Chapter Text
Kirishima opens his eyes.
The sky outside of his window is very blue.
It’s morning. He’s in his apartment and the sky is very blue.
He decides to walk to the agency.
The walk is short and he doesn’t pay much attention to the people walking past.
The sky above is so blue.
Everybody is smiling.
The sun is so bright. It’s almost blinding.
“We are experiencing many days of good weather, eh?” A man on the street says to him.
Kirishima smiles. “Yeah.”
“If we are lucky, we’ll have more!” Says the man.
Kirishima agrees and turns to walk into his agency.
Everyone is waiting for him.
“You’re the best!” Says Jirou. Her smile is so wide, wider than he’s ever seen it.
“We’d be lost without you!” Says Kaminari. He’s wearing the face he usually wears when he discharged too much electricity too fast, but his voice is still clear.
“Thanks you guys.” Kirishima pats them both on the shoulders.
They smile at him, wide and wider.
He tells his heroes what to do and they all listen.
“Of course, Kirishima!” They all says. “Whatever you want!”
“We are here to help!” Says Uraraka, smiling.
“We have many things to do together.” Says Asui, smiling.
“We are all with you!” Says Tokoyami, smiling.
“Is there any more you need for us to do?” Says Hatsume, smiling.
Kirishima sits at his desk. He looks at the computer. The screen is bright. So bright. It’s almost...blinding...he can’t…
“Kirishima!”
Kirishima looks away from the screen and the brightness goes away.
“Oh, hey!” Bakugou is standing there, dressed in casual clothes with his hands jammed in his pockets. “What’s up, Bakugou?”
There’s blood on Bakugou’s face.
Wait, no. Of course there isn’t.
“Let’s go get lunch.” Says Bakugou.
“Yeah, sure.” Kirishima says. “Let’s go.”
They walk down the streets to the restaurant.
They eat on the patio even though no one else is there.
People are walking past and Kirishima can’t make out their faces clearly.
The sky is clear and very blue.
The food is good. Bakugou makes him laugh a few times. The sky is very blue. The shadows don’t move even though time passes.
“We are waiting for many more people to come.” The waiter tells them. “We are sure that more will once they see the weather.”
Kirishima nods. The sky is very blue.
There’s something in his ear. Is it...a sound? Is it…
Bakugou is saying something, but he can’t make it out.
“Hang on.” He raises a hand to Bakugou. “I can’t hear you.”
Bakugou’s lips keep moving, but there’s something drowning it out, something...something…
“What is that?” Kirishima sits up and looks around and…
The streets are still bright, but no one is there. The city is empty. The city is silent.
Kirishima watches as a lone piece of trash blows across the intersection. The lights are flashing...red, yellow, green. Red, yellow, green. Red, yellow, green.
The sky isn’t blue anymore.
“Wait, I don’t…”
“Kirishima.”
Kirishima focuses back on Bakugou and suddenly everything is normal again. People are walking past, chattering and laughing and everything is fine.
“Ahaha, sorry.” He laughs. “I think I spaced out for a minute!”
Bakugou rolls his eyes and they finish lunch. The food is good. Bakugou makes him laugh a few times. The sky is very blue. The shadows don’t move even though time passes.
Kirishima accidentally knocks his glass off of the table and when it shatters everything else goes quiet. The noise, louder than a gunshot, makes the world pause for a minute before everything starts back up again.
“Dumbass.” Bakugou says fondly. “You’re so fucking stupid.”
“Ah...hah…” Kirishima blinks and sits up. “Wait...have you...said that before?”
“Ah?” Bakugou glowers at him. “I don’t know.”
“No, you did...I can remember it.” Kirishima puts a palm against his forehead. “Yeah, I know you did. But we were...we were…”
“We are right here you fucking idiot. Look, I don’t remember many of the things I said.” Bakugou grabs his wrist and Kirishima looks at him. His eyes look...strange. “We are together and having lunch. What more could you want?”
He’s right.
The food is good. Bakugou makes him laugh a few times. The sky is very blue. The shadows don’t move even though time passes.
Everything is normal.
They walk home after lunch.
A few blocks from the apartment, a black shape appears in their path.
Kirishim steps back. Is this...a villain?
It must be.
But it looks...it looks…
“Kirishima!” The black shape wails something, something that might be his name. “Wake up! You’ve got to wake up!”
“Kirishima!” Bakugou snaps.
Kirishima away from the black shape and back to Bakugou.
“Fucking waste it!”
“None of this is reall!” The shape shrieks, but Kirishima hits it with two perfect, uninjured hands and it disappears like smoke.
“Nice.” Bakugou grins at him and they continue to walk down the full empty streets
The sky is so blue.
When they walk up to the apartment, Jirou is waiting for them.
There is blood on her face.
Kirishima blinks.
It doesn’t go away.
“What are you doing?” Says Bakugou and his voice doesn’t sound like his. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you.” Jirou says something, but Kirishima can’t make it out. She isn’t smiling.
“You are not welcome here.” Bakugou says. “We are many. We are more. We will drive you out.”
“Kirishima, you need to wake up!” Jirou is saying something else, but Kirishima can’t tell what the words are.
“Get out!” Bakugou snarls.
“Wait…” Says Kirishima.
“This isn’t real!” Jirou yells, but Kirishima still can’t understand it.
Bakugou takes one step forward, then two. And then, he puts a hand on either side of Jirou’s head.
“Wake up!” Jirou yells. “Wake up!”
Kirishima can almost hear her words.
But then Bakugou’s hands explode.
And Jirou falls to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.
For a moment, Kirishima is in the empty square. The lights flicker red, yellow, green.
And then, the apartment is back.
“You can’t be real.” Kirishima says out loud, realizes. “You wouldn’t kill her. You’re a hero.”
“She was wrong, Kirishima. We are still going to do so many things together.” Bakugou says and he has on a simpering love-struck face that Kirishima doesn’t know. “She tried to get between us! We are more important than her!”
“She’s not wrong.” Kirishima says. “You are.”
“I’m sorry.” Says Bakugou.
“For what?” Kirishima says.
“For this.” Bakugou says and shoves a hand through Kirishima’s chest.
~~~~
“KIRISHIMA!” He finally hears the screaming that’s been echoing in his ears this whole time” WAKE UP!”
And so he does.
~~~~
Kirishima opens his eyes.
“What the fuck,” Jirou yells, “Is wrong with you?”
“Ah, fuck.” Kirishima groans. His head is throbbing and there’s a bright light pointed right at his face. “Turn that light off.”
“Can I, Jirou?” Asui croaks.
“Yeah,” Jirou huffs. “He’s out. You can turn it off.”
The blinding light fades and Kirishima groans again. Everything hurts.
“Why the fuck,” Jirou says, “Did you and Denki go off alone like a couple of absolute fucking morons?”
“Uh, sorry?”
“No, I’m not done!” She hits him upside the head and he lets out out a yelp. His head hurts. Like, a lot. “You two fucks ran off and not only did you get captured, you got fucking brainwashed!” She hits him again. “What the fuck?”
“Wait…” Kirishima shakes his head, trying to remember what exactly happened before that creepy dream thing. “Kaminari!” He says, trying to sit up. “He was…”
“I’m fine.” Kirishima looks over to see Kaminari sitting on the floor, holding his jacket up to his temple. Blood is dripping from under it slowly. “Sorry for, uh, you know.”
“What happened, man?” Kirishima asks.
“Yeah, I’d like to fucking know that too.”
“Bakugou!” Kirishima turns to see Bakugou slouching against the wall on his other side. His eyes are narrowed and his shoulders are slumped. He looks exhausted. Kirishima can’t blame him. He’s feeling kinda like he’s about to pass out too.
“Hey.” Bakugou grunts to Kirishima. “Glad you’re okay. But,” He glowers at Kaminari. “What the fuck, you shithead? You fucking electrocuted us!”
“It wasn’t on purpose!” Kaminari says, waving his hands. “Like, I was looking down the hall to see if there was anybody there and then...everything got kinda dark for a minute. And then I was in this weird dream thing and I don’t know what was even happening with that.”
“Fuckers brainwashed you.” Bakugou says. “They did it to me a couple of times...they’ve got some bitch the call the Lady who does it...I’m gonna fuck her up.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Says Kaminari.
Jirou is still frowning. “You all came out of it easier than I thought you would.” She puts her hands on her hips. “It didn’t take all that much.”
“You kicked me in the head!” Kaminari protests. “Repeatedly!”
“Like I said.” She says, “Easy. We tried everything we could with those mumbling villains who attacked and we couldn’t get them out. But with you three…” She tilts her head to the side. “We got all three of you in, just, twenty minutes or so.”
“What the fuck are you saying?” Bakugou spits. He looks horrible in the blue light. The bruises on his face seem even darker.
“I don’t know yet.” Jirou says. “But this all seems way too easy.”
“Fuck that.” Kaminari snorts. “These whole, like, three months have been terrible. I’ll take easy where I can get it.”
“As your girlfriend, that makes me feel very good about myself.”
“You know what I mean!”
“Mmm…” Jirou turns around to face something that’s emitting watery light. “I just think all of this, Asui, Uraraka and me finding you three lying in the hallway and now us finding the heroes, seems like too much of a coincidence.”
“Wait...the heroes?” Kirishima repeats, still blinking the last bits of his not-dream out of his eyes.
“Turn around.” Kaminari says.
Kirishima turns. There are tanks, glowing with faint blue-grey light, running all the way out of sight along the far wall and inside of them are…
“The heroes!”
“I’m with jackhead.” Bakugou is rasping. “Something is gonna go fucking wrong. It always fucking does.”
“But, we found them!” Kirishima says. He can see Todoroki and, oh, there’s Aizawa-sensei! And down the line a little ways is Cementoss and over there he can see Yaoyoruzu...it’s really them. “They’re really here!”
“Yeah.” Uraraka is standing right in front of one, her fingers pressing on the glass. Kirishima looks up at the tank. Iida is floating inside, dressed in a strange white bodysuit. Wires lace around his hands and back. His eyes are closed and he looks pretty peaceful, like he might just be taking a nap or something.
“I didn’t see you.” Kirishima says, standing next to her. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Her voice is thick. “I never thought...I mean, I always hoped, but I never really believed…”
“Yeah.” Kirishima pats her on the shoulder. “A lot of this is cause of you, you know. Us being able to find them.”
“Thank you, Kirishima.” She wipes her eyes and turns to face the group. “I tried to open up the tanks while you were out...but I couldn’t figure out how. There must be a switch or something around here somewhere…”
“Uh, you guys?” Uraraka and Kirishima look back to Jirou. She’s got one jack extended and a frown on her face. “I think the heroes are gonna have to wait.”
“What?” Asui asks. “Why, ribbit?”
“I think they noticed us.” Jirou pulls her sword out of the sheath on her back. “We’re gonna have company...and soon.”
“I fucking knew it.” Bakugou hisses, struggling to get to his feet. Kirishima is really worried about him. He looks kinda like he’s gonna fall over and pass out.
“Ugh.” Kaminari takes a few steps to stand beside Jirou and drops his the jacket he’s holding to his temple. “Why can’t they just, like, let us go?”
“Quit complaining.” Jirou punches his shoulder, harder than she usually does if the way he stumbles back is any indication. “You could use a workout.”
“Bakugou…” Kirishima says. “Stay over there, yeah? Let us do most of the fighting.”
“Fuck you, I’m fine.” Bakugou mutters, but he stays by the wall and Kirishima is pretty sure that’s as close to agreement as it’s gonna get.
“You ready?” Uraraka asks Asui.
“Are you?” Asui asks right back.
Uraraka smiles at her. “Stay safe, you understand?”
“Same to you, ribbit.”
Kirishima takes a few steps and stands besides Kaminari and Jirou. He looks down at his hands. One is casted and the other is bruised and bleeding.
This is real.
“You ready, K?” Jirou asks, her sword raised towards the hallway. Kirishima can hear the oncoming guards now too; loud footsteps and muffled yells.
“I’m always ready.” Kirishima says with a grin. His mouth tastes like metal.
“I don’t really think we shoulda brought him, Jirou.” Kaminari says.
“And why’s that, Kaminari?”
“Well, wherever Kirishima goes, buildings seem to fall.” Kaminari smirks at him. “And I’d really like to get out of this without a building falling on us.”
“Oh my god that was like a month ago.” Kirishima yells.
Kaminari would probably yell back, but the guards are rounding the corner and there’s no more time for anything but taking a breath and standing their ground.
None of the guards are particularly strong. Kirishima catches one in the face with a kick and the next with a punch. They both go down pretty quick.
It’s not like it’s easy, though. The guards might be small fry, but there’s, like, a lot of them. Wave after wave after wave and Kirishima is panting because, wow, where are all of these assholes coming from?
“There’s not an end to them!” Uraraka shouts.
“Keep pushing!” Kirishima yells back. “We can do this!”
“Hey!” Jirou shouts to Kaminari over the crashing and exploding that’s going on.
“What?” He yells back over the crackle of the lightning coming from his hands.
“If we live through this, how d’you feel about marrying me?” She says, twirling her sword elegantly and driving back a wave of enhanced villains. “You proved today that you're an absolute disaster without me.”
“What, seriously?” He says, grabbing two villains and shocking them. They drop to the ground, slack-jawed.
“No I’m joking!” She snaps, elbowing a villain in the face. “Yes, you fucking idiot! What do you say?”
“Yeah!” He grins at her. “Fuck...yeah! Let’s do it!”
“Sweet!” She reaches out and he quells his lighting for a minute to give her a high-five.
“Oh my god, are you two fucking serious?” Bakugou says, still leaning against the wall and blasting any villain who manages to get too close.
“Woohoo!” Kaminari shouts, once again covered in lightning. “We’re getting married!”
“Hell yeah we are!” Jirou proceeds to kick an oncoming villain in the face.
“And they say romance is dead!” Kirishima grins. “Way to go guys!” He hardens up a hand and backhands a villain reaching towards him.
“Wanna be my maid of honor?” Jirou pants.
“Uh…” Kirishima ducks as a villain with icy hands lunges at him. “I guess?”
“Aw, no fair! I wanted him to be my maid of honor!” Kaminari complains, ducking under a kick and pulling Jirou away from a villain aiming to hit her with a metal pipe.
“Thanks!” She grins at him. “But Kirishima is still mine.”
They’re all giddy and probably kinda hysterical, but they keep fighting because there isn’t another choice. Wave after wave of guards, of villains come forward and Kirishima doesn’t think about what happens if they lose.
Asui and Uraraka are side by side, Uraraka making guards float and Asui pushing them back with strong kicks. Jirou is using waves of sound to blast back villain after villain. A pile of smoking villains with slack, unconscious faces are heaped by Kaminari’s feet. Bakugou is still clutching to the wall, but is managing to fend off attackers all the same.
They can do this, Kirishima’s got faith in all of them, they have got to do this…
“Well, I think that’s more than enough of that.”
He turns to see a man in suit and tails standing there, his face completely covered by a mask. He doesn’t have a chance to do or say anything before they man is raising his hand and Kirishima feels a pull around gut like a fishhook.
He looks around and sees white portals appearing all over the room, behind all of his friends and, wait no...He turns and there’s one behind him too.
“Time to go.” Says the man and the portals swallow them.
~~~~
“Motherfucker.”
Kirishima opens his eyes.
The light in this place is all the same, watery and faintly blue, so it doesn’t actually seem like they’ve gone anywhere at first. But the villains they were fighting are all gone and in front of them is…
“WhiteOut.” Bakugou hisses.
“Yes, hello Katsuki my dear.” WhiteOut says, sounding mildly bored. “Lovely to see you again.”
“Fuck you.” Bakugou snarls. Kirishima looks over at him in concern. He sounds so much...weaker than he usually does. He’s panting and one hand is spread protectively over his ribs.
Kirishima’s pretty sure they’re broken.
“Hm.” WhiteOut turns from him to the rest of them. “Well, as Katsuki so helpfully said, I am WhiteOut. Lovely to meet you all.”
“He’s the warp gate.” Bakugou snaps. “And he’s a mean motherfucker. Don’t let him get too close.”
“Why, Katsuki!” WhiteOut puts a hand on his chest. “I thought we had bonded!”
Bakugou spits on his shoes.
Kirishima decides real quick that he doesn’t like this guy.
“What do you want with us?” Uraraka demands. “Why did you take the heroes?”
“Two separate questions, Ochako my dear.”
“Don’t call her that.” Asui says, taking a half-step in front of Uraraka.
“Oho, my apologies.” WhiteOut hums. “I presume you are Tsuyu?”
“Don’t call me that.” Asui says. “Only my friends get to call me that, ribbit.”
WhiteOut sighs. “I forgot how touchy young people can be. Now, to answer your questions…”
Kirishima exchanges a glance with Jirou. It’s a ‘let’s attack this fucker while he’s monologuing’ glance. She nods. He hardens up his hands.
“I took the heroes for a very specific purpose. One that you all, frankly, have no business in knowing.”
Kirishima holds up three fingers to Jirou behind Asui so WhiteOut can’t see them. She nods again, too small for anyone to notice if they weren’t looking for it.
“I took you all because you were roughing up our underlings and letting that sort of thing go on is never good for business.”
3...2...
Kirishima tense to spring. He sees Jirou shift her sword to the ready.
“Denki? Remember...we are many, we are more. So do be a dear and stop your friends, there.”
Wait, what?
Kirishima doesn’t have time to think before Kaminari’s hand is at his throat and he’s being shocked like he just stuck a fork in an outlet. Beside him, he sees the same happening to Jirou.
“Stop, stop!” Uraraka shouts. “Kaminari!” He doesn’t seem to hear.
Kirishima is gasping for air. He hears Jirou screaming.
“Kaminari!” Asui shouts and throws her goggles at his head.
His grip relaxes and the lightning stops.
“Kyouka...Kirishima…” He’s looking between them with wide eyes. “Why did I do that? What the fuck, why did I do that?”
“Den...ki…” Jirou is cough, her hand on her throat.
“I’m sorry,” He babbles, raising his hands like he wants to comfort her, but is scared to actually make contact. “Fuck, Kyouka, I’m so sorry.”
“What…happened?” Kirishima gasps.
WhiteOut chuckles, like what’s happening is amusing. “Did you really think My Lady’s control was so easy to lift?” He hums. “Sure, some people are resistant,” He tilts his head in Bakugou’s direction. “But others…”
“Jirou…” Kaminari’s eyes are wide and terrified. “What...what is he saying?”
“What I am saying, Denki my dear, is that you have been under our control for months now.”
“No.” Kirishima snarls.
“Fucking bullshit!” Bakugou says
“You’re lying!” Jirou shouts.
WhiteOut chuckles. “I’m afraid that I’m not. Oh, it’s not like he was keeping it from you all.” He reaches out to pat Kaminari on the arm. He doesn’t move. He’s staring ahead, gaze fixed. “He likely had no idea we’ve been influencing him. But haven’t there been headaches, Denki? Phone calls you don’t remember? Words that keep repeating in your head?”
“No, I don’t…” Kaminari shakes his head. “No, I can’t be.”
“Kaminari…” Jirou is staring at him with wide, horrified eyes.
“I’m not! He’s lying!”
“We are many, we are more.” WhiteOut says the words sing-song and Kaminari stiffens. “You can’t deny it, my dear. My Lady’s control...it’s just too strong.”
“No!” Jirou yells. “No, you can’t be telling the truth! I would have known, I couldn’t have…”
“Love does not cure all things, my dear.” And that actually sounds a little sad, a little regretful. “The real world is much crueler than that. Beautiful things, things like love and friendship...they are not incorruptible.”
Kirishima is shaking. This can’t be real, it can’t be.
“Venturing into an unknown base without waiting for back-up?” WhiteOut says. “That was our suggestion, of course. We needed time to gather our reinforcements. Splitting you up gave us that time.”
“That was my idea!” Kaminari shouts. “I wanted to leave Jirou out of the fighting!”
“Sure, that may have been the intention you assigned to it…” WhiteOut says. “But the idea was ours. And that enhancement you tracked here…it stopped working the minute you hit the water. But we could make you think that it worked to lead you where we wanted you to go.”
“No...no…” Kaminari shakes his head. “You’re lying...you’ve got to be lying!”
“I have an associate who can amplify and broadcast anytning...including quirks.” Says Whiteout. “Surely, you saw it when fighting the villains we sent out?” He folds his hands together. “My Lady’s quirk, the quirk that lets her control whomever she chooses in whichever strength she wishes, that quirk was amplified and used to control you, Denki my dear.”
“I don’t care what you say!” Jirou snarls. “You’re lying to him! To all of us!” She levels her sword towards WhiteOut. “Tell us the truth!”
“Ahaha, the truth.” WhiteOut chuckles. “Is an ugly thing. And something that you have no use for. You did what we wished...you spread our message, you fought our villains. So I will be kind. I will spare you from the truth.”
“I’m going to kill you.” Bakugou snarls.
“Oh Katsuki.” WhiteOut sighs. “I don’t doubt that you’ll try.”
Kirishima is going to fight him, to grab all of his friends and run, to do something, but a door opens and he looks over to see two more people walking into the room.
“Aye yo, WhiteOut.” Says the man in front, with a patchwork body and a nasty smirk. “You done playing with the kids?”
Wait...Kirishima knows him.
“Dabi?” Uraraka demands. “You...we beat you years ago!”
Dabi grins and it’s just as horrible as Kirishima remembers. “Beat ain’t dead, sweetheart.” He says. “Found myself a new group to pal around with...next time, maybe make sure you finish the job.”
“That’s the problem with heroes.” Sighs the other person who just came into the room. Kirishima doesn’t know her. She looks young, maybe his age or even younger, and has bright red hair pulled into twin braids. “Never thinking about the long term.”
“Who the fuck are you?” Bakugou demands.
“Ha, I assume you’re talking to her.” Dabi grins. “But who knows, you might be talking to me. You were always a self-centered prick.”
“Fuck off, shitstain.” Bakugou snaps. “Your explosions are sub-fucking-par.”
“Oh no, half-dead boy over there insulted my explosions. I’m so hurt.”
Kirishima is breathing hard. They need to get out of here. They need to get Kaminari out of here and fix whatever is wrong with him. They don’t have time for this.
“Shut up, Dabi.” Says the redhead girl.
“Fine, fine.” He says with a smirk. “This is Radiowave, by the way. She used to be one of you. One of you UA freaks.”
“I was tech, not heroics. “She looks at him flatly. “And, in any case, I fail to see the relevance in that, Dabi.”
“Maybe I like rubbing it in.” Dabi sneers at them. “That not all of the UA crowds are paragons of justice.”
“Radio...wave?” Uraraka frowns. “Did you really go to UA?”
Radiowave laughs. “Not like you would remember me. None of you hero-types every look beyond what’s right in front of you.” She turns to WhiteOut. “We’ve got orders from the Lady to move, if you’re done screwing around here.”
“I suppose I can cut my fun short.” WhiteOut sighs.
“Cool.” Radiowave hums. “I’m gonna cut off the signals from this location...stop broadcasting the Lady’s message.” She glances at the group of heroes. “What are we supposed to do with this lot?”
“Could kill ‘em.” Dabi offers.
“I’d like to see you try it.” Uraraka glares at him.
“No, Dabi.” WhiteOut sighs. “Our Lady was specific with the instructions…” He pulls something out of his pocket. Everyone tenses. Is it a gun? A knife? A bomb?
Kirishima leans forward and looks.
It’s...a phone.
WhiteOut is unlocking it, dialing a number.
Kirishima can hear it ring...it’s on speaker phone.
He’s so surprised, he doesn’t move.
“Hello?” A voice rings out and everything else seems...less important. His body doesn’t really hurt that much, does it? And he’s not really that upset that Kaminari is being controlled, is he? Nothing is that bad. Everything is okay.
“Ah, My Lady!” WhiteOut sighs contentedly. “I have missed your voice.”
“Yes, yes, WhiteOut.” She says. “Are they there? The heroes?”
“They're here, my Lady.”
“Ah, wonderful!” The voice is delighted. “I’ve waited so long to speak to them!”
Kirishima feels like he’s floating in a lake that is the exact same temperature as his body. He can’t feel where he begins and everything else ends. He feels so...Calm.
“I’ve been waiting to talk to you.”
Everything is so easy.
“You’ve all done so well! Fighting my soldiers and everything.” She says. “I’m sorry I had to control them like that...but it was necessary, you see! All for a better world...a better tomorrow! A world that belongs to everyone together!”
Right...of course. That’s what’s happening. That’s why this is all necessary…
“We are many, after all. We are many, we are more.”
Kirishima feels his lips trembling, feels them silently form the words. We are...we are...we…
They would be easy to say. Beside him, Kaminari is already murmuring them. So it wouldn’t be bad, right, if Kirishima said them too? A better world...all together…
“we are many…” He whispers.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” A voice shatters the calm like a bullet. Jirou is standing there with her sword out and her face tight and frowning.
Kirishima whirls around, trying to figure out what’s happening. He’s Calm, wait, no...Jirou is right. But his head, fuck, his head…we are, we are...
“Oh, dear.” The voice on the phone hums. “I see there’s someone there that requires my special attention! A sound-based quirk user, perhaps?”
“It appears so, Lady.” Dabi says lazily.
“Hmmm.” The voice muses. “I suppose this will have to wait until a later time…Dabi, WhiteOut, Radiowave, I think it’s time we finish with phase one! We don’t really need any of the heroes or their quirks...you can destroy the place, if you like!”
“Yeeeessss.” Dabi punches the air in triumph.
“It’s time for me to leave. I will see you all at the arranged meeting place! Do make sure you take Kaminari...he’s been such a help!”
“Of course…” Kaminari mumbles. “My Lady...we are many, we are more, we are many…”
“Denki, what are you doing?” Jirou grabs his arm and tries to keep him from walking to the villains. Kirishima wants to stop her. Of course Kaminari should go with them. The voice said so and the voice is...the voice….is…
“I will talk to you all again soon!” The Lady chirps. “Please, don’t forget my words. We are many, we are more.”
Kirishima knows that he won’t. They’re burned into his brain, they’re a fixed point in his soul. We are many, we are more. They’ll never leave him.
WhiteOut hangs up the phone.
What a dangerous, terrifying quirk.
For a moment, everybody is quiet. Nobody moves.
But then,
“You heard Our Lady.” White Out says. “Let’s sink this place.”
“Finally!” Dabi cheers.
“Activating flood sequence.” Radiowave takes out a remote and presses a button. The whole complex seems to shudder. In the distance, Kirishima can hear water rushing in.
Shit. It seems like they’ve figured out what the drains they got in through are for.
“Come on, young man.” WhiteOut grasps Kaminari by the shoulder. Kaminari is still wearing a dazed expression. “We’ve an appointment to keep.”
“Wait, no!” Kirishima reaches out.
“Fucking wait!” Bakugou shouts.
“Denki!” Jirou cries.
But it’s too late. WhiteOut has already made a portal and is pulling himself, Dabi, Radiowave and Kaminari though it.
~~~~
They’re all running.
The floors are covered in a good foot of water, but they don’t slow down. All around them, pieces of the walls are crumbling and falling.
Kirishima wants to scream, wants to fight, wants to do something. But there’s nothing to do. So he keeps running through hallways steadily filling with water.
They come to the long hallways filled with heroes in pods. Shit. They need to get them out of here now. There won’t be any coming back.
“It’s all coming down!” Asui shouts, skidding to a halt in front of the pods. “The heroes, we need to get them!”
“We don’t know how to get them out of their pods and there’s no way we can lift them!” Jirou pants. There are tears streaking down her cheeks.
“I can.” Uraraka says.
“Ochako…” Asui says.
“Just clear me a path.” Uraraka says. “We still have some time before this place is underwater all the way. If I can make them all float by the time it is, Bakugou can blast through the walls and I float them to the surface!”
“Uraraka, that’s gotta be over your weight limit.” Kirishima says because there are dozens and dozens of heroes here.
“I can do it.” She says.
He looks at her. Her face is serious and set in the flickering, watery light.
“Okay. You can do it.” Kirishima says. “I’ll double back...keep any guard back!”
“I’m coming with you.” Jirou says. “I can still hear them down there.”
“Fuck it, I’m coming too.” Bakugou snaps.
“No!” Kirishima grabs his wrist. “You aren’t fit to fight right now.”
“Fuck you, I’m coming.” His face is close to Kirishima’s. He smells like metal and blood.
“Stay here.” Kirishima says. “You need to blast through the walls once Uraraka is done, anyway.”
Bakugou glares at him for a long minute. “If you die, I’ll fucking kill you.”
Kirishima laughs raggedly. “You’re so stupid sometimes.”
“Just come back.” Bakugou says. “You stupid fuck.”
“Krishima!” Jirou calls. She’s already a few steps down the hall. “We gotta go! I can hear them coming!”
“Right!” He calls and then he smiles at Bakugou. “I promise.”
He follows Jirou down the hall without waiting for a response. They run for a few feet, but there’s no one there. There’s nothing but rushing water creeping higher and higher.
“Where are they?” Kirishima asks Jirou.
She turns to him, looking ghostly in the faint light.
“I lied. All of the guards are gone.” She says.
“What? Why?”
“Because I need you to know what I’m doing.” She says.
“What are you talking about?”
“I can hear them...WhiteOut and Dabi and that girl...they’re still here. Down in the lowest levels…” She adjusts her jack, “It’s not flooded yet. They’re still packing up...if I go now, if I say I’ll join them...then I can keep Kaminari safe.”
“Jirou, no!” Kirishima grabs her wrist. “You can’t join them, they’re evil!”
“Yeah, I know!” She turns to him and her cheeks glisten with tears. “And Kaminari is gonna be alone with that. I can’t...I can’t let that happen.”
“I won’t leave without you.” He says.
“You have to go.” She says. “Now, Kirishima.”
“No.” He shakes his head and tightens his hand on her wrist. “Not without you.”
“Kirishima…” She smiles at him, sad and bitter. “I have to stay. I love him.”
“He’d understand. He’d want you to go.”
“I can’t.” She says. “I’m the only one they can’t brainwash with those stupid words. I’m the only one who can do this.”
“No.” He repeats. Her and Kaminari, they’ve been by his side for years now. He can’t let them both go, he just can’t. He doesn’t know how to be himself without them.
“I’ll come back.” She says. “I promise I will.”
“You can’t do this.” He says.
“K,” She says, “Kirishima. C’mon. Believe in me, okay?”
And he can’t so no to that. There’s nobody he trusts more than Jirou. He’s always believed in her and he can’t stop now that she’s asking him too.
You can’t force someone to be a hero. They have to want to.
And when you’re a hero, when you’ve picked that job, then that job always has to come first. Your life can wait.
He knows that. He’s known that for years now.
But it still takes everything he has to let her go.
He loosens his grip and lets his hand fall to his side. “Fine.” He says. “I...fine.”
She wraps him in a tight hug. “Eijirou.” She says and he’s pretty sure that’s the first time he’s ever heard her say his first name. “You’re my best friend.”
“Yeah.” He squeezes her back tightly. “Yeah, mine too.”
She drops her arms and steps back.
He lets her.
She smiles at him crookedly. “Bye Eijirou.”
He raises a hand. “Bye Kyouka.”
She turns and runs down the passage.
And he lets her go.
~~~~
Kirishima is alone in the hallway, water almost to his neck, when he heads a boom come from behind him.
Bakugou, he thinks faintly, blasting a way out. The water will hit soon. He braces himself for it, knowing from his trip down that it will be cold and dark. Will he even be able to make it up to the surface without Asui?
He’s so alone in this hallway, lit by failing blue-grey light.
When they started this journey together all those weeks ago on the fire escape, they started as a team.
Water starts to roar down the hallway.
Krishima closes his eyes as he waits for it to hit.
He’s ending it alone.
For a moment, everything is dark and cold. It’s like he’s floating in space, except there aren’t any stars. Just rapidly dying blue-grey lights. He paddles, tries to figure out which way is up.
Oh.
He’s going to die down here, surrounded by dark, cold water.
No...no...he can’t...not yet...
“Kirishima!” He feels a sharp tug around his middle and looks down to see a...hand? He looks up. Asui’s shape is faintly visible, tugging him forwards. “Kirishima, come on!”
He paddles as best he can and it seems to be enough because soon Asui is dragging him through the long hallway. He closes his eyes and lets her lead him. He doesn’t even which way is up anymore.
They break the surface after what feels like years below the water.
“Ah, aha, aha….” Kirshims pants, “Asui...thank you…”
“Where’s Jirou?” She demands. “I looked for her...I couldn’t find her anywhere.”
“Villains…” He coughs. “She’s with them...they took her.”
He won’t tell them she went willingly. He will, once they're away from this place and this cold, dark water. But now...he can’t.
He lets Asui tow him to shore. The dark sky is lightening in one corner with the oncoming dawn. In the faint light, he can see dozens of pods dotting the lakeshore.
“Did she get them all out?” Kirishima mumbles, amazed.
“Ribbit, yep.” Asui says. “Ochako is strong.”
“I know.”
He can see her on the shore, pale and probably unconscious from all of the strain. Bakugou is lying there too, chest rising and falling. Asui helps Kirishima clamber up next to him.
“I’m going to go down.” She says. “I think they all got warped away, ribbit, but I want to make sure there weren't any villains who got left behind.”
Kirishima just nods and watches as she dives back in. He lies back on the ground. It’s hard, cold, mud. A rock is digging into his back. He can’t be bothered to move.
“You’re alive.” Bakugou huffs. “Good.”
“Kaminari and Jirou are with the villains.” Kirishima says numbly. “They’re gone.”
“Fuck.” Bakugou says.
Kirishima feels like that sums up the situation pretty good.
He closes his eyes.
~~~~
“Kirishima.”
When he closes his eyes, he can still Jirou saying goodbye.
“Kirishima.”
He can still see Jirou and Kaminari, laughing as they fought.
“Kirishima?”
He can still see all of them on the fire escape, looking over the city and talking about how things could be better.
“Kirishima!”
Kirishima opens his eyes.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. I’m just surprised, is all,” Doctor Wakana sighs. “I thought you’d be more excited about getting your cast off.”
He laughs and he can hear how bitter it sounds. “Guess I’ve just got other stuff on my mind.”
“Hmmm.” She picks up her saw and presses it to the edge of his cast. It’s battered and burnt and bloody, but the bone under it is healed. He’s finally gonna have two normal arms again. “This won’t take but a minute.” He can’t find it in himself to be excited.
The saw buzzes and soon enough the remains of his cast of lying in the table beside him. His arm feels light and weird. He lifts it up, examines it and flexes the fingers. He activates his quirk. It works perfectly.
“There we go.” She says. “Does everything feel normal?”
“It feels fine.” He says.
“Good, then.” She peers at up at him, her eyes narrowing. “I understand congratulations are in order. You were the one who found the missing heroes, weren't you?”
“No.” Kirishima shakes his head and keeps looking at his hand. “My friends Kaminari Denki and Kyouka Jirou did that. They tracked the signal. They found the hideout.”
“They’re the ones who’ve been listed as missing after the rescue, correct?”
Kirishima doesn’t answer, he just looks at the floor. Missing. They’re not missing. He knows where they went. He just can’t see them or talk to them or know that they’re okay. Missing. It feels like a word that’s too much and not enough at the same time.
“Well, I am sorry.” She pats his knee. “But, Kirishima, you should know that you’ve done a great number of things for a great many people.” He glances at her. “We are all in your debt. And all of us, heroes as well I’m sure, won’t rest until your friends are found again.”
He smiles even though he doesn’t feel it. “Thanks Doc.”
“I’m doing my job,” She says. “As were you. And...as were your friends.”
“Yeah.” He says and he lets himself smile a little more honestly. “They’re the best heroes that I know.”
~~~~
It’s been just over a week since the Red Riot Hero Agency found the lost heroes in a secret facility underneath a lake and the news is still buzzing with it. Kirishima constantly has to dodge reporters looking for interviews, for pictures, for whatever he’ll give them.
He’s got a personal letter of thanks from the prime minister on his desk and an invitation to join half-a-dozen reopened pro-agencies as a hero.
It’s weird. It’s amazing. It’s what he wanted.
He’s pretty sure that he’s trade all of it to have Kaminari and Jirou back. He’s not sure if that makes him a bad hero or just a bad person.
He walks home from the hospital, still flexing his newly uncasted arm, with dark glasses on and a hood pulled over his hair. He doesn’t feel like being recognized right now.
To be honest, he doesn’t really feel like going home right now either. So he just walks. And walks. The city is familiar again, nothing like his weird dream, and full of people making all kinds of expressions. Some of them are happy, some of them are bored, some are sad, some are angry.
Kirishima isn’t angry. There’s no one to be angry at.
It’s not worth it to get mad at the villains.
Villains are always gonna be bad, always gonna cause hurt. So long as they live in a world with quirks, there are gonna be people who misuse them.
Kirishima can fight them and he beat them and he can be good, but they always seem to come back.
He keeps walking, no real destination in mind.
It isn’t until he sees caution tape and rubble where he realizes where exactly his feet have brought him.
He’s at the Wharf. He hasn’t been down here since right after the heroes first disappeared.
It’s still blocked off. For whatever reason, the rebuilding efforts never really got off the ground. Kirishima ducks under the caution tape and clambers over the rubble. There are seagulls perching on the massive slabs of concrete that have been overturned and cracked.
They scream and screech as they see him coming and then take to the sky.
He watches them fly away. It might be nice to be able to fly.
He sits down on a metal bar sticking out of one of the fallen buildings and rests his elbows on his knees. He watches the water in the bay. A lone boat it making its way across, slow and meandering. The sail is as white as the seagulls wheeling overhead.
A breeze that smells like salt blows past.
It’s warmer today than it has been lately. He probably doesn’t even need the coat he’s wearing.
He keeps it on.
Since his not-dream of blue skies and smiling people, nice weather makes him nervous.
“I thought you’d be here.”
He looks over his shoulder to see Hatsume standing on a big hunk of rubble.
“Hi!” She gives him a two-fingered salute and smiles.
“Did you really know I’d be here?”
“Ahaha, no.” She jumps down from the rubble and walks to his side. “I tracked your phone, dummy!”
“That sounds about right.” He gives her a weak smile. He gets off of the metal bar and they walk side-by-side for a bit, just wandering around. Kirishima kicks a couple of pieces of rubble. Hatsume pokes at some explosion marks curiously.
“Dabi did this, huh?” She says, drawing her hand away and examining the ash left on her fingertips.
“Yep.” Kirishima kicks the dirt, hands jammed into his pockets. “We shoulda known it was him. Like, he was the only one of the villain alliance that we never caught.” He sighs. “I mean, I kinda thought he’d died, y’know?”
“Mmmm.” Hatsume squats down in the rubble and turns a chunk of cement over. “People like that don’t just die. But the other villains…” She looks up at him, “We don’t know them, do we?”
“No.” Kirishima says, “They’ve got a warp gate who calls himself WhiteOut and then there’s the transmitter girl...she’s former UA, apparently.”
“Really?” Hatsume continues to poke through the rubble on the ground. “How d’you know?”
“They talked about it.” Kirishima rubs the back of his neck with a hand. “She was tech division, like you.”
“C’mon Kirishima.” Hatsume smirks up at him. “No one is like me.”
That makes him laugh.
“Who else is there?” She pokes his foot. “I don’t remember very much from when I was there. I need more information.”
Kirishima sorta wants to ask why she needs more information, but he learned a long time about that arguing with Hatsume is kinda useless, so he continues, “Well, there’s her...they called her Radiowave...and then there’s the Lady.”
“The Lady?”
He nods. “I only ever heard her over the phone, but she packs a punch. She was the one who did all of the,” He wiggles his fingers, “Brainwashing stuff.”
“Hn.” She stands up and taps her chin. “Well, without the transmitter, Radiowave was it?” He nods. “Well, without her, this Lady can’t be too dangerous. Once they cut her off, everybody woke up from their weird trances.”
The former enhanced villains are all slowly but surely recovering. They still have scars from where they enhancements were, but their minds are their own again. Kirishima has talked to a couple and apologized, but they don't even remember their time being controlled. It's a blank space in their minds.
“I don’t know.” Kirishima folds his arms. “She got all of us, me, Uraraka, Asui and…” He trails off because he doesn’t want to talk about Kaminari and Jirou. “Well, she managed to knock us all out over speakerphone. Seems dangerous to me.”
“I guess.” Hatsume says and looks at him sidelong. “I’m sorry about Kaminari and Jirou.”
Kirishima flinches, but doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say. Thanks, maybe? He just shrugs and kicks some more of the rubble into the bay.
Hatsume puts a hand on his shoulder. He doesn’t shake it off.
“I’ve got your back, you know.” She says after a little bit.
“Oh yeah?” He glances at her.
“Yep!” She pops the p. “You helped me...you found me and all the others. Plus,” She grins. “You’re my friend! So I’m gonna stick with you.”
“You don’t have to.” He says cause he doesn’t want her staying with him out of, like, obligation or whatever. “I didn’t find you so you’d help me.”
“No, I know.” She says. “But I’ve got your back, Mr. Pro Hero. Count on it!”
He turns away and rubs his eyes hard. Ugh, this is so stupid. He’s not gonna cry over this, god. This is the opposite of manly.
“Thanks, Hatsume.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” She says, “Save that until after I’ve designed our new headquarters.” She looks around. "The view here is pretty nice...and I bet the property is cheap! We could build it here!"
He laughs. “I’m glad I found you again.” He says honestly. He’s not gonna replace Jirou and Kaminari. There’s no way he ever could. He glances at Hatsume. But he’s glad he’s still got friends by his side.
“I’m glad you looked.” She says.
They walk around a little bit longer before Hatsume’s phone buzzes. “Hold up.” She says and takes it out. Kirishima waits as she reads the text. “There’s somebody here who wants to see you.”
“What do you...” He starts.
“Kirishima.” He turns around to see Bakugou standing there, hands in his pockets and a trademark scowl on his face.
“Hi.” Kirishima says. He hasn’t seen Bakugou since they left the secret base. They’ve both spent most of the week either in briefings with the government and the police or in the hospital.
“I’ll give you two some time.” Hatsume says with a grin.
Kirishima waits until she’s out of earshot to ask, “How’d you find me?”
“Hatsume texted me.”
Kirishima raises an eyebrow. “You guys are friends now?”
“No, I hate that bitch.”
“Uh hu.” Kirishima says. “Sure.”
“Fuck off.” Bakugou snaps.
Kirishima laughs. “Remember, just cause your tsundere charms worked on me doesn’t mean they’re gonna work on everybody.”
“Tch.”
Kirishima laughs.
They walk towards the water together and watch the lone ship in the bay.
“What the fuck is someone doing out there?” Bakugou says. “It’s not spring yet.”
“No,” Kirishima says, “But it’s coming.”
They stand in silence for a while longer. Kirishima doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say.
“They’re not gone for good, you know.” Bakugou says after a while.
“You can’t say that for sure.” Kirishima says and stares fixedly at the boat. The white sail is big and billowing. Full of wind.
“I can.” Bakugou says. “Cause you’re a stubborn idiot who won’t ever fucking stop.” He stops, shakes his head. “I mean, fuck, Kirishima...everyone though the pro heroes were dead. Like, everyone. And you…” He looks over at Kirishima. “You found ‘em anyway.”
“You helped.” Kirishima points out.
Bakugou snorts. “Not fucking intentionally.”
“Still.” Kirishima says. “You helped.”
The slip back into silence after that.
A couple of minutes pass and Kirishima just watches the boat. It’s almost back to shore now. It’s almost home.
“Hey.” Bakugou says.
“Yeah?” Kirishima looks back at him. Behind him, the sun is bright and the sky is very, very blue. Kirishima clenches his fists. It hurts, just a touch. This, he reminds himself, is real.
“I love you.” Bakugou says, “Probably.”
Kirishima chokes.
“Oh my...fuck, really? This again?” Bakugou snorts.
“I’m good!” Kirishima raises a hand and coughs a couple of times. “Just...argh. Probably? Really?”
“Shut up.” Bakugou mutters. “Fucking just...let’s do this. Fuck. Be boyfriends or what-fucking-ever.”
“Wow.” Kirishima says. “So much enthusiasm. I’m swooning.”
“You’re a little shit.”
“But you love me.”
“I fucking said probably!”
“C’mon.” Kirishima grins. “You love me.”
“Fuck you.” Says Bakugou.
But Kirishima happens to speak very fluent Bakugou Katsuki. So he knows that “fuck you” actually means “yes Kirishima, you are the light of my life, the wind under my wings, the one who completes me.”
He may have taken a few creative liberties.
“Just shut up and kiss me.” Bakugou huffs.
Kirishima laughs, but he leans forward and presses his lips against Bakugou’s.
His lips are rough and the hands the come up to cradle Kirishima’s face are rougher, but they’re not under attack and no one is in any immediate danger of dying, so it’s good. It’s so good.
Bakugou moves his hands from Kirishima’s face to his waist and drags him closer, kisses him deeper. Neither of them is all that experienced, so it’s a little messy and a little painful. Teeth clack and noses bump, but Kirishima wouldn’t want it any other way, wouldn’t want it with anyone else.
Bakugou is warm and alive and he smells like smoke and clean laundry and Kirishima loves him so, so much.
“Can I come out now?” Hatsume shouts.
Bakugou and Kirishima break apart.
Kirishima grins.
Bakugou is blushing bright pink.
“That’s a good look on you.” Kirishima hums.
“All looks are fucking good on me.” Bakugou mumbles. “Fuck off.”
“Okay, you look like you’re done!” Hatsume says, leaning out from behind a hunk of rubble, and picks her way back over to them. “Now c’mon! We’ve got stuff to do!”
“Oh do we?” Kirishima asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Yep.” Hatsume grins. “So hurry it up!” She grabs Bakugou by the arm with one arm and Kirishima with the other. “Everybody’s waiting!”
“Wait, they’re already here?” Bakugou growls. “I told the fuckers to come later!”
“What?” Kirishima turns to Bakugou.
“Just, c’mon.” Bakugou huffs. “Those fucking morons.”
“Guys, what’s going on?” Kirishima asks, but Hatsume’s pulling them away from the sea and back into the city. They turn one corner and two and then, wow. There’s a group of people standing together right behind the line of caution tape.
It’s Class 1-A.
Not just the Red Riot Hero Agency, all of them.
Midoriya, Todoroki, Iida, Yaoyoruzu, Aoyama, Shouji, Satou, Tokoyami, Mineta, Ashido, Sero, Uraraka, Asui, Kouda, even Hagakure’s signature floating gloves.
All of them...except for Kaminari and Jirou.
“When did you…” Kirishima blinks, half-expecting all of them to disappear.
“I called them.” Bakugou says.
Kirishima looks over at him, dumbfounded. Bakugou...called all of them here? When they graduated, Bakugou still didn’t know all of their names. What is going on?
“Why?” He asks, dumbfounded.
“Because.” Bakugou says, not looking at him. “You deserve somebody who’d call.”
“Bakugou…” Kirishima murmurs.
“Shut up.” Bakugou mumbles.
Kirishima gets the impression that the rest of the class is laughing at them. So he turns to them, blushing a little and says, “Hey.”
“I have read the news reports and watched the coverage!” Iida says. “You have done exceptionally well these past few months, Kirishima!”
“We owe you.” Todoroki says. “We’re here to deliver.”
“What?” Kirishima blinks, still not understanding what they’re getting at.
“You saved all of us.” Yaoyoruzu says. “And we wouldn’t be proper heroes if we left that debt unpaid, now would we?”
“Yeah.” Uraraka smiles. “I’m a part of the Red Riot Hero Agency, you know! I’m not gonna leave now!”
“We’ve got this, man.” Says Sero.
"I'm with you." Satou says.
“Surely you need the help of the hero who never stops twinkling!” Aoyama smiles winningly.
“Jirou and Kaminari are comrades in arms.” Tokoyami says. “It would not do to leave them in their current circumstances.”
“Yeah!” Tooru punches the air. “We all need to be here for a proper class reunion!”
"Plus me, of course!" Hatsume cheers.
“You’re all gonna help?” Kirishima feels like crying again. This is not his best (or manliest) day.
“Of course.” Kouda says.
“We’re all here for you!” Ashido says.
“We won’t let you down, ribbit.” Asui says.
“I am ready to assist.” Rumbles Shouji.
“Of course we’re gonna help, you fucking idiot.” Says Bakugou before grabbing his hand.
Kirishima wipes his eyes with the hand Bakugou isn’t holding. It’s not in a cast anymore, but...he looks up at his classmates, his friends, and he smiles. “Thank you.” This is real.
“So, Kirishima.” Midoriya smiles at him and it only wobbles a little bit. “Where should we start?”
They might be a ragtag team, brought together through circumstance and coincidence and one explodey boy’s reluctant phone calls, but they’re together and that’s what matters.
Somewhere, Kaminari and Jirou are waiting. And he’s gonna find them and bring them home.
“Well.” Kirishima says and turns to face the Wharf and the bay and the blue, blue sky. “I’ve got a few ideas.”
**************************************
END OF PART ONE