It was only much later that Khepri realized the net bridges had gotten loose and the sled left behind at some point. By the time they did they'd covered so much of the beach they didn't have the slightest clue where they started nor where they'd gotten separated from Yue. Judging by the position of the sun in the sky it'd take quite a while to get back too. Khepri shrugged. It'd be fine. Another sip of their now cold broccoli cheddar soup assured them all would be right in the world. They let out a content sigh. 

Well, not much else to do about it.

Turning on their heel Khepri headed to the nearest bus stop before ordering a taxi. Their legs were hurting far too much to walk all the way from wherever this was all the way back to the dorms. Taking the public transportation form that wasn't public seemed like a much better solution. They nodded to themselves. That sounded about right. Besides, they'd be coming back here soon enough anyway so they could always try walking back next time to check if the other option was better. They lost their usherette tray somewhere along the way and they were determined to come get it back sometime within the next few days so long as they didn't forget by the time they get home.

Surely they wouldn't, right?

------

Tags: Yue "Bun" Tuzi

Khepri was so happy they'd made such a nice friend. A wide smile sat on the catbug's face the way a traveler would sit on a log in the middle of a long journey, basking in the sunlight and utterly content. They stirred and stirred and stirred the ice cream round and round and round. Gradually they had to put more strength into it. Khepri's eyes gleamed. It was working!

They only spilled a little bit every time they had to adjust their strength too. More than two thirds of the mixing bowl's contents remained inside by the time they were done. Their smile widened even further at Ylva's words, something they hadn't believed possible.

"Thank you! I can't be so selfish as to take everything though, let me leave you a bowl!" Khepri cheerily replied and marched off before Ylva could reply. Scooping up the rest of her supplies with one arm and her tail she brought them all over to the dorm's dinner table and separated about a third of the ice cream into a smaller bowl. Nodding to herself she turned back to Ylva.

"Eat it fast so it doesn't melt! Oh but not too fast. I've never gotten it before but I heard that's how you get brain freeze. Thanks for the help, happy Chugen and goodbye! I hope this one tastes like the vanilla I put into it. I had banana shampoo once, it didn't taste like banana."

Their rambling gradually got louder to make sure they could still be heard even as they walked further away from Ylva. Only once they shut the door behind them did they stop talking. Khepri hadn't quite figured out how to talk to people through buildings nor was their object permanence good enough that they'd put a lot of effort into trying to learn it. They hummed cheerily as they ate the ice cream while walking, the spoons Masao had made working wonderfully even in spite of Khepri completely forgetting that testing them was the reason they'd come to Ylva.

The entire mixing bowl was empty before they knew it. Khepri hankered for more. Luckily they had a second batch of ingredients to make more. Only...

...They once more faced the same problem. Surely they couldn't go visit their new friend again so soon? With furrowed brows they thought about how to make more. It was a dish they'd made many times before back home. Unfortunately they didn't have the same tools here in UAU that they had back home. Something Khepri had noticed when they reached the final step and discovered they had no idea how to properly turn the cream into ice cream without their usual equipment. A bit of out-of-the-box thinking later however they had a solution. They knew just the person to help with chilling it!


"Professor Shirayuki!"

With a skip in their step they marched on, looking for the next victim kind helper to get some more ice cream.

------

Tags: Ylva Riis

Entropy was not the sole force governing the universe. It wasn't even one of the four fundamental forces. For that matter, it wasn't a force at all. Now, gravity. Gravity existed. As one of the four fundamental forces it was powerful too. It was the attraction of masses towards each other based on their density, at least from what Khepri remembered reading in books that were much smaller than the one strapped to their back but no less thick. Between their newfound extra brain all fitted into their same size head and their original personality none would argue Khepri wasn't dense and given all the extra space crammed into the convenience store clearly it was dense too. While they weren't thinking about it the sudden pull made sense to them.

But they were getting ahead of themselves, their increased intellect acting so fast Khepri was thinking about an event that happened after one they hadn't thought about yet. Winding back the clock they thought about their reply to the fungi on behalf of the fun gal and the fun guy before they were all attracted to the house.

"Verily, they hath not returned to thee for a wholeth ring o' the bell? Perturbing. Deeply respectful the oneth before thee queries whether thou hast found the twiddling of thumbs vexatious?" Khepri answered the mushroom man fluidly, their words not even pausing as gravity decided to turn sideways. That was no excuse to be rude after all, especially given that they might be the one best suited to communicating with this person.

Back when they'd first studied Japanese the textbook they'd used to learn the language had been outdated by several centuries. Getting through customs had taken ages and relearning the more modern version -and then the current version after their second mistake- had taken even longer.

They were halfway through pondering how they'd entered the building sideways yet landed perfectly on their feet when their senses were suddenly overloaded. As if the perfect memorization they suffered from wasn't enough now darkness and silence were suddenly replaced by an incredibly loud noise and overwhelming visual stimuli from all directions. Almost instinctively they squeezed their eyes shut to block out the most bothersome of the two until they could adjust. It didn't take long, Khepri's mind going on a tangent within less than a second and their attention barely remaining on the scene around them when they opened their eyes mere moments later. For all anyone knew it could have simply been a long blink.

Why, Khepri recovered completely just in time to hear the mushroom man speak. They nodded. He was right. Compared to how vast it looked on the inside the convenience store was incredibly tiny.

"̵̮̚I̶̛͈ ̶̖̊ä̵̦g̵͓̈́ŕ̵̡e̸̱̽è̵͔,̸̱̂ ̸̼͂t̶̻̅h̸̭́i̸̙̊s̵̟̒ ̴̹̐p̷̨͝ľ̶̜a̴͎͘c̷̳̒e̶̕ͅ ̸̛͓ị̷̒ṡ̵̹ ̴̠͝t̸̤͆ḭ̵̅ṋ̸̒y̶̝͝.̵͇̿"̴̢̏

"I disagree, this place is huge." They confidently replied, accidentally muddling matters further for everyone except the mushroom man. With the momentary disorientation gone Khepri looked around with eyes filled with curiosity. The surroundings amazed them so much they'd completely forgotten to reply to the mushroom in kind and had instead defaulted to how they normally spoke.

"̵̥̈́I̶̲̓ ̴̉͜d̶͎̈́o̶̯͒n̷̪̂'̶̤̉t̶͚̅ ̷͎͝k̴̼͌n̶͕͛ò̷̼w̶̜͛ ̶̹̀w̶͠ͅḥ̶̕ȩ̷͂t̴̲̓ḩ̸̌e̶͚̚r̶̟̀ ̶̱̈s̷̹̅o̷͖͐m̴̫͑ê̵̯o̸̻̓n̶̈ͅe̴͓͐ ̸̦̓ŵ̸͚ĩ̷̘t̶̗̀h̶̔ͅỏ̴͍ǘ̷͕t̷̙̏ ̴̥̌ả̷͈ ̶͚̅q̸̦͝u̵̩͊i̵̩͛r̶̨͛k̸̡̛ ̴̼̆c̶͉̓ȯ̵̺û̸̯l̴͑ͅd̷̗̊ ̵̤̄m̸̻̍â̸̦k̶̘̑è̸̲ ̸͍͆t̶͍̄h̷͇͒i̸͕̐s̷̠̔ ̷͖̂ö̶̜́ṙ̶̬ ̸̬͑ṇ̶̽o̴̧͒t̵͇̎.̷͉̿"̴̭́

"I do know whether someone with a quirk couldn't make this." Khepri replied to Facade, their mouth somehow moving faster than their mind despite the recent boost. The surroundings were to blame. They were much too busy analyzing everything they could see to pay more attention to the conversation than they usually would. Until they were quite literally shocked out of it by the person they'd forgotten to reply to, their perfect memorization allowing them to recall the greeting quite clearly.

"̶̺̌I̴̱͠'̸͉̌m̶͕͝ ̶̱̐ś̵͕o̷̯̍ř̶̭ȓ̶͜ý̵͎,̶̦͑ ̷̧͌I̴̮͗ ̴̱͒s̷̖͑h̴̙̽o̶̻̅u̴̬̎ĺ̴͜d̴̙́ ̵͙̐w̸̮̋a̸͕̚ǐ̵͚ẗ̴́ͅ ̶̻̂ẃ̶̺i̴̹̇t̶̋ͅh̴͔͒ ̵̘͘l̸͈̚ó̵̜o̷͎̐k̷̩͆i̴͘ͅn̵̨͂g̵͜͝ ̸̢͂a̸̹͝r̷̤̉o̶͚͛u̷̦̎n̷̤̚d̸̰͆ ̴͋ͅu̷̘͐n̵̺̚t̴͎̀i̵̺̊l̶̼̔ ̸͎̅Î̴̫'̷͓͂v̵̡̌e̶͎̎ ̸̱̓i̷͉̊n̶͔̂ť̸͔r̸͈̃o̷̫̓d̸̜̔u̶̹̒c̷̙̋ḙ̷̓d̴͉͠ ̶̧̉m̷͎̔ỷ̶̨s̸̭͋ë̸͚́ļ̴͊f̶̲͝.̸̺̔ ̸̲̋M̸͠ͅy̵͕̕ ̵̥̏n̶̫̔à̷͙m̶͖̍ë̸̡ ̴̈́ͅa̵̜͊l̵͚̈́s̷͚̃o̴̙͂ ̶͍͑i̷̯̾s̸͔̏n̸̪̓'̵̼͘t̵̬̃ ̶͔̚R̸̜̓ụ̶̈i̸̞͑.̶͎̅ ̶̬͗I̴̱̿'̷͙̅m̷̜̆ ̴̯̌K̵͕͝ḧ̵͚́e̸̢͆p̵͇̌r̴̮̋i̷̥̿.̸̭͋"̴͎̈́

"I'm not sorry. I shouldn't wait with looking around until I haven't introduced myself. My name is also Rui. I'm not Khepri."

They nodded in response to not-Rui's next words as well. The masked man was indeed making sense. Once upon a time Khepri had humored theories that their red might not be the same as anyone else's red and that it was perfectly possible everyone saw the world completely differently. While still partially possible due to brain chemicals influencing quite literally how bright or dark one saw the world for the most part discovering wavelengths and how it affected the way colors appeared put most of their theories to rest, instead leaving the catbug a million more questions. Questions their mind was now thinking through to their conclusion one by one while another parallel train of thought kept focusing on the current situation. 

Khepri's brow furrowed. Maybe they shouldn't trust the blonde's opinion on the matter. After all, their words didn't match their actions. It reminded Khepri of how they themselves had acted around figures of authority back home in Egypt. Agree with them while doing whatever you wanted. That was the best way to keep everyone happy without losing your freedom. Then again...

Maybe she was doing what he'd said after all? The masked man had said to trust what everyone else wasn't saying. The catbug's eyes opened wide(r) in realization. That was it! Khepri shouldn't pay attention to their words but to what they weren't saying, namely what they were doing! Despite not-Rui saying she wouldn't split up she was doing so and to further prove the point she was saying anyone who'd follow her would be a winner. If they were supposed to not listen to what people were saying that'd mean that she meant- 

Wait, was that an earless Khepri in that mirror over there? Were the mirrors like the ones in those funny carnival attractions? Just in case Khepri raised their five-fingered hand and touched the top of their head.

"̵̊ͅS̵̭̚o̶̘̿ḿ̷̭e̸̱͂b̸͙̌o̵͚̎d̵͔͛y̶͔͌ ̶̳̌s̶͓͊t̷̨͗ọ̵̅l̶̼̃e̷̹̋ ̷̡́m̸̟̄y̴͙̑ ̵̤̈ę̷̓ạ̸̾r̶̢̊ș̴̉!̸̠̆ ̷͍̒Í̵̻ ̸̙͋s̵͐ͅa̶̦͝w̶̤͐ ̸̤͝i̵̱͆t̸̡̔ ̸̫̇i̵̮̿n̴̳͠ ̷͓̔t̶͙͛ĥ̴̩o̴̥͝š̸͙e̴͐ͅ ̴̖̐m̷̟̓ǐ̸ͅr̶̙̐r̷̮̒ò̷̙r̷̨͋s̷̤̅!̷͈̈"̷̢̈

"Nobody stole my ears! I didn't see it in those mirrors!"

With (even) wide(r) eyes they turned to the masked man. Were those mirrors doing things to them too? Changing them even further than the quirk change that had given Khepri two extra fingers and toes as well as far too many memories for their head? Was it... reversing what they'd look like? Khepri was a Mafdet and the opposite of a Mafdet was a not-Mafdet as the blonde would call it. That might mean they were showing the catbug's appearance as a not-catbug. In the carnival's they remembered each mirror made them look different but here all of them made them look the same. Could it be that it wasn't just sight they reversed? Maybe even speech? 

Khepri had to know. It was instrumental to their... well, they didn't know whether anything in here was important but it felt like it was instrumental to their continued survival. Making sure the masked man was looking at them they looked him dead in the visor and spoke.

ˌ̴̢͑ˌ̷̻͘¿̶͖͒ṷ̸̅ǝ̷̩̚ʞ̵͖̍ö̷͔́d̵̖̃ș̷͛ ̶̤̐u̷̠̔ǝ̵̂͜ɥ̷̙̌ʍ̷̬̇ ̶̨́p̶͈̆ǝ̸͎͋s̵̗͋ɹ̵̦̂ǝ̷̱̾ʌ̸͚̔ǝ̷͓̌ɹ̶͖͊ ̵̖̊ɓ̴̟̋ư̴̜ᴉ̷͕̏ǝ̸̘͒q̷̧͒ ̴̳̀ǝ̵͒ͅɹ̷̟̃ɐ̸̝̅ ̷̗̉s̵̭̎p̶̫̽ɹ̸̤̒ơ̴̤ʍ̸̧̅ ̴͇͂ɹ̷͚͆n̶̳͂ȯ̵͔ ̵̯̇ʞ̷͓͊u̷̬̽ᴉ̸̱͑ɥ̷͓̚ʇ̷͙͒ ̴̬̑n̸̳̕ȍ̷̦ʎ̵̬̄ ̸̘̊o̷̜͂ꓷ̴̙̀ˌ̶̤͑ˌ̵̬͘

"?nekops ton nehw desrever gnieb t'nera sdrow ruo kniht uoy t'noD"

Khepri observed his reaction carefully. The fact that he was wearing a mask made it a bit more difficult but it wasn't a problem to the catbug. After all, their specialty was understanding people and their body language. Why, their aunt had always said Khepri was much better when they looked on in silence than when they talked. 

Eventually wonders if their words are reversed, says an entire sentence backwards. Observes their reactions, using their speciality of understanding body language and people. Their family always said Khepri was better when they looked in silence than when they talked.

---

TL;DR:
Khepri fluently replies to the mussle mushroom man using the outdated version of Japanese they'd rigorously studied. Once inside they find themself agreeing with almost everything said so far, only questioning whether a quirk could do something like this, before politely introduce themself to Rui, Facade and Fungi. Then they suddenly come to the realization that they had to follow what people were doing, not saying. Perhaps the true puzzle was- Squirrel!
Following their distraction Khepri panics over their ears being gone leading to them wondering whether the mirrors are changing anything else and to rule out whether it was reversing their words asks Facade a backwards sentence, narrowly snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Tags: Rui Matsui,facade,Matsu

Khepri's eyes widened much like their horizons. They couldn't believe they hadn't considered it before. But for less than fifteen hundred yen would a company truly...

They would. Khepri had seen greed in action so many times they didn't even doubt it. Their stomach turned at the thought. With Khepri's own mutation giving them animal-like traits it wasn't much of a leap to realize that there was a fair chance actual animals could gain a variety of quirks as well. A bear might gain intelligence, a seal in the past had mutated to grow a horn -Khepri had seen that themself at the zoo. They'd forever be ignorant to the fact that it was a narwhal.-, a monkey or a hedgehog may be able to generate golden rings and perhaps an animal could even learn to smith weapons.

Khepri swallowed. The only meat they'd eaten in the past day and a half was duck. If they truly had a little bit of weapon smith in them the bird must've been a natural prior to its passing. 

Before the train of thought could bring Khepri's mood down they were distracted by Masao's next question.

"Hmm, the inciting incident?" They replied while deep in thought, memories flying by backwards until the catbug was all the way back to one of her walks back in Egypt. It had been a complete coincidence that they'd stumbled into a home invasion in progress. The culprit hadn't spotted Khepri due to them having entered from the second floor window. The catbug hadn't liked how terrified the inhabitants looked while the robber was threatening them and decided to take matters into their own hands. "I punched as hard as I could and the guy went down." The relief and gratitude Khepri had seen in the moment right before they kept walking and left the scene had stuck with them. They didn't know why but whenever they thought back to it that was the moment that came to mind first. The look in their eyes. "So I decided I wanted to keep doing that and ended up here."

With a cheery smile Khepri looked right at Masao.

"What about you? Why are you here?"

------

Tags: Masao Ando

Seeing Ylva point her thumb at the door after saying she doesn't observe Chugen Khepri briefly followed the signal with their eyes before returning to making eye contact. That made sense. She wouldn't have the ingredients they need to make ice cream if she wasn't prepared so they'd have to run to the store to get them. Putting on their widest smile they replied.

"Don't worry, I brought everything we need. There's no need to step out," they nodded happily while stirring the in-progress ice cream that had lost a bit of its consistency. "Ingredients, tools to make the ice cream, bowls, I made sure to take everything. I've even got some spoons we can use. Look, they have a cat on them!"

With their tail wagging wildly and joy shining through in their voice they showed off the back of the spoon. Carved stylishly into it was an artistic representation of both a cat and a scarab, the two Egyptian motifs looking exactly how Khepri hadn't even thought to imagine they'd turn out. 

"These are fresh too! The red-haired smith whose name isn't slipping my mind right now I promise made them just earlier today. Oh, I think the batter has the right consistency again. Do you think you can chill it slowly while I stir? If I remember right that's how its made."

Finally breaking eye contact they looked at the almost ice cream that was still mostly within the bowl despite their stirring. They couldn't afford to let up. Not in front of their senior. It'd be embarrassing to mess up after coming all this way and asking for assistance. Whatever it took Khepri would definitely get this ice cream nice and done before they left, even if it was the last thing they did (today). 

------

Tags: Ylva Riis

Khepri was just about to reply that they hadn't tried yet so they didn't know whether they were into it when Meika continued speaking. Awkwardly adjusting how they were holding the ladder they put one hand on the side of their head while listening to the rest of their words.

"I haven't," Khepri replied honestly before their eyes widened. Could it be... a python?! This might be just the practical experience they've been looking for. Not that they wouldn't help out if there wasn't any personal benefit of course. 

"Maybe we can spot her from a higher vantage point!" Khepri enthusiastically stated while grabbing the ladder they were carrying. Switching which hand was holding their head to be able to put it down they carefully made sure they placed the ladder down nice and stable, avoiding hazards like the small burrow just wide enough for one of its legs to sink in or the wiggly-looking stick next to it.

Climbing with one hand was difficult but they managed. Once at the top they looked around as if they were trying to cross the road while standing in the middle of a roundabout, their head first pivoting left as far as it could and then right in the same way. 

"Nope, I can't see Princess Playa', maybe you can try. You know what she looks like better. I'll hold the ladder. Oh! Is she the kind of snake that can climb? If she is and you play music at the top we might be able to spot her easier that way!"

------

Tags: Meika Hijiri

"Let go of me you freak!" The man whose hand Khepri had been shouted while wrenching their arm free. With a befuddled stare the catbug looked over their shoulder.

"You don't have pink hair."

"Wha- Yeah I don't what do-"

"Why don't you have pink hair?" Khepri asked while looking him up and down. The man looked completely different from the one she'd been intending to bring here. Oh well, they shrugged. It was time to focus on more important matters. 

Their gaze was transfixed on the true orb, thoughts of Chirp's plan momentarily forgotten as they tracked it with their eyes until instinct overwhelmed them. Crouching in place their leg muscles flexed as they unconsciously tried and failed to use their quirk to increase the tension before leaping up all at once, their rocket boots compensating for the lack of quirk and shooting them higher than they could have even with it.

Their outstretched hand made contact with the true orb, grabbing it and bringing it to their chest. With their goal achieved they snapped out of their funk.

"I don't have a landing strategy," Khepri muttered to themselves as gravity began to take effect. Rearing their arm back they looked in the direction of Chirp and Taro before throwing with all their might. "Catch!"

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Tags: Taro Yamada CHIRP ♪♪