Didn't think I'd get a chapter out this week, but I found some time.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, as I'm starting to get things moving in the direction I wanted it to.
I know this is a bit of a slow burn, so please be patient with me.
There will be more interactions between my pairings, I promise, it's coming soon.
Chapter 10:
"Hawks, I'm literally halfway there." Akari knew she sounded exasperated when she answered the phone, but she couldn't help it.
He had called her while she had been with Yaeko to tell her he had no one to escort her back to the agency. Of course, Akari didn't mind because she could have stayed at the hospital with her sister. The only reason she was really upset was because he had started to suggest she walk back alone before he had stopped himself mid-sentence.
Akari wasn't sure if he was skeptical because of the conditions set by the commission or if he didn't think she could handle herself. He had also called again right before she left the hospital, so she felt that it was a little over the top that he kept calling.
"You know I could have sent a car for you, right?" He responded breezily, unphased by the tone of her voice.
He glanced over at the office with glass walls where Endeavor and Best Jeanist were going over his report of today's incident. He hadn't mentioned to them that he had let Akari walk back to the agency alone. He knew it was going against protocol for the Imai sisters, which he didn't particularly care for. His biggest issue is if this came back to bite them in the ass and cause problems for Akari.
"You know I am a grown adult and a pro-hero, right?" So, it was her ability to take care of herself that was bothering him.
He chuckled at her dry retort, earning himself an eye roll even if he couldn't see her. Akari stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to turn red so she could cross the street. She was like 6 blocks away from the agency at this point, not like it mattered. Even if she managed to hang up before she got there, Hawks would no doubt have her call him when she made it into the apartment, safe and sound.
"I am fully aware of both those things; however, you were hurt today. If it wasn't for your sister, you'd still be in the hospital under Recovery Girl's watchful eye."
"Thankfully, Yaeko is an amazing doctor with an even more amazing quirk. I am now fully healed and capable of walking back to the agency on my own without my boss having to check in on me every 10 minutes."
Not like it had stopped him from giving her the rest of the day to rest and recover. Part of her was grateful for it, while the other part of her was annoyed.
Physically she was fine since Yaeko had fully healed her after having felt how painfully sore, she was. Not much of her discomfort had been relieved from just getting a superficial healing from recovery girl. Despite that, she wasn't 100% okay.
Emotionally and mentally, she was shot. Her brain running a thousand miles an hour no matter how much she tried to shut off. It just kept replaying the events from earlier.
Today, she had come the closest she's ever been to dying. And if it hadn't been for Hawks, she would have been.
"That doesn't change the fact that you were hit by a motorcycle. Imai-san, you're lucky it didn't hit you full on." Hawks murmured quietly, bringing back a vivid memory of the incident.
By the time they had gotten to Tokoyami, the young hero was already facing off the two villains with Grand Torino. The older pro had been the first to arrive on scene after answering the call for backup. It was a good thing that he had made it before them because it was just as they had feared.
Both villains had also had quirk enhancers on them, which they used when they had originally been confronted by Tokoyami. The elastic man had panicked when Tokoyami informed them that backup was on its way and that it was only a matter of time before they showed up.
The villains quirk had increased greatly due to the quirk enhancer, suddenly gaining the to extend his limbs to triple his original distance. No doubt this would have made it easy for him to cover long distances in a short amount of time and escape capture.
Fortunately, Gran Torino had arrived just as he started swinging away. In a swift combo move, the older pro was able to land two strong kicks that knocked the villain unconscious.
That had left Kai, the ringleader, with Tokoyami who fearlessly faced him. No one had known what his quirk was until he had used the quirk enhancer. Hawks and Akari were almost at the scene when he had injected himself and watched as the situation escalated.
Kai had raised his arms and suddenly cars, lamp posts and other objects lifted into the air. Thanks to her quirk, Akari was able to sense the small particles in the air vibrate, giving her a clue as to how his quirk worked.
Like her family's quirk, molecular manipulation, Kai was able to use particles in the air to move things. Akari assumed that under normal conditions, the villain was limited in how many objects he could carry.
With the quirk enhancers, Kai was throwing the objects wildly at Tokoyami with ease. The crazed look in his eyes as well as the way his veins were popping from his arms, were the only indication he was under the influence.
Once Akari was on scene, she wasted no time in manifesting her surujin to try and capture him, but Kai had been so doped up on the enhancer that he had been in a craze. The waves he radiated around him knocked her surujin away from his body and he continued his attack.
When Dark Shadow emerged, he began to knock things out of the air to protect Tokoyami, startling the villain. In an instant, she watched as Kai seemed to calculate something before cupping his hands together dropping everything that had been in the air previously.
Unexpectedly, Kai lifted and then threw a delivery truck over Dark Shadow's head. It was aimed directly at Tokoyami, who was unprotected. Eyes wide, Akari reacted out of pure instinct, throwing her surujin to wrap around Tokoyami's torso and yanked him out of the way.
She sagged in relief when he was out of harm's way, the truck landing and rolling in the same spot he had been previously standing.
It was in that split second that her attention was off Kai, that he had picked up the motorcycle. She knew it was too late when she noticed it flying across the air at her, but still conjured her shield in a vain attempt to minimize the blow.
At the last second, the motorcycle change trajectory, no longer aimed directly at her. Akari saw the flash of red for a second before she was clipped on her right side, her shield disappearing as soon as she lost her concentration.
After that, things were a bit of a blur. Gran Torino had come straight to her, while Hawks and Tokoyami handled Kai. Though a bit delirious, she recalled cracking jokes at the older pro, hoping he would take that as I sign that she was okay and didn't need to go to the hospital.
Unfortunately, her semi-glazed eyes and darkening bruises had worried the older man enough to request an ambulance. Hawks had also been a bit frantic when he caught sight of the blood trickling down the side of her face. He had apologized multiple times for not being able to fully deflect the bike, even though she insisted he didn't have a reason to.
Akari would forever be grateful he had been there because he had saved her life. God only knew what would have happened if the bike had hit her full on.
She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck, thinking of how to thank her new boss. He had not only taken her into his agency out of the kindness of his heart, but he had also saved her on day one on the job.
"Yes, I know. But it didn't and I'm fine. I'm almost at the agency, so I'll just text you when I'm settled in the apartment." Her voice was soft.
She was supposed to be a pro-hero capable of protecting others, but she went and almost got herself killed. Something her boss didn't seem to have a problem reminding her off. She was fully aware that it was her fault for being so careless.
"Imai-san," Hawks felt bad now. She sounded so defeated and he didn't know how to fix it. "You did great today… I'm in your debt for saving-."
"No, please stop! Just let me go, I won't tell anyone!" Akari's head snapped at the sudden cry from help. She didn't hear the rest of what Hawks said because she was too busying looking around trying to find the source of the cry for help.
As she did, she noted she was in a low traffic area. Not a lot of people around, which she was partially grateful for. It would make locating them easier. But it was also a bad thing because it meant that it was easy for this person to fall victim to an attack.
Akari sucked her teeth in irritation when she didn't see anything out of the ordinary and tried to listen for another sound. Unfortunately, the silence was deafening aside from Hawks voice fainting calling her in the background.
Just as she was starting to get frustrated, another sharp scream pierced the air. Without hesitation, she shot off in the direction she was certain it came from. Please don't let me be too late, she thought increasing her speed. She barely even remembered to tuck her phone into her utility belt so her hands would be free to fight.
Rounding a corner sharply, she skidded across the floor barely stopping herself before she fell over. Straightening, she found herself at the entrance to an alley with a dead end. At the very end of it, pressed up against the brick wall was a young girl.
She looked to be around Noriko's age, with brown hair and terrified eyes. She was pressing up against the side of the building, trying to get as far as possible from a blonde girl. Akari's eyes trailed over the petite blonde standing over the terrified brunette. Though she had her back to Akari, she recognized the support items attached to her body, as well as the uniform she wore.
After the war, a bulletin had been sent to agencies across the world about what had happened and to look out for certain individuals. Himiko Toga, Dabi, Shigaraki, and All for One had been on the top of that list.
The alert had been meant for active heroes, but since Akari had been hired as the office secretary and handled all the correspondence, she had been the one to first receive the memo. Naturally, she read the files without remorse before passing them on to her boss.
One of those files being the one belonging to girl currently standing in front of her. Recalling bits and pieces of what was known about the girl, Akari decided to approach this situation in the only way she could think of.
"Himiko Toga!" she called out, watching as the blonde's entire body froze for a moment.
Slowly the blonde turned her head, gold eyes narrowed as they locked on her golden-blue ones. Akari watched as those eyes scanned her from head to toe, before settling on her face again.
"You're very beautiful." Himiko Toga commented, her voice sweet even as her eyes flashed dangerously. Akari braced herself when she turned around to face her fully. "Shame you tainted your skin with those tattoos."
Akari was used to comments on her tattoos, especially after arriving here. Tattoos were still looked down on in Japanese society, which was why she had covered up earlier today before going down to breakfast. She wasn't insecure about them, but she preferred to avoid the nasty commentary from ignorant people.
"You're also a very beautiful girl, Toga-chan." Akari smiled brightly, ignoring her comment.
She hoped her friendly tone and the familiarity in which she addressed her, would lower her guard. Himiko Toga was known to be an overly cheerful yet mentally unstable girl. She had a twisted view on love and friendship, having declared her love for one of the students from class 3A.
Unfortunately, her plan didn't seem to be working. Toga's eyes narrowed and her lips turning down into a frown. "Don't patronize me, we both know you're lying."
"You're wrong. You're very beautiful Toga-Chan, and I'd love to get to know you better!"
She tilted her head to the side in confusion. "Aren't you a hero?"
"I am, and that's why I came to make sure everything was okay." Akari cooed, not looking down at the girl edging away from the ticking time bomb standing in between them. "Are you okay Toga-Chan?"
"Don't act like you care! None of you heroes' care about people like me!" She screamed hysterically, making the girl behind her whimper in fear.
Akari cursed internally when Toga's manic eyes turned back to her. The hand not holding the specialized needle, twitched against her thigh, no doubt where she had a knife hidden. The blonde was known to be loaded with weapons, knives being her personal favorite.
"Why don't you step aside and let the girl go. Let it just be you and I talking." She felt her phone vibrate in her utility belt and cursed again.
She had left Hawks talking to himself and no doubt he had gotten worried. Hopefully that meant he was coming to find her. Even if she was confident that she could take Toga, she wasn't dumb enough to assume she was alone. Another villain from the Liberation Army could be lurking around somewhere.
Toga's eyes flashed back to hers, calculating whether she was trying to trick her. Akari kept her expression friendly. She didn't want to set the disturbed girl off, knowing that she was quick to kill without remorse.
Right now, the worst-case scenario would be if Dabi was Toga's backup. There wasn't much Akari could do against him except use part of the tattoo she had on her left thigh. Even if she did, it probably wouldn't be strong enough for his flames.
"You remind me a lot of that fake hero, Hawks. He smiled at us like that and made us think we were all friends. Then he went and killed Jin." Toga muttered darkly, pulling out a knife from a holster in her thigh.
"Of course, he did. What else could you have expected from the Hero Commission's favorite puppet?" Akari snorted, rolling her eyes.
Toga paused, eyeing her skeptically. "What are you talking about?"
"Hawks is one of the Hero Commission's top agents. They say jump and he'll ask, 'How high?'. Why else would they send their best trained lap dog to take on an undercover mission to infiltrate into the Paranormal Liberation Front? Hawks is heartless and wouldn't hesitate to kill if it meant completing his mission." Akari felt sick talking about him like this, but it was the best way to relate with the blonde villain.
It was also the only plan she had to buy the brunette behind her time to escape. The girl had been crawling away the entire time, her wide eyes focused on Toga as if she expected her to whirl around and kill her.
Akari couldn't blame her for being scared. Dying was still a possibility, but she was so close to the partially opened metal door further down the side of the wall. From the uniform she was wearing, she assumed the girl was one of the workers of the store inside.
"How do you know so much?" Toga's grip on the knife loosened slightly.
"Let's just say the Hero Commission and I go way back, and not in a good way." Akari said vaguely. "Why don't you just put the knife away? I'm not looking to hurt you Toga-Chan, I know you're just trying to survive as best as possible and protect those you care about."
The blonde's head tilted to the side, a sick smile curling on her lips showing off her sharp canines. "What's your name onee-chan?"
Okay, this is progress… I think, Akari thought to herself.
"I go by Inkfinity." Akari said softly, her eyes flickering briefly to the girl who managed to reach the door. "But you can call me Akari."
"Akari Onee-Chan~" She sang, taking a step forward. "It sounds so cute! Want to be my new friend?!" She took two more steps forward, and Akari had to force herself to stay in place.
"Of course, we can be, Toga-Chan!" She smiled brightly again, waiting for the moment the door closed behind the girl.
Toga squealed loudly in excitement, drowning out the sound of the door closing behind her. Akari felt relief wash over her briefly before she tensed again when Toga raised her hand. She was holding some type of specialized needle that was connected to her support items.
"Can I have some of your blood Akari Onee-Chan?!" Her eyes flashed brightly, excitement making them shine.
"I don't think that's a good idea, Toga-Chan." Akari murmured apologetically.
"But why not?! I thought we were friends!" She whined, her eyes filling with tears even as they darkened with anger.
"As I mentioned before, my relationship with the Commission isn't the best. I can't afford you using my blood." Akari started stepping back, her hand moving to her right thigh.
"It's okay, I only need a little! I love the taste of blood from the people I love most!" She lounged forward at the same time Akari conjured the katana from her thigh.
The blunt training katana was one of Akari's favorite weapons of choice. She had designed it specifically as a non-lethal weapon on purpose for situations like this. If she needed to fight against an opponent, she could do so without harming them, like now. If she hurt Toga bad enough, she could trigger her bloodlust.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that. I need to protect my loved ones as well." Akari said, her voice ringing with sincerity as her katana met with the sharp blade of Toga's knife, effectively blocking it.
Her words seemed to incite Toga even more, her speed increasing with every hit. Toga was relentless, propelling herself off the walls of the narrow alley to attack from all angles.
The back and forth continued with Toga aggressively charging at her while Akari continued to block and dodge. She was like a dancer, twirling gracefully to block Toga's knifes from reaching her. She was fast, which left little room for an opening for Akari to land a hit.
She was so focused on not leaving an opening for the crazed girl to cut her and get her blood. It was why she didn't notice when Toga pulled her support weapon back out.
She yelped when she felt something pierce her side. Glancing down she saw the device protruding from her side, blood filling it quickly. Shoving Toga with all her strength, she winced as the device was ripped out of her after the girl flew away from her.
Pressing her hand to the wound, she narrowed her eyes at the half-filled glass vial Toga was now holding. It was unknown the amount of blood Toga required to be able to transform into the person, but Akari knew that the amount she had was dangerous. Toga couldn't leave with it because the risk to her sisters and herself was too high.
"My blood will hurt you, Toga!" She shouted after the retreating blonde, trying hard to keep her composure.
"Blood could never hurt me!" She laughed manically, waving the blood around.
Even though everything screamed at her to go after her, Akari didn't. If she did, she might force her to run and then she might not be able to get the blood back. Instead, she decided it was time to try using one of her ultimate moves.
Akari glared at her as she concentrated on the vial of her blood, manipulating its composition. "Acid Blood!" She exclaimed, her eyes glowing red.
She almost shouted in excitement when she watched her blood bubble and fizzle. It had been a long time since she tried that move, so part of her had doubted it would work. But it was working exactly as she wanted it to, the blood sizzling even more as it ate away at the glass of the vial. Once the blood started leaking out onto the ground, Akari deactivated her quirk.
Startled Toga, faltered, looking horrified at the lost blood. "No, you ruined it! I need more!" She cried out, twirling her knife in her hand before moving to charge full speed at Akari once again.
A dull ache had started forming between her eyes, her whole body feeling warm suddenly. She cursed under her breath as she tried to move out of the way, her body feeling like led. She had overused her quirk, what with the fight earlier and now using her strongest attack.
But before she could take more than a couple steps in Akari's direction, blue flames went up between them. Both flinched from the intense heat, Akari barely able to bring her arm up to protect herself from the intense heat.
"Time to go you nutjob." A deep voice called from above.
Toga looked up to see the white-haired man standing on the rooftop of one of the buildings. She pouted, letting out a whine as she pointed to the wall of flames blocking her from her target.
"But Dabi~!"
"I said now." He glared down at her, making her grumble but listened, nonetheless.
"You ruin all the fun!" She whined leaping from wall to wall until she reached him. He ignored her as she followed him when he started walking away.
He listened to Toga whine and complained about being interrupted for a few more seconds before his arm lit up in warning. Dabi had no problem torching her if she continued to test his patience. At once she stopped, crossing her arms with a pout.
"As annoying as you are, I can understand why you're upset. She interesting." He murmured, thinking back to the beautiful blue haired woman.
The way she spoke had given him the impression that she didn't like the Hero Commission or that backstabbing birdbrain, Hawks. And from what he had seen, her quirk was unique and could be useful.
Even if she didn't want to join them willingly, they could take her quirk. Maybe even make a Nomu out of it. No doubt, the boss would want to get his hands on her.
"Isn't she?!" The wacko screeched, clasping her hands together as a blushed colored her cheeks.
"Will you stop being so loud." He groaned, sending her a side glare, burying his hands in his pockets.
"Okay~!"
*Meanwhile, back in the alley*
Akari cursed as she tried to extinguish the blue flames that had suddenly filled the space between her and the blonde villain. Just as she feared, the water and dirt she was able to produce from the four-element tattoo in her thigh wasn't enough to put them out. She had to pull out her brushes and specialized paint to draw large waves of water and large piles of sand to put it out.
Thankfully, Dabi had only created the flames to give Toga a chance to escape. Had he stayed to fight, Akari knew she would have been done for. Right now, her biggest problem was that she had couldn't stop painting because the heat of the flames was so intense her creations were useless.
The water evaporated the second it reached the fire, and the sand barely did anything either. So, she had to keep her quirk activated despite her headache getting worse. Her body was also getting heavier, worrying her because she might collapse before the fire was put out.
A sudden gust of wind blew around her, and she lifted her head to see Hawks hovering above her. She sagged in relief when she saw him, even if he did look pissed.
"You do realize we were on the phone, right? Why the hell didn't you tell me what was going on before running off?" Hawks demanded, using his wings to create a vortex around the flames to reduce the oxygen levels.
Almost immediately, the rest of the fire went out, allowing Akari to deactivate her quirk. She tried to open her mouth to respond, but her vision blurred, disorienting her. She felt herself start to sway before a pair of hands grabbed onto her arms.
"Miss Imai, are you okay? Do you need to return to the hospital?" Her eyes followed the denim covered arms until she reached their face, or what she could see of their face.
Best Jeanist's face was half obscured by the high neck of his denim top, but she could still see the concern in his eyes. She shook her head, shrugging off his hold on her.
"I'm fine, I just overused my quirk. Nothing a nap and some food won't fix."
"Do you think you can handle giving us a full report on what happened here before you go rest?" Endeavor's deep voice spoke from behind Best Jeanist, pulling Akari's attention to the stoic man.
"If I can eat while I give the report." Akari almost begged, running a hand over her face roughly.
"That's fine, can you fly back to Endeavor's agency?" Hawks cut in, walking over to her.
"No, even if I could conjure my wings, I wouldn't be able to fly with a headache and sore body."
Hawks made a noise in the back of throat but didn't say anything otherwise. Simply picked her up bridal style and stalked off towards the street.
"What the hell?!" Akari exclaimed, feeling her face heat up.
"You're pale and you look dead on your feet. Best Jeanist's car is parked right up front." He sounded pissed, so Akari didn't protest further.
She held herself rigid in his arms, and turned her face away from his when he deposited her in the backseat of the nice black sports car. She was mad but didn't want to argue in front of the other pro-heroes.
She'd deal with this later. For now, she allowed herself to drift off into a restless sleep.