Chapter Seventeen

Denki was left slumped in his white plastic chair outside the Soba shop while the police officer who had been questioning him stepped away to use his radio.

It was the same seat he'd been sitting in only minutes ago when everything had been right with the world. His kids had been happy. Eating the cake their aunt had purchased for them. Everything had been so… carefree. So peaceful.

It was astonishing and horrifying how quickly things could change. In a matter of a few short minutes, his entire world had come crumbling down around him.

His kids were gone.

They'd been kidnapped by the MLA. Kidnapped by Emiko, his own sister.

And it was all his fault.

After his initial breakdown, after he'd calmed down enough to explain what had happened to the concerned cop and shop owner, things had become hectic. Denki had described Emiko's appearance, as well as the appearance of both of his children and the woman he'd chased into the alleyway. The shop owner had rushed to find his security footage, which showed a van pulling up to the curb shortly after Denki had rushed off and Emiko herding the kids inside. The cop put out an APB on the vehicle and was even now radioing in for backup and requesting assistance from any nearby Heroes.

And all the while, there Denki sat, hollow and defeated.

He'd tried to help and had only made things worse.

Tried to be a Hero when he was anything but, and instead had put the lives of his children in jeopardy.

It wasn't fair. He knew his father and sister had every right to hate him, but… his kids hadn't done anything wrong. Hadn't he suffered enough for the mistakes he'd made? How long would the universe continue demanding that he pay?

The restaurant owner, a kindly old man who was missing half of his teeth (better to slurp soba, he'd jokingly told him on a previous visit), patted Denki consolingly on the shoulder.

"Never fear, my boy," he said in what he surely thought was a bracing tone. "The Heroes will be able to find your kids and bring 'em back, safe and sound. You'll see. Just stay strong."

Only, that was part of the problem, Denki mused as the old man shuffled away. The Heroes were probably being alerted right now. And that meant that his friends and, more importantly, his wife, were going to find out any minute now.

Despite how all-consuming his terror and guilt were over what had happened to his kids, there was still that voice in the back of his head reminding him that he was going to have to face Kyouka. What on earth was he going to say to her? How do you look your wife in the eye and explain that your negligence and incompetence led to your children being kidnapped by violent, murderous terrorists?

Even if they managed to get his children back safe and sound… he knew Kyouka might not ever be able to trust him again.

And the worst part was, he couldn't blame her.

Would the day ever come where he ceased being a disappointment to the people he loved?

He slumped over, feeling raw inside like his insides had been furiously scoured by the flames of his own shame and self-loathing. He moved as though to lay his head down on the tabletop, still laden with the remains of his and Emi's lunches and the cakes she'd bought for his kids, when something caught his eye.

There, under Emi's glass, was a piece of paper. He hadn't noticed it before because it had been partially obscured under her plate.

Slowly, Denki slid it out and held it up to read.

'Let's not mince words.

You know what you have to do to get them back.

I can promise their safety only so long as you turn yourself over.

You have one hour. Go to the place we first met. Come alone, or they die.

Dad really wants to see you again.'

The handwriting… he had no way of knowing if it was hers. He hadn't seen her writing in years. Still, who else could have left the message but her?

He figured it would come to this. If Denki's father wanted him dead, kidnapping his children was a great way of getting him over there and separating him from his Pro Hero friends. The only problem was, going along with this didn't guarantee his children's safety. But what other choice did he have? They'd already tried to kill them once. They wouldn't hesitate to do it again if he didn't comply.

If only he hadn't given Aika his ring… He could use it to alert the Pros to where they were going to take him.

No sense in worrying about that now. He was losing his hour. He needed to move if he was going to get all the way back to that alleyway where he and Emi had first met.

The police officer was still talking on his radio. The shop owner hadn't returned from the restaurant. Now was his chance.

Carefully, he slipped the note back under the glass. Hopefully, the cop would find it once Denki was gone and alert the Pros. He couldn't remember if he'd ever told Kyouka exactly where he was when he'd met Emi again. Hopefully he had, otherwise...

He'd have to rely on his friends, actual Heroes, to save his kids. For now, Denki would do what he could.

And maybe, just maybe… if he turned himself over, maybe his father would show his kids some mercy and let them go.

Quickly, before the cop noticed, Denki stood and slipped into the crowd passing by on the sidewalk.

By the time the police officer had finished making his report and turned back to Denki, he was gone.

Emi stood alone in the hallway.

It was dark there. Peaceful, almost. The only source of light was the bluish-white fluorescent light that bled out of the open doorway to her left. She was only a few steps away from the makeshift break room in Re-Destro's abandoned warehouse, her back against the cold cement wall. Far enough that she wouldn't be seen by anyone who was inside. Close enough that she could still hear.

She was hiding. It was stupid, she knew that it was. Yet somehow, the thought of going into that room, the thought of having to meet their frightened, distrustful eyes…

It scared her.

They put them in a dog cage. It was a large one, at least. The kind meant for a bigger dog, like a Labrador or a Great Dane. Still… a cage was a cage, even if it was nearly tall enough for them to stand up in. Kids didn't belong in cages. Especially not her niece and nephew. Especially not when it was her fault they were in there in the first place.

How had it come to this? Where had it all gone wrong?

Ten years ago, she'd been doing her best to live her life. She'd been lonely, of course. She'd missed her parents and hated her brother who had stolen everything away from her and had the audacity to go on and live a perfect, normal, happy life like nothing was wrong. But she was strong. She carried on. She did her best to support the other discarded remnants of the MLA. To make a life for herself out of the ashes of their defeat. To take care of little Yuu, who had been only five and so determined to grow up faster than he needed to. It had been a hard life. A sad life. But a quiet one.

And then Yuu's Quirk had manifested.

She'd heard of things like that happening before. Children whose Quirks were mutations far beyond anything seen before in their family. Quirks so powerful they completely shattered all conception of what was previously thought possible. There had been a girl who was living at Denki's school who had such a Quirk, granting her the impossible power to rewind a person like they were an old-fashioned cassette tape. It was horrifying and amazing. A testament to how Quirks had changed the world.

Yuu couldn't do that. But he did have the ability to freeze time.

That probably wasn't completely right. They'd never been able to sit down and study it, for several reasons, but it was probable that what he really did was accelerate to such an insane speed that everything else appeared to move in slow motion. And he could also, by touching something, accelerate that object or person as well so that they could also move about with time appearing to have stopped.

The problem was, like with all Quirks, Yuu had a limit. And that limit prevented him from using his Quirk more than once a year.

Once he used it, he was forced to wait an entire year before he was able to use it again. During that waiting period, Yuu was essentially Quirkless. It was difficult to say how long he could go - what is time to you when you've basically stopped it from moving? - but after a decade of testing, he'd managed to deduce that he could spend about ten minutes in his 'accelerated' state - that is, ten minutes as it appeared to him, not ten minutes in reality. But during those ten minutes, he was virtually unstoppable.

Which is why she'd been so surprised when, two years ago, Yuu had approached her on the eve of the day that he'd get to use his Quirk again and told her, his expression completely serious, that he wanted to use it to help break her father out of prison.

There was no ulterior motive. It had nothing to do with the MLA, or rebuilding their lost community, or getting revenge on anyone.

Yuu had lost both of his parents in the war. They'd died the day Emi's father had been arrested. On the day that Denki had killed her mother. On that day, both had become orphans. They'd met by accident when they'd found themselves gathered together with a cluster of other displaced survivors, scared and hurt and alone. Emi had stolen away into the backroom of their makeshift hideout, a store owned by a survivor in another town, to find somewhere she could be alone and cry and found her spot already taken by little five-year-old Yuu.

He'd glared up at her, face covered in tears and dust, his nose full of snot, and her heart had broken. And from that day forward, she'd become his only family.

She could... sympathize with him. Neither of them deserved to be there, homeless and without a family.

Children didn't belong on the battlefield.

The thought was painful now, in light of what she had just done.

Yuu had only wanted to break Emi's father out of prison for her sake. Because while he had to live without his parents forever, she didn't have to. Her father was still alive. His life sentence meant he'd never get to see her again, but if Yuu used his Quirk, they could break him out of jail. They could finally be reunited. She wouldn't be alone anymore.

Emi had refused at first. She wanted to see her father again more than anything, but what Yuu was suggesting was a serious crime. Unlike her, unlike the other misplaced PLF survivors, Yuu was actually innocent. He'd been a child during the war. He'd never committed a crime. And silly as it sounded, Emi was determined to keep it that way. If she lost him too, she didn't think she could go on.

But Yuu was insistent. And after two years of constant begging and debating, two years of dangling the idea of having her dad back in her life in front of her face, of saving him from isolation, of getting at least a part of her family back… she finally wavered.

The Pros probably thought that the breakout was some large, well-thought-out, complicated plan years in the making, meant to revive the PLF and once again throw society into chaos. In truth, it was a spur-of-the-moment impulsive decision made by a well-meaning teenage boy and a lonely young woman who just wanted to hug her father again.

It was never about the MLA or getting revenge or starting up a new conflict.

It was about family.

Or… it was supposed to be.

Getting her father out was the easy part. Yuu took her along when he accelerated and it was just a manner of strolling past the oblivious guards and finding the right jail cell. Yuu's Quirk did weird things to the law of physics. If they could ever study it properly, she was sure that they'd find that his heightened speed gave extra force to normally mundane punches, but it was a simple matter to break down any doors closed in their way or to break open the cell itself. They wound up rescuing the other men in the cell as well, if only to cover Emi's involvement since she was supposed to be dead, and then escaped without the guards ever being the wiser.

At the time, Emi had been too blinded by the sheer joy of having her father back to notice the cracks that had developed in him over his decade of isolation. If his eyes had looked cold and distant, it was only because he'd been so alone for so long. If his smile seemed off, it must be because he'd forgotten what the action felt like. And though his happiness at seeing her again was at least unfeigned - his tears had been real enough as had the tightness of his embrace - she couldn't bring herself to blame him for immediately asking about the rest of the MLA. He had a life now, one given back to him by Yuu. Of course he'd want to know about what was going on in the world. That was normal.

So when he began speaking with the other MLA members, after they made their way back to their hideout, about Denki and about pulling together to exact their revenge for their fallen comrades, she really had no one to blame but herself for being surprised.

She understood where he was coming from. Denki had stolen everything from them, and while the MLA hated him as a whole, no one had more right than they did. She supposed that, after spending ten years locked away with other PLF members, being known as the father of the one who had betrayed them can't have been easy. Ten years of being at the mercy of their hate and abuse. Ten years of having the unthinkable truth that your son killed your wife thrown in your face day after day… it would be enough to drive anyone mad.

But even still, she had hesitated.

It wasn't that she didn't want Denki to pay. She absolutely did. It burned inside of her, day in and day out, that he was living such a normal happy life when she and Yuu and her father had been made to suffer so much. It was just… she had only just brought her father back. Waging a war against her brother, especially considering who his friends were, was suicidal. At best, they would all be arrested this time around. At worst… more of her family could die. And she'd long since decided that she was going to protect Yuu from that life.

It hadn't taken too long for her father to bring her around to his way of thinking, however. He'd looked her dead in the eyes and said, voice quiet, devoid of its old warmth, "Think about what your mother would want. She entrusted her dreams to you."

It was her job, he'd said, to avenge her. And while Emi hadn't exactly agreed with that, he had at least managed to stoke the fire of hatred for Denki and what he had done to them that had dimmed somewhat over the intervening years.

It was only now, with the benefit of hindsight, that Emiko was finally beginning to realize just how similar she was to her father. How easy it was for her to find herself pushed along by the will and desires of those close to her. Much like how her father had completely given in to her mother's obsessive devotion to the PLF, Emi had eventually given in to Yuu's pressures to save her father and even now had gone along with her father's insane quest for revenge, all because she cared about him and didn't want to disappoint him.

Had she always been so impressionable? Had she always lacked the ability to hold true to her own convictions? As conflicted as her feelings were towards her mother and her brother, at the very least, they had shown the ability to stand up for what they thought was right. No matter the cost, to themselves or those around them.

It was funny. Ten years ago, though she'd resented her parents and especially her mother for getting her involved in it, she had stood strong on the battlefield and had fought against Pros and police officers alike without any real concern over whether what she was doing was right or wrong. Why was it so different now?

A quiet noise floated out of the breakroom. She recognized it as Rai, her little four-year-old nephew who she'd pulled out of that burning building. He was whimpering in fear. Her fingers tightened into fists, nails digging painfully into her palms.

This was the right thing. It had to be. Denki had killed her mother. He'd been living happily while their father rotted away in prison and she was forced to live in hiding. This was fair. This was just. It was.

Where was that conviction she'd felt on the day she'd reunited with Denki in that alleyway? Where was the roaring hate that had spurred her forward? She needed it now, more than ever, but all she could feel inside was cold.

The soft sound of footsteps called out to her, coming slowly closer. Someone approached her out of the shadows of the hallway. It was Yuu, and from his expression, he wasn't happy.

"Your dad told me to get you," he said quietly once he'd reached her side. "Says your brother should be here soon. He wants everyone to get in their positions."

But she didn't move. Behind her, on the other side of the wall, two little kids were in a cage, crying and terrified. Because of her. Because she'd ignored the voice in her head that told her this was wrong, had allowed her brother to rush off into their trap, and when Yaso had pulled up in his van, she'd lied to the kids and told them that they would be safe if they got in the car with her.

And they'd believed her.

Because she'd bought them cake. Because she'd played with them. Because they thought they could trust her.

She felt nauseous.

When she didn't respond to Yuu's comment, he turned and settled back against the wall beside her. He was taller than she was now. When had that happened?

"I don't like this, Emi," he said, not bothering to lower his voice. "This… This isn't what I thought was going to happen when we saved your dad."

Thoughts of Rai crying morphed into the memory of five-year-old Yuu covered in tears and dust.

Kids didn't belong on the battlefield.

All she'd wanted was to have her dad back again. She wanted Denki to own up to what he did. She didn't want to drag these kids into this. This wasn't how things were supposed to be.

And now Denki was more than likely on his way. And even though the note she left told him to come alone… Chances were good that, today or someday in the future, the Heroes would descend upon them again in all of their fury. How many family members was she going to lose this time?

Yuu turned to walk away, but Emi reached out and caught him by the arm, holding him in place.

"Will you… stay with them?" she asked softly.

Yuu turned back to look at her, his expression unreadable.

"I just… I just don't want them to be alone."

It was more than that, though. Someone would need to stay with the kids, and she knew that Yuu would never hurt them. She'd made her father swear that they wouldn't be hurt before she agreed to go along with this stupid plan, but the awful truth was that she wasn't sure that she could trust that promise. Not from him, or from the other MLA members, especially Hotaru or Yaso, if the Heroes arrived and things turned against them. But they would be safe with Yuu - and, in turn, Yuu would be safest with them, and away from the battlefield.

"...Sure, Emi."

As Yuu made his way into the break room, Emi slowly turned and started off down the darkened hallway.

This was it, then. The moment had finally come. Soon, Denki would arrive, her father would confront him, and then… and then…

She shook her head. She knew what was coming. She knew he deserved it. And yet somehow, despite how hard she'd worked to bring them to this exact moment…

She suddenly wished she were anywhere else.

The moment she exited the elevator onto the floor where her office was held, she was met by the sight of Mina standing near one of the decorative fake plants, talking on her phone.

Her pink friend looked anxious, but from the tone of her voice, she wasn't talking to another Pro or police officer. It sounded like a personal call.

Mina's eyes lifted up off of the carpet, catching hers, quickly growing wide with concern.

"Kyouka, wait!"

She ignored her, walking as fast as she could on her too-short legs towards the conference room in the back. She almost hadn't come, despite the message she'd received from Bakugou. She wanted to be out on the streets where she'd be the most useful, but in spite of the severe emotional strain she was currently under, there was still a small part of her, resilient after years of training, that reminded her that there was an order to Hero work.

Mina was still hurrying behind in her wake, hastily trying to end her phone call. The rest of the office seemed to be empty. Everyone must either be in the conference room or out on the streets already.

Good. That was good.

She threw open the doors of the conference room with too-much force, and they slammed loudly against the inner wall, causing those inside to jump in surprise.

"What are the updates?" she asked without preamble, trying her best to sound professional and fully aware of the fact that she had tearstains on her cheeks and that her voice was trembling.

She was met with an uncomfortable pause.

There were fewer people in the room than she had expected. Bakugou was there, of course, as he was the one who had called the meeting after they'd all received the notice. Likely, he'd been trying to force some semblance of order onto them and prevent her from racing around the streets like a headless chicken. Even so, the glare he shot her way was devoid of its usual heat. He seemed… guarded. Almost sympathetic. She hated it.

He was joined by Detective Nakamura, his go-to contact from the police agency who had been placed in charge of finding and arresting her father-in-law. The woman showed all of the emotion of a robot, but in a weird way, Kyouka found that comforting. She didn't want or need her friends' sympathy. She wanted to tear down every building in the city until she found her kids and could rip Emiko Kaminari's teeth out with her own bare hands.

The only other bodies in the room belonged to Momo, who stood up and immediately made her way over to Kyouka's side, Kirishima, who had been discussing something with Bakugou before she'd made her entrance and was now gawking at her, and finally her sidekick Gizmo, who was even now fastidiously typing something into his laptop.

She hoped that the reason no one else was here was because they were all out scouring the city for her children. But there was one notable absence that not only explained the slew of unanswered phone calls and texts, but also sent a shiver of fear up her spine.

"Where's Denki?" she asked, not waiting for a response to her earlier question.

Her Quirk may have enhanced only her hearing, but she didn't need Quirk-enhanced eyes to notice the way Momo, Kirishima, and Gizmo all flinched.

She didn't think it was possible for the all-consuming feeling of dread and terror that she'd been feeling since she'd been notified of her children's abduction to get any larger, and yet somehow, impossibly, it did.

"Sit down, Ears," Bakugou said, finally breaking the uncomfortable silence. "We need to talk."

Kyouka found herself suddenly gripped by the powerful desire to lash out at him, but she reigned it in. She was hysterical, she knew it. She was doing an amazing job of holding it in, all things considered. But shouting at Bakugou wasn't going to help anyone, least of all her kids.

She walked further into the room until she was standing next to the table, just a few seats away from Gizmo, but she didn't take a seat. Mina finally entered the room behind her, looking frazzled, shutting the door with a snap and gently squeezing Kyouka's arm before hurrying to her husband's side.

"Where's Denki?" she asked again, conscious of the way her voice wavered, already dreading the answer even before Bakugou sighed and scratched at his head.

"The bastard ran off on his own. The cop who was with him turned his back to radio in about the abduction and when he looked back, Kaminari was gone."

Why was it that all she could feel building up inside her was fear? She was supposed to be mad. Furious, even. Absolutely livid that her Denki could do something so unbelievably stupid, and yet instead of red-hot rage, all she could feel was a cold, sinking dread.

"He… He went off? On his own?"

In a removed way, she wondered if her voice sounded as off to the others as it did to her or if the sheer weight of the stress she was under was causing her Quirk to malfunction.

"The police officer at the scene found this note left on the table," Kirishima said, picking up the explanation. On the holographic projector, Gizmo brought up an image of a photo that had been taken at the scene. It was a card with a hand-written note, presumably from Emiko, telling Denki to go to where they'd first met.

She couldn't stop herself from hyper-focusing on the words 'or they die'.

Somehow, seeing the note right in front of her made the situation seem all the more real. Her legs wobbled, and she tried to pull a chair out so she could sit down, but her knees buckled before she could get it all the way out. Luckily, Momo was there to catch her.

Denki. That idiot. He was going to get himself killed.

"I don't suppose you happen to know exactly where it was that Kaminari met his sister, do you?" Mina asked as Momo helped her into her seat, her tone cautious as though afraid of setting Kyouka off.

She shook her head, feeling numb. No, he hadn't said exactly where it was… and if Mina was asking, that must mean that, when he spoke to the police originally, he hadn't been asked for the exact location either. She just knew it was in an alley somewhere on the other side of town.

"That bastard," Bakugou grumbled, cracking his knuckles. "We gave him a ring to use as an SOS device for just these occasions, but he hasn't used it. For all we know, he wasn't carrying it with him. Useless."

"Do we…?" she began, trying to ask what steps were already being taken, but her voice cut out. The PLF had taken her babies and her husband had rushed off alone and now here she sat feeling powerless and lost. Momo was rubbing her back consolingly, tears in her eyes.

"Kouda's on the street," Bakugou supplied, somehow intuiting what it was she was trying to ask. "He's got a pack of dogs trying to track Kaminari's scent, but it's proving difficult. The card said he had an hour, so wherever he is, it has to be close to the restaurant your kids were taken from. We contacted Denki's employer to find out where he was sent on the day he made contact with Emiko, and Tape-arms is trying to do an aerial sweep of the streets between there and the soba shop, but we haven't found anything yet."

Of course. Her friends were all Pros and were in a clearer state of mind than she was. They were on top of this. She had to believe in them. Everything was going to be ok…

"Earphone Jack," came the direct, emotionless voice of Detective Nakamura, "forgive me for being blunt, but I'm questioning the logic of having you involved here."

Every muscle in Kyouka's body went stiff. Slowly, she lifted her red-rimmed eyes off of the tabletop and stared at the detective seated across from her.

"I don't mean this in a rude way," she clarified, tone devoid of both apology or judgment, "however, it is clear to me that you are emotionally compromised. That is to be expected, of course, however, I don't know that you can be trusted to act in a professional manner in this case, considering the circumstances. I think it would be best if you stepped back and allowed the other Pros to handle this."

No one else in the room would meet her gaze. Kirishima, Mina, Gizmo, even Momo - all of them looked away. They agreed with Nakamura. Of course they did. In a distant sort of way, Kyouka realized she agreed with her, too. If this was Momo whose child had been taken, Kyouka would be doing everything she could to save Rei, but she'd want Momo to stay out of the action as well. There was no telling what Kyouka would do, what laws she would break, what risks she would take, now that her kids' lives were on the line. It was logical. Rational, even.

But if this woman thought even for a moment that she was going to keep Kyouka away from this fight, then she was sorely mistaken.

Before she could speak out in her defense (and likely damn herself in the process), someone came to her defense.

"I disagree," Bakugou interjected, glowering at the woman.

"Do you, now?" Nakamura replied, and for the first time, Kyouka thought she heard an emotion there. She sounded… wry.

"This ain't just about her kids or her idiot of a husband," Bakugou explained, leaning back in his seat. "This is about the PLF. If they succeed in killing them, and word gets out, we could be looking at a resurgence not only of PLF and villain activity, but in villain activity targeting Pros and their families. Time is of the essence here, and Ears has one of the best reconnaissance Quirks in the business. More than that, she's the brats' mom. She could pick out the sound of their heartbeat if she's within a kilometer of them, even if they're behind multiple walls or underground. She's our best shot at finding them."

For a moment, the wave of gratitude she felt towards Bakugou was nearly enough to eclipse her concern over her family's safety.

She half expected Nakamura to argue back, but to her surprise, the woman merely nodded.

"That is the logical course of action, yes," she said. "But I still have concerns about her ability to control herself while in the field. I can only approve of this if someone agrees to take responsibility for her actions and keeps her in line-"

"I will," Momo supplied immediately, only to be followed up by a "We all will," from Kirishima.

"Very well," Nakamura replied. "Then we need to get moving. Creati, please escort Earphone Jack during this operation. I will remain here to coordinate the search. If, by some miracle, a transmission comes in from the ring we gave to Kaminari, I will let you know at once. You are dismissed."

"Let's move it, people!" Bakugou growled, rising to his feet, and just like that, everyone save for Nakamura began to exit the conference room.

While Bakugou and Kirishima stayed behind for a moment in the office to talk, Kyouka headed straight for the elevator and was joined by Momo, Mina, and Gizmo.

The doors slid closed, and for a moment, there was silence. The soft jazz playing over the speakers felt surreal as she examined her blurry reflection in the back of the metal elevator door.

"Sorry I was late," Mina said after a moment. "I was with Mieko when Kirishima came bursting into the room shouting about what had happened, and she heard. She's been inconsolable ever since. I was trying to calm her down on the phone while we waited for you."

Normally, the thought of little Mieko crying over her friends would have upset her, but right now, Kyouka didn't have room to worry about anyone else's kids.

After another pause, it was Kyouka's turn to speak.

"Gizmo, maybe you should stay here with Nakamura and help her coordinate-"

"With all due respect, boss… I refuse."

Kyouka let out a breath, trying to calm herself down. The elevator was taking forever.

"We have everyone out looking," Momo said gently, trying her best to sound reassuring. "Shouto's out on the streets with all of our sidekicks. Iida's on his way, with Tokoyami and Hagakure and Shinso… Most of the class is coming."

"Most of Class 1-B, too," Mina chimed in. "At least, the ones who were off today. We'll find them, Kyouka. No one's going to hurt them."

She was spared having to come up with a polite answer by the elevator doors opening. She was grateful for her friends - she was - she just wasn't in the mood for conversation.

They would find them. They had to. She would keep her family safe.

Even if she had to kill Emiko and Renjirou to do it.

By the time Denki arrived in the old abandoned alleyway where he'd first reunited with his sister, about forty minutes had passed. He was breathless and sweaty, having jogged most of the way there, and was fully aware that he was in no shape for a brawl. It didn't matter, though. This was a trap, pure and simple. They weren't planning on giving him a chance to fight back.

He passed by the old dumpster where he'd leaped out at Emi all of those weeks ago, glancing around under the hot summer sun, unsure where he was supposed to go. There was another alley to his right, some abandoned buildings to his left, and nothing but weeds and cracked pavement going forward.

Well… He was here. Now what?

His answer came when the doors of the abandoned buildings both in front and behind him suddenly opened, and a group of about ten people stepped out into the alleyway, surrounding him.

All of them were smiling, cruel smirks and sinister sneers, but Denki paid them no mind. He didn't recognize any of them anyway. And while he could probably take most of them out with an Indiscriminate Shock, doubtless one or more of them had some way to resist his Quirk, otherwise why were they there? Not to mention that they'd probably take it out on his kids if they tried.

After scanning all of their faces, however, he frowned.

"So what?" he asked, not needing to try very hard to sound intimidating; he was still furious that they'd had the gall to touch his children. "Emiko too good to be here herself?"

"She wasn't needed," came a soft, familiar voice from behind him, and Denki spun around.

A man pushed through the slowly-forming crowd. He seemed shorter than Denki remembered, and thinner, and the hair on both his face and beard had gone completely white. But though his eyes no longer held that warm, familial glow that had once been his most striking feature, Denki would still recognize him anywhere.

He swallowed, mouth dry from more than just the heat and his recent race across town.

"...Dad."

"Hello, Denki," Renjirou replied, his voice low, dispassionate. "It's been a while."

"Not long enough," Denki retorted, voice surprisingly raspy, and the older man let out a humorless chuckle.

"You didn't think you could escape this, did you?"

The others began to laugh now too as though Renjirou had been telling a joke. For the umpteenth time since he'd left the soba shop, Denki found himself silently praying that Kyouka would find a way to save the day and clean up the enormous mess he'd made.

He met his father's empty gaze head-on.

"I'm here now," he said, ignoring his father's pointless question. "I came, just like you asked. Now let my kids go."

The corners of Renjirou's mouth twitched upward.

"No, I don't think I will," he said as the others began to laugh again. "I didn't just bring you here to kill you, Denki. I brought you here to make you suffer as I have suffered. To make sure that you know the pain that you put me and Emiko through, and I think those children will end up proving quite useful."

Denki stepped forward without thinking, feeling his Quirk surge through him, ready to release it all in one powerful blast. His father would just absorb the blow, but that was fine; he could take him in a head-to-head fight, no problem. And it was going to feel really good to pound his face in.

Only, before he could take another step, he suddenly found himself caught by a large, massive fist seemingly made entirely of rocks that lifted him clear off the ground.

Before he could react, before he could even cry out, some sort of inky black liquid squirted into his face, foul smelly and sticky, and almost immediately his consciousness began to fade.

He coughed and retched, shaking his head, trying to stay alert, but it was no use. Whoever this Quirk belonged to, it was a good one.

As his vision dimmed and the world went black, he kept his eyes on his father. The way he was standing, the madness in his eyes, the long, light hair... it all seemed so familiar...

And then the darkness fully took him.