"Misdirection my ass," I shout as I fly at magician from my cover, slamming my fist into his throat. He coughed out the two orbs. I swipe them, landing in a crouched position. I stand to look at the magician who clutches his throat. The black mist of the warp villain recedes.
"I'm the fucking king of misdirection," I shout. I hold the orbs tightly.
"Nakashima-chan!" I hear Midoriya cry. Todoroki and Shoji are immediately at my side, getting into a defensive position. I look at the scene around me. Midoriya looked to be in bad shape. I make eye contact with the staple faced villain. He looks unconcerned, even amused.
"Oh-ho. I was hoping I'd run into you tonight, suicide girl." He says. He raises a hand, pointing at me. "We're taking her too."
"You know this guy?" Todoroki asks as pushes me behind him.
"We've had an encounter," I say back. Staple face grins. I feel adrenaline pump through me.
"Todoroki-kun, Shoji-kun, I'm a liability in a head on fight. I have a loose idea of what's happening. Tokoyami-kun and Bakugo-kun are in these orbs right? I'm going to try to escape," I say lowly. I start to turn, activating my quirk. The staple faced villain grins.
"I think not," he says. As I'm about to flee, he releases a huge jet of blue flames around us. Todoroki sends out an ice shield and I'm forced back close to him and Shoji. I assess my limited options for escape.
The flames stop. I turn to run but a hand grabs hold of my left braid, pulling me back. I feel a rough hand on my throat. I look up, seeing the mottled face of the staple faced villain. Todoroki turns to attack. The staple faced man pulls me close into his chest.
"I wouldn't try that, Todoroki Shoto," he says. Todoroki is stopped in his tracks. The staple faced villain's got a firm clasp around my neck. "One wrong move and your friends dead."
I take a deep breath. The staple faced villain puts his other hand over mine. I clasp the orbs tightly in my hands. If I can just get these to Todoroki and Shoji they'll be safe.
"Come on suicide girl, hand them over. You don't have much of a choice. It's not like you can escape. After all, I know from experience that your quirk doesn't work when I'm touching you," he whispers. I can feel his breath on my cheek. I grit my teeth.
"Drop them or I'll turn your hand to ash," he says. There's a look of horror on Midoriya, Todoroki and Shoji's faces. I feel myself tremble. The reality of my impending death begins to set in.
"I-I'm not afraid," I stutter. This is a blatant lie. Staple face looks at me sternly.
"Dabi, just grab them!" The magician growls, still holding his throat from my earlier attack. He's standing up. The warp begins to approach. There's no time. I elbow the staple faced man, who I now know is named Dabi. This gives me a brief moment of freedom and I lunge forward. His reflexes are too fast though. I feel his flames whip against my neck. I hiss as I feel the skin on my neck burn. He grabs the back of my shirt, pulling my into the warp. I try to throw the orbs to Shoji and Todoroki as I'm pulled back but I don't have time to see what happens. Dabi throws me through the warp alone. The last thing I see is Todoroki and Shoji's desperate faces, their hands out stretched, as I ascend into weightlessness.
The next moment I crash into a hardwood floor. I roll into a wall. My head is spinning. My body is shaking. I try to stable myself.
"Ehhhh? A girl?" a soft female voice says. I hear someone skip over. I try to push myself up but I feel weak. I think my body is in shock. "She's kind of cute!"
I look up. Peering down at me is a blonde girl. She looks high school aged. Another victim? No that's not it. She smiles but it seems off... malicious even.
I hear another few bodies land in the room.
"Don't kill her, Toga-chan. I bought her in," I hear Dabi's voice say. I place more pressure on my hands. I manage to push myself into a seated position against the wall behind me. My eyes widen. In front of me is Bakugo with Dabi holding him by the neck. My body won't stop trembling.
"Nakashima-chan?!" Bakugo shouts. Sparks begin to appear at his hands. Dabi lets go of him and paces over to me. He pulls me to my feet, pulling me back in close to his chest. He places a hand on my chest, over my heart.
"Don't try anything unless you want your friend dead," he says. Bakugo stares at us conflicted. He looks between me and Dabi. He stands in a defensive position, ready to attack. Dabi holds me tightly, I feel my heart pounding. Bakugo clenches his jaw and balls his fists. He can't find away to attack without risking my life.
I take in our surroundings. In addition to Dabi, the blonde girl Toga and Bakugo there are four other people in the room. There's the lizard man and the man with big lips who'd fought Tiger and Mandalei earlier. There's also the masked man and the magician from earlier. The room appears to be some sort of bar. I try to slow my breathing. I need to calm down. We need to escape. Dabi doesn't fail to notice me frantically looking around.
"Don't you fucking try anything again, suicide girl. I bought you here but I will kill you if you try any shit," Dabi says lowly. I side eye him, staying still.
"Got that the first time," I muster, lifting my chin so he sees the burns that I can feel blistering on my neck.
"Twice, restrain Bakugo. I'm not letting go of her until he's unable to fight," Dabi instructs.
"Who made you boss?" The masked man, who is assumably Twice, asked.
"I've got the bargaining power, I'm the boss." He said. Twice shrugged but did as he was told. The villains belted Bakugo into a wooden chair. They cuffed his hands in such a way that his explosions wouldn't be viable.
Once Bakugo is restrained, Dabi pushed me to the floor next to his chair. He grabs a belt, strapping my hands behind my back.
"You're on thin ice. I bought you here because I think the boss might like you and evidently you're useful for controlling him," he says, gesturing at Bakugo. I feel guilt, shame and fear ripple in me. "But seriously, don't think we won't kill you if you try anything with that quirk of yours. I want to be able to see you at all times, got it?"
"Yes," I reply. He ensures the straps are fastened and that I can't slip out. I sit cross legged next to Bakugos chair. Bakugo peers down at me. He looks furious. I avert my gaze. I take several deep breaths, trying to settle my body's panic response.
"I was meaning to ask, do you know this girl, Dabi? Is she someone special to you?" Toga asks watching me carefully. She seems pleased that I'm here.
"We've met, haven't we suicide girl?" Dabi asks, crouching down to look at me. He grabs my chin, forcing it up to get a better look at my neck. I wince as the skin pulls against the burns.
"Back off," Bakugo growls. Dabi ignores him, staring at me awaiting my answer. I keep focusing on my breathing.
"No," I lie, looking him in the eye. Bakugo pulls against his restraints.
"That's a lie. Tell the truth. Tell them and your friend about how you're not the good girl your heroics school thinks you are," Dabi demands. He lets go of my chin. I wince. My neck really stings. His eyes bore into me. It's like he's staring into my soul.
"... fine... Yes we've met," I admitted. I couldn't bring myself to look at Bakugo. "I didn't know you were associated with the league of villains."
Dabi stood up, turning to face the room. Toga looks delighted.
"How does that make you feel Bakugo-kun? To know your classmates is a traitor," she asks. I feel my breathing quicken. I can't form the words to deny her. Bakugo pulls against his restraints.
"Shut the fuck up, blondie," he growls. I look up him. He's clearly angry.
"Bakugo-kun... I-I'm not a..." I stutter.
"I don't fucking care, Nakashima-chan," he says. He doesn't care what I have to say? My eyes sting. I've lost his trust so quickly. I suppose I shouldn't blame him. He's just found out I've had this apparent connection with the league of villains. I feel tears breach.
Toga skips over to me. She crouches down, pulling my head into her chest. She pats my head. Despite the comforting action, my heart races in fear.
"You're really mean Bakugo-kun. Is that really how you treat your friends?" she murmurs. My body goes back to trembling. I start to get dizzy. I try to slow my breathing. I need to stay with it. She lifts off me.
"That's not it, bitch. You can fuck off with that 'traitor' shit. I already know what Nakashima-chan is like," he growls. My breath catches in my throat. I look up Bakugo. Is it that simple for him?
Dabi stares at him surprised. The lizard man scoffs.
"You're amazing, Bakugo-kun," I say quietly, repeating words I've already said to him once before. In spite of the horrible situation we're in, I muster a smile. My breathing calms.
—-
I'm not sure how many hours passed. Bakugo and I learnt that they seemed to be waiting for their boss to arrive. I learnt this was Shigaraki, the villain that had attacked Midoriya in the mall. The one with the quirk that disintegrates whatever he touches. Members of the league rotate in and out of the room, keeping a close eye on us. Bakugo and I spoke rarely during this time.
Currently the villain Twice was watching us. Although a villain, I found Twice acted almost goofily. He was clearly unhinged but I found him a little less intimidating than the others.
My wrists ache from the restraints as does my neck from the burn. My stomach growls. It's been a while since I've eaten. I hadn't much to eat at our dinner so I was famished. I look up at Twice who's hanging out behind the bar.
"Yo, dude. Do you have any food?" I ask. Bakugo looks at me incredulously. Twice considers my question for a few moments.
"Ahh, this is a bar. We might have some peanuts or something behind here," he crouches down, opening cupboards. I hear a crinkle as he gets his hands on some sort of package. He stands up and tosses it on the floor in front of me. I frown at him.
"I don't suppose you can take these cuffs of can you?" I ask, laughing dryly. Twice considers the request for a few moments before pointing at me accusingly.
"Come on, girl. Don't think you can trick me into letting you go," I stare at him shocked. Escaping hadn't been my intention.
"Ah... you're too clever for me," I reply sarcastically. Twice walks over to me. He sits on the floor in front of me and tears open the packet.
"How about this, you tell me more about how you know Dabi and I'll feed you," he offers. I hear the jangle of Bakugos restraints. I look up at him, wondering what he'd think. He glares at me.
"Just tell him. I already told you I don't care. You want to fucking eat don't you?" he murmured. I noticed his exhausted he looked. I turned back to Twice who was watching me expectantly. I guess it's okay so long as Bakugo doesn't care right? I relent.
"I was dealing. I was on top of an apartment block and cops showed up. I jumped down into an alley and he was there," I explain. Twice reached into the packet. He withdraws a couple of bar nuts. I opened my mouth so he could feed me.
"Dealing? As in drug dealing? What's a UA student doing getting mixed up in that?" Twice asks. I munch on the bar nuts. They're hardly satisfying.
"I needed the money," I say. Twice feeds me a few more.
"Yeah but you're missing my point. UA's an elite school isn't it? Why would you need money?" He asks. I swallow.
"I might go to an elite school but I'm fucking dirt poor, dude. My Oka-san's dead and I never knew my father. I've gotta fend for myself," I reply. He feeds me more bar nuts. Bakugo shifts. I look up at him and see him scowling as he learns loosely of my history.
"So what, Dabi killed the cops for you?" Twice asked. I shake my head.
"Nah. When I think back about it I think he was going to. I kind of took control of the situation. Ahh, my quirks presence manipulation so I was able to hide us from the cops," I explain. Twice feeds me the last of the nuts.
"Nakashima..." Bakugo growled. I rolled my eyes.
"It doesn't make a difference if he knows, Bakugo-kun. Our quirks are known to the world anyway," I say.
At that moment the door to the room swings open. It's the Lizard man. He has a rope in hand. He steps into the room towards Bakugo. He checks the restraints are tight.
"Twice, we gotta go. We'll need to leave the kids alone for a bit," he says. He crouches next to me. "I'm tying your legs while we're out. Don't think about trying to escape."
He wraps the rope around my ankles. He ties it tightly. Soon him and Twice are gone and it's just me and Bakugo alone for the first time since we got here. The silence is suffocating. I look up at the explosive teenager who is acting very subdued. I looks to his cuffed hands.
"How are your hands?" I ask softly.
"Fucking sore and sweaty," he replies. I smile, at least he wasn't ignoring me.
"Are you tired?" I ask. I awkwardly scoot closer to him. I'm slow without being able to fully move my arms and legs.
"No. What are you doing?" He asks. I rotate myself so I'm leaning back against the side of his chair, my head against his thigh. I look up at his face, his expression looks uncharacteristically soft.
"Resting. Is this okay?" I ask.
"Whatever," he huffs. I stay leaning against him, looking at the wall in front of me. Now that there are no villains with us I let myself relax a bit. However in doing so a wave of emotions run over me.
I'm painfully aware that I'm baggage to Bakugo at the moment. I'm not strong in direct combat. They can also use my life as a bargaining tool. If he was by himself he could have exploded them the moment he got in here. I feel Bakugo shift.
"Stop worrying. I'll fucking kill these assholes as soon as I get these restraints off," Bakugo growls. I looked up at his now scowling expression. "So stop pulling that weak face, got it?"
"Sorry," I reply. I don't think he was satisfied with my response. He elbowed me in the head.
"Bakugo-kun! Chill the fuck out," I say harshly. I begin to move away from him.
"You can stay where you are. Just fucking trust me. I'll get us out of here," he growls. The way he speaks is harsh but as I've realised recently I think he's just not good at showing when he's trying to be nice. I lean my head back against his thigh. It's warm.
"I'll put my faith in you then. But if..." I reply softly. I start to say more but I stop.
"But what?" He asks annoyed. We make eye contact briefly but I avert my gaze.
"If an opportunity for you to escape by yourself arises you should take it," I reply. My heart feels heavy. Bakugo's restraints jangle.
"I'm not leaving you with that scar faced shit rag," he growled. He starts straining against his restraints, trying to break free. I lean forward again, getting my head out of elbowing distance. He grunts, getting nowhere. I clench my jaw.
"Stop Bakugo-kun. You'll hurt yourself," I say. He stops straining and takes a moment to catch his breath.
"I'm strong and I'm gonna fucking prove it by getting us both out of here," he replies gruffly.
"Okay," I reply. I'm pathetic. Bakugo's resolve is amazing. I still can't compare to him.
"If you wanna lean back on me and fucking sleep or something it's fine. I'm not sleeping so I'll wake you up if something happens," he says quietly.
"Are you sure? You don't wanna sleep?" I ask, leaning back against him.
"No," he says curtly. I manage to smile at him.
"Thank you. You're a good person, you know?" I say, closing my eyes.
"Tch, whatever," he replies.