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The tape recorder clicks itself on.
- What do you mean "have I been watching the news?" I've been in London for barely three days, Basira! I don't- are you telling me that something happened already?
- You were getting Statements from those UA kids, right? Some of them disappeared last night, it's all over Japanese news.
- You've got to be kidding me.
- Nope.
- I guess I'm booking the next flight back to Musutafu. Some return trip this was.
The tape recorder clicks off. It is turned back on a moment later, though it is clear that this is a different place, and a different time.
- You are... Ashido Mina, correct?
- Yeah. You already took Kaminari and Kirishima's statements, right?
- Yes, I have. I suspect that yours will be largely the same, but there may be some details that were left out.
- Yeah, that's why cops take statements from every witness, I know!
- Are you ready to begin, then?
- You might not believe me when you hear it, I know the cops didn't, but... yeah.
- I think that you'll find that I believe far more than what the police will.
Statement of Ashido Mina, regarding a recent villain attack which led to her prolonged disappearance from UA's dormitories. Statement direct from subject, recorded 22 October, 20XX. Statement begins.
There's not really a lot to tell you that I haven't already told the police. They didn't believe me, though, and I heard that their theory about it was a hallucinogenic quirk was used in "kidnapping" us.
But I guess it's your job to believe me, huh? I looked up the Magnus Institute when I heard that that's the organization that you're representing here. You guys listen to any story brought in by anyone, then use them to research ghosts.
It wasn't a ghost that took us, so you're just wasting your time if that's what you want. But since I'm already here, I guess telling you can't hurt, can it?
It was about one in the morning when I heard Kirishima yelling for me from downstairs. I was in my room, playing Animal Crossing in my pajamas, so I put the game down and came running so he wouldn't wake anyone else up. I came down the stairs to see him staring at the wall, and then he asked me, "Do you see that too?"
I looked over to where he was pointing, and saw a yellow door that looked like it could've been there since the dorms were built, but it wasn't. There were no yellow doors at UA at all. The handle and paint were both scratched up, like it had been being used for longer than UA had even been standing.
It almost felt like it was calling for me to open it. It was like an inaudible song, begging me to go inside.
"Is it just me, or does it want us to open it?"
Kirishima nodded, after a moment. "Not a whole lot, but I feel... tempted. I could walk away and forget it."
I knew that there was no way that I could do that. Even if I managed to tear myself away from the siren's call of the yellow door, it would live in my mind for the rest of my life. There was no way that I could consider permanently, truly leaving it.
"I think I should get the rest of the Squad and see if we should report this." I nodded at this, and he went up the stairs to wake everyone else up. I just kept staring at the door, willing myself not to go inside. I wouldn't do that, not alone, at least. Its call was almost palpable to me, but I kept standing there until Kiri came back downstairs, with Sero, Kaminari, and Bakugou in tow.
Kirishima pointed out the door to the rest of them, and their reactions were... mixed. Sero's jaw dropped open in shock, Kaminari stepped towards it- and I was sure that it sang to him just as much as it sang to me- and Bakugou... well, if I didn't know better, I'd have said he was scared. He stepped away from it, and quietly, so quietly, almost to himself, he muttered the word "no," over and over again.
"We should open it."
The words came out of my mouth almost without my permission. Kaminari, Kirishima, and Sero all agreed with me. Bakugou shook his head at us, and argued, "No the hell we should not. Don't open that fucking door if you have any idea what's good for you."
"Awwww, c'mon, Bakugou! Don't be a buzzkill just 'cuz you're scared!"
"Shut it, Dunce Face. The thing behind that door is not a fun adventure. It is not something that you can walk away from. You go in, and you die. If you somehow manage to escape, the memory of it will live in your head for the rest of your life. You all need to walk away while you still can."
"That was ominous as hell, bro. But it's not manly to walk away from a challenge like this! What if someone else already went in earlier, huh?"
"If they did, the door wouldn't still be here. This isn't a challenge, shitty-hair. There is nothing good that can come from going in there."
"I think that we should listen to Bakugou." That was Sero. I knew, then, that the door did not call to him as it did to most of the rest of us. Something in me, some small voice in the back of my head whispered to me, Leave them behind. They don't understand. They will never understand.
So I stepped forward, and I saw Kaminari and Kirishima do the same. Bakugou's hands sparked behind us as he took in a breath to scream even more.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?"
His voice pitched up and cracked slightly, his tone edging into hysteria. Still, none of us stepped away from the door.
"Bakugou, we have to go in there. That door is calling us. Can't you hear it?" Bakugou looked at me, with his mouth agape in horror.
Finally, he spoke again. "Of course I can hear it. Don't you think that you should be at least a little bit suspicious of something that wants you to touch it? A door that wants you to go inside? Ashido, listen to me. Nothing good will come from opening that door."
That was one of the very few times that he'd ever said my real name. But it was already too late. Kaminari had already walked forward and put his hand on the doorknob.
He turned it, and walked inside, leaving the door open for Kirishima to follow. I felt my legs carry me towards it, and I looked over to see Sero following behind me. Bakugou remained standing there, looking between all of us.
Then, he looked up at the camera that was in the common room, focused on him, and he signed the same thing thrice. Then, he followed Sero inside.
That's when the door slammed shut.
The change that we felt was immediate. The door, once it closed, disappeared altogether, leaving only a mirror in its place. I felt an instant sense of regret, and I saw that Kaminari and Kirishima's faces reflected that.
"We need to get moving." It was Bakugou who said it, and I hadn't even realized that he had started walking. I looked around, and realized that we were all stuck in some kind of hallway, with green walls, yellow carpeting, and a black rug over the center. Where we had just entered was the very end of the hallway, so the only way to go was forward.
Kirishima started following him first, of course. Kiri started keeping pace with Bakugou, eventually grabbing his hand, so their hands swung between them as they walked. The rest of us caught up behind the two of them.
We were walking for a while before we came to our first right turn. Bakugou tried to keep walking, but he was stopped by Kirishima halting entirely.
"Hey, bro, shouldn't we discuss which way to go? Going down the wrong turn could lead us to being stuck here for even longer!"
"It doesn't matter which way we go. We could waste time debating every time we come across one of these, or we could keep going. It doesn't matter to me." That was Bakugou, who cut in before any of the rest of us could open our mouths. He started tugging impatiently at Kirishima's hand, like he wanted to keep walking forward.
We just followed him without argument, since he'd been right about the door in the first place and he seemed to know the most about... wherever we were.
I don't know how long we were walking before we saw another turn. It could've been hours. It could've been days. There was no real sense of time in those hallways, because there were no windows or doors. Only the lights that were always too bright, and the mirrors that only sometimes reflected us. Sometimes, they only reflected some of us, or shadows instead of people.
Even though we walked for a long time, I don't think that any of us got tired, or hungry, or anything. We could keep walking forever, if we wanted.
Eventually, at one of the right turns, Kirishima stopped again. He looked at Bakugou as he said, "Katsuki, this is getting us nowhere. We could be going in circles for all we know, because the hallways look exactly the same wherever we are. We should change paths, so that maybe we can find a door out."
That sentence clicked something in my brain, and it was like a lightbulb lit up in my head. I said, before Bakugou could respond, "Wait! I could use my acid to mark down where we've already been, so if we are going in circles, we'll know that we need to turn!"
Everyone started to nod along with me, until Bakugou said, "Normally, that would be a half-decent idea, Racoon Eyes. Unfortunately, quirks don't work right in this place, so the point's moot. Nothing makes sense here. Nothing is supposed to make sense here. The best that we can do is keep walking. Don't think about it too hard, or you'll lose yourself."
"But- Bakugou, we should try and do something instead of just walking forever!" I agreed with Sero on that- walking in circles wasn't going to get us anything but grief.
"We keep walking. If you want to stay behind and let it find you, be my guest. C'mon, Ei. We're going." With that cryptic statement, Bakugou's grip on Kirishima's hand tightened, and he kept walking forward, with Kiri in too much shock to really protest.
"Wait wait wait- what do you mean let "it" find us? What is "it?" What even is this place- ?" It seemed like Kaminari was finally realizing that he should ask questions as we jogged to catch up to Bakugou and Kirishima from where we had stopped.
"Stop asking questions. If we get out of here, I'll answer them then. Until then, don't think about this place too hard, or it'll drive you insane. You'll either die or go crazy, so just deal with what's in front of you and worry about the rest later."
That shut everyone up for a while. We kept walking, until finally, I couldn't take it anymore, and blurted out a question of my own.
"Why do you even know so much about this place, Bakugou?"
His shoulders stiffened, and he hesitated in his steps. "That's none of your goddamn business."
"The hell it's not! If you're gonna order us around, we deserve to know what gives you that right!"
He walked silently, almost stomping if it wasn't for the sound-absorbing quality of the carpet, for so long that I started to think that he was just ignoring me. Finally, he gave an answer.
"What I'm telling all of you now is everything that I had to learn the hard way. Don't ask about it again until we're out, if we ever get out. Got it?"
I just nodded, and saw everyone else around me do the same. I could've sworn that I saw Kirishima give Bakugou's hand a comforting squeeze, but that's really not my place to judge. The idea of being in there ever again made me want some kind of comfort too, I couldn't imagine how Bakugou felt- having escaped once, and being dragged in again by his idiot friends, who-knows-how-long later.
So we kept walking. Eventually, Kirishima pulled Bakugou down one of the turns, and he didn't argue. I don't think that he particularly cared which direction we were going, as long as we kept moving.
I don't know when I realized that the colors of the walls, the floor, the rug, they were all changing. I didn't remember how many different colors they had been, I just knew that they weren't the same as when we walked into the door. I think the walls had some kind of swirling pattern on them, done in a paler shade of yellow than the rest of the walls were. The floor was covered in a plush green carpet, with a white rug down the center.
That's what the hallways looked like when Bakugou suddenly stopped walking. Kaminari didn't notice, and walked right into him, but Bakugou didn't say a word. He didn't move. He just kept staring at this one spot on the wall, at about waist-height for him.
I moved around to try to see what exactly he was looking at, when I saw that it was a small black stain on the wall. It looked like it was made of soot, like the wall had been on fire, or very close to it. It didn't quite click for why that stain might have been important, not until I realized that it looked like the walls of the training gyms after Bakugou used his explosions on them.
It didn't have any other marks near it, and then I thought back to my idea that Bakugou had shot down. Using your quirk to mark where you had been. That soot stain must have been a remnant of the first time that he was stuck in that place, and judging by the height and size of the mark, it had to have been years ago. He had to have been a young child when it happened.
"C'mon, Katsuki. We gotta keep going, like you said." Kirishima was the one edging us on this time, and Bakugou just walked mechanically beside him, almost lagging behind him.
That mark lived in my head for a while longer. He'd said that quirks don't work in that place, and it was specifically designed so that it didn't make sense. I think that that mark had been placed there, where the hallways knew that he would be, just to mess with him. Like it was some sick game.
We kept walking. At first, we were silent because of fear, fear of whatever place we were in, fear of Bakugou's anger at us for dragging him into this awful situation, even when he was right. Now, it was out of despair. I think that most of us gave up all hope of ever going back home, of ever leaving those stupid hallways. Even Bakugou started slowing down, like he was losing hope, like something was telling him to just get it over with, and let the whatever-it-is find us.
And yet, we still didn't stop. We had each other, and that was enough to keep us going. We didn't really crack jokes. Just... kept walking with each other. Sometimes, one of us would break down crying, or start murmuring about how nothing made sense anymore. Those were the only times we stopped, and never for long. Just enough to get the person back on their feet.
Sometimes it was me. Sometimes it was someone else. But it was never Bakugou. I think that he had enough of that during his first time.
We were passing by a right turn that we had decided not to take when Bakugou looked down that hallway. He and Kirishima were more towards the middle of the group at this point. I was in the front, and I had decided not to turn. He looked down the hallway, and shouted when he saw a door- a yellow one, that looked like it had been in use for years.
I turned around and started running down the hallway, and I wasn't even dissuaded when it felt like it was stretching, because- finally! Some hope! I could hear whooping and hollering behind me as the group, headed by me this time, thundered down that hallway towards the door.
Finally, I got to the door, and tried to turn the knob, when I discovered that it wouldn't turn. The door was locked. I almost slid to the floor in despair, because the only exit we had seen in days was locked, and then Bakugou told me to move aside. I turned to see him at the other end of the hallway, longer than the turnoff that we had walked down, with everyone else standing off to the side as well. All at once, I knew what he was going to do. I didn't know if it would work, but I moved to let him try anyways.
He ran full-tilt towards the door, without using his quirk as a propulsion like he normally would. He slammed against the door, and the sound that it made was hollow, like there was a room on the other side. Like it wouldn't open up onto a wall or something.
He backed up and ran into it again. This time, I could hear what sounded like the splintering of wood. He ran at it again, and this time, there was a small hole where his shoulder had repeatedly landed.
This time, we all started digging and punching and pulling at the exposed wood of the door. Eventually, enough of an opening had been made that we could squeeze out.
I don't know who was out first. I think that somehow, we all just piled out at once, and spilled out of the doorway and onto the ground. I looked around, first towards the door, which was gone and now appeared to be a blank expense of wall, and then towards where we had been facing when we got out of the doorway.
It looked like the 1-A classroom. Aizawa-sensei was standing at the front, openly staring at us, with the closest thing that I think he would ever get to shock on his face. Our classmates hadn't turned around yet. I don't think that they heard us.
"This isn't a trick, right? A-Are we actually back? Did we r-really get out?" My voice cracked with disuse, and I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes.
"It wouldn't do something like this. We're out. We're out, we escaped, take that, you knife-fingered bastard! Fuck you! Your stupid hallways ain't shit- !" Bakugou's roar of triumph was cut off by Kirishima suddenly grabbing him and kissing him smack on the lips, like that scene in those action movies where the hero and the love interest are finally safe at the end.
Bakugou was still silent when Kirishima stopped, and started crying on Bakugou's shoulder, hugging him so tightly that his joints looked white. One of their knees buckled, and eventually they were both collapsed on the floor, with their faces buried in each others' shoulders, and they were hugging like they'd never see each other again. Kiri was shaking so hard, you could see the individual sobs that racked him, and Bakugou would probably never admit it, but anyone could see that he was sobbing, too.
I turned to Kaminari and started shaking him by the shoulders. I think I was yelling, I don't know, I was just so ecstatic! We were free! I could feel tears running down my face, I could see them on Kaminari, and then Sero tackled the both of us and we just laughed at the idea that we were finally free.
Somewhere in all of the celebrating, we somehow ended up at the nurse's office. I don't think any of us realized that we were still in our pajamas until we were sitting on the beds with gummies, waiting our turns to be checked out by the nurse, while Recovery Girl was looking Kaminari over.
I don't think that any of us had quite realized that we were actually back until we were told that it was the afternoon of the 20th of October, which was just over a week after we had gone into that door. That was also when Aizawa and a detective, Tsukauchi, I think- the one with a lie detector quirk- started questioning us. We never lied, but I don't think they believed us anyway. I think that what we went through was too unrealistic to really be believed. It sounded almost like we were recounting a dream, no matter how real it was. That's probably why the cops think that we were under the effects of a hallucinogenic quirk, or that we were even drugged.
I know that those hallways were real, and I know that everyone else knows it, too.
One other thing about it, something that still bothers me, was that Bakugou kept telling us that we couldn't stop because "it" would find us. He still hasn't explained anything about what he said in there. I still don't know what "it" is, but I... I think that I have a guess.
You see, in those hallways, there were mirrors. They didn't always reflect the five of us. Sometimes, there it showed us as different, or it showed some of us as missing, but sometimes they reflected six people instead of five.
The sixth person was a European woman, who was wearing some kind of business attire that didn't fit right, though I don't know why. The colors were just slightly off, as well. I don't know if they were too bright, or if they were just the wrong shades to go together. She only appeared in the mirrors, and I don't know if anyone else saw her.
I saw her in the bathroom mirror last night, too. Just for a moment, before her fingers began to sharpen into knives, and she smiled an awful smile, where the corners of her mouth swirled into themselves in an impossible way.
I don't think that it was ever possible to hide from "it." I think that she always knew where we were, and just liked to toy with us. I don't know what she's going to do to us now. Is she going to trap us back in those hallways? Is she just going to watch, make us paranoid?
What the hell did she do to Bakugou?
I'm so scared, now. I've never really felt trapped like that before, where there was nothing that I could do to escape, where I couldn't even trust my own quirk, my own senses. I can't imagine how horrible it would be if that ever happened to me again. I feel so, so much for Bakugou, who doesn't have to imagine that.
So it wasn't a villain. It wasn't a ghost. It wasn't a hallucination, no matter what the official story ends up being. It wasn't a person; it was a thing that trapped us and played with us like we were nothing more than dolls.
Statement ends.
The tape recorder is clicked off, and the cassette stops rolling. It is then clicked on a moment later.
- The Statements of the other victims- Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero- were all extremely similar to this one, so really, once you've got one, you've got them all. Nobody mentioned seeing Helen in the hallways, but invariably, there was some description of a phantom woman appearing in mirrors or windows after the fact. I've no clue on what she could be planning with any of these students, beyond some kind of long-term torture.
- I still have yet to interview Bakugou about this, as he has told his teacher that he will simply give his account on the day that he is already scheduled to be interviewed, which is relatively soon. The only reason that I believe Aizawa allowed this was because this is the second time that Bakugou has disappeared from UA or one of its various satellite locations, and really, almost anyone would be concerned.
- The way that Bakugou acted here makes me almost certain that he had an encounter with Michael in the past, given his fear of the door, as well as his advice within the hallways. The fact that he has escaped, not once, but twice, astounds me to no end. Perhaps the Distortion found him entertaining.
- In other news, since my trip to the Institute was cut short, I will likely need to go back sooner rather than later. However, I do have an interview scheduled with a Yaoyorozu Momo, as well as the one with Bakugou Katsuki, between now and when I leave. Additionally, I am also hoping to be able to conduct an interview with either Hawks or Endeavor before my next flight to London- Hawks, preferably, but either will do.
- There has been no news on Todoroki Natsuo for quite a while now- the police are going to label his as a cold case if there are no new leads soon. There's absolutely no trace of where he could have gone, or what may have gotten him, except... well. It may just be coincidence, but the male dormitory at his University was infested with bees not long after his disappearance. I'll need to do more research on this, when I can. In the meantime, Todoroki Fuyumi is rarely seen in public anymore, and when she is, many have said that something about her seems "off." Todoroki Shouto, however, does not seem to be changing much in response to this; perhaps it is simply the nature of the Lonely not to react, but it may be because there is no further for him to sink into the entity. I dread the possibility of another fully-formed Avatar at such a young age, but there is nothing that I can do about it.
- So... all in all, the situation is getting worse all around, and I've effectively done nothing. All that I have done is warn Midoriya of the consequences of his actions, which, while it is useful, prevents no one from falling to the Dread Powers. That's why I'm trying to talk to some heroes that I suspect may be involved with them, accidentally or not, but that's a difficult task when neither of them seem to have either the time for or the interest in speaking to me. I need to do something, before something else happens. I Knew that something was coming- the feeling of some specter looming in the future was obvious- but that feeling hasn't dissipated. I feel like something else is going to happen, something a bit bigger than an attempted meal on Helen's part.
- End recording.
The tape recorder stops recording, but it turns back on after a moment. It is recording The Archivist on a phone call, and the volume of the phone is too low for it to pick up the voice on the other end.
- Hello, is this the Endeavor Agency? I'm calling on behalf of the Magnus Institute, I've been trying to arrange an interview with Endeavor for quite a while now. Is there any time that that can be scheduled for anytime soon?
- ...
- Right. Who exactly am I speaking to then?
- ...
- What -? How do you-
- ...
- Wait, don't- ...and she hung up. Fantastic.
- Hold on, is this recording? Of course it is. It's just a phone call, what more do you-
The tape recorder is clicked off, and the cassette stops rolling.