Echoes of Love and Battle

by snoozemoose13

Suspicious villain attacks, confusing formal invitations, their debuts lurking along the horizon. Class 3-A built their reputation from the ground up as they've fought tooth and nail to win as much as they have. But now, stakes are rising, and with life becoming more dangerous, only one question haunts every students' mind: Who should they ask to the gala?

2. New Perspective

A/N: Okay, this one's kind of long so sorry in advance! I'm working on trying to write shorter chapters, but I'm also kind of wordy and unhinged so I might not succeed. I hope y'all are okay with that lol. Also, I think from here on out I'm going to post every other Sunday, so expect my next update around then. Anyway, hope you guys like this week's chapter!

Jiro adjusted her headphones with a sigh. After being ordered to change into their costumes, the entirety of class A found themselves crowded together in the training building. Today marked the first day of preparation for the gala. Or, in more honest terms, the sendoff of their lives.

Since the gala's announcement, her class chattered nonstop, enlivened with different exciting opinions about it. Mostly centered around obtaining a date, but the undercurrent conversations swept up the scarier aspects of it all: their debut. Showing what they could do in front of the pros. Trying to convince everyone that they were heroes, not just a group of wannabe teenagers riding on All Might and Endeavor's coattails.

Last night, Uraraka made a lot of good points. Her asking about not being ready for this put the feeling into words, manifesting Jiro's internal fears into actuality. For Jiro, the part that made her stomach churn was all the people who'd gotten her this far keeping an eye on her. All her teachers, mentors, and classmates would be present, watching her make her very first statement as a debut hero. What if she messed it all up? What would her future look like if she did?

Panic. Stop panicking. Everything will be okay.

"Hey, Earphone Jack, what's with the face?"

The slight spark radiating through her arm told her exactly who had just nudged her. Kaminari's wide, dorky grin greeted her as she looked up. Blipping back to reality, she offered a noncommittal shrug.

"I'm just thinking."

"About what?" He tilted his head.

"Alright, everyone." Aizawa cut their conversation off. "Let's gather up."

Kaminari squeezed her arm, indicating that they'd talk later. Despite her anxiety, she smiled at him.

"Today, your training's going to be a little bit different." Aizawa continued. "Rather than breaking off and focusing on yourselves, we're going to start choreographing your quirk demonstration for the gala."

"Huh?" Kirishima blinked. "Choreographing? Aren't we just gonna…get up there and do it?"

"Not exactly." Aizawa shook his head. "Every one of you will be given the chance to showcase your quirk, but rather than send you in front of the crowd one by one, we thought it would make more sense to construct a combined performance that interweaves each individual power."

Kaminari's face lit up. "Oh, yeah! Like when we perform in the band at the school festival or something!"

Weirdly enough, Jiro almost wished their showoff at the gala consisted of an A-Band performance. Music came easily to her. She didn't need to be afraid when she picked up a guitar. It didn't give her the same rush that succeeding in a training match did, though. And as much as she loved to sing, it never, ever would. Maybe that's why it ultimately felt less intimidating; it's not what she staked her livelihood on.

"Somewhat." Their teacher nodded. "However, there is one twist–"

"Well, if it isn't yet another class A and B face-off!"

Everyone froze.

First, Monoma emerged. Followed by Kendo, Tokage, Bondo, and Shishida. By the time the doors opened all the way, everyone already knew what was coming. Or rather, who. Once the doors closed, class B stood before them, fully costumed in all their glory. As Monoma stated, it appeared their teachers planned for them to duke it out once more. Vlad brought up the rear, facing Aizawa dead on with a bleak expression.

"Quiet, Monoma." He strolled by the laughing blonde, who'd taken it upon himself to mock every aspect of class A's costumes despite no one listening.

"Class B will be joining us." Aizawa explained flatly.

Now? They had barely a month to prepare, and their teachers really wanted to spend any amount of it pitting the students against each other for at least the fifth time? Jiro cringed at the thought.

"Um, is now really the best time for a training battle?" Yaoyorozu echoed everyone's concerns. "Shouldn't we be focused on honing our skills?"

"Who said anything about a training battle?" Vlad looked to Aizawa. "Is that what you told them?"

"No." Aizawa eyed his students sternly. "But based on our previous interactions, I don't think it's an illogical assumption for them to make."

The two classes faced each other somewhat neutrally. A few people exchanged smiles and waves, though for the most part, everyone stuck to their own class. In their second and third years, the two groups hadn't interacted much, since a lot of focus got placed on their individual quirk development, mock battles interspersed here and there. Now that they'd entered their final quarter, the intensity only increased. When they didn't have specified exercises, the two classes often faced off, completed the fight, and then reported back to their respective teachers, giving the students little time to capitalize on any promising inter-class friendships sparked in their first year.

"Another one of these, huh?" Kendo rested a hand on her hip. "Well, it's never too late to beat you guys once and for all, I guess."

Behind her, Tetsutetsu pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah! You tell 'em, babe!"

"Oh, please." Bakugo flashed them a wicked grin. "You extras are gonna get creamed again, just like last time and the time before that!"

"Right." Clearing his throat, Vlad squared his shoulders. "Well, kids, I know you're probably expecting a brawl out of today's session–"

"Oh yeah, class A's going down!" Monoma threw his hands up with laughter.

"-But that's not the case." Vlad glared, silencing him. "Instead, we're going to try teaming up. As one."

Both classes stared at their teachers.

"Uh, for what?" Shoda blinked.

"For the gala." Aizawa stepped forward. "A combined showcase of each and every one of your quirks, working in tandem to create a performance worth remembering. To them, there is no class A or class B. They see each and every one of you as a prospective young hero, so we'll draw no distinction between you, either."

The students exchanged curious and cautious glances. Aizawa continued, "This performance will not only showcase your individual abilities but also demonstrate your ability to work as a team, despite your differences. It's an important opportunity to show how future heroes can collaborate effectively."

Vlad took over, his enthusiasm more apparent. "We're working on designing something that highlights each of your quirks while working together in harmony. It's going to be crucial that everyone participates and gives their best effort. This is a chance to impress pro heroes and the public alike."

Monoma's hand shot up immediately, smoke practically spewing from his ears. "Wait, why should class B have to share a performance with class A? We're clearly more talented and interesting to watch than they are! If anything, you're doing them a disservice by putting us next to each other!"

"Monoma, for the love of God…" Awase pinched the bridge of his nose while the rest of his class sighed in embarrassment.

Aizawa's eyes narrowed, but before he could respond, Vlad raised a calming hand. "Monoma, this isn't about competition. It's about cooperation and showcasing the unity among future heroes. You will all have your moments to shine, but only if you work together."

Monoma huffed, crossing his arms, but didn't comment further. The glare he shot class A, though, was nothing short of deadly.

"We've broken you guys into groups based on quirk similarities and performance value." Aizawa gestured toward the screen on the wall behind him and Vlad, which began listing out names. "Additionally, each group has been appointed a captain in charge of scheduling team practices and overseeing choreography. Take a moment to find your teammates and gather behind your captains."

Jiro hung back a bit as other students closed in on the board. Typically, in a battle drill session, she found herself grouped in a recon or stealth setting. She imagined the breakdown for this performance was similar, so she didn't feel any particular haste to see where they'd placed her. Let other people have a chance to look first, right?

"Whoa, nice going, Jiro!" Kaminari bounded up to her, beaming with excitement.

"Nice going? What does that mean?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Didn't you see?" He waved his finger towards the board. "You're a captain!"

…HUH?!

"I'm a what?!"

She physically couldn't stop her feet from scrambling to the front of the crowd, breaking through between Kendo and Tokoyami. Quickly, her eyes scanned the list, her heart dropping when she read the first team comp.

Stealth & Camouflage Captain: Kyoka Jiro

Members: Toru Hagakure, Fumikage Tokoyami, Shihai Kuroiro, Koji Koda

Speed & Agility

Captain: Tenya Iida

Members: Tsuyu Asui, Sen Kaibara, Izuku Midoriya, Mashirao Ojiro

Projectile & Range

Captain: Hiryu Rin

Members: Manga Fukidashi, Denki Kaminari, Minoru Mineta, Ibara Shiozaki

Utility

Captain: Setsuna Tokage

Members: Hanta Sero, Kinoko Komori, Kojiro Bondo, Juzo Honenuki

Physical Manipulation

Captain: Momo Yaoyorozu

Members: Shoto Todoroki, Yosetsu Awase, Kosei Tsuburaba, Yui Kodai

Psychic Damage

Captain: Nirengeki Shoda

Members: Hitoshi Shinso, Ochako Uraraka, Reiko Yanagi, Neito Monoma

Strength & Offense

Captain: Itsuka Kendo

Members: Jurota Shishida, Katsuki Bakugo, Pony Tsunotori, Togaru Kamakiri

Support & Defense

Captain: Eijiro Kirishima

Members: Mina Ashido, Mezo Shoji, Rikido Sato, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu

They'd put her in charge? Why?!

"Hey, look at that!" Kendo pointed to Jiro's name and patted her shoulder. "Loving all the female captains we've got going on. You excited?"

"Uh…sure." Yeah, that sounded convincing.

How did this happen? She'd never once, in her entire time at UA, taken on a leadership role with anything other than the band. And that, frankly, was purely out of necessity. What did Aizawa see in her that made him assign her the role of captain?

"Heh." In the background, Bakugo grinned around at his team. "Looks like we're the strongest of the bunch. We're gonna take all you weakling nerds down!"

"What nerds?" Todoroki sounded genuinely confused.

"This is for a show, not a fight, bro." Kirishima rested a hand on Bakugo's shoulder. "Be cool, okay?"

"Be cool? How are we gonna show off our skills if we don't fight each other?!" Bakugo snapped, jerking his arm away. "Come on, I'll take on all you class B losers!"

Monoma scoffed and fluffed his hair. "How typical. Class A can't stand to share the attention and sends their whiny pomeranian after us to kick and scream about it. I expected nothing less from you, Bakugo!"

Growling, Bakugo lunged toward him, held back by Sato and Shoji.

"Wipe that smirk away before I blow your face off, you plot device!"

"Bakugo, that's enough." Aizawa sounded worn out. Vlad made a note to buy the poor guy a drink later; wrangling Bakugo all the time can't possibly be easy.

"Let's have some respect for each other." Vlad took over. "We're here to work together, not to fight. If we can't get along, then this whole thing will come crashing down."

Despite his obvious contempt, Bakugo settled down. Jiro suspected he didn't need another trip to the faculty office on his record. It probably didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but Bakugo cared more about his transcripts than one would think. Something she learned through playing in a band with him, she thought smugly.

"Captains, attention please." Aizawa quieted the room down by waving his hand. "The order your groups are listed in is the order in which you're going to perform. We have a couple specific ideas in mind, so listen up. Jiro?"

She straightened her shoulders. "Uh, yeah?"

"Stealth will be the opener for the whole thing. That means you're going to be starting off the performance, so be sure to come in swinging. We need to grab our audience's attention. Think you can handle that?"

"I…uh…" What was she supposed to say? 'Yes, I absolutely can handle this insane responsibility you just dumped on me out of nowhere?'

"Oh, you already know she will, Teach!" Kaminari, seeing Jiro's disdain, slapped an arm around her shoulders. "Our A-Band frontwoman's gonna rock this thing!"

Aizawa's eyes narrowed. "Don't call me 'Teach.'"

Jiro barely had time to process being appointed team captain before Aizawa added the pressure of constructing a good opening. The color drained from her face as her team assembled around her. Great, a whole group of people counting on her to pull off something amazing on top of Aizawa's expectations. Her stomach dropped at the realization; she couldn't do this! What was Aizawa thinking?

"What are you saying? I can't rock this!" She hissed to Kaminari.

"Hm?" He returned his attention to her. "What do you mean? Of course you can! Look at how cool our band is because of you!"

"That's different, man." Her eyes widened. How did he not understand? "This is like, real life! Our debut! How am I supposed to–"

"Kaminari?"

"Huh?"

Aizawa stared him down threateningly. "Please stand with your group and stop interrupting me."

Gulping, Kaminari gave Jiro a feeble wave before shuffling off to stand behind Rin. Watching him walk away somehow heightened her anxiety. Her group seemed all fine and good, but Kaminari…him being around just helped. She didn't know how to explain it.

"Now that groups have been sorted and specifics have been assigned," Jiro perked up at the sound of Aizawa's voice, "we're going to give you guys this class block to talk over your quirks and figure out moves or combos you can execute as a group or in duos. After that, you're expected to work out your routines and present what you have in a week's time. Captains, don't let your teams down."

The classic yellow sleeping bag already cocooned their teacher's entire body by the time he finished speaking. Jiro held back a sneer; something told her he wanted as little to do with this as possible. It made sense; Eraserhead had never been one for showmanship.

Or getting enough sleep at appropriate times, apparently.

"So, what's the plan, Jiro?" Hagakure gripped her arm excitedly.

For the first time since the list went up, Jiro took a good look at her group. All of them certainly fit the "stealth" bill flawlessly. Not to mention the majority of the group comprised people she already felt close to. People who definitely wouldn't judge her if she made a wrong move. Just relax, she urged herself. She could do this.

"Don't know yet. Uh, any ideas?" Jiro tried to keep her voice steady. Presenting herself as cool, calm, and collected might instill the confidence in her team that, admittedly, this group somewhat lacked.

"Uh, we could…maybe…get some animals to help?" Koda suggested hesitantly, holding up his fluffy pet rabbit (when did he get there?) It twitched its nose at him, as if offering its silent support.

Well, no one hated cute little bunnies. Solid opener? No. Attention grabbing? Potentially.

"Animals? In a stealth performance?" Kuroiro scoffed, his voice oozing skepticism. "That's more of a distraction than a strategy."

Damn it, that's a good point.

"Perhaps we could use darkness to our advantage," Tokoyami offered. "I could merge with Dark Shadow and Kuroiro could manipulate the shadows. It needs more to it, of course."

"Like…lights, maybe?" Hagakure chimed in. Her suggestion hung awkwardly in the air, prompting her to continue. "You know, to highlight the stealthy moves… or something?"

Jiro bit her lip, her mind racing but coming up blank. Something with darkness and light, maybe? No, wait, start with the animals, that'd be eye catching, right? Ugh. Each idea seemed to slip away before she could grasp it, leaving her feeling more and more inadequate.

What made this worse was that all the attention stayed glued to her. Her teammates bounced ideas then waited, their expectant eyes on her (except maybe Hagakure's; there was no way to tell if where she looked.) The pressure to say something, anything, mounted. Jiro's hands tightened into fists. Come on, think! Why did all this pressure break her down like this? It's just some stupid performance! Stupid and life changing and career starting…no biggie, right? She fought herself, knowing she needed to say something. If only her mouth didn't run dry at exactly this moment.

Tokoyami seemed to notice her tension. He stepped closer, his deep voice softening just a bit. "Jiro, what do you think? You're the one who understands rhythm and flow. Maybe we could build something around that?"

A good suggestion. Take it and run with it. Stop piddling around.

"Maybe… we can…" Jiro's voice wavered, trailing off into an uncertain whisper. The room seemed to grow darker, the shadows deeper, as her confidence slipped further away.

"Jiro! Iida!"

Both captains turned to see Vlad beckoning to them. Relief pricked Jiro's chest; an excuse to not be here, not do this, and not have to lead. Maybe Vlad saw her struggling and decided to pull the plug on this before she flopped. Totally fine by her, she thought as she turned back to her teammates.

"Keep, uh, brainstorming!" She stammered, already being carried away by her feet.

"Before you start working your routines, I have a transition in mind that I'd love for you to work into the fold." Vlad smiled down at them, obviously thrilled to give them this idea.

"A transition? Between our sections of the performance?" Iida clarified.

Vlad snapped his fingers. "Precisely. Since Speed performs after Stealth, you'll need to come up with some sort of segue between your two sets anyway so it's one seamless performance. It's an ending for the Stealth team and an entrance for Speed. What do you two think?"

"That sounds great!" Less work for her! Jiro mentally high-fived herself. Maybe this ending would even create a foundation she'd have an easy time structuring a routine around. "What did you have in mind?"

"Excellent." Vlad turned and surveyed the training gym. "I'll just need a couple specific people…"

XxXxXxXxX

"A…flip?"

Tokoyami raised an eyebrow at Jiro, who nodded uncertainly.

Once Vlad explained the barebone basics of his vision, Jiro's enthusiasm depleted. When he proposed an ending, she thought he meant some sort of ending pose or visual created by their quirks. Something cute and within the realm of their skillset.

The feat of athletics Vlad expected from them, however, was not on Jiro's performance bingo card.

So why did she tell him yes? Because it meant less work for her? The intimidation of an authority figure barely giving her the option to say no? Because, despite her reservations, the overall effect of the stunt actually did sound kind of cool? Probably all three, realistically. Which is what gave her enough confidence to approach Tokoyami to ask him if he accepted Vlad's hand picking of him.

Tokoyami didn't shy away from taking risks as long as he had total control over a situation. It's why he threw himself head on into moves like Ragnarok or Dark Fallen Angel; the gamble was his and his alone to make in those scenarios. The moment someone else got involved, however, he became harder to convince. Typically, Jiro admired her friend for his selflessness; right now, however, she needed him on her side.

"Uh, yeah!" Her earphone jacks clinked together bashfully. "It was Vlad's idea, he thinks it'd be a great transition between our group and Iida's."

"And he wants me to perform the lift?" Tokoyami confirmed, sounding hesitant.

"That's…sort of what he said." He did say Tokoyami would be lifting, though she didn't inquire about details. "He thinks you've got the upper body strength and enough control of Dark Shadow that you can pull it off. What do you say?" Please say yes.

Tokoyami's posture shifted. "Who does he expect me to perform this stunt with?"

"Tsu." Jiro pointed to their froggy classmate, who stood a few yards away. Iida seemed to be briefing her on the proposed stunt as well, though her face gave no indication as to how she felt.

"She's the one I'll be throwing into the air?" Now Tokoyami seemed startled. Shoot, Jiro couldn't afford to lose his cooperation. She'd already agreed to this.

"Well, you won't be throwing her." Jiro bit her lip, perplexed. "Uh, why don't you both come talk to Vlad and let him explain his vision? We can totally work it out from there, okay?"

Tokoyami didn't reply, but followed Jiro when she turned. Okay, that's a good sign, at least. He's not completely opposed to it. For now, anyway.

"Ah, Tokoyami!" Vlad gave him a broad smile. "You and Asui are gonna make this transition work, then?"

"I'll require some briefing on what this stunt entails." Jiro detected the terseness in his tone. "But I am willing to participate provided that Asui consents. It sounds like the majority of this hinges on her and she shouldn't be forced to put herself in danger."

Vlad scoffed. "Oh, there won't be any danger at all! Not if this goes according to plan, anyway."

"So what is the plan?" Tsuyu came forward to stand beside Tokoyami.

"Okay, so here's the vision." Vlad outstretched his hands, gesturing to the gym stage. "At the back of the stage, we're going to set up a platform. Think of it similarly to a diving board, if you will. At the end of the Stealth segment, Asui bounds up to the top in kind of a swirling pattern. While she does that, Dark Shadow will loop around her, sort of in a zig-zag fashion."

Already sounds complicated, Jiro worried. Her eyes flitted between Tokoyami and Tsuyu, who, to their credit, appeared to be at least considering Vlad's idea so far.

"Then, the hard part: Asui, you're going to somersault across the–let's call it a diving board for now–and power flip off the end. Tokoyami, I want you to engage Dark Fallen Angel and catch her in mid air. We can even work in some extra aerial flips if it goes well enough!" Vlad's gesture turned into jazz hands above his head, a hopeful gleam in his eye. "What do you two think?"

…What?

Jiro's jaw practically dropped to the floor. A somersault off a diving board while Tokoyami flies around and…how? Tsuyu would never agree to that, nor should she have to. Having an ending in mind felt ideal initially, but now that Jiro saw what was at stake, she needed to pull the plug on this before her friends got hurt.

"Hold on, are they gonna have some sort of safety net?" She spoke before thinking.

"Of course! They'll have Dark Shadow." Vlad's eyes gleamed. "Now, it's not going to be easy, of course. The two of you are gonna have to work to perfect this thing. But all that practicing will pay off if you let it!"

The more he talked, the less convinced Jiro became that he'd thought any of this through.

"Mr. Vlad, I don't know that this is a suitable use of our classmates' abilities!" Iida backed her up. "I understand showmanship, but–"

"I think we can do it." Tsuyu cut him off, keeping her tone level.

Tokoyami looked to her, his expression unreadable. "You really think so, Asui?"

"Well, we'd have to practice it." Tsuyu conceded. "If that's not something you're up for, we can–"

"Oh, no, that's no trouble at all." Tokoyami met her eye. "I just worry for your safety in this scenario."

Tsuyu offered him a gentle smile. "Don't worry about me, Tokoyami. I'll be fine. We can do this."

"Are you two sure about this?" Iida looked back and forth between them. "You don't have to endanger yourselves if you don't want to. Your safety is top priority."

Tsuyu patted Iida's shoulder. "I appreciate the concern, Iida. But I feel perfectly safe with Tokoyami and Dark Shadow behind me. There's no need to worry. Right, Tokoyami?"

After a moment of consideration, Jiro saw Tokoyami's muscles relax.

"Right." He turned to Vlad. "Then it appears we're in agreement."

"Fantastic!" Vlad clapped his hands, beckoning them over to the stage. "Let's get you both started on this, then. Captains, report back to your teams and create your demonstrations with these two in mind. Thanks for all your help."

"Right!" Iida practically saluted Vlad before turning and marching back to his group.

"Sure thing." Jiro, much more casual in approach, spun on her heel over to Hagakure and Kuroiro.

"Jiro!" Hagakure bounded up to her excitedly. "Oh my gosh, I just had the best idea and I think we've got it all figured out! Want to hear it?"

How? Jiro only left them alone for five minutes!

"Uh…sure." Jiro's gaze slid past them, realizing she was down a team member. "Wait, where's Koda?"

"Okay, so hear me out." Hagakure pointedly ignored the question, immediately raising Jiro's concern. "What if Koda gets a flock of birds to fly us around the ballroom for our opener?!"

Oh, no. No more aerial stunts.

"My suggestion is more along the lines of an exotic cat." Kuroiro's devilish grin grew wider as he watched Jiro, obviously gauging her reaction. "Preferably a jaguar. Thoughts?"

…Bring back the aerials.

XxXxXxXxX

Mina curled up her knees to rest her feet on the couch cushion. Kirishima sat underneath her, his fingers absentmindedly draped across her hip. Beside them, Sero stared at the TV while Kaminari parked himself on the floor next to Mineta, both of them watching TikToks on Mineta's phone. Shoji and Jiro occupied the other couch, an earbud hanging from one of Shoji's ears while Jiro scrolled through her phone.

Grinning, Mina nuzzled Kirishima's neck. After a long day of training, it felt heavenly to kick back and cuddle up next to her favorite person. He obliged in her antics, leaning over and giving her forehead a small kiss. She giggled, a little flustered, and his heart melted at the sound.

"God, you're the cutest." He gushed, absentmindedly pressing a few kisses across her face.

"Eww." Sero threw a chip at them. "Stop being gross."

Mina grabbed the chip and tossed it back, sticking out her tongue. "Stop being jealous."

"Yeah!" Kirishima mirrored her reaction with his tongue.

"Leave them alone, Sero." Mineta didn't pull his eyes from his phone. "After this whole gala shebang passes, all of us will have landed cuties of our own."

"How do you figure that?" Sero's curiosity piqued.

"Easy." Mineta finally set down his phone and turned to face them, a sudden determination shifting his demeanor. "This merger with class B. Our class only has three options, but class B has a ton more, and only Kendo's taken over there!"

It took a moment, but once he pieced together Mineta's plan, Kaminari's face brightened. "Hey, wait, he's actually got a point!"

"I never thought of it like that." Impressed, Sero stroked his chin. "You think we actually stand a chance, though?"

Mineta snorted. "You're joking, right? Our competition is like, Monoma and that one guy who spits glue. I think I like my odds."

Obviously, Mineta didn't account for the entire scope of class B. That being said, his realization that their pool of available prospects had more than doubled washed a wave of relief over Kaminari. Suddenly, the crazy urgency he'd been feeling mellowed out. They no longer had to focus on the same three girls; Mineta's attention could be directed elsewhere. Somehow, that comforted him.

"You said it, man!" Kaminari excitedly agreed.

"Okay, so who's going for who?" Mineta pulled up the notes app on his phone. "I'm calling Tsunotori, just so we're clear."

"Tsunotori?" Sero frowned. "I've like, never even seen you talk to her."

"Yeah, but she's easy." Mineta grinned deviously. "Word on the street is she's been passed around by three different guys in class B and four in the support course. With a track record like that, I could have her bagged by lunch tomorrow!"

Kaminari's eyebrows shot up. "Damn, seven guys? She going for some kind of record?"

"If she is, I'll help her make it." Mineta drooled, likely involuntarily.

Across the room, Mina and Jiro exchanged uncomfortable glances. Shoji noticed and rested a hand on Jiro's shoulder, silently asking if she wanted him to intervene. Once she understood, she acknowledged him with a shake of her head. Whatever Mineta said, the argument usually didn't end up being worth it.

"I'm stuck between Shiozaki and Kodai." Kaminari mused with a smile. "I mean, Shiozaki's gorgeous, but Kodai's got that mysterious thing going on. Can't figure out what I'm in the mood for, I guess."

"In the mood for?" Anger burned through Mina all of a sudden. "Why are you talking about these girls like they're candy bars or something?"

"Whoa, relax, Mina." Sero held up a hand, sensing the heat behind her words. "We just gotta weigh our options, is all. Now that we have a bigger pool of girls, we need to make sure we call dibs on the right one."

"Dude." Jiro crossed her arms. "You call dibs on a car seat, not on women."

"Ugh." Mineta rolled his eyes. "See, this is why we wait and have these conversations when there's no girls around. They just don't get it! Right, Kirishima?"

"Huh?" The redhead jumped. His eyes darted between Mineta and Mina, both of whom watched him expectantly. "Oh, uh, yeah! Totally."

Mina raised an eyebrow at him.

"But also!" He sputtered quickly. "Girls are really smart and should always be allowed to add to the conversation. Right, babe?"

Shaking her head, Mina kissed his temple. "Close enough, sweetie."

"Whipped." Mineta muttered, earning him a glare from Mina.

Jiro wanted to argue that no, Kirishima didn't get close to any kind of actual argument, but she let it go. Any point she ended up making would fall on deaf ears. At least, as long as Mineta was involved. Best to just leave these guys to their nonsense.

"Hey." Shoji held out an earbud. "In case you need something else to listen to."

Gratefully, Jiro accepted. Moments later, The Hellacopters blasted in her left ear. Shoji nodded along to the beat through the other side, prompting Jiro to start drumming on her knees.

"Which song is this?" She leaned over to peep at Shoji's phone.

"Hopeless Case." He held up the screen showing the full song title. "How do you like it?"

"It reminds me of the other one you showed me." She kept drumming as she talked. "I'm digging their style."

"Yeah, I've been a fan since I was a kid." He tapped his foot. "You can pick the next song, if you want."

At that, Jiro perked up. "Really? There's one I've been dying to show you guys, I just found it last night and I've got it on loop!"

"Of course." He passed her the phone. "Have at it."

From the other couch, Kaminari eyed the pair warily. Jiro never got that excited when he showed her new music; did Shoji have better taste than him? What were they listening to, anyway?

After a minute, he caught himself, redirecting his gaze to Mineta's phone. He didn't want to draw any attention to either the two of them nor his staring at them. Sero, however, had no qualms about noticing them and quickly picked up on the energy.

"Whoa." He nudged Mineta with his foot. "So like, the two of them?"

Mineta barely glanced at Shoji and Jiro before returning to his phone. "Eh, they can have each other. It's not like anybody else wants them."

"Dude, harsh!" Kaminari's eyes widened.

"Harsh, but true." Mineta didn't miss a beat, continuing his phone list. "So Kaminari, Shiozaki or Kodai?"

Something totally sapped Kaminari's energy the second he faced the decision. However, he knew that if he didn't play along, he could end up dateless at the gala. Somehow, that stressed him out more than debuting.

"Uh, Shiozaki." He finalized at random.

"I figured." Mineta marked it down on his list. "Good luck getting laid with that one, dude."

"Forget about that, how do you even plan to score a date with her?" Sero cocked an eyebrow doubtfully.

Kaminari leaned back, using his arms as a pillow.

"With hard work, my man." He affirmed toward the ceiling.

XxXxXxXxX

"How to put this together…hmm…"

Laptop open, tea brewed, pastry heated. Throughout the common area, different sets of people chatted, lounged, or studied, generally winding down before lights out. Yaoyorozu secluded herself to a couch off to the side, not wanting to disturb anyone with her brainstorming. Currently, she stared at the blank screen before her, biting her lip in thought. A lot of ideas popped into her mind, fortunately; the difficulty lay in narrowing down which ones actually stood a chance of success.

So far, she'd noted that all of their powers lent themselves well to each other. If Todoroki unleashed an ice wall, or a sheet of ice across the floor, they could build a routine around it. Great idea, in theory, but what kind of cleanup would that require? They needed to account for everyone else in their group, not to mention the remainder of their classmates coming after their segment. Covering the stage in ice and forcing everyone else to navigate it didn't sound particularly fair.

A pop up news notification distracted her. Most people scrolled past "breaking news" headlines if it didn't pertain to some sort of celebrity, but Yaoyorozu liked to remain in the loop about everything happening in the current world.

BREAKING: Watanabe Agency Heir Reported Missing

Musutafu, Japan — In a chilling and perplexing incident that has left authorities baffled, the Watanabe Agency, well known for signing Pro Hero Thunderstrike, has reported the disappearance of its heir, Ryo Watanabe, the 21-year-old son of the aforementioned hero and his wife, Pro Hero Eclipsa.

Ryo Watanabe, who had been training to follow in his father's heroic footsteps, was last seen at his family's private training gym late Tuesday evening. Sources close to the family confirmed that Ryo was alone at the facility, located in the basement of Thunderstrike's Agency Headquarters, when he seemingly vanished without a trace.

"We are devastated and extremely worried," comments Umi Komitsu, the Head of Publicity at the Watanabe Agency. "Ryo is a promising young man with a bright future ahead of him, and his sudden disappearance has left us all in a state of shock."

Security footage from the gym reportedly shows Ryo engaged in a rigorous training session late into the night. However, the video cuts off abruptly around 11:45 PM, leaving a crucial gap in the timeline–

"How are you doing?"

Todoroki woke her from her reading. Immediately, she changed tabs, returning to her planning document. The homework she was supposed to be completing, rather than letting herself get sidetracked by news articles. Honestly, where did she let her mind go?

"Oh?" She gave a small smile. "I'm alright. Just trying to piece together everyone's quirks. I know we talked about a few things today during class, but I'm not sure we got a lot done."

Todoroki recalled their brainstorming session from earlier. In truth, he thought their class to be quite productive in the sense that he learned a lot about their group's quirks. Knowing everyone's powers was one thing, though. Fitting them together in a performance setting might be more challenging.

He tilted his head. "May I see what you have so far?"

Nodding, she angled her laptop towards him. Settling beside her, he craned his neck to view her screen.

"It's not much, I only just started workshopping things." She tucked her hair behind her ear, slightly embarrassed at the lack of words in the document.

"No, I think what you have is great." Todoroki skimmed it over again. "I don't see anyone else doing any planning."

"Well, I don't necessarily blame them." Yaoyorozu sighed. "I'm having a lot of trouble, to be honest."

"You always say that." He let out a small chuckle.

"Ugh, I know." She grinned and pressed her fingers to her temples. "I just…have to make sure I think things through. I don't want to risk failure at anything."

"I've yet to see you truly fail at something, Yaomomo."

Instinctively, she bit her lip. "R-really?"

He nodded. "Who are you stuck on? Maybe I can help."

"Honestly?" She shifted slightly. "You. I know your ice wall is your signature move, and I want to use that, I just–"

"I can use fire, too." Todoroki assured her. "You don't have to push for that, if it's too difficult."

"Oh." She pondered this. Truthfully, it didn't sound like fire would fare any better if they left it uncontained.

Wait. Contained.

All at once, an idea clicked in her head.

"That's a good way to work in Tsuburaba's quirk!" She realized as she said it. "Todoroki, you're a genius!"

Todoroki blinked. "My intelligence tests are only a little above average, I–"

"No, I mean, you…you gave me a great idea, is all." Todoroki had never been one for idioms, which amused Yaoyorozu.

"Oh." At that, he smiled. "Well, you're a million times smarter than I am. I'm sure you would have come up with something just as good, if not better."

She wanted to respond, but she'd already become too focused on plunking out a plan.

"That…could work." Her fingers suddenly began flying across the keyboard. "If Tsuburaba could contain the flames, maybe we could create some sort of…I don't know, display, maybe? What if…"

"Fireworks."

Yaoyorozu stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"It starts with you." He sat facing toward her. "You create fireworks out of nothing. I light them up and Tsuburaba traps them. That way, the fire's contained."

Immediately, she returned to her screen, ferociously continuing her typing. "That's a great start, but what about the rest of the team? We've got to work Awase and Kodai in, too."

"Hm." Todoroki skimmed over what Yaoyorozu had so far while he thought. "I think I might have some solutions. Sorry, are you okay with me…helping out here? I don't want to overstep, you're the captain."

Bashfully, she adjusted her laptop so both of them could look at it more comfortably. "Could I…actually trouble you for your thoughts? I haven't gotten anywhere with this until you sat down."

"That wouldn't be any trouble at all."

Todoroki scooted toward her, unaware of how close he had to get to see the screen until his shoulder brushed against hers. He didn't want to jerk away from her–somehow, that felt rude–but the proximity did make him feel warm, even on his left side. Clearing his throat, he pushed the sensation aside, focusing solely on the task at hand.

He didn't notice the blush creeping up her neck, too.

XxXxXxXxX

"Okay." Yaoyorozu sighed, typing out Tsuburaba's name with drooping eyelids. "That took…way longer than anticipated."

Two and a half hours, to be exact. She'd had absolutely no intention of keeping Todoroki that long. Throughout the session, she apologized several times, offering to finish everything off by herself if he got too tired. He never took her up on that, though. In fact, he seemed a tad more enthusiastic than she was by the end.

"Well, there were a lot of logistics to work through." Todoroki replied, seemingly unfazed.

"That's true." She reached over and squeezed his hand. "I can't thank you enough for helping me. Honestly, I don't think I ever would have accomplished anything without your assistance."

Every time he helped her, she insisted things never got done without him. And every single time, she got it wrong. His input didn't matter more than anyone else's; in fact, he could name several people in their class she'd get significantly smarter insight from. Yet without fail, the praise always made his heart skip a beat.

"Don't sell yourself short." He turned to face her. "You did the bulk of the work. I just helped with a few things, is all."

"Still couldn't have done it without you." She met his eye. "Thank you, Todoroki. You're amazing."

Her hand stayed resting in his palm for a second. Between that and the way her face lit up when the work got finished, Todoroki stiffened, suddenly short circuiting. The conversation from the previous night about calling dibs on girls flashed through his mind. Ridiculous as that sounded, Mineta had a point about options being limited for the guys. That meant a beauty like Yaoyorozu would definitely land a date in a week, tops. Should he just go for it, then? How? What was he supposed to say?

"Um, Yaoyorozu…" He swallowed the weird lump in his throat.

"Hm?" Her eyes gleamed up at him. "Yes, Todoroki?"

"A-about the, um, gala–"

BZZT. BZZT.

Yaoyorozu's eyes shifted to the coffee table where both of their phones rested. Todoroki's buzzed brightly, Endeavor's hero name displayed across the caller ID.

"Oh, it's your…um…"

Todoroki's face soured. "It's him, isn't it?"

"...You mean your dad? Uh, yeah, it is."

Clenching his jaw, he pulled his hand away from hers and rejected the call without even looking at his screen. His phone stayed grasped tightly in his hand, so much so that Yaoyorozu briefly worried about it breaking.

"Is everything okay–"

"It's fine." He cut her off bluntly. "I'm, uh, gonna head out, if we're all done here."

"Of course!" Yaoyorozu shut her laptop. "Yeah, no worries. Thanks again, Todoroki."

"No problem."

Without a final look or any sort of acknowledgement, he strode away. Yaoyorozu felt slightly stung watching him go, even though she wasn't particularly surprised. Todoroki had always been brooding, especially when it came to his dad. Part of her wanted to ask what exactly the issue was there. Her logical side knew better than to do that, though. If Todoroki felt like opening up to her, she'd hear him. Otherwise, she respected his privacy. More than anything, she just wanted to make sure that he was…okay. Such a drastic, sudden mood shift, rejecting a call, and shutting her out all indicated that he might not be.

She refocused on her belongings. Whatever Todoroki dealt with in his personal life wasn't any of her business. He'd helped her create some sort of rough draft, at least. Now they had something to present their teachers for the gala performance. That was most important. Not internal feelings or family struggles.

Or the nagging desire to be asked to the gala.

Call her crazy, but it did feel like Todoroki had been about to. Right? Maybe she just imagined that, she shook herself into believing. Someone strong and capable like him could get absolutely any girl he wanted; what business did he have asking her out?

XxXxXxXxX

Todoroki nearly melted his phone, he gripped it so harshly. Why did that bastard keep calling him? What could he possibly want now? Would Fuyumi or Natsuo have some idea, or was this one of Endeavor's attempts at bonding with him specifically? Questions swirled through his mind every step of his storm down the hall to his room.

A vibration sounded in his hand once he stepped through his bedroom door. He paused, knowing what waited for him in his messages. The answer to all these buzzing inquiries. Some sort of snapshot as to why his old man suddenly wanted his attention again. Part of him didn't want to know; however, he figured a response might keep his father at bay, if only for a little while. Irritated, he closed his door behind him and took a deep breath before opening up his inbox.

Endeavor: Shoto, I'd like to discuss logistics for the Heroes Gala. Call me back when you get a chance.

Of course. No doubt this had to do with his father's glorious reputation. Mingle with this person, converse about this, uphold the family name. Not that Endeavor needed to worry too much about impressing anybody; to this day, he clutched the title of the number one hero across all the charts. He didn't need anyone else to get ahead.

But the better his children behaved, the better he looked as a father.

Since everything with Dabi–Touya–had been revealed, the number one hero spent years attempting to recover. Salvaging his reputation pushed him to work overtime, saving every single solitary person possible. This not only left little time for him to reconcile with his children, it put a strain on Todoroki's perspective of him. His actions were heroic, sure. But only for show. The few times he managed to be at home, he remained distant. Maybe that was an improvement over his hair trigger temper. Absolutely not enough to prove himself as a father, though. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Not to him or any of his siblings.

That's where Endeavor's concern lies, in truth. His precious heroic image being preserved by his up and coming hero graduate son. Showing everyone how much he'd "changed" and put effort into parenting. Look, he'd done such a great job, his own son wanted to become a hero like him! Whatever Todoroki did outside of that, Endeavor didn't seem to care less. The quirk performance he'd actually grown a little excited about wouldn't even be on his radar aside from seeing it as a chance for Todoroki to show off his "perfect" quirk. Not to mention the fact that Todoroki had been a breath away from asking Yaoyorozu to be his date–

Yaoyorozu.

He'd left things on such a rude note, he realized with a jolt. His anger at his father clouded the moment he'd been in the middle of with her, ruining it entirely. Cursing himself, he flung his phone onto his bed. Why did his dad have to mess everything up, even without trying?

Then again, maybe it was for the best. Yaoyorozu deserved a night of fun and dancing, be it with her friends or a good guy, which she'd no doubt find. If she wound up stuck with him, she'd be forced to endure Endeavor breathing down both their necks all night, spoiling any date Todoroki tried to engage with. Not being able to ask her turned out to be a blessing in disguise, in some sick way.

Still, it stung him.

He'd try and apologize at training tomorrow, he decided. Or maybe send her a text? That'd make his apology immediate, at least. Wait, what time was it? He didn't want to wake her up with a notification; she had such a busy schedule, she needed as much rest as possible. Apologizing in person meant more to people, anyway. Something about being face to face made things more heartfelt. Not that this needed to be an overly heartfelt apology, just–

Why was he thinking this much?

XxXxXxXxX

"And I feel so–"

Kaminari paused. His hand hovered above the door, poised to knock. Jiro's voice floated through the walls, blessing his ears with the echoes of her singing. An involuntary smile curved his lips. She'd shut him down if he tried to tell her, but he absolutely loved her voice.

"You on my mind–ugh, I hate this."

"No, it's good!"

Without a single thought, Kaminari grabbed the doorknob and burst into the room. Jiro shrieked, scrambling to compile the clutter of sheet music spread out on the floor around her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She stomped to her feet.

"Whoa." Kaminari held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude! I was just listening at the door and you sounded good and I–"

"You were spying on me?" Jiro's eyes narrowed into a menacing glare.

Kaminari gulped. "Well, when you put it that way, it makes me sound…creepy."

"Does listening at someone's door fall into any category other than creepy?!"

"Look, it was an accident!" Kaminari backed toward the doorway. "I came here to talk to you and I was about to knock and I…heard. Just a little bit, I swear!"

All at once, Jiro's furious glare melted into widened, fearful eyes.

"What did you hear?" She asked slowly.

"Just…I don't know, something about feelings. That's it."

Kaminari didn't have it in him to lie. Not to her, at least. Too much stammering and blushing always gave him away, and he knew it. If he'd heard anything else, he would say so. Jiro's shoulders relaxed, finally deflating her anger and panic.

"Sorry." Her gaze shifted to the floor, a mixture of relief and embarrassment swirling in her chest. "It's just…you know how protective I am of my music."

Now that the tension had disappeared, Kaminari's broad grin returned. "I'll say! What do you think I'm gonna do, eat it?"

Sneering, Jiro shook her head. "It's not you. My original work just feels so…ugh, I can't explain it, because I love it, it's just…I don't know how I could possibly put it in front of people, you know?"

"Why?" He cocked his head. "You're so talented, I can't imagine anything you write could be bad!"

Pink tinged her cheeks. "That's sweet, but being an artist takes a lot more than raw talent."

"But your talent is super not-raw, dawg!" Kaminari leaned against the doorframe. "It's like, mad broiled!"

At that, Jiro couldn't help but let out a snorted laugh. "Okay, give me your phone so I can uninstall TikTok, what was any of that?"

"Actually, you can thank Mina for that one." Kaminari pointed at her with finger guns.

"I won't." Jiro rolled her eyes and grinned. "But uh, what did you want to talk to me about?"

So many things rushed through Kaminari's mind when she asked. Initially, he'd come to ask her why she seemed so afraid of being a team captain. Now that the subject of music had entered the chat, though, he found himself wanting to talk about her latest songs. Something about the gala nagged at him, too, but that didn't feel like it would be a super fleshed out conversation. No matter what, he wanted to talk to her. That was all he knew.

"Well, earlier today." He cleared his throat. "You seemed, uh, anxious. And, you know, Tokoyami might have mentioned you were acting a little…not yourself? I just wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Oh." Jiro settled down onto her bed, her mind rehashing the fears she'd been dealing with earlier. "Um, yeah, everything's fine. Just super stressed about, you know, not letting my team down. Gotta be the fearless leader."

Kaminari didn't hesitate to plop down beside her. "Yeah, but come on, you can do that in your sleep!"

"Choreograph a whole performance segment and take all the responsibility to make sure everyone can do their part?" Jiro shook her head. "No way, dude. I'm surprised Aizawa has any faith in me."

"What makes you say that?" Kaminari wrinkled his brow in confusion. "That literally sounds like band practice. And you were great at that! We'd never sound as good as we do if you weren't around whipping us into shape."

Much as she hated to admit it, Kaminari did have a bit of a point. True, quirk demonstrations and band performances weren't exactly interchangeable, but it's not like she didn't have some experience wrangling her classmates onstage.

"And hey, you know it's not easy to get Bakugo to do something." Kaminari pointed out. "Him listening to you is pretty crazy, not gonna lie. Like, did you drug him or something? What's the secret there?"

Finally, she laughed. A small chuckle, but the smile returned to her face. Satisfied, Kaminari sat forward, nudging her.

"Jiro, I know you." His tone shifted slightly, with just a touch of seriousness. "You always doubt yourself right before you do something amazing. Have you noticed that?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, just…everything." He gestured around her room. "Every time we get up onstage, you're a nervous wreck in the wings. All the practicals we've taken over the years and you're always psyching yourself out, like you're so panicked something's gonna go wrong and then…you pass. You kill it every single time."

Scooting closer, he slung an arm around her shoulders, ignoring her jolt of surprise.

"Imagine the stuff you could do if you stopped…stopping yourself. You're already incredible; you don't need the doubt."

Swallowing her embarrassment (and praying her blush wasn't obvious,) she looked up at him.

"Do you…really think that?"

"Duh!" He reached up and ruffled her hair. "I know that! Why would I be saying it if I didn't believe it, huh?"

Relief washed through Jiro as she playfully pushed him off of her. Something about the self-doubt talk got too intense for her, and it felt nice to return to goofing off.

"I don't know, man, you talk about a lot of things you know nothing about."

"Hey! What do you mean by that?" He narrowed his eyes.

Shaking her head, Jiro fluffed his hair similarly to how he'd messed with hers earlier.

"Nothing, dude." Desperate for a subject change, she reached for her phone. "Hey, wanna hear a song I just found? I think it's one of my new favorites."

Kaminari nodded enthusiastically. "Hell yeah, lay it on me."

XxXxXxXxX

Caution tape covered the area from top to bottom, and still these pesky reporters found a way to push themselves in. Tsukauchi withheld an irritated sigh; no matter how many pros he worked with, he'd never get used to all the paparazzi. Nor did he want to, frankly. Something about their job struck him as grossly inhumane. A young man possibly being kidnapped is the last situation that should involve a horde of cameras, especially when his horrified father sat right inside.

"Don't accept any calls, Mr. Watanabe is not taking questions at this time." One of Thunderstrike's interns pressed a silver phone against her ear, pacing back and forth purposefully. Despite the circumstances, her tone remained businesslike and professional, albeit clearly cold.

Of course, her sternness did nothing to deter the mob of journalists outside waving their microphones at anyone who happened by. Since Tsukauchi's arrival, the mass nearly doubled in size and even a couple of news outlets streamed their report live from the scene. The officers not investigating inside the building took over crowd control, essentially becoming human caution tape in an attempt to keep people from pushing past them and breaking through the glass doors. So far, they'd succeeded in keeping everyone at bay. Tsukauchi worried, though. If this went on into the night, the situation had a lot of reason to turn unsafe quickly.

Shaking his head, he rested a hand on Thunderstrike's shoulder.

"Mr. Watanabe, I don't know if this is the best place for you right now." He kept his voice as quiet as possible. "Is there a back exit or somewhere you can–"

"No!" The pro, dressed in a disheveled button down and jeans, jumped to his feet. His imposing frame towered over Tsukauchi, causing him to take an involuntary step back. "I don't care how many people corral outside, I'm not leaving until we figure out what happened to my son!"

The surrounding officers kept their focus on their jobs, though a few exchanged surprised or concerned glances. Tsukauchi exhaled dejectedly.

"That's not going to happen overnight, sir." He kept his tone unwavering. "You know that. You've seen this before."

"No, I haven't! I've never seen my son go missing in the blink of an eye!" Thunderstrike's entire face puffed up, drenched and swollen from the painful sobbing he'd sustained since his arrival, probably even before then. "Stop acting like this is a routine case, my son could have been murdered!"

"We don't know that." Tsukauchi raised his hands, somewhat in surrender to Thunderstrike. "The reports so far don't have much–"

"I don't give a damn!" His voice broke, raw and hoarse with emotion. "They're wrong! They're all wrong!"

Squeezing his fists in his dark blond hair, he dropped back down onto the bench, a few guttural sobs ripping from his throat.

Tsukauchi tried not to let emotions sway him. No matter how upset anybody grew, he had a job to do, and crying didn't make it any easier. He'd seen his fair share of hysterical relatives grieving loved ones, insisting the situation couldn't possibly be what it seemed, urging him to dig deeper. Thunderstrike, however, wasn't just some relative they'd called in. Besides being Ryo's father, he'd been a colleague and confidant for the police for several years. Tsukauchi never knew him to break down or cry over anything. In fact, he'd always stood tall in the face of danger. Watching him lose it like this…disturbed Tsukauchi.

"I'll see what I can do, sir." Solemnly, he patted Thunderstrike's tool. "Take care of yourself. And give your wife a call, I'm sure she's worried sick."

Down in the basement, the same general scene awaited him. Tape, muttering officers, detectives rummaging around. Nothing new. That is, until one of the junior detectives tapped Tamakawa and pointed out Tsukauchi's presence. Quickly, the cat officer scurried to him, a ziploc bag in his hands.

"Sir." He extended the bag toward Tsukauchi. "Detective Kato found this stuck in the walking track."

A shard of pink glimmered against the light of the gym. Tsukauchi took the bag and inspected the piece closer; definitely glass, stained pink, and slightly fused like rubber on one end. Panic struck his chest. No. This couldn't be right.

Without giving it too much thought, he whipped out his pocketknife. Sliced it across the tip of his index finger, making sure to drip just a little of his blood onto the blade. His fingers felt numb breaking the strip of glass, but he persisted, dipping the corner he'd taken off into the blood. The shard instantly broke down, drooping like the rubber looking end, parts of it dissolving entirely. He'd left enough of it to still constitute evidence. He just needed a sliver to conduct this test, which confirmed his fears.

How did a shard of erythroglass get in here?