Winds of Destiny: Rising
Chapter Four: Taking Chances
In the early evening after the ranking's presentation event, Misaki remained seated behind her desk at the Hero Public Safety Commission, finishing up a follow up report on the community's reaction to the new top ten hero's remarks from the event. The outlook wasn't exactly grim, but it wasn't all positive either. Opinions appeared to be pretty mixed, with the majority of the public displaying a general feeling of cautious skepticism about their new leading hero. Endeavor hadn't really done himself any favors over the years as far as public perception was concerned. He certainly had his work cut out for him to convince the people to rally behind his leadership.
The President suddenly exited the office behind her with her coat on and her briefcase in hand in preparation to leave for the day. She looked down at her watch upon noticing her secretary still typing away at her computer and asked, "Misaki, what are you still doing here?"
She finished the last sentence of her report and closed down her workstation, looking up as she responded, "I was just getting ready to leave."
The President's phone suddenly began ringing from inside her bag, and she reached into the front pocket to fish it out as Misaki pulled on her coat. While she listened to what the person on the other end was saying, her normally cool expression began to fall into one of shocked concern.
She turned her worried gaze to Misaki and gravely told her, "Turn on the news."
Noticing the President's tense demeanor, Misaki quickly hurried into the President's office and picked up the remove from her desktop. She clicked the button to turn on the large, wall mounted television and pressed the number for the main news channel. They both stood in the middle of the room, staring with wide eyes at the carnage displayed on the screen.
Misaki gasped, covering her mouth as she asked in a shocked whisper, "Is that the Umai building?"
"They must have jumped the gun," the President muttered darkly under her breath before commanding aloud, "Contact the branch office in Kyushu and begin coordinating a wide scale cleanup effort."
Misaki couldn't move, her gaze was completely transfixed on the television screen. She was just barely able to make out the sight of several red feathers carrying pieces of debris away from the obliterated restaurant building.
"Misaki." She flinched and turned her wide-eyed gaze over to the President. "Now, please."
"R-right!" She stuttered before immediately turning and hurrying back to her desk to make the call.
As she furiously began taking down notes from the rushed conversation with the Kyushu branch office secretary, her attention caught suddenly on the pen in her hand. It was the one Hawks had given her for Christmas almost a year ago. She swallowed heavily and shook her head, stubbornly turning her attention back to her task. Letting herself get distracted by her feelings wasn't going to help anyone right now, least of all the many victims of the attack on the Umai building. At least Hawks had been nearby to help ferry people to safety while Endeavor battled the villains. She still wasn't clear on who or what exactly had attacked the restaurant skyscraper, but given the President's reaction when she'd seen the news, Misaki assumed it had something to do with the secret assignment she'd given Hawks to spy on the League of Villains.
Hanging up the phone a minute later, Misaki hastily strode back into the President's office to fill her in while she finished writing a few notes, "We have three affiliated recovery companies lined up, along with several privately owned construction companies who've expressed interest in providing their services for rebuilding efforts. The Kyushu office is coordinating with the local police force to assist with crowd containment and—"
Misaki looked up and cut off short at the sight of the President's openly worried expression. She turned her head to look back at the screen to see the new Number One Hero falling out of the sky like a meteor.
She raised her hand up to cover her mouth as her eyes widened and she whispered in horror, "Not again..."
She felt the same paralyzing dread she'd experienced while witnessing the battle in Kamino. He heart squeezed in her chest as the fireball crashed into the ground and for several, terrifying seconds it felt like she couldn't breathe. The strength in her legs almost give out when the smoke finally cleared enough to reveal Endeavor standing over the defeated Nomu with his fist raised in the air in a victory pose.
"Oh, thank god..." she sighed in relief and promptly collapsed into the chair in front of the President's desk.
"I don't even want to think about what might have happened had this battle gone the other way. And so soon after the ranking's announcement..." The President trailed off in a low, foreboding tone, standing next to her desk with her arms crossed and staring at the screen with a tense expression.
Misaki watched as Hawks suddenly ran into the frame and rushed to Endeavor's side to help hold him up. The man was bleeding heavily from several deep wounds, including one that covered almost the entire left side of his face. Hawks hadn't gotten away unscathed either, it appeared, as she noted the cut on his nose and the state of his wings.
Bringing up a hand to her mouth, she wondered aloud in a faint whisper, "Did my event cause this...?"
"Villains caused this," the President's succinct tone cut through her musings. "Whatever excuse they may use to justify their violence; villains are the ones to blame for this. Not you."
Misaki turned her gaze to meet the President's pointed stare and nodded, the older woman's assurance successfully calming her nerves a bit. Her attention was called back to the screen suddenly when a flash of bright blue lit up the frame.
"Is that Dabi from the League of Villains?" She gasped, immediately recognizing the massive wall of blue flames now surrounding Endeavor and Hawks. The feed switched to an overhead angle, bringing the patchwork skinned villain into view from inside the ring of fire.
The President narrowed her eyes at the screen. "There to collect his attack dog, no doubt. And from two injured and exhausted heroes. He couldn't have picked a worse time."
Misaki watched helplessly as the square was surrounded in flames just before Dabi moved forward with clear intent to attack the top two heroes. Mirko's sudden arrival halted his dash, her powerful kick slamming into the ground between the villain and the injured heroes. Misaki lifted a hand to her chest in relief. The feeling was short lived, however, as the sight of a familiar black goo erupted from Dabi's mouth and he vanished a second later.
"Teleportation. Just like in Kamino," the President seethed, turning away from the television and Misaki lifted the remote from on top of the desk to turn off the news feed.
"I think it's more than certain now that there's another League backer out there besides All For One. At least we were able to prevent them from collecting the corpse. Make sure the lab has the body analyzed as soon as possible. If they were willing to show themselves so publicly to retrieve it, there may be some clue as to who's been constructing these Nomu in this one's genetic makeup," the President ordered as she walked around her desk to retake her seat, slipping off her coat in the process.
Misaki jotted down the note. "I'll get with the Kyushu branch office to recover the body and have it transported to Central Hospital's Nomu research lab right away. I'll also contact the League Task Force and coordinate with the local police to begin canvasing the surrounding area as soon as possible, to see if anyone saw or heard anything in the days leading up to the attack."
"You don't need my approval, Misaki. I trust your judgement. I'm more interested in your results at this point," the President replied matter-of-factly, keeping her gaze placed fixedly on her computer screen as her fingers flew across the keyboard.
Misaki blinked, raising her wide eyes to stare back at the woman. Lifting herself from her seat, she bowed her head and said, "I'll let you know what we find."
The President nodded to her and she turned on her heel, walking determinedly out of the office and back to her desk to get to work.
In the early hours of the morning following the attack in Kyushu, Misaki sat alone in her darkened living room with her knees pulled up into her chest. Her face was illuminated by the light from the television on the wall across the room from her, her cherry blossom colored eyes staring fixedly at the screen as she absentmindedly played with the thin golden chain around her neck. Holding up the remote, she pressed the button to pause the video on the frame of Hawks and Mirko helping the practically unconscious form of Endeavor out of the middle of the street.
She shifted her gaze down to the open proposal sitting on top of the rustic, wooden coffee table in front of her. She'd read through the detailed explanation of the job the President had handed her a week ago more times than she could count, waffling through the pros and cons of accepting such an important position. It had become glaringly apparent to her after the last attack that they were indeed at war with the League of Villains. That Nomu had been on a completely different level than the one's they'd seen in the past. The enemy wasn't wasting any time building up their forces to attack. She couldn't afford to keep sitting on her hands if she could do something to help.
Swallowing heavily, she dropped her legs and reached out to pick up her cell phone from on top of the weathered, dark wood surface. She opened her contact list and scrolled down to the President's number, disregarding the time as she tapped on the contact tag and initiated the call. She brought the phone up to her ear and waited impatiently for the woman to pick up.
"Misaki?" The President's groggy voice answered after the fourth ring.
"I accept," she said succinctly.
There was silence on the other end for a long moment before the President's clear voice responded, "I'll have legal draw up the paperwork for you to sign first thing Monday morning. In the meantime, there's something I'd like you to do for me."
"What is it?" She asked curiously.
"Find me your replacement. Someone I won't have to fire in two weeks, preferably," the President's light toned voice requested from the other end of the line.
Dipping her head, a small smile lifted the corners of her lips and she replied in her own light toned voice, "Yes ma'am. Goodnight, Madam President."
"Goodnight, Misaki," the other woman said with a smile in her voice before the line went dead.
Misaki sighed and tossed her phone back down onto the coffee table, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders before being simultaneously replaced by another. As the phone slid across the surface of the table, it dislodged a photograph from inside one of the files laying open underneath the portfolio notebook. She reached out to pick up the picture, staring down into the big red eyes and frightened face of the young girl who had been recovered from the raid on the Shie Hassaikai's main compound. The child, who was known only by the name "Eri", had been placed in the custody of the hero Eraser Head, due to the volatile nature of her incredibly powerful quirk. She was currently living in the dorms with the teachers at UA High School while they tried to come up with a way to help her control her power.
A power that was remarkably similar to Misaki's…
A few days after the battle in Kyushu, the Eraser Hero, Eraser Head, otherwise known as Aizawa Shota, trudged down the hall toward the office of the principal of UA High School. He'd been called to the office right after he'd finished a joint training lesson with Class B for the day. Wanting nothing more than to head back to the dorm and sleep, the teacher had been reluctant to answer the summons, but he'd done so, nonetheless. If he'd ignored it, the principal would have more than likely come and woken him up at the dorm anyway.
"Principal, you wanted to see me?" Eraser asked, rapping on the back of the open door with his knuckles.
Principal Nezu looked up and waved him in with his paw. "Come in, Aizawa-sensei."
"What's this about?" Eraser asked as he sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk.
The principal hopped off of his chair and walked around the desk before climbing up onto the seat next to Eraser. "I've received a rather interesting request from the Hero Public Safety Commission."
Eraser raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "Interesting?"
Principal Nezu nodded. "Mhm. It was interesting because it didn't come through the usual channels. Rather, I received a direct personal email. Which was interesting to me, as I haven't given out my personal email to anyone at that office, as far as I know."
Eraser frowned before asking, "What do they want?"
"She, actually, has asked to schedule a meeting with Eri-chan," the principal replied.
Eraser's tired eyes widened suddenly at the mention of his ward. "Why?"
The mouse-like principal folded his hands in his lap and looked up at Eraser carefully. "She believes that she might be able to help."
"Help how?" Eraser asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Principle Nezu hopped down from the chair beside him and returned to the one behind the desk before sliding a file across the surface toward him. "She sent this over to me when I asked her that myself."
Eraser picked the folder up and flipped it open. It looked to be some sort of profile, listing some general descriptive information next to a picture of a strikingly beautiful dark haired, pink eyed woman. Quickly reading down the page of personal information, his eyes almost skimmed over the description of her quirk before widening in surprise.
Quirk: Restore - through direct contact with any living being, the user is able to restore their physical and mental state to any prior point within their natural lifespan.
He glanced up at the principal in shock. "This is—"
"It's quite similar to Eri-chan's quirk, is it not?" The principal replied evenly.
Eraser looked up, his expression hopeful. "When does she want to meet?"
Principal Nezu smiled back at him graciously. "I told her that we would need to consult about it as a team, and given that we all agreed, someone would contact her when we were ready to set up a meeting. I'll forward you her contact information. She's asked that the meetings be discussed through personal lines of communication only, not through the Safety Commission. That's why she emailed me directly."
"Did she say why?" He asked, the frown returning to his face.
The principal sighed, his tone a bit forlorn when he replied, "It appeared to me while I was speaking to her that she'd rather I not ask."
Concern spread across Eraser's face. "Do you think it's safe?"
The principal smiled amicably once more. "I wouldn't have brought this to your attention if I didn't. Her intentions feel genuine, just that her situation may be a bit complicated."
Taking the principal's assessment under advisement, Eraser nodded before saying, "Thank you, Principal Nezu."
He hopped down off the chair and walked around the desk again, folding his arms behind his back as he smiled up at Eraser and said, "Good luck, Aizawa-sensei. I look forward to hearing great things!"
Eraser stood, bowing his head before heading out of the office to contact the woman.
Misaki walked down the sidewalk next to a small park nestled in the heart of Musutafu City at a leisurely pace, smiling softly at the sound of several children playing on the playground equipment inside. As she entered the park, she quickly noticed a man dressed all in black sitting on one of the benches away from the excited gaggle of rambunctious kids. Ducking her head, she calmly made her way around the perimeter of the sandbox play area toward him.
Approaching the bench, she tilted her head to the side and asked, "Aizawa-san?"
The man blinked and looked up at her. "Torimodo-san?"
"It's nice to meet you," she said, smiling graciously and taking a seat next to him on the bench. "Thank you for coming here on such short notice."
He glanced over at her from the corner of his eye before commenting with a suspicious tone, "I didn't expect you to pick such a public place for our first meeting."
She smiled ruefully and ducked her head. "Sometimes it's best to hide in plain sight."
"Should I be concerned about what you're hiding from?" He asked carefully, his tone low and suspicious.
She looked up and sighed. "It's less the act of direct observation and more the possibility that I'd like to avoid."
She hadn't told anyone at the Commission that she had reached out to the principal of UA about offering to help the little girl. As far as she was concerned, this was something that she'd decided to do on her own, in her own time. That, and she didn't want to give anyone a reason to go snooping around into things that were none of their business—namely her quirk. She still had yet to update the official registry with her actual quirk, nor had she informed anyone at the Commission that she even had one. That was one of the reasons she'd been so apprehensive about contacting the school in the first place, in case they hadn't agreed to her conditions and reached out to the Commission about her involvement instead. Thankfully, Principal Nezu had been very understanding and he'd immediately agreed not to tell anyone that she'd contacted him unless it was absolutely necessary.
Eraser elected not to press her on her cryptic answer, asking instead, "Why here?"
Misaki smiled softly, staring out across the playground at Eri who was swinging by herself on one of the swing sets. "I thought she might like to get some fresh air, outside of the protective bubble she's been kept in since her quirk manifested. In one way or another, I don't believe that Eri has ever known true freedom. I thought it might be nice for her to see what being a normal kid could be like."
It appeared that she hadn't really been playing much herself, mostly observing the other kids playing instead.
"She's got a ways to go before it's safe for her to interact with other children," Eraser said grimly, also turning his gaze to watch Eri swing gently.
"You're afraid of her quirk," Misaki mused softly.
He hesitated to respond to the somewhat accusatory nature of the statement.
She looked over at him gravely. "You're right to be. A quirk like hers, without learning proper control, could be very dangerous. I should know..." She trailed off, looking down at her lap.
"Can you help her?" He asked, his tone guarded but hopeful.
"I'd like to try," Misaki replied, lifting her head up and staring back across the playground at the lonely little girl with a small, somewhat sad smile. "I often wonder, if I'd had a mentor to guide me when I manifested my quirk, if my life would have gone a different direction." She dropped her head suddenly, continuing in a small, rueful voice, "Unfortunately, I'm unable to use my quirk on myself, so I suppose there's no real way to know."
Eraser was silent for a long moment before carefully asking, "Would you like to meet her?"
Misaki looked up at him, the corners of her lips lifting in a genuine smile as she nodded and said, "Very much."
The following Sunday, Eraser, Eri, and Misaki walked together into the forest surrounding the UA grounds, Eri holding on tightly to Eraser's hand.
"What are we doing?" Eri asked, looking around at the trees surrounding them with wide eyes.
Misaki stopped next to a large oak tree and turned to her with a smile. "I'd like to show you something, Eri."
The little girl watched as Misaki reached out and placed her hand on the truck of the tree, taking a deep breath before activating her quirk. A moment later, the tree began to steadily shrink down into a small sapling. Eri's eyes widened in amazement and she gasped.
"My quirk is a bit like yours. I can Restore the physical and mental state of any living being to any prior point within its natural lifespan," Misaki explained as she restored the tree back to its original state.
Eri stared up at her with wide, hopeful eyes. "Are you going to help me?"
Misaki warmly smiled down at the girl and nodded. "I'd like to try. Would that be alright?"
Eri nodded enthusiastically in response. Misaki glanced up toward Eraser who was standing a few meters away, leaning back against a tree with his arms crossed, observing them. He nodded to her and she returned the gesture before turning her attention back to Eri.
"Can you tell me what you remember about the last time you used your quirk? Do you remember what you were feeling at the time?" She asked carefully.
Eri looked down in contemplation before replying, "I remember feeling like I wanted Deku and Lemillion to save me. I didn't want Chisaki to hurt me or anyone else anymore."
Misaki nodded before crouching down to look the little girl in the eye. "Sometimes, when we feel really strong emotions, we can end up activating our quirks on instinct. That's when your survival sense takes over your mind in order to protect you from what's threatening you. But that's not the only way to tap into your abilities."
"How?" Eri asked with an interested expression.
Misaki took a deep breath, considering how to word her answer for a moment before replying, "For some people it's natural, like wiggling your toes or waving a hand. For others, it takes more mental effort. It sometimes helps to picture something in your mind that you can relate to your quirk."
"Like what?" The little girl asked, cocking her head inquisitively.
Misaki smirked reminiscently, "Well, for me, it was a TV remote."
Eri blinked and asked, "A remote?"
Misaki tilted her head and looked to the side. "More specifically, the buttons that you push to rewind or fast forward what you're watching." Her expression shifted into one of warm reminiscence as she thought back fondly on one of her early childhood memories. "I remember when I was your age, I had this favorite TV show. There were only six or seven episodes, but I would watch them over and over again. Rewinding and fast forwarding to my favorite parts. That's ultimately how I learned to control my quirk."
"Do you still think about the remote?" Eri asked in a small voice.
Misaki nodded. "When I'm concentrating really hard, yeah, it helps. But for little things, I've learned how to use it without that."
She reached out and placed her hand on top of Eri's head, smiling warmly. "I believe you can too, Eri. We just need to find out what you can mentally relate to your quirk first."
Eri looked down apprehensively, wringing her hands in front of her as she said, "I'm scared."
Sympathy flashed across Misaki's face and she replied gently, "I know. It's scary when you've only had bad experiences with your quirk in the past. And that's okay, Eri. It's alright to be afraid. But..." Misaki trailed off, tilting her head forward to catch Eri's uneasy gaze. "Is that really what you want? Why you reached out to Deku and Lemillion for help? You wanted them to save you because you didn't want to be afraid anymore, right?"
The little girl looked up into her eyes and slowly nodded.
"Eri, do you want to learn how to control your quirk?" Misaki asked carefully.
Her response was another hesitant nod.
"Can you tell me why?"
"I don't want anyone to get hurt again because of me," Eri forced out, staring down at the ground with the beginnings of tears dotting the lower edges of her big, red eyes.
Misaki sighed, turning her own eyes downcast as she said in a knowing tone, "Because you're scared that you might lose control again."
Eri nodded slowly again without lifting her head.
Misaki nodded too, more to herself than to Eri and said, "I'd like you to try looking at it a different way."
Eri looked up at her with tears in her eyes and asked, "How?"
"When you were with Deku while he was fighting against Chisaki, do you remember what he said to you?" Misaki asked, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully.
She'd read through all of the eyewitness reports, including the one from the young hero student who had ultimately taken down the yakuza boss. The phrase he'd mentioned saying to Eri while they'd been working together had stood out to her. She hoped Eri hadn't forgotten his words.
After a moment, Eri slowly nodded.
"Did you believe him?" Misaki asked, tilting her head to catch the girl's eye.
"I didn't know why he said that..." Eri trailed off, her eyes becoming unfocused as she thought back to that battle.
"Deku's quirk is very damaging to his body if he overuses it like he did during that battle. The more he uses it, the more stress it puts on his body, until it can't take any more and it breaks," Misaki explained carefully with a resigned expression on her face.
"Really?" Eri asked, looking up at Misaki in concern.
Misaki's expression melted into one of warm kindness as she explained, "The reason why he called your quirk kind was because you were Rewinding his injuries before he even knew he had them. The heroes didn't save you on their own, Eri. You helped too."
The tears that had been dotting the corners of her eyes welled up into giant pools and Eri clutched her hands in front of her as she whispered, "I did?"
Misaki reached out to cup Eri's face in her hand, swiping her thumb under her eye to catch a fat tear and told her sincerely, "You were so brave."
Eri began to cry openly, throwing herself forward into Misaki's arms. She held the little girl as she sobbed and cried out loud, looking up and locking eyes with Eraser who was watching them with a faintly sympathetic look on his face. It was always difficult to witness children crying so openly, but in Eri's case, the fact that she was displaying such unrestrained emotion was actually a good thing. Misaki knew from personal experience that bottling up negative emotions like the ones Eri was clearly harboring about her quirk, would only lead to more pain and suffering in the long run. It would take time, but with the right care and support, she was confident that the young girl would be able to find a way to cope with her trauma and eventually grow up into an emotionally healthy adult.
A little while later, Misaki and Eraser walked side by side out of the forest, the peacefully slumbering form of Eri securely nestled in Misaki's arms. The poor little girl had ended up crying herself right to sleep.
"Sorry today didn't exactly go as planned," Eraser said, looking down as he walked with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets.
Misaki turned her head slightly and offered him a small smile. "There is no plan, really. When dealing with a child with PTSD, the plan is just to make her as comfortable as possible when facing her trauma in order to help her someday overcome it. Or so I've read," she followed up with a sheepish grimace. "I think she's already taken a big first step just by accepting her fear."
"You sound like you're speaking from experience," he astutely commented.
"Yeah..." She trailed off, looking down.
"I don't mean to pry," Eraser murmured apologetically.
Misaki softly shook her head. "It's alright. I'm asking you to trust this little girl's wellbeing to me and you don't even know me." She looked up at him and said, "If you have some time, I'd like to tell you my story."
~ Author's Note ~
I finally get to introduce Eri and Eraser into the story! (if you couldn't tell, I'm pretty excited about that 😆) And it's finally origin story time for Misaki! I'll be stepping out of my comfort zone in the next chapter and writing in first person from Misaki's perspective. 😱 I hope it comes out okay! 😬
Thank you so much for reading!
LOLSAT