**very long chappie
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It had been 3 days.
Three days of gutting the criminal underworld to get the behaviors they wanted. Despite not catching sight of any of Overhaul's underlings slipping yet, talk was spreading of Dabi's return.
Touya didn't really talk about what exactly happened to him after he faked his death and became Dabi, but he was known. Rapists were his primary target and because of his particular interest, known offenders were offered up on a silver platter to him.
Men and women were kicked from their gangs and their pictures were put up in alleys Dabi was known to frequent. Child abusers were up very close next to it, mainly because outside of the law they weren't very easy to find, especially with Touya's way of operating.
He was a killer, and Touya knew that. There were things he knew he couldn't take back and he accepted such. Touya knew he wasn't a good person, but he also knew he wasn't a bad one because there was a reason why his sperm donor was able to get away with so much despite his fame, and it was because the man had one thing.
Power.
And Dabi had power too.
A brush of wind hit Touya's back. Smirking lightly, he didn't turn until he felt a single red feather tickle his right ear making him chuckle.
"What you got birdie?" he asked, turned with a smirk, only to see Keigo holding an unconscious and severely bloody man by the scruff of his jacket.
Keigo smirked and with little effort, lifted the man up a bit so Touya could get a better look at him. Touya's eyes widened and he couldn't help but snicker as he thought about their next course of action, the white mask that once adorned the man's face, falling from his ear and drifting to the floor.
With a smirk on his face, Touya bent down and picked it up. A second later blue flames encased the surgical mask, and its ash fell through his fingers.
They got one.
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Yu Hojo joined the Shie Hassaiki when he was 15. He was homeless, hungry, orphaned, and easily manipulated so it was no wonder how he got affiliated with Kai Chisaki.
"Where'd you find him?" Eli asked as she stared at the man, who was just barely coming too. She almost laughed as she slapped his face lightly. The man groaned, his eyes blinking only slightly, his ragged breath trying to keep up with his racing mind.
They were back at her workshop, and Hojo was tied to a chair in the very back room. The room held nothing but a chair. It used to be a supply closet, but Eli had no use for that with all the space she already had, so why not use it as something like an interrogation room?
It had been a couple of hours since Keigo found him. They'd given him a small sedative to keep him sleeping and they rested while he was tied up here.
"On the bridge over the river, he was crying, but I recognized him instantly," Keigo explained with a shake of his head. Eli let out a huff of laughter.
"Wonder what happened to make a big man like him cry?" Eli joked as she took off her gloves and tossed them to the floor.
"Whatever it is, it better be good," Touya shook his head.
"Better be, he put up a pretty good fight," Keigo said sarcastically, waving his hand in the air to reveal a cut on his palm. Touya chuckled at that and despite their situation, Eli had half a mind to take his hand in hers.
For no known reason, other than she wanted to.
"Let's wake him and find out then shall we," Eli clapped her hands, snapping herself back into it before she nodded at Touya. He nodded and left the room briefly and in a few minutes came back with a pitcher of water.
Reaching into her utility belt, she pulled a small gray device from her side with a rounded black button. She only smiled at it before looking straight at the nodding man before them and throwing the pitcher of water at his face... pitcher and all.
The man jolted away, screaming in pain pulled away from the restraints on his torso, arms, and legs. Touya chuckled at the sight.
"Don't tell me you warmed up the water," Keigo said with a sigh only to see Touya smirk and wink at him.
Eli didn't say anything as she watched the man come alive, blinking rapidly as he sat panting around the cloth in his mouth.
"Oh, let me get that for you," Eli said, moving the cloth from his mouth.
The man coughed loudly and breathed harshly as he looked around panicked, his eyes instantly stopping as he saw the three before him.
He instantly recognized 2 of the 3.
"K-kinetic... Dabi... w-wHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" the man began to yell as he pulled harder against his restraints.
"Yu Hojo is it?" Eli asked simply.
The man stilled at the mention of his name. He was supposed to be dead, just another missing kid on the streets they never found, only the Hassaika was supposed to know his real name. The man grit his teeth and glared before he stilled only slightly.
He felt around for the power his Quirk gave him, feeling it. He stared at Eli with hard eyes before he smirked and an iridescent crystal shot from his fingertips.
Touya and Keigo sighed, shaking their heads.
Eli wasted no time in shooting her hand forward to grab his wrist. The man grunted in pain, probably from the beating Keigo had given him earlier, but that moment gave Eli all she needed.
She slapped away the crystal, leaving it to hit the wall and shatter before she applied pressure to his wrist. She gave him a look, a knowing look, but all the man did was glare.
Eli almost felt bad for the guy.
She let go of his wrist briefly, making the man pant in confusion before her hand shot towards his neck. She sneered to herself as she pushed her strength into her arm, lifting the chair just a bit before slamming him and the chair to the floor, breaking the back legs and back of the chair.
The man groaned from the impact, rolling over just a bit to alleviate the pain in his back as Eli just walked a bit to the side, squatting down to meet his eyes this time.
"I take it that you now realize the situation you're in hmm?" she asked.
The man could only quiver in fear and pain as he stared at her with fearful eyes.
"Look at you, you're so scared. Now if you're scared, imagine how scared a little girl would be," Eli said easily, getting to the chase almost instantly.
She didn't have to elaborate and she knew she didn't once the man froze in his place. They knew this was a man who held the information they wanted, for he was in the pictures Shouta had given them. And from the pictures alone, the three of them could tell that this Yu Hojo was a part of Kai Chisaki's inner circle.
That meant he knew something.
And Eli was gonna get it out.
"Look I don't know what you heard, but I don't know shit," the man wheezed out, still struggling to breathe from the pain he felt in his back. Hopefully, his ribs wouldn't be bruised.
The sound of Touya's boots on the floor and the tsk's from his mouth rang through the room. Touya approached them, making Eli look up at him before standing up straight. He bent down and reached in the inner pocket of his trench coat to pull out a folded-up picture of him, 2 other men, and Kai Chisaki in the warehouse Shouta had spotted them in.
"Really? Cause last I heard you were in search of a new toy," Touya said with a smirk as he held the photo out for the man to see.
Red feathers fluttered close by, one of them poking Eli on the cheek every so softly before they shot towards the man, picking him up by his close and pinning him to the wall. Neither Touya nor Eli bats an eye at this, only moving to where the man now was.
"I'm not interested in these games Hojo-kun. So let's get to the chase... Kai Chisaki is keeping a little girl prisoner and is using her unknown Quirk to take over the black market and bring the Yakuza back to their former status," Eli stated, not taking her eyes off of him as she removed the gun strap holders on her body.
The man stilled from the accusation.
"H-how?" he stuttered out.
"Now I just need you to tell us where she is because I know you know," Eli said.
Almost instantly a facade was thrown on the man's face. Despite the nervous sweat he could feel trickling down his forehead, he threw on a haughty smile and quirked an eyebrow up. He was trying to make himself seem untouchable, which was far from the truth.
"I ain't telling you shit," he sneered, going as far as to spit on the ground in front of her feet.
Eli stared blankly at the ground, crossing her arms before she looked back up at the man with a knowing look on her face. She flicked a throwing knife directly at his thigh before the man could make another remark.
"Do you want to go home Hojo-kun?" Eli asked.
He was too busy screaming in pain to answer her. She was even starting to think she should've kept that gag in his mouth. So, walking forward, she pressed her hand to his mouth, silencing him. Her finger squeezed the sides of his face, one wrong move, and his jaw would drop, literally.
"Do you want to go home? You think your boys are just gonna waltz in here and come get you? Do you think you're just walking out of here, that I'm just going to turn you over to the police when all this is done?" Eli asked him menacingly, her hair floating around, leaving his focus on her blood-red eyes.
"Y-you can't do that, you're still a hero," the man said through grit teeth, trying with all his might to further feign his confidence as he fought with himself to stay upright.
"Yeah, but I'm not," Touya spoke up again, icy blue eyes trained on the man before him.
No, he didn't have the scars he'd had before, and his hair wasn't completely black, but that changed nothing. Though it helped with intimidation, everyone knew that when it came to Dabi, his look wasn't the scary part.
It was the flames, the flames that had incinerated mobs. Burned buildings to the ground, melted through the strongest barriers, it was fire without mercy. Even to the one who held the Quirk in their hands.
It sent a message. Anyone could be next.
"If she doesn't let you out of here, what makes you think I am?" Touya taunted.
Not that he believed Eli would let him out of here so easily, and he of all people knew that.
Still, he wore a sleazy smile on his face as he trotted over to them, grinning as the side of his face lit up with small blue flames, and singed his cheek a bit, but Touya was used to it by now.
Eli walked away briefly, going to the back where Keigo leaned against the wall cooly as Touya picked at the man's esteem for a bit on his own. He gave a small smile once he saw her walk over and nodded as she leaned against the wall beside him.
He couldn't say that these methods surprised him. In fact, the only thing that surprised him about it was Eli's sudden lack of empathy. He didn't blame her, in fact, he agreed with this method.
A kid's life was on the line and the fucking Yakuza was responsible. They didn't have time to do it any other way. Plus despite being heroes, Keigo of all people knew that sometimes you had to be the bad guy to be the good guy. Maybe that's why villains did what they did, he didn't know.
It was questionable for sure, but Eli could honestly care less. She was a hero, her job was to protect the general public in any way she could, so that's what she did.
Of course, these thoughts crossed her head. Was her way of operating too much, would these methods make those she cared for view her differently, was this right? Of course, it wasn't right, but nobody else was gonna do it.
Why else would Kai Chisaki be able to get away with this like he'd been doing? Somebody had to bare the burden, had to get their hands dirty, and for some reason, Eli had no issue with that being her. Was it odd that she didn't hesitate to attack anyone, to go for the kill even if it was against her apparent code as a hero?
Something in her wanted to blame those from her past, but they were long gone. How could she continue to blame them for the things she was now prepared to do 20 years later? Could she? Maybe she could, maybe she couldn't.
It didn't matter who was to blame, all that mattered was that Eli would continue. She had no choice, for she had to protect the people she cared for.
"You said, he was crying right?" Eli whispered, Keigo nodding in confirmation.
"What kind of crying?" Eli asked in wonder. Keigo raised an eyebrow and thought back.
He was on his way to take a short nap on a rooftop for about 10 minutes before continuing patrol when he spotted him. At first, he thought he was mistaken, but the surgical mask really gave it away. He couldn't help but wonder why this man was out in the open like that.
Granted he was in a rather barren part of the city, but it was still odd. And to top it off, the man was crying. Keigo instantly remembered thinking it was a trap, which was why he let the man stand there and cry for a good 5 minutes before he did anything. What could he even be crying over, a man they suspected to be aiding in illegal drug trafficking and potentially compliant in child abuse?
"Guilt?" Keigo pondered out loud.
Eli's eyebrows raised at the obvious answer and smiled as she brought her hand down on Keigo's shoulder in slight triumph.
"Dabi!" Eli called over, looking over to see him holding a blue flame dangerously close to the man's bald head with a snarky grin on his face.
"Yeah?" he asked, only for her to wave her hand towards them. Dabi huffed in slight annoyance before he let the man go and walked over.
"Go to the lockers on the other side and gear up, and contact Detective Tsukauchi and tell him that I got a big file coming his way. We're going when I'm done," Eli instantly sparked the alarms in their head as they instantly sat up and looked at her.
"What!? E, we don't even know where to go yet," Touya hissed quietly, hunching over her.
'Don't tell me she's losing it because she just got back in the game,' Touya thought.
"But we will. Look just trust me, have I ever given you a reason not to?" Eli asked rhetorically, placing a cool hand on her hip.
Sighing, Keigo called back his feathers with a wave of his hand. They flew back and nestled themselves into the creases of his hero costume where he'd hid them originally, but he caught one between his fingers. He then proceeded to take Eli's hand and put it in hers.
"Fine," he said.
Eli smiled and tucked it safely in her thigh-high socks for the time being.
"Do your thing E," Touya muttered with a small smirk. Though he was generally doubtful, these doubts weren't specific to Eli since she'd proven him wrong time and time again.
It wouldn't surprise him if she did it again.
With that they exited the room, taking her discarded gun straps with them to reload them if they needed to be. Yu Hojo sat against the wall tiredly, probably too tired to do anything. And him fighting to come to his senses confirmed that it wasn't fake either.
So, Eli walked over cooly, letting her hair fall from its floating state to sit in its usual afro-state. She sat in front of him with one of her arms rested on her knee, giving a generally disinterested look.
"Heard you been crying, Yu..." Eli spoke up.
The man's breath hitched and his neck cracked as he lifted his head to look at her. Tears pricked his eyes, his confidence breaking with every passing second.
"Is Overhaul hurting that little girl?" Eli asked in a calm tone of voice. Yu's throat swelled as he tried to choke down his tears.
It was funny actually. This very woman had just been throwing him around like a ragdoll, he should fear her. Her voice was kind but so menacing that it sent chills up his spine.
"Is that why you were crying? Can't take the weight of such a burden right?" Eli said again, watching as the tears began to free fall down his face.
"You know, it takes a special kind of person to hurt a child? I would know, I was a kid once," Eli appealed, cocking her hair to the side as she watched his face burn red and his body proceeds to go, limper and limper.
"Sure you were too. I looked you up, Yu Hojo, and I've met countless kids that were in your situation too. I bet you couldn't have known you'd get here huh, torturing an innocent child yourself," Eli told him. She heard his breath hitch and she had to stop herself from smirking.
She was getting to him.
"Do you hear her screams at night? I bet that's what got you so choked up," Eli told him as she maintained her calm tone.
His tears choked him, and his cries grew louder as she stared at him.
"So what, you're just gonna sit here and cry? Oh but I guess you're better off though right, at least I'm here with you, I'm sure that little girl doesn't have anybody to be there when she cries huh?" Eli pushed even further.
Sure, this man probably had a hard life that led him to where he was but to be so blindly loyal to such a man? It was obvious now, that Overhaul was hurting that child, and the revelation only made Eli less and less empathetic toward the man in front of her.
"You really want to be affiliated with a man like that? He doesn't give a fuck about you, hell I bet he'd have no problem killing you should it be required. I've heard of how the Shie Hassiaki reveres their leader, but this is just ridiculous. You'd follow a man who tortures a child for power? A man that could just as easily use his resources to help more people like the ones who pledge their loyalty to him?" Eli questioned, prodding away at his loyalty to the man.
She knew she couldn't get him to completely change sides in a matter of minutes, but if she could just get him to start questioning himself, she believed she could get him to give up the information he had. Hell, it was obvious enough that he'd already begun to question his boss's actions.
Eli stayed silent for a second letting the man think.
"This is a waste of my time. If you won't tell me where she is then I'll pick another one of you assholes off the streets and try again. One of you motherfuckers has to know something, and I will do anything to find out that something. You'd best take that into consideration in case you plan on getting out of here," Eli told him cooly as she reached up to scratch the side of her face.
She leaned forward and stood up and calmly dusted herself off, preparing to 'leave'.
Then she turned around.
"...Her name's Eri," he croaked out.
Eli smirked and reached into her utility belt again and pulled out the small button again. This time she pressed, allowing the recording to begin.
'Now we're getting somewhere,' she thought.
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It was a huge traditionally styled Japanese home. The gates out front were big but modern and the garden behind it had a huge adornment of plant life that grew alongside the rock path that led to their front door. They even had a little stream that ran from one side to the other.
The asshole was hiding in plain sight.
"Overhaul's Quirk is literally called Overhaul. It allows him to deconstruct both organic and nonorganic matter, and reconstruct it as well. Eri is the girl, she's 6, and her Quirk is called Rewind, which allows her to literally rewind things. That's how her father 'disappeared' remember?" Eli asked from their position above the hideout of Kai Chisaki.
Their guards had already been taken care of and were piled up on the other side of the roof, knocked out and bound together.
"That's how he was able to get away with so much for so long, why there's been nothing to actually link him to his crimes. He uses his Quirk to cover his tracks because then, he doesn't have to clean any bodies up. He just had to put them back together after destroying them and take them with him, then poof, no crime scene," Eli continued to explain as she checked her gun for the umpteenth time before shoving it in her thigh band.
"Apparently, that's how he's making the Quirk-Destroying bullets he'd... he'd been mutilating parts of her body to get the results he wanted with his Quirk and reconstructing it as he pleased," Eli seethed as she firmly tucked away her knives in unimaginable places.
"E..." Touya asked, making her snap out of it to look at him in his seat position by Keigo whose foot was tapping as quietly as possible as he tried to reign in his anger.
"Hm?"
"How mad at me would you be if I just burned the whole building to the ground?" he asked through grit teeth.
"I wouldn't be mad, taxpayers though, yes," Eli nodded, looking over at Keigo before pulling him to stand up. She needed them to focus if they were gonna get this girl out of here.
"And plus you can't, this place will be surrounded in like 30 minutes, which means after all this is done, you two are making your escape," Eli told them as she thought over the plan, time and time again.
They'd had the foundation of the plan already set up before they knew where exactly his hideout was, mostly to save time. After getting information regarding the other members and crossing referencing that with the information they'd already had, it was decided that they could overcome them with brute strength alone.
That wasn't the problem, the problem was that they had to do it quickly.
Since they were heroes, their licenses allowed them to do unwarranted searches ONLY with justifiable cause, which meant hard evidence.
And it just so happened that when Eli asked Keigo and Touya to leave, is also when she started recording her and Yu Hojo's conversation.
Since she couldn't touch it or edit it without it being considered tampering with evidence, she had to kick them out so they wouldn't be heard or seen in the recording because it would be problematic if she or Hawks were found to be affiliated with Dabi. Then she sent it off to Detective Tsukauchi and headed out.
They needed to get to the girl, Eri, to prove it though, which was what they were going to do.
"Once we're inside I'll send my feathers through the vents and find her, once I do, I'll send you guys the message," Keigo repeated out loud.
"And once that happens, we finish everyone off, we meet you there, you guys trade, and I'm off with birdie to go get Kota," Touya nodded.
"And then the police arrive and we all go home happy," Eli capped it with a sigh.
This was another reason why both Dabi and Hawks joined Eli on the streets at night. If the police were to see either of them fleeing the scene tonight, or if questions were raised because of the unnatural amount of scorch marks around, then it wouldn't be odd for Dabi to be spotted there since word had gotten around that he'd been spotted in his old alleys.
They knew his reputation, it was just a matter of caution on their part.
"And remember, non-lethal," Eli said, looking Touya dead in the eye as she did, who pointedly avoided her eyes as he sat sulking.
"You're a fucking lunatic," Keigo huffed out.
"And you wouldn't have it any other way," Touya smirked.
Eli chased off a grin before shaking her head.
"Let's go, to each its own," Eli nodded, sending them a nod before saluting them both and heading out.
She jumped from the roof, using the slightest 1% of power to scale the gate and be sitting out the outside window of the house. They'd already run the perimeter of the home, but no matter how they got in it would make noise, they just had to choose what kind of noise they were willing to make.
"Fuck this," she heard Touya say before his foot made contact with the very window she was under, kicking it down with ease.
Of course, making the biggest amount of noise possible.
Eli could only sigh as she stood up.
'There's no use now,' she thought inwardly.
She quickly hopped over the window ceil and began running to the secret passageway that Hojo had told her about as well. She could already hear some other movement in the house, but it was little. A big advantage they had is that they had no clue anyone was on to them like they were. There was no way there was any kind of preparation for this.
And that was just the advantage they needed.
When she located the secret passageway she put her hands on the edge and flexed her arms a bit before pulling it off and throwing it to the side. Suddenly, Keigo was beside her and sliding through the door, Touya standing directly behind her as well.
He went first, she next, and Touya last. The stairs were steep and they padded down them as quickly as possible. After a couple of minutes of running, they came to the door. Keigo slid it open to reveal a weird room and Eli immediately realized what this was.
Yu had told them that it was basically a maze down there, but once they get past a certain point they'd be fine.
And by they, that meant Keigo.
"Go!" Eli urged, not hesitating to push Keigo forward.
Without a second thought, Keigo was off, pumping his legs where Eli had told him to as he'd remembered the diagram she'd drawn out for them. It was a map based on what Hojo had told them and on the blueprints of the house they'd found.
Keigo released his feathers quickly, paying the chaos no mind as he attached them to his back once more and was off in the blink of an eye. Eli came barreling in next, her Quirk functioning at a high 80%.
She bashed through the complicated wall mercilessly, no corner was spared. Touya stayed directly behind her watching for any threats to come, and they knew they would.
Like clockwork, they heard a noise, several noises. Footsteps. Eli didn't let up, she kept at it. It was the only way to disorient them completely. Men rounded the corner, all different sorts of surgical masks on their faces.
Touya was up next. Once Eli had landed back beside him, he wasted no time in throwing up a blue firewall around them, keeping the walls just far enough so they wouldn't get burned.
There were 2 people, in particular, that Eli and Touya knew to be wary of. That would be 2 of Overhaul's right-hand men. Chronostasis and Mimic.
If Chronostasis got his hands on them, he could slow down their movements anywhere from a minute to an hour, and they couldn't have that. Mimic had the ability to fuse his body with inanimate objects and manipulate them as if they were his actual body.
Touya took a peek over at Eli, who had already been looking at him.
"Don't get hurt," she told him with a nod.
Touya smiled, actually smiled despite being in the situation he was in.
"Take care of me if I am," Touya said in a snarky tone.
Within seconds he'd turned around and ran straight towards the fire. He raised his hands up, separating the flames, only to cock his arm back and shoot out a massive blast of fire at whoever was out. Eli was quick to grip her guns and had them pointed by the time the firewall fell.
'I literally just told him non-lethal,' she sighed inwardly.
She had to handle Chronostasis. She'd deduced that if anybody could break out of his Quirk's hold, it was her. So Touya would have to handle Mimic.
Meanwhile, Keigo had brushed past everyone. He flew as fast as he could and he presumed that the reason he didn't encounter any foes was that he knew that not only did Eri have to be top secret even within the ranks of the Shie Hassaika but Eli and Touya had drawn everyone their way.
It wasn't long before the feathers he'd sent through the ventilation system had detected something. He paused for a second and watched behind him as he listened and waited. His feathers had the ability to detect vocal patterns. Though he'd never heard her voice, it was much lighter than any adult's so he figured that had to be her.
He took off towards his feathers location, but he waited for a bit outside the door he assumed she was in. He waited to sense any other vocal patterns of sensations so that he knew whether or not she was alone.
And she was.
He took no care to move slowly and yanked the door open.
And there she was.
She sat on her knees holding a faceless doll. Her arms and legs were wrapped in thick, clean bandages, and she wore a pale white hospital dress. She had light blue hair that fell down her back in messy waves and a horn on the side of her forehead.
But it wasn't the bandages or the hospital dress that bothered him. It was the look in her eye. Completely blank, almost lifeless. Not a sparkle nor a glimmer of anything.
The kids never looked like that, they were always so excited, or so mad, or so hungry, or so disgusted. It was always something. As he further dived into cooking and baking, their faces were his favorite part, seeing how good they found his cookies, popsicles, and cupcakes.
But this child... this child was much too young to be experiencing such emptiness so young.
He instantly shot over, grimacing as he saw her flinch back harshly. And suddenly that nothingness turned to fear.
"I'm getting you out of here okay?" Keigo told her.
He couldn't think of any explanations because he figured that no amount of explaining could soothe this child. Or at least no amount in the little time they had. So, he grabbed the blanket on her bed nearby and wrapped her in it.
"I'm sorry okay, when we get out of here we're gonna make sure that you're the happiest girl in the world," Keigo muttered, to her. He then took off his cover jacket and wrapped that over the girl as well.
"W-what?" she questioned.
Tears prick her eyes, but she couldn't say anything as Keigo scooped her up and was out of the room before she could make another sound. He held her tighter, sticking to the ceiling of the long hallway, shooting his feathers out once again in order to make sure there was no one in their way.
Truth be told, despite their efficiency, Keigo worried they wouldn't pull this off. I mean it was so sudden. The Hero Commission trained him to make sure there were little to no faults in any of his hero plans, even going as far as to invade his private hero investigations despite him owning his own agency.
He sighed, shaking his head. He couldn't be thinking about things like this, he had to be thinking about the little girl right in front of him.
So that's what he did.
Meanwhile, Eli was giving Mr.Chrono the business.
It was simpler than she thought, she just had to fight him at a longer distance to make sure he never laid a hand on her. Plus, she didn't have a particularly strict fighting style, she was flexible.
She surged her power into her hands at a blazing 70%. Then she clapped right in his direction. He was defenseless against it, and the underground facility rumbled as the force of the clap echoed through its hall. Touya was quick on his feet, using the minor distraction Eli had created to release a devastating fire blast toward Mimic.
But heading his promise to Eli, the blast was a slight farce. It just slightly burned the man, throwing him off his feet. Touya rushed forward and lit his fist up in fire before punching Mimic right in his nose. And as his body was jolted to the side, Touya followed it up with a kick.
The man hit the wall with huge force, a crack forming in the cement behind him.
Out cold.
Eli took a bit to steady her breathing, looking at Touya who seemed to be doing the same. Footsteps could be heard through the cracking rubble.
"Looks like your round of applause destabilized the building E," Touya said, throwing an arm over her shoulder with a smirk.
"That worked out for you though didn't it," Eli responded with a chuckle.
Footsteps could be heard, rapid and thunderous footsteps. And that's when they saw him.
Overhaul.
"Ah, so I've been graced with the presence of-" Overhaul was cut off.
Maybe he had a monologue in mind, maybe he planned to stall until some type of backup came, or maybe he was really just that naive.
But Eli's gun was out before Touya even had the chance to remove his arm from her shoulders. There were no questions she had to ask, no mercy she was inclined to give, and no chance in hell she planned on letting this guy walk out of here in just handcuffs.
4 shots were let off.
And all 4 hit his arms.
His screams filled the air and the mission was over.
And the feathers rounding the corner confirmed it.
They'd succeeded.
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By the time the police arrived, Touya and Keigo had already fled the scene, and Eli was found surrounded by the bodies of the members of the Shie Hassaikai, Overhaul included.
Detective Tsukauchi couldn't believe his eyes as the watched the officers round up the members, each being rigged with some type of Quirk cancellation device. Finally, finally, somebody had done it, done what the police couldn't do, or any other hero.
Eri.
Her presence confirmed all the evidence that Eli had provided before their raid. Each member was arrested immediately, and now, Eli was sitting beside her hospital bed. The girl was fast asleep and honestly hadn't said much of anything since her rescue.
Eli couldn't blame her. Even though the raid didn't last long, it probably felt like forever.
Eli's eyes widened, taking her eyes away from Eri to pull out her phone. She'd send Hizashi a text before she called Shouta since he was the one who came to them with this matter. She knew that he'd be ecstatic at their success and couldn't wait to get back to meet the little girl who he'd planned to call his child one day.
This reminded her that she had her own kids to look out for and she couldn't help but wonder if they were alright above all else.
Training camp must've been brutal, so she'd cooked them and their friends the biggest meal she could when they got back.
Eli stepped out of the hospital room to call him and as the call continued to ring, she had half a mind to hang up and just call tomorrow at a decent time. I mean it was around 4 in the morning, so it was no wonder he wouldn't be up given his sleepy persona.
Before she could hang up, the line clicked and Eli heard unsteady breathing over the phone, almost as if the person on the other side of the call was near tears.
"Sho?" Eli called out, instantly concerned by the sound of his tears.
He was still her best friend.
"E-Eli..." she heard him stumble to stay. Her eyebrows raised in worry as she began to pace in a small circle, worried for her dear friend.
"Sho, what's wrong, what happened?" Eli asked in concern.
"Eli I'm so sorry," he said, a sob breaking from his throat.
Her breath caught in her throat as confusion muddled her brain. She gasped instantly, clutching the phone closer to her ear, if that was even possible, pacing even faster.
"Are the kids okay? Did something happen? Do I need to get down there?" Eli fired questions at him, already preparing to alert a nurse to watch out for Eri so that she could make a break for their training camp.
Loud footsteps echoed at the end of the hallway of the hospital, loud and fast.
"OUT OF THE WAY BOZO!" she heard Touya's voice carry before she turned to see him and Keigo sprinting down the hall at full speed. A confused and obviously tired Kota was in Keigo's arms.
"Eli, oh thank god," Touya said, his hand instinctively reaching to hold her face as he checked for any tears.
Eli stood, shocked, her eyes wide in panic. Her hair floated around her rapidly, and her eyes flickered between green and red at a blinding rate. Why was Shouta crying? Why did Touya and Keigo rush over here like this, what happened to the plan? And why...
Why were they both looking at her like that?
"Shouta... what happened?" she asked, her voice nervous, her heart dropping even more as she heard him swallow a sob before he said anything.
"There was an attack at the camp."
No...
"No. Shouta what are you-" Eli tried, but Shouta kept on.
"Only a couple of students were hurt, but..." he trailed off, almost afraid to finish his sentence.
"But what?" Eli asked.
The tears were already streaming down her face. Something happened, something bad enough to make Shouta cry, and to make both Keigo and Touya rush over like this.
"4 students were taken," he told her.
'No..' she thought again.
"Shouta this isn't funny."
"Eli I'm so sorry but, Hitoshi, Shoto, Izuku, and Katsuki were—"
He couldn't say anything as the phone in her hand broke, crushed from her hold. Tears streamed down her face as she shook her head, her eyes now blazing red as looked forward at Touya who still held her face in his hands.
But then, it all shut off, and Eli fell semi-limp into Touya's hold.
"It's not true, tell me it's not true," she begged him, he held onto his trench coat as tight as she could.
"E, I'm so sorry," Touya began to apologize.
When they got home, Kota, despite his obvious exhaustion wanted to watch TV. Touya figured it would be fine and if anything they'd bring some blankets downstairs so the boy wouldn't be alone. But 5 minutes into Wow Wow Wubbzy (Keigo's personal fav), they were interrupted by a BREAKING NEWS Broadcast.
The training camp had been attacked.
"No, no, no, no," she said, her breathing speeding up.
Her legs shook as she fought to stand upright, only to stumble again into Touya. Her Quirk powered on and off as her emotions fluctuated. Keigo wasn't sure if he should walk forward, or even if she wanted his comfort, but he took his chances.
Plus, Kota was worried about his mother. He'd never, ever seen her cry like that, and it hurt his little heart to know that she was even capable of it. And honestly, it scared him too.
"M-mama..." he called, his lip wobbly in fear.
He adjusted his hold on Kota as he slid beside Touya, helping to hold her limp weight.
"How could... Who..." she stumbled over her words, not sure of what to think, or what to do.
"Who took them..." she muttered.
"Eli, please jus—"
"DAMMIT TOUYA I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT, WHO?!" she screamed at him, her hair now stuck in their red state, but somehow they seemed to burn brighter with her tears mixed in.
Kota flinched at her loud tone.
Touya didn't even flinch at her reaction because under all that anger was just fear. If anybody knew that it was Touya. He knew those kids were her entire world, that losing 4 at once had to be the worst feeling in the world. Hell, he was surprised he was so calm considering the fact that Shoto was one of the four.
Eli gasped as she saw a single tear stream down Touya's face and guilt instantly began to eat away at her as she began to regret raising her voice.
Looking over at Kota, she watched as the boy curled into Keigo, his little arms wrapped firmly around his neck. He was looking at her with such worry that she wanted to cry all over again.
"I-I'm sorry, Kota honey, come here," Eli said.
Kota's hands shot out, reaching over to her. She carefully took him to her, but stayed close to Keigo, trying to find comfort in their close contact and the feather in her sock that wriggled every time she cried. She brushed his hair back and kissed his forehead as she tried to force her sobs down.
Looking up at Touya, she shook her head.
"I-I-" she'd wanted to apologize, but Touya only inched closer to her and shook his head.
He wrapped an arm around her, partly for his own comfort, and also drew himself closer to the both of them. He grits his teeth as he thought about it, and anger swirled in his chest as he tried to tell Eli what she wanted to hear.
"The League of Villains has a new member," he told her slowly.
He had no idea how she'd take this, but he thought it'd be best if he told her as calmly as possible.
"...Who?" Eli asked shakily, her hold on Kota only tightening.
"Midoriya Hisashi,"
7270 words.
extra long chapter because i was supposed to drop this two days ago
but my time is being stolen from me (adulthood is creeping in)
anyway, yall know the drill
eat something, and drink something and yall already know what Im bout say COFFEE DONT COUNT (also me: *has only had coffee today*)
either way, yea well yea, um...
wish me luck bc everyday im on the verge of dropping out lmao BYE
i love you guys <3333
this is my favorite thing to come out of this arc lmao