A/N: I can't stand leaving off on a cliffhanger. I won't do that to you either. This chapter includes the death of a child.

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Body throbbing, face aching, and still suffocating on too little air, I manage to do nothing but wheeze inside my mask as the door closes and locks. Niko wiggles on the floor, two other children thrash, and Shin sobs through his bindings with hollow, terrified eyes. Yui-san…

Yui-san is dead.

I try to clear my mind, to call out my shadows, but I can't.

I can't breathe.

I can't help.

I can't do anything!

Why the hell do you get to have powers when you won't even use them!

W-W-What if I do neither?

Tears spill over my eyes as I watch them wheeze, as I realize I'm going to watch them die.

You're a nightmare.

What, you want us to watch?

In the bag. You have one minute, or she'll kill you.

I don't know how long I lay on the floor. Niko glares, Shin passes out, one of the teens to my left goes still. I wheeze through the mask, thrashing in my restraints, screaming until the world darkens at the edges. But it does nothing.

I can do nothing.

And then, there's a loud bang. Something beats against the door, a heavy thud, a vicious, angry sound. I stare, hope surging in my chest, as the door splinters and breaks. The wood bangs against the hall. A familiar mop of purple hair rushes in, a cloth tied around a pale face.

Shinsou Hitoshi freezes in the hall.

I scream, thrashing in my bindings, and throw my head toward the counter and scream some more. That seems enough. Without further hesitation, he picks his way over the bodies, putting himself inside. He pulls open the fridge, he grabs the candles and carefully stuffs them inside, making sure to spill nothing. I don't know how long it's been.

I can't think.

I can barely breathe.

"Fuck!" he gasps as soon as he puts the last one away, shutting the refrigerator door. There's smoke in the air and I yell muffled words looking between him and the smoke. He seems to realize it. He grabs a pan from the sink and smashes it through a window.

Glass and water rain down against my back, into my hair.

He stumbles towards me then. Fingers trembling as they weave behind my head, pulling in unsteady jerks and unraveling strings. I gasp when it's finally removed, staring up at dark eyes and wet, purple hair.

"Shinsou," I manage.

"Damn it, Hoki," he cusses, drawing a pocketknife and raking it through the bindings at my feet. He turns me and runs it through the rope in my hands. "What… fuck! What happened? You were right behind me! Why didn't you use your quirk? Damn it-"

The bonds holding my shoulders back snap and I gasp when I can finally move, the muscles in my shoulder spazzing painfully. My hand moves automatically to my stomach.

"Shit," he says, staring at my head. "Shit-"

"Where- Where- Sensei? He said- he said- he said-"

I can feel the panic attack coming, rising up through my chest. He seems to realize this and shakes.

"Shit, I- no. He called. I couldn't- You- You call him. I… I'll untie-"

He drops a phone in my hands. His shake. Mine shake. I struggle to hit the correct buttons. I can't hit the buttons. I breathe heavily, rasping breaths shaking my chest. You're having a panic attack.

"Shinsou," I manage, trying to speak. "Help. Shinsou help. Help- Please- Please. Quirk."

"Doll?"

"Wha-" I answer without hesitation.

"Call Sensei," he commands. My hands still as his powers take control. My chest aches, my throat tightens, I press Aizawa-Sensei on the screen before I return to myself and sob. The phone doesn't even ring.

Shinsou moves to the person closest beside me, cutting away their bonds.

"Where are you?" snaps Aizawa's voice on the other end. "I told you to-"

"S-S-S-Sensei," I stutter, breath coming in sudden raspy motions. "S-S-S-"

"Hoki," he says, voice clipped. "Stop, breathe. Ten deep breaths, in through the nose and out through your mouth. Don't hang up, I'm on my way."

Shinsou rolls the body over, prepared to remove the gag, and stops. They're dead. It's a child, thirteen—a girl. Shinsou, beside me, pales, drops them, and turns to retch. I watch him heave, the smell of acid and smoke and blood in the air.

I can hear the curse on the other side. I don't hang up, the breaths hurt, the smell. I feel dizzy and sick.

"Where are you?" he asks as I get to ten.

"M-M-My foster home."

"I'll be there in five. Do not hang up."

I can hear the wind whistle through the receiver, my hands shuddering as they hold Shinsou's phone.

Eraserhead arrives as Shinsou cuts through Shin's gag and restraints. He surveys the scene in seconds, kneels down, and immediately pulls Shinsou away. He takes the purple-haired boy into the hallway, sets him on the stairs, and shoves a phone in his hand.

"Call the police," he tells him, voice low and dangerous. He looks like he did at the USJ. His yellow goggles turn to me.

"S-S-Sensei, d-d-don't open fr-fr-fridge. P-P-Poison…"

"Thank you," he nods. "Injuries?"

"Head wound," Shinsou says from the hallway. The phone rings on speakerphone and I shiver. Sensei crosses the space to me next, stepping around Shinsou's vomit and over the child's dead body.

"Are you able to be moved?" he asks.

My body quakes as I nod. He reaches down, grabs me by my armpits, and pulls me to my feet. One hand dips under my elbow and around my back. It's stabilizing, safe. He leads me to the hall and sets me against the steps. I sit, face pressing against my knees, Shinsou beside me.

Sirens blare, their noise rising, Sensei removes three others from the room. They curl at our feet.

Paramedics arrive. Someone unties Niko, it takes three of them to lift her.

"Eraser!"

I can tell the moment Present Mic arrives. It's like a weight drops from my chest. I sob again, watching as people scramble out of his way. Yamada-Sensei looks ready to murder, his face cold, his eyes dark, and clothes singed. I shudder at the image of him. Eraserhead leaves the kitchen then, passing us both to step back out into the rain.

Yamada-sensei's hair defies gravity despite the water. They stand out there for a long moment, words lost in the chaos of the sirens, the thunder, the children's cries.

I lean my head against Shinsou's shoulder, tears flowing fresh against my face.

"You came," I whisper.

His shoulder shakes as his arm wraps around my back, curling against my arm and pulling me in for a side hug. He stares down, dark circles under his dark eyes, purple hair dripping against his face.

"You… you called."