Mute

Chapter 5

Hizashi was sprawled out on the bed, stuck in a dreamless sleep. He wasn't awoken by anything that night. Not the creaking of his bedroom window, not the blankets being ripped off of him, and not being lifted out of his bed and dragged through the same window that Shouta had opened for him.

He slept through the entire car ride, even though he had been roughly thrown around as the vehicle seemingly hit the bumpiest roads it could. The drive lasted 45 or so minutes, and wherever Hizashi was being taken, it wasn't very close. Eventually the person who had come and taken him brought him inside of a building and set him somewhere. There was a click as the door locked, leaving Hizashi alone in a cold room.

It took a good few hours of much needed sleep until Hizashi woke up, taking a good minute to comprehend what was going on. His head was pounding, hurting so much that it was nearly blinding. Any quick head movements would almost certainly make him puke his guts out. It didn't help that he couldn't see ten feet in front of him, as he didn't have his glasses with him.

What- Where the hell is this? An interrogation room? Is this a police station..?

Shit! Did my quirk slip last night?

No, it can't be that, there's no tables or chairs in here. It's empty...

He didn't remember anything that went down last night, his last memory being his drive to Shouta's apartment. Shou was with him though, right? He wouldn't let him do anything, he could cancel his quirk out. Unless Shouta cancelled hanging out with him at the last minute...?

He pushed his upper body off the ground with his arms, feeling them shake unsteadily under his weight. Looking around the room, nothing was really identifiable or unique. The fluorescent lights were painfully bright, it took effort for him to avoid their sharp presence. Noticing the door in the corner of the room, he used the wall as balance as he hobbled over with an unsteady gait to try and leave.

Shit. It's locked.

What the hell did I do last night? Where's Shouta?

"HEYY!!!!"

He immediately winced, making a pained expression at the feeling of his voice piercing his ears and head. No response came from the other side. Hizashi bent down to the ground, trying to see under the crack of the door. No luck there either, it was too narrow and without his glasses there wasn't much he could see even if it was wide enough. He got himself up again, cringing at the noise as he pounded his fist on the door in an attempt to attract someone.

Still nothing.

Hizashi pulled his hair out of the half-ruined bun it had been in, hoping that releasing the tension there would do at least a little to make his skull splitting migraine a little more bearable. He gave up on the door, going to a corner of the room and sitting, leaning on the walls to prop himself up and provide support. His arms were shaking badly now, the chilly temperature of the room not providing any help, making his cold-sweat even worse. He remained like this for an unsure amount of time. He couldn't tell. This room made any amount of time feel like years.

With a faint click, the door opened, Hizashi's eyes struggling to focus on it. A man with a rather muscular build entered, shutting the door behind him. He got uncomfortably close to Hizashi's face, looking amused. He had white shoulder length hair, piercing blue eyes and rather clunky hearing aids.

"Present Mic. How the mighty really have fallen!"

He backed up, standing over Hizashi. At least he was partially blocking the bright as hell lights. Hizashi didn't meet his face, looking directly at his chest as to not move his eyes.

"It's funny, seeing such a wonderful hero as yourself like this. Hungover as shit. I wonder how the media would react, knowing their beloved Present Mic gets blackout drunk in his free time? They'd just eat that up."

"Who the hell are you, what do you want with me."

"Oh, you don't remember? I guess it makes sense, considering how many people you deafen with that fuckin' quirk."

The man scowled. "Thanks to you, I had to fork out my life savings on a damn hearing aid. I don't got much, either."

Was this man a villain? I work so hard to make sure my quirk doesn't hurt anyone else, he'd have to be, right? Or is this man from my early days as a hero...?

"This kind of thing is what you specialise in, isn't it? Hurting innocents, hurting allies?" He stared holes through Hizashi's head. "How many, huh? Or do you not care enough about anyone else to watch your goddamn screaming?"

Hizashi winced, clenching his jaw and remembering Oboro. This man was hitting eerily close to home. It was his own fault, his yelling caused the building to fall. Because he wasn't careful-

"Strike a nerve?" The man gave an ill-willed grin, grabbing Hizashi's face with his hands and angling it up to look at him.

"Shut up." That was all Hizashi could respond with. He had nothing else to say, he couldn't say anything else, not without showing more pain.

"Ironically, that's exactly what I'm here to make you do."

What is he talking about, did he kidnap me just to tell me to be quiet?

Before Hizashi could react, the man shoved his head away and kicked him in the gut. Hard. He threw up almost instantly at that, coughing and moving his hair out of his face. His whole throat stung, a rancid taste staying in his mouth.

"I can't begin to tell you how much I despise you, Mic. Wouldn't you agree that the world would be better off without that annoying quirk of yours?"

His eyes widened, shooting a glare at the man.

"What are you saying?" His voice was hoarse, words burning as they came out. He coughed again, cradling his stomach, doing his best not to let any tears escape .

"Let's just say I'm doing society a favour. As a payment for all the people you've made deaf or killed. Whose lives you ruined, obnoxious excuse of a hero."

Hizashi weakly stood up, looking at the man entirely. Hizashi was taller than this guy, but he was still intimidating. He could definitely overpower Hizashi. He braced his head for the noise, and inhaled, ready to yell at this guy.

I won't let you take my quirk, you bastard.