The next few days went by quickly, much to Shiina's happiness. Kaminari spent this duration in a hollow state though, but she never bothered to question why (she had a feeling it had something to do with what happened a few days ago). She was still sparring with Shinsou after school, and he had yet to truly beat her in any round, not that she could blame him.

Today was their final sparring session before the week ended and Shiina made absolute sure to make the most out of it.

"ARGH!" Shinsou screamed, rolling to the side to evade a vicious stomp to his head. "Seriously?! Are you crazy?!"

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. "I just got a little too into it."

"Yeah I know," he mumbled as Aizawa announced the training session over. "You've been bouncy all day. What's up with you?"

"I'm going some place special today!" She exclaimed.

"Better not be another bar." Aizawa grunted.

Shinsou still couldn't believe she was dumb enough to get drunk in the red light district and get caught by Aizawa of all people. Her luck was honestly terrible.

"It's not," she promised. "I'm going to Inaba!"

"Where?" Shinsou asked. He had never heard of the place before.

Aizawa, however, did. "Inaba? The place with the serial killings? You're not going ghost hunting are you?"

She shook her head. "No, but one of my friends will be moving back home so me and some others decided to come with him! We'll be staying there 'till Sunday!"

Aizawa paused for a moment. Inaba... Didn't the leader of the Phantom Thieves—the one he captured and the same one who was released due to all the evidence incriminating him magically 'vanishing'—previously reside in Inaba before he was relocated to Tokyo?

Nah, he was probably overthinking things. He needed a nap.

"Don't get drunk and don't take drugs," he said sternly.

"You got it, sir!" She saluted before rushing back into the school building to get out of her sweaty PE uniform.

"...Sensei...?" Shinsou spoke up.

"Hm?"

"Why do I feel like her trip to Inaba is going to totally bad?"

"'Cause it will. It's Kiberi Shiina after all."

After taking a quick shower and getting dressed into something stylish, Shiina scoured the streets of Tokyo for her friends and quickly found them gathered around the car they rented in order to fit all of them. And it just had to be a creepy white van of all things—the kind that shady men used to lure kids in with their promised 'candy'.

"Okay so who's idea was it to rent the generic 'kidnapper' white van?" Shiina asked as she met them outside the vehicle. The hood was propped up and for some odd reason, Morgana was in there fixing whatever mess had happened.

"It was mine," Akechi answered, sitting at the driver's seat since he was the only one with a license.

She scoffed playfully. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Are you calling me a kidnapper?" He asked in amusement.

"You did abduct her in front of the entirety of UA." Akira chimed in.

"Todoroki-kun was just being dramatic," the brunette mumbled.

"So any reason we're out standing here?" Shiina asked.

"The engine died out," Ryuji sighed. "Better make sure to give this car renting company a one star in the reviews, got it, 'Kechi?"

"Doing so would unleash all my fangirls on them. I don't want to completely ruin their careers." Akechi said wisely.

Ryuji crossed his arms and grumbled, "Honestly, the one time he wants to be a decent dude..."

Ann peeked her head out of the window and asked, "Hey Morgana, are you done yet?"

Morgana grunted a 'no', a screwdriver clenched between his jaw. "Why the heck am I in charge of the car again?" He whined before resuming work. It was a miracle that those walking by haven't spotted a cat doing all the engine work.

They all climbed aboard the creepy white van, the interior startlingly similar to the Morgana-mobile. Makoto and Ann at the front row with Akechi. Shiina, Akira, and Ryuji in the middle. And then Haru, Futaba, and Yusuke at the very back.

"You really, really gotta go?" Futaba pleaded, leaning forward against the front seat.

"Yeah, come on man, nobody's forcin' ya to leave, you know?" Ryuji spoke up. "Wipin' your slate clean ain't so easy, you see what I mean?" He jutted his head back and they all turned to look to see a sleek black car parked just a few meters behind them. Inside were a pair of men suited in black and watching them suspiciously.

Shiina snorted at the scene. "What dumbasses. They're really trying their hardest, huh?"

"Things must be slow these days," Yusuke commented in amusement.

"Aren't you worried that they'll question your relation to Akira-kun?" Haru asked Akechi curiously.

A devious smile crawled over his face. "Oh I'm not worried in the slightest."

"Don't mind them," Makoto smiled before turning forward. "What they think of us doesn't really matter."

"Yeah, she's right!" Ann agreed. "We can totally do whatever we wanna do."

Just then, Morgana hopped in through the opened window and settled himself comfortably on Akira's lap. "The car's fixed! Just had to borrow a plug." The mischievous tone he used didn't escape any of them.

Makoto smirked in amusement as she started the car successfully. "Nice job! On the first try!"

"Alright," Ryuji grinned. "To Inaba!"

They drove away, and Shiina glanced back at the black car that struggled to start. She snickered and looked forward.

"Idiots."

"So what's Inaba like?" Haru asked once they entered the freeway.

"Like I said, it's a small town so it's really nothing special... The only, ah, unique thing about is the serial murders. Oh but there's a hot springs in the hotel you guys are staying at." Akira added.

"Ohhhh yes!" Ryuji groaned. "A legit hot springs? I'll take that over the cramped bathhouse any time!"

"We should go try it out tonight," Makoto smiled at the thought. "I'm sure we could all use a nice relaxing hot springs to get rid of all our stress."

"Sounds like a plan!" Futaba agreed, eyes lighting up. She had never been to a hot springs before so she was excited.

Akira then turned to Shiina. "There's no mall unfortunately, but there's a central shopping district with a textile and dye store. I'm sure you'd like that."

Her face lit up with glee. "Oh definitely! It's been a while since I've designed something lately. I've been so busy..."

"Well this is our time to somewhat relax now that we've officially retired," Akechi stated, eyes focused on the road.

"When will we get to meet the 'rents?" Ryuji asked eagerly.

"Soon," Akira smiled. "I want to talk to them when we get there first. But I think you guys can come over on Saturday. That's when my goodbye party is, right?"

"Yep! And we'll make sure to buy all the supplies before hand too!" Ann beamed.

"Supplies...?"

"Food! And other party stuff, duh!" Futaba exclaimed.

"But no alcohol, of course." Makoto added sternly, and Shiina tensed up, thinking that she knew her secret, but thankfully Makoto had addressed that statement towards Ryuji instead.

"What's with that accusing look...?" The blonde glared.

"I wonder what sort of beautiful scenery I will see there. Tell me, Akira, are the skies beautiful there? They should be since there's less light pollution after all," Yusuke inquired.

"You can see the stars, if that's what you're talking about." He answered.

"Perfect!" Yusuke smiled gently. "I apologize everyone, but I will have to opt out of the shopping experience. I absolutely must create a painting of the starry skies. Perhaps I'll even gift it to you as a farewell gift, Akira."

"You make it sound like I'm leaving for good..."

"And what about me? What's my farewell gift?" Morgana frowned.

"Sea food!" Haru said cheerfully.

Morgana began to drool all over Akira's lap. "This is why you're my favorite, Beauty Thief...!"

"Hey!"

— ❤ —

After what felt like hours and hours upon driving, they had finally made it to Inaba. They first dropped Akira and Morgana off at his house, a simple two-story home, before driving to the Amagi Inn.

Akechi parked their car and they all eagerly climbed out.

"Oh finally! My ass was starting to ache back there!" Ryuji cried out in pure relief, smacking his ass a couple of times to get the feeling to return.

"People are staring, doofus!" Ann scolded under her breath.

"Oh just let them," Shiina shrugged. "He's the one looking like a weirdo, not us."

"Yes, but they'll know we're associated with him and you know how small towns work... They talk quite a lot." Makoto mused.

"I think they're more distracted with Akechi," Yusuke pointed out. They all turned to see a few girls approaching the brunette, who immediately began to brace himself.

"A-Akechi-kun! We're big fans of yours! Can we ask you something?" A brave girl said.

"...Sure." He said tightly, already knowing what the dreaded question was.

"Have you fucked a pancake before?" She asked straight away, her face devoid of any shame.

Ryuji let out a loud whoop, not bothering to hide his laughter at all. "Man am I glad we spent a whole two hours makin' that juicy lil' fanfic of him."

"I think Inari's cover art is what really sold the readers," Futaba commented, slapping a hand on the older boy's shoulder.

"Yes, it was a spectacular piece of art, wasn't it?" He said delightfully.

Haru let out a dreamy sigh. "Oh I just love it when he suffers. We should make another fanfiction of him. Perhaps with another... partner."

Shiina perked up. "He likes crepes too."

Haru smiled darkly. "Perfect."

After Akechi somehow managed to get rid of his fangirls, they went ahead into the Inn. The inside of it was in a traditional Japanese style, reminding Shiina instantly of her old 'home'. Except this place was a lot warmer and homier despite the fact that, you know, a lady was murdered in here.

It was still a helluva lot more pleasant than staying with Endeavor.

They approached the counter where a surprisingly young girl stood. She had straight black hair and sharp dark eyes. She wore a pretty pink kimono where a name tag was visible.

Manager

Amagi Yukiko

This girl's the manager? She looks about my age. Shiina thought, impressed. And hey, her surname was the name of the inn, so her parents probably owned the place too.

"Welcome to the Amagi Inn, how may I help you?" She said in a polite and formal tone. She discreetly sent a shocked glance at Akechi before schooling her expression once more.

Haru smiled back. "I'm Okumura Haru. I have a reservation here for eight rooms."

Yukiko typed away in her computer before turning to them. "All luxury suites, correct?"

"Yes, those are the ones."

Luxury suites?! Ryuji mouthed over to Shiina, who grinned in excitement. Ah the perks of being rich.

Yukiko pulled out several keys and handed them off to Haru. "Here are the keys to the rooms. They're all located on the top floor. I hope you all enjoy your stay at the Amagi Inn."

Haru smiled pleasantly. "Thank you."

They stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

"Alright, I suggest we all unpack right away so we can head over to the shopping district Akira mentioned. It's not too far from here, so we can all walk there." Makoto instructed as Haru began passing out respective card keys.

"You got it, boss!" Futaba said as she stepped out of the elevator once its doors opened.

They parted ways into the hallway, Shiina reaching her hotel room first. She walked in and locked the door behind her before turning on the lights.

"Oooh," she let out an appreciative noise. Matching with the whole traditional Japanese theme, her hotel room had tatami flooring, sliding doors, and a large futon bed that Fuyumi and Shouto always obsessed over (honestly, was it just her and Natsuo who detested those things?). On the side was a sleek flat screen TV and at the farther end of the room was a balcony window.

She snapped a picture of her bedroom and sent it to Shouto, knowing how much he loved Japanese-styled anything. She sent it to him with the nice caption saying: 'Ur missing outttt'.

Much to her disappointment, he didn't read the message. And so, she went to unpacking her things which admittedly took a lot longer than she expected it to. By the time she finished she had already received several texts from her friends less than half an hour ago.

[Ryuji: what is TAKING U SO LONGGGG]

[oh sorry i was unpacking]

[Ryuji: how much shit did you bring?! We're only staying here for two days and one night!]

[IK IK, but I had to bring back up outfits and back up shoes, and jewelry and all that jazz]

[Futaba: omg... U brought all that?!]

[Ann: I'm not surprised...😓 ]

[Well im done now so don't worry]

[where are u guys anyways??]

[Pancake Boi: Sakamoto-kun told us to ditch you so we're now at the shopping district.]

[Ryuji: HEY DON'T JUST OUT ME LIKE THAT WTF???]

[😮]

[Well then, I see how it is...]

[Haru: We're so sorry, Shiina-chan! Ryuji-kun was very insistent!]

[Makoto: He's not even helping us buy supplies though, he's just eating...]

[Yusuke: Don't fret, Shiina, I didn't ditch you.]

[Ann: Well u DID tell us beforehand that you didn't wanna come so..]

[THANK YOU YUSUKE, UR SUCH AN ANGEL]

[As for the rest of u TRAITORS, i'll head over there soon]

Grabbing her things, she exited her room and left the hotel building. Just as she stepped into the streets, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she whipped it out to see Shouto calling her.

"Helloooo~?" She sang.

"Shiina," he greeted, monotone as usual. "You're at Inaba now, right?"

"Yep, did you see the picture of my hotel room? I bet you're jealous, huh?" She grinned.

"I am..." He admitted painfully. "But that isn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh? What is it then?" She arched a brow even though he couldn't see it.

"Have you watched the news yet?" He asked randomly.

"The news? Nope, what about it?"

"Oh god..." She heard him mumble in a stressed and unbelieving manner.

"Sho-chan?"

"Adachi Tohru, the serial killer of Inaba, is being released tonight." He told her, his tone completely serious.

"Oh." She said lamely.

"'Oh'?" He repeated in a deadpanning tone. "That's all you say?"

"Well, what do you want me to do? Freak out and beg for you to get me outta here?"

"Yes, that'd be nice actually." He replied.

She snorted. "Shouto, it's just some serial killer."

"Just some—Shiina, please think this through for a moment," he stressed. "He's being released tonight because there isn't any evidence that can be found against him despite him pleading guilty. His story about TVs and whatnot are too ludicrous to follow. And his victims were all females, Shiina. Which is what you are."

"Yes, I've noticed," she said slowly, chuckling. "Sho-chan, I'll be fine. Really. If he approaches me, I'll just shoot his dick off or something. Besides, I highly doubt he can even get out of his house since everyone's gonna be hounding him and all."

He sighed in defeat. "Just... promise me you'll be careful. You're a magnet for trouble."

Well she couldn't deny that...

"I promise," she said honestly. "I'll stay nice and safe."

"Okay, good. Goodbye then." He said.

"Bye!" She sang, then they hung up. Immediately after she tucked her phone away, she heard a panicked cry of "OH SHIT!" and turned around only to get slammed by a bicycle rider. Her head collided with the pavement and she was knocked out cold.

"Oh shit," the bicycle rider whispered under her breath, quickly forcing himself off the ground. Ignoring the aches all over his body, he removed his helmet and gaped at the fallen girl sprawled on the ground. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!"

"You hit her!" Came a soft gasp.

He whirled around and let out a squeak. "N-Nanako-chan!"

"I saw you! You hit her!" She cried out accusingly, pointing at him with her little finger.

"No it wasn't like that, it was an accident! I swear!" He cried out. "Ah man, what am I gonna do?!"

"Her head's bleeding..." Nanako said, biting her lip worriedly. "Dad says when that happens, we have to take her to the hospital."

The boy paled at the imaginary bills his parents would whoop his ass for and shook his head wildly. "No we can't do that!"

"Why not?" She asked.

"We, uh, just can't!"

"Then... we can take her to my house? It's not far and we have a first aid kit." The girl suggested.

He thought of it for a brief second before nodding in agreement. "Great idea! Let's go!"

— ❤ —

"I think the bleeding stopped...!" Came a soft and childlike voice.

"Oh good," there was a relieved sigh that came from a male.

"Ugh..." Shiina groaned out loud. The pounding in her head was almost as worse as the hangover. But she'd take the concussion over Akihiko's dreaded Hangover Cure of Doom any day.

There was a small gasp. "Oh, Hanamura-san, look, she's waking up!"

Shiina dared to crack her eyes open. The ceiling lights blinded her but she blinked the flashes away until her vision cleared up. She was laying down on the floor... with two people hovering over her. One was a little girl whose brown hair was tied up into cute little pigtails. On the other side was a teenage boy with messy brown hair and eyes. They looked somewhat alike... Were they siblings?

Before she could ask what was going on, she heard the sound of a door opening and a rough voice call out, "Nanako, I'm home. I got off early and brought us some—takeout..." Shiina slowly craned her neck to see who it was and saw a tall, tired looking man standing at the front door. He was staring at them blankly before his expression twisted into annoyance.

"Hanamura Yosuke," he growled and the teenage boy let out a small squeak. "What the heck did you do?"

"Wha—?! Why do you always gotta go blaming me first?!" The poor kid spluttered.

"It was all him, dad!" The little girl, Nanako, cried out as she tenderly placed a rag on the bloody wound at the side of Shiina's head. "I saw him! He hit her with his bike and her head got hurt!"

"Nanako-chan, whose side are you on?!" Yosuke hissed.

"And instead of taking her to a hospital to get her some professional care, you decide to take her to my house," the man glared at Yosuke. "Honestly kid, first my nephew with the swords and now you're dragging my daughter into your crimes..."

"It wasn't a crime!" Yosuke exclaimed.

"I could sue you..." Shiina grumbled.

The man nodded. "Yeah, she really can."

"Dojima-san, please!" He begged.

The clearly overworked man heaved a sigh. "Alright, lemme see the damage..." After slipping off his shoes, he set his takeout meals to the side and knelt beside Nanako and Yosuke to closely inspect the unfortunate girl.

"Think you can sit up?" He asked her.

"Yep..." She muttered, forcing herself into an upright position.

"Do you know your name?"

"Kiberi Shiina," she answered.

Nanako suddenly gasped. "Oh wait, I know you! I saw you on TV you're—" don't say dead girl, don't say dead girl, Shiina mentally begged. "—the pretty girl from the UA Sports Festival!"

She almost sighed in relief and allowed a smile to lift up her lips. "Yeah, that's me."

The truth of her identity seemed to jar Yosuke, who was gaping at her like an idiot. Oddly enough, he said nothing and continued to stare at her as if trying to figure her out. She ignored him and focused more on the questions Dojima was firing at her.

"Whose the Prime Minister?" He asked.

"Not that baldy, that's for sure." She quipped.

He snorted. "Yep, she's fine. Her eyes aren't dilated either, meaning no concussion. Just a nasty bump on the head courtesy to Hanamura."

The mention of his name seemed to snap the boy out of his inquisitive state. "I'm sorry!" He wailed at her. "Please don't sue me, I really didn't mean to hit you!"

"Chill, I was just joking about that," she told him, reaching up to delicately touch the wound on her head. She didn't feel anything wet at least, and thankfully her hair was red so it'd cover up any dried blood stains.

"Oh thank god," he mumbled under his breath, his shoulders slumping.

"Excuse me," said a girlish voice. "Are you from here?" Nanako asked curiously. "Or is UA having an event here?"

She chuckled. "Sorry, but no. Me and a couple of friends only came here to, um, drop someone off from Tokyo."

Nanako perked up. "You guys are from Tokyo? My nii-chan lives there too!"

Shiina smiled at her, sensing the same sisterly adoration she shared for her own brothers.

"Tokyo...?" Dojima muttered, getting lost in thought.

Yosuke, however, seemed to realize what he was thinking. "Are you talking about Kurusu Akira? He's here already?"

"You know him?" Shiina rose a brow. Akira never mentioned much about his old life before coming to Tokyo. She wondered if he and Yosuke were close.

"I know of him..." He trailed off. "There were some rumors about him when he was sent away for his probation. Man, to think he was framed the entire time. The whole town probably see themselves as clowns now, heh."

"You sound like you're excluding yourself there," she pointed out. "Are you saying you never believed those rumors?"

"I know better than to trust rumors," he said wryly.

She smiled at him. "Good. I'm glad there's someone here that has some sense."

"Jeez," Dojima sighed heavily once more. "So if that kid's here then that means there's two ex-criminals back in Inaba on the same day... What a coincidence."

"To be fair, Adachi never left Inaba," Yosuke said smartly, but Shiina noticed that she said supposedly innocent man's name with some level of familiarity... and resentment.

"Adachi-san's a good guy now?" Nanako asked innocently.

Dojima's eyes darkened. "I don't know."

There was a tense silence after that. Even Yosuke's eyes turned dark. Nanako looked between them and fidgeted in place nervously. Shiina decided to speak up. "So, um, thanks for taking care of me, you three. I'll um..."

Dojima waved a hand. "No need to thank us. It was all Hanamura's fault anyways. Were you doing something important before he... ran you over, basically?"

"I was supposed to go to the shopping district..." Ah, shit. She wondered how much time had passed already.

"I can take you there, since you're new and all." Yosuke offered. "Besides, I feel like I should do something for you since I... well, you know."

She nodded in acceptance since she probably needed the help anyways. Plus, she didn't know how far she was from the hotel either. She just hoped her friends would still be in the shopping district to help her back.

He walked her over to the shopping district with his bike being wheeled beside him. The shopping district was, as Akira described, unfortunately very small. But that was okay since she was more interested in the textile and dye shop he spoke about.

"By the way, um, Kiberi-san? You're uh, I mean, so what's your Quirk?" Yosuke asked in the most awkward manner possible.

Fortunately for him, he received an equally as awkward answer. "My wha—o-oh, my Quirk? It's, uh, called, um, Persona."

Yosuke must've tripped on a rather large rock because he suddenly went falling down and landed splat on his face. Even worse, his bike landed right over him.

"Karma, I guess." Shiina said dismissively as she pulled the bike off of him and helped him up. "Oh, your nose is blee—"

"—It's called Persona?!" He interrupted, gawking at her with wide eyes. "Your Quirk is called Persona?!"

"Uh, yes?" She replied, puzzled by his reaction. "Dude are you okay, 'cause your nose looks broken."

"Oh no, it's fine!" He shouted at her in panic, smacking a hand over his nose to cover up only to squeal in pain. "I'm fine, I'm fine!" He said in a nasally tone as he backed away from her. "I'm fine, thanks for asking! I, uh, gotta get to work now, have a nice day, bye!" He rambled on before sprinting away, dragging his bike with him.

"...What a weird guy..." She commented once he was finally gone.

Shrugging to herself, she continued walking down the small district in search of the desired shop.

Meanwhile, just a few stores away, Tatsumi Kanji was sewing up an adorable doll while on watch behind the counter. He didn't bother to look up when he heard the bell chime to indicate that a customer had entered, too immersed in his own work.

When he accidentally pricked his finger—ouch—he scowled and looked up for the little napkin he had set on the counter. As he reached out to grab it, he caught sight of the latest customer that stood behind a rack of linens. He couldn't see who it was, just the top of their head. The person's hair was a vibrant shade of red, just like—

Wait a second. That shade of red hair was just like—!

"MINAZUKI! I GOT YOU NOW, YOU BASTARD!" He screamed, running around the corner and tackling the psychopath down.

He heard a girlish yelp but it didn't register in his head until he was fully on top of him, fist pulled back to give the piece of shit a good pummeling. Only to freeze when he realized that the customer was, in fact, not Minazuki Sho and was actually a girl who just had the misfortune of sharing the guy's hair color.

He felt his soul leave his body.

"What—the—FUCK?!" Shiina snarled, shoving the guy off of her and giving him a good few whacks with her Serpenti Bulgari handbag. "What's your problem, jackass?! You just lost yourself a good customer, I'm never coming here again!"

"A-a-ah, wait, I'm sorry!" Kanji tried to say, but she was already storming away.

"AAAAAAAARGH! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!" She shrieked as she slammed the store's door shut behind. First she got ran over by Yosuke, then she got football tackled by some punk-ass bitch?!

Some retirement, honestly.

"Shiina, what the hell are you screaming about?" She whipped around when she heard Ryuji's voice. His eyes flew open when he saw her fuming expression and began to regard her warily. "Uh... you okay there? You're not on your period, are you?"

"Shut up! No I'm not, and I'm just having shitty day okay?! Guys keep throwing themselves at me! I get that I'm a dude-magnet, but this is too much! Even for me!" She threw her arms up in the air to emphasize her frustration.

"The hell happened to you?" He asked.

"Terrible things," she mumbled, falling into an even pace with him as they walked together.

"Did you at least get to that textile shop Akira talked about?" He asked.

She gave him a hard look. "Yes, but I don't wanna talk about it."

"R-right. So where've you been anyways? It's been two hours and you didn't text us once." He scowled at her.

"Knocked out," she answered simply. "But it's a long story and I don't wanna talk about that either. Did you guys get the party stuff?"

"Dunno," he shrugged. "I saw a ramen shop so I just dipped. I'm pretty sure Makoto got everything anyways, you know how she is."

"Good," she sighed heavily. "'Cause right now I just wanna go back to the hotel and take a nice, relaxing dip in the hot springs."

"Yeah same here..." A Cheshire grin suddenly crawled over his face. "Hey, think they'll let all genders share?"

She scrunched her nose up. "Pervert. Don't think I don't remember the Pool Incident."

His face reddened and he stammered a poor excuse of a comeback.

— ❤ —

"This is nice..." Haru smiled to herself as she stepped into the hot springs where the other girls were.

"Yeah..." Makoto agreed, already leaning against the side of the pool.

"Definitely beats the bathhouse." Ann said.

"This is just what I need," Shiina said pleasantly as she gently poured some hot water over her head in order to get rid of the dried blood stuck to her hair.

"You know what we should do?" Futaba suddenly spoke up. "We should plan for our summer break!"

"I say we vacation out of the country!" Ann chimed in eagerly.

"Italy! Or France! The best fashion brands originated there!" Shiina said dreamily.

"Paris would be nice," Haru sighed pleasantly before her expression turned sad. "Father and I have been there before, but I never had the chance to see the Eiffel Tower."

"We can go to Paris and more," Makoto stated. "Summer vacation is six weeks long. That's enough time to visit a couple of countries."

"Four weeks for me," Shiina grumbled.

"What do you mean?" Makoto asked.

"Apparently my class has to go to some stupid summer training camp thing for the last two weeks, so my vacation's cut down to four weeks." She explained gloomily.

"That's still okay!" Futaba assured. "Four weeks is still more than enough!"

"What countries should we visit? I wanna try America again, maybe San Francisco this time?" Haru pondered.

"We should visit America, France, Italy, Belgium 'cause I heard they had good chocolates there, and oooh, India too! I want to try genuine Indian cuisine!" Ann drooled at the prospect of more food.

"Oh man, we're really gonna do this?!" Futaba said, visibly giddy with excitement. "I'm so glad I donated money to you guys from Endeavor's bank account. We'd never be able to do this without his help after all~"

Shiina dipped her head back and laughed. "The one time he's useful."

"It's settled everyone," Makoto grinned. "For our summer vacation, we'll be touring the countries. Now we just need to tell the guys—"

The door to the hot springs suddenly slid open and out came the aforementioned guys.

"I'm positive that the sign is wrong," came Yusuke's distressed voice. "Just this morning I saw it read that this side was for women's only!"

"Are you suggesting that someone was immature enough to switch the signs just for a good laugh?" Akechi asked dryly.

"Possibly. Perhaps we should go to the lobby just to make su—Oh no..."

Yusuke froze and so did the other boys behind him. Ryuji opened his mouth to complain about the holdup only to realize what was wrong.

"It was Ryuji's fault," Akira immediately blurted out. "He told us to come here!"

"Dude!" Ryuji spluttered.

"GET OUT!" Ann shrieked, throwing a slipper at them.

"And just when we were thinking of having you travel around the world with us!" Haru cried out, feeling betrayed.

"Around the world?" Akechi asked, intrigued.

Shiina threw a bucket at his face. "Screw off, you're no longer invited!"

"PERVERTS!" Futaba screamed at the top of her lungs.

"We're sorry!" Yusuke said desperately.

"OUT!" Makoto barked, summoning her gun and taking aim. The men let out high-pitched screams as they scurried away, clutching their towels tightly. They finally left, the door slamming behind them.

"Men," Ann said in disgust.

The other girls nodded in agreement.

— ❤ —

After that spectacularly disastrous hot springs event, the girls retired to their respective hotel rooms once they were fully relaxed enough. Shiina's skin was flushed, but soft to the touch by the end of it, and still the same way even after she got dressed for sleep. She sent her siblings a good-night text and repeated reassurances that no, she didn't run into the recently freed serial killer (Fuyumi insisted for it, to know that she was safe and all) and slipped into bed.

But of course, of fucking course, her peaceful sleep was interrupted around midnight yet again. Dreading that it was Elizabeth with another half-dead body to deliver her, Shiina got up and rubbed her eyes. Before she could turn on the lights, she realized that what woke her up was actually the TV... which had turned itself on even though the remote was nowhere near her.

What the hell...? She wondered, brows furrowed. She started for the remote only to freeze when a weird voice spoke from the television.

"Helloooooo, ladies and gentleman!" She whipped her head towards the screen, only to see static. Was the voice really coming from there? Who was speaking?

"The countdown for the Apocalypse has begun!" The voice exclaimed in a cheery tone, despite the dark words. For some reason, it made a shiver roll down her spine. "The trumpets are almost ready! Who will be our Lord's first victim?!"

Suddenly Shiina heard the sound of a wheel being turned. It was unbelievably loud and frightening, making her press her hands against her ears as she looked wildly around for the source.

"Iiiiiiiit's...! Daddy's Little Monster!" The voice announced, before breaking out into a maddening laugh. The screen suddenly shifted away from static, and Shiina felt the air get sucked out of her lungs.

"I-is that me?" She whispered shakily, eyes growing wide.

She was on the screen.

Wherever she was at could only be described as hell. There were dark rocks and flames and lava everywhere. The amount of fiery colors she saw was blinding. And in the center of it all was a large cage where her other self was trapped, bleeding and burnt all over. There was a crazed look on her face as she desperately tried to break out to no avail. She'd recoil from every hit, and there would be vicious red welts on her skin as if the cage was too hot to touch.

Shiina's eyes trailed down.

Under the cage was nothing but a pit of flames.

"W... what is this...?!"

Suddenly, the chains holding the cage up were released, and Shiina watched as her other self fell into the fire.

"No!" She shouted, darting forward only to get knocked back as a body came hurling out of the TV and landed on top of her.

She groaned aloud only to snap her eyes open in alarm. Who was this now—?! She looked up at her attacker and saw grey eyes staring back at her in equal shock, silver locks falling around his face.

"Wait, you're from the TV..." He whispered, now looking just as lost as her.

She opened her mouth to interrogate him only to pause when she realized that something was grabbing her boobs hard. She looked down and saw a pair of hands that most definitely didn't belong to her.

As if things couldn't get any worse, the door to her room suddenly burst open and the hotel manager came running in with a terrified look on her face. She hurriedly turned the lights on.

"Kiberi-san—" Yukiko froze as she took in the scene, her face turning scarlet. "Narukami! What are you doing to her?!"

"Narukami?" Shiina blinked, completely forgetting about the hands on her chest as she looked back up at the boy in recognition. "You're the tarot card crusher!"

— BONUS! —

Akira waited for the white van to drive away before turning towards his front door.

"Do you think they'll be happy to see you?" Morgana asked anxiously. He had asked about his parents before during their first months together, but Akira's answers would always be vague or just a plain 'I don't know', so he stopped asking. He hadn't even seen him receive a single phone call, or a text message—and he would know since he was basically with him 24/7.

"I honestly don't know." Akira replied quietly, staring hard at the door. "My dad believed that I assaulted Shido, and we didn't speak a word to each other before I left for Tokyo. As for my mom... she didn't speak much. I don't know whether she believed me or not, but she did wish me goodbye and she used to text me during my first few days before stopping altogether. Though that could partially be my fault since I didn't feel like speaking to her. I was too... angry."

Morgana nodded, "That's understandable. But... I think at least she would welcome you back with open arms."

There was a small smile on his face. "Yeah... She was the one who contacted me after the whole debacle with Shido was cleared off. She apologized and told me that she wanted me home."

"And your dad?" Morgana asked unsurely.

Akira just shrugged.

Morgana frowned. "How do you think they'll react when you tell them...?" He trailed off.

"I don't know..." He said, before falling silent. He took a deep breath. "Guess we'll find out." Then he reached out and knocked on the door.

There was a few seconds of pause before the door swung open. He saw half of his mother's face stick out from the door, her eye wide with surprise. The door opened fully and Kurusu Himari was ushering her son inside.

"You're back!" She said, and Akira could detect genuine joy in her eyes. "Welcome home! Here, let me take your things! Sit down, Akira. Wow, you've really grown back there, haven't you? All that city food must've been good for you."

Akira smiled slightly at her, allowing her to take his things before taking a seat on the couch. Morgana hopped out of his bag and relaxed on his lap.

"Is that... a cat?" Himari frowned. "Oh, Akira, I hope you don't plan on keeping it. Your father will break out if he touches that thing..."

"I am not a thing," Morgana mumbled petulantly.

"He won't have to worry about it." Akira replied, running a hand through the irritated feline's fur. "Where is dad, anyways?"

"He's upstairs, let me go get him." Himari disappeared up the stairs for a bit before she returned, frowning deeply. Behind her was an older man who shared Akira's curly black hair and poor eyesight, Kurusu Yuudai.

"Son," he greeted blandly before his eyes caught Morgana. He scowled. "Get it out of the house, please. Have you forgotten that I'm allergic?"

"You'll only get a reaction if you touch him, and Morgana won't go near you, I promise." Akira stated, feeling a little bitter about his father's pathetic greeting.

Yuudai let out a hum of disapproval, but didn't say anything else against Morgana. "Now about... about your trail..."

"Yuudai," Himari protested.

He raised a hand and her complaints stopped short. "I'm sorry for not believing you, Akira."

Akira nodded. "It's fine, dad. I understand."

"But you shouldn't have stepped in."

What?

"Huh?!" Morgana blinked in confusion, wondering if he heard right.

"I... what?" Akira said, flabbergasted.

Yuudai sighed and rubbed his temples. "You shouldn't have stepped in and helped that woman. How many times have I told you? If it's none of your business, don't make it your business. All of this could've been avoided had you not gotten yourself involved. And that whole Phantom Thief fiasco? Where you were mistaken as the leader? How did you even get roped into that? Those heroes, grabbing the wrong guy—"

"—Hold on," Akira cut in, his head buzzing. "Are you... are you kidding me?"

Himari sighed. "Akira—"

"—Not right now mom," he said, trying his best to stay calm while holding back a glare directed at his dad. "A woman was being assaulted by a man, and you're here telling me that I should've just... let it happen?"

Yuudai face grew tired as he tried to reason with his son. "While his actions were disgusting, he was a powerful man—"

"—He didn't know that at the time!" Morgana cried out, but all his parents heard were angry mews.

"I didn't know that at the time," Akira repeated Morgana's words.

"And that's exactly the problem, Akira. You should never get yourself involved in such things because you never know who you'll be dealing with!" Yuudai lectured. "You need to stop playing hero!"

Akira shook his head. "Your way of thinking is just terrible, dad."

"Akira—"

"—Don't help those that are being stomped on because you might be stomped on too? I'm sorry for not being the coward you wanted me to be, but I'm sick of standing by and watching people get hurt." He glared at him. "I'm done with that kind of life, and I'm done with this town."

"What do you mean by that?" Himari asked immediately, her words hasty. "Akira, what are you saying?"

He gave her an apologetic look, while his mother had the tendency to follow his dad's every word and whims, she was still a good and caring mother to him. "I'm sorry mom, but I'm not going to live here anymore. I'm going back to Tokyo."

Yuudai went slack-jawed while Himari's eyes started to brim with unshed tears. "Back to... Oh no, no, Akira, is this about what your father said? He didn't mean it, tell him Yuudai, tell him you're sorry!"

This was the first time Akira had ever seen his mother order something from their father, but he was too sad to act surprised.

"This has nothing to do with dad, or you, mom," he assured them. "I've actually been thinking about this for months now. I've dreaded coming back here."

"But why?" She asked. "Is it because of all those rumors? Those are in the past now, Akira, they know they were wrong!"

Akira shook his head. "You don't get it mom... Everyone was so quick to believe those lies, even you dad." Yuudai clenched his jaw shut. "The few friends I had here never bothered to contact me because their parents wanted to 'save face', my old teachers turned their noses up whenever I walked by, hell, I even saw the neighbors watching me as I left the car just now!"

"They won't do that anymore, son," Yuudai said gently. "They know they've done wrong. I know your friends regret what they've—"

"—I don't care." Akira said curtly. "My friends should've known better to believe all those lies and if they actually cared about me they would've contacted me instead of listening to their goddamn parents because they wanted to 'save face'. If they showed up now with some sort of apology, I would've happily slammed the door on their faces. Don't you get it? I don't want to stay in a town where people are so fake and judgmental. I don't want to deal with all their nasty looks because they thought I was a criminal, then deal with their fake apologies and words of sympathy once they realize I was actually innocent. I don't want to stay here."

"And you're saying you weren't facing the same treatment back in Tokyo?" Yuudai questioned with a raised brow.

"Oh I did," thanks to a certain abusive volleyball coach. "But I made friends that have my back. And I trust them—with my life, even."

Yuudai shook his head. "Akira, they're just gonna turn your backs to you too—"

"—Not them. Never them." He said firmly, voice laced with conviction.

"That's right! We always have your back!" Morgana exclaimed happily. Akira sent him a brief, appreciative smile.

Yuudai looked unconvinced, but Himari spoke up, desperate to have her son stay. "Akira, where are you going to live? Where are you going to go to school?"

"Sojiro's, of course. We already talked it over too," Akira smiled. "And even if he said 'no', I still have a lot of people who would be happy to have me with them. And as for my schooling, Kawakami pulled some strings for me and allowed me to stay in Shujin for the rest of the year and my third year too."

Her jaw dropped. "How—how did she—?"

"And after that?" Yuudai asked.

"College of course, and there's tons of them in Tokyo." He answered simply.

"...You won't take 'no' for an answer, will you...?" Himari asked hopelessly.

Akira shook his head in reply. While he had been worried of their reactions, he always knew that he would win in the end. He was very persuasive after all. He looked over at their expressions and sighed. His mother looked ready to cry again while his dad was clenching his jaw so hard it was a surprise he hasn't snapped it yet.

"I'm not doing this to get away from you, okay? I understand that this is a selfish decision, but—" he trailed off at the sight of his dad shaking his head.

"No, I get it." He said in a heavy tone. "And you're not being selfish at all... It would be selfish of us to keep you here when you're clearly goddamn miserable in this town... Plus, you do have better opportunities in Tokyo..."

It was shocking that his dad was agreeing with him about this when he was so angry with him about being sent away in the first place.

"So you're... you're okay with this?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yuudai..." Himari whispered, pleading with her eyes.

"Himari please, we can't force him to stay here," Yuudai reasoned with her. "This town... it's no good for him."

"I'm sorry, mom." Akira said.

"Just..." Himari sighed in utter defeat. "Please just make sure to see us sometimes. Don't shut us out, alright?"

"I won't." He promised.

She smiled weakly. "Thank you... Now about your friends, you said they'll come over to visit us, correct?"

He nodded.

"That's good. I'd like to meet them. I want to know that you'll be in good hands."

Akira let out a breath of relief. "...Thank you, mom. And you'll love them. I know you will."

When he retired to his old bedroom, Morgana finally spoke.

"I was scared that they'd say no," he admitted. "I'm glad that conversation went well."

"Same here," Akira said before collapsing on his bed.

He had been worried about an argument happening between them. Well, there was a minor one but it was mostly between him and his dad about the whole Shido issue. Thankfully, there were no raised voices when he brought up leaving for Tokyo.

He allowed himself a brief rest in his room, noting how there wasn't any dust in sight. His mom most likely cleaned it all up for him before he arrived.

He went back downstairs to help his parents prepare for dinner, wanting to spend as much time with them as possible before he had to go. It was nice and normal for once, and he really needed some normalcy in his life after everything that had happened. Dinner was livelier too, his parents were curious about his friends and even though he told them that they'd be coming tomorrow, he still talked about them in great detail.

"You've been talking about this Shiina girl a lot," Himari said before he could continue on about how cool Shiina looked during the UA Sports Festival. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Yuudai rose a brow. "You're finally dating someone, huh?"

"What—no," he spluttered, stealing glances at his dish before forcing himself to look back at his parents. Avoiding their eyes was a sure sign that he was lying, but he was pretty sure the pink cheeks was a good giveaway too. "I was just talking about the Sports Festival."

"Alright, dear." Himari said with a knowing twinkle in his eye.

Morgana snickered at him, fish guts all over his furry face.

"I've seen her on TV," Yuudai commented. "Tough kid. Pity she lost against that boy... what was his name again?"

"Todoroki Shouto," Himari said automatically, and Akira gave her a weird look.

"Is she the reason you've been getting some muscle lately?" Yuudai asked curiously. "Have you been training with her?"

"Wha—She's been training with me," he corrected.

He snorted. "Okay, son."

"Remember when you went with her and Ryuji to the gym?" Morgana chimed. "And you tried to impress her by running faster than Skull, but you fell off the treadmill instead?"

"Shut up, Morgana." He snapped.

"Akira?" His parents stared at him weirdly.

Morgana stuck his tongue out. "They can't understand me, dummy, so you're just making yourself look crazy! Man... You and Shiina really are perfect together."

Akira sank in his chair, blushing profusely.

That night he was allowed to stay up later than usual (thank god) since Morgana understood that he wanted to spend some more time with his parents. He retired to bed around eleven o'clock already decked out in his pajamas. He was exhausted so he fell asleep quite easily.

...Only to get awaken by a pair of paws.

What the hell, he thought, wanting to bury himself under the covers. Morgana always went crazy when it came to his sleeping schedule, so why was he messing with it now?

"Joker, get up!" Morgana was screaming. "It's Shiina!"

That woke him up instantly. He scrambled upwards, grabbing for his glasses.

"W-what—"

"—Hurry!" Morgana hissed, jumping off the bed and dashing out the door. Akira followed after him hastily, practically throwing himself down the stairs and stopped at the living room where Morgana was staring at the TV—

The TV?! Now wasn't the time for a TV show—

But then he saw who was on the screen.

"Shiina?!" He whispered out loud. She was trapped in some cage with a pit of flames right under her. What was this?! Wasn't she supposed to be safe at the hotel?!

"I heard a voice," Morgana spoke in rapid breaths. "They said that there was going to be an apocalypse and she'd be the first victim—"

"—What are you talking about?!" He demanded, but then a terrified shriek caught their attention. They whipped their heads towards the screen and Akira's scream felt stuck in the back of his throat.

The cage was falling.

— author's note —

Shouto: Stay safe.
Shiina: I will! :3
* gets ran over by Yosuke *
* gets tackled by Kanji *
* gets a threatening TV message depicting her going to hell *
* gets groped by Yu *
Shouto, in tears:
щ( ಥДಥ щ)
WHYYYYYY?!?!?!
ALSO! I published two new stories just now! Both are crossovers haha. One is a Harry Potter/Percy Jackson story and the other's a BNHA/Naruto fic. Please check them out!!