A/N: Sorry for the somewhat-late update; I was involuntarily committed to the psychiatric ward of a local hospital today. I assure you, though, I'm all right, but I wanna quit my job so bad. That aside, enjoy this latest update.

On this cold winter day, Todoroki was in her dorm, doing yoga. For this, she was wearing her favorite red sports bra and a pair of black yoga pants with white trim. She wasn't the best at yoga, but she had gotten better since she'd taken it up, and it had helped her to relax greatly. However, her relaxation was interrupted when she heard knocking on her door.

"I'm coming!"

Todoroki headed for the door and opened it. Sure enough…

"Hey Deku!"

Once again, Todoroki gave Deku a big hug and kiss. Owing to her more relaxed state of mind, it felt even better than usual.

"Wow, you look relaxed!" said Deku.

"Oh, I was practicing yoga when you showed up."

Deku's look turned serious. "Yoga? Since when?"

"A friend of mine told me about it, so I decided to try it for myself. It's not easy, but I find it's worth it."

Deku nodded. "Right. Anyways, speaking of trying things, there was something I wanted to try with you…"

"Which is…?"

"Do you know what an escape room game is?"

Todoroki shook her head. "Can't say I do."

"So basically, it's a game where they lock you in a room, and you have to solve a puzzle to escape."

Todoroki smiled. "That actually does sound interesting. I love trying new things with you, so this could be fun."

Deku smiled. "Great! Let's go!"

"OK, just let me get changed first and I'll go."

After Todoroki changed into a more practical outfit – a tight red sweater with tight blue jeans and her high-heel boots, her and Deku headed to the escape room in question: Professor's Mansion Escape Room. Sitting at the front desk was a young man with brown hair.

"Good afternoon!" said the man. "Would you two like to try our escape room?"

Deku smiled. "We sure would!"

"OK, it's 4,000 yen for each of you."

Deku and Todoroki ponied up their cash.

"OK, no one's playing now, so please step right this way."

The man led Deku and Todoroki over to a door marked "ESCAPE ROOM".

"The rules are simple: You two will be locked in the room, and you will have an hour in which to solve the puzzle and unlock the door so you can escape. If the time limit runs out, you lose. Also, we have a special Quirk detection system in the room, so not only will any attempts to use your Quirks be nullified, but they will also result in immediate disqualification. The clues can be anywhere, so look around as much as you can. Also, if there's a fire or other emergency, just hit the red button marked 'EMERGENCY USE ONLY', the game will stop and we'll come get you. Any questions?"

Deku and Todoroki shook their heads.

"Good. Have fun, you two!"

The attendant opened the door to the room and closed it behind them. The door locked, and a large LCD timer on the wall began counting down from one hour. This was the only item out of place in the room, which was decorated like a Victorian-era mansion with a couch, a coffee table, a chair with an ottoman, a bookshelf, a table with various pieces of lab equipment, and a fireplace, among other amenities. On the wall, there was also an algebra problem:

Ax – B = x – C

"Guess we've gotta solve that problem to find the code," said Deku.

"But how do we solve it?" asked Todoroki.

"Simple. We just search around the room until we find clues."

Todoroki turned her hands palms-up. "But they could be anywhere!"

Deku formed a determined look on his face. "So we'll look everywhere! Let's do this! You take the fireplace first; I'll look through the bookshelf!"

"Right!"

Deku and Todoroki began their search. Todoroki found nothing inside the fireplace, so she looked on the fireplace mantle, turning up a card with the following written on it:

B

"You search for clues,
Here's what's in store:
This answer here
Is number…"

"Deku, I found something!"

Deku discontinued his bookshelf search and headed to Todoroki.

"What's up?"

"Look at this!"

Deku looked at the card.

"Hmmm…definitely trying to challenge us to find the number, but what of the poem? It must be…" Deku snapped his fingers. "I got it!"

"What?"

"B…it must be the number 4!"

"How do you figure?"

"Look at the poem: You search for clues, here's what's in store, the answer here is number four. It rhymes."

Todoroki nodded. "Good thinking. Let's find A and C."

Deku and Todoroki continued their search. In between a couple of books, Deku found another card:

A

"You've made your start,
Now see it through,
This number here
Is number…"

"Todoroki, I found the second clue!"

Todoroki came over. "I found the third one in a desk. Show me yours first."

Deku showed Todoroki his card.

"OK, so what's this one?" asked Todoroki.

"No doubt it's 2. Now show me yours."

Todoroki showed Deku the third card.

C

"You're almost there,
You'll get out when
You figure out
It's number…"

Deku looked at the card carefully. Then, he snapped his fingers.

"Number 10!"

Todoroki smiled. "You're good. Now what do we do?"

"OK, so we figured out that A is 2, B is 4, and C is 10, so that means we have to solve the equation 2x – 4 = x – 10."

Todoroki shook her head. "Don't look at me. I'm good with math, but I'm lost with algebra."

"Just try your best. We'll figure this out sooner or later."

Deku and Todoroki thought about the problem as best as they could. However, Todoroki eventually ended up pulling her hair over the problem.

"Gosh, this is so hard! I've tried so many numbers and nothing makes sense!"

Deku put a hand on Todoroki's shoulder. "Let's not flip out now. We still have plenty of time. Besides, the way I figured it, we're going about it all wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"Sure, when you look at it the usual way, it doesn't make sense, but that's only because we've been trying positive numbers. If we look at negative numbers, we might actually get it."

"So?"

"So…" Deku thought about it some more, then raised his index finger. "That's it!"

"What?"

"The answer is -6!"

Todoroki smiled. "Nice going!"

Deku and Todoroki headed for the door, where there was a small keypad with a bunch of numbers and symbols. He punched in the answer, and the light turned green. With the door unlocked, they exited, and the attendant was waiting for them.

"Congratulations! You managed to finish this room with 30 minutes left! Don't forget to tell all your friends about us, and have a nice day!"

"We will!" said Deku and Todoroki.

Deku and Todoroki headed home, happy to have found a new way to have fun.

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.