While Izuku and Patches were busy reuniting with the Onion Knight, Ochako and the others were panicking at their current situation.

Namely, reporters trying to get their word on why a U.A. student was apprehended by the police and the heroes.

“Who was that U.A. student?”

“Is he in the hero course?”

“What is his quirk?”

The questions came on and on, without stopping. The victims, a.k.a. Ochako and friends, were trying too hard not to go ballistic and punch all the vultures’ lights out.

‘We don’t have time for this!’ Ochako mentally raged as she forced a nervous smile in front of the cameras and people with notebooks.

She sends out a grateful nod at Tenya and Momo – who were somehow used to paparazzi due to their social status – that were receiving most of the questions and attention.

Kyoka, who was walking beside her, hid a scowl by tilting her head down and bringing her bag up chin level. Eijiro was beside her as well, a frown on his face instead of his usual friendly grin.

‘What the hell was that?’ Kyoka scratched her head with her jacks as she recalled the scene she witnessed earlier. Izuku running into the scene without any thought, blocking an attack meant to kill, and then having a conversation with the said offender?

It’s like he knew him for a while now…

“Oh… Shit…” Kyoka brought her hand to her face as she quietly cursed out her realizations. Ochako and Eijiro heard this, while Tsuyu was busy trying not to use her quirk to jump out of the vultures’ line of sight.

“What?” Ochako narrowed her eyes in worry at Kyoka’s paling face. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Yeah,” Eijiro briefly closes into her, grabbing her shoulder with his hand and bringing them closer. “I’ll try to cover you as much as I can.”

Eijiro just did that. He brought himself next to Kyoka and shielded the bodies of Ochako and Kyoka from the reporters. The damned vultures…

Kyoka gave Eijiro an appreciative nod as she redirected her gaze towards Ochako, who was now physically closer to her than before.

“I have a hunch,” Kyoka brought her lips close to Ochako’s ear, to make sure that the reporters, nor the civilians near them wouldn’t hear them. Ochako leaned in closer, attempting to hear clearer and keep the information as secret as possible. “I think that the bald man is Izuku’s friend… From that world…”

Ochako had her eyes widen at the information, then proceeds to mull over it.

“… You might be right,” Ochako glared at the reporters, who were still impeding them from moving away properly, and scowled. “We need to get this information to the teachers or principal.”

Objective set, the U.A. students began their march towards U.A. Highschool, with the vultures circling them.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

“Tomura,” a voice called out from beyond the glass. Shigaraki’s eyes opened to see himself submerged within liquids, a mask clinging to his mouth and nose that was hooked into oxygen tanks to ensure he can breathe underwater. “How are you feeling?”

Shigaraki looks at the figure beyond the glass. A respirator that clings to his face, and a mask that hid the upper portion of his head. Despite the figure’s head being covered, Shigaraki could still imagine the frown on the figure’s face, and the disappointment it held for him.

‘S-Sensei…’ Shigaraki tried to move his mouth but wasn’t able to due to how weak his body is.

“No need to talk, Tomura,” Shigaraki felt the concern from their voice – however small it may be – and shut his eyes, his body relaxing from the tension. “I only wished to check up on you.”

The figure moved closer towards the glass. Now closer, Shigaraki opened his eyes for a minute to take in the figure… no, the man in front of him. He wore what seemed to be a business suit, prim and proper. However, even Shigaraki could not deny him feeling down at the man being strapped to a stretcher that held him upright, various tubes digging under his skin and connecting to other liquids required for a body to maintain function.

“It might take a while, but that new arm of yours,” Shigaraki focused his gaze on his new arm, black like that of the Nomus, with a metal brace that wraps around the part where his skin met the black arm, “courtesy of the doctor, might take a while to get used to. It will feel the same as your old arm, however, you won’t be able to manifest your quirk on the said arm as well.”

Shigaraki’s eyes widened.

‘I can… touch things again…?’ his train of thought was stopped because of the man that was moving farther away. ‘N-no… Wait… Sensei…’

“Don’t worry, Tomura. Rest, I will see you soon,” the man vanished from sight, leaving Tomura alone, floating silently within the tube full of liquid.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

“Useless,” a man wearing a plague mask stretches his arm out and grabs a man’s face. A moment later, the man explodes into bits and pieces of flesh. In his grip, a scared, white-haired child with a singular horn on her head, watches the scene fearfully, tears in her eyes.

“Tch, filthy,” the man puts on a glove and tugs the scared child along forcefully. He looks at the child before scowling. “See, this is what happens when you try to run away, you cursed child.”

The white-haired child felt her tears dripping down her cheeks.

“It’s time for your punishment,” later on that day, within a compound, the cries and screams of a child could be heard all across the night.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

On top of a certain rooftop, a figure could be seen crouching on the ledge. He wore a red scarf, a tank top, and baggy cargo pants. He was also geared in everything sharp; a katana, knives, and more.

“This is strange…” the figure looked below. It was just a normal alley, if you discount the corpse of a hero that is. Beside the corpse was another corpse. However, what stood out from the corpse was not its figure, nor its quirk before its death, but what it wore.

Tattered metal Armor that covered only the chest, incredibly tattered metal leggings that only looked like an ankle bracelet, and a helmet. It held in its hands a sword and a shield. If that wasn’t all, before its death, it already looked like a dried-up corpse.

“The era’s shifting… Soon… All the fake heroes will be purged…” the man stood up and leaped to another rooftop, vanishing from sight.