TW: Character Death
Music suggestion: See You Later by Jenna Raine, and Welcome to the Black Parade by MCR
Leinei takes a breath, wringing her hands as she stands outside the Shie Hassaikai compound. She glances at Reina, who gives her a reassuring smile and a small nudge in the shoulder. The younger hero in training closes her eyes and sighs, flipping her visor down over her eyes.
"You got this," Reina assures her, reaching behind her head to tighten her ponytail and push the star-shaped accessory closer to her scalp. "By the way, when this is all said and done, we're going to dinner with Fuyumi and them."
"Do we have to?" she replies in a mock whine, but still smiling despite the nerves in her stomach. "Did you feel nauseous the first time you did one of these?"
"Oh yeah," she laughs. "But don't worry. Today's going to go just fine. Just watch."
"I thought I had to participate."
"Okay smartass."
"Elementia, you'll take the space behind the compound," Ryukyu tells her, looking over her interns' heads. Ochaco offers Leinei a thumbs up, smiling. "Nejire, Uravity, Froppy and I will handle the ones that charge the front."
"Don't worry, Empathia and I will make sure the cowards in the back don't make it very far," Reina assures. "If you need help, don't hesitate to call, 'kay?"
"I'll keep that in mind, Supporting Star."
The call comes for them to get to their respective positions, Reina and Leinei making their way towards the back of the compound. Just as they're rounding the corner, a few of the masked men in sight, there's an explosion towards the front and the ground shakes, nearly knocking Leinei off her balance as Reina uses the air currents around her to keep herself up.
"Stay on your feet, Empathia," she calls, earning herself an eye roll from her younger sister. "Eyes ahead. The roaches are scattering faster than we thought they would."
She acts a lot different in these situations…This isn't the same Elementia from Hosu.
Leinei didn't have much time to dwell on the way her sister is acting, having to duck to avoid a massive spike thrown at her head. There were about twenty grunts in total, each manifesting a different offensive quirk. The one that had thrown the spike before was growing more out of the concrete encasing his arms and legs, cackling as they started to spread out.
"They send two lowly bitches to deal with all of us?" he says, his voice a low growl. "Overhaul was right: the heroes are fucking stupid."
"Funny, we say the same thing about you villains," Reina retorts, putting her hand out to stop Leinei from grabbing the ends of her capture scarf. "Let me. These bastards won't take me long at all."
"But-"
"Chain of command, Empathia. Learn it before you fuck yourself."
"Yes ma'am."
"Besides," she continues, rolling her shoulders back. "It's been forever since I got a decent workout. Hope you boys can make it interesting for me."
Leinei takes a step back, her hands still gripping the ends of her capture scarf in case she has to step in. Reina takes a breath and tilts her head as the guy sends another warning spike at her, two of the others rushing towards her, one with an electricity covered fist and the other with a voice quirk similar to Present Mic's.
A simple flick of her hand and the voice quirk is silenced, his hands going to his throat as he gasps inaudibly for air. The electricity quirk is sent flying into the wall with a gesture of her other arm. He groans, his head back as blood trickles down his temple.
"You guys really are out of your element," Reina remarks, grinning at her own pun. "You can't scream if you can't breathe."
"You fucking bitch-"
The spikes are flying again, five more this time. She jumps up, barely brushing her toes along the spikes as she hovers in the air. She lifts her hand, the guy choking for breath lifting with her before she throws him towards the spike user. The man doesn't hesitate to spear his own comrade through, the air retention bubble falling away from his head as he coughs blood. Leinei covers her own mouth, Reina gritting her teeth.
"What are you waiting for?" Spike man says, gesturing at the women in front of him. 'Fucking fight or am I going to have tell the boss he hired nothing but pussies?!"
"Empathia, it looks like you're going to get your hands dirty," Reina warns her, barely dodging a fire quirk shot out at her and dispersing the flames before they can hit any of the nearby buildings. "Try not to end up in the hospital this time."
"Speak for yourself," Leinei retorts, using her capture scarf to wrap around one of the grunt's arms and use his running momentum to swing him into the person aiming fireballs at her sister. "You're the one trying to get yourself killed."
"You would know all about that, wouldn't you?" Reina laughs, bowing backwards in the air to avoid the guy's flying spikes. She curls her finger, stopping two of the spikes and getting them to turn around. Leinei untangles the capture scarf from the last grunt, sending the other end to wrap around the wider part of the spike starting to soar back to its owner. "Fuck I said don't end up hospitalized!"
"Just keep me up," Leinei yells back, getting herself on top of the spike and holding fast to the slimmer end with one hand and keeping the other wrapped in her scarf. If I can get his mask off, I can use my quirk on him.
"Damnit," Reina hisses under her breath, quickly flexing her hand back and dodging the next few spikes sent flying towards her head. She aims a well timed kick at one of the still moving grunts around her, trying very hard to keep the spike stable with her sister's weight on top of it. The spike user falls back a few steps, crouching down as Leinei barely misses his head, her fingertips brushing the mask but unable to get a decent hold on it. He slams his fists into the ground, ripples flowing through the asphalt as the spike holding Leinei in the air crumbles and she falls to the ground, managing to land in a crouch and roll as the ground continues to ripple.
"I won't let you mess with Overhaul's dreams," the man snarls at the two heroes, Leinei getting to her feet despite the unstable ground. "He's going to bring Shie Hassaikai back into the light and we'll run this fucking country!"
"Not on the back of that little girl you won't," Leinei yells, sending her scarf out and getting it to wrap around his arms as Reina glances around the street, her eyes landing on a fire hydrant. The man jerks his arms, trying to get the scarf off of him. It tightens in response, Leinei gritting her teeth as she snaps it back hard enough to bring his hands away from the road for just a moment.
"You have no clue what you're talking about!" he screeches, Reina focusing on the fire hydrant with one hand, using her other to start gathering up the injured and incapcitated grunts lining the road. "He's a visionary, and he's going to fix this fucked world! Just you watch, little bitches like you don't deserve quirks and he's going to take them all away!"
"You don't sound like a fanatic at all," Leinei grunts, trying hard to keep the scarf's tension taut and not let him touch the road again. The man howls with laughter, getting to a standing position and jerking his body one way. The tension held between them sends Leinei flying towards him, scraping her knee against the road as she's sent rolling across the asphalt in front of him. The scarf loosens around his arms and he makes his way towards her as she pushes herself up.
Come on you stupid fucking hydrant.
Reina grits her teeth, her eyes flickering between the hydrant that's starting to shake, the ball of floating unconscious villains, and her scraped baby sister as the masked man stalks towards her. She can feel the water trying to force its way out of the sealed prison, hearing the creaking of the bolt on top as it starts to slip one way.
"You stupid brat," the man growls, grabbing Leinei by the throat and squeezing as he lifts her up. He squeezes her neck, her windpipe starting to constrict as she scratches at his hands, the weights in the palms of her gloves slapping at his concrete skin and leaving small hairline cracks. She kicks at the ground, trying hard to pry at least one of his fingers away from her neck with one hand and reaching for his mask with the other.
"Look at this-the little inexperienced brat has more balls than the ranked hero," he yells, a vein pricking in Reina's forehead at his words. She flexes her hand tighter, seeing more people wearing masks milling out of the building, some running for their lives, the others starting to make their way towards her. The hydrant starts to squeak, shaking violently now. "Looks like she's going to die before you too," he adds, a spike forming in his other hand as he points it at Leinei's head. The point pricks her skin as it keeps growing, blood trickling down her forehead and down the side of her nose.
Leinei wheezes, closing her eyes as she finally manages to get ahold of his mask. She stops kicking, bringing her feet up to his stomach and pushing off as hard as she can. His head jerks forward as the mask is yanked away from his face, the straps holding it in place snapping and slashing across his cheeks as she falls away from his hand.
"One thing you assholes forget about our next generation," Reina growls out as Leinei lands on her ass coughing. The hydrant is screaming now as the reinforcements charge forward. "They don't know how to give up."
The hydrant bursts, torrenting water into the air and soaking the road. Spikes form from the water already seeping into the road, spearing through the new appearances' legs and sending them sprawling across the ground. The man yells and slams his fists into the ground, only for his eyes to widen as they go blank. He falls forward, Leinei's eyes purple as she holds her throat and stands. He can barely twitch his fingers, trying hard to move his body and failing miserably as Reina lowers herself to the ground.
"What-what did you do to me-" he growls out as Leinei throws the mask to the side, lifting her visor to wipe away the blood getting into her eye.
"I cut off your nervous system for the moment," she informs him hoarsely. "My teacher told me it's too terrifying to actually use on someone, but you readily killed a comrade, so you don't count as a person anymore. I call it 'Apathy Wave'."
"Cool name, kiddo," Reina pants as she walks over to her sister, tousling her hair before smacking her upside the head. "And you ever do some Batman and Robin shit like that again, I'm telling Keigo."
"Okay, okay," she assures, before Reina hugs her tightly, burying her face in her hair. "Rei-Elementia?"
"Nothing. Let's get these bastards handcuffed and brought up to the paddy wagon. Then you need to get checked out."
Not too long later, the raid ended, a success with the girl in protective custody, and the members of the yakuza group arrested and either immediately sent to Tartarus, or to the Villain Hospital for treatment. Leinei chose to ride with Eijirou to the hospital, allowing Fatgum to stay at the scene a little longer and ensure the safety of the others and provide moral support to Tamaki as Mirio was taken in another ambulance.
"I have to go with Snatch to take Chisaki to Tartarus," Reina had told her before she got into the back of the emergency vehicle. "I'll get to the hospital as soon as we're done. Be safe, okay? I love you."
Leinei hadn't had the chance to say anything back, the doors closing as Reina turned on her heel and walked over to the armored car carrying the former head of Shie Hassaikai. I'll just say it later. Just say it later. It's been a long day.
Reina yawns into her hand as Snatch drives the armored truck across the bridge leading to Tartarus Prison. Her body is sore and her chest felt like there was a massive pressure on it. I must have overused my quirk during that fight…
"That girl who you were fighting with today," Snatch says, glancing over. "The UA student with purple hair and the dark costume?"
"Empathia?"
"Yeah. She's your sister, ain't she?"
"That obvious?"
"You guys have the same facial structure so yeah," he chuckles. "She do good today?"
"She did amazing today," Reina boasts, grinning. "Like holy fuck, she did amazing! I don't know what they're teaching her at UA, but it was the best thing in the world. She held her own against a class B villain, showed no fear or hesitation. And-and she has her own ultimate. It's called Apathy Wave. How fucking awesome is that name?!"
"That is a nice name," he chuckles. "You seem pretty proud of her."
"Why wouldn't I? She's going to be the Number One hero one day, just watch. I know she is."
"Seem awfully confident in her abilities," he remarks as she takes the star piece out of her hair and scratches the spot where it sat against her scalp. "Those other kids today were just as good."
"Then it's good competition. I'm going to love watching them rise through the ranks together."
"It'll be a sight when her class breaks the top ten. With as much skill they all displayed during the raid, I suspect it'll be pretty soon once they-"
There's a bang and the truck flips, Reina bashing her head on the door's window before smacking into the dashboard in front of her. Her ears ring as blood trickles from her scalp into her eyes. It comes to a sliding stop on it's side, Snatch saying something that's lost in her bouncing brain. He kicks out the cracked windshield and climbs out, his eyes widening as Reina unbuckles herself and follows, swaying side to side as she gets to her feet.
"Son of a bitch," Snatch hisses, seeing the familiar blue flames of a certain villain, the dust of another. "Elementia, are you good to fight?"
"Ye-yeah," she says, her words a bit slurred as she nods, using the heel of her palm to wipe the blood from her eyes. "Yeah, I can fight."
"Keep them from Chisaki," he yells, starting to head towards the flames. "I'll start by putting the flames out!"
"Roger," she calls back, shaking her head despite the nausea growing in her stomach. She sees the familiar blue hair of Shigaraki, sending a blast of wind towards him and watching with satisfaction as he hits the ground rolling. Blue flames come at her in response, a simple redirection sending them over the railing of the bridge and watching as they burn out over the water below. She takes a wobbly step forward before using the air currents around her to lift her a foot into the air as Dabi sneers at her.
"If it isn't Elementia," he calls, more of his blue flames engulfing his hand. "Or would you rather I call you Reina?"
"Call me what you want, but it all ends the same," she replies, flexing her hand as water from underneath the bridge begins to rise over the side of it. "You in cuffs and locked in Tartarus for what you did to my sister."
"Will it? Or does it end with you in a body bag?"
"We'll just have to see, Dabi."
"One of us will."
Reina grits her teeth despite the throbbing pain in her temples, surging forward with the water following her hand. As Dabi sends his flames towards her, she pushes the water forward, hearing the satisfying sizzle of the salt water killing the flames as she gets close enough to slam her other hand into the scarred man's nose. He growls in pain, sending another volley of flames towards her and catching a car that had been abandoned nearby as it misses her.
"You really like fucking my face up, don't you?" Dabi growls, wiping the blood away from his upper lip.
"Your face is already pretty fucked up. I think it's an improvement!" she calls back, grinning as she brings her hands together. The car behind her explodes, Reina redirecting the force of the explosion with her wind and blowing Dabi back against the bridge's guard rail. He groans, one hand on the rail behind him as he tries to get back to his feet.
"This is where it all ends and I bring you in for your crimes, you murderer." Wind whips around her body, slashing her face with her hair as if it were tiny razors. She closes one eye as a funnel begins to form around her arms, lifting them above her head. "Ultimate Move: Wind Tun-"
"I think not, m'dear."
Her eyes widen as blood rivers into her hair, trying to move her hands but not able to feel them. Dabi cackles as the wind holding her in the air dissipates, dropping her onto the ground with a sickening crack of one of her legs. Behind her stands the familiar masked villain, throwing two marbles into the air before catching them. She looks over her shoulder, her bloody stumped arms digging into the asphalt as he leans over at the waist, removing his mask.
No…
No…
WHY?!
"I do apologize for deceiving you for so long, and choosing not to return your phone calls," he remarks, giving her a cheeky grin before replacing his mask. "But it was one of my best performances, if I do say so myself! All of the wonderful information you fed me will certainly not go to waste."
"Atsu-Atsuhiro…" she chokes out, tears bleeding into her eyes. "No, this is a joke; you-you-I love you!"
"A broken girl in love is often the easiest to manipulate," he whispers, bringing his fingers across her cheek as he had done so many times before in bed. "Isn't that correct, Dabi?"
"Yeah," the scarred man grumbles, staggering over to them as he groans in pain. "Fuck, couldn't you have timed that better? She almost blew me off the bridge."
"Apologies for that delay. Our leader required some assistance prior to this. He's simply waiting on us now."
"Great," he groans, crouching in front of Reina and smirking. "I should really thank you, Rei-Rei. If you hadn't been so stupid enough to bring Leinei to Hosu that day, she never would've popped up on our, well, my radar." He leans forward by her ear. "Nor would we have found out where you guys lived, thanks to Mr. Compress. You really should watch who you're sleeping with."
Reina's eyes widened to the size of saucers at the familiar nickname, watching as he leans back. She catches a glimpse of those same blue eyes from the photograph on the shrine in the Todoroki household. The familiar way his lips curled upwards into a smirk, and the movements of his fingers. No, there's no way this is fucking Touya. Touya would never have done anything to hurt Lei. Never.
"Elementia-!" Snatch yells, only to be cut off as he's engulfed in sapphire flames, irritation flickering on Dabi's face as he grinds his teeth together. After the Sand Hero was reduced to ashes, floating away on the wind, the S ranked villain sighs and visibly relaxes. He looks back at Reina.
"Don't worry, Reina," he whispers to her. "I'll make sure I take good care of Leinei. She's already so far gone, all it takes is one little push to send her over the edge."
"You stay away from her," she hisses. "I'll fucking-"
"What? You'll do what?" he cackles, tilting his head back. "Use your quirk on me? You don't even have hands anymore. Besides…" He stands up, holding his palm in front of her face. "You're that final push."
Leinei hums softly as she stands in front of one of the many vending machines in the hospital, Eijirou having woken up and gotten the rundown of how the raid had gone after he had fallen unconscious. As she decides what snack she wants, she starts to feel lightheaded, her heart racing in her chest then seemingly stopping the way Iida does when he slams into a wall out of nowhere. She struggles to breathe, her legs shaking underneath her weight when they were working fine just a minute ago. She grabs the side of the machine, staggering to the side of it before falling forward and smacking her forehead against the wall.
"Hey, Lei, what's taking you so long," Eijirou whines as he comes out of his hospital room on crutches, seeing the pale-faced girl trying her best to stay standing. Each breath she takes is a hoarse wheeze, her legs buckling underneath her as Eijirou tries his best to get to his friend's side. "Lei! Hey, hey, we need help over here!" he yells, dropping his crutch as he falls hard on his knees, managing to catch her head before it hits the tile.
Nurses and a doctor surge down the hall at his frantic yell, seeing the girl's eyes rolling upwards as he yells her name. He's taken away from her, another nurse rushing a gurney down the hall as they try to pinpoint vitals. He tries to fight back against the nurses holding him, tears in his eyes as he sees how still she is.
"We need you to go back to your room," one tells him sternly. "They need to find out-"
"That's one of my best friends! I'm not leaving her!" he yells at them. "She didn't leave me when I was unconscious-!"
"That was a different situation, sir, but you need to go back to your room or you're going to reopen your wounds!"
"What's going on here?" a familiar voice yells from down the hall, Eijirou looking over his shoulder as Fatgum and Tamaki pick up their pace towards them. "Kirishima, what's going on?"
"I-I don't know, Leinei-she just fell!" he says, tears in his eyes. "They won't let me stay with her-NO DON'T YOU DARE FUCKING TAKE HER!" he yells as they start wheeling her gurney down the hall. "Fatgum, Amajiki, do something!"
"Kirishima, you need to go back to your room," Tamaki says softly, the red haired boy's jaw dropping in disbelief. "Salinsa wouldn't want you to hurt yourself for her sake."
"I will make sure she's okay," Fatgum assures him, patting his shoulder. "You've done enough today. You'll make me look bad if you don't get some rest. Tamaki, stay with him."
"Yes sir."
Keigo drops his can of coffee, holding the wall next to him as he grabs his chest. He drags his nails down the bricking, feeling the rough surface cut into the tips of his fingers before curling them into his palm. His wings are shuddering, screams of pain seemingly echoing in his ears before going silent, only the sound of fire crackling remaining before that too dies off. His heart is aching, feeling as if it was expanding and pressing on his ribcage before shrinking down way too small and squeezing every bit of blood and oxygen out of it.
"Hawks, are you okay?" one of his sidekicks asks, concerned after seeing his boss drop his favorite can of coffee.
"Shut up," he hisses, his voice hoarse as he glances over his shoulder at them. "I..I just lost my grip…I'm sorry," he pants, bending over and grabbing the spilt can. "Can you guys find a trash can for this and get me a new one?" he asks, tossing it at them. "Get yourselves something too. Call it an early break."
"Are you sure? We just star-"
"It's fine," he says, feigning his usual carefree smile. "We'll just take a later lunch."
"Alright..we'll be right down the road."
"Of course. I'll be here," he laughs, waving them off. He waits until they're at least a block away before pulling his phone out and dialing Reina. If anyone knows if something's up, it'll be her. He holds it to his ear, waiting for her to pick up.
"Hey this is Reina! Sorry I can't come-"
He hangs up and tries again, tapping his foot. Pick up you idiot! Come on, pick up!
"Hey this is Reina! Sorry I can't come to the phone right now! If this is Keigo or Leinei, please try my work line. If not, leave a message after the tone and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"
"Fucking hell," he hisses, hanging up again and clicking her work number, holding it back to his ear. It rings. And rings. And rings some more. He covers his eyes with his hands, choking back a sob. Please, fucking anyone-pick up!
"Apologies, but our lines here at Starlite are full. If you are having an emergency please hang up and call the emergency number. If not, please press 2 and leave your number and we will call you back as soon as a line becomes available. Thank you for your support."
"YOU FUCKING PRICKS!" he yells, hanging up and pressing the screen so hard it almost cracks. He's breathing hard, trying his best not to lose his mind with the roiling feeling of terror and pain in his stomach. He clicks Leinei's number, holding it to his ear. Please, please pick up. Please be okay. Please be okay!
"Hello?" a male's voice answers. "Who is this?"
"Where's my sister?" he asks frantically, pushing himself off the wall he had slumped against in his panic. "Is she okay? Is Reina okay?"
"Hawks?"
"Fatgum?" he asks, confused and getting more panicky by the second. "Where's Leinei? Why do you have her phone?"
"She-Amajiki and I went back to the agency to get hers and Kirishima's things after the raid since she rode with her friend to the hospital. By the time we got here, Leinei had collapsed on the floor. The staff is trying to figure out what's wrong with her."
"And Reina? Elementia, I mean."
"She went with Snatch to take Kai Chisaki and the other Shie Hassaikai higher ups we arrested to Tartarus. We should have heard something back by now, but traffic jams happen. Why do you have Leinei's number?"
"That's not important," he says, breathless. "I-can anyone get ahold of Elementia, or of Snatch? I tried her personal and work phones and got nothing."
"What?"
"They're the only family I have left, please!" he hisses into the phone as tears prick at his eyes. "And I'll be there as soon as I can for Leinei. Please-please keep me updated on her!"
"Hawks, breathe."
"I'll breathe as soon as I find out my sisters are safe."
Leinei groans softly as her eyes flutter open, the hospital lights bright to her sensitive eyes. She moves her hand, her arm brushing a familiar blond birdbrain's hair as she pushes herself up. Keigo has his arms folded on the side of the bed, his head nestled in the crook of his elbow as he snores softly. His face is red and puffy, as if he'd been crying. Why would he be crying..?
She looks around, rubbing her eye as she takes in the small room. Her body ached from her fall and the lack of oxygen from what she thought was a panic attack. The door to the room is closed, but she could see Fatgum arguing with someone from the commission just outside it. But..wait..where's…
"Reina…?" she calls hoarsely, looking around and leaning over the side of the bed as if her sister were hiding in the bathroom. Keigo jerks up as he feels the bed shift, rubbing his bleary eyes as he yawns. "Reina?" she calls again, her voice a little stronger.
"Lei Bay," he murmurs, rubbing her arm. His voice is thick and his eyes are watering again. "Hey..how are you feeling?"
"Sore mostly," she replies, leaning back onto her bed. "Where-where's Reina? Did she get held up at the jail?"
"Bay, what's the last thing you remember?" he asks her gently.
"I was just at the vending machine getting a snack and I thought I was having a panic attack. Did I hit my head when I fell?"
"No, your friend caught you. Has a pair of lungs to rival your boyfriend," her brother chuckles. "But…I have something I need to tell you. And you're really not going to like what I have to say," he adds, his voice soft and breaking as tears slip down his cheeks. Her stomach twists seeing that, fear tightening her chest.
"What happened?"
"Reina…she um…she had a run in with villains, and the armored truck she and Snatch were in got flipped," he says softly, easing it over her. Tears start to burn her eyes. "She survived the crash, but…but she didn't survive the run in. She fought until she couldn't anymore."
"You're lying," Leinei says, her voice breaking as she pushes the blanket off her legs and climbs out of the bed. "You're lying! Reina-Reina-she wouldn't die! She can't die! We had plans this week! We were supposed to go have lunch or dinner or whatever with Fuyumi and Natsuo," she continues, trying to make it make sense in her head. Tears are free flowing down her cheeks as Keigo stands and moves around the bed as she makes her way to the door.
"Lei Bay-"
"Tell me he's lying!" Leinei demands of Fatgum as she wrenches the door open. The argument between him and the commission agent ceases seeing her. "He's lying! My sister isn't dead! She can't be dead! She's fucking Elementia!"
"Salinsa," Fatgum says softly, his heart breaking in half seeing his intern falling apart in front of him. "I'm so sorry, kiddo…"
"No!" she yells, shoving past him and leaving the room. This is a sick joke. A really, really sick joke! She's going to be here and yell gotcha and then we're going to go home and-
"Leinei," Keigo murmurs, having caught his sister by the waist before she got any further. "I know it hurts," he whispers as she sags in his arms. Her bottom lip starts trembling as he holds her tightly. "I know. It's okay. I've got you."
"I want my sister," she whimpers, tilting her head back to look at him. A shaky sigh leaves him as he closes his eyes and tightens his hug around her.
"I know, Lei Bay. I know."