Fingers spread across the tablet he held in his hands. He looked down as he walked into the room, weaving around the metal beds and hummed quietly to himself. Kairi glared heavily at him, clenching her fists while she impatiently awaited him to speak.
"Okay..." he said to himself. He flicked his fingers across his digital pad. "Let's see. Hoshino was immediately thrashing and Todoroki was calm so, it doesn't appear as if the sleeping gas made them nauseous. That's a step up, at least. That isn't how I was planning on testing that particular mix but, it worked..."
"Excuse me but do you plan to continue to pretend like we're not in the room?" Kairi snipped, fury boiling. He raised his eyes, and then smiled. As if unaffected by the broiling rage that flooded her.
"I'm sorry, sometimes I get lost in my own thoughts. Welcome. My name is Arinori Kurisu. I apologize for the restraints but after you passed out, I needed to make sure you were secure and didn't thrash and were safe."
"This isn't what I would call safe," Shoto spat.
"Ah, yes I suppose it is intimidating. Unfortunately our resources are a bit limited. We're a new organization still trying to get things off the ground and we're not rolling in the money yet. We had to be a little cheap on a few things so unfortunately it looks a bit like a creepy autopsy room rather than an operation room!" he laughed nervously and then looked around him. "It's clean though! It's very important that everything is sterile. When we start to be making decent money, I hope to make this place a little more comfortable." Strange as it was, his voice was just as soft and soothing as it was when he administered the "vaccines". Kairi wanted to blaze with anger and wanted to spit out every creative expletive-filled threated his direction. The longer he spoke, the less she wanted to do so. He sounded kind, even if their current predicament did not support that theory. She remained silent.
"Where's Bakugo?" Shoto asked.
"He's being held in a different room. I need to talk to him next."
"Pfft," Kairi sputtered doubtfully. "You won't get much out of him."
"I'm already aware..." he sighed, looking more amused than annoyed.
"So you're planning to torture us?" He shook his head.
"No. I merely wanted to talk."
"Then why the restraints?" Shoto asked.
"Would you stay otherwise?" he said. He sighed and then began to pace in front of the room, setting his tablet on the counter. "Listen... Todoroki. I realize this looks... terrible. Everything Hoshino said was correct. We did take your quirks. I understand that's ethically ambiguous."
"Ethical immoral, you bastard!" Kairi growled.
"But we tried to synthetically create quirks – and they failed, miserably. Our methods didn't work. But they did work when we copied them from quirk users. We truly wanted to create a program where we could create a better life for others. Give quirks to the quirkless, change the quirks of those who were unhappy. Removing quirks has already been done, but those who has had that done are often shunned by others and ridiculed. Our society has forgotten that we all used to be quirkless and we all needed to be treated with respect and dignity."
"So why not create a damn anti-bullying program or be a motivational speaker for acceptance?" Kairi said, hoping to sound menacing but his gentle tone was helping her remain calm.
"I tried, it went nowhere. I am a real doctor. I graduated medical school, and wanted to help people. But it wasn't that long ago that only fifty percent of the population had quirks. Now it's eighty. Every year, the amount of quirkless diminishes, meaning the chance for acceptance is growing less and less. If more people are developing quirks, those without are going to fade even further in the background and they are going to be viewed as the other. When the quirkless become so few in number, that message is no longer going to be taken to heart. But I needed to do something. I found a few friends, and I thought about creating quirks. After years of study and work, I thought I could do it. But then I needed to figure out where the quirks came from. After a couple more years, my comrades and I tried to synthetically create DNA and manipulate that. Then, when that didn't work, we tried to take real DNA and use the particles in that to create fake quirks. We took the DNA from consenting participants, I assure you. After many failures, we decided to test it on one of the quirked members on my team. Wouldn't you believe it? It actually worked. We rejoiced, thinking of all the good possibility of this, and how it could save the world! Can you imagine if we were able to create many All Mights? The world would be so safe!" He breathed deeply, proud and wistful of the memory he conjured in his mind.
"Are you doing that thing that villains do in movies?" Kairi hissed, trying, with failure, to shake away the restraints. "Where you monologue about your plan because you love listening to yourself talk and it ends up being your downfall?" He frowned, crestfallen.
"I'm... rather hurt you think of me as a villain, Hoshino. I can't do anything to you. I'm quirkless."
"May I direct your attention to the restraints you've put us under? And why can't I use my quirk?" Shoto said carefully.
"Oh, I apologize for that, but I wanted to avoid causing any issues. The restraints are coated with a chemical to block out elemental quirks. I coated them before you came to."
"That sounds pretty villainous to me!" Kairi sang angrily.
"I'm sorry, I truly am. But you understand trying to make the world a better place through any means necessary, right? I need to keep you here. Just long enough to extract some more blood." His voice was charmed by deep sorrow that tugged at the both of them. The wrinkles in his brow demonstrated a regret. Whatever he was doing, something was telling him it was wrong and he regretted it. But, he seemed to also feel the need for what he was doing was greater. He swallowed and stared at them for a moment, before turning back towards the counter and swiping across his tablet. "I only intend to take a bit of your blood. A small bit, I promise. Enough to supply about twenty quirks or so. The only harm I will be doing is going to be a pinch and then will be covered up with a bandage. Hoshino, I remember you hate needles, right? I promise, I will do everything I can to make it hurt as little as I can."
"That's not the fucking point!" Kairi wailed, thrashing hard against the restraints so they began to press against her wrists. A thin trail of blood lined her left wrist. Shoto's eyes caught its scarlet glimmer. His chest tensed.
"Kairi, I'm sorry but I would appreciate it if you found a way to calm down a little..." he muttered. The words lit her already smoldering fuse. Her mind exploded. Wrath fired within her.
"Are you serious, Todoroki? You know how fucking much I hate it when people say that! When in all of fucking history has that ever made anyone calm down?!"
"I'm TELLING YOU BECAUSE YOUR WRIST IS BLEEDING!" he screamed, her rage filling the room.
"YOU THINK I'M NOT AWARE OF THAT?!"
"MAYBE I DON'T WANT YOU TO CUT YOURSELF TO RIBBONS?!"
"CHILDREN!" Kurisu blurted impatiently. "Please. Kairi, I understand you're struggling with your emotions. That's fine. I understand that perfectly and I am prepared for it, don't you worry. Shoto, I know that you deeply care about your friend's well-being, and I deeply respect you for that." The anger that was already coursing through him snapped again at the "doctor's" words and he balled his fists uselessly.
"Who gave you the privilege to use her first name?" he snarled. "And what you are saying is wrong – we would never violate our ethics and morals in order to do what's good for the world. There is no any means necessary. If you take anything from someone without their permission, no matter what it is, that's despicable. You've taken our blood, or DNA, our quirks without our permission!"
"I recall you willingly allowed to take them when I came to your school."
"Through deception! We believed we were taking precautions to protect ourselves. Because you were not transparent about what was being done, we didn't know what we were agreeing to!"
"That is against the law, Dr. Kurisu!" Kairi shouted angrily. "Aren't doctors supposed to take some oath of ethics? Aren't you violating it right now?"
"Are you saying you want the quirkless to continue to suffer? Are you saying you don't wish for the possibility to eliminate as many villains as possible?" he challenged sardonically. His young eyes filled more with something similar to malice as he spoke. She shivered, his words chilling her.
"No! I want people to learn to treat quirkless as they would any other person! I want there be more options for those who are quirkless! I want the world to be kinder to those with the society deemed 'lesser' quirks! I want to defeat villains without violating my own ethics! I don't want to trespass onto other people's personal space or hurt them! It would be so much easier to, I agree, but how can you trust anyone if you do? How can a hero call themselves a hero if they do as the villains do for results?!"
"Because sometimes there is no other way, Hoshino! In order to leave a peaceful world you have to make it be peaceful!"
"Is it truly peace if people feel forced to make those decisions?!" she screeched, the restraints cutting further into her skin. Shoto hissed, growing tense at the sight of more blood dripping down her arms.
"Please lay down..." he begged. The room was thickening with the rage she was projecting, growing deep in tension. Her adrenaline blocked off the pain on her wrists as it flew through her rapidly.
"Listen to your friend, Hoshino. You are going to hurt yourself!"
"Let it happen! I don't care!"
"Then you can remain there even longer!" he said sharply. He picked up his tablet. "I need to check on your friend Bakugo. I'll be back to take your blood. Please don't hurt yourself. You may not believe that I care about what happens to you but I do. When I finish, I fully intend to return you to your families – after I blast you with a gas that makes you forget what you've heard here. I want you safe."
"Have you tested the side effects...!" but the words fell on deaf ears. The door slammed shut before he could finish. "Asshole." Kairi let her body relax under the restraints, eyes staring at the bright ceiling above her. Wrists began to throb as she became aware of the small cuts the restraints put into them. She winced.
"I'm sorry," he breathed, voice leveling. She turned her neck to get a look at him laying still on his table. "I realize my words were chosen poorly. I started to panic, a little. Seeing the way the straps were cutting into you."
"These aren't straps," she snickered. "Straps would be kind." Her head rolled around, taking in the environment of the room they were in. Nothing immediately jumped out to her. There seemed to be nothing of use in the room. It did look like a creepy autopsy room as he had said. She groaned and stared at her feet, wriggling them against the bar that kept them still.
"I suppose there doesn't seem to be anything we could use?" she asked. Shoto shook his head.
"At least we know he has no desire to kill us."
"That would be better. I don't want anyone out there with my quirk. I'm not a perfect person by any means. But I don't have evil intentions and I know there are many people out there who are... less good than I am. Were they to have this quirk and misuse it even once, one time... I would never forgive myself. I may not have been the one to do it, but I would feel responsible. I can never let anyone else have this quirk. Ever. I'm fond of children, but I can never have them, for that reason. I don't want to pass it down. I don't want anyone else to suffer with it."
A gentle breath could be heard from Shoto as he rolled his head to carefully study her. Her face flared with heat while his enchanting eyes shifted pensively.
"I don't think it's as big of a deal as you make it seem."
"What are you talking about? You have no idea the guilt I suffer, how much I hate myself for everything my emotions do. It makes me sick! You don't get to decide that it isn't a big deal, you don't get to invalidate-"
"Kairi, no, no no no, you're right that isn't... I know. I know it's hard for you. On top of it, I know in general you deal with mental illness on top of it all. I know it's rough for you and no one can tell you what to feel. Ever. No one can tell you how bad it is, no one can tell you how to react... I just mean you seem to think no one can stand being around you. You seem to think no one wants to be around you, that you're vile and that you're some monster and none of that is... true. It's all wrong. Yes, sometimes you change the mood in the room and people can be prone to react certain ways. But as you said – it doesn't change a person's true beliefs. People still are the way they are. They are responsible for their own actions, not you. They can still control how they react, they can teach themselves to fight against their own reactions. If someone were to have your quirk and use it to manipulate or take advantage or others... that is on them. They are fully responsible and you are not. The evil is on them. You make your quirk what it is, and they make their own quirk. It's yours, and no one else's." Similar words echoes in her mind, ones he had told her so long ago. He still believed that. Even after seeing her ugly side. Even after all this time, when he had fully gotten to know her. Even when they were best friends. He wasn't afraid to call her out or criticize her when he felt she was wrong, and yet here he was... not criticizing her. And not blaming her for the consequences of her quirk. God, that fluttering in her just would not stop.
"Is it wrong of him to take our quirks without permission?" he continued, firmly holding her gaze as tears streaked down her prominent cheeks. "Of course it is, and we are not going to get out of here without giving some sort of fight. But even if he did. Even if there is someone out there with the same quirk as you... that doesn't make you responsible for their actions. Only they are. As far as how you personally affect others... yeah I got angry just now, when you were angry. I could have controlled my tone. It was completely in my power, but I didn't. And it isn't just your anger. I'm concerned for us, Kairi. I am worried for you, about you getting out of here. I have my own emotions that affect me as well. I can feel what you feel, strongly. I try not to because it feels like an invasion of privacy, but that doesn't mean I can't learn to ignore it. Sometimes it's harder than others but I have... been around you enough to learn when to... deflect them, I guess is the best way to put it."
The tears were falling freely. Her throat shuddered under the cries she couldn't stop. He creased his brow and winced, unable to look at her while she cried.
"I'm so sorry, Shoto! I never should have done this! I should have let it go and now we're in danger of making everything worse."
"I wanted to come," he explained calmly. "I needed to make sure you were all right. I wanted to make sure you were safe."
"What is with you?" she said, trying to blink away each threatening tear. "Why do you keep saying these things? Is it because you think I'm weak? Is it because you don't think I can handle it?"
"Of course not," he spat, as if the accusation were vile. "You take on so much, much more than an average person could handle. I think you are far stronger than you think you are but you think it's your duty to bear it all – to the point where you bear even more than even you could handle. It crushes you but you don't say a word and you just keep on smiling. I'm afraid one of these days you will be completely crushed but your regard for others will keep you from saying, and you'll be injured more. I wanted to come with to help bear that, and make sure you weren't taking on too much. You have no idea how much I admire your strength, your passion to make wrongs right, your drive, your intellect, your compassion... You are... so wonderful, Kairi. And you have no idea. I wish you did, I really do. The world has been cruel to you for things you can't help and you just learned to smile through. You never should have had to, but you do it anyway. You never deserved their treatment. Sometimes I... I really think you're t... too good for this... wo-world." His words stuttered while he spoke, a hot flame of red coming over his face. Kairi reflected him, bearing the same crimson visage and she quickly flipping her head the other way.
"Why are you saying these things? What are you saying?"
"The truth," he whispered. "We're getting out here, Riri." Her chest was humming wildly, the vibrato of her heart coursing through her veins aggressively. Her limbs shook with the thrumming inside her. Fireworks burst in every joint and if she were not held down, she could probably fly. Then, Shoto gasped.
"Kairi. Funnel," he said. The strangeness suppressed all her wild emotion and she snapped back to look at him.
"Is this the time to be making jokes?" she questioned, just as footsteps could be heard beyond the white door that faced them.
"No, I mean you have to...!" But he was cut off at the squeak of the door, as their "doctor" stepped back in. He whistled softly to himself, carrying a white latch box.
"What would make you feel comfortable, Hoshino? For you to go first or Todoroki? I'll do what you prefer."
"I would prefer not," she hissed, looking around the room. Shoto's odd in-joke made her notice – there was no bathroom in the room. What did he plan to do if they had had to go? Just let them go? Based on how he acted and if he were a real doctor, that didn't seem to be in line with his attitude. With a look back over at Shoto who almost seemed to know her own thoughts, she cleared her throat.
"Could I... use the bathroom first?" she asked quietly, trying to sound as sheepish as possible.
"I... yes, I apologize I never thought that through... I don't intend to keep you much longer once I finish this. Is it possible you could wait a half hour?" Kairi's stomach dropped and she turned to bite her lip. Her eyes asked Shoto for an answer. He shook his head. Kairi breathed, mulling over a response in her mind. Then, she settled on one and blurted loudly.
"Sure, of course. If you want me to bleed all over everything." He cleared his throat again.
"I'm... sorry," he said just as Shoto was shaking his head and Kairi was wincing back at him.
"Too much?" she mouthed. He only shrugged.
"No need to be disturbed by it, Todoroki. It's a perfectly natural thing," Kurisu said calmly as he reached her table.
"Yes, that's not why I was..." Shoto mumbled. "Never mind."
"Yes, of course. I wouldn't let you be embarrassed like that. I... Most of those on duty are currently dispatched elsewhere... I know... I think I have those handcuffs here."
"Excuse me?!" Kairi squeaked. "You expect me to believe this is a medical building and you have handcuffs? Unless you're using them for... know what? Never mind. Not even going to finish that thought." Shoto reddened and turned his face away to hide his embarrassment, while Kurisu ventured back over to the corner and opened a cabinet. He hummed quietly to himself, jostling through various items of equipment. Metal rustled just as he closed the cabinet door and he pulled with looked like a pair of handcuffs, with a long chain. Kairi gulped. There was no way this guy was just a doctor.
"Okay, give me your hands, Kairi."
"I said don't use her name!" Shoto yelled, spitting through his teeth. She tossed him a grateful look, heart endeared. She swallowed and lay still as he first unclasped each cuff around her wrist, just above the metal clasps on the table. Once secured, he worked to unlock the restraints and she found she could move, freer than before. Slowly, Kairi raised her head til she was sitting. She swayed, blinking till her vision stopped spinning and the dizziness faded. Her back screamed, sore from the table but relieved to be upright. Following his direction, Kairi leapt off the table and held out her imprisoned hands to steady her balance.
In the center of her cuffs was a long chain, leading to where it was being held by Kurisu. Kairi glowered, and looked back up at the doctor.
"Am I on a leash right now?" she hissed.
"It's so you can so in the bathroom and shut the door with some privacy, but I can still feel on the other end that you're not escaping."
"'I want to make sure you're safe.' What part of this isn't kidnapping?"
"I am sorry this has to be done this why, Hoshino, I really am," he told her kindly. "You're a very good kid and I don't enjoy this. But for the good of humanity."
"Oh, piss off and just let me pee already!" she snarled, tugging on the cuffs. He sighed.
"Do you need supplies-?"
"NO TOILET PAPER WILL WORK JUST FINE!" she chomped at him and slovenly walked beside the doctor. She wobbled in her steps, walking feeling strange. The room seemed disconnected from her and false, like being underwater. He pushed the door open and allowed her to walk ahead of him. She sputtered and stomped out into the bright hallway, one light ahead buzzing obnoxiously. Her eyes flicked over the privacy windows in the passing doors, seeing only blurry glass. A part of her was hoping she could spot something that seemed like it could be Bakugo – but there was nothing.
Kairi was not strong. Physical tactics was not her strong suit, but he seemed to deflect her emotions. For whatever reason, it didn't affect him. She had nothing – but she had her quick reflexes.
Taking time to just act and not think, Kairi clasped her hands together first and then whipped herself as hard as she could so he stumbled and slammed himself into the wall. Before he could regain his stance, she threw her whole body against him. A snap echoed and he gasped painfully. Kairi slammed her foot against the back of his knee. Crunch, crackle. A pained anguish sang through the halls from the doctor. Her anger was flaring through her so wildly, it motivated the strength of her jump – and she had broken him at his knee.
"You're a doctor – you know that's not fatal and should be able to fix that, right?" she yelled. She ripped the end of the metal "leash" on her cuffs away from his hands. For a moment, her amber eyes stared into his charming, young ones. Her chest ripped just for a moment. They pleaded, looking betrayed. Her soul paused, guilt falling into place. She wanted to reach for him, and help. But he had taken them. He had essentially kidnapped them and wanted to utilize their DNA against their will. She was hurting him, yes – but it was to get away. Nothing more. She hadn't done anything fatal, and it could all easily be fixed. She blinked away the grieving tears that came to her. There was no time. He would get the treatment he needed later. Right now – she needed to save Shoto and Bakugo.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "But that was really the oldest trick in the book." Feet clapped against the polished floor, heading back down the hall to where she had just come out. The cuffs made it a struggle, but after four tries, her hands successfully unlashed the L of the handle. The door flew open and she ran back in, leaning over Shoto's table and fumbling awkwardly with the clasps.
"We only have a few minutes I'm sure," she said, twiddling with a screw with her thumb. "Goddamn my tiny fingers!"
"You are amazing," Shoto breathed. The two of them paused for a moment, eyes settling on each other. Pink rose to both sets of cheeks. Kairi was the first to drop her gaze and continue with the clasps, working desperately at them.
Two minutes later, Shoto was free and the two of them were speeding down the hall.