"Blue's lab is. . . over here I think??" Melissa more-so asks than announces as the three of you walk through her building once again, the halls losing more and more signs of life the deeper you got. It was as bright as all the other halls, just as clean and high-tech—but it lacked that subtle sign of anything living.

     The floors felt like they hadn't been walked in by this much pairs of feet, and the laboratories leading up to wherever you were going looked unused.

     The entire atmosphere felt depressing, and it was obvious that even Jirou sensed it as she visibly frowns. "Is it just me or does this place give you the creeps?" You shake your head, watching as Melissa continues to try and recall where she was going in front of you. "I wouldn't say creeps, but I feel like something definitely died in here," The musician snorts, suddenly feeling a lot more upbeat than literally just a minute ago, "I'm willing to bet this is their horror work story. The tale of the rogue lab rat. . ." She wiggles her fingers and makes 'ghost' noises, the joke so bad you had to laugh at it with an accompanied smack to her arm.

     "Here!" Melissa chirps, knocking on the door in a tune you could only recall as from that one scene in the first Frozen movie. "Blue! You in there?" In your distraction you hadn't noticed the weird sounds from inside of the room, what sounded like whispers from the dead itself seeping through the cracks and into the very depths of your soul. Oh God, maybe what Jirou said actually held merit.

     Beside the door was a nameplate, the name 'Layla Blue, RCh' carved into it. Did Melissa have a nameplate too? Did they look the same? Why did this one look. . . more worn out than what you were expecting?

     "I'm here to—oh!" The door slides open with a hiss, jumping behind your roommate as the inside of the room came into view. You sharply inhale at the figure who stood in front of the blonde, tall and absolutely towering over her.

     She looked out of it for a few moments, before looking down and catching sight of her. "What do you want?" Yowch, she sounds like she's fun at parties. "Hey Blue! We found this weird liquid, and we were hoping there was a way you could maybe. . ." She shrugs, holding up the vial for her to see in it's entirety, "Like, check the properties and see what it might do if it were ever consumed via direct contact into the blood stream." The woman looked interested enough, slowly grabbing it as she stares at it with furrowed brows, "Or by any other means—now! I'm like, really behind schedule and I need to go back to my lab. Just explain it to them, be nice!!" Before you could call out to her she was already rounding a corner, sounds of her heels echoing off into the distance.

     "Come in," She mumbles, much too infatuated with the bottle to pay attention to the two of you. Sharing an uneasy glance, you make your way inside hesitantly.

     What you expected was a laboratory on par with that of a mad scientist; maybe a few dead rats scattered around with the stench of insanity lingering in the air. But what you weren't expecting,

     was a completely normal work place.

     Save for the occasional, fading spill stains or the countless hazardous signs all around that suggested her unbelievable amount of poison in her hold, the lab was completely normal.

     She got to testing it fairly quickly, taking note of how wider it was in area compared to Melissa's. A few beakers, a microscope, some gloves on and ready—she got to working without hesitation. You turned to Jirou as if to silently ask if you should start small talk, not knowing whether or not it'd be ruder to interrupt her while working or just keeping quiet and lingering around her office like a creep. But your roommate had other plans, gawking at the countless posters and even one framed photo of the periodic table like they were priceless materials she's only seen today. "Where did you get this stuff?"

     You almost jumped from her sudden voice, clearing your throat as to try and get your thoughts in order, "Oh uh, I got kidnapped yesterday and one of the guys there tried to inject it into me. Sadly he didn't go on a bad-guy spiel of what it did, it would've made all this so much easier," You tried to lighten the mood with a quick joke, only earning a quiet snicker but then a look of disappointment all from Earphone Jack pretending to be interested in what a mitochondria is. "And did this guy ever succeed?" She asks, completely ignoring your attempt at comedy.

     You frown, but answer nonetheless. "Uh, no. I managed to stall it enough until help got there," Your heart drops, "Why? Could it have killed me?"

     "Worse. You ever believe in the 'creatures'?" She looks up from the side tables provided in her office, where in Melissa's had a dormant robot arm, hers had a microscope, "Like, ghouls, vampires, I think one guy even said his sister was a unicorn." She had goggles that hung around her neck, leaning on the table with a look shrouded in deep thought. "Those?" You bite your lip as to not say anything about Dabi, Jirou looking even more interested in what was floating inside a jar she had on display in one of her shelves. Had she realized that your new found 'friends'—not even that, but for the lack of a better term, it was the closest you had—weren't exactly human? Maybe Toga threatened to bite her, and she realized soon enough that she was a vampire?

     "Uh, yeah, yeah I do. I uh, met some in my days," She seemed satisfied enough, shrugging as she got to working on it with something else. "Well good thing this thing didn't get into you, because it would've turned you into just that." You look at her in confusion, silently asking her to elaborate as she pulled out a laptop. "This thing would be enough to fill an entire syringe, and let's just be glad that not even a drop got into contact with you. Because if that guy succeeded and managed to inject this shit into you," She shows you the screen, showing what looked to be some DNA. . . transforming? You weren't all too sure. "Bye bye humanity."

     "Wait, so that guy was trying to turn you into one of those guys?" You shrug, hesitantly glancing to Blue as if to ask for confirmation, "I guess so?"

     "Not just any, this thing looks pretty. . ." She hesitated to think of a word, her finger tapping on the cold surface of her table. "Advance? No, I don't wanna say that. It looks easy enough to manufacture, with ingredients that you'd expect to see in a drug like this. The only problem is. . ." She types a few more things, looking like something straight out of a Sci-Fi movie with how furrows her brows had gotten and how overall serious she looked, "There's something missing here. There's nothing in it that could ever suggest how this could possibly be made in the first place," She rubs her temple, a part of you somehow afraid that you had a part in that even though you still had zero clues as to what she was leading up to.

     "So. . . you're saying that you can't identify the main ingredient they got in there?" She nods at Jirou's question, glad that she actually contributed to getting her to elaborate further, "It looks. . . natural, enough. It's not some sort of never-before seen chemical, it's just. . ." She sighs, pouring some of the chemical into a different container to set aside for any other future tests. "Okay so at its base, I know enough to confidently say that it's from a human source, that much is evident," She opens a cabinet, stuffing it alongside other various chemicals and liquids all varying in color with pieces of paper stuck to them as neatly-written labels. "But it's also not. Theoretically it's from a human, but literally it isn't."

     She handed you back what remained half of the vial, quietly staring at it before shoving it back into your pocket. "So by common sense, we can say that its probably from one of those guys," Layla huffs, "Seriously they should get an actual title for their species. But whatever, yeah, it's from them. Theoretically." She somehow kept an even tinier amount of the pink liquid, putting it in a thingamajig you couldn't care enough to name or actually recognize. "Assuming that it would've turned you into one of them, example, features you wouldn't normally see in a human being would grow and change in you. Like maybe you'd grow fangs and start thirsting for blood, then we can safely assume that the components comes from one of them. Like maybe their blood, or it's an additional part of their anatomy that you wouldn't normally find in a human like you or me." She pauses, looking at you, "You. . . are human, right?"

     You nod, "I think so?" She turns away with a nod as well, moving off to a white board in the back of the room with an inquisitive look. "Which leads to me asking, a, why would they want to put it into you, b, who's manufacturing this, and c," She sighs, starting to write things you couldn't read with her back towards you and her body covering most of the words, "What the hell are they putting into this that could even possibly. . . for a lack of a better word, mutate, a human being?"

     Jirou was nodding off, only snapping back to her senses as she clears her throat to get some sense of being awake back. "What if we manage to get more information on this?" You suggest, "Like maybe get some of the documents or any sort of study they might've done on this. They must keep some sort of record, right?" This thought really only formed as you continued to stare at the open drawer with various files inside—probably her various research and homework—the contents unreadable but obvious enough with titles like 'A Beginner's Look into Thermodynamics' and something else about marijuana. She scoffs, "If that were even possible. However this thing might be acquired, it doesn't sound legal. So I don't see any possibilities of their notes ever ending up online. They'd have to be pretty monitored, probably stockpiled in a lab, guarded to the moon and back."

     She shakes her head. "But yeah, if we managed to get more information on this I'd be able to give you a definite answer. But shouldn't this be enough for now, at least?" She turns back towards you, her short brown ponytail bouncing, "All we know is this chemical is capable of transforming a human into. . . them by rewriting the innermost workings of the brain and—" Blue pauses upon seeing your and Jirou's look of confusion, sighing as she removed her gloves and dusts her lab coat off. "They can transform you into one of those creatures, that's all you need to know about really. Just. . . make sure not to consume any of that, because not only is the sheer thought of it inhuman and horribly unethical, we don't know enough to say for certain that it wouldn't have any long-lasting side effects." She then snorts, although quite humorlessly as she tosses the gloves into a nearby trashcan. 

     "Other than the obvious. Anyway, that's really all that I can help you with." You tried to read whatever notes she had on the white board, but it got pretty obvious how she was waiting for an excuse and a reason to kick you both out. You couldn't blame her, not only did she have to go out of her way to explain and do some tests on it for you, she was left. . . frustrated? Yeah she looked frustrated, that she wasn't given enough data to form a decisive conclusion. "Oh. Yeah. . . yeah you're right," You awkwardly shuffled over to Jirou, quietly tugging on her sleeve and gesturing to leave. "Thank you, so much uh, Dr. Blue."

     She snorts again, only now noticing the small three dots on either side of her cheeks in a line, right below her eyes that looked like. . . stick-on crystals? "Please, Layla."

     "Oh uh, yeah, of course! Thank you so, so much Layla. You have been an amazing help, and maybe next time we'll visit we'll have more information for you!" You were already halfway out the door, earning a loud laugh that didn't seem to be in her character. "Sure." Her face falls more seriously, before her eyes narrow at the two of you, "You better. Maybe then I'll be able to get more of a better idea on how this thing might work." Your mouth hesitates itself into a smile, watching as she lazily waves goodbye when the door got to sliding close.

     Once out of view, you practically fall in relief as Jirou laughs at your misery. "You suck at human interaction."

     "I didn't see you trying anything. . !" She laughs once again as you two got to retracing your steps, a new sense of confidence despite the relatively awkward goodbye. I mean, at least you got a lead, right? If anything, this was a lot of progress!

     Kind of.

     Whoever the blob thing was that tried to inject this into you wasn't Taro himself, but he looked like Taro, so there must be some correlation there, right? There must be some sort of established enough relationship there for that creature to be sporting his face. Whether it just be a parasite who just so happened to have stolen his face, or they were connected in whatever unorthodox or weird way for it to specifically choose to mimic  his appearance.

     So if Taro was somehow behind this and staged the kidnapping and initial attempt at testing. . . how'd he managed to get his hands on this?

     No doubt he must've gotten it with the very expendable wealth he had at his disposal, and the man was well-known enough to definitely have some web of connections. Did he run a lab as a side job or something? There's no way a random businessman would be able to just get their hands on shit like this. Hell, you definitely didn't doubt the possibility of similar drugs like these on the market. The. . . other, type of market.

     You frown, already in the elevator as you mulled it over even more. You could try and see for yourself, maybe do a few searches on Google and determine whether or not he made it himself or had a source for it. Layla had mentioned how it had 'ingredients you'd expect to see in a drug like this', or something along those lines, so it would mean that the components in it were common enough, right? So it was very possible that he managed to get a team together to create this one vial meant for you, or he got it from somewhere—or someone—mass producing it.

     Even more-so, if this was connected to Taro, what the hell was he up to now?? If anything, you'd think that he'd be after you with all the intentions to kill, but seeing as your theory of the liquid being poisonous been proven wrong by Blue—or at least not mentioned, therefore deeming it unimportant and untrue—was he seriously just trying to turn you into a creature like them? Why? To humiliate you, maybe? To make your life miserable? To hope he'd put a dent in your status by making you not-human?

     Dabi managed to hide the fact that he was a phoenix—kind of—everyone of his friends did! So that shouldn't have been his goal, right?

     "Everything is giving me a headache," You admitted, earning a small laugh of sympathy from Jirou and a pat on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go back to your office and give you an even bigger headache."

     You scoffed at that, elbowing her slightly but ultimately laughing all the same. It was a good enough distraction, your sarcastic, "Gee thanks," holding some sort of genuineness.

     The ding from when you reached the ground floor snapped you back fully into your senses, walking through one last hallway before arriving at the entrance and front desk. It was a lot livelier here than it had been when you first entered, not initially caring but staring in amusement at a familiar face hiding from the press.

     Red and white hair stood awkwardly behind a wall with a hand stiffly held out with a glass of water, away from where a different redhead towered over the rest, his suit different from when you first saw him but ultimately of the same expensiveness. "My, did I just accidentally stumble into Todoroki-kun's hiding place?" He seems to have stiffened even more—if that were even possible—at the mention of his name, about to apologize and move to a different spot but stopping with a relieved smile at the sight of your face. "Oh, hello. It's a surprise finding you here, L/N-san." He turns to Jirou, a small smile on his face. "I don't believe we've met yet. I take it that you are. . ?"

     "Jirou! Jirou," A grin etches on her face, holding out a hand as they shake. "Hi, yeah, I was at the party. You know, the one. On the boat. With the accident. Where. . . Momo got, uhh," You glared at her to stop talking before she can continue to embarrass herself, only smiling at Shoto sheepishly before glaring right back at your roommate. "Got. . . shot. Yeah. Hi! Hi, nice to meet you." Great going, Earphone Jackass, you probably just scared the dude away.

     Only, she didn't. In fact, he looked even a lot-less uptight. Happy, even!

     "The pleasure's all mine." He then sends an uneasy glance back to the man talking to most of the crowd, looking professional but nonetheless not enjoying the experience. "So, what brings you here?"

     "Our father," Oof, he looked particularly upset at the mention of that, "Thought it'd be good for status and publicity, seeing as this is one of the more. . . renowned, so to speak, buildings here in New York, according to sources. I'd say this meeting of ours was purely coincidental?" You snort, shaking your head upon remembering why you were here in the first place. "It probably is. We're here for a very different reason," You mumbled that last part, but beam at him, "So! What's uhh, what's a guy like you hiding here with a glass of water?"

     "Forgive me, I just got back from the bathroom and I'm not exactly too fond of. . ." He shakes his head, gulping subtlely, "showing my face to such a crowd just yet. I got away by getting another glass of water, but now I've exhausted my choices of escape." You wanted to laugh at the situation, but the obvious and unfiltered distressed on the guy's face was enough for you to feel some sort of sympathy. Hell, even Jirou held that same look she always gave Momo whenever she tried—and failed—hiding from paparazzi.

     "I know a good way to escape," You joked, but then thought of it. "Say, you hungry? I know a great place." He stares at you blankly, "But lunch just ended."

     "Nonsense, come on!" You gestured to the. . . not so well-known exit, a mischievous look on your face at the thought of sneaking a celebrity out for the sake of food, "Let's go, in and out, twenty minute adventure. Should be enough to get the heat to die down, right?" He heavily contemplated it, looking back at his father then back to the unnoticed exit. Cause hey, you only live once, right? And also you needed a distraction from the info dump Layla just gave you, but he didn't need to know that.

     Giving it a few more seconds of glaring at his water in deep thought—looking at the poor thing like it just committed countless atrocious acts against his family—he looks at you and nods.

note ; head empty, tempted, tempted to write a smut lmfaoakzmakznan