Sorry for the clunky writing this chapter. I'm speeding along to the finale. IT'S COMING SO QUICKLY! :0
============================

Day Eleven following the UA raid

...

     Why has the sky been so cloudy lately? After some persistent persuasion, the boys got themselves a room with a window again, but that came at the cost of constantly being subject to the dreary outdoors. Yesterday it was alright. Today, though.. Bakugo in particular stared out the window bordely. It was so gray out there. So bleak. Like the sky was mourning someone or something. Guess he couldn't blame the sky too much.

     "Alright! Now that everything is all set, try to move them a little." One of the engineers brought here chimed into his working ear. The blond suddenly twisted his head around, eyes landing on the clunky prosthetic arms attached to him. He frowned a little. They weren't as cool as he hoped they'd be. But, guess these were just prototypes. With testing and time, adjustments would be made until he was satisfied. "Keep in mind that they might not-"

     "HAH!" Bakugo grinned, but his new arms didn't do anything to match his excitement. They just kinda sat there limply on his lap. "Grrr."

     "Yeahhhh.. it might be a while until you can get them to do what you want. Heh, it's essentially like a newborn baby; have to completely relearn how to use those arms!"

     "What did you just call me?!"

     "N-nothing!!"

     "Chill out, Bakubro!" Chilaxing on the couch between Yuji and Shoto, the red haired Kirishima piped up. His classmates were here for this momentous occasion as well, sharing in the blond's disappointment. "How long'll it take, doc?" He asked the...electrician?

     "Um..." Tapping her chin. "If he's persistent about physical therapy..maybe...three..weeks?"

     Bakugo fell back into his bed, groaning loudly.

     As if things couldn't get any more disappointing, Shoto stood himself up and shuffled around the bed, pulling his hands out of his pockets to reveal a hand-written letter in one. "..I know this probably isn't the best time, but I finally got permission to show you this." The heterochromic teen unfolded the letter and held it in front of the blond as he sat up. Bakugo read it slowly, going back and starting some sentences over.

     "That b###### Deku!" The teen fumed. Good thing the technicians and staff were gone by this point. "I'll kill him!"

     "Guys, what is he talking about?" Yuji's attention jumped out of the manga he was reading.

     "Ghhhh... One of our classmates, Izuku Midoriya, left about six days ago to find All For One." Kirishima explained.

     "Why did nobody tell me sooner!?!"

     "The doctors were worried you were gunna do something crazy!"

     "Well you're d### right I will! I'll track that nerd down and drag him back to UA myself!!"

     "No!"
     "NO!"
     "Please don't."

     The three sensible ones had to physically hold Bakugo back from the exit until he eventually calmed down. So the blond just sat there, staring out the window quietly and refusing to engage in conversation. This fit of his continued even after Shoto and Eijiro left the room.

     "Um... I'm going to take a shower I guess. You good?" Bakugo growled, turning his head away from the caretaker. "Right.." Yuji left with his clothes and things and into the bathroom. To be honest the shower was mostly just because he didn't have anything better to do at the moment. He was in the mood to play some sports, but Bakugo would need to be in a better mood in order for that to happen!

     Once Bakugo was sure his caretaker wouldn't be able to hear him, he smirked a little and crawled back out of bed. His robotic arms were limp for the most part, occasionally twitching at random. It was time however to use these arms for real. He stood in front of the door, stopped, and stared down at his right arm.

     "...Move." Nothing. "...Yidong." His arm twitched a little. "BEWEGING!" ... "Ughh." Having to use good ol' fashioned swinging the prosthetics around like mere paperweights, Bakugo managed to hook one of the arms around the knob and twist it open. From there, he stomped out and onto the path of freedom.

     Trapped in the building, Bakugo found himself on the flat hospital roof. He enjoyed the good vantage point this allowed him. Near the edge, Bakugo stood on his toes, trying his hardest to peek over the massive walls...to no avail. "Guhhh!" He foolishly hoped he might be able to see over the wall and spot that little wannabe hero jumping around. ...Looks like that wouldn't be happening, however.

     "..-Listen," Zeya's voice was wary, cautious with her hands up slightly as she neared her fellow teen. "I know things might not be going the way you want them to. No, life hasn't been fair and yes, you might never get to be exactly what you wanted to be...but what matters more than anything right now is that you are okay."

     "Huh!?" Spinning around, Bakugo glared at the girl he hardly recognized.

     "You have people in your life who care about you and it would kill them inside to watch you go!" She was getting pretty emotional, annoying the blond.

     "What are you talking about??"

     "So step away from the edge, alright?! Katsuki Bakugo, was it?! The suffering ends with you!!"

     Bakugo blinked... Then tilted his head. "Huh?.. I'm not going to kill myself."

     "You know what my quirk is, right!?"

     "Uhhh, you can see the future, I guess?"

     "So then excuse me for not believing you, because I saw your dead body myself!"

     "Wait what?"

     "Hand over the knife and step away from the ledge NOW!" Zeya reached out her hand.

     Bakugo's brows furrowed. "I don't even have a f###ing knife!"

     "Prove it then! Come here!"

     "No!... Ghh! Fine but only so you'll leave me the h### alone." Bakugo stepped up to Zeya, who quickly examined and patted him down for said weapon. "He-heyy!"

     "Hmm..." Zeya rubbed her chin. "You're right. No knife. So then...how did you stab yourself in the stomach before plummetting--?" 👀

     "What?"

     "We might just have a murder on our hands.." The girl gasped. Bakugo squinted irritatedly.

     "A...murder?.. Heh, no one would be able to murder me!" Wait, now as he thought about it, he realized just how easy that could actually be right now... Shutters.

     Zeya began to pace there before him. "Hmm. So if you didn't kill yourself, and there were no reports of a break-in after or before your death.." She stopped, standing stiffly with her index finger pointing up. "There is an imposter among us!!"

     Bakugo tilted his head. "..Eh?"

     "Think about it!! Which one League member never made an appearance during the raid!?!" Bakugo did literally nothing. "Aha, exactly!" Zeya pointed at him, a grin spread across her face as she did her finest work. "Toga!! And she can shape-shift, meaning Toga must have, instead of fighting, swapped herself out with someone here on campus while everyone was too preoccupied to even think about it!!"

     "Didn't Nezu take some kind of precautions against that-?"

     "-The bad guys have a teleporter. If she wanted blood, she could easily get it."

     "-_-" Zeya did have a point though. Bakugo wasn't exactly the best suited to help her out, however. Not only was he a terrible socializer, constantly forgetting everyone's names and everything, but he had also been couped up in a hospital room all week, away from any suspects. "Guess we could.. wait, how do I know you're not the imposter?" Zeya just crossed her arms, lifting a sassy brow. "Yeah that makes sense." He spun around, taking his turn to pace as he thought up a plan. "...It's unlikely that I'd let anyone near me.. especially up so high on a roof.... So, whoever she's playing's gotta be someone I would trust."

----------

     "He-heyy, guys! We can talk about this! Really! What's even going on!? Think I'm lost." Yuji's hands were above his head, starting to sweat nervously though he laughed, both Bakugo and Zeya backing him up against the roof's ledge. Not like he was really scared of falling or getting stabbed, but these were both people he trusted and cared about! And now they were threatening him with knives!?

     Bakugo spat the knife out of his mouth and glared to his left at Zeya. "Don't think this one even makes any sense. Didn't he get here several days after the raid?!"

     Zeya lowered her knife as well. "Yeahh, guess you're right. Plus, he probably would'a already stabbed you by now if he was Toga."

     "If I was what now??"

     "We're looking for a murderer."

     "Woah! So like a real life murder mystery!?" :D

     "Yup!!" >:D

     ಠ⁠_⁠ಠ "I literally died. Why are you so excited?"

     "Hmm..." Zeya touched the tip of the blade to her chin as the thought, drawing a little blood without even noticing. "Guess we'll need to start interrogating some of Sparky's classmates then..."

     "Wait what did you just call me?"

     "Ooo! Can I help!? I may not be the smartest, but I can interrogate people!"

     "Yes!"
     "No."

     "Score!!"
        "I said no." ರ⁠_⁠ರ

----------

     "A party???" Reigen stood in Elyse's large closet with her as she searched rampantly through her clothes. She really didn't have that much for how big her closet was. Everything was neatly organized by color and seasonal stuff, making it easier...to find her casual clothes at least! The woman was sweating! She couldn't find anything good and formal to wear!

     "Uh-uh-yeah! They were kinda on the fence about it so I just assumed it was a no, but just earlier today they confirmed the invites!"

     "And it's happening today?!"

     "Tonight! But yeah."

     "Wow... And it's an all-heroes party?"

     "Technically, they have three of these every year so that not all the heroes have to be off duty at once, but the one I was invited to will be happening tonight!"

     "Oh..."

     Elyse was looking at her hero costume at this point, realizing then that she was out of luck. She deflated like a balloon in the middle of the closet, draping over the floor. Leaning over her head, Reigen stood with a worried look. "..Mind if I use your suit tonight?" She reached out her hand. The man caught it and pulled her up as he tried to answer through all the blushing.

     "Uh-um-yeah! Of course!" Itching the back of his head, posed awkwardly like a middle school girl being asked out. 'D### she would be so hot in that!' "Can I tie the tie?" 'You weren't supposed to say that part out loud!!'

     "Pff, sure! Iiiiii..." She trailed off, her smile slowly dropping as she stared at the closet around her. "Gosh.. I've never actually been to one of these.. Was always too nervous. Didn't help that my Japanese wasn't the best back then. Eheh.." Staring at her from the side, the man realized the extent to how nervous she really was. "...It'd be nice if you could go..but we can't take guests, unfortunately."

...

     Determination now set in those eyes, Reigen slung his arm around Elyse's shoulder and guided her along with him out of her closet. "Come with me... I know juust where to take you~"

     "Take me where?"

     "You'll see~"

----------

     Bakugo and Yuji walked side-by-side down the hospital hall, Zeya behind both. Yuji was the man with the clipboard. On it were the list of -- many unofficial -- names who he could imagine possibly lowering his guard around.

     Deku was an obvious no. He was gone after all. His parents were also off the list, meaning that it had to be either a classmate or a teacher. All Might was gone too, so they would have to mark no on that unless something changed. And Aizawa was most likely a no as well, since he was still recovering from his own amputation. It was unlikely for Toga to want to lay around in agony in a hospital bed all the time.

     "Hmmm, so that means our next best guesses are," reading from the names listed, "Round Face, Icy-hot, Kirishima, taser-brain, tape man, and--" Zeya suddenly tugged on the backs of their shirts as they neared a corner. Yuji didn't think much of it and slowed down, while Bakugo tugged against her grip and growled back at the girl.

     "Hey! What are you-!?" Suddenly, a nurse came dashing full speed around the corner, just barely missing the two teens!

     Zeya, straight faced, shoved the two forward. "I got your backs."

     "Thanks, Zeya!" Yuji smiled over his shoulder. Bakugo growled but let it go. Guess she technically didn't do anything wrong. "So anyways! Maybe if we start-"

     "-Yeah yeah, good plan. Follow me. I know where he is right now." Zeya pushed past the two and jogged ahead. Yuji easily kept up pace. Bakugo struggled a little, trying to figure out how to jog with the vastly different weight in his arms. The fact that they didn't exactly act on command yet also threw him off.

...

     The three sat down in front of Shoto, who sat alone with his lunch at the table. Zeya was in the center, Yuji to her right and Bakugo to her left. Both Yuji and Zeya posed the same, leaning forwards with their elbows resting on the table, their fingers intermingling. Bakugo attempted to copy, but the best he could do was set his elbows on the table and lay his metal hands on top of one another.

     Shoto cleaned up his act, sitting up suddenly like he was at an interview. When he was finished swallowing his noodles, "Do you need something?" Both Yuji and Zeya's faces snapped the blond's way. He glared back at the two of them.

     "What?"

     "Is it him??" Zeya 's head tilted the rich boy's way.

        "Excuse me what-?" Shoto.
     "How should I know?? He just said one thing!" Bakugo.
        "Am I who-?" Shoto.
     "Yeah but you're like buddies or something!" Zeya.
        "What about me-?" Shoto.

     "Sorry, but we're going to need you to say a little more!" Smiling fakely at the boy across the table. "Mind telling us a little about yourself?"

     "I-- uh.. Is this a date? ..Are you a girl?"

     "Yes...I'm a girl." Clearly annoyed but still forcing a grin.

     "Oh, well then I should probably tell you in advance that I have a dangerous ability... I've been told I can kill girls with my smile-"

     "-YOU'RE STILL NOT OVER THAT, YOU IDIOT!? SHE WAS COMPLIMENTING YOU!"

     "Why would she compliment my ability to kill women?"

     "IT'S CALLED A FIGURE OF SPEECH!"

   "Yeahh, I think this guy's in the clear." ಠ⁠‿⁠ಠ
        "Me too." ಠ⁠‿⁠ಠ  z.

----------

     "You were DRUNK! How did you remember this place!?!" Elyse laughed as Reigen led her to the front of a fancy dress shop by the hand.

     "I have my ways~" The internet truly is a very magical place.

     The shop wasn't quite as mystifying as it had once been that fateful day. Most of that was due to the entire road being a little more rundown, iron rods there to protect the glass and its goods inside. But it still shocked the woman that Reigen even remembered that night!

     "Shall we go bank robbing after this~?"

     "Pff. Oh please. The banks have had enough trouble already. Wouldn't want to take all the fun away from the villains, after all." The two entered the shop chuckling. Reigen entered first, walking up the five large steps that lead to the main display/shop. "Alright! Feel free to pick out whichever one you please!.. I'm buying."

     "You?"

     "Don't look at me like that! I can be responsible sometimes!" Smiling faintly, the woman instinctually gravitated toward the back of the shop where all the cheapest dresses were held. Reigen followed loosely behind, hands in his pockets as his eyes lazily looked over all the bright colors, sparkles, and ribbons. Definitely was a high class store.

     "Hello!~" A well decorated older lady bound into the front room. "Do the two of you need any help this fine afternoon~?"

     "Thanks, but, I'm just looking so far." Reigen didn't notice until Elyse's voice quaked a little, but the woman was trembling with anxiety as she touched the fine silks. Her fingers easily found the price tags and reading even the smallest prices here, her face fell a shade paler.

     Reigen leaned in curiously. "Where do you normally get your clothes?"

     "The, uhh- ...the bargain bin. I..really only shop at the mall for other people."

.  .  .

     'That's actually pretty cute.'
     'He probably thinks I'm an idiot now.'

     As Elyse tried and failed to process prices and dress sizes, inflicted with a terrible case of shopping anxiety, Reigen's eyes kept wandering back to that first dress on display up front. Now that thing would cost him a true fortune! But, maybe if he found another here like it~ The blond wandered off on his own, Elyse's head snapping up.

     "Hey!" Hoarsely whispering. "Psst! Reigen!" But the man ignored her, so she snuck after him. "Reigen! That's the expensive section!.. Reggie!" Reigen smirked as he grabbed a fine red dress and held it out in front of his girlfriend. "What are you doing??"

     "Relaaax, I'm just checking things out!.. Think this fits your size?" Elyse genuinely looked like some kind of wild prey animal on high alert as she snatched a look at the dress.

     "No, nothing here fits!" She crossed her arms. But Reigen thought otherwise as he stepped a little closer with the dress, holding it out to measure it somewhat against her standing self. "I'm not wearing something that expensive." She scoffed, now mocking the article of clothing with her eyes. But Reigen could see right through her bluff.

     "How about you try at least a few on?"
        Blushing, "A dress??"
     "Yes."
        "No."
     "Please?"
        "No."
     "You know you wanna~"
        "No."
     "I'll try some on too~"
        "Wait what?" Now, he had her attention.

     After a rather long and tedious shopping process, Reigen brought the red dress of choice to the front desk. Elyse was a withering ball beside him.

    "YoU sURe yOu waAnNa pAY FoR iT?" She clung to his arm, on the verge of tears.
   "Yes." Emotionally drained.
     "No but like, you're poorer than mE.."
   "Wow thanks." TvT'
     "No BuT rEaLlY???"
   "Don'tworryitsjustafewmonthsofsavings."
     "Eughaghmhhgh... I don't wanna go to the stupid party anymore."
   "Too late. I already paid." Casually dying on the inside.
     "??!" She clung to his neck, a tight hug. "M' sorry. I'll buy you whatever you want for lunch!"
   "Guess I can give you that...yeah."
     "Then I can buy you that pretty yellow dress!"
   "Hey!! We don't talk about that!"

     "You two love birds have a nice day~!"

----------

     "Alright!! So that only leaves two to go! Round Face and Kirishima!" Yuji tapped his pen to the board. By now, Bakugo had developed a natural swing in his prosthetics to mimic the way normal arms should, which pleased him greatly. But still, his arms would randomly slap people or refuse to move when they should. Hiccups that annoyed him but entertained the two wannabe detectives.

     "Who is Round Face anyways?!" Zeya leaned so far forwards she had to hold her hands behind her back to counter balance, grinning up at the blond with a frog-like smirk. Bakugo glared down at her, but sighed, seeing as she would need a proper description at one point or another.

     "Well, technically she's Uraraka Ochako I guess. Taller than you by a little bit, brown hair that's kind of soft and long bangs that get caught in the wind pretty easy." His eyes wandered, trying to think up something specific to help Zeya visualize her better. "Large, round brown eyes that turn a dusty gold in the sunlight, uhh, guess she's also got pink cheeks and a soft, approachable face. That good enough??" Side eyeing the short haired girl made him realize he may have given her a little too much detail, as now he was getting a very specific, teasing look. "What's with that stupid look, Twinkie!?"

     "You like her too, don't you~?"

     The blond's face flushed a bright red. "The crap you talking about!?"

     "Oh come on~ You were describing her as though she were an angel~" Elbowing him.

     "It's because I've been trapped in my room unable to watch anything but ###-#### romance flicks!! They won't even let me watch anything with blood!!"

     "What's going on?" Yuji finally snapped out of his own little world.

     "Sparky here has a crush~" latching onto Bakugo's right prosthetic while smirking across at Yuji.

     The blond was absolutely fuming! "I DO NOT! And STOP calling me Sparky!!"

     "Oo~ Who is it?"
        "NO ONE!"
          "Uraraka~"
      "The brunette? I think I've seen her around!"
           "Let's go interrogate her first!"

. . .

     Walking outside, on their way to find Ochako, Bakugo's head hung low. Zeya, who led the group because her quirk was also useful in tracking people down swiftly, took smaller strides until she was beside him again.

     "...You know.. it isn't a bad thing to have a crush on someone... Uraraka's pretty cute, so I totally get it!" She smiled, this time managing to be warm and cheerful.. a rarity for that child.

     Bakugo glared at the ground, glancing only for a split second at the leaning woman beside him. "...Don't tell anyone, okay..?" He grumbled.

     Zeya mimed zipping her lips up tight and throwing away the key, followed with nodding. A sigh of relief slid from the boy.

     "It isn't a big deal anyways. Teh, didn't even start until we started cooking together..." He shot a disturbed look down at his malfunctioning hands, which twitched and glitched as he tried to flex them.

     Zeya stared down at them too with empathy, a shade of gray cast over her whole demeanor for a moment. That all slinked away when she thought up a good thing to say. "Okay, so I may not be a 'romancy' type person.. especially not the kind you want to take tips from!... But, emotions are emotions. And they don't just go away, as much as we want them to.. especially ones like this. So, I say shoot your shot, man! The worst that could happen is she turns you down and you move on! And you don't have to rush it either! Just know that you can... and it's alright." Bakugo's head shot up, eyes swelling with wonder as he stared at the other, who bubbled happily beside him. She had faith...that he could?

     ...Guess..maybe... Maybe his arms wouldn't be such a big deal after all... Maybe, he could live a normal life too.

     Bakugo clicked his tongue and shrugged, staring sternly ahead at the UA dorm building. "...Maybe... if we graduate before that idiot Deku 'shoots his shot'... I'll try then."

     "Hey!.. Goals are goals! And that's better than nothing." Zeya elbowed him again, to which he rose an angry lip at.

     "I just don't think she'd even give a crap about me.." Why was he talking to Zeya again? Oh yeah. Murder mystery.

     "Well.. you'll never know until you try." Zeya then hopped a bit to sling her arm over the boy's shoulders. "Besides, if she turns you down, then I'll be the one next in line to ask 'er!"

     "Ugh! Get your..grubby hands off of me!"

...

     "I seriously doubt it's her, but guess I can test real quick to be sure." Groaning, Bakugo stepped up to the dorm entrance. "Stay here." He ordered, and the two listened. He struggled at the door knob but eventually managed it on his own and entered. Strange. Felt like he hadn't been here in ages! It was actually pretty nice. Like returning home..

     "Bakugo?!" Ochako leaned her head into view from the kitchen. "What are you doing out of the hospital?? Is everything alright??" The blond's face warmed a little from her consideration, but he kept with the stoic and bored act as he hobbled by.

     "Came here to grab something real quick." He grunted. While passing the kitchen, "Your uncle send you any new mochi recipes?"

     "Mhm!"

     "Cool.."

     After he stepped out of sight, the blond froze, breath caught in his throat as his face paled. She didn't even have an uncle! Uraraka had a running joke with Sato that he was her uncle, hence why he was called "Uncle Sato" in her contacts, but she would never actually refer to him as her uncle unless the three were baking together! If it was really her, she would have corrected him or laughed.

     Later, Bakugo appeared from the front door holding a bag of random items from his room, which he immediately dropped after exiting.

     "Bakugo, is everything alright??"
        "What took you so long??"

     His whole body was shaking. "Uraraka.. she was...taken."

     "What?!"
     "What?!"

     "Pipe down, you two!" Quieter himself, "That... was not Uraraka." Now that he thought about it..everything about that girl was a little off. Not just he lacking knowledge, but her very presence too. It just didn't possess the same warmth. Such a thing was..hard to explain."

     "Well d###..."
     "S###..."

     Both somewhat detectives' shoulders dropped, chins hung low. Yuji continued, "...What now?"

     "We'll tell the principle of course!-" Z.

     "-No, he...won't believe something like that. At least not without proof." Bakugo.

     "He'll trust me! I saved everybody last week!"

     "But this is different. This is- ughh!" Bakugo's new hands dug through, even getting caught on his hair. "..This is different. We'll need to catch her in the act of drinking blood somehow." His face was so pale. Couldn't even think straight!

     "Bruhh!"
     "I'm just going to tell the principle!"

. . .

     "What do you mean he's already busy!!? This is really important! Life or death we are talking about here!!" The three stood in front of the principle's closed doors, blocked off by Cementoss.

     The pro hero just crossed his arms and sighed. "Last time you said that, it was about the state of your pencil sharpener."

     "Well I'm being serious NOW!!..." Leaning in. "...There's an impostor among us."

     "There is, is there?" Not buying it.

     Yuji shoved Zeya aside and bowed before the hero quickly. "I may not be able to bear witness to the murder or anything but I trust Zeya! And Bakugo's sure who it is too!!"

     "JUST LET US THE H### THROUGH! THE LONGER WE STALL, THE SMALLER CHANCE WE HAVE OF SAVING ROUND FACE!!"

Click..

     The large door opened and Mei peeked her head out. ' 'Who died?' ' And before anyone could answer. ' 'Oh wow. Nezu should be able to see you now anyway.' ' She opened the door wider for the three, much to Cementoss' meager protest.

...

     "Hm.. it seems our attempts to keep out Toga were fruitless..." Nezu pouted, seated at his big desk. "Thank you for keeping this case to yourselves for the most part. We should have enough heroes here on campus to catch and detain her before she even gets suspicious. As for now, it is probably best that we keep an eye on you most of all, Zeya."

     The girl glanced around right to left, finally pointing at herself. "Me?? Why ME?!"

     "Because this sounds an awful lot like a potential trap set for you. While taking out Bakugo would be a good play, it would make just as much, if not even more sense to target heroes such as Eraserhead and Recovery Girl... And besides, the simple fact that All For One has targeted you before is a good tell that any move he makes from now on will be with your quirk in mind."

     Zeya faked a smile, fanning her face, "How flattering~" Smile instantly dropping. "..-No but seriously. How would he even get to me?"

     "By making you go to him. I'm not sure how yet, but I have my suspicions that this is a trap. That is why I suggest being cautious and traveling in groups until we can catch Toga when she least expects it."

     "Hhhh..." Zeya dropped her chin. "Yessir.."

     After the three exited the room, Zeya kicked at the floor, sending a loud shriek from her shoe down the halls.

     "Ugh. Well that didn't turn out how I expected." She shoved her hands into her pockets, between the two teens who were now on slightly higher alert.

     Yuji rubbed his chin. "Hmm.. better protection, huh?" He then gasped, a smile sprouting on his face. "Well I'm pretty strong! Oo! How about we do a sleepover!?"

     The girl turned to him, the two idiots grabbing each other's shoulders. "Sleepover, yes!!" They both agreed.

     Bakugo barked over his shoulder at the two. "Hey, no! You are not having a sleepover in my room!!"

     "You mean our room~" Yuji.
        "Mmhmm~" Zeya.

----------

     "Hhhhhheck yes, you got my text!" Elyse smiled big as she opened the front door to allow Mirko and Mei in. The two had red dresses of the same shade as hers tucked under their arms.

     Turning to the brunette with a plain look, ' 'Mind if I dye my hair in your sink?' '

     "Uhh, sure?"

     ' 'Thanks.' ' She proceeded to wander off into the darkness. Rumi bounced excitedly into the house.

     "It's been so long since I got to do anything girly! You got a hair curler here or something?"

     "Uhh, check my personal bathroom I think." Pointing her in the right direction. Rumi grinned deviously and dashed off in that direction.

     "Wow what are the other ladies going here?" Reigen entered the general living space.

     Elyse smirked and placed her hand on her hip. "We decided to matah~ Different style dresses, same color though."

     "ELYSE, YOUR HAIR CURLER SUCKS!!" Rumi stomped out of Elyse's bedroom with the cord of the curler dragging behind her. All tied up in it was a strand of the woman's long hair. Scarlet sprouted up through the roots. Looked like her hair got stuck and she decided to just rip the whole thing out.

     The brunette gasped and ran towards her. "Rumi, you're bleeding!!"

     "Eh???"

     The following two hours consisted of the three ladies helping each other out with their hair, makeup, and outfits. Mei had dyed her hair teal for some reason and insisted on wearing glasses to the party. Though the others were a tad confused, she was allowed to wear whatever she wanted. 

     When the three ladies were all done, they were truly a striking trio.

     Rumi's dress was low cut below the shoulders and strapless, her back exposed, and fitting perfectly to her form until the very end where it loosened and stopped around her thighs. And for footwear she wore matching red boots sturdy enough to jump around and kick people in.

     Elyse's in comparison was far more modest, though did show off the shoulders and chest area a little. Her dress was also a little more fluffy, ending at the knees. The woman was not used to dressed one bit, so she made sure to wear jean shorts underneath to combat the discomfort. Not as sneakily hidden were her basic jogging shoes, which were dark enough to hopefully stay out of sight.

     Mei was by far the most modest of them all. Her dress had poofy long sleeves that ended past the elbows, covered her chest up to the collarbone, and her loose dress stretched far past the knees. On top of that, she wore black pants underneath and a matching red sun hat on top of her head. She was still a stunning rose. This was perhaps the first time ever that she had ever worn makeup as well.

     All three were absolutely stunning. Reigen's eyes almost watered as he saw his girl in the gorgeous dress, like the fulfilling of his own drunken prophecy. He chuckled and smiled as she left with the other two ladies. She stopped at the door and ran back to her man, embracing him tightly with her cheek to his chest. "You boys have fun while I'm gone!" Referring to Serizawa and Teru standing behind him. Reigen hugged her back, for a moment wishing the embrace would never end.

     After she left, certain he could not be heard through the door, the blond sighed. "I want to marry that woman.." The other two quickly glanced his way.

     "Awe."
     "So early??" Teru.

     Blushing, "We-well I can't think of anyone else I would rather live the rest of my life with!"

----------

     "Comfy over there, Zeya?" Yuji asked as the girl rolled around on the couch in their room with a single blanket and tiny pillow, in the process of getting comfortable.

     Cracking a laugh, "I've slept on literal corpses before; this is nothing! ... In case you were wondering, it was a form of torture. I'm not a Necrophiliac." Silent concern washed over the room. Bakugo shoved his back into the pillows a little more now, his arms again removed for the night.

...

     Zeya chuckled again. "Oh yeah. Gotta love how there's just an immortal demon-guy casually snuggling ma bestie over there!" Laying beside Yuji with his an arm forcibly draped over him was the half cursed spirit, Choso, who was already half asleep.

     "Awwe? You consider me your bestie? <3"

     "✨Yes.✨"

     "Can you guys shut up??" Bakugo gruffed. It was weird enough adjusting to that immortal guy's nightly illegal entry just to hang out with his supposed half brother. Now he had to deal with some random b- who wouldn't shut up!

. . .

     "...--So why are we going to sleep so early anyways-?"

     "-I SAID SHUT UP!"

     "Alright, alriiight, sorry."

----------

     Such bright, warm lights. The main room was so BIG. A dome of quartz walls and glass for a roof. Fancily decorated tables circled a classy dance floor, and on a small stage opposite to the entrance, a band played delicate music. No one was dancing. Instead everyone was just standing around chatting.

     "So does this make you a hero now, or~?" Elyse tilted her head the shorter woman's way.

     "Eh. Fifty-fifty." She then glanced across at Rumi.

     "I'm going to the bathroom real quick. You two save some snacks for me!" The woman scampered away from them at the entrance, leaving the others to slip into the crowd quietly. It was kind of full, to Elyse's surprise. And there were a lot of really familiar faces too, such as the number one hero himself!

     "Ayy, you're a new face!" Hawks fluttered down, having leapt over several people to reach the woman. He was the kind of party goer who hopped around from person to person, never sitting still for a second. "What's the hero name?" Pointing at Elyse.

     "Um, Queller. And this is-- do you have a hero name..?" Gesturing to Mei beside her. The shorter one squinted a tiny bit.

     ' 'Not officially, but sometimes I go by Insight.' '

     "Well you guys should meet my buddy Jackson Wang back there!" Gesturing broadly behind him. "He put this whole party together last minute!.. Wait. Insight?.. Mei Shiin?" Hawks dropped that extra half a foot and landed on the ground, rubbing his chin. "Ahh, so you're the little bug I've been told to avoid my whole career~" 'She's so tiny and cute.' Mei was a whopping 5'1 whenever she stood up straight.

   ' 'Thanks you too.' ' Flatly.

     "Ah- right, I should probably get going then. Y'know, top ten secrets and all that!" He joked but was also being serious. Mei stared at him for a few seconds and his mood shifted slightly. "Guess I'll be in the bathroom then?" He shrugged and flew off."

     Rumi later returned while the women were at the snack tables. They talked amongst each other and other familiar lady heroes, including the new Nejiri Chan, who took a liking to Elyse surprisingly quickly!

     But something was a little funny about the party. Almost everyone they talked to suddenly left for the bathroom. Something normal looking at first, but as it kept happening...

     "Heh.." leaning her hip against the table, apple juice in her wine glass -- they weren't providing wine for some reason -- the woman chuckled as she looked over the smaller Mei, who was scanning the room tensely. "Kinda suspicious, all these people going to the bathroom out of nowhere, isn't it?" 'What are you doing, Mei?'

     ' 'Trust me. Go to the bathroom and enter the stall that has the 'out of order' sign on it.' '

     'Um...okay.' Casually, the woman left her post, set the glass down, and made her way to the bathroom. Doing as instructed, the woman discovered a passageway opening up behind the toilet. And, after crawling through, discovered a small room where another path joined from -- from the male bathroom -- and three people in said room.

     "Jin??!.. Nezu?!"

     "Hey, Elyse!" Jin waved frantically.

     "What's going on here??"

     "Jin." Nezu looked up at the man and nodded.

     "Yes sir!" The man jumped into action and started measuring Elyse and her dress.

     "Uhhh-"

     "We have enough hands for the mission here, so I would like to ask you to handle another one in the meantime."

     "Hm?" Tilting her head.

     "There are a handful of spies we are currently in the process of dealing with tonight. One of them is a girl named Toga. We believe she has taken the form of Ochako Uraraka, one of my students. I would like for you, Nejiri, and Mei to take the girl aside and interrogate her to find out where they are keeping the real Uraraka." Elyse's face stiffened. Ah yes. Another kidnapped child.

     The woman bowed swiftly. "Yes sir!"

----------

     A copy o Elyse stepped out into the party, acting as if nothing had happened. Lady Nagant watched from the edge right beside the glass roof where the shadows hid her body perfectly. She hung back, out of the party's glow, and loaded her sniper rifle with a strand of hair. Behind her crouched Mustard, who wore his army green mask at the ready just in case things went south.

     Nagant has reason to be suspicious, but so far she was pleased, seeing that no one had yet to notice her. She made a few smaller bullets of hair in advance and aimed carefully at Hawk's head. Not far away was Endeavor. Those two were her main targets, though her goal was to kill as many here as possible.

     She stalled for a second, watching that calloused killer closely... How could Hawks even smile with all the atrocities he was forced to commit?! He was like her, right?!

     The fact that he hadn't snapped yet was a good sign that he was just as rotten as the rest of them.

Pow!
   Clash!

     The woman shot through the panel of glass in the roof, head-shotting Hawks without a problem. Rapidly, she went on to do the same to Endeavor, then Mirko, then and then and then. By the time she finally realized something was off, a dozen gray puddles dirtied the ground where those heroes once stood.

     "####, they knew we were coming!" The lady growled to her assistant. "Give me the mask!" As instructed, Mustard pulled out a black mask with a small oxygen tank attached. As he handed it to her, however, a ferocious female jumped up to join the faint moonlight.

     "RHHA!" Mirko kicked Nagant back. The villain fell and rolled over the glass roof. All the doubles down below just looked up and watched as Mirko and the Nagant brawled. The purple haired one used a knife at her waist to even things out a little. Mirko broke off the gun in her elbow as she attempted to use it. Eventually, the glass couldn't take it any longer and the panels the women tussled on shattered, dropping them onto the crowd. Lady Nagant caught herself from falling too far with her new air walking quirk and Mirko landed roughly on the ground, rolling backwards to stand up.

     As the villain fled, Mirko in her new position started attacking her fellow heroes downstairs. Most just fell away into brownish gray puddles, but the few who didn't were captured and taken away for further interrogation.

     In the sky, Hawks fought Lady Nagant where few others could reach them. The winged man was agile, using layered feathers to shield himself from deadly blows, but the villainess was fast on her feet and even quicker to reload. (Seriously though. A fight between them would be awesome to see. Wish I could write the whole thing here, buuuut, that would make this chapter insanely long!)

     Down below, on the outskirts of the building, many of the other heroes fought Mustard. The rough terrain made it hard for them to navigate in the fog and the sleeping gas came unexpected to most of them. Surprisingly, with all of these elements stacking in his favor, the teen was able to handle an impressive amount of them. With a simple pistol alone, he was able to mortally wound two and seriously injure at least eight more. His largest threat was Endeavor, but the kid was also smart in using the fire hero's fallen comrades as shields or means to threaten the man with.

     Eventually, though, Hawks was able to see hope; a ray of light at the end of all this before defeating her, and Endeavor used his own intellect to outsmart the teen's schemes, beating him as well.

     Both were brought to the roof, beaten outright. Lady Nagant, torn in her ways, agreed to spill and tell the heroes where she had taken Izuku Midoriya -- as that was these heroes' revealed main objective. For that, an explosion from within tore apart her flesh and skin. And after bearing witness to such horror, also feeling betrayed for having his own master give in to the heroes' side, Mustard refused to give them any information, shooting himself in the jaw instead with his last remaining bullet.

     Both fell down lifeless. Useless to the heroes' mission.

     ...Hopefully more information could be extracted from Toga...

----------

     Bakugo woke up randomly in the middle of the night. There were no sounds that could have caused it, he didn't need to go to the bathroom, and there wasn't even any pain for him to recall. But, he wasn't tired and maybe a little restless, so he sat up in bed and scooted his back against the headboard to watch over the dark room in silence.

     A small whimper came from his right. The blond turned his head a little to scowl at the girl sitting upright on the couch. Her legs were held tightly against her chest, wrapped up in her arms, her eyes wide and filled with fear.

     "What's wrong?" Bakugo whispered softly, still managing to make the little one flinch.

     "M'nothing.."

     "Alright. .. Then why are you awake?"

     "Can't sleep..." She whispered, her face ghostly pale. Not even makeup could hide those dark spots under her eyes, which she fought so hard to keep open. The struggle to keep herself awake was so intense, the girl was visibly shaking.

     Bakugo squinted at her. "Can't sleep, huh?. Can't sleep, or won't-?"

     "You don't understand. I ca-an't!" Zeya started to rock herself there. Her fervent gaze never once lifted off the ground. Bakugo growled quietly.

     "Seriously. Tell me what's wrong."

     "Fine- I-...'m scared of sleeping."

     "Huh? Of nightmares or-"

     "No! Just sleeping in general! It-- ...It has to do with how my quirk functions. ... If something happens while I'm asleep...I ca-an't go back and fi-x it. I'll be completely useless!" Crap, she was starting to tear up now, so overwhelmed with fear.

     A sting in Bakugo's chest had him looking down at himself...staring at the limbs he'd lost. The vulnerability he felt by it..was overwhelming. "...Yeahhh..." Both, in their own silence, wrestled again with this same, gripping paranoia. At last, the boy looked up again. "I'll stay awake and watch out for anything that might try to harm us-"
        "-but"
     "-I'll protect you."
         "That's nice, but-"
     "I said I'll protect you!.. Nobody's getting hurt under my watch.

...

     "...Zeya, was it?" The girl nodded meekly. "..You did a good job today. I might not know exactly what would have happened otherwise...but you saved me back there. So, don't go thinking I wouldn't save you in return." His eyes left the girl, instead staring calmly ahead. "...We're all a little weak sometimes.. N' I guess..." He inhaled, then exhaled slowly, closing his eyes. "...I guess that's okay...as long as we have each other to pick one another up."

     Zeya sighed sadly. "Yeah... I guess that's true..." She chuckled weakly. "Guess I'm just really used to depending on nobody but myself."

     "Heh, yeah.. same."

     Slowly, Zeya's breathing calmed down. She rocked herself less and less and her body only shivered every so often. Choso watched from a little further away, fascinated by the blond's small yet respectable sacrifice. Acting as any big brother should. Zeya's eyes stuck on Bakugo, who sat up, determination in his eyes; really meaning what he said. He really was willing to stay up all night if that meant the other could get some sleep. And as much as Zeya wanted to be nice and tell him he could sleep too...his offer genuinely did help her feel just a little safer. After a while, Zeya was laying down, and still the blond sat up in bed, failing to show any signs of getting tired.

     "Thank you..." The girl finally whispered, before slipping off to sleep. Bakugo took in a deep breath after she finally closed her eyes. He liked the feeling that came when others relied on him. It was his biggest reason for wanting to be the number one hero after all. But, he had to admit to himself...just this once, that he wouldn't be able to reach that goal if it weren't for the help of others.

     He needed them too.

.

.

.

=========================
Bonus memes because I'm bored (and my phone is literally overflowing with them):

(I really like the idea of Hawks being the one to have that crucial fight with Lady Nagant. Too bad I had to skim over it in this chapter.)

(Imagine being in the background tho and your face just goes 'sqeee-')

Also RIP Mustard & Lady Nagant. Yeahhhh, they're dead. Toga kinda is too unless she manages to escape. 🤞
There's just so many characters already! I can't expect to juggle them ALL!  Fjjsjdsndnjsbdjcisnsncnajemfnwjdn