Expect the Unexpected: Mei Hatsume x reader (BOOK 2)

Chapter 20: Shirakumo

Shirakumo Oboro, Yamada Hizashi and Aizawa Shota were a powerful trio, one with great teamwork and skills good enough to face any villain they came across.

Oboro was far from what you were like now, he was happy go lucky and shameless. You were quieter, snarky and more reserved. While your elder brother was an optimist, you'd always been more of a realist.

You were similar to Aizawa back in his school days. He was snarky and quiet, yet knew how to have a good time. Best friends with Hizashi, he also knew how to handle loud people.

It all ended when the person who fired him up the most, who he relied on and trusted the most, died.

You'd heard the story once, when Aizawa had come in to speak to your parents. He'd brought a small speaker along, telling your mom that he'd heard Oboro's voice through it. It was the only thing keeping him fighting, keeping him sane, once he saw his closest friend get crushed by a rock.

A fate you'd almost endured yourself.

The trio, once capable of defeating any villain, turned into a solo act in the blink of an eye.

———

You got out of the car, the tall prison building looming over you, presence eerier than the people inside.

Two figures waited outside the gates, both formally dressed, one in a suit while the shorter one wore what could only resemble a tattered cape.

"Eraserhead, Present Mic, Cloud Nine," the taller one sighed, greeting the three of you. "Please, come in."

"You're not even going to explain how he resurfaced after fifteen years?" You snapped, lunging forward. "You call us here and don't even bother to tell us the most crucial detail?"

Tsukauchi's guilt ridden eyes met your own, ones that were welling up with tears at the thought of all the lost time with your brother, only for him to miraculously turn up.

While you'd accepted Aizawa as a brother, he was never family to you. He was more of a close friend, a roommate. Oboro was someone whom you'd known since birth, known about even afterward as his legacy was endless, and he was one of the first to hold you.

You couldn't accept the fact that the same person with the beautiful grin, one that could make you smile yourself, who had been cruelly ripped away from you had now returned back into your life. It wasn't fair.

Tsukauchi looked at you pitifully, as Aizawa squeezed your hand in a futile attempt to calm you down.

"I'm sorry Shirakumo-San," Gran Torino stated, taking the lead. "But your brother won't be coming back. He's dead."

They were a powerful trio. One who had a good natured temper and cared for his friends, he would die for them. If anyone were to tamper with the relationships he'd worked so hard to create, he would physically fight them and oftentimes win.

The second was stoic and cold, yet supported his friends as long as they didn't do anything too reckless, sometimes even joining in on the fun.

The third, he was the life of the party. A reckless man, shameless in many ways, willing to fight for anything. He was ready to give it his all just to fight for the cause he believed in.

So why? Why did the trio become a solo act?

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," you sniffled, rubbing your nose as you regained composure.

One last fact about the third: they were the life of the party, someone who was happy go lucky. They couldn't let others bring them down.

"It's perfectly understandable, Cloud Nine," Tsukauchi sighed, beckoning you all in to the gloomy prison.

Cells surrounded you, villains sleeping in the majority of them as they had been drugged to do so. They were bound with rope, cuffs and multiple layers of different types of fabric, each one stronger than the last.

It terrified you to say the least.

"Shirakumo Oboro-San, he was a good guy, I'll tell you that much," Gran Torino began, trying to ease the tension. "It's a shame he suffered the fate he did."

"We already heard he got turned into a Nomu, surely the news can't get worse," you scoffed, crossing your arms.

"I would like to remind you how Nomu work before we enter this cell," Tsukauchi stated warily, his firm build covering the name and identity plate of the prisoner in the cell you were going to enter. "They can hold multiple quirks, yet their brains and hearts are twisted to the point they become human puppets. Modifying humans like that, AFO is really terrifying you know?"

Someone who could steal quirks from the innocent and then modify their nature by gifting them a quirk was a larger threat than most assumed.

In a world where more than 80% of the population possesses a quirk, the majority of the people's personalities are affected by it. For example, Bakugo's explosive tendencies could be traced back to his quirk's nature. Or Mei, who had gotten more curious since her quirk emerged, her leering eyes constantly searching for something to keep her excited.

That's how she found you, a never ending mystery, one that was changing constantly. You were someone who kept her on her feet, eager to see what happened next.

However, there can also be drastically negative side effects. Tampering with an original personality is dangerous as is, but altering it forcefully through the addition of a quirk? It's too much for the brain and heart to process, causing it to go limp, successfully becoming a puppet under AFO's command.

As someone who believed in counterparts, you had hoped that there was someone who could give quirks with a positive side effect.

And it turned out, this world wasn't as cursed as it seemed.

He was someone with a heart made of gold, pure and kind, always ready to help. It was truly the perfect quirk for him.

Yet in the battle of give and take, good and evil, you were sure that his quirk, seemingly a blessing, would only come back as a curse far worse than anything you'd ever experienced.

A/N: decided not to introduce the hot brother yet oh well

There's a lot of foreshadowing for the war arc, especially future character developments. I put in three elements on purpose, tell me if you find them and what you think they are :)

Next chap will probs be our last special chapter, I'll make an AU for it

QOTD: any ideas as to what I've got planned next chap? Other than the fact that it's an AU obviously

Have a great day/night :)