The Influence

Chapter Twenty-Five

"I know we just met, but I wouldn't hate it if we... escalated things"

Hanae kept processing the words Aizawa had just spoken.

"What do you mean?" She asked dumbfounded.

"I mean, I haven't felt this comfortable being around anyone in a long ti-"

A sudden explosion caught Aizawa and Hanae off guard. Screams sounded off north of where they were standing. Aizawa and Hanae quickly looked towards one another and ran in the direction of the explosion.

"Stay near me" Aizawa shouted towards Hanae.

"Got it" Hanae shouted back, focusing on Aizawa and her surroundings while also thinking of the two heroes she knew were on the top of the building she had just came out of.

'Are Yu and Shinji already there?' Hanae thought to herself.

As Aizawa rounded the corner, Hanae felt a sudden rush of anxiety hit her.

'I can't do this, I'm not a hero' Hanae thought over and over in her head, cowering near a trash can.

People kept screaming and running past her, all trying to escape from the direction Aizawa had just run towards. She shakily pulled her phone out of her pocket and tried dialing the police to alert them to the situation but a sudden rumble of the ground caused her to drop her phone.

'FUCK' Hanae thought as she crawled towards where her phone fell.

She picked up her phone to see the phone screen had cracked and the screen was black.

'FUCK FUCK FUCK! I can't leave Shota, Shinji, and Yu to do this alone' Hanae thought as began to choke back the tears she'd been shedding.

She threw her phone back on the ground and cautiously half-ran towards the corner Aizawa had disappeared behind. Once she turned the corner, she saw a storefront was on fire and multiple cars were flipped over and the ground was broken into pieces with dark smoke clouding the surrounding area. She could barely make out Aizawa, Yu, and Shinji and saw they were each engaged in separate fights. As she surveyed the scene closer to her, she saw a heteromorphic villain running towards her with multiple hostages in their arms.

"MOVE" The villain shouted.

As the villain pushed her out of the way, Hanae got a short glimpse of the villains face. As soon as Hanae hit the ground, she activated her quirk.

Stop

The villain stopped dead in his tracks.

Let go of the people you're holding and stay still

The villain immediately released the hostages from his arms. Two teenage girls, an elderly man, and a father and son ran fast away from the villain. They huddled together while looking at Hanae for direction. Hanae looked behind her to see that Shinji had restrained a majority of the villains with his Lacquered Chain Prison while Aizawa and Yu were nowhere to be found.

"Please stay here" Hanae directed the hostage group.

The group of five nodded while still shaking with fear.

"Do any of you have a phone you can use to call the police?" Hanae asked.

One of the teenage girls nodded.

"Please call them, you're safe now" Hanae reassured them, "I'll be right back"

Follow me

The group of five jumped as soon as the villain moved to Hanae's command.

"Don't worry, he's under control of my quirk. I have complete control of him" Hanae explained when she noticed their fear.