2 Days Earlier…
Niwa had known from the moment she had crashed against the empty floor of the bar, surrounded by multiple villains, that she was completely and utterly screwed.
Her eyes scanned the area while they all stood around the room, staring at her with surprise.
Yeah, even she was surprised at her stupidity. The pulsing adrenaline and her hyper-wired brain quickly realized just how far her stupidity reached.
"Oi…" Came the breathless tone of her friend.
Niwa's eyes shifted over to him the instant she heard his voice. Bakugou was staring down at her with eyes wide from disbelief. She scanned his body head to toe then back up again as she checked for injuries, she found none but her gaze lingered on the hand still wrapped around the back of Bakugou's neck.
"You managed to slip through the portal, even from that distance?" Mumbled the black-haired guy with a grip at her friend's neck, "Not bad."
Her eyes quickly darted around again. There were eight villains all gathered around in the room – a bar? – and Niwa immediately recognized the one who sat on a bar stool, Shigaraki Tomura lounged casually across the counter like a lazy, pampered cat.
While her brain was filtering information through her head at lightning speed, her thoughts rang even louder.
Fuckity, fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck. This was nuts. Absolute insanity. I could die here!
"You are…" The grey-haired, handsy bastard, caught her attention instantly. This was the guy she needed to not kill her the most, considering he had already tried to once… "Niwa, right?"
Shigaraki sat up from the stool and leaned forward, towering over her as she sat on the wooden floor of the bar. Niwa could do nothing to reply, only stare at the lead villain with her eyes trained for any and all movement. She hated how still the room was. She wanted someone to move, to engage her reflexes, and end the suffocating tension.
"Did you come to save your classmate?" Shigaraki drawled in a bored tone but his words contained simple emotions like amusement and disgust, "How admirable, aspiring hero. Putting yourself in danger to save someone you barely know. But, I guess that's just how your heroes train you. Abandoning everything, even your own families, just to rescue some random."
Niwa knew from the last brief encounter she had with this guy, Shigaraki liked to talk. It was how All Might had stalled for so long back at USJ. Just let the bastard keep talking.
"Wasn't she on our kill list? Along with the rest of the students?" Said the muscly-looking guy with the sunglasses.
Shigaraki scratched at his neck silently for a moment. Niwa assumed he was lost in thought, so she took the chance to glance around again. There was that warp-gate guy standing behind the bar with a white cloth in hand. A blonde girl in a middle school uniform swinging her legs from up on the bar top. Bakugou and the black-haired guy were standing off to her left, beside them was a reptile guy dressed like a bad cosplay of Stain and three other villains stood off at the other end of the room.
Now was not the time to act recklessly. She needed to be careful, extra careful. She needed to delicately weave the situation in her favor. She wasn't really suited for these things…
She really had no idea what was going on. Hell, if she was going to die then she might as well get something out of it. Even if she only managed to snap this bastard's neck, that would be more than enough.
Niwa's eyes flickered over to Bakugou.
He must have seen something in her expression, "Don't you fucking dare." He growled lowly but loud enough for the room to hear.
The villains in the room were instantly set on high alert and suddenly any chance of attacking was thrown off the tables. With eight of them, Niwa doubted she'd be able to reach their boss.
"What was that?" Shigaraki hummed, "Planning on attacking me?"
This guy, she knew he hated heroes. If that were the case, she'd appeal to his vindictive side.
"I was actually planning to kill you," Niwa spoke proudly.
Shigaraki chuckled darkly, "That isn't very heroic, you know? Heroes aren't allowed to kill."
Niwa remained quiet, she couldn't think of anything to help her in this situation, so she'd wait for the next opportunity.
"You're a tough one, aren't you? Physically gifted and clever. I'd bet you're a die-hard fan of All Might, yeah?" Shigaraki resumed his casual position, "I'd bet you're aspiring to be just like him-"
"Your wrong." Niwa spoke truthfully as she sat up, bringing her arm to rest on her propped-up knee and the other leg crossed underneath. Her posture feigned casual confidence but her eyes remained trained on the villain with a burning glare, now thoroughly annoyed by the assumptions this asshole was making, "I do admire the ridiculous amount of strength All Might possess. But I have my own heroes."
"Oh?" His voice was full of curiosity, "And who are your heroes?"
"Do you even want to know?" Niwa baited.
"Well, I'm curious now."
Niwa glanced around the room, she had never ever wanted to speak about it again, she caught Bakugou also scanning the room. They needed an opening of some sort, a distraction.
"Japan is so nice and peaceful," Niwa shrugged, "Even with you guys running around, this country is quite tame."
Shigaraki peered through the hand-mask-thing on his face, "Tame?"
Niwa scoffed, "On second thought, why should I tell you anything about me if you're just gonna kill me afterwards?"
Shigaraki turned on the bar stool and leaned his back against the wooden edge of the bar, "I still haven't decided if I want to kill you yet. Who knows? You might be useful."
That was all Niwa needed to hear.
She had found it strange that they would have a 'kill list' for all the other students except for Bakugou. They'd wanted him alive. She needed to give them a reason to keep her alive for now as well.
She watched the ringleader quietly for a moment, feigning contemplation. "Have you heard of Quirk Slavery?" She asked.
If the room's attention wasn't already on her, it sure as hell was now.
"Slavery?" The blonde girl asked with her head cocked to the side in question.
"Japan doesn't have it, right? Course not, organized crime is always targeted first, after all." Niwa pondered for a moment, "You guys are lucky."
"You aren't from Japan?" Asked the top hat villain she had kicked in the face earlier.
"Nope. Didn't get here until I was seven." Niwa lounged back, wondering how to word this story to her benefit, "You guys are lucky, no matter what other bullshit situation you were probably born into…"
"Enlighten us, then?" Shigaraki gestured sarcastically.
"If you wanna hear my story, then fine. Someone might as well know before I die…" She sighed, praying to all the Kami her acting was better than she thought. "I was born to a villain father and a bedridden mother in a small city my father controlled in Egypt. My brothers left when I was still a baby and they took me with them to walk from shit hole to shit hole until one day some bastard drugged my brothers and snagged me away from them." As she lost herself in her story, Niwa fell into the dark pit in her heart that still refused to heal.
The loud vehicle jolted along the uneven road and threw her into the steel walls. The cramped space was too hot from all the people and the air felt tight. Some people were screaming and yelling, others sobbed in anguish. It was loud. She was scared. She was so scared and all she could taste was the salt of her own tears. She clung to the wall, seeking any kind of escape but only finding the cold metal she was caged in.
"I was chained, labeled as an animal, and sold off to a company that used Slaves as labor. I was starved, beaten, whipped until the skin on my back was torn open, then forced to dig in unstable mines where the fucking place could collapse on us all if one idiot hit the wrong place."
She screamed and cried, for someone, anyone. The ground beneath her was suddenly her grave and the buckled stone roof crushed down on her back and legs. Blood from the others pooled around her body and threatened to drown her in the limited space her head could move.
"We went from mine to mine, walking thousands of miles through storm and flood, with shit all to eat and even less to drink. I was threatened and tortured if I couldn't work. I was punished if I made a mistake. I was trained to be an obedient little slave. I was a tool, an object, an expendable piece of fucking trash…" Niwa's voice trembled, "I was five…"
She took a deep breath and settled her emotions while she remained lost in her memories, "My heroes… Are my brothers. Because they hunted those bastards down and slaughtered them all. Because they taught me how to plunge my hand through the heart of a monster and they taught me how to protect the things precious to me. They saved me from living and dying pathetically as garbage."
Niwa glared up at the villain who quietly listened, "So fuck you if all I want is to live my life as my own. Fuck you if you're telling me I ain't worth shit because I know what I'm worth, I've been sold before for much less and the price is higher now. My life is worth whatever the hell I want it to be. Chasing after you guys because I want to be heroic? I might just laugh. My decision had nothing to do with you."
"Then why do it?" The question came from the black-haired dude. Niwa avoided looking in his direction, she didn't want to see what kind of face Bakugou was making. Disgust? Pitty? She was over seeing those faces on her brothers.
"Because I decided to follow Bakugou." Niwa replied, "Whether it's off a cliff, in a fight, or into the hands of some whacko villains. I'm staying with this guy till he blows me off the damn planet or I die, cause I've already made my mind up."
Boom!
The sound of Bakugou's explosion triggered Niwa's fight response and the next few seconds were chaotic. Bakugou was popping off at the black-haired guy and the reptile. Niwa launched over the counter, aiming right for the warp guy. Then suddenly she was tugged with force by nothing and they were both dragged across the room into some metal thing, bound to a chair, and restrained by heavy-duty, full cover cuffs.
Niwa stared at the ground in frustration, they'd blown their first chance but at least they hadn't decided to kill her yet. Maybe she had said something in her little sob story that had convinced them to let her live a bit longer.
She glanced up at Bakugou. There was only one chair, so Niwa was tied to the seat of his chair. Her legs were wrapped in several thick leather belts and a long twisted chain, her ankles were cuffed together. Her arms were in a similar state and her upper body was looped with other belts that tied her to Bakugou's chair.
Her friend was in a similar position, yet the cold glare never dulled as he stared at the villain. It would probably hurt like a bitch, but Niwa was sort of sure she could break out of the bindings. Only, she would probably end up hurting Bakugou in the process, and they both couldn't escape before these fuckers caught them again. Niwa had to play it safe, for now.
Sure. You could argue that they were royally screwed now. But at least they weren't dead yet.
Now, the only option they had was to wait for some sort of rescue.
They just had to survive until then.