~Enya's POV~
I woke up with a sharp pain in my neck, wrists and arms and began to panic as I realized my wrists were bound tightly together and there were thick ropes across my chest and upper arms binding me tightly to an uncomfortable chair. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark warehouse I was being held captive in. Somewhere outside I heard the cries of seagulls and the distant sound of boats, I must be near some kind of harbor. I struggled against my bonds and winced as they put pressure on my fractured ribs, another gift from my father when I'd tried to tell him I didn't want to marry Lorenzo the night of the rehearsal dinner.
It was too dark for me to make out much of my surroundings. I activated my quirk, my hands became engulfed in flames and burned away the ropes on my wrists before forming into two small flaming daggers. I cut the ropes across my chest and staggered to my feet. Once on my feet, I swayed a little and remembered it had now been more than twenty-four hours since I'd last eaten anything. The daggers in my hand began to shift growing into large curved swords spreading a larger glow of light around me so I could see more of the dark warehouse.
A scream caught in my throat as I spotted two bloody corpses on the ground near the exit. The fire in my hand flared, giving me more light so I could see better. The first body became clearly visible, I nearly lost the contents of my empty stomach as I spotted my driver who'd helped me escape. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as I began to wonder who the other corpse belonged to. Hesitantly I looked to the other corpse. My heart shattered as I spotted a familiar head of dark hair and a pair of now lifeless hazel eyes. Mei!
A choked sob escaped me before a scream tore from my throat. The flames in my hands exploded outward in an untamable fury scorching the walls of the warehouse. The sounds of voices outside brought me back to my senses and my survival instincts took over, I had to leave! I grabbed my backpack and forced my way out the door. I was hit with the overpowering smell of salt, sea and brine and felt my heart lurch as I nearly ran right into the ocean. Somehow, I managed to catch myself and not fall off the edge of the harbor and get myself turned around so I was facing the mainland. I must have been unconscious for several hours as it was now dark outside. It took every ounce of strength and willpower I had to push onward, keep running and not breakdown on the spot.
The shouts of men's voices sounded from behind me. It wasn't Japanese or English, it was Italian. I ran faster heading toward the mainland wanting to get as far from the water as I could. Footsteps sounded from behind me just as I saw beams of light coming from the opposite end of the harbor, like flashlight beams.
A strong hand latched around my wrist and wrenched me backward. Another hand tried to clap over my mouth as I let out a scream. There was a loud pop and a searing pain as my shoulder became dislocated. I choked on a scream of pain and swung my free hand backward sending a massive burst of fire into my assailant's face. He let go of my wrist and let out a loud roar of pain as all of his facial hair was singed off. I turned to run again and felt my heart flutter in my chest as I heard a familiar voice where the beams of light were, it sounded like All Might!
I felt a bead of hope well up inside of me, "All Might!" I screamed desperately.
One of the beams of light flashed in our direction sweeping over me illuminating me and my gown. The man who'd grabbed me a moment before recovered and hurriedly shoved me out of the light's path, not wanting me to be seen. A scream escaped me as I slipped over the harbor's edge and fell into the ocean.
Desperately I struggled to kick and keep myself afloat but the already heavy gown turned to cement once it was wet and dragged me down to the dark murky depths quickly. I uselessly kicked my legs and flapped my arms struggling with all my might to stop myself from sinking. It was dark out! He'd never be able to find me! Panic gripped me as I sank further. There was a loud commotion coming from the surface.
Unable to hold my breath any longer I gasped and water filled my lungs. I outstretched my hands and activated my quirk hoping someone would be able to see the brief flickers of flames before they were snuffed out by the water. Something dove into the water above me as the edges of my vision began to blur. My eyes fluttered closed and my body tried to take in another breath only succeeding in filling my lungs with more seawater. Strong arms encircled me as I began to slip from consciousness and for the first time in years I felt a sense of safety and security.
...
I woke to the feeling of someone's lips on mine and the painful sensation of them forcing air into my seawater filled lungs. My soaking wet gown weighed a ton and felt like it was crushing my already tender ribs. I coughed up an alarming amount of seawater and nearly drowned myself again as I coughed it back up. Strong arms gently pulled me into a sitting position to avoid drowning myself. A warm comforting hand rubbed my back consolingly as I coughed and desperately filled my lungs with sweet yet briny oxygen.
I turned to my rescuer and burst into tears as I spotted All Might smiling down at me with his trademark smile. I threw my arms around him with a cry, "All Might!"
He caught me in his arms and hugged me close, "it's alright now." He cooed softly, "I got you." I finally felt safe, in his strong arms. "You're safe now, Enya."
I clung to him tightly and felt everything I'd tried to hold back and keep bottled up over the past few years start to overflow. He rocked me in his arms and let me cry myself out without complaint, rubbing my back every now and again to remind me he was still here for me. Once I'd finally calmed down, a police officer approached us. He spoke quickly in English to All Might. My English wasn't good enough for me to follow their quick conversation but it seemed like the officer was asking him if he knew me, they hadn't been able to find my ID in my bag, because I hadn't brought any ID, I was supposed to be disappearing completely.
All Might reassured the officer that he knew me. The officer seemed relieved and asked him if he could take my statement since they didn't have anyone who spoke fluent enough Japanese on staff. He nodded.
I saw a few officers wheeling two stretchers with black body bags atop them away to a coroner's van and felt my heart shatter all over again. Mei! Another fresh wave of tears began to fall. All Might looked at where my gaze had drifted, "you knew them?"
I nodded and his trademark smile faltered.
"Did you want to see them, before they take them away?" He asked unsure, "say your goodbyes?"
Not sure my voice would actually work as my throat felt raw from all my crying, I nodded.
He helped me to my feet before realizing the sopping wet gown was too heavy for me to move in and swept me into his arms. The officers wheeling the body bags away were kind enough to give me a moment to say my goodbyes to my driver and Mei. I hadn't been very close to my driver, he'd been fairly new, all I knew was his name was Masaru and he had a soft spot for strays and loved old sitcoms. When it came time to say goodbye to Mei, I broke down again.
All Might consoled me, rubbing my back gently and offered me support as I said goodbye to my best friend. I felt cold and numb.
"Where are you staying while you're in town?" All Might asked me quietly once the bodies were wheeled away and I'd stopped crying.
I hesitated.
All Might frowned, "you don't have a place to stay?"
I shook my head.
"Isn't your brother here with you?" He asked.
I shook my head again.
His frown deepened as he looked me over, taking in my current appearance, "we need to get you warmed up and dry before anything else, you can stay with me tonight, we can figure everything else out later." He swept me off my feet and grabbed my backpack one of the deputies had released to us once they'd checked it for evidence and my ID before taking off at impossible speeds.
In a matter of minutes, we arrived outside of a nice apartment building. I shivered from the chill in the night air. All Might carried me inside after a quick moment of hesitation. He looked like he had a lot of questions but kept himself from asking. I had a feeling once he was sure I was no longer in danger of hypothermia I was going to have to answer a lot of questions.
His apartment was on the tenth floor. We made it up without bumping into anyone. It was a decent sized apartment and was neat and organized. I noticed a few empty pizza boxes neatly stacked in a small recycling bin. My heart stuttered in my chest as I spotted a framed photo sitting atop a bookshelf in the living room, it was the photo we'd taken together at the amusement park. That felt like a lifetime ago.
He set my backpack on the kitchen counter before carrying me to a large bathroom attached to the master bedroom. Gently he set me on my feet before grabbing some fluffy red towels from an open built in storage shelving unit next to the walk-in shower. He set the towels on the counter before turning to me.
"Why don't you take a warm shower and I'll find you some dry clothes to wear?" He suggested. His gaze flicked down to my wrists, they were red, raw and a little bloody from the bonds. "We'll look at those once you've warmed up." He grabbed a first aid kit from under the sink and was about to leave to give me some privacy before a worrisome thought crossed my mind and I reached out to him. He paused and turned to me, "what is it?"
I felt my face begin to redden, "I need help getting out of this."
"Ah, right." He set the first aid kit aside and quickly undid the lacings on my dress enough that I'd be able to manage on my own before picking the first aid kit back up and taking his leave.
I struggled the rest of the way to get the dress and veil off. It was incredibly difficult with a dislocated shoulder but I managed without making a peep. I set the cash Rei had stuffed in my dress to the side so it could dry before taking a moment to figure out how the shower worked. After a moment I managed to get it to work and a steady stream of hot water rained down from the shower head.
I stepped into the shower and stood still beneath the stream of water until I stopped shivering. Once I'd warmed up, I looked for some soap and blushed as I realized there were only manly products and if I used them, I'd smell like All Might. I used a tiny bit of soap and couldn't help but smile as the warm scent enveloped me like a comforting hug. Once I felt clean, I turned off the shower and wrapped one of the large fluffy red towels around my body and used another to wrap my hair up in. I struggled to move my soaking wet dress into shower and used the remaining towel to clean up the water on the floor from my dress.
After I'd cleaned up my mess, I hesitantly poked my head out the door. All Might was sitting on the edge of his bed speaking to someone on the phone. He turned as he heard the bathroom door open and reached for a small bundle of clothes sitting at the foot of his bed. He handed it to me before taking his leave so I could change in private.
I looked down at the bundle of clothes, they were way too big! I pulled the dark grey t-shirt over my head, it was so long, it fell to my knees. The sweatpants, luckily, had drawstrings, I rolled up the legs a few dozen times so my feet could poke out and tied the drawstrings as tightly as possible to keep them from falling off of me. Feeling a little awkward and nervous, I inched out of the bathroom. All Might hung up the phone and turned to me as I stepped out of the master bedroom, drowning in his clothes.
He pulled a fleece throw blanket from off the back of the sofa and draped it around me before ushering me over to the sofa so he could look me over and see what needed doctoring. I winced slightly as he placed a hand on my shoulder while draping the blanket over me.
"Your shoulder hurts?" He asked.
"It's dislocated." I said softly.
"Perhaps I should take you to the hospital." He said worriedly.
I adamantly shook my head, "please don't."
He frowned as he opened the first aid kit, he'd sat on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "If I ran your name through the system right now, what flags would pop up?" He asked as he gently tended to my raw and bloody wrists.
I bit my lip and lowered my head, too scared to answer. I'd definitely been reported as missing by now, by someone.
"Does anyone know you're here?" He asked.
I shook my head.
"Your family is probably worried sick." He pointed.
I shook my head again, "...no...they're not."
All Might gingerly wrapped some bandages around my wrists after rubbing a soothing healing cream over them. "I can't imagine why they wouldn't be, if they have no idea where you are. We need to get you back ho-."
"Please, don't make me go back." I begged him as tears welled in my eyes.
He looked down at me in concern, "Enya?"
"Please. I'll die if you send me back." I cried.
"What?" He asked in awe as he attempted to wipe away my tears.
Didn't he already have some kind of idea? I'd thought that was what he had talked to Enji about years ago at the park. "At the park, you wanted to talk to Enji about something, what was it?" I asked softly.
He thought back on that day, "it looked like you had a bruise around your eye, I was worried things weren't alright at home."
"And what did Enji say?"
"That you were clumsy." All Might frowned. "That's not the case...is it?"
I shook my head.
"How bad is it?" He asked.
I reached for the hem of the shirt and lifted it enough to show him my black and blue ribs, a parting gift from my father a few days ago. "This wasn't from my captors."
All Might clenched his fists. I saw a flicker of guilt cloud his bright blue eyes. "I should have pressed the issue further back then..." He looked over at me, "why were you wearing a wedding dress?"
"My father sold me in a business deal, and tried to marry me off..." I trailed off unable to finish the sentence now that I knew the truth. My father tried to marry me off to a Mafia Boss. "Please don't send me back...if my father doesn't kill me, he'll make me get married...and I'd rather be dead than married to-." I was crying uncontrollably, again.
All Might wrapped his arms around me, being careful not to squeeze me too tight and irritate my ribs or my dislocated shoulder, "it's alright, I won't let anything happen to you." Though my brother had said those kinds of words to me before, I hadn't believed them. When All Might said it, I felt safe and reassured and was able to calm down. "Did you go to your brother?" He asked after a moment.
"...I did...he gave me back to them..." I cried.
He rocked me gently in an attempt to calm me down. We sat like that for a long time before I eventually calmed down again and he was able to finish tending to my wounds. I was so exhausted from crying; I didn't make a sound when he popped my shoulder back into place. Once I was all cried out, and all my wounds had been tended to, I felt like I could sleep for a week. Though I hadn't eaten in over 24 hours, I didn't feel hungry and the thought of food made me feel sick.
"Alright, we'll figure everything out in the morning, you should get some rest." He affectionately pat me atop the head.
"All Might?" I asked him quietly as I fought off a yawn.
He offered me a warm smile, "you can call me Toshinori when I'm not in costume."
I felt my heart flutter in my chest at this, "o-okay...don't you need to take my statement?"
He shook his head looking somewhat unsettled by whatever he'd been told, "that's what the phone call was about, the case is closed, the three men who abducted you and..."he trailed off not wanting to say 'murdered your friends', "...they all gave signed confessions and said they were acting on their own before they each bit off their tongues and bled to death." He grimaced.
I felt my blood run cold at this and a shiver ran down my spine.
"You were trying to disappear...that's why you have currency from multiple countries in your bag, right?"
I nodded.
"You know I don't like seeing you in trouble." He tenderly brushed a thumb across my cheek brushing away a stray tear. "I'll help you, so long as you don't disappear on me. Deal?"
I nodded.
He smiled, "alright. I don't want you to worry about any of this anymore tonight." He got to his feet, taking me with him and carried me to his bedroom. I fought off another yawn as he set me down on the bed before disappearing for a moment. When he returned, he had my plush bear under his arm and patiently waited for me to get under the covers before tucking it in my arms. "Goodnight, Enya." He tucked me in.
"Goodnight, Toshinori." I said in a sleepy daze. He left the lamp on the nightstand on and turned off the over head light before returning to the living room.