Upon hearing the abrupt noise, Kirishima immediately began yanking his skates off. The initial scream eventually became multiple echoes across the rink. Red Riot ran over to the shoe counter and demanded his and Kotomi's shoes before he hurriedly tugged his on. Kotomi had also taken her skates off and when Kirishima returned, he ushered her to replace them with her slip ons. He glanced around the building, looking for Uraraka and Mina amidst the chaos. Unable to spot them, he cursed and looked to Kotomi.
"Do you know what's going on, Kirishima?" Kotomi asked. He shook his head. "I have no clue yet, but we need to get out of here. I'm gonna carry you." She squeaked in defiance. He'd carried her once before and knew that her weight, even if she was on the fluffy, wouldn't be an issue - but still, she didn't want to hold him back from anything.
"No, I'll just get in the way! You're a hero, you need to figure out what's happening!" The two, both now standing, were locked in a momentary silent argument. The crowds around them began pushing toward the exit doors.
"Consider it an up close journalistic experience if you want, but I'm not leaving you in the middle of this," he demanded, kneeling down to offer his back to her. She angrily huffed and hopped on, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. He held her in place and started making his way to the exit.
"HEY! Everything's okay, I'm Red Riot!" The crowd turned from all directions to the tall man as his voice boomed through the place. "Please don't panic! I'm gonna figure out what's happening!" Some people complied to Red's request and made a small trail for him to travel through. Kotomi looked over his shoulder toward the exit. "I haven't seen Uraraka or Mina yet, but I'll tell you if I do."
"Thanks, Tomi, I'm counting on you," he replied. His voice had long shifted to one of a serious air. His voice was normally so light-hearted and homely. This was the opposite. It was sharp and cold and sounded like bent metal. The night sky was ablaze with flames in the distance.
"Damn... things have been a mess around here lately," Kirishima growled. "I'm not going to drag you into the fight, but I need to find out what's going on and where so hold tight."
"Okay, Red," Kotomi said, tightening her hold on him. He burst into a sprint toward the rising flames. Citizens were running in all directions, scattering like roaches exposed to sudden light. If Kotomi hadn't been keeping her mental barrier up, she would hear insanity flood into her mind like water from a bursting dam. The migraine was only threatening to set in, but she knew it would be intense later on. Kirishima hung a corner and quickly found where the flames were coming from. A multi-car pileup clogged the whole block and some had exploded. This was, by no means, a normal accident.
"Tomi, you need to find somewhere to run and keep yourself safe," Kirishima said, leaning down to let her slide off his back. She didn't, though, and held on tighter than before in protest."C'mon, I know you're probably scared, but I have to help! I'll find you after!"
"No! I can help!" She squeaked in response. He stood but faltered, turning back to look at her in absolute confusion. "Just trust me. Now, pay attention, you've got someone coming up from your left side."
"Wha?" Before he had time to press for answers, he turned and found the claim to be true. It wasn't anyone he'd seen before. By the body build, he assumed them to be possibly be male presenting. They wore a twilight dark body suit with holes for the eyes. The assailant flew through the air, fists at the ready, one sculpted leg ahead of him in attempt to land his kick. Red blocked it with a hardened arm.
"Right jab!"
Again confused, he listened and watched as, in the next second, the villain put his all in twisting his body to throw a right hook. Blocking it again, Kirishima shoved him away to place distance between them. The suited man stepped back into the shadow, running for cover away from the firelight with Kirishima and Kotomi in hot pursuit. After rounding a corner, Kirishima looked around frantically for the attacker. "W-where did he go?!" There was silence. Kotomi concentrated, sorting through all of the voices floating around. "Shit, below you! Move, Red!" At the last possible second, Red Riot ducked out of the way, rolling into nearby dim lamplight, accidentally taking Kotomi for a tumble along with him.
"You okay?"
"Don't worry about me. This guy has a quirk that lets him move in shadows. Your best bet is to drag his ass back out into the light."
"Tomi... do you have Foresight? I didn't even know you had a quirk!"
"No, but don't talk about it too loudly, dummy! We're in the middle of something here!" She yelled, knocking him on the head. "We can talk about it later!" Red laughed before steadying himself for combat once more. Returning his gaze to the villain, he watched as the man seemingly melted into darkness on the ground. Knowing what to do this time, he ran in the direction that they had come from toward the light of the fires.
"I can't tell exactly where he is, but he's going to try grabbing your foo-"
Thwomp. Kirishima fell face first onto the ground, sending Kotomi flying over him. Looking back, she saw the villian's hand reaching from the shadow, gripping his ankle with an iron grip. Damn. She looked around, hoping to find something to use as a weapon but it led to no avail outside of a umbrella that had been dumped next to a water drain due to its torn plastic. She grabbed it, thinking it would be better than nothing should she need to smack a bitch. The pointed design could prove useful to defend herself, too. Kirishima kicked at the hand while grabbing at the ground, trying to get some traction. The hand was pulling him languidly toward a nearby darker alley. Kotomi couldn't tell if the man knew her location, but she decided to bite the bullet anyways, get a running start, and stomp on the and stab the wrist attached to the hand. It released Red quickly and disappeared underground. Kotomi pulled the hero up onto his feel quickly and grabbed his hand, yanking him away.
"He probably won't be that passive next time," she said. "The sooner we get to light, the more fair of a fight it'll be." Rounding the same corner they'd passed not long ago, they found light at the pileup once more. They also found roughly six more near carbon copies of the same being fighting other heroes in the surrounding area, slowly being edged to the darkness in the throes of battle. Kirishima growled and hopped on top of a crashed car. "Don't let them drag you into the shadows! Fight them in the light!" He bellowed.
"That should help... what's the strategy here?" Kotomi asked. He shook his head, still looking around. "We need to find Uraraka and Mina, ideally, but it looks like we're getting a lesson in improvisation. Just try not to get hurt, okay? I can fend for myself here." Kotomi nodded, watching Red run off to help another hero as she walked over to a nearby building. She felt so out of place. This was a realm of society that she never wanted to be part of. Was it because she just didn't want to be a hero? Perhaps. But the sheer, heart-shattering feelings of inadequacy prevailed over everything else. It was much easier to sit on the sideline and jot notes down about what happened from afar. This was the standard Kotomi lived by, and she was typically content with it. But standing there at that moment admittedly made her reconsider, if only to help Kirishima.
"Quietly... reach..." As the words popped into mind, Kotomi could see the edges of fingers in her peripherals reaching from behind her, angled to grip her neck. Something in her snapped - she had been terrified but she somehow grasped her mettle. Adrenaline raced through her veins. She ducked and shoved the rusty umbrella up and backward as hard as she could. She felt a warm liquid drop down onto her cheek. Eyes wide, she realized that the pointed spire of the top of the old umbrella had pierced straight through the jugular of the foreign man. His body began to collapse down on her. She shoved him off, the object still sticking straight up from his neck. She watched him for a moment, the feeling of shock drying out her throat. His ragged breathing eventually stopped. She kicked him, and when there was no movement, she yanked the umbrella from the corpse. Looking behind her, she noticed the door of the building he'd come from, which was slightly ajar. It was a cracked maw leading to sheer blackness. She raised a trembling hand and quickly pulled it shut. Returning to the body, Kotomi ripped the dark bodysuit open from the newly torn hole to expose the person's identity. He looked like a normal person. Sweaty brown hair, freckles, crooked teeth. She stepped back and fought the urge to cry.
"Tomi!" The girl's head snapped up to find Uraraka running to her side. "Are you okay? This is craziness!" When Kotomi didn't respond, Uraraka looked down and when her gaze landed on the villain, her face fell.
"I'll move him to forensics. You should come with me, Tomi," she said and stuck her hand out toward the bloodied umbrella. Kotomi slowly shook her head. "I'm okay." Uraraka couldn't help but watch as she walked away, unsure of whether to stop her or to encourage her to help in the fight. Instead, she turned to the body and silently used her quirk to move the fallen man.
The chaos had begun to die down. It was clear that some of the villains had been captured or otherwise neutralized. Buildings and cars burned all around. Kotomi was still in slight shock, but she forced herself to move and to move quickly while the adrenaline lasted. In the distance, she could see Kirishima fighting another one of the bodysuit-clad figures. She broke into a light jog toward him, trying to think of a strategy. The light in the area was quickly dying as the blazing fires were slowly put out by first responders. Time was running out. There was no telling what would happen in darkness only touched by the moon's light under the influence of these criminals. Once in range, skirting the very edge of the fight, Kotomi observed the thoughts of both of the men, which were constantly changing and working to best the other. They eventually separated themselves by a distance. Taking advantage of the moment, Kotomi reared the umbrella back, focusing as well as she could on her target in the dim light, and threw it, letting it soar from her grasp. It wasn't the hardest throw, but the tattered makeshift weapon shot through the air, missing the unknown man's head by only a few inches.
Shit.
Both the villain and Kirishima looked over, confused by what just occurred. Within a second, the assailant disappeared from view, sinking into the shadows. Kirishima began running over to his unlikely comrade. He watched as Kotomi's expression shifted suddenly: she blocked her torso with her arms a second before being knocked away by an attack from the shadow man. She stumbled and fell onto her back, and in an instant, he was sat on top of her propped by his knees, landing blows to her stomach, arms, and head over and over again. She was overwhelmed and highly untrained.
"Get the fuck off, you freak!" She growled between blows. The only response that came was a dark, deep, antagonizing laugh. Starting to find a rhythm both to the barrage and his thoughts, she managed to block two jabs and find a burst of strength hidden somewhere deep in her gut to sock the man in the mouth with all the might she could muster. He staggered back a bit in recoil and went to slip into the shadows, seeing Kirishima in close vicinity. As he shifted, Kotomi gripped him around his lower stomach, holding him in place. Kirishima took the opportunity to harden one fist and punch the attacker in the cheek with full force. Timing it as well as possible, Kotomi released the man and watched him violently tumble away. Kirishima ran over to restrain him. He was unconscious, which was good for enemy recon. Kotomi released a deep breath that she didn't know she was holding in and fell onto her back again. Her cheeks and face were bruised and cut up. Nothing too awful but still substantial. More importantly, nothing felt broken, which was what she was most worried about. She really didn't want to deal with that again.
"Tomi! Are you okay?" Having finally passed the man off onto the police, Kirishima ran over to the girl and knelt next to her. His eyes scanned her face, searching for any symptoms of symptoms injuries. She looked at him and smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm all right. I don't need a hospital but some extra strength Advil would be great." She said it as a joke, but he watched her with serious eyes.
"You could have gotten killed, you know that?"
"I know. I swore I'd never do hero work when I was a younger, but I guess you kinda inspired me." Kirishima helped the woman up to her feet and offered his back to her, which she happily found her place on once more. She wrapped herself around him and laid her head on one of his shoulders.
"You were pretty badass back there for not being a hero," Kirishima finally piped up. She laughed a little. "Thanks, Kirishima. It was a one-time thing. Sorry if I freaked you out."
"Hah, don't be, it was a good surprise. Couldn't help but think you were trying to show me out though." She blushed and raised her head to glare at him. "Very funny but no, silly. I was just trying to stay alive and be useful." Kirishima laughed.
"I think ya did good." She smiled at this and looked off into the distance. Everything seemed to be wrapping up. The dark of the city night hung over the bustle of police and heroes, itself ultimately silent. The shock from earlier events hadn't fully wore off, and there was a sense of numbness Kotomi felt would take a while to shake off. Besides that unease, though, she felt happy.
"This is nice." The way his thought rang out in his voice sounded like heated velvet in her head. She propped her chin on his skin, wishing she could bottle the feeling up for relief on bad days.
"Thanks for hanging out with me, Mina, and Uraraka tonight. Even if it turned out... well, like this." He looked back at her and grinned, tightening his grips on her legs around his waist. "It wouldn't be manly of me to skip out on my friends like that. Besides, I jumped on the chance of meeting you for real. It's different when you're pulling rubble off of somebody." She hid her face in his back and let a belly laugh slip from her. "I jumped at the chance to meet you, too, Kirishima."
"Hey, I'm glad. Do me a favor though. Call me Eijiro." She blushed and nodded her head against his skin.
Once the mess in the city was cleaned up, it was the police force's turn to get to work. They pulled Kotomi to the side and questioned her separately from everyone else. Needless to say, they were wary of her countenance. Why would someone with a quirk so effective not be a hero? It seemed for a while that there was sentiment of believing that she could have been part of the criminal rebellion. However, the explanations by Mina, Uraraka, and Eijiro helped clear up the confusion. A hero agency representative approached her at some point during the bustle to ask if she would take on an internship, but Kotomi denied the offer as politely as she could. They seemed shocked by her response but accepted it regardless before wishing her a good night and leaving. After all was said and done, the statements were finalized and Kotomi found her friends waiting for her.
"Oh, Tomi, you poor thing! Are you okay?" Uraraka asked, distressed. The blonde nodded and rubbed her sore cheek. "Guess you guys didn't keep me from getting hurt after all, huh?" The three surrounding her grew quiet. Mina pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, oh my god, I was the one that said it was our duty and I never even managed to find you guys!"
"Hey, I'm just kidding! I'm okay!" She returned the hug. When Mina pulled away, small crystal clear tears pricked the sides of her eyes. "You can't do that again without telling me you're planning to fight back, okay? I was scared!" Kotomi felt how badly her joke flopped. She squeezed Mina's hand and smiled. "I promise I won't do that again. Don't worry." Mina sniffed and blinked her tears away.
"Thank you..." The four started walking down the road, away from the forgotten skate center. Kotomi could feel the migraine pulsing in her head. Mina and Uraraka walked together talking about something or another, followed by Kotomi and then Eijiro. The journalist glanced back to him and shot him a smile. "You okay, Eijiro?" She assumed it was the use of his first name that flustered him, but then again, it seemed as though it had already been present. The blush dusting his cheeks was undeniable. "Yeah, 'course. Just tired. Can I see your phone though?" Kotomi forgot she'd even had it with her. She retrieved it from her pocket and handed it to him.
"Did yours get broken?"
"Nope." He tapped the screen a handful of times, handed it back to her, and then picked up his pace to match the girls ahead. "Hey, I'm gonna catch the train down this road. It's not very manly of me to let you guys go by yourselves, but I've got work early in the morning, so be careful, okay? I'll catch you guys later!" Kotomi, confused, looked down to her phone to see a new contact added.
Eijiro (text me sometime!).
The redhead waved to the three girls, and Uraraka and Mina waved back. Kotomi watched him and placed her hand over her chest, still grasping her phone. They smiled at each other for a moment until he turned and began walking down the sideroad. Finally turning forward again, Kotomi felt her heart fluttering at his boldness. She decided she'd text him soon. Suddenly feeling eyes on her, her gaze flew up to find Uraraka and Mina staring at her and giggling.
"What're you guys laughing at, huh?" She demanded. She'd intended for the question to be more forceful but it sounded quiet and vulnerable. Uraraka crossed her arms and turned away. "Oh... nothing, Tomi."
"What'd he do with your phone?" Mina mischievously asked. Kotomi flailed her free arm and tucked the phone in her pocket. "He gave me his number for interview purposes!"
"Of course, interview purposes." The friends chided, giggling again.
Kotomi rolled her eyes and laughed. "Gimme a break, guys..."
Uraraka parted ways with the Alien Queen and Kotomi not long afterward. She happily asked to exchange numbers with the new party, who agreed with a matched attitude. They bid one another farewell, and Mina and Kotomi headed toward home after a long, long evening. It was pushing midnight, and the pair was exhausted. As they sat on the train, they chatted idly about various things, and Mina insisted on her friend staying another night. As they began talking about the hero's schedule for the next day, Kotomi's phone began to buzz. Odd, it couldn't have been Uraraka, unless there was another emergency. Pulling her phone into view, Kari's name illuminated the screen. Immediately, Kotomi answered, not realizing she'd cut her friend off.
"Hello?"
"So, are you just never gonna come back home then or what?" Kari's voice flared in anger. The elder sister recoiled a bit. "I will, I'm just taking some time to myself, Kari."
"Oh, that must be nice," she spat, "I don't know why I even called. Just forget it."
"Het, Kari, wait. Why have you been so angry lately? I never meant to make you upset."
"I just don't get why you can't be part of the family. We used to be best friends, and now I'm just alone all of the time. You don't even care?"
"Well... it's a little complicated, but I can explain it to you if you'd like."
"If it's not an excuse, sure." Kotomi had no idea when her cherubic sibling had become so volatile. For months, the only interactions they'd had slowly began to grow to be full of anger and misunderstanding. At the age of seventeen, there was a decent age gap between the two, but from the moment Kari had been brought into the family home, her older sister had loved her more than anything in the world. The disconnect raging between them was heartbreaking.
"Look, Kari... I don't know what Mom and Dad have said, but the only reason I've been staying to myself lately is because they're always upset with me for not wanting to use my quirk."
"And why are you so against using it?"
"It gives me migraines, and I don't really enjoy hearing everything every person around me thinks at every second, okay?"
"That's funny. I thought you'd say that. Good fight earlier, then. Guess you didn't see all the media vans." This gave Kotomi pause. She'd never even noticed any media or helicopters or anything in the chaos of the night, but they had to be there if Kari knew what had happened. "Okay, I get why you're upset, but that was different -"
"Why?"
"Because I was trying to help a friend, Kari! Can you please get off the warpath?" Silence ensued. She could imagine the icy blue flames of rage churning in her younger sibling's eyes. She could be cold and poisonous when she wanted to: a trait picked up from their father.
"You can use your quirk to help your friend but not your family?"
Beep. Kotomi pulled the phone from her ear hesitantly to confirm that the call had been ended. She placed it back in her pocket and stared ahead. That numb feeling she'd pushed away earlier began to creep back up while she considered if her efforts had actually been worth it. Evil or not, someone had died. The media was there for the fight. And now, Kari was on the track of never talking to her again. She weighed the values she'd grown to adopted over time and contemplated if her stance had been skewed her whole life or if she went wrong somewhere. The cycle flowed round and round but never landed on a single resolution. The train chugged along, and Mina looked to her friend every now and then out of concern. She wanted to ask if she was okay, but she knew the Kotomi was not one to talk about her sister, or really, her family in general. Instead of stirring the thick stillness, she let it persist, knowing that something would be said if she ever felt ready.