Neneko felt like her heart would explode from her rapid pulse. Staring at this stranger, gripping Jin's hand tightly in hers, she knew she had to do something. Overhaul. I believe…that is what Chisaki-san's quirk is. So this man can only mean that Chisaki-san has a price on my head.
Her options were quite limited. She could attempt to fight, but Neneko had very little experience with hand to hand combat. She was better with knives. However, this was not an option as she had been forced to abandon her weapon when she fled her apartment.
"You must forgive me…I have no acquaintances called "Overhaul"," she bluffed. Inching closer to Jin, she cast a glance in his direction. The man's head was bowed slightly, his gray-blue eyes locked on this stranger intensely. Jin? Is he…alright? Such a vicious stare…I can only wonder what he might be considering.
The man in the suit gave a little shrug, but continued to smile. "Look. You can play dumb all you want. That's not going to change anything. You haven't heard of Overhaul? How about Chisaki Kai? How about "that guy that was paying you way too much for a few stupid translations"? Does that ring any bells?"
She felt Jin's grip tighten a little on her hand. Her eyes narrowed on the man standing in front of them. "I see."
"Get it now? You're not getting away. Maybe if you come along nice and quiet, he'll go easy on you. Hell. Maybe if you're a good girl-"
"How much is he offering as a reward? If you know that he paid me well for my work, then you must realize that I can offer payment for silence. How much is he offering as a reward?"
The man's smile grew sheepish and he finally drew a hand from behind his back. His fingers grew longer, more tapered, until they resembled claws with sharpened tips. He ran his fingers through his hair as he took a step toward the couple. "That's sweet, but Overhaul's not offering money. You can't give me what he's offering."
Exactly what sort of prize has he offered in exchange for me? Neneko tried to think over everything from her past translations for the Shie Hassaikai and finally realized what it was. He could only be offering a quirk enhancement drug. A large supply of the drug in exchange for her capture.
"So, like I said, if you come along without a fight then he might not kill you. I heard a rumor that you've got a voice quirk. Right? Some kind of crazy strength-draining quirk or something. That's what you used on Rappa, right?"
Neneko subconsciously lifted a hand to her throat and took a step back from the man. I…must think of something to do. What can I do? I need to get out of this situation. My quirk…would work well against him, but I could not bear it if my quirk caused Jin to…She felt him release her hand seconds before arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against his warm chest.
"No one's…taking her away from me." Jin's voice was quiet, but full of anger and pain. His head lifted so he could meet the man's amused stare and his mouth twisted into a scowl.
Never before had Neneko felt her heart skip a beat quite so powerfully. Those same feelings from the night they first met were now rising to the surface again. Seeing him act so valiant, so caring. She had never been with someone so protective and sweet. He truly made her feel like something precious.
She was forcing herself to be brave before. To push down her feelings of fear and show a fearless expression in front of the yakuza member. Now the fear was bubbling up. Her body was frozen in place, held against his chest. Goose bumps were rising on her skin and she blinked away tears.
"Look." The man pointed a claw at Neneko, still smiling at the two. "My boss wants that lady. I don't know what you're doing with her, but you'll just be putting yourself in danger if you hang around with her. You're making it worse for yourself and for her if you don't just move it along and let me take her to him. So? What do you say?"
Jin's arms tightened around Neneko and he gritted his teeth. "I'm not…letting you take her! I don't care what you say! Nah! Go ahead and take her, if it'll keep her safe! No! I can…I can protect her myself! I won't let you hurt her!"
He…feels like he might split apart. Neneko's heart was hammering in her chest as she rummaged in her bag and finally felt the familiar fabric of his mask. His arms refused to budge from holding her against him so she had to sort of squirm in his hold to do what must be done. The young woman's arms lifted and she had to more or less blindly pull the mask over his head.
The second it was pulled all the way down, he gave her a small squeeze of a hug before pushing her behind him. "Alright! If you want to take Neneko, you'll have to go through me first! Be gentle, okay?!"
"Wait a moment-!" Neneko's words went ignored as he rushed at the man with his hands curled into fists. The translator stood there in silent anticipation and worry, a hand over her mouth to keep herself from crying out.
Jin was a pretty capable fighter, considering he was fighting without using his quirk. The other man had claws and managed to get a few swipes in that actually connected, but the scratches he left were superficial. Fairly quickly, Jin had the man by the back of the neck and drove his knee up into the man's sternum repeatedly.
"That…should be enough," she spoke, briskly walking over to Jin.
He dropped the man and the eye parts of his mask seemed to indicate he was smiling. "I did a good job, right? Do I get a reward? I'm not done! I wanna beat his face into a pulp!"
"You did an excellent job." Neneko smiled and lifted a hand, her fingertips caressing his cheek through the mask. Warmth was rising to her face as she looked up at him and she fought the temptation to kiss him now. Turning her attention back to the man on the ground, she saw his face bleeding and a bit of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"You think I'm not gonna talk?! The second I tell Overhaul where I saw you, that's it for you! We'll have this whole neighborhood staked out and he's gonna get you! I hope he blows you apart! We don't need a low-life translator like you-!"
"What's this? Looks like fun."
Neneko's pulse quickened as she shifted her eyes to the left, looking further down the alley. There was a figure standing about twenty feet away, casually tilting his head as he regarded the situation. She tried to maintain a calm appearance. "This…business does not concern you."
"Why not? Aren't we all on the same team? Besides, it looks like you're in trouble." He started to advance on the three, walking at a leisurely pace while stretching his arms over his head. A wicked sort of half-grin took form as he neared the group. "Your girlfriend looks kind of familiar, Twice."
Jin's arms wrapped around Neneko, pulling her against him as he had before. "Back off, Dabi! I'm not into sharing! Maybe if you asked nicely-!"
"Yeah, sure. So what's the deal? This guy was saying something."
Before Neneko could say anything, Jin lifted a hand and pulled up his mask to expose his face. His brow was furrowed, eyes narrowed, as he looked down at the man on the ground. "It…it doesn't matter. I'm taking her home."
She glanced from the man on the ground up to Dabi, who was now staring at her with narrowed eyes as if trying to determine why she seemed so familiar. Neneko bowed her head, letting her wavy black hair fall around her face. The longer she stayed there, out of costume, the more likely he was to realize she had been Mystic.
Villains. Criminals. The kind of people that I now associate with. The…kind of person I must pretend to be…in order to keep Jin safe. I despise this. I despise this with every fiber of my being, but if we stay then this man will call for back up. The Shie Hassaikai has a decent number of members, from my knowledge. The three of us…against that many people…
Neneko knew what had to happen. A tightness began to form in the center of her chest, a burning sensation starting in her throat. With any luck, this would not be like last time. With any luck, this man would simply feel a shallow sadness and return to his home feeling inadequate.
She drew from Jin's hold and cast a warning look over her shoulder, a hand lifting to her throat. Thankfully, he understood immediately and covered his ears. Dabi saw this and tilted his head, but did the same when he saw Jin nod at him.
Unlike with Rappa, she did not raise her voice quite as much this time. Neneko's voice rose to a normal speaking volume as she leaned down toward the man. She chose her words very carefully. Mentioning her attachment to Jin too much would draw attention to him and she wanted to avoid alluding to her involvement with the League of Villains.
"You are a horrible person to believe that trading a human being for a simple prize is a good decision. You have no morals and I am certain that whatever sort of reward he offered would never be granted to you, even if you were to bring me to him.
"I am aware of my value to him, but you…are simply a subordinate. You would be no great loss to him. You would deliver me to your boss and soon after your body would surely be destroyed as he would have no further use for you. Are you aware of how it feels to die by his hand? I can assure you that it is the most unpleasant sensation that one could possibly attempt to describe."
Shift P.O.V
When she looked at him again, Jin lowered his hands and stared down at the man. This guy that had previously fought him and had been so determined to drag Neneko back to his boss was now a sniveling, trembling ball curled up against the wall behind him. His head was in his hands, shoulders shaking as he sobbed.
Jin's soulmate was straightening now and began to cough. She winced in pain and put a hand to her throat. "I believe…I may have spoken too much," she whispered, her voice sounding a bit rough.
"Water! I'll…get you some water. Uh, wait. We should go home. We have water there so…" His gaze shifted from Neneko to Dabi. The other villain was staring down at the man on the ground, his half-burned mouth drawing back at the corners into a malevolent sort of smile.
He knew exactly what Dabi was going to do and he wanted to get Neneko away from the area before it happened. She's too good to get caught up in something like this. I still wish she would've stayed away from the League. No way! She fits right in, with a quirk like that! This guy's crying like a baby just from her voice! What did she say to him?
Shaking off his curiosity, Jin lifted her in his arms and turned away from Dabi and the stranger without a word. He just hoped he could get Neneko away before their fellow villain lit the man ablaze. Not to mention that the way Dabi looked at Neneko made him feel uneasy.
It was not exactly jealousy. He realized this as he opened the hotel door for Neneko and locked it behind them both. Collapsing onto the bed, on his back, Jin frowned and tried to figure out what the feeling was. Jealousy would make sense, but this was closer to a feeling of danger.
He jolted a little when he felt a warm, wet cloth gently wiping at one of the cuts he had gotten earlier during his fight. Neneko jumped a bit at his reaction, a pink tint rising to her otherwise pale face and filling it with warmth. "You don't have to do that," he tried to protest.
"Please…allow me to do this for you. After you protected me…this is the least I can do," she argued.
"That least you could do is give me some cuddles! No! I mean…I didn't…" Jin covered his mouth and turned onto his side so he faced away from her. "I should've known we were being followed! That guy…ruined our date! He ruined our date! The night shouldn't end like this!"
"…Jin…" The bed dipped ever so slightly as she joined him. Pressing against his back, she wrapped her arms around him and rested her forehead against the back of his shoulder. "Jin, I…love you dearly. Just to be able to spend time with you…brings me great joy. Though it is embarrassing to admit something so-"
He twisted his upper half a little and reached back without thinking. Fingers tangled in her long dark hair and drew her face to his. When Jin's lips met hers, there was a sensation in his heart and stomach. Like a million butterflies taking flight. He felt like he could take on the whole world in this moment.
They remained this way for quite a while before the kiss broke and he found himself looking up at the young woman that was now leaning over him. She was still blushing and a timid sort of smile was tugging at her lips. Her violet eyes locked onto his gaze and she reached up to push her hair behind her right ear.
"I…I can't…handle this right now." He pushed himself to sit upright and held his head in both hands, his fingertips digging at his scalp. His pulse was racing and adrenaline was beginning to make him feel like he might split apart. Jin gritted his teeth and began to glance around for his mask.
He felt Neneko's delicate hands soon slipped it into place over his head and he grabbed her in a tight hug. "Awww! See? That's why we're soulmates! We know each other so well! Seriously, you hardly ever talk about your past! Spill it!"