You quickly ducked down and flattened yourself against the beam beneath you. Two more people, one of similar build to the first with brown hair, and the other bald and hefty, strolled into the factory.
'Damnit, damnit, damnit.' You panicked internally. Why did Touya have to pick right now to go out? Your muscles tightened as you gripped the edges of your skinny perch. Sure, it was unlikely these three were part of the search party for you, but the last thing you needed right now was to be seen by anyone who could identify you to Stiller. You listened quietly as the other two began speaking.
"Alright, man, we believe you, but could you at least keep your voice down?" The bald one requested nervously.
"Yeah, dude. What if we get caught?" The other stated.
The first sounded annoyed. "Relax, I been checkin' the place out for weeks now. I only ever seen one guy come in and out in the last couple days."
You gasped silently. 'One guy? Is he talking about Touya?' You risked a glance at the boys from your hiding spot. What you saw surprised you. The first man you'd seen sported a pair of dusty blue jeans and a black hoodie and was a good deal older than the pair trailing behind him. The two boys were dressed in black slacks and button-ups.
'Those are… school uniforms. They're just kids.' You felt your anxiety settle a bit. You could handle kids.
The younger boys didn't seem convinced. "I dunno, what if he comes back?"
The first man rolled his eyes. "It's one guy." He scoffed as he strode towards the wall. He grabbed hold of an old rusty bar that looked to have snapped off of a piece of machinery. "If he comes back, we'll just whack 'em."
The two boys moved unconsciously closer to one another and exchanged a look of concern "Whack?"
"Yeah, y'know…" The man replied, suggestively slapping his palm with the pipe a couple of times. Once again the boys' bodies stiffened. They were clearly uncomfortable with the insinuation, and, to be completely honest, so were you. You'd explored this factory as much as you could for the last couple of days; the only people here were you and Touya. It wasn't difficult to figure out who this man planned on attacking. A marble of rage settled in your stomach as you gazed down on the three of them. Like hell you would let these delinquents even get close to Touya. Sure, they were just kids, but you wouldn't need to hurt them to get your point across. Your brows furrowed, and your hands unconsciously balled into fists. Even from your bird's-eye-view, you could see the older man roll his eyes again.
"Seriously- ya can't be bitches about stuff like this if you wanna join us." Your breath hitched in your throat.
'Join us?' You thought. Was this guy in a gang? 'Preying on little kids like that… it's disgusting.' If this man was associated with a gang, wouldn't it be your heroic duty to stop them? Besides the trespassing, you hadn't seen him do anything illegal yet, so there wasn't much for you to work with. Not to mention the fact that you were still considered MIA, not only by Stiller but by the whole of Japan as well. Taking into account the crime scene you'd left back at the Todoroki estate, being listed as missing seemed like a best-case scenario at this point. Showing your face anywhere right now might lead to more problems than you were prepared to handle. Rather than rashly arrest the three of them, you decided to observe just a little while longer. The older man dropped the rusty pipe and placed his hands on his hips.
"Whatever. Did'ja brought what I told ya to?" He asked. Both of the young teens nodded. The smaller-framed boy slung his backpack off of his shoulder with a grunt, resting it on the ground and unzipping the top. You found yourself craning your neck for a better view of the bag's contents.
'Is it drugs?' You wondered with a stern face. It did seem like a standard amateur run- especially if they were using these kids as mules. What you saw, however, was even more concerning. From his bag, the boy pulled out two red gasoline canisters and a large box of matches. Your eyes went wide and the hairs on the back of your neck stood on end. Their intentions couldn't be more clear. Their motive wasn't very hard to figure out, either.
'This must be some kind of an initiation.' Whatever group these boys were "joining" had to be far from law-abiding citizens.
The thin man below laughed happily. "Alright, nice job! C'mon, let's get started. Once those rats from Azumane see these flames, they'll know we're takin' over this territory." A small wave of confidence seemed to pulse through the teens, and, for a moment, they looked less worried. You gulped dryly.
'I need to stop them. This is probable cause, right? These kids probably don't even know the seriousness of what they're doing!' Despite being in hiding with a villain, your brain had switched into hero mode. Sure, you may not be able to arrest them, but that might not be necessary if you could intimidate them. In many cases, the mere presence of a hero was enough to deter criminals from acting out- All Might was a perfect example of this. You made your decision. Taking a deep breath, you jumped down from your high perch, using your quirk to land rather softly behind the older man. You couldn't risk breaking an ankle, too. The two boys' expressions grew horrified as your battered and bruised face glowered straight at them. The man hadn't noticed you yet.
"You two gettin' cold feet again? Listen, we do this right, we'll be outta the building before the whole thing catches fire." He griped at the panicked pair. He must've realized slowly that the boys' eyes weren't trained on him. "What're you two gawking at?" He snapped.
"Eh-hem." You cleared your throat conspicuously to grab the thug's attention. Though the man's attitude had been cool as a cucumber thus far, you managed to catch a hiccup of a startled jump as he spun around to face you. His face still held a snarky arrogance that managed to strike a nerve. You crossed your arms in front of you and used your quirk to lift yourself off of the ground a couple of feet so you could (quite literally) look down on him. The man simply smirked.
"Well, whaddya know. Looks like we've got some company." His voice was saturated with an inflated ego. It was almost too cliche to handle. You shifted your eyes between the boys, the man, and the gasoline cans before you spoke.
"You're trespassing." You stated plainly. "What do you think you're doing here?" It was ridiculous that you had to reprimand a grown man as if he were a child. He only scoffed.
"Trespassing? Look around ya- place is abandoned. S'not trespassin' if no one cares." He leaned toward you, stretching himself upward on the tips of his toes to try and get closer to your face as he spoke. The pungent stench of old beer flowed out of his mouth, prompting you to scrunch up your nose.
'Oh great. I love drunks.' Your irritation spiked. For the life of you, you couldn't understand why people turned into such idiotic buffoons when they had a little alcohol in their system. The way they'd so carelessly act out and resist arrest always made your job more complicated. This wasn't going to be fun.
"Leave." You growled in your most threatening tone. The man looked you up and down curiously before a moue of annoyance replaced his confident smirk.
"Ah, I get it. You're one o' them from the Azumane group, ain't ya?" He almost slurred. Turf wars and gang violence were nothing new to you. You'd worked a number of times to help put down gangs in unsafe neighborhoods at the request of leaders both back home and in other countries. None of those thugs were a match for you, so, you had to admit, being mistaken for one was a bit insulting. You rolled your eyes and placed your hands on your hips.
"No. Leave." You repeated.
The man didn't budge. Instead, he took a step forward, leaving only a few inches between the two of you. "We ain't goin' nowhere. We got a job to do and ain't finished yet." The smell of alcohol that leaked out with every word he spoke was positively toxic. You found yourself unintentionally holding your breath in an attempt to conceal a gag as the foul odor drew closer to your nostrils. You swore he'd singed some nose hairs.
"Ugh…" You had to turn your head away. Using your hand as a guide, you gently used your quirk to push the man back a foot or so. You craved fresh air, and the stale smell of the old factory was a basket of roses compared to this guy's breath. For a moment, he seemed taken aback by the sudden movement, but, likely because of whatever buzz he had, didn't seem to realize it was you that pushed him.
"I'm not going to ask again." You said, returning your glare to the man. You really didn't want to fight this guy- not that it would be much of a fight. You only needed to intimidate them enough to get them to leave, but, unfortunately for you, alcohol had a way of making the dumb braver. He scoffed at you.
"What, you gonna stop us? 'Case you haven't noticed, you're outnumbered." He laughed, opening his arms to gesture to the two anxious middle schoolers behind him. They'd been shaking in their boots the entire time and didn't look too thrilled about being put on the spot by their leader. The thinner one of them spoke up.
"H-hey, man. I wouldn't if I were you." He spoke meekly to the man as if afraid you would hear.
"I recognize you- you're that new hero, (H/n)!" The other boy exclaimed, shakily pointing his chubby finger at you. This boy recognized you? So what Touya said was true: you had made a name for yourself. You had to admit, a huge part of you overflowed with pride at the notion. It was nice to be known as a hero- especially to criminals; it only sucked that you couldn't act like it right now. You faked a smug smile.
"Good eye, kid. Now, do y-" You couldn't even finish your sentence before the man jumped in.
"Pfftt- a hero? What kind'uv'a hero lets 'emselves get all beat up like that? Ha!" He sneered, mockingly wagging his finger in your bruised face. "I bet I could take you!"
You withheld a scoff at the man's words.."Doubt it." You declared confidently. The man grimaced angrily at your condescending tone, offense quickly taking over his patronizing expression.
"Oh yeah!?" Without warning, he cocked his arm back and quickly swung his fist toward your head. His hand slammed harshly into an invisible barrier almost a foot away from your face. "Ah, damn it! What the hell?" He snatched his arm back and grasped his injured hand with his other, rubbing small circles into the reddened knuckles with his thumb. You rolled your eyes. Even without the alcohol, this guy was an idiot to challenge a known hero like that. You let out a fed-up sigh. "You didn't seriously think I would let you hit me, did you?"
The man growled lowly to himself, shaking off his pained hand. "A force field, eh? That's no fair- what're ya, a coward? Fight me for real!"
You huffed out a tiny chuckle in disbelief. This guy couldn't be serious. The fool was challenging you- a hero- to a one-on-one fistfight. You could tell just by looking at him that, even without your quirk, you'd be able to take this guy down with minimal effort. Based on the lousy punch he'd thrown alone, it was likely he didn't have any kind of formal combat experience. Guys like this typically only knew graceless street fights. Still, his confidence was amusing. So much for steering clear of violence. If he wasn't going to listen to reason, perhaps a show of your physical abilities would scare him off.
"Alright." You said, releasing your barrier and lowering yourself to the floor. "Hit me." You made no attempt to take a defensive stance. Instead, you stood straight with your arms extended slightly out by your sides as if inviting the man in for a hug. He smiled a satisfied smile and raised his fists to his face.
"Uh… boss…" The smaller boy peeped.
"Shaddap! This'll be over in no time." He wasn't wrong. With all of the power he could muster, the man took another swing at you from your left. In a flash, you snatched his wrist in the air with your right hand before sidestepping and tugging him down. Keeping hold of his arm, you turned swiftly and latched onto the back of his neck with your left hand. You jabbed your knee into the back of his own, causing his legs to buckle underneath him. He fell to the ground with an audible thud. You held his legs down with one of your calves as you pinned his other wrist beneath your foot. The more he struggled beneath you, the harder you twisted his arm behind his back. The middle schoolers stood dumbfounded behind you as they watched their boss be subdued.
"Agghh! Hey, you stupid bitch- let me up!" He snarled through painfully gritted teeth.
"You wanted a fair fight, right? It's not my fault you're weak." Your rude statement had the man practically foaming at the mouth as he attempted to twist and turn every which way to break free of your grasp. You rolled your eyes once again. It was a wonder your face didn't get stuck like that. "Give it up, you lost."
The man jerked one final time before his body relaxed a bit beneath you. Even with his face pushed into the concrete floor, he managed to turn his head enough to look at you. "Lost?" He rasped with an embarrassed fury. "I haven't lost shit- why don't you drown!" What you thought were beads of sweat on his arms and neck swelled all of a sudden. The cool feeling of liquid climbed its way up your arms, legs, torso, and neck before finally engulfing your face. You instinctively held your breath as you became quickly cocooned in a layer of water. It hardly helped. This water felt almost sentient as it began to force itself into your nostrils. Bubbles of air involuntarily flowed from your nose as it attempted to infiltrate your sinuses. Even with your lips shut tight, you could feel the water muscle its way between them and begin filling your mouth with a salty taste- it was almost like saline.
'Shit! What the hell kind of water quirk is this?' You wondered. It seemed the "fair one-on-one fight" this guy had asked for was over. You had to act quickly if you didn't want to drown. Using your own quirk, you took control of the entire envelope of water around you. It wasn't very hard to manipulate at all- your telekinetic abilities seemed to easily overpower the thug's aquakinesis. You commanded the liquid downward, breathing out heavily as you did. The little air that was left in your lungs helped to expel the salty substance from your nasal cavity as you freed the rest of your face, granting yourself oxygen once again. You coughed sporadically as excess fluid spewed from your nose and mouth. Rage built in your gut. You pushed the water down further, entirely away from your body, and wrapped it around the man's head and shoulders. His eyes went wide as the realization struck him.
"Are you… fucking… kidding me?!" You spat out as you began to catch your breath. Attempts on your life weren't uncommon. In your line of work, nearly everyone you went after had it out for you, but for some reason, this incident had just filled you to the brim with anger. Maybe it was just the rough couple of days you'd had. Sure, the dangerous part for you had lasted only a minute or so, but that wasn't the point. This guy had just waltzed into this building like he owned the place, threatened to kill Touya, planned arson, and now, he just tried to kill you. The worst part was, you couldn't even arrest him without being dragged back to Stiller. Of course, the punishment you were giving him now seemed like a good fit. You shot daggers at his distorted image under the water as you kept him encased. The man began to thrash about, turning his head from side to side against the concrete. Tiny streams of blood streaked through the clear water as the hard floor broke the skin on his forehead.
"You may produce this crap, but I guess you can't breathe in the stuff, can you?" You huffed, pushing down harder on his neck. Your hand was now wrist-deep in water, and your soaked clothes and hair stuck loosely to you.
"H-hey, let him go! You made your point." One of the boys behind you whimpered. You ignored them. It may have been cruel, but this was actually a perfect teaching moment for these boys. They should consider themselves lucky. They get to see first-hand what happens to criminals who threaten heroes and their loved ones without actually suffering the consequences. You held your stance, refusing to grant the thug any air as his torso tightened and writhed beneath you. Sure, it wasn't the conventional way of punishing law-breakers, but taking him in wasn't an option right now. Your eyes narrowed as you watched the man cough out large bubbles beneath the water. He wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. Maybe the kid was right- perhaps he'd had enough. Then again, what was to stop him from attacking you again if you let him up. You dug your nails into the man's wrist.
"You gonna get out?!" You shouted. The man's eyes shut tight. Though he could barely move his head with how forcefully you held him down, he managed a weak nod. You supposed it was as good as anything. You tightened your grip on his neck and yanked him up, simultaneously releasing the water and letting it cascade into a puddle on the floor. The man panted wildly as he tried to catch his breath. You pulled his head back to snarl in his ear. "Don't you ever come back-"
"(Y/n), look out!" The familiar sound of Touya's voice sent a ray of excitement through you, but your happiness turned quickly to alarm as you turned your head just in time to find the bigger of the two boys wielding the discarded rusty pipe like a battle axe. Releasing their boss, you placed a shield in front of you. It wasn't necessary, though. As soon as you had put up your barrier, a wall of bright blue flame swept over the young teen, obscuring him completely from view. You gasped frightfully as the fire blasted in front of you. The kid cried out in agony, but you couldn't make him out through the flames. Looking to your left, you found Touya standing at the entrance to the factory, his hand still smoking from his attack. There was little time to process what Dabi had just done, however. In your distracted state, the man underneath you managed to wriggle his way free before delivering a swift blow to the back of your head. The unexpected blow caused you to double over, leaving you feeling completely flipped to your back to face your attacker just as the man came at you for another assault. Water surrounded his fists and trailed up his arms in a serpent-like fashion. You jutted your leg out as he neared, landing a solid kick on his gut. He stumbled back, giving you enough time to jump back onto your feet. Once the man had found his footing again, he charged up another attack. Sticking his arms out to the side, he commanded his water to form a circle just behind him. It was quite a flashy show of power.
"You two can go to hell! Giga-Geyser!" The water in the circle began to bubble angrily as it swelled to nearly triple its original size.
'Geyser?!' The last thing you needed right now was to be blasted by boiling water, but trying to stop him with a close-range attack would likely seal that fate for you. Even if you knocked him off his feet with your quirk, what was to say he couldn't hit you anyway. Given the amount of control he'd shown with the water earlier, dodging might prove difficult. Another burst of flame shot past, missing both you and the threatening thug. You could hear Dabi growl frustratedly behind you. Your villainous companion lit his hand with blue flames once again. You readied yourself mentally for another wave of heat to screech past, but it never came. Keeping your eyes focused on the thug in front of you, you watched as the ring of boiling water formed a cage around its user like the spokes of a bicycle tire. Touya's hesitation made sense- his mind must have been as full of uncertainty as your own, but the near-miss had given you an idea.
"Do that again!" You called out to him.
Touya shook his head. "I might hit you."
"You won't, just do it!" You yelled back.
Touya's eyes shifted between you and the thug. He didn't have time to be indecisive right now. Following your orders, he charged up his flames and sent them hurling past you once again. You took a breath and concentrated on the blue lights careening by. It might have been all of the adrenaline, but it didn't seem so hard this time. With a simple swipe of your arm, you commanded the fire's path to bend. You could see the man's jaw clench just before the superheated plasma slammed right into him. His water splashed onto the floor, darkening the concrete as it soaked in. Luckily for you, it hardly managed to extinguish any of the flames you'd sent. The thug fell to the ground, rolling around like a madman as he squealed in pain. Plumes of steam rushed from his body as he futilely tried to save himself with his water. Dabi's flames were too much for it. The second any water formed on the man's skin, it evaporated into the air.
The man's cries of anguish bounced off of every wall and bit of metal in the factory and pounded incessantly on your eardrums. You spun around frantically looking for the two boys but only found one of them standing. The thin, brown-haired boy stood beside his now-extinguished, but unconscious friend, trembling- frozen in place as he held one of the gas canisters tight to his torso. You turned all of your attention to him.
"Drop it, kid. Just go home." You reasoned softly. It may have been too late for his partners, but perhaps you could still convince him to leave without a scratch.
"D-don't come any closer! I'll do it, y'know! I'll burn this whole place to the ground!" His voice cracked as he screamed back at you. The slow thud of Dabi's footsteps approaching from the entrance were lost to the uproar of his flames as they burned away at the thug's flesh.
"Little too late for that, don't you think?" Dabi retorted, taking a couple of steps toward the kid. "Y'know, I'm a little surprised…" He went on, casually looking between the downed boy and his burning boss. "...usually, it's the bigger ones who stay on fire longer. Something about the fat, I think. It makes perfect fuel."
The boy's eyes went wide, and he visibly tensed. His hands shook so violently that you thought he might just drop the canister unintentionally. "Shut up- Just shut up!" He cried. Tears pooled in his eyes, and snot began to leak from his nose. The boy fixed his gaze directly on you.
"You! You're supposed to be a hero, right? What the hell?!" His words shot you like a bullet through your heart. You felt your muscles go slack as their true meaning registered in your mind.
"Oh, give it a rest already." Dabi groaned. "It's time you grew up- don't you know heroes aren't real?"
"S-stay back…" The boy muttered. A set of sharp, golden claws unsheathed themselves from his fingertips and dug their way into the thick plastic of the canister in his hands. "Stay back, I said!" Gasoline began to drip from the holes he'd created in the container, trailing down his hands and arms and dripping onto the floor from his elbows. Dabi continued to saunter over, his gait slow and menacing. The cruelty of the situation was beginning to dawn on you.
"Touya…" You said softly. "...wait."
Dabi stopped once he reached the other gas can sitting on the floor. He rested his foot on top of it. "Here, kid." He said. "Since you're so determined, why don't I help you out?"
You swallowed hard as a feeling of trepidation set in. "Touya…?"
In one swift motion, Dabi kicked over the canister, causing its flammable contents to spill out in the boy's direction. The villain promptly dipped down and ignited his flames, setting the trail of gasoline ablaze in blue. Dabi turned immediately back to you. In a matter of seconds, he took hold of your arm and bolted toward the exit. Without thinking, you followed. You looked behind you as you ran and watched in disbelief as Dabi's flames traced a path back to the golden-clawed boy with the gas can. You only had time to get about twenty feet away from the building before a loud explosion sent a massive fireball out.
Touya positioned himself between you and the building, covering your head and ears with his arms as they enveloped you protectively. Glass sprayed out from the few windows that remained, and heat rushed past your legs. You let out an unsteady breath as the noise subsided. Touya loosened his grip around your skull, and his hands ran soothingly up and down your arms as he panted softly.
"Are you alright?" He asked, pulling you away from his chest to take your chin gently between his thumb and index finger. You didn't respond. Your eyes were fixed on the raging inferno behind him. From inside, you could hear the intruders crying out. Their wails were more than just unsettling. They shook you to your core. Your mouth felt like sandpaper, and a crushing weight began to press down on your chest. Flames spewed out of the building like a deadly scorching storm. Your mind was empty save for one sentence.
'What have I done?'