The last crossover was 50k words,,, this one is 65k and change you guys. It is absolutely INSANE how long this thing is! I'm sorry I've been slacking on the updates-- I've been trying to finish this total beast, which is about 22 chapters all squished together into a truly massive part. One of my amazing patrons, Katie, requested this as a part two to the crossover from last time!

If you have not read that crossover, this one is going to make a lot less sense. You NEED to read that one first. And to those of you who have and are ready for part two, I give you fair warning that this one is.... a little different.

This is a crossover of Freeze Frame, Mind Boggled, Feral, AND Just A Myth. And more than anything, YOU NEED TO READ PART ONE

THIS ONE SHOT DOES NOT EFFECT ANY OF THE INCLUDED STORIES!!!!! DOES! NOT!!! DOESNT EFFECT THEM! 

If you have not read Just A Myth, this will absolutely not make a lick of sense whatsoever besties you're going to be so lost please go read that first, and if you haven't read the other fics, you're probably going to be lost in that regard too. 

Without further ado... let's roll. 

Third person pov

If you just skipped that note get your ass back up there and read it you little shit. At least the underlined part. At minimum. Please I can't deal with the DMs asking me to explain stuff like last time have mercy on me 

Third person pov

Okay, so Harper's going to admit it. This time, it's her fault. 

You can't blame her on this one. Lillian's weird ass Nomu buddy-- yeah, the one that went nuclear in Tsukauchi's apartment with the toaster-- could not stick around forever. And yet Harper could not possibly get rid of the thing either, because what the fuck was she supposed to do with it? Locking him up wasn't an option, letting him go wasn't, keeping him definitely wasn't. They were quite literally stuck with him. There simply was no other choice. It was like being asked to dog sit and then being brought a rabid horse, and then having the owner never come back.

The thing followed Dabi around like a baby duck followed its mother, never giving the man a single moment of peace. It tried to kill Kurogiri the second any of them looked away, and the one time Harper had brought it to UA's campus? Yeah, Izuku had gotten thrown through a goddamn window. Like, full tilt chucked, glass flying, bones breaking, falling several stories out a window. Harper couldn't take it anymore. There was only one option, and that was returning this little hellion to his own dimension. Because he sure as hell didn't belong in this one.

So yeah. This time, it was not by mere coincidence alone that three individuals from three different universes would be directly impacted by the same quirk. This time, Harper tracked the guy responsible down after a solid month of teeth-grinding, agonizing detective work and had forced him to once again interconnect them. He hadn't been the one to do it last time, implying the him from another dimension had probably been the original offender. Harper didn't give a shit. The black hole opened up in the ground and she jumped in this time, dragging that goddamn nuisance of a Nomu with her without pause. Kurogiri's shrill scream followed her, cutting off abruptly when the hole closed right after her and Vlad's entrance through it.

She was getting rid of this thing. Harper had no idea how Lillian could deal with this 'Vlad' business, let alone understand his language. His thoughts were a jumbled up mess that made zero sense at any given time, and he was constantly eating things. It was like having a massive, super enhanced toddler. Not even a toddler. An infant. This thing was an infant. When he wasn't destroying things or attacking people, he was instead repeating the word 'Vinegar' over and over again and drawing pictures of apples to show them. Clearly they were missing something, but again, Harper did not care. She just wanted him gone.

"If you keep thrashing I'll melt your brain." Harper hissed at the creature as it flailed, the pair of them plummeting through that same inky darkness. Harper's hair snapped at her face, whipping around her she fell. It was longer than it had been the last time she fell. Pardon her if she'd been too busy tracking down a solution to this issue to go out and grab a haircut. Kirishima had brightly offered to give her a trim, but there was no way that boy was coming anywhere near her with scissors. Not on her life.

Lillian was in the middle of doing something extremely goddamn stupid, as per usual, when nothingness opened up beneath her. The look on her dad's face had been hilarious. It was the last thing she saw, the last thing she heard being Katsuki's roar of absolute rage. You see, Shoto had been trying to teach her how to spin on her head and breakdance. She could do the latter pretty well in general, but her balance was nothing compared to his when it came head spins. So yeah, she did fall headfirst through a random black hole in her living room floor, but that was okay. Because they'd been trying to find Vlad for forever now, and she had a feeling this was probably where to get him.

That wasn't all, though. Yeah, she'd fallen through headfirst, but she hadn't fallen alone. You see, Shoto had been... you know, holding her up by her legs when it happened. Balancing her so that she didn't tip over like a piece of stiff plywood, if you would. So when she fell straight through, he did too, feet first. Still holding her legs. Lillian immediately strained, chin to chest trying to look at him as her hair smacked haphazardly at her. He peered down at her with big eyes, looking like he had absolutely no idea what to do. She shrugged at him and did her best to reach a hand up to him so she could get upright before they crash landed.

Shoto took it, not really sure what was happening but not really minding as he tugged her up. Lillian didn't look super worried, and she worried about just about everything under the sun. Besides, he'd been through worse. As long as nobody betrayed them, shot at them, or cut off one of their appendages, he was going to count it as a good experience. Besides, the falling sensation was kind of nice. Like a boost of adrenaline bringing him somewhat back to life or something, seeing as he hadn't felt anything real in months. Aside from the time he and Lillian made hash browns together at four in the morning and burned the kitchen down, but that was a dire circumstance and he'd have been a fool not to feel fear when Mr. Aizawa descended upon them. 

Kit had been attempting to sprint across Chad's hospital room to slam a window shut so that Hawks would slam into it like a dumbass when he fell through his portal. The comedic relief would've been hilarious. Was Tenya going to be pissed when he got back from the bathroom only to find out he'd vanished again? Probably, yeah. Gone for five minutes and Kit was, once again, falling through a dimensional rift. He wasn't as unsure about it as he had been the first time around. If anything, he was excited! It took him about two seconds to realize what had happened before he was whooping, throwing his hands above his head and cackling.

Harper Rye and Lillian Aizawa were batshit in their own ways, but Kit had gotten on too well with them not to miss them and wonder how they were doing. They were all the variance of their respective dimensions-- the thing that set their worlds apart from one another. The difference, if you would. That meant they were practically related in Kit's mind. Harper's comebacks were (somehow) better than his were and Lillian was surprisingly funny. You would never suspect it looking at her, but she said some of the weirdest shit he's ever heard in his entire goddamn life! Her and Harper's humor was through the roof. Best time he'd ever had, aside from that one time Tenya-- yeah, you get it. 

Kit peered around, twisting as he plummeted. He spotted someone else not falling far away almost immediately. A brief stint of squinting revealed that it was undoubtedly Harper. She was wearing her trench coat again, arms crossed firm over her chest. His brows arched when he noticed she wasn't alone. She had that gigantic black not-Denise thing hanging off of her like some sort of leech. Vladimir Putin or whatever the fuck Lillian said its name was. But if that thing was from Lillian's dimension, why the fuck did she have it? Harper seemed to spot her as they drew closer, and he could see her smile despite herself.

"Hey, bitch!" Kit hollered, hands cupped around his mouth to maximize his volume. She gave him a nod, trying vaguely to pull away from Putin to no avail. Was it that things fault they were all falling? Because Kit was willing to bet something had gotten fucked up, Lillian's brain monster had ended up with Harper, and Harper had done... well, this. To try and fix it. Is he Sherlock, or is he Sherlock? He's about 98% sure that's what's happening right now. Ugh, yes. He can harass Katsuki again and watch the other version of his boyfriend sputter. His Tenya hardly even blushes these days. And if they follow the trend, Tenya will come get him and they'll make out! Scores all around.

"Oh my god!" An overjoyed, familiar voice shrieked as they rapidly descended towards the light, getting closer and closer to one another as they went. Harper and Kit did their best to turn towards the newcomer, and Vlad let out a scream of joy, detaching from Harper and using her as a springboard to leap through the darkness. Harper probably would've been sent spiraling if not for the fact that they were all being magnetized towards the same location. The girl looked disgruntled by the kick but relieved despite it, visibly relaxing now that she was no longer being clung to. "Vlad!" 

Kit laughed loudly when he finally turned. Lillian had her arms and legs wrapped around someone else, and they had their arms and legs wrapped around her too. That someone being Shoto Todoroki, who looked completely and totally done with the entire situation. Super bored, and-- was he playing on his phone? He had his phone out over Lillian's shoulder and was scrolling through it or something. This was hilarious. He knew seeing these guys again would be the best thing that ever happened to him. This was the vacation he hadn't known he needed. Hopefully Tenya didn't stress too much. 

Vlad tackled Lillian and Shoto, wrapping around them wings and all. The light got closer, brightening until Kit was forced to close his eyes to keep from going blind. He felt himself clumsily collide with someone else before they were clumsily crashing down with a resounding boom. They didn't land neatly. Kit tumbled over who he was pretty sure was Harper, and they'd definitely gone through the hardwood again. However, much like last time, it didn't hurt. It had been a hard landing and was disorienting, but there was no pain or broken bones. Kit laughed again.

There was something surreal about falling so fast only to land just as hard with no pain. Shoto was immediately on guard, grip on Lillian tightening. He knew she could take care of herself, but that didn't mean he couldn't help. He was allowed to be on edge after her last vanishing act. Everyone had spiraled into such a panic then, Mr. Aizawa inconsolable, Bakugo being Bakugo, Kaminari sobbing. Neito and Hitoshi had been okay, but that was because they were emotionally numb. Lillian had claimed it was a pleasant experience and had plenty of stories to share, but still.

Nobody spoke for a while, the group catching their breath and regaining themselves, not even bothering to move. Vlad trilled happily, still hugging Lillian and Shoto. He took turns nuzzling his beak into their hair, seeming extremely content. Shoto was still holding Lillian and yeah, that was Temple Run he was playing. Kit didn't really know the Todoroki of his own dimension, but this one had clearly seen Lillian's influence and had been changed from it. And it was so, so fucking hilarious. This was golden. Absolutely golden. He couldn't wait to experience this. Did he have his phone? He needed a phone. He had to film this. 

"If I had a nickel for every time I've hopped dimensions, I'd have two nickels." Lillian decided after everyone's breathing got less hard. She was grinning as she removed an arm from around Shoto to instead wrap it around Vlad, who squirmed with joy. "Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."

Finding Vlad was an immeasurable weight off of her shoulders, and seeing Harper and Kit again made her feel light and airy. Lillian liked to think they'd become pretty good friends the last time this happened, and knowing she wouldn't see them again had originally had her feeling pretty sad. Seeing now that this clearly wasn't the case was... well, it was nice. Startling, because falling through the ground and into an entirely different world was potentially dangerous, but still nice.

"Please don't quote Phineas and Ferb to me right now." Harper groaned, sounding mournful and like she might be in pain. Kit pulled himself off the girl, mercifully deciding that his elbow in her ribs wasn't what she needed right now. He took a second to look down at her. She was at the bottom of the little crater in the floor just like last time, her hair a little longer and the bags under her eyes a lot deeper than they had before. A glance at Vlad explained that. Denise was extremely well behaved, but Kit could feel the chaotic energy pouring out of that thing in waves. And it had only been like, two seconds. No wonder Lillian was one of the few who could actually wrangle the thing.

"You look like shit." Kit took her hand and hiked her up. Harper grumbled something under her breath and tried to ignore the way her bones creaked as she sat upright. "Shit doesn't even begin to cover how bad she looks, actually. What happened? Did she get bulldozed by a steamroller or something? Wait, she's dating that redheaded fuck, right? Gingers. Guy seemed like he had a lot of energy. No wonder she's exhausted. Oo la la." 

Harper gave Kit a flat look. She was given a Cheshire-worthy grin of her troubles and decided that she was more relieved than annoyed. Kit's attitude was more tolerable than Katsuki's ever would be, and she tolerated Katsuki just fine. So this was arguably an upgrade if nothing else. If anyone deserved it, it was Harper. The bullshit she dealt with was immense and though her patience was too, it was quickly wearing thin.

"H-Hey, guys!" Lillian beamed at them, unravelling herself from Shoto. Vlad scrambled back, shooting to his feet and towering to his full height. He almost hit his brain on the ceiling. What would happen if he did? Kit wasn't sure he wanted to find out. He supposed Denise had slammed into doorways a few times and nothing had happened to him, but he had never like... squelched his brain on anything. Was that something they even wanted to test? Would it kill him? "Shoto, look!" 

Shoto turned his phone off and glanced at them, standing up with an immeasurable amount of grace. He brought Lillian up with him, squeezing her hand and not letting go as he did. Kit held his hands up in mock surrender, still seated cross-legged on a part of the floor they hadn't broken. Shoto looked rightfully skeptical considering Kit had no shoes on and was dressed in a shirt that said 'born to shit, forced to wipe' on it. 

Harper took a few more deep breaths, allowing herself to relax for the first time in weeks. Finally. Finally, she was done babysitting this thing. She and Dabi could finally rest. They were the only ones Vlad listened to-- and with Harper, it was only on occasion that he'd obey her. Bakugo too, but that had gone horribly after the blond had asked the creature to dropkick Mr. Aizawa and the thing had actually listened. Guy had gone absolutely flying. Broken arm and a nose that would now forever be crooked. Katsuki hadn't even been sorry. He'd thought it was fucking hilarious.

"If I'd known we could bring friends I would've invited Tensei." Kit sighed, shaking his head a bit at the freckled girl. "Only because Tenya would've freaked out more. More stress equals more kissing after? I'm a piece of shit. Anyway, how'd we get here? Is this going to be a monthly occurrence? Is this the man's version of a period? No, shit would hurt more. This is just hilarious."

Shoto raised an eyebrow, glancing at Lillian. The girl shrugged. Had she hyped Harper and Kit up to her friends? Obviously she had. Perhaps she hadn't been specific enough about Kit's personality. She'd just sorta waved a vague hand and said that he was about twenty-percent cooler than Katsuki, which yeah, was a My Little Pony reference if you were wondering. Neito and Hitoshi had totally gotten it, but Shoto, Kaminari, her dad and even Katsuki himself were still somewhat uncultured in their ways.

"Me. It was me." Harper sighed, bringing a hand up to massage her forehead. She cast a glower at Vlad, who hovered behind Lillian and Shoto happily. The creature had the audacity to cock his head as though he didn't know exactly what Harper was talking about. The thing could understand Japanese just fine but pretended it couldn't at it's convenience and just so it didn't have to pay taxes. She turned her gaze on Lillian, pleading. "Take your dog with you next time. Please. He's blown up my apartment and keeps trying to fuck up my classmates and... whatever the hell Kurogiri is."

"So you had Vlad." Shoto acknowledged. Shoto gave the nomu a once over, frowning. His expression was a lot more open than Harper was used to in her own Shoto, but he seemed more tired somehow. Not the same tense-tired he was in her dimension, but a... more grievous type. Maybe it had something to do with their Izuku being the traitor. "They gave him a toaster."

Yeah. Yeah, no, seeing Shoto was odd. His thoughts weren't the ones Harper knew. They were... steadier. Happier, but sadder, but... they were just different. He felt like an entirely different person actually. Put this Shoto next to hers and there was no comparison to be made. They were not alike at all anymore. Harper couldn't explain it. It's not that they were entirely different outwardly, but the mentalities didn't measure. Lillian had done an amazing job. 

"You gave him a toaster." Lillian looked horrified, saying it at almost the same time Shoto thought it. Harper could not stop her astonishment. How were they both getting that from a single look? "I think I owe Harper financial and emotional compensation for this."

"He blows shit up if you give him a toaster?" Kit asked, looking absolutely gleeful. Harper forced herself to stand, shivering a bit at the memory. "I know exactly what I'm doing with Denise when I get back."

"Among other things." Shoto shared a look with Lillian, who solemnly shook her head. He shook his back. Kit felt himself become even happier. This was the best day of his goddamn life. Lillian and Shoto Todoroki. She'd mentioned being his friend before, but seeing was believing as they say. He really wanted photos. Ugh, why did he have to lose his belongings so often? He'd definitely had his shoes on when he fell through the floor. "I wonder if ate all their lightbulbs too."

"We're not talking about it." Harper decided, tired. Shoto gave her a sympathetic look Harper hadn't expected. Lillian turned to give Vlad an unimpressed stare. Somehow, the creature seemed to understand just what that gaze meant coming from her. But not from Harper. Yeah, whatever. Harper didn't care anymore. She didn't care! She hadn't slept for more than two hours in the past god knows how long, Kurogiri now had a fear of Nomu and birds, and the apartment was gone. Harper had literally been bouncing between Kirishima's house and... and Sansa's apartment. She shivered thinking about it.

"W-We should go to UA again, r-right?" Lillian added hastily, and Harper gave her a grateful look for the subject change. Kit sighed, bobbling to his feet and stretching his arms high above his head until his back popped. Shoto scooted away from him like he was a bomb waiting to go off, seeming awfully suspicious for a guy with the audacity to wear a shirt that said "sadness is temporary, swag is forever" in comic sans. Had Lillian had to force that onto him or had she really changed him so much that this was his default? Again, Kit was really wishing he had a phone right now. Maybe Harper had hers. This was Suzuko Magazine worthy material right here. "I should hug them."

Seeing them all again was like, super duper weird. But super duper not at the same time. Lillian felt excitement and warmth swell up in her unbidden, and she couldn't stop smiling. It had been getting harder and harder to smile these days, but it was impossible not to at a time like this! The realization that she'd never see Harper or Kit again last time hadn't been super cash money, so it was a nice surprise to be sucked back here again. She even got to bring Shoto, who deserved a break. She just... but wait, if he saw Izuku...

"Just try and hug me right now." Harper threatened. Kit and Lillian shared a look briefly before nodding to one another. Shoto would be okay. They'd talk about it. They'd figure this out. Maybe Vlad could throw Izuku out a window. He'd survive, right? They had bigger things to worry about right now.

Harper groaned and let it happen. Shoto, despite not knowing these other two people, snapped a photo for good measure. Katsuki would blow everyone up later if he thought Lillian had been upset by this, after all.

~~~~~~~~~

So things had been going well. Originally. 

They left the rickety house to find they'd landed in the same home in the same neighborhood, and could thus traverse the same path to UA high as before. Neither Lillian nor Harper could quite remember it in its entirety, but Kit had no issues taking the lead and boastfully striding off and into the alleys he'd led them through before. He updated them on everything that had gone on since they last met with gusto, and Shoto found himself quite intrigued with his plan to take down Endeavor. Lillian had done way better than he had, though. She had taken Enji down faster too, but it sounded like Kit had plans to drag him kicking and screaming through the mud, so Shoto had to at least applaud him for that. 

Harper muttered about a few things but mostly just glared at Vlad, which explained exactly how she'd been spending her time. Kit did wring a few reluctant details about her and the redhead's relationship out of her. There wasn't much to tell, Harper had insisted, and then had glared at Vlad again. Kit had turned to Lillian expectantly, hoping and praying for some juicy details about her and his alternate cousin and finding nothing. The girl had just shrugged at him and told him it was 'a croissant not yet dropped.' Whatever the fuck that meant. Shoto seemed to get it, so he guessed it was good? He'd wanted some piping hot tea and had gotten ice water. 

"So neither of you have gotten any?" Kit complained. Two shrugs. Ugh, this was like pulling teeth. He'd badger them about it when he wasn't trying to avoid stepping on broken glass. Again, what had happened to his goddamn shoes? "My quirkless diagnosis had to have been a fucking fluke. There's no way this is normal."

"I got some." Shoto announced, and Kit whirled to him with bright, eager eyes. Shoto stared at him, face blank. "Some trauma."

He and Lillian high-fived. Harper had no words. Kit wasn't sure if he should laugh or stew in his confusion. 

"Cheers to that. Why haven't they given us therapy yet? Is that legal?" Lillian sounded like she was genuinely asking. Harper wanted to point out that yeah, it was super goddamn illegal not to give kids counseling after all that, but she didn't have the energy to tackle it right now. She was still processing the fact that she was finally free from Vlad. Well, sorta free. He was at least behaving himself, seeming content to silently shadow Shoto and Lillian rather than terrorize her. "Whatever. The PTSD adds flavor. Shoto and I are another breed of betrayed." 

Speaking of which, Lillian had given Shoto the rundown on the way there with the help of, surprisingly, Vlad. Harper still had no idea how in the literal hell they knew what he was saying. She wasn't going to ask, and Kit didn't look too keen on trying either. Lillian's thoughts gave Harper very minor insight. Anyway, Lillian actually... well, she didn't say so much as she looked at Shoto. So it didn't matter much when words weren't even involved. 

They seemed able to communicate with small gestures alone, Lillian grabbing both his hands and explaining that there were copies of everyone here. Everyone, she'd stressed with her brows pinched, and Shoto had gotten when she'd meant immediately. His face had twisted a little and he'd glanced down and then back up at her, and she'd nodded and squeezed his hands firmly. And he'd deflated like a balloon and-- yeah, it was all very interesting to watch. They were clearly super close friends, and it was obvious that Shoto looked at her with a lot of warmth and trust. Kit looked caught between smugness and awe, a grin stretched wide across his face at the pair.

Shoto had gotten tenser after Lillian's explanation, but they weren't going to comment. Even Kit, as crass as he happened to be, didn't bring it up. Besides, they had bigger goddamn fish to fry.

"H-Hey, I'm going to need backup at the front gate. Like, lots of it." Present Mic's voice held a very small tremor as he stared at them with big eyes, his tinted glasses glinting in the sun. Present Mic, who'd been the traitor and had been caught by them in the previous dimension. There was no recognition in his thoughts as he looked Vlad up and down, eyes flickering to Shoto in total bewilderment. "Shoto Todoroki is-- I just had the kid in English class, and I don't... who the hell are these kids? And why do they have a Nomu? They're just standing there. Should I detain them? Is this a threat?"

Harper could feel her headache getting worse. Mic fumbled with the walkie talkie a bit, never looking away from their odd group. This was ass. This was literally a rat's ass and they were sitting in the pits of it. It was hot outside, Harper's magnificently breezy plan to get rid of Vlad was backfiring in every imaginable way. Lillian had to agree that this could be going better, sharing a look with the brunette. This was like, low-key awkward. This was her dad's best friend, who'd been a traitor in the last alternate dimension they'd gone in. Was he one here? If he was, Harper hadn't said.

Kit pursed his lips, hands planted on his hips. The standard disappointed mom pose, Izuku called it. He took it as a compliment. Seriously, the way Pixar built their mothers? Otherworldly. He'd take it any day of the goddamn week. Not the point right now. This complicated vat of shit had just turned into like, several vats of complicated shit. Or maybe it was still just one vat of complicated shit, but more complicated. He wasn't sure yet. All he knew was that whatever was going to happen, it was gonna be good.

"U-Uh...." Lillian trailed off, squinting. Wait, Present Mic had been the traitor, right? That had happened? She hadn't imagined that? Shoto was still holding her hand looking vaguely disinterested now, though she could see tension lined in the slant of his shoulders. He was playing Words With Friends currently. A game they all argued was for grandmas and single, desperate older men. He didn't appear to care, and neither did Neito, who was Shoto's sworn rival. "Bro, this isn't buttering my eggroll." 

"This is a problem." Harper decided, because digging around told her that this Present Mic wasn't a traitor. Which raised some very troublesome, migraine-inducing issues in her astute opinion.

"No shit it's a problem. Is this not the same dimension we came to before?" Kit asked, waving a bold hand in Present Mic's direction. The blonde hero, for the record, didn't flinch at the gesture. He just stood there cluelessly, seemingly not knowing what to do or what to make of the situation. Kit had been sorta looking forward to reuniting with the other alternate dimension, but this didn't mean his day was ruined. Was this a dent in his plans? Hell yes, but this just meant new opportunities! That's all! Like he'd said, this was gonna be good.

Glancing at Lillian and Harper, he wasn't entirely convinced they felt the same way. Lillian looked vaguely terrified, gripping Shoto's hand a little tighter than she had been a moment ago. Harper was somehow managing to look more tired than she had before, which was actually pretty impressive if you asked Kit. That was fine. He would be the glue that held this family together until their respective side pieces came and picked them up. Until then, they'd figure this shit out and things would be perfectly fine. At least Putin was behaving himself. Or whatever they said its name was.

"They probably won't find us for a while, then." Shoto drawled. Present Mic looked startled to hear that he sounded exactly like the Shoto from here, but the half-and-half teen didn't even bother looking away from his phone. Harper still had no idea what to make of him. It was sort of funny, but she also wanted to ask a bunch of questions and take notes so she knew how to fix her own Todoroki. "They'll check the other dimension first. And we're not there." 

Harper took a very long, deep breath. Uh huh. Alright, cool. You know what? She'd done this, so she wasn't even allowed to complain. It was worth it to get Vlad the fuck away from her and her shit. Harper hadn't been able to get anything done. Nothing! Everything had been placed at a standstill, all because of that flying goddamn menace. It would be a pain to explain what had happened to this Nezu, but if they were lucky they could ride this out the same way they had this one. She could only hope there wasn't too much difference, and that the traitor was either easily caught or didn't exist in this dimension. 

"Ask them why they're here. I'm sending Eraserhead your way." Nezu's voice hummed over the walkie talkie, just as irritating as Harper had always known it to be. Lillian shifted her weight from foot to foot, swinging her and Shoto's clasped hands back and forth. This was really fun. A little slow. Maybe they should've stopped for food on the way. Done some more catching up or something. Lillian could totally go for some Cici's Pizza right now. Not because it's good, but because it's so bad that it fits the situation's aesthetic. 

Vlad made a trilling noise that had Present Mic tensing. Lillian jabbed her elbow back and into the creature's stomach lightly, shooting him a warning look that had Harper groaning and massaging her temples once again. This was actually her life right now. If Vlad weren't so bad at listening to her, this would've gone great-- might not have even happened, actually. But apparently Lillian is the resident nomu whisperer, and if anyone in her dimension knew how to get to Harper's, they clearly weren't showing it. Thus, here they were.

"Wait. Wait, just do the eye shit." Kit realized, turning to look at Lillian. The girl's mouth formed an O. "She did that last time and they rolled out the red carpet. So if we do it again, the same thing will happen, right? I knew I was a goddamn genius" 

"Fold lightbulb." Vlad seemed to agree, bobbing his head. His voice was raspy and made Harper want to punch something. Present Mic took a very exaggerated step back. 

"H-He's harmless! I promise he's harmless." Lillian sputtered to the voice hero, trying to comfort him but falling short. Present Mic looked extremely skeptical. It was painfully obvious he didn't believe a single word coming out of her mouth right now. Kit couldn't even fucking blame the guy. At least Denise had good proportions. This things arms were longer than he remembered. "I feel literally so bad right now, but I also want to film it to show to my Mic. Should I? I should have Shoto do it. He has steadier hands than I do anyway. I think it's a gay guy thing, honestly. Neito is the same way. They could both be surgeons. Oh, hi Harper. Are you listening to this right now? Yeah, okay, you don't have to give me that look."

"Secret love child." Shoto's thoughts hushed almost reverently, and he nodded with earnest anticipation. Lillian didn't seem nearly as sure, pursing her lips and glancing at Present Mic and then at Harper. Because if anyone was going to be making the hefty decisions here, it was going to be her. Lillian's had the emotional stability of a gingerbread house made by a two year old, Shoto didn't count, and Kit was... well, Kit somehow managed to lose the shoes on his feet everywhere he went, and Lillian felt like that summed everything up beautifully. Oh, and there was Vlad. But he was like a broken, bulb-less lamp. All he did was stand there in the corner and act as a fire hazard... or something

Kit and Lillian looked at Harper expectantly, Shoto doing the same. For him to forgo his phone must've meant he was extremely excited. Harper sagged. Why was she the one they looked to for this shit? Hadn't Lillian been through more than she had? And wasn't Kit running an entire corporation? Yet somehow she was the one to turn to for guidance in this situation. Yeah, made tons of goddamn sense. She needed a coffee. Or six. Remember when she'd been stressed about having to deal with Stain and Sero? Had been bitching her ass off about what a pain it was? Yeah, this was karma for that. That was a cakewalk compared to this.

It's not that she wasn't happy to see Lillian and Kit again. It was definitely nice to see them after thinking she never would again, and she was glad to get Vlad home and away from her dimension. But this was turning into less of hand-over and more of a mess than she'd anticipated. Which really, she should've come in assuming something would go sideways with her track record. Especially when you considered Lillian's on top of her own. The only one who had decent luck here was Kit, honestly. Everything seemed to work out for him; probably because he was willing to break the law and then laugh about it. 

"You know what? Knock yourself the fuck out." Harper sighed, shaking her head and deciding that this would either complicate things ten times more or speed this right on along. Kit grinned, and Lillian gave a thumbs up. Shoto gazed at Lillian like she was about to do a party trick. He must be in it for the reactions. Why had Harper expected better from him? Lillian had obviously tainted him. The shirt was a dead giveaway. 

"Is this a mermaid thing?" Mic's thoughts intoned distantly, and her eyes snapped to him, her brows raising. Sorry? What the fuck was he even talking about? She had a bad feeling about this. "This is definitely some weird merfolk thing. Shotaaaa, your husband is attracting cryptids againnnn."

Before Harper could even begin to process what the hell that meant, Lillian's hair was flying up and her eyes were glowing red. Kit cackled like a madman, and Shoto's phone was swinging up to take a photo and then swinging back down so fast you could've blinked and missed it. Harper had to admit that the look on Mic's face was pretty funny. His eyes got big as dinner plates, his jaw dropping in a way that would look unnatural on anyone but him. His walkie talkie, not unlike the first time they'd come to another dimension, fell to the ground with a clatter that made Kit even more hysterical.

Lillian jazzed one of her hands, the other still held in Shoto's. They were in this together. They were one another's emotional support animals. Or something. Was that even worded right? Lillian doesn't know and neither does the author. All she knows is that Shoto appeared as though his day has been made. The half-and-half teen looked deeply satisfied by the turn of events. He turned towards Present Mic, face almost grim. Lillian was too used to his odd behavior to bat an eye, but Kit sounded like he was having as asthma attack as Shoto loomed forward.

"Secret love child." Shoto echoed his previous thoughts, voice lowered conspiratorially. Mic looked like he might've stopped breathing entirely. Behind him, Harper picked up on another set of thoughts entering her radius. Lillian leaned to the left, peering around the blonde voice hero as well. She raised her hand in a wave, her hair dropping back down and spilling messily over her shoulders. Eraserhead stared back, stopped in the middle of the pathway with a stricken, entirely lost look on his face.  

The gates gave a rattling beep before they were opening for them, sliding out of the way. Just like last time, Lillian's eyes and hair were more than enough to intrigue Nezu into letting them in. Which was incredibly dangerous by the way. What if they were terrorists or something? When in doubt, blame the rat. Harper had done the dimension hopping this time, but that didn't mean she couldn't pin it on him to make herself feel better. The rodent deserved it for all the trouble he caused her. Seriously, she was about 90% sure he was banned from entering at least twelve countries and was considered a war criminal in more than that.

They all sort of just... stood there for a second. Aizawa stared back at the group, feeling himself grow more and more confused as the seconds ticked by and the appearance of them sunk in. The first thing that caught his eye was the massive nomu looming behind the group of four teens. It was lanky and taller than the one at the USJ, with wings gangly limbs too long to be normal. Still, it had the trademark jet black skin and exposed brain that easily gave it away. His throat felt tight, and it wasn't helped by the sight of Shoto Todoroki.

He had just left his classroom. Todoroki had been in there-- had been sitting in his seat, blank-faced and well behaved as usual. Yet there he was, holding hands with the girl who... who looked like him. Had the same hair and glowing eyes as he did. Looking at her face in comparison to his, they looked painfully alike. Only he didn't have any siblings or children, or even cousins that he could recall. She had freckles and bright blue eyes from what he could tell from here, and she seemed a bit nervous, glancing away when she felt they'd made eye contact for too long. 

"Does this have something to do with Atlantis?" Aizawa wondered, thoughts of his husband immediately circling to the forefront of his mind. "Or the league? Why would they send a double of the Number Two Hero's youngest son? Isi t All For One? Merfolk?" 

Harper bluescreened for about half a second before her systems came back online. Merfolk. That was the second time it had been brought up, and she was beginning to think that wasn't a coincidence.

~~~~~

Yeah, it definitely wasn't a coincidence. 

Kit took charge and marched through UA's hulking gates with a sharp grin, parading past the paralyzed form of Present Mic with gusto. Harper slunk after him tiredly, Lillian and Shoto sharing a look before the freckled girl was tugging her half-and-half companion along too. Vlad came along almost robotically, and Mic looked like he may cry when the creature made eye contact with him. Vlad pointed two fingers at his own face before thrusting them at Mic for good measure, the universal gesture for 'I'm watching you.' It was, unsurprisingly, not well received. Lillian wasn't paying for his therapy.

Vlad was smarter than most gave him credit for, which was why his blatant chaos-causing had been so frustrating to Harper. He was at least behaving himself now. He seemed to know that he couldn't act out, keeping close to Lillian and Shoto. He kept his wings carefully tucked in and his arms at his sides, not making any sudden movements. He kept his head lowered, his entire body leaning a little over the pair he was following. Like a shield. A docile one, luckily. Harper wasn't sure what they'd do if UA wasn't an option, so if this massive flying piece of shit ruined this for them, she'd pluck his disgusting brain out herself.

Anyway, back to the merfolk thing. Aizawa had spun around on his heel and instructed them to follow him in a curt tone that gave nothing away; though, Harper could feel the way his heart thundered. Harper had immediately dug into his thoughts, clawing through them like a starving man through a dumpster full of food. Anything useless was discarded, but she clung to what little bits of information she could. She had reached a pretty clear conclusion with little effort. An insane one, but as simply as she could put it.... this Aizawa is married. To a merman. 

Shota Aizawa is married to a merman. A mythical creature. A being with the upper half of a human and the lower half of a fish. Like, magic stuff, ocean stuff, gills. The whole nine yards. 

No, she didn't actually want to put stock into this idea. She'd dissociated the entire walk to the rat's office just to sort through Aizawa's thoughts and try to find some semblance of a mental illness causing this and had come up dry. Lillian had tapped her on the shoulder a few times to try and see if she was okay, but it was to no avail. Kit was too busy chattering Aizawa's ear off about the state of politics in Japan today. Aizawa wasn't responding, glancing back at Lillian and Shoto every so often with a tight, slightly-panicked look in his eyes. Lillian threw a peace sign at him anytime he stared too long, and Shoto would bite his lip and squint like a fuckboy. Kit laughed every time. Peak comedy. 

Moral of the story, the Aizawa from here was either batshit fucking crazy or he was genuinely married to a mythical creature who, currently, appeared to be Recovery Girl's assistant or something. Or he was at least in her office according to Aizawa's vague train of thought. Harper would've dubbed him good for the looney bin could she not feel the undertone of someone else's emotions mingling with his. He was connected with someone-- probably his supposed husband-- and it was... unnatural. She could sense it. It was a tingle under the man's skin, warm and enveloping him. Singing almost softly, comforting and gentle in its ways. Harper wanted to reach out and grab it, but wouldn't. Couldn't, even if she wanted to. It was rooted to Aizawa loyally, ingrained in his very bones it felt like.

The feeling was one she explored as thoroughly as she could. It wasn't natural, and it seemed to know she was there. It didn't reject her prodding. It welcomed her curiosity kindly, and Harper was glad. Still, something nervous bubbled in the pit of the mind reader's stomach. There was a variance in every dimension. Kit's was vastly different from Lillian's in many ways, and Lillian's was vastly different than Harper's in many ways. A lot of times it was a bunch of small differences that added up and changed everything. A domino effect.

Harper had a sneaking suspicion that there wasn't a domino-anything here. That things were just different down to the very core of the dimension. This was not as simple as a single person being added into the equation and setting off the buttery effect. This was... it was big, and it was something she didn't even want to try and wrap her head around. The energy in Aizawa-- the bond-- was not something she'd ever felt. It felt alive and conscious, and this talk of merfolk... damn. What had she gotten them into?

Aizawa could feel dread beginning to creep up his spine the further they walked into UA. Nezu's decision to bring them in seemed baseless, especially considering they had a nomu. He had just let a nomu into the school. Of course, Atlantis had healed Shota before Nezu could truly take in the extent of the damage the creature had done, so perhaps he didn't realize how dangerous the thing was. Or maybe he just didn't care now that they had someone who could heal virtually any injury. Either way, he could feel Atlantis beginning to worry over him as he sunk further and further into the possibilities.

"Why come here?" Aizawa grumbled internally, glancing back at them again. Lillian waved at him when he met her blue eyes again, and Vlad raised his hand and copied her almost exactly. Aizawa visibly hardened at the Nomu's movement. "Who are they?"

"Now, I know what the hell you're thinking. Why come here? Who are they?" Kit asked charismatically. Harper gave him a good side-eye but was too distracted by the potential mermaid/merman bullshit to say anything. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the boy distastefully. "Shit's such an incredibly long story. On an entirely unrelated note that has nothing to do with Lillian, have you ever thought about having children?"

Shoto made a noise in the back of his throat, and Lillian covered her laugh with a rather convincing cough. Harper ignored it, tromping past Aizawa like she owned the place and zeroing in on the rat's door like a heat seeking missile. She ignored Kit's snickering thoughts and Shoto's theorizing ones. Who the fuck was Mera? From some licensing exam? Harper wasn't sure, but whoever it was, they definitely weren't related.

Lillian tugged on Shoto's hand lightly as Harper powerwalked ahead. Her friend arched a brow at her, and Lillian jerked her head in the direction the brunette was heading and frowning. Shoto glanced and nodded almost solemnly. It was time to prepare for a shit show. Lillian didn't claim to know the ins and outs of Harper's mind and actions, but she felt like they'd gotten to know each other fairly well the last time they were all together like this! Even if they hadn't, it was super obvious something was bothering her.

Harper didn't hesitate to slam the office door open, feeling restless. She tried to convince herself that this would all be fine and that it could totally be worse, but could it? Could it really be any worse than it already was? Mermaids. Mermen. Merpeople. This had to be a joke. Was she being punked right now? At least this Aizawa wasn't over-the-top excitable. Sometimes it was the little things.

Nezu was seated behind his desk, pleasantly smiling in that infuriatingly cheery, calm way he usually did. Harper resisted the urge to grab him and throw him like a baby. Seriously. Harper could punt this goddamn menace like a football and what was he going to do? Absolutely nothing. Ugh, he had his tea and everything. Was it too much to ask for a dimension that had a different principal? She'd even take furry Endeavor over this. Maybe. Okay, it really depended on who was in the room. If Hound Dog or Sansa were present, absolutely not. She'd deal with Nezu every day of the goddamn week as opposed to that. But if it was just them, then...

"My word! What do we have here? A girl with a quirk like Aizawa's, possibly, and a second Shoto Todoroki. This one looks a bit older. Time travel? Alternate dimension? They have a nomu! A docile one, it appears! The freckled one seems able to understand it, and possibly Todoroki as well. And the puny little brunette with no shoes-- who is he? I wonder what their quirks are!" Nezu's thoughts went at a mile a minute. It wasn't often he found himself not knowing, after all. "First the mystery of the merfolk and now this! The girl in the trench coat is dressed almost identically to Tsukauchi. Any relation? Goodness, this is so peculiar. I love it!"

Harper couldn't do this. She couldn't do this! She hadn't slept in what felt like a decade, she needed coffee, and just like last time, she was being forced to rely on Nezu of all people. Alright. Deep breaths, right? She had done this to herself! She had brought them here. Harper had just been under the impression that they'd all go back to the same dimension as before and would be able to walk in, collapse and wait. In hindsight, this was stupid as literal fuck and a horrible thing to assume. Can you blame her? She was sleep deprived and had been fighting for her goddamn life against Vlad and his general destructiveness. 

And now they were stuck here. Where there were, apparently, merpeople. Or something. Harper was really hoping it wasn't as troubling as it sounded.

"Please shut the fuck up." Harper groaned, collapsing boneless into one of the arm chairs. Kit skipped in the door almost as soon as she did so with Aizawa skirting close behind. The man was intimidatingly silent, though his thoughts weren't. He also seemed extremely, extremely irritated by Kit in general. "Yes. Alternate fucking dimension. Say another word and I'll have Lillian tell Vlad over there to chuck you out the nearest goddamn window. Since he's not going to do it if I tell him to."

Vlad, who had just walked in behind Lillian and Shoto, cocked his head. Once again as though he did not know exactly what she was talking about. Harper flipped him off for good measure whilst Lillian sent Harper an apologetic look. 

Nezu froze. Went absolutely still, staring at Harper for a good long couple of seconds. He didn't glance away from her even when Kit threw himself into another one of the chairs, nor did he when Vlad tucked himself into the corner. Lillian and Shoto stood awkwardly next to Aizawa, both of them sporting the exactly same expression. Lips pressed together, brows flat, glancing at one another like they had no idea what to do. Aizawa watched them with a morbid sense of curiosity, Harper's words striking him hard. Alternate dimension. As in, another world. And if... 

"Alternate dimension?" Shota asked carefully, staring at Lillian. The girl blinked at him, offering a shy smile. Her eyes showed familiarity when she looked at him. It would explain the Shoto Todoroki double. Holy shit. They'd really just let a Shoto Todoroki double and a nomu into the school. If the press got a hold of this it was over for them. "If they're from an alternate dimension, and she has my quirk... dear god. How am I going to explain this to Atlantis?" 

"Yeah." Lillian shrugged, not really knowing what else there was to say. She shifted her weight from foot to foot. "Dude, what do I even say right now? Congrats on being a dad? I'm pretty sure that's a wedding ring he's got on, so that's like, extra-awkward for him."

Harper continued to watch Nezu and listen to his cogs whir. This one seemed way stupider than the other ones, which could either be great or entirely awful. Maybe he was just having issues processing. Harper hadn't blown up on this one the same way she had the last, so he had less to work with to reach a conclusion. Right? Yeah, whatever. Anyway, she wondered how long he was going to take, and if he'd mind if she went and grabbed some coffee out of the teacher's lounge whilst he processed. Because if this was going to take a while, she'd need some caffeine. Already needed caffeine, actually, but long conversations with Nezu really awakened her addiction. 

"She's your secret love child." Turns out Lillian didn't have to worry about telling her alternate dad about their relation, because Shoto was going to take the reigns and do it for her. Lillian cleared her throat, yanking on her friend's hand and forcing a smile as Aizawa's eyes got especially big. Shoto fidgeted, squinting a bit. "...Not. Not your... secret love child."

"How convincing." Kit drawled, grinning lazily. He was stretched out like a languid cat in his chair, back braced against one arm rest and legs thrown over the other. His sideways pose was messy, yet he still somehow managed to look like model material. Lillian's nose scrunched up. People who looked pretty from any and every angle scared her. "I'm getting deja vu from the last time this happened."

Kit was honestly just waiting for something exciting to happen. He couldn't wait to sink his claws into this new class. This time he wasn't going to tell them that Tenya was his boyfriend. He was just going to wait for Tenya to show up and get him, and then they'd find out. It was fucking genius! So much more dramatic than the first time around. Ugh, he could hear the shocked screaming now. In this world, he didn't have to worry about his reputation with the magazine, which also meant he could probably break several laws and get away with it. Food for thought.

"You're a mind reader." Nezu breathed, breaking out into a full-blown grin. Shoto raised his phone and snapped a photo. Lillian glanced at her dad, giving him a look that he probably shouldn't have understood yet somehow did. He felt his bewilderment grow even further, and Atlantis' concern with it. He was clearly wondering why Aizawa was going through such emotional whiplash. And yeah, Shota couldn't blame him. He was wondering why too. 

Shoto glanced down at his phone when it vibrated in his hand right as he was about to slip it back into his pocket, brows furrowing. He tugged on Lillian slightly, showing her the screen. Lillian's brows raised. How was he getting Words With Friends challenges from Neito if Neito wasn't even in this dimension? This had to be proof that they were living in a simulation, right? Maybe Elon Musk was onto something.

"It took you over sixty seconds to reach that conclusion." Harper leaned forward, glowering. Vlad made a gurgling noise that she didn't bother replying too. All that thing was getting from her was the middle finger. "Now, I'm going to tell you what's happening and you're going to listen. And them I'm going to get some coffee."

Nezu, wisely, did not say anything else. Harper took a deep breath and began.

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

"I have a daughter." Aizawa repeated almost blankly, staring at Lillian with a vacant expression on his face. Shoto nodded excitedly, but Kit could only give the underground pro an unimpressed look. Harper's head was in her hands. Lillian was tempted to go over and pat her on the back in condolence. Under the weight of Nezu's smile, the freckled girl could only imagine the pain she was in. 

"All that, and that's the only thing you draw from this? We've dimension hopped twice. There's another Shoto Todoroki, I'm rich and gay, they have a tamed Nomu or whatever the fuck you're calling them, and Harper is a mind reading assistant to the police force. But you having a kid is the shocking thing here?" Kit asked. Lillian nodded in total agreement. He was literally a teacher, so it's not like he hated children or anything. Like, he did, but in a loving way. Or something. Lillian still wasn't sure how it worked. Either way, was him having a secret daughter really that out of the question for him?

Nezu could not believe his tiny mammalian ears! Harper Rye had explained things rather well, stating first in no unclear terms that they were not a threat and that their presence here was not brought on by ill intent. Her and Lillian were loyal UA students, she'd proclaimed (albeit rather irritably). Shoto Todoroki as well; though, that was a bit of a given if you asked Nezu. Harper had given their names one by one and had expressed that this was not the first time they had hopped dimensions. The first time had been on accident, and had ended with them all misplaced in a world different than this one and from their own.

The Nezu of the other dimension sounded like quite the dastardly mastermind if you asked this Nezu. He had placed the three dimension travelers-- yes, three; Shoto Todoroki was evidently a new addition, as was the nomu-- in Class 1-A. Such a brilliant idea! Two were students of UA, and Nezu was not one to discriminate just because they were not from this dimension. They had a couple of non-human entities in the building anyway, so what was a bit of interdimensional mingling going to harm? Having these children participate in class until they could go back gave them plenty of opportunities to keep an eye on them, and to give them sanctuary during their stay.

When they'd gone back to their respective worlds the first time, Lillian Aizawa and Shoto Todoroki's nomu had accidentally ended up in Harper Rye's dimension. It wasn't super clear how this had happened, but it had and Harper had been intent on getting rid of him. The only way she knew how to do this was to transport them all to another dimension. Which also made sense to Nezu, as there didn't seem to be any other leads that could take a mere teenage girl to the world of her choice. However, instead of going back to the last dimension they'd gone to, they'd instead landed right in the middle of this one. Leaving them lost, confused, and a little desperate. Completely understandable all things considered! 

"I have a daughter." Aizawa said once again. Shoto, again, nodded excitedly. Harper had never seen him smile so much, and Kit tried not to laugh despite the fact that he'd been doing so the entire time they'd been here. "Holy shit. Holy actual shit. In another dimension-- this is insane. And Mic and I married in one? Mic? This can't be happening. I can't see myself with anyone but Atlantis. I don't want anyone but-- just-- what?"

"It's happening." Harper clarified, voice flat. She eyed Aizawa with open distaste, irritably tired. "If it makes you feel any better, you're far more tolerable than my piece of shit Aizawa." 

Aizawa stared at her. If she was a mind reader, and he'd been thinking about Atlantis... shit. Shit, shit, shit. He really hoped she was as trustworthy as she was giving herself off to be. Aizawa wasn't sure his day could get any worse than this at this point. He swallowed, heart beating rapidly in his chest. Harper's expression turned to one of grim understanding, and she didn't say a word. She didn't want to think about what a new species would mean for them. 

"Damn, he must be bad if he makes you think literally anyone is tolerable." Kit snorted. "And are we going to talk about the traitor thing or have we just decided that shit isn't an issue?"

"Not in front of my salad." Shoto frowned, apparently offended it was brought up. Harper wasn't going to try and figure out what that meant. Lillian got it, seeming to hum in agreement as she rocked back on the balls of her feet. Aizawa didn't appear to care, still staring at the freckled girl as though he could peel her apart with his eyes alone and fish all the answers he needed right out of her head. Lillian shot him a pair of thumbs up. Was now a bad time to make a child support joke? Yeah, probably. Moving on from that, what was the game plan here? Let Nezu inspect them for another hour or so? She was getting hungry.

"If they show up, they show up." Harper droned out, scrubbing at her eyes with the heels of her palms. Kit shrugged. Yeah, fair enough. Who knows what the fuck was going on in this dimension. Getting too invested probably wasn't a good idea. They wouldn't be here long, and they had their own shit in their own worlds to worry about. Shoto relaxed minimally at the dismissal of such a sensitive topic. Lillian gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. 

"Alright, whatever. So what's the verdict? You kicking our asses to the curb or do we get to hang out?" Kit cocked his head, and Lillian squinted. Again, he looked like a model. Pretty privilege  was real and it was in the room. Iida was good looking, but seriously, how had he landed this guy? He was such a stickler and Kit was such a... whatever he was. A herd of flaming tumbleweeds on heroin with a knife. Kit's Tenya had clearly fallen into the same trap Lillian's Dabi had with Chad. "I'm literally starving right now, and I just know Lillian is too. I can see that shit in her eyes."

Kit wondered what Tenya was doing right now. He probably wasn't going to panic as hard this time around, which was a comforting thought. There had been witnesses to see what happened, and they'd be able to tell that the black hole that had nabbed him was the same one that had gotten the jump on him the first time around. He was getting antsy for some Shoto Todoroki meets Shoto Todoroki. He had no idea what the normal one was like, but Harper's pinched looks told him the difference was vast. And what did that mean? Uh, yeah: hilarity. Kit's here for a good time, not a long one. He wanted to see some drama. 

Before Nezu could open his furry little mouth and say something irrevocably dumb or cocky, a tentative knock on the door sounded. Harper paused only momentarily before her head was whipping around, her brows furrowing even deeper than they had been before. Aizawa stared at the door too, eyes darting back to Lillian every so often. He looked tense, shifting from foot to foot. Shoto snapped a quick photo of his face, not even trying to hide it as he did it. He turned the results towards Lillian, who nodded in approval, and then to Kit, who squinted at the screen contemplatively for a moment before giving an affirming hum. 

Aizawa felt his heart sink as his bond with Atlantis tingled with proximity. Harper Rye probably already knew the secret with the mer and he... what would Atlantis think? Would he be upset? Things were so tense lately, knowing All For One was back and thriving. Atlantis and Hitoshi both needed their identities protected as closely as possible, and to have a wild card like a mind reader thrown into the mix was dangerous. He didn't like this one bit. Could they really trust her? Someone none of them knew anything about? 

That, and there was Lillian. He had a biological child sitting here. Him having a daughter seemed irrational, yet here she was, standing right here and looking so much like him it genuinely hurt a little. He knew Atlantis had come out of concern, but he just... he didn't know. What was his reaction going to be? Would things be okay? This was stressing him out. Which was why Atlantis was here to begin with, but that was besides the point!

"Come in!" Nezu called, gleeful. Oh, this was so, so interesting. Harper Rye was a mind reader which meant she no doubt knew plenty of secrets she shouldn't, so what was one more? It's not as though she was from this universe anyway. So long as she didn't spread it with anyone who was going to stay here permanently, he saw no issues in her meeting Atlantis. Besides, he wanted to see what the mer's reaction would be to Aizawa's blood kin. Would Atlantis know? Would Miss Rye know that Atlantis wasn't human? Well, obviously she did based on their thoughts, but would there be a difference?

"What the fuck?" Harper muttered, squinting at the person who popped their head through the doorway. Because yeah, Nezu was spot the fuck on here. The thoughts were different, and she definitely noticed. It felt like they were covered in a watery, delicate sheen. They didn't feel human, but not in any way Harper was used to. It was almost the same way she could sense the difference between a dog and a cat. It was... jarring, and Harper found herself unable to pry her steely gaze away from the man-- merman?-- as he hesitantly slid into the room.

Atlantis had come only because he was concerned. You see, his bond with Shota had been vibrating precariously for the better part of the last forty-five minutes or so, unsure and bordering on entirely shell shocked. Atlantis knew coming to find him was probably a stretch and he'd never want to intrude, but he couldn't stop his worry from growing. It had gotten to the point where even Recovery Girl was ushering him out of the office and telling him to hunt his husband down for answers. With all they'd found out about All For One recently, Aizawa's overall concern was all the more anxiety-inducing. 

"Um. Who's the fashion disaster?" Kit raised a brow at Atlantis' bright Hawaiian shirt and salmon colored shorts that clashed horribly. Like yeah, he wasn't the paragon of fashion at the moment either but at least he didn't look like a pile of tropical dog vomit. The guy was exotic in facial structure too, and Kit knew he had the potential to be stunning. All he needed was a wardrobe change. Kit saw those killer thighs. Kinnie moment. "Um. Why the fuck is he staring at Lillian?"

"Atlantis..." Aizawa trailed off, eyes darting between his daughter and his husband. Lillian raised a hand and waved amicably, smile awkward and a bit tight. Shoto squinted, leaning forward and muttering about blue-ish colored eyes or something along those lines. Probably some more secret love child shit. "Oh god. It's happening. He's looking at her. He... he feels really... amazed? Can he tell? At least he's not mad. What do I tell him? How do I even explain this to him? He still doesn't know how a sink works!"

Harper's focus tore from Aizawa's thoughts to find that the present merman was, in fact, staring at Lillian. In fact he'd locked onto her almost immediately and was gazing at her like she was a chest full of gold he'd just happened to stumble upon. His thoughts were eerily calm despite his apparent shock. A glance back at Nezu told Harper that the rat was enjoying every second of this. God, she this was the dumbest goddamn shit she'd ever had to deal with. When was she going to get a cup of coffee? If they wanted her to process a whole new species she was going to need to be more hopped on caffeine. 

"Hello." Atlantis breathed, smiling. "Shota's daughter... our daughter. We're married, that makes her mine too, right? She must have come from another dimension. I can feel her so strongly. She looks so much like him. I love her. Are we keeping her? We're keeping her! Why is Shota so nervous?! This is the best thing that's ever happened to us. A child. Look at her. And from another world! Magic must've brought her to us!"

Lillian looked like a possum trying to play dead, but sure. Best thing to ever happen. And why was he so nonchalant about the dimension hopping thing? And magic? According to his thoughts, he could smell that she wasn't from here. Yeah, fucking smell it. Harper could not even begin to muster up the courage to ask. This was a non-human entity with intelligence on par with their race and she had no idea how to feel. And he could sense that Lillian was Aizawa's daughter and that she was from another world. Which was just... all sorts of weird. He could stay over there and Harper would stay over here. 

"U-Uh, hey." Lillian sputtered out, earning a snort from Kit. The guy was seriously just lounging back and watching the show. He literally did not give two shits or a fuck and Harper had to respect that to some extent. "Someone please tell me what's happening and when we can go eat."

"Is Lillian your secret love child?" Shoto asked Atlantis at the same time. Aizawa turned to look at him with big eyes, and Lillian gave him a bewildered look. Shoto shrugged as though he were in the right. He really just... wasn't. Kit swallowed his laughter, trying to pretend this wasn't the best interaction he'd ever bore witness to. "He has black hair and blue eyes."

Kit was honest to god speechless, not sure if he should laugh or stare in disdain. Blue eyes? Um, tropical twink's eyes were seafoam green, but sure. Close enough. Was Shoto Todoroki colorblind? Kit was inclined to believe he was. Harper's twisted expression told him she was in the same boat. He was glad to see he wasn't alone in his opinion.

"Her name is Lillian?" Atlantis looked near tears, his voice strained in that choked-up sort of way you'd expect from an emotional parent. Lillian made a face as he swept forward and grabbed the hand Shoto Todoroki wasn't holding. Harper had to admit she was impressed by how fast the freckled girl smoothed her general weirded-out-ness over with something politer. Atlantis beamed. "And yes, she is!"

Aizawa's jaw dropped at is husband's bold proclamation, and Kit let out a howl of laughter as Shoto's eyes grew to the size of tennis balls. Even Nezu looked dumfounded, apparently not expecting this. Lillian pressed her lips together very tightly and didn't say a goddamn word, shooting a look that screamed "SOS" at Harper. The mind reader groaned, shaking her head and massaging her temples. The brunette stood up. Coffee. She needed coffee. All of them needed coffee.

"I'm not doing this shit. Feed us, then we'll talk." Harper insisted. Vlad unfurled from his corner at her words. Harper had honestly forgotten he was there, and that was by no means a bad thing. This was the most quiet he'd been in the entire month she'd had him. 

"Fold lightbulb!" The nomu screamed. Atlantis and, admittedly Aizawa, let out shrieks.

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

Their food was great and all-- Lunch Rush is an amazing cook and no one in their right mind had the grounds to deny it-- but also like... Atlantis had sort of been staring at Lillian the entire time. Which was great and all, but she was trying to eat her cold soba in peace and his intent gaze and beaming smile was not helping. It was weird enough to think that her dad had married someone. Like, actually gotten married. She'd been trying to get him and Present Mic together for literally the longest time, but he'd just fallen in love in this dimension and chosen marriage? How was that even fair?

Atlantis was star struck. Family meant everything to the mer, and to find out his husband had a child was absolutely world-shattering in the best way possible. He had no idea what had caused her to come here but he could certainly say he was glad. He wasn't sure why Shota didn't seem to share the same joy. In fact, his husband seemed confused for some reason. Confused! As though this weren't horribly simple. There as a child, she was theirs, and she was wonderful in every conceivable way. From another dimension or not. Just look at her! She was breathing! And eating food! 

"She's perfect." Atlantis sighed, chin propped up on his hand. The cafeteria was completely empty save for them. Aizawa shifted, looking stuck between agreement and discomfort. "I love her. This is wonderful. Is she staying with us? Is she going to class? A daughter! Wait, does she know I'm a merman? I should tell her I'm a merman. I bet she'd like to know that I'm a merman. I wonder if she knows how a television works." 

"Perfect is a strong word." Shoto frowned. Lillian was going to shoot him an offended look but realized he was right. She looked like shit. Her hair was still a mess from the whole 'I'm going to learn how to spin on my head' ordeal. Honestly, she was flattered though. Like, at least she was liked... or whatever this was. "Secret love child for sure. I knew it. They look identical."

Harper looked between Atlantis and Lillian. There were zero similarities unless you were going to count the black hair, but Atlantis had blue tips to his and she was pretty sure those were natural.

"You do realize you can't keep her, right? Like, she has a boyfriend to go back to and everything." Kit waved a flippant hand at the merman, shoving some rice in his mouth. Atlantis' expression morphed into one of complete distress at the realization that hey, Kit was right. If she came to another dimension once before and had gone back, again, once before, then that meant she was probably going back this time too. "The look on his face. This shit is golden. When are we going to go see Tenya's classmates? I can't wait for them to try and guess who my boyfriend is and be completely fucking wrong. God, I need to get my hands on a phone. I'm going to want photos of this shit. I wonder what sort of frames I should buy. Matte black or a more natural wood grain? So many variables, so many aesthetics."

"You have a boyfriend?" Aizawa drawled, brows raised questionably. Shoto and Lillian turned to look at him, and the man seemed to catch himself at the twin looks of reproach he received. Harper snorted at his overall embarrassment, taking another gulp of coffee and not caring the way it scalded at her mouth. No pain, no gain. Bottoms up everyone. "I shouldn't care. I really, really should not care. It would be irrational to. She is another... me's daughter, not mine. Teenagers dating is normal. It's all normal."

That was another thing that Harper was absolutely floored by. This Aizawa was chill. Drab, even, just like the other dimension. Two dimensions so far had a normal Shota Aizawa, so why was it that she was stuck with the fucked up one? How was that fair in literally any capacity? She had to deal with his happy go lucky bullshit day in and day out. She's a mind reader and of all the dimensions to have a fucked up Aizawa, of course it's going to be hers. Maybe there was a less fucked world she could take her shit and move to. Or at least vacation to. She would consider this one, but the whole merman-mermaid shit is still a bit too much.

"I-I mean... I guess so." Lillian looked like she'd just realized something, making a face. Next to her, Shoto handed Vlad his empty plastic bowl and watched impassively as the creature shoved it in his mouth. Atlantis shot the creature an unsure look. "Oh my god. We are dating. We kiss, and hold hands, do everything together, and go on dates. I have a boyfriend! Me!"

"What do you mean you guess so? You literally kissed and shit! Don't tell me it didn't go anywhere!" Kit looked flabbergasted and offended by the mere notion. Even Shoto was giving Lillian an unimpressed look, and like... It's Shoto. His first and only boyfriend was a traitorous bitch and he's emotionally stunted in several ways. "Someone pinch my ass. Tell me this isn't happening. I had such high hopes."

"They are together." Shoto squinted, and Kit relaxed slightly. "Unfortunately." 

"Cube." Vlad rumbled. Lillian nodded in agreement. Aizawa pointedly scooted further away from the nomu and closer to his husband, still eyeing the beast with open apprehension. No one was going to blame him. Harper least of all. She'd been freaked out the first time she saw Vlad, but she was now head of the anti-nomu campaign. The thing was a goddamn nightmare and a half. She couldn't even begin to explain the literal traumatization this menace had put them all through. He was behaved now, but in her dimension? Fucking unrestrained. She'd been tempted to call All Might up and have him handle things, but Lillian would've been upset so she hadn't.

They finished eating. Atlantis asked Lillian every question under the sun. He kept asking if she liked the beach and the ocean in general, and if she knew how to swim. Harper would give him a long side-eye every time he did. She gave the look so many times that Kit picked up on it and began to get suspicious too. At first glance it just seemed like Atlantis was a sea-enthusiast, but Harper's reaction was a dead giveaway that there was more going on here. Kit was all for it. More mystery, more drama. 

Aizawa could hardly comprehend any of what was happening. He felt like he slowly came into awareness somewhere halfway through their meal and ended up frozen in his seat when it finally happened. It truly sunk in that yeah, this kid was his. Shoto Todoroki gave him an understanding look. Not something Aizawa ever thought he'd be saying, but Lillian's version of the teen was a lot different than his own. Like, a lot. Where his Todoroki was distant and quiet, this one was sassy and... he didn't even have words for it. Jaded, or something. Kid had clearly seen some shit.

Actually, these kids seemed sorta batshit in general. Todoroki seemed almost normal sat next to the other three. Harper Rye was incredibly pessimistic and grumbled something about Stain the Hero Killer and Sero being a traitor in her world, and looked genuinely pained when Atlantis brightly asked her about her version of Aizawa. She was also dressed like Tsukauchi. She refused to elaborate on why, just giving Aizawa a look that made the man think the entire conversation was full of irony he'd never understand.

Kit was... well, he was related to Katsuki Bakugo of all people and that spoke for itself. He had more money than he knew what to do with, cursed every other sentence at a minimum, and chronically lost his shoes. He also knew which bones were easiest to break and the fastest way to break them. That being said, Lillian and her Todoroki seemed to have this knowledge too, so maybe it wasn't as concerning as it sounded. Atlantis didn't seem worried at all, beaming and nodding along as Kit listed them off. Harper seemed scarily interested. 

The last was Lillian. Aizawa wanted to say she wasn't weird, but that would be the biggest goddamn lie. He'd just met her and even he could tell. Like, come on. The whole being friends with Shoto and a nomu, and the casual nature with which she handled this entire ordeal. As though this were far from the most stressful situation she'd ever been in. She seriously just shrugged and threw up a gang sign. Kit had also brought guns up and she knew a ton about those. Like, a scary amount. Yet when Atlantis asked what her biggest fear was in an attempt to get to know her better, it was... it was guns. So like, just-- huh?

"You get a new dad every time we turn around." Shoto sounded almost wistful, his little theorist heart clearly at home here. Lillian was everyone's secret love child. You know, until he saw her supposed mom in person, he was just going to have to fill in the gaps himself. Atlantis fit into the empty slot quite nicely in his opinion, and he's been known to be right about these things. (Disclaimer from Lillian: He was right once. A singular time. One instance.)

"Must be nice." Kit grinned sharply, his joke flying over Shoto's head entirely but earning him a snort from Harper at least.

"I'm a merman." Atlantis announced at the literal exact same time. Harper's chuckle was aborted and turned into somewhat of a cough, and Aizawa went statue-still in his seat. The horror on his face was pretty funny, but now wasn't the time to make note of that. Kit froze too, drink raised halfway to his lips. His red eyes slowly ticked over to the man, his brows raised. Lillian and Shoto stared at Atlantis in a speechless sort of way. Because of all the things they'd expected... yeah, it had not been that.

"Uh." Lillian squinted as Atlantis beamed excitedly at her, looking absolutely overjoyed with his out of the blue proclamation. "Is this... a fursona thing?" 

And then Atlantis pulled his necklace up and over his head, and Kit and Vlad both let out shrieks for different reasons.

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

Kit recovered pretty quick from having someone grow a fish tail right next to him, even if he had fallen off the cafeteria bench and fucking ate it. Vlad, on the other hand, had gone full feral and lunged like he'd been starved his whole life and had just laid eyes upon a particularly appetizing slab of steak. Atlantis would be toast if not for Lillian and Shoto's quick thinking. They both bolted out of their seats, tackling the creature and sending food absolutely flying. A janitor watched the entire thing spitefully from across the room, mop clutched in a white-knuckled grip and eyes narrowed. Harper had raised an apologetic hand but had only gotten a middle finger in response. Completely fair. She was feeling that same vibe.

Lillian had shouted a combination of words that sounded like a goddamn exorcism, but apparently that was just the nature of Vlad's language. Whatever the freckled girl had said had calmed the Nomu down so Harper was going to guess that shit was fine. Kit had begged on his hands and knees to be taught how to do that. He was a quick study, he swore. Shoto had glanced down at him and clicked his tongue condescendingly. Kit's pride was not easily wounded, but in that moment he felt about as worthy as a pile of dirt. For some reason. Why was he gatekeeping Vlad language? Unfair.

"I'll see you right after class." Atlantis swore, holding one of Lillian's hands in both of his and beaming at her. Lillian did her best to smile back, looking super bewildered. Aizawa was stewing in... something. He'd freaked out when Vlad had attacked and was now watching the Nomu with a set of eagle eyes, hardly focusing on anything else. Seeing his daughter talk the creature down was reassuring and though he was sure she'd be able to do it again, he still couldn't shake his nerves.

That, and feeling Atlantis feel so bubbly, happy, and fond was making him feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. He'd been so stressed over All For One. To see him so all-encompassing-ly happy... it meant a lot. Shota could already feel this daughter of his growing on him. She was eccentric and out-there, but so undeniably his child at the same time. Knowing he hadn't made her but that a version of him had was hard to wrap his head around, but it was starting to truly sink in. He couldn't stop the immediate kinship he was feeling, and Atlantis' positive feelings flooding through their shared bond was only speeding up the process.

Lillian nodded at the guy-- her... stepdad? Her stepdad, who was apparently a merman. Not a quirk either. Yeah, she really wasn't sure what to say to that. She honestly hadn't reacted much. Of all the things to ever happen to her, this wasn't even the weirdest. Shoto hadn't even bat an eye. Just glanced under the table at his tail and shrugged. That really summed it up for Lillian too. Her alternate-dad had sputtered at her lack of a reaction but like, what could any of them say to that? Cool? Congratulations? That's crazy, bro? 

Kit gave the biggest response, because he's dramatic and everything he does and says must have oomph of some kind behind it. A loud gasp and a bold 'holy shit!' was definitely in order, but also not necessary. The glint of amusement in his eye alone was enough to tell Harper he was fabricating part of his shock for grandeur. It was admittedly pretty funny though, and Atlantis had matched his energy with much excitement. To be fair, his tail was gorgeous, and definitely otherworldly in quality. 

Harper could already tell this merman-mermaid shit was going to blow up in their faces. She could smell the oncoming storm. She thought their first interdimensional tango was stressful? Yeah, this one was going to be worse. Never mind the nomu. Never mind the fact that they had a second, more-traumatized Todoroki. Who gave no shits whatsoever. This was a massive clusterfuck that she'd caused. Her, of all people, had caused an issue for once. Perhaps the law of variables was at play here. It was about time she fucked something up. Statistically speaking, maybe she should've seen this coming.

"I know he's a lot, but he means well. Family is... a big part of merfolk culture." Aizawa's voice came out awkward and stilted as Atlantis disappeared into the nurse's office, waving enthusiastically the entire way. His promise to see them later still rang clear in the air even after he'd left. Despite his stress, Aizawa still looking lovestruck as he watched his spouse go. Lillian shared an incredulous look with Shoto. "I can't believe that just happened. When Lillian has to go back to her dimension, what am I going to do? Or say?" 

"We can tell." Harper noted dryly, spinning on her heel and heading down the hall towards 1-A. Kit bounced after her, full of energy. His grin told Harper he was going to have way too much fun with this, and that she was going to have a headache. Vlad slunk after them intimidatingly, still looming over his two friends in a way that would look threatening if you didn't know how protective he was. Harper was really hoping he wasn't going to try and kill the Izuku of this dimension like he had with the last. That would be... something. That she'd like to avoid. Then again, when did the universe ever take her preferences into account?

"I'm gonna fuck this shit up. What do you guys think. Should I fake a British accent or not?" Kit looked at them. Todoroki was back on his phone and absolutely crushing it at Flappy Bird. Aizawa seemed stuck between eyeing the obscenely high score he'd gotten and by being enthralled by Lillian, who was still holding the half-and-half teen's hand. Harper glanced at their tightly conjoined hands and grimaced. Todoroki's thoughts were getting tenser and tenser by the second. "Why's everyone acting like someone shit in their cereal? This is going to be fun!"

"W-Wait, should we all? Can I come up with a really cool backstory?" Lillian's eyes got large, and Kit grinned sharply at the fact that he was being humored. Aizawa gave them a judgmental look and pulled ahead of their little group, striding towards the door and clearing wanting to head this off before they could cause complete chaos. Harper watched him go with disdain, knowing it was useless. Nothing he did or said would stop this from snowballing. "There's so many possibilities. I should tell them I was raised by bears."

Shoto was doing his best to not be nervous, focusing on Lillian as best he could. He'd just... He'd been in love with Izuku Midoriya. And though he was healing and finally getting over him, it didn't change the fact that Izuku was the one to open his eyes to his own quirk. He'd showed him what it was like to love and to be loved in a romantic way. Growing up with a pair of parents trapped in a bitter, forced marriage, Shoto had never thought that sort of affection was an option for someone like him. To finally be given it and then to have it ripped away-- to be betrayed so brutally-- had hurt. A lot. He wasn't sure he was ready to see his face again.

"I'm going to tell those shit's I'm an ex-villain who's actually All Might's long lost son, and I got kidnapped and taken overseas and trained by an evil underground organization that brainwashed me and used me as a living goddamn weapon. But I came to my senses after my dashing, amazing, super hot boyfriend snapped my ass out of it, and I took them all out single handedly. And then I flew a private jet to Japan on my own." Kit rubbed his hands together in a manner damn near evil. "This is the blueprint."

"You're All Might's long lost son?" Todoroki asked sharply, phone suddenly in his pocket and eyes trained on Kit. The brunette burst out laughing at the sudden question, unrestrained. Harper took another long drink of her coffee. One day Sansa was going to get her to try alcohol and she was going to truly lose herself. She was on the line here, guys. And addiction was waiting for her on the other side. "I never considered it, but his story... it makes sense."

Uh. Yeah, it made zero fucking sense, but Harper was too tired to note too hard on it. More coffee. Less thinking. 

Kit wiped the tears that pricked his eyes, took one look at Lillian's disappointed expression, and then started laughing again. She looked so goddamn defeated and Shoto didn't even notice. It was hilarious. This entire thing-- what was wrong with this Todoroki? What had Lillian done to him? Or maybe it was her version of Izuku had done it. Kit still could not wrap his fucking shit around the idea of Izuku being a villain. He'd be great at it, but it would just never work. He had a nerd-gasm every time heroics were brought up and was practically All Might's son. And yet he'd tried to shoot Lillian? Like, how was that shit even a thing?

Lillian slowed slightly as they approached 1-A's door. Kit did too, glancing at Todoroki. His smile became a bit more subdued, his eyes flitting to the nomu stalking after them. Harper had no such qualms. Honestly, Lillian really admired her. Her stride never broke. She bee-lined straight after Lillian's alternate dad with zero hesitation whatsoever. Lillian wondered why she didn't have that confidence. Maybe god knew she'd be too powerful if she had a self-esteem and that's why he'd taken it away. Made perfect sense. Or it would if she weren't like, super agnostic. 

Lillian was a little scared. Not for herself, because she'd done this before and she sort of knew what to expect, and that was okay. The whole step dad being a merman thing was super weird, but they could touch on that later! Who she was super scared for was Shoto. Because Shoto he... he was doing so much better, and she loved him and didn't want to see him in pain. 1-A's door had never seemed so threatening, and she could feel his tension. Harper's confident stride was clearly inspiring him to keep forward, but his hesitance was clear as day. And all she could do was hold his hand and hope for the best.

Walking into 1-A's classroom was... actually pretty familiar. Harper didn't stop in her stride even when the chatter briefly halted at her appearance. She had to look like total shit. Messy hair, bags under the eyes, trench coat and a coffee cup to boot. Harper spotted the extra desks Nezu had already had placed at the front of the class-- four right on the front row-- and made for one immediately. She went for the one closest to the window, ignoring the way Hagakure seemed to lean back as she collapsed into her chair. The silence was much welcomed, even if she knew it wouldn't last.

"Who the fuck is that?" Bakugo scoffed, face twisted. "What the fuck? She looks like shit."

"Wow, she looks superrr tired. She also smells like stale coffee beans." Hagakure was eyeing her. Harper could feel it. "She's not the only one coming, is she? There's three more desks..."

Aizawa didn't get the chance to say a word-- a reprimand or explanation-- before Kit was bounding into the room. He burst in like he owned the place, eyes bright and grin sly as a fox's. Aizawa immediately felt his heart plummet into the very pits of his stomach. Of all the kids, he had coined Kit as the one most likely to cause issues. He just exuded a... troublesome energy, if you would. He could see now how right that was just by looking at him. He watched his student's track the new addition across the room with a tired scowl. There wasn't enough coffee in the world for this shit.

"I will be absolutely fucked! Never thought I'd be doing this again!" Kit laughed, scanning over the class and ignoring the startled eyes that blinked back at him. He gave a bow with flourish. The motion was swift but fluid, and he cackled. Harper stared at her fellow dimension traveler for a moment before taking another drink of coffee. Especially when Kit's gaze landed on Shoto Todoroki-- the one from here-- and he thrust a finger at him. "Your whole life is about to get fucked, bro!"

Shoto's expression didn't change, but when did it ever? The class watched Kit with big eyes, taken aback by his abrupt arrival and crude way of speaking. He looked near maniacal, and the fact that he was laughing his ass off really wasn't helping his case either. Harper dragged a hand down her face. She just had to wait it out. This whole introduction thing was like ripping off a band aid, right? Totally! Never mind the fact that the Tenya Iida from here was about to explode with reprimands and Bakugo was about to snap at Kit to shut up, which would undoubtedly spiral into an all-out brawl knowing them. 

"Language, please." Aizawa sighed, massaging his temples. He held a hand up before anyone could burst out with questions. Kit tackled the seat next to Harper's. Shoji looked extremely concerned to be stuck seated behind him. "Everyone, we have four individuals joining us. Due to a quirk-related incident, they've come here from dimensions alternate to this one. So while they may know you to an extent, don't expect to know them and don't be concerned if they know something they shouldn't. This is Harper Rye and Kit Suzuko. Treat them as you would anyone else and don't ask any stupid questions."

It was about the same explanation the him from the other dimension had given. Kit glanced at Harper, who stared at the door with a frown. Lillian and Shoto were hovering outside of it. She could just barely pick up on them talking in low tones. Their thoughts were much more prominent. Lillian was squeezing Shoto's hands, trying to comfort him and ready him for walking in the room. She was also giving Vlad fair warning about Izuku this time around. A smart move that would hopefully save them a whole lot of panic. Though, watching Midoriya get thrown out a window would never not be funny. 

Tenya's hand flew up in record time. Aizawa swallowed a sigh. Especially when Kit's expression twisted into something... yeah, he wasn't even going to think about it. The kid had said he was dating someone in his class, right? He didn't want to imagine. Especially not if his reaction to Tenya had anything to do with who it was. Just... god. Another kid with the same genes as Bakugo in his class. What a nightmare. He was starting to think Harper Rye was the only sane one. 

"Yes, Iida?" Aizawa grumbled. The teen's hand lowered primly. Kit choked a bit. This shit would never get old. "I should've retired last year. I have a couple months worth of vacation time racked up. I could just... take off. Ugh, but Atlantis would totally kill me."

"Sir! There are still two more desks. Are there more dimension travelers?" He asked. Harper tensed, very slowly turning to look at him when his thoughts hit her. Kit noticed her brow furrow with no small amount of glee. Harper didn't have it in her to react with anything other than bewilderment. She absentmindedly sipped her coffee again. Hadn't seen this shit coming from a mile away, that's for sure. "I cannot believeth such tomfoolery! Yet, these picaroons.... Travel on an interdimensional level can't beest possible! T sounds liketh a forswear. I find myself mazed by such concepts. Yet, if mine own schoolman claims it to be the truth... I shouldst not doubteth that gent! Aye, with quirks, aught is possible!"

"Yes. Rye is from her own dimension in which she's a UA student. Suzuko has his own too and though he doesn't go here, he knows a fair amount of you." Aizawa drawled. Harper was still trying to pick apart the meaning of Tenya's weird Shakespeare-meets-pirates thoughts and Kit was too busy staring at her to even react. "The other two are from the same dimension, however. Lillian Aizawa and another version of Shoto Todoroki, your classmate. I have to warn you that they also have a nomu similar to the one from the USJ. I can assure you theirs is friendly and completely docile. Please note that this Todoroki is fairly different than your own, so don't expect them to be exactly the same."

Uh huh. A fucking lie, but you know. Anything to reassure the kids. At least he was getting it over with. No use beating around the bush. If only her Aizawa was this straightforward. Harper's life would be so much easier. That, and why didn't she get a fucking... whatever this Iida was. Medieval. Why was hers depressed? Was her dimension really just that fucked or what? Actually, Lillian's sounded a lot worse than hers, but you know. Harper is allowed to complain nonetheless.

"Wait, Aizawa?" Jiro blinked. "Like him? But a kid?"

"A-Another Todoroki?!" Ochako yelped. Said teen was frozen at his desk, dual-eyes perplexed and not seeming to comprehend a lick of what was just said. It was the most expression Aizawa had seen the kid show all year. He could tell this was going to be an absolute nightmare, especially when you considered what Lillian's Todoroki had shown himself to be like. "No way!" 

"What the fuck do you mean a nomu, huh?!" Bakugo bared his teeth, palms sparking. "Fuck no! Docile my ass. That thing almost bodied goddamn All Might and he expects me to believe these shitty fuckers have a discounted, friendly version?" 

"This is insane. Literally insane." Sato muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Harper would toast to that. No matter the dimension, it seemed Sato would always have his head on straight. "I'm going to stress bake so hard later." 

Aizawa gestured to the door tiredly. Lillian got the cue and stepped through with a gulp, dragging a slightly-unwilling Shoto with her. Their hands were intertwined hard, Lillian's smile tight and Shoto's posture tense. Harper felt the sudden urge to apologize for this entire situation. Her stress was nothing compared to what Lillian and her Todoroki were being put through right now. Their nerves were bouncing around and going totally haywire. Shoto because of Izuku and Lillian because of Shoto. The brunette took another drink of her coffee. It was an extra large but even this wasn't going to be enough. She was going to need a fifth cup.

Nobody said anything. Nobody said a goddamn word. Kit was very blatantly twisted around in his seat watching expressions with a menacing smile. Lillian gave an extremely awkward wave. Shoto didn't copy her. He pressed his lips together instead, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. The silence was stifling. Even Aizawa looked uncomfortable and the guy thrived in silence. Harper shot him a sympathetic look. At least he couldn't hear the screaming thoughts of everyone in the room. 

Lillian took some deep breaths. Okay. She had to be Shoto's rock here, which meant under no circumstances could she freak out. He was counting on her! Maybe this exposure therapy would be good for them. Or it would make things ten times worse and- No! No, no, she had to be optimistic! She and Shoto were going to have a great time. They'd hang out with Harper and Kit and it would be like one big, terrifying vacation! They could take tons of selfies and get a bunch of blackmail photos of their alternate classmates with no repercussions. 

"Holy fucking shit." Sero gasped. "Todo-ception."

"I can't believe this is happening. Mr. Aizawa's like, alternate daughter or cousin or whatever she is and another Todoroki." Mina seemed completely taken aback by the entire thing, naturally. She glanced back at the Todoroki from here almost as though to make sure there were really two, eyes wide. "This is sooo crazy."

"Revelry in the dark." Some things never change. "This will prove to be... interesting."

Lillian's Shoto made eye contact with Izuku and made an uncomfortable noise in the back of his throat, scooting closer to the girl and looking away immediately. Their alternate classmates were all staring at his shirt in complete and total shock. Kaminari brought his phone up to take a photo. Nobody was going to fault him for it. Even Bakugo was tempted to do the same, and it's Bakugo. Lillian let her half-and-half friend press into her side, glancing at the Todoroki from here in lieu of looking at Izuku too. The Shoto of here looked completely stunned still, staring at this other version of himself in total disbelief. 

"This is difficult difficult lemon difficult." Shoto whispered to her, just loud enough for her to pick up on. And for Shoji and Jiro to hear. The earphone-jack girl had to physically put her hands down on her desk in shock. "I don't like this."

"I'm really proud of that meme usage, but same." Lillian made a face. "Just pretend it's a VR game and you're a customizable avatar in UA-simulator plus. If it makes you feel better, we can--"

"BEANS!" Vlad screamed at the very top of his all-powerful nomu lungs, hurtling into the room at terminal velocity and stretching his wings out to their full span. Lillian pressed her lips into a thin line and took a deep breath as the creature came to a halting stop behind them, towering over their two forms and breathing like a pug with a cold. Harper barely had time to tip her cup back and chug the last of her coffee before the class was shrieking. Somehow, Kit's laughter was louder than all the terror.

~~~~~~~~

Vlad hadn't tried to kill Izuku yet, so that was a plus. Downside was that everyone had screamed in fear for about a minute straight which had thrown Harper's moderate headache into borderline migraine territory. As of right now she was glowering at the class shortly after barking at them to 'shut the literal fuck up before she had Lillian sic the thing on them'. That had gotten them to go silent somewhat fast. Though, Bakugo had still tried to open his big fat goddamn mouth and ruin everything. A single look from her had him too taken aback to do much but sputter for words. 

The class was still clearly terrified of Vlad, who was curled up near Lillian and Shoto like a dog. A dog who just so happened to be violently vibrating, but they were going to skirt over that menial detail for the time being. Kit, in proper Kit fashion, seemed to think it was the funniest thing in the goddamn world. Knee-slapping, raunchy laughter worthy entertainment. Aizawa had given him a heavy look, his thoughts muttering something about how he wished he could go home with his husband. This Aizawa was chill, but definitely whipped beyond return.

Class 1-A could hardly begin to comprehend their new arrivals. It was weird enough to have two Todoroki's, but to think their teacher also had a daughter. It was crazy! What were the other versions of them like? Were they weird too? This place didn't have a Kit, a Lillian, or a Harper. It made them all wonder what thing set this dimension apart. Was it the lack of them, or did they have an unknown variable too? A few of them had tried to ask, but the Harper girl had just scoffed and turned away, apparently seeming to know but not willing to say. They were all a little too afraid of her to bother questioning her again.

Lillian shifted in her seat. This was all fine, right? Yeah, totally. God, she was totally freaking out! At least Shoto seemed relatively chill. Tense, but he wasn't having any sort of mental breakdown that she could see. The freckled girl liked to think she'd maybe notice if he were going to lose his shit, since she's sort of an expert in that field. Tons of experience. Yeah, anyway, it was all starting to sink in that they were really stuck here for an unknown amount of time and she had a new dad to adjust to. A dad who had a fish tail of all things and was apparently a mythical creature with healing abilities. How crazy was that?

"W-Wow. So you're all from different universes then..." Momo trailed off thoughtfully, gazing at Lillian's Todoroki with big eyes. Shoto and Lillian had pushed their desks so that they were together, and Aizawa had done nothing to stop them. Most of the stares were on them-- or more specifically, the newest Todoroki. Well, Lillian supposed maybe they were focusing on her too. But she was going to pretend they weren't to make herself feel better, naturally. "So you're really Mr. Aizawa's daughter?" 

"Secret love child." Lillian's Shoto corrected tersely, still holding her hand. He got a few snickers for his troubles, which he promptly ignored. He instead found himself scrolling through his phone, ignoring the adamant gaze of his evil ex from across the room. Lillian sniffed a bit, eyeing Kit for help in hopes he'd detract from the awkward air and overly-curious stares. The brunette was all too willing to cause a diversion. 

Kit hummed a bit, twisting around in his seat in a considering manner. Poor Harper had taken a real L from all the shrieking earlier. Personally, he'd found the sounds of sheer terror rather invigorating! But that being said, who the fuck asked him? Definitely not Harper based on the dark look she was giving him right now. Ugh, her being a mind reader was so fucking cool, but such a bitch at the same time. Kit could hardly check his own words before they flew out of his mouth, but his thoughts? Total minefield. Never knew where the fuck he was going to step, honestly.

"Dude, this Todoroki is soooo much different than ours!" Hagakure's thoughts were loud. Harper massaged her temples, glaring at her empty coffee cup as though it had wronged her by running out. "And this red-eyed guy is pretty interesting too! He sorta reminds me of Bakugo, but more... flamboyant."

"Shine." Aoyama gasped, gazing at Kit. "My gaydar perseveres!" 

"Another me... why is he like that? I... don't like it. We don't seem the same. Is it really me?" Here-Todoroki was very intently staring at himself. Lillian's Todoroki was a bit older than this one, and thus a bit more taller and perhaps ragged. Seriously, he was sort of a mess. Lillian was no different, but she pulled it off better being Aizawa's alleged daughter and all. He just looked like steamed pile of candy cane shit.

Harper stared down at her hands and sifted through what she knew so far about where they were, as she tended to do in situations like these. This alternate dimension wasn't super different than they first one they visited on a surface level. Dive a bit deeper and suddenly there's a whole new mythical species with literal magic. Atlantis had felt distinctly odd, too. She could tell him apart-- place him separately from the humans she was used to hearing. Trying to recall the sensation made her chest feel fluttery. It had been unlike anything she'd ever felt. She couldn't even begin to relate it to anything else.

"Speaking of shitty alternate dimensions, it is soooo weird being here." Kit said in a tone just a bit too loud, drawing the attention to him effectively. He grinned fiercely as eyes fell upon him, and Lillian melted a bit into her seat, seeming all too relieved. Shoto squeezed her hand reassuringly, ignoring the way the gaze from his other self burned into the back of his head. "It's pretty crazy to be sitting in a room with my boyfriend and not have him know who I am. Honestly, my poor little gay heart breaks a little seeing how the hot fucker acts without me. So tense!" 

Kit knew exactly what he was doing. Harper sat up slightly as Mina, Hagakure, Kaminari, and Aoyama's thoughts zeroed in on the boy with freakish focus. Mina, especially, looked excited. The boys in class were eyeing each other with big eyes, seeming nervous. The prospect of being Kit's boyfriend-- another dimension or not-- was literally terrifying. Lillian sniffed a bit, elbowing Shoto and nodding at Vlad, who was staring very intently in the direction of Izuku. The half-and-half boy winced a bit, turning away from his phone momentarily to observe the nomu. Vlad was getting antsy because they were antsy. Presumably. Lillian really hoped that's all it was.

Aizawa noticed the interaction. Truth be told, he wasn't able to focus on anything but his daughter. Just watching her exist was overwhelming. He had no idea how to feel. She just... she looked like him. He hadn't made her, but he had, and he couldn't stop his amazement. Atlantis' encouragement through their bond definitely wasn't helping either. He raised a brow, and Lillian shrugged vaguely, tapping her fingers on the desk. Aizawa started to nod in understanding but caught himself, cursing internally. He was acting too familiar. He couldn't do this. Just... wow. A daughter. A daughter. 

"Who is it?!" Mina demanded, slamming her hands down on her desk with enough force to rattle it. "My money is on this Todoroki. He's the definition of tense. Wait, no, this guy is way too batshit for him! Maybe... ugh, this is hard!"

Lillian shot Kit a subtle thumbs up. Attention drawn. Nothing was juicier than interdimensional relationship gossip. All the more reason they had to make sure their clear dislike towards Izuku stayed as subtle as possible. So far they were doing an awful job, but everyone was too mind boggled to notice so far. Thus, they had time to adjust themselves suitably. Lillian also didn't want anyone to know she was-- apparently?-- dating Katsuki. 

"Shit's classified. Shock factor for when my babe comes to pick me up." Kit purred, fluttering his eyelashes at the girl and nearly causing her to combust with anticipation. Mina liked to know things. Especially if they involved crushes. "This is too easy. Way too easy." 

Katsuki scoffed a bit, rolling his eyes and muttering about how they were wasting time. Aizawa continued to watch, fingers drumming anxiously as 1-A acclimated to the new arrivals. After this class period he'd see about easing them back into studying, but he doubted anyone would be focusing today. Even he could hardly right his thoughts. As someone who prided himself on being calm, cool, and collected at all times, it was sort of a blow to his ego. One that he could tell his husband was amused with.

Harper busied herself with sorting through some more thoughts. Izuku wasn't the traitor and neither was Sero. Pretty much everyone she was picking up on was clean as a whistle so far. Harper wasn't sure if this was good news or bad news. On one hand it was splendid! Less shit for her to deal with. On the other, that meant this wasn't going to be as easy as she wished it were. The brunette supposed they could still be in the room. After all, it had taken her ages to finally catch onto Sero, who had pointedly put his mind elsewhere due to trauma.

"Dude, you can't just leave us hanging. Who is it? Ojiro? Shoji? Todoroki? Midoriya? Tokoyami?" Kaminari listed off every relatively tense person he could. Bakugo was pretty uptight in his own way too, but he also didn't want to get blown up. Plus, this Kit guy kind of reminded him of his explosive classmate a bit, so it sorta felt like pairing up different versions of the same person. There had to be some sort of opposites attract law at work here. If that were the case... Midoriya would totally be the most likely. "Bestie, what if it's me?"

"He's not going to tell you." Harper grumbled, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes and trying to ignore how agitated Vlad was becoming. Why he was becoming so irritated was beyond her, but living with the stupid thing for a month had taught her some of his tells. Ugh. Lillian was still looking concerned, leaning over her desk to peer at the creature and sharing looks with Todoroki, who had returned uneasily to his phone. He actually seemed pretty focused on it. Was he... trying to spell something? Harper shook her head, pushing the thoughts away. 

"Yeah, and we don't give a shit." Bakugo scoffed. Kit turned his grin on him, red eyes meeting red, and Katsuki felt a shiver run down his spine unbidden. "What the fuck? Why's that fucker giving me that look? And why is it fucking terrifying?" 

Before anyone else could say anything, Lillian's Todoroki suddenly slammed his knees into the bottom of his desk so hard he jostled the furniture into screeching a bit on the linoleum. The loud noise seemed to echo and bring the classroom to stillness, and Lillian cringed as the eyes returned to them. Ugh, so much for Kit's distraction. Had been nice to sit unbothered for the literal thirty seconds it lasted, she guessed. The freckled girl leaned back slightly as her friend shoved his phone under her nose, blinking at the light assaulting her retinas. She squinted, vision coming back into focus. For a second she stared.

There was an anticipating silence as the rest of the room waited for her verdict, wanting to know what the disturbance from this new and mysterious Todoroki was. A few tensed as Vlad sat up, head cocked. The creature leaned forward too, evidently wanting a peek at the screen as well. Lillian pursed her lips and tried to figure out just what she was looking at here. Shoto angled the screen for the nomu to see, staring at her with big, eager eyes. 

"Shoto, this is just you losing at Words At Friends." Lillian eyed him. Vlad nodded in agreement, somehow managing to convey the same level of 'lost' as Lillian through his bulging eyes. "Badly."

Ochako swallowed a laugh and instead coughed. Tenya shot her a reprimanding look which was enough to have Kit almost losing it too, and Sero didn't even try to hide his grin. Lillian's Shoto gave her an unimpressed stare, giving the phone another little shake for emphasis. It really did not help drive the point home in any way, shape, or form. The class seemed to find the 'uncharacteristic' behavior endlessly amusing, however. 

"Against Neito." Shoto stared. Lillian stared back. Shoto shook the phone at her again, this time a little harder. "Look. He played me back." 

"Literally what does that have to do with anything? Isn't that how Words With Friends works?" Hagakure questioned. Lillian's brow furrowed and she gave a very distinct frown that reminded Aizawa so much of himself that he had to stop and take a breath. The girl took the phone carefully, leaning closer as though that were going to help her see better. Yeah, Neito had just played back. "What's even happening? Interdimensional travel? Todoroki plays Words With Friends? Who the fuck is Neito?"

"Well, maybe he just needs help!" Kirishima offered a bit meekly. This one hadn't appeared to have developed any spontaneous crushes. Harper was going to count her blessings no matter how few and far between they were. The last thing any of them needed was to give Kit more ammo to work with. Guy was like a rat in a candy store. Absolutely buck fucking wild. Harper was glad to see him again, but she was not running on enough sleep to deal with literally any of his weird bullshit. She suspected he knew that and was actually toning it down for once in his life. Which was saying something because he was still extremely... well, extreme.

Lillian's cogs turned very, very slowly. As usual. They really needed oiling after all the abuse they'd gone through lately. If Katsuki asks, no, this isn't her admitting to being an idiot. She may be a moron, but there's a difference and it is vast if you ask her. She was just glad Shoto had moved on from looking like he was going to freak out. Did this whole Words With Friends thing make sense? Literally not even a little. Something wasn't clicking in her pea sized brain, but he'd at least stopped with the hyperawareness of Izuku's presence. She'd take it any day of the week. Especially this day of the week. Since it was like, the day they were on and-- yeah, you get it.

"You could play Pistachio for so many points right there." Lillian pointed out before it hit her right between the eyes, smack dab, dead center. Her mouth shut so fast her teeth audibly clacked together. She looked up at him with wide eyes. He was giving her an expectant, shockingly patient look. She was surprised he hadn't insulted her yet. He was great at the whole casual, passive-aggressive quip thing. Lillian liked to think she'd contributed to his wit at least somewhat, but now was far from the time for that. "Wait. Neito played you back."

Harper paused before her eyes went wide, because she's smart and didn't take a small eternity to get what Shoto was trying to say. She stood up abruptly, startling Hagakure in her movement. Kit blinked as the tired brunette swiftly shuffled her way over, looking shockingly more awake than before. Kit hummed, not risking a glance back towards Tenya for the moment. The pink one with the horns was still staring at him, hungry for gossip. He looked at her instead, smiling slyly as she stared with narrowed eyes. He sensed some spice ready to emerge and show itself. Ugh, this was going to be so exciting. 

The whole merman thing was sort of niggling at him. Kit's hunches were usually right and this one was telling him that this little shit stream was eventually going to turn into a gushing, disgusting, I-just-had-way-too-much-Taco-Bell type blast. Think hyper lactose intolerant but still just ate an entire tub of ice cream. Kit was excited, but looking at Lillian and her version of Todoroki, he was not sure they were durable enough for whatever was ahead. Oh well. He'd salute them if they went down at sea. Get it? Down at sea? Because Lillian's alternate dimension step dad is a merman and mermen came from the ocean? Yeah? Okay, cool.

"What's the issue?" Aizawa drawled tiredly, rounding his lectern to approach and observe whatever was going on. Harper squinted, wondering what this new development meant for them. Lillian continued to peer closer at the device as though it would tell her the identity of the Zodiac Killer if she stared for long enough. "God. She even makes the same faces I do. No wonder Atlantis was so taken with her. I can feel myself slipping into the same hole. I wonder how Shinso will feel about the new family member. Probably pretty excited if Atlantis' reaction was anything to go off of."

"The issue is that this 'Neito' guy isn't here." Harper griped as Shoto played Pistachio for an obscene amount of points. Not enough to overcome Neito, but Lillian and the half-and-half teen still high fived on it. Ojiro looked properly weirded out to see Todoroki act so casually and friendly, glancing back at the half-and-half boy sitting at the back of the room. The Shoto of here had a blank expression. Which wasn't super different from Lillian's, but something about Lillian's felt more... genuine and authentic. Less like a mask and more like he really was just that fucked up, you know?

"So Words With Friends is interdimensional." Kit summarized, snorting at the notion as he leaned back in his seat. Shoji made an uncomfortable sound as the short brunette intruded upon his desk space slightly, looking nervous. Good. Kit would kick his ass six ways to Sunday if he had to. Not that he would unprovoked or anything. This mask guy actually looked pretty friendly if you excused the obscene amount of arms. What those hands do though? Good luck to whoever ends up with him. 

Aizawa cocked a brow. Alright, great. Words With Friends transcended the interdimensional rift. Good for that. How did that help them? Was there a messaging component? Maybe he could text Ectoplasm and ask. He played, didn't he? Against Snipe or something? Yeah, he really didn't pay enough attention to his colleagues to know such specifics about them. Glancing down at his daughter, she looked... actually pretty nervous. Definitely not as excited as he would've assumed she would be. Even Shoto looked a bit uneasy, sharing a knowing look with the freckled girl.

Then Shoto's phone began to ring, causing said teen to almost drop it on the desk in his surprise. Harper grimaced.

"It's not Words With Friends that's interdimensional." She grumbled. "It's Todoroki's phone."

Aizawa peeked at the caller ID. A zoomed in picture of someone's nipple with the name 'headless homo' listed under it stared back.

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

Lillian was about 90% sure that Neito was not going to be on the other end of that phone when they picked it up. Shoto luckily seemed to know that too and now they were both sitting in complete fear, huddled up against one another as though that were going to protect them. If Lillian had to bet money on it, she was going to say her dad would answer. He and Neito-- oddly enough-- always seemed to be within vague proximity of one another. Lillian suspected the blonde was pretending Aizawa was his dad to try and heal the hole in his heart his own family left in the same way they all pretended Mihoko was their mom.

"I'm not answering that." Todoroki insisted vehemently, staring at the phone like it was going to explode. The phone had been ringing a solid minute now, everyone waiting for them to answer it. Shoto had set the ringing device down on the desk as soon as it had begun to play the Among Us Theme song, and Lillian was making no moves to grab it either, staring apprehensively. "I'm already traumatized enough and we all know that probably isn't Neito calling. If anything it's Mr. Aizawa, and having him scream at me isn't going to help my daddy issues. I already pretend Lillian is my twin and that he is both of our fathers. I am too far gone to handle the yelling." 

"Oh my god." Harper groaned as though the weight of the world was on her shoulders. Shoto gave her an unsure look, frowning as his gaze swept over the other members of 1-A who'd felt bold enough to get out of their seats and drift closer. Izuku was one of said students and he was in no way, shape, or form helping the stress levels in this cannoli. Yeah he was hovering near the back of the crowd, but Hitoshi had called Shoto a psychopath on more than one occasion, and psychopaths are territorial. Probably. He really isn't sure, but for convenience, he'll assume it's true. And the crowd in question is really small, so it's not like there's much distance anyway.

It's not that Lillian didn't want to talk to her dad and tell him she was okay. It's just that last time she'd gone missing he'd gone catatonic and apparently hadn't spoken or eaten anything for a couple of days. Then he'd snapped out of it at some point and had delved from grief into clean-cut anger that had him shrieking at anyone who dared breathe in his direction. If her theory was right about who was dialing them up right now and he was already cognizant enough to call, that had to mean he'd jumped past all the being a terrified parent stuff and straight into the rage. 

Now I know what you're thinking: just answer and let your dad know you're in another dimension but okay. Yeah, it's really not that simple. Lillian's life is a literal clusterfuck that she doesn't remember ever consenting to. Her dad would want her on the phone the entire time she was here. Like... the entire time. When he freaked out, he tended to freak out hard, and he'd become even more helicopter-ish in recent weeks. She suspected it was because she'd gotten kidnapped and shot at, but she's no psychologist. Either way it sounded like an entire mess. They'd found her in the other dimension just fine without a line of contact! Surely they could do the same now, right?

"What's the big deal? Isn't it just your friend?" Jiro arched a brow at Lillian and her Shoto. The here-Shoto wasn't impressed with them, frowning at the other version of himself. Frown wasn't even a strong enough word, honestly. He was downright glowering at this point. Apparently he wasn't a fan of having his image tainted. At least the rest of 1-A found it amusing. Trauma's deep but humor's elite. Dunk on that. "Hell, I'll answer it if they're that worried about it."

"It's not going to be him. It's going to be Mr. Aizawa, and he's going to yell at us." Shoto said it without a trace of doubt in his tone, his voice sounding a bit wobbly. Lillian nodded, wrapping a consoling arm around her half-and-half friend when he sniffled. He got more than one incredulous look. The other version of himself was glaring holes into the back of his head, seeming nothing short of appalled by the emotional behavior. Lillian wondered if it would be rude to flip him off.

Vlad made a small chirping noise that had a few people scooting further away. Izuku was not one of those people unfortunately. Luckily he was on Lillian's side, so she could act as a human shield. Kit and Harper were right there too, serving as a barrier between the freckled boy and the two dimension hoppers with beef against him. Lillian was sure this Izuku was perfectly pleasant. That wasn't the running problem. The issue was that their Izuku had also been perfectly pleasant up until the point where he started, you know, shooting at them.

"Isn't he your dad? I don't see what the big deal is." Kaminari shrugged, eyeing the Nomu as he sat up from his curled position. Lillian and her Shoto stared at the electric blond with disappointment that made him shrivel up slightly. He looked confused. "I mean, I get that he's scary, but isn't he her dad? My dad yells at me sometimes when I cause power outages in the neighborhood or electrocute my sister."

"The other you would understand." Lillian sighed, glancing at the phone when it stopped ringing. The silence lasted half a second before it was playing that same ringtone again. It almost seemed louder this time. Harper glared at it as though that were going to make it stop. "He's gonna lose it. I mean with his promotion to Number One Hero--"

"His what?" Aizawa choked out. 

"--he's been really stressed, and this isn't going to help." Lillian completely ignored her alternate-dad and the strangled noises some of her classmates made, waving her hand in a general arc to gesture to everything. "We've been here like, five fucking minutes total and so much is happening."

"Number one hero?" Mina blue-screened. 

"Th're's nay way I just hath heard yond." Wow. Iida's thoughts were really just... like that. Harper could feel her headache bleeding down into the rest of her body. Kit grinned, eyes flickering across the stunned faces of the class and soaking up the shock like a sponge. He just thrived on this sort of thing, you know? Harper rolled her shoulders until something popped. Ojiro looked grossed out by the sound. As though his tail didn't shimmy, shake, and crack every two goddamn seconds. 

Aizawa massaged his temples. He should've just told everyone to shut up and gone on with class. But no, instead he had to get caught up in a torrent of emotion and become distracted. He was going to half blame it on Atlantis. His husband had been so taken with her that it had rubbed off on him through the bond. Or maybe he didn't want to admit that the idea of having a child wasn't the worst feeling in the world. He'd gotten a taste of it having Hitoshi around, but that was different than this was. This was... he didn't know, but it wasn't the same. If it were then this wouldn't be so hard.

And now-- apparently-- the him of another dimension was calling. He felt almost guilty thinking about it. Here he was awing over a daughter that wasn't even his. That another version of himself was undoubtedly stressing for. He hadn't known Lillian long, but he got the impression she worried a lot of people rather often. Her general acceptance of everything told him she'd definitely been through worse. It was odd to think that she knew him fairly well when he had so few details about her, her past, and who she was as a person. There was another him out there who'd lived alongside her-- who wanted her back.

"Man, this is so cool!" Kirishima's thoughts gasped. "Another Mr. Aizawa! Calling from a whole different dimension! So manly!" 

"I must be dreaming, ribbit." Tsuyu peered at the phone with big eyes. "Quirks are weird, but I didn't think they were this weird."

Harper looked at Lillian and Shoto expectantly as a few mutters coursed through the class. Lillian gave her a pained smile, clearly not wanting to answer but willing to if she had to. Her Shoto was entirely shut down to the idea. Was entirely stone-walled even though it was his phone and this was all his fault. Lillian hoped he knew how much he was going to owe her if she had to listen to her dad sob his heart out in her ear. She loved him, yeah, but him crying would make her cry. And Lillian really didn't want to cry right now. Then she'd be embarrassed, and her and Harper would both have headaches. It would only cause more stress!

"Well shit, I'll do it." Kit swiped the device before anyone could say anything against it, pressing the green accept button much to Lillian and her Shoto's absolute horror. The class went dead silent as Kit grinned, teetering back on the balls of his feet. Aizawa held his breath, ears straining to hear as the feisty brunette boy opened his mouth to talk. "H-"

"WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, YOU DISCOUNTED CANADIAN CANDY CANE FUCK?!" Came an ungodly shriek that you'd have to be deaf not to hear. Kit's eyes went wide, his slick smile splitting into a full on grin even as he ripped the phone away from his ear to try and preserve some of his hearing. Laughter burst out of several of their alternate classmates at the sudden burst of shouting. Lillian's expression dropped like a stone in a pond, and the Bakugo of here was standing up at the sound of his own voice immediately. Why did Shoto's phone have to be so loud? Or maybe that was all Katsuki. 

"Why the fuck am I hearing my own voice?!" The here-Katsuki boomed, palms already cracking as he stomped over. He'd previously deemed himself too good to join the crowd but he was apparently regretting it now. Lillian scooted closer to her Shoto as the explosive blonde approached, curling her lips inward until you couldn't see them anymore in an attempt to keep herself from screaming in frustration. "What the fuck?! Hell no! No way in hell some alternate version of me is on that shit phone." 

"No way!" Ochako laughed. "Soda, soda, soda, soda."

"Bakubro, it's you!" Kirishima announced unnecessarily, as though that much were not painfully obvious. The redhead was practically bouncing in his excitement, and many of their other classmates seemed excited by the prospect of hearing from another version of their most violent peer. "This is so trippy, dude!"

Harper groaned, shaking her head and stepping back. Done. She was done. Poor Lillian looked like she'd just sucked on a lemon. The freckled girl's Shoto looked more scared than when he'd thought it was Aizawa on the other end, as though this conclusion were ten times worse and not one they'd assumed would come to pass. The brunette glanced at the here-Aizawa. He seemed relieved. Hearing himself talk would've been weird, she guessed. She didn't care. Vlad was looking more attentive, cocking his head at the phone happily. Harper grimaced at the creature. Of course he was acting like a perfect little angel now. As though he hadn't caused her hell on Earth. She flipped him off for good measure. 

"This is so much better than any shit I ever could've expected." Kit admitted into the phone, seeming amicably pleased by the unexpected turn of events. "Oh my god. Another Katsuki. This is the best day of my life."

"Who the fuck are you?" Katsuki's voice spat over the phone's speaker, still loud enough for literally the entire room to hear. Lillian groaned, burying her face in her hands. This time it was Shoto who patted her on the back. "Where is Lillian? Touch a single goddamn hair on her head and I'm going to shove your balls so down your throat you'll be shitting them out all in the same fucking second, you piece of shit. What did you do to her? Is she hurt? Tell me your fucking name so I know who to kill, dammit!" 

This was all said in a single breath, and Lillian felt her face grow impossibly red as Mina gasped excitedly, eyes shining with something glittery and new. Kit barked out a laugh that didn't help the situation in the slightest, and Aizawa had taken after Harper and stepped away from the situation. Great. She was loving the support here. Alright, this was fine. It was just Katsuki! It's not that she was ashamed of him or anything-- not at all. It was just... she could feel the stares of her alternate classmates. Compared to the peers she knew and loved, they were practically strangers!

Class 1-A really wasn't too sure what was happening, but it was hilarious. 11/10 would recommend if you ever found yourself overly bored. Though none of them had any clue what to say or do in a situation like this, they still found themselves overly curious and awed by this newfound knowledge of other dimensions. That, and their gripey, vulgar, explosive classmate actually caring about someone? Mina was dead convinced they were dating at this point, and Hagakure was in that same boat. Koda too but nobody say anything. He's trying to keep his interest under wraps for social anxiety reasons.

"He's going to kill me." Shoto seemed to come to this conclusion pretty damn fast. The alternate version of himself frowned, somehow managing to look both indifferent and unimpressed with himself all at the same time. He scoffed and turned on his heel to return to his desk, apparently deeming this too childish to be bothered with. Lillian and her Shoto both winced a little, sharing another look that had Tokoyami, Aoyama and Tsuyu squinting and leaning closer as though they were science experiments to be studied. 

Alternate Katsuki was... yeah, he really just wasn't liking this. At all. That was him on the phone. That was another him, and apparently he cared a shit ton about this shivering, freckled extra who'd shown up out of fucking nowhere and was supposedly Mr. Aizawa's secret love child or some shit. He couldn't care less. He just couldn't fathom how any version of himself could be that pathetic. Who had time for a relationship? He had to be the strongest! This alternate piece of shit was going to give him a bad name at this fucking rate. 

"She's fine, she's fine. No need to get your panties in a twist, Katsuki." Kit purred, leaning forward and flopping his arms down onto Lillian's desk. Lillian stared at him in disdain, because you could always count on Kit to make any situation about four times worse at a minimum at any given time. "It's Kit Suzuko! Your cousin from another dimension? I'm sure you've heard of me. Lillian's probably mentioned me! Lillian?"

"H-Hi?" Lillian tried, shrugging in defeat. Shoto silently shook his head, staring at his phone as though Kit were going to break it any second. He unintentionally found himself turning to Kaminari for help, who he looked to in most social situations these days. He was still too emotionally constipated not to be awkward, but Denki had a natural charisma when it came to dealing with people. The blonde blinked owlishly at the half-and-half teen, and Shoto blinked back expectantly for a beat before squinting when he caught himself. This was just weird. His Kaminari totally would've understood where he was coming from with that flavorless look. 

"Wait, cousin?" Sero's brows furrowed. He leaned forward to peer closer at Kit, looking between him and the practically-frothing-at-the-mouth Bakugo behind him. Guy looked like he'd bluescreened. Angrily. "Yeah, that actually makes tons of sense." 

"The eyes, especially." Shoji noted offhandedly, seeming rather amused by the entire situation. At least someone was having fun, Lillian guessed. Shoji was chill no matter the dimension so she couldn't even be that mad about it. 

Aizawa watched the situation go down tiredly, once again knowing he should say something but not able to find the words. This was surreal. Atlantis' excitement was still coursing heavy through his veins, not helping him figure out what course of action to take in the slightest. Was it okay to just let the kids settle and socialize? His daughter-- who wasn't his daughter, but was, but wasn't-- looked extremely uncomfortable. Face flushed and... wait, she'd said... she'd said she had a boyfriend, right? And that... no, was his daughter was dating Katsuki Bakugo? Dear lord, tell him he was wrong. He had to be wrong on this one. A relationship between them would be vastly irrational if her version of Bakugo was anything like the one here.

"Give her the phone then, you bitch ass fuck! I don't give a shit whose cousin, uncle, or father you fucking are. I don't give a shit about you in general, so let me talk to Freckles before I hunt you down and kill you myself!" Katsuki shrieked like a banshee. Ochako gasped at the nickname, and alternate Bakugo's eyes went wide with newfound rage. "Chad went to the other dimension and her ass wasn't there, so one of you extras must've fucked something u--"

There was a sharp cut off that had them all cringing a bit. Vlad straightened attentively, and the whole class took half a step back at the Nomu's newfound curiosity. Lillian just reached forward and patted his beak in defeat. This was her life now. Her alternate dad, honestly, was shit at this. He wasn't even doing anything! He was just standing there and staring at her soullessly, not even interrupting the process! Where was his sense of pity? Empathy? Mercy? She was clearly suffering here, but he didn't seem to get that no matter how many father-daughter psychic signals she tried to send. 

There seemed to be a scuffle on the other end of the line. Everyone couldn't help but lean in to listen as shouting sounded, undiscernible. There were some explosions. Lillian was pretty sure that was Neito screaming in the background, but it could easily be Kaminari too. Not to be racist or anything, but all boys with bright blonde hair literally had the exact same shriek of terror and you couldn't convince her otherwise. Though entirely different, Kaminari and Neito still had the same vibe somehow. Again, a blonde thing. 

Harper listened vaguely, face buried in her arms. A nap would be nice right now, but the circulating thoughts in the room were almost too much to bear. She was going to have to step out at this rate. Everyone was riled up and exuberant by all the new shit going down. Which yeah, it was hilarious in its own, weird way, but that didn't mean she wanted to listen to this. That being said, this was all caused by her to begin with so she, once again, had zero grounds to complain. Count on her to fuck shit up in the worst way possible. How was this her luck? Seriously though. 

"Um." Kit pulled the phone away from his ear a bit, making the sound over the line easier to hear. Was that Tricky by Run DMC playing? She was going to ignore the fact that it was probably playing off of Izuku's old playlist. Traitor or not, the guy had amazing music taste. "It sounds like someone is getting fucking dismembered or so-"

"LILLIAN!" A new voice shrieked over the line, cutting him off entirely. Lillian reached out and snatched the phone at the sound of Kaminari's alarmed voice. The alternate Kaminari seemed to immediately recognize himself, eyes going wide with surprise. Mina gave another gasp, this one even more dramatic than the last as Lillian's Denki sniveled on the phone. "Your dad threw Bakugo out a window!"

Yeah, not surprising to be honest. Normal occurrence. Broken windows-- though they hadn't had many in the past month due to Vlad's absence-- were far from anything new. Katsuki would be totally fine! Kit burst out laughing at the electric blonde's tearful declaration, standing up straight and shaking his head. Alternate Bakugo, who had been on the very verge of finally gathering his bearings enough to scream and rage, went into a full reboot again. The knowledge that your teacher had thrown you out a window had to be pretty life-changing. Maybe. Lillian wasn't a good judge of that and neither was Kit.

"A-A-And-" Kaminari sobbed. The alternate him looked absolutely horrified, face reddening with embarrassment as the class snickered at his misfortune. Kit was still laughing opening. "-And he h-hurt my feelings!" 

Lillian didn't even get a chance to reply before Shoto was swooping in like a dark knight, taking his phone back from her before she could even process what had happened. He was seriously out here striking with the speed of a cobra. Or something along those lines. Really, Lillian wasn't great with metaphors or similes or analogies or whatever the fuck that was. Metaphor? You know what, it was probably a metaphor. Nobody tell Mic she doesn't know. He'll try to come over after class to give her more literature function lessons or something else horrifying akin to it.

"He hurt your feelings?" Lillian's Shoto asked coolly. He cracked his neck as though preparing for a physical fight, expression dark. "Put him on the phone." 

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

Mina had filmed the entire thing. How could she not when Shoto Todoroki was literally shouting over the phone about how Mr. Aizawa needed to be 'more careful with his words' and how he was 'a great guy, but couldn't freak out every time Lillian walked out the door without him'? Which would be a great argument if it were actually true. Lillian had not, in fact, walked out a door. She had fallen through a mysterious and potentially dangerous hole in the ground that had vanished as soon as she was fully through it, thus making his reaction less helicopter and more justified. Not that she was going to tell Shoto that. 

Kit had been having a knee-slapping moment of humor. Aizawa-- the alternate one that was like, actively in the room with them-- finally caved and told everyone to take their seats. He didn't even try getting Todoroki to stop. Just looked disturbed over the fact that there was another version of himself getting chewed out at the moment. Kit's laughter hadn't been helped by Harper, who had scooted over and asked if he wanted to know what Tenya was thinking. Of course he'd said yes. Why wouldn't he say yes? 

"These shouts of rage doth vex me, but I mustn't alloweth myself to outwardly showeth it. It wouldst beest disrespectful of me to doth so." Harper whispered in a low tone. Kit's laughter increased to shrieking-levels that made Jiro and Shoji wince. The kind of cackles that made your stomach hurt so bad you had to hold it because you felt like you were about to regurgitate your intestines if you didn't. His face had never been so red. He was literally getting a headache. "Wherefore doest the sh'rt brunette one find this so comical? This... alternate Todoroki seemeth quite distressed." 

And yeah. That had basically been the end for him. He had hunched over his desk gasping for air, because what the literal fuck? Harper just watched him impassively, no trace of a lie in her face. Honestly, this Iida thinking in complete Shakespearean was sort of the same as the Endeavor being a furry thing. Less morally wrong, but still on the same level somehow. She had to at least tell one person, or else the information would fester and burn a hole in her psyche. Harper's headache was too severe to take that detriment right now. She was doing this for her and no one else. Can I get an amen to that? 

The solution to the Aizawa v. Todoroki argument ended up being performed by Lillian. Alternate Todoroki looked mortified by the whole ordeal. Especially when the other version of him started to tear up, apparently not taking super well to getting screamed at even if he was trying to stand up for his friend. Lillian had seen the issue, grabbed the phone, reported that they didn't want to know about their car's extended warranty, and had promptly hung up. Power move on her part? Yeah, she'd say. 

After that, she'd turned off the phone and wrapped a comforting arm around Shoto to try and keep him from having a total mental break. Lillian wasn't the designated mom friend, but she could be in dire situations such as this. Neito is a single mom who works two jobs, who loves his kids and never stops, but he isn't here right now and they all must cope. Even Vlad joined in, standing up so abruptly that Ojiro almost fell out of his seat and pissed himself. The creature loomed over their desks, wrapping his two spindly arms loosely around them as though to shield them from the horrors of the world.

That was all in the past. Class had hesitantly resumed with Kit's hiccups of laughter in the background and Harper passed out from what had to be sheer exhaustion and pain alone. Momo had created a blanket that got reluctantly shuttled up to the front, and Lillian had forced Kirishima to go put it on her. The redhead didn't know why and nobody was gonna tell him. The freckled girl, from the little she knew, was pretty sure Kirishima was the only person who wouldn't wake her up if he directly approached her. Turns out she's a genius and was right so it all worked out. 

The remainder of the day went fast and was fairly stress free, Harper sleeping throughout all of it. They'd risked turning on Shoto's phone to see if he could play some flappy bird but it had immediately began to shriek with alerts of missed calls and several incoming ones, so they'd quietly shut it back off. They'd shared a look and nodded, a silent but mutual agreement not to touch the device at the moment passing between them. It wasn't worth it man. It just wasn't. 

"You're not my cousin and you're an ugly bitch." Katsuki declared once class had ended, swinging his bag over his shoulder decisively, seeming pretty at peace with himself and his declaration. Lillian watched him stomp out of the room with raised brows, turning to blink at Kit who appeared to be thoroughly amused by the nasty behavior. It had taken him a literal hour to calm down from his laughing fit. No, Lillian wasn't exaggerating. You could ask Shoto. He was there. He saw, he heard, he witnessed. The guy would start to calm down and then something would just... trigger him again and it would start all over. Her alternate dad had been near duct-taping the guy's mouth shut Lillian was pretty sure.

Kit watched Katsuki march out the door. Whilst the explosive blonde was all too eager to jet out of there, many members of 1-A lingered eagerly with their eyes set on the dimension hoppers. Kit understood-- really, he did. He was hot, shoeless, and had a mysteriously hot boyfriend who... apparently spoke like some medieval motherfucker in this universe. Or something. Of all the things he ever would have guessed were going on in the head of his alternate-boyfriend, never in his entire goddamn life would he have guessed that. This was the funniest shit he'd ever heard in his entire life. He couldn't wait to tell his Tenya about it, and his Dabi. God, Dabi would lose his shit.

Harper stirred slightly, almost as though sensing a disturbance in the force. Lillian's Shoto stared morosely down at his phone, which was still off. He itched to get his mind off things and play some Temple Run instead. This version of Izuku was gradually drifting closer, notebook in hand, fingers twitching in that same nervously-curious way they always used to before he... Shoto felt sick thinking too hard about it. His throat was tight and his head felt hot. Was he coming down with something? What were the symptoms of brain cancer again? Kaminari had read them to him once. 

"Shoto." Lillian whispered, slightly nudging the boy with her elbow. He grunted a bit. The girl wanted to distract him from the green-eyed issue slowly inching towards them with another, more minor issue instead. "You're hovering."

Shoto looked down, brows furrowing. Uh... yeah, no he wasn't. He was definitely still sitting in his seat. Was this a trick question? No, it wasn't even a question. This would be so much easier if he could turn on his phone and look up Urban Dictionary. It knew everything about every word in the history of words. Knowing Lillian, this was probably a reference to that.

"I don't think I am." He admitted, not sure what else to say. Lillian rolled her eyes at him, planting her hand atop his head and physically turning it for him. He blinked a few times, registering that yeah, that was him standing almost directly behind them. A colder, slightly-younger version of him who had clearly not been through the trenches of heartbreak and the joys of Candy Crush. Was that really what he'd used to look like? No wonder Sero called it 'early-roki'. The difference was vast. 

The Shoto of this dimension was... well, he had mixed feelings about everything going on. This other version of himself seemed so open with his emotions. He had friends and talked more, and didn't seem so closed off from the world around him. In some ways he felt jealous. He wasn't sure how to deal with the tightness in his chest. He wanted to ask how to do it. How to get to that point-- how to heal, and be happy like this Shoto was. Was it possible for him? Or was their dimension different on a fundamental level that this place could never reach? He didn't know, and he hated that. 

Harper's eyes popped open rather abruptly. She sat bolt upright, blanket falling off her shoulders and head swinging towards where Vlad sat. The menace was feeling violent, and a quick once-over of the situation told her that Izuku Midoriya was why. The guy wasn't doing anything violent or threatening. He just wanted to ask some questions, but the closer he got to Shoto and Lillian, the closer he got to causing some major issues. The brunette sighed heavy through her nose. The nap had been nice-- surprising and unexpected, but nice-- but not near enough to prepare her for whatever would happen if Izuku made contact with Shoto.

"Hey!" Harper snapped, hands clapping together loudly and causing eyes to fly to her. Giving an irritated look wasn't hard with how tired she was right now. She was definitely going to be getting some more coffee after this. She pointed a finger towards the door, voice hard and more demanding than your typical sixty-year-old math teacher's was. "Out." 

Izuku, as socially anxious as he appeared to be in almost every dimension, did not hesitate to scurry out the door like a startled mouse at her demand. A few others complied and followed, but Harper apparently wasn't clear enough because a few still meandered about. The girl pressed her lips together, shaking her head. She had shit to do-- questions to ask. After (literally) sleeping on it, she had come to the astute conclusion that she should probably learn more about this merman shit. Because if some shit happened, she'd like to be in the know about whatever that shit was as it was going down. 

"She's a bitch." Jiro seemed to decide. Which yeah, that was fair. "She seems pretty tired though, so I guess I can't blame her too much. I wonder what her quirk is. What are any of their quirks? Aside from Todoroki's, of course."

"I want to know more about Lillian and Bakugo though!" Mina pouted, seeming at war with herself over whether or not to leave. "What if she's gone before I get the chance to ask her tomorrow? That would suck! I want all the juicy details! They're like, clearly dating or something! Our Bakugo is so mean, but hers definitely cares about her."

"Fergalicious, definition make them boys go crazy." Tokoyami was taking his time packing his things up but at least he wasn't butting into their business. "They always claim they know me, comin' to me, call me Stacy." 

"You can ask your question tomorrow. They're tired, so leave them be. Class is over." Aizawa drawled out. His word was law compared to Harper's, which was mere suggestion if nothing else. That definitely got people moving. Mina visibly deflated at the demand, shooting Lillian a sorrowful look. "Fuck. Fuck, this is going to be something else. I can already feel Atlantis heading over, and I can tell they have questions."

The Shoto from here gave himself and Lillian one last, long look before turning on his heel and going for the door. They watched him go whilst holding their breath. The old version of Todoroki was intimidating, okay? You absolutely could not blame them for this one. They'd had no idea what he was going to say. Considering Lillian's Shoto had just screamed at Lillian's dad on the phone earlier today, it couldn't have been anything super good. Crisis averted. You could also say bullet dodged but that was tasteless and like, way too soon. 

Kit waved flirtatiously to just about everyone, all to trip Mina and Hagakure up. They wanted to know who was dating who. Why? Kit had literally no fucking clue, but messing with people was fun so you could bet your ass he wasn't going to stop. He was an awful person and he took some amount of pride in such a fact. Harper patiently drummed her fingers on her desk, gazing at the now-sweating Aizawa. He wanted to do this about as much as Harper did. As in, not even a little bit. The brunette girl just had to take deep breaths and remind herself that she'd done this and wasn't allowed to be mad. That was the only thing that was going to get her through this. 

"So are we going to talk about the whole merman thing now? Because that's a topic I've been wanting to swing back to all day." Kit noted about thirty seconds after the last student had left the room, propping his chin up on his fist and smiling pleasantly at the bedraggled man at the front of the room. Lillian shielded her eyes, making a face. Again, some people were just too pretty. Had he been like this last time? No-- no, he had a haircut this time. That's what this was. "What sort of H20 just add water type bullshit are we on right now? The good kind? The bad kind? Somewhere in-between? Tenya's musty teacher needs to give us some more info on his little tropical twink husband if he wants us to shut up about the whole 'other species' issue, you know." 

Aizawa's expression dropped into something tired and reluctant at the inquiry. Harper glanced over to where Lillian sat. The freckled girl shrugged back, having no idea what was going on. Shoto had gone back to staring at his phone. Vlad had joining him in his endeavors and now they were boy practically lasering holes through the device with their gazes alone. Lillian wondered if he knew he could turn it back on, flip on airplane mode, and then enjoy his games call-and-text free. Probably not. If she told him not he'd only be pissed she didn't mention it sooner, so maybe keeping her trap shut was the best course of action here.

Harper let her quirk reach out its feelers a bit to get a sense for where Atlantis was. He wasn't far, she noted, but seemed to have stopped somewhere down the hall. He felt so different from everyone else that sensing him came easily. He stuck out like a sore thumb, shimmery, cool, and borderline ethereal in aura. He was a bubbly presence. Only the more she felt around him, the more she... wait just a second...

"Hey. Is there another mer-person in the school?" Harper cocked a brow at Aizawa, who froze solid and answered her question without her even having to listen in on his thoughts. Lillian perked up, turning to look at her dad with bright, curious eyes. Kit's grin stretched wider. He straightened in his seat a bit, his back cracking. This was interesting. So, so incredibly interesting. This was a whole other species they were talking about. That being said, what if his dimension had merfolk and he just didn't know it? He'd have to investigate once he got back.

"There is." Aizawa said. And then, Atlantis popped through the door. Only he wasn't alone.

Lillian paused. Seriously, it looked and felt as though she'd just used her quirk on herself or something of that sort. Shoto underwent a similar reaction in which he glanced up, did a double-take, and then moved into some level of dissociation at the sight before him. Even Harper had to stare, not at all impressed by whatever this was before her. Vlad trilled happily, perking up at the newest arrival. The only dimension-hopper that didn't have a real reaction was Kit, who observed the entire thing with happy cluelessness. He had no idea what was happening, but he was here for it! 

Atlantis beamed like the sun at the sight of Lillian, dragging the teenager next to him closer. Lillian had no words. Absolutely none. Because if she was reading these implications correctly, then that meant the Hitoshi of this dimension was a merman. As in Hitoshi Shinso. As in, her first best friend who meant the world to her. He was a merman or something. With a tail and like, gills, presumably. That was... so incredibly dramatic and on brand for him. Wow. This was happening. Was this a fever dream? She was starting to think it was maybe a fever dream.

"I forgot what he looked like with two hands." Shoto admitted all too casually. Hitoshi paused, brow cocking in a way that was completely characteristic of him. "Him being a merman makes sense. He has that energy."

"Well... that's trippy, I guess." Hitoshi noted, eyeing Lillian and then glancing over to Aizawa. His eyes fell upon the Nomu. "What's that thing?" 

"AVOCADO!" Vlad shrieked, lunging at him. Hitoshi and Atlantis started to scream.

~~~~~~~~~~

Hitoshi wasn't sure what to think. After getting over the fear of whatever the hell this 'Vlad' creature was, he was able to settle and better process what had happened to make his cousin so excited. Atlantis had yanked him out of his classroom, jabbering about alternate dimensions and daughters and a whole mess of other things Hitoshi didn't have the mental capacity to process after a day of mind-numbing schoolwork. It had originally sounded a lot more complicated than it actually was. To put it in simple terms, Aizawa's daughter from another dimension had crossed into this one. Somehow. 

She looked exactly like him and felt the same too, so it's not as though Hitoshi were doubting it or anything. It's just... well, she'd also gawked at him in total disbelief, as though he were an unnamed creature never before seen. She was with someone else who'd done the same-- Shoto Todoroki, one of Class 1-A's resident powerhouses. Just not the one from this dimension, he'd come to learn pretty fast. If there was a double of him, there had to be a double of Hitoshi out there too. They both seemed surprised to see him, so he quickly reached the conclusion that they knew him. On some level, anyway. Maybe the other girl too. She seemed... actually, she looked dead tired, but she definitely recognized him at least a little.

Dimension travelling wasn't outside the realm of possibility, so he wasn't skeptical of where they'd come from or whether or not it had truly been an accident. With both magic and quirks in existence, almost anything was possible. This was just another one of those things, no matter how completely out of the left field it had come. Though, three separate dimensions converging to enter one was definitely more of a one and a trillion sort of ordeal. If even that. Hitoshi wasn't here to ask questions, however. As long as they didn't fuck with anything important, he didn't really care what they did. It was pretty interesting anyway.

"This is the best day ever. Do you know Hitoshi? He's our cousin!" Atlantis chirped, leaning into his husband's side happily. Aizawa sniffled a bit, glancing over at Kit as the kid grinned haughtily at the open display of affection. The dark-haired man narrowed his eyes at the little rat, pointedly drawing his husband closer. "Maybe there's a Hitoshi in their dimension too!"

Harper watched quietly, not really wanting to contribute to the current conversation. She still had questions. She just... wasn't super sure what those questions were. It felt like there was more they needed to know. Harper had an uneasy feeling and seldom did that ever mean anything good. Her gut was very, very telling. Harper liked to listen to what it had to say. Bad shit tended to happen when she didn't. As though she hadn't already had enough bad luck with Vlad, she didn't need any new unknowns falling onto her plate and shattering it.

She distantly wondered how close they were to finding her. Kirishima and Dabi and Kurogiri she meant. They'd been the ones to come get her last time. They'd worked with Sansa and Tsukauchi tirelessly to figure out what had happened to her. This time was entirely different in the fact that they'd planned this. They knew exactly what shit she'd pulled and why, so they should be able to come find her pretty soon. Except she wasn't really in the place they thought she was, so there was no telling... She wondered if her phone was interdimensional too. And if not, why was Shoto's? Was it because he'd been using it whilst they were in the in-between void?

"So he's a merman?" Lillian blurted out, unable to help herself. Hitoshi blinked at her, seeming surprised that she knew, before turning to look at his cousin in question. "Oh. My. God. I have to convince him to like, show me his tail or whatever so we can have a photoshoot. Can you imagine the blackmail material? Him, up on the rocks, windswept hair, posing with a fish tail? I could get my Hitoshi to do anything I wanted for the rest of my life! A whole new worlddd, a dazzling place Hitoshi never knewww-" 

"He is! Is he not one in your dimension?" Atlantis seemed eager to hear, leaning forward with big eyes. This whole interdimensional thing was very interesting, you know. Apparently it wasn't common on land like he'd thought it might be. Throughout the day he'd tried to acclimate himself to the idea of Lillian having to go back to her dimension soon, like the brown haired boy had mentioned before. He didn't like it. He wanted to get to know her! This was Shota's daughter. His flesh and blood. A whole entire person that was (kinda) theirs! "She's so pretty. I wonder what her favorite food is. Whatever it is, that's what we should get for dinner. What's her favorite color? We have to take her to the beach! The ocean will want to meet her!"

"Definitely not." Shoto wheezed out, looking sorta constipated to be honest. Kit sat up slightly, looking a little more attentive. He snapped his fingers together as though he'd come to a realization, and Lillian suddenly recalled all she'd told him and Harper about her life in her dimension. Just as they had about theirs, but that wasn't the issue right now. The issue was that his memory wasn't shit like hers was, so he'd obviously remembered something that would probably dash her chances of those photos! Shoto was still in deep contemplation. "Lillian and Hitoshi are related then. I knew the secret love child theory with him wasn't that far off... He and Mr. Aizawa look far too alike. If only I were a secret love child."

Kit could not believe his own genius sometimes. He amazed even himself on occasions such as this. Not to toot his own horn or anything, but he was actually pretty fucking amazing in general. You can look it up. He has a Wiki page and everything, and his qualifications are vast and listed in alphabetical order. Kit was pretty sure Tenya updated it regularly but refused to admit to it. That just seemed like something he'd do. He was proud of Kit's position but acted disgruntled and like he didn't care. It was actually super cute. Not the point right now. 

"You! You're the kid she went to live with after she found out she was kidnapped and shit!" Kit beamed a thousand-watt smile that truly highlighted what a little shit he was. Aizawa's eyes went wide, and Atlantis looked horrified. Kit sat back in his seat, deeply satisfied with himself. "I can't believe this shit! Can't get any better than this! First Medieval Tenya, then the interdimensional phone, and now this shit!"

"You were kidnapped?" Aizawa hissed out, sounding both horrified and angry at the same time. Again, not really a surprise. Lillian and Shoto didn't even flinch at the tone, both of them nodding in perfect sync. It was actually a tad bit creepy. Harper was finding herself deeply amused by their interactions despite herself. Lillian was weird on her own, but pair her with one of her close friends and she just got even odder. Especially when that friend was Shoto Todoroki. It was like watching a sorta fucked up social experiment in real time. "When? Why? She was living with a boy? Wait, if Hitoshi isn't a merman, what's his familial situation in her dimension then?" 

Atlantis was mortified. Kidnapped?! Her?! She seemed okay, but what if she had lasting trauma? As powerful as mer magic was, the brain was complex, as were the emotions it worked to produce. If it wasn't physical, he couldn't fix it. Hitoshi could perhaps lull her with his voice, but that was a temporary fix. Okay, no, he had to calm down. He was just worried was all. There was plenty of time to figure everything out and find out what had--

"Twice." Shoto noted languidly, not helping the situation at all. Atlantis' jaw dropped. Twice? She had been kidnapped two times?! "Why is Lillian giving me that look? It's all true."

Lillian shook her head a little, slapping at her cheeks as though to wake herself up a bit. Her step-dad was staring at her with super teary eyes which was making her feel super guilty. It's not as though she'd asked to get kidnapped or anything! Besides, that was all in the past. Aside from the crippling nightmares, the severe fear of guns, and intolerance for any Nickelback songs. Those were Izuku's favorites and anytime any of them heard one, they could visualize him perfectly. They'd tried to play Photograph on repeat a few times for some exposure therapy but in the end Shoto had combusted and they'd all sobbed violently for an hour.

Kit settled back into his seat, pursing his lips and wondering if he should mention that she'd gotten shot at by Izuku or not. He'd keep that card for later. Right now would be going too far. He wanted to cause minor inconveniences and vaguely uncomfortable situations, not Earth-shattering ones. Besides, Lillian looked like she had no idea what to do and he wasn't dick enough to push her like that. Maybe he'd offhandedly ask Harper how her boyfriend was doing tomorrow in front of Mina and Hagakure. If they were curious about Kit's relationship, they'd go rabid hearing someone as tired and irritated as Harper had the patience for a boyfriend.

"How about we not worry about that right now, yeah?" Harper sighed, raking a hand through her hair. Her fingers ripped at the tangles in it, and the girl couldn't help but grimace a bit. Deep breaths. She caused this! This was all her fault. No grounds to get mad. "Look, we can talk all about our dimensions later, but we're in yours right now and we need to learn the ins and outs of it while we're here. Especially if we're going to be interacting with you guys for the duration of this shit show."

And they would be, Harper was sure. Kit nodded in agreement. Atlantis seemed intent on staying near Lillian at any cost. Which was sweet, but also like, they were going to need a bit more info on this whole merman thing if that was gonna be the case. Like they'd all said like, a million times. They all wanted to know, yet they had still gathered essentially no information. Aizawa made the same face he made the last few times they'd brought it up and Atlantis looked reluctant. It was a breath of fresh air to see Hitoshi straighten up in his seat a bit. At least someone in the room had balls.

"Yeah, alright." The purple-haired boy sighed a bit, rolling his shoulders until they popped. Shoto rated that crack a ten out of ten. That sounded juicy. "Merfolk are an ancient race that's near extinction now. We're the only two left that either of us know of, and only just recently did we actually reunite. These necklaces we have on are the reason we have legs. Take these off and we grow our tails. This is all top secret, but I'm guessing if Atlantis already let what we are spill, it honestly can't get much worse. Just keep it to yourselves and we won't have any issues."

The older merman looked a bit flustered, smiling sheepishly as Hitoshi dangled his own necklace a bit for them to see. Lillian nodded, glancing at Shoto. Her half-and-half friend looked quite curious. He was way more attentive than usual. Maybe him having a break from his phone was a good thing! Whilst mobile games were a better coping mechanism than drugs, alcohol, or cross-stitching, there had to be some mediation in there somewhere. You know, some brain cell usage in-between all that Flappy Bird and Temple Run.

Hitoshi told them a bit more, Aizawa and Atlantis respectively interjecting at their own points. Lillian couldn't help but poke fun at her dad a little, which Atlantis seemed to relish in entirely. He ruffled her hair, squealing at her and pinching her cheeks like she was a pudgy dog he simply couldn't look away from. Vlad had seemed mildly offended on her behalf, inserting his disgusting head right between them. Appreciated, but the exposed brain thing still made Lillian's stomach turn just a little if she stared too long. It was just so moist, and sometimes it pulsed like it was its own, individual entity or something. She half expected it to climb out of his head on its own two legs some days.

Shoto shoved the creature away by his beak just before he could lick Hitoshi's arm. The purple-haired boy looked extremely grateful, eyeing the nomu speculatively. He at least didn't seem overly scared of him. Just wary if he was going to use any word to describe it. It was odd to look at his friend and know they didn't have a relationship. That Mihoko and Hajime were not in his life, and that Hitoshi knew nothing about him. Shoto wasn't sure he was a fan. He just had to keep in mind that these were technically different people. Like... like twins. Secret love children. He was surrounded by secret love children and everything was perfectly fine. This was utopia. These would be his new daily affirmations for the duration of their time here.

"Great. So how could that come back to bite us in the ass?" Kit asked, raising a brow. That was the real question here. So far the story sounded pretty arbitrary. Merfolk, hunted for centuries. Population dwindled due to low fertility rates within the species. Their pod gets wiped out by something none of them can recall, and Hitoshi and Atlantis get separated. Hitoshi enchants some coral by chance and gets legs, Atlantis doesn't but meets Aizawa a few years later by chance. They happen to fall in love, he finds a pre-enchanted crystal, and the rest is history or something. "Love story of the century. What sort of fanfiction-type bullshit is this?"

Atlantis looked unsure at the question. Shota rubbed reassuring circles on his back, flushing slightly at the eyebrow wiggle his daughter sent him. She was so much like him, yet so much... not. At all. Maybe it was a teenager thing. That being said, Todoroki was giving him an odd look too. Squinting, peering between him and Atlantis as though he'd run across a particularly hard math problem. Aizawa didn't have the heart to worry about it right now. The question Kit asked was a heavy one, but they deserved to know. After all, they could be targets. If they'd seen Izuku's performance-- felt it-- at the Sports Festival... the enemy very well could've too.

"W-Well... what do you know about All For One?" Atlantis asked hesitantly. Kit didn't react, but Shoto's breath in was aborted halfway through and he started to choke on air, both his hands slamming down on his desk with a loud bang that made Atlantis and Hitoshi jump slightly. Harper groaned, burying her face in her hands and muttering something under her breath. Was it family friendly? No, but not much of anything she says or does is. She's a menace to society in general, actually, but everyone already knows that. 

Atlantis and Aizawa peered at Lillian as the girl went through several different stages of emotion. Most of them were clearly built on the basis of distress which... really wasn't a good sign. Not positive in the slightest. Kit just sat there as his companions crumbled around him emotionally. What a day to be alive. Lillian was processing. Not well, but it was happening somewhere in there. Atlantis leaned forward, eager to see what her conclusion would be. Aizawa held his breath a bit. He hadn't known Lillian long, but he'd gotten a feel for her. 

So when she burst into tears abruptly and with little to no warning... yeah, he honestly wasn't that surprised.

~~~~~~~~~~

"How has it come to this?" Shoto asked no one in particularly, tone mournful. He sat hunched over on a cot provided by the school: he, Harper, and Kit all settled into a classroom-turned-bedroom of sorts where they'd be staying for the time being. Vlad was also here, curled up by the half-and-half teen's feet like some sort of fucked up family pet. "This is the worst day of my life. First Izuku, then no phone, and now no Lillian."

All the talk of All For One had settled down after a good half hour of panicking. They'd eventually managed to establish that yeah, they sorta knew him, but not the overpowered merman edition that existed here. Apparently he was just as big a threat here as he was in their respective dimensions though, so honestly not much had changed. Keep an eye out for super old guy in a Vader-esque mask that can steal quirks? Check that box. Save for Kit, who was still in the dark about what the fuck was going on. He didn't have a quirk to be stolen anyway so he could really care less. 

Shoto and Lillian had come clean about the whole traitor thing and about it being Izuku-- though, they'd refused to go into depth about what he'd done or how they'd found out. Atlantis and Aizawa had looked like they'd just had their puppy killed right before their very eyes, so Harper was quick to reassure that there wasn't a traitor in 1-A as far as she could tell. That being said, she'd also been sorta passed out for most of her time here and had been down bad with a borderline migraine prior to that. She wasn't going to tell them that though. She was just going to force and a smile and nod amicably, because what the fuck else was she supposed to do?

"Don't be such a dramatic bitch, Candy Cane. She's just going out for dinner with her dads." Kit snorted, splayed out on his stomach with his legs idly kicking. After Lillian had gotten done freaking out (i.e. crying her fucking eyes out), Atlantis had hesitantly asked if she'd like to come out with her, Aizawa, and Hitoshi for a family dinner. Lillian had frozen and he'd excitedly taken the silence as a yes. "She looked like a possum trying to play dead when he popped the question. No way in hell she actually wanted to go with them literally anywhere. Rest in fucking peace. I'll be surprised if she comes back alive." 

Harper snorted a bit. Her raging headache had calmed. Not by much, but enough for her not to feel ready to strangle anyone in her general vicinity who dared think, breathe, or exist in general. Her anxiety about the whole situation had lessened as well after their conversation fleshing everything out. As otherworldly as the whole merfolk thing was, it didn't seem like a threat and she was hoping it wouldn't cause them any issues. That was definitely wishful thinking on her part, but she was going to stick to it and hope for the best. An effective strategy? Absolutely not, but it's all she had right now. 

"And if she gets shot at?" Shoto asked, cocking a brow. Kit stared at him. Wow. He was being completely serious right now. It was like talking to a mutt with separation anxiety. Hilarious but also like, super sad. Had they gotten this kid therapy? Seriously, even Kit was better adjusted than he was and he had a dead dad, a mother in jail, and got into regular back alley fights. "He's not taking this as seriously as he should be."

"Does she get shot at often?" Kit inquired, also raising an eyebrow in challenge. Shoto stared at him like he was a complete and total idiot, and Harper swallowed another snort. Now wasn't the time to laugh, right? Probably right. Whatever, she wasn't super in with what was and wasn't socially acceptable. Probably more in than Shoto and Kit combined, but that didn't mean much looking at them. "Do I even want an answer to that?" 

Harper shook her head at the pair of them, taking a deep breath and letting some of the weight on her chest fall of and crash into the void of her stomach. It was nice to sit like this and not have to worry about anything, but the brunette couldn't help but feel restless. She was always busy and doing something. It felt odd to just... be. No expectations, nothing she had to do, no one she had to talk to. It should've been more relaxing than it currently was. She half expected Nezu to bust in and demand she use her quirk for something. That was very on-brand for him, but maybe the merfolk thing was more interesting than she ever could be. Harper sure hoped so. With that rat off her case, that was one more thing she didn't have to fret over.

Before Shoto could open his mouth to deliver his definitive statement to Kit, he was cut off by the door creaking ajar. Vlad raised his head attentively, cocking it curiously as the top half of a gangly, familiar figure popped through. Kit held back the urge to choke, taking a long, deep breath as Small Might blinked at them in total bewilderment. Harper closed her eyes softly for a moment, centering herself. How had she not heard his weird, schizophrenic bubble approaching? The previous wielders of his quirk weren't exactly quiet.

"I'm sorry." That sounded like five. "Is that a fucking nomu on the floor?" 

"Oh, no, of course not! Why ever would you think that? Clearly it's a dog." Two mocked, voice heavy with sarcasm. Yeah, that was about the mood Harper was in right now too.

"Can you guys shut up? Why's the Todoroki kid here?" And there was Nana. The only one Harper bothered to remember the name of. Call her crass. She just couldn't give a shit. Seriously, just look at the contacts list in her phone for reference. These guys were lucky she even bothered to recall their respective numbers at this point. "And who're the other two? Why're they all camped out in here?"

"Can it with the questions, Sherlock. Nobody has a goddamn clue why they're here, but I bet we'd get answers if you'd shut up and wait a second." Four griped, seeming to grimace a bit. "Ugh. Are those thing's eyes sticking out of its brain?" 

"Technically, aren't our eyes sticking out of our brains anyway?" Three pointed out.

"Yeah, but our brains aren't poking out of the backs of our heads, you fucking moron." Four scoffed. "Why're you such a smartass?"

"I don't know. Why do you have to hurt my feelings every two seconds? I chose you as my successor, you know." Three seemed vastly offended, as though this didn't happen every waking hour of the day. Harper massaged her temples, grimacing as her head pulsed threateningly at this new disruption. She'd strangle All Might herself if it got the ghosts to shut up. Fuck, that was weird to really think about. Those were dead people she was hearing. All Might was literally being haunted and Harper could hear it.

"Can you guys stop fighting? I'm trying to watch here." One complained. He seemed to be the deciding voice of reason here because everyone immediately shut their traps at his request. Harper wished she had that power. Maybe once she was older and a bit more intimidating. She had the Class 1-A of her dimension and most of UA's staff under her thumb by this late in the game, but there were always unavoidable situations in which she wished she could bash someone's skull in just to get them to slow the fuck down and shut the hell up.

There wasn't much to watch though, even with what One had said. There was dead fucking silence. All Might was staring rather blankly at them, gaze occasionally flitting down to where Vlad was curled up on the ground like a grotesque donut of some sort. Shoto glanced at Kit, who glanced back, and then they glanced at Harper. The girl nodded back. They all knew who this was, which made things simpler. How bad was this guy at keeping secrets that literally all of them knew his identity? Three different dimensions and they all knew Toshinori Yagi was All Might.

He looked... actually better than the last time any of them had seen him. Shoto assumed right off the bat that it was because he hadn't been betrayed/heartbroken/ruined/ripped to proverbial pieces/shattered/all the other bad things/stabbed in the back in this dimension. Must be nice. Living in the lap of luxury. Yeah, no, a closer look told him that probably wasn't the only factor. He guessed. Maybe he was salty or maybe he was justified. The world will never know.

The Number One Pro somehow didn't look as skinny and hunched over. His hair seemed healthier too. He looked less like a scarecrow and more like a fuckboy mannequin in a Spencer's display window. Tall, broad shoulders, sharp cheekbones. He wasn't... how did Shoto put this? He didn't look like an emancipated corpse wrapped in skin-colored saranwrap anymore. It was a good look for him! Much better than whatever had been going on before, anyway. His eyes even looked lighter. Not so deep, dark, and vaguely demonic. 

"A-Ah, apologies! It appears I've come into the wrong room. You... four must be the dimension travelers Nezu briefed the staff on." Toshinori eyed Vlad suspiciously. The creature happily clicked his beak at him, trilling slightly. Toshinori cleared his throat a bit, looking pretty awkward all things considered. At least his immediate response hadn't been to punch Vlad through a wall. That's a fight Shoto did not want to witness. "I should've knocked before coming in! I was simply looking for a place to change into my hero costume. I should've assumed there were still people here. Wait, didn't Nezu mentioned the brown-haired girl was a mind reader? Oh... oh my word, no."

Huh, he did have a briefcase. Was that where he kept his suit? Kit wasn't sure what he'd do with this information going forward, but he could promise it wouldn't be anything good. He wondered if Denise would pass as All Might if they got him a wig or something. The idea had potential. If Izuku couldn't convince the guy to participate in a photoshoot for their magazine, they'd have to get creative, even if that meant robbing him. It wouldn't be hard. He already treated Izuku like his long lost son who'd like, come back from the dead or something. The doting was actually kind of cute. 

"Uh huh. No problem." Kit eyed him deviously. Harper sighed and shook her head at him. Toshinori looked absolutely terrified, his posture painfully rigid. Shoto really wished he could turn his phone on and snap a photo. Material like this would be invaluable to the group. He glanced at his phone. It had been a few hours... the endless calls had to have stopped by now, right? A quick check wouldn't hurt. Kit wiggled happily where he sat as Shoto reached for his device. "I see an opportunity here. For what, I still don't know. I must stew."

"The classroom next door is free if you need it. And yeah, I am one." Harper gave him a pointed look. Toshinori squeaked a bit. Ah, like a startled raccoon. This was another thing that didn't change no matter what dimension you popped into. Once a weenie head, always a weenie head. That sounded like something Lillian would say if she were here. They had to keep her spirit alive whilst she was fighting for her life at that family dinner. Harper did not envy her. "You can calm down, though. We all know."

Kit nodded in an over-exaggerated manner, grinning so wide it hurt. Toshinori's eyes went wide at the tired girl's statement, gaze pinging between Kit and Harper so fast his irises nearly blurred. His gaze flew to Shoto too, who was intently waiting for his phone to boot back up. He threw a haphazard thumbs up in Toshinori's relative direction, apparently not deeming this situation important enough to give even a mere glance. He held his breath as his phone's home screen popped on. 99+ missed calls and probably even more missed text messages, but no new ones coming in, just as he'd hoped.

Toshinori was still petrified when Shoto's camera flashed up, snapped his photo, and then went back down. Kit chortled a bit at the antics, even though Todoroki was 101% serious. Harper rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, quirk lightly pinging against All Might's thoughts. Poor guy was on the verge of a literal heart attack. It was a real concern considering his age. Would they be the downfall of the Symbol of Peace? If they were, at least they had whatever the fuck overpowered-merman Atlantis was. Seriously, that guy had mad gains and Harper could feel it. She was never wrong about shit like that.

"Wow. Of course they all know." Two sounded less than surprised by the revelation. "You know, I'm actually shocked this dumbass hasn't been discovered by the public yet."

"Hey! Don't talk about him like that." Nana sounded offended on her successor's behalf. A sweet sentiment, but she was fighting a battle already lost. Because yeah... Toshinori is and will probably always be an idiot, and Harper will die on that hill.

"He once transformed behind a park bench." Four pointed out. "He's like, seven feet tall and didn't even try to duck down. I'm pretty sure like four people saw him."

Yeah, that sounded about right. There was a whole subreddit Kirishima had showed her full of stories about people catching glimpses of Toshinori transforming in really open and obvious areas. It was said to be a complete gag, but Harper knew that the people telling those tales weren't making them up. All Might was just a complete and total moron who thought stepping behind a telephone pole was going to prevent people from seeing him inflate into a towering blonde menace that was like, four feet wide in the shoulders or some heinous shit like that. It was one of those 'they'll never believe you' scenarios, because who's going to believe a teenager who runs up saying an atrophied twig just puffed up into the Number One Hero?

"You should come in and join us, All Might. Unless you've got something better to do." Kit coaxed as though he were talking to a startled stray rabbit. Might as well have been with how hard All Might was shaking. Was this guy seriously Japan's pillar of hope and symbol of peace? Because Harper wasn't impressed. "Please, god, let him come in. I'll die if I don't get another dose of drama sometime in the next fifteen minutes." 

All Might looked like a deer stuck in headlights. Todoroki snapped another photo of him right when his phone began to ring. His nose scrunched up, and everyone turned to him as Miley Cyrus' Party In The USA began to blare at full volume in the fairly-quiet room. Vlad pushed himself into a sitting position, looking like an elongated version of Smeagol somehow. Harper half expected him to start hissing about precious rings and other shit like that. But maybe in his weird, other-word language. Seriously, how the fuck did anyone get the word 'yes' from the words 'metal fork?'

Kit grinned wildly as Shoto cocked his head, looking at Toshinori with some newfound clarity. There it was. The action he needed desperately in his life right now. Until Lillian got back with new tea to spill, they had to work with what they had. 

"Oh, look. You're calling." Shoto turned the phone around towards the pro like this was show and tell. Toshinori's jaw dropped at the picture of himself displayed behind the answer call icon. It was a selfie of him with a young man he didn't recognize. One with sandy blonde hair and sunglasses. In fact, he had on matching sunglasses. And he looked really annoyed. And was that a shirt with his own face on it? Todoroki turned the phone back towards him, fumbling with it before there was a beep that implied that he'd accidentally answered. "Oops." 

Harper brought her hands up to her face so she could smother herself in them. A nap. She wanted a nap and not whatever this was right now. Kit burst out laughing, reaching for the phone with a swiping hand. Shoto looked thoroughly offended that he'd dare to try for the device, shying away and bringing it up to his ear in retaliation. The All Might in the doorway was frozen in place. Was he actually on that phone? Another him from another dimension? How was that possible? A mere cell phone shouldn't be able to do that! Probably. He doesn't actually know anything about technology to be honest. 

"This is tripped out as fuck." Five noted. Harper would not in agreement were he not dead and a non-physical entity. Deep breathes. She'd done this. This was all her fault. She wasn't allowed to get mad, yes? Yes. Besides, this was much preferred over the many other, much worse scenarios that could be going down right now. This was mild all things considered! Fuck, where was Kirishima when you needed him? He was way better at this whole positivity spiel! 

"Young Todoroki?!" Yep, that was All Might's own voice on the other line. That was him. Another him. On the phone, talking and existing right now. Wow, was the air getting thinner in here? Toshinori was having problems breathing. Wait, when had he fully stepped into the room? It was all blurring together. Shapes and colors, everyone! Shapes and colors! "Are you there?! Are you and Lillian okay?" 

"Only on the outside." Shoto responded in a despondent tone, kicking out one of his legs weakly and letting it swing limply. Kit's laughter increased, and he clapped like a happy seal. At least someone was having a good time. Shoto shot him the stink-eye, which apparently did nothing to help the humor of the situation. "He laughs like I'm joking, but I'm one more life's tragedy away from running off to the mountains and making an ice staircase that leads to an ice castle that I will not be emerging from unless Denki comes and gets me himself." 

Toshinori didn't know what to say. The one from this dimension, I mean. He was sorta freaking out. Why was he so nervous? It was just him. Another him from another world who was... wow, there was another him on the phone. It was like finding out you had a twin. He'd gotten a heaping taste of familial love with Young Midoriya as his successor, but this felt strange and different. Like the mechanics of gravity itself had changed and made his organs somewhat weightless. Seriously, his stomach felt like it was about to float up and out of his mouth any second now.

"We're in the same boat, Shoto." Phone-Toshinori said grimly, and Kit shrieked with amusement, cackling. Harper took a deep breath. "What's that shrieking noise? Chad is on his way to get you, my boy. Who're you with right now? Are you safe?" 

"Oh, I'm with you." Shoto said, levelling here-Toshinori with a level gaze that made him sweat. His mouth felt impossibly dry. "Do you want to talk to him?" 

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

"Hi, welcome to Chili's." Lillian blurted out, literally fucking drenched in sweat and pale from nerves. She should've said no. Why was she such a weenie hut jr? She needed to be a Nacho's Bellgrande, but instead she was just a simple bean burrito with a loose tortilla! Hitoshi being here helped, but him not knowing who she was and having two hands was going to give her an actual anxiety attack. Things were the same, but not similar enough for her to relax. She needed her emotional support... whatever Katsuki was. Hardly a person at this point. 

"Ma'am, this is a Denny's." The waitress told her in a polite, almost pitying tone. Lillian wanted to cry. Genuinely, really and truly cry. She should've insisted on bringing Shoto. She easily could've lied and said that they'd adopted him so that made them brother and sister! Endeavor was in jail anyway! Rei was out and about, but Shoto was still distant with her, and even more so with her boyfriend, Detective Tsukauchi. It was a clusterfuck. Point is, she should've insisted. At least then she'd have a hand to hold! 

Atlantis and Aizawa shared a mildly concerned look. They sat on one side of the booth with Lillian and Hitoshi on the other. The girl had been jittery since they left the campus, overly-paranoid and jumpy. It was very worrying behavior to be honest. They'd gotten a few pieces of the puzzle when she and Shoto had hesitantly admitted to Izuku's betrayal, but they were like steel traps around the deeper details. They wouldn't let anything loose, and prodding had seemed like a bad idea with how uncomfortable they were. All Aizawa really knew was that he was going to have to work a bit harder to keep Midoriya from interacting with them.

He could feel Atlantis' worry and anticipation through the bond. As excited as his husband was to get to know Lillian, he was also growing increasingly more distressed about the girl's state. She like... wasn't doing good. Aizawa had to wonder how the rest of the people in dimension were doing if she and Shoto were this far gone. What was this other version of himself like? Imaging himself as the Number One Hero was just weird, and Lillian wouldn't tell him how he'd gotten that status either. It probably played into the whole Midoriya thing. He supposed it was better not to push, even if they were all disquieted. 

"Maybe we should get the food to-go." Hitoshi suggested with a shrug, tone idle but eyes sharp. Lillian perked up slightly at the suggestion, turning towards Shota with laser-focus. The dark-haired man flushed slightly. Right. He was her dad and she saw him as her dad and... god, this was such a weird concept. Him! Parenting! "Can we just get four classic breakfasts? With some waters or something?" 

The waitress smiled and nodded amicably, turning and vanishing into the chaos that was Denny's at dinnertime. Lillian watched her go and tried not to feel so pathetic. Had she really backtracked so much that she couldn't even eat dinner in a diner anymore? She told herself it would be different if her actual dad or friends were here, or Katsuki, but she honestly wasn't sure that was true. They'd all been sequestered into the dorms and weren't allowed to leave. The threat was constant outside UA's gates, and they were to exist solely under the protection the school provided until further notice. 

The freckled girl gazed down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers and trying to ignore how hard everyone was staring at her right now. What did she say in this situation? She could throw out a peace sign but that somehow seemed like it might concern them even more, so maybe she'd toss that idea out the back window and try something else. Maybe sparking up some pleasant conversation? What did people usually talk about? The weather could be a good topic. She could ask about it, since she had no idea what the forecast is here. 

"So, you used to live with me before you moved in with Mr. Aizawa here. What was that like?" Hitoshi brought up before Lillian could even think of speaking. Whether that was a good or bad thing, that remained to be seen. This was a simple question though, right? Totally! 

"W-Well, pretty fun. Neito and Shoto sorta moved in too after a while. Neito first, and then Sh-Shoto after the sports festival." Lillian glanced up. Hitoshi looked a bit surprised to hear, and Atlantis seemed deeply interested in what she had to say. She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax, glancing at her dad. "I-I actually found out you were my dad during internships. It was... p-pretty crazy. M-Mic actually found out first and tried to tell you before, but you didn't believe him..."

Aizawa was surprised. It took that long for him to figure it out? How? She looked just like him. Maybe it was because of Mic. He doubted every word that came out of that man's mouth if he was going to be completely honest with himself. If someone came up to him today and told him he had a long lost daughter he'd never known existed, he'd probably doubt them even after finding out about Lillian's existence. Him being a dad was just such an irrational thought. He wasn't father material! Hell, he was hardly teacher material, and yet here he was.

"So you participated in the festival of sports? How did it go?" Atlantis asked curiously, eyes bright. Lillian perked up a bit at the question, seeming to open herself just a tad. She looked very self-satisfied. Atlantis was glad! He wanted her to calm down and have a good time. Getting to know her was a gift, and knowing she existed out there somewhere, on some plane of existence, was a blessing from the ocean itself he was sure.

"O-Oh, fine. Hitoshi won first place and got into the hero course." Lillian said it offhandedly, as though it weren't a big deal. And to Atlantis it really wasn't because he still didn't understand the concept of making children duke it out with each other in front of a crowd. Aizawa snorted a bit, glancing over at Hitoshi as the boy wheezed in surprise. Lillian turned to him in surprise, blinking at him as though she'd forgotten he'd be shocked. The girl patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. The familiar action only made him wheeze harder. "It was an epic victory. Don't worry." 

Yeah, an epic victory of rock, paper, scissors. She wasn't going to mention that part. Not that she was ashamed. That was a historically monumental and iconic moment if you asked her, and the news critics at the time had agreed whole-heartedly. This Hitoshi just seemed to be having some sort of asthma attack or something, so she didn't want to make it worse and get charged for his murder. There was no Neito failsafe here to bring him back if something happened, you know? No need to take unnecessary risks. 

"That's very impressive!" Atlantis clapped his hands together, beaming proudly. Lillian felt her cheeks grow hot for no reason in particular. She didn't really know Atlantis, but he seemed really nice. Not the type of person she'd imagine her dad getting with, but she'd been trying to get him and Present Mic together for the longest so she couldn't really talk. If she ever ran across a merman in the sea, she'd probably fall in love too, so she couldn't blame her dad. "Then, what's the Shota of your world like? Is he different?" 

Lillian squinted a bit at the inquiry. Different? Not on a surface level. This one was a lot... chiller, if she was going to use any word to describe it. Her dad was an anxiety-riddled helicopter parent who liked to dote on her and tried to kill Bakugo on a regular basis. Hers was more murderous for sure. He killed Neito dead-dead on the regular with his quirk. One of these days he'd erase the undead thing and Neito just wouldn't get back up again, and then he'd have to live with guilt. Maybe. Or maybe he'd just be satisfied he didn't have to listen to the blonde gripe at him and fight for parental rights every waking hour of the day.

"Uh... no... not real difference." Lillian settled on, averting her gaze. Telling him he was more violent in her dimension wasn't going to go over well, right? Neither would telling him that his alternate was a raggedy, tired bitch with a caffeine addiction. Her dad from here looked relatively healthy actually! Clean hair that was actually brushed, eyes that didn't have bags deeper than the Mariana Trench under them, and clear skin. Her dad was literally in rougher shape than she'd thought if this was what he was supposed to look like healthy. 

"That inspires such confidence in me." Shota drawled out dryly. 

"Yeah, I'm not super convinced." Hitoshi agreed, leaning back in his seat. He eyed her in a considering manner, and Lillian once again felt herself began to sweat. Hitoshi was like, kinda intimidating when he wasn't on her side, okay? Not that this one was against her or anything. He was just dead fucking terrifying, that's all. She still wanted those blackmail photos though. "So what about me? How am I different?" 

Lillian immediately looked at his hand and then looked away again, pursing her lips. Another tricky question, huh? Maybe she could just say he was gayer and leave it at that. They weren't homophobic here, right? Wait, he dad literally had a husband. Of course they weren't homophobic here. Okay, well what about her Hitoshi was different than this one? She definitely liked hers more. That was a difference. But a sorta mean one that wasn't socially acceptable to say. Probably. Offending the merman version of her best friend seemed like a misstep somehow.

"You have more appendages here." Lillian settled on, cryptic. Atlantis made an oooing noise as though that were the most interesting thing he'd ever heard in his entire life, and her dad cocked a brow. Lillian shrugged weakly, eyes turning towards the waitress as she approached with their bagged up food and their waters. She tried not to let her eyes water, her gaze shining. Salvation at last. An escape from this interrogation. There was no good way to say 'you're all going through the trenches of life in my universe and look like shit' without raising some serious concerns, you know? 

Atlantis squinted at the straw in his drink skeptically as Aizawa fished his card out to pay. Lillian fidgeted in her seat, rocking from side to side and ignoring Hitoshi's long stare. It would be fine! He was a magic merman siren thingy. His hand would be totally fine. Plus, Izuku wasn't the traitor here, so things would probably be different. Hitoshi wasn't even in the hero course yet! Which was both good and bad at the same time. Really just debatable in general. She didn't know-- she wasn't well versed in the time line, butterfly effect, predicting things stuff. That was Harper and Kit's expertise.

The food smelled good and Lillian was made aware of how absolutely ravenous she was. She held it in, instead politely smiling and bowing her head to the waitress as they filed out of their booth and headed towards the door. She wondered where they were going to go to eat this. Back to UA? No, then they'd have to get food for everyone else and they definitely hadn't done that. Maybe they were going to the beach. Atlantis had mentioned taking her there a few times, right? Hopefully not to kill her and dump the body. Okay, no, why would they do that? Intrusive thoughts were real and they hurt.

The sun was already setting outside. The entire street smelt like food and cigarette smoke. Lillian stuck close to Hitoshi as they trailed after Aizawa and Atlantis, who chatted quietly about god knows what. Probably something fishy. That was a pun. It was funny. Kaminari would laugh if he was here. His humor was on that low, low, low level. No offense, but also all offense just because it was him. She wondered how he was doing right now. Apparently he'd gotten his feelings hurt. Which wasn't hard to do, but you know. It always hurt more coming from her dad. He was like, the communal parent in the dorms at this point.

As they were walking, Lillian caught something out of the corner of her eye. It was a very distinct shade of purple. Different than Hitoshi's hair, which was a dark lilac of sorts. No, this a deep royal color that she had only ever seen a few times so boldly in clothing. It wasn't a popular color here in Japan, but she'd know it anywhere. Hitoshi stopped walking too, and Aizawa and Atlantis turned once they realized they weren't following anymore, question in their eyes. Lillian took a deep breath and blinked a few times to try and clear the illusion. Only it wasn't an illusion, apparently, because it was still there.

Yeah, that was Kai Chisaki standing in an alley talking to someone. And that was definitely Eri. He had a hand clamped down on her head like a vice, and she was shaking like a leaf. No shoes, dirtied bandages spiraling up her arms and legs, oversized white shirt. Her hair was more bedraggled than Lillian had seen it in a long time. Though Lillian hadn't seen Eri when Chad had first picked her up, the blonde man had grimly told her the state he'd found the girl in. Lillian had seen firsthand the scars the girl sported. Had helped her color them all different colors of the rainbow to make them 'pretty and powerful' instead of something 'bad'. 

"Lillian?" Aizawa asked. Lillian stared harder. There wasn't a Chad here. There wasn't a her. Eri should've been rescued by now. She should... she should be safe, and warm, and well-fed. Taken care of and reassured, and instilled with endless bouts of confidence! Lillian could not believe this coincidence. How shady of an area were they in that she was just... here? The Denny's should've been the first tell to keep her peepers peeled. Her dad was a man no one would dare mess with if they saw him on the street and Atlantis was oblivious, so coming here wasn't as big a deal to them, but she should've known.

"Uh..." Lillian trailed off, still staring. Okay. No, this couldn't fly. What sort of person would she be if she walked away? She physically could not leave this situation unchecked. That was Eri! Not her Eri, but still Eri! She was currently being tortured and used to make quirk-cancelling drugs. What was going to happen to her if Lillian walked away? Would she... would she die? Harper and Kit had never mentioned an Eri in their worlds. Kit probably because it was too early in the game to see her, but Harper... What if... "Stay here for a second. I'll be right back."

"What do you-- Lillian!" Her dad called, but Lillian was already on the move. Call her the panther, because Wakanda Forever. Aizawa watched her vanish into a side alley with wide eyes, and he turned to look at Atlantis. The merman was already staring up at him with startled eyes, alarm ringing through their bond. Hitoshi took a few steps back to peek into the alley she'd gone into an immediately blanched, and Aizawa found himself lurching into action just in time to watch Lillian grab a child and nail a man in the crotch with her knee.

Lillian wouldn't use 'sneaky' as a word to describe herself. She was loud, clumsy, and generally had no fucking clue what she was doing. That was the relative premise of her existence. She as cool with that, too. It's just how she operated. How the hizzy hizzah-ed, if you would. However, when she says Chisaki had no fucking clue what hit him, she means it. He did not see her coming and would not have from a mile away. She employed every Skyrim perk she had inherited from hours of gameplay and channeled the Dark Brotherhood Questline into her very blood steam. She was like a graceful pigeon. In, grab the bread crust, get out. 

And grab the crust she did. Eri squeaked like a startled mouse as Lillian yanked her up by her armpits, instinctively coming to cling to her like a koala. Oh yeah. Come to mama, little chikadee. Lillian was ramming her knee up at terminal velocity, using every ounce of force her scrawny little body could muster. Lucky for everyone, she does not skip leg day. She is constantly running around the dorms like a headless chicken and jumping on and off shit during training, which means her quads do not lie and are fucking rocket-fueled to do shit like this. Chisaki barely had time to turn before her knee was slamming into her no-no square with the force of a hydraulic battering ram.

"Sorry!" Lillian shouted, not sorry at all even in the slightest, because fuck that guy. Eri gasped a bit as Lillian turned on her heel and sprinted back out of the alley as fast as she could. She didn't pay any mind to the gawking man bird-mask-fuck had been talking to, wishing she could flip him off but too preoccupied holding Eri to bother. Hitoshi barely had time to move to the side as she barreled out of there like hell was on her heels. Which it soon would be, because Chisaki Kai didn't mess around when it came to his weird goal to 'cleanse the world of filth'. The only thing the world needed to be cleansed of was him, Call Me Carson, and Boku no Pico.

"Lillian, what's going on?" Aizawa asked, briskly walking after her as she brushed past before eventually being forced to break into a run after her when he soon realized she wasn't going to be slowing down. Hitoshi and Atlantis shared a startled look and hurried to follow, weaving through the crowd after them. "Who was that? Who is that girl!" 

"I'll explain later! Just run!" Lillian insisted, voice apparently pleading enough for him to listen. That, or maybe he knew stopping her wouldn't go over well. Either way, the four of them (ft. Eri, but she's backpacking on Lillian's front so it doesn't quiet count) found themselves absolutely booking it with their Denny's down this shithole street, pushing through the dinner rush. Lillian would usually be put out by such a crowd, but she couldn't help but be thankful they had something to get lost in. Especially when she heard enraged screaming coming from somewhere behind them.

Eri clung to her, gazing up at her with big, watery red eyes. Lillian forced herself to smile down at her, mentally begging her to stay calm enough to keep her quirk under wraps. Whilst being a baby sounded like peak blissful ignorance, she had things to be old for. If that made sense. Yeah, anyway, that was a whole other issue. How had this simple family dinner that was supposed to be happy, friendly, and simple turned into this? No, she was genuinely asking. Every time she went anywhere something happened. Though this time she supposed she'd caused the ruckus...

"This way." Atlantis was suddenly there. Fucking materialized out of nowhere, grabbing her shoulder and redirecting her to the left. Lillian couldn't do anything but listen, holding Eri tighter. She was light. Way, way too light. Lillian had lugged the girl around before and it was more obvious now just how much meat Chad had put on her bones. No wonder he was always getting them Taco Bell and other various fast foods! 

Atlantis took the lead. He had killer thighs, actually. This Hitoshi did too. Was it a merman thing? Probably. Either way, Lillian was about to huff and puff and blow this whole house down compared to them. She seriously could not breathe right now, but it was worth it. Anything for Eri. Eri supremacy, anyone? Not the time, okay, cool. Anyway, Atlantis seemed to have a specific destination in mind. Which was weird because wasn't he like, a little clueless about... stuff? How did he know where to go?

Her dad came up next to her, expression hard. She could tell he was worried and totally lost. Lillian honestly was too. This had been a very spontaneous decision. Even she had no idea where she was going with this. God, Shoto was going to lose it. She goes out once (read: 1 time), and she encounters the alternate-Yakuza. And worse, she instigates them! Chad is going to be so proud, yeah, but at what cost? Her dad-dad is going to physically wrap her in bubble wrap and not let her go! And who knows what Katsuki would do! 

"You're going to be okay." Lillian breathed out to Eri as the girl shivered. Lillian caught a glimpse of the waterline through a few buildings and suddenly realized where they were heading. Hopefully they were almost there, too. "I've got you. He won't hurt you anymore."

Eri didn't say anything, but she did look up at Lillian with her shiny puppy-dog eyes that almost made the freckled girl's knees give out right there on the spot. How can any one child be this cute? Is that legal? Should she ask? She wished there were a Chad here to protect Eri from everything she needed protecting from. Maybe her dad and Atlantis would be willing to take her. Lillian would have to go back to her dimension soon. And even if she didn't, there was still the matter of her not being nearly strong enough to take care of her. 

The smell of the ocean was welcoming. Lillian could count on two hands how many times she'd gone to the beach, and none of those times had felt like this. It felt like she was being pulled in by the tide, the sound of the water suddenly so clear and pristine. Her heartrate slowed, and the ache in her muscles alleviated noticeably. Eri relaxed in her arms, and a sense of being safe overcome the pair of them as they approached. Her dad seemed to undergo the same reaction, tight muscles loosening visibly. 

It was odd. Like being welcomed into a hug by a mysterious, distant aunt who was always sweet and came bearing gifts when you saw her. It was... different. Atlantis slowed as they approached the sand line, turning to beam at them happily, not at all winded. Hitoshi was much the same, slouching. Lillian couldn't look away from the water. It reached towards her, grasping, urging her forward. She stumbled over her feet a bit, chest somehow loose and tight at the same time.

"Fuck." Her dad grumbled, catching his breath. He dropped the Denny's bag a short ways down onto the sand, and Lillian blinked at him. Eri was focused on the ocean's waves, entranced by the soothing way in which they moved. Lillian wondered if this was the first time she'd ever seen the sea. She wondered if her Eri had ever seen the ocean. That was definitely something she'd have to check once she got back. Non-negotiable. But before that, everyone was staring at her again. And at Eri. "Explain."

Eri looked down at the girl, who pried her gaze away from the endless blue to instead stare at Lillian with hesitant hope and a fair dose of fear. The freckled girl let out a breathe of air, shoulders sagging. She'd done it. This was Eri. She had Eri! Lillian Aizawa had fought through fear and kneed someone in the crotch to save Eri. She couldn't help herself as brought her head down, her forehead lightly bumping the top of Eri's head. She was safe now, even if this wasn't Lillian's dimension. Eri was still safe.

"Th-This is Eri." Lillian choked out, feeling emotional all of a sudden. Maybe it was because she'd just had a near-death experience? No, no, couldn't be. Still, looking at Eri and seeing her so scared, and unsure, and sad just... she was hurt. They'd been hurting her, and no one had been here to save her in this world. What about the world they'd been in before? Had her dad gotten to that Eri? What about all the other worlds? "And Eri, my name is Lillian. You don't know me, b-but I promise I'm going to help you."

"E-Even if I'm cursed?" Eri squeaked out, eyes big and full of unsureness. Lillian swallowed heavily. At the question, looking up to where her dad stood alongside Atlantis and Hitoshi. Hitoshi looked like he had no idea what to do whilst Atlantis seemed deeply hurt, a heartbroken expression on his face. Lillian shouldn't have felt so relieved at the expression. It's not that she wanted Atlantis to be hurt. She just... she knew that him looking at them like that meant that Eri was going to be taken care of. 

"You're not cursed." Lillian reassured. "But I'd help you even if you were. Now, have you ever heard of Denny's? If you eat it, it gives you a power up!" 

Eri still looked scared, but there was a familiar light of curiosity in her eyes. And that's all Lillian needed to smile.

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

"What do you mean your Young Midoriya isn't a traitor?" Lillian's Toshinori asked, affronted. The here-All Might looked horrified by the inquiry. They were all sitting in a circle on the ground as though getting ready to perform a ritual or summoning of some sort, Shoto's phone on speaker in the center of it all. They'd retrieved a phone charger some time ago to keep the conversation going. They'd gotten to chatting about many types of things, from global warming, to politics, to favorite foods. Talking to himself was more interesting than he'd thought it would be "How is that fair?"

That had been a real shocker. Finding out more about the League-- more specifically, the Shimura Tenko and UA traitor aspects of it. Young Miss Harper Rye had reassured him greatly that the Izuku Midoriya of here was perfectly fine. It was a grand relief to hear as such, as Toshinori had been pretty damn sure his heart was about to split into a million tiny, imperceptible little pieces and leave him in a catatonic state of shock and suffering. How was this other version of himself still standing and functioning?!

Izuku was... he was like a son to him. The most heroic young man he'd ever met! Imaging him enraged enough at society to turn against good and join the forces of evil seemed impossible. He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it. He could not imagine the pain this other world had gone through at such a deep loss and heavy betrayal. He was seeing this version of Young Todoroki's personality in a new light. He just wanted to give the boy a hug and never let go.

"That's what I said!" Shoto threw his hands up in exasperation, seeming genuinely annoyed and perhaps a bit jealous. Harper shook her head. They'd been at this for hours now. Literally, it was dark outside. Harper wanted to go to bed and Vlad was already passed out on his back like a spoiled housecat. Kit was having fun asking wildly inappropriate questions at the worst times, as well as making offhanded statements that would spark mild outrage at any given time. The Izuku of here being innocent was one of said statements that had led to this long, drawn-out therapy session. Or whatever the fuck was going on here. "I can't even believe this. How do they get fish people and a good Izuku?" 

"Man. Sucks to suck. Our Midoriya would never." Five chortled. "I guess we're just better than them in every conceivable way. Not surprising." 

"Try to be more sensitive." One soothed. "I'm sure this was a great loss for them, just as it would be for us if it were to ever come to pass here." 

"Which it won't." Nana added quickly, sounding scared for her actual life. Except she was dead so maybe wording it like that wasn't-- whatever, you got it. She was feeling fearful and threatened by the mere notion that Izuku could end up fraternizing with the enemy or whatever. "It won't, right?"

"No according to the tired, ruffled one." Three said offhandedly, not seeming nearly as concerned as most of the rest were. Harper listened idly to the chatter. It was actually pretty funny, especially when you remembered that again, these were all dead people. "Besides, I feel like we would've gotten some sort of vibe if he was bad, you know? All I feel is purity. He seems like the best of us."

"The best of you douche bags, maybe. Not sure I can be beat." Four preened, earning several groans for his troubles. That statement reminded her heavily of Kit, who was still smiling like a smug fox. So far Shoto's phone had only beeped a few times with incoming calls, which had likely gone straight to voicemail due to the fact that the line was occupied. Shoto seemed content with this, though he did stare longingly at his device occasionally. Probably wanting to play games or something.

Harper let her quirk prod out a bit. The school was quiet, even the janitors having gone home by now. She wondered distantly how Lillian was doing. Though they'd expected her to be gone, it had been several hours and she could feel Todoroki growing steadily more antsy as the minutes ticked by. Being on the phone with this other All Might was a great distraction and all, but he was beginning to shift uneasily, eyes darting to the door every so often, fidgeting with his hands. Kit had noticed too and was playing up the flamboyancy, asking more out-there questions and being loud about it too. The last thing they needed was an unstable thermostat having a breakdown. 

"Just be glad you don't have my version. He's a little shit. Brought a weapon to your first meeting." Kit hummed, pointedly not mentioning that said weapon was a gun. Here-Toshinori looked heavily perturbed by the notion, eyeing him speculatively. Couldn't blame him. It didn't sound like the happy-go-lucky sunshine bear Izuku of here.. "So anyway, when the fuck are you coming here to get Candy Cane and Lillian? Last I heard people were getting thrown out windows and having their feelings hurt." 

Shoto perked up at the question, looking at the phone as if his All Might would be able to feel the intent behind his gaze through the dimensions. Harper stretched until her back popped. She'd been fairly quiet, ignoring the way Toshinori nervously eyed her throughout his time here. He kept trying not to think of incriminating things and was by extension thinking of them, thus giving her insight into a whole range of things. Things she already new about, but she wasn't going to tell him that. It was funny watching him squirm. Maybe she just wanted other people to suffer with her. Maybe that's what she was. Harper had never claimed to be all that great of a person.

"Well, we're having some issues locating you. Are there any big differences in that universe that could help us narrow it down?" Toshinori hummed. He worked closely with Chad these days. They were good friends-- like some weird, twisted father-son duo or something. Shoto was into it. Good for them. He was trying to find a dad himself, but it wasn't working out all that well. Detective Tsukauchi, no offense to him, was literally not cutting it. They just weren't bonding. Plus, Mr. Aizawa was way cooler and he could be related to Lillian that way.

Here-Toshinori felt himself begin to sweat at the question. He couldn't help but immediately glance at Harper, swallowing heavily. One vast difference came to mind instantly, and he knew she had to have already heard him thinking about it. The girl wasn't looking at him however. She was peering at her fellow dimension-hoppers, brows raised in a manner near expectant. The whole mer thing was supposed to be a massive secret, and here he was spilling it! But if they knew about his identity and they knew to hide that, perhaps a secret like this... no, this was a much more important than his name and true form could ever be!

"There is one." Kit hummed. Toshinori's insides turned to ice. Wait, it was the brown-haired girl who was a mind reader, right? She'd said she was? It wasn't the boy? "Please. The look on his face right now. I love the mayhem." 

"Mer-people." Harper and Shoto chimed, one more tired than the other. The phone went silent. Toshinori felt a choking breath of air leave him. They knew?! How did they know?! Had Miss Rye told them? Had they been told prior to that? What was going on? What did he say? Should they be talking about this so openly? And with a stranger! Who was... well, him. But like, not him. A jaded and sad version of him who apparently liked tacos. He himself had never been fond of them, but good for his other self, he supposed... off track! 

"Mer-people." The other All Might hummed in a considering tone, seeming contemplative yet somehow not surprised. What all had this man seen not to be taken aback by something as big as another species? Even Harper and Kit looked a bit concerned, looking to Shoto expectantly. The half-and-half teen could only shrug. "I'll relay it to Chad. Ah, and please call Young Lillian's father. He thinks she's dead and has been in mourning for the past few hours now. You stay safe now, kids."

Shoto cringed a bit at the idea of having to call his Mr. Aizawa, flinching a bit as the line went dead. Here-Toshinori felt a little offended his other self hadn't bothered to say goodbye. Had they not bonded over the past few hours? Maybe he still felt upset that this Young Midoriya was good whilst his had... yeah, you know. Shot someone and gone to prison and such. Still very sci-fi to think about. Definitely other worldly. It sounded like they were truly living in the dark ages over there. Such a shame for them. Toshinori's Izuku was a shining beacon of hope and victory. Not to gloat or anything, but he was definitely feeling some immense relief and satisfaction right now.

The phone began to ring almost immediately, displaying Aizawa's called ID and causing Shoto to produce a small whining noise from the back of his throat. Kit laughed openly, baring his teeth in a grin as Shoto scrubbed at his face with the heels of his palms. Harper just rolled her eyes, grumbling something about wanting to go to bed already. Toshinori peered at them, processing. Wow. He was here right now. Sitting on the case that had his hero costume, with a bunch of teenagers, talking to himself on the phone. Telling anyone who hadn't been here would make him sound batshit insane. He actually wasn't totally convinced that wasn't the case.

Harper let out a breath of air through her nose. She was glad Lillian's people were on the fast track to finding her, but that didn't mean much for the rest of them. She hoped Kirishima and the others would be able to hunt her down without her help. She didn't have an interdimensional phone like Shoto did, meaning they were on their own in figuring it out. Hopefully they'd at least realized by now that she wasn't in the timeline from before. Still, how many dimensions were out there? How many would they have to check before they found her? Harper felt uneasy, and extremely stupid. She'd done this. She just hadn't realized how badly it would backfire. At least they were all safe, she guessed.

"You should answer that, Todoroki." Kit lilted, tone teasing as the phone continued to ring. Shoto had scooted closer to Toshinori of all people, huddled in on himself and staring at his phone as though it were a snake preparing to strike. The blonde-haired pro looked like he had no idea how to react to the teen's proximity. "I wonder what Tenya is doing right now. If he hasn't cried a collective two hours since I've been gone then it isn't true love." 

"I fear I may have girlbossed a bit too close to the sun." Shoto said with no context whatsoever. Kit burst into a fit of snickering even though the statement made absolutely no sense. Maybe that was where the comedic value lay. Harper sniffed a bit, letting her quirk extend out a bit. She sat up a little when it actually hooked something. That was definitely Mr. Aizawa, and with him was undoubtedly Atlantis. She expanded it a tad further and found Lillian and Hitoshi with them, as well as... someone else? Someone sad. "He's going to kill me. I yelled at him. He hurt Denki's feelings, but I still yelled at him! And then he yelled at me! I don't like this."

Harper shifted her attention towards the door and focused. Toshinori seemed to notice and perked up a bit, turning towards the door expectantly. Harper frowned. Atlantis seemed tired bit refreshed, and Aizawa seemed weary. Shinso was... Harper wasn't sure. A bit lost if nothing else, as well as contented in some way. Thinking about Denny's and how it didn't keep well. Lillian was far more jittery. She usually was, but it seemed elevated. It paired nicely with the nerves of whoever she was carrying.

That meant something had happened. Fuck. It seemed complicated too. Harper could already feel her headache strengthening back into full throttle. Harper wondered how dangerous this was on a scale from one to ten. Probably pretty up there. Ugh. Alright, whatever, it would be fine. Whatever had happened was surely justified, right? If Aizawa and Atlantis were going along with it, it had to be important. Probably. Harper really didn't have much faith in the situation. When did she ever? She was a pessimist at heart, and this was only solidifying that lifestyle. 

Shoto and Kit were bickering about the phone as the group quickly made their way up and down the hall towards them. Toshinori glanced back and forth between Harper and the door, occasionally glancing down at Todoroki, who had gotten even closer. He kept his posture immensely rigid as the teen's colder side pressed against his arm. They were shoulder to shoulder. Toshinori wasn't against it or anything, he was just confused! Was he supposed to say something? Do something? Comfort him? He didn't know how!

Before he could open his mouth and squeakily ask if Lillian was almost back, the door swung open. Todoroki was on his feet in a flash as Aizawa stepped in, pausing only briefly at the sight of Toshinori hunched over on the floor. Atlantis popped in too, bouncing through the doorway with a smile and bright eyes, even if his heart felt a tad uneasy. Harper watched Hitoshi and Lillian file in, eyes immediately zeroing in on the child the freckled girl was carrying. It was a little girl, skinny and dressed in a large white shirt. Red eyes peered back at her, scared and hesitant.

Shoto opened and closed his mouth a few times at the sight, seeming at a loss for words. He clearly knew whoever this girl was. Lillian shifted from foot to foot, smiling almost sheepishly at her half-and-half friend. Toshinori gazed with concern when he realized that Young Lillian had come back with a plus-one. The girl was far too tiny to be normal, wrists thin and skin too pale to be healthy. Even Kit sobered up, brow furrowing as he rose to his feet. Lillian tightened her grip on the little girl reassuringly, sniffing in a way that sounded almost defensive.

For a moment there was silence. Harper soaked the situation in from what she could see and hear. The girl's name was Eri. She was scared and distrustful, but seemed relatively attached to Lillian despite her overall fear. Aizawa seemed grim and Atlantis was in the same boat; though, he was far more bright in his outlook. Lillian had a guilty look, like she'd been caught stealing out of a cookie jar or something. Hitoshi just averted his gaze, detached from the situation to an extent. He wasn't as invested as Lillian, Aizawa, and Atlantis were. It was fitting of his personality somehow.

"Eri." Shoto breathed, gaze raising off the little girl to look Lillian in the eyes. Lillian cracked a weak smile, hiking the girl up a little further. "But if Lillian found her, does that mean she... The Yakuza..."

Great, so this was a mafia thing then. They were now directly involved with the mafia. In fact, it was being heavily implied that they had stolen this child from said mafia. Harper wasn't sure if she should be despondent or impressed. Kit looked very interested. Harper would like to get some sleep for once in her life. That didn't seem to be happening. The second Shoto said the girl's name, Vlad was flying up out of his sleeping position, eyes wild and searching. He swung around, and Toshinori stumbled out of the way as the creature's gaze fell on the girl Lillian held. Aizawa and Atlantis visible blanched, backpedaling as the creature let out a trill.

"Wait, wait, Vlad! Wait!" Lillian took half a step back. Eri stared up at Vlad with big, terrified eyes. The creature surprisingly seemed to notice the fear and immediately stopped, looking... hurt. Vlad shrunk in on himself, trying to make himself smaller. He pulled his arms in and tucked his wings back as far as he could, lowering his head. He still looked intimidating, but had more of a 'shivering homeless puppy' stance. Eri responded positively, relaxing at the thing's immediate submission. "I know he has to miss her but that could've been bad. What if Eri babies us?"

Kit glanced over at Harper as the cogs in the girl's brain turned. Vlad was teeming with energy, clearly wanting to reach out and grab the girl but resisting despite that. Shoto stepped up and grabbed the Nomu's arm, squeezing it reassuringly. Kit squinted a bit. This nomu was way more expressive and emotional than Denise was. Seriously, they were going to have to get him a therapist or something. Maybe one that specialized in selectively-mute children or something? If anyone would take Denise, who was massive, terrifying, and sorta stupid. 

Harper sniffed a bit as Lillian muttered something to her dad, Hitoshi, and Atlantis, glancing down at Eri as she did so. Vlad cared about this child. This version of the little girl probably belonged to this dimension seeing as she looked like shit and didn't appear to recognize Vlad in the slightest. Harper thought hard about her time with Vlad and was suddenly brought back to the drawings he tried-- and failed-- to draw. All of them had been apples, and he'd been crying about 'Vinegar'. She'd thought it was a thing. They'd even bought him apples, but it had never worked. Was this...

"Shit." Harper realized, frowning. "Is she Vinegar?" 

"I don't know. She looks like a child to me." Kit said, sarcastic. Toshinori nodded in agreement, honestly not belonging here but not able to leave because Lillian and Hitoshi were still blocking the doorway. Harper gave him a look, to which he raised his hands in surrender. "Jokes! I'm full of them!" 

Vlad perked up, head swiveling towards her expectantly, and then back to Eri. Shoto nodded, and Lillian sagged a little, nodding as well. Great. So Vlad's best friend was a traumatized eight year old. No wonder he'd been in absolute fucking mayhem when staying with her. He'd lost his like, kid or something. Sister. Whatever he thought Eri was. Harper raked a hand through her hair, turning to look at Aizawa. The man looked so exhausted. He could join the damn club to be honest. This was... she honestly didn't have words. She just wanted to lay down and go to sleep.

"She can stay here for tonight, but we'll need to think about how to proceed first thing tomorrow morning." Aizawa said, crossing his arms over his chest. He and Atlantis had talked quietly about it whilst Hitoshi, Lillian and Eri all dipped their feet in the sea and had decided they had to help. They really didn't have a choice. Lillian was their daughter, other dimension or not, and she had chosen to save this girl. She'd done it without a quirk, too. That meant it wasn't technically illegal. Ish. They could spin it that way, anyway. "Myself and Atlantis will take turns watching UA's gates for the time being. If we've crossed the group Lillian says we have, you guys could be in serious danger. Yagi, would you...?" 

Toshinori jolted to attention, eyes big. Yes, right! Him! He was here! The Number One Hero, now with a much, much longer time limit. Soon he'd be back to full steam ahead once his body adjusted and reformed itself with its new organs. It was still getting used to it all. He'd been so dizzy after getting his other lung back, his brain not used to so much oxygen. He was more than capable of guarding these children. In fact, there was no one more qualified to do so! He could stay here with them! He'd ever dare to say that he, Young Kit, Miss Rye, and Young Todoroki were all friends now. 

"R-Right! Of course!" Toshinori bellowed out, chest puffing out slightly with some sorta patriotic pride. Kit laughed out loud, and Harper dragged her hand down her face in defeat. Eri seemed entranced by his bravado, extremely quiet. Like a little mouse. "I will stay and protect the children!" 

"Great. That's really good." Lillian sighed, smiling and seeming more relaxed than she had been a second ago. She smiled down at Eri, who blinked up at her curiously, as though she had no idea why Lillian would be showing her such a fond expression. They'd tried to explain the dimension thing to her but there was no telling how much she'd understood. She'd been in captivity almost her whole life. "Chisaki is going to be out for blood."

"What did you do?" Kit asked, eager. He smiled at Eri happily when she risked a glance at him. She almost looked away, but seemed to catch on his red eyes. His were darker than hers, which were like a pair of big, bright apples. That had to have been why Vlad had drawn apples, Harper supposed. Or maybe the girl liked them. Either way, Eri seemed shocked to see someone with eyes even relatively similar to her own. "Please. This is so much more tea than I thought she'd bring back. This is a full on child. Best fucking day ever. I bet it's the mafia. Is it the mafia? Harper's expression is telling me mafia." 

Lillian paled a little, averting her gaze and clearing her throat. Shoto's eyes narrowed. As one of Lillian's bestest friends in the whole entire world, it was his job to ensure nothing happened to her. He was a member of her protection squad just as she was a member of his. It was like a community thing, you know? A fan club, but secret service, espionage edition. Like the Schuyler Sisters! Okay, trauma, let's not even think about that even if it was epic. Back to the issue at hand, clearly Lillian had thrown herself into the bowels of danger. She would have had to in order to get Eri away from Chisaki successfully. He knew the family dinner thing was too good to be true!

"It was very exciting!" Atlantis chirped out. "We ran for our lives! It was quite invigorating."

"Let's just say his crotch never saw her knee coming and leave it at that." Hitoshi smiled, though it came out a bit awkward. Kit laughed, and Toshinori gasped at the words. Atlantis nodded happily, not seeing anything wrong with the somewhat crass description. Hitoshi shot All Might a look full of scathing judgement. "Isn't he the Number One Hero? Why is he shocked? I'd bet real money he's aimed for the family jewels on purpose before." 

Before anyone could say anything, Shoto's phone began to blare Mr. Boombastic. If that didn't summarize tonight perfectly, Kit was certain nothing could.

~~~~~~~~~~

The night came and went without incident, and soon it was morning. Eri had passed out as soon as they laid her down on her cot, and Lillian hadn't hesitated to drag her own cot right up next to hers in hopes of being a comfort. Vlad had fidgeted awkwardly as everyone settled, his shadow looming over them as he stood stationary in the middle of the room. Kit finally had to tell him to lay the fuck down or leave the room, because there was no goddamn way any of them were getting any sleep with his sleep-paralysis-demon looking ass staring at them with his 'beady, bulgy little eyes'. Not super true since Shoto was out like a light, but did he really count?

They hadn't answered the phone. Lillian had gone over to it, hung up, gone to texts and sent a photo of All Might's terrified face and then had turned the device off. Shoto had held a quiet moment of mourning but got over it pretty quickly all things considered. Though, since waking up he'd been gazing longingly at his phone as though it were his lost lover whom he could never truly be with again. All throughout breakfast he stared at it, only stopping to eat when Lillian kicked him under the table.

They were doing their best to acclimate Eri to her new environment. She stuck as close to Lillian was possible, who treated her carefully and with immense fondness. Eri seemed partial to Atlantis too, greeting him when the morning came and willingly sitting between him and Lillian at breakfast. Though she still seemed to have whiplash from all the changes going on around her, she was settling in fast. It was a great relief to all of them. Atlantis especially seemed taken with her, cooing down at her as she tried her new foods. The girl mentioned something about a power-up from Denny's? Lillian had just shaken her head-- a silent sign not to ask.

Harper was glad. A deeper dive into the girl's psyche revealed deep set trauma and self-hatred that needed to be addressed as soon as possible. No one should feel that way-- especially not someone so young. Was there a version of this girl in her world? Lillian had told her the story as best she could using her thoughts. Though she didn't know the entirety of it and Eri's past, she had enough to paint a gruesome picture. In Lillian's universe, Eri had been lucky to run into the daring man named Chad-- Hawks' brother. Here and in Harper's universe, he did not seem to exist. At least not in a way that would likely put him in Eri's path.

They all chatted a bit. Toshinori introduced himself to Eri and exchanged greetings with Hitoshi, Atlantis, and Aizawa. Aizawa looked dead tired from his night watch even if he and Atlantis had taken turns. His husband, on the other hand, was just as bubbly as he usually was. He engaged Lillian in as riveting a conversation as he could. After what happened last night, Lillian seemed more comfortable with her sorta-step dad. Harper was happy for her! Shoto seemed to be too, if not a little jealous of Atlantis for stealing his friend's attention away. He sulked right alongside his creepy ass Nomu friend, who was in the same boat.

Vlad... well, he hovered. Like, a lot. It was actually incredibly sad to watch. Even Kit seemed to be depressed by the creature's overall sagginess. Vlad was clearly in a rut, entire body drooping like a half-deflated balloon. If the thing could frown Kit was sure it would be right now. It focused on Eri with warmth, love, and a whole lot of pain. Kit understood, really, he did. It was just disheartening as hell to watch. And so early in the morning, too! Even Harper seemed to care, and Harper would murder Vlad in cold blood and roast marshmallows over his burning corpse if she thought she could get away with it guilt free.

"Are we sure she'll be okay?" Lillian asked for like, the trillionth time today. They were all dressed in the same grey sweat pants and white shirts, looking like a quad of escaped juvenile convicts or something. This was definitely detention-center wear, but apparently it's all the school had on hand for them to change into. Harper wasn't complaining, but Kit was already on the hunt for scissors so he could do some emergency fashion surgery. "I know Eri agreed to stay with Atlantis in Recovery Girl's office today, but still..."

"She'll be fine. Besides, aren't you supposed to push kids out of their comfort zones or something?" Kit shrugged as they strolled into 1-A. Lillian and Shoto were having to work together to drag Vlad after them. The thing was on the verge of tears, not wanting to separate from Eri even if he knew well and good she wasn't his version. He just missed her, that was all. They did do everything together. Eri had been missing him just as much. Maybe they could organize a phone call... or would that make it worse? "I know jack shit about traumatized children, but that sounds productive."

"I wouldn't worry about it." Harper agreed drawly, grimacing when a wave of excited thoughts hit her. Ugh. Most of them were geared towards Lillian and Kit. Lillian especially, as it had been revealed she may or may not be dating Bakugo. Like, she was, but they didn't know that for sure. Shoto's nose scrunched up as all eyes turned on them, whilst Kit seemed to stand taller under the attention. Two sides, not at all the same coin. Harper was surprised they hadn't killed each other yet. Their personalities clashed, but maybe Shoto was used to it with this famed 'Neito' character he and Lillian brought up so much.

Katsuki bared his teeth like a rabid dog at them when they came in, the focus of his murderous rage being Lillian in particular. The girl just gave an awkward smile and small wave, not seeming phased. It only made him angrier. There was no way he'd ever affiliate with a useless extra like that! Certainly not one that was friends with fucking Icyhot of all people. She was probably close with that useless Deku too! There was no reason for this other version of him to like this chick, so why?! Why had he been so concerned?! Why was he showing weakness so openly? It was driving him insane that he couldn't figure it out. There was nothing special about her at all!

Lillian took a deep breath and pushed her worries of Eri aside, watching Shoto literally kick Vlad down into a corner and demand he stay there in fluent Vlad-speak. A little rough, but if Vlad could pick up Mihoko's minivan and throw in two streets down, he could take some good old physical abuse. There was no other way they'd get him to sit down and behave to be honest. Whatever-- they were horrible people, it was fine. Lillian just had to chill out, have faith in her cool merman dad, and rely on her alternate not-merman dad to give her regular updates. 

"Those gents and lass' aren't in unif'rm! I doth supposeth they aren't traditional students... I'm sure the staff hast did handle it. I needn't concern over such things. T'is not mine own concern." Tenya's thoughts were just as medieval as they had been yesterday. What had Harper been expecting, really? At least she could feed the thoughts to Kit to keep his mind off revealing she had a boyfriend to the rest of the class. The last thing she needed was the attention. "I do wonder how they'll participateth in our physical trials. Shall they sitteth on the sidelines? Or improveth their arts liketh the rest of us?"

"Wow! They're still here! I'm sooo glad." Mina was clearly having trouble containing herself. "I've got to talk to Lillian. Kit, too, but Lillian will definitely be easier to get info from! This is going to be so fun! Bakugo is already so mad, too! And she isn't even phased! This must be a sign that our theories are correct!"

"My, my. Those outfits certainly don't shine." Aoyama was gazing at them with an immense amount of judgement. Fair enough. All they needed were some non-slip socks to look like they belonged in a mental ward. Honestly, half of them probably did. Kit would fit right in and Shoto and Lillian were Russian Roulette at this point. Their mental states varied from minute to minute depending on the situation and subject-matter of any given conversation. 

Speaking of which, finding Eri had somehow boosted Lillian's state of mind. A lot. It was very positive, as though she'd come across the motivation she needed. It was a stepping stone that she clung to and took with her happily, and she seemed more lively and determined this morning. Shoto too looked as though he'd had a bit of life breathed back into him, feeding off Lillian's energy. His reliance on her wasn't healthy, but Lillian didn't seem burdened by it, so Harper supposed it wasn't the worst case scenario. Lillian had apparently helped her version of Todoroki a lot. Harper could tell he loved her and looked up to her greatly. 

"Ah. I'm still here." Here-Shoto was evidently not happy to see as such, narrowing his eyes at himself as Lillian and her version of Todoroki moved to sit in their seats, chattering with one another about the pros and cons of various probiotics found in yogurt. "Why... He's still like this, even today. Why does he act so freely? So... so stupidly?" 

"Okay. Someone sprayed perfume. Who was it?" Ojiro glanced around subtly, nose scrunched up. Ah, how rare. A mentally sound, stable person in the hero course. Something Harper saw only once every blue moon. Or whenever she crossed paths with Sato. "Whoever it is, I hope they know it smells like shit."

Yeah, that was the general consensus of what was happening in the minds of the people today. Izuku was desperately resisting the urge to ask about their quirks. He was fighting for his goddamn life against his internal instinct to gather more information. He also wanted to compare the two Todoroki's, but it seemed like All Might had sent him some sort of cryptic text along the lines of 'it's best you stay away from the dimension hoppers for the time being, my boy.' Helpful, but didn't give anything away. Harper had no idea he was that smart. Props to him for delivering that solid for them. With Izuku's curiosity, there was no telling how long it would last.

Kit hummed to himself, grinning at Hagakure's invisible form as she stared at him. He had a sixth sense that told him whenever eyes were on him and hers certainly were. She was determined to get to the bottom of his mysterious boyfriend, Kit could tell. Unluckily for her, he was determined to have the dramatic reveal of his dreams. Tenya would show up like the white knight he was and they would make out. Assuming Tenya didn't body slam him into a wall for making him worry a second time, that is. Kit wouldn't complain. Any excuse to have Tenya's body against his was a good enough one in his book. Purr purr.

"Shut up and get to the locker rooms. I expect you to be respectful of our guests and keep any inappropriate and invasive questions to yourselves. They'll be training with us and learning alongside you for the time being, so treat them like you would any of your other classmates." Aizawa's tone was sharp. Lillian's-Shoto squinted as the class squeaked. In their universe everyone would honestly laugh. Nobody took the threats seriously anymore. Though, they did listen most of the time out of sheer pity. Their teacher was dead fucking tired and didn't need their shit and they respected that fully. "I can't believe Nezu is making us do this. Todoroki I can understand... and I suppose Lillian as well, even if I haven't seen her quirk in action. What did she say it is? Something about stopping objects?"

"I'll be sitting out." Harper announced, uncaring of what that rat bastard Nezu wanted. Lillian offered her fist to Shoto, who bumped his against it readily. It had already been too deeply ingrained in them not to skip training. They didn't even want to think about what might happen to them if they skimped. Besides, they had a whole mafia to pummel! They were not about to slack! Lillian wanted her thighs to stay juicy and that meant never skipping leg day, even if all she wanted to do was curl up in a blanket and cry whilst Shoto fed her sour gummy worms by hand. "Kit, too. He isn't a student here."

"You're no fun!" Kit stuck his tongue out at the mind reader in retaliation, but it was in a joking way that showed he honestly didn't care. He would've sat out anyway. He had faith in his abilities and could take any of these fucks in a fight any day of the week, sure, but it was like Harper had said. He didn't sign up for this hero-ing business. He was entirely content to sit on the sidelines and watch everyone else flex their shit. Besides, he wanted to see if they'd do a Todoroki vs. Todoroki match. Now wouldn't that be interesting? "If they don't have some sort of epic fucking monologue I may genuinely sue. All in or not in at all." 

When Lillian and her Shoto didn't announce that they'd be sitting out too, the class definitely got more pumped up than usual. It wasn't often they did joint exercises with other classes or students in general, even if they sorta already knew Todoroki. He was a different version! An older one who was sorta maybe insane. No one was sure, but anyone with the minimum of one eye and half a brain could tell the guy had gone through it. Lillian too. She was a wild card, and that was exciting! Even more so when you realized she could put up with Bakugo and his explosive personalities. Could she got toe-to-toe with him? What was her quirk? She seemed too nervous to be powerful, but it was always the ones you underestimated that rocked your shit.

They went to one of the big indoor fields that Cementoss had landscaped. They were luckily left to get there with Aizawa, 1-A having to go to the locker rooms first and thus being unable to harass them on the short journey to the field. Harper couldn't help but notice the way Kirishima's eyes trailed after them. Kit had said they forced him to put a blanket on her the other day, right? He was definitely wondering what was going on with that. Damn Kit and Lillian both, even if they were right and that was the only way she would've stayed asleep. At least Mina and Hagakure weren't onto her, even if Koda was. He was too quiet to throw her under the bus. If he got any smart ideas she'd threaten to reveal that he still rewatched Shane Dawson Conspiracies sometimes. 

Aizawa watched the four dimension travelers idly and ruminated a bit. A lot had happened in the span of a single day. Eri was... spontaneous and unexpected. Nezu claimed to be fine with it, brushing off any worries Aizawa had and simply stating that Atlantis was more than qualified to handle her for the time being. That was definitely debatable, but his husband had been so happy to have such an important responsibility, how could Aizawa ever think to refuse? Besides, Lillian had seemed okay with letting the girl go with him. A bit uneasy, but not against it because she thought Atlantis would do bad. That was a good sign in Aizawa's book. Hopefully everything would go fine.

Hitoshi had seemed okay with it. He had faith in his cousin, even if Atlantis had spent several years alone at sea with no real interaction. It was incredibly lonely, but Hitoshi was positive his cousin knew how to handle a child, even if it was a traumatized human one. Shota loved Atlantis more than life itself, but you couldn't blame his hesitancy. They'd literally snatched this child from their abuser out of an alleyway. Lillian did. Aizawa's daughter from an alternate dimension and kidnapped a kidnapped child and... yeah, now she was here and the Yakuza would probably be hunting them down soon. Like, how did you even begin to process that?

"So like, what's our game plan?" Lillian asked Shoto. The pair stood by Aizawa whilst Kit and Harper had relocated to the sidelines with Vlad, who was still acting like a sad onion. Aizawa glanced over at his daughter, feeling unjustifiably warm. He just had to take deep breaths and remember that she wasn't technically his. He couldn't get too attached. Atlantis was already so taken with her, it was going to hurt even more when they were separated. "You make rocks, I stop them, we make meteors?" 

Aizawa paused a bit, turning towards them fully as the first students from the locker rooms began to barrel in, brows raised. Meteors? What did she mean by meteors? Did that mean this Todoroki wasn't stingy with his fire? Though the one from here was a lot better since the Sports Festival, he still refused to use it most training sessions and brought it out almost exclusively against Izuku Midoriya and when he was by himself. As though he were afraid he'd hurt anyone who wasn't himself or his new friend. It was concerning behavior overall, but they were working past it. Perhaps this Todoroki had already overcome that hurtle.

"That or giant ice lances. Maybe both." Shoto didn't even seem that worried, scuffing his shoe against the dirt slightly. He glanced back towards the rest of the class as they approached, stepping fluidly to the side to avoid the friendly hand Kirishima would've planted on his shoulder. Lillian pursed her lips, but the redhead took the rejection like a champ and didn't miss a beat, beaming with his set of sharp teeth. Sero was with him, expression open and friendly. Todoroki was honestly more familiar with him than he was with Kirishima. Kirishima was in Bakugo's corner, 100%. 

"Hey, bros! You ready to get training? I can't wait to see what you guys can do!" The redhead made a fist, raising it determinedly. Lillian gave her politest smile and nod whilst Shoto stared with his usual blankness. He resembled this Todoroki greatly when he did so. Aizawa chaperoned, casting the occasional glance over to where Kit and Harper were with Vlad. He was more worried about the former most of the three. Kit knew how to find trouble. Or maybe trouble just knew how to find him. Either way, his interruptions were always bold and irritating. Kid was smart and quick as whip, but god be damned if he wasn't annoying.

Kit was honestly pretty excited. It wasn't everyday he got to see heroes in training! Yeah he saw Tenya spar, and he'd seen Tensei in the field, and Izuku was sorta buffing up, but this was totally different. He wished he had his phone to take photos, or at least some sort of notes. They'd been wanting to do a segment on hero schools for a while know. You know, the a list of pros to boost their image and a list of cons to bring it crashing right back down. It's what they did best. Harper seemed amused by his motives, snorting and shaking her head at him. She fished her phone out for him. It wasn't interdimensional and thus was pretty useless, so she had no issues handing it over.

"I'm going to look through all your photos." Kit announced, somehow knowing her password. Harper wasn't going to ask. She was too tired to care. She hadn't slept well last night. She didn't most nights, but a room shared with so many people made it a lot harder to lull herself. That being said, she wasn't sure she'd take well to being alone either. It was a lose-lose situation. "If she doesn't have any of herself and her boyfriend I'm going to be so fucking pissed. Harper, do you have any couple photos? Tell me you have an album, bitch. I need something warm and fuzzy to fuel the dead part of me. Tea, Depresso! Tea!"

"Eijiro definitely took some. They might be in there." Harper shrugged noncommittally. It was enough to get him on the hunt. Harper sniffed a bit, watching Aizawa bark directions out like an army sergeant. It was funny to watch, but weird at the same time. Her Aizawa was the same way, but his words were always highlighted by happy, doting thoughts that this Aizawa lacked. Again, something had clearly gone wrong with her version's brain chemistry to make him all Pinkie Pie-ish or whatever. Harper wasn't sure if she should complain or not.

Lillian ignored Bakugo's steaming glare and her Shoto ignored the one the other version of himself was aiming as well, both of them huddled up and vaguely resembling scared puppies as the rest of 1-A stared at them like they were pieces of meat. They just wanted to train! Not have some sort of battle royale! Lillian sent some more psychic father-daughter distress signals that Aizawa luckily seemed to pick up on. Booyah. Points in the bank, everyone! Points in the bank! He's getting there with the parenthood thing. Would he cry if she left today? Not yet, but they have time. They'll get there eventually.

It was announced that they would be pairing up to have some dual quirk usage practice. Working alongside your fellow heroes was important, and Aizawa definitely wanted to touch more on that as the year progressed. After that they might shift into some one-on-one sparring. He was still iffy about that seeing as pretty much his entire class wanted his daughter's head on a pike. Proverbially, of course. Barring maybe Bakugo, who was seething in an uncontrollable vat of rage even as Kirishima tried-- and failed-- to calm him down.

The class got into the swing of things even with their curiosity. Their eyes still strayed over to where Shoto and Lillian were conversing nonetheless. They'd gone off into their own little corner and were talking about something. Something about rocks, spinning, and trajectory. Nobody was super sure. The Todoroki of here was definitely not happy, only half-heartedly training as he watched the carefree version of himself laze around. It was beyond irritating. He didn't understand him. He didn't understand how he had come to be like that. It just didn't seem conceivable! 

"Alright, how are we supposed to get some rubble?" Lillian asked. Shoto's quirks had the potential to be destructive, but they were going to have to scale their experiments down so they didn't hurt anyone else. That meant they really only needed one chunk of concrete-- not several. Shoto's quirks weren't precise enough for something like that. His ice was more controllable than his fire, but not controllable enough to make the type of rock they needed. "It's not like Katsuki's here to hover and comply with every one of my requests, no matter how out-there."

Like that one time she'd asked him to dye his hair hot pink and he'd shrugged and hadn't even asked why, and had been stuck with his hair that color for an entire week. Or the other time she'd gotten cold and had jokingly asked for his shirt and he'd taken it off right there without so much as batting an eye. Or that other time she'd asked him to bring her some pork dumplings, a banana moth and two cats for no reason in particular and he'd vanished for about an hour and come back with exactly that. He sorta just followed her everywhere, now that she thought about it. And she sorta followed him everywhere. That wasn't super healthy, was it? Maybe this was what young love was. Or something.

"I actually think I have an idea." Shoto admitted. Lillian perked up a bit, watching her half-and-half friend turn towards where the Bakugo of here was angrily training. Lillian could practically see the steam coming out of the explosive blonde's ears. Did he really used to be so volatile? It was odd to look at him compared to what she knew and see how much he'd changed. While her Katsuki was still angry, he wasn't so violent or irrational with it. It was more of a personality attribute and less of a mood. Shoto cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hey, Bakugo!" 

The entire gym seemed to fall silent at his bold shout. Kit raised Harper's phone, immediately beginning to film. Harper was just glad he'd stopped trying to cajole her into selfies. This was something he wanted captured in time at all costs. Hopefully Tenya brought his phone so they could find a way to get the video from point A to point B so that he could keep it forever. Lillian pursed her lips as eyes fell onto them, shifting from foot to foot. Bakugo's turn was a lot slower, like something out of a horror movie. Were his eyes glowing? Lillian was pretty sure they were glowing. How demonically on brand of him. She had to give props.

"You'll never be stronger than me!" Shoto called, his bellowing tone echoing throughout the gym rather dramatically if you asked Lillian. The half-and-half teen paused for a moment, brows furrowing for half a second before he tacked on a "And you're a fuck munch!" for good measure. That was an insult their Eri had taught him. She was plentiful in curse word knowledge due to the fact that she'd been... you know, raised by the mafia. No matter how awful they were to her.

Kit burst out laughing. Lillian could see her father visibly pale even from across the gym. They owed him a fruit basket and an apology later. He was going to get grey hairs early at this rate. Her dad certainly had, but they dyed them in his sleep before he could notice so he wouldn't have another thing to complain about. Lillian was pretty sure Neito would shank him if he griped anymore. Those two were always at each other's throats, Lillian swore it. 

"HAHHHH?!" Bakugo shrieked, palms flying out to the pillar of stone in front of him. Lillian and Shoto both visible winced. The here-Shoto looked pissed too. Maybe he'd give them some rubble to work with too at this rate. "DIE!" 

And yeah, that had definitely worked. Lillian and Shoto both made a face as a giant chunk of stone hurtled at them, and there were several shouts of alarm. Her dad's hair flew up, but he was luckily looking at Bakugo and not at them. If he were, they'd probably die, seeing as Lillian sorta needed her quirk to stop them from being crushed. It was fine, it was fine. Kit was certainly getting a kick out of it. He could still be heard laughing through the vaguely-terrified shrieks. Harper had her eyes closed. Count on her not to be needlessly invested in anything unnecessarily dramatic. 

Lillian waited until it was close enough to grab before she blinked, stopping it in its tracks. Shoto sniffed a bit, stepping back. She had let it get pretty close this time. One day her quirk was gonna take a bathroom break on her and not come when she called and they'd get fucking slammed by whatever was flying at them. Luckily that day was not today. Lillian hummed, stepping around the side of the stone. The gym was quiet again, but she didn't really care at this point. She shifted her hand under the stone and sent it spinning. 

Shoto got the memo, positioning himself next to her as she gave it a few more good spins. His hand came out and called upon a blast of fire, which engulfed the rubble. Lillian let go of the rock right as his flames hit, the fire sending it and the weight hurtling off to the left. No one was training over there and it was a good thing too. The rock shot like a bullet, crashing through the gym's wall with a fiery crash. Yeah, that could totally kill someone. Good to know! Lillian wondered if it would be possible to send a few up in the air, spin them, and then have them come down from above. 

"I mean, it could've been better." Lillian acknowledged. He nodded in agreement. "Wanna go see if its still in one piece and try again? If it broke apart we could try smaller ones." 

Aizawa watched them go with wide eyes, his heart practically stopped in his chest. Frozen. She could freeze things and... and make them weightless? Is that what had happened? The rock had been suspended in time. He had been so sure it was going to hit them. They hadn't moved-- hadn't even batted an eye. They must've goaded Bakugo for that very purpose. The rest of the class was just as stunned as he was. A quirk like that was... it was insane, really. Being able to simply stop something like that in its tracks, and to be able to move it too. She had very clearly spun that stone to give it some oomph. How did she activate it? Was it something she could just... do? Whenever she consciously wanted to?

Bakugo's arms had dropped down to his sides, his brows furrowed. First of all, he was pissed. Because they had definitely just used him, and he'd fallen for it too. Second, the fact that Icyhot knew how to make him tick was more enraging than he'd thought it'd be. Still, he felt... almost subdued. The girl could stop shit. She could just freeze things! How was he supposed to beat that? Was there a way to detonate her before she could? Her quirk was strong. Not in a firepower sense, but it was versatile and even he could admit that. It made him indescribably angry. 

Harper listened to the thoughts of the rest of the class. Most were impressed by the move and by the teamwork they'd used. The meteor had been sloppy, but it was clearly their first time trying it. It had been a relative success, too. Cementoss was going to have his work cut out for him when they were done here. Kit was having a field day filming it. It was funny to hear how few people wanted to spar against Lillian after such a feat. What use was much of any quirk against someone who could freeze them in their tracks? 

"He made a meteor with that girl. He used his fire so openly, and with her right there." Here-Shoto was having some sorta crisis, but when was he not? "What is Endeavor like in their dimension? Is he... nicer? Is mother in a mental institution? What difference is there?" 

"Dude, that was killer." Kaminari gawked shamelessly as Lillian chucked their somehow still-whole boulder up in the air at an angle. Shoto shot fire at it, and Lillian released it so that the momentum the newfound weight brought could carry it back down. "Remind me not to offend either of them. Holy shit."

"Soda, soda, soda." Ah, there was Ochako. Good to know she was still doing well. Would Harper ever understand the drink obsession? Absolutely not, and she wasn't going to try to either. As far as anyone was concerned, Uraraka was perfectly fine. 

"What a mad banquet of darkness." Tokoyami noted. "Their bond eclipses and creates shadows for the underworld's most powerful lord to slumber in. Their rain of fire and destruction rules over all and will decimate evil."

Right, Harper wasn't super sure what that meant. Tokoyami wasn't the traitor, right? She didn't think so, but his weird, cryptic way of thinking made it a lot harder to tell. Whatever, it was fine. She wasn't super worried about it. He was like that in her dimension too, and he had been in the last one. Besides, Harper had heard tons worse. Just look at her version of Sero. Guy had more than just a few screws loose once you got down into the real meat of his thoughts. She wondered how he was handling this whole thing. Probably not well, but he'd live. 

Kit watched the training with interest, watching Lillian and her Shoto for the most part. The Todoroki and Bakugo from here were watching them with such insane amounts of contempt. It was hilarious, but also just a tad bit concerning. His cousin was mean. Like, super fucking mean. Kit could handle it and he was sure Lillian could too, but what if he took it too far? What if he pulled some shit that irreversibly stupid? 

This version of him was immature. He'd grown without whatever wake up call Lillian given her version and had aged without Kit to pummel his ego down. Kit was going to have to watch closely to make sure his bitch ass didn't do anything too extreme. And if he did... well, Harper was in charge of watching Shoto's interdimensional phone. He was sure he could get it from her somehow and make some calls to some people who would be very, very interested to hear about Lillian's current state of wellbeing. 

Training progressed, and soon Aizawa was declaring that there'd be some one-on-one matches. Kit perked up, all but whooping in joy when the two Todoroki's stepped up to bat. This was all he'd ever wanted. Fuck yes. It was like that time his Tenya had fought the other Tenya back in the other dimension they'd hopped into. Though it looked as though the here-Shoto was the one who'd instigated this fight, and Lillian had been the one to push her friend to agree. Lillian's Shoto looked particularly bored with the idea, brows slightly furrowed, but not in an overly-concerned way. More of a 'wow, do I really have to do this?' sort of a vibe. It was hilarious, and definitely making here-Todoroki angrier. 

Lillian settled beside her dad, pursing her lips. The animosity between her Shoto and this one was literally insane and it needed to be addressed. She knew well and good that her friend could make this one eat dirt, and maybe that's what this Todoroki needed to see the light. Seriously, the glaring had only increased since their little meteor shower. This one either needed to chill or butt out. Her Shoto had anxiety! He couldn't handle such anger directed at him by himself! Besides, wasn't that a form of self-hatred? Her Shoto was insecure enough having a traitor boyfriend and Neito as a friend! Since Neito is perfect and a standard none of them will ever reach. It's hard living in someone else's shadow.

It was actually sorta surprising how fast here-Shoto had stepped up to fight. He was way, way angrier than Lillian had thought he was. Here she thought Bakugo would be raring to go, but he seemed to be in a rather speculative mood at the moment, which left plenty of room for here-Todoroki to come forth and shine. Good for him, but also, he could shut the fuck up. Lillian would freeze him if he said anything offensive. You see, Early-roki was incredibly offensive and rude. No social skills. Like, her Shoto didn't have social skills either, but his empathy had awakened at some point and this one's clearly hadn't quite yet. 

"This is going to be insane, ribbit." Tsuyu observed as both Todoroki's took their positions. Harper sighed and pushed herself up off the ground as Kit hopped to his feet, wanting to get a closer look. Vlad rose as well, still too depressed to muster up much of any gusto. "I wonder who will win. Probably the alternate one. He's older, right?"

"It is sure to be interesting." Tenya agreed, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Our Todoroki seemeth truly fell. I wond'r what hast angered him. Couldst it beest the attitude of his alternate self? I can see how yond wouldst beest a grand frustration. Either way, this hurlyburly is sure to beest of epic proportions!" 

Aizawa sighed as the two teens got into their stances. Aka, they just stood there like mannequins and waited for him to declare the match a start. God, was he really allowing this? This somehow didn't seem healthy. Letting one of his traumatized students go up against a far more traumatized version of himself. Lillian looked a bit concerned too, but she wasn't objecting. In fact, she had pushed her version of Shoto to go forward with it. Was she regretting it now? Or was she just worried of what would happen if this went sideways?

Due to the nature of Todoroki's quirks, they were all backed up a fair amount from the small field. It was nothing compared to the arena of room they'd had at the sport's festival, but they still had plenty of space to move around and use their quirks. Aizawa glanced down at his daughter, who shrugged uselessly at him. How helpful of her. Whatever-- he was the teacher here, so he really shouldn't rely on her for any decision making. If this went wrong, it would be his fault either way. He was the one allowing it. Fuck, he just knew Nezu was cackling out there somewhere. At least Atlantis was content. That much he could tell.

He supposed that meant Eri was okay. She'd done well this morning. She was quiet and scared, but not so much so that she'd burst into tears and hid herself. Lord, this morning had been a trip. One he... hadn't minded. Lillian and Hitoshi had gotten into a heated debate about the ethics of the Pokemon universe and how it was entirely possible Ditto's (whatever those were) could take over at any given time. Something about how it was wrong to capture Pokemon and force them to fight against one another? And why wasn't their any livestock in the Pokemon universe, what were they eating? Shota really didn't know, but they'd bonded. 

Harper had flicked eggs into Kit's mouth and Todoroki had purposely poured milk over the other boy's head. Vlad had eaten Atlantis' tray whole and then had spit up a bundle of wires when Lillian told him to cough it up. It had been fairly disgusting, but the chaos felt nearly welcomed. As though they were a family, or something cheesy like that. Atlantis had certainly loved having so many people to eat with. The liveliness was something Aizawa knew his husband yearned for, and him being able to have that meant a lot.

"I want this to be a clean fight! When I say stop, you stop! I see anything underhanded, you're out!" Aizawa declared, more towards his version of Todoroki than Lillian's. He felt like he was going against his better judgement by letting this happen, but it was sort of too late. Besides, his Shoto Todoroki looked ready to pop a blood vessel from frustration. "Begin!" 

The reaction was immediately. A blast of ice was exploding from Here-Todoroki's side of the arena in an instant, and a wall of fire came up to meet it soon after. Lillian's Shoto frowned a bit at the over-the-top attack. Had he really been that much of a drama queen? If he were fighting against himself to kill, he'd go for sharper, smaller, faster attacks. Maybe this version of him was stupid. That, or they had never tried Mihoko's cooking. Wait... if Hitoshi was a merman here and his whole family was like, dead, did that mean Mihoko had never existed? Wow... Shoto hated that. A world without Mihoko Shinso wasn't much of a world at all.

Here-Shoto ground his teeth together as a blast of steam washed over him. It was unlike him to lose himself like this, but he just... really, he wasn't super sure why he was mad. Maybe he was jealous, or maybe he was upset his image had been tampered with. But since when had he ever cared what people thought of him? What this other Shoto Todoroki represented to him just didn't seem right. It was like looking through a rose-colored lens at what he could be but didn't know how to become. And he could approach in a friendly way and ask-- just talk, really, because this other version of him seemed nice enough to do so. He just didn't... he didn't know. He didn't know! He felt confused and upset. Too emotional to be acceptable.

He called forth more ice and shot it forward, and he felt the rage in his chest bubble forward when more fire came to meet it. This was a version of himself who had both sides of his quirk under control. Had father taught him? Was Endeavor a good man where he came from, or did he perhaps have someone else who took the time to teach him? Again, something hot bubbled in his chest. It was an ugly feeling he didn't like but didn't know how to get rid of either.

"You're different." He said allowed, unsure if this other version of himself heard. He heaved as the steam cleared. The other him looked a bit lost, standing there and not seeming nearly as bothered as he was right now. It wasn't fair. It was childish to say such, but was it not true? "Why are you different?" 

Lillian's Shoto paused for a moment, not really knowing what to do or say. Were they talking now or was this like, a fight still? Would it be okay to shoot fire at him right now to send him out of bounds? Okay, that seemed sort of rude. Maybe. He wished Denki were here to tell him. He tried looking over to Lillian for direction but she just gave him a thumbs up which told him absoultely nothing about what to do next. He resisted the urge to flip her off, turning back to himself. Was it just him or did Here-him look super upset right now? Had Shoto done something offensive? He thought long and hard but couldn't come up with anything. He'd hardly interacted with himself since coming here.

"I don't know. I just am, I guess." Shoto told himself this unsurely. Here-Todoroki seemed even more angered by such an answer. Should he have said they were the same? Because they weren't the same. He had something called 'character development' according to Hitoshi and Neito whilst here-Todoroki clearly had not. Sucked to suck. At least this one hadn't had their boyfriend try and shoot one of their first friends. Or watched one of their best friends get their hand cut off and almost die. Or have to watch your mom fall in love with a detective with a receding hairline. No offense to Tsukauchi-- he'd done great putting Endeavor in jail and all that-- but come on! 

"You just are." Here-Shoto snarled, left side smoking. He should get that checked out. Could be serious. "So what is it, then?! You have friends, you're open with your emotions, you can control your fire. Tell me, how did you get there? Do you have a loving father? A present mother? How did you get to be the way you are?!"

Lillian's Shoto froze, staring. What? No, actually, really and truly. Back the fuck up a second. What the literal butt fuck did other him mean by a loving father? Where had he gotten that idea? Was it because he could control his fire? Because all he was doing was pretending his arm was an Elon Musk flamethrower and that was definitely working out for him. And yeah his mom was present, but they weren't close or anything. He'd gotten this way because he'd made friends and gone through stuff with them! Not because he'd had a happy family or whatever here-Shoto thought he had.

Here-Shoto felt like he might cry. This wasn't like him. Normally his rage was so muted. Kept under tight wraps. But seeing himself so free and open and friendly had sparked something that had been building since he and Lillian had first got here. He was able to work with her and didn't fear himself. He didn't seem disgusted with his own flames and didn't hesitate before using them like here-Shoto still did. Did the universe hate him? Why did this other him have it all when he didn't? Was this other Shoto just an image of something he could never be?

"U-Uh, no? No, that isn't it." Lillian's Shoto sort of felt like he was underwater trying to figure out what to say. He scrambled for words, eyes shifting over to where Lillian was but catching on Izuku unintentionally. He stared, taking in the green eyes that seemed to bore into him and the notebook clutched in excited hands. Such a familiar sight, but such a hurtful one. Shoto's mouth felt dry. He pried his gaze away and back towards here-Shoto. To see himself looking so hateful almost made him flinch. "I just... I made... I made friends." 

Here-Shoto stared. There was no way it was that simple. How had he made friends? Shoto Todoroki was unlovable. Awkward, with no social skills. People were intimidated by him! He had Izuku, who had reached out a hand to help him, but talking to him was hard and awkward. He'd hurt his hand irreversibly. Had burned him with his flames during their fight and caused him to shatter his fingers so badly that they'd never be straight again. This other Shoto seemed like a total idiot. So casual in his stance, as though he didn't have a care in the world. 

"How?" Here-Shoto asked, voice stony. He watched the alternate version of himself glance over to where Lillian was, and he frowned. He felt desperate, and his heart was beating fast. "Does it all ride on her, then? Is she the reason you're like this? Something had to have been different in your life." 

Lillian frowned as the pair stared off. The rest of the class was muttering, but they couldn't quite hear what was being said. They'd all been forced to back up when the first cloud of steam puffed out, pressed up against the opposite gym wall. Her Shoto looked pale and had a lost baby deer expression plastered on his face, whilst the here-one was definitely pissed. Neither of these things were good signs in her ultra special mega book of all things wise and Shoto Todoroki related. Still, her Shoto hadn't given her any sort of SOS. That being said, he'd also looked in Izuku's direction willingly. Was he too dazed to ask for help? She hadn't thought they'd talk. She thought they'd duke it out and be done with it!

"I went to the grocery store?" Alternate Shoto tried, eyes wide. Also not the right answer. Ugh, should he turn around and walk out? He felt like crying. He was gonna cry. But like Neito and Lillian had always told him, bad bitches cry when they need to cry and don't bottle up their emotions. He thought they'd just be shooting ice and fire at each other. Not having a heart-to-heart about their lives or whatever. 

"Oh, and that made it all better, then?" Here-him hissed with hurt and venom in his voice. Something like hurt flashed in the eyes of his other self, and Lillian's Shoto flinched a bit. Was he hurting himself? How did he make it better? What was wrong? "So what? You made some friends and went to the store? And your life is perfect all of a sudden? You're happy?"

Lillian's Shoto froze at the accusation, faltering. He stared at himself with big eyes. Perfect? No... no, his life wasn't perfect at all. And he... was he happy? He as sometimes, but sometimes the weight on his chest felt so heavy he could hardly breathe. He'd watched himself sink right alongside his friends. Watched Lillian wake up screaming and heaving out sobs. Looked at himself in the mirror and wonder if anyone would ever love him or if had all been a lie. Wondered why he wasn't enough, how he hadn't noticed, if this was all his fault. He'd undergone his father's abuse just like he presumed this other version of himself had, and he had the audacity to ask such questions without knowing anything?

Lillian's breath stuttered when she saw the expression on her friend's face, and she was moving before she even knew what was happening. Kit slid to step in front of her dad before he could reach out to stop her, shaking his head and frowning. Harper looked away too, sniffing to herself as Lillian briskly crossed the gym. A few unsure glances were shared between 1-A, as were some speculations about what was going on. Even some complaints about the lack of action. Harper sighed.

"You don't know anything." Lillian's Shoto breathed, frost escaping with his breath. His pressed his foot forward, and ice pillared up out of nowhere, climbing up the other version of himself before he had a chance to blink. Alternate him looked shocked. He heard Lillian call his name, and realized it was probably because he was crying. "You think my life is perfect? You think because I can stand beside someone and hold a conversation and smile that I'm happy?"

Other Shoto didn't try to escape. He just watched Lillian step up onto the concrete field and cross the distance to her friend, who received her readily. Even as Lillian reached up and wiped at her Shoto's tears, he still didn't look away from the alternate version of himself. He just frowned, feeling oddly disappointed in himself. He understood the frustration, but to jump to such conclusions baselessly. He sighed. It wasn't worth it.

"I guess that's our match." Lillian's Shoto said, despondent. Alternate Todoroki stared at himself, and realized right about then just what a big mistake he'd just made. How badly he'd misread the situation. And when the other version of himself smiled tearfully, he realized that maybe he was the one who had it better in this scenario. "My only advice? If you need to cry, let yourself." 

Here-Shoto watched as Lillian ushered the other him towards a side door and straight out of the gym. The other him was shaking violently as he was ushered out, and the other dimension travelers rushed to follow. His classmates went silent, and Shoto felt his insides burn with newfound shame. He'd just made himself cry. Other him was right. He'd looked at him on a surface level and had just... decided that he must have it better. 

He clearly didn't. Todoroki blinked back his tears, left side flaring and melting through the thin ice that had encased him. Other him was better with his ice, too. Able to use it with better precision than he could. He was better, but maybe that was because he was older, not because he'd suffered less. He'd been foolish. He'd been caught up in jealousy and want and had acted... he'd acted a lot like his father. 

"Alternate Shoto Todoroki is the winner." Aizawa broke the silence. "Hagakure, Shoji, you're up next."

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

They ended up sitting in silence in Atlantis' office. The only real noise was Shoto's sniffles. Lillian had an arm around his shoulders and was stroking his head, muttering something indiscernible and looking incredibly pissed. Atlantis and Eri sat side by side on the cot across from theirs, sharing a look. It was cute how fast they'd bonded, honestly! That, and Kit was being quiet for once in his life. It was all thanks to Harper, who cast him a look anytime he opened his mouth to make an inappropriate comment. It was the most productive thing Harper had done all day. 

Atlantis had been incredibly worried when they'd burst in, Shoto a mess of tears and Lillian's eyes literally glowing red. Harper, Kit, and Vlad had appeared not long after. Harper was grimacing so hard that the expression was going to get stuck on her face at this rate, and Vlad seemed extremely worried. The creature had been whimpering and nudging Shoto's legs with his beak every so often, obviously trying to check and make sure he was okay. It would be cute if Vlad weren't so goddamn creepy. No, really, who had made him? Could they not have made the design a bit more aesthetically pleasing? That's all Kit was asking.

Kit wondered how many hits he could get in on the other Todoroki before he got his face torched off. He wagered at least six if he played his cards right. Listen, he was a Todoroki enthusiast. He wanted to help that family and bring Endeavor down just as much as the next morally-conscious guy. But this was a whole other situation, and it's not like this was his Shoto Todoroki. Fuck, this was so much more drama than he'd signed up for. He'd wanted the juicy kind, not the scalding one. 

"I'm sorry Shoto. I never should've suggested you go up against him. I-I didn't realize he was so mad about... about all that. I just thought it would be a normal spar and he's see that you're better than him in literally every way." Lillian's voice was small and cracked halfway through, guilt bleeding out of every pore in her body. Shoto sniffled a little and shook his head at her, hugging her tighter and taking deep breaths. He was definitely calmer. He just seemed tired and a bit mad now. "I'm such an idiot. I didn't think the other him was jealous! I thought he was just mad! Like, Katsuki-brand mad! Not spiteful-bitch mad!"

"It's not your fault." Shoto said, voice sure. He sat up a bit, shaking his head some and frowning at himself. Crying was good, but he'd really broken down there. He'd been trying so hard to get better about that. Maybe it was time to get therapy. Damn. He was going to lose the bet! The incredibly unhealthy one they'd all agreed to start even at their own detriment! "It really isn't her fault. Of course it isn't. I didn't think the other me would go there either. I thought we'd just throw fire and ice at one another for a bit. I should've known." 

Harper dragged her hands down her face, ignoring the phone that buzzed in her pocket. Someone was always trying to call Lillian and Shoto. It was a surprise the device hadn't died yet. Man, what a clusterfuck. This was the reason she'd chosen to sit out of training. Drama just wasn't her forte. Still, she felt upset on the behalf of Lillian's Shoto. In a way it was her fault. She'd known he was mad and should've delved deeper into why that was. She could've given them a heads up and this entire thing could've been avoided.

The Shoto from here was mad. He'd made baseless assumptions about the life of Lillian's Todoroki, not realizing he'd been through way more than he'd ever have to go through. The Todoroki of here could still suffer in the future, sure, but he would never experience the brand of Izuku-served suffering Lillian's Shoto had gone through. That experience had so far been entirely unique to their dimension. It seemed post-apocalyptic anytime they talked or thought about it. A decimated city and a supervillain that could kill them with a snap of his fingers. No one around, smoke and ash falling from the sky. A friend coming to save you only to pull a gun on you. They'd fought for their lives and had experienced a betrayal that made Harper woozy to think about.

Lillian pulled back from their hug a bit, furiously swiping at her own eyes. This was stupid. They shouldn't cry over this, right? The real world sucked but sometimes you got your feelings hurt and there was nothing you could do about it. They just had to remember to be bad bitches, that was all. Shoto seemed to have centered himself. He was getting better at that. They both used to lose it at the drop of a hat after what had happened, but it finally felt like they were getting some sort of stability back in their lives. Other-Shoto wasn't allowed to fuck that up for them. That would just be way too sad. Imagine getting messed up by yourself. Weak. 

"Can I get you two anything?" Atlantis asked softly. He wished he knew how to do more. He had no idea the entirety of what these two had gone through, but he knew it had to be a lot for them to both be so upset. The ocean had been so welcoming to Lillian, cradling her and never wanting to let go. It was obvious that was because it sought to protect her from further harm. The sea was nurturing and kind, and it had wanted to give itself to Lillian as fully as it possibly could. Atlantis could only strive to carry out the ocean's will as thoroughly as he could. "Perhaps they would prefer to stay here for the remainder of the day?"

Kit tilted his head from side to side, cracking his neck in a way that made Vlad shoot him a judgmental look. Why, Kit really had no idea. The thing looked like a creepypasta gone wrong. Whatever, that was besides the point. He'd known the Here-Todoroki was a little bitch on some level, but to think he'd be that petty. Shit was stupid as hell. What did he get from instigating a fight like that? They were literally from an alternate dimension. Of course shit was going to be different! Like how this Tenya was medieval and his wasn't, and how Lillian's Izuku had pulled a gun on her and his... probably... wouldn't. Okay, it depended on the situation, but his wouldn't join the League of Villains! 

"N-No, we'll be okay. Thank you for letting us stay here." Lillian gave a small smile, taking a deep breath. Bad bitch energy. Channel it. Like chi, or whatever. Mojo, if you so preferred. They had to make Chad proud. Besides, they couldn't be doing stuff like this in front of Eri, who was still fragile. It was good for her to see them humanized, just maybe not so... extremely. Lillian gazed at the girl, smiling at her reassuringly. "We should get back to class. Dick-roki doesn't deserve to know he dropped our croissants, right?" 

Atlantis blinked. What was a croissant? Where had they dropped it? Should he send someone to go get it? Wait, maybe it was one of those figure of speeches Hitoshi and Shota had been teaching him. He'd definitely never heard this one before. Perhaps he could ask about it later. He was just relieved they seemed to have improved in mood. They'd bounced back remarkably suddenly, actually. Like they'd just decided they were done being upset and had sat up and gone back to normal. Atlantis wished he could do that.

"Sure, whatever the fuck that means." Kit eyed her as Shoto nodded whole-heartedly, face fresh with newfound determination. Harper grunted a bit. Her contributions to this conversation were clearly grand. Whatever. Someone was blowing up Shoto's phone and it was starting to irritate her. She could feel the device heating up from the constant vibrating and it was starting to burn through her pocket. "I will never understand these bitches. And maybe that's a good thing."

It was. Harper was a mind reader and still didn't understand half of what went through Lillian's head. Her and Atlantis were similar. His was a bunch of gibberish about the ocean and weird, roundabout thoughts about different things going on around them. He also didn't seem to know the names of everything and would use words he did know to describe them. Linoleum was cheap floor squares, lightbulbs were glass bottle suns. Stuff like that. It wasn't that she didn't know what he meant, it was just that it took longer to process in the moment.

Lillian stood up and stretched. Shoto moved to do the same, and Vlad popped to his feet and hurried to copy them. Eri watched them curiously, looking tempted to hop down and do the same just to try it out. Kit snorted at the trio, and Harper pulled the buzzing phone out of her pocket with a twitching brow. The thing was going to catch on fire at this rate. You know what? She was glad her phone wasn't interdimensional. If Kurogiri ever found out it was, he'd want to be on a twenty-four hour facetime call and would cry anytime she left to piss. This situation was stressful enough.

"Hate the break this up, but someone's been trying tirelessly to reach you." Harper drawled out, dangling the phone from two fingers so it wouldn't burn a hole through her hand. Lillian blinked, leaning a bit closer and frowning at the unknown number. That was weird. Was it Chad? He got a new phone every time they turned around, so it wasn't uncommon to get random calls from new numbers. Still, most of the time he somehow got his own caller tag, so they'd know it was him even if it was a new sim card. "Don't let the other Todoroki get to you. He's just jealous that you can smile and he can't. Besides, your phone battery is going to melt through the screen if you don't answer soon."

Lillian reached out and took the device hesitantly, frowning. Yeah, it was definitely hot. She shared a look with Shoto, who shrugged at her in response to her gaze. Love that. Alright, well, you only live once. The calls had gotten less frequent since it had been established that they were okay, to have such persistence had to mean it was important, right? Lillian answered and brought the device up to her ear, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Shoto leaned in a little closer to hear better, and Kit was popping out his seat to do the same as soon as the thing clicked.

Atlantis scooted closer, unable to curb his curiosity. Lillian frowned a bit at the silence on the other line. How cryptic. Was this a death threat? Or was this Hitoshi calling her from someone else's phone to Rick Roll her? Whatever it was, it was a great distraction from the breakdown she and Shoto had just had, so she'd take it. Even if there was an axe murderer on the other line. If it was a serial killer, maybe Kit could interview them about their lifestyle for his magazine. That totally seemed like something he'd be into.

"Hello?" Lillian asked after a moment. Harper found her gaze wandering to the window briefly, and she did a double take on the school's gates when she realized there was someone standing there. Harper leaned forward, her quirk stretching out towards them. She was pretty sure she recognized them, actually. Did she need glasses? She might need some damn glasses, actually. "Is this like, a butt dial, o-"

"About fucking time you answered!" Ah, it was just Katsuki. Kit rolled his eyes and scoffed in disappointment. "I've been outside these gates for a goddamn half hour trying to get someone to come let my ass in! Get down her and buzz me through, Freckles! We don't have time for this shit. Only two of us could come and Eri fucking insisted because she wanted to see Vlad, but that bird-masked fucker showed up on our way here and fucking snatched her! Hopped in a car and fucking sped off! You-- we have to fucking fix this shit! I don't... I don't know where the fuck they went, Lillian. I've been trying to blast over this gate for ages put I always get lazers shot at me! That stupid fucking rat!"

Katsuki sounded so despondent. Harper blanched at the news, quirk snapping away when it confirmed that yeah, that really was Bakugo at the gates. Holy fuck. Now she felt like a dick for putting the phone on vibrate. He must've gotten here and realized his phone wasn't working and found a way to get another one. Harper wasn't sure what about Shoto's made it defy the very laws of the universe, but clearly it was exclusive to his device. Shit. Shit, shit, shit. This was a mess. God fucking dammit. Okay, they could handle this. Her quirk let her find things and uh... shit. Alright, shit! 

There was no fucking way. There was absolutely no way! Lillian opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock, and Shoto's eyes went wide. The pair looked at each other in complete horror at Katsuki's proclamation. They'd expected that someone from their dimension would be getting here first due to the connection they had with the phone. It made them easier to find. But... but only two people had come. Katsuki and Eri. Only they had the Eri from here, which meant the Yakuza were obviously looking for her, as they'd presumed. They had seen the Eri Katsuki had brought and... and they'd mistaken her for their own. They'd taken her!

In sync, they all turned to peer at the Eri from here, who shrunk slightly under their gazes. Kit could not muster up the words right now. None of them could. There was no fucking way. Of all the shit to happen, of course it had been this. Lillian hadn't even thought to call and tell them they'd gotten the Eri from here. It just hadn't crossed her mind as something she'd needed to do. She and Shoto should've known better! Eri had missed Vlad dearly. Had been having breakdowns, had been lethargic and unwilling to do the things she loved. Of course she was going to stop at nothing to come see him as soon as possible, and of course Katsuki was going to be the same way with Lillian.

"Holy fuck." Kit cursed. Atlantis looked desperately between all of them, not really knowing what was going on. Vlad was stock still, staring at the phone. Were his pupils smaller than usual or was that just him? Kit took a small step away from the creature for good measure in case he went ballistic and tried to rip his head off. "Of all the shit to happen."

"We need to get to Aizawa. If they've got the wrong Eri, there's no telling what they'll do to her. Especially when they find out they've got the chance to have two." Harper said, struggling to keep her head level. Shit. Alright, okay, they were going to figure this out. They had this in the bag. They still had Shoto's phone, and Atlantis could control the weather or something. "Let's go get Bakugo in. I have no fucking clue why the stupid rat hasn't let him in yet. Dramatics."

Before Lillian could open her mouth to say anything, Vlad let out an enraged shriek, twisting with alarming speed and diving for the window. Atlantis and Shoto let out shouts, the pair of them both diving for him to try and stop him. Water burst forth from the sink and chased after the creature, but you had to remember that Vlad was a nomu, even if he had achieved free will via brain-punch. He could move at speeds that rivalled All Might's when he wanted to, and he was certainly smart enough to understand what they'd just said. Glass shattered, and his wings beat hard and sent him propelling forward. The water wasn't fast enough to catch him, and neither was Shoto's ice, which tore out from the window and shot after him in an attempt to catch his foot.

Shoto felt like the world had slowed down. Eri. There was no telling where they'd brought her or what reaction she was going to have to seeing Chisaki again. Her time with the Yakuza wasn't something she enjoyed talking about. They never pried or asked. She'd adjusted beautifully under Chad's influence, but she was still only a little girl, and her being in a better place now didn't mean she hadn't gone through hell. She came here to get her best friend back but had been instead swiped by her abusers unexpectadly. Shoto couldn't imagine her panic.

"Vlad just got out. We're coming down." Lillian squeaked out, voice strained. Katsuki cursed too, and looking through the window, they could all see him lower his phone to shout up at Vlad in an attempt to get him to stop as he flew overhead. It was no use. Vlad had missed Eri just as much as she had him, and to hear that the Yakuza had gotten her was literally the worst thing that ever could've happened. Chad was going to behead them. Their one job was to protect Eri from falling back into their hands, and she'd just been taken! "Oh my god, oh my god. Fuck Dick-roki right now. First world problems! Eri got taken by the fucking mafia!" 

Class 1-A was coming back from the gym when they all burst out of the nurse's office and started dead sprint down the hallway, Harper being the only one to slow so she could talk to Aizawa and explain the situation. Atlantis had been sorely tempted to hop out the window to go let Bakugo in, but they'd all shouted at him to stay with this Eri and not let her out of his sight. Even if they were still on campus, that was in no way, shape, or form a chance they wanted to take right now. Were they panicking? Obviously, yeah. Eri had just gotten kidnapped! In an alternate dimension, which was like, ten times worse! 

"Dude, what the hell?" Sero wondered as Lillian and Shoto tore past him, Kit hot on their heels. Lillian was shouting something into her phone. "Hey, where's their nomu thing? Aren't they supposed to watch him? Why're they so freaked out?"

"Someone just got their salad shit in." Hagakure whistled a bit, leaning to the side so her shoulder didn't get clipped by Kit, who was quickly gaining on and surpassing Lillian and Shoto in terms of speed. "They're runners, they're track stars."

"Berries and cream, berries and cream! I'm a little lad who loves berries and cream!" Aoyama sung, smiling and waving as the group passed. Harper skidded to a stop in front of a startled Aizawa, who looked like he was severely debating following after the trio of teens desperately running down the halls. The brunette took a few deep breaths. 

Alright, they were going to figure this out. Atlantis had this Eri, and Aizawa was going to be able to help them. Nezu too if he would wake the fuck up. Was he not on campus right now? Was he stuck in a meeting? He should've been alerted the moment Bakugo stepped up to the gate. Alarms should've gone off when he'd attempted to jump it. The security system was clearly in tact if he was getting lasers shot at him anytime he tried to get over here. This was a total mess. Okay, there was no need to freak out. They were going to want Eri alive. 

"Harper, what the hell is going on?" Aizawa asked. Harper weakly flapped a hand in the direction of the gate. "This is the most awake I've ever seen her."

Harper took half a second to gather herself and center her thoughts. No more panicking. They could regain control of this situation, but not if they all lost it. What did she know so far? They'd told All Might on the phone about this dimension and they'd been able to find them quicker as a result. They were only able to send two people, much like Chad and Bakugo in the last dimension. Bakugo had come for Lillian and Eri for Vlad. Bakugo had been on his way here, but the Yakuza were lurking around in search of Eri and they'd spotted her with him and hadn't realized she wasn't their version. Or maybe they had and took her anyway. Either way, she probably hadn't been gone more than an hour.

"Fuck, okay. Bakugo and Eri from Lillian's dimension came to get them, but the Yakuza mistook that Eri for theirs and kidnapped her." Harper explained in as level a tone as she could muster, shaking her head a bit. Aizawa's expression dropped like a stone in the pond, and he stared at her in a bewildered sort of way that truly spoke to the situation. "Bakugo has been at the gates for half an hour unable to get in so they're going to buzz him in. Vlad broke out a window when he heard the news and we don't know where he went. We don't know where Eri is either, but she's definitely in danger. So we need to figure out what to do and we need to figure that shit out like, right now."

It was a bit of a discombobulated explanation, but Harper had a headache and was trying to rush this along so they could get the show on the road. She didn't know Eri. She had no attachments to her, but she quite understandably had a soft spot for traumatized children who had been kidnapped and experimented on. Eri clearly meant a lot to Lillian, Shoto, and especially to Vlad. The nomu was a menace but he wasn't the devil incarnate, no matter how he acted when he got his hands on a toaster. A child had just been kidnapped and honestly? Harper was most at fault. She'd brought them all here. 

Aizawa stared, processing. The class erupted into chatter at the news of another Bakugo. The Bakugo from here looked enraged by the idea of another him being here, though he was also wondering who the fuck Eri was, as were many other members of 1-A. Harper didn't really give a shit what they thought to be honest. Unless one of them was a Yakuza informant who they could torture for information, they could butt out and keep to themselves. They were sort of on a time crunch. What if they needed to be touching to get sent back and they ended up teleporting back to their dimension without their Eri? What would happen? She felt sick thinking about it.

"Yo, another Bakubro is here?!" Kirishima asked excitedly, apparently unable to read the room in this dimension. Harper gave him a look. "Dude, this is gonna be crazy! I wonder how different they are."

"Man, this is totally insane!" Ochako gasped. "Who's Eri? It sounds like she got kidnapped by... the mafia? Is she okay? What's going to happen?"

"Is everything okay, ribbit?" Tsuyu asked, concerned. At least someone here was conscious enough to hear Harper's words and register their severity. "The Yakuza is really dangerous, Ribbit. Though, I didn't know they were still active in Japan."

Aizawa sighed, deep and heavy. Count on these brats to find some sort of trouble. Why wasn't he surprised? They'd figure this out. Harper looked pretty terrified, and his daughter had ran like hell was on her heels, but they could go about this in an organized fashion. But that meant they'd probably have to involve pros, and that meant revealing the existence of dimension hoppers, which could lead to a whole other slew of issues. That was, if the hero commission hadn't caught on already. It was entirely possible. Kaminari posted everything on his Snapchat story without restraint. It was actually becoming a legitimate issue.

"Get changed and head back to the classroom. I want you seated and quiet until I get back. Yaoyorozu, if I'm not back in twenty minutes, go find Present Mic in the teacher's lounge." Aizawa demanded, turning towards the class. His stony tone of voice quieted them down real quick. "Harper, we'll go find Nezu and see what the hold up is. Is Atlantis with Eri right now?"

Harper nodded, and Aizawa nodded back. Class 1-A immediately burst into action, rushing down the hall towards the locker rooms. Harper's eyes caught on the here-Todoroki's. He looked immensely guilty, averting his gaze and furrowing his brows with worry. A million things were running through his head right about now, but most of all how bad he felt. Good. At least he recognized that he was in the wrong and needed to fix his attitude if he wanted to get anywhere in life. Harper massaged her temples, falling into brisk step beside Aizawa. Neither of them said anything as they legged it towards Nezu's office. Whatever he was doing had better be important as hell.

Outside, they made it to the gate. Shoto's student ID was identical to the one here and he was able to scan it to get the gate to open, allowing Bakugo to step through without being attacked. There was no guard present, but they often times didn't have one this time of day due to the amount of teacher's who didn't have periods this early. It was only when most of the staff was busy that someone was out here. The entire thing was odd. Nezu's lack of a response and the fact that no one had noticed Katsuki standing here for thirty whole minutes. Kit frowned, looking around the gate for signs of... well, anything, really. Nothing appeared unusual or out of place. Still, he was felt with an uneasy feeling.

Katsuki opened his arms and allowed relief to envelop him as Lillian slammed into him, wrapping her arms around him tight and giving him a squeeze nearly strong enough to crack a rib. He hugged her back, taking a deep, shuddering breath and attempting to calm down. Having her vanish in front of him a second time had been just as panic-inducing as the first time it had happened. The fact that there was an open line of communication with her was the only reason he hadn't lost it. Because of the phone, it had been deemed safe for Bakugo to come and chaperone Eri, who had thrown an absolute hissy fit wanting to come get Vlad.

No one could blame her. Bakugo had his provisional license and so with the permission of the principal and his homeroom teacher, he'd taken the girl and had come here. They were supposed to call when they wanted to come back. If they weren't heard from, they'd be brought back in forty-eight hours, according to Chad. They'd have to call and explain what happened before then if they couldn't get Eri back. They all had to be touching to go back, which meant Eri would get stuck here if she wasn't in contact with Bakugo, who was the acting access point in this scenario.

Lillian was warm and okay in his arms. His panic dissipated, washing away like dust in the rain. He tried his best to curb his shakiness, burying his face in her hair and blinking back tears. Eri had been in his arms when it happened. They had just been talking. Eri had been so excited to see Vlad and couldn't stop chattering about all the things she'd do once they got him back. She had drawn Lillian and Shoto a picture to welcome them back, and had made her and Vlad matching bracelets so that if they ever got separated like this again, they could always have a connection. 

And then she'd just been taken. He could've blinked a missed it. One moment she was settled on his hip and the next she'd been snatched into the back of a car, and he'd been blown back so hard he rolled several times before stopping. He was pretty sure he'd injured his wrist in the fall. The car had been long gone by the time the dust cleared, and he had no idea what direction it had even gone. Only that the last thing he'd seen was a flash of familiar purple and a gaudy plague fucker mask. He'd known immediately what had happened.

"Th-The other day I got the Eri from here. That's why they were looking for h-her. They must've-- I-I didn't think--" Lillian hiccupped, gazing up at him with big eyes. He took a few deep breaths. She was safe. They were going to get Eri back. She was a tough little motherfucker. He wouldn't be surprised if she sprung herself before they even had the chance to find her. "I-"

"It's not your fault. Don't do that blaming shit. You had no idea it'd be her and I, and even if you had warned us, the same shit easily could've happened." Bakugo cut her off, shaking his head at her and cupping her face in his hands. He was shaking a little. The brown haired twink off to the side wolf-whistled, which fuck yeah. "Let's just go find our shit principal and figure out what to do. The Aizawa here know what he's doing?"

Lillian nodded. Right. Okay, right. Blaming herself wasn't going to fix this. They had to get their shit together and find Eri. Vlad was out there hunting on his own too, which was both a good and a bad thing. Lillian could only hope he didn't get himself hurt or lose complete reason. Katsuki was here though and together, they could like, throw explosions and shit. Shoto was here too, and they had Harper and Kit, who was terrifying. Besides, the Yakuza loved quirkless people! Especially strong ones. 

"He's scarier than ours." Shoto said, seeming suddenly calmer. Kit shrugged, raising Harper's phone and taking a photo of Lillian and Katsuki both. Not the time, but also it was always the time, you read him? "We should go back in. I do warn you, the you of here is pretty confrontational." 

Katsuki's eyes narrowed, his hand slipping into Lillian's. What the fuck did that mean? Was the him of here a little bitch or something? He glanced down at Lillian, scowling as she pursed her lips and glanced away. Alright, so the him of here was a little bitch. And a mean one if he was reading her eyes right. Fucking piece of shit. If he said shit, he wouldn't hesitate to beat his ass. Some discounted version of himself was not about to fuck up his mood, and especially not Lillian's. Lillian was the light of his fucking life and he would murder anyone who messed with her in cold goddamn blood.

Lillian gazed at Katsuki and smiled, and he smiled back. Wow, she had a boyfriend. This was insane. Did he know he was her boyfriend? Was this a mutual thing, or what? Maybe she should ask. No, he might get offended. She was just glad he was here. It was odd not having him around, and she'd been slowly becoming more antsy the longer he was gone. He seemed tired too, the bags under his eyes making the red of his irises all the more prominent. He'd relaxed some, even with the worry deep set in his expression. They were going to get Eri back. It would all be okay. 

It was weird to see his cousin like this. He looked weary, but warm and content just to have Lillian next to him. It was so disgusting. Shoto looked bittersweet, looking down and smiling to himself. Kit scooted closer to him and bumped his shoulder against him, giving him a smile that was sympathetic but not pitying. Shoto had had this once too, Kit realized. And though Kit could tell he was happy for his friend and glad to see her happy, it still hurt on some level to be reminded of something he no longer had. Kit has never been one to let other's stew in their own sadness or whatever's going on with Todoroki. 

"Yeah, he called Lillian and ugly bitch." Kit said unnecessarily, popping their ooey-gooey love bubble. Lillian froze, and Shoto pressed his lips together so hard they disappeared. Katsuki froze mid step, his doting eyes turning away from Lillian and turning to smoldering stone. Kit grinned widely at him, all teeth and smugness. What a drama-causing fuck! Lillian was all for him, don't get her wrong, but come on! "He's been trying to fight her this entire time. I'm not sure he's stopped glaring at her since your first phone call, honestly."

"He called her a what?" Katsuki hissed venomously, tone low. Kit's grin somehow managed to widen. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

If you had told Bakugo five minutes ago that a slightly older version of himself would be kicking open the door to his classroom and punching him square in the cheek, there's no fucking way he would've believed you. 

Lillian's version of Katsuki Bakugo slammed open the door to class 1-A, drowning in a fiery, cold rage that made him look like he was about to commit mass genocide. The room fell into a terrified sort of silence as the entire wall rattled, the doorknob no doubt having left a dent in the wall from how hard it had just slammed open. This Katsuki looked ragged, breathing hard, bags under his eyes, frizzy hair, and disheveled hero costume. Minus the massive grenades he usually toted, that is. He was literally seething with anger, shoulders heaving. There was some shouting coming from somewhere down the hall. Presumably Lillian. 

The Bakugo of here was out of his seat in seconds, eyes wide in surprise at actually seeing himself. Mina very quietly pulled her phone out as the pair of explosive blondes made eye-contact, the one in the doorway snarling in a way that told them all he'd found his target. His palms sparked, and somehow he was much more threatening than their Katsuki Bakugo could ever even hope to be. There was something more focused about his rage. It was less spontaneous and far more meaningful. Even Kirishima shrunk down into his seat, vowing not to get involved with  this.

"You." Lillian's Katsuki hissed, slinking into the room. Here-Bakugo rounded his desk to meet him, eyes narrowing and shoulders squaring. Hagakure winced. Yeah, that wasn't going to do him any good. Everyone could tell that this was going to end badly for their Bakugo. No one was super sure what had happened to make Lillian's version so pissed, but everyone had come to a collective decision not to get involved. Because uh... fuck no.

"What the fuck do y-" Here-Bakugo started to say, but he never got the chance to finish before a fist was blurring out and cracking across his jaw so loudly it damn near echoed. Lillian appeared in the doorway, blanching noticably as 1-A erupted with gasps and shouts of surprise. Kit and Shoto popped up behind her, peering over her shoudlers as Lillian's Bakugo grabbed his alternate version by his collar and dragged him forward before he could stumble backwards and fall on his ass. He handled himself like a ragdoll, apparently not caring that this was technically him.

"You piece of shit! What the fuck is wrong with you, you discounted worm?!" Lillian's Katsuki shrieked, shaking the younger him erratically, eyes wide and face twisted with anger. Ochako covered her mouth with both hands, eyes big, and Tenya was too busy gawking to scold them for fighting. Younger Bakugo was still dazed from the hit, blinking in a bewildered way. Clearly had hadn't been expecting to get his ass beat. "You call my girlfriend an ugly bitch?! I'll show you an ugly bitch right the fuck now, you useless sack of horse shit! You don't know jack shit about her, and you don't know jack shit about me! You think you can mess with her? I will fuck you up so bad our own mother won't be able to recognize your sorry, dickheaded ass. Do you hear me? Nod if you FUCKING hear me, you piece of shit!" 

Lillian fist pumped a bit. So they were girlfriend and boyfriend. Wait, now wasn't the time. She was just glad she didn't have to ask, that was all. Anyway, here-Katsuki was rapidly nodding and looked scared, so maybe everything was working out! She didn't blame him for calling her an ugly bitch at the time. Learning you had a girlfriend had to be news. Learning you had one who was anxious and had looked like a trashed muppet at the time the news was dropped had to be even worse. 

"Holy shit." Kit breathed, grinning as Lillian's Katsuki let go of the other version of himself and kicked him in the knee, causing his legs to buckle and him to fall hard on the ground. He planted his foot on his chest and stomped him down with a snarl. Lillian whistled a bit, and Shoto shook his head sadly. That was a huge L. Imagine getting jumped by yourself and like, mugged. Or whatever was going on right now.

"I knew they were dating." Mina squealed out, apparently not concerned by the homicide they were all witnessing. She got several wide-eyed looks, but she was too busy filming to pay them any mind. Props to her for keeping the camera steady. Sero had to look away to hide his choking noises and Yaoyorozu looked like she'd never seen something so gruesome before. Jiro gave a momentary nod of approval after only a brief second of thought, seeming to decide that the attack was justified. At least someone thought it was. Even Lillian thought it was a bit extreme, but Katsuki is an extreme person so she can't really say anything. He'd never understand where she was coming from.

Katsuki literally spit on the kicked-down version of himself. Like, actually spit on him. The class exploded, shouting at the derogatory action as the pissed Bakugo whirled back towards Lillian and stomped back over, steam practically shooting out of his ears. Lillian waved at him awkwardly. What else was she supposed to do? Wow, they were dating. That's crazy. You know, maybe she should've connected the dots sooner. They did kiss sometimes. Like, not super often, but they did do it. They also had matching mugs and he made her heart-shaped pancakes almost every morning, or a heart-shaped omelet, or a heart-shaped--- yeah, no, she definitely should've seen this one. 

Mina shrieked happily as Katsuki threw an arm over Lillian's shoulder, preening happily under the mind boggled stared thrown their way. He dragged her closer into his side, puffing up proudly and giving his usual, condescending look. Lillian made a face. Ew. This was really gross. Anyway, could they go find Nezu so they could get Eri back? The more she thought about it the more she realized Eri probably had several knives on her person and could fend for herself, but still. Time was of the essence.

"What the hell is going on here?" A sharp voice asked, and ah, there was her dad. Aizawa looked completely lost, Atlantis standing at his side with Eri cradled in his arms. Nezu and Harper were with him, the girl holding the rat by the scruff of his collar and looking incredibly annoyed. Nezu didn't seem bothered by it, continuing to sip at his tea. Wait, had he had that when they'd walked up? Kit hadn't been paying attention. "What the fuck? Why is Bakugo on the floor?"

"I bet you're wondering why Katsuki is on the floor. He called Lillian an ugly bitch, so this Kitty Kat had to come beat him up to defend his fiancée's honor." Kit teased. Harper gave him a look. Again, were they sure this guy was quirkless?  Also, where had the fiancée thing come from? "This is really gonna fuck them up."

"You're getting married?!" Atlantis gasped out happily, eyes shining. Lillian stared blankly, but Katsuki got a very considering look on his face that told him he was in no way taking it as a joke. Kit turned away to stifle his laugh, and Shoto's expression twisted at the question. Aizawa shook his head a muttered something, reaching forward and pulling the door to 1-A shut to cut off the rambunctiousness of his class. This was fucking ridiculous. They didn't have time to deal with this. "We must get Hitoshi to perform the ritual! This is wonderful!" 

Lillian opened her mouth to say something but honestly couldn't find the words right now. Here-Eri was looking very concerned, clinging to Atlantis and seeming a bit scared. They had probably explained to her what was going on. Eri was smart, and she always had been, even after they'd first rescued her. Though she hadn't had a traditional education growing up with the Yakuza, she still had her natural wit and common sense. Harper sighed, gazing at the ceiling for a moment so she didn't lose her shit before looking back at them again.

"Alright, we can worry about wedding rituals later, yeah? Eri is out there somewhere still. Nezu just got back from a meeting with the hero commission. Someone posted a photo of us and they're onto our asses, so we're on a time crunch with how much freedom we have to move." Harper explained, shaking Nezu slightly. He somehow didn't spill any of his tea. How irritating. How much trouble would Harper get into if she slammed him into a wall like a bag of rocks? "If anyone is going to know where to start, it's going to be Bakugo. The rat here will go look at security reels."

"Indeed!" Nezu chirped. "Pesky humans. Always getting kidnapped! I was gone for less than an hour, and for your sakes, you know."

"Shut the fuck up." Harper said flatly, shaking her head. "If anyone wants to come look at traffic cameras with me, speak now or forever hold your peace. If Bakugo knows a physical place they might be located, speak up."

Lillian, Bakugo, and Shoto all shared a look. There was one place they could all immediately think of, but even Chad had never been able to quite get in because of how many Yakuza it was crawling with. The Shie Hassaikai compound was incredibly impenetrable, with it housing several members of their movement. It had a fairly complex layout and spanned several stories. Eri was mostly likely there because it was the safest place to keep her if they thought they might try and find her, but if Chad couldn't get in, could they? And even if they could, how would they find Eri? 

Harper frowned at their thoughts. Alright, that was understandable. They were probably right too. But if Eri was there, how did they get her out without involving the heroes? It would open a whole new can of worms and could potentially prevent them from going home. They could even be imprisoned because they were, well, not from here. UA had hidden them well the last time they'd gone to an alternate dimension, but that was only because the Denki of there wasn't internet savvy, apparently. Damn him and his social media.

"So there is a place, then. What, we can't just roll up or some shit?" Kit asked, brow raised. Aizawa peered down at his daughter expectantly, but she seemed deep in thought, chewing on the inside of her cheek. He shot a sharp glance at her Bakugo. He looked dead tired, and had an arm around his daughter. He supposed that meant they really were dating. Damn. At least this version had defended her... honor, or whatever. Had even punched himself. That meant something, he guessed. "This is going to be fucking wild."

Nezu amicably sipped his tea whilst they all quietly sorted through their options. The classroom next to them was still loud, but it was easy to drown it out when you were lost in thought. Shoto took a deep breath. What would Chad do? Chad always knew what to do. That being said, calling and asking was a death sentence. He would be so incredibly upset. They had to get Eri back before he realized they'd lost her. He hadn't called yet, but if he did, there was no way any of them would be able to answer the phone and tell him with clear conscience. That meant they had approximately forty-two hours to get her back before they were forced to spill to him.

"I...I have an idea. If you're open to it." Atlantis offered, seeming to pick up on the tense atmosphere. He hiked Eri further up on his hip, glancing over them and smiling slightly. Lillian looked at him with eyes sparkling with hope, and Shoto was much the same. "If Hitoshi agrees... w-well, he is a siren. His voice is incredibly powerful and anyone who hears it would be under his influence. Especially now that he has his tail back. If you had a way to make his voice louder then he could potentially subdue your opponents. If numbers are the issue." 

He offered it a bit hesitantly, as though he weren't sure that was what they needed. It was literally exactly what they needed. Lillian beamed at him like a million suns, and Kit laughed out loud, seeming genuinely relieved despite having no real attachments to the situation, much like Harper. Lillian could cry. They were such good friends. They hadn't hesitated to jump in and help with this whole thing even though they were under no obligation too. They were just as supportive as they had been last time. Though, Kit was more of a little shit this time. That was okay. It matched the mood.

Katsuki felt the weight on his chest alleviate, even if he was lost as fuck as to what this meant. Apparently merfolk were like, a thing here? All Might hadn't been super specific with anyone but Chad, and Chad certainly hadn't explained. From what little he'd gathered, there was some weird magic ocean shit going on here. Was his teacher married to this guy? Fuck, that meant Lillian had another dad he needed approval from. At least this guy had seemed happy when the brown haired twink boy brought it up. Maybe that was a good sign.

Before Harper could open her mouth and demand they get this shit on the road, screams of absolute, unbridled terror burst out from the classroom next to them. It was a lot louder than the chattering from before and the explosions of a recovering-Katsuki, that's for sure. Lillian jumped at the noise, and Shoto was fast to grab the handle and throw the door back open in alarm. Atlantis immediately backed up, arms coming up around Eri protectively. Harper dropped Nezu like he was a sack of rocks. He landed on his feet and still spilt no tea whatsoever. Annoying.

The screams were deafening, and 1-B's door opened to reveal a concerned Vlad. Nezu waved him off happily as Harper poked her head into the room, eyes going wide at the familiar purple miasma swirling at the front of the class. A grin stretched across her face as the sound of uncontrollable sobs burst forth, and as Kirishima stumbled out of the black mass, eyes big and a little wild. Not as wild as his hair. It was all over the place, part of it up and part of it down. The class only seemed to scream louder at his appearance, even as he held his hands up in startled surrender. Kurogiri reformed into his man-form, and Kit laughed harder.

Lillian clamped a around Katsuki's wrist before he could blast in there and drop kick the warp gate in the stomach. Yes! Yes, yes, yes! Harper's universe had just bled into this one and it was honestly exactly what they needed! Harper seemed to realize this too, eyes brighter than Lillian was sure she'd ever seen them. She looked relieved to see them too, besides the benefits of having a warp gate. Not that Lillian was super eager to go through one of those portals. She would if it meant getting Eri back. 

"Well. I think our Eri extraction plan just got ten times easier." Harper admitted as Kurogiri and her Kirishima turned towards her. Kirishima lit up with relief at the sight of her, beaming at her with teary eyes and waving enthusiastically despite how little distance there was between them. Kurogiri let out a shriek that drowned out the screams with its octave, hands coming up to his face. Lillian winced a bit, pulling Katsuki back and shaking her head at her dad, who looked torn between confusion and attacking. Atlantis relaxed at their lack of alarm, smiling too, albiet confusedly. "Hey, Kurogiri, I need your he-"

"HARPER RYE!"

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

"This is the weirdest thing I've ever been asked to do." Hitoshi admitted. It was just him and Kit stationed out in front of the Shie Hassaikai compound at the moment. Kit had just skipped up to their massive gates, knocked, and put on his best Boy Scout act and asked if it was okay if they set up their quirkless relief awareness table in front of their compound. They had obviously agreed, and Kit had bat his eyelashes and smiled in the most innocent way possible. So now here he and Hitoshi were, setting up a speaker system on top of their ugly grey folding table. "And you're sure it's All Star by Smash Mouth you want me to sing?"

"That's what Katsuki said." Kit shrugged, not really knowing. Nezu was apparently hacking the speaker system inside the actual compound and would be streaming Hitoshi's voice over those too. He seemed much more invested now that there was merman magic involved. It was whatever. After they got Hitoshi's weird powers working, Lillian, Bakugo, and Harper would all warp in with Aizawa. Then, they'd use Harper's quirk to pinpoint where the little girl was. "He seems to think this song will wake Eri up instead of put her to sleep. Or some shit like that."

Atlantis and Eri were still back at the school with Kirishima and Todoroki watching Class 1-A in Aizawa's stead. After Kurogiri had sobbed over Harper for a solid minute, Kirishima had butt in and kissed her in front of the entire class. The screams of terror had turned into screams of shock pretty damn fast, and Kit had happily applauded and laughed violently. The Kirishima from this dimension had all but passed out in shock, and Mina had gone catatonic from the sheer influx of emotions she was experiencing. The whiplash was insane. Harper had just sighed, patted her boyfriend on the shoulder, and then declared that she needed him to make sure no one posted on social media while she went to fight the mafia. Kirishima had, understandably, not been super pleased.

Kirishima and Todoroki originally hadn't wanted to stay behind. It had been Harper who'd reasoned with them, and Atlantis as well. He was strong, yes, but he was a healer at heart. His magic wasn't equipped to harm. Kirishima had not wanted to part with Harper so fast, but she'd smiled at him and reassured him that she'd be back soon, and apparently that was enough to get him to park his behind down next to Atlantis and play protector. Besides, the class had been absolutely tripping over themselves trying to get information from him. He was the friendliest one there, so of course they'd leave him to deal with the questions.

Shoto was staying for extra protection, but also to man the phone. He was there in case Chad called, and he'd also be sitting in next to Nezu to keep an eye on how things were going. Apparently the Yakuza's cyber security was shit. Who would've guessed, honestly. They'd managed to confirm Eri had in fact been brought there, so they at least knew that much. Now it was just a matter of finding out where she was. Harper and Aizawa would be forced to wear noise-cancelling headphones to ensure they weren't effected by Hitoshi's voice, but Lillian and Katsuki insisted they'd be immune. Aizawa wasn't convinced.

"Not really how that works, but alright." Hitoshi shrugged. Fine by him, he guessed. He had nothing against the song. In fact, he'd even argue that it was a bop as far as music went. He sniffled, opening one of the umbrella's they'd brought to cover their hardware. Kit moved to do the same, eyeing him slyly. Hitoshi glanced back, blinking a few times before he realized why he was on the receiving end of such a look. "Ah. It's a lot of people, so there'll be rain."

"I have no idea what that means." Kit admitted immediately. Hitoshi just shrugged. Kit shrugged back, snapping on his noise cancelling headphones with flourish. He wished he could be in there kicking ass and taking names, but this was pretty badass too. At least Izuku would be jealous. His, he meant. Apparently Kit got to 'do all the cool shit'. As though that little bitch wasn't being trained by All Might himself. What a spoiled little brat. He was literally going to inherit the Number One Hero's quirk and he was mad Kit got to get stabbed in an alley? Izuku was short and skinny. He could go get mugged anytime he damn well pleased.

Hitoshi sniffed a bit, rolling his shoulders and flicking the on switch to their rig. The speakers crackled to life, and the purple-haired mer threw a vague thumbs up in the direction of one of the street cameras. He hadn't gotten to use his magic like this since he'd been had his tail. In fact, he wasn't sure he'd ever really gotten to use it on this scale. He felt invigorated, power coursing under his skin and into his vocal chords, waiting to be used. He plugged in the microphone, fingers flexing around it. Kit grinned at him, nodding. He nodded back. Overhead, dark clouds began to roll in.

Lillian peered at Nezu's many monitors as Hitoshi brought the microphone up to his mouth. Merman tail photos would be wonderful blackmail, but this was almost just as good. She'd have to finesse the footage from Nezu somehow. They'd be warping in as soon as they saw the magic stuff was working. Honestly, she was super excited to see how it worked. Harper seemed interested too, and that's saying something seeing as it's Harper. Her interests mostly involve, but are not necessarily limited to, coffee, Kirishima, and sleep. 

"Interesting." Nezu hummed as the music started, booming through the speakers. He'd gotten access to the Yakuza's feeds and could see them all freeze and stop what they were doing as it flowed through their intercom system. Thunder rumbled and lightning roiled overhead, and rain began to drop down from the sky as Hitoshi opened his mouth and let out the first lyrics. His voice was a low timbre that seemed to vibrate the very ground beneath the compound, causing all the cameras the vibrate. He wished there was a way to listen without falling asleep. "Very, very interesting."

Shoto scooted away from the rat slightly, eyeing him. Nezu was creepy. He didn't remember the rat being this weird in their dimension, but maybe they'd just never paid close enough attention. Lillian shared a look with Katsuki, the pair nodding to one another. Aizawa gave the explosive blonde the stink eye, grumbling something no doubt derogatory under his breath. Harper wasn't going to ask. Kit looked absolutely astonished, and they could see the glow from Hitoshi's eyes even on the shaky screen. The rain increased tenfold, and almost like a switch had been flipped, the bodies of the Yakuza dropped like stones.

"That's our cue. Let's go, Kurogiri. I'm counting on you." Harper tacked the last part on to keep him from chickening out. He hated putting her in anything he deemed a dangerous situation. Which was rough because he thought her going up and down the stairs on her own qualified as life-threatening. Which yeah, it could be, but Harper wasn't a baby. She had more balance than he did even on a good day! Harper waved a hand on him, and he hesitantly reached up to put his own headphones on, a warp gate forming to the right of him. "Ready?"

She got nods of agreement, and Aizawa snapped his own headphones on as well. He looked unsure about sending Lillian and Katsuki in with open ears, but they seemed positive they wouldn't be effected. Atlantis had stressed that this was mer magic and that the song had little to do with it, but they were dead convinced. Katsuki was pretty reasonable. This one was, anyway, and Shoto had shrugged and assured them that they were right. Apparently there was 'no way this song would ever harm them'. It was actually a bit cryptic.

Lillian locked hands with Katsuki, the pair of them holding their breath as they stepped through Kurogiri's portal. The pair of them shivered, feeling sick as they stepped out into one of the dimly lit hallways of the Yakuza's main compound. The music blaring through the speakers had clearly knocked everyone out, bodies strewn haphazardly from where people had dropped mid step. Katsuki shook off the staticky feeling the portal had given him, mind on Eri. Aizawa stepped in too, capture weapon ready. Bakugo almost preferred this one. At least this one didn't shoot him death glares anytime he breathed in Lillian's direction.

Harper followed, glancing at the pair and waiting for them to fall asleep the same way everyone else had. She blinked when it didn't happen, almost tempted to take off her own headphones to hear but deciding that it was probably a bad idea. Lillian's dimension was a whole other breed. She shouldn't test fate. Instead, she should focus on trying to find out where Eri was. She glanced over at Aizawa, who seemed just as dumbfounded about Lillian and Katsuki's wakefulness as she was. 

"Bitches and hoes don't exist because the hoes know Bo's a feminist." Lillian's thoughts sung. She looked fairly casual, not minding the echoing, oddly-ethereal voice coming over the speakers. It wasn't a voice the freckled girl would ever equate with Hitoshi in any world. It was so weird to think that this was him. Even Katsuki seemed mildly weirded out, glancing left and right at all the strewn about bodies. None of them gave so much as a twitch, but they were all still on edge. Lillian was ready to aggressively blink at the drop of a hat. "Eri. We've got to find Eri."

Harper nodded, closing her eyes and focusing on expanding her quirk. It billowed out, washing out in all directions like water pouring straight out of a faucet and onto the ground. She let it sink down in the cracks of the floor and claw its way through the ceiling, scouring for any signs of conscious thought. It was a relief when it didn't hit anyone coherent. Everyone who was unconscious still had some level of brain activity, but none that was present enough to be concerned they may wake up. The merfolk were truly something else. 

Lillian pursed her lips. This hallway was shit. Weren't they rich? They couldn't pay for better decoration? Katsuki seemed to be having similar thoughts, lips peeling back in moderate disgust. He'd grown up with designer parents so this had to be more painful for him than it was for her. Such was life. Not that her room was exactly Pinterest worthy either, but she wasn't made of money. These guys were drug dealers! They should have like, gold-plated doorknobs and marble tile. Not this rundown middle school-esque linoleum. 

Harper's quirk didn't find anything on this floor so she focused it down. If she was going to keep a kidnapped child anywhere, it was going to be in the basement. She stretched it out, frowning as her head throbbed. The noise cancelling headphones helped her not become overwhelmed by outside noises so fast like she normally would, but this compound was large and she wasn't used to stretching her quirk this thin. Even so, it wasn't so bad all things considered. Luckily everyone was asleep, so there was nothing to interfere with her power. She let her power lightly ping off of the unconscious bodies until it hit something awake. Her eyes flew open.

"Did you find her?" Kurogiri's thoughts pervaded her. He was fidgeting next to her, slightly shrunk into himself and seeming scared. Harper nodded, holding up two fingers and pointing at down. She was two floors under them. Not the lowest level, but close. Aizawa got it immediately, nodding and glancing over to Katsuki and Lillian. Lillian brightened and nodded too, and Katsuki seemed to grunt in acknowledgement. It was hard to tell. Harper really didn't give a shit. She waved a hand at Kurogiri, who jumped slightly. "Right! Of course!" 

They went through another warp gate, this one taking them to the floor they needed to be on. Katsuki wiped down his arms, scowling at the sensation the portal brought. Lillian paused, hand going to his forearm. He paused, and she nodded, gaze not moving from whatever it was she was looking at. Hitoshi's voice was so loud that she doubted they'd be able to hear each other talk even with the headphones off. Harper and Aizawa also followed her gaze, and Kurogiri gasped, misty eyes going wide. He put both his misty hands on Harper's shoulders, tugging her back into him in complete alarm. 

The air was colder down here, and the smell was something else entirely. Katsuki's hand flew up to cover his nose, and Harper looked away, closing her eyes for a moment to gather herself. Aizawa seemed to visibly darken as well, eyes flitting about and hand on his capture weapon. Kurogiri seemed seconds from warping them all out of there. Lillian couldn't blame the guy. Man, it felt weird to refer to him so casually. He was literally sorta her mortal enemy. Was the him in her universe also in need of emotions? Was that all he needed to stop being bad?

That didn't matter right now. The entire hallway was in shambles. The Yakuza here obviously hadn't been knocked out by Hitoshi's song alone. There was blood splashed across the walls, and a lot of the lights were hanging by their wires. It was a massacre, bodies thrown about carelessly, bones broken. It was obviously the work of Vlad, who had to have known this was where they'd bring her and come straight here. At least they didn't see him laying anywhere.

"Wow." Lillian choked out, eyes wide. "Vlad must've been really, really, really pissed. I wonder if we're going to have to punch him in the brain again."

Harper glanced at her, shaking her head and nodding forward. Aizawa grimaced but nodded. Honestly, they didn't even need her quirk at this point. They could just follow the trail of bodies forward. Katsuki sighed heavily, grabbing Lillian's hand and starting forward. Lillian made a face, carefully stepping over the clearly-broken arm of a rather ugly looking Yakuza agent. She flipped him off for good measure, and was pleased when Kurogiri peered at her actions and nervously copied. Good for him. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Just overly emotional or under emotional at any given time.

Hitoshi's song looped, his words never pausing and the music never ceasing. Katsuki and Lillian navigated forward, stopping only when Harper made a noise and directed them to the right. They nodded, Lillian keeping vigilant. Her quirk burned ready behind her eyes. Her dad was probably much the same way. He stayed close to her, looming behind her and Katsuki silently. Him having his hearing cut off had to be hard, but at least Lillian and Katsuki could keep their ears open. Not that their ears would ever compare to Harper's quirk, which she no doubt had canvased across the immediate area around them.

They walked in silence, moving fast. The song had ended and started again by the time they came to the door. It was cracked open, a bright purple light bleeding ominously out. The claw marks on the door told them Vlad had gone hulk mode and pried it open. Good for him in all honesty. Lillian gave genuine props. The freckled girl held her breath, staring at the door before glancing at Katsuki. He didn't really look like he wanted to open it either. They both turned to look at Harper, who raised a brow and turned to the certified adult on this expedition, Aizawa. The man rolled his eyes at them and kicked it open.

It swung in with a near deafening shriek that only Katsuki and Lillian heard. They both winced at the sound, pausing shortly thereafter at the sight before them. Kurogiri let out another dramatic gasp, and Aizawa and Harper froze where they were, petrified. Lillian honestly wasn't sure what she was expecting at this point. What, they'd swoop in and save Eri from her distress? She should've known better than to doubt her. Young or not, she was far more capable than any of them would ever be. Damn. 

"Ah, there you are. How nice of you to join us." Eri spoke coolly, fingers pressed together like she was a supervillain. She had on her typical khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses perched steady on her nose. Vlad sat opposite her in a similar pose, matching glasses on his face as well. The round table between them was set up with a nice tea set and some tacos. In the head seat was Overhaul. He had a bullet wound in his shoulder and was tied up, earplugs shoved in his ears and bloody gashes covering his face and arms. He looked absolutely fucking terrified. Eri raised her teacup, pinkie out. "Fancy some orange juice mixed with Monster Energy Pacific Punch mixed with some Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze, compadres?" 

Harper opened and closed her mouth, and Aizawa had bluescreened trying to figure out how this girl before him could possibly be the one with his husband right now. Harper head no idea what to say. She had no idea-- this was the girl they were here to rescue from certain doom, right? Same one? Because it seemed like she'd figured it all out on her own. Kurogiri was fucking shivering in fear, hiding behind her at this point. She couldn't even blame him. Nezu was going to have a field day. There were no cameras in this room, but she was sure he could see what was happening through the one outside the door.

"Uh." Lillian cleared her throat a bit, smiling at her. Bakugo sagged, head dropping. He took a deep breath, relief heavy. He felt stupid for working himself up. Of fucking course she was fine. "Sure. But only if you don't tell Chad you got kidnapped on Katsuki's watch."

"Deal. But only if you buy me a Nicholas Cage pillow case." Eri wagered. Lillian shrugged. She'd drink to that. 

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

Tenya was walking down the street all by his lonesome, heading towards UA, when he suddenly spotted him. 

There was a group of people out in front of this massive, gated building, and Kit was in it. Tenya recognized a few of the other figures from the last time Kit had dimension hopped actually. The big, bird-like creature with black wings and an exposed brain, as well as the freckled girl with black hair and the tired brunette. There were some other figures there he recognized in general, such as Bakugo and the purple-haired boy from the Gen Ed department. Mr. Aizawa was there as well, peering at a little girl in a Hawaiian shirt and seemingly talking to her. Said girl was in the arms of the Nomu, who seemed to be happily vibrating in place. He immediately picked up the pace.

Kit looked absolutely amazing. Stunning, as per usual, and all Tenya had needed to see to feel relief. It was like the clouds had opened and the sun had shone through. He felt like crying, his shoulders drooping. He actually had to stop for a moment just to stare and make sure this wasn't a dream. That was him, though. Talking, laughing, grinning that same grin he gave anytime he was going to say something wildly inappropriate. Tenya had been calm when he'd first vanished, but had all but lost it when he realized Kit wasn't where they'd all thought he'd be. He'd visited the dimension Kit had gone through last time to find out he wasn't there. Hadn't even made a pitstop! 

Izuku had worked tirelessly. Whilst Hawks was in another dimension and Dabi in another, Tenya was here. In the right one, he was glad. He wasn't sure he could take another failure. He owed Izuku so many fruit baskets for this. And the new Resident Evil game, or whatever it was that he'd been wanting lately. This whole situation had been something out of a nightmare, but here he was! He was okay! He was alive, and not hurt, and just... fuck, Tenya was genuinely going to cry.

"Kit!" He called, voice a bit hoarse. Those red eyes turned on him, and they lit up the same way they did every time they landed on him. Tenya felt warm. Nothing made him feel as special and loved as Kit's gaze, which was cheesy, but he was feeling emotional. 

Lillian cheered, clapping her hands together gleefully as Kit took off towards his boyfriend, who had appeared out of nowhere to be honest. Of all the places to walk across, the Yakuza compound? Did Tenya have something he wanted to share with the class? Jokes aside, even Harper had to smile as Kit did his best to bowl Tenya over. It was impressive that the taller teen didn't tumble backwards at the new weight. Harper would've been flattened. This was just all working out beautifully, wasn't it? Eri was fine, everyone's dimension hoppers were here, and nobody had died! Aside from the Yakuza members Vlad and Eri had massacred... no matter!

"Hunny bunnnn!" Kit cooed obnoxiously as he was caught, relishing in those strong arms wrapping around him. Ooo la la, mi amor. Somebody light some candles. Ugh, he was so glad to see him again. He was beginning to miss that rugged face and adoring eyes. Call him cringey. He's living in a romcom and he's fine with it. At least he's aware of his situation and is embracing it. "I've missed you so much! You will never believe all the shit that's happened. Now, do you want t-"

Tenya leaned down first, lips colliding with Kit's way too hard. So he likes it rough, then? Kit's here for it. Again, as stated in the previous paragraph, ooo la la. His chest felt light and airy now that Tenya was here. He'd come to get him, and he'd done it remarkably fast all things considered! Kit wanted to squeal and kick his feet in glee. Maybe stab someone in the thigh and rip their ear off. The rush of adrenaline he got just from being around his boyfriend was probably the reason he was always doing stupid shit. And again, dimension hopping was proving to be an effective way to get some! Theory sustained, your honor.

Aizawa and Hitoshi stared at the reunion, the latter making a face when the pair kissed. Aizawa was... Kit was dating Tenya? Class president Tenya Iida was dating Kittrick Suzuko, cousin of Bakugo Katsuki and certified menace Number One? This couldn't be happening. He'd thought Lillian's universe had been the most fucked, but maybe he'd gotten them a bit mixed up. He should've seen something like this coming. Whatever. Not his dimension, not his problem, right? He was going to with that. No need to worry himself over nothing. They could go be gay and problematic somewhere far, far away from him and his peaceful little life.

Kit wrapped around his boyfriend like a koala, grinning at him. Tenya looked like total shit. Kit felt loved. This was great! Now they could ride back into Class 1-A, him with his beautiful, tall, genius boyfriend. They'd never know what hit them. First Lillian with Bakugo, then Harper with Kirishima, and now him and Tenya! They were a power couple through and through. Actually, all of them had formed power couples. Dimension-traveler thing? This had to be what true kinship felt like. Kit wasn't sure, but he did let Tenya shift to carry him bridal style over to where the rest were waiting. Eri's sunglasses glinted. Kit felt fairly judged.

"Greetings." Tenya gave a small bow, Kit draped in his arms like a rag. He was all too happy to never let go of him again if it meant preventing stuff like this from happening. He offered a weak smile in greeting, relaxing a little at the positive reception she received. Mostly from the freckled girl-- Lillian, he believed? She seemed genuinely overjoyed to see him and Kit reunited. Tenya could see why Kit had spoken of her so fondly in the past. "What are they all doing out here?"

"We were just having a karaoke... party." Harper responded to his thoughts, face scrunching up as she shot a glance to the speakers and microphone. Aizawa shot her a look of total disbelief, and Katsuki swallowed his snicker and disguised it rather well with a cough. Lillian, ever-supportive, just smiled and nodded in total agreement. At least someone here had her back. Kurogiri still looked like he was going to piss himself. Hitoshi was on some sort of power-trip, still drenched from the rain and eyes still slightly glowing. Speaking of which, how had Kit stayed dry? He wasn't even wearing shoes, but his socks didn't have a drop of water on them.... "We were about to head back to UA, if you'd like to join."

Kit snickered a bit at the thought of going back to UA. Tenya shot him a look. He was up to something. What that something was, he wasn't even going to try and figure it out. He just... wow. Kit was okay. They were back together, and everything was alright. Was this an odd group he'd stumbled upon? Yes, but he supposed himself and Kit were a bit unconventional to most. Though, seeing Bakugo willingly hold hands with someone was quite the trip. This Katsuki seemed remarkably calm compared to his. Love really did change people. Tenya gave the explosive blonde a nod, and he got one back. The mutual understanding was nice.

"Hell yes, bitch! I want to rub it in the pink one's face!" Kit raised his fist. Tenya tightened his grip on the smaller boy, brow furrowing. Pink o-- Ashido? Just what had Kit been doing in his time here? Wait, don't answer that. Tenya wasn't sure he wanted to know. He was too tired for the mayhem. "Ugh, this will be glorious. We return victorious from our... oddly quick expedition to the mafia's secret base, and I'm back with a hunk of a man. Booyah, bitch."

Harper rolled her eyes but gave a nod anyway, turning to Kurogiri and nodding. Kurogiri jolted slightly, prying his yellow eyes away from Eri and shaking off some of his terror so he could warp them back to the school. Tenya watched curiously as the gate formed, and Lillian and Katsuki shifted a bit, still mildly uncomfortable with the notion. Aizawa just sighed, patting Hitoshi on the shoulder. That had been both eventful and not at all. Eri had taken care of Chisaki. Shot him with a quirk erasing bullet before he could even blink and then had barricaded herself in that room, threatening to kill him if anyone tried to come in. Chisaki, unable to speak due to his gag, had been unable to tell them to come get him anyway despite her threats. So they hadn't. They'd just hovered until Vlad showed up and took them all out.

Hitoshi rolled his shoulders and cracked his back, feeling pretty tired from the singing. It was astonishing to realize that it really hadn't worked on Eri, Lillian, or Katsuki. Like... at all. They didn't feel even slightly drowsy. He'd tried to ask how but Lillian had just shrugged and Bakugo had looked mildly disturbed before shaking his head and looking away, instead gazing at Eri with relief. Hitoshi was just glad no one (no one who mattered, anyway) had gotten shot or injured. Kit had asked how they'd moved so fast and they'd all just made a face, and Aizawa had muttered something about a mass grave. Vlad was clearly the culprit if the happy trill he gave at that was anything to go off of.

"Alright. Best behavior, everyone." Aizawa drawled, ushering them in. Hitoshi gave a bow before slinking into the portal, Harper following him with a tired drag in her step. Lillian tugged Katsuki in, and Vlad had swooped after them, a very happy Eri in tow. Aizawa rose a brow at Tenya, who nodded obediently and marched forward. Kit saluted the dark-haired teacher, giving a sleuth-y wink that had Aizawa rolling his eyes. Brats. The whole lot of them. Except maybe Iida. He was still on the fence with that one to be honest. He seemed disheveled and tired from worry, but the same as the student he knew otherwise. As in, good in general. Again, how had someone like that ended up with Kit?

The class cheered when they came in. Harper bee-lined for Kirishima, who jumped out of his seat excitedly to embrace her. This got several coos and a few wolf-whistles from Sero and Kaminari. The here-Kirishima seemed totally flummoxed by the entire thing, face flushing red as he watched this other-him hug the tired girl, rubbing her back comfortingly and beaming like his entire world had been righted. Atlantis rose from his seat as well, smiling happily, shoulders sagging. It had gone well. He was so glad it had gone well. He'd been getting worried. He knew he shouldn't rush, but Hitoshi's voice should've been more than enough to knock them out.

Lillian and Katsuki tumbled through, looking a bit spooked. Hitoshi made for his cousin, allowing himself to be dragged into a side-hug. Lillian patted herself down, almost as though to make sure her entire body was still in tact. Katsuki mirrored her, doing the same to himself. He even had her do a spin to check himself, and she made him do the same thing. Here-Katsuki was in the same boat as Here-Kirishima was, watching them like he had no idea how in the world that could ever be him, no matter the dimension. Lillian didn't care. She was just glad she'd gotten through Kurogiri's gate without crying and throwing up. 

Vlad towered proudly, holding up Eri like she was a prize he won. The class hyped him up for it too, whooping, whistling, and cheering. Vlad King next door had to be fucking pissed by all the noise, but nobody cared. Clearly the mission to get the other Eri back had been successful. Atlantis gasped at the sight of the little girl, who was slightly bigger and much healthier than the Eri he was holding. The little girl from here gasped a bit seeing herself. The other her displayed her scars proudly, dressed in bright clothing and beaming bravely, not at all shrunk into herself like this Eri was.

Harper patted Vlad on the arm, smiling and allowing Atlantis to tug her over into a hug as well. She planted a kiss on here-Eri's head too, beaming at her reassuringly. Katsuki hovered behind her just as he usually did, only turning when the class got louder for some reason. Said reason was quickly revealed to be the other-Tenya, who froze at the unexpected explosion of sound, stopping in his tracks with Kit still in his arms. He blinked at the alternate versions of his classmates. Kit cackled.

"Babe, babe, give me a kiss!" Kit demanded as Aizawa stepped through, Kurogiri rematerializing into his human form and leaping on Harper and Kirishima like a spider-monkey. Lillian and Hitoshi barely had time to jump back before the trio crashed to the ground at their feet in some sort of weird tangle, Harper looking completely done. Tenya confusedly allowed his head to be pulled down, participating in the requested kiss despite the eyes on them, brow furrowed. Mina shrieked. 

Tenya was not usually one for much PDA, but there was little he could do when Kit demanded it. Plus, he wasn't exactly opposed. He had missed him, after all! It was a tad inappropriate to do it with so many eyes on them, but he reasoned that this was not their dimension anyway, and thus it was fine. It was terribly hard to say no to Kit in general. He normally didn't demand this of him so boldly in public, so he had to have a good reason. Besides, Lillian and her version of Bakugo were holding hands, and Kirishima and Harper seemed content to hug. And be tackled to the ground by an overgrown man child/ex-villain, but he digressed.

"No WAY!" Mina slammed her hands down on her desk with a deafening bang. No. This wasn't happening. Kit had said she'd never guess who it was that he was dating, but she hadn't thought he'd actually be right! In what world were Tenya Iida, their astute class president, and Kittrick Suzuko compatible? This had to be a joke. Or was it just the ultimate opposites attract moment? She twisted around to see the reaction of their Iida, but he looked pasty in horror, so maybe it was one of those vast interdimensional differences they'd seen so much of lately.

"I told you, you bitch! I told you that he was hot and you'd never guess!" Kit laughed. Tenya just smiled at him, the picture of innocent purity. Purity that Kit had tainted with his grimy little goblin hands. Harper watched from her place sitting on the ground, leaning up against Kirishima and feeling unexplainably tired. 

Atlantis and Aizawa hugged, the class too focused on the whole Tenya reveal to worry about them. Aizawa gave the here-Eri a good pat on the head, smiling a small smile at the girl. He also reached out to give Hitoshi's hair a good ruffle. The teen rolled his eyes, muttering something about needing a nap after 'such an epic ballot, bro' before slinking off towards the door. Atlantis just snorted a bit, shaking his head after the boy. Hitoshi seemed happy he'd gotten to help and employ his magic. 

Lillian let Eri get passed to her, giving her a tight hug and peppering her face with kisses. Eri let it happen, pushing her sunglasses up onto her forehead and beaming. It was the biggest smile Lillian had seen on her face since Vlad went missing, and even Katsuki had to snort at the girl fondly. Vlad trilled, reaching out with grabby hands to get her back almost as soon as Lillian had her. The freckled girl was not about to argue with Mr. Murderous Rampage over there. Eri would never be able to play hide and seek again unless she was the one seeking. Vlad would rip apart the building they were in and everyone in it.

Hitoshi opened the door just as Shoto appeared on the other side, his eyes wild. He shouldered past the purple-haired mer, his presence somehow demanding the attention of the room. Surprising since Kit is a literal eye magnet. Everything he says and does is exaggerated in the best, worst was possible. Lillian blinked as the room quieted, everyone turning to look at him. Nezu stood behind the half and half teen, still sipping tea. Vlad cocked his head at the boy, who honestly looked a little insane standing there. He was breathing so hard his entire upper half was moving, his eyes zeroing in on Eri immediately. 

"Eri, you and Nezu both drink tea." Shoto started intently, eyes wide. Lillian blanched a bit. Bakugo groaned, shaking his head and muttering curses under his breath. Harper's Kirishima shot them a questioning look, a half-smile still on his face. Kurogiri shuddered a bit as Eri was brought up. A new phobia? Lillian didn't even blame him.

"Trust me. It wasn't tea." Eri promised, perched on Vlad's shoulder like a parrot. Shoto either pretended not to hear her or was too wrapped up in his own little world. Probably a bit of both at this point. When he got like this, there was no reasoning with him. It was sort of like a manic episode but somehow worse yet not as bad simultaneously. They'd all given up trying to understand it. It was best just to ride it out.

"You both have white hair." He continued, stepping further into the room, which had gone fully silent now. Mina's face was still more red than pink, and she shot daggers of disbelief at Kit, who stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation. 

"Light blue." Eri corrected, shrugging at him. Vlad nodded in agreement to the statement. Though silvery in some lights, the blue tinge was undeniable. Eri took this to mean that she had been kissed by Hades himself, since he'd been blue in that one movie about the strong guy and singing pot ladies. Clearly this was why she was so powerful. That, and the sunglasses. "I didn't know you were color blind. Is that why you're so bad at driving?"

"And you're both smart." Shoto seemed to decide, determined and still ignoring everything she said. Lillian turned away, feeling embarrassed for no reason at all. Katsuki patted her back comfortingly, shooting a venomous glare at other-him. Here-Katsuki was sporting the nastiest bruise Lillian had seen in a while now. The freckled girl made eye contact with her alternate dad, who looked confused by Shoto's speech. Atlantis just smiled and waved pleasantly. Lillian gave a tiny, faintly humiliated wave back. 

"Finally, you're right about something." Eri said. Kaminari whistled. That was a lot of damage, wasn't it? Was this little girl really the other version of the one from here? Speaking of which, Here-Eri seemed totally entranced by her other self and her overall attitude. Aizawa was half tempted to cover the kid's ears before it was too late. What if Lillian's weird, feral Eri rubbed off on theirs? Aizawa was already predicting they'd be keeping this Eri. 

"Eri, what I'm trying to ask.... are you Nezu's..." Shoto paused, taking a deep breath. He looked her square in the eyes. "Are you Nezu's secret love child?"

Lillian hid her face in her hands, making a low keening noise. Harper pressed her lips into a thin line. Kit gawked visible, and even Nezu paused, his tea stopping halfway to his mouth. He turned to give Shoto a bewildered look, ears twitching with barely-withheld judgement. Kit cleared his throat a bit, blinking away his shock as best he could.

"Dude... with all due respect, what the fuck?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Kirishima, Harper, and Kurogiri vanished first. It was Friday night and they were all eating dinner in the cafeteria, unwinding from the long day they'd had. It was a bittersweet thing. They'd all spent the rest of the day just talking to their alternate classmate's, Harper's Kirishima a complete and total hit due to his nice personality compared to everyone else who'd shown up. Harper had been in the middle of explaining to Shoto why Eri being related to Nezu was physically impossible when she fell through the ground, Kirishima and Kurogiri doing the same. Lillian barely had time to yelp. 

On one hand, everyone was glad Harper had gotten to go home. She'd been so stressed for so long due to Vlad, but it was still incredibly depressing to see her go. The one to break the tense silence had been Lillian's Eri, who had loudly asked if Shoto was just trying to find a roundabout way to call her a rat. Because if he was, he should just give it to her straight and say it to her face like a man. Kit had burst out laughing, gripping Tenya's arm and shaking him slightly, insisting they had to find the Eri in their dimension whilst she was still impressionable. Tenya had looked fairly scared by the idea. Good. He should be.

"I'm just you from the future." Eri told herself in a reasonable tone, seeming to completely believe herself without a single trace of a doubt in her tone. Here-Eri seemed entirely enraptured by this alternate, more confident version of herself, nodding along with big eyes. "It's not that I'm a bad bitch and you're not, or that you're a bad bitch and I'm not. It's that we're both a bad bitch. It's like a paradox. Does that make sense?"

It really didn't, but Here-Eri had nodded anyway. Aizawa could see his future of peace going down the drain. Especially when Kit and Shoto got into a food fight that somehow devolved into a full on fist fight that Tenya had been forced to split up. Mostly when Kit broke the top of his spork off into a makeshift shank. He'd tackled him, to which Kit had made a purring noise and wiggled his brows at his boyfriend. Lillian had stared at them before turning to Katsuki and wiggling her eyebrows too. He'd ended up chocking on a piece of chicken and blushing so hard his palms exploded. Atlantis had to hit him in the back several time so he didn't choke to death.

Kit and Tenya were the next to go. It wasn't until the next day that it happened, but Shoto did flip the brunette right as he did. They were all eating lunch, and suddenly the ground was opening up. Vlad had almost fallen in with them but Atlantis' water had shot out of his cup and saved the day, hitting the nomu hard enough to make him fly out of the way. Both Eri's had cheered. Lillian's Eri had been hard at work, and now here-Eri had full tribal markings on her face and a grass skirt to go over her sweatpants. She was apparently for a Far Cry 3 level crisis? Whatever the fuck that meant. 

After that it became apparent it was time for Lillian and her friends to go back too. Unlike the others, they could go on demand. Atlantis had sobbed his eyes out, capturing Lillian in a hug. Hitoshi hugged her too, grinning at her and patting her shoulder. Aizawa had maybe teared up. Not that he'd ever admit something like that. Maybe something was just in his eyes and that's what it was. Either way, Lillian had definitely hugged him a little longer than the rest. She'd crouched down to hug here-Eri as well. The two Eri's had shared an embrace and a few hushed whispers that could only lead to future chaos, but they let it happen.

Atlantis forced Shoto into a hug too, and Aizawa had joined in, which had made Shoto start crying. Lillian had been forced to awkwardly pull him away. Bakugo had the phone and was standing attentively next to Eri and Vlad, apparently communicating to Chad that it was time to pull them back. Atlantis wiped furiously at his eyes, his Eri perched on his hip. Lillian was glad she'd gotten the chance to save the little girl. She could tell she was going to grow up loved here, and that Atlantis was going to be an amazing parent. Her dad too, for all his grumpiness. 

A hole opened under them, and Lillian grabbed the phone from Bakugo and chucked it at her alternate dad before Shoto could stop her. The half-and-half teen shrieked, because his flappy bird score is out of this world on that phone and he had just gotten it back to what it had been before Kaminari fried his last one. Aizawa fumbled with the device, eyes wide. Hitoshi reached out and grabbed it before it could fall, furrowing his brows as the ground closed up and left them standing alone in the sorta-trashed cafeteria alone. The only sound was Atlantis' and Eri's sniffles. Hitoshi blinked, looking at Aizawa. The purple-haired boy grinned.

"It's the interdimensional phone." He said, shaking it a little. Atlantis' eyes went wide, and he gasped a little, his grip on Eri loosening just slightly. Hitoshi flipped it over in his hand, smiling when the screen popped on the reveal the screensaver to be a selfie of Shoto and Denki Kaminari, who was sticking his tongue out at the camera. "I guess that wasn't really goodbye, then."

Despite himself, Aizawa laughed.

~~
I know the end was super rushed by I literally just HAD to be done with this! As fun as it was to write this, I am officially burned out and probably won't be taking another request like this just because of the state of my hands! If I do do another, I will be taking lots and lots of time. Like, several, several months of time (: I hope you all enjoyed!