Eri woke with a start, forehead covered in sweat while she tried to catch her breath. She slowly sat up in her bed, racking her brain for reasons why her dream scared her so much. She couldn't quite remember what it was about, but she knew it didn't make her feel good at all. Her eyes soon began to water, tears threatening to spill over her cheeks, but she quickly wiped them away, along with the beaded sweat collecting on her face. After she regained control of her breathing, she felt too awake to even attempt to fall asleep again and hoped her eyes would adjust to the darkness.

She suddenly heard rustling from the bed next to her. Aizawa also seemed to have a hard time getting comfortable. It must've been difficult for him to get any sleep with his hands tied and his shoulders pulled back. She knew how hard it could be to rest peacefully when recovering from her time in the chair. Her wrists and ankles were often sore from being held down, struggling to escape. Even when the compound was freezing, she often sweated through her tightly bound bandages, squirming in bed to find some relief despite her overwhelming exhaustion from the day's experiments. She didn't want his time here to be painful like hers, and she wanted to repay him for his earlier kindnesses.

She hopped down from her bed and slowly slid her feet across the concrete floor. From what she could tell, he lied on his side with his back facing her. She recognized the flap of his jumpsuit that Kurono had cut away earlier to treat his injury. From what she could tell, the bandage didn't look any different from earlier, so she decided to leave it alone.

Her tiny fingers traced the bed frame as she tiptoed to the other side. She could hear him mutter indistinctly as she stepped closer. He looked like he was in so much pain. His eyes were clenched shut and loose strands of hair clung to his sweaty cheeks. He occasionally twitched, accidentally jerking his arms too much. He let out a low groan at the pain, shifting slightly to futilely alleviate it. Eri's heart broke at the sight. She didn't quite know what she could do to help him feel better, and she didn't want to startle him, but she felt an overwhelming need to do something.

She hesitantly reached out her hand, careful not to poke his face anywhere and hurt him more. She gently brushed his hair off his cheeks and when she ran her fingers through the soft strands, his furrowed brow slowly relaxed and his movements stilled. She felt her chest grow warm on the inside as he, to her surprise, leaned into her touch. She wasn't hurting him at all but helping him!

Her celebration didn't last long before her sensitive ears picked up on the telltale buzzing of artificial lights. It was the same at the old compound. She had picked up on a pattern after a few weeks in Overhaul's care. If she were lucky enough to wake before the lights could burst on and temporarily blind her, she could hear a faint buzzing from the other side of her bedroom door, allowing her only a few seconds to bury herself under her blanket and shut her eyes.

Time was quickly running out. She quickly hopped onto Aizawa's bed and pulled his blanket over their heads. The thin sheet did little to stave off the light, so she placed her hands over his eyes. He immediately stirred. She could feel his eyelashes brushing against her palms as he tried to peel his eyes open.

"Eri? What are you—?"

"The lights are bright," she interrupted. She moved her hands away from his face, allowing his eyes to fully open. He sat up, wincing in pain as the blanket fell into his lap. Eri sat up next to him and rubbed the remnants of sleep out of her eyes.

"Thank you for protecting me," he said as he attempted to roll his shoulders. He couldn't help but groan due to the overnight stiffness.

"Are you okay?" she quietly asked.

His eyes widened at the little girl. She just spoke to him without provocation! He didn't expect her to warm up to him so quickly, but he couldn't stop the small swell of pride in his chest. It certainly spoke volumes to how much she cared for him.

"I am now," he replied as he gave her as genuine a smile as he could. Before he could say anything else, a deadbolt slid open just outside the door. Their heads snapped up as Kurono strolled in with a water bottle in hand. As soon as he laid his eyes on the pair, Eri immediately ducked down behind Aizawa with her hands perched delicately on his shoulders. Her tiny fingers quaked in fear as she gripped his jumpsuit, terrified of losing her only companion. Knowing no other way to comfort the girl, Aizawa scooted back as far as the cuff on his ankle allowed, closing the space between himself and the bed frame, safely sandwiching Eri in between. His fingers brushed over Eri's knee; she jumped at the contact but didn't pull away. He rested his palm over her knee and stroked her leg with his thumb. He hoped this would be enough to ground her and calm her down while he stared daggers at Kurono.

"Looks like she's really attached herself to you. That's good," Kurono said, clearly amused.

"What do you want?" Aizawa asked.

"I just remembered I forgot to give you water yesterday. We need to make sure you stay hydrated," Kurono answered as he unscrewed the cap from the bottle. He held it in front of Aizawa's face expectantly. Aizawa could really use some water for his parched throat, but he wanted to rebel against this guy as much as possible. Though he knew it wouldn't be a smart move here. If he did anything to anger Kurono now, there would be nothing to stop him from hurting Eri. He needed to bide their time and cooperate for now.

He took a deep breath and parted his lips just slightly. Kurono moved the bottle to his mouth, and he took a few large gulps, cautious not to overload his system. Kurono withdrew the bottle and screwed the cap back on as he activated his quirk. A long arrow from the side of his head struck Aizawa in the arm, catching him unawares.

Aizawa instinctively activated Erasure, but it was too late. He could feel the muscles in his body grow stiff and sluggish like before, leaving his mind racing for a way to protect himself, to protect Eri.

He felt himself falling over onto his side, no longer able to hold himself upright. He watched as Kurono walked around the bed and towards him, pulling out a length of cloth from his coat pocket. Eri still clutched his jumpsuit, shaking his arm in panicked fear.

"Don't worry, Eraser. The effects will last for only ten minutes or so," he heard Kurono say above him. His eyes closed just as Kurono tied the cloth over them. That was bad timing on his part, not that it would've made much of a difference. He knew he needed to focus on what was happening around him, but the slow movements of his body caused a dissonance with his brain, as if his thoughts were moving too quickly. He found it hard to focus and felt a headache beginning to surface. He did not register the cuff coming loose around his ankle, nor the shifting weight of the girl as she reluctantly slid off the bed and now stood next to it. He groaned when he felt two hands grab the front of his jumpsuit, pulling him forward until he was bent over at the hips, hoisted over someone's shoulder like a bag of potatoes. When they began to move, he felt nauseous and forced himself to take as deep of breaths as possible to keep it under control.

He tried his best to distract his mind with focusing on the directions his captor took him in. He wasn't even sure if Eri was still with them. He wanted to call out her name, but his tongue felt heavy and clumsy in his mouth. As they turned left and right and left again, Aizawa began to lose track of their route, his stomach too rattled by the swaying of the turns.

After what felt like several hours, his captor stopped in front of a door for a few moments, then entered shortly after. He felt himself being lowered into a cold metal chair that he wanted to flinch away from at the touch. He was leaned forward and felt a tugging at his wrists. Suddenly, his arms fell forward, no longer bound behind him. He let out a relieved sigh as his shoulders shifted forward; he wanted to stretch them so badly, but his arms hung limply at his sides like soba noodles. Two separate pairs of hands suddenly grabbed his raw wrists and held them on the armrests; he felt leather straps wrap around them and dig further into his wounds. A moment later, he felt similar hands and straps hold down his ankles. Then he felt the blindfold tugged off his face.

His eyes felt like they were on fire. He slammed his eyes shut as quickly as he could, still feeling some effect of Kurono's quirk remaining. He kept them shut for a while longer to allow his body more of a chance to adapt to his new surroundings. He kept tapping his fingers on the armrest, testing his mobility. He could feel his fingers gradually move faster and faster until he felt normal again. Then he peeled one eye open before the other.

This new room was much larger than his and Eri's bedroom, and much more clinical. Immaculate white tiles reflected the lights hanging above them, making the entire room hard to look at. He could make out silver tables on one side of the room, with small tools precisely laid on top. The strong stench of bleach stung his eyes as well as his lungs, making it impossible for him to breathe without coughing at first. He forced himself to breathe as he squirmed in his chair. He looked around the room again and froze.

Eri…

The little girl he wanted to protect was also strapped down in a chair next to him. Her eyes were focused on her lap and looked like they were about to spill over with tears. As he automatically scanned her for injuries, he noticed her thin arms and legs were no longer bandaged, but heavily scarred. His heart sank into his stomach, but he managed to force the panic down. He needed to stay strong for her.

"Eri," he whispered. The girl hesitantly looked up until she saw him. Suddenly her eyes grew wide with relief.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Quiet," a strict voice ordered from behind him. The voice sounded young but mean. Metal clanked against metal, and he did his best to suppress a shudder. He tried to turn his head to get a look at the new villain, but the back of the chair was too broad to see past it. He looked back to Eri who met his gaze and hesitantly nodded.

A white gloved hand pressed into his left shoulder, ripping his attention away from Eri at the surprise. Aizawa immediately turned his head and activated Erasure, thinking it were Kurono about to strike him with his quirk again. However, this person was different. Another young man, but with short brown hair and a fiery look in his eyes. A burgundy and gold plague mask covered his face, and he wore a military green jacket adorned with a neckline of purple feathers. Aizawa's blood froze in his veins. This was Overhaul, the mastermind behind all of this.

"Yes," Overhaul purred as he stared intently at Aizawa, no doubt admiring his eyes as they continued to glow red. Aizawa blinked, his hair falling around his shoulders. Overhaul reached his hand out and tilted Aizawa's chin up, forcing him to look at him. "You have such an attractive ability, Eraserhead. I'm dying to learn more about it."