Glitch • BNHA x Reader

Chapter Twenty

You finally sighed and said, "A villain who is quickly rising. His motives keep shifting and he's unpredictable, so I can't say for sure what he wants. He learns from his mistakes, and he knows how to hold a grudge."

Overhaul seemed to accept your answer, cringing from under his mask as he looked at the dust filled corners of the room. "Could he be any use to the yakuza?"

You spoke your mind. "No. He'd never work for you guys. He's not the type to follow orders from someone who isn't All for One."

He nodded, tilting his head in your direction. "I see. And what happened during your kidnapping? Do you know of any of their weaknesses?"

You shrugged. "I wasn't there for very long before the heroes came to rescue me. We didn't really even talk."

"You're currently walking with a limp. Are they the reason for that?" he asked in a more serious tone. You wondered why he had even bothered. He didn't seem like the type of person to truly care about his subordinates- he had proven that in the manga when he'd mercilessly killed them for disobeying him on even the slightest accounts. You doubted that he was asking because he was concerned. It wouldn't make any sense if he was.

You cringed at the memory of how you'd gotten your limp. Even though Recovery Girl had managed to heal most of your injuries, your leg was still sore from the way it had been twisted after your fall. "I jumped off a cliff because someone was trying to kill me."

He stared at you for a moment before giving into startled laughter. You nervously fiddled with your fingertips, unsure of why he found it so funny. After he fell back into silence, he shook his head, motioning for you to leave. You decided to listen, not wanting to upset him. You didn't realize that he had fallen into deep thought, staring after you as you left.

Alone in the room, Overhaul twirled in the chair behind his desk, letting his hands limply fall over the armrests. He wondered what was going on in his own head. You had stumbled into his life because of something he had orchestrated. You were a willing pawn. But just now, he had felt something akin to worry about you. About your injury.

When you'd told him that you'd jumped off a cliff, he certainly hadn't expected it. Now that he thought back on it and your behaviors around him, it was very much something you would do. He didn't know why he was invested in a pawn. It was a mystery he would have to solve.

He couldn't quite tell if he liked the change or not.

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"You came back!" A small bundle of white cried as she catapulted herself at you. She was smiling so wide you were sure that her face was going to split open. She looked up at you, eyes full of joy as she wrapped her tiny arms around your waist in a makeshift hug.

You crouched down so that she could give you a proper hug. "Of course I came back. I made a promise to you, didn't I?"

She looked at you, mood taking a turn. "I got scared when you left me for so long. I thought you were gonna break your promise."

"I never break my promises," you told her, and you meant it. Promises were practically sacred to you. You took them very seriously and expected others to do the same when they promised you something. Even though you'd almost broken yours in falling to your near death, you had still kept it, and that was what mattered. You'd always come back for her, just like you said you would.

You wondered if you were going to break your promise to your brother, who was still waiting for you in your home world. Along with Mustard, Eri was another person who reminded of you of him. You spoke softly. "You know, you remind me a lot of someone who's very special to me."

"Who?" Eri asked, and you decided to tell her.

You told her your brothers name, age, and about the school he went to. You told her about how he was always smiling and loved to play games. It was nice to be able to talk about him with somebody. It made you feel as if your experiences were more real. You missed him to bits. You hoped that wherever he was, he was doing alright.

Eventually, your time with Eri came to a close, and you waved goodbye to Kurono as you left. He gave you a nod, and you took it as your cue to leave.

You immediately knew that something was wrong as soon as you started your walk home. You felt as though you were being watched. It made you anxious, and you hugged your arms to your chest as you began walking faster. You tried to tell yourself that you were making things up, but your instincts told you otherwise.

You continued your journey home, intensely aware of the figure following you. You kept looking back over your shoulder, but every single time you did the figure disappeared from sight. It made you all the more uneasy.

You noted the alleyway that you were about to pass. It went between two buildings, and if you walked through it, you could cut down your walk home by about five minutes. You wondered if it was worth it to go through. It was a lot more secluded, and the streets were empty anyways, and it meant that no one would be able to hear you scream if you were cornered.

You decided to take that risk and took a sharp turn, bolting into the alleyway. You were halfway through it when a winged figure blocked your path. You immediately took a step backwards, ready to run in the opposite direction.

Before you could, he moved, and in a flash, you were pinned against the wall of the alley, a sharpened red feather pressed against your throat. You froze, looking at your attacker in fear.

Hawks stood there, staring at you menacingly, pressing the feather hard enough into your skin that you felt blood drip down your neck. "What do you know about Project XE-7?"

"Nothing!" you immediately exclaimed, deathly still in his hold. It wasn't your best move to lie, but you couldn't afford to let him know that it was the reason why you were here. You decided to give a half truth, hoping it would throw him off enough that he didn't know you were bullshitting. "I only saw the file on the receptionist's desk!"

"Bullshit," Hawks glared with a snarl. "You knew about the commission's involvement in that case. Tell me how or I'll slit your throat."

You were honestly, truly terrified. You had underestimated him. You'd hoped that the absence of the feathers in your life had meant that he had given up on trying to spy on you. Clearly, that wasn't the case. It had only meant that he was taking more intense measures to make sure you didn't say anything. What was worse was that he knew that you knew about the commission's involvement in Sir Nighteye's death.

You weren't brave. You weren't a fighter. At the end of the day, you were just you. You gave into the fear. "He mentioned talking to the commission a few days before his death. It wasn't that hard to put two and two together."

"Who else knows?" He questioned, and you kept a straight face. You couldn't let him know that Mirio had been there that day. You couldn't let anything happen to him.

"It was just me," you said, almost convincing even yourself. "I was the only one there that day."

You knew he was probably going to kill you. It was the only conclusion you could come to after he asked you who else knew. You were panicking internally, unsure of how to escape your current predicament. Finally, you realized that you only had one choice. You had to tell him that you were the one from the experiment. If you did, then there was chance he would let you live. You could still be useful to the hero commission.

Hawks kept you pinned against the wall, raising his feather to slash your throat, and you talked to him frantically. "I'm the person that they pulled here for Project XE-7!"

Hawks paused. Paused and turned to look you in the eyes, narrowing his own. When he finally spoke again, your panic only increased. "Liar."

The feather came down, and you awaited your final moments with a baited breath.