Chapter 16 – Found/Tonight
The grey cloth wrapped around her feet, dropping her to the ground with a harsh thud. Before she was able to kick off the fabric to try to escape, the cloth withdrew from her feet and then wrapped itself around her body. She couldn't move.
Her eyes followed the strip of cloth from where she was bound to the man who walked towards her with the other end of it in his hands. The closer he came, the harder she struggled to get free.
His black hair floated in the air and his eyes were hidden behind a pair of yellow goggles. She reached for her quirk, but it was as if it slipped through her fingers each time she tried to grab it. Panic began to build as a stream of curses flew from her mouth.
"THE FUCKING HELL DID YOU DO TO MY QUIRK!? I'VE DONE SHIT TO YOU GODDAMNIT! LET ME GO!" she could feel something trickling down her mouth, covered by the face mask she kept over her nose and mouth.
"Calm down it's only temporary." his voice sounded almost bored despite the chase that had just transpired through the rooftops, "Besides, you can't say you didn't do shit, you've been following me for at least the last couple of weeks." He crouched down beside her, arms on his knees. "Now, we're going to have a little chat and then you are going to cool off in a jail cell."
He reached for her face mask, her eyes went wide as she began to try and move her head away from his hand.
"No…wait! Shit! I was just up here to run off some fucking energy! Just let me go damn it!" she tried pleading but it was in vain as his hand grasped ahold of the fabric and cast it aside.
He froze, a look of surprise crossing the features underneath the yellow goggles as his hair simultaneously fell.
"You're a kid!" he stood up and pulled the grey cloth back around his shoulders.
Aine jumped to her feet, quirk still dead at her fingertips as his hair floated back up around him.
"Shut your fucking mouth. I'm not a kid."
"How old are you?"
She scoffed, "17"
"Then you're a kid. Listen, if you promise not to use your quirk on me, I'll drop mine. Deal?"
She stood glaring at him, evaluating if she would be able to get away. After realizing that he would catch her before she could get just a few steps even with her quirk, she sighed before offering a short nod.
His hair fell and she felt that familiar hum in her brain as her quirk woke from wherever it had been tucked away. "Here," he reached into one of the pouches on his belt and pulled out a white piece of gauze, "for your lip."
Aine absentmindedly touched her mouth and looked down at the blood on her fingertips. She snatched the gauze from him and pressed it to her mouth.
"You're welcome." the sarcasm dripped from his voice.
When she didn't respond, he sighed. "Look, I should take you in. If not for the stalking, then for the unlicensed quirk use at the very least."
Aine pulled the gauze away, a smirk teasing the sides of her mouth, "You can't prove either one."
He folded his arms across his chest, "I'm a pro-hero, my word on the matter would be enough proof for the police."
Her smile fell as she glared at him, her hazel eyes flashing with blatant defiance, "Then fucking arrest me already."
The man huffed in exasperation, "Look kid, I'm trying to help you here. If I take you in, any hope for a normal future is gone. You'll be permanently labeled as a villain for the rest of your life."
"Keep your pity and keep your damn lectures on 'better futures'. That's a fucking fairytale." Aine turned her back on the hero and if he took her in so be it, but she was not going to have someone dangle hope in front of her. Hope that she had long ago realized didn't exist for people like her.
She heard him sigh behind her, "Can I at least have your name?"
"It's Blink" she spoke over her shoulder, refusing to turn around.
"Well, 'Blink', don't make me regret this. Get out of here."
As Aine abruptly turned around, she saw a flash of dark fabric disappear over the rooftop edge leaving her standing alone and confused.
He really let her go.
Ceannasaí was wrong.
He had told her if the hero caught her, she would be done for.
Ceannasaí said heroes didn't care. That they didn't care about broken people like her.
Aine's mind was a blur as she made her way through the rooftops back towards home. Vigilantly, she watched her periphery for any sign of betrayal from the hero, but she remained alone even as she walked through the front yard of the house she had come to call home.
He really did let her go.
If Ceannasaí was wrong about him, is it possible he was wrong about her too?
Shouta perched himself on the edge of a rooftop, pulling his phone from his pocket dialing the number by memory.
"Eraser, what do I owe the honor?"
"Tsukauchi, I need a favor – off the record of course." He briefly relayed the events that had happened with the HPSC and Aine as well as their increased surveillance over her.
"All of that over things that happened years ago." Shouta could imagine the detective pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
He shifted his weight and moved the phone to his other ear, "Aine and I have an idea that might work if we can get ahold of a friend of hers in Germany. The name is Emma Scypeart. Think you can work some magic and find her for me?"
"I'll get someone on it right away."
"Thanks. And Tsukauchi, I don't think I need to stress how important it is that the Commission not catch wind of this."
"Yeah. Don't worry, I know exactly who I can put on this. I'll send it to you as soon as I get the information. Be careful out there."
"Get some sleep." the line disconnected.
Tsukauchi set the phone back on his nightstand and dropped heavily back onto his pillow. He knew from his experience with Gentle and La Brava that the Commission could hold a grudge. It had been like pulling teeth from a hopped-up alligator to get them approved to work for the department. Not to mention all of the low-level villains that had been sent to Tartarus for life sentences rather than even an attempt at reformation.
Once the Commission decided you were "evil", there was very little chance of convincing them otherwise.
Sighing, he threw the blankets off and sat up, setting his feet on the cold floor of his room. His brain wasn't going to let this wait until morning. Tsukauchi grabbed his phone off the nightstand, dialing as he paced barefoot across the room.
A yawn greeted him as the call connected, "Yes Detective?"
"I need you to look up a name for me. There's a case I need you to help me get some info on."
Rustling came through the speaker from the other end of the line, "Is this a rush?"
He locked the apartment door and headed down the stairs, "If you can get me the information tonight that would be great. I need any information you can find me on an Emma Scypeart."
Another yawn from the other line, "Give me just a minute." He could hear the clicking of a keyboard in the background, "Found her. Here's all the info I could find." Tsukauchi's phone dinged in his ear that a text message had been received.
He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the information she had sent to his phone, "This is perfect. Thank you!"
Soft grumbles came from the other line before it disconnected. Smiling, Tsukauchi forwarded the information to Eraserhead's phone.
"Who would be calling at this time of night?" the blonde-haired woman stood up from the couch where she had been lounging leaned up against a man with short-cropped blue hair. She picked up the ringing phone glancing at the phone number before swiping to answer the call.
"Hello?...This is she…."
The man tilted his head to the side as he watched her gathering up the dishes from their dinner and disappearing into the kitchen while holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder. A short while later, she emerged and set the phone on the coffee table turning on the speakerphone.
He looked at her with a silent question as the sounds of traffic and wind carried over the phone speaker.
"I've got you on speakerphone, Mr. Eraserhead was it? My fiancé Christopher is here as well."
"Is he aware of Miss Satterfield's activities in Germany?"
The blonde beamed at Christopher as the puzzle pieces started to fit together, "More than aware, he was the designer for her support gear! What can we do for you?"
"I'm needing to get ahold of her credentials from her time there. Do you think you can send them to me?"
Christopher bristled slightly, "We'd prefer to send them directly to Aine if you don't mind, sir."
A short sigh filtered through the other end of the line, "I'm afraid that isn't possible. As I explained to your fiancé, Aine is in a bit of a bind here and all her communications, deliveries, everything is being tracked."
Emma put her hand on Christopher's arm as she sat down next to him, "Send us the address and we will see what we can do."
"I'll text it to you as soon as we disconnect. Thank you." the line hung up abruptly and a few seconds later Emma's phone alerted that she had a text message.
Christopher leaned back onto the sofa, "You really trust sending all of her gear to some random pro-hero?"
Emma's eyes lit up with an impish gleam, "I've got a better idea."
"Hey! Wait up!"
Aine slowed to a stop and turned around, watching the bubbly law student running down the quad towards her.
"Whew! You cut out so quickly after lecture I didn't know if I would be able to catch you!" the girl grabbed her backpack shoulder straps as she fell in step with Aine. "I wanted to let you know that the offer still stands. That little apartment of yours' is beyond depressing."
"It's fine. Besides, like I told you I'm not planning on staying any longer than necessary after graduation so it would be pointless for me to change arrangements now, Emma." Aine kept her eyes forward, not looking towards Emma as they continued walking.
Emma shot a fake pout towards her, "At least let me come and decorate! You don't even have pictures or anything on your walls."
Aine rolled her eyes, "You're wrong, I have a picture on my wall."
"ONE picture held up by a thumbtack doesn't count!" Emma squeaked in fake indignation before stepping in front of Aine, "Look, I get that you have the whole 'mysterious girl with a secret past' thing going on here but seriously, I want you to think about it. I've got room to spare."
Aine stepped around her, "I'll think about it." They fell back into step, walking silently until they reached the apartment building. "I'll see you tomorrow." she flashed a smile at Emma who gave her a quick hug before heading off. Aine opened the door to the dimly lit lobby and started up the stairs to her apartment.
As she stepped onto the carpeted landing, she felt the sickening squish as cold water seeped out of the carpet and in through the sides of her shoe. Groaning, she continued towards her apartment each step soaking her socks more and more until she came to the door of her apartment.
As she unlocked the door, she was met with the sound of running water even before her eyes took in the collapsed bits of ceiling in the middle of the efficiency. There was about an inch of standing water everywhere.
Slogging through the water and avoiding the still running water from above, she salvaged what few items were not waterlogged including the picture she had on the wall. Stepping back into the hallway, she cursed and fought the urge to scream as she pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed the familiar number.
"Joe's Chop House, where the breasts are hot and the legs are kickin!"
Aine inwardly groaned as she bit back her pride.
"It's Aine. Does the offer still stand?"
She had to hold the phone away from her ear as an ear-bursting scream and unintelligible squeals echoed from the earpiece.