Chapter 124

.::Five Cliffhangers::.

Should be around here somewhere... Kas glanced down at his phone to check the photo of the map he'd been emailed by Yuri. Who, despite having a technomancy-based Quirk and anime-level child hacker skills, had chosen to send a literal photo of his computer monitor instead of a screenshot. Which made interpreting the map a bit tricky.

He asks me to go out of my way to Nagoya, and can't even bother with a decent picture. Kas kept the complaints in his head, having long learned to never think aloud when on a job. Even if that "job" was just checking out the location of a bug the paranoid ten-year-old had planted in some random stranger's bag. He could totally understand why the kid was paranoid, there was a reason they'd taken him in at Storm Chaser HQ rather than letting social care workers take him on, but that didn't make these trips any less tedious.

Especially since Yuri had been vague about why Kas should check it out. "You won't regret it," he'd said, the gear-shaped rings in his eyes almost seeming to spin. "It will be really useful!"

That could mean anything from an investigation lead to walking right into an ambush, Kas thought sourly, suppressing an annoyed huff. Yuri had a lot of faith in Kas's ability to handle any situation thrown his way. Which, wasn't entirely unfounded since his Quirk let him detect attacks in advance.

That was why he didn't hesitate to slip into a side door of the building denoted by the map, taking a moment to glance around. While the building was abandoned, he saw plenty of disturbances in the dust along the floor in the shape of footprints. He followed them to the nearby stairwell, footsteps perfectly silent as he headed up. Darkness had already set in outside, leaving the stairway mostly dark, but he didn't dare use a flashlight in case someone was still around.

As he turned around a corner to climb the next flight, he paused as a flash of red caught his eye on the wall. Preflex kicked into gear, his future-self walking up to inspect the mysterious object, only to cut off the glimpse the moment he recognized it. A smirk curled across his lips as he walked up in real time, sparing only a passing glance at the red feather and shred of fabric embedded into the wall. Looks like a fight already happened.

The dust on the steps by the feather was in total disarray, and he could tell that the people had come down from above before going to the second floor. So naturally, he bypassed the second floor and went to find where the fighters originated. The light was a bit better on the third floor thanks to some open doors to rooms with windows, though not by much, and he consciously activated Preflex to do a quick scan of the rooms.

A soft huff of amusement slipped past his lips when he ended the glimpse, walking over to peer inside one of the doors. A sleeping bag and camping lantern had been set up in a corner, along with a pile of clothes and a backpack thrown haphazardly on the ground. He casually strolled over to the bag and looked inside to find mostly clothes and snacks. He dug around and soon located Yuri's robotic beetle buried deep inside near the bottom.

Found the bug, just needed to find the person now. Before he could grab it though, a voice rang behind him. "Well, who do we have here?"

He blinked, the glimpse ending to leave the bag untouched at his feet, and he glanced over his shoulder with a lazy grin. "Yo, Hawks," he greeted. "Long time no see."

The winged hero stood in the doorway, his face largely cast in shadows in the darkness, but Kas could still see enough to make out the placid head tilt. "Ah, it's you," he realized out loud, tension visibly fading from his frame. "Still have to get the first word every time, huh, Oracle?"

"Not much of an oracle if people can sneak up on me, right?" Kas asked as he stood up, and heard a small huff from the other hero.

"Guess not." So I'm guessing the bug in that bag is from you, then, he added in a glimpse.

"More from the little brat we took in, but pretty much," Kas cut in smoothly before he could actually say it, and Hawks paused.

"I forgot how annoying this part is."

"Wow, literally one sentence in and getting called annoying already," Kas said with a sad shake of his head, giving an exaggerated shrug. "I'm hurt. What happened to you being a carefree and friendly guy?"

"Sorry, Skylight told me it's just the quickest way to get you to stop that," Hawks replied breezily, Kas giving him the chance to actually speak this time. Partially because he then said, "That reminds me, I haven't talked to him in a while. He'll probably be curious about our run-in, don't you think?"

"Ugh, fine, you win, snitch," Kas sighed dramatically. "I don't want to deal with him nagging, I get enough from Shinobu and Saki."

"I'd expect you to get nagging from way more people than them."

"Yeah, but I actually care about what they think. That's different."

"I feel like I should be offended," Hawks said jokingly, and Kas just shrugged.

"Sorry, Hawks, you're pretty much just 'Sky's hero friend' to me. Not really that high on my priority list." Skylight, the sole active hero of Team Storm Chaser, was the only real connection between him and Hawks. And hearing Kas was up to using his Quirk to bypass conversations probably wouldn't motivate him to return from America anytime soon. He'd been frustrated by it plenty when Kas was a kid, and he freely admitted he'd only gotten worse since then.

Right now, he actually was a bit curious about Hawks though. "So, you've been staking out this place, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah. Figured someone had to plant that bug in his backpack, and would come to check for it. And sure enough, here you are."

"Well, like I said, the brat's the one who planted it. I'm just picking it up. I assume you've already gotten whoever this bag belongs to. So I'm guessing you won't mind me taking it." Even as he spoke Kas turned to grab the bag, only for a red feather to suddenly zip past his hand and embed in the floor next to his foot.

Just like that, the glimpse broke. Kas hadn't actually made the quip about Hawks staking out the place yet, hadn't reached for the bag, hadn't nearly been stabbed by a feather, hadn't even turned away from the winged hero, but he'd seen enough. His demeanor changed instantly, his casual and laid back attitude vanishing as his spine straightened and he frowned. "...Hmm."

"Guessing you saw something unpleasant?" Hawks guessed, voice the epitome of nonchalant but with an undercurrent of calculation. Kas didn't respond to the quip, instead testing out various questions and actions.

If he asked about the owner of the bag, the person who'd been there, the feather on the stairwell, what happened to the kid who Yuri saw, why he was so interested in who planted it—"None of your business."

If he grabbed the bag, rooted through it more, tried to slip something else besides Yuri's bug into his pocket—he would get a feather sent his way as a warning.

If he charged at Hawks, threw a punch at his head, swerved to the side and did a baseball-style slide towards his legs—well, those feathers were really pesky and stung like a bitch.

Those few glimpses told Kas enough to determine three things: Hawks would not tell him who had been here, he did not want Kas to take the bag or anything in it, and he was willing to resort to violence to stop him. Kas, while confident in his abilities, knew he was at a disadvantage against a guy with telekinetic feathers in a tight space.

"Hmm," he repeated, and then nodded. "Okay then."

Then he yanked the backpack from the floor and Hawks immediately sent three feathers sailing his way. Kas dodged two and let the third cut his arm as threw the bag at the nearest window, shattering the glass. Hawks startled and lurched forward, instantly figuring out Kas's intent, but the underground hero was already jumping out with a manic grin.

Jumping from a third story window? Literal child's play for him. Hawks very clearly didn't want Kas to take the bag, so it was only natural he did. That was just how he rolled.

The chase was on.

Around the same time, Saki was standing in the lobby of Team Idaten's agency watching people run around. Sidekicks and employees alike were on the move, calling out orders and frantically talking to each other while checking phones and papers. "I picked a bad day to visit, didn't I?" she mused aloud.

"Sorry, Lady," the receptionist who'd volunteered as her guide said with a sheepish look. "Gentle Criminal's heist happened a bit earlier than we expected."

"He did break the pattern a bit, huh," she remarked lightly. She'd helped Sir Nighteye try to piece together patterns for the famous phantom thief in the past at the request of other agencies, so she was a bit familiar with his patterns. While it could vary a bit, she'd expected another few days before his second Hosu-bound heist.

In any event, everyone at Team Idaten was obviously now focused on the aftermath of the heist, among other things. She kept hearing people mention some local vigilantes who'd been on the scene, which was interesting and might be worth looking into. Later, though, after she finished her other business.

"The baby Iida should at least be free, right?" she asked the receptionist, who looked surprised.

"You mean Tenya-kun? Well, yes, he is. But why do you need to talk to him? Last I checked you're not really involved in the pre-heroics program, right?"

"I'm not. I actually wanted to ask Ingenium some stuff about security measures at high schools for a case I'm working on. Since his brother is actually a student, I figure he should be helpful too."

The lie came out easily, barely having to adjust her original cover story. Tenya had been her goal all along, she'd originally planned to ask to speak to both of them. The current hubbub actually made things easier, letting her go right to her target.

"Oh, I see." The receptionist nodded easily, turning to look around. "Well, Tenya-kun would be more free right now. Follow me."

"Thank you," Saki said with a polite smile, following her to a side room with two armchairs where she was left to wait. It didn't take long for the door to open and the younger Iida to stride into the room, dipping into a stiff bow.

"Lady of the Night, hello. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Saki smiled at the overly formal greeting, hands folding prettily atop her lap. "Thank you. I'm technically off-duty though, I'm not even in costume. Hearing my hero name feels a bit weird right now. You can call me Sayonaka instead."

He straightened from his bow and nodded briskly. "Very well, Sayonaka-san. I was told you have some questions about school?"

"I do." She gestured at the other armchair, saying, "Please, sit down, this will probably take a while." He nodded again before striding over to sit across from her with his back ramrod straight. She recalled Ingenium joking how his younger brother was like a robot sometimes, and she could see why with how rigid he held himself.

She pushed the thought out of her mind, offering a coy and friendly smile. "So, tell me about the security measures your school takes. You have a lot of students with rather... influential connections, right? Like that heiress who used to be in the pre-heroics program? What was her name again...?"

"Yaoyorozu," Iida supplied helpfully, and she nodded.

"Right, thank you. Such a shame she dropped out of the program, I hear she had potential. Is she doing well?"

"She is. She and Tokage-san are still in close contact, and though I attend classes virtually, we've spoken a few times in the past few months."

Saki's smile widened a bit, leaning forward. "Tell me more about attending classes virtually. How many other students are exclusively virtual? How does the school handle tests? What kinds of reasons do they have for to decide on being virtual?" It was a simple psychological trick. Three questions, two to obscure her intent and the last one being the one she really wanted an answer to.

Because ultimately, she wasn't interested in the school's security measures. She was interested in the students.

It had been a while ago, but Saki had once seen a class at UA in her dreams, some familiar like the Yaoyorozu heiress and Todoroki Shouto, and others... not so much. She still had no idea who decided to let her teach a class, but she knew the difference between a regular dream and a Porter dream. When she woke up she'd taken the time to quickly sketch the students, because if they were at UA, they must be good.

And now, it seemed like at least three students from that class had ended up in their world. It was only natural to try to check the rest to see if anyone else had somehow ended up here, starting with the two whose names and locations she actually knew.

And, as expected, Iida Tenya was more than willing to comply with her questions, falling right into her first trap. "Well, most people started out in it, but some people have transitioned to remote learning over the semester. The most recent example I can think of is a boy from my grade, Kaminari-kun, after he almost got mugged."

"Oh? That's scary. Can you tell me more? Was it near school? Was he in uniform? Do you think it was targeted?"

"Well, I don't know if it was targeted. The mugging happened after hours off-campus, you see..."

Meanwhile, Koichi yawned as he watched the warehouse from a neighboring rooftop, having entered his... fourth hour of watching, maybe? Stakeouts were boring, but a necessary part of vigilante work sometimes. Like today, when he'd seen a video of the 1-A Vigilantes creeping around the business district.

He'd decided to wait by the warehouse instead of trying to find them on the streets, figuring they'd have to go back to drop off their gear. But so far, surprisingly they hadn't shown up. The only people he saw were a pair of teenage girls in school uniforms pass by the building to head to another nearby building, which was suspicious but not enough to abandon his surveillance post.

Now he kind of regretted not following them, since he was starting to think the 1-A Vigilantes wouldn't show up. Either something happened, or they had some other place. He stretched his arms behind his head as he got up, his patience officially running out. Koichi was always more into action than stakeouts, so he figured he should just call it a night and report the warehouse to Iida. Or maybe report it tomorrow. He wouldn't lie, he really wanted to talk to these kids himself first—

He jumped as the door to the stairwell slammed open and spun to see the pink-haired girl from earlier with what looked like a bazooka resting over her shoulder and aimed at him. "Go Net Baby!" she shouted, and Koichi reflexively used his Quirk to dodge out of the way as a net shot out like a rocket.

"What the heck!?" he yelped.

"Ooh, you're fast!" she said with a grin, yanking a handle on the barrel of the gun as she moved to point it at him. "Perfect! Now I can test Turbo Mode!" And then more nets spewed from it, making him yelp again as he shot across the rooftop on all fours to dodge the steady stream.

"How many nets are in that thing—wait, why did you call it a baby!?"

"Because this is my latest baby! Momocchi, go!"

Momocchi? Wait, did that mean—"On it, Meimei!" a voice declared behind him, and he whirled to see the other girl standing on a drone hovering beside the roof with another bazooka-like contraption aimed at him. And he barely had time to register the manic glint in her eyes before purple something shot right at his face.

Meanwhile, Mail was floating bored in an abandoned restaurant as he half-listened to Ojiro and Monoma talk. From what he could hear, the relocation efforts were moving along smoothly. Most of the runaways would be out of Odawara by the weekend, maybe earlier depending on when the escape/rescue operation moved forward. Though Mail still had very little information on that, with everyone keeping irritatingly quiet about it around him.

It was a bit frustrating how much they were able to hide from him since they knew about his presence and Glitch's Quirk happened to be compatible. They always had someone with him, and while they didn't hide everything, they had a strategy. He recognized that they intentionally revealed just enough to hopefully tide him over: tiny little morsels of information that would ultimately be useless in the long run.

Even now, Ojiro and Monoma didn't discuss details he could use like a location or who would leave when, but smaller minutia like whether they had enough food. If some of the more cold-sensitive members had warm enough clothes to go outside and travel. If they had enough money for tickets, or access to alternative transportation options.

Tiny details that sounded useful on the surface, but he knew wouldn't be helpful in a later investigation. The fact some of the runaways were sensitive to cold wouldn't help identify or track them. Odawara had plenty of bus routes, and it would be easy to ride a "decoy" bus in various directions and transfer to another line to reach their true destination. And even then, none of that was what he really wanted to know.

The one unspoken detail he managed to figure out: the escape/rescue was nearer than ever. The increase in discussions about relocation were a clear sign, as were their obvious attempts to distract him after Ashido got a mysterious text earlier. He knew something was going down. And he sincerely doubted they'd let him tag along for the attempt with how wary they were of him.

This just wouldn't do. His window of opportunity was closing with each passing day.

He drifted over towards the chatting teens, who turned to watch his approach with barely masked wariness. "Hey, Whiplash," he said nonchalantly, and saw Ojiro twitch at the vigilante moniker.

"What?"

"I was just wondering, any news on the Alliance?"

"Nothing you need to know," he replied testily, and Mail hummed. They still insisted on keeping him in the dark, even now.

"Do you even know that much about it?" he asked skeptically. "You're with me all the time, so you're probably not hearing much... hmm." He trailed off as he noticed the two teens' body languages shift from wary to surprised, glancing around.

"Just so you know, Mail-san, Glitch cut out his Quirk," Monoma declared loftily, confirming his suspicions.

"He was obviously baiting you into revealing something," the illusionist said blandly from the table where he sat with a book. "Easier to just nip that in the bud right away."

"Rude," Mail said aloud, not that anyone could hear him. He could already tell though that Glitch had seen right through his intentions, had preemptively cut him off.

And that wouldn't do.

"You can't leave him invisible forever though," Ojiro pointed out. "He could leave."

"I could, but there's no point," Mail said blandly. "You still don't recognize the stalemate, do you?" Because that was the best word for their situation.

Mail's presence was tolerated, but his absence was the real threat. If he went missing while not visible, they'd all likely launch into a panic. The runaways would probably clear out of Odawara that same night after confirming he wasn't following. The jumpers would also probably relocate with the assumption he'd tell heroes about their plans. Once they were gone, he'd lose his primary lead.

That was the real reason he never bothered wandering away at night while Glitch slept, or at least one of the reasons. The other reason was simply there was nothing to see at night. He'd primarily stuck to Ashido and Kirishima before his presence was revealed, so he didn't know any of the runaways' hideouts. Pretty much the only places he could go were the tunnel with Mic, or Kuroe's house with the jumpers. All of whom would be sleeping, because living people needed sleep.

Wandering around Odawara just wasn't worth the risk of Glitch waking up and realizing he was gone. He'd been the one to ask about the Kageboushi anime when someone had half-jokingly suggested they marathon some TV show at night so the teen could sleep. There wouldn't be much for him to see at night, so he might as well have something interesting to watch.

He had spent two thousand, nine hundred eighty-seven days essentially alone with no one aware of his presence. He would rather avoid the boredom that came with just existing alone.

Still, the runaways had yet to realize the stalemate, as the current conversation made clear. "Fine, I'll make him visible again," Glitch grunted in annoyance. "But don't ask about the Alliance."

"And you're visible again," Monoma informed Mail lightly, and he held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, I won't probe for details. Though can I at least ask if I can tag along to whatever big plan you guys have for the break-out?"

"No," all three teenagers chorused, and he huffed.

"Fine, fine." He'd figured as much, but it was worth asking. Since they openly confirmed he wouldn't be allowed to join though, that just made it clear he had no reason to hold back anymore. The time for passive observation had ended.

So he reclined on his back, making it clear through his body language he was willing to drop the topic. "By the way, I think we'll run out of episodes of Kageboushi tonight. Do you have any other stuff lined up for me to watch?"

"Well, we don't have any old anime recommendations, if that's what you want," Ojiro said dryly.

"That's fine, I only asked about it because my sister watched that back when I was still invisible. It's like the only anime from back then I got really invested in. I'm open to suggestions for other shows, especially if they have supernatural elements."

"Well, in that case, I know a drama about a literal phantom thief," Monoma said thoughtfully. "I haven't seen it since I ran away as a kid, but that might be interesting."

"Thanks, that does sound interesting," Mail said amicably. "What's it called? Also, Shinsou was captured by the Alliance."

"Tsuki no—" Monoma cut off his answer as the last sentence registered, the two blond teenagers standing frozen in shock.

"Tsuki no...?" Mail probed lightly, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer. Glitch stood up sharply from the table and whirled to face him, his ever-shifting illusory face showing anger on every single face.

"You—"

"Hitoshi is where," Ojiro cut in sharply, eyes narrowed, and Mail smiled even as the blond whirled to Glitch and growled, "Make him visible again or answer the damn question yourself!"

"Lee," the elder teen said in warning tone, but Ojiro snarled, baring his teeth like a feral animal as he took a threatening step forward.

"How long did you know? Were you even going to tell us?"

"Answer the questions, Glitch," Monoma said, voice cold and eyes steely as he glowered at him. "We've never spoken his actual name, he had to hear it somewhere."

Glitch's features began flickering more erratically under their combined scrutiny, his agitation visibly growing and messing with his Quirk's control. Mail just smiled serenely as he sat cross-legged to watch the showdown and await the inevitable slips of useful information.

After a couple hours, Shouta was somewhere between terrified and numb. His fear and anxiety was so overwhelming, his emotions had started to shut down in something probably close to shock. He wasn't totally calm, but he at least wasn't panicking anymore. He'd take what he could get at this point.

Once he stopped freaking out Aiko had used a knife to cut the restraints since she lacked a key for them, and then carried him to another apartment. She was now taking her time trying to pry off the mitten still covering his right hand. Apparently the band had a locking mechanism, which she also lacked a key for.

"Maybe I should melt it," she muttered after a failed attempt to pick it with formal lockpicking tools. Her third such attempt, and clearly frustrating judging by the way she glared at the lock while muttering to herself. "Melting it might work. Would you mind if I melted it?"

Shouta shrugged listlessly, not really paying much attention. He focused on the bedroom instead of Aiko, drinking in the details. It still lacked windows unfortunately, but it had more life than the previous cells. It was partially furnished, complete with a (broken) dresser, and there was even an astronomy poster on one wall showing the solar system. It didn't feel sterile or cold like the other cells.

Just... Empty, hollow, abandoned.

(Forgotten.)

His eyes slid back to Aiko at the last thought, watching her carefully melt the cuff of the mitten with her fingertip. He could see the metal sizzle slightly under the influence of whatever Quirk she was using, and then she grabbed the plush material with both hands and yanked it apart. The mitten ripped in half easily, metal and fabric alike, leaving his hand finally free and exposed to the air.

"Well, that's one thing down," she muttered as she tossed the remains towards the dresser. "And now to figure out literally everything else, I guess..."

"He called me Shouta," he interjected. His voice sounded distant, even to his own ears, but the words had him steadily refocusing on reality, taking a shuddery breath. "Just... How much do you people know about me?"

Aiko frowned and averted her gaze, clearly uncomfortable. "The Alliance didn't do any research into your personal life, and definitely not your name. So you don't need to worry about that."

Shouta could sense a but in there. "What about you?" he asked, dreading the answer, and her frown grew.

"I saw your name once," she finally admitted, making him tense. "But... I didn't really bother committing it to memory. It was mentioned once in a file, years ago, and... Well, the rest of the contents were more memorable."

Shouta didn't need to ask about the file to guess the context, shuddering involuntarily. He had been told about the labs found in the weeks and months following All Might and All For One's battle, the notes on various people and Quirks of interest. He'd immediately known that Erasure would land him on that list, even if no one found physical evidence confirming it like with other pro heroes.

(That was how he'd ended up in that hell in the first place.)

"How does he know my name, then?" he asked bluntly, and Aiko paused.

"I don't know," she said after a few seconds too long, and Shouta could tell she was lying.

"Please," he forced out, desperation seeping into his voice, because Kurogiri shouldn't know. Letting his name be known by any villain was a risk, it put everyone around him at risk. If he knew that, what else did he know? What else could he find out, tell the rest of the Alliance?

After several long seconds Aiko sighed and relented. "I don't want to say too much. I don't think you're in the right headspace for any of this, and it's really not my place to say. But. Kurogiri wasn't always... Kurogiri," she said, somewhat lamely. "He probably knew you before."

Her tone left no doubt about the "probably" on her end; she was certain of it. It made Shouta's mind spin, because he definitely didn't remember anyone like Kurogiri. Nor anyone with a Quirk remotely close to whatever he had, no matter how hard he thought. "Did you people mess with my memories?" he finally asked, and the question seemed to surprise Aiko.

"What? Why would—no, we didn't," she managed to stammer, rapidly shaking her head. Her expression took on a rueful twist as she muttered, "If we could do that, I would've wiped all your memories way back then. Or at least the worst parts."

Another involuntary shudder wracked his body at the implications. He didn't need her to specify which part of that nightmarish ordeal she meant. (It was odd that Aiko herself was the least traumatizing part of his captivity after that. Though that might have been the Stockholm Syndrome finally kicking in.)

In any event, he still had no clue how he and Kurogiri could know each other. "Why would he suddenly use my name, then? Why give it away now?"

Once again Aiko paused, seeming reluctant to answer. "He probably doesn't even realize he did."

That took Shouta off-guard, managing an eloquent, "What?" In response Aiko stepped away from the bed and started pacing, looking agitated.

"He doesn't fully remember that time, but now and then memories bleed through. Little slips, so small he doesn't even notice, just acts and feels off. Lately it's been happening more often, your name back there was probably another bleed."

Shouta could hear the parts she didn't say: It was happening because of him. He was the trigger. He exhaled a shaky breath as he digested that information, not sure what to do with it. "First Midoriya, and now him," he muttered. "Does everyone at the Alliance have memory issues?"

The quip had Aiko pausing, turning to look at him slowly. "You know about the episodes," she said, not bothering to phrase it as a question.

"I do," he confirmed anyway. "I found out today from... I don't know her name, but... She looks like a kid—"

"Oh, fuck no," Aiko interrupted with a groan, her whole body sagging with exasperation. She sat on the literal air itself, burying her face in her hands with a dragged-out groaning noise. Shouta raised an eyebrow at her reaction, exaggerated as it was.

"I take it you recognize who I'm talking about, then," he remarked blandly, stating the obvious.

"Yes, and I apologize to anyone who has to put up with that." She sighed as she pried her hands from her face, mouth twisted into a bitter scowl. "I mean it. I get the feeling you figured out why she feels so wrong."

Shouta did, and he'd rather not talk about it. "The kids," he said instead. "Bakugou and Hijack. Can you at least confirm they're safe?" He should have asked earlier, probably would have in any other circumstance, but he hadn't been in the best mindspace for... obvious reasons.

"They are," Aiko replied automatically. "If something happened, someone would have told me by now." The air grew a bit colder and denser at that, another chill running down his spine, and he sucked in a sharp breath as he froze in place. Then all at once the pressure vanished, Aiko exhaling an annoyed huff. "I don't know what exactly happened before Giri dropped you off, but I made sure Tomura knows not to hide this stuff from me anymore."

Shouta swallowed, still a bit shaken by the previous pressure in the air, but nodded anyway. He might not know what exactly happened either, but he knew enough to figure it out. It was obvious that someone was trying to break into his cell before the sounds of fighting started. Those kids had challenged a villain because of him. The fact they'd risked their safety defending him, when he was the adult and hero?

It had gone too far. He couldn't even defend himself, and now children were paying the price for it. Relocating him to Aiko's care would stave off attacks, but he'd probably have to go back eventually, and then they'd be back where they started. Something had to change, and it had to change now.

"Aiko," he said, and saw her perk up at her name. His fists tightened as he spoke, having to build his nerve to force the words out. "Those kids don't deserve to be locked up in that place. If it was just me it would be fine, but they're risking themselves because of me, and I can't do anything to stop it. But you can."

He forced himself to meet her gaze, getting lost in the starry depths. "You can do whatever you want with me. You can take my Quirk again. Drag me to some cell and lock me up, throw me in a straitjacket and blindfold me again, whatever. I won't fight back or resist, I swear. Just, please, in exchange, save them. Get them out of there."

Had he not been trapped in a bed with a broken leg, Shouta would be on his knees. Forehead to the ground as he prostrated himself to beg. All he could do instead was hope his voice would carry his sincerity. He bowed his head since he couldn't bow his waist, waiting for Aiko's response as dread built in his stomach.

As a hero, this was all he could do. Offer himself up in exchange for the kids' freedom. It was a hollow offer, since he knew he ultimately wouldn't be able to escape on his own anyway. He had to hope the offer of compliance would be enticing enough. She'd had some interest in him besides Erasure back then, he'd figured out that much. It was the only reason he'd managed to get out of that hell alive and whole.

Aiko stood in silence, each passing moment making his nerves grow more and more. "Anything?" she finally asked, and he swallowed as he gave a single, jerky nod.

"Yes. Anything." He might be sealing his doom with his words, but that was fine. If it might get the kids out of there, it was worth it.

"I see." She move to stand by the bed, but he didn't dare look up at her. "Then if you're sincere, maybe we can reach a deal."

Five confrontations and cliffhangers to wrap up Wednesday. Thursday will be off to a chaotic start. Thank you everyone for the comments and reviews!

No question for next time. Would enjoy ideas on how the cliffhangers will go though~