Another explosion was heard, this time from underneath me. The ground rattled under my bare feet making it difficult to run. It didn't help that the villain who was clutching my arm was holding it with all her strength. It hurt when she pulled.
When the first explosion happened, I was immediately taken out of my cell. The heroes have somehow found our location. They weren't letting me go just yet, and that's when a Crimson Eclipse member with particularly oily skin fetched me. By exiting through secret stairs hidden in the room next to my cell, we climbed up into the ground floor and made our escape.
She pulled me through the Great Hall which was entirely empty. It was somewhat uncomfortable hearing our heavy breaths and rapid footsteps. I heard someone buzzing into her radio, and she listened to what they had to say.
"What do you mean the other hostage is gone?!" she yelled. Hearing that, my heart leaped. Does that mean Hiro escaped? She spoke to them some more, telling them that she'll kill them if they don't find him. "Did you inform any of the admins about this? Wait hold on, someone's buzzing in."
She pressed her ear piece and greeted the incomer. "Sir, there seems to be a situation. W-we've lost a hostage... No, the girl's with me... Yes, I understand. I'll transport her to you right awa--"
Before she could finish, a metal pipe swung from behind the corner of the exit. While I skidded to a stop, she stepped back. Not only was I surprised from the sudden attack, I was also surprised that she was able to dodge in time. Even so, she was only acting on instinct and didn't have much time to evade the next move.
A fist goes flying into her gut, causing her to lose her balance. The attacker gave her no time to recover because the metal pipe came charging right at her. She didn't have time to dodge that and it hit her right in the nose, causing blood to spurt out. She let out a curse and tumbled to the ground. By this point, the newcomer separated us. Although I only saw the back of his head, I immediately recognized the familiar presence.
"Hiro?!"
Spinning around, he grabbed my arm. His face looked paler than I remembered and he had bruises on his face. A large bandage covered his left cheek and bandages covered his neck and arms. He was wearing the same hospital gown as me.
"Go!" he shortly ordered. I obeyed without hesitation and turned heels. When we fled, I heard the Crimson Eclipse grunt inform the others that we were on the run.
Our bare feet slapped on the cold steel floors while we sprinted through the long gray corridors. I took this time to ask him how the heck he found me.
"Lucky guess? It feels like I've been running through this place for ages," he replied. "I managed to escape from my cell when that loud explosion happened. From what I overheard, heroes are here to rescue us."
We're gonna be saved. Even so, the guilt in me began to increase because I knew that it was my fault that Hiro was here.
"Hiro... I'm sorry."
Hiro peeked at me. "What's there to be sorry for?"
"For getting you roped into my mess. That's what happened when I got held hostage, at the theme park, at the museum, and at the festival. I should've been the one here, not you."
"Stop it," he said, his voice rising. "It's not your fault that I'm here. You didn't do anything wrong. We should just focus on finding the heroes and getting out of here."
I swallowed the large lump in my throat. I knew that I should've stopped, but I kept going. "It's always like this, isn't it? I get caught in trouble and you come running to save me. Don't you ever get tired of doing that?"
"No, you're my sister! Why would I--"
"Am I? Am I really your sister?"
"Rin, what are you talking about?"
I slowed down to a stop. It was getting harder to breathe from all that running, but I also found that I hardly had the strength to keep going. Noticing my stop, Hiro did the same.
"Kiyoshi...he told me something. He told me that you, Dad, and Mom weren't my actual family."
Hiro's expression went stiff. He didn't respond right away. After a slight pause, he spoke. "And you believe him?"
"I don't want to," I said, shaking my head. "But what's there not to believe? My Quirk's totally different from Mom's and Dad's."
"So what? Are you automatically not my sister just because of that? Am I not your brother?"
"I-I don't know...but you're not telling me something."
He kept his gaze on me, his mouth quivering slightly. It looked like he wanted to say something but every time he opened his mouth, he held back. When he finally found the strength to muster his voice, he only got my name in before deep rumbling was heard. The entire place began to shake, and I had to steady myself by placing my hands on the wall. The lights flickered as the shaking intensified. Through the flickering, I noticed that a figure had suddenly appeared.
Hiro pushed me to the floor just as a lightning bolt came flying, missing me by a hair. We staggered to our feet. Once they got into the light, I knew who our attacker was.
"I've been looking for you two," Akira growled, sauntering over to us. "Why don't you stop running? I promise that I'll make it hurt less."
"Leave us alone!" Hiro demanded.
She let out a chuckle. She held out her hand with a wide grin forming on her lips. "Make me!"
She sent a surge of lightning at us. I jumped right and Hiro jumped left. She decided to target Hiro first because she immediately sent another attack at him. He got zapped in the shoulder and I saw visible pain flash on his face. Regardless, he toughed it out and sprinted at her. Raising the metal pipe, he aimed for the top of her head. Akira sent lightning at his stomach but before it could hit him, I stretched my hand out and curled it into a fist, and it zipped into the wall.
Hiro was able to land a clean hit on her head. He must've used a lot of strength because blood began to trickle from Akira's head. She wasn't giving up that easily. Wrapping her fingers around his arm, she pulled down and shoved her knee into his nostril. That cause him to drop his weapon and it clattered to the ground. She gave him no time to recover and zapped him with lightning, making him cry out.
I started to run over to him when Akira attacked me with one too. Pain erupted throughout my entire body and I fell forward, biting my tongue in the process. The metallic taste of blood began to fill my mouth. I watched as Akira picked up the metal pipe and held it over Hiro.
"That hurt, y'know! You're just as annoying as your sister!" she said, licking the blooding that trickled to her mouth. She began to charge the pipe with electricity. "Don't worry, this will only hurt a lot!"
"Hiro!" I exclaimed, raising my hand.
Just as she went for the finishing blow, the pipe flies out of her hand. It flew with such force that it made a dent in the wall. Before she could react, Hiro leaped and slammed his head under her chin causing her to stumble back. He tried to punch her but she sent another lightning bolt again, but it missed. She snatched the pipe on the ground and before she attacked, another rumbled erupted. The entire place violently shook and the lights shut off.
It was pitch black. The only thing that illuminated the darkness was Akira's lightning. I listened in as Hiro and Akira blindly attacked each other. A stray bolt hit my arm and I was nearly knocked back from the impact. My body was still aching from her previous attack, so this made me feel worse. I tried my best to keep my eyes peeled on the battle to assist Hiro anyway that I could.
The lights flickered back on. Akira was standing behind Hiro with the pipe in hand. This time, I wasn't fast enough. It slams into Hiro's shoulder and he let out a yelp. Shortly after, she aimed for his ankles making him collapse. Seeing that, I bolted over.
"Stay back, Rin!" Akira ordered, sending another bolt at me. This time I was prepared. It only grazed my cheek this time. Using all my strength, I jumped and tackled her to the ground. I began to hit her with all my might while she tried to get me off. She even began electrocuting me but I refused to let go.
"What are you doing?!" Hiro exclaimed, trying to stand.
I hardly managed to utter out a response. "Saving...you... You have to go... Hurry...!"
"No way! I'm not--"
He didn't get to finish because he gets blown to the wall. At this point, I couldn't take it any longer. Akira threw me off of her and I rolled to the ground. Through the heaviness in my eyelids, I saw a tall man whose arm was covered in bone armor standing by Hiro. My heart dropped seeing him there. All the moisture in my throat evaporated in an instant and it got harder to breathe. I wanted to stand up, to move, to do anything but the weariness in bones glued me to the spot.
Kiyoshi casually strolled over to me with one hand in his pocket. He wore a relaxed expression on his face and had no signs of any injury. He looked just as crisp and clean as he did when I last saw him. The calm temperament he held intimidated me; how was he so calm during all this chaos?
Thump...thump...thump...
Kiyoshi let out a deep sigh. "I disappear for just a moment and you've caused this much trouble? No wonder why Ryusaki's graying." He peered down at me. "You've already made this hard enough."
I need to calm down. Getting overrun by emotions will make things worse. I had to breathe. Even though I knew that, I felt my lungs tightening with every second because I knew that we weren't getting out of here.
"Get...away!" Hiro weakly said. He threw a punch and nearly face-planted. For a moment, he threw punches while Kiyoshi easily blocked them.
"I don't have time to play with you right now," Kiyoshi tiredly said. A barrier of bone appears on his knee and he kneed him in the stomach.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Don't hurt him," I weakly said, charging at him. I blindly swung my fist at him. Smoothly stepping to the side, he readied his fist and went straight for my side. However, his fist gets pulled back just as his jaw gets slugged by Hiro.
Crap... I'm getting ahead of myself. My heart is beating so fast, it's going to explode. Everything feels like I'm on fire, and my head hurts so much. If I don't calm down, I'll ruin things again.
The base violently shook again. Debris from the ceiling began to fall and lights shattered. Everyone in the room was knocked off balance from the sudden impact. This place was about to crash.
"Rin, you have to leave!" Hiro warned. Shortly after, he gets punched by Kiyoshi's bony fist. Blood spurted from his shoulder wound, and he let out a cry of pain.
"No, I'm not leaving you!"
"That's right! You're never leaving! I need to hand you two over to Kurogiri!" Kiyoshi exclaimed.
A cloud of dark purple fog appeared behind Hiro. A skinny, pale hand stretched from the darkness and wrapped around his neck. He began to nudge him off when Kiyoshi spoke. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Once he places all five fingers down, your body will get turned to dust." He peered down at me with a chilling gleam in his eyes that made my blood run cold. "I'll give you two choices, Rin. Come with me and I'll let your precious brother go. Refuse and he dies."
Oh crap... This just got worst. I can't go with him, I can't! But at the same time, Hiro's life is at stake. He's doing exactly what he did with Bakugo. Only this time, he intensified it a hundred times. What am I supposed to do? I...
"Boss, what's the hold up? Just take them already!" Akira gruffed.
Kiyoshi's eyes flickered at her in disdain. Seeing the sharpness in his eyes, she immediately shut up.
I remember the similar incidents I experienced in the past. I thought of the Gin Co. incident when Ms. Gin was being held at gunpoint. I remember attacking the gunman with Mom's lunchbox. Then, my first encounter with Kiyoshi. I pretended to go with Kiyoshi to give Bakugo a chance to send out my location. After that, the Hero Festival with Ruby. I sprinted away from the villain to distract her.
"Time is ticking. You don't have all day."
"Rin..." Hiro spoke, peering at me with trembling eyes. "You have to go. Right now. As your older brother, I'll handle every burden for you. I promised that I'd watch over you, so please..."
I can't think straight. There's too much going on. I need to clear my head and breathe. Okay, it was a weak middle schooler up against two elite villains holding someone hostage while the place rumbles. The odds were not in my favor. What can I do? I can't do it! I won't be able to save him no matter how hard I tried! But...there was only one way I could.
I'm sorry Hiro. Your efforts to save me ended in failure.
I began to slowly walk over, hanging my head down in defeat. Seeing that, Hiro began to protest. He begged me to run away, to leave him behind. Hearing his desperate pleas made my heart sink. I couldn't dare look him in the eye.
A grin formed on Kiyoshi's face. "I knew you were a smart girl."
This was to save Hiro. This was the best a weak, insecure, little kid could do. Who cares about me? As long as he gets to go free...
An intense tremor erupted. It was worse than last time, and it knocked all of us off our feet. In an attempt to keep him still, the hand's fifth finger pressed against Hiro's neck. Right before the room went dark, I stretched my hands out.
My bare knees hit the sturdy metal floors while the place continued to tremble. I heard Kiyoshi began to bicker to someone about something but the groaning of steel prevented me from understanding their words. Besides, I don't think I could focus on their troubles right now. If what Kiyoshi said was true, Hiro's decayed body could be lying on the ground in pieces right now. I wanted the lights to turn back on but at the same time, I was terrified of what I was going to see.
Suddenly, I saw a glowing light in the right hallway. I tried to see who was behind it, but it was too dark. It was getting closer and closer by the second. Kiyoshi noticed it too because he let out a curse. "That woman is back!"
When the lights turned back on, my eyes snapped onto the woman in the right hallway. In her hands was a long steel, baton. Her curly brown hair was a complete mess. There were patches of sod on her face and her clothes were burned. She looked injured but moved as if she was in perfect condition. Following close behind was Strawberry Shades. When she dashed by me, her piercing violet eyes glanced at me for a split second before focusing on the enemy. Her baton slammed into Kiyoshi's face, and blood spurted from his nose.
"Now!" she ordered.
My heart leaped seeing the pink-suited vigilante jump to her aid. He slugged a seed into his gut just as Corvade quickly attacked again. Her sharp heel was blocked with Kiyoshi's skeletal forearm and he pushed her off. He sprinted forward to smash her against the wall but his hand gets jerked back with the swipe of her fingers. She sprung up and roundhouse kicked him in the face. Meanwhile, Strawberry Shades focused his attention on Akira and they battled.
While both battles ensured, I stumbled over to Hiro. He was slumped against the wall.
"Hiro! Are you okay?" I asked, inspecting his injuries. He was practically gasping for air. His right arm clutched his shoulder that had gone limp and was bleeding. Blood stained his nostril and a huge bruise was forming on his ankle. "C-crap. Um, dumb question. Y-you're clearly not okay..."
He let out a weak chuckle. "I-it's fine. I think I broke my shoulder."
"We...we gotta get outta here."
Lending him my shoulder and wrapping my arm around him, I helped him up but I nearly tipped over from the weight.
"You're really that desperate to save them, aren't you?!" I heard Kiyoshi exclaim. "Let's see how much more desperate you'll get!"
Blocking another one of Corvade's attacks, he pushed her off of him. His eyes snapped onto Hiro and I, and he dashed over. I quickly pushed Hiro away just as Kiyoshi snatched me. He shoved me to his side. Using his other arm, a sharp blade of bone grew and he pressed it against my back.
"Let the girl go, Kiyoshi!" Corvade growled. She took a step forward and in response, I felt the blade dig into my back. Seeing me wince, she halted to a stop.
"How dare you play dirty! You're truly the worst!" Strawberry Shades chimed.
An evil grin spread on Kiyoshi's lips. "There's nothing dirty about playing smart," he said. "I wouldn't come too close if I were you. All it takes is one swift motion, and your dear Rin is over."
Hiro staggered to his feet, his legs shaking. "Why are you doing this? She didn't do anything to you!"
His eyes flickered to to him. "You're right, she didn't do anything to deserve this. But in order to get your father to come, he's going to need a little more convincing!"
Thump, thump, thump.
Kiyoshi shoved me forward. Then, everything happened so slowly. Kiyoshi thrusted his blade into my back, the tip piercing my skin. Corvade bolted to me with her weapon in hand and Strawberry Shades sent a seed. Meanwhile, Akira hit Strawberry Shades with a lightning bolt in attempt to stop his attack. And Hiro...the look on his face was so horrifying. It was the worst thing I've ever seen.
Or so I thought.
Kiyoshi's blade only pierced me for a second when I disappeared. At one point, I was staring at everyone's desperate expressions and at another, I found myself by the wall looking at Hiro. At first I didn't understand how I got here, how he got where I was before, but when I saw that glossy gleam in his eyes, that's when I knew.
"Hiro!"
Stretching my arm out, I screamed out his name as Kiyoshi's blade impaled my brother.
————- ————-
Onishi Hiro
Quirk: Switch
He can switch places with any airborne object that he touched!
Under dire circumstances, he can switch places with the last living-being he touched.
————- ————-