"Fractured Quirkline" - A My Hero Academia AU

Chapter 3 - Reina Kodama: U.A. Origins

Late afternoon and early evening had begun to kick in. Although to Reina, it felt like an eternity. Aside from getting a bite to eat some hours earlier, nothing else has really caught her eye. Looking at her phone with a face full of boredom and tiredness, she was hoping to find an inn nearby that she could stay at for the time being, but was having no such luck.

Reina: 'Ugh... Would it kill a girl just find somewhere to crash for a while!?'

She was about to give up and just stay out in the streets, when she heard someone screaming further away. Following the screams, she stops dead in her tracks, as just up the street, a man and woman are being attacked by a group of three masked people, two female, and one male. The male fugitive had the couple pinned against the wall of a building, with claws extruding from in between his knuckles, pointing directly at the victims' throats.

Female Citizen: "P-please! Leave us alone!!"

Male Citizen: "We have nothing that you want! Let us go!"

One of the female fugitives, whose arms were covered in dark purple tattoos, scoffed at the two victims, ignorant of their pleas for mercy.

???: "Enough with the hapless begging. We've all heard this before, and it's getting old. We aren't going anywhere until we know where the apprentice of Auron is! So, spit it out!!"

Reina's body began to shake with fear. She had never seen something like this ever unfold until now. Threats of harm over the location of someone else? It's no doubt a horrific situation for anyone, let alone a couple. There were no other witnesses around, as business hours had died down, and a lot of people had decided to head home. Reina tries to lift her foot up off the ground to run, but her fear had paralyzed her. She wanted to step in, but the sight of the male fugitive's claws pointing at the couple's throats, and the possibility of them losing their lives with her doing absolutely nothing to help strengthened her fear even more.

Reina opened her mouth to try and scream, but a voice coming from nowhere sounded out. It sounded like a young adult man, with a tone of gentleness that slightly calmed Reina down, as the confusion began to mix with her fear.

???: "Remember this, Reina. If you ever see someone who may be in a bad situation, don't, and I mean do not hesitate to step in to sort out the situation. Whatever you do, don't use your quirk to attack, only use it to defend yourself if necessary."

The voice fades away, and Reina furrows her brows, weighing the choices that lie in front of her. Should she really step in? If she does, the fugitives will definitely turn their attention to her, and she may get hurt. But if she doesn't, the couple who are held hostage may get seriously hurt, or worse. Her right hand begins to twitch, and after a few seconds, she closes her hand into a fist and grits her teeth, pushing away her fear entirely.

Reina: Somehow... someway... I felt a surge of something that released the bravery inside me that was hiding out of its cage. As if... something had awoken in me.

Reina: 'Someone has to do something! And if I don't, then who else will!!!'

With bravery now in control, Reina pushes her suitcase out of the way, and begins running towards the fugitives and the hostages. Once she's gotten close enough, still a distance away from the fugitives, she skids to a stop.

Reina: "Hey!! What do you think you're doing!?!"

The second female fugitive, who appears to be the leader of the three, with black ribbons tied around her wrists, neck, waist and ankles, turns toward the lavender haired teenager, a twisted smirk forming on her face.

???: "What luck! The apprentice of Auron! Looks like we don't need to scour the entire city to look for you anyway! You did our job for us by having the nerve to show your face!"