Hina winced, feeling her consciousness begin to waver. Her eyes dulled, the cyan glow dimming until it faded entirely, and she found herself back on the concrete floor of the vacant shop. Her breaths were weak, loud puffs in the empty room. Perhaps she should have tried to slow her breathing, the quick hyperventilating probably not helping her stay awake. But it was too much at the moment to think of anything other that the countless times she'd tried and failed to connect with someone outside the basement.
A spike of pain shot through her skull, and she grunted. All these futile attempts were wearing her out. At this rate, she'd completely lose the ability to activate her quirk from overuse, the pain bordering on a strength able to completely black her out from a single use.
It was impossible to know what time it was, the blindfold preventing any and all light from reaching her eyes. Was it morning? Daichi could walk back into the room at any moment, and Hina would be a sitting duck against his attacks. This strategy was her only chance of possibly escaping, but the results so far were less than stellar.
Hina sucked in a breath, prepping herself for one last try. It took more effort than usual to activate her quirk, her eyes behind the blindfold slowly glowing their signature bright cyan. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she pushed outwards.
There was only darkness, a nebulous void with absolutely nothing around her. She pushed and pushed, looking for someone, anything at all that could point her in the right direction. It was empty, cold. Or perhaps that was simply the realization that her demise was very close at hand, seeping into her consciousness.
She felt tears on her cheeks, and the blindfold soaked through. It sat uncomfortably on her face, chillingly cold. She sniffed, trying her best to ignore it and focus only on feeling anything at all out there in the nothingness.
"Please..." She whispered to her prison, "...show me...anyone..."
There was no response, of course. No one answered her pleas. Hina whimpered to herself, terrified that she'd die alone and in this terribly dark place. She really hadn't thought things would end like this. And the worst part was that she hadn't even told Shouta that she-
Something brushed her arm, tiny and gentle. The sensation was so startling, she nearly broke the connection from shock. Hina whipped her head around, and finally noticed what it was. It was faint-barely visible at all in the endless darkness-but there, nonetheless. A gray line. Like...string, perhaps. The redhead drew closer, seeing that it extended further into the darkness for in indeterminate length. She followed, trudging past the mounting pain like her life depended on it.
The gray line continued, and her consciousness followed, slowly, cautiously. What was this? It was endless, she thought. But, the further she followed, the more pronounced the gray became in the darkness, growing brighter and solid.
It began curving to the left, and still Hina did not give up, a small spark of hope blossoming in the pit of her chest. She had never seen anything like it before, this trail of light. There had only ever been an infinite darkness before, no matter how long or far she traversed. In Kamino Ward, and now locked in the vacant basement, there'd been nothing of the sort. Hina wasn't quite sure what she'd done differently this time, but she'd think on it later, when she was safe and away from Daichi.
The gray line curved again, this time at a right angle. She followed without fear, now searching faster in hopes of finding whatever was at the end of it. Hina barely felt the pain of her overuse, spurred to life with this newfound resolve to find help. When her eyes flickered, threatening to give out, she pushed past it and kept going.
The trail stopped, glowing a bright, nearly-white gray. And at the end of the string was an orb. Gray and bright and...familiar. Comforting. Safe. Tentatively, her fingers touched it, letting the sensation of digging deeper wash over-
"Hina?"
Eyes wide, she looked behind her, noticing the blackness had changed into UA's teacher lounge. And the man himself standing from the couch, looking shocked. Shouta's gaze dragged down her body, as if thinking this was all some sort of trick. Hina could barely believe it herself.
She'd connected with Shouta's mind, even from miles away.
"Shouta..." She muttered with relief, stumbling towards him and practically collapsing into his arms. Still reeling from the shock of being ripped away from the training with the students, he wrapped them around her tightly. It felt so real, and just as warm as she would have been had she been right beside him in reality. How was this possible?
The moment was cut short, Aizawa pulling away and holding her by her arms. "Where are you? How are you even-?"
"I don't know how, but..." She swallowed, looking worse for wear and in a panic. "Daichi and someone he's working with. They got to me when I wasn't-"
"I know it was him. Where are you?" He interrupted with fervor, stopping the possible long-winded and unnecessary explanation that wasn't important right now. Anything she had to say in that regard was probably information they already knew. Her location right now was all he gave a damn about.
"Shizukesa Tea Shop, in the Ginza district." She let out in a single breath, instinctively reaching out to touch his face. He hated the desperation and destitute relief in her expression. "There's a vacant building behind it. He's chained me in the basement there."
"Are you ok?" He asked, and she shook her head in a haggard manner.
"He's...if he comes down again...I'm not going to be able to hold out, Shouta." She admitted in a sob, fear bleeding through in a way he'd never seen from her.
He held her face closer, making her look up at him. "Stay strong, Hina. I need to let the others know. Hold on just a bit longer."
She nodded, then rose a bit and pressed her lips to his, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck and refusing to let go. He kissed her with hope, with a promise to find her. Hina kissed him like she didn't ever expect to see him again. It was terrifying.
And then, in an instant, she recoiled with a heart-wrenching shriek of pain, and shattered in a myriad of fragments. He tried reaching out for her, but she was no longer there, vanished without a trace.
Aizawa snapped back into reality, blinking with a gasp as he found himself along the sidelines of Gym Gamma. The students, none the wiser, continued training their quirks in preparation of the license examinations. Beside him, Cementos noticed his out-of-place reaction.
"Are you alright, Aizawa?" He inquired casually, seeing the erasure hero hold his head and take a few steadying breaths. The man looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"Keep them training. I know where Hina is." He muttered without further explanation, turning and running out the gym's doors in a flurry of motion.
Aizawa was impressed and monumentally thankful that Tsukauchi and his law enforcement team were well-attuned to emergency and crisis situations. Within five minutes of placing a call, himself and the team of officers were accompanied by several heroes willing to help them. Present Mic and Midnight had been granted permission to go with him, after learning of Hina's successful attempt to communicate. Ryukyu and Edgeshot had both been close to the precinct at the time of the call, and joined their ranks.
Perhaps 5 heroes was a bit excessive for 2 villains, but given the nature of Daichi's quirk, Tsukauchi didn't want to take any chances.
"He's extremely dangerous. Which is why I want you to be the first to enter. Taking Daichi out of the equation is paramount to the success of this operation." He'd told Aizawa. A suggestion the erasure hero had absolutely no complaints with.
They'd located the vacant spot behind the tea shop easily, the windows boarded and a thick lock on the door to prevent people from breaking inside. It looked all but abandoned. The team of police officers had surrounded the small building, dispersing the heroes along the perimeter in case they managed to leave via an alternative exit.
Traveling to her location, setting up the perimeter, and preparing to go inside...it all passed in a blur. Usually he was focused on every small detail when participating in operations like this, intent not to miss anything. This time...was different.
Eraserhead finally snapped his goggles in place as Present Mic stepped up beside him. They exchanged a solemn nod. The radio host looked unusually serious, determined to find his missing friend.
Tsukauchi gave Ryukyu a sign to go-ahead, and she changed into her dragon form, towering above the rest of them as she approached the door. She wasted no time, letting out a grunt as she swiftly kicked in the door, sending it crashing inside in a clatter of wooden splinters. Aizawa and Present Mic were swift to slip in right afterwards, on the lookout for any sign of villains.
The first floor was empty, a wide open space lacking any furniture. They continued further in.
"She's in the basement." He reminded the voice hero, and they entered the back hallways of the establishment. Time was now of the essence. Now that their presence was known, they had to anticipate those inside to-"
"RAAARGH!" A mighty roar called, and they stopped, seeing a monster of a man charging straight at them from down the hallway. He was muscular, tall, and red with anger. Too quick and with too little room to evade, the man barreled straight into them, forcing them back outside and into the mass of heroes and officers. Even Mic's loud scream barely fazed the villain, perhaps only serving to make him angrier.
He shoved them both to the concrete, crushing them into the hard surface with another resounding roar. The officers shouted for him to stand down and surrender, but he didn't appear to hear it. The sheer strength of this guy was staggering.
"A little help here!" Present Mic called, knowing that Ryukyu was probably the only one that could handle the strength of this guy.
The weight of the muscular villain was alleviated, as the dragon hero's tail swept him off of the UA teachers, sending him launching into the opposite wall in a clatter of bricks. Ryukyu stepped between him and the rest of the heroes, preparing herself. "I'll handle this one. Go and find the other."
Recovering to their feet quickly, Aizawa lead the others through the door again. It was a small building. Finding the stairs leading to the basement was quick and easy. Still no sign of the redhead. They heard the sounds of combat above them as they descended the stairs, the muscular villain giving those that stayed behind some trouble, but Aizawa purged it from his head the moment he opened the door and spotted the redheaded man they'd been looking for.
Facing sideways to them, his eyes glowed a bright cyan blue. The same color Hina's shown when using her quirk. Eraserhead's glared a blood-red crimson as his hair and capture weapons began to levitate, cutting off his quirk. Daichi blinked and staggered back in surprise.
"No-!" He began in a snarl, turning to look at the intruders but unable to as the capture weapon wrapped itself around his head, cutting off his vision for good. Present Mic followed up with a kick to the stomach, sending him tumbling to the ground and pressing his face into the concrete of the basement. The other end of Aizawa's capture weapon wrapped painfully snug around his wrists, keeping him in place with no chance of escape. Still, he didn't want to take any chances and kept his quirk going.
Another rumble and crash above, and one of the officers got a radio message requesting backup. "Go and help the others. He's not going anywhere." Aizawa promised darkly, and the officers nodded. As far as things were concerned, the situation was under control here.
"Move out!" The officer called, and they retreated back out the door to assist with the muscular villain.
Daichi panted, winded, into the floor, not bothering to try resisting. His mouth was turned in a sneer. "There's no way you should have found this place..." He muttered, angry and bitter by this turn of events. His goal was so close, yet so far away now that he was under arrest again.
Despite having noticed the redhead woman laying unmoving on the ground from the moment he'd walked in, Aizawa didn't dare take his gaze off of her villainous brother.
"Check to see if she's ok." The hero said.
Present Mic scrambled over, gently turning her to her back and removing the blindfold, but Daichi was already laughing from the floor at their pathetic attempts at help.
"I'd say she's the furthest from ok."
"Shut up." Aizawa spat with venom, and Daichi smiled wider.
"Hey, I recognize your voice, hero. Eraserhead...right?" He guessed, and Aizawa responded by tightening the bonds around his eyes for good measure. "Heh...you're in so many of her memories. But didn't you know...as the last man of the Hitagawa bloodline...you're supposed to get my blessing before you date my precious little sister."
Jaw clenching, Aizawa kicked the redhead in the face, shutting him up and knocking him unconscious. He fell limp against the floor, and the erasure hero finally felt he could look away from the captured villain without having his mind torn apart. His hair fell back into place, and he stepped towards Present Mic.
The blonde man looked worried, patting at the redhead's pale face insistently. He turned to look at his friend. "She's not waking up."
Aizawa pushed away the fear that rose up with his statement, holding up the chains. "We need something to break through these. Maybe Edgeshot can cut them."
"I'll call for a medic." Mic promised, before rushing back upstairs to get the appropriate help.
Aizawa knelt and placed her head in his lap, searching her body for injuries. She seemed otherwise unharmed, but pale and obviously drained. Seeing her use her quirk at the hospital, he knew that the quirk-related injuries wouldn't leave marks, but would hurt all the same. The unseen damage was untold, and worrying.
Her skin was cold, but her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. A quick check ensured she indeed still had a pulse, but she was otherwise out cold.
He couldn't have been too late. He refused to believe it.
ns 15.158.61.50da2
