Chapter 123
.::The Talk::.
Usually, the runaways guarding Present Mic would have three shift changes over the day: once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once at night. Because no one wanted to spend the whole day in the dark tunnel room. Not because they wanted to go outside—it was the middle of winter and cold—but because they all had stuff to do.
Today though, the morning crew remained when the afternoon crew showed up because, in their words, this was just too good.
"So no, Yuki-kun, you don't need to worry about kids yet," Mic explained patiently, the disbelief at giving dating advice to one of his captors having worn off a while ago. "You're still a teen and in the early stages of dating, kids come much later."
"But I heard it's important to have this talk early in a relationship," Shouto said with a frown. "So you don't have to worry about mismatched expectations. And I... I don't know if I'd be a good father," he added softly, looking down at his hands. "I didn't have the best relationship with my father. And I know I'm not the best at social interactions, so I don't know if I'd be good with children."
"Kid, you're a kid. You're technically old enough to be a dad, sure, but I really don't think you have to worry about that yet. Most high school relationships don't really last anyway. Talking to a girl about kids right now would probably just scare her off."
"So then, I should just go in expecting the relationship to fail?" Shouto asked, his confusion only growing. "Doesn't that seem bad? Why even date someone if you don't think it will last?"
Mic froze a bit at the question, seeming at a loss for words. Unnoticed by Shouto, the runaways were all doing their best to suppress their snickers. "Hey, Yuki-kun's got a point," Navi called lightly. "Why do people date when they don't expect it to pan out, Mic-sensei?"
"Um," the Voice Hero said very eloquently. "Well, uh, that's... Um..."
"Hold on," Ryuu interrupted, making them turn to him. "Yuki, serious question. Have you had... The talk?"
"What talk?" Shouto asked. There was a long moment of silence, none of them speaking. As it continued, Navi's shoulders began to shake and he frowned at her. "Navi? Is everything okay?"
"Fine," she squeaked out, voice trembling just slightly. "Totally, perfectly fine!" His frown grew, because she didn't sound fine. And when he looked at Mic, he had a look of utter despair on his face, which further concerned Shouto.
At that moment before he could press for information, the door slammed open, and they all turned to see Ashido. "YUKI!" she called.
"Ashido," Shouto greeted, getting up to face her. ("Oh thank god," Mic groaned behind Shouto unnoticed.) He paused, wondering if now would be a good time to address their potential relationship, but she seemed to have come with a purpose. "Did something happen?"
"Yes, so much!" she exclaimed as she rushed over to him. "Mido got found out last night and locked up!"
Shouto's eyes went wide behind his mask. "Shigaraki found out Midoriya's from another world?"
"Wait, what?" Ryuu yelped with a start while Ashido deflated slightly.
"Uh, no, we're still safe on that front. He just thinks he's having an episode-thing." Okay, that was marginally better, but still bad. "But besides that, we still haven't heard from the others, but Occhan got un-Quirked this morning, and your brother came back with her! We have to go talk to him, like, now!"
Oh. Oh, crap. Shouto knew this was coming, but he still hadn't expected it to happen this soon. "We can't put it off?" he asked, and she winced and grimaced.
"He's... actually kinda waiting right outside," she admitted reluctantly. "We tried to get him to wait at the karaoke place, but he refused to let either of us out of his sight after I met them at the train station."
"And I'm totally justified!" a familiar voice yelled from the tunnel, making everyone jump and Shouto's blood run cold. Dabi—Touya—his brother—was right there. He was right outside the room, inside the tunnel, waiting for him. "Get out here already, brat, or I'll barge in and drag you out myself!"
Shouto just stood numbly for a moment, his heart hammering in his chest. "Kid," Mic said, making him turn around. The hero had a serious look on his face, his gaze a bit more intent. "Are you okay? Is your brother dangerous?"
Yes, very, but even Shouto knew he couldn't say that. "I'll be fine," he said instead. "It's uncomfortable, but... we have to talk." He'd put it off long enough, and he knew Dabi wouldn't wait much longer. He wasn't ready, not fully, but he knew he had no choice.
"Oh, right, before we go!" Ashido exclaimed, and quickly shifted her backpack off her shoulder to retrieve the shock cuffs Hawks had used on him.
Mic clearly recognized them as he physically recoiled, eyes bugging out of his skull. "Wait, WHAT!?" he yelped, and everyone winced as his voice echoed off the walls. Mic grimaced but didn't apologize, trying to correct his volume as he hastily hissed, "Are those what I think they are? Where did you even get those!?"
"It's a long story that doesn't matter right now, but uh, yeah. They are, and they're real." Ashido quickly handed them to Akai, who accepted them warily. "Here, you're a vigilante, so you know what these are right?"
"These are those cuffs that shock people when they use their Quirks, right?" she asked as she took them.
"Exactly! We gotta go, but I figured that these might be better than, you know, leaving Mic-sensei all tied up? At least with these he can use his hands and won't have to feed himself?" She shrugged while Mic just stared at them in horror, face drained of color.
"Are you almost done yet?" Dabi called impatiently from the tunnel, making them all jolt and Shouto's blood freeze once more. He turned to stare at the door wide-eyed, feeling his heartbeat pick up its pace. While he knew he had to go out there, he felt rooted to the spot he stood, his stomach churning with anxiety. He had no idea how Dabi would react after all, and so far very few people had been willing to believe their story.
He barely noticed Ashido approach him until her hand slipped into his, and he glanced at her in surprise to see her offer a reassuring, if strained, smile. "Don't worry, Yuki, we'll be there with you," she said quietly, squeezing his hand. He glanced down at their linked hands before nodding, gaze returning to her face once more.
"Right. Thank you... Mina," he said, using her name as an afterthought. Her face flickered briefly with surprise before lighting up into a brilliant smile, giving his hand another squeeze.
"Of course! Let's go, Sh—Yuki!" She corrected herself with a nervous laugh, glancing back at Mic. Right, she couldn't let him hear his actual name, but... She'd started to say his given name. Did this mean they were officially dating?
(Unknown to them, the runaways and Mic had made the connection, and all were silently dying inside for different reasons. Navi was very proud she wasn't laughing like a hyena.)
The pair headed for the door in silence, and Shouto took a deep breath before they pushed it open and stepped into the tunnel. He turned his head, and sure enough, there he was. Dabi, Touya, his brother, stood right next to the door with Uraraka beside him, and Shouto had barely any time to register his presence before he'd thrown an arm over his shoulder.
"Took you long enough, little brother," he said, voice sickly sweet and dripping with barely contained irritation. The arm around Shouto's shoulder looped a little tighter around his neck, pulling him closer to the man. Even as he did, Dabi reached out his other hand to pluck the Snowbell-chan mask from Shouto's face and tossed it aside. "I am so glad to finally see you again. We have a lot to talk about, don't we?"
His tone made it perfectly clear Shouto wouldn't be escaping this time. He just nodded mutely, unsure what to say. "Uh, we should probably go now," Uraraka piped up nervously, wringing her hands. "I mean, this isn't really a good place for the talk, you know?"
"Lead the way, Floaty," Dabi said, and made no move to release his hold on Shouto as they started walking towards the end of the tunnel. It was a bit awkward walking like that, but Shouto had already resigned himself to the fact Dabi wouldn't be taking any chances of him escaping.
About ten minutes later found them in the abandoned karaoke bar, the three teenagers seated on a couch while Dabi stood in front of them with his arms crossed. The trio squirmed uncomfortably under his cold glower, trying not to look directly at him. While Shouto might be the main target of his ire, he clearly wouldn't let anyone else involved off the hook either.
"Alright, brats," he said. "Spill. What the actual fuck is going on, and how do you even know each other?"
They exchanged grimaces, none of them sure where to even start. Previous attempts by Shouto and Mina to explain things hadn't gone too well. None of the runaways were present to support their claims either, the jumpers having previously agreed to leave them out of it this time. So they were on their own.
Uraraka finally broke the silence, her voice quiet and sheepish. "Um, so to be fair, I really didn't know Yuki was Todoroki-kun when we met," she said. "I didn't make the connection until after he mentioned freezing you."
Dabi zeroed in on her at that. "So you already knew him even back then?" he demanded sharply, and they all winced.
"How did you get that from that?" Mina blurted.
"Because I'm not an idiot," Dabi huffed. "The way you phrased that makes it pretty damn clear you already knew about dear Shouto-chan Quirk back when I told you about my idiot brother Yuki." They just stared at him, turning over Uraraka's wording in their heads. Shouto didn't see anything particularly telling, so Dabi must be more astute than they'd realized to have picked up on that. That, or just more paranoid. "And on that note, why didn't you tell me after you found him?"
"...Because he didn't want me to?" Uraraka replied meekly, shoulders hunched and grimacing guiltily.
"I wasn't ready to talk to you yet," Shouto added. He still wasn't, but didn't see a point in saying that. Not like Dabi would let him leave or delay this reunion if he did.
"Right," Dabi muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, you still haven't explained how you two know each other. Or how she ties into this." He gestured to Mina, who flinched at the sudden attention. "Because as far as I can tell, she came out of literally nowhere, aside from talking to Floaty online and the whole 'ran away from a hero' thing Hawks mentioned."
"Maybe we met on a dating app," Mina snarked, sticking out her tongue. That really didn't help Shouto's confusion over whether they were dating or not.
"It's, um, part of the whole story," Uraraka said. "We all only really got into contact like, a week ago, after I met you."
Mina nodded, losing some of her snarky edge. "I was actually serious about him saving my friend's brother. That's how we got back in contact!"
"Back in contact?" Dabi repeated. "So you knew him before too? Did all of you know each other at some point? And that Midoriya brat too?"
Mina winced, sucking on her cheek. "Well, um, yeah... We all knew each other, technically..."
As he watched his friends nervously dance around the topic while trying to figure out the best way to explain everything, Shouto realized they had to just tell him. That had been rather obvious from the start, but he'd wanted to try to ease him into the explanation so this would go smoother. At this rate though he could sense Dabi's patience would run out.
So he decided to just skip straight to the point. "What do you know about multiverse theory?" he asked bluntly.
Dabi froze, while Uraraka and Mina stared at Shouto in absolute horror and disbelief. He ignored their stunned looks, focusing on Dabi. His mouth opened briefly, closed, and opened again. Then, after about a minute of silence, he threw his head back with a drawn-out groan. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."
Immediately the others leapt into damage control mode. "We know it sounds crazy, but it's true!" Mina all but exploded. "The three of us woke up here, but we're not from this world!"
"It's so different from back home!" Uraraka added frantically. "I'm rich somehow, Todoroki's a runaway, Deku lives with Shigaraki, All Might's dead and UA is gone—"
"We're supposed to be at UA!" Mina cut in. "We're all hero students there! And here, we're... not." She slumped in her seat lamely and shook her head. "It's all so weird to be here, everything feels wrong. I even had Kiri at my school, but he didn't know, well, me."
"That's why I was looking for Deku!" Uraraka exclaimed. "We ran into each other and I knew him, and he knew me, but we couldn't talk because Shigaraki was there! And then I realized he lives with the Alliance—"
"They're called the League of Villains in our world," Shouto interjected. "It's strange that Midoriya is with them because Shigaraki is our enemy there. And..." He paused there, hesitating for only a moment before pushing on, "So... are you."
Once again, Dabi just stared at them, his expression unreadable. Shouto thought he might look a bit tired, perhaps, which was a fairly common reaction whenever they spoke about all of... well, this.
For his part, Dabi did feel tired. He had run through probably a hundred different scenarios to explain why his dear idiot brother had suddenly frozen him and run off, some rational and some less so. Multiverse theory, though? That one had only barely been on his radar as a possibility, and definitely under the "insane" list.
"...Just tell me everything," he sighed in defeat.
There was no avoiding it anymore. The trio exchanged one last look before Mina started. "So, it happened around a month ago now..."
And like that, it all came out. Waking up in another world and finding everything so different from what they knew, like Uraraka's family being rich and Mina waking up in an apartment she didn't recognize. Naturally Shouto explained further how Dabi was a villain in their world, hence his initial reaction. And his further confusion.
"I thought I was kidnapped," he said bluntly. "So I ran away. Then I found out I was a runaway, so I thought maybe I was a villain too. I didn't even think we were related until Hawks called me."
"I am still so sorry he beat us to that," Uraraka said with a wince. "Deku and I were so freaked out when we realized you were Yuki on that phone call. We barely managed to mute the phone before we could scream."
Dabi meanwhile just had a hand over his face. "How the hell do you reach the conclusion that you must be a villain too. How is that your first thought? What, did you think you had a hand in killing dear old dad too?"
When the trio didn't respond right away, he slowly pulled his hand away from his face to see them all sitting with awkward looks. "...Actually, he kinda didn't know until we told him," Mina said sheepishly.
"...What."
"I didn't want to look him up," Shouto said with a simple shrug. "Or any heroes, really. Once I realized All Might died, and saw UA had closed, I... wasn't sure I wanted to know what else I would find." He shifted uncomfortably, while Dabi just grumbled under his breath.
"Unbelievable. Didn't even look him up once..." For all his intelligence, Dabi had long since realized his youngest brother lacked in some common sense areas, and this was no exception. He shook his head and waved a hand as he said, "Fine, whatever. Just, continue."
They did, Shouto explaining his decision to go to Odawara after seeing the news footage of Tokoyami, while Mina and Uraraka spoke about their messages on FacePage. And then, of course, Uraraka's reunion with Midoriya which prompted her to run away, followed by Mina also running away with a friend. Leading to Shouto and Mina's eventual grand reunion, in the very room where Mic was now being held.
"By the way, who was that guy you have locked up there?" Dabi asked casually. "Because I'm like, fifty percent sure that screech was that radio guy's Quirk."
"...We'll, uh, get to that in a bit," Mina said sheepishly.
They mentioned how they had found other people from their world besides Midoriya, though they didn't give any concrete details about their identities. Just that they went to the same school in this world and became vigilantes. They avoided mentioning Anjou and the runaways in detail, and only gave the barest of details about Mic being kidnapped after shadowing Mina.
They picked their words carefully, wary of revealing too much .It left some holes in a few explanations, and they could tell the vagueness made Dabi irritated at times. Still, they managed to communicate the most crucial points, up to Midoriya getting caught.
"It happened last night, but we only got the confirmation today," Uraraka said, holding her phone with a frown. "That's the crazy news I got when we were at Aiko's place. We had to get it relayed by... uh, someone else. So, getting him and everyone else out of there is even more urgent now."
"Do the others even know that yet?" Mina asked. "I saw An-chan said not to tell them yet because of you-know-what. But that's over and done with, so..."
"I saw it was over while we were still on the train so I sent them a message about it, but they haven't responded," Uraraka said. "But I also mentioned we had to talk to Dabi, so they might be just... waiting to hear back about that? Or don't want to distract us? But anyways, that's pretty much all we can tell you right now," she said, turning back to Dabi. "We've already revealed a lot, but it's too risky to say anything else since you're connected to Aiko."
"You can't tell her about this," Shouto added, staring at him firmly. "She's too dangerous and unpredictable."
"Yeah, no shit," Dabi snorted. "Pretty sure she'd be willing to destroy Japan if she thought that green brat was in trouble. Which he is, if he's caught up in this." They all grimaced at that, unsure how accurate that was, but he knew her best. Dabi huffed as he sat at one of the tables, pressing a hand to his forehead. "Just... shit. Gimme a sec."
They all nodded, lapsing into silence as he processed it. While they waited the teens fidgeted awkwardly, exchanging nervous looks. So far no one had really reacted well to the explanation, but the fact he hadn't immediately denied it was a good sign, right? "This is seriously screwed up," he muttered. "I mean, breaking someone out of the Alliance? Won't lie, would rather avoid getting caught on those guys' bad side."
"We have no choice though," Uraraka said grimly. "We can't leave Deku, or Aizawa-sensei and anyone else trapped there. Even if it's dangerous."
"You don't know the half of it," Dabi snorted. "I've got barely any idea what those people are caught up in, but if I'm even remotely right, then I want to stay the hell away from it. Like I said, pretty sure Aiko would be willing to destroy Japan for your bratty friend. Not to mention the reputation Shigaraki has about how protective he is over his brother. And frankly, that's half the reason I'm even giving you guys a chance."
Wait, what?
Noting their looks of shock, Dabi snorted and said, "Kid, let me double check something. How often does that Midoriya brat actually leave the Alliance base or wherever he stays, totally unattended?"
The group frowned as they thought it over. "Not... too often, I think?" Uraraka ventured. "From what he said, Shigaraki seems really protective of him. There's this warehouse where we met up, and I think he mentioned he'd always be warped to the area by Kurogiri when he left the base...?"
"Okay, so basically, very little chance of someone using a Quirk to mess with him outside the Alliance base or wherever," Dabi cut in casually. "And inside... Between Shigaraki and Aiko, I don't think anyone would survive messing with him. Planting fake memories or whatever else might be going on would require some kind of opportunity to meet him. And then there's the fact you guys have basically zero connections in this world, so for you all to get Quirked at the same time?"
He huffed an amused breath and shook his head. "That doesn't add up, even if there's some sort of delay involved with the Quirk. Doesn't even touch how freaking random the choices are. I can get the interest in him and Shouto, maybe Floaty too with her family and all, but I don't see much reason to single out Pinky."
"I'd be offended, but you're right," Mina groaned, sinking in her seat. "I can't think of anything that makes me special in this world, I was just a normal high school student at a normal high school until I woke up!"
Dabi just nodded. "See? She agrees with me. Makes more sense if it was triggered on the other side since you all lived in the same place there."
Shouto and Uraraka exchanged calculating looks as he spoke, hitting right on their own speculations and logic about the swap. "Yeah, that's what we think," Shouto said slowly, still surprised Dabi was willing to believe them so quickly. "We just don't know how, since we were at UA all day."
"Still makes more sense than someone individually meeting all of you in this world and setting it up somehow. Just so I'm clear, there are six of you, right?" Dabi drawled. "Because your vagueness is making it a little hard to be sure."
They all exchanged nervous looks, hesitant to reveal too much. "As far as we know, yeah," Uraraka finally said. Dabi just crossed his arms, silently commanding her to elaborate, and she grimaced as she did. "We think there might, maybe, be a seventh person working with... someone, so the other two are checking into it right now...?"
"That's the thing we were being vague about earlier," Shouto said helpfully.
"How specific, thanks for clearing it up," Dabi drawled. He didn't seem very thankful though.
"Actually, they're definitely done, right?" Mina asked Urakara. "They should've had enough time to get home and see your messages. Have they said anything?"
"Well hold on, let me check," Uraraka said, rousing her phone from sleep and opening the FacePage chat. "And I should update them about this anyway—"
She stopped short, eyes bulging and jaw falling open. "Uraraka?" Shouto asked sharply, not wanting to get his expectations up, but feeling a pang of hope. Because that reaction—even he could tell it meant something big.
Swallowing thickly, she opened her mouth and read aloud. "Secret Ojou-sama has been added to the chat."
powerofmusic: Thanks for the heads up. Hope the chat with Dabi goes well. Looks like we have a LOT to talk about. We'll head down tomorrow to talk in person.
powerofmusic: But right now, we have news. So first: we were wrong about Tokoyami. He's not one of us.
powerofmusic: But turns out there's another person after all.
[Secret_Ojou-sama has been added to the chat.]
Secret_Ojou-sama: Hey guys! Guess who?
Secret_Ojou-sama: I can't BELIEVE you're all here! I seriously thought I was alone!
Secret_Ojou-sama: This is seriously the best!
Secret_Ojou-sama: You're probably still talking to Dabi (and OH MY GOSH WHAT!?) so I'm just gonna scroll back and see the old chat
1-A_Chargebolt: Guys, you won't BELIEVE what she's been up to.
1-A_Chargebolt: Like, we can't say ANY of it here, but
1-A_Chargebolt: She's giving Deku and Peppermint a run for their money
powerofmusic: Yeah, no kidding. We've at least got Gentle Criminal, Tokoyami, a guy from 1-B and a hacker on our side now though...?
nettmegg: What the fuck
powerofmusic: We'll have to talk more tomorrow
1-A_Chargebolt: Oh hey Nettmegg! Forgot you're in here!
nettmegg: What the ACTUAL fuck?
Secret_Ojou-sama: OMG YOU'RE HERE TOO NETTY!?
nettmegg: HOW DO YOU REMEMBER THAT NICKNAME
nettmegg: WE MET ONE TIME
Secret_Ojou-sama: Hi Netty!
nettmegg: WAY BEFORE ALL THIS CRAP
powerofmusic: Wait, how do you know each other?
nettmegg: Not
nettmegg: One
nettmegg: Word
nettmegg: If you remember ANYTHING, you will NOT put it in text, or so help me, you WILL regret it
Secret_Ojou-sama: O_O
Secret_Ojou-sama: Got it! Sorry! I actually don't really remember anyway, so
1-A_Chargebolt: But guys, this is awesome! We have so much help
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: What—are you who I think you are?
Secret_Ojou-sama: !
Secret_Ojou-sama: OCCHAN! :D
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: OMG
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: YOU'VE BEEN WITH GENTLE THIS WHOLE TIME!?
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: Asiughdgrwuhgweogw hello
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: This is Yuki now
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: The girls are screaming so they gave me the phone to type
powerofmusic: Yeah, there's screaming on our end too
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: Also, my brother says he believes us and is willing to help. So that's good, I think?
powerofmusic: Hopefully
powerofmusic: We still have to go meet the others who work with Secret tonight, but
powerofmusic: We have a LOT to talk about tomorrow
1-A_Chargebolt: That might be the understatement of the year.
BONUS: Alternate Ending to the Chat
1-A_Chargebolt: BRO WAIT!
1-A_Chargebolt: Real quick. After what we've all been through, we think we all deserve to be on a first-name basis.
1-A_Chargebolt: So do you agree? Space and Dancing Queen already did last night, and Ojou-sama is on board too!
1-A_Chargebolt: We're just waiting on you and deku!
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: oh
1-A_Chargebolt: Uh, hello? You there?
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: So, this is Dabi now.
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: Any idea why my brother just handed me the phone and went to stand in the corner?
1-A_Chargebolt: Dude I'm sorry, but I have no idea what goes through his head sometimes
1-A_SpaceRescueHero: Figures.
Me, recently on the Ignite chat: "So, we joke about this now and then, but asking seriously now: what are the chances Shouto hasn't had The Talk or an equivalent?" The answers were inconclusive and spiraled into a talk on whether he could avoid it entirely with the internet, so I am leaving it just as vague here. If he's had The Talk, he at least doesn't recognize the name "The Talk"
Also, Dabi (apparently) believes them! And if you think it's too easy... Well, let's just say there's more to his reasoning than he mentions. He's still salty at Shouto for the iceberg incident AND keeping him in the dark so long, so this is fair play in his mind.
As for the bonus: it's the original way I ended the chapter, but it's not canon. The misunderstanding is too fun to end now~
Question for Next Time: What chat names would you assign to all the non-jumpers caught up in this mess? (Kirishima, Gentle's crew, Yaoyorozu, Hatsume, etc.)