"YOᑌ ᑕOᑌᒪᗪ ᔕᗩY 'I ᗰEᗩᑎT TO ᗪO TᕼᗩT', ᗩᑎᗪ I'ᗪ TOTᗩᒪᒪY ᗷEᒪIEᐯE YOᑌ."

"Who..." Ochako was at a loss for words. It was the man she had saw in her nightmare, and in the trees while training. She could only guess that he was trying to kidnap her. But... why? There were only so many reasons that popped up in her mind at that moment, and each one was terrifying.

Her eyes darted around frantically, and she realized with a jolt she was alone in the streets with this guy. Why is nobody outside? Why isn't anybody seeing this?

Her heart was beating at an unhealthy rapid pace, but she stood her ground, sneaking glances at Deku every so often, and glaring daggers at the man before her. "Who are you?"

The man gave an evil grin, making Ochako shiver. "Ritsuko Kita."

Uraraka was taken aback, staring at him with blank eyes. His full name already? Doesn't he have a villain name?

She shook her, and glared at him once more. "I'm not calling you that." The zero-gravity user's eyes narrowed, and she didn't take her eyes off of the man. Who knew how powerful he was, he could take her at any second for all she knew.

She flinched slightly as his grin faltered at her response, before he smiled once again. "Fine. Nightmare. I can tell why you're scared, but don't worry. I won't hurt and kidnap you... for now."

When Ochako didn't say anything, his foot dug deeper into Deku's back, and her heart skipped a beat. "What did you do to my friend?" She asked quickly, relieved to see the foot lessen its weight.

"That's my quirk," he explained. "Anything that the shadows produced from me touches goes to sleep after five minutes, and wake up again after another ten minutes. If I so please, I can stop the quirk, and I can wake up someone from their slumber."

Ochako's eyes widened as she took in the information, a sudden realization hitting her. At the school, two days ago. When Deku and the rest of her friends were extremely tired... the school was unusually dark as well. And she had been the only one who wasn't affected.

"Was that you on Thursday?" She asked shakily. "At the school?"

"Yes, though I decided against it. Too many possibilities that could backfire."

Her anxiety flared, and with a trembling voice she asked, "What do you want?"

"Just a nice conversation, my dear," he said casually, though his voice was cold. Uraraka scowled at the use of his words, and the villain named "Nightmare" stepped off of her friend and walked towards her. It took everything she had not to step away as he came up to her, and she stared defiantly up into his almost lifeless gray eyes.

"You see, Ochako-..."

"Don't call me that like you're my friend," she growled, offended he called her by her first name. She wasn't even surprised he knew her name at all, the guy had probably been following her for a while now. That scared her even more, but she didn't show it.

Yet, her defensive stance stiffened as his 'cheerful' expression turned agitated.

"Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" He gestured over to Deku, who was still unconscious on the floor. "Would be a shame if something were to happen to your little boyfriend."

At any other time, Ochako would've stammered and waved her arms in front of her in a flustered manner, stuttering profusely. But this situation was serious, and as she looked at her friend, she knew she couldn't let harm come to him. Sighing defeatedly, she mumbled, "Go on."

Nightmare smirked, and grabbed her by the chin. "Do you know what I like best, Ochako?"

She didn't answer, not like she could anyway. His hand was squeezing cheeks so hard that her lips hurt, and soon her entire face was aching.

"I like to play with my prey," he whispered, shoving her back. She coughed, gently grabbing the bottom of her face in attempt to soothe the pain. Holding back the tears from the aching and the fear, she looked up at him.

"You're going to wish I took you right here and now. I see this as a game. I'm going to make it as painful for the other player as I possibly can." He started to walk away, as if nothing had ever happened between them. "Expect your friend to wake up in about two minutes."

"Wait!" Ochako whipped around as he passed her, and he stopped. Looking over his shoulder, a mocking gleam flashed in his eyes.

"What?"

"Why do you want to take me?" She asked, standing up straight. She was scared of the answer, but she had to know.

Though Nightmare smirked, before pressing his finger against his mouth. "That's a secret for next time." Walking away, he waved casually, like he didn't just threaten her and Deku's life a few moments ago.

Ochako stared after him, wondering whether or not she should attack him. But she decided against it, telling herself that he almost put the entire school to sleep. He was powerful, she'd give him that. There's no telling what he could do, other than putting people into a slumber.

She heard a groan behind her, and swung around to see Izuku propping himself onto his elbows, a drowsy look in his gaze. Ochako hurried towards him as he sat up, staring at her with glazed eyes.

"U...Uraraka?" He asked slowly, looking around. "What happened? I have this huge headache and... ugh.. my back hurts?"

Ochako wanted to tell him. She really did. But... what could he do? Against this Nightmare guy, and whoever else he was working with, there was no telling what they could do to her friend if he was involved. She had to deal with this alone. Quickly, she tried to come up with an excuse. "Uh... well... I told you it was hot outside! You passed out suddenly, I could only guess it's from the heat."

Deku poker faced. "But... it's sixty-..."

"Let's get to Iida's house," Uraraka said, cutting him off. "He has air conditioning there, you'll feel better in no time."

Helping him up, she let him lean on his shoulder for a little while until he said he was fine. As they walked to Iida's house together, Ochako was alert and focused, barely responding to the small talk that Izuku tried to start up. He must've noticed this, because he gave her a concerned look.

"Are you okay, Uraraka?"

She smiled at him. "I should be asking you that! You passed out so suddenly, and-..." Ochako trailed off, spotting people on the side walk across from them. They had confused, alarmed faces and they looked around. Her heart halted as she remembered Nightmare's explanation for his quirk.

"Any thing that the shadows produced from me touches goes to sleep..."

Had those people been put to sleep by his quirk? Is that why nobody was there to help?

She hadn't realized her friend was talking until her attention snapped back to him.

"...been acting weird," he was saying, the lineaments of his expression still worried. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine Deku," she assured him. "Really."

He gave a relieved smile, and patted her on the head. "That's good..."

The two stared at each other for a few moments, before they both quickly averted their eyes, and Deku swiftly took his hand away. Ochako looked up, spotting Iida's house. Oh wow, look! Literally anything else!

"I think we're a little late," Deku snickered, pointing to a pacing Iida on the front steps. When the navy blue haired student noticed him, he greeted them with his signature robotic hand movements.

"You two! You are exactly five minutes and 20 seconds late!"

Ochako and Izuku shared an amused look, before stepping inside to start the project.

—————————————

"Did you get the girl?" Inouye asked as Kita closed the door behind him, greeting her on top of the rooftop of the city. Her question was answered when no brown haired student followed him

"It wouldn't be fun if I just up and grabbed her, now would it?" Nightmare questioned, scratching the back of his head. "Besides, you haven't participated yet."

Rewind Doctor groaned bitterly.

"I know you think a month is a long time," she said, crossing her arms. "But let me tell you, coming up with a plan and then carrying it out will take a long time, especially when dealing with heroes." She practically spat the word "heroes" out, as if it tasted disgusting on her tongue.

"Now, now," Nightmare soothed sarcastically. "Patience when playing the game. Just give me time to enjoy this."

Inouye raised a brow. "Enjoy? Well, if you fail a mission that my grandfather gives you, it won't be enjoyable anymore."

"You're working with me too," Kita pointed out. "And we both know your grandfather isn't forgiving of anyone... especially you."

Rewind Doctor noticeably flinched, but instantly went back to her defiant stance. "Well, do you have a plan, then?"

Nightmare smirked, a dangerous look gleaming in his eyes. "Of course I do."

—————————————

Izuku wasn't having it. The way she bit her nails every few seconds, darting her eyes around anxiously as if someone was going to pop up out of nowhere. Deku had been observing Ochako's weird behavior as they worked on the project, and ever since they entered the house she seemed... off.

He had moved a little closer to her at one point, offering silent comfort. She had looked secretly relieved at that, though he could tell she was trying not to show it.

By the time they were done, they had about one third of the project finished, by their standards at least. If Aizawa gave them one week to finish it, then yeah, they needed to make it as good as possible.

The two said goodbye to their friend, and hurried out the door. It was semi-dark outside, with pink and orange painting the sky, turning into a dark navy blue. Stars were starting to appear as they walked down the sidewalk.

Ochako still seemed a little shaky, so he walked a little closer to her than usual. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew she needed comfort, even she said she didn't need it.

As they walked down the street, Deku halted under the streetlight, and it took a while for Ochako to notice. She whipped around, tensing as if she expected something, but relaxed once she spotted Deku silently standing there.

"What's wrong Deku?" She laughed, turning back around to start walking again. "I promised my parents I'd be back by dinner time, so no dilly dallying!"

"Uraraka... what's really going on?" Izuku asked, narrowing his eyes a little.

Ochako stopped, and without turning around she subtly lowered her head. "I'm fine, Deku."

"No, really-..."

"Deku." Uraraka turned around, a smile gracing her features. "See? I'm fine. No need to worry about me."

Izuku frowned, unconvinced. Her smile didn't seem the same. He decided to stop asking questions, though. There was no reason for her to tell him, it wasn't like she was obliged to speak to him about every little thing in her life.

"...Okay," he nodded, walking up to her. Without thinking, he held out his hand for a fist bump. "...Just... remember you can talk to me about anything. Best friends, right?"

She looked up at him, and then at his hand, her smile becoming more natural and she bumped his hand gently. "Best friends."

The rest of the walk to Ochako's house was silent, yet comfortable. As they said goodbye, and Ochako closed the door behind her, Deku stood alone in the street... with a sense of foreboding overcoming him.

He knew she was lying about being fine. He felt it. But it scared him to think of what shook her so easily.

With questions still reeling in his mind, he walked off towards his house, and didn't look back.