With her back pressed against the rough concrete, Emiko crouched in wait. Her eye still throbbed, and she knew she would soon lose consciousness if she continued to lose blood at such an alarming rate. Her fingers stayed clenched around the shard of glass in her hands, and she fought against the pain of the cut she'd inflicted upon herself. She needed a weapon, and the only thing around was the same glass that had injured her.

If she hadn't been as terrified as she was, she may have laughed at the irony. Only moments before her only means of protection had been hacking away at her hair, had been catching on her skin and tearing away what little innocence she still clung to.

Blood pooled around her, small droplets meeting bigger puddles and forming a terrifying cluster of sickening red. Despite the pain and despite the blood, she kept her one good eye focused solely on the door of the small room she was in.

In her haste to leave, Mara had left the single bulb on, and it cast an eerie glow around the room. She took in as much detail as she could, seeing that the floors weren't, in fact, concrete, but hard packed dirt. That let her know that she was well below the main floor of the building, and the ceiling above her was barely 6 feet. She knew All Might or Endeavour would never fit down here, so she tried to hide her hope at being rescued by them. Dust floated down around her, coated her arms and legs, no doubt from the fight that was taking place somewhere above her head.

She didn't know how long had passed, but Emiko was growing woozier by the second, and she felt herself slip in and out of consciousness. Her fingers threatened to lose their grip on her makeshift weapon, and she grit her teeth at the inconvenience.

Get it together, Emiko.

She kept ranting to herself in her head, forcing her hands tighter and tighter around the glass. Without even taking a moment to process, she dug the small weapon into the palm of her hand.

"Fuck," she hissed in pain, "Goddamnit. That hurts."

Emiko knew well enough that pain would be the only thing keeping her conscious, and so she fed into that. Fed into the bite in the palm of her hand and allowed the pain to fight away the darkness creeping into the edges of her vision. She breathed in the pain, let the sting run across her skin. Let it bite into the tips of her fingers and toes as Sentiment once had. Let the pain take up residence in her veins and crawl through her whole body. Each breath she took pressed it further and further, and still Emiko continued breathing into it.

In the silence, her heartbeat roared. It screamed in her ears and clawed in her head and made it nearly impossible for her to focus on anything else. In the silence her mind raced, scanned over the things her mother had shown her. In the darkness, she saw Shoto. The soft smile on his lips, the way he sighed into her kisses. In the darkness, her father smiled down at her, his honeyed brown eyes lit up in the setting sun.

In that same darkness, though, Shoto's blank gaze haunted her. Her father's eyes losing their happy glow, blood dripping from her mouth threatened to upend the small modicum of control she held onto.

The silence made it possible to hear Shoto and her father whisper their love into her ears, to coax her forwards and out of the darkness holding her back.

That same silence though, made it possible for her mother to coo and taunt her, to threaten everything she ever loved. Her mother's voice drowned out everything good, left bitterness festering in her stomach and mind.

Oh, Emiko. She cooed, your father died before you were even born.

Have you not figured it out, Emiko? She laughed cruelly, It's taken you so long already.

Her father's voice faded out, swallowed up by the hatred her mother spewed into her mind. Each passing second left her feeling more angry, more powerless.

In the silence, Emiko could hear footsteps above her head, and she tried desperately to reign in the home that was blooming in her chest. She knew the door that barricaded her from the outside was metal, probably at least a few inches thick, and the sound of the footsteps above her were muffled, as though she was more than a floor beneath them.

Call out for them, girl. See if they come find you.

Her mothers voice taunted her, and Emiko listened closely.

"Help me!" She called, her voice barely above a whisper. "Please, someone help me."

—-

The figure appeared in front of her in an instant, seemingly materializing out of thin air.

Emiko darted forward, slashing out broadly with the shard of glass in her hand. She didn't take the time to see the figures' features or to pause and think about her actions, for as far as she was concerned any person who stepped foot in that room was coming to harm her. She'd given up on the heroes coming to find her, and she knew that the only people left in the building would be residual villains who'd worked with those who'd brought she and Katsuki here.

As quickly as the figure appeared it vanished, and Emiko stumbled. She whirled wildly around the room, blood still dripping down her cheek and onto the concrete floor. The glass was clutched there, and Emiko held it in front of her like a dagger.

"Are you okay?" A masculine voice called, and Emiko saw the figure appear out of the corner of her eye. Again, she moved without thinking. Again, she leapt forwards and swung outwards with the glass. A trail of fabric floated around the man, as if the air around him held its own gravity. Before her hands could clutch the fabric or make contact with him, though, he seemingly vanished again.

"Stop hiding from me, you fucker." She snarled, whirling around again. "If you're going to kill me, then kill me already. Put me out of my misery."

Tears welled in her eyes as she processed the severity of the situation at hand.

How am I supposed to protect myself from a villain that I can't even touch? Think, Emiko, Think.

"Kill you?" The voice called, concern tainting his velvety baritone.

Through her tears, she laughed. "You're clearly here to kill me, or you'd never just show up like that. The villains sent you after they got rid of the heroes, right?"

Her vision misted and she fought the urge to sob, tried to fight the rising tide of her emotions as they swept over her. She was tired, completely exhausted and worn out from her struggles over the past few days. Being captured by villains, held in a dark room for hours on end had left her feeling worn out and overwhelmed.

All of that would have been enough to make most people emotional, but then adding in the pain of seeing the woman who'd abused her for years? The woman who had killed her father -

Fuck.

Hisato's death finally hit her, and Emiko slumped to the floor. The glass fell from her fingers and clattered around her, though that tinkling sound didn't bother her as much as it once had.

"I'm not here to kill you, child."

The figure reappeared beside her, and Emiko was too exhausted to try and fight. Instead, she closed her eyes tightly and prayed that her end would be quick. That the figure would ease her suffering and finally let her know peace.

Strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, tucked under her knees. She felt herself being pulled from the ground and wrapped in a warm piece of fabric, but she couldn't find the strength to open her eyes. She let the warmth envelope her, and just… listened.

The creaking of the door opening, the sounds of pounding footsteps.

"I found someone! The girl!" The voice bounced around her head, tightening their grip on her as they moved quickly through the building.

More footsteps and a smattering of voices echoed in her head, but Emiko didn't care. She was warm and she was secure, and for the first time in nearly two full days, she succumbed to the exhaustion and the pain.

Warm hands gripped her waist and twirled her around the glittering ballroom. Her skirts brushed against her calves and she smiled, relishing in the heavy feel of green velvet. Her long hair brushed against her arms as she spun, and Emiko laughed.

The soft lights overhead danced across the polished marble floor, and the soft sound of the piano tinkling left her feeling lighter on her feet than she ever remembered feeling.

She looked up, gazing into the face of her partner. His mismatched gaze met hers and his eyes crinkled slightly. Emiko sighed as she looked up at him. His bicolour hair was softly tousled and seemingly glowing under the lights, and her heart swelled as a few stray locks fell down in front of his face. She brushed the strands back, brushing her fingers over his cheek as she did. Her fingers tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck and she breathed deeply, inhaling his comforting scent.

His arms felt like home, and Emiko loved him for it. With each twirling step around the wide open space, she felt her heart swell just a little bit more. She pressed her cheek to his chest and listened to his heart. The gentle thuds guided her as she moved, and Emiko allowed herself to get lost in the steps.