Koushi blinked in and out of existence during the drive. The cell was pretty hard to sleep in, and the passenger's seat was much more comfortable. He did wake a couple of times – the first, because they had to stop to get in the other car that was provided by Aya's boss. There, they'd cleaned themselves up a bit – Aya had been covered in blood, after all, and apparently baby wipes were an efficient way of clearing that up.
The second, because they'd been driving a while and Aya decided to go through a drive-thru to pick up some burgers. That was an exceptionally nerve-wracking experience, but Koushi had kept his hood up and pretended to be asleep with his head against the window, and things had been totally fine. Fast food burgers beat prison food – Koushi had essentially inhaled his before dropping back off to sleep again.
The third and final time he woke, they were at their destination.
Aya had gotten out of the car and opened his door, causing his head to loll to the side awkwardly. Koushi jerked into wakefulness, squinting at the harsh sunlight that assaulted his sleep-blurred vision. He had no idea where they were, but it seemed like the outskirts of a small city. The grass was tall, the bushes overgrown. Litter was scattered across the ground.
"That was rude," Koushi complained immediately, feeling more comfortable around the woman now that she had been consistent in not killing him in his sleep.
Blue eyes cut toward him, and she raised one well-groomed eyebrow. "Testing your limits, shrimp?" she asked, but made no move to actually hurt him. Instead, she just turned and headed toward a small, run-down shack that Koushi hadn't even noticed until then.
He cleared his throat, but didn't respond to her question. It was getting easier to talk over time, which was both a blessing and a curse. "Where are we?" he said instead, a bit apprehensive. The shack did look pretty decrepit, after all. Was that where they were going to keep him?
"Yokohama. Or, just outside it, really," she replied, pulling a small key out of her breast pocket and unlocking the wooden door. The inside was, unsurprisingly, just as bad as the outside. Grass sprouted from between the floorboards, and there was a significant amount of give under Koushi's feet when he stepped in. It was tiny, as well – a one room shack, with a small table, bookshelf, and what looked to be a well-worn kitchen area. "Welcome home, kid."
Not that Koushi had any room to complain, but... well... this certainly wasn't what he expected. "Uh, thank... you?" he tried, shuffling on the spot. "It's... nice."
Aya's lips quivered, and she snorted once before bursting into laughter. "You're so gullible," she crowed, and Koushi felt his ears burn. The woman turned and slid the bookshelf to the side, then pressed her palm to a circular panel just behind it. There was a harsh hissing noise, and a slit appeared in between two wooden slats on the wall that, upon parting, revealed a spacious, clean elevator inside.
Casting him a grin over her shoulder, Aya stepped inside and gestured with her shoulder for Koushi to follow her. He paused for just a second before entering as well, and caught a glimpse of the bookshelf sliding back into place as the elevator doors shut after them.
"There's more?" Koushi tried, and Aya huffed out another amused laugh.
"Much more," she assured him as the elevator began to go down. Koushi took the opportunity to look around and noticed a small, blinking camera in the ceiling – dead center, so it could spin around. It was pointed at the two of them, currently, and as Koushi watched, it spun once and the light flashed a few times.
Aya smiled again, and it was weird to see her smile in a way that wasn't manic or at Koushi's expense. This one seemed almost warm. "Geist is saying hi," she stated, and waved at the camera. After a moment's hesitation, Koushi did so as well.
"Seems they've got eyes all over the place," he said, shifting a little bit on his feet. The idea of being watched made him uncomfortable, but... well, neither Aya or Geist had hurt him yet.
"Mhm. It's their job," she confirmed. "Boss doesn't hire anything but the best."
It took a good while for the elevator to stop, but soon they were on solid ground again. The hallway it opened up into was, again, not what Koushi was expecting. Tiled floors stretched out into a long corridor, lit by cool-toned lights. The overall color scheme was white, and Koushi was reminded of a hospital – except, it was a bit too quiet for that.
Or, it was, until-
"Aya!"
Thundering footsteps pounded on the tiled floor, and an absolutely massive man slid around the corner. It was a good thing that there were no decorations in the hallway, because this person would've absolutely taken them all out in that one move. Koushi wondered briefly if this man was the reason for the minimal decor.
This new man was remarkably quick on his feet. He stabilized himself and took off again toward them, his dusty lavender hair whipping behind him in a long braid. It took everything in Koushi not to take off running in some other direction in the hopes he wouldn't get trampled.
He did chance a glance at Aya's face. The woman looked... well, it was hard to read the expression on her face. Exasperated, maybe, but less intense. Perhaps it was more of a fond annoyance.
Unsurprisingly, the strange man was larger up close. Well over a foot taller than Koushi himself – the newcomer towered over both him and Aya.
For a pair of people that were significantly older than himself, Koushi couldn't help but find the two of them extremely attractive. It didn't help that they were both wearing clothes that hugged them like a second skin – where Aya's unitard was a shiny black, the strange man had on a tight green t-shirt that did nothing to conceal the fucking eight-pack on his stomach. God, this guy was ripped.
Koushi's face warmed up a little.
"Shion texted me that you were here and I came running," he informed the black-haired woman, entirely ignoring – or not registering – Koushi's presence. Which was just fine by him – he could just watch this scene play out. "I'm sorry I didn't greet you upstairs. I was speaking with one of the doctors here and didn't realize you were getting close."
Aya rolled her eyes, seemingly unbothered by the giant man invading her personal space. "I found my way in just fine, thanks," she stated, crossing her arms over her chest. "Do you think I'm incapable of standing in an elevator for two minutes?"
"Not at all," the man stated, aghast. "You're the most capable person I know! I've seen you rip a man in half and not even-"
A loud sigh from the woman cut him off, and Koushi was willing to bet that she'd heard this speech before. "I wasn't serious, Dai. Did you bring the stuff I asked for?" she said indifferently, but there was a hint of a smile playing on her lips.
The man – Dai? - immediately nodded his head. "Of course I did! Who do you take me for? I put it in the storage room over there," he informed her, and began to usher the woman toward the room in question. "Go get changed into something more comfortable and you can rest for a while. You must be so tired, and that outfit is no good to wear outside of missions." Ah, a jealous boyfriend, maybe? He probably had one of his own hoodies for her to wear instead.
Aya let herself be shepherded through the door and shut it behind her so she could get dressed, leaving the two of them alone for the time being.
"Um, your name is Dai, right?" Koushi asked, noticing that the giant man hadn't even spared a single glance in his direction.
Dai(?) jerked his head around, and Koushi froze under his sharp, blood orange gaze. "You call me Daisei," he said gruffly, his tone entirely different from how he'd spoken to Aya. "Who are you anyway? That kid the boss is so interested in?" He curled his lip a little bit in what Koushi could only interpret as disapproval.
Koushi felt his face heat up under the scrutiny. "That's what I've been told," he responded, already wishing that Aya would hurry up and take this giant's attention off of him again.
"Hmm... Honestly, you don't look like much," Daisei stated, looking him up and down. "You definitely don't seem like someone who could've taken Kinetic out the way you did. If I didn't see it on the video, I wouldn't have believed it."
"Right?!" Aya called through the door, apparently having heard their conversation. "Can't believe Kinetic let himself get offed by a little boy!" The handle turned and she stepped out, and Koushi was momentarily so stunned that he couldn't even be upset about the ribbing he was receiving.
Instead of a modest hoodie or sweats like he'd expected, Aya was wearing a body-con skirt that barely covered anything. Her shirt was looser, but still excessively low-cut, almost fully exposing her breasts. And the heels she had on added half a foot to her height – they made her legs look a mile long, and put her at just a couple inches shorter than Daisei himself. It was all black, too, in stark contrast to her pale skin.
That was supposed to be comfortable?!
Koushi's mouth was too dry to speak, and he could do nothing but ogle her. Daisei was staring, too – Koushi could almost see what was running through the older man's head.
"What?" Aya drawled, looking rather pleased with herself. She approached him and leaned over, and Koushi had to fight to make eye contact with her. "Has little Koushi never seen a bit of cleavage before?"
"I-" Koushi squeaked, then cleared his throat and tried again. He was sure his face was scarlet. "Of course I have! This just wasn't what I expected when Daisei said he'd brought you something comfortable, is all." He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt, but judging from the increasingly smug expression on Aya's face, he guessed he hadn't succeeded.
She grinned and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, I'm comfortable in it," she reasoned, casting a glance toward Daisei who was shamelessly undressing her with his eyes. Not that Aya seemed to mind – if anything, she preened further under the attention. "Dai also brought a box of black hair dye for you. It's the kind I use to cover my grays, so it's got blue undertones. It might look a little purplish on you, with that bright ass red you've got."
"Wait, I have to dye my hair?" he asked, knitting his eyebrows together. It was the first he'd heard of that.
Aya looked at him like he was the dumbest person on planet earth. "I'm sorry, do you think it's a good idea for you to walk outside with that cherry red mess on your head? Would you rather me hold up a flashing sign so the cops know exactly where you are at all times?"
Ah. Well, when she put it like that...
"We'll help you with it," she assured. "You're just really easy to pick out in a crowd right now – especially with those scars on your face. And that eye isn't doing you any favors, either. Besides, you could stand to have a haircut, too." A frown crossed her face as she looked him over. "Hell, honestly a whole makeover would do you some good."
"I can cut his hair later, before we dye it," Daisei offered. "It won't look professional, but it'll get it out of his face, at least."
Koushi shifted a bit where he stood, absently tugging on the end of his hair. It was pretty long – shoulder-length, actually. Longer than it'd ever been in his entire life. "I'd appreciate it," he mumbled, glancing off to the side.
"Sure," the larger man stated, finally taking his attention off of Aya to focus more on Koushi. "I suppose we should talk business, now." Daisei cracked his neck, and Koushi flinched a little.
Right. These were villains, after all – they weren't doing this out of the kindness of their hearts.
"What business?" he asked, prompting Daisei to turn and head back down the hallway, leaving him and Aya to follow. There was a grim expression on the latter's face, and it set Koushi's nerves on edge. Even covered in blood, Aya had been grinning.
The walk down the hall was slow and quiet, until they got to the corner that Daisei had initially skidded around. There, the relative silence was broken by a cacophony of muffled, faraway noises. Groans of pain, explosions, roars, and sobs. Even as muted as the sounds were, it was clear to whoever was listening that they amounted to one thing – agony.
"Sorry 'bout the noise," Daisei said, leading them down the next corridor. "Boss tried to soundproof it as best he could, but... well... there's only so much you can do."
The next hall was much like the one before, but there were large sheets of glass placed periodically along the walls. Windows, Koushi guessed, and was soon proven correct as they approached the first. Daisei halted, leaving Aya and Koushi to do the same.
Koushi didn't want to look through the window, but some morbid curiosity had him unable to stop himself.
This place really is a hospital, was the first thought that entered his head. There was a bed inside, facing the window. A figure was laid out on it, naked save for the sheet that covered his hips. As Koushi watched, the man in the bed tensed up, and bright lines of magma began to trail across his skin. He groaned in pain, gripping the sheets beneath him and trembling through the wave of... of whatever was happening to him.
Chills ran down Koushi's spine when he realized that he recognized this man.
"Wha-what is this?" he asked, unable to look away from the writhing man. "Is that Vesuvius?"
Vesuvius was a fairly young villain back when Koushi graduated. He had a magma-based Quirk, and was capable of extreme destruction, when the mood took him. During Koushi's school days, Vesuvius had been quite a hot topic on the news. He was strong and powerful and dangerous, not... not this.
Koushi couldn't help but feel terrible for the man – villain or no.
"Mhm," Aya responded, watching the other villain as he writhed in the hospital bed. "There's an epidemic going on in the criminal underground right now. It's actually been going on for several years, but the cases have been increasing recently. You weren't even in prison the first time it popped up, but they were such isolated incidents that nobody made the connection." She frowned deeply, eyes narrowed.
"We don't know if it's drugs, or a virus, or what," Daisei continued for her. He looked similarly unsettled, brows drawn together and lines deepening around his mouth. "All we know is that it changes the Quirks of those affected. They malfunction and become overactive and uncontrollable, which causes the user immense pain. And from what we know, after observing the phenomenon for a few years, it is incurable."
Koushi frowned, looking over at the two. "Is it contagious?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
"It could be," the older man informed him. "We aren't taking any risks, though. There are disinfectant chambers in every room, and all of the doctors we've employed are Quirkless. Aya and I don't go near anyone affected."
"So, what do you want me to do?" Koushi ventured. Surely they had plans for him – why else would they be telling him all of this? "Do you want to test the virus on me or something?"
Aya laughed, shocked. "Jesus Christ, kid!" she exclaimed, eyes wide. "No – what the fuck do you take us for?"
He hesitated, glancing between the two of them. "I mean... you've killed people, so..." he began, trailing off quickly.
"So have you, genius," Aya deadpanned, placing a hand on her hip. She looked entirely unimpressed.
Oh, yeah. Right.
"Sorry." Koushi flushed a bit, looking down at his feet. "I'm assuming you've got a reason for keeping me here, though... right?"
Daisei huffed out a chuckle. "Well, we're not fully staffed here. We've got two willing doctors, and I can't exactly go in and help, so we just need someone to run errands and lend a hand when they ask."
Koushi paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Like... you want me to run to the store and stuff?" he tried, choosing his words carefully.
"Basically, yeah. You're a sneaky little shit, right? Surely you can manage to get in and out of this place without leading people back here," Daisei stated. "It won't be forever. Boss wants to meet you eventually, after all. Think of this as a trial run."
"Besides," Aya interjected, a wry smile on her carmine lips. "You're a hero, aren't you? You'd be helping these people. That's what you guys do."
A hero? What a fucking joke. Koushi hadn't allowed himself to think that way for years, and he wasn't gonna start again now. But he had to admit... it might be nice to help people again. Before the Kinetic situation, that was a major driving factor in why Koushi wanted to become a hero in the first place, but... he didn't have any right to that word anymore.
"Don't call me that," he responded eventually, then continued. "What makes you so sure I won't get this Quirk disease thing?"
Aya pointed to her own neck. "That thing," she said, arching a brow at him. That smug smile still hadn't left her lips. "You're essentially Quirkless right now, yourself, so you're immune."
Koushi touched the collar absently. He'd almost forgotten it was there. "So you're not gonna take this off," he guessed. It wasn't like he expected them to, but he was a bit disappointed to learn that he'd have to wear it for longer.
"Hell no, illusion boy. That'd be way too risky – for us and for you," Daisei spoke again. "Until we know you're not a risk to our organization, we aren't taking any chances."
That was fair, Koushi supposed. A little frustrating, but he understood where they were coming from. Besides, he didn't want to run the risk of catching whatever illness these villains had, so he was happy to remain basically Quirkless for a while longer. He didn't want to know what an out-of-control Illusion Quirk was capable of.
"And what if I say no?" he tried, looking between the two of them.
There was a pause, briefly, before Aya spoke again. "Then we'd let you go – but good luck out on the streets by yourself. All of the hero world wants you behind bars or dead, so you wouldn't last long on your own. Besides," she said, tone lilting as she leaned in close to his face. "You and I both know you're not gonna say no."
"Why? Because I'm a hero?" Koushi challenged, meeting her gaze directly. He was vaguely aware of Daisei tensing up beside him.
Aya grinned, eyes hooded and satisfied. "Partly," she crooned. "There's a lot of reasons you're going to do it. You want to help these people, you want to stay out of prison, you want a second chance at life." Koushi said nothing, still making eye contact with the villain. Aya licked her lips, a dangerous glint in her eyes. "But you're also curious. What do we want? Why are we doing these things? Why is our boss so interested in you?"
Koushi's eyes must've betrayed him, because Aya gained an air of satisfaction about her. She leaned back and lifted her chin, eyes narrowed in a smirk. "Well? Am I right?"
It took him a few moments to speak again, his throat was so tight with anxiety. Of course she'd been right – eerily so, actually, and Koushi wondered if he had always been so easy to read. He'd have to work on that in the future.
"You're right," he admitted eventually. It tasted bitter on his tongue.
Aya and Daisei exchanged a quick glance, and Koushi wondered what it meant. "I know I am," Aya spoke again, taking the reigns in the conversation. "So you'll help us, won't you?"
Koushi swallowed around the dryness that had built in his throat. This was a terrible idea – probably the worst he'd ever had - but he still couldn't bring himself to decline the offer. "...Yeah. I'll help you."
Immediately, Aya's mood shifted, and she clapped her hands. "Excellent! Now, let's go get your hair done before Dai and I head out," she announced, urging Koushi down the hall to what he assumed was a bathroom. Daisei followed them, toying with the braid over his shoulder. "Dai, you've got scissors, don't you?" Aya called, eliciting a nod from the man.
The change in tone was giving Koushi whiplash, sending him reeling as she settled him down in front of the mirrors to let Daisei begin his work.
There was no going back now, he supposed. Koushi took a deep breath and tried to settle the anxiety thrumming through his veins. They hadn't hurt him yet, so he was probably safe. And he was helping people – they needed them, didn't they? Villain or not, they were still people.
Still, Koushi couldn't quite shake the feeling of dread that had made its home in his chest. He was sure that this action would have severe consequences that he couldn't even comprehend right now.
Well, he could always deal with that later.
AN – Thank you all for reading! The deadline is July 22nd, so just under two weeks away! I am extremely excited to read all of the forms. My boyfriend and I will be going through them together on the 23rd, and we will let you know then where the character fits in the story.
Please understand that the main cast is very small and many characters will have to be repurposed into different roles, but I will try to use as many as I can manage. These roles include pro heroes, teachers, villains, etc. They may be background or supporting, or even main characters in the future.
Here are a few things that I need in terms of submissions:
1. Male characters. I'd say that I have a lot of male and female submissions, but I definitely have more female than male.
2. Diversity. There's nothing wrong with being straight, of course, but I have received a lot of heterosexual characters and would really appreciate more diversity in this area. Gender as well - we're not limited on just male and female!
3. Serious/strict/grumpy characters. I've received a lot of upbeat, cheerful, energetic, and extroverted characters, and could use a lot more of their opposites as well.
Thank you again for reading! Please let me know what you think. I enjoy reading all of your thoughts – especially your theories. Nobody has gotten anything right yet, but keep trying!
Have a great week!
Van
