Suri and Yukari are in Hosu. Suri finds Stain and relives the night she's been running from. Is it time to confess to her friends?
It had occurred to Suri through the running as they made it to Hosu City that she had mentally called Izuku her man. Which was honestly a silly thought and more of a pipe dream. He was too bashful and nervous around women to even take that step further than just talking. Hell he was still nervous and skittish around her and Uraraka and they were arguably his best friends on the girl's side of things. He got along well enough with Tooru, Mina, and Tsu but that was after the conversation was really going, especially if the conversation had anything to do with Quirks. One on one, he was a ball of nerves. But at least he was so damn cute when he was a blubbering mess. Though, if he was like what she had seen in her dreams at least three times now, or the day at the beach…
No, Suri! Now's not the time!
She cursed herself again because, gods, as much as she'd love seeing that confident side of Izuku going to town on her, she first needed to make sure he was okay. The bad feeling in her gut from the time she had gotten his text had only grown worse. It was now sitting heavy, like it was threatening to turn into a black hole and swallow everything with the thick dread it carried. She made the plan that, once they had come to a stop, she'd search for his scent and hopefully track him down quickly enough.
Seriously, why was she so desperate for him?
They were friends.
Nothing more.
She respected him because of his vast intellect, quick wits, and simply enjoyed the company he provided. He was kind, and charming in a sort of dopey way and had all the signs of a guy who was soft and emotional that you could just be around for hours. Then there was that confident, sort of manly side to him that he had that was hidden until the situation called for it. She loved the rare shines of that side. He'd make a great leader and hero if he could find a balance between those two sides of him.
Maybe that's what had drawn her to him. Really there was no real reason for her, and by extension Tooru and Mina, to pal around with him like they did. But the three of them enjoyed his company. They clicked. He never got jarred by rapid fire changes of subject, was a great listener, and was more than willing to help her and Mina with questions on homework. If Izuku didn't come back alive to 1-A, they wouldn't be the same. Suri had to make sure that nothing like that happened.
She was just going to save a friend.
A great friend. That's it!
With her thoughts filled with the resident greenette cinnamon roll, she almost ran headlong into the side of a building. Her grandmother, Lady Whiplash, and Yukari Kurogami aka Lotigre, had leapt, the older woman traversing the four story building in one go while Yukari did it in two bounds. Suri leapt up half the building and scaled the rest like it was a climbing wall and then threw herself onto the roof to come to a stop next to the two women. Yukari scoffed and smirked at Suri's actions while Grandma Kuroyashi looked at her with a worried glint of her own.
Grandma understood. Yukari didn't.
"Sora's not far," Asuka spoke as the leopard queen walked to the edge of the roof, flared her nose again and growled. "And he's not alone."
"I thought you said he's an old pro too?" Kurogami asked, her breathing a little labored from the running. "Shouldn't he be able to handle things on his own?"
"The news report said there were three of them. If these Nomu are anything like the one we faced at the USJ, we're in deep shit," Suri said with a grated tone.
"What's so special about them? If a pro can't take them out then maybe they're not meant t-"
"These things were made to kill All Might," Suri growled, cutting off Yukari mid sentence.
The response made the girl go wide eyed at first and then an incredulous look grew across her face. She shook her head and half laughed at the mere thought of that being possible. Then she sobered within seconds when she saw that neither Suri nor their mentor softened or took the bait of a comment. There was nothing but deadly conviction in their eyes.
"Holy shit, you're serious," Yukari finally spoke in a low tone.
"Yeah," Suri scoffed at the girl and then joined the two of them at the far edge of the building's roof and looked across the skyline. Her stomach and her heart tugged as she looked at the scene, seeing fires raging and her ears filling with screams and cries of panic.
"This way," Asuka growled and disappeared in a flash of shimmering air.
Suri and Yukari took off behind her, trying to follow the afterimages of their mentor as quickly as they could. The blur of motion took them to a large open plaza where one of the black creatures was lifting itself off of the ground. It was roaring at a short, older man with white hair dressed in a cream colored jumpsuit, large orange boots and gloves, and matching cape.
Before the older man could do anything, Grandma Kuroyashi roared with a vicious, screaming snarl that big cats like leopards and cougars make. She unfurled her whip from around her waist and swung it forward with a snap before it coiled around the Nomu's neck and tightened with a loud straining sound. She vaulted herself over the creature, her feet landing with a thunderous crack as the concrete beneath her cracked and cratered from her landing. Within a second of her landing the muscles in her arms and back rippled as she let out another feral growl and the black skinned creature was pulled into the pavement with a quake.
The thing let out its own feral scream as it went down and the back of its head met pavement while its entire body bounced from impact. Even with the hard thud that hit the ground, the creature began getting back up almost immediately. Grandma Kuroyashi growled and then looked at the old man, when their eyes met, she softened ever so slightly before tensing back into her 'game face' as it were.
"Gran Torino," she shouted, staring death into the Nomu's eyes. "Hurricane Grand Prix, Ground Level Formation."
The old man simply grinned and humphed with pride and knowledge before he disappeared. So did Lady Whiplash. Only not really. Suri watched as a blur of orange and cream danced with black and sky blue around the Nomu. They rapidly circled the thing in a dual five point star formation, criss-crossing each other rapidly to the point a strong gust of wind was conjured around their opponent. It disoriented the thing as it tried to keep up with their movements, then, just before it tried to do something about his predicament, the Nomu started getting walloped. One hit, then two, then four, then eight before turning into a drumming sound, a steady machine gun of blows across the thing's entire body.
After what seemed like a long eternity of the Nomu being brutalized by blow after blow, the two older pro heroes skidded to a stop on opposite sides of the thing. It stumbled and then fell over face first and a stuttering growl escaped its mouth. The display was amazing to watch and left both younger girls in awe of the sight as the old pros smiled in their practiced poses. They both stood simultaneously, turned to each other and then with a wisp of shimmering light, Grandma Kuroyashi was in front of the man. She was beaming like a schoolgirl as she stared down at him with a warm, loving smile, her eyes shimmering with an icy blue fire. For his efforts the man, who only came up to the woman's chest, gave her an award winning smile in return.
It was a good smile.
"Heyya, Orihime," he said with a gruff voice. "It's been a while."
"Too long, Sora," she replied and lowered herself onto one knee and threw her arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug.
As the two old pro heroes hugged and embraced each other tightly, the Nomu behind them began to rise. It struggled to its feet and loomed over the two adults with a lifeless glare. The two scowled and were about to move and attack it again when it lunged at them. The moment it lunged, Suri reacted. Her eyes glowed in a hot golden green fire as she shot forward, speed near as fast as Grandma Kuroyashi's, and planted her feet square in its chest. She kicked as hard as she could with the added force of her momentum and made the creature stammer backwards. He was off balance and as Suri raced to get behind it, Yukari charged forward with her own powerful kick, pushing him back another few steps.
The two of them mimicked the pattern that the two pros had displayed and began racing around the creature as fast as their beasts could take them. The difference was that knowing that simple punches weren't doing the trick, they had to be more vicious. Suri turned up the heat, roaring and pouring energy across her skin as her claws extended like blades and she laid dozens, then hundreds of lacerations into the creature. She knew it probably had regenerative capabilities like the Nomu from the USJ so she decided on an action. She'd make sure she'd do more damage than it could repair. It screamed as the two of them laid into him and cut him up, taking wild swings trying to bat either of them away like flies.
He connected with Yukari and sent her skidding across the ground in a heap. She was slow to get up and that only served to piss off Suri even more. She growled deep, letting it rumble from her gut like the roar of an engine as she took a wide lap around the creature one last time. During her second lap around him at the 10 o'clock point, she bolted at him, swiping viciously at the muscles in his shoulder. With a loud scream from the thing and a loud meaty smack against the pavement, the Nomu was now sans a left arm. As it turned to where she had skidded to a stop at the 5 o'clock position, it reached forward to grab her and missed. She bolted forward, grabbing the thing's right arm and pulled it with every feat of strength she had in her.
The force of the pull resulted in a series of loud pops and snapping sounds, coupled with the feral roar coming from Suri as she and the Nomu played tug of war with its remaining arm. She dug her claws into the pavement and gave it the Plus Ultra the feat deserved as the air filled with wet cracking and snapping sounds. The same kind you hear when snapping a fresh stick of celery and if you truly knew what the sound indicated, it would make most people shiver and cringe. Suri, for her all out effort, came away still holding the Nomu's now severed right arm and glaring death into the creature's eyes.
It still stayed standing and Suri was about to add insult to injury and use the arm in her hands as a weapon. Yukari however, beat her to the punch and the smaller wolpard girl came in like a rocket, swinging the dismembered left arm like a hammer and drove it into the Nomu's skull. It dropped to the ground in a thunderous crash that shook the ground and the screams it once had were reduced to a breathless croak. It was still breathing, lucky for the Nomu, but was out cold and out of commission as Yukari came to stand on the back of its neck. She hoisted the arm over her shoulders like a baseball player does with their bat and glared down at the pitiful thing.
"And stay down you ugly motherfucker," she spat viciously, baring fangs and snarling down at the defeated foe.
"What she said," Suri huffed and tossed the severed arm like a discarded piece of trash.
The two of them came together and strided towards their mentor with a pair of vindictive grins. They took down an opponent that the old timers had slipped up on defeating. They took pride in that fact and didn't bother to hide it. It left the pair of old pros staring at each other, to the girls, and then back to each other in a sort of awe.
"As much as I love the surprise," the old man said, pulling back from the hug after a long moment of staring. "What are you doing here? I was going to call you as soon as I had taken care of this thing."
"Actually, it's cause of her," Grandma Kuroyashi responded. She pulled back from the man and stood up to walk towards the two younger girls. She first motioned to Suri with a smile and looked back at the old man. "This is my granddaughter, Suri Kuroyashi. Hero name; Wild Eyes. And this," she motioned towards the girl beside her, "is Yukari Kurogami. Hero name; Lotigre. Ladies, this is Sorahiko Torino, better known as Gran Torino."
Suri looked at the old man and a memory from earlier in the week sprang to mind. She recognized the name Gran Torino. Because when they were talking about who to intern under, it was the only name that had offered a chance to Izuku. The old man was here but she couldn't see the greenette anywhere. The bad feeling, the sinking pull of her stomach, spiked again. He should be here so where the fuck was he?
"So you're the one Deku's training under and who we were supposed to go on patrol with?" she looked at him and couldn't hide the worry in her eyes or voice. "He sent this message earlier. I had to come try to help when I got this and nothing else and when we saw the news reports."
"So you're friends with Young Midoriya?" he looked up to her, visually measuring her up.
"Yeah," Suri answered with a quick reply.
He let out a sigh and turned to look towards the rest of the city. That couldn't be a good sign either. Shit.
"Sorry to say, I was busy taking care of this guy and he took off running. Said something about finding one of his friends that was here in Hosu. I told him not to run off but he didn't listen."
Yeah, shit was right.
"Dammit, Green Bean," she growled and turned towards the main girth of the city.
She brought every ounce of Atiena's power short of turning herself into a full sized wolpard. Her eyes closed and she let the beast take full control of her sense of smell, scenting nearly the entire city of Hosu in a few deep breaths. She shoved back the smell of fire and smoke, the smell of blood from dozens of other pro heroes and civilians, and the smell of fear and panic that covered the city like a thick fog.
Her eyes snapped open and, in a flash of movement, she took off running. She left everyone in the dust behind her and began running as fast as she could up and down streets, though several alleys, desperately tracking like a predator on steroids. She prayed. Prayed to the old gods as she ran that she wasn't too late. Prayed because she smelled blood. She smelled Iida's blood, and a lot of it, which twisted her stomach by itself. There was also the smell of Todoroki's blood, which had her concerned as well. But next to it, she smelled more blood. His blood. And the thought that Deku was hurt and bleeding not only twisted her stomach in panic, but it also pissed her off.
She was going to slaughter whoever drew his blood.
No one was allowed to bleed her Deku!
No one except her!
She'd confront that last thought later. Later she'd worry about why she got so possessive of Izuku Midoriya. Why she thought of tasting his blood and hoped it was as sweet as he was. And why the thought of him hurting made her no longer care if she killed someone again.
She barrelled around a corner and saw a small group up ahead and she could smell fear radiating off of them like a thick smoke. Then her eyes widened as she got a closer view. She saw Iida and Todoroki in the group of pro heroes and they were staring in horror at another figure. That figure had a knife buried to the hilt inside of another Nomu's skull, bleeding it out on the sidewalk. And lying on the ground next to them was Deku.
She was going to go at whoever this person was.
"You false hero," the man stood, his dead crimson eyes piercing everyone, including Suri, and freezing them all in place. It felt like the world grew darker and this man, whoever he was became what seemed like a behemoth in everyone's mind.
He scared Suri and for the most brief of moments, his face was replaced by Hyrum Black's.
"I'll make this right," he took a staggered step forward. "These streets must run red with the blood of hypocrites. Hero," he scoffed and gave an evil grin. "I will reclaim that word."
As he staggered forward, Suri's fear grew because while everyone else saw whoever this man was. This crazed radical. To Suri, he was now fully and completely Hyrum as she saw him in his last moment. She saw the image of a man with shaggy, unkempt blonde hair, vivid blue eyes, and a damn near perfect face. That gorgeous face was unhinged, the look in his eyes crazed and filled with bloodlust and a thirst desperate for power. The front of his bare, sculpted chest was a mask of crimson that poured from the gaping hole in his neck. He was just as he last saw her that night so many months ago.
"Come on! Just try and stop me, you fakes!"
Suri gritted her teeth as Atiena's power drained from her completely. Her beast retreated into her, hiding inside the forest of her mind and taking the anger she had felt moments ago with it. Now, she was just terrified. She whimpered through gritted teeth and her fists clenched tight, digging into her palms hard enough to leave marks.
She couldn't stop him. Of course she couldn't because she was what he said; a hypocrite. A fake hero.
"There is only one man I'll let kill me. He is a true hero," he growled out, an almost religious conviction in his voice. "All Might is worthy!"
His words blew outward like a gust of wind, filled with darkness and terror. It was like looking up in the night sky just in time to see the tornado coming from the darkness to swallow you whole and rip you apart. It was that fear that was strong enough that dropped Suri to her knees and her classmates onto their butts. They sat frozen and waited for the death that was promising to come to just take them.
A wait that lasted an eternity and then…
Nothing.
The man dropped his knife and was frozen in place like a lumbering statue of terror incarnate. His eyes cold and dead staring blankly forward into nothingness.
"I think," a deep booming voice spoke and it drew Suri's attention to Endeavor. Had he been there the entire time? "He's out cold."
It was only when Suri jumped from a touch on her shoulder that she broke from her haze. She looked up to see her grandmother's face and instantly the younger girl jumped up, hugged the older woman tight. And with her face buried deep into the old pro's chest… she wept.
Suri's eyes fluttered open and she grumbled at the sight. Yet another unfamiliar hospital ceiling with the all too familiar pattern of speckled ceiling panels. She rose upwards and let the bed sheet pool into her lap and felt the circulating air of the hospital room breathe across her dark bronze skin. Her bare skin. Her eyes looked down and she found herself completely exposed from the waist up which made her grumble once again and pull the sheet back upwards and held it across the top of her chest.
She looked around and paused as she found her hero suit briefcase and her backpack sitting on the floor next to her bed and her phone sitting comfortably on the corner of the mattress. Someone had brought her stuff from Shinjuku. She looked around again and found herself alone and felt an emptiness inside her. She closed her eyes again and let her mind wander into the forest clearing that resided there to find Atiena, in her human form, lying on her back along her stone bed.
The beast rolled her eyes up to meet Suri's and a small, careful smile crossed her lips.
"I must apologize," she sighed as she rolled to stand up and meet her smaller human counterpart in the clearing. "I… was a coward and because of it, it appears I drained us both of our energy."
"I don't blame you," Suri said, shaking her head to reassure her inner beast. Her hands went forward and found Atiena's, entangling their fingers together as Suri raised their hands palm to palm. "The guy… everything he said felt so personal. It hit way too close to home and then to see him in his place, saying those things? I don't want to believe him but…"
"We have doubts that we can atone," Atiena answered, leaning her head down and pressing her forehead against the small girl's. "But first, we have people who need us."
Suri nodded and gave her beast a smile as she let her consciousness drift back to the surface and back into the hospital room.
"Yeah. Let's find out what happened and make sure those three are okay."
Suri got up, swinging her legs off of the bed to stand and then crouched down to her backpack to fish out a change of clothes. She retrieved a pair of white denim jeans, her trusty black bra, and a mint green tee that was cut so that it hung off her shoulders. The green brought out her eyes, made them brighter and happier. As they should be, because she was going to be happy to see her friends.
She picked up her phone and before placing it into her pocket shot a quick text to Tooru and Mina. They had, once again, left a flurry of messages because someone had told them that she, along with Midoriya, Iida, and Todoroki were in Hosu General Hospital. She would smack Yukari if it had been her to send the message but knew it had more likely been her grandmother wanting to make sure the two knew what was happening. She appreciated her mentor for not only being so accepting and happy to have her girlfriends around, but going out of her way to keep them informed.
The damage control though, was a little taxing.
Once she had sated and calmed the chaotic balls of energy that were Tooru and Mina, she grabbed her belongings and stepped out into the hall. She drifted down into the lobby and was about to go to the front desk for help when she spotted a familiar mess of green hair on the other side of the lobby walking into the far hallway. She smiled seeing that he was okay enough to be up and walking and her chest filled with warmth as she quickly walked across the floor after him. She tailed him to a room before coming to the door and she heard a trio of familiar voices on the other side but her heart sank as she listened in.
"When I came across the Hero Killer," Iida spoke remorsefully, "I stopped thinking rationally. I got lost in my own anger. I hate him so much but I can't deny he spoke the truth. That's why, until I'm able to call myself a real hero, I'll leave my left hand as it is."
"Are you sure," Todoroki asked. His voice sounded… more human than normal.
"Iida, I feel the same way," Izuku spoke with a shaky voice. "My hand is a reminder too."
As Suri listened, she hung her head and her fists balled once again. She had heard Iida and now that she ran her thoughts back she felt stupid. She had known that Iida's brother, Ingenium, had been attacked and severely injured by the Hero Killer. She had known that the attack had been here in Hosu and yet she didn't put two and two together when Iida just so happened to pick an internship in the same city. All of the signs, all of the similar feelings that he felt towards Stain mirrored her feelings towards Hyrum.
Of all people; she should have noticed.
"Let's get stronger. Together."
A weak smile curled on her lips. Leave it to Izuku to try and turn this into a learning experience.
"I feel kind of bad," Todoroki said, breaking the stoic silence that had been shared between Izuku and Iida.
Her questioning thought mirrored Izuku's words and her eyebrow curled upwards in curiosity.
"Whenever I'm involved, someone's hand gets all messed up. Is something wrong with me?"
Wait, what?
"Am I cursed?"
When the two other boys began laughing, she couldn't help it either. Her smile curled wider and she began lightly chuckling along with Izuku and Iida.
"This isn't a joke. I'm, like, The Hand Crusher or something!"
That was it.
That broke her and down came the dam as she began laughing hysterically. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard as she entered the room and finally laid eyes on her classmates. With a happy smile, she wiped tears away as the boys stopped and turned to see her come in.
"Kuroyashi," the three of them said in unison.
"Hey guys," she replied after stepping in the room. "Glad to see you're alright."
She first stopped at Todoroki, smiling at him warmly as he looked at her with a slightly confused expression. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close and hugging him to her. He froze under her embrace, unsure what to do with his hands, or really any part of his body. She then turned to Iida and walked to him, carefully she pulled him into a hug as well, being wary of his injured arms as she buried her face into the crook of the taller boy's neck. He was awkward and stiff as well, but relented after a second or two and let Suri curl into him.
Then she finally turned and looked into the emerald eyes of Izuku Midoriya and failed at hiding the small whimpering noise that slipped from her throat. She lunged forward and snatched him into her arms, pulling him close and tight, going as far and diggering her fingers into his thick curly hair with her left hand and scrunched the bottom hem of his hospital scrubs with the other.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again," she whispered into his ear before pulling back and holding him at arm's length so that she could look him over. His face was red and his eyes were wide, which made her smile all the more. That's the cute guy she knew.
Her expression fell from a smile and she dipped her head.
"It's okay to be angry, Iida. Gods know how much of a temper tantrum I can have myself," she finally turned back to her taller classmate and looked up into his eyes. "And trust me, I know exactly how you felt when you found him. Exactly how you feel and goddammit, I should have seen it coming. I want you to understand when I say this. Even if you had succeeded," she reached up, laying her hands on his shoulders so that she couldn't break her gaze. "It wouldn't have made you feel any better. Killing someone out of revenge or because you think it's what has to be done may make you feel better in the moment but in the long run you feel worse."
"Kuroyashi," Iida said cautiously, "I don't think I understand what you are saying. How could you know what I was thinking or how I felt at the time? Even though I knew I had been less than rational in my decisions and I've made peace with that. I don't think you should beat yourself up over something that I did. And yes, I have heard that before, that taking a life out of revenge does make you feel worse after it's done but-"
"Hyrum Black," she said in a direct voice and before the three of them could question. She gave them the answer and then watched each of their faces. "That's the name of the man I killed. The reason I ran away from home and came to Japan. And why I'll never be a real hero."
She turned and looked at Izuku last and watched a myriad of emotions run through his face, the look of fear and a flash of the look he gave villains made her stomach twist. Then she felt Atiena stir, she was pained by seeing that look in his eyes as well. Suri let her hands fall and she sat herself onto one the hospital beds, far enough so she could watch the three of them closely.
"I came to Japan thinking I could start over, get some kind of redemption, but last night when I listened to Stain, it wasn't him that I saw or heard. While he stood there, I saw the man I killed, watched him smile as he called me a fake and a hypocrite. And I knew that no matter how many lives I save, I can't make up for what I did to his."
"Suri," Izuku spoke softly. His glance was questioning and she knew that she couldn't hide her other big secret if he already knew her other.
"Iida, Todoroki, Midoriya, I want you to listen to what I'm about to say. I need you to believe me because everything you're about to hear is the truth. But first, I need to ask," she took in a deep breath, let Atiena's power fill her and let her and her beast speak as one, her eyes rolling to black and golden green. She looked at the three boys, knowing there was a possibility that today would mark the end of their friendship.
"Do you believe… in werewolves?"