Aesthete

Chapter 41 - Izuku 3

I was walking alongside Bubble Girl and Sir Nighteye, listening to them explain that we would spend our work study participating in one of the pro's secret investigations: a group of villains called the Shie Hassaikai.

Izuku and I grew curious, they mentioned how they recently discovered that the leader of this organization, a man named Chisaki who went by Overhaul, met with the League of Villains. My body stiffened at their mention, and I once again spent my time drifting in and out of the conversation, trying to discard the memories of electricity, whips, staffs, blood, knifes, and a screen. Izuku pretended to bump into me accidentally, but I felt the way his hand squeezed my shoulder, he was trying to comfort me, to let me indulge in the fact that my reality was with him and Sir Nighteye's agency, not with the League.

"We will scout over this area and take note of any suspicious activity while you two follow Mirio and take care of these few blocks. If anything is even slightly alarming to you, come to us right away and don't make any hasty moves." Sir Nighteye spoke, commanding us once more with a gesture that pointed at least a good mile away before dismissing us to patrol with Bubble Girl.

I pinched the inside of my wrist, drowning my thoughts before turning to Mirio with a grin. "So, let's start shall we?" I offered, gesturing to the city before us.

"Wait, what's your hero name, Midoriya?" Mirio asked, looking to the boy who was next to me, he was currently scanning the scenery before attending to Mirio's request.

"It's Deku." He spoke, eyes shining with pride.

"Mine is Lemillion. What's yours, Reyna?" The blonde asked, gaze expecting a response.

"Terra Mater."

"Mother Earth? That's so fitting, I like it!" He praised me while Izuku tugged on his lips in that similar manner he usually does when he's pondering.

"Mirio, why is yours Lemillion?" I too had that question but decided to keep it silent, maybe Mirio had a great reasoning for it but I wasn't the type to intrude.

"I want to save a million people!" Mirio's words were so sincere and passionate that I could only nod, smiling before continuing our patrol.

We were scanning over the alleys, not noticing anything unusual. Kids were running around stores, civilians enjoying the fresh, autumn day as the leaves were beginning to fall. I watched cars driving around, bikes could be heard along the steady pavement of the sidewalks and the overall noise of the city was nothing alarming.

I took out a gum, handing it to Deku while sliding one along to Mirio.

"My favorite flavor," Izuku told me quietly, giving me a reserved and shy look while I looked away, fighting a smile of my own.

"Reyna, I'm sorry if this is intrusive, but what was it like getting kidnapped? Did they hurt you?" Mirio asked, and it surprised me, forcing me to stop right in front of a dark alley.

I contemplated it. Should I tell him? Mirio didn't seem like the type to judge, but it was still rough getting the sentences out without feeling as if I had transported to the memory.

Still, I spoke. "It was weird, time was so slow and fast, they tortured me so much that I didn't even know what was real or fake, they had drugged me because they wanted to brainwash me into turning against heroes, but I still held on to that string of hope. It was... something else, you know? Trying to drown out the pain of all the different stuff they used on me, but counting helped. I was almost at 95,000 seconds before they electrocuted me." I hadn't realized my voice dropped to a whisper, I could make out the buildings around me, Izuku's and Mirio's frame too, but it was all blurry. Instead, I was reliving the seconds.