Ren blinked at the water that was getting in his eyes, ears, mouth, all of it. His chest felt like it was going to cave in.

It was dark... Had he sunk?

He was fading out again...

Some kind of shape flashed over his head, blocking out the sunlight through the water briefly, then something grabbed him and yanked him upward with a kind of force not expected underwater...

He came out of the waves coughing on water.

He was way, way out from shore...

The person who'd grabbed him was...Kayla?

"Ren?" She was staring at him. Her voice sounded different though... Maybe it was just the water in his ears. "Are you still alive? Say something." 

She was speaking with a pretty thick accent.

Ren said something that was just gurgling water.

"Hold on, we can't come out here," Kayla instructed, "Hold your breath."

What breath? Ren wanted to say, but he couldn't talk yet.

Then she dragged him back under the water.

At least he got a better look at what was happening.

Kayla's quirk was a transformation one, from what they'd seen of it already, but he'd never seen one like this before.

She was a literal mermaid...and the effect was more than just sprouting a tail. Her hair had gone completely dark blue. Her skin had bluish tints on it, even where she didn't a have scales, and her eyes had turned into a bright, goldish, amber color.

They also seemed to have a kind of thick see-through lid over them, like some fish and birds do, but he only realized that later.

[Image design by Onerose]

She could swim way faster than a human. She must have been going as fast as a great white shark or faster, even.

In mere seconds, she'd taken them pretty far from shore and veered left.

She came up for air again.

"Hanging in there?" she asked.

Ren spat water out. "I'm not dead yet..."

"Good," Kayla said, "I'm taking us farther away from their ships.... They probably can detect something my size that close...but I don't think they followed us yet..." She ducked back under.

This went on for a few more minutes until she finally reached a different beach altogether from the first one, that was also a large outcropping of rocks. Then she swam right up to it and pulled herself out with one arm, then dragged Ren out after her.

Once out of the water, her tail shrank back to normal legs...her clothes with it, surprisingly.

[Kayla worried image by Onerose]

Ren coughed up the rest of the water he'd swallowed then. Gross...

"Oh my gosh, you're bleeding in three places." Kayla could see now. "I thought I felt blood in the water, but..."

"What, like a shark?" Ren said.

"It's called having a sense of hot and cold actually," Kayla snapped back. She peered more closely. "Shots..."

"One more here..." Ren pulled up his shirt to examine his stomach...

Kayla looked a little more green than blue... "Well...that's not good."

"No...but thanks.... How did you know I was there?"

"I didn't know you were there," Kayla said, "I was hiding under the wharf at first, trying to watch their boat, and then I heard them coming and got farther away, and then I heard gunshots and figured they were chasing someone. I came back to see...and there you were...drowning." She frowned.

Her features were going back to human now.

"Your quirk is really unique," Ren said, "Normally people can't turn off and on those types..."

Kayla frowned. "It's pretty grotesque... I only found out I had it when I went swimming in a lake with my Dad... It works in fresh water too."

"Grotesque?" Ren said, "Are you kidding? That's wild. Can you breathe underwater? Or are you like a dolphin?"

"I...sprout gills..." Kayla said oddly, "like a freak..."

"Freak? I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be jealous of that quirk." Ren was getting up now. "I mean, the possibilities... Plus it was super hot."

"Hot?" Kayla said.

"Yeah, with the mermaid look. It was awesome," Ren said. Then he coughed. "And I'm probably going to have an attack now... Where's my inhaler?"

"You have asthma?" Kayla said.

"Sometimes...but..." Ren coughed some more. "Getting waterlogged like that after running will do it..."

He pulled out his inhaler... It was probably useless now...

"You should get to a hospital..." Kayla said, "But how...? I can't take you to one, not if they're looking for both of us."

"How...*cough*...how did they find you?" Ren said.

"I think they put two and two together after I didn't reappear at the camp," Kayla said, "I knew it would happen, but I thought it would take more time for them to find me... It was foolish to go to that office. They must have known I would be doing that... It doesn't matter now. I'll have to worry about it later." She stood up and held out a hand. "Maybe we can hail a cab."

"Actually, I may have it taken care off..." Ren said, "except my phone is busted. Do you have one that works?"

Kayla pulled out a phone in a waterproof case. "I kind of have to be prepared for this scenario..."

"Luckily, I actually memorize numbers..." Ren coughed again. "I hope he can hurry up..."

* * *

"What do you mean she's not coming back?" Mirko yelled at the others.

"This is not helping," Shine flinched, "I asked Ren to track her down though."

"Ren... Oh..." Mirko tilted her head. "I'm surprised he hasn't called me..." She pulled out her phone.

"Oh...it died..." she said.

"Charge your d--- phone," Bakugo said.

"Shut up." Mirko rolled her eyes.

"You can charge it over there." Momo gestured to the wall. "Maybe he has tried to call you."

Mirko plugged it in and it came back on...and, to her horror, she saw she did in fact have a missed call and text from Ren. She opened it: "Sis, big trouble. Ninja tailing me I think. Can you come to XXXXXX beach?"

Mirko screamed a sort of frustrated/scared scream. "This came almost an hour ago! It's too late by now..."

"What?" Shine said.

Mirko read it aloud and grabbed her ears and yanked them down. "Stupid! stupid! stupid!" she cursed herself, "Why didn't I charge this thing...?"

"Hey...calm down," Wally said, "Ren's a smart guy, right? I'm sure he would have called in help from someone else...like us..."

"Nothing," Shine said.

Mirko flopped on the floor.

"I'm a complete failure..." she said.

"Get a grip," Bakugo said.

"Katsuki, not now," Shine said. She was worried herself.

"Ren is the whiz kid, right?" Dabi said, confused, "Is he dead?"

They glared at him.

"Maybe they just took him hostage?" Momo said.

Just then Mirko's phone began to ring. She snatched it back up. "I don't know this number."

"Answer it," Shine and Wally said in unison.

Mirko was going to anyway. She slid right. "Hola?"

"Rumi?" It was Ren.

"Ren! Oh, thank God... What happened?" Mirko sat bolt upright.

"I got a little beat up, but I'm alive... Trying to get to a hospital," Ren said, "But listen, I've already called Dad, but everyone needs to get out. Go somewhere, I don't know where."

"Que?" Mirko said.

"I think it's come to what we were trying to avoid," Ren said, "Yes, my fault, really. I slipped up..." He coughed. "Anyway, they'll be moving out of the house. You better not go back there for them though--just lead the ninja right to them if they didn't find them already. If Dad or Mom contact you though, you'll know what to expect... You got that Dabi guy?"

"He's safe for now," Mirko said.

"Bueno... Uh, Kayla is with me."

"Oh, is she?" Mirko sounded mad. "Well, great. Did you ask her what she did yet?"

"Sis, she didn't do anything," Ren said, "She actually saved my life...at least if I don't bleed out. They want her too. The s--- hit the fan. Anyway, I think we've gotten away for now."

Mirko had to hang up before her phone died again.

She related what she'd just heard to the others.

"I see..." Shine mused, "The ninja are trying to find a loophole. I warned them, but they think if they just go after your family and Dabi, that is not threatening us directly...cowards."

"This is what I didn't want to happen," Mirko said.

"Well, it's not your fault," Shine said, "It was probably always a thing they'd use against you if they could. It was naive to think they wouldn't have looked into your family records. No doubt they've looked into everyone... The Originals are smarter than the Metas. They will have done their research, but they will also not want to risk infuriating us too much, I think. We must consider what to do to stop this. As much as they have dirt on us, while we have Kayla, we have a ringer for them and they know that. I think they will want her most. They are trying to regain the upper hand."

"You make it sound like they didn't succeed," Dabi said.

"You know, in chess, sometimes you can turn a check around on the opponent," Shine said, "and checkmate them instead. It may not be too late for that... I'll have to pray. All of us should be.... I'll bring Ren and Kayla here. A hospital would be too easy to track them to."

So she did.

If Rumi was upset already, seeing the state her brother was in almost pushed her over the edge.

Ren had lost a lot of blood. Kayla had tried to patch him up, but she didn't have a whole lot to work with. She was pale...

Momo was able to help though, and they let him lay down.

Only Shine and Wally had the slightest hope right now of it being fixable. Momo, Shoto, and Bakugo all felt they had been out-maneuvered by the Originals, and Mirko felt like she'd been played yet again.

She was really dejected for her. So quiet...

Of course, Shine thought. The toughest people are always covering one huge weakness. People who isolate themselves are afraid of losing what they do have... It made sense she was discouraged.

Ren still thought it was his own fault. He'd been too careless getting involved openly with hero stuff.

Kayla was grim too. "I'm a goner..." she said, "If I don't find a way to hide from them... They were too fast for me... Ah, I knew this would happen if I tried to leave." She shivered and hugged her sides. "No one leaves the Originals."

"The LOV is starting to look benevolent by comparison..." Shoto remarked, "They didn't do anything to Dabi for leaving."

"From all I hear, you can thank Shigaraki for that," Mirko muttered, "He's oddly fair about stuff like that."

"Yeah, you know, I didn't appreciate him enough while I was there," Dabi said, "Guy's creepy, but after the other wackos I've been dealing with, seems like I had it good there. Wait, did the others want to kill me?"

"Yeah, Spinner and Compress did," Mirko said.

"I knew it." Dabi wasn't even offended. "Well, I'd probably have hated them too if our positions were reversed."

"Maybe we should all brainstorm," Wally said, "Aizawa, Joke, the League..."

"No, not the League," Dabi said, "I didn't go through all this just to go back there. It's just...not...right."

Shine shrugged. "Just the heroes, then, I guess... Let's call them."

* * *

"Go away!" Natsuo yelled through the door at the reporters. But either they didn't hear, or they did not care, which was far more likely.

"It's no use," Fuyumi said, "They're all around every entrance to the house... I thought they weren't supposed to trespass here..."

"Yeah, well, big shock, they don't care," Natsuo said, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I almost wish Endeavor was here to scare them off."

"I wish he was here. I'm worried about him," Fuyumi sighed.

"Sure, worry about him," Natsuo said, "like he doesn't deserve this. We're the ones who should be upset."

"Do you really still think we have no responsibility here?" Fuyumi said.

"Yeah, I do," Natsuo said.

Fuyumi sighed.

"We'll have to go out there sooner or later though..." she sighed.

"Forget it. I'm just going to go watch TV or something till they go away," Natsuo sighed, walking away.

Fuyumi sank down against the door and sighed again, putting her head on her knees.

"At least Mom wasn't here to see this..." she said, "I hope she didn't watch the news yet... I should go see her...but I'd never get past all of them... I wonder where Shoto is...at school hopefully..."

Some kind of commotion started outside... Fuyumi sat up. Was Endeavor's home finally?

She peered out the window... The paparazzi had moved somewhat around the corner.

"Hi," Hawks' voice startled her. She jumped and tripped over the umbrella stand.

Feathers caught her.

"Uh, sorry," Hawks said, rubbing his head, "Didn't mean to scare you. I came in the window... You should really lock those."

"Mr. Hawks." Fuyumi was relieved. "Oh, thank goodness... They won't go away, and we can't leave the house, and Dad isn't home yet..." She was getting emotional, but she couldn't help it. "And I don't know if Mom knows, but this is going to crush her when she sees it, and I'm not sure what the shock would do to her..."

"Slow down." Hawks held up his hand. "Endeavor's at his agency. I already stopped by. He was going to come here, but I talked him out of it, said they'd be waiting for him there. I came by to make sure you kids were okay though."

"Kids? Shoto isn't here," Fuyumi said.

"I meant Natsuo..." Hawks said, "And I mean like how you're Endeavor's kids, 'cause obviously. I mean, he's old enough to be my dad, so I don't mean like literal kids..." Why was he explaining this? Not the time! He hit himself mentally.

"Natsuo is only about a year younger than me." Fuyumi smiled wryly. "I think I'm older than you, actually, Mr. Hawks."

"You don't need to say Mister, then. Just Hawks is fine."

"I always felt weird about calling people one-word hero names though..." Fuyumi admitted, "like a pet..."

"Well, I am a bird..." Hawks flexed his wings. "So your mom, huh? Someone should probably go check on her. Need an escape?"

"Oh, would you be so kind?" Fuyumi said, "I know it's a lot to ask, but I'm not wanting to deal with them out there."

"Oh, no, they'd eat you alive. The press loves scandals." Hawks looked disgusted. "Muckraking b----ds. I'd consider it my heroic duty to fly you out of here. Natsuo too, if he wants."

"I'll ask him," Fuyumi said.

"No," was Natsuo's response, "I'm just going to say here. I don't want them to break in while we're gone.... The police'll be here eventually, and I don't want to go out."

"Even to see mom?"

"I'm not sure I could handle it right now..." Natsuo said.

Fuyumi almost said, "And you think I want to handle it either?" But she bit it back. She couldn't make Natsuo act any different.

"Well, he says no." She rejoined Hawks.

"Does he ever do anything actually helpful?" Hawks sometimes forgot how blunt he came across.

"Oh...sometimes..." Fuyumi was embarrassed.

"Oh...oops.... Sorry," Hawks said sheepishly.

"It's fine. You're not the first person to say it," Fuyumi said.

Counting Shine, he'd be the second, she thought, but it didn't matter.

Actually sneaking out of the house was tricky though. Fuyumi didn't like climbing out the window.

"Sure you don't just want me to use my feathers?" Hawks said.

"With...uh, all due respect, M--I mean Hawks," Fuyumi put one foot out, "being suspended from a small feather is even more stressful than climbing out myself."

"Likstar didn't like it either... Why is everyone so afraid of the feathers? They work." Hawks ran one through his hand like it was a pen.

"Perhaps it's a small thing like that suspending you hundreds of feet off the ground." Fuyumi was as close to salty as she got.

"I guess it could be." Hawks flapped. "I mean, I don't really know the feeling. Never tried it with just one myself... Careful."

Fuyumi's foot slipped off loose tiling she didn't know was there, and she almost plunged off the roof.

Hawks caught her. "That was close."

Fuyumi closed her eyes. "I'm not sure I like flying as much as I thought I would when I was a kid."

"Oh, you're just overthinking it." Hawks flew upward. "This'll be fun. You'll see. Remember before? Wasn't that fun?"

"I was thinking about it less that time." Fuyumi wasn't looking down.

"So don't think about it. Flying isn't about thinking." Hawks said a phrase Rumi would have mocked him for. "It's about feeling it. Live a little."

Fuyumi opened one eye. They were already quite a ways from the house. "Right... Uh, do you know where to go?"

"No, actually. I kind of thought you were going to tell me," Hawks said.

"Right... Up straight ahead for now." Fuyumi wasn't used to navigating from the air, but it should be easy, right? Just like a map.

At least that took her mind off being so high up.

After the first few minutes, she began to feel better about it.

"You can hang on, you know, if it helps," Hawks said, "I don't normally just carry one person, but it's a lot easier."

"Right." Fuyumi did hang on. "I hope no one sees us..."

"Luckily, I think I'm the last person they're looking for right now," Hawks said, "Anyway it'll just look like a rescue."

As if to illustrate this, Mt. Lady suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the street.

"Oh, hey, Hawks." She waved. Hawks had to swerve so as not to hit her.

"Hey," he said.

"Working hard as usual, I see," Mt. Lady said casually, picking up what must have been a villain in one hand like he was a piece of silverware.

"You know me," Hawks said.

Fuyumi felt invisible...so normal, really.

"Did you hear the news today?" Mt. Lady was totally oblivious to tone. "Crazy, huh? You think it's true?"

"Oh, the media will say anything to get a scandal going." Hawks evaded the question.

"True, yeah, there's no way, right?" Mt. Lady said, "Well, if you see Endeavor, wish him my condolences for the whole thing. You two are tight, right?"

"I don't know about that," Hawks said, "but I'll pass it on. Gotta fly."

"You and Mirko are too much alike," Mt. Lady said, "And where has she been? She's practically off the grid. I'm not complaining. Gives us a chance to catch up if she drops a ranking or two, but still."

"That's not very nice," Hawks said in that tone he used that made it hard to determine if he was serious or not, "I'd be more worried if she's not doing well."

"Whatever," Mt. Lady shrugged, "I gotta take care of this." She shrank again.

Hawks flew on. "Sorry about that," he said.

"Is Mirko okay?" Fuyumi asked.

"Oh, she hurt her foot retrieving that girl," Hawks said.

"That's right. I forgot..." Fuyumi said.

"Knowing her, she won't let that stop her for long," Hawks said, "I bet she's pissed about all this... The LOV might have something to do with it."

"I don't think so. It would hurt them too," Fuyumi said.

"Well, maybe... Still can't believe her..." Hawks frowned to himself.

Fuyumi didn't know what to say about it, so she said nothing.

Finally they got to the hospital.

Rei was in her room... Thankfully she had not watched the news. She seemed kind of tired that day.

"I think it's just being in here," she said, "I keep thinking about being released... Who's this?"

She meant Hawks.

"Oh...you know Hawks, right?" Fuyumi wasn't sure why he'd come in at all.

"Oh, yes," Rei smiled, "Thank you for taking care of my daughter...and, uh...husband."

"Oh...it's nothing." Hawks wasn't sure what to say either.

Fuyumi wasn't sure how to break the news to her...but if she didn't, it would be worse... No, she couldn't do it...not without someone else here... Shoto would probably want to be included...

"Uh...Mom..." she said instead, "could you...not look at the news for a while?"

"What?" Rei said, "Why not?"

"Uh...there's something we need to talk about," Fuyumi said, "but I think Shoto should be here when we do, and...well, could you...uh...just...trust me, I guess?"

Rei nodded. "If you put it that way, of course," she said, "Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll want to tell me in your own way...so I don't hear a slanted version of it, right?"

Rei wasn't stupid.

"Yes, that's...part of the reason," Fuyumi said, "and to make sure you're okay."

"I'm okay," Rei said, "I'll just stay here. Right?" She smiled slowly. "That's what would be best. Not to talk to anyone."

"Just for now," Fuyumi said, "and I'll be back soon, once I check on Shoto."

Rei nodded again. "All right, go on. Don't worry about me."

Fuyumi was glad she was so calm about it.

She let out a sigh once they were out of the room. "I just couldn't do it, not like that..."

"I think that might be best," Hawks said, "I mean, the whole family will probably want to talk about it together, right?"

"Uh...how was Dad taking it?" Fuyumi dared to ask.

"Oh...for him? I don't know, he was just kind of sitting there like a stone," Hawks said.

"That's not good," Fuyumi said, "If he was yelling or throwing things, I'd feel better."

"That's all not a really normal thing to say..." Hawks said.

"I guess not, but I'm afaid he's just going to shut down," Fuyumi said.

"Hey," Hawks patted her shoulder, "Endeavor is tougher than that. He'll pull himself out of this."

Fuyumi nodded. "Yeah...I know... Can we go to the other house? That's where Shoto is. I think I'd better just talk to him about all this."

"Sure. Better anyway. Dabi will probably be there too," Hawks said.

* * *

They found more people than just that, of course.

Fuyumi rushed up to Shoto to hug him. He kind of returned it for once. They were both so rattled.

The others filled them in.

Miss Joke and Aizawa were also there by now.

Aizawa was of the opinion that the situation was hopeless.

Miss Joke wasn't coming up with anything.

"Couldn't you just take Dabi out of country?" Mirko asked.

"No, without papers or ID, he'd just get caught," Shine said, "It would be worse than here... I thought of it, but I don't see it working long term. Maybe for a couple days."

"That won't be enough," Shoto said.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Hawks twisted his feathers, "but why doesn't he just go back to the League for awhile?"

"I don't want to," Dabi said.

"Well, I don't know if you're in a position to be picky... Where are they anyway? Aren't they always around now?" Hawks said.

"Well...Shigaraki is sick," Mirko said.

"What?" Shine said, "You didn't mention that. When did that happen?"

"I guess after we got back." Mirko shrugged. "The others didn't want to bother him with this, and they're not going do anything if he doesn't okay it. You know how they are."

"Yes," Shine said, "but...he normally doesn't bother to hold back... How sick is he?"

"I guess it got pretty bad..." Mirko sounded uncomfortable.

"Oh, wow, of course," Hawks said, "I mean, it would have been really convenient months ago for him to be down for the count, but now that it would be probably useful to have the League available, he caught something. It's probably too much to hope for it would just finish him off at least."

"Hawks!" Shine was shocked.

"Hey, not cool!" Wally was mad too.

"D---, that was dark for a hero," Dabi said.

"I'm just saying what everyone else would say about it," Hawks shrugged, "It's not my fault you seem to think of him as a good guy, Likstar, but face it, he's a villain, and we'd all be better off if he bit it, so to speak--"

He was cut off by Mirko punching him hard enough to send him flat onto his rear end.

He looked up, stunned.

"Disgrace to heroes," Mirko said darkly.

Hawks gaped at her.

Then he caught Fuyumi shaking her head...

"Look what guilt has done to you," Shine spoke grimly, looking down at Hawks, "It's killed your pity. Wake up, Hawks. Think about what you just said. That anger at yourself is going to poison you toward everyone else if you don't conquer it."

Hawks blinked at her. "What?"

"No one can ever hate you as much as you hate yourself," Shine said, "if you talk like that. We forgave you, but did you forgive you? Perhaps it would be best if you left now."

"For that?" Hawks was stunned.

"I think she means it," Aizawa said. He would know... He was kind of just glad it wasn't him this time.

"It was a pretty heartless thing to say," Miss Joke said, "I mean, none of us like Shigaraki, but he is Shine's friend, and it's not right to wish death on anyone just because it would be convenient."

"Well, I wasn't fully serious," Hawks said.

But the glare he was getting made him think maybe he should leave the room anyway.

He went outside.

"What the h--- was that?" Dabi addressed Mirko with a raised eyebrow.

"He was pissing me off." She rubbed her fist. "Hawks is such a moron..."

"I mean, not gonna lie, that was awesome, but I'm still surprised," Dabi shrugged.

"Shut up," Mirko said.

"Honestly, if you didn't, I would have." Shine frowned. "But he did not mean it... He's been stretched too far, without giving himself a break. It's bound to affect how he sees other people. He'll think better of it."

"I hope you're right," Wally said, "because I was ready to punch him too, and I actually like Hawks."

"Well, babe, I would have fully supported you," Shine said, "like a good girlfriend, but let's move on from Hawks...unless that gave anyone an idea."

They shook their heads.

"Should we sleep on it?" Wally asked.

"I'm afraid the first thing we're going to have to do is confront my dad," Fuyumi said, "Whether you all like it or not, he is our father, and he'll have a huge say in all this... How long can you refuse to face him?"

Dabi stared at his hands. "I didn't want to face him unless it was for the final time. Since I gave up on that, I didn't want to face him at all. I still have this burning hate for him... Even if he's changed, I can't stand the sight of him."

"But Fuyumi is right," Shine said, "You have to face him... Touya, we all have had to do it. You can't be the exception. Sooner or later we must face the past. It might be once you take the bull by the horns you'll find he is more tame than expected."

"And what if I hate that idea more than it being a blood bath?" Dabi said.

"I understand that, but it won't change what you need to do," Shine said, "As repulsive as it is, it is still the only path for you...and it would be better than being dragged into prison and getting that in a cell where you can't run or leave."

That much was true.

"I don't want to explain anything to him," Dabi said, "If you all need me to prove the truth or whatever, I guess I might be able to stomach that, but that's it. No chit chat."

"We'll take it," Wally said, "I guess we should probably contact him, then.."

"Oh, that is going to be fun..." Shoto was...sarcastic?

"Wow...I'm proud of you," Shine said, "That was actually on purpose, wasn't it?"

"I guess..." Shoto realized his accomplishment.

[Achievement unlocked: Sarcasm.]

That decision made, they had only to wait.

[Can you all feel that angst coming? I can...like a thunderstorm.]