The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

36

He pulls himself to his feet despite the pain in his body screaming for him to just lay in place. He doesn't bother looking back as he pulls his phone from his pocket to call Katsuki for help. He's hardly pulled up his contact by the time that he runs into another person. He looks up and doesn't know how it could possibly get any worse. "Hello, Izu. What are you doing here all alone?" Shinobu asks with an evil grin. "I sure hope you haven't run into any trouble." Izuku gulps, his phone falling to the ground beneath him. "Let's go for a walk and check on your friends, why don't we? I'm sure they'll be worried."

Shinobu's hand wraps around Izuku's wrist and although Izuku puts forward his best efforts to break free of the grasp, he ends up being dragged all the way back to Ena's apartment by his ex-boyfriend. They walk back in to see the rest of the crowd surrounding Ena and Akasuki who have been bound and placed on the couch. Izuku shudders at the sight and feels tears well in his eyes. Shinobu drapes his arm over Izuku's shoulder and leans on him as he grins at Ena and Akasuki. "Ena, hasn't anyone ever told you that your spare key is poorly hidden? Not that it would have prevented this from happening, you just made it easier," he speaks.

Ena snarls, "I'd like to see your slimy ass do anything without having the groundwork laid for you first. I'd imagine that vermin like you can't tell that their shoes go on their feet without a personal assistant has to do it for you and tie them while they're at it."

"Such a smart mouth for someone who clearly has the disadvantage," Shinobu muses. "I never did like that about you. You see, I'm more than capable of doing things on my own, Ms. Miyamoto. But, there's something wonderful about having wealth and power that you simply wouldn't know about. I have people that are more than happy to do things I'm capable of doing on my own for the right price. See, that way I can get more done. Do you wish to know what I know?"

"Anything you happen to know isn't worth hearing about," Ena answers.

Shinobu laughs, "Interesting you say such things. I feel like you might know some of this too. The rest of it, I think would do you well to hear about, at least a little bit. Come now, why don't we start with the fact that you ran away from home, leaving a brother and your mother behind when you were both 9 years old? Tell me, how did you go about changing your last name so quickly? Were you that easily brought in by a new family or did you do what you and brother always spoke of, just taking on a new name and starting a new life?"

Ena's eyes gloss over. "How do you know about that?"

"It's no matter. Tell me, what about that quirk your mother gave you? What happened to that? As far as I know, you're either a damn good liar or you did what you always told her you would. Did you actually find those bullets and get to use one?" He pauses and waits for an answer that never comes. "Not to worry, we can move on. Have you ever told Izuku about your childhood?"

She shakes her head, "I'm not that person anymore. I'm not that person anymore. I haven't been for a very long time."

"It still haunts you though, doesn't it?" he smirks. "You know as well as I do that the past isn't something that you can so easily run from. You can hide it, you can pretend it isn't what it really is, you can do a lot of things in the past, but running is never an option. The past is what makes you who you are. So, you might not be that person anymore, but you were at one point and that's what matters. Izuku, tell me what you know about your little friend's past why don't you?"

Izuku's words escape him as fast as they arrive. He shakes his head. "She doesn't know her biological parents and she has an older twin brother."

"So you did tell him about me," Shinobu muses.

She shakes her head, "No, because my Shinobu was sweet and kind. My Shinobu would never do what you've done to a person. You don't even look the same."