Leaving Sensei is one of the hardest things I've ever done.
It hurts. It hurts so bad it feels like a physical wound. Like I'm the one bleeding, some invisible liquid that burns in my veins and aches in my chest. I hear him shouting long after I've left, my name ringing in my ears, my phone rattling in my pocket.
I cry as I run.
Sensei's face, angry and hurt, etched into my mind. Niko's words, whispering in my ear.
They're dead because of you. They're dead and it's all your fault, you fucking villain!
The longer you wait, the more dangerous it is for you and anyone around you.
It's all my fault.
I stop several blocks away, ducking into an alley, and sobbing against the brick wall. The rough wall scratches against my open skin, my tank top catching as I sink. My hands twist in my hair and I crumple forward, snot and tears running down my face. The panic rises again, my breath coming in fast, quick breaths. I push my head down, wishing I hadn't left, wishing I hadn't disobeyed, wishing I had only listened.
It's all my fault.
Why am I so stupid?
"S-S-S-Sensei," I sob into my hands.
What have I done?
It takes forever to breathe, far longer than ten counts. And by the time I manage it, I still feel just as overwhelmed.
"Hero?" Niko laughs, showing the video again. "That's no hero!"
"I-I-I will be," I tell myself in a halting half-whisper. "I'll- I'll protect him."
The words are grounding, the sense of purpose giving me strength.
Why do you want to be a hero?
Being a hero to not be a villain is foolishness. Hero work is dangerous, gritty, and at times bleak. Hoki, you've faced villains, I know you understand those risks. What I'm not sure you understand is that you don't have to.
"I-I'll save them," I whisper. "If… If you see someone and you can help, y-y-you do."
I want to protect you and Yamada-sensei and Shinsou-kun.
I swallow and scrub at my face. I take steadying breaths and stand. The screams and explosions have slowed, but the smoke now covers the sky, dark clouds darkening the sun and filling the air. The world tastes like ash, the smell of burning char suffocating.
I pull out the card in my pocket, dirty fingers fumbling with the clean cardstock.
Doctor Ariyoshi.
You need to come with me now before things get out of hand.
I flip the card over, studying the map with painful, swollen eyes.
I'm near.
He'd highlighted the route from the hotel, colored the way. Ten blocks. Was that his luck or mine?
I grimace and pocket the paper, committing the thought to memory.
Then I run.
.
.
.
Ten blocks isn't much of a distance.
It feels twice as long. I dodge three thugs prowling the streets and looting cars. I hide from two police cars, and only when I see the familiar man, do I relax. He's decked again in long sleeves, pants, what looks like a doctor's coat, a face mask, and gloves.
He notices me too, and he seems to cringe.
His shoulders stiffen, his eyes widen, and he looks like one of those cartoon characters Yamada-sensei enjoys watching as he frantically waves me over. I check all directions before I do.
"Damn, brat, took your time huh?"
I glare, black fire burning in my gut. It burns away the fear, it burns away the suspicion, it burns away the inhibitions.
Sensei's face, angry and full of realization.
Blood on the sidewalk.
"Don't you dare-"
"I'm here, you said you had a cure?"
He gives me a weird look, as if not surprised. I don't linger, pushing past him through the door to a humble four-story building. It looks almost identical to several others in the area. The inside is empty, a secretary's desk and waiting room chairs left vacant. The lights, much like the ones in the hotel, are off, but with the large open windows, it's hardly an issue. The afternoon sun, filtered through the gray smoke, cast everything with a ghostly halo.
He gestures to the stairs and under the thin rays, he looks more like a specter than man.
"Yeah, I got it. You came alone?"
"Yes," I snap. He glowers.
"Watch your mouth, girl. I don't have to help you."
I lock my jaw shut and follow as we make our way up a dark stairwell. I count the landings as we go, one hand on the railing and the other curled at my side. When we pass the second floor, he speaks again. Almost like he can't help himself.
"You must not be as incompetent as I thought."
"Why?" I ask, eyes narrowed. Smoke curls from my skin and I have to clench my teeth to keep from bursting into flames.
"You're alive, aren't you? Bombs going off in the city and even with your bad luck, you made it out."
Sensei kneels, bleeding on the ground.
Something dark and nasty snaps in my chest.
"Why couldn't I tell them?" I snarl, the flames breaking free to encompass my arms. The doctor stumbles back. "If you'd just let me get my aunt-"
"Oh, hell no, don't blame this shit on me!" the man snaps, quickly pulling himself upright with a glare. He turns and stomps up another flight. "You were the idiot running around grabbing people you don't know-"
"You were falling!" I shout. My voice cracks as it rises, tears spilling from my eyes. The flames burn higher as hatred curls them into snakes, they twist and writhe and curl around my arms, jaws snapping at my knuckles. He pauses again, expression faltering. "You were falling, and no one was helping, and it was wrong! They were wrong to just watch you and laugh!"
The man stares, seems to catch himself, and turns abruptly.
"Put out those damn fires before you set off the alarms," he says, but unlike before it lacks the venom. I scowl but do, body shaking as I make them disappear. "You keep acting like a fucking hero and you're going to get yourself killed. Didn't your parents teach you restraint?"
I scowl.
"Don't talk about my parents."
We make our way to the third floor and he keeps going.
"Pft. What, did they not buy you the newest All Might plush?" he sneers.
"You're an ass," I growl, gritting my teeth as we finally make it to the top floor.
He glowers but opens the landing door, spilling light into the stairwell. Like the rest of the building, this hall is empty too, silent and white, the open window showcasing the extent of the mass of destruction. I count ten columns of smoke as we pass, thick and rising in massive plumes. The ocean, visible even from here, looks like a behemoth, lying in wait. Dark and so wide it disappears into the smoky sky. I swallow and stare, pausing to touch the glass.
"This... this is my fault?" I whisper.
The doctor snorts.
"Idiot. That's not how luck works. Things were already going to happen. You just become the catalyst, the match that sets them off prematurely. Now hurry the fuck up, I haven't got all day."
The foul man walks to the third door and opens it to a large room. Reluctantly I follow him in. It looks far too similar to Recovery Girl's room, only instead of posters on health, there are charts taped haphazardly to the walls, a giant corkboard covered with string and formulas, and a huge refrigerator layered in clipboards. A desk sits against the wall, what looks like a rolling bed next to it, and a set of filing cabinets pushed against the back wall. He closes the door behind him, plunging the room into darkness. I prepare to summon my flames, uncertain if my black fire will offer any light, only to stop at the roar of a generator.
The room flickers ominously before being bathed in light.
I grimace.
Even as large as the space is, I feel uncomfortable and exposed.
Did he touch you?
"C-Can you hurry up?" I ask, trying to hide the returning fear. Now, here in this space, it feels too real. "I… I don't want another villain to show up."
The doctor hesitates as he moves towards the fridge.
"Villain?" he asks, eyebrows furrowing. "The radio called them civil terrorists."
"It was a villain," I repeat, staring at my shoes. "He said he was a Yakuza."
The doctor flinches and his head swivels, even as he pulls out a syringe from the fridge.
"Shit. We need to hurry then. Listen, kid, this is only going to hurt for a moment, I'll need to inject it in your neck. Go sit on the bed."
I do so reluctantly, moving behind him. I stiffen as he pulls out a syringe, the liquid blood red.
"Why my neck?"
The doctor glowers.
"What is this, twenty fucking questions? It's the way I've formed the antidote, you idiot. Or as close as I can get to one. It'll cut your quirk off for about twenty minutes once you're injected-"
My brain stutters to a stop.
Your quirk won't be back for another twenty. Enjoy watching your world fall apart, hero.
He drags me through the alley, fingers in my hair, mask glinting in the rain.
My eyes widen.
The flames return in an instant, unfurling around my arms like a pair of claws. I bar my teeth and sneer, slipping into a fighting stance. The doctor chokes, eyes widening as his jaw drops open.
"St-Stop!" he shouts, shaking as he stumbles back. "W-Wait-"
"You're a villain!" I snarl. "You're working with Asp! You're-"
"What? No!"
"Don't lie!" I shriek, body quivering. Darkness curls beneath my skin, fear twisting and clawing at my insides. "He used it, he took away my quirk, he injected-"
My breath comes in quick gasps and the flames flicker in and out. Memories, too fresh and real, assault my mind, his high pitched laugh ringing through my ears.
"Stop! Hey! Fuck! Put out that damn fire before I hose your ass! You're still unlucky and if the Yakuza are here, they're looking for me. Fuck! I don't have time for—I need to clear out, I'm not ready and they're gonna want to take—just... power down, damn it!"
I do.
Not because I trust him or even because he said it, but because suddenly the panic in my lungs, in my chest, is debilitating.
"Shit," he groans, hand running through his hair. "Shit!"
I glare from the floor. He sets the syringe on his nearby desk and starts grabbing charts.
"I'm not a villain," he says, moving in a flurry of chaos as he pulls a huge suitcase from a cabinet and starts stuffing it with papers. "I… You have no idea what it's like growing up with a quirk like mine."
I take a deep, gasping breath.
"You want to know when my quirk manifested? At five. At five my parents hugged me and three days later they died in some accident. And of course, I got lucky and inherited some ridiculous fortune. They all still thought I was quirkless, but they put me in with normal kids, calling me a late bloomer. And for years, I got passed all over Japan, over China, and America, in one high-class social circle to the next."
My breathing slows as the doctor talks, his teeth grinding as he moves to the wall, dragging down all those next.
"You have no idea what it's like to be hated by everyone who takes you in, to be treated like a threat because you're lucky. Lucky to get into the good school, lucky to win every lottery, lucky to inherit some huge sum of money everyone wants—and lucky enough to kill everyone you touch."
I flinch but he goes on, clambering behind his desk and pulling out files.
"You want to be a little hero and save the world? It's not the villains that are the problem, it's the world. It's the quirks! They ruin lives! They destroy everything! And one day, they're going to destroy our world. I'm... I'm developing a cure!"
"You gave it to villains!" I growl, finding my voice.
"I had no choice!" he snaps back. "Where do you think I get the compound? It's a trade, you idiot girl. I got lucky to find the only known compound in the world that can erase quirks. And then I got lucky again, to figure out the formula so fast! You're a moron if you think it's free. Nothing in life is free! So what do I do, hero? Do I live like this? Accidentally killing people, teenagers, children, and adults caught up in my quirk's field? Or are you going to agree with the law, and say I need to kill myself? Don't forget, your only hope for surviving the next two days is on my desk, girl. You want to argue semantics with the dead?"
I flinch and hold my head, overwhelmed and uncertain.
He seems to realize this. He drops the files in his case and approaches closer, and this time I don't flare up with rage.
Instead, it's only shame.
Shame and pity.
"I'm going to give you this shot," he says lowly. "We're going to pretend like we've never met, and you can go back home to your perfect little family-"
"I'm adopted," I interrupt.
His step falters, but he doesn't stop. He steps closer, close enough to reach, too close. He looms in front of me, dark eyes narrowed and angry and hurt.
"What?"
"I'm adopted," I repeat, mouth tasting like ash as I look away. The stress lines suddenly look so much deeper, suddenly mean so much more. "I lived in foster care too. For five years, until… until Sensei adopted me."
"Sensei?" he repeats, voice taking on a bitter edge. He moves impatiently, one hand on my head as he shoves away my hair. "No wonder it chose you."
I flinch, uncomfortable beneath the touch of his latex fingers.
"Wh-what? Why?"
So close I can smell him. Like too strong curry and sweat.
It makes my stomach roll. My hands shake.
"It always finds the pathetic ones, the unloved wretches that no one will miss. No one will ever really love you like your parents. If he's adopted you, it's out of pity."
I gape.
The man scowls.
"S-S-Sensei doesn't pity me," I say, suddenly uncertain.
"Doesn't he?" asks the doctor, squeezing the syringe. He lines the needle against my neck, the tip poking in sharply. It pinches as my mouth dries. Doubt burns in my chest, itching fiercely beneath my skin. "Why else would someone take in someone else's child? You call him teacher; my money is the man took you in out of guilt."
"But… But he- he hugs me and- and he lets me kiss him."
"Anyone can do that," he says, voice flat and disinterested, impatient. With a sharp pinch, it's in my neck, the liquid cold and dripping beneath my skin, running through my veins. My stomach churns, my arms shake, and the familiar sensation of terror and helplessness rises again. "Plays the perfect little Dad, right? I had one of those too. Tucks you in, tells you to talk to him. That you can trust him. Feh. Wait until you fuck everything up, it ends."
Something slams against the door.
"Don't struggle Intern-san," whispers a familiar high-pitched, nasal voice.
I shake.
The doctor spins and pales.
"Fuck!"
.
.
.
Villains blast through the door and I stumble forward, pushing past the doctor to stand defenseless in their way. My neck burns from the shot, my blood icy with the liquid flushing through it.
Quirkless.
Useless.
I grimace and twitch. What do I do? Two figures leer in the doorway. One a thin, weedy looking man with some sort of stretch quirk that elongates his neck inches above his shoulders, and the other is a thick, muscled man with scaly skin that wraps around his every feature. They enter the room and smirk, faces glancing at the mess, at the suitcase, at the doctor. I step in front of their view, sinking into a defensive stance.
Why do you want to be a hero?
They called me a villain b-because I scared them. I don't- I don't want them to call me that. I want to protect them. I want to protect you and Yamada-sensei and Shinsou-kun.
Rin-chan, I don't wanna lose you too. So promise me. Promise me Hellspawn, promise me you'll get strong.
"I'm going to be a hero."
A quirkless one.
I'm gonna die.
"Who are you?" I snarl instead, trying to buy time.
Twenty minutes.
I'm not unlucky anymore, and it's only two…
But I'm quirkless. And that's almost worse.
"I thought he was supposed to be alone?" growls the thick one. "Who's the girl?"
"You know he's got that damn luck quirk. She's just an obstacle. Kill her."
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I throw it to the doctor automatically. He catches it on instinct, his hands forcing it open without hesitation.
"Whoever you are-"
He cuts off, diving down behind his desk as the scaled thug steps further in. I ignore the doctor, raising my fist, and trying not to cry. Twenty minutes. I just need twenty minutes. Survive for twenty minutes and I can fight for real.
I can do this.
I can do this.
.
I can't do this.
The thick villain covered in scales rushes forward and I dodge, moving on instincts learned against Shinso. I drop to the floor as an arm swings above. My leg slips out and I kick at his ankles. It's like kicking a tree. He doesn't budge and I snarl, using the limb to spring away.
I catch myself and roll, the ankle throbbing when I stand.
Crap.
The villain grins, taking in my limp. He pushes forward again.
What would Sensei do?
Use the environment.
I scramble backward, reaching blindly, and grab a filing drawer. I rip it out and hurl it at the scaled man. Papers fly everywhere. It barely phases him, but the scientist's screams do.
"No! My work! No!"
I should feel bad.
I don't.
I take the distraction to my advantage, looking for soft flesh. The only thing unscaled are his eyes. I surge into his space and he's too slow. In seconds, my left hand is against his face, the sharp scales cutting into my palm as I thrust my thumb down, pressing with all my power even as he jerks back. It's wet and squishy and bursts beneath my touch. It's like squeezing through a slug.
His shrieks fill the room.
I pull back, ready to escape, but he catches my wrist. Falling to his knees, he drags me with him on instinct, his screams shrill and piercing, the hand squeezing as the pressure tightens.
Agony rips through my arm as it doesn't stop. It doesn't stop. He isn't letting go!
My screams join his as I struggle to free myself—loud and deafening.
I can't get free!
I can't get free!
I sob and tug.
I can't do this.
Quirkless… I'm quirkless!
He snaps my wrist. Fire and pain blackening my vision.
"Uroko! Shit, are you okay-"
He tosses me blindly, limbs flailing amidst his never-ending shrieks. I crash into the nearby desk, it slides under the weight, slamming into my stomach too fast, too unprepared. Nausea rises, gurgling up and across the scattered papers, my breath lost in the haze. And the pain—it hurts, it hurts, it hurts—the overwhelming pain makes me weak.
The second man enters the room.
The scientist, hidden below me pales, shaking beneath his own desk, my phone in his hand.
"Oh shit! Oh shit!"
"Bitch, I'm gonna kill you. Uroko-"
I don't have a choice. It's either move or die.
I can't move. I still can't even breathe. The slim villain's head slithers across the room, stretching as it wraps around my throat, and constricts. My hand moves automatically, the unbroken one crawling across the flesh snaked around my throat. My fingers dig into it, clawing at the skin and bones. It holds strong, constricting tighter. I can't breathe!
I can't-
"Uroko! Shit, man, hold on. Wait till the boss gets you, it'll be fine-"
My hand drops then, fingers splayed to the desk as my vision stutters. Find something. Find something.
I'm gonna die.
I can't even choke out a gasp.
My lungs burn, my muscles ache, my body spasms.
I'm gonna die.
I snag scissors, and without even looking, I slam them into the flesh holding me. It loosens, I gasp and do it again, over and over as the constricting feeling loosens and I realize someone's screaming in my ear, air hissing out like a flat tire. I don't think, I open my mouth and clamp down.
Skin breaks, something wet and metallic bursting against my tongue.
The head and neck fall to the floor, the scaled one still rocking by the cabinets, eye covered and sobbing.
I open my mouth, blood on my tongue, and gasp for breath. The world spins, my vision black on the edges. I lean forward, spit and blood mingling as I drool. I want to vomit, can feel it in my throat. I want to vomit and pass out. But… But if I throw up now, I think I'll choke on it. I don't look, don't look at the blood or the bodies. Shouts echo down the hall, beyond the door now open and the generator still humming low.
I stumble from the desk, gasping for air.
"We… we need to… to run," I manage looking at the doctor. He's pale and shaking, eyes staring at my bloody mouth.
I swipe my arm across my face. It leaves a bloody splotch on the skin, lines of red drool stretching between us.
I'm alive.
We're alive and there are more coming.
"I… we can't!" the man says. "There's no way out, and my luck-"
"I can't fight... Not like this," I snarl. "How... How much longer?"
"It's only been a few minutes-"
Gunshots ricochet from the stairs and I stumble towards the door.
Maybe I can block the path?
Twenty minutes, I just need twenty minutes…
There's no way we'll last twenty minutes.
I feel the panic rising up, the fast breaths and the shaking limbs. I shove it away. I don't have time to panic. We're going to die if I don't think faster.
I'm going to die.
And that's when All Might arrives.
I know it instantly, the sound of his laugh reverberating through the building, the gust of wind from his punches whistling shrilly. He's just as terrifying as always, the force of his attacks shaking the floor beneath me. He sounds like a freight train, the thunder of his steps, and the crashes of his enemies echoing. Where I could do nothing, he is everything.
And then he's there, suddenly in the doorway and in my space.
"NEVER FEAR! FOR I AM HERE!"
I flinch back, the motion automatic.
"A-A-All Might," I gasp out.
He grins and looks down, lips curled in his usual smile. It wavers as he takes in the scene.
"Young Hoki, Present Mic told me where to find you. You're injured. Forgive me, I came as fast as I could."
I shudder as he stands in front of me, eyes scanning my body. I'm sure he takes in the blood smeared across my mouth, the swollen, crooked shape of my wrist, the limp of my ankle, and the bruises no doubt blossoming across my neck. And I can see him putting together what happened as his eyes roam the room. The long neck and scaled villains on the floor. His grin becomes more of a grimace, especially when he catches the scientist still curled and shaking behind the desk.
"And you, you must be the man that infected this young lady with your quirk."
He takes a menacing step forward.
"W-W-Wait," I cry, weakly grasping at his arm. It's as big around as my head. The hero stills instantly. "P-P-Please, don't hurt him."
His smile dims, and he turns back, expression pained.
In a swift motion, he kneels down, even at half his height he's tall. He ducks forward, bringing his eyes level with mine.
"Young Hoki, I am not going to hurt either of you," he says softly, without all the loud boisterousness he usually possesses in class. He gazes at me with a sort of quiet intensity, and I'm surprised to realize he has blue eyes. They're the same, electric color as Toshinori's. "I'm here to protect you."
He looks so sincere.
I swallow and shake.
I don't believe him. He seems to realize this as he lets out a heavy sigh.
"We need to get you to the hospital. I believe the ring leaders were below, do you know what they were after?"
The doctor squawks and I shrink.
"Y-Y-Yes, sir."
All Might glances between us and he rises back up to his massive stature.
"I can guess," he says simply. His voice turns cold as he glances at the doctor. "Sir, I suggest you remain here where you'll be safe. The police are already on their way up. They will collect your statement then. Young Hoki, I will escort you to a hospital. They can take your statement there. May I take your hand, the unbroken one?"
No.
I don't want to.
But I know better than to refuse.
Nervously, I hold out the appendage. It trembles as he grasps it. His hand is so massive, covered in callouses and ridiculously warm, it all but swallows mine, but he doesn't crush it. Instead, he pulls lightly, forcing me to limp slightly behind him as we pass down the hall and descend the steps at a turtle's pace. He doesn't talk to me at all, instead greeting officers that gawk with hero-worship and adoration. It's a bizarre juxtaposition, this massive beast of a fighter with all of his enemies laid out on the floor, smiling and waving to the police that cheerfully greet him.
It's unnerving.
It's strange.
I shrink into his side as their eyes turn to me, stomach rolling.
"Why didn't you use your quirk?" the large man says when we're nearly halfway down. I glance at his face, and he lifts an eyebrow.
"I… I couldn't. He injected me with a drug that prevented it."
All Might freezes, his eyes going wide.
"He- He did what? Young Hoki, that's incredibly dangerous! Why didn't you say so immediately? Do you even know the side-effects? I need to get you to the hospital now!"
At the sudden noise and quick movement, I flinch away, jerking my hand back. He releases it instantly and grimaces, suddenly contrite.
"Ah, I'm sorry-"
Why?
I glare at the huge man, at the hero. Rising up and up and up. Like a god rising from the waves. Back pressed against the wall, I shake and try not to cry.
"Why do you care?" I snarl.
Fuck heroes. Fuck your stupid quirk. Go be one if you want, it's not like you ever did shit for us anyways.
"What do you mean, why?" he asks, eyes wide. "I'm your teacher! And even if I weren't, I'd still take you to the hospital! Injecting anyone, especially a minor, with untested chemicals is dangerous along with illegal!"
He reaches forward, those large huge hands going for my elbows.
"I'm going to carry you there, it'll be faster."
I want to tell him no. I want to scream and hide and tear away his flesh with my shadows. But my throat aches, my stomach rolls, and in seconds he's picked me up anyways. The icy wind burns as he moves fast, faster than I've ever traveled, leaving my stomach behind me, and my hair tangled wildly in my face.
And despite the fear and the anger and the undulating nausea rising in my throat, I can only cling to him as he saves me.