Todoroki threw himself off the ledge above Itona's regular feeding place. (Y/n) came soaring right down after him, the wind stinging his eyes. They landed less than gracefully in front of his spot, out of breath. He wasn't there.

"We're too early, shit." (Y/n) dragged his palm down his face. He and Todoroki had just flung themselves across town without their masks on in their hurry to reach Itona and hopefully Isogai. A thought crossed his mind briefly. "How far are we from Anteiku?"

"Too far to go right now. It was stupid of us to come here right now. We should've known Itona wouldn't be around yet..."

"Do we wait?"

"Ministry of Defense—Mr. Karasuma might know where we can find one of them–" the sound of someone landing softly behind them rung in (Y/n)'s ears– "huh?"

"Mr. Karasuma isn't going to help you find them for this," she said matter-of-factly. 

"Who're you?"

"Hayami Rinka. He gave me a call after you guys ran into the Emperor, and we talked. He only told you the little bit he did to convince you guys to stop getting involved. Whatever is so important that you're rushing to come here probably has nothing to do with you."

Todoroki glared at her. She wasn't very tall, and her roots showed just the tiniest hint of dark brown atop the much lighter shade that took over the rest of her hair. He and (Y/n) hadn't met her while they were still looking for Karma and Nagisa, but she wasn't exactly a friend from what he'd heard of her. 

The cool, almost cold look in her eyes sent a chill down (Y/n)'s spine. He'd talked big earlier about making her talk, but he was glad that he'd more or less taken it back. Something about Hayami Rinka made him uneasy, and he couldn't put his finger on it. 

"Why should we listen to you?" Todoroki inquired.

"Mr. Karasuma isn't even at the Ministry of Defense right now. He's taking his shot at looking for Karma and Nagisa."

"Why won't you just tell us where they are?"

"I offered to keep his home a secret, and he didn't turn me down."

"That's your reason? Bullshit."

"Is it hard for you to believe that Karma wants a break? I'm surprised he hasn't unenrolled from your school already." Todoroki and (Y/n) both gave her curious (and possibly offended) looks. Hayami dropped her neutral look, glaring back at them. "Karma's a coward. You two are idiots if you haven't figured that out."

Hayami turned away from them, heading towards one of the park exists. They look at her back, puzzled. Akabane Karma, a coward? Where did that come from? "Where are you going."

"None of your business. Now, go home."

The two of them stared at their phones in anticipation, waiting for either Isogai or Itona to pick up. It was almost seven-thirty. Todoroki regretted running out of the house earlier. If they'd waited until now, they would have been able to at least see Itona before the next morning. (Y/n) jumped when Isogai finally picked up.

"Can you call someone else? I'm at work."

"Isogai–" Todoroki snatched the phone from (Y/n)– "the Blood approached the Crows at Rakuyama today, and we let them walk right past us."

Isogai was silent for a moment. He was mid-sigh when (Y/n) took the phone back and put him on speakerphone. "That's...not good, but what do you expect me to do about it?"

"What?"

"Mr. Karasuma said to stay out of whatever happens—I'm going to do that," Isogai answered coldly. "Look, I understand that you guys are anxious about everything, so am I...but my mom is sick, and I have to help my dad provide for my family. I'm not going to risk getting into trouble again right now, alright? Even if you find someone willing to help you, what could you do about this, anyway?"

Isogai hung up immediately after that, a brief voice on the other line calling him away. (Y/n) thought on the last thing Isogai said. What could they do? Their names were known, but he and Todoroki were still just two kids. He wasn't involved with the Crows like Yachi, and he wasn't connected to the Blood as Monoma had been. As much as (Y/n) hated to admit it, he wasn't in a position to interfere. Even he was, his interference wouldn't do anything, either.

He thought back to what Hayami had told them earlier. What did she mean about Akabane being a coward? It didn't make a lot of sense. (Y/n) wished he could find out from Karma. If he was honest with himself, his curiosity about Nagisa's condition had faded. Nagisa was alive when Karma split ways with them last, and he was probably alright now. It bugged him that he had no idea where either of them was, though. He dialed Itona from his phone this time, deciding that this would be the last time he'd try.

Itona didn't pick up.

┈

Kaminari knocked on the door, then stepped back. The house was larger than most of what he'd seen, and he felt extremely out of place there. The yard was nice and it had two floors. The door opened to reveal a tall man with eyes like Karma's. Kaminari swallowed nervously.

"Mr. Akabane?"

"Yeah? Do you need something, kid?"

"Is Ak...Karma home?"

"He is, but it's a little late to hang out, don't you think?"

"I know. I'm a friend from school, I just wanted to check up on him." Mr. Akabane wondered what the younger ghoul wanted. Karma's close friends didn't know where he lived, so how'd this kid find out?

"He's on the roof. Try not to be loud up there, we have neighbors." He closed the door, leaving Kaminari to scale the building. 

"Hey, guys," he greeted. Kaminari wanted to shrink from the looks the two gave him. Clearly, status wasn't the only thing that was supposed to keep him away from this area.

"How'd you find my house?" Karma asked, his tone accusing. Kaminari looked sheepish, almost. He didn't usually reveal sources but didn't know either of their temperaments well enough to know how they would act next. 

"A human got me access to the old Kunugigaoka records. 'Place is out of commission, but–" he was interrupted by Karma turning and saying something to Nagisa– "huh?"

"You're in contact with Asano."

"Probably through Ms. Kaminari, right? She's young—an older sibling?" Nagisa interjected.

"Nah, not close enough in appearance. Half-sister? Maybe your cousin?"

Kaminari's heart sinking showed on his face. He knew Karma was incredibly smart, and that Nagisa had to be able to offer some sort of volley for them to keep up with each other...but he didn't expect them to hit it right on top of the head. Kaminari had foolishly believed that not naming his older cousin would be enough. She was a disposable member of staff. They shouldn't have remembered her so clearly.

"Cousin it is. Now, why are you here? Is it not clear that we want to be left alone?"

"Shiota, Akabane, I just...wanted to warn you." Both of them seemed calm on the surface, but Karminari couldn't ignore what was brewing underneath. The feelings were different, yet equally dangerous in their respective host. He could see Karma's look boiling in his eyes as his veins tinged black. Nagisa's eyes remained the blue they always were, yet, they looked electric. Kaminari didn't know what exactly was coming off of Nagisa in waves, but it filled him with fear. "The Blood is at Rakuyama looking into whatever Crows might be there, and I'm covering for them. They don't have Uraraka, at least not yet."

"You're working with the Blood." Karma scoffed. Nagisa's eyes grew more threatening. He swallowed. "Leave."

He turned to do just that. He'd overstayed his welcome the moment he'd arrived, but a kagune around his ankle stopped him in his tracks. Nagisa's voice was sweet. Sultry and calming, there was a softness that warmed Kaminari. The question, though, made his blood run cold. All at once, his lungs tightened and his heart stopped. His body froze, yet his soul began to sink into the roof below him. 

The stars looked less like thousands of lights and more like a million predatory eyes stalking from afar. Something long and heavy coiled around him slowly, squeezing the life from him. Noises that weren't there rang in his ears. It hissed. With wet palms, he broke into a cold sweat. He didn't move, didn't blink, didn't breathe. 

"Denki, what does Asano know?"

┈

Kirishima hadn't seen Kaminari around much for the past couple of weeks. He wasn't as stupid as he made himself out to be—something was going on. Even the ghouls not involved with his friend had started to act strange as of late. The quiet conversations between Isogai and Kaminari in the back of their class didn't help. 

After getting told to scram before, Kirishima wasn't sure he wanted to be involved. That said, being kept out of the loop made him anxious. He was uninformed, not oblivious. 

This day was worse than most. Kaminari had deep bags under his eyes and they were drained. Worse, he was shaken. Kirishima knew very well of Kaminari's activities in the most general sense. He went around telling people things for payment. All kinds of people, from the docile ghouls that starved to the predatory kakuja lurking in shadows, turned to Kaminari for information. He'd seen terrible things and hadn't shown a single sign of being bothered. Kirishima wasn't keen on knowing what had managed to fill him with fear.

Kaminari's eyes were haunted. Isogai studied him offhandedly, almost as if he could see whatever spirits taunted him. His brown eyes met Kirishima's briefly. Kirishima stared right back, a wave of low anger bubbling in him. Isogai knew something he didn't. Kirishima did his best to ignore the crazed light in his friend's eyes. 

He looked away, then stopped in his tracks. Bakugou was staring at him, ruby eyes piercing him like knives. Kirishima's eyes were a softer red—the kind of red that a flower might be. Bakugou's eyes were darker, meaningful, and all too aware. He wished he knew what was going through his head.  Kirishima felt stuck.

The three ghouls stayed after class, but so did Bakugou. He was sick of whatever  Kaminari and Kirishima had been keeping from him. Them telling Isogai of all people angered him more. Isogai hung out with the cocky elitists in class-one like Karma, and the creeps in the second class like Itona and Todoroki. It didn't help that though the rest of his friends were nice, they were all mildly unsettling—and now what, five of them were now missing or dead? It had been reported that Monoma was a ghoul, sure, but the reports on Yamaguchi had been dismissed and the kid vanished. No one seemed to know anything about the brunette from the first class, or about the recent absences from the second. 

"Bakugou, is something wrong?" Kirishima asked. As bitter as it made him, he knew Kaminari and Isogai would prefer for them to both leave, but Kirishima would stand his ground. 

"Yeah, asshole. What the hell is going on with you guys? Especially you, pretty boy."

"As much as I'm flattered, Bakugou," Isogai said nicely. "this is personal. Maybe Kaminari can tell you on his own, later."

"Bullshit! What the hell is so personal that he can tell a stranger, but not his friends? You've been real fucking quiet these past few days, and I'm sick of it."

"Bakugou, it's nothing."

"'Nothing' my ass, Sparky. Spill." Bakugou fumed, quieting more than any of the others had ever heard him. "Or stop pretending you want to hang out with us. I'm not the only one sick your crap."

Kaminari felt he had been backed into a corner. Of course, he wanted to be Bakugou's friend. e wanted to keep going out with Mina and messing around with Sero at ungodly hours in the night. Bakugou was mean on the surface, but he was fun to be around once he'd gotten to know him. Kaminari knew, though, that he'd been treading on thin ice with them as of late. He'd been a lousy person, much less a good friend. Bakugou was serious, but Kaminari couldn't tell him what was going on. 

"Bakugou, I want to tell you, seriously...but I can't–"

"Save it, Dunce Face. Come talk to us when you aren't full of shit—or better, just fucking don't."

Bakugou grabbed his things and left, defeated. If Kaminari wanted to be stingy and act weird, that was his decision. He'd gotten so angry at Kaminari that he hadn't mention Kirishima. Kirishima wondered if that was a good thing or not. 

┈

(2217 Words)