sorry if this one's short, my computer shut down towards the end and I had to rewrite the end.
In their cell, Ritsu, Takeshi, Asahi and Kurosaki sat around a bed, silent.
"Let's escape."
"Kageyama!" Takeshi hissed, putting his hand on Ritsu's shoulder, "You saw what happened! If we defy them, we die!"
Asahi agreed. "Think about it, if they catch us…"
"No!" Kurosaki cried, "Don't say any more!"
"...If I'm going to be shackled by fear and brainwashed, I'd rather try to escape, even if it means I could die," Ritsu explained.
"Jesus," Reigen muttered.
"But Shiratori's still grieving," Takeshi said, trying to reason with them. Daichi sat up front, looking through the iron bars quietly. "It'll take him a while to get over this."
Ritsu stood up and held out a hand towards Daichi. "Shiratori-kun, help us escape."
"Hey, Kageyama!"
Daichi turned to them and said, "Yeah, I want to escape, too."
"Huh?" Takeshi blurted out. Ritsu dropped his hand.
"Apparently, my younger brother is fine."
"..."
"He's. Fucking what."
Still, the voices were audibly relieved.
Both Mob and Reigen side-eyed Ritsu, who was rubbing his face red, trying to get rid of the tear tracks on his cheeks. They both individually resigned to let it slide.
Reigen knew the kid didn't like him, but- fuck, he didn't like seeing the kid cry. He didn't like seeing any of the (he pointedly ignored the his that he had to mentally force away) kids cry. Watching Mob get the shit beaten out of him easily ranked up as one of the worst experiences of his twenty-eight years.
The screen became pink, sprinkled with pastel colored circles and squares, waves flowing from two spots on each side. Outlines of the Shiratori brothers' faces swapped places with one another.
"We brothers are telepaths. We can communicate even if the other is far away. I was just talking to him now."
"Oh, shit, they're actually telepathic. I completely forgot, not gonna lie."
A painting of the five of them sprawled out on the floor, beneath them dark pools of red.
"Apparently he was shown our corpses."
It melted into a blue of Muto's eyes.
A sober silence. Reigen's face didn't change, but his eyes, as Ritsu chanced a look in his direction, seemed- harder. Just a little. On the usually easygoing man, it was slightly off-putting.
"I'm not completely sure, but I think that guy has hypnotic powers that show us illusions. He's probably the key to this organization's ability to brainwash people through fear."
The scene changed back to Daichi. "It's a good thing he took my brother, who I can talk to telepathically."
"So he's alive…" Takeshi sighed in relief.
"But that doesn't change the fact that this is a dangerous organization," Asahi reminded them, standing up.
"And that's exactly why we can't stay here long," Ritsu said. "We'll strike tonight, while the trainers are still underestimating us."
Outside the cell, the three lackeys snickered. One of them peeked at the group.
"H-Hey, those guys are discussing something. Are they plotting to escape?"
Another laughed. "Let them. It's no use anyway."
"Never underestimate the ability to be underestimated, as they say."
"No one says that."
"I know. How cool is that, that I just came up with that? How accurate is that."
"I know it's a terrible time to bring this up…" Ritsu began thoughtfully.
"What's wrong?" Takeshi asked.
"Before I tell you all my plan, what were your, um…" he looked between them, who were listening carefully. An awkward smile formed on his face. "...names, again?"
Even Mob had a slightly amused look on his face at that. Reigen huffed a laugh, hiding it behind his cup.
The four gaped at him.
"S-seriously?! You didn't even remember our names?!" Takeshi flapped about hysterically.
Asahi put his head in his hands, "You always were hard to read with that gloomy face of yours…"
Ritsu looked down, a couple drops of sweat beading on his forehead.
"Now, now. I guess we'll just have to introduce ourselves again," Kurosaki smiled, putting a hand over her chest, "I'm Kurosaki Rei. My specialty is clairvoyance. Pleasure to work with you, Kageyama-kun."
"Likewise," Ritsu nodded. The others followed suit.
"I'm Hoshino Takeshi," Takeshi began dramatically. "I have super strong telekinetic powers."
"I'm Asahi Go," Asahi snapped his fingers, "I'm called the godsend who can burn everything in his path."
By whom, exactly? Ritsu thought, but smiled nonetheless. "Pleasure to work with you both."
"I'm Shiratori Daichi," Daichi said normally, "The guy who got taken away is my little brother, Kaito."
"Did they all get out okay?" Teru asked.
"Yeah."
"Let's hurry up and rescue Kaito-kun and get the heck out of here," Ritsu suggested.
"But do you have a plan?" Takeshi asked.
"Also, the trainers are right there," Asahi added.
Ritsu looked at the lackeys along with him. "I think they already know that we're trying to escape. I'm sure there were other kids who tried to do the same thing."
"That would mean they're used to dealing with escape attempts," Kurosaki frowned, "There goes any chance we had."
"That's not entirely true," Ritsu told her, "If they're underestimating our powers, we'll be able to escape."
"How?" Daichi asked.
"They probably let their guard down because we're kids," Ritsu rummaged through his school uniform and pulled out a metal spoon. "They didn't check our belongings."
The four stared.
"Do you really carry that around everywhere?" Takeshi said incredulously.
"Ignite!" Asahi shouted. A stream of flames trickled from his fingertips to the head of the spoon. Once it heated up, he passed it over, "Now, Hoshino!"
"All right! There!" Takeshi rammed it against the lock. With seemingly a lot of struggle, it went in, and the latch clicked.
"Oh, it opened," Takeshi said, surprised.
"Yeah, not gonna lie? I did NOT think that was going to work."
Reigen nodded. "Looks like luck was on your side that day."
"I guess everything's worth a shot."
Sarcastic clapping. "Well done, brats," a goon cheered mockingly, "What now?"
"What's your next move?"
Takeshi stuttered, "Wh-What's our next move, Kageyama?"
"Let me just warn you that it's safer in that cell," another lackey threatened.
"If you step even one foot out of there, we're going to have to discipline you."
"Kageyama?" Asahi sweated.
"Are you telling me you didn't plan this far ahead?" Kurosaki stressed.
"Let's use Hoshino-kun's super strong telekinesis and Asahi-kun's fire to get out of here," Ritsu proposed, his expression serious.
Crude drawings of Takeshi and Asahi stared blankly.
"I have. Come to the conclusion that we are in fact fucked."
The three lackeys started laughing their heads off, wheezing and pointing at their captives. "Well, isn't that adorable!"
Takeshi's eye twitched. "Listen… you can't move something as heavy as a person with telekinesis."
"Even though I'm a pyrokinetic genius, I don't think I can set fire to something that's moving." Asahi trembled.
"I'll take care of it, then," Ritsu declared.
"Huh?"
"Though I'm nowhere near as good as you guys." He got up, pushed the heavy door open, and stepped into the hallway, "Come on. Get out, everyone."
The others watched in horror as he walked past the lackeys, who continued to laugh, "You'll all be held responsible either way."
"Do you think we'd hold back on you because you're kids?"
"Yes?"
"Hopefully, yes?"
"No," Ritsu said, shadows falling on him the more he neared the darkness. "Why would I ever expect incompetent, disposable lackeys like you to have that common sense?" he taunted.
You're going to be killed, Kageyama! Takeshi screamed inwardly.
"I see." The lackeys advanced on him, rubbing their fists. "Well, try to protect yourself with the spoon-bending that you're so good at, Mr. Natural!" One pulled his arm back, aiming a punch at Ritsu.
Time slowed down.
Please, powers… Ritsu prayed, unblinking. Do as I say.
A tense but respectful silence fell. In the moment, everyone was thoroughly in the moment- their thoughts matched up. Begging, begging, as Ritsu was- begging for his powers to work.
Light hit his face from below, and the ends of his hair floated in the air.
"Yes," someone breathed. "Yes!"
Time resumed its original pace. The lackey slammed into the wall behind Ritsu with a 'crack', the remaining two following right after. He let out a breath as his hair settled back on his forehead.
"Wh-Whoa… You probably didn't need us to open the lock…" Takeshi realized.
Ritsu looked up, "No, we needed to show them that we were powerless."
Takeshi and Asahi slumped in disbelief.
"This is a blind spot for that security camera," Ritsu pointed at a corner of the room, "Let's have them think we're being disciplined for a while and quickly go rescue Kaito-kun."
Reigen nodded, brows knit together. "Smart."
"But I don't know where Kaito is," Daichi said.
"Kurosaki-san, now we're going to rely on your clairvoyance."
"Huh? Me?"
"Can we count on you?" Ritsu asked her.
The background shone as she blushed, holding her cheek in her hand. "I-I'll try…"
Th-This is lame… Takeshi and Asahi complained.
Two people stood in front of the building.
"There're some tough-looking guys standing by the entrance," Dimple said. Him, Teru and Mob hid in the bushes around the hideout.
"What do you wanna do?" Teru asked Mob.
Dimple floated towards him. "Shigeo, you need to think, too. Want to blow them away? Those strangers."
Mob choked up, eyes wide, "L-Let's concentrate on rescuing Ritsu."
Ritsu squeezed his brother's hand comfortingly. "Thank you," he muttered.
"They wouldn't have been able to stop me from getting to you," Mob said, sudden and strong. "I would have fought them all to get to you."
His eyes widened slightly. "Nii-san-"
But his brother's eyes burn with an odd, passionate light, contrasting sharply against his expressionless face.
His hand tightened in his again. "Thank you."
I knew it, Dimple mused.
"Okay," Teru smiled reassuringly. Bright yellow glowed into existence as he activated his powers.
"That technique…"
"It's the Air Whips I just learned earlier," he confirmed. Streaks of energy oozed from his hands and waved around his frame.
"Damn, that was quick."
"You learn fast," Reigen commented, trying to pretend he hadn't been trying his best not to listen to the words exchanged between Ritsu and Mob.
The guards' feet were swiped under them. They screamed, getting dragged all the way to the edge of the forest and chucked behind the bushes. Teru hit one of them on the side of his neck, knocking him out effectively.
"Sorry."
Near him, the other guard's limbs crickled as he stood up. Head twitching back and forth, he faced Teru, cheeks painted with red spots. He grinned creepily.
"It's easier to possess someone when they're in shock."
"Don't you fucking dare."
A student pressed his lips to a line. The whole room tensed, going silent. Several pale faces shook their heads.
"He is kind of hot, though," The student muttered.
"Fucking hell, Hiroto."
"You seem used to this, Dimple-kun," Teru commented. "Are you a pretty dangerous evil spirit?"
"Of course not," Dimple brushed him off, "Right, Shigeo?"
"Dimple's dangerous," Mob told him.
"We might've been better off if you'd possessed Terada," Teru complained.
A cutscene showed Dimple in his spirit form, hitting at an unconscious Terada's head, frustrated. "Espers all have mental protection on them, so they're hard for evil spirits to possess," he explained. "That goes for you guys, too."
Mob stared forward, trying not to think about- about him-
(̶i̵t̷ ̴w̸a̴s̵ ̶a̴l̵l̸ ̸j̵u̵s̸t̸ ̷r̸e̴d̴)̴
"Not to mention, I'm a lot weaker right now. Usually, I'd be able to destroy people's minds," he smirked.
Teru stared, unimpressed. "You weren't a big deal before, either."
"I was weakened then, too!"
"Why are you weakened?" Mob asked.
"Because you almost exorcised—" Dimple sighed. "Never mind."
They turned to the building, advancing determinedly, "All right! Let's go!"
Ritsu leaned over a corner, checking the hallway. "All right, we're good. We're counting on you, Kurosaki-san."
Kurosaki nodded, "Okay." She took in a breath and stared down. A light blue glow surrounded her, the tips of her hair floating slightly. She pointed to their right. "This way next."
"I'm always pleasantly surprised when they actually have powers."
"Let's go." They ran through.
A security camera crushed into itself.
"All right, let's keep going," Teru said, lowering his hand.
The three continued onward. A guy in Claw's uniform happened to pass by.
"Hm? Who're you?"
Teru and Mob shot their hands up at the same time. The guy got hurled into concrete, forming a spider web of cracks.
Reigen, a normal person with no powers and an average pain tolerance, cringed.
"Hey, are you trying to kill him?" Dimple chuckled as they looked on in awe.
"It's because we both hit him at once," Teru deduced. He turned to Mob, "Listen up, Kageyama-kun. Leave all the grunts to me. We have to find out where they're holding your brother first."
"Oh, right. Sorry…"
"Thank you."
Teru looked up at Ritsu, expression flickering.
"For helping him."
"I- I'm always happy to help," Teru said, smiling weakly. "I owe it to him."
His casual attitude is throwing me off. This is supposed to be a tense situation.
Behind Teru, another person closed in. "Who are you?!"
He got pulled against the ceiling.
"You abducted some kids, didn't you?" Teru demanded, "Tell us where they are."
The guy wheezed out, "The children are in the basement…"
"Of- fuckin'- course they're in the basement. Where else would you psychopaths keep your children?"
"He said the basement," Teru smiled at Mob.
"Shigeo, apparently Ritsu's here."
The guy fell face-first onto the floor. Mob sighed, smiling along in relief, "Thank goodness."
"You fools. We can hear you over the radio."
The supervisor pressed a button and spoke into the microphone, "We've got intruders. After them."
The one beside him spoke up, "Wait. Contact the Scars, too. They might be espers."
In the dark of the Scars' room, members of the Upper Echelon crowded in front of the screens.
"An emergency, huh?" Sakurai mused.
"It's gotta be him," Koyama assumed, "That means Terada got his ass kicked."
"First Koyama, and now Terada… What's going on?" Miyagawa pondered.
"Hey! I didn't lose! Terada just rushed into things!"
Sakurai watched them tiredly.
Koyama grinned, all his teeth visible and wide eyes red, "I'll take care of him. I'm delighted beyond words that I get to see him so soon."
"Are you saying that we should leave him to just you?" Muraki asked skeptically.
"Of course! Stay outta my way, you bastards!" Koyama hollered, pointing at everyone in the room as a warning.
"Don't rush into things," Sakurai intervened, "There's more than one intruder."
"So what?"
"You're going to lose again."
"Sakurai…" Koyama growled, veins popping. "You wanna die first?"
"Stop it. You're both Scars," Tsuchiya scolded. Ishiguro waved her off.
"That's fine, Koyama-kun. Go ahead. But you won't get away with losing to the same person twice," they said ominously.
"I don't like any of them."
"I know that."
Dimple, Mob and Teru stood at an intersection.
"Now we're up against the clock. Let's split up and find your brother," Teru suggested, "I'll go right. Kageyama-kun, go down the middle..." he trailed off. The sound of footsteps echoed around the corner.
Red and black boots stepped into their sight.
"Gah," Dimple recoiled, "Crap, the mini boss just appeared."
"I see…" Teru whispered to himself.
"We meet again," Their opponent boomed, his image covered in shadows under the glow of his powers. "I beat the crap outta you, and you can already move? Well, I'm glad you're doing well."
Mob stared up as Koyama declared, "I'll kill you this time… For real."
"How low does your self-esteem have to be to look a fourteen-year-old boy in the eyes and tell him you're going to kill him?"
"Let's both hit him with our full powers at the same time." Teru crouched into a fighting stance, blinking when Mob put his hand in front of him.
"We don't have time right now."
"You don't have time? What, you're trying to reserve your stamina?" Koyama mocked, "When you're facing me?" He laughed and laughed, then charged forward, "You stupid brats!"
Teru took position once more, "He's coming!"
Mob stepped up, purples and blues surrounding him as he trudged forward. The fringe of his hair floated up and revealed his less than pleased expression.
Koyama froze in the air.
What? I can't move a finger…
The school watched with bated breath.
Mob lifted his hand. Koyama was smashed into the ceiling, then shot left, right, down, up again, again and again dozens of times, accelerating, so fast that the eye could only see the color of his skin and black clothes as he phased by.
A burst of noise and talking. Even Reigen let out a soft curse at the sight.
In the end, the upper half of his body crashed into the concrete up top, legs dangling sluggishly. One of his boots dropped on the ground. Craters filled every surface of the corridor and debris crumbled down in speckles from the cracks.
"Sorry for being so noisy."
"I see…" Teru sweated, marveling at the amount of damage beside Dimple, "You meant that you didn't have time to try to hold back on him…"
Didn't expect that from Kageyama-kun.
"No shit. That was brutal."
"Not that it wasn't deserved, though."
"Hah! No one's saying that."
"Koyama's not responding. We're definitely dealing with someone powerful," Sakurai remarked.
"Yeah, he just got pancaked. Please excuse him."
Miyagawa scoffed, "How pathetic."
"Let's go…" Muraki said, walking off-screen, his cape flowing as he turned.
"Show the intruders the true terror of Claw."
"Can't wait for Mob to toss this bitch around like a paper doll."
remember when I said I was going to update more and then i didn't? holy FUCK idk what even happened y'all. anyway if you want to hop over to AO3 I posted the same fic and edited the chapters to make it less cringe. keep in mind i was like, thirteen when i started writing this fic.
also happy early birthday to my best friend- i met him through this fanfic, which is pretty cool.