Disclaimer: I do not own MHA/BnHA
Her Peace
You're glowing like a diamond ring
I saw you bought some other things
You're spending like a cash machine,
To cover up your insecurities
~Cash Machine: Oliver Tree~
Eri couldn't tell if she was excited or nervous. All she did know was that her little knees couldn't stop shaking. Her hand never left Gini's. Every now and then, she would look back and see a slouching man not too far from them. His face was hidden by a hood most of the time, but at one point, he lifted a cigarette to his mouth and she saw the deep scars around his chin.
He was scary, but she wasn't afraid. Those that passed him tensed, but something told her that he was following them for a good reason. Was it Gini? She remembered reading a book about guardian angels. It said that not all of them had wings and halos. Was he Gini's?
"This place is perfect! Do you see anything you like?" Gini asked, breaking the girl's hawk-like attention.
Eri looked through the window at the bright colors, patterns, and styles. She liked them. They were like the woman holding her hand. She nodded eagerly, excited that she would get to wear such beautiful items.
Forty-five minutes later, the two spent more than enough on clothes and accessories.
"So, what are things you like? Reading, games, drawing, dancing?" Gini asked, hoping to do more with the time they had before she became a slave.
"What's dancing?" Eri asked up at the grinning woman.
"My FAVORITE thing to do! Why don't I show you!" Gini exclaimed.
While on the bus ride to a small pub that only served Shirley Temples and played upbeat music, she texted Shigaraki and Sir Nighteye.
I'm in
That's all they needed to know for now. She received at least three replies from Tomura, but she ignored them. There was a text from Dabi too.
"I'm worried we left him behind..." Eri mused aloud.
"Who?"
"Your guardian angel."
"I'm sure he'll find me wherever I'm at," she winked.
She had tuned out the world around her to focus on Eri, but the little girl's worries about some "angel" made her more observant. If someone was following, she should be able to figure it out.
The cutsie club wasn't as crowded in the fall as it normally was in the summer, which took some of the stress off Gini's shoulders.
"What are they saying?" Eri asked as Gini set her up on a bar stool and danced to the song that played.
Gini began to translate parts of the English song while showing Eri a simple two-step routine for her to learn.
Several dances later, Eri became exhausted. How could this strange woman keep going?
"It's only six! Well, I suppose it is getting close to your bedtime. Ready to head back?" Gini asked the yawning kid.
Eri drowsily nodded and unintentionally reached out her arms for Gini to carry her. A light blush tickled Gini's face. Was this what is was like to be a mother? Five more months and she'd have her own to carry around.
Dabi began his lazy following again after finishing his second pack of smokes. He'd spent all afternoon and most of the evening tracking her. The longer he did so, the less he understood the woman he thought he knew. His Gini would have at least sent him a simple text to let him know where she was. His Gini wouldn't be parading around with some random child that looked like her that he'd never seen before without telling him what was up.
He was so worried about her and here she was walking around like nothing was wrong; that she hadn't been assaulted earlier that day. She had ignored him and focused all her attention on shopping and dancing and did so with a grin on her face. Was he just a game to her? Play with poor, hurt, Touya and then run away?
He hated to think he was insecure, but all the signs of her dishonesty and secrecy told him he was right. That's when he did something for himself. He walked away.
Gini felt a wave of disappointment envelope her. She quickly looked around and thought she saw a shadow distancing itself from her. Whoever it was, didn't want to have anything to do with her and for some sickening reasoning, that hurt her. Surely it wasn't Dabi?
"Hey, you! Wait! Oh, oof," she gasped as she tripped over something on the ground after she tried chasing the retreating figure. She could feel her ankle snap as she tumbled onto the pavement. It just had to be the one All for One injured months ago.
"Gini, are you okay?" Eri gasped too as she fell from Gini's arms.
"Yes, I'm fine. What about you?"
"I'm okay," Eri frowned as she tried pulling the woman back onto her feet.
She could still feel the follower, but it was too far for her to catch up to without running. She gritted her teeth as she put her weight on it to see if that was something she was willing to do. The pain throbbed and she knew giving chase was out of the question.
"PLEASE WAIT!" She called out to the stranger. She needed to know why they held so much resentment for her. She wanted to fix it without using her quirk to manipulate the situation.
The figure either couldn't hear her, or it didn't care to listen. Either way, she knew it was too late.
She stomached the dull ache in her foot as she headed back to where her 'owner' would be expecting her. The saving grace for her nightmare of a day was Eri. The girl's demeanor was pleasantly brighter after their time together. A few hours wasn't enough to undo the damage Chisaki did, but it was a start.
Eri frowned as Gini limped to a bench that sat outside the yakuza residency. The sky was painted in warm shades of pink as the sun set, but it didn't compare to the kind woman's eyes.
"Gini?"
"Hmm?"
"I...I don't want to go back. But, it's getting late...and Chisaki-san..."
"Oh! I forgot about him. No worries, love, he said he wouldn't be back until tomorrow. We're basically home, so I'm not in too much of a hurry to go back in there either."
Emi jumped at the knock on her door. Was Hawks back to question Ginsui? She had already gathered her cousin's things and stacked them by the door. If she let the hero in, he would certainly notice. She took a deep breath and peeked out the door.
Cool, cyan eyes looked up from beneath a hood. A lit cigarette balanced between broken lips.
Dabi? Why would he be here? Is he searching for Gini too? Ms. Joke wondered in concern.
"I should have you arrested," she stated as she opened the door.
"But you won't because you care for Gini as much as I do."
"What do you mean? Is my future niece or nephew in danger because of her poor decision making skills again?"
"Let's talk about that," Dabi sighed as he pushed the sea-green haired hero back into her apartment, "Have you noticed any changes with her?"
It was Emi's turn to sigh. By letting an S ranking criminal in, she was just as irresponsible as her best friend.
Must be a Fukukado gene. She thought as she told him to sit as she made them tea.
"She lost her confidence about ten years ago. Then, she stopped thinking about herself in general. She spent most of her time focusing on the school students and helping them instead of herself. She never really returned to her pre-Todoroki self...oh I'm sorry I shouldn't have used that terminology. You wouldn't know what that means, my bad," she chuckled as she mentally slapped herself.
"She also doesn't cope very well. Instead of taking things head on like she would have before...her problems started...she now avoids them altogether. I thought she had awoken from that dark slump after watching her fight All for One. I thought that maybe, someone like you straightened her back out. But, you're here which means she's taken a turn for the worse. Dabi, if something bad happened to her recently, she needs time to grieve. " Emi continued on as she handed him a cup of tea.
"How does she do that?"
"It depends on the situation. If she's upset about something that happened to someone else and she feels responsible for it, she'll usually wrap herself up in a blanket and sit in a disgusting state of sweat, tears, and regret for several day in a row. If something happened to her physically...she'd either beat the shit out of whoever did it, or she could think logically about the situation and destroy the person in a way that they couldn't recover."
"So if she were out and about acting like she was okay, what would that mean?"
"Two things. One, she's trying to keep the horror out of her mind so that it doesn't consume her and two, she's already come up with a plan to bring them down without being violent."
"I owe you one," Dabi replied, finishing the tea and standing up.
"Do you know where she is? Do you think she needs me?" Emi asked, blocking his exit. She was starting to worry now that this guy suggested that her beloved best friend and closest family member was hurt.
"I'm going to let her grieve like you said. She's going to be okay," he dodged the question and left the bewildered woman behind.
Tomura had gathered Mr. Compress, Magne, and Toga into the warehouse that Twice said he would be. It was almost eight and the two-sided member had yet to show up. The leader had kept the identity of the recruit a secret from the others. He didn't want them overreacting. He could disintegrate the foul man himself once he arrived. He was looking forward to it. He was also grateful that Dabi hadn't returned. Unless...unless he was the reason Overhaul and Twice wasn't here yet.
"Play it cool. Don't act like you know what he did to our League mother," Tomura warned.
Surprisingly, they obeyed. The was the first time he called the woman something other than a derogatory slur.
After minimal discussion the led to a huge disagreement, Magne acted against Shigaraki's wishes. Much to the League's dismay, Big Sister of the group was gone along with one of Mr. Compress's arms.
Overhaul spoke in a bored tone as he left behind a broken group of idiots and a business card in case they chose to work for him. How Ginsui Fukukado put up with those fools was beyond him. She was going to learn what real leadership was.
He imagined her already bathed and patiently waiting for him in his room like the good girl he knew she could be. Soon, he was going to get another taste of what she had to offer. He found her being pregnant by someone else thrilling. The fun he would have taunting that fact around in front of the grotesque man she had loved.
Ginsui sat, staring at the high walls shielding her new temporary home. She had been going nonstop since she was raped. She did everything she could think to keep it away from her thoughts. She couldn't run from it forever.
"Eri, take the key and go on to your room. I'll be in there soon to give you a bath and read you a bedtime story, okay?"
"Okay..."
Gini watched the tiny girl gather her bags and walk away. Tears already blurred her vision as she desperately fought to keep them away.
The street wasn't a busy one. Most that lived in this part of town were wealthy and elderly. Those types of people were already turning down. She ducked her head into her lap and tugged at her silver locks to reel in her sudden sadness.
Naturally, the harder she tried to be strong, the harder it was to stop the tears from trickling down her face. Her silent shaking became audible sobs and then quickly strengthened into throaty cries. Her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach as she attempted to regain some dignity once she felt Chisaki approach.
"It's hard to see through the rain when you're the storm," Kai stated after he assessed the broken woman. This wasn't exactly how he wanted to find her, but he found it best to be compassionate now and punish her later.
"She dried her face with a sleeve and jumped to her feet, ready to slap him. Unfortunately, her broken ankle betrayed her and she fell back down before she could even lift an arm to swat at him.
She tried to pull away from him as he removed a glove and grabbed her leg, but his grip was strong and her attempt to kick him off sent pulses of sharp pain from her leg and up to her back.
"Hold still, pet."
She reluctantly obeyed. She felt the pain disappear and watched in awe as the swelling vanished.
"Are you done being a victim now?" The healer asked after placing a choker around her neck.
She crossed her legs in defiance. Kai stared at her, as if encouraging her to act out. She snorted at his display of power and turned her head to ignore him. Suddenly, a sharp shock passed through her spine, forcing her to cry out in pain and twitch with her hands clenched around the choker her had placed on her.
"That's not the proper way for my pet to behave."
She was still coughing in pain when a burst of electric blue flames engulfed the man in front of her. The frighteningly hot display of icy-blue flames licking her scorched attacker brought a devilish smile across her face.
Chisaki was wheezing on the ground, making inaudible noises as he struggled to reconstruct himself.
"There's a few things you need to know if you're going to claim her. She likes music and dancing. She prefers forks to chop sticks. She hates hot tea. Her favorite color is yellow and she fucking hates being tickled. If you assault her again, and yes you little shit I will know, if you do that to her again, you will feel the agonizing sensation of your skin and muscle peeling from your bones as I slowly cook you. I will laugh while I light a blunt over your fucking ashes. Do I make myself clear or do you need a refresher?" Dabi snarled as Chisaki sputtered blood.
Ginsui shook in a combination of fear and excitement until she could finally see Dabi through the billowing smoke. A trail of blood was seeping from his tear ducts and slowly dripping in a pool around him. He had risked too much attacking. He risked damaging himself for her and for what?
A fluttering sensation in her abdomen told her why.
"You remembered what I said, right? That I'll always love you?" She softly spoke up as Dabi's maniacal laughs filled the empty streets. She needed him to calm down.
He stopped his wild laughter and examined her with feral eyes.
"I'll never forget, doll face," He licked his teeth and sauntered over to her. He was still in a deranged state and his closeness terrified her. He burned the collar off her neck, leaving a fresh burn in its place.
"Do you see this, Overhaul?" Dabi snickered, pulling Gini's sweater down to reveal the scar he had given her the night she hooked up with Aizawa. "She's already someone's pet. Keep that in mind the next time you want to slap a collar on her."
