Gravity's Push

Black Roots

1 Year Later...

"So, what have we found out?" Ochaco questioned the group of teenagers.

"That Overhaul is using Eri's blood to make Quirk Cancelling Bullets," Joshua answered, his hand in the air.

"He's also selling them on the black market," Emily added, tapping her chin. "Also, he's definitely not keeping Eri in the same section as us. She's somewhere else."

Daniel stuck out his tongue with a thumbs down, causing the other three to chuckle.

"Overhaul is a poopyhead!" Joshua grinned, crossing his arms.

"Anyway," Ochaco said, "I might get more information today."

"Why does Bird Brain keep injecting you anyway?" Joshua asked, rubbing his chin. Ochaco just shrugged.

"Maybe it's because she's been here the longest?" Emily suggested, glancing at everyone. Daniel glanced at Ochaco for a split second before looking back to Emily.

"He also isn't afraid to talk about his plans in front of us," Ochaco said, leaning back a bit.

Crreeeaaaakkkkk!

"#1"

Ochaco stood up and started the walk to the lab. It was a quiet walk. The same walk. The only sound was the patter of Ochaco's bare feet and the thunk of the guard's military boots. The guard opened the door and watched her walk inside. He closed it after walking inside himself. Ochaco glanced around the room.

Eri isn't here today, huh?

Ochaco sat in the chair and waited to be strapped in. The guard walked over.

Why isn't Overhaul here? Am I early or is he just late? But he hasn't been late to an injection that I know of. Is he-

"You're lucky you have a break," the guard muttered, standing at the head of the chair. His eyes were trained on the door to the lab.

Is he seriously jealous that I get a break and he doesn't?! He's lucky he isn't getting injected with who knows what!

Creeaakkk!

"My apologies for keeping you waiting," Overhaul said, walking towards the equipment table. He picked up the usual syringe with black liquid and walked over to Ochaco. The guard held her down as Overhaul aimed at the middle of her upper arm. He took a moment to glanced up at her face. Ochaco silently stared back and raised an eyebrow, waiting for the needle. Overhaul shook his head and put in the syringe.

The familiar pain spread through Ochaco's body as Overhaul injected the black liquid into her bloodstream. Ochaco just dealt with it. She was conscious and stared right at Overhaul. He find out about her staying conscious a day after the first time it happened. He had stayed to watch her ever since. She's still the only one who's stayed conscious through the process.

Just don't give into the pain, and you'll be alright, Ochaco thought.

Overhaul looked over Ochaco and his gaze landed on her upper left arm, where he injected her. He started to grin under his mask. Of course, no one could see that grin. The only one who knew was himself. Ochaco didn't know why he was looking at her arm, but she knew that it wasn't good.

The pain slowly left her body and she let out a breath of relief. She did this as a signal that the side effects were over. Overhaul nodded to the guard and left the lab.

I guess he doesn't want to inject anyone else today, Ochaco thought as the guard bandaged her arm.

The guard unstrapped Ochaco and she stepped out of the chair, almost collapsing. She held onto the arm of the chair until she felt ready to walk again. Her legs felt stiff and like jello all at the same time. This was normal for her now, but that didn't make walking any easier. Ochaco would have to stop and hold onto the wall to catch her breath and let her legs take a break. The guard didn't like it, but he just had to deal with it.

Jeez, the injection area is hurting more than usual, Ochaco thought, gently touching the bandages.

The guard opened the heavy metal door and Ochaco rejoined her friends into their dim prison.

____________________________________________________________

It was around five in the morning when Ochaco suddenly sat up and held onto her upper arm. The light was always on, so there was a little light in the room. Ochaco looked down at her arm. It had been bothering her throughout the whole night. She would get a few minutes of sleep before waking up because of the constant throbbing and sudden sharp pains.

You know what? I'm just going to take the bandages off! I don't care!

Ochaco started to unwrap the bandage, narrowing her eyes at the annoying injection area.

Out of all the injections I've had, this one hurts the most! Why couldn't I have had that the first time! The other ones wouldn't have hurt as much.

The bandage fell into Ochaco's lap as she let go. She lifted her arm up and turned it towards the light. Her eyes slowly widened at what she saw.

There were little pitch black lines on her skin.

There weren't many and they were very short, but the fact that they were there was what scared Ochaco. Sure, this could've been a quirk, but they were given something to cancel their quirks. They didn't what it was exactly, but they knew it was something.

"What the...?"

The lines slowly started to glow and the throbbing quickly turned into a sharp pain. Ochaco held in her cry of pain and squeezed her hand over the black lines. It was there for a few seconds and then it stopped. Ochaco panted, a single drop of sweat rolling down her face.

The blanket to her left started shuffling.

"... Ochaco...?"

"Emily?"

The yellow haired girl sat up and rubbed her eyes before turning to Ochaco.

"Why are you awake...?" she asked, drowsy from waking up. Ochaco glanced at her hand that was still holding onto her upper arm.

"My injection still hurts and woke me up," Ochaco explained, shrugging her shoulders.

"I would ask if I could see it, but-" Emily interrupted herself with a yawn, tears filling the corners of her eyes, "but I'm too sleepy. Tomorrow?"

Ochaco glanced at her upper arm again before nodding with a lopsided smile. Emily smiled back before passing out instantly after hitting the mattress. Ochaco let out a sigh and took her hand off her upper arm. The black lines had stopped glowing.

I should let Emily look at it... but I don't want anyone to worry... It still feels like yesterday when Overhaul delivered-... There's also Eri and the plan! We don't need anymore worrying! I'll just keep it to myself and, hopefully, it'll go away.

Ochaco wrapped her bandages around her upper arm and laid back onto the mattress.

It'll go away...

HELLO! Hope you enjoyed this! :) Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!