Chapter Thirty-Five

Back at the agency, things are finally starting to feel like they're getting back to normal with me, Bakugo, Shoto, and Deku and we're all finally assigned another mission together. Since we're so close to graduation and well passed our licensing exams, we've been entrusted with a lot lately and today isn't any different. Despite the increasing threat that the masked villains are posing, Endeavor sends the four of us on another patrol of one of their rumored safe houses.

On the way there, I find myself vibrating with nerves, my entire body tense and unsettled. It only makes me more irritated. I hate feeling so powerless to my own emotions.

"Are you alright?" Shoto asks me, hanging back a beat. I let out a breath, keenly aware of Bakugo's shoulders tensing.

"The last time I fought them... I don't know. I don't know what they want exactly, but I have this sinking feeling..." I say, shaking my head. Shoto tilts his head, curious.

"Feeling of what?" he wonders and my stomach tightens with anxiety. I can't explain it, can't even begin to understand why, but part of me feels like it has something to do with... me. Even more than before.

"I just..." I grit my teeth, feeling somehow unable to say it aloud. I should say it. I should be honest and warn them, but part of me wants to keep that fear to myself. I want to keep it bottled up inside both to protect myself from something that might not even be real and to protect them... if they know that the villains are after me... they'll try to protect me. They won't let me fight or go off alone... they won't let me do the protecting.

"It's nothing" I finish and though I receive looks from everyone in the group, no one presses me on the matter. They all know by now not to and I'm thankful. The rest of the way there, the lot of us are mostly silent, anxiety almost tangible in the air around us. 

When we arrive, the place isn't nearly as worn down or abandoned as all of our past tip off locations and I'm surprised by the shockingly clean business front. The glass is freshly polished, the handle on the door cool and sturdy as we walk inside, and when we walk up to the front desk, a short slight girl with short vibrant orange hair and matching eyes looks up at us in interest.

"Can I help you?" she asks curiously, tilting her head slightly. She's small and pixie-like almost, startlingly pretty and yet... her gaze is piercing and wickedly intelligent. It's unnerving.

"Actually..." Shoto begins, but the girls eyes land on me and stay there, almost like she's working through a mental math problem.

"Kaida Ito" she says, interrupting Shoto and causing everyone to freeze. I swallow, even more uneasy under her gaze.

"How do you know my name?" I ask her, but she just hops up from her desk, grabbing a cup on her way and taking a sip out of a purple straw before motioning for us to follow.

"This way" she says, gait carefree and easy as she brings us to an elevator and presses a button, waiting for the door to open. We all follow her suspiciously, but it doesn't seem like we have much of an option. When the doors open, we all squeeze in and it leaves a vaguely familiar and uncomfortable taste in my mouth. This time I'm pressed up next to Bakugo though, my arm resting against his, and as my hand dangles, his fingers brush against mine. A soft and simultaneously insistent reminder that he's here. I try not to smile. When the doors finally open again, the girl all but skips out of the elevator and down the hall towards a set of enormous office doors. Both of my eyebrows go up in surprise when she disappears inside and the four of us look at each other.

"Are we supposed to follow her?" I ask, Deku's face changes though and I can see the seriousness in all of these boys' faces. We could be walking into a trap. The four of us prepare ourselves, each of us on high alert as we make our way down the hall. When we get to the doors, we open one of them slowly... as we enter, we immediately see the blonde villain sitting at a large desk, hands clasped together and green eyes regarding us in amusement.

"Son of a-!" the four of us instinctively launch ourselves forward, each of us propelled by the desire to stop this man and all of the trouble he's caused, but in an instant, the air around us grows heavy. I stop immediately, body held back by an intense and invisible weight. I gasp, knees growing weak beneath it. When I look around, it looks like all of my teammates are feeling it too, each of us frozen in position and slowly getting pulled towards the floor. What...?

"Good, Reverti" he says, eyes meeting the orange haired girl's gaze with fondness. I grit my teeth, unable to understand why I can't move.

"It has to be... her quirk!" Deku manages, eyes sparking with his power. I try to work up my own quirk but it feels like every time I start to get a hold on it, I'm all of a sudden back where I started. It's frustrating and terrifying all at once, not to mention that the blonde guy invited us here based on how eagerly he was awaiting our arrival. No... this can't be...

"You had me worried for a while that you wouldn't show up" he says, getting up from his seat and walking towards us. Fear makes my heart thunder against my ribs and I can hear it beating furiously in my ears. I can't move... my eyes flit between my friends. Deku... Shoto... Katsuki.

"I'm glad you did... I've been meaning to introduce myself" he smiles, pausing in front of us and eyeing us closely.

"You can call me Juro. And you..." he says, staring at me now, eyes conveying a million horrifying things.

"I believe this is long overdue" he says. I feel breathless and stunned, completely unsure of what to do next. All I know is that none of us can move and the look on Juro's face is sickening. On cue, a tall, broad shouldered man walks from out of a door behind Juro's desk. My eyes widen... dark hair and pitch black eyes regard me emotionlessly just before the pain starts. I cry out, my skull throbbing with a sudden burning intensity. I struggle to try and grab it but my body can't move so my head just screams.

"Kaida! Hey! Asshole, leave her alone!" I hear Bakugo snarling and I hear my other friends shouting too, but why can't we do anything? I look over at the girl again... Reverti. It's gotta be something she's doing, but I can't focus on it, not while Aneurysm is turning my brain into mush. I scream, a raw and guttural sound, glowering at Juro through it all. This asshole... he chuckles and the pain subsides, leaving my body feeling weak and drained. I'd fall if I wasn't being held in place.

"As impressive as always" he murmurs, shaking his head. He paces a moment, fingers pressed against his lips as he thinks.

"Whatever it is that you want..." Shoto begins, but Juro glares, prompting Aneurysm to take his next target. Shoto yells, eyes widening as the pain burns through him.

"Stop it! Stop!" I find myself screaming alongside everyone else, each of us terrified of what we've just gotten ourselves into. Aneurysm releases his hold on Shoto when Juro turns his attention back to me, gaze wild and bright.

"Join us" he insists. I gape at him, revulsion making my stomach beyond sick.

"No!" I snap immediately, cringing when I imagine his reaction, but Juro only laughs, shaking his head at me.

"So stubborn! But you can't possibly know what you're turning down! Isn't it power you seek?" he asks, taking a few steps closer to me. I try to back away, but I can't. I glare at him as fiercely as I can manage.

"I don't want anything from you!" I snap, rage and fear merging within me. He shakes his head, a dark look coming into his eyes.

"No, but you do, Kaida. You want to be strong. Strong enough to save people, right? To save everyone?" he murmurs and my whole body runs cold, skin prickling with it. My eyes widen as I stare at him, wondering how he could possibly know that and what he thinks he can offer me to get me there. I open my mouth to speak, but I can't...

"I can see it in your eyes, you know... see that hunger in your gaze. I was much the same once..." he tells me in a low voice, grabbing my chin with one hand and forcing my face to the side as he examines me. I wince, gritting my teeth against his touch.

"Get away from her!" Deku shouts. My heart hammers, but I try to maintain my composure.

"You bastard! I'll fucking kill you!" Bakugo swears. I can almost feel the heat radiating off of him from here, but I can't see him. I glare up at Juro, hoping my hatred makes itself known.

"I'm nothing like you. And I'll never join you" I growl trying to yank my face away from him. I gasp when it works, realizing that I'm able to start moving. My eyes widen, but Juro's expression is the same.

"You say as much now, but you're still so ignorant..." he replies calmly. I feel the rage swell within me and without thinking, I spit, watching as it lands directly on target. Juro back pedals, eyes widening on me in shocked fury.

"You bitch" he snaps, but at the last second, Reverti's quirk wears off and an enormous wall of ice blasts between us, blocking Juro, Aneurysm, and Reverti off in an instant. I struggle to catch my breath as my body sags and my team is quick to help me to my feet.

"We have to go! Now!" Deku shouts, starting back down the hall with the rest of us. I force myself to keep up, head pounding, but as we run, something gnaws at my core. I pause for only a moment, listening to the faint sounds of manic laughter coming from behind the ice. Fear makes my whole body feel cold and tense and I suddenly feel like I might be sick.

"Come on, Kaida!" Bakugo commands, yanking me after him. I follow without question, but I can't shake the feeling... the somehow insistent thought that something's wrong... and that this isn't over.

_____________

After a long discussion with the hero association and the police, Endeavor takes a moment to educate us all on appropriate protocol in the field, which I've come to find out is actually asshole speak for I'm sorry. Once his lecture is over though, we're all dismissed back to our dorms for the day. None of us complain and we mostly get back to the campus without too much trouble, but once we arrive, I can tell something's off.

"What the hell?" I demand. Everyone we pass seems like they're staring at me.

"Why is everyone staring at us?" Deku asks. I know the four of us look a little rough, but...

"Not us... Kaida" Shoto replies, his gaze finding me and expressing almost as much concern as I feel. We're about to head to the dorms, but I hear a sudden commotion straight ahead, shouting and loud crashing noises before I see Shinsou stumbling out of the school, a crazed look in his eyes. I shake my head, heart suddenly completely frozen. Something... something's off. He sees me almost immediately, eyes locking on mine and it almost seems like he gets even more furious. I stop, watching as one of his classmates tries to subdue him, but he doesn't second guess himself. Shinsou hits Tetsutetsu as hard as he can, knuckles splitting instantly and my eyes widen as he races towards me. What the hell is going on? I'm frozen with anxiety, my gut screaming that something's just wrong. Bakugo steps in front of me immediately, shoving Shinsou by the chest as he approaches.

"Let me go!" he snarls, that crazy look in his eyes intensifying.

"Walk away!" Bakugo growls, definitely trying to refrain from his usual fury. Shinsou looks at me, eyes pleading.

"It's Shiori! Kaida, please!" he begs. My heart sinks, body frozen. For a moment, it feels like an ice cold spear slices straight through me. My sister. What happened? What's wrong? Where is she? The night our mother was killed flashes through my mind and the pain of it makes me feel sick. No... no, no, no... not my sister. Not Shiori.

"Where is she?" I whisper, stomach so tightly knotted that it feels impossible to move. Bakugo releases Shinsou almost immediately and the look in his eyes makes everything hurt even worse.

"The masked villains... they took her. He took her..." he gasps, and I can see the panic on his face. He doesn't know what to do or where to go. The guy hates me, but I'm the person he went to. I'm the person he's looking to now. For a single moment, my world feels like it's shattering. Everything feels like it's on fire and I can feel the pain of my heart cracking in half as if it's the only thing that exists. Then... I realize he's right. My fists clench tightly and my heart slams against my ribs. Fury washes over me and my energy ripples through me like electricity. I know I'm not the first person Shinsou told or the first one to know. I know for a fact that if everyone else here knows about Shiori being taken, then so does Aizawa. I shove past my friends, grabbing Shinsou by his shirt and dragging him after me, rage making it hard to see straight. Yeah. He was damn right to come and get me. Because if there's one thing I'm confident in, it's that there's nothing in this world that'll stop me from getting my sister back and I'll kill anyone who stands in my way.

I hear my friends shouting after me. I see the stares in the hallways as I stalk down them, a murderous look on my face. But Shinsou doesn't fight me a single step of the way and when I burst through the door to the teacher's lounge, my entire body is shaking with deep seated fury. Aizawa looks up from his conference with a few of the other teachers and even his eyes widen at my appearance. I release Shinsou a little too forcefully, clenching my teeth against the desire to let my energy tear through the entire school.

"I'm going after her, Aizawa!" I snap, daring him to disagree. He stands up, a stern look on his face.

"Kaida, you have to let the pro heroes..."

"FUCK THE PRO HEROES!" I snap, slamming the butt of my fist against the wall, my energy blasting a hole clean through it. Everyone is utterly silent.

"That's my sister out there! You're not keeping me here even if I have to kill you to get out!" I promise him, completely serious. All of my teachers are still as stone, faces grave. I'm not a fucking kid anymore and I'll be damned if they think I won't pry my sister out of that greedy bastard's hands. I'd rather die myself.

"We'll form a team" Aizawa says finally and I can see it in his eyes. He knows I won't be stopped. Knows I'll fight to the death for her. He knows almost as well as I do, that no power in or out of this world will ever keep me from fighting for Shiori and no one will ever stop me from trying to get her back. He couldn't throw an ounce of reason my way and that realization is plain as day in his eyes. I'm going to save her. No matter what it takes.