"Now what door will you choose next?"

Reina continues to stare at me, head cocked and the sickening grin on her face. There's something so off about her now that I'm looking at her with more of a clear head. There's minute details that don't add up, little marks on her face that make it look as if she were a piece of paper slowly tearing away. Her usual attire when not at work was always comfort clothes like hoodies, sweats, baggy shirts and tank tops, running shorts. But here she's wearing more formal attire, a button down blouse and black slacks with a lab coat tied around her hips.

"Well?" she insists, stepping closer to me while cocking her head the other way. "You should make your choice soon."

"Why? What if I chose to stay here for eternity?" I ask, watching her face darken. "Or is that breaking the rules? Y'know the rules you never told me the entirety of?"

"You can't. You have to make a choice of what's been laid out before you. You can't just decide to stay in stasis for the rest of your life while everyone else makes your choices for you. That's what you wanted right? To no longer be anyone's puppet?"

"I never told anyone about the puppet thing," I snapped at her, taking a step forward. "Not once. Not even to Keigo. You're not my Reina."

She's quiet, eyes narrowed as she studies me. Then a sigh escapes her and she shakes her head. The next time I blink, she's gone. All of a sudden, I'm shoved forward, stumbling over my feet as I'm directed to the gray door.

"Good luck," is all I hear before the door opens and I'm shoved through, my vision going dark.

Door Two: Gray

My vision comes back behind a finely polished bar, a wet glass in one hand and a slightly damp towel in the other. It's too familiar to me, the smell of cheap alcohol and teenage angst. Looking up, I see Shigaraki sitting at the end furthest from the entrance, playing a handheld game in his hands with his pinky fingers lifted away from it. He still has his blue, unruly, and frankly unwashed hair, which tells me this is sometime before the Deka City Incident. I can't see any of the other members of the league here, so it's also before the Kamino Nightmare.

But why am I here?

I look down at myself, feeling my blood run cold as I see the formal attire that reminds me of Kurogiri. I'm wearing a purple button-down blouse with a small tie around my neck, and slacks that have a set of knives hanging off one side. I take a step to one side and realize that I'm wearing platform boots how I almost fall.

"Don't eat shit, Naoko," Shigaraki remarks, not even looking up from his game as I correct my posture. I take a breath and shake my head as I set the glass and towel down, holding the edge of the sink behind the bar. My hands are shaking and it feels like I can't breathe.

The door opens, an older man with two gold teeth stepping in and waving a little black book in his hand. Shigaraki sets his game down as he comes over to sit across from where I was standing.

"Damn, Naoko, you look like shit," he remarks as he slides his black book over to Shigaraki. He laughs as I glare at him. "If looks could kill, little lady, you'd outrank even our master with that face."

"Naoko, get our guest a drink," Shigaraki orders rudely, as if he was dismissing me from whatever him and this man were about to talk about. I huff, ready to tell him off for talking to me that way, but my body moves on its own. I can't say anything to him; my mouth won't connect to my brain to do so. My hands grab at the ingredients I know that I wouldn't know what to do with yet seem to be able to muddle and mix whatever drink this man is wanting.

"Here you are, sir," I say, my voice monotone and empty. He nods his head, taking the glass from my gloved hands as he continues talking to Shigaraki.

"So you want to raid UA to kill All Might then?" he asks, sipping on his drink as Shigaraki taps his index finger on the bar. My blood runs cold at the mention of the school, looking over as the blue-haired man leans back from the bar and shrugs his shoulders.

"We got intel from our little spy on the inside that they'll be at a different building on campus that will only have several teachers inside and All Might will be one of them," Shigaraki remarks irritably. "I just need you to gather some more players to help me overpower this boss."

"I can do that," the man remarks, picking up his glass and taking a long drink. He groans afterwards, giving me a toothy grin. "Good as always, little Naoko. Best drinks here in Yokohama. I'd tip you but well..what would you do with it?"

If I could cut you, I would.

"Now now, Giran, don't patronize her," a distorted voice remarks, bemused and intrigued. "She is skilled in more than just bartending. She does this as a hobby."

"It's only a hobby if she has the willpower to enjoy it," Shigaraki remarks, starting to sound irritated. He's scratching his neck, eye twitching. "But we were discussing getting a raiding party together."

"I've already got a list, Shigaraki, don't you worry about that. They're not the most skilled, but they're interested enough in your cause. You'll have your own little league soon."

"Good. Finally something getting done around here." Shigaraki looks up at me as Giran continues to sip on his drink. "Naoko, I want a soda."

"Of course, Tomura," I reply as lifelessly as I had to Giran. Again my body moves on its own, crouching to get into the small fridge beneath the bar and get a red can of soda. The blue haired bastard watches me pour it into a chilled glass and waits for me to set it down in front of him. "Please enjoy."

"She's helping during the raid too, right?" Giran remarks, leaning back on his stool to stare at the box television at the back of the bar with the static snow screen. "If she's got the skills you say she does, I'm sure she'll be a massive asset to helping the cause."

"Of course she is. Shigaraki goes nowhere without Naoko."

"Good."

The rest of the day goes by slowly, so slowly. I can't control anything I do; I'm trapped in this body, trapped obeying Shigaraki's orders and listening to his bullshit whining. My incel theory was right about him from the start and it's actually sickening how much he acts like a child. I want to wring his neck here, end the pain that would happen in my time line right here and now, but my body won't fucking listen to me.

Sometime around nine or ten, everything goes dark and quiet. Shigaraki is going to bed. The TV at the end of the room shuts off. The bar lights go dim. I'm left alone in the massive room, watching the bar with my arms at my sides. It's like I'm a robot, never sleeping, never resting, always working or in some kind of "standby until given orders" mode. I don't feel tired, not physically. I can't feel much of anything.

My vision unfocused until everything is a blur, a rush of merging colors until everything goes dark. From there, I'm trapped in a gray room with a small purple haired girl sitting on the floor, drawing pictures of a man wearing a sunshine mask and other kids. I walk over to her, already dreading the fact that I know this girl is the younger version of this time line's me.

"What are you drawing?" I ask, sitting on the floor next to her. She stops drawing, her small hand twitching with the yellow crayon leaving little marks across the paper. She looks up at me, bright blue eyes staring back as she studies me. There are no scars, no sadness in her eyes. There's no emotions in her eyes at all. The light is gone from them, a shell living on muscle memory.

"Mr. Smile Flower," she says, her voice monotone as she goes back to coloring the man. "And the others. They died a while ago when Mr. Sleepy burned the hospital down. Master told me so."

"Oh. I see." I don't know what to say to her, watching as the crayon scribbles across the paper. "My name is…" I stop myself, remembering what happened in the last doorway when I revealed my name. "My name is Mariko," I say instead, smiling at her as she nods. "What's your name?"

"I'm Naoko." She doesn't look up this time, putting her yellow crayon down before reaching for a black one. She starts making a stick figure off to the side, next to what looks like a bed. "Master and Tomura must be asleep now, since we can talk."

"Yeah, they're asleep." She nods her head and puts the black crayon down, reaching for an off white one to create a mess of hair on top of the stick figure's head. "How long have you been here?"

"Um…I think the hospital burned down…I dunno," she shrugs, shaking her head. "I lost track of time. I know Tomura is older than he used to be, but…I don't know how old I am."

"It's okay." I reach over, surprised my hand doesn't go through her as I pat her back. "Who's that?" I ask, pointing with my free hand to the stick figure by the bed.

"That's Mr. Sleepy," she says, trading the off-white crayon for a blue one, coloring circles for the eyes. "He slept for a long time at the hospital. But he woke up and went away, and when he came back, he burned it down. All my friends died."

Holy shit. Holy shit.

"Well, at least you survived?"

"I did?" She looks up at me, head tilted. "Master made me into this…thing. I know I'm not a Nomu, I'm still here. I don't think I would be if I was a Nomu. And you're here too, so that means…that means we aren't, right?"

"I-I think so." My voice breaks hearing the tiniest bit of hope seep into her voice. There's a spark of light in her eyes for the first time and I don't want to let her down. "I'll figure it out, okay? We won't be trapped here."

"We don't have a choice," she whispers, standing up and gathering her pages. "Master-he's too strong. He's scary. He won't let me go, won't let us go. He…killed mommy and daddy, and told me that I'm going to protect his successor. I tried to run away when the hospital burned down…" Tears are welling her eyes as the memories flash through me, the pain and agony freezing me stiff as I hear the distant screams of the children still trapped inside the building echo in my ears. "But they caught me. And…I don't remember anything after that…But I've been here as far as I do remember and I don't want to anymore. Please, Miss Mariko," she begs, reaching a small hand towards me. "Save me. I don't…want to do this anymore. I don't want to live anymore if it means being trapped here."