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agentark88 · 2 years ago

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Think: Chapter Ninety-Four: Decaying Knowledge

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction using characters and settings from My Hero Academia/Boku no Hero Academia created by Kohei Horikoshi. I do not claim any ownership of characters present in this piece that are owned and created by Kohei Horikoshi. I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku no Hero Academia.

Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.

Warnings: This work contains mild language, blood, and violence.

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America.

Chapter Ninety-Four: Decaying Knowledge

You couldn’t keep up. Deku and Bakugo had far more experience and speed than you did. Over your ragged breaths, you could barely hear Deku explaining the situation to Endeavor on an assumed private channel. From the few words you could pick up on, Deku was going to see if he could lead Shigaraki in a different direction just by moving himself.

Your mind blasts were getting weaker. You felt your consciousness slip for just a second, before catching yourself off of some more debris. Your head was swimming. Thankfully, the thoughts weren’t crowding you anymore, but you’d taken some strain from getting forced out of Shigaraki’s mind.

Suddenly, you were grabbed. You yelped. Bakugo clicked his tongue in your ear, annoyed.

“Dammit, Big Brain! What were you thinking following us?” he snapped at you. He hooked you onto his chest. ��Hold on.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck, worried he might decide to drop you and leave you behind.

“Ah, Think?” Deku asked in surprise. “You followed us?”

“Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to be here?” Bakugo scolded you.

You pressed your face into his chest in order to avoid his angry glare.

“Don’t hide now! Where the hell are you going to go? I’m holding you.” Bakugo clicked his tongue again.

“W-why would you follow us? I t-told you I’d be right back,” Deku said.

“One for All. Shigaraki is after One for All, isn’t he?” you muttered into the fabric of Bakugo’s hero costume.

Bakugo’s muscles tensed. Deku let out a small gasp, seemingly left speechless by your words.

“W-What’s One for All?” Deku asked, but you could hear the shaking in his voice and the lie as blatant as the sun in the sky.

“Dammit, Deku! She figured it out. Don’t be an idiot and try to lie to her now.” Bakugo gritted his teeth. “I should have pushed you out of that room when I had the chance. All Might said too much that day.” One of his arms came around your waist, and he gave you a squeeze. “This is too dangerous. You shouldn’t have come.”

“I can hold my own,” you said. You peered up at him, and he glanced away, blushing.

“I’m not questioning your abilities, Big Brain. I’m just…” he trailed off sighing. “You better not get yourself hurt!”

“Shigaraki changed direction!” Deku called back. “It’s just like we thought. He’s after me. We can buy the Pro Heroes more time to evacuate the civilians”

Bakugo grinned viciously. “I can’t wait to kick that villain’s crusty ass. I owe him a beat down, and I intend to deliver, especially for what happened to All Might because of me being kidnapped. I’ll prove that I’m a hero.”

Bakugo sped up, and you had to clutch him tighter to hold on. Bakugo’s hand came down to check that you weren’t slipping every once in a while; however, he had no issues keeping up with Deku even with you hanging on to him. You took the chance to glance at him. His jaw was set. He still held on to what happened to All Might after he’d been kidnapped. He still continued to blame himself for it. He hadn’t been the only one there that night. It wasn’t his fault, nor was it yours.

You winced as a blast of energy shot over your skin. Your earpiece tingled and a sharp buzz sounded, before it went dead entirely.

“The comms! They’re out again!” Deku warned, fidgeting with his headpiece.

Bakugo tested his own without any luck either. You readjusted your arms again around Katsuki’s neck, and he tensed, reaching for you to ensure you were still holding firm. A flash of the moment he wasn’t able to catch you escaped his mind and floated into your own. Your eyes widened when you saw it. Did that memory still haunt him?

“Do you feel that?” Bakugo asked.

Your whole body quaked, and danger set a migraine in your temple. It felt painful to breathe. Death. It felt like death was swirling around you.

Bakugo abruptly pulled back in the air. His hands came out ready to blast what had inevitably stopped them. You dared a peek behind you. Red eyes. You saw red, horrid, bloodshot eyes. Shigaraki stared at the three of you, smirking. His fingers lifted. Your throat closed. Death. Impending death loomed at the edge of that hand. He’d be able to decay the three of you into dust. You had to do something. You couldn’t just sit there and watch it unfold like this. Fear had an icelike grip on your body.

“Give me One for All, Izuku Midoriya,” Shigaraki’s voice rasped out.

Suddenly, Bakugo, you, and Midoriya were snatched from the air, changing your direction rapidly. The area you’d left decayed into nothing. Gran Torino had somehow managed to grab the three of you, using his quirk to air blast you into another direction, just before Shigaraki unleashed his quirk on you. His small form could barely hold on to all of you.

You heard your heartbeat in your ears, clutching Bakugo even tighter out of fear. Gran Torino was explaining something to Midoriya, something in regard to One for All and the Pro Heroes. You had never intended on fighting Shigaraki. You had only followed to help Midoriya. Your eyes widened when you realized Deku and Bakugo’s endgame was to battle him. You breathed, feeling as if you could finally catch your breath while away from that monstrosity of a villain.

“You have to let the Pro Heroes handle him,” Gran Torino said. “If any of that debris touches you, you would be turned to dust. You’ll need to trust the Pros.”

Gran Torino suddenly stopped, dropping you all into a hidden area of upturned wreckage. You fell to your knees, taking hold of your shoulders. You’d been so close to death, so close to that hand shredding every fiber of your being to nothing, to ash.

“Wait here,” Gran Torino stated flatly. “You should be safe.”

“Eraserhead just took his power, didn’t he? Why is he still so strong?” Deku asked.

“He’s only weakened,” Gran Torino explained.

“Why would we stop here? Why are we still so close to him?” Bakugo asked.

“If he’s only weakened, and he’s still that powerful, how will you be able to stop him from taking One for All from Midoriya?” you gasped.

Bakugo looked at you in surprise. His fists clenched at his sides.

“Toshinori told me that Bakugo knew your secret, but I wasn’t told about your other classmate,” Gran Torino said, eyeing you. “We can’t go farther. Communications are down. Shigaraki is moving far faster than expected. I stopped here because few will be able to follow him, and if you’re chased too far out, none of the Pro Heroes would be able to catch up. By getting him in Eraserhead’s field of vision and hiding out of sight, you three are in the best tactical position you could be.” Gran Torino’s expression hardened.

“How do you expect us to just sit here and hide?” Midoriya asked.

“Present Mic told me that All for One’s powers were transferred into Shigaraki,” Gran Torino explained. “That’s why.”

You blinked in confusion. All for One, that horrifying villain you encountered before you’d been rescued. That same man that forced All Might into retirement. His powers had transferred into Shigaraki?

“So, that means he could…” Deku trailed off.

“He could what?” you asked in exasperation.

“It means he’d be able to steal anyone’s quirk for himself, including One for All,” Bakugo cut in.

“I couldn’t imagine a worse scenario than him getting his hands on One for All. If the Pro Heroes can’t stop one person, what’s the point in having so many heroes at all?” Gran Torino set his stance, getting ready to move. “I’m going in to help. We’ll need every Pro Hero we can get. If Shigaraki gets his hands on One for All, nothing will be able to stop him,” Gran Torino said solemnly.

Bile rose in your throat as your stomach turned at the thought. You shivered, thinking of the consequences of Shigaraki getting a hold of Midoriya’s power, All Might’s power. A loud screech had you on alert again. Your breath caught. You looked up and saw a multitude of Nomus headed in the direction of battle.

“They should have been destroyed under the hospital! How are there still Nomus alive after Shigaraki’s decay wave?” Gran Torino shouted in surprise.

Horrible, grotesque monsters clawed their way through the city, making a beeline for the Pro Heroes attempting to put Shigaraki’s horrid destruction to an end. You stood up on your unsteady legs, quaking in fear at the sight of them.

“Those aren’t regular Nomus,” you murmured. “They look more powerful than even the one we fought.”

Gran Torino flew up into the air. “Stay hidden! They’re heading for Eraserhead. I need to stop them!”

Your hair rose with your quirk buzzing in the back of your skull. As afraid as you were, you couldn’t just wait around for Shigaraki to use his decay again. If they were heading for your teacher, Mr. Aizawa, you wouldn’t let them get the chance to hurt him.

Deku moved without a word. You followed, already prepped with your own mind blast. When the battle came into view, you saw him, Shigaraki, grinning from ear to ear as he reached for Mr. Aizawa. Shigaraki stood like a fallen king before him, a red torn cape flowing behind him, and his bare chest to the world as if nothing could hurt him. You choked down the fear that had paralyzed you. No matter the cost, you would not let him touch your teacher.

Your quirk enveloped Mr. Aizawa, putting an invisible wall of protection between him and Shigaraki. Whether or not Shigaraki touching a strand of your mind would decay it, didn’t matter. Mr. Aizawa needed you, as much as you needed him to stay alive. Eraserhead’s quirk should be able to nullify the decay regardless. As long as you could keep Shigaraki away from hurting your teacher. Mr. Aizawa was there for you when you needed him most. You would be there for him.

“Why?! Don’t!” Gran Torino shouted toward you, as you moved toward your teacher.

Shigaraki’s fingertips pressed into your forcefield, and you shivered, feeling your quirk slip at the strength puncturing through your mind. Swiftly, Shigaraki’s red eyes were on you, his fingers digging into the mind field with harsh contempt, nearly making you crumble from the searing pain that sliced through you from it. Midoriya collided with Shigaraki, holding him back with sheer brute force.

“Let us help! If Shigaraki can’t use his quirk, then let us fight!” Deku yelled, straining against Shigaraki’s power.

“We won’t let him hurt our teacher! I’m sorry, but we won’t stand by when we can help!” you shouted along with him. You stood out in front of Mr. Aizawa being supported by two other Pro Heroes. Tears formed in your eyes. “You’ve done everything you could to protect us, protect me! It’s our turn to protect you!”

“We wouldn’t have made it this far without you. Let us save you this time!” Midoriya chimed in.

“Midoriya…” Aizawa trailed off.

“Think of how lousy a hero I would be if I couldn’t protect my own damn teacher,” Bakugo called out, flying over Midoriya with his own blast toward Shigaraki.

You turned your head ever so slightly, looking back at your teacher. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, Mr. Aizawa. I wouldn’t be a hero. Let me thank you for everything you’ve done for me,” you said. “Let us help.”

Mr. Aizawa’s eyes widened. “Kokoro…”

“I’m sorry for always causing you trouble.” You smiled, tears streaming down your face. “Thank you.”

“Kokoro!” Mr. Aizawa shouted after you as you blasted into the fight.

Thanks to the training you’ve done together, Bakugo, Midoriya, and you could switch off while keeping Shigaraki at bay, but his strength soon became realized. Bakugo used his AP Shot hero move, and Shigaraki barely flinched, he smirked even. Midoriya grabbed Shigaraki with Blackwhip but was thrown off. You didn’t know what chance you had. Midoriya’s strength was incomparable. However, Shigaraki was now advancing toward Katsuki Bakugo, prepared to kill him like in your nightmares.

Strands of your mind flew from your head. You seized Shigaraki like Midoriya had, only you used other strands of your mind to tether you to the ground below, digging in to anchor you.

“Anna Kokoro,” Shigaraki hissed out, straining against the invisible rope. “I should have killed you at our first meeting. Now, you’re as annoying as a buzzing fly to me.” He reached back, hooking his arm around the strands of your mind.

To your surprise, instead of trying to tug, he whipped his whole arm down. You weren’t protected from that, weren’t stabilized to stand upright just for a pull. You hit the ground hard, the crack echoed. Disoriented and bleeding, you could barely hear Bakugo shouting for you. A heat wave sailed overhead. You managed to lift yourself far enough from the ground to see Endeavor standing where Shigaraki once was.

You clenched your fist, lifting yourself from the ground in embarrassment. Deku helped you up. Endeavor turned to look at you only momentarily.

“We can’t change the fact that the three of you are here, but we need to support Eraserhead. The two of you, cover Deku!” Endeavor ordered, before he rushed in.

“One for All. You’re mine. Come to your brother and give me what is rightfully mine,” Shigaraki said, but it wasn’t him. It didn’t sound like him.

Gran Torino sailed in next. You wiped the blood from your face with the back of your hand, scared and uncertain of what to do. But, Bakugo didn’t hesitate, he changed his location, finding a strategic position of attack while Shigaraki’s attention was still on Deku. Your knees buckled. Were you truly ready for this? What were you thinking? You weren’t Deku or Bakugo. You didn’t stand a chance.

You turned around, but froze as soon as you caught sight of Mr. Aizawa. You had to do this for him. He couldn’t fight. He had his own role. He needed to keep Shigaraki from disintegrating everything in his path. He always believed in you, always believed that you could be a hero. You clenched your fists at your sides, and you turned back to face the battle. The least you could do was cover your teacher.

The battle raged on between Shigaraki and the Pro Heroes. Even without his powers, Shigaraki stood his ground, perhaps even surpassed the heroes in his strength, a monster in a man’s body. Fear rumbled through you. They were losing. You could see that they were losing just by the determination in Shigaraki’s eyes, the bitter rage to keep going without fail. Endeavor was the number one hero, and he was barely making a dent. Still, you could tell Shigaraki was becoming slower, being worn down by the multitude of attacks.

Deku slid back into the fight, using Blackwhip in an attempt to restrain Shigaraki, who only had gotten more and more impatient as he was losing ground. You forced your own quirk back to your senses, feeling it strain from the damage it had taken. Ryuku, in her dragon form more greatly engaged the enraged villain. You only planned to give the heroes an edge, help them subdue the deranged power-hungry psychopath that Shigaraki had become. You didn’t know what using your quirk on him again could have had such terrible consequences to your head.

You can’t have control of my body. It’s mine, Shigaraki hissed.

Allow me to help you, Tomura. Stop fighting. This voice. You barely recognized this voice. A shiver, a memory had you quaking. All for One. All for One was inside of Shigaraki. He was not only giving him this power, but he was a part of him now.

You felt the internal struggle, the back-and-forth. Shigaraki was fighting on the outside, but he was also fighting with his Master from the inside. Flashes of memories appeared, horrible memories to you. Decay, itching and destruction and pure decay. You just wanted it to stop itching. You wanted to destroy everything. Then, you did. Your fingers pressed into flesh and away came gray ash. Joy filled your veins. Sadness, but then relief.

Vomit roiled in the back of your throat, as you couldn’t pull back out of Shigaraki’s mind. You watched as his family members turned to dust one by one. The dog, his mother, accidents. Some were accidents. Some happy and some sad. It itched. It always itched, and it still haunted you. He was thinking of them, even now, he was thinking of them as he struggled to be enough, struggled to be strong enough to end the torment.

You focused, wrestling your control back from the mind of a madman. At this point, you weren’t sure if you were in his head or if he was in yours.

Stop! You don’t have to do this! You don’t have to destroy everything because of your past! you shouted toward a deaf mind.

Shigaraki’s thoughts didn’t even flinch. The chaos continued with him tuning out All for One and thinking of how joyous the final destruction of his family had been. The hands, the blue hands of the dead, trophies of his triumph. Then, you saw it. His mind twisted. Anger ripped at his tangled thoughts as he considered a new alternative to this endless fight. His quirk was being nullified, and he had had enough. You saw the red bullet, saw the gun flash between thoughts. You took hold of the strands of your mind, but they remained entangled.

There you are. Too bad. I thought you would have been a promising candidate, especially since you made it this deep into my successor’s mind, All for One stated.

Your blood went cold. You turned around to see a disfigured face. All for One stood as he had stood in front of you to offer you a chance to be villain. His dark suit blended in with the dismal vacuum of space that was this side of Shigaraki’s mind. You were so close you could touch him. He had a hold of what you could only assume to be the strands of your mind. He dug his fingers into the invisible waves, and you cried out in pain. You fell to your knees, holding your head.

Interesting, he purred. Perhaps this quirk would be of use to us. Stolen of course. Too bad I am not the one in control of Tomura at the moment, but soon… I will consider your quirk as well.

All for One clenched harder about your mind strands. It felt as if he was squeezing your windpipe closed. You gasped for air as your head felt like it was being compressed as easily as a soda can. Breathe. You had to breathe. Had to get away from this man who had enough residual power within Shigaraki to affect you in this way.

The quirk deleter gun flashed in Shigaraki’s mind again, and All for One suddenly released you. You flew from Shigaraki’s mind, collapsing to the ground in your physical body. You reached for your neck, gasping for air. You didn’t know how long you were just standing there, but you didn’t have time to flounder. You had to stop Shigaraki from—

The gun went off. Your attention flashed forward. The gun had been forced through Ryuku’s skin, her dragon scales. Shigaraki had a hold of Deku between his teeth. No one had been able to stop him from firing. You whipped your head back and watched in horror as Mr. Aizawa took a knife clean through his leg, severing the lower half of his leg with the quirk deleting bullet in it from his body. You heard Deku screaming, or was it you screaming?

You hadn’t had time to stop it. Your weakened body could barely move. A migraine rattled all of your senses. You hissed under your breath as just a mere turn of your head had your mind spinning.

The knife fell from Mr. Aizawa’s hands, yet somehow, he kept his eyes open. Shigaraki launched a desperate attack on your wounded teacher, grinning in triumph. His fingers dug into Mr. Aizawa’s forehead, scraping through the skin, all the way down to his eyes. You reached out your hand to grapple him with your quirk, but your quirk lashed back at you with searing pain in its wake.

Deku lassoed Shigaraki with Blackwhip, pulling him away from Mr. Aizawa, but the damage had been done. Aizawa collapsed, and the pain in your head wasn’t nearly as palpable as the pain in your heart at witnessing the condition that your teacher endured now.

You got on your hands and knees, forcing your beaten body and mind to move. But no matter how loud you were yelling at yourself to do so, you felt utterly powerless. Your quirk hid from your control, in fear that you might put it in serious danger again.

“Anna. My Sweet Anna. It’s okay. I’m here.”

Your eyes widened. It couldn’t have been him. He was in jail. He shouldn’t be here. “Doku?” you asked.

Doku Kobura’s hands were on you as he shushed you. You blinked up at him in a daze as he helped you to your feet. His piercings were gone. He was wearing rather pedestrian clothes compared to the designer garb you were used to seeing him in, but it was definitely him.

“How are you…? You shouldn’t be here—” You fell into him, clutching your head as another wave of pain hit you.

Doku supported your body with his, leading you away from the ensuing battle. You shook your head, pushing at him gently.

“We can’t leave. Mr. Aizawa needs me,” you said.

“He’s out. The Pro Heroes have got him,” Doku explained. “You’re in no condition to keep fighting either. Shigaraki is about to disintegrate everything in his way, and I will not let you be collateral damage.”

“My friends…” your voice was hoarse. As you argued, Doku continued to help you back.

You barely caught sight of Shoto flying toward Endeavor. He threw up a mountain of ice that melted away in a cloud of condensed air as the Pro Hero cooled off. This was bad. This was going to be bad.

Doku followed your line of sight as it shifted back toward Shigaraki. His hand lifted, and you clenched your teeth, bracing for what was about to come. Doku tightened his grip on you protectively, almost as if he were going to shield you from the decay that would most certainly ripple out of the overpowered villain. But, the destruction never came.

The front of Shigaraki’s torso split. Blood spilled from his chest as if someone had walked up and sliced him with a sword. Shigaraki visibly staggered, confusion filling his expression.

“He’s not regenerating. He should be regenerating,” Doku said under his breath. He blinked. “H-How long has it been? How long have I been in Tartarus?” Kobura suddenly asked you.

“I… I don’t know…” you managed, faltering in his grip. Your vision was growing blurry.

“Hey. Stay with me, Anna. I’ve got you. Don’t pass out.” Kobura’s attention shifted back to you only momentarily. He hesitated to move. His gaze flickered back up to Shigaraki. “He must not have been completed. There wasn’t enough time for the quirks to fully develop within him. The quirk transplant must not have finished, which means there’s a chance to get you out of here safely.”

“You knew? You knew he was going to become this, and you didn’t warn us?” you asked through ragged breaths. You looked up to see that Midoriya had grabbed everyone nearby him with Blackwhip, lifting Shigaraki along with it so he wasn’t able to touch anything or anyone to decay it. He then put them all back down safely.

Your questions didn’t even make Kobura flinch. Doku shook his head. “I knew everything about The League of Villains, Anna. Everything. All for One’s plans were laid out on the crazy doctor’s computers. Of course, I knew. There was time before this. Time and it should have never affected you. I would have always kept you safe. I always keep you safe. If it wasn’t an immediate threat to you, then it didn’t matter.” Kobura sighed. “What would you have done if I told you, Anna? I’m a villain, remember? I’m not a trustworthy source. If anything, the information would have gotten you in trouble, simply because you would have been caught associating with me.”

The fight raged on behind you. Blow after blow thundered and cracked, echoing for miles on past your eardrums. Deku was fighting Shigaraki by himself. You worried how long he would be able to maintain so many attacks. You hoped that he wouldn’t damage himself too badly. There was a chance that he’d break his arms beyond repair.

“We need to get out of here while there’s still time,” Doku said. Kobura made a move to lift you, but you used your remaining strength to push him away.

“I’m not leaving them,” you said. You lurched forward, sucking in a gasping breath as another wave of agonizing pain struck your temples.

“Your ‘friends’ have got it under control,” Kobura stated dryly.

You knocked him in his ribs with your elbow, no matter how weak it was, for putting such sarcastic interest on the word “friends.”

Kobura continued guiding you away. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Not while I still draw breath. Not when I can do something about it.”

You reached your hand up weakly to his shirt, stretching the fabric as you tugged. He looked down at you, and you could finally see his face up close, examine it. Your eyes widened. Bruises and stretch marks lined his jaw. His eyes looked bigger, while his face appeared gaunt. His tanned skin was paler than normal, but his normally translucent golden scales appeared more opaque, noticeable, in patches around his face. Your gaze trailed down to see much harsher purple bruises and lacerations on his arms.

“You’re hurt,” you said in concern. You reached up to his face. “What happened? Who did this to you?”

Kobura flinched away from your touch. His jaw tightened, and he winced. “Not now. There isn’t time to explain now.” He turned his face away from you, hiding it. “All that matters is that I’m here. I can protect you.”

“You—”

Kobura hissed. One of his hands left you as he struggled to keep hold of you. Shinso had hooked his capture weapon around his wrist, trying to rip him off of you. Hitoshi gave a sharp tug on Doku’s arm, and you yelped.

“Let her go!” Shinso shouted.

“Let me go, idiot! You’ll hurt her! She can barely stand!”

Shinso scoffed. “If you think for one second I’m going to trust a villain like you—”

“Hitoshi, he’s not hurting me. Please stop!” You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to hold yourself together.

“Frisk me if you want to. I don’t have any weapons on me,” Kobura said. “I’m just trying to get her out of here safely.” There was a beat or two of silence. “I don’t have time for this. Release me.”

You opened your eyes and watched Hitoshi’s conflicted expression soften as he met your gaze. He slowly released the capture weapon from Kobura.

“Prominence Burn!” Endeavor bellowed. A sweltering blast of heat had the three of you looking back and shielding your eyes. The Pro Hero had tackled Shigaraki in the air, engulfing him with fire.

Shigaraki’s skin was little more than burnt leather at this point, sizzling with grotesque ferocity. Hot air rippled out. Endeavor fell away from the living corpse. How could he still have been alive? You all stared on in terror, as Shigaraki’s lip spoke someone else’s words.

“Little brother!”

Kobura’s grip loosened on you from the shock. Dark tendrils of sharp red and black energy darted out in the air toward Deku. A gorgeous display of sparkling explosions moved toward him. Katsuki shoved Midoriya out of the way from the attack. The quirk had pierced him through the chest.

You screamed. “No!” you shrieked. “Katsuki!”

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

Text

Think: Chapter Eighty-Five: Kobura’s Sacrifice

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language, violence, and blood.

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America.

Chapter Eighty-Five: Kobura’s Sacrifice

You had a weird lunch with Kobura that evening on the school roof. Your heart thundered in your chest after the intimate interaction. All he had done was nuzzle his face against yours, and it had your heart doing somersaults. He had apologized to you, rightfully so, but it didn’t make you feel any better. Even if he had a hand in you being forced to go to this school, it was ultimately you, or really your parents, that had gotten you sent here, not him.

You wondered if Kobura had something he needed to do with The League of Villains. Should you have stopped him from leaving then? Was it your responsibility to stop him anymore? Technically, you still had a provisional hero license. It was never taken from you. You should act in a critical time of danger. Were you really in danger when Kobura was with you? The immediate answer that came to mind was “no.”

Something felt wrong. You couldn’t place your finger on it. You were restless the remainder of the day. Kobura having left shouldn’t have provoked such a gutturally uneasy response. He’d be back like he always was, cocky grin in place tomorrow. Still, it didn’t sit well that he wouldn’t be taking you home.

It was quiet on the walk home, foreboding. The sky had gone gray. The wind aggressively tore through your clothing. A chill ran through you. Flecks of rain splattered across your ruddy cheeks, suggesting a more volatile storm was on the horizon.

By the time you reached your house, the rain had picked up. You didn’t own an umbrella, so you weren’t able to shield yourself from the onslaught that fell from the sky. The best you could manage was hooking your jacket over your head, but it did little to keep your clothes from getting soaked.

As you made it up the stairs to your house, you froze on the final step. The door had been left ajar. You and your parents never forgot to lock it. Your heartrate increased. Emoticon was dead. Kobura kept The League of Villains from coming after you. Could this be a new threat? Did someone else have a reason to attack you?

Your quirk vibrated in your skull. You reached out with your mind, finding your parents’ thoughts first. They shouldn’t have been home.

What do they want with us? your mother’s frantic thoughts flittered into your mind first.

Fear erupted in your chest, and you slowly edged the door open.

How could they have found us? your father’s panicked question came next.

You stepped across the threshold as quietly as you could. Your attention landed on your parents’ shoes. They had come home early. This break-in must have happened after they’d gotten into the house safely. You reached your quirk out again to gain some more details before coming into contact with the threat.

This is for Sweet Anna. It’s not for you. It’s always been for her. You need to do this for her, Kobura’s thoughts hit you like a fist to the face.

You never thought Doku would go this far. You thought he would have stopped The League of Villains if it came to this, came to them threatening you or your family again. Instead, he was working with them to kidnap you. He had to be if he was standing in your house now. He was the only one that knew you were living here.

You rushed forward, realizing your mistake far too late. Your ankle caught on a tripwire, invisible to the naked eye and unexpected in your new house. A mechanism triggered. Several shots fired from all directions. You hadn’t been ready for it, but you managed to catch some of the projectiles out of the air with your quirk. Pain burst in your thigh and your upper arm. Kobura’s burs, ones laced with his venom had pierced your skin. Your face blanched. You pulled them out with your quirk, but already felt the venom working its way through your system, numbing your quirk.

You spotted Toga and Twice first. Actually, two Togas. One Toga had your mother by the throat, pressing her against the kitchen counter. Twice frantically looked between you and her.

“It’s not what it looks like! It’s definitely what it looks like,” Twice said.

Anger and betrayal lingered in your reddening vision. Your focus panned over. Your father had a knife to his throat, and Kobura was the one holding it there.

“What are you doing?! Get away from my parents!” you screamed at him.

“Finally, you’re home,” Kobura hissed out. “Tie her up. These two don’t have quirks. It’s actually laughable how little security this place has. We must have caught a lucky break. If our target had been at that other school, we would have had Pro Heroes to deal with.”

Toga looked at you. Regret tightened her expression. “I’m really sorry about this,” she whispered. “We’re doing this for your own good.”

“Don’t do this,” you warned her. You lowered your stance. Kobura’s venom had trickled through your bloodstream, clouding your senses. A fever burned your forehead.

Toga came at you with a knife, a telegraphed attack. You didn’t understand what they were doing, but you were not going to let them threaten your parents like this, kidnap you in front of them. You didn’t want to go with them. Kobura knew that all you wanted was to be a hero, not a vigilante or a villain. Taking you wouldn’t solve your problems.

You easily evaded Toga’s first slash.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Toga murmured after another attack.

“Stop this!” Your vision blurred. You should have been prepared for Kobura’s trap. You would be able to fight if you had.

“Did you really think we would just stop pursuing her if you took her out of U.A.? Our goal wasn’t the school; it was the individual. You only made it easier for us to get to her,” Kobura snapped at your father.

Your father’s knees buckled. His whole body was shaking. Kobura put pressure into the blade at his throat. “T-take her! You’re right. We can’t fight you! Please, we don’t want this to get any more violent,” your father begged.

The air left your lungs. Your father couldn’t be serious. The whole point of changing schools was for your protection… But, you had never believed that yourself. You knew removing you from U.A. was for them, your parents. It didn’t make it hurt any less that your father would give you up like that right in front of you.

Toga stabbed at you again, and you hooked her arm, slapping the knife out of her fingertips. She huffed, face reddening.

“I’m not even trying, Anna,” she whispered in frustration. She pulled free another knife hidden on her person.

You staggered back from her in a venom-soaked daze. You gritted your teeth. What were they thinking? This wasn’t going to make things better. You held your stance up as best as you could. The next slash through the air clipped your arm. You stumbled back, tripping over your own feet. You hit the ground, catching yourself with your hands. Toga leapt on top of you. She pulled your hands back, and she had your hands bound within seconds.

Kobura sadistically chuckled. Toga forced you up to your knees to face your father, and the back of Kobura. There was no sign of the fake student you’d gotten to know, the sweet Kobura that had spent days with you. His school uniform had been replaced by his villain costume. Cold black leather was draped around his tense form. He’d left his hood partially on, but he’d dragged down his mask, so he could bare his fangs at your trembling father.

The burning of tears met your eyes. You had trusted him. How could Kobura do this to you? You stifled a strangled sob by clenching your jaw shut. Kobura glanced back at you. You saw the pain in his eyes, despite his villainous grin.

“Why are you doing this?” you pleaded.

Kobura winced, but he made it look like he was adjusting his grip on your father. “By taking her out of U.A., all you did was piss us off. Did you really think we didn’t know where she was? You spat into our faces by trying to hide. We won’t just take her. We need to teach you a lesson,” Kobura said. “No matter where you run, we will find you. As long as she is with you, there is nowhere you can hide.”

“Please, let us live. We thought you were after the school and that’s why you had pursued our daughter. It was an honest mistake!” Your father’s face was a bright crimson. His brown eyes were wet with tears.

“That school was the only thing keeping her out of our reach!” Kobura jostled your father.

“We’re sorry! Please! Tell us what you need! We can get it for you!”

“What we need is a little respect. We’re not to be taken lightly. To think, this whole thing could have been avoided had you just kept her in U.A.. It’s just so sad, isn’t it? We had no need to come for either of you, as you’re just her parents, but I’m so damn angry about your arrogance, I think I want to cut out your heart.” Kobura moved the blade of his knife down to your father’s chest.

Your father’s eyes widened. “We didn’t know! Please! Please! Just take her, and we promise to disappear!” your father pleaded again.

Your mother was a puddle of tears in the other Toga’s grip. “Let us go. We didn’t know,” your mother mimicked your father in her pleas.

Your head throbbed in pain. It was hard to breathe. Your quirk sparked, but it never went ablaze.

“Stop,” you begged. “Please.” You didn’t know what exactly you wanted to stop. You didn’t want to hear your parents serve you up on a platter to the villains. You didn’t want to endure whatever this was any longer. It was painful. It hurt you in more ways than one.

“Just take her!” both of your parents shrieked simultaneously.

“Stop!” your scream echoed through the small house. Your quirk shot out from your body, sending a ripple of energy shaking through the house and knocking Toga off of you. You staggered to your feet, rushing for Kobura and your father.

Kobura’s hand shot out, grabbing you by your brown school uniform. His toxic green eyes examined you, drinking you in like it was the last time he’d see you. He sighed, shaking his head. “Stand down. You know your quirk is nullified by mine. It entered your blood as soon as those projectiles punctured your skin. You can’t do anything for them. They’ve done this to themselves,” Kobura said coldly.

“Why?” you asked. Your bottom lip quivered. Why was he doing this? He was the only one that was helping you keep it together here, and he was betraying you. “I thought…”

Kobura turned away from you. He shoved you back into the waiting arms of Twice, who dragged you back over to where you’d been laying. The sudden burst of your quirk was once again trapped by Kobura’s. You weakly struggled against your binds.

The front door exploded. Everyone’s attention snapped in the direction of the entryway. Instinctively, Twice released you, letting out a small girlish shriek of his own. Around the corner appeared three familiar faces: Katsuki Bakugo, Hitoshi Shinso, and Shoto Todoroki.

“The police are already on their way. Surrender peacefully,” Shoto said.

Twice’s hands shot up in surrender. Toga swatted them back down.

Out of the corner of your eyes you spotted movement. You twisted back, and you watched in horror as Kobura shifted his weight, slamming your father to the ground. You watched the air leave your father. He gasped, sputtering to gain traction again, only for Kobura to trap him beneath his knee.

“What are a couple of U.A. students going to do if I don’t surrender?” Kobura asked.

Your face blanched. Kobura couldn’t possibly think he’d take on all three of your former classmates, some of the most powerful ones no less. There was no reason for him to taunt them like that, unless… The realization hit you like a semi-truck. Kobura kept repeating U.A. deliberately while he was threatening your parents. He kept pushing the idea that what they’d done was a mistake. Your U.A. classmates showing up at this exact moment to rescue you was probably no coincidence either. He’d planned this. Doku Kobura wasn’t trying to betray you. He was trying to get you back into U.A. the only way that he thought you’d be able to accept it.

Your eyes widened as Kobura glanced at you, meeting your stare. A small smile appeared on his face. The sound of sirens echoed in the distance. You forced yourself up on wobbling legs. Shoto reached you. He froze the ropes binding you, shattering them to get you free with just a small tug.

“Easy,” Shoto warned. “You’re being affected by a quirk. Take it easy.” He supported your weak body.

Your gaze didn’t move from Kobura, barely seeing the action around you. Shinso launched his capture weapon at the Toga holding your mother hostage. The binds sliced through the clone as soon as he tugged back, leaving behind a gray goopy mess. Your mother dropped to the ground, covering her head.

Toga and Twice exchanged a look, drawing their weapons, but not attacking. They watched Kobura expectantly. Bakugo was assessing the room. His eyes darted between the villains. His hands popped off small explosions. There were two hostages. You knew him well enough that he was trying to find a way to blast himself straight to Kobura before he could do more damage to your father.

“Go,” Kobura said, breaking the moment of silence. The word fell from his lips subtly, as if he could have been addressing just about anyone in the room or just whispering it to himself. His smile had all but disappeared.

Toga and Twice tensed. They heard him, but it was clear by their expressions that this was not part of the plan.

“BioVirus, we’re not just going to leave. We can—” Toga started.

“Go!” Kobura shouted with more force.

Bakugo took their hesitation as his chance to spring forward. In a single blast, he’d reached Kobura. His palm swung around, but Doku ducked beneath it. He pulled something free from his costume, launching it at the window. In the next breath, the side of the house has exploded, blasting glass and dust over everyone.

Shoto shielded you with his own body, and you were forced to take cover too. By the time you were able to get out from Shoto’s protective grip, Toga and Twice had already sprung out of the hole in the side of the house. Toga skipped a step or two outside, before she looked back toward Kobura.

“I’ll be fine! Go!” Doku yelled out to her.

“The hell you will, villain!” Bakugo snapped. Bakugo grabbed Kobura by the neck, shoving him into the wall which cracked under the force.

Kobura brought a knife up, skillfully slicing at Bakugo’s arm to make him release. Kobura dropped from the wall when Bakugo clutched his arm to his chest in pain. Unexpectedly, Kobura moved away from your father and farther into the room, rather than toward his only exit.

Toga had bolted. Her hesitation had been extinguished by Kobura’s words. Shoto and Shinso made a move to pursue the retreating villains, having secured both you and your mother’s safety, only for Kobura to send two knives careening out in front of them both in warning. Shinso retreated back to your mother, creating a barrier between her and Kobura. Shoto took another step in the direction of the window, and Kobura sent a knife straight at him this time. The blade barely missed Todoroki due to his quick reflexes. The three boys’ attention had set on Kobura.

Red lights began to flash outside, filling the room with an eerie pulsing glow. You forced yourself to your feet. Your quirk started to blossom within your mind again. Kobura locked eyes with you. Your hair started to lift as your quirk rumbled through your skull.

“Why?!” you croaked out toward Kobura again.

Kobura only gave you a sad smile. For you, his thoughts flooded your senses. For your dream. You hadn’t even known you’d been reaching out with your mind, but his thoughts came to you as clearly as if he were speaking.

Bakugo crashed into Kobura, blasting him into the ground and holding him there. “Stay down, you bastard.”

Kobura didn’t fight back this time. He’d done what he wanted to do. He’d convinced your parents what he needed to, and his friends had gotten away. He sacrificed his freedom for yours, and he had settled himself to that fate.

The police flooded into the room. Todoroki pulled you behind him as they began to ask questions. To your surprise, Endeavor, Heart of Hearts, and Midoriya came in shortly after. Endeavor looked furious, scanning over the remnants of damage. His attention focused on the gaping hole in the wall, and his flaming facial hair flared in anger. Your parents were taken outside to the ambulance. Kobura was cuffed. A mask containment unit was latched around his face to keep his quirk from infecting the officers, and the metal dug into his cheeks. He didn’t fight back. He didn’t argue. He just let them take him.

You wiped away tears, pushing past Todoroki and forgetting he had been a barrier between you and the police. Kobura didn’t need to do this for you. He shouldn’t have needed to make that sacrifice for you. You froze as the police looked down at you, unmoving.

“E-excuse me,” you said. “I have to—”

Your eyes trailed toward the door. A hand fell onto your shoulder, and you shivered. You glanced back. Shinso tightened his fingers to hold you where you were. He shook his head.

“Please, allow me to escort her to the ambulance. She needs medical attention before anything else,” Shinso said to the police.

You balled your fists at your sides. Shinso guided you out. By the time this all transpired, Kobura was already being driven away in the back of the law enforcement vehicle. It was too late for you to do anything for him now. Your parents had been attended to, and they were now speaking with a few officers some distance away. The paramedics checked you over, assisting with new and old scars.

“Where did you get these?” one of the paramedics asked as he pointed out a few old cuts.

“I’m not sure,” you said honestly. It could have been from weeks ago while at U.A., or it could have been from the bullies. There was no way for you to discern each bruise, scar, and cut from the other.

“She was a student at U.A. not too long ago,” Shinso explained, practically reading your mind. His presence loomed near yours. His jaw was tight, and his muscles were tensed. His attention had focused in the direction of where the police car with Kobura had left, but it slowly drifted back toward you.

The paramedic nodded in understanding, either accepting your explanation as the truth or understanding you weren’t willing to discuss the injuries further.

Bakugo and Shoto charged out of the house, practically fighting over each other to get to you.

“You’ve been out here in this part of Japan this whole time?” Bakugo snapped. “Mr. Aizawa said you’d transferred to another school, but this shithole of a place?”

“It’s not like it was my choice,” you mumbled.

“Yeah? Did your parents finally get what they wanted? I know for a fact Aizawa and you wouldn’t have let that happen, not without a fight anyway,” Bakugo continued. His voice was angry, but his expression was worried.

Your eyes suddenly widened. Your attention moved back to Shinso. “You didn’t tell them?” you asked.

Shinso glanced away. “I didn’t feel like an explanation to everyone mattered. I only had pieces of the story myself. Mr. Aizawa said that you transferred. That should have been enough of an explanation."

Bakugo grabbed Shinso by the shoulder of his costume. “You saw what had happened and didn’t think to tell me, Brain Drain?”

“Why should I have told you? You had enough information to figure it out yourself. And, last time I checked, we weren’t friends.” Shinso rolled his eyes, abruptly giving Bakugo a knowing grin. “Might as well admit to her now how worried you were, storming around like a child and tearing apart U.A. because of how upset you were to find out she was gone. Or, are you too embarrassed to share that information? Just because you’re emotionally stunted doesn’t mean you get to grab me whenever you damn please.” Shinso peeled Bakugo’s hand off of him.

Bakugo lifted his lip into a snarl, settling into a clenched jaw. He didn’t argue with Shinso after he’d asked the questions, probably aware he’d control his mind.

“You could have reached out,” Shoto offered as a gentler suggestion to you, barely breaking the tension.

You gulped, thinking about the weeks you’d been trapped in your dark room with nothing more than your homework and own thoughts to entertain you. “No, I couldn’t have.” You looked down in shame. You had wanted desperately to reach out to all of your classmates, but you couldn’t. You weren’t given a phone, and your new school had locked all social media sites on the computers. When you tried to use your quirk, you weren’t able to reach anyone either.

Shoto’s brow furrowed, but he didn’t have time to ask anything else because the Pro Heroes had started closing in around the ambulance.

“Shoto,” Endeavor’s voice growled out in warning. “I’ve told you that it is unacceptable to abandon your team while on patrol. This was not an exception of this rule.”

“I did not abandon the patrol. My classmate was in danger,” Shoto responded, barely giving his father a second glance.

Endeavor’s facial hair burst into a roaring fire. “Are you not listening to me, Shoto?! You deliberately disobeyed protocol a second time!”

“I left the lame ass patrol too,” Bakugo said gruffly. His crimson gaze set on Endeavor. “We were looking to do some real hero work, and we found it. Not sure why you’re so pissed about that.”

“To be fair, I also didn’t follow the rules,” Midoriya worriedly muttered behind the Pro Hero.

Endeavor peered around him in displeasure. His piercing blue eyes stabbed at whatever weakness he could spot. Rage boiled under his skin, and the temperature around him climbed to dangerous heights. Then, he was glaring at you.

Shoto blocked his father’s path in a single stride. A cool breeze rushed over your skin, as Shoto used his quirk to keep the temperature around you comfortable. Shoto’s height alone kept Endeavor’s wrathful gaze from meeting your much more timid one.

Shinso cleared his throat, shifting uncomfortably behind you. “I also failed to stick to the mission.”

Heart of Hearts swooped in, gliding ahead of her Pro Hero boss without flinching. Her dark skin glistened with sweat, but her easy smile could have quelled the angriest of souls. “The work-study students received a threatening communication from the villains,” Hearts explained. “Shinso managed to effectively and quickly express this to me, before he sprung heroically into action. As the threatening message was endangering a former classmate of his, I would have never expected Shinso to standby after receiving such a devastating communication. I only assume that your three work-study students had received the same. I believe they acted as Pro Heroes should have in this type of situation.” Hearts promptly straightened. “Should you wish to pass judgement or punishment, I believe that I am the one who should receive such scrutiny on Shinso’s behalf, as I immediately encouraged his pursuit,” she added.

Endeavor’s cold glare bore into Heart of Hearts. His fires dimmed and flickered with less aggression. “What message?” Endeavor asked through gritted teeth.

Midoriya handed over his phone with little hesitation. “We all received the text message in a new group chat labeled…” Midoriya cleared his throat. “I’m not sure that it matters much, but it was labeled: Wannabe Heroes. BioVirus sent over Anna Kokoro’s name, and her current location, then he proceeded to text over the threats, indicating that it didn’t matter where she was, he planned to find her, attack her, and kidnap her. He also went as far as to say that her removal from U.A. had pissed him off, as he thought they were insulting his talents by thinking they could just hide her in a normal school.” Midoriya continued to ramble on about the details of the messages.

Your face paled the more that Midoriya spoke. The communication had only been sent to the students in your class associated with Endeavor’s agency. You could only assume from that information that Kobura wanted the Pro Heroes to show up too, which meant he intended to be caught regardless if the police had shown up in time.

Endeavor scrolled through Midoriya’s phone, his expression hardening. “Don’t you think it would have been wiser to inform me of these threats, before you recklessly abandoned our current patrol?” Endeavor asked his three work-study students.

“Would you have allowed us to rescue her if we did?” Bakugo snapped back.

“That wasn’t the question,” Endeavor sternly replied.

Endeavor shoved the phone back into Midoriya’s hands. Midoriya stumbled back from the force.

“Bakugo is right. If we would have told you about what was going on, you wouldn’t have allowed us to go,” Shoto said.

“Of course I wouldn’t have, this could have easily been an elaborate trap. There are protocols for this kind of thing for a reason. Who knows what would have happened had you provisional-licensed heroes been the only ones that had shown up?” Endeavor clenched his jaw.

“It wouldn’t have mattered who showed up. He would have turned himself in regardless,” you mumbled absentmindedly.

“What?” Endeavor growled out.

Your muscles coiled as everyone’s eyes were suddenly on you. You shook your head. “BioVirus seemed to understand he wasn’t going to get out of this one unscathed, so he didn’t fight his capture. I don’t think he intended to try to run once any kind of hero showed up.” It wasn’t a lie, but it might as well had been.

You had finally put it all together. Kobura had asked Toga and Twice to come with him, so they became an active threat once he was arrested. Based on Toga’s expression when she left, and her and Twice’s general hesitation after Kobura told them to run, they had no idea what he’d been planning. Kobura’s showboat performance in front of your parents was only to push them toward putting you back into U.A.. But, figuring out why he did what he did, did not make you feel any better about it. He risked his reputation among the villains and, more importantly, his freedom by getting Toga and Twice involved. You’d met Shigaraki. If he ever figured out Kobura had used The League of Villains for his own gain, he would disintegrate Kobura without a second thought.

“Anna,” Bakugo murmured. He nudged you with his grenade gauntlet. “You still on earth, Big Brain?” he asked.

You shook yourself out of your own thoughts. Endeavor turned away from the group, taking his anger with him. He must have heard enough. Heart of Hearts followed after him, schmoozing her way into his good graces to hopefully calm him down.

“I…” Your mouth went dry, and you became unsteady on your legs.

Bakugo clumsily grabbed you, on account of his clunky gear, before you collapsed. “Shit!” he shouted. “What the hell, Big Brain?”

Shoto and Shinso rushed to your side, helping you sit on the curb.

“Is it residual toxins from BioVirus?” Shoto asked.

“Is your quirk draining your energy?” Shinso asked right after.

“N-no,” you stuttered out. You frowned, but then you gave a weak smile after figuring it out that this was probably nothing more than the adrenaline finally leaving your body. “I think this might just be a normal reaction to stress. It all hit me at once, you know?”

The hair on the back of your neck stood on end as you heard the familiar footfalls of your father coming in your direction. You lifted your head, shivering. You watched your father cross the road over to you. Your mother was not far behind him. Both of them looked disheveled and wary. When they came a few feet from Shoto and Shinso, they stopped.

Your father adjusted his work uniform, then he combed back his black hair with his trembling fingers. He cleared his throat.

“You managed to rescue my daughter yet again,” your father slowly said. He appeared to be addressing Bakugo, Shinso, and Shoto based on his flittering stare. “I suppose I should thank you.”

Bakugo scoffed. “That would be a start.”

A vein pulsed in your father’s forehead, and you winced. You shifted uncomfortably in your place, and you waited. You waited for your father to tell you to get up and go back into that horrid dark room. You waited for him to scream at you for not being home sooner. You waited for the worst. Your father balled a fist at his side. His jaw tightened.

“I think quirks are a poison to our society, and my opinion of them has not changed,” your father said bluntly. “But, I suppose I have no choice but to relinquish my daughter’s protection to the very thing I despise.” Your father bowed, but it was barely a bend worth mentioning. “I hope that you will continue to look after my daughter, as I am but a normal human citizen. Your hard work is recognized even if I do not support what you heroes do. At this point, the police cannot provide the protection they have promised.” Your father straightened. “Anna,” he said sternly.

You stood, despite having just almost passed out. “Yes.”

Your father glanced back at your mother just before addressing you again. “We will be re-enrolling you into U.A.. We will be disappearing for the time being. The police have found us a much more suitable option for our situation. That is all I can say for now. We will be in touch when necessary.” Your father walked forward.

Shinso and Shoto didn’t move, not allowing your father a moment alone with you. But, all your father did was place a hand on your shoulder.

“We were not cursed with your abilities, and we don’t have the means to protect you. U.A. is the safest place for you. They should have done a better job explaining that to me, before I removed you, but there’s no reason to dwell on that now. Stay safe, Anna. We will return when our safety is ensured to see you again.” Your father turned away, and it took all the strength in your little body not to just buckle in relief.

Your mother gave you a kiss on your forehead and said her farewell. Then, they left. No more discussions. No more arguments. Kobura’s plan to get you back into U.A. worked. His sacrifice meant you could pursue your dream again.

The police interrogation was overwhelming, but you managed to get through it without saying much. Since Kobura never said anything to you, it was all speculation, and you refrained from mentioning it to the police. Kobura had been stalking you for most of your time in Japan, so it wasn’t suspicious to the police that he had targeted you. You were back in your old dorm within the week, but things had changed. You had changed.

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

Text

Think: A Villainous Ending

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language, blood, death, and violence. If you are easily triggered by violent scenarios, please do not read this chapter. This chapter could be triggering to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

(Ending 6 of 8)

A Villainous Ending

You took All for One’s words as an opportunity. You weren’t ready for this. You were just a child. What did the Pro Heroes expect you to do? He could kill you without even lifting a finger. You backed up, stumbling over yourself to get away. You wanted to be a hero, but you didn’t want to lose your life before even getting a chance to become one.

You tumbled off the back of Gigantomachia, running in the direction of Doku who had still not made the decision to leave or stay. He held a hand out toward you, ready to catch you when you were in arm’s reach.

“He’s got a knife! Watch yourselves! That’s the villain BioVirus!” Deku warned.

Kobura’s focus went to him, but Deku was still unable to stand due to his injuries. Just as you were about to meet Kobura’s hand, a strand of cables lashed out crushing him where he stood. Shinso came out of nowhere, grabbing you and pulling you away. The knife fell from Kobura’s fingertips.

“Wait! Don’t! He’s only trying to help!” you shouted toward Best Jeanist. “Let him go!”

You struggled in Shinso’s grasp, but he’d lifted you from the ground. The binds tightened around Kobura. His eyes widened in panic. You saw venom gurgle up into his mouth. Bubbles of air barely making it out his throat. He struggled, and the cables only grew tighter around him. His face twisted in pain, growing red and then purple in color.

“He can’t breathe!” you shouted. “Let him go! He’s not our enemy! He was helping!”

“Best Jeanist knows what he’s doing. Stop fighting me, Kitten. He’s a villain. He should have never showed up here,” Shinso assured you.

Doku didn’t even have enough air to respond. Watching him struggle like that was too horrifying. You elbowed Shinso in the jaw, scrambling out of his grasp to make it to Doku. They weren’t listening to you. No matter how easy or constricting Best Jeanist was being, something was wrong with Doku’s quirk. He was drowning in his own viral venom. He couldn’t even fight for his case to be released. You took hold of the cables, attempting to pull them away with assistance from your mind quirk. You pulled off some of the rope, but lost grip on others.

“You’re killing him!” you shouted. “Let him go!”

Doku’s eyes rolled up in the back of his head. Your chest constricted. In a last-ditch effort to get him free, you cut your hands on the special fabric. You snapped three binds. It took four for Doku to be dropped. You put up a mind shield so he wouldn’t be grabbed again. You reached for his face, patting his cheek in an attempt to get him to react. You put him on his side and venom emptied out of his parted lips, followed by streams of blood. There were indentations of where the cables had him, they’d gone deep into his skin, leaving behind red welts. How could a Pro Hero have done this? You begged for him to be released and yet Best Jeanist didn’t even weaken his hold on him.

“Breathe! Wake up, Doku. You’re free,” you begged.

Tears burst from your eyes. You continued to shake Kobura, hoping that he would respond to you. His skin was cold under your touch. You pressed your ear to his chest, but you couldn’t hear a heartbeat. You rolled him onto his back, beginning CPR. As you pressed the heel of your palm into his chest, wracking sobs escaped you. You pressed your lips to his, trying to breathe life back into him. You weren’t sure how long you continued on like this. It could have been minutes or hours that you were doing compressions, but he never woke up.

You fell over Doku, crying into his chest and pleading for the life to come back to him. You were screaming for someone to get help, but no one came. Your mind shield eventually dissipated from exhaustion. Shinso dragged you off of Doku’s lifeless body, clutching you to him as you cried.

“Please, someone help him,” you begged again.

Evidently, Shigaraki had escaped with the help of his Nomus. Everything appeared to be at a standstill. Silence and decayed landscape lay in the wake of the destruction. You refused to leave with the paramedics, until they finally covered Kobura’s body and took him away.

You shivered, unable to forget the lifelessness that beheld his vivid green eyes. Shinso somehow managed to get you into an ambulance. They checked you over, uttering nonsensical words at you. Nothing mattered. The heroes killed Kobura. They murdered him.

You numbly sat in your dorm room for days. Classes were on hold while everyone recovered from the aftermath. You packed a bag before you knew what you were doing. With Mr. Aizawa in the hospital, no one stopped you from leaving U.A. grounds. You’d made up your mind. You wouldn’t become a killer. You couldn’t become a Pro Hero after what you’d just witnessed. Best Jeanist had been in the top ten Pro Heroes. Hawks was number two, and he had murdered Twice. You wouldn’t go back to your parents. You wouldn’t be locked away again.

You wandered the streets of Japan, backpack weighing heavily on your shoulders. You blended too well into the crowds in your normal clothes. Day became night, night became day, and again the cycle continued. You didn’t sleep. You didn’t eat. You just walked, until you were standing in an alleyway, swaying on your numb legs. Hunger clawed at your empty stomach. Night had fallen over you.

“Anna?”

You turned, feeling the hairs stand up on your forearm. Toga tilted her head to the side in confusion. She looked you up and down, crossing her arms over her chest.

“What’s a hero student doing in this part of town at night?” she asked.

“I’m no longer a hero student,” you murmured. Your fingers dug into the straps at your shoulders. A single tear fell down your face. “They killed him. The Pro Heroes killed him, and I couldn’t save him.” You collapsed where you stood, exhaustion taking you in one fell swoop.

Toga rushed to you, keeping your head from hitting the ground. Her eyes widened at your words. She sunk down beside you. “They killed both of them,” she corrected. “I lost them both.”

You sobbed. Toga’s arms came around you in an embrace. You hugged her back.

“It hurts so bad. I can’t stop seeing it. I can’t stop having nightmares about it,” you confessed.

“I know.” She rubbed your back in an attempt to console you.

“I hate them for it. I did everything I could to stop them. I begged them to let him go.” You cried harder, shaking.

“He loved you,” she said. “He really loved you, and he wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for it. It’s not your fault. It’s the hero’s fault.”

You nodded into her shirt in agreement.

“There’s one thing you can do to make the pain go away,” Toga explained.

You wiped at your eyes, trying to look at her. “I’ll do anything. What can I do?”

“Avenge their deaths.”

…Ten Years Later…

You adjusted your hood again, watching a few Pro Heroes make an illegal deal with villains for some quirk-erasing bullets. They weren’t cops. They fully intended to use those bullets for their own gain. You saw it in their minds. Their perverse understanding of how to get ahead in this powered world was to erase the quirks of those that were standing in their way. You almost wished you had waited for Toga to come out with you. She would have enjoyed cutting them to pieces.

You tapped one of Kobura’s knives with the tip of your finger. A slit to their throats would be more than they deserved. They’d been making these kinds of deals all over the city. They’d been doing it for years. Your hand trailed up your false-leather suit, pressing into your temple once you reached your head. Kobura’s taste in clothing impressed you. He only had the finest fabrics, all of which had a tactical advantage. Toga insisted you inherited all of his assets. She said he would have wanted it that way. If he only could see you now, he’d probably be grinning from ear to ear.

Your eyes followed the Pro Heroes as they left. Perhaps, you’d let them suffer before you scrambled their minds, make them imagine their worst fears. Of course, making them braindead was a far worse punishment, alive but incoherent. They’d be remembered as the braindead puppets of a villain, rather than their former selves as dishonest Pro Heroes.

You dropped down from your perch, smirking as the three men turned around. You gripped one by the mind, taking everything he was and twisting it into nothing. He dropped, a mindless vessel.

“Please, don’t hurt us, MindVirus,” one of the more experienced Pro Heroes begged. He recognized you immediately. “We were buying those bullets to get them off the streets. You have to believe us. We didn’t know it would be a bad thing.”

But, he did know. He was lying to your face. He knew you could read his mind and yet he rambled on about having no knowledge of what he was doing. “Know that your final words were a lie,” you spat. You lifted your hand, snapping his mind in half like a twig too.

The last man trembled in fear as you approached him. You lifted your hand to wipe his mind too.

“Anna Kokoro!”

You halted, lifting your lip into a snarl. You hadn’t heard that name in a long time. It had been erased from existence long ago. You were now MindVirus in honor of Doku Kobura’s wrongful death. You glanced back, narrowing your eyes.

“You’ve got the wrong person,” you snapped.

“The hell I do.” Katsuki Bakugo charged out into the dimly lit alleyway.

You smiled, a crooked and wicked grin. “Dynamight, how nice of a Pro Hero like you to grace me with your presence this evening. Unfortunately, I cannot play with you right now. I’m rather busy.” You turned back, and the man escaped around the corner. You rolled your eyes. At least he was not the one carrying the contraband. Still…

You shot a strand of your mind out, catching the Pro Hero even without seeing him. You heard the smack of his face hitting the sidewalk pavement. Yes, that would suffice as a punishment for now. He would think twice about doing something villainous again.

“I’m talking to you, Big Brain,” Bakugo snapped.

You yawned in boredom. “Stop acting like we’re back in school, Dynamight. That nickname has very little effect on me anymore.” You looked at your nails in disinterest.

“Why are you killing Pro Heroes?” he growled out, holding up his hand, ready to blast you at a moment’s notice.

“I haven’t been killing that many,” you said. “I’ve mostly emptying their minds.” You glanced at him again. “I assure you that they deserved it, but I know you wouldn’t believe me.”

“This isn’t you, Anna. You don’t kill people,” Bakugo said. “Come with me willingly, and this won’t get ugly.”

You raised an eyebrow at him. He was far more chiseled than you remembered. Age matured him nicely. He bulked up significantly from when the two of you were teenagers. You scanned him over. It may be to your benefit to string him along. It wouldn’t hurt to have him chasing after you. Actually, it would be a welcome distraction from your monotonous day to day as a villain. Things were too easy for you. Your mind quirk thrived when you weren’t holding back.

“I’m not Anna anymore.” You shrugged. “And, don’t waste your breath, hero. I’m not coming with you. The only reason that I haven’t fried your brain yet, is because I find you rather amusing, physically and/or mentally. I haven’t really decided yet. Besides, you’re one of the ‘good’ ones, if I can call any Pro Heroes good ones. At least you’re honest.” Yes, you knew him well. He’d blasted his way up the hero ranks. His overall personality hadn’t changed. He never strayed from the hero’s path. Although many believed that he walked a fine line, you knew that he never did anything evil in the slightest.

You reached out and gripped his mind, a grape between your quirk’s grasp. Bakugo shivered. You scowled when you watched the memories of your old self flitter through his thoughts. You let go of his head, sending him back with a mind blast. He caught himself, but much farther away from you.

“Arrest me if you can, Dynamight.” You lifted your hand as a farewell. “I await your ultimate triumph. Perhaps, you may be the one to end my reign of terror, but I highly doubt that.” You placed him in a mind barrier so he couldn’t follow you. You’d release him as soon as you knew you were out of his sight. “I’d give up on what you knew about my former self if I were you. She died a long time ago, Katsuki.”

You left him with that one last sliver of hope, chuckling to yourself as you disappeared into the night. Being a villain had its perks, including having a grown-up Pro Hero Dynamight constantly seeking you out. You relished the idea of him trying to chase you down, being just out of reach. You hoped that he could stop you one day. Maybe, it would finally bring you some kind of peace.

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

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Think: A Venomous Ending

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language, blood, and violence.

(Ending 5 of 8)

A Venomous Ending

A knife sailed past your ear, aimed directly at Shigaraki’s chest. All for One deflected the projectile with ease, and you caught the blade with your mind.

“Traitor,” All for One hissed out.

“I won’t let you harm Sweet Anna,” Kobura snapped back. “Shigaraki is the one I work for, not you. He doesn’t deserve to be dragged around like a puppet.”

“Tomura should have known the cost of obtaining such power. I am just allowing him to rest. You would be wise to stand aside,” All for One said.

You gave Doku back the knife. You saw the feral instincts set in his expression. Venom dripped from his bruised lips. Although his quirk had recently evolved, you weren’t sure if he was in any condition to fight All for One.

“Is that why Shigaraki’s fighting you like that?” Doku asked. “To rest?”

All for One’s posture changed. He leaned forward defensively, his hand rising. “You have no imagination, Doku Kobura. Tomura is in a weakened state. He needs me to survive. If you truly cared about Tomura, you wouldn’t waste your time trying to distract me from the girl. I am the only one my successor can truly trust.”

How did Doku see that Shigaraki was internally fighting All for One? He couldn’t read minds as far as you knew. Perhaps he could sense it, smell it on the man. Doku had said his last questions with such certainty that he had to have known.

Doku continued to adjust where he stood, ensuring that he was directly in between you and All for One. Doku wanted you out of harm’s way. He needed you to be safe. He motioned with his hand behind his back for you to run.

You glanced between Doku and All for One. If you didn’t make a choice soon, the Nomus would be upon both of you. If you left Doku, All for One might actually kill him. You hesitated, fists clenching at your sides. No, you wouldn’t leave him. You took a few steps forward in determination, but Doku had already put his hand out to stop you.

“Please. I can’t live without you. Please run,” Doku said. “I love you.” His body trembled. His knuckles went white from clenching the knife so hard in his hands.

“I can’t—” You gasped, turning your gaze down to your chest. Red and black energy had punctured through you. All for One managed to slip his quirk behind you.

“You’ve revealed your weakness, Doku Kobura. Though I must admit it had been obvious,” All for One said.

Doku’s electric-green eyes widened. The quirk energy was pulled from your chest, blood spurting out. Doku gripped your body as you fell. Rage clouded his vision. His eyes went dead as his trembling stopped. He set you down and in the next instant he was on top of All for One. The knife in his hands plunged into his chest. Doku was blasted off of Shigaraki’s body. Kobura’s hand clutched the knife as he was forced away. He skidded beside you, breathing animalistically, like a thousand snakes hissing at once.

The Nomus came careening up Gigantomachia’s back. You shot out strands of your mind, creating a barrier between them and Shigaraki. You coughed up blood as the Nomus hit the mind shield. You played Shigaraki’s voice in your mind, over and over. The nightmares created his vocal tone vividly.

Stop! Do not interfere! Freeze! you shouted into the Nomus’ minds with your memory of Shigaraki’s rasping voice. Like a zombified army, they stopped moving.

You fell back, clutching your hand to your chest. Blood dripped through your fingers. You unsteadily stood to your feet, using your mind to give you some support. You wrapped a strand around your torso to hold the wound closed as best you could.

All for One looked toward the Nomus, losing focus. Kobura took his chance to strike. He slit Shigaraki’s throat, nearly a fatal wound. Once All for One drove Doku back again, his neck healed, but not fully. All for One went to speak and found the words stuck in his throat. Kobura must have severed vocal cords, where he had expertly plunged his knife. He knew what you’d been able to do. He was ensuring that Shigaraki would be trapped here, unless he himself escaped without outside help.

All for One lifted Shigaraki’s hand again. A multitude of energy spiked tendrils took form, reaching out for Doku. Kobura easily avoided the stabs. His speed was unmatched, and it appeared he’d grown even faster with the new development from his quirk. He sliced through All for One’s arm. Doku was repelled once again by yellow energy.

Kobura skidded to a stop beside you. “Your first mistake was attacking Sweet Anna. Your second mistake will be your last. You let me live. The Pro Heroes have been going easy on you, All for One.” Doku grinned, eyes flashing menacingly. “A villain doesn’t have the same obligations as a hero. I will kill you.”

The black tendrils escaped Shigaraki’s spine, holding him afloat. All for One backed away to escape. Without the Nomus to control by his voice, he would need to escape on his own. All for One was well-aware that time was running out for a clean retreat. The heroes had been incapacitated for the most part, but more Pro Heroes would arrive. He would be outnumbered, outpowered, and too weak to escape.

You grabbed All for One with strands of your quirk, and his eyes were back on you. Tendrils of dark energy shot for you again. Doku reached you faster, grabbing you and leaping from the side of Gigantomachia. The two of you landed, and he sprinted for the buildings with you in his arms. You held fast on Shigaraki with your mind quirk, keeping him from his escape. He managed to jump down toward the crumbling street level even with you holding him.

You shrieked as All for One grabbed one of your mind strands with Shigaraki’s bare hand. It disintegrated in his touch. You clutched your head. Doku put you down, rushing for All for One again, knife clipping into his thigh. Doku easily dodged tendril attacks. Any hands going toward Doku were evaded too. Another slice was made in Shigaraki’s shoulder. All for One sent Kobura reeling this time. The energy blast sent him careening into the bottom of a building, through the glass and several rooms.

All for One bent down. His hand pressed into the ground, and the decay rippled for the building.

“No!” you shouted. You lifted a piece of debris beside you, whipping it at full force toward All for One. In his weakened state, it actually hit him.

As the decay tore through the remaining structure, Doku was already up and moving toward you again. You managed to get to your knees, clutching your wounded chest, but you could barely move other than that. Kobura took you up in his arms. Your cape tore free from your back, being snagged on a piece of metal bar. The building collapsed, pieces falling around you. Even with Kobura’s speed, it was clear that you’d both be crushed before he could manage to outrun the falling debris. You pushed through the searing pain in your mind, giving the two of you one extra burst of mind blast energy to send you flying forward. Kobura clutched you to his chest as you both sprawled out onto the ground. The skyscraper had finally fallen. Dust and rubble rumbled over the two of you, creating a cloud of cover and making it hard to breathe.

You passed out, just as Doku lifted you up in his arms again.

…

You jolted awake. Pain immediately burned in your chest. Your breathing was labored as you took in the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Easy, Sweet Anna. You’re safe,” Doku said.

You were in a room, a regular seemingly underground room with the same modern aesthetic as Doku’s apartment room that you’d been in ages ago. Monitors beeped beside you, connected together with an assortment of wires as if they’d been built from scrap.

“Where am I?” you asked. A migraine throbbed in your temple, and your fingers moved to massage your head.

“My newest hideout,” he said. He bowed his head in front of you, his white hair falling in front of his face. “I’m so glad you’re conscious. It’s been months.” Tears dripped down his face, difficult to see from his posture.

“Months?” you croaked out. “I’ve been here for months?”

He nodded, hesitating to grip your hand in his. “I was so scared. I… I wanted to bring you to the hospital, but there was a manhunt out for me. I wouldn’t have even made it close enough to ensure they’d take care of you appropriately. I… I just hoped that my medical knowledge had been enough to help you. Once I got you stabilized, I didn’t think a doctor would be able to help. It might have been selfish… It was… but…” He covered his face. “I couldn’t lose you. I couldn’t bear to lose you again, and your mind actually allowed me close enough to examine you… I read the other hospital reports, and it had never allowed that before. I thought my help was your best chance for survival in your condition. I was so unsure, and…” He was rambling, trembling and rambling uncontrollably. “I’m so sorry. I just couldn’t let you go.”

Your hand found his, and he froze. “I’m okay, Doku. I survived.” You gulped, tentatively touching the wound at your chest. It was sore, but it clearly had healed. Months? You’d been out for months? “N-no one came looking for me?” you asked, voice wavering.

Doku’s hand tensed around yours. “Your cape was found beneath the rubble of that building. They thought All for One used Shigaraki’s power and had disintegrated you.” Doku looked down guiltily. “Even if that weren’t the case, there was footage of you being stabbed. They assumed you would have bled out and died if the decay had not been the cause of your demise. It was all over the news. Because they found nothing of mine, they thought I was still at large.”

“They think that I’m dead?” you asked.

“Yes,” Doku said solemnly. “I couldn’t tell them otherwise. I would have been arrested or killed on sight. I couldn’t leave you.” Doku wiped his face with his free hand, trying to hide the new tears pouring free. “Your classmates held a funeral for you. They swore that they would capture me for your sake. It was broadcasted on the news too.” He took in a feeble breath. “I know it’s a lot to take in. I will answer anything you need me to. I… I’m just so happy you’re awake and alive.”

“I’m dead…” you trailed off in disbelief. “They just believed that I died and didn’t look for me.” You gulped. You had stood beside Kobura in that fight against All for One, Shigaraki. You stood beside a villain. Even if you went back, would they want you back? You fought against All for One, sure, but there was no explaining working in tandem with Doku. You did it willingly. You chose to trust him. There was no going back to your old world like this.

Your gaze shifted back up to Doku. “You saved me,” you said less like a question and more like realization.

“Of course I did,” he choked out. “I would have given my life for you.” He pressed his forehead to the back of your hand. “I-I can take you back. Once you’re up on your feet, I can bring you back to them. If that’s what you want, I’ll bring you back. I love you so much. I would do anything for you. I promised that if you woke up that I would do anything you asked of me. All I cared about was seeing your eyes open again. I’ll carry you to that damned school today if you so wish it.”

“No,” you said.

“No?” Doku raised his head, surprise washing through his expression.

Tears filled your eyes. You’d been fighting him with every confession. You’d been trying to ignore your feelings because it conflicted with your dreams. You hadn’t realized how much you cared about him, until you were willing to fight alongside him. “I love you too, Doku. I don’t want to go back to that school, to ignoring my feelings for you.”

Doku blinked. “Are you sure? You don’t have to decide now. I don’t want you to feel like you have to say that. You know that I wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt you. It’s whatever you want. I promise, Anna.”

“I love you,” you repeated. “This is what I want. You are what I want.”

A smile slowly formed on Doku’s face. He pressed his forehead to yours, nuzzling your nose with his. “I love you so much. You make me so happy. I can’t believe… I just love you.”

…Three Years Later…

The night air nipped at your nose. Up on this rooftop, under the night sky, this was freedom.

“Your chicken will get cold,” Doku said, pouting.

“It’s been cold, Doku.” You chuckled. “You ran all the way in town to get it up here.”

“No one else would have been able to deliver it faster,” Doku retorted, shoving some food into his own mouth. “If it’s cold, it was cold when I picked it up.” He eyed you suspiciously. “I’m not giving you mine again, Anna. You should have ordered it if you like it so much.”

“But, I wanted their specialty chicken, not the lemon steak. Just give me a taste,” you pleaded.

Doku rolled his eyes. He held out a piece of his steak toward your mouth. You took it, chewing happily as you kicked your legs. Your gaze shifted toward the street. Everyone looked like ants from how high up the two of you were sitting.

“I’m getting you both next time, and you better not complain it’s too much food.”

“Or, what?” you teased.

Doku scrunched his nose at your question. “Or, I’m cutting the Wi-Fi in the house. No more video games.”

“You wouldn’t,” you gasped out.

“It’s better than watching my girlfriend starve herself because she won’t eat her own food,” Kobura said.

You stuck your tongue out at him, stealing another piece of steak from his takeout container and popping it in your mouth. Despite his empty threats, he nudged the container of his food toward you. He leaned back on his hands, looking up at the sky.

“I’m just kidding, Anna. I’d order you every dish if that’s what you wanted,” he said. “I’m smitten. You’ve got me wrapped around your finger.”

“That sounds like a villainous thing to do to someone else. Perhaps, you’ve had an effect on me,” you said playfully.

Doku snorted out a laugh. “I gave up being a villain the day you moved in. You can’t use me as an excuse for your dastardly deeds anymore, Sweet Anna.”

“You’re right,” you said. “The past is behind us. We’re in a better place now.”

You leaned into him, glad to snuggle up against him to keep out of the night’s wind. He wrapped an arm around you, pulling you closer. He nuzzled his head against yours, sighing contently.

“I’ll always love you, Sweet Anna,” he murmured.

“And, I’ll always love you, Doku,” you replied.

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

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Think: Chapter Ninety-Three: Doku Kobura: The Cobra of Tartarus

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language, blood, abuse, death, and violence. If you are easily triggered by violent scenarios, please do not read this chapter. This chapter could be triggering to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Please be aware this chapter is in third-person perspective, following my original character, BioVirus, Doku Kobura, who is a villain currently a part of The League of Villains.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Doku Kobura: The Cobra of Tartarus

Kobura stared up at the dismal cell ceiling. His back ached. His head hurt worse. He continued to contemplate his decision to be willingly taken into custody. Toga and Twice were beyond capable of handling themselves, but with The League of Villains moving forward with their well-in-advance plans for villain domination, it was hard not to worry. The Doctor had started yammering on about more advanced Nomus right before Kobura had been imprisoned, which only made Kobura’s stomach twist into knots at the thought of Anna coming face-to-face with one of those monstrosities now that she was back at U.A..

Kobura sighed heavily, his breath echoing back at him. He wished he’d done some more research on Dabi’s whereabouts before he’d been arrested. Doku had the uneasy feeling that he was up to no good, above and beyond what was normal for him. With Anna to look after, any idiotic thing that Dabi was doing was the least of his concerns. Kobura had heard Dabi was working on bringing someone into The Leagues of Villains for better intel, but he knew little beyond that. It made Kobura’s skin crawl not knowing more, not being able to warn Anna about what villainous activities were to come.

Kobura shifted again on his slab that they called a cot. His fingers felt frigid in these conditions, and it was getting harder for him to move. Kobura’s cold-blooded nature did not adjust well to colder climates. The prison barely gave him anything to wear, a thin orange jumpsuit, let alone materials to cover himself with. Villains didn’t exactly get first-class treatment in Tartarus. They’d removed all of his piercings. He ran his tongue over the now empty snakebite holes, wondering if they would close before he’d get out.

Shigaraki should have defeated Gigantomachia by now, based on the rumors, which made Kobura feel a little bit better about his current predicament. Doku’s quirk would have been a detriment to those extended fights. He would have only made Gigantomachia more powerful against Shigaraki. The fact that Shiggy won, meant that going to prison wasn’t a total waste. Word spread quickly, even within these thick walls. The League of Villains went up against the Meta-Liberation Army and kicked their asses. The new name circled Tartarus like a ghost. The Paranormal Liberation Front was what The League had started calling themselves now.

After everything, Doku chose Anna. Kobura would never regret choosing her. His friends understood. You only find true love once in a lifetime. He only hoped his sacrifice gave Anna what she always dreamed of. He would return to her in time. He wouldn’t want to miss seeing her smile again.

The days had blended together. The graying walls of the Tartarus facility didn’t allow for an appropriate count of time. Kobura was a model prisoner in the interim. He kept his head down, stayed out of trouble. He felt that doing his time made up for some of his past villainous deeds, even if it was just in a small way. Being behind bars, taking responsibility for his actions, would put him in a better place with Anna. He’d stay as long as it took in this hellish prison for her. He’d break out if she ever needed him.

Doku’s door beeped, indicating that the lock had released. Kobura sat up in the next breath. There should have been no reason his cell door opened now. They hadn’t requested him to put on a quirk-nullifying mask, nor was it mealtime.

The air left Kobura’s body as his eyes met his father’s single golden iris. Kobura froze. He never thought he would come into direct contact with his father, especially here. The last he knew, his parents were being held at a lesser facility, one for smalltime villains.

“Finally. It’s been ages since I’ve seen my treacherous son. I bet you had hoped I had rotted away in here.” The door slid shut behind Kobura.

“I didn’t know you were—”

Kobura’s words were cut short by his father’s hand snapping out and crushing his neck. A guttural hiss pierced Kobura’s eardrum, and his head slammed against the back wall as his father held him there.

“Of course you didn’t know, you sad excuse for a child. Did you think abandoning us in prison wouldn’t come back to haunt you? I was transferred here weeks ago for bad behavior. Your mother was left to rot in the same facility you left her in.”

Kobura’s white prison-issue shoes slid down the wall, trying to gain some traction. His father had always been taller than him, broader. His speed far surpassed Kobura’s alone. Doku clawed at his dad’s hands, trying to wrench them away from his windpipe.

“I hope you enjoyed your little vacation because your delusions of a life on your own are over. I think you need a reminder of who owns you.”

Kobura’s father put more force into his grip to the point that Doku started seeing spots. Just before Kobura thought he was going to pass out, his father let go, dropping him back down to the concrete. Doku gasped for air, coughing.

“You don’t own me,” Doku bit back through ragged breaths.

Kobura’s father didn’t hesitate to jam his sneaker against his fallen son’s head, holding him down. “I own the air you breathe, you little wretch. I own the mind you think with and the body you so uselessly didn’t use to get me out of this hellhole. Without me, you would never have existed. Without me, you would have amounted to nothing.” Kobura’s father pressed harder onto Doku’s skull.

Doku gritted his teeth, trying his best to keep the pressure off of his head by holding his father’s ankle. There was nothing more for him to say. Doku had left his parents to rot in prison. He was tired of busting them out, only for them to do something heinous again or involve him in something he never wanted to be a part of. The League gave him choices, options. Shigaraki gave him a position, a role within their group. Kobura’s parents never gave him a choice. They never considered his feelings.

“Have nothing more to say, boy? Pitiful.”

Kobura’s father gave Doku a few swift kicks while he was down. All Doku did in his defense was cover his head.

“You were always so weak,” his father spat. His single golden eye widened wickedly, while the grotesqueness of his hollow one seemed to become harder to ignore. “It’s laughable how you thought a little time away from your parents made you all grown up. Did you really think joining that second-rate villain group made you anything?” He kicked Doku again. “You’re not the only one that can make connections, Doku. Never forget that your father was a villain before you took your first breath. I know people, powerful and horrible people. I can find my way into your cell whenever I please. But, that’s not all. Oh, no. I didn’t just learn that you’d been put in Tartarus. I’ve learned everything about you, boy. Things you’ve been doing, people you’ve been seeing, and where you reside. And, I can’t wait until I escape this place to destroy everything you’ve created without us, everyone you thought would keep you safe.”

Kobura’s eyes widened. The fear within him morphed into rage. His skin boiled with anger. His father couldn’t know about Anna. There was no way he could know about her. Doku tried and failed to calm himself. The League of Villains could hold their own against Doku’s father, but he wouldn’t let him lay a hand on Sweet Anna.

Kobura’s father reached down, gripping Kobura by the back of the head and hoisting him up from the ground. His lips came close to Doku’s jugular. His sharp venomous teeth grazed his son’s throat as he spoke again. “I know about the girl.”

Dark spots filled Kobura’s vision. He twisted his body, hooking his legs between his father’s, forcing him to lose his balance. Kobura’s father released Doku to catch himself. It was enough for Kobura to get a swing in. His bare knuckles cracked against his father’s cheek, snapping the older man’s head to the side.

Silence. Dead silence. Kobura’s father twisted his head back toward his son. A grin widened on his unnatural face, his snake-like features stretching to their full capacity.

“I will never let you touch her,” Doku snapped.

“Ah, you poor hopeless soul,” Kobura’s father said. “You won’t be able to do anything to stop me. To think, this all could have been avoided had you just behaved and done what you were told.”

Kobura’s eyes widened. His silent vow to stay put dissolved into dust in a matter of seconds. He swung at his father again with murderous intent. His dad dodged with ease, golden scales shimmering against the low-quality fluorescent lighting.

“I’ll be sure to kill her slowly, watch as she screams for you to come and save her,” Doku’s father taunted. He chuckled. “A little hero student begging for a villain to come rescue her; how tragic does that sound?”

Kobura’s venom roiled in the back of his throat. His teeth ached in his jaw. He swung again, another miss.

“Maybe she won’t even think of you in her last moments. You probably spent all of your freedom obsessing over a star-crossed fantasy. Didn’t you, boy? So predictable.”

Kobura lunged at his father again, but this time he struck back. Kobura staggered, slumping against the far wall.

“I wonder what expression she’ll make when all the blood leaves her body.”

Kobura’s skin itched. His senses overwhelmed him. His father seemed to blur in front of him. Doku bent over, holding his stomach. His muscles stretched and groaned within his toned body. A searing hot ache emerged into his gums.

“You’ll never get the chance to see it,” Kobura hissed out in pain.

“You’re beginning to bore me with your false promises, boy.” Kobura’s father crossed the room, standing above his doubled-over son. “Let’s finish this little reunion with you bloodied and beaten, shall we?”

“I won’t let you hurt her.” Doku’s consciousness flickered in and out. It hurt. His whole body was in horrid agony. But, he couldn’t pass out. He had to fight. If he couldn’t for himself, he’d do it to protect her.

“I’ll carve her heart from her chest and make you watch,” his father threatened. He slowly and deliberately reached for Kobura, relishing in his mental and physical torture. “Once I’ve killed her, you’ll never disobey me again.”

A feral hiss escaped Doku’s throat. A change had set his adolescent body ablaze. He struck, faster than he ever had before, evading his father’s outstretched hand. Doku sprang onto the man. His fangs plunged into his father’s neck. Sharper teeth, like his mother’s for grinding and tearing soft flesh. Blood filled Kobura’s mouth as he bit deeper into his father. Doku jerked his head back, taking a section of his father’s neck with him. Blood sprayed violently onto the graying walls. Surprise filled Doku’s father’s expression. The man’s hand moved up to his throat, now missing a vital portion of it. He choked. Coughed. Once. Twice. Three times. Then, he fell with a heavy thud to the floor of the cell.

Kobura shook in reaction to the impact. He spat out what was in his mouth, vomiting out whatever had managed to make it down his throat. Something had manifested inside him, an unruly beast rearing its ugly head. He’d killed his father, and he’d barely been in control of himself while doing it. Burning tears trailed down his face. He scrambled to the back of the cell, staring at his father’s lifeless body. The smell of death overwhelmed him. Every noise, every scent, and every color had intensified. He killed his father. It had been too easy. All those years of abuse, and he could never overpower him, and yet the old man was now dead before him.

Kobura reached up to his mouth, feeling the extra set of fangs that had formed. He never meant to hurt anyone else. He didn’t want to hurt anyone else. He had no choice. His father would have killed Anna. He would have. As soon as he set foot outside Tartarus, she would have been in danger. She might even be in danger now, if his father wasn’t bluffing about the connections that he had. Kobura had no choice. He had to kill him. There was no choice.

Kobura grabbed his head, hyperventilating.

“What have I done?” he asked. He quivered. A wave of cold washed over him. He clutched his knees to his chest, shaking uncontrollably.

The body was removed from the cell first. Blood stained every corner of the lockup, before anyone had arrived for cleanup. Kobura was too shocked to react to anyone entering. He stared off distantly. Some part of him felt relieved. The other part only felt guilt.

Doku didn’t know how long he sat there in his blood-soaked jumpsuit, minutes, hours, days. Time had become irrelevant, as he stared and stared at the bodiless crime scene in front of him. The pool of blood never seemed to dry no matter how long he stared at it.

The next voice that entered the cell was calling Doku’s name. He looked up, bleary-eyed and exhausted.

“Place the quirk nullifying muzzle on, Doku Kobura. You are being moved immediately,” the speaker announced.

Kobura complied, much like a robot, and he placed the mask over his mouth. As the device engaged, Kobura could feel his newly formed jaw tighten under the pressure. The device no longer fit correctly. Two guards entered the room, cuffing Kobura with a more technologically advanced handcuff, one that probably would set off an alarm should it be removed without the proper digital key, before escorting him out into the hallway.

“You’re being transferred to a different facility,” one of the guards stated dryly.

Kobura had just murdered his father with his own lethal bite, and they were transferring him? Tartarus was the best facility to detain villains like him, but he wasn’t about to argue. He didn’t want to be put back in that cell with the stench of death reeking in every crevice and the blood that never seemed to congeal.

Doku was led through several passageways and security gates, before he was finally put in a transport vehicle. He didn’t understand. None of this made sense. He deserved to be in the most secure penitentiary there was. He belonged in the prison they were removing him from. They should have left the monster in his cage.

“Your father traded some good venom to get the two of you transferred back to your mother’s facility. I may be a corrupt cop, but I keep my damn word. Too bad you killed him. His venom sold for a pretty penny to the villains.”

Kobura raised his head, tilting it to the side as confusion turned to mild understanding. His father intended to bring him back with him. But, why go through all that trouble to beat him? Why taunt Kobura like that if his father wanted to keep them together?

To use me, Kobura thought. Doku’s father intended to use Kobura like he’d done for his entire life. Had his father been able to escape prior, he would have. He did not have the skill to escape technological gates, nor did his father have the resources. He had intended to beat the lesson into Kobura, make him suffer for leaving him locked up for so long. Kobura’s father wanted to become the puppet master of his marionette again, but he failed to calculate how Doku had changed.

He was dead now. His father was dead. His mother was still in prison. Kobura had a chance to be free, a chance to live his life again the way he wanted to. Kobura’s attention slid up to the two men in front of him.

“Why not sell my venom instead? It’s more potent and reactive to the feral part of quirks,” Kobura’s muffled voice came out of the muzzle.

One of the guards raised an eyebrow, looking back at Doku with curiosity. His eyes narrowed, as he looked Kobura up and down.

"Come now. What could I possibly do with my hands cuffed?” Doku asked.

“It’s hard to believe you, kid, especially with all that blood on yuh,” the other man scoffed, watching him in the rearview mirror.

“My father abused me since the day I was born…” Kobura gulped, his fingers tensing. It pained Doku to have lost control like that, even with how horrible his father could be to him. “He threatened someone very dear to me. I had no choice.” Of course, there was a choice. Kobura felt the guilt snake around his heart. He thought he’d gained some self-control with Anna’s affections on the line, but he lost himself in base instinct. His jaw still hurt from the sudden mutation of his quirk. “If I didn’t kill him, I’m almost certain my mother would have. It was only a matter of time,” Doku said coldly, but his chest clenched and ached, thinking about the ordeal. He’d be haunted by his father’s death in the years to come. He was almost certain every night he’d awaken from a new night terror.

The passenger guard looked interested but uncertain in response to Doku’s proposal.

“It would only take a few minutes. No one would ever know that you stopped.” What Kobura needed now was to escape, make certain Sweet Anna was actually safe. There was no point in mourning a man that he himself murdered. What justification would there be to killing him if Anna came to harm regardless? Kobura knew his father enough to know that he would have already sent villains after Anna to make sure Doku would obey him. He would have held it over Doku’s head as a failsafe to ensure his cooperation.

Kobura had done something unforgiveable, but it wasn’t him. It was something else entirely. He’d never felt such power in his veins, such feral instinct. Killing his father was a horrible accident. A mistake needs no ulterior justification. Kobura’s father’s death was not Doku’s fault. It’s what he wanted to believe. He couldn’t live with himself otherwise.

Kobura’s mind continued to contradict itself. Whether or not what he’d done was an accident or pure vengeance, it didn’t change Doku’s original objective: Keep Anna safe. If he focused on his main goal, he wouldn’t have to think about what he’d done. It wouldn’t matter if no harm came to his Sweet Anna.

The car pulled over to the side of the road. The passenger guard opened a secret compartment within the glove box, where he removed some specimen cups. The guard at the wheel kept watch as the other moved to the back, leaving the back door slightly ajar behind him, so he could easily get out. There was a metal grate separating Kobura from the front of the vehicle, but there was now nothing separating him from one of the guards. It would only take a little viral venom to make the man go ballistic.

“Don’t try anything funny. It’s not like you could get very far with those cuffs on and your prison jumpsuit anyway. You know as well as I do that a Pro Hero would be able to capture you and throw you right back in prison should you try to escape,” the guard in front of him stated dryly.

Doku didn’t respond. His eyes scanned over the man for the best place to infect him. His hands were the obvious choice. It would be easy to get saliva on him. Doku would take his chances with the Pro Heroes. Even if the technologically advanced cuffs couldn’t be removed with something on the guards, Kobura could remove them himself with the right digital tools.

The corrupt guard barely looked up at Kobura as he adjusted his position in the back seat. His hands fiddled with the lid of the cup, which surprisingly already had the proper material atop for venom extraction. Doku watched in frustration as the man put on gloves. Kobura would only have a few moments to somehow get the venom on him, but his original plan, to simply get his saliva to drip on the side of the cup, would not work if the guard had gloves on.

Kobura’s jaw ached. His newly grown teeth dug into his sensitive gums. He gulped, but he already felt a significant increase in his saliva and his venom. He was practically drowning in the nullifying mask at this point. His quirk felt like it was burning the inside of his mouth.

The guard grabbed Kobura roughly by his white hair. It had grown a bit longer after having some time within prison walls. He balanced the cup on his lap as he unlatched the device around Kobura’s face. The guard’s expression twisted in disgust as gobs of toxic green venom and drool dripped out of the device. With the device removed, Kobura could finally breathe again, adjust to the weight of his newly formed teeth.

The guard shoved the device onto Kobura’s lap, so he could retrieve the cup to begin the extraction. In an uncivilized manner, he jammed Doku’s face toward the cup, forcing his aching teeth into the material to begin the extraction and treating Kobura no better than a mangy animal. Gobs of green venom spewed into the container without Doku having to do much. It wouldn’t take long to lose his chance to escape.

The cup felt small in Doku’s mouth, so small his bottom teeth nearly grazed the bottom of the cup. His eyes widened in realization. There was a chance to infect the guard after all. With enough pressure, he could probably destroy the receptacle altogether. It shouldn’t be hard with Kobura’s new strength either. The guard pushed harder on the back of his head, nearly making Doku gag, but with the oncoming force, Doku stretched his jaw further, no matter how excruciatingly painful it was. Finally, with a little adjusting and a subtle tilt of his chin forward, Kobura managed to fit his whole mouth around the cup. Without another moment’s hesitation, he bit down as hard as he could. The plastic cup shattered between the guard’s fingers. He yelped, nearly getting his digits bitten along with it, but the guard had enough instincts to pull back.

The venomous green liquid splattered and sprayed in every direction from the force of Kobura’s jaw shutting around the container. Several droplets splashed against the guard’s skin in the driver’s seat and nearly a whole half of a cup splattered across the man’s face in front of Doku. The guard sputtered, attempting fruitlessly to wipe the substance off.

“Dammit! You little snake. You did that on purpose. Can’t trust a damn one of you!” He started screaming out a series of choice words, before he turned for the door behind him, completely forgetting to put the mouth device back on Kobura.

Doku sprang after him. The guard and Doku went tumbling onto the street. Kobura could feel the heat pulsating off of the man’s skin, the sweat already glistening from his pores. Doku’s quirk had somehow entered his bloodstream faster than normal. Perhaps, the guard accidently swallowed some, or, perhaps, Doku’s quirk had changed, advanced. The scuffle wasn’t long, nor was it drawn out. Rage filled the guard’s eyes, and his skin bubbled and transformed with whatever quirk he had been keeping hidden. His rough textured features began to harden, as if the man had some kind of physical shield quirk, but his body was so bloated that he could not get up from his prone position, even in his angered state. Doku wasted no time, searching the man’s pockets to find the key to his cuffs. He dodged the guard’s swiping hands, as he made guttural and unintelligible noises. It didn’t take long for Doku to find the right USB type mechanism that unlocked his cuffs. He escaped them easily by angling his fingers in just the right way with the key. Kobura dropped the cuffs to the ground beside the writhing guard.

The other guard must have been affected by Doku’s viral venom too because no one came out of the escort vehicle. In fact, it sped off with a screech, suggesting a form of road rage had ensued or been forced upon the man with the feral activation of his quirk. Kobura winced as he heard the car crash into the back of another vehicle, but he didn’t look back.

Doku removed the top half of his prison jumper, rolling it down to his hips. He’d rather strut around half naked, than clearly be an escaped convict. He started running. Eerily, the streets were quiet. Japan seemed like some off-kilter ghost town. And, even more strange, there wasn’t a Pro Hero in sight. Usually, this part of the city was crawling with them. Kobura brusquely stepped into an abandoned open shop, grabbing a few items of clothing. His eyebrows furrowed when he didn’t spot a soul in the building itself. There was even a pile of change left on the register counter. He didn’t question his luck further, discarding his bloody clothes for the plain new ones: a light green t-shirt, a pair of baggy dark gray sweat pants, a dark black mask with a cheeky cat mouth, a plain black baseball cap, a pair of black gloves, and a new pair of white sneakers. He left the store, half-expecting for the owner to come running out to stop him, but no one did.

Kobura then started noticing the empty cars near him, the other abandoned buildings. As he jogged down the sidewalk, it became abundantly clear that the whole area had been evacuated. But, it didn’t make sense for an evacuation of this scale to happen so suddenly. He’d never seen something like this in all his years of being a villain.

Kobura continued down the desolate road, listening for voices, until he heard some. A crowd seemed to be moving away from the main center of the city. Kobura sped toward the group, sneaking between alleyways until he was close enough to become a part of them. Doku spent little time blending in, his eyes finally catching sight of a young hero, one that could have been Anna’s age, ushering the crowd forward.

“Keep moving, citizens! You must all evacuate for your own safety!” another hero announced, one only a few years older than the last.

Kobura shifted with the crowd who were going at a rather leisurely pace. Abruptly, some people started looking back. A few citizens even started screaming. Doku turned around, distinctly aware of the heroes at the back moving their attention to their flank as well. A rippling wave of destruction flailed out across the horizon. Panic ensued. Kobura’s eyes only widened. Everything caught in the blast seemed to gray and decay as if Shigaraki was holding it in his bare hands. Shigaraki had actually gone through with it, the doctor’s crazy procedure to enhance him, and it must have worked.

Doku stood amidst the fleeing citizens. He watched as everything in the shockwave’s path crumbled to dust. How much had he missed while he was locked away? How much had changed? He should have been there for them, for him. Shigaraki had given Kobura hope that he could live a life without strings.

Doku took a few retreating steps back, gauging where the destruction might end based on its speed and current radius. The pre-emptive panic was understandable, but it wasn’t necessary. This group of civilians Kobura had blended in with had been moved far enough back to avoid harm. A cloud of dust washed through Doku as the decay halted only a few feet away from him. As the earth settled, Kobura scanned over the damage.

One of the young heroes beside Doku shuddered, rightfully so. The destruction in front of him was probably far beyond anything he’d ever seen. With shaking hands, the boy motioned for Doku to keep moving.

“W-we should get you to safety,” he said, ever the model hero-in-training.

Kobura shook his head. “There’s no safety from this,” he stated bluntly.

A flash of green and an explosion grabbed Doku’s attention next. His eyes followed the new onslaught of color over the gray and dulled landscape. Doku recognized the one youthful hero as Katsuki Bakugo, not so much the other green-haired boy. They must have lost their minds to head into the decay. Shigaraki would wipe the floor with them both, especially after his quirk transformation.

A sparkling young hero followed after them. Doku’s whole body stiffened. His heartbeat sprang to life, and he was running before his feet had even caught up with his mind. Anna was chasing after the two idiots, of course she was.

“Are you crazy?! The Commission and the Pro Heroes want all civilians to evacuate! Don’t head toward that chaos!” the young hero pleaded for Kobura to return.

Doku had no intention of turning back. He knocked off his baseball cap, ripping the stolen mask free from his face. There was no way he’d let Anna rush into danger like that. She had no idea what she was about to face. Shigaraki would kill her without even realizing what he’d done.

Doku tucked his head down, going faster, as fast as he could run. With their quirks in comparison to his, he might not be able to catch her in time, but he had to try. He would lay down his life for her. Whether she wanted him to or not, he would sacrifice his life for hers.

Please, Anna. Please don’t leave me.

#MHA x OC #bnha x oc #bnha fanfiction #mha fanfiction #mha x you #bnha x you #annakokoro #bnha anna #mha anna kokoro #mha doku kobura #doku kobura #bnha doku kobura #mha BioVirus #bnha BioVirus #mha tararus #bnha tartarus

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

Text

Think: Chapter Eighty-Four: Doku Kobura: A Villain Playing Hero

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language and violence.

Please be aware this chapter is in third-person perspective, following my original character, BioVirus, Doku Kobura, who is a villain currently a part of The League of Villains.

Chapter Eighty-Four: Doku Kobura: A Villain Playing Hero

Sweet Anna stepped out into the afternoon sun. Even with her hair dyed to its original brown color she appeared like an ethereal angel, otherworldly to Kobura. Her parents and these horrid students had broken her to pieces again. Her confidence had crumbled to dust. Kobura was slowly trying to sweep her back together.

“Hello, Sweet Anna,” he greeted her warmly. His new uniform itched, constricting him in ways that he just wasn’t used to in his normal gear. Despite his costume looking of leather on the outside, the fabric had quite a bit of stretch and was breathable to help him move. It was a lot harder to hide his weaponry under the cheap fabric of this school uniform as well, so he decided on just packing the essentials. The school should really consider getting a metal detector because the number of knives that Kobura had smuggled in could open a small weapon shop.

“Hey,” Anna said. Her cheeks were flush.

Doku’s attention dwelled on her expression. She didn’t appear sad, so what had gotten her to blush like that? “Was class eventful?” Kobura pulled himself off of the wall. He offered out his hand toward Anna’s bag.

“It was weird.” Anna declined his outstretched hand, shaking her head. “I’m pretty sure everyone thinks that I fought back against those girls. Well, everyone except Higa. He actually apologized to me. He wanted to make sure that someone named Abe knew he did it too. He seemed really freaked out.”

Kobura snaked his hands into his pockets. “He did, did he? It’s about time he apologized for his behavior toward you. I’ll make sure your classmates know it’s me next time, so they can keep your name out of their mouths.” Kobura brushed his arm intentionally against Anna’s to give her some kind of comfort. She didn’t seem to react much to his touch. What had happened in class must have been pretty bad to distract her from acknowledging his proximity to her. “By the way, Abe is me, remember?”

Anna stopped short, the gears turning in that pretty head of hers. “Wait a second. You made Higa do that? He begged me for forgiveness. He was so scared.”

Kobura frowned. “The only thing I made him do is what he should have done since he targeted you. Sorry goes a long way in this society. I learned that from you.” He grinned again, reaching out to ruffle Anna’s hair but thinking better of it. He lowered his voice. “It was his decision to beg for it, not mine. Though I must admit he should have done much more than beg for your forgiveness for what he put you through.” He tilted his head thoughtfully. Kobura extended his hand back, scratching the back of his head. “Try not to forget my new name, Sweet Anna. I can’t spend time with you if you blow my cover.” Kobura brought a finger to his lips, winking at her. “Remember that I’m called Ikuo Abe while we’re at school. Although I won’t correct you if you use my first name by accident.”

Anna uncomfortably shifted back from Doku. Her hands clenched at her backpack straps. “Why do you always use my first name? Wouldn’t it make more sense that you use my last name since you just joined the school?”

“Not if we’re best friends. I knew you before going here, Sweet Anna, so it’s okay. If it makes more sense to you, you can call me Ikuo.” Kobura leaned back, his coy smile catching the sun. “If you’d prefer, as your upperclassman, you could also call me Senpai.”

Anna’s face became a few shades darker. She glanced away in embarrassment, making Kobura’s heart flutter. She was so damn cute.

“I-I’m just fine calling you Abe.” She tugged absently at the bottom of her skirt. “Sure, I’ve spoken to you before, but I don’t really know you like this.” She gestured to his school uniform. “It’s a little odd seeing you as a normal student.” Anna paused, her stolid expression saddening. “Are you sure you want to be here with me? I thought that high school was kind of rough on you.”

Kobura winced. He’d forgotten she’d seen some of his past. “Don’t worry about me. I’m here for you. Sure, I was a late bloomer while I was in high school, but I’m a completely different creature now. I can thrive in this soul-sucking environment because I’ve been there done that, you know?” Kobura clenched his teeth together. “My priorities are set on ensuring your happiness. If you worry about me, it’s kind of counter-productive.”

Anna gave him a dubious look, but she didn’t question him about it. He led her over to a secluded area beneath a cherry blossom tree in full bloom. He wondered if a quirk had been used to make it blossom out of season. As a cold breeze swept through the tree, the pink petals dusted the surrounding area. Kobura brushed them clean from the bench, offering the seat to Sweet Anna. She sat down quickly, shoving her bag between her feet.

Kobura watched her sit in adoration. She was more beautiful than the scenery around her. He ensured that she was settled before he scrambled to get the bento box out of his backpack. Kobura couldn’t cook for shit. In fact, cooking was one of the few things he was actually bad at. He wouldn’t dare risk subjecting Sweet Anna to food poisoning. Instead, he had purchased a fresh meal from a nearby vendor, packing it while still scorching hot into a cute blue bento box he’d bought for her. The outside of the box was under-the-sea themed. It didn’t have a shark, but there were some tiny little fish on it. The meal he’d stuffed inside had some chicken, beef, and rice, and it included some grilled vegetables. Kobura offered her the box, afraid that she wouldn’t consider taking it from him.

“I packed it for you,” he said. Nerves rattled through his system. This was different for him. He was embarrassed he couldn’t serve her food that he’d made himself, but he was proud he had put the effort into the small gift. Kobura was also well-aware that Anna’s witch of a mother had been starving her, so he hoped that food was a good way to raise her spirits.

Anna hesitated to reach out toward the box. Kobura showed her that he had his own, and she more readily took it from him.

“Thank you,” she said, uncertainty straining her melodic tone. She opened the bento box, and her eyes widened. “Did you make this?”

Kobura sheepishly ducked his head. “Not exactly,” he mumbled under his breath. “I’m not very handy in the kitchen. I have a habit of burning things to a crisp.” Kobura slid next to Anna on the bench. “It’s the thought that counts though, right?” Kobura hesitated to open his own food. “It’s stupid, isn’t it? I would have sliced some fruits and vegetables for you, but because I can’t actually cook anything I didn’t want to disappoint you with a salad.”

“It’s not stupid,” Anna blurted. She peered down at the food before her. “It’s nice of you to bring it for me. I don’t think I’ve eaten an actual meal since I was dragged out of U.A..”

Kobura gazed at her while eating, and he had a hard time looking away. He forced his mind to capture the moment. Her head bopped side to side with her eyes closed when she realized how good it tasted. Her small feet kicked out rhythmically. A smile finally appeared on her angelic face, and he noticed the smallest of dimples dent her perfect cheek. She opened her eyes again, and Kobura nearly dropped his food. He tried to hide the fact he was just staring at her by snapping his head forward.

Kobura decided not to eat. He waited until Anna had finished and offered the rest of his food too. She hesitated at first, but then accepted his as well. To Kobura’s chagrin, lunch ended quickly. He could just skip class, but he didn’t want to draw unwanted attention on himself. Instead, he followed protocol, wishing Anna a better rest of her day. He used his class time for planning out new gadgets for himself. His notebook was filled with intricate explosives and weaponry. Funny how a teacher overlooks a notebook and is more aghast by the sight of a phone.

Class finally let out, and Kobura shot up from his desk, practically pushing students out of the way to meet up with Sweet Anna. He made it out into the courtyard, taking a straight path toward her last classroom building. He stopped short when he spotted a male student speaking with her. He narrowed his eyes, noticing how frustrated Anna looked. He started stalking in their direction.

The boy spotted Kobura first. He raised his head, putting his shoulders back defensively. He made an attempt to stand in front of Anna, but as soon as she lifted her head to see what was going on, she put a hand on him to pull him back.

“Is there a problem here?” Kobura hissed out.

The boy looked confused. “I was just having a discussion with my classmate.” The boy scanned Kobura over. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new or something?”

“Upperclassman. Just transferred in. The name is Abe, and you’re making my friend uncomfortable.”

Anna readily moved over to Kobura. “We were just talking. Muto was about to go home. H-he offered to walk with me, but I already told him I was fine. There was a misunderstanding that happened between us, and he was just trying to make amends.” Anna placed a hand on Kobura’s arm, giving it a small squeeze. Her face said it all, she was terrified that Kobura would act irrationally.

“I was just offering to take her home,” Muto reaffirmed, barely acknowledging Kobura’s existence.

Kobura stepped back, but he’d reached a hand out toward Anna to ensure he could protect her at a moment’s notice. He continued to glare at Muto. Surprisingly, the boy didn’t seem concerned with Kobura’s presence at all. His gaze was set on Sweet Anna, Kobura’s Anna, and he looked lost in thought.

Kobura gracefully spun Anna around him to put distance between her and the other boy. His fingers were gentle but firm, sliding down to the small of her back and easing her away. “If that’s all, we’ll be on our way.”

A hand grabbed for Kobura’s shoulder. A switch flipped in him. He jerked back, his arm hooking around the one that was nearly too close to him, but he was stopped. Sweet Anna had stopped him. Bless her for her forethought. Her quirk coiled tightly around his forearm. Kobura could already feel the tremble in his fingers, itching to bring a blade to the boy who’d touched him. He withdrew his counterattack, his muscles easing as he felt Anna’s quirk dissipate away from his body.

“I wasn’t done talking to her,” Muto said.

“As far as I’m concerned, you were,” Kobura hissed. He glowered at the hand still extended toward him. Kobura wanted to bite Muto’s fingers off. “Don’t put your hands on me again, or you’ll lose them.”

“Is that a threat?” Muto asked, pulling his hand back and cocking his head in curiosity. He appeared intrigued rather than frightened. “You’d attack me for what? Invading your space? Or, is it because I talked to the klutz?”

A breath left Kobura’s body, a succinct exhale of air that left his body rattled. He glanced at Anna out of the corner of his eye, and he watched her cute little face blanch out of fear for what Kobura might do this boy, this nobody. Kobura’s stance shifted forward, his fingers clenching at his side. Anna’s small fingers caught his sleeve.

“Please don’t,” she pleaded. “He’s been decent to me.”

Kobura scoffed. Muto raised an eyebrow.

“Decent? He has insulted you and has done something that he thought he needed to make amends for. He’s a problem.” Kobura glared at Muto, contemplating if he launched a blade in his direction, would Anna be able to stop both the blade and an attack.

Muto picked at his fingernails in disinterest. “Seems like you’re the one causing problems,” Muto countered. “This conversation is boring.” Muto leaned to the side, so he could see Anna better. He shrugged. “I tried, klutz.”

Kobura visibly shook. He hesitated, eyeing Anna again and hoping she’d give him the go ahead to slit this guy’s throat. He knew better than to expect it, but he watched her response all the same. She seemed frozen, confused, or like she was holding her breath and hoping this would all end on its own.

“You know where to find me.” Muto lifted a hand in farewell as he turned away.

Kobura bit back a retort. Anna let out a relieved sigh. She gave Kobura a weary look before spinning on her own heel and walking in the direction of her house. Kobura guiltily hung his head. He caught up with her in only a few steps.

“I wasn’t trying to upset you,” Kobura said first. His hands clenched and unclenched in uncertainty. He kept feeling like he had made progress with their relationship only for it to be reeled back because Kobura was only trying to do what was best for Anna.

“Well, you did,” she said.

Kobura misplaced one of his steps out of surprise. Sweet Anna didn’t usually tell him bluntly what he’d done to upset her. Well, she didn’t do it right away. Usually, they’d have a little back and forth and then she’d blurt it out in frustration.

“I… How can I fix it?” he asked, looking at her pleadingly.

“Stop attacking people because you ‘think’ they dishonored me in some way,” she said.

“To be fair, he did seem awfully dishonorable—”

Anna snapped her attention back on Kobura. Her hazel eyes narrowed, and she gave him such a fierce look it made his heart skip a beat. He cleared his throat, blushing.

“I can ease up,” he said bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I hope so.” The fury in her eyes dimmed, exhaustion plain in the dark circles under her lower lids. She turned away again, plodding in the direction of her house. Her quivering fingers met her backpack straps.

Kobura hesitated to announce his next thought. “What’s that guy’s deal anyway?”

“He looked out for me at first. Or, so I thought. Then, he watched on as I was bullied by exactly the same people he warned me about. I… It confused me to say the least. He seemed to want to help me, but he just didn’t. I only realized it after…” Anna trailed off, suddenly speeding up. Crimson blush dusted her cheeks.

“After what?” Kobura asked curiously, bounding up to her.

“It’s stupid.” Anna waved him away.

“I’m certain it’s not.”

“I’m mad at you. I’m not going to just answer your questions.”

“What did I do? I was just defending you,” Kobura pouted, pursing his lips. “I already said that I’d ease up.” Heat began to rise up to Kobura’s face as he remembered what had just transpired. “I think I was right to be pissed off that he called you a klutz.”

“I am a klutz,” she bluntly retorted.

Kobura frowned. “Don’t call yourself that. You are not. I better never hear another bad thing about yourself come out of your mouth either.”

“It’s true. What else do you call someone that trips over their own feet all of the time? I can’t even control my own quirk. It’s pathetic.”

“Anna,” Kobura breathed out. “Don’t be mean to yourself, please. You’re the hardest working person I’ve ever met.” He strode up ahead of her, walking backwards, so he could speak with her face to face. “You weren’t given the same advantages as everyone else. You had to work to get where you are now. Your parents weren’t heroes. You had to use your powers in secret—”

Anna winced. “You shouldn’t know that about me,” she said.

“Well, I do.” Kobura shook his head. “That’s not the point. You and I, we were never given the same opportunities that everyone else had. Our parents weren’t supportive. Our quirks were shunned. But, we thrived all the same. You built yourself from the ground up. You didn’t get help. You’re more capable than you give yourself credit for.”

“It doesn’t matter how capable I am now, does it?” Anna snapped. She guiltily looked away. Tears filled her eyes. “All that work is worth nothing. I can’t get a hero license without being in a hero school.”

Kobura stopped. Anna swerved around his stilled form. He watched her pass. His heart clenched in his chest. The bullies had gone away, but they weren’t her problem. Misery cascaded off of her in waves. Kobura couldn’t have been happier spending time with her, but it was hard to see her so distraught.

Kobura and Anna reached her house. Anna didn’t make a move to go inside. Her fingers fidgeted with a button on her uniform.

“Are your parents always this late to come home?” Kobura asked.

“It’s better this way,” Anna said. “They only lock me in my room when they get home.”

Kobura gulped. He hated her parents. They mistreated her. They didn’t deserve such a perfect daughter. He wanted nothing more than to have Sweet Anna live with him. At least, that way he could know she was safe, treated fairly.

Kobura slipped past Anna. He sat down on the small porch. “I could stay with you for a little bit. We don’t have to go in yet.” He patted the space beside him.

Anna turned her gaze down, her attention trained on the empty space. “What if someone sees you? Sees us out here together?”

“I’ve walked with you before. Don’t you think they could have seen us then? We’re just a couple of students from the same school. No one would look at us twice.”

“You’re a fake student,” she argued.

“They don’t know that,” Kobura shrugged.

To his surprise, he’d convinced Anna to sit down. As she planted herself beside him, she sighed. It didn’t take long for her to start talking. She clearly had pent up a lot of her feelings.

“It feels like I wake up in a nightmare,” Anna admitted, shouldering off her bag. She placed her hands on her knees, pulling her legs closer to her chest. “I spend every day wondering if I had done something different I’d still be at U.A.. And, you want to know what? I don’t think I would be. There isn’t a scenario in my mind that would have kept my parents from eventually finding a reason to remove me from the school of my dreams. Yes, it was dangerous. Yes, I’d gotten hurt. They didn’t take me out for my safety though. They took me out because now they were being directly targeted, now people could connect me to them.” Anna picked at a splintering piece of wood beside her. “They would have taken me out far earlier if they’d actually done it for me.”

“They hate the attention,” Kobura stated, affirming her thoughts. “They think your quirk would put a bad light on them.”

“That’s how it always had been. I think they let me pursue my hero career, hoping that it would distance my association with them. When they realized it was doing the opposite, and then the Emoticon thing happened, it was enough of a reason to pull me out of hero school.” Anna bit into her lip. “They’ll never let me go back. I’m stuck here, and I hate it.”

Kobura nudged her with his elbow, giving her a worried smile. “Hey, it’s not so bad. I’m here, aren’t I?”

Anna shrugged. At least she didn’t outright deny his company was unwelcome.

“It will get better. No one will mess with you while I’m around.” He raised his arms, flexing. “I can get you whatever you want on the down low too. You’ll never have to be lonely either. I’ll spend as much or as little time with you as you want.”

“I doubt you would allow me to ask to spend only a little time with you,” Anna said.

Kobura’s shoulders dropped. “If that’s what you wish, I will give you space.” He picked himself up off of the ground, only for Anna to reach out to him.

“Y-you’re fine to stay right now,” she stuttered out.

Kobura sat back down. He tilted his face up to the sun, stretching his long limbs out. He was living the dream. Sweet Anna was next to him, talking to him. She wanted him there. Still, it felt wrong. While Kobura basked in Anna’s attention, she was slowly falling into despair. She didn’t belong here as much as Kobura wanted her to love it. The lack of security made it so much easier to spend time with her. At this school, Kobura didn’t even have to worry about other suitors with powerful quirks to contend with.

Kobura leaned forward, setting his arms on his knees. He tilted his head, looking at Anna. She’d set her gaze outward, lost. She was beside him, but she wasn’t actually there in the moment. The light had left her eyes, the excitement. She slouched, defeat hanging heavily on her petite shoulders. It killed him to see her like this. He couldn’t fight her sadness. He couldn’t slice up her depression. He would forge a hero license for her, but it would go against her wishes. He would change her name and help her into a different school, but she would know it was a lie. He’d do anything for her. He loved her.

“What can I do?” Kobura asked sincerely.

Anna jolted back, focusing again. “What? What are you asking?”

“How can I help you?” Kobura leaned back. “I want to help, but I don’t know how.”

“There’s nothing you can do, Doku,” Anna said.

Kobura smiled softly at hearing his first name leave her perfect lips. He would have sold his very soul to have kissed her in that moment. “So, burn down the world that has caused you this much grief? Got it.” He chuckled.

“Kobura, that’s not funny,” Anna said. “You better not.”

“Oh, you have that much faith in me that I could decimate the world for you?” Kobura perched his chin atop his hands. “You know I have that much power, and you still refuse to ask me for anything?”

“You can’t give me what I want,” she said finitely.

“Who said?”

“Can you legally get me back into U.A.?” she tested.

“Why do you want to go back there so badly? There are plenty of other schools that would be better.” Kobura sighed. He knew why she wanted to go there so badly without her even having to say anything. Her friends were there. It’s where she made it in on her own. He hated to admit it, but she clearly belonged there. At the same time, Kobura’s enemies were there. There was a whole ass gate keeping him away from Sweet Anna there too.

“I miss being there,” she said. She didn’t elaborate further. She didn’t have to.

Kobura felt his heart shattering piece by piece as he considered how he could get her back in. Wasn’t he enough? Couldn’t he be enough for her? Selfish. He was thinking selfishly. This was about Sweet Anna, not him.

“Legally?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Kobura rummaged through the confines of his thoughts. He was smart enough to figure out some way to do it, but he didn’t want to. He just wanted to be there with her forever. Didn’t she see how much this meant to him? Kobura strangled those invasive thoughts again. He needed to make Anna happy. That was what he truly wanted.

“It’s improbable,” Kobura said, his plan clicking together like the last pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. He saw what he could do clearly.

“Not impossible? Don’t give me false hope,” Anna said, but she’d already resigned to her fate. Her voice was missing its vivacity. “Even if you could, my parents would just take me out again.”

Kobura scanned her over. He adored her with every part of his being. He wanted to keep her all to himself. He hated her with the other U.A. students. He hated himself for being what he was, a villain. If he could change… he would. But, he couldn’t be redeemed. He’d done things that were unalterable. He’d set his path long ago. She still had a chance.

“I could get you new parents,” he offered.

Anna shot him a death glare. “You can’t just replace my parents. Where would they go?”

In the ground, Kobura thought, praying that she wasn’t using her quirk to read his mind. Kobura shrugged. He would gladly rid Anna of her abusive parents, but she would hate him for it. “It was just a thought,” Kobura said.

They sat there together for another hour, not saying much. Anna got up when she knew her parents would be coming home soon. Kobura helped her collect her things, holding the door open for her.

“See you tomorrow?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said.

He wanted to see her smile. He needed to see her smile. She was nothing more than a husk of her former self. Anna stopped briefly.

“Thank you for walking me home.” She closed the door.

Kobura went to his new apartment, trying desperately to keep out the idea he had to get Sweet Anna back into U.A.. He knew how to do it. He didn’t want to do it.

Kobura tried his best to make Anna’s days better at school. The two of them did everything together. Some days, he could see the beginning of a smile on her face. He’d bring her sweets, take her to places on the campus they weren’t allowed to be. He took her to the roof, the gym after hours, and even the school pool. She went willingly with him, but he could never quite get her back the way that she used to be. There were glimmers of her joy that appeared for a second, but each was brought on by a memory of being at her old school. Her expression always soured as soon as she realized where she was. Nothing Kobura did could fully bring her back to him.

Weeks went by. Anna only got worse. Her parents locked her away during winter break. Kobura waited outside for her to leave the house, but she never did. Something broke in her over that long period of time locked in that dark house. Her spirit began to fade. Even when she returned to school, there were barely any signs of the old her left. Still, he never stopped waiting for her, taking care of her in any small way that he could.

Kobura stood next to the stairwell door of the school roof, watching Anna stare up into the sky while her hair whipped around her face. Sweet Anna hadn’t eaten that day. She refused anything that he offered her too. She’d been crying before he came to pick her up and walk her to school. Her eyes had been red-ringed and puffy. She hadn’t denied having cried when he asked her earlier that morning. Those days were becoming more often.

Now that it was lunch and Anna’s mood hadn’t improved in the slightest, he was beginning to get worried, more worried than he had been at least.

“We could stop by the chocolate shop on the way home,” Kobura offered, trying to get her to at least say more than two words to him.

“No thanks,” she despondently responded.

“Maybe we shake things up and go the aquarium. That sounds fun, right?” Kobura had managed to take her to small places nearby but nothing too significant. The chocolate shop was one of her favorites. Plus, she knew that she could get back before her parents got home. It was a risk offering the aquarium, but Kobura would do anything to see her remotely cheerful.

“No,” she said. Her bottom lip quivered.

“Anna,” Kobura pleaded. He crossed the roof, but she shifted closer to the roof’s edge, up against the safety bars.

“Thank you for trying, but I just…” she trailed off. She was over it. She wanted to be a hero, and she knew she couldn’t do it here. It was written all over her face. She’d lost hope.

Kobura made a decision. Not for him. But, dammit, he wished that he had made that decision for him. He had been so selfish. He cherished this time he got to spend with Anna, but it wasn’t her anymore. He knew exactly what he had to do. He’d have to get Sweet Anna back into U.A. no matter the cost.

“I’m sorry,” Kobura said.

“For what?” Anna asked, hugging her arms.

“I’m just sorry.” He was sorry for keeping her to himself. He was sorry for waiting so long to sacrifice his happiness. He was sorry because he was part of the reason she was sent to this school to be concealed from the world. He was sorry for postponing her dreams, so he could just spend time with her. He didn’t have the courage to say it out loud to her either.

Anna shrugged. A dismissive gesture he wasn’t accustomed of seeing from her. His face fell.

“I won’t be able to walk you home tonight,” Kobura said carefully.

“Huh, why?” Anna asked. There was a sliver of consciousness that possessed her through her dismal expression.

“There’s something I have to take care of,” he said.

“Okay. Do you need any help?” she asked. Her forest hazel eyes blinked up at him, and he nearly melted.

“No. You’ve done more than enough.” Kobura’s stomach flipped. This could be the last time he would see her on even footing, as another student, rather than a villain. He gently grasped her shoulders.

Anna didn’t pull away, but she watched him cautiously. Kobura leaned forward, only to be met by Sweet Anna’s quirk repelling him away. He kept his weight forward, not fighting against her quirk, but letting her hold him there. She looked confused, scanning him over in case he was trying to attack her. She blinked up at him, and he gave her a gentle smile. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the predicament. It was awkward, but it felt innately real to him, a moment that he would hold dear. For some reason, Anna slowly released her quirk from holding him, and he leaned further into it until he was a breath away from her forehead. He wanted to kiss her, knowing it might be the last time, but he changed his mind.

Tentatively, Kobura’s hands slid up to Anna’s face, gently tilting it upward. He nuzzled his nose into hers. The gesture was more intimate than he expected, filling his cheeks with warmth.

“I don’t want to be the cause of your pain anymore,” he murmured. He pulled back a few inches. “I promise to do better for you.” He released her.

Anna let out the breath she was holding. Her breath had quickened. Her face was red.

Kobura left her standing on that rooftop, hoping this would not be the last moment they would share together as two youths in a budding romance. He headed for his apartment, already dialing his phone to call Toga.

“Have time to help me do something falsely heroic?” Kobura asked.

#mha oc #mha fanfic #mha fanfiction #bnha oc #bnha fanfiction #bnha fanfic #Anna kokoro #mha anna #bnha anna #mha anna kokoro #annakokoro #doku kobura #mha doku kobura #bnha doku kobura #kobura #mha kobura #himiko toga #toga himiko #mha toga

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

Text

Think: Chapter Eighty-Three: Kobura’s Dream Date

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language.

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America.

Chapter Eighty-Three: Kobura’s Dream Date

Kobura tightened his grip around you with his whole body trembling furiously. “I will slit every one of their throats for this. I have no mercy for those that would harm my Sweet Anna.”

You peered up at him, shaking your head, despite how badly you’ve been quaking yourself. “Don’t,” you said with a quivering voice.

Kobura took your chin in his hands, tilting it gently back. He ran his thumb across your bruised cheek, making you wince again. “Let me make them regret they ever laid their hands on you,” he said softly, leaning toward you. His lips were so close to you that his snakebite piercings nearly brushed your skin.

“No, please don’t,” you said, but your voice’s strength had dissolved. Your attention moved down to his clothes, realizing he was in a full uniform for Okamoto High School. “What are you doing here?” you repeated your earlier question.

The rage that had burned behind his eyes dissipated. Guilt forced his gaze away from you. “I’m sorry I didn’t find out what had happened sooner, but I’m here now. It’s my fault you’re here. I didn’t stop Emoticon’s transmission in time. I would have never thought she would have done something like that even in her death. He pulled at his dark brown uniform. “It’s not particularly my color, but it’s what I had to wear in order to blend in here. You’re looking at an official Okamoto second year.” He shrugged, grinning with his glinting fangs. “I was held back for delinquent behavior. Well, not really me, but student Ikuo Abe was.” He smiled even wider. “That means we get to be at school together.” He gave your arms a light squeeze.

“You can do that? Won’t they find out who you really are?” you asked.

Kobura waved his hand dismissively. “The reason I couldn’t find you faster was because their systems are ancient. You hadn’t been uploaded into the school until about a day ago. As you’ve been radio silent on all of your social media platforms it was nearly impossible to track you down. I had an inkling from U.A. systems, but it wasn’t enough. This place doesn’t even have a security guard anymore. He was fired two months ago. I’m almost certain security is not their priority. They won’t even notice I’m here.”

You didn’t know what emotion to feel. You were happy that you no longer felt alone, but you were fearful by his appearance that things might somehow worsen. He was older than you, and by this school’s standards, he’d have all the girls drooling over him the second that they saw him.

Kobura leaned down closer to your face, and you squeaked in surprise at his proximity. “Are you not happy that I’m here, Sweet Anna?”

“I…” You didn’t know what more to say. Your shoulders slowly relaxed. His very presence gave you some semblance of comfort. “I’m glad to see you.” You blushed deeply.

Kobura’s eyes widened, and the corner of his lip twitched upward. His face reddened. “You’re glad?”

“It’s miserable here,” you admitted. “I’m relieved to see you.”

“I’ll take it,” Kobura said. He ran his hand through his white hair. “So, you’re headed home, right? I’ll escort you.” Kobura gripped your hand, leading the way.

Five minutes into the journey you realized he wasn’t taking you home. You stopped, feeling your chest tighten. Why did you follow him so easily?

“This isn’t the way to my house,” you said.

“I know,” he said.

“Where are you taking me?” you asked, swallowing dryly. You began to tremble.

Kobura shook his head, furrowing his eyebrows. “There’s no reason to be afraid of me, Sweet Anna. I wouldn’t do something to hurt you. I would never purposefully put you in danger either.” He rubbed the back of your hand with his thumb. “Your parents won’t be back until late, right? I thought we could go somewhere to take your mind off things for a bit. If you don’t want to, I can take you straight home.”

You clenched one of your fists uneasily at your side. He put his full attention on you, one of his hands still on yours. Suddenly, you were brought back to the memory of first meeting him, his green venom-tainted lips pressing into the back of your hand. He tried to infect you without even really knowing you. Could everything really have changed? Had he not proven himself trustworthy since that day? He had come for you when no one else knew where you were. He’d done his best to protect you when you asked him not to.

“Home…” you trailed off. You met his gaze with your own. He wasn’t the only one who’d changed. You’d changed. Although it was only small, a seedling at best, you felt the seeds of doubt springing forth, coming through the cracks of your patience breaking down. The way your parents mistreated you no longer rolled right off your back. You knew that you could be treated better, knew there was a place for you that understood your struggles. As desperately as you wanted to go back to U.A., you knew your parents could make it far worse for you at home if you didn’t submit to their wishes. This new school was better than the alternative for now. That’s why you didn’t fight back against the bullies because you knew what you’d lost at U.A. and didn’t want to lose more. You might have tried to shut it all off, all of the emotions, after being forced into this new school, this new place, but you were more aware now.

Kobura’s shoulders dropped. His smile slowly faded. “I can take you home. It’s okay.” He tugged you in a new direction, but you stood firm. He looked back at you in confusion.

“Home isn’t the same anymore,” you said. You squeezed his hand. “I’d like to go somewhere I can take my mind off of it for a little while. As long as we make it back before my parents get home.”

Kobura’s eyes sparkled with newfound excitement. He squeezed your hand back with a bright grin that could have blinded someone wearing sunglasses. “I promise this place won’t disappoint you.” Kobura had slowed his pace to help you keep up. He gradually intertwined his fingers with yours. His face was so red, it nearly drew a chuckle from your lips.

The smell of chocolate hit you first. When you spotted the small chocolate shop, you tugged Kobura behind you with a burst of ecstatic energy. You stopped just before entering the tiny building, looking back at Kobura with pleading eyes. You’d completely forgotten he’d been taking you somewhere.

“C-can we go in here? I’m sorry if it wasn’t the place you wanted to take me,” you said. You would keep walking if you had to, but you didn’t even know Japan had these kinds of shops around. You hadn’t had candy in ages either.

Kobura gave you a reassuring smile, his gaze lingering on your expression. “Sweet Anna, this was where I was taking you.” He chuckled. “Of course we can go in.” Suddenly, he hesitated. His fingers danced around his pockets, until he found a small cloth of some kind. “It’s for my phone, but I’m sure it can help with this too. Hold still.”

You froze, uncertain of what he was about to do as he reached toward your cheek. His green eyes scanned over your face. You held your breath, closing your eyes.

Kobura laughed again. “I’m just trying to clean you up a bit, Sweet Anna. There’s no need for you to be so anxious around me.” He wiped your face with a featherlike touch.

Your eyes fluttered open when you no longer felt him caressing the edges of your face. He reached out one last time to smooth down your hair.

He gave you a weak smile. “There, just as beautiful as always.”

Your face flushed, and you took a step away from him, clearing your throat. Kobura didn’t seem too offended by your reaction because he averted his attentive gaze, returning his focus back onto the chocolate shop. Gently, Kobura pulled you back from the door, so he could properly open it for you. He waited for you to go inside first.

Your excitement returned when the smell of fudge and other sweets hit you again. You didn’t wait another moment, bouncing into the shop and trying to hide your smile. You forced yourself not to press your face against the display case. There was an assortment of fancifully made chocolates. Each bonbon looked better than the last, making your mouth water.

A very short woman watched the two of you enter with mild interest. It didn’t seem like she had that many customers at this time of day. This astounded you based on the quality of her sweets. The place was powdery pink with a few chairs and tables around too. You wondered if it wasn’t as popular because of how tiny it looked from the outside.

The old woman gave you a warm smile as you perused the selection of candy. “Let me know what you would like, and I would be happy to retrieve it for you. Feel free to take a seat anywhere if you’d like to stay. Most customers take a box home too.” She dusted off her hands on the front of her red and pink striped apron.

“Uh, thank you,” you politely replied. “I might need a minute to decide.” You continued scanning every chocolate as if you’d miss something important or more delicious. Mint chocolate, cherry chocolate, chocolate covered apples, sakura chocolate, and the list went on. You were almost certain that if you thought of a chocolate, she had it. “There are so many,” you said in awe.

You pulled your glued attention away from the sweets for only a moment. You reached into your bag, taking out your small change purse. You forlornly looked between your money and the sweets. You’d be lucky if you could afford a single confectionary. You were close to being flat broke. Kobura had been nice enough to invite you too, so you had to get him something, didn’t you?

You turned back to him with your shoulders dropping. “I, um, I appreciate you taking me here,” you said under a whisper, “But, I don’t have enough money to get us both something. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to waste our trip out here.”

Kobura looked momentarily perplexed. “I asked you to come here with me, remember?”

“I know. I’m sorry. Everything in here looks great. I wish I could get some.” Your excitement faded. Tears came to your eyes. It may have seemed stupid to cry over some chocolate, but it was a comfort to you. You bet it was more delicious than anything you had ever eaten before too.

Kobura stiffened in front of you. He leaned down, peering at your face. “No, don’t be sad.” He lifted your chin with his fingertip. “I wouldn’t have taken you here if I didn’t expect to pay. In fact, I wanted to pay. I’m going to buy you whatever you want. You can have anything that your heart desires. Nothing’s too much. I promise.”

You fiddled with your hands, pulling your face away from his touch. “I couldn’t possibly ask that much from you.”

“Anna, when I say I’ll buy you however much you want, I mean it. Money isn’t an issue for me. Go ahead and pick out what you want.”

“I couldn’t.” You turned back toward the display case, biting into your lower lip. It was too much for him to offer. It wouldn’t be right.

Kobura remained silent as you’d turned your back on him. You thought you might have upset him, until he took a step in front of you while addressing the shopkeeper. “Could I please get one of everything?”

Your eyes widened in surprise at his request, but he wasn’t finished there.

“Could you put them in a discreet box too? Also…” Kobura scanned over all of the chocolates. “And, I would also like to double any of the citrus items please.” He glanced back at you with his hand under his chin in thought, before he turned back again. “Oh, do you have hot chocolate?”

“O-of course,” the woman stammered out in shock. “Are you certain you want one of everything?”

Kobura nodded his head vigorously. “And, the hot chocolate please. No orange juice though, right?”

“I’m afraid not,” she said breathlessly.

Kobura clicked his tongue. “Shame. Just one of all the chocolates, times two on the citrus ones, and the one drink will be fine then.”

“Just?” you squeaked out.

Kobura raised an eyebrow back at you. “Were you not having trouble deciding? You can save the rest for whenever you want. It is chocolate after all. There will be plenty of time to eat it all. If there are some not to your liking, I can take it with me. Toga wouldn’t turn down a sweet either.”

“I can save the rest?” you asked. “You mean you ordered all of that just for me?”

“Aside from the extra citrus ones, yes,” he said. “I’m not sure I’m understanding your questions.”

“It’s so much money. I can’t—”

“It’s a gift, Anna. It’s the least I can do for you.” Kobura guided you over to an empty table, helping you sit down. He moved over to the register to pay for the egregious amount of candy.

You anxiously wrung your hands in your lap as you waited. This was weird, wasn’t it? You were sitting in a chocolate shop, waiting for a villain to come and sit down with you and enjoy an afternoon snack together. Rather than feeling uncomfortable, you were nervous. Your heart pounded in your ears, and your mouth had gone dry. It wasn’t until Kobura set the cup of hot chocolate down in front of you that you got out of your own head about how you were feeling.

Kobura sat across from you with a small plate decorated with tiny hearts and roses. There were four bonbons that sat atop his pink floral dish. The owner must have still been collecting the remaining chocolates for you. You clutched the small pink and white cup between your fingers, the warmth of the hot chocolate relaxing you a bit.

“I’m sorry it took so long to find you again,” Kobura said flatly. “I’ll give it to the police on this one. They played a little smarter this time. They might have postponed our reunion had they continued to use a paper trail. I would have never rested until I knew you were under my protection again…” Kobura trailed off. His gaze leveled with yours. He clenched his fist over of the table, nearly snapping the small fork in his hand in half. “How long have those girls been bullying you?”

Tension surfaced back in your chest. Conflicted feelings clouded your mind. How much should you tell him? He was part of the reason that you were at this new school in the first place. You had to continue to remind yourself that he was a villain. You didn’t see a point in lying to him. You were no longer at U.A., and he was no longer a threat to your dreams to become a hero. You’d managed to ruin that all by yourself.

“It started on the first day. The class president didn’t like that I was top of the class. Those girls are a part of his fan club,” you admitted, hunching your shoulders.

“That coward will get what’s coming to him,” Doku said, stabbing into one of his sweets and popping it into his mouth.

You shook your head worriedly. “Y-you’re not going to do anything to him, are you?” you asked.

Kobura furrowed his eyebrows. “Yes, I am.” He grinned, looking off distantly. “Don’t you worry. I’m not going to kill him,” he whispered. “He’s the reason it’s miserable for you there. He’s had his fun, and now I’ll have mine. No one gets away with hurting you while I’m around.”

You pressed your lips into a nervous line. “He’s not the reason I’m miserable there,” you murmured. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me either.” You clutched your arms closer to your body. Your eyes grew watery. “I’m never going to be a hero now, am I? U.A. will never take me back.” You sniffled, trying your best not cry but not succeeding.

“Anna,” Kobura said softly. He reached his hand out toward yours, but he stopped himself from touching you. “You can be whatever you put your mind to, Sweet Anna. That bullshit school doesn’t know what they lost. Your parents are just as much to blame for removing you from it. You don’t need that school to be a hero.”

“But, I can’t train anymore. I can’t go to my work study.” You bit hard into your bottom lip. “I can’t finish getting my hero license without being in a hero school.”

Kobura tilted his head to the side, frowning. He almost leapt out of his seat, when an idea struck him. “You could be a vigilante! I can help you!” he said excitedly.

You jolted back in surprise, shushing him with a finger to your lips and glancing in the direction of the shop owner, but, thankfully, she had gone to the back. “I-I can’t do that! It’s illegal and highly unethical. If I was caught, I’d be sent to jail.”

“I’d never let them take you to prison. I can promise you that.”

“That’s not the point,” you said, huffing. “I want to be a hero, not a vigilante.”

Kobura slumped down into his seat, tucking his head toward his chest as if he’d been scolded. “I’m just trying to help.” He knocked one of his chocolates to the side of his plate with the tip of his fork. “I suppose forging a hero license for you is not an option either?”

“Of course not,” you said brusquely, crossing your arms over your chest. “It’s not the right thing to do.”

Kobura sighed, rolling his eyes, but it wasn’t malicious. “The right thing to do is not always the best thing to do.” He picked up another candy, popping it into his mouth. He glanced back up at you. “And, I hope I don’t have to tell you this, but I’m always willing to take you in. I can give you a clean slate, so no one will look for you. You can pick a new name, maybe go to a different hero school, but it will be tough because of the publicity you’d gotten while at U.A..”

You froze, never considering something like that was possible. “I’m a stranger—”

“Can you really keep telling me that we’re strangers, Sweet Anna? I know more about you than myself.” Kobura placed the tiny fork between his lips, chocolate coating part of his green-tinted lip. “You can stay with me. No questions asked. Give me the word, and you have a new home. If you so wish, your own wing of the house. I can be involved as little as you want. It would be enough for me to know you were safe.”

You gulped. “But—”

“I’m sorry it took so long. I’ve never had a customer ask for all the chocolate on display. Please, enjoy. Stay as long as you wish too.” The kind owner placed a pink box in front of you, barely closed due to the number of confectionaries inside. She gave a cheeky wink in Kobura’s direction. “I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” She chuckled, meandering back toward the kitchen.

Your face had completely flushed, and your gaze shifted back down. The box ahead of you was daunting, but your mouth was watering just thinking about the candy that you’d been deprived of since living with your parents. You opened the box before you could talk yourself out of it. You reached in, eyes widening at the detail of the single sweet you pulled from the container. You tasted the sweet and nearly melted. Each chocolate was more delicious than the last.

You didn’t realize you were kicking your feet happily under the table, until you caught Kobura staring at you in curiosity. You slowed your chewing, blushing.

“Sorry, I haven’t had my chocolate fix in a while,” you said.

Kobura’s expression darkened. He returned his attention to his last treat. “Do they not let you have candy?”

“They?” you asked.

“Your parents,” he elaborated.

You shifted nervously in your seat. “No.”

Kobura tapped his fork on the edge of his plate. The noise grew louder as he began to hit it harder. You could sense a new tension, darkness crawling up the edges of his expression. “Do they mistreat you?”

You didn’t respond. The silence became harsh, suffocating. The owner had returned, hearing the obscure dinging that Kobura had been the culprit of. You shut the box ahead of you. You stood up quickly.

“Thank you,” you said, giving the woman a quick bow. You barely turned to Kobura, when you said, “I’d like to go home now.” You clumsily took the box into your hands, rushing to the door. You squeezed out just before Kobura had gotten over to you. “This was a mistake,” you muttered under your breath.

“Anna, don’t say that,” Kobura stated pleadingly, easily catching up to you.

“If it wasn’t a mistake, what was it?” you snapped back at him.

“It was me doing something nice for you. Is that so bad?” he asked.

“It is bad. This is bad,” you said, adjusting your uniform in a fluster.

“It doesn’t matter anymore that we’re seen together. Don’t you see how much more freedom you have now? It’s no longer bad. We’re not doing anything wrong,” Kobura said.

“It matters to me!” you shouted, spinning on him. The box of chocolate, unbalanced with excessive confectionaries nearly tumbled from your grasp.

Kobura grabbed the box without so much as a shift in his expression. “I know. I get it. I’m the bad guy. I’m still the villain to you. But, Anna, it’s okay now. No one knows who I am out here. Your status as a hero doesn’t change just because I buy you some chocolate.”

“I…” You scanned him over, stamping your foot in frustration. “I just want to be a hero,” you said, defeat pulling your shoulders down. Tears formed in your eyes. “That’s all I want.” You gripped your head, growling. “This is so confusing.”

Kobura adjusted the box in his grip, falling into step with you. “I’m not stopping you from being a hero, Anna. I told you that you can be whatever you want to be.”

You breathed out, keeping pace with him. “Can you just take me to my parents’ house?” you asked.

Kobura nodded. He didn’t push you further, didn’t make any more offers. He kept his hands to himself. He didn’t even attempt to walk closer to you. You were quiet, thoughts tumbling through your head.

As he promised, Kobura took you straight home. The gray building loomed over you. You hesitated to walk inside. Your parents wouldn’t be home for quite some time still, and you weren’t in a rush to be locked away into your room.

“I’ll be going to your school from now on. It would have been too suspicious to join your class directly, but I’ll be around. Those girls won’t hurt you anymore. I’ll make certain of it.” Kobura took a step back. He held out the box of chocolates to you. “I was hoping we could spend some time together. I could walk you home, eat lunch with you?”

You tentatively took the box from him. “Maybe.”

“Maybe, just walk you home?” he offered.

“I’ll think about it,” you mumbled. You drew the box closer to your chest, awkwardly shifting from foot to foot.

Kobura tilted his head to the side, a strand of his white hair fell out of place as he examined your expression. He didn’t seem in that much of a rush to leave, and, momentarily you worried he might stay and be seen by your parents. If that happened, they might move you out of the country.

You straightened your posture, which only made you feel shorter because of how tall he was. “It was really nice of you to take me out like that. I really appreciate the chocolate.”

“Any time.” Kobura grinned. “Any place. Anything you ask of me will be yours.” He swept his hair back up in place. “I hope I can make this new school a little more bearable for you.”

You nodded, bashfully tucking your reddened face behind the box of sweets. “It should be a little better at least,” you stated honestly. Your fingers pressed into the sides of the box, and you realized you were beginning to crush it. You adjusted again, trying to relax.

Kobura waited. You weren’t exactly sure for what. He didn’t make a move to get closer to you, nor did he seem to have much of a reason to stand there.

“Have a good night,” you said out of habit.

Kobura softly chuckled. “Have a good night, Sweet Anna.” He took another step back, probably noticing your uncertainty. He glanced at the door behind you, motioning with his body to go ahead.

You tentatively unlocked and opened the door. Kobura remained still. He moved his hands into his pockets. Quickly, you rushed inside, shutting the door behind you. You placed the box on a nearby table. You moved back to the door, getting up on tiptoe to see if Kobura had made a move to enter without your permission. Instead, you watched his shoulders relaxed. He spun around and left.

Was he just waiting for you to make it inside? He didn’t have an ulterior motive? Now you felt ridiculous for being so nervous. You shouldn’t blame yourself for being too cautious based on his history, but no matter how nice he was to you, he still considered himself a villain, despite how you believed he could change if he truly wanted to.

You shook your head, trying to get your mind clear. It felt as if there was a swarm of butterflies in your stomach. He killed someone, you reminded yourself. The gory images came to you again, like a haunting cinematic movie in your mind, and you gained some semblance of your uncertainty about Kobura back. Just because he was nice to you, didn’t mean he could be forgiven for all of his indiscretions. The things he’d done were inherently wrong.

You took the box of chocolates into your room, doing your best to hide it, even without many places for it to be concealed. You chose to stash it in your desk drawer beneath some reading material. Though your parents were strict with your studying, they rarely checked it. If they’d ever gone through your drawers, your hero memorabilia would have already been thrown away. Thankfully, the precious figurines you owned now had never been discovered.

You made yourself something small to eat from the kitchen, a few fruits and some rice. Your mother had started keeping track of how many groceries she bought, so it was hard to eat an average meal without having to explain to her why’d you’d eaten it. You heard your parents come home late, later than normal. Your mother checked you were in your room, and then locked the door without saying a word.

You strolled to school on Monday morning with a lighter walk to your steps. You were a bit apprehensive about what might have changed since Kobura had helped you with your bullies. You walked into class, and a hush fell over your classmates. Judgmental eyes followed you to your desk. The chatter started up again when you sat down, suggesting that perhaps you were the one being talked about.

You turned your attention toward Muto, who would normally give you some kind of reassurance that things were okay by cracking a smile. Instead, he gave you a strange look. His eyes were narrowed, and his posture was tense.

Class went by normally. Aside from the strange looks you’d received, nothing else transpired while the teacher was still in the room. However, as soon as the teacher had exited. Muto stood up from his chair, making it shriek across the classroom floor. Higa stood at about the same time. His body was shaking. He avoided eye contact with you.

Muto made his way over to your desk. He lifted his lip in disgust at you. “Did you hurt those girls?” he asked.

You blinked up at him in surprise. “No, I would never.” You shook your head frantically up at him.

“I thought you were different,” he spat out. “You know you’re not any different from them if you physically retaliate like that? You’re just as much as a bully.” Muto clicked his tongue. Disappointment cascaded down his souring expression.

“I didn’t hurt them,” you said. But, there was a sudden shift in your demeanor as you comprehended what he just said to you. Your face heated and your chest tightened as anger threatened to bubble up into your thoughts. That group of girls had been bullying you for weeks. You had a right to defend yourself. In fact, you should have defended yourself. They were brutally mistreating you. Who was he to say that you were just as bad as them? Muto noticed that you’d been picked on. He could have stepped in too. The only reason that you hadn’t protected yourself yet was that you were worried they would have turned it on you, making your circumstance far worse, getting you expelled. You were not going to be forced into homeschooling if you could help it.

“That’s not what the entire school is saying. Rumor has it that you used your quirk to teach one of those fan girls a lesson. You made her bleed and everything,” Muto argued.

“And, you believe rumors?” you asked. Frustrated and honestly disappointed by Muto’s accusations, you began shoving your school supplies into your bag.

Muto raised an eyebrow at you. “I’m supposed to believe the newbie over the entire school?” he asked.

Your hand paused on the strap of your backpack. Instead of lifting it up, you spun back on him. “I thought you were different,” you snapped. “I thought you cared, even if it was barely an ounce, about injustices, but I guess I was wrong.” You chuckled halfheartedly. “I was so wrong.” You grabbed your backpack from the ground, shaking your head in disbelief as you attempted to shoulder past Muto.

He grabbed your arm. “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to? I was helping you, wasn’t I?”

Was he? Had you thought his small bit of kindness toward you was help? He hadn’t done much of anything. Sure, he talked with you, warned you. But, for someone who was aspiring to be part of law enforcement, he did nothing to prevent you from being bullied. Were you that blind? No one wanted to help you here. No one except…

“I didn’t hurt anyone. I didn’t fight back. I should have. No one deserves to be bullied like I have.” You tried to rip your arm from his grasp, but he was too strong. Strands of your hair floated from your scalp. “Believe what you want to believe. It won’t change how you treat me.” You pulled back again, but he held firm. “Let go.”

“What do you mean how I treat you? I’ve been nice—”

“You did nothing to help me! All you did was warn me and watch what happened. Don’t you think that’s just as bad as being the bully yourself? Especially, if you can do something, and I can’t without serious consequences?” Your quirk surged up your arm, forcibly removing his fingers from you. You retracted your arm at that exact moment, thankful the slip of your quirk wasn’t more visible or did more damage.

Muto’s eyes had widened at you, but you didn’t wait for him to argue. You rushed by him, only to be stopped by Higa, who was shifting nervously in your path. His face was worn and red. His cheeks appeared to be tear-stained, and even the edges of his glasses had fogged as if he’d been crying. He bowed in front of you deeply.

“I’m so sorry that I’ve given you so much trouble, Kokoro. I promise it won’t happen again,” he said. “I was jealous of your position in class. It was my fault that my fan club was giving you a hard time. I’ve had a talk with them. They will not bother you again.”

You jolted back in confusion. “I… Uh…” you weren’t sure what to say.

“Please tell Abe that I have properly apologized! I promise you won’t have any more trouble from me.”

“Abe?” you murmured in confusion. “Um… I appreciate the apology. I hope we can get along fine from here on out,” you said.

“Yes, please! Please tell him that I begged for your forgiveness!” With barely a sliver of his dignity left, Higa slithered out of the classroom.

You watched him leave in confusion, almost forgetting that Muto was standing directly behind you. You glanced at Muto worriedly, but he still seemed dumbstruck that you’d gotten out of his grasp. His gaze was trained on his arm. You rushed out of the classroom.

You burst out into the courtyard, only to make direct eye-contact with Kobura in his full school uniform, leaning against the nearby wall of the school building. His grin widened, fangs glistening in the sun.

“Hello, Sweet Anna.”

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

Text

Think: Chapter Eighty-Two: Lockdown

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains blood and violence.

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America.

Chapter Eighty-Two: Lockdown

Light spilled into your room in the early morning, but it was quickly doused by the door that had creaked open, only to be slammed shut again. A tray of food was left on the ground. You weren’t hungry. You curled up into a tight ball on your bed, ignoring breakfast, feeling your wounds from the previous day ache.

You’d forgotten how cold it felt while in the company of your parents. You’d often be left for hours with only the comfort of your own room, but they’d stripped the life from it. There wasn’t a single ounce of what was left of your old space, other than what you carried in with your box from U.A.. Had they thrown it all away in their haste to relocate?

You sat up in bed, leaning your head back against the headboard and looking toward the ceiling. You shivered. Had it always been this bad? How did you endure your time with them day by day? Having lost what you’d been looking for all this time at U.A., you started to realize how your parents had been treating you wasn’t normal.

You sat up a little straighter, placing your hands on your knees. Your quirk, fully awake and buzzing, was beginning to fluctuate again. Whether that was from not using it, or the stress, you didn’t know. You breathed in a shaky breath. Maybe, you could reach your classmates from your new house, at least so you could properly say goodbye. It was a long shot, but it was worth a shot.

You closed your eyes, feeling strands of your mind glide around your head and lift your hair. Thoughts, thousands of thoughts filtered in and out of your stream of consciousness. If you could reach into someone’s memories, you could do this. You would just need to focus. The air around you grew lighter, less stifling. You squeezed your eyes shut even tighter. Exhaustion took you by the shoulders and held you down from floating out too far. Your brain was scraped by the strain, and pain vibrated into your temples. Sweat pooled on your forehead.

Like a rope reaching its end, you were snagged back from going any farther. Your quirk forced you back. Your eyes flew open, and objects that had started floating due to your quirk came crashing back down to your floor.

“Anna? Are you okay?” your mother called.

You had just enough time to cover your nose before she came in. You felt the warm sticky bloody press against your fingers.

“Nightmare,” you lied quickly. “Sorry to frighten you.” Why were you apologizing? This was all their fault.

“Oh, sweetie. Were you sleepwalking again? Good thing we locked the door. You would have gotten out and ruined something,” she said.

The door was locked? You hadn’t even tested it, knowing full-well that being grounded meant that you were not to leave the room. If you’d actually been sleepwalking, you would have found your way out regardless. A locked door was never known to hold in your quirk.

Her gaze moved down to the uneaten food, and she scowled. “You didn’t eat your breakfast? Why? Is my cooking not good enough for you anymore?”

“I wasn’t hungry,” you said.

Your mother shook her head in disappointment. “It’s gone cold. You’re such a wasteful child.”

Your mother slammed the door shut again. This time you heard the lock engage, and a wave of uneasiness filled your chest. You pulled your hand away from your face, but your bloody nose was about as bad as you had expected. After cleaning yourself up, you went back to bed, losing time.

The next time your mother opened the door, she was dragging you to the family bathroom by the forearm. She was wearing loose fitting plastic gloves. You were only half awake as she forced you to sit on the edge of the tub. There was a box of brown hair dye on the counter, and the contents had been strewn across the sink.

“What’s going on?” you asked.

“I’m dying your hair back to its original color. It’s inappropriate for your hair to stand out like that so abnormally. People would think that you’re not even our child.” Your mother reached toward you with a towel to put around your shoulders, and you shifted back, nearly falling into the tub.

“I don’t want to change the color of my hair. It’s natural,” you said.

“It certainly is not.” She scowled at you. “The blue in your hair only showed up after you started using that horrid quirk of yours. When you’re in a normal school, with normal students, you’ll thank me for fixing how you look.” She finally managed to hook the towel around your neck.

“No,” you said in a small voice.

Your mother paused with the container of dye in her hands. “What?”

“You’re wrong. It is normal. I am normal. There are other people with quirks like mine, mother. I shouldn’t need to hide my hair,” you said.

Your mother gasped. “Who do you think you are talking back to me like that? The one thing that old school did not teach you was how to respect your parents. Do I need to go get your father? Or, are you going to behave?”

That “school” that they kept badmouthing, taught you more about who you were in under a year than your parents had taught you in your whole life. They protected you, and it wasn’t their fault that villains targeted you. Your quirk shouldn’t have to be hidden, but you were trapped. If she got your father, the situation would escalate quickly. Instead, you shut your mouth, sitting still. Fighting her, would get you nowhere, and it would make your living situation far more miserable. You supposed there wasn’t anything wrong with keeping a low profile at a new school. Perhaps, your mother was right. It would be better this way. You’d be lucky if no one recognized you.

You clenched your fingers on the edge of the tub, unmoving. Your mother grinned, putting the dye to your hair. Hours later, you were completely brunette again. Your blue highlights were erased. Your mother sent you back to your room, locking the door.

You went back to bed, tired of fighting and exhausted. Hunger strangled your stomach. You curled up into yourself, covering your head with your blanket.

…

You woke up outside, shivering in the cold. You sighed, trying to focus your vision in the dark. You hadn’t made it far from the house, and you moved to go back inside. You suddenly hesitated. You were outside, free.

A blustering wind rushed through you, and your teeth chattered. Where would you go at this time of night? Your parents would just call the police and return you home if you just left. They’d find you, especially if you went to the heroes. But, if you didn’t go to the heroes… Kobura came to mind, and you shook your head of the thought.

You plodded back into the house. You stared at your ajar door with its broken lock. You were certain you’d be scolded for that in the morning, and you were. The next day, your parents had little to say and more to yell. You stood there and took it. Arguing would be pointless. Your father installed three bolted locks to your door. The knot in your stomach grew tighter.

To your surprise, the locks kept you in your room, or you just hadn’t been sleepwalking. The glorious respite was overpowered by the looming first day of your new school. Your mother continued to prattle on about it. She’d gotten your uniform pressed, your shoes polished, and ensured your hair was completely dyed brown. You had stared in your mirror for over an hour that morning, already missing your boots and your cloud charm. Of course, it was against school regulations to be comfortable. Instead, you had to wear brown heels with a bow. You grimaced at their impracticality. The rest of your uniform came with a pleated tan skirt, black knee-high socks, and a brown polo. Apparently, sweater vests were worn in the winter months.

Your parents had graciously unlocked your door for the day as they needed to be off to work, and you were to walk to school. How you were going to get there was beyond you, but your mother had insisted the directions she’d given you were easy. Luckily, the school brochure had a district map, so you didn’t solely rely on your mother’s poor instructions.

You left the house early in fear that you’d be late. Coming into the school this late in the year was already odd enough. You didn’t want extra unusual attention on you. Your mother’s instructions became utterly useless as soon as you realized you’d missed “a rock shaped like a frog” because you saw “the tree with a face” and had gone too far. Worse was that you were on the outskirts of where your tiny map was, so you were going to need to back track.

You stumbled upon Okamoto High School five minutes before the first bell, which only made things worse because you had to find the homeroom. The school itself was dreary. The school colors were all muted earth tones, browns, tans, and grays, so color only came from the greenery, which didn’t seem to get much attention. The school’s budget must have been low because, with close inspection, things had become slowly outdated. Signs were fading, some windows were cracked or broken, and there was even a door with a broken hinge that eerily flapped in the wind.

Stepping onto the school grounds was rather unwelcoming. Eyes followed your every move. Students that didn’t recognize you began to scrutinize the very way that you walked. No one bothered to say hello, despite the fact you were in a school uniform.

You clenched your fingers around your bag straps to keep them from shaking, picking up your pace and hoping by some miracle you’d find the room you needed to be in. That miracle came tumbling out a nearby doorway, right into you. Maybe, it was more like a bad omen. You tripped, knees scraping against pavement. The boy that collided with you laughed.

“Watch where you’re going, klutz. You’ll make me late for class,” he snapped, grinning as his buddies joined in with his laughter.

You got back up onto your feet, embarrassingly you followed where the boy had gone back into the school. Luckily or unluckily, the yammering squad ventured into the exact room you’d been looking for all morning. You followed them in, only for the boy who had collided with you to look you up and down in annoyance.

“You got a crush on me or something? Get lost,” the boy snapped, shoving you back.

You didn’t defend yourself, but you managed to hold your ground and not fall again. “This is m-my homeroom,” you said in a small voice.

The boy cupped his ear, getting into your face. “Speak up! No one can hear you!” he yelled mockingly.

You pressed your lips into a firm line. Bullies usually lost interest in you when you didn’t engage. Your cheeks reddened in embarrassment. You ducked your head and tried to enter the classroom again. The boy furrowed his eyebrows, scowling at you. He put his hand up, stopping you again.

“I’m not trying to cause trouble. I’m part of this class now,” you said a little louder.

“Oh, you’re the new student?” another boy asked, pushing his way through the group. He adjusted his glasses, slicking back loose strands of his light green hair. “I was supposed to lead you to class, but I assumed you weren’t coming when you didn’t get here early.” The boy reached out his hand. His golden eyes scanned you over. “My name is Hiraku Higa. I’m the class president as well as the top student in our class. Anna Kokoro, correct? It’s customary to shake hands when greeting in America, is it not?” His yellow eyes examined you like a textbook.

You nodded shyly, taking his hand in yours and giving it a curt shake. The bully clenched his teeth, sneering at you.

“The tough guy is Junpei Muto,” Higa said. “I’m certain he will be much nicer to you now that he knows that you’re in his class.”

Muto rolled his brown eyes at him. He pulled loose the band holding back his long brown hair to reset it again, before he glanced at you. “Just keep out of my way, runt,” Muto snapped. He sharply turned around and marched back toward his seat.

Higa helped you find your own desk, toward the back of the room to your chagrin. He didn’t hover by, however, leaving you to your own devices. You removed a couple of your textbooks from your bag and set them up on the desk. No one else greeted you. You were mainly met with distant curious stares.

The teacher showed up early, and the classroom settled down. Mr. Watanabe had you introduce yourself, but he asked that you be quick about it. You went to the front of the class, and it was deathly quiet. You hurriedly stated your full name, avoiding saying anything about your quirk, and instead sharing that your favorite animal was, sharks. The classroom collectively stated a monotone, “Welcome,” and that was the end of it. You walked back to your seat.

It was more difficult to pay attention than you expected. You realized in a short amount of time that you had already learned the material that was being covered. This most likely had to do with the accelerated learning at U.A.. In order to fit in hero training in the curriculum, regular classes were crammed into shorter increments of time.

Just because you were ahead of your classmates, didn’t mean you would fall asleep in the back of class. You were ready with an answer to the teacher’s every question, ensuring that your knowledge was locked in for upcoming quizzes and tests. You promptly raised your hand and answered when called upon. Shortly after answering the third question correctly, you felt the multitude of glares being directed at you. You attempted to raise your hand for another one, when you heard a scoff beside you.

“You’re not impressing anyone, nerd. You can stop trying so hard,” a male classmate beside you snapped quietly.

Your hand wavered in the air. A tightness settled in your chest as memories of being bullied began to infiltrate your mind. It wasn’t like you were shouting out the answer. If no one else had it, you politely raised your hand to give a response. Maybe, it wasn’t fair of you to answer since you were so far ahead. You slowly lowered your hand. Then again, you’d always answered any questions at U.A. if you had an answer, and a lot of the subjects came more easily to you. Still, you placed your hands onto your desk, deterred to raise it again in fear you might be ostracized further.

The remainder of the class moved at a snail’s pace. It wasn’t until the end that anything significant happened.

“Oh, I forgot to mention this. Despite her entrance so late into the school year, Kokoro’s grades have shot her up into our class ranks. She is now the new top student in the class,” Mr. Watanabe said in disinterest. He continued filling up his bag with supplies.

Most of the class seemed indifferent to this. They filtered out of the room in a rush to leave. You were the top student in class 1-A, so the announcement had not surprised you either. But, then a loud crack resounded in the small classroom. Your eyes trained on the noise. Higa had snapped a pencil clear in half simply by holding it too tightly.

“Mr. Watanabe, there must have been a miscalculation when the grades transferred over. I am the top student in our class,” Higa said, smiling tensely. His whole body was trembling.

“There weren’t any mistakes made, Higa. It was clear based on Kokoro’s test scores compared to yours that she is number one,” Mr. Watanabe said. He didn’t give Higa any time to say anything further as he left the room.

“That’s not possible,” Higa said through his teeth. He took hold of his light green hair, tugging at the strands. “I’ve worked far harder than anyone else to be ranked first.”

You stood up from your chair, hoisting your backpack further up onto your shoulder. Guilt tugged your shoulders down as you watched Higa’s increasingly distressed expression. You slowly approached him, trying to figure out what to say to make him feel a bit better about the situation.

“So, um, Higa—”

Higa snapped his attention back on you. His yellow eyes bloodshot and furious. “You cheated!” he shouted at you. “There’s no way a transfer student could get better grades than me! Go straight to administration and tell them of your deceitfulness!”

“I-I didn’t cheat,” you said, taking a step backward. “I’m not sure how the credits transfer over, but I score rather highly on most of my tests. I can’t choose my placement in the rankings.”

“Of course you cheated! There’s absolutely no way someone coming from a hero school’s hero course can be academically superior to the average Japanese student. It’s a well-known fact that brawn is superior to brains in order for you to actually get anywhere as a hero in those schools, and your face is so plain, you would need a spectacular physical quirk to even be considered for the course. Unless…” Higa narrowed his golden yellow eyes at you. “You have some kind of brainy quirk! That’s it! I’m going to have to tell the principal on you! Quirk use is absolutely prohibited during class hours and on any exams. You cheated on all of your tests, didn’t you?!”

“I did not cheat,” you said firmly. “Any teacher would notice me using my quirk during a test because my hair would stand up on end. Every grade I’ve ever gotten was given to me by my own merits. My quirk had nothing to do with it.”

“Liar!” he shouted.

You had backed up so far that your body finally hit the back wall. Higa had followed you with every step, jamming his finger into your face.

“Do you really think no one would have caught you?” he asked. “This is a complete injustice. I’ve worked too hard for some criminal to take my top spot away.”

“I didn’t cheat!” you said a bit louder. Panic rose into your chest. Your quirk vibrated in your veins. You felt strands of your hair rising. You were trapped, and if you retaliated in any way physically, you could be expelled. You were already on thin ice because this school was highly against quirk use. If your quirk exploded out now, you might be forced into an even worse one.

Suddenly, the desk beside you made a horrifying screeching sound as someone dragged it away. Higa took a step back, scowling toward the sudden intrusion. Junpei Muto’s brown-eyed gaze met yours.

“Forgot my pencil,” Muto growled out. He took you by the arm, pulling you behind him and putting himself between you and Higa. He proceeded to lean down to pick up an invisible pencil, but his eyebrows furrowed. “Thought I left it here,” he murmured. “Damn, it was my only one.” Muto shrugged. “My bad.” He turned back toward you. “You gonna stand in my way all day, klutz, or are you going to head to lunch?” With Muto’s hands in his pockets, he leaned toward you with a distant sneer. “Well?”

You unfroze, finally realizing you had an out from Higa’s wrath. You bolted for the door, taking your chances. There was absolutely no evidence you’ve ever cheated, and thanks to Muto’s interruption, you wouldn’t be blamed for a physical altercation. You were quick to leave the building, hoping to find a place to hide, in fear that Higa would confront you again.

You found a secluded shadowy place to eat your lunch. Your mother had packed you barely anything. She’d always had a problem with your weight, and the fact that you’d gained so much muscle probably made her even stricter on your diet. As you finished your last carrot stick, your stomach growled. You tucked your knees closer to your chest, wondering if the people you normally sat with at lunch had already sat down to eat. You smiled to yourself, thinking about how Shoto had probably finished his cold soba before Midoriya had a chance to touch his food. You hoped that Ochaco was doing okay. She usually had trouble eating when she was worried. She must have tried to reach out to you a million times, but you had no access to any of your social media accounts, and your phone was as good as gone. You wondered if they’d already moved on, figuring you’d never return.

Large tears dripped down your cheeks. You pressed your glasses up to wipe them away. This was miserable. You hated it here, and your hero dreams were as far out of reach as they had ever been.

Class started up again, but you were quiet. You didn’t want to draw any more attention to yourself. You kept your eyes on your open books, despair clouding your thoughts. This was it. You’d spend the remainder of your high school years here, then you’d get a normal job. You’d disappear into the crowd.

Class had ended without you realizing it had. You jolted back when a book was dropped onto your desk.

“Why the hell are you spacing out, klutz?” Muto asked. “You not going home or something?”

You looked at the things cluttering your desk, and you quickly started putting them away. Muto’s attention moved to the door, where Higa was glaring daggers at you with his golden eyes. You gulped. Your hand trembled over your books for a moment. To your surprise, Higa didn’t wait for you to get up, disappearing from outside the classroom before you’d even shoved everything into your bag.

Muto slowly turned his gaze back onto you. “What the hell did you do to piss off the class president?” he asked, narrowing his gaze at you.

“He doesn’t like that I’m first in the class,” you answered.

“Nerds,” Muto said, grinning. “At least my reason for pushing you around was because I thought you were some damn stalker.” Muto shoved his hands into his pockets. “Do you know that dork has a fan club? I’d watch your back if I were you. Not that anyone would mess with me.”

You stood up with your bag, raising an eyebrow at him. “Why are you helping me?”

Muto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “I’m not.” He leaned forward, putting his face way too close to your own. “I legitimately lost my pencil earlier today. Thought it was under your stupid tiny feet. Also, I have questions for you. I don’t give a damn about helping anyone.”

“Questions for me?”

“How did a klutz like you end up in a hero course? I thought those were only for rich elites or for kids with exceptional quirks. I couldn’t imagine someone like you getting into U.A., and then transferring out like it were nothing.” Muto straightened, shaking his head. “It doesn’t add up.”

“Well, I’m not a rich elite, and not all the students at U.A. are like that either. There are some quirks that you wouldn’t expect to be for hero material, but they are.”

“But, your quirk is exceptional, isn’t it?” he asked. “I don’t see how else you would have been even considered for that school. What’s your quirk, klutz?”

You tightened your fingers over the bottom of your skirt. “It’s not like it matters what kind of quirk I have here. So, it doesn’t matter what it is, does it?” You weren’t sure you trusted Muto. He had been the same kind of bully you had in your other schools. He did say he thought you were a stalker, but you didn’t know how much truth there was to that.

Muto shrugged. “I was just curious about it. Seemed like a brainless transition to me, so I wanted to know why exactly you’re here. This school ain’t shit.”

“You go here,” you said.

“Not by my own choice. My damn parents think I won’t amount to nothing. But, once I’m out of this shithole, I’m going to be a cop. You’ll see.” Muto grinned. “My quirk is crap too, but it won’t matter when I got one of them fancy cars with the lights and a gun.” Muto mimicked pointing a pistol with his fingers. “I’ll look damn good in a badge, and it won’t matter what quirk I’ve got.”

“Your quirk can’t be that bad.”

Muto clicked his tongue. “It’s bad when a bodysuit can do the same thing that it does. My skin is just resistant to dumb shit. I can’t be cut or stabbed, but I still bruise underneath. I’m heat and cold resistant, but you can still freeze or boil my insides. It’s less like a power and more like a curse if you ask me. If I needed surgery, I’d be shit out of luck.” Muto glanced away. “You tell anyone else that my quirk is shit, and I’ll beat you up, got it?” he snapped.

“I-I won’t tell anyone,” you stuttered out, uncomfortably shifting your bag on your shoulder.

Muto’s shoulders relaxed. He rubbed the back of his neck. “See you around, klutz. Good luck surviving here.” He left the room.

You found your way out into the courtyard, exhausted from the strain of the day. You still had to walk all the way home on your own, and your legs felt weak as you made your way past a small group of trees. You rubbed your temples, your quirk grumbling in your skull beneath your fingers. Suddenly, you were struck on the side of the head. You fell, pain shooting up your body as you slammed into the ground.

You twisted your attention back at your attackers, surprised you didn’t recognize the student that had slapped you across the face. She gnawed on a pink piece of gum, blowing it out in your direction as she narrowed her eyes at you.

“Anna Kokoro, right?” she asked. “Know your place. No one dishonors The Great Class President Higa on The Higa Fan Club’s watch.” She flipped her braids back over her shoulder, settling in an offensive stance above you.

Irritation rippled over your skin. You pressed your hands into the brick walkway in an attempt to hold yourself back from fighting. Your quirk whined and buzzed in your head, your hair lifting in response to the assault.

“I didn’t dishonor anyone,” you said, gritting your teeth.

“Are you calling Class President Higa a liar?” another one of the girls snapped.

“I haven’t done anything to deserve this,” you argued.

The girls grinned, exchanging a look with each other. “Class President Higa did not deserve the atrocious way that you attempted to shame him. He is the greatest student Okamoto High School has to offer, and you’re a pitiful transfer student, from a hero school no less. We bet you think you’re better than us, don’t you? The bottom line is you were thrown out of U.A., so clearly, you’re a failure. You don’t get to come to our school thinking you’re somehow better than us.”

The lead girl of The Higa Fan Club kicked you in the gut. Tears formed in your eyes. She kicked you over, and you took in a breath between your teeth. You can’t fight back, you thought to yourself. A fight would have you thrown out of Okamoto. Your parents would surely find a way to homeschool you. You’d be trapped forever, never to see the sun again. They’d never believe you were attacked. To your parents, you were the troublemaker. All the bullies would need to tell them was that you were the cause of the fight, and you would be done for.

You covered your head in your hands, digging your fingernails into your scalp as the group of girls continued to pummel you without mercy. You weren’t sure when they stopped, but eventually you were no longer being hit. The group had left, their voices faded into nothing at their departure.

Tears had congregated on the lenses of your glasses. As you slowly lifted your head, you waited a moment to ensure you were truly alone. You lifted your bruised body from the ground, wiping your glass free from debris, so you could properly see. You readjusted your knee-high socks, covering the scrape on your knees. The day was slowly darkening as you made your way off of campus. You carefully retraced your steps home, picking small debris from your skinned palms.

When you entered your home, your parents had still not made it back from work. You cleaned yourself up as best as you could. You winced as you pulled your books out of your backpack and set them on your small desk. Despite what you’d gone through, you completed your homework, holding back tears as you answered question after question. At the completion of your schoolwork, you clambered into your bed, falling into another fitful sleep.

…

A week went by at Okamoto High School. You sleepwalked every night, but you somehow had gone undetected by your parents as you make your way back into your house. Higa hadn’t confronted you since your first day of school, but The Higa Fan Club was relentless in bullying you. Once they’d realized you wouldn’t fight back, they didn’t hesitate to push you around, throwing coarse words at you as they kicked or punched you. The bruises had become harder to hide. Makeup didn’t always conceal the worst of it. You feared a teacher or your parents would ask what had happened.

Muto confronted you on the final day of the week, just after your final class, curiously raising a brow as you flinched away from him. “You look pretty rough, klutz. Have you been tripping on everything on campus? Need an escort or something to make sure you don’t keep falling on your face?”

You responded to him with silence. He had been nice enough to warn you about Higa’s Fan Club, but you had a feeling that Muto wasn’t willing to go as far as protect you from them. He had his own friends, despite being a bit rough around the edges, and you quickly realized he was a rather popular student in the school. The girls watched him pass with longing looks, sighing gleefully whenever he would give them the slightest bit of attention.

Muto seemed to relish in his standing at the school. He carried himself strongly, and most of the other students feared or respected him. On the surface, he appeared like a brute or bully, but the longer you were around him, the more you realized this was a façade. Intelligence radiated off of his scrutinizing gaze. He was more aware than he let on. Putting his strength in the forefront, made sure that no one ever messed with him, and he preferred it that way. In that same vein, associating with you, would cause his standing to drop. This was why he would go out of his way to speak with you when no one was around. Or, at least, this was what you had thought.

Muto frowned, narrowing his eyes at you. “Did Higa do that to you?” Muto used his finger to turn your face into the light, exposing your bruised cheek to him.

“No,” you said in a small voice.

“His lackeys?” he asked.

You didn’t answer him, pulling away from his hand. Muto furrowed his brow, clicking his tongue.

“I told you to watch out for them,” he said, rolling his shoulders back.

You shrugged, dropping your head below your shoulders. “I always see them coming,” you managed.

Muto cracked a smile, nudging you with his shoulder. You winced as he brushed a bruise on your body.

“Thought you transferred here from a hero school? Can’t you just beat their asses and move on?” Muto asked. His chuckle was lighthearted, considering your previous response. “Or, is that like your quirk? You can see things really good?” He glanced at your glasses. “My guess is that’s not the case.”

“I can’t fight back,” you said.

Muto scowled. “Why not?” he asked.

You took a step away from him, making a move to leave the empty classroom. Muto didn’t stop you from exiting into the hallway. He fell into step with you, letting out an irritated grumble.

“Why not?” he repeated.

“I’ll get in trouble,” you said.

“They’re the ones kicking your ass. Why would you get in trouble?”

“It’s…” you trailed off. “It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time,” Muto offered.

Several students gave you dirty looks as you passed with Muto at your side. Your chest tightened out of fear. If Higa had a fan club, then Muto definitely had one. His help might cause even more bullies to target you.

“I don’t,” you said flatly.

Muto stopped in his tracks; his pursuit having been dependent on your consent to have him around. Your exit from the school was dreary and ominous. You realized dismissing Muto so early had been a mistake, as you registered the cackle of your tormentors nearby. You spun on your heel, hoping you had time to get back inside. Just as your hand touched the door, someone grabbed you by your hair.

You shrieked, as you were yanked backward off of the step. Your backpack struck the pavement first, sprawling you across the ground vulnerably. You twisted your body out of the way of a kick, barely managing to get back onto your hands and knees, only to be kicked to the side once you’d gained your bearings. You gasped in a breath, clenching your fists. You scrambled to your feet, keeping your hands up to protect your face. You were shoved into the steps, forcing you back down. The group of girls crowded you, laughing.

“How about you just transfer again? No one wants you here, Kokoro. Don’t you know that?” the lead girl spat. She jammed her shoe into your gut. She pulled her leg back, going for another strike.

You threw your hands up in protection, but the kick never came. A series of gasps and shrieks filled the air. You peered up from your place on the stairs to meet the gaze of Doku Kobura. His green eyes widened wildly at seeing you. His fingers had tangled their way around the attacking girls’ braids, and he had pulled her head all the way back.

Having assessed the situation, Kobura yanked the girl’s hair violently. You cringed as the sound of her body hitting brick resounded in the space. With wild eyes, Kobura reeled back, slamming a fist into another girl’s face. The remainder of the group screeched. Some of the girls managed to lift up the leading bully, running. The girl who had been struck grabbed for her bleeding nose. She burst into tears, chasing after the group. Kobura snarled in their direction, but was quickly shaken from his rage, as he spotted you out of the corner of his eye.

Kobura helped you up from the ground, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you into him. You pressed your face into his chest, feeling tears slip down your face. It took a moment, before your mind could adjust to what had just transpired. You slightly pulled away from him.

“W-why are you here?” you asked.

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

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Think Ending Winner Order

1. Katsuki Bakugo

2. Hitoshi Shinso

3. Shoto Todoroki, Eijiro Kirishima, and Doku Kobura

#Think Endings #MHA Think #BNHA Think #Katuski Bakugo #Hitoshi Shinso #Eijiro Kirishima #Shoto Todoroki #Doku Kobura #Endings will be coming out weekly

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agentark88 · 2 years ago

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Think: Chapter Ninety-Five: The Dead Speak

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language, blood, mentions of death, and violence.

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America.

Chapter Ninety-Five: The Dead Speak

You charged forward, fear numbing your damaged quirk. You shot out your mind to grab Katsuki as he fell from the air, but Shoto grabbed him first with Endeavor in his other hand.

Deku launched another attack toward Shigaraki, breaking through the ensuing dark energy quirk to get to him. Shigaraki grabbed Midoriya by the face. Deep red energy pulsed and entangled over Deku’s head. You fell to your knees, watching in horror as it appeared that Shigaraki was actually going to do it. He was going to take Deku’s quirk. And, all you could do was look on.

Seconds, seconds went by as you struggled to hold on to your senses, battled to keep your head together along with your emotions. All you could do was watch, watch as Deku fought alone against an unstoppable force. Your quirk. If only you could use your quirk, and it was stable enough for you to do something, anything.

A bright light burst out from Deku and Shigaraki, blinding you. You shielded your face with your arm. The radiance faded. Your quirk clicked into place again suddenly, as if your desperate calls had been heard.

“I’ve got him!” you called out.

Deku fell back from Shigaraki. You grabbed him with your mind, helping him safely to the ground. Shoto landed with Bakugo and Endeavor only feet from you.

You choked on a noise, wanting desperately to run to Katsuki. Blood dripped from his parted mouth. His chest heaved with exertion just to breathe. At the same time, you fretted over Deku. A broken mess beside you.

“Kacchan… Is he…?” Deku managed, having trouble breathing himself.

“He’s alive,” you said, biting back a sob.

“We’ll patch you up. Don’t move,” Shoto said toward Midoriya.

The earth shook. Shoto and you snapped your heads back to see Shigaraki supporting his limp body with those large black tendrils that he’d used to stab Katsuki with. Yellow energy crashed into Shigaraki as Nejire arrived on the scene, and, once again, Shigaraki was knocked down. Iida slid in between you and the fallen villain.

“A giant is crashing through the city as we speak. He’s on his way here,” Iida warned.

“Please, get the injured to safety,” Shoto said.

“Shigaraki wants my quirk. I can’t be taken away. He would just follow me,” Deku murmured. “Get Kacchan and Endeavor out of here, Iida. Please,” Midoriya begged, clutching his abdomen.

Your gaze trailed back to Shigaraki, getting back up again while supported by even more black tendrils flowing out of his spine. Gigantomachia crashed through the remaining buildings beside you, heading straight for Shigaraki. Shoto and Nejire attacked Shigaraki while they still had the chance, while it seemed as if Shigaraki wasn’t healing as fast. Through a torrent of fire and yellow energy waves, it appeared as if the two heroes may actually make some progress. Gigantomachia didn’t hesitate to break through the two of them to get to his, “Master!” which he continued to repeat, even when Shigaraki was in his open hand.

Shoto was sent flying with a single swipe of the giant’s hand. Your chest tightened, and tears burned at your eyes as you watched him bounce across the ground. Iida had a hold of Bakugo, trying to carry him out. You were still knelt down in front of Midoriya, trying your best to patch him up with the little medical supplies that you carried in your belt. Relief washed through you as you watched Shoto get back up. Gigantomachia had frozen in place now that he had Shigaraki in hand.

Your hands shook as you tended to a severely wounded Izuku Midoriya. You could barely press bandages to his skin. Then, a gloved hand met yours.

“Let me help. Anna, let me patch him up,” Kobura’s voice came out shakily. “Give me what you can.”

Shinso dropped down next to you, clenching his fist in worry. “What is going on here? Why haven’t they called in more heroes for support?” He took out his own supplies, handing it over to Kobura and pushing more space between the two of you.

“The comms are shot,” you explained, your voice wavering. You glanced between Doku and Hitoshi. “You’re trusting him?”

“No, I’m allowing him to help,” Shinso said harshly. “There’s a difference. Besides, he won’t be able to stab me in the back as long as I’m behind him.”

Kobura exhaled sharply, rolling his eyes. Kobura examined Midoriya, making quick work with what little the two of you had to close up some of his injuries and support others.

“Mr. Aizawa. I saw him,” Shinso said under his breath. He winced. “I should have been here to protect my teacher. Someone should have been here to protect him.”

Your stomach turned. He’d cut off his leg without hesitation. “They tried,” you said back. “We tried,” you corrected.

“The kid is beat to shit. That’s the best I can do without better supplies. I’d use my quirk on him to close his wounds, but my guess is he doesn’t have the same resistances you do.” Kobura tilted his head to the side. His stare moved back to Gigantomachia, and his eyes widened. Kobura reached back for you instinctually. His gaze jumped from Gigantomachia back to Shoto and Endeavor. “That burnt asshole is going to do it now?”

“What’s the matter?” you asked. Your gaze followed his, and you spotted Dabi walking to the edge of Gigantomachia’s back with his grin widening.

“We have to go now,” Kobura said. “Shit is about to hit the fan.”

You pulled your arm free from Kobura’s grasp. “I’m not leaving my friends behind. That hasn’t changed.”

Kobura gave you an exasperated look, his green eyes pleading for you to come with him. “Listen. Remember when I told you that I know everything about The League of Villains?” Kobura pointed toward Dabi, who was now holding some kind of bottle above his head. “Spoiler alert. That asshole is Enji Todoroki’s dead son, a.k.a. Endeavor’s dead son, a.k.a. a really bad thing is about to happen, and he’s about to burn everything and everyone down with him for his own selfish sadistic vengeance-motivated reasons.”

“My name is Toya Todoroki!” Dabi announced, laughing and smiling. He poured the bottle out onto his hair, revealing white hair instead of black. His body swayed, and he clapped. “I mean, you should call me by my real name since you and mom gave it to me.”

“Shoto’s dead brother?” you asked breathlessly. “How can that be…” You watched on in horror, as “Dabi” continued to explain his story, rambling on and on about his ultimate plan to ruin his father, Endeavor, for what he’d done to him and his family. You knew what Shoto had gone through as a child. You’d experienced the abuse as he relived it in that hallway ages ago. You knew how cruel Endeavor could be, but you didn’t know about this. You didn’t know about Dabi. You didn’t know the years and years that it went on for.

Kobura tugged on your arm. “He’s going to turn this place into his own burn barrel. Please. We need to go.”

Shinso shook himself out of shock, finally forcing Kobura’s hand off of you. “She said she’s not leaving.”

Kobura narrowed his eyes at Shinso, but he didn’t move to grab you again. “You have no idea what this psychopath his capable of. Trust me. I’ve slept in the room next to this serial killer, and he has no qualms going totally nuclear. He’s been building this secret since the day he was presumed dead. He’s not going to hold back. Plus, he’s not a huge fan of me or Anna. If he spots us, he will kill us.”

Dabi became louder and more theatric as he continued on with his speech. “When is it enough for you heroes? I can’t wait for the world to see who you really are, who all the Pro Heroes really are. It’s being broadcast on national television as we speak, the paternity test and the murders. Everyone will know about you, and everyone will know about what Hawks did too.” Dabi tsked, shaking his finger. “Hawks killed Best Jeanist, then he went and killed Twice. Where do you heroes draw the line? The public might not believe me, but they’ll believe video evidence of it for sure. At the very least, they’ll start questioning their dear Pro Heroes now won’t they?”

“Twice… is… dead…” Kobura staggered. “He can’t be…” Tears. You saw tears in his eyes. Doku clutched at his chest, looking off distantly. “He was killed? I-I wasn’t there to protect him…” Kobura shivered. Tears dripped down his swollen cheeks, and he clenched his teeth. “There’s a recording of his death, and that burnt bastard decided to broadcast it on TV?” Kobura shook with anger. “Was he there when it happened? Could he have saved him?”

Shock had you in an icelike grip. A Pro Hero killed a villain? Killed Twice no less? Out of the entire League he always seemed the gentlest. Why would Hawks kill him? There must have been a reason, or… You remembered how Heart of Hearts reacted whenever Hawks was around, how she never trusted him. She had said he would do anything for The Commission. He was their Pro Hero puppet.

“That bastard, Dabi, probably watched him die,” Doku said under his breath. “Jin was our friend. Twice was everyone’s friend!” Kobura shouted in outrage. “You just watched him die, didn’t you?!”

You grabbed Kobura by the back of his shirt. You didn’t want Dabi to attack him. Doku had been right; if Dabi saw the two of you, you’d be in the direct line of fire.

“Wait. You said—” you started.

“Dance with your son in hell, Endeavor!” Dabi launched himself off of Gigantomachia’s back, a blue comet of rage and fire headed straight for Endeavor and Shoto.

Endeavor was just kneeling there, doing nothing. Shoto shouted at him to help, and Endeavor was still doing nothing. Your fingers left the fabric of Kobura’s shirt. Your heart broke for Shoto. You ran toward him, gaining the fading control of your quirk back again. You’d shield him as best as you could. He didn’t have to take on this burden alone. This wasn’t Shoto’s fault. His father should be doing something.

Cables descended from the sky, ripping Dabi from the air as it entwined around his burning body. Dabi’s flames momentarily extinguished in surprise. Best Jeanist appeared out of nowhere, wrapping and restraining The League of Villains in these strange fabric cables, along with Gigantomachia. Best Jeanist was alive.

“I saw your body! You were dead!” Dabi shouted. When Best Jeanist gave him nothing in response, he only laughed, grinning again. “No matter. It doesn’t change my past nor my plans!” Dabi reignited himself. His blue flames engulfed the cables around him.

You kept moving towards Todoroki. If you were close enough, no matter how much of your quirk you could use, you’d be able to protect him. Dabi’s gaze shifted as he spotted you. His smile grew so wide a few staples snapped free.

“You,” he seethed through his teeth. He burned so hot that the cables melted away from him.

Dabi wasted no time taking out Nejire with a single blast of his quirk. He hadn’t even looked at her in the air when he did it. She shrieked, falling from the sky.

“Another bright future burned to a crisp because of your mistakes, Endeavor,” Dabi said. His eyes flashed. “Should I destroy another?”

You’d already formed the mental shield around you, standing firm. A blast of Dabi’s fire crashed into the protective wall, and the heat melted everything around you. Your stance weakened as you began to overheat. The air grew suffocating. Your quirk shuddered and rumbled, ripping thoughts from the air around you. Fear and panic blasted through your emotions. You hit Dabi’s mind, and you rattled his thoughts with Mind Break. The fire barely wavered its hold.

You kept in his head, shouting what you could to get him to stop, but it was splitting your thoughts in half. Aching, pulsing, burns covered your skin as you picked up on his thoughts. Hurt, it hurt to use your quirk. It hurt to watch your father begin to ignore you. Other thoughts, anger and rage. Hours of planning his vengeance. Hawks. You saw Hawks appear over and over again, Best Jeanist’s corpse, and you nearly burned Twice. You didn’t care that you almost killed him. You just wanted to see the traitor Hawks die by your hand too, Endeavor’s pet spy. Then, you watched Twice be cut down in front of you. You watched him be stabbed. You were smiling. You felt your lips tugging upward. You knew there were cameras. You had the evidence you needed to bury the Pro Heroes.

There was yelling outside the blue roaring fire, as your mind smacked back into your own head, but there was little you could hear beneath the attack. A wave of ice curved around the front of your mental shield, giving you a moment of reprieve as your mental shield flickered and died out.

"Why won’t you just die?!” Dabi hissed. Shoto launched at him with a blast of his own fire, and Dabi’s attention shifted yet again. “So impatient, Little Brother! I guess I’ll just have to kill you first!”

You collapsed, gasping for air. You were on a pedestal of damaged earth, the curved edges smoldering. The ice ahead of you melted fast, faster than you’d expected, shrouding you in a protective cloud of steam. You pressed your fingers into your temples. Having been inside two sadistic minds in one day was doing a number on your mental fortitude. Kobura was right. Dabi had watched what had happened. Dabi may have even helped the process along, intentionally or not.

As the smoke cleared, you got back to your feet to move again. Shoto and Dabi were locked in a battle of fire. If that wasn’t bad enough, Gigantomachia began to move, snapping the cables free around him. Best Jeanist continued to restrain him over and over again, but it was barely holding. On the horizon, Nomus appeared.

You stumbled back, falling from your perch and catching yourself into a run. Kobura was already rushing toward you. Best Jeanist must have mistaken him for an ally and hadn’t restrained him. Doku looked different in average clothes and without his piercings. It probably helped Shinso and you had been in close proximity to him at the point of Best Jeanist’s arrival too.

As you ran, you spotted the bloodied knife Aizawa used to sever the lower half of his leg. You changed direction, skidding to a stop and lifting the weapon into your trembling hands. Kobura met you there, shaking his head and checking you over fretfully.

“Anna, what were you thinking? He could have killed you. Please stop running head first into danger like that,” he begged you. He hadn’t even focused on what was in your hands. His eyes were too busy scanning you over for injury.

“I…” you clenched the handle of the knife. Was this the right thing to do? If the heroes saw Kobura with a weapon, he could be targeted. You gulped, your dry throat burning. “I’m not going to backdown from this fight. I can help.” You turned the knife’s blade away from him, shoving the hilt into his hand. “But, I need you too.”

“What?” he asked, nearly dropping the weapon. “I can’t…”

“This is my compromise. I’m not leaving. If you want to help, you can. I know you hate that I won’t leave, so I’m giving you the option to help.” You shut your eyes, releasing the knife into his hold. “Don’t make me regret this.”

“That’s my team, my comrades,” Kobura said pointedly. “The League is my family. I can’t fight them. Besides, the heroes will turn on me the moment they realize who I am.”

You pointed toward Dabi. “He watched Twice die. I saw it while I was in his twisted mind. I barely affected him, shouting in his head. He’s running on hatred and vengeance for his path,” you rasped out, putting a hand to your throat.

“I knew it. That damn bastard,” Kobura growled through his teeth. He looked down at the knife in his hand. “He has no right to call Twice his friend when he did nothing to protect him.”

A horrid monstrous cry rippled out of the throat of an approaching Nomu. Deku screamed for Best Jeanist to look out, but he was trapped in a physical struggle with the giant he was holding at bay.

“It’s your choice,” you said.

You rallied your buzzing mind, air rushing through your tender sun-burnt skin, as you pushed yourself into the air with a single mind blast. You zipped out past Best Jeanist to meet the Nomus, before they could strike. Your bravery wavered as they grew closer. You emptied your utility pockets. The assorted projectiles began to float as you grabbed hold of each one and whipped them around you. You gulped, your throat burning again. There were so many, too many to fight on your own.

Just before they came into range, another hero met a Nomu’s path. He hit the Nomu out of the air.

You gasped in surprise. “Le Million!” you called out.

“Sorry, I’m late to the party!” Mirio smiled at you, giving a wink. “It took me a bit to get here with my permeation quirk. Thanks to Eri’s training, she was able to get my quirk working again, and I’m back in action!” He turned back around with a grin still on his face. “Still, I might need some help here!” he called out nervously.

You shook off your original surprise, turning one of your projectiles into a wrecking ball while throwing the rubber bullet balls at oncoming Nomus.

“Watch it, Big Brain!” Bakugo shouted, springing over you to get a blast at a Nomu that was far too close.

“Katsuki?”

Bakugo bit down into a smile, blood still dripping from his mouth. “Don’t be too surprised to see me.”

Iida kicked past Bakugo, chopping his hands in his direction. “I told him to take it easy. Of course, he wouldn’t listen.”

Bakugo clicked his tongue, blasting another Nomu in the face. “I told you I’m fine.” He clutched at his stomach as he moved wrong. Red stained his glove as he pulled it away.

Your focus wavered, as you bit back your worried words. Katsuki shouldn’t be fighting. His organs had to have been punctured. It would only be a matter of time before he passed out. A wave of insufferable heat washed over you, and you attempted to shield yourself with your arm. A fury of blue and orange flames collided overhead. You looked back at Endeavor who still wasn’t doing anything.

You winced when you saw Midoriya using the last bits of his strength to use Blackwhip on Dabi to hold him back from Shoto. Both of Deku’s arms were broken, so he had to use Blackwhip from his mouth. What was he doing? At this rate, he wouldn’t be able to recover.

The earth rumbled. Gigantomachia roared. The cables snapped beside you, and you had to leap out of the way to avoid being hit by one. You readied your quirk, but it sputtered. You clambered back, trying to get out of way of the monster breaking free. Endeavor finally moved, leaping from the ground and giving Gigantomachia a face full of fire. Then, they both collapsed.

“What? How come the giant just fell over?” you asked.

“The sedative actually worked,” Le Million said, indicating something that no one else knew about. “The drug must have needed time to take effect.”

With one threat down, you shifted your focus back toward Shoto. Deku was falling. You helped him land with a strand of your mind. Hopefully, he wouldn’t push himself anymore. Your boots pounded against the ground as you trailed the two fighting above. You could do something to give Shoto the upper hand.

You skidded to a halt beneath them. You raised your hand, and two of your blue projectiles moved upward. You engaged the button upon impact, hitting Dabi with an extinguishing ball, normally equipped for fighting fires in rescue zones, but should be just as effective against him. Shoto gave himself some space, creating ice to cool himself down thanks to the distraction you’d made.

Dabi’s cerulean eyes shifted, his intense glare falling on you again. “Little pest,” he seethed. He used his flames to keep airborne, setting his whole arm on fire to launch back at you. “It will bring me so much joy to hear you screaming while you burn alive.” He reached back his arm to throw the flames at you.

You formed another barrier above you, knowing full well that you wouldn’t be able to run out of range in time. As his arm was on the down swing, a knife plunged into Dabi’s shoulder, saving you from withstanding a torrent of fire.

“That’s for Twice, burnt bastard,” Kobura growled out. “He deserved better than you using him for your petty family revenge.”

“Thought you were in Tartarus, you snake.” Dabi grabbed hold of the knife plunged into his shoulder. “You’re going to wish you were still locked up once I’m done with you.” He yanked the blade free, taking in a sharp breath. He dropped the blade to the ground. An error on his part because Kobura would easily be able to throw it with precise accuracy again.

Kobura weakly grinned, watching Dabi wince. The enflamed villain couldn’t lift his right arm anymore. Kobura must have cut a vital muscle or ligament in his shoulder. Shoto put pressure on Dabi again from the air, before Dabi could spout out another threat. The two collided with a nuclear fusion of flames. Somehow Dabi seemed to be burning even hotter than before.

The blue flames grew more and more intense, until eventually they overpowered Shoto’s. You cried out as Shoto was hit. His body fell backwards toward the ground. His eyes were closed. He must have been unconscious. You caught him once with your quirk, but he slipped from your grasp as your quirk wavered again. You ran toward where he was falling, putting all your focus in trying to slow his descent. You put out your arms to catch him, and he crashed into you.

You had little time to worry about what might be broken from the impact as you prepared for a second attack from Dabi. You shifted Shoto off of you carefully but quickly. As you looked to the sky again, however, Mr. Compress had already placed Dabi into a marble for what you could only assume was a grand escape. The villainous magician was covered in blood, half-naked. He must have used his quirk to cut himself free from the cable binds, even if it meant taking pieces of his own body into his marbles.

Kobura ran up beside you, helping you to your feet. Shoto remained out cold, his breathing hoarse and uneven.

“Looks like Mr. Compress has come up with an escape plan,” Kobura said.

“We can’t let them leave. If Shigaraki has time to fully develop All for One’s power, we’re all dead.”

“I know,” Doku said.

“You’re not going with them?” you asked.

“I don’t deserve to. I betrayed them. Compress might sneak me into one of his marbles to be fair, but I’m not going to call out to him.” Kobura shrugged. “Dabi already hated my guts, but Shigaraki wouldn’t stand for it if he actually found out that I attacked one of The League.” He looked down thoughtfully. “I’ll miss Toga the most.” Doku grinned bitterly. “Looks like I’m an outcast again.”

You winced. Your hand went to his shoulder, and his gaze shifted back on you. A small smile spread over his lips, and you finally noticed the newly sharp fangs that had formed in his mouth. You were surprised, worried about what pain he was in.

“They’ll take you back,” you said, biting into your bottom lip. “But, if they don’t…” you trailed off. You wanted to tell him that he would never be an outcast again. You understood him, at least in some small way. He hadn’t made the best choices in life, but you’d seen him change. “You’re not the same scared little boy anymore. You no longer have to look at yourself as an outcast. You found people that I believe finally understand you.”

“Yeah, and one of them is dead,” he stated flatly, angrily.

You clenched your jaw. Twice’s death was a hard pill to swallow, and it was even worse that Hawks had committed the crime. “Two of those people are still alive.”

Doku’s eyes widened as he realized what you were saying. You had said two. One of those people being you. Your hand left his shoulder, as you ran back toward the back of Gigantomachia. The battle wasn’t over yet, and you couldn’t stand there with Doku and watch the world burn.

Before you were out of earshot, you heard him. Kobura said his final words to you, as an unknown future lay ahead of you, knowing full-well that you wouldn’t turn back.

“I will always love you, Sweet Anna,” he said.

You didn’t know what Kobura and your future would be, but you did know this was where your paths split for now. He would most likely go underground. He wouldn’t be accepted as a villain or a hero, so hiding was probably his best option. There was a part of you that wanted to turn back. That part of you knew that this may be the last time you would ever see him again.

You shot a mind blast behind you to spring you up to Mr. Compress, who was doing one final monologue before his great escape. You’d never actually seen his face before under the mask that he usually wore, and you were surprised to see brown hair and hazel eyes. You reached him a little too late because Mirio permeated out of nowhere, hitting him right in the jaw. The punch was powerful enough to knock him unconscious. You and Mirio stood over Mr. Compress, ready to spring for Shigaraki and Spinner.

Spinner placed a grayed dismembered hand onto Shigaraki’s face. An image flashed into your mind, the same image of Shigaraki’s family. It was the same memory that he ended up enjoying. The memory of finally crushing them between his fingers, turning them to dust.

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agentark88 · 3 years ago

Text

Think: Chapter Eighty: An Unbelievable Performance

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language and blood.

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America.

Chapter Eighty: An Unbelievable Performance

Your eyes were clenched shut tightly, body trembling as Kobura readied himself to stitch you up. Fear tightened every muscle in your body. Tears formed in your eyes. Kobura brushed his fingertips across your knee, and you jumped.

“Anna.” Kobura gulped. “Sweet Anna, I need you to stay still. You can’t move suddenly like that when I start. I could do more damage to you.”

“I-I can’t help it. Is it going to hurt?” you asked. Of course it was. You hoped it wouldn’t, but it was probably going to be very painful.

“Yes. It is. I’m sorry.” Kobura sighed, and you heard him shift back. “Maybe, we should tell the U.A. staff about the injury. There’s a chance they won’t find out the whole story. They won’t shut down the festival for one injured student. We can come up with a story that it happened moving boxes or something,” he offered.

“Kobura, I can’t lie,” you said, clenching your eyes shut tighter. “I’ve been keeping so much from my teacher about y—” you cut yourself short. “I’ve been withholding information from my teacher and my classmates for weeks now. If they catch me in a lie, I won’t have a choice but to tell them everything. Then, they will insist on an investigation, find out that you’re involved, and if The League of Villains are involved it’s a perfectly good reason to panic. At the very least, they would send Eri back to the hospital until things were sorted out. I can’t do that to her. Please, just do it.”

Your body trembled again when Kobura shifted forward. He put a hand to the shirt tied around your leg, and you jolted back again, backing into his desk.

“I haven’t even done anything yet, Anna,” Kobura said softly.

“I know.” You took in a shaky breath. “I’m good. I won’t move. I promise.”

“Here. You can hold my hand through the whole thing.” Toga intertwined her fingers with yours, giving your hand a small squeeze. “The first stitch is always the worst, but it will get better.”

You clutched onto Toga, despite her being a villain. She managed to anchor you long enough for Kobura to start. He cut free the shirt, quickly cleaning the wound. It stung badly. Your free hand gripped the armrest of the gaming chair, and you squeezed Toga’s hand tighter. Kobura put the needle in, and you felt the armrest snap under your grip. A wave of nausea came crashing through you followed by a lightheadedness you hadn’t expected. Then, nothing, darkness.

…

You woke up back in the van. Spinner was whisper-shouting about something in the driver’s seat, but it was muffled as you slowly regained consciousness. Your blindfold was pulled off, and your eyes struggled to adjust to daylight.

“You’re awake!” Kobura shouted, embracing you.

“Do you want the whole damn block to hear you, idiot? There are Pro Heroes crawling everywhere. Keep your voice down,” Spinner snapped.

“You scared us passing out like that,” Toga said.

“I finished stitching up the wound like you asked, Anna, but I was so worried the whole time I could barely concentrate. Don’t do that to me again,” Kobura murmured into your shoulder. “Toga talked me down from taking you straight to the hospital.”

“I knew you’d wake up,” Toga said, smiling at you.

“Toga was the only one who knew. Pretty sure she was guessing,” Twice added. His masked face was pressed up against the tinted back window, as he stared in awe at the passing Pro Heroes.

“Where are we?” you asked, blinking. “Are we going to make it on time?”

The van abruptly stopped, sending Twice tumbling off his feet. Thankfully, Kobura was still holding you, so you didn’t get whiplash. Toga remained relatively in the same spot, perfectly balanced, despite being crouched down beside you.

“This is as far as I’m taking her. Between the traffic and the Pros swarming the place, we’re going to get caught,” Spinner said.

“What happened to our deal?” Kobura asked.

“I held up my end of the bargain. There’s only a few blocks between here and U.A.. I couldn’t get her through the gates if I wanted to. Security would cuff me before I was ten feet from the U.A. entrance. Guaranteed if we’re spotted now, the Pro Heroes wouldn’t hesitate to rip us all out of the van and throw us in Tartarus.” Spinner put the van in park, tugging his hood further down to hide his face. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m not driving any closer. I don’t care what new van you buy me.”

Kobura gritted his teeth, slowly letting you go. His eyes narrowed at the back of Spinner’s head, but he didn’t lose his temper. Thought had Kobura glancing about the van in worry.

“What now?” Toga asked.

“I’m thinking,” Kobura said.

You glanced between the villains. They were at a standstill. No one was going to get you closer than this. You were at the final stretch. You could make it the rest of the way. What exactly was the problem?

“I can make it from here,” you said. “You’ve already done enough taking me this far.”

“I’m not letting you walk that far on your own with a leg injury,” Kobura stated bluntly. “I’m coming with you.”

“They’ll arrest you,” Toga said worriedly. “You’re definitely on some kind of list at U.A.. If a teacher sees you, you’re doomed.”

“Do you have so little faith in me?” Kobura asked, grabbing a roll of gauze from the kit he most likely replenished for the sake of The League. He began wrapping it around his head, covering one of his eyes. “I know how to avoid attention when I need to.”

“Y-you really don’t have to,” you said. “What if one of my classmates spots you with me? It’s bad enough I came with you all even with my injuries. It may have seemed as if I didn’t have a choice, but they would have just seen it as another kidnapping. I won’t be able to explain any of this to heroes.”

“I’m not arguing with you about this. I can take care of myself. If we get caught, I’m taking the fall. This is my choice, not yours.” Kobura finished covering half of his face with the gauze. His new outfit had a large enough hood that could easily cover his hair when he flipped it up. “I’m not letting you walk that far without support.”

No one else argued with Kobura, but also no one else offered to walk with you. The rest of the villains in the vehicle knew this wasn’t a good idea. Toga and Twice exchanged a worried look. You had the impression that they rarely spoke up against Kobura if he had his mind set. They respected him. It was also probably why Toga was so nice to you. Kobura held his hand out to you expectantly.

“You can’t go through the gate,” you said, knowing that he wasn’t going to listen to anymore protests.

“Obviously,” he said.

“They’ve got Pro Heroes patrolling all sides of the building,” you continued.

“I’m well aware,” he said, raising an eyebrow at you and inching his extended hand closer to you.

You bit into your lip, staring down at his hand. “You’re not going to use your quirk on anyone if you’re caught?”

“That’s a little much to ask for. This is the guy’s freedom on the line, you know? Ah, sweet love makes you do and ask for crazy unrealistic things,” Twice said, clasping his hands together and tilting his head to side.

“I promise I won’t,” Kobura assured you.

You took his hand. In the next breath, he was opening the van’s door and helping you out onto the sidewalk. You immediately stumbled as your feet hit ground. Kobura tugged you into him, hooking his arm under your shoulders to support you.

“I’ll be your crutch,” he whispered into your ear. “Put as much weight as you need to on me. I can take it.”

“I’d rather not use you at all,” you muttered under your breath.

Kobura grinned, holding back a chuckle. You blushed furiously, realizing he was probably laughing at you or your response.

“Would you rather I carry you?” he asked. He looked ahead. “If you do, you are trying to get me caught, aren’t you? I won’t deny a request like that from you though. Say the word, and I’m yours.”

You glanced away, face hot. You didn’t dare let go of him in fear you might collapse and cause more attention to befall you. His arm stayed firm around your back. You trusted him not to let go. The two of you slowly made your way to U.A.. No one glanced in your direction. To the average onlooker, you might have looked like a normal couple. Kobura kept his eyes vigilant, but his muscles stayed relaxed. He seemed oddly comfortable for being surrounded by Pro Heroes. You were startled when he spoke again.

“You were so brave,” he breathed out.

“W-what?” you asked.

“I said that you were brave. Not many people, heroes for that matter, could go through what you just did and stay so calm,” he said.

“I was terrified,” you admitted, tightening your grasp on him as a pain shot up your leg.

“Do you need to take a minute?” he asked.

“No. We’re running out of time.”

“Deadline or not, do you need to stop for a moment?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

The trek was arduous with your injury. If Kobura hadn’t been there, you may not have made it. How you were going to get to the performance on time was another matter. Kobura paused when he caught sight of the archway entrance of U.A.. He loosened his grip on you.

“This is as far as I can go. Are you sure you can make it the rest of the way?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine. Thank you,” you said, pulling away from him unsteadily.

A smile flashed across his lips. “You’re welcome. Any time.”

You stared at him for a moment, feeling a tug on your heart. You frowned, furrowing your eyebrows. You couldn’t forget what he had done. He didn’t believe he could change so why should you? Your expression softened. All the same, he came for you, rescued you.

The wind brushed your cheeks, whipping loose strands of hair about your face. You turned your gaze back up to him. He was waiting for you to leave, go where he couldn’t follow. He lifted his hand up in a small wave farewell.

“Goodbye, Doku,” you said.

Kobura’s eyes widened, but before he could respond, you spun on your heel, heading for the school entrance. You crossed the threshold, feeling your chest tighten. You were on different paths that were never supposed to cross. He knew that. You knew that. You couldn’t change him. You had to remind yourself he wouldn’t change, even if it were for you, even if you thought he might be able to.

You did your best to hide your limp as you headed to the locker room to change into your performance uniform. As part of the Special Effects Team, all you needed to wear was an orange t-shirt and black pants. At least in Kobura’s hoodie, you weren’t that noticeable once you put the hood up. The crowd of people had you suffocating the further you moved in.

You kept your head down, trying not to think about how many people there were bumping into you. You made it pretty far, but it became more difficult for you to distract yourself from the noise. Not to mention, your fluctuating quirk was picking up on a tidal wave of thoughts every time it came back into focus. You stopped, breath erratic and mouth dry.

“Princess?”

You turned your gaze up. “Kirishima?” you asked.

“Where have you been? The whole class has been trying to figure out where you’d gone! Todoroki and I already carried all of your cookies backstage, but we thought you might have passed out from exhaustion in your dorm room.” Kirishima looked around. “When we found out Deku wasn’t with you, we thought the worst.” He gave you a shark-toothed grin. “You should have just told me if you wanted to check out the festival ahead of time. I would have covered for you. Let me call the guys. A few of us have been out looking for you, the few that can be spared as we set up that is. I barely slipped away without Iida catching me.”

“You were looking for me?” you asked.

“Of course we were. Bakugo thought maybe you sleepwalked out of your dorm room, and he practically blew up his drum kit when Iida said to leave it to the teachers to find you. I wasn’t part of the stage crew, so it wasn’t that obvious that I went out.” Kirishima winked at you, ducking his head down. “Don’t tell anyone that we snuck away, okay? I couldn’t help myself because I was worried. I swear I would have been back for the actual performance.”

Kirishima called someone on his phone, most likely Bakugo or his search partners. His voice faded out as your eyes drifted toward the crowd again. Muddled thoughts infiltrated your head, and you winced. You focused in your quirk only for it to slip a bit again. Your breathing escalated.

Kirishima’s smile faded as he looked over your expression. “What’s wrong?”

You tucked your hands into your hoodie, shivering. There were too many people around, too many thoughts.

“Oh, is it the crowd?” Kirishima sidled up next to you, hanging up the phone.

Kirishima put his arm around your shoulders. As soon as his arm brushed you, you couldn’t help but think of how attentive Kobura was to you only moments before. Your muscles coiled out of instinct, maybe fear or something else, but you couldn’t tell which. Kirishima tugged your hood a bit further down so you could barely see the crowd around you. Suddenly, Kirishima had gently pushed you behind his back, his hands on yours.

“Tamaki gets anxious in crowds too. Normally, he would find a wall to face, but we don’t really have that option here. We’ve got to make it back so everyone knows that you’re safe. My back is as good as any brick wall anyway. If you want me to, I can even harden it for you. You can focus on me, okay? Just you and me.” You couldn’t see his face anymore, but you knew that Kirishima was smiling brighter than the sun itself, excited that he can be of help to you.

You tightened your fingers over his. “Thank you,” you murmured. “C-can we walk slowly?”

“Of course,” Kirishima said over his shoulder.

You kept your head down as you moved forward. Luckily, Kirishima didn’t seem embarrassed to be moving through a crowd as a two-car-person train. In fact, he had no issues navigating his way through the densely populated area even with his hands behind his back.

“Excuse me. Pardon me. We’re coming through,” Kirishima said politely as he moved nimbly past heroes and civilians.

Your eyes slowly trailed up his back, once your mind had slowly calmed itself. You focused your attention on the contours of his shoulders and arms, his muscles flexing when he turned or squeezed your hands back in reassurance. Aside from apologetically moving through the crowd, he checked up on you by either glancing back or asking you a question about how you were holding up. Your mind didn’t slip once while in Kirishima’s care. It genuinely surprised you.

Kirishima exhaled in relief once you’d made it to your class’ dressing room. He carefully turned back to you, his hand still holding one of yours. He gave you another shark-toothed grin after seeing your expression. “We made it,” he said. Instead of releasing your hand outright, he loosened it to allow you the opportunity to pull away when you needed to.

You nodded slowly, pulling off your hood. Kirishima tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow.

“Did you do something different with your makeup?” he asked.

You gulped, not answering. You finally pulled back your hand from Kirishima’s. You needed to say something, anything, so that he didn’t get suspicious. If he looked any harder at your face, he would notice the bruising.

Kirishima abruptly blushed in embarrassment, scratching the back of his neck. “Ah, sorry if you didn’t. I really don’t know much about cosmetics anyway. Of course, I’ve been learning a whole lot more about makeup from Mina and Bakubro.”

“Bakugo?” you asked.

“Yeah, he does a killer job on his eyeliner for his hero costume. I’ve been begging him to teach me, but he said I wouldn’t have time to put on eyeliner because I’m always spending all of the prep work on my ‘shitty’ hair.” Kirishima chuckled. He pouted. “I think my hair looks cool. I don’t know why he picks on it all of the time.”

You blinked up at Kirishima, realizing that though he was very kind and considerate, he didn’t have the best meticulous observation skills. He wasn’t the type of person to force an answer out of you or analyze a person’s flaws. He probably wouldn’t notice anything farther than different makeup, unless you outright told him something was wrong. You were grateful he was the one that found you, rather than Bakugo. Bakugo would have probably figured everything out after a single once over.

“I like your hair,” you said. “I don’t know why Bakugo picks on it so much.”

Kirishima froze, his hand pausing behind his head. He gave you a goofy-looking grin, and his cheeks nearly matched the color of his hair. “Thanks.” He cleared his throat. “If you like it, then I’ll keep it the same. Bakubro wouldn’t be jealous of it, but maybe he has his reasons for teasing me so much.” Kirishima shrugged. His phone buzzed, and he checked it. His face went pale. “Oh, man. It’s almost time!” Kirishima opened the locker room door. “Uraraka told me she had left out your backstage uniform. It should be right on the bench. See you backstage.”

You looked at him, eyes tearing up. Kirishima’s smile softly melted, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Hey, are you—”

“Thanks for worrying about me, Kirishima.” Your voice suddenly choked up. “I-I never want anyone to worry over me. I’ve always thought that I would just be a bother. But, I also used to think I wasn’t someone important enough to worry over either…”

“Princess, what are you talking about? You’re important to all of us. We’re not just your classmates. We’re your friends. I’m your friend,” Kirishima said sincerely, pressing a hand to his chest. “You’ll never be a bother to me. I worry because I care so much about you. We all do.”

You thought about how you’d be behind the stage soon, how you used to be teased, an outcast. You had no one to turn to back then. Your only support had been yourself, and you were only a child. Your old life was nothing like this one. People cared about you, worried about you. You had friends here, lifelong friends that you could go to for anything if you only allowed yourself to.

You forced a smile, feeling a tear finally slip from your eye. “I just wanted to thank you. I’ve changed a lot since middle school, my life has changed a lot because you and our other classmates.” You breathed in a shaky breath. “I feel like I belong here, and I never want to take that for granted.”

Kirishima reached his hand out to comfort you, but you stepped away into the locker room, out of sight of the bustling hallway.

“We’re going to be late,” you said, carefully wiping the tear from your face to avoid smearing your makeup. “I held you up.”

“N-no, it’s okay. Princess, I can stay for—”

“Shitty Hair!” Bakugo bellowed. He must have grown inpatient waiting for everyone to show up and slipped away from your other classmates.

Your eyes widened. Bakugo’s voice was enough for you to finally turn away from Kirishima. Without another word between each other, you heard the door close behind you. Everyone must have already changed because the room was empty. Sitting on the bench was your orange 1-A t-shirt and black pants. You struggled to change due to your leg injury but managed to all the same.

You looked in the mirror, realizing your wrists were still chaffed from being bound. There wasn’t a jacket to cover them. In a panic, you searched the room coming upon a box of some festival sweatbands, and you slipped them over your raw wrists, wincing from the pain. You adjusted your hair one last time, trying your best to hide your face under some loose strands. Finally, you rushed out to the back of the stage, nearly bumping straight into Todoroki on your way out.

Shoto’s eyes locked with yours. “Anna?” he gasped out. He reached out with his arms for an embrace, only to stop himself, adjusting back into a neutral stance. “I’m glad you’re okay. If you’re here, that must mean Kirishima has returned as well.”

“H-he s-should almost be here,” you stuttered out, ducking your head away from his gaze.

Shoto’s attention shifted to your hair. “Would you like me to braid your hair? It appears as if some of it fell out of your ponytail.”

“No, that’s okay. There isn’t much time left, right? There’s probably more that needs to be done. Also, you’ll have to be side stage soon, won’t you?”

“With any luck we will be in a more optimal position for the snow and ice effects.” Shoto moved his attention away from you, picking up a box of supplies. “I think everything has already been set up for the most part. You won’t have to use your quirk. Besides, you did enough with the baked goods. Uraraka’s planning to toss them out to the crowd with her quirk.”

“Oh, so I wasn’t needed after all?” Your shoulders sank. Sure, Kirishima had been looking for you, but it seemed like the performance would have gone without pause had you not shown up at all.

“That isn’t what I said,” Shoto replied firmly, his gaze scanning over you again. “You’ve done so much already that it’s time for your classmates to shoulder some of the responsibility, you know?”

“Yo, you made it!” Sero exclaimed, smiling brightly in your direction. “Thought my baking teacher might have been playing hooky.” Sero grabbed another box next to Shoto. “Cookies turned out great by the way. They’re sure to be a hit!”

“Thank you,” you said, standing awkwardly beside them. “D-do you two need a hand? I can lift things too. I don’t need to use my quirk.”

“I think we’re quite capable of handling a few boxes,” Todoroki said.

“These are the last ones,” Sero said.

“Why don’t you go sit down? I’m sure it took a toll on you to bake throughout the night,” Shoto said. “We can handle the remainder of the setup.”

Kirishima ran up breathlessly. “Hey, guys! Made it just in time!”

“Hi, Kiri,” you said, giving a small wave.

“Hello, Princess. Long time no see.” He winked at you. “What are you two standing around for? We need to get in position!”

“Has Midoriya arrived with the rope for Aoyama? He was late, was he not?” Todoroki asked.

“He’s back. Pretty scuffed up though. He said he’d explain later,” Sero said.

The three boys walked away to their positions while you stood without much of a purpose. You had asked that you didn’t lift anything with your quirk during the performance, but you could have been of use. Maybe they were just looking out for you because of how much you’d overworked yourself, but it sort of stung that there wasn’t anything else for you to do.

You rubbed your arm in guilt. Even if you had more of a role to play at this point of the performance, if you caught sight of the audience, you might have panicked. It was for your own good that you weren’t seen, weren’t heard. You knew this was all for the best. You had specifically asked them to exclude you from those activities. Even if you knew that, it didn’t hurt any less.

Your quirk flickered in your skull, and you winced. The drawbacks of the quirk-erasing drug had ebbed, but still lingered within your system. You didn’t want to think about what would have happened had you’d been injected with the final product, rather than the prototype.

You walked back into the shadows, lingering the farthest out of the way and watching your classmates move about with purpose. Shortly after, the band began to play, and the performance was well under way. The audience was louder than you expected, and clearly class 1-A had outdone themselves. You hoped Eri was having the time of her life in that crowd.

From your propped position all you could see was the back of the curtain and flashing lights. You stood up from the wall, gaze fixated on the edge of the curtain where the lights crept in. You were missing out because of fear, missing out because of your past. Your hand was now clutching the edge of the deep crimson curtain fabric, staring at its fibers to avoid looking out into the commotion. You shut your eyes, feeling your heart beat loudly in your chest. You could hear the joy ringing out from the crowd, from your peers. You were missing it.

You leaned around the corner of the curtain, peeking one eye open. A wave of music and wind blew through you. You clutched the curtain tighter between your fingers as your breath caught. Hundreds of faces stared in the direction of the stage, hundreds of eyes watching. Your heart leapt into your ribs, and you froze in fear.

They can’t see you. They can’t see you. They can’t see you. They’re not watching you, you thought to yourself.

You had to move. You had to back away. You weren’t ready for this. No one in the crowd could see you from your position on the stage, but you couldn’t move. Your legs wouldn’t let you move. You choked on your next breath, legs shaking. Only hours before, you’d been in a much more terrifying situation in the clutches of a villain, and, here you were, feeling helpless and alone.

Close your eyes, Kobura’s words echoed in your skull.

You couldn’t. You couldn’t do it on your own. Your body wouldn’t let you. Tears threatened to fall from your burning eyes. The world became blurry. Your quirk fought against your feeble control. Your hair floated. Then, you spotted her in the crowd. You spotted Eri’s bright smiling face amongst the sea of people. Her red eyes sparkled in excitement.

Control slammed back into you like a kick to the chest. You crumpled to the stage, scrambling back, so you couldn’t see the crowd, but facing the side of the band, staring ahead in shock and fear. Your eyes locked with Bakugo’s. He had stood from his seat behind the drums. Sweat slipped down the edge of his jaw. His hands had paused with his drumsticks over the kit. Worry was etched into his expression.

Bakugo glanced back out at the crowd, before looking back at you. He lowered back into his chair, and his arms moved on instinct as he continued to play. His attention, however, stayed off of the stage. How long had he been watching you stand there? Had he stopped playing for long?

To keep him from worrying, you forced yourself back up on your feet. Only, you staggered out of weakness. Bakugo flinched, missing his next hit. Guilt tightened your chest. No, you didn’t want him to focus on you. This wasn’t about you. The performance had to go on for Eri. Her smile was all that mattered. It’s why all of the pain you suffered that day was worth it.

You wanted to yell at Bakugo telepathically but feared he would feel your injuries. Didn’t he know this wasn’t about you?

You gave him a weak smile and a thumbs up, knowing full well he would know it was bullshit. If the lights weren’t so dim, he could have probably determined that your face was bruised too. Bakugo scowled, mouthing the word, “later,” at you. He turned back to focus on the drums, playing much harder than he had been before.

You rushed from the stage and crashed into the locker room. Your ragged breath echoed off of the tiles. You clutched your shirt, wincing as you brushed your chest wound. What were you thinking?

You stumbled out of the locker room and out into the hall, only to come face-to-face with Mr. Aizawa. His tall, lanky form loomed over you. His fatherly gaze saw straight through you. You practically stopped breathing, seeing him so close. Wouldn’t he have been with Eri and Mirio? What was he doing here?

“Kokoro,” he said, his voice raspy and worn. “Your parents are here.”

“W-what?” you stuttered out. “What do you mean that they’re here? They hate these kinds of things. They wouldn’t purposefully come to a place with so many people with quirks for no reason.” Your face flushed with heat. It was hard to breathe. This couldn’t be happening, not now. “W-what about Eri? Don’t you have to be with her? She didn’t have to go back to the hospital, did she?”

“Eri is with Mirio and Present Mic. She will be in good hands until we can sort this situation out with your parents. You need to calm down. Breathe.” Mr. Aizawa combed a hand through his black hair, sighing. He glanced behind him, before his gaze met yours again. “What happened this morning?” he asked.

You closed your mouth, hoping you wouldn’t immediately burst into tears in front of him. How did he know? Why were your parents here? Kobura should have done everything to erase that FlikFlok live from the face of the earth. That couldn’t be what he was asking about.

“You were missing,” Aizawa continued sternly. “Where were you?” he asked.

“I was sleepwalking, and…” you trailed off, unable to look him in the eyes.

“What happened to your face?”

“I…”

“Kokoro.” Aizawa knelt down so he was eye-level with you. “Tell me what happened.”

“Something bad,” you choked out, but it was all you could manage. You wanted to run, but knew you wouldn’t get far on your buckling legs. You felt ashamed. You shifted, feeling the weight beneath you give way.

Aizawa grabbed you by the wrist before you could collapse. You whimpered as his strong grip curled around your chaffed skin. He steadied you, but his observant gaze went to your wristbands. He shifted one sweatband up your arm, only to take in an unsteady breath after observing the raw rope lines. He hid the marks back under the cloth. Without hesitation, he lifted you from the ground. Several eyes turned in your direction as he carried you.

“I’m taking you to Recovery Girl. Then, we will need to meet with your parents. You can tell me what happened afterwards.” A mixture of worry and guilt warped the creases in his face. “For your sake, I hope things haven’t become irreparable.”

16 notes · View notes

agentark88 · 3 years ago

Text

Think: Chapter Seventy-Nine: Emotional Damage

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America.

Chapter Seventy-Nine: Emotional Damage

You crashed back into your head with cut breaks. Your mind jolted you awake with painful sparks of consciousness. Aches erupted through your senses as clarity came to your forefront. Your cheeks and eyes were raw with tears. Your wrists ached. Your quirk quivered in your mind as it gained some semblance of traction. You couldn’t remember what happened, not after Kobura appeared. Now that your quirk had come back to life, the fog in your head was lifted.

Bodies, blood, and death surrounded your restrained form. You choked out a noise. It was vile, absolutely horrifying to look at. You turned your attention away from the gore, uneasiness and fear settling in your chest. Your horrified stare finally met the back of Kobura’s head, his white hair stained with blood. One of his many knives were clutched into his hand. Kobura snatched Emiyo by the jacket. Her hand went weakly up to his wrist. Tears pooled in her eyes.

“Please! Mercy! Y-you weren’t supposed to be like this… You’re not a supervillain. You barely show up in the media! You have to understand! The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you! I just wanted you to care for me the way that I care for you!” Emiyo Miya begged for her life.

Nausea crept up your raw throat followed by an unbearable burning. Had you been screaming? You leaned forward, once again putting tension in your binds. Your eyes widened when Kobura angled his knife for her neck.

No. No more death. No more blood had to be shed. You just wanted to leave, wanted to go back to U.A.. Kobura didn’t have to stab anyone else, especially not if he thought it was helping you. He may have thought he was doing the best for you, when he was doing the worst. No one needed to die like this.

A pulsing energy rippled through your flickering quirk, expanding through the cavernous warehouse. The drug must not have completely run its course through your system because your quirk sputtered as you attempted to use it. You whipped a strand of your mind toward Kobura’s wrist, snagging it just before he was able to pierce into Emiyo’s neck.

Kobura’s callous expression was washed clean with realization. Guilt tugged his mouth into an uneasy frown. Your quirk faded slightly in its hold, and you could sense Kobura trying to fight against the strand of your mind.

“I can’t let you,” you choked out. “Stop.” You didn’t know what had happened since he appeared. Despite being tortured by her, Emiyo didn’t need to die. The police could hold her in custody. A true hero wouldn’t just sit by and let this happen.

Kobura took in a quivering breath. “Anna, close your eyes,” he said. “You shouldn’t watch me do this.”

You bit into your lip, tears burning at the edge of your vision. “No, you can’t,” you pleaded. “No one else has to die. Please.” Had Kobura really killed these people? Had he killed all of them for hurting you? You had hoped, begged for him to save you, and this is what became of your wish? You trusted him. You had faith that he would protect you, but you didn’t expect him to take it this far. He knew you were a hero in training. He had to know you would never agree with what he’d done.

Emiyo Miya was pleading for her life, and he was going to end it without remorse. There wasn’t a single ounce of hesitation. Had you not caught his wrist, he would have killed her. Was this truly what Kobura was capable of? Were you so enchanted by his words, you’d forgotten what he was capable of as a villain?

Kobura’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gulped. Sadness pinched his expression. “Close your eyes,” he repeated.

Your quirk couldn’t hold him. Kobura put more force into pushing the blade toward Emiyo’s exposed neck, and your quirk weakly held on to him, losing strength by the second. Fresh blood began to trickle from the new cut on Emoticon’s skin, but you wouldn’t let go. You couldn’t let go. Your quirk flickered, and you thought all was lost, but you gained a sliver of control back. Your quirk wrapped tighter around Kobura’s wrist, only for your power to slowly trickle away again.

“Please! This is wrong!” You cried out. Your vision blurred from fatigue. Your quirk pushed back, angry that you were still fighting in this condition. Kobura’s thoughts flashed into your unstable mind.

If being a villain is the only way to ensure I never have to hear her scream in pain again, then that’s my only option. If killing someone, means Sweet Anna doesn’t have to suffer, it’s worth the distance it puts in my relationship with her. Emoticon needs to die for what’s she’s done, or she will do it again. His thoughts were resolute, pained but certain. He didn’t want to do this. He felt like he had to for you, and it made your heart ache.

“Close your eyes,” Kobura whispered. “Please, Sweet Anna.”

Your quirk burned down to a mere ember. With fresh tears streaming down your face, you obeyed Kobura’s request, shutting your eyes. Your quirk slipped from his wrist. You heard the blade plunge into Emiyo’s neck. She shrieked for a moment, until she couldn’t. You wanted to cover your ears to keep out the horrid gurgling noises she was making as she fought for breath. There was nothing you could do for her, and it made you sick. You choked on a sob. Kobura swore under his breath. Mercifully, you heard Kobura’s blade plunge into flesh one last time and then silence.

Cold. The room felt cold, lifeless. You would have collapsed had you been standing up. You flinched when something violently crashed ahead of you. It sounded like the tripod, the phone broadcasting this all live to the world. Kobura crossed the room to you in only a few paces, his footsteps echoed off of the concrete. His trembling hands tentatively reached for your face.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I wasn’t here sooner. Please forgive me for what I had to do,” Kobura said. His thumb wiped at your tears but more fell. “I know. It’s terrible. This is terrible. I understand. I get it if you can’t stand me. But, I have to get you out of here. I need you to be safe.” He continued to talk as he cut your legs free first. “She would have threatened you again, kidnapped you again. The police would have done nothing. They’ve done nothing about her for years. She tortured you, Anna. You have to understand that she was hurting you, and I had no other choice.”

You remained quiet, eyes still shut as you tried to catch your breath. Kobura finally made it to your wrists. He carefully cut them free. You let your arms fall to your sides. Your body felt numb.

“Are you…? Are you okay, Anna?” he asked. His voice was laced with worry.

You opened your tear-filled eyes, meeting his concerned gaze. No. You were far from okay. You were captured, tortured. No one knew where you were but Kobura, and he came. Your head was a mess. You were terrified. But, looking into Kobura’s eyes, all you wanted to do was reach for him for a source of comfort. You sprung up from your chair, wrapping your arms around Kobura’s neck and burying your face into his chest.

“No. I’m not okay. I’m not,” you babbled helplessly into his shirt. “I was so scared.”

“Sweet Anna, my blood… I could infect you. You’re in a delicate state right now. I don’t know if your quirk will protect you.” Kobura refused to touch you with his wounded arm, holding it away from your trembling body.

“I didn’t think you were going to come. I thought no one was going to come.”

“Of course I came. I promised.” Kobura rubbed his clean hand over your back.

“But, all of those people…” you trailed off. He killed them.

“Can’t hurt you anymore,” Kobura’s voice deepened as he finished your sentence.

You pulled far enough away to look up at him, stare into those toxic green eyes of his. “But…” It was wrong for him to kill them. You wanted to shout it at him, berate him for the horrible things he’d done. How could he expect you to forgive him for that?

“They sat by and watched you be tortured, Sweet Anna. They helped kidnap you.” Kobura’s words were soft. He could hardly make eye-contact with you. “I killed them to save you. I’m not asking you to agree with it. You did your best to stop me. You’re the last person that needs to feel guilty for what they brought upon themselves.”

“But, you did it because of me,” you said. Guilt ripped through your already bleeding chest. If you weren’t involved, all of those people would have still been alive. You were a part of his villainy, regardless of how indirect that involvement was.

“I did it for you,” Kobura corrected. “It wasn’t because of you. None of the blame falls on your shoulders.” Kobura gripped one of your hands as you retreated further from him, shaking your head.

“I… I don’t know what to do,” you said, conflicting feelings revolving through you. “I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t trust you.”

“And, that’s your right. No matter how much I want us to be together, I would never force you to trust me, to stay with me.” Kobura slowly released the hand he had grabbed. “Let me get you out of here, take you back to U.A..”

Your eyes widened. “The School Festival,” you said breathlessly. A chill ran through you, and a wave of nausea spun its way back into your stomach. Your vision blurred.

“Sweet Anna? You’ve gone pale. Are you…?”

Your legs buckled beneath you. Kobura shot forward, grabbing you before you could collapse. He supported your limp body as if it were made of the finest glass.

“Was it my quirk? Stay with me, okay? Hold on. If you black out, I’m not sure I can do anything to help you. You can’t let the venom take over,” Kobura sputtered out. It was strange to hear him speaking so frantically.

“It’s not your quirk. She lost too much blood, Doku,” Toga said.

Kobura snapped his head in her direction, his expression engulfed by uneasiness.

“Mission accomplished! We saved the sweet angel! Are we sure she’s going to pull through? She looks half-dead,” Twice said.

Toga quickly stepped in front of the tall masked villain that you recognized as Twice. Kobura’s muscles had coiled, but when he glanced at her he relaxed a bit.

“We can’t stay here for obvious reasons. And, I don’t know about you, but bringing her back like this is going to cause issues. We need to get her medical attention without going to the hospital.”

“I need to get back for the School Festival,” you muttered deliriously. “Eri will be so sad if I don’t make it. Aizawa…” Nausea swept your voice away as you tried to hold back vomit.

Kobura clenched you tighter to him. Before you said anything else, he swept you up into his arms. “Anna, it’s going to be okay. We’ll get you back so you don’t need to worry. I managed to redirect your phone’s ping. They’ll think you’re still on campus, even when I tracked you here.” Kobura turned his attention back on Toga. “First, we get her out of here. Can you contact Spinner? The only place that I know there’s supplies is my apartment. We can’t bring her to the new hideout nor the hospital for obvious reasons.”

“Isn’t it a little early to bring a girl home? I’m sure it’s a great idea to bring a hero to your cozy secret base.” Twice crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head.

“Her wellbeing matters more to me than my privacy. I have to move anyway because that psycho ransacked my place. I upgraded the system since, but who knows who else knows where I live. Besides, we’ll blindfold her to avoid the heroes interrogating her when she returns,” Kobura explained.

The three villains left the building with you. The sun was barely above the horizon, blinding, actually, compared to the darkness you escaped from. There was carnage out here too, but it was much less gruesome than what was inside. Kobura walked far enough away so you weren’t able to see anymore gore. The odd bunch of you huddled together as Toga called Spinner. She’d put the phone on speaker, waiting impatiently for him to pick up.

“Do you have any idea what time it is?” Spinner asked gruffly over the phone.

“We need a ride,” Toga said. “Can you come get us?”

“Boss didn’t say anything about needing a chauffeur, today. Who’s ‘us?’”

Toga glanced up at Kobura, shrugging. “Doku, Jin, and me, we need a ride. We have one extra passenger too.”

Spinner groaned. “I don’t suppose you cleared this with Shigaraki?” he asked. There was a long pause. “I’ll take your silence as a, ‘No.’ Sorry, Toga. I don’t do anything without the boss’s permission. Can’t you guys catch a cab or something?”

Kobura audibly ground his teeth together. Toga glanced at him, rolling her eyes.

“Can’t you help us out this one time? We promise we won’t say anything to Shiggy. We’re kind of in a hurry here. We wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency,” Toga explained.

“I didn’t sign up for this shit—”

That’s when Kobura lost his cool. In your hazy mind, you watched as he bared his fangs in anger. “Dammit, Spinner! Get the hell off your ass and come pick us up! It’s an emergency! What do you want? Money? A new van? Fine! I know you hate that shitty thing any way. I’ll buy you a brand new one, but you get here now!”

The line was quiet for a moment. “Could’ve just said please,” Spinner muttered. He sighed. “I’m coming. I’m coming. But, this van better be top tier, untraceable. And, this shit better be important because if Shiggy even catches a whiff of us using League property for whatever this is, I’m throwing all of you under the bus. I’m not getting disintegrated for any of you.”

“Just get here. You know I’m good for the money,” Kobura snapped.

“Send me the coordinates,” Spinner said, hanging up.

Toga moved away to send Spinner the details. Twice huddled beside her, curiously watching.

Kobura carefully set you down. He removed his jacket, cutting the seams of his ripped sleeve and removing it with one of his knives. He wrapped the jacket around your front. You’d almost forgotten your dress had ripped down the center. He unclipped a knife vest from over his t-shirt, holding it loosely in one hand before setting it aside. He removed his shirt in the next instant, tearing it apart into strips. He knelt down ahead of you, his abdominal muscles flexing on his exposed chest, barely shielded by another set of knives strapped across his body. The only imperfection visible turned out to be the whip wound on his midsection.

“Get a room. Nobody wants to see that. Woah, dude! You’re totally ripped!” Twice interjected, peering toward both of you over his shoulder.

Kobura ignored Twice, paying close attention to you. He scanned the length of your body, glancing away and clenching his teeth when he came to the puncture wound in your leg. “May I?” he asked, pointing to your leg.

“You can help,” you murmured.

Kobura wrapped the wound with the clean strips of his shirt. You clenched your teeth as he tied the fabric tightly around your thigh to help with the bleeding. “This should have never happened,” Kobura said softly. “And, I will make this up to you. I know it doesn’t seem like that’s possible right now, but I will.”

You remained silent with your eyes downcast and distant.

Kobura pressed his lips closed, clenching his fingers over his knees. He might have been shaking, but he was doing a decent job hiding it. “We’ll get you cleaned up. I’ll patch you up at my place. You can get back to U.A. for Eri, for yourself. You can continue like before. Become a hero like you want to. I’ll bring you back, and it will be like nothing happened.”

“But, something did happen,” you murmured, trembling.

“I can’t take it back,” Kobura bluntly stated. “I know it’s going to take time for you to process what—”

“Time?” you asked, cutting him off. “You killed those people! And…” you trailed off again, shutting your eyes. Your shout only made your sore throat burn, and you felt your open wounds ache under the slightest movement. “…all I could do was watch.” You winced, feeling pain sweep through you again. You doubled over, covering your mouth as you coughed.

Kobura moved to support you, but you raised your hand to fend him off. He clenched his fists at his sides, refusing to touch you without your consent. Your trembling fingers came away from your mouth with splotches of fresh blood. Kobura’s chest rose and fell rapidly as his attention trained on your hand. It was killing him to see you like this. His eyes were filled with worry and regret.

“I know I can’t take it back,” Kobura said, choosing his words carefully. “I just… I could never, no, I would never see you like that again. She was going to kill you, Anna. I know it seemed like she was remorseful, that she wanted to take it all back, but she was lying. Villains like her don’t change. It may seem like they will, but it is ingrained in them.”

You bit into your lip, anger welling in your chest. “What about you, then? Are you like her, like those villains you know so much about? Is it ingrained in you? Will you never change?” You glared at him with tear-filled eyes. You didn’t want to believe that. You never wanted to believe that no one could change, be better. You had hoped Kobura could be better. You believed he could change. Were you just lying to yourself?

Kobura scowled. “I’m nothing like the monster that was in there. She was devoid of anything honest. Her emotions were twisted. She’d gone far too long unchecked, unstoppable. If it weren’t you, it would have been someone else. She needed to be stopped. If she was sent to prison, she’d use her quirk to get out, and the cycle would begin again. She needed to die.”

“What gives you the right to decide that?” you pushed.

Kobura winced. “She challenged me, my devotion to you, and she lost. It had nothing to do with my right to kill her. I killed her because she played a game she couldn’t win.”

“But, she didn’t need to die,” you choked out. “People make mistakes. They do things that they don’t mean!”

“Only, it wasn’t just any ‘mistake!’ That mistake, that thing she ‘didn’t’ mean to do, was choosing to hurt you!” Kobura shouted.

You flinched, shrinking away from him. Kobura immediately retreated, realizing he’d scared you. He let out a defeated breath of air, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I like a lovers’ quarrel as much as the next guy, but don’t you think the two of you are just talking in circles? Go on! It’s good to let off a little steam in a relationship! Shouting means that you’re communicating,” Twice piped up.

“Easy, Jin. It’s not our place to get involved,” Toga said.

“But, isn’t Kobura our friend? You’re right. Why should I care?”

“You’re fine, Twice. Just, give Sweet Anna some time. She went through a lot today. I deserve to be yelled at,” Kobura said. He stood up, combing a hand through his ghostly white hair and looking up to the sky. He sighed, sliding his hand over his face. He glanced at you between his fingers. “Again, I can’t take what I did back, no matter how upset you are about it. I can only say that I’m trying to be better for you. You don’t have to believe me. I don’t expect you to believe me. But, I want to focus on fixing you up. We can talk about this…” Kobura trailed off, probably realizing your phone was gone, and, even if you had one, you might not want to speak to him again. “Let’s just get you back to U.A. in better shape than you are now. I’m not worried about anything else. So, do you mind if we don’t argue about the situation now? I know that’s a tough ask, but I’m afraid your condition will only get worse if we continue like this.”

You considered his ask. Your throat could hardly handle speaking, let alone yelling. This situation was odd enough. You’d been rescued by villains, and they had no intention of using that to their advantage to kidnap you. You could sit on the discussion for now. Kobura had your best intentions at heart, even if they were twisted. He was still your only hope in getting back to U.A. without setting off any red flags and shutting the whole School Festival down. You didn’t have much choice at this point but to follow his lead.

You slowly nodded. Kobura gave you a small smile, kneeling down next to you again. He kept his hands away, but he scanned over you to ensure he was prepared for the damage he’d have to take care of at his place.

Spinner showed up about ten minutes later. You held on to consciousness with feeble fingers. Your quirk weighed heavily in your mind, and your eyes kept wanting to shut. Kobura went to lift you from your place just as Spinner stuck his lizard-like head from the van window.

“Oh, hell no! No one said anything about that kid! Wasn’t that the same U.A. student we kidnapped? We got our asses handed to us in that fight! Are you all insane? She could destroy The League of Villains from the inside out!” Spinner shouted out.

“We’re going to blindfold her,” Toga explained.

“Yeah? Well then, by all means,” Spinner said sarcastically.

“Really? He changed his mind fast,” Twice said.

“No! Idiot! She’s not getting into this van! I don’t have a death wish. If the Pro Heroes don’t catch us, then the boss is going to decay me!”

Kobura clenched his fists at his sides. He turned away from you, rushing up to the driver’s window. Spinner leaned back as he got up into his face. Kobura pulled his wallet out, shoving a wad of money at Spinner’s chest.

“This is only a piece of what I’ll give you. Get whatever car you want. Want a van, a truck? You name it, and it’s yours. I don’t care. Money isn’t a problem. But, don’t give me any more bullshit about not helping. You’re taking her wherever I need you to take her, got it?” Kobura said.

Spinner rolled his eyes, flicking through the bills with his eyes widening. “You carry this much cash on you?”

“Are you driving us or not?” Kobura snapped. “Sweet Anna’s health is on the line, and I’m losing my patience.”

Spinner shoved the wad of money into his pocket. “Get in. Shigaraki better not hear a damn word about this. You’ve got me for three hours. No more, no less. The boss will get suspicious otherwise.”

Kobura spun away from the van. He knelt down beside you. “Is this okay?” he asked, reaching his hands out to you.

You nodded, and he lifted you up. Toga and Twice clambered into the van. Twice handed over a small bundle of gauze to Kobura as he set you down.

“I’ve got to cover your eyes. It’s for your safety and ours, okay?” Kobura asked.

If you really wanted to, you could probably read his mind for the location, so you weren’t sure what all the precautions were for. Then again, your quirk was weak at best. If you knew where he lived, it would be one more secret you would need to keep from your classmates, from Aizawa.

You nodded again. Kobura wrapped the gauze around your head, until you couldn’t see at all. There was a little back and forth about location. All you could tell was that Kobura must have shown Spinner where they were going because he didn’t appear to know where exactly his apartment was. When the van started moving, you had to assume wherever you were going had been clearly communicated.

It took longer than expected for the van to stop again.

“Wait here. It might take a bit,” Kobura said. “I’ll move as quickly as I can.”

“Need any help?” Toga asked.

There was a pause. “No. I mean… Yes, she has wounds on her chest. But, only if it will be more comfortable for Anna if we are both there.”

There was another bout of silence. You hesitated before nodding again, realizing they had been waiting for your input.

“Ooh, three’s a company, and four’s a party. What do you say I come too? I see how it is. Four wheels aren’t good enough for you?” Twice said.

“Will someone make up their damn mind? Clock’s a ticking!” Spinner shouted from the front.

“We are! What’s it to you? You’ll get the money I promised,” Kobura hissed out in annoyance.

“Just saying that we’re wasting too much time on little things,” Spinner grumbled.

“It’s not that we don’t think you’re good enough, Jin. We just want to make sure Anna’s comfortable, okay? Besides, we need you to make sure Spinner doesn’t take off with our ride. Think you can handle that?” Toga said gently.

“Don’t need a babysitter. I’m not going to go back on our deal,” Spinner mumbled out.

“Aye, aye, Captain Toga! Your ship’s safe with me. Does that mean I get to man the wheel?”

Kobura sighed. The van door slid open. Kobura put a steadying hand on your shoulder, but he made sure it was light. “Anna, I’m going to lift you up, okay?” Kobura asked.

You nodded again. Kobura picked you up, entering a building and climbing a few flights of stairs before he stopped again. You barely heard Toga following behind him. A scanner buzzed, followed by Kobura typing into a keypad, and then the door set off a series of clicks indicating several locks opening.

“I thought those types of security systems could only be found in spy movies,” Toga said.

“Couldn’t have been too cautious after the first break-in. Don’t tell the landlord though. He’s not fond of unauthorized modifications to his building,” Kobura said. Kobura shifted you over again to open the door. He gently set you down in a chair. “One second.” Kobura left your side. A few things were shifted in the room. He drew the blinds. And, it sounded like something was aggressively thrown away.

Toga settled beside you. She leaned down to your ear. “He’s just trying to tidy up for you. You know how boys are when they show a girl their space,” she whispered.

You really didn’t know how that was. Kobura might have been the first person to directly invite you over to his place. It wasn’t as if you really had a choice in the invite, but you found it odd how Toga had completely bypassed the very abnormal situation by equating it to an average relationship step. You’d never been to a boy’s home before. It wasn’t like a dorm room. This was where Kobura had been living for a long time.

The blindfold was taken off. Kobura took a few steps away from you, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry for the mess. I would have cleaned up more if I knew you’d be here.”

The place was spotless. In fact, you were utterly amazed that someone had so recently broken in. All of Kobura’s things were organized or contained. The apartment room was modern and sleek. You imagined this is what it would look like if there was a room in a laptop. The color scheme of the place did not sway from green, black, and gray. He had a king-sized bed, with gray sheets and green accents. You’d been placed in a high-end computer chair that was black and electric green that sat in front of a hand built computer desktop with three screens. There were bins, labeled and sorted with all kinds of tech. They were pristinely stacked in a far corner. A small mini-fridge with a microwave seemed discarded in a more hidden area of the space behind a contemporary kitchen table and chairs. The only thing that seemed out of place was the wall behind you, which appeared to have been recently painted. There were several tack holes in the wall as if there were thousands of pictures once there and there was a dartboard that was heavily gashed by knife holes.

“It’s not much, I know. I plan to get a bigger space. One where I can have more company, you know? I’m very aware that this place is more like a Bachelor’s pad,” Kobura tried to explain himself. “I used to have a flat screen too, but you can imagine what happened to that.”

You continued to survey the large apartment in awe. He said it wasn’t much, but everything in the room looked expensive and was clearly bought with his aesthetic in mind. You could only imagine what was there before the break-in because the apartment was complete, as if it was meant for a magazine.

Kobura’s face was flush with embarrassment. He cleared his throat as you’d turned to his extensive keyboard that flashed different colors of the rainbow. You forced down the impulse to press a key. You peered back at Kobura, gulping. It was a lot to take in at once, but you weren’t here to admire his home décor.

Kobura handed you a pile of clean clothes. “I don’t have anything small enough for you, but at least it will be clean. If it’s okay with you, I was going to ask that Toga help you in the bathroom. I wouldn’t want you to fall. Once you’re done in there, you can come out here, and I’ll do what I can for some of the more serious wounds.”

“O-okay,” you said unsteadily. What were you doing? Only moments before, you were mortified by Kobura’s actions and now you were obediently following his orders? You clenched your knees tightly, looking to the floor. He killed people. He murdered someone who was begging for their life.

“Anna?” Toga asked. “You’re looking pale again. Do you feel lightheaded?”

You blinked, shaking your head. You snatched the clothes out of Kobura’s hands. You made a move to sprint to the bathroom, only to feel your own body betray you. Your knees buckled with your next step. Kobura snagged you by the waist before you fell, holding you tightly to his chest to support your body.

“Don’t move too fast. You need to be easy on yourself. You’re lucky that you’re still conscious with the wounds you sustained,” Kobura said with his breath brushing the edge of your ear.

You flushed. Once you’d gained your footing, you pulled away from him, throwing his hands off of you. Kobura didn’t reach out for you as you stormed toward the bathroom.

“I wouldn’t take it too hard on yourself, Doku. She’s been through a lot today,” Toga whispered.

Had you had more energy, you might have argued with her. Instead, you continued forward, knowing that time was of the essence to make it back to the School Festival. You paused in front of the enormous rain shower that was complete with extra jets. There were about four different knobs to turn on the shower, and you were scared to pick any of them.

Toga and Kobura were still talking quietly outside the bathroom. You wondered if you’d ruined your chances for help, until you heard the scrape of a chair from room over. Moments later, Toga came in carrying one of the kitchen chairs with her.

“What are you doing with that?” you asked her.

“Kobura said it was okay to bring this in the shower with you. It will be easier on you to sit down.” Toga shut the door behind her, locking it. “So he doesn’t get any ideas,” she said jokingly. She opened the large glass shower door, setting the chair inside.

“I-Isn’t that expensive? And, part of the dining set?” you asked.

Toga waved her hand dismissively toward the questions. “A chair is less important than your safety, Anna,” she said, her voice echoing off of the natural stone walls. She leaned forward, checking the knobs suspiciously. “I’m pretty sure it’s this one.” Toga let out an unearthly squeal as she turned the knob, and she was blasted by the jets in front of her. “Cold! Too cold! Shit!” She shut off the water, cursing under her breath. She turned on the correct one next and then slipped out of the shower, before she could be drenched further. “I’ll busy myself with prepping the first aid kit, so you won’t need to worry about me watching. Towels are there. Take your time. Kobura said to use the two bottles with flowers for your hair, and…” Toga scratched her head in thought. “…he also told me to apologize for the manly smelling soap. Let me know if you need a hand.” She smiled brightly at you, before she went to retrieve the medical kit from beneath the sink.

You watched Toga for a moment to see if she was being truthful about leaving you alone. Once she began laying things out over the sink, you felt comfortable enough to get in the shower. You went as quickly as your aching body would allow. You winced whenever you got close enough to a wound. There was a lot of blood, so much so you kept your eyes up. When you were done, you stood up from the chair and shut off the shower. You dried off as best as you could, having difficulty bending too much. You slipped on the loose fitting pants and sweatshirt that Kobura had provided, thankful to be out of that sacrificial white dress that was stained with blood.

“I’m done,” you said softly, shivering in place.

Toga spun back toward you, giving you a toothy grin. “Okay. Mind if I take a look at your chest wound?”

Thankfully, the cut on your chest was only a surface wound. The dress had taken the brunt of the lash, but it was still severe enough to need bandages. Toga applied them fast and efficiently. She checked your face next, gently tilting up your chin into the light. You winced when her fingertip skimmed what you could only assume was a fresh bruise.

Toga frowned. “I can’t believe she punched you while your hands were tied. I can cover this up with some makeup, but you’ll need to be careful not to wipe it off. It’s going to be difficult to hide the swelling, let alone the bruise, after it begins to heal.”

Toga was gentle when she applied the foundation, but it still stung. Looking in the mirror, you could hardly tell there was anything abnormal with your face. Toga had been right though, if you looked hard enough you could see the raised area of the bruise itself. You would need to take care to hide your face for a while. That was easier said than done when you had Bakugo as a classmate.

Toga wrinkled her nose at checking your leg. You knew that was going to be the worst of the wounds. It’s where most of the blood was leaving your body too, even if you’d left the shirt tied around your thigh. The longer the cut was left untreated the more dangerous it was for you. Still, she left it be as it was, telling you she was going to wait for Kobura to check it first.

Toga helped you out of the bathroom. You staggered, despite trying your best to seem fine. You were having a hard time keeping it together. Toga assisted you back into Kobura’s gaming chair. She rolled up your pant leg.

Kobura had changed into a fresh set of clothes, his bare chest no longer exposed to the world. He’d even bandaged up his arm. He knelt down in front of you, looking over the injury in worry, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. Toga stood back with her arms crossed, looking just as uneasy.

“Has your quirk stabilized yet? Do you think it’s back in place for certain?” Kobura asked, peering up at you with his attentive green eyes.

“No,” you answered honestly. You’d felt it fluctuating since leaving the abandoned warehouse. There was no telling when it would come back fully.

“I’m scared to use my saliva on you like I’ve done before. You’re going to need stitches.”

Your eyes widened. “Stitches?” you squeaked out.

Kobura nodded solemnly. “If we don’t do something, it’s only going to get worse, and you’ll have to notify a teacher as soon as you make it back. I have experience with making stitches, but I won’t do it if you don’t want me to. It’s your choice.”

Choice? You didn’t have a choice. It was either get found out and ruin the School Festival, or get patched up and deal with it after. The hospital wasn’t an option. Recovery Girl wasn’t an option. Everyone’s hard work would go to waste if an investigation was initiated on what had happened. Eri wouldn’t be able to go to her first festival.

You clenched your fist at your side, biting hard into your lip. “Do it,” you said resolutely. “Please.”

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agentark88 · 3 years ago

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My Villain Academia Takeover of Think by Doku Kobura

This is a villain takeover by yours truly, a.k.a. Kobura. I might let Agent have control again when I feel like it. In the meantime, while I’m here and have such an attentive audience, feel free to ask me whatever you want. You’ll find out that I know a lot more than even Agent does about Think and will be very candid with my responses. As a dedicated member of The League of Villains, I can also answer some questions about them. Answers will be in my personal opinion of course, so I better not hear any complaints about my responses. Go ahead and put your questions below. You won’t be disappointed by my answers. Also, you may refer to me as Kobura, BioVirus, or Doku.

Don’t worry about Agent sneaking into the chat. I at least gave her that much access. There won’t be a chapter this weekend. I don’t think I’ve been in enough chapters lately, hence this takeover. I hope Agent takes this into consideration while I’m in control. By the way, I’ve listed the best chapters below. You should read them and like them because The League and I are in most of them.

Chapter Eleven: Carnival of Chaos

Chapter Sixteen: Study Session Turned Toxic

Chapter Nineteen: A Villainous Encounter at the Mall

Chapter Twenty: A Heated Swimming Competition

Chapter Twenty-One: BioVirus

Chapter Twenty-Four: Are You Scared?

Chapter Thirty: Burned and Broken

Chapter Thirty-One: Buried in Ash and Forgotten

Chapter Thirty-Two: Don’t Let Go

Chapter Thirty-Seven: A Sickening Nightmare

Chapter Forty: A Snake in the Provisional Hero License Exam

Chapter Forty-Four: Doku Kobura: Remnants of Obsession

Chapter Fifty: Doku Kobura: Snapped Sanity

Chapter Fifty-One: The Emerald Earrings

Chapter Fifty-Nine: To Disguise a Pro Hero on a Budget

Chapter Sixty-Two: An Explosive Day at the Park

Chapter Sixty-Three: Discarding Toxic Reminders

If you want to read the other chapters, where Sweet Anna tells her story, you can find them below. To me, they’re not as good as the ones with the villains in them, but the least I can do for Sweet Anna is let you read them.

List of Chapters

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agentark88 · 3 years ago

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Think: Alternate Future: Doku Kobura: Our Kids

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

“Think: Alternate Future” side stories do not dictate the outcome of Think. Things that happen in these side stories do not affect the current Think story/chapters. Think of these short stories as a fun collection of possible outcomes that may or may not happen in an alternate universe, while still pertaining to characters in the main fan fiction, Think. I’m posting this just in time for Halloween! This is a “Think: Alternate Future” villain edition. I apologize ahead of time for the emotional roller coaster that you’re all about to go through.

Warnings: This work contains mild language and violence.

“What are little gremlins, Mommy?” Kitiara asked.

You raised your attention up to her. She was swinging her legs while sitting on the countertop next to you. You were prepping dinner by dicing up some vegetables. Orichi was sitting beside her, looking at her phone while she spoke to you. The two twins appeared to be playing some kind of game where they slashed open different meats and vegetables with kitchen knives. It looked a little bit too violent for being seven.

“What are what?” you asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Auntie Toga called us little gremlins. I wanted to know what that meant,” Kitiara said.

“I think it means we’re bad, Kiti,” Orichi said, swiping his finger across the screen to cut a ham in half.

You frowned, going back to slicing vegetables. “Auntie Toga just doesn’t know what to do with kids. What she said wasn’t nice. I’ll have your father talk to her.”

“Daddy laughed when she said it,” Orichi said, his eyes still trained on the game.

You tightened your grip on the handle of the knife in your hands. “I’ll have a talk with your father too.” You wiped sweat from your brow. It had been a long day. You’d done a lot of cleaning around the house and hadn’t stopped moving since early that morning. Doku might have gotten upset with you if he heard that, but you hated sitting around, even if you were pregnant. You always felt restless around the house. “Haku, could you come set the table please?”

“In a minute,” he said.

Haku let out a heavy sigh, combing his hair back with his slender finger. He had fully reclined across the couch, barely fitting due to his height. He click-clacked away on his laptop. Doku told you that he was writing poetry, rather dark poetry, but at least he wasn’t hacking into the Hero Commission’s protected files. In addition to monitoring their online activity, Doku had made certain that information from his and your past were either non-existent or censored from the children. It hurt your heart to hide your past from them, but it was to keep them safe.

Haku had grown out his white hair, which made him look more like a fantasy prince rather than a teenage boy. He hadn’t brought any girls around the house, so you were wondering if he was keeping them a secret from you. He looked just like his father, vivid green eyes and white hair, angled features like he was a model. The only characteristics that he really inherited from you were straight teeth with no fangs and his normal irises, instead of serpent-like, but his eyes were still more like his father’s shape than yours.

Haku finally stood up from the couch, placing his laptop on the coffee table. He gracefully walked into the kitchen, not making a sound with his footsteps. Haku reached over you to grab an apple from the counter. You noticed that he’d painted his fingernails black, and you wondered where he’d gotten the nail polish from. You certainly didn’t have any. Even after leaving hero society, you still kept all of your girly aesthetics.

“I like your nails,” you said.

Haku froze, apple in hand. “Gross, Mom. Don’t say things like that. Now, I feel like I look lame.”

“I can’t compliment my son?” you asked with a huff.

Haku rolled his eyes. “Do what you want,” he said, taking a bite of the apple. In a rather dramatically annoyed way, he set the table and then moved back to the couch.

“When does Daddy get home?” Kitiara asked.

“Two minutes,” Orichi said, holding up two fingers.

You peered at the clock. Orichi always seemed to surprise you. He was usually on the dot with his times, always been like that since he was a baby. You’d always feed him, set him up for a nap, and even changed him at the same time. It’s like his brain was a ticking internal clock.

“Awe, you missed that one.” Kitiara pouted. “Rewind?”

Orichi turned his serpent-like hazel eyes up to you. “Mom told us to only use our quirk for training or emergencies.”

“Orichi is right, Kiti. A game isn’t a good use for your quirk.” You were thankful that Orichi was so levelheaded out of the two of them. Their quirk manifested on their fifth birthday, slowly you discovered it was far rarer than even your own. It could have been because they were in the womb together, but their quirk only worked when they were touching. That wasn’t all. It took you a spell to realize they had the ability to move through time. As you weren’t able to see them do it, the twins had to describe it to you. It was only when they allowed you to see their memories of it that you put it into words. It scared you to think that they’re so young and could accidently use that power too far. You hoped by allowing them to train that they’d be ready for when something might go amiss. You knew all too well how easily that could happen.

“Fine,” Kitiara said. “I get to cut the steaks this time though.” She grabbed the phone from Orichi, and he calmly watched her do so.

“Sweet Anna! I’m home!”

You wiped your hands on your shark apron, moving to greet your husband. You could hardly believe you accepted his hand in marriage, after having started your relationship on such rocky footing. If someone had told you in the past that you would end up happily ever after with Doku Kobura, you would have called them mad. He grew up as a villain, and you grew up wanting to be a hero. Despite all that, he was a loving father and even a more caring husband. Had you not seen firsthand what hero society was doing to children, making them into child soldiers for society’s own gain, you might never have trusted him.

Doku’s vivid green eyes gazed at you with unmeasurable amounts of love when you came around the corner. You gave him a warm smile, running into his arms. He lifted you from the ground, spinning you, but not as fast as he usually did. You chalked this up to your pregnancy. He was always more careful with you around the kids too. Ever since you started dating, he had made a habit of rubbing your noses together instead of giving you a kiss in greeting. This was of course to keep you from getting a headache. You giggled as the tip of his nose brushed yours.

Doku’s hair was slicked back with gel. He was wearing one of your favorites of his, a gray suit tailored made to outline his muscular figure. He smelled of leather and lime, his office. Thanks to Doku’s skills, he changed his identity in the public, built a tech business from the ground up, and now was the CEO. No one could recognize him, or if they did, they didn’t say anything about it.

Doku had put his villain past behind him for his family. But, it still meant you had to be careful. Even though he wasn’t running the villain circuit anymore, Doku continued meeting up with Toga. You would allow her over too, considering she was one of the only people you could trust with your secret. There were still people looking for you after you’d faded out of the hero scene. Rumor had it you’d been kidnapped by The League of Villains, and you were presumed dead or worse, turned into a Nomu. You limited your time in the city. When you were out, you disguised yourself with wigs, hats, and baggy clothes. You weren’t sure what your kids thought of the outfits, but it was the norm for you. Kitiara once mentioned how much you liked playing dress up. You explained that it was fun because at times it was. You’d never been as much into fashion as you were now. You’d managed to hide both of your pasts from the children, but, considering how intelligent they all were, you didn’t think you could do it forever.

“I smell dinner,” Kobura said with a wide fanged grin.

“What? You thought I didn’t want to eat tonight?”

Kobura pouted. “Is that supposed to be a dis on my cooking? You know I’m handy with a knife in the kitchen.”

“That’s about all you’re handy with in there. I’m still trying to get the burnt chicken smell out of the kitchen.”

“I said I’d buy you a new one.”

“And, I said, ‘A whole new kitchen is ridiculous.’ It’s not the first or the last time you’d burn something in there.”

Kobura gave you a little twirl, holding you from behind and nuzzling his face into your neck. “I missed you,” he murmured against your skin. “Work was hard.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Doku. Anything I can do to help?” you asked.

“Just let me hold you for a little bit longer,” he said.

You waited until he was content. He slowly released you, before peering past you. “How are the kids?” He settled a hand on your stomach too. “And, how’s the baby doing?”

“Baby’s been good, and they’re being kids,” you said as if in a dream. You were so grateful that they could live a life where things weren’t so draining on them. Both you and Doku had been through a rough childhood, and you were happy to give your children a much better one. “Ah, that reminds me. I heard Toga called the twins little gremlins.”

Doku cracked a smile, shrugging. “They can be those sometimes.”

“Doku, we have to nip that in the bud, now. First, she calls them gremlins, then she’ll call them something much worse. I don’t want them to bring home a lexicon of bad words in their impressionable minds. Besides, they are well-behaved. If they’re being ‘little gremlins,’ I’ll need to discipline them.”

“You know Toga, Sweetie. She didn’t mean any harm by saying it,” Doku said, rubbing your shoulders.

You hummed in thought, easing back into his touch. He leaned closer to your ear.

“I’ll talk to her, okay?”

“Thank you,” you mumbled.

You and Doku came into the kitchen, and Kitiara sprung off of the countertop. She dashed over to her father. Doku threw her up into the air and caught her on the way down. She giggled happily in his arms.

“How’s my little girl doing?” Doku asked.

“Orichi and I built a blanket fort!” Kiti announced, her white pigtails with blue streaks bounced with her excitement. Doku shifted her to his hip, holding her with one arm.

“It’s structurally sound,” Orichi said proudly, stepping in front of his dad. Doku ruffled Orichi’s short white and blue hair with his now free hand.

“I bet it’s the strongest blanket fort in the world,” Doku said. He turned his attention to the living room. “How’s the brooding going, Haku?”

The teenager lifted three fingers up toward his father. “Read between the lines, Old Man.”

“Haku!” you scolded.

Doku just laughed. “Must have been a good writing day, then. Are you going to ever actually show your work to me, or will I have to continue to sneak a peek after hours?”

“You wouldn’t get my poetry if I explained each line to you and wrote a synopsis. What’s the point in showing it to you?” Haku snapped.

“General curiosity?” Doku offered in uncertainty.

“I’ll just show it to Mom. At least she can read faster than you,” Haku said, going back to typing.

“I can read some?” you asked.

“Hey, he just called me dumb, and you didn’t even say anything about it?” Doku whined.

“I called you slow, not dumb,” Haku corrected.

“Honey, you’re not a slow reader. We all know that. You’ve got to be the fastest coder in Japan,” you tried to reassure him.

“Damn right I am,” Doku said.

“Language,” you said.

“Damn is a no-no word?” Kitiara asked.

Orichi raised his hand. “What about dammit?”

“Both no-no words,” you said, slapping your forehead with your palm. You glared at Doku, and he tried to hide his face by holding up Kiti in front of him.

“So, to avoid the wrath of your mother, what’s for dinner, exactly? It smells so—” Doku stopped midsentence. He tilted his head to the side, placing Kitiara back onto the ground. He ushered the twins over to you, listening.

“You short-circuit or something, Old—”

Doku hushed his son by putting a hand up. Haku caught the motion out of the corner of his eyes. Haku sat up, eyes alert. Doku motioned him to come toward you. Although he was in a rebellious stage of his life, he put his laptop down and listened. You scanned over Doku’s expression. He looked worried. He held a finger up to his lips to keep everyone quiet.

Abruptly, a loud explosion blasted through the wall. Kitiara and Orichi shrieked, clutching at you for protection. Haku stumbled back in fear, his hand trembled along the countertop until he’d managed to grab a kitchen knife. Despite how indifferent he was to training due to the fact he was quirkless, his father ensured Haku was skilled in combat with a specialty in knife work. Doku removed his jacket in one swift motion, grabbing hidden knives from within his suit, he had never left the house without them. You sent out a mind barrier, but it flickered. Pregnancy always had a weird effect on your mood and your quirk, making it erratic. You prayed that it would hold.

A man stepped into the room, burly and large. The dust cleared to reveal a familiar face. Your eyes widened when you caught sight of the blond spiky hair and the green grenade gauntlets. It had been years since you’d seen him in person. Katsuki Bakugo was standing in your living room, over pieces of your home that he’d turned to rubble.

Bakugo’s crimson gaze fell on you. Stubble crowded his jaw. Dark circles looped beneath his eyes. He had muscles upon muscles, but he really looked like, besides going to the gym, his health had taken a back seat. His piercing glare shifted between you, to the children, and then to your husband.

“Anna,” Bakugo said. “I’ve finally found you.” He clenched his fists at his sides. At least two decades of unresolved questions lingered in his eyes. “They told me you were dead. They’d all given up on finding you, except for me.”

“You would have been better off thinking she was dead,” Kobura said with a growl. “Get out of my house. You’re trespassing, and I’ll do what I have to do to protect my family.”

Bakugo let out a harsh rumbling chuckle. “Your family?” Bakugo asked, looking over the children again. “How many years did it take to break down her mind? Make her forget the monstrous villain that you were? Did it satisfy you to know you had completely brainwashed her? You thought you got away with it too, didn’t you? It ends now, and it ends here. I’m taking her home.” Bakugo clenched his teeth, anger radiating from every poor.

Had he spent over two decades searching for you? Had he really never given up on getting you back? It wasn’t until Bakugo charged in your direction, eyes solely trained on you, that you came to the realization he wasn’t going to go about this peacefully. His hands were splayed, ready to blast his way to you.

“W-wait! Listen! Let’s talk this over, Bakugo!” you shouted, trying to get through to him.

Doku moved into his path. You pushed the twins behind you. Despite how much he was trembling, Haku protectively stood in front of you. You were certain Doku ensured his venom wouldn’t come into contact with Bakugo. Had Bakugo lost any more sense than he already had, he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt the children. The two men were a blur of attacks, neither of which seemingly stronger than the other. Doku had already sliced through several places on Bakugo’s costume. Bakugo had nearly clipped Doku with a hefty blast more than once, setting him off balance.

“What’s he doing to Daddy?” Kitiara asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why is he so angry with him?”

“How do you know him?” Haku asked you directly, his fingers clenching tighter around the handle of his weapon.

“He’s…” you trailed off, your voice cracking. You saw the pain in Bakugo’s expression, the years of pent up rage. You couldn’t imagine what he’d gone through, thinking you were kidnapped or dead. You hadn’t thought your disappearance would have caused so much suffering in a single person, but it had. This was your fault.

You put a hand on Haku’s shoulder. He jolted back, staring directly at you.

“What’s going on, Mom?” Haku asked.

Your heart broke. You hadn’t told any of the children about what Doku had been, what you wanted to be. It was never something necessary to bring up. They had no idea that their father used to be a villain, and they certainly didn’t know the two of you were enemies at one point in your lives. You’d been living in a blissful dream, forgetting that your past choices could haunt you like this.

You walked ahead of your children, eyes watering. Bakugo had to listen to you. He had to understand that violence wasn’t the answer here. You could talk this out. It might take some time, but you could explain it all to him. No more blood needed to be shed for you. You weren’t fighting anymore.

You sent your mind out. Please, stop.

Bakugo hesitated. His lip curved up into a snarl. “Tell me what you did to her?!” he bellowed. An explosion blasted through the air, hitting Doku straight on.

Your husband flew through the air, but your quirk snapped out, catching him before he could smack into the heavy brick. The air left his body from the sudden catch, and he staggered when his feet touched ground again.

“Bakugo, listen to me,” you pleaded. You held your hands up to try to calm him. Had he actually shown up alone?

“Stop it!” he snapped at you. “Everyone keeps telling me to listen! Everyone! They all told me to listen to reason. They all told me to give up on you! Even that Icy-Hot Bastard! No one wanted to find you. It was as if they didn’t care, they stopped caring.” Bakugo choked on his words. He shut his eyes, nostrils flaring as he took in a heavy breath. “I cared what happened. I knew you were still out there. I never gave up.” He put a hand on his chest, tightening his fingers around the fabric. “So, I’m done listening.”

Bakugo walked up to you. He tried to grab you by the wrist, but you forced him back with a blast of your mind. He was mistaken. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand, but you’d make him understand.

“This is my home, Bakugo. I’m sorry about what you’d gone through, but I’m not coming with you,” you stated.

Bakugo growled. “Anna, I don’t know what he did to your head, but this is not your home. This is a fantasy. It isn’t real. It isn’t you. You never loved him.” Bakugo pointed at your disoriented husband.

“I do love him!” you snapped back.

Bakugo’s eyes widened. His jaw set. He spread his palms at his sides. “Then, I’m sorry about what I’m going to have to do,” he said under his breath.

Bakugo lifted a hand, and he had a finger hooked into the pull pin of his gauntlet. He couldn’t possibly do something like that. You had seconds. Your children were directly behind you. You couldn’t dodge. You had to use your quirk. You shot up a last minute force field. The explosion rattled the building, debris fell around you, fire licked at your sides. The twins screamed.

Your mind cracked, and your vision blurred. A bright shockwave of blue energy rushed over your back, making your hair stand up on end, but you needed to focus your attention forward. You stood firm, up until the blast dissipated, then you collapsed to your hands and knees. Doku had launched onto Bakugo, landing a strike directly to his head. He fell unconscious. You breathed in a shuddering sigh of relief. Your concerned gaze shifted back, only to see that Haku and the twins had disappeared.

Doku Kobura stood at the edge of building, gazing down at Sweet Anna. It had been months since they let her go out into the city alone. U.A. had been stricter with her curfew, tightening her leash every time she made contact with The League of Villains. Kobura would hate for her to go back on lockdown, but he missed her so much. He couldn’t stand the thought of her going back without seeing her again. Maybe, he could even convince her to go on a date. She’d been a little less tense around him, more welcoming. Kobura came to the understanding that she finally realized he wouldn’t hurt her on purpose. There was a small hope that Sweet Anna was beginning to understand Kobura’s true intentions. He loved her. That’s all he ever wanted to convey.

A ripple of blue static energy washed over Kobura. He spun, knives at the ready. His eyes widened when a teenage boy with a basic kitchen knife and two small children appeared in front of him.

Kobura didn’t move, assessing the situation. The boy in front of him wasn’t acting aggressively. In fact, he looked afraid. He was shaking. Kobura didn’t let his guard down, but he straightened from his defensive stance. That was until the boy shifted, holding his knife in a way that only a professional would, only a way that Kobura would. The boy’s gaze was now on Doku.

“Look, I’m not into the whole killing kids thing, so do you mind telling me what you’re doing up here?” Kobura stated dryly.

“I… We don’t know what’s going on here. Our parents were being attacked, and…” the boy trailed off, nervous gaze scanning over Kobura. “Are you our dad?”

Kobura tensed. His knee-jerk reaction was to laugh. “Do I look like I could be your dad?” Kobura asked in disbelief. “I’m not even of age yet, kid. You also look almost as old as me.” Kobura smirked a bit, seeing the boy tremble again. “How about we put away the weapons?”

The boy turned his stare down to his knife, looking for a place on his person to hide it, but it was a kitchen knife after all, putting it in his pocket didn’t seem logical.

“I’ll trade you,” Kobura offered. Despite the kid’s stance earlier, he didn’t detect any malice coming off of him. The boy seemed more defensive anyway. Kobura held out one of his pocketknives, nothing special. The boy handed over the kitchen knife to Kobura in exchange with little hesitation, another sign that he wasn’t an experienced villain.

Kobura tossed the kitchen knife behind him, over the building’s edge, once it had made contact in his palm. The boy reacted a little concerned about the action, but he placed the new pocketknife into his pant pocket.

“A little life advice now that we’re not holding knives toward each other: don’t assume random strangers are your dad. They may not react as nicely as I have.” Kobura held out his hand. “The name’s Doku Kobura. Yours?”

“H-Haku,” the boy stuttered out, meeting his hand after a moment of hesitation.

“But, you are our dad.” One of the younger children had gotten closer. She poked her head out from behind Haku, sniffling as if she’d been crying. “Our dad’s name is Doku. Our last name is Kobura,” she said. “Doesn’t that mean you’re our dad?”

“He’s too young, Kiti,” the little boy said. “He’s not our dad yet.”

“Yet?” Kiti asked.

“L-let’s let your big brother think this through, okay?” Haku asked, rubbing his temples. “I’m still trying to figure out where we are, and it’s kind of giving me a headache to think about when. We don’t want to confuse Doku, do we?”

“No,” the twins said together.

The little girl took a small step closer. “I’m Kitiara, Daddy. If you don’t remember, that is.”

“Orichi,” the boy said.

Kobura furrowed his brow, examining the three children more closely now. Haku looked as if he could have been related to Kobura, only he possessed no serpent-like features. Kobura’s old man was a rough man, a recluse. His father couldn’t just sleep around with his quirk either. The twins appeared more like Kobura, aside from the blue streaks in their hair and their hazel eyes. Kobura froze, finally processing what the twins had said before. Was it that farfetched that they were his kids? Just not now? Just in the future?

Kobura squatted down, running a hand through his hair. He tilted his head to the side, examining the twins’ eyes more closely. Hazel, green and brown, just like…

“Could we stay with you until we figure things out?” Haku asked.

Kobura stood up, holding back a smile. He tried not to get overly excited about putting two and two together. He had to consider the consequences of knowing too much at a time like this. Does he ask them to clarify his assumption about who their mother was? No, it could be too dangerous to the timeline, if it actually was what he thought it was. Time travel wasn’t something to mess with. But, Anna… Kobura turned his gaze over the edge of the building again, disregarding Haku’s question. Sweet Anna was gone.

“Do you know what I am?” Kobura asked, raising an eyebrow and turning back.

“What you are?” Haku asked in confusion.

“You said you’re not our daddy,” Kitiara interjected.

“You are a boy,” Orichi answered as if he’d solved the puzzle.

Kobura cracked a smile. These kids were certainly entertaining. He might actually get a kick out of having them around. It could be to his benefit not to tell them what he was. It was a good sign that they hadn’t already turned away screaming.

“Do you know what? Never mind. Sure. You can stay with me,” Kobura said.

“Yay!” Kitiara shouted, rushing forward. She tried to grab hold of Kobura, but he dodged her advance. She nearly ran straight off the edge of the building before Kobura gripped her by the back of the shirt.

“Easy, kiddo. No hugs.”

“Woah, we’re so high up,” Kiti said. “Why no hugs, Daddy?” She turned her wide-eyed innocent gaze back on him.

Kobura pulled her back onto the roof, sighing in relief that he didn’t watch a kid fall to their death. “I could hurt you with my quirk,” he said.

“Orichi and I can give you all the kisses and hugs we want. Our quirk keeps us protected from your viral venom. Don’t you remember, Daddy? Haku is the only one who needs to be careful because he’s quirkless,” Kiti said.

Orichi grabbed onto Kitiara’s hand and pulled her away from the side of building. “You have to listen, Kiti. This is young Daddy. He doesn’t know the things that old Daddy does,” he whispered rather loudly into her ear.

“I can hug you?” Kobura breathlessly asked, caught on her words like getting snagged on barbed wire.

Kiti released her brother’s hand, smiling widely. “Of course, Daddy! We hug all of the time.” She held her arms wide, hands opening and closing for him to come give her a hug.

Kobura glanced at Haku who’d resolved himself to just watching everything unfold. He looked stunned more than anything. As the oldest brother, he probably felt responsible for keeping the twins safe, and he wasn’t exactly sure how to handle this situation.

Kobura knelt down to get on Kitiara’s level, but there was a slight bit of hesitation in what he was about to do. He kept his hands on his knees, looking at the small child.

“Will you get a headache if my quirk touches you?” Kobura asked.

“Nope,” Kitiara said, charging again. She wrapped her tiny arms around Kobura’s waist. She pressed her cheek into his chest, giggling.

Kobura didn’t reciprocate at first. His hands floated above her small frame, unable to move. He was afraid, afraid that he would hurt her.

“You’re so small, Daddy,” Kitiara said in delight. “I can almost reach all the way around your belly.”

Kobura tentatively placed his arms around her. The small embrace, giving him a sense of comfort. He waited for her to change, to become something monstrous. He was certain he was sweating or clammy. It would only take a small amount of his venom to affect her. But, the entire time, she just tightened her hold on him, trying to get her hands to lock together behind his back and giggling at the attempt. Suddenly, she bounced up, kissing Kobura on the cheek before pulling away. Kobura barely moved once she left, glancing between his arms and her.

Kobura’s phone buzzed. He moved his hand to it, picking up the call. “Yes?”

“Where are you? Weren’t you coming back to the hideout before lunch?” Toga asked on the other end of the line. “Don’t tell me that you’re with Anna. You know she’s on thin ice right now, right?”

“Got a little caught up in something,” Kobura responded, still fixated on his arms. “I didn’t directly bump into Anna…” Kobura trailed off, looking up at his suspected kids. “How crowded is the hideout right now?” he asked.

“Crowded?” Toga asked. “It’s just me and Twice here. Dabi’s been in and out all day. He might be around.”

“I’m bringing some guests with me.”

“Are you sure Shiggy would be okay with that?” Toga asked. “He’s still kind of pissed off at you.”

“He’ll be fine,” Kobura said. “As fine as Shigaraki could be on a normal day.”

Kobura led the kids down the fire escape. His hands carefully kept a hold of the twins on the way down. It didn’t take very long for the group of four to make it all the way to the hideout. Thankfully, despite how short they were at this age, the twins had no trouble keeping up.

Kobura walked in first, eyes peering into the dim room. He frowned when he caught sight of Dabi at the bar, but he motioned for the group to come in.

Dabi glanced over lazily, a sly smile crossing his lips. “Didn’t know we started a daycare center,” he said. He tipped back his glass, taking a long sip of his amber-colored alcohol.

Kobura grabbed the hands of the twins again, tugging them away from the burnt trash man. It was better that Kobura didn’t even acknowledge him. If Kobura said anything, he might have started something, and he wouldn’t want to do that with the kids around.

Kobura moved further into the hideout until he came to the brightly lit room with the television at the far end, along with a couch. Unsurprisingly, he found Twice and Toga watching cartoons.

Toga heard them come in. Kobura watched as her pigtails barely shifted. Her yellow eyes, watching. She turned fully around when she realized it was Kobura that entered the room, and her eyes shined in delight at seeing guests.

“Auntie Toga!” the twins screeched, slipping from Kobura’s grip and rushing around the couch. They had snuggled up next to her without hesitation, tiny arms circling her waist in a hug.

“Who are these little guys?” Toga asked, patting them on the head. “You’ve never talked about siblings.”

“You have kids? I thought you were still a child yourself. Looks like Kobura’s gotten busy. I’m going to be such a good uncle,” Twice said. If he wasn’t already wearing a mask, Kobura could have sworn a tear had come to his eye.

“I’m Kitiara, and this is Orichi. Big brother Haku is over there,” Kiti said politely. “I figured since you look so young like Daddy you might not know who we are either.” She suddenly dipped her head low, covering the side of her mouth. “We’re not supposed to talk about it though. Daddy said he’s not Daddy, so don’t tell him.”

Twice raised an eyebrow. “As fun as this is, how does it make sense? I don’t have to know how it happened as long as I get to be the laid-back relative that the kids love.”

“How did you manage to have little gremlins when you’re one yourself?” Toga asked.

Kitiara suddenly straightened, an exaggerated frown formed on her face. She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “We are not gremlins,” she grumbled. “Take it back.”

Toga gave her the saddest look in return, not understanding what she’d done wrong.

“Mommy told us that gremlins was a mean name to call us,” Orichi explained.

“Your Mommy must be a very nice woman. We could have called you names that were much worse.” Twice stood up from the couch, trying to wrap his arm around Kobura’s shoulders, which Kobura deftly avoided. “Have you been raising a family on your days off? Who’s the lucky lady, you stud?”

Kobura turned his attention back to Haku. He hadn’t said a word since he’d come in. He looked shaken, uncertain by his surroundings. Haku was staring at Twice, fear striking his features.

“Hey, kid. Are you okay?” Kobura asked.

Haku gripped the bottom of his long black sweatshirt, looking to the ground. “Fine,” he said, breath shaking. He hesitated for a moment before speaking again. “Was the man in the other room Dabi?” he asked.

Kobura’s eyes widened. “Yeah, why?” he asked.

“And, this…” Haku lifted his trembling hand, pointing at Twice without looking at him. “This was Twice… This is Twice?” he asked in uncertainty.

“The one and only! Why did someone tell you otherwise?” Twice said.

“Shit. You’re a villain. Aren’t you? You’re all villains.” Haku finally said, taking a step back.

“Haku said a no-no word!” Kiti announced.

“You didn’t know we were villains?” Toga asked from the couch.

“Auntie Toga is a villain?” Kiti turned her attention back on her. “She wouldn’t do something to hurt us, Haku, neither would Daddy.”

“This isn’t right. None of this is right. We need to go home now,” Haku said, panic striking his vocal cords.

“Am I not a villain in the future?” Kobura asked. It was a plain question, a sincere one. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of hope. All Kobura had ever known was this life, what people saw him as. He didn’t think he could get out of what he was born with, what he was born into.

“You’re Daddy!” Kiti said, giggling.

Haku shook his head, continuing to back away. “Orichi and Kitiara come here. We need to go back.”

“I’m not going to hurt any of you,” Kobura said, but he didn’t move. He didn’t want to risk scaring Haku further.

“But, it’s just Auntie Toga,” Kiti said.

“I said come here!” Haku said with more force.

The three villains winced in unison. Had future Kobura not told his own children what he had been? Was life that peaceful that he could keep it from them?

The twins, near tears, scrambled over to their older brother. He put a hand on each of their shoulders. Despite how he was glaring at Kobura, there was nothing but love that Kobura felt for the child. Just by Haku’s reaction, the fact he didn’t know that Kobura was a villain, meant that he’d succeeded as a father. Kobura managed to have the life he’d always dreamed of. He had a family and kids that loved him. He had a wife. He didn’t need to worry about what other people thought of him because he had everything he needed. As upset as Haku was, it only solidified for Kobura how much he would change in the future. He gave his kids a life where they didn’t need to suffer what he had to go through. He gave them a life where they could choose their own path. They didn’t have to be villains. They hadn’t already been put in a box.

“It’s time we go back. Mom and Dad need us,” Haku said resolutely, ignoring the fact that Kobura, Toga, and Twice were still in the room. “Remember what Mom had taught you? How to focus on your quirk?”

The twins nodded.

“You’re going to need to concentrate really hard, okay? Your big brother is with you if something goes wrong. I know it’s scary, but you have to try to go back to where we were in the future, okay?”

Kitiara moved her tear-filled gaze to Kobura. “We have to go back now?”

“Yes. Mom and Dad, our Mom and Dad from our time, are really worried,” Haku insisted. “It’s time to say goodbye.”

“Bye, young Daddy,” Orichi said.

“Goodbye.” Kitiara sniffled.

“Why is this so sad? We just met the kids and now they’re leaving.” Twice leaned over the back of the couch, covering his face as if he was crying.

“I do not cry over these kinds of things,” Toga said, fanning her face. Tears had already started glistening in the corners of her eye.

Kobura watched Haku. He hadn’t said anything yet, since he’d been so adamant about leaving. He finally got to look at his son. Pride welled in his chest. He looked healthy. He looked well-cared for.

The twins grabbed each other’s hands. They shut their eyes, and a blue energy formed around them. The air shifted, and the twins looked at Kobura again. Tears, they were sad that they were leaving.

“I love you,” Kobura said. It was natural, unforced. The words moved from his lips as if he’d said them to the kids every morning and every night of their lives. And, he would say it to them.

Blue energy blasted through the room, shaking the old dusty building’s frame. The kids had disappeared, leaving nothing behind to suggest they’d ever been there. Kobura might have been worried had he not felt so at peace after meeting them. The only way he could describe the feeling that now resided in his loosening muscles would be a fatherly instinct. Kobura had no doubt that they’d made it back to where they belonged. They were safe. Safe with their father.

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agentark88 · 3 years ago

Text

Think: Chapter Sixty-Eight: A Heart Stabbed by Fangs

My Hero Academia Fan Fiction by Agent ARK 88

Warnings: This work contains mild language, blood, implied abuse, and violence.

Please be aware this piece is in second person perspective, following my original character, Think, Anna Kokoro, who is a transfer student from America. Thank you for reading.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: A Heart Stabbed by Fangs

Kobura’s gaze had locked onto yours. You struggled onto your feet, battered and exhausted. Kobura’s toxic green eyes were wet with tears, actual tears. One slipped down his face, making you warily take a step back, but realizing the hole that you’d fallen from was no longer there. You were trapped, cornered. There was no exit. You had to make one.

Aizawa’s worries hit you like a truck. He warned you. He thought that The League of Villains would be involved, and they were. Your knees buckled, but you somehow kept standing.

You’re not afraid. You’re stronger now. You’re tired but stronger, you reminded yourself internally, praying that you weren’t so rattled that you’d projected your words into his mind.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Kobura repeated. “All of my life. I’ve been waiting,” his voice cracked. The vulnerability in his words had you hesitating. His normally suave and sadistic ranting and assured demeanor seemed to have crumbled under the pressure inside him. There were dark circles under his eyes, and the weight of the world appeared to hold down his shoulders. Had he always been that skinny? Even his villain suit was a bit looser on him, the leather fabric over his muscles wasn’t pulled taut.

“Stay back!” you warned him, lifting your hand up. Your quirk rumbled over your skin, wrapping like ribbons around your toned muscles.

Kobura didn’t move. The tear that you’d seen on his face had soaked into his flushed cheeks. Kobura blinked, his eyes widening. He covered his face in his hands.

Your arm shook in the air. He wasn’t attacking you. He wasn’t fighting you. He was a villain. All this time he was a villain. Why was he crying? Why did he look so hurt, burdened?

“W-Why are you crying?” you asked, mentally punching yourself for even questioning it. Bakugo would have chewed you out for acting so weak, but you couldn’t help it.

“I’m not,” Kobura said flatly. His hands balled into fists over his eyes, his tears more evident. If you could see his face under his mask, you might have seen his lip quiver.

Suddenly, you weren’t looking at a villain, your enemy. You were looking at someone in pain. Your arm dropped to your side, and you looked on. Your heart ached. Before you knew what you were doing, you rushed toward him.

Your arms came around his torso. Kobura’s hands flew up. Despite everything, you didn’t let go. You tightened your hold around his chest, leaning into him. He didn’t move. His body stiffened, went rigid. His heartbeat resounded loudly, easily heard with your ear pressed against him. He’d gotten thinner. You could tell.

“Anna, I’m going to…” he choked out, his voice trembling, his body shaking. “…I could infect you with my quirk like this.” His hands still kept from touching you, hovering just out of reach. Kobura attempted to hide a sniffle.

Your natural instincts were screaming at you. Every fiber of your being was telling you to let go. The intelligent part of your brain knew this was wrong. Why were you showing compassion toward someone that had so deeply traumatized you? Why would you show sympathy for a villain? He didn’t deserve any form of affection toward you. Yet…

“Why are you crying?” you repeated the question. It was the only reason that you were standing within dangerous range of your enemy.

“I’m not…” This time Kobura’s words flooded with mangled sobs. His arms came around you then, sending a shockwave of fear but also relief through your emotions. He pressed you closer to him. And, as if he’d clicked a switch, your mind launched into his.

You stood in a child’s body now, tears prickling the edge of your vision. You’d managed to slice open your knee rather badly. You looked up at a woman with slick black hair that ran all the way down to her waist. Her disapproving green eyes glared down at you, over her slender model-like nose. You cried louder, but it only earned you a sneer from the woman.

Get away from me, you little mistake! As if I’d even consider touching you in this state! Go clean yourself up and stop your sniveling! Do you want your mother to get a migraine because of your quirk? How selfish are you? the woman screamed at you, straight, white teeth gnashing violently together.

You shivered in fright as she lifted a rolled magazine in her hands, ready to shoo you away like some misbehaving animal. Your horrified attention stayed focused on her eyes, your mother’s eyes. You wanted to run, but you were too afraid to turn around.

You were thrown into another memory, feeling nausea bubbling up in your throat. You stared into a mirror. Green snake-like eyes looked back at you, the same eyes that your mother had birthed you with, cursed you with. You were barely over five years old. Your fingers held fast around one of your baby fangs. It scared you to think about yanking it free, but you’d convinced yourself this was the only way you could be normal. Just as you got the nerve to go through with it, a door slammed open behind you.

A single black lifeless eye glared at you, and you knew your father was standing there. You cowered in fear, scrambling to the floor and crawling to hide beneath your bed. Abruptly, you were grabbed by the ankle and dragged from your place.

Don’t you run from me, boy! Did you think I wouldn’t find out what you did? Do you think money just grows on trees, Doku?

He was holding you up by your shirt now, switching his hold. Your little legs kicked in the air. This close to his gnarled features, your father was always frightening. The gruesome scar over the right side of his face, where his eye should have been, reminded you of what a monster he was. His breath stunk of booze. His fangs were far larger than yours, sharper and more menacing. Even his jaw was made for them. Part of his cheeks were covered in an extra skin, similar to a snake.

The man tossed you to the ground. You got your bearings just quick enough to dodge a mangled phone that was coming straight for your head. Your father pulled back his long ghostly-white locks with a single band on his wrist. This only made you whimper as you pressed yourself against a nearby wall. You blinked. He was gone, a dark spot left in your memory. Pain. All you felt was pain in your arm.

Before you could understand what it was that happened, you were tossed into another thought. You were a little older now. A little bit taller. A swing squeaked eerily in the breeze beside you. A small girl with black hair in a small bun kept her distance, but she was clearly talking to you.

I’m sorry, Doku. My daddy said that I can’t play with you anymore. He said you had cooties, and if I played with you, I’d get them too, she said.

You opened your mouth to argue with her, but you felt the looming eyes of your other classmates nearby. You took a step closer to her, and she took a step back.

Can’t we just talk, then? I promise I won’t get too close, Kobura said in a small voice.

Daddy said that I can’t play with you anymore. I don’t want to get in trouble, she replied.

She walked away without even looking at you again. You silently stood as she left, didn’t move until all of the children had been called back in. All you wanted to do was disappear. The sudden urge to leave and never come back forced your limbs to move on their own. The memory shivered as you nearly made it to the road.

You took a running start into your next distant memory. You were moving so fast it felt as if you were flying. You were much taller now, stronger. No one cheered out your name. No one clapped for you. In fact, the excitement slowly died the faster you’d gone. You crossed the finish line, a smile curving over your lips. You breathed heavily, looking ahead of you, only to see the back of your opponents. Your coach mumbled that you’d broken the record, but the others had barely moved past the starting line. You sat alone behind the bleachers.

You waited. You knew that you had to wait. You weren’t allowed in the locker rooms until everyone had left. Your sweat alone could have infected your teammates, and your sporadic thoughts continued to remind you of that. You always had to hit the showers last.

You walked into the locker room, freezing when you heard the slamming door of a locker. You went to turn back. You didn’t want to get in trouble, not for something so trivial. You’d made it this far through middle school without a serious incident. You weren’t a young child anymore. You were almost a teenager, and it meant you could keep yourself from making mistakes.

Kobura, a voice called out to you. Come here.

The hairs on your arms stood on end. Hiroto Mori stared at you, grinning. His name repeated itself over and over in your memory. You recognized him as a threat. He bullied everyone. He’d only done so to you at a distance, defaming your property or telling lies about you. It was hard not to remember every detail of how he tormented you. You knew it was because of your quirk. Even a big bully like him wasn’t about to get infected by your quirk by shoving you into a locker, so he made sure he was being clever with his sick tricks. Aside from your quirk making you a target, you’d already skipped a few grades, so even though you’d gotten a little taller, it wasn’t as tall as him. You recognized how small you were in his presence. Hiroto specialized in javelin and shotput on the track team, so you rarely crossed each other’s path, until now.

You gulped. Anything he wanted wasn’t good. You kept your head down, trying to pretend you hadn’t heard him. You wanted desperately to get away, you felt it in your body and thoughts.

Heard you broke the record. Nice job, he said, swinging his backpack over his shoulder and pursuing your retreating form.

You stopped in your tracks.

His footsteps got closer until they stopped behind you, until you felt his breath on your neck. You shifted, eyes widening and getting ready to shove him back.

Nice job for a loser like you that is, he corrected. He gripped you by your track shirt and shoved you up against one of the nearby lockers. You were forced not to defend yourself by your toxic reputation in school. You’d been training harder than you’d liked to admit, getting stronger to protect yourself. But, if you did something irrational, you’d be expelled. The only thing you had going for you was school, running. Your mind dwelled on not being thrown out of school, repeating it like a mantra in your head.

Hiroto towered over you. He punched the wall beside your head, and it cracked under his strength. You winced.

You tell anyone about this, and I’ll kill you.

You didn’t speak. You couldn’t tell what he meant. He hadn’t done anything to you, aside from shoving you against a wall. His lips were suddenly on yours, and you panicked. You didn’t want your first kiss to be like this, not with him. You tried to shove him off, but you weren’t strong enough. Pressed against the wall like that, you didn’t have many options. You bit him.

Another black stain on your memory. You remembered clambering out of the locker room for your life, not much else. The next day, the lockers were taped off. Hiroto transferred schools. You heard a rumor about it.

You were whisked into another memory. Boredom masked your expression. You’d gone through a rather drastic growth spurt. You were told to meet one of your upper classmates at the lake. The thought made you sick. It was probably a sick joke. If she didn’t have so much influence on the other students at your school, you might not have even shown up.

She stood below you, face flush. She fidgeted nervously in your presence, but there was a clear arrogance that cascaded off of her. If she only knew how much you hated her. It boiled under your skin to see her in front of you.

So, why did you call me out here, senpai? you asked in disinterest, your voice deep.

The girl frowned at you, picking at her polished nails as she pouted. Look, I’m not going to waste your time with small talk, and I’m not going to waste my time by speaking to an underclassman without getting to the point. I think it’s pretty obvious that you and I are the hottest people in our school. And, as everyone seems to treat you like you don’t exist, I thought I’d make you my new charity project. Sounds good, doesn’t it? She giggled, pressing a finger to your defined chest. I get a hot boyfriend, and you get a hot girlfriend. Seems fair to me. It’s not as if someone like you has anything to lose, right?

You smirked. You looked off distantly. No one would even know the two of you were out there. Such a stupid girl. Did she not know why everyone treated you like a disease? It was because you were one. You could ruin her and no one would even believe she had asked you out there.

You lifted your hand, tilting her face up with your index finger. Her haughty attitude crumbled under the single move.

If we’re dating, we should kiss, shouldn’t we? you asked. The part of you that kept everything under control had loosened. You knew you could get away with a single kiss. No one would believe her. No one at school even believed your quirk existed anymore.

Daringly, she pushed closer, closing her eyes. You licked your lips, kissing her with the intent to make her as much as an outcast as everyone else. You were sick of being treated the way that you were. One hidden act of ill-intent would be overlooked. No one would believe it was the quiet kid that did it. She would tear herself apart, and it made your skin tingle with the idea of vengeance. You no longer felt guilt about it. Why should you? After all, you were just acting in accordance to how they treated you. A monster.

Loneliness compressed your chest. The longer you lived, the harder it was to continue living. Memories of the past choked your thoughts. Acts of violence lessened the pain, but it never disappeared. You grew saltier, angrier. You masked everything with false emotions. What use was it to get close to people if intimacy only turned them into a monster? Day after day, things became monotonous. You threw yourself into your studies, lashing out when you needed to feel something. Memories blurred. Time flashed by. Blood. Anger. Tears. Research. Blades. Focus. Training. Knives. Blood. Fury. Anger. Obsession. Blood. Pain. Obsession. Blood. Blood.

A gentle shaking had your eyes opening. Exhaustion paralyzed your limbs. Kobura’s hand was on your cheek, worry written all over his face. Toxic green smudges trailed down his face, where his tears had been. Once he’d seen your eyes open, he drew you closer. He cradled you in his arms.

“I thought I lost you,” he mumbled. “I lost myself, and I didn’t realize you’d even gone unconscious. I’m pathetic. All that time thinking about…” Kobura trailed off, eyes widening. “It shouldn’t concern you. I should know how to avoid using my quirk on someone, and I couldn’t even keep from using my quirk on you, Sweet Anna.” His fingers tightened though your hair.

The fever settled in your temple. Fear swelled in your chest.

“I’m broken, and I make everyone around me break too.” Kobura gripped you tighter. “I do it on purpose.” He shook. “It used to be an accident, but I started doing it on purpose, so I could prove them right.” His hand had tensed in your hair a little too hard, pain crackled through your scalp. “I stopped for you. Every time I did something bad, I thought about you, how you would hate it, and I stopped. But…” Kobura trailed off. “It doesn’t change the fact that I did those things. It doesn’t change how many people I injured after meeting you. It doesn’t change what I am, what I have to be.” He wasn’t looking at you. He was looking ahead.

“You’re hurting me,” you said, cringing at the pain over your scalp.

Kobura released your hair immediately. His dead-eyed stare focused again. He let you go, gently laying you over the floor. Numbness clung to your limbs. You’d lost track of what was happening while in his mind. There was no telling how much venom was circulating through your system. All that training was useless, as soon as he infected you.

Kobura turned away from you. He clenched his fists at his sides. “I don’t have a chance, do I? I’ll never have a chance to have a normal life.” He let out a bitter laugh. “I knew that from the beginning. I was doomed to be a villain, like I knew that I always would be.” Kobura shuddered, hands moving to cup either side of his head. “That’s why I keep trying so hard to have you see that they’ll turn on you in a second. I don’t want you to have to go through the pain that I did. I want to protect you. I can protect you.”

“I never asked for your protection,” you said, feeling your fingers twitch with life.

“You don’t have to. I’ll protect you regardless…” Kobura turned his toxic green eyes back on you again. “…because I love you.”

“You don’t love me,” you said.

“I do love you.” He dropped to his knees beside you. “How can I prove it to you?”

Your eyes had steadied, the fever slowly breaking. “You don’t love me. You only care that my quirk protects me from you, that you can’t break me like the others.”

Kobura’s expression shifted. Darkness swelled behind his eyes. “You saw it then? You watched what I’ve done? It’s not what you think. It might have started as a small fascination. You were the first one I could get close to so of course I was intrigued. You don’t think I’ve thought about what that could have done to my head?”

“You’re not in love. You’re obsessed.” You gritted your teeth, feeling the strength come back to you. Your quirk buzzed within your skull.

“You don’t get to tell me how I feel!” Kobura snapped. The anger fell from his face. Tears again came to his eyes. “I thought you were the only one that could understand me.” He covered his face in his hands. “I’m not wrong. I’m not foolish. I’m not obsessed. I love you, Sweet Anna.”

You stood as quietly as you could manage. No matter how empathetic you felt toward him, he wasn’t just going to let you go. He’d keep going after you. He’d made himself into a villain. You had to treat him like one.

“Is this where you fight me, Anna?”

You froze, looking down at him, fist already raised.

“I’ll prove to you how much you mean to me. I won’t fight back. There’s no way I could win anyway. Your mind is set. You refuse to love the monster that I am. But, I’m patient. I can wait. As painful as it is to be without you, I will wait.” Kobura removed his hands from his eyes. He stood. “You’ll see. You’ll see that there are worse monsters. You’ll see, and I’ll be there to catch you. That’s never changed.” He opened his arms to show he was defenseless.

Anger streamed through your body. Without another second of hesitation, you slapped him across the face. “You don’t get to do that! You don’t get to act like you know exactly what’s going to happen! You don’t get to choose if I love you or not! You don’t control my life!” You shot your mind out. It slammed into him, forcing him against the wall and cracking the foundation.

“You can let all of your frustration out on me, Sweet Anna. I can take it. I know it’s not fair. I know that I haven’t been fair,” he said. He coughed, and a small bit of blood splattered onto the ground.

“You don’t choose my destiny!” You swung your fist, feeling the ripples of energy connect through your muscles. Your fist hit the wall beside his head. Debris kicked back, and the wall crumbled beneath your fist.

“I don’t have to,” he said. “We’re fated to be together.” He hadn’t flinched, and it only made you angrier.

You punched his chest, but it wasn’t nearly as potent. You hit him over and over again. “You hurt people! You purposefully hurt people! I’m not like you! I won’t let the pain drive me to that!” You continued to batter his chest weakly with your fists, but he stayed firm.

“You don’t deserve that pain, Anna.” Kobura looked at you. His gaze met yours. He’d been so patient with people. He’d waited so long to react to how he was being treated. He didn’t act like a villain in the beginning. “I do, but you don’t.”

Your bottom lip trembled. “No. You don’t deserve it either,” you said barely above a whisper. You broke down. You cried. You tapped your fist against his chest like you were still fighting him, like it was the only thing that you knew to do.

Kobura, after letting you release all of your frustrations out on him, grabbed your wrists. He didn’t do it tight enough to keep you from pulling away, but he didn’t have to. You were one choice away from being him, and, now, you finally understood that.

“I’m not you,” you muttered, hiccupping on another sob.

“I know,” Kobura said. He let go of one of your wrists, moving to wipe the tears from your face, but his hand paused. “You understand, don’t you?”

Your eyes widened, and you shoved yourself away from him. You furiously wiped the tears from your face, shaking your head free of the confusing thoughts swimming through your mind. Regardless of what he’d gone through, regardless of how you feel, you wanted to be a hero, and he was a villain.

“Sweet Anna…” Kobura reached a hand toward you, and you jolted back.

“I’m a hero. I’m not going to attack you when you won’t defend yourself.”

“I don’t want to keep hurting you. I don’t want to keep pushing you away,” Kobura responded.

“Fight me,” the words came out bluntly. At first, you’d been surprised that you’d said them. “Please, just, fight me.” All you wanted to do was to let out every confusing thought, every confusing emotion settled in your chest. You hated this uneasiness. You hated feeling like everything you were fighting for was fruitless. You hated that you felt like you were looking in the mirror.

Doku Kobura gazed at you in understanding. A smile flickered over his lips. His stance lowered, and he waited as if allowing you time to change your mind. The air shifted. Static electricity buzzed between the silence, like the air itself saw what was about to happen.

“I’m yours, however you’ll take me.” Kobura moved first.

On instinct, your body had shifted, and a blade sliced clean through your hero costume, but it didn’t graze skin. He meant to cut you. You saw it in his eyes, the surprise and delight.

“You’re faster,” he said, before striking again.

You hooked his wrist with your quirk, spinning him backwards; however, he twirled into it, facing you again. He reached into one of his many leather pockets. Your attention shifted, but he was quick to keep you focused on his movements again. His blade sliced near your ear, and this time you swore you felt the sting of the blade, barely more than a papercut.

You sent out a mental blast. Kobura didn’t have time to dodge. He took it full on, but he managed to skid across the ground, focus still trained on you. You took the moment of space to empty some of your utility pockets. Several of your round projectiles bounced across the ground. Kobura grinned.

Before you could lift your weapons into the air, you noticed Kobura had changed his stance. Without a significant amount of movement, he’d thrown a few metal burs in your direction. You redirected their path instantly. They lodged into the wall next to you. Kobura’s brows raised. He tossed away the knife he’d been chasing you with and pulled out two new ones. He spun the blades between his fingers, humming a sharp and sadistic tune to himself.

“Out of respect. I’m not holding back,” he said. “Out of selfishness, I’m enjoying it.”

Kobura flicked out his wrist, and a blade shot toward you. You caught it with your mind, the tip an inch from your forehead. A small gasp left your lips as you grabbed the handle and pulled down the blade from the air. You threw the knife down, and it clattered against the tiled floor. Kobura continued to hum. He’d already replaced the missing blade with a new one, twirling the weapons just as deftly as before.

“Are you truly willing to test your limit, Sweet Anna, or mine?”

You pushed in, using a well-placed blast to send you forward. You disarmed his first knife, knocking it clear across the room. The second knife cut into your thigh. You gripped his wrist, thrusting your palm up into his jaw, and stopping him from slicing you deeper. He’d pulled out another blade. He shifted it in his grasp and suddenly you felt it graze the back of your neck. Your quirk snapped out, rendering the weapon useless as it was also sent flying across the room.

“If you keep taking away my toys, I’m going to have to start using my hands,” Kobura whispered into your ear.

You remained silent, concentrated. You put a wrist lock on Kobura that had him drop yet another dagger. Strands of your mind had reached back, unbeknownst to Doku, you intended to keep him busy with close-quarter combat. You had a minefield worth of projectiles around you. All you needed was one of your capture weapons to get him immobilized, then it would be all over. Kobura and you had been crossing hands, circling each other with precise movements that were met with just as precise counterattacks. Neither of you had seemed to gain the upper hand. Any knives that were exposed met the fate of being flung across the room.

Muscles aching and quirk straining from being detached from your combat focus, you were thankful that he hadn’t overpowered you yet. Abruptly, Kobura turned his body and with a jerk of hand against your neck he’d forced you forward. His breath brushed your ear.

“Your quirk is showing, Sweet Anna,” Kobura murmured. His fingers, cold against your neck, slid upward, catching strands of your floating hair between his fingertips.

You jumped away from him, and he let you retreat. Both of you were breathing heavily. He smiled in amusement. Your mind had connected with everything around the room. You knew where your weapons were and his. He knew what game you were playing at, so it was no use to surprise him, but you might be able to overwhelm him.

You lifted your hands out in front of you. The familiar tug of your quirk pulled at the edges of your thoughts. Every loose object in the room floated into the air. Kobura broke out into a wide and joyous smile.

“You spoil me,” he said, eyes bouncing around the assortment of weaponry.

You couldn’t kill him. You didn’t want to kill him. You wondered briefly if he thought you’d go that far, if he thought it would be some kind of triumph if he could get you to go that far. As painful as it was, you had isolated the knives from your projectiles in your mind. The weight of them were far different from your equipment. You would only use them to direct, not to harm. The one you really wanted to use was clear in your mind’s eye, your neural net.

You would put your quirk up to full blast to end this. He was a far better fighter than you were, even though you’d improved so much. This was it. This was how you’d end this.

You repeated the words, Mind Break, in your head, and you rattled them within Kobura’s mind. It was just at that moment, when he’d made a facial reaction that you sent the onslaught of weapons at him. Although there had been clear evidence that your mind had infiltrated his own, his physical body seemed unperturbed as he dodged everything you sent his way. Like an acrobat in his element, he flipped and twisted narrowly away from your projectiles. Unlike those you’d fought before, when you rounded anything back in his direction it was as if he’d seen it coming and dodged. His movements were minimal, effective, he wasted no energy. But, even he couldn’t account for everything.

Through the chaotic mass of moving parts, your focus centered on the one. It tired you, exhausted you to near unconsciousness, but you continued to stay firm, waiting for the most opportune moment. Then, it happened. Kobura had dodged one of his knives, but he was promptly hit in the shoulder by one of the weighted metallic projectiles. It knocked him back. His footing slipped slightly. You sent your green projectile straight for him. His eyes caught it like a cat’s to a laser. Your focus quivered, consciousness slipping. You couldn’t wait for another opportunity. The ball dipped unexpectedly from your dizziness, but you pressed the button in desperation. The net shot out. It wrapped tightly around Kobura’s legs, sending him hurtling to the ground. He managed to brace himself with one arm before his head could hit the ground with brutal force; however, from the reverberating sound of the smack of his body meeting the floor, he didn’t seem completely unscathed.

The remaining objects in the room fell. A cacophony of sounds clattered against the ground. Your hands went up to your head, attempting to keep your brain from spilling out. Your quirk pulsed in anger at its overuse. Your vision flickered. That sense of uncontrolled power filled your body. It tensed your muscles and forced you to your knees.

Kobura coughed and groaned. You could barely hear him over the angry buzz of your quirk. He was speaking to you again, but it was muffled. Your only hope was that the net would hold long enough for you to compose yourself. It didn’t have an easy trigger to find if you didn’t know where to look.

Stay calm. Stay calm. Get control again. You can get control again. You’re stronger now.

You forced one eye open, only to see Kobura had drawn a weapon you’d never seen him use. It glowed with a green vibrant light, and it was slicing easily through the net that was supposedly indestructible. The migraine drilling into your skull forced your eyes shut again. Your quirk was trying to take over. It was trying to keep you safe from yourself.

Your quirk could have gone two ways. You could lose consciousness and go into a comatose state, leaving you vulnerable to being kidnapped again. Or, your quirk could try to self-destruct again, keep anything and everything away from you, and tear this building from the inside out. Neither of these options had you at ease. You trembled, fingers tensing around your skull.

Please. Stop.

It hurt. It hurt to think, to move. You didn’t want to lose control. You didn’t want it to happen again. You were doing so well. You had a chance to win. It wasn’t your weakness. Your quirk had worked against you.

A hand touched you on the shoulder, and you weakly pushed it away.

This is my quirk. I control it. Stop.

Hands were on you again. You didn’t have the strength to push them away. Cold metal touched the base of your neck. You froze. You opened your eyes. Kobura slid the tip of his blade up the length of your neck, barely skimming the skin, tilting your head up with the broad side of knife when he hit your chin. Tears fell from your eyes.

“I won,” Kobura said.

You gulped, tightening your fingers around the fabric over your thighs. Your quirk wasn’t responding to your call. It was not only ignoring you, but it was trying to shut you down.

“That’s the longest fight I’ve ever been in without holding back.” He smiled softly down at you. “So, I expect it to be even longer next time.”

“W-what?” you asked.

With one swift motion, he sliced through the fabric of your shoulder. You trembled. The pain in your head had become searing. You clenched your jaw.

Please make it stop. Make the pain stop.

Kobura caressed the edge of your neck. “Maybe…” Kobura trailed off, his cold fingertip traced the edge of your jugular. “Maybe, my quirk can be used for good too.” His breath came next, a hot puff of warmth against your exposed skin. “If it’s for you, Sweet Anna, I don’t mind.” His lips barely grazed your flesh, then his teeth sank into your neck.

You gasped. Kobura pressed his body closer to yours. His arms encircled you in protection. His venom entered your system in a burst of calming warmth. Your quirk quieted, the angry buzz stopped. The migraine that had plagued you became a mild headache, a fever. The ease of control settled into your body again.

Kobura embraced you, kept you upright. He didn’t make a move to make you feel more exposed or try to kiss you. He didn’t threaten you with any weapons. He waited with you in his arms. His quirk had taken hold, and it lulled you into a placid normal state. You felt numb, but no longer unstable.

“My venom should let your quirk slowly come back in and help with the drawbacks of yours. It’s just a hunch, but I think my quirk nullifies your quirk, just from how it has reacted in the past. If it doesn’t, it should at least allow your body a moment’s rest,” Kobura spoke softly.

“Why?” you asked, breathing labored.

“Because I love you,” he said.

Your bottom lip quivered, and you pressed your face into his shoulder. Some hero-in-training you were by accepting help from your enemy. You were literally in the arms of a villain, thankful that he made the agony go away.

“You’re as amazing as I imagined you’d be in a real fight with me. I’m so proud of how strong you’ve gotten,” he said.

Small sobs left you. How could you let him be so close? How could you feel relieved? He was the bad guy. He was the killer. The last thing you should feel in his arms was safe.

“Does it still hurt?” he asked.

You shook your head weakly. It was all you could manage. There was a small dull ache, but everything that had made it feel like the world would implode had disappeared.

“Good. I’m going to check your other wound now.” Kobura set you back, using your own cape to make a makeshift pillow under your head. His fingers prodded carefully around your leg wound, seeing how deep it was. “This might seem gross, but it’s going to help,” he warned. Kobura removed one of his gloves. He licked the length of his hand, leaving behind a green-tinted residue. He moved his palm over the gash, and you flinched away from him with what little strength you had. His green gaze had moved back up to you, pleading for you to stay still. He placed his hand on the cut, a soothing warmth spread over the cut. “That should stop the bleeding.”

Exhaustion swept over your feverish brain. If you could have moved, you would have checked the wound yourself. The building shook Kobura’s attention moved. He stood from where he was beside you, glare trained on somewhere nearby. He glanced down at you in concern, before he took a few steps away.

Kobura checked his phone in the next instance. “Ah, crap. Toga,” he said under his breath. He paused. He glanced at you once again. “Please stay safe, Sweet Anna. I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

Kobura collected an assortment of his knives from the surrounding area, then he threw something small at a nearby wall. A red blinking light was the first indication that it was some kind of explosive. Upon pressing a detonation button on his phone, the little object made a huge explosion. You shut your eyes, and, when you opened them again, Kobura had disappeared into the dust cloud.

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