Shigaraki(snorting): Interesting chapter title.

Ochaco was more exhausted than she'd ever been, but it was a good feeling. Sure, she'd thrown up more times in the past 24 hours than she had in the past three years, but it would all be worth it. Already, she felt like she was able to stay weightless a little longer than she could before, so after an entire week of this, she'd be so much stronger! Still, she collapsed gratefully on one of the benches and slowly sipped on a ginger ale as the rest of her classmates trickled in. All of them were in various stages of exhaustion. Even after just a quick glance around the room, she could see Bakugo rubbing his wrists, Kaminari staring vacantly off into space, and Momo looking noticeably thinner than she had this morning. She took another tired sip, her eyes widening slightly when Deku staggered through the door.

Mirko: Wow. Toga really did a number on him.

Thirteen: At least it's not because she's a villain this time?

He looked noticeably worse for wear and both his clothes and his skin were absolutely covered with both drying mud and multiple blue slashes. From the way the mud was smeared across his arms, it looked like Deku had tried to wipe some of it off before dinner, but had only succeeded in rubbing it around and so had given up halfway through. She couldn't help giggling at the cute mental image, but made sure to get herself under control before waving him over, "Hey Deku! Over here!"

Deku froze and slowly turned to face her, eyeing her suspiciously, "Hi..."

Toga(cackling): Oh boy I really did do a number on him!

Ochaco frowned. Had she done something wrong? She'd thought they were friends, just in general, but especially after the bus. Had she been wrong about that? She was so confused, "Deku? Is something wrong?"

"Why don't you tell me?" Izuku's eyes were flicking over her rapidly, taking in every detail and despite how tired she was Ochaco probably would have blushed if it didn't look like he was searching for a weapon. "Where's the knife?"

"T-the what?" Ochaco just looked at him. "Deku, are you feeling okay?"

Shigaraki(snorting): Does he look okay to you?

"I'm way too tired for this." Deku sobbed. "Stop playing games! Either stab me or let me sleep!"

Dabi(whistling): Wow, Toga really traumatized him this time.

Spinner: Is it just me or does he look more traumatized than our Midoriya?

Toga: Huh, weird, and I'm a hero in that world!

"Deku!" Ochaco rushed to his side, only half surprised when he stumbled backwards away from her, falling into the floor as he tripped over a box of vegetables. "What are you even talking about? Are you okay?"

"Oh! Deku-kun! You made it back before me! Cool!"

Ochaco froze as she watched herself walk in the door with a spring in her step that the real her was currently too exhausted to muster. The doppelganger was identical to her in every way, she was even wearing the same outfit as Ochaco was, although the fake's was a lot cleaner. Deku took a moment to look between the two of them, then promptly burst into tears.

Inko: Oh poor Izuku...

"Deku?!" Ochaco crouched down and tried to comfort him, but he just scooted away from her into the corner. "What's going on?"

"Oi! Deku!" Bakugo growled. "What the !@$#& are you crying about?"

They had attracted the attention of most of the class by this point, but Deku's tears were more exhausted than real distress, like he would usually stop crying, but was just too exhausted to care anymore, "One of them is real and the other's going to try and stab me and I don't know which is which!"

Aizawa(deadpan): The exhausted one is real.

"Tch." Bakugo growled. "You always were a nerd, Izuku."

(everyone stared at Bakugo who just smirked and then some people started laughing)

Mitsuki(scolding): Katsuki! He's traumatized enough as is!

The entire class froze and even Deku was shocked enough to stop crying. There was a long moment of shocked silence before the other Ochaco started cackling, "That's exactly what gave me away this morning! How did you know?!"

"Nerd's predictable." Bakguo snorted. "Oh, and that one's the real one."

He pointed to Ochaco like she was an afterthought and Izuku's shoulders slumped in relief, "Sorry, Uraraka... I'm really tired."

Midoriya: Yeah... Toga's no joke...

"I... I figured." Ochaco said, still trying to process everything as she turned to the other her. "Uh... hi?"

"Hi cutie!" The other her smiled widely. "I guess I should probably change huh?"

"At least put on some clothes." Izuku groaned. "We're in the kitchen for goodness' sake!"

Toga: Of course I'll put on some clothes!

Compress: Do you not remember what you did in the woods?

Toga: That was the woods and I was alone with Izuku!

The other Ochaco pouted, but grabbed something from a bag she'd brought with her, "You're no fun, Deku-kun."

Midoriya: You had that the whole time?!

"You had that the whole time?!" Deku looked exasperated.

The other Ochaco shrugged, wrapping the robe around her shoulders, "Of course, I did, Deku-kun, I'm not a heathen!"

(everyone looked at the screen and then at Toga and just sighed in exasperation)

Ochaco almost threw up again as she watched her own face melt away into a weird goop until the only thing left was Toga, who was wearing nothing but a bathrobe. Maybe she should talk to Aizawa? Her quirk's side effects had obviously extended beyond her stomach and were now affecting her brain. Maybe Kaminari would have some advice?

Kaminari: Hey I don't hallucinate. I just short circuit.

Uraraka: At least this is actually real and I'm not hallucinating. That would be a nightmare.

"Stop teasing Deku, Bakubro." Kirishima came up and put a hand around Izuku's shoulder. "If you'd had to run away from dopplegangers of your classmates all day, I'm sure you'd be exhausted too, so just because Deku... "

"For your information, @$#&*( Hair, I would tease any of these stupid extas, not just Deku." Bakugo grinned. "But seriously, there were two Urarakas right in front of him! It was easy to tell that I was just messing with him!"

Iida: Yes but I don't think Midoriya was in the right state of mind to consider that.

"Speaking of..." Ochaco said faintly, "Why were there two of me?"

"Himiko's quirk allows her to transform into anyone after she drinks their blood." Vlad King said, walking up behind them. "Since I didn't want to leave her alone for the whole week, Aizawa suggested putting her to work helping train you kids."

Toga: Aw he calls me Himiko!

Kurogiri: Well he did adopt you.

Toga: Yeah but no one's called me that in years, it feels nice. Aw I want to get adopted now.

"Oh..." Ochaco looked at Deku and suddenly the blue slashes and the weird behavior made a lot more sense. Toga had probably transformed into all of them at some point during the day, so no wonder he was so paranoid!

Everyone: Yup.

"Can we just eat now?" Deku had stopped crying, but he had apparently given up on standing and was just lying on the floor defeated.

(several people snorted)

Shinso had apparently decided that was a great idea and was lying down next to him, "I second that notion. I'm starving."

(everyone snorted)

"Sure, you can eat." Aizawa walked into the room carrying a box of vegetables, plopping it down on the table with a thud. "But remember what the Pussycats said last night. You're cooking it yourself."

Mitsuki: I'm calling it now, Katsuki blew up an oven.

1A: Yes he did.

Bakugo: Oh shut up you extras!

His students were definitely better at fighting than they were cooking. The curry was... well, it was passable, but Shouta was still considering asking Lunch Rush to give some guest lectures, if only so the brats didn't accidently give themselves food poisoning when they graduated and started living on their own. It was a hearty meal though, which was necessary after everything he'd put them through today.

Hound Dog: Yes, don't poison yourselves.

Shoji: Actually Bakugo's a good cook. He just won't let us do it ourselves though and overspices everything.

The kids were improving enough that they might actually stand a chance if they had to fight the league again, not that they'd done too shabby the last time. The leadership and maturity they'd shown when they ran into Shigaraki at the mall was beyond impressive and the media still hadn't stopped singing the kids' praises, so hopefully a little bit of intensive training would pull double duty to help them get stronger and keep their heads from getting too big. The last thing he needed was overconfident problem children bragging as much as 1B thought they did.

(class 1B looked at Monoma who was reconsidering some things)

Speaking of problem children, Shouta couldn't help but notice Kota slip out of the kitchen without eating. He was most likely just trying to avoid the hero students, but still, it wasn't healthy to go without eating.

(everyone looked at Aizawa unimpressed)

Okay, maybe Shouta wasn't one to talk, but he was an adult, he could get away with a few unhealthy habits here and there, Kota couldn't.

Midnight: A few?

Aizawa: Okay, maybe a lot.

Mic: Not helping.

Shouta sighed when Deku caught his eye from across the room and gave him a meaningful look, glancing toward the door Kota had just walked through. He wasn't good with kids, no matter what Joke and the others said. Still, somebody had to make sure the kid ate, and his students were too preoccupied to do it. Even Deku, who had noticed Kota slip out, was too busy being paranoid of his classmates, which was hilarious and excellent payback for the whole pajama stunt, to take care of one little kid.

Cementoss: He didn't do that just for payback... did he?

Ectoplasm: This is Aizawa we're talking about.

Cementoss: Fair point.

Shouta groaned and stood up, filling an extra plate with curry and silently slipping out into the woods. This property was probably excellent for a kid like Kota who wanted to be alone. There were lots of nooks and crannies to explore and with the pussycats around it was mostly safe for him to treat the entire property as his backyard. Honestly, Shouta himself probably would have had a blast here as a kid, not to mention if the three stooges had gotten to let loose here back in high school.

He shook his head to clear away the bittersweet memories. He still missed Shirakumo, no matter how long it had been, and he knew Mic did too. That was why Deku thought he'd be a good fit to talk to Kota, despite how rough around the edges Shouta was. The stories about heroes that they told to children were like fairy tales, but Shouta had learned the hard way, as had Kota, that heroism didn't always have happy endings.

(everyone sadly looked between the rooftop trio and Kurogiri who was still trying to pretend they didn't exist to little success)

The kid was easy to track, unconcerned with being followed, which was probably age appropriate, even if Shouta's first instinct was to immediately harp on the lack of situational awareness. Between his footprints and the clear path that had been cut through the forest, it was obvious that wherever the kid was, he came here often. He probably even called it his secret hideout or something.

Midoriya: Oh yeah he actually does.

He found the kid sitting on a cliff, "You have good taste, kid. There's a nice view here."

Kota jumped up with a yelp, surprise quickly morphing into anger when he saw Shouta, "Stupid hero! How did you find my secret hideout?!"

Mei: Wow he does call it that.

Shouta snorted, "If you don't want people to find it, vary the path you take everytime. Consistency is dangerous. It makes you easy to track."

Kota gave him an appraising look, but didn't say anything. Shouta rolled his eyes and set the food on the ground before sitting down on the edge of the cliff.

"The kids made curry." He said, looking out over the forest. "It's terrible, but it's better than going hungry."

Ojiro: That should convince him.

"I don't want any food made by stupid heroes!" Kota said, flinching when his stomach growled loudly.

Shouta just raised an eyebrow, "Like I said, better than going hungry."

Nejire: I'm pretty sure he's going to eat it.

Kota glared at him for a few seconds, but the smell of the food got to him eventually and he sat down and grumpily devoured the curry. Shouta hid a smirk in his capture weapon. Apparently there were limits to how much the kid hated heroes.

Dabi: Eh, he'll get there.

When Kota finished, he put down the bowl and started glaring at him again, "What are you still doing here?"

Shouta shrugged, "Like I said, it's a nice view."

"No." Kota pouted. "You're probably here to get me to like heroes or something stupid like that. Did my aunt make you come here?"

Uraraka: No, Deku did.

Shouta gave him a look, "Do you really think anyone could make me do something I didn't want to do?"

(everyone snorted. Aizawa was very stubborn)

Kota shuffled awkwardly under his gaze and when he didn't respond, Shouta continued, "And I'm not gonna force you to like the hero's kid. We both know it'd be pointless anyway, so why bother? Heroism hurt you and took away your parents. You have every right to be mad about that."

The poor kid looked genuinely shocked, "You... you don't think it's bad that I hate heroes?"

Shouta turned to look at the kid more closely. He seemed almost hopeful for some reason, which just made Shouta angry. In a world of kids who idolized heroes, of course one who hated them would feel broken and left out. It wasn't fair, but that was life, wasn't it?

Mt. Lady: Yeah...

"I think you have a lot of sadness and anger going on in that little body of yours and it would be illogical to think it would all just go away." Shouta said finally. "Heroes are an easy target, that's fine. There's a lot of people in this world who don't like heroes. As long as you don't get carried away and let that anger make you hurt people, it's not bad that it exists."

Toga: Is it too much to hope that the little cutie turns into a villain?

Spinner: Yes.

Toga: Aw.

Kota winced, "Are you saying I should apologize for trying to punch that stupid broccoli kid?"

(everyone snorted)

Shouta snorted. He'd definitely be sharing that nickname in the group chat, "You can, but honestly, Deku can handle it. Just don't do it again, alright?"

Bakugo: No, by all means, punch him in the balls again.

Inko: Katsuki!

Kota nodded. He seemed contrite, but he still probably didn't have the tools he needed to deal with all the hatred and anger that had been coming to a head for years now. Shouta couldn't really give him that, but at least he could let the kid know he wasn't alone.

Shouta sighed, "It makes sense for you to be mad, kid. I lost someone to heroism too and I'm still angry about it sometimes. You're really not the only one."

Aizawa(muttering): And it doesn't help that apparently he's not even dead he's just... changed...

Kota looked at him suspiciously, "You're lying. If you lost someone because they were a hero, then why are you a stupid hero too?"

"Because I want to keep people safe." Shouta said. "I don't want people to die, but that means that I sometimes take the danger that was meant for them. It sucks, it's hard, and maybe there's better ways to do that, I don't know, but I do it."

"That's stupid." Kota huffed.

(everyone snorted)

Kaminari: Title drop.

"Yep." Shouta ruffled the kid's hair as he stood. "But that's life. It's all just one big stupid thing after another and we all just have to deal with it. Remember to take that plate back to the kitchen, I'm sure your aunt doesn't want her dishware scattered all over the forest."

Kamui: Yeah, she probably doesn't.

He didn't look back as he retreated silently back into the woods, but he could feel Kota watching him leave. He had no idea if he'd gotten through to the kid. He probably hadn't, but he'd tried and the kid had eaten, so that would have to be enough. Shouta groaned as he realized he now had to get back to his own problem children. With his luck, they'd probably blown something up by now. Yep, life was definitely really stupid.

(everyone laughed)

Kendo: No, yeah, something did blow up actually.

A lot of people: Bakugo.

Bakugo: Shut up! I was still the best cook!