Horizon: Cross-posting from my AO3 account. This story's based off a stress dream I had :)
The world was a hazy expanse of gray. A seemingly permanent fog hanging in the air and leaving everything looking so dismal that it seemed to drain almost all of the hope out of her. She had to find him, though. Had to know that he was okay.
The idea that he might be dead had crossed her mind a number of times since the cataclysmic event that'd sent the world spiraling into this post-apocalyptic nightmare. So many lives already lost and the survivors…were vicious. She shuddered as she thought of the last time she encountered a group of them. They'd been killing a lone wanderer and robbing them.
Lone wanderer. That's what she'd been reduced to. Once a proud hero with a small agency and now she was left all alone in the world. Her sidekicks had died as the agency building crumbled and she'd been buried among the wreckage with a few injuries. When she tried to find her family, she found they'd suffered a similar fate. Now all she had was that little shred of hope.
He had to be okay. He was a much stronger hero than she was and she knew he was capable of taking some damage. She'd seen it when their agencies teamed up to take down some villains. If anyone could survive that event, it'd be him. The real issue would be how he'd survive the aftermath.
Those unlucky enough to survive the initial event were left with a plethora of other horrible potential fates. The food shortage brought with it starvation and dehydration. People sometimes got sick and perished because they couldn't get treatment. Injuries always carried the possibility of infection and death. Not to mention the aggressive behavior of other survivors.
Scavengers. Foragers. Hunters. Humanity reduced to base instincts and needs; food, water, sleep. She'd been wandering by herself for long enough to have picked up the skills needed to survive. She just didn't want to be surviving alone.
Aoki Noa. Once a pro hero with a modest agency. Gifted with the quirk "orbit" where she was able to draw items or people to her and keep them suspended within a certain radius of her body. It used to be really helpful when she was a hero, but now her strength and stamina were reduced due to hunger. At best, she could make supplies float around her for a while.
She emerged from the little den she'd made in the side of an abandoned building. Basically a hole that led into a small space just big enough for her to curl up in with her bag. More or less a place to sleep and stay hidden from other people until morning.
Glancing around, she could feel goose bumps rising on her skin beneath her clothes. Aoki turned her head and her bright blue eyes fell on the figure in the distance, obscured by the thick fog. They were in a crouched position, or maybe they were sitting, but they stood when they saw her stand up.
It wasn't the first time she'd been followed. In fact, it happened a lot right after the catastrophe. People saw her, saw that she was a woman and saw how delicate she looked, and they decided she'd be an easy target. For killing, for stealing from, for doing who knows what to her. Aoki had gotten really good at escaping pretty quickly after the apocalypse.
As they stood, they brushed excess dust off their long, tattered coat and gave her a nod. It was difficult to make out their features through the fog, but they definitely nodded at her. They didn't move closer, though. Just stood there in the gray morning light, waiting for her to move first.
Aoki pulled up the hood on her jacket and kept her eyes on them as she started to walk. Moving past them and keeping her distance. She slipped into an alley and tried to ignore the racing of her heart as she heard their footsteps behind her. Not fast; they were matching her pace.
Behind her, he couldn't help but smile to himself. Really, it'd started to get lonely. Wandering this nightmarish gray world all alone with no one to keep him company! He didn't like that one bit. He wasn't the sort of person that could go without interaction for long periods of time and, honestly, she was rather cute.
She had shaggy, dark teal hair that hung to her shoulders and she was wearing faded, ripped jeans with a jacket that looked like it'd seen better days. The young woman was walking with a bit of a limp and she seemed a bit frail. He didn't have any doubts that she'd had it rough since the apocalypse, but her luck had changed when he spotted her a few days ago. He was going to do her the favor of making her his companion!
Sako Atsuhiro. Mr. Compress, as some knew him. A member of the League of Villains. A dark sheep that'd been separated from his dark flock in the chaos of the event! He'd managed to get by on his own ever since, but he was still searching for them. Once he was reunited with the rest of the League, he was sure that they'd be able to take control of this new, dreary world.
The footsteps didn't stop behind her. Aoki glanced over her shoulder and saw the figure still following her. Still matching her pace and tilting their head when they saw her look back. The gray haze was thick even in the alley so she couldn't get a proper look at their face. It was so fuzzy, so blurry.
Not knowing what they wanted, she decided to walk faster. Listening for them to break into a run, but just hearing them quicken their pace a little. She lowered her head and bit into the inside of her cheek. Hands curling in her pockets to form fists as she tried to come up with a plan, in case they attacked her.
She could use her quirk to draw debris to her and then hurl it at them, but that probably wouldn't do much to deter them if they really wanted to hurt her. Forming a protective barrier with the debris was an option, but there weren't many big pieces around her and her stamina wasn't great. She hadn't eaten in quite a while and she knew how weak she'd be if she tried to use her quirk to fight.
Her breathing got erratic and she put a hand to the wall beside her as she kept walking. Trying to tell herself to stay calm. If she could lose them in the fog, she should be safe. She just had to keep going and maybe she'd find somewhere to hide until they moved on.
Aoki got to the end of the alley and froze. She could hear voices off to her right. Turning around to flee wasn't an option; she could still hear those footsteps moving toward her. The only option was to turn left or go forward. Either one would draw attention to her, but it was unavoidable at this point.
She started forward and stayed on high alert. To her right, those voices were getting a little louder. Male voices that were talking among themselves about food until someone said the word "girl". She could clearly hear what they were saying now because they were shouting.
"Hey! What're you doing all by yourself, cutie?"
"She's ignoring you, dude!"
"Think you're too good for us? I don't know if you've noticed, but there aren't any heroes around anymore! Nobody's gonna help you if you make things ugly! Hey! Fucking look at us when we're talking to you!"
"What should we do? Wanna just grab her?"
"Yeah, might as well. Just hurry up."
Panic seized her heart and Aoki knew she had to run. In her moment of intense fear, she forgot about the figure behind her in the alley and she turned around. Moving as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in her right leg, Aoki tried to put some distance between herself and her attackers. She saw that blurry figure approaching her in the murky alley and darted around them.
It was a scary situation. Five, or maybe more, against one? The odds were not in her favor. She could feel tears pricking at the corners of her eyes and she pushed herself to break into a full on run. Multiple sets of footsteps pounding against the pavement behind her, telling her that they were chasing her now.
Through the gloomy haze, she could see the light of the street up ahead. She emerged out into the road and across to the other side, but she could hear the sound of someone approaching her quickly. Aoki didn't have much time to think; she used her quirk to lift chunks of debris around her and grabbed them to throw them at the man who was now charging at her.
He got struck in the shoulder and chest, but it only seemed to make him angrier. A fist collided with her cheek and sent her stumbling backwards. He grabbed the front of her jacket and got a few more punches in before he knocked her hood back. Swearing, he shoved her against the outer wall of the building behind her and glared down at Aoki.
"You really fucked up, you know that? We might've been all had a good time if you didn't ignore us. Now you're gonna pay." His right arm twitched and convulsed as it changed shape into a long chain that wound around her left arm.
Aoki was thrown into the street and hit the pavement hard. Pain exploded in her side when he stomped down on her and she couldn't help the scream that tore its way out of her. She felt the chain go around her ankle and she was thrown again. This time, she slammed into the side of a car and it was with enough force to make the metal dent beneath her weight.
The chain wrapped around her neck and he stood in front of her, still glaring at her as she clawed at the metal to try to free herself. Aoki could feel it tightening and she started to get light-headed. Her boots scuffed over the cement as she panicked and kicked, tried to push herself away from him as he got closer.
Her vision turned blurry as tears rolled down her reddening cheeks. Body beginning to convulse and her nails digging into her own neck as self-preservation set in. She had the overwhelming urge to cough, but she didn't have enough oxygen to do it. As the edges of her vision darkened, the pressure around her neck suddenly disappeared.
She gasped and coughed, trying to fill her lungs with air. Barely noticing the quiet "tink" of a greenish-blue marble hitting the pavement. Aoki wiped at her eyes and when she glanced up to see why he'd so abruptly stopped his attack, she pressed herself back tighter against the car.
Honestly, she'd hoped it might've been a fellow hero's intervention. Some romantic part of her brain even hoped it was him. Instead, she was met with a different sight. The silhouette was immediately recognizable as the man that'd followed her when she left her den, but now she was seeing him in detail.
Dark, gently curling that framed his face and ended at the back of his neck. Warm brown eyes that half-closed when they settled on her. He was wearing a tattered, dark yellow coat that had some noticeable blood stains on it and dusty white boots. His coat was open, revealing black pants and a black vest over an orange shirt. He had a set of black and white masks attached to his belt and these immediately drew her attention.
Those black and white masks. She'd seen them before and she immediately knew who this man was. Aoki was face to face with Mr. Compress from the League of Villains. This could be an even worse scenario than being caught by an aggressive civilian. She subconsciously pressed herself tighter against the side of the car when he crouched down in front of her and picked up the marble.
Sako tucked the marble away into his pocket before he set eyes on her again. She was even prettier up close. Those sky blue eyes, shimmering with tears. He didn't doubt that she was still scared after that man tried to strangle her. She was just so lucky that he was there to save her and he'd make sure she realized it.
"Oh dear. Your face. Let me…" He reached around in his vest until he got the right marble and decompressed a handkerchief from it. Sako very gently brought it her face to start wiping away the blood. At the same time, he was taking note of her injuries and planning how he'd deal with her attacker.
A bloody nose. The skin split above her left eyebrow. He knew she'd have some bruising on her cheek, too. Honestly, he was half-tempted to just crush the marble that held her assailant, but he knew he could think of something more creative if he was given time.
"Are you alright? I'm sorry I didn't catch him sooner. I was busy with his friends." Sako nodded toward the alley she'd emerged from. The alley that now held multiple marbles with multiple body parts in them. She wouldn't be able to see them or the blood that decorate the walls, though; not through this fog.
Aoki blinked away her tears, still kind of in shock after everything that'd just happened. Still processing the fact that this villain had actually saved her. Who knows what those men would've done to her if they caught her? And if they knew she was a hero…it definitely would've been worse.
"D-do you know who I am?" Her voice was hoarse. Throat dry from thirst. The last time she'd had water was over twelve hours.
He raised an eyebrow and a sheepish smile crept across his lips. "I don't, but I'd like to know." Standing, he took her hand and pulled her up with him. The man gave her a small bow and his smile started to grow. "Sako Atsuhiro, at your service. And you?"
So he didn't know who she was. He didn't know she was a hero. It wasn't that surprising, though; she wasn't very well-known at all. She gave him a respectful little bow. "Aoki. Aoki Noa." He didn't seem like he was going to hurt her; he actually seemed kind of concerned about her.
"Ah. Are you…traveling alone?" Aoki's eyes moved to his masks. She wanted to know what his intentions were. If the rest of the League was around, she'd need to make herself disappear.
"Hm? Oh! You recognize these?" Sako shook his head and continued to smile as he tried to put her at ease. "I was separated from the others when this whole mess started. I've been searching for them, but I haven't had any luck so far. It's been a solo mission, too."
He tucked away the handkerchief and let himself laugh just a bit. An easygoing chuckle meant to reassure her that he wasn't a threat. "Actually, it's been pretty lonely. Wandering this miserable abyss by myself. I spotted you this morning and saw that you were alone, too. I'd like to make a proposal."
Sako held out his right hand to her, keeping his metal left hand hidden away in his pocket. "I think it would be beneficial for both of us if we paired up. I can provide you with protection and you can provide me with some companionship. Honestly, I'd just be happy to have someone to talk to."
Aoki stared down at his red gloved hand and thought about his invitation. It didn't have to be permanent and he really did seem like he just craved the company of another person. It would be safer than continuing to wander alone. Not to mention that he might be able to help her find him.
She took his hand and nodded. "Then…just consider us a team."
His smile brightened more. "I promise that you won't regret this."