long overdue but girl wattpad got onto me for not updating and I'm a spiteful bitch
Disclaimer: This entire chapter is a let's-shit-on-Sansa-for-no-apparent-reason party. Endeavor trigger warning. He's here, I regret writing it looking back. Let's all suffer together, yay!
No bc actually what MANIC episode did I have when I decided to make this story, and moreover, Endeavor the gay furry extraordinaire. 2019 was wild. Don't start stories when you're 17 and your dad has cancer and you're trying to cope with horrible humor and nothing else, kids.
(My dad is alive and fine btw so. Slay for him.)
Third person pov
Iida had cried like, a lot. Which was great for him, really. Harper was glad he was... getting that all out. Or whatever the fuck was going on. Don't ask her, because really, she has little to no idea what the fuck is going on at any given time anymore.
Again, she found herself wishing Kirishima was here to help her. Instead she'd been stuck by herself, forced to awkwardly lead Tenya off to the side of the gym whilst their classmates tried to pretend they weren't eavesdropping and shooting glances their way every two seconds.
He felt bad about avoiding her. It wasn't hard to get Tenya to open up-- or at least, it wasn't as hard as Harper had feared it might be. She was still regretting not cornering him somewhere else more private. In her defense, she hadn't exactly expected him expected him to let out a torrent of uncontrollable tears. Kurogiri had pretty much lost it, warping away from where Sero and Bakugo had joined forces trying to get him to stay put for once in his life. Harper wasn't even upset about it. Just shocked the two boneheads had actually worked together on something.
It was an exhausting day, emotionally. Which has been just about every single day lately, but Harper digresses nonetheless. Everything feels blurry and she wishes she knew what the fuck she was supposed to be doing. Training, probably, for the licensing exams. Is she participating in those? Does she have to? Her quirk is certified for use in the field of interrogation and police work under the direct supervision of a qualified adult superior. Harper supposes if she wants to use it to, say, fuck with people's emotions... yeah, that might need a license. What a pain.
"Dabi." Harper's voice came out raspy and tired, but relieved. "You look like shit. When was the last time you showered? Or ate, for that matter?"
The scarred man was sat across from her, face hidden in shaky hands, elbows propped on his knees. He looked like shit. Seriously, he was worse than she was. Harper should've known better than to assume he wouldn't sink into his guilt. Even though he'd done nothing wrong and it wasn't his fault, Harper knew Dabi better than that.
This was expected, and she hated herself a little for not addressing it sooner. Dabi was someone who needed his space, sure, but Harper had given him too much of it. That was on her.
Sansa and Tsukauchi stood behind him and looked totally wrecked, hovering to make sure he wouldn't run. Their exhaustion was evident, and Sansa's fur was even singed in some places. Good. He deserved it, even if he had gone to the trouble of dragging Dabi over here to her.
She was endlessly glad to see the scarred man. Even if he was obviously throwing himself some sort of perpetual pity party, Harper had missed him. Kurogiri had too if his fluctuating mist was anything to go off of. Sero had been pawned off onto Aizawa for the time being-- something neither of them were all too happy about.
Harper inspected Dabi, her quirk digging its claws into the familiar mind with ease and beginning to sift through the blockades of steaming horseshit that had formed. Harper wished she could pull them out and take this all away, but that simply wasn't how it worked. The brunette resisted to urge to scrub at her eyes.
She was so tired. All of them were, and nobody was dealing with this very healthily. Aside from maybe Sato, who was just... so good at coping. The most normal of their classmates. If anyone was going places, it was him. They could all stand to take a page out of his book, even if baking seventeen batches of cookies as a form of therapy was a little out there.
"Harper." Dabi croaked out. Harper had the sudden, unexplainable urge to laugh. She didn't because she's not a piece of total shit, but it was still there. This was all just insane. Absolutely fucking insane. Kirishima was dead, and Harper could still hardly wrap her head around the fact that he was gone. This all felt surreal, but it's not that she was disbelieving. She knew he was dead, it just was hard to... Harper didn't know. She couldn't put her feelings into words no matter how hard she tried. If she could, maybe she'd be able to talk to someone. Tell them and get help. "Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit! I should've burned that stupid cat alive the moment he put his grimy little paws on me. I shouldn't be here. She shouldn't want to see me. It's bad for her. I'll only remind her. I should've left."
"If you're going to murder Sansa, do it because he's a menace, not because he dragged you here." Harper advised, her voice steadier than she felt. Why was her heart beating so erratically? Harper wasn't sure she wanted an answer to that. Some things simply weren't explainable these days. Like her sudden dislike for pickles. Where had that come from? No idea, but a lot of random things had been off since Kamino, and it made Harper feel all the more mind boggled. "I've missed you. We're all waiting for you to come back. Kurogiri and the class included. Shoto's been thinking about you a lot lately, you know."
"Do not tackle me." Kurogiri requested of the scarred man in place of any agreement. Harper shrugged as though to say 'see, I told you so'. Dabi's hands curled into fists, bloodshot turquoise eyes levelling on her. He looked so incredibly... sad. Like the weight of the world was dragging him down. Harper bit the inside of her cheek, looking over the man's head and at Sansa and Tsukauchi instead. They both looked lost, and it was obvious they had no idea how to fix this. Even Sansa was subdued. "Dabi looks worse than Sansa. That is a first, because Sansa looks worse than everyone at all times."
Dabi lowered his gaze to the table, feeling angry. Not at Harper or even at Tsukauchi and Sansa. Just... at himself. He felt like he could see Kirishima's grin every time he closed his eyes. Could hear the squelch of blood, could smell it in the air potently.
How could Harper bear to look at him? Dabi couldn't. Anytime he did, he was faced with the one who Kirishima had chosen to save for some reason. No matter how hard he looked and thought, he could not find a single good reason why. He was a piece of shit. He was moody, and didn't care much about other people or their opinions. How could a hero student-- Harper's best friend-- place Dabi's life above his own?
He wanted to say so much. Wanted to apologize, cry, tell her he didn't mean it. Harper would just roll her eyes at him if he did, though. That made it all the worse. She didn't want an apology. How could she not see what he'd done wrong? He was her hired bodyguard. Her protector. He was the one supposed to do the shoving-out-of-the-way. He was the one who was supposed to get hit by that blast. It was aimed at him, for his flames. Dabi was the one who was supposed to die that day.
"Actually." Harper spoke, drawing him from his thoughts. Dabi stared at her, feeling even more lost than he had when she first forced her way into his apartment. The brunette gave him a stern look so scolding it made him straighten unconsciously. "Nobody was supposed to die that day. None of us were even supposed to be there. If anything, I'm the one who should blame myself. I got kidnapped. I got transported to that battlefield. Shigaraki was attacking me when Bakugo stepped in and got his foot taken off. Kirishima was trying to get me when he got hit. Don't belittle his sacrifice by saying he shouldn't have protected you. Have you ever met Kirishima? He'd have done it for anyone in the line of fire."
"Harper... I should have moved." Dabi stressed as though it made all the sense in the world. He sounded so convinced and sure that Harper wanted to laugh again. And maybe smack him, because clearly he's not as smart as Harper thought he was. Maybe he gets a pass on his clouded judgement, since he's traumatized. Harper doesn't know. "It was supposed to me. He was a kid. Harper loved him and I took that away. I should've been faster. I should have moved. Why didn't I move? Why did he jump in the way?!"
Harper pressed her lips firmly together. It's not that she was annoyed. She just... she didn't know. She just wished Dabi could see. He'd been there for her through a lot, yet he was talking as though his life meant nothing to anyone. Just because Kirishima was dead didn't mean people had stopped caring about Dabi too. Harper was glad both of them hadn't died, because in that situation, they very well could've. It was a miracle the rest of them had gotten out of their with their hearts still beating and their bodies intact, Bakugo notwithstanding.
Did Harper want to scream and cry and bash her fists again a wall until they bled? More than anything! But not because Kirishima had died instead of Dabi, but rather because anyone had died at all. Had Dabi lost his life, she'd be in the exact same goddamn state. Kirishima would be feeling the same guilt Dabi was feeling right now were the roles reversed, and would be just as shutdown. How could Dabi not see that?
"You didn't take anything away." Harper snapped at him, once again tugging him from his spiraling thoughts. She leaned forward, reaching forward and snatching his hands into hers against his will. Harper almost yanked him out of his seat as she did so. It forced him to meet her eyes. "You're acting like you dying somehow would've been better. We still would've lost someone, and we still would've been mourning. It's a shit situation. Kirishima shouldn't have died, but he chose to push you out of the way because he sees you as a friend, and because he knows I love you. You act like any of us would've been better off with you gone, but that's not true, so put a fucking sock in it and open your eyes. They killed him. Not you."
Dabi, not unlike Iida, burst into tears. Harper was too relieved by him hugging her to bother sighing.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Harper would start by making an organized list of the people who know she has plans to kill Tomura Shigaraki in cold blood and dismantle the League of Villains, but there'd be only two people on it. Herself and Inasa, whom she'd found herself having late night conversations with more often than not. They happened after Sero and Kurogiri were knocked out cold, whispered out in the hall so no one else could hear. It was nice having someone to talk to, and sometimes she could almost pretend everything was alright. That Kirishima was alive on the other side of the dorm, lingering just outside her quirk's range.
So, to hell with the list. Categorizing what she knows was more important, because it was only after doing so that she could decide what she wanted to do, and how she wanted to do it. It was the most foolproof way of planning Harper had come across so far, and never has it led her astray. She doubts it will now. The less people know about her murderous intentions, the better. Even if it is a little lonely. Harper just-- doesn't want anyone else to get hurt. She doesn't want to involve anyone if she doesn't have to. Maybe later down the line, when she has things fleshed out and has access to more information.
And that's what she really needs, isn't it? More information. And if she wants more information, she needs to go out and get it somehow. And if she wants to go out and get it somehow, she needs permission to leave the campus. All of them are on lockdown until further notice and being forced to attend near-daily grief counseling, since the entirety of UA's staff seems to think they're ticking time bombs just waiting to go off. Which yeah, they're absolutely not wrong, but it still doesn't make the whole thing any more bearable.
Luckily, Harper has thought ahead. Or she'd thought she'd thought ahead-- apparently not far enough, because what the actual fuck? She'd had a whole plot. Nezu had to owe her around half a million favors by now considering she'd only ever asked him for like, maybe two, whilst he'd been punching her as regularly as a clock-in card at a second rate diner in desperate need of people to cover shifts. Harper'd gone in to campaign for time off campus, accompanied by Kurogiri to watch her back. Which worked, but apparently her argument wasn't as foolproof as she thought.
"No." Harper denied, a little pale and more than a little horrified. "I'm not going anywhere with him, you stupid rat. Cash in all my favors if you want, just let Kurogiri and I get out there and go. We'll be fine."
She made a gesture between her and Kurogiri to indicate exactly who she meant just so the rat couldn't twist it further. The warp gate user nodded rapidly in support, eyes comically wide.
"I'm sorry, Miss Rye. I simply can't allow it! Not with all that happened. You are the League of Villains' prime, number one target. They made it fairly clear they had a way to keep Kurogiri from warping in immediately. If they were to nullify him again, you'd be practically defenseless." Nezu said it in this overly-patronizing and faux-ly reasonable tone. His smugness was written all over his face. Little bastard was having a great time with this. "It's all a matter of safety, really. This is a splendid compromise! I'm entirely willing to give you this favor, but there are conditions. You understand, don't you?"
Harper pressed her lips together into a thin, thin line. How had Nezu even done this? What sort of shit ass blackmail did he have on Endeavor, of all fucking people, that he was now willing to chaperone a teenage girl out and about? He was the acting Number One Hero now. For all intents and purposes, he should not have time to deal with her.
Not her, not Kurogiri, not anyone. Society was laid out flat on its back and was about to get curb stomped in every imaginable way if someone didn't pick it back up. That someone being goddamn Endeavor. All Might was retired now and enjoying his life as a shitty teacher and Izuku Midoriya's pseudo-father. This was all Endeavor now.
Harper took a deep breath. Okay. Okay, calm down. There's no need to freak out just yet, right? She can get out of this and get what she wants. It's just-- Harper can't sit by in the dorms and wallow. That simply isn't an option. She has to be out there working towards her ultimate goal or she is going to go batshit insane. But-- Endeavor? Come on! How is she supposed to subtly gather any sort of intel with him at her heels. Or worse, with her at his heels. She's pretty sure his thoughts in large doses might kill her. If only Nezu knew.
"I'm sure Endeavor is a very, very, very busy man. Being the Number One Hero. Newly. In Japan. Which is struggling. And needs its Number One Hero to do Number One Hero things." Harper stilted the words out from between gritted teeth, trying hard not to seem too peeved and failing. Pardon her for being too tired to put on her bored little facade. Something about Nezu just makes her irrevocably angry. Maybe it's got something to do with him being a little bitch and running a school that raises child soldiers. "Surely Kurogiri and I will be fine if we're subtle. I doubt the League has any idea what his face looks like."
More supportive nodding from Kurogiri, and luckily, no words. Harper had given him explicit instructions to keep his trap shut. At least someone knew how to listen. She'd told Sero he was staying with Aizawa for the rest of the day and he'd fucking lost it. Pansy.
"You're being naive and conceited. It was foolish of me to take time out of my schedule for a child so petulant. The only reason I accepted was not because I care, but because it's well known that you have a target painted on your back, girl. Wherever you go, the League is likely to follow in some capacity. That's what we want." Endeavor hissed the words out in the most egotistical was possible, because of course he fucking did. Harper took in a deep breath and held it, very slowly turning to look up at him. "Please. I'd do anything-- and I mean anything-- Principal Nezu asked me. He's not as... large as I prefer, but just look at him. Those furry paws, sharp eyes, his ears. His overwhelming, cunning intelligence, and-- and his scar is so rugged. I'm practically melting just being in the same room as him. And on the way here, that guidance counselor. So big, and powerful, and dominant. I'd like to--"
"Oh my god." Harper breathed out, turning away and doing her best to block it out. Nope. Can't do that. Any other hero and she'd honestly be more open to it. Harper covered her face with her hands for a moment, scrutinizing the flicker of confusion that went through Nezu's gaze as she struggled not to physically gag. It was fine. This was fine. She'd been through worse, right? Right? "Great. Alright, so you want to use me as bait. How lovely and noble of you. Do you even know what my quirk is?"
Endeavor stared at her blankly, arms folded across his chest and form imposing. Harper risked a glance back, forced to look away again when another shiver ran its course through her body. Nezu definitely looked a little lost now, teacup slowly lowering as his gaze darted between them both.
There was a calculating look on his face. He hated when people knew things he didn't and strove for more and more knowledge. He was hungry for it. It's probably why he tortured Harper so endlessly. She would always know things he didn't, and he undoubtedly hated that shit. Petty little ball of snake feed.
At least Dabi wasn't here. Or maybe it'd be better if he were, since he'd go for his sperm-donor's throat. Endeavor being a furry really wasn't all that surprising. With his kids being eugenics experiments, he clearly had an acute breeding kink of some kind. Poor Rei Todoroki. A single look into his thoughts confirmed that. Only apparently he didn't want to be the one doing the breeding, which really just-- made her vomit in her mouth a little. What sort of fucked up shit was this? Why did she have to deal with it? This man was the Number One Hero. God, she feared for Japan's future.
"Furry. Endeavor is dangerous and a 'furry', as Harper Rye has previously reported to me. Anyone who has a crush on Sansa is someone I do not trust. Can he truly be expected to look after Harper Rye? Surely no better than I can." Kurogiri stressed, shifting his weight from foot to foot. His hand was on one of Harper's shoulders, grounding her. Honestly, it was the only thing she had to hold onto in this vile situation. She just wanted to get out of here and do some digging. If she died, oh boo. It'd be on her. "Vile man. Very disgusting. I do not want him near her. She is clearly in great distress! I should get him out of here. No, no, I'm not to move or speak at the moment, as per Harper Rye's request. What if he hurts her? Emotionally? Mentally? Physically? This will not do!"
"She looks uncomfortable. Why? No, not just uncomfortable. Disgusted. What is Endeavor thinking that has her so upset? It's rare for Harper Rye to show so much open emotion on her face. Is it simply because she's upset over the loss of her companion? No, no, it's more than that." Nezu speculated annoyingly. Harper was going to bash his head in with a pencil cup. "She looks ready to throw up. My, this is quite amusing and interesting! How was I not made aware of this sooner?"
"I don't care what your quirk is. If you leave, you're doing it under my guard. The League Of Villains are the most wanted group in Japan. If they're going to come after you the moment you step foot off this campus, I will be there." It would've sounded noble if he'd said it in any other tone of voice. He just came off ruddy and disrespectful in this case, and Harper sort of wanted to out him on twitter. If only she had physical proof. "Besides, she knows that one officer. The handsome feline with the sharp teeth. I'd do anything to run into him again. He could ruin me. I can almost imagine him on me, teeth sinking into my neck, tapered--"
"OKAY!" Harper screamed at the very, very, very top of her lungs. She took several steps back from Endeavor, who looked unamused. Good for him. He could join the fucking club, in which Harper was the president, because nothing about this situation was funny. Not in the slightest. She was deriving no entertainment from this and she wanted to lay on the ground and die. At least she'd get to reunite with Kirishima that way. "Is he my only option? Him? Fine! Sure! Totally fucking fine!"
Kurogiri put both hands on her shoulders, looking nothing short of mortified by her out-of-character behavior. Harper was feeling the same way for a whole slew of other reasons she really wished she didn't have to be exposed to. But you know what? Fine.
Maybe she can... use this somehow. The Number One Hero has to have resources. She's been meaning to tackle the Shoto issue for a while as well. Sansa's not that important. Harper can use him as a... bartering chip. Or something. Endeavor likes-- god, she's going to be sick right now-- furries more than anyone else in the whole entire goddamn word, Harper is pretty sure. That's something exploitable. Especially considering she knows more than one. This is sickening. In a bad way.
"Then let's stop wasting time. I don't have all day." Endeavor scoffed, turning on his heel like some sort of moody teenager. Harper wondered if this was a nightmare. It sure as hell felt like one, but what does she know? "I should ask her what the cat officer's name is. Fuck, those claws down my back would--"
"Sure! Great! You can meet us at the gate!" Harper clapped her hands together sharply, cutting the train of though toff. Endeavor was giving her a peculiar look now, clearly sensing something was a bit off with her. Harper was sensing what was wrong with him right back, so again, he could join the fucking club. She wished Kirishima were here. This evening was going to be nothing short of traumatizing. "Kurogiri, now, please."
Kurogiri was more than willing to comply. Harper was so grateful she gave him a hug after.
~~~~
Want more Harper content? There is... so much on patreon. Like I really need to post some on wattpad, there's so many series on there. You can read up to Chapter 81 on this book. There's Harper as a werewolf. Harper if she got One For All. Harper if she found Thor's hammer. Harper if she met Kurogiri (Shirakumo edition) when she was a kid.
Harper if she was a Yakuza leader on accident. Harper if she was a sorta vigilante who de-aged Hawks, stole Eri, and is now pretending said de-aged Hawks is her and Kaminari's blood child. Harper in Harry Potter. So many more. Various Harper rare pair one shots with Shoto, Kaminari, and Hitoshi. I may make a mind boggled one shot book at this point it's getting outta hand.
Also, I posted another BNHA book if anyone wants to check it out! It's on my page I'm so excited about it. It's about a girl who sorta kidnaps and raises Shoto Todoroki, as well as like a small hoard of other children. It's called "I Don't Know A Shoto"
Pro gamer tip if you made it this far... does anyone read the tags of stories? Because this is the second time I've done this and only like TWO PEOPLE have noticed. It's so funny but also I tagged it all the way back around chapter 50 something, so it's like been there. I for real be holding my BREATH on here and Ao3.