The raid had begun and honestly… it could have gone a lot smoother.
Their carefully planned out groups assigned by Sir. Nighteye had been accounted for by the Shie Hassaikai therefore leaving them split across the compound, he hadn't seen Shouta or Zuku, or any of his classmates for that matter, since the corridors started freaking out, and he wasn't even sure if they were still on Plan A.
But none of that mattered because he'd been given a task that he was incredibly thankful to have been assigned.
Locate Eri.
From the schematics of the building supplied to them by the commission he had been briefed that the basement was probably his best bet for locating the laboratory and therefore the room in which they were holding the young girl. Getting down there however proved a little more difficult than he had initially anticipated with up being down and down being up thanks to the skewed walls surrounding him but he'd eventually found the staircase behind a bookcase.
The basement, as he discovered, consisted of a long corridor of doors, which he found to be very reminiscent of the facility. The place was barely lit and bitterly cold with a heavy draft breezing in from somewhere despite being so far beneath ground level.
One door in particular stood out to him though.
Pushing it open the heavy iron clunked revealing yet more familiar surroundings.
Making his way inside he heard a whimper and it didn't take him long to spot Eri hiding behind the bed trying to make herself invisible.
"Hi…" He spoke up softly as he slowly approached the bed, kneeling down beside it while purposely being sure to maintain a gap between them. "I'm Hitoshi; we met when my friends and I were out on patrol, remember?"
She nodded nervously.
Hitoshi offered her a soft smile but her eyes were focused on something else.
Eri held out her arms, which confused him at first until he realised she was showing him the scars on them which only made him want to kill every single one of the monsters in the place even more. She then pointed to his own collection before her hand came towards the deep scar on his cheek which stretched up over his eye, hovering there as if scared she would hurt him.
"Are… did they hurt you too?"
He sighed.
"Not the same people but yes, that's why we're going to get you out of here, okay?"
Hitoshi noticed the cat plush sat on the bed and picked it up, handing it to the young girl.
"What's their name?"
"Meow."
"That's a great name." He smiled. "My parents have two cats; their names are Jelly and Cream."
"Really?" Her eyes glistened.
Hitoshi nodded.
"I'm going to pick you up, is that okay?"
She hesitated for a few seconds before nodding and holding her arms out.
He carefully scooped the young girl up and secured her against his chest, holding her tight.
"No one's going to hurt you anymore, okay? I promise."
After that, things only went from bad to worse.
He'd tried asking Zuku what had happened to Shouta but his cousin had nothing more to offer than, 'he pushed me out the way of that girl' which didn't give him much to go on, the others hadn't seen him either which was definitely a worry; he hadn't seen Fat Gum, Kirishima, or the girls in a while either.
Sir. Nighteye and Mirio-senpai were busy fighting Overhaul and one of his gang members when he'd arrived with Zuku.
"Mindjack, get the girl out of here!" Sir ordered.
"I don't think so." Overhaul grinned maliciously.
Something was wrong.
And then there was the sound of a gun firing and everything seemed to go into slow motion.
It was aimed at him.
No. Eri.
They were trying to take her quirk with those bullets they used on Tamaki-senpai.
He had to think.
Turn and take the round instead of her.
Just as he began to turn the smiling face of Mirio-senpai came into view before the big three member dropped like a stone to the concrete beneath them, the red dart stuck in the back of his costume.
"LEMILLION!" Screamed both Sir and Zuku.
Hitoshi's eyes widened as he gasped.
"You need… to get her out of here." Mirio-senpai stated, his expression firm. "NOW!"
But 'out of here' was the opposite side of the room and there was no way back the way he came thanks to the debris pile up where the ceiling had collapsed. He still had to get there though, Mirio-senpai had already given so much, the least he could do was run across a battlefield to save the reason they were in the compound in the first place.
And so he took off running, knowing immediately that the Shie Hassaikai boss was tracking his every move. He didn't pursue him though, apparently he had other ideas.
Hitoshi could only watch as Overhaul headed for Mirio-senpai who was trying his hardest to push himself to his feet despite the extensive damage he'd amassed during the conflict so far and losing his quirk.
Zuku was sprinting over too but not fast enough.
Mirio-senpai's eyes were fixed on his.
"Save Eri!"
The young girl looked terrified as he held that little bit tighter.
And then…
Sir. Nighteye took the blow instead.
Hitoshi's eyes widened as he heard Eri cry out. He placed his hand on the side of her head and turned her against his chest.
She didn't need to see.
Not the blood.
She'd already seen too much blood.
Too much horror.
He could barely catch a breath as he struggled to pull his eyes away from the sight of Sir with a hole in his chest bleeding out on the floor. It couldn't be real.
But Overhaul was still out for blood.
Zuku was next to launch an attack managing to knock the yakuza scumbag a fair distance away from their injured boss and quirkless senpai but Hitoshi doubted what his cousin would be able to achieve against such an opponent as Overhaul.
And what scared him the most was he was about to find out.
"You little brat!"
Hitoshi was practically hyperventilating as he continued to wade through the rubble towards the far corridor, his mind alight with scenarios, each more bloody and horrific than the last.
He heard Zuku cry out as his cheek was sliced.
"Stop it…"
His shaking breaths turned to a growl.
"I said STOP IT!" He bellowed, his voice echoing across the entire battlefield before…
Everyone froze.
"Gah!"
Hitoshi cried out, barely managing to keep himself on his feet and Eri in his arms as white hot pain skewered through his brain.
What the fuck?!
But he didn't have time to question it he needed help. They needed Shouta's quirk to take down Overhaul.
Eri was staring up at him with an expression he could only imagine he was mirroring himself. He tried to smile but just couldn't.
Finally reaching the staircase he took the steps two at a time, apologising to his small passenger for the bumpy ride before they reached another corridor, one which he hadn't yet been to. It was silent enough where he could hear a soft voice from behind one of the doors as well as a groan of pain.
Shouta.
Hitoshi placed Eri down.
"Stay here, and if I don't come out of here in five minutes I want you to run and hide, we'll find you again and get you to safety."
"But what about the people upstairs?"
"We're going to save them too, okay?"
She nodded.
"Okay."
He suppressed his own pained groan as his head felt as if he was giving himself a haemorrhage. Reaching out for the door handle he took a breath before throwing open the door, the sight before him enraging him in seconds as he threw out his capture weapon and wrestled the cloaked bastard to the ground, sending an elbow to knock him out.
Dad was sprawled out on the floor with a blindfold over his eyes, his movements seemed slow.
Had they given him something?
"Eraserhead!"
He rushed to remove the blindfold before helping his father upright, guiding him to lean against the wall.
"Mindjack, what's wrong with your breathing, are you hurt?"
Hitoshi grunted as a thick trickle of blood poured from his nose.
"Tell everyone I'm sorry, I didn't know... I could do that." He quipped as his eyes rolled back and the darkness took over.
