Chapter 64 - Declaration of Perfection
"Zzz...Zzz..." Blue was the first thing that Izuku saw, it was a soft, gentle hue. Tinted with faint traces of white, like staring into a canvass of the seaside. Cracking his second eye open he took in the view that would always cause this feeling to curl in his chest, it energized him in the mornings, though it came at the cost of not wanting to move at all.
Yuki slept soundly, mouth ajar with his arm under her nape, she had one arm draped over his side, the other somewhere between them, hair a complete disaster. With his free hand he let it run across her cheek's blemish, at the tip of the scar were the scales, they were tiny but rough. He found himself drawn to caress them if they slept like this, it was oddly nice. Yuki never seemed to mind.
"You know this is really weird if anyone else saw this," His eyes closed with a nervous smile, parting them slightly while holding her close enough that her breath caught on his throat. "Miss. Akame told me she vented a lot recently about her difficulties managing all the changes to her body and mind, I'm glad she's talking about it - funny, I used to bottle it all up and Yuki would defuse me, guess that's just part of the deal..."
Then something tickled his adam's apple, startling him to meet the crimson-blue eyes groggily awakening. "Morning..." She whispered, enjoying his hand running along her cheek. Then she sighed, leaning against his chest. "I have to go for my Work-Study today."
Izuku's smile lifted. "You don't sound happy about it?" She shook her head. "Is it because you have to get up?" A nod and groan, it was cute how she hugged him closer. "Or because you have to leave me?" He got better at returning comments like these, Kyoka was helpful in exchanging a few helpful lines.
"...maybe," She murmured, blushing lightly. "You're comfortable, and warm, and sweet..." She listed in a morning tangent. "Don't go..." That line made his heart tense up momentarily. No matter how much time passed, recalling that night at the Summer Camp still frightened him.
Closing his arms around her, he made a mental note of the time. A few more minutes wouldn't hurt, "Sure," He lightly pecked her forehead, hearing her hum in agreement, returning one to his collarbone, snuggling closer.
"Luv yu," Her voice muffled by his shirt and the covers.
"Love you too," He'd never get used to this, and he was fine with that.
Later...
"Huh, Midoriya, Yuki, morning," Up ahead of the pair was the rock-steady redhead, Kirishima. "You heading off to your Work-Study too? So am I."
"Yeah, I finally got called in again-" He replied with Yuki nodding along with him. "-feels like it's been forever," Then he looked down at himself. "Wonder why they told us not to wear our costumes though?"
"To stay inconspicuous?" Yuki hazards a guess, looking blunt. "Not that it matters since my villain probably knows me down to my BMI."
"Oh, good morning guys, you heading in today?" From the door behind them, Ocha, and Tsu appeared. Now Yuki was suspicious, were they all going to the same place she was? Confidential and all that kept her lips sealed.
"Yo, Yuki are you - oh, mornin'!" On-time as always, Jura appeared off to the side, himself carrying his own bag. "Wow, guess all of us are on the clock, huh?"
Not long later, the group met two local heroes. "Hey, us too," This was getting weird. "Want to walk to the station together?"
"Oh, yes please!" Ocha beamed, Yuki bowing her head alongside her.
The hero to her right then pipped up. "Hey, you're Valstrax's kid, right?" Yuki nodded silently, seeing the hero sigh in relief. "Great to see you're doing okay, bunch of us heard what happened - ah, sorry, probably don't want to be reminded of that."
"It's fine," She smiled, pumping a fist. "Takes more than a villain to keep me down." Vosik was by far the worst she's experienced but he was in the past now.
"Still, we appreciate the company," Izuku quickly put them back on track while Kirishima leaned closer to Jura, and Izuku.
"What's with all the heroes?"
Now Yuki was utterly confused. "Uh... awkward." All of them were together, bar Jura who was going with her regardless.
"Wait, we're going the same way, I thought you were working in Kansai?" Izuku asked Kirishima, himself no less as confused.
"Usually, yeah, guess we're working someplace different today."
"What a coincidence, us too," Tsu replied.
"That would be an understatement," Standing quite literally behind Yuki who yelped landing in Izuku's arms in fright, it was Yukino, herself in her own uniform. "My apologies, I did not mean to startle you."
"Nah, all good," Yuki sighed, enjoying the flushed look on Izuku's face. "Hehe."
"So... we're all going on the same train, huh?" Yuki questioned oddly, staring back at Ocha, Tsu, and Kirishima. Izuku sat beside her, hand-in-hand. To her left was Jura too, himself sitting there awkwardly at the sight of his friends. "Weird day..." She blew a raspberry. Yukino stood in the middle, inspecting her surroundings.
"Everyone's on the same train, going to the same station..." Izuku started to really wonder what was happening. "This is really weird."
They were going in the same direction, taking the exact route until- "Heyo!" Mirio greeted them beside Nejire and Amajiki
Once at Nighteye's agency their questions only expanded, many Pros, famous or local, had gathered. Yuki spotted her Godmother Jin with her Mom, the latter waving to her daughter. Kirishima's Pro Hero, Fat Gum, was here too, same with the girls'. Ryukyu standing alongside Akame, the pair of dragons chatting away.
"No way... Mr. Aizawa and Gramps?" Yuki murmured, even without her mask on the sockets spiraled in confusion. "I'm so lost right now..."
A confrontation with Kovik's new assistant | Requires this many? | No, something else is amiss
"Hey what's the scoop, what's going on?" Nejire quickly hugged her mentor while Yuki followed her, still completely baffled. "I know you said there was a meeting but what's it about~?" She eagerly requested.
"Patience Nejire," Then the heroine met Yuki's gaze. "I can see smoke coming off your head, Yuki."
"Eh?" She patted it, then realized what Ryukyu was implying, earning a pout from the machinist, making the woman chuckle. "Funny, did you steal that from Mom?"
"I can do them much better, clearly," She returned a sharp smile, seeing said silver dragon cripple at the jab to her ego. "Not to bother you, but I heard you have someone on your eye now, is that true?"
"Oh-oh, you mean the cute one with the freckles?" Nejire pipped up, Yuki scratching her heated cheek.
"Yeah, the dork over there," Yuki saw Izuku sneeze at the mention before turning to her homeroom teacher. "Hey, Mr. Aizawa, why are you here too?"
"I was called in last minute for this thing," He answered all three of his students, looking as tired as always. "I think I got a rough idea what its about."
"You should too, remember what I told you, girls?" Ryukyu jolted their memories, clearly, they spoke of this prior.
"Guess that also makes sense, given the Nightmare me, Jin, and Yukino encountered." Yuki surmised, but this extended further than Dren, that much was certain.
Once settled, Akame gave Ryukyu a small nod. "We're all here Nighteye, let's get started."
A lanky man in a suit with dark green and yellow hair stepped forward, his disposition as sharp as his style, "Thanks to the information provided by all of you our investigation has progressed substantially," He declared, "We brought you all here for a joint conference to discuss the intel we've acquired,"
The moment of truth, "Regarding the Yakuza group, Shie Hassaikai, and what we believe they might be planning," The sudden revelation dropped on them like a ton of bricks, but Nighteye soon added more, staring... directly at Yuki herself. "And of another group tied with their operations, a villain known as Kovik the Splicer Priest."
|I have no further questions|
"That makes one of us..." Yuki grimaced.
Once mostly seated around a large table the meeting soon went underway. The blue-tinted girl, Bubble Girl, started off the talks. "Alright, let's start from the beginning; For a couple of weeks now, those of us at the Nighteye Agency have been conducting an investigation into Shie Hassaikai, a small but organized group of criminals."
"What prompted this?" One hero asked.
"An accident involving a gang of thieves called the Reservoir Dogs, the police thought the whole thing was an accident but there were a number of details that didn't add up, so we began tailing them." She explained, her co-worker, a guy literally a human centipede took over.
"I began to follow leads to see what I could uncover-" His voice was hardly the most intimidating. "I found that in the past year the Shie Hassaikai have increased contact with groups outside their organization, including groups with less than reputable standings, their efforts seem to be expanding their organization, enriching its coppers."
He pressed a button for the screen to change, revealing two photos of significance. One was of him parting ways with... someone in a black and white mask? The other, prior to his upgrades, Kovik, though Dren stood a ways back in the shadows with a large, augmented Shrapnel Launcher.
"Shortly after our investigation began they made contact with the League of Villains, Jin Bubaigawara, villain name, Twice; And Kovik on two separate occasions," Centipeder elaborated further, "They were wary of being tailed so I couldn't follow,"
The next image displayed a massive factory torn to shreds in what seemed to be a fight and dotting the rubble were... dead clusters. So Kovik was involved much more furrowly than Yuki suspected. "Thanks to the police, we uncovered an altercation between the three groups."
"That's about when they reached out to Tsukauchi and me, figured we'd help with the League's involvement," Gran Torino added.
"Where is Mr. Tsukauchi?" The hero beside him inquired.
"Looking into some eye-witnesses, you know, cop stuff," He downplayed, taking a glance at the silent bluette across the table. "Sorry kiddos," He motioned to Izuku and Yuki. "I didn't see something like this coming, I fear things are about to get ugly."
"I don't care if they do, I want to help." "If I can help, so be it."
"Hey, hold up-" Mirio smiled toward the pair. "-you know the old man?"
"Yeah, he's the hero I did my Internship with."
Yuki put her elbow on Izuku's shoulder. "He trained me a few years back so I left him to torture Zuzu here."
With the light banter concluded, Nighteye kept his head forward. "Go on, Bubble Girl."
I wonder | If Kovik is connected | Why is he working with humans?
"We're not the most agreeable species, neither are the Devil Splicers in particular." Yuki rolled her eyes.
Which begs the question | What do they have? | What significance entices Kovik?
"Does anyone want to tell me why a bunch of High-School kids were invited to this conference?" The hero, Rocklock, demanded with a disapproving look, pointing at the girls ahead of him. "I don't care if they are from UA, if we have to keep stopping to explain everything we'll never get to the actual plan."
"Geez, sorry that I happen to have no experience in this field," Yuki couldn't resist giving him lip, crossing her arms. "Almost like I got my body mangled and impaled by one of them in charge, oh wait, I did - I could easily recite it all in great detail if you want?" She gets it, this is reserved for Pros and they were pulled in due to their significance in the case, but outright belittling them for stuff they don't know isn't going to move things along.
"Hey, don't say that!" Fat Gum shot up, holding his arm over Amajiki and Kirishima. "These two have important information to pass along, Aksis here too!" He eyed the girl who looked genuinely surprised but smiled a little more at his words.
For Kirishima and Amajiki, one lowered his head in embarrassment, the other was lost. "Um... we do?" "I wanna go home..."
|He's... a character|
"It's funny since Amajiki really hates standing out, guess that's why Fat Gum has him working alongside him, Kirishima too, he deserved to put himself out there as a hero instead of just some side character," Yuki agreed.
Nighteye just continued without a hitch, "Hassaikai's movements are hard to trace but we suspect their main source of income is through illegal drug sales, so I requested aid from heroes with expertise in that area."
"Yeah, I brought in my fair share of drug dealers back in the day," Fat Gum frowned, one of his candies taken by a swift blur or red, Yuki happily munching on one. "And during Red Riot's debut, he proved he can too!" That drew many astounded looks from his classmates.
"Tamaki was shot with a drug I've never seen before, one that destroys Quirks," He tossed the shattered candies like glass, Yuki almost choking on her own while the whole meeting room became alarmed.
"Woah, Tamaki, you're okay right!?" Mirio shot up in worry for his friend, now Yuki realized why his arm was patched up. This was bad, really bad.
"What does Kovik want with Quirk destroying drugs? He's a perfectionist for augmentation, not destruction of them..." Yuki and SIVA were at a loss.
"Yeah, the drug wore off after I slept, look-" He... had a cow hoof? "-I got this cow hoof thing."
"Heh, guess we know what you had for breakfast." Mirio chuffed relieved all the same.
"Good to know it's not permanent at least, only takes away your power temporarily instead of zapping it," Rocklock summarized.
"No, but Eraserhead has some further insight," Nighteye motioned to the tired man next to Valstrax.
"It doesn't seem to function like my Eraser does since I'm not attacking the Quirk directly," Another... image appeared above him. Yuki felt she was going insane. It was a basic outline in yellow of Ojiro's form, "What we call a Quirk is an extraordinary addition to the human body, those are collectively referred to as Quirk Genes,"
A purple chibi of Eraserhead appeared, "I can shield those genes and temporarily block their expression," His eyes turned red and hair stood up, and Ojiro's tail flopped. "But I don't actually damage them."
"But after Tamaki was shot we brought him to the hospital and found that his Quirk Genes had sustained damage, fortunately, they healed on their own and he's back to normal now," Fat Gum supplied the meeting.
"What do we know about the substance he was shot with?" Nighteye inquired.
"All we know is that it didn't damage the rest of his body, nothing but his Quirk was impaired in any way-" He threw his arms wide. "-the guy who shot him clammed up, he won't say a word, and the round that hit Tamaki is totally spent," He smirked triumphantly. "However, Kirishima bravely defended Tamaki from a bullet, deflecting it and providing us with a viable sample."
"Nice work, Kirishima," Yuki gave a thumbs up to her friend who looked just as shocked.
"Wait, I did that? That's crazy?" He was completely lost.
However... Fat Gum lost that smile, in fact, he looked ready to explode. "When we analyzed the contents what we found made me sick to my stomach... it contained human blood and cells." Like a gong, Yuki's chest got a lot tighter, something... didn't feel right hearing that. Looking over at her partner, his face was something unholy. He paled significantly.
"In other words, that effect came from a person," Ruyuku spoke up. "A Quirk that can destroy Quirks."
"That is troubling..." Jin agreed, remembering how Infernal came for Yuki, was it to use her Quirk to further this goal? Or was that a massive stretch?
"I'm still not connecting the dots, how is this related to the Hassaikai?" A man in white armour similar to a skeleton asked.
"The man who shot Tamaki used an illegal drug to boost his Quirk during his fight with Kirishima," Again, an image formed, like red circles with interconnecting webs to smaller circles. A crime syndicate was forming. "The distribution for stuff like that is complex, although things have shrunk since the old days, however, drugs still pass through several instances before reaching the end-user,"
"There's no concrete evidence Hassaikai handled the drug but we know they interacted with one of the middlemen responsible for doing it, not to mention their bold moves in communicating with a villain who has made his actions widely known, who also happens to have made dealings with drug traffickers," Fat Gum broke it down piece-by-piece. Kovik was involved too, widening the net.
"That's all?" The skull-looking hero asked.
"Recently, Ryukyu's group broke up a fight between two groups, one of those groups was controlled by the intermedium group Fat Gum just mentioned, not to mention during an investigation into a Quarry, Jin's team encountered what is known as a Nightmare, and it had the distinct goal in capturing Aksis,"
The news shot through Izuku like a bullet, twisting around to the girl who kept her poker face, though he saw her flinch when he gasped. She kept that from him, but... she had to. It didn't mean it hurt any less, but...
"One of the two giants was given an inferior drug that didn't last long," Ryukyu added.
"Infernal never spoke much on the subject other than his 'Master' wanting Aksis for some unknown goal, perhaps to further this Quirk-Destroy drug with her ability to enhance almost anything material-wise," Jin offered, shaking her head. "It's not much more than an assumption."
"There's been a rise of gang-related crimes recently, most would be connected to the Hassaikai if you tried hard enough." Another spoke up.
"Which is what you seem to be doing, trying to make them guilty," The skull guy defended until Valstrax's metal scales ground slightly.
"Even if we did exclude Hassaikai, Kovik and that parasite aren't innocent, right?" That wasn't really a question, more of a warning to dare to defend those that hurt her daughter.
To answer their queries, the image above changed, and Izuku, alongside Mirio, gasped. A man with short, dark brown hair, cold, bemused gold eyes, and a plague doctor's mask on his face appeared. "Their young head, Chisaki, Quirk Overhaul, with this power he can disassemble and reassemble,"
"A Quirk that allows him the breakdown matter, and a bullet that can breakdown Quirks," Further and further Izuku's heart sank to his stomach, he wanted - no - pleaded to be wrong on his assumption, it was too far fetched, that's all it was, right? Darkness swirled and consumed his and Mirio's eyes, drowning them in a dark, twisted abyss...
"Please... please don't go."
White... was all they could see or feel.
Yuki turned to shake Izuku, or until her voice caught in her own throat, Nighteye continuing his explanation. "Chisaki has a daughter named Eri, there are no records or details about her birth," No... "But when Mirio and Midoriya encountered her-" No. "-they noticed there were bandages wrapped around her arms and legs." No!
"Could he really do something so horrific?" Ryukyu looked no better than the rest.
"Unfortunately, yes, in a world of superhumans if you can think it you can do it," Gran Torino sucked it down too, none realizing the temperature rising in the room.
Kirishima was at a loss, trying to put it together, "Hold on, what are they talking about?"
Rocklock opened his eyes, scowling. "Again, why do we have children in this meeting? I'll say this one time," He dropped the pin, "We're wondering if this Chisaki bastard and Kovik are turning this girl's body into bullets." There was nothing, just an abstract of anything that crossed over Izuku, and Mirio. The idea, the very thought of that girl being torn apart for a bullet left them hollow and completely sick with themselves.
...
...
...
*Snap!*
The tension snapped and startled the room, looking up from his lap, Izuku's horrified eyes regained some focus, though for all the wrong reasons. Yuki's face... was something completely feral. Her fangs were chipping her teeth, eyes pins of blood-red while her fingers dug deeper into the table just to root her. That twisted expression frightened her friends, even Hana was taken back.
Static burrowed into her head. "Chisaki... is using his daughter - a little girl like a slab of meat!" She started to see red. It wouldn't take long in all reality, she could easily pinpoint their location and tear the place apart. With SIVA, she - no, They'd strip the foundations down atop them, kill anyone that got in their way. "His neck would snap before his Quirk could begin to register what was happening to his body! How dare he... HOW DARE THEY!"
Who cares about law | I concur... he needs to pay | Every Last One
"We'll slaughter them all." She agreed.
"Yuki..." Ocha murmured, scared of what was going through her friend's head.
Not a hero dared to speak, watching her react like the girl was her own flesh and blood being tormented. Akame looked on with the most worry, she knew Yuki would react this way like a mirror was slapped in her face.
Yuki sat up straight, sucking in a long, shaky breath. Wood chips splintered her fingers for a moment while she exhaled. Her bloodthirsty aura dissolved to... nothing, her head down at her hands with a steady frown. "Continue," Her voice and SIVA merged briefly. "Sorry about your table." "If we do we'll risk everything, if... we wait... we can stop this." She felt like throwing up.
"To be clear we don't know if he's selling the bullets," Nighteye was the most passive of the group. He lifted his head with a glare. "Right now their efficacy appears to be questionable, it's possible they're still in the testing phase-"
"No," Yuki's voice growled, staring at her hands with fury. "Kovik is obsessed with augmentations and experiments, he wants me to perfect the drug, why, I don't know, this isn't like him, Dren, on the other hand, is simply following orders, partnering with Harbinger's own to obtain me... he still hasn't completed his inferior copy of my Quirk," She seethed. "He failed to die before, I'll make sure of it myself this time."
"I concur, and while the drug is in testing he's disturbed it to rally more to his cause," Nighteye agreed. "We have no concrete evidence but we know he's gathering funds and supporters from across the nation, if the completed product allows him to annihilate someone's Quirk entirely, imagine the devastation he could cause." The end of their society as a whole.
"Just talking about it makes my blood boil!" Fat Gum clenched his fist in hatred. "Let's go get this monster and his pals!"
"Tch, would have saved us a lot of trouble if these two amateurs just got the girl away from him," Rocklock turned his blame to Izuku and Mirio, that again snapped a thin line with Yuki. "And you seem to have quite the connection yourself to one of them-"
"Don't insult them!" Yuki shot up, slamming her fist into the table. "And for the record, I didn't ask to have Kovik's leader's memories shoved into my head! I never asked to become a part of his race!" She threw her hand to her subtle mutations. "So stop pretending we're children playing in traffic!"
"Aksis, sit down," Nighteye asked, never once raising his voice. She tightened her fist then sharply turned to sit, carefully grabbing Izuku's hand in hers, signalling his mortified eyes to regain some focus on her pitying face. Shaken, he managed to curl his own fingers around her own. "Let me add, I take full responsibility,"
"The blame should not fall on them, even without knowing the full story they acted to save that child each in their own way; Midoriya was willing to bear the risk of taking her then, Mirio wanted to wait for a more successful opportunity," Yuki felt Izuku's hand press tighter, he was hurting and in a very painful way. Her outburst probably didn't help at all.
"'World's Greatest Hero', not even close!" He belittled himself, he failed... he actually failed.
"'Save a million people', I couldn't even save her!" Mirio was no better, guilt tearing him apart.
"And to add, while Yuki here is connected to Kovik and Dren she had no way of knowing, she has been targetted numerous times by them, used and tormented for her Quirk time and again," Nighteye clasped his hands close to his face. "Believe me, no one is more frustrated than the three of them-"
Three chairs shot back, one with a little more care. "We'll get Eri away from him next time!" Izuku.
"I won't let anyone else suffer as I did," Yuki vowed, standing with them.
"And we'll protect her!" The boys proclaimed with a fire in their hearts, Yuki sat down, feeling pain twist in her heart.
"Indeed, that is exactly what we've come here to discuss," Nighteye remained steadfast.
The meeting continued on point, to divide their attention to smaller groups connected to the Shie Hassaikai, then, once significant intel was secured on Eri's location they would attack, if they messed this up she could be in worse danger than before. Another thing to note was that Nighteye, as Yuki suspected, wouldn't use his Quirk on any of them, for fear of seeing what occurred to All Might transpired here. She understood but that limited more information.
Another thing was directed to Yuki. "Yuki, the one in your head, can he explain a few things?" This made her gasp. Not many knew of SIVA being sentiment, or... that it wasn't a Quirk, Nighteye knew both years ago when they met a few times. "Sorry but it's imperative to this operation."
"What's this? Her Quirk's alive?" Someone muttered, so she nodded with an exasperated sigh.
"So much for a secret..." Closing her eyes, she let SIVA take control, eyes completely blue again.
"What do you want to know, Nighteye?" Her tone remained the same but her aura shifted entirely.
"Kovik, and in turn, Dren, his location remains the most obscure from our net, he would know of our movements on the Hassaikai and possibly slip further away," Nighteye clasped his hands. "Our hopes are to divide into two raid teams, one for Eri and the other for Dren."
SIVA folded his arms, clicking his tongue as though he were Fallen. "Kovik would not make himself known, his actions aren't aligning with his mentality, we can assume this is primarily Dren's work, as for him... I only recall the time he was a Dreg, the lowest form of my race," He blinked slowly. "He is gifted, very meticulous... what volcanoes are located in Japan?"
The image above switched, modified with several markers across Japan for SIVA to inspect, running it all through his head with Yuki, "Their base of operations would be located in one of these mountain ranges, they remain remote to an extent, the perfect place to develop new technology with resources and privacy from investigating heroes - ones with active volcanic shafts would also be preferable, as well as colder climates..."
"How are you certain he'll be hiding up there?" Fat Gum asked.
"Because my kind fell to being nothing but pirates and scavengers, we stole and killed humanity to survive, hid in their ruins, and fed off their technology," SIVA huffed in disgust. "We were no better than rats, and what better place to hide than in a place with so few humans."
"I... am no better than they are... for I have slaughtered so many..." SIVA lowered his head in shame. "And now Yuki must bear my sins, her memories and mine are bound, she too has seen what horrors I've witnessed..." His fingers curled up. "Do not blame her... for feeling sorry for a monster like me."
Izuku's face dropped, he had heard that same word before, Yuki called herself a 'Monster', and SIVA felt no different. They both wished to be more than who they had become.
The others were talking a few feet away, Yuki... didn't join them, head against the glass to the outside, staring back at herself like when she grovelled day-in and day-out. A little girl was suffering like her, being used and manipulated for another's gain. She lost everything, Yuki can tell from the report. Chisaki is not her father, and if he was, she'd destroy him.
Dren was wrapped up in this too, Harrow's own Nightmares too, the web was growing and she was stuck here, still unable to do a thing but sit and wait. How many more suffered? What was Kovik's plan, why was he doing this? Why!?
"Azuru," A hand tapped her shoulder, turning slowly, she was greeted by Jura and Yukino. "Velk and I... sense you are in pain, during the ordeal with Eri."
There wasn't any lying to a Host and Nightmare, "I... can't sit here, but if I do something it'll cause more harm than good," It would be as Kovik wants, or is she just overthinking his part in this story? "Sorry," Her smile was fake. "I just can't find a reason to smile properly right now."
"It must be frustrating," Jura shook his head, patting her shoulder. "I didn't know your Quirk was... wow."
"Yeah, SIVA's a character, but I trust him dearly," Yuki answered their woes. "He's a lot like Velk to you, Yukino, a partner you can't live without, a part of you."
"Hana," She added, blinking or winking once. "I feel a little excluded otherwise, Hana is fine."
"Heh, sure thing, Hana." Yuki replied, the girl's expression softer.
"And you can call me Jura too, Hana!" The tall guy grinned, leaning on Yuki's shoulder, or until she pulled away, seeing Mr. Aizawa standing before her. "Oh, Mr. Aizawa."
"Just call me Eraserhead outside of UA," He held his hand up to Jura, gazing at Yuki. "Kid... I already said it to Midoriya, so let me repeat myself," He knelt down to just below her level with an honest look in his eyes. "I get the frustration, but you gotta do things the right way, even if I'm not there to watch you, others will be, got that, problem child two?" He punched her stomach lightly, seeing her face shift.
"...I will, we both will." She promised her mentor. "A-and hey, I want first place." She attempted to joke.
"Unlike you, the first one doesn't seem to show restraint like you - though today that margin is being tested." He stood up, "And in case you're worried, you've relied on Midoriya to see things through, and I know for a fact that while he didn't hold onto her, he gave that girl hope, so focus on your own war."
"Right." She couldn't agree more.
A few days had passed since the meeting...
A few spectated during their training that day, staring at the six that trained the hardest of them all, not a word was spoken, not that anything could be told. The mission was confidential, never to be revealed to anyone outside the meeting. Although Akio knew, Viral had gotten it all from their emotions, same with Kyoka. She knew her best friend well enough she wanted to say something but couldn't.
"Fire Scourge!" Akio chanted, two bursts of flames travelling toward Yuki who swept through with a red wave of energy from her cross-chop, splitting through Akio's defences while a shield of earth erected itself. She crashed through with a twist of her hips, snap-kicking the stone to strike nothing. Immediately, Yuki performed a handstand, warping upward to avoid Akio's Vile Spine, firing a Burst to blind him.
"Nice-" He spun around, filling Yuki's vision with black smoke that caused her arms to tingle under her armor. A paralysis agent was added. She banished the smoke with her arms, constructing her Wire Rifle and pointing the muzzle over her shoulder, the static tickling the Host's nose. He giggled. "-you're getting better at predicting me, I feel cheated."
"It's fine, I'm just assuming," She replied, though her tone wasn't nearly as chipper, expression hidden behind her mask, say for the hardened glow in the optics. "Thanks, can we try hand-to-hand combat?"
"Oh, great..." He grimaced, bringing his hands up. "Protect your soul I suppose is obvious."
"Right," She agreed, sizing off with Akio. "Three... two..." He disappeared.
Yuki ducked, evading his roundhouse, while blocking the tail that swept in an arc against her forearms, she needed to be faster, especially if she encounters Infernal or worse. Rushing the brunette the two shared the same idea, sprinting to land the next hit-
"Grah!" Yuki yelped, crumbling to her knees the second Akio passed by, his tail swiping her from his feint. She rolled, lunging back in a wide step to strike his open fist with enough force to split the earth behind them. "Not this time!" She vanished through his form, kicking his lower back before doing it again, materializing to catch his left jab, blocking his right hook with her forearm.
Both were panting by now, letting go of each other. "Not bad, guess what Yukino told me about you guys facing a Nightmare are true, even at this stage you're sharp," Akio praised, but he knew what was underneath, she was swimming in animosity, her emotions were fluctuating. "Hey, talk if you need to - I know the whole gig is sealed tight, Kyoka gets it too but since Nightmares are involved, let me know if I can help."
She thought about it, "I... might need your help then, later I guess," She sighed, seeing as it was getting closer to lunch. "Guess we can call it quits for now."
"True that I'm starved, and my pride is broken," He laughed a little, patting her back. "Take it easy, Yu, you'll need your focus." That last part felt as though Viral said it, though it was true regardless
Ketsubutsu Academy High School...
"Woah, you okay in here, Yukino!?" One of her upperclassmen, the one that invited her to take the Licensing Exam early with her friends, Shindo exclaimed upon entering the training hall. "Man it's freakin' cold in here!"
"That's the point," Hana exhaled a misty breath, ice crystallizing in the air to shatter at her feet. She wore only a sports bra and pants, exposing her skin to the ice that suffocated the room. Behind him, Ms Joke was in a winter coat.
"Little Yukino's been really hard a work, that's Work-Studies for you," She cooed. "Getting nippy, Shindo?"
"Y-y-you think!?" He was turning blue while his teacher chuckled, watching Hana and the shadow that curled like a dragon around her form carefully.
"Don't worry about her, if her own besties say she's fine then we'll leave her to train, and avoid frostbite." Ms Joke sighed, the girl's sword still on her back. "How long will you hold onto that trinket? I do wonder..."
Back at UA...
Later at lunch, Yuki continued to plot the various scenarios in her head, it was making it spin. She knew she needed to focus, it wouldn't help anyone if she let her feelings cloud what was important. Emotions topple strategy after all. "Huh?" She paused, spotting Iida, Shoto, and Izuku together, the latter not eating at all. "Oh Izuku..." Shaking her head, she approached, sitting down beside him.
The boys noticed but Izuku was still lost. So with a poke of the magical freckles, he came back to reality. "Eh? Yuki?"
"One and only," She didn't smile but looked at him with concern. "You're not eating."
"Huh, sure I am, see?" He quickly dug in, Iida met Yuki's eyes. He knew what this was, and Yuki failed to stop him from falling into this cycle.
"You've been acting all edgy and depressed since you started your Work-Study," Shoto with his bluntness spoke up.
"Oh, have I really?" He heard him but wasn't listening. Again, Yuki saw Iida's gaze change, himself speaking up.
Suddenly, a hand chopped down into view, Iida offering his friends a welcoming smile of assurance. "If you ever need to talk or anything, we're friends right?" Those same words... Yuki stopped eating herself, hiding behind her bangs... it was happening again.
"That's what you said to me, remember, back before we headed off to our Internships? And I was acting like a fool," He admitted to them, not seeing Yuki's face at all, her hands frozen in place. For Izuku, it dawned on him how much he was starting to regress toward everyone.
He let a few tears slip, causing a panic. "Aaah, I'm sorry!" Iida's hair actually spiked up in alarm, drawing a tiny smile to Yuki's face through her bangs.
"Midoriya, Yuki...?" Shoto murmured.
"Sorry, it's okay," Izuku lied, devouring his lunch with tears in his eyes. For Yuki, she just stared, wondering how he could do this, manage it all with a strong face. Hide it better than she could.
"It's been tough," Yuki added, turning away from them. "Just... a lot." Without another word she stood up and gave them a tiny smile. "Gotta get some fresh air, think I'm acting like an idiot again."
"We... understand," Shoto wanted to say more but felt it could spiral from his hands, allowing the bluette to take off, leaving her lunch behind. "Midoriya?"
"I-I'm okay, heroes... aren't supposed to cry." Under his hand he swept a note out of view, his heart aching in place.
'Come to the top of our dorm building later, please'
When Izuku arrived later that evening to converse with Yuki he was, admittedly, nervous. Never had he seen, felt, and heard so much anger from her. Yuki was simply gone, replaced with something scary and unpredictable. But she wanted to talk, and he was willing to listen. He gave her space but they needed to talk. It's what partners do, and he had to take charge for once.
"Yuki?" Spotting her by the edge, legs over the lip without care. Her mask rested on her head, obscuring her gaze though she did tilt to acknowledge him. "I... we need to talk, about our Work-Study... and us," He bit the pill and swallowed, keeping his arms straight. "I-I want to know how you feel about this, e-everything, please... didn't we say we'd talk?"
"I know," She whispered, head still low.
"Then..." Again, he cursed himself for not knowing what to say to her. Some partner he was... No, he shook himself, this wasn't the time to beat himself up. He had to say something-
"When you met Eri... what happened? What did Chisaki say?" He could hear it, she was practically sucking down her feelings to remain neutral.
"...she ran into me, scared, so... very scared, especially when Chisaki showed up, he... he just came off so impassive to her feelings, and her bandages were new," Even he struggled to push his feelings out, rubbing his hands, remember how Eri trembled like a leaf against him. "He wanted her to go and..."
"Please... please don't go," Eri whimpered, eyes practically filled with invisible tears.
His stomach turned. "I should've taken her," Izuku's breathing hitched, fingers dug to his palms. "I know what we needed to do but I... I wanted to save her there and then! With my Quirk, Quirks... whatever One For All's becoming, we could have saved her and I failed!" The idea of that poor girl suffering for Overhaul's plans only made the terrible feeling sting. "I want to be a hero and I did exactly what a bystander would! Nothing but shake in fear of... his aura, my Danger Sense, all I could feel was death, a-a-and I-!"
Silence, say for the wind. Yuki turned around without him knowing, appearing in time to embrace her nerd of a boyfriend tightly in her arms, tucking his head against her chest. "Shh... you did what you thought was right," Yuki's own face peeked through his curls... she was distraught. Face contorted with anger and grief. "If I was there, I might have done the same, but I wasn't, I was laughing with Jura, Hana, Jin, my Mom while you had to experience that on the first day... I'm sorry."
Izuku felt pain in his chest but smiled painfully. "It wasn't your fault, you never could've known, and... neither could I or Togata," He felt calm in her arms, easing his panic attack while Yuki lifted back, hands on his shoulders, his around her waist, seeing the heartache, yet defiant flame in her eyes. "I can't take back my mistake, but I will save her-" Her finger poked his freckles.
"No, we both will," She affirmed. "I'll stop Dren in his tracks, and you'll stop Overhaul, if we do that, we can save her, I swear it." "I won't let someone else suffer like me, I refuse."
|We both refuse|
For the first time in the last few days, Izuku smiled again, returning her look. "Promise - together, we'll save Eri together."
Yuki's smile returned, nuzzling her mate on the nose, himself turning red to her pink cheeks. "You're cute when you're determined," Giggling, Yuki enjoyed placing her head on his shoulder. "But thank you... guess we do suck at this whole, 'relationship' thing."
"I think that's par-for-the-course at this point," Izuku quipped, earning a soft giggle to his own. "I'm sorry I didn't ask sooner, I wanted to give you some space to think - and I let my own emotions swell up, especially with what I learned about All Might, Eri, everything."
"Ditto," She hummed, pulling back. "Come on, we can't save anyone if we're sulking about. Let's go get dinner started, and make it extra special for us, Kirishima, Ocha, and Tsu, I think we all could use something to pick us up."
"Sure, let's go," He took her hand in his, interlocking fingers while moving forward. They had burdens to bear with their titles as Heroes, and that alone they'll fight for. A Symbol of Peace and Salvation.
Shie Hassaikai Headquarters...
"Good to see you again, Eri," Dren announced his arrival, flicking on the light to the girl's room, again, she was hiding by her bed. He had come to expect this. "Sorry, I require another sample, though I suppose you are very drained from today alone."
Her red orbs followed the Captain who knelt at the foot of her bed as always, waiting for her to come to him. He never raised his voice, never threatened or offered her a false sense of comfort, it was honesty that drove her to build a far less terror-filled communication with the strange creature.
"What's that...?" She murmured so quietly he almost missed it while she shuffled forward. In his claw was... a stuffed wolf, blue too. "A puppy?" Curiosity drove her closer to the Splicer who held out the item.
"While you are surrounded by all of... these, I feel I should offer you something as a form of... compensation for your compliance," Dren sounded bashful behind his mask, rubbing his head. "It's not much, Kovik would call it hideous, but you are like our hatchlings, I feel no reason to be jaded toward you, especially given your circumstances."
She sat close and was offered the blue wolf to sit by her lap. Tentatively, her fingers plucked it closer, and... it felt warmer. Not that it was but her body felt warmer, it meant something, not to bribe her into compliance. Dren offered her a gift with honesty. "Funny, my mentor criticized me for it, saying it reminds him of this 'Thief', I can see the resemblance."
"..." She didn't say anything, nodding slowly to him. He smiled under his mask, nodding back.
"Your welcome," Then he sighed, rubbing his chin with a few clicking sounds. "I am sorry you must endure this pain, if I'm honest, if I could I would... aid in your freedom, I see no reason to draw you as an enemy when you are innocent in this battle,"
Her eyes widened at this, squeezing the wolf plush closer to her chest. Why... why did he say that? Was it a trick? She didn't say anything, just staring at the Fallen that worked to gain a sample of her blood, a small prick of a needle.
"In all honesty, I do hope someone saves you, if possible, regardless of what my mentor might think," Dren was a strange Splicer, but unlike those who were fanatical. He recalled the day the towering Splicer offered his own cloak to a lowly Dreg to shield from the cold. "I will save you."
To Be Continued...
God, I hate doing this but it's necessary, lots to digest here. But it's time for the big Raid on Dren's hideout, but where is it and what's waiting for them all inside? I hope you enjoyed, appreciate the support as always, seeya in the next chapter Heroes!
Next Chapter: Enter, Riis Perfected
Yuki: It's time...
Izuku: All of us, we'll save Eri!
Kirishima: I'll be right there with you guys!
Ocha: Let's do this.
Tsu: Together.
Yuki: Coming; Enter, Riis Perfected
Izuku/Kirishima: Go Beyond!
Girls: Plus Ultra!