Chizue

Rumors were flying around about the new girl. Television was one of the few things we had the luxury of in this hell. Nobody ever turned on closed captioning, so I always had to look to Rin to explain. Apparently the whole city got to see a live broadcast of her father massacring people. Nine dead, I think? That's what we knew before she got here, and then after, the rumors started getting more intense. Apparently she had to go to disability counselling because she was blinded in the incident. Some of the rumors say that her father did it. Some say she was collateral damage, and others claim that she was right there beside her father, hands in the killing.

I didn't know the truth, and I didn't want to know. Rin and I just kept to ourselves, trying to stay at a steady level between not showing fear, and not bringing attention to ourselves. We had only gotten out of the medical ward yesterday, that big asshole with the strength quirk, Jura, took it too far last time, kicking Rin hard enough to break several ribs, and apparently I had a concussion. I felt fine, but Rin still winced everytime she moved a little too fast or got a little too animated in her signing.

I think they took away his TV time that night as 'punishment'.

They didn't care what we did to each other in here, so long as we didn't kill each other or hurt people bad enough to go to the hospital. There weren't guards. Everything was remotely run. The only people we would hurt were each other, and to them, we weren't people at all. We were teenage villains, locked up in juvie for the rest of our lives. Protecting civilization by keeping us caged. Out of sight, and out of mind.

As we walked through the cafeteria trying to get some food and get out, to my left I saw Rin tense up, turning around and I knew. I threw my arms up and pushed in front of her, taking the sucker punch meant for her. Her ribs were still hurt. I could take it. I clutched my stomach spitting up a clot of blood before looking up to him,

"You know, I hate that I hafta wait for you to look at me before I talk to ya." He gives me a swift kick to the kneecap and I feel a pop, hoping that it was just a hyperextension and not a break. "You volunteerin' in place of your sister? Ain't that sweet." I prepare for another kick but Rin, who is crouched down behind me taps my shoulder and points to our left. The new girl, and all eyes were on her. She was average height, but lean and muscular. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek black ponytail, but the striking thing was the black blindfold around her eyes and the way she held herself. Even in our beige jumpsuits, and silly burlap slip-on shoes, she looked like a fucking ninja.

"What's going on here?" She asks, tilting her head, and it's intimidating. I had never seen her before. Some of the kids in here I knew from the Dog Fights, they loved to enact revenge, but this girl? It seemed like she just wanted to pick a fight. And of course, we were gonna be on the receiving end.

I glance back to Jura, "Oh, hey there new girl. I heard you killed some people...If you wanna get some blood on your hands, I'll share these two with ya. They don't even fight back." He chuckles, and I can see the girl walking towards us slowly out of the corner of my eye. He looks back to me, and pulls his leg back, and I brace myself for another hit, but before he has the chance I see a blur and then, in front of my eyes I see the new girl spin on the ball of her foot, connecting a roundhouse kick to Jura's jaw. I could see the ripples in his face from the force of it and saw him stagger back, and I wish I could have heard the satisfying clack of his teeth shattering.

I move my eyes to her face in enough time to see her words on her lips, "Okay, assholes, you wanna hit someone? Hit me." I felt my jaw drop, why?

Jura spits a glob of teeth and blood onto the ground, and if I wasn't in such shock, I would have smiled, and then he spoke, "You think I won't hit a fuckin' blind girl?"

Her lip twitches up into a half smirk, "You can try, cocksucker. I fight back."

I could practically feel the anger oozing off of Jura as he lunged at her, Rin seizing the opportunity to drag me across the tiled floor so we wouldn't get stomped on in the ensuing struggle. The girl ducks, using his momentum to throw him over her back and onto the ground. Then his friends jump in, most of them have pretty pathetic quirks, mostly heteromorphics, a few strength enhancers, extending fingers, basic shit. She didn't hesitate to beat the shit outta them too, most went down with a few punches and the girl, -she was taking hits like a champ. Her lip was busted, and it looked like her forearms were probably pretty bruised from blocking, but she was still smiling. When his friends fell, Jura jumped back in and grabbed her from behind. Cheap.

I saw her mouth open, and I am guessing she screamed, cause in that instant, a black oozing, inky substance covered her arms as she broke free of his hold. She stood there standing in the middle of the circle, the darkness solidified, extending the length of her arms and turning her fingers into long claws. I recognized it. And so did everyone else. That was the quirk on TV. The one her father had. The one that took so many pro heroes to stop, and they all froze. She smiled, wide. "What's the matter? You scared?"

From the look on everyone's faces, I got the impression that there was something more to that statement than I could garner from lip reading. She laughed, and then spoke again, looking around at all the people around her with eyes we all knew weren't there. "Listen up you fucks. I don't want to fight you. I don't derive pleasure from the suffering of others like you seem to..." She pauses, raising her right hand to point a long, dripping claw at Jura, "But know this. If any of you...," She slowly drags that claw around to point at everyone she was fighting with, "come at me, I will fight back." She inhales deeply, "But if you so much as think about hurting them," pointing her claw straight at Rin and I, "I will come after you like a fucking shinigami, do I make myself clear?"

I see several lips muttering, but I can't read any of them, so I look back to her, and I see her chest rise and fall with a breath as the black of her arms seems to recede back into her pores, "Good. Now get out of my sight." I see her smile and chuckle, "You know what I mean."

In that moment, almost the entirety of the people in the cafeteria rushed through the double doors leading to the main hall, leaving only a few brave souls eating at the tables in the corners, and then she walked towards us, I saw her softly smile at Rin behind me before kneeling down in front of me, "You alright?" I nodded slowly not knowing what to think. The girl was terrifying, and in my experience help never comes for free. She extends her hand towards me, "I'm Ryuniko Meiko. It's good to meet you."

I eye her warily, but take her hand, "I'm Chizue." I gesture behind me, "That's Rin. She doesn't speak. I can't hear. " I see her open her mouth, but I interrupt her, " Why did you help us?"

I see her dramatic exhale as she plops rather ungracefully to sit on the ground by us, "Well, long story short is I am not a villain. I don't want to hurt people. My dad didn't either, but that's an even longer story...I could tell you don't either."

I feel the movement behind me and turn to see Rin with a scowl, signing "How would you know that?"

I opened my mouth to translate, but the girl, Ryuniko, speaks first, "I lost my eyes. I see with my quirk. I see people as colors that reflect their character and their feelings." I stare at her for several moments, and I get the feeling she is just looking between Rin and I. Then, suddenly she smirks, "So, are we just gonna sit here in the middle of the cafeteria floor, or do you wanna grab some lunch?" She stands up far more gracefully than she sat down, and I feel Rin behind me moving to stand as well.

I follow, but when I try to put weight on my right leg my knee starts to buckle and , I remember the popping feeling in my kneecap moments ago. I expect Rin to try to catch me despite her injured ribs, but once again, I am surprised by hands on my arms that are unfamiliar. The tingle of a new quirk flowing into my right index finger, Light Bending? What does that have to do with the inky arms? I look up to her face, and her nearly neutral expression seems concerned,

"Your knee is hurt, try not to put weight on it." I feel Rin on my left, her hand on my shoulder encouraging me to lean on her, but the girl's gaze moves to her, "Your ribs are injured, you shouldn't support anymore weight than you have to."

I start to open my mouth to ask, but she reads me again, "Spectral Sight can show me injuries as well." Her hand grips my forearm and she shakes her head lightly, "You can lean on me. I promise I won't bite." I glance over to Rin who bites her lower lip but shrugs slightly, so I relent, Snaking my right arm around her shoulders, we are about the same height, so she bends a little to support me. I hate accepting help, and I don't like relying on someone else, but there is something about this girl, Meiko, that tells me I should give her a chance.

Meiko

I sit Chizue down at a table and leave she and Rin to grab us all some sandwiches. I can feel eyes on me from around the room. I made a scene. I made a huge fucking scene. But I knew what those two had been through. Because of my imagination. I couldn't watch them get hurt when they wouldn't fight back. Why wouldn't they fight back?

They weren't what I expected. I never planned their names, but when I entered the cafeteria and saw them on the floor, saw the color of defiance whirling around with their pain, I knew it was them, and I knew I had to help. They were beautiful girls, but they were very different. Chizue was a bit taller than me and had a rounder face and more pronounced cheeks, if not for the circumstances she would have seemed friendly, approachable. Her hair was straight and long, but pulled back into a low braid, no doubt intentionally hiding her ears. Rin was a bit shorter than me. She had a more regal look and pointed gaze. The way she moved seemed calculated and cautious. Her hair was shorter and a bit curly, forming a bob that stopped just below her ears. They were fraternal twins, obviously. But most importantly, they were here with me. They were real. As I walked back to the table with the food, I could see them cautiously signing to each other. I caught bits and pieces.

'So you think we can trust her?' Chizue asks,

'She took a beating for you. And it's not like we can offer her anything. What could she want from us?' Rin signs, shifting in her seat, 'Besides, what is there to lose, we know we are going to die in here regardless.'

I swallow hard, placing their sandwiches in front of them before sitting down at the side of the circle in between them. They nod and sign a 'thank you' each, and it's several minutes of silent eating before I notice Rin's piercing gaze on me, signing "Are you sleeping in the overflow room?" I nod, "Then you should move in with us. It's small, and it smells like mildew, but you are less likely to get attacked in your sleep."

I chew quickly, trying to arrange my thoughts, "Why? You barely know me."

She gives a closed mouth smirk, continuing to sign "Look, we are a long way from braiding each other's hair and singing kumbaya, but..." She pauses, breathing heavily and staring at me, Jesus, I can't even really see them, but her eyes are so intense. "I don't like people. I don't trust them. But you got the hell beat out of you to protect my sister, and that's more than any other person ever has, and I don't see anyway that befriending the two most hated people in this hell could benefit you, so I am taking a chance."

"Thank you. I..." I wasn't expecting this. I thought it would take weeks for them to start to trust me, but then again, the real Meiko wouldn't have known that these girls were supposed to be her friends. She might not have saved them, have I already changed things? "I don't know what to say, but...thank you." I glance to Chizue who has been relatively quiet,

"Just...try not to go demon and kill us. I have survived too much to die like that." Her smile was bright, like I expected, but beneath that, in the color of her aura were the flowing hints of lingering pain and resentment. Loud. Charismatic. No filter. Self-deprecating humor. This was her. Definitely. I glance back to Rin, who is still staring deep into my soul. Master-observer. Sees everything, but doesn't care about much. Fierce loyalty. Dry humor. This was definitely the twins, but they were so much more than I expected them to be.

Obviously, real, breathing people are going to be more complex than your half-assed ideas for them.

When did you start cursing?

Being in your mind...it...does something to me.

I shake her voice down, "I'll do my best."

"That's the best any of us can do." Chizue responds, shoving the last part of her sandwich into her mouth in one bite. Rin continues daintily nibbling at her food, like she is scared of opening her mouth too much. "So, the quirk. What is it? When I touched you, all I felt was your light bending quirk. No inky claw arms."

I took a breath, honesty is the best policy. "My dad made a deal with a spirit, a demon basically, to save my life. She shared his body. That night..." from the look on their faces I knew they had seen it, Rin continued to eat, but her eyes were in rapt attention "The demon did the only thing it knew could make it happy, the suffering of others. I tried to stop him, er, her, but I was too late. I didn't save anyone and got caught up in the crossfire. But, I couldn't let the demon escape and find someone who actually wanted to kill people. So I took her in. I let her share my feelings and emotions to make up for the lack of murder, and in turn she protects me and helps me fight."

Chizue narrowed her eyes at me, Rin just raised a singular eyebrow, never breaking in her chewing, "So..." Chizue starts, "Those were the demon's arms? And you use the demon's eyes to see?"

"Exactly."

"What else can it do?" I resent that remark. I smirk at her hurt feelings.

"She. Apparently she didn't like being called an 'it'" I prefered satan's whore. I smile reassuringly, and answer the question, "She can augment my body with her own. Arms, legs, wings. Anything she has, I can use. Also, the inky ooze she is made of is very strong, like armor. I can also shoot it as projectiles, but the amount is limited. The more I use, the harder it is to get her body to cooperate."

She nods, a pensive expression on her face, "She got a name?"

"Illidari."

"Nice to meet you, Illidari. Sorry I called you an 'it', please don't kill me." I felt her amusement in my head, Tell her I appreciate that she thought of speaking to me, and that I don't plan on harming her.

I relayed the message and she responded with a smile. Rin signed something I didn't recognize, so I looked to Chizue, "Ditto. She said ditto, cause she is too fucking lazy to sign her own introduction." Chizue gives a glare I know has no real malice, and Rin responds with a crude gesture that suspiciously resembles a leisurely stroking of a cock, and I laugh, inferring from the circumstance she meant something along the lines of 'go fuck yourself' I like them. I like them a lot.

I spend the next few hours thinking. The three of us walked together, and people would stare and whisper, but none of us seemed to mind. I wondered how long it had been since they were able to walk these halls without fearing some asshole. What had they gone through because of me?

We picked up my few items from my locker in overflow before finally walking down the hallway of bedrooms. Theirs was the one on the end, and they pushed the door open. The two twin beds were pushed together in the far corner of the room. In the other back corner was a table that seemed to hold their few belongings, and right beside that table was the most blindingly ostentatious poster of All Might I think I have ever seen. His huge smiling face hovering above the words "You Too Can Be A HERO!" I couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

As I step into the room I start to see the very faint lines criss-crossing all throughout the room, strung together like a spiderweb. I reach my hand out to touch one in front of my face, but I can't feel it on my skin. What?

I feel a tap on my shoulder and Rin is looking at me like I am crazy before she starts signing, "You can see them?"

"I can see lines all over the place, but I don't feel them."

She smiles, her mouth parting just slightly before quickly closing her lips again, "They can only be felt by others if I choose to solidify them. The purpose of them like this is like a spiderweb. If someone were to enter this room, I would feel the vibrations in the threads." When I thought up her quirk, I imagined invisible threads to control people like puppet strings...this is something more.

"That's...amazing." I respond and she shrugs, grabbing the small bag out of my hand and putting it beside the table, right under the All Might poster. I glance once again into the blue of his eyes and that fucking megawatt smile. Chizue's voice sounds behind me,

"There's one in every bedroom. I think it was a joke meant to antagonize us." I turn to face her as she puts her thumb and forefinger on her chin thoughtfully, "I kinda like it though. All Might has a comforting smile. I remember his voice too. I liked it. He is the number one hero for a reason." Rin pushes the bedroom door closed and I see several more lines shoot from her fingertips and through the area disturbed by the opening door.

Chizue Leans against the bare wall, sliding down to the floor, "They can be bad. Don't get me wrong. For every hero like All Might there are nine more who only want money and fame. But the good ones? I like them."

Rin slides down the wall beside her, and I sit cross-legged in the floor across from them. She signs, "Every kid dreams of being a hero." Her lips twist into a scowl, "What is different for us is when we realized that would never happen."

And just like that, all the doubts and fears and worries I had been debating in my head since I realized I was in my own story crashed down around me. I couldn't do this. I couldn't pretend around them. I couldn't lie to them. Not when they were so damn genuine with me.

Wait. What are you doing? Don't do something stupid. Meiko I don't think-

Shut up, I am doing it.

"I have to tell you guys something." I blurt, and Rin scrunches her eyebrows together. Chizue's face remains neutral. Right, she can't hear my tone. No backing down now. "This is going to sound completely and utterly insane, but I need you to know the truth."

I swallow down the lump forming in my throat and try to fight through my indecision and the mutterings of Illidari telling me this is a bad idea, "I knew who you were before I came here. I know about your past. Your father..." I clench my teeth, "your mother." I sigh, "I know so much about you because before I was born into this body I lived another life. Another reality where this world was fiction -a comic book series."

Chizue blinks incredulously, "We were fictional characters in a comic book?"

I squeeze my eyes closed tightly, even though it changes nothing, "Sort of. You two...and me -well- the person I was supposed to be, we weren't in the comic book series, we were characters in a story I thought up based in the comics.

She blinks several times, and I see Rin's left eyebrow raise higher and higher the longer the confession drags on, "Like fanfiction?"

I chuckle, a little morosely, "Exactly like fanfiction."

Chizue starts to speak but Rin softly places a hand on her shoulder, "I call bullshit." she signs, and I can see the scowl on her face. She is fucking terrifying. I start to speak, but she continues, "If you claim to know about us because you wrote us. Then prove it."

I nod, turning my gaze to the floor as I spoke, "Somethings have changed in the transition from my mind to reality, but I will tell you what I knew. You were twins, born to a villain. This villain had a quirk that let him steal the quirks of others and store them in his fingers. He could then destroy them by breaking the fingers. He wanted to create a child with a better version of his quirk so he kidnapped your mother. I think she had a quirk that let her use quirks she completely understood if the original owner allowed it. Chizue...you were the quirk marriage he wanted. You could steal quirks in your fingers like he could, and you could use them if you wanted to, but you had to follow the verbal commands of the owner...so he deafened you." I glance up and see the pain and disbelief on their faces, "And Rin, when you tried to stop him, he shoved something down your throat to shut you up. I know he used to enter you in fights with other kids of villains. I know when you refused to kill them he would hurt you both. I know your mother was killed accidentally by a hero when they came for your father. I know you loved music, and he took that from you."

I could feel the pressure of tears I couldn't form. The tightening of my throat making it hard to speak, "And I know that it's my fault." I clench my fists, grabbing at the fabric of my jumpsuit pants, "You two suffered through all that because I thought it up. I thought it would be a compelling story and I thought up those circumstances. But now...now." My chest wrenches as I dry sob, "You are real. You are here. You aren't just characters in a story you are...Rin and Chizue. And you endured so much because of me." I pull my knees up to my chest and bury my face in my hands, terrified of what they would say.

A few moments later I feel a hand on my knee and look up to see Chizue and her greenish hue of concern, "I take it we were supposed to be friends?" I nod, and she leans back on her heels. I didn't even hear them cross the room, but they are both sitting on their knees right in front of me.

Rin signs, "The way I see it, our past is what it is. We can't change it, and we don't blame you." She smirks a bit, "I mean, you ended up in your own hell too, right?"

I let out a noise that even I can't determine if it is a laugh or a sob, "Yeah, but yours was worse."

Chizue reaches between my knees and grabs my hand in hers, "Pain is pain. Just because we had something worse happen to us doesn't make your past any less hurtful. This isn't some pissing contest about who had the shittier life, alright?"

I give a shaky nod and look back to Rin, "If you know our past, does that mean you know the future as well?"

I sigh, placing my chin on the top of my knees, "In theory, but I am meddling in things. Things may not turn out how they were supposed to. And knowing too much about the future could change the decisions you make."

Chizue spoke, "If you are afraid of changing the future, why are you meddling?"

"Because," I start, "If I know someone is going to get hurt or die and I do nothing to stop it, doesn't that make me a villain? How can I sit back and let people die without trying to stop it?"

Rin and Chizue look at each other for a moment, and then Rin turns back to me, signing, "Fair enough, but what happens next?"

"Next, we escape." I state, and the two of them look at me like I am crazy. "In my story, the police used the two of you as bait to lure out a retired villain who was a friend of your father's. Someone who you cared about. The two of you were taken to visitation to meet him and I tagged along, and it was a trap. He thought you asked for him, you thought he asked for you, but in the end, it was just heros. Your friend was killed, but the three of us were able to escape in the confusion."

Chizue and Rin exchange another look, and Chizue spoke, "Doc. He was the closest thing we had to a friend. Whenever we would be hurt, he would patch us up. He could, drain the stamina out of other people and use it to heal injuries. He would suck the life out of people and use it to heal us. He... he wasn't bad. He didn't want to hurt people, but he did what he had to do to survive. I guess that means he got out..."

Rin signs, "But he is going to die because of us."

"Unless," I start, glancing up at the camera in the corner of the bedroom. All the bedrooms had visual only cameras. I look over at All Might's exuberant face, "Isn't that the outer wall of the prison?" Rin purses her lips but nods slowly. "Do the words Shawshank Redemption mean anything to you?"

Chizue opens and closes her mouth for a moment before speaking, "No. Should they?"

"I have a plan." I smile, looking at her confused face, "You need to steal or copy or whatever my lightbending quirk and use it to create the illusion of exactly what we are doing right now and then project it in front of that camera, can you do that?"

"I can, but I don't understand."

"Please just do it. I don't want anyone else to die because of my negligence, and since I never put timelines on anything there is no telling how long we have before the trap, so we have to work as quick as we can."

Chizue scowls, but taps her finger onto my skin, and a few seconds later, "Okay. Projecting. Now what?"

"Now, you need to make sure that illusion doesn't falter until we say so. You'll have to do it constantly." Chizue nods and I look to Rin, "Can you form your threads into solid objects? Like say, a shovel?"

"Yes, why?" She asks, her eyebrows scrunched together again, and I move to the back wall, gently pulling the All Might poster from the wall and laying it on the bed after scratching the wall around the edges of the poster so we could make certain to hang it back up in exactly the same position. I watch as the oily ink oozes from my skin to cover my arms in the essence of Illidari before turning back to Rin with a smile,

"Because we are going to embrace our inner Andy Dufresne and dig our way out of here."

~~NOTES~~~

So, there are our three main OC's! I do have other ships planned within this story aside from Tokoyami. I want them to be a surprise though. There will be other OC/Canon pairings as well as Canon/Canon pairings. I am a fucking sucker for love, yo. If you are liking this story, let me know! Feel free to tell me your favorite ships too, who knows, they might end up in here? =)