Chapter 107
.::When Words Fail::.
1-A_Chargebolt: Captain's log, day 2 of exams
1-A_Chargebolt: Spirits are low. The exams are killing us slowly. We're totally going to fail.
1-A_Chargebolt: If I don't make it, tell my family I love them
halfnhalfpeppermint: Are the exams really that bad?
1-A_Dancing_Queen: Exams are ALWAYS bad
powerofmusic: Kinda. There's a lot of stuff we didn't cover back home
powerofmusic: We crammed over the weekend with Tokage, but that wasn't really enough time to learn everything, so I'm doing a lot of guessing
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: Oof, that sucks!
powerofmusic: At least Taser Brain over here won't look suspicious if he fails
powerofmusic: Ugh the pressure is not fun
1-A_Chargebolt: Actually the pressure is back on me again
1-A_Chargebolt: If I score in the bottom 5, my stepsister says she's opening my room back home so the twins can play there
powerofmusic: Yikes
halfnhalfpeppermint: But it's not really your room, is it? Will you even go there?
1-A_Chargebolt: Probably not, but it would SUCK for other-me
halfnhalfpeppermint: oh
1-A_Dancing_Queen: It definitely would
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: Hang in there guys! You can do it!
halfnhalfpeppermint: wait, isn't Deku planning to leave?
halfnhalfpeppermint: How does other-Deku feel about that?
1-A_Dancing_Queen: O_O
deku_breaks_bones: yeah uh
deku_breaks_bones: I'm trying not to think about it
deku_breaks_bones: I'm hoping that he'll be okay with it since Kacchan and Shinsou will be free?
deku_breaks_bones: I'm also hoping that the fact we'll be going to a bunch of heroes will help him get over it faster
1-A_Dancing_Queen: Do you really think he's that big of a fan?
deku_breaks_bones: Hopefully?
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: yes
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: I saw your room
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: You had stuff for EVERY hero
powerofmusic: Well good luck with that
powerofmusic: time for the exams now
powerofmusic: thank goodness we only need to do two days instead of three
Morning found Ochako and Ashido in a glorious hotel. Ochako had to admit, it rocked actually having cash on hand to pay for a proper hotel. The hotel room actually had heating! No need to tend to one of Todoroki's fires to stay warm! Or have to layer up with extra clothes and blankets! She even got to spend the night with Ashido like a real sleepover! It was probably the most normal night she'd had since waking up in this world.
It almost made her sad that they couldn't stay another night, but alas, they couldn't really justify it. As much fun as the sleepover had been, they just couldn't do much in Nabu right now since neither of them could directly meet with Deku. They would be better off going back to Odawara to help finalize plans for the escape.
That, and they didn't want whoever planted the tracking device to find them. There was a reason they'd stayed at a hotel room last night instead of the warehouse.
At least Deku got the key with no problems. She'd been worried since Kurogiri had been standing right behind her and thus might have seen her messages about the plan, but fortunately it worked out fine. She dropped off the Switch controller box at Aiko's place with the key hidden inside, and a few hours later Deku texted that he got it. So that was one major part of the plan down.
For her part, Ochako intended to do one final check of Aiko's apartment building and finish searching the first floor. A check which ended up being fruitless.
"It wasn't there," she announced dejectedly as she joined Ashido at a café. She slumped into the chair across from the other girl, groaning, "I looked super hard, but it's just not there. I have no idea where it is."
"Well, at least it didn't take too long?" Ashido said with a shrug. "I mean, it's barely been an hour."
"Yeah, I guess," she sighed. Checking the first floor had been easy and quick, because the apartments were just empty. They had no furniture, two of them didn't even have doors... Actually, those two also lacked a wall separating them. She had a feeling that the building had been abandoned for more than just a lack of tenants.
The search had also been quicker because Aiko herself had actually helped, since she didn't have a giant load of laundry to do this time. While Ochako was still wary of the woman and barely trusted her, she didn't think she'd lie about finding Deku's notebook. Aiko just had this strange air of honesty about her. She was almost too honest, weirdly open to answering Ochako's questions. It just didn't feel like she'd hide the notebook. If she found it, she'd probably tell Ochako and just not give it to her, and take it to Deku instead.
Of course, she couldn't mention any of that to Ashido, much to her frustration. "Well, it sucks, but I don't think we can look anywhere else," the pink girl said. "But since you're done with that, wanna do some work for the you-know-what account before we go back?"
It took a second for Ochako to figure out she meant graffiti for the 1-A_No_Dream account. The café was pretty empty, but it was safer to not directly talk about illegal activities in public. "Uh, it feels kinda risky to do it around here," she said with a frown. "I mean, you know what's going on around here. What if someone sees?"
"But Kami put me in charge of it while he takes his exam, and we're running low on photos!" Ashido whined. "And besides, that stuff going on here is exactly why we should do it here! That Porter guy might know that too, and come here to check it out to see if that stuff's going on!" She fumbled with her words a bit, obviously wary of directly mentioning the Villain Alliance in a public space, but she got her point across. "I'm just saying, it's not like Mido can do it, and we're leaving today, right?"
Ochako bit her lip as she thought it over. "Yeah, I guess so," she muttered uncertainly. They knew that Porter might check out potential bases for the League of Villains, so Ashido's logic was sound enough. Still, it felt risky to do it with villains so close—especially ones from the Alliance. If one of them saw them, or looked into it...
Well, honestly, they probably wouldn't think too much of it since the messages were for people who'd know their world. But she still felt pretty paranoid.
"What about Yuki?" she asked. "Is he taking any photos?"
"Yeah, he took a bunch!" Ashido confirmed with a vigorous head bob. "Don't know if that guy will ever go there, but any new pictures is better than none! We are so low on photos right now," she added with a groan. "We all kinda forgot with everything else the past couple days. And I'm also kinda running out of ideas on what to draw."
Ochako felt a bit bad now. While she and Todoroki had drawn a couple messages back in Numazu, they stopped after arriving at Nabu. It just... kinda slipped their minds, and also still felt kinda risky. "What about something about what Spinner does back home?" she suggested, thinking back to the messages about Spinner and Kendo being vigilantes in this world. "I mean, obviously he's not part of it here since I can say his name, so..."
"Ooh, that's a good one!" Ashido said with a grin, perking up. "Oh, maybe we can mention Dabi too since he's in the same boat! And I mean, he seems like he'd be way more flashy and recognizable than Spinner."
"No, that's a bad idea," Ochako said immediately. "Spinner at least knows about the messages already, so he won't freak out if he sees his name. But Dabi..." She trailed off with a grimace. As far as they knew, Dabi was looking for Todoroki... and he also knew Aiko. If he saw the message, either on Tweeter or just visiting Nabu to talk to her about Todoroki, the chances of him not mentioning it to Aiko were pretty slim. And she'd rather not take the risk of Aiko looking into it.
She wasn't sure how to explain that though since she couldn't mention Aiko or the Alliance. She hoped Ashido would figure it out on her own, but just her luck, Ashido didn't seem to get her hesitation. "Why's it a bad idea?" she asked, and Ochako resisted a groan.
"How would he react if he saw his name on a graffiti message?" she asked, trying to lead her to the answer.
"He'd... probably be pretty alarmed, I guess?" Ashido said with a shrug. "But I mean, it's not like he'd know it's him. Especially if we just write something like 'We remember Dabi at the summer camp' or something vague like that! We don't have to mention his Quirk or face or anything!"
"How many people do you think would use the name Dabi?" Ochako pointed out. That seemed to help her point, the other girl visibly losing some of her steam. "Even if we don't mention his Quirk or anything, that'd still be a red flag to him. Especially since" Aiko lives here.
"Especially since...?" Ashido pressed, leaning forward, and Ochako scowled.
"I hate this stupid censoring Quirk so much," she grumbled, and understanding flashed across the other girl's face.
"Oh." She rubbed her neck, looking a bit sheepish as she said, "I, uh, guess you can't say all the reasons why it's a bad idea, huh?"
"No," Ochako confirmed with a groan. She probably could just jog Ashido's memory about Dabi and Aiko knowing each other with some pointed questions, but... "I don't even want to try, honestly. I'm so sick of dancing around this stupid Quirk all the time. Sometimes I just can't say names, but other times I have entire sentences blocked. It's so exhausting to try to work around it. And when it doesn't work right away, it just frustrates me so much."
"Oh," Ashido repeated faintly, grimacing at her. "Yeah, that sounds... pretty bad. Sorry, Ura-chan." Ochako just heaved a large sigh, shaking her head.
"Forget it, I don't even want to think about it right now. Can we talk about other message ideas instead?"
"Sure," Ashido agreed quickly. "Like, maybe something about Kamino? Since it didn't happen here, but I mean, it was a pretty big thing, y'know?"
As they started trading ideas Ochako felt some of her tension release, but not completely. As distracting as the conversation was, that inability to speak haunted the back of her mind. She had a name for the Quirk now, Taboo, and she couldn't even say that much.
It really was frustrating.
She decided to get a drink, if only to take her mind off it for a second, and opened her bag to pull out some money only to pause. As someone who grew up used to accounting for every single yen in her budget, she had developed a keen attention to detail when it came to finances. Those habits carried over to this world, always making sure she knew exactly how much money she had. A glance at the rolled up wads of bills in her bag was all she needed to make an estimate.
Her lips pulled into a frown, glancing at the sign above the counter displaying prices. She knew that Ashido wouldnʼt have spent too much on her own drink and bagel. And while they had dug into the stash to pay for the hotel room, the pink girl had used her own funds to buy a sleeping bag and spare clothes, so the money hadnʼt been touched otherwise.
And from that, she could estimate how much money Todoroki had on hand.
Ochakoʼs frown only grew, and she pulled out her phone to bring up a site for train tickets. When she moved to type the departure point her fingers refused to respond though, making her scowl. She couldn't even type the first character of Nabu. "Hey, can you look up train ticket prices to Nagoya?" she asked, some of her frustration seeping into her tone. "I canʼt type the starting point because of that Quirk."
"Oh, sure," the other girl agreed easily, pulling out her phone. "Why though?"
"Because I don't think Yuki has enough money to get another train ticket."
After probably not even a full thirty-six hours, Shouta had already started to adjust to the new routine of being stuck in a bed. Honestly, it wasn't that hard. This was probably one of the most oddly familiar experiences he'd experienced lately. Not the strapped-down part, but just being stuck in a bed with a broken leg. It felt like almost any other hospital visit after serious injuries.
(And okay, maybe the strapped down part was a bit familiar too. Recovery Girl and the other medical staff got really annoyed with how he'd tried to leave a hospital with three broken ribs and a concussion that one time.
That, and his argument that the vertigo Quirk was very mild and not that disorienting. They didn't appreciate his logic.)
At this point, his biggest complaints were his inability to go to the bathroom on his own due to the broken leg (and damn restraints), and having such limited freedom for his hands. The mitten on his right hand was a heavy-duty medical mitt, allowing no way to bend his fingers like the original ones. It was impossible to try to grip anything with it, much to his annoyance.
Given he couldn't really use his right hand anyway thanks to that deep cut on his elbow, it wasn't a major inconvenience though. Mostly it left him with a sense of foreboding, a glimpse of how limited his autonomy really was. As exemplified by his dream, where he'd been stuck crawling with two broken legs and both hands stuck in the damn mittens.
He woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath and straining against the straps restraining him to the bed. He cried a bit in the silence of the room, and then got frustrated he couldn't even wipe away the damn tears. He had to settle for turning his head to rub against the pillow in hopes it would be enough. And then deal with the discomfort from how it made the collar rub against his neck, because of course he still wore the damn thing even now. Shigaraki probably didn't want him to forget the whole pet thing.
All of that was to explain that by the time Midoriya entered, Shouta was already awake and alert. The boy jumped when he opened the door to find Shouta sitting up and squinting into space. "Eraserhead-san?" he blurted once he'd recovered from his shock.
"Morning," Shouta rasped in reply, and the kid stared a moment longer before stepping inside and closing the door. He carried over another tray of a semi-complete breakfast like yesterday's, and Shouta pushed down the blanket a bit to make space for it.
"Have you been awake for long?" Midoriya asked.
Only a couple of hours. "Not really," he lied, not really wanting to talk about why he woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. "Lights were already on, so didn't see a point going back to sleep." Obviously also a lie. Turns out this room had an automatic dimmer system to turn them on gradually over the course of an hour by his estimate. That was nice, though still left him in pitch blackness for a while.
In any event, the kid seemed to buy it and didn't fuss over him. At this point Shouta knew that if Midoriya thought he was uncomfortable, he would just worry and hover even more. For all his wariness towards Shigaraki's brother, Shouta knew the kid was the villain's polar opposite in many ways. He sagged with such obvious relief when Shouta took the painkiller that came with breakfast.
Once he finished eating, the visit didn't last too long. Mostly because Shouta asked the kid to get Kurogiri. "But why?" Midoriya asked in confusion.
"Kid, please just do it," Shouta groaned, letting his head flop back on the pillow. He did not want to talk to the kid about the fact he needed to use the damn bathroom.
The kid acquiesced, and Shouta got to endure the brief humiliation of having a villain help him actually get there. At this point, he was actually pretty used to getting escorted there. The wheelchair was nice at least, and Kurogiri actually gave him privacy to do his business, unlike his previous captors.
Soon enough he was back in the bed getting strapped down, offering no resistance as the cuffs tightened around his wrists. His right hand was returned to the constricting mitten, and he closed his eyes as he listened to the click of the lock. He didn't bother looking as Kurogiri warped away the wheelchair, already sensing the start of his new routine. Get breakfast from Midoriya, have Kurogiri take him to the bathroom, listen to him... open a drawer...?
Okay, now he bothered looking, twisting his head to see the misty villain opening a drawer on the small table next to the bed. He pulled out a magazine and placed it on Shouta's chest unceremoniously before leaving without a word. He picked it up in confusion, recognizing it as one of the cat magazines Midoriya had brought him.
"Thanks?" he said to the empty room, still confused. Honestly he'd expected the magazines all would have been thrown out after what happened, given they had originally been hidden and thus probably not actually allowed. He also didn't think Kurogiri would be the one to give him one. So much for his expectations of the new routine. Still, he wasn't going to complain, so he opened it to begin browsing pictures.
He got through maybe a quarter when there was a quiet knock at the door, making him nearly drop it in surprise. Another deviation from his predicted routine; he didn't expect any visitors until lunchtime. At this point, he decided he should probably discard any notions about his new routine for at least the next few days as the door opened to reveal Midoriya.
"Hi, Eraserhead," he greeted as he slipped inside, more subdued and almost tentative this time. "Um, how are you feeling?"
"Fine," Shouta said slowly, instantly wary again. Particularly because Midoriya didn't close the door completely. The teen fidgeted nervously, rubbing his arm.
"Th-then, um, would it be okay if we hang out here for a while?"
"We?" Shouta repeated. And as if on cue the door slammed open and made Midoriya jolt, Bakugou stalking inside with a backpack. The blond dropped it on the floor with a heavy thud and plopped down next to it.
"We're doing schoolwork here today," he announced bluntly, leaving no room for argument. Shouta just stared before his eyes darted to the door, feeling his stomach lurch as he saw familiar purple eyes staring back at him.
Guilt immediately flooded back, hands clenching into fists as he swallowed and averted his gaze from the vigilante. The absence of the muzzle did little to quell his sudden nausea as the boy entered and closed the door, more quietly than Bakugou did. He, too, carried a backpack, sitting next to the blond and pulling out textbooks. "So the tutoring is still a thing?" Shouta muttered, and Midoriya grimaced.
"Um, kinda, I guess? Y-you don't actually have to help though!" he added quickly. "We can just work quietly if you want to nap, or read the magazine! They just, really wanted to see you."
"Yeah, just rest or do whatever you want," Bakugou huffed. "We can keep our mouths shut if you want quiet, but we're not leaving." Midoriya winced a bit, his grimace growing.
"Kacchan, we shouldn't force it..."
"Don't care. We're staying."
"Bakugou threatened to sleep outside your door," Hijack explained flatly, and Shouta had to suppress a flinch. His voice sounded a little less raspy now, but it was still odd to actually hear it. The kid wasn't even looking at him, attention focused on his workbook as he continued, "We had to hold him back from running off and personally warning everyone here to stay away from you."
That sounded like a disaster in the making. "Kid, don't do that," Shouta told Bakugou flatly.
"As long as all these creeps keep their distance, I won't have to," the brat scoffed, and Midoriya buried his face in his hands.
"Kacchan, I already told you, they need a key code to even enter here..." That was news to Shouta. So the door had an electronic lock, huh? He filed the information away for a future potential escape attempt, assuming he survived long enough for his leg to heal and wasn't moved to another room.
"They can still try to break down the door or wall, can't they?"
"Pretty sure they'd have to be genuinely suicidal," Hijack piped up, sounding almost bored. "That would create too much noise, people would come running right away. And Shigaraki probably made it pretty clear how serious he is with the last guys who broke in."
Ah yes, the people who had tortured him and then gotten killed. Given they'd been planning to kill him if Midoriya hadn't shown up, Shouta had little sympathy for them. "You can stay," he relented with a sigh, and saw all three kids perk up. "I'll try to help if you have any questions, too. I can't really get up though, so you'll have to bring your work over to me."
"Doubt we'll need it anyway," Bakugou said haughtily while Midoriya frowned.
"Are you sure? It's still pretty soon after... you know," he avoided explicitly mentioning the whole torture and attempted murder thing. "If you still need time to rest and stuff, we can give you space!"
"It's fine," Shouta said. "I don't mind." Honestly, he still didn't feel fully up to company. He still felt more vulnerable and sore than he'd had in a long time, and had so much guilt over what he'd done to Hijack. But right now, he needed to see with his own eyes that the kids were physically fine. That the worst of this nightmare was restricted solely to himself.
That, and he felt pretty sure that Bakugou would, in fact, try to attack the villains if left unchecked. Shouta might only be able to count the number of times he'd interacted with the boy on one hand, but that was enough to know he was serious. If being around Shouta would keep him from doing something stupid, he'd readily shove down any discomfort.
The kids were safe. They were physically unharmed. Their spirits didn't seem to be too low. Right now, their safety was Shouta's absolute first priority, and he would take advantage of every second he could get with them to keep it that way.
(Unknown to him, two guards lingered outside the door, silently playing cards as they listened to the muffled chatter within. The three teens all exchanged discreet and wary looks, fully aware of their presence. Now was not the time to reveal their plans, but they could at least keep Eraserhead safe by being there.)
And we're back! I was actually a little worried I'd have to delay another week because this chapter and the next two are a bit more closely tied than most, and I wanted to be sure 109 would work or just feel like "filler" content. Then it made me realize one other point the characters should probably address and/or figure out BEFORE the big rescue, and that this will make THEM realize that too. So hooray, I now have the draft up to 110! :D
As always, thank you for your patience and support. I'll see you next week!