Mind Boggled

Chapter 9

There were still no signs of Kurogiri or Shigaraki, but Harper was ever the skeptic. For one thing, she hadn't felt Kurogiri before his warp gate appeared beneath her. Either she hadn't been paying attention, or there simply was no warning. Harper was willing to bet it was the latter, as unfortunate as that was. Being able to sense him was ideal. Harper wasn't sure she could go much of anywhere at this point without expecting the ground to fall out right from under her feet.

Her bunny slippers were a mess, covered in grass stains and dirt. She was glad she'd put a hoodie on, protecting the shirt beneath it. The skirt was a little worse for wear, but she was hopeful. It seemed relatively salvageable. Her sweatpants definitely weren't as lucky. Her knees had taken the brunt of the abuse. She'd never hopped so many fences in such rapid succession, so she'd stumbled and scuffed herself up more than a few times. Harper was just glad it was over. Maybe Nezu would take pity and give her a new uniform. That would be the nice thing to do, but Nezu was... vaguely batshit crazy.

As the girl approached UA gates, she held her breath. She could see Tsukauchi's car from where she was. He was here, which meant Nezu was too. That was assuming the man ever left the hellish campus. If Harper could just make it through the front doors of this accursed place, maybe she'd be alright. Maybe. Kurogiri couldn't know where she was if he couldn't see her. Her phone's battery was almost empty anyway, so there was no way they could shimmy her location out of it somehow. Harper wasn't sure how that would work, but there were quirks of every kind out there these days. She didn't want to risk it.

Harper could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears as she approached. She forced her breathing to slow down. It had been months since she'd last had a full-blown panic attack, and she wasn't about to let walking through a fucking door change that. She'd gotten away from the villains for the time being, and she was fine. Shigaraki hadn't gotten the chance to disintegrate her face, nor was Kurogiri around to open a portal for her to fall through. She was perfectly fine right now. Tired, in need of something way stronger than coffee, but okay. Technically speaking. 

"Welcome to the fucking gallows, Harper. Brace yourself." Harper mumbled to herself as she threw UA's front door open, preparing for the worst. She held her breath, stepping past the threshold and shuffling a few spaces forward. She braced herself for the feeling of weightlessness that came with falling, hands curling into fists around the straps of her backpack. Her knees felt close to buckling, but instead locked into place, stiff as boards. An unwelcome shot of cold shivered down her back, and-

Absolutely nothing happened.

"Thank fuck." Harper groaned to herself, beginning to briskly pace towards Nezu's office where the mammalian creature was probably waiting. She didn't have time for this. Well, that was a lie. Harper really didn't do much else other than sleep, eat, and maybe do her homework if the motivation was there, but that didn't mean she wanted to be here. If she could have it her way, she'd just walk right on home. But she couldn't risk that. Her parents would not be put in danger because of her. Not anymore than they already were. If Nezu hadn't been pulling her leg on the phone earlier, then her address was no longer listen on any database. 

She heard Nezu and Tsukauchi's thoughts before she reached the office. They were frantic and mulling, clearly trying to figure out what to do. Most were about her, wondering if she was alive. And if not, what had happened and why. The 'why' part made her want to throw back her head back and laugh. Why? Of course they'd kidnapped her! She was a fucking idiot who got a small army of janitors arrested for being terrorists, and now here she was. Paying for it. The brunette should have been more subtle, and none of this would be happening.

"Alright, you fucks. I'm alive." Harper sighed as she threw open the door, causing Tsukauchi to jump slightly. Nezu was unfazed outwardly, his pleasant smile widening into a grin that looked almost threatening. Harper decided not to think about it too hard. It might hurt her already throbbing brain. She wondered what a girl had to do for some aspirin around here. Seriously, her skull felt ready to split in two.