Before I have time to make any type of decent plan on getting us out—if it were just me, it'd be fine, the door opens. Kagura flinches, and the other two shrink back. I scowl, shoulders stiffening.
Two men enter. Both boulder-like and huge, both sporting overly large muscles. I notice immediately the slight limp in the one to the left though and the weak eyes on the one to the right. He squints and there's a strange cloudy film over his eyes.
"Let's go!"
"The boss wants to talk to you."
They grab my arms. I glare, snatching them away.
"Don't touch me!" I snarl. "I can walk on my own."
The boss. Perfect.
Kagura, behind me, sobs and reaches out.
The thick one on the left kicks her. She lets out a grunt, falling over and holding her stomach, and I jerk towards her, nearly ripping through them with my shadows. However, the one on the right grunts and drags me out.
Stop. Be rational. Find the boss first.
I study the one on my left viciously.
Dark eyes, a thin mustache, and balding spot on his head. When I'm free, he's the first one I'm taking out.
"I can walk!"
"And have you try and run? Tch."
I don't have much time to think about it though. Seconds later and I'm being pulled up a flight of stairs. There's a thin hall, a wall and several doors. A piece of paper tacked onto a door gleams under the overhead lights. I recognize a schedule—lists, categories, ports-
I'm jerked around a corner and through a door.
It's a garage.
Several mail trucks glint blue and white. Multiple mopeds and bikes are scattered across the cement floor. It reminds me of the warehouse Yamada-sensei took me to train, except instead of their clean, organized area, there're bags of mail in piles and empty containers scattered randomly. And as I'm brought through the cavernous space, lights swinging along the rafters and corrugated metal walls creaking at some outside wind, I can't help but stare.
This… This didn't look anything like a villain's lair.
It… Was this place legit?
Why…
My mind swirls back to the timeline, to Kyoka's sharp expression, to Momo's neat writing.
Most of the stores he vandalized were mailing services. Every vandalism was always burned, usually beyond recognition.
I don't have time to consider it.
"Got her boss!" the one on my right shouts.
I'm moved into an office and pushed into a chair. It's hard and made of metal, with thin, metal arms I'm strapped to. They don't use cuffs and nothing quirk-binding, instead, they strap me in with zip ties. They're small and sturdy and they don't bother with my feet.
That's a mistake.
I glower.
The two large men step behind me out of sight. I crane my neck to see them, but I stop at the sound of a chuckle.
"Bit of a spitfire, eh?"
The man that steps into the room is handsome, incredibly handsome with a dark business suit, crisp white collar, and dark tie. He's also short, hardly as tall as even Mina despite the way he sweeps back his hair to give himself several more inches. He moves a chair, dragging it on the concrete and leaning heavily against it on one knee.
He tilts the chair and smiles, exposing gleaming white teeth.
"So, you're the one causing all this ruckus, eh? It seems someone is rather desperate to have you back. The heroes have put out quite the call looking for you. Why don't you give me a name, and maybe we can discuss a ransom."
They don't know your name.
I manage my best version of Sensei's bored face.
It must work because the handsome man twitches, nose lifting in disgust.
"Do you not want to be found-"
"I want to know what's going on here," I cut the man off sharply, jaw clenching. For a moment, I marvel silently at the lack of waver or stutter in it. I… I sound like a hero. I clutch the sharp fires burning under my skin all the closer, trying not to consider the bitter taste in my mouth. "You kidnapped, assaulted, and tortured my sister. I want to know why."
The handsome man blinks, brows climbing, and as I stare at him determinedly he…
He laughs.
Not a small chuckle, but a full belly laugh.
He pushes back from the chair and grins.
Then, stepping close, slaps my face.
The force turns my head, leaving a stinging red feeling on my cheek.
I blink at the ground, my brain struggling to process.
Was…
Was that supposed to hurt?
Toru hit harder than that. Shinsou and I regularly sparred with more enthusiasm.
"I think you've got the wrong idea here little girl," the man says, seeming content to saunter lazily back to his chair. I don't look up, not until I'm certain I won't give myself away. "You're in no position to be demanding anything. If I want, these men will go collect your sister, and she'll be on the first truck out to the labs along with the rest of you sewer rats."
Sewer rats.
I look up, staring at him from behind dark bangs, and glare.
The man flinches, knuckles going white.
He pulls himself together a second later, but he… he seems shaken. He turns to the men behind me.
"Was there any identification on this one?"
"No sir," says the one on my right.
The man scowls.
"Well, it won't be the labs for you," he says, and I narrow my eyes at that. He'd already said it once, but what were these labs? "We'll send you to an auction house. Too much fire in this one."
An auction…
My world freezes as I realize suddenly what this is.
Human trafficking.
Sensei… Sensei had said it before but… I hadn't thought… Hadn't believed I'd ever…
It seemed like a nightmare, but it hadn't felt real.
Was this what happened to Kaito?
"Heh, finally realized the trouble you're in, did yah? Well good. Maybe we can get somewhere. Now, I want some answers. What were you doing digging around in those files?"
I frown at my exposed knees.
"I… I wanted to know more about-" about Kaito.
But that felt too personal.
"Ah, Asp," the man says, leaning back. I look up sharply, surprised he isn't smirking. Instead, he looks annoyed. "Those damn snakes approached you and you decided to do some research, huh? Unsurprising. Too bad you were a little too thorough."
I narrow my eyes.
Snakes? Like… plural?
A hand reaches into my hair, pulling it backward.
The man makes such an ugly face I can't help but stare.
"Who was it? Who approached you? Which one? When?"
It takes too long to realize he's…
He's scared.
"Hoki Kaito," I lie.
He releases me as if burned.
As if that very name strikes fear-
"Hoki," snarls the man furiously. "You're lying."
"He had a scar on his face," I tell him, wanting to know more. Desperate for more.
The man stares at me, something between horror and terror twisting on his face. Then, with a satisfyingly shaky breath, runs a hand through his hair. He turns to the two behind me.
"Gather all the products, we're clearing out."
The men behind me grunt, stepping around. I watch their forms head to the door.
"You… You're not worth even the auctions," he says staring coldly. "If Hoki sent you… well, I doubt you'll be as lucky. He can find your burnt remains."
I stare.
I doubt you'll be as lucky…
Did he…
Was he implying…
"Y-You," I choke out, something old and furious stirring in my gut. "You did that to him?"
My fingers grip the chair like a lifeline. It burns beneath my too hot skin. Shadows stretch inside me, shifting into a gale so powerful it's nearly uncontainable. I've… I've never felt this mad—this hurt—this-this-
The man pauses at the doorway.
"Me? Did he not tell you?" he laughs and it's vicious and cruel. Stopped in the doorway, he turns back and sneers. "He burned himself, took a flame straight to the face to stop the illusion. Rumor is he saw his sister, that she's the one he saw peeling back his flesh and laughing."
The fire turns to ice in my chest.
My skin becoming ashen, the taste of bile rising.
"What?" I whisper, my voice cracking with horror.
The man in the doorway smiles.
It's… It's evil.
"Do you care for him?" the man laughs, seeming to relax a little more. "How rich! They say his sister even joined the heroes. Perhaps she'll even work under the one that took him."
The way he says took… I don't understand it, but the way he says it..
And the implied one…
I've had enough.
Shadows flare from my body in a dark halo of madness. Flames, scorching and wild, melt through the zip-tie with ease. I rise. I rise with deep shadows dripping from my skin, coating everything but my neck in darkness, burning away the hairbow and unraveling my hair. I rise and smile at the wan color that washes over the cruel bastard stumbling stupidly from the room.
He tries to run. I catch him.
It only takes a thought. A reach of my hand and thousands of snakes swarm.
He shrieks as I drag him back fingers scratching and clawing at the cement floor.
There's blood on his fingers, the cracking nailbed visible even as he scratches at my tentacles.
He reminds me of the cashiers.
And for once, I'm glad of the terror it causes.
Work under the one that took him…
Black fury burns across my skin. I drag him close, close enough his skin sweats and pinks and burns from the halo of my flames. Close enough I can see the bright gleam of panic in his eyes. It's my turn to grin. The smile nothing but ice and promises of pain.
"Who took him?"
The man screams. I rattle him and squeeze.
"Please!"
"A name," I snarl. "Now!"
"I… I don't know!"
I don't believe him. I also have nothing to hold him in, and I don't trust him enough to let him go.
"You're coming with me."
He screams again, but I ignore him, dragging him behind me as I return to the main part of the building. The hall with the paper listing the ports. I slam open the first door I come across, glancing inside for occupants. It's empty, only an office front with a secretarial desk and computer, scattered papers, and a phone-
Phone! Call!
I step inside, reaching for the phone.
The line doesn't even ring.
The bastard doesn't stop his shouts. It's causing problems. I can hear the sound of people back in the hall, probably around the corner—coming quickly, likely with guns.
I abandon the storefront and step back into the hall. Wooden floors and handsome wallpaper melt beneath the fury of my quirk. I stretch it forward, sending tentacles blindly around the corner and down the stairs.
The effect is immediate. Gunshots ricochet, a stray bullet hits the peeling wallpaper on my right, and while I can't see or feel them, I can hear them. Their shrieks echoing up like nightmarish spirits from hell. After a second, I drag the bastard behind me and descend the stairs.
The two men from before are prone, what looks like shadowy skeletons holding them down. Two more are against the wall, far less burly and clearly terrified. I focus, teeth clenching. I want nothing more than to rip all of them apart.
I can't.
I sweep them into a single tentacle, squishing them all together and heading towards the closest door.
I break it in a resounding boom.
The scream within is higher pitched.
A child.
I duck in. An old man, a teenager, and what appears to be a young boy tucked behind the old man's arms. Dirty and wearing the same rags I'd been dressed in. There's a haggard hunger in their face—a raw fear that makes me burn. I look at the pile of bastards and snarl.
"You despicable filth!"
I can't even stand to look at them. I tear through the rest of the building with the same vicious anger.
I find more. More elderly, more teens, more children. They're not even all Japanese. Some have the pale features of westerners, one is dark-skinned like Tulutho. But they're all dirty, all bruised, all terrified as they shake against their wall.
Is that how Kaito was?
The disgust makes my tentacles bubble. Makes them yellow and drip. They spread like rot and venom, covering the group of men in mold-covered claws.
I find Kagura where I left her.
Bruised and petrified, eyes red and puffy from tears.
I need a plan.
I just don't know what to do. I can't think outside of the horrible, yawning ache. They did this. They hurt them. They hurt Nee-chan, did something awful to Kaito, stole all of these people…
Be logical, Sensei's voice says. The first thing you do in a situation you can't handle is to get help.
Get help.
Call. I need to call, need to find a phone.
"Nee-chan," I manage, straightening. The other girl shakes, arms circling around herself and not looking any better. I'm… I'm strangely enough reminded of the exams.
"Stop mumbling," the grumpy man says making a face. "Be confident in what you're saying. You look like you're the one that wants to be saved here."
I straighten.
"Kagura," I say instead, voice borrowing the same stern bark Sensei uses. The girl straightens. I don't know if it's the tone or her name, but she looks… she looks more here. Less lost. "We need a phone. Find one. I've cleared all the rooms."
"Y-Yes!"
The boy who had been with us looks at me wide-eyed.
"Y-You're not quirkless."
"No," I tell him flatly, lips thin. "I'm not."
He seems to digest this silently.
Then, turning to the men, strides forward. One of the thick one's snarls when his hand snakes in their pocket. He fishes out a cell phone and retreats.
"You're an idiot," he tells me sharply, expression sour.
I give him a narrow-eyed look back.
"We should-"
I cut off as shouts echo around me, turning, I prepare for a fight only to see…
To see Aunt Nemuri?
Dressed in her hero uniform, Midnight prowls down the steps at the end of the basement hall taking them nearly three at a time, expression thunderous with dark hair spilling behind her. She jumps the last few, heeled boots clicking as she goes. Behind her men in uniforms, police, follow in her wake. One stops at the top of the steps to turn his head and drag a radio to his lips. Even from the distance, I can tell it's a call for backup.
And…
And at the sight of her, something tightly knotted unwinds.
She… She's here.
"Au-Midnight!" I call.
Her expression shifts instantly to relief.
"Oh! Oh, Rin-"
She stops, eyes wide, and stares.
I don't blame her.
I probably look insane.
Hair spilling out behind me much like her own with a thick suit of darkness crawling across my skin. The fire, once a thick aura, now simmers close to the surface, and as I look down, I can see that even the darkness has changed. Black gives way to tiny pinpricks of light. Red seeping in among the dark swirl of blue.
I swallow, feeling my eyes well with tears.
It's over.
You saved her.
"Midnight…"
She doesn't hesitate any further. Reaching out, she passes a hand across my hair almost lovingly. Nails scratching soothingly along my scalp, I close my eyes in relief.
"You did good Rin-chan," she whispers. And then, as if unafraid of the darkness, she steps closer still and pulls me into her chest.
I don't quite sob.
It's more of a choked feeling, face buried in the soft flesh of her chest, the sweet vanilla scent as warm as her hug.
"You can let go dear. We'll take it from here."
I do.
The shadows release the men, and the police are on them before they can find the breath to fight.
It also leaves me naked and exposed, my long hair swaying against my skin.
Aunt Nemuri blinks.
"Oh. What happened to your clothes?"
I glare. It isn't very impressive, not when I'm shivering and naked.
How can Toru stand this?
My godmother gives a little grin.
"And I suppose you want some more?"
I consider summoning back my shadows.
She doesn't give me the time. Pushing me backward and into one of the open rooms I'd broken, she gestures for me to stay and steps out. I wait, arms across my chest as the sound of crying resounds around the other room. Someone's openly sobbing, someone else sounds as if in prayer.
My aunt returns quickly.
"Here love, I'm afraid it's the best I can do at the moment," she says as she unfolds a large police shirt. It must belong to someone with a mutant quirk. There are four sleeves, and after I take the top two, Aunt Nemuri ties the bottom two around my waist. "Not bad."
I wish I had shoes.
Instead, she wraps a pair of thick socks over my feet and draws me back to her.
"How… How did you find me?"
"I followed you," the woman says, fingers pressing, dragging through my hair. I breathe more deeply, relaxing slightly. "I knew something was wrong the moment you mentioned your dad and the bush and didn't even reach for the sticky notes. So I kept a couple meters back, out of sight, and called the police. They heard whoever it was on the phone break the girl's fingers. The problem is that whoever drove the car was well placed. The bastard had a quirk that could change the car's shape and color. The police lost you in the chase and we had to pull footage and trace it all night to find you."
I pull back.
"You… you knew?"
She nods, blue eyes kind.
"I did, you did the best you could in the situation given. You stayed safe, you protected those people, and you stopped a horrible crime. Rin-chan, this place…"
"It's human trafficking," I tell her quietly.
Midnight nods, biting her lip.
"That's right."
"Kaito…" I look down, that same feeling of revulsion rising up again. "Aunt Nemuri… They—these—these people took Kaito. They… They said they took him. And I… I don't know what it means, but… but it doesn't sound particularly good, and- and they said they hoped I worked under the one—that they knew I was in school to be a hero and-"
Midnight looks slightly green as she shushes me.
"Baby girl," she says, fingers rubbing at my shoulder. "We're going to need to save that for later. Rin-chan, first I need to go help these people. I need you to be strong for just a little longer."
I stare at her with wide eyes.
"Help?"
"They're terrified," she says softly, smoothing the seams on my shoulders. "I need to help keep them calm, can't you hear them crying? We need the detective to take statements, find ways to contact their families and reassure them that everything is okay. That's part of our job as a hero. You've already done so much love, you can rest if you'd like, maybe go sit with that Kagura girl? But I'm in uniform right now, so I need to get back and help."
I…
I swallow and straighten.
"Yes… Yes, Ma'am."
She gives me a little smile and steps to the door.
"If you're not quite ready to join them, then take your time. When you're ready, Rin-chan."
And then she disappears.
I stare at the broken remains of the door. At the thick wooden shards scattered across the floor.
Help them stay calm…
I… I kind of liked the idea of that.
Picking my way across the floor, I watch the chaos quietly.
The ones responsible had been cuffed and being led up the stairs. Many of the officers had been replaced by paramedics, who knelt between children and elderly alike with bandages and gloved hands.
Kagura is with an old man, sitting silently with her knees drawn and staring vacantly off.
I start to pick my way toward them.
Except the boy from earlier is there, one hand reaching out and tugging at my sleeve.
I stop and turn towards him.
He retracts the hand immediately, cheeks pink as he looks anywhere but at me.
"You—Are you gonna get in trouble for this?" he nods towards the police, and I frown, trying to understand.
Oh.
I blink down at him.
"No. I have my provisional hero license," I admit. "Technically I'm allowed to use my quirk in the case of an emergency, even without permission."
The boy's eyes widen.
"Y-You're a hero?" he says.
It's not the same look I gave heroes at his age.
And maybe… maybe that's why it doesn't ache.
"In training," I tell him, frowning as several of the victims look my way. Their eyes seem to shine a little brighter. A woman, maybe only a meter or so away, stops her conversation with a teen to limp towards us.
"I'd like to know your hero name," she says, leaning heavily against the wall as she does. "When the press comes, I want to tell them the name of the hero that saved us."
And that… that's a problem.
"I… I don't have one," I admit, rubbing my arm uncomfortably. "I…"
I pause, not really sure what to say.
The woman blinks, clearly looking surprised as well.
And… And I realize once again it comes back to words. I scowl.
Present Mic is amazing because he's able to open up with the people he talks to. The callers love him because he remembers them and makes them feel special.
When you share things, you open yourself to others.
What would Yamada-sensei do?
"My family was all quirkless," I tell the woman suddenly, swallowing. At the admission, several others turn my way, even some of the paramedics and police. Aunt Nemuri looks my way as well, her blue eyes razor-sharp. But I focus on the woman, on the surprise and understanding in her expression. "When… While I was growing up, we didn't have much. When I was nine… When I was nine, I watched a hero break my father's jaw."
Kagura jerks to stare.
The woman's eyes widen.
"Ah…" she says.
I shake my head.
"I… I don't-didn't like heroes," I tell her seriously. "I didn't want a name."
"You don't need a card or a name to be a hero," the woman says wisely, and around her, several others nod, their voices becoming a low murmur. "But it sounds like you've changed your mind."
Hesitantly, I nod.
"My… My guardian took me in. Him and… him and my uncle and my aunt are… they're the kind of heroes I wanna be," I tell her softly. "I'm gonna be just like them. I'm gonna protect people!"
"And so you did," the woman says. She reaches out, her arm mottled with fading bruises, and claps my shoulder. "Well, when you decide, just know, you'll always have a fan in me!"
My cheeks heat, my skin pinkens.
The old man sitting across the hall chuckles and that boy from earlier snickers.
I rub my neck and scuttle away.
How embarrassing.