This story does NOT cross over with Feral, or any other stories. I'm sorry if the reference made you think that. In hindsight, I totally shouldn't have done that, or I at least should have put a note. But just to be clear, it's way, way too late for the two stories to cross over, especially considering the two separate plots I have in mind. It would mess up both stories greatly and it's just not happening. Just a reference y'all, sorry to disappoint.

Third person pov

Lillian, Hitoshi, and Shoto were all on edge, and they had been since the end of the exam. Nobody was telling them anything. Neito wouldn't answer his texts, but they were all assuming he didn't have his phone on him anyway. Mr. Aizawa didn't seem to know what was going on, but he appeared reasonably concerned, as did Mr. Mic. Still, that didn't give them answers as to where their friend was, and more importantly, why he was wherever he was to begin with. Something had to have happened. 

The situation was less than optimal. Lillian was paler than usual and seemed exhausted, the bags under her eyes almost as bad as Hitoshi's happened to be. The purple-haired teen had been talking with Chad, but even he wasn't sure where their currently-undead friend was located. All he knew was that Tsukauchi was involved but couldn't talk about it, and that Neito was somewhere safe. It wasn't much relief, but it was enough to get them both to sleep a few hours extra each night rather than trying to live off three every twenty-four hour time period.

"I'm sure he's fine." Bakugo grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. Even though they'd all passed the final exams, it was still a relief to hear that everyone would be able to attend the upcoming summer camp. Even if those who'd failed would have to go through extra lessons. It wasn't the worst, and Lillian thought it was preferable over being left behind. Most of 1-A had decided to go out to the mall for supplies. Hiking shoes, duffel bags, sturdier water bottles, outdoor clothes, the whole works.

Lillian had decided not to go in the end, especially since Aizawa had handled pretty much everything. And by that she meant he'd bought her far, far too much stuff. She wasn't sure what to do with all of it at this point. Plus, Mic had invited her to appear on the radio show one more time before going off to summer camp. It's where she was on the way to now, Hitoshi and Shoto trailing behind her. Hitoshi didn't want to go to the mall without Lillian, since he was fairly new to the class. Shoto was going to branch off from them halfway and go have lunch with his mother, Fuyumi, and Natsuo so they could have some family time before he left for summer camp.

And then there was Bakugo, who yes, just so happened to be present as well. Nobody was entirely sure just what his purpose here was, but they weren't about to ask questions. He'd been acting slightly off ever since the exams. Lillian and Hitoshi both suspected he was sick, but Todoroki would just sadly shake his head like he knew something neither of them did. They had questions, but they weren't going to ask. The half-and-half boy wouldn't tell, and Bakugo was about as closed-book as it got. If they wanted answers, they'd have to get them themselves. 

As for his behavior, he was a lot... touchier. But also not. He'd maybe put a hand on her shoulder briefly or let them brush elbows before retreating and assessing with narrowed eyes. If Lillian didn't know any better, she'd call him skeptical of... something. He was definitely testing something. What exactly he was testing remained to be seen. Lillian knew she should probably just ask. Of course he'd never give her a straight answer outright, but she'd pry it out of him. And if she couldn't, then Mitsuki was a terrifying woman of many talents.

"So why the fuck are we going with you to this thing again?" Bakugo sounded as though he were complaining. Lillian raised an eyebrow at him experimentally. Sure, she didn't exactly claim to understand the guy, but really? She'd offhandedly mentioned in a text that they were about to leave and he all violated the public quirk use laws to fly over to where she was at Hitoshi's. She'd never seen anyone sprint so fast in her life. He'd been sweating so much he could probably blow up the sun with the sheer force he could no doubt concoct from it.

"You wanted to be here, jackass. You invited yourself." Hitoshi butted in as Shoto silently departed. Lillian waved across the street at Rei and Fuyumi, and the young man she assumed was Natsuo. They returned with enthusiastic vigor, smiles on their faces. It was definitely a nice contrast to the pale fear on their faces not all that long ago. It made her feel warm inside, knowing she'd helped to demote him to third place, and that her words had helped Rei get discharged, and that her words had helped get the bastard arrested, even.

"Whatever." Bakugo scoffed, bumping shoulders with Lillian before putting exactly a foot of space between them and taking out his phone. That was another thing he was doing a lot: checking his phone. And then he'd glance at her. And then at his phone. And then at her again. And then at-- you'll never guess-- his phone again. Crazy. Lillian had half the mind to snatch it right out of his hand just to inspect when he was looking at so intently. Even Hitoshi looked curious, and he usually didn't butt into other people's business unless it was his own, Shoto's, Neito's, or Lillian's.

The studio had a few people lingering around it, and they all let out cheers upon seeing Lillian, even if she did look like she'd just dragged herself out of a literal grave. Mic had to have tweeted that she'd be on tonight's broadcast, which promised lots of listeners and more requests for merchandise. Hitoshi snorted as Lillian shrunk back from the exuberant fans. Bakugo bared his teeth at them like the rabid animal he was deep down, which almost made Hitoshi snort again as he shoved his hands in is pockets and ducked his head. Maybe they should appoint Bakugo as Lillian's new security detail. Though, she really didn't need one, with a quirk like hers.

"It's an avocado!" Someone shouted.

"Thanksss!" Lillian shouted back, shaking out her hands nervously. Bakugo sighed heavily at her but smiled anyway. The smiling part made Hitoshi's eyes narrow in suspicion. Was there tea here to spill? Because it seemed like maybe there was tea here to spill. If he could get his grubby little hands on the guy's phone, then maybe he'd get some answers. How he was supposed to do that when the red-eyed teen was clutching it like a lifeline, Hitoshi had no idea. He'd have to figure something out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Do you think you're calm enough to tell us what happened now, Neito?" Tsukauchi asked softly. He sat in a chair next to Neito's hospital bed, watching the blonde as he stared blankly at the wall across the room. After his freak out, nothing he'd said made sense. The sentences he spit out weren't full and were heavily jumbled, like hew as rushing through four different things he wanted to tell them at the same time, all while crying and hyperventilating. Witnessing it had been saddening to all who were there, bringing Recovery Girl to tears of her own as they were forced to sedate him.

T̹é̟̳̣͓̲̩̯l̦͈l̵̞͖ ̵ẖ̦͝į̺̝͖̘m.̲͜

"Y-Yeah. I think I can... explain." Neito's voice cracked horribly, but at least he replied at all. Nezu had come in earlier and tried to have a chat with him. Not even about the panic, but about things in general, to no avail. Vlad King had as well, but he didn't really seem to process that at all. He reacted to the names of his friends, but it wasn't until today that they started to get real reactions out of him. If you poked him, he'd look at you like you were an idiot, and he'd talk back if you talked first.

"Alright, feel free to start wherever comfortable. If at any time you feel like you can't or don't want to continue forward, let me know and we can stop." Tsukauchi said, notepad at the ready. Neito was honestly glad he was here. He was a familiar face. He'd begun to associate the man with home in the same way he associated Mihoko, Hajime, and Rei with it. He was around the house a lot due to the white-haired woman, so it was a comfort to have him be the one here. 

"I..." Neito cleared his throat. His hand came up to press against the space over his heart. "This heart isn't mine."

Tsukauchi paused. He was silent for a moment. His quirk didn't work on Neito, but he somehow knew the teen wasn't lying.

"Can you explain?" The detective asked, already dreading the answer he was about to receive. Neito had a lot of scars, and some even looked surgical, but the blonde never recalled where they came from. The implication of his words hung heavy.

"Jay's husband..." Neito choked out, blinking back the tears stinging at his eyes. "His heart is in my chest. That's why it isn't beating. It isn't mine. It's his. They put it in me."

Tsukauchi stared for a moment, assessing. His eyes went wide. Neito watched with sad eyes as the notebook and pen slipped from his grasp, his shocked gaze trained on Neito's chest as he put the pieces together. Neito could almost see the man's stomach twist and churn, because what he'd just said made a terrifying amount of sense once you knew the quirk of Jay's husband. It was... an odd quirk. One not even Neito knew the full details off. After this, he was sure Tsukauchi would be looking into it in great detail.

"͉̳̙͕̜Ń̞͇͓e͎̮̳̺̪͎̩i̧̥̳t͚̟̭̳o̦͘,͓̦̘͈̮͔ͅ ͇̼̮Í'̵m̡̭̺̤̺̺̺ ̹s͍͈̤͔̥̱or̞̘̗̗̼̹ͅr̴̭̳̳y̵ ̻̞͎y͘o̹͕̲u̖̦̙ ͔̘̝̜͙̬͚ŗè̟̲̤͚͍͉͓m͏̯̰̼̥em̤͎̣̤͙ͅb̼e̞̫͈̞̭r̲̺̰͕̳͟.̹͉ͅ"̖̮͓͖

Neito felt a tear slip past his cheek.

"̩ͅI̧̘̳̱ͅ'̸̙̘̺̻͕͉ͅm̝͍̘̺̟̫̗ ̷̜̰͍̜̜̻̖s͈̰̣̖o͏̼̰͈͉͓̘̺ṛ̰͉̦͖ŗ̝̬y̼̫̪̻͕̣ ̖̳̦͠y̥̻̜͍͘o̗̮̖̱ṵ̗'̡̘̞͍ṟ̝̩̜͇͔̺͟e̝̩̫͎̹̝͞ ̘̻͖n͕̤̤̗o̖͓̞t̘̪̯͉ ̹̼̦̦͖a̹̪ͅl̫̻͙͉i̖̙̭̝͡ͅv̩͈̪̰̹e̘͙͍̹̮ ̷̞̲͙͙ą̱n̲͕y̭̺͔̙͉̤m̝̥͚ọ̢̳̝̤͎͓r̷e.̞͔͉̮̟"̢͓̘̪̙͉͚̞

Neito lowered his head, pulling his legs up so he could bury his face in his knees.

"̧̝̱͔̫̜͢I̷̶͉̝̝͝'̖͇̩̤͙͘ͅm̶̧̲̺̜̟̩̞̮ ̵̵̯͔̯̭̣̀s̸̝̱̥̜͇̹̣o̢̤͖̞͇̝̕͠ͅŕ͇̫̜̦͉͝r̴̤̝̫̻̻͙̙̺̖y̴̵̯̥ ̧̱̞͞e̷̱̹͖v̱ę͉̘̥̫̲̤͈r̷̲̘͔̩̫̼y̷͉͍͔͔̮̩̝͈͡t̰̘̺̮̹͕̞̣h̵̲͇̘ͅi͓̼̳̬͚̯ń̼̟̻̜̠͎̻̣̳̀g̛͈͍̀͠ ̠̼͈̠͖̞͔͈ì̬͔̮͈̪͟s̷̙ ̨̣̭͓̜̲̭͘w̷̨̦̦͙͕̘͜ͅr̯͜o̱̟̠̖͚̙̝̱͞͠ṇ̡͘g̖̻̜͔̖̰̤.͍͉̘͇͘"̖̭̀

Tsukauchi watched in horror as the teen's body shook, his own heart beating wildly in his chest and his quirk still buzzing with the promise that everything Neito had just said was undeniably true.

"̲Í̛̗͝'̸̭̩̱͉̥͟͠m̨̲̼͈̯ ̧̢҉͙̪͙̰͔s̛͇̲͞o̷̼͕̰͈͕̤͓̳̯ṟ̟͉̮̹ŕ̶̝̺̹̩̙ỵ̴̪͇.̝̺͔͍̩͡ ͓͓͕͖̗͙̗͝I̡̛̘̱̻̦̺̩͢'̷̕҉͚̹̫̞̭m̢͜͏̬̘͇͕̺̺ ̷̻̤͕ͅs̵̸̻̟̱͖̺̯̜͜o̥̝͟͟ ̱̫͍ͅs̛̜̻̕ó̠͍̦r̞̮̬͎̖̠ŗ̛̠̯͕͜y͓̘͕͕ͅ.̜͉͝"̰̘͖̰

"I am too." Neito whispered. "Where... Where are you?"

He was answered with silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It talked. The gangly black thing with a beak talked, and Dabi doesn't like it. Not even a little. He doesn't give a shit if the driver guy, who's apparently named Chad-- who names a kid that?-- is cute. There was some weird mutated bird thing in the back seat with a child, and he hated it. Not only that, but the kid had a water gun full of vinegar. What monster put vinegar in a fucking water gun?! Dabi would put money on the fact that it was probably Chad. If not Chad, then the talking black thing with wings. Vlad. Fucking hell, they named it.

Chad's apartment is a rundown little place with quiet, suspicious neighbors and a rickety staircase. His front door creaks horribly every time you open it and the floorboards are no better. Dabi was actually a bit afraid a few might snap in two under his weight, but watching Vlad bound inside on all fours put that worry to rest. Chad's entire apartment smelled like nutmeg air freshener and vanilla candles. The furniture was rickety and by no means new, but comfortable and fairly clean nonetheless. 

"So that thing was trying to murder you before you punched it in the brain?" Dabi checked for the second time, sitting in a chair at Chad's small table. The chair had one leg that was shorter than all the rest, causing it to teeter back and forth anytime he moved. It wobbled along with his anxious foot tapping. No matter how much he fidgeted, it seemed as though he couldn't get enough of his tension out. Chad didn't appear to notice, or maybe he just didn't care as he made them coffee in a machine that made what sounded like choking sounds every few minutes.

"Basically, yeah. He's fine now." Chad shrugged, leaning against the counter. Dabi observed him almost tiredly. What had he gotten himself into, and why wasn't he out of it yet? It's not like he had to torch the building or anything. He was confident he could walk in and they wouldn't try to stop him. Well, he wasn't too sure about Vlad. He was still convinced the thing would rip out his jugular if he looked at it wrong.

"How can you be sure? What if he snaps?" Dabi asked, feeling awfully distressed for someone who shouldn't care. Was he going soft? Was it possible to go soft after just a few hours? With tacos, maybe it truly was. Dabi didn't want to think about it too deeply. It's not like he could be friends with them. Chad had a child in his care, albeit a stolen one, and Dabi had just agreed to join The League of Villains. It seemed dumb now that Endeavor was behind bars and people were working to unearth more faux personalities within the hero community. But he couldn't very well back out, either.

"Hey, Vlad, will you snap and kill us all?" Chad's eyes shifted over to where the creature was hunched over on the couch next to Eri. Dabi had to visible hold back his cringe as the thing's head swiveled to face them, opening its beak to answer before closing it again. The scarred man watched it struggle for words for a moment, its shoulders rolling and beak clacking a few times. Finally, it seemed to decide.

"Plastic fork." Vlad said simply, voice scratchy, deep, and unnervingly human.

"That means no." Eri said absentmindedly, eyes not moving from the TV. Was this guy really letting a kid watch John Wick? Never mind, no, it wasn't Dabi's business. He didn't give a shit. It wasn't his kid or his family, and thus he didn't really mind. Not his responsibility! Dabi had no hands on the wheel. He didn't even care. Not even a little bit. Why would he? Exactly, he wouldn't. He doesn't. It's that simple.

...Okay but really, who the fuck let's a six year old watch John Wick-

"See, you have your answer. He's not going to snap and kill us all. He even said so himself." Chad gestured with his empty cup, still waiting for the coffee machine to finish. It was going incredibly slow; a true relic of an appliance. Dabi was nearly tempted to get him a new one just so that weird, gurgling, sputtering noise could cease to exist on this god forsaken planet. That was before he reminded himself he didn't care. Like, at all. And Chad wasn't even that attractive anyway. And it's not like Dabi was enticed by the fact that Chad hadn't bat an eye at his scars. Of course not.

"He said plastic fork." Dabi responded flatly. The coffee machine ceased its dying and began to empty steaming coffee into the pot. 

"Yes, and had he said metal fork, we'd be absolutely fucked." Chad allowed, his sharp golden eyes sliding over to meet Dabi's turquoise ones just briefly before they went back to the coffee pot. The seriousness his tone took on all of a sudden made Dabi straighten almost unconsciously. "If there's ever an issue, I'm prepared to deal with it, and I have other forms of protection in place to ensure no harm comes to Eri while she's in this apartment. I told you I got her from the Yakuza, and you've got to know they're not the type to simply up and give up. I was on edge and prepared well before Vlad came to live here."

"Paper." Vlad was talkative today.

"Thank you, Vlad. I'm glad you think I'm doing a good job." Chad's seriousness melted away into a grin as he poured himself a cup of coffee. Dabi sighed heavily, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest in a calculating manner. 

"...Wait, what sort of protection?" Dabi blinked. Chad grinned. 

"Since you may be joining me as a fellow dad soon-- don't give me that look, I said may be-- I guess I should let you in on my security measures." Chad took a seat across from him. Dabi's nose scrunched up, and he considered standing up and walking off right then and there. The blonde man set down his cup to crack his knuckles. Dabi tried, he really did, not to snort. He couldn't see Chad as intimidating. 

"Okay, so, to start off, I have the UA students Lillian, Bakugo Katsuki, Shinso Hitoshi, Monoma Neito, Todoroki Shoto, and Midoriya Izuku all on speed dial, Hawks, yes, that Hawks, Eraserhead, and Present Mic. I'm also pretty good friends with the well-known detective, Tsukauchi Naomasa. And by that I mean he's been trying to bring me in for questioning for weeks because I shot a shit ton of knee caps in. Anyway, he'd come if I called."  Chad shrugged. Dabi had to consciously keep his jaw from dropping.

There were several things in that sentence that stood out to him. Shoto Todoroki, the name of his little brother, was the first one. It struck one of the saddest chords in him, not to mention the fact that uh, what the fuck, how did this asshat know his brother? It certainly made Dabi curious, if not totally and completely on edge. He wasn't sure how he felt about Shoto knowing this odd man. He didn't like the idea of Shoto interacting with Vlad. At all. Ever.

Next was Lillian. Yes, he was backtracking. Lillian? The one who got his father imprisoned? Dabi felt suddenly far more inclined to stick around. Especially if it meant he got a chance to meet that little spitfire, who just so happened to double as his younger brother's friend. It was nice to know Shoto had some taste. He'd heard of Hitoshi and Neito through her and Present Mic's radio show as well. He wasn't a big fan of teenagers, but they sounded... decent enough. 

He wasn't an original listener of the show or anything. He saw all the Endeavor hate popping up and the theories about all the bastard's wrongdoings, and then he found the source. Apparently Chad knew Present Mic and Eraserhead too. Eraserhead, if he wasn't mistaken, was Lillian's teacher, which might explain how Chad happened to know them. His brother interned with Hawks, so that opened that connection as well. Bakugo Katsuki he isn't too sure about. They're both blonde? 

"Right, but those are other people. How to fuck do you protect her?" Dabi scoffed. He didn't care, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious.

Chad's grin stretched wider. Dabi didn't feel too perturbed. At least, not until Chad started pulling out knives and setting them on the table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's all fun in games until Mr. Worldwide himself shows up." Lillian said in all seriousness, gazing down at the caller screen in all seriousness as though they could see her. Hitoshi and Bakugo had taken over the couch, Bakugo on the end closest to the wall, and Hitoshi on the other. Bakugo's phone was sitting casually on the middle cushion that sat between them, tempting the purple-haired teen with its information. Bakugo was too distracted by Lillian to even notice it was no longer in his hand, gazing at her with silent intensity that made Hitoshi's brows shoot up to his hairline. Even Mic looked a bit questioning.

"What does Mr. Worldwide have to do with anything?" Mic queried. An excellent question if Hitoshi had ever heard one. He inched his hand a bit closer to Bakugo's phone. His own phone was lying close to it, so if Bakugo suddenly decided to tear his attention away from the passionate freckled girl at the mic, he could make a desperate save by snatching his own and preoccupying himself with Instagram for five to ten minutes. It was fool proof. Sort of.

"What doesn't he have to do with?" Lillian responded.

"Woke." The caller seemed to agree. Hitoshi's hand inched closer to the phone. He didn't know the password, but he'd figure something out. 

Bakugo really was too busy gazing at Lillian to notice. Hitoshi supposed that worked in his favor, even if it was downright weird. There was no promise he'd find any answers, but it was worth a shot if it meant he got to the bottom of the explosive blonde's intent gazing. Seriously, he was doing this really... soft stare. He usually had such a hard expression, whether he be glaring, scowling, frowning, or just standing there in general. It took Hitoshi a moment to realize he was just relaxed.

He put a hand on Bakugo's phone. He paused and held his breath. No repercussions thus far. Hitoshi decided it best to proceed.

"Finals went great! I got paired with Bakugo Katsuki. We kicked ass." Lillian answered, seeming more at ease. Bakugo perked up at the sound of his name. Hitoshi withheld a snort to avoid drawing attention to himself. He could practically see the blonde's tail wagging. 

"Is he your boyfriend?" The caller asked excitedly. Mic looked like the soul had been sucked out of him at the question, but Bakugo visibly perked up with clear curiosity as Hitoshi stared at the screen of the phone he'd just swiped. Passwords... he glanced at Lillian, and then at Bakugo.

"Not the last time I checked." Lillian shrugged. She didn't seem to notice Mic's horror. "I romanced him with pizza. Or at least, that's what I told his mom. I was just trying to be a good bro."

Mic genuinely looked like he was having a legitimate, real heart attack. The look he was sending Bakugo was full of terror. Like he couldn't fathom the idea. And honestly, he probably couldn't fathom the idea. Mic had left his cell phone on the coffee table in front of the couch. It was on silent, and Aizawa's name was lighting up the screen. Hitoshi bit back a wince, glancing at Bakugo. The guy didn't seem to notice, too busy smiling at Lillian in a dopey sort of way that made things in Hitoshi's brain sort of click into place. He made a guess at Bakugo's phone password.

Lillian

Wrong

L1ll1an

Correct. Hitoshi wanted to cackle. Neito would be proud.

The phone didn't open into the home screen like he'd expected, but instead into an internet browser full of text. He blinked. Definitely a blog of some sort. A list? Hitoshi began to scroll up, glancing over at Bakugo to see what he was doing. Still staring at Lillian, who was now quoting vines rather than talking about romancing people with pizza. The person asked her to marry them. Bakugo looked pissed, at least in comparison to his previous expression. Mic rolled his eyes and scoffed, while Lillian turned an unflattering shade of red.

Hitoshi shot a glance back down at the stolen phone. He did a double take when he saw the title of the article, his eyes going wide. He almost gaped, but knew that could draw unwanted attention, so he settled for letting his brain tumble and race around in an attempt to process what the fuck he was looking at. It made so much sense. He fucking hated this. No. Fuck. Ugh.

"Ten Signs You're Low-Key In Love With Your Best Friend." 

Hitoshi groaned and chucked the stolen phone at Bakugo, startling him. Where the fuck was Neito? Hitoshi needed emotional support.

"What the fuck were you doing with my phone?!" Bakugo's face went red, with anger or embarrassment, only god knows. Maybe a terrifying mixture of both.

"I'm her best friend, you jackass." Hitoshi scrubbed his eyes tiredly. He wanted to unsee what he just saw, but he also didn't. The information was useful and certainly explained some things, but now what did he do? Bakugo was a dick. Was he really good enough for Lillian? Did Lillian even like him? If rejected, he knew Bakugo would back off, but still. 

"Yeet is my best friend." Lillian said into the microphone, smiling brightly and not at all paying attention to their conversation. Bakugo and Hitoshi both groaned that time.