Third person pov
The arrests were quiet. While the teachers were a bit shocked over Harper, they were also pro heroes, and they got over it fast. They were quick as well as efficient in detaining the threat. Harper talked to Tsukauchi and relayed the thoughts she could recall from the janitor's closet. She was also able to identify some of the men who'd been in there just based off their minds alone, along with the sound of their thoughts. Sort of like she was recognizing someone's voice, but different in a way. It was hard to explain. Either way, it was quick, easy, and the few bombs they did find on school grounds were quickly taken out and put in the armored vehicles they'd brought along.
Harper promptly slumped off to the cafeteria, eye twitching and head pounding. Just as promised, Iida had saved her a spot right next to him. His self-deprecating thoughts made her want to go find Tsukauchi again, if only to ask him to shoot her in the head with his firearm. If not that, maybe he'd agree to run over her with his car. It sounded promising enough. If he wouldn't do it, she was sure she could find someone willing. Would it be suicide or murder? Both?
"Why do I always do this? I'm just an embarrassment to myself. Harper never sits next to me. Why would she ever want to? I should let her know it's okay if she wants to sit somewhere else. However, that could be taken as me wanting her to leave, and that's not the case at all. She's too good to be my friend. Why does she keep-"
"Thanks for saving me a seat." Harper plopped down next to him. Izuku was fidgeting with a piece of folded up notebook paper across from her, and Ochako was peering at it curiously. Harper sighed and pushed Kirishima's thoughts aside to get to her friend's. When thoughts were directed at her or about her, they tended to be stronger and easier to hear. Almost as though they were drawn towards her. Maybe it's because they were being directed at her.
Kirishima's mental pining was a bit weird, but Harper was adjusted. She'd gone from being completely freaked out and maybe mildly flattered on some level to being indifferent. He could have a sex dream about her at this point and she probably wouldn't bat an eye. That being said, he hadn't had any impure thoughts. That was probably the strangest thing about his whole crush. She'd listened to Bakugo go through what could very well be considered the Kink alphabet, A-Z, just thinking of all the shit he wanted to do to and with Izuku. It was disturbing, but not even the worst she'd heard at this point. She was just glad none of it was about her.
"Why would Kacchan give me this?" Izuku mumbled mentally as he fiddled with the paper. "Is it a threat? I-I'm afraid to open it. Should I throw it away? No, that would be rude. I'm just afraid of what it'll say. Wh-What if he wants to meet up and try to fight?! I-I can't fight outside hero training! Oh man, oh man, this is bad!"
Harper could see Bakugo had taken her advice. She eyed the blonde from where she sat. He was sitting next to Kirishima, staring intently at the nervous freckled boy. She forced down yet another sigh. UA really was something else. For one thing, she'd actually managed to make friends, even if it was only because she was trying to prevent one of them from committing suicide. The resident dick bag of the class was love struck, the pervert secretly hated women, their stoic teacher was the happiest man on the fucking planet apparently, and just... Harper wasn't excluded either, actually. UA had an actual mind reader. And it was her, of all people.
"What's that?" Harper asked, resting her chin on her palm boredly as she glanced at the note. Iida was mentally debating whether or not to offer her food, since the lines had long since closed and she hadn't gotten the chance to get anything. Harper decided to let him work that out all by his lonesome. It was easier that way. Besides, Midoriya was having some sort of crisis over a piece of paper. Apparently Bakugo was so bad at conveying his feelings that Izuku was under the impression that the explosive blonde actually hated him. You had to be pretty shitty at communication to translate adoration over as repulsion.
"O-Oh!" Midoriya jumped slightly. "J-Just a note from Kacchan. I-I... I haven't opened it yet..."
"Well, go ahead. It won't read itself." Harper said. Izuku looked startled, while she raised her brows. She'd heard Bakugo's thoughts before, and had a feeling he'd written some of the more tender ones on the page, if he hadn't fucked up again, that is. "If it's anything bad, we can let someone know, or you can just ignore it. If you want, one of us can open it for you."
Izuku looked like he might cry. Harper hoped not. "My friends are so nice. I've never had friends like this before. W-Would Harper really read it for me. That's so nice of her. She acts so irritated and tired all the time, but she's actually really nice..." Izuku's thoughts trailed, and Harper made a real effort not to grimace. "Y-You're right. Would... Would you..."
Harper silently held out her hand. Sheepishly and in a flushed way, Izuku handed it over. Uraraka immediately leaned forward, and Iida silently nudged his untouched drink towards her. His nerves were on the fritz. The brunette wasn't a huge fan of mango, but saying no might send him into a mental panic full of depressive thoughts. Instead, she popped the tab with one hand and took it bottoms up. She wasn't a wuss. With the other hand, she flipped open the note.
And then promptly turned her head to the side just as her drink sprayed from her mouth. Izuku jumped as she coughed, and Iida looked panicked.
"What is it? What does it say?" Uraraka asked worriedly. "Wow, that was a really bad reaction! It must be super mean! Is Bakugo threatening Deku again? Maybe I should go get Mr. Aizawa. I wonder what would happen if I did."
"Are you quite alright?!" Iida asked as Harper straightened herself, trying to regain any semblance of dignity. Silently, she cleared her throat and handed him the note. Two birds with one stone. She established trust with Iida and got the share what Bakugo seemed to think was a 'good idea.' Iida took it carefully, eyeing her. "She... She wants me to read it as well? Perhaps she trusts me? No, it's just because I'm sitting next to her. It's not because- holy shit?"
Iida tensed, and Harper snorted at his inner thoughts as he peered down at the paper. Izuku and Ochako both shared an uneasy glance as Iida turned to Harper with a slightly panicked and ultimately confused look in his eyes. Harper flicked her head in Bakugo's direction subtly, raising her brows before nodding at the paper. Iida hesitated, glancing uneasily at Midoriya and forcing a smile. Izuku felt his skin crawl.
Really, what had Harper been expecting? For him to do a good job? Honestly, she hadn't expected an in-between. In her mind, the note was either going to come out an apology chock full of feelings and teenage angst, or he'd fuck up again and challenge the guy to a fight or something. Maybe threaten to kill him. But no, of course not. It was neither of those. Instead, Bakugo had managed to successfully convey his true feelings with a threat. Well, maybe it wasn't a threat. It sounded like one.
"Is... Is everything alright?" The green haired boy asked. "Oh my god, what did he say?! Even Iida has gone quiet! He looks so taken aback. Harper spit out her soda in surprise. What's going on?"
Harper silently took the note from a tense Iida and handed it over. Ochako leaned closer to get a look. Izuku's entire body locked up immediately as he rested his eyes upon it, and Harper let out a heavy sigh. This was why she didn't help! Shit like this always happened! God damn, Bakugo was a dolt. Ah, there goes Izuku. He was turning red. Harper glanced at Iida. He glanced back. He was too concerned to be depressed. A step in the right direction, maybe?
"Wh-What?!" Ochako shrieked, her reaction severely delayed but there nonetheless. The note only had two words on it.
Marry me.
"U-Uh..." Midoriya sputtered, face red. "I... I think Kacchan is on drugs?"
Harper let out yet another sigh at the boy's thoughts, taking another sip from her soda.
"Shigaraki will want to know Harper was absent during the arrests, only appearing after they finished. Especially considering all the janitors were somehow caught. At least they haven't caught onto the gardener yet..."
Harper turned her head again, mango soda spraying out as she hacked and coughed. Waving off Iida's concern, she stood up and scrambled towards the doors. Mentally, she decided that she wasn't sure what her life was becoming anymore. Whatever, she was sure it would be fine. She'd survived this long, hadn't she? How much worse could it get?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, it had gotten four times worse.
Always being prepared for the worst is good for someone in Harper's position. Which was, of course, exactly why she wasn't prepared this time around. Running off the second she heard about the gardener had been a sloppy move. They were already onto her for the janitors, and yet she'd panicked like a fucking pansy and ran off after almost choking on Mango Juice for a second time.
So Harper was doing her own damn thing, minding her own damn business, walking towards her own damn house. Things were relatively peaceful. The streets were quiet, and the faint chattering thoughts around her were easy to block out. While their echoes still bled through, it was still a nice contrast to the sheer amount of noise she experienced at UA. The day'd been long and tiresome. Izuku had almost passed out from not breathing, and then from breathing too fast. The gardener was arrested, Tsukauchi seeming both sheepish and exasperated as he cuffed the ground's keeper.
So yeah, the day had been rough, but she was winding down. Harper focused on the sound of her slippers scuffing the concrete. The steady shuffling noise was probably more comforting than it ought to have been, but she really didn't give a shit. It was all just... nice. You know, peaceful and relaxing. It was a good evening.
Until it fucking wasn't anymore. Fuck.
The pavement fell out from beneath her all of a sudden. Harper, for the record, didn't freeze completely. She did make a solid effort to stumble back and away as her reflexes caught up to her. Curses spewed from her mouth as she dropped right down and through the sidewalk as though it had never been there at all, passing through something cold and near suffocating. For a moment, all she heard was static. No thoughts or sounds for the briefest of moments.
Harper didn't have time to decide if the stillness was peaceful or horrifying before she was landing hard on her ass on a rather clean wooden floor. The thud that came with her thumping down on the ground would have made anyone with a heart hiss. She groaned before she could stop herself. That would bruise. She was hungry, and she wanted a nap. Not- not abduction.
"I have retrieved Harper Rye, Tomura Shigaraki." A cool voice cut through the air, and Harper froze, head snapping up and hand dropping from where it had knotted itself in her hair. She was in a bar somehow, despite having just been entering her rather shitty neighborhood. As bad a part of town it was, it was fully residential to her knowledge, save for the small corner store down the street. Harper held her breath, eyes flickering between the two men before her. Fucking fuck fuck? Fuck. Definitely fuck. Dammit, why did shit always happen to her?!
She recognized them both, which immediately made it worse. After accepting Nezu's position, she'd have been a fool not to really look into what she was getting into. Shigaraki Tomura sat there, at the bar. While he lacked the hands he'd been covered in previously, that shaggy blue hair was unmistakable. Harper suppressed a shiver as she allowed her face to harden over in a well-practiced manner, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. She couldn't stop herself from sweating, but maybe she could keep the tremors and open fear out of sight.
His quirk was disintegration, AKA, she was fucked. If he touched her with all five fingers, she was either a goner or in for a world of pain. Mostly likely both. His quirk was destructive and entirely dangerous. She didn't doubt it could be good in a rescue scenario, but this man wasn't a hero. He was a villain, and he'd just gotten her in his clutches. His feeling were malicious and wild. Very annoyed and disjointed. Something in his mind was terribly wrong.
Harper wrangled her scrambling thoughts as best she could, taking a few deep breaths as subtly as she could. The fact that she could feel Shigaraki's rage was really not helping, but she'd never been one to panic at the drop of a hat. Being able to read thoughts meant she had to have a level head. Maybe it wasn't the most stable, but it would do for now. Nothing else mattered right now aside from getting out.
The second man she recognized to be Kurogiri. His quirk, Warp Gate, allowed him to open numerous portals and transport people to different locations. Based on the way she'd just arrived, he'd probably been the one to get her. His quirk was dangerous as well, and it was one of the main reasons UA was so on edge. Kurogiri didn't need to see where he was going to warp next to get there. As long as he knew where it was, she was pretty sure he could go anywhere. Exhibit A, the USJ. Exhibit B, the route home she'd been taking since day one. God, she was an idiot.
Kurogiri was... cold. Not necessarily in a dangerous way. There was just... nothing there. A sociopath? He had thoughts, but there were no emotions accompanying it. No guilt, remorse, joy, anger. Kurogiri was a terrifyingly blank slate who seemed disinterested at most. She allowed her consciousness to poke at his experimentally, but there was no reaction whatsoever. To ripple of emotion that came to pretty much everyone she came across when she prodded a little too hard. He was stoic, lacking... everything. Harper had never seen anything like it.
"Good." Shigaraki snapped. "This is the girl who got rid of my pawns?! How did she discover them? She doesn't look like much... just a meaningless NPC... no, nothing special at all. Nothing special in the slightest. So how'd she know? How did she do that? That's... That's cheating, right? She cheated! How else could she have known?! She wasn't at the USJ!"
"You're... Shigaraki and Kurogiri." Harper managed to force the words out as she stood, her throat tight and her mouth dry. She hoisted her backpack up with her, well aware of the phone sitting in the side pocket. It was luckily out of sight. She was sure it would be taken if they knew it was there. Harper made no moves to go for it. Dusty over there was really revving to murder her. She could just tell. Stay calm. This sucked ass, but she couldn't do anything about it if she didn't get the hell out of here. Nezu better give her some major damn perks after this.
"You're well informed." Kurogiri said formally, offering a nod. At least someone here had manners. "I apologize for interrupting your evening."
"Don't treat her like she's some sort of guest, Kurogiri." Shigaraki snapped. "She knows who we are... she must have watched the news. Annoying. The press covered it all wrong. All Might wasn't a hero! He failed. Yet they still view him like he's some sort of big-shot pillar! He's weak!"
Shigaraki didn't understand how someone like her could be a threat. Harper got that. She was short, scrawny. Wearing bunny slippers and sweatpants under her skirt, which wasn't exactly the fashion trend of the season. Her hair was better described as a rat's nest. One that had a small amount of order to it. Not a lot, but it was something at least. She looked like... well, a walking disaster, to put it simply. And yet the implications of her absence in accordance to the arrests was weighty. Harper cursed herself again for not being more careful. Only a few weeks in and she'd already gotten so careless.
"Right... so why am I here?" Harper prodded more at Kurogiri. His lack of emotions was a good and a bad thing. While he felt no remorse for bringing her here, his sense of loyalty was skewered. He had his own vision of what he should do to go off of, but not any real influential feelings. She could already tell he didn't get tugs in his gut telling him not to do things like most people did at some point or another. She dug around in his psyche a little more, desperate and maybe a tad curious.
"Why do you think? You got my pawns arrested! Tell me how." Shigaraki demanded, scratching at his neck. "Stupid girl. Stupid UA. Stupid-"
"I didn't." Harper lied through her teeth, poker face game strong. Thank fuck. Lying probably wasn't a good idea, but she couldn't risk telling the truth. The UA traitor would never be caught then, whether they begun to divert their thoughts expertly or left all together. The latter didn't sound too bad, actually. She doubted it would happen unless she was dead.
"You were not present with your classmates during any of the arrests. It was reported that you ran off right before the Ground's Keeper was arrested, and were seen talking to a police detective." Kurogiri reported smoothly as he polished the glass in his shadowy hands. "It will not do her any good to fib. Dishonesty will get her nowhere but death here..."
"Detective Tsukauchi? Of course I was talking to him." Harper scoffed as though it were a normal thing. Kurogiri didn't pause in his polishing, but Shigaraki did tilt his head, scratching coming to a halt. Harper's heartbeat was so loud and strong she was sure they could hear it. Even if they couldn't, it was so deafening she could barely think. Panic rushed past her ears, but she forced her breathing steady as she jammed her hands in the pocket of the hoodie she'd pulled over her collared shirt after school.
"What do you mean?" Shigaraki seethed. "Liar... she's a liar!"
"He's my dad." Harper shrugged, trying not to gulp. She failed. "Why wouldn't I talk to him? He's always at work. I barely get to see the guy."
"He's your father? You do not share his name." Kurogiri tilted his head, glowing eyes narrowed. Harper couldn't suppress the shiver that shot down her spine at breakneck speed. "Is she lying? I can't appear to tell. Her body language shows she is scared and guarded, but that's to be expected..."
"You're lying! You're a cheater!" Shigaraki decided.
"No, I'm not." Harper put on her best annoyed tone and ran with it. "He had a one night stand with my mom. He's been paying child support and everything. I just took on my step dad's name because I was so young, and my dad's work gets him a lot of enemies. He didn't want me to be hunted down."
"That... That makes sense. Did she not cheat?" Shigaraki's thoughts devolved into somewhat of a rant. Harper's eyes flickered to the door. Her sense of direction was fucked at the moment, but the boarded up windows told her that was the front of the bar, and therefore a potential exit. Shigaraki was fast, but right now he was distracted. Kurogiri was the real issue. He'd snatch her right off the street before she could get out of sight, and that wasn't good in the least.
Harper took a deep breath. She could do this. She had to get out of here, or she was going to die. Fucking Nezu. Pulling her into his absolute bullshit. 'Help me find the traitor!' He said. 'You're our only hope!' He said. God, now her mom and dad were going to be in danger. She hadn't been careful enough, and now there were eyes on her. Even if she did try to leave UA now, they'd picked her up off the sidewalk. Nothing was stopping them from killing her regardless as to whether or not she was an enrolled student. God fucking shit! Fucking-
Harper tugged at Kurogiri's conscious harshly, which wasn't something she'd never done before. Very briefly, the man paused and gave a twitch, before he was going back to his polishing. He silently watched Harper. His eyes weren't really eyes so much as they were glowing yellow slits, but even so, they were blank. Maybe a little calculating. Harper's eyes drifted over to Shigaraki. He was scratching again, getting angrier and angrier as his thoughts got more erratic. Harper winced and pulled harder on Kurogiri. She didn't have time. If they didn't believe she knew about their inside operators, that also meant they had no further use for her. That being said, they couldn't exactly let her go either.
Nothing happened when she yanked at Kurogiri. A twitch, sure, but he didn't have any other reaction. The guy didn't even suspect it was something she was doing if his silence and wandering thoughts were anything to go off of, which probably meant she wasn't doing much. Harper felt panic take root within her, but she refused to let her head move too much. Frantically looking left from right would do absolutely nothing for her. Alerting them of her obvious weakness would only provoke them to pounce.
"You're a detective's daughter? The one looking into us?" Shigaraki asked, interrupting Harper's mental stabbing at Kurogiri as she tried to get something to happen. She jumped slightly, nodding almost on reflex. "I see, I see. If we... yes, if we kill her, then they'll see us! We can broadcast it... broadcast it live for everyone to see! A police officers daughter who also happens to be in the hero course?! Snatched on the way home?! The press-"
Harper felt fear grip her, and almost on without meaning to, she pushed.
Kurogiri let out a sharp gasp that caused Shigaraki to turn as the glass dropped from his shadowy hands, his glowing eyes wide and round like saucers. Harper didn't hesitate. As fast as her aching legs would take her, she ran for the door. It wasn't locked, thank all fuck. Throwing it open, Harper almost tripped on the step as she darted out into the street. Shigaraki was shrieking behind her, but it was too late. She was off and sprinting down the street, reaching and fumbling to get her phone out of her pocket without stopping. Tears stung her eyes. She bit them back. No need to cry when she wasn't in immediate danger anymore. Not that she was out of the woods yet or anything.
Harper thanked every being of higher power she could possible thing of that she had put Nezu on speed dial as she sprinted down the street. Despite the harsh hero training UA was putting her through, she was still far from being extremely in shape. She was already panting as she zigged and zagged as many times as she possible could, trying to ensure Kurogiri would have an issue hunting her down. She wasn't sure what she did to him, but she didn't really give a shit at the moment. It worked.
"Principal Nezu speaking!" The voice of the all-too cheerful principal came through the speaker, and Harper let out a hiss on instinct. Damn rat.
"It's Harper." She jumped someone's garden gate. Cutting through lawns was a thing people did on TV during chases, right? "Listen up and don't interrupt. I need you to get into the quirk registry and change my damn quirk from mind reading to that reflex bullshit. Not just your school records. Change my parents too. Make up my mother, but list my father as Tsukauchi Naomasa. Change my home address too. I don't care what you change it to, just make sure it's not mine."
Harper could practically feel his confusion through the phone. "Miss Rye, I'm afraid I don't understand." He said politely, though his tone was full of question. Harper had never in her life wanted to scream more than she wanted to right now. Pushing down the anger that was washing forward alongside her fear and rush of adrenaline, she tried her best to take a deep breath and organize her thoughts. Kidnapped. She'd just been kidnapped.
"Just do it, please. I'll- god dammit, I'll explain later." Harper hopped another fence, coming to a brief stop. "And do it now. I don't know how much time there is, but I was just kidnapped or some shit-"
"You were just what?"
"Just fucking do it!" Harper barked, stopping to catch her breath. She wanted to cry, and was just dead tired. "I'll come to the school as soon as I think they've stopped looking. I don't want a portal opening under me the second I get to the fucking gates. I just- do it, please."
"...Alright, Miss Rye. Should I call the Detective?" Nezu asked calmly. Damn him for being a level-headed super genius. He was lucky like this. Harper just felt exhausted and drained. How long had she been running? Where even was she? There was no telling if she was anywhere near UA.
She end call button with a huff. Her heart rate dropped just slightly, but not by much. Had Kurogiri recovered quick enough to find which way she went? Was Shigaraki tailing her? She'd been keeping close watch, trying to see if she picked up on either them or their thoughts. It wasn't too hard. So long as she searched for seething anger and vast, cold emptiness, she was probably fine. She felt neither. All she felt was... pure, unadulterated confusion?
Her gaze snapped to the boy standing in the frame of his back door, a tub of ice cream with a spoon stuck in it cradled in his arm. The other was gripping the door as he gazed at her with furrowed brows, mind rolling about trying to figure out who she was. Harper took in his wild purple hair, his tired eyes, and the bags beneath them with a heavy sigh. He blinked slowly. She stared.
"...Are you wearing sweat pants under your skirt?" He asked, glancing down at her slippers. Harper shuffled closer to him almost sadly, feeling utterly finished. Hesitantly, he offered her the tub of ice cream without a word. She took it without question."Wow, must've been one of those days."
"Says the one wearing Hello Kitty pajama bottoms." Harper grumbled, ignoring his thoughts just as did everyone else's when responding. She scooped some of the ice cream into her mouth. Rocky Road. She didn't realize how much she was burning up until it hit her tongue, and she held back a moan of relief.
"I'm Hitoshi Shinso." The boy said after a moment. "She looks like shit. Sweaty shit. I guess she goes to UA, like me. Is she hero course? It looks like it, but I've never seen her before..."
"Harper Rye." Harper responded gruffly before shoving more ice cream in and taking a few deep breaths. It would be fine. She'd just find a place to take a nap for a few hours, if she could even bring herself to sleep after that, and then she'd wander back towards UA and hope she didn't fall through the fucking sidewalk again. It would be fine. This weird, tired kid (relatable, Harper knows) had given her ice cream, and she was fine. Whether it was dumb luck or something else entirely didn't matter. Harper had bailed without dying. A true miracle considering how her luck was going lately.
"...Want to join my Star Wars marathon? I was just about to start." Hitoshi asked slowly, not sure what he was doing, but not really caring. "Yeah, she definitely went through something. Who's she running from? If she accepts, I'm going to assume she needs a place to hide out. She doesn't seem all that annoying yet. I've got more ice cream, so that's not a real loss. But again, what am I doing? I'm some random ass stranger. She doesn't know me. I could be a murderous rapist for all she knows. A psychopath!"
"...You skipping the prequels?" Harper eyed him. He immediately nodded, and she sighed. "Lead the way."
Hitoshi wasn't sure whether to be concerned, pleasantly surprised, or a mixture of both.