SHIE HASSAIKAI ARC
- # part five
content warnings: none
- "HEYA, ERI." the door to the little girl's bedroom swung open, a tall man with yellow-blond hair staggering through. "relax, i'm jus' making sure you're still here!"
eri sat straight up in her bed as the dim light of the hallway leaked into the darkness, holding her hands close to her chest and scooting back as the man stepped closer to her. her room was cold, with light blue walls lined with drawings of the skies and fruit trees. on the ground, several brightly colored carpets sat under unopened boxes of dolls, play sets, and other various children's toys.
his nose scrunches, "you haven't touched your toys yet? after all the trouble we went through to buy them for you... why not let yourself have some fun for once?"
she shields her face with her arm as he sits down on the edge of her bed, lightly patting her head.
"come on, come on..." he grumbled. "don't be scared."
after the frail girl shrunk away from him again, the yakuza thug let out another grunt and stood up, glancing back at her just before leaving and slamming the door behind him once again.
eri's eyes flicker to the door, vision blurred with stinging tears as she lays back down atop her neatly made blankets and folds over the pillow to cover her ears. the warm hands of slumber that once coddled her were nowhere to be found.
she closed her eyes tightly and let go of the pillow, letting it fall back as she shifted to face the ceiling. her bandaged hands went up to her hair, fingertips just slightly grazing her horn before moving to her hair and through the strands to recreate the feeling of the hero that held her days prior.
with a trembling lip, she sat up and wrapped her frail arms around herself, but the warmth of selene could not be recreated. like the blooming moon surrounded by the pitch-black night sky, eri felt like she was reaching out for something too far away from her. even if she stood on her tip-toes, there was no way for her to get the fluttering feeling of contentment that she had for those minutes outside.
she hoped that selene was thinking about her.
🌙
i huffed, shoe meeting stone as we made our way to the top of the rock climbing wall inside gym gamma.
focusing was almost impossible after the conference. nighteye and the other pro heroes were busy pinpointing chisaki's location, and we work-study students were left on standby until they found where he was keeping eri.
a sigh fell from my lips as my hand met the top, huffing again as i pushed myself up and twisted to sit down, gazing at my classmates below. legs swinging over the side, my hand weakly moves up and pulls on my hair tie, letting my hair fall loose as i snap the band over my wrist.
izuku lets out a heavy breath, hissing as he pushes himself over the edge. once standing, he hunches over, palms pressed against his knees. my eyes flickered to his red shoes, and then up to his face where i found he was already staring back. neither of us said anything.
"jeez, you can really tell who started their work studies, huh?" jiro murmurs, watching the climbers from the ground.
"they're picking up tricks while they're away from here." katsuki huffs, pointing fiercely at kirishima. "hey! what've you guys been learning? tell me!"
the redhead winces, glancing down at katsuki from his position three-quarters up the wall. "sorry, man, we can't!"
i lay my palms flat behind me and lean back, turning my gaze to the ceiling.
-
as summer fell further into autumn as the days kept getting colder, the short-sleeved school uniforms were replaced with the long-sleeved blazers we wore at the beginning of the school year.
izuku had told me about nighteye and all might, the prediction of the symbol of peace's unspeakably gruesome death that was foretold to happen in one or two years. that was one of the many things on my mind as i rolled up the white sleeves up to my elbow, draping the blazer over the back of my chair. without acknowledgment from the other two boys, i sat my tray down on the lunch table.
staring down at my bowl of food, i pulled on the thin wooden chopsticks and broke them apart.
however, when it came to eating, i couldn't get myself to bring the noodles to my lips. my stomach twisted, an ache of nausea rising to my throat. just thinking about the shie hassaikai made me sick to my stomach.
"not hungry?" iida said, gazing down at my untouched food from across the lunch table.
"oh- yeah!" i blinked back into focus, quickly slurping up some noodles. after swallowing, i gave the class rep a tight smile. "i was just... preparing."
his gaze didn't waver, eyebrows furrowing. "are you alright?"
my lips parted to speak, but shoto quickly cut me off just as i was about to respond.
"you've been acting edgy and depressed ever since you both started your work study." he hums, loudly slurping soba into his mouth.
"edgy?" i said, my head tilting. "really?"
iida holds out his hand, smiling warmly. "if you ever wanna talk, or anything, just let me know. we're friends, right-? that's what you said to me, remember, back when we were heading off to our internships... and i was fuming like a fool..."
shoto slurps more soba into his mouth, nodding along.
"sorry, i'm completely fine!" i smiled, staring down at my food. "it's nothing."
"suzuki?" shoto said.
i hummed, "yeah?"
"you're crying."
"oh." my arm covered my eyes as hot tears stung the corners of my vision. quickly wiping the streaks from my cheeks, i tried to look back up to reassure them, but the tears just kept flowing out. "sorry... this is embarrassing..."
"it's alright." shoto said. he gazed at me for several moments, but after realizing that i hadn't stopped crying, and instead had been tightly covering my mouth to prevent any sobs from escaping, he spoke again. "maybe we should get midoriya- where is he?"
"i believe he's in the counselor's office with all might!" iida exclaimed.
shoto's eyes narrowed. "ah. of course he is."
i shook my head, taking a deep breath and straightening up to look back at them with glossy eyes and rosy cheeks. my wrist rubbed against my jaw again as i wiped the tears. "sorry, i'm all good."
"i think you cried into your ramen." shoto murmured. "do... you want some of my soba?"
iida blinked, and then picked up his bowl and held it out to me. "take some of my beef stew, too!"
"uh, okay..." i said.
shoto pushed his tray forward. "you want some scallops with that?"
"sure, thanks..."
iida molded vigorously. "and wasabi, too!"
🌙
TWO DAYS LATER.
the moonlight shined through thin grey clouds, casting faint beams through my window.
my body shot up, face coated with sweat as i let out heavy and labored breaths. my eyes blurred and adjusted into focus, hands grabbing tightly onto my blanket. after a few moments, i let out a deep sigh and collapsed back onto the mattress, my chest still rising and falling quickly.
while i pressed my hands to my face, my phone vibrated against my nightstand.
i let my hands fall back to my sides, gazing up at the ceiling, and then turning my head and looking at my phone. scarlet energy shined around it and brought it to my hand as i sat up once again, squinting at the sudden brightness of my lock screen.
it was a message from sir nighteye.
slipping on my shoes, scarlet energy flew my door open, and i was met with ochaco stepping out of her room, phone in hand, with her hair still messy with sleep.
we scurried down the hall, careful not to wake up mina, and met with izuku, tsu, and kirishima in the common area. the three of them were just as tired as we were, phones in hand.
"got the message?" kirishima said.
tsu nods, "we got it. the date's been set."
"it's happening." izuku said shakily, letting out a breath and turning to look at me.
-
📍NIGHTEYE'S AGENCY
7:00 a.m.
"huh?!" rocklock exclaims, "they're keeping this eri girl in their stronghold?"
fatgum looks between the two pros incredulously. "and by stronghold, you mean..."
"the headquarters of the hassaikai." ryukyu said, arms crossed with a clearly displeased look on her face. "it's their leader's residence."
every pro hero that came together for the conference was now gathered around sir nighteye's desk, aizawa standing with us students in the back of the room. just like nighteye had said, the pro heroes worked tirelessly investigating the possible hideout locations, but it was still surprising that they'd found it just barely 72 hours after the first meeting.
rocklock sighs, slapping a hand over his forehead. "so, you're tellin' me all that time we spent investigating was for nothing, then?"
"not at all, we gained plenty of new information as well-"
fatgum leans forward, "how'd you confirm she was there?"
nighteye sighs, reaching under his desk and pulling out a large pink, sparkly, bright magical girl doll box. he slams it down onto the table dramatically. "a member of the hassaikai visited a nearby department store the other day. he purchased a toy favored by young girls."
"what?" fatgum sighs.
rocklock winces, "that's pretty sparkly-"
"- listen, maybe the guy just likes cutesy stuff!" fatgum exclaims. "different strokes for different folks, nighteye! you wanna tell us what you're doin' with one, though?"
"yes." nighteye deadpans. "i was there when he made the purchase and overheard his conversation with the store clerk..."
» "hey, uh... what's that show little girls are into these days? glitter somethin' or other?"
the store clerk nodded, "oh, sure! you could be thinking about glitter squad, maybe?"
"yeah, yeah." the man sighed. "that's the one, i remember now, it's squad action: glitter squad. so, uh, you got any of those?"
nighteye, facing the back shelf, turned to look over his shoulder and peeked back at the man who stood in front of the counter.
"oh, i'm sorry, sir! the squad action: glitter squad series was from a number of years ago." the store clerk smiled, "the current series is gung-ho glitter squad ten!"
the man shifted uncomfortably, heaving a sigh. "really? okay, where're those, then?"
nighteye walked closer to the man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "they're right over here."
the blond jerked, the high collar of his jacket shifting as the bright lights shone down on a tattoo on the back of his neck- the symbol of the shie hassaikai. "woah, where'd you come from?"
"you were asking about glitter squad." nighteye deadpaned, leaning down and making eye contact with the man. "i'm a fan, too." «
rocklock scoffs, "you ended up using foresight anyway?"
"if you recall, i said i'd use it when our path was more certain." nighteye said.
fatgum waves his hands dismissively, "whatever, this means we've got the data we need, right?"
"yes, and we know for sure when they'll be there, thanks to our stakeouts." centipeder says, standing behind nighteye's desk next to bubble girl.
she grins, "we also worked with the police and already got a warrant to search the place! next step..."
"... is to barge in there!" fatgum exclaims.
bubble girl huffs, "aw, man! that's my line!"
"come on, suzuki!" mirio puffs up his chest, swinging his arms around vigorously, "we're all over this! let's rescue that girl! take down those bad guys! we're gonna do it! yeah!"
i raised my eyebrows, smiling, "o-kay, calm down!" seems like he's back to normal.
"yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" mirio pumps his fist in the air, "aw, yeah!"
nighteye nods firmly at us three, "now, then. let's begin!"
-
"boss." chronostasis murmurs, turning to chisaki. the young head is seated nonchalantly on the couch beside him, legs crossed. "it sounds like they've figured out where we are."
chisaki sighs, "so they're coming. proceed according to plan."
"you got it, sir." chrono nods.
the head grumbles quietly, pushing himself up from the couch. "prepare yourself."
"right." the villain seated next to him, mimic, nods.
chrono's head tilts as chisaki strides over to the door, clicking it open and moving to shut it behind him. "where're you goin'?"
the head looks over his shoulder. "to take care of something."
chisaki slams it shut.
-
8:00 a.m.
"as you know, nighteye was able to use his quirk on a hassaikai member. through it, he saw underground facilities, and we believe them to be this yakuza group's headquarters. we are also able to confirm that the girl we're trying to rescue is currently being held in one of the rooms there. this is the best intel we have at the moment concerning the hassaikai's stronghold."
the head detective addresses the pros, standing in front of a small army of police adorned with ballistic shields. "stay smart, these guys are dangerous, and we can expect them to bring their quirks against us, full force. we're passing around a list of the hassaikai members and their quirks, according to our registration databases. commit this to memory."
"it's solid information to have on hand, thank you for this." one of the pros says.
the detective nods firmly. "we don't want to give them time to hide. our aim is to identify and apprehend all members as quickly as possible while securing our target."
"things are moving fast, now, huh?" kirishima grins.
amajiki sighs, pulling the hood of his hero costume over his head. "you're energetic, considering how early it is."
"mm... i'm getting nervous..." ochaco murmurs, fists clenched tightly as she inches closer to tsu.
"no joke- first detective work, and now we're cooperating with the police. there's so much i don't know." she nodded.
hado smiles, "right? so official!"
ryukyu walks over to her sidekicks, smiling, "that's true. school doesn't always prepare you for investigations like this. it takes some time to adjust."
"she's right." kesagiri says, handing a list to ochaco.
"all the pros seem like they're pretty chill, huh? so brave!"
izuku hums, glancing at kirishima apprehensively. "hey, i haven't seen gran torino around here this morning. do you know where he is?"
"apparently, he won't be joining us today." nighteye deadpans.
izuku and i whip around, the both of us in our hero costumes, "uh- sir?"
"tsukauchi's been keeping an eye on the league." the detective says, "according to him, it looks like they're on the move. fortunately, we have plenty of heroes here, so we can afford to send gran torino."
he nods slowly, "i see."
kirishima smiles brightly, jumping between izuku and i, palms on our shoulders. "maybe we can take down the hassaikai and the league at the same time!"
"yeah!" izuku grins, fist clenched determinedly. "let's go!"
"not yet."
"ah1- mr. eraser head, sir!" the three of us jump, aizawa walking over and slipping the dull yellow goggles over his head.
he sighs. "i'm teaming up with nighteye agency for this. understand me?"
izuku and i nod firmly, "yes, sir!"
"now, heroes!" the detective yells, quickly focusing everyone's attention back on him. "things could get violet quickly out there. if you encounter even a hint of suspicious behavior or resistance, call for help immediately."
fatgum turns to amajiki, "here, take this swordfish- eat up."
"you think i'll need it?" he murmurs, holding his palm out and letting fatgum drop the small bag of snacks into his hand. "okay, sure, thanks."
"we're up against gangsters who've avoided capture until now." the detective says. "it is imperative that each of you carry out your respective assignments and stay sharp in there!"
he salutes us, the rest of the police standing behind him following the motion simultaneously. "we will commence the operation at o-eight hundred thirty hours. heroes, move out!"
-
the door slides open, and chisaki slowly steps inside the small room. the soft beep of a heart monitor fills the silence, several iv bags hung up by it and pumping nutrients into the boss of the shie hassaikai, lying unconscious on the stretcher. he was pale, with sunken features, and could be almost mistaken for a decaying corpse if it weren't for the periodic reminder of his heart beating.
"sorry, pops." chisaki murmurs, head hung low as he stands to the side of the bed. his eyes are dull, unfeeling, as if he were staring at an inanimate object.
"things are about to get noisy."
wc: 2812
date published: 09/19/23
edited: n/a
AUTHOR'S NOTE!
noisy is right man