Another short chapter, since next one will either have to be split in two, or be an absolute behemoth. haha
The audio version of this chapter can be found by searching Weshney Portal Panic on Youtube.
Thanks for all the favs and follows, everyone! Up to 44 favs and 71 follows! Special thanks to Cruden for reviewing chapter 5! And as always to my beta, Lurias_1533. :D
I do have a super big favor to ask, though! I really need a beta reader that knows MHA well. I am absolutely floundering with the dialogue for these characters on the MHA side. I'm just not as involved in that fandom as Danny's, so it's making it really hard to imagine the characters saying anything in their own voice, which is how I get the Danny Phantom dialogue to sound normal. Like, if I can't imagine it in the character's voice, it probably is out of character. It's making me feel like the characters are coming off a little flat, and I really hate that. Would love to have someone to bat ideas off of, since so much of the story is set in the MHA world. _ Please haaaalp.
All scenes with only MHA characters will be written in English, for ease of reading, but the characters are actually speaking Japanese to each other.
Sunday, September 9th
8:46 am
The quiet hum of the Ops Center was disturbed by a shuffling. Unhurried, Danny pulled things from his dresser, worn sleep pants hanging loosely on the young male's hips. Left arm clutching a wad of clothes, the halfa took a quick peek at his cellphone. Still forty-five minutes before he had to be at the college. Plenty of time.
Moseying over to the bathroom, the raven-like youth grabbed the handle to the door and opened it. He smiled down at his entirely solid hand before passing through the opening.
A frosted mist gasped from his mouth, taking Danny by surprise.
"Seriously?" Danny groaned, closing and locking the door behind him. Jumping into the air, a white light flashed from one side of the male's lean body to the other, eating away at soft grey pants and replacing them with a form-fitting costume. The Kevlar blend acted like some alien infection, spreading rapidly from nothing to consume any bared skin.
In a moment, Phantom was dropping the armful of clothes to the floor and rocketing through the metallic ceiling. Popping out the other side, the halfa scanned his surroundings. Seeing only a grey and brown cityscape covered in a foggy drizzle, the white-haired superhero closed neon-green eyes and focused on his core.
A tug to the left. Eyes springing open, Danny flew in the direction of the pull, watching for motion as the feeling of "other" got stronger. Buildings sped past and he found himself approaching a small park, only about one square block in size. A lilting tune of a wind instrument just barely teased his ears, wisping notes that danced away if he focused on them. The core he followed continued to feel just out of reach, spurring an increased pace. So when the ghost suddenly appeared in a shower of leaves, Danny nearly ran into it.
The hero swerved, avoiding the autumnal being just in time, then twirled around to face it. Knowing the ghost had triggered his sense because it wasn't a local, Danny yelled a greeting, "Hey, Kid. You know you aren't supposed to come to Amity without petitioning for a visitor's pass, right? If you want an application, they're at Queen Dorathea's castle."
A mouth filled with tiny, sharp teeth smiled too wide back at him. The creature tilted its rounded head, sage grey skin complementing the fiery glow of its eyes.
Danny expected the…guy's(?) pointed hat to slide off-center, but the tawny accessory seemed unaffected by the motion.
Slightly unnerved by the silent stare of the nightmare scarecrow, the halfa tried again, "If that's all you need, I can point you in the right direction." The ghost just reached behind his back with jerky, puppet-like joints. Danny tensed, ready to dodge knives, but managed to stay motionless when the kid pulled out a flute.
He could do this; he could be civil. Even when one of his subjects freaked him the frick out. This little guy could be like Lyrica. Maybe he just talked through music. That could be it.
That was not it.
The child lifted the instrument to his lips and played a short, four note ditty. In seconds, a swarm of mosquitos descended from the nearby trees, buzzing a battle-cry as they tried to bite at Danny through his suit. The halfa went intangible, gaze jerking back to the brat when a melodious laugh taunted from beyond the cloud of insects.
The kid was gone, a puff of leaves drifting to the floor where his tapered brown shoes had been. The keen surrounding Danny lessened as well, the bloodsuckers departing.
Dropping the temperature around himself, Danny watched the moisture in the air turn to diamond dust and the wave of tiny attackers flash freeze.
He hated mosquitos.
Phantom's sense spread out again, and the super flew fifteen feet up, spotting his opponent through the fog. On the far side of the park, the little brat twirled atop a leafless tuliptree, the twiggy branches setting an eerie stage for the creaking, jagged dance.
Danny rushed him, just missing his chance for a quick grapple. Passing through another spray of foliage, that teasing, alto laughter chafed along his skin.
Tapping his wrist, Danny glanced down when the spot lit up lime green with the time. 8:55. That was going to cut things a little close for his meet up with Julien and Tucker.
"Jeeze Kid, don't you have something better to do? Like scaring birds?"
Five new notes trilled from behind him, and a nearby dogwood rattled as several crows burst from it, their bodies a dark contrast to what was left of the scarlet leaves. Danny just raised an eyebrow, easily avoiding the attempted murder.
The child stomped and flailed his arms, the branches beneath his feet remaining miraculously unbroken.
"You know, you don't seem particularly outstanding in your field; you might want to hit up Oz." Danny surged forward again, fists aimed for a double punch. "I hear he's handing out brains!"
Fast as a whip, the flute lifted again.
"Oh no you don't, Pied Piper!" Danny yelled, shooting off a low-powered ecto-ray. A single, long note got cut off by the blast, and the ghost fell from the tree. The halfa zipped after, throwing a circular construct around the kid before he hit the ground. "Gotcha!"
Tapping a neon green button on his belt, Phantom curled the hand not directing the sphere into a fist and aimed it loosely toward his corralled opponent. Pushing ecto-energy into his suit, Danny's arm illuminated, and a wide-spray beam of light flashed toward the capturee.
Who was gone. Again.
Frowning, Danny surveyed the area. The tiny woodland space around him had filled with creepy-crawlies wiggling to the surface from underground. Must have been the single note the kid got out. Well, at least the weather was dreary. Not even a dedicated picnicker would be out today, and it wasn't like he'd be bothered up here by things that couldn't fly.
Seeing the little monster atop an apartment complex's roof, merry feet kicking as they dangled over a ledge, the halfa closed his eyes for a second and exhaled. Patience.
Checking the time again, Danny grimaced. Then facepalmed and created a duplicate.
The clone looked at him quizzically. "You sure you want to split our strength just for a shower?"
"Yeah, I'll be fi—" A blob of mud exploded over the original's face. Spitting dramatically and wiping wet dirt from his eyes, the ghost hero turned to belt up at the rooftop, "No more going easy on you, Kid; that was the last straw!"
"Dude. That was corny. Even for us." A cheeky smile greeted Danny as the clone reached over and swatted the back of his head. Numb-nothingness spread from the point of contact and the pale boy watched as the mud fell a dozen feet to the ground.
The doppelganger just saluted, before darting off in the direction of Fenton Works.
Danny turned back to the pesky scarecrow, tossing a volley of electric green air-sickles at him. The trickster burst into yet another puff of leaves before they could hit, that singing "he he he" lingering in the air longer than the child. Canceling the attack before it could cause property damage, Phantom groaned.
"Dang it! How is he so fast at teleporting?"
Legs merging into a tail, Danny's eyes narrowed. Spying the rascal on top of a stop light, the half ghost blasted off, wind whistling past his ears and flipping snowy hair backwards. Before he got close enough to try and attack, the twit was gone again.
Creating yet another duplicate, the two Dannys tag teamed their slippery opponent. But like a wet bar of soap, every time they thought they had him—regardless of invisibility, pincer attacks, or ambushes—the scarecrow just slipped away like magic. An obnoxious game of chase ensued, forcing the Phantoms to pour more and more power into speed and acrobatics when the kid decided near-perma teleports were a wonderful idea.
Finally catching up to the brat when the antagonizer took a breather on a telephone pole, Danny peeked an invisible head out from beneath the sidewalk.
Only to fade back into sight.
"Aw man, not again." The adult frowned and tried to bring back the instinctual feel of "so still a predator passes" to no avail, clenching and unclenching his fists.
Noticing the movement, the child drifted up from his perch in what Danny recognized as the ghost's signature "teleport" form. Phantom raised a hand out of the earth, ready to zap that stupid smirk right off the scarecrow's face when the enemy changed expressions. Panic. An ice-ray shot from above, the hit landing just before the "poof".
The kid reappeared only five feet to the side. Frantically discarding a giant leaf-cloak before the frost could spread to his body, the autumn imp ran with jolty, lurching motions down the telephone wire.
Somehow, losing the forest green backdrop made the ghost appear spindly, elongated limbs stretched and pulled like too little taffy.
"Looking a bit twiggy, Kid; you look like you could use a knuckle sandwich!" Phantom's clone taunted, going in for a strike while Danny floated up from the ground, searching for an opening to help him(self?).
Somehow, despite being off-kilter, the little creature twisted away, teleporting just to the side once again. The duplicate swung around to retaliate, but the kid was already blowing his blasted flute. Danny got an eyeful of his doppleganger phasing through a massive wooden puppet before he himself was slammed by a full body tackle.
"Already stuffed. Got it," Danny commented with a grin as he righted himself, legs reappearing on instinct and bracing against the ground. Phantom wrestled (held, really) the second puppet in place, protecting the car behind him from the impact as his copy spared an amused glance, staying intangible.
Swinging in a circle, the halfa used the momentum to toss the mindless hunk of wood into the air, satisfied when it collided with the second marionette and drove them both well above the telephone lines.
Other-him took the cue and the wooden constructs exploded in a shower of splinters. Danny was fast behind, a shield erupting around the detonation. Catching the little bits, he minimized the size of the barrier and levitated it over a dumpster, dispelling the power when it lined up.
Seeing his new least favorite wind instrument raised yet again, Danny shot off a barrage of finger rays. Two met their target, and the scarecrow fell off the telephone line. As the ghost plummeted, his clone powered up an arm with white light, sucking the troublemaker into his suit.
"You know, you kind of suck," Danny-3 called from above.
"As if," Real Danny scoffed, "I totally dealt the final blow!"
"Along with getting clobbered by mud, tipping the kid off by losing your invisibility, and getting tackled by ye old Pinocchi—"
The original floated up and forced the double into a re-merge, brain filling with laughter. The white-haired youth sighed, then winced when he consulted his wrist. 9:38.
Sending a mental ping to the Fenton Works duplicate to meet at the college, Danny turned around.
Only to be hit by a delayed air strike.
"UUUUGH. PIGEONS?! Seriously?!" Danny phased the poop shower off, the laughter in his head turning cacophonous.
Monday, September 10th
-One Week Since Hagakure's Disappearance-
7:17 am
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
An alabaster paw grabbed at an antiquated phone, lifting the device out of its cradle and raising it to a delicate, furry ear.
"Hello, UA principal's office, this is Kocho Nezu speaking," the rodent informed, leaning back in an executive-style chair.
Hello, Kocho-sensei. This is Saito Hideaki from the Chugoku police department. I am calling to inform you that a Shiketsu highschooler went missing yesterday morning, a tired voice spoke over the line.
"What?!" Nezu squeaked out, slamming a paw down on his desk. A stack of papers fluttered in response, the top sheet drifting to the floor. "Why wasn't I informed sooner!?" the principal demanded, biting back several choice, uncouth words.
Shiketsu High had only allowed one day off campus per week, and had implemented increased security measures following the licensing exam. The timing was way too convenient to be an accident.
You'll have to excuse the lateness. Closer schools have priority right now, and we only have so many staff. Everyone here has been up all night making calls and trying to keep this off the news as long as possible.
Nezu's anger simmered down, empathy overtaking the mammal. He knew the feeling of a rug unraveling beneath him, the fraying strings impossible to grasp.
Sighing, UA's head replied, "Thank you for telling me. What details can you give me about the disappearance?" Pushing wouldn't get him far with an ongoing investigation. Best to let the policeman say what he was able.
A student from the support course went missing early yesterday morning on a shopping trip with her family. That's all I can say at this time. There was a break when someone else's voice mumbled in the background, before Saito continued, I have to go. There's still so much to do.
The call ended and Nezu closed his mouth, too late to ask a final question.
Black eyes narrowing, the adult grabbed the wooden top of his desk and wrenched his body, rolling his wheeled chair in front of a monitor. Nezu logged into the Shizuoka school district's website and used several links to navigate to a Shiketsu dorm attendance list. Technically, he shouldn't have had access, but extreme intelligence, and by proxy, hacking, had its perks.
Ignoring everything but the support course's curfew check-ins, Nezu found three absences from yesterday. Excluding two males, since the officer had said "she", the investigator had his answer.
Monday, September 10th
8:00 am
"In light of recent events, UA will be going into lockdown. The faculty and I have deemed it a necessary measure in protecting our student's safety. From today on, leaving campus will be forbidden for all students and dorm curfew will be moved up two hours. If an excursion off campus must be made, it will require preapproval and an escort," Nezu informed a conference room, lights flashing around him.
The head of UA stood alone at a podium, a booster platform beneath his feet. Even with the added height, the animal felt tiny, dwarfed by everyone in the space.
Leaning forward, the mouse spoke more directly into a black microphone. "This is not meant to be a punishment. Guests may still visit students under supervision, and family members will be allowed inside the dorms. Copies of the necessary paperwork for a visitor's pass will be available on our website shortly."
"Kocho,"—Nezu had to stop himself from narrowing his eyes at the reporter's disrespect—"Your own student was kidnapped on school grounds; do you really expect that to be enough?"
Guilt twinging at the reminder, the principal kept his voice even and made sure to address his entire audience, "I have spent the last week interviewing, researching, and hiring thirty heroes to supplement our campus patrols. In addition, we have brought in a new cybersecurity expert to upgrade our network and systems."
Pinning the journalist who'd asked the question with a stare, he added, "There will be eyes everywhere, I assure you; but I refuse to have my students feel like they're in prison."
A new shout came from the back of the room, "How long do you expect the lockdown to last?"
"Only as long as absolutely necessary. When the villain behind the kidnappings is apprehended I intend to lift lockdown. The increased security, however, will be permanent."
"Have you gathered any new information on the whereabouts of your own missing student?"
"I cannot report at this time, as that is an ongoing investigation, but I can say we've made progress."
"What do these kidnappings say about the future of heroes?"
"Do you think it is time to let Aizawa-san go?"
"Who has been hired to the security detail so far? Did any local heroes make the roster?"
"How has All Might been handling the kidnappings?"
The questions just kept coming. And for the next hour, the stressed principal did his best to answer them.
Monday, September 10th
9:38 am
1A settled into the seats of a basic classroom—normal desks, blue chairs, a teacher's stand, and a smartboard furnishing the space. The green-tinted blackboard that had long since replaced erasers and chalk stretched nearly wall to wall and was covered in a paragraph of English writing. Tapping on a tablet near the blackboard stood a teacher clothed mostly in biker's leather. The text behind the male's cockatoo do disappeared, and the blank screen lit up with a new lesson.
Mishirao Ojiro reclined at his desk, scrolling through a cell phone and tuning out the Denki last-minute-homework mumbles coming from behind him. Scowling, the martial artist checked the news one more time. There'd been a failed robbery downtown, a vandal tagging city buses, a porcelain cat collection stolen from an old lady, and a hero protest in Hosu among other things. Only a single article had anything to do with the Shiketsu student's disappearance, and it was just a regurgitation of UA's press conference.
Ojiro tapped his finger on the desk and tried to keep the end of his tail from twitching like a cat's.
The media was garbage; his class had already found out more than the supposed "journalists", even with lockdown limitations.
Todoroki-kun had texted Yoarashi-kun; and, despite the pair's rivalry, the Shiketsu wind-user had been very forthcoming in what he knew.
Haru Kamada, a second year support course student, had gone missing over the weekend during a family outing. Yoarashi-kun had even met her a couple times in the past when the nervous teen was caught watching his class' hand-to-hand fighting practice. The "plain-faced", "klutzy" girl supposedly admired heroes, but was otherwise pretty unspectacular.
Unfortunately, none of that brought him any closer to finding Toru-chan. Which was why Ojiro kept obsessively checking his phone, a hungry man frequenting an empty fridge.
A hush overtook the room in the minute before class started.
Unsettled, the close combat fighter used a meditation technique, breathing deep and even through his nose to calm the roiling mood.
He really missed his best friend.
Putting away his phone and focusing forward, the blonde shoved his feelings down as a lesson on adverbs began.
Monday, September 10th
4:36 pm
Have you found anything yet?
The small, waving dots of a "typing" icon mocked Izuku from his phone's surface.
It had been hours since the initial text, without a word. But now, All Might was responding, and it churned Midoriya's stomach to wait.
The strength-enhanced student did another push-up, the screen getting closer to his face as his body dipped down toward the dorm room's floor. The gym had been booked, so the teen did what reps he could sealed away in the privacy of his bedroom.
Finally, the cell dinged and the new message displayed, causing the greenette to practically throw himself out of the push up in a grab for his phone.
I told Aizawa-sensei I needed to talk with you. Come to the front door, and we can go for a walk. If your classmates ask, you requested quirk tutoring.
The aspiring hero didn't have to be asked twice. Midoriya dashed out the door and lunged down the stairwell to the first floor in less than thirty seconds, muscles sparking the tiniest bit. Before opening the metal door to the lounge, however, he stopped and steadied his breathing. Walking through the heavy atmosphere of the main area, Izuku felt his heart clench as a couple classmates swiveled his way.
"Hey, Mido. You doing alright?" Mina asked, a slight hollowness to the question despite a paired smile. They were just words to say. A semblance of normalcy.
"Yeah. I was told All Might-sensei could squeeze me in for a little tutoring, so I'll be gone for a bit." Izuku almost left it there. But it ate at him, seeing someone normally so bright be so forlorn. "Maybe we can all do a group study session when I get back? Take our mind off things." The sunshine child forced a smile and chose his next words carefully, "We can even brainstorm more on our ultimate moves, see if we can come up with any variations."
Gratitude shone in Ashido's black-sclera eyes. "Yeah, I'll get anyone together that wants to!"
The horned girl snatched her phone and sent a text. A second later, Izuku's pocket dinged, as did two other phones in the lounge.
Aizawa's gaze shot up, attention pulled from the papers he graded. The ragged man hunched over one of the kitchen tables, studying his students for signs of "insubordinate planning" from the middle of the room.
Midoriya pretended not to notice.
"Be back soon!"
"You better!" Kaminari yelled from the kitchen, instant ramen boiling on the stovetop beside him. It was obvious the electricity user's next words weren't meant for Izuku, however. "You know it's been a rough week when you're stoked for studying."
"Do your best, Deku-kun!" Half-napping on one of the TV area's couches, Ochaco waved goodbye over an armrest.
Izuku traded indoor slippers for a pair of high-backed scarlet sneakers and exited the dorm.
"Midoriya-shounen!" the emaciated form of Yagi Toshinori greeted, already waiting on the porch. "I heard you wanted to talk with me about your quirk!" The retired hero started walking, motioning for the younger kid to follow. The fanboy fell into step beside his idol, the two actually talking about strength quirks as they walked (just not One For All). When they got well away from the Heights Alliance building, Midoriya finally burst at the seams.
"So what did you find?" The words were whisper-quiet, anxiety not enough to quell the intelligent boy's good sense.
All Might answered loudly, laughter in his words, "Yes, we ordered the new fighter drones! You'll have your chance to try out aerial combat soon, but you have to be patient!" The man's sunken blue eyes cast about and the protege took the hint, spying one of the new security staff—Raptor, his hero-obsessed mind idly supplied—watching from behind an evergreen.
The two continued to the main campus, their conversation now having mostly to do with manipulating air pressure.
Passing between the white pillars supporting UA's entrance, Toshinori badged Midoriya and himself through one of the three brown doors. The hallway lit up, motion sensor lights emphasizing the stark emptiness of the space. When the door closed behind them, the gaunt hero sighed heavily, the exhale turning into a wet cough.
"Sorry about that, Midoriya. Kocho-sensei has asked that the faculty be very careful with information regarding Hagakure-san's disappearance. The less people that know details, the better."
"All Might." The words were watery as Izuku's chest tightened. The number one hero trusted him enough to share a closely kept secret.
A skeletal hand reached up to clasp Midoriya's shoulder amiably as the two shambled into an elevator. "You really need to learn to control those tear ducts."
Vision blocked as he wiped his leaking eyes, Izuku felt the hand on his shoulder turning him to face his mentor.
"I have both bad and good news. Kocho-san contacted a search-quirk user from Africa. Tafuta's ability is known for being infallible and can find an object or person anywhere in the world with just a name and a picture."
Something felt off in the way All Might's tone came across, sending Midoriya's stomach into a series of flips unrelated to rising nine floors.
The man shuffled in place and couldn't quite look his student in the eyes, "He found nothing. All he could tell us was that Hagakure and Kamada-san's readings were muffled. He described it as if they existed, but didn't, at the same time. He's never encountered the feeling before."
What did that even mean? Were they trapped somewhere? Was it like being held in one of Compress' marbles? Were they somehow being kept in a pocket dimension? The possibilities were endless.
"Does that mean they're dead?!" Expecting the worst, panic seized the chronic worrier.
"Sorry, Midoriya-shounen." The teacher's head tilted back, and he suddenly sounded very tired. "Tafuta can only see things he looks for as objects. Even if they weren't 'muffled', he still wouldn't be able to tell us that."
Izuku bit the inside of his cheek, determined not to add his thoughts to All Might's stress pile as the elevator slowed to a stop.
The teen snapped back to attention when the lift's doors opened, and Toshinori spoke again, "Now that we've covered the bad news, I do have some promising leads to share. We still don't know who left the energy behind; but we have confirmed that it is indeed a portal quirk, not a look-alike power or machine that spirited the two away."
The dyad exited the elevator and made their way to the faculty lounge, settling on a couch in the far corner. Midoriya sat up straight, too tense to relax back into the cushioned spot.
"The Chugoku team got better readings on the radiation than our team did; and, I can't say that I understood the science behind it, but apparently quirk-made portals create a certain pattern when they deteriorate."
"Do we know if it's the League again, or someone new?" Midoriya asked, unable to hold back the question as his head flooded with thoughts, the deluge washing away a conviction to not interrupt again.
"The signature did not match either the liquid portals or Kurogiri's."
Another portal user? But the power was so rare! Even Izuku's notebooks had nearly nothing on them.
"I still believe it is likely the League, since only major schools are being targeted, but Kocho-san wants us to stay open-minded," the older male explained.
"The only thing that makes sense to me is the League," Midoriya blurted. "Three portal users showing up in Japan all within two years of each other is astronomical odds if you don't add All For One to the equation. It makes the most sense if it's a quirk from a decade or two ago that is just now being put into a new host. I mean, the last time we saw any portal user in Japan outside of the League was eight—"
"Midoriya-shounen."
Izuku startled at his name, and the mumblings cut off.
"Y-yes?!" His teacher gave him a wry look, and a rush of blood heated the kid's freckled ears.
"That's not all." Slouching forward in his chair, Toshinori's gaze dropped and focused intently on the floor as he laced his fingers together in front of his mouth. "The new data gave us one more, very important clue. It looks like we're dealing with an ectoplasm-based quirk. Power Loader and Ectoplasm-sensei are fairly certain of it now that they've looked at the Chugoku data."
"That can't be!" Izuku's mind was racing so fast he felt dizzy. "There's only been three recorded cases in the history of the world!"
That did it. It had to be All For One.
If it wasn't, there was some real Deus Ex Machina horsecrap going on.
Monday, September 10th
6:54 pm
As soon as the announcement had been made about lockdown, the first thing Katsuki had done was reserve training slots at the on-campus gym every day for the next three weeks. If he wasn't so pissed at literally everything, he'd laugh at the stupidity of all those ridiculous extras. It was obvious that the time slots were going to be worth more than gold in the foreseeable future, and there'd been so many open ones when he'd booked.
This student body had scat for brains.
The aggressive male kicked a cement pillar, feeling the jar all the way up his spine despite the black boots of his hero costume taking the brunt of the blow. His resulting grimace immediately turned into bared teeth, and he kicked again. Harder.
No one at this freaking school could do anything right!
Throwing his hands down as fire tore out of them, Kastuki vaulted into the air. Roughly twenty feet up, a tingling, cramping pain flared in the quirk user's right hand, and he squeezed it into a fist, snuffing out the source of propulsion. Ignoring the tremors that started in his left immediately after, the enraged boy redirected his fall, pencil diving at an innocent training dummy across the lot.
The faculty wasn't ever fast enough.
Slamming feet first into the cotton-stuffed armor, the gifted athlete used the resistance to launch backward, catching himself with a handspring as the faux villain snapped off its pole. The boy landed the gymnast's move and pivoted on the ball of his left foot. Muscles bunching, he sprinted at a geological outcropping.
The security sucked at their jobs.
Lifting an arm, Bakugo pulled his costume's corresponding grenade pin. The exposed bedrock exploded in a spray of stony shrapnel, little cuts opening up on the blonde's shoulders, neck and jaw where his costume offered no protection.
That nobody prep got herself abducted.
Gritting his teeth, he screamed, punching a nearby boulder. The rock cracked at the same time as his knuckles. Clutching the break, the boy stood rigid.
And he. He was the worst one.
For all his training, all his work to ensure he'd never feel vulnerable like this again, Katsuki Bakugo had been just as useless as last time.
Monday, September 10th
8:03 pm
Nezu stared down, heart weighing heavy in his chest. It was only the first day since the announcement had been made; and yet, thirteen papers lay spread in front of him, "unenrollment" glaring at the principal in black ink.
Chapter Notes:
-I always thought it would be cool if Danny's ghost sense could be trained to be more accurate. So him knowing generally where a ghost is, especially in his own lair, was my take on that.
-So does anyone want to guess who the ghost Danny fought was? Or the song he just barely couldn't hear at the beginning?
-Oh, man. I don't know how many scarecrow jokes everyone caught, but the fight was stuffed full of them. ~~~~~ 3
-A group of crows is called a murder.
-Chugoku is a western region of Japan. The show doesn't actually state where Shiketsu High exists, just that it is the "west" to UA's "east". I didn't really want to make up a city, so I'm just using Chugoku as a non-specific term. (Sorry.) Shiketsu is UA's rival, and the people with the police-force-like uniforms from the licensing exam.
-Shizuoka is the prefecture Musutafu belongs in.
-The insult the reporter offered was not adding any suffix to Nezu's name. Especially for someone of higher education like a teacher or doctor, that's very disrespectful, and even more so because they're strangers.
-Thirty heroes patrolling campus sounds like a lot, especially with Hound Dog's security force, but the campus is massive, and there are roughly 600 students at UA. When you take into account night and day shift, that means there are only about 25 heroes patrolling at any one time. That means each hero is responsible for around 24 students, which is almost kind of thin.
-Haru is a first name, and means spring or clear weather. Kamada is a last name that just means sickle rice field. Both are pretty common in Japan.
-Inasa Yoarashi is the guy from the licensing exam who took out 100 applicants at the beginning of the test. He still ended up having to do the remedial arc with Todoroki and Bakugo to get his license, though. He's obsessed with passion and doesn't like Endeavor or Shoto because they aren't his definition of "passionate". He can also be rudely blunt.
-"spiriting away students" made me laugh. XD Ironic.
-I wasn't going to include "Raptor" but I was like, it's Midoriya, he would absolutely know the name of some random super. Sorry for the 2D OC. Same with Lyrica. Just a throw in because I'm trying to be realistic about the idea that people exist outside of a small pool of "core characters" in life. Anyone actually important will be fleshed out better in the story.
-Tafuta is supposed to be Swahilli for "locate", but who knows, with google translate. Lol Figured it was a decent hero name.
-Side nerd note, all the time stamps are accurate and actually have meaning! XD They correspond to when school would actually be occurring, and even what time is reasonable for different classes based on both Danny's and class 1A's schedules. Like, it would be reasonable for Haru to watch Inasa training if Shiketsu follows the same schedule as UA, where general studies don't have an additional period that the hero course does. Things like that. I actually keep track of each period and what class I've decided happens at certain times (cannonically normal classes like math are morning, and hero work is afternoon). Same things with Japanese students having only Sunday off. They also can give you clues about the story's plot if you are paying close enough attention. Because some things actually coincide intentionally. My outline has soooo many notes to self on it. XD