~O~

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❝Deku-san, Deku-san... What do you hide?❞

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Once the black door shut behind them with a loud click, Shinsou and Uraraka found themselves in the same dark unending maze of memories hidden behind a series of doors. Both students looked around the place, not moving an inch from the place they first stepped at. They both could easily recall the fifth school wonder and knew exactly what they had stepped into.

But, in that moment, this place with seemingly no exit served as a safe haven for the two of them. Although, that didn't do much to resolve the worries of how they were planning to get out. The fifth's boundary; the maze behind the Black Door was the easiest to get into out of all the school wonders but as far as getting out was concerned, it might easily prove to be the trickiest and the hardest.

"H-Hey... Shinsou, you're a part wonder right? You must know the way around here, right?" Uraraka asked, looking a bit more shaken by the boundary they were in as opposed to the blood caking her face. The lavender haired boy on the other hand was equally disturbed by the blood on his companion's face and the dark boundary.

"Please wipe that blood off first," Shinsou said as offered the girl a handkerchief which she took not-so reluctantly, "And as far as getting out is concerned... I don't know the straight way out but I do know where we can find the fifth wonder. He might help us get out. Plus, I'm pretty sure he can save us from that Shigaraki guy."

"Alright then... Where can we find this school wonder number five?" The brunette asked, now with a clean face although the injuries were still somewhat visible. She would need to see Recovery Girl after this for sure... If she made it that far that is...

The lavender head rubbed the back of Hus neck and began to explain, "He's supposed to be behind this huge metal door for some reason. The kind a shady lab would have for their basement where they keep the humans they experiment on, you get what I'm trying to say?"

"Well, that should easy to find? All these doors look normal enough so we can definitely find that one faster!" Uraraka exclaimed, balling her fists enthusiastically. Shinsou only muttered out a faint, "Hopefully," before they both set out on finding the owner of this boundary. He tried to ignore the brunette's bright attitude despite her messed up face because, to be honest, Shinsou wasn't made for these sunshine types. Although, he somehow always ended up finding himself between them.

The two of them passed by many doors — some familiar, some new and Mokke who occasionally gave out directions or straight up bullied them. They tried to ignore the mean squeaky noises but it was hard to keep walking with your head up high when tiny pink rabbit-like creatures kept telling you how badly you needed a bath. At last, after what seemed like hours of searching, Shinsou and Uraraka came face to face with a huge metal door that was no shorter than twelve feet and no wider than five with multiple blood covered locks that looked like each weighed a whole five kilograms on its own. Uraraka did not and would never understand the aesthetic these apparitions were trying to go with but she had to admit; at least Nana had good taste.

Number five, however, either still hadn't grown out of his goth phase or needed genuine therapy.

"How are we supposed to get in? Have you seen the amount of locks here? What the hell is number five hiding in here, huh? Gold? Diamonds?" The brunette asked as she stared up and down the door that was probably more than just twice her size. She could only wonder what was hidden beyond this specific door. Moreover, unlike the other doors, this one didn't have a whip leading the way to it. Its stale and mysterious form ignited a feeling of doubt at the back of the brunette's head as if this wasn't the door they were truly looking for... But that couldn't be true! If it was a different door then Shinsou would have told her surely.

Shinsou bit his inner lip in search of a way in, sighed in pure exhaustion and sheepishly asked, "Uraraka, do you have a hairpin...?"

"Don't tell me you're about to do what I think you're about to do." She deadpanned, looking at him with a stern expression.

"Give me the pin, Uraraka."

~O~

"What are they doing?"

"Stupid stuff."

"Candy."

"Why are humans like this?"

"They're hopeless."

"Candy."

"That's why we need to exterminate them soon."

"Evil candy~"

The Mokke proved not to be of any help when it came to raising spirits but by that time both Shinsou and Uraraka knew they were just Hell escapees in a cute disguise. Ignoring their free slander, Shinsou continued his work and at last when the final click echoed through the boundary, the door was opened. Wordlessly, they both looked at each other for a final confirmation and once they got the affirmative from each other, they both pushed at the door and stepped inside.

The inside was only partially better than the outside. Illuminated by a single lantern that was being carried by a hooded figure, the room that Uraraka saw in that moment was positively not where the fifth wonder was — it was a different room, in a different time. The room wasn't as spacious as she thought it would be given how Nana's boundary seemed to be never-ending. The roof was low and the walls were dirty, a faint stench of blood and sweat greeted them in there. Old, the room was old and ancient.

There were no windows, the walls were cracked on many places and there were visible carters of what looked like claw marks too big to be just human. If the room was illuminated properly, they might even see the dried up blood that more or less covered the entire room. The numb coldness of the room was enough to let them know that whatever happened in this room was not pretty. A sort of ghost feeling of the fear and terror that someone had faced in this room evaded their minds and made their stomachs churn. The hooded figure standing in the middle of the room had surely acknowledged their presence but decided not to make a move just yet. The person had a calm and collected posture with their shoulders relaxed and their legs sturdily holding their ground despite the faded horror the room possessed.

The brunette felt a bead of sweat roll down her face when she looked at Shinsou and found him in the same baffled state as her. The lavender haired boy slowly returned her gaze and shook his head in silent denial that conveyed that this wasn't what they were looking for and that person wasn't the fifth wonder. They should leave the place before they get in some sort of trouble with this mysterious person or end up doing something stupid enough to get themselves locked in there.

Returning a small shaky nod, Uraraka decided that it would be best to leave like what Shinsou had silently suggested. The two hesitantly turned around but before could take a second step, the hooded figure turned to face their backs and spoke up with a voice stern but devoid of life, "You two,"

They both stopped dead in their tracks. Where Shinsou had never heard that voice before and Uraraka would not like to admit she had, they both had an inkling feeling they knew who the person behind them was. Although, neither of then knew of this person's true intentions towards them in that moment because that tone of voice was too grim to belong to the person they knew. It was the brunette who turned her head towards the hooded figure first, albeit with much caution and hesitancy.

The face of the person standing behind them at first was not visible from the distance since the hood shadowed their features but when the person lifted their head a bit more, the wild green and black curls underneath the hood became more visible in the light of the lantern. The freckled face was just as grim and lifeless as the voice portrayed it to be. Half lidded eyes held dull green irises unlike those lively emerald ones that Uraraka remembered. His forehead as well as his arms were wrapped neatly in bandages, one could easily make out the faint red behind that white material by the way the vital liquid blemished them. His mannerisms and current image delivered the fact that this wasn't exactly the ghost boy she knew.

Seeing Deku alive and so... Sober didn't sit right with Uraraka.

"What are you doing here?" The green head asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We... W-We were just leaving! We came here by accident, yeah! We'll leave right away!" Uraraka flailed her hands around, startled by the question — or the absolute tone with which it was served. For all she knew, this Deku thought of them as a possible threat because if he truly was alive, which he was, then there was no way he'd recognize either of them and if they told them the real story, they would just make themselves look like a part of some stupid ghost cult. Although, Shinsou might actually be a part of one but that wasn't important.

The way Deku studied her with his stern gaze made Uraraka think that he might not have bought that but it was a few deafening moments later when the boy shifted his gaze to the ground and soon turned his back on them, scoffing a quiet and shaky, "Le-eave."

Uraraka and Shinsou wasted no time pondering on that breaking voice and made for the door at once. Once they shut the door behind them, they slid down with their backs against it's cold metal.

"Well... That wasn't how I expected our first meeting to go," Shinsou gave a light chuckle as if to lighten the atmosphere but the solemn nod Uraraka gave him told him that may be that was a bit more intense on her. Of course, she had wanted to know more about Deku when he was alive but she had never expected for it to be whatever that was. What even was that? What happened in that room? What happened to Deku? She really needed to ask him all these questions when she saw him next.

"Well, he always wasn't that serious, you know?"

The sudden raspy voice made both teenagers jump to their feet and take their fighting stances at once. This man — the one who murdered Deku was too fast. They still hadn't found the fifth wonder and there was no telling how powerful he still was in this realm, hopefully not so much but the fact that he managed to find them in a maze like this was quite troubling to know.

"Oh, woah? Did I surprise you?" The light blue haired apparition smirked, "Well, I guess we do have something to get back to, right?" Uraraka observed her surroundings for anything she could use to her advantage against the apparition's next move but to her dismay, there was no such thing she could effectively use against him and so was the case with Shinsou apparently. Dammit, this is why you should always bring a knife with you.

With one swift motion, Shigaraki launched himself towards the two teenagers with full intent to attack but fortunately, his fingers never made an impact with either of then as a huge explosion shrouded his vision. The saviour of the hour jumped in front of them afterwards in the form of a personified angry pomeranian, "Can you idiots really not die for a few minutes when left alone, huh?!"

"Bakugou!"

"How unpleasant," Shigaraki retreated back to his feet, unscathed and unaffected by the loud explosion, "I should kill you first perhaps." As said, the apparition attempted to attack the ash blonde but soon found himself failing once again as black tendrils sneaked around his arms and mid-torso and yanked him back with force, stopping him effectively.

"No, I don't think you should," Uraraka snapped her head towards the direction of the other saviour of the hour who the new voice belonged to. There stood a tall bald man of a muscular built dressed in dark leather clothes along with a pair of goggles, and a bandolier. He spoke, "Sorry to break it to you, buddy but this boundary isn't really for bloodshed and stuff. The aesthetic might be like that but I don't really vibe with murderers!"

'I knew it! He's still in his goth phase!' Uraraka concluded with a twinkle of victory in her eyes. Shinsou looked at her as if she had grown another head before turning his attention back at the fifth wonder saving their asses from the mystery murderer.

Shigaraki scoffed in his bindings, despite his great strength and speed he found himself less efficient against this apparition, "And who're you supposed to be? Whatever...  This isn't as fun anymore. I hate all of you... But don't worry, I will soon come back for him..." With all that said, a dark flame engulfed him and soon after when it burned out, Shigaraki had escaped the boundary with much ease.

"What a loser," Bakugou grunted once it was clear that there was no other immediate harm to any of them.

"That I can agree with," The brunette nodded, "Although, what are you doing here, Bakugou? Weren't you supposed to be a doll?"

"He was supposed to be a what now—" Shinsou and the new apparition were equally interested in this new topic. Sadly, they were cut off by a raging ash blond,

"Utter another word and I will stab you with your own ribs." Shinsou and Uraraka decided to keep their mouths shut as it was in the best interest for them while the fifth wonder muttered something along the lines of, "I'm dead so I'll pass." Bakugou wished his quirk worked on apparitions. Life would be a lot easier that way.

"Whatever, that witch fixed me and I was sent back to the dorms but since someone can't control a fucking door, I had to get tangled into this mess." The ash blonde explained after which the fifth added, smiling, "Well, that was technically your fault, kiddo." He was ignored if you couldn't tell.

"I was looking for my way back and stumbled upon an alive Deku and him afterwards and since this is his boundary and shit I demanded to be sent back to my real room and whichever one of the nine mysteries were hiding here. What the fuck are you idiots doing here?" The ash blonde explained further after which the fifth again added, smiling, despite being ignored, "Say 'please' next time or else I'll feed you to sharks." He was ignored again.

"Oh you know, just running from Deku-san's dead murderer trying to kill us?" Uraraka stated.

Bakugou looked as if he needed the details so the brunette started explaining everything from the start. Turned out, Bakugou and Daigoro — which was the real name of the fifth wonder apparently — managed to get their hands on the second mystery as well. Then they learned of each other's interactions with Deku when he alive and the massive difference between his behaviour in those. What Shigaraki said earlier about Deku not always being so solemn held true when both instances were sat side by side. The one Bakugou met was probably an earlier memory than the one Uraraka and Shinsou just met. The question remained, what happened in between that caused the change.

Suddenly, two will-o-wisps appeared out of a puff of white smoke suddenly which dissolved away so that a certain green haired apparition could his presence known with his arms outstretched and a wide smile adorning his freckled face along with a cheery, "I am here~!"

Emerald eyes looked around and met four unamused gazes that let him know that he was pretty late to the party, "Ah? Looks like the commotion was solved before I even got here, huh? Good job though, number five! It's good to know someone isn't going out for innocent blood of my precious friends when I'm late to the scene!"

The fifth school wonder in question smirked, "You know everything that happens around campus at all times, number nine. You just got distracted midway by All Might not failing at something, didn't you?"

"How blunt! I might actually get hurt!" Deku placed one of his hands on his chest while the other's palm meet his forehead, forming a dramatic pose. "I'm small and frail. You must be careful with those words, number five!"

"Deku-san," The way his name was spoken was enough to pull Deku out of that playful mood and he turned his attention towards the brunette, "There is something I need to ask you."

"Hm~?"

A pause and then,

"What are you hiding?"

~O~

Daigoro is a goth and you can't convince me otherwise.