The evening was dark, but colored lights and artificial fog rose into the sky in a strange array of twisting, swirling displays. It was disorienting and beautiful, and definitely not anything the redheaded hero was used to. The festival grounds were packed with people, even around the exit where Hina and Nemuri currently made their way towards, ears still ringing from being too close to the stage's loudspeakers. Grinning from ear to ear and a face red from exhaustion, Nemuri raised her hands up gleefully. "Woo! What did you think? Weren't they great?"
"Sure, but...did they have to be so loud?" The redhead held onto her head, the pounding feeling remarkably similar to the overuse of her quirk. Perhaps she shouldn't have agreed to join the sleep hero to the festival she'd been dying to go to for weeks.
"Oh, come on, that's half the fun!"
"Losing my hearing?" She retorted with an incredulous expression, but Nemuri waved her concern away, reveling in the aftermath of the high-intensity music.
"It'll go back to normal soon enough! One little concert isn't going to make you go deaf!"
Obviously this was just something Hina couldn't understand, not really a big fan of large concerts and festivals of this size. Nemuri had practically begged her to go since Hizashi had to cover the radio that night and couldn't attend. Relenting, she'd agreed, if only to make the woman happy and spend some quality time with her friend. Seeing as she had nothing to do that night anyway-Shouta was continuing his training sessions for Shinso that evening and therefore was unavailable, a fact she'd been pleasantly surprised to be told about-there wasn't any real reason to refuse going.
Walking out of the grounds, they made their way back towards the academy campus, content to let the night air calm them and take the opportunity to just talk. The sidewalks here were busy, a mixture of the usual passersby and concert attendees in the area. After some minutes, Hina felt like the pulsing bass was far enough behind them that she could finally hear herself think, though the pain of a headache still persisted. The further they walked, the thinner the crowds became.
"Next time we hang out, we're going to a soundproof room and reading a book. Or meditating in UA's gardens with Cementoss after the students get out of class." Hina vowed with a pouty huff. "I feel like my ears are bleeding and my head wants to explode."
"Oh, relax, you." Nemuri pulled a face, still pumped up from the concert. "I know you had fun. Admit it."
"I did have fun. I'm just not making it a monthly occurrence." She said, and Nemuri laughed. "Hizashi is the one more suited to loud environments, not me."
"I'm surprised you actually agreed to go, honestly. I thought for sure you'd bail at the last minute." She said with an amused sparkle in her eyes.
Hina gave her an exasperated stare. "I promised, didn't I? I don't like breaking my word."
"I know you don't. I appreciate it. It was a lot more fun going with someone than by myself." She said, draping an arm over Hina's shoulder lovingly. "I just wish we had more opportunities to get together, ya know? Everyone's always so busy, busy, busy. Even me."
"Well, we'll just have to enjoy the moments we do get, right?" Nemuri flashed her a smile.
"That we do." Her hand dug into her pocket for her phone, tapping away at her camera button. "Come on, get in close for a picture."
"A selfie? Really? It's not 2015 anymore." She admonished, but allowed herself to be squished in close to Nemuri's face, offering a happy smile. They'd gone a distance enough away where they weren't blocking people from walking anywhere, so that wasn't an issue. Nemuri snapped a few, just to be sure one of them turned out good, then they separated and continued walking.
"How else am I supposed to remember you when I'm old and decrepit and can't walk anywhere without a cane?" She quipped after a moment, grinning at the pictures on her phone with amusement. "Besides, who wouldn't want that smiling face as their home screen?"
She turned the screen so Hina could see, which was now the two of them smiling brightly into the camera. The redhead rolled her eyes, unimpressed with the compliment. "You change your home screen every week."
"Yeah, well, this week it's you and your smiling face with mine." She replied, ignoring her friend.
Something flashed past them, nearly knocking Nemuri over in their haste and causing her to drop her phone. Up ahead, both heroes could hear a distant yelling. Someone's purse was stolen, and they needed help. Both women shared a glance. At the same time, Hina could feel her phone vibrating, and she saw it was the police commissioner after pulling it out of her pocket. The redhead gave a sigh. What a bad time.
"Do you think you could handle it? I've got to take this." She pointed to her phone, and Nemuri gave a little grin.
"Don't worry about it. I've got it handled. I'll text you when I get back to the campus!" She gave her friend a playful pat on the shoulder. And with that, Nemuri spun in place and sprinted off after the purse thief.
Seeing her off with one last look, Hina turned attention to her phone and answered the call, holding it up to her ear. "This is Scarlet Seer."
"Hello again. Commissioner Jino calling." He greeted bluntly, immediately moving on to the reason for his call. "It is likely there has been a further victim of Daichi's quirk."
Hina let out a tired and disappointed sigh, rubbing at her already pounding head with dejection. Those she passed by were oblivious to her plight, going about their way. "Damn it...Should I book a train to Hosu City? I can be there within a half hour."
"There is no need." He said, giving nothing away in his tone. "It seems he's returned to Musutafu."
"What?" The hair on the back of her neck stood up, and after only a moment of misstep she quickened her pace. Having him back in the city put her on edge. Then, another spark of panic as she realized that meant someone in the city had been made comatose. Please, don't let it be someone she knew... "Who was the latest victim?"
"Backdraft discovered Death Arms in a dumpster 2 hours ago. At first we thought it a separate incident, but when they couldn't rouse him at the hospital, I became suspicious of the circumstances. I'm still not positive, but I figure it may be best to have you try anyway."
Her heart pounded once painfully, and she made to switch directions. She could still envision the last time she saw the other hero, looking sullen and grim while helping with Kamino Ward's rescue efforts. "I can head over to the hospital right away."
"It would be best to arrive in the morning. The doctors are still working to stabilize his physical condition. He'd been through a very brutal altercation beforehand."
Hina winced. Having to sit at home and wait until the morning to help was more difficult a request than Jino probably knew. The hours of wondering...But, she could see the logic in wanting to stabilize him first before she went digging around in anyone's head. Swallowing her anxiety, she nodded.
"Alright. I will head over early tomorrow."
"Much appreciated, Scarlet Seer. And do not fret. We will catch your brother."
With a tap, she ended the call, and began walking with a purpose back towards the dorms. She dodged past other people walking on the sidewalk, glancing down the dark alley ways in between buildings when she past them. She honestly couldn't help it, this newfound sense of paranoia. Knowing Daichi was here, somewhere out there in the city right at that moment put her on edge. Like she was being watched.
Hina distractedly meddled with her phone, rubbing the side with her thumb out of reflex, debating whether to call Shouta and...and what? She hadn't thought past the simple act of speaking with him, why and what she'd even say. Maybe the plain truth of hearing his voice-
A baby. Frowning, Hina looked around, realizing that a baby had been crying for several seconds without pause. High-pitched and painful, she grew closer to it the further she walked. None of the passersby ahead seemed to be carrying one. Where was it coming from?
Her eyes flicked from person to person, searching for the sound. And strangely, no one else acted as if they heard it. The cries grew more colicky...where was it's mother? Hina's concern grew the longer they continued, and she stopped at the end of an alleyway between a laundromat and a novelty store. The cries seemed to emanate from further into the darkness.
It would be remiss to simply walk away from a baby that could be in danger, but why was no one else doing anything about it? Damn, and her head was still killing her, the pounding from earlier settling into a constant pain. Tonight was turning out to be the worst...
Checking around her, she shook her head and entered the alley cautiously. The baby continued to cry, desperate for attention or help or...something. She trekked further in, seeing that it ended in a brick wall several dozen yards away. The pressure remained in her head, but she swallowed down her nerves. She was a hero. It was ridiculous the way she was jumping at shadows just because her brother had targeted another hero in town.
A small basket lay at the end in the darkness, and the cloth rustled a little from the small child inside. Hina stopped just before the small basket, crouching down to lift the cloth. There was nothing inside. No baby. No nothing. What...?
Her body tensed, hearing the crunch of boots on gravel behind her. The redhead leapt to her feet, eyes flashing, and went to spin around, but a large hand planted itself square in the middle of her face, fingers vicing it with a frightening grip. A cry passed her lips, and her hands automatically shot up to try tearing the appendage off her face, but she wasn't quick enough. She barely had time to even register what her attacker looked like.
"Hnngh!" The huge man grunted as he swung her head-first into the brick wall of the alley, knocking her painfully unconscious with the first hit.
"...Hina."
A distant, muffled voice called her name from the darkness. Fuck, everything was painful. Her head especially. Her closed eyes winced, and she felt someone insistently shaking her shoulder.
"Hina."
"Hmm..." She hummed noncommittally, still a bit dazed and confused as to where she was. Nothing smelled different and whatever she was on was comfortable, so that was a plus.
"Hina, wake up. Open your eyes."
"Shouta...?" She muttered, finally recognizing the voice and cracking her eyes into slits to see where she was. The surroundings pinpointed them in her apartment, with her boyfriend in question crouching in front of her. She rose from laying down on the couch, touching her head delicately. The room was dimly lit, but she could see the first aid kit and a bowl of water beside him on the floor.
A thick bandage was wound around her head, the telltale feel of past bleeding crusting underneath it. Her fingers probed the injury, confusion settling in as the last thing she remembered caught up with her. "What happened?"
"We found you in an alley. You were unconscious, so I brought you back here. What do you remember?" He asked cautiously, peering into her face.
Hina sighed heavily, taking a second to really orient herself. That damn pain in her head felt much more than it should have. The pressure that wouldn't go away lingered all around her skull, and she rubbed at it to try getting it away. What the hell was causing it?
"I remember...hearing a baby crying. In the alley." She started slow, thinking over it from start to finish, analyzing every detail she could. "I went to go see what was happening and someone...knocked me out."
Shouta nodded thoughtfully, wearing his casual clothing and...had he shaved? His stubble and mustache had begun growing back but he lacked either now, and she reached out to touch his face.
He grabbed her wrist and gently guided it back to the couch. "Stop for a second. We need to talk about everything."
"But, that's all I remember-"
"Not that. I mean with your brother."
Hina frowned, the nagging pressure seeming to worsen a degree as if it wasn't already giving her a killer migraine. What the hell was he talking about? "I don't understand...what?" "The man that attacked you was connected with your brother. I think it's time you told me the whole truth about him." He insisted, staring at her with a hard gaze. "You know exactly why he's after you, exactly what he wants. You've just neglected to tell me about it."
This sounded so unlike him. "Shouta-"
"No, Hina. No more hiding it. This has just become much worse than we'd thought it would, and unless we know what it is he's after, I can't help to protect you." He pushed, leaning closer to her. "What is it that he wants?"
She stared back with disbelief. The last time he'd taken this sort of tone with her was during their first training session. He'd called her out on her excuses. And she supposed he was doing the same now.
The redeah huffed out a breath, her chest tight and, damn her, her head even tighter. It felt like any minute it would explode outwards. And despite this familiar setting, she felt like something was wrong. "My grandfather's ring...a family secret. If I were to take a guess, that's what he wants."
"Why?"
"It's...It boosts the telepathic power of who wears it. It's illegal equipment that he used while active in America." She explained, rubbing at her temples with her hands. God, the pain was making it hard to think. It was distracting her, and she heard Shouta say something but each passing second it was getting harder to think. But Shouta's outfit, and this whole setting in general was just very familiar, and something was nagging at the edge of her mind that she'd seen it before. It was insistent. "I think he wants it to make his quirk even stronger."
"Where is it?"
"It's...hidden." She surmised finally, and she watched him glare at the indirect answer.
"Hina, we need to know where so that we can protect it and keep it from him. Tell me where it is. The longer we wait, the more likely he is to target the students now that he knows you're a teacher." His tone took on a harsh edge she'd never heard from him before. It sounded incorrect, so unlike him that it made her speechless for a moment.
Eyes wide, she stared at him and paused with sudden clarity. This...was that night. That night after Kamino Ward. Her eyes glanced down at the bowl of water, the first aid kit, and even his outfit was exactly the same. The shaven face, her apartment. Her phone was even beside her on the couch. He could mask it and alter it all he liked, but a night as traumatic as that would certainly sear itself into her head.
Hina looked back at Shouta, or the image of him, and steeled her nerves. Her heart leapt to her throat at the implication, but at least now she knew what was happening. The insistent pressure in her skull made a lot more sense now. And despite being in the absolute worst position she could be in right now, her voice surprisingly didn't waver.
"No need to put on someone else's face, Daichi. I know it's you."
The effect was instantaneous. Shouta's face relaxed, and broke into a smug smirk. And in a flash, the scene changed. Her apartment melted away, the carpet growing gritty as it turned to sand, the dark interior brightening into the low-hanging sun that slanted orange rays across the beach. The shoreline. Her mind's place.
Shouta shifted and reshaped himself into the likeness of a red-headed man, easy smile still in place. His hair was a little longer than she remembered, reaching an inch or so past his shoulders, and he sported a comfortable set of jeans and t-shirt, complete with an open zip jacket. Looking every bit the thug that he was.
Hina risked a glance behind her, glad to see her mental wall still in place and soaring high into the sky. It was still intact. Her mind hadn't been shattered yet.
"You know, I was hoping we could just do this the easy way so I wouldn't have to waste my energy going the brute force route." He said with nonchalance, shrugging and taking a glance at the ever-present sun with a squint. "But I guess you've always sort of been a pain in the ass. Wouldn't be like you to just willingly tell me what I want."
His gaze returned to her, and this time, she could see the deep-seated resentment behind his pupils, fixing her with a relentless and chilling stare that she couldn't look away from. She shivered from fear, the power he radiated much stronger than years ago. All of her culminated training would have to keep her alive through whatever was to come. And Hina honestly wasn't sure if it would be enough.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
