Chapter Text
Your wrists strain against the quirk-cancelling chains, latched on tightly. They rest against the cold concrete beside your head. Dark bruises litter your now dull skin, frequently interrupted by deep cuts and 2nd degree burns.
You’ve been in this room for 3 weeks now. In one corner is a row of tally marks for each day. They still try to pry information out of you, but it’s marginally less often; you hope they’ll give up soon. Maybe then you can get some uninterrupted sleep.
Blood stains cover the floor of your room, accented by scorch marks. You’ve been coughing up the ruby red for a week now, and you’re thoroughly surprised you haven’t died yet.
Footsteps echo outside of your stone cell, slow and deliberate. Something drags behind them, wooden by the sound of it. A little too heavy to be the bat Shigaraki likes to use… You hope it’s not too painful, but you know this evening will be filled with your desperate screams. As the steps grow closer, you move to lift yourself off the floor. You fail.
They barely feed you, and make a show of checking in every four hours, dousing you with ice water if you’re sleeping. That’s the only water you get aside from the raw vegetables they throw into your room every other day.
The door slams open, but your eyelids are too heavy to lift above a half squint. You definitely have a concussion.
“I told you,” you wheeze, closing your eyes fully and letting your head plop onto the red-splattered concrete. “I don’t know shit. I wasn’t even a teacher for that long, what secrets could I possibly know…?”
Your voice is a little more than a whisper, but it’s still laced with genuine stress, and hoarse with your growing fever.
Shigaraki’s voice finally cuts through the silence, and you can feel the glare he’s giving you. His biting tone is more than enough to tell you how pathetic you look, a fact that he’s made painfully clear over the last few weeks.
“As much as I’d love to turn more of that pretty skin of yours to dust, we have a guest. At least try to make yourself presentable,” his dry voice spits, mocking and venomous.
With a groan, you put more effort into opening your eyes, and focusing on the chair he’s got propped up in front of him. Some odd blob of yellowish-white sits above a vaguely human shaped mass, stuck in the same cuffs that adorn your own wrists. Your eyes are still struggling to zero in on the features.
“Don’t you recognize your own student?” Crusty mocks. You bolt upright, using every ounce of energy to rip the chair from that monster’s grasp, throwing the boy behind you while you stand at the ready. The room does pirouettes around you, but by some miracle, you remain on your feet. Your blurry eyes point at Shigaraki’s figure, breaths coming out in heaving pants.
“I didn’t realize you had anything left in you!” he delights with glee, “I’ll have to come back with that bat of mine tomorrow…” you cringe at the thought. “But play nice. We’re getting Bakugou settled in for now… be a good hostess for us.”
With that, he slams the door shut, but you only turn away when you hear the lock click into place. Quickly, you assess Bakugou’s damage. Your eyes still won’t focus completely, but he doesn’t look too bad. No copious amounts of red or purple that you can see. But you do find the culprit of his silence. A bandana is tied around his mouth tightly. You fumble with the knot, but manage to loosen it eventually.
“…Sensei…?” he asks, his voice unusually small.
“I’m here, kiddo. They’re not going to touch you, not on my watch,” you mumble back, trying to steady yourself, but eventually sink to the floor. “What are you doing here? What happened?” you begin to question.
“Kidnapped at the summer camp. It’s only me, though… I—we were told—”
“That I was a traitor?”
The boy hesitantly nods. “I’m not, I just…” you sigh, unsure of where to begin. “Some kind of quirk—I don’t know what—lets me see things differently. Events from the future. They caught me talking to Big Sis Magne because I didn’t want her to die. She didn’t deserve that…” you mutter.
“Why didn’t you tell them?”
“I tried, but… It’s not exactly believable. And the real traitor of Yueii informed the League about my situation. Before they could check me against Tsukauchi, I got nabbed right out of Nedzu’s damn office. I assume that’s when the alarm went off, I just barely heard it.”
“Hold on, slow down, who the fuck is Tsukauchi?! They just assumed you were a traitor cause you chatted with a shitty villain?! That’s it?!” the boy fumes.
“Kind of… Tsukauchi is a human lie detector, basically. And I’ve always had a knack of…appearing where I was needed. The USJ, I was there even though I wasn’t supposed to be. Then I rescued Eri from Chisaki before the raid could kill—” you stop yourself from divulging too much.
“Oh shit… You’ve been saving people who were gonna die! That’s why you were in Hosu during the Sports Festival and just happened to run into fucking Stain of all—!”
“Shhhh!” you hiss, unsure of how close Shigaraki is, even though you heard him walk down the hall. “Look, the school thought I was a villain, so when Kurogiri ‘helped me escape’ that was pretty much a confession. I’m officially a traitor and they’re not about to rescue me. That’s why…”
“THAT’S WHY YOU’VE BEEN TORTURED FOR INFORMATION FOR THREE STRAIGHT FUCKING WEEKS?!” He roars, straining against his chains even more. Bakugou shoots up and begins to pace a hole in the floor. “That’s why this room is covered in YOUR FUCKING BLOOD?! Why you’re ALMOST DEAD and NO ONE decided to COME FIND YOU?!”
“It’s… it is what it is. It’s a shit situation, but there’s not much we can do about it,” Bakugou gives you a withering scowl. “Look, kid—”
“Don’t you fucking call me that—”
“—Bakugou, I don’t blame them. But now that you’re here, they’re gonna do everything in their power to rescue you, ok? And if they happen to see me, great. If not, maybe you can tell them. Either way, you’re not gonna be stuck here like me, do you understand? Everything is going to be alr—”
“Shut the fuck up, I get it, ok?! Just focus on resting… you need it.” Just barely, you can see a trace of concern behind his eyes. With a sigh, you let yourself flop fully to the floor.
“You sure…?”
“Yes, get some damn sleep. I’ll wake you in the morning.”
“Just… don’t let them pour water on me again…” you mutter as your eyes begin to close, “I haven’t slept well in… so long…”
“Jesus fuck…” the boy exhales.
The door slams open waking you from a fitful sleep on the stone floor. Bakugou darts to his feet, standing between you and Kurogiri.
“Come with me,” the warp gate says coldly. Bakugou helps you to your feet, and you thank him. Stumbling out of the room, Kurogiri moves to intercept you.
“Anything you wanna fucking tell me can be said with her in the room, got it?!” the boy shouts.
“…Very well.”
Once you reach the bar, you’re forced to steel yourself. The whole gang’s here, and half of them have almost tortured you to death.
“Oh boo, what’s she doing here?!” Toga pouts, and you scowl, stepping between Bakugou and the rest of the villains.
“What do you want with him?” you demand, swaying just slightly. You’re clearly in no position to demand shit, but fuck it. Your student puts a hand on your shoulder to steady you.
“Yeah what the hell do you fuckmunches want?!” he scowls, standing beside you.
Shigaraki mocks your current state, putting his hands up in a placating manner. “Oh please, stand down Sensei, we’re not going to hurt him.”
You roll your eyes. “How comforting…” you retort.
His face returns to indifferent, and he gets back to business. “Join us. Hero society has treated you poorly. We remember how they chained you during the festival,” Shigaraki says to Bakugou.
“That’s why you kidnapped me?! Could’ve saved yourself some fucking time there, hard pass you dry fuck,” he stubbornly replies.
“You’ll see, we trust you…Dabi, remove Bakugou’s handcuffs.”
“No way in hell. Compress, you do it.”
“If I die I will shank you,” he grumbles, but steps forward with a key.
As soon as Bakugou’s cuffs are off, explosions sound and Compress dives to the floor. You’re crowded into a corner of the room as his large explosion causes the others to scramble back. Still, you place yourself in front of Bakugou. If they want to hurt him they’ll have to get through you.
“Teach, get the fuck back,” he grouchily mutters, but you ignore him. Suddenly, the television flips on. A cleaned up Aizawa is getting thoroughly interrogated by a journalist. Still, the sight of his face makes you feel lighter. He didn’t betray you, he was just uninformed… and you should have told him everything. You still love that man.
“My my, look how quickly society has turned against Yueii. Funny, isn’t it?” Shigaraki spiels and you, once again, roll your eyes. “Do you really want to work for this fucked up system? Join us in tearing it to the ground. Heroes are nothing but phonies who save people for fame and money. That’s it.”
“You’re a dumbass if you thought for even a second that I’d join your damn clown club. Get fucked you crusty piece of shit,” Bakugou spits.
Before Shigaraki can rebuke, there’s a knock on the door. Everyone freezes.
“Pizza delivery!” someone hollers. You remember this vividly.
Not the door, but the wall behind Kurogiri bursts apart, as All Might flies through the crater. Wooden vines slither through, twisting and wrapping around every villain tightly, including you. It only exacerbates your injuries, and you cry out in pain.
“Wood…?” Dabi mutters before trying to burn off the entrapment. But Gran Torino catapults through the door, landing a solid kick that knocks him out immediately.
All Might’s giant figure stands in the center of the room, a menacing smile plastered onto his face.
“NEVER FEAR!” he heartily shouts, “FOR I AM HERE!!”
You freeze and your breath picks up. You still remember the horrible rage on his face when he apprehended you. When he picked you up with such force and threw you into Nedzu’s office. How his eyes bored holes into your head the entire conversation. How he hates you.
Bakugou does not miss your reaction.
“WE DIDN’T NEED YOUR RED WHITE AND BLUE ASS!” he growls at the number one like he’s another villain. “AND WHY THE FUCK IS MY SENSEI IN WOOD TOO?!”
“…DON’T WORRY YOUNG BAKUGOU, I AM SURE YOU ARE FRIGHTENED—”
“I’M NOT FRIGHTENED OF SHIT!”
“KUROGIRI, WARP US OUT!!” Shigaraki screeches.
“I…can’t!” he panics, struggling in his bonds.
Kamui Woods must have been informed of your ‘betrayal’ because your bindings never stop tightening. You struggle to breath, but you knew this would happen. The worst punishment is always reserved for the rat.
Everything is too tight. Your voice cries in pain, weakly. The binding only stops when you hear a crunch. Another one of your ribs is broken, fucking great.
“SENSEI!!” Bakugou shouts, still close enough to hear the sickening crack. He begins to pound on the wood encasing you, throwing explosion after explosion as black dots dance across your vision.
“YOUNG BAKUGOU, STOP! SHE’S NOT WHO YOU—” All Might starts as he begins to step toward the two of you.
“NO, YOU STOP!” he demands, rage coursing through his veins. “SHE’S NOT A TRAITOR, YOU’RE ALL JUST A GROUP OF FUCKING DIMWITS!”
A dark expression grows on All Might’s face, as he approaches you. You’re quickly losing consciousness. “WHAT DID YOU TELL HIM?”
You flinch away from the hero, but glare at him anyway. “The truth, you bastard.”
Your voice seethes in such a way that even All Might takes a step back. You’ve always been so kind, and he has to remind himself that you’re a villain. You always have been, and always will be. You’re just an incredible actor.
The bindings start to squeeze once again, and you groan in pain, blacking out. You slump over the wood, which mercifully loosens now that you’re incapacitated.
When you wake up, you’re flying across the floor, tossed back by a giant shockwave. Bakugou catches your starved figure. You’re not at the bar anymore.
At some point, the chains circling your wrists broke apart, allowing free movement and removing the quirk cancelling aspect. You use it to your advantage. The moment you get a chance, you grab Bakugou’s ear with vigor. “Listen to me, your friends are here to save you. You need to go with them!” you demand.
“I’m not leaving without you!!” he shouts, but you can tell he’s terrified.
“All Might’s holding back because of you. He thinks I’m a villain, he won’t hold back if you leave. Bakugou, you need to go.”
“NO GODDAMMIT!!!” Mini explosions spark in his palms. The time is coming fast, and you can see Kirishima preparing to rocket toward you two.
Bakugou’s not giving you a choice. You pull on your quirk, the power thrumming through your veins. The moment Kirishima launches through the sky, the ground beneath Bakugou shoots up in a column of concrete and stone, moving with your lunge forward. The kid flies into the air, stunned, only to be caught by the hurtling ball of Kirishima, Midoriya, and Iida.
“NO!!” he shouts, looking back for you, desperately. You only smile, giving him a shaky thumbs up, remnants of shackles still hugging your wrists.
“Jeez…” is the only thing All Might says. You’re thrown back with the next shockwave, tossed around like a rag doll.
Shigaraki lunges for you, step after step, throwing his hatred and anger while you clumsily dodge his haphazard swipes. Between earthquakes, you stave off Shigaraki and Toga, who joins in with her knife arcing through the air. Your head is spinning, but this is on live television, and you’ll be damned if your students see you die today.
“LET’S SHOW THE MEDIA WHAT YOU’VE BECOME!” is the only warning you get. You spin around and ignore Toga for a second while Shigaraki runs toward the two of you, having been thrown into a building moments prior.
With the last of your strength, you stomp your foot into the ground and push against tons of concrete with a pained shout. Spikes of earth jab into the sky, erupting from the ground and tanking the brunt of All for One’s attack. It’s just enough to protect All Might, but his form still hollows out despite your attempt.
A sharp zing of pain blooms in your back. The knife slides between your ribs in practiced hands, puncturing one of your lungs which quickly fills with blood. More pretty red pours down your chin and drips onto the floor. The support of Toga’s knife is ripped away, and you crumple to your knees.
You gasp through wet coughs and grimace at the sight your students must be seeing. Maybe the cameras are too focused on All Might. You can only hope.
The darkness of the sky begins to swallow your vision whole. You smile and weakly resign to your fate, falling to the ground.
The steady beeping of a machine gently nudges you awake from your dreamless slumber.
Then, ice cold water is thrown against your skin. You’re back in that fucking room. Shigaraki is standing in the doorway holding that damn red bucket with his signature grin. The machines tied to you begin to rush, getting louder with your increasing stress.
“Feel like talking today?” he says, his tone twisting with malice.
“NO, fuck—I don’t know anything, I swear!” you whimper. You try to lift your hands to guard your face, but the very real cuffs dig into your skin, holding your right arm still. You jerk away from his haunting figure, his cracked skin, and his goddamn bat. The one that he always rests against his thigh while he drowns you in frigid waters. The one that cracks your ribs and bruises your organs. The one that makes you cough up blood.
Somewhere in the back of your mind you can register the feeling of an IV sticking out of your left arm. But the forefront of your consciousness assumes the worst. What are they putting into you?! Have you been drugged?! You rip the IV out with your teeth before it’s too late.
“You’re a fucking maniac, you know that right?!” you scream, still backing up as far as possible. “DRUGGING ME IS A NEW LOW SHIGARAKI!”
The world is blurry as tears stream down your face. Something about the room you’re in looks too white, but it must have always been that way. You must be going crazy because Shigaraki’s here and you need to be ready. You refuse to crack.
“TEACH, CALM THE HELL DOWN!!”
You freeze, opening your eyes and searching frantically. Bakugou?! No he can’t be here, he can’t!
“Bakugou??” your traitorous voice whispers with damning desperation.
“You’re in the hospital! It’s over, I fucking promise, alright?!”
You gasp for air, searching the depths of your mind frantically. That’s right, the battle… oh shit.
Finally, your eyes focus on the very white room you’re laying in. Bakugou is sitting beside you, looking frazzled at your breakdown.
“Sorry kiddo,” you sigh.
“Don’t fucking call me that…” he says with little bite.
Listening to your heart rate gradually slow, you inspect the cuffs attached to your right wrist, which is now covered in more purple splotches. Your entire body is bandaged in sterile dressing that travels under your modest hospital gown. Your ribs begin to scream in protest with your earlier struggle.
Bakugou notices your wince and stands,
“Oi, I’m gonna go get the doctor—”
“They still don’t believe me…?” you whisper, staring at the chains.
“It’s… not like that…” he scuffs his shoe against the floor while avoiding your gaze. “Think of it like a… precaution. A wildly unnecessary precaution…”
You appreciate his attempt to reassure you. A smile stretches across your face, which Bakugou grumbles at, mumbling about finding the damn doctor.
As soon as he leaves the room, you sigh and slump back into your bed. Well… shit. Even after everything, they still don’t believe you. They still think you’re lying. They still think you’re evil.
All you’ve ever wanted to be is good. But you will never be enough. A few minutes pass by as your eyes trace the walls of your hospital room, thoughts berating you.
Beyond the door, you suddenly hear a muffled, “That’s not a good idea…!” from what sounds like Bakugou.
The door opens and in walks Toshinori. Not All Might, but the stick thin man behind that figure. You freeze for two seconds, unable to comprehend the person standing in front of you.
The monitors beside your bed screech with your rising panic.
Your mind spirals down, following an endless tunnel that only leads to sickening memories of him hating you. Of him grabbing you, throwing you, and scoffing when you fell through that portal. Even beyond the blaring of the alarm, and even beyond his weak attempt to grab your hand, you heard him scoff. You know you did.
And then the rage in his eyes when he heard Bakugou defend you, thinking you’d brainwashed the boy.
Tears mindlessly slip from your eyes, but your face remains impassive. Too surprised to react beyond what your body involuntarily vomits up. The machines scream along with the ringing in your ears.
He left you to rot.
He didn’t know.
You suffered at his hands.
They weren’t his.
He might as well have swung the bat himself.
But he didn’t.
He would have.
Seeing your reaction, All Might yelps and dashes out of the room before the situation can escalate any further, slamming the door shut behind him.
“Fucking told you so,” Bakugou grumbles. “She’s scared shitless of you, and for good fucking reason you old moron…”
All Might sighs behind the door, “I know…”
The next person who comes in is presumably a doctor, wearing a white coat and holding a clipboard.
“How healthy am I?” is your first question, giving the man a pause.
“…You’re getting better but you’re malnourished and dehydrated. And you require at least two more sessions with Recovery Girl.”
Your eyelids feel cold.
“I refuse any further treatment until the cuffs are off.”
“That’s not possible ma’am.”
“What am I detained for? What evidence is there?”
“I don’t know ma’am I’m just a doctor…”
You sigh, “I’m sorry. Bring in Tsukauchi Naomasa now, please.”
The doctor leaves without another word, your demands clear as day. Your eyes drift to the window. After ten minutes, Bakugou comes back to the room with a huff and plops down beside you.
“Thank you…” you say, sincerely.
“I didn’t do shit,” he grouches.
“You did.”
Your next visitor is Tsukauchi with two unwelcome additions trailing behind him. Aizawa, with Nedzu on his shoulder. You try to glare, but your internal distress is given away by the heart monitor, which spikes to 120. Bakugou stands, ready to intercept the two on your behalf.
“Sit down Bakugou,” Aizawa commands in his abrasive teacher tone. The boy, much to your surprise, stays standing, hesitating for only a second.
“Bakugou, it’s ok,” you mutter to him.
“It’s really fucking not,” he huffs. “You’ve got some nerve walking in here, you know that? Do you wanna know what I saw when I was thrown into her cell? My TEACHER’S CELL?!” The boy’s voice quickly rises, hostile and sharp. “FUCKING BLOOD. EVERYWHERE! BLACK BURN MARKS ON THE FLOOR TOO! AND DO YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT THAT DRY FREAK SAID TO HER AFTER SHE PROTECTED ME?! BECAUSE I’M GONNA FUCKING TELL YOU!!
HE SAID THAT HE DIDNT THINK SHE HAD ANYTHING LEFT IN HER, AND THAT HE’D COME BACK WITH HIS FUCKING BAT!”
“That’s enough Bakugou!” Aizawa shouts, hair lifting off his shoulders.
“NO, YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!” he screams with such passion, you’re sure he’s about to blow Aizawa off the face of the Earth. “YOU LEFT HER TO ROT IN A GODDAMN PRISON YOU SORRY EXCUSE OF A HERO! NOT EVEN THE SLIGHTEST CHANCE TO DEFEND HERSELF BEFORE YOU THREW HER TO THE FUCKING WOLVES!”
You strain against the handcuffs, attaching you to the bed. Lurching forward, you grab Bakugou’s shoulder.
“Bakugou stop!” you plead, before he gets within combat range. “It’s ok, we’ll sort it out, I promise… Please, take a breather.”
With one more disgusted glare at both Nedzu and Aizawa, he stalks out of the room, scoffing.
You sigh. “Tsukauchi. Did your quirk detect any lies in his statement?” you ask, staring at the floor beyond your bed.
“No, he was telling the truth,” he murmurs while writing in his notepad.
With steely eyes that have seen far too much, you gaze at Nedzu and Aizawa with complete, exhausted apathy. “I have not, and will never, betray the Yueii hero school.”
“True.”
“I was tortured by the League of Villains for 23 days in an attempt to get information. I did not tell them anything confidential or potentially harmful about you, the students, or the staff.”
“True.”
Just for a moment, you can see Aizawa’s facade crack. A sliver of weakness that betrays something you refuse to decode. Whether it’s guilt or an apology, you owe him no effort in comforting his mental state.
Your eyes finally break from the two. “Tsukauchi please remove the handcuffs.” The officer complies swiftly.
You flinchingly sway to your feet and walk around the group to a bin containing all the unruined belongings found on your person.
You slip into the bathroom and throw on your tattered and bloodstained hero outfit, glad it’s somewhat acceptable to wear in public despite the blood. The fleeting glance you steal from the mirror confirms just how shit you look.
When you leave the bathroom the men are still in there, discussing something in hushed tones that stop as soon as you return. Paying them no mind, you go to the front to be discharged.
Before you leave the hospital, you return to your room where the principal still sits atop his cowardly throne.
“Where is Eri?” you demand, knowing you saved her well within the legal jurisdiction of your hero license.
“I will return her to your residence immediately, she’s been under the care of Midoriya Inko, the tutor I believe you hired,” Nedzu says with an unusually serious tone. “Ms. Midoriya will drop her off within the hour.”
You nod and leave the room. Leave them to their chattering.
Before you go home, you manage to catch Bakugou, pacing in the waiting room.
“Thank you. As far as I know, my name has been cleared.”
“What are you thanking me for, I didn’t do anything,” he mutters dismissively.
“You defended me. You saved me and did everything you could do to help. It’s more than I could ever repay, kid,” you grin.
“Yeah, yeah… Rest up or whatever. Are you gonna be back?” he asks.
“I don’t know yet… I’ll have to see what Nedzu wants and if I can handle it, honestly,” you reply, still emotionally exhausted. “Do you need a ride home?”
“Nah, the hag is picking me up soon. Take your time, you’ve got all summer, teach. Catch you around.”
You smile and bid him a goodbye. He’s an honestly good kid, and he’ll make a damn good hero someday.