen in question who still looked ready to bang his head against the wall.
"Not much," Shouji answered for him. "Just that there's a sixth person named Midoriya who may or may not be Quirkless, and he ended up with a group of villains in this world somehow. Nothing about how or why, but Anjou did tell us on Friday that he disappeared when he was eight." He paused. "Also, Kaitou is very curious about his Quirk, so be careful of that if you meet him."
"Kaitou?" Kaminari repeated.
"Monoma," Todoroki said while Ashido made a face. Ochako probably made one too; he'd left a rather strong impression on their class. "He's not that bad in this world. I guess it's because we're not rivals...?" He shrugged.
"I'll believe it when I see it," Jirou muttered, and Ochako nodded in agreement. Rogue meanwhile seemed to have recovered from his bad mood, dragging his hand down his face a final time.
"Sounds like there's a lot to go over about Midoriya," Rogue said, and glanced over at her. "Uraraka, right? Maybe you should go first."
"Yeah, probably," she agreed with a nod. She perked up as she remembered something and quickly got up to go to her backpack, opening the front pocket to pull out some papers. "Actually, here. We made a copy of the letter other Deku wrote for when he has episodes. It doesn't go over everything, but we figured it'd be the quickest way to get you guys caught up on the big background stuff since he can't be here to explain it himself."
"Smart," Jirou said with a nod of approval while Ochako organized the papers, and Kirishima approached to peer over her shoulder.
"Woah, is that hand-written?"
"Yeah. We, uh, didn't have a copy machine, so we copied it by hand." That was also why they'd only bothered making one copy. Copying it word for word just once had been tedious enough. "Since there's only one, I guess it'd be quickest to read it out loud."
"Fine by me," Kaminari agreed, some of the others nodding, while Todoroki's eyes narrowed.
"Uraraka," he said, and paused, visibly hesitating. "I know Midoriya said on the phone he wasn't in the notebooks, but... Is Dabi mentioned in it at all?" Ochako froze at that, as did everyone else.
Just like that, the mood in the room plummeted yet again at the reminder about Dabi's villain status and newfound relation to Todoroki. "Dabi?" Shouji repeated curiously, either not noticing the tension or choosing to ignore it. "That villain you mentioned waking up with?"
"Uh, yeah, turns out they're kinda brothers," Ashido muttered with a grimace, and Shouji paused.
"...I don't know how to respond to that," he admitted after a moment.
"It's cool, literally none of us do either," Kaminari assured him. "Still kinda crazy to think about, y'know? I mean, this guy's, just... dang. So crazy." While he talked Ochako bit her lip, guilt building up. She had been hoping to do this in private, but since Todoroki brought it up anyway... Well, no point in hiding it from everyone else now.
"Actually, I have a confession," she announced sheepishly. "Todoroki, I actually met Dabi the day after I ran away." That had everyone snapping to attention, Todoroki's expression particularly sharp.
"You did?" he demanded, and she nodded guiltily.
"Yeah. I was looking for Deku in the town where we ran into each other, but I had no idea where to start so I went to some really shady areas because I figured that's where villains would be, y'know? But I wasn't having any luck and the weather was looking really bad, so I started looking a good place to stay. And that's when I met him. It started to rain and he said he knew a place that would be dry, so... I went with him."
"You followed a villain?" Jirou questioned incredulously, and Ochako winced.
"In my defense, I didn't know it was him at first!" she defended herself. "It's not like I ever saw him in our world! He only told me his name after I agreed, so I couldn't just suddenly go back without being suspicious! I'm just lucky he wasn't facing me when he said his name!"
"You still agreed to follow a total stranger," Shouji pointed out flatly.
"Yeah, that's super dangerous!" Kirishima said with a nod. "Don't they teach you about that kind of stuff at UA?"
"Or elementary school?" Shouji added, still perfectly flat.
Ochako huffed in frustration at the judgmental looks everyone gave her. "Look, I know it was dumb," she said. She'd silently berated herself the entire walk to the office building. In fact, the only reason she'd still followed him was the reason she still defended her decision. "But I didn't know the area, it was getting late, and that rain was so heavy. By the time we got to that place he found, even the stuff in my backpack was wet! If I hadn't gone with him, I don't know when I would've found cover!"
Everyone still gave her judgmental looks, but before they could respond Rogue suddenly spoke up. "Dumb as it is to follow a stranger, can't say I blame you," he said. "That was what, a week ago? Two? Either way, it's the start of winter right now. Staying outside in a downpour when it's so cold is just a giant risk for hypothermia. Better to get to shelter, and then beat up the guy before he can do anything." Several of the others turned to stare at him in disbelief, Shouji included.
"You're siding with her?" he asked incredulously.
"Friendly reminder that Yuki is just the latest person to get connected to the network by following Kuroe, a total stranger, from another city," Rogue replied flatly. That seemed to silence both Shouji and Todoroki. Jirou meanwhile seemed to realize something and buried her face in her palms with a tired sigh.
"And then after you heard his name, you were planning to use him to find the League of Villains, weren't you," she grumbled, not even bothering to phrase it as a question, and Ochako grimaced.
"Yeah, a bit," she confirmed sheepishly, still feeling adequately chastised about that particular plan after being lectured by Deku. And Aiko. And everyone else she knew. "I was kinda desperate, okay? But anyways, so he took me to this abandoned office building and helped me hang up all my stuff to dry, and since we were stuck for a while anyway we started talking, and, well... That's when he told me about you."
Todoroki visibly perked up, clearly surprised and looking almost hurt for a brief second. "He told you right away?"
"I didn't know it was you specifically," Ochako said quickly, realizing what he'd assumed. "He just said he had a brother my age, and that's why he helped me. He said you usually went by Tatsuo, but he also thought you'd probably use Yuki instead, because of your Quirk. He, uh, said you weren't that good at coming up with names." There was a lengthy pause after that, her classmates no doubt thinking of how Todoroki had simply gone with his own given name for his official codename back home.
"...Okay, yeah, he definitely knew Todoroki pretty well," Jirou declared, getting some sage nods of agreement.
"What did he say about me?" he pressed, and Ochako shrugged.
"Not too much. We only hung out for about two hours before the storm passed and my stuff dried, but he said he'd been looking for you. He sounded pretty worried. He actually mentioned how you just woke up and froze him before running off without saying anything. Looking back I guess maybe I should've realized it then, but..." She trailed off with a feeble shrug. In retrospect, that line about the "miniature iceberg" really had been an obvious giveaway.
"Okay, so to be fair, I don't think any of us would've guessed Dabi and Todoroki are related," Kaminari commented after a brief pause.
"Yeah, that just sounds insane!" Ashido added with a nod. "Plus not even Todo thought that! He was just as surprised as the rest of us!"
"I probably should have, though," he muttered bitterly, and Ochako frowned. She had a feeling he wasn't thinking about his experiences in this world specifically.
"I only figured it out when you talked about waking up here on the big call on Saturday," she said, hoping to distract him from those thoughts. "I'd told Deku about meeting Dabi after we met up again so he figured it out too. We actually had to mute the phone to freak out for a minute when we realized it," she added with a sheepish laugh, thinking of the frantic hand motions and psuedo-charades while they talked in high-pitched whisper-shouts.
"Why didn't you say anything back then?" Todoroki asked quietly, and she felt her heart twist with even more guilt—both at how small he seemed in that moment, and her answer.
"Because we knew that once we did, you wouldn't be able to focus on anything else," she forced herself to admit. "We didn't know when Deku would be able to join another call again, so we needed to tell you guys as much as possible while we could, so we could try to get some ideas on what to do. It's just... everything's so messed up for him," she muttered, gaze casting downwards with a frown. "We really didn't know where to start with any of that."
There was a brief moment of silence, everyone no doubt reflecting on the many details Deku had passed on that day. Waking up surrounded by villains with Shigaraki as his brother, finding out Bakugou and Shinsou had been imprisoned before this mess even started, the shaky alliance he'd formed with them... And the most recent development, the need to rescue Aizawa-sensei—a need which had become even more urgent after Sunday.
Still, despite the urgency of Deku's situation, it didn't erase the bad taste in her mouth over hiding all this from Todoroki for so long.
His mouth pressed into a tight line, eyebrows furrowing with clear displeasure, but he nodded. "You're right," he said softly, gaze casting downwards. "I... Even now, I don't feel like I can really focus on anything else. Everything just... Nothing feels real right now, like it's all just a dream." He shook his head, and Ochako felt her heart go out to her friend. She couldn't begin to imagine how it must feel to find out something like this, and under such crazy circumstances, too.
Clearly she wasn't the only one who felt that way, because Ashido, Kaminari and Kirishima all looked five seconds away from crying. "Todoroki, we're totally here for you!" the pink girl cried out. "Anything you want or need, we'll help you, I promise!"
"Yeah dude, if you need anything at all, just say the word!" Kaminari agreed with a vigorous nod. "I know we can't help much, but you're not in this alone! None of us are anymore!"
"Me too!" Kirishima added. "I know I'm technically an outsider and so this isn't hitting as hard with me as it is for everyone else, but maybe that'll make it easier for you to talk to me? So if you need to talk about it, I'm here! Anytime, bro!" Todoroki glanced at them and gave a small nod.
"I'll... keep it in mind," he murmured, though he still sounded a bit distant. The trio looked even more ready to burst into tears at that, and Ochako didn't blame them.
"If it helps, I was absolutely planning to tell you today," she told him. "We actually thought about calling you to let you know earlier, but after talking about it we thought it'd be better to tell you in person so we could... you know, support you. I didn't expect Hawks to beat me to the punch though," she added, and her grave tone briefly gave way to incredulity. Of all the people to be in on the "Dabi is a Todoroki" secret, Hawks had been no where near the list she'd make.
"Uh, yeah, that was definitely the biggest shock," Kaminari muttered with a nod. "I mean the whole brother thing was obviously a bigger shock too, but really did not see that coming."
Todoroki looked up sharply at that, his gaze focused once more. "You don't think he's a villain in this world, do you?" he questioned, and there was a pause as the implications of this possibility sunk in.
"If Hawks is secretly a villain, I'm just gonna give up," Rogue declared after a moment. "Just, fuck it. There's no salvaging society. Just burn it to the ground."
"Yeah, he's the number one hero!" Kirishima agreed with a vigorous nod. "He can't possibly be a villain!"
"Honestly though, with how screwed up this world is, I wouldn't be that surprised anymore," Jirou muttered, and all of the dimensional jumpers nodded in sullen agreement. This world just kept throwing their expectations for loop after loop.
"Where'd that even come from, anyway?" Ashido asked Todoroki curiously.
"He knows Dabi," he replied. "And Dabi is a villain in our world." He paused then, mouth tugging into a frown. "Wait. Does that mean I might be a villain here after all?"
"I feel like someone mentioned having this conversation with you before," Shouji muttered, while Ochako resisted the urge to groan in exasperation.
"Todoroki, I really don't think you're a villain here," she told him. "Look, I know I've made a lot of dumb decisions and judgment calls in this world," and she ignored Jirou's snort and the quiet "mhmm" from Ashido, "but I really think Dabi isn't a villain in this world. Just, the way he talked about you, I could tell he really cared about you." While waiting out the storm he'd told her a few brief anecdotes about his brother to pass the time, smiling faintly the whole time.
"Too bad he can't really be a hero anymore," he'd said at one point. "The world needs heroes like him now more than ever." No matter how Ochako looked at it, she couldn't see someone who'd say something like that being a villain.
Thinking about it made something inside her flare with determination, fists clenching at her sides as she met Todoroki's mismatched gaze. "Todoroki, I don't know why he's a villain in our world, but this world is just so crazy and different," she said firmly. "We know there are Pros from our world who are villains in this one, so why can't the opposite be true?"
Her words seemed to strike a chord with the room, some of them exchanging brief looks and pensive frowns. "She's got a point," Jirou finally said with a sigh. "I mean, everything in this world is crazy different, but it's not like everything is worse. Like, Ingenium never got hurt by Stain and is still a hero." Pausing, she scratched her cheek as she added thoughtfully, "Actually, as far as I can tell, I don't think Stain's actually a thing here?"
She shrugged while Todoroki shot her a surprised look. "He's not?"
"Not as far as I can tell. Haven't seen him in the news. I mentioned the name to Iida when we met, but he didn't seem to know about him. So hey, at least this world doesn't have a hero killer running around." Ashido perked up, seeming to remember something.
"Yeah, and I think those Storm Chasers guys are still around too!" she added eagerly, making Ochako whip around to stare at her wide-eyed.
"They are?" she blurted eagerly. She'd been a fan of the international rescue team since she first saw a documentary about them as a kid. It had been so sad to realize she'd just missed their heyday, only learning about them shortly before Storm Chaser himself was declared dead when she was six. The team largely fell out of the spotlight after that, and more or less disbanded only two years later with Noir's disappearance. Only Skylight remained active, and unfortunately he spent most of his time in America, much to her dismay.
"Oh yeah, that Oracle guy who was watching us is part of them," Kirishima said, and Ochako eagerly latched onto the unfamiliar name. "I don't know much about them, but the name's kinda familiar. I guess they still do some rescue and disaster awareness stuff? Oh, and there's also that Crawler guy we met."
"Yeah, yeah!" Ashido agreed with a nod. "He's this super-cool vigilante who gave us a ride here! I don't remember if I ever heard of him in our world, but he became a vigilante in this one because he missed the entrance exam when he was our age, and now he's going to become an actual hero because some heroes are helping him!"
"Okay, so I obviously don't remember them, but I also want to point out I have a half-brother and sister in this world that don't exist in ours," Kaminari added, and everyone froze before turning to stare at him. He shuffled awkwardly under the sudden scrutiny. "Yeah, uh, I know it's weird and kinda wild, only really realized it yesterday. But I mean, they only exist in this world, and they don't seem evil, besides the thing about setting a fence on fire."
"I'm sorry, what was that about a fence?" Ochako asked in mild alarm, and Kaminari only shrugged.
"There's probably a lot more ripples and changes we don't know about," Jirou commented. "I guess the way I've been looking at it is yeah, this world sucks sometimes, but it's mostly just... different."
There was a brief silence after that as everyone considered it. Ochako had to admit that was true. For all the bad in this world, there were also some things that weren't quite bad, and could even be called good. At the very least, her own family was way better off in this world, at least financially.
"Then, would this guy maybe be able to help?" Kirishima asked. Several pairs of disbelieving eyes swiveled towards him, making him flinch. "What? We need all the help we can get if this Villain Alliance is as bad as you guys say!" The disbelieving gaping quickly turned to sour expressions, nearly everyone looking like they'd sucked a lemon.
"No," Todoroki said flatly, not even entertaining the notion, but the others didn't look so convinced.
"Hate to say it, but he might have a point," Jirou admitted reluctantly, and held up her hands when Todoroki turned his glare on her. "Look, I can't believe I'm saying this either, but the guy's strong. And if Aizawa-sensei's leg is broken, it's not like he can walk out or fight. At least Dabi can maybe drive...?"
Todoroki looked ready to argue, but he didn't have to because this time Ochako stepped in. "I don't think that's a good idea either," she announced, and now she was the one on the end of all the surprised looks.
"Wait, but weren't you just defending this whole time?" Kaminari asked incredulously, and she grimaced.
"Yeah, and I still stand by what I said, but... Even if he's not a member of it, he knows" Aiko, her mind finished, while her mouth suddenly stopped moving. She blinked in surprise. What the heck?
"Uh, he knows...?" Kirishima pressed after a few seconds.
"He knows" Aiko, she once again finished mentally, but didn't say out loud. Her eyebrows furrowed. "What the heck? Why can't I say" her "name?" This time her mouth barely even stopped mid-sentence, skipping over only a single word and went right to the next one, and her eyes widened in realization as her stomach sank. Oh no.
The others had quickly picked up that something was wrong, their expressions much more alert and attentive than before. "Uraraka?" Jirou pressed, and she took a breath, hoping desperately she was wrong.
"I stayed with a" woman "named" Aiko "after getting to" Nabu. She startled when she realized the last word was censored, a sudden sense of foreboding rising as she desperately pushed on. "Dabi told me" the Villain Alliance "was based in" Nabu. She sucked in a sharp breath as she realized which words had been censored this time, swallowing harshly as she continued grimly, "In our world the League of Villains is led by" Shigaraki Tomura.
Ochako stopped herself there, turning horrified eyes to them. "Guys," she said, voice rising with panic. "I think I've been Quirked."
You didn't really think Aiko would just let Uraraka leave without making sure she couldn't tell anyone, did you?
Question for next time: For anime-only fans, would you consider confirmation that Dabi is indeed a Todoroki to be a spoiler? The theory has been basically accepted as common knowledge for years now, and at this point it'd be a bigger twist/surprise if he WASN'T a Todoroki. So not sure if you'd see the fact it's confirmed in canon as a spoiler or not.