Chapter 113

.::Subconscious Priorities::.

As usual, Izuku had a lot to think about. And of course, he had no idea where to even begin after the whole conversation on FacePage. When he checked the chat after lunch he'd expected a brief conversation and check-in, not all... that. An encounter with Dabi and Hawks, a deal to tell Dabi in exchanged for getting Aiko to lift her Quirk on Uraraka—and an extra warning about Aiko that couldn't be relayed online?

Yeah, he had a lot to think about. But instead of any of the more urgent facts and questions, his thoughts kept straying to his counterpart, and how he'd feel about leaving. Because unlike Todoroki, his counterpart had given very few subconscious hints about how he felt about leaving behind everything he knew.

After spending an hour staring at the ceiling pondering other-Izuku's feelings, he decided it would be best to talk to someone. Preferably someone who actually knew the other Izuku. And given the circumstances, he had only one option.

"It's just, I still have this huge gap in my memories," he said with a frown. "I know it's still me, but it feels like I'm a totally different person. So, what if I regret it when I get the memories back?"

Toga hummed, swinging her legs as she sat on her bed. "That's tough," she finally decided, and Izuku slumped in the pink desk chair with a groan.

They sat in her bedroom, having gone there for privacy since the weather was too cold for a long conversation on the roof. He already regretted this purely because he was in a girl's room. A very dangerous girl, going by the knives hanging on the wall between idol posters and stuffed animals on her shelves. One of the stuffed animals even had a plushie knife. It was a bit jarring to see the mixture of cute stuff and, well, knives, and reminded him she might not be the best choice for a serious talk like this.

Still, Toga was the only one who knew about the plan to run away and his supposed episode, making her the only option to go to about his dilemma. Even if he couldn't tell her all the details, the episode provided a similar enough story to explain his concerns. While she wouldn't be his first choice, she was all he had when it came to other-Izuku's feelings.

He sighed as he sat up, looking at her almost pleadingly. "You know me," he said. "What I'm like outside of episodes. What do you think I would feel about running away?" Because unlike Todoroki, his counterpart's subconscious wasn't too keen on giving him any hints.

Toga pursed her lips as she thought it over, idly twirling a knife (and where did that come from, that wasn't there a minute ago!). She flipped it into the air and caught it by the handle, nodding to herself as she seemed to make up her mind. "I'm not really sure," she admitted. "We talked a lot, but not about that kinda thing. But I think you'd be okay with it, because you were really worried about Jackie and Tsuki-chan. And you'd totally be worried about Eraserhead-san too."

Well, at least his counterpart seemed to understand the situation was messed up. "That's not the same as me being okay with leaving, though," he pointed out. "I could probably help them escape, but just... not go, you know? What if that's what I'd prefer after getting my memories back?"

"Does it really matter?" Toga asked curiously, catching him off guard. "I mean, you're still going to go anyway, right?"

Izuku stared at her for a moment before slumping in defeat. "Yeah, I am," he confirmed reluctantly. He had to go if he wanted to get home. Being stuck with the Alliance limited him too much, he couldn't go anywhere without telling someone—hell, he still hadn't used the front door! Kurogiri warped him out of the base every time! Even if the others weren't held prisoner, staying here was just too overall inconvenient.

It didn't remove the guilt from the thought of displacing his counterpart's life though.

"How did I even end up here?" he murmured. "Last I remember, I was just a totally normal kid. No connection to villains at all." No matter how he thought about it, it really didn't make sense. As far as he could glean from the letter, he'd been living with the Bakugous and ran away because he felt like a burden. And then, he was just... here. Living as Shigaraki's brother.

The question was meant to be rhetorical, so he didn't expect Toga to actually respond. "I don't know the full story, but I could tell you what I do know?" she offered, and Izuku sat ramrod straight as he gaped at her.

"Wait, you know some of it?"

"Yeah, a little bit. We didn't talk about it that much, but I picked up some stuff here and there."

"Please tell me." At this point he was dying with curiosity. Any information would be better than none.

"So I know from Aiko-nee you were eight," she started. "She told me that when she first invited me. And she said you chose to be here."

She emphasized the word, making Izuku's eyebrows furrow. He recalled their rooftop conversation, the heavy implication that Toga had been kidnapped as a kid and forced into villainy until Aiko showed up. It was why she was willing to help out with the escape: she chose to be at the Alliance, but Bakugou and Shinsou didn't. So the emphasis carried heavy meaning, at least for her.

"I... kinda figured that much," he said hesitantly. "I mean, I ran away as a kid, right? Because... I felt like a burden." He dipped his head with a miserable frown, his hands falling limply into his lap as a wave of guilt washed over him. "I didn't like that I was causing trouble for Kacchan's family. They didn't ask for me to get orphaned, and they only took me in as a favor to my mom. I was just a useless Deku, so... I decided to run away, so they wouldn't have to deal with me anymore."

In retrospect he was probably wrong, but at the time it felt so heavy. It was hard to think clearly when you were a grieving child who'd grown up mocked for being Quirkless and useless, and just lost your parents.

"I guess you remember that part at least," Toga commented, startling Izuku out of his thoughts.

"H-huh? No, I—" He stopped short, realizing she wasn't entirely wrong. Those feelings just then were far too personal to just be his own thoughts. Seemed like some of his counterpart's thoughts and memories could bleed through after all. And of course only when it's about feeling useless. "I... don't remember exactly what happened, but I remember the feelings, I guess."

He shrugged listlessly, hoping she'd drop it. Toga seemed to be curious, but mercifully didn't push. "Okay then. Anyways, I also know you weren't brought in by Tomu."

That had Izuku snapping out of his funk. "I wasn't?" He already knew that—he vaguely recalled the letter mentioned it—but it was good to get more confirmation.

"Nope!" Toga grinned as she leaned forward and added, "In fact, I hear he used to hate you when you first arrived!"

Izuku stared in shock, finding the information surprisingly hard to process. Surprising, given his own initial disbelief at the notion of them being close. After dealing with his Shigaraki, he'd been dumbfounded he could have a good relationship with him in any universe.

But in this world, it had quickly become clear that this Shigaraki adored his counterpart. The guy wasn't the best at showing it, but it was clear from his awkward bonding attempts and repeated gifts of prisoners that he cared deeply for Izuku. After all, as disturbing as it was to have friends and his teacher kidnapped, it took a lot of effort to kidnap someone and make arrangements to keep them prisoner—

...Okay, there was something profoundly wrong with the fact he considered the effort into kidnapping someone to be a sign of caring. But logically, it was. Killing someone was easy. Kidnapping them, locking them up, restricting their Quirks so they couldn't use them to escape or harm someone, providing resources for meals and other care, and forbidding other villains from attacking? That was a lot of effort.

Even when taking Tomura's twisted logic into account, he wouldn't go through all that trouble unless he really cared for the recipient.

...Izuku decided to just stop thinking about that for now because this was still very disturbing. "We're so close, I really can't imagine us not getting along," he admitted. "To me, he's just Tomura-nii. Even without all my memories." And surprisingly it was true. He didn't feel any fear towards Shigaraki in this world anymore—if anything, he felt oddly fond of the man.

"Yeah, it really surprised me too when I heard it," Toga agreed with a shrug. "But you told me so yourself. You said it was way before the Alliance was a thing, back when it was just you, Tomu, Giri and Aiko."

The last name got Izuku's attention. "Hold on, Aiko lived with us too?" He knew she was connected to the Alliance beyond work given their closeness, but he still didn't expect to hear the relationship was like that.

Toga bobbed her head. "Yeah. From what I hear she moved out after the Alliance started to become a thing, but before that the four of you were moving around a bunch of places Afo owned!"

It took a second to realize who "Afo" was. "Are, are you talking about All For One?" Izuku asked incredulously. Who actually pronounced the initials like a name?

"I dunno, that's just what Aiko-nee said." Aiko. That's who, apparently. "She said he was a crusty mean old man who died a miserable painful death he totally deserved, if that helps?"

...Holy crap, Aiko, what the hell!? "Yeah, that's probably him," Izuku replied faintly. Two hundred years was pretty old after all, and he was definitely mean. The "miserable painful death" was new information though, and felt disturbingly vindictive. Izuku now had even more questions about how Aiko fit into everything, but Toga wasn't the one to ask. "Um, anyways, so we lived together? All four of us?"

"Yeah! I don't really know why Tomu didn't like you at first, but you said you guys only really bonded after playing some game?"

That also checked out. "Yeah, that sounds like classic Tomura," he relented, a small smile touching his lips. Games seemed to be his go-to bonding activity after all. His smile faded as he fell into thought and began mumbling. "Tomura is twenty, and I'm sixteen. So there's a gap of about... Four, five years between us? So when we met he would have been twelve, thirteen at the oldest. Too young to be the leader of the Alliance. So I probably didn't go to them knowing they'd become full villains, and was just... Kinda along for the ride. I'm probably only still here because I care about them."

That didn't make the thought of leaving any easier though. Other-Izuku must care about them a lot to still be here and put up with literal villains. At the very least, he could probably just... live with Aiko. He did have a room at her apartment building, and there weren't any villains there besides her. Even if she might leave a lot for work, he could take care of himself just fine by the time he entered middle school.

But he didn't leave, so he must care about Tomura and Kurogiri to stay with them. And that brought him no closer to understanding how his counterpart would feel about leaving.

"I wish I could just know how I feel," he groaned. Toga got off the bed to walk over, patting his head with a smile a bit too bright to be called soft or reassuring.

"There, there, Mido. You'll be okay. Probably." She paused then, tilting her head curiously. "What are you gonna do after leaving, anyway?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't really tell you," he said. "I mean, I can't really risk anyone hearing about it, so..." He trailed off with a half-hearted shrug.

Toga pouted, but nodded and returned to her bed. "Okay, fine. I already have some guesses anyway, but you're probably right." Despite her acceptance, she still seemed a bit sulky about it. Izuku refused to feel bad. She could mope all she wanted, but he had no intentions of telling her he planned to go to pro heroes. That would be way too messy.

Thinking about his plans afterwards reminded him of something though. "Tomura and Aiko aren't going to let me go that easily, are they?" he asked quietly.

"Probably not," Toga agreed with a nod, and then grinned as she leaned forward to add, "But you're still gonna do it, right?"

"Yeah." He sighed and hung his head in defeat. He really didn't have a choice. At least he was going to pro heroes, so they'd probably be able keep him safe...

Unless that secret about Aiko made that plan too dangerous, too. Aizawa was pretty scared of her after all, and was pretty convinced a rescue attempt wouldn't be able to succeed.

Know what? He was going to just not think about that right now. He could try to ask Toga about the secret, but he just... didn't want to think about that right now. He had enough on his plate, he could be forgiven for not taking the initiative every single time in order to prioritize his mental health. "But you're still willing to help, even with the danger?" he asked instead.

Her smile faded as her expression became more serious. "Yeah. Jackie and Tsuki-chan didn't choose to be here like us. It's only right."

Izuku nodded slowly. He still didn't have anything concrete to justify believing her, that this wasn't some sort of convoluted trap, but he felt he could trust her. Just a gut feeling, which was a little more solid than some other stuff driving his decisions. "Then, if the episode wears off before that and I change my mind, can you promise me you'll help them out? And Eraserhead, too?"

Toga sat a bit straighter, eyes suddenly much sharper than before. "Do you really think that'll happen?"

"Honestly, I don't know." The odds of the interdimensional Quirk suddenly wearing off now were pretty slim, since all signs pointed to it requiring conscious triggering rather than the effect being timed. But if it did happen before the escape, he wanted to be sure that they would be able to get out of here. After all, he was the only one who was guaranteed to be safe from harm. "Just, please promise me you'll do it. Please."

He met her gaze solemnly, willing his eyes to convey his desperation. For a long moment Toga just stared at him, but finally she bobbed her head. "Okay, Mido-chan. I'll do it. But even if you do get your memories back, I don't think you'll change your mind," she added with another bright smile. "You're a goodie two-shoes, through and through! So I wouldn't worry about it, okay?"

Izuku felt some of his tension fade at the reassurance, cracking a small smile. With how certain she sounded, he felt like she was probably right about that, and that really did reassure him a bit. "Thanks, Toga," he said as he got up. "I'm gonna head out now. Thanks for talking to me." He hadn't gotten any closer to understanding how his counterpart would feel, but he felt better now.

"Of course, we're friends!" she replied cheerfully. "I'll see you later!" She flashed a smile that felt utterly normal compared to her usual crazed grins, surprisingly sane. Izuku nodded and left, heading for Shinsou's cell. They'd been playing Mario Kart when he left, and they were probably wondering what he was doing for so long.

As he passed the door to the bar he noted two people talking next to it, one of the regular grunts and a man he didn't recognize with gray hair and a pink scarf. Izuku wouldn't have given them much thought but the second one turned to him. "Hey, Midoriya," he greeted with a nod. "Any chance you know where your brother is?"

"He's probably in the game room," Izuku replied absently. "He got a new game last night that he was really looking forward to." It hadn't been a planned acquisition, someone just gave it to him before dinner, but Tomura had been very excited about it. Kurogiri had to make him sit down and eat before he could rush off.

The man eyed him for a moment before nodding. "Thanks, kid," he said, and started heading towards the game room. Izuku absently continued on his way, but found his thoughts starting to drift towards the stranger and Tomura. Tomura was in the game room, and it was located pretty far from his bedroom...

He was still thinking about it when he opened the door to Shinsou's cell. He barely managed to stop Mion from darting out, bending down to intercept her and scoop her up. "Not this time," he said, carrying her inside despite her loud protests and closing the door. Shinsou and Bakugou sat on the bed playing Mario Kart just like he'd left them, with Seiko seated on the floor watching the screen intently.

"Took you long enough," Bakugou grunted, not looking away from the screen. "Where were you, Deku?"

"Sorry, had to talk to Toga about some stuff." Izuku bent down to release Mion and the kitten bounded for the bed, leaping up and squeezing herself between Shinsou and the wall. She hissed and glared at Seiko, who ignored her as usual to focus on the race. That had been why he'd felt comfortable talking to Toga. Seiko had developed a habit of popping in to watch them race, and was guaranteed to stay there for a while as long as someone played Princess Peach.

For once Izuku was glad to see her though. "Hey Seiko, do you know a guy with gray hair, sunglasses, wears a pink scarf?" he asked.

Seiko didn't make any noises or movements to indicate she'd heard, still staring at the race. So he was startled when a full three seconds later she replied, "Giran."

"Who?"

"An information broker."

He perked up. "So he'll probably want to talk to Tomura-nii for a while, right?"

"Perhaps." Once again, Seiko delayed in answering, waiting until one of the racers crossed the finish line and the race ended. Bakugou tossed his controller to the side, apparently done for the moment.

"Why're you asking about some random creep, anyway?" he asked.

"He just asked where Tomura is, and I think that means now's a good time to do... stuff." Izuku kept it vague, knowing he couldn't mention his plans to sneak into Tomura's bedroom to find the key and check the frequency in front of Seiko. When she turned her head to look at him, he suddenly realized it might be too vague though and still get her interested, so he hastily added, "You know, sneak into his room and check his... socks."

"...Check his socks." Shinsou was the one to speak this time, sounding thoroughly unimpressed.

"I can't find my Present Mic socks, and I think he stole them," Izuku replied immediately. "They're fuzzy and really comfy."

The weird thing was, it felt true. He suddenly felt certain that other-Izuku owned a pair of fuzzy yellow Present Mic socks with little microphones and sunglasses on the side. Absolutely garish, but so soft and comfortable, and that even Tomura liked them.

Seiko inclined her head. "Again?" she asked, confirming Izuku's thoughts, and he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry. Seriously, his other self let him know about socks but not how he felt about leaving behind his whole life? Izuku officially couldn't understand himself anymore. His subconscious priorities made no sense.

At least it would be boring enough to keep Seiko from following him. "Anyways, I'm gonna check since he'll be distracted," he said. "I'll talk to you guys afterwards?"

The others still seemed skeptical, and it occurred to him they probably didn't pick up his intent to check for the key and frequency. He couldn't give any more hints without telling Seiko something was up though. "Alright, fine," Bakugou huffed, grabbing his controller again. "Go look for your stupid socks."

"Good luck?" Shinsou offered with a lame shrug, busy petting Mion who continued to glare at Seiko. Izuku resisted the urge to sigh and headed out, hurrying to Shigaraki's room. He had no idea how long Shigaraki would spend talking to Giran, so he had to make the most of the little time he had to check for the key.

Though he knew where it was, Izuku had never actually been there before. Shigaraki lived on the second floor, an area Izuku had never visited. According to the map he'd drawn it consisted almost entirely of residential rooms, so Izuku had no real reason to go there until now. He tried to appear small as he walked to the hallway with Shigaraki and Kurogiri's rooms, ignoring the looks from the few grunts he passed.

Luckily Shigaraki's door stood out from the rest, mainly because of the "Stay out" poster with some video game character Izuku only vaguely recognized. It fortunately wasn't locked, and he quickly slipped inside and looked around. The room was surprisingly basic, if a bit messy. There were game posters layered on the walls, and a lot of clothes on the floor. There were no game consoles though unless you counted the computer at the desk.

So: one bookshelf. A dresser. A closet. A desk with two drawers. A private bathroom that presumably also had drawers. Those were the only places to hide the key. Hopefully it would be somewhere in here; the alternative was it being in Kurogiri's room, and Izuku had no idea when he'd get a guaranteed opening to search it. The warper's ability to, well, warp, made searching it risky.

"Okay, if I was Tomura, where would I hide the key," he muttered to himself as he looked around. His subconscious offered no hints, so he went to the bookshelf first. It was full of figurines and other game-related merchandise, with a few magazines and books with art from games mixed in. He carefully nudged those aside, just in case Tomura had hidden it behind them, but no dice.

On a whim, he decided to check the dresser next. He knew some people had "junk drawers" they used for various miscellaneous objects rather than clothing. His mom had a drawer dedicated to stray hairpins, buttons, empty photo frames, and other little things she'd gathered over the years. Shigaraki seemed like exactly the type of person to have one.

He opened the top left drawer, and then stared for exactly five seconds at the pair of fuzzy yellow Present Mic socks lying right on top.

...Why did he feel a sudden sense of vindication? Seriously, what the heck other Izuku!?

Izuku chose to grab the socks purely to have a cover story, and not because of any subconscious desire to reclaim them. He shoved them in his pocket and turned away from the dresser entirely, because that drawer only had socks and he'd rather not risk seeing Shigaraki's underwear. Izuku did not expect him to be that type of organized, especially with all the clothes on the floor, but apparently he was.

He went to the desk next, checking the drawers there. Top drawer had some random computer accessories and electronics, including an old portable game console he didn't recognize. Then he checked the second drawer—

And there in the center was the key fob.

Izuku's heart pounded as he snatched it up, hands shaking as he held it carefully. Even with his trembling he had no problem pressing one of the buttons, causing the screen to light up with a number: 22.

The number of freedom was 22.

"Yes," he whispered with a weak smile, feeling a giant rush of relief. He had it. He had the frequency, he just had to set the spare key to 22 and then Shinsou and Kacchan would be free of the bombs. With another heavy sigh Izuku put the key back, mission finally accomplished.

And of course, that's when he heard the door open.

He jumped and whirled around in surprise to see Shigaraki enter, red eyes quickly focusing on him. "Tomura-nii!" he squeaked, tensing up. Crap.

"What are you doing in my room?" Shigaraki asked, eyes narrowed as he studied Izuku. He had to resist the urge to flinch under his stare, doing his best to act natural.

"I-I was looking for my Present Mic socks," he stammered, pulling them out of his pocket. "You, you took them again." Shigaraki didn't reply, just kept looking at him.

"And so after finding them, you decided to look at my desk, too?" he asked sarcastically, and Izuku resisted another flinch. Yeah, that would be harder to explain. He couldn't admit to looking for the key fob.

"Okay, fine," he sighed. "One of my limited edition Thirteen keyrings is missing, and Seiko said she saw you by my room." Hopefully Seiko would back him up, it felt like she would just because it was interesting. "So, I wanted to see if you took it for some reason, since you obviously took my socks."

He pouted for emphasis even as he internally freaked out, hoping that was close enough to how other-Izuku would react. Usually he didn't think he'd be able to pull an act like this—he sucked at lying, just ask his mother—but since coming here he'd found it increasingly easy to lie. It was almost scary how easy and natural it was becoming to put on facades like this.

Shigaraki didn't reply right away, eyes still narrowed. "I see," he finally grunted, scratching at his neck irritably. "Tch. I don't have any reason to take stupid hero merch."

"You took the Present Mic socks though."

"That's different, they're warm and it's getting colder outside."

"Then why don't you get your own?"

"Izuku, I am not buying or stealing any hero merchandise for myself. I hate heroes, you know that."

"Yeah, but you also like my hero-themed socks. And aren't you technically stealing them from me?"

If looks could kill... Well, Izuku actually would be fine, but Shigaraki looked at him with a glare that could curdle milk. So his blood might be curdled too? Would that also be fatal though, or—know what, didn't matter. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Then you can stop stealing my socks," Izuku replied haughtily, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. On the outside he looked calm and judgmental, but inside he was currently screaming and flailing his arms while hoping Shigaraki would buy his act. The banter weirdly came naturally enough, but was it really what other-Izuku would say? Would he really act this smug while bickering with Tomura? He had no idea, today showed him that other-Izuku had really weird subconscious priorities so he couldn't be sure if this was his influence or not.

Apparently it was enough though, because Shigaraki just huffed. "Ugh, whatever. Maybe next time I'll just dust them."

"You do that, and I'll punch you," Izuku snapped immediately, and this time it was entirely himself, no subconscious influence whatsoever. No one messed with his hero merch in any world.

That might have been a mistake though because Shigaraki seemed taken aback by the threat. Izuku lost some of his steam, realizing that was probably out of character. He had to resist another flinch when Shigaraki groaned, scratching at his neck again. "Shit, you actually noticed what happened with Eraser, didn't you," he grumbled.

...That was not what Izuku expected, but okay, he could roll with that. "Are you talking about how I beat those three up?" he asked almost sheepishly. "Because, uh, yeah. I noticed. I'm... apparently very strong even without a Quirk." He was still slightly stunned by Aizawa's explanation about that, and the realization that he'd dragged a truck up a mountain of garbage. But Aizawa mentioned Tomura and Kurogiri were probably aware of that strength too, which might work to his advantage right now.

"Frick, was really hoping you'd just write that off as adrenaline or something," Shigaraki said with a scowl. "You're not allowed to try to punch people or walls, by the way."

"I won't!" Izuku replied quickly, horrified at the suggestion. "I'm not going to abuse my power just because I know I have it! I can be responsible with it!"

Shigaraki's scowl softened as he nodded, hand falling from his neck. "Yeah, you're not the type to beat someone up just because they get you mad, are you," he muttered, more... soft now. Almost fond. No doubt he was thinking about other-Izuku, which felt oddly wrong and intrusive right now.

Izuku pushed away the thought as he pocketed the socks once more. "Anyways, since I have my socks and you obviously didn't take the keychain, I'm just going to head out now and search my room again. I'll see you later, Tomura-nii."

"Fine," Tomura huffed as Izuku passed him. Just as he reached the door the older male said, "Before you go though, Giran said you talked to him?"

"Hmm?" Izuku glanced back at him in surprise. "I guess, if you count answering his question about where you were. Should I have not told him?"

"No, it's fine," Tomura dismissed with a shrug. "Just surprised me is all. You know I don't like you talking to him."

Izuku frowned as he felt a small pit of anxiety, but masked it as he shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry. I was kinda distracted so I wasn't really thinking when I answered him. I only said two sentences though, so... I'll try not to answer him next time, I guess?"

Tomura hummed. "Alright, fine. I guess that's not too bad. Just remember in the future." Izuku nodded, turning to grab the doorknob, and twisted it when Tomura nonchalantly added, "By the way, do you remember why I don't like you talking to him?"

The question made Izuku freeze, a sudden sense of foreboding washing over him. He turned his head back to respond but his voice died in his throat upon seeing Shigaraki staring at him with a calculating glint in his eyes. That look was different from anything he'd seen since waking up here, his usual fondness gone and replaced with cold, analytical scrutiny.

"Izuku," Shigaraki said, voice level and eerily calm. "What's the name of the game we played when we became brothers?"

He knew.

Izuku flinched at the question, eyes wide as he whirled to face him completely. His reaction was apparently enough, as Shigaraki's lips pulled into a scowl as he scoffed. "Dammit, he was right," he growled to himself. "You are having an episode."

"N-no, I'm not!" Izuku protested quickly, but he already knew it was pointless. The mere fact Shigaraki asked that question meant he already knew.

And as if to confirm that, Shigaraki responded, "Then prove it and answer the question."

Izuku's mouth was dry, hands clenching as he begged his counterpart's subconscious to provide an answer. To conjure the title or an image of the game, something, anything.

But nothing came, just as he knew it wouldn't.

"That's what I thought," Shigaraki said after five seconds passed in silence, and Izuku sagged, feeling the world crash around him. Shigaraki clicked his tongue in annoyance, scratching his neck again. "Hah, can't believe Giran noticed before me. You almost had me convinced, too, with your answers."

"H-how did you know?" Izuku asked shakily, trying to stave off tears and panic. "How did he know?" He'd never even seen Giran before today!

"Because you talked to him without acting nervous," Shigaraki responded with a huff. "You're the one who's uncomfortable around him because of his Quirk."

"H-his Quirk?"

"He makes people's memories all muddy or something." He waved a hand with an eye roll, but his gaze remained focused on Izuku. "And given your memory issues..." He trailed off and Izuku's breath escaped him. Of course other-Izuku would be nervous around someone with a Quirk that messes with memories. Why didn't he feel any of that residual discomfort?

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," Shigaraki grunted before his thoughts could spiral further. "The timing sucks, but we need to isolate you."

Izuku's stomach lurched, eyes bulging as he jolted in alarm. "No, you can't! What about Eraserhead? And Kacchan and Hijack?"

"And that's why we need to isolate you," Shigaraki hissed, glaring at him with a scowl. "I know you were looking for the key, not some stupid keychain. That story was way too flimsy. It's too dangerous to let you around them now. Right, Kurogiri?" Even as he spoke Izuku heard the door open behind him and twisted to see Kurogiri entering, having apparently been waiting for a signal.

"It's for your own safety, Izuku," the warper said gently, and Izuku flinched, stepping back. "We won't let anything happen to your friends in the meantime. This will only be temporary, until your memories return."

And that was exactly what terrified Izuku the most. Because once they locked him up, they wouldn't let him out until the "episode" ended—except it wouldn't end because he wasn't having an episode. Tears pricked his eyes at the thought, his breathing starting to pick up with his rising panic. This was the exact worst case scenario he'd been hoping to avoid, especially with the escape so close.

"Please, don't do this!" he pleaded desperately, head swiveling between Kurogiri and Shigaraki as he backed up. He felt trapped and cornered between the two villains, his hopes of escape dimmer and dimmer as they closed in on him. "I really wasn't looking for a key! I was looking for a Thirteen keychain, really! Please, don't keep me away from them forever! They're my friends!"

"Sorry Izuku, but you're way too easily manipulated right now," Shigaraki scoffed. "I don't trust any of them not to take advantage of you, we already had one close call with that hero." His mouth twisted with disdain at the word, sneering at the memory, and it only served to heighten Izuku's panic. "Oh, but that reminds me. You should do more research in the future before trying to come up with cover stories. There's no one named Seiko here."

And just like that, Izuku's world crashed once again, his mind going blank as his breathing halted. There was no one named Seiko here?

In his shock, he didn't fight back as Kurogiri gently grabbed his shoulder and his hand expanded into an inky portal, swallowing him up in darkness.

See you next week~

And Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanza and Good Holidays to all my readers! Wherever you are, I hope you all have a safe holiday season.