I don't own MHA. I only own OC's.
Sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. I'm still learning English because it's not my first language.
DuckBoi: I'm glad you liked the chapter. This chapter won't be about the raid. I'm planning to do one more chapter before we'll get to the events of the raid. :) As for Helluva Boss, same here. I never thought they'd introduce someone I'd hate more than Stella either.
TheGreatGodzilla: Thank you once again for leaving a review! :)
1. As you can already see from the name of this chapter, Gareth will meet Eri in this chapter :)
2. No spoilers when it comes to the gender of Gareth and Origami's possible baby. You'll have to wait and see. If it will happen of course :)
3. I already have the scene of the confrontation between Gareth and Tomohito planned out. You'll have to wait and see how it will go. We are still far away from it, though.
4. Even if it was an M rated story, I don't think I would do a lemon scene between Gareth and Origami as I'm certain it would end up being pretty bad. I tried writing a one-shot lemon a while ago and ended up deleting it after I read it right after I finished writing it because it ended up being so cringy.
5. No spoilers. You'll have to wait and see.
6. With the experience she had from her college years and the experience she had gotten from healing various villains over the course of her work as a doctor for the villains, I think she has what it takes to deliver a baby.
7. Don't worry. I have everything planned out when it comes to Origami and Magne's role in the MVA and how they will handle themselves against the Meta Liberation Army soldiers :)
THE-Twilight-BlazeKnight: Thank you once again for leaving a review! :)
1. I'm glad you liked how I wrote the meeting between Overhaul and Shigaraki with the inclusion of Gareth. I had lots of fun writing this section of the previous chapter.
2. Interesting ideas :)
3. You'll have to wait and see. Perharps there'll be a small section with Izuku's POV in the chapter showing the events of the raid. :)
ironjoe1015: I'm glad you're liking my story so far. I'm having tons of fun writing it. I hope you'll like the future chapters as well. Movies may or may not be included in this story. You'll have to wait and see as I don't want to spoil anything to you :)
Gareth, Toga and Twice left the League's hideout shorty after Twice and Toga reluctantly agreed to Shigaraki and Gareth's plan of joining the yakuza for the unknown amount of time. Fortunely, the group of three villains didn't have much difficulties when it came to making their way to the Shie Hassaikai headquarters as Gareth remembered a good portion of the right route, having already used it two times in the same day. The map Kurono had provided him after after he and Shigaraki agreed to work with Overhaul has also proved itself to be quite helpful.
After arriving at the Shie Hassaikai headquarters after a trip through the underground route, the group of three villains was escorted to Overhaul's office where they met Overhaul and some of his followers by Kurono. Gareth, Toga and Twice placed themselves in the middle of the office upon arriving at it, leaving themselves in the center of the attention of the yakuza as Overhaul and his followers were gathered around them. Gareth recognized some of them from the League's first meeting with Overhaul. Kurono and Mimic were the only ones he knew the names of.
"You made it today?" Overhaul sounded pleasantly suprised when he uttered those words as he shifted his gaze between the three members of the League of Villains in his office, "I have to say. I'm quite suprised. I wasn't expecting the three of you to make it here today."
"I did say we came here to form a cooperation that will benefit both of our organization." Gareth reminded Overhaul of the words he told him during their meeting earlier today, putting his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, "I wanted to do something at the start of our cooperation as a show of good faith to show you we mean well in our organization and I figured out this would be the best way to do it."
"Very well." Overhaul nodded at him in a pleased manner and shifted his gaze between all three of them, "Introduce yourself. All of you."
"I didn't have a choice. I was ordered to come here. I'm Toga." Toga introduced herself in a monotone uninterested tone.
"Long time no see birdman! Be warned. I will never forgive you." Twice rubbed his finger across his neck slowly before repeatedly doing the motion, beaming excitedly, "I look forward to working with you! So happy to be on the team!"
'I don't think I need to introduce myself to you as I was already here with Tomura-kun but if you say everyone should introduce themselves." Gareth said, "My name is Takemura Gareth. I'm otherwise known as the Mask."
Overhaul nodded his head at their introductions, "Wonderful."
"The League of Villains?" A man with a tattered shirt said with excitement evident in his voice "This is perfect, let's brawl!"
Twice pumped his fist at him threateningly, "I'll kill you."
Toga shook her head at his offer, "No, thanks."
"Maybe some other time." Gareth followed Twice and Toga's example and declined his offer.
"Sorry about what happened during our first meeting at the warehouse and what happened with Magne, Weaponsmith and Mr. Compress. No one of this would happen if it wasn't for Magne. If he didn't step out of the line, then none of this would have happen." Overhaul voiced his apology for how their first meeting went. Gareth, Toga and Twice didn't buy his apology, though as they could easily say it was fake.
"You mean her." Twice corrected Overhaul about Magne's gender.
Gareth crossed his arms, nodding in agreement, "Exactly."
Toga narrowed her eyes at him threateningly, "Don't make that mistake again."
Overhaul closed his eyes and lowered his head, "Well, I understand why you'd hold a grudge." He looked up at Gareth, Twice and Toga again and opened his eyes, "But now that we're working together, I want you to assist us in carrying out the plan. Mask already knows what plan I'm talking about, right?"
"Yes." Gareth nodded at him, "It includes your Quirk destroying bullets, right?"
"Yes." Overhaul nodded in confirmation and shifted his gaze to Toga and Twice, "I don't think I need to explain my plan to you as I believe the Mask had already or will fill you in about it."
"Bastard." Twice shook his head angrily as he pointed at Overhaul, "You tried to play it cool the first time we met too, like you don't care about anything!" His voice much much gentler and nice when he uttered the next words, "What should we do?"
"Just follow my orders like everyone else in the organization." Overhaul explained, "But first things first, I want the details of your quirks it'll be easier for us to work together if I fully understand what you can do."
"I think I'll tell you about my powers when you need to know about them." Toga smiled sweetly at Overhaul and his associates. She narrowed her eyes threateningly at them as she added, "I don't like you people yet."
"So much for making a good impression. You should just tell us. Don't underestimate us yakuza!" Mimic glared at Gareth, Toga and Twice as he pointed at them angrily. He set his attention on Gareth a second later and called out for him to gain his attention, "Hey! You! Tell your associates to behave! Didn't you say you came here to form a mutual trust between our organizations?"
"Yes. I did." Gareth admitted with a nod of his head. They way Mimic was acting right now was reminding him of Bakugo's behaviour and he didn't like it. He did his best not to show it, though as he knew he had to show Overhaul and his associates like he and the League were really willing to work with them. He made sure not to act completely submissively, though otherwise it would make him look to suspicious, "Don't you think forcing my associates and myself to explain our Quirks to you is not the best to start forming a mutual trust between our organizations, though? My associates should choose when they will explain their Quirks to you as it would be a sign of a growing trust between our organization and your organization."
Mimic clenched his fist, feelign how it was shaking in anger, "Listen here, you little...!"
"What's your Quirk?" One of Overhaul's subordinates, a man with a black cape to be exact, asked before Mimic could begin his rant.
"I can make doubles of anything for it to work I need a precise image in my head." Twice started to explain his Quirk, pulling out his measuring tape from his wrists to clarify his point as Gareth and Toga snapped their heads towards him, his sudden explanation taking them by suprise, "Yep! That means height, chest measurement, and shoe size if it's a person you name it, I need it, gotta have as much info as possible, only then I can make one thing into two. The main difference between the doubles and the main thing is durability, they just kinda melt if they're knocked around too much. I can make doubles of up to two things at once, the damage and object it can take is even lower. Also for personal reasons I refuse to make copies of myself got it!?"
He put the measuring tape back in his wrists and Gareth and Toga just stared at him. Gareth narrowed his eyes at him as Toga looked at him with disappointment evident on her face. Twice slowly shifted his gaze between his fellow villains from the League, seeing they way they were looking at him right now as Gareth and Toga silently stared at him. His eyes widened, having just realized what he just did.
He put his hand over his mouth as soon as this realization hit him like a ton of bricks, "Huh? Why? Why did I do this? It's like I wasn't myself!"
Gareth looked at him questioningly, "Twice?"
"Wow. That was pretty stupid." Toga commented with an unamused look on her face.
"That's not it, guys!" Twice objected nervously, trying to explain himself to them, "This was..."
The man with a cape shifted his gaze to Gareth, cutting Twice off before he could finish his explanation, "What about you, Mask?"
"My Quirk is red energy." The black haired boy began explaining his quirk out of the sudden, "It allows to me create red energy around my hands and allows me to do various things with it such as grabbing things and throwing them around, levitating above the ground, and even grabbing people and making them freeze in one place. I have a limit when it comes to this, though. One person is my limit at the moment and I have to really focus to freeze someone in their place which leaves me vulnerable for the attacks. It has one major downside, though. It gives me really painful headaches when I overwork myself or try to do something I am not capable of doing, yet."
His eyes widened as soon as he finished the explanation of his Quirk, having realized Twice was right and someone had indeed made him reveal about his Quirk to Overhaul. He quickly shifted his gaze from Overhaul to Twice and Toga and shifted his gaze between both of them, seeing the way they were looking at him right now. Twice tossed his hand to the side in a "I told you so" manner as Toga looked at him with a look of pure dissappointment on her face.
Toga sighed, utterly dissappointed in him, "You too, Gakkun?"
"It wasn't my fault, Toga-chan!" Gareth shouted in his defense, "Twice is right! It's like something forced me to say it!"
"You two think I'm an idiot, right?" Toga asked, seeming to be really hurt by it.
The man with a cape shifted his gaze to Toga, "What about you?"
"If I drink someone's blood I can turn into them." Toga started her explanation as soon as she was asked this question, "Whatever I take in turns into energy so the more I drink, the longer I can hold onto the form. 1 cup lets me look and sound like someone for about a day, plus if I drink a bunch of different people's blood at the same time I can turn into any of them! I can recreate their clothes too, but they get layered under my own so it helps to get naked before I transform which can be a little embarrassing sometimes."
She covered her mouth in shock as soon as she finished her explanation, feeling how her eyes widened upon realizing Gareth and Twice were telling the truth and shifted her gaze between them. She looked at them with an apologetic look in her eyes, internally apologizing to them for doubting them when it came to trying to warn her about someone making them explain their Quirks to Overhaul and his associates.
Twice once again tossed his hand to the side, his mask hiding the knowing look he had on his face right now, "See?"
"We tried to warn you." Gareth shook his head as Toga glanced ahead of herself to look at Overhaul and his associates again.
"One more thing, did Shigaraki say anything about betraying us?" The cape man asked them another question.
"No." The three villains from the League of Villains answered at the same time.
"Okay, then." Overhaul said, pleased with their answers as he got up from his seat, "We'll accept you as members of the Hassaikai now. But we can't let wanted criminals like you roam about freely. If you don't have any instructions, please do not leave these underground facilities."
"Wait? Are we under house arrest?" Twice asked as Overhaul started walking to the door behind him.
"Aw, I wanna be free!" Toga complained.
"Once I trust you a little more, I can let you do what you want. It's up to you guys" Overhaul explained as he opened the door in front of him. Before he exited the room, he looked over his shoulder at Gareth, "Mask. Come to my office tommorow morning. We'll have one matter you may find interesting to discuss in private. Don't come late. You can consider it a show of good faith from my part, similiar to the one you did."
"Very well. I'll be at your office tommorow morning." Gareth nodded at him in understanding as Overhaul walked out of the office, leaving the three members of the League of Villains with his associates. He smiled internally at how well going to the Shie Hassaikai headquarters with Toga and Twice worked. Perhaps, if he'll get lucky tommorow morning, then maybe he'll find out where Overhaul's Quirk erasing bullets came from.
"You heard him. You can't keep up that attitude forever if you want to earn this trust." Mimic said as he stepped closer to Gareth, Toga and Twice. He stopped in front of them and threw his arms up as Toga and Twice glared down at him. Gareth continued to stare down at him silently, "If you get it, then do what we say, brats. We're yakuza. Don't underestimate us! We'll take control of society once again from the shadows! The restoration of the yakuza! Making the longstanding desire of the boss, who's in his sickbed, come true!" He pointed at them, "You can be apart of it! As long as you're properly grateful and do as you're told!"
"Very well." Gareth nodded at him, doing his best to sound as natural as he could and hide how much he disliked the way Mimic was talking to him and his associates and how demanding he was to them.
Mimic crossed his arms at him, "At least one of them seems to understand it."
Gareth once again nodded at him, beginning to explain himself to him, "Both of our organizations are working towards destruction of the current hero society and expanding our organizations is large step of accomplishing this goal. We may be doing it for different reasons and have different goals we want to accomplish by doing so, but in the end the result of our actions will be the same. We may as well help ourselves help accomplish our goals."
Mimic shifted his gaze to Toga and Twice, satisfied by him submitting to their organization, "Take example from your friend. At least he knows where his place is. Too bad he didn't show it when we asked you to explain your Quirks to us."
"Me and Tomura-kun agreed to cooperate with you as we're hoping both of our organization will benefit from it. It doesn't mean we wanted our associates to be completely submissive to you in everything they'll be doing here." Gareth pointed out, "Who would we be if we forced our comrades to do something they wouldn't like to do, right?" He looked around Overhaul's subordinates as all of them stared at him silently, "Could one of you show us around your headquarters?"
"Yeah! I can tell this place is a maze by just looking at!" Twice added, nodding furiously at Gareth's question, "We don't need your help! Going through this maze will be fun! It will be like amusement park!"
Toga nodded in agreement, "It was a long day. I want to know where my sleeping headquarters are."
"Didn't Kurono gave you a map of the tunnels when you and Shigaraki were here earlier today?" Mimic asked.
"He gave up a map of the underground route. Just like you said. He didn't gave up a map of your headquarters." Gareth explained, "This is why I'm asking if one of you could show me and my associates a way around your headquarters. We would really appreciate if you did so. I'm certain knowing the layout of the hallway of your headquarters will me reach your boss office faster tommorow morning for our meeting."
"Rappa." Kurono called out as the man a tattered shirt as he turned to look at him, "Show them where they'll be sleeping and show around our headquarters when you will do so."
The man now known as Rappa nodded at him and stepped closer to Gareth, Toga and Twice, "Let's go."
"Lead the way." Gareth nodded at him as Rappa pushed the door to Overhaul's office open and walked him out of it.
"Follow me." Rappa said as Gareth, Twice and Toga followed followed him out of Overhaul's office, with Twice making sure to close the door behind them. He pushed himself into walk, beginning to lead them through the hallway as Gareth, Toga and Twice followed him.
"Your name is Rappa, right? Sorry if I misheard it." Gareth asked a few seconds later as he continued to follow Rappa with Toga and Twice.
Rappa nodded in confirmation as he looked over his shoulder at him, "Why are you asking?"
"I just wanted to make sure." Gareth smiled at him, "If we'll be working together from now on, we may as well know our names."
Rappa once again nodded at him and looked at him questioningly, "What about our brawl?"
"Our brawl?" Gareth asked as Toga and Twice looked at him questioningly.
"The brawl I asked you and your associates during your meeting with Overjerk." Rappa reminded him as Gareth raised his brow at how he called Overhaul. He couldn't help but smile at nickname Overhaul's subordinate had given him because of how fitting it was. Toga and Twice smiled at this nickname as well, "Toga and Twice declined, but you said both of you might spar some other time." The three members of the League could hear just how excited he became when he uttered the next words, "When it will be?"
"I'll think about it." Gareth responded, dodging answering to his question for now, "At first I would like to get to know this place a bit better and be after the meeting your boss wants to have with me tommorow morning."
Rappa nodded in understanding and turned ahead of himself, proceeding to show the three members of the League around the headquarters as he slowly took them to where they'll be sleeping tonight. As Gareth, Twice and Toga continued to follow him along the hallway, the three villains smiled silently at each other as they knew everything was going according to their plan so far.
It was the next morning and Gareth was standing in front of the door to Overhaul's office. After Rappa had given him, Toga and Twice the tour around the Shie Hassaikai underground headquarters, he and his fellow villains settled down in their sleeping headquarters where Rappa took them at the end of their tour across the Shie Hassaikai headquarters and took some well deserved rest after this long few days.
After waking up from his slumber the next morning, Gareth prepared himself for the day and got himself dressed in his villain clothes before leaving his sleeping headquarters. He remembered Overhaul telling him to come to his office in the morning after he, Toga and Twice arrived at the yakuza headquarters and he didn't want to be late for this as he didn't thought Overhaul would call him to his office if it wasn't for nothing important.
Upon arriving at the door to Overhaul's office, he raised his hand and knocked on the door a few times, letting Overhaul know he had arrived for their meeting. He remained where he stood for a few more seconds, patiently waiting to be admitted. The door was opened a few seconds later and Kurono appeared in his view. The white clothed man set his eyes on Gareth as soon as he opened the door for him.
"Come in Mask." Overhaul said to Gareth as soon as Kurono opened the door for him.
Gareth nodded at him as he walked into Overhaul's office. He looked around himself as he walked into the office, seeing the layout of it was the same as yesterday. Seconds later, he sat down on the couch across from Overhaul, staring at the yakuza leader. Gareth looked at him with a fake smile on his face, hiding how he really felt about him as he continued to act like the League was willing to cooperate the Shie Hassaikai.
He nodded at him, keeping his friendly demeanor towards him, "I came here as soon as I finished preparing myself for the day. What did you want to talk to me about?
Overhaul propped his elbows on the desk, lacing his fingers together, "You remember what I told you when you were here with Shigaraki for our second meeting? You voiced interest in learning more about our drug and I suggested a trust exchange between our organizations to clear the ill will if you wanted to know the secret of our bullets?"
"You want me to show the secret behind your bullets?" Gareth wanted to be sure if he understood him correctly. He hoped it was what he thought it was as finding the secret behind Overhaul's bullets was one of the reasons why he and Shigaraki agreed for this 'cooperation' between the League and the Shie Hassaikai in the first place.
"Yes." Overhaul nodded in confirmation.
Gareth smiled at him in a grateful manner, "Thank you. I really appreciate it. I was really curious to know more about your bullets."
"Let me make myself clear before I'll show it to you, though." Overhaul narrowed his eyes at Gareth threateningly to clarify his point, "I don't trust or like you. If you will try to do anything funny, I won't hesitate to eliminate you."
Gareth nodded at him in understanding, unfazed by his words, "Understood."
"The same goes for Toga and Twice." Overhaul added, "If they will try to do anything, then I won't hesitate to eliminate them either."
Gareth once again nodded at Overhaul to show him his understanding of his words, his friendly demeanor twitching a bit because of Overhaul threatening to hurt his comrades, "Don't worry. Twice and Toga won't do anything as they know we're here for the sake of accomplishing our goals and know our cooperation will bring us closer to achieving them."
Overhaul nodded at him as he got up from his seat and walked over to the door, "Follow me."
Gareth nodded back at him as he got up from his seat and followed Overhaul out of the office. Overhaul led him through the hallways of the underground headquarters as Gareth stayed closely behind him, following him towards whenever he was heading right now. He looked around himself as Overhaul continued to led him through the hallway, having already been familiar with those hallways from the tour Rappa had give him, Twice and Toga yesterday.
Everything changed when Overhaul stopped in front of a plain looking doorway. Gareth recalled it from his tour as he passed it with Twice, Toga and Rappa. After asking Rappa where were this doorway leading and why he was skipping it during his tour, Rappa explained to him and his associates that he can't show them what's there and that they'll find out what's there in due time when Overhaul decides that they can find out what's there. Whatever was there, it looked like Gareth was about to find out.
Overhaul looked over his shoulder at him, motioning Gareth to keep following him and stepped through the doorway. Gareth followed him and found himself in a long staircase which was led deeper into the undeground. Gareth made sure to make a mental note out of the route which he and Overhaul used to get here as as he didn't want to get lost down here because of this underground path being a completely unknown territory to him. He made sure to keep himself on guard as well as he knew Overhaul didn't trust him and if he was honest with himself, this feeling was mutural.
He stopped in his tracks several seconds later, remaining close to Overhaul as Overhaul stopped in front of the metal door. The yakuza leader pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket and searched through it in search of the right key. After opening the right key, he slid it into the hole and the lock clicked. He pushed the door to the room open and walked into it, leaving Gareth alone.
"Come in." He told him as Gareth nodded and followed him into room, wanting to learn what was inside.
The black haired boy felt how his eyes widened in shock as soon as he entered the room and stopped next to Overhaul. Inside the room, he saw two men dressed in the white lab coats. He couldn't see how they looked like, though as they were were surgical gloces and masks. The two unknown men were crowded around a bed. Gareth couldn't see what was laying on the bed from where he stood, though.
"How was it?" Overhaul asked the two masked men in front of him, shifting his attention to them for a moment as Gareth moved towards the bed, wanting to know what was on it.
"She's worn out." One of the men responded, "But shouldn't need any further treatment in order to recover, though."
"Her?" Gareth thought to himself questioningly, asking himself what did Overhau's subordinates meant by this as he was in the middle of the distance between Overhaul and the bed.
"Good." Overhaul nodded, pleased with the news and gestured to the bed, "You've been wanting to learn how we make our drug. Here you go. This is the source of it."
Gareth stopped dead in his tracks as soon he reached the bed, having finally laid his eyes on what was laying on it. He saw a little girl lying curled up on the bed. She had long white hair and a horn coming out of her head. She wore a simple white dress that came down to her shrins. But if he was honest with himself, it reminded him of a hospital gown than a dress. Her arms and legs were covered with bandages.
The black haired boy looked away from the girl on the bed and looked around the room he had been taken to by Overhaul, allowing himself to finally take a good look at it. The room was painted like a child's nursery and boxes of unopened toys were littered across the floor. The bed he had just approached looked like it would fit only a child as well. Despite the way this room paint and just how many toys were inside, the room was giving off a sad depressed feeling.
He shifted his attention back to the girl on the bed. She looked up at him helplessly with fear evident in her eyes. Gareth continued to look down at her in silence, making the girl become more fearful as she didn't know what to expect from him. Gareth remained this way for the next few seconds, losing himself in his thoughts. For a split second, he thought he had seen his younger himself covered in bruises and tears in her place. The black haired boy shook his head, trying to make himself see everything correctly. It worked as a scared Eri returned to his view a second later.
"You're using a child to make those bullets?" He wanted to be sure if he understood everything correctly, hoping he had misheard Overhaul as he slowly turned around to look at the yakuza leader again. When he uttered those words, he did his best to mask the disgust in his voice with curiosity.
"Yes." Overhaul nodded in confirmation.
Gareth clenched his hand, fighting an urge of doing anything to Overhaul. He knew he had to hold himself back from doing anything. Not it wasn't the time to do anything. He knew had to continue playing his role until the right time will come otherwise everything will apart. He turned away from Overhaul a second later and looked down at her girl. He slowly reached out his hand towards her as the girl quickly moved away from him, looking up at him fearfully.
"I wouldn't touch her if I were you." Overhaul said as Gareth turned around to look at him again, "She's a cursed human."
Gareth raised his brow at him, doing his best to stop the anger from appearing in his tone, "What do you mean by that? How can she be cursed?"
"She has a Quirk that can rewind a person's body." Overhaul started his explanation, "It can reduce you to nothing in the blink of an eye if you're not too careful around her. Her father vanished completely as a result of her Quirk and her mother disowned her after it happened as she didn't want to take care of cursed human like her."
Gareth bit his bottom lip to stop himself from saying anything, making sure to swallow the anger he felt towards Overhaul right now before he will saying anything to Overhaul. He let out a quiet exhale and asked Overhaul another question he had on his mind right now, "How do you make your bullets from her?"
"We've done many experiments and tests, but we've managed to use her blood to pinpont the gene that holds the Quirk Factor mutation after many attempts. Once this gene is targeted, the drug activates her Quirk and rewinds a person back to their Quirkless state." Overhaul explained, letting out a chuckle before adding to his explanation, "Once we've mass produced it and spread it, the Quirk epidemic will be cured and the world will be freed from it. This is why I'm hoping Weaponsmith will be able to produce bullets after her Quirk will evolve. Once this will happen, it will only bring us closer to curing this world of the Quirk epidemic."
"I see..." Gareth voiced his understanding of his explanation, feeling how his anger regarding the way Overhaul was treating this girl and how he was using her for his experiments increased.
"With this matter settled, our business here is done. I told you everything you need to know about the production of our drug." Overhaul told Gareth as he turned away towards the open door behind him, "Come on. Let's leave."
"Okay." Gareth nodded at him as he moved towards Overhaul, walking away from the bed. Overhaul walked out of the room and started to make his way towards the staircase as Gareth stopped in his tracks. He looked over his shoulder at the girl for one last time, internally promising to her that he will come back.
He walked out of the room right after, hearing how the metal door was locked as soon as he exited it. He left himself in his thoughts as he followed Overhaul, both of them making their way towards the staircase as he think of a way how he could help this girl. He knew he had to do something to help her. He knew he couldn't go against Overhaul and his goons with Toga and Twice right away as it would ruin their plan. He included his fellow villains in it as he knew Toga and Twice would join him if they learned what Overhaul was doing to this girl.
He knew he had to do something to help this girl in one way or another. Just like he helped Origami and did a risky move of showing his face to her back when his identity as the Mask was unknown after hearing how her mother abused her on the night he encountered her. He wouldn't forgive himself if he just allowed it to happen and didn't do anything to help her. He knew how it felt like to be abused by someone who was supposed to look after you and he wouldn't wish it to anyone her age.
"Does she have anyone to look after her?" He asked Overhaul out of the sudden as both of them reached the top of the staircase, having finally come up with a way he could help this girl. Looking after he when he couldn't go against Overhaul and stop his abuse of her was the best way of doing it. At least for now when he had to continue playing like the League was willing to work with the Shie Hassaikai.
Overhaul looked at him questioningly, "What?"
"Does she have anyone to look after her? Like a babysitter of something?" Gareth repeated his question to Overhaul.
"She had a few of those. I often had to switch those, though as she would often leave her room when they weren't looking out for her and get lost. The last one let her get lost in the city." Overhaul replied as Gareth sighed internally. He wouldn't blame Eri for wanting to leave her room. If he was in her place, he would want to leave it as well. He pushed himself out his thoughts as Overhaul asked him another question, "Why are you asking?"
"Could you assign me to her as her babysitter?" Gareth revealed what he had in his mind to him, "I will look after her whenever I won't be needed for something in your business."
Overhaul raised his brow at him, "Do you really want to do this instead of doing something important? I can find someone else for this position without any problem."
"Yes. I'm sure." Gareth nodded in confirmation, showing Overhaul he was certain about his decision. He did his best to ignore the disgust he felt towards himself when he uttered the next words, "She doesn't know me, unlike the rest of your associates and maybe it will make it easier for me to gain her trust than it was for her previous babysitters. Perharps it will make her stop leaving her room and getting lost in the city."
Overhaul stared at him for a few seconds and nodded his head, showing Gareth he had his permission, "Very well. Be careful around her, though. She's a fragile thing and I wouldn't want her getting lost in the city as I'm quite fond of her. The man got her lost in the city disappeared shorty after. Do you understand, Mask?"
"I'll do my best." Gareth nodded in understanding, shaking off the disgust he felt towards himself as he knew exactly what Overhaul meant when he said the last babysitter of this girl 'disappeared' after getting her lost in the city. He smiled internally at Overhaul giving him his permission to look after the girl from the room. It would be the first step of him trying to help her, "Could you tell me her name, though? If I'll be her babysitter from now on, then I would like to know how I should call her."
"Eri." Overhaul responded, revealing the name of this girl to Gareth, "Her name is Eri."
The door to Eri's room was opened and Gareth and Overhaul walked into the room together. Gareth looked around himself as he stepped into the room, seeing the two men from earlier were not in the room right now. He nodded to himself, gladdened by this and set his eyes on Eri. The poor girl was laying under a blanket, the pillow wrapped around her head as she shook from head to toe out of fear she felt towards Gareth and Overhaul.
"Make her feel safe as I don't want her escaping." Overhaul told Gareth, his gloves dissolving at his fingertips to clarify his point, "Remember what I told you earlier about the last person who lost her. You wouldn't want to follow his example and vanish without a trace, would you?"
Gareth nodded at him, "I promise I'll do my best. Otherwise I wouldn't ask if you could assign me to do this job."
Overhaul shifted his gaze from Gareth to Eri, "Eri. This is Mask. He's going to be taking care of you."
He turned away from Eri and left the room as soon as he informed Eri who Gareth would be to her from now on, leaving Gareth alone with Eri. Gareth looked over his shoulder as Overhaul closed the door behind him after leaving him alone in this room with Eri. He looked ahead of himself to look at Eri again, setting his eyes on her once again. The girl remained silent as she proceeded to look up at him fearfully.
"Hi. Eri." He greeted, making sure to sound as gentle as he could as he wanted to let Eri know he meant no harm to her and was not going to treat like Overhaul does. He stepped closer to her bed, looking at her with a soft gentle look on his face, "My name Takemura Gareth. You can call me Gareth if you want to. Or Gakkun. This is how my friends call me."
Eri watched him with wide red eyes, letting out stuttered breaths as she did so as Gareth slowly made his way to her bed. She looked up at him and noticed something about his expression. His expression was gentle and kind. His expression wasn't anything like the expressions she was used to from Overhaul and her previous babysitters as they often stared at her in either anger or disgust. Sometimes in both.
"Would you mind if I sit down next to you?" Gareth asked, having just stopped nect to Eri's bed.
Eri stayed silent, not giving Gareth the answer he was waiting for her as she was taken by his question. Why did he wanted to sit next to her? Why did he wanted to be close to her? He knew she was cursed. She remembered how Overhaul explained everything he had to know about her to him when they came to her room earlier today. He knew about her curse and yet it did not stop him from wanting to be close to her. Why?
"...D-Don't." She uttered out this single word after several seconds of staying silent as Gareth looked down at her with a worried look on his face. She didn't want to make him disappear just like she made her dad disappear.
"You don't want to sit next to you? Okay." Gareth nodded at her, stopping himself from sitting down on her bed as he didn't want to do anything which would make her uncomfortable, "I know you don't know me and I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"N-No." Eri shook her head, lowering her gaze down to her bed as she felt tears forming in her eyes, "Y-You'll disappear and I-I-I don't want you to get hurt because of me..."
Gareth looked at Eri with pity written all over his face as he realized the real reason why she wanted him to stay away from her. It wasn't because it would make her uncomfortable. It was because she feared she would make him disappear, just like she made her father disappear. The black haired boy nodded to himself, knowing he had to show her that he was not afraid of the possibility of this happening to him. Because of the way Overhaul was treating her, she must have always expect like the worst was going to happen.
He sat down on the bed, making sure to keep a decent distance between him and her as he didn't want to scare her more than she already was. He wanted her to calm down, "It's okay, Eri. You don't need to worry about it happening to me."
"W-Why do you think it will not happen to you?" She asked him, "Y-You heard everything Kai said about me. I-I'll just want you disappear if you're not careful enough around me. I'm a curse."
"You're not a curse, Eri." Gareth offered his words of comfort to her as Eri looked up at him as if she wasn't used to hearing such words directed her way, "You shouldn't be viewed as one, only because of something that happened when your Quirk manifested and you had no way of controlling it. What happened with your father was not your fault as you couldn't control your Quirk when it happened."
He moved closer to Eri after uttering those words, now sitting next to her and reached his hand out towards her. The girl next to him flinched and almost moved away from him as if she was expecting him to do something to harm her. She wasn't expecting him to put his arm around her in a comforting manner. She panicked for split second after as he gently brought her close to him. She closed her eyes, fearing something terrible was going to happen to either him or her
When nothing happened to her or to Gareth for the next few seconds, she opened her eyes. She looked up at Gareth and saw him holding her close to him, keeping his arm wrapped around her. He looked down at her and started rubbing her back in a comforting manner in an attempt to make her feel better. As Eri continued to look up at him, she couldn't find find any ill intent in his eyes or on his face. He was just someone who wanted to help her.
"W-Why are you being nice to me?" She asked him tearfully as Gareth continued to rub her back as a way of comforting her.
"Because your story reminds of someone who is very close to me." Gareth started his explanation as Eri continued to look up at him in silence, "Her name is Jakuzure Origami. She was too considered a curse by someone who was supposed to take care of her, because of what happened when she was young when her Quirk manifested. She was treated like she was a monster for something she had no control of. I just couldn't sit back and let you believe you're a curse. You're not a curse Eri. Don't let yourself believe you're a curse, no matter how many times people will call you this. You are a human and deserve to be treated as such."
Eri stared up at him silently for the next few seconds, allowing the tears stream down her cheeks as she didn't know how long had it been since someone referred to her as a human instead of a curse. She leaned against Gareth as Gareth continued to rub her back comfortingly. He was warm. He was warm like the hero. He was warm like the hands of a hero who said he was going to help her. His hands were kind too as they didn't break her and instead comforted her. She didn't want to let go. She didn't want Gareth to let go.
For the first time in a long time she felt safe...
"How about we'll do something?" Gareth asked a few minutes later as Eri looked up at him, "Do you have any book around here? I could read something to you and even show you how to read."
Eri looked up at him and shook her head at his question, looking at him with an apologetic look on her face, "I-I don't know. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. You don't need to apologize for me." Gareth assured her and got up from the bed, "How about I'll search the pile of the toys and see if there is any book among them?"
Eri nodded at him, "Okay."
Gareth turned away from Eri and moved towards the pile of the unopened toys, beginning to look through them in search of a book. He didn't have to look long for as he found what he was looking for a few moments later. He moved the unopened with a toy inside aside and saw a completely new book with the nursery rhymes for children buried underneath it. It must have been bought just recently as it still smelled like a book straight from the store.
He picked up the book from the floor and walked back to Eri who was watching him from her bed for all this time. He sat back down on the bed and opened the book, beginning to browse through it in search of a rhyme Eri could begin her reading lessons with. He came across a short nursery rhyme called "Little Jack Horner" a few seconds later. He nodded his head to himself, knowing a nursery rhyme this start would be perfect for Eri to begin because of how short it was.
He pushed the book towards her, allowing her to take a look at the nursery rhyme he had just stumbled upon in this book, "What do you think? How about we start with this?"
Eri looked down at the book in front of her and looked up at Gareth a second later, nodding her head at him, "Okay."
Gareth smiled at Eri, nodding back at her, "Okay. Shall we begin, then?"
Played Resident Evil 4 Remake. Loved every second of it.
Watched John Wick 4 and I loved it. The top down Dragon's Breath scene with the music from the first movie playing in the background made me grin so much. This sequence was by far the most impressive action sequence ever and my favorite of the franchise.
Season 6 has come to an end and I can definitely say I liked this season and I'm satisfied with how the war arc and the vigilante arc were handled. I can't believe this season is over. Time surely went by fast. The finale was a great ending and setup for the 7th season (for which I think we will wait a bit longer than usual for MHA season as I think Bones will wait until the manga will end). Star and Stripe made her appearance and I love how she is voiced by Romi Park as I like her from her role of Hange in Attack on Titan and role of Ragyo from Kill la Kill.
Hope it wasn't so bad. See you in another chapter.